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Sage led Maelíosa, Kieran, Niall, and Tomas up to the front door. Maelíosa eyed the old row house, with its darkened windows. It had a gloomy exterior that didn’t really welcome visitors.
“We knew each other, back in the Navy. Hell, we were even on deployment together.”
Kieran grinned. “Your mate is some kind of weapons genius?”
“You could say that,” Sage said, cracking a smile.
Maelíosa was standing next to him as Sage rapped on the door. The sound was so loud that Tomas winced, and Maelíosa struggled to keep from laughing nervously. There was a sensation of energy buzzing in her stomach, and her blood was swarming with excitement. Maelíosa glanced up at her mate as she waited for the front door to open. Sage’s calm, stoic face was enough to calm her, if only for an instant. Her mare pranced around the two of them, tossing her mane. A funny thought popped into her head: they’d forgone the recommended courtship period, never even gone on a date, and their first outing was full-on espionage. She bit back a laugh.
The door swung open, admitting a yellow rectangle of light into the narrow foyer. A large man, even bigger than Sage, darkened the doorway. All Maelíosa could make out was his white teeth, and features that were slightly squashed, like a boxer’s.
Sage wrapped the man in a burly hug.
“Looks like two bears wrestling,” Kieran cracked under his breath. He was silenced by a sharp elbow to the gut from Niall.
“Y’all,” Sage said, pulling apart from the man. “This is one of my oldest buddies, Craig.”
Five minutes later, everyone was gathered around a table in Craig’s living room. Maelíosa had a better chance to examine his features in the light. He had close-cropped blond hair, blue eyes, and the tannest skin she’d ever seen on a pale person. He was as muscular, if not more so, than Sage—the cords in his neck bulged every time he talked. But despite his imposing presence, Maelíosa got the feeling that deep down he was a kind man.
“That’s some kind of story.” Craig whistled loudly, then stared at Maelíosa. “So, you’re tellin’ me your wife can turn into a goddamned horse?”
Maelíosa drew herself up in the chair, tilting her chin into the air. He threw his head back and laughed.
Sage chuckled. “I wouldn’t fuck with her.” He glanced at Maelíosa with a smile that warmed some of the frost from her heart. “She’s a tough gal.”
“I can see that,” Craig said. “Well, hell, y’all came to the right place.”
He stood up and stretched—he was so tall that his hands brushed against the ceiling.
“Ever since I moved here, I’ve been stockpiling. Always good to be prepared.”
“If you don’t mind my asking,” Tomas said nervously. “What exactly do you do?”
The question sent Craig and Sage into peals of laughter.
Maelíosa crossed her arms over her chest. “This isn’t a joke. What’re you doing in London?”
“I work for M16,” Craig said.
“Like the secret service?” Maelíosa had heard it described like that, but didn’t really know anything about it.
Craig chuckled. “Turns out the limeys were watching me on a couple’o SEAL missions and liked my fancy footwork.”
Her eyes widened.
Then Craig clapped Sage on the back. “Did I ever tell you, this one saved my ass one time?”
“You didn’t,” Tomas said.
Maelíosa sighed, and tried to sound like she knew what she was talking about. “And the weapons? What do you have on hand? Small guns? Ammo?”
Craig grinned at Maelíosa with crooked teeth that were somehow still perfectly white. “Nope. Better than that.” He jerked his head to the side. “Why don’t y’all come with me and we can check out the armory?”
Niall raised an eyebrow at Maelíosa as they followed Craig and Sage down the hall, Tomas and Kieran skittering behind them.
“We’ve got an armoury, too,” Niall said. “But ours is full of mostly large weapons, the kind that we couldn’t carry alone.”
“High firepower, gotcha,” Craig said.
He wiped his hands on his jeans and then pressed a button on the wall that Maelíosa hadn’t even noticed.
“Well, I got some of that shit, too. But this is mostly the kinda stuff y’all want right now.”
A panel in the wall slid open, and Maelíosa gasped. In front of her was a deadly array of weapons and other, less identifiable items. There were lots of guns and what looked like grenades, as well as larger explosives.
Craig turned back to the group. “Y’all take whatever you need. Your boy here saved my life, so I need to return that favor.” He punched Sage hard in the arm. “You hear me?”
Sage chuckled.
“Thank you. This is...well, it’s a lot,” Maelíosa said. She frowned, reaching forward and picking up a black plastic rectangle. “What’s this?”
“That’s a walkie-talkie,” Sage said. “It’s kinda like...um...well, like a telephone, but you can only use it within a certain range of whoever you’re speaking with.”
He held up the rectangle to his face and clicked the button. Maelíosa jumped at the sound of static.
“Testing, one, two, three,” Sage said into the mouthpiece.
“I copy,” Craig said. He stepped out from the shadows, holding an identical walkie-talkie.
Maelíosa glanced at Niall. “And this is reliable?”
“Sure is! We humans have some great shit, don’t we?” Craig elbowed Sage, and the two burst into laughter.
Maelíosa smirked. Boys and their toys. “I’m not sure I’d agree with that.”
