Free Taken by Fire by Sydney Croft Page A

distracted.”
    Gabe stood over him, panting, and Creed realized the kid had laid him out flat.
    “Fuck off,” he growled.
    “And now you sound like Ender.” Gabe shook his head. “I need training, dammit.”
    Ever since he’d gotten back from that ill-fated trip in the Amazon where Akbar had died, Gabe had tripled his efforts in an almost superhuman way. Part guilt out of hurting Annika, part desire to prove himself to Devlin and the rest of ACRO, and if Gabe kept this up, he’d either burn out or save them all.
    “Dude, you have got to chill every once in a while. More to life than training.”
    Gabe muttered something under his breath, and yeah, he was in the middle of relationship issues too. Devlin had always been obsessed with Itor’s takedown, but it had morphed into something greater than all of them, a supersecret plan Dev wouldn’t share with anyone.
    God, they were all fucking pathetic when it came to intrapersonal shit, but put the fate of the free world in their hands and they managed just fine. “Come on,” he told Gabe after he peeled himself off the floor. “You and I need a drink.”
    “I don’t—”
    “Trust me, you need several. You’ll settle for one.”
    M elanie’s head hurt. Her eyes burned. And the floor was really, really hard.
    Floor? Groggily, she sat up, blinking in the dim light. There was metal all around her … a crate. She was in a metal cargo crate about six feet wide and ten feet long, and just high enough to allow Stryker to stand.
    Which he was doing as he peeked through the air holes lining the side walls. Light streamed through them and the barred door, illuminating the dark space.
    “What happened?”
    Stryker turned to her. “We were gassed.” He sank down to sit with his back against the wall. “I haven’t seen anyone yet, but we seem to be inside a big warehouse.”
    Her stomach churned. “We need to get out of here.”
    “You think?”
    Ass
. “Can you use your earthquake thing?”
    He shook his head. “I’ll give away my hand if whoever has us doesn’t know what I am, and even if I was willing to risk that, I’d bring the warehouse down on our heads. We need to wait until someone shows up.” He shot her a piercing look. “Or you could freeze the metal lock to make it brittle, and we can break out.”
    She drew a sharp breath. Even if she could control it that well … she flexed her hand, testing her power, and though she felt a cool tingle, it wasn’t enough to do something like freeze metal. She could maybe make some ice cubes for a drink, but that would be about it. “I’m … ah …”
    “I know. We’ll have to fuck.”
    “Shit.”
    “Yeah.”
    She glared at him. “You could at least pretend that having sex with me isn’t the end of the world.”
    “Because you’re acting so excited,” he shot back, and she couldn’t deny it.
    Sighing, she rubbed her eyes. This was such a nightmare. The pounding in her head grew stronger, more like knocking.
    Phoebe.
    “How long were we out?”
    Stryker shrugged. “About six hours. Why? Is your shot wearing off?”
    “Yes.” She was also hungry. Cursing softly, she patted her pockets, where she stuffed the two remaining shots. “They’re gone.”
    “Over there.” He cocked his thumb at a table on the other side of a thick, clear shield she’d bet was fireproof. Her syringes and his weapons were piled on the table.
    “Damn—” Crying out from pain, she grabbed her head.
    Stryker moved to her, put his hands over hers. “Hey.” His voice was surprisingly gentle. “What’s wrong?”
    “She wants out,” Mel gasped.
    “Does it normally hurt?”
    “Only when I fight it.” All around her, the light faded, until she was in a tunnel of darkness. Distantly, she heard Stryker calling her name.
    Then she heard nothing.
    P hoebe took in the situation in one second flat. She was in a crate, held prisoner, with the ACRO agent known as Stryker.
    Fucking great.
    How in the hell had Mel