Chapter 10

Breaking Protocol.

Sage

The hum of the ancient motel fridge was louder than it had any right to be. Between that and the buzzing fluorescent light overhead, I was two decibels away from putting a bullet in something, preferably Yakov, but the fridge would do. I hunched over the tiny table in the corner of the room, plastic fork twirling limp noodles in a Styrofoam cup. The kind of dinner that screamed don’t get comfortable. This wasn’t home. Nowhere was, I’d made camp a good distance from his cabin, too far to be close, close enough to act if I had to. Conner had been unpredictable lately. Too bold. Too reckless. He needed watching. And that was supposed to be easy. Routine. Slip in. Wire up. Tap in. Monitor. But tonight… The screen stared back at me…blank. No feed. No sound. No Conner.

“What the hell,” I whispered, shoving the noodles aside. My fingers flew across the keyboard. 1 rerouted, back-channeled, refreshed. Nothing. No signal. He’d found them. He’d found me. I leaned back, chest tight, rage prickling under my skin like static. Fucking hell, Conner. You weren’t supposed to look. You weren’t supposed to be this… smart. Or paranoid. Or interesting.

“Goddammit.” I dragged a hand through my hair. I’d gone through the trouble of staying close, of keeping him safe without crossing that line, because there was a line, or at least there used to be. But now? I was alone. And he was blind. And that wasn’t acceptable. Not when I knew the hit was coming. Not when Yakov was circling. Not when I still didn’t know whether I wanted to kiss Conner or kill him more. He was a target. But he wasn’t my target. And for better or worse, I couldn’t let anyone else take him out before I figured out why the hell I felt like I already belonged to him. I should’ve left it alone. Should’ve let it be.

But the silence on the screen was unbearable. So I did the one thing I never do, I broke protocol…Again. I reached for my phone.

Typed the message fast, before I could think better of it: