Page 60 of Wraith (Deviant Assassin #1)

Kiera

T he sharp buzz of Blade's phone cuts through the tension like a knife through silk.

His dark gaze flicks to the screen, and his entire body shifts. Shoulders square, jaw tightens, that familiar lethal energy coils beneath his skin. Whatever message Phoenix has sent, it isn't good.

"Multiple hostiles incoming," Blade says, already moving toward the weapons cache. "Umber's operatives. We need to move. Now."

Wild is instantly alert as he pulls out his own phone. "I can call for backup. My contacts can have tactical teams here in ten minutes?—"

"No." Blade's voice is razor-sharp. "I'll get her out through the back exit. You cover our escape route."

"Are you insane?" Wild steps forward, blocking Blade's path to me. "This safe house has the best defensive position. We hold our ground and wait for federal support."

"Federal support?" Blade's laugh is bitter. "From the same agency that will lock us all away? You're more naive than I thought, Fed."

They square off, two apex predators whose protective instincts are laser-focused on me.

Outside, engines rumble in the distance.

Time is running out, and these two brilliant, deadly men are about to get us all killed—not because they're weak, but because they're both so determined to keep me safe that they can't see past their own methods.

They're both magnificent at what they do. Blade with his brutal efficiency and criminal world knowledge, Wild with his analytical mind and government resources. But their focus is divided between the threat and each other, when it should be unified.

They need someone to break the deadlock.

This is the moment. Either I step up to coordinate their strengths, or we all die because two alphas can't agree on the best way to protect what they both treasure.

"Enough."

My voice cuts through their argument like a whip crack. Both men freeze, their heads snapping toward me. I step forward with the practiced calm I gained as Wraith, the same energy that has brought them both to their knees in different ways.

"Both of you, stop talking and listen."

The air in the room shifts. Their attention focuses on me with laser intensity, two alphas bristling at being managed but smart enough to recognize we're out of time. I'm surprised neither of them growls aloud at being given directions.

"Blade." I turn to my husband first, knowing he'll need the most convincing. "You know every escape route in a three-block radius."

His eye twitches, that familiar tell when his control is challenged, but he nods.

"Wild." I face the man who's proven his lethal competence time and again. "You coordinate tactical support and manage official channels. Use every contact, every resource."

"Yes," Wild says immediately. "I can have cleanup crews standing by and redirect any official response."

"But—" Blade starts, concern written across his features.

"We don't have time for 'but,'" I say firmly. "We combine your strengths or we die. I coordinate because you're both thinking about protecting me instead of thinking about protecting each other."

Blade steps forward, not challenging but clarifying. "If we're doing this, we do it right. I've mapped every exit and vulnerability in this place."

"Exactly." I meet his intense gaze. "That's why you take point on perimeter control while Wild handles information warfare."

"And you?" Wild asks, though his eyes already hold the answer.

"I handle whoever makes it through your defenses." The promise in my voice is deadly, almost gleeful. "But we move as one unit, not three separate agendas."

The silence stretches between us, but it isn't tension—it's calibration. Two dangerous men are recognizing the woman they both want to protect is perfectly capable of being their strategic equal.

The sound of car doors slamming echoes from outside. Time's up.

"Here's how this works," I say, moving to the weapons cache with both men flanking me like extensions of my own body. "Blade, you take the south stairwell. Wild, you cover the north approach and call your cleanup crew. I'll handle the main entrance."

"Kiera..." Blade starts.

I pin him with a look that reminds him exactly who he's dealing with.

"Trust me."

Something shifts in his expression: recognition, pride, desire all wrapped together.

"Always."

The first gunshot shatters the front windows.

We move like a precision strike team. Blade flows through the building's infrastructure like he designed it himself, controlling access points and eliminating threats. Wild handles the north corridor with methodical brutality, every shot calculated and unerring.

And I become the lethal center that connects them both. Wraith unleashed with backup they can trust absolutely.

The men who come for us expecting to corner their prey instead find themselves trapped by three predators working in perfect synchronization.

"South clear," Blade's voice comes through the comms.

"North neutralized," Wild reports. "Backup inbound for cleanup in three minutes."

I stand in the main hallway, adrenaline still singing through my veins from the flawless execution. The silence that follows isn't just the absence of gunfire. It's the presence of something new.

Partnership. Trust. The recognition that we're stronger together than any of us have ever been alone.

Blade appears first, moving with that predatory grace that never fails to make my pulse quicken. His eyes find mine, and he dips his chin in acknowledgment. Respect for what we've just accomplished.

Wild emerges from his position. The look he gives me is pure heat mixed with admiration.

"This is how it works between us," I say, the words coming from somewhere deep and certain. "I'm not choosing between you because I want you both. And you two need to stop seeing each other as competition and start seeing each other as backup."

The words hang in the air. A challenge and an invitation, combined.

Blade moves first, closing the distance between us. His hand cups my face, thumb tracing my cheekbone with devastating gentleness. "Both of us," he says, testing the words.

Wild steps closer, his hand finding my waist, possessive but not demanding. "I can work with that," he says, his eyes meeting Blade's over my head. "If he can."

"I've seen him fight," Blade says, his voice holding grudging respect. "He'll do."

I reach out, placing a hand on each of their chests, feeling their heartbeats sync with mine. Both men are solid, strong, utterly alpha—and finally working together instead of against each other.

"We're going to finish this. And we're going to do it together."

Blade's mouth curves in that dangerous smile that never fails to make my knees weak.

"Could get interesting."

Wild's laugh is low, promising, sending butterflies of need to my core.

"I'm counting on it."

The sound of approaching sirens announces the arrival of the cleanup crew. But for this moment, in the aftermath of our first victory as a united force, we stand together in the ruins of what we've been and the promise of what we're becoming.

They're mine. I'm theirs. And together, we're unstoppable.