Smoke & Mirrors Read Online Free PDF

familiar sounds of strumming guitar followed by clapping. It was the Romantics’ “What I Like About You.” Sloane sang and urged Dex to sing with him. Dex did his best to keep up with the lyrics. He loved this song. He’d danced to it around the kitchen last week while making dinner. Sloane had even joined in after Dex grabbed him and begged him to dance with him. It was the most fun Dex had ever had making baked potatoes.
    “Keep singing, sweetheart,” Sloane pleaded.
    Dex tried. His voice was rough, his words barely audible, but he tried to keep from slipping into the darkness threatening to drag him under. He wanted to be awake for Sloane, wanted to see his beautiful smile and glowing amber eyes. The light around him seemed to dim, and he couldn’t tell if it was the last of whatever Wolf had given him leaving his system or if he was beginning to lose consciousness. It was all so quiet, or at least it appeared that way, as if time had stilled. His sharpened senses dulled, and he tried to push himself up, but his body refused to cooperate. He had no idea how much time had passed or at what point the phone had slipped from his blood-caked fingers.
    “Dex! Dex, where are you?”
    “Sloane,” Dex croaked.
    Was Sloane really there, or had he simply heard what he was desperate to hear? One moment there was quiet, nothing but shadows, and the next dozens of lights burst through the trees. Sloane emerged alongside three figures in black suits, and when he spotted Dex, he sped over. He dropped to his knees and cradled Dex in his arms. Dex was aware of more people calling his name. Cael? Ash? Thank God they were safe.
    “Dex, I’m here, sweetheart. I’m here.” Sloane gently hugged him close, one hand around Dex’s back, the other cradling Dex’s head to him, enveloping Dex in warmth. Sloane was always so warm.
    “I stayed awake,” Dex murmured, nuzzling his face against Sloane’s shirt, inhaling his scent. He smelled so good.
    “You did good, babe. It’s okay.”
    Dex nodded, or at least he thought he did. There was chaos around him, quiet chaos. He could hear the many whispers, the orders given to span out and search. All Dex cared about was that the man he loved had come for him and he was once again in Sloane’s arms. Now safe, the darkness came for him.

Chapter 2
     
     
    SLOANE WAS going to lose his damned mind.
    He paced the small, sparsely furnished room, feeling it closing in on him. Waiting room, my ass. Whatever TIN called it, it was a cell. A concrete block with a steel table bolted to the floor, padded benches along the walls, and a two-way mirror on the far left wall. The room had no windows and one steel door guarded by half a dozen TIN operatives in tailored black suits, pristine white shirts, and silk ties in a solid color. Their black shoes were immaculate, their posture flawless, and their expressions unreadable. All of them were Felid Therians.
    “You need to sit down, Agent Brodie,” one blond Therian operative stated calmly.
    “Fuck you,” Sloane snarled, ready to plant one in the guy’s face. TIN operative or not, he didn’t give a shit. Dex was hurt and in pain. Sloane could feel it. His arm itched, which was ridiculous considering he wasn’t the one marked. How long was Sparks going to keep them here without so much as an update on Dex’s condition? The relief he’d felt when he answered his phone and heard Dex’s voice had been unlike anything he’d ever experienced, and now instead of being at his partner’s side, he was stuck here doing fuck all. After Dex passed out in his arms, TIN insisted on taking him. Sloane would have ripped them apart for touching Dex if his Human senses hadn’t prevailed, telling him Dex needed medical attention. That had been hours ago. Now his feral half was demanding to be united with his mate, and the longer it took, the more pissed off he became.
    Sparks had taken over the moment they’d moved Dex, her operatives emerging like shadows