by Fall, Carly
Rayner shrugged. “We’ve got to consider all the possibilities.”
Blake realized he would most likely never have the trust of the Saviors again. He’d screwed up one too many times. Throwing his hands up in the air, he stood. “Look, I told you what happened. That’s the way it went down. I’m sorry you don’t believe me. I don’t have anything else to say. Have Jovan find me when you feel like the truth needs to be validated.”
He strode from the room, embarrassed that his feelings were hurt. He’d tried to repair his relationship with the Saviors, but they still didn’t fully trust him. Not that he really blamed them—he’d pulled some pretty bad shit. He really needed to think about what his next step would be. Sophia and Megan were safe. The Saviors most likely weren’t going to ask him to stick around, and frankly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hang with people who didn’t trust him.
As he waited for the elevator, he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He glanced up and was surprised to see Cohen coming at him. The doors opened, and Blake strode in. Just as the doors were about to close, Cohen shoved his boot in and the doors parted. He stepped in.
“I’d like you to come to down my quarters with me,” he said.
“Why?” Blake asked.
“Because I want to talk to you.”
“Look, Cohen—”
“Blake, after everything you’ve done, you at least owe me this.”
Hell, he really didn’t feel like chatting it up with Cohen, but he was right. Blake did owe him. Even after all he had done, Cohen had still healed him, helping his body recover from the abuse.
“Okay,” Blake sighed.
Chapter 62
Sophia cuddled with Megan on the bed in Blake’s quarters while the girl gave a minute-by-minute account of what she’d been up to during their separation. Earlier, Sophia changed into a robe, and sleep tugged at her as she sank into the black silk sheets.
“And I learned to play tag! Abby chased Killian and me across the mats trying to tag us, and it was so funny, Mama! She tripped and fell!”
Sophia laughed. She’d met Abby earlier, and the female seemed very nice. She’d actually met all the females, and they were very welcoming and sweet. Although unsure of herself and feeling a little shy, Sophia could see herself fitting in easily in no time.
Megan yawned, still prattling on about all her new experiences over the past forty-eight hours. Sophia loved her new little girl, one full of life, energy, and excitement for what would come tomorrow. She decided she’d give Megan a few more days of freedom, but eventually, they needed to get back on track with her studies.
While Megan explained the Lego structure, Sophia’s eyes stung with tears of gratitude for Blake. He’d done everything he said he would do, and Megan’s life was as he promised. She needed to find a way to repay him, to show her appreciation. If Micah hadn’t told her Blake was half Colonist, she would have been shocked when Liberty mentioned it to her earlier. It was strange to have feelings for someone she should hate, however, what Blake had done for her and Megan solidified her feeling that he was an honorable male. Him being half-Colonist didn’t phase her in the least bit.
“So do you like it, Mama?” Megan asked.
“I love it, honey,” Sophia said. “It’s a masterpiece.”
Megan got up from the bed and walked over to the Lego house. “Good, Mama, because now I’m going to destroy it and build something new!”
Sophia laughed as Megan threw pieces of it in the air and watched them explode into what seemed like a million bits on the carpet.
“Remember, you have to pick up all those little pieces,” Sophia said.
“I do?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Megan sighed. “Okay, Mama.”
She dropped to her knees and began tossing the Legos into the large, yellow bucket. Sophia came over to help, and together they cleaned up the mess in no time.
“It’s time for bed, Megan,” Sophia said, noticing the time on the clock. She hoped she would be able to see Blake before she turned in.
“Do I have to?”
Sophia couldn’t help but laugh. Although Megan seemed very happy, she hadn’t lost her streak of defiance. “Yes, now no arguments.”
As Megan crawled into bed, Sophia decided she would seek out Blake after Megan was whisked off to dreamland.
Chapter 63
Blake sat on the overstuffed chair next to Annis’s bedside, while Cohen sat on the bed running his hand through her hair. Her dark skin glowed against the stark-white sheets, and Blake marveled again at her beauty.
A month ago, his brain would have exploded at this scene, but seeing Cohen care for Annis didn’t even put a blip on his radar. In fact, his thoughts kept returning to Sophia and how pretty she looked fresh out of the shower with her vibrant, pink cheeks and her hair tousled around her face. She’d been through so much, and her bravery amazed him. The thought of tangling with Jael twisted his gut, and she managed to take him out single-handedly.
“Did you shoot her, Blake?” Cohen asked, his voice quiet.
Blake had to backtrack a minute as he realized Cohen spoke of Annis. “I swear to you, on the unmarked grave of my poor mother, I didn’t, Cohen. Get Jovan and Liberty down here and you’ll see I’m telling you the truth.”
After a few minutes, Cohen nodded. “I believe you,” he said. “It’s damn near inconceivable to physically hurt someone you love, unless you’re some deadbeat human piece of shit. But for an SR44 male, it’s impossible.”
Blake nodded. He didn’t quite get the whole makeup of the SR44 male, how they fell in love so quickly and so damn hard. He’d watched it with Jovan, Cohen, and Nico. It was something no one could explain to him, something they didn’t understand, but simply accepted.
“Annis wants to keep the baby.”
