Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(80)
Author: Gena Showalter

I heard a rustle of clothes. Rome’s transformation must be complete; he must be dressing.

"Christian," he said. "I need light. But light no one outside our shadows can see."

"Keeping my light inside my brother’s shadows will weaken me."

"That’s a chance I have to take. I don’t want to risk hurting you guys with the weapons I’m about to ready."

A ray of gold suddenly glowed from the boy, breaking through the shadows Hans had created. Gold no one but us could see.

Rome, once again clad in all black, dug through a bag and began strapping weapons all over his body.

My heart swelled with love. Despite everything that had happened and everything I feared would happen, I did still love this fierce and determined man.

He tugged on a pair of boots. "We’re going to stick together." He was all business. "Tanner and Elaine, watch the rear. Hans, watch the left and right. Christian – never mind. Save your strength. Jean-Luc, you’re to guard Belle with your motherfucking life. Understand?" I was both irked and touched as the two men shared an intense look.

Jean-Luc nodded.

"I’ll take the lead," Rome finished, already moving forward. "Drop the shadows." They fell away, the world around us once again becoming my focus. Nothing had changed. The building was still torn apart, the guards around us unconscious or dead. In fact, this area looked and sounded abandoned. That surprised me. Had we already dispatched everyone or were they somewhere else, waiting for us? I doubted we were lucky enough to have won the battle so easily.

Christian chose that moment to collapse from the effort of lighting the darkness and Tanner dragged him to the side of the building and propped him up. Gave him a gun and told him to shoot if anyone approached him.

"What should I do?" I asked, slipping two knives from the side slits in my pants and gripping them tightly.

"Stay alive," was all Rome said. Before I could work up a good steam, he added, "I texted Cody and told him to make sure Desert Gall was here. You’re the only one who can fight her. She’ll drain us of our water, and we’ll crumple, but you won’t have to touch her to take her down." Was I hearing him correctly? He was trusting me to fight, believing in me, allowing me to be an agent rather than a girlfriend. It was…both wonderful and saddening, I realized. Almost surreal. Before, Rome would not have done that. He would have stuck me in a safe place and left me there until the action ended.

I wasn’t sure if this meant he accepted the "different" girl I was and had faith in her, or if he’d decided we were no longer meant to be together.

"We can shoot her," Tanner said. "That way Belle won’t have to engage in a catfight." Rome shook his head. "Cody gave me the lowdown on the compound and if Desert Gall is where I think she is, gunfire would cause the entire building to explode." I’d been so happy when Rome agreed I should be part of the fight, but this was more than I’d bargained for. One false move…"Should we be using guns now? "

"I’ll tell you when to put them away. Don’t be scared, and don’t get trigger-happy and shoot me. One thing in our favor, there aren’t as many guards tonight as Cody had led me to expect." Rome moved to the lead, looked around. "We were able to freeze some of her accounts, and it looks like some of her men abandoned her when she couldn’t pay up."

When he darted forward to finally enter the building, the entire group followed as though we’d been tugged. Everyone remained on high alert. Around us, there were cages – empty. Lab coats hanging on hooks. Wall-to-wall computer systems and machines I could not identify. There were even tables with ankle and wrist restraints, and I couldn’t stop a shudder from traveling down my spine.

We cased the length of one hallway, then another, only Rome entering the offices we encountered, roving the barrel of his gun over the spaces.

"Nice try," I heard him say in one of them. Then, Pop. Whiz. Grunt.

I was wide-eyed as he emerged. He was careful not to look at me.

"Guard was hiding, and could have later ambushed us," he explained to the group before starting forward again.

Just like before, we followed as though we’d been tugged. Twice, Tanner had to shoot in the direction he was guarding – but only because he missed the first time. Three times, Jean-Luc had to fire off a round as doctors and guards emerged from corners and shadows to escape the little pockets of fire still blazing from the bomb. Even Hans had to shoot. He hit his target dead-on.

Gotta say, he and his brother impressed me. I’d expected them to slow us down, but they’d done more for this mission than I had.

Your turn is coming.Was Desert Soon-to-be-Dead Gall still here or had she bolted when the alarm went off? She was probably here, I decided a moment later. If Cody had gotten her here, he wouldn’t have let her leave.

I needed to keep my fear on a tight leash. Water fed her, strengthened her, so throwing ice balls at her would probably cause her energy levels to spike. Sadness was out, too. Making it rain on her would be like signing my own death warrant.

That left fire, wind and/or earth. Fire – I’d need fury. Wind – I’d need the perfect blend of anger, happiness and sadness. Earth – I’d need jealousy.

"You okay?" Jean-Luc whispered to me. His eyes roved left and right, watchful. "You’re pale." I sheathed my gun at the waist of my pants, angling it to my back. "Just trying to decide what element I need for my upcoming catfight, as Tanner calls it."

"Any front-runners?"

Yeah, I just didn’t want to admit it. But there was no help for it. "Fire, most likely. It creates ash, the total opposite of what Desert Asshat needs for strength."

He snorted as he performed another quick left-right scan, then a backward glance. He moved another inch in front of me. "What emotion do you need for that? Fury, right?"

"That’s right." We turned a corner, our steps slowing.

He nodded, seemed to think things over for a moment, his gun sliding in sync with his gaze. "Rome doesn’t like that you’re an agent."

My eyes narrowed. "You can’t know that. You gave him back his memories, which means they can’t be inside you. You don’t know what he’s feeling."

"Oh, really? Well, guess what, sugar? I wrote everything down. I knew the time would come that I’d have to give them back to make you happy, and I didn’t want to forget a thing about you. So I wrote everything down and read it all. The. Time. I’ve memorized his memories. Rome didn’t want you to be an agent. He was thinking about swooping you up and carrying you and his daughter off to a hideaway." Shocked to the core, I sent my gaze to the man in question. All I could see was the stiff line of his back and the side of his face as he performed the same left-and-right scan as Jean-Luc at the end of the hallway to decide where to go.