[06] Slade

by Teresa Gabelman

  “After I call out the area to shoot, you will have seven seconds to take your aim and fire,” Slade instructed, watching as they all set their targets. “This is an accuracy test and will be counted as a score.”

  “But we didn’t get to practice much and we all can’t be like Annie Oakley over there who can shoot the balls off an ant. Can’t we get a little more practice?” Steve looked worried.

  “We don’t have time to stay on one thing too long,” Slade responded, looking at each of them. “We have too much to cover. It will be up to you to practice in your own time as we move ahead. If you need help with anything, help each other or grab a Warrior who is free and can help you.”

  “I’ll help you, Steve,” Jill called down from her lane.

  “Oh, thanks, Jill,” Steve called back. “Having a girl teach me how to shoot shouldn’t make me look like a loser.”

  Jill rolled her eyes with a snort. “Having a girl run around telling everyone she’s a better shot than you with proof would take care of that problem.”

  “Shit,” Steve mumbled, putting his earmuffs on before yelling, “In that case…sure, Jill, I would love for you to help me.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Jill smirked.

  “There goes my man card,” Steve cursed as he stood in his lane waiting for instructions.

  “Didn’t know you could lose something you didn’t have,” Jill shot back.

  “Funny stuff, Jill,” Steve yelled over the lanes. “If you fail at this protector stuff, you should do stand-up.”

  “We are seriously fucked,” Jax grumbled to Slade as they stood watching the bantering back and forth.

  Slade ignored him, stepping behind the three, stopwatch in hand. “Bring your weapons into position.” He waited, but when Jill kept hers down, he walked toward her. “Aim up, Jill.”

  “If it’s okay, I’m more comfortable with my weapon down until I know where I’m to aim.” Jill peeked at him over her shoulder.

  “That’s fine, but remember this is going to count,” Slade replied, giving her one more chance to change her position.

  “Let her fuck up,” Jax nodded toward Jill. “She’ll learn to listen before it’s too late. Or maybe she won’t.”

  Slade’s hold on the stopwatch tightened. As soon as this was finished, he was going to find out what the fuck Jax’s issue was with Jill. “Ready?” he called out, waiting for each to nod. “Heart.” He clicked the stopwatch as soon as he yelled the word.

  Three consecutive shots rang out, only five seconds of silence followed before Slade’s voice boomed another body part and shots fired. Once the exercise was finished, they brought in the targets, each staring at their work.

  Slade looked at each nodding his approval. “Not bad.”

  “Looks like sure shot there should have listened and brought up her aim.” Jax picked up Jill’s target, looking at it closely.

  Slade knew shit was about to hit the fan when Jill’s face scrunched up in anger. It seemed Adam and Steve also knew Jill’s facial expressions because they took a step back.

  “I was only off on the groin shot,” Jill confirmed, her voice low and even. “The others are dead on.”

  “Not good enough.” Jax laid it down before looking at her, daring her with his glare to say another word.

  Slade slammed his hand on the table. “Leave.” When no one moved, he looked at Jill, Adam and Steve. “I said leave!”

  Steve ran into Adam trying to get out of the room, but Jill remained for a second longer, her eyes not leaving Jax. When Slade growled low in his throat, she turned and walked out of the range, slamming the door behind her.

  “What is your fucking problem?” Slade turned on Jax. “We are supposed to be building them up, not tearing them down.”

  “She needs to go.” Jax didn’t back down. “She is, and I repeat once again, a liability.”

  “She deserves to go through the program like anyone else,” Slade countered, his temper on the edge of exploding.

  “Why don’t you just fuck her and get it over with.” Jax sneered then looked away, which was a mistake; he should have been looking for the punch that landed him across the room.

  “Whether I fuck her or not is not and never will be your business, motherfucker.” Slade reached down to pick him up, but Jax moved faster, swinging out, but missed when Slade moved out of the way. “You better rethink fighting me because I guarantee, you will lose.”

  Jax worked his jaw back and forth as he glared at Slade. “This is exactly my point. Would you have reacted this way if I had said Steve was a liability, which looking at his targets isn’t far off the mark.”

