The Hart Brothers Series Box Set (Including the bonus book Sabin: A Seven Novel): Freeing Her, Freeing Him, Kestrel, The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart, Sabin: A Seven Novel

by A. M. Hargrove

  “I know. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. You would be blown away.” Now her eyes soften.

  “Thank you. For listening and for this.”

  “I’ve only told you the truth.”

  “So, what about you? Your childhood?”

  I shrug. “It was normal, I suppose. Nothing like yours.” I know I’m reticent, but I don’t disclose anything of myself to others. This way, I’m much less likely to get hurt when she leaves.

  “What was it like where you grew up? Did you have all sorts of cool stuff?” I laugh because her face is so animated when she asks the question. “If you’re asking to compare it what you have on Earth, then yeah. But to me, it was the usual.”

  “Tell me, Sabin.”

  She’s eager, like she’s awaiting a new toy. She won’t like my answer. “I hate to disappoint you, but I can’t. I’ve already told you more than I should.” I lie down and say, “Come here.” Pulling her into my side, I begin, “One, we need to sleep. It will be morning soon and I’m exhausted. You, my beautiful princess, have worn me out.”

  “Did you read my mind?”

  “No, why?”

  “The beautiful princess thing.”

  “I called you that because you look like one. I apologize if it was an insult.”

  “No, it’s only because I told you all that stuff about my terrific childhood. My parents always referred to me as their little financial burden. I was young and didn’t know what it meant; I would dream it was a fancy term for beautiful princess. Imagine my delight when I learned the true meaning of it.”

  My jaw clenches. What parent calls their little girl that?

  “Since you were never called that then, I’ll call you that now.”

  “I would rather you didn’t. It isn’t something I care to remember.”

  “I understand. Then I shall call you by your beautiful name, as it was intended.”

  “So, why can’t you tell me about your cool stuff?”

  “It is against our laws. As I’ve said, I have already told you more than I should, and you have seen too much with healing my injuries. Now, sleep.” I find myself petting her silky strands that I love so much. She curls up next to me and when her breathing softens, I relax and let myself sleep, too.

  The room is bathed in darkness when I wake. It’s nothing unusual because there aren’t any damn windows in this place. I’m used to light and open spaces. I’d love to open the curtains and let the morning sun stream in. But I’d have to punch a hole in the brick wall of this place. Serena still sleeps. I’m careful to be quiet when I slip out of bed. After I take a quick shower, I head to the kitchen for something to eat.

  Several of the men sit around the table. Rafe is one of them.

  “You look like shit,” Rafe comments. He reeks of hostility.

  “I suppose I do. It’s been a long night.”

  “Maybe you’ve expended too much energy fucking Serena.”

  Edge and Verus stop eating and scrutinize the two of us. Rafe’s smart ass comments are something I don’t need to deal with today. Do I blast him with what’s on the tip of my tongue and start a verbal war, or do I ignore him? Ignoring him isn’t possible. I don’t give a shit about me, but he just insulted Serena.

  He sits there with a smug look on his face so when my hand snatches a fistful of his shirt, it takes him by surprise. “Listen, you prick. I’ve had enough of your piece of shit mouth. You’re supposed to have my back, like I’ve always had yours. And now you’re acting like some foul-mouthed jealous teenager. What is it, Rafe? Are you jealous that I got the girl? Is that it? Let’s clear the air once and for all.”

  “That’s not it and you damn well know it. You’re lying down on the job. That’s what the issue is. You’re leaving us to fight the battles while you hang back here and fuck your little plaything.”

  Before I even know what’s happening, my fist smashes into Rafe’s face. Edge and Verus fly to their feet, each of them grabbing one of us.

  My chest heaves, not with exertion, but with unadulterated fury. The fact that I came back here with severe injuries goes completely unrecognized by Rafe. And that pisses me off. Before I can utter a word, Edge is on it.

  “That’s unfair, Rafe, and you know it. Sabin could barely stand, much less breathe when he got back here. And for you to make that kind of claim is pure bullshit. I saw it all go down on the complink.”

