“I wouldn’t—”
“I don’t care!” I yelled and flung the door open.
To find Xander, Elias, Thomas, and Sung waiting in the bedroom.
They stared.
I froze.
Then I backed up and closed the door.
After a beat of silence, Sasha said, “Would you like my sweater now?”
20
I sat at the table in the kitchen area wearing Sasha’s sweater which fell to just below my knees. I fidgeted. Crossed and uncrossed my legs, trying to regain some of my dignity. But let’s face it. That ship had pretty much sailed. Along with my cover. Sort of.
The five of them stared at me, the barrage of questions finally coming to a pause. Or maybe they were just tired of hearing me repeat, “I don’t know,” to everything they asked.
Sasha paced the room. He’d changed into dry jeans and a blue sweater, but images of him shirtless, his hands on my naked skin, kept flashing through my vision, bringing heat to my cheeks. I took a deep breath and did my best to concentrate because my situation was perilous.
“So,” Sasha said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “Ever since you regained consciousness after Culus slammed you into the lamppost, you don’t remember much of anything. About us.”
I smoothed his sweater over my lap. “No.”
“Our past. Your past. Former missions.”
“No.”
“Not even our last names.”
“No!” I jumped to my feet and threw my hands in the air. “No, no, and no! See you caught me. I don’t know shit!”
Sung sucked in a horrified breath. “She really does not remember!”
“What?” I asked.
“You do not use such language, Harper,” Sung said. “It is most unladylike.”
“Great.” I rolled my eyes. “Because I’m feeling like a few choice and unladylike words might make me feel a whole lot better right now!”
Xander glanced worriedly toward the back of the plane. “Keep your voices down. We don’t need the other passengers knowing about all of these…problems.”
Luckily, they just thought I was mentally inept and not a demon possessing their friend. I flopped back down in my seat, fiddling with the hem of the sweater.
“What else gave me away?” I asked.
“You forgot the safe house location,” Thomas said and started ticking off his fingers. “You hate blood yet you pulled a bullet out of your shoulder and triaged Elias. Scared of flying? Never. And you could have used your magnetic power to stop the truck from hitting you in the parking lot, but instead Xander had to save you.”
“And you couldn’t even catch the key,” Xander said.
“Magnetism? That’s my power?”
Sasha groaned.
Thomas ignored him. “Plus, you’ve kept us at a distance for almost a year and suddenly you willingly allow us into your personal space?”
“Very willingly,” Elias said, a devilish twinkle in his deep blue eyes.
“Oh, do shut up,” Thomas admonished.
“You didn’t see the way she looked at me in the van,” Elias said. “She basically even called me hot.”
“She did not,” Thomas said.
I blew air between my lips. I thought Elias hadn’t caught that. For crying out loud, he was almost unconscious from loss of blood.
I sighed. “Not exactly.”
“Ah hah!” Elias said, triumphant. “Told you so!”
Thomas made a face. “Fine. We’ll add it to the list of her inexplicable and delirious behavior following her injury. Now, moving on.”
“You didn’t obey my orders either,” Sasha added.
“Except for letting you be her shower buddy of course,” Elias said. “Where do I sign up to be your next back scrubber?”
Sasha smacked Elias across the back of his head.
“We knew something was up, just not the extent of the damage,” Thomas said.
“Until,” Xander said, “you mentioned our seventh teammate.”
I frowned. “Henry?”
Xander squatted down in front of me. “There is no Henry. Our seventh member was Randall. Your cousin. On a mission last year, a demon murdered him. You blamed yourself. If you didn’t remember that, well, something had to be terribly, terribly wrong.” He took my hands in his and looked at Sasha. “We have to cancel the mission.”
Sasha flashed angry eyes. “If you had only told us sooner. Maybe the Healers could have helped. We could have salvaged this. But you ran off.”
“Because she was scared!” Sung hugged me from behind.
“That’s no excuse,” Sasha scowled. “Quit coddling her.”
“Leave her alone,” Sung fired back. “We will get her help.”
I appreciated Sung’s support, but I didn’t deserve it and the guilt weighed heavy.
“Xander’s right,” Thomas said. “They’re here anyway.”
“Who?” I asked.
Elias nodded toward the back of the plane. “Those two guys who boarded us, gave us this ride, they’re part of the Sicarius team originally assigned to this mission.”
“But then someone,” Sung said the last word in an ominous tone, “on the team had an incident which put them out of the running and our fancy Brit with the royal connections pulled strings to snag us the gig.”
I looked at Thomas. “You’re some sort of royalty?”
“Me?” Thomas eyes widened. “No, Harper. You.”
Now my eyes widened. “I’m royalty?”
“Well,” Elias said. “You aren’t taking the throne unless a few hundred people die first, but you do have some serious connections and you used them to fight like hell to get us this assignment.”
“Why would I do that?”
The guys looked at each other, then Xander, still holding my hands, sighed. “Because ever since Randall died, your sole mission, your one and only focus, has been for us to become Sicarius and annihilate as many demons as possible.”
I closed my eyes. Perfect. Just perfect. I had possessed one of the most rabid hunters on the planet. A raging avenger against my kind. She’d been quiet so far, but what happened if she suddenly came alive inside me? I doubt it would end well.
