by Fall, Carly
However, he wouldn’t force anyone into doing something they didn’t want to. He would leave it up to each of them individually, and he told Noah so.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less. I don’t want to be out there with someone who doesn’t want to be there.”
Justice wondered about the tactical of what the Saviors had been doing.
“We’ve been killing the Colonists. The humans have also helped out. Some of their biggest criminals have turned out to be Colonists. Names you probably won’t recognize, such as Saddam Hussein and Jeffery Dahmer. The humans helped us out without even realizing it.”
The names didn’t ring any bells, but he committed them to memory so that Kade could look them up later.
“And what about their offspring?”
Noah sighed. “They’re tricky. When a human and Colonist mate, sometimes, the Colonist genes override the human genes, and we get the bad ones. Or if the human genes, the good part of a person, dominate, then we just have someone who’s half Colonist and may have a temper problem, or the desire to kill, but not the utter need to do so that we see in a Colonist.”
Justice rubbed his face. “It sounds complicated.”
“It is. We never thought the Colonists would take on human forms, and we never expected them to mate with humans. They really fucked up our plans. We never intended to be on Earth for more than a year or so. Hell, I was even thinking less time.” Noah slammed his hand down on the table. “But here we are.”
“Tell me about the Platoon,” Justice said, wondering why the two groups didn’t get along.
“Well, you can imagine our surprise when we found out that a group of SR44ians had landed on Earth. The FBI caught four of them when their vessel landed. Jovan found Liberty in Phoenix on a fluke. She also told us that the Platoon held the Saviors, specifically me, responsible for the destruction of SR44.”
“Why?”
“Because my father was in charge of the Royal Council. From what I’ve heard, he lost his fucking marbles and let everything go to shit because he felt guilty about sending us here. He was certain that I was dead, that we all were, and that he had blood on his hands. It made him crazy. Literally.”
Justice nodded, remembering the rumors. In fact, his commanders had withheld the information from the Royal Council on the transmission they’d received from the Saviors. They didn’t want to tell Noah’s father until they had certain verification that he lived.
“So the Platoon wanted you all dead.”
“Yes, and they succeeded in killing Talin. We tried to play nice, but they came into our sandbox and pissed all over the place. We took in Nico when he defected from the Platoon, and he’s been a good addition for us. We rescued Annis from Area 2. The rest of them, including Titus, actively hunted us.”
Noah shook his head and leaned forward. “Get this—Micah, their leader, he even aligned himself with a Colonist in an attempt to kill us off. That’s how twisted he was.”
Surprise and disgust turned his stomach. An honorable SR44ian male would never do such a thing, commit such a betrayal to his own people.
“The guy was a few pages shy of a full book, if you know what I mean,” Noah said.
Justice thought about it for a moment, because he didn’t fully understand.
“He wasn’t all there,” Noah explained, tapping his temple.
“Right.”
“But anyway, getting back to the offspring, if they’re bad and we can’t get caught, we’ll play judge, jury, and executioner. Most of the time, though, we let the humans handle them.”
Surprise hit him again. “And the humans know about you?”
“No. Well, they know about me, and a little about the rest of the guys. I’ve become one of the best murder profilers in the United States. I get called upon to help with cases everywhere. This gives me access to a lot of crime scene information, and I can be on the lookout for Colonist activity.”
“How do you know when a Colonist has committed a crime?”
“Black ash. Humans can’t see it. Our SR44 colors shine through our eyes, our true souls. Their souls are black, and when they kill, they leave behind the ash. I’d like to think it’s a little bit of their soul dying off and eventually, they’ll all be gone.”
Justice shook his head. “This is far more complicated than I could have ever imagined.”
“I know. Do you understand why the help would be appreciated? We’ve been running around for over two hundred years trying to get a lid on this, but it’s been tough.”
“It’s a lot for me to think about, Noah.”
His brain might actually explode. Never in a million years would he have guessed what the Saviors had been through, the fight they’d taken on.
“Take your time,” Noah said, and stood. “Like I said, the desire to bring honor to our people—even if we’re all that’s left—is far from being over.”
Silence stretched out for a while as Justice considered Noah’s words.
“I’m going to be meeting with Titus in a little while. You want to stay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I do. I’d like to hear what Titus has to say about his actions with the Platoon.”
“Good. I’ll have Blake bring him up.”
Noah paced as he talked to Blake on the phone, and Justice noticed they weren’t much different in size, except he may be a little wider in the shoulders.
When Noah hung up, he spoke. “Why do you trust the human so much? It seems he tends to be your second in command.”
Noah looked over at him, his brow furrowed, then sat down. “I have a unique relationship with the guys. Before Blake, there was Talin. He was smart, arrogant, and funny. He taught Blake a lot of what he knew. Maybe he saw his death coming—I don’t know. Hudson’s my friend, not to mention my mate’s father, but that’s a story for another time. But Blake, he’s smarter than he thinks, and when he went through his bad time with the drugs, things got fucked up around here. I realized that, somehow, that half-breed had wiggled his way into our lives and become a big part of it.”
