“Tell him, Lana,” Caroline ordered, pulling up a stool of her own.
Sid turned to look down at Lana who looked away from him. He grasped her chin, forcing her eyes back to his. “Lana.” Sid rarely used his demanding tone with Lana, because well, it wouldn’t really work on her, but this time it did.
“I have spirits wanting me to deliver messages for them and they are very persistent.” Lana tried to look away, but Sid wouldn’t allow it.
“Is that why you’ve been so restless?” His tone turned serious. He was no longer making jokes, noticing for the first time, the paleness shadowing her beautiful face.
“She can’t eat. She can’t sleep and she won’t be able to do those things until she delivers the messages,” Caroline added, worry edging each word as her eyes briefly met Sid’s.
Sid nodded as if it was a done deal. “Who do you need to talk to you?”
Lana shot Caroline a dirty look, and then stood. “Damon, Jared, Duncan and Sloan.” She couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Okay, I don’t see a problem with that,” Sid replied, totally confused about what the hell the problem was, other than it being a little weird, but hell, he was a vampire. He lived weird every day.
“You’re not upset?” Lana still didn’t look at him, her voice shaky which was not like her at all.
“Ah, no.” Sid cocked an eyebrow at Caroline in confusion before looking back at Lana. What the hell was he missing here? “Should I be?”
“She’s upset because no one has come forward for you.” Caroline’s deadpan answer echoed throughout the entire room, making Lana cringe.
It all became crystal clear in that moment, especially when Lana cringed at her sister’s words. Grabbing Lana’s shoulders, he turned her around. “Lana, you don’t need to be upset about that. I’m not surprised no one came forward for me because there isn’t anyone who would.”
“I’m sorry.” Lana did look at him this time; her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m not,” Sid chuckled with a lopsided grin. “Listen, I love you, but to be honest, having a dead person come to give me a message is just plain-ass creepy. I can’t wait to see the guy’s faces when they hear they have a message from beyond the grave.”
Lana snorted and rolled her eyes, while Caroline laughed outright. “It really doesn’t bother you?” The relief in Lana’s voice was evident as she stared up at Sid, even the worry lines that creased her forehead before seemed to fade away.
Sid smiled down at her, taking her face carefully into his large hands. “No, it doesn’t. It means a lot to me that you were worried about my feelings, but I don’t live in the past. I live in the moment and you are my moment.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly.
“That was beautiful.” Caroline fake sniffed, dabbing the corner of her eye.
Lifting his lips from Lana, he looked at Caroline and winked. “It was pretty awesome wasn’t it?”
Lana pinched his stomach, making him jump. “Don’t ruin the moment being a smartass.”
Sid laughed and hugged her close. “Hey, you knew exactly what you were getting with me. Smartass was definitely at the top of the list.”
“I want one,” Caroline sighed.
“One what?” Lana asked, but kept her eyes on Sid who was staring down at her with such intensity she also sighed.
“A Warrior.” Caroline pointed at Sid with a dreamy sigh. “I want me a Warrior. Is Dr. Hottie McVampire taken?”
Sid laughed loudly, rubbing his hands together in evil glee. “Oh, now that is a good one. I’ve been trying to come up with a nickname for him.”
“I think he might be taken.” Lana couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she watched Sid contemplate the new nickname for Slade. Then a thoughtful look had her grin spreading wider. “But Sloan is single, isn’t he?”
“I wouldn’t wish Sloan on my worst enemy, let alone your sister.” Sid tossed Caroline a wink. “Leave it to Sid. I’ll find you a legit man.”
“Ah, I don’t think so.” Lana pushed away from him, shaking her head. “Didn’t you try to do that with Jill and it went terribly wrong?”
Sid snorted, ignoring Lana. “Leave it to me, sis.” Sid grinned at Caroline. “I’ll set you up.”
Lana gave her sister a warning look with a small shake of her head, but Sid caught her in the act, smacking her playfully on the ass.
Caroline laughed with a snort. “Yeah, maybe I’ll pass, bro, but thanks.”
