by Tate James
His mouth was tight, and his hand was clenching so hard around mine that it felt like he was going to break something. Not that I was letting go for anything.
“Your father is a fucking sadist, Cole,” I murmured, placing my other hand on the back of his neck and rubbing small circles with my thumb, intended to comfort him. “I met him briefly and wanted to rip his head off myself, and that was before I knew this.” Cole grunted, but his jaw was still clenched tight and his gaze was on our hands, joined together in his lap.
“So, what does this have to do with Vali?” I asked tentatively. “You clearly hold a lot of hate for him, but it sounds like your father was the asshole in this?”
“I let it happen.” Vali's velvet voice startled me as he answered for his brother. “I stood by and did nothing while my little brother was beaten and tortured for years and then again did nothing while our mother was murdered in front of my eyes.” The bitterness to his tone suggested he hated himself just as much as Cole did for not doing anything to stop it.
“Vali, you were only a kid…” My voice soft, I had no idea what to say to help these brothers who were holding so much animosity for one another.
“I was old enough to take over the family when our father had a mental breakdown after he saw he'd killed our mother.” His chin was tilted up slightly, and I could see it wouldn't be an easy sell to talk him out of his guilt.
“My mother,” Cole growled, and I ran a soothing hand over his neck.
“Okay, well that explains this tension between you two, and I doubt it's something we can work through in the time we have,” I said carefully, trying not to escalate the already thick danger in the air. “Vali, why don't you tell us why you're here? Do your people know you're here?”
He shook his head, his arms still folded across his chest as he leaned against the wall. “I am not willing to discuss my reasons with anyone but you.”
“Well then, you won't be discussing them at all,” Cole snapped, tugging me down off my perch and into his lap. He wrapped his arms around me, and I could sense him glaring at his brother over my head. “If you think for a second we will leave you alone with her, you're wrong.”
“I guess I will be hanging around until I can convince you otherwise then,” Vali replied with a stubborn set to his jaw. “Because I am not leaving until I can speak with Kit alone.”
Rubbing my eyes, I sighed. “Cole, I think it's best I just let Vali say what he came here for. Sooner or later his merry band of criminals will notice him missing and cause more drama for us, which is just so incredibly not what we need right now.”
As absurd as it sounded, I genuinely thought Cole would be reasonable and agree, so I was surprised when his grip on me tightened and a threatening, almost animalistic growl rumbled through his chest.
“No,” he snarled, leaving no room for argument. River caught my shocked gaze and gave me a tiny frown. Even he seemed concerned by Cole's reaction.
“I think it's time we headed off,” River said, frowning between Cole and Vali then holding out his hand to me. “Kit, come to the kitchen with me, and we can get you more coffee before we need to leave.” Leaning forward, I took his hand, but still Cole didn't release his hold on me.
“Cole, mate. Let the kitten go so she can re-caffeinate. You know how she gets if she doesn't have enough coffee.” River's voice was low and calm, like he was speaking to a wild animal, but the words seemed to sink in. Cole immediately relaxed his grip on me and pressed a quick kiss on my shoulder before allowing me to stand and follow River to the kitchen.
Before leaving the room, I looked back and found him frowning like he was confused.
Once inside the kitchen, River turned and cupped my face gently in his palm.
“Are you okay?” He asked in a soft voice, the one he only ever used when we were alone.
“I'm fine, but what the hell was that? The way Cole just reacted was…” I trailed off, at a loss for words. It was weird. Downright weird.
“I have no idea,” he muttered, “but I think until he and Dragomir sort their issues out, it would be best for you to give them both a bit of a wide berth. Or at least try not to be caught alone with either of them. The shit that they both went through as kids, it tends to leave some pretty heavy mental scars. But you know that better than me.” His golden eyes seemed to fill with sadness. I wanted to reassure him, but my words were cut short by the kitchen door opening behind me.
“Guys, we’d better head out if we want to be gone before the Director arrives,” Wesley advised as he approached us. “Will you tell us later why you don't want him to know where we are going?”
“Later,” I agreed, jerking a quick nod. “So what's the plan?”
30
As it turned out, the plan was to charter a private plane using River's personal accounts so that it wouldn't be flagged with Omega. My reasons for not wanting to tell Jonathan where we were going were simple. He was acting really strange, and my gut told me something was up. Thankfully, the guys took me at my word and didn't press any further on it.
Things between Vali and Cole had simmered to an uncomfortable stalemate, but at least they weren't trying to kill one another… yet. After Cole's odd reaction at the safe house, he had remained very quiet and had barely said five words the whole way to the air field.
As we boarded the luxurious Cessna, he snagged my hand, pulling me gently back from the other guys.
“Vixen, about earlier…” he said quietly, not meeting my eyes. “I don't know what happened. I didn't mean to act like such a caveman; Vali just seriously gets under my skin.”
