Page 58 of Shadows Relived
Eventually, the craving for coffee outweighed the yearning to stay curled up in a place where he wasn’t. She sat up, glancing around, but he wasn’t even in the room. Nor were his keys, his boots, or the clothes he stripped out of last night. How had she not even heard him get dressed?
With a shake of her head at how dead to the world she must have been last night, she slipped from the bed and pulled on her jeans and one of the T-shirts Callen had lent her the day before, black, soft, and far too big. It smelled like him too.
Still barefoot, she padded to the kitchen, hoping to find him pouring coffee, brooding like usual. However, when she stepped into the kitchen, she found Elvis leaning against the counter, a mug already in hand, his sunglasses tucked into his collar. Gage stood beside him, nursing his own cup, both of them still and quiet in a way that made Meaghan’s stomach tighten.
They looked up at once, neither one of them smiling.
She paused just inside the doorway, her brow furrowed as she glanced around the kitchen. There was no Callen.
“Where is he?” she asked instantly alert.
Elvis hesitated, while Gage didn’t even look up.
“Elvis,” she repeated, taking another step further into the room, the chill in her voice catching his attention. “Where’s Callen?”
He rubbed a hand down his face. “He left about an hour ago. Took an SUV and… just left.”
She froze. “Left? As in gone? What do you mean he left? Where did he go?”
Gage glanced at Elvis, letting the other man take the lead. Elvis sighed, straightening up. “To confront your father. Alone.”
The floor dropped out from beneath her. “He what?” She moved to the counter, falling back on it as she dropped her gaze to the floor. “And you let him go?”
“I tried to stop him,” Elvis said, his tone gentler than she’d ever heard it. “Told him it was a stupid idea. That he should talk to you first. That you’d want to be there.”
“But he went anyway? Just left me behind?”
“Told him he was being a stubborn, pigheaded ass, but Wraith—well, you know how he is. You grew up with him. He said you’d be safer here. That this was something he had to do without you. Said he wanted you safe here with us.”
Her brow furrowed as she glanced up at him. “Wraith? What is that?”
Gage finally looked up, eyes flickering between the two of them. “Wraith. His nickname, call sign. Like mine is Gage, and his is Elvis. We all have them.”
“I’ve never heard it before.”
“Well, you haven’t talked to each other in a decade or better,” Elvis said. “I was a SEAL and him a Ranger, so we didn’t really serve together, but from what Iheard, he earned the name in some of the worst places he’d ever been. Back when he signed on with nothing but rage and a rifle.”
Meaghan folded her arms. “Why Wraith?”
“Because he moved like a ghost,” Elvis whispered. “Dead behind the eyes. Like he didn’t care if he came back. He took missions no one else wanted. Deep infiltrations. No backup. His team would blink and he’d be gone, deep in enemy territory doing shit none of the rest of them could wrap their heads around. Ghosted in and out. Never left a trace. So Wraith stuck. He got the job done, but he left a piece of himself behind every time.”
“He doesn’t use the name anymore,” Gage added. “Didn’t want his past to define him. But every once in a while, he resurfaces when we need him.”
Elvis nodded. “Some guys wear the war like a badge. Callen wore it like a penance.”
She could hear the awe and fear in their voices. “And now?” Her stomach twisted, fear of their answer making her nauseous. “Now he’s back to being that?”
Elvis winced. “Now he’s protecting you the only way he knows how—alone.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped as she braced her hands on the counter to keep from shaking. Rage. Hurt. Fear. They all tangled in her chest like wires sparking off each other. “He doesn’t get to decide that for me. We talked about this. We’re supposed to face this together. I’m not some helpless woman in a tower waiting to be rescued.”
“No one said you were,” Gage assured her.
Elvis nodded solemnly. “Told him you wouldn’t be all right with it.”
“Damn right I’m not all right with it. He left without me. That’s what he said he wouldn’t do again.”
Elvis nodded, guilt tightening his jaw. “He asked me to take care of you until he got back.” He leaned forward, casting a quick glance at Gage. “I’ll admit our team seems to have blinders on when it comes to their ladies, like they’re there to protect them, and not treat them as partners in whatever chaos is exploding around them.”
