Two To Go: Bayou Heat (Pantera Security League Book 2) by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Page B

nest.
    Truly, that would be far less messy than blowing up the entire place, even though she really did love to pull that plug when vermin were involved. But it would offer her the opportunity to search through their computers for any information that would tell them why Benson was so eager to get rid of the test subjects.
    The plan had barely formed in her mind when there was a sound of a heavy ‘thud’ quickly followed by the shake of the building beneath their feet.
    Holy shit, no. Come on! Someone had found her explosives. Or maybe they’d brought some of their own.
    Whichever it was, the entire place was about to blow.
    “Jump,” she rasped.
    Max didn’t need her urging. He was already swiftly behind her, leaping to the neighboring building. And then the next.
    Bet you’re loving that Pantera blood now, baby!
    Behind them, the ear-piercing sound of a massive explosion sent shockwaves through the air. Neither turned to look as the Benson building was destroyed in a blast of shattered brick, melted iron, and jagged glass.
    Instead they dodged the projectiles that flew over two blocks, as they disappeared into the darkness.
    Someone was clearly willing to flatten the building rather than allowing the secrets hidden inside to be revealed, Elyon mused as she followed Max down a new and far less rickety fire escape. Now the question was…who was responsible, and what secrets were worth such destruction?
    Ely shook her head, reaching behind her to grab Max’s hand as they entered the building through an open office window. He offered it instantly. Team players. Mates.
    For now, nothing mattered but the fact that they’d managed to escape.
    Tomorrow was time enough to worry about the future.

 
     
     
CHAPTER 9
     
     
    “You’re shitting me, right? You’ve mated? Your asset?”
    As dawn broke all around her, Elyon tried to ignore Cerviel. She was hot and dusty, her new boots had a hole in the toe from that last roof to roof leap, and she desperately wanted a swim in the cool bayou. But her dark-eyed, goatee-loving ghost brother wasn’t having any of it. He’d brought his A game to the party, and wasn’t going home without retribution.
    The A game being Advanced mockery.
    And the party being the safehouse just outside the Wildlands.
    No hotel room for her and her male. Sad.
    Course, she probably deserved Cerviel’s censure. Not too long ago, she’d ripped him a new one for falling head over ass for the female he’d rescued in Wyoming. She’d thought he was a fool. No, she’d thought he was a traitor.
    Her lashes lifted and she caught sight of her man, her male, sitting by the water’s edge. For the past thirty minutes, he hadn’t moved. Just sat there, bracketed by his mother and father, one thickly muscled arm around each of their shoulders.
    Her gut twisted. He hadn’t seen them in years. And yet they’d been all he could think about, care about. Enduring terrible pain and imprisonment just to keep them safe.
    And what had she done?
    Taken too long to decide.
    She released a weight breath. And believed they hadn’t loved her enough to find her. She’d been so damn stubborn, so jaded, she hadn’t even gone to them and found out.
    Something hot and wet stung her eyes, but she swiped it away quickly. Before Cerviel could see.
    That’s what was wrong with her. That’s why she never felt or cared or trusted until Max came along. She was punishing herself. She didn’t deserve peace or joy because she’d never given her parents the chance to explain—anything! She’d never given them the chance to hold her close and apologize for giving up and believing she was never coming back.
    They went to their graves not even knowing she was alive.
    “Hey,” Cerviel pressed near her ear. “I want to hear about this grand romance and of course, the building you blew up.”
    “I didn’t blow it up.” She did wonder who had, though.
    “Spill.”
    “Oh my goddess! I have nothing to say to you, okay?” She