Page 22 of Protected from Malice (Blade and Arrow Shadow Team #1)

RAFE

“Okay, who agreed to having teams again?”

Indy scowls as he looks down at his game piece, empty save for one blue pie wedge in it.

Then he glances over Eden and my piece, which only needs green to be complete.

“And how come I didn’t get to be partners with Eden?

” he continues. “Or Rafe. How did I end up with the only guy worse at this game than me?”

Beneath the table, Eden reaches over to squeeze my hand. Her lips curve up. “You and Rafe can be partners next time,” she offers. “And I’ll partner with Webb.”

We didn’t really give Indy a choice to start with.

By the time he got back from the gym, the game was already set up and Eden had pre-selected our teams. “ You can be with Webb,” she’d explained as if she hadn’t put any thought into it.

“And I’ll partner with Rafe. Winner has to cook lunch for the other team. ”

I know why she did it that way, and I wasn’t complaining. With us on the same team, she’s right next to me at the table, close enough to hold her hand or touch her leg without anyone noticing. If it means I have to cook lunch for everyone? Fine with me.

Webb has a pretty good idea of what’s going on with Eden and I, but I don’t think Indy does.

And I feel pretty guilty about that. I know I need to talk to him before he catches me and Eden doing something that can’t be passed off as friendly contact.

A quick hug is one thing. But if he walks in on us kissing? There’s no way to explain that away.

It’s not that I think he’d disapprove, exactly.

Indy knows I care about Eden. That I dropped everything to come out here to protect her. He knows I would do anything to protect the people I care about. So if he follows that train of thought, he’d know I would do anything to keep Eden safe.

And he knows I have the skills to back it up. That I won’t hesitate to get my hands dirty if that’s what it takes.

On the other hand… Indy knows about the blood on my hands, too.

He knows what I’ve done in the interest of justice.

He might want something better for Eden. Someone better. A hero, like she deserves.

I know I’m not the best man for her. It’s been a constant reminder for years.

But it was a lot easier to settle for that when I didn’t have to see her all the time.

When I didn’t know how it felt to hold her.

When I didn’t know how it felt to kiss her.

And now?

I want Eden. Full stop. I want to prove that I can be good for her. That even though I’m not a hero, I can take care of her. I can make her smile. I can?—

Shit. Now that I know, I can’t go back to the way things used to be. I don’t want to.

But it would be selfish to let this thing between us get more serious without telling her who I really am. She needs to know what I’ve done. What I’ll do again if I have to. And I need to be prepared for her to reject me once she knows the truth.

If she does… there’s no point in telling Indy anything, is there?

The threat of rejection has me acting like a chickenshit coward instead of the fearless man I liked to think I was.

Take off after a violent fugitive on my own, knowing a fuckup could cost me my life?

No problem. Head into enemy territory with my team when the odds are stacked against us ten to one?

Sign me up. But confess my sins to Eden?

I keep coming up with reasons to put it off.

She had such a nice time bowling; why would I want to ruin it?

She’s having a good day, and we managed to sneak away to the gym for an hour under the auspices of working out, but actually spent most of the time kissing—I’m not risking ruining her mood now.

She looks so happy. It’s not the right time .

Chickenshit. Like I said.

I know I need to talk to her. Dammit, I know. Just… maybe not yet.

Webb barks out a laugh, dragging me out of my wandering thoughts. “Thanks, Eden. So I’m the pity partner.” He grins, making sure she knows he’s joking. “I still don’t know why we can’t play Jenga instead. Or Life. Now that’s a good game.”

Eden cocks her head. “We could play Jenga. Except you guys always come up with these crazy rules that end up with me drunk.”

“They end up with all of us drunk,” Indy says with a chuckle. “Not just you.”

Belatedly, I realize I’ve heard Indy laugh more over the last few days than I have in the previous two years. I’ve been to visit him out in DC, we’ve called and texted at least once a month, and I think I can count on one hand how many times he smiled. Laughed. Looked anything other than depressed.

And now? He’s not old Indy. I don’t think he’ll ever be. But he’s closer to it.

When I told Eden that coming here would help Indy, I wasn’t sure.

I just hoped. But five days later, I think I was right.

It was painful hearing about what happened to Eden—shit, I still feel like breaking things whenever I think about it—but the rest of it has been good for him.

He has something to focus on other than what he lost.

A side glance shows Eden watching Indy with a thoughtful expression. Probably thinking something close to what I am.

“Well,” Eden says, “I guess all of us getting drunk isn’t the best idea. Not now, at least.” She turns her attention to Webb. “But we can still play regular Jenga. Or Life. Although there’s no skill in it at all.”

