Free A Shadow's Embrace by Cara Carnes

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    good idea.”  

Chapter Five
     
     
    The safe house was on the edge of town nearest one of the many large freeways encircling Normal. It seemed as though the entirety of the SEO had shown up. Their presence unnerved her, the way they studied her every move with expressionless faces and stances that, without words, promised severe consequences for anyone who dared fuck with them.  
    Dare and Rider could learn a thing or two about intimidation from them. She’d wanted to remain close to Dagan, but he’d moved away from her the moment they entered the small room, as if establishing physical distance to sever the tentative attraction growing between them.  
    The kiss had been a mistake—a rash and naïve impulse she’d no business fulfilling. Hopefully they’d move past the tension Devyn sensed and get back to what mattered. Finding Rider.  
    “Ace, you’re a man after my geek soul. This system is awesome.”  
    “I can’t take all the credit.” The short, wiry man smirked and sat beside her. “We spoke with your girl, and she said you were particular. I’ve gotta say I’m impressed. Some of this software you’re running is slick. I’m thinking about installing it on the SEO systems.”  
    “Well, you’ll see it in action soon enough.”  
    The machine purred awake. Ignoring the majority of the room’s intimidating inhabitants, she focused on Ace.  
    “What typically goes down when I go in is that I find the area of interest and project the data on the multiple monitors. Cadence usually follows and searches those data streams for any audio clues.”  
    “She’s an audiopath. Cool.” Ace grabbed a keyboard. “I can trace your location, make sure no one notices your presence.”  
    A couple weeks ago she would’ve said it wasn’t possible for someone to track her, but clearly she’d overlooked something the last time she’d been there. Otherwise Conver wouldn’t be nipping at her heels.  
    “I tend to lose perceptions of my surroundings, time. My team’s empath, Mia, would keep lookout for any cues. If I appeared too emotional—fearful, enraged, whatever—she’d flag Rider, and he’d either pull me out or try and calm me down.”  
    “Good to know,” Kaeden commented as he sat in a chair beside her. “Empathy is a secondary ability for me, so I’ll do what I can to match Mia’s work. Dagan, be ready to go in if needed.”  
    The fact that they immediately planned to back her was impressive. She’d expected to waste valuable time proving she could do what she claimed. Then again, Dagan had already seen her do it once.  
    She took a moment to regard the SEO commander. Holy hotness. He was everything she’d expected and more. Unruly dark brown hair accentuated a powerful jawline. Brown eyes so light they appeared golden flickered with amusement as she continued her assessment. Muscles bulged beneath a dark t-shirt, which was tucked into black cargo pants. She swallowed as her gaze moved downward, noting the lean hips and powerful thighs. He was sleek, sinewy grace. Confidence oozed from him, in the stance of his tall, muscular frame and the ease he maintained despite her obvious ogling. She averted her attention to Dagan and dragged herself back into the conversation when his voice rose.  
    “She’s already gone in once. Her nose bled. She can’t be in too long.”  
    The weight of his concern settled warmly in her belly, fluttering her arousal back to life.  
    “Risking your health isn’t an option.”  
    “This will be different. I flagged the data streams I need to grab. I should be able to go in and zip directly to them.” She took a few deep breaths and pushed back the pangs of remorse rising in her. “I probably should’ve done that with the stuff I was looking at when I got tagged by Conver, but I honestly don’t recall seeing anything noteworthy. Clearly I overlooked something.”  
    “So we’ll go in, grab the intel of Rider you discovered first,