Timber (Hades Book 4)

by Tate James

  Cass sat up and punched him in the arm, and Lucas kicked him in the leg.

  “Fine,” Zed grunted, “from us.”

  “Because we love you, Red,” Cass rumbled before kissing me again.

  As much as I enjoyed that, and the hardness of Lucas’s dick grinding against my bare ass, I really wanted to know what was in the box—and why they needed a secret mission to get it for me.

  So I pushed Cass away and sat up to take the box from Zed. I shredded the wrapping paper with my fingers and pried the box open to find...

  “What?” I shrieked, stunned. “You... How?”

  Zed grinned like the damn Cheshire Cat as I ran my fingers over the familiar Desert Eagle inside the box. “A little birdy gave us a location where Chase was storing his prizes, and we took a little visit the other night while Lucas was taking a trip down memory lane with you.”

  “And we didn’t just find this,” Cass rumbled, smirking. “We also found a Guardian vault key.”

  My eyebrows shot up. Of course the Lockharts would have a Guardian vault. And if there was anywhere Chase might keep a fucking Fabergé Egg, it was there.

  “Have you checked it out yet?”

  Cass shook his head. “Neither of us are clients; we can’t access the vaults with a key alone.”

  I smiled in understanding. You needed to be a known client to gain access without the red tape. And there was no way Cass could have pretended to be a Lockhart in order to use the key himself. But... I could. It would be easy enough for me to access the vault floor, then simply bypass my own door to find Chase’s.

  My fingers petted the Desert Eagle again, and I sank back into the pillows with a blissed-out moan. “You guys are spoiling me,” I muttered. “A girl could get used to this.”

  Grinning, Zed tugged on my ankles, parting my legs around him. “You deserve to be spoiled, boss. Now let us spoil you some more before we need to get up.”

  He slid back inside me with a breathless moan, and I clutched my Desert Eagle to my chest, hugging it like a psychopath as Zed fucked me between Lucas and Cass.

  I couldn’t have created a better scenario in my wildest dreams. It was goddamn perfect.

  Getting access to the vault floor was a breeze, no one even glancing twice as I used my own key to open the elevator cage. Only Cass accompanied me, seeing as this was his mission, and I desperately hoped this would be the end of it for him. He’d been searching for this damn egg for so long; I badly wanted to help him find it.

  “If it’s not here,” I said softly as the elevator clunked its way down to the vaults, “we can keep searching. Even after Chase is gone. It’s out there somewhere, so we’ll find it sooner or later.”

  Shooting me a quick glance, he gave my fingers a squeeze. “It’s here,” he replied, firm.

  I didn’t disagree, just led the way out of the elevator when it stopped. We needed to be quick so we didn’t catch the attention of anyone watching the security cameras. But the only way to find Chase’s vault was to try the key in every door. Old school, I know, but we had no other options.

  Cass blocked me from view as best he could, and I moved swiftly from door to door, trying the key in each lock until finally—on the seventh door—it clicked open.

  “That’s a relief,” Cass murmured as I pushed it open, and we moved inside. “I thought for sure it'd be way down at the end of the hall and security would drag us out before we got there.”

  Shaking my head, I made sure the door to the hall was closed fully before shooting him a grin. “We were due a small break, surely. Because now we still need to break into the safe itself.” I nodded to the old-fashioned combination wheel, exactly the same as the one in my vault. “The keys only get us so far.”

  Cass scoffed a laugh. “Red, that’s cute. You think this is the first vault I’ve cracked? Sit over there and watch; you might learn something.”

  Somehow, I’d thought he might say something like that. Cassiel Saint, man of mystery and many skills. Literally nothing could shock me about him anymore. He could turn invisible and walk straight through the vault wall, and I’d just nod and smile.

  I leaned my shoulders against the door and watched as he went to work. A stethoscope-type thing was pressed between his ear and the door, and he took his time with each click of the combination, listening for the tell-tale sound of the tumblers falling into place. It wasn’t the most high-tech system to start with, but a lot of the Guardian’s security relied on the reputation of its clients. No one dared to rob these vaults because they feared the retribution of the vault’s owner.

