Page 74 of Deathless
Luka straightened. "Vihaan, get them everything you have on Kiev. Guard rotations, compound layout, entry points." Vihaan was already typing.
"First light," Diego said. He looked at me, and I nodded. "We leave at first light. Vihaan sends us everything he has before dawn."
Nobody argued. Luka started talking logistics with Rafael. Lorenzo pulled a chair next to Vihaan's laptop and leaned in.
Diego turned toward the door. I followed him out. Behind us, the war council kept talking, but I was already running compound layouts in my head, turning Nevada's folio into entry points and sight lines and the distance between a locked door and my daughter.
I could still hearthe command center. Too many voices in that concrete box, all talking over each other. Too many eyes on me when I shoved back from the table. The adrenaline had my skin shrinking around me.
Diego locked the door behind us. I crossed to the far side of the room and dropped into a crouch by my go-bag. The stitches in my shoulder pulled. I'd been ignoring them since Diego tied off the last suture. I pulled out spare magazines, a med kit, wire cutters and lined them up. The katana leaned against the wall beside me.
I reached for my cigarettes. I got one between my lips and flicked the lighter. The flame danced away from the tip. I tried again and missed again. The third time I gave up and threw the lighter across the room. It hit the wall and clattered to the floor.
"Jasper."
I ignored him and dug through the bag like I needed something specific. I just needed something to do with my hands.
"Look at me."
"We need to go through the intel," I said. "Vihaan sent the compound layout, guard rotations, and entry points. We should—"
Diego's boot appeared in my peripheral vision. He gripped my shoulder and hauled me up, right on the wound. Pain flared white-hot under the bandage, and I sucked air through my teeth. He let go fast and shifted his grip to my arm instead. I let him pull me the rest of the way. Fighting it would cost more than giving in.
He turned me around. I looked at his chest instead of his face.
"Zeus is going to say things about me," I said. "When we get there. He's going to tell you what I was. What I did for him."
Diego kept his hand on my good shoulder. He breathed steadily in the quiet.
"And he won't be lying."
I forced myself to look up and meet his eyes. "I killed a lot of people for that man. More than you know. More than I've told you. Some of them deserved it. Most of them didn't. I was good at it. Really fucking good. That's why he kept me."
Diego rubbed his thumb against my arm in small circles, careful to stay below the bandage.
"He's going to call me Hephaestus," I said. "He's going to talk about the things we did together like we're still partners. Like I'm still his. And part of me—" I choked on the rest. I had to force the words out. "Part of me is going to want to be that again. Because it was easier. Because I knew who I was when I was his weapon."
"And now?" Diego asked.
"Now I don't know what the fuck I am."
Diego cupped the back of my neck with his other hand. "You're Jasper. You're Eight's father. You're mine."
"What if that's not enough?" I swallowed hard. "What if I go in there and I can't come back from it? What if I become him again and I can't—"
Diego kissed me before I could finish the sentence. He tightened his grip on the back of my neck and pressed into me like he was trying to prove something. When he pulled back, I had to remember how to breathe.
"You want to know if I'll still want you after I see what you can do?" he asked.
I nodded.
Diego stepped back. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. The bandage along his ribs caught the light, a white strip taped across the gash from the tunnel fight. "Then show me."
"What?"
"Show me what you are. What you were. Whatever you think is going to make me walk away." He kicked off his boots and unbuckled his belt. "I'm not going anywhere."
I went taut all over. "Diego—"
