Page 43 of Ashfall
When my eyes glance up, James and Burrows’s faces are devoid of all colors, all expressions. The shade matches the four white walls that cage us in this interrogation room, the last of the spoken words hanging heavy like a thick stench. Burrows leans forward, playing it one more time. He finally leans back, raising his hand to wipe the sweat that’s formed on his forehead. The silence in the room is deafening. The realization that’s smacked them in the face can only be described as a look of sheer, utter horror. Noc leans forward to pick up the phone. "There's more. However, it also contains evidence of one of your operators being killed by none other than Graves. And I'd like to not have to play that whilst Nyx is in the room.”
I tense my jaw muscles at the fact that her last moments were also picked up, but I’m grateful when James shakes his head. “Jesus fucking Christ!” He slams his fists against the metal desk, the papers and phones catapulting into the air before they scatter all over. “That bastard. He's had us all fooled, for years. I knew he was ambitious, but I had no idea it stretched this much. And a weapon? What does he mean by weapon?”
Noc looks between them both as he explains just how much danger they’ve let pass through their borders. “Volokov has a chemical weapon planted somewhere, here in the US I assume. The exact location is not something I've been able to gatherintel on. But I can tell you, whatever information around bases Graves sent to Volokov, will possibly be the key. We’ve managed to secure his laptop, but he’s likely already wiped the files remotely.” He takes a deep, steadying breath, eyes piercing into the soul of General James. “And if Graves has men protecting the weapon, they're likely doing so unknowingly.”
Burrows looks like he's about to pass out, but manages to find his voice and speak, whilst James paces back and forth in thought behind him. “Where exactly does Nyx come into this for Graves?” My skin prickles the entire time Noc repeats the exact same words he told me in his office, how Graves killed my mother and planned to have me kidnapped, earn his position as General of the armies and then traffic me for some side cash - to put it bluntly.
James pulls the chair out, it screeches along the floor, the sound mirroring nails going along a chalkboard. He flops down on it and stares up at the ceiling, like it will rain down the answers he needs if he looks long enough. Burrows snatches his phone and makes a call to intelligence, ordering them to collect the laptop and search the files remotely. “Pull everything.” The phone slams down on the table, and he levels us with a gaze, one that holds a hint of self-assurance.
“After Graves came to us with your file, Nocturne, every laptop and device issued by us held a microchip inside it. It would upload every piece of data to a protected central database.” James seems to be done with his bargaining with the ceiling, breaking his long silent stance to finally speak. “Only myself and Burrows are aware of that fact. That information is otherwise classified. We should be able to search the device, anything deleted from it will be held remotely. It will, however, take time to extract. The chip works on a weekly upload. I’ll have intelligence speed up the process.” I close my eyes for a moment,thankful that at least one positive worked in our favor from Noc being framed.
James eventually flicks through Noc’s file on the desk, which I notice is thinner than the ones we each had. His fingers pause, and my eyes dart to study the page he’s analyzing. I recognize the Black Talon logo on the top. James glares at Noc, one eyebrow raised in question. “What is this?” Every set of eyes focuses on Noc, who hasn’t shifted position from the moment he sat down. “That, General, is the covert mission General Voss was planning to execute to detain Graves. All the names included are aware and waiting for its initiation. Some, as you’ll notice, have died for the cause.” My eyes squint to read the faint black writing, but from this angle, it’s too obstructed.
I assume it’s the original names I witnessed, along with the rest of Ashfall. James slides the folder over to Burrows, his expression remaining like stone, eyes never leaving Noc. Burrows scans it intently, the time he spends reading it over has the air in the room coming to a complete halt. He finally closes the file, eyes locking with James, an unknown conversation seeming to wordlessly pass between them. Eventually, James nods. He rises to his feet, pulling out his phone, the only sound following him is the tap of the buttons beneath his fingers. He closes the door with a soft click, and my senses heighten. I feel his footsteps shake the floor beneath me as he makes his way down the corridor.
