Page 22 of Ashfall
His laugh rumbles over me. “Natalia isn't my girlfriend, Brodie.” He glances at the ground, swallowing deeply. “She's ameans to get by.” His eyes come to meet mine, and they flicker all over my face, searching my reaction.
“Wow, romantic. I hope she knows that. Women don’t tend to shoot other women for a man unless they were besotted by them.” Smirking, his focus goes to my lips, his tongue darts out to wet his bottom lip before coming back up to look at me. “That jealousy really does turn me on by the way.”
I shove him out of my safe circle. “You really need to get your fucking head checked out.” I bark. When I look at him, his features are soft, a lopsided grin showing – it threatens my own. Stirring a yearning in me that was long forgotten. How normal those last few seconds felt between us.
This is dangerous. This feels too much like us - before everything became a shipwreck. His phone chimes, causing him to bite back a curse as he eyes fix over my shoulder. “I need to go, but contact me when you're ready to talk.” He pulls his woolen mask over his head as he walks away from me. I follow his route and watch him open a gate, leaning down to pick up a pair of bolt cutters as he heads off into the woods, not looking back at me once. There's an urge itching in my feet to follow him, to see where he's headed to. Instead, I head back to find Hawk. We've got a mission to plan.
A couple of hours pass, and I finally get Hawk and the rest of the team together. Half of me whispers to myself, go, meet him alone, but the other half reminds me of what happened last time. I need the unit. Besides, I’ve just been handed an opportunity of a lifetime - I might as well reap the benefits for all of us. I check the hallway one last time before stepping back in. Everyone’s here. Blitz eyes me from the camping chair, sprawled out in her bright yellow PJs. “Nyx, are you okay? Why are you acting weird?” I raise a brow, firing back. “If I’m weird, what does that make you?”
She laughs, shoving another spoonful of cereal into her mouth. “Unique, honey. Unique.”
I roll my eyes, exhaling as I push my unruly hair away from my face. “Alright. I’m trusting you guys with this, and I get that the timing isn’t ideal, especially with Graves’s warning to you, Hawk.” Hawk nods, but without the wary reaction I expected. I take a deep breath - here goes nothing. “Noc was here.” Phantom and Adam both simultaneously shout, “What!'” Blitz mouth is too full, but I think the squawk she made was supposed to match what the guys said. Hawk, he remains silent, letting me continue.
“Nothing happened. But he did ask me to meet him. Said he needs to speak to me about everything. That he needs to tell mehistruth, and to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what he meant. But I need to know. I need to see if I can get anything out of him. Not just for me, but for us as a team. I could try and get him to give up Volokov and anything else he has planned. Anything that could help us.” The room erupts - voices overlapping, everyone firing off reasons why this is reckless, why it’s a trap. Blitz chokes, coughing hard as Adam slaps her back, still ranting, though I barely register his words. I’m focused on Hawk. What he says goes.
He's lost in thought, legs crossed at the ankles as he runs over the information in his head. My voice remains steady. “He gave me his home address, and his number is now in my phone. I asked to meet him there to test him. He didn't even hesitate or object. I said we could head somewhere in the inner city, a place of my choosing that he doesn't get to know about. One of you guys can be disguised as transport. Find an agreed area where you can all be on overwatch. As soon as I get everything I need, I'll give a signal. We bring him in for good.” The high-level overview of my plan has Adam and Phantom in silence, thinking it over. Blitz looks at Hawk. “What are you thinking, sir?”
He still hasn't said a word. The silence makes me shift on my feet, getting impatient. “We’re going to track them in a couple of days anyway, why not get ahead of it? I don't want you to get reprimanded by Graves, Hawk. But I need to do this. I understand if you reject it, but I thought I’d give you the courtesy this time – but I will sneak out.” His eyes fly to mine, legs uncrossing as he gets up to stand.
“I'm not worried about Graves, and there will be no sneaking around.” He paces back and forth in front of the map, looking it over, then checking his watch. “Krestovsky Island is a four-hour drive. Graves will be back in 48 hours. You all get some rest; we'll leave here at 0700 hours.” he turns back around to us. “I'll go over the finer details and we'll discuss in the morning. You contact him and let him know it’s tomorrow.”
We’rean hour into the drive, all of us packed into the land cruiser as we head towards our destination. “I'll arrange for a cab to drop you at the front of the house, Nyx. I've got an alarm with us; when you're getting supplies from town, get a bracelet, a watch or something. Adam can attach it for you.” I look over my shoulder at Adam, he nods to me, worry is vibrating from him, he doesn't like this one bit. “Got it sir.” I turn back to face the front as Hawk goes on. “Adam, download the software onto her phone as well.” He taps my shoulder from the back and I hand him my phone, he plugs it into his laptop that’s balancing on his knees as Blitz leans over to watch what he's doing.
