Page 44 of Midnight’s Captive (Stroke of Midnight #2)

Ash sat on the floor in front of the hacker’s chair. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been down here. After the meeting in Taryn’s office, she’d provided him with some blankets for the cot in the corner and then left him. He’d come downstairs, dropped the blankets on the bed, and then puttered around the consoles and monitors.

There wasn’t actually all that much to do. Earlier in the week, he’d taken care of all the upgrades, cleaned the dust off all the electronics and other surfaces, and generally made sure everything was in working order.

Now all he could do was stare at the chair. In some ways it represented his greatest wish: to hack into the network directly. Taryn had offered him that chance and he’d refused it. He ran his hand over his port. All that separated him from that now was about three feet and a little bit of skin.

The door above opened and he tensed. He wasn’t ready to face Taryn yet. The scene in her office had been terrible. Worry for Hope had overridden every other thought. The things he’d accused her of...

Yes, Hope was missing because of her plan, but he couldn’t blame her for someone else’s betrayal. He knew too well how quickly plans could go to shit when you’d been sold out. He owed her an apology.

Ash stood and dusted his hands over his pants. He tilted his head. The footsteps on the stairs didn’t sound like Taryn’s confident stride. They were tentative. He stepped back into a shadowed corner. If it wasn’t Taryn, who was it?

“Hello? Ash?” Dani’s voice called out softly.

What was she doing down here?

“Yeah.” He shifted so he was just outside the shadow.

“Oh good, you’re down here.” She came down the stairs the rest of the way, but hovered at the bottom, one hand on the banister.

“Is everything okay?” Was this a trick? Was Taryn wrong and Dani shouldn’t be trusted?

She didn’t say anything for long seconds. Her gaze traveled over him, although he wasn’t sure what she could see in the dim light.

“Do you care for her?” she asked abruptly.

Not what he’d been expecting at all. “Taryn?” he asked while trying to suss out why she was asking.

“Yes, obviously,” she snapped.

Why was it any of her business? But he’d noticed that Taryn and the people who worked for her rarely did anything without a reason. So he cautiously answered, “Yes.”

“Enough to put your ego or whatever other shit this is aside?” She waved her hand at the room generally.

Was she asking him to put Hope aside? Because that would never happen. Almost anything else, though... yeah, he’d put it aside for Taryn. “What’s the matter? Is something wrong?” Something had to be wrong, because no way would Taryn have sent Dani in her stead.

“She told you about the mole.” It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway. “She found her. And the leak was more than just your sister.”

“Shit.” That had to be a powerful blow.

“Yeah.” Dani paused and steeled herself for whatever she was about to say. “She needs you.”

“For what?” He didn’t understand.

“To be with her. To comfort her. She’s devastated, and I can’t do anything for her.” She clenched her hands at her sides. “I think you can. But you have to go to her. She won’t ask. She’s got too much of the Jack in her to ask for help or comfort.”

Ash was gobsmacked. Of all the requests, he hadn’t expected that.

Could he do it? They’d been fighting just a couple of hours ago. He hadn’t had anyone to comfort him after the betrayal that led to Hope’s coma and it had been awful. The guilt and worry had been overpowering. He hated to think of Taryn suffering that way.

“Take me to her,” he said.