Free Clarity (The Admiral's Elite Book 3) by HK Savage Page A

slowly, her eyes never leaving his.
     
    He took a breath through his nose to speak. “Black is recalling him to active duty.”
     
    Becca felt the air go out of her. Her knees, unable to hold her weight, buckled and she sank back on the bed. “So he’s decided I’m not moving fast enough.” Her voice sounded hollow. “That’s it.” Eyes never having strayed from his face, Becca watched the little color his body had pulled from his recent feeding bleed from Michael’s face. She felt sick.
    “How long have you known? Why can you tell me this now?” She was familiar with the way his bond with the admiral worked; she’d felt it when she used her ability to “jump” into his head and use his senses to listen in on a planning session with Black. When Michael tried to argue it felt like a band tightening around his skull. The pain was blinding.
     
    The hand cradling his injured limb dropped, slipping into his other pocket. A picture of defeat, he fell back against the wooden door. “He’s been considering it for a while. We were coming back from a trip, just he and I when he mentioned it. I didn’t know he was planning to do it so soon.” A twitch at the corner of his eye and Becca knew that was all he would say. All h e coul d say without suffering by the admiral’s hand. “I thought we had more time.”
     
    The admiral knows I’m weak and he needs his witch.
     
    “He told Gabrielle to bring him in. He didn’t tell her it was confidential, so I can say that. For now.” She recalled the scars she’d seen fading when he came home from those trips. The admiral was not one to have patience for anyone questioning his motives, even Michael.
     
    Facing the possibility that her days, hours even, were numbered, Becca found herself surprisingly calm. Body and mind strangely at peace, she studied her tormented lover as her thoughts slammed into hyperdrive. “So this is it. What you’ve been afraid of all along. It’s not enough what I can do, he wants someone less,” she hesitated, “fragile for the team.”
     
    His lips tightened at her use of his own word for her and her kind. She knew she was right. He couldn’t speak to confirm or deny any extrapolations she made, he didn’t need to. Experience gave her the insight to read Michael’s reactions well enough to tell her when she was on the right track. That was why he usually shut her down when she started asking questions. His letting her make the assumptions she had was a frightening indicator as to how worried he was. Was he warning her the only way he could?
     
    If the words passed between them Black would sense it. Was this Michael’s silent push that she should go AWOL? Try to run from Admiral Black? But what of her unit? And Michael? Only a fool would believe he wouldn’t suffer for letting her go. Plus, something bigger was going on here and it all led back to Washington. She needed to help them find those who were trying to harm her unit. It was why she’d been brought on board, to sense danger. And right now only the desperate grip she had on her defenses was holding the dancing spots and certain blindness of that sense at bay. There was danger here for certain and not just for her, for all of them.
     
    Michael took a step away from the door just as three loud knocks sounded from the other side.
     
    “Come on boys and girls, pack your dancing shoes. Let’s go get some R&R.” Ryan’s large boots should have clomped away but the grace his dual nature allowed had him retreating as quietly as he’d come. Becca heard not a scrape or scuff on the stone in the hall to mark his passing.
     
    “Sounds like we’re heading up to LA.” Michael’s voice sounded strangled. He wanted to tell her something but couldn’t.
     
    Becca’s words were flat as she struggled to keep hold of herself. “Give me a few to throw a bag together.”
     
    “We’ll meet you out front.” He turned abruptly and left.
     
    The door closing barely