Silence filtered through the darkness, laced with their need for one another, their mouths and bodies touching, savoring the feel of just holding one another, of being alive and together.
Headlights flashed, shaking Mason back into reality. Reluctantly, he pulled back, feeling the ache of her absence immediately. Running his hands down her arms, he said, “We have to get on the road.”
Holly nodded but, as he started to move toward the steering wheel, she grabbed his arm. His eyes went to hers. She hesitated, not saying whatever she was going to say. His brow inched up in question.
“Nothing,” she whispered.
When she turned away, releasing his arm, he frowned, wondering what she had left unsaid. He pulled back onto the road as Holly snuggled up to his side and fell asleep.
He drove.
Thinking and thinking.
What had she not said to him?
* * * * *
Darkness enveloped the road while trees and brush almost seemed to close in around them. The gas tank sat on empty. Mason was thankful he knew the area well.
There was a self-serve gas station half a mile up the road. Holly still slept, no doubt exhausted by the trauma of the day. She didn’t so much as twitch when he pulled into the station.
At one in the morning there wasn’t a person in sight and Mason was thankful for pay-at-the-pump service. He had a special card, compliments of the government, traceable to someone who wasn’t him but, then again, was. A little tactic needed in a world where electronic tracking was so easy.
The instant Mason stepped from the truck the wind changed. He would know the presence, any day, anywhere, so connected was he to the visitor.
David.
The two of them could always track each other. For Mason it took a great deal of effort. For David, it appeared almost effortless. Unless Mason was underground.
His eyes flew to the side of the building; dark shadows played against the wall. As he expected, David stepped forward. Mason moved toward him, closing the distance and meeting him halfway.
They stood facing one another, their eyes locking. Mason squared his shoulders, no fear in his stare, only contempt. Even now, looking at David, it was hard to believe he had turned so evil. Arions looked like normal humans. David looked like his brother. But he wasn’t.
It was hard to swallow.
In appearance they had always resembled one another. There were small differences, such as height—Mason stood two inches above David’s six feet. Where Mason was taller, David was broader.
Looking at David now, Mason wished he didn’t resemble the man he had once loved. Their blood bond was so damn evident to anyone who saw them together. Even to him, as much contempt as he felt, their similarities were a reminder of what once was. The brother he had once known was dead. All that was left was this alien creature.
Who looked like his brother.
“What do you want, David?”
David’s lips twitched with amusement. “Now, is that anyway to greet your brother?”
Mason’s lips thinned. “My brother is dead.”
David ran a hand in front of his body. “I am alive and quite well, Mason. Don’t kid yourself. Denial won’t change who or what I am.”
Mason’s mind shifted. He knew the instant Holly woke, a strange sensation because of its clarity. He could feel her confusion, almost hear her call his name. With an instinct and skill that was unfamiliar to him, he mentally reached out to her.
I am fine. Stay in the truck until I tell you otherwise. Don’t argue this one, Angel. There is danger.
He thought the words but didn’t think she actually heard them. But maybe felt them. Yes. He knew she understood. He relaxed marginally. There was too much risk to her with David present to let down his guard.
Shifting his attention back to his brother, he said, “Say what you will but the brother I once knew is no more.” The brother he knew would never have been so evil. “We always differed in personality, but not in values.”
Mason was disciplined and focused, where David had been wild and daring. Yet, Mason had always believed they had the same angle on life.
Obviously, he had been wrong.
David ignored Mason’s words as if he hadn’t spoken. “I come with one last offer, Mason. Join me. Together we will rule. One bloodline. A legacy of our own. Our children will rule after us, and then theirs.” His eyes went to the truck, a silent message that he knew Holly was there. “I know you’re attached to the woman. Bring her and I will assure her safety.”
“Right,” Mason said. “I met your human servants back at the diner. Nice way of ensuring her safety.”
“You have my word,” David said. “This is brother-to-brother. My word to you as blood.”
Mason shook his head. “You never did understand the word no. Let me spell it out. I will not join you, not now, not ever.”
David’s black eyes seemed to darken to the depths of hell. “My patience wears thin, brother.” He emphasized the word brother. “Your stubbornness will do nothing but seal your death,” he looked toward the truck and then back to Mason, “and that of your woman by denying your spot by my side.”
Mason laughed, taunting David with intent. “You always had a God complex, David. I knocked you on your ass many times when we were kids and I’ll do it again, now. You know I can or you wouldn’t care so much about having me on your side. I’m no fool, David. You’d best remember that.”
