Chapter Nineteen

It was easy to melt into the crowd.

Every step he took away from Ice was like a knife in the gut. He’d thought of stabbing Ice so he couldn’t follow him, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He walked along the crowded area where other flights had landed and their luggage was now spinning around the belts. Someone closed a hand around his wrist and Echo didn’t tug away until he was pulled around a corner, hidden from view.

“What the fuck, Rogue?” Echo yanked his wrist free.

“You need to come with me.”

“Why?”

“It’s not safe for you to be with Ice right now,” Rogue said, searching his eyes and then glancing away.

“What the fuck’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Then I’m not leaving him.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Rogue said flatly, gesturing to the hand he had tucked into his pocket.

That Rogue had a gun inside of LAX didn’t surprise Echo. He had a knife of his own. Getting weapons into impossible places was one of their areas of expertise. At times like this, Echo wished he had paid attention when Rogue and Fisher had tried to teach him hand to hand combat.

“If you don’t leave with me now, the gun that’s pointed at Ice’s head will take him out,” Rogue said.

“Don’t hurt him.”

“Then move.” Rogue kept his eyes hooded and gestured with that pocket to move toward the exit.

Echo tossed one last look in the general direction Ice had been before he walked to the door.

Inside Rogue’s truck and before the assassin could even start the vehicle, Echo pulled the synthetic blade…Rogue gave the shiv an indifferent glance.

“I swear to god, I will gut you if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on,” he hissed before Rogue could even start the vehicle.

“Look,” Rogue said, turning to him. The man brushed the dark hair back from Echo’s face. “It’s going to be okay.”

The touch reminded him of when they were young. When they’d only had each other to stay warm once Solomon put them all into one larger cell he’d built in a cold and damp warehouse.

Echo leaned into the touch. “I love him.”

“I know,” Rogue murmured.

Too late, Echo felt the needle go into his side and he jerked out of Rogue’s hands.

The cab of the truck spun. “You fucker!”

“Shhhh. It’s okay, Fisher will handle it.” Rogue reached over and gently took the plastic shiv from his numb fingers before putting his seat back and buckled him in.

Where was Fisher?

Echo felt the tears trail down from his eyes into the hair at his temple.

Was he to be betrayed by both of his brothers?

Darkness closed in on him and it was almost a relief.

Ice wasn’t going to chase after Echo.

Those days had come and gone. At this point, all he could do was trust.

He stopped at a phone store in the airport and bought a new cell phone. They’d ditched theirs in the Maldives and planned on getting new ones with their old numbers.

He called Wrath from a payphone from inside the terminal.

“Who’s this?”

“Ice.”

“What’s up, Iceman?” Wrath had heard Seven call him that once and it stuck.

“You busy?”

“No, why?”

“Can I stop by?”

“Where are you?” Wrath said.

“Leaving LAX.”

“Is Echo with you?”

“No.” Ice sighed and glanced around, hoping to see any signs of that dark head of hair, but nothing.

“Yeah, come on over.”

Taking an Uber to Seven’s place, he found Joshua and Travis the only two home. He collected Grit, promising to be back as soon as he could. All and all, it had taken him roughly three hours to do all that and get to Wrath’s apartment located in a shady part of Glendale.

“Hey, how are you?” Wrath asked, leading him to the small bar that faced an equally small kitchen. Grit trotted in and found a place to curl up next to the sofa.

“Getting better every day,” Ice said, taking a seat on the couch and plugging in his new phone. He spotted Wrath’s MacBook sitting on the coffee table.

“Can I use your laptop? I need to activate my new device.”

“Go ahead.” Wrath poured him a cup of coffee and brought it to him before returning to the kitchen.

“I heard snatches of what happened from Stone, but nothing concrete,” Wrath said.

“Justice is the only one who knows most of the story outside of me and Echo,” Ice murmured, signing into his account. He flipped his eyes to Wrath, but the man stayed at the counter with his back to him.

“Please tell me my brother doesn’t have a hand in this,” Wrath said.

“So, you know Justice left the military?”

“Yes.” Wrath said, reaching for a mug from the shelf over the countertop and pouring a cup of coffee.

“He’s not mixed up in this. He actually patched me up.”

Wrath turned, holding the mug, and sipped at the brew. “Well, at least he’s done something right.”

Ice smirked. “I know you two don’t see eye to eye, but he’s turned out to be quite the man.”

“Assassin,” Wrath muttered through his teeth, squinting at him with those piercing steel-blue eyes.

“So, you know about that too?” Ice said, going for broke since the cat was well out of the bag.

“Yes. And you know how hard I worked to keep Justice and Rip from going into this line of work.”

“I do, but a man needs to make his own way in life. All you can do is trust them. Wait…is Rip an assassin too?”

“Not yet that I know of, but both of them make stupid mistakes.”

“Spoken like a bossy older brother.”

Wrath gave him a flat, bored look and then changed the subject. “Where is Echo, on a job?”

“No. I don’t know where he is. He left me at the airport.”

“What?” Wrath frowned.

“He said he wouldn’t leave and then he was gone.”

“Maybe he had a job.”

“Maybe.”

But if Ice had to guess, Echo was trying to keep him safe. The only problem with that was…who would keep Echo safe?