  “No, because you wouldn’t be telling me to fuck him,” Slade countered, still itching to hit Jax again.

  Thinking about that for a minute, Jax nodded with raised eyebrows. “True.”

  “She deserves to be here as much as anyone else,” Slade countered. “And I’m in charge of this program. If you can’t handle it, you need to remove yourself. She will be just as ready as any of the men.”

  Jax glared for a second longer before sighing, still moving his jaw. “Did you have to hit me so fucking hard?”

  “I don’t disrespect women and neither will anyone else in my presence,” Slade warned, grabbing up the targets.

  Once again, Jax cocked an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just respond with and I quote… ‘Whether I fuck her or not is not and never will be your business, motherfucker’?’”

  “That was a warning, nothing more,” Slade cursed under his breath, wondering where those words had come from. They just popped out in a fit of anger.

  Jax snorted. “Ah, yeah…okay, but I’m telling you, she is going to get one of those boys out there killed and you released from the Vampire Council. I’ve seen it happen before, and Goddammit, she’s a liability.”

  Unfortunately, Slade couldn’t argue with that point because he knew it was true, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

  Chapter 4

  Jill walked out of the shooting range behind Adam and Steve.

  “You did good, Jill.” Adam looked down at her. “Jax is just an asshole trying to—”

  “Do ants have balls?” Steve spoke into his phone.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Adam looked back at Steve as if he’d lost his mind.

  “Asking Siri,” Steve replied, looking at his phone.

  “If ants have balls?” Adam’s voice was a mix between exasperation and disbelief. “How in the hell is your phone going to know if ants have fucking balls?”

  “It’s not my phone; it’s Siri.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Come on, dude. Don’t tell me you’ve never used Siri.”

  A female-like robotic voice sounded from Steve’s phone. “This is what I found on the web for ‘Do ants have balls’.”

  “Ha!” Steve pointed at Adam, then to his phone looking surprised. “Well, I’ll be damned. Ants do have balls, but—”

  “Steve, shut the fuck up.” Adam smacked Steve’s phone, almost knocking it out of his hand. “I don’t care if ants have balls or not.”

  Jill barely heard their conversation. Her focus was on the conversation she heard going on behind closed doors and it was pissing her off. Adam and Steve stopped talking and listened to the angry Warrior voices also. Their pitiful glances toward her did her in. God, she was getting tired of fighting for every damn thing she wanted.

  “Whether I fuck her or not is not and never will be your business, motherfucker.” Slade’s voice boomed from the other room as if he weren’t standing behind closed doors. Even without their superb hearing, that statement was hard to miss as it rattled out into the hallway they stood in.

  Glancing at Steve and Adam, Jill’s face burned. How freaking humiliating to be standing there while being discussed loudly in the next room.

  “Ah, yeah…okay, but I’m telling you, she is going to get one of those boys out there killed and you released from the Vampire Council. I’ve seen it happen before
, and Goddammit, she’s a liability.” This time it was Jax’s voice that reached them.

  “Jill, that’s bullshit,” Adam said, shaking his head. “You know it and we know it.”

  “Yeah, it is.” Jill glared at the door and before anyone could stop her, she headed that way and burst into the room they had been told to leave.

  “Jill, don’t!” Adam called out, but it was too late.

  “Transfer me!” Jill walked into the room, her glare going from Slade who looked pissed and Jax who didn’t look any happier. “If it’s such an issue me being here, just transfer me.”

  “No one will take you,” Jax stated, not in a mean taunt, but as a fact.

  Jill opened up her mouth to respond, but the realness of those words hit her pretty hard. Shutting her mouth, she looked away from her peers, swallowing hard before nodding. She felt Adam and Steve walk up behind her. “If it came down to anyone on my team dying or having to make a decision against the Council because of me, I would take myself out.” Jill jerked her chin up, praying she could do just that if the time came.

  “And that will not make any of us feel any better.” Jax tilted his head, staring hard at her. “Whether you like it or not, you are a woman and a woman is a man’s downfall on the battlefield. It’s a proven fact from the beginning of time and war.”