Noah glanced around the room, and Justice hoped the male would continue. He found the social aspects of the silo interesting—a mostly unrelated group had somehow come together into a large family. The dynamics of accepting each other for their own personalities, flaws, and strengths regardless of their genetic make-up fascinated him.
“Abby and I were talking about it the other night,” Noah continued. “It’s like we’ve woven a sweater here. Each of us represents a thread. We’re all an intricate part of each other’s lives. When one of the threads gets broken, as was the case with Blake, the sweater gets messed up. It doesn’t look right anymore with a thread missing, and it doesn’t feel whole.”
He’d never in a million and ten years have guessed that an SR44ian would hold a half-breed Colonist in such high regard. Nor did he ever imagine an SR44ian male loving anything Colonist, but Nico seemed to do just that as he loved Alaina, also a half-breed. It seemed as if the Saviors had created their own little Utopia.
Just as he was about to ask Noah about it further, Blake came in, his gun at Titus’ back.
“What took you so long, half-breed?” Noah asked.
“Thought I’d bake a cake before coming.”
“That’s original.”
“Do you really want to know what I was doing?”
“Probably not.”
“Exactly. Sit down, Titus.”
Chapter 14
Blake sat down and sighed. Noah had interrupted his time with Sophia, and he was a little cranky as he had been just about ready to strip off her leggings for a quickie in the bathroom.
Bastard.
He had taken the seat to Noah’s left, while Titus and Justice sat to his right. Justice seemed very comfortable around Titus, while Blake would have preferred the fucker to have a hole or two in him. Hence, he rested the gun on his lap, pointing it at Titus. If he tried anything, he’d end up bloody.
“So, Titus, Justi
ce seems to think you’re an honorable male. I disagree, but he keeps telling me I’m wrong. Care to tell me why?” Noah asked.
Titus stared at the table and ran his hand through his hair. As Blake waited for an answer, he tried to recall the previous times he’d seen Titus. He’d been physically bigger, and hadn’t said much. He either hid something, or he would prove to be one of the quiet ones who needed to be worried about.
He didn’t meet Noah’s gaze as he spoke. “I told you already. Simon approached Blake and Nico about taking us in, and we were denied. We were forced to remain with those psychopaths, Micah and Jael. We just went along with everything for self-preservation.”
“Tell me what happened when Simon died.”
He stared at Titus, and swore he saw tears brim his dark eyes.
“Micah called, needing us at Sophia’s house. He shot Simon. I ran. He shot at me, but I kept going. I don’t know how long I was out there. Justice found me in the desert.”
Blake bunched his hands into fists. Just thinking about what Micah had put Sophia through made him want to kill him all over again, but this time, slowly and painfully.
“He was near death,” Justice noted.
“Look, we’ve been through this before,” Noah said. “But Titus, give me a reason why I should trust you. You guys killed Talin. You tried to kill all of us.”
“Simon and I would never have done that. We never would have hurt you.”
“Then why all the swagger? Why all the taunts and promises of making our lives living hell?” Blake asked.
Titus shut his eyes. “We needed to keep up a front. We wanted out so badly, but we didn’t know where to go or how to survive. We felt safe in the numbers, and realized that we may be able to be part of your group, but we were denied.”
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Blake kind of felt bad for him, and when Titus laid his forehead on the glass table, his arms crossed over his head, the feeling almost solidified, but not quite. It had to be the Colonist in him because any normal human being would have pity for the guy, but not him.
The man looked broken. Completely and utterly shattered, and Blake realized he’d seen it before—when Abby left Noah, and when Talin had found out SR44 had been blown to shit and he’d lost his mate.
An SR44ian guy without his mate.
The thought stunned him, and he waited for the adrenaline to roll through his body. As he stared at Titus, he felt certain that’s exactly what he was seeing. Titus slept all the time, didn’t eat, didn’t bathe, and didn’t seem to have any real will to live.
Suddenly, Titus lifted his head, his gaunt face determined. “Look, Noah. I knew these guys wouldn’t make it in the bunker. Someone would find them out. I needed to get them to you so you could protect them. I knew you wouldn’t protect me, but I hoped you’d protect them. I’ve done my job, so do with me what you will. I don’t give a fuck. Kill me right now. Just take care of Justice and his crew. They’ve been very good to me.”
Titus laid his head down again, and Blake met Noah’s gaze, more certain that ever before—Titus had lost his mate.
But who had it been?
Ten minutes later, Titus had been led back to the gym and locked in. Blake listened as Justice outlined Noah’s plan to the rest of his group. They all sat around the big, glass table, and Blake found it odd to see new faces in the War Room. He’d liked the old ones just fine.
He realized he didn’t particularly like change, especially since he’d put his heroin habit behind him. Now, the arrival of these people had kind of thrown everything into a tailspin, and uncertainty seemed to be top dog.
“I’m in,” Chance said after Justice finished telling him Noah’s plans.
He still looked really angry, and Blake wondered if it would be a good idea to let him loose on the streets of Phoenix. They didn’t need a hothead; they needed calm and collected.
“Me, too,” Roman said.
A quiet guy, but he had an undercurrent of danger. He reminded Blake of Hudson, except Hudson liked to talk.
