by Eve Langlais
You don’t need a man. She could survive perfectly fine on her own.
Flutter. The feathers on her wings chose that moment to ruffle in a slight breeze as if mocking her.
Halfway across the cleared strip of land, another man came to meet Jebediah, the two of them stopping to converse. The distance should have been too great for her to hear anything, and yet…if she strained…
“…haven’t found anything inside,” said the stranger.
“Nothing in the woods either,” Jebediah lied with ease, which made her wonder how much of what he’d told her was true.
“Guess Kole managed to destroy all the experiments. Probably best. Poor bastards. I can’t imagine being the result of some science project.”
Yeah, it wasn’t easy.
“I’m sure not everything he created was shit.” Did Jebediah suspect she listened? Was that why he lied?
“Only because you haven’t seen the files yet. Did you know he was using humans to make his hybrid monsters?” the other man asked.
Probably because Dr. Guffo got tired of playing with animals.
Jebediah coughed. “Humans, eh. Wow. Shocking. So, what’s the plan? When we moving out?”
“We’ve almost finished grabbing all the hard drives we could find. And the uncles have already carted away every single piece of paper in the place, plus all the fridges with samples. All that’s left is the equipment, and there’s too much of it to move. Shame, it would be worth a pretty penny on the black market.”
“It’s contaminated.”
“Which is another reason why it’s staying put. We’re done here now. Ready to head out?”
Jebediah shook his head. “Not quite. I wanna do one last perimeter check. You know, in case we missed something.”
“You gonna make us wait?” Groan. “Dude, I am dying for a beer and some food. I don’t dare touch anything in there. Might wake up as a platypus.”
“It would be an improvement.” Jebediah ducked a punch tossed by the other man and laughed. “You go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
“How? You gonna hop home like you did from the chopper crash?”
“I’ll just use one of the parked cars. Shouldn’t be too hard to find some keys.”
Hot damn, she was an idiot. She’d forgotten all about the vehicles parked in the nearby barn, hidden from sight lest satellites passing overhead see them. Dr. Guffo had complained about the dust in the barn dirtying his leather seats.
A car meant escape.
Forget waiting for Jebediah, who walked toward the building, his voice growing fainter. She took off in the other direction, taking a longer, circuitous route that brought her out at the rear of the barn. Before she could enter, though, she heard voices heading her way.
Quick. She had to hide.
With no time to run back to the woods, she did the only thing she could. Jumped high enough to grab hold of a protruding ledge and hauled herself up, hoping no one would circle around and think to glance overheard.
She could have cursed when she heard Jebediah nearing the barn still yapping with that other man.
Sliding along the ledge, she peeked around the corner and saw her rescuer slap his friend on the back and say, “Smell you later.” To which the fellow flashed him a finger—a rude one—then strode toward the main building, never once looking back.
She eased back around the corner and held herself still, hoping Jebediah would leave, too. Just because he’d helped her thus far didn’t mean he had her best interests at heart. She waited. And waited.
Wondered if he’d left.
Heard the crunch of gravel as instead he circled around the building. She held herself plastered against the barn.
Damned man must have eyes on top of his head because Jebediah said, “You can get down from there now, Angel. It’s just the two of us.”
She glanced down. “How did you know I was there?”
“Outback instinct. Climb down.”
She knew a quicker way. She leapt and hoped she didn’t crash.
4
His heart just about jumped out of his chest when Angel threw herself off the ledge.
She extended her wings, slowing her descent, but Jebediah exclaimed, “Jeezus, Angel.”
The corner of her mouth quirked. “Worried I was going to splat?”
“Can you blame me? You’re the one who said you couldn’t use those wings. Turns out you just need some practice.”
“I’d rather get rid of them,” she grumbled.
“Don’t be talking crazy. They’re beautiful.” Just like her. “Now come on inside the barn. I want to wait a few minutes for the others to leave before we follow.”
“That guy you were talking to, he’s one of your work buddies?”
“You could say that.” Good thing he liked his family—most of the time—given they worked together a lot. At least in a fight he knew they’d have his back.
“Did you find some car keys?” she asked.
“How did you know…” He smiled. “Heard us chatting, did you?” He held up a few sets. “I grabbed a couple from the front reception. Apparently, they had to leave them at sign-in with their phones.” He jangled the keys. “Shall we see which chariot awaits us?” The first fob he clicked flashed lights in the shadowy barn.
“Bingo,” he crowed.
Except the car he found was a tiny thing, great on gas, not on space. It took only a second for him to realize—
“I don’t fit.” Her lips turned down, and her wings drooped.
“Let’s see if there’s something bigger.” There was, a sporty utility that she couldn’t sit in, but if he laid down the seats, she could technically ride on her stomach.
Her lips pursed into a moue of annoyance. “This is ridiculous. I can’t even sit in a damned car. What’s the point of going anywhere with you? I might as well stay here.” She stalked out of the barn, and Jeb jogged after her.
“Don’t get upset. Just because these vehicles aren’t made for angels doesn’t mean we can’t get one custom fitted.”
