Here was the recognition she’d always wanted, and yet now it seemed…empty somehow, overshadowed by her yearning to hear Greyson tell her he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, that he wanted more than just one night. If Department 13 was her life, where did an immortal pirate fit?
He didn’t. Her heart needed to get a clue. It had been a hot night. It changed nothing.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll call you after the meeting.”
She dropped her cell on the cot, staring at it.
Over the six-day journey across the Atlantic, her entire world had turned upside down.
She’d made friends with the crew, helped save the ship during a storm, and she’d had sex with a guy for the first time since she’d been a beat cop on the streets of New York seven years ago.
It made her think maybe she needed more than her job in her life.
She groaned as she retrieved her phone and put it in her pocket. None of this was real. It was all part of a larger mission. She was only here for work.
She just hadn’t realized she would enjoy it so much.
“Knock, knock.”
She turned around to find Char at her door. The historian had her brown hair up in a clip, and her glasses were halfway down her nose. “We’re about four hours from the harbor. I thought you might want to hang out with me and Harmony. You could loop us in on the meeting? Harmony has come up with some cool tech for you to try, too, and I can fill you in on some of the history I found on the Tyrfing.”
Last week, Aura never would have accepted her invite. Ever since her partner had turned out to be a demon, she’d worked alone. But being in such tight quarters with this crew was slowly battering her emotional shields.
“Sure.” She stuffed her gun into the holster and followed Char back to her cabin at the stern of the ship. Her cabin was maybe a few feet bigger than Aura’s, but the extra space was eaten up by two stuffed bookcases.
Harmony looked up from the table as they came in and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her long black hair was in a thick braid draped over the front of her shoulder. “Hey, Aura.”
“Hi.” Aura took a seat and noticed one of the tiny webcams sitting on the table in front of Harmony. Her heart sank, but she tried to keep her voice light. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to tie the tech to her. “What’s that?”
“It’s a webcam.” She lifted her gaze to Aura’s face. “But I’ve never seen a power source like this before.”
Char sat beside Aura with a guarded expression on her face. “We figured since you work for Department 13, you might recognize it.”
Shit. She shouldn’t care. These women weren’t her friends, not really. This was an undercover mission.
But seeing the judgment in their eyes hurt. And in spite of her professional boundaries, she didn’t want them to hate her. Maybe she could spin the story and deflect. They wouldn’t be able to prove she’d planted the device. Her priority should’ve been her job and her mission, but she’d grown to like Char and Harmony. And then there was Greyson.
She picked up the webcam, inspecting it and trying to figure out how to best handle the situation.
“Have you ever seen one like it before?” Char asked.
Aura turned it over in her hand like she was examining it closer. If the feed was still live, King might be watching her right now. “Where did you find this?”
Harmony glanced over at Char and back to Aura. “Greyson was working on the cannons and found it over the door.”
Greyson had found it. A pit formed in her stomach. Reality was crashing into her fantasy life with the crew with the subtlety of Godzilla. Whatever dangerous hopes she’d had for the connection with Greyson to grow fizzled.
Aura laid the device back on the table. If this was the only one they’d found, then Department 13 would still have the feed from the weapons room facing the storage box for the Tyrfing, and the one over the door in the mess hall, so they could keep watch over the crew. If she owned up to this one, there was a better-than-average chance they wouldn’t keep looking for more.
Or maybe that was just an excuse to cover the reality that she couldn’t bring herself to lie to them.
“It is from Department 13.” Aura cleared her throat. “I had orders from Agent Bale to install it so he can be certain the Tyrfing remains in our possession.”
Harmony raised a brow. “He’s worried we’re going to try to sell it or pass off a forgery.” Her dark-brown eyes flicked to Char and back to Aura. “I’m not a hacker anymore, and the Digi Robins disbanded. Besides, why would I take the sword when your department is paying us to help you bring it back?” She shoved the webcam in front of Aura.
Char crossed her arms. “We treated you like one of the crew. You should have told us we were being watched.”
Aura’s stomach twisted with regret. She hated the feeling that she’d betrayed them, but she’d been doing her job. She pressed her lips together, struggling to string her words together. “I came on board this ship as an agent of Department 13. I’ve never lied about that. I’m not part of your crew.” Aura stood and went to the small window, praying Scotland might be close enough to save her from this situation. “I’m just doing my job.”
“Good to know that’s all this is for you,” a very familiar deep voice muttered behind her.
She turned around to find Greyson standing in the doorway. The pit in her stomach grew.
There was a cold glint to his eyes that hurt her more than she wanted to admit. She gulped down the bitter pill of reality. She was a government agent, and Greyson wasn’t ever going to be her boyfriend.
“I have a job to do to protect the American people from paranormal threats. I planted the cam as I was ordered to do.” She bit back the urge to mention the other cams still running on the ship. Duty came first.
“I guess now I know why you were so willing down in the bilge. No cameras there. Didn’t want your boss to know you allowed a filthy pirate to touch you.”
It wasn’t like that at all. She’d surrendered to her feelings for once. He’d made her forget about her job and her mission. All that had mattered that night was being close to him.
But she didn’t let the words out. She didn’t want to discuss it with an audience, and what would be the point anyway? They were about to dock in Scotland, and once they had the Tyrfing back on U.S. soil, she’d never see him again.
“I thought so.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way of your work.”
He left without looking back. And she forced herself not to go after him. It was better like this. She’d lost herself in this fantasy of a relationship with him. It would be easier for everyone if he hated her.