Slade’s arms dropped to his side, his lips curled down in a frown. “All of us have a part, Jones. You don’t like it take it up with me later.”
Jones started to rise to his feet but the man on his left grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back in his seat. Considering the visible steel plate on the dude’s wrist, Vin didn’t think Jones would get back up again until ready.
“Any other questions?” Slade deliberately excluded Delta and focused on the rest of them. At least he had enough sense not to expect quarter from that end. “Bravo?”
Jace shook his blond head. “We’re good.” As team lead, Jace spoke for the other five fly boys who leaned back with elbows braced on the table behind them.
Their glares promised death to Slade and Vin mirrored the sentiment. As their handler, Slade had a purpose but none of them liked him. He was too quick to sacrifice them when the brass came calling and just as quick to accept accolades for work they did in the field.
“What about you, Michaels? Did you take care of the earlier problem?”
Vin jerked but Harkum kicked him under the table. A reminder to stay cool. “No problems, sir. We delivered the civilian safely home.”
Slade came closer to Vin’s end of the table brown eyes intense. Everyone’s attention centered on the two of them. “Did you impress upon Ms. Scott the need for secrecy?”
Vin hesitated and tried to figure out what game Slade played. Cause surely there was more to his carefully worded question. If the bastard remotely hinted at harming Helen, Vin would lose his mind. “Yes, sir. Ms. Scott understood completely.”
“Yes, Helen Scott seems like the type who’d take orders well wouldn’t you say?”
Fury overpowered rational thought. Vin blamed it on the twisted smile combined with the hurt he’d dealt Helen. Jumping from his seat, he dodged Harkum’s futile grab and punched Slade in his smiling face. The black man’s head snapped to the side but he bounced back and jabbed at Vin’s gut. The blow glanced off his stomach as Vin stepped to the side and came up behind Slade. Though Slade trained in combat, months of sparring with an enhanced team made Vin faster and better than Slade.
Vin pinned Slade’s arm in a painful hold behind his back with one hand and wrapped his other arm around Slade’s neck. Vin leaned in close to keep the others from hearing. “You don’t get to fuck with Helen. Sir.”
“You’re just meat,” Slade whispered in Vin’s ears their faces side by side. “Helen Scott’s getting off on the thrill of being with a guy outside her norm. She’d never take you on long term, Michaels.”
Vin jerked his arm higher enjoying the grunt of pain. Slade continued in a taunting voice. “You’re a freak, Vincent Michaels, and any woman interested in marriage and children wouldn’t risk what you have in your DNA mixing with hers.” Slade voiced Vin’s inner most thoughts aloud.
Harkum pulled at Vin’s shoulder. “Let him go, man. Just walk away from Slade’s bullshit.”
In Vin’s mind, he saw the pain etched on Helen’s face when he’d walked out on her. Pain he’d caused when he swore he’d never hurt the one person who cared for him without asking for anything in return. And Slade wanted to fuck with that?
Absolutely not. Vin used his leg and swiped at Slade’s, taking both of them to the floor. Slade shouted and bucked his back. Vin hooked his arm tighter around Slade’s throat and yanked until the man’s neck arched back in pain.
Harkum had both arms around his waist and Vin knew he had seconds before the stronger man would break the hold. Vin applied the slightest pressure and Slade stilled, instantly knowing what that deadly adjustment meant.
“Helen Scott is the reason I won’t kill you right this minute. If you ever want to play roulette with your life, cause her the slightest hurt. She’s the leash that holds me from you.”
Vin released his handler with a shove. All of the teams were on their feet watching the tableau. Slade rose to his feet with a glare. He fixed the collar of his shirt and smirked at Vin though a flash of fear came and went in the brown depths. “Well, now that you have that out of your system, I’ll give out the orders from the General.”
Anger still pulsed hot and raging but Vin inhaled a calming breath and exhaled slowly. He trusted Slade understood his message loud and clear. Helen wasn’t to be touched. Knowledge of her safety was the only thing holding Vin together.
