Page 121

Before he could continue, a heavy door slammed open.As one, they turned, making their way out of the small waiting room into the wide stone entrance hall.

Annie’s eyes widened as she saw the fleet admiral in person for the first time.He was a massive man, tall, muscular, intimidating, and not as old as she thought, given he’d been an adult, and a widower twice over, by the time Colum met him.Xavier had remarked once that Eric was often referred to as a Viking, and damn if that description didn’t fit.

Eric glanced at the three of them, frowning when his eyes landed on her.“Annie Ward, I presume?”

She nodded.Under normal circumstances, she would have shaken his hand, but her fingers twitched with the urge to take his hand, only to yank him forward and right onto the knife concealed at the small of her back.

Eric acknowledged Xavier with a brief nod.“War council.Let’s go…” Eric looked at the woman who’d followed him in.

The blonde woman was wearing a loose sweater and comfortable leggings that had clearly been cut to accommodate the cast on her lower leg.She had silver crutches tucked under her arms.

“Will you let me carry you up the stairs?”Eric asked, stepping close enough that he was definitely in her personal space.

“Absolutely not.”The words were polite, but the tone pure “fuck you.”

Annie raised her brows, studying the woman.Given the comments Colum had made regarding Nikolett and Eric’s tumultuous relationship, she had a feeling she knew who the blonde was.

“Janey Mac, what’s all this, then, Nikolett?”Colum asked in genuine surprise, nodding his head toward her injured leg.

She was right; the blonde was Nikolett.

Colum’s wife.

“I’m fine, Colum,” she replied stiffly.

Colum blinked several times, then ran his hand nervously through his hair, as if only remembering who she was to him.

Eric had been watching Nikolett, but he scrubbed a hand over his face, covering his eyes for a moment before looking up.“Okay, then.Meeting down here it is.Great hall.”

Annie walked beside Colum, who trailed after Eric.Xavier and Nikolett were somewhere behind them, with Spartan Guard members sprinkled between and around the group.She tried to lace her fingers with Colum’s, but he pulled his hand away.Annie literally felt her heart shatter in that moment, aware that Colum had given up all hope and was walking toward the Great Hall like a man about to face the gallows.

The guards carried a heavy wooden table and chairs into the center of the massive stone room that looked like it should have a medieval king or warlord sitting on a dais at one end, a whole pig roasting in the massive fireplace.

Colum looked at her as they finally sat, taking seats next to each other, Xavier claiming the empty chair on the other side of Colum.The position had the three of them presenting a united front and staring down the fleet admiral, who sat at the other end of the table.

Nikolett didn’t look pleased by her choice of seats, finally opting to sit beside Xavier but turned to face Eric, her broken leg propped up on an extra chair one of the guards brought over.

Eric looked around the table, meeting Colum, Xavier, and Annie’s gazes in turn.“I think we have a page from the manuscript.”

Annie stared at Eric, thrown off by the unexpected statement.She’d expected this to be about the break-in; Colum said Eric had mentioned the Spaniard on the call ordering them to Triskelion.

She hadn’t anticipated it would be about the manuscript directly, only about who wanted the manuscript, and the plan for dealing with both the Spaniard and Dodge.

“No.”Xavier slashed a hand through the air.“We have all the pages.”

Eric scowled.“I’m not talking about one of your pages.I think we have a page out of one of the sections you haven’t found yet.”

“What?”Colum leaned forward, frowning hard behind his slightly crooked glasses.

Xavier must have noticed they were crooked the same time Annie did, because he leaned forward and gently adjusted them for Colum, and Annie’s heart ached at the unfairness of it all.These men were made for each other.They were made for her.The idea that they couldn’t be together because the fleet admiral couldn’t straighten out his own life was complete bullshit.

She turned her angry gaze to Eric, but it softened when she realized the fleet admiral had also witnessed the sweet moment…and it distracted him.

Sadly, not for long.

“Show the page to them,” Eric said.

One of the Spartan Guards pulled a thick, clear plastic case from a bag and passed it to Colum.Annie and Xavier leaned in to look.Annie didn’t get to see much before Xavier snatched it out of Colum’s hands, opening the case and taking the page out.