Merging Darkness Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Merging Darkness

  Dark Codes Book Four

  Marissa Farrar

  Copyright © 2018 Marissa Farrar

  Warwick House Press

  All rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  One Month Later

  About the Author

  Also by the Author

  Chapter One

  I paced the floor of the medical level, waiting for what I hoped would be Alex declaring Clay’s clean bill of health.

  “Quit stressing, love,” Isaac said from beside me. “Clay’s fine. This is just a formality so Devlin can sign him off as being fit to get back to work.”

  I chewed on my lower lip and glanced back toward the closed door. I could have been in there with them, but I figured Clay was entitled to some privacy. I shouldn’t be overly worried. After all, Lorcan had been allowed to return shortly after he’d been shot, but time was ticking by, and every minute waiting felt like a minute wasted. Now that I’d officially been made a part of the team, I wanted us all together. Going out there with someone missing just felt wrong.

  Besides, it was more important than ever that each of us was well enough to work. The man who’d killed my father now had the memory stick which gave the locations of each of these training bases across the country. The men who were trained there worked as undercover spies to take out people responsible for corruption in the country, and crooked men like Special Agent Lyle Hollan wanted to see them dead.

  The atmosphere in the center had completely changed from when I’d first arrived. Where before there had been a relaxed congeniality, now the tension vibrated through the air, infecting everyone like bacteria. Perhaps that was why I was so anxious about Clay, even though he’d been sitting up in bed and talking the last time I’d seen him. The man who oversaw this base, Devlin, had assured us that we were the best protected out of all of the centers, as we were prepared for the possibility of Hollan attacking, but it still felt as though we were fish in a barrel down here. Devlin pointed out that we had cameras covering the surrounding area, and we’d know if anyone so much as looked in our direction in the wrong way, but that didn’t help my nerves.

  “I know,” I replied, “but I can’t shake the feeling that we’re going to end up fighting for our lives at any moment.”

  “You know what Devlin said.” Isaac glanced at me. “Hollan isn’t going to come here. He knows this is our base, and that we’re both going to be on a race to reach the other bases first. He’ll be dividing men up and trying to hit as many as possible before we can get there to warn them.”

  “Which is why we need to get the hell out of here as soon as we can.”

  “Devlin’s bringing us in transport. You have to trust him.”

  I nodded, hoping Isaac was right. I wanted to trust that Devlin was doing the right thing, but things had gotten so personal between me and Hollan while he’d been holding me captive that I couldn’t shake the feeling he would try to come for me first.

  My synesthesia had allowed me to memorize the five sets of coordinates that had been the information on the flash drive my dad had died trying to protect. That information should only ever have been in Devlin’s hands, but now Hollan and his men had it, too.

  We needed to warn the other bases that Hollan was on his way. The longer we waited, the more chance there was of Hollan reaching them before we did.

  Isaac turned to face me and caught up my hand.

  There was something about Isaac. He wasn’t big and muscular like Kingsley, or sexy and easygoing like Clay, and he didn’t even have Lorcan’s dark broodiness, or Alex’s prep-school, blond good looks. He was shorter than the others, freshly shaved, with neatly cut brown hair and green eyes, but he was serious, and had a kind of aura about him that others, myself included, paid attention to. Plus, that British accent, which he still had left over from his childhood, was sexy as hell.

  “I know things haven’t always been easy between us,” he said. “But I just wanted you to know I’m pleased you’re a part of our team.”

  His gaze bored into my face, and I felt my cheeks heat at his intensity.

  The memory of how he’d held me in the cabin while he’d pushed his fingers inside me flashed into my head, and my blush deepened.

  “Thanks, Isaac. I’m happy to be a part of it, too.”

  He moved in closer, so my breasts were an inch away from his chest, and only my t-shirt and the buttons of the blue shirt he wore separated our skin. He tilted his head slightly, in a way I knew was a habit of his when he was thinking of something, but that also made me think he was going to lean in and kiss me.

  “I need you to do something for me, though.” His voice was low and sexy. The sound made my heart beat faster. “The other guys care about you. You know that, don’t you?”

  I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “They will literally lay down their lives for you.”

  “I’d do the same for them,” I blurted, but he lifted his finger between us to tell me to be quiet.

  “You’re not understanding what I’m saying to you. I’m asking you not to do anything that’s going to put one of them in a situation where they’re going to have to put themselves in danger to get you out of a situation you’ve thrown yourself in the middle of. You’re all about the numbers, Darcy. Remember your skills—the reason you’ve been added to the team—and try not to get yourself or anyone else killed.”

  His words stung, and I didn’t like hearing them. I glanced away, my lips pressed together.

