by Honor James
“Then we should all live here,” Danel said. “It’s extremely secure and I know that I, for one, would feel better knowing that if you are here on your own at night, that you are safe. Though we will take you out to the other place when we can all arrange a time off at the same time.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Briar frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Wait, I will be alone at night? Why?” she asked quietly. “I don’t think that I like that at all. I don’t think that I would want to be alone at night. I have a hard enough time being alone at night as it is, but in a new place as well?”
“I did say if you were here on your own,” he said. Reaching over, he touched her hand gently. “We don’t plan on leaving you alone for any amount of time if we can help it. But, from time to time, it might be required.”
“I certainly hope not.” Briar hated to show her fear, but she could with them because they would understand. “I hope that I’m never left alone, I really do. I mean I know just how silly that sounds, but there it is.”
“It’s not silly,” Byrne said. “Not after all you’ve been through, Briar. And we understand that. If we get called out you know you are more than welcome to come with us if you decide to. We wouldn’t leave you here alone unless it was by your choice, sweetheart.”
“Thank you for understanding and being so great about it. I know that I feel far better when I’m around you then when I’m not.” She was coming out of her shell. She was doing that because of these two men. No other reason, them.
“We’re your mates,” he said simply. “We may not always get it, but we’re going to support you through all of this, Briar. Now, eat your breakfast. It is apparently the most important meal of the day and shouldn’t be skipped. Or so your medical types keep harping on about.”
“Hey, I resent that remark,” she teased him. “I’m one of those medical types, you know.” But she did, however, dig into her breakfast and sighed happily as she did so. “Oh this is good. Very, very good. You boys certainly know how to take care of a girl.”
They shared a look before sending her equally droll looks. But they didn’t say anything, just dug into their meals and ate. Okay, so they knew how to take care of her, specifically. Which was good, they had obviously been paying a lot of attention to her over the years.
It wasn’t until they had finished their meal that Briar finally leaned back and watched the two of them as they cleaned up. “I’m happy,” she blurted out. “I just want you two to know that. I’m honestly happy.” And she was, weirdly enough.
They both shot her a confused look, glanced at one another, and went back to work. Byrne muttered something that had Danel shrugging and saying in return. “Women are weird, Byrne. You learn to live with it or go crazy. I’ve heard it’s just easier to give them what they want so you don’t drive yourself bonkers.” She likely wasn’t supposed to hear it, he did say it softly, but he did throw a wink over his shoulder so maybe, just maybe, she was supposed to hear that.
“Hardy-har-har,” Briar muttered with an affectionate laugh. “You guys are just such kidders aren’t you? The two of you should start a comedy show,” she teased. She loved to tease them. “And yes, it is far easier to just accept what I say and go on with life. It will make all of us happier in the end.” She was teasing now and they both knew it.
All it got her was a pair of harrumphs, and then Danel said something she couldn’t understand. The language was musical in sound and had Byrne bursting out laughing, one he quickly put a hand over his mouth to try and stifle. Shooting her another wink, he turned to the sink and began to do the dishes.
“Oh no. You boys cannot have a joke between yourselves and then not share it with me. Come on, mister, tell me what your little joke was, please?” she asked with a grin. “Come on, doll, you know that you want to tell me.” She wanted them to tell her just exactly what it was that had them both laughing.
Byrne shook his head. “It really doesn’t translate well into your language. But the basic gist is one of your Earth sayings of a happy life starts with a happy wife. It’s a lot more convoluted and insightful in Ahnjel, but that’s the basis of it, sort of.”
“Yeah, okay.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Good thing that I love you two or else I might just take offense.” That was when it hit her, the looks they gave her. It was the first time she actually spoke those words aloud to the both of them. “I do. I’ve realized it for a while now. I love you, both of you.”
It was definitely a toss-up which of them looked more stunned by her proclamation. Danel recovered faster, though, and grinned. Walking to her, he took her hands and pulled her up, gently, to her feet. “We love you, too,” he said, wrapping her in a gentle hug. Byrne joined them a moment later, his arms sliding around her, his body at her back and hugged her with care.
“That’s a very, very good thing because I think that the two of you are the only ones that will ever be able to put up with me and my madness. I love you both.” Now that she said it, she found the second time easier.
Leaning in, Danel pressed a kiss to her lips, light and very gentle. Smiling down at her, he loosened his hold so she could turn and get a kiss from Byrne. “We should get ready to head into the office. If you want to go and shower while we finish cleanup, now’s your chance,” Danel said gently.
“Crap balls, yeah, we do need to go to the office.” She held her hands out and wiggled her fingers. “Come on, if I have to go in to the office I’m damn well going to hold your hand. I’m tired of running, tired of fighting the feelings that I have for you. Am I over everything that happened in the past? Mostly, fully? I don’t think that will ever happen. Your mate is damaged, flawed. Will you both be able to live with that?” she asked them softly, suddenly needing that additional reaffirmation.
Grabbing her hands, he pulled her in close to him and leaned in to stare her right in the eyes. “You are perfect as you are. We are all damaged in some way, Briar. The world is not a soft and safe place. We all bear wounds from the fight that is life. Not all may be visible. Those that are hidden are the hardest to heal from but the ones that shape us the most. We love you as you are. No matter what we will always, always be at your side.”
