Into the Fire (Flame in the Shadows Trilogy #1)

20. Tommy

CHAPTER TWENTY

TOMMY

Cait hasn’t spoken since before sunrise.

It’s clear enough on her face, though; as soon as we get home, she’s going to tell Lisa about Mel’s break-in attempt. All day I’ve wracked my brain, looking for ways to get Mel out of this mess. Try as I might, I can’t think of any.

And I’m out of time to work.

The SUV glides to a stop in the empty garage as the door creaks down behind us. Cait’s out of the car before I can blink, already tearing away toward the caves.

I sprint after her, fear a hard knot in my gut. Whatever fate Lisa decrees for Mel, the Resistance will enforce it. Most don’t trust her, and those who do won’t undermine Lisa’s authority. But if I stand by Mel, if I speak on her behalf…

I won’t let them touch her.

Like a whirlwind, I burst from the tunnel into the lounge. Cait’s nowhere to be seen. I need to get to Mel before she and Lisa do.

Mel was on kitchen duty today, so she would’ve had to clean up after dinner before she could eat. It’s almost nine, but she’s probably still there.

Pushing my body harder, faster, I whip through the corridors. The mouthwatering smell of lasagna reaches me well before I round the last corner into the mess hall.

Empty, and the kitchen’s dark. Mel’s not here.

Dread flattens my lungs as I race for the housing wing. Cait will have reached Lisa’s office by now. If Mel’s not in her room, they’ll find her first.

I hammer on her door, shouting her name, but it’s Sam who answers. His head pops into the hall from the next room over.

“Where is she?”

Sam scans the corridor behind me. “What’s going on?”

I don’t have time to explain.

“Where’s Mel?” I ask again, urgency rolling off me in waves. My hands shake.

“I last saw her heading to the gym, but?—”

I’m gone in a flash.

“Wait!”

Sam’s footsteps pound after me, but I don’t slow. No, I run like Mr. Edwards himself is on my heels, his breath hot on my neck, no more than a death blow away.

Cait and Lisa will get there first. What will they do? Imprison her? Interrogate her? Worse? I don’t know how my presence can help, but I can’t stand the thought of Mel facing them alone.

Faster, I snarl at myself. My muscles scream. Faster.

I crash into the gym, almost taking the door off its hinges on my way.

There she is.

She’s fine. In fact, she’s kicking the piss out of one of the punching bags lined up against the far wall. There’s no sign of Cait or Lisa.

Mel spins toward me, her stunning eyes wide. A thin scarlet line runs across her windpipe, vivid against that delicate ivory skin.

One small twitch of Cait’s hand, and Mel would’ve drowned in her own blood. Sickness crawls up my throat.

“Tommy! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Mel’s gaze slides over my body. Checking for injuries.

“No,” I wheeze. “But you … Cait … She’s telling Lisa, we have to?—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Mel gives me a small smile. “I already talked to Lisa myself. I’m off the hook.”

I gape as shock buzzes in my ears. Based on conversations I’ve had with Lisa, even recently, I can’t imagine a scenario in which she would let Mel get away with trying to break into the library. “What?”

“Yeah,” Mel says, smile widening. “And…”

She falls silent. Footsteps hammer out in the hall.

Mel and I both turn as Sam hurtles into the room and stumbles to a halt. He doubles over, gasping too hard to speak.

In three long strides, Mel’s by his side. She rests a gentle hand on his back, and something like petulant annoyance cracks through me, throwing me off balance.

Sam’s still breathing too heavily to say anything. I watch, rigid, while Mel slides that hand across his shoulders, her eyes running over him. The maddening vexation grows to form an overwhelming pressure in my chest.

It’s jealousy. I’m jealous of the way she’s touching him.

How ridiculous. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt they’re not more than friends, that Sam isn’t interested in women, and yet…

Sam’s choking out words now, hands still on his knees. “D-did something more happen?”

