Charger (The Protectors Series) Book #16

by Teresa Gabelman

  The anger that registered on his face surprised her. She figured he’d be happy to be reminded of that fact. Sirens sounded in the distance, and Raven figured someone had called the police after the little scene that had just played out. Then again the fucking police should have been here guarding Cheryl.

  “Get her out of here,” he ordered Kane, who had a half-grin on his face. “Go in and get Duncan out here. I have a feeling we’re going to need him.”

  “Come on, killer,” Kane said as he grabbed her arm and headed toward the entrance of the ER. “You’re too pretty to go to vampire prison. You’re sure to be somebody’s plaything.”

  “Fuck you, Kane,” Raven hissed, jerking her arm away. She glared at Charger, who glared back. Her stomach clenched at how damn handsome he was, and she hated it. Hated him. No… no, she didn’t hate him, and that pissed her off. She wanted to hate him, tried to hate him, but it was no use. Her feelings for him, if anything, grew stronger. And now here he was taking the heat for something she’d done, and it wasn’t the first time.

  Kane was right about one thing though. No vampire wanted to go to prison. Human prison… fine, but that’s not where they would go. They had a separate system for vampires, and the horror stories she’d heard about those places made her skin crawl. Turning her attention back toward the ER door, she frowned. “I won’t let him take the fall for me.”

  “He’s smarter than that and has a much cooler head than you.” Kane hurried her along past the nursing station. “But just to be on the safe side, we need to get Duncan out there.”

  There was a janitor mopping up the floor where she had smashed the asshole’s face into the tile. They dodged the blood drops he hadn’t gotten to with the mop yet. Feeling Kane looking at her, she frowned. “What?”

  “Just a headbutt, huh?” He cocked an eyebrow.

  “I never said that.” She shrugged, heading into the room. “You all just assumed it.” Raven held herself back for a few seconds before entering the room, wondering how Cheryl was going to take the news of her husband being dead. She had been involved in many abuse situations, and one never could tell how the spouse of the abuser was going to behave, especially when the reality of the abuser going to jail, or in this case, death hit them. Figuring there was only one way to find out, she followed Kane into the room and hardened herself for what may come.

  Chapter 5

  Charger hung up the phone with Sloan and sighed, running his hand through his hair. Sloan was not happy. He understood, but Charger really didn’t think Raven purposely killed the guy. He frowned at the thought. Or had she? With Raven, it was hard to tell her real motives. The piece of shit was an abuser and deserved what he got, but killing a human who wasn’t involved in a vampire-related crime usually didn’t go in a vampire’s favor. Thankfully, the cops knew of the guy, and none seemed to shed a tear over his untimely death—they didn’t appear concerned at all if he was being honest.

  What they did want to know was why the VC was involved and who exactly dealt the death blow, so to speak. Because Raven was now a VC Warrior, his hands were tied, and Sloan needed to be called to deal with the situation with the lead officer on scene. Whatever Sloan said did the trick. The coroner left with the body and the cops dispersed, as did the Warriors. Onlookers were also gone, which was a relief.

  Walking into the ER, he looked around for Raven. He saw Kane leaning against the wall outside a curtained-off makeshift ER room.

  “Everything settled?” Kane asked, glancing behind Charger before looking back at him.

  “Hell if I know.” Charger leaned against the opposite wall and looked at the curtain, then at Kane. “Had to call Sloan in on it. He took charge.”

  Kane snickered, then tried to cover it up.

  “What?” Charger’s eyes narrowed.

  “Bet that ate you alive,” Kane answered with a smirk. “You don’t like giving up control.”

  “Yeah, well, she…” He nodded toward where Raven was. “…isn’t a Guardian anymore. To make sure her ass stays out of prison for killing a human, for a human-on-human crime, I didn’t have a choice.”

  “Yeah, well, you could have avoided all of that….” Kane pushed off the wall, giving him a sideways glance as he headed down the hallway, letting his sentence trail off.

