Page 82 of Burn

The low chuckle he released was every bit as decadent as the sensual promise in his words. “You like it.”

As much as I should dispute that charge, I couldn’t. I did like it. These guys were frustrating as hell and this situation was kind of a nightmare. At the same time? I was attracted to Voodoo in a way I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

A very long time.

“You didn’t answer my earlier question,” I said as he began to descend the steps ahead of me.

“Funny,” he commented. “You’re right. I didn’t.”

Probably didn’t intend to answer it. To my surprise, we were not the only ones awake. Or maybe it shouldn’t have startled me so much. The other three were in the kitchen.

The scents of bacon, toast, and coffee competed to tempt me to head right over and just start eating at the stove. I had some manners though.

“Good morning, Gracie,” Lunchbox said as Goblin lifted his head to look at me. “Have a seat. I’ll grab your coffee for you. Five minutes until food. How do you like your eggs?”

“Over medium,” I said slowly. “And thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he responded easily enough even as he crossed over to set the coffee in front of me. “Once we’ve eaten, we’ll brief you on what’s happening next.”

I blinked at him slowly. Brief me?

Curiosity speared through me and I kind of wanted the answers now. Voodoo grabbed his own coffee then pulled out the chair next to me. Alphabet saluted me sleepily with his coffee and Bones just ignored all of us, his attention focused on the tablet in his hand.

“Okay,” I said, after debating and discarding a half-dozen other responses.

That earned me looks from three of the four Musketeers in the room. The fourth one didn’t look up from his reading at all.

Voodoo gave me a hard stare and I lifted my coffee cup. “What? He said you would brief me. I’m willing to wait a few minutes for that.”

It was about the only concession I was willing to make right now.

Hopefully, they had better answers than the ones they offered me the day before.

Chapter

Thirty

GRACE

We were on their plane again. They had gear stowed in the back. The bags they’d offloaded from the car looked a great deal heavier than what we’d come back with, not that anyone told me what was in them.

“This bag,” Voodoo had said, “has your gear in it.” Fortunately, that duffel didn’t look near as large or as heavy as the others.

“I have gear?” That was news to me.

“Yes,” Bones said. “You can go over it later. We’ll finish the brief in the air.” The dismissive notes in his voice irked me. The fact he was the same man who’d held my hand when I panicked on the incoming flight baffled me. The two images clashed so much it made my head hurt.

“Ignore him,” Alphabet suggested. “I intend to. Come on… I’ll sit back here with you.”

He motioned for me to climb in and then Goblin and Alphabet followed. I buckled myself into the seat as Alphabet slid the cross straps into place. Goblin settled right betweenus. The others filtered in. Bones moved to sit up front with Lunchbox and that let Voodoo sit near us.

“Here,” Voodoo tugged the headset on over my ears and they helped to blunt out the sound of the engine. “Check, check.” His voice crackled briefly but I could hear him easier. “Hang tight.”

Alphabet had his own headset on, as did the guys up front. The chatter from Lunchbox included him talking to whomever ran the local tower. It wasn’t that long before we were taking off.

Seriously, this tiny little plane seemed so insubstantial versus these guys. I wasn’t sure how it stayed in the air with all of them on board. The weight of Goblin’s head on my foot tugged my attention. He vibrated faintly against me. I could imagine him snoring.

The relaxed posture offered some comfort. The “briefing” at breakfast hadn’t told me much.

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