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Grace

Mirage stared at Grace after they’d both removed their hoods.

The story Meridian had just told left them both in shock. The fact that there were men out there like the Lion and Omega was crazy.

Master assassins.

“We have respect for you, Raven,” Lion said to Meridian. “You have the blessing of the Alpha, but even that does not negate the fact that Woyashi will be taken to our Order to withstand judgment for his crimes… not murdered. Violence will only beget more violence.”

None of them disagreed.

“And Zelmir Benton?” Mirage asked.

“He has been Woyashi’s hostage for almost nine months.”

Lion glanced back at the man he called his cherished, who gave him a slight nod as if approving what he was about to say.

“Your agency attempted the same. They wanted to use Zelmir Benton to build them their own weapons of mass destruction. And when he refused to give your organization the formula, they contained him until he was helped to escape.”

Helped by who?

“It was the Ravens organization that labeled him a terrorist.”

Grace wanted to slam his hand into the plaster behind him. They were saying the organization was corrupt.

“While we distracted you, our informants were given a chance to help him escape again and took him to a safe location. Away from all corrupt governments, including your own.”

“Who helped you distract us?” Mirage asked. “How did you know our coordinates?”

They wanted to know who’d fed two of the deadliest assassins in the world secure information from within their organization.

Omega faced him.

“Not all Ravens were stripped of their souls, man of illusion.”

“ All Ravens?” Meridian attempted to clarify.

The four of them glanced around at each other, trying to decipher what that statement meant.

“Ravens, your organization seeks out good men like yourselves and makes them into killing machines they can control.”

Grace bristled, his energy shifting from upset to angry to enraged.

Mirage must’ve felt it because he turned toward him and gave him a look of understanding and patience.

Lion walked over and stood in front of him.

He was a striking man with a chiseled jaw and skin that looked airbrushed. He spoke in a voice that echoed around the room like a fading storm.

He stared into his eyes the way Mirage did. And the Lion didn’t appear to have difficulty sensing Grace’s warring emotions.

One look and Grace was instantly pulled into the depths of those fiery eyes that showed nobility and decades of battles.

The words Lion spoke rolled off his tongue with gruff authority.

“You fight gracefully, warrior of silence. Though your soul is broken and fragile, your cherished’s heart beats strongly for you. You must adhere to his compassion and wisdom to guide you.”

Grace’s stomach flipped as he watched the two assassin predators of Imuma Aga Kahn cover themselves and leave the same way they came.

Silent and without a trace.

“We can’t trust anyone with this information,” Meridian ordered, “and I mean no one.”

They didn’t have to speak in affirmation. It was a given that they all agreed. Then, the Blacks left him and Mirage to wait for their own transport.

Left them stunned, unsure, and suspicious of the organization they’d sworn their lives to serve. One Grace trusted to send him to do what was right and just in the world.

Was the Ravens organization so secret and hidden from all government agencies because of their backroom dealings with their own country’s enemies?

Grace couldn’t help but seethe, wondering if they’d executed other missions that hadn’t been for the good of their country.

Had they killed other innocents?

Mirage was the first to speak.

“Were we just ordered to kill an American hostage?”

A charged silence hung in the air between them.

Deep down, Grace knew that nothing the master said had been deceitful. What reason would the Lion have to lie to them?

Most of all, Grace was anxious to know…who were the other Ravens created, and where had they taken Zelmir Benton?