Taken by Fire (19 page)

“First,” Dev said, “I need to know where all Itor bases are.”

She took a handful of chips and covertly pulled the bowl a little closer. Blue corn, her favorite. “I’m not sure I can identify all of them, but I can tell you what I know.”

Ryan slapped some papers on the table and clicked a pen. “Go.”

“There’s a large base in Kiev. A major station on some island in the Pacific. Smaller offices in Madrid, Rome, Gaborone, Botswana, Karachi, Pakistan, and Tokyo.”

There was a fierce intensity in Ryan’s brown eyes as he unfolded a large sheet of paper and pushed a blueprint at her. Revenge, she thought. He wanted revenge for something, and though she couldn’t be sure, she didn’t think Akbar’s death was all of it.

“Which facility is this?” he asked.

Frowning, she traced her finger over the lines. Some of the areas were marked—laboratories, living quarters, etc., but many were followed by a question mark. “I don’t get to see inside the facilities very often …”

Her finger began to shake as it went over one of the rooms. Alek’s office, which held nothing but bad memories … and her blood. As if Stryker knew how much she’d hated every second in that room, his palm came down on her back and rubbed in slow,
soothing strokes. Dev’s keen gaze didn’t miss the gesture, but it was impossible to tell whether he approved or disapproved. And when Stryker’s eyes met Dev’s, instant tension flared up, as if Stryker was daring his boss to say anything.

“It’s the Australia compound,” she said quickly, hoping to disperse the friction in the air. “Headquarters. How do you have this?”

“When I was inside Itor, I was able to pull up some vague blueprints, but none of them were labeled.” Ryan twisted the cap off his beer. “From memory, I’ve put this together, but since I was only inside one—the island compound—I didn’t know which this belonged to. Is it accurate?”

“Mostly.” She popped a chip in her mouth.

“What can you tell us about it?” Dev’s voice was firm, as if he expected her to answer, and she supposed he had every right, seeing how he’d given her everything she’d asked for.

“Do you have a map of Australia?” While Ryan pulled a laptop computer out of his bag and fired it up, she munched on a couple more chips and followed them with a swig of beer before she continued. “It’s in the middle of nowhere, disguised as a sheep station. A sheep ranch. It’s a profitable enterprise, run entirely by Itor personnel. There are barns, a huge house, outbuildings, all of which are part of the ranch, but are also used for Itor business and housing agents. The main Itor facility itself is underground.”

Stryker let out a low whistle. “Damn. No wonder we were never able to find it.”

“We assumed there was no true headquarters,” Dev said. “We were looking more at the multiple facilities as heads on a hydra.”

Mel nodded. “Alek does make sure that agents and resources are spread throughout the facilities so that if one is taken down, Itor isn’t crippled. But if you struck the Australia compound and maybe one or two of the others simultaneously, you’ll wreck them.” She fingered the computer screen until she found the area
she was looking for. “Here. There’s a town twenty miles from the ranch. It would be a ghost town if not for Itor. There’s a gas station, a small store, a pub, and a diner. On the outskirts are a few houses. Phoebe keeps a residence there. We could use her place as a stage.”

Dev appeared to consider that, his gaze shifting between the map and her. “Can you get us inside the facility?”

“I’ll have to pretend to be Phoebe … but yes, I can do it. And if you can convince her that I’m not giving up information, she’ll be easier for you to handle, and we might be able to trick her into cooperating.”

Dev exchanged glances with Stryker, and she recognized the look. He was wondering if he could trust her, or if she could be leading them into a trap. She nearly kissed Stryker when he gave Dev a single, fierce nod.

“Tell me about Alek,” Dev said. Commanded, really. “What’s he like?”

“Ruthless. Cold. Scary.” Sort of like Dev, actually, except people seemed to respect Dev more than fear him.

“Does he travel much?”

“I don’t know. I’ve rarely seen him outside headquarters. I think he doesn’t like to leave.”