Mel answers before I can. “No, no. Tommy just thought I was still in trouble with Lisa, though I don’t know how he knew about that?” She turns the statement into a question, cocking her head at me. Her hand still rests on Sam’s shoulder.

“Cait,” I grind out.

Uncertainty sweeps across Mel’s face and a small frown tugs at her full lips. With chagrin, I realize she’s not confused by my answer. She’s reacting to me . I’m stiff as a board, muscles locked and jaw clenched. I don’t know what she sees on my face.

Sam’s watching too, eyes narrowed.

Deliberately, I uncross my arms and shift my weight. “So, Lisa let you off the hook? How’d you manage that?”

Sam interjects. “It’s true Lisa let her off the hook, for now. But…” His eyes flick to the mark on Mel’s throat.

Yeah, but. Cait’s going to be angrier than ever. Worse, she’ll be desperate. Sam meets my gaze, and I know he’s thinking the same thing.

Mel glances from him to me. “What am I missing?”

“Cait,” Sam says, uncharacteristically serious. “We’re worried about how she’ll react to Lisa’s decision to forgive you.”

Mel’s hand flies to her neck, fear flashing in her eyes.

I throw her my most reassuring smile. “Don’t be afraid. She’s not getting through us.”

“I should go find her,” Sam adds. “I’ll figure out what she’s thinking, see if I can talk her down. Tommy, stay with Mel.”

He turns on his heel and strides out the door. Mel watches him go, a little crease between her brows.

“He’ll be okay. Cait would never hurt Sam.”

Mel nods slowly. “Will you teach me how to move quietly? You all walk like ghosts. I can’t figure out how you do it.”

The question is so unexpected it takes a moment to process. “What? You want to learn stealth? Now?”

Mel flashes a brilliant smile. “Yeah, now. You have something better to do?”

Tearing my gaze from her, I glance at the clock on the wall. “Hmm. It’s getting late. I have a mission tomorrow, so I need to hit the sack early. But soon. Sure.”

“Please? I really, really need to learn. Lisa put me on tomorrow’s mission team.”

Her words are breathless, but she doesn’t look afraid. No, she looks determined.

I stare. Lisa assigned Mel to the Levett mission? What is she playing at?

Mel’s not ready. Sure, she’s got a fuck ton of potential on the mat and even more at the range, but she’s still so green. And what about her utter lack of stealth? When she’s not on the mat, she’s … well, a total klutz.

Fury ripples under my skin. This could be Lisa’s way of getting rid of Mel without getting her hands dirty.

“She did what?” I ask flatly.

Mel wrings her hands. “Well, I offered. As a way to show her I’m committed to the Resistance. I know where the bill of lading is, so I can lead us exactly where we need to go.”

Fuck, but it makes sense. Lisa must think the pros outweigh the cons.

I shake my head. “You’re good, but you still have a lot to learn. Is the bill of lading why Lisa let you off the hook?”

“No, it isn’t. I was off the hook anyway. But she said if I can prove my loyalty on this mission, I’ll earn her trust.”

She lifts her chin, a fierce challenge blazing in her beautiful eyes.

There are a million reasons why I should convince Mel to back out, but looking into that fiery gaze, I can’t bring myself to try. What right do I have to tell her what to do? My choices have always been wrong, have always hurt her. Mel’s free to make her own decisions, and I need to be a good friend and support her, whatever her choices may be.

I nod once. “Okay. We have a lot to go over then. First, you need to be prepared. On a mission like this, sometimes it’s necessary to, uh, dispatch the enemy.”

Wary, I watch for Mel’s reaction. Will she see me differently when she realizes I’ve killed?

What little color she has drains from her face. “Dispatch the enemy. You mean murder people? I might have to … to kill someone?” Her voice jumps an octave, becoming thin and wobbly.

Still guarded, I nod. “We try to avoid it, but there are times when we can’t.”

Mel visibly shivers. “Okay.”

