Page 34 of Shadow Blind

Cool. Sounded like Embray was the man they needed. “When is he arriving on base?”

“He isn’t. Not any time soon, anyway. He’s currently up in space, on the International Space Station. His stint isn’t up for another four weeks.” A scowl joined the hardness on his brother-in-law’s face. “And we can’t contact him while he’s up there. Every transmission is recorded and tracked. Even sending him a secure, coded message could expose Shadow Mountain to U.S., Russian and Chinese intelligence. Wolf won’t take that chance.”

“Fuck.” Aiden growled. “So the plan is to sit here and hope the world doesn’t disintegrate before he returns to Earth?”

That sounded like a damn shitty strategy.

“Pretty much,” Cosky said, his voice as frustrated as Aiden’s had been. “In the meantime, we mitigate the threat of infection, and figure out a way to shut those damn bots down if they go up for sale.” He paused, his eyebrows lowering over his icy eyes. “You were wearing gloves and boots, right? How the hell did they get through the leather?”

Aiden shrugged. “No fucking clue.”

“Brickey says none of us were infected.” There was confidence in Kait’s voice, but deep concern in her eyes, concern that was directed at Aiden.

He could sense her fear for him. Even see it in the worried brown eyes locked on his face.

Aiden smoothed his expression. “Brickenhouse and Cole both said I was clean. The bots never infected me.”

Kait nodded, but hesitantly. Her forehead furrowed. “But what if you do have them, but they’re just inactive—like with your teammates?”

“If that’s the case, the docs would have found some sign of them inside me. They found them in Squirrel and the rest, after all, even though they were inactive by then. Stands to reason that they would have found them in my blood and tissue samples if I’d been infected.” Aiden forced nonchalance. Was it a twin thing that Kait had voiced the exact concern that was currently tying him into knots?

Kait’s brows knitted. She didn’t look convinced. “I suppose.”

Time to distract her.

“You were trying to cure me of any possible bot infestation up there above Karaveht, weren’t you?” He didn’t give her a chance to respond. “There was no reason to waste so much energy on a thigh wound. You healed that lickety-split. The rest of that scorching heat was about purging whatever infection I’d been exposed to. Maybe you roasted the suckers. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t infected.” He paused before adding gruffly. “I appreciate it, either way.”

“I didn’t know what you’d been exposed to.” She shrugged. “But I figured it couldn’t hurt.” She slid a glance toward Cosky, who was scraping the last of the potatoes up with his fork. “From what the docs have said, Benioko was right. You never posed a threat to me.”

Cosky froze, then slowly set his fork down. When he looked up, his face was completely flat, but his gray eyes glittered with irritation. “We didn’t know that at the time. Sue me for trying to keep you safe.”

Apparently, there was still friction about how things had played out up there amid the ice and snow. Had Wolf worked things out with Cosky? He didn’t ask. Wasn’t his fucking business.

“Too bad your Benioko didn’t bother to explain why I was safe to touch.” Aiden raised his eyebrows. They’d been damn lucky. If Benioko had been wrong, and Kait had been infected, he’d have broken the bastard’s neck.

“Sure, would have helped if he’d explained what we were dealing with.” Cosky agreed with a sharp nod. But then his face went reflective. “My gut says we’re facing a new weapon.” While Cosky’s voice remained mild, his eyes glittered with icy rage. “Drop a canister of those nanobots behind enemy lines and watch your enemy tear each other apart. They obviously tested this weapon in Karaveht.” He tilted his head and stared at Aiden, his face darkening. “Do you think WARCOM knew what they were sending you boys into?”

Rage, which was at a constant simmer lately, spiked. “I don’t know. Not for sure. But I suspect so.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Cosky’s face twisted into bitterness.

The dude had cause for both his suspicion and his resentment. NAVSPECWARCOM had sure goat-fucked him—as well as Zane, Rawls and Mac—during that hijacking incident four years back.

His gaze narrow and distant, Cosky’s expression turned thoughtful. “Hurley must wonder what happened to you and the bodies of your teammates.”

Aiden nodded. Thank Christ he’d turned off the cameras. “At least whoever’s behind that damn test doesn’t know about this base.”

“Wolf and his boys have done a fine job of keeping Shadow Mountain off the radar.” Cosky’s voice sounded reluctantly admiring. “Nobody will find you here.”

Aiden didn’t doubt that. He’d heard no mention of Wolf’s team, or the Shadow Mountain base through the years, and he had all the right connections and had been listening in all the right places. No wonder his brother was so reluctant to contact Embray.

Demi, however, wasn’t nearly as well shielded. “I need to get down to Coronado, but Wolf’s ignoring me.”

“Demi’s safe,” Cosky reminded him. “Forged Security is making damn sure of that. If anyone goes after her, they’ll step in and whisk her to safety.”

The reminder wasn’t much help. He’d been lucky nobody had gone after her already. But it was coming. He could sense it. Tag, Tram and the rest were good in a pinch, but she was safest in Aiden’s care. Her presence on this earth was essential to his survival. Even if they split, just knowing she was out there, living her life, would be enough to keep him grounded.

He’d burn the world to ash to keep her safe. He couldn’t ask that of Forged Security. She was just a client to them.

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