Gathering Darkness: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Anna Zaires

  My pulse leaped as I stared straight into the barrel of the 9mm, poised only millimeters from my right eye. Already sweaty from my earlier workout with the first guy, my limbs began to tremble. Training had prepared me for this sort of situation, but it felt quite different in real life.

  Adam growled again and the gun moved impossibly closer. With every blink, my lashes brushed the barrel.

  “Uh, uh. Try that again,” a deep voice with a slight Slavic accent warned, “and I will shoot her.”

  My eyes flickered nervously to my husband. Somehow, he’d gotten outside the bathroom, and now I was trapped with two bad guys and a dead woman. The walls started closing in, and my arms shook from the extra weight I carried. The odd angle I was holding also killed my back, but I did my best to ignore it and watched the gunman.

  This was the man I’d seen earlier. Now that I was getting another look at him, I realized he had quite a resemblance to the prisoner.He had the same bushy eyebrows, and his milky skin tone made not only the dark stubble on his jaw stand out, but the almost black, curly hair more pronounced as well. His angular nose had a slight knot in the center, and his brown eyes held nothing but hate.

  “Tie him up in the back,” he told someone. I watched in horror, as another man grabbed Adam. “I’ll bring the girl.”

  Adam wanted to fight. I could see it in his eyes. But with a gun to my head, he had no other choice. With jaw locked, he turned slowly, giving the gunman a narrowed eye warning, before the new guy pushed a gun to his back and forced him to move.

  The alarmed cries of the passengers could be heard throughout the plane and I cursed inwardly. I had failed. The plane had been hijacked.

  CHAPTER 6

  The gunman shoved the dead woman out of my arms, pulling me forward as she fell against his fallen comrade’s legs dangling off the counter. He let out a muffled grunt, but the gunman made it clear he wouldn’t be helping him by ignoring the groaning man, and shoving me out of the bathroom. His fingers dug into the flesh of my upper arm, but I held in the cry of pain. I’d surely have bruises tomorrow, but that was the least of my worries.

  As the gunman flung me around like a rag doll, slamming me against the nearest wall, I reached up and swiped a finger across the earpiece.

  “Fucking hell, Nikki!” Nolan shouted. “What the fuck is going on? We’re getting reports that something is wrong with your flight. If you ever turn your fucking earpiece off again-”

  “Who are you?” The gunman asked, cutting off Nolan’s rant.

  “Shit,” Nolan whispered.

  “Who are you?” I returned.

  The gunman gripped my arm tighter, his nails scraping against my flesh like razor sharp teeth. “Don’t play with me, girl. I will shoot you.” His top lip curled into a sneer. “I am Gutierrez. But you already knew that. Who do you work for?”

  So this was the prisoner’s brother, Admir. I’d read a little about him in the file, but the photo hadn’t been clear enough for me to have recognized him.

  Lifting my chin, I said nothing. My head banged against the wall as he shook my arm and pressed the gun to my cheek. The cool metal had my lungs sucking in a gasp of air, but I gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut.

  “Damn it, Nikki,” Nolan pleaded in my ear. “Don’t fucking mess with him. Tell him a fucking name. Any name.”

  But I didn’t heed his pleas. I refused to cooperate with the asshole, and more than likely, he would think I was lying anyway.

  I winced as the gun pressed harder into my cheek, sharp and painful, bruising the bone. “I can tell you’re an undercover cop. Maybe a Fed? A very bad one. Too fucking nosey, the way you look at everything.”

  I restrained the snort begging to be released. Fed? Not fucking likely.

  I stared silently into his eyes until finally, he huffed, growling low in his throat before shoving me aside. I stumbled and placed my hand on the wall to catch myself. Pressing the gun to my back, he barked out for me to move.

  The passengers had been ordered to shut the fuck up, so the noise level in the cabin had dropped, but their whimpers and soft sobs still filled the otherwise quiet plane.

  As Gutierrez pushed me forward, my eyes flickered over the passengers. One man sported a swollen eye, but other than that, it didn’t look like anyone had been hurt… yet. I could only hope the other two cabins faired just as well.