  Jill felt a frantic laugh bubble in her throat. She felt everything slipping away and had no clue how to turn it back around. “It doesn’t matter what I do, does it?” Jill looked from Jax to Slade and then back to Jax again. “When I don’t do something right, I’m a liability. And when I do something I’m good at, it’s not good enough.”

  He shook his head. “Either way, you’re a liability. It doesn’t matter how good or bad you do anything.”

  The room was deadly silent. Jax finally looked away, but Slade’s eyes never left her. Adam and Steve looked everywhere else. She had never felt so alone as she did at that moment.

  “If she goes, I go,” Adam’s voice rose from the silence.

  “Adam, don’t.” Jill shook her head.

  “No, this is bullshit.” Adam pointed at Jax. “You don’t talk for me. If I had to choose from anyone to stand by me, it would be Jill.”

  “Easy to say…now,” Jax sighed.

  “No, easy to say, period.” Adam took a step forward, but Jill stopped him. “And I will say it again, if she goes, I go.”

  “Same goes for me.” Steve stepped forward. “Not having a sharp shooter who can shoot the balls off an ant is a bad move in my book.” Steve winked at Jill, giving her his goofy smile.

  Emotion gripped Jill’s throat in a choke hold making her unable to speak at all, but her eyes thanked Adam and Steve more than her words ever could.

  “Jill is an asset to the VC Warriors,” Slade’s voice rolled over her emotions, almost doing her in. “And if you don’t like it, I release you from assisting me in their preparations for their initiation. I’m sure Sloan has other duties you can do. Either drop it or get out.”

  Jax leaned back, looking at each of them, and then shrugged. “It’s your funeral.” He looked at Steve and Adam before turning his attention to Slade. “And your early retirement.”

  “I said to fucking drop it,” Slade growled, taking a step toward Jax. Jax held up his hands as if surrendering. Slade glared at him for a second longer before grabbing the clipboard. “You guys go ahead and wait outside. We’ll get your scores and then head back to the compound. Sloan texted me earlier and has a job that needs doing.”

  Jill nodded before looking at Jax, who was leaning against the wall, staring at her. “What?” Her tone wasn’t pleasant.

  “Nothing really.” Jax’s half-grin didn’t fool her.

  Before anyone else could say a word, a woman’s robotic voice came from Steve’s phone, “This is what I found on the web for ‘Do ants have balls’.”

  “Ah shit.” Steve looked down at his phone. “I must have hit something to make it go off again.”

  Jax’s mocking laugh grated on Jill’s last nerve. Without thinking, she flung her hand toward Steve and to everyone’s astonishment, his phone was pulled away from his hand and flung into Jill’s hand. Hitting the button for Siri, she brought the phone to her mouth. “Male chauvinistic pig.”

  “What the hell?” Steve stared at his hand to Jill holding his phone. “How the hell did you do that?”

  As soon as Siri answered, Jill looked down at the phone with a smirk, and then tossed Steve’s phone to Jax before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She knew she would pay for that little stunt, but she didn’t care. What she really wanted to do was tell him to fuck off, but Jax was a scary guy and she wasn’t quite that brave or stupid.

  Heading out of the shooting range, she walked back to the compound, which was only a few blocks away. She didn’t want to answer questions about what she had just done with Steve’s phone, because she really didn’t know how she did it, just knew she could. She had been practicing a lot, and one night in her room, she managed to move a cup across her small desk to her open hand. With more practice, she discovered not only could she move things with her hands, but pull objects toward her. It was pretty cool. She was sure Jax found it lame, but she didn’t really care. Okay, that was a lie. She did care what the asshole thought. She had always been a pleaser and hated, absolutely hated when someone was upset with her or didn’t like her. It sucked, but it was what it was.

  Checking her pockets as she ran up the compound steps, she frowned. Dammit, she forgot her keys again. She was hoping to go to her room without being seen so she could get her mind right before seeing Sloan and the rest of the Warriors. Hitting the buzzer, she looked around, wondering what Slade had thought about her taking Steve’s phone like that. She released a frustrated breath; there she went again, wondering what others thought. She needed to get over that and not care. It was a cool power to have and she was perfecting it; that was all that should matter. Not what the hot doc thought.

