Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
The eagle let out an offended cry before retreating into the sky. Valor watched it soar, feeling the thrill deep inside as he shifted his gaze back to Zorion. His cherished was truly a sight that stole his breath and reason.
Zorion squatted near him and Neptune leaped to her feet and took off into the woods.
“You don’t have to run, Neptune,” Valor called after his friend.
“Why do you call her Neptune?” Zorion asked as he set the flopping fish on one of the stones around their makeshift firepit. “Wasn’t he the god of the sea? I’m pretty sure cats hate water.”
Valor shrugged as he began to start another fire.
“I have no clue. The name just came to me, and it stuck.”
“Interesting.” Zorion took a small blade from one of the pockets of his tunic. “I got breakfast.”
He and Zorion sat around the fire, eating chunks of the trout and fruit he’d picked from the trees near the waterfall.
“I wanna take another dip before we go—”
Valor caught Zorion’s wrist before he could get up. He slowly pulled Zorion down until he sat between his legs with his back to his chest.
Valor took one of the apples and began to cut it into small wedges.
He held a piece to Zorion’s lips. His gaze locked onto Valor’s with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.
“Eat,” Valor said, his voice rough with authority.
Zorion parted his lips and allowed Valor to place the slice on his tongue. As he bit, the juice ran down his chin, and Valor leaned in and licked away the remaining sweetness from his bottom lip.
The sugary taste of the apple complemented Zorion’s natural flavor so well that he wanted to smear the juices all over him.
An image of Zorion with his eyes closed and mouth open in a beautiful jungle flashed before his eyes.
For a moment, neither of them moved as the world held still.
It was the strongest feeling of déjà vu ever.
Zorion turned and gazed into Valor’s hooded eyes as if he were feeling the same sensation.
Valor sliced another piece and pressed it to Zorion’s soft lips, but this time, Zorion didn’t bite immediately. Instead, he gripped Valor’s wrist and slid the fruit into his mouth with deliberate slowness, sucking on Valor’s fingers.
The gesture sent a pulse of heat straight to his groin.
Valor knew there’d never be a day in their lives where he wouldn’t crave and want to be inside Zorion.
As they moved closer, lips hovering near enough to inhale each other’s breaths, the distant rumble of a helicopter shattered the intimacy of their moment.
That sound only meant one thing.
After two years, Jo was back.
He and Zorion exchanged looks that shifted their minds from love to war. The passion, the quiet comfort, the reprieve, were gone in an instant, replaced by something strong and deadly.
They’d trained for this moment.
They were ready.
It was time for their revenge.
Chief Aiken Oakley
Valor
By the time they arrived back at the main grounds, the chopper had powered down and Jo was being led inside.
Her eyes widened as she took them in, as if registering just how much they’d changed.
After a brief hesitation, she gave a slight bow, acknowledging them as masters of the Order.
“The elders need to be summoned,” she said without preamble. “The Ravens are moving, and the director’s corruption has reached a level we can no longer ignore. We don’t have much time to prevent what’s about to happen.”
She quickly laid out the situation—the director’s failed experiments to create new assassins after his and Zorion’s escape, using the world’s most ruthless mercenaries to bypass the organization’s sanctions, and his desperate attempt to abduct and blackmail a bomb specialist named Zelmir Benton.
“The director contracted Lee Woyashi to kidnap Zelmir, but when Woyashi double-crossed him and took Zelmir for himself, along with his family, the director gave the Blacks and the Browns kill orders.”
Lion and Omega exchanged fierce glances as they looked over the incriminating documents, still images, and video feed of the Raven’s illegal activities.
“Omega and I went after Woyashi and his Kenjuka Clan ten years ago and took down his entire operation,” Lion growled. “But we spared his life with a stern warning to stop his terrorist acts.”
“I guess he figures we’ve forgotten about him,” Omega said.
“What kind of bad guys are the Kenjuka Clan?” Valor asked.
“The worst kind,” Jo answered. “The kind that’s done everything from weapons and human trafficking, extortion and ransom, assassinations, smuggling, coup attempts—”
“I got it,” Valor scoffed. “Sounds like a guy I wouldn’t mind taking down…permanently.”
“It appears he’s rebuilt a bigger and stronger army,” Jo said as she rolled out a map intel on a convoy moving a targeted high-ranking official Woyashi’s clan was intercepting. It’d been confirmed that the bombs expert would be with them.
“The director has now called on the Ravens to do a double elimination, spinning the story to the Browns’ and the Blacks’ handlers that Woyashi and Zelmir are planning an attack on the US.”