Chapter 52
Justice shook and came against him with a deep and insistent cry that had Sandesh’s cock so hard it was painful.
She writhed and convulsed and shuddered. He licked and tasted the most sensitive part of her, hot and warm and salty in his mouth. So good. So sweet.
When she was done, when her hands released the stranglehold she’d had on his hair and the last throb and pulse died against his tongue, with her body still sensitive and waiting, he rose.
She kissed him, long and deep. He loved that she liked to taste herself on his tongue. He unbuttoned his slacks.
Justice was there instantly, pulling them down, releasing him. She grasped his shoulders and jumped. Though he hadn’t been ready, he caught her. His hands firmly under her ass. She wrapped her legs around his waist, lowered down as he thrust inside her.
He buried his mouth in her neck. “Justice.”
With his help, she began to ride him.
A physical whir from above alerted his system, cut through his lust. He stopped. She made a whimpering sound, began to move again. He leaned her back against the tree, held her there. “That sound.”
“What?” She was breathless. Her voice fuzzy.
His head cleared only slightly quicker. He knew that sound. “Do you have drones here?”
“What? No.”
A concussive bang ricocheted through the trees, through his nerves.
A bomb.
* * *
Sandesh tripped out of the trees and onto the path, zipping up his fly.
Justice followed a moment later. Dress in place, eyes wide. She grasped his elbow. “Was that an explosion?”
“Yeah. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the red glow in the distance. Smoke rose into the sky. The fire alarm sounded. Only to be quickly silenced and replaced with a warning for everyone to seek shelter. Several blue strobe lights began to spin along the path.
She pulled against his hand, stopping him. “This way. It’s faster.”
She dropped his hand, flicked off her heels, and ran through the trees, despite twigs and branches. He followed.
She grabbed the hem of her dress and darted through the night and trees as well as any trained soldier. Better. She knew this place. Adrenaline and a real fear for her and her family meant his heart pounded in his chest like a boxer on the heavy bag. He kept up, learned the land by paying attention to her footfalls.
After a minute of full-out sprinting, her lean frame leapt over a hedge of shrubs and landed on the main road, School Drive. He was right on her heels.
To their left was the big house, which seemed to have every light on. In the distance, he spotted the gatehouse that served as the main campus entrance.
It was on fire.
Stones and rubble were strewn across the entrance, blocking it. One guard was helping another one hobble away from the destruction. A third guard yelled into a two-way radio. A fourth was outside the gate, beyond the stones, weapon drawn, scanning for approaching danger.
Sandesh increased his pace, pulled up next to Justice, bent to her ear. “Drones. Someone dropped a bomb. Might be more. Nix the warning system. It’s too loud.”
Her eyes were wide and worried, but she pulled to a stop and took out her phone. She punched the number. “Security. We believe there are drones—”
Another explosion behind. And another. He and Justice crouched automatically. Fires started in the distance.
Sandesh jumped rubble, ran over to the gatehouse and the security personnel. “Can you light this place up? Turn on every light, floodlight, you have?”
The woman, who’d been speaking into her mic, clicked it again and relayed the information. In seconds, lights began to go on all over the school. Even lights inside classrooms and all along the walk. They were seriously tied in here.
The warning system went silent.
“There, there, there.” Sandesh pointed at the sky, turned the guard by the shoulders. She shook her head, uncomprehending.
Justice sprang up next to them. “I see it.”
As if she’d handled as many weapons as he had over the years, and she might have, she removed the guard’s sidearm. The guard objected. Too late.
Justice aimed, pointed, and fired repeatedly. Pop. Pop. Pop.
The drone exploded in the air. Fiery fragments rained down as it slammed into the ground. Pieces scattered in all directions.
The guard looked over at her, skimmed Justice and her gown. “You just hit a drone from the sky. At night. In a ball gown.”
The guard and Justice stared at each other. Justice shrugged. “I’m going to keep your gun.”
She turned to Sandesh. “We need to get organized. You’re going to have to leave.”
Chapter 53
Justice had to ball her hands to keep from shoving Sandesh through the gate and off the property. If his car hadn’t been up the hill, she might have.
Sandesh’s entire demeanor changed from ex-soldier taking control to ex-soldier digging in his heels. “You want me to leave? Now? In the middle of this? No. Hell no.”
“I have to find out what’s going on. I need to… And the police. Sandesh, this is the last thing the IPT needs to be connected to.”
He grabbed her hand. “You’re not thinking.” He drew closer to her, whisper close. “My truck is here. I signed in. There are cameras all over. Us going into the woods. Us running. You shooting a drone. Think. We need to tone this down. You can’t run around with a gun right now. You’re panicking. Think, Justice. Let the security here do its job.”
He motioned to the security guard watching them. Shit. He was right. External security, unlike internal, did not know about the League. They protected the school and the campus, not the main house. They had no idea what went on in its depths. She let out a breath. The cops were coming. Probably the FBI. All the camera footage would be looked at. She looked around.
Two other guards stared at her. She had already fucked up. Shot the drone from the sky. She could cover that. Tell the cops that her Special Forces boyfriend had taught her to shoot.
She handed the gun back to the guard. “I’m sorry.”
The woman took the gun with a look that said she wasn’t sure an apology was necessary. “No problem. We got this, Ms. Parish.”
Justice turned to Sandesh. Letting the adrenaline backlash do its job, she began to shake. She put a hand to her head.
Seeing her playing a part, Sandesh quickly put an arm around her as if to hold her up.
Would this be enough to counter her rabid-dog routine the guards had just witnessed? A vine of panic and anger in her chest had grown sharp offshoots, twisting barbs and thorns that spread out, hooked and tugged her skin. Go. Go. Act. Do.
But Sandesh was right. The school, the League, had never faced this big a threat. A threat to all they had subtly and secretly accomplished over forty years.
She wanted at Walid. No doubt this was him. She wanted to find out what the fuck was going on. And which of her dumbass siblings had turned monster overnight.
She could feel the vines tighten. She tucked it all down for now. But she was already plotting how to get her vindictive ass to Mexico.
“Let’s get back to the house. Check on my sisters.”
* * *
Back in the main house, things were crazy. Her sisters, girls rescued from war zones or who’d seen violence firsthand, were at extremes. Her siblings were gathered in the family room, a large room connected to the dining room by an arched opening. It was filled with comfy seating arrangements and a large fireplace.
Her sisters either cowered by the fire or they’d grabbed the nearest object and stood watch over the others, ready to fight.
The twins—a.k.a. Jules and Romeo—held fireplace tools.
Whoa. Those two were a little scary. Espec
ially the boy. He had a chip on his shoulder Atlas couldn’t have carried.
“Okay, all. Deep breath.” She pointed at the twins. “Put the irons down.”