Nix. (Den of Mercenaries Book 3)(30)

“Not necessarily.”

Though she did made up a significant part.

Zachariah sighed. “Whatever Uilleam has planned, I don’t think you should be getting in the middle of it. It’s one thing going up against enemies we know, it’s an entirely different matter when it’s ones you don’t. Your brother’s going to be the death of me.”

Uilleam would be the death of them all if they weren’t careful.

“I’ll keep an eye on what’s he doing and try to find out anything on what he has planned. If it’s something worth knowing, I’ll inform you.”

“And the girl?” Zachariah asked.

“I’ll train her as I said. She may be weak in body, but her mind is another matter.” She wasn’t folding just yet, and that showed promise. “Once I think she’s ready for you, I’ll send her to the compound for your final approval.”

His uncle grunted his affirmation before getting to his feet. “I’ll see you in a month’s time.”

“She won’t be ready by then,” Kit said. “How you manage to cram years worth of study into such a short period of time, I’ll never know.”

Some of the mercenaries that came out of the Den were highly skilled, though green when it came to the savage parts of their jobs. Often, Kit didn’t think they were ready to see field time—it had taken him more than a year before he was even given his first assignment.

“When do you expect to be ready then?” Zachariah asked. “You can save me unnecessary trips.”

“Six months at the earliest.” There was a lot of ground to cover.

Laughing, Zachariah shook his head. “Uilleam is not going to like that.”

Kit shrugged. “You’ve often told me I shouldn’t concern myself with Uilleam’s feelings—why start now?”





Chapter Eight





Luna didn’t see Kit again after Zachariah came, though the man didn’t stay very long. He had disappeared as quickly as the other man had, making Luna wonder where he had gone.

When had she begun to miss him?

Luna didn’t fully understand that this was the emotion she was feeling, not at first. She attributed it to melancholy, her desire to start training.

But, she soon realized that wasn’t the case because Aidra soon requested that she start exercising with The Wild Bunch. At first, that had been enough to deter her interest for a bit, but not long enough that she was no longer thinking about Kit.

It wasn’t until she found herself glancing out the windows every few hours, thinking that Kit would shop up at any moment.

She missed him.

Missed seeing him every morning for breakfast.

Missed finding him down in the gym or the pool as he worked out.

And worse, he hadn’t been gone very long, not even a week.

Pathetic.

There were more important things to be worrying about—mainly the training that still hadn’t really started rather than where he was.

Already, her mind had seized on different ideas about what the training would consist of, but thoughts wouldn’t live up to the real thing, she knew.

But until Kit was ready …

As had become her custom, she was tucked away in the library when Kit finally returned, finding her in her usual spot.

There was something different about him—maybe it was the way he walked, with a sort of confidence that couldn’t be ignored. He didn’t stop until he was close enough to lean against the chair she sat in.

There was a touch of a smile on his lips as he asked, “Would you like a gift?”

Sometimes, Kit said things that caught her off guard, but she was generally able to find an answer. This time, he’d stumped her. “Sorry?”

“A gift—would you like one? I can’t imagine you’ve had many over the last three years. If you’d like, you can consider it an early birthday present.”

“Thanks, but why are you giving me a gift.”

He had a gentle expression as he said, “I could say it has something to do with your training, but that wouldn’t be entirely true, would it? My motives are completely selfish.”

Luna almost laughed. “Kit, you’re not making any sense.”

“Then let me show you.”

He offered her his hand, palm side up.

Kit didn’t force her to take it, nor did he ask her to, merely stood there and waited as though he knew the inevitable.

After the briefest of hesitations where she wondered just what kind of gift he had for her, she took his hand.

Luna stayed a couple steps behind him even as she kept hold of his hand, following him out of the library and down two flights of stairs until they were walking alongside the pool towards a hidden archway that she hadn’t noticed until now.

The temperature had seemed to drop during their journey down, but she didn’t complain, nor did she question what was happening.

There were a set of doors at the end of the hallway, heavy metal with a handle like that of a bank vault. There was even a magnetic keypad to the right of it that Kit had to lay his hand on before gears shifted, and the door started opening itself.

It wasn’t until the gap grew bigger, the muscles in his arm straining as he pushed the heavy metal open that she could hear the muffled screams coming from inside.