by Macy Blake
“No,” Sol said. “We’re family.”
Cody’s breath caught a little. Drew kept telling him that they were family, but it didn’t seem right. He’d not done anything to….
Sol’s hand landed on his knee and gave it a squeeze. “Stop.”
Cody stopped. They were family, in a way. But this thing between them wasn’t familial at all. “Sol?”
“Yeah?”
Cody took a breath. Family or not, he wanted Sol to squirm a little. Payback was hell. “What would you say if I told you I’ve met someone?”
Sol stiffened but squeezed his knee again. “I’d say that I want you to be happy.”
“I want that, too. I…technically we haven’t met yet. But I want to meet him. He gets me, you know?”
Sol sucked in a breath. He seemed to be getting warmer, if that was possible. Cody was probably imagining things. He was tempting fate by messing with Sol like this. His body was probably reacting to that. Or, you know, responding to the fact that Sol was sitting next to him with his hand on his thigh like it was meant to be there and not the most intimate touch they’d ever experienced. But nah, it was probably just him imagining things. Because he wasn’t going to pop a boner because Sol’s big hairy thigh was right there and even if it was covered in jeans at the moment, Cody knew what it looked like and had imagined what it felt like and….
“That’s important,” Sol added softly.
It took Cody a second to find the train of thought he’d lost. Right. Torment Sol. Check. Ignore hand on thigh. Double check. Pretend dick wasn’t hard and wishing that hand would slide up a bit more and…so many checks.
“I think I’m going to see if he wants to meet. You know, in person. Because we have serious chemistry, Sol. And I want to feel the way he makes me feel.” He tried to add a sexy little husk to his voice.
Sol seemed to like it. He gulped. “Good.”
His hand tightened on Cody’s thigh and drifted up a millimeter more. And yes, Cody was measuring by the millimeter. Because reasons. But more importantly, Cody didn’t need any more confirmation. He could feel it in his gut. What he didn’t understand was why Sol didn’t just tell him. “It isn’t weird, me talking about this with you, is it?”
Sol’s hand slipped up on his leg a bit. “You can tell me anything.”
It was the first time Cody believed it. There was actual honesty in Sol’s voice, a tremble of something else too. Hope, fear, and maybe a smidge of anxiety. But why would Sol be worried about him? Did he actually think Cody would reject him? And yeah, he probably did. Which… made things more complicated. He needed to get to the bottom of this, because this circling around him while they were in danger and living some sort of double life as Hellbent and Goldilad wasn’t doing him any favors. Before he could spit out that he knew and demand an explanation, Sol’s fingers tightened for a second on his thigh, and his head turned toward the door. He glared at it before relaxing.
“What is it?” Cody asked.
Sol was being so weird. Weirder than normal, anyway, and that was saying something.
“I heard something outside. It’s fine, though. Nothing to worry about.”
“You heard something?” Cody asked. He hadn’t heard a thing. He added another tic mark in the Captain America super-serum column. It was beginning to pull ahead of his mob theory. Plus, he’d like to see Sol in uniform.
The front door opened, and Calli stepped inside. Cody hadn’t even known she was there. “Hey, Cal.”
She nodded at him, acknowledging his greeting, but immediately turned her attention to Sol. “We’re clear.”
Sol was totally the second-in-command. Shaq was team leader. Or captain? What was the head honcho of a group of former military commandos called anyway? He couldn’t help but laugh over the idea of Sol being called Sarge. It would be kind of adorable. Sergeant Sol. And for some reason a little sexy, especially when he imagined Sol bossing him around in sexy ways. Probably in a very tight camo tank top that showed off his biceps.
“Cody?”
Cody looked up and found Sol scowling over at him. “What?”
“You’re being weird.”
“I’m being weird? I’m being weird?”
Sol’s scowl deepened. “That’s what I said.”
“Yeah, well, you have the day I’ve had and tell me you wouldn’t be acting weird, too, Sarge. But reactions to weird were probably trained out of you in boot camp, right?”