  “Hey,” he said, more softly. He reached out to touch my chin, bringing my gaze back to his. “I’m not saying this to upset you. I’m saying it because I want each one of us to come back alive, okay?”

  “You think I’m a liability.” I didn’t phrase my words as a question.

  “I think you haven’t had the same training as the others, and you make rash, headstrong decisions. I’m not saying that’s always a bad thing, but when you’re a team member, things need to be done as a group.”

  I forced myself to hold his gaze. “Then you need to listen to me a little more, too.” I fought my corner. “Don’t just dismiss me because I’m a
girl.”

  He shook his head. “I’d never do that.”

  “Good.”

  His fingers were still on my chin, the warmth of his skin flooding through mine. It was just the two of us in the corridor, and my breath caught, anticipating what might happen next. I’d spent time with each of the other guys—okay, I’d had sex of some kind with each of the other guys—but other than that one time when he’d pushed his fingers inside me in front of the others, Isaac and I hadn’t spent any intimate time together. I didn’t know why that was. Had he been keeping me at arm’s length for a reason, or was it because he simply didn’t like me in the way the others seemed to? Maybe he was less keen on the idea of sharing?

  I had to admit, being shared between a group of hot guys wasn’t how I’d expected my future relationships to go either, but this wasn’t something any of us had planned. We’d just kind of fallen into it. In fact, we hadn’t even really sat down and talked things out yet. Right now, I couldn’t bring myself to think about a future and how this would work, assuming they even wanted to stay with me. Would they want to have other girlfriends as well? A stab of jealousy shot through me at the idea. How crazy, that I was happy for them to each share me, but the thought of another woman coming into the mix made me as green as moss.

  I thought Isaac would drop his hand from my chin and step away, but I wasn’t going to be the one to make the first move. Instead, he leaned in a little closer, his eyes never leaving mine. My pulse raced in anticipation, and lightly, oh so lightly, he brushed his lips to mine.

  My eyes slipped shut, and I leaned into him, my body instantly surging with longing. How often did we want something even more when we felt like we couldn’t have it? Isaac had always been kind of standoffish with me, and having him kiss me now, with no one else around, made my heart swell.

  We moved in closer, our bodies pressing flush against each other. I’d gotten a look at Isaac’s torso when I’d stabbed him back in the days of the cellar, and had seen the magnificent dragon tattoo on his back. I liked that about him—how he seemed so clean cut on the outside, while hiding something like that beneath the expensive shirts and suit jackets.

  Our lips parted, and his tongue darted into my mouth, touching with mine. I pressed myself closer, my arms wrapping around his neck. He was only a little taller than I was, and already I could feel that he wanted me, the hard ridge of him pressing against my stomach. Where his hand had been lightly resting beneath my chin, it now slid around the back of my neck, his fingers knotting in my hair. His other hand slipped up the side of my body, seeking its way beneath my t-shirt and moving between us to cup my breasts over my bra. His fingers pinched the already hard nub of my nipple. I gasped at the forcefulness of his kiss, and my palms ached to touch his skin. I reached down to his sides, tugging the carefully tucked-in shirt out of his suit pants. Then my hands moved up inside his shirt, and I ran my fingers across the smooth skin of his back, my mind’s eye picturing the design of the dragon beneath my palms.

  He worked my breast free of the cup of my bra, and his thumb circled my bare nipple, making me groan. We were standing in the middle of the corridor, and though there weren’t supposed to be cameras inside the building to monitor the everyday lives of those who lived here, I knew there was a chance we could be interrupted at any moment. I wanted to drag him back to the room that had become my bedroom and throw myself down on the bed for him to do whatever he wanted, but we were waiting for Alex and Clay, and I knew we had more pressing matters at hand. Sex was a way of escaping it all, however. It was the one time I found I was able to forget everything else that had happened, or stop worrying about the past or the future, and just live completely in the moment. I wanted to grab his hand and shove it down the front of my jeans, to feel his fingers inside me like I had that day at the cabin, with all the guys watching me climax, but a click came from the door, signaling it opening.

  Isaac and I jumped apart, both of us flustered, quickly putting our clothes back together, like two teenagers caught making out by their parents.

  Alex lifted his eyebrows and looked between us, a smirk on his face. Clay was close behind, fully dressed again in his usual jeans and t-shirt combo. It was good to see him looking like himself.

  “We interrupting something?” Alex asked.

  “Not at all.” Isaac stood straighter. “We were just passing time while waiting for you.”

  “How’s the patient looking, Doc?” I asked Alex, trying to hide the fact I’d been practically climbing Isaac only moments before.

  Alex grinned over his shoulder at Clay. “He’s good to go. No signs of any lasting effects from the knock to the head. Just try to make sure you don’t make it a habit, okay?”