I step toward her, expression softening. “It’s just something to be prepared for. Stick by me tomorrow, okay? I’ll watch out for you. Odds are you won’t have to make that choice yourself, but you may see it happen. Considering what we’re doing, breaking into Levett Tech, there’s a high probability.”

Mel takes a shuddering breath. “I can handle it.”

Nothing can truly prepare her for such a thing, but at least now she won’t be caught off guard. “Good.”

Silence falls in the empty gym while I consider what sort of training might help in the limited time we have. There’s so much she hasn’t learned. Stealth would be most useful, but it takes months to get the hang of and years to master. Not to mention, she hasn’t even touched on how to handle a weapon in the field versus the range, and she’s barely scratched the surface of hand-to-hand combat.

I’m still undecided when Mel’s eyes light up. A bright smile spreads across her face.

“Let’s make this interesting,” she purrs, and she’s so unintentionally tempting I have to remind myself to breathe.

I grin. “Let me guess. You think with a short lesson, you’ll be able to out-sneak me, and you want to rub it in my face with a bet.”

Mel throws her head back and laughs. The sound glitters in the air. “Oh, I’ll be able to out-sneak you someday, but I’m not stupid enough to think I can do it yet. Actually, I thought we could play a game, to test all my skills together.”

She leans toward me. “What if we played tag? We could use the mats to make a maze of sorts. Your goal is to tap me out. If you do, you win. But if I tap you out, I win.”

This sounds like Mel’s way of distracting herself from what’s coming. We should train, focus on lessons instead, but nothing motivates her like competition. Besides, I want to play, especially if I get to play with her.

I smirk wickedly. “You’re on.”

Together, Mel and I pull the mats up from the floor and stand them on their sides to create walls scattered throughout the long room. When that’s done, we steal several lanterns from the hall, placing them on the floor at various points in the maze. When we turn off the lights, they’ll create alternating pools of shivering light and deepest black.

Preparations complete, I do my best to give Mel a crash course in basic stealth, demonstrating how to shift her weight as she moves, how to blend with the shadows and use senses other than sight to find her way in the dark. She’s typically a quick study, but she’s having trouble grasping this, even more than I expected. I hide my worry. She’ll need to be confident to make it through tomorrow.

“Are you ready?” Anticipation thrums through me and my lips curve into a grin.

“I’m ready!” she shouts from the other end of the room. Though I can’t see her behind the maze, it’s clear she’s excited—and overconfident. I’ll have to go easy enough to keep her spirits up, while still showing her how much she has yet to learn. Overconfidence on a mission is as deadly as fear.

I flick off the lights. “Go!”

The sudden darkness doesn’t faze me. I ghost between the mat walls, not waiting for my eyes to adjust.

Rustling, light footsteps. The softest sounds, but I pick them up immediately. Mel’s somewhere ahead and to the right. I take the next turn in that direction, and the next, avoiding routes that will bring me into the revealing light of the lanterns.

Hampered by her attempt at stealth, Mel moves so slowly I catch up to her in seconds. I lurk behind her in the dark, both curious to see what she’ll do and not wanting to let her know I caught her already.

She bends forward in a slight crouch, working to shift her weight like I showed her. Her pale skin gleams in the ambient light.

Near the edge of a wall, she pauses. Then she leans out into the open, midnight ponytail swinging behind her shoulder, and creeps around the mat.

Like a shadow, I follow.

I let her go on for several minutes, analyzing how she moves so I can critique her form later. It’s an effort of will not to be distracted by the way her tank top clings to her lithe body, highlighting every curve, or by the roll of her hips as she slinks forward.

Mel pauses by a lantern, the space around her flooded with golden light, and glances over her shoulder for the first time. A fierce smile curls across her face as her eyes fall on me, a mere ten feet away.

“Come and get me,” she taunts.

Smirking, I stalk toward her. She doesn’t shrink away. No, she comes at me with blazing determination.

Instead of taking her down, I hold and let her make the first move. To teach her effectively, I need to see what she’ll do.

