Sweet Firecracker

by Nikki Bolvair

  He inclined his head to the side. “And what makes you think I’m not here to rescue you?”

  I scoffed. “You’re not the rescuing kind. You’d send in others to do that. You being here informs me I’m not in any true danger.”

  His head dipped in acknowledgment. “How thoroughly you seem to know me, Gin. Whether your appraisal of me is true or not, it is what you believe. I’m aiming at altering your perception of who you think I am.” He tugged his hands out of his slacks and shifted to one of his guards. When he faced me once again, he held an oblong box, about the length of one that would hold a bracelet. “I keep in touch with all the affairs in the country. Being the man who knows a few secrets worth killing for, I have to keep my own defenses in check. As should you. Now, I knew our government was experimenting on super soldier drugs and moved through my own channels to obtain the H-15 serum, but not to use it. No, to create an antiserum. Only three were produced before the creator of the antibody and all the records were destroyed in the Russian incident over a month ago.”

  I glanced at the box with renewed understanding. “So, why give it to me?” I peered up at him with suspicion. “And what’s the cost for it?”

  He grinned and moved forward, placing the box in my hands. He stepped back. “It’s for you. Now, you have a choice since it was taken from you. I never saw it coming. General Bane experimenting on you and your co-worker. I’m not certain how many others he’s done this to, but I have my suspicions he’s attempting to create an offspring between a couple to determine if the children will be born with those same, rare talents. If I’d known sooner, I would have sent the information straight to General Steel, but I’ve only just gained this information. Bane took away your right to choose, I’m giving it back. It’s your decision whether or not you’re linked to Dallon and Garrett.” He nodded to the box. It felt heavy in my grip. “What’s in that syringe is your way out.”

  I grasped it remembering that day. Just before the mission, a slip showed up in my box to go down to medical. It was quick, easy, but the after effects made me nauseous.

  Now knowing what it was and my father here with the antidote, I asked him the one thing I wished to know. “What do you want in return?”

  He made a tsking noise. “So suspicious.”

  “I remember the rules,” I quipped.

  “You’re correct. The rules are meant to be adhered to, but also to be bent. I desire your attention for my birthday dinner. Camille has been upset she hasn’t seen you lately. I would prefer us to dine as a family.”

  I snorted. I hadn’t been to his home since they took me from this very house. Sure, I’d seen my father and stepmother from time to time, but to sit down for dinner? Almost never. Why now? I offered a slow nod. “Agreed.”

  My father released a breath. “Keep your thoughts clear. Kellan, he’s a mind-reader. I’ll see you this weekend.”

  I already didn’t like Kellan.

  He moved to turn and leave, but I called out, “Wait!” He kept walking. “What am I supposed to say when they wake up?”

  One of the guards stepped forward. “Put the case and phone in your pocket.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do it, Gin!” my father ordered before he was out the door. I shoved them in my pocket, and a quick sting hit my shoulder from behind.

  “Fuckin’ hell!” I would have twisted around, but I dropped to my knees.

  “Now, you have an alibi,” explained some bastard from behind me before I was out like a light.

  ***

  In a dreamless sleep that seemed like seconds had passed, someone shook me awake.

  “The after headache pounds like a bitch,” Samuel stated as he helped me to stand. He held a tablet in his hand.

  I wobbled from the effects of the drugged dart, asking, “Have any idea who they were?” I reached behind me a yanked out the dart. “Fuck.”

  “No.”

  Searching around, I found us alone. “Where’s everyone else?”

  Samuel brought me to a chair in the kitchen. “Trying to find out who the fuck it was.” A ring sounded, and both of us whipped our heads toward to the phone. “What the hell?”

  He quickly strode over to the rotary phone that evidently hadn’t rung in years and answered it. “Hello?” He waited for a second and slammed down the phone.

  “Who was it?”

  “No one.”

  He squatted next to me, tapping on his tablet. “Video’s been scrambled, so we can’t even get an image. We need the twins on that. Nothing seems to be missing, and as far as we can tell, you were the last to get shot. Care to tell me why?”

