Lance made a move to assist her with loading it, but she shook her head. “I’ve got it. Thanks.”
Roi returned with another menu in hand. “How about pizza?”
Missy took aim, fired, and scored a direct hit to his groin before reloading and then shooting Roi right between the eyes. Neither dart stuck, but the one between the eyes left a mark for a moment. Everyone, including Lukian, laughed.
Wilson leaned and gazed up at Missy. “If you were aiming for his brains, you got them with your first shot.”
“Oh, I know,” replied Missy with a wink.
Roi bent, picking up the darts with a groan. He handed them to Missy. “Are you going to kiss my boo-boos now?”
She glanced at Peren. “I might have to kill this one.”
“She’s a touch nicer when she’s been fed,” offered Peren apologetically to Roi before glancing at Lukian, who seemed more amused than anything else.
His blue gaze moved to her and she blushed, having to look away as she thought about what they’d done upstairs only hours earlier. Lukian pushed Wilson’s legs off the side of the chair and then sat on the arm of the chair. He winked at Peren and she jerked closer to Melanie.
Melanie put her head against Peren’s shoulder. Peren noticed that it was the big guy named Green who moved in Melanie’s direction first—beating out Lance, as if he wanted to comfort her.
Peren closed her eyes a moment and silently prayed Melanie wouldn’t sleep with that guy too. That was all she needed right now. Two big guys going to blows over Melanie. It had happened before and would more than likely happen again.
“Roi, order food,” said Lukian, standing and drawing the attention of the men. “Ladies, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go speak with my friends a second.”
Missy shrugged. “Can the topic of taking us home come up in there?”
Melanie nodded. “I want to go home. Let’s call my brother.”
Eadan Daly would come running if he thought the girls needed help. Deep down Peren knew that would cause more problems than it would solve. Her friends didn’t know she was being hunted by things that weren’t human. She didn’t want to involve Eadan in it all too.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“We need to get out of here,” Missy said softly as she and Peren rinsed the dishes from dinner. The safe house was equipped with just about everything—except paper plates. Peren didn’t turn to acknowledge her friend’s statement, she just nodded. Missy was right, she knew that. They needed to go home. The thought of leaving Lukian made her sick to her stomach, but the thought of staying scared her just as badly. She’d spent the greater part of the day avoiding him. He’d tried to talk with her once, but she’d turned away and left him standing alone. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done.
A light pain started in her temple. She’d been experiencing the pains since Melanie had told her about Lance’s change. She kept feeling like something was trying to push through her head. The only thing that helped was to imagine a wall around her, protecting her, shielding her, for lack of a better word. She’d asked Green for an aspirin, and he had been the one to suggest trying the semi-meditation techniques. They’d been working out well for her. Green seemed like a nice man. He was handsome and, as far as she could tell, unattached. She’d wished that it had been he that Melanie had fallen for, not Nordic god Lance.
She finished with the dishes and headed upstairs to check on Melanie. Voices floated to her from the other end of the hallway. Peren sank back into the corner and stood silently, needing to understand what was going on in the house.
“I can’t believe that little prick even suggested hurting them. I should have ripped his fucking head off.” She knew that deep voice. It was Roi, the one who stayed close to Lukian and the one Missy had taken to only referring to as Pig’s Asshole.
“I know, I feel the same way,” Lukian answered.
“Of course you feel the same. I still can’t believe you took her as your mate. The others in the pack will be hesitant to call her their queen. Doesn’t matter what she is, Lukian, she’s not fully one of us. Hell, does she even know about you?”
“No,” Lukian said softly. “I’m not sure how to tell her. Any suggestions on how to do it?”
“Oh, I don’t know, you could try the truth. Peren, I fucked you, came in you, and cemented a bond that’s eternal. Try to back out and I’ll be left no choice but to carry out my original orders. How’s that for a proposal? Maybe telling her she’s now royalty would help. Chicks like to be called princess and queen and shit.”
Lukian growled. “Stop bringing that up. I’ve told you already that part of my life isn’t important to me.”
Roi shrugged. “If I were king, I know I wouldn’t shrug it off. No worries…so…what about this girl?”
Peren fought to control her breathing. What the hell were they talking about? It had to be her and Lukian, but what was all this nonsense about forever and royalty? Yeah, the thought of waking up in his arms every day made her want to do backflips, but he was involved in some heavy shit and she didn’t want to get in any deeper than she already was.
“Are you going to tell her about yourself?” Roi asked.
There was a pause before she heard Lukian reply. “Again, I’m still trying to figure out how to tell her. She needs to know about her genetic makeup, as well. That should come from her father. He has to know. A man like him, with his history in genetics and his part in the Ops Program, he can’t be clueless on what his daughter really is. Oh gods, what if he did that to her? What if he’s why she is what she is? How do I tell her that?”
“What kind of sick bastard does that to his own daughter?” Roi asked.
“Here’s the thing. I knew him, Roi, and the man was the type who’d lasso the moon for his wife. I can’t see where his daughter would be any different. I remember the look on his face when he told me that his wife was expecting. They’d been trying for years and hadn’t had any luck. Dr. Matthews was on cloud nine.”