She feints to the left, then hooks her foot behind my ankle and throws her weight into my shoulder, knocking my feet out from under me. She executes the move well, and I don’t have to let her crash me to the floor.

She’s quick to take advantage. Dropping down to slide over my abdomen, she locks both legs tightly around my hips. Her ponytail tickles my cheek as she leans forward, wrapping an arm behind my neck and pressing her weight into me. I can feel every line and curve of her body, tight against mine. My eyes drop to her mouth, and a flush of jittery heat flames through me.

Ignore it. Concentrate. She needs to practice.

Trapping her left side, I buck my hips to knock her off balance and roll over, reversing our positions. Quick as a flash, she winds her legs around my waist again, her ankles hooked behind my back. From here, Mel has the upper hand, but she hesitates, unsure.

I use her uncertainty to my advantage, breaking free of her hold and using my right leg to pin hers. Lying across her, I lock one of her arms in a submission hold and apply light pressure, just enough so she’ll feel some stress in her joints. Our labored pants are the only sound in the shadowed room.

Aching warmth pools deep in my core. Usually, the light, the noise and activity of the gym help distract me when we’re this close, keep me focused. Now, far too aware of Mel’s warm body under mine, that peach-and-cherry scent of hers swirling in my head, I make the mistake of meeting her eyes.

Her gaze smolders, dark and intense. Primal. The blood electrifies in my veins.

Slowly, her free hand glides up my arm and across my shoulder. Burning sparks skitter over my skin, trailing her soft touch. My breath hitches.

For one precious second, I let myself wonder what it would be like, not just to feel her skin on mine, but to be hers. To be lucky enough to be the one for her. More than ever before, my damaged soul yearns toward her light.

Dragging in a ragged breath, Mel closes her eyes and tips her head back, perfect lips slightly parted. The heat of her breath washes over my face, muddles my senses. It would be so easy to close the space between us. To kiss her now. To make her mine.

The wildfire searing through me burns hotter at the thought, her pull almost overwhelming.

No! I can’t. I can’t do this.

It doesn’t matter how much I want to. I can’t be with Mel. There are so many ways I could fail her. Hurt her.

And I’d have to come clean. I’d have to tell her I could’ve saved them.

Panic douses the fiery haze in my mind. I spring to my feet.

Mel stares up at me, hurt clear on her beautiful face. Even now, I feel her pull. My very essence is drawn to her.

I have to get out of here.

“I’m sorry, I-I’ve got to go,” I force through my teeth. Regret crashes down on me as I turn and stride away; a thick, depressing weight in my chest.

The dark maze is easy to navigate, and I find my way out quickly. I need to find Sam, to make sure Mel will be safe tonight without me.

I jog through the corridors, heading for the housing wing, where he’s likely comforting Cait. Mel will never be mine, and if I’m not careful, I’m going to fall head over heels in love with the damn girl. Sweet, wild, passionate Mel. A force to be reckoned with.

Honestly, I should keep my distance, but I can’t. Not with Cait after her, not with the mission tomorrow. Especially not with the debt I owe her parents. Besides, she’s become a true friend, not someone I could turn away from.

Soft murmuring floats into the hall as I approach Sam’s open door. When I peek in, I find him huddled under a blanket by the fire with Cait. As soon as she sees me, Cait turns her back. A small sniffle hangs in the air behind her.

Sam unfolds himself from the ground and steps out into the hall. I stay only long enough to ensure he’ll be by either Cait’s or Mel’s side until Mel locks herself in for the night, then I head for my room.

In bed, my mind lingers on the blazing look in Mel’s eyes; on the way she tipped her face toward mine and the feel of her fingers trembling against my skin.

She wants me too.

Bitterly, I stop that thought in its tracks. Mel isn’t meant for me, either way. Dreaming of being with her is like dreaming of dancing among the stars, a captivating impossibility.

I press my arm over my eyes, blocking out the glow of the embers in the hearth, and crush the lovely dream into dust.