  Rafe only stands there not speaking. Now Verus steps in. “While I can’t speak for what happened after he returned here, Sabin was in no shape to fight. If he had stayed, he would not be standing here right now, Rafe. I was fighting right next to him. You need to apologize. Your conduct is unacceptable.”

  “That doesn’t account for your bedroom behavior,” Rafe says.

  “This is ridiculous,” Edge says. “Since when have you been concerned about that?”

  Helios walks in and takes everything in. “Is this about the girl?” he asks.

  Aw, hell. Verus answers for me. “I believe it’s about Rafe’s jealousy.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass about bedroom behavior when we’re not on duty.” Rafe tries to defend his position.

  “We need to calm down. This is a room full of raging hormones,” Verus says.

  “No, it’s not. It’s a jealous man who wanted the girl,” I snap. “Listen up, Rafe. I did nothing out of the ordinary or nothing that was considered unacceptable, according to our standards. If you have any issues with my behavior, take it up with me, privately. Understand?”

  Rafe nods. I walk over to the food dispenser and create a meal. I’m starved. After that fiasco, I need sustenance. When I finish eating I gesture to Rafe. “Meet me out back. We need to clear the air between us.”

  He’s not happy but he joins me outside. His posture tells me this is going to be a tough discussion. Instead of being confrontational, which is generally my way and how I’d like to be, I decide to be a little more tactful. I only hope my patience, which is worn thin, lasts long enough for us to clear this up.

  “You and I go way back. We’ve never had this issue before. What gives?” I ask.

  “She’s clouding your judgment.”

  “I disagree. I was frustrated with her yesterday. Not clouded.”

  “It’s the same in my mind. And one human ended up dying.”

  “Could’ve happened anyway.”

  “Bloody fuck! You’re so damned callous about it,” he yells.

  “Not callous, realistic. It’s always been this way. Maybe you never took note.” I rub my face, trying to think of something to say. This is Rafe I’m talking to. He has more experience than anyone else in that building. I need to tell him. “You’re crucial to this team. You have more skill and knowledge than anyone here except me. I need your head on right. The team needs your head on right. We’re getting ready to march down a different road, Rafe. Things can get dicey up ahead and the last thing this mission needs is for us to be at odds. We’ve always worked well together. I want us back on the right track.”

  “As do I. So, dangling the carrot. What if your plaything gets hurt or killed in the process?”

  “Please don’t call her that. And she won’t.” My teeth are clenched together so hard my jaws ache.

  “How do you know this?”

  I can’t answer him. I’m no seer of future events. But I do know one thing. “I know because I will protect her with my life and I’ll die saving hers.”

  He cocks his head and his eyes pin me. “What is she to you? You’ve only just met her.”

  “Good question. If you can help me figure out the answer, I’d love to know.”

  His eyes still hold mine. “Seriously?”

  “As the day is long in summer back home.”

  “Fuck, Sabin. This could be complicated.”

  “Clearly. But I’ll have to leave her eventually.”

  “Not if you …”

  “Not if I what?”

  “Claim her.”

&
nbsp; I let out a rueful laugh. “Oh, and you think The Council will give me their blessing? When I bring her home, I’ll have another ration of shit to deal with. It was bad enough with Juliette and Kade Hart, but wait until Ali’yah gets wind of this. She would shred Serena to pieces.”

  “Sabin, all the more reason to claim her. Even if The Council doesn’t approve, you can still do it.”

  “You’re leaving out one very important detail.”

  “What?”

  “Serena has to approve, too.”

  “Why? Just do it.”

  “What the hell, Rafe? She’s human. They do things a bit differently here. Besides, look what happened the last time I did something so rash and idiotic. I ended up with a viper. And she still is trying to kick my balls.”

  “True. But Serena is no Ali’yah.”

  “That she is not.” I can feel the tension dissolve from my face.

  “You feel something for this girl. I can see it in you.”

