"Sorry for what?" he asked.
"For getting you guys into that. For all of it."
"I made the call," Dice said sternly, looking at Ryker and Rio, who seemed to be studying him with some interest now.
He hadn't explained his reasoning yet and by the looks on the faces of his men, it became very clear that he was going to have to as soon as he could. The connection with Prowler and Thor had cut out because of the distance and Dice had to hope that the two of them could make it out in time as well. He was sure they would – Thor was a deadly stalker at the worst of times, and damn near unbeatable at the best, and Prowler had been a good distance away from the main action to begin with.
I'll wait until I have them all in one place, he thought, though Dice was sure that it wasn't going to be an easy conversation one way or another.
What the fuck was he going to tell The Firm was another matter on top of that.
"Spade's going to lose his mind," Rio commented mildly, as if reading Dice's thoughts.
"He sure will," Ryker confirmed with a chuckle, but that seemed to please both of the lion twins.
"Price," Rio said, leaning into the cockpit and tapping the pilot on the shoulder. "Where the fuck did you come from anyway?"
"I figured you idiots were going to get yourselves killed, so I went and found some means of transportation," Price said with a nonchalant shrug, flashing a smile over his shoulder.
All four of the squad members were still dressed in their fancy suits, though each and every one of them seemed to be bleeding from at least one wound. They looked like the most ragtag bunch of suave party-crashers ever. Shame that Spade was unlikely to enjoy the visual, though.
Spade, Dice thought darkly, hugging Meredith closer to him.
He kissed her on the cheek and she responded by scruffing her hand through his short hair. The momentary joy of being safe for a few minutes seemed to be wearing off as quickly as it had appeared and the gravity of their situation dawned on Dice as he remembered what Meredith had told him before.
Glancing down at the prone body of Julian Rowen, sprawled out on the floor of the fuselage, Dice frowned.
"You said we needed to get this guy because our child is in danger. What did you mean by that?" Dice asked, keeping his voice low and the words only between them, looking at Meredith.
Her lip quivered again but she obviously forced down her emotions, taking a deep breath. Nodding slowly, she looked at Rowen as well and pure loathing flashed in her gaze. Dice had never seen her really, truly despise someone, or be angry at all, really. Seeing her like this was unsettling, but also oddly soothing.
A mother bear, he thought idly.
"They brought me in to question me about us, Dice. They've been holding me in a compound with some other prisoners, some who are mothers as well. The Arctics figured out that I wasn't making notes on everything and Rowen apparently owns the compound I was being kept at. He's like a contractor for The Arctics, like some twisted undertaker. He does stuff that even The Arctics themselves can't stomach."
"Like?" Rio piped in, arching an inquisitive brow.
"Like killing babies."
Even though there was no such thing as quiet in the helicopter with its massive engine and the blades screaming above, everything seemed to get still for a moment. Ryker's expression became clouded and the look he gave the unconscious man on the floor spoke volumes, but the one he gave Meredith and Dice was one of even more realization.
Dice hadn't told his squad about the baby. Frankly, he didn't trust any of them with information that could be directly harmful in the hands of the enemy. Right there and then though, he knew he was going to have to tell them everything. There was no way he could do this all alone.
"I think I should have tossed him out of the window when I had a chance," Ryker said.
"We can still push him out, you know," Rio replied lightly.
"No," Dice said decisively, his tone stern. "We need him. After we're done with him, then we kill him."
And I won't make it painless.
Seventeen
Meredith
She sat quietly on the couch in the loft occupied by Shifter Squad Nine. It was spacious and lavish and even in the darkness of the night, she could see the lights of Etihad Towers in the distance, serving as a stark reminder of what they'd all gone through.
It had taken hours for them to get to the loft, grabbing and ditching several cars along the way. They'd flown out of Abu Dhabi to leave the helicopter and by some luck had made it back into town without getting tailed. When they arrived at the loft, Thor and Prowler were already there, waiting for them.
It was Thor who seemed to be the most bemused by the situation, but Meredith had chosen to ignore his snide glances at her and the air of knowing that seemed to drift about him.
"So that's the story," Dice concluded, standing up while the others were seated or leaning back, listening to his tale so far. "Meredith gave birth to our son."
"Dean," she interrupted, saying his name.
It sent a jolt of pain through her, but the look in Dice's eyes made it settle a bit. Only then did she realize that she hadn't told him the name yet, but Dice would certainly understand the meaning of it. He dipped his head slightly, exhaling.
"Dean. The Arctics have him and Spade knew about it. We were supposed to just observe today, yes, but I knew something was wrong," Dice explained.
"During my conversation with the scientists – Pasterne and Arville – they told me that they'd recreated my experiments. I've been working on a regeneration drug-"
"Not like those fuckers need any extra help tearing the world apart," Prowler growled, annoyed as usual at the antics of his own kind.
"As I was saying, I've been working on a regeneration drug, but I had been concealing some of my work so they wouldn't be able to make me obsolete. I guess I didn't work smart enough, because they've recreated my trials. Rowen told me he wanted to give me a chance to 'come clean,' to tell him about what I knew about you guys, essentially. Since I didn't take the chance, he was having me sent back so I could watch them kill Dean, and then they'd get rid of me."
Tears choked her words, but she pushed through them, adamant about sharing all the information she had with the squad. She could see that Dice didn't trust them all and from what she had seen, they were all scary in their own right. But Shifter Squad Nine was nowhere near as horrifying as The Arctics were.
"They were going to kill you after they'd killed your kid right in front of you? That's messed up," Ryker said, his deep voice seeming to sum up the thoughts of the rest of the squad as well, with some caveats.
Thor being the main one, most likely.
Meredith bit her lip, willing her tears down so she could finish. She nodded, finding solace in Dice's gaze. He was still bleeding from the wound in his shoulder – most of them were, in fact. It seemed like the collective decision of Shifter Squad Nine was to make sure that not a single chair, couch or surface that could be leaned on would remain without a spot of blood on it.
Men, she thought with a hint of amusement.
"I didn't mean to get you guys in trouble but when I saw Dice … I guess I'm not as good at hiding my true intentions as I thought I was."
"So you won't make a great spy. That's fine," Dice said with a chuckle, striding over and taking a seat next to her.
His arm looped around her lower back and she fell against him eagerly, her body responding far before her mind could catch up. The rational part of her knew that she was not supposed to be showing any kind of weakness around these men, these predators – Dice had made it clear enough that they would take any weakness and abuse it if they got the chance.
But again, they didn't have shit on The Arctics. Any kind of misplaced cruelty they could direct her way would pale compared to what Meredith had seen and gone through already.
"We're telling you all of this so you would know. So you could maybe understand why I set your lives in danger. I will be forever indebted to you for helping me get Meredith out of there and I'm grateful that we all made it out alive."