Peren stood quietly, absorbing all she’d just heard. How could Lukian have known her father before she was born? He didn’t look much older than her. And what was the Ops Program?
“I don’t know how much her father had to do with what she is, but for now I’ve bought us some time with Brooks. He thinks she’s dead. That’ll give us some time to try to figure out who hired us to kill her.”
Hired to kill me?
Peren fell back against the wall when she heard what Lukian had said. He’d been hired to kill her? She dropped back, missed the top step, slamming hard into the next one.
“What the…?” Roi said from behind her.
She turned and stared past him at Lukian. Lukian’s blue eyes widened as he clearly realized she’d overheard his conversation. “Peren…shit, no!”
In an attempt to put distance between them, Peren slid down the stairs hard and fast. The feel of the hard wood smacking against her legs made her want to stop—the thought of Lukian’s betrayal kept her going. The bottom step came upon her quickly and she jumped to her feet. She turned and looked at the front door. They kept it bolted tight. They had claimed it was to keep bad things out. Now she wondered if it was really to keep her in.
She ran past the door and eyed up the front room window. Bars were on the other side. She’d noticed that earlier in the day. Her mind raced as she thought of a way out, then it hit her.
“Peren, baby…wait!” Lukian called out from behind her. His arm shot out to grab her and she ducked under him.
Roi grabbed hold of her and she brought her forehead down hard into his face.
“Son-of-a-bitch,” yelled Roi as he grabbed at his nose, dropping her in the process.
She ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time. When she threw the bedroom door open, she nearly ripped it off the hinges. Footsteps followed close behind her.
*
“Shit! She’s a wild one!” Roi yelled as he ran behind Lukian up the stairs.
“
You’ve no idea!” Lukian shouted back.
Lukian ran toward the bedroom. He caught sight of Peren’s hair as she ran into the room. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might leap out of his chest. He couldn’t lose her, not now that he had just found her. No, she was his and he would try to make her see that he’d never hurt her.
He rushed into the room and stopped so fast that Roi ran right into him, sending both of them crashing to the ground. He looked up, alarmed, when he saw Peren diving through the window. The sound of breaking glass and cracking wood filled the air around them. He pushed to his feet, followed closely by Roi.
“Peren!” he yelled.
They were two and a half stories aboveground. Lukian hit the window and stopped, not wanting to see Peren’s broken body. Roi moved past him and glanced out.
“I’ll be a monkey’s uncle…or wait, make that a wolf’s brother, or pig’s asshole, depending on who you ask.” Roi’s hand touched his shoulder. “It’s okay, look.”
Lukian turned to see Peren using a nearby tree branch to swing her body around, much the same way a gymnast would use the uneven bars. His eyes widened as she gracefully dismounted. She dropped to the ground and crouched for a moment, like a tiger. Her head turned quickly to one side. He knew that her instincts were telling her which way was home, and he knew that whoever else had been in the woods with them the other night would be waiting there for her return.
He went to leap out of the window and onto the tree. Roi grabbed his arm. “Hey, wolf boy, you’re not made for swinging from trees. Take the stairs.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Peren’s bare feet pounded on the ground beneath them. Each step she took she thought about her friends and how she’d left them at the safe house with hired guns. She had to double back and get them. She had to protect them. Her mind said one thing, but her body did another. Adrenaline was pushing her, driving her onward.
When she spotted the edge of her property line, confusion hit her hard. How the hell far had she gone? How long had she been running? Her pace slowed as she ran to the iron gate. Her key card was still back at Lukian’s. She rushed over to the electronic pad and keyed in the code. The darn thing didn’t budge. No shock. Her father had been terrible with upkeep on nearly everything. It was all she could do to convince him to maintain one wing of the home, let alone the entire thing. They had the money. He just didn’t seem to care if the place fell apart around them.
Come on, come on!
Nothing.
A rustling in the bushes caught her attention. Had the beasts from the woods near the bar tracked her again? Had they come to finish her off? She spun around to find Lukian standing there. His royal-blue gaze looked hungry as it locked firmly on her. Turning, she hit the button to the gate again. She shouted out something that wasn’t even words so much as it was a cry of frustration.
Lukian grabbed her. “Peren, don’t draw any more attention to yourself. You’re in danger.”
A wild laugh burst free from her. “Yeah, I heard all about it. What? Do you want a little more action before you bump me off?”
“Bump you off? Who even uses that phrase anymore? I’ve been alive a long time and I don’t remember anyone other than fictitious Hollywood characters using that. I once knew a gangster, but he said…never mind.” He smiled wide and continued on, loosening his grip on her as he went. “I must say that it does have a certain amount of charm when you use it. Say it again. It’s adorable.”
She was aghast that he was trying to make light of the situation. She’d trusted him, cared for him, and quite possibly allowed herself to fall in love with him and he’d been sent to kill her. That would end even the best of relationships.
Lukian took another step toward her and she backed up into the iron gate. She wondered if she’d have time to scale the thing before he got hold of her.
Probably not.
