by Aliya DalRae
“Slow down,” Martin said, but Kyte had the pedal to the metal and looked in no mood to let up. “Kyte, police station on the left. Ease up, brother. We don’t need any more complications.”
Kyte pulled his foot from the accelerator, but he didn’t brake. When they passed the home of Fallen Cross’s finest, he sped up again and didn’t slow down until they pulled onto the Compound. He fishtailed into the garage and slid into a parking place, pounding the brakes so hard they both whiplashed forward before the vehicle came to a halt a half inch from the concrete wall. From the sounds of things, Oz had found the floor behind them.
“I’ll say it again. What the fuck was that all about? And why is Viper insisting we wear those blindfolds to train? I mean, it got super dark, but I could still see shadows.”
Martin looked at Kyte, incredulous. “I couldn’t see shit. What about you Oz?”
“You realize I’m on the floor with a punctured lung at the very least.”
“But could you see them? The guys who attacked us.”
“Yes,” Oz wheezed. “I could see shadows. Now, will someone call Allon, or are you going to make me crawl to the infirmary?”
Kyte fumbled out his phone and made the call. While they waited, Martin tried to reason it out. Why was it that they could see, but he was completely blind? He went over the night in his head. What had they done differently? They were all tired from blind training, but with the night off, Kyte and Oz were determined to paint the town red. Figuratively speaking, of course. They dragged Martin from his room, insisting he go with them.
They were deep into the Vampahol, so he volunteered to be the designated driver, effectively getting himself out of having to drink that shit, thereby avoiding another situation he would regret in the morning. They were already wearing the contacts that would keep their eye spark from accidentally showing, and then…
That was it. The contacts. They were both wearing the contacts, while Martin had done without. No need to wear them, as he had no intention of getting drunk and out of control. It was either that or the Vampahol, but that couldn’t be it. No, it had to be the contact lenses.
As Allon and a medic rolled Oz away, Martin slapped Kyte on the back and grabbed his arm. “Let’s go,” he said.
“Where?”
“We need to talk to Viper.”
“Christ on a catapult, Martin. Hasn’t our night been bad enough?”
“I know why you guys could see, and he needs to know. ASAP.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Probably not, but since Oz is in the infirmary, you’re going to have to explain it to him.”
“I don’t even know what it is?”
“It’s the contacts. The Vampahol contacts let you see in the Kurai Senshi-created darkness. This could be the end of Bird Box training.”
Kyte pulled to a stop. “Fuck. He’s gonna kill us.”
“Either that or you’ll get an accommodation. Either way, it might save all our lives.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
S asha stood over one of the many long tables in Viper’s lab, studying yet another set of cuffs. She remained convinced that if she could slip her magic in just so, it would give the concealment charm the boost they needed to keep Merlin shielded from the Shade. She had the spell wrapped tightly in her mind, ready to insert the magic. Just a little… bit… more…
“Careful with those,” Viper loomed over her, the perpetual frown he sported aimed at her yet again. “That’s the last pair we’ve got. If you blow them up, we’re screwed.”
Sasha released the magic and exhaled sharply. They’d talked ad nauseum about what she’d been doing with the cuff when it blew up, discussed every little nuance regarding the magic and its potential. What they hadn’t discussed was his reaction to her little accident, or the way her body responded to the sensual contact as his lean mass pressed against her.
Had it been the Warrior, Tas, laying on top of her, she would have completely understood. He was a warm and kind male, one she couldn’t deny had already lit that spark of interest inside her. He also happened to be drop-dead gorgeous.
But Viper? He was rude and vile, and she resented her own body for betraying her the way it had done. There were moments, sure, when he didn’t know she was looking, that she would get a glimpse of potential in the male, a small smile or a spark of excitement in his eye. But then he’d look up at her and anything attractive would be erased by a snarl or a sharp word.
