Page 13 of Dark OZ

“Thea,” a smooth voice whispered, along with a feather-light touch that caressed down my temple until reaching the sting of my raw, bruised cheek.

My eyes fluttered open. I wasn’t entirely certain what was going on at first. Piercing blue eyes, practically teal in the fluorescent light filling the garage, peered down. A rich, truly masculine smell wrapped around me. I pulled the hoody draped over me closer and willed my brain to catch up.

Crowe rubbed the back of his knuckle over my temple again. “There she is.”

Everything came flooding back in a second. The container, Henry, Eastin, our flight from her garage. I sat up, tossing off the hoodie and jolting entirely too quickly for how inflamed the skin of my back was.

“Woah. Woah. It’s ok. There’s nothing to be afraid of here.” Crowe’s voice felt soft, like something you would use on a spooked animal. Disgusted by my cowardice, I immediately straightened my spine. I didn’t need to be showing any more weakness. I’d already shown more than I should.

“Where is here?” I said, my voice still rough from sleep.

“My home. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the guys. Then, maybe we can figure out what the hell comes next.”

I nodded and pushed the passenger door open.

The massive garage was well-lit and housed two other matching YBR Cabs, along with two sports cars and a couple of motorcycles. Crowe headed for a door in the corner, elevated slightly above four concrete steps.

“This way.”

Ignoring him, I ran my hand down the cherry-red Stingray that we parked next to. It was a gorgeous car. It looked sleek and fast, like something from a movie and nothing like the dusty utility vehicles you’d see around The Farm. Despite logic telling me to pay attention to my surroundings, the only thing I wanted to do in this moment was watch my fingers wrap around the steering wheel. I went to open the driver’s door.

“Thea, I wouldn’t touch that. Danny can be really possessive.”

A much deeper, masculine voice barked out, “What in the FUCK do you think you’re doing?”

I spun around, my hands tucked behind me like a child caught stealing sweets from the kitchen. At the top of the stairs looming over Crowe was a tall, broad man with an AR-15 assault rifle tucked into the crook of his shoulder—pointed right at me. His finger was poised over the trigger like he might light up the whole garage at any minute.

AR-15s were the guns of choice by the guards running the perimeter at The Farm, so I was more than familiar with them. I was also familiar with how quickly they could cut someone down when they decided to make a run for it.

Slowly, I raised my hands in the air. Crowe took two steps back, effectively placing himself in the line of fire.

“Crowe, one of your boys?” I said, trying to keep as much strength in my voice as I could. But seriously, he said this place was safe, and not two minutes later, his friend pulled an assault rifle on him.

“Fucking hell, Danny? Overkill much?”

Danny flicked a button on the side, switching the rifle to fully automatic. “No, I don’t think so.”

“You’re just pissy because she was eyeing up your car.”

With his free hand, Danny pulled a phone from his pocket, swiped it open, and tossed it down to Crowe. “This came across the wire about five minutes ago.” Over his shoulder, I could see a security camera photo of my battered face. “Imagine my surprise when I seeherclimbing out of one ofmycabs.”

“Our cab,” Crowe guffawed, but his eyes were still looking at the phone screen.

Danny shifted his weight, squaring off his shoulders towards Crowe. “So how about you tell me why it is that someone with a $50K price tag on her pretty head is standing in our garage? We have protocols, and bringing persons of interest into HQ isn’t one of them.”

“Thea isn’t a threat, you overreacting psycho. Gigi set us up, orsomething. I haven’t quite worked it out. Yet. Bringing her here was the only option I could think of.”

“Only option you could think of? Fuck, Crowe, we have safe houses for an Oz damned reason.”

“Yeah, and Gigi knows all of them. But, she’s never beenhere.”

“For a good fucking reason. We don’t bring anyone here, assets or otherwise.”

Crowe tilted his head with a little laugh, about to say something that was quickly cut off by Danny. “I swear, I will break your fucking skull if you crack a joke about her assets.”

“I mean–” Crowe sucked in a breath through his teeth “—have you actually looked at her because–-”

There was a click and a clear red line painted through the garage aimed straight at me.

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