“Fuck you, asshole!” Fear twisted inside her. She didn’t want to die.
It bellowed at her.
Then from somewhere behind her, Nat heard someone shout her name.
“Nat!”
She knew that deep voice. “Axel!”
A second later, he came powering out of a tunnel, his CXM rifle up. The laser sight on the weapon arrowed on to the Minotaur.
The monster made a deep, angry sound and shoved her toward Axel.
With a cry, Nat tripped. Strong arms kept her from hitting the floor.
She looked up into Axel’s face. “Oh, God, Axel.”
He crushed her to him. “Nat. Nat.”
He breathed her name and she clung to him. He was so warm and strong.
She twisted her head. “The Minotaur—?”
“Gone. Ran down a tunnel.”
“You came for me,” she whispered.
His lips brushed her cheek. “Yes, mi cielo. I will always come.”
There were running footsteps, and the rest of the team rushed into the tunnel, looking badass as always.
“You got her?” Lachlan growled.
“Yeah,” Axel replied.
“Nat, this is not the way to do a Greek vacation,” Blair drawled.
Nat looked at them all wordlessly for a moment, then she burst into tears.
Axel rose, lifting her into his arms. She clung to him, in no hurry to let him go.
“Where’s the monster?” Seth asked.
“It ran down that tunnel.” Axel jerked his head toward the tunnel entrance.
“It was moving strangely,” Nat said, with a sniff. “And covered in blood.”
“Because we filled it with bullets,” Axel said.
They’d come for her. For her. Most of her life, she’d never had anyone she trusted completely to be there for her. She had been bounced between her parents, neither wanting her permanently. Her siblings were much younger than her and they weren’t close. She buried her face against Axel’s neck.
“Nat?” Martha’s tentative, lilting voice.
Nat lifted her head. “Martha, it’s okay. It’s gone. This is my team.”
The other women crept out of the shadows. Lydia looked shaken, her hair askew. Martha had an arm around a teary Cosette.
“There are only four of you?” Lachlan asked.
Nat nodded. “The Minotaur killed another woman. Dr. Joubert.” She bit her lip.
“Did she have black or brown hair?” Callie asked. “Or Asian features with a slim build? Japanese, I’d guess.”
“No,” Nat breathed. “Dr. Joubert was blonde.”
“That sounds like Dr. Suzuki,” Lydia said to Callie.
“I’m sorry,” the medic said. “The creature killed her and another brunette.”
Nat’s hand clenched on Axel’s shoulder.
He pulled her closer. “It took seven of you from the conference.”
God, he felt so good, and she felt so safe, pressed against him.
Callie stepped in front of the women. “I’m Callie Kimura and I’m a medic. Does anyone have any major wounds that I need to patch up so we can get out of here?”
The women shook their heads.
“Just scratches and bruises,” Martha replied.
“I just want to get out,” Cosette said.
“How are you holding up, mi cielo?” Axel murmured.
Nat bit her lip. “Just don’t let go.”
His hands flexed on her, an intense look on his handsome face. “Been so fucking worried about you.” A tortured whisper.
She pressed her forehead to his. “I knew you and the team would come.”
“There was a male archeologist unaccounted for at the conference as well,” Lachlan said. “A Dr. Kitchener. Did the Minotaur take him?”
Nat swallowed and shook her head. “The Minotaur…that is Dr. Kitchener. He was changed into the Minotaur by one of the artifacts at the conference.”
“Dammit,” Ty muttered. “You know which artifact?”
She shook her head. “All I know is that he was looking at the artifacts at the conference, then he changed and started attacking everyone.”
“Okay, we’ll work it out,” Lachlan said.
She reached out and grabbed Lachlan’s hand. “Lachlan, we have to stop him.”
He gave one curt nod. “For now, let’s get you and the others somewhere safe. You can eat, shower, and Blair can deal with recovering the dead bodies and coordinate with the authorities.”
From somewhere close by, Blair groaned.