  “Asshole,” Charger hissed as he watched him disappear. He glanced back at the curtained-off room just as Pam came out, Duncan following closely behind her. Their eyes met, and Charger just gave him a nod, letting him know shit was taken care of.

  Raven walked out behind them, and he noticed the pinched look on her face, her brows lowered as if troubled.

  “You good?” He couldn’t help but ask. It surprised him how in tune he was to her moods. He always knew when something was bothering her. Killing a man, especially a piece of shit like that, wouldn’t usually bother her. She’d killed her fair share of assholes, most of the time with a grin on her face.

  She gave him a shrug as she passed, following Pam and Duncan. “Yeah.” She slowed, eyeing the exit. “Am I going to be met with cops, questions, news crews, or crazed witnesses?”

  Charger grinned at her question. “No.” He walked out behind Raven, following her to her car.

  “You didn’t have to do anything, Charger.” Raven glanced over at him, then quickly looked away. “I could have handled it.”

  “Actually, Sloan took care of it,” Charger admitted. He stopped when she did and then turned to stare at him.

  “Bet that ate you from the inside out.” Raven snorted, shaking her head.

  “Why in the hell is everyone saying that?” Charger turned her back around, put his hand on her back, urging her toward the car. “I’m not that much of a control freak.”

  Raven snorted even louder and added a roll of her eyes. “You give a whole new meaning to the word control freak.”

  Charger shook his head in disagreement but let it drop. He just liked things to be right, and in most cases, his way was the right way. Once they got to her car, he waited for her to open her door. “Sloan wants to see you.”

  Sighing loudly, she frowned. “Now?”

  “His exact words were, ‘right fucking now,’ so yeah.” Charger raised both eyebrows at her. “Guess being under Sloan Murphy’s rules isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, huh?”

  Raven didn’t reply; she just stared at him. “She cried.”

  “What?” Charger asked, confused. He had been waiting to hear her say “fuck off” or something of that nature.

  “When I told her that I killed her husband, she cried.” Raven appeared distraught, a look she very rarely wore.

  Charger really didn’t know what in the hell to say to that, so he just remained silent, waiting to see if she wanted to say more. Raven seldomly opened up to anyone, but if she needed to get something off her chest, he wanted to be the one she talked to, and wasn’t that a kick in the ass? He had spent years keeping her at bay, but somewhere deep inside his dark soul, he yearned to be the one she came to when troubled. Damn, he was fucked in so many ways when it came to Raven. He’d be better off letting a demon send his ass to the hellfire they’d wanted to send him to for decades.

  “I felt terrible,” Raven whispered, then her confused expression turned to anger. “And I have never felt terrible for killing scum. But she cried, even though she thanked me. I don’t get it. He’s trash who doesn’t deserve her tears.”

  Remaining silent, they stared at each other. He broke the silence after a moment of thought. “They always say, and we’ve dealt with it some before, that for someone who’s abused, they can go through so many emotions. Maybe she’d hoped he’d change. I’m sure she loved him, even in his worst form. Her tears could have been for something she wished could be, and now it never would be,” Charger said, wondering where in the hell that speech came from, and by the look on Raven’s face, she was thinking the same thing. “You did the right thing, Raven.”

  “But I didn’t mean to kill him,” Raven replied
, her eyes widening slightly. “I mean, I did slam his face into the tile floor in the emergency room, but he was going to shoot me, or worse, her. And, ah, I also smashed his face on the nurses’ desk because he kept running his mouth. Then he just wouldn’t shut the hell up outside, so I headbutted him, hoping to shut him up. I mean, shit, was he some kind of pussy or something that a few head bumps did him in? I’ve been hit harder than that and survived.”

  Charger kept a straight face because he knew she was serious, but Raven was Raven, not realizing her own strength and that she was a vampire. The guy was human. “Yeah, well, it’s over now. Nothing can change what happened, but do not fault yourself for keeping an innocent safe,” Charger said, his blood boiling, not realizing until this moment that the fucker had pulled a gun on Raven. “Where’s the gun?”

