“Yes sir,” she said. “Robert will come. José wants to stay.” She barely masked the disgust in her voice when she said José’s name, and José became very interested in pushing the leaves around on his plate.
“That gives us a team of three,” Broderick said. “So Logan, what are your thoughts?”
“I’m down,” Logan said with a shrug between bites.
“You’re…down?”
“He’s on board, sir. He’ll come with us.”
“Great,” Broderick said, his face splitting into a wide grin. “And not to worry, José. We’ll set you up with everything you need. You’ll enjoy it here, I’m sure. We all do.”
José didn’t say anything. He was still preoccupied with his food. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table, and Logan sat back and watched it play out. Hail’s mind was racing. He seemed excited about the chance to get out of the commune and do some good in the world. Logan watched his blazing green eyes dart back and forth, glowing with possibilities, as a small smile played around the corners of his mouth. Mariella was tense, looking around for something to do or say that would alleviate the tension. Robert was oblivious. He finished his food and smiled at Mariella. Logan recognized that smile, and it made him smirk. Mariella would crush him. Robert wasn’t nearly strong enough to be with her.
The kids across the table were likewise oblivious. They were wiggling in their seats, bored and hungry. Sven talked to them quietly, trying to get them to sit still. Finally, the two people from the kitchen came out and cleared everyone’s salad dishes, then returned a moment later with pasta covered in some kind of decadent cheese sauce. Sounds of eating replaced the silence for a moment, and broke the tension.
“So what’s the plan for getting people back here?” Mariella said. “I mean we can find them, we know where to look and what to look for, but how are we supposed to bring them back here? The truck isn’t big enough for everybody. Even if I took my bike, we could only squeeze maybe one more person in there. And they aren’t going to believe us anyway, not if they all think that Regis Thyme is a prison.”
“Good points,” Broderick said. “Very good points. Sven, do you have any suggestions?”
Sven looked up from managing the kids and shot a glance around the table.
“The first priority should be shifters in crisis,” he said. “Pregnant, starving, in change comas, anything like that. Those people won’t be in a position to turn down aid. Just tell them that you’re there to help, and that you’re taking them to a hospital which won’t turn them in. As far as transport, we still have those big vans from before, don’t we? Yeah. We have a fleet of vans that we used to use to gather supplies before the farms were functional. You could fit twelve, maybe fourteen shifters in there. Better yet, we’ll give you two. If you can wait a week we’ll have one fitted with food and medical supplies and beds, everything you need to live on the road and handle acute crises. The other will just be seats. With two drivers, you’ll be able to handle whatever situations arise.”
“What about weapons?” Logan interjected.
Hail, Sven, and the children looked at him in shock. His friends didn’t react at all. Broderick studied him for a moment, then apparently decided that it wasn’t an inappropriate question.
“We’ll set you up with some things,” he said. “Elephant tranquilizers will take down a shifter in the middle of that first change rage. Tasers will work on humans and shifters alike, though the shifters will recover more quickly. We don’t want you killing anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary, but Mariella appears to have that covered with the shotgun we found in the truck. We also have a few more tricks, riot weaponry designed for the government—a stun bomb which will temporarily paralyze everyone in a twenty-foot radius, which of course comes with gas masks. Wouldn’t do any good to paralyze yourselves. Oh, and a voice modulating mask which will translate shifter tones, so you could communicate with a shifter in their beast form while you’re in your human form, though of course you could just as easily shift in cases like that. Can you think of anything else you would need?”
“Sniper rifles,” Logan said immediately. “For the elephant tranques. Tranquilizers for human targets, also fitted to the sniper rifles. Alarms on the cars, even when we are inside of them. And cash. There’s a lot more you can do with bribery that you can’t do with force. Some kind of official badge or alternate identity so we can get in wherever we need to. Recording devices to cover our asses. And we have got to do something about these clothes. I look like I just stepped off of MC Hammer’s mothership.”
