Page 23 of Echoes and Oaths
He tapped on his comms as he approached.
“Well? How’d that go?” Raven’s voice crackled in his ear when he was still a couple hundred yards away.
“About as well as you’d expect,” Jinx muttered, his boots crunching over the brittle brush and gravel as he closed the distance.
Brando cut in. “Fury says Mateo’s authorized.”
Jinx grunted at the update. “Acknowledged.”
Raven lifted her chin when he finally stepped into the clearing. “And how exactly are you going towork that? How’s Mateo supposed to magically materialize after years off the grid?”
Jinx kept walking, cutting a path toward where their truck waited, half-hidden beneath the twisted branches of a ceiba tree. The thick scent of wet earth lingered in the air.
“Relatively easy,” he said without missing a step. “Brando, I need you to get with the powers that be. Build me a cover. A mercenary, contracted overseas for at least the last two years. Make it airtight. Enough to stand up to Ortega and the Ghost’s scrutiny.”
“And then?” Raven asked, matching his stride.
Jinx’s jaw flexed. “Then I come back. Mateo returns. I’ll make my presence known to Ortega and the Ghost … and see which bites the hook first.”
He strode past Raven, snatched the parabolic mic from where he’d left it, and kept going toward the truck.
“You think it’ll be that easy?” Raven asked, hustling to catch up, her footfalls light but hurried on the dirt path.
Jinx climbed behind the wheel. “These men are soldiers. Men of war. They remember Mateo as a stone-cold killer. If they have questions, Mateo will answer them in blood.”
Raven slid into the passenger seat, shutting the door quietly behind her. “And what about Eira? And your baby?”
There was a beat of silence as Jinx shoved the keys into the ignition but didn’t start the engine. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
“Boy or girl?” she asked quietly, without looking at him.
“A son,” Jinx said. “His name’s Teo.” Jinx’s breath caught, a subtle hitch he tried to hide. He swallowed hard. The sight of his son in the arms of the woman he loved would be forever imprinted in his mind.
“She still loves you, you know,” Raven added, her voice softer now. “She gave your son your name. Or at least, the name you gave her.”
Jinx didn’t answer. He just started the truck, pulling it out from beneath the cover of the trees and onto the narrow dirt road that led back toward the hills.
Brando’s voice came through the comms again. “There’s a problem.”
Jinx nodded grimly. Yeah, he knew there was. The man was going to be one hell of an issue. “Ortega,” Jinx provided.
“Yeah,” Brando agreed. “If he’s protecting her and knows you’re back … is he gonna fight for her?”
“She told him she and Teo were mine,” Jinx said, voice clipped.
Raven let out a low whistle. “That’s not good. That means he knows you’ve got a weakness.”
Jinx exhaled heavily, staring out at the empty stretch of road ahead. The sky was ink-black, and stars splattered like broken glass across the heavens.
“Unless I convince him otherwise,” he said quietly.
Raven’s head snapped toward him. “And how the hell do you plan on doing that?”
Brando spoke before Jinx could reply. “By not claiming the kid, denying her?”
“No.” Jinx’s voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a blade. “By proving that if anyone fucks with them, they’ll be obliterated.” If anyone hurt them, he’d cover the country in blood. No one would be able to stop him.
Raven shook her head, her dark ponytail swaying. “Which would require someone to actually fuck with them so you can make your point.” She glanced at him sideways. “Would she understand that? Would she understand you were making a point to keep her safe?”