“What?”
Calli made a strange coughing snort and pulled Cody’s attention. “I’m right, right?”
She held up her hands and backed away. “I’m going to go walk through the neighborhood again.”
“Yeah, you’re totally the team assassin, Calli. Sneaky, fierce. Silent but deadly. Um, but not like a fart. Shit. Did I say that? What’s in this tea?”
“Chamomile,” Sol answered.
“I think you broke him,” Calli said.
Cody scoffed. “I didn’t break him.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Calli said.
“Jerk.”
Calli grinned.
Cody was pretty sure she had fangs, even if he couldn’t actually see them.
Fangs.
Maybe…could vampires be a possibility? They did prefer working at night, and Cody had read a lot of books where the vampires ran bars because it gave them easy access to dinner— as in him. He was their dinner. Maybe he’d been feeding a…what was a group of vampires called? He couldn’t remember, but he’d probably been an easy meal for them for years, and that was why they always wanted to feed him because they needed to keep his iron up. He turned to Sol and he was pretty sure the horror in his mind showed on his face. Sol wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in for a hug.
Cody hid his neck, just in case.
“Totally broke him,” Calli repeated.
“I’m gonna break you,” Cody snapped.
He totally couldn’t break her. Hell, he couldn’t even make her break a sweat.
Calli cackled. It was evil. They were totally vampires. It made sense. Super strong. They were a clan! That was the word. A clan of vampires who fed on their unsuspecting bar staff until eventually he’d become one of them. They had to keep the secret, though, because vampires being real was totally a secret. They were creatures of the night. Except they totally weren’t because they were out and about during the day. He’d seen them. But that’s how they kept the secret. Vampires didn’t actually have to stay out of the sunlight. It was an urban legend that helped them maintain their super-secret status.
“That makes so much sense.”
“What does?” Walt asked.
He’d appeared in the room like a vampire and Cody totally hadn’t even noticed. Vampire stealth. Another tic mark in the vampire column.
Cody pretended he hadn’t yelped when Walt spoke and pulled away from Sol.
“Show me your teeth,” Cody demanded.
Walt turned around and walked back down the hall. The bedroom door shut a second later.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sol asked.
“So many things I can’t begin to list them. For starters, vampires.”
Sol stiffened, and Calli gasped.
“I knew it.”
Before Cody could demand an explanation, the front door opened and Shaq walked in. He looked pissed. Extremely pissed, but then he looked at Calli and Sol and his expression changed to one of confusion.
“What happened?” Shaq asked.
Cody was pretty sure he saw little flecks of red in Shaq’s eyes. Totally vampires.
“Cody thinks we’re vampires,” Calli said with what could only be described as a giggle. Assassin vampires didn’t giggle, though. Probably not, anyway. But then again, vampire assassins could do whatever the hell they wanted so he shouldn’t discount the possibility over a giggle.
Shaq turned his glare to Cody. “We’re not vampires.”
“Uh-huh. You have to say that. It fits, Shaq.”
/> “It doesn’t fit. Why do you think it fits?”
He seemed horrified by the suggestion, but Cody was convinced he was right.
Cody held up his fingers and began ticking them off. “Super strong. Very secretive. Owns a bar. Totally try to feed me all the time to keep my iron levels up.”
Calli began to laugh so hard she walked outside.
Shaq glared after her until the door shut. Then he turned to Cody.
“Do you really think I would allow a vampire to feed on you without your consent?”
Cody lowered his hand, his tic marks suddenly making less sense. “No.”
Shaq was kind of crazy about consent issues and considering how important they’d become in the world now that people had their heads out of their asses, Cody appreciated it about his boss even more. Shaq hadn’t jumped on board the politically correct train. He’d always been that way.
“Super soldiers, it is then.”
