by I. T. Lucas
“Yeah, yeah. What have you guys done with the girls?”
“Bridget took them to one of Kian’s buildings. They need help on so many levels we don’t even know where to start.”
“Can I help?”
“I wish you could. But we still didn’t tell Kian that you know about immortals, and now is, again, not a good time.”
Ugh, so frustrating. It seemed like it was never a good time.
“You know what? To hell with it. Tell me the address, and I’ll tell Kian myself. It doesn’t matter if he finds out today or tomorrow. You were supposed to tell him after the mission. And guess what? It’s after the mission.”
“No, Nathalie, you can’t.”
“Watch me. If you won’t tell me where to go, I’m going to ask Jackson.”
“You’re one hell of a stubborn woman. Fine. But I’m driving and Kian is hurt. Give me a couple of hours. I need to catch him at a good moment. I’ll call you back.”
“Okay, but if I don’t hear from you by then, I’m going to wring it out of Jackson.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. Two hours or less.”
“You better believe it.” Nathalie clicked off the call and took a deep breath.
She’d been too hard on Andrew, and now that her anger had evaporated, it left behind a residue of guilt. He didn’t deserve her talking to him like that, issuing an ultimatum. It must’ve been the stress of waiting with the phone in hand and fearing bad news. Still, she shouldn’t have unloaded it on the man she loved.
Should she call him and apologize?
The mission was over and Andrew and the rest of the guys were on their way to one of the clan’s secure buildings. Phone silence was no longer required.
Except, she didn’t want to. It hadn’t been done in the most delicate fashion, but her goal was achieved. Andrew was finally going to talk to Kian, and Nathalie couldn’t wait for all the stupid secrecy to be over.
Every day, so many questions about the immortals were popping in and out of her head, and it would’ve been wonderful to corner either Vlad or Jackson in the kitchen and just ask away, having them answered right then and there.
Nathalie had two hours to kill, and instead of spending them idly, overthinking things, she should get busy preparing the list of supplies she needed to order. Business was booming, and she routinely underestimated the quantities needed, ending up sending Jackson to the nearest supermarket to get stuff to tide them over until the next delivery. This time she was determined to do it right, and it involved pulling out the calculator and actually using math.
Nathalie’s phone rang sooner than she’d expected, and suddenly she didn’t feel so brave. What if Kian was furious? What if he kicked Bhathian off the force for the breach in security?
What if he denied Andrew his transformation?
Wait, the last one would actually be good news. Nathalie would have loved for Andrew to forget about immortality and just live a normal life with her. She wasn’t the type to reach for pie in the sky. Having a loving husband and a few kids was all she ever wanted.
It was greedy to wish for more.
Still, if Bhathian got in trouble because of her that would be bad. Fearing the answer, Nathalie asked in a hesitant tone, “Are you okay? How did it go?”
“What happened? My tigress turned into a scaredy pussycat?” Andrew’s taunting must’ve meant that it went well. He wouldn’t have been joking otherwise.
“I assume Kian didn’t make a big stink out of it.”
“How did you know?”
“Oh, come on, Andrew. Just tell me what Kian said.”
“I cornered him with Syssi present, so he had to be nice. But as it turned out, it hadn’t been necessary. I told them I decided to go for the transition as soon as possible, and they were both so happy to hear that I’ve finally made up my mind that when I told them you were coming over to help with the girls, Kian didn’t even notice that there was something out of the ordinary with it.”
She should be happy, right? The cat was out of the bag, so to speak, but talking about the transition always made her gut roil.
“Wonderful. Text me the address and I’ll be there as soon as I can. I have to talk to Jackson and see if he can come over to watch over my father.”
“Love you, sweetheart. I’ll see you here.”
As she punched in Jackson’s number, Nathalie debated whether she should tell him he and Vlad no longer had to pretend around her, hiding who and what they were. More to the point, though, she wanted to stop pretending she didn’t know.
