CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

L ogan leaned against the far wall while Ari briefed the small team. After putting up his hand to go on this mission, he almost regretted it.

I don't want to see the repulsive human.

Brooklyn stood at the front of the room near Ari in a pair of black sweatpants and a matching hoodie, with her hair in a ponytail looking sexy as hell.

Only now it infuriated him.

Great. I fucked the worst kind of human there is. A BioZen scientist.

He'd seen the results of the vampires who had spent time in the experimental labs. Hell, even Anna, who Brooklyn worked with most days, was a survivor. Did she feel no remorse?

How could none of them know there was a fucking intelligent being in that lab for over six goddamn months?

So many humans on this planet turned their eye from the truth. Animal abuse. Child abuse. Sex trafficking.

It was all around them, and most people did nothing. This was why he hated the race.

Judge him all you want for being an assassin, but Logan knew he had good morals. He eliminated the evil of society. What he did was a contribution.

Very few could do what they did and still look in the mirror.

Logan?

He polished his pearly whites with a smile.

Fucking humans.

Fucking Brooklyn.

How dare she not tell him where she'd worked?

It never occurred to him that Sage would have reached out to a former colleague from BioZen.

Did she not see what he saw? That they were all complicit.

Logan had been there when Ari and Sage met. How the human, now vampire, had struggled with the knowledge of Callan being held captive.

Without delay, Sage had done the right thing.

Would Brooklyn have done the same thing?

Sure, she was standing in the room right now, offering to go in and help them. But what were her motivations?

A free trip back home? He'd not even asked her where she lived. Perhaps if she'd said Seattle, he'd have pieced it together.

I barely know her.

He didn't trust her. He never should have kissed her. Or cared.

But you do.

Fucking brain. Logan needed it to shut the fuck up. Goddamn it, if Brooklyn was going on this mission, then he would make sure she returned in one piece.

Because it was the right thing to do.

You want to protect her.

Fuck that—he was doing his job.

He glanced her way again, and she was watching him. Logan held her stare, his expression cold. Then he dragged his eyes back to Ari.

"Wheels up in ten minutes. It goes without saying that Brooklyn needs your full support and protection."

Logan snorted.

Mack shot him a dirty look.

Whatever.

"This is a dangerous operation," Ari continued. "The prince and commander are on their way to Seattle. They're running their own show. We can't stop Brayden from doing what he is doing, but everyone in this room knows there is no way in without Brooklyn, so stay focused and on the mission."

A few of them let out a curse.

"Ms. Wade is vital to our success. Keep her safe," Ari said. "Kurt, you are in charge."

"Roger that," Kurt said.

"I'll tag along," Marcus said. "My work setting up the teams is complete."

Ari glanced around the room. He nodded at Logan, who gave a short sharp nod to say he was in.

"Ben, Kurt, Logan, Marcus. The rest of you stick with the demolition operations, heading out with your teams and reporting back."

The other warriors nodded.

Brooklyn wrapped her arms around her middle and swallowed. She was shaking, and Logan clenched his jaw and fists, forcing his eyes away.

Fucking hate that she is scared and alone up there.

"I think I'll sit this one out," Mack replied. "Bit over that fucking serum."

A few of the warriors snorted.

"Harden up, Mack." Ben tossed a pen over to him.

"I get hard just fine." The hybrid smirked.

"Dude, the lady is present." Logan kicked his leg.

Brooklyn cleared her throat. "I'm a nurse. I know how it all works."

That wasn't how she knew. Logan was well aware that Brooklyn was a sexual woman and had likely had many lovers in her life before him. The way she had taken his shaft in her hand...fuck... stop thinking of her in that way .

"Nobody needs a biology lesson." Ari laughed. "Now, get your vampire asses on the helicopter."

"Yes, sir," they all chimed, leaping to their feet.

Logan watched Ari guide Brooklyn out of the operations room, her bag in his hand, and through the castle.

He followed and watched as she stood back while her bag was loaded. Then attempted to climb aboard while Ari was distracted.

Jesus.

Logan sprinted forward and lifted her up.

"Oh, thank you," she said, giving him an uncomfortable smile.

Marcus and Kurt leaped up on the other side as Logan yupped her and joined them all.

Of course, the seat opposite her was the only one left because Ben slid in next to her and winked at him.

Dick.

Brooklyn fussed with the belts and Ben helped—lucky he was a mated male—and after looking at him one more time, she pulled out her phone and began scrolling.

Who was she messaging?