Briar looked up at Danel and saw the truth in his eyes. She swallowed hard and nodded. “I’m glad.” She whispered just those two little words. For the longest time she just let him hold her, soaked up the pleasure and joy she had with him just holding her, and then finally pulled back. “Thank you for that. I needed that I think. You are right, however. We do need to go to the office.” As much as she didn’t want to.
“Shower and get ready. We’ll meet you back out here after we’ve done the same and finished cleaning up. Go, take your time and enjoy a nice hot shower.” Leaning over, he kissed her lips gently and let her go. Byrne touched her chin and leaned in as she turned to kiss her lips as well, equally gentle in the touch.
“I think I will.” When they kissed her she felt the happiness from the simple touch of their lips to hers. She smiled at her men and then nodded. “See you later. I need like half an hour, if that’s good with you.”
“Go,” they both said and pointed toward the hall.
Chapter Eight
Walking her down to her area, Danel nodded to a few people who called out greetings to him. Byrne was upstairs working on some leads he’d picked up and stuck on the phone. Sucked to be him.
Stepping onto her turf, he took a look through the rooms, clearing them, she knew, before coming over to her. Putting his hands on her cheeks, he stared down at her. “Will you be okay?” he asked softly. “’Cause if not, I’ll leave Byrne to do all the work himself and stay down here with you.”
“No, I will be fine.” She didn’t want to be alone, but they had a job to do, and honestly so did she. “I was just sent three cases that the purely human facility couldn’t figure out, so they are hoping that with some of the things I’ve seen I will be able to help.” Bodies, it was left unsaid. While Briar
helped out as a medical doctor around the AEDA, she was still the coroner for all things strange and unusual. She leaned into him, however, her forehead to his when he bent down. “Just keep in touch with me?” She whispered her question softly, just for his ears.
Nodding, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You know we will. We’ll likely drive you absolutely insane with our check-ins, but you know, that’s just us.” Smiling, he pressed a kiss to her lips before wrapping her in his arms for a hug. “And you call us if you need anything at all. We should be in the office all day, but if we need to head out we’ll give you a heads up.”
“Don’t worry, I will call.” She leaned into the hug and sighed. She could really get used to this. She wanted to be held like this for the rest of time. “I will check in after the first autopsy,” she assured him with a smile. “Now, go. Go and do what you need to do.”
“Good,” he said, rubbing his thumbs to her cheeks. Pressing a kiss to her lips again, he stepped back and dropped his hands. Giving her a small smile, he turned and walked out of the room. But he did throw one more look back her way before disappearing out of sight.
* * * *
Byrne looked up when Danel walked in. “She’s all settled in?” he asked.
Nodding to him, Danel settled into his chair. “She’s got things to do and knows to call if she needs us. And if we need to leave for any reason I said we’d call her.”
“Good enough for me. I have to go down to cryptography for a bit. There are some patterns I’m starting to find that are a little too reminiscent of the shit Lilly’s been having to deal with. I want one of them to look at everything and see if I’m nuts or if I’m actually seeing what I think I am.”
“I’ll be here,” Danel told him as he watched Byrne get to his feet. “I should try and finish these blasted reports. Gods only know when I’ll have another chance.”
Byrne let out a laugh. “You should try to look a little less pleased about it, you know.”
“Fuck you. I hate doing paperwork,” he muttered, his lips curling in a sneer.
“I know,” Byrne snickered. Picking up the files, he left his friend glowering at the paperwork and the computer. Whistling softly, he took the stairs down to one of the lower levels and walked into the dimly lit area. It was very cool down there with all the computers and every one of those working was surrounded by no less than three screens, some by even more.
Stopping near the main desk, he leaned in to speak with the head of the department and was pointed to a desk near the back. Looking over all the heads, he nodded and thanked the woman.
Heading through the department, he nodded to a few who looked up. But he had a target in sight and she was the only one he was focusing on. Stopping in front of her desk, he held the files before him and waited for her to notice him, even slightly.
It took her several seconds to notice someone was in her space, and then all she said was, “Just put it down.” She had thought it was her lunch order. She moved through screens and leaned in, her eyes squinting as she rolled through screen after screen of numbers. Finally, however, she pulled back, put her screens on sleep, and turned to look at whoever was delivering food today to blast them and looked up, and up some more. “Holy crap balls you are huge,” she whispered.
Gulping, she then felt as if she had fallen down the rabbit hole and heard herself squeaking to ask, “What do you want?” It wasn’t “what can I do for you” because that wasn’t the kind of person she was. She was one of those weird people that didn’t give two shits what people thought of her, and she wasn’t about to start with some massive dude looking at her as if she were two.
Chuckling at her, he grinned. “I’ve heard that a time or two. As to what I want—” He handed her over the files. “I need someone to look through all of these and see if they see what I’ve been seeing. I won’t say more than that. I don’t want to bias you one way or another. My card is attached to the top file. When you find something, anything at all, call me directly. Speak with no one else. This is of the highest of priorities and top secret. Clear?”
