Broken: Hidden Book Two

by Vanderlinden, Colleen

  “I’m here to offer my condolences and thank you for cleaning a lot of the scum out of my city.”

  I looked at him.

  “Do you realize that crime in the last six months is down an insane 67% from what it was over the same period of time last year?”

  I shook my head.

  “Well, it is. Whoever all those beings were, and I have my suspicions, they were causing a lot of trouble. And you’re still out there, doing your thing.”

  I didn’t respond. We stood in silence for a while, sizing each other up. “My official word is going to be that the Angel is nothing more than a normal human woman, a vigilante who we are going to keep an eye on, but a woman who is clearly incapable of anything more than roughing up street thugs. My official word is that there are no supernatural beings here.”

  I smirked. “Lying, chief? I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you.”

  He snorted. “I’m the last word, but not everyone is going to believe me. I have a couple of guys who are hell-bent on looking into this supernatural thing, and I don’t doubt they’re going to keep poking around. I don’t think they’ll be any real trouble for you, but you should know they’re out there.”

  I nodded.

  “So, unofficially, thank you. Could you maybe not leave so many bodies around next time you go on a killing spree?”

  I stared at him. “Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious. I appreciate what you’re doing. But bodies lead to questions, and you know that those are the last things we need. When Nain was in charge, he always made sure things disappeared before questions were asked.”

  “I will try to clean up my messes when I’m done playing, Chief,” I said, stuffing my hands into my coat pockets.

  “Thank you.” He paused. “I am sorry about your husband. I never met Nain, but I heard about him through my family, my pack. He was respected. If you ever need the assistance of the Northside shifters, you have it.”

  “Thank you.”

  He sighed. “My report won’t make the general populace stop wondering about you. You’re a legend. Please watch yourself. A Normal gets a photo or god help us, video, of you in action, and nothing I can say will make that disappear.”

  I nodded. “I am careful. I’ll remain so.”

  “Excellent. I have to go. Take care, Angel. Don’t let these fools get you down.”

  I shook his hand. “Chief, I don’t think I can feel much lower anyway.”

  “I hear you. Nice meeting you.”

  I nodded, and watched him walk off. Well. At least I had one less thing to worry about now.

  I left, wandered the city aimlessly for the rest of the day and into the evening. Thinking. Wondering how to do everything I’m supposed to do. How to keep Shanti, Brennan, Stone, and Ada safe and happy. How to stay on top of the never-ending influx of troublemakers into the city. The chief hadn’t been wrong; I’d taken out most of the worst big bads in the city that night. The only trouble was that their deaths had left a gap, and there were plenty of beings out there who now vied for the power people like Astaroth and the Puppeteer used to have. The only difference now is that I didn’t know these new enemies. They were more likely to take me by surprise.

  And then there was the gateway. Demons, Furies, things you read about in mythology books and never even once think you’ll ever come face to face with. A threat so much worse than the ones I already knew about.

  Before I made my way home, I’d saved two women in the process of getting carjacked (by Normals, so it barely took any effort at all, really), taken out a warlock who’d been using local shifters in his sacrifices, and subdued a sprite who was wreaking havoc in one of the group homes on Grand Boulevard. Not a bad night’s work.

  It was near dawn when I finally arrived back at the loft. Tired enough that, for once, I actually went into Nain’s room, fell into bed, and slept.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  The days all kind of melded into one long, endless cycle of meetings, destroying, and long mostly sleepless nights. The only distraction from the haze of pain, violence, and anger that was my existence was Shanti.

  We were working at helping her control her bloodlust, at recognizing it and taking care of it before she lost control. Brennan was training her to fight, and she seemed to really enjoy it. She’d taken a few courses after I’d found her, so she was happy to learn more. Her training and guard duty was mainly falling to Brennan and I. He handled training and was ever-watchful to make sure she was fed regularly. She was getting much better at control. I'd started working on mental shielding with her, but, for the time being, I was mainly there for her to talk and vent to. Which was funny because when we “talked,” she did all of the talking, and I mostly nodded. But, it seemed to work for her.

