Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

Shaw

“A re you trying to bloody drown me?” Omen sputters, slapping Valor’s hand away. The stream of water from the hose we found outside the abandoned warehouse goes wide, and I sidestep to avoid getting soaked.

“You know how blood-borne pathogens work,” Valor grumbles, wrapping his hand around Omen’s neck and pulling him back into the spray. “And they almost put me down? I’ve never ripped someone’s throat out with my teeth. Maybe we should get you a muzzle. You’re not a vampire, you know.”

“Right, well, I crossed that one off my bucket list,” Omen says drolly. “Let’s hope I never have a need to revisit it again. Whatever you’re imagining…it’s worse. Trust me on that.”

“Stick your tongue out,” Valor grumbles. “This might actually give me nightmares.”

I chuckle, shaking my head.

They’re a riot.

They remind me of a bickering old married couple, which is how people usually describe me and Leo.

My hands fist and flex as I try to get rid of the leftover adrenaline.

Ending Amato went relatively smoothly.

I would have preferred to handle him and his men before Saylor ever arrived, but we had no idea if the facility guards would call to confirm that everything was good before coming into the warehouse. Even with the multitude of variables, we managed a mostly clean op.

In no way did I expect Saylor to almost shoot me, but she had no idea I was waiting to pop around the back of the SUV to put an end to Amato. Technically speaking, it’s an exaggeration. The bullet wasn’t within three feet of me, but with inexperienced shooters, it’s always a risk having a gun in their hands.

Once we settle down back in the States, I’m going to give her lessons. She did incredible for her first shot, and with a little honing, she’ll always know she can kill an adversary without having to wait for one of us.

My gaze moves to Leo and Saylor. He’s got her wrapped up in his arms with one hand on her chest, and he’s whispering close to her ear. It looks like he’s trying to ground her to cut off a panic attack. I’m tempted to double-check that she’s all right, but I’ve already had my turn to check her over. Leo has always been better at centering her when she’s on the verge of a meltdown, anyway.

She’s still shaky, but that’s to be expected, and at the very least, she’s calmer than she was ten minutes ago. There’s no telling how she’ll handle the two-hour drive we still have to make tonight to get to the new safe house.

There’s no way around it, so it has to be done.

“Does no one have a towel or something I can dry off with?” Omen asks, sounding especially perturbed.

I snort, rip off my T-shirt, and toss it to him. “This is the best I can offer.”

He raises an arm, plucking it from the air one handed. “I appreciate it. It’s cold, and thanks to my partner, I’m now soaked. I believe he’s trying to kill me off via pneumonia. One less bloke for you to share the omega with. Huh, Valor?”

“God, you’re insufferable lately,” Valor mutters, dropping the hose and heading to shut off the faucet. “I don’t remember you being this much of a pain in the ass before we went into the facility.”

I laugh. “Okay, who wants to help me light the blaze?”

We’ve already searched everyone’s pockets and Amato’s vehicles. Omen’s and Valor’s passports were nowhere to be found, meaning we have no choice but to wait for Easton and Calder to come through. It’s not ideal, but in the long run, it’s probably safer than using documents procured by a known criminal.

We just have to hope the facility doesn’t come looking for us before we have the chance to get the hell out of Germany. We swept for electronics like recording devices and came up with nothing, but I’ll still feel a hell of a lot better when we’re stateside.

For now, we need to incinerate any DNA the three of them might have left behind in the facility van and get the fuck out of here before the cops show up.

* * *

Saylor’s entire body shakes against mine.

She’s not crying.

It’s the adrenaline crash that comes after combat.

I hold her to my chest as Leo spins around in the middle row of the SUV to see what’s happening. She’s still warm to the touch but not to the level it’s concerning. Her body adjusted, prioritizing survival over the heat or suppressant withdrawal symptoms, but I’m worried the cortisol kick will be even worse because of it.

Adrenaline comes first in a life-or-death situation. It speeds up a person’s heart rate, helps them hyper-focus in the moment, and increases athletic and skills-based performance.

All of that is well and good when you’re honed in during the emergency, but after so long, your adrenal glands switch over to cortisol. A little cortisol is fine. It helps block out non-essential bodily functions, like needing a bathroom break or noticing you’re tired or hungry, but long term, that shit is not good for the human body.

