Sin of Fury

by Avery Duncan

  Chapter 17

  Talon grabbed hold of her hands and pulled away from her. She stared at him, swallowing.

  “Did you plan on telling me?” he asked casually folding her fingers and then spreading them out, playing with them. His hands were so much larger than hers that it shocked her.

  Jamie shrugged, trying to act casual. Even though she was pretty sure he could feel how much her heart was pounding, Jamie still hoped that he couldn’t tell how nervous she suddenly was.

  She swallowed again.

  “What is it?” he asked, threading their fingers and then dragging her to the bench press. He sat on the hard leather, and she followed suit, quiet.

  “I got sent to therapy for a while, when I was younger,” she started, shrugging again. “I was just thinking about the stuff that...led up to it.”

  His arm came around her shoulders tightly, and she leaned into him gratefully. After yesterday, she had no doubt in her mind that he would be there for her when she needed him. It still amazed her, though.

  They hadn’t known each other for very long, and they still had an odd connection. She could tell how different he was with her, how much more...caring he was. She loved it, she really did; but sometimes, she felt so...weak. As if she had to depend on him for everything, including emotional stability.

  Jamie stared up at him, studying his face. It was still the same face that she had seen the very first time, ragged and strong and completely untamed. He was still the same man, had the same physique, the same strong hands and the same deep voice.

  And she was still the weak one in the relationship. She bit on her lip as he met her searching gaze, a concerned look entering his eyes. “Mind elaborating?”

  A hint of a smile touched her face. She loved that he didn’t do preliminaries, that he cut straight to the point and be damned with everything else. She wasn’t like that, never had been. God, they were so different.

  He was blunt, and, she assumed, merciless when it came to other people. She was the shy worried one that had to keep her head down because she feared they would see bruises that were no longer there.

  “Well... I got put into a hospital. No one knew why, really. My mother said that she had been called and rushed to meet me, and that was...it. I woke up for the first time and I felt like I was dying all over again.”

  His body tightened, tensed. Jamie looked away, shaking her hair out of her ponytail and then messing with it, hating how nervous she was getting with him.

  “After they let me out, I started having these dreams.” God, how stupid did she sound? Jamie swallowed again, more nervously than before. Talon wasn’t saying a thing, and recalling the dream, she realized that Talon and Zyn were...a like.

  “What were they about?” he asked finally, breaking the silence.

  She hesitated, wondering if she should really tell him.

  This was the man that been with her through the most unimaginable situations. He had saved her, provided for her, made love to her, and made her feel like she was a woman. She owed it to him to tell whatever was bothering her, whether it was crazy or not.

  Her hands were shaking as she told him about how her mother had given her away, how she had been forced to stay with some man she had never met. Jamie didn’t bother to tell him the name of the man -- it would make her seem even more crazy than she already was. A person with that kind of name, posing as her father?

  Yeah...

  Except, she wasn’t so sure that he was “posing”. What if the dream had been real? She’d had it enough that it was starting to seem real, but was that just her conscious messing with her?

  She swallowed. Talon was staring at her, lips pressed, eyes unreadable. What was he thinking? That she was crazy? She wouldn’t blame him if she did. Often enough she was branded as crazy. Even Vladimir thought she was weird, she thought mildly.

  “How long ago did this happen?” he finally asked.

  She shrugged. “Ten years or so. I mean, it wasn’t that big of a deal at the time, except that I was in the hospital. Everything after that felt like a dream. Even now, just...talking about it makes me feel like I’m...floating or something.”

  At that, he smiled. “Floating? The only time I can remember you floating is when I was so deep in --” He laughed as she slapped him, glaring.

  “I’m trying to have a heart-felt moment with you, and you want to bring up sex?”

  Talon smirked at her. “Makes you want to do it, doesn’t it?”

  “Do it...” She trailed off, glared. He chuckled. “Asshole.”

  “You like it. So, what was the guy’s name? In the ‘dream’, he had a name, right?”

