Page 41 of Code Name: Dante

“Sure, um, whatever you want to do.”

“Teach me how to break someone’s nose if they try anything.”

Despite the situation, I found myself smiling. “That’s next week’s lesson. Today, we’re working on evasion and escape.”

We returned to the basement and resumed the self-defense training we’d been doing earlier. I showed her ways to break various holds and how to use an attacker’s weight against them. She was a quick study, adapting techniques to compensate for her smaller size. However, I noticed her gaze kept drifting to the windows, scanning shadows that hadn’t seemed threatening before.

“Stop thinking about the photos,” I said after she missed an obvious countermove. “Stay present. Focus on what’s in front of you.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re just the fucker’s brother. I could be hisdaughter.” Her shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry, I just…can’t.”

I pulled her into my arms, not caring that we were both sweaty from the workouts, only knowing I had to hold her, feel her next to me. I knew by the way she clung to me that she felt the same way.

“Lark, I—” My phone vibrated, stopping me from admitting feelings that, right now, were so far beyond inappropriate.

Onyx is a minute out,said the message from Tank.

“Come on. Let’s get this over with,” I said, dropping my arms but taking her hand.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

“So am I.”

When we climbed the stairs from the basement to the next level, Barbara was waiting for us.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Alessandro is teaching me self-defense,” Lark answered without missing a beat.

“That isn’t what I mean.”

“Look, there’s something I have to take care of real quick, then we’ll talk, okay?”

Barbara looked from Lark to me and back. “Okay.”

With our hands still linked, we made our way up to the camp’s main level.

“I’ve always wanted to see inside this place,” a man I assumed was Onyx said to Admiral.

“All you had to do was ask.”

He looked in our direction. “You must be Lark. I’m Onyx.”

After they shook hands, I introduced myself.

“You can come in here,” Alice said, motioning to the master bedroom.

“I’d like to get mine tested too, if possible,” I said on our way into the room.

“Not a problem. All we need is a cheek swab, then we’ll put it in here and wait.” He patted a bag that he set on the table before removing its contents.

“What’s that?” Lark asked when he set up what looked like a printer.

“It’s a rapid DNA machine. Once the sample from the swab is inserted, it’ll take about ninety minutes to process, then it will print the results. Then we’ll do a comparison to the report Admiral is working on obtaining now.”

“Ninety minutes,” Lark mumbled.

Her tone conveyed what I felt. Ninety minutes, and I’d either get the best or the worst news of my life.