Page 71 of Hart's Redemption

I nodded, unable to find my voice again.

She set the cup aside and gestured for Eric and Remus to take a seat as well. “Before we begin, it is imperative that everyone understand that my involvement must not leave this room.” She waited for nods of acquiescence. When she had them, she continued. “Good. Now, to get to where Joshua is being held, we are going to need help.”

Eric straightened in his chair. “Wait, are we really going to spring him?”

Director Starling speared him with a withering glare, and he shrank back into his seat while Remus tried–and failed–to snicker under his breath. “What precisely would that accomplish? No, we will not be ‘springing’ him. For this endeavor to be successful, we must utilize legal channels. Now, what in the nine planes is taking Lombardi so long? You'd think a beholden dragon would have more of a sense of urgency.”

Chapter 23

Josh

Ifrownedandstoodupfrom the bed as the wall turned clear and started to open. Yanesh wasn’t due for another visit that I was aware of, not that I had any means to keep track of time. Even my sad attempts to keep better tabs on how long I’d been down here had gone out the window since my breakdown, and considering I was in wolf form half the time anyway, the moon wasn’t much help either.

I walked to the center of the room and waited patiently for whatever dignitary had come to ogle the latest addition to the government’s secret hoard of criminals too politically dangerous to be allowed in even a maximum-security prison. It was odd,though, that they opened the door rather than view safely from a distance.

The clear glass finished sliding back, and to my infinite surprise, my lawyer stepped inside. He wore his trademark fine Italian suit that cost more than most people made in a year and did absolutely nothing to make him stand out. The nondescript appearance may have been something Lombardi hadn’t chosen, but I pitied the soul who made the mistake of underestimating him. No one should ever make the mistake of underestimating a dragon.

“Detective Hart.” I still found it amusing that he’d retained the slight lilt of an accent after all these years.

“Lombardi.”

“You officially have a court date.” He reached for the micro data tab that he typically kept in his suit’s inner pocket, then sighed when he found the pocket bare. That alone confirmed that he’d used the legal process to be here.

“It’s about time.” I covered my sigh of relief and reached for a handshake to give his suddenly anxious hands something to do. Lombardi had been a meticulous man for as long as I’d known him. Even being intentionally ill-prepared would bother him to no end.

His mouth twisted into a frown. “You seem to be implying that acquiring said date was in any way a trivial task. It was not. The legal gamut alone that I was forced to traverse could inspire great epics. Not to mention the paperwork and clearance levels required to get to this moment. I could be mistaken, but I’m quite certain you were not meant to be found. So, do refrain from insinuating that I ‘took my time’,” he said, sneering at the colloquialism. “You were fully aware of the risks when you—”

I held up a hand before he could say too much and surreptitiously glanced around the room.

“Of course.”

“Are my affairs settled?”

A hint of anxiety entered his fire-filled eyes. “All of your affairs are in order. There is, however, one final piece that needs your attention.” He stepped away, leaving me to stare after him in confusion.

“Is it the property? I told you how I wanted that handled. You don’t need me for that.”

Rather than alleviate my concerns, he continued to retreat until he was outside the room. He glanced to the side where the panel rested and made a subtle come-forward gesture.

The figure stepped free of the wall, and I forgot how to breathe. I blinked several times, suddenly uncertain if I’d ever actually been awake. “Elijah?” I blinked again for good measure, but he was still there. “Are you really here?”

The man who had to be a figment of my imagination, a delusional dream I’d concocted during my latest break with reality, walked into my cell. Ambient light reflected off his gray hair and made his cognac eyes shine like pools of amber. “Hey, moonbeam.”

The bond pulsed weakly in my chest. Then, like a dam bursting after a storm, it erupted with light. I gasped at the force of it and clutched my chest. Without a second thought, I launched myself at him. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, while he encircled my waist and crushed me against him. I hiccuped a sob into his neck as the heat of his touch warmed my cooler skin and his summery scent filled my nose. He smelled like sunshine and earth andoutside, like freedom and love all rolled into a big ball of warmth.

My brain finally kicked in, and I pushed back. “Wait. What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

He cupped the side of my face, and I leaned into the caress, desperate for his touch. “First things first.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine.

If he hadn’t still had an arm wrapped around my waist, I would have collapsed from the shock of it. The kiss deepened, defined by a hunger that matched my own. The feel of Elijah’s mouth on mine swallowed my whole world. I put my arms back around his neck and kissed him for all I was worth.

When he pulled away, he took my heart with him. He licked his swollen lips and took a steadying breath. “Much as I wish we could just do that, I’m here for a reason, and we only have a few more minutes.” The hand that had been holding my face dipped beneath the collar of his shirt and came back holding the thinnest piece of nano-paper I’d ever seen.

“What’s that?” I whispered. It did not escape my attention that he was carefully keeping the paper obscured from the guard who’d accompanied them.

“I need you to sign it.”

“Why?”