The two hormones together can wreak havoc on a person’s nervous system if they’re not prepared for the crash.

My system is still jacked up too.

I took out one of the facility guards, five of Amato’s team, and the dickhead boss himself. Leo took out two of the facility guards and three of Amato’s men.

I’m not sure what Ridge did, besides heckle Valor for flopping around like a fish when he was trying to get out of the van with his hands cuffed behind his back, which has continued now that they’re both occupying the front seats of the vehicle.

Those two are so alike, it’s almost scary, and I don’t just mean their physical attributes. The thought almost makes me laugh, but Saylor whimpers, burying her nose between my arm and my chest. It puts her face all up in my armpit, but I’m sweaty, so she’s probably getting a nice hit of my pheromones.

I palm the back of her head and tighten my hold on her lower back. “Are you doing okay, princess?”

She grunts, and her fingers dig into my lower back as her toes wiggle next to my thighs. Her feet stretch, then she curls her toes, and it starts all over again.

My head tilts.

She’s stimming.

I forgot about that.

Saylor used to have several tactile stims, but I didn’t spot any of them in the cell. Maybe I thought she outgrew them, or maybe I forgot about them since it’s been so long since I’ve seen them play out firsthand.

Except, now that I’m focused on it, the repetitive blinking she did when she first saw me and Leo seems a lot more familiar. Also the rocking she did in Valor’s bed when she was trying to self-soothe after Omen and Valor were taken to the hole.

Goddammit.

I should have realized it at the time.

I bet Leo did. He’s always been better attuned to her on some wavelength that I want to understand but never seem to click with.

“You smell stressed.” Saylor’s warm breath puffs against my skin, and she snuggles deeper.

“Nah,” I fib. “Just thinking about how proud I am of you. You held it together like a champ tonight.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” I tell her, and it’s the truth. “You stayed calm, assisted your teammate, and took the shot when you had it. I’m so damn proud of you.”

“But you killed him…”

“I did, and I’m grateful I got there in time to land the killing blow.” I nuzzle my cheek to the top of her head. “You didn’t need that weighing you down.”

Her shoulders bounce with a shrug. “Maybe I would have felt bad about it later, but honestly, I wanted him dead.”

Omen chuckles, twisting in his seat until he can run his hand down her spine. “I love it when you’re a little murdery. Just don’t ever turn it on me, yeah?”

Leo and Saylor snort simultaneously.

Leo nods at the back of the SUV. “It’s going to be a long ride. I packed a few blankets if you want to wrap her up.”

“You’d bloody well better share if there’s an extra,” Omen says, laughing. “My nipples are experiencing frostbite. The metal from my piercings holds the chill?—”

I snort. “Next time, don’t let Valor control the hose.”

I’m shirtless too, but I’ve got a perfect bundle of omega to keep me warm. Grabbing my coat from the floorboard, I hand it to Omen before pushing up enough that I can dig around the cargo area.

Saylor holds herself up on her knees and lights up, stretching over me to grab something. The move smacks me in the face with her tit, and it takes everything in me not to playfully bite her skin through the thin T-shirt she’s wearing.

We’ve still got at least another hour and a half to go, and a heat spike in a vehicle full of people would be complicated.

* * *

“I’m grateful McCabe stepped in to help get you and Leo out,” Saylor says, running her fingers over the tattoos on my pec as I finish up the story of how we ended up at the warehouse.

“Me too, princess,” I murmur, relishing every second I get to have her soft body pressed against mine. “I don’t have the first clue what his endgame is, but I’m not about to look the gift horse in the mouth.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to talk to my dad before we get back to the US?” She nuzzles her cheek to my chest, and my heart races.

My first instinct is to lie to spare her feelings, but that would only cause more hurt down the line. Everything in me wants to shield her from the ugliness of the truth, and I still know it would be a mistake.

“Probably not,” I say, trying to find a way to take the sting out of what I have to tell her. I’ve got nothing. “Easton talked to your father, but the meeting didn’t go well. I bet your dad just needs a couple of days to come to terms with everything that happened with Samantha.”

“He doesn’t believe that she knew and didn’t tell him?” she asks, sighing heavily. I nod. That’s exactly it. “You know, I’m not surprised. Once my trust pays out, I’m going to pay your boss back.”

“Easton has proof, but your father wasn’t interested in seeing it.” I grimace, recalling that clusterfuck of a conversation I had with Easton once Ridge got us to the first safe house.

