Sin and Sacrifice (14 page)

“
If you meant me harm,
probably.” Conceding his point, she stared up through the veil of
her lashes. It couldn't be her imagination that he seemed as drawn
to her as she did him. The way he glanced between her eyes and her
mouth was an age old giveaway. But it was more than lust, more than
a feral animal heat. It was something she squelched right then and
there—again—and refused to acknowledge beyond mutual
attraction.

Minna would set her
straight in a heartbeat.

Against the small of her
back, the doorknob rattled and turned. Gasping, she pushed into
Rhett even while he pulled the gun out of the holster, putting
himself between her and the door.

Chapter Six

Christian froze when he
came face to face with the muzzle of the gun.

“
Hello to you, too,” he
said to Rhett.

“
Knock or announce
yourself next time.” Rhett tucked the gun into the holster and
stepped back to let him in.

Evelyn breathed a sigh of
relief. Flushed from her interaction with Rhett, she brushed hair
away from her cheek and moved out of their way.

It wasn't just Christian
pulling a piece of luggage, but two other men, both also carrying
luggage, who stepped in behind him.

One, older than the others,
stood at least six-foot-five and had black hair with a goatee and
mustache. Hair tied in a neat tail at his nape, business suit and
polished boots, he looked distinct and businesslike. Almost his
mirror twin, the second man, younger but equally as dark, chose a
blazer and jeans instead of a suit and his hair was loose around
his neck. He too sported a goatee that he kept neatly
trimmed.

Rhett didn't look concerned
or worried and made introductions while she moved out of the way to
give them room.

He gestured to the taller
man first. “Miss Grant, this is my boss, Dragar and my associate
Dracht. They've been doing a lot of investigating while we've been
in transit.”

Dray-gar and
Draw-kt.
She locked the pronunciations
away and shook Dragar's hand when he offered it. The calloused
surface of his palm felt rough against her own. He had long fingers
and a firm but not crushing grip.

“
Nice to meet you,
Mister-- er, Dragar.”

“
Mister Sagan. But call me
Dragar, hm?” He smiled like an indulgent father might and released
her hand. The man towered over her, his dark gaze as sharp as
Christian and Rhett's.

“
Miss Grant.” Dracht took
up Dragar's place, peering down at her from his loftier height. He
had eyes so dark brown they almost looked black.

Evelyn went through the
motions with them both, wondering what they were doing here.
Drawing her hand back, she clasped them in front of her. She
glanced between the two new agents.

“
Thank you for bringing
the suitcases. I didn't expect to get them so quickly.”

“
Just part of the job,
Ma'am. We took a plane to cut the time down,” Dracht said. “We have
some news about your friends.”

He and Dragar sat on a
sofa, making themselves right at home in the sitting room. They
were so tall that they seemed to take up all the real estate on the
couch, yet there didn't seem to be an ounce of extra fat on either
one of them.

Christian moved the luggage
closer to the wall and went to stand near the balcony, keeping
watch over the market.

Rhett escorted her to a
sofa opposite the agents.

Evelyn perched on the edge,
feeling like something important was about to be said. She felt out
of place, out of sorts. Nothing could be gleaned by any of their
expressions and she felt a moment of sheer panic thinking they were
about to tell her that all the other girls were dead.

Please God, anything but
that.

It struck her again how
much had changed in a short amount of time, and that for now, their
fates were inexplicably twined with these men.

Dragar and Dracht watched
her straight on, without smiles, their broad hands clasped between
their knees. Rhett stood to the side with his arms crossed over his
chest. She could feel his gaze pinned right on her.

“
Have you made contact
with them, then?” Evelyn found it difficult to shape the question.
She swallowed past a tight knot in her throat.

“
Not exactly. We've been
watching the place they held you and managed to track a few of them
to another location. A few hours ago, we saw them move three women
from a van into a building and we're assuming, considering the
circumstances, that they're your friends,” Dragar said.

Evelyn felt like someone
had kicked her in the chest. “All
three?
Did you—I mean, I hope you're
going to tell me next that you went in and got them
out.”

“
Not yet,
Miss--”

“
Why
not?
Why would you wait when you
know what they did to me?” she asked, incredulous. She'd been
hoping against hope that her sisters had been able to stay on the
run.

“
We went in blind the
first time after you,” Dragar said, not unkindly. “It could have
cost Agent Nichols his life. We can't do that again. It's better to
find out all we can about the location, about the entrances and
exits and how best to go in and extract them. It'll happen within
the next twenty-four hours though. We thought you should
know.”

Caught between concern and
misplaced guilt that Rhett had risked his life for her, she looked
between their eyes. Part of her was relieved that they were making
plans to get the girls out, and the other part of her wanted them
out
now.

“
I understand the risks,
but believe me, the risks to their lives are far greater. Are we
going back to Greece?” she asked.

“
I think it's best if you
stay here, Miss Grant. We still don't know how broad their network
is or what they even want with you and your friends. With any luck,
we'll be able to take these people into custody and question them,”
Dracht said, taking over for Dragar. “We're planning to go in
sometime in the middle of the night.”

“
But every hour you wait
is another hour they're being tortured,” she argued, upset at the
thought of her sisters enduring that kind of pain.

“
We don't know what's
going on in there—”

“
Well
I
do. They won't waste any time
trying to get them to talk.” She realized belatedly that she might
have chosen the wrong words; all four men were staring at her like
they wondered what she
wasn't
saying.

