Castle.The sky outside was still black. The kind of heavy darkness that covers the sky just before dawn breaks. I sat in the armchair, looking at Tomas who was breathing heavily as he slept.My elbows were on my knees. And my fingers were locked together as I watched the slow rise and fall of his chest.He was breathing steadily now. That was a win. The night had been long and I was exhausted. But I hadn't blinked since I sat down.It was as if my body was willing to shut down, literally. But my brain was still working overtime.I couldn’t stop thinking about what Adriana had said earlier.After I had gotten Tomas cleaned up, she had pulled me back and said we needed to talk. I had actually braced myself for another performance. Another manipulation tactic. But surprisingly, it didn’t come.Instead, she leaned on the wall and said, “I need to leave the house.”I frowned. “What?”“I think I’m going insane here, Castle. I’ve been pacing this place like a caged animal for weeks.”She
Angel.I woke up pissed off. I was groggy. My tongue was as dry as sandpaper. And the sterile scent of disinfectant crawled up my nose and sank into my skull.The first thought that sliced through my mind was that, ‘I told the damn nurse not to sedate me.’My second thought was, ‘What the actual fuck?’I opened one eye at first, then the other. Squinting against the hospital lights—those awful, pale rectangles that made everything look dead. My limbs felt heavy. My back ached. And my shoulder throbbed with a distant pulse that told me I was floating somewhere between numb and pain.My mouth opened, but all that came out was a groan. I closed my eyes again, trying to think.Had I said anything? Had they gotten to me while I was doped up and vulnerable? Had I spilled secrets I couldn’t claw back?Frantic, I flexed my wrists. There were no cuffs. I turned my head toward the door. No agents stationed like sentries outside.Okay, I breathed. Okay. That’s good. That meant no red flags, no
Castle.The tires hummed against the road as I drove in silence. I kept my eyes on the side mirror, half-expecting sirens to start blaring behind us. But nothing. My pulse thrummed in my throat. My heart was beating fast against my ribcage.Tomas groaned beside me, slouched low in the passenger seat, one hand clamped over the mess of red soaking through his shirt. His breath came shallow and fast.“You good?” I asked, voice low.He scoffed. “Define good.”I flicked the headlights off for a stretch of road, just in case. “Update me on the situation back at the warehouse.”He didn’t answer right away. I heard him swallow hard as he sighed.“All gone,” he muttered. “All our fucking men. Fifteen. Fifteen trained soldiers. Dead like dogs.” His voice cracked, rage choking the vowels. “FBI kept one alive. Saw him crawling out. I put a bullet in his eye before he opened his mouth.”I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.“You what?”“I said I shot him.” His jaw clenched. “I wasn’t about
Angel.It was finally time. And the squad fanned out instinctively. Everyone knew their places. We’d studied this building already, knew every door, every crack, every corner. But just before I gave the signal, something caught my eye.A gap. A half-sealed exit behind the far side of the warehouse. Camouflaged with grime and chain-link fencing.“Hold,” I said, raising my hand.The squad froze.I crossed over quickly, crouched to inspect it. A back route—probably an escape hatch, disguised well but not well enough for trained eyes. There was fresh dirt around the edges. Tracks.Someone had used this recently.I turned to the team. “Someone’s gonna try to use this door. We need eyes here.”Cooper stepped forward. “Alright. How about you stay here, Angel? We'll go in with the rest of the team.”But I shook my head. “I want two on this side. I am going in with the rest.”Marquez frowned. “Angel, we can risk you getting in the middle of the—”“I said two,” I snapped. “It’s not negotiable.
Castle.Angel was out cold, his face half-buried in the pillow, breath slow and even, that goddamn Kevlar vest still lying beside him like a silent warning. I assumed that the raid was happening the next day—morning, maybe early afternoon. That’s how they usually rolled. Precise. Timed. Predictable.So I gave the go-ahead to Tomas to start offloading the shipment. And then when I couldn’t sleep, I slipped out of bed and went to the store to get a bottle of whiskey. Only to find Adriana sitting on the cold floor, drinking directly from a bottle of Chardonnay. She looked like misery personified, and heaven knows that she would make me feel as miserable as she felt if she laid her eyes on me. So I backtracked as quietly as I could and went back to my room. As I walked up the steps to my wing, I reminded myself to book an appointment with a therapist for Adriana. If not one of these days, she would actually go crazy for real. Discarding the shorts I had on, I got dressed in leather a
Angel.It was 9 pm already and I stood at the door, hand on the knob as my gloved fingers twitched. I was fully geared, kevlar tight across my chest, my vest creaking when I moved. My glock was holstered, comms strapped to my belt, boots laced to the top. Everything was ready. And everything was secure.But I couldn’t go. Not yet.The room behind me was dim—moonlight streaked across the floor in silent ribbons, touching everything like a cold memory. I turned back. My eyes landed on the shirt.The one Castle had ruined earlier today when he was in my bed, touching himself like a man possessed.It lay folded neatly where I placed it on my bedstand. As I looked at it, I felt the urge to sniff it again. So I walked over, bent down and picked it up, slow, reverent. Like it was sacred.I shouldn't. But I did.And then I lifted it to my face and breathed him in.Salt and musk. That trace of the cologne he always used. It was a little faint but it was still there.I closed my eyes as I inh