  I glared his way. “I’m as clueless as you.”

  He shook his head. “You’re so full of bullshit. Who were they, and what did they want?”

  My mouth clamped shut as I felt the box and phone poke into my thigh. Softly I asked, “Do you think, whoever they were, would have shot me if I was on the same side? Plus,” I added as I forced myself out of my seat, bending over him to deliver my message. The man held his ground. “If you thought it was true, I would not be sitting here calmly, talking it over with you.”

  His eyes flared. I moved back, turning to make my way down the hall and toward the stairs.

  “Was it Myter?” he called out as I reached the first step.

  I hesitated. “No. But I hear we aren’t the only ones with a breach in our company. My advice would be for you to look a little deeper into yours.”

  “Dylan and Garrett are on their way back. They’ll have answers for you.”

  Thinking about the items in my pocket, I responded, “Then, I’ll have choices to make.”

  Back in the bedroom I’d reclaimed as mine, I went straight for the vent I remembered and placed the phone and cure into it until I knew what I wanted to do.

  My father was long gone, and I was unsure of what I should do first. What I did know was that I needed to find Trisha. The one way I could see accomplishing that was getting ahold of Mack. Because there was another traitor amongst us, and it was one who dealt strictly with the H-15 program. General Bane.

  Sliding down the wall to the floor, uncertainties increased like maggots on a dead corpse as an ache grew in my stomach. My knees curled up to my chest, elbows on them, and my head hit my hands. Remember the rules…

  “Littlebit, do you remember the rules?”

  My young head nodded as my eyes grew wide. My guardian did not like it when I wasn’t aware of certain things. “Yes, sir.”

  “Name them.”

  His rules were different from my dad’s. It was hard to remember. My little self took a deep breath and started at rule two. “Rule number two: Crying is a killers—”

  “Wait, Littlebit. Why not start at the first rule?”

  “Because…” I bit my lip, not wanting to reply.

  His voice became stern. “Tell me rule number one.”

  My voice sounded small. I didn’t like his rule number one. “Always… be prepared to—”

  “Melissa? Fuck, sweetness, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” My head snapped up at Garrett’s voice. He crouched at my side before I knew it. Concerned eyes studied me as he checked my forehead for fever. Fog clouded my mind. Shouldn’t I have felt him or heard his approach? Was I that far gone in my memory?

  I batted his hand away, unsure what any of them could do. My father advised me to watch out for Kellan, so I kept my thoughts to myself, but what about them?

  I pressed against the back wall to stand up when Garrett tried to touch me again. “I’m fine! Just…” I shook my head. “I must still be under the effects of that dart.”

  He rose, not moving an inch as he frowned. “Don’t give me flak. Come here, and let me check you out. Did you get a look at who they were? What they wanted?”

  I shook my head, pulling away. “I don’t need you pawin’ all over me searching for nothing. I just lost touch with reality for a moment. I’m fine. And no,” I lied. “I don’t know who they were.”


  Dallon appeared beside his brother. “The guys said it was an unmarked chopper, all the video feeds were scrambled, and you were the last one hit.” His gaze scanned me as his expression darkened. “Cayenne Spice, you are not fine.”

  My stare slid back over to Garrett’s. My body heated, remembering what happened between us only hours earlier.

  Dallon gestured to the other man. “Garrett can get a read on your chemical levels and find out if you’re good or not. Get out of that stubborn head of yours, and let him do his thing.”

  His partner in crime nodded. “Please, just to make sure there wasn’t anything else those bastards laced the darts with. Especially yours.”

  I pushed Garrett away, stepping past him to Dallon. “Garrett can read my chemicals?” His eyes flared as I gestured to all of him. “And you? What can you do?”

  His hands settled on my shoulders, and his face softened. “I can detect heat signatures. I forget you’re not used to our abilities, our world.” The current between us crackled, and I still needed to be near them, to touch them even after our round of sex. My anger softened. Garrett came up behind me and gently placed his hands on my shoulders then started to knead the tension out of them.

