“It’s okay, Gabe. I didn’t come here expecting anything. I’ve made a good life for myself with the team. I’m doing fine.”
“You never…” He looked down, hesitant and unsure.
“What?”
He looked back up, still serious, “You never found a mate?” She shook her head, but I thought she might be thinking about Ethan and the life they almost had together.
“Me either.” He was staring at her with unconcealed longing. Sinc was keeping her expression neutral, so I didn't have any idea how Gabe's attention was affecting her. Karl had mentioned that Gabe was still pining for her, and it looked like he was right.
Sinc shrugged and smiled. “I thought the heir had to choose a mate before he was twenty-five.”
He sighed. “It’s been a constant battle between me and my father. I won’t pick a mate just because he likes her family." He frowned and lowered his voice. "It's BS anyway. Most of them pick a mate and then a mistress." He glanced at his watch.
Sinc's eyes widened in surprise. “I wouldn't have guessed you'd turn into the rebel of the family. I would've thought that was more Karl's speed." He shrugged and smiled, taking in a long breath of her scent.
She blushed, but tried to cover it up by continuing, "If you pick someone your daddy doesn't like, you may have to choose between her and the pack."
"I'm well aware of that. Especially since it happened once already. That time I made the wrong choice." He brushed a lock of hair off his face and said, "You've accomplished so much all on your own. It's rather incredible, really."
"I wasn't on my own. I had a lot of help from Rob and my boss, Garrett. You know, there’s a whole other world, Gabe. You don't have to stay.”
Nodding, he stared at her for another few seconds before he leaned closer. “Your snow leopard was beautiful, like you. It didn't make a difference to me. I wouldn’t have cheated on you.” He whispered it so low that I almost missed it.
She whispered back, meeting his eyes. “I know, Gabe, but that was a long time ago. It just wasn’t meant to be."
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry.” He looked at his watch. “I've been thinking about where the boys might be hidden. Would you like to come with me to check out a few places?”
“Definitely! I’ll tell the rest and we can all go.” She started to get up.
“It’s only a long shot. We’ll just be sniffing around. If we find anything, we’ll call for help.” Gabe stretched out his hand and touched her knee. “Can’t we just go together? I haven’t had a minute alone with you since you got here. I’d like to talk—catch up.”
Sinc looked at me. I shrugged and nodded toward Kaera. “I’ll have to take Kaera with me. I can’t go without a fae guard.”
“That’s fine, let’s get going.” He got up quickly, holding out his hand to Sinc.
She seemed a little bit surprised at the rush, but she snatched her bag off the couch and took his hand. “Keara, I need you to come with me and Gabe, okay?”
“Of course.” Kaera looked in my direction. "I've told Liam." When I nodded, she walked out the front door ahead of the other two to check that all was safe.
“Jackie, will you tell Kyle to take special care with the blood work? He tends to rush through things.”
“Sure.” I smiled thinking that Kyle would probably be annoyed when I delivered Sinc's directive. They'd found some blood at one of the sites, so Kyle was running the usual tests.
She and Gabe left through the front door and I followed along right after them, intending to hang a left to our lab trailer to give Kyle her message and see if they wanted coffee or anything else.
Gabe turned to me. “Isn't that your phone ringing?”
I looked at him curiously. “I don't hear anything.” Something was weird.
“Oh wait, shit, I forgot my phone. It’s recharging in the kitchen.” Sinc pulled away from Gabriel and ran back toward the house.
“Sinc, no!” Gabe was pushing past me, trying to grab Sinc’s shoulder, but she was already on the porch. At the same time I saw Kaera’s eyes widen dramatically and then flash gold as she spun back toward me in a blur, grabbing and twisting me toward her.
Then bedlam erupted.
There were vibrations at first: a chest deep rumble that started in the heart of the house then moved outward in a percussive rush, windows and wood shattering then flying outward in lethal shards and spears. Kaera shouted in fae as she wrapped her body around mine and we were thrown together through the air and away from the house. In mid air she flashed us to the street and out of the danger zone. Large chunks of wood, glass and sheetrock rained down where we’d just been standing only a second ago. The roar of the explosion finally bit into my ears, making me cover my face and cower. I felt sharp pains across my back and arms but still I squirmed in Kaera's grip, trying to see if Gabriel had reached Sinc and if she was okay.
