Delicate Beauty

by Nikki Bolvair

  My eyes opened onto the same room from earlier, but this time Triton sat comfortably in the chair that other man had sat in while his partner tortured me. My eyes shifted to his, and I flinched to find piercing blue eyes stared at me. I tensed. Was he here to do more damage? Even though he looked worse for the wear, a day’s growth on his jawline, red-rimmed eyes from the lack of sleep, and clothing ruffled, but it was nothing compared to how I felt. He had no right to stare at me that way as he gave me a weak smile.

  “Hey, Beauty.” My hackles rose at the use of the unknown nickname. He didn’t have the right to such intimacy as a nickname.

  My lips pinched, and I growled, “Fuck you.”

  He winced and stayed seated. “I deserve that.”

  Tears burned my eyes as my stomach clenched with anger. I turned away from his gaze as I attempted to control the emotions. My focus landed on the screws that held the metal shack together. I started to twist one of the loose ones to distract myself. I would not let this man see me broken. While attempting to harness in my emotions, I wondered how my brother-in-law was in on this and where Melissa was. Ammon Steel was a two-star general in the army, and some of the stuff he worked on was top secret. What did we fall into? Were they even telling the truth?

  “I know you don’t understand anything right now. Hell, we don’t either, but I believe you’re on our side,” Triton softy admitted.

  I scooted closer to the gray tin wall, practically hugging it as I pulled one screw out and poked it into the side of the old mattress out of view. I went to work on another, my body covering the action. “Did you want me to believe that before or after they started breaking my toes?” I asked blankly, working another screw loose. I don’t know why I felt betrayed by this man. The very thought of him letting me endure such torture while he stood by and possibly watched was the worst possible thing he could have done. And, I wanted to distract him. Guilt was the best way.

  “Beauty, they didn’t break your toes. They pressed on the nerves so it seemed like they did.” The chair creaked as he shifted, and I withdrew my hand from my task as he came to stand over to me. My body wound tight, waiting for him to realize what I was doing.

  He sighed. “Fuck. I went to call the general. Kellen didn’t know anything about you. Neither did Weston. We came as fast as we could when my brother and I felt your distress.”

  I whipped my head back toward him, now angry. “When you felt my pain? What is this? Good cop, bad cop? You’re too fucking late. They skipped the good part and went straight to torture. Get a new game.”

  He drew back, his eyes closing like he couldn’t stand to see the pain in my gaze. He was good; I had to give him that. When his eyes opened back up, his pretty blues ones stared at me, begging for me to believe him.

  “It’s true,” he rasped. Energy charged the area. “Remember when we first met?’’ I opened my mouth for a snide comment, but he stopped me with a raised hand. “Fuck, no. Don't do that. You felt it. I fucking know you did. It’s not normal.” He swallowed as his gaze wandered the room before it rested on me once again. Fire lit his eyes, and he admitted, “I’m not normal. Not anymore. And this. . .” He pointed between the two of us. “It’s not normal, either.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I turned around, slightly curious to hear his response. “Can I catch it?” My eyes widened as I thought back to the night Melissa and I ran. “Do I already have it?”

  “Fuck.” He drew a hand through his short hair as if he had the length to do so and averted his eyes. “I’m not doing this right.” His gaze came back, and he put his hands out in front of himself to reassure me.

  “Look, no. It’s nothing like that, but I do think you’re connected to my brother and me.” He scrubbed a hand over his face then stood up to pace. He talked as much to himself as he did to me. “We can feel you when you’re close. When you’re far away. Hell,” he huffed, “too far away, and we can’t feel you at all.” He stopped, and his dark expression met mine. “And, it’s not just that. I’m fucking attracted to you. We both are.”

  Not exactly what I expected, or wanted, to hear. I kind of already knew that. I felt similar burnings of desire for them, but I’d be stupid to admit that to either one of them and let them use it against me. And besides, I was angry. “Uh. Okay?”

  He moved toward me, and my eyes widened. When I made a noise of distress, he stopped. “Shit. Look, I’m not going to hurt you. We’re on the same side.”