She didn’t understand how something that looked so fragile could be used by top-level military personnel like Craig and Sage. She watched as Sage loaded up a camo-printed bag with explosives and enough walkie-talkies for the whole group. An odd kind of pride passed over her— Maelíosa had to admit that, aside from being totally turned on by the way he’d taken charge, she’d always known she couldn’t end up with anyone who was less of a badass.
Sage hauled the bag onto his shoulder and turned to the group. “We should come up with a plan. Let’s go back to the kitchen and talk. Craig, can you pull up satellite on a certain locale for me?”
“Yeah, man,” Craig said with a wolfish grin. He grabbed a laptop and brought it into the kitchen. “I’ll make some food for the road.”
* * *
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, they’d come up with a plan. Craig had traced the OH headquarters to outside of London, in a slightly more rural area. Sage knew that’s where they must be holding Cyn. The place matched the description of where Fallon had been dropped off—rural and remote. That’d make a good place to hold someone captive.
“We’ve been watching these assholes for a while,” Craig said. “But since they never actually broke the damn law, we couldn’t do anything. Well, not until now anyway.”
Sage turned toward his friend. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, they kidnapped someone,” Craig said, grinning. “Now we get to smoke ‘em out. The government can shut that shit down, as soon as we rescue your girl. MI5 didn’t have anything on ‘em before, but we do now, don’t we?”
Sage nodded. “Fuckin A. We’re taking those bastards down.”
* * *
MAELÍOSA SHIFTED FROM one foot to the other. She was weary waiting outside OH headquarters. They’d all grabbed weapons from Craig’s house, they’d borrowed one of his cars—a sleek, fast-moving thing Sage had driven at a terrifying speed to the outskirts of London. Sage was able to track the location using some kind of plastic device that beeped every few seconds. It was incredible to watch him in action—Maelíosa had never been so proud in her life.
They’d found Fallon lurking outside. He’d been frantic with worry over Cyn and dirty from travel, but Maelíosa was reassured to see her father alive and in one piece.
“I’m not meeting up with them until tomorrow,” Fallon whispered loudly. “But I thought I’d hang around outside and see what those arseholes are up to.”
“I’m just glad we found you...”
He shook his head. His fingers had curled into a fist. “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to make that man regret the day he was ever born.”
Maelíosa blinked.
“Sounds like a plan,” she whispered back. “Sage and his mate told us that these men might be extremely unstable. We need to be cautious. Do you trust him?”
Fallon closed his eyes and nodded. “I do.”
Sage strode out from behind some bushes. He’d circled the perimeter to get a better look while they’d been watching the place.
“Here’s the plan,” he said roughly. “In a few minutes, when they change security, that’s when we’ll attack. They won’t be expecting anything—Fallon’s not supposed to meet with them until later tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me, mate,” Niall said.
Fallon, Kieran, and Tomas were exchanging looks and nodding in agreement.
He glanced at Maelíosa. “You okay with that, baby?”
Maelíosa flushed. Her heart was pounding from the adrenaline. This might be their only chance to rescue Cyn. She nodded fervently.
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
Sage pointed to a dark corner by the front door. “You wait here. When everyone’s in position, we’ll confirm on the walkie.”
He shoved one of the hard plastic boxes into Maelíosa’s hand. “Just press on the button and say ‘over’ when you’re done, you got that?”
Maelíosa nodded. “Aye.”
* * *
SAGE GRABBED HER AND pulled her close. Maelíosa blushed, knowing that Fallon was right there, but part of her didn’t care. As their lips met, she closed her eyes and tilted her face up. Love flowed through her, stronger than any sensation she could have ever imagined. It was different, somehow—as though she was more complete just from being with Sage.
“Be careful,” Sage whispered loudly.
“I will, love,” she said.
He kissed Maelíosa again on the forehead, and then he was off, darting into the darkness like a wild animal.
Maelíosa leaned against the wall of the house. Try as she might, she couldn’t hear a damn thing from the inside. Her heart was hammering inside her chest, and she tried to focus on the mission. This would all be over soon. She gripped the walkie-talkie with a sweaty fist and grinned into the darkness. And then we’ll be on one of those planes again, flying back home. She’d never leave the Realm again, if she could help it.
The walkie-talkie volume was low, but she could hear the static crackling over the speaker as everyone informed Sage they were in position. All she had to do was wait for a light to turn on inside, and then press the bloody button and tell Sage she was good to go.
Maelíosa strained, holding her breath as the seconds ticked by. Come on, come on. Hurry your arse up already and change guards! Finally, after an eon of waiting, a yellow light flickered in a downstairs window of the house. Anxiety and panic rose in her throat but she didn’t even tremble. Lifting up the walkie-talkie to her mouth, Maelíosa pressed the button.
“I’m ready.”
There was no answer. Frowning, Maelíosa lifted the device to her ear. Suddenly, the back of her neck went cold as she realized the static was no longer sounding through the speakers. It’s gone dead. She fisted the useless piece of plastic. It’s gone dead! She shook it in her hand, hearing a tinny kind of rattle from inside the device. Maelíosa pressed the button again and lifted the walkie-talkie to her lips. Still, there was nothing.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
From inside the house there was a loud noise, and the yellow light in the window flickered. Then there was a sound behind her. As she turned, something smashed down on her head, and everything went black.
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