Liam appeared beside us and, after seeing that we were relatively safe, he disappeared again, reappearing with Brina, unconscious in his arms, his clothes blackened and smoldering from the fire already beginning to rage through the house. Ethan and Kyle had run from the trailer, reaching out to help me stand and dust some of the debris from my clothing and hair. My head was pounding from the assault on my ears and my arms were stinging sharply from numerous bleeding cuts.
Kyle grabbed my hand. “Holy Shit! Are you okay?”
"Where’s Sinc? And Kaera?” Ethan had a wild expression and Kyle had to grab him before he ran back into the burning house.
“Kaera must have gone in after her.” Flames shot through the back bedroom windows and were spreading quickly into the main room. Kaera appeared next to us, her clothes scorched, her arms and face reddened with burns.
Sinc was unconscious in Kaera's arms, bleeding from various wounds. Her foot seemed in particularly bad shape, horribly burned, with blood flowing heavily from a gash above her ankle and dripping on the ground.
Gabriel was starting to groan from where he lay in the grass near what was left of the gate to the yard. He’d apparently been thrown head first into the fence. He was lucky his neck wasn’t broken.
Liam took charge instantly. “Jackie take Sinc to Garrett, she needs his blood immediately.” Kaera, you will take Kyle and Ethan to Garrett’s house. Stay there until you are relieved. I’m taking Brina to Faerie.”
“Liam, I will take Brina—she is my sister.” Blood ran down Kaera’s face from a gash across her forehead and her clothing still smoked, her usual calm expression was replaced by fear for Brina.
Liam spoke firmly but softly. “You will do your job. I need to tend her. Farrell will relieve you in a few minutes.” He said something else in Fae and then disappeared. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she looked at me.
I tried to look non confrontational, not feeling up to arguing with a furious fae warrior in the middle of a crisis. “Keara, please hand Sinc to Ethan and then take Kyle and Gabriel to my kitchen. Tie up that piece-of-shit wolf. He knew about the bomb. Don’t hurt him.” She glowered at Gabriel as she grabbed him roughly by the arm, making him cry out. Then taking Kyle’s arm, she disappeared instantly.
I took another glance at the house, which by now was a raging inferno, and felt myself tremble. The neighborhood wolves were running in our direction and shouting at us to wait. I saw Jake racing toward me with a panicked expression which I took to be more of a "don't let them get away" look than an "I hope everyone's okay" look. I flipped him off as I grabbed Ethan’s hand and threw the three of us into the ley lines. I heard Ethan gasp, since I hadn't used much finesse, but hell, Gabriel and his pack had wanted me dead, along with the fae and the vampires who he thought were resting in the basement. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I flashed into Garrett’s room with Sinc and Ethan. Garrett was at rest, not breathing or moving, but I knew that he would wake as soon as I touched his mind. “Ethan please put her on the bed next to Garrett then turn on the light and run
out to the supply cabinet outside the bathroom to get first aid supplies.” He laid her down gently and then left the room.
I sat on the bed and cradled his head between my hands. “Wake up Garrett, Sinc is hurt and she needs your blood.” His eyes popped open and he shivered slightly in an effort to sharpen his wits to deal with the crisis.
“Tell me.” Seeing Sinc next to him, he sat up and moved closer, biting into his wrist and holding it to her mouth. But she wasn’t awake and so she didn’t swallow.
“Shit, I have to go into her head and try to wake her up. Ethan will tell you what happened.”
“We’ll do an intravenous line.” Ethan was back and already ripping the packaging on intravenous needles and tubing. Garrett helped him and then got a line going from his arm, attaching it to Sinc’s after getting the blood flowing with some suction.
“Okay—that’s good. She’s getting blood now. I’ll give you some of mine.” I was shaking as I lifted my wrist, noticing with surprise the blood that had soaked through my shirt and dried on my arm. It smelled like my blood.
