Watcher Exposed: Dark Angels Paranormal Romance (Watchers of the Gray Book 8)

by JL Madore

  Tanek held up his fist for a bump.

  Before he went upstairs, Hark stepped out onto the front steps, unlaced his boots, and brushed himself off. Austin understood they led glamorous lives of filth and blood, but she appreciated it when they didn’t track it through the house.

  Socking it up to the second floor, he hit his room and got straight to cleanup. With the crisis of the night ending, next came the fallout. He was exposed. By now, his face was plastered on every news station and social media outlet.

  What’s the truth behind the bizarre Toronto housefire?

  Mysterious government soldier walks into the blaze.

  Have you seen this man?

  He’d gone over things backward and forward and didn’t see how he could’ve handled it differently. Still, it sucked.

  With a towel wrapped around his hips, he brushed his teeth and fished through his clean laundry basket for something to wear. The melodious rhythm of a guitar solo filtered into his room and he stopped.

  Damn. The kid was a savant.

  Opening the door, he listened for a bit in the hall before heading down the kid’s room. It did his heart good to know Ringo was on the mend from his seizure and that he was already putting their get-well gift to good use.

  He rounded the door to Ringo’s room and stopped dead. Her. The woman from the music shop—no—the female from the music shop. As she sat in the chair beside Ringo’s bed, she strummed the guitar, and her aura glowed with the beauty of the Choir. Mesmerizing.

  He wasn’t sure why the word popped into his head.

  Did he mean her, or the song she played? Maybe both.

  Ringo looked up and saw him staring. Yep, the kid seemed just as hypnotized. “Hey, Hark. Come meet Ren.”

  He took two steps forward when he realized he wore only a swatch of terry around his hips and had a mouthful of mint. “Apologies,” he said, making a hasty retreat. “Give me one moment to get dressed.”

  Ren stared after the warrior as he turned and fled from the bedroom. She’d thought him breathtaking when she saw him earlier. She’d been a blind fool. With his ebony skin glistening with the dew of a shower and his muscles flexing, free from the constraint of clothing, he truly stole her breath.

  “That is the male who bought you this lovely guitar?” she asked the boy, though she knew the answer. “One of your brothers and caretakers?”

  “Yep,” he said, his face breaking into an adoring smile. “That’s Hark. His real name is Taharqa, but we call him Hark. He was an ancient Moor warrior. Well, I suppose he still is, right? Anyway, he might seem quiet and broody, but he’s super cool and super nice.”

  Ren enjoyed the boy’s enthusiasm. He spoke in a rush of emotion with little filter. It reminded her of Ayana, except with Ringo, there was nothing critical or boastful in the habit.

  “Hello again,” Hark said, returning to their conversation. It seemed a crime to cover up his body but who was she to argue. He still looked delicious in a red collared shirt straining to cover his physical perfection, black jeans hugging slim hips and thick thighs, and a smile she found utterly disarming. “I’m Hark, by the way.”

  “Ren,” she said.

  Ringo sat up in his bed, a patch of his hair sticking out off the side. “Lady Divinity asked her to hang out with me until my transition. Cool, eh?”

  He nodded. “Well, then I apologize for welcoming you in a towel. I wasn’t aware Ringo had company.”

  “It’s fine,” she said, reaching over the body of the guitar to accept his offered hand. “It was my pleasure, actually. You are a beautifully made male. Tough and fiercely fit. And I, um . . . I’m not bashful, obviously.”

  Their hands clasped, and he stilled.

  For a man of his size to grow suddenly inert was very disconcerting, especially while touching her. His hold, gentler than expected given the strength he held in reserve, triggered every impure thought a female could imagine.

  She drew a sharp breath and tried to rein herself in.

  His gaze met hers and betrayed his shift to an uncomfortable awkwardness.

  “Aaaand now I’ve embarrassed you,” she said, smiling lamely at the devastatingly gorgeous warrior. “My sister tells me I should stifle my urge to speak. In this case, that might have been a good idea.”

