Darkest Flame Read Online Free PDF Page A

with those celadon eyes of his, devoid of emotion. Some would consider him cold, callous. She thought him indifferent, as if he watched the world and wasn’t really a part of it.
    How she wished she could have adopted such a life after her father died. Instead, she’d been rudderless, going wherever life took her—and it hadn’t always been good.
    “How long have you been in MI5?” Con asked, thankfully pulling her out of her thoughts.
    “Seven years. I was a sophomore in college when I took their offer. I worked for them while they paid me to attend the universities undercover. It worked great since I was American and no one suspected I worked for the British government.”
    “And from there?”
    “I worked my way up like anyone does.” She swallowed, trying not to notice how she couldn’t get her heart rate down as long as Kellan was staring at her. “I was making progress. I didn’t expect to be a field agent forever, but until I could find where I fit elsewhere in MI5, it was a great starting point.”
    Con took his seat again. “Tell me about your latest mission.”
    Denae ran a finger over the back of the knuckles on her left hand. She’d worn gloves that kept her skin from breaking when she’d hit Matt, but her knuckles were still sore.
    “I was chosen with Matt. He was lead operative, the favorite of the bigwigs at MI5. No one was more surprised than me when I was picked to pair with him. Two days later we were dropped off in the middle of the night on the edge of Dreagan.”
    “Dropped off?” Cassie repeated. “How did you cross?”
    Con’s jaw clenched. “More importantly, where were you dropped off?”
    “We were at your southeast border about twenty miles west from the village. As for how we crossed, we were on foot. For two days, Matt and I followed the coordinates we’d been given.”
    Con had been sitting passively while she spoke, but as soon as she mentioned coordinates, fury filled the room. Denae glanced at Cassie to see worry lines bracket her mouth. Denae’s gaze swiveled to Kellan to see even he was startled by her revelation.
    “I don’t know where the coordinates came from,” she hurried to add.
    Cassie scooted to the edge of the chair and looked at her with expectation as she asked, “Can you find out?”
    Denae slowly shook her head. “Matt wasn’t given that information either. The coordinates led us to a small pool outside of a mountain. Beneath that pool is an outlet. We followed that through until we reached inside the mountain and a cave.”
    “And that’s all the mission was?” Con asked. “To get inside Dreagan so you could be betrayed and used as bait?”
    “I don’t know what the real goal was. Matt’s mission was to leave me behind so I would be killed by you. I was told we were to do reconnaissance on everyone at Dreagan after we found whatever was in that cave.”
    “Reconnaissance on us? Why?” Cassie asked, startled.
    “Too many secrets here, I guess.” Denae shrugged. “I wasn’t told.”
    Kellan snorted with scathing hostility. “And you didna ask.”
    “It’s my job to do the mission, whatever that may be. I’m protecting the people of the UK.”
    Con sliced his hand through the air. “Get back to your story. What happened once you reached the cave?”
    “As I already told you, while in the water, Matt tried to kill me. I wasn’t ready to die or be used as bait, and I was angry at being betrayed. Only one of us was going to come out of the attack alive. I made sure it was me.”
    “There’s more,” Kellan said.
    Denae opened her mouth to say there wasn’t when she remembered Matt’s words. “Matt did say that the world would know who you were and be freed.”
    Cassie rose and turned her back to the bed as she whispered, “Oh, God.”
    “But you won the fight,” Con said. “You killed him. Why should I believe what you say? He’s the one who could be bait. We’re mostly men here. Would it no’ serve your purpose if we were