Broderick laughed at that, and the rest of the table grinned.
“Alright,” Broderick said. “I’ll take you to the lab after breakfast tomorrow. You and Mariella get a final list together, then you can both work with the textile workers to get some clothes that’ll let you blend in. If we get everyone on this, you should be ready to hit the road in four or five days. Is that doable?”
Logan let Mariella answer.
“That works,” she said. “You gonna keep feeding us like this?”
Broderick chuckled. “This is more formal than what we usually serve, but yes. As guests in our home, you will eat often and well. We’ll be sure to send you on the road with plenty, as Snow tells me that you were all malnourished when you arrived. Can’t have our most important team falling down on the job, can we?”
“Speaking of job,” Mariella said. “You gonna pay us for this?”
“Yes,” Broderick said. “You will have the aforementioned cash for bribery, of course, but we will also pay each of you handsomely for your work. At some point before you leave, I’ll have you talk to our accounting executive and give him your banking information.”
Mariella snorted. “No disrespect,” she said, “but we ain’t got bank accounts, sir. We been under the radar for years. How you gonna be under the radar with a bank account?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Broderick said with a frown. “I apologize. We can issue you bank cards and set up an account for you in our own system. Would that work?”
“Can anyone track us that way?” She asked.
“Nobody except us,” Broderick said.
“That’ll work, then.”
“Excellent. Logan, are you feeling well enough to sleep here tonight? We have a room set up for you.”
“I’d feel better if Hail stayed. Still not a hundred percent,” Logan lied.
“Hail, does that work for you, or would you like me to call Snow and have someone relieve you?”
“Oh, I’ll stay,” Hail said. “I don’t mind.”
Broderick nodded, and Logan shared a private look with Hail out of the corner of his eye, challenging him to back down. Hail met it evenly, and Logan grinned. There was no doubt in his mind that they were going to finish what they’d started.
Chapter Seven
Dessert, drinks, and conversation seemed to stretch on forever. At one point, Broderick disappeared with the children, and returned half an hour later without them. Sven was an entertaining host; he took them out into the garden to sit around the fire as he told them stories about the first years of Regis Thyme. Hail engaged, listening attentively and responding energetically, but the longer the night dragged on, the more difficult it became. Logan was never far away. He flitted at the edges of Hail’s awareness, never overtly demanding his attention, just making his presence known. He would catch Hail’s eye from across the garden patio and flash that wicked grin, making Hail’s pulse race. He would pass behind him, just close enough to make the hairs on Hail’s arms stand up, then be gone before Hail turned around. He found opportunities to hand things to Hail: drinks, napkins, hors d’oeuvre. When he did, he would let his touch linger, running his fingertips along the edge of Hail’s palm. By the time Sven suggested they all turn in for the night, Hail was virtually vibrating with frustrated anticipation.
He struggled to keep his expression neutral as Sven led them up the wide stairs to the room they would shar
e.
“We put a cot in here,” Sven said apologetically. “It isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was the best we could do on short notice. There’s also a couch, if you think that would be more comfortable.” He pushed the door open and led them into a sort of sitting room, with a long, wide couch against one wall and shelves filled with books on the other. An open archway led into the bedroom. The bed itself took up a good third of the large room. It was as wide as it was long, and looked exquisitely comfortable. The decently-sized cot against the wall looked comically tiny in comparison.
“There are spare clothes in the closet,” Sven said. “And the bathroom is through that door there. More comfortable than the hospital, right?” He winked at Logan.
“Yeah,” Logan said, his eyes wide as he took it all in. “More comfortable than lots of places.”
Sven grinned and bid them goodnight. He told them that breakfast was at eight, and offered to have someone wake them at seven-thirty. Hail accepted, and Logan agreed, then Sven departed. He didn’t give them any of the searching looks he’d given them earlier, which left Hail wondering if he’d figured them out or if he’d simply moved on. The door closed behind Sven, and Logan wandered over with a casual swagger to lock it. As the tumblers fell into place, Logan turned and shot a look at Hail.