  “The same side?” The audacity of that idea. “You lock me up. You make me think you’re breaking my toes, and you tell me we’re on the same side? Get out!” I yelled, sitting up on the bed. “Get out! I don’t want you. If we’re really on the same side, you’ll let me go free! Not treat me like damn a prisoner!”

  “Now, Beauty…”

  My hackles flared. “Don’t you Beauty me, you asshole!”

  My emotions were whacked, and I didn’t want those other two guys to come back. I stared at Triton, hands on his hips as he studied me. Right now, he and his twin were the only ones who hadn’t harmed me...yet. If he spoke the truth, then he didn’t know what the other guys planned to do to me.

  He put his hands up. “Please. Believe it or not you hold the whole deck here.”

  I scoffed. “What a bunch of shit.”

  He tensed. “It’s the truth. We won’t harm you, but we can’t let you go.”

  I nodded slowly as he lowered his hands. I’d just have to escape. I didn’t trust him, not completely, but for some unknown reason I believed he wanted me alive. “How long have I been here?”

  “A few hours. Just since the storm.”

  The metal door swinging open interrupted my next question. My body tensed when my torturer from earlier entered.

  “No. Out!” My wild eyes shot to Triton's. “If you want my trust, make him leave!” I stood on the bed, ready to fight if necessary. I wouldn’t be tied up anymore, and I wasn't going to let that man torture me again.

  “Kellen, wait.” Triton moved to block the other man.

  Kellen stopped and pain sliced through his eyes. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  Did he just say sorry? No. I hated him.

  “Lie,” I spat out.

  The man's brows went up. “I’m sorry?”

  “Lie. You’re not sorry. You feel angry because it took pretending to break off a harmless woman’s toes to get out one measly name. And if Triton would let you, you'd do it again.” As the man listened to each word I said, his mouth tightened.

  “Fuck. Beauty, he won’t fucking touch you again.” Triton swore as he held out a hand to ward him off. “Right?” he growled.

  Kellen nodded. “I swear. We needed your name, Trisha. It wasn’t until my team talked to General Steel and mentioned your eyes that it clicked for him who you were.”

  Triton turned to Kellen and growled. “Leave. Can’t you see you’ve already done enough damage here?”

  “I can’t. I won’t hurt her again, Triton. I swear it. I won’t.”

  My heart hammered as I venomously tore out, “I don’t care who the hell he is or his promises. He hurt me.”

  Kellen’s murderous eyes softened. “And I’m sorry for that.”

  “Lie,” I repeated fiercely. My heart pounded rapidly like it was going to leave my chest.

  Asshole Kellan folded his arms. “My job is to interrogate the prisoner and get as much information out as I can. My job is to keep people safe. There were women and children at stake here. We got them out, but now we need information on your boss. He stole something that belongs to us. And your friend, she’s just as important. If I have to break a few toes to find out that information, then so be it. But I didn’t know what was going on. I wasn’t aware of who you were. You could have stopped it all with the information you have.”

  I listened and understood from an operative standpoint, but didn’t like it. He obviously looked at it from only one angle. T
ime to introduce him to the second one. “Would you, if given my position, sell out to someone you thought wasn’t on your side? Without a shadow of a doubt, if I shared my information, I would have signed my own death warrant.”

  The room was silent until Kellan spoke a moment later. “There’s another way.”

  My brows furrowed as I caught the look they shared. “What are you saying?”

  “We’re different. We needed to know who you were.” Kellan took a slow step forward. “Especially with what's happening to you and the twins. But now we know who you are, Trisha Mackintosh. The general, your brother-in-law, vouched for you.” Kellan edged another step closer.

  “Stop!” He did. “Damn right he would vouch for me. What’s going on? And what do you mean, what’s happening with the twins and me?” I kept my voice neutral, not wanting to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

  Kellen and Triton share a glance before Kellen continued, “What I’m going to tell you is classified information. Something was stolen from us, and we have reasons to believe that Nero made a deal with Myter for it.”