  “That’s inconsequential. I … we have a job to do and that’s what will happen. When finished, I will go my way and she’ll go hers.”

  “But she has to be taken away from here or she’ll remain in danger. You have to take her home.”

  “Why do you pester me about this?”

  “Because I was wrong, Sabin, and I admit it. I’m sorry I was a prick. But I was right, too. This girl has gotten to you. Like no one ever has. Even Ali’yah. And you can’t let her get away. Claim her. If you take her home without doing so, someone else may, and then you’ll be grinding your teeth until they break. And all the men will be bearing the brunt of it.”

  “I can’t.”

  Rafe blows out his breath. “You are so fucking hard headed. And this is not a compliment.”

  I give him a wicked grin. “So you say.”

  “Everybody says it and you damn well know it.”

  By this time we’re both leaning against the building, our backs on the wall, as we talk. “Yeah, I do. It’s my way. Accept it. Besides, you know it’s saved our asses a time or two.”

  “You have this uncanny ability to pick up on the weirdest shit.”

  I shrug. “That’s why I have this job.”

  “So, Sabin, what kind of tricks do you have up your sleeve this time? How are we going to find Judgment Day?”

  “Serena.”

  “What if they don’t take the bait?”

  “Then we know they have it and we’ll have to go after it.”

  “The last time we went after the Mastermind, we lost men.”

  My head and torso ache. It hurts to remember what happened then. “Yeah. But you know how this works. We’ll have to come up with something. If the Shaurok do have Judgment Day, then the Mastermind is only one step away from controlling the universe. Total domination. We need to get it back before his plans are set in motion or we’ll be too late to stop him.”

  “There is one thing you need to be aware of. I think the Shaurok are killing first and searching later. The Mastermind has escalated, in my opinion. That friend of Serena’s—Charity? There was not a shred of evidence in her apartment that the Shaurok did anything but barge in and kill her.”

  “So what are you saying?” I know I won’t like his answer.

  “Putting Serena out there is riskier than you think.”

  “I’ll be right there with her. I won’t let her go alone.”

  “You know they won’t arrive in pairs, like they used to. There’ll be a gang of them. What if they come and attack her without even searching for Judgment Day?”

  “I don’t think they will. The imprint on her is strong. And if they don’t see it, they’ll want to know where it is. But if they try anything, I’ll have to extract her. You and the team will be nearby, just in case that happens.”

  “Sabin, you won’t have a chance to prepare her for transcending.”

  “She may react, but she won’t die. This is our only option. I don’t see another choice, unless you do. If so, speak up.”

  “No. Not anything that will draw the Shaurok out. What exactly have you told her?”

  This is a question I don’t relish answering, but it’s Rafe and I need to be honest. “More than I should have but not much. Basic stuff. She knows we’re not human. She knows about Paradox. She knows about how we travel but not how it works. She obviously knows about some of our medical advances. That was unavoidable.”

  “You have to claim her, Sabin. You have no choice.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  Then the bastard laughs. Belly laughs. He smacks me on the shoulder and says, “You never could do anything the easy way, could you?”

  He’s right. Everything I’ve ever attempted has been like walking on broken glass with bare feet. “This is me you’re talking to, Rafe.”

  “Right. You still have to claim her, even if you do it with her kicking and screaming. The consequences of you not claiming her are much greater than what she faces if you don’t. Picture this. You take her home and word gets out. She somehow leaves the house and Ali’yah gets wind of it. If Ali’yah sells her and ships her out, you’ll never see her again.”

  “I don’t have to claim her if she stays here.”

  “Are you delusional? She can’t stay here. It’s not possible. She’d be dead in a day. Now if you’re comfortable with that, then fine.”

  My hand curls into a fist and I slam it against the side of the building. A piece of the brick flakes off. “Shit.” Pain rips through my hand and shoots up to my shoulder. I grimace as I try to flex it.

  “Tell me you did not break your hand.”

  “Probably.”

  “Dammit. Let’s go and get you fixed up.”