  Me, though? I hoped Chase saw this. I was getting far too much glee from pushing all his buttons, but I knew my time was limited. I had to take my fun where I could get it.

  After what felt like an hour, Cass stepped back with a broad grin and opened the safe door.

  “Nice work, Saint,” I whispered, coming closer to peer inside. The small room was crammed full of precious items: artwork by the greats, trays on trays of glittering stones, wads of neatly stacked cash... and there. Right in the middle of the vault on a specially made podium was a display case. An empty display case with an unmistakable egg-holder shape in the base of it.

  Cass said nothing. He just stared at the empty display case for the longest time. Then his shoulders sagged with a heavy sigh.

  “We’re too late,” he muttered. The resignation in his voice was enough to nearly break me.

  I shook my head. “Bullshit. Chase must have worked out what you were looking for and moved it. We will find it, Cass. I promise you I won’t give up.” I planted my hands on his chest, giving him a stubborn glare.

  He gave me a weak smile, then leaned down and kissed me. “I love you, Red, but I think this is my sign to give up on the egg hunt.” With another heavy sigh, he slapped my ass and backed out of the vault empty-handed. “Come on, gorgeous. Let’s go see Nadia and eat our body weight in cake.”

  I frowned, hating that our mission had been unsuccessful. But this was his call and the egg was very clearly no longer in the vault, so I just followed as he closed up the Lockhart vault and pocketed the key.

  “Wanna come back here with a truck tomorrow and empty his whole vault?” I suggested as we got back into the elevator. “Just for fun? And then leave a big purple dildo in that display case or something?”

  Cass huffed a laugh as the elevator carried us back up to the main bank. “Definitely,” he agreed with a smirk.

  Even so, the mood between us was somber the whole way back to Shadow Grove and Nadia’s Cakes. Her grand re-opening was just a day away, and she’d been hard at work for days to get everything ready and perfect. She was so busy that she didn’t even see us come in or slide onto a pair of stools at the counter, where Diana spotted us.

  “Hades!” she squealed, dropping the mop and bucket she’d been carrying and scurrying around the counter to hug my waist.

  I patted her head awkwardly. “Hey squirt,” I replied. “You behaving yourself for Nadia?”

  She snorted. “As if.” Peeling away from me, she gave Cass a little nod. “Hey, Big Man.”

  “Hi, Little Shit,” he replied, the affection in his voice thick.

  “Have you guys killed my parents yet?” she asked point blank. “I’m gonna be so pissed if they find me and drag me out of school next semester.”

  “Diana!” Nadia bellowed from the kitchen. “Why is there water on my floor?” She popped out, scowling at the dropped mop and bucket, then saw Cass and I sitting at her counter. “Ah, that explains that.”

  Diana had the good sense to cringe. “Sorry, Nadia,” she muttered, hurrying back to clean up her mess as the old woman headed over to us.

  “I think I might lose my sanity with that one before the new school year starts,” she muttered, tossing an exasperated look over her shoulder at Diana. “That reminds me, I sent over the payment details for both girls to your office, Hades. Hannah said she’d sort it out.”

  I smiled. “Good.” We
’d managed to get both Diana and Zoya enrolled at Shadow Prep in the boarding school to give Nadia some room to breathe again. She was still happy to play the role of guardian to them both, but was too old to be a full-time parent of two preteen girls from a rough background.

  “Oh, this is the kind of news to make an old woman smile,” she exclaimed, snatching my hand up from the counter to peer at my ring. “About damn time, boy.”

  Cass huffed a disgruntled sound, and I grinned in spite of myself.

  “It’s beautiful,” Nadia said warmly, inspecting my ring closely. “Very appropriate for the queen of the underworld.” She shot me a wink, and I smiled wider.

  “Oh my god!” Diana shrieked, coming back out of the kitchen and seeing my hand. “Are you guys getting married?”

  “No,” I said.

  At the same time, Cass said, “Yes.”

  I elbowed Cass, but he just wrapped his arm around me and kissed my hair. “One day,” he murmured just for my hearing.