“Who the hell is going to know how to custom fit a car to this?” A single wing flicked open.
“I know people who can help.”
“Except for the fact I don’t want people to know about me.”
“They won’t judge you, I swear.”
She glared.
Tell her about the shifter world. Explain she’s not alone.
Tell a human that the world was more complex than she knew? Except she wasn’t human anymore and probably never would be again. The wings weren’t the only thing that set her apart he’d wager.
He opened his mouth to tell her when the ground rumbled. A moment later the main building housing the lab collapsed in on itself.
“Get down,” he shouted as the dust cloud from the explosion raced toward them.
She hit the ground a moment before him, face turned to the side, eyes squeezed shut, as the dust blanketed them both. Then another explosion made the world rumble as the barn they’d just emerged from exploded as well, spewing wood and debris.
In a few minutes, everything was quiet again except for the crackle of fire as flames licked the remains.
Smoke and detritus hung in the air, a choking miasma that brought forth a cough.
Getting to his feet, he then hauled Angel to hers and dragged her away from the twin infernos. On foot. The vehicles stored within now mangled heaps of junk.
His earpiece crackled. “Jeb, holy fuck. Brother, answer me.” Rare for Jaycon to sound panicked.
He tapped to open his microphone. “Relax. I’m fine. But I lost my wheels.”
“Da says we can’t turn back on account the fire department and cops might be on their way. But Uncle K says there’s a dirt bike by the guard shack about a mile down the road. Guess they were using it to get back and forth from the lab.”
A bike? “That’s fucking perfect,” he exclaimed before shutting off the line of communication. To those who thought it odd he could
do that, they’d obviously never had to listen to their uncle boinking a woman during a mission.
The grunts haunted for a long time. After that, all their communication equipment came with an on-and-off switch.
“What’s perfect?” Angel grumbled as he kept them moving past the scene of destruction. “Who are you talking to? Have they been listening this entire time? Do they know about me?”
“Don’t worry. No one knows you escaped.” He planned to keep it that way until he could decipher the situation better. “As to how we’ll travel, I’ve got something better than a car for us.”
She, however, didn’t see it the same way. “You want me to get on the back of that?”
That being the dirt bike he found stashed in the brush by the guardhouse.
“What’s wrong? I think it’s the ideal solution.”
“Says the guy who gets the largest part of the seat. I’ll be sitting practically on the fender. I’ll fall off at the first bump we hit.”
“Then I’d suggest you hold on tight, Angel. Or would you rather wait and talk to them?” He pointed in the distance where the faint glow of flashing lights lit the sky.
Her lips pressed into a line. “If I fall off…”
“You won’t.” But if she did, he’d volunteer to kiss her boo-boos better.
Naked.
Hmm. Better not say that out loud. She’d probably peck out his eyes.
He straddled the bike, and—despite her protests—she settled on it behind him. The weight of them both pushed down on the springs, but they just needed to make it to the nearest town to find a better set of wheels.
Her arms stretched around him, and he reveled in her touch and closeness, pervy as it sounded. He jammed his foot down and revved the gas, kick-starting it to life. Then he headed away from the lights, despite her screech.
“Where are you going? The road is over there.”
“So are the cops,” he shouted over his shoulder. “Don’t worry. This baby is made to go off-road.”
The bike flew over the rutted packed dirt, and he thanked the darkness that hid their dust trail. He didn’t thank it so much when he hit a rather larger bump and the bike soared.
Angel squealed, and he heard a flap. The bike stayed suspended in the air, managing a long glide. Thump.
Cool. “Do that again?” he yelled as he hit another swell in the ground.
And so they traveled, her squeals transitioning from fearful to excited. Even laughter at times as the pair of them worked together, riding and soaring through the night.
When they finally found a town, she didn’t want to go near it. So he compromised, leaving her on the outskirts while he filled the tank with petrol. When dawn hit, they ditched the bike and hiked on foot.
They were close to their destination. A place he’d not been to in years. Lots of years. But he was pleased to find it remained intact.
He swept an arm at the hiding spot he’d chosen for her and said, “Tada! Take a gander at your temporary new home.”
She was less than impressed.
5
“A treehouse? You’re putting me in a treehouse?” she exclaimed, eyeing the wooden structure tucked in the boughs of a massive tree.
“Not just any treehouse. The Jones clubhouse. Built by me and my brothers.” Said with such pride.
She eyed it dubiously, and for several reasons. One, young boys didn’t have any kind of degree in engineering, bringing its stability into question. Two, how old was it? Jebediah wasn’t exactly a teenager any more.
Did they have termites in Australia? Even if they didn’t, they did have giant, creepy crawly things that probably loved old abandoned treehouses.
“Am I supposed to be reassured by the fact a bunch of boys built the playhouse?”
“Clubhouse,” he corrected.
“You do realize I can’t live in a little box in a tree.”
“It’s not little. You can’t really tell because of the branches and stuff, but it’s actually quite large. Wraps around the tree and has a second loft level.”
“So it’s a fancy condo-type treehouse. I am greatly reassured.” The words spoken with perhaps a teensy tiny bit of sarcasm and a full-on eye roll.