  I watched as Brennan and Shanti finished with another late evening training in the loft. They sparred while I sat on the stairs and watched. She was getting stronger, more confident. Bren was a good teacher.

  He knocked Shanti down, then helped her back up again as she grimaced. “I’m never going to beat you,” she groaned.

  Brennan laughed. “Why not? You’re a vampire. You’ll give me a run for my money some day.”

  She shook her head. “You’re like, a foot taller than I am and about a hundred and fifty pounds heavier. No way.”

  Brennan glanced at me. “You’ve seen Molly fight.”

  “That wasn’t even a fight. She had those guys down before they even knew what was happening. And they were street thugs. Not like, uh, you.” She said, and I felt her embarrassment.

  Brennan met my eyes again, raised an eyebrow. I gave a tiny nod. Knew what he was going to do.

  “Well. Should we see how Molly does against me, then?” Shanti looked between Brennan and I, nodded. I got up and strolled over to the training floor. Faced Brennan, remembering the first time we’d done this.

  “Rules?” I asked, smiling a little.

  He smiled back. “No punching in the face.” I met his slate blue eyes, couldn’t look away. He continued, slowly, and I knew he was remembering, too.

  “None of that mind control bull shit. Other than that, use what ya got,” he said, repeating words he’d said what felt like a lifetime ago. We looked at each other for a minute. We hadn’t sparred since the incident with the Puppeteer, in which she’d used Brennan and nearly killed me. He hadn’t let himself even come close to hurting me again. And I had my own issues with doing this.

  I finally nodded, and we started. I got the first hit in, a punch to his gut. He grunted and swung, connecting with my side.

  “You’re holding back, Molly,” he murmured.

  “So are you.” I pushed him away, swung at him again.

  We kept fighting, eventually loosening up. Soon, our fight became a dizzying clash of punches, kicks, shoves, and feints. Before long, we were both sweaty, and breathless, and lost in the ebb and flow of battle. I could feel how much he was enjoying it, and, to be honest, I was, too.

  “Come on, Molly. Don’t make me a liar. Show her what a little woman can do to someone like me,” he said, grinning. Then he feinted and stuck his leg out, tripping me. I fell, then jumped back up. He went for me again, overbalanced, and I took advantage of it. I kicked his legs out from under him, shoved him to the ground, pulled his arm roughly behind him. I held him down, straddling his back.

  He groaned in annoyance, tried to flip me off of his back. I’m little, but I’m solid. I just pulled his arm back harder.

  “Hey. All right. You win,” he said, laughing. I let him go and stood up. Then I reached out and held out a hand, helped him up.

  “That was good,” he said, winking at me.

  “It was. Thank you for not pulling my hair this time,” I said.

  “Thanks for not kicking me in the nuts. Much appreciated.”

  I laughed, really laughed, surprising myself. He grinned at me, still held my hand. I turned to see Shanti watching us.

  “Uh, that was crazy. I am never going to be able to
do that.”

  “Sure you will. You’re in good shape. You’re young. And vampires are fast and strong. You are going to be a force to be reckoned with, kiddo,” I said. Brennan nodded.

  She shook her head. “Remind me not to piss either of you off. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

  Brennan laughed. Shanti strolled over to the fridge, grabbed some blood, and then went up to her room. I grabbed a bottle of water and leaned against the kitchen counter, drinking it. Brennan hunted through the fridge, muttering about grocery shopping. He ended up snagging a slice of cold pizza and devoured it, standing next to me.

  I heard the door lock click, and glanced that way. Ada and Stone came in, laughing. They looked up, saw Brennan and I watching, then quieted down and went their separate ways to their rooms.

  Once they were gone, I glanced at Brennan. “They were embarrassed. Something is up with those two.”