  “Nah,” Ringo said, waving his hand. “Hark is good-looking. He’s got that whole Morpheus bad-boy thing going, with the bald head and the leather trench. And it’s nice when a lady notices stuff like that, isn’t it, Hark?”

  The warrior shook himself from his moment of apparent panic and dropped his gaze to where their hands remained clasped. Oh goodness. She’d held his hand too long.

  Or was he holding hers?

  “Of course,” he said, the timbre of his voice deeply hypnotizing. “Thank you for the compliment.”

  Ren officially wanted to crawl under a very large rock and die. Ayana flicked her hair, and men fell over themselves. If her sister chuckled, they gathered in droves. The only thing Ren inherited along those lines was her singing voice.

  She had a voice that turned heads.

  Aaaand once they saw her, those heads turned right back around. Feeling a dozen kinds of stupid, she reclaimed her hand and flattened her sweaty palms against the fabric of her long skirt. Oh, her palms were gross and wet.

  Heat suffused her cheeks. “All right, I’ve embarrassed us both enough for one night. I think I’ll turn in.”

  “Wait,” Hark said, blocking her escape. “Don’t be embarrassed. I truly am flattered you like what you see.”

  “I’m sure it’s not a new observation. I expect that most females do.”

  He frowned. “Since you were bold enough to compliment me, let me counter by saying I can’t recall any female striking me with such a bolt of radiance. Not only are you a beauty of the heavens, the music you created earlier stirred something within me. You are a gifted and passionate musician.”

  “Wow.” Ringo looked between the two of them. “Hands down the most words I’ve ever heard you speak, Hark. Is it me or is the sexual tension in this room getting crazy thick?”

  Hark glared at his young brother. “Quiet. You know nothing, and you’re embarrassing the lady. Go back to sleep.”

  “I slept half the day and most of the night. I’m hungry—”

  Hark clasped his hand over Ringo’s face and gently forced him to lay down. “Night-night, little brother. Sleep tight.”

  “Night, Hark. Night, Ren.”

  Ren giggled as Hark gestured for her to lead the way to the hall. “May I escort you to your room? We should likely allow the boy to rest until breakfast is ready in a few hours.”

  “You’re totally scoping out where her room is,” Ringo laughed and pointed between them. “I’ve got your number, big brother. I see where this is going.”

  Hark turned a stern gaze back to the bed. “Another word and you’ll pay for it tomorrow in training, chatty Cathy. You will beg for mercy, and there will be none found.”

  “Resting,” the boy said, falling still and pinching his eyes closed. “Quietly resting. Saying nothing.”

  Hark turned off the kid’s light and escorted Ren down the hall. Ringo was right. He wanted to know where Ren would be staying while at the ranch. As it turned out, Lady Divinity had blessed him with two favors since he got home. She’d sent his mate right to his home and then, right to his door. His brothers had described the bolt of white lightning they’d felt when they’d encountered their other halves. When you know, you’ll know, Kyrian had told him.

  Yes, well, he knew.

  With every ounce of strength in his body and every drop of blood pounding through his heart, he was changed e’ermore. His beast had reared and claimed her. Ren of the Choir was his.

  Ren tapped the closed door opposite his suite and offered him a small smile. “This is me.”

  Perfection.

  The scent of her made him hard and hot. With his beast pacing within, it was all he could do not to dip his
head down and breathe her into the full depths of his lungs. He couldn’t decide if it made things worse or better that he could also smell her desire.

  Her desire for him.

  The buzz of his phone on his dresser behind him had him cursing inwardly. “As much as I’d like to continue speaking boldly and discussing how attractive I find you, it seems I’m wanted downstairs.”

  “All right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You only said that to make me feel better about drooling over you and making a fool of myself. It was gallant, but I’m a big girl.” She looked down at herself and nodded. “Literally, a big girl.”

  Hark was completely baffled.

  Did she not realize how beautiful she was? He saw the skepticism in her eyes and was shocked. No, she didn’t.

  He tilted his head, taken once again by her radiance. If this female needed to be told a thousand times how consuming he found her, he would clear his schedule and dedicate himself to the task.

