Page 33 of Code Name: Reaper (K19 Allied Intelligence Team Two #5)

REAPER

“ H ow are you doing?” my brother asked as I shut the rear passenger door after helping Amaryllis into the SUV.

Rather than answer with words, I hugged him with all my might. “Thank you,” I finally whispered, fighting tears of relief and appreciation.

“All in a day’s work.” He squeezed my arm as we pulled apart. “How’s Amaryllis?”

“In shock. Confused. But when the dust settles, she’ll have answers to questions she never thought she would.”

“Beacon filled us in on a lot of it on our way here.”

“Beacon?”

He motioned toward the woman getting into one of the other SUVs.

“Mercury called her Katarina.”

“They’re cousins,” Blackjack clarified.

I looked around and realized we were the only ones not in the vehicle; everyone appeared to be waiting for my brother and me.

“I’ll drive.” He walked around to get in the driver’s side.

I got in too and looked over the seat at Amaryllis. She and Mercury sat side by side, next to a man I didn’t recognize.

“I’m Henry,” he said. “Carrington. Lyra’s husband.”

“Kingston Black.” I nodded in his direction.

We’d been on the road for a few minutes when Henry told my brother to take the next left.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Home,” he glanced at his wife as he spoke.

Amaryllis’—Charity’s—head rested on Lyra’s shoulder, her eyes were closed, and she’d never looked more beautiful. Or at peace. As if she felt my gaze, she opened them.

“I love you,” I mouthed.

“I love you,” she responded.

“The staff has rooms ready for everyone who wants to stay on the estate, which I encourage all of you to do,” said Henry when Blackjack took the circular drive up to a sprawling villa that rivaled the main residence on the Trace Estate in Shere.

“This is our home. Tomorrow, we’ll make arrangements for you to visit Minerva Protocol’s headquarters. ”

When the SUV came to a stop, I got out, opened Amaryllis’ door, and helped her do the same.

I put my arm around her, and she leaned into me as we followed Lyra, her husband, and my brother up the steps that led to the home’s entrance.

The rest of the SUVs pulled in behind us, and the coalition team members, along with people I assumed were from Minerva, got out and made their way to where we were.

Like me with Amaryllis, Henry kept his arm around his wife, guiding her inside.

“Why don’t we let everyone get settled, then we’ll meet later in the drawing room?” he suggested.

Lyra looked over her shoulder at us. “You’re not leaving, right?”

“Right,” Amaryllis assured her.

“They should stay in the east wing,” she said to Henry.

“Already taken care of.” He turned to me. “You can follow us. Beacon will make sure everyone else gets settled.”

As we made our way up the grand staircase, Lyra removed her arm from Henry’s and took Amaryllis’.

“I’ll explain more later, but she’s your cousin. Our cousin.”

“Her name is Katarina?”

Lyra nodded. “Her grandfather, Mikhail, and my mother were siblings.”

Amaryllis stopped on one of the stairs. “Is her name Anna?”

Lyra smiled. “Yes, and she cannot wait to meet you.”

“She’s alive?” Amaryllis whispered.

When she reached for me, I stepped closer and put my arm around her waist to steady her.

“Yes, as is Aunt Polina. She’s Katarina’s grandmother.”

“Mikhail’s wife?”

Lyra smiled. “Look at you, catching on already.”

“I’m so sorry about Eleanor,” Amaryllis said when we reached the top of the staircase. “I don’t know what to say.”

Lyra’s eyes filled with tears. “She lived her life to protect this family. Everything she did, every decision, every danger she faced, even who she married, was all to make sure we were safe, to see the legacy of Minerva lived on and that we never stopped working to do what our father expected of us.”

“Still, she’s your sister.” Amaryllis’ voice cracked, and her lower lip trembled.

“And your aunt. And I promise you, she died doing the very thing she lived for.”

“I have to admit, I will not mourn Ember,” Henry muttered.

“He was Eleanor’s husband,” Lyra explained. “But, like I mentioned, we’ll do our best to explain later.” She motioned to the right. “Your suite is the second door on the left.”