Slade pulled up data on his screen and began assigning shifts that they’d work around while they formed a plan to battle the aliens. The other teams gave him a subtle nod of approval. They may not have heard everything but with enhanced hearing, they would have understood the context of some of the conversation.
His men in Alpha Squad were on their feet, shoulders locked, hands fisted at their side. If looks could kill, David Slade would be dead ten times over. None of his team wanted to see harm come to Helen. Each of them had walked away from friends and family in some fashion due to Project Genesis.
No one would be allowed the right to destroy the reason behind their capitulation in participating in the experimental trials. Helen was Vin’s reason for going on day after day.
Chapter 15
Helen ended the video conference with Hong Kong and massaged the tense spots on her neck. She twisted her head from side to side and stood on a stretch. News filtered quietly in the background on her e-player. Over the last three weeks, she scoured the media for any hint about Vin and his men.
Apparently, there were hundreds of soldiers with the abilities his Alpha Squad possessed. News reports talked about the skirmishes taking place around the world against the aliens. Media footage showed uniformed men and women, displaying unlikely powers as they fought. Around the world, military forces resisted and drove the Rekabians back from populated areas.
It was the dense remote locations which suffered most and helped the Rekabians gain ground in the war. They set up camps and created bases. The reality hit citizens as time continued and Earth didn’t immediately rouse the invaders. There was a chance Earth could lose the most important battle of all.
Helen spent most of her nights hating Vin and praying for his safety. Her cell trilled a tune she hadn’t heard in weeks. Helen stared at the silver device. Two times, three times, it rang. On the fourth, it stopped and voicemail shuffled it through. Helen sagged back into her chair and reached for the phone just as it trilled in her hand.
Her thumb swiped across the screen and its image of daisies. “Hello.”
“Helen. Don’t hang up. Wasn’t sure how many times I’d have to call before you gave in.” Relief mixed with his grim tone.
Damn him for knowing her so well. Hearing his voice reminded her of how much she’d missed him. “What do you want, Vincent?”
“Just a ride, hellcat. Nothing more.”
Helen got to her feet and dug her free hand into her hair. How dare he call her? Did he think he could rip her heart out and act as if nothing was wrong? Inwardly, she seethed but managed a modicum of calm to ask, “Vin what’s this about?”
“That’s my hellcat.” He coughed. “Always with the questions.” Vin ended on a groan and another racking cough.
Flickers of worry teased at the edges of her mind. She started to pace in the small space of her office and nibbled on her bottom lip. “Please tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me.”
“Do you… know it… turns me on when you do that?”
Helen paused mid-pace. He didn’t sound like himself. There was a stop-start pattern to his speech and she could hear him gasping with each breath. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“When you bite your lip.” Groan. “It’s hot as hell.”
Helen turned to the window and almost tripped over her chair in her haste to peer out. Parked beside her truck was a small, green four door sedan. “Is that you?” Why would he come to her house at…she checked her cell…at ten forty-five at night?
“Open the door, Helen.”
A quick tap tap followed his stark command. He
len walked away from the window but didn’t go downstairs. She leaned her head back on her shoulders and exhaled. “No.” Being drawn back into the roller coaster ride that was Vincent Michaels did not fit her plans. Chest pounding, she replayed the nights after the first week they’d parted. The tears. Endless tears and recriminations after she’d laid her heart on the line.
“I need you, Helen. Open the door.”
Helen laughed brokenly and slumped on the side of her desk. Vin didn’t need her. “You don’t need anybody.” She swiped the screen and ended her call. The phone trilled instantly. Helen powered it down. Minutes ticked by. As soon as she assumed he’d left, his voice interrupted.
‘Open the door, Helen. Please.’
Helen popped off the desk with a gasp.
‘Open the door, open the door, open the door.’
The mental order ran around and around her head. Pressing her hands to her ears, Helen snapped. “Stop it. Go away, Vin. I don’t want to be hurt anymore.”
