Fragmentary

by LeAnn Mason

  Holden looked sideways at me, raising an eyebrow along with the quirk of his lips, almost like the same string was attached to both so when pulled above the eyebrow, the lip came up with it. It was a devilish look that matched the twinkle in his blazing blue eyes. Those eyes got me every time. It didn’t matter what color they were; all of their variations were gorgeous, and they all meant something. My favorite was the vibrant blue of excitement.

  How was training today?

  I pulled my gaze from Holden so that I didn’t get all googly-eyed in the middle of the gym. Okay, more googly-eyed. “Devlin wanted to see how I thought on my feet.” I chuffed under my breath a little as I recalled the whole incident. I was surprised I hadn’t peed myself as I watched that giant of a man bear down on me. That had been terrifying.

  Holden nudged me out of contemplation again. Apparently my concentration was shot for the day. I’m totally blaming the Boulder Twins for my adrenaline dump and the subsequent crash I was apparently diving into. Though in truth, I was just tired. I’d had an early morning of sparing after witnessing the incident causing my boyfriend to never be able to speak again… “Sorry, Devlin decided to see how I reacted when it appeared my life was in danger.” I shrugged, attempting to show how unaffected I was by it all. A total lie. But I had survived, and what’s more, I had stopped my assailant. I perked up as I recalled Devlin’s brother dropping to the pavement and erupting into flames. Freaking flamer.

  Holden’s thoughts suddenly bombarded my own, beating them brutally into submission with the intensity of his anger. Crap, I must have said that out loud. Time for damage control. “Holden, it was fine. I was never truly in dang—”

  Holden wasn’t listening anymore. With just a few words, I had flipped his switch. The emotional response mechanism that moved them from coherent, functional humans into instinctive, reactionary… animals. I think this was his last straw moment, much as I’d had mine earlier that morning. Not good.

  I watched dumbly as Holden leapt away from me, reaching the raised sparring ring within two long strides. With no effort, he launched into the space and headed straight for Devlin, who was still focused on his current opponent and unaware of the approaching whirlwind.

  I scrambled to intercept the pair though I knew there was no way to make it to Dev before Holden did. Best I could hope for would be to keep the hits to one or two and then get in between. My Sage clumsiness thought it might be fun to add the obstacle of getting into the ring, and my hand slipped from the coated rope as I attempted to pull myself up. I was so busy trying to actually make it into the area that I didn’t see the initial confrontation or hit, but I heard it. It was like surround sound, with a slight delay. Holden’s inner voice was raging, and after his right fist made contact with Devlin’s left cheek with a resounding crack, Dev’s thoughts mirrored the rage in Holden. After once again failing to grasp a rope successfully, I laid my palms flat on the raised flooring of the ring and began pulling myself up.

  The last couple of months had definitely honed my strength and allowed me to realize the things I could do, given time, patience and practice. I had no time or patience to waste at the moment, so I was quite happy when nothing jumped up to bite me as I rolled under the ropes and into the arena.

  The boys were dancing now. Holden had flipped and was no longer a rationally thinking Primal. Luckily for me, Dev had not yet reached that point though he was working up to it. Right now, he was confused and attempting to hold off Holden’s attack.

  “Nat, what’s your man doing?” Devlin ground out while keeping as much attention on Holden as possible, allowing him to dodge the knee aimed at his midsection. He didn’t see the follow up hook though, and it caught him across the temple. Dev was a better fighter, but Holden wasn’t far behind. He’d had so much time reading people’s bodies that he could see a tell from a mile off. Luckily, Devlin wasn’t trying to hurt him because Holden’s anger was definitely a hindrance.

  “He found out about your experiment,” I called as I came to a wobbly stand, eying the circling men, looking for an opening in which to interject myself. “You know he gets like this when he feels I’m in danger.”

  Dev jabbed quickly to keep Holden back – his reach was longer so Holden wouldn’t be able to land a hit if he retreated – huffing out a frustrated breath.

