Page 50

Lucky

Booty shorts are the ideal uniform for any apocalypse.

“Can you see them?” Dom frowns, peering at the rock where Beau and Jayk were supposed to be waiting, his voice low. We’re crouched in the middle of a dense copse of trees, well back from the camp, waiting on them to get into position to cover us before we move in.

Silently, Jasper places his hand over mine, and I realize I’m gripping a branch so hard it’s cutting into my fingers. My grip loosens under his touch.

“No.”

I can’t find any more quips right now. Damn it, I thought I’d worked this out—that I was wound up and on edge over the whole Eden-getting-kidnapped-and-then-all-of-us-nearly-getting-executed-a-few-weeks-later thing, and I just needed to blow off some steam.

Jasper spent a good portion of last night blowing me thoroughly, so really, I should be fixed.

I felt fixed this morning. I now know that Jasper does actually get morning breath, and he’s prettiest when he’s sleeping and his hair gets all tousled, and that he’s happy to spend a stupid amount of time letting me kiss him awake.

Now, all I can think about is what happens if he catches a stray bullet.

Absently, I rub my shoulder over where my scar’s still healing.

Thank fuck Eden is safe at least.

“Eden should have run her distraction by now, too.” Letting a wide-leafed bush fall back into place, Jasper glances at Dom. We’ve moved back away from the camp, so we should be out of earshot, but he’s still hushed. “At what point do we call this off?”

“Not my call,” Dom mutters, still watching the rock on the other side of the pile of food.

We fall quiet as two Reapers walk past it, yapping loudly to each other.

I swallow hard when nothing moves, and my leg starts bouncing.

Jayk and Beau.

They’re okay. They have to be. Of course they are. If the Reapers had found them, they’d be yee-hawing it from the rooftops, right? They’re just slow, that’s all. Just taking their sweet time.

Except Jayk is never slow.

I feel Jasper’s eyes on me, but I don’t look at him.

This is so stupid . I felt good earlier.

We had a plan. A good plan. Everyone was on board, and we were acting like a team again.

But then I kissed Eden, which was probably dumb fucking timing because I’m a natural trendsetter and the others have no impulse control, so of course they kissed her too, and then Jayk got all twisted up, and he’s supposed to be running this and, damn it, if his head’s not in it, then?—

Jasper leans in, his knee pressing into the mud. “Lucien, do you need a moment?”

Nope. I need to know my friends are okay.

Not stopping to think about it, I unhitch my radio. “This is Steel Rain to King Kong. Confirming you’re still on the approach? Over.”

Whipping around, Dom rips the short comms out of my hand, and we all pause, waiting.

Nothing around us shifts.

Dom’s brows come down, hard and merciless. “What part of covert do you have a problem with? You know better. You might have just given away their positio?—”

The radio flares to life.

“Steel Rain is never gonna happen, Lucky,” Beau drawls, and Dom’s face relaxes.

My breath gushes out of me, relief kicking in hard.

Oh, thank fuck. Thank fuck, thank fuck, thank fuck .

Beau adds, “We had a minor ball ache on our end, but we’re heading your way. Any sign of Eden? Over.”

Dom lifts my radio to his mouth. “Nothing yet, but we don’t have a visual. We’ll get closer when we have eyes on your position. Stay off the comms. Over.”

“Any of you call me King Kong again, and I’m feeding your guts to the pigs.” There’s a pause. “We’re good. Eden will pull through. Watch each other. Just come back with something so I don’t have to explain to eighty-five hangry fucking women that they’re going to starve to death. Over and out.”

The silence after the radio cuts off is painfully loud, and Jasper squeezes my hand once before withdrawing. He gets to his feet, brushing off his knees like we’re still not mid-op.

“Happy?” Dom asks me tightly, and I grimace, my racing heart finally starting to slow.

“Sorry, Cap.”

His jaw flexes, and he stands. “I’m not your captain, Lucky.”

I snort, waving him off. “My bad, the ass-chewing just threw me right back to base camp.”

Dom stops, frowning.

Still on my knees, I take a breath, watching Jasper peer through the dense leaves, waiting for Beau and Jayk to hit their mark. Which they will.

They’re good , he said. Eden will pull through. The plan is still on track. Weird, but Jayk’s pep talk actually is making me feel better. He has this. He’s watching out for Beau, and we’re watching out for them.

It’s happening, we’re doing this, and... and we’re a team.

All this fighting and not talking or trusting each other has been killing me. Even worse, it’s dangerous. It’s why we keep making stupid mistakes. It’s why every time I step out with them these days, I keep wondering what the next one will be. We haven’t been a real team for too damn long.

