AGENT 23 BLACKOUT (Agent 23 Book 1)

CHAPTER 38

Liquid gurgles in my chest, expels through my throat and into my mouth. I cough and spew it over my lips until I can breathe clearly. My lungs burn, but overall, I feel an overwhelming sense of relief. My eyes open to the unwelcome sight of Agent 24 leaning over me with—for the first time since I've met him—a genuine smile on his face. He laughs when I realize he'd given me mouth-to-mouth. I guess my frown and wide eyes reveal a certain level of disgust.

I shiver from the cold water, even though the sun rises behind me in the mid-morning sky. Snow-covered mountains surround us, but the temperatures are growing warmer because I can feel the heat of the sun shining on my skin. To help speed up the process, Agent 24 removes his jacket and wraps it around me.

I push up from the ground, but he stops me. "Wait," he says. "This is the best time to fix this."

"Fix what? What are you talking about?"

His palm and thick fingers lower to my nose and grab it...

"Ow, that hurts."

"Hold still." He twists, and my cartilage crunches. Streaks of light shoot across my vision and eye-watering pain flares around the center of my face.

"Ow, ow, ow." I bolt upright after his hand moves away. "That freaking hurt."

My fingers rush to my nose, touching and feeling. It's straightened, swollen, and bloody, but realigned with my face.

"Thanks." I gaze around and discover he dragged me out of the water onto the shore of the lake. It shouldn't surprise me. He's stronger than strong, and now I find out he's capable of good.

Kayla stands behind him, waiting, her eyes combing over me.

"Don't mention it." Agent 24 takes me by the arm and helps me stand. As he does, he squints at me as if evaluating me. "Your dad about knocked your nose off your face."

"Yeah, feels like it."

Kayla rushes up to me and throws her arms around me. "I'm just glad you're alive."

"But I didn't save my dad." I peer up at the tunnel that the semi entered. "I may never see him again. There's no telling how far they've gotten by now."

"Aiden..." She clutches my cheeks and presses her lips against mine. My eyes bulge as she plants a kiss on me in front of Agent 24. Despite all we've been through, I surrender to her sudden move. I know the situation isn't the best, but I'm not fighting it. In the background, the big agent laughs, but I don't care. This is the moment I have been waiting for. When she pulls away, she says, "Don't you get it? You could've died."

"But I didn't."

"No, you didn't." She releases my face, which I'm thankful for because my nose radiates and throbs. Any pressure hurts like fire in my nostrils. "You are so lucky we came around the bend in time to see you get kicked off the truck. After the semi disappeared in the next tunnel, we gunned it toward the spot where you went under. Agent 24 spotted the bubbles in the water and dove in to save you. He reached you just in time. If we had been any later, you would've drowned. Thirty more seconds, Aiden..." She wags her head, her brows furrowed and eyes piercing through her glasses.

"I get it." I nod.

"I'm just glad you're alive," she says for the second time. She lays her head on my shoulder. She's close enough that I feel her breath on my neck. It makes me feel warm on the inside. Really warm.

"We could still go after them," Agent 24 says.

"It wouldn't do any good," I reply. "Not now. Not until I figure out how to reverse the hold Zero has on my dad's mind."

"Then we need to go back to the warehouse and free Kayla's dad."

She turns to Agent 24. "Do you think they really let him live?"

"The only thing I know is they left him and that officer locked up in the storage room."

As we lumber toward the mangled Jeep at the edge of the lake, a phone rings. I glance at Kayla, and she shakes her head. I shrug. My dad destroyed mine back at the safe house and Kayla's at the cabin. That's when Agent 24 pulls out his phone and places it to his ear.

As he listens, he huffs, sighs, nods. "Yes, he's still alive."

After a lengthy pause, he adds, "You've got to be kidding me? Okay, I'll tell him." He returns the phone to his pocket and turns to me. "Seems the game has changed once again."

"What?" I ask.

"You've royally pissed off Zero."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Well, now that you've destroyed her Mind Benders and defeated your dad in hand-to-hand combat, she wants your head on a platter."

"Okay..." I reply.

"What's the deal?" Kayla asks.

"Zero wants a trade, your dad, in exchange for Aiden. She mentioned you used a sleeper hold on your old man. Seems he's damaged goods. Now, she wants you. So, it seems, all you have to do is turn yourself over to her and she frees your dad."

My head drops.

"It's a reasonable offer."

"Is your brain made of titanium?"

Agent 24 cocks his head. "You can save your dad."

"I doubt it. She'll double-cross me and end up with both of us."

"This is messed up," Kayla says.

"Where does she want to do this trade?" I ask.

"On the other end of the tunnel," Agent 24 replies. "In thirty minutes. She wants you to come unarmed and alone."

"An even trade?"

"Don't sweat it. We can stack the odds in our favor. If she plans to double-cross you, then we can do the same to her. I have an idea rolling around in this titanium brain of mine." He tosses in a clever grin. "Here's what we're going to do."