Page 57 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

The sound of the door being cracked open had us both looking up to see Daniel’s mom peeking her head in. I started to smile, because that seemed to be all we both did lately, but her concerned expression made me pause.

“Ah, Daniel . . . ?” she said. “Captain Schneider is here to see you.”

Daniel immediately stiffened. I couldn’t see his face, but I felt his surprise. I shifted on the sofa, giving him room to sit up. I wasn’t sure if I should follow him out or not, but curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself lingering in the doorway so I could at least see.

I watched him salute the captain. “Sir,” he said. I could hear the respect in his voice.

The captain nodded once, his gaze seeming pleased. “Marine.” He moved his head slightly, indicating the open door. “Take a walk with me, Private.”

My heart was beating out of control as I watched them disappear out the door. I wasn’t sure why. Not that I knew much about marine protocol, but having a captain come to your house seemed like a pretty big deal.

Susan was beside me the minute they were out of sight. “I wonder what it’s about,” she said quietly.

Watching Daniel talking to the captain through the front window, I slowly shook my head, unable to speak around the dry thickness that had invaded my throat.

Way too many minutes later, they both returned, the captain lowering his head our way as he said his goodbyes, and then he was gone, leaving both of us staring at Daniel expectantly.

Daniel’s gaze fell on me, intense and concerned, and I instantly knew I wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.

“I’m being commissioned to an STA team,” he said quietly.

I saw Susan shake her head slightly from the corner of my eye. “What’s STA?” she asked.

Daniel’s gaze moved to his mom, releasing me for the moment. I took a deep, bracing breath.

“Surveillance and target acquisition,” he said. His voice was soft, reassuring. I didn’t like it.

His gaze quickly found mine again, the worry I saw in his telling me there was more. I braced myself.

“I deploy on the fourth.”

I blinked, long and slow, willing the insta-tears to remain at bay. When I opened my eyes again, he was right in front of me. “That’s only two weeks away,” I whispered.

“Where to?” Susan asked. The dread in her voice was unmistakable.

Daniel never took his eyes off mine as he said, “Syria.”

Panic sprung out of nowhere. In my mind, I was walking around in circles, clutching my hair, psychotically repeating ‘Oh my God,’ over and over again. In reality, I was frozen in fear, staring but not actually seeing.

Daniel took my hand in a movement that seemed too fast to be real, and started towing me toward the stairs. I followed blindly, still unable to get my brain to snap out of its panicked state.

When I blinked next, I found myself in Daniel’s room, sitting on the edge of his bed with him kneeling before me. Gently, he took my face in his hands and searched it, for what, I didn’t know. Sanity, maybe?

“Amy?” his voice begged. “Princess?”

I licked my dry lips and swallowed. “You’re going to Syria?” I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

He blinked slowly and his jaw tightened. “I’m joining a very experienced team, baby. They’ve been over there for three tours now. They know their way around like it’s their own neighborhood.”

Desperation burned deep in his eyes. He needed me to be okay with this, but how could I? I’d heard too many news stories of what the extremists did in those places.

I swallowed. “What . . . ” I couldn’t seem to get my mouth to work. Taking a few hurried breaths, I tried again. “What do you have to do? Will it be dangerous?”

Daniel’s face looked pained. “I don’t know, Princess. I won’t be briefed until I get there.”

It was a stupid question. I knew that. Even if he did know, I was sure all that stuff was classified anyway. And if I wanted to be honest with myself, I only needed to think back to the type of training Daniel had told me he’d been focusing on. Close-range recon.

“I hate the thought of you being over there,” I said, struggling to make my voice heard. “It scares me so much . . . ”

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