Seth elbowed her. “Not so easy when you aren’t sleeping with them, huh?”
It was a reference to Blair’s live-in lover, Detective Luke MacKade. The tall, sexy detective was the team’s contact at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. After a turbulent start, he and Blair were now living together.
“I’ll recall the drone.” Ty touched the screen on his tablet.
“Come on.” Axel headed up the tunnel.
He carried Nat carefully, like she meant something, like she was important. It made her heart squeeze tight.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said.
Chapter Five
Nat let the hot water fall over her head. It felt so damn good. Her abraded feet were stinging, but Callie had already taken a look at them, her tender ribs, and the lump on the back of her head. She was a little beaten up, but fine.
She was alive and several other women weren’t.
Biting her lip, she tipped her face up to the spray. She wished she could wash the residual fear away as easily as the dirt and muck.
You’re clean, Nat. You’re safe. Axel and the team had brought her and the others to a nice, family-run villa in the beachside town of Matala, not far from the Phaistos ruins.
She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a thick, terry robe. She pushed her wet hair back. She had a scrape on her cheek, and she knew by morning that she’d have some interesting bruises. You’re safe. She just had to keep reminding herself of that.
She opened the bathroom door to find Blair and Callie waiting for her in her room.
“Took both of us to boot Axel out,” Blair said.
Nat tightened the belt on her robe.
“How are you doing?” Callie asked, her gray eyes filled with concern.
Her friends’ worry was like a balm. “Tired, stressed, still shaken.” Nat managed a smile. “But I’m alive, and that’s what counts.”
“It’s okay to need some time, Nat.” Callie frowned. “You’ve been through something traumatic.”
“It was worse for the women who died.” Nat sat on the bed. “I’ve seen the missions you guys have been on. Hell, I watched the destruction that storm caused in Las Vegas on the news, knowing that you guys were right in the middle of it, trying to save everyone.” She shook her head. “I just never thought it would happen to me.”
“Axel was frantic,” Blair said. “He was desperate to get here. To get to you.”
That sent a shot of warmth through her until she tamped it down. “I’m grateful, but we all know Axel doesn’t want more than a mild flirtation. The man never lacks for bed partners.” Pain arrowed into her heart. She’d watched one too many sleepy-eyed, satisfied party girls wander out of Axel’s life.
“Maybe this has opened his eyes,” Callie said.
Nat huffed out a breath. “God, you two are getting laid regularly, and now you’re trying to couple up the rest of us.”
“You like Axel,” Callie said. “And the bone-headed man likes you, too.”
“And you’re just as stubborn as he is,” Blair said.
Callie’s lips curled. “He watches you like he’s starving and you’re an ice-cream sundae loaded with sweet goodness.”
Blair groaned. “Great, now I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” Nat said.
“I’d kill for a cupcake.”
Nat grimaced. “Let’s not talk about killing.”
&nb
sp; The door burst open, and Axel blocked the doorway, scowling. “That’s long enough for secret girl talk.”
“It’s never long enough when it comes to secret girl talk, Diaz,” Callie said.
Axel moved to Nat, his brown eyes looking darker and more serious than usual. “You okay?”
Nat nodded.
There was a knock at the door and a dark-haired waiter appeared with a tray.
“I ordered you some food.” Axel sat beside her and the bed dipped.
“I’m not hungry.”
The waiter set the tray down beside the bed, and left with a nod. There was a bowl of thick, creamy Greek yoghurt, topped with honey and fruit. Her stomach growled.
“We’d better check on the other women,” Callie said. “Nat, I’ll leave you some cream for your feet.”
“You talk with the police?” Axel asked Blair.
The blonde rolled her eyes. “Yes, and I don’t want to talk about it.”
The women both hugged Nat tightly before they left.
“You sure you’re all right?” he asked, quietly.
She sighed. “No, but I will be.” She scooped up some yoghurt. “Oh God, this is delicious.”