  His jaw dropped. “Holy crap. Do you think they’re….”

  I shook my head, “NO. No way. That’s like catching your parents–”

  Brennan laughed. “I bet they are. He’s been flirting with her a lot lately.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded. I glanced up toward their rooms. The rooms with a connecting bathroom. “Well, that arrangement is convenient, then,” I said. He followed my gaze and nodded.

  “It’s nice that they have a chance to be happy,” he murmured. I turned to him, found his eyes on me.

  “Happiness is over rated,” I said. “And temporary.”

  His gaze bored into mine. “Temporary happiness is better than endless misery.”

  “I disagree.”

  He shook his head. “You are still in mourning. Everything looks bleak to you, and that’s normal.”

  “Who says it didn’t look bleak before he died?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “You know that’s crap. You had hope, believed you could make things better. You did your zombie thing after he died, and then you threw yourself into being the badass, uncontested power in this city. You haven’t let yourself just mourn. You haven’t even had time to think about–”

  “Do not,” I began, aware that the building shook a little as I felt my power escalate in my irritation. “Do not suggest that I haven’t thought about what happened. It is all I think about.” I stared at him, hard.

  “Did you think about this: Nain used you. He couldn’t beat Astaroth himself, and that never sat well with him. The perfect weapon came into his hands, and he used it. Have you thought of that? Because I think about it a lot, and every time I do, I wish he was here so I could kick his demonic ass.” Anger came off of him in waves, and I knew, the way I know anything, that it was not anger at me. It was for me, and it took me by surprise. Brennan is rarely angry. It freaked me out, more than anything.

  “Do you think I’m a moron? Of course I’ve thought of that,” I said, and I heard the snarl in my voice. He just watched me. “Do you think I don’t know what he did? Do you seriously think that I am not spending every moment cursing myself for being so damned gullible?”

  He watched me, muscle twitching in his jaw.

  “Do you honestly think that I’m that clueless?” I said, more quietly. “He played me. He used me. I believe he thought it was the only way to keep me safe. Emotions do not lie. He loved me. But he lied to me and he used me to do the one thing I can’t live with. He made me kill someone I love. I will never come back from that. Not entirely.”

  “I hate him nearly as much as I love him. I have never been hurt so badly in my life. This is not something you ‘get over.’ This is not something that you learn to deal with, put on a happy face so the people around you can move on. I can’t do that.”

  Brennan bowed his head. “You deserve to be happy, Molly. You deserve someone worthy of someone as amazing as you.”

  I laughed. It was a bitter sound, and I hated myself a little more for it. “And is that someone you, Brennan?”

  He just looked at me. “I wish it was. You know that. But I’m not enough and you deserve better.”

  I wanted to argue with him, tell him that the real issue was that he was far too good for someone like me, even if I could love again. “Well. Whether he’s here or not, Nain was it for me. He was a bastard. He taught me very well why falling in love is a huge mistake. It is not one I’ll make again. It clouded my judgment, and look what happened. The one person I could trust, me, became untrustworthy because I was distracted and stupid. That is not acceptable.”

  Brennan gave a small nod, ceded the point. We stood there, awkwardly, for a couple of minutes. I remembered my discussion with Eunomia. He deserved to know something was up.

  “I’m going to be taking on some additional shit. If I ask you to keep things running around here…”

  “You know I’ll do it, Molly,” he said. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what’s going on?”

  “Not yet. Because I don’t completely know. It might be nothing.” I hope, I thought to myself. “Once I know, you will. I promise.”

  He nodded. Sometimes, I hated how clearly I could feel him. Nain had been tricky to read sometimes. Brennan’s feelings were clear. Love, concern, sadness. Longing. It threatened to drown me, knock me over and pull me into its depths, and I didn’t know if I would be strong enough to surface again.

  “I care about you, you know,” I said softly. “Just not the way you want me to.”