I heard Xander say, “Even if those psychos won’t take it, we’ll find another team for the mission. You have to make the call to headquarters.”
“You can’t,” I said firmly.
“Of course we can,” Sasha said. “I don’t like it either, but we will give the new team the Hotel Eris key, you provide the hotel’s location, and they will go in and extricate the boy.”
“It’s not that easy,” I said. “There is something I haven’t told you.”
“Something else you can’t remember?” Sasha asked.
“Funny.” I gave him a tired look. “But first things first.”
I walked to the kitchen and plated up mounds of food. Pasta, salad, bread, various side dishes. It all smelled full of garlic and mouthwatering, and I was starving. Plus, they weren’t going to like what I had to tell them, and I’d rather do it on a full stomach.
They all followed suit and we all took our seats around the table. I took a few bites and chewed slowly.
“Delicious,” I told them. “Thank you.”
“Quit stalling,” Sasha said. “What’s the problem?”
21
“The key doesn’t even get you past the first level of security unless you know the language,” I told them.
“What language?” Xander asked.
“It was created just for Hotel Eris guests and only those who have proven themselves trustworthy are taught it.”
“And you know the language?” Sasha asked, heavy on the doubt.
“Yes. The other demon, Culus’s friend taught me.”
Elias paused with a forkful of food to his mouth. “The friend I watched him murder?”
I chewed my lip, still hurt by the memory. “Right. That one.”
“A whole language?”
Xander said.
“More like codes and phrases to particular situations.”
“Just how long were you working with these demons?” Sasha said. “And why would it help you?”
“The demon isn’t an ‘it’, it’s a she.” My voice started to rise and I had to calm myself. “She helped because she was trying to show good faith. Make amends. She knew how much I wanted to take down demons, and she wanted to help take down the bad ones.”
“That’s quite the change of heart,” Sasha said. “You said they were all bad ones.”
“Not her.” I gritted my teeth. “Not anymore. She was trying to change. Do some good. Meeting with me in secret behind Culus’s back. Giving me intel. That’s probably why Culus killed her. He found out what she was doing.” Okay, I was winging it here, but even I thought it sounded plausible.
“Or she was just playing you,” Thomas said.
“She saved Elias!”
“You saved me,” Elias said.
“Really?” I snapped. “I jumped in front of the giant metal bench for you and broke my arm?”
Elias opened and shut his mouth.
“And,” I continued, “it wasn’t me that kept the bench from crushing you. The demon, she stopped it and turned it around.”
“How?” Elias asked.
“Gravity,” I said. “That’s her power.”
Elias rolled his lips in and out. “That’s why I was pinned to the ground?”
“Yes,” I told him.
“But then she sent the bench back at you!” Elias said.
“No.” I shook my finger. “Weakened from saving your ass, she took the easiest route. Swung it around. Then did her best to keep the bench from crushing me too, but all she could do was slow it down.”
“So how did it stop?” Elias countered.
Ever since I’d learned of Harper’s magnetism power, I’d been thinking about that, and I had a theory.
“I did it,” I said.
It had to be that twinge of power I had felt. Even having taken a bullet, Harper had enough power to stop the bench before it hit her. I had to hand it to her. She was one tough cookie.
“Is that true?” Xander asked Elias.
“It all happened so fast.” He shook his head. “I…I’m not sure.”
I slammed my hand on the table. Plates rattled. “Well I am!” They gave me startled looks. “Okay, fine. Send in the Mandatum, powers blazing. They won’t even get close because at the hint of danger, the place will lockdown, the guests will scatter out various exits, and the tunnels will probably collapse if it goes into self-destruct mode. Not to mention the boy will be lost forever or most likely killed.”
“Tunnels?” Sung asked.
“I told you,” I said, exasperated. “The whole place is underground.”
22
“Underground?” Sasha threw down his fork with a clatter. “No, you did not mention that!”
“Well, it is,” I said, fighting for calm. “And it’s a labyrinth to get lost in if you don’t know your way around.”
“And you do?” Xander said doubtfully. “Since when?”
“The demon walked me through it dozens of times.” Or, in reality, I’d been there dozens of times. But either way, I knew what I was talking about.
“How can we even know what you think you know is true?” Sasha said. “You’ve admitted you lost your memory.”
“Not about this.” I tapped my fork on my plate. “This is for real. You’ll just have to trust me. I wouldn’t lie. I know what’s at stake. We can save the boy.”
“This is risky,” Thomas said.
“More like insane,” Sasha replied.
“No,” Elias said, looking thoughtful. “This actually make sense.”
Sasha looked incredulous. “How?”
Elias put down his knife and fork. “Nobody wants to become Sicarius more than Harper. She’s been borderline obsessed about it since Randall’s death.”
Xander snorted. “Borderline?”
“So?” Sasha shrugged.
Elias continued, becoming more animated. “So, with the massive injury, I believe her brain is so damaged that it could only retain a limited amount of information and every bit of that data is targeted toward completing the mission. The very mission that will put us over the edge to be Sicarius.”