  I knew Myter had gone off the deep end. Melissa said as much, and I trusted her when she said she witnessed him murder one of our own. But, could we only know half the story? It was hard to think about, but maybe Myter hadn’t gone rouge. What if the other agent had gone rouge, and Myter defended himself? Even though that point of view was a long shot, the possibility existed. I trusted what Melissa witnessed, but when we didn’t know the whole picture, actions could be deceiving.

  Something crashed against the wall, and I jumped away from it. The storm raged outside, almost as fierce as the one in here. I turned back to Kellen and Triton to address what they’d said. “So, you want me to believe that my boss, Edmund Myter, stole something from the army for that asshole Nero?”

  Kellen’s gaze narrowed. “Watch your language.” At the command, I purse my lips but let him continue. “And no, we think Nero stole it for his own gain but cut your boss in on the deal.”

  “That makes no fuc—”

  “Beauty,” Triton warned.

  I turned my glare on him. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would he succumb to scum like that bastard and risk everything, even kill one of his own? For what purpose?”

  Kellen’s next words hit like a shock to the heart. “He would for the right person. For someone he loved.”

  Myter only had one family member left. “For his daughter? You're telling me that this government secret can possibly cure his daughter?”

  “We can neither confirm nor deny that comment, but we believe he has what he needed. And because of that, both you and your friend are at risk. He knows you helped your friend. Nero does as well. There was a hit put out for both of you. Currently, you are under our protection.”

  I knelt once again to rest on the bed. They promised they wouldn’t hurt me anymore, and because they knew Ammon, it eased my fears a smidgen. “So what? You think I’m just going to sit around and wait while your team figures things out?”

  “No,” Triton spoke up. “My brother and I were taken off this mission due to what’s happening between us. It’s new and we’re not sure what to do about it. We’re going to have to see Doc to figure it out.”

  I grew weary of what he said because it was true. There was something going on with us.

  “You feel it.” Triton leaned in close to search my eyes. “The sense of belonging. Your body recognizes mine as one of its destined souls. The pull. I think you're mine.”

  I reared back. “Ah, what?” Destined souls? I was his? I shook my head, dismissing the idea. He was batshit crazy.

  Kellan’s lips twitched. “Sweetheart, your aura is all over the place. I can read minds.”

  I froze and licked my dry lips, taking in what he said. He can read– What! “You’re shitting me.”

  “Triton,” Kellan barked, as his head swung to his friend.

  Triton said, “She doesn't believe you. And blurting it out like that man? Great way to get her to warm up to you.”

  Kellen shot a glare to his friend and dished back, “She thinks you’re crazy.”

  “What?” Triton and I said at the same time.

  My jaw went slack. Holy mother of–“I said no such thing,” I whispered, staring at Kellen with new fear. Fuck. A. Duck.

  Kellen glared at me, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to do anything to me. “Sweetheart, cursing’s not something women should do. Watch your language.”

  My eyes widened. He could read minds. My heart sped up. He could...Holy shit!

  “No cussing,” he growled as he folded his arms. I stared at him with new fascination and bewilderment.

  “Cool it,” Triton warned Kellan. He then turned to me. “This is why you don’t have to fear us anymore. Kellen can tell you’re telling the truth. Remember, we’re on the same side. We want your boss captured for what he’s done as much as you do.”

  I was screaming in my head as my new reality dawned on me.

  Kellen could read minds. Forget any training I had, I couldn’t have been prepared for this. Panic started to rise as my crazy heart raced. I was up a creek without a paddle! I was in a desert without a drop of water! I was in deep. . . Kellan raised an eyebrow.

  Crap. Kellan. I grimaced and shrank back. He didn’t like cussing. Don’t upset the psycho.

  I was in deep, deep, crap.

  I was in deep dog-do-do.

  I was in...

  Hell, forget him. Triton would keep me safe.

  I was in deep shit.