Axel and Kade nodded. The only one who hadn’t agreed was Macy.
As she picked at her fingernails, Justice spoke up. “You don’t need to decide now, Macy.”
“And even if you say you don’t want to help us out, that’s fine. You’re one of us, and we won’t abandon you,” Noah chimed in.
“Thank you.”
“If it’s okay with you guys, I’d like to bring in the other males and we can all get to work.”
They all nodded, and Noah stood, pulling out his phone. “Blake, can you call Jovan and Rayner, and I’ll hustle up the rest of them?”
“May I please be excused?” Macy asked.
Noah nodded, and Blake picked up his own phone and dialed.
Chapter 15
Holly rushed home early without returning the keys of all the bunkers to the home office. She needed to get Billy to the shrink’s place on time. She should have put them back, but she’d started her rounds late today due to a staff meeting, and she needed to get her brother to the doctor.
She’d left him a note this morning that he should be ready to go when she got home, and a shower would be necessary.
Taking the stairs two at a time, she dug through her pockets for the keys and cursed the parking situation at the apartment building. The closest spot she could find had been two blocks away.
After pulling them out, she jammed one in the door when she reached their apartment and hurried inside. Her muscles throughout her body tensed in anger as she took in the scene, and she began to shake.
Billy lay on the couch, softly snoring, while Judge Judy yelled at someone on the television. He still wore yesterdays clothes, and the odor in the room clarified he definitely hadn’t showered.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. Billy suffered from PTSD and severe depression, and she had to cut him some slack.
But there’s a difference between being patient with someone and having them take advantage of you.
Something inside her snapped, and her anger exploded. She marched over to the television and turned it off.
“Get up, Billy!” she shouted.
He slowly opened his eyes.
“I asked you to do one thing today. Do you remember what it was?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I asked you to take a shower and be ready to go when I got home. Was that too much to ask? Apparently.”
“I’m not going,” he mumbled and rolled over.
She barely heard him as the hurt of being taken for granted stabbed at her. Her eyes welled with tears, and she swiped them away. “Billy, I have been working my ass off trying to support us, trying to make sure you get the proper treatment that you need. I ask nothing of you! Nothing! I don’t ask you to do the dishes, or laundry, or even contribute to the bills! I let you gamble away your monthly pension because it seems to make you happy! All I asked of you today was to get in the damn shower and be ready when I got home!”
“I’m not going,” he mumbled again.
“I’m sick and tired of this shit, Billy! I can’t keep living like this!”
He turned over and glared at her. “Then leave. I don’t fucking care. I never asked you to be my babysitter, Holly.”
Shaking with anger, her chest heaved as the tears rolled down her face. She wanted to smack him across the face; she wanted to beat him with a baseball bat. As she trembled, she realized she needed to put some space between herself and this situation, or she may do or say something that she’d regret.
“Fuck you, Billy,” she mumbled as she went into her bedroom to change and grab her sneakers.
“I’ll see you when I see you, Holly,” he said as she slammed the front door.
She bounded down the stairs and took off running, not bothering to stretch out. A raised planter stood to her left, and she jumped on it, ran the cement rail, then did a flip of the end, hitting the ground with her shoulder and rolling back into a standing position.
As she continued her run, the tears streamed down her face. The muscles in her legs burned as she pushed herself harder and faster. She wanted to run away from all the feelings she had, but as she pumped her arms, she also knew that trying to outrun them would be useless. Instead, she would have to deal with them, and figure out what would be best for both her and Billy because she knew she’d reached the end of her rope.
Perhaps she should see about having him committed to a mental facility, even for just a short period of time. The thought made her heart hurt as she remembered the last time he’d been committed. They’d had him so drugged up he could barely walk, but the medication did help combat the night terrors he experienced.
Maybe she needed to call his counselor and talk to him about it, demand it become an option. If Billy couldn’t even get up to take a shower to meet with his shrink, his mental state had definitely declined, and it needed to be addressed. However, it wasn’t like she could throw him over her shoulder and take him to the doctor.
Not being able to go any farther, she stopped and stooped over, placing her hands on her knees. Sucking in deep breaths, she tried to calm her racing heartbeat. Between the tears, snot, and sweat running down her face, she must look like she was the one who belonged in a mental institution.
She grinned at the thought, almost feeling like being sacked out on a bunch of drugs while staring at the walls would seem like a vacation from her current life.
Standing upright, she decided something needed to be done, and it had to be done fast. She guessed she’d gone a little over a mile, but the emotional drain and her hard sprint had left her with little energy, so she walked home.
Twenty minutes later, she’d made up her mind. Although Billy would fight it, he needed more assistance than she could give him. He needed professional help, and he’d be angry with her, but she would make sure he got it.
As she entered the apartment and shut the door, it registered that something seemed to be off.
A jolt of fear ran through her as someone grabbed her from behind, placing a latex glove over her mouth and nose and wrapping an arm around her waist. She couldn’t breathe. Panic rose as she called on her training and tried to fight him off. A heel to his foot, an elbow to the gut, and she tried to spin out from his grasp, but he overpowered her, and after a moment, she stilled. Her run had zapped the strength she needed to overcome him.