  “All I need to do is touch your skin,” he whispered. “Although, you might be immune to it as Trisha was to Weston.” His hand slipped beneath the collar of my shirt to the back of my neck.

  Lost in a fog, I tried to get a grasp on what he was saying. “We can be immune?”

  “Mm-hm,” Garrett answered. His hands massaged my aching muscles, causing me to become mush in his care.

  I leaned forward, putting my head against Dallon’s as Garrett did his thing. “We’re not having a repeat.”

  They both ignored me.

  Garrett’s chest moved as he spoke, I guess reading me? “Some of that chemical from the dart is still in your blood and…” He paused, hesitant. “And you also have the H-15 serum.” He sounded confused, but I wasn’t because I knew exactly why I had it. The asshole, Bane.

  “What does that mean?” I asked, faking innocence. They asked me how I knew. The information I withheld was for me and me alone. “What did they have to say today?” I questioned further as the phone rang from somewhere downstairs.

  I tugged away from them before I became willing to do whatever they wanted, to say whatever they needed me to say. Again. Walking over toward the bed, I changed direction and went to the dresser instead. I was determined not to end up in bed with them once more. At least, not until we figured this all out.

  Garrett started speaking. “I have to wonder if the good doctor’s wrong now that I’ve tested the chemicals in your body. He said we’re connected on a cellular level because of what we felt for you before we touched you. Like a homing beacon. Then, whenever we touched the first time, it set off a chain reaction in our bodies that connected us together. But now, realizing you have the H-15 serum in you, I’m hesitant to agree with what the good doctor came up with. Even though you seem to have a diluted amount of the serum in your body, it makes me wonder if someone injected you with it prior to us reconnecting. For what reason, I’m not sure. But it seems like this whole thing was staged somehow.”

  ***

  I woke up the next morning to a hand on my bare stomach and Garrett’s frown. I shoved his hand away, annoyed and ever so softly asked, “What are you doing?”

  He shot me a rueful grin as his palm left my stomach and curved around my neck, bringing me in for a kiss. The sweet caress of electricity flowed gently over my skin as I opened my mouth under his and arousal awoke within me.

  “Just checking,” he murmured between kisses.

  I drew back into my pillow and glared into his dancing gaze. “For what?”

  “Nothing.”

  My eyes narrowed, thinking about his ability to detect chemicals in one’s body. “That wasn’t nothing.”

  He shrugged.

  A phone rang downstairs.

  ***

  I lounged in the bedroom watching TV (the guys moved one in here) waiting for… What? I wasn’t sure. I eyed the air vent and wondered if I would fit. I swung back to the TV, reasoning I probably wouldn’t. I had the antiserum in there. Anytime I wanted out of Dallon and Garrett’s grip, I’d take it. But I didn’t dare do it right now. Not where everybody was watching me. They’d have questions. It was best to wait.

  And once I took it, Garrett and Dallon would probably be relieved not be linked this way to someone. Get their lives back as well. They’d want that if they had the option. But I didn’t dare bring it up. I’d have to explain how I came by a serum that could change them back. Even though dear old dad was an asshole most of the time, I wasn’t going to ruin my best contact for confidential information and help.

  I would have heard from the Director by now about Myter. I worried that he still had Macintosh. If he hadn’t yet, why wait to kill him? I called in about him being rogue. Surely he wasn’t in the offices but hiding out. Where was he, and had he made any demands yet? We were on day five. I should have heard something by now. What was he waiting for?

  A shuffle by the door alerted me to Dallon coming into the room. He came my way and kissed me then stared at my stomach.

  I covered it with my hands, and he glanced away. “What?”

  “Nothin’.” He frowned, dismissing me.

  I sat up, grabbed the collar of his t-shirt, and tugged him close. “Both you and Garrett did that. Why? Am I dying? Is the serum killing me?”