  Not only that, but my leg and foot started to hurt again. I glared at Kellen. The bastard. And why did he torture me if he could read minds?

  Kellan frowned as his deadly eyes narrowed. “You're going to have your hands full with this one.”

  “If you could read minds, then why go to the trouble of hurting me, Kellen?”

  Kellen’s gaze narrowed. “Because I can only grasp certain clips when the emotions are stronger. I inflicted pain for the best result. Or fear.”

  Triton clenched his jaw. “Okay, Beauty. What do you know about Myter?”

  “He’s my boss, but you already knew that.” I gestured toward the evil one. “I don’t like you.”

  Triton glared at Kellan. “Leave. She’s obviously scared shitless of you, and I don’t like it. Send my brother in.”

  Kellan put up his hands in defeat. “Shit, fine.”

  “No cussing,” I mocked without a thought as I kept my eyes averted.

  A second later, I tensed as I waited for some kind of retribution, but he just chuckled. “What’d I say? A handful. And she’s hurting again. Might benefit from some medicine. The storm’s almost over. We’ll head out in a bit.”

  I gaped at Kellan as he left, and Triton twisted around, eyes worried. “You’re still in pain? Let me go get the medicine for you.”

  I nodded. A perfect time to escape. “So, I’m not a prisoner, right?”

  He shook his head. “No, but you do need to stay with us.”

  “I got that.” I didn’t understand or even believe them. For all I knew, they lied to gain my trust. “Can I have some time alone? I need to rest.”

  His eyes narrowed, but he nodded anyway. “Yeah, I have to get ahold of my other teammates. I’ll come back with the pain meds after that.”

  My shoulders slumped with relief.

  “We’re on your side, Beauty,” he said once again before he left.

  When I knew he was gone, I moved the bed aside and started twisting the loose screws once again. I worked on the bottom until the corner of the metal lifted and wind blew debris inside the space. I bent and wiggled my way out, hoping the weird connection I had with the twins was too new for them to tune into yet. I needed time to gain distance from them. It had worked before.

  Ducking to avoid the storm, I hurried across a small parking lot, through the nearby woods, and found the highway beyond where I hitched a r
ide with a trucker. I’d never felt so relieved. I needed to get to a computer and find Melissa. I had to talk to Ammon.

  As the semi truck drove me further away, I never on this earth would have believed my soul could ache as much as it did. Stupid connection. I missed them.

  Doc and The Past

  Triton

  Zane hurried into the room with a grim face. “I don't know how she did it, but she escaped.”

  “This day just keeps getting better and better,” Weston drawled.

  Anger rose at the comment, and my hand shot out quicker than I could stop it. Weston fell soundlessly to the ground.

  “Shit, again?” my brother said as I stormed out of the warehouse with him not far behind. We were going hunting, despite the storm.

  She couldn't be that hard to find. Right?

  My team and I searched but came up with nothing. We realized all we could do was wait until she used her hacker’s signature so we could trace it. In the meantime, we left the area and drove back to headquarters to find and ask Doc about the difference in my brother and my behavior regarding the sensations—the tingles and shocks—we felt with Trisha. Doc decided to do some blood work. The results that came back shocked us.

  “The brain is a curious thing,” the doctor said. “Did you know it takes as little as ninety seconds to realize if you’re attracted to someone and as long as four minutes for those who are not as quick?” His lips tilted in the slightest of grins as he looked over at my brother and me.

  Tristan and I glanced at each other as Doc gave us his speech. He was so long-winded. He needed to learn to spit things out.

  “In those first few minutes, you have a feeling of lust, attraction—”

  “We get it, Doc, but what's going on with us?” Tristan growled, losing his patience with the man. “Why do we have this pulse or tingles when we're around this woman? Why do we feel like we can't let her go?”

  “To put it bluntly,” I broke in, giving my brother the eye before focusing back to Doc, “We want to fuck her long and hard, and it's not like anything we've felt before. We can't let her go. Having her this far away from us is putting a strain on our bodies. So, Doc, skip the lecture and get to the point. What’s going on?”