  I shivered but didn’t argue. I had no doubt that one day they’d find a loophole and talk me into it. But that day wasn’t today, so I just flicked him a warning glare and shook my head.

  Diana propped her hands on her hips, frowning. She’d heard my denial much louder than Cass’s confirmation.

  “Well... are you marrying Zed, then?” she demanded. “Or Lucas? Because if you want my opinion—“

  “She doesn’t,” Cass muttered.

  “—then I pick Big Man. He’s super grumpy and stuff, but, like, he’s totally in love with you.”

  Cass straightened up somewhat in his seat, like he hadn’t been expecting that from sassy little Diana.

  “Besides,” she continued, “that means Lucas can wait for me to get older.” She batted her lashes and grinned at me, teasing.

  I rolled my eyes, fighting a laugh. Fucking kid had a death wish.

  “You finished mopping that floor, Diana?” Nadia asked, redirecting the energy. “Still looks dirty from here.”

  The kid gave legitimately the most dramatic eye roll I’d ever seen and flounced back toward the kitchen. When she was gone, Nadia parked her hands on her hips and gave us both a long look.

  “You two look like you’ve had a disappointing day.”

  Cass grimaced, running his hand over his head. “Yeah, you could say that.” He looked down at me, his hand still resting on my hip. I said nothing because his egg hunt was his own personal mission to share or not as he saw fit.

  “Whatever’s eating at you, boy, you’d better just spit it out,” his grandmother snapped, leveling him with a glare. “Especially if it concerns me.”

  She was sharp as a tack, this one. Nothing slid past her, no matter how old she claimed to be.

  Cass blew out a long breath, and I leaned into him for support. “We just came from the Cloudcroft Guardian,” he admitted, “where we broke into the Lockhart vault.”

  Nadia’s brows rose, then a sly smile touched her lips. “Steal me anything pretty while you were in there?”

  Cass laughed, but it was shaky. “I wish. I had hoped... I know, that’s where he was keeping your Fabergé Egg. But when we got there today, it was already gone.”

  Nadia stared at the both of us a long time, then burst out laughing. She shook her head at us like we were nuts and planted her hands on her hips. “Oh, you’re funny, Cassiel, my boy,” she chuckled. “I knew it was you.”

  Confusion rippled through me, and Cass gave a grunt. “What was?” he asked.

  Nadia was still chuckling as she pulled out a couple of coffee mugs for us and grabbed the freshly brewed coffee pot to fill them up. “The egg,” she said after a few moments, her smile wide and easy. “I knew it had to have been you who found it. You could have just given it to me, you silly goose.”

  Now I was super confused. Cass was too, if I was to guess based on his rigid posture and perplexed expression.

  “No, it was already gone,” he repeated. “We found the case, but it was empty. Chase must have moved it somewhere.”

  Nadia rolled her eyes. “Oh, I suppose you want me to believe Chase bloody, one-eyed Lockhart left my priceless Fabergé Egg on my dining table two nights ago? Hmm?” She propped her hands on her hips, shaking her head at Cass. “Honestly, boy. Don’t tell me you were high and forgot delivering it.”

  Shock held me speechless, and Cass seemed to be floundering for logic as well.

  “What? No, I was... I didn’t...” He wasn’t lying, either. Two nights ago, we’d been dealing with the rat, Anthony. There was no way he could have delivered an egg we hadn’t even located.

  Nadia just smiled and patted his tattoo-covered hand on the counter. “Thank you, my boy. It means the world to me.” Tears gleamed in her eyes, and she sniffed them back. “Now, let me get you two some cakes. I’ve been sampling some new recipes.”

  She bustled away into the kitchen, leaving Cass and I peering at one another in shock. Chase hadn’t moved the egg at all. It’d been stolen by someone else. Someone else... who’d then returned it to Nadia?

  The pieces clicked together in my head, and I instantly knew who was responsible.

  My mystery man.

  56

  The shimmering gold Nissan came to an abrupt stop less than three feet from where I stood, its tires burning and brakes screeching. But that had nothing on the sound that exited my sister as she bounced out of the driver's seat and almost knocked me over with a hug.