“Is he married? Kids?”

“I don’t think he’s ever been married.” She pulled the bowl of chips even closer, since no one but her was eating them. “No kids except me and Phoebe that I know of.”

Dev cocked his head, and she squirmed under his penetrating gaze. “What’s your favorite food?”

She blinked at the sudden change of subject. “Food?”

“Yes. What do you like to eat?” He glanced at the nearly empty bowl and his tone became laced with wry amusement. “Besides tortilla chips.”

“I … ah … love pasta. And hamburgers. And pizza and ice cream. Chocolate ice cream. Hate fruit-flavored ice creams, but I’ll eat them if I have to. And I love donuts.” Oh, God, she was
so rambling, but food got her all excited. More than a coping mechanism after the years of starvation, it truly had been one of the few joys in her life, one of the rare pleasures in which she could indulge. She loved to eat. “Do you have a donut place nearby? One that makes good crullers? Because it’s really hard to find good crullers.”

“I love crullers,” Dev murmured. “And I hate fruit ice cream. And walnuts.”

“Me too!” She smiled, and was shocked to see one corner of Dev’s generous mouth tip up too. “And strawberries. I love them, but they make my lips swell.”

“They do the same to me,” he said softly.

“I’ve never met anyone else who had a reaction like that.” She shrugged. “But I haven’t met many people. And it’s not like when I do meet them I ask if they have an allergic reaction to strawberries.” Really, could she ramble any more? No, not likely. But Dev made her nervous, while at the same time he made her feel like she
should
be comfortable. It was an odd combination, and really unsettling.

Dev stared at her for so long that once again, she began to squirm. Finally, he stood, and Ryan with him. “I’m having some clothes and toiletries delivered for you. If there’s anything else you need, Stryker will handle it.”

He left, and she breathed a huge sigh of relief as she sank back against Stryker’s chest. It was weird to have someone to lean on, even weirder to have them circle their arms around you and hold tight because they knew you needed it.

“I can see why he’s your boss,” she muttered.

“Why’s that?”

“Because,” she said, as she stared at Dev’s empty chair, “something about him reminds me a little of Alek.”

Mel’s life history nearly broke Stryker’s heart. He knew a lot of the men and women at ACRO had shitty family backgrounds, but watching Mel struggle to talk about her food issues on the plane … that had almost been too much for him.

Hearing that Devlin was like Alek was probably the scariest thing he’d heard in a long time—and in some way, the most comforting. They’d be an even match. But Devlin needed to be better than Alek.

Stryker thought on that while Mel showered and dressed in the jeans and T-shirt Dev had sent over. When she finished, he allowed himself an indulgent, admiring gaze before speaking. “We should go practice now. Devlin wants me to help you try to control your power.”

“I’d like that.”

He collected a few things covertly—including the fire blanket, plus a couple of injections—and they drove over to a spot a few miles from his house.

It was a perfect area—a big field with a small waterfall on one side.

She smiled when she saw it. “It’s so pretty. Is this ACRO property?”

“Yes. We do a lot of impromptu training here.” He looked around—it was early afternoon, which left them plenty of time to work. “It’s quiet today, which is good.”

They got out of the SUV and walked a couple of yards to a spot that was close enough to some trees.

“Do you really think I can gain control of my power?” she asked.

“Yeah, I do. And you get to practice, which is great. With my power, I couldn’t really practice, you know?”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“When I was younger, I had to learn control fast. If I didn’t, I’d kill people. That’s how it was explained to me, and you know, I got it together fast.”

“That’s a lot of guilt to put on a kid.”

“A dangerous kid,” he corrected her. “Let’s try this with you aiming for those trees. They’re used to upstate New York winters. They can take it, if you don’t go full force with the ice.”

“If I do, I’ll be out of my power anyway. But you can help me get it back quickly, right?” she asked, the shy note in her voice matching the pink in her cheeks.

He put his head down and said, “I can’t. I’m under direct orders not to touch you like that.”