There was a brief knock and the door opened again. Lachlan and Seth filed in. Lachlan sat on the couch, while Seth stretched out on the other side of the bed.
Axel made a sound. “She needs rest.”
“She can rest with us here,” Seth said.
Ty stalked in a moment later, a large box in his hands.
“Where’s River and Smith?” Nat asked.
“They drew the short straw,” Lachlan said. “They’ve taken first shift watching the ruins and making sure the Minotaur doesn’t get out.”
Ty grunted. “We need to talk about the Minotaur and what happened.”
“She needs rest,” Axel said firmly.
Nat pressed her hand to his arm. “It’s okay. I want to help. We need to go back and find Kitchener. Stop him hurting anyone else. And see if we can help him, as well. He didn’t ask for this.”
Axel made a growling sound.
“So Kitchener was at the conference,” Lachlan said. “He was acting normally?”
Nat nodded. “He was his usual self. He’s set in his ways, and a bit of an ass. Thinks he knows it all, and likes to mansplain.”
Ty scowled. “Mansplain?”
“Do not open that can of worms, mi amigo,” Axel suggested.
“Last I saw him, he was studying the artifacts on display at the conference. They had a great collection.”
Ty nodded. “Ancient Greek and Minoan.”
Axel reached into Ty’s box. “Like this thing.”
Nat shot to her feet. “Oh my God, Axel, do you know what that is?” She snatched a shirt off the bed and carefully took the clay tablet off him.
“An old hunk of clay someone doodled on?”
She glared at him. “This is a one-of-a-kind artifact. It’s the Phaistos Disc.”
Ty whistled. “I knew I’d seen it somewhere. It was found at the ruins where we rescued you.”
She nodded. “It was discovered by an Italian archeologist, Luigi Pernier, in 1908. It’s covered in undeciphered glyphs. No one’s been able to crack it.”
“There are some of those glyphs in the labyrinth,” Ty said.
She pushed a strand of wet hair back behind her ear. “Yes, there are. Along with a freaking Minotaur. One of the artifacts changed Kitchener. It somehow gave him increased strength, took over his ability for rational thought, and made him grow horns.”
“Several pots were broken,” Ty said. “I assumed from the attack, but perhaps Kitchener accidentally broke one and something happened to him.”
“Then he changed into a monster with a hunger for flesh.” Lachlan rose. “We need to find out what that artifact was. Ty, how much of the labyrinth did the drone map?”
The tall man grimaced and shook his head. “Not much. From what I can tell, it’s a small portion of what’s down there. The labyrinth is extensive.”
“Exits?”
Ty shook his head. “None that came up.”
Lachlan’s mouth firmed into a line. “We need to get to work, because we need to find a way to capture the Minotaur.”
* * *
Shirtless and barefoot, Axel paced his villa room. It was late, and the rest of team had gone to bed.
After a teary goodbye with Nat, Blair had taken the women they’d rescued to the airport to board flights home. Since then, Ty and Nat had been working non-stop on the artifacts. Last he’d checked, Ty had set up a freaking lab next door and was running all kinds of tests on the artifacts. Nat had been glued to a laptop, researching everything she could on them all.
Lachlan had sent Seth and Callie to relieve River and Smith, and do the night shift keeping an eye on the Phaistos ruins. They didn’t need a damn monster on the loose.
Axel shoved his hands in his hair. He still felt unsettled. Seeing Nat afraid, dirty, and exhausted had left him rattled.
He wanted her safe. No, something inside him needed her safe.
He stared out the window. The lights of the town glittered against the darkness of the ocean. The same darkness that lived inside him. As a member of Delta—the Army’s elite special ops group—he’d been called a hero, but to fight a war sometimes required dirty things. Things that haunted him, and things that he wasn’t proud about.
He stared at that impenetrable darkness outside. A part of him was as dark as that blackness.
And Nat…she was the light. He never, ever wanted to see that go dim.