“You’ll find everything you need already waiting for you. Your brother arranged for your belongings to be delivered, and Mrs. Egger supplemented with what else she thought you might need,” Henry added.

“She’s our housekeeper. More a part of the family, really,” said Lyra.

Henry took his wife’s hand. “Let’s give them some time to freshen up.”

“If you don’t feel up to talking tonight, there will be plenty of time tomorrow,” she offered.

“Wait,” Amaryllis called out as Lyra and Henry walked away. “Would it be possible…? I mean, will I be able to meet, um, my grandmother?”

“Of course. I told you she cannot wait herself.”

“Hey,” I said after we’d stepped into the suite and closed the door behind us. As if she read my mind, Amaryllis fell into my embrace. And, as I’d anticipated, her body was immediately wracked with sobs. I guided her over to the bed and sat beside her, holding her as she cried.

When it stretched on for several minutes, I eased her down on the mattress and we lay wrapped in each other’s embrace.

When her tears eventually subsided, she looked up at me. “I don’t know where to begin. It’s so much.”

“You’ll take it one step at a time.”

“I have another grandmother,” she whispered.

“You do.” I smiled. “And I bet she can’t wait to tell you all about your mom.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Go ahead.” She motioned when I hesitated.

When I got up and opened it, Henry stood on the other side. “I don’t know if your brother already informed you, but your parents will be arriving in the morning. I wanted you to know in case you tried and were unable to reach them.”

I thanked him, somewhat stunned as I watched him walk away.

Amaryllis looked up at me. “I’m so glad they’re on their way.”

“Uh, me too,” I muttered.

“You don’t sound it.”

“I think I’m still in shock too.”

“Of course you are.”

There was another knock at the door.

“Sorry to bother you again. I forgot to bring this with me.” Henry handed me a book. “Lyra thought it might be easier to process all of it if Amaryllis was able to read the family history. Naturally, she’ll be happy to answer any questions she might have.”

“Please thank her for me.” Amaryllis came to stand beside me.

“I will.”

“Wait,” she repeated when he started to walk away. “Do I know you?”

He smiled. “Economics 201 when you were a freshman.”

She gasped. “Yes, of course. Dr. Carrington. I’m sorry. I didn’t put it all together.”

“No need to be sorry. As you already know, there was much happening behind the scenes we all worked hard to shield you from.”

She took a step closer. “Can I hug you?”

Rather than answer with words, he opened his arms.

After he walked away and Amaryllis shut the door, I set the book on the bed and looked around the room for our bags.

When I didn’t see them, I searched the suite.

The first room I found was an elaborate bathroom; the second was the closet.

Our clothes had been put away, some hung, some I found in drawers.

I returned with pants and a shirt slung over my arm. “I’m going to get cleaned up and change.”

Amaryllis looked down at her clothes and gasped. “I should too.”

I held out my hand. “Come with me. You are not going to believe the size of our bathtub.”

The bathroom was as impressive as everything else in the house—marble surfaces, gold fixtures, and a bathtub that could easily fit four people. I started the water while Amaryllis stood in the doorway, looking lost in thought.

“Come here.” I reached for her to help her undress. As she did, I watched her movements, looking for signs of shock or injury from the day’s events.

She moved into my arms, and I held her close, feeling the tension gradually leave her body as the steam began to fill the room. There would be time later to process the trauma of the warehouse, the violence, the loss. Right now, we were both breathing. Both alive. Here together.

“I have a family,” she whispered against my chest.

“You do. And they’ve been looking out for you for years.”

After testing the water, I helped her into the tub, got in behind her, then pulled her against me so she rested against my front.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and breathed her in.

I’d come so close to losing her today. That was what I wanted to think about instead of the reel playing on repeat in my mind—the moment when Vasiliev came at her and Eleanor had raced forward out of nowhere to shield Amaryllis.

In a split second, it was over. Vasiliev’s bullet hit Prism, and she went down as flash-bang grenades detonated around us.