  “Holden, man, you know it’s part of the job.” Then, quick as lightning, Dev swept out a leg which caught Holden behind the ankles and brought him crashing to the mat on his back.

  I took this as my opportunity to get this calmed down and launched myself at Holden’s prone form before he could get up. He was fast though, and I only made it in time to wrap my arms around him from behind. I laid my cheek against his back which was now slicked with sweat and causing his shirt to cling, much like I currently was. I made sure that my arms wrapped around his, keeping them pinned to his sides though I barely reached. I knew he could break the hold if he chose. I was strong but not as strong as he. I was banking on his protective streak. That he’d want to keep me safe and that I could keep him calm.

  Devlin stood in the corner furthest from us, his breath quick but by no means exhausted, hands on hips and rolling his eyes while I crooned and petted Holden’s chest, trying to bring him back.

  “Welcome back, Killer,” Devlin smirked. Damn him, he just couldn’t be a good guy for more than like… a second. He had to go back to being an antagonizing turd. I didn’t mind it when it was with Boat Shoes, but with anyone else, it struck a nerve. I assumed, in this case, that comment meant that Holden’s eyes had reverted back to their clear cerulean rather than the tumultuous mercury. I didn’t know for sure, being behind him as I was, but was relieved when I felt his hands wrap mine where they were anchored around his front. Gently, he pried my arms loose and turned to face me, no longer acknowledging Devlin. He needed to apologize, but I would take the indifference he now showed over the glossy anger of being flipped any time.

  Less danger for all involved.

  Holden brought one of my hands to his lips and gave a chaste kiss. As I’d hoped, his eyes, and mind, were once again clear of the haze of his reverted state of reaction. I’m sorry.

  He said it to me, and it was meant for me. Apparently, he had no plans to apologize to Devlin. Devlin, also coming to the conclusion that Holden wouldn't be contrite, threw up his hands in exasperation and tossed a hasty, “Yeah man, no problem. Glad I could help,” over his shoulder as he ducked to exit the raised ring.

  Holden wrapped his arms around me and tucked me under his chin, squeezing almost too tightly as he assured himself of my safety. Funny that, because he knew good and well that I was just fine. There were no signs of today’s training exercise with Harlow #2, and the bruises I had from hits he’d delivered were already fading, the discoloration becoming less pronounced as the day wore on. Luckily, no one but Holden had seen their initial appearance. This needed to end.

  I pushed out of his hold, making sure to stand out of reach. His arms were too nice a place to be, and I needed to remind him I wasn’t some China Doll with a clear head.

  “Holden James, do not make the mistake of reverting to the thought that I am breakable. I have trained hard for months so I can better defend myself, and believe it or not, Devlin has been a huge help in that.” I cocked a fist, driving it full bore into his chiseled stomach. The air whooshed from his lungs as he doubled over, hands on knees.

  “This is why you are not my mentor Holden,” I chided. “You will not treat me like I am capable, like I can be useful. Have you already forgotten this morning’s spar?” I circled him as he watched me warily. “I have more potential than you seem to think. I can learn what works for me. Will it work every time? No.” Jab to the kidney as I circled behind, which he deflected with an arm sweep. “Will I learn? Yes.” His thoughts streamed a mental catalogue of what I was doing and what he thought I would do.

  This was my advantage.

  I shifted my weight left and bent my right leg like
I was preparing to strike, causing him to guard his left side and open the right a bit. I lashed out quickly with a left to the exposed rib area and connected. Surprise filtered through his thoughts as he absorbed the hit. Then he moved to tie me up, to wrap me in his arms so I couldn’t strike again, but his thoughts gave him away, and I danced backward out of his reach.

  You know. I just want to see you safe, Holden pleaded.

  “Yeah, I know that, but Holden, I want to help. I want to be the best enforcer I can be, so I need a mentor who will actually be tough on me – put me in compromising positions, make me uncomfortable.” I stopped circling, putting hands to hips. “I can't overcome if I’m never tested.”

