Page 72 of Green Ravens

Valor leaned in and whispered in Zorion’s ear, “Stay here, baby. I’ll be right back.”

“What is it?” Zorion answered sleepily.

“It’s Jo. Maybe she has an update.” He brushed a kiss against his temple. “Don’t move.”

“For fuck’s sake, stop treating me like a kid.”

Valor growled as he pulled himself from Zorion’s grip.

He closed the door behind him and moved in the shadows of the corridor until he reached his quarters.

Jo was dressed in loose pants and a fitted jacket in a dark shade of green that was almost black. The fabric was flexible and quiet for stealthy movement. Her midnight tabi boots were split at the toe to give her a solid grip and soundless steps. She moved like a ninja, crouching low with a small duffel across her back as she tiptoed around his terrace, whispering his name.

He caught the faint scent of metal…she was armed.

“Valor, come out, it’s me. Hurry. I don’t have time to—”

“When are you getting us out of here?”

He didn’t mean to sound so forceful or intimidating. And he certainly didn’t mean to scare her, but he was done waiting.

“Dammit,” she snapped, spinning in his direction. “Stop fuckin’ doing that.”

“Are you here with an update?”

“I’m here with instructions,” she said as she dropped the duffel off her shoulder. “We have to move tonight.”

Her voice was urgent but steady.

“The director left the facility and took a third of the guards with him. My sources tell me he’s after a physicist, a thermonuclear weapons expert.” She glanced up at him. “The Browns and the Blacks were sent out on so-called emergency missions that even their handlers weren’t detailed on. They were mobilized as a distraction. Which means two things: whatever the director is doing is off the books and your phase three is imminent.”

Shit.

“The director ordered the guards left to increase their rotation to every twenty minutes and to include your floor.”

If Jo hadn’t come now, the guards would’ve caught him in Zorion’s bed, in his arms.

Whatever plan Jo had come up with—Valor didn’t care how dangerous—he was following it because he’d be damned if he let anyone take what he felt for Zorion away from him…again.

“Here, you’re going to need this.”

She pulled out a sleek high-tech grappling hook with a reinforced retractable cable line.

Da fuck?

She revealed something else that made his pulse spike.

Jo unfolded a winged suit made of pitch-black cutting-edge material designed to be undetectable in the night sky.

Valor had seen this prototype in the tactical wardrobe chamber, but he hadn’t thought his Zorion would need it anytime soon. And he hadn’t been trained in it.

“This is obviously for Zorion,” she muttered. “They planned on testing you guys in the field soon—and I was hoping he would’ve had the chance to learn the full operation of it—but we no longer have that luxury.”

Valor’s heart pounded with a rhythm that echoed in his ears as he braced himself for the uncertainty ahead.

As if she noticed the concern on his face, she sighed and shook her head. “The sky is our only way out. I’ve gone over this many times, and there’s just too many floors to get through to get you out the door.”

“I understand.” Valor nodded. “What’s the plan, Jo?”

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