“
About the same thing they
tried to get you to talk about, Miss Grant?” Christian
asked.

“
I can't be sure, but it
makes sense.” Evelyn felt like the whole thing was perilously close
to unraveling around her. “They obviously think we know something
we don't, or know
someone
that we don't.” The collective, contemplative
silence of the four men all but unnerved her.

Finally, Dragar said,
“We'll go in as soon as possible. As soon as it's safe for us and
we know we're not putting your friends in more danger. Is
there
any
thing
else you can tell us that might help? Think hard, Miss Grant. Every
little detail is important.”

Oh, there were many things
she hadn't told them. Many things she
could
tell them that would shed a
whole new light on the situation. Licking her lips, she debated
confessing. Never had she felt such an overwhelming urge to confide
as she did with Rhett and these agents. The same old reasons why
she could not kept her secrets safe.

“
I've wracked my brain and
I can't think of anything I haven't already told agent Nichols. If
I think of something though, you can be sure I'll let him or
Christian know.”

“
Please do, Miss Grant,”
Dracht said.

Dragar and Dracht stood up
almost on cue, as if there was some hidden signal they reacted
to.

“
Will you let me know as
soon as you have them out?” she asked, standing when they
did.

“
Absolutely. Don't worry,
they'll be all right,” Dracht reassured her. With a cordial smile,
he walked ahead of Dragar to the door. “We'll be in
touch.”

“
Thank you.” Caught
between dismay and hope, Evelyn bid them goodbye.

“
I'm going down to scout
the lobby and around the perimeter of the building,” Christian
said, following both of the other men out.

Evelyn watched them go,
sending up a fervent prayer the agents wouldn't be too
late.

Rhett bolted the door in
their wake and came back to lean against the wall, arms crossed
over his chest. It seemed to be a favorite pose.

“
Want help with your
luggage?” he asked.

She understood he was
attempting to distract her and nodded her gratitude.

“
Yes, thank you. Then, I
think, I'm going to try and get a little rest.” She didn't think
for a minute sleep was in the cards. She just wanted an excuse to
stay secluded after going through Galiana's things.

Without another word, Rhett
took the suitcases into the room she'd claimed as her own. He did
so with the familiar ease he did everything else, and paused next
to her on his way out after leaving them by the bed. “Don't worry.
Dragar and Dracht are good at what they do. They'll get your
friends out before another one dies.”

Unzipping Galiana's
suitcase metaphorically translated to unzipping the emotions she'd
held at bay since the murder. When the flap flipped back and the
sweet smell of Galiana's things hit her nose, Evelyn's restraint
and composure fled. All the grief rushed to the surface. Silent
tears tracked down her cheeks while she touched the make up bag,
the ruffle on a shirt, the outline of a stylish shoe.

Twenty-eight years had
passed since they'd lost one of their own. Blindsided and ambushed
by the pain, by the hole it left in her soul, Evelyn tried to come
to terms with it. The initial shock had been absorbed by the need
to get away from the Templars; now there was nowhere left to hide
from the uncomfortable certainty of death.

Sweet, compassionate
Galiana, lover of fashion, fragile butterfly, fierce protector of
the innocent. Sister, daughter, loyal best friend. The girl with a
heart of gold who devoted so much time to those of the less
fortunate persuasion. She had taken her oath to spread good through
the world as seriously as the rest of them. For Galiana, it was
less like duty and more a natural inclination to help
others.

She didn't realize she was
sobbing until she felt a pair of strong arms lace her up from
behind. Rhett's distinctive scent and size would have given him
away if she hadn't known they were alone. Seeking refuge in a
stranger's arms was not typically her way, but she found that
today, after all this, she didn't care. Half turning, she rested
her temple against his chest and let him absorb some of her
sorrow.

Galiana was
gone.

Minna, Genevieve and
Alexandra, all that she had left in the world from the beginning in
the Garden, were at the mercy of the Templars. One or more might
very well be dead already. Evelyn wasn't ready to face life alone
without her sisters. The thought of never seeing any of them again
cut her to her core. Every one of her other siblings were long
dead, brothers and sisters alike.

“
Shh. It'll be all right,”
Rhett said in a soothing murmur.

“
Will it? She's gone.
She's dead and I never even got to say goodbye.” Her words broke
over breathless sobs.

“
We'll make sure we hold
the body so you and your friends can give her a proper funeral, hm?
Then you can say goodbye.”

The stroke of his hand on
her hair calmed some of her inner turmoil. Outside the balcony
window, the noisy street below clashed with the private moment they
had, a constant reminder of the danger they were in. Under her
cheek and her palms, Rhett was solid and strong. Sure of himself.
The sheer confidence he radiated along with his looming presence
helped curb the harsh emotion rioting around inside.

He crooked a knuckle under
her chin and lifted her face to his.

In the jaundiced glow of
the street light filtering in the glass pane, Evelyn locked gazes
with him. She instinctively knew it wasn't just her that felt the
pull between them. She read the seriousness of it in his gaze, felt
the tug of attraction from him as surely as he must have felt it
from her.

The pad of his thumb
cruised along the top of her cheekbones, smearing the tracks of the
tears away. A sweet motion that Evelyn found as irresistible as the
spark of heat in his eyes. They hovered on the brink of an action
that would change how they interacted together, change
everything
period.
If they gave in to the temptation, they would no longer be
Agent Nichols and Miss Grant.