Nah, better to leave it for tomorrow.
She was in a hurry, and telling him the full story would take time she didn’t want to waste.
“Nathalie, what’s up?”
“I need a favor. Could you come and watch over Fernando for a few hours? I need to go out.”
“Sure. I can use the extra dough, and I don’t mean the kind you keep in the freezer.”
She shouldn’t ask, but heck, she was too curious about what he needed it for. Jackson had more cash than most any guy his age. He was making good money, mainly from tips, and Nathalie paid him double for the evenings and sometimes nights he’d stayed with her father. Jackson’s mom was covering his car payments and insurance, so other than spending some of his earnings on gas and on dates, he was saving up all the rest. What did he need more money for?
“I know it’s none of my business, but what do you want to buy that is so expensive?”
“The love of my life has just gone on sale. And she ain’t cheap.”
It took a moment, but then she laughed. “I’m guessing you’re talking about a guitar.” Jackson had several, all of them famous brand names. Not that she was familiar with any of them, Nathalie knew about guitars about as much as Jackson knew about the different kinds of yeast. Still, the way Vlad’s expression turned wistful whenever Jackson talked about his ‘girls’, she had to assume they were costly. Vlad wasn’t a poor kid either.
“You guessed right. A PRS Hollowbody.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. But if you need an advance, let me know. When can you be here?”
“Less than half an hour. And thanks for the advance. I’ll take you up on your offer.”
“Sure thing. I’ll see you later.”
Chapter 27: Andrew
Bridget’s crew, which included Kri, the girls, and the worst injured Guardians, had arrived at the keep more than an hour before Andrew and the rest of the guys. A lot of work had still needed to be done.
Given the severity of his injury, Kian should’ve been on that first bus, but of course the stubborn ox had refused. He’d had to stay behind and personally supervise the torching of the monastery. As if it could not have been done without him.
The guy had serious control issues. Hell, Andrew had spent enough time with Kian to know that his brother-in-law was a control freak, but on this mission he’d realized that he’d underestimated Kian’s obsessiveness. The guy concerned himself with every detail, no matter how minute, and was compelled to check and double check that his instructions were being carried out exactly.
When they’d gotten back, Kian wanted to go check on the injured Guardians, and Andrew had to blackmail him to go straight up to his apartment instead, threatening him with a call to Syssi.
How did she tolerate this? Living with someone like Kian would’ve driven Andrew nuts.
“Is he in bed?” he asked her when she came back into the living room.
With a sigh, she flopped next to him on the couch. “I managed to get him into the shower and tucked him in bed, but he is far from resting. The laptop is sitting open, balancing on his uninjured thigh, the phone is glued to his ear, and he is barking commands left and right.”
Sounded like Kian.
“You’re a saint. The guy is an overbearing piece of work.”
Syssi slapped his shoulder. “Watch it. This is my husband you’re talking about.”
He kissed her cheek. “
I love the guy, and respect the hell out of him, but he needs to chill.”
“I know. I’m working on it. But enough about Kian. I’m curious to hear what made up your mind. Except…” She scrunched her nose. “You stink from ash and fire. Do you want to grab a shower first?”
“I don’t have a change of clothes. I’ll have to borrow something from Kian. But first, I want to know what was done with the girls.” When he’d gone out to call Nathalie, he’d heard her telling Kian that she needed to leave soon and help Amanda settle them in their rooms.
“Amanda has it covered. She and Vanessa took them to one of the larger apartments on the forty-eighth floor, and Vanessa is talking with them, assessing the damage. When she’s done, I’ll help getting them settled and see if anyone needs anything. Like pajamas, or some other items they might be missing. There is a twenty-four hour Walmart in South Gate. I can probably get everything there.”
“Vanessa is Jackson’s mom, right? The therapist?’
“Yes.”
Twenty-two women had been rescued, and they weren’t in as bad a shape as Andrew had expected they would be. At least physically.
