“Thanks, Gabs,” Wallace told her without breaking our gaze.
I pulled an overturned bucket up in front of him and straddled it. “All I can say is it’s a good thing you’re not human. This could have been way worse.”
“What about you?” he asked, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Still dizzy?”
“I’ll live.” I opened the jar and scooped out some of the salve. With a feather-light touch, I began to trace my fingertips over the reddened places on his skin. Across his abs, covering every dip and bulge, up to his—
He winced, and I froze.
“Should I get Jaya?”
“Not yet.” He covered my hand with his and looked me deep in the eyes. “Before we meet up with the others, we need to talk. Today was bad.”
“I know.” I let out a breath and carefully applied more salve. “They’ve hit some kind of a snag, and they’re getting desperate. If they treat a potential asset like that, how would they treat someone from our side in hopes of getting information?”
His expression darkened. “We need to get everyone down here.”
I must’ve looked confused, because he elaborated. “Everyone—families, close friends, whoever. We can’t afford to have loved ones strung out when we confront Faye.”
“But how would we get them here without arousing suspicion?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted in a low voice. “It’s something else we’ll have to figure out soon.”
I leaned in and slid my hand around his neck, pulling him closer. His warmth encompassed me, lending its comfort as our lips met. I closed my eyes and carefully rested my bruised forehead against his. “We’re in over our heads here.”
“Tell me about it.”
~
We rounded the corner to find the rest of our subterranean crew hard at work, heating up canned dinner. When they noticed us, all discussion stopped.
“What?” I asked, panning my gaze around the room. “What’s going on?”
Henry cleared his throat. “I was just telling them I still have a friend working for Faye, who has updated me on some…happenings.”
Wallace raised his brows, practically mummified in his bandages. “And?”
“And it would appear Aiden did wake up at some point last weeken—”
“What?” My voice jumped an octave. “They promised to inform us the second he regained consciousness.”
“And when have their other promises held weight?” Henry dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief and sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that it seems they’ve already done the procedure to neutralize his aggression. I don’t know if they were planning to tell you after he recovered, or…”
I sank down to the floor and covered my eyes. Not another thing. Not one more thing…
“S’okay, Sis.” Cole appeared at my side, kneeling beside me. “We’ll bust him out and bring him back here. If he doesn’t need to be hooked up to their machines anymore, it should be fine.”
Or horrible.
Aiden had been one of my favorite people on earth—a sweet and gentle soul, the epitome of loyal—but his insecurities had gotten the best of him. He’d run off to ERA, fueled by delusions of grandeur, and had come back a monster. He’d nearly raped me. I’d nearly killed him.
And we hadn’t spoken since.
A chill shot up my spine, and the throbbing along my eye worsened tenfold. The ERA-ordered therapy had actually helped me acknowledge what had happened, but the mental scars refused to heal.
Wallace put his hand on my shoulder. “One thing at a time. Let Cole talk to Vlad tomorrow and see what comes of it.”
I nodded, unable to come up with anything better.
“Wallace,” Jaya finally spoke up from the corner, her lovely Indian accent echoing around the small room. “Nicholas says you received many bad burns. I wish to exam them to determine whether or not we need to start IV fluids tonight.”
“He’ll be all right,” Cole smacked his brother on the back, proud. “Good, quality Dynari stock, right here. Give it a few more hours.”
She seemed uncertain, her thick brows furrowing together.
“Nicholas could be right,” Henry added as he wrapped an arm around her. “Wallace may not have accelerated healing, but he does tend to recover from outside wounds quicker than most.”
If only that Dynari blood could fix his headaches.
“I see.” Jaya scrutinized Wallace with a mix of clinical curiosity and motherly concern. She’d taken care of the boys their whole lives, working alongside Henry during their off the record check-ups. I didn’t know how to place her worry. “You two may wish to spend the night here, then, so that we may monitor him.”
Wallace cast a sideways glance in my direction, and I shrugged. It wasn’t as if we had much choice in the matter. If it meant he’d recover faster, I’d sleep on a bed of coals. No question. The problem was sleeping together.
Since giving him a black eye two nights ago, I’d avoided his bed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to snuggle up to the guy every night—I did—I just hated the thought of hurting him with his own power. Power he’d lent me for my protection. Sure, his bruise had already faded to the point that no one noticed it, but that didn’t banish the memory from my mind.
“I broke your wrist,” he reminded me in a voice so quiet, it didn’t seem anyone else had heard. “You still have a few injuries to inflict before we’re even.”
“I wasn’t even thinking about that, smarty pants.”
“Sure you weren’t.”
Damn empaths…
Wallace cleared his throat. “Sure, we’ll stick around tonight. Thank you.”
Jaya smiled and patted back a few graying strands that had come loose from her bun. “Do not mention it, dear boy.”
“I’m a dear boy, too, aren’t I, Jaya?” Cole prodded, starving for attention after two minutes of his brother being the topic of discussion.
“You are very special, Nicholas.”
His forehead wrinkled. “Why does everyone say that?”
Rachel, who had otherwise been quiet, placed a gentle hand on the side of his face. “I think it’s a good thing.”
