Tremble (Denazen #3)(69)

When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine, wrapping a strand of my hair around his index finger. “Are you okay?”

It was hard to hear the concern he had for her—fake or not—but I kept my voice even. This was an act. He had a part to play, and for the sake of all our survival, he had to be flawless. “Of course. Like that little—”

“Not too tired?” he asked, voice lower. “From the switch?”

It took me a second, but when I realized what he was asking my heart sped up. “How—”

He pulled back. I could see his whole face now and not just the dazzling blue of his eyes. “I know my girl.”

I know my girl.

Those four simple words were nearly enough to make me forget where we were and melt into him, but I pushed off the wall and nodded down the hallway.

“The panel room,” he said. “We should make sure our guest stays asleep for a while.”

I nodded, not sure what he meant, and let him tug me down the hall. We climbed a set of stairs, then wound around to another hallway and knocked on the second door twice before pushing through.

A petite brunette looked up from her magazine as we walked in. “Kale,” she said with a flirty smile. “Welcome home.”

“Devin. Kiernan is being uncooperative at the moment, and Roz needs a break,” he said to her. She sat in front of a large panel of buttons. There were a million of them. Every shape, size, and color you could imagine. Some were blinking, some unlit—all looked ominous.

With an unimpressed roll of her eyes, she looked me up and down and said, “Of course she does.”

Huh. Apparently people here didn’t think much of my sister.

“She’s in containment room D,” Kale said. “Put her under.”

Devin nodded and snapped her fingers. A moment later she winked at Kale. “Done. She should take a nice nap.” To me, in a much cooler tone, she said, “You probably have a few hours, but don’t stretch it. Cross wants that info pronto.”

“Believe me, so do I.” Adding a wicked grin, I said, “And it’ll be so much fun getting it.”

We left Devin to her job—whatever it was—and headed up another flight of stairs. “Have you found it yet?” I whispered as we pushed through the door at the top. I had no clue where we were or where we were headed, but I hoped it was right out the back door.

He shook his head. “It was moved—but I know where. A little harder to get to but not impossible.”

“What are you doing up here?”

I froze, stopping short as Dad, in a meticulously pressed suit and a sprinkle of newly gray hair, stepped into our path.

“She wasn’t playing fair, Daddy.” I flashed him a sly smile and a wink. “I told her I was off to spend some quality time with my boy. I figure I’ll let her stew for a bit, then go back and hit her hard.”

A curt nod, and then he brushed past us. “I have a meeting with the heads of the European divisions in half an hour. I’m taking it from home. There are too many distractions here, but I’ll be back in three hours. Make sure you have that information by then. I want to move forward.”

Without waiting for an answer, true to form, Dad stalked away, head high and shoulders squared. Kale waited until my dad was through the door at the bottom, then pulled me forward. “This is perfect. The vial was moved to his office. No one goes up there except him and a select few.”

“Yeah but I’m sure it’s locked. I can mimic the handle to get us in though.”

“No need.” He reached into his pocket, and a second later produced a small silver key.

I planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “Hot and resourceful.”

The hall was deserted as we made our way to Dad’s office. Once there, with one last look over his shoulder, Kale jammed the key into the lock and swept me inside.

“There’s a hidden safe,” he said, crossing the floor in three long strides. Without missing a beat, he began running his hands along the wall. “I’m not sure where, only that it’s here. Aubrey said they moved the vial yesterday.”

I scanned the room. “Well, how hard could it be to find?”

We set to searching. Kale took one end of the room and I took the other. We went from corner to corner, respectively, then switched in case the other missed something. Apparently, the safe was very hard to find.

“I know it’s here,” Kale snapped. He was in the corner by Dad’s bookcase, running his hands along the bottom of each shelf. When he came up empty-handed, he stood and kicked the corner. “Damn it!”

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to hearing Kale curse. I made my way to him, taking his hands in mine. With a squeeze, I said, “It’s okay. We’ll find it.”

Something tapped against the back of my hand. His fingers. One. Two. Three. “Lives depend on finding it. Your life depends on finding it. How can you be so calm?”

“Calm? Trust me, I’m not as calm as I seem. I’m actually kind of a mess.”

The tapping stopped and he reached across to cup my cheek. “A mess? No. Not even close, Dez.”

This was dirty pool on the universe’s part. To push us together after being pulled apart for so long. All I wanted to do in that moment was kiss him. Thankfully it was one of the few moments lately that I didn’t find distraction plaguing me. I was able to pull away. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”