Shaq huffed and his scowl deepened, but then the bedroom door opened and Drew came out. Shaq forgot about Cody the moment his gaze landed on his boyfriend. They were so fricking adorable it made him want to puke.
“Ugh,” Cody grumbled.
“What?” Sol asked.
He waved his hand in Shaq and Drew’s general direction.
“We’re not vampires,” Sol said.
“Yeah, I get it. Vampires aren’t real. I just…I’m freaked out about what’s going on, and I know you guys are into something dangerous, and I don’t want to think about the fact that there’s a very real possibility that you guys aren’t the good guys because mob enforcers make a lot more sense, but mob enforcers are bad guys, Sol, and I don’t want you to be bad guys.”
“We’re not mob enforcers.”
Cody looked up at Sol and searched his gaze. “Promise?”
“I don’t lie to you.”
“I know. But that only leaves my former special ops team theory, and that one was the most far-fetched.”
“More than vampires?”
Cody shrugged and tucked himself under Sol’s arm. He was so damn cold. It was probably shock. It had been a helluva night.
“What’s wrong?” Sol asked.
“Cold.”
“Drink your tea.”
Cody dutifully took another slurp. Sol moved around beside him and before Cody knew it, he had Sol’s leather jacket draped over his lap. It was super warm from Sol’s body heat. Cody tucked it around him a little tighter.
“Thanks, Sol.”
“You’re welcome. You hungry?”
“No.”
It didn’t seem to be the answer Sol wanted.
“Why are you always trying to feed me if you aren’t trying to fatten me up or keep my iron levels up or whatever?”
Sol glared at him. He used to think it was scary when Sol looked at him like that. Cody wondered when it had stopped being scary.
“Because you need to eat.”
“So do you.”
Sol opened his mouth to argue but closed it again. “I do eat,” he grumbled.
“So do I.”
Sol huffed and looked away. Cody finished his tea and put the mug on the coffee table. He tried to fight the yawn struggling to escape, but he couldn’t.
“You need to sleep,” Sol said.
“I’ll be fine.”
Sol grumbled again.
“I want to know what’s going on, Sol.”
“We’ll tell you when we can. But for now, you’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Cody looked up at him again. “I know.”
It seemed to be the right answer. And he even meant it. Sol and Shaq and the rest of them wouldn’t let anything happen to him. They were family. A family of emotionally damaged soldiers who’d seen the evils of war and lost people they loved which left them emotionally stunted and probably with PTSD but they had hearts of gold even if they were cranky and grumpy. Also, the serum probably had some side effects they hadn’t been aware of when they’d agreed to be experimented on. There were always side effects.
“What are you thinking now?” Sol asked.
“Super soldiers. Can I call you Sarge?”
Sol scowled. “Not if you expect me to answer.”
“I can’t imagine you as anything else. I mean, Sarge just works. What do they even call lieutenants, anyway? Loot? That sounds dumb. Is that what Shaq is? Loot Shaq sounds ridiculous. But I don’t know what else he could be because even I know that generals are way too high up on the food chain for that to make sense. You can’t really be a super-secret general, can you? Oh, Captain. Cap’n Shaq. Totally works.”
“Cody?”
“What?”
“Just go to sleep already.”
Cody yawned. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“I know. But you’re safe now so get some rest.”
“Are you leaving?”
Sol made one of his complicated faces. Cody had never realized how complex his expressions were. He’d always seen grumpy and scowly, but there were so many more than that. “Do you want me to leave?”
He really didn’t.
“No.”
“Then I won’t.”
“What if Cap’n Shaq says—”
“He’s not a captain.”
“Damn. Lieutenant Shaq doesn’t have a great ring to it, you know?”
Sol huffed a little, but it sounded like a muffled laugh. “I think I like Sarge.”
“You would.”
“If Shaq needs me to leave, I’ll talk to you before I go, okay?”
“What if it’s an emergency and like the general calls and says he needs you right away?”
Sol gave him a look. “I wish I understood what was going on in that head of yours.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I do.”
