Free INVISIBLE FATE BOOK THREE: ALEX NOZIAK (INVISIBLE RECRUITS) by Mary Buckham Page A

gulp.
    “Then you’re on the team.” Kelly released a breath of air, even as Stone added, “Still in the same situation though. You ready for the hard stuff?”
    “I’m more wo rried about what we will find.”
    “Such as?”
    “Deceit. Betrayal. Evil.”
    Stone canted his lips before saying . “Yet each man kills the thing he loves. Some do it with a bitter look. Some with a flattering word. The coward does it with a kiss. The brave man with a sword.”
    “Sounds like poetry.”
    “Oscar Wilde. The Ballad of Reading Gaol .” He nodded to the waiter to bring the check before he speared Kelly with a hard glance. “You ready to be the brave man?”
    The one with the sword? She straightened her shoulders. She’d been given a second chance and she wasn’t going to blow it. She might be keeping her doubts to herself, for now. “If being brave is what it’s going to take, I’ll do it.”
    “ Count on it.” His look matched his tone. “The only thing I can guarantee.”
    Kelly didn’t say anything. What could she say? Oh, good? Or maybe, bring it on, as Alex would have said? That wasn’t Kelly’s way. Slow, sure, and avoiding risk. That was more Kelly’s style even as she knew that was all about to change.
    “You heading up to meet with the team?” Stone asked a few moments later as they stood shoulder to shoulder on the busy sidewalk. An island of stillness among the swarms of tourists brushing past them.
    Kelly nodded.
    “Then watch your back,” he murmured, moving off before Kelly could ask him what he meant.
     

     
    Chapter Twelve
     
    Bran woke with a start, not realizing he’d dozed off. He pulled himself forward on the sofa, aware of the tug of muscles irritating his shoulder, but that was better than it had been. With a tentative finger, he pressed the area surrounding the gunshot wound, glad to see the healing spell he’d cast late last night was working.
    As a mage he knew magic but normally didn’t use spell casting, not like a certain witch/shaman he knew. No, he preferred the human way of hard work and sweat. If he earned something , he wanted to make sure it was because of his efforts and not enchantment.
    The wound wasn’t completely healed but better, good enough he could gently raise and stretch his arm. Yes, a definite improvement.
    A quick glance around reassured him he was the only one in the warehouse. Willie must still be at Versailles . Francois was gone.
    What now?
    First step, something to eat. It’d been a full day yesterday without food and his body wasn’t happy about it. Next step, plan what to do to find Alex. Her father and brother were best kept in the tunnels for now. If Jeb Noziak needed to leave the safe house, his shifter abilities could follow his own scent, backtracking until they came topside.
    Bran would have to deal with both Jeb and Van soon but his first priority was to find the other Noziak. The one who drove him crazy.
    So, best way to locate Alex?
    As if conjured his cell phone buzzed, the number not familiar. He answered anyway, having been away from business long enough to expect a flood of calls needing his attention.
    What he didn’t expect was the man called Stone on the other end, Alex’s instructor from the IR Agency.
    “This Bran?” came the abrupt voice.
    “ Oui.”
    “M.T. Stone here. We need to meet.”
    “Because?”
    “Because I want your help locating Alex Noziak.” Before Bran could tell him where to take his suggestion and shove it, her team had royally messed with her once, why should he trust them now, until Stone added,  “And you just might need our help in avoiding the Council.”
    There was something to be said for blunt, straight-forwardness. The Americans took it to a new level but Bran could work with it. First , he wanted to make sure he wasn’t walking into a trap. “What makes you think I know something about Alex’s whereabouts?”
    “We have an eye witness who said she might not be dead.”
    “You sure?”