  “Dare, you’re here! I didn’t know you were here! Why are you here?”

  I arched a brow at the boy climbing out of the passenger seat, the same one who’d stopped my rat from running a few nights ago. He just gave me a lopsided smile and shrugged.

  “We figured it was better to surprise you, Sephy girl,” Rex responded, clapping her on the shoulder. “Didn’t want nerves getting in the way. Now. You could probably have taken that last corner a little wider; it’d give you more control on the—“

  “No way, old man,” the kid from the passenger seat scoffed, stomping over. “Don’t go messing up my hard work with your antiquated bullshit.”

  Ah, Lincoln. The racer of the family. Made sense that he was the one teaching my sister to actually drive, finally.

  Rex had called me down to the racetrack where Lincoln and the other boys had been taking Seph for driving lessons, but it looked to me like they were teaching her to street race, not parallel park. Rex wanted me to see how far she’d come in such a short time, and he’d been all puffed out like a proud peacock the whole time we’d watched her drive.

  Lincoln and Rex were arguing over race strategy, but Seph turned to me with excitement in her eyes. “What did you think, Dare? Not bad, huh?”

  I smiled back at her. “A vast improvement from the girl who drove herself into a ditch six months ago because it was raining, that’s for sure.”

  Seph groaned. “You’re never going to let me live that down.”

  Rex looked over at me, his brows raised in question. I pursed my lips, thinking, then gave him a small nod back.

  “Persephone, kiddo, your sister got you something to celebrate your new ability to actually drive a car,” Rex chuckled, clapping a hand on Seph’s shoulder again. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and gave a shrill whistle, damn near deafening us.

  On that cue, Shelby drove onto the racetrack in Seph’s pretty purple Corvette and parked beside the Nissan.

  Seph wrinkled her nose in confusion. “I don’t get it,” she admitted. “Why is Cora here?”

  I frowned. “Cora?”

  Lincoln answered with a smirk. “Cora the Corvette. We were high.” Then he blanched and stumbled over his words. “O-on life. Obviously. High on life.” Clearing his throat, he made a swift escape as far away from me as he could reasonably get as Shelby climbed out of the Corvette and tossed Seph the keys.

  “Wait...” She turned to me with her mouth open in shock. “Did you—Dare! Did you buy me Cora?”

  I shrugged. “You seemed attached. Ha
ppy early birthday or whatever.”

  The hug she wrapped me in was tight enough to suffocate, but I didn’t push her away. I just patted her awkwardly on the back and waited it out as she squealed thanks over and over, then babbled something about taking her Corvette for a spin around the track.

  “Hold up, Seph,” I said, grabbing her arm before she could skip back to her new car. “I wanted to talk to you about something, if you can spare a minute?”

  She bobbled her head in agreement, and the two of us made our way over to the run-down bleachers at the side of the track, out of earshot from Rex and his boys.

  “What’s up, sis?” Seph asked with a small laugh as we sat down. “You’ve got a whole serious vibe going on. Like, more than usual. Or different. Or something.”

  I was making her nervous, and that was far from my intention. Hooking my foot up underneath me, I shifted so I could face her more directly and pushed a smile onto my lips. “Sorry, I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” I admitted. “But I did want to talk to you because I heard back from a contact of mine in Michigan this morning.”

  Seph gave me a small, rumpled frown of confusion. “Michigan? What’s there?”

  My smile warmed somewhat. “Uh, well, for one thing... Michigan Tech. It’s the number one rated college in the country for automotive engineering.”

  Her brows shot up. “You... you want me to go to college? In Michigan?” There was a thread of hurt in her voice, and I knew why.

  I shook my head, reaching out to take her hand. “I’m not sending you anywhere, brat. I’m offering you an opportunity, if you want it. My contact has given tentative acceptance for you to start next semester, and I would set you up with somewhere to live... Full disclosure, I’d also probably set you up with a security detail, at least for a while. But you don’t have to go. If you’d rather stay here, then that’s totally fine too. I just...” I blew out a breath and ruffled my hair. “I got the feeling maybe you’d be happier away from Shadow Grove and Cloudcroft. Away from... me.”