“You know, I was surprised at how well Kri handled the situation. When I got down to the basement, I was expecting a bunch of hysterical women. Instead, I found a well-organized group, waiting patiently for the okay to come up. No thralling or even influence involved. I asked her later.”
“How did she manage it?”
Andrew shrugged. “It seems that Kri’s no-nonsense attitude was exactly what they needed. She had the girls busy collecting their belongings and stuffing them into pillowcases because they had no bags to put their things in. Then she had them line up in twos along the corridor leading to the staircase, while keeping the male Guardians in the back and out of their line of sight.”
“How about you? Weren’t they scared of you?”
“I guess without the body armor, I didn’t look as big or as intimidating as the Guardians. The girls were fine with me and Kri herding them up the stairs and into the waiting bus.”
Syssi grabbed a throw pillow and started playing with the fringe. “When I didn’t see you coming off the first bus, I was disappointed. Why did you stay behind? Was it because Kian was hurt?”
She’d been worried but didn’t want to admit it. Except, she’d forgotten who she was dealing with. He knew her too well. There was nothing his sister could hide from him.
“First of all, I was the driver of that second bus. And besides, I wanted to see them torch the place.”
After Bridget had left with the girls, the second part of the mission had been set in motion—covering the evidence by having the compound burned to the ground.
They had staged it as a gas explosion, so it would be assumed that nothing but ashes had remained of whoever had been inside. No one believed that it would fool the Doomers’ high command for long, but at least there would be no hard evidence to be found.
Kian had ordered everyone out and away from the structure, while Arwel had let his senses probe, making sure no human or immortal had been left inside. Next, the armory had been cleared of ammunition.
Syssi leaned into Andrew and put her head on his shoulder. “I was worried about that part. Even with Yamanu’s shrouding, the fire must’ve been enormous and someone might have seen it. How did you prevent it from spreading? Or hurting someone unintentionally?”
Aha, so that had been the cause of her concern.
Andrew wrapped his arm around Syssi. “Onegus ignited the fuse only after every precaution was taken, and Yamanu cast the area in a thick mental fog to let the fire do its work without the fire department arriving to put it out. He stayed behind with William when we left. I’m sure Kian is on the phone with him and William, checking what’s going on.”
Syssi lifted her head. “I’ll go and ask him. It’s bothering me. In the meantime, get in the shower. I’ll get you clean clothes.”
“Thank you.”
As Andrew pushed up and stretched, it occurred to him that he’d been careless and had probably stunk up Syssi and Kian’s couch. He should’ve showered first. The good news was that, one; the couch was leather, probably easier to clean than fabric, and two; Okidu would get on it, not Syssi or Kian, so Andrew could feel less guilty about creating a mess for someone to clean.
The spare room in Kian and Syssi’s temporary apartment wasn’t as nicely appointed as the guest suite in Kian’s penthouse, but it had a bathroom with a shower and a clean towel hanging from the towel bar. In short, everything Andrew needed. For now.
Later, he might get Nathalie into the nice queen-sized bed and have his way with her.
According to her text message, Jackson was glad to babysit because he needed money for some fancy guitar he had his eye on, so he wouldn’t mind staying the night, and Andrew could really use a comfortable sleep for a change.
Nathalie’s small bed was great for cuddling, and other things, but Andrew had been waking up with a sore back for far too long. It was a price he gladly paid to spend his nights with his love, but that didn’t mean he would pass up an opportunity to spend a restful night in a roomy bed with a good mattress.
Chapter 28: Nathalie
Driving around downtown Los Angeles at night wasn’t on Nathalie’s list of favorite things to do. The streets were deserted, and she was a little scared. Worse, though, she was lost. Her car was an old model not equipped with a GPS, and the one on her phone was dangerous to use while driving. It could’ve been helpful if she knew how to activate the phone’s voice navigation, but of course she didn’t because it had been ages since she’d been someplace new.