“From who?”

“Devlin.”

“Is that why he seemed so angry when he walked in on us kissing?” she asked, and he nodded. “So it’s not about keeping me a secret from your friends?”

“What? No—not at all. I don’t give a shit who knows I like you, that I’m dying to kiss you. That I’d take you right here in the middle of the damned field if I could.”

She inhaled a shaky breath. “It’s because I could be the enemy, isn’t it? No one wants to risk a breach of security.”

“Could be. But I think it’s part punishment for arming you in the first place. Dev’s a strict taskmaster as a boss.” And then there was the sister thing, which Stryker didn’t want to think about.

She gazed at the copse of trees, and just as he began to wonder where her thoughts had gone, she spoke. “When I engage my power, how exactly does it affect yours?”

“You haven’t noticed that when you work your powers, you turn me on?”

She blinked. “Oh. I meant like how it was in the plane, how mine seemed to make yours sort of unpredictable. But now that you say it … I’d hoped the turn-on stuff wasn’t only my powers … but you know … forget it.”

Damn, this new relationship stuff was hard. No wonder Gabe always looked like his nose was out of joint. “Mel, I’m attracted to you. I would be, whether or not your powers pulled at mine. The arousal isn’t what makes me fall for you, okay? The fact that I want to have sex with you when your powers turn me on is an added bonus.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.” He shook his head. Thought about Oz and his damned prediction. Thought about telling Mel what Oz had said and decided against it. “Look, let’s just get to work.”

“But it’s going to be … painful for you.”

“More so if Devlin finds out I didn’t teach you anything,” he said. “Just give me a little ice, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” She faced the forest. “Brace yourself.”

She shot out a blast of ice shards that stripped the bark off a tree, and Jesus, what that would do to a person …

She cut herself off as quickly as she could.

It hadn’t been quick enough for him, though.

He took a deep breath as the rumble started inside his body, which he tamped down by sheer force of will.

His cock didn’t pay any mind, remained obviously rock hard. And painfully so.

“Stryker?”

“Don’t worry about me. Try again. Think refrigerator instead of freezer. Think soft-serve ice cream.”

“Right. Got it. I’m starving for ice cream now, by the way.”

“Concentrate,” he said through gritted teeth. Thought about her naked, splayed for him. Thought about driving into her wet heat until she was screaming his name … wondered if he could find a place to jerk off where she wouldn’t notice.

She was staring at him and he pointed in the direction of the woods. “Ice. Now.”

She complied then, sending a cold cone of air whistling toward the trees in a powerful stream that he’d seen kill a man back in Rome.

He nearly doubled over. “Again.”

Throwing out her hand, she somehow made snow swirl over the green canopy of trees.

It was like someone was yanking his nuts out of his body through his throat. “Again,” he rasped, because said testicles were lodged in his esophagus.

A massive wave of cold coated all the trees in frost.

He was on his knees at this point. He ached—his body was one giant throb of need; this was the most effective torture Devlin could have ever devised for him.

“My powers are almost out.”

Thank fucking God. “Keep going.”

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” she murmured. “I’m killing you.”

“No one’s ever died from blue balls,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

Well, no, he wasn’t fine at all. And as she let off the last of her icy blasts, his body was rocked with the most painful urges he’d
ever felt. He clawed the ground and tried to breathe, looked anywhere but at Mel, and his eyes fell on the waterfall.

His erection was a steel rod and fucking painful. Hell, maybe this would be the best thing for him—a cold shower times a million.

He took off at a dead run, not stopping until he hit the water. Kept going until his body was under the freezing wash and he was shivering.

Bye-bye, erection; hello, hypothermia
.

“Stryker—are you okay?” Melanie was asking, from directly in front of him. She’d stripped naked, her skin glistening with crystal water droplets, but she didn’t seem affected by the cold at all. Well, her nipples were pert, hard little buds … and this wasn’t helping anything.