  He seemed to deflate in front of my eyes. My fire burned out at the sight. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I needed to be treated like an equal in the line of duty. “I remember the talk we had. It was only a few hours ago after all,” I said cheekily as I stepped back to him.

  How long could we do this dance of Holden’s all-encompassing worry and my need to prove to him I could handle it? I was growing weary and angry as demonstrated by my little bout with him now. My Primal-self seemed to be awakening more and more with my recent training and exploration of my physical capabilities.

  I’d thought we’d overcome this issue. This morning he was telling me to go for the soft spots for crying out loud. Maybe it was the practical application so soon after. Maybe yesterday’s events were still weighing heavily upon him. I know they were for me.

  “Guys, stow your crap for two seconds. We have a case.” Devlin’s abrupt words echoed throughout the now empty training area, breaking the simmering tension between me and my overprotective boyfriend.

  Brushing past, I added tersely, “You’re the only one, aside from my father, who knows what I’m capable of, but you treat me like I can’t handle myself.”

  Nat, he implored. Don’t be mad. I don’t want to see you hurt. I lo—

  I thrust my hand over his mouth, hanging my head. I didn’t want to say the words but I needed to. “You can’t keep things from happening, so you need to get on board with my training…”

  Damn it, Nat, the guy was a flamer! Yeah, that worried me, will always worry me. Hell, I don’t want to encounter one! Definitely don’t want you to have to!

  “I get why you worried Hold, but you can’t flip, just like I can’t. None of us have that luxury anymore, not if we want out.”

  CHAPTER 19

  UPON RE-ENTERING THE INFORMATION hub of our little team, we were given information on the case. Commander James gave us only the barest details before we headed out to the business district downtown. An apparent murder. One which looked like it may be connected to our ongoing investigation and the body we’d found last week. Good, maybe we’d get some more information from this one. Our mentors were treating this like another training experience, one I could actually participate in now that my foot was healed.

  Dane had taken the lead on sniffing out crime scene investigations. Pun intended. Funny if you think about it. His tracking skills were unmatched, and that made him quite skilled at seeing the little things. Holden, as another facet, was quite good at reading people’s physical cues. Being mute and unable to communicate verbally made him very attuned to body language and non-verbal cues, so he was usually sent in as a casual observer. Devlin was our tactical master and could often give us a look at possible thought processes or how to proceed with information. Now it was time to show them what the Sage crew could do. Jade could read the emotions of those we came into contact with. I could glean thought. And good old Steve could force someone to stay put if they tried to hoof it away for some reason. It was our time to shine. Put all the cogs together and watch the machine work.

  Looking out the window as we drove, I noticed the ground was soaked, and puddles littered the cracked and uneven road surfaces. Arriving at the scene, I took a deep breath. The air was still heavy with moisture, but there was cleanliness to its scent now, the stink of life temporarily washed away. I relished these smells though I preferred its essence untainted by the town. It made me pine for my chair on the front porch of the farmhouse. This would be a glorious afternoon on that spot, music plugged into my ears. A new bliss I had discovered, one I turned to often.

  It was overwhelming to go from the relative quiet of only my mother’s thoughts to hearing six other minds nearly around the clock. Living with so many people in such close quarters was like nails on a chalkboard in my mind when I didn’t get a reprieve. I would steal out the front door and listen to the bullfrogs and crickets, a lovely melody to accompany my trusty earbuds. So, though the air was cleaner now, it was still tainted by humanity here in the middle of town. The acrid scent of the tarry road, the garbage in the alley we were heading toward.

  The closer we got to that telltale yellow tape, the stronger the smell became. As the uniformed enforcers already at the scene saw us moving in, they began clearing a path for our approach. I followed behind Holden, bringing up the rear of our envoy. Dane was the first to reach the line and lifted it to allow Jade entry, letting it snap back into place before Steve had a chance to make it in. Devlin chuffed a laugh and granted himself entry using the same method Dane had. Once Steve recovered from his affront, he too ducked under the tape.