“Got any nudes in that phone, Nyx?”
I bark out a tense laugh, my body coiling with agitation. “Feel free to snoop, Blitz. Nothing exciting there I’m afraid.”
She tuts. “Boring, I need entertainment on this drive. You guys wanna see mine?”
“No!” Everyone erupts at the same time, except Adam who asks, “Why do you have nudes on your phone?”
Blitz blushes, ''That’s for me to know, and you to find out.'' Phantom shuffles uncomfortably right up against the door. “Come on guys, don’t make me a third wheel back here. I ain't sitting listening to this shit for three more hours.”
I smile when I look at Hawk, he's fighting back his amusement and failing miserably. “If anyone heard the conversations you guys have, they would honestly never guess you're highly trained killing machines in a special ops force.” My smile grows even larger as I say, “That’s the whole part of the mystery Hawk, we'll either kill you with our hands or with our poor attempts at humor.”
We entered the rented apartment in the inner city just over three hours later, it was the only thing we could get at such short notice to fit us all in the one space. We have a top floor building. It’s a trendy loft with open plan space. The interior is all exposed brick - iron beams and tall windows framed in black steel. The living room has a grey sectional couch with a weathered coffee table in the middle. A small kitchen sits off to the side, all black and white monochrome.
There's a door to my right and I open it to see it’s a bathroom; Phantom is checking the other ones as he's doing what he does best - picking the best room. “I’m gonna start calling you little red riding hood, Phantom.” Hawk calls over his shoulder as he brings in the cases of equipment. That remark earns him a middle finger as Phantom shouts some obscenities from his chosen room. I take the smaller one off to the left-hand side of the living space, only needing it to get ready. Blitz knocks on my door. “You wanna head out and grab some supplies? I’ll come with you and get some food to bring back here whilst the guys go over the final plans.”
I grab my wallet and purse as I head to her. ''Sure, and did you say food?”
She grins, flashing her pearly white teeth. “Why do you think I’m joining you?” We’re back within the hour, the guys grumbling when they see my clothing bag - until Blitz flashes the food haul. Cheers erupt, and their protests are forgotten. The ready meals at base keep us going, but this is a welcome change. Blitz hangs my dress on the back of the door while I toss the rest of the bags onto my bed. I take a quick shower - hot enough to erase the tension from my muscles. I shave everything, wash my hair, let the steam wrap around me. I need to be sharp tonight. And this is all part of a calculated plan.
Stepping into my room, heat curling in the air behind me, I drop into the chair in front of the mirror, towel wrapped around me as my fingers comb through damp strands, I focus on steadying my breathing. Whatever happens, I need to be ready for all possibilities. I’ve been so busy, going over the plans and escape routes if I need them, heading out shopping with Blitz because - cargos and a tank weren't going to cut the deal apparently. Plus it would look suspicious.
Reality sinks in. I’m finally going to get the answers I need. To hear, from his own mouth, who Noc really is, why he did what he did, and why he left. I wrangle between relief, relentless curiosity, and downright exasperation. Adam and I no longer need to gamble our lives searching for the truth, but the part of me desperate to understand wants every detail, every hidden thread that might make sense of it all. And yet, anxiety gnaws at the edges. I have no idea how I’ll handle the truth when it comes.
There’s no excuse on this earth I’ll accept from him regarding my mother. None. An apology in blood won’t even come close to cutting it. But his words from earlier loop in my mind -You don’t know the whole truth. You’ve been told a lie. It doesn’t makesense. Yet, I know I’ve only ever had the key points. The lower-level details? Something I didn’t get.
The door knocks and I tighten the towel around me, Hawk stands at the threshold when I open the door. “You good?” I step back, letting him in as I drop to the chair, continuing with my hair and makeup. He strolls over to the bed, eyeing the mess strewn across it, but doesn’t comment. Instead, he gets straight to the point. “Nyx, if you go in there, and whatever he tells you makes you change your mind. That’s ok y’know.”
I pause, frowning at him through the mirror. “Why would I change my mind?”
He exhales, like he’s buffering to choose his words carefully. “I don’t know. You both have history. You've already had a chance to kill him, and you couldn’t. It’s hard, I get it. Letting someone go who you know has done you wrong is one thing. But to put them away, kill them even. Takes a different kind of human to do that.” His gaze drifts, momentarily lost in thought. “Technically I shouldn't even be letting you do this, some might consider you compromised.” He gives me a pointed look, and I roll my eyes. “What I’m trying to say is, if you decide you can’t do it yourself, you know what to do. You sound the alarm. I'll come in and get him. But we need himalive, Nyx. So do not shoot or stab him. At any time. That’s an order.” I don’t laugh, because, truthfully, I might. If he pushes the wrong button, flips that switch. “I can't promise that, Hawk. But I’ll make sure it's not fatal, just for you.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
nyx
