IGNITE

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

EZRA

While Cain heals, I split my time between therapy and helping Rev and his teams comb the city for Gabriel. We barely cover any ground. Sinro Enterprises still has endless jobs to oversee, and Rev spends hours holed up in meetings with government officials after disclosing information about the trafficking ring in the city.

Eager for our lunch break in the gym, I perch on the edge of Rev’s desk and run my fingers over the gold coin I swiped from Mason’s corpse.

“Where’d you get the old train token?” Rev inquires, swiveling in his desk chair.

“Huh? Oh, um… it fell out of that priest’s pocket when I shot him.”

It had become somewhat of a fidget toy for me in replacement of my safety pins. I transferred it into my pocket every morning.

He leans forward in his chair. “Can I see it real quick?”

I drop it into his outstretched hand.

“Seems like a weird trinket for a holy man to carry around. Avid train enthusiast?” He flips it over his fingers smoothly. “Or could it be the perfect hiding place for the leftovers of a criminal organization?”

My heart skips a beat as I slide off the desk, already buzzing with adrenaline as Rev calls up Alaric for information on closed train stations in the city.

“Two locations that could be your jackpot,” Alaric replies. “One of them in particular used to serve as extra parking for a Catholic church next door. It was supposed to be demolished due to safety issues a decade ago.”

“Fucking bingo. Got you, you piece of shit,” Rev says. “Not you, Alaric. Your research is always appreciated. Thank you so much.”

“Sure it is,” Alaric mutters. “Don’t let the building collapse on you.”

Before I can fully process what’s happening, four teams of mercenaries gear up and load into SUVs with heavy ammunition, Cain included, because he threw a temper tantrum about being left behind.

Parked a few streets over from the ancient church, my eyes drift to Cain resting against the back of a black SUV, his injured leg propped up on the tail, and his new M110 semi-automatic sniper rifle cradled in his hands.

He looks like a fucking dream. His dark locks are tousled so perfectly. His black zip-up jacket is pulled snug over his cut biceps, and his black cargo pants taper into his military boots.

It’s so wild to think he would ever take an interest in me, but he’s made sure to let me know every morning and night how much he cares for me. However long he wants me in his life, I’m going to do my best to love him.

I catch the little hitch in his mouth when he moves his leg wrong. I hate that he’s here when he’s not even remotely close to one hundred percent. Rev offered to tie him down in the interrogation room back at Sinro, but that would mean we’d actually have to get the jump on him. A messy fight would put him at risk of re-injuring himself. Again.

Instead, we settled on him coming, but only on the agreement that he perched up with the snipers.

I wipe the drool off my chin, and focus my attention on Rev as he splits us into groups. Isaac helps Cain post up across the street on a warehouse rooftop, and Rorik’s got both sides of the train tracks covered with his team.

Rev motions our group forward. He tails me to the back doors of the abandoned building, where I swiftly pick the lock. We sweep inside, silent as death.

The earthy scent of moss hits me, patches of it growing over the crumbling interior walls. Voices below have our teams spreading out to surround the building along the upper level. When I peek my head over the railing of the platform, I spot a collection of large, tattooed men sitting around collapsible poker tables near the railways, Gabriel included.