“And not remembering her team, her powers, isn’t essential?” Sasha scoffed.
“No.” Elias leaned toward Sasha. “We can get her up to speed on those types of facts. Instead, she retained things that we don’t know.”
Xander rubbed the scruff on his jaw. “The key, for instance. Hotel Eris, its location, and schematics.”
Thomas nodded. “And the language which gets us access.”
“Exactly,” Elias said excitedly. “We would have no knowledge about any of that, but she provides that information and, voila, we can do a mission no other team can and we go to the top of the Sicarius team placement list. It’s brilliant.”
This was fantastic. They were talking themselves into excuses for me.
Sung shook his head. “I still think it could be mystic demon voodoo.”
Oh, Sung, keep your brilliant musings to yourself. Luckily, the guys didn’t take him seriously.
“You would,” Sasha said then turned to Elias. “And forgetting Randall? How is that not completely wrong?”
That seemed a biggie, but I kept my mouth shut.
“Randall’s dead.” Elias shrugged and twirled pasta on his fork. “He or memories of him provide no assistance on accomplishing the mission.”
“That is cold,” Sung said with a shiver.
I had to agree.
“That’s our Harper,” Sasha said.
“No,” Elias said. “It’s practical. I’m telling you, this makes sense.”
There was silence around the table.
Finally, Xander sat back in his seat and eyed the group. “So it’s a go?”
I shot my hand up. “I vote yes!”
Sasha rolled his eyes. “You, the brain damaged one, do not get a vote.”
“But I’m the brilliant brain damaged one.” I punched him in the arm. “Come on. We can do this.”
“Or more likely die trying,” Sasha muttered.
23
We finished dinner. Or was it lunch. Breakfast? I really didn’t know. Time was a total mind warp for the moment. But we cleared the dishes off the table, then I worked with Elias on my remembrance of the Hotel Eris blueprints and our plan to infiltrate the fortress. Thomas abandoned tea and kept replenishing
us with cups of strong coffee.
Elias punched information into his laptop while I answered a ton of questions from the rest of the group. With my hair still wet from the shower, when I leaned over Elias, water dripped on his computer.
“Sorry,” I said.
He shrugged, used a napkin to wipe it off, then went back to work.
I stood and wrung my hair out. Xander disappeared for a moment then returned with a towel, brush, and small bottle.
“Allow me,” he said, and eased me into a chair.
He buffed the towel over my head, then squeezed some liquid from the bottle into his hands, rubbed them together, and massaged it into my hair, a lovely aroma filling the air. Something spicy. Then he ran the brush gently through the strands to eliminate any knots. But when he gathered it back and took his own hair tie out to use it on a ponytail for me, I stopped him.
“No thanks.” I ran my fingertips into my scalp and fluffed the roots, enjoying the smooth silkiness. “I like it down.”
“Of course,” he said, but I heard something in his voice that gave me pause.
I caught his hand looked up at him, his loose waves of dark hair framing his face. “Not something I usually do?” I asked.
He gave me an indulgent smile. “Harper, you may do whatever you like.” Then he kissed my hand and left to pour himself a fresh cup of coffee.
I rubbed my knuckles against my cheek. When th
ey were listing out the things Harper had done that were out of character, Xander hadn’t mentioned our kiss in the garage. Had he forgotten, or was that something real? I shrugged. Something to think on later because we had more important matters to deal with.
After nearly another hour working with Elias, he said, “You’re sure this is right?”
“Positive,” I assured him.
“Okay then,” he said. “Here we go.”
We gathered round as Elias tapped a few more buttons and a shimmering 3-D image came to life. They asked questions, I answered, and eventually we formed a plan of attack.
“Our biggest asset is that they won’t see this coming,” Sasha said. “But once they’re onto us, how much time will we have?”
“If they’re onto us,” I said. “It won’t be much. But with the element of surprise, we’ve got this. Don’t be such a pessimist.”
Sung laughed. Then he saw my expression. “Oh. You were not joking. But it is still funny because it is always you who is the pessimist.”
“Let’s go over it again,” Sasha said.
Despite the copious amounts of coffee, I yawned. “Fine. Let’s go over it again.”
“No,” Xander said taking my arm. “There are several hours until touchdown. We will get some sleep then start again.”
He led me down the hall then into the bedroom. Sasha had pulled me through it too fast earlier for me to get a good look. A bed stretched out from the side wall of the plane beneath four, small oval windows. The white comforter had a neatly-folded sunflower-yellow throw blanket at the end of the bed that brightened the room. A clock and a T.V. screen were built into the walls on either side of the bed.
Xander ducked under the curved ceiling as he walked to the bed and pulled down the covers. “Get in.”
I didn’t argue. Bed. Sleep. Sounded wonderful. I climbed in.
Xander pulled the covers over me. “You are sure you’re ready for this?”
“Like I have a choice?”
“Harper,” he sighed. “Always the hardass.” He kissed my forehead.
I scratched my brow and smiled. “Is this a regular thing? Because if so, all that,” I motioned a hand over my lower face, “, the scruff, is way too long and itchy. Oh, wait, am I supposed to slap you again?”
Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection Page 184