Page 18 of Toxic Vengeance

“A codename?”

“Yeah, and it’s awesome. Wanna hear it?”

It would be rude to say no, and she got the sense that Chloe would just tell her anyway even if she declined. “Sure.”

A smug smile curved Chloe’s mouth. “We’re the Bitchilantes.” She sounded extremely proud of the term, and Eden caught a glimpse of a wild glimmer in Chloe’s eyes. It wasn’t hard to picture that same gleam being there while Chloe blew up a target. “Okay, here we are. Breakfast room. Take your time, and we’ll see you when you’re done.”

Chloe shut the door, leaving Eden in sudden and welcome silence. She was a little surprised Trinity wasn’t with her, since the other Valkyrie said she was hungry on the drive here, though in all honesty Eden was grateful for the break. Chloe seemed nice, but was a little like being near a human tornado.

The large rectangular table was already laid with two place settings. Boiled eggs sat in little glass cups, toast was waiting in actual toast racks, halved and roasted plum tomatoes were set on a platter, along with jam and butter in little silver pots, plus coffee and tea.

Eden sank into a chair, stared at the food a moment and then let her gaze stray out the tall windows at the back of the room into a well-manicured garden. She thought of Chris, probably in a refrigerated drawer in a morgue now, awaiting autopsy, while Eden sat here in the lap of luxury in this luxurious mansion, perfectly safe in the midst of a bunch of strangers.

A lump formed in her throat and tears pricked the backs of her eyes. She’d lost a friend today. Her only friend, really. Now her Valkyrie sisters, while strangers for the most part, had welcomed her here without question. Deep down, Eden had longed for this kind of acceptance and belonging for most of her life, had always wondered what had become of the other women in the Program.

Chris would be happy for me.

That hurt too. As gruff as Chris had been, she’d cared about Eden. No matter what, Chris would want her to embrace this opportunity. To use the intel on the flash drive and find justice with it—justice for Chris, and for all of them now in the crosshairs of whoever was gunning for them.

A soft tap on the door broke her from her thoughts. Kiyomi stepped inside with a soft smile. “Mind if I join you?”

Eden smiled back, Kiyomi’s quiet energy soothing to her jagged nerves. “I’d like that.”

Shutting the door, Kiyomi took the seat opposite her and poured herself a cup of tea. “I know it takes some getting used to, being here. When I first came here I felt just like you did—like I’d been ambushed and dropped into the middle of a sorority house.”

The description made Eden grin. “Pretty much, yeah.”

Kiyomi smiled at her over the rim of her teacup. Everything about her was dainty, almost fragile, and yet Eden could see the steel hidden inside the woman, reflected in her posture and eyes. Without it, Kiyomi wouldn’t have made it through what she’d had to do. “I’m really glad you’re here. When we initially identified you as one of the other surviving Valkyries, I kept hoping we’d get verification that you were still alive and okay.”

Eden wasn’t sure how much Kiyomi and the others knew about her past, or current situation with Zack. Though she didn’t much feel like eating she needed fuel, and helped herself to some breakfast. “Who was I talking to via email all those months ago, anyway, do you know? Trinity never said.” There were so many things Eden wanted to know and hadn’t had the chance to ask yet. Everything had happened so fast; this entire day had been a blur.

“Chloe. Or, should I say—Bam Bam.”

The humor in it didn’t escape her. “Oh my God, of course. It all makes sense now.” Turned out Bam Bam was handy with explosives. Might come in handy when Eden found out who’d ordered Chris’s death, but then, Eden wanted whoever it was to suffer. A few bullet holes in painful and not immediately life-threatening places first.

“Chloe and the others saved those women you tipped her off about, you know.”

“I heard. Score one for the good guys.” It didn’t happen often enough.

Kiyomi nodded, her expression turning thoughtful. “It’s not easy for most of us to fit into a group like this, but… It’s worth it.”

Eden nodded, willing to be part of the team as long as they helped her hunt down whoever had targeted Chris. “I’ll get there.”

“I know you will. We’re survivors. Adapting is what we do.” She set her teacup down. “After you eat, Trinity wants us all to meet in the library. You’ll meet the guys later.”

Eden paused in chewing a mouthful of toast. “Guys?” No one had said anything about guys, beyond Chloe talking about her man.

“Amber, Megan, and Chloe’s significant others. They’re part of the team too. So is the owner of this house. All the guys have elite military backgrounds, and have been thoroughly vetted by Trinity and Alex Rycroft. You’ve been told about him, I assume?”

Trinity had mentioned the former NSA agent on the way to the airport in Vermont, and how he was assisting in their efforts. “Yes.” But Eden still had a lot to learn about all this—and everyone involved.

As soon as they ate, Kiyomi took her down the hall. The library was a gorgeous, sun-drenched room with wall-to-wall bookshelves stuffed with what had to be over a thousand books. The walls were a pale apple green with cream trim, and the large pieces of furniture were made of tufted velvet and leather. All the other Valkyries were waiting when they entered.

“Doing okay?” Trinity asked, giving Eden a critical once-over.

“So far, so good.” As long as she didn’t think about Chris.

“I just brought everyone up to speed on this morning’s events, and Amber analyzed the contents of the thumb drive during our flight. I also got an update from Rycroft a few minutes ago.”

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