  She struggled, debating on if she should tell him or not. It was weird, different. He might not think she was crazy right now -- actually, she couldn’t even tell if he thought she was or not -- but he would when she told him the name. Besides Talon, it was the most unique name she had ever come across. How she, in her dream-like state, had thought it up, she had no idea.

  Talon nudged her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder again. She had moved out of his grasp when she’d slapped him, and now he was just bringing her close again.

  “I don’t really think it matters, to be honest. It was just a dream.” Even the therapist had thought her crazy, she thought, bemused.

  He gave her an arch look, but dropped it. “The more I learn about you, the more I feel like an asshole for the way I treated you before.” He didn’t have to explain the “before” to her.

  Jamie tried smiling at him. “I understood. When I was taking care of you...all of those scars on you... You know, I have scars. I’ve gotten bruises. I’ve broken bones. But before you, I didn’t know a human being was capable of dealing and handling all of that pain.”

  Talon became solemn, his hand dropping to her elbow and rubbing her softly. Her stomach flipped at the small act of affection, warmth spreading through her. “Jamie, you know by now that I’m not human, right?”

  She swallowed largely, looking up at him. “I know. I’m trying to just ignore that. I mean, you’re somewhat human. You have a heart, a soul. That’s all I need to know.”

  He gave her a smile. She saw the pride in his eyes. “And Auro has neither of those things. What you did to Lyne... that wasn’t murder. He was dead long before that, but his body kept running, solely on revenge. For me. I don’t want you to regret what you did, I don’t want that to be a reason that you don’t get sleep at night.”

  Jamie paled as she remembered the sort of trance she had been in. It was blurry, what had come over her. But it was still a shock to know that she had actually...done that. “He was trying to hurt you.”

  That was the only thing that kept her from going hysterical over it. The whole time since after that, she’d been trying to just ignore what she had done had made Lyne... die. Or whatever he had done. She had saved Talon’s life, and as she stared up at him, felt his hand on her, was immersed in his heat, she knew she would do anything to keep him safe.

  “He was going to kill me.” The bluntness, the acceptance he gave, amazed her. To know that Chris hated her so much he wanted to abuse her was enough to make her panic. Talon had someone who wanted to kill him, and what did he do? Nothing.

  At least, not yet.

  She cleared her throat, hating how her heart was thundering in her chest at the thought of anything happening to Talon. He was, as surely as the sun shone, becoming her everything. She didn’t think about her mother, about Chris, about what she had been thrown into, at all. And all because of Talon.

  Talon brought his face close to her neck, brushing his cheek against her. She turned into his embrace, staring into his eyes. “If anyone tries to kill you again, I’ll take a poker to their faces.”

  His chest rumbled as he laughed, making her bounce a little. She glared at him. “My little spitfire. You’re much more carefree than you were before.”

  She smiled at him. “Maybe because I like how good you ‘do it’,” she laughed
, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his jaw.

  He raised a brow at her. “Oh, is that so?”

  Jamie nodded, staring at his lips. The temperature in the room rose, she swore it did. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against his, loving the scent and feel of him. His arms tightened around her waist.

  He sighed and gave her a soft peck, grabbing her shoulders and gently pushing her back. “I have to meet with Lucian.”

  Jamie growled, wrapping her arms around his neck again. “No you don’t. You can stay here with me and Lucian can talk to the wall. Okay?”

  Talon laughed, standing up and putting her on her butt. “We can continue this talk later tonight. I regret having to leave you in such a state –“ Jamie glared –“but I’ll only be a little while. Vladimir can keep you company, or Jessica maybe?”

  Her eyes widened and she shot to her feet. “You keep that woman away from me! Do you know how much she makes my head hurt? And how the hell does she talk in one sentence?” she exclaimed, earning another bout of laughter from Talon.