  “Duncan retrieved it from the rent a cop in the emergency room who left his fucking post. He was older than Satan himself and probably would have died from fear if he had been there.” Raven sighed, her frown deepening. “Are you sure Sloan said right fucking now?”

  Charger cocked his eyebrow at her with a nod. “Exact words.”

  “Shit,” Raven hissed, then got in the car. Before she closed the door, she glanced up at him. “Thanks.”

  Charger waited for her to pull out before heading to his bike. He didn’t like her second-guessing herself. In their line of business, second-guessing could be a death sentence. He wasn’t surprised that Raven opened up with him though. She had done so in the past, when something was really bothering her, almost as if she couldn’t help herself. No matter how pissed she was at him, Raven knew she could trust him in that aspect. Trusting him with her heart was a whole different story, a story he made believable for her own good. He wasn’t the right man for her, period. No man was good enough for Raven in his eyes, but he knew soon, someone was going to sweep her off her feet and take her away from him.

  The big fucking question was: Did he let that happen, or did he kill the son of a bitch? He hadn’t killed Val but came close a few times. Hell, who was he kidding? He had wanted to kill him on a daily, minute to minute basis.

  His and Val’s last encounter had been the worst. Val had come at him with so many accusations that Charger couldn’t voice denial to. So instead, Charger let his temper fly, as well as his fists. It had been ugly, and if Kane wouldn’t have stepped in, one of them would probably be dead. His bet would have been on Val pushing up dirt. Val had always been someone who Charger considered a brother, but things that day were said that would be hard to take back, on both sides. It was best they went their separate ways, at least for now, until things calmed down a bit. If Val wanted to come back, Charger wouldn’t stop him, but things were different, which was unfortunate.

  Getting on his bike, he glanced at his watch. He needed a few hours off to shower and take care of some errands. Charger cursed before starting his bike. He knew a shower and errands were going to have to wait. Raven was wrong about one thing—she was still his responsibility, at least in his mind. And if Sloan was going to tear into her ass, he was going to be present. It was his case, so to speak, since he was the one to pull Cheryl out of the water, in turn learning about her abusive ex who came to finish the job that pushing her off the bridge didn’t do. Yeah, that’s why he was rushing toward the compound. He rolled his eyes at himself at that thought.

  Pulling out of the parking lot, he cut through traffic as he headed toward the compound. His thoughts going in every which direction, just like the traffic he was expertly dodging. His mind, which was always super sharp, went crazy when Raven was involved. That should tell him all that he needed to know about his feelings for her, but as always, he shoved the feelings back into a dark place where they would have to stay.

  The gate to the compound was already open as Charger drove through. His eyes met Kane, who stood smiling. Pulling up next to the asshole, Charger growled, shooting him a nasty glare. “Fuck you.”

  “I left the gate open because I knew your ass couldn’t stay away.” Kane chuckled at the nasty look Charger tossed his way as he passed him. “When are you going to admit it, Charger?” Kane asked as he followed closely behind Charger, who stomped up the steps to the compound. He was so close, in fact, that Kane almost ran into him when Charger stopped and spun to face him.

  “You are really starting to piss me off.”

  Kane didn’t step back but held his ground, even with Charger just inches from his face. “Starting?” Kane’s lips curved into a smile. “Shit, I never knew I stopped pissing you off. Come on, Charger. Admit it, finally, so we can all get some peace, and not to mention I get to shout from the top of my lungs ‘I fucking knew it!’ You love her, man. Just come clean with it.”

  One thing about Charger was he had control, very good control, but at this moment, it was slipping into that dark place not many had seen. Those who had seen the darkness that resided deep in what soul he had left never lived to talk about it. Kane was close, very close to witnessing it. “If you were anyone else, you’d be dead, but for you, I am giving this one and only warning.”

  “Ah, okay.” Kane cocked his eyebrow, not looking too concerned. “And that is?”

  “Back the fuck off,” Charger hissed, then gave him a powerful push that sent him flying off the steps. Kane was nimble enough to land on his feet.

