Chapter 3

• When Amari walked in, Deva almost ran to her. She was carrying Deva’s bag over her shoulder. Amari smiled at her. “Don’t you look cute.”
• Deva held out her hand for the bag. “No. I do not. Is my gear in here?”
• Amari nodded. “Of course.” She looked her up and down. “You couldn’t even hide a blade in that.”
• “I couldn’t even try because I had to go through airport security.”
• Amari looked at Tripp. “That’s why we drove.”
• He stretched. “It was a long drive.”
• Illias came around the corner. “There’s time for a rest before the call.”
• “The call?” Amari yawned.
• “Devin will be calling us with the game plan in about two hours.” He went into another room.
• “What’s the setup here?” Amari looked around.
• Deva pointed to the stairs. “There are two rooms with one bed left up there.”
• Amari pointed to Tripp. “Go grab one of those. I’m going to go nose around the kitchen.”
• “What my mate wants, she gets.” He smiled at her as he went up the stairs.
• “Come.” She took the bag out of her hand and set it down. “Show me the kitchen, and we’ll catch up before we go to work.”
• Deva pointed and then started walking. “Asher has a mate.”
• Amari chuckled. “And she’s boss. She can shift standing up and—” She held out her hand like it was a big talon. “And she can pop out her claws without her hand changing.” She sighed. “I need to learn that.”
• Deva opened the kitchen door. “I don’t think I could shift standing up.” She opened the fridge and looked in it. “Asher looks so happy. I’ve never seen him look happy.”
• “Oh, good. That means they’re actually mated. He was not happy looking when we were at the Factory.”
• Deva closed the fridge and watched Amari go through the cupboard. “I’m bummed I didn’t get to go there.”
• Amari pulled out a box of cookies and examined it. “It’s pretty epic. You’ll get to go there. It’s the team’s new base.”
• “We’ve never had a base before.” She shrugged. “Just Zain at headquarters.”
• Opening the box, Amari smelled it, shrugged, and took out a few cookies. “There are bunks for us, each team has an office, and there’s a cafeteria.”
• Deva sat at the table. “I have a problem.”
• Giving her serious consideration, Amari leaned back against the counter. “What’s up?”
• “Taggart.”
• Amari looked at the door and then back at her. “What about him?”
• “He’s my mate.”
• She stopped with the cookie in front of her mouth. “You know this already? Didn’t you just meet him?”
• Deva nodded. “Yeah.”
• “Damn.” Amari came over and sat down. “So, what are you going to do?” She leaned closer, “Mate sex is the best ever.” She whispered.
• Deva laughed. “Good to know, but now is not really great timing, is it?” She grabbed a cookie out of Amari’s hand and took a bite. “I don’t know anything about him.” She waved the rest of the cookie around, “I mean, he’s sexy and dangerous, and sometimes the way he says things is cute but—”
• “You don’t want my advice. I fought it every second until I didn’t. When Tripp was sitting there, half naked with the blood flowing out of him,” she shrugged, “I just knew.”
• Deva tried not to smile. Only Amari’s happily-ever-after would involve blood. “You and Tripp make sense.”
• Amari looked at the door. “We do, don’t we?”
• Shaelan came into the room. “Tell me there’s a coffee maker.” She yawned. “There’s no herbal tea that’s going to wake me up right now.”
• “We haven’t investigated yet.”
• Shaelan opened the cupboards and looked in them. She paused. “We should make some sort of meal as well. Once this gets going, it will be snacking until we’re done.”
• Deva stood up. “I’m going to go get out of this.” She motioned to the dress. “I’ll come back down and help make some sort of food.”
• Shaelan pulled a coffee maker out of the cupboard and then opened another one. “Okay.”
• “How many are coming here?”
• Shaelan set the can of coffee on the counter. “I think twenty, but I don’t know if they’re all staying here or the exact plan right now. The guys threw this together quickly.”
• Deva nodded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I feel like a Barbie doll right now.”
• Shaelan smiled at her. “You look cute, but I don’t think it’s very practical right now.”
• “Or ever. My younger sisters do cute, I do not.” She nodded at Amari. “To be continued later.” Amari nodded as Deva went out the door.
• When she reached the entrance, Taggart came in the door.
• “Seeing the peoples I only talk to is very interest for me.”
• Picking up her bag, she glanced at him. “Interesting. It’s very interesting for you.”
• “You are so good for me. My English will be good.”
• “I’m going to go get changed. We’re going to eat before the group call.” She started for the stairs.
• “I would like for us to talk more after the call.”
• Deva nodded but kept going. She needed a minute to breathe and think about everything. She didn’t want to think about the man watching her walk up the stairs but knew that she was going to be anyway. She didn’t look back until she reached the top, and he was still standing there. With an awkward smile, she moved quickly to the first open door she saw.
• There was no gear in the room, so she went in closed the door, and dropped her bag. Flopping on the bed on her back, she looked at the ceiling. Her animal had been so quiet since they’d got here that she wondered if she should be worried. “You’re in shock, right?” She hoped that was it. She needed her animal when they went to that island. Without her, Deva’s senses wouldn’t be as good. “Get it together, girl. Lives are at stake here. There’s no time to have your head in the clouds.”
• Getting up, she put her bag on the bed and opened it. Maybe once she was in her normal clothes, she wouldn’t feel so off balance.