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.All-too-familiar noises to Declan.How many nights had he lain awake listening to the roar of predators and the squeal of victims? Life, whether in the wild or in urban cities, was much the same.The strong devoured the weak.The sounds opened up more memories.The pounding of fists into his gut, the slash of a whip slicing into his skin, the awful, insidious voices telling him things he couldn’t bear to hear.She’s responsible.She betrayed you.Hate her, hate her, hate her.“You okay?”He was jerked out of the darkness.Sabrina.How could she pull him away from the horror when she was the one who’d put him there? Her concerned, searching expression was one he bitterly resented.“I—”“Let’s take ten, everyone.” McCall’s voice cut off what would have been Declan’s snarl.Unwilling to admit his weariness, Declan glared at the LCR leader.“You don’t need to stop on my account.”Not one to pull punches, McCall snapped back, “Carrying your ass for the next six miles isn’t my idea of a good time.It won’t hurt any of us to take a break.”Protesting any more would only make him sound petulant.Besides, with sweat dripping down his body and his breathing escalated to pants, it’d be an obvious lie.As much as Declan resented the extra concession, McCall was right.Collapsing at their feet wouldn’t do any of them any good.Declan dropped his gear and sat down on top of it.He noticed that he wasn’t the only one who looked ready to drop.Everyone was sweating profusely.Setting her gear a few feet away from Declan, Sabrina took a long swallow of water from her canteen.She had done her best to glance his way only occasionally.Showing him concern was only going to put his back up.Many things had changed about her husband, but that fierce Scottish pride was still intact.When she had glanced at him that last time, her concern had overridden her need to protect his ego.He’d looked ready to keel over.He was in just as good shape as any of the other team members, so she knew much of his fatigue had to be mental.How difficult it must be to return to the hell you thought you had escaped.She pulled a pack of moist towelettes from her backpack and slid one out.Giving little thought to how it looked, she handed the pack over to Declan.He took it from her, pulled one out and then handed the pack back.They both wiped their faces, and then Declan held out his hand for her soiled wipe.She handed it to him, and he tucked them both into a vinyl pocket in his backpack.Then, as if it was just as natural, he pulled an energy bar from another pocket and tossed it to her.She caught the snack with one hand and threw him a smile of thanks.Unwrapping it, she bit off a bite and then froze as she realized that everyone’s eyes were on her and Declan.She swallowed her mouthful and said, “What?”Justin Kelly tilted his head toward Declan.“I take it you two worked ops with each other?”They had unconsciously reverted back to being partners, their routine as familiar to her as cleaning her gun.She glanced over at Declan to see if he realized what had happened.By the fury in his eyes and the bitter twist to his mouth, he had and obviously didn’t like it one bit.Well, tough shit.“Declan and I were partners for two years before I left the Agency.”“Why’d you leave?”The question wasn’t a surprise, the questioner was.Riley Ingram rarely took a personal interest in anyone beyond what the mission required.Despite her delight that the young operative had done something that showed she was actually more than an emotionless robot, Sabrina found it difficult to answer with any degree of honesty.Her reasons for leaving EDJE were intensely personal.“She had to stop killing.”Her head whipped around.“Stop it, Declan.”“What?” His voice held a mocking amusement.“Is that something your LCR chums don’t know? You think they’ll think less of you if they discover that you were an assassin?”“I’m not ashamed of my former occupation.”“Why should you be? You were born to kill.”Wearing identical expressions of barely concealed fury, both Aidan and Justin went to their feet.Declan arched a dark brow and stayed seated, but the mocking glint of amusement stayed.It was obvious he wanted to fight.So different from Declan, the peacemaker.Her heart ached at the change.“I know a thing or two about killing,” Cole Mathison’s deep voice broke into the tenseness.“There are some who kill for entertainment…for pleasure.Sabrina might have been good at her job, but she wasn’t born to kill.I’d say each kill took something out of her.”Amazed at his insight, she gave him a nod of appreciation.“No, I never enjoyed killing.” And in the still of her mind, she heard Declan’s tender, concerned words from long ago.“Sabrina, you’re the best I’ve ever trained, but I can’t stand by and watch you slowly die with each kill you make.It eats at you.”It had.Even though she had made only sanctioned kills, and the men and women she’d targeted had been monsters, killers who preyed on the weak and helpless, each one had taken something from her.“One day I fear I’m going to look into your face and see nothing but the hell you feel.And I’ll want to die.”So gentle, so protective.So unlike the Declan sitting across from her, the amusement still evident in his soulless blue eyes.Was she crazy for even thinking that beneath that hard, grim exterior, her wonderful, caring, adoring husband still lived?Noah stood, catching everyone’s attention.“Since I’m assuming everyone has rested, let’s move.And you, Mr.Steele.” He turned cold black eyes to Declan.“You’ve made your point, hoping, I’m sure, to lessen Sabrina in the eyes of her fellow operatives.Let me assure you that can’t and won’t happen.Remember that before you try it again.It won’t go as well for you next time.”With that said, everyone gathered their belongings and started back on their trek.Noah’s words helped heal the wounds that Declan had deliberately inflicted.Yet the sting lingered
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