At least those sad damn eyes of hers were not on him. Logan was ready to throw himself out of the fucking helicopter.

When this war was over, he'd return to Seattle, to The Institute, and never see her again.

If she lived through this operation.

A cold dread sliced through him as the reality of that possibility struck him. She was human. One bullet in the right place and she'd be dead. Who knows what the serum would do to her if they accidentally shot her?

His eyes roamed over her body, from her raven waves to her stupidly little feet wrapped in a pair of white Nikes. Then back up.

She was staring at him. This time, though, she looked mad. Her eyes darted back to her phone and for the rest of the flight, she refused to gaze his way again.

It was for the best.

Even if the urge to pull her into his arms and tell the Moretti's this was the worst idea ever and he was not letting Brooklyn put herself in harm's way.

What did he care?

She was human.

A former BioZen scientist.

The worst kind.

brOOKLYN COULDN'T BELIEVE she was doing this. She wasn't experienced with a gun, but it might make her feel better to have one. Even if the four warriors around her were covered in weapons.

One of them looked, yet again, like he wanted to kill her.

What the hell had she done to upset Logan this time? He was being cold as ice, and she'd heard his rude snort during the meeting.

Asshole.

Right now, she needed his support, as Ari had said, and he was back to his games again. After telling her that he liked her.

Talk about whiplash.

Well, she was a thirty-five-year-old woman. She's met enough men in her life who wanted her one minute, then as soon as they felt something ran for the hills.

No bloody thanks.

Plus, this operation was important. She could feel the fear and exhilaration running through her. Partly she was excited that finally she was doing something worthy.

To save someone.

This was the amends she was after; she was sure of it. Brad had died because of her. There was no way to pretend he hadn't.

Brooklyn had been a stupid, curious child and had run off with his life-saving nose spray and then hid it. If it had been beside his bed, as it should've been, he would have lived.

It wasn't more complicated than that.

Afterward, she would head home to see her mom and dad. Perhaps having saved the Moretti princesses—as part of the team—she could finally look them in the eye knowing she had repented. She'd gone over and over in her mind if she would tell them what she had done.

Yes.

She was going to.

Only then, with the confession made, could it finally be over.

"Why aren't you staying with us?" Her mom had asked when she told them she was coming to visit.

"I've booked a hotel. Work is paying for it. I'll see you in a couple of days." She'd quickly answered, not wanting to be drilled about the details any further.

"Make sure you catch up with Belinda. I know she misses you."

Brooklyn missed her, too.

She'd known her life was going to change working with vampires—god, even thinking it sounded crazy still—but what she hadn't expected was to fall for one of them and not be able to talk to her BFF about him.

Right now, she would love to talk to Belinda and tell her what a dick Logan was being. How she had slept with him and felt something. Something more. But that he was a different race and perhaps the hormonal reaction had been more intense because of that.

With both their medical minds, they could break it down and stop her from feeling so crazy.

And more importantly, her friend could tell her she needed to have no expectations of him. That there was nothing further with a vampire.

To find a man without fangs.

Great advice really.

Sage knew. She'd seen her with Logan but hadn't said anything when they were going over the layout of the BioZen floors.

Her eyes drifted to the huge male sitting in front of her. Logan had his legs wide, weapons strapped to him under his open Moretti jacket, and a black cap on.

He looked lethal.

And gorgeous.

The unshaven look he often rocked did something to her girly bits, even when she was mad with him. The breadth of his chest, and the confidence that shimmered from him, made every nerve ending in her body want him.

Yet his eyes remained everywhere but on her.

How was it, despite the other three vampires in the helicopter, that his presence was a million times stronger? Like there was a thread connecting the two of them and a vibration of sorts which seemed to be communicating emotions they weren't speaking.

As his head hung and Logan stared at his black warrior boots, she could feel him wanting her...and rejecting her.

The heaviness hung in her chest, and she let out a long breath. There was no way he could hear her over the noise of the chopper blades, yet he lifted his face and their eyes locked.

His barriers were down. Concern, care, and desire whirled inside his steel eyes for just a moment before he blinked them away. All that was left was the cold killer she had first met.

Logan looked away.

Brooklyn swallowed and glanced around at the other warriors, letting out a sigh. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again. When she got back to Maine she was going to help finish this antidote— they were close—and then find a new job.

Who knows, by then the rest of the world could know about vampires.

She tipped her head back and closed her eyes for the rest of the flight and focused on her own mission.

Repenting.