Garrett gently took my hand and lowered it. “I’m fine, but you’re bleeding. Tell me what happened.” I knew my cuts were only minor, although they hurt like a hundred tiny paper cuts all over my arms and back. Plus my ears were still ringing and it was kind of hard to hear. Ethan was examining Sinc’s injuries looking furious at first and then more worried with every passing minute.
Trembling with rage, I was pretty sure that I had him beat in the anger department. “A fucking bomb is what happened. Brina was burned and god knows what else. She was in the back bedroom, right over the explosion. Liam took her to Faerie. They blew up the house thinking that you were all in the basement—you and your nest. Gabriel got Sinc out with some lame excuse before the explosion but she ran back in to get her phone. He tried to get me to go back inside. He wanted me dead. He probably thought the bomb would kill Liam too. I made Kaera bring him with us so we have a hostage. I want to interrogate him.”
Garrett's bright blue eyes had iced over in an angry silver swirl as I'd spoken. The only thing keeping him in the bed and not vamp-speeding it into the kitchen to rip out Gabriel’s throat was that intravenous line giving Sinc the strength she needed to recover.
Farrell appeared in the doorway looking somber. “I’ve relieved Kaera; she’s gone to Brina. I’ve brought Ashlyn as backup and she has Gabriel upstairs in the common room. The wolf is conscious, tied up and not going anywhere. Kyle is uninjured and on the phone with Peter. What else can we do?” He looked down at Sinc, his brow wrinkling with concern as he moved into the room. He knelt by the bed and took the injured foot gently in his hand, examining it. I was ashamed at myself for looking away, so I forced myself to look again. It was raw, red and blistered, parts of it blackened like burnt meat and twisted in an odd way. I couldn’t even tell if she still had all of her toes.
Farrell spoke with some authority, reminding me that although he was one of the youngest fae, he was still eighty-five and savvy. “She needs a hospital. I’ll take her. I know several of the surgeons at Crescent City Hospital.” I nodded gratefully as he pulled out the needle feeding her blood and Garrett removed his. CCH was a hospital that serviced humans and supernaturals, keeping them separated by floors. It was conveniently built over a powerful ley line crossroad, so magic was easily accessible whenever necessary.
“I have to go with her. Please.” Ethan was still clutching her hand.
Farrell grabbed his arm and nodded. “I’ll take you also, Ethan.” Ethan lifted her gently and they disappeared. We noticed Kyle standing in the doorway. He’d seen Farrell sift into the lines with Sinc and Ethan.
“How is she?” Sinc would have smiled to see how worried he looked. It seemed like they’d argued for as long as they'd known each other. Both of their auras burned red, as did their emotions much of the time, but underneath it all, their friendship was solid.
Garrett answered, having calmed himself when Farrell arrived. “The bleeding's slowed, but her foot is seriously injured. Farrell’s taken her and Ethan to CCH. I need to take care of Jackie’s wounds. Could you please call Rob and Aaron?”
“No prob. If it’s okay, I’ll tell Rob to go to the hospital and bring Ethan some food. None of us has eaten since breakfast. I’ll make you and Ashlyn something, Jackie.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow. “She’ll eat. Thank you Kyle.”
His expression was implacable. There was no arguing with Garrett when he was in crisis mode. “Okay, I’ll eat, thanks. She’ll be fine, you know. She’s strong.”
“Yeah, and too stubborn to give up." He looked back at Garrett. "What do you want me to tell Aaron?”
“Use the phone in my office and close the door. We want our 'guest' to remain in the dark. Tell Aaron about the bomb and that they wanted all of us dead, with the possible exception of Sinc. Ask him to inform the other packs and...," he smiled as he had a new thought. "Perhaps ask for a vote calling for sanctions against the Los Altos Pack. Quentin will be furious. Tell Aaron that we have Gabriel with us and that we haven’t harmed him. Perhaps he could contact Quentin directly to tell him that Gabriel is in our care. Ask Aaron if he’ll mediate for us.”
“I’ll take care of everything. Gabriel’s awake and you should see him. He’s all trussed up like a rodeo steer and Ashlyn is scaring the shit out of him, telling him what the fae do to murderers. Pretty gruesome stuff. Of course he keeps babbling that it must have been a gas leak or something like that.” Kyle looked at me. “You’re bleeding, are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He nodded and left to make his phone calls and our lunch, only his lemony scent remained behind.
