Into the Lair (Falcon Mercenary Group #2)(67)

“We need someplace to stash Katie after he’s made his move,” Ian said grimly. “I don’t want her around when the shooting starts. I don’t want her anywhere that she’s in danger. Nothing is worth risking her.”

Eli nodded. “I understand, but we may not have a choice in the matter. You and Braden can cover her. Tits and I will take care of Esteban. We want him alive. The rest of his men are expendable.”

“Just understand I won’t sacrifice her for him,” Braden cut in. “We don’t know that he has a cure, and I’m not throwing her to the wolves in order to find out.”

Ian nodded his agreement.

Eli studied Braden for a moment and then included Ian in his scrutiny. “You guys seem…calmer. More stable. I don’t know. Something’s different. Are you still taking the sedative?”

Ian frowned and looked at Braden. Realization was slow in coming. Braden wasn’t sure he understood the implications.

“We haven’t taken it in days,” Ian said in a low voice.

“You haven’t shifted?” Eli asked sharply.

Braden shook his head. “No. I haven’t even felt one coming on. I haven’t felt threatened.”

Ian continued to stare at Braden, a brooding look on his face. There was hope but also a sense of confusion.

Braden looked down at his hands and up his arms as if he expected his skin to come alive, the crawling incessant itch that signaled a shift. And yet he felt nothing. He felt…normal.

“I don’t understand,” he said numbly. “Just days ago we were both so unstable that we had to take turns knocking each other out. Ian killed a man.”

Tits shrugged. “Don’t knock good fortune. Just keep the drugs handy, unless of course you’re staring at Esteban, and then feel free to let the kitty rip.”

“Alive,” Eli reminded Tits. “We need him alive. Too much is riding on what he knows.”

“You know how to ruin happy thoughts,” Tits grumbled. “I was getting all warm and fuzzy over the image of Esteban being kitty food.”

“I was rather fond of the idea myself,” Braden said.

Eli offered a half smile. “You can kill him after we’ve extracted the information we need.”

“I think I just came in my pants,” Tits said.

“You sure you just didn’t piss yourself in fear?” Braden smirked.

“Fuck you.” Tits shoved Braden’s shoulder. “Or better yet, let me f**k your girlfriend.”

Ian’s lip curled into a snarl. His eyes glittered with a feral light as he advanced on Tits.

“Well, shit,” Tits muttered. “How long did you say it had been since he shifted?”

Eli grabbed hold of Ian’s arm. “Calm down, man. He was joking.” He glanced at Braden for help, and Braden stepped forward, his hand going over Ian’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you go back inside,” Braden said quietly. “Check on Katie. Make sure she’s okay.”

The blaze died in Ian’s eyes and then he swore as he ran a hand through his hair. “Christ,” he muttered. “It’s her. She has us all sorts of f**ked up.”

Tits chuckled. “That’s what a woman does, my man. Puts more knots in your dick than a climbing rope.”

“Keep us posted, Eli,” Ian said as he started toward the cabin. “I don’t want to be caught with our pants around our ankles.”

“We’ll let you know if something goes down,” Eli said. “You and Braden stay safe.”

Braden watched as his brother mounted the steps to the cabin, and then he turned back to Tits and Eli. “He’s right. There’s something about Katie that either soothes us or sets us off. Doesn’t make a lot of sense, but there it is. Ian is particularly affected. If he thinks Katie’s in danger, he’s completely unpredictable. I’m saying all this because I’m not sure that when this all goes down that either of us will be any help. Which means Katie will be vulnerable. She’s going to need your help if Ian and I are out of commission.”

Eli put his hand on Braden’s shoulder. “We’ll keep her safe, Braden.”

Tits nodded his acknowledgement. Then he held up his fist to Braden’s. “We’re going to get on out of here and wait for Esteban to do his thing. Check you later.”

Braden bumped his fist. Eli and Tits climbed onto the snowmobiles and roared off over the snow, leaving Braden there standing there in the cold. He turned and slowly climbed the steps to the cabin.

In theory, the idea of using Katie to draw out Esteban was sound. In reality, it sucked. When she was a faceless entity, he had no compunction about using the sister of the man who’d betrayed them to flush out a rat. But she wasn’t a faceless, unimportant factor anymore. He didn’t want her at risk. He didn’t want her here at all. He wanted her someplace safe. He wanted her to have the security she’d never experienced.

Katie had posed the question. What happened after Esteban was no longer a threat? It was something he’d asked often enough himself. Only now he had the answer. He wasn’t letting her go. Her future was inexorably tied to his and Ian’s.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Tension she couldn’t ascribe to her own feelings had permeated the cabin. Katie glanced warily in the direction of Ian and Braden. Both men sat at the small table next to the window, eating in silence.