  I almost tripped over Adam as Gutierrez pushed me through the curtain and into the back galley. My palm slammed into a trolley, and I struggled to right myself as the wheels wobbled.

  Gutierrez yanked the cart out of my hands and pushed it out of the galley. “Sit,” he snapped.

  Slowly, I slid down to the floor. Without taking my eyes off Gutierrez, I reached for Adam’s hand, but I couldn’t find it. To my horror, his wrists were bound behind him with handcuffs.

  Our eyes met. His were bright and alive with rage, and though I was just as angry, I couldn’t hide my remorse. I should have seen the resemblance between Gutierrez and the prisoner sooner. Then maybe I could have taken action. And none of this would have happened.

  Gutierrez motioned for the guy who’d brought Adam to handcuff me in the same manner. As he pulled my wrists together, his hot breath fanned the back of my neck and I strained away from him. The man chuckled, then swiped his tongue across my skin, leaving a disgusting wet trail.

  I jerked away from him and Adam growled. “If you want to keep that tongue, you’d better keep it off my wife.”

  The man chuckled and leaned into me.

  “Enough!” Gutierrez snapped. “We have work to do.”

  “Another time,” the disgusting prick whispered in my ear. Then they both left, leaving Adam and me alone in the quiet galley.

  My husband and I sat side by side, our shoulders touching lightly, wrists cuffed behind our backs. The muscles in my arms protested the position, and I shrugged my shoulders and stretched my neck.

  “You okay?” Adam asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, not looking at him.

  “We still have one more agent who hasn’t been taken out of the game, Nikki,” Nolan said in my ear. I felt a little bit reassured that there was another agent somewhere who might be able to get us out of this mess, but he said one more. More than likely, the agent with the prisoner had been taken down.

  I looked around the small room, trying to find anything that might help us escape, but the only way out of the handcuffs was a key. And the bad guys just weren’t nice enough to leave one hanging around.

  “Talk to me,” Adam said, but I wasn’t ready to talk. I continued searching, twisting my body the best I could. I knew there would be nothing of use, but it kept me from dealing with the hard stuff. Like talking to my husband.

  “Damn it, Nikki!” Adam swore. “Look at me.”

  I heaved a sigh and cut my eyes over to him. His lips were pulled down into a frown, and his brows were lowered. His gaze held concern for me, but also, a shit load of questions.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, and my eyes widened.

  “What? Why?”

  He sighed and looked away a moment before glancing back at me. “If you tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”

  I shook my head slowly from side to side. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  His tense shoulders slumped and his sigh was full of regret. “We’ve both been lying to each other. I thought now would be a good time to clear the air.”

  I continued to shake my head like I didn’t know what he was talking about. “You mean, why you suddenly had giant claws back there?”

  “Yes, and why an accountant carries a gun, and has kick-ass moves to take down a grown man. And how, exactly, did you get a gun on the plane anyway?”

  I looked away. “Self defense classes,” I said, ignoring the second question. I had friends in high places. But he didn’t need to know that.

  “Stop the bullshit, Nikki,” he snapped, and I jerked my head towards him. “Do you want to save this marriage?”


  My mouth opened in a perfect O. “Ah... I didn’t know our marriage was in trouble. It’s only been less than forty-eight hours.”

  His lips pressed into a thin line. “A marriage can’t last on lies. Part of this is my fault too, but you have to be willing to share as well.”

  “Don’t,” Nolan said in my ear. “You cannot tell him who you are.”

  I shook my head. “Okay,” I said, but I wasn’t sure which of them I was talking to.

  “Keep your cover, Nikki,” Nolan said again.

  “Just tell me,” Adam said, his voice gentle and pleading. “I’ll understand anything, I promise.

  “I...” I licked my lips. The fast beats of my heart pounded against my eardrums, as I tried to make the right decision.