  There was a bit of a crowd that was nearly clambering to get a peek at what lay beyond. It was a little morbid really. Who wanted to witness blood and death? I was pretty sure that had I not needed to be here to gather information, I would not try to get a glimpse of this scene. But maybe I was the weird one. Well, I knew I was a weird one, and maybe in more ways than I thought. Musings for another time.

  The thoughts I heard as we waded through the crowd were plentiful in their macabre curiosity. Earbuds would be awesome right about now, but because we were working and needing to gather information – as well as communicate between team members about our thoughts and findings – I needed to keep my ear canals free of the melodious distraction I craved. The rest of the team had already been deployed to a body scene. I was the one playing catch up now, and I needed to be on my game.

  As I straightened from ducking beneath the boundary that Holden currently held aloft for me, much as Dane had for Jade, I was hit with the full force of the scene before me. This man could be in a drunken sleep, the sight almost peaceful with exception to the odd angle of his right wrist and head. Not to mention he was covered in filth. But we had learned a couple months back that what we saw may not always be truth; there was always more beneath the surface. A veritable well of information could be dug. The illusionist we’d encountered made me more leery, more diligent. I didn’t take anything at face value anymore.

  I did an evaluation of my mind, searching out foreign signals like a seek and destroy drone created to protect my mind from invasion. I employed it fairly often nowadays. Couldn’t be too careful. We were working on, but still needed to improve, the team’s protective and reactive measures to mental invasion.

  I relaxed slightly at the affirmation of only myself in my head then cringed. The scene was quite clean, considering we were in an alleyway and near multiple dumpsters. “Wow, totally not what I assumed a murder scene to look like.” It was clean-ish.

  “Not all murders are the bloody kind, Nat.” Dane said quietly as our convoy weaved toward the lifeless body positioned almost center in the alley.

  “The storms rolling through do a thorough job of washing away a lot of what we would hope to find. Damn, this placement sucks,” Dev huffed, putting his hands to his hips as he glared down at the large male victim.

  “Why’s that?” Steve asked more politely than I was used to hearing from him. It seemed to catch the others off guard too. All eyes shot briefly toward our team member who was much more interested in keeping his appearance tailored than actually contributing to discussions or training exercises. Honestly, I’m pretty sure the only reason his attitude hadn’t forced him off the team was because of his father. Thank God I’d had the fore
sight to deny the Councilman’s recruitment months ago. The memory still made me smile. I loved riling up the narcissistic man. His façade irked me more than most.

  “It’s a problem because a good amount of evidence, which could have been gathered to help us investigate this incident, would have been washed away with the rainwater.” Dev interjected haughtily. He lived for the moments he could show up Steve. He worked overtime trying to prove that at least he, if not all Primals, were not the drooling headcases some thought them to be.

  “Dane, you getting anything, man?” Devlin asked from his spot crouched on the body’s left, visually cataloguing his findings. “Having this many people trampling the scene isn't going to help.”

  “Why are we all even here?” Steve whined, looking around Dev to the prone figure sprawled before us. It was almost comical just how closely its position echoed the conjured and staged scenes from TV and movies. A leg and arm, each bent, head turned to the side. I imagined his eyes open and sightless though I couldn't confirm it from this angle as his head was turned away from our scouting party.

  Being scrunched together like we were, in the middle of a death scene, was making my head spin. We all had thoughts racing through our minds, some more on point than others, but the number and volume of voices I currently heard was going to give me a killer headache if it didn't ease up.

  “This is a perfect learning experience for you newbies,” Devlin remarked absently, finally answering Steve's question and pulling our attention back to the issue at hand. “Can't have you all trampling the scene just yet though. Why don't you all get comfy on a wall? Except you, Steve.” He smirked. “You get to clicking. I need photos of anything that could be a clue. Anything.” He delivered his endearing little speech without once actually acknowledging any of us, his eyes and mind firmly on the details of the scene. When he didn’t hear a reply from our tracker, he shuffled to look over his shoulder. “Dane?”