Soldier (Talon, #3)(61)

“Right,” I muttered, and shoved the earbuds in my ears, then adjusted the mic on the wire. “Can everyone hear me?” They all nodded or muttered affirmation. “Good. Stick to the plan, and remember, everyone stays in touch at all times. If this all goes horribly wrong—”

“We’re probably dead,” Wes remarked.

I rolled my eyes. “If things go wrong, get out and meet back at the hotel. If Talon realizes what we’re trying to do, they’ll send everything they can to stop us.” I took a quiet breath, narrowing my eyes at the building. “We only get one shot at this,” I murmured. “Let’s make it count. Wes, St. George. You’re up first.”

With a sigh, Wes slung his laptop bag over his shoulder, opened the car door and slipped out, heading for the library across the street. After a moment, the soldier stuck a baseball cap on his head and slid the side door open. Pausing in the frame, he glanced back at Ember and me and gave a small nod.

“Good luck,” he said, and he was actually talking to us both. “Be careful in there.”

“You, too,” Ember replied. “See you on the other side, Garret.”

This time, the brief smile was only for her. Stepping out, he slid the door shut behind him, hunched his shoulders and began walking toward the library with his head down and his hands in his pockets. He followed Wes up the steps and vanished through the door.

“All right,” I muttered, leaning back and crossing my arms. “Now we just gotta wait for Wes to hack into the security system. Shouldn’t take too long. I hope. So...” I pointed the mic away from me and lowered my voice to a murmur. “Now that we’re alone, away from Wes and the soldier, and we have a few minutes to kill...you wanna tell me what’s going on, Firebrand?”

I felt her freeze, hesitate and then stammer, “What—what do you mean?”

“Don’t give me that.” I half turned in the seat to face her. “You’ve been avoiding me ever since we left the monastery. Whenever I try to talk to you, it’s like I have the plague. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re never in the same room with me alone.” I made a vague gesture at the ceiling. “I mean, hell, Firebrand, you even started a conversation with Wes, about coding, to avoid having to talk to me.” She dropped her gaze, and I frowned. “What did that Asian dragon say to you the day of the attack?” I asked, making her flinch. “Because I’m racking my brain to come up with a reason here. What did she say to make you freak out on me?”

“Riley...” Ember looked out the window, her brow furrowed. “I can’t...tell you right now,” she murmured. “Besides, don’t we have more important things to focus on? I mean, it’s not something I can casually throw out there just before we pull off a heist.”

“All right, fair enough.” She did have a point. “But just remember...” Reaching out, I touched her cheek, making her start and look up at me. “I won’t forget. When we’re done here, you’re going to tell me, Ember. I don’t like this keeping-secrets thing. We’re supposed to be partners. I need to know I can trust my team completely. Hiding things from each other can easily get one or all of us killed.”

For some reason, that made her cheeks turn the color of a tomato. “Yeah,” she whispered, pulling back. “I know. I’ll tell you soon, Riley, I promise. It’s something you need to hear, just...not right now. When we’re done, I’ll explain everything.”

“Riley,” Wes’s voice buzzed in my ear, quiet and tense. “I’m in.”

“Copy that,” I said, turning the mic toward me once more. “We’re on our way.” Glancing at Ember, who looked relieved at the interruption, I smiled grimly. “Ready, Firebrand?”

She nodded and pulled up the hood on her jacket, hiding her flaming hair. Grabbing my backpack, I opened the door, slung the pack to one shoulder and headed across the street with Ember beside me.

“Approaching the front doors now,” I muttered into the mic. “We’ll pass the entrance and the front camera in about twenty seconds, Wes.”

“Got it,” Wes replied tersely. “Starting the feedback loop...now. All right, you should be good.”

I held my breath as we swept through the front doors, deliberately not looking at the camera I knew was hidden right above us, watching the entrance. Nothing happened, except for an oblivious teenager nearly running into me because his face was glued to his phone. I smoothly stepped around him and headed into the library. It was cool and quiet inside, with bright florescent lights, a high ceiling, and shelves of books lining the walls and marching down the floors.

“We’re in,” I murmured as Ember and I passed the checkout desk, where a stern, white-haired librarian eyed us from behind her glasses, silently warning us not to cause trouble.

“Wes, can you see the elevator room?”

“I’m hacked into the security system,” Wes replied. “I can see the whole bloody library, including...oh, wait. Some bloke just came into the elevator room.”

“Now?” I growled. “He’s early.”

“Yeah, well, you need to get moving, because the blighter just went down the elevator. That means someone will be coming up in a couple minutes.”

“Dammit. All right, heading to the back now. Where’s St. George?”