Page 53 of Following Their Heart

“Drive around the perimeter,” Scrap says, peering out the windshield with his fancy night-vision goggles.

Grim does as he’s told, and we drive slowly around each of the buildings while Scrap scans the forest.

“Summit to base,” Scrap says into his radio. “I’m doing a perimeter check in the Jeep. Not seeing anything out there with my thermal tech. Over.”

“Roger that.” It’s Rev’s voice. “I see you. Security cams are back up and running, and there’s nothing moving out there or in any of our buildings. We did a search. They’re all gone. Unless anyone survived that crash. Over.”

Grim’s knuckles are white as he steers the Jeep around Scrap’s shop. “I saw the missile hit,” he says quietly to Scrap. “It was a fireball. No one could survive that.” The certainty in his voice makes me shiver in my seat, even though I’m not cold.

Scrap holds the radio to his mouth. “Don’t think anyone survived the crash. It was a direct hit.”

“Atta boy,” Rev comes back, and even from my backseat position, I can make out Scrap’s smile. “Shep’s just told me the perimeter alarms are back online. Nothing has crossed our boundary by land. Come on in, and we’ll assess the situation.”

“Roger that,” Scrap says.

Grim parks the Jeep behind the lodge, and my stomach sinks. The headlights illuminate piles and piles of dead birds all around the building. There must be hundreds of thousands.

“Oh, my gosh! What happened?”

“Raptor happened,” Scrap says before hopping out.

“So many birds,” I say, stepping out of the Jeep and into the protective embrace of my Ukrainian guardian.

“It must have been chaos down here,” Grim says, leading me to the back door.

I can’t believe how the lodge has been transformed. It used to be forest green from this vantage point, but now it practically glows in the moonlight with the stucco-like texture of the spray-on, bullet-proof concrete. Instead of short shrubs around the foundation, it looks like it’s been snowing birds for weeks on end.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” I lean heavily on Grim.

“Me too,” he says, holding me close to his side.

“Lightning’s about to strike,” Scrap says. I don’t understand what he’s talking about until he adds, “I’m gonna be somewhere else.” He abandons us to go around front, tossing over his shoulder. “It was nice knowing ya, Grim.”

I don’t blame him for separating himself from us. I should be in the bomb shelter, safely guarded by Grim. We both disobeyed orders when we left the shelter an hour ago, but no one knows it yet, except Scrap. We’re about to let the cat out of the bag.

“Are you ready for this?” Grim laces his fingers through mine. We’re standing at the back of the lodge, ready to go in. We’ll have to climb over the dead birds.

I swallow hard and squeeze his hand. “I’m ready.”

“I can’t believe all this happened so fast,” I say, as we come toe-to-toe with the macabre mound. It feels like less than two hours since Grim hurried me to the bomb shelter. When we left, the grounds were pristine. Now, it’s shrouded in death. “This is so sad.”

“Da.”I appreciate that he doesn’t try to sugar coat things.

I squeeze his hand. Tight. “I won’t let Jud be mad at you for letting me out of the shelter,” I promise.

He huffs. “I won’t let you take the blame. I disobeyed orders. I will pay the price.”

“No. It wasn’t your call to make. It was mine. I used my agency to break with what Jud wanted. I’ll take the heat.”

The moonlight is just enough for me to see hisno-wayexpression. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. Because if tonight taught me anything, it’s that I can trust my instincts where my men are concerned.

IknewScrap needed me. I knew theyallneeded me, and I was no use to them in that shelter. I’m not sorry for disobeying orders. Because by doing so, I helped Scrap fight back. Gift versus Gift.

“Come on,” I say, and I take Grim’s hand.

Together, we hike up the mound of birds. I don’t know about Grim, but I’m wincing with every crunching step.

Getting inside takes some doing. Birds are packed against the outward-swinging screen door to the porch that doubles as a mudroom and laundry area. Grim has to tear a hole in the screen and crawl through it to retrieve a snow shovel. He passes it out to me, followed by a spade, and silently, we work to clear a path and free the door.

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