He melted into her touch, and they stared at each other for agonizingly long seconds, basking in the honeymoon phase of their love.
Corynn made eye contact and mouthed, “Shoot me.”
I laughed. We’d assembled quite the cast of misfits down here, but I loved them. The weight of the world had been thrust upon their shoulders, yet they still managed to have moments like this. Glimpses of life. It was what we were all fighting for.
Wallace took my hand in his and pulled me toward the makeshift counter. “We should probably eat and turn in early. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
Interrogating a dangerous Dynari, checking in on my surgically altered friend, and getting fitted for a stupid bridesmaid’s dress a la Brittani—yeah, I’d call that a big day.
We shared a meal with our friends, he went off to suffer his nightly cluster in private, and then we retired to the tiny room we’d claimed during renovation. A flickering amber glow warmed the concrete walls and reflected in the pipes overhead, emanating from the oil lantern Wallace had propped up on a wooden crate. It wasn’t the nicest place I’d ever stayed, but it wasn’t without charm. Our shadows played in the intimate lighting as we undressed for bed.
He stripped down to his boxers, so much man that I wanted to claim him right there in the underworld. Chiseled arms, smoldering eyes, and an ignorance of it all that made him so much more than handsome. But of course, I couldn’t act on those feelings—especially not with his wounds fresh as they were.
Instead, I took off my pants, crawled onto the air mattress, and buried my face in my arms. When he climbed in beside me, my side rose before falling again. Warmth caressed my ear as he pressed a kiss against my temple. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I murmured, afraid to look up lest I jump his bones.
; Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the day caught up with me and my eyelids began to lower of their own accord. Sounds dampened and my body grew heavy, sinking deeper and deeper…
A wave jarred the air mattress, taking me along with it. My equilibrium faltered, and a chill ran up my spine as I groped for a pillow that wasn’t there. After a few seconds, I found my bearings and squinted into the blurry darkness. “Wha…?”
How long was I asleep?
The large, shadowy figure beside me tossed and turned, muttering incoherencies. His panic and regret rose within my chest as if they were my own. It was a wonder we hadn’t shared whatever nightmare he was having.
“Wallace.” I gingerly touched his arm. “Baby, wake up.”
“Getting…worse.” Tears strangled his words, and another tremor shook the bed. “Stay back!”
Fully awake now, I propped myself up. “What’s getting worse?”
His whole body tensed. “Rena…”
“What?” I leaned over him, his chest slick with sweat between the bandages, and strained to see his features in the lantern light. “I’m right here.”
He swung an uneasy arm out, and I jerked back just in time to avoid contact. Whatever he was fighting, it had him shaken to the core.
“Wallace,” I repeated, louder this time as I dared closer, careful to avoid his burns. “You’re having a nightmare.”
Seconds slipped by in complete silence before the creases in his expression eased. Slowly, his eyes blinked open, revealing glowing cerulean orbs. “Huh?”
“You’re—”
Terror surged through his veins, reigniting the Nexus, and he scrambled back panic-stricken. “I told you to stay back!”
Rejection cut through my chest, despite the fact that he was delusional, and I flinched. Had he dreamt of me hurting him for real this time?
“I can feel it,” he explained, staggering to his feet. “Baby, I don’t wanna hurt you.”
“Wallace, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He gestured at the faint light that surrounded us, a blue outline marking our active connection to each other. A thread of his strength kept me safe from any accidents during the night, like him cuddling me to death in his sleep, and his empathy—well, that bled over whenever it pleased. I didn’t see his point.
“There’s something wrong with me.” He backed up against the wall, staring at his hands. “I’m stronger. Too strong. It won’t stop.”
I opened my mouth to assure him, again, that it was just a nightmare when I noticed it—a sliver of gold underlying the blue. My power leaking over. I bailed over the side of the bed, my blood running cold. “I am so, so sorry!”
“You’re…?” Realization dawned in his eyes and he lowered his hands, drawing deep breaths. “Okay, stay calm.”
Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one incapable of control. What if I panicked and surged? Would it kill him? God, how did I do this in my sleep?
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted, my own voice shaking now. “Normally, it dissipates by itself. I can’t hold it long.”
Wallace scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Maybe it’s because you’re more attuned to me. My power has done weird things with you that it’s never done with anyone else.”
I forced steady breaths through my mouth, willing myself to relax. “Maybe.”
He approached with caution, as if he were cornering a wild animal. “What I normally do when I withdraw my power from you is visualize it. Not just the light, but the intensity within it. I’ve got a hold of the end, and I’m pulling it in like a rope.”
“A rope,” I repeated, closing my eyes to re-imagine the scene. Okay. I could do that…
Wallace stood ten feet from me, cerulean light consuming his form. The gold streak that signified my Augari abilities arced around him, pulsating as his powers swelled. If I concentrated, I could feel its connection within me. The pressure. The throbbing. I lifted both palms and imagined it all rushing back to me.
Instead of tugging on a rope, my influence retracted like a measuring tape. It filled my body with a surge, a tingle, and then nothing at all. With a sharp intake of air, I opened my eyes and scanned the room.
