Leah glanced away from her now, her mouth flattened in a hard line. She picked up a damp cloth and began scrubbing the scarred countertop of the bar. “This conversation is over. I want you leave now, Kaya.”
Instead of doing what she asked, Kaya stepped forward. “Have you ever heard Angus mention Opus Nostrum?”
Leah’s hand stilled. Her face paled a bit, blood draining from her cheeks and lips. At that same moment, a thump sounded from the back room of the tavern. Someone had just come in from the alley at the rear of the place. Kaya didn’t have to guess who it was.
“Shit,” Leah hissed. “Get out of here, Kaya. Don’t ever come back, do you understand? Angus will kill me if he sees me talking to you.”
“Then come with me.”
She blurted the offer before the thought had barely formed in her mind. But she meant it. Never mind everything that had passed between them four years ago or at any time before or after. Leah was her sister, her twin. She couldn’t walk away without trying to reach her, to appeal to any thread of humanity still remaining in her.
“I mean it, Leah. You can leave with me, right now. I promise you, the Order will keep you safe.”
“Shut up.” Leah gave a vigorous shake of her head, sending her dark brown hair sifting around her shoulders. “Shut up and get out, Kaya. I don’t want your help. I don’t want anything from you.”
More noise sounded from the other area of the bar. Then a voice as jagged and cold as gravel called out. “Raven! Goddamn it, woman. Where the fuck are you?”
When Leah flinched, Kaya reached for her hand. “Come with me before it’s too late.”
“Too late?” She scoffed, brittle and angry as she wrenched out of her loose grasp. “You have no idea what you’re saying. Now, get out of here.”
Pain stabbed her as she watched her sister withdraw. “If you refuse now, I may not be able to help you later.”
“Go, damn you!” Leah snapped in a harsh whisper. When Kaya’s feet refused to take the first step, Leah threw down her wash rag and finally circled the bar. “Get out of here. Before I call him up here to make sure you never come back.”
Kaya’s gaze snagged on the subtle fullness of her sister’s belly. She sucked in her breath and it sounded more like a sob than a gasp. “You’re pregnant. Oh, God . . . Leah. Please tell me it doesn’t belong to Angus.”
But her sister gave her no such reassurance. Her unblinking gaze stayed fixed on Kaya, bleak and hard. Her face was shuttered, inscrutable. Unknowable, even though it was a mirror reflection of Kaya’s own features.
“Leah, please--”
“Angus! I’m out here.”
Her shout broke Kaya’s heart. She backed up a couple of paces, edging toward the door as the clomp of heavy boots vibrated in the floorboards. Her sister turned away as Kaya reached the tavern door.
The last thing she saw of Leah was her stiffened spine before Kaya pivoted and bolted out to the street to make her escape.
CHAPTER 16
Aric dropped an image file into a growing folder of possibles for Kaya to review, then moved on to the next hundred photos that waited on his tablet. It was painstaking work, visually scanning every image from the wedding for a glimpse of a dark head on a portly man who might turn out to be the one she saw leaving the reception. As tedious as the search was, without her having read Mercier’s thoughts, the Order wouldn’t even have this small advantage in their pursuit of Opus’s members.
He let out a heavy sigh, frowning when he considered the way Kaya had acted around him this morning.
They had shared an incredible night together. Hell, sunrise hadn’t been half-bad either. He might have been tempted to call it pretty damned close to perfect--if not for the dreadful news that had greeted them not long after they’d come back inside the command center.
The shocking daytime attack on a Darkhaven had put everyone in a grave mood.
In particular, Kaya.
For what wasn’t the first time, Aric checked the clock and wondered if he should have insisted on accompanying her for her run. It wasn’t that he worried for her safety necessarily. She had been trained to handle herself by some of the most capable members of the Order. She was strong-willed and physically fierce, but she was also shaken to her core by what they had witnessed today. He’d seen that in her eyes after they had returned from the crime scene, even though she had insisted she was fine.
When footsteps approached in the corridor, Aric glanced up, hoping it would be her. But the gait was all wrong, too heavy to be her graceful stride.
He exhaled a curse, leaning back in his seat as Rafe strode into the war room.
His comrade cocked his blond head in question. “Something wrong?”
“I thought you might be Kaya. I’m making some good progress on the photos and I need her help to put this task to bed.”
Rafe grunted, then pulled out the chair next to Aric and plopped into it uninvited. “You sure that’s the only thing you want to put to bed? You two seemed awfully friendly last night. I’ve seen you seduce your way around other females often enough to realize there’s something unusual going on with this one.”
“You’re one to talk,” Aric volleyed back. He wasn’t ready to think about how he really felt about Kaya, much less discuss it with Rafe. Instead, he opted for deflection. “Just how serious are you about this Siobhan O’Shea?”
“Shit,” Rafe said, going