  “I’m not sure. But she keeps out appointments and gets things done, so I’m okay with it. Just tolerate her, like the rest of us, and you’ll be fine.” Jamie gave him a dubious look. “And if you’re wondering about Vladimir – he’s worse than just a hospice robber, but I can trust him enough that I’ll leave you alone with him. Despite being the last ‘living’ vampire that just so happens to be gay, he’s also a deadly predator and not to be taken lightly.”

  Jamie had a hard time believing that, but she nodded anyways.

  She loved it when he came over to her and kissed her cheek, wrapping his arms around her waist to hug her. “I’ll be back soon. Make sure that if you go to the workout room, you wear clothing,” he growled, tightening his arms.

  Jamie grinned, giving him a kiss then smacking him on the butt lightly. “Hurry back.”

  “Anything for you, my love.”

  “Why do I feel like someone’s shoving a stick up my ass?” Lucian complained, baritone voice annoyed.

  Talon leaned back into his chair, shrugging. “Maybe because you’re a stuck up bitch?”

  “Don’t sweet talk me. You know how that tickles my funny bone,” he growled, glaring. Talon shrugged.

  Talon had left Jamie regretfully, hating how appetizing she had looked in just her sports bra and sweat pants. Thinking about it, his body hardened and it felt as if someone had stuck him in a hot-suit.

  Lucian set down a pile of papers in front of Talon, grabbing his attention. “Stop thinking about being balls-deep in Jamie and get your mind to the here and now. Devlin came in her several minutes ago and complained her ass off to me. Do you want me to have to file a report on Vladimir?”

  Talon gave him a look. “Knowing him, if it came from you, he’d find it kinky.”

  His partner glared, slamming his huge self into the chair opposite of Talon. They were sitting in the meeting room, the large space empty besides a box of papers, two men, and a whole lot of tension.

  “Can we stop ignoring the pink elephant in the room?” Lucian asked, kicking his feet up on the table. “Devlin is becoming a problem, and as much as I want to keep her in the ranks, I’m debating on whether to drop her a notch. Something about her feels…off.”

  Talon gave him a “duh” look. “Finally, you notice it.”

  “She’s the best fighter we have, besides myself, you, and Levi.”

  “And Vladimir?”

  Lucian snorted, drawing a hand through his hair. “Let’s face it. He might be a vampire, but the guy has problems. If he wanted to kill something, it would most likely be the majority of the young population. But that’s beside the point. I haven’t seen Levi all week –“

  “You know he’s only seen when he wants to be,” Talon cut in.

  “That’s true, but it’s becoming less and less. I think Devlin is pushing him either to hard, or making him feel unwelcome. Either way, something is wrong with her and I don’t like it. She’s stopped trying to seduce me, and she’s not at the compound as much as she used to be.”

  “Maybe because she found a different man? Did you ever think it might be because of that?”

  Lucian looked at him. “Yeah. Right. Devlin wouldn’t be quiet about a new beu if she had one. She’d be rubbing it in my face and...well, you know her. She has to be on everyone’s bad side.”

  Talon nodded. “I get you. Do you think Zyn and her are connected? I mean, he contacted us and even before that, Devlin has been gone more and more often.”

  “I don’t see how that would matter. Devlin didn’t even know the guy before he pulled a runner on us. And Zyn is smart. He wouldn’t put himself in Devlin’s way, just because of that look she gets in her eyes. He also isn’t known to use people, either.”

  “True. Devlin is yours. I don’t have any say over her, just Levi. Are you taking her down, or not? And who do you have in mind to replace her? The guys won’t appreciate being left hanging like that. I know they didn’t completely like her and all, but Levi can’t handle two squads like that.”

  Lucian scrubbed a hand over his face, shaking his head. “I can’t think of anyone that could handle that group of men. I put Devlin on them because I knew she’d keep them in line, or at least they would listen to her out of fear. They’re too rough. Levi was great for it because of how much he just...yeah. You know?”

  Talon had to laugh, nodding and sitting up in his chair straighter. “I know. Maybe you can put a temp. on and just see how it goes?”

