Chapter 458: Sunday. Safe House, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

SILAS SWIPED THE RAG over the kitchen counters. There wasn't a speck of food on them, but it gave him something to do since he couldn't hear the soft sounds of Ekko moving around anymore. The coffee machine bubbled and gurgled, drowning out everything else at this early hour.

He'd fallen asleep almost immediately after his final walk-through of the house. The moment his head touched the pillow and Ekko snuggled up to him, he'd been out. He'd slept the sleep of the dead. All the little sounds hadn't woken him this time, at least not for a few hours.

His eyes had popped open around four and he'd lain there, holding Ekko, and trying to feel anything except content.

He shouldn't get to feel content. Not with their lives in danger or with a woman he barely knew. Hell, before the other day they'd pretty much been enemies. Now, what were they?

Footsteps thumped in the hall.

Silas turned toward the coffeepot. He picked up the carafe and poured a mug, timing it so that he'd just finished f