Page 37 of Toxic Vengeance

“Fuck,” Eden snapped, easing back onto her heels, her chest about to explode. They’d found Penny, but too late, and now she was dead. “She’s gone,” she said to Trinity, voice hoarse.

“Dammit. Okay, I’m coming back to you now. Meet me in the back and bring Penny out. We’re taking her home.”

Home. Where was home, for any of them? “What about the shooter?”

“Tell you in a few minutes.”

Heartsick and suddenly so damn tired, Eden swallowed and pushed to her feet. “Copy that.” She could feel Zack watching her, still kneeling beside Penny.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

Eden nodded, staring down at the other Valkyrie. She was young. Mid-to-late twenties, maybe. She might not have known Penny personally, but Eden still felt like she knew her. They were all sisters in a way, with only each other to count on now.

She set her jaw. It wasn’t fair. Wasn’t right. If they’d shown up a few minutes earlier, they could have gotten her out safely. If they’d gotten here in time, they could have whisked Penny onto the plane waiting on standby and given her protection. A new life.

“I’m going to find some blankets to wrap her in,” she said, ruthlessly shutting off her emotions. They had to be out of here by the time the ambulance arrived to avoid any more problems.

She found some upstairs in a linen closet. When she came back down, Zack had already positioned Penny on her back, hands clasped at her waist, and he had closed her eyes.

Steeling herself, Eden handed him a blanket. Together they wrapped Penny up, and Zack carried her to the back door.

“I’m here,” Trinity announced a moment later through Eden’s earpiece.

A silver van was parked on the sidewalk, its side door slid open.

Eden checked up and down the street to ensure no one was watching. “Hurry,” she said, wanting to be away from here, and for this awful night to be over.

Zack rushed out with Penny in his arms and climbed into the back. Eden shut the side door, then hopped in the front passenger seat and slammed the door. “Go.”

Trinity took off up the alley. “Amber’s cancelled the ambulance and is calling in a clean up crew.”

“What happened to the shooter?” Eden asked, eyes on the road. She couldn’t stand to look back and see Penny wrapped in those blankets where Zack had laid her on the floor.

“Ran his motorcycle into the side of a truck a block away.”

“Suicide?”

“Maybe. I’ve got his prints.” Trinity turned onto a main road and accelerated. “Did she tell you anything?”

“No. She was too far-gone. Hitter shot her twice, center mass.”

Trinity was quiet for a few moments, the spray from the wet tires and the whir of the windshield wipers the only sounds in the vehicle. “We’ll transport her back Stateside for burial, and make sure she’s honored.”

Eden glanced at her in confusion. Valkyries were ghosts long before they died. And when they did, there was no one to mourn them, no grave to mark their final resting place. “Honored? With what?”

Trinity’s hands flexed on the steering wheel. “With a star on the wall in the CIA memorial at Langley, same as the others.”

Chapter Ten

Zack waited until they were back at the manor house before approaching Eden.

She’d spent the short flight from Edinburgh with Trinity, talking to Amber on the phone. They’d tried to determine how the hitter had found Penny, and who he was. Upon landing they’d left Penny’s body at the airport, to be transported back to the States on another flight. Trinity had set it up with Rycroft, who would handle the burial.

“It’s been a long night,” Trinity said as they reached the front door just before midnight. “I’m turning in for a while. See you guys in the morning.”

“Sure,” Eden said as they stepped inside. The house was quiet, everyone else asleep except for Amber, who was working in her room. “I’m going up too.”

Zack caught her arm to stop her from leaving. “Can I talk to you a minute?”

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