The wind picked up speed, swirling the dust on the ground. David’s eyes took on a predatory gleam. “I’m not so easily defeated, Mason. Test me now and people will die. Many people.” He started to back away. One step, then two, before he stopped. “You have twenty-four hours. No more. If you don’t come to me of your own free will, I’ll consider us at war. Decide your fate.”
Mason’s response came quickly and with complete certainty. “You can give me an hour or a year, and my decision will be the same. I will never join you.”
David’s teeth clenched. “I sincerely hope you reconsider. Terminating you would come with regret but I will not hesitate to make it happen.”
“There you have it. Our differences are evident. Terminating you wouldn’t cause me one bit of regret. I sincerely hope you keep that in mind.” Mason clutched his fists at his side.
“I’ll be in contact,” David said as he backed into the shadows and simply disappeared into the wind.
* * * * *
The minute Holly saw Mason approaching the truck she pushed the door open and ran toward him. He opened his arms to her, pulling her into the shelter of his body.
“I was scared to death when I woke up and you were gone,” Holly said, clinging to his shirt with her hands as she looked up at him.
His expression was etched with worry and something else Holly couldn’t quite identify. “I know. I felt your fear.”
She rested her palm on his jaw. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” he said, then averted his gaze, repeating the word as if he needed to convince himself it was true. “Nothing.” He paused a heartbeat and then took her hand, pulling her with him as he walked toward the truck. “We need to get out of here and I need to put gas in the truck.”
She tugged at his hand making him stop walking. He turned back to her, a question in his eyes and just a hint of irritation. “You spoke to me in my mind,” she said quietly as if confirming she wasn’t crazy.
“Yes,” he said but, before she could read his expression, he turned away again pulling her with him toward the truck.
“Who was that man?” she asked from behind him.
“He was an Arion,” Mason said evasively.
“How did he find us and what did he want?”
He dropped her hand and pulled out his wallet to fish out his credit card. “Arions can track anyone if they have their scent. They can get it from your home, your personal items, anything.”
Holly frowned. “Can you do the same thing?”
He stuck the nozzle
to the gas pump in the truck. “I have to have one-on-one contact with the person and my skills are far less effective.”
“Maybe you just don’t know how to use the skill. Perhaps it can be developed,” she said thoughtfully. Then: “Who was he and what did he want?”
“I’ve already told you what they want.”
Holly put her hands on her hips. “What are you not telling me, Mason?”
His eyes shut and then opened. His brother was evil. How did he tell Holly about a brother so evil…and so like him. Telling her would be like revealing his own darkness. Something he didn’t want to accept, so how could he ask her to? “Holly, please. We need to get on the road. We’ll talk later.”
“Mason—”
“Holly, please,” he said, interrupting her in a low, strained voice.
Holly sighed in resignation.
* * * * *
Sterling propped his feet on Holly’s coffee table and stuck a Cheese Doodle in his mouth. He couldn’t decide if Holly had four bags of the things because she liked them or didn’t like them.
He’d spent the day trying to track down Roger to no avail. The man had simply disappeared. His connection to Holly might well have been a fatal one.
Pressing the buttons on the remote, he flipped the channels of the television, searching for a news update. There had been another abduction reported, a young woman from campus. He couldn’t shake the feeling Arions were involved.
They had to be trying to breed but their approach was crazy. Arions could only impregnate their mate. To hope a random woman they abducted would be their mate… His thoughts trailed off. Unless…
He jumped to his feet, making tracks for the computer. As he waited for the computer to boot, he analyzed his thoughts. The Arions wanted Holly for her knowledge of genetics, to create and improve their race. Perhaps they were also trying other methods of breeding, like artificial insemination and cloning. The Arions were dogmatic in their quest for growth. Logically they wouldn’t count on only one tactic.
The minute the computer was ready, Sterling began keying, eager to find some type of link to back up his conclusions. He started with a list of people, scientists and doctors, who might be able to help the Arions make such things happen.
Two hours later he found his link, a doctor in Canada who had been missing for several weeks. Marcus Phoenix had extensive experience with artificial insemination. Pulling a hand down the length of his long blond hair, Sterling let out a breath.
He needed to call Mason. Reaching for the phone, he went still. His senses sizzled with awareness of an Arion presence—one highly familiar.
Michael Roma, a former close friend. The strange thing was, he sensed no other presence with Michael. He was alone. Arions never traveled alone when seeking a battle.
Pushing to his feet, Sterling moved through the house until he was at the front door. When he pulled it open, Michael stood, back to him, his raven hair loose around his shoulders.
Slowly, he turned to face Sterling, black eyes locking with black eyes. “We need to talk,” Michael said simply.