  Actually, the universe already cleared his schedule.

  “Ren, the lushness of your curves only adds to your appeal for me. In a world of hard edges and chiseled bodies, I can only imagine the glory of taking refuge in the warmth of your arms and the softness of your voluptuous body.”

  “Please, stop,” she said, her smile falling as panic snuck into her eyes. “Be serious. I have little experience with males, but none thought that. It’s mean to say things like that.”

  His phone buzzed again on the dresser and he grit his teeth.

  Mean? Wow, his life of celibacy was playing against him here. “Ren, you are beautiful. You may have little experience with relationships, but I have none. If I’ve said too much, that’s why. If I’m doing this wrong, that’s why. I saw you at the music store, and you stole my breath. I don’t know any other way to say it than to be honest.”

  The confusion in her eyes faded, replaced by a glimmering spark of hope. “You’re not lying?”

  He took her hand and stepped directly in front of her. “Ask anyone in this household, and they’ll tell you. I never lie. I’ve likely said more than convention allows for in a first meeting, but Nephilim passions aren’t conventional.”

  He would claim her as his mate right then and there if he didn’t think it would terrify her and send her running. Declaring a stranger beautiful was one thing. Declaring her as his destined other half was quite a lot more.

  He offered her what he hoped was a small, seductive grin. Lifting her knuckles to his lips, he nipped her flesh with a lover’s bite. “If it makes you more comfortable, I’ll bite my tongue until we know one another better. It will allow me to prove my words to you, moment by moment.”

  Pressing her flesh to his lips, he savored the bloom of her arousal. He was right there with her. And, for the first time in his lonely existence, he would do something about it.

  The predatory growl of his beast stretching and coming awake within him was nothing he cared to stifle. He would be honest with her about everything he felt, and as his other half, she would accept him for the male he was.

  His phone started another round of buzzing, and he cursed the timing. Leaning into his room, he snatched the stupid thing off his dresser. “I need to go, but dream of me, sweet Ren.”

  Jogging to the top of the stairs, he looked back before he descended. She stood there, a hand pressed against her heaving breasts, a vision of the heavens.

  Love. At. First. Sight.

  Some people believed in it. Some didn’t. He could attest to its power and was thankful fate had been so kind to them.

  Ren hadn’t kidnapped him for torture, like Kyrian’s mate. She hadn’t manipulated his mind and forced him to betray his family, like Bo’s. Ren was honest and kind and exuded the aura of the angel she was.

  Humming the tune she’d been playing on the guitar, he didn’t even register the stairs below his feet. He was practically floating with joy. Buzz building in his head. Cock as hard as marble. Beast going apeshit, demanding he go back and bed her. Yes indeed, he’d found his mate.

  Austin played with the kids and milled around in the living room with the other wives until their men got home. The group of them were filthy, angry, and looked ready to tear the world apart at the seams. They each got a welcome home kiss from their gentler halves before stomping down the main hall toward the war room.

  Five minutes later, Hark came bounding down the stairs, fresh from the shower, smiling like the Cheshire Cat, and humming a lovely tune. Hark was their strong, silent male. Hard to read and even harder to reach. Something had changed, and she was willing to bet it had everything to do with Ren.

  No one would guess he’d been exposed tonight.

  To look at him, you’d think all was right in his world.

  She buried her smile in the soft folds of Nio’s belly and blew a raspberry. Well, good for him. With the storm about to blow in, it would be good for him to have a safe place to take refuge.

  Zander stared around the room at the expectant glances and didn’t know where to begin. He and Tanek balanced their roles as current and previous garrison commander, but the truth of it was, he was in charge. It would be his balls fried on the skillet, his head lopped at the neck, and his heart ripped from his chest. Okay, imagining all the ways the Archangels would punish him for this exposure wasn’t helping.

  He pointed to the bar, and thankfully, Brennus and Colt took the hint and started pouring. “Thinking caps, boys. How do we make this go away?”