Suddenly, a terrified scream cut through the wall. Nat.
He snatched up his Glock, threw open his door, and then banged a fist on her door. “Nat?”
No response.
“Nat?” Screw this. Axel rammed his shoulder to the door and tore its flimsy lock open. The room was dark, except for the light coming from a laptop screen on a small desk.
Nat sat in the center of the bed, on top of the covers, in a large, borrowed T-shirt.
Blinking, and close to hyperventilating, it looked like she was still locked in a nightmare. Axel scanned the room. The windows to the balcony were closed. There was no one there. He slid the gun into the waistband on his jeans at the small of his back.
“Axel?” Lachlan appeared in the doorway.
“Nightmare,” Axel murmured.
“You got this?”
“Yeah.”
Lachlan propped the damaged door closed.
“Nat?” Axel approached the bed. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
She blinked. “Axel?”
“Si, mi cielo. It’s me.”
A sob broke from her. Then she scrambled up and flew at him.
He caught her and sank onto the bed. She gripped him tight. The shirt rode high on her slim thighs, and he forced himself to look away from that sexy length of leg on display.
“I was running and running, but the monster was coming. I could feel it right behind me. It wanted to hurt me.”
“Shh.” He tightened his arms. “I’m not going to let anyone or anything hurt you.” He rocked her gently and her hands pressed to his bare chest.
She moved closer and turned her head, her lips brushing his neck.
Axel’s cock responded.
Shit. He tried to get a handle on his response. But it was Nat—who felt good, smelled good. The large shirt slipped off her shoulder, exposing the slender curve of her shoulder. Dammit.
“I’ll keep you safe, Nat,” he murmured. “Always.”
She looked up at him, her eyes impossibly dark.
They stared at each other and he felt the connection. Their connection, Hell, he’d felt the zing of it the first time he’d ever met her.
Shit. Her hair looked like black silk, framing her gorgeous face.
“Axel,” she breathed. “Why do you make me feel so safe?”
“Because I’d risk anything to keep you safe.”
A sad smi
le flitted over her lush lips. “Except your heart.”
His fingers flexed on her skin. “My heart withered and died a long time ago.”
Her hand cupped his cheek. “I don’t believe that.”
“If I had a heart, it would be yours.”
Nat leaned closer. Axel knew he should get up, walk out. But he couldn’t push her away.
Their lips touched. The barest caress. It was enough for him to get a taste of her, for heat to flare inside him.
She made a husky little sound and Axel’s mind shut down. His body took over. He cupped the back of her head and kissed her.
She moaned, her lips opening for him. Finally. The word echoed inside him.
He plunged his tongue into her mouth. She pushed closer, kissing him back.
Dios. He pushed her back onto the bed.
More. He wanted more of her, needed more. He wanted to possess her so that she’d never remember anyone else who’d touched her or kissed her before.
Then she trembled. And he remembered what she’d just survived.
Axel pulled his mouth from hers.
He was a grade-A asshole. She’d been through hell, and here he was, thinking with his cock.
Without a word, he pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin.
“Axel?” Uncertainty trembled in her voice.
“Just let me hold you, Nat.”
After a second, she relaxed against him, her fingers brushing on his skin. He buried his face in her hair.
It only took a few minutes of them sitting there before she fell asleep.
He’d hold her all night to keep her nightmares away. He knew very well that the ugly dreams liked to attack in the darkness.
You can’t have her. Axel wasn’t sure if he was talking to her nightmares, or himself. But he’d suffer the exquisite torture of holding her close to make sure that she was okay.
Chapter Six
She was feeling much better today.
Nat wiggled into a pair of jeans and a red shirt that Callie had brought for her. The jeans fit her like a glove, and the raspberry-red color of the shirt cheered her up.
Next, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. And Callie—bless her soul—had also brought Nat some basic makeup. She applied it now, hiding her healing scratches as best she could.
Mission: Her Shield: Team 52 #7 Page 4