Chapter 3
Adam had just stepped out of the shower when his text alert sounded. Tossing the towel around his neck, he grabbed his phone as Steve walked in without knocking.
“Ah, dude.” Steve shielded his eyes from Adam’s nakedness. “Get some damn clothes on before I go blind or puke.”
“Knock next time, asshole.” Adam clicked his phone off. “This is my room, and if I want to walk around naked, I will.”
“Did you get a text from Sloan?” Steve walked to the bed, plopping down on his back.
“Yeah, just now.” Adam grabbed a pair of jeans out of his bag he had yet to unpack and pulled them on.
“What do you think it’s about?” Steve crossed his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.
“No clue.” Adam next put on a black t-shirt that matched the dark mood he couldn’t shake. He felt on edge, as if he was going to lose it at any moment. He was relieved he had found Angelina unharmed, but his feelings were jumbled. Feelings like why in the hell he didn’t just kill the son of a bitch who stole his woman. Before he could dive deeper into that self-revelation, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Steve called out.
“Are you kidding me?” Adam threw one of his shoes at Steve, hitting him in the stomach hard. “You walk in without knocking, and then when someone knocks on my door, to my room, you tell them to come in. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Hey!” Steve rubbed his stomach. “That hurt.”
“Good.” Adam glanced at Jill who had walked into the room. “You’re lucky I didn’t aim at your head.”
“Lover’s spat?” Jill teased, sitting down next to Steve.
Adam threw his other shoe at her, but Jill caught it with a grin before she threw it back at him, which he dodged.
“So I guess you got the text from old grumpy-ass.” Steve turned his head to look at Jill, who then laid beside him on the bed.
“Sure did.” Jill rubbed her eyes. “I hope it’s a case or something. I hate watching the Warriors going out and us getting stuck here doing crappy jobs.”
“I think the last case you were involved in, you ended up naked in front of a bunch of men.” Steve grinned. “One would think you wouldn’t want to do that again, unless you…liked it.”
“Steve, do you like pissing me off?” Jill frowned, glaring over at him. “I mean really? Do you want me to kick your ass?”
Adam and Steve shared a grin. “Will ya…do it…naked?” Steve wiggled his eyebrows, and then yelped when Jill kicked him off the bed before pouncing on him.
Watching Jill and Steve roll around his room made Adam realize that this was where he belonged. This was his family, as dysfunctional as it was. These two boneheads tearing up his room were his family. Jill with her multicolored hair was almost as close to him as his own sister. Over a year ago, he could barely get her to say two words, yet now she was one of the toughest girls he knew. Hell, she was tougher than half the guys he knew. And Steve, who was currently getting his ass kicked, was like a brother to him. Before Adam was turned, he knew he wouldn’t have given Steve the time of day. Yeah, he had been that much of an asshole, but now he would kill for Steve, his brother. He would kill for them both and how fucked up was that, but that was his world now. So why hadn’t he killed for his Angel? Adam growled, shaking his head in frustration; he needed to keep busy or these thoughts were going to drive him crazy.
A sharp knock sounded in the room before the door opened. Adam looked away from Jill and Steve to see Slade standing in
the door. His damn room had become busier in the last three minutes than it had in all the time he’d been here, and he liked it, a lot.
“What the hell is going on?” Slade crossed his arms with a frown, staring down at Jill and Steve, who stopped in mid swings to look up at him.
“I think…” Adam grinned, grabbing his shoes and putting them on, “it all started when Steve wanted Jill to kick his ass…naked.”
Steve pushed Jill away like she had the plague. Standing up quickly, he glared at Adam as if he’d lost his mind. “I didn’t say naked.” He snorted glancing at Slade, but pointed his thumb at Adam while shaking his head. “I said…”
“Naked.” Adam grinned, watching Steve try to worm himself out of this one.
Steve glared at him again before laughing nervously. “Okay, I did say naked, but it was just a joke.” Steve snorted again, clearly indicating he was about to shit himself as Slade’s eyes drilled into his; this time he thumbed toward Jill. “I mean who’d want to see Jill naked.”
