Page 16 of Raven

I tried burying it. But it wouldn’t stay buried.

Slate had been a handler. A recruiter. A closer. The kind of man who operated in the grayest part of black ops. Last I heard, he’d gone off-grid after a compound fire in Guatemala—one I barely made it out of.

“You know him?” Raven asked.

His voice was calm.

His eyes were not.

I didn’t answer.

He stepped forward, not touching me, but close enough that I could feel the heat rolling off him.

“I looked him up,” he continued. “I saw the photo of that compound. I saw the symbol. Same one that was on the woman’s hand in the warehouse.”

He paused.

“Same symbol you saw. Same one you didn’t describe to me.”

I turned away, wrapping my arms around myself like I could block the memories clawing to the surface.

“You need to walk away, Raven. I don’t want you getting mixed up with these monsters.”

“No.”

I faced him, pulse pounding. “You don’t understand. This isn’t a case or a cartel hit. This is something else. These people aren’t just criminals. They’re... trained. Covered. Dangerous.”

“So are we,” he shot back.

“It’s not justmethey’ll come for. They’re evil. They do the dirty jobs for the same people who work for our government. They murder people without blinking.”

His voice dropped to a near growl. “They already came foryou.And now they’re here. Inmybackyard. Do you think I would let anyone hurt you? Hell no, I won’t. No one is getting near you.

I swallowed hard, trying to hold on.

But his next words shattered me.

“I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. Damn it, I care for you.”

Silence stretched between us. Heavy. Charged.

Raven stepped closer. His jaw tight. “Tell me the truth, Beatrice. All of it.”

I stared up at him.

I wanted to lie.

God, Iwantedto lie.

But I was tired.

Tired of running. Tired of hiding. Tired of pretending I wasn’t terrified every time I turned a corner. Tired of praying that they would leave me alone. I was nobody. Why couldn’t they leave me alone?

I exhaled.

And said the words I hadn’t spoken in six years.

“I used to work undercover for the government. It was mostly the CIA.”

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