Garrett ran a gentle hand down my face. “We need to clean your wounds. You’re still bleeding slightly. Come into the bathroom.” I nodded and dragged myself up off of the bed and into the large bathroom with Garret beside me supporting my elbow. “I’m cutting off your shirt. You’re sliced up pretty badly.” I sighed in resignation. It was one of my favorite shirts. I wondered idly how many outfits I’d ruined since I’d joined the team last May.
Garrett was as gentle as anyone could ask for, but it still hurt like crazy. The disinfectant burned and the tweezers poking into already sore areas made me jump and wince and grit my teeth. “Try to stay still, my little cheetah. I know this hurts, but I have to get the splinters and the glass out quickly. We don't want your skin to heal over these pieces." He dropped another bloody splinter into the trash can, then took a moment to squeeze my hand. "It could have been so much worse.” I heard his voice catch with emotion.
When he finished, he put down the tweezers and turned my face toward his, looking a little bit desperate. “This was too close. It could be you in the hospital.” He cradled my face and kissed me hard, startling me at first. My own need kicked in as I kissed him back, trembling as the truth of what might have happened set in.
I pulled away and leaned my forehead against his, clutching at his arms, hoarsely whispering, “Kaera saved my life. She covered my body with hers and then beamed me to a safer spot. Then she flashed inside to get Sinc. Liam got Brina out of there as quickly as he could. It was all so fast and so—so horrible. Brina looked bad, burned and bleeding. Kaera too.”
“Liam will be able to help them.” Garrett kissed me again and then hugged me very tenderly, being careful not to hurt me. “I should have listened to his advice and gotten you out of there last night."
"Pulling something like this is off the charts crazy. What did they think? That they could just explain it away as an accident?"
"I fear that Quentin and Karl are unbalanced." He gently kissed my cheek and smiled, running his finger along my jaw. "I'm feeling rather proud of you. The entire team pulled together in the middle of all that chaos, and as injured as you were, you thought to bring Gabriel, which gives us a bargaining chip and a source of valuable information."
"It was more Liam than me. I was scared
and really angry. I'm not always clear-headed in that state."
He leaned his forehead against mine and whispered. "You handled everything perfectly, my love."
"At least they didn't try this when you and your nest..." I swallowed down a sob. "When you would have been there." The thought of losing Garrett brought on a bout of shivers.
"We're fine, and soon to become Quentin's bane, I believe. It's unfortunate that all of our data is lost. I really wanted to help those boys.”
“The physical evidence might be lost, but Sinc emails the reports to herself every couple of hours. You should have Kyle print it out here so we have it just in case someone hacks into her email.
Garrett nodded as he took one more look at my back and my arms, licking two of the deeper wounds so I wouldn’t scar, and then bandaging everything up. I looked a little like a mummy by the time he finished. Even though nothing needed stitches, he gave me a small amount of his blood but wouldn’t let me give him any of mine, saying that he’d go out to a donor when Sasha got up in a few minutes. Kyle had made sandwiches and french fries and after one whiff I had to admit that I was famished.
Garrett went upstairs with food for Ashlyn. When he came back down, he was laughing. “Gabriel is about ready to tell us anything we want to know. Sasha’s up, so we’ll question Gabe when I get back.” He kissed my cheek so sweetly and then left in a silent blur.
Sasha rushed into the kitchen looking a little anxious. I told him the whole story again while I ate. Angry sparkles glittered in his clear blue eyes. He stayed with us until Kyle and I'd finished and then we went upstairs together and sat in the chairs across from Gabriel who was tied up and on the couch. Ashlyn took his gag out and cut only the rope connecting his bound hands to his tied feet.
“I was tired of hearing him go on and on about how it wasn’t his fault.” She zoned out for a second and then came back online. “Liam says Brina will recover in a week or so and that Kaera is cut up with some minor burns and will be fine by tomorrow. He wants to know how Sinc and Jackie are.”
Blown Away (Rogues Shifter Series Book 4) Page 12