Page 256 of Lodestar

“You two have your EarPods, right?” I inserted quickly, ducking into the trunk to collect my laptop.

“We do,” Star confirmed.

“Got them,” Dead To Me asserted.

“I’ll open up a channel.”

“Can you link me in on it?”

Nodding at Troy, I said, “Will do.”

Swallowing, Star cupped my face and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. “I love you, Conor O’Donnelly.”

My eyes flared wide. “I want to hear that again when you aren’t trying to convince us we’re not going to die, okay?”

“Okay.”

Another hard kiss and I was dumping my shit on the ground and hauling her into me. I only pulled back long enough to growl, “I love you too, Star Sullivan.”

Jaw tense, eyes cold, she nodded at me. “Wewillsee tomorrow.”

Each syllable was like a bullet, settling into my gut with a centripetal force that left me staggered.

“Wewill see tomorrow,” I rumbled back, trying to imbue the words with the faith I had in her. A faith that was absolute. A faith that was founded inus.

She blew out a breath, then the Star I knew was gone, replaced with one I’d only met in passing.

It wasn’t my woman.

It wasn’t the love of my life.

It was the soldier.

Thank fuck for the soldier, though, because I needed Lodestar to bring her A-game.

She rushed over to Dead To Me and started loading up even more gear as I headed toward the house without a backward glance because that wouldnotbe the last time I saw her.

I refused to accept that.

So, I did what I did best.

I obeyed the order on where to position myself and considered it fate that, right beside the goddamn door Troy had described, there was an outlet.

Unpacking my computer from its case, I plugged it in, settled the SMG on the floor and, once I piggybacked onto Troy’s Wi-Fi, shot my brothers a warning about Dagda and used the worm Star had given me—seriously, best gift ever—to begin the process of hammering into Troy’s security so that it unlocked for me.

At the same time, I created a channel that would link us all and, once it opened, demanded, “Check in.”

“Here. 1, over.”Star.

“Here. 2, over.”D.

“Here. 3, over.”Troy.

For an answer, I grunted as I focused on my laptop.

With the worm’s help, I was inside her system in less than a minute.

Now able to see each of her (impressive) perimeter alarms, I could also shut off that motherfucking noise that was going to drive me crazy.

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