Blake nodded. “That’s good, Cohen. I’m happy for you.” He didn’t bother apologizing again for being such a bastard.
Annis stirred, and her golden eyes bathed him in their light. “Blake?”
“Hey,” he whispered with a smile. “How are you feeling?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I asked him to come down,” Cohen said.
“Why?”
Cohen shrugged, running his finger down the side of Annis’s face. “Because if he hadn’t shot Micah, Micah would have shot you again, and I’d be without my mate.”
“Micah’s dead?” Annis asked, her eyes wide in shock.
Cohen nodded.
“And you killed him?” Annis looked at Blake.
“Yeah, I did.”
Annis stared at him for what felt like many minutes, and then she smiled. “Thank you for saving our lives, Blake.”
For a minute he was confused, but then realized she meant her and the baby.
“Anything for you, Annis,” he said, and he meant it, but the head-over-heels-googly-I’ll-lick-your-feet love wasn’t there. He said it because she was a woman he deeply cared about, but he no longer loved her in the way of lovers. He couldn’t explain why, except to say his focus had taken a drastic turn toward Sophia.
“Cohen, could Blake and I talk for a moment?” Annis asked.
Cohen’s eyes bounced from her to Blake and back again.
“It’ll be fine, Cohen,” Annis said, grinning.
Yes, she might be independent as hell, but she still appreciated a man looking out for her.
“Yes, it will,” Blake laughed.
Cohen smiled and stood. “Okay, I’ll be back in ten.”
Annis shook her head. “How about twenty?”
“Nope. Ten it is. My mate is hurt and that’s about as long as I can promise I’ll stay away.”
As the door shut, Blake knew Cohen told the truth, and the countdown began.
“I was very angry at you for revealing my secret,” Annis said, her golden eyes shimmering.
“I don’t blame you, and I’m sorry,” he said. “I know it doesn’t make up for it, but I wasn’t in
my right mind.”
“And that was because of this heroin you spoke of?”
“Yes. It’s very addictive.” Even talking about it caused his monster to rise up, but he took a deep breath and struggled to push it aside.
“Are you going to be okay with this . . . addiction, Blake?”
He honestly wasn’t sure how to answer that, but he did know what his plan was: one day at a time.
“I have every intention to be okay, Annis. I hate the idea of something controlling me, so I will continue to keep it in check. It’s going to be a daily battle.”
Annis tilted her head. “You act as though it is a living, breathing thing.”
“Sometimes it feels like that.”
She reached out from under the covers and gently took his hand. He waited for the electric shock of desire to shock his system, but it never came.
“As I sat in the car waiting for all of you to get Sophia, I heard a car pull up, and I laid down on the seat. I heard nothing for a few minutes, and I sat up—my plan was to find my way into the house and warn all of you. Just as I was about to open the car door, I heard heavy footsteps coming toward me.”
Blake couldn’t imagine the fear she must have experienced at the sound, especially without her sight.
“I stayed still and remained silent, hoping it was one of you. When the footsteps stopped at my window and no words were spoken, I knew I was in trouble. Oddly enough, the first thing that went through my mind was the child I originally didn’t want, and it became very important that I protect it at all costs.”
Annis seemed far away as she told her story, her gaze trained on the wall.
“When Cohen went in to heal me, I instructed him to check on the fetus. We went down there together, and I could hear her speak to me, my spirit to hers. I knew at that moment that I wanted my little girl.”
Tears sparkled in Annis’s eyes.
“I’m happy for you, Annis,” he said, and she squeezed his hand.
“Micah did me a favor of sorts,” she said, her eyelids getting heavy. “If I didn’t need a healing, I never would have met my daughter. And you gave me the greatest gift of all, Blake. You saved both our lives.”
Unsure of what to say, he just squeezed her hand.
“So, thank you,” she said, her voice trailing off to a whisper as her eyelids closed.
He sat with her a few minutes and wondered why the longing for her wasn’t present. What had taken its place?
Sophia.
The name screamed in his brain, and he struggled with the fact. He barely knew the woman, and he simply couldn’t have fallen in love with her, of that he was certain.
Cohen walked in, and Blake glanced at the clock—nine minutes and forty-five seconds had passed, and Blake hid a smile. “Right on time,” he whispered.
Cohen grinned and sat down on the bed. “Did you two have a good talk?”
“Yeah, we did.”
Blake got up to leave and Cohen followed. When they reached the elevator doors, Cohen said, “Blake, there’s going to be a meeting about whether you stay with us or not.”
“I figured as much.”
Cohen took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I believe what you said about the shooting,” he said. “But what concerns me is your future. You were okay, and then you just declined into this bastard. I mean, you always were kind of a dick, but things shot to a whole new level.”
Blake nodded. “I know, Cohen. I’m not saying that I’m at one hundred percent, or even close to it. I’ve got a lot to relearn about sobriety, but I’m trying.”
Cohen nodded. “Have you talked to Beverly at all?”
“Yeah, I have.”
Cohen crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the ceiling for a moment, and then back at Blake, his violet gaze almost blinding. “Okay. That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Cohen turned and went back to his quarters with a wave, and Blake waited for the elevator. He debated where to go, but decided that the gym was a good bet at this time of night.