  He blushed a little. I knew he wished I couldn’t feel him. It really did complicate everything. There was no place he could hide, not from me. “Like a brother,” he said, irritation in his tone. Frustrated. Guilty.

  “Like a friend. It is a compliment. I want you to be happy. And even if I could feel for you what you want me to, I would hurt you. Over and over and over again. You know it. I already do.”

  “It would be worth it. And you’re not the monster you think you are,” he said quietly.

  “No. I’m much worse. Find some gorgeous shifter who will adore you. Make baby shifters with her. Be happy.”

  He shook his head. “That is not going to happen. You’re asking me to replace you in my heart. I can’t.”

  “Please stop saying shit like that,” I said, felt tears slipping from the corners of my eyes. I hated that. I have this thing about crying. I don’t do it, and those rare times I do, it makes me want to destroy things.

  I’m a wreck, basically. I know. Emotionally stunted, or whatever you’d call it.

  Brennan walked over to me. He gently cupped the sides of my face, wiped my tears away with his thumbs. “Okay,” he said softly, soothing. “Okay. I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  I nodded, tried to force the tears back. He gently rested his forehead against mine.

  We stood that way for a bit as I tried to get my emotions under control again. It took longer than I expected, and he waited it out with me. His presence, his calm, soothed me after a while. He took a breath, then murmured, “I am here for you, however you need me. I will be your friend, your receptionist, your butler. I’ll be Alfred to your Batman, Jarvis to your Iron Man. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, Molly.”

  I nodded again, took his hands in mine and removed them from my face, gently. “I’m broken,” I whispered, releasing his hands.

  “Not broken. Never. Not you. You’ve been twisted, ripped apart. But you are not broken,” he said.

  “Remind me of that when I start to fall apart, Alfred,” I said, stepping back from him a little.

  “I will,” he answered, meeting my eyes one more time. Then he walked away, up to his room, and I went up to the roof to spend another night alone.

  Chapter Four

  Meetings and destroying, destroying and meetings. This was my existence. I hadn’t been wrong about the fact that new adversaries would pop up in the void left by Astaroth and all of his people. I had, however, underestimated how damn many of them there would be.

  They were power-hungry, impatient, and, usually, dumb as rocks. This was
a really bad combination when it came to trying to protect the Normals from them, keep them out of the crossfire when two big bads decided to face off over territory. It was easy for me to catch and either destroy or gently convince the morons to go elsewhere. The hard part was trying to get to them before they hurt people. They were reckless in their desire for power.

  In addition to frequent calls from Chief Jones (since when had I become a member of the Detroit P.D., anyway?) I also had my usual influx of supernaturals seeing me. Brennan had started convincing some of them to talk to him rather than see me, trying to take some of the load off of me, and he filled me in on these cases when we had a chance to breathe.

  I hadn’t slept in three days. And even with my freakish metabolism and endurance, it was starting to take its toll on me.

  In addition to the craziness happening in the city, I still had the gateway Eunomia had warned me about on my mind. I hadn’t heard back from her about it, and even if I wanted to be guarding it right now, I didn’t know where it was or how to look for it.

  I was sitting in my office after finishing up with a meeting with the Brightmoor packmaster, warning him to keep his werewolves away from innocents. He’d been afraid of me, and I had a feeling he would be more attentive to what his pack was doing from now on.

  Brennan came in with a cup of coffee. “Last one will be here in a couple of minutes. I need to reduce the number of appointments I’m making for you. This is nuts,” he said, setting the coffee down next to me.

  “No, it’s fine. You’ve already taken on a lot of this shit for me. These are things I need to know right away so I can take care of them.” I picked up the coffee cup, took a long drink. “Thank you,” I said.

  “No problem.” He leaned against the edge of my desk, next to me. “Hey, Molly.”

  “Yeah?”

  “This next one…do you mind if I stay in the room with you for this?”

  I looked up at him. “Why?”

  “I just got a weird feeling when I was talking to this guy. Branford. Something seems off.”