by Lisa Kessler
I didn’t know if she wanted to talk, but my eyelids were getting heavier by the minute, so if we didn’t keep the conversation going, I might have fallen asleep sitting up. “How’d you get involved with Nero? You must’ve been bitten, right?”
She nodded without meeting my eyes. “Yeah. Unlike you and your brother, I was a lazy student, so when I graduated from Brightwood Academy, I didn’t go to college.”
The name of her school sounded familiar, but in my current sleep-deprived state it took me a little while to remember where I’d heard it before. Then it hit me.
I frowned. “Madison and Chandler’s mom went to Brightwood.” I blinked, studying her profile. “Nero used it as a front to find young female psychics.”
Her gaze suddenly locked on mine as she narrowed her eyes. “You can’t tell anyone.”
“Who would I tell?”
She gestured toward the house. “Your pack. General Sloan. No one can know.”
“You know General Sloan?” I raised a brow.
The general had recently been forced out of his position as liaison to the Senate Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, leading to his retirement from the military. So far, he’d been spending his retirement in Arizona trying to silence what was left of the Transparency Collective. He wasn’t officially part of our pack, but he’d met with Asher multiple times in the past few months.
She nodded. “He was kind of a fixture around the Nero Organization when I was involved there. He was the go-between for the Department of Defense and Antonio Severino. He went over the defense contracts and the super soldier research objectives with Severino.”
“And he doesn’t know you went to Brightwood?”
Natasha broke eye contact. “He knows I went there, but he thinks the abilities that got me into the school are gone. I’d rather keep it that way.”
There was so much I didn’t understand about this woman, and I was too exhausted to make the connections I wanted to right now. I shook my head slowly. “I’m really sleep-deprived, but are you trying to tell me you’re…psychic?”
She met my eyes again and gave me a sad smile. “I can see your energy, your aura. It makes it possible for me to know what you’re feeling. Your emotions and your personality traits swirl around you in technicolor. Most people think psychics can tell the future, but that’s not how it is for me.”
I blinked. “There are colors around me?”
She nodded, her gaze sliding from my feet to my face. “Yes. When I first met you in front of the ranch two days ago, your aura was full of blue and red—loyal and ready to defend the people you cared about. Life has taught me not to trust anyone to have my back, but your aura made me believe you when you said you’d help me get the judge during the new moon. There was no trace of black or brown splotches which would hint of deception or lies.” She wiped her nose and shook her head. “I haven’t talked about this since school.”
My heart jumped at her admission. I liked that she trusted me to keep my word to help her, and hearing that she’d shared a part of herself she hadn’t given away since she was a kid made the connection between us seem like more than just an animal instinct. The invisible web pulled even tighter.
“I won’t tell anyone.” I looked up at the stars, imagining my brother’s spirit was up there someplace with our folks—stardust. “I’m sorry you’ve been on your own so long.” I met her eyes. “Why do you want them to think you lost your gift?”
I didn’t need to be able to see her aura to know I’d just touched a nerve. Her shoulders tensed and her jaw tightened as she pressed her lips together. Deep in the shadows of my soul, my wolf bared his teeth, growling, wanting to defend her from the ghosts of the past.
She rested her hand on my knee, her eyes back on the dirt at our feet. “There were rumors about some of the girls who were ‘chosen’ to ‘work’ for Nero, whispers in the dark about being forced into having babies to see if their abilities were passed on.” She lifted her gaze, but there was a distance between us now, as if she’d just donned a mask. “I thought if I pretended my powers were gone, I’d avoid that. In a way, I did.” She shook her head. “Antonio Severino thought I’d make the perfect assassin, so instead of being raped, I was bitten and taught to kill.” She shrugged and stared into the darkness. “Guess he was right. After Vance left, I was the best assassin they had. I’m not good at anything else.”
I caught her chin, turning her head to meet my eyes. “I disagree. You could’ve walked out anytime today, but you stayed for no other reason than my asking you to. There’s so much more to you than just being an assassin. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
She searched my eyes, her voice soft. “You risked everything to break me out of jail, and I’m the only one standing here who knows I’m not worth it. Vance and the Reno Pack destroyed Nero years ago, and I’m still living in a dorm at a satellite facility taking money to cross names off a list. I don’t have any other value.”
Fuck. Between the lack of sleep and the trauma of the day, I could barely contain the rage coursing through my veins. I got up, eager to expend some of the energy coiling inside my tired body. “That is fucking bullshit.” I glanced at her over my shoulder. “They programmed you to believe that so you would never leave, so you’d need them. But you don’t. You can be whoever or whatever you choose to be.”
Her face was lost in the shadows as the fire dimmed. I turned around and focused on the pyre. The embers crumbled in on one another, reminding me that my brother was gone and that my mate was far from mine.
I didn’t see a path forward. Hell, I didn’t want to go forward.
A hand slid around my waist, and Natasha’s voice soothed the panic brewing inside me. “Let’s get some sleep. We need clear heads to plan our next move.”
That I could understand. I let her lead me back toward the house, away from the smoke and death. And some undying part of myself latched on to the word our. I could almost hear Deacon’s voice whispering through my head.