After a deep dive into Samantha Callahan, the tech guy for Shadow Security feels confident she didn’t have anything to do with Saylor’s initial kidnapping. That part, at least, was bad luck, which confirms what McCabe told Saylor and Valor about their compatibility test via the swab that was taken in the Christmas market.

Samantha still withheld pertinent information from the people working to get her stepdaughter back safely. She told McCabe to keep her .

Senator Callahan knows his wife is shady as hell, he’s just not willing to deal with his poll rankings plummeting if he gets divorced.

Saylor won’t be missing anything if she cuts her father out of her life. Nothing would change for her on a day-to-day basis, except it would probably save her a whole lot of stress and heartbreak from not having to deal with the two of them. It’s not my call to make, but if she asks my opinion, I’ll be honest. I believe it’s in her best interest to go no contact with her father and stepmother.

Maybe then Senator Callahan will have a chance to stew on his wrongdoings. After a couple of years of his daughter icing him out, he might even start to resent his new wife. It’s not just being married to Samantha. She’s also the mother of his twin sons. That’s a complicated clusterfuck of his own making, and I don’t feel sorry for him in the least.

“I can’t say whether he believed it or not, but he did pay for our facility fees and Ridge’s wages while he’s here in Europe.” I relay what Easton told me. “I wouldn’t give that asshole back even a penny.”

The little omega shrugs. “Maybe I won’t, but I also don’t want to feel like I owe him anything. Thank God he has no part of approving whether or not my trust fund pays out. I could see him and Samantha trying to cause problems with that.”

“Even without that money, we’ll be okay,” I assure her, soothing my hand up and down her spine. “Leo and I have money saved, and if we need to keep running contracts while Omen and Valor stay with you, we can do that.”

Hell, we can probably talk Easton into hiring them in some capacity. If not, they can find other jobs that will keep them close to whatever home base we settle on.

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Saylor huffs. “I hope my instincts settle down soon. I just want all five of us somewhere safe and together. A nest would be nice too.”

“I hate to break it to you,” Ridge says from way up in the front of the SUV. “But we took what we could find. The new safe house has five bedrooms—two of which are in a guest cottage. That’s where I’ll be saying, but there’s no nest. You’ll have to make do. It’s going to take a minimum of a few days to get those two documents that’ll pass inspection to get us on a flight back to the States.”

“You could be less of a dick about it,” I call out, making sure he can hear me. “By the way, what exactly did you do while Leo and I were clearing out all those guys?”

Ridge snorts. “I got distracted watching this asshole do the snake in the back of the van.” He gestures toward Valor. “Seriously, man. Did you have any delusions you’d actually be able to get out of your cuffs? You were just flopping around like a dead fish. Funniest shit I’ve seen all year. I almost pulled my phone out to record it.”

“You’re my size,” Valor says. “Could you get your cuffs from behind your back to the front?”

“Fuck no,” Ridge says, laughing. “But I also wouldn’t try.”

“It worked for Omen.” Valor huffs. “I thought I should at least try to give it a shot.”

“One of the few benefits of being an extremely skinny fuck with long arms,” Omen says jovially.

“At least he tried to help,” Leo says, leaning forward in his seat and smacking Ridge in the back of the head.

“You dicks obviously didn’t see what I did,” Ridge retorts. “It was priceless.”

My head tilts, and I check out Saylor’s profile. She’s finally smiling, which is a good sign, but she also looks beat.

I take several deep breaths of her potent cherry-limeade scent and focus on purring. If I wasn’t so jacked up on my own adrenaline rush, I might have thought of doing it sooner.

The low rumbling starts in my chest, and Saylor coos. The sound does wild shit to my chest, making my heart race as warmth floods my entire body.

Alpha and omega dynamics are weird, but there’s a reason we work so well together. Nature designed that compatibility beautifully.

“God, I love that so much,” she whispers. “Thank you for rescuing us.”

“Always. From here on out, if you need me, I’m there.”

She pulls away enough to meet my eyes, fluttering her long lashes. “I know. I believe you, and it means the world to me.”

I tilt my head down, and she stretches up, crashing her lips to mine for a slow, emotion-filled kiss.

There’s no one I wouldn’t murder to keep her safe and happy. That says it all. I’m fucking gone for her.