Page 7 of Shadow Warrior
Two
Promise me you’ll be smart, Brady had said.
In other words, don’t do anything stupid. I paced the troop quarters, hands on hips. Thomas wasn’t in the fortress any longer, Harmon was in the dungeon, and I was here, doing nothing.
The rotation had just gone up, and tomorrow, I’d have to ship out to barracks six in sector two with the guys. Lloyd had already gone ahead, which was why he hadn’t been at the assembly earlier. We were supposed to just get on with it.
But how could I act like nothing had happened? How could I go without seeing Harmon, without making sure he was okay?
Carlo sat at the table by the window doing neat tricks with a pack of cards. The rustling sound it made was almost soothing.
Almost.
“Quit it, Justice,” Carlo drawled. “You’re wearing out the rug.”
“There is no rug.”
“Just as well, or you’d wear it out.”
Devon entered the room, jeans slung low on his hips, rubbing his wet hair with a towel. His chest was bare, hairless, and tanned. The guy had abs for days, but my mind was on Harmon. My gaze slipped off Devon’s muscled frame like water off a duck’s back.
“You know things are bad when Devon’s abs don’t get a reaction,” Carlo said.
Devon slung the towel around his neck and stared at me.
“What?” I threw up my hands. “I’m agitated, okay?”
He took a deep breath as if coming to a decision. “I can get a key.”
I came to a halt. “What?” Was he saying what I think he was saying?
“Devon …” Carlo had stopped playing with the cards.
Devon ignored him. “I can get a key. But we go between two a.m. and four a.m. My uncle likes to run at that time. He’ll be out. We take the key, and we sneak in. You see Harmon, and we get out.”
“Devon, what the fuck?” Carlo was on his feet now. The easygoing, nothing-fazes-him guy looked seriously concerned. “If you get caught, you’re both fucked.”
“Then come with,” Devon said. “Play lookout.”
“I’ll go with Uncle.” Aidan sauntered into the room from his bedroom.
Devon nodded as if it was perfectly normal for Aidan to walk into the room and join the conversation. How the fuck had he even known what we were talking about?
Carlo threw up his hands in despair. “The fuck?”
“I’ll make sure he stays out,” Aidan said.
Carlo tugged at his mohawk, which he’d dyed deep purple. “Brady is so going to kick our asses.”
Guilt tightened my chest. No … I’d made a promise to be smart, and this was a smart plan. Loopholes.
I glanced at the clock. Midnight. Two hours before we could implement our plan.
It was going to be the longest two hours of my life.
* * *
Devinand I hid in the shadows by the side staircase a few meters away from the solid oak door that led down to the basement.
