Page 39 of Cops and Robbers

“And that seriously fucks everything up.” Sid threw up his hands.

Sid was right. Raz trusted her intentions and character. But risking his body and soul was very different from leading his team into danger. Desperation could make the best person choose the worst decisions, and it wouldn’t be the first time someone he trusted used him and hurt people he cared for. And that’s why he needed their opinions.

“Two coincidences don’t definitively say she’s Midnight,” Lewis said. “And we don’t know Midnight’s true motivations, even if they point to a cold-blooded killer.”

That was three opinions, and as a group, they turned to the last member.

Caige sighed, arms crossed. “Kate has to attend the Hackers Gala and get the security codes before we can enter the submarine. She didn’t have to include us in that part of the plan, so let’s use it to our advantage and gain more intel before we decide.”

“Practical Caige comes to the rescue as always,” Lewis said.

Raz grinned along with the rest of the team.

“We agree, then?” Raz asked as Kate’s delicious scent wrapped around his senses. Kate had entered the bar. His tense muscles relaxed into the seat.

Everyone nodded.

Lewis stood. “In that case, let’s try not to interrogate her and enjoy a meal together.” Lewis opened the door as she lifted her full arms as if to knock.

“Oh…” She cleared her throat. “What’s the verdict?”

“We’ll help you with this first part as a trial and decide from there.”

Her chin wobbled as if she suppressed the joy that already spilled into her eyes. The tear that escaped tugged at his heart. Please don’t let me be wrong about you.

Raz couldn’t stop staring at Kate.

Her laughter from something Lewis said bubbled a smile to his lips as they sat around the conference table, sharing in the Chinese food spread across the table. Large family-sized dishes held everything from fried rice entrees to crab rangoon. Kate’s expression was alight. The serious gleam in her eyes seemed to dissipate. Raz’s muscles loosened. He had hated to see her close in, especially knowing he was the culprit for walking out on her.

“So dragons need medics?” Kate asked, placing the chopsticks she used with expert ease softly on her makeshift chopstick rest.

Lewis chuckled. “Yes, there are Healer dragons. A spirit wound on our dragon can be fatal for the mortal body. I have to heal both the spirit and the human form.”

“Makes sense.” She shrugged. “Fallen can detach into a spirit form and make it solid enough to act human and even get injured. We can only heal by using a host’s energy, even if that’s our own human body.”

Her face brightened as if she never talked about her Fallen side with anyone. She’d taken the knowledge about the dragons in stride, while he had doubted the Fallen when he first heard about them. She was as much open-minded as she was perceptive, and he found the combination attractive.

“And what made you interested in tech?” she asked Sid, who had his face plastered to his laptop screen, an egg roll stuck in his mouth. The hit Raz had given him earlier under the eye was darkening to purple.

“Numbers make better company than humans…or dragons.”

“Hey,” Lewis smacked him on the shoulder.

Sid grinned. That was one thing about the introvert Raz could rely on: his blunt honesty.

Kate glanced around the room. “I get their roles in this group, Caige being the Mirage in all, but what do you do, Raz?”

Spittle landed on Raz’s arm as Lewis, laughing, choked on his water.

Despite the hit to his pride, Raz chuckled and grabbed napkins to dry his arm. “I’m the muscle.”

She pointed at Lewis again and deadpanned. “I think the healer has you beaten.”

“Oh,” Lewis exclaimed, teasingly throwing a fortune cookie at Kate, which landed in her lap. “I knew I’d like you in person. You’re my kind of gal.”

Despite her mockery, or because of it, Raz’s gaze locked with hers. He lost himself in her dark and playful gaze as he had during sex. His fists clenched, wanting to crush her black bob between his fingers and suck her bottom lip between his teeth. He wanted to hear her giggle again as she came.

His thoughts stopped cold, and he looked at his plate and dug into his food. Apologize. He needed to apologize first. The sooner the better. As Raz ate his spicy General Tso’s chicken, his jaw twinged from the hit Sid had given him.