The farther away he could bury himself from the front door, which led to the Hummer, which led to drug dealers, the better off he’d be.
Chapter 64
Blake paced the gym, nowhere near dreamland. It had to be going on midnight, but sleep eluded him. Besides, Megan and Sophia slept in his quarters, and he had nowhere else to go. There wasn’t an extra bed to be found in the place, except for the uncomfortable cot. He’d haul it down here at some point during the night, or maybe he’d just crash on the mats.
Shock rippled through him as the gym door opened and Sophia stepped through. She glanced around and then waved. As she walked toward him, her breasts jiggled slightly beneath the silky red robe she wore, and she showed just a bit of calf with each step. Her warm, brown gaze caressed him from head to toe, and desire ripped through Blake, his cock painfully hard.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Everything is fine,” she said.
She smiled, her cheeks flushed.
“What’s up?”
“I feel I must confess something to you.”
“What’s that?”
“I saw you, Blake,” she whispered, not meeting his gaze. “I don’t know if you remember, but I was there.”
His breath caught in his throat, knowing exactly what she was going to say, but still not believing it. “You were where?”
She looked at him, her eyes a warm glow. “I was there when you were high, Blake. I’ve talked to Beverly to try to understand this addiction you spoke of, and the only thing I can think of was that you saw me in your altered stated, that it opened up some sixth sense in you.”
Blake didn’t know how she did it, but his suspicions had been confirmed. There was no possible way he could have hallucinated her. He took her hand in his. “Tell me how? And why? Why were you there? Why did you come to me?”
He listened as she explained it was quite by accident. “Micah brought me a book about astral travel. At first I thought it silly, but I found out it was very easy for me to practice. There were always rumors my mother practiced it, but I never verified it. It was pure coincidence that I ended up in the apartment. I was shocked you could see me, because I visited others, but no one else could.”
He nodded, thinking about how Brandy hadn’t been able to see her. “I thought you were an angel,” he whispered, tracing his hand down her face. “Or some type of hallucination I had conjured up in my altered state of mind. I can’t tell you how surprised I was when you came into the shed that day.”
Sophia smiled. “Imagine my shock as well.”
Being around Sophia calmed him. His body relaxed, the monster within him no longer raged. Yes, he was still there, but he wasn’t clawing at Blake, demanding to be sated.
Sophia reached up and placed her hands on the sides of his face. “Thank you, Blake. Thank you for everything.”
“Thank you, Sophia,” he whispered, wanting so badly to kiss her, but he refrained. She’d been through so much.
She stood on her toes and slowly brought her mouth to his. The kiss was gentle, and over far too quickly.
Stepping back, she brought her fingers to her lips, her cheeks red. “I . . . I enjoyed that,” she whispered.
Blake smiled. “I did too.”
“I want to help you with this addiction, Blake.”
Blake realized he wanted her by his side, but it was unfair to her. However, there was something about Sophia that just felt right. Perhaps it was because she had seen him at his worst, nursed him, and still wanted to be around him, or maybe it was the connection they shared of her appearing to him and his ability to see her when no one else could. At some point, he would like to see if she appeared to him while he was sober.
“I’d like that as well, Sophia, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I don’t know where I’m going to be tomorrow. I’m kind of a persona non-gratis around here, and I’m fighting an addiction. I don’t know where that
’s going to lead me.”
Sophia nodded. “I’ve heard stories of your behavior, Blake. And as far as this addiction goes, you are a strong male, both physically and mentally. I know that you will come out an even stronger male. You will win over this . . . monster.”
He wondered who the big gossip was, but getting that answer would be close to impossible, because everyone who lived in the silo loved to dish the dirt.
“Yeah, I guess you could say I’ve kind of burned my life down and all that’s left are ashes, but I appreciate your faith in me.”
“Well then, you must rebuild, Blake.”
He nodded. “I really don’t have much of a choice.”
“No, you don’t. But if I do say so myself, I’m fairly good with a hammer and nails. I’d like to help.”
Blake pulled her into him, holding her close. She snaked her arms around his waist, and he loved the feel of her body against his. Maybe they could take baby steps and figure out if there was anything there between them, but first he had to come clean with her on everything.
“Sophia, my father was a Colonist. I killed him after he murdered my mother.”
Her hands ran up and down his back. She took a deep breath and said, “I know, Blake.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
She pulled away and stared up at him. “No, Blake, it doesn’t. You’re an honorable male even if you do have Colonist blood running through you. You are nothing like the monsters that killed my family.”
He pulled her close and she rested her head on his chest again.
“I still want to help you, Blake.”
His chest expanded as she held him, a feeling of invincibility running through him that he owed to her honesty and her ability to believe in him when no one else did. “Thanks, Sophia. That means a lot to me. I think I’m going to need all the help I can get.”
Chapter 65
Blake looked around the table, all eyes were once again on him. He scrubbed his face with his hand, feeling oddly calm and centered, not a scattered mess as he’d been feeling for months. He attributed it to Sophia. There was something comforting knowing he had someone who was truly on his side.