Black Rose

CHAPTER 21

The snow was letting up by the time they got back to the safe house.

"Man, I'm beat," Lamont said. He sat down on a couch.

"You're getting old, Shadow," Ronnie said.

"I wouldn't talk about old if I were you," Lamont said. "You look a little worn out yourself."

Ronnie's face showed the strain of the raid. It hadn't been that long since he'd been lying in a hospital, near death.

"How you feeling, Ronnie?" Nick said.

"I'm fine."

"Get some sleep. Unless the snow closes the airport, we're out of here in the morning."

In their room, Selena helped Nick take off his vest.

"Ow," he said.

He unbuttoned his shirt. Selena helped him take it off, then worked his tee shirt up over his head. His side was a massive blotch of bruised color.

"Rainbow man," Selena said. "Very impressive. Any ribs broken?"

"I don't think so, but it feels like I got hit by a truck. Everything's stiffening up."

"It will feel better in the morning," she said.

"No it won't, but thanks for the thought."

"You could have been killed."

"That's what the vests are for. Good thing it was only one round, though."

"Do you think we stopped them tonight?"

"I don't know," Nick said. "We sure as hell slowed them down."

"People like them shouldn't be allowed to exist," she said. Her voice was touched with anger.

"There's always someone like them."

"That's the problem, isn't it? There's always someone who wants to run the world their way and who'll do anything to get what they want."

"At least this time we know who they are and where they live. We didn't stop AEON before, but we didn't know as much. Maybe this time around we can finish it."

"Adam and his group tried to stop them for centuries," Selena said. "They couldn't do it."

"They didn't have us to help them out," Nick said.

Selena laughed.

"Ah, hell, I'm tired," Nick said. "All I want is to get under that nice warm quilt on the bed over there. With you."

"That's all?"

"Well, maybe not."

He leaned over and kissed her. They held it for a long minute. She reached up and pulled him closer.

"Ow," he said again.

"You sure about the bed? I thought you said you were tired. And you're hurting."

"What's a little pain between friends? And I'm not that tired."

Later, after he was asleep, she stared at the ceiling for a long time. Next to her, his body radiated heat like a furnace. She thought about what he'd said about Adam, about his group not having the team to help in the past.

He was serious, she thought. People have been trying to bring down AEON for a thousand years and he thinks that we're the ones to do it. He meant it, it's how he thinks of himself, of the team. He means to take them down.

Outside the window of the bedroom, the wind was dying out. They'd be able to leave tomorrow and it couldn't be soon enough for her. She'd always loved the Alps, but after tonight she didn't think Switzerland would ever feel the same.

How did I get here?

She stared up at the ceiling for a long time.