Fight for this, bro.
I ground my teeth as we neared the house. I was definitely going to fight.
CHAPTER 11
Natasha
I woke up with a stiff neck. My eyes fluttered open to find a toddler standing right in front of me. His dark eyes made him a dead ringer for Naomi, and they opened a window into a very old soul. His aura pulsed with violet and pure white light. This kid radiated leadership and a connection to his higher power, and he couldn’t have been more than a kindergartener. Shifter children matured much faster than humans, too, so he was probably even younger than he appeared.
The little boy looked down, and I followed his gaze to my fingers threaded through the back of Dex’s dark hair where he slept on my lap.
He met my eyes and whispered, “Uncle Dex is sleeping.”
I nodded. “He was awake for a long time.”
“Mama says Uncle Deacon went into the stars.”
His words were simultaneously innocent and wise. “He did.” I scanned the room and back to the boy. “Are you supposed to be asleep?”
“Yes.” He studied my face. “You’re a jaguar, like Uncle Vance and Uncle Chandler.” His head tilted slightly. “Are you Uncle Dex’s mate?”
I blinked. Dex had told me I was, but other than sharing a heartbreaking day and night together, possibly oversharing some of my past, and one hot, soul-searing kiss, we barely knew each other. I opted for distraction. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Bart. Asher is my daddy.”
He was definitely Naomi’s boy. “I’m Natasha.”
“Are you in our pack now?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I can’t stay. I’m just going to help Dex finish something.”
His gaze dipped to Dex’s sleeping face and back up to me. “Uncle Dex likes you.”
I raised a brow. “You think?”
He nodded with a solemn smile far beyond his years. “He has ’somnia, but he’s sleeping with you.” His eyes sparked as his
smile widened. “Maybe you will stay.”
Without another word, he turned and walked away, disappearing down the hallway. I looked down at Dex’s face. He had striking angular features, and while he slept, there was a boyish charm in the peaceful curve of his lips. I could envision him playing with his brother, trading places, and… His head turned toward me, and his eyes locked on mine. My heart lurched in my chest at the emotion I saw there.
“Did you stay here all night?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I rocked my head from one shoulder to the other. “And I’ve got the stiff neck to prove it.”
He sat up and cringed. “My clothes smell like smoke.” He peered around the room as he took a long inhale. “We had a visitor.”
I nodded. “I met Bart.”
He chuckled. “He’s a good kid.”
“He had some questions, that’s for sure.” With Dex sitting up, I suddenly didn’t know what to do with my hands. I was in the Alpha’s house, in borrowed clothes, and in desperate need of a shower.
As if he could read my mind, Dex took my hand and whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”
I got up with him, and we quietly left through the front door. The air was fresh as the sun barely peered over the Red Rock mountains, oblivious to the horror of yesterday. Sunrises were funny like that.
They could make you believe new beginnings were possible.
We got into Dex’s truck, and the engine roared to life. He looked over at me. “We can go back to my place and get a shower, and by then the bank should be open and we can get into your lockbox.”
“Sounds good.” I’d have money, a new identity, and a phone—a way out if I still wanted it. But want had nothing to do with it. I needed to leave either way. Staying wasn’t an option with the police searching for me.
He pulled into a circular driveway with a sprawling ranch-style home. I chuckled, shaking my head. “And you live here alone?”
He looked my way. “I built it ten years ago thinking my happily-ever-after was right around the corner. Then a decade passed, and now I like it too much to sell it.” We got out, and he took my hand. “Come on, I’ll give you a tour.”
Alarm bells were ringing inside my head. Even if his wolf did recognize me as his mate, it didn’t change the reality that I was a fugitive. Plus, once we took out the judge, I’d be at the top of the suspect list since he’d made up the stalking charges.
No matter how I might feel about Dex or this house, I’d never live in it.
He unlocked the door, and I stepped inside. The entry was warm with recessed lighting that shone down from between the exposed, unfinished wood beams in the ceiling and onto the hardwood floor. A few antiques hung on the smooth, rust-colored walls, and behind me, Dex clicked a switch. Across the living room, motorized vertical blinds angled and then pulled across a glass wall, revealing a view of the valley.
“You built this?”
He nodded. “I worked on the plans with an architect, and Deacon helped me build it from the ground up.”
“Did you hire an interior designer?”
“No.” He smiled and shook his head. “This was my attempt to emulate my favorite designer, Steve Chase.”
“I thought I recognized the style.” I grinned, taking it all in. “It’s in the way you brought nature into the design and the color scheme and then built up from there.”
He raised a brow. “I’m impressed. Most people don’t have much of an eye for interior trends. I was a kid when Steve Chase passed away, but I used to paw through my dad’s Architectural Digest magazines. Steve Chase was a legend with all his Palm Springs desert designs. This was my chance to live my childhood fantasies.”
I nodded, struggling not to envy him. My childhood had ended when I was eight years old and my parents handed me over to Brightwood Academy.
He walked me through the kitchen, and I tried not to gape at the gorgeous appliances. “No way are these ten years old.”
He grinned, and it took my breath away. “Perk of being a contractor. I get healthy discounts so I upgraded the kitchen three years ago. New countertops and appliances.”