‘I won’t hurt you. I need you. Helen, quick, open the door.’
Urgency drove her from the room, across the hall and down her stairs. She disarmed the security system and flipped back the locks, fully prepared to blast him with her anger. When Helen opened the door, she wasn’t expecting Vin’s body to fall through.
She tried to catch him but his weight drove both of them to the floor. Her hands pushed anxiously at his chest and wetness coated her palms. “Vin, you’re heavy.”
Another groan and the weight crushing her to the floor shifted and rolled away. Once clear of him, Helen wiped her hand to push back her loose hair. Bright red smears stained her finger tips. “Vincent!”
The black shirt bore several large rips in a diagonal slash through the material. Large red splotches covered the white tee shirt beneath. His mouth curled up in the corner. “My hellcat.” He lifted a hand toward her face but it fell limply to his side just as his eyes rolled up.
Helen scrambled to her knees and pushed him all the way onto his back. “You don’t get to die on me.”
“Not planning on dying,” he mumbled as his eyes opened.
Hearing him voice the denial brought nervous laughter to Helen’s lips. “Okay. This is good to know.”
“Have to get back.” Vin tried to rise but his arms braced on the floor shook. A cracked and damaged cell phone hit the floor.
“We have to get you help. I’ll call 911.” She reached for his fallen phone but Vin grabbed her wrist.
“No ambulance. No hospital. Help me up.”
Helen tucked a shoulder under his armpit and helped heave him to his feet. Their combined weight made her sway.
“Need you,” he slurred.
“Alright. Tell me what you need.” Seeing his weakened condition and the blood scared her. What happened to him and where were his men? “Should you call your team?”
“Lost ear com. Encrypted cell, no contacts. Gotta get back to base.” The fragments she pieced together dwindled to a whisper.
Helen froze as their meaning penetrated. “You want me to drive you back.”
He straightened as much as possible and Helen couldn’t miss the way his pupils flared before dimming. “Will you take me there?”
She wanted to say no. Wanted to roll him out the door and leave his battered body on her porch. But Helen couldn’t. His desperation beat at her skin. “Let me get my keys and purse.” Helen struggled but between the two of them finally propped him along the wall by her wide open front door. She ran upstairs, grabbed what she needed and considered her clothes. The navy blue drawstring pants and yellow off the shoulder top would have to do. Helen raced back down stairs.
Vin’s eyes flickered open when she returned next to him. She curved his arm over her shoulder and locked the door before they made their way painstakingly toward her vehicle. This close, she realized the green car was missing the front windshield and it sported several dents on the hood.
Vin frowned as they neared it. “Tried to drive. Got dizzy and swerved off the road.”
Stopping at the cayenne, Helen shoved him into her front passenger seat and did up the seatbelt over his waist when his large hands fumbled the metal clasp. He angled his head back on the seat rest.
Helen got in the driver’s seat and dug through her purse for her keys. Vin leaned over and touched a pointer finger to the ignition button. Her car started. She stared at him taken aback. Seeing him use the skills he touched on when they talked unnerved her.
“Hurry, Helen, Rekabians looking for me.”
“What do you mean?” Nothing on the news mentioned the Rekabians in her part of suburbia.
“Think they figured it out. Seem to be targeting areas where our enhanced teams are likely to respond quickest.”
Helen’s foot hit the gas and the car shot from her drive in reverse. She shifted gears smoothly and headed for the shortest route for the beltway. “You’ll have to direct me once we get close to DC. I don’t remember how to get there.”
“I trust you, Helen.”
Helen frowned and studied the road. “Happy birthday to me.”
***
Vin wasn’t sure what he would have done if Helen refused him. He’d lost a lot of blood and used his abilities to the point he was close to blacking out. His mental pleading with her hadn’t helped him feel better for certain. His head pounded in tune with the bumps in the road but not enough to block out her muttered words.