“Missy and Melanie?” she asked, worried about her friends’ safety.
“I’m guessing Missy is still giving Roi hell and Green is probably watching over Melanie. She’s pretty shaken up.”
Peren thought about what Melanie had confessed to her—that Lance had changed during sex. She also thought of the conversation she’d overheard between Lukian and Roi. “What am I?”
“Not human,” he said, his voice oddly even.
She didn’t scream or faint, all the things that seemed expected when one received news like that. Instead, she exhaled as if she’d been waiting all her life for that confirmation. “And what about you?”
“I’m not human either.”
She narrowed her gaze on him. “Honestly, I don’t know that I can handle much more of the truth right now.”
“Understandable.”
She fought the urge to cry, feeling powerless and overwhelmed with recent events.
“Peren,” he said softly, no malice to his voice. “I’m sorry you heard what you did.”
“But you’re not sorry you were hired to bump me off?”
His lips quirked, but he wisely refrained from laughing. “I’m sorry about that too. From the second the order was issued I had problems with it. I understand why now.”
“Why then?” she demanded.
“You’re not ready to hear the truth of it all,” he said, easing closer.
She reached out to touch his cheek. His hand caught her wrist gently, turned her palm to his face, and kissed it tenderly. A tidal wave of heat poured through her as she stood before him. She wanted to both hit him and kiss him. It was all quite confusing.
He laughed again. “I vote for kiss me.”
The second the words left his mouth she did just that, going to her tiptoes, her lips finding his. His hands found her waist as she kissed feverishly at his mouth, unable to get enough of him. It felt as if a curtain in her mind pulled back, and she recognized the strange sensation she’d been having all day. It was Lukian. He was in her head. He’d been invading her mind since the moment they’d met.
She thought about how he’d guessed her thoughts, about being torn between kissing him or hitting him. Mild panic swept over her as her mind raced.
He can read my thoughts
“Yes, and you will be able to read mine in time. I’m sure of it,” he whispered tenderly in her ear.
“What?”
“It will come with some time, Peren.”
She tried desperately to see inside his mind. Nothing but an overwhelming feeling of security came to her. He would never harm her or allow anyone else to either. Reluctantly, she drew back from him. She grabbed his hand, held it tight in hers, and turned to the gate that was now opening. The stupid thing had a mind of its own.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lukian wasn’t sure what he’d expected the Matthews house to be, but it certainly wasn’t this. The place was massive, nearly as large as his home in Maine, but not well-kept by any means. It was the mansion time had forgotten. Only the west wing was in order. The other wings had been left to their own devices.
He stared around and shook his head.
Peren took notice of him and sighed. “I don’t remember a time it wasn’t this way. There are a few people who come and tend the grounds and the wing where we live. They tell me that at one time the entire home was something out of a storybook. My father doesn’t discuss it much.”
“Peren, does he need money?” asked Lukian. “I have plenty. What is mine is yours.”
She smiled at him sweetly. “That is sweet of you to offer, but we’re fine. More than fine. I’ve sat in on meetings with my father’s financial advisers. He isn’t hurting for cash. He just, well, I don’t know. He seems safe here but unable to let the past go. Weird, huh?”
Lukian glanced around. Yes, it was certainly strange. Lukian himself had grown up in the lap of luxury. His mother had been the only child of a wealthy family and was orphaned before she was old enough to wed. Her uncle had custody of her but was anything but civil to her. Once Lukian’s father, who was rich beyo
nd words, had appeared, the uncle had begun physically abusing her. The wolf in his father was too hard to control and the man in him would not stand by and watch the woman he loved be abused. Lukian had never been officially told how his mother’s uncle had died, but he had his suspicions.
No, money had never been an issue to Lukian. He gave sizable amounts to charity each year and kept his nose clean. He lived a modest life for a man of his position and wealth, and that was perfectly fine by him. Or, at least, it had been fine with him until he stepped foot inside Peren’s family home.
Lukian wouldn’t allow the home to remain in this state any longer than it had to. He’d speak with Dr. Matthews, and he’d handle the repairs, even if he had to do them himself. Roi would have a field day when he found out Lukian was planning on actually spending some of his fortune. He’d been after him for years to do so. Though his friend would be disappointed it didn’t involve hot triplets.
As they entered the kitchen, Peren began moving about once more, as if looking for her father. She’d been doing much the same thing since she’d led him into her home. He knew her father wasn’t there, and so did she, yet she insisted on checking every room in the west wing. He needed to check in with his team, but now wasn’t the time to step out and make a call. Instead, Lukian did something he and his men were capable of doing but tried to avoid because of the drain it often took on them.
He reached out with his mind, down the mental path the I-Ops used, and connected almost instantly. I have her. She’s safe.
Good, returned Roi. The other two are pissed. Missy has threatened to geld me if Peren doesn’t show back up soon, totally unharmed.
Lukian hid his smile. I’m starting to like Missy more and more. She keeps you in line nicely.
If you mean wants to put my balls in a fucking jar and then slit my throat, sure, she’s great.
Immortal Ops: New & Lengthened 2016 Anniversary Edition Page 10