  Danel rhymed off something about television coverage, CNN, news bulletins on the internet, but that only punctuated the problem.

  “I get it. We’re caught in the open with our dicks out, but what now? Does anyone have a bright idea on how to make it disappear?”

  Cue the heavy sighs and shaking heads of the thoroughly unhelpful.

  “Can Colt deus ex machina us out of it?”

  The cop shook his head. “No. I have no idea how to alter time or events or memories of this. Sorry, boys. That’s very different than sending a head to the back porch.”

  “Where the fuck is the Moor?” Zander snapped.

  Tanek shrugged. “He went up to shower. I’m sure he’s—yep, hey, Hark.”

  Zander turned to the doorway and the late arrival. “Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour. I gotta hand it to you, my brother. The camera loves you.”

  He scooped the remote off Tanek’s mile-long work surface and pointed it at the wall of monitors. Every screen had Hark’s image from a different angle. Getting shot and scowling at the shooters. Fighting cops to the ground. Implicating nonexistent, secret government agencies. Walking into the flames.

  “You’re fucking famous, Hark.”

  The Moor shrugged. “I was screwed from the get-go. Nothing to do but try to get everyone home.”

  Really? That was his takeaway?

  Zander felt the moment his dark side gained ground. The hair on his arms stood on end as his gift started pulling power. He felt the current running through the electrical lines of the area. Beyond that, he sensed an ocean of power in the electrical grid. It called to him—

  “Zandros,” Kyrian said, gripping his shoulder and siphoning off some of his fury. “Don’t take the city down tonight, Adelphos.”

  “Yeah,” Seth added, scrubbing a filthy hand over his skull-trim. “We’re too tired to head back out to the streets.”

  Zander drew a deep breath and worked on tethering his beast while Tanek took the reins.

  That was a good thing. Although their mentor didn’t look any less homicidal. “Anyone want to start us off on a good foot here, ’cause I’ve got nothing. Anyone? Anyone at all?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Storme washed up in the third-floor suite she shared with Phoenix, Seth, and Thea, and met the other ladies in the massive country kitchen. It had been a long night, and everyone would head to bed after breakfast. Thank the goddess it was Tuesday. The new hotel wasn’t busy enough yet for her and Jack to both be there day and night through th
e week, so they were splitting shifts. She had Tuesday and Thursday mornings off, and he took Monday and Wednesday. Usually, she used the time to catch up on the other locations, but not today.

  “So, how bad is it?” she asked, casting a wary glance in the direction of the war room.

  Ronnie set two large pitchers of juice on the table and then picked up the TV remote. When the screen came to life, they watched a human highlight reel of Hark. Yep. His identity was well and truly burned. “Honestly, I bet lots of people will believe it’s a government experiment.”

  Storme went over to the buffet and grabbed a stack of plates, and started setting the table. “There are a lot of paranoid conspiracy theorists, but the government folks will know that’s a bunch of BS. They’ll be looking for him.”

  Stetson rang the bell at the sliding glass door, and Austin walked over to let him out. “The way I see it, the boys got beaten on two fronts last night. The first and most immediate is Otherworld exposure. Someone went to a lot of trouble to draw attention to magic, and them, in particular. The second is one that terrifies me, though. All of them went down at once. Eight immortal Nephilim warriors, Colt, Wilder, and Rayvn were all neutralized by a well-placed, super-powerful sleepin’ spell. That scares the stuffin’ out of me.”

  “Yeah,” Layne said. “And I’m sure it’s a giant kick in the ass for them. How did it even happen?”

  Austin closed the back door and went back to cutting fresh fruit at the island sink.

  Storme finished setting the plates in place and went back for the silverware. “In their defense, it was a layered and intricate spell, it was sprung on them without warning, and it was riddled with contingencies and back doors to keep them under. Honestly, if I hadn’t trained my entire life with a High Priestess of the caliber of Cleo Queen, I wouldn’t have broken them out.”

  “But you did,” Thea said, taking the biscuits and hash brown casseroles out of the oven. “And we’re all so very grateful you were able to help.”