“It’s your birthday?” Despite the aches and pain in his body, he angled his head in her direction.
Eyes on the road and hands gripping the wheel at three o’clock, she nodded.
Vin laid a hand on the thigh nearest him and rubbed. “Happy birthday, baby. I’m sorry to ruin it.” His dick twitched but he couldn’t help it. When he was around Helen, he wanted her.
“It’s not a big deal anyway.”
Vin remembered his last birthday. The experimental trials had been over and they’d all needed a reason to celebrate something. The guys had gotten together to take Vin to a bar and they’d all drunk themselves into a stupor except Curtis. The southern boy of the group with the gentle heart played DD with patience and somehow managed to get them all safely back to Command Central.
“Which birthday is this?”
Helen sniffed. “A gentleman would never ask.”
His lips twitched. “I’m not a gentleman, so give. Or I can have one of the guys find out. Rock’s pretty good with the computer stuff.”
“Is that how you always know my work schedule?”
She turned briefly from the road to see his face. Vin thanked the dark interior for hiding the color in his cheeks. “Rock’s good.” Was all he’d admit to.
“Hmmm.”
The hum said a lot as a woman’s hum always did but Vin refused to be distracted. “So how old, hellcat?”
She huffed.
Vin laughed and regretted it immediately when pain blazed a path down his chest from the claw marks the Rekabian managed after his armor failed.
Helen missed all of this since her eyes were back on the road but joined in and laughed. “Do you know it just hit me that you do it on purpose?”
She’d lost him with the question or the wound that bled like a bitch had him foggier than he thought. “What do I do on purpose?”
“Call me that stupid nickname. You know I hate it.”
Vin ducked his head to hide his smile. He called her hellcat because it brightened her eyes and lightened the tight lines around her mouth on the days when she came home all knotted up. More than once, he’d watched the alleged annoying nickname make her smile. Helen’s smile was a beautiful thing.
If he thought she truly hated it, he would have stopped after the first time. This time, he gave her the unexplained. “Hmmm.”
“I can’t figure you out, Vincent.”
Vin stretched his legs out on the floor boards and ignored the responding twinge in his hip. Glancing over the dashboard, Helen maintained a cool seventy. Hopef
ully, they’d get to DC in another forty minutes or so because the dark spots in his vision worsened and warned of a major knock down headache from using his abilities earlier. “Nothing to figure out.” Keeping his head toward the window helped him avoid the disappointment sure to be on her face.
“Hmm.”
Vin jerked around and caught the edge of her smile. Unexpected humor flared. “Now, you’re shitting with me.”
She grinned. “I think you’re afraid of me.”
Nerves began to curl in a ball in his gut. She hit to close to home with her blunt assessment. “At six-feet and two hundred pounds, I’d find it hard to understand why I’d be afraid of you, Helen.” Vin braced an elbow on the sliver of space by his window. With the chair back and his legs extended, the pose should have conveyed the image of relaxation while in truth it hid his weakened condition.
“But you are.”
Vin started to protest when Helen braked sharply. The lights on the car in front of them flared bright red. His seatbelt tightened across his chest with brutal force as Helen yanked on the wheel sharply and changed into the right lane. Horns blasted behind them and Vin watched with pain filled eyes as the cars swerved around each other.
“Oh my God.” Helen kept glancing in the mirror at the near miss.
Vin agreed for a whole other reason but couldn’t speak. The pain in his chest expanded to his abdomen and catching his breath became suddenly difficult. Shadows crept on the edges of his vision and his lap at the top of his jeans felt wet.
“Vin? Vin!”
His lips parted but nothing came out. Each breath escaped on a shaky pant. The cayenne swerved again when Helen took the first exit ramp that came up fast. “The bleedings worse, Vincent.” She kept looking between him and the road. “I need to stop and check you.”
There was danger in stopping. Getting to the Command Center was the only place he’d be safe. Vin tried to refuse, to tell her to keep going but his head hit the passenger side window with a thump and the lights went out.
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