Adam saw heat flare in Slade’s eyes before it quickly extinguished. Jill was off limits, but Adam decided then and there that he was going to have fun with this, at Jill and Slade’s expense of course. Yeah, he needed something to do to keep his mind off his own sorry-ass love life and pushing these two together was that something. Glancing at Slade, Adam frowned with second thoughts; Slade was one big badass Warrior, but what the hell; you only live once or in his case…forever.
“Hey!” Jill smacked the back of Steve’s head. “There’s plenty who would want to see me naked.”
“Yeah, I know, but…” Steve looked between Jill and Slade, who were glaring at him from different heights. “Well, I don’t know that, but…you know what, I’m just going to shut the hell up.”
Adam’s head fell back as he laughed loudly, the first real laugh since he didn’t know when. Still grinning, he looked at Slade. “I don’t know, my man. I think if Jill offered to fight me naked, I might take her up on it.” Adam winked at Jill, knowing he was pushing it, but didn’t care. “What about you, Doc? Naked ground fighting sound good to you?”
Slade looked away from Steve to Adam, his eyes telling Adam he knew exactly what he was up to. “Sloan wants you three in his office, pronto.” Slade’s deep voice filled the overcrowded room. “I suggest you get going before he comes looking for you himself.” It wasn’t lost on anyone in the room that Slade totally ignored Adam’s question.
“Oh, you mean grumpy ass.” Jill tossed Steve an evil grin. “Isn’t that what you called our fearless leader?”
Steve let his arms flop to his sides, his head down as he walked toward the door. “Where’s Damon?”
“Why?” Adam asked Steve, but watched Slade, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Jill.
“So he can decapitate me before I say more stupid shit.” Steve stopped and looked up at Slade, opened his mouth to say more, but then shut it tight and rushed out.
Adam watched as Jill and Slade stood staring at each after Steve practically ran out of the room. Adam wondered what the hell the two were waiting for; it was obvious they were into each other. Rolling his eyes, he walked between them heading out the door.
“Shut my door when you guys are through staring at each other.” Adam chuckled when he heard Slade growl and Jill call him an asshole.
“What the hell was that remark about?” Jill caught up with him.
“Which one?” Adam grinned, enjoying teasing her. He’d had his head up his ass for so long it felt good to have it free.
“Naked…ground fighting?” she hissed, walking in front of him backwards, stopping. He paused abruptly before he plowed her over. “That wasn’t funny.”
Picking her up, he easily moved her aside and continued. “Yeah,” he laughed, “it was.”
“Payback’s a bitch.” Jill cut in front of him before entering Sloan’s office, but not before she rammed her elbow into his stomach. She turned and smirked at his pained expression. “Now, that was funny.”
Adam pushed her the rest of the way in the room, stopping next to Steve who stood in front of Sloan’s desk.
“Have a seat.” Sloan pointed to the two chairs in front of his desk.
Adam continued to stand as Jill and Steve sat. Slade walked in and closed the door behind him. Adam had a feeling it was about to get real and wondered where the rest of the Warriors were.
“I’m going to get right to the point.” Sloan tossed his pen down before staring at each of them. “Your training, up until now, has been compromised because of everything that’s been going on. We are going to have to step it up to a level that is either going to break you or make you Warrior material.”
Excitement surged through Adam’s body. This is what he wanted, what he needed to keep his head on straight. Steve and Jill both glanced at him and he felt their excitement mix with his.
“Slade is going to be heading up the rest of your training.” Sloan’s eyes left them landing on Slade. “I want them more than ready. I want the rest of the council talking about them well after the initiation.”
“They’ll be ready.” Slade gave one nod as if it was done already.
Sloan looked back at the three. “We will not lose.”
“Lose?” Adam frowned, his competitive nature edged to the surface ready and more than willing to do what it takes not to lose. To Adam, losing was never an option.
“To become a Warrior, you will be going against other trainees and Warriors as individuals and as a four person team. Dillon is on his way back. I’m having him re-transferred here. The initiation will be exactly one month from now.” Sloan’s voice left no room for debate.