“So, I’ll, uh… do you want to see what clothes they have for sleeping? There should be enough for both of us. Oh! And for breakfast in the morning, I don’t know what you usually eat, but there’s always something good around here, oatmeal and pancakes and things…I’m sure it would be good enough, but if you feel like you need something specific let me know and I….”
“Shut up.” Logan strode across the room as he spoke, then took Hail’s head in his hands.
“Oh, then, okay I guess that….”
Logan cut him off with a crushing kiss, and everything that Hail was about to say flew from his mind. Logan tasted like heaven and sun-soaked honey and sex, and Hail found himself falling deep into the moment, forgetting that they had been battling for dominance. For a moment, all he wanted was to drink in the wild taste of him. Then Logan pushed him firmly away, his dark eyes glittering in the low light.
“You were saying?” he said.
“I was saying come here,” Hail growled.
Logan bit his lower lip and licked it as he half-smiled. His eyes said, “Make me,” and his twitching hips said, “please.” Hail growled and lunged forward, grabbing Logan by the hips to smash them into his, kissed him firmly, then turned to push him on the bed. Logan resisted, twisting at the last second so that Hail fell beneath him. Hail nipped at Logan’s lips as he pushed him over, and they tumbled like that, over and over, until they reached the center of the soft bed. Hail pinned Logan’s hands over his head and forced his legs apart, grinding against him as he devoured his mouth. Logan growled and arched against him, until their clothes clung to their slick skin and bunched uncomfortably.
“Get naked,” Hail ordered.
“Make me,” Logan shot back.
Hail ripped Logan’s clothes off as Logan laughed, then tore his own away and threw them to the floor. They slid against each other, aching to bind, when Hail suddenly realized what an idiot he was. He pulled away and caught his breath. Logan sat up and watched him, waiting for him to speak.
“You,” Hail panted. “You can get pregnant.”
“So don’t let me,” Logan shrugged. He crawled across the bed and pressed his belly to Hail’s back, nibbling at his ears.
“Doesn’t work like that,” Hail said, shaking his head. “Shifters don’t really get the pull out option.”
Logan blew out a frustrated breath and leapt off the bed, his shaggy mane of black hair whipping in the air behind him. He started pulling drawers open, rustling around inside them.
“What are you looking for?” Hail asked.
“Condoms,” Logan said shortly.
“Oh…oh!” Hail scrambled off the bed and joined the hunt. Finally, in a bathroom cupboard, they found a box tucked behind a box of tampons. Hail held it aloft triumphantly, and Logan snatched the box from his hand.
“Think these are mine,” he said with a grin.
“Not on your life,” Hail said, snatching the box back. “Get on the bed.”
“Ma….”
Hail picked Logan up around the waist and threw him on the bed so hard he bounced. Logan collapsed in a fit of laughter as Hail ripped a condom open with his teeth and slid it over his aching, throbbing member. He jumped on the bed before Logan had recovered and pinned him, kissing and biting and grinding against him with a passion which threatened to boil over at any moment. Logan feigned resistance and flipped Hail onto his back. Hail growled, preparing to toss Logan off of him, when Logan slid down and pulled him inside. Hail froze, overwhelmed at the sensation. He’d never slept with a fertile male before, and the difference was incredible. He swelled instantly, locking inside Logan, and groaned with pleasure.
“Now who’s on top,” Logan said with a grin. He started moving, sliding up and down on Hail’s cock, stroking himself. He rode slowly, teasing Hail with his body. Hail couldn’t take it any longer. He pushed up into Logan, making him cry out, and flipped him onto his back, plunging into him again and again with desperate, powerful thrusts.
“Looks like I am,” he said, his voice husky and low, soaked in lust. Logan curled under him, locking his ankles behind Hail’s back, giving up the game. Hail’s heart raced and Logan’s eyes turned over to gold as he gasped and moaned with pleasure. Hail captured his mouth again, breathing in his moans as he tasted his hot tongue, tangling his fingers in Logan’s wild hair as their bodies writhed together.