I know because when we do pull our shit together, there’s not a damn thing to be anxious about.

When we’re a team, we’re fucking invincible.

“I see them. They’re in position,” Jasper says suddenly, and I nod, hyping myself up as I stand.

Trying to believe it.

I start to stand, only for Dom to reach down. For a moment, I stare at his hand quizzically. Both of us know I don’t need it, and I don’t really get where the gesture is coming from, but I take it anyway, and he hauls me to my feet.

“Thanks?” I tell him, puzzled, but when I go to move, he doesn’t let go.

“I’m not your captain anymore, Lucky,” Dom says again, and I roll my eyes, forcing a smile.

“Yeah, I know, I know. I got the memo, the billboard, and the ass tattoo. We’re good. I’m more of a vampire guy, but I can jump on Team Jaykob. You want a T-shirt?” I nod to myself. “I’ll get you a T-shirt.”

“No, I mean, I might not be your captain, but I can be your damn friend. You can talk to me. And out there, I have your back.” His eyes flick to Jasper meaningfully before coming back to mine. “Both of you.”

I let my smile fade, my pulse thrumming in my throat.

“I’ve got yours. Everyone’s. I promise,” I tell him, stilted, and he just nods once.

We haven’t talked about yesterday—about me not following his orders. I couldn’t leave Jasper and Eden, I just couldn’t, and Beau was out there exposed because of it. Dom stepped down all of thirty minutes after that, and it’s hard not to believe that wasn’t at least kind of my fault, too.

Instead of blaming me for it, he saw why.

“Friendship application accepted. We can share our star charts later.”

“Can’t wait. Now move—” Dom cuts himself off, grimacing, and he starts again. “Are you two good to move out?”

I eye him, the sudden collegial tone weirding me out, but I nod, and he’s peeling out of the copse before I can tease him about it.

Over logs, quickly through open ground, low under branches, we make our way to the edge of camp. I turn, watching our backs as I edge back, but we’re clear.

It’s all clear.

Through the forest, I catch glimpses of Beau and Jayk creeping in around the rock, their weapons drawn.

They’re clear too.

But . . .

Dom raises his hand, and we stop on the edge of the Reapers’ camp, just inside the tree line.

We’re right on the other side of Sawyer and Cole’s tents.

Jayk and Beau should have a clear line to cover us, and from this angle, we’ve got a clear visual of the food.

All of that would be getting big old gold stars from me, if it wasn’t for the dozens of Reapers swarming in front of us.

And Cole lightly snoozing on his pink lawn chair— right next to our damn food.

I could take five steps and I’d be sitting on his lap.

Jasper glances at me, grave and grim, and I don’t bother to work up a smile for him. He sees through them anyway.

“Just wait for Eden.”

“Where is she?” I run a hand down my face, trying to hold the panic down.

“She’ll show up.” Dom is quiet and certain, as still and calm as I am jittery. His eyes find me. “You know she will.”

“You saw her walk into the rock, right? We melted her brain. She can’t take all of us at once, it’s too much,” I whisper-shout.

A Reaper walks toward us, and we tense.

We’re hunkered down behind a thicket, but if he clears the trees, he’s going to see us—and it’ll only take him a second to raise an alarm.

Jasper’s chin lifts, his expression iced over. Confident. Ready. Nothing like the man who stroked my cheek until I fell asleep last night.

Cold fear for him queases through my stomach, and I move my hand over my rifle.

The Reaper pauses, turning back right before where Cole is now snoring loudly. “Naw, I’m just taking a leak. Don’t you drink all of it! I know how much was there.”

Suddenly, Dom grips my wrist, holding it against my gun.

He shakes his head at me in a clear but silent don’t .

I stare at him hard, my hand still tensed.

I really don’t want to shoot any of these guys. I get it, where the Reapers are coming from. They’re in a tough spot, and they’re doing what they have to.

But if it comes down to a stranger or either of the men next to me, I know what I’m going to choose.

I do what I have to, too.

The man pushes past the tent, toward the tree line, and Dom stares back at me just as fiercely. His grip tightens, just for an instant... right before he lets me go. My pulse throbs, beating in time with eachof the Reaper’s slow, crunching steps.

Damn it, he can’t even help himself. The boss man will always take control, right?

Crunch .

Except he’s not taking it. He’s letting me choose.

Crunch .

Can I let him handle it?

Crunch .

Jasper needs to be safe.

Crunch .

Damn it, we’re a team.

I pull my hand away from my gun right as Dom snaps up, ready to launch—only to pause...as music spills through the forest.

The Reaper stops, turning back again. The volume lifts and punchy rock music flows over the grass. It vibrates through the trees.