Free TangledIndulgence by Tina Christopher Page A

on the scanner. DNA and
fingerprints were checked in seconds. Then he raised his eyes to the retinal
scanner and unlocked that too. Finally he pulled an old-fashioned metal key out
of his pocket and unlocked the door.
    “What the Jade are you keeping in here?” Adira’s incredulous
voice filled the narrow corridor.
    “Everything we may need and some things we better not.” He
stepped inside and pulled two vests down, handing one to Adira.
    “I have my own, this is too big.”
    “It’ll shrink to fit once you’ve closed the snaps.”
    Silence.
    Mal smiled. Adira’s silence spoke volumes.
    “I haven’t heard of something like this coming on the
market.”
    “Sam, a team member, is our resident geek. There is nothing
he can’t do with a computer or a weapon and he likes to tinker.”
    She quickly buttoned her shirt and tucked everything in
neatly before she pulled on the vest. As promised it shrank to fit her slender
frame, protecting all her vital spots.
    He handed her an assault phaser and pulled his own vest on.
Then he settled the weapons he carried from their room back into their places.
He added two more knives in wrist sheaths.
    Adira walked along the shelves and added three more phasers
to her InvisioHol, bringing her to a total of four handguns. She added two
smaller knives to her ankles and stood. “Any idea where we’re headed? We’re
dressed to party and I don’t want us to miss the gathering.”
    Mal pulled on a long leather duster. “The tracker shows
Marissa has been taken to an abandoned warehouse near the waterfront.”
    Adira snorted. “We’ll be mugged as soon as we enter the
district.”
    He smiled, knowing it would look feral. “Let them try.”
    She slung on her short leather jacket and twisted, ensuring
everything stayed in place. “Let’s go.”
    Mal studied his lifemate. She looked badass. Tall, lean,
sexy, covered in weapons and ready to take on whomever they had to in order to
save a young woman. Part of him was terrified of taking her into danger, but he
knew she would not stay back. And he loved her as she was, the kick-ass
Sentinel. He wouldn’t change her just to make himself feel better.
    “The rest of my team will meet us there.”
    She shook her head and strode out of the broom closet. “Of
course they will. They’ll arrive wearing tights and spandex with a cape
floating behind them, prepared to fight all evil.”
    He grinned at his lifemate’s mumblings as he locked the room
again. She wasn’t too far off.

Chapter Six
     
    Adira couldn’t believe she was about to walk into a
potentially dangerous situation involving hostages without informing the
Sentinels what was going on, with only a mercenary and his team as backup.
    She’d lost her mind completely.
    But she felt safer with Mal at her side than any other
officer she’d ever partnered with. She trusted him deep down, even if they had
a weird connection she still didn’t quite understand.
    They’d taken hovercycles to the abandoned warehouse, as a
bike engine was easier to quiet than a transport engine. Parking a block over,
Adira activated every anti-theft program she had. She didn’t want her baby
stolen and the shadows hovering around them made that a real possibility.
    The Warehouse Area had started as the local delivery hub,
but with upgrades and new developments closer to Parvati’s center the formerly
affluent area had fallen into disrepair. Adira stood surrounded by three- or four-story
brick buildings with windows either missing completely, boarded up or blacked
out by grime and dirt. The outsides were decorated with gang markings and other
signs of vandalism.
    It was not an area you entered without being armed to your
teeth.
    Mal strode up to a group of shadows and pulled a massive
figure out into the dim streetlight. He flashed his extended fangs and lifted
the thug with one hand around his neck. “Touch the bikes and I will find and
kill you.” He aimed the words into the shadows before