  He laughed and cupped the hand holding onto him to remove it. “No, nothing like that.”

  I released him. “Then what?”

  He headed back to the bedroom door. “We didn’t use protection.”

  My jaw dropped. He could see heat signatures. I scrambled after him. “What did you see?”

  The phone downstairs started to ring as Dallon confirmed there was not a little heat signature in there. Heading back to my room, I was relieved.

  ***

  The phone rang. And it rang and rang. Someone would pick up. Slam it down. A few seconds later, it would ring again. This went on for hours.

  Fed up with all the ringing, I threw open the bedroom door and stomped down the stairs into a kitchen full of alpha men who all glared at the rotary phone that never rings as it continued to ring. Samuel picked it up, said hello, cursed into it, and slammed it back on the cradle.

  “What’s going on?”

  All eyes turned to me. The phone rang.

  “Damn prank callers fuckin’ calling!” Samuel growled.

  Another man I didn’t know spoke up. “Doesn’t matter who answers, as soon as we say hello, they hang up.”

  I shrugged and eyed the phone as it went silent. “Maybe the right person’s not answering.”

  All the guys murmured, and Samuel finally unplugged the headache. “See about that, fucker.”

  Garrett came over to me. “Hey, we need to take you to the base today for Doc to take a look at you. You good for that?”

  I nodded, knowing I needed to see this doctor before I could go back to the FBI, deliver the new information I received from my father, find Myter, and go to that damn dinner at my father’s house. All of this I had to do before the weekend. Optimistic, yes. Impossible, no. “Yeah.”

  Dallon came up next to his brother as everyone else disappear from the kitchen. His eyes gleamed. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do about us if this is permanent?”

  “No.” Because I had a way out. They just didn’t know it.

  Garrett frowned and lifted a hand to brush back a stray hair from my face. “Well, I have. You, coming to work for our team while living with Dallon and me at our condo.”

  His hand cupped my cheek. Sparks flew. He got in close, eyes darkening with desire. “We could do what we did last night all the time.” My heart started to race with the images his words produced as Dallon moved behind me and curled his hands around my waist. Lips touched my bare neck. “We want you. We’ve al
ways wanted you. Even back when we were kids and didn’t know better. Think about this. Think about us. Together.”

  That was going to make things harder.

  Garrett’s lips pressed against mine, and I sighed. Then, they both moved away.

  “The guys are waiting on us for a meeting,” Dallon explained as they walked into the hallway. “Think about it.”

  I waited right there as they walked out the front door and toward the red barn. Think about it? I was almost tempted.

  My gaze shot to the disconnected phone on the wall. I went to it and plugged it back in.

  It rang. I snapped it up. “Hello?”

  “Do as I say, and we won’t have any problems.”

  I turned around and gazed out the window at the barn. “And what is it you want me to do?”

  Trust and Doc

  Garrett

  Underneath the barn in the two bedroom safe house, we huddled for a meeting we didn’t want Melissa to know about. She had enough problems on her hands.

  We stood around the coffee table with the secure phone on speaker in the middle of it, trying to figure out what to do.

  We called our captain, Tristan. “Yea?” he answered slightly irritated.

  “You’re on speaker.” I let him know.

  Weston came forward. “We have problems.”

  Zane dropped down to the couch behind him. “Big problems.”

  “What kind?” Tristan asked.

  “Fuckin’ finding out who is responsible for stealing H-15,” Seth muttered, taking at seat beside Zane as well. “The sole reason we could connect it to Myter was because he’d been snooping around the general asking questions about the rumored miracle drug. We were just lucky to be screening that call from Nero and him. Pure luck. But now, we need to learn who’s been stashing the serum and if others were injected with it.”

  Dallon spoke up as he rubbed his forehead, worrying. “We can’t leave Melissa for long. Who knows what she’ll do. And that stupid phone keeps ringing all the time. Do you think she’s right? You think it’s someone calling and not getting the right person?”

  “She has a valid idea,” Tristan agreed.