  When we walk back in the kitchen, the room is empty. Rafe pulls out the medical kit. “Give me that hand.”

  I hold it out for him and a piercing pain lights into me. “Shit!”

  “It’s broken, all right. Can you not have a better hold on your temper? How many times do I have to do this for you?”

  “Shut up and finish.” I grit my teeth and inhale. This is a particularly nasty one. The break must’ve been worse than I thought.

  “Hit something soft the next time.”

  Rafe’s comment reminds me of Serena punching the mattress and I laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  I tell him and he only shakes his head. “I think you should be as good as new.”

  “What happened?” It’s Serena. She walks in the room and looks at Rafe holding the wand.

  “Nothing. I had a little accident. All’s good now,” I say cheerfully.

  Her brow wrinkles. This is one time I wish she weren’t so perceptive. And that she didn’t have such insight into my personality. “Really? What kind of accident? Rafe, why don’t you tell me what happened?”

  She positions herself between us, but moves Rafe so he can’t look at me.

  “We were, uh, Sabin was, er yeah, Sabin ran into the back of the building and broke his hand.”

  That sounds as bad as my pet ate my homework.

  Shit, Rafe, can’t you do better than that?

  She caught me off guard. Sorry.

  “Ran into the back of the building? Oh, and I see that happening a lot around here. I suppose he breaks his ankle dancing, too.”

  Rafe actually laughs. “No, but I’d love to see him dance. Why don’t you give us a demo, Sabin?”

  “Shut it. I had a slight accident, Serena. I’m fine.”

  I should’ve told her I was the tooth fairy. I would’ve had a better chance of her believing me.

  “Okay. Have you eaten?” she snaps. She walks over to the food dispenser and stabs the thing with her finger. Christ, here we go again.

  “Serena, let me do that for you.” I motion to Rafe to leave, so I can have some privacy with her.

  She faces me and her eyes rake me from head to toe. How can this slight snippet of a woman reduce me to feeling like an errant child? “I think it would be better if yo
u would teach me how to use the stupid thing.”

  Before she has a chance to disrupt the cycle of the damn processor, I take her hand and fold it in the confines of mine. What I want to do is reach into her mind to my fullest capacity. Peel back the layers of her cognitive function and delve into the inner workings of her complex cerebrum. I’d love to dive into the deepest part of her, the places that only she knows, and find out every tiny thing about her, things she’s never dared to share with anyone. Because I know there are a lot of pieces of Serena that are so insanely complicated that perhaps even she hasn’t touched upon them. But I can’t do that. It would be an invasion of the greatest kind and would ruin any relationship between us. Not to mention the simple fact it would be dangerous for her fragile psyche. The human mind was not made for such a thing—to do so would be pure foolishness and could threaten her very existence.

  “Serena, allow me.” Her hand yields and then molds itself to mine. The resistance is gone. “What would you like?”

  Her head shakes. “I don’t know the name of any of the food you give me,” she mumbles.

  “Have I upset you?” I know the answer. The question is whether she’ll tell me what’s wrong. I order up some breakfast for her and when it’s ready we both sit.

  She bows her head and stares at the food for a minute. “You make me feel like I’m that financial burden again. Maybe it’s best if I leave.”

  Shit. She may as well have kicked me in the guts. Or maybe poured acid on them when they were hanging out. “No! You can’t think that. And if I made you feel that horrible, I apologize. Rafe and I had a … session … for lack of a better word. We aired our differences and we’re good now. But Serena, you can’t even go there. About leaving here. You won’t survive a few hours. This I know.” I scoot my chair closer to her and it makes a scraping noise. She looks up and our eyes lock. Why do I feel her eyes penetrate the deepest confines of my soul? “I’m not embellishing or exaggerating the danger here. I swear this to you.”

  “I feel I’m in the way. I know the men don’t really want me here. And now you … the way I sense that you’re hiding things from me.”

  “The truth then. I’m frustrated with our inability to find the necklace. And I’m worried about sending you back out there. I slammed my hand against the wall and broke it.”