Sterling stood in silence, assessing Michael, wondering how a man he had once considered honorable and brave, had become his enemy. “I can’t imagine what we have to talk about,” Sterling said, getting angry as he thought of his friend’s betrayal. “Perhaps it’s a battle you seek rather than conversation.”
Michael tilted his head back letting a deep roar of laughter escape his throat. “Always the renegade,” he said, “looking for a fight. Well, old friend, you won’t find one with me. I only wish to talk. How about inviting me inside?”
Sterling studied Michael intently. His Italian coloring gave him an edgy, dangerous look. But then, Michael was, if nothing else, a dangerous man.
When Sterling hesitated, Michael said, “I know where the man from the lab is, as well as several of the abducted women. I think we can save a lot of lives if we work together.”
That got Sterling’s full attention. Making a mistake with someone like Michael, especially an Arion version, could be deadly, yet… Slowly, he stepped back, offering a silent invitation. Michael followed Sterling into the living room and sat down on the couch. Sterling leaned against the wall, not willing to let down his guard.
Crossing his arms in front of his body, he studied Michael. “What’s this about?”
No hesitation. “Mason, among other things.”
“He won’t join his brother,” Sterling said fiercely.
“Good,” Michael replied.
“Good?” Sterling asked in confusion. “Did you just say ‘good’?”
“Mason may well be the only one who can ensure David’s defeat.”
Sterling let out a bark of humorless laughter. “Whatever your little game is, I’m not biting.”
“No game,” Michael said. “Arions are not destined to be evil. It’s the soul of the human that determines the ultimate result. Otherwise Mason would already be no different than his brother.”
Sterling blinked. “You mean if he had been transitioned into an Arion.”
“He is an Arion.”
“No,” Sterling said. “Mason is not an Arion.”
“He is and I believe he secretly knows it or at least suspects as much. Everyone knows he is the most skilled of the Black Knights. He simply doesn’t accept his Arion abilities thus he cannot put them to use.”
Sterling laughed but it was dry and sharp. “You’re crazy if you think I’m buying this.”
Michael gave Sterling a level stare. “You have the ability to sense the truth. Not only do you know he is different, you know me well enough to read the truth in me.”
Sterling did know Mason was different. And he knew Michael spoke the truth. But, still, he worried this could be some Arion trick he didn’t understand.
“Assuming what you say is the truth—Mason is Arion—what do you hope to gain by telling me?”
Michael leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Mason can defeat David, and David knows it. He wants him on his side before it’s too late.”
“What’s in this for you?”
“I’m on your side.”
“But you weren’t.”
Michael’s brows inched up. “Wasn’t I?”
Sterling grimaced. “You want me to believe you were never on David’s team.”
“I did what I had to in order to stay alive,” Michael said with a severity to his tone. “In the meantime I learned a hell of a lot.”
Sterling knew he was telling the truth. This was a man of honor he had once trusted with his life. Letting out a breath Sterling walked to a chair across from Michael and sat down.
“You’re certain Mason is Arion?”
“Absolutely,” Michael said. “David made sure of it.”
“How?” Sterling asked, mentally searching the past for clues. “We received the same injections. At the time we thought they were simply vaccinations.” Sterling scrubbed his jaw. “Of course, you know that. You were there and a part of it all. I’m just trying to walk through all of this and make it come together.”
“I understand,” Michael said. “If you remember, I was among the men who volunteered to test the Arion enhancements. My little group thought we were the first. We weren’t. David had volunteered to be the first test pilot, so to speak. He told no one, not even Mason.”
“Apparently, he and Gina, who is now his Arion mate, plotted to spike Mason’s injections long before any of us even knew about the Arion project.”
“This is crazy,” Sterling said.
Michael nodded and continued, “David intended to build a bloodline of ruling power. He was certain the Arion power would bring Mason to him of his own accord. When that didn’t happen, he decided to come after him.”
“Why not leave him alone?” Sterling asked.
“He has been enhanced to David’s level and they are of the same bloodline. Mason might be the only person alive who could defeat David in a one-on-one battle. Look, there is much
to be discussed. We need to get Mason involved and agreeable.”
Sterling still had unanswered questions. “Why the hell did David ever think his brother would join him?”
“David still thinks he can bring Mason to his side. They’re brothers and from what I understand they were once close. David believes he is doing the right thing, Sterling. He believes he can take over all of humanity and the end results will be a bigger, better place. He wants universal domination. If he succeeds here he won’t stop. And like all power hunger monsters of the past, he sees no wrong in his ways. Why should his brother, the man who has always been by his side, not follow.”
Underground Guardians BOX SET: Includes 'Protector' and 'Healer' Page 16