Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

“Check all the ledges. Search the place from top to bottom again. I want them found.”

Letting out a slow breath, Mace glanced over at Keiko. Her eyes were so wide it was a wonder they didn’t pop out of her head. They were safe for now, but there was nothing they could do except wait until the Freedom fighters gave up on their search. He bent his head and pressed another kiss to the back of her hand, and then he smiled against it. When he looked back up at her, she rolled her eyes at him, and he grinned.

Keiko Sato was a remarkable woman. No matter what came her way, she rolled with it. He honestly couldn’t remember ever coming across anyone like her. She was brave, tenacious, smart, funny, seriously sexy, and just violent enough to give her a little bit of an edge. She was beautiful, inside and out. He’d seen the way she cared for her friend Abigail, taking the time to reassure her in the middle of a press conference. And it had been clear she’d worried over her parents, even though they’d upset her. She noticed people, saw what they needed, and tried to give it to them. And she was so damn brave. Walking into situations people twice her size would hesitate to take on.

He caught her frowning at him and realized he was staring. She was so damn cute when she got all grumpy on him. He wanted to just pick her up, put her in his pocket, and keep her with him all the time. Everything about her drew him to her. When he thought about it, she was pretty much his perfect woman. Then he remembered that she worked for CommTECH, was born to a different century, and could never accept him or the life he led.

Mate, the voice in his head whispered.

Mace stilled. There was really no getting around the fact his other half was talking to him. They’d communicated through images, as well as sharing experiences and memories, since he’d woken three years earlier, but this was different. This was words. And he couldn’t help feeling that it was a sign he needed some serious therapy. First there were voices in your head, then…yeah, with his family history, he really didn’t want to go there. His best option was to just pretend he didn’t hear anything.

I’m in your head. I know you hear me.

Mace gritted his teeth. He would not answer. It was a step too far.

Pretend if you like—she’s still mate.

The voice was so smug, Mace snapped. Bats don’t mate. He had no idea if that was true. He’d been in denial about his animal for the past three years and done very little research into the species. Still, it felt true.

We do, the contrary rodent said.

Humans don’t mate, either, Mace pointed out.

It was pointless. We do, was the reply.

He ran his hand through his hair in pure frustration. Listen up, you flying rat. She isn’t our mate. She isn’t anything to us.

He got the distinct impression the bat was laughing at him. Ours, was all it said.

Not ours. After this is over, Keiko and I will go our separate ways.

There was no reply, just a dull ache in his chest at the thought of never seeing Keiko again. He shook his head. Damn bat was putting thoughts into it that shouldn’t be there. Keiko Sato wasn’t for the likes of him, and that was all there was to it.

But he couldn’t stop his eyes from straying to her and drinking her in.

Chapter Twenty-Three

It felt like they’d been lying in the crawl space forever. Keiko had lost track of time, and at some point, she’d fallen asleep. She was exhausted. She hadn’t slept much the night before when she’d made a bed on the closet floor, and ever since arriving at the research facility she’d been running for her life. Now her muscles had cramped and stiffened from lying in one position for too long, and she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to move again.

“They’re gone,” Mace whispered.

“Are you sure?” Her voice was hoarse, her throat dry from breathing in the musty air.

“I would hear them.”

Oh, yeah, his super hearing. The top-secret implants he wouldn’t tell her about.

“Let’s get out of here.” He pressed the button for the panel, and it slid open.

The air that suddenly flooded the small space felt gloriously cool on her skin. She breathed in deep as Mace rolled over and dropped through the hole.

“Come on,” he hissed up at her.

Keiko didn’t move with the same speed or fluidity as Mr. Mountain. No, she moved like she was a hundred and ten and all of her joints needed replacing.

“Hurry up,” he said. “We need to get out of here.”

“I am hurrying.” She had pins and needles in her left arm, and one of her feet was dead.