Still, if she’d been paying better attention she might’ve been fine. The thing was, her mind had been preoccupied with stressing over the kind of reception she should expect from Kian. He didn’t impress her as an easygoing guy. Andrew was deluding himself if he thought Kian would let insubordination go unpunished. Someone was going to pay for her impatience, and frankly she hoped it would be her rather than Andrew or Bhathian. It didn’t mean, though, that she was looking forward to it. Kian might be as handsome as a god, but also intimidating as hell.
Shit, she should call Andrew, but then she’d have to admit that she was lost. He was probably wondering what was taking her so long, worrying while waiting for her on the street with that sticker or sensor she needed to get into the clan’s parking level.
Trouble was, even if she called him, his instructions would be meaningless to her. She didn’t know the street names, or what to look for. Quite ridiculous considering that she lived and worked no more than thirty minutes' drive away. The tall buildings, the wide boulevards, this felt like a foreign country to her—most of Los Angeles didn’t look like that.
With a curse, she slowed down and parked on the side of the road. Zooming in to see the names of the streets on the tiny screen of her phone, she checked the location of the blue dot representing her car in relation to the red arrow pointing to where she was supposed to be.
Of course, she’d passed it.
Great, now she needed to make a U-turn somewhere. If she were a braver soul, she would have done it right there, in the middle of the six-lane-wide road. Except, she wasn’t feeling particularly brave, not tonight, and especially not behind the steering wheel. With few opportunities to drive, uncommon in a city that had no public transportation to speak of, Nathalie wasn’t a confident driver.
She put the transmission in drive and eased out onto the street. Continuing to the next intersection, she turned left, then another left, and was now heading the other way—the right way.
A few minutes later, she saw him, her handsome Andrew, waiting for her with his hands tucked into the pockets of a pair of jeans that were a few inches too long, and a loose hoodie. Obviously, he’d borrowed someone else’s clothes, either Bhathian’s or Kian’s.
The question was why? Had his own been covered in blood? Because he’d been fighting? He’d promised her he’d be nowhere near
the action.
No, he wouldn’t have lied to her about this. He’d been helping transport the wounded. That must’ve been the source of the blood. It hadn’t been his. Besides, perhaps it hadn’t been blood at all. Maybe he’d been sweating, or digging…A shiver shook Nathalie’s body. Andrew had said there had been no casualties on their side, but the other one must’ve suffered plenty.
Had he been digging graves?
How horrible. She hoped not. And yet, it was the most likely explanation.
Easing up to the sidewalk, she popped the locks, and Andrew jerked the door open. In one fluid move, he got inside and reached for her neck, his hand traveling up to cup her head and pull her to him for a kiss.
God, she’d missed him.
As his tongue pushed past her lips and entered her mouth, he groaned as if he’d been starving for this moment. She slid her arms around the back of his neck, holding him in a tight grip that must’ve left her finger imprints on his skin.
Andrew’s groan turned into a soft growl, and he nipped her bottom lip, then sucked it into his mouth.
Holy hell, one hot kiss and her panties were soaked through.
Andrew eased up on his assault, his lips turning soft and gentle as he smoothed them over her cheek, down her jawline, and then latched onto her neck.
She giggled. “Stop it. You’re giving me a hickey.”
“Mm-hmm…” He kept on sucking and nipping the sensitive skin, making her squirm.
Well, if he was going to be like that.
Nathalie cupped Andrew’s cheeks and pulled his head away from her neck. He looked disappointed, until she started showering him with small kisses. “I love you. But if I have to walk into the immortals’ den with a huge, ugly hickey on my neck, you’re gonna sleep on the floor tonight.”
With a worried look on his face, Andrew leaned back and examined the damage. “It’s just a little one. You can hide it behind your hair.” He pushed his hands into her long strands, his forehead furrowing as he tried to play hairdresser and arrange them to cover his work. Poor guy. He’d taken her empty threat seriously.