“We’re going against Warriors?” Jill frowned, glancing at Slade. “I mean is that really fair since they are going to be training us?”
“You won’t be going against any of the Warriors here.” Looking at each of them, Sloan leaned back in his chair. “But it will be against some seasoned Warriors.”
“But it’s just an initiation, right?” Steve finally spoke up.
Adam watched the look Sloan and Slade shared. “I’m thinking it’s more than an initiation.” His eyes found Sloan’s, and in that instant, he knew he was right.
Sloan sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. “Maybe they’re not ready.”
“Well, maybe we would be if we knew what was going on.” Jill stood, standing beside Adam. “I mean, exactly what is going on?”
“You are going to have to fight and survive against seasoned Warriors. If you are caught during the team competitions, you could be tortured to give up your team’s base camp, secrets or whatever else they want to know.” Sloan’s voice echoed in the silence of the room.
“Survive? Torture?” Steve leaned forward from his chair. “We could die?”
“That’s not going to happen.” Slade stepped up to the desk. “We are going to make sure you are the best. You’ve already proven yourselves worthy to be considered Warriors.”
“But it could happen?” Steve looked over his shoulder at Jill and Adam.
“Son, we don’t let anyone be Warriors,” Sloan replied to Steve without actually answering his question. “You will be tested to your limit.”
“So as long as we don’t die,” Steve’s voice held a tinge of sarcasm, “we are Warriors.”
“Not exactly,” Slade replied. “You will be scored. If you score below the percentage, you will be sent on your way.”
“What’s the percentage?” Jill’s voice clearly indicated she didn’t really want to hear the answer.
“Ninety-eight percent,” Sloan replied, crossing his arms across his large chest.
“Ha! Ninety-eight? Thank God, it’s not ninety-nine. I mean, what the hell.” Steve’s eyes bugged out of his head as he turned to stare in despair. “I’m toast, guys.”
“No, you’re not.” Jill frowned, but her eyes showed her own fear of failure. “Why are we just now finding out about this? With a percentage like that, I’d think we’d need more tha
n a month to be prepared?”
“As a Warrior, you do not get any warning because you better be prepared for anything at all times. Out there is no percentage, just death. If we did not feel you were ready for this, you would not be participating in the initiation,” Slade replied, his eyes burning into Jill’s before looking away to stare down at Steve, then finally Adam. “If a percentage scares you, then you best head out that door right now because you are not Warrior material.”
“We got this.” Adam nodded, putting his hand on Jill’s shoulder, his eyes never leaving Slade’s. “When do we start training?”
“Meet at the warehouse at six sharp,” Slade ordered without a trace of concern. “You will not fail. I won’t allow it.”
“Now, get the hell out of my office.” Sloan sat up grabbing his phone, but as the half-breeds started out of his office, he stopped them. “If I didn’t have the confidence in this team, you would not be here.”
Adam followed Jill and Steve out of the room after nodding to Slade and Sloan.
“I don’t know about you two, but I need a beer,” Steve sighed once they cleared Sloan’s office. “You coming, Adam?”
“Yeah, right behind ya,” Adam answered not really paying attention, but grinned once Jill and Steve turned their backs to him. The excitement was building inside him. He was so ready for this and he’d make damn sure his teammates were just as ready. They would not fail. Since being turned, he was finally feeling alive again, and maybe this is what he needed to forget about her.
Chapter 4
Sid stood at the stove cooking up a huge pot of his famous chili, but his eyes were on Lana. Everyone sat around talking about the initiation except for Lana who kept fidgeting. His eyes met Nicole’s who had also been watching Lana.
“Okay, you pigs, it’s ready.” Sid stepped out of the way, as Damon and Jared about mowed him down.
“Is this your recipe or Rachel’s?” Jared grinned, spooning himself a big bowl of the steaming chili.
Walking up to Lana, Sid ignored Jared’s smartass remark. “You better grab a bowl before it’s gone.”
Adam (The Protectors Series) Book #5 Page 2