My secret dream gnawed at me like a jealous monster. Ever since I could remember, I’d seen auras, and maybe seeing such a technicolor world made me want to work with them. I used to draw and color houses, and my father would bring home paint chip books for me from the hardware store where he’d worked. When I had gotten older, I’d discovered that people had careers as interior designers, and I had innocently daydreamed about pulling in accent colors that reflected my clients’ auras, making their homes into places that nurtured their souls.
I had no idea I’d grow up to be an assassin who shifted into a jaguar during the new moon.
We got to the master bedroom, and I squeaked at the amazing custom bed. The wood was whitewashed like driftwood. I pointed to the headboard. The posts at each corner had smooth red rocks at the top. “Are those…?”
He nodded. “Pieces of the Red Rock mountains. I started collecting small round rocks and shards I found on the ground, and then I used them in some of the furniture pieces.”
I stared at him, trying to memorize every line and angle of his face. “I love it. Everything. You…” I chuckled, breaking eye contact to take in the interior again. “You can never sell this place.”
He took my hand, sending a pulse of desire through my entire body. “Wait until you see the master bath.”
He led me into a spacious bathroom that was more of a combo spa and retreat. There was a deep soaking tub in the corner with a view of the valley, a multi-head glass shower on the other side, and a chair in the far corner with a custom rusted metal reading lamp and a side table that boasted a massive quartz crystal and an empty incense burner.
I looked over at him. “This is…amazing.” I shook my head. “How do you ever leave your house?”
He opened the natural wood cabinets and set two white towels on the marble counter beside the sink. “You can use the shower first.”
I grinned, eager to play with every single fixture in the room. “Thank you.”
“Make yourself at home.” He walked out, closing the door behind him, and I stared at myself in the mirror.
My face was covered in dirt and ash, my braid was windblown and messy, and the makeup I’d had on before I’d been arrested was long gone. I sniffed my borrowed clothes and winced. They smelled like smoke. No wonder he’d offered to let me shower first.
I stripped off the clothes and unbraided my hair, the went over to the glass shower stall. I turned on the water, marveling at the multiple shower heads, two on one side and one on the other. While the water heated, I walked over and checked out the tub. I flipped a switch on the wall, and a heating lamp came on. There were massage jets inside the deep tub, and now I wished I were taking a bath instead of a shower.
But this wasn’t a spa day. The police were looking for me. We needed to make a plan. I climbed into the shower and moaned. The hot water was heaven. I leaned back and closed my eyes as the water soaked into my hair and washed down my body. I started plotting my course for the day. We’d go to the bank, and I could empty my safe-deposit box. Then I’d buy more ammunition and stake out the judge’s house.
And I would include Dex in this plan.
It was second nature for me to work alone. Having a partner was new territory for me.
It shouldn’t take long to eliminate the threat. Everyone wandered outside eventually. Even juiced up on the serum, I should be able to get the judge into a car. I’d take him far from Phoenix, end him someplace remote, and leave the body for the animals.
Did the serum actually alter their human DNA? Maybe I’d ask Dex if we should take him back to the ranch. I knew now that Asher kept the pyre fueled so it might be safer to know no one would ever discover the body.
I shampooed my hair and wished I had my conditioner. Why did guys always buy the two-in-one shampoo? I rinsed and quickly washed my body. It would be so easy to stay in the shower
until the water ran cold, but I reminded myself about the police again. The clock was ticking. I had to keep moving.
When I stepped out and went to the sink, the mirror was clear. No fog. I was impressed. After drying off, I picked up the borrowed shirt and dropped it again. I couldn’t put the smoky clothes back on. Instead, I wrapped one towel around my body and twisted my wet hair into the other one. I opened the door and peered out to find Dex reading on his bed. God, he was handsome.
Maybe it was because I was naked under the towel, but heat pulsed low in my belly as I envisioned him naked in that big bed, me riding his narrow hips, sliding my nails up his strong thighs.
He looked up, catching me gawking. “Feel better?”
My face heated. Was I blushing? The deadly Natasha Sokolov? No. I couldn’t be.
His lips quirked as he raised a brow. “Are you blushing?”
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “But I can’t put those clothes back on. They smell like fire. Do you have a washing machine?”
“Yeah.” He got up. “I might have something you could wear. Tomorrow we can stop by Marshalls and get you some clothes.”
“While a shopping trip would be fun, the less I’m out where the police might see me, the better.” I frowned. “They might be looking for you, too.”
He shook his head. “Vance scrambled the security camera feed, and we got out before the guards could see us. I think I’m safe for now.”
“Good.” And it was. He could keep his house and business as if I’d never walked into his life.
But I caught myself wishing things could be different.
I went in the bathroom again and grabbed the dirty clothes. When I came out, he took them from me. “I’ll be right back.”
He left the room, and I tried not to stare at his ass in his worn jeans. Tried. I didn’t succeed.
Once he was out of sight, I wandered over to his nightstand. I opened the drawer. Probably rude, but in my line of work, I considered it a safety precaution. He had a handgun with a trigger lock, three condoms, and a small bottle of Tums.