  My gaze locked with Adam’s, and all I could think about was not wanting to lose him. We might not have known each other long, and there were so many secrets between us, but I loved him. And I knew, without a doubt, he loved me. He made me feel cherished, wanted. We clicked in so many ways. My life would become nothing without him. Nothing but work. Just as it had been before he crashed into my life. I couldn’t lose him.

  “I work for-”

  “Keep. Your. Cover,” Nolan growled. “That’s an order!”’

  “Shut the fuck up, Stone,” Adam barked, causing me to jump.

  “Who’s Stone?” I asked, and winced at Nolan’s liberal expletives.

  “The guy in your ear telling you not to inform your husband that you’re an agent for the CIA,” Adam’s voice rumbled angrily, but his stare was fixed on my ear. “The same guy yelling at me right now to shut the fuck up, and not tell my wife that I sort of work for them too.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Even Nolan was silent as Adam and I stared at each other. I swallowed and blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill down my cheeks. I didn’t know the man I married at all. I gave a wry chuckle and shook my head. Karma’s a bitch.

  Adam’s brows furrowed and he leaned toward me, his cuffs rattling in protest. “Nikki-”

  “Don’t,” I said, shifting my shoulders as I blew out a deep breath. “No sense in apologies now. We’re both liars. I guess we jumped into this marriage too quickly after all.

  “No.” He shook his head.“This can be fixed. No more secrets. No more lies... and we’ll be fine.”

  Maybe. But probably not.

  “Nikki.” Adam’s voice had deepened, demanding I listen to him. “I love you. I love you, Nikki, and I refuse to believe this is the end.”

  “We may not even get out of here alive,” I reminded him.

  “We will. I know it,” he nodded. “Now, do you want to know what I am?”

  I bit my lip while glancing down at his hands. Though circled with harsh metal bracelets, they were still the hands I loved. The hands that held me while I slept. The hands that showed me passion and love. The hands that caressed and teased and knew exactly where to touch to bring me to heights of pleasure I’d never known existed.

  But now, I had the memory of those hands turning beastly, with claws that could rip and shred me to pieces. Did I want to know what he was? Yes and no, but I’d never been called a coward and I refused to be one now.

  “Yes,” I told him. “What are you?”

  “I’m your husband,” he said, with a slight smile. Deciding to be a good girl and keep my sarcasm to myself, I waited for him to elaborate. “And I’m a shifter.” I blinked. “A wolf shifter.” I blinked again and stared at him, waiting for the punch line.

  “A wolf shifter?” I finally asked, when he added nothing more.

  “Yes.”

  “And you work for the CIA?”

  “Yes, well…” he dipped his head left and right. “Sort of. When the government found out about us, they designed a military operation called the Alpha Division. Kind of like the Army, Navy, etcetera, but it was compiled of shifters, and for the most part, they stayed on home soil. The Alpha Division would police their own kind, and keep our secret from hitting the general public. Now the division is split up into sectors across the country. I work for one of those sectors. The Delta Division.”

  Brain overload. What?

  I bit my lip and thought it through. The US government was known for having secrets. Deep secrets that they didn’t share with just anyone. I thought my clearance had been high, but obviously, it wasn’t high enough.

  “And Nolan?” I asked.

  “Nolan Parker,” Adam growled. “We call him Stone.”

  “You do realize, Nikki,” Nolan said in my ear, “You’re in deep shit. You weren’t sanctioned to know about the Alpha Division.”

  “She might not have been sanctioned,” Adam said, “but as my wife, it is allowed. She’s not the first human to be brought into the know after marrying a team member. I should have told her right away.” His eyes were full of regret as he looked down at me.

  Nolan gave a long suffering sigh. “He’s right, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to like it. It took every favor I had to keep the government from raining shit down on you two when they found out about your marriage.”

  “If they have an issue with it,” I said, keeping my eyes on my husband. “Then we’ll both quit.”

  Adam smiled his approval.

  “Very good,” Nolan said, and surprisingly, I could hear a smile in the voice. “Now, you two have bigger problems to solve. Adam and you are the only agents left on the plane. Hayes had been in charge of the prisoner, but I’ve been unable to get in contact with him. Without a visual, we have to assume he’s been taken out.”