That made Viper’s reaction all the more bewildering. The fact that he seemed as eager to ignore what had happened between them as she was proved both a relief and a disappointment, so she filtered her frustration into her response.
“I didn’t blow up the last pair. If you hadn’t startled me, we would be much further along. My lord.” She added that last bit to soften her irritation and to put a bit of much needed space between them. However, the Warrior’s frown deepened, and his emerald eyes lit off a tiny spark.
“Christ, Sasha. I’ve told you a thousand times, don’t call me ‘my lord.’ You’re not my fucking prisoner and we’re sure as hell not at court. Just call me Viper, or asshole… anything but my lord.”
“Isn’t asshole an insult?”
“Not if it’s accurate.”
The lab door burst open, stemming any comment she might have had, and two Soldiers rushed in.
“Viper, thank gods we found you.” The male was tall with blond hair cut close around his ears, but with a longish shock that fell over his eyes. He brushed it from his face as the two came to a halt in front of her and the Warrior.
“What is it, Martin?” Viper asked, his irritation with her transforming into something else altogether. “What’s happened?”
Martin glanced at the Soldier behind him. This one wasn’t nearly as tall, but he was broad with thick shoulders and dark blond hair cut in a short, military style. He nodded, and Martin spoke.
“We just got back from town,” he said. “Me and Oz and Kyte, here. We were leaving Good Times, going to head over to Buzz’s, but when we got to the car, the lights went out.”
Viper stiffened beside her. “What do you mean, ‘the lights went out?’”
“It was just like you said,” Kyte spoke up. “One minute it was regular dark with street lights and stars and stuff. The next minute, nothing. All the lights blinked out and the stars and moon just disappeared.”
“Are you saying the Kurai Senshi were in Fallen Cross?”
“Yes, sir,” Martin said. “We never saw them coming. I felt like we were being watched, but you know, dismissed it as paranoia. But when it went dark and they attacked us…”
“Fuck! They attacked you? Just out of the blue.”
“Yes, sir. They never said a word, just came at us and we were fucked. I couldn’t see a thing, Viper. I was completely blind. Something hit me, knocked me to the ground. Oz and Kyte were a few steps in front of me, and I heard them go down as well, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t see a fucking thing. Pardon my French.” He acknowledged Sasha and she nodded for him to continue. No offense taken.
“They were like shadow demons,” Kyte said. “Blurs of darkness that appeared out of nowhere. It all happened so fast, I didn’t have time to react. I tried to block the blows, but it’s like you said. They’re wicked fast and crazy strong, and me and Oz went down.”
“Wait a minute. Back up, Kyte. Are you saying you could see them?”
“That’s why we rushed over here,” Martin said. “Oz and Kyte were wearing these special contact lenses that Oz invented, ones that block the spark when we’re out in public. I wasn’t wearing any, so when the KS showed up, I was completely blind. But both Oz and Kyte could see shadows.”
“Not that it helped us much. Even with that, we were completely unprepared. They took us out with little to no effort. If that other guy hadn’t shown up, we’d probably all be dead.”
Viper rubbed his hand over his shaved skull and Sasha could practically feel him
vibrating beside her.
“What other guy?” he said.
Martin exchanged another look with Kyte and said, “Some guy showed up. I felt one of the KS coming at me, just like in training I knew he was there, and I was ready for him, but someone else stepped in and blocked the strike before I could. He told me to get the others and vamoose, so I did.”
Viper looked at Sasha, the concern in his narrowed eyes palpable. “And you have no idea who this other person was?”
“No sir,” Martin said. “But the way he fought? He had to be one of them, didn’t he? He held them both off so we could get out of there. Who else could do that but one of them?”
Sasha watched as Viper scrubbed his head again. She could practically see the wheels turning in that magnificent brain of his, and the muscles in his arms flexed as he clenched his fists and dropped them to his sides.
“Let’s get back to the contact lenses,” he said, turning the conversation away from their savior and back on something she knew they would be investigating further. “Are you still wearing them?” he asked Kyte.