  “Touché,” Kane responded, fixing his shirt as he headed back toward the steps.

  “Say another word, and I will be touching you again,” Charger warned, ignoring Kane’s chuckle as he slammed into the compound, then into Sloan’s office.

  “What are you doing here?” both Sloan and Raven said at the same time. They actually looked at each other with lowered brows before Sloan looked away and back to Charger for an answer.

  “This is my case,” he said and realized that sounded weak even to his own ears. “Raven wouldn’t be in the position she found herself in if I hadn’t pulled Cheryl from the water. So that makes this my case and my responsibility.”

  “That’s stretching it,” Kane mumbled behind him.

  “I will kill you,” Charger mumbled the promise of death right back at him.

  Sloan glared at him for a second longer before replying, “She’s no longer a Guardian.”

  “And your point is?” Charger asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He had mad respect for Sloan Murphy, but he wouldn’t take his shit, and he definitely wouldn’t back down.

  “My point is I’m talking to one of my Warriors and do not need her ex-Guardian boss, or whatever in the fuck you were to her, here.” Sloan didn’t hesitate, nor did he mince words. “I got your report of what happened, and now I’m getting hers.”

  “And I’m not stopping you.” Charger spotted Jared, who was seated in front of Sloan’s desk, looking behind him at Kane, who had walked in behind him.

  Sloan frowned, then glanced at Raven, who was glaring at Charger. “Has he always been an asshole?”

  “Yes.” Raven’s eyes narrowed at Charger before she turned her attention back to Sloan. “With a capital A.”

  Charger smiled at that proudly. He was an asshole who didn’t back the fuck down, not even with that big-ass bastard Sloan Murphy glaring at him. It was true, he respected the man, but he did not fear him, and nothing was going to move him out of this room until he was sure Raven’s new boss treated her with the respect she deserved.

  That wasn’t love. That was loyalty. Love had nothing to do with it.

  He turned his head so from his peripheral vision, he could see Kane smirking at him from behind his back. The fucker.

  Chapter 6

  Raven headed toward Sloan’s office, not in the mood to get her ass handed to her. She was ready to get out of here, get her keys for her new apartment, and chill the hell out for a minute. Staying at the compound had been okay, but she was used to her space. Living with the Guardians, there weren’t as many of them, and usually when one was in the house they owned or rented, then the rest of them were out.
Here, at the Warrior compound, it was constant coming and going. She was supposed to pick up the keys an hour ago, actually yesterday. Then she rescheduled for today, and now she was an hour late. Story of her life.

  “Charger said you needed to see me,” Raven said as she knocked, then walked in. Jared gave her a nod before glancing back at his phone.

  “What happened?” Sloan was looking through a file. He didn’t even look up at her as he asked the question.

  “He showed,” Raven answered, sounding bored. “He died.”

  Jared chuckled, but her response did get Sloan’s attention from the file to her. “No shit,” Sloan grumbled, then set the file on his desk. “Nothing to add to that exceptional summary?”

  Raven acted like she thought about it, then shook her head. “Nope, that’s about the gist of it.”

  “Chip off the old block.” Jared outright laughed, this time giving Raven an approving grin.

  “Thanks, Pop.” Raven grinned back. She and Jared did not have your normal father-and-daughter relationship, but what they did have worked for them.

  “Dear God, help us.” Sloan shook his head, still staring at Raven, just as Charger stomped into the room.

  “What are you doing here?” Raven said, realizing her words matched Sloan’s. They glanced at each other before looking back at Charger.

  “This is my case.” His deep voice always hit her in the feels. It vibrated through her body in such a way, her knees felt weird, rubbery. It was moments like this when he evoked these feelings in her that she really hated her life. She didn’t want to feel this way about him, tried to refuse those emotions, but dammit, they seemed to have a mind of their own. “Raven wouldn’t be in the position she found herself in if I hadn’t pulled Cheryl from the water. So that makes this my case and me responsible.”