  “Wait.” My forehead creased as I thought through the situation. “You said there was one agent still in the game… your words. Who’s the other agent?”

  “Me,” Adam replied.

  My brows furrowed as I asked, “But why are you here? This job doesn’t involve shifters. Does it?”

  Adam shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. But when they learned I would be on this flight, I was asked to keep an eye on the prisoner and the agent assigned to him. I had no clue you were on the same mission, or that you worked for the CIA.” His jaw ticked, as he ground his molars together. “Not until I walked into that bathroom.”

  My head spun with the boatload of information being thrown at me. “Okay, but both Adam and I have been detained,” I told Nolan, rattling my handcuffs to prove my point.

  A deep rumble came from Adam’s chest and I watched, eyes wide, as he flexed his arms and shoulders, his face a mask of concentration. There was a sharp snap, then Adam stretched his long arms out in front and stood up. “Not anymore,” he said, with a satisfied grin. The metal cuffs still circled his wrists, but the short chain that connected them had been snapped in two.

  “What? How did you...” I shook my head. Unbelievable.

  His grin widened as he flexed his biceps. “I’ve got the guns, baby.” He winked.

  Rolling my eyes, I frowned at him. “Why didn’t you do that to begin with?”

  “I was waiting for the guy outside the curtain to leave.” I turned to the curtain, but saw nothing. “And,” he continued, gaining my attention, “we had some things to work out. You and me,” he pointed between us, “are more important to me than anything else.”

  Aww! Reason number four why I’d agreed to marry him. He could say the sweetest things.

  “Okay,” I smiled. “But how am I supposed to get out of these things?” I nodded behind me, indicating the cuffs that were biting into my wrists.

  “Easy,” he said, just as the plane dipped, sending me crashing to my side. Passengers screamed, and Nolan cursed in my ear. “Flirt later,” he snapped. “They're losing control of the plane.”

  The plane dipped again, and my stomach turned over with the sudden motion. Adam carefully sat me up and pressed his lips to mine for a quick, yet sweet kiss. His thumb caressed my cheek, his touch as soft as a feather, but even that was too much for my bruised face. I winced, causing Adam’s eyes to darkened dangerously.r />
  “Ready to kick some ass, sweetheart?” he asked, showing off his wicked dimples as he grinned with anticipation.

  I leaned in and kissed him back. “Let’s do it,” I said.

  With a quick jerk, he had my wrists free. They fell to my sides, giving my shoulders some much needed relief. The metal cuffs still circled our wrists, but we had the use of our hands. Now, nothing could keep us from kicking some Gutierrez ass.

  CHAPTER 8

  The plan. Well, we didn’t have much of one, except do whatever we needed to do in order to get to the front of the plane. The first order of business? Take out the guard that was, more than likely, watching over the cabin.

  Sitting on the floor next to the curtain, I tucked my hair behind my ear and poked my head out. “Remember, make eye contact,” Adam whispered.

  I rolled my eyes, but refrained from speaking and giving myself away. My gaze traveled up the aisle and immediately found one of the hijackers. I narrowed my eyes on the disgusting pervert that had licked my neck. You are going down.

  He stood at the front of the cabin, a .22 with a silencer in his hand, pointed to the ceiling. His gaze was hard and unrelenting as he scanned the weeping passengers. I stared at him, willing his eyes to meet mine. It didn’t take long. As he scanned across the aisle, our eyes locked. At first, he looked surprised, his eye widening a fraction of an inch before they narrowed and an evil grin split his lips. When he took a step in my direction, I pulled back into the galley, letting the curtain fall in place.

  “Get behind me,” Adam said.

  With a sigh, I did as I was told. We’d talked this out and, though I’d argued my point that I was more than capable of taking the asshole down, Adam won. It would be swifter and more silent if he took this one first.

  The curtain twitched and Adam crouched down, his knees bent and hands balled into tight fists in front of his face. My eyes went straight to his ass. So sexy.

  “Is it playtime, pet?” The pervert said, as he pushed open the curtain.