“Oh, yeah. Here.” The Soldier pulled a little plastic case from his pocket and set it on the table, where he unscrewed two lids. He then stuck his fingers in his eyes and removed the lenses one at a time, placing them in the solution and closing the lids back up.
“Oz came up with these?” Viper asked.
“Yes, sir,” Kyte answered.
“And why exactly did he feel the need to create contact lenses that shielded the spark?”
Kyte looked at Martin, but he threw his palms up and took a step away from Viper before answering.
“Well, sir, let’s just say some of the boys can get a little rambunctious when we go to town. Oz thought it might be nice if we could, um, not have to worry about accidentally sparking in front of humans. You know, so we could relax more, so to speak.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, sir. And they work, too.”
“What we didn’t expect,” Martin added, “was that they would give us the ability to see through Shade-induced darkness. That’s why we came to you. Can we use that?”
Viper glanced at Sasha again. “What do you think?” he asked her, and she ignored the little flutter in her stomach that came from him asking her opinion. Something silly like that shouldn’t matter, especially when the Kurai Senshi were so close, and she chastised herself for finding pleasure in it.
“I think we need to speak to this Oz person,” she said, and Viper nodded his agreement.
“Where is he?” he asked.
Again, the young males exchanged a look. It was Kyte who answered. “Unfortunately, he’s in the Med Wing with Allon. The KS did a number on him and he wasn’t breathing so good when we left him.” To Martin he whispered, “And he’s gonna kill us for telling Viper about the lenses.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Viper said. “Sasha and I will pay him a visit.”
“Is there anything else we should know? Any details you may have forgotten?”
Martin shook his head. “Nothing I can think of, sir. Although…”
“Yes, Soldier?”
“I’m trying to puzzle it out. Who could that other person have been? I mean, to fight them like he did, he’d have to be one of them, wouldn’t he? So why protect us if we’re supposed to be the bad guys?”
Viper put a hand on each of the Soldiers’ shoulders and turned them toward the door. “Don’t worry about that,” he said as he gave them a not so subtle push toward the exit. “Right now, we need to get four hundred pairs of contact lenses produced and distributed, ASAP. Go back to your bunks and rest up. The storm will be on us sooner than we expected.”
Viper shut the door on the Soldiers’ backs and turned to Sasha. “This could be the break we needed.”
“I agree,” she said, trying to ignore the spark of excitement in his eyes. She turned back to the table and picked up the contact case, pretending to examine it when what she really wanted was to see that spark again. Something other than frustration or disdain, which were the expressions this male wore most often in her presence. “Did you notice the tinting on the contacts?” she asked.
“I did.”
She looked up and a little shock went through her when the spark she’d hoped for strobed the room.
“You know what this means?”
She smiled, knew exactly what he was thinking. “If the tinting can keep the spark in, perhaps it might add a layer of protection against the little surprise we’re working on.”
“Exactly,” Viper said, his lip turning up on one side. It wasn’t a smile exactly, but the closest she’d seen since meeting the male, and it made her heart skip a beat. That look intensified when he said, “It’s all falling into place.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
M erlin parked his Hummer next to the one the Soldiers had driven off in. A waterfall of relief cascaded over him with the knowledge that Martin was back on the Compound. All of them. That all of them made it back.
He managed to get to his suite without running into anyone and went straight for the shower. When he caught his reflection in the full-length mirror, he froze. His hair hung in wet tangles, thickening blood soaking his scalp and painting his face into something Picasso would have been proud to claim. His eyes had returned to their natural brown, but he could still feel the Shade knocking at his psyche’s door.
He pulled his ruined shirt over his head, stripped his leathers off and stumbled into the shower, cranked it on and stood under the stream until the cool water turned steaming hot. He needed to wash the night from him, scrub away the memories.
