Page 55 of Legacy of Temptation

Kynan rounded on Mace, but when he spoke, it was to everyone. “Right now, The Aegis is the asshole in this situation. If we kill a bunch of Guardians out of revenge, we’re the asshole, and the world will turn on us. We have to be better than they are. But trust me,” he growled, “they’re going to get what they deserve.”

Chapter Fourteen

Somehow, Eva and her team were able to lose their pursuers without losing each other.

Carlos led them through some narrow streets and then down a cramped, gated tunnel. At the end, a door led them into a small house.

They stopped inside the building, breaths heaving.

“Where?” she gasped, looking around at the empty living space. “Where are we?”

“It’s an old Aegis cell house. It’s no longer used, but it’s available for anyone to lay low if they need it.”

“How the hell do you know this shit?” Sig asked between panting breaths.

Carlos closed the door and engaged the locks. “Eva’s our mouthpiece, Benji’s our tech specialist, and you’re Daddy’s spoiled frat boy spy, but I’m our tactical and security lead. The moment you killed those DART people, this became my operation.” Carlos cuffed Sig in the head as he turned away from the door. “And I researcheverythingbefore I go on assignment. Don’t get in my way, kid. Now, tell me what the fuck that was back there.”

“They were demons,” Sig said sullenly. “Didn’t you see them?”

“I saw.” Mason coughed, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. “Shanea. Her eyes. So red. And her skin…” He shuddered.

“It went pale and transparent. It was so gross,” Sig said. “And that guy, I swear he grew fangs.”

“He did,” Carlos snapped. “He was some sort of lizard motherfucker. And you shot him. You shot two damn DART agents.” He reached out and snatched the pistol out of Sig’s jacket pocket. “You fucking idiot! Do you know what you’ve done?”

“They were going to kill us,” Sig whined. “They started it. It was self-defense.”

“Self-defense, my ass.” Carlos thrust the weapon at Eva. “Put this in your bag. And then we all need to calm down and get our stories straight.”

“They weredefinitelygoing to kill us after I wasted their people,” Sig muttered.

“Shut it, Sig.” Carlos tapped on his wrist comms. “I’m going to report this and get instructions.”

Eva peeked out the window while Carlos contacted his handler. She could call hers, but Carlos and his Elder had been designated as the initial contact team in case of emergency.

The alley was empty of everything but an orange tiger cat that was clueless about the drama playing out inside the building. Eva stood motionless, watching for anyone with two feet—or hooves.

She heard the telltale beep of a holocall and turned to see Elder Philip’s balding, life-sized projection standing in the room.

“What happened?” he barked.

Carlos filled him in with a few additions from Sig, Mason, and Benji. By the time they were done, the Elder was furious. His vulgar verbal storm made everyone but Eva shrink back. She was already plastered against the wall.

She looked out the window again. An elderly lady shuffled down the cobblestone path toward them, and Eva’s heart nearly stopped beating. The lady could be a demon in disguise. Or a shifter of some sort. Every step closer brought Eva nearer to panic, but finally, just as she was getting ready to raise the alarm, the woman entered a house a couple of doors down. The cat meowed. Eva released a shaky breath.

Philip’s cursing stopped, but he was no less angry. “Where are you idiots now?”

“The old Antwerp House,” Carlos said. “A few blocks south of DART.”

“A few blocks? They’ll find you. You need to get out of there.”

“Excuse me,” Eva said, stepping away from the window, “but shouldn’t we go back? We should clear this up with DART instead of running. Running makes us look guilty.”

Philip turned to Sig. “You claim this was self-defense? Can DART prove it wasn’t?”

“Probably not.” Sig ground his jaw. “I mean, their people turned into demons. We had the right to defend ourselves.”

“Who started it?”

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