It was Cody’s turn to huff. He yawned and pulled Sol’s jacket up over his arms.
“Stretch out on the couch. I’ll get you a blanket.”
“I’m fine.”
Sol sighed. “Would you stop arguing with me?”
Cody shrugged. “Probably not likely, Sol, not gonna lie.”
Sol smirked a little, and Cody’s belly did a little flip. After giving his thigh another squeeze, Sol got up and went down the hall. He returned a minute later with a fluffy blanket in one hand and a pillow in the other. He put the pillow down and gave Cody a look.
Cody wanted to argue, thought about it for a second, but he yawned instead. “Fine, you win.”
“Miracles do happen,” Sol said.
“Shut it.”
He put his head on the pillow and curled his legs up onto the couch. Sol pulled his shoes off before covering him with the blanket. Cody thought about being nice and giving Sol his jacket back, but it was under the blanket with him now and he liked it. Besides, it kind of smelled like Sol and he liked that, too.
“Don’t leave,” Cody said.
“I won’t.”
“I’m going to figure it out, Sol.”
Sol ran his hand over Cody’s hair, brushing it out of his eyes. “You probably will.”
“It’d be easier if you just—” Cody yawned so widely his jaw cracked and his eyes watered, “—told me.”
“Can’t do it. The general would get upset.”
“Ha! I knew it.”
Sol grinned. His hand rested against Cody’s neck, and he knelt beside the couch. “Close your eyes.”
Cody grunted but he did. Because he was tired, not because Sol said so.
Solomon
It didn’t take Cody long to drift asleep. Solomon waited beside him until his breathing evened out before turning to his alpha. Shaq and Drew were both watching him, their arms wrapped around each other. Drew looked extremely smug, even though he also looked extremely worried. Sol walked over to the pair and tried to ignore Drew’s expression.
“What did Zaire find out?”
“Not a damn thing,” Shaq growled. “It was just like la
st time. The smoke stuff spewed out and then we had nothing. Chuck thinks somebody roofied him and is freaked out that he tried to hurt Izzy and Sophie. He sort of vaguely remembers talking to a guy at the bar and thinking he needed to talk to Izzy. But after that, it’s all gone.”
Solomon growled as well. His eyes sharpened with a red haze as he let go of the tight rein he had on his anger. “This jackass came after one of ours. Our humans. Our most vulnerable. What would have happened if Izzy hadn’t called me?”
“But she did, Sol.” Drew touched his arm gently, but it was less than comforting. Anything could have happened. Sol could have been on a call for the goddess and unable to answer. Chuck could have managed to break into the door before he got there.
Drew made a little noise and caught both of their attention.
“What is it?” Shaq asked.
“They knew Izzy would call you, Sol. Well, you or Shaq. But they knew you would come running if one of us called.”
Sol nearly choked. “And that we’d gather together to protect the pack.”
“Fuck,” Shaq growled.
“Calli, Teague, Achim, Jedrek, and Vice are all out in the neighborhood. They haven’t caught wind of anything. We’d know if they did.”
Drew looked at them both. “Something’s not right, Shaq. I can feel it.”
It wasn’t the first time they’d been manipulated, but the last time had been to separate them. Taking on their entire pack would be suicide, but Drew’s instincts weren’t something to be questioned. Sol trusted them as much as he trusted Shaq’s.
“Then we move,” Sol said. “We can get everyone to my cabin. No one knows where it is but us. If anyone had watched us for any length of time at all, they would know where you live. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out. My cabin isn’t as easy. Plus it gets us out of the public eye. If they’re going after humans, they’re not going to be afraid to come to suburbia.”
Shaq growled again. “You’re right. I’d have known if someone was watching me, though. Mason’s security team would have picked up on it, too.”
“They knew to come after Izzy, Shaq. And they had enough time to hunt down her idiot ex.”
“What the hell is going on?”
His alpha was as frustrated and angry as Sol was.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.”