So many years he’d kept what he’d learned at the hands of the Kurai Senshi bottled up. He’d pushed it deep down inside to a place where he thought it might stay buried forever. He tried to cover it up with new training, learning every new martial art he came across, adding layers to himself in order to forget the teachings of Master Masaru, of Takeshi and the rest. He didn’t believe in the tenets they held, couldn’t condone their punishments and rituals.
And yet, here he stood, covered in the blood of his former brothers. Not that he knew the two he’d just fought. They seemed young to him, by Kurai Senshi standards, didn’t appear to have the focus of one from his era. Still, they fought like Dark Warriors, with speed and agility, and control of all the lights in the sky, manmade or otherwise.
He was relatively certain that the Dark Warriors he abandoned in the alley were still alive, although he’d left them with injuries that would have them in an infirmary somewhere healing for several days. He knew he should have killed them outright, should have called in a cleanup crew to dispose of their bodies, should have done a lot of things. But he couldn’t leave it to chance that Takeshi would clean up his mess, and that would cause more problems than leaving them alive had done.
Truth is, he should have gone straight to Mason, told him everything that happened. And yet, here he stood, naked and shaking under the souped up shower jets he’d had installed last winter, terrified of things yet to come. Takeshi was close, he had no doubt. When the Shade took him in that parking lot, he could practically feel his former sensei watching him.
That random attack on the Soldiers was designed to draw him out, to make him show himself and confirm to Takeshi that he was on the right track.
Had he stayed at the Compound, holed himself up in the Tech Lab where he’d been the last several centuries, everything would have been fine.
He shook his head, his hair creating an arc of water that sprayed across the stone shower walls.
It wouldn’t have been fine. The Soldiers were sitting ducks out there. Viper tried, his ruthless training sessions a valiant effort, but the cold fact remained—they were no match for the KS. Had he not been there, they would all be dead, or more likely taken to torture and interrogate until they spilled everything they knew about the Legion, about Katsuro. And that included Martin.
Of course, then Merlin would have blamed him
self until the day he died, which, from the feel of things, would have come sooner rather than later. No way would he go on living if Martin died because of him. Not doing that again. Nope.
He'd heard talk among the Warriors that Martin learned faster than the rest of the Soldiers, that his senses were sharper and his reactions more keen, but that only meant he would have lived a little bit longer than the other two. He did manage to avoid the fight, to dodge out of the way when the skirmish moved toward him, but Oz and Kyte had gone down like felled trees. Without Merlin’s intervention, they would all have fallen to the Dark Warriors’ blades.
Merlin grabbed the shampoo and worked his hair into a lather, finger combing it to get the blood out. Pink soap suds landed in the drain at his feet, so he did the wash/rinse/repeat thing a few more times until the water fell away clear.
Had Martin recognized him?
It wasn’t the first time Merlin wondered. He would know that male in a pitch-dark room full of a thousand Warriors, know his scent, the sound of his heart beating in that strong, broad chest. He hoped things were too chaotic, that being caught in the dark like that would have disoriented the Soldier to the point that anything he might have recognized about Merlin would be lost in the shuffle. He hoped. Last thing he wanted was for anyone else to learn that all this extra training Viper forced on them was Merlin’s fault.
He shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. A fat towel hung on a hook, and he grabbed it, absently rubbing his skin dry as he considered his mistakes.
He should have gone when he’d had the chance. Should have left the bottle cap that even now rested in the pocket of the leathers he’d dropped on the floor just over there and run as far and as fast away from this place as he could.
Perhaps Takeshi was right. Merlin was weak. He cared too much for others, and in doing so left them all vulnerable to the dangers that he alone could bring down upon them. What a catch twenty-two.
He rehung the towel to dry, then walked into his bedroom where he pulled on a pair of loose jeans and a sleeveless shirt. He moved on to the meditation room, where he thought he could om-chant himself into a state of calm, but it wasn’t happening. Instead of easing, his breathing became more ragged, more difficult, to the point where he thought he might hyperventilate.