Burrows turns his attention to Noc. His voice stern for the first time since we sat down and let the floodgates of revelations free. “You better sit up fucking straight, Nocturne. Because aCommanderof a unit like this one, has better posture than yours. Or has your time running around behind Volokov made you forget every damn thing this army taught you?” His fingers drum off the paper, the white sheet which holds the covert mission my mother spent the last months of her life building.
Hell, his tone even has me straightening my spine, and I turn to Noc. My eyes roll over him suspiciously. Is that why he was so damn cool coming in here? He knew they'd believe him after the recording? Backed up with the evidence and mission my mother signed off on? Or was this the sheer, dumb luck mixed with arrogance that usually accompanies anything Nocturne does. Like always, he reads my mind, sitting up, he winks at me - then morphs himself back into the lore that is Nocturne.
My brows furrow, my eyes darting between Noc and Burrows, the latter's words echoing in my mind again.
“Wait… Did you say, Commander?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
nyx
“Ican't believe I need to call you fucking Commander,” Hawk whines as he passes the door Noc enters, the latter responding by shouting something completely absurd, not something you’d hear a Commander casually drop as he closes the door. His deep, velvety laugh fills our room, wrapping me in its silk-like feeling. I can't believe it either if I'm honest, and the thought has a smile tugging on my lips. We spent another hour in that room, James and Burrows going through every file with a fine-tooth comb. Then bringing in the rest of our unit to update them that we were no longer classed as hostile. The smug look Hawk shot the both of us, felt like we’d all managed to bring the world to rights for that moment. Once it was evident that no stone was left unturned, and all cards were on the table, we’d initiate the next step in our mission. Adam also provided them with all the footage he had stored, along with Graves's attempt to turn us all into ash.
And just like we suspected, Graves’s laptop was clean. Intelligence is currently bringing forward the upload, while the other half of their team is reviewing the information leaked to Volokov that Noc already had access to. Over the years, itseems that seven states were exchanged with outlines of all their bases. These leaks included information on all our largest known holdings. Their next task is to review areas of interest, and any indication of the type of chemical weapon being used, along with our historic data on Volokov. That should allow us to narrow down potential targets. Then, once we get into Graves's recently uploaded files, we should be able to identify the weapon type and the exact area … hopefully.
James has tasked a team along with chemical warfare to be on standby for interception, and all private security firms that have been hired out in the area of the bases are being reviewed. And Ashfall? It is no more. We're now operating under the nameBlack Talon. The irony isn’t lost on me. The old of our unit was described like deposits of volcanic ash. Tiny, sharp particles of rock and glass that fall around an area after an eruption. Hazardous to anyone it encounters. I bet Graves didn’t think my mother would haunt him from the beyond, and that his own team would be the ones to deliver justice.
My hearing was also confirmed not to be at a loss, Nocturne was officially named as Commander of our unit in accordance with my mother's last wishes, Hawk still holding his position of Executive Officer. Adam, Phantom, Rhaine, Hunter and I now report to them as one team. And as if our previous special ops title wasn't dark enough, we've now gone full shadow on the orders of Burrows. He called the President and filled him in on everything that Graves has done, and when he found out how I was intended to be used? He told Burrows to execute the plan with any force necessary, giving him an unlimited budget to bring Graves in and to locate the weapon.
Apparently, it didn’t sit well when he learned that I was the daughter of General Voss and the man who once saved his life - he was furious with Graves. Pair that with the fact that one of our own has managed to fool an entire army - and was currentlyrunning wild with a weapon of mass destruction at his fingertips - and he almost lost his damn mind.
We have our own private quarters at the Seattle base, and we’re currently assigned recovery while we wait for an update from intelligence. All eyes are hunting for Graves. And whilst we await the call, I’m taking full advantage of not being stuck in a rotten, thrown together base in a substation in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, and actually enjoying being contained within the walls of the base. The rooms in here are of a better standard for VIP and Tier-1 operators. The walls are the same cream plaster as any of the others, but the layout is much more modern and spacious. When I first arrived, I spent so long in the scalding hot shower that my skin still has steam fuming it. And I'm about to destress with Noc after our whirlwind of a day the best way I know how.
