“This isn’t available in the app store. It’s something Freya got from Raptor. I sent you that photo I took of us on the rooftop last night. When you opened it, the tracker embedded in your phone.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You said you aren’t working for Freya.”
“I’m not. It doesn’t mean I won’t take an assist from her. I couldn’t bring a gun or body armor to protect you with, but I can use electronics. I have more tricks. Unless they were stolen from my rental car.”
“You have a car?”
He nodded. “I didn’t want to store anything I wasn’t ready to lose in my room, so I rented a car. Paid to park it at a different hotel. The paperwork on the hotel’s computer has it attached to the reservation for a couple from Spain.”
She shook her head and stepped away from him. “I can’t believe you’ve been tracking me.”
“I planned to tell you.”
“When?”
“Today. Once we were back in the hotel.” He took a step toward her, and again, she stepped back. Dammit, minutes ago, they’d been kissing, and now she didn’t want him near her.
“Kira, I’m not making decisions for you. Not telling you what to do. I just need to know where you are. If I don’t know that, I can’t protect you. The trick with the photo was so you’d understand that anyone you’ve exchanged files with could be tracking you if they have the right technology. It was meant to be a warning as much as allow me to keep tabs when I’m not with you.”
“And you think I’m too dumb to get it if you’d just told me.”
“Not at all! I think you’re brilliant. And amazing. I just… I’m just scared as hell that you won’t let me protect you, so I did a stupid thing and set up a demonstration you wouldn’t be able to ignore.” He took a step closer to her, and this time, she didn’t move back. “I don’t know how to make it any more clear that I’m crazy about you, and I never, ever want to see you wounded or scared again.”
He took her hand instead of pulling her into his arms like he really wanted to do. “I will delete the tracker if you promise to keep me by your side. Let me help you with your quest to find answers about your father. You can trust me with his secrets and yours.”
She took a deep breath. Her hazel eyes gave him a glimpse of the fear she’d bottled up for months. Possibly years.
“I don’t know what my secrets are, but I have a feeling they’re big.” She closed her eyes. “Awful even. Like, for starters, ever since I arrived in Malta, I’ve had this sense of déjà vu.”
“You’ve looked at a lot of photos and street views in your research.”
“Yes. But this is different. I remember the smell. Of the water. Of the city. Of the roads and dirt. And I remember this neighborhood. Some parts have a new coat of paint, but others don’t. I know when we turn the corner, it’s going to look right. And after I see them, I remember these small little details of scars in the bricks low on the ground, and I hear my mother’s voice telling me to remember this marking or that one. That those are the trail I should follow if I get lost.”
The words were out of Kira’s mouth before she had even formed them in her mind. She didn’t even realize she’d been hearing her mother’s whispers until they’d stopped to argue, and the unease that had settled in as they walked through the city streets suddenly made sense.
Still, her brain resisted her mother’s whispers and the eerie familiarity she had with this place. “It’s not possible, Rand. I’ve never been here before. I didn’t even have a passport or copy of my birth certificate until a month ago.” Her eyes burned and she found herself taking gasping breaths as if she’d run a mile in the heat.
He placed a hand on her cheek. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”
All at once, she was dizzy. With heat. With fear. She swayed on her feet. Strong hands caught her and kept her upright.
“Breathe, Kira. Slowly. In and out.” His voice was low and even. And it made her angry that he spoke to her like a child but then she realized his tone was warranted when she heard the sound of her own wheezing.
He touched her chin, raising her gaze to his. “Look into my eyes. Focus on me and slowly breathe in through your nose.”
She followed his instructions. His eyes were blue and clear and steady. No fear. No concern. No pity.
“Now out through the mouth.” He let out a long breath, setting an example.
Again, she did what he said. The next breath came easier. And the next. And then she was back on the cobbled street in Birgu with a handsome SEAL who didn’t look at her with shame or horror or anything other than respect.
For her part, she was mortified, but her face was already red from the heat, disguising her embarrassment as heat exhaustion.
She wanted to cry at this strong warrior seeing her weakness, but his arms wrapped around her, and he pulled her to his chest. His lips touched her forehead, and he said, “We’ve got this, Kira. Together. I’m with you.”
She melted into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. It was way too hot outside to be pressed together like this, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t alone. With Rand at her side, she could face the terrifying truth behind her parents’ lies.
She slowly extracted herself from his arms and took a step back. “Let’s go.”
Two minutes later, Kira’s senses were on high alert as she faced the blue door. Still blue, after more than three decades. And she hated that she was so certain she was right about the color.
Rand met her gaze. “Ready?”
She pulled her sun hat down low and nodded. Her heart pounded so hard, she figured Rand could hear it.
He raised his fist and tapped on the portal.
After a long interval, her heart quieted enough she could hear footsteps on the other side of the door. It opened slowly on a creak of hinges, and she found herself holding her breath.
Cold air emitted from the dark gap, and it was a caress on her hot skin. The door widened, and there stood an older woman. Perhaps her mother’s age.
Kira searched her mind for recognition. A memory. A scent, but all she got was a void. She didn’t remember this woman. Maybe she’d been wrong, and it had all been just the world’s most intense déjà vu.
But then the woman met her gaze, and her clear brown eyes sharpened with alarm, then anger. Her gaze flicked to Rand, then back to Kira, and she glowered. “Well, fuck, child. You were never supposed to come here.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