  “I honestly don’t think that’s the best thing to do. I mean, those guys are fucking insane when they get started. Trained and skilled, but insane. I would replace them if they weren’t so valuable.”

  “You sure Levi wouldn’t be able to handle them?”

  Lucian nodded. “I’m sure. And I’m not psycho enough to put my dick on the line for them. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to convince you to, would I?”

  He laughed in a short burst. “Hell no. So Devlin, for sure, is being taken off.”

  Lucian tentatively nodded his head, eyes trained on the table. “Yeah. I can’t risk it anymore. I’ll let her stay here, but she won’t have any say in things. I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t poison my drink or something,” he groaned, taking his feet off of the dark oak wood table.

  Talon agreed.

  Devlin was cunning, ruthless, and greedy. She hid it well enough, and while Talon admired a strong woman who could take care of herself and meet her goals, Devlin took it too far. It was one of the reasons Talon had disliked her straight from the beginning. Sometimes, when they held meetings, he would look over and see her watching Lucian with more than a ‘yeah, I’m listening’ face. No, it was pure greed, and damn if that didn’t make him weary. He had a feeling that it wasn’t for his friend's body -- no, it was for the power he had. Other than the king, Lucian was one of the most powerful beings that Talon had ever come across. Even more powerful than the only witch he had ever met. And that was saying something, he thought with a grimace.

  He hadn’t met her in this life, but he remembered her. Barely. She was important for a reason, but whatever it was alluded him. He shrugged it from his mind, focusing on his friend.

  “If you don’t wake up tomorrow, I’ll make sure to feed your cat for you,” Talon said, laughing. Lucian gave him the meanest look ever before narrowing his eyes.

  “She likes catnip sprinkled on top. Don’t forget that. And in the morning with a full spoonfull. That’s it. Too much and she’ll get fatter than she already is.”

  Talon chuckled, standing. “Alright, I’ll remember that. When do I take her on walks?” he asked. He pushed open the door and called for Jessica, telling her to ring up Devlin.

  “Wednesdays and Sundays. Too much and she gets antsy and will claw my carpet.”

  Talon turned and stared at him. “I was kidding, you know.”

  “I’m not.”

  He wiped a hand over his face, a littl
e freaked out. “Okay, then...”

  There was a knock at the door. Talon sat down and bid them to enter, not surprised that Devlin had came so fast. Lucian lost all emotion as he watched her enter, hand on her holster.

  “What did you need?” she asked, before pausing just inside of the room. He wondered if she could tell what was going to happen -- going by the look that entered her eyes, she had a vague idea.

  “Devlin, sit down.” Lucian took the lead, gesturing to a chair for her.

  Her face was hard as she sat. She crossed her arms over her chest while she looked between them, Talon with his hands lazily on his legs, Lucian with his arms crossed, leaning back in the his chair. While the pose might have been casual, the tension he radiated was definitely not.

  Talon almost felt bad for her. Almost. She had had this coming for a while now, and it was for the best that she get put down. How many knives was she packing? he thought. And how many of them would be flying at their heads by the time this was over?

  She didn’t ask any questions, didn’t even seem to breathe. Her eyes were locked on Lucian, unemotional. He didn’t back down, instead sat up straighter and gave a long breath. “You’ve been with us a long time, and I think it’s in everyone’s best interest that you take a break.”

  Before she could open her mouth, he continued on. Talon sat there, motionless. “I need your badge, suit, and weapons. You’re off the field.”

  Her reaction was not what he expected. At all. He could tell that even Lucian was shocked. Devlin’s face turned pale and her hands, which had been clenched so tight across her. And then tears filled her eyes. Talon jerked, horrified.

  “Why the fuck am I off the field?” she snarled-whimpered. It was an odd combination, but it worked for her. Lucian’s face hardened.

  “You need a break. You have until tomorrow to bring in your things. Get out of my office, please.” Talon stared at him, narrowing his eyes. He couldn’t tell what the man was thinking, and he didn’t know what was up with Devlin. Never in his life had he seen her cry. Not ever.