  “Jill?” Tessa’s voice came over the intercom.

  Stepping fully into view of the camera, Jill smiled and waved. “It’s me. Forgot my keys again.”

  The door opened and Jill walked in to see Tessa heading back to the game room in a hurry, motioning for her to come. “Hurry up,” Tessa called out over her shoulder.

  “What’s going on?” Jill hurried across the entryway then stopped at the doorway. Sitting in front of the big screen television were Nicole, Lana, Pam, Angelina and Tessa plopping down on the couch.

  “Okay, Lana, hit it.” Tessa settled in with a big smile.

  Jill looked at the television as Russell Crowe’s face and buff bod dressed as a gladiator entered an arena. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “Angela and Lana have never seen it,” Tessa grinned.

  “Do the guys know you’re watching it?” Jill walked further into the room, leaning against the couch, her eyes glued to the television, putting the Warriors in place of the actors. It was kind of surreal.

  “Hell, no,” Nicole grinned with a snort. “I could hear them now…”

  “Yeah,” Tessa laughed. “Russell Crowe’s a pussy,” she deepened her voice to mock Jared.

  Jill felt the presence of the Warriors as soon as they walked into the room. Glancing over her shoulder, Damon, Jared, Duncan and Sid wore matching frowns.

  “He is a pussy,” Jared’s deep voice boomed throughout the room.

  Tessa screamed, trying to control the remote she bobbled as she attempted to turn the television off. All the women had turned with the ‘oh, shit, busted’ look on their faces. Jill sidestepped, making room as the Warriors headed toward the women. As shitty as her day had been, it might as well end on a bad note, even though she really wasn’t part of the Gladiator party the women were throwing.

  “What the hell are you watching?” Sid frowned at the still image of Russell Crowe dressed in gladiator garb in the middle of an arena.

  “Ah, well, we….” Tessa began
until Sid’s eyes flashed to her.

  Nicole stood in front of the television as if trying to hide the frozen screen. “We are watching a movie,” Nicole finished for Tessa before moving toward Damon. “Same thing we usually do when you guys go out on a job. Calms our nerves.” She reached Damon, putting her arms around his neck.

  Damon smiled down at her, placing a kiss on her lips. “What movie are we watching?” His deep voice was low, but radiated throughout the room.

  “Oh, that doesn’t matter now.” Nicole winked up at him. “Now that you are home, I’m not in the mood to watch a movie.”

  Jill watched Nicole flirt with Damon in awe. It actually looked like it was working. His attention had turned fully to her. Damn, she was good. Tessa, Lana and Pam all stood, heading toward their men in hopes of turning their attention away. It seemed to work until Steve and Adam walked into the room.

  “Gladiators!” Steve grinned with a nod. “That’s a kickass movie.”

  “Steve!” Every woman except Jill yelled, making Steve jump.

  “What?” He actually looked nervous under their angry glares.

  “Gladiators?” Sid frowned at the frozen television screen, then turned to Lana. “Are you kidding me? What the hell are you watching that for?”

  Jared grasped Tessa’s hand, taking the remote she still had in her death grip. Re-clicking the pause button, the movie began to play. A lot of grumbling came from the Warriors as they watched the gladiators in the arena.

  “Look how he’s holding that sword,” Duncan snorted, shaking his head, his arms tight around Pam as she stood in front of him.

  “Those guys would be pissing themselves if they ever found themselves in a real arena.” Jared’s voice was full of disgust, but his golden eyes stayed on the screen watching the scene unfold.

  Jill glanced around at each Warrior who somehow had their hands on their mates. Even Adam had Angelina wrapped up in his embrace. She and Steve were the only ones without any physical contact. Steve wasn’t a bad guy, goofy, but not a bad guy. He was nice looking, in a ‘boy next door’ kind of way. Frowning, Jill wondered where in the hell those thoughts came from. Loneliness? Yeah, definitely loneliness because Steve was so not her type. It was pretty bad if she was even looking toward Steve as a…mate. Holy shit, she was losing it. She had to get the hell out of there before she grabbed Steve like the lonely loser she was.