My husband-to-be stared at me with a mix of awe and relief. It was gone. His strength had settled to its normal state of unimaginable—something he’d already mastered, for the most part. Whatever had leaked out of my subconscious and plagued his darkest fears was past us.
I blew out a deep breath. “Well, there’s another danger to add to the list. Are you sure you want to get married?”
“I was half asleep,” he countered, salvaging his pride as he scrubbed his eyes. “It just startled me. Don’t worry about it.”
“Uh huh…”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m serious, Rena. It’s not like what you’re thinking. The flux in power just leaked into my nightmare.”
“But we know I could overwhe—”
“Believe me, I know my body. You were nowhere near hurting me.”
I toed the concrete floor, unsure how to proceed. “If you say so.”
He crossed the room and edged around the massive air mattress to grasp my shoulders. “This is the extent you should concern yourself with it. You’re only going to gain more control from here.”
“In theory,” I quipped.
“I believe in you.” Wallace bent to meet my eyes, his gaze determined. “You should, too.”
“Is this a role revers—”
A knock at the door made us both jump, seconds before Henry poked his head in. “Oh, good. You’re still up.”
“Yeah.” Wallace shoved me behind him. “What’s up?”
His uncle chuckled. “Jaya didn’t want to intrude, but she couldn’t sleep without knowing how your burns were doing.”
I stared up at the wide expanse of Wallace’s back, completely shadowed from the lantern light and Henry’s prying eyes.
“Better,” Wallace told him. “I’m sure they’ll be fine tomorrow.”
There was a pause where Henry must’ve given him the stare down or nodded in agreement. “We’ll give them a look over in the morning, then. Sleep well, kids.”
“You too.” Wallace’s shoulders slumped when the door clicked shut, and he turned back to face me. “Sorry, you want to head back to bed?”
When I hesitated, he shot me a grin eerily reminiscent of his brother. “C’mon…baby steps?”
I rolled my eyes as he ushered me toward the air mattress. “Use my own words against me, why don’t you?”
“I’m practicing for marriage.”
“Try practicing your yes, dear.”
He tossed me onto the bed without an ounce of effort, seemingly recovered from our little ordeal, and winked. “Yes, dear.”
God help me.
CHAPTER 5
« COLE »
Waking up at the ass-crack of dawn wasn’t my favorite thing to do on a Saturday—especially when it involved do-gooding—but such had become my lot in life.
I sighed and ducked into ERA’s headquarters via the back hatch—because apparently, all supernatural alliances need an underground base. God forbid we mingle with the surface dwellers and get a little fresh air. Please. Why wasn’t I in charge, again?
I’d build a high-rise next door to R.S. Tobler Laboratories and drop bricks on the baddies’ heads from fifty stories up. None of that penny bullshit. One second we’d be locked in one of our stalemates, and the next we’d be scraping Faye’s minions off the sidewalk. Simple as that.
But whatever. It wasn’t my call. Our little group of prophesized heroes was a democracy, even though two of us were dry humping. I’d never win a vote.
“And here I thought you were fast,” my brother’s sarcastic tone crackled in my earpiece. “Stop daydreaming and get in there.”
I muttered some of my favorite profanities, the ones Rach had guilted me into giving up, and launched into the labyrinth. “Chill your tits. I’m inside. I ju
st need to find Vlad.”
“Did you leave the hatch unlocked?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” I skidded around the corner and surveyed the hall. An overly muscled guard and a lab nerd. Great. All of this work, and for what? To keep ERA from blasting everyone to high hell over an uncooperative Dynari? Talk about a fool’s errand. All I wanted to do was head back to Wilcox and crawl into bed with Rachel.
Yeah, I still lived in my Cleveland apartment to keep up appearances, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a tunnel sleepover. We could spoon for a few hours, and then take Frank Bacon out of his crate to have breakfast as a family. It’d be the perfect lazy morning. But noooo, Daddy had to interrogate a nut-job.
“We’re in and headed toward Aiden’s wing,” Wallace informed me. “See anything we should look out for?”
“Just rent-a-cops and worker bees. If you get caught, feign confusion over visiting hours.” I slipped into a different hall with minimal effort. “Or smash their heads together. Whatever works.”
He grunted.
A few more turns and a downgrade brought me to a red-lit area—one I was sure Corynn had warned me about at some point. Something about explosives. Then again, it was probably part of her memorized spiel from ERA to keep people away from their captives. Sick fucks.
It hadn’t occurred to me when I’d called in. One of Faye’s minions had instructed me to head to the south wing, where Frizzhead would meet me at eight. That was why I’d opted to sneak in at seven. Had to keep the ol’ skills sharp, after all. Plus, I couldn’t help but wonder why they accepted my help so easily. Was this a trap?
Good luck with that.
I darted down the hall, scanning the plaques outside of each automatic door. DU01, DU02…
The third metal door cracked open with a mechanical hiss, revealing none other than Gail. She wore a routine scowl, equal parts disgust and loathing. “You’re early.”
“You’re frizzy.”
Lines creased between her puckered brows, and she turned to retreat into the room. “Let’s just get this over with.”
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