Page 105 of Sight of Fate

“Teague, please be careful,” I plead.

“I’ll be home soon, sweetheart.” He hangs up.

“Should I go change?” I ask Macklin, wondering if someone would bring me my laptop from work.

He tilts my chin up. “Fix one of those coffees you love, and I’ll change. It will be better for me to hold the video call at Granite Securities than here. Teague built a top-notch firewall, and given the circumstances, we need to keep the circle as tight as possible.” Pressing a hard kiss to my lips, he strides away.

Not in the mood for something fancy, I settle for a small espresso and a jolt of caffeine. Macklin returns ten minutes later, dressed in a navy sport coat, a light blue button-down, and dark jeans. I literally stop breathing. Every piece is tailored to immaculate perfection, wrapping his power and strength in a sophisticated package.

“While I love the sexy all-black outfits you favor, promise me you’ll take me on a date in this outfit,” I demand in a breathless voice.

Macklin winks. “Anything for you, love. Ready to go?”

Everyone stares when Macklin and I walk out of the elevator, but the women’s gazes linger an extraordinarily long time, making me want to hold up a sign and declare him off limits.

Macklin chuckles and looks down at me, but I return his gaze with a narrowed one of my own. He wraps a big arm around me and dips his head in a long, coaxing kiss that smashes my irritation in an instant. When he lifts his head, his full lips curve in that slow smile I love so much.

“Take this.” He hands me the insulated bag with our lunch. “I’ll meet you in Teague’s office at noon.” He strides off toward the small conference room.

I swivel around and find several of the women staring at me with a friendly but slightly envious expression on their faces. With a grin, I walk off to stash the food in the fridge and jump into my busy day.

After dealing with a million emails, rearranging Teague’s schedule, and creating a list of urgent items, I slowly head down the stairwell to the software launch prep meeting. When I walk in, Sam’s bringing up the schematics on the big screen.

“Hey,” I say softly, not wanting to startle her. “How are you? Heard anything from Covey?”

She looks up, dark circles under her eyes, and shakes her head. “Only been four days. Neighbor said Shane told her they’d be gone for two weeks. Maybe I can get this software launched before they return. When she calls, I’ll take some vacation.”

“I’m sorry, Sam,” I say, wanting to squeeze her shoulder but afraid of getting another vision that will only make things worse. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help you get this off the ground.”

She gives me a determined nod. Everyone files in and takes a seat. “Okay, let’s go over where we’re at and compile a list of outstanding items. All the schematics are final. Designs too. Where are we on the list of bugs?”

Georgina, the QA manager, walks through the short list of bugs they’re working to resolve, then hands it off to the back-end developer who’s setting up the production environment.

With the software in its final stages, I make a note to meet with the marketing and sales departments this afternoon to get a status from them. I walk upstairs and find Macklin setting steaming hot rice bowls on the little table in Teague’s and my office. I can’t help but feel a pang that Teague isn’t here. Lunch has become an important moment for us, when we can connect in the middle of our hectic schedules.

Putting my stuff down, I grab my water bottle and sit. “Smells delicious.” I take a bite, savoring the sweet and spicy chicken. “How did your meeting go?”

There’s a dark expression on Macklin’s face I’m not used to seeing. “Meeting went well. News isn’t good. Roughly two hundred plus supernaturals are missing. At least five from each of the twenty-eight Vales. Some, like Oak Vale, were hit harder and have eight to ten missing.”

I pause, food halfway to my mouth, and shake my head at the number. “Did any of the Vales know what was going on?”

“A few of them were investigating the disappearances and discovered the HRC, but they didn’t realize the extent of their organization or what they’ve been doing to the missing supes,” Macklin states with a heavy sigh. “Regarding the mole, Vales don’t regulate or track travelers, which means we have to manually figure out who visited more than one. We’re compiling footage from the last year and dumping it into facial recognition software. Hopefully, it will spit out some suspects.”

Getting up, I slide onto his lap and wrap my arms around him, knowing he’s probably blaming himself for not noticing what was going on earlier. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Macklin expels his breath and wraps his arms tightly around me. “Stay safe. Don’t go anywhere without me, Andros, or Teague. Nobody else. Promise me.”

“Promise,” I murmur.

“Eat. I’ll be fine,” he orders me, lifting me off his lap.

Moving back to my chair, I pick up my fork. “What are you doing this afternoon?”

Andros walks in, wearing a thick black turtleneck, black camouflage pants, and combat boots. And, of course, black leather gloves. I glance back and forth between him and Macklin, wondering if I somehow slipped into an alternate universe. Pressing my lips together, I stare at the muscles revealed by his attire and wonder how I could have missed them. He’s lean but like Teague and Macklin, he must work out.

Macklin raises a knowing eyebrow when I squirm, then turns to Andros. “Did you get everyone settled?”

“Ames took the mother and daughter to his house. Very few will venture out there, especially not with a pissed-off dragon. The other two are wolf shifters. With Lawson hunting the rogue wolf who attacked Charli, I called Leif and asked him to find a place for them to stay until we figure things out,” Andros informs him. “Teague call yet?”