to do. My knee was jammed hard between Roy’s shoulder blades, and my gun was trained squarely on a very pissed off Sven.
I heard gasps, bodies moving, chairs hitting the floor. Then the very recognizable sound of agents and police officers streaming in and shouting for Freya and me to drop our weapons. We both stepped back, guns and hands up—eyes locking through the sheer chaos. The most powerful feeling of trust I’d ever experienced in my life surged between us. And it wasn’t adrenaline, but something richer and more compelling than that.
It was the supreme understanding that Freya and I were meant to be partners. We couldn’t deny it, couldn’t shake it. It was ingrained in us like our DNA. That trust and partnership had been there from the very day we’d met. But our naturally competitive natures had resisted it, shoved it back as hard as we could.
But send the two of us into a dark, claustrophobic basement filled with gun-toting book thieves and we’d end up on top. We always would.
How in the hell was I supposed to go back to the FBI without her?
“Special Agent Byrne?” It was a younger agent, rushing to me in the pandemonium. I nodded, rattled off my badge number. The man blew out a big breath, called back to his superior officer. “And that’s Freya Evandale, from the Codex team,” I said.
Ward groaned from the floor, and Freya toed around his body, grinning mischievously at the man who’d tried to kill me.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, Dr. Ward,” she said cheerfully. “You’re going to love prison.”
Officers dragged me off of Roy so he could receive medical attention from the paramedics crowding around us. It was madness confined to a former speakeasy. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Cora and Thomas with twin haughty expressions. Every time the tiger roared, someone yelped. Ward was already shouting for his lawyer.
Freya and I kept staring at each other. It was impossible not to—she was pure, unbridled magnificence. She moved toward me through the crowd—we’d only have a second before being carted off for questioning. And my father would probably call at any moment.
None of that mattered.
“Did you just save my life, Evandale?” I asked.
“Only because you saved mine,” she said. When she lifted her chin at me, I could see the thin trickle of blood from the letter opener.
“We need a medic over here,” I called.
“Please, it’s a scratch,” she said, waving her hand through the air. The urge to comfort her was overwhelming.
“Those were some nice moves with Ward,” I said.
“And you were a crack shot with Roy.”
“My target practice skills are legendary.” My lips twitched. “If you’ll recall.”
“Oh, I recall all right.”
Abraham materialized next to us. He was immaculate, hair slicked back and suit perfectly pressed.
“Have you been here this whole time?” Freya asked, surprised.
He gave a curt nod. Reached out and touched her lightly on the shoulder. “I am pleased to see you are not harmed.” His expression was neutral. But his tone barely concealed his raw emotion.
She hugged him. “I love you too, boss,” she said. “An antique letter opener can’t take this girl out. Plus, Byrne was here.”
“I had several guns on me at one point,” I added. “Freya saved me.”
“Well, you did promise to protect each other,” Abe said, clearing his throat as Freya let him go. “I believe I’ve aged about ten years since the two of you got here. Delilah and Henry are outside in the car. They have both been suitably unhinged for the past ten minutes.” He pinned me with a sincere look. “We’re lucky the Bureau was here to help. I’m not sure the three of us could have handled this level of danger.”
I eyed the chaos around us. “And I’m not sure we could have gotten those letters back without them.”
“We couldn’t hear what preceded Freya being grabbed,” he said. “Were you recognized?”
I grimaced, scanning the audience for the masked man who’d revealed my true identity. I caught him with his wrists behind his back, being led down the hallway by a pair of agents.
“I’m pretty sure it was William Buchanan,” I explained, “though I didn’t see him when I came in. I was the lead on his case at Art Theft, and there was a three-month period where he saw my face every day. A mask can’t hide the face of a person you hate. And that man hates me for putting him away.”