Page 65 of Cops and Robbers
She trusted Clyde as she trusted Raz. “Have you heard of the Illumine?”
“I’ve heard of the group in passing—only that they have hands in powerful pockets and are very secretive.”
She nodded. “They’ve been on Earth for generations…many different faces and bloodlines. They hunt the Fallen and the power we possess.”
“Power?”
“Our species must really have just come into contact,” she murmured, grabbing his hand and holding it between hers as she lay back against her seat. “We can leave our human body into another physical form and cast Influence. We also perform miracles, but it costs feathers to do so.”
“The ones you need to collect to return to heaven?”
She nodded.
“So what kind of miracles can you perform?”
“We can’t perform them on other Fallen, but they’re anything a mortal would desire, including a longer life.”
“Immortality?”
“In a nutshell. Matsuda knew about me before we met. Had been tracking me, playing with me the entire time. Now, he’s built an empire and has stolen the Lucifer’s Bell from the Illumine.”
Raz brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek. “I’m sorry you fell into his dangerous web.”
“I’m still finding my way out.”
“And now you have the Dragon SEALs to help you.”
Her heart melted. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes, I still need to verify with the team, but most were in your favor already, including Sid. Speaking of which, we’d better head back before they think something’s wrong.”
If this is going to be one of our last nights together…
“Or…I have another idea.” She climbed over the console. Raz froze as she straddled him and whispered against his lips. “Let me ride the dragon.”
“Fuck me,” he growled in that inhuman sound that sent shivers down her spine.
“Yes, please.”
Raz grabbed Kate’s arm to help her climb out of the small, low V-22 Osprey’s cockpit after they landed at San Diego International Airport.
“You better introduce me to your Daxton friend,” Kate said.
Acquiring the helicopter-and-airplane hybrid hadn’t been a problem of money but of legality. Daxton had worked miracles. Raz shook his head. “You’re not stealing from him.”
The metal vibrated as she landed on the grated cargo area. “I think he can afford my quick fingers if he bought this.”
She exited the aircraft and gawked back at it, her eyes still as wide as when she had entered it hours earlier.
Raz sighed, the weight of the next mission pressing on him. His team had agreed to continue on to the submarine after listening to Raz explain Kate’s history. That darkness Kate hid still worried him, but she hadn’t lied about her intentions. They’d steal Lucifer’s Bell along with the LRAD replica, and Raz could finally destroy it.
A hand on Raz’s shoulder had him turning.
“Looks like you have some competition,” Sid said, freeing himself from the cockpit.
“Luckily, it’s not a living thing.”
“But it’s a delightful ride.”