  “I wasn’t exactly looking for it,” Clay pointed out.

  “No,” Isaac said, already back to his commanding self, “but you put yourself in a position of vulnerability. No more risks, okay?”

  He glanced over to me as he said it, and I knew he was talking about me as well. Clay had been injured because he’d sacrificed himself for my freedom. Isaac was telling me not to put Clay in the position where he’d need to do something like that again. I hoped neither of us would need to.

  Clay threw me a wink. “Since when do I ever take risks, right, sugar?”

  I suppressed a smile.

  Alex nodded at me. “And what about that hand of yours? How does it feel?”

  “Okay. The swelling’s gone down loads, and it’s nowhere near as painful.”

  Alex held out his hand to me, and dutifully I placed the hand which had suffered from the dislocated fingers into his palm. He frowned down at it, gently turning my hand over, depressing my injury with a firm but gentle touch.

  Finally, he smiled and released me. “Yeah, it does look better. You take care with it, though, okay? No trying to catch any balls with that hand.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him. “I don’t think we’re going to play sports anywhere in our immediate future.”

  He chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

  A different voice called to us from the other end of the corridor. “Ah, good, I’ve found the rest of you.”

  We all turned to where Devlin had appeared. The man who led the base was older than the others, in his forties, with dark hair flecked with white at the temples. Like Isaac, he had an air of authority, and the way he was always smartly dressed also helped to convey his position of power.

  “Kingsley and Lorcan are waiting for you in the control room,” he continued, his deep blue eyes flicking between us, a slight frown causing the lines on his brow to deepen.

  Lorcan had been given the job of doing an inventory of the weapons available in the base. Previously, other than the guns used for target practice, the men and boys living in the base weren’t armed. That was another thing that had changed. Now anyone who could handle a gun had access to one. That wasn’t saying we were all carrying, but instead distribution points had been set up on each level, so if the warning came through that we were under attack, anyone who could handle a weapon would be issued one. Some of the boys were still deemed to be too young—though they weren’t happy about the situation—but anyone over the age of sixteen would be allowed to carry. We needed all the help we could get.

  Kingsley was talking to the younger trainees, teaching them what to do if the base was attacked. These kids were too young to fight back, so they needed to hide and wait for the adults to deal with things. Kingsley taught coping mechanisms, ways to stay calm even if it felt like there was chaos all around them. I prayed it wouldn’t come to that, but if it did, I hoped the boys would remember to stay out of the way and not try to do anything stupid. My aunt, Sarah, would also stay with them. I liked that they had a maternal figure around them now, and the boys all seemed to like her around, too. She wouldn’t be fighting, so it made sense for her to stay with the boys to offer them comfort and reassurance should anything happen.

  Devlin looked to Alex. “I assume Clay is fit to be b
ack in the field?”

  “Yeah, he seems to be firing on all cylinders, or at least as much as Clay ever is.”

  Clay punched him in the shoulder.

  “Watch it, buddy,” Alex warned.

  “Be thankful it wasn’t your face, otherwise you’d be the one back in the medical bay, and as a patient this time instead of the doctor.”

  The two of them were only messing around. I knew neither would want to see the other one hurt.

  “That’s enough, you two,” Devlin said. “We’ve got work to do.”

  I was glad Devlin hadn’t been the one to catch me and Isaac making out a moment before. I had no idea what the older man thought was going on between us all, but I doubted he’d know the full extent of it, or he might have been a little less ready to add me to the team. I knew my aunt had suspicions, and she and Devlin had gotten friendly over the last few days, but I hoped she wouldn’t break my trust, yet again, by talking behind my back to Devlin about my private life.

  We turned to walk toward the elevator to take us to the upper level, where the surveillance equipment, and I assumed weapons, were kept. Before we reached the elevator, Isaac’s shoulder brushed mine.

  “We’ll finish this off later,” he murmured in my ear, and a thrill raced through me.

  I just hoped we’d get a later.

  Chapter Two

  Kingsley and Lorcan were waiting for us as the elevator doors opened and deposited us in the control room. Other men were around as well, men I’d now come to recognize and who had grown used to me in turn. They were the ones tasked with the general day-to-day running and security of the base, and they were certainly earning their pay now.

  The other men faded into the background for me, however. My guys would always stand out brighter—the men who made my heart race and feel as though life was worth living again.

  Kingsley smiled at me, his teeth white against the dark of his skin. He really was a striking man, and every time he caught my eye, my heart flipped. It was hard not to react to Kingsley. He was one of those men who got noticed constantly—all six feet something of him, with his deep voice and smooth manner.