He strolls over to our now conjoined single beds, the backs of his knees hitting the edge and throwing him down onto the mattress, a long sigh following him. “I've not missed this military shit, that’s for sure,” he says as he pushes to rest on his elbows, head whipping forward when he notices I'm on my knees in between his spread thighs. My hands slowly scrape my unruly hair into a ponytail, watching as his lips tilt into that smirk. My heart takes a misstep in its usual dance at what that smirk does to me. Once I secure the band, pulling my hair in half tightly, I slide my hands up his legs and slowly begin to unbuckle his belt.
“Does that mean I have to call you Sir from now on, Lev?”
His eyes instantly heat with a lust that locks in with my own. “Shit, as long as you're on your knees, you can call me whatever you want.” I laugh as I yank his trousers down his legs. He leans up and pulls the shirt off his head in one swift motion, leaving his perfectly fixed hair a ruffled mess, the tousled strands making my fingers itch to drag through them.
He's already hard by the time I lean up, fingers wrapping around his length to slowly glide up and down. His absorbed gaze watches my every move. I shift to get into a more comfortable position, my mouth hovering over the head, spitting on it - never breaking our eye contact. He throws his head back between his flexed shoulders, letting out a hiss of breath. “Christ save me.” When he looks back at me, his eyes have darkened. Like the monster inside him has taken over.
“Not even he could save you from me, Lev.” I run my wet tongue from base to tip, swirling around his head.
A primal groan rumbles from his chest. He wraps his arms around the back of his neck, interlinking his fingers, his abs flexing and causing the smooth ridges across his torso to stand on end. “Fuck, Brodie.” The sight of his sculpted body causes me to moan around him, and I take him deep, my fingers instinctively grazing their way up to feel the hard wall of his core. I drag my nails back down, painfully slow, leaving red marks in their wake. My tongue sticks out, and I purse my lips as I suck up and down. I watch him fight the urge to let his eyes roll back and enjoy the pleasure, instead continuing to watch me work him into a frenzy.
“You love my cock in your mouth, don't you Malyshka?” I moan in response, and it causes his hips to buck, the taste of his pre-come already coating my tongue, making me kick it up a notch. Massaging my tongue underneath his cock, my hand going back to pumping him before I remove it to take him deep into my throat, causing tears to well in my eyes. His eyes go completely dark, and the restraint snaps with it. He fists my ponytail, and he thrusts vigorously into my mouth. His cock beats the back of my throat, causing my hands to grip around his thighs with his rhythm. I fight a gag and stick my tongue out further, tears now rolling down my cheeks. His vicious drives eventually still, his muscles tensing and shuddering beneath mypalms as his cum slides down my throat, forcing me to swallow around his cock. The movement made him involuntarily jerk again with the tension deep in my throat.
I take my time as I slowly drag my lips from him. His groan still has a feral undertone when he runs his thumb along my lips, catching any that I didn't manage to take. I stick my tongue out and he watches with an intensity that burns me alive as his finger trails the remaining cum down it, before I wrap my lips around and suck it in. Slowly I pull back until his finger is clear. Noc’s voice is husky and rough when he finally speaks, sending a shiver down my spine. “You drive me fucking crazy.” It calls forth a victorious smile to my face when he grips his hand around my jaw, pulling me to meet his kiss.
“And you're my peace,Sir.”
His teeth run over his bottom lip, and he leans up to scoop me into his arms, throwing me down on the bed. The room spins as I’m roughly flipped onto my stomach, my hips yanked up, ass in the air. His hand comes down in a sharp slap, the sting making me cry out. “You keep calling meSir, and I'm never going to let you leave this room.”I wish he wouldn't. I open my mouth to voice no objections, but my words are lost amongst the quilted fabric beneath me. The oversized shirt I had on is torn from its bottom seam right up to the neck. The material pools at my elbows, and then I hear a quick snap of the elastic panty line of my underwear as they are torn away and thrown behind him.