He scoops the dice from the game board and gives them a throw. Then he marches his and Indy’s game piece around the board until it lands on a history space. “Great. My favorite category,” he grumps good-naturedly. Then he smiles as he tells Eden, “I know. That’s why I like it.”

Beneath the table, Eden’s hand slides off mine and lands on my leg. My thigh, more accurately. And the slight weight of her hand so close to my?—

Shit. Shit. Think about something different. Gun schematics. Trivia. The layout of the hotel with all the points of ingress and egress. Anything that isn’t how amazing it feels to have her hand there. Or worse yet, wondering how it would feel wrapped around me, softly stroking?—

“It’s your turn to ask the question,” Indy says. He narrows his eyes at me. “Unless you have something else to do instead?”

Hmm.

Maybe he does have an idea about me and Eden.

“Nope.” I reach for the stack of cards and pull one from the top. “I can’t wait to ask you guys a question you’ll definitely get wrong.”

Beside me, Eden giggles.

Her hand inches higher.

My pants go tight.

I had no idea Eden would act like this. But I like it. A lot.

If Indy and Webb weren’t here, in fact…

“We’ll get this one right,” Webb insists. “I have a good feeling about?—”

But he’s interrupted by the shrill blast of an alarm.

A moment later, the emergency light on the wall starts flashing.

Everyone freezes.

Eden clutches my leg, her nails digging in.

“Fuck,” Indy hisses. “Which alarm?—”

Webb jumps up. “Not one of ours.”

The alarm continues to ramp up in volume until it’s almost deafening.

I push up from my chair, pulling Eden along with me. Wrapping my arm around her, I tuck her into my side. She’s trembling all over. Her breath is fast. Uneven. She’s trying to keep calm, but it’s a struggle.

Shit. If I could pull her inside me to protect her, I would.

Reaching into my pocket with my free hand, I yank out my phone.

Before I can look at the screen, Indy barks, “Not one of our alarms. Not in here or the other suite.”

I glance at the flashing light on the wall. “It’s the hotel alarm. We need?—”

In unison, Webb, Indy, and my phones ring at once. It’s the ringtone we all picked so we’d know if someone on the team was calling or texting.

Webb answers first. As he listens, Indy hurries to the console table and snatches up his gun. He turns back to me. “Where’s yours? I’ll get it. Stay with Eden.”

“Beneath the TV.” I’ve been keeping it down there when I’m spending time with Eden, not wanting her to face the constant reminder of why she’s here.

It was unavoidable when it was just the two of us at the first hotel, but with backup, and all the alarms, it didn’t seem necessary to carry it with me.

Now I’m wondering if I fucked up again.

Indy hands me my gun, then checks his own, making sure it’s loaded. He knows damn well it is, but if there’s a threat out there? There’s no way we aren’t double, fuck, triple checking.

Webb pulls his weapon from his belt holster and holds it at low ready. After another few seconds, he says into the phone, “Roger. We’re moving out.”

Pocketing his phone, he looks between Indy and me. “That was Tyler. Confirmed, it’s not an alarm—” He raises his voice to be heard over the droning blare of sound. “Not in our suites,” he continues. And not in the hallway.”

“What is it?” I snap as I hustle Eden towards the door.

“Smoke in the east elevator,” Webb replies briskly. “Tyler saw it on the camera. It’s thick. He can’t tell what it’s coming from. But Ace said the detector closest to it picked up traces of explosives in the air.”

“Fuck,” Indy grits out. “A fucking bomb?”

Eden shivers against me. “Did someone find me here? Plant a bomb to—” Her voice breaks. She presses her face into my arm.

Fuck.

She was supposed to be safe here.

But I don’t have time for guilt. Not now. “We need to get out. Head to the RV.”

Our rendezvous point—which we hoped we wouldn’t need to use—is near a storage shed at the back of the hotel. Which means we need to take the west stairwell down to the first floor, then head through the restaurant kitchen to the rear parking lot.

“Webb, take point,” Indy says. He looks at me. “Protect Eden. I’ll have your six.”

As we hurry from the suite, Eden stays right by my side. She looks terrified. And I hate it.

“We’ll be okay,” I tell her, leaning my head close to hers so she can hear me. “It’s going to be fine. We’ve got you.”

Her eyes meet mine; her trust a visible thing. “I know you do, Rafe. I trust you.”

Ah, fuck.

I can’t let her down. I can’t.

It was a false alarm.

It was a damn false alarm.

I’m glad it was. Obviously.

No one was hurt.