“The beast is rising,” Logan whispered hoarsely.
“Fight it,” Hail told him. “That’s how people die.”
Logan moaned and closed his eyes, fighting for control. Hail’s own beast swirled just under the surface, driving him to lock into a fierce rhythm, building up in his blood until he began to pulse and throb deep inside Logan. Logan’s breath quickened and he touched himself, driving himself over the edge. It was more than Hail could take. With a cry that was almost a howl, he came with a force that made his back arch and his knees lock. He trembled and shivered, locked in place with Logan, as the last pulses rippled through his body.
They slowly relaxed together and waited for their bodies to release each other. Hail kissed Logan briefly, then kissed him again.
“That was amazing,” he murmured.
“What do you mean?” Logan asked.
“That sex with you is amazing.”
“No,” Logan laughed. “When you said ‘that’s how people die’.”
“Oh,” Hail said, his face falling slightly. “We, um… I treated this couple a few years ago, right when I started working at the hospital. It, um…hold on.” Hail was finally able to pull out and roll away. He watched Logan’s face while he talked, absently handling the condom as he did so.
“This couple comes in. Two guys. One of them is in really bad shape, the other one is shifting back and forth uncontrollably. We were able to stabilize the second one, but the first….” He trailed off, shaking his head. “It was too bad. His boyfriend had carved him up, back, chest, gut…severed some arteries. He bled out before he could heal, before we could even close all of the wounds. Severed his aorta, among other things. It was brutal. Talked to the other guy after we stabilized him. I guess what happened was they were having sex, and the one completely lost control. That was when we learned that the only thing that could cut through the secondary tissue layer in shifters were shifter claws.”
“Oh,” Logan said with a wince.
“Yeah. And…don’t go spreading this around or anything, but a similar thing happened to Broderick. He didn’t get hit in the first shifter wave, but Sven did. They were apart for a year or so when they still thought it was an infectious disease, so when they saw each other again I guess they just…you know. Anyway, Sven lost control and b
it him. He came to before he did any permanent damage, but if you look close you can still see scars on Broderick’s shoulders, both from Sven at different times. There’s a whole new level of safe sex when it comes to shifters.” He was tying a knot in the condom when he said that last bit, but it didn’t seem to be working properly. He finally looked at what he was doing, and his heart nearly stopped. The condom was split, just across the tip, and he’d been dribbling cum all over the duvet while he’d been attempting to tie it.
“Uh… Logan?”
“What’s up?”
“How are you feeling?”
“You asking as my doctor, or…?”
“No. Yes. Sort of.”
Logan propped himself up on his elbows and looked at what Hail was doing. He took the situation in with a glance and narrowed his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Hail said quickly. “I didn’t even feel it happen, it just… I mean it could have happened afterward, or even….”
“To think, we wasted all that time looking for condoms,” Logan said, shaking his head. He flopped back on the bed and wriggled slightly, getting comfortable. “Could’ve ridden bareback.”
Hail’s jaw dropped. How could he be so calm? Didn’t he realize…maybe he didn’t. It was just barely possible that he’d forgotten.
“You realize you could be pregnant, right?”
“How would that feel?” Logan asked. “You asked how I felt. What would it feel like if I was impregnated just now?”
“Well,” Hail said slowly. “It’s a little different for everybody. Sometimes it’s a big deal, sometimes they barely notice. But they always say the same thing, that it’s like a warm, heavy tingle in your gut. A similar feeling to the feeling you might have had right before the second change.”
“We’re good then,” Logan said through a yawn. “Nothin’ like that happening.”
“But you wouldn’t always….”
“Goodnight, Hail,” Logan said, yawning again. He rolled under the blankets and started snoring.
Dying to Live: The Shifter City Complete Series Page 5