Page 50 of Court of Aether and Shadows

Liam isn’t a child. Why call him a boy?It’s the tone used that makes me wonder whether they’re familiar with one another.

”From what I've heard, Sparrow is one of the best. She's in,” Commander Reeves emphasizes as he does another scan of the room. “Any other objections?”

“No, Commander,” multiple individuals speak up to confirm we’re moving on from this unexpected topic. I was pretty confident no one else gave a fuck if I came along or not.

Everyone just wanted a piece of the coin that was going to be attached to this mission. If the White House was involved, this was going to be more than a few million dollars.

Heck, this could be the payday we’ve all been needing to live fruitful lives outside this joint.

I shot Liam a triumphant look, but the worry etched on his face tempered my victory. There was something he wasn't telling me, something beyond his usual protectiveness.

The weight of unspoken words hung heavy between us.

As the briefing continued, detailing the layout of the compound where the hostages were believed to be held, I found my attention divided. Part of me absorbed the critical information — guard rotations, potential entry points, and the timeline for our assault — but another part was hyper-aware of Liam's presence beside me.

His scent seemed different somehow, richer and more enticing than I remembered. The heat radiating from his body was distracting, making it hard to focus on the mission details. It wasn’t as though these qualities were never noticed, but maybe they were so intense now that I was catching onto it.

All of it was hard to explain —tricky to acknowledge in my frazzled mind that was truthfully exhausted from all the research I’ve been doing these past couple of days —but it was obvious something was just weird with everything.

This sudden mission, the Commander and the White House’s involvement, Vincent’s sudden praise, and now Liam’s overprotectiveness with his amazing-smelling self standing behind me like some watchdog ready to bite any male who got close to me.

Okay, maybe if there was another woman present, it could have been different, but it felt like he was being pretty territorial with anyone with more testosterone running in their veins coming three feet from me.

I shook my head, trying to clear all this thinking madness from my mind. This was not the time for...whatever this was.Lives were at stake. Innocent women with mental instabilities, were kidnapped from the safe haven of these institutions and placed in some compound for what exactly?

Thinking about it made me wonder what was the reasoning for gathering a bunch of mentally ill woman in their young adulthood years together in one place.

Were they having some sort of witch coven summoning session? Could be watching too many of those villain horror movies about sacrifices and dark magic.

That couldn’t be the case if the White House was involved.

"One last thing," Commander Reeves said, drawing my focus back to the mission at hand. "The payout for this job is substantial. We're talking billions, not millions.”Fuck. Are they actually serious?“Success here could set you all up for life."

A ripple of excitement went through the room, but it felt hollow to me. Money was always a motivator in our line of work, but faced with the images of those missing women, it seemed almost crass to think about the payout.

Then again, this proved how vital this mission is. Still…it’s not adding up. Kidnapped mentally ill women…why would the government care? They certainly didn’t give a shit when these women were tugged off the streets and thrown into these organizations that we don’t give a damn about.

What benefit does the government get? We’re missing some vital information, but there are no clues given as to what the underlying motive is.

As the briefing wrapped up and we began to file out to prepare, Marco's snide voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

"Aw, is little Liam just worried about his girlfriend?" he sneered, elbowing Liam roughly. "If you're so in love with Sparrow, why don't you just say so? Didn’t think you had thebiggest crush on her. Such a ‘boyish’ reaction during such a vital briefing."

There’s that ‘boy’ commentary. Why? Does Marco also have history with Commander Reeves?

I expected Liam to brush off the taunt with his usual cool dismissal, especially knowing Marco was taking advantage of the tense situation to pull at his leg.

Instead, he whirled on Marco, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and slamming him against the wall. The sudden violence was shocking and so out of character for Liam, that it seemed like everyone stilled mid-stride to watch — agape and dumbfounded.

"Say another word," Liam growled, his voice deeper and more menacing than I'd ever heard it, "and I'll rip your throat out."

"Liam!" I gasped, a mixture of shock and something else –something primal that responded to his display of aggression –coursing through me. Whether it was his roughness or just the low growl of his threatening tone that was nagging at me, I immediately stomped over to him, ready to break up this nonsense.

I grabbed his arm, tugging him away from a wide-eyed Marco.

"What's gotten into you?" I hiss while glaring at him, noticing the odd shift in his eyes.

The tinge of gold in his eyes was never there before.

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