“It ain’t fancy.” He rubbed his chin, staring up at the planks peeking from the branches. “But it’s big and solid. It’s a good temporary measure until we figure out something more permanent for you.”
The fact that he mentioned help in finding something more permanent reassured. And she was being a bit of a bitch. He was trying to help. The least she could do was not rag on him. “Thanks. I’m sure it will be fine.” She’d try not to think of the spiders and snakes that might crawl over her when she fell asleep.
Studies said people swallowed an average of three arachnids a year. She said whoever ran those studies should be shot for causing many a sleepless night worrying about it.
“Shouldn’t be anyone coming around either.”
“Other than tigers looking for fresh meat,” she muttered.
“No tigers around here. Only thing you got to worry about is a stray gang of vampire quokka.”
“What?” she squeaked. “What are those?”
“Cat-sized marsupials. Cute little buggers until they go for your jugular. Don’t worry, though. My brothers are pretty good about making sure they stay off our property.”
“Your brothers are around here?” she asked, shooting a look over her shoulder. Because, of course, she imagined them sneaking up.
“Yes and no. We’re on Jones land, and they do know about the treehouse seeing as how we all had a hand building it. Adding something was a rite of passage. I raised the roof and added the loft with Jaycon. Jeremy helped, too, on account he was tired of crouching.”
“Are your brothers all giant like you?” Because Jebediah was a large man. Broad, so very broad. She’d felt that as they rode the bike, her arms wrapped around him tight, her face tucked into his back.
There was a certain relaxing aspect to hugging someone. Jebediah made her feel safe. Which, in turn, made her grateful.
And horny.
Given her recent escape, the very idea of sex should have repulsed her. While never molested while in captivity—mostly because of the strict rules separating subjects from possible contamination through intercourse—she’d been subjected to a dehumanization of her body. Given no privacy. At all. Which meant, while the guards didn’t touch, they did leer. They also said things.
Although they didn’t say them as often once she’d twisted and broken one of the guard’s wrists. Despite her frail appearance, Nev was strong. Much stronger than a girl her size and physical condition should be. It frightened her to realize just how much she’d changed since her capture.
“Two of my brothers are bigger.”
His reply to her question had her blinking. Bigger? “Are they as bossy?”
“Bossier,” he said with a smile. A smile that melted a hardness inside her.
In that moment, she realized something. I’m free.
A smile tugged at her lips. He saw and grinned wider. So pleased with himself.
She tossed her hair. Freedom didn’t mean she was going to sleep with him.
Even if he was adorable with those twinkling brown eyes and rakish smile.
She crossed her arms and shot a glance around the clearing by the tree. “I don’t suppose in your renos on the treehouse you added indoor plumbing.”
“No plumbing, or even a bucket. We mostly just peed out a window.”
“You’re kidding right?” Her nose wrinkled.
“It’s a guy thing.” He shrugged, a sheepish expression making him cuter.
“I don’t think my aim is that good.” Which meant she’d have to squat in the woods. Something she hated and the main reason, despite her tight funds, she hated sleeping outside.
Give her the city any day. Her ass preferred the cold plastic seat of a toilet.
“I’ll get you a bucket and some organic decompo
sing loo paper to wipe yourself.”
“You one of those save-the-environment types?”
“Everyone should be. We all have to do our part to maintain the health of our planet.”
“I draw the line at spreading my number two in the garden,” she remarked, heading for the trunk of the tree.
“Then you’re safe. We don’t garden. My da and uncles prefer to let their fruits and vegetables grow wild.”
“What if they can’t find what they need?”
“That’s what trading is for.”
She paused at the wooden ladder affixed to the tree with rope of all things. Not a single nail holding it in. “I am having a hard time reconciling mercenary Jebediah with farmer Jebediah.”
“Just Jeb.”
“Well, which one is it? Who is the true Jeb?” she asked as she looked at him. In the institute, when they escaped, he’d possessed a hard edge, a dangerous vibe. Now, however, he was playful, sexy. No hint of the mercenary from before.
“How about neither and both.”
“Getting deep on me, are you?”
“I’d love to.”
No mistaking the wink. It froze her. She hugged herself harder and fought two urges. One, to flee, run from the smoldering promise in his gaze, or two, move into him and see if he would burn on contact.
He retreated. “That might have been out of line considering what you’ve been through. Sorry.”
She realized he was apologizing for flirting. For treating her normal. She reached out and placed her hand on his forearm, sucking in a breath at the tingle that went through her fingers.
She met his gaze, his serious gaze. “After all you’ve done, I should be more grateful. I’m sorry, too.”
“Aren’t we a pair, apologizing. Meanwhile, you’re probably knackered. Let’s take a peek inside and make sure you’re the only guest of the place.”
“Not reassuring, Jeb. Not one bit.”
He grinned. “Would you rather I lied?” He popped out of sight before she could reply, moving quickly up the ladder rungs, the rope binding them to the tree holding. She noticed some appeared newer than others. Someone was maintaining it.