“What are you thinking about?” Amaryllis—Charity—asked.

“How thankful I am that we’re here. You’re in my arms. That we both lived to see this day when you’ll meet the rest of your family.”

“Anna must be in her eighties, right? All this time, I never knew she even existed.”

I brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “You do now, and that’s what’s important.”

“And Beacon—to think I didn’t trust her. I actually thought she’d led the FSB to us.”

“Another thing that no longer matters. Your suspicions were justified at the time.” I tensed with the use of the word suspicions, tightened my hold around Charity’s waist, and kissed the side of her face. “I’m so fucking sorry I ever doubted you.”

She turned in my arms, got on her knees, and put her hands on either side of my face. “I’m not just saying this, okay?”

“Okay.”

“ Your suspicions were justified at the time.” She held my gaze.

“I love you, Kingston. Like you, I’m so thankful that we’re here.

Yes, I’m excited about meeting Anna and knowing that Mercury is my aunt and Beacon is my cousin, but if all that went away, if they weren’t my family, you would be. You are.”

She leaned forward, and we kissed. At that moment, I knew that, as soon as the time felt right, I’d ask her to marry me.

After we both settled in the water, she sighed. “There’s so much I don’t know.”

“Some answers, you’ll learn from the book and others, from Lyra.”

“Do you think they’ll like me?”

“They’re your family. Of course they’ll like you.” I pulled her closer. “But more than that, they’ll be proud of who you’ve become. I have a feeling they already are.”

She leaned into me, and I could feel her relaxing for the first time in days.

“I’m not angry about the lies anymore. I mean, how could I be?

Anna has lost so much. So has Lyra. First her sister, then her father and brother.

And now, her only remaining sibling.” She turned in my arms to face me once more.

“They all died for a cause I knew nothing about.”

I studied her face in the dim bathroom light. Where I’d expected to see grief, I saw determination. Where I’d anticipated breakdown, I found strength. This was the Charity I’d grown to love more than I ever dreamed possible.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

“Wondering what Anna will be like.”

“Probably a lot like you. Strong. Stubborn. Survivor of impossible circumstances.”

“And Beacon—Katarina. She looks like she’s my age, doesn’t she?”

“She does.”

“Do you think we’ll be friends?”

“I think you’ll be more like sisters.”

She smiled at that, the first genuine smile I’d seen from her since we walked into that warehouse. “I hope so,” she whispered. “I’ve never had a sister.”

The water was cooling, but neither of us made any move to get out. This felt sacred somehow—this quiet moment between the chaos of the day and whatever came next.

“Your parents would be proud of you,” I murmured.

“Would they?”

“I’m certain of it.”

She was quiet for several seconds. “I keep thinking about Eleanor’s words. ‘It’s up to you now.’ Like she was passing something to me.”

“She was.”

“A legacy I never asked for.”

“The best legacies are usually earned.”

She looked up at me then, water droplets clinging to her eyelashes. “Are you ready for this? For whatever comes next?”

“Do you want to know I’m ready to help you take down the people who killed your family?”

“That and if you’re ready to love someone whose life comes with a target on it.”

I cupped her face in my hands. “Charity, I fell in love with you while you were already being hunted by professional killers. You in someone’s crosshairs isn’t exactly new territory for us.”

“This is different. This is permanent. This is?—”

I silenced her with a kiss, pouring everything I felt into it. When we broke apart, I rested my forehead against hers.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I assured her. “Whatever your family needs, whatever this mission requires, whatever dangers come—I’m with you.”

“Even if it means leaving the coalition?”

“Even if it means burning every bridge I’ve ever built. I already proved that to you.”

She kissed me again, soft and sweet and full of promise. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

We stayed in the water until our fingers wrinkled, talking about everything except the violence and death of the day.

When we finally got out, I wrapped Amaryllis in the largest towel I could find and held her close.

“Ready to go meet the rest of your family?”

She took a deep breath. “I am.”