“Crystal,” she said and took the file. Flipping open the first page, she began to go through the codes. A frown between her eyes as she skimmed it with her fingers, dismissing him without even saying it because her focus was solely on the code before her. She did, however, lift a hand and wave him off. “Go. I will call.” She spoke as if she owned the world, which she didn’t, but right here in this five feet of space around her she was Goddess.
Chuckling at her dismissal, Byrne left her to it. They were a seriously weird bunch down on that floor. Nodding to the supervisor as he left, he hit the button for his floor and what he considered normal. Looking in her direction again, he hoped the woman could find what they needed. Something was wrong, very wrong and he needed to figure out just what it was.
Stepping out on his floor, he paused, an odd shimmer going through him. His instincts were whispering. Frowning, he tipped his head, lifting a hand absently to greet someone that called his name. Turning, he hit the button again on the elevator and stepped in, blinking when he saw Danel slip in next to him.
“What?” the other man asked.
“I—” He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know, but my instincts are awake and whispering at me. I don’t think it’s a threat, they’d be screaming, but it’s something important.”
Danel just nodded and looked at the elevator panel. “With Briar, I’m guessing since that’s where we’re heading.”
Blinking at that, Byrne looked to the panel. He hadn’t even realized he’d hit a button let alone the one for the floor where her offices and medical was. “I guess so but I don’t know if it’s her or just something on that floor.”
“Just go with the instinct. I’ll keep you from walking into walls,” Danel advised.
Briar looked up from the data pad she was entering her final data from her last autopsy on and saw her men entering the floor. Frowning, she put the data pad down and walked out of her office. “Hey, guys. You okay?” she asked and stopped before Byrne, who had a faraway look on his face. “Byrne?” she asked softly, reaching out and touching his cheek gently.
Danel caught her wrist and shook his head. Drawing her closer to him, he wrapped an arm around her waist. When she went to ask a question, he pressed a finger to her lips and left it there as Byrne began to meander up a hall. Only when he was about fifteen feet away did he drop his finger.
“His instinct kicked in upstairs. It’s something unique to the Luhpynes, like a radar of sort. It can be from something very mild to screaming. Screaming is usually when they are in danger, that sense of your hair lifting on your nape, same thing but a lot stronger in them.” He began to move her along behind her other mate as he tipped his head one way and then the other before choosing a direction.
“Not sure what set it off, so I’m just following along behind him to see what we find. It could be nothing, could be a secret stash of snacks or, fuck, anything. But we can’t interrupt him until he finds it otherwise he’ll be a beast to live with. Trust me, been there, done that and we’re not repeating it. So, we shall follow along, talking nice and quietly and let rover do his thing.” Apparently Byrne was aware of them on some level because he threw up his middle finger at the “rover” comment.
Briar grinned but shook her head silently. With her arm now wrapped around Danel, she followed her mate along as well. She had so much to learn about her mates it seemed, more than she had originally thought, so she just waited, watched, and worried.
Byrne was coming back toward them. Danel stopped and moved them both to the side as he went right on past with a frown on his face. “Oh Gods help us if it’s a brownie,” her Anjhel muttered. “The last time he did this it was a brownie and someone was walking around with it chatting with people. It fucking drove him absolutely batty, and me, for an hour.”
“I didn’t think that he liked chocolate?” Briar had said with a frown. “I recall bringing in a choc
olate pie once and he was the only one who all but snarled at it.” That had been when she was trying to keep from her men, but that was another situation all together. “So what do you think it is, really? You have to have some kind of idea, right?”
“He hates chocolate, but that doesn’t mean that a brownie can’t peak his interest. He would never eat it, but he did hunt for one for over an hour,” he muttered. Danel lifted a hand and shook his head as he shrugged. “Honestly, love, I have no clue. But when he’s got that instinct of his acting up it’s best to let him find whatever it is that triggered it and go from there.”
Up ahead, Byrne was stopped. And growling. Low, deep, and in a not very friendly manner. Danel stopped her and stepped ahead of her. “Byrne, what’s up, buddy?” he asked, moving a little closer but staying back a good ten feet.
Byrne spun, his chin lifted and inhaled deep before growling again, deeper. Then he shot a hand out and hit a button on the wall. The alarms started to sound and lighting changed from the normal bright to a lower level with red lamps spinning in warning. “Bomb.” It was all he got out through his teeth.
Briar went cold. “Wait. What? Did he say bomb?” Holy shitballs, Batman, she wasn’t ready for a bomb. She couldn’t recall what the drill was for a bomb. She froze. “Oh God, what do we do?” she whispered with wide eyes. “And do not say disarm it because I will have to beat you if you think you are going to risk yourself,” she muttered.
“No, we run,” Danel said as Byrne came right at them. Her Luhpyne caught her up in his arms as Danel thundered ahead of them. But they weren’t heading for the stairs. What the fuck were they doing?
“There,” Byrne growled out.
“See it,” Danel said just as Byrne tucked her face into his neck. There was a loud crash of glass, a whoosh of air, and then. Oh, fuck no!