“Hey.” I placed my hand on his cheek, bringing his deep gray eyes up to mine. “Don't worry about it. It was just a bit of an extreme reaction, and it had us worried. I can't help but wonder if it's got something to do with that healing…”
Cole shrugged. “Maybe? Or it could just be my fucking asshole brother getting to me. I'm not always… I mean, it took a really long time to work through everything. With my father, my mother's death… him. Sometimes it just sends me to a dark place.”
“Cole, you don't need to explain. To me of all people. Trust me when I say I understand.” My gaze held his for a moment longer, then I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and took his hand to continue the rest of the way inside the plane.
We settled in for the six hour flight to Anchorage, from where we would then need to take a sea plane to reach the little fishing village that our possible lead was located within. It was a small aircraft, set out with only eight wide recliner chairs and a bathroom, as well as all the normal facilities. Deciding to steer clear of any more conflicts, I sat towards the back of the plane in an armchair opposite Wesley, and he pulled out a deck of cards.
At my curious head tilt, he smiled. “You want to play Go Fish?”
I snorted a loud laugh at his game of choice but nodded and held out my hand for the cards he was counting.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered as I browsed through the hand I had been dealt. Wesley pulled out a tray table to set the remaining deck on, then sat back, getting comfortable in his seat. “Do you have any twos?”
“Go fish!” He grinned, meeting my amused gaze as I took a card from the deck. “Why ridiculous? I always play cards on long flights. Any tens?”
I scowled, then handed over the ten I'd just picked up. “It's ridiculous because people keep kidnapping me, trying to kill all of us, magic is real, and we are on our way for burgers and beer with a supposed real life shapeshifter. And we are playing Go Fish.”
“Do you have any fives?” he asked, and I shook my head with a smile, pointing to the deck. “What makes you think it's a shapeshifter we are going to meet? Mr. Gregoric only said this guy was a Supe didn't he?”
“Supe?” I queried, and he shrugged one shoulder.
“Supernatural has too many syllables, and I feel like it’s probably a word we are going to be using a lot, so I shortened it.” He shuffled his cards around again.
“Fair enough. You’re right; I don't know why I just assumed that. I think maybe because I am around ninety percent sure that Mr. Gregoric, or N or whatever we should be calling him, was the fox that had been lurking around CFA.” I inspected my cards once more. “Queen?”
Wesley sighed and handed me his queen to make a pair. “Yeah, I see how you came to that conclusion. So you figure he's probably sending you to meet other shifters?”
Chewing the edge of my fingernail, I nodded. “That could be totally wrong though; it is just an assumption.”
“It's a good one. I guess we will find out soon.” Wesley glanced up as the little seatbelt light flicked off. “Hey, bro.”
“What are you guys playing?” Caleb asked, having gotten up from his seat to come join us.
“Go fish.” I grinned. “Want to play?”
“Sweet, deal me in!” He looked around for somewhere to sit, then realized the empty seat across the aisle would be too far away. “Kitty Kat, hop up.” Doing as directed, he slid into my seat then pulled me back down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me to take the cards Wesley was offering him.
“Don't cheat,” I warned him. “I'll know.”
Caleb's eyes widened in mock outrage, and I tucked my cards closer to my chest to prevent him from seeing them.
“So what are we hoping to learn from this guy in Alaska anyway? If we can even get in touch with him,” Caleb asked, having obviously overheard our conversation.
“We will find him,” Wesley informed us confidently, “even if we do have to hang out in his little town for another couple of weeks until he comes home.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that, though. I still want to track down Mr. Grey and put him out of commission before he can try another attempt on my life. I have a feeling that car bomb was him.” I frowned, thinking that through. “But that doesn't make sense, does it? He wants me alive… What fun would it be to have me killed with a car bomb, of all things? It's not his style…”
“No it seems more like whoever orchestrated that attack was testing your ability to heal. Otherwise why delay emergency services and hang around to take pictures?” Wesley pondered aloud.
“You're right,” Caleb agreed. “Are we thinking this was probably one of these other interested parties that Dupree was crowing about?”
“Sounds more plausible, don't you think, Kit?” Wesley tapped my leg with his toe, bringing my attention back to him. While they’d spoken, I had been staring out the window, listening to their thoughts and running the information through my head, trying to make sense of it.
“It does,” I murmured. “I'm going to get some water. Do you guys want anything?” They both shook their heads, and I hopped up from Caleb's lap, heading back towards the front of the plane to where the galley was located.
As I passed where the other guys were sitting, the aircraft hit a sudden patch of turbulence. Losing my balance at the unexpected bump, I was thrown head first into Vali's lap. Again.
“Well, this is becoming something of a habit now. I told you there was no need to throw yourself at me, draga. You just need to ask…” Vali's velvety voice was threaded with amusement as I tried to rescue my face from his lap.
Seriously, of all the people to fall on top of in this plane!
The aircraft bumped and dropped again, forcing me to catch my balance on his broad shoulders while his huge hands clasped my waist. The little seatbelt light dinged on, and our pilot's voice came over the speakers.
“We are experiencing some unexpected turbulence. Please remain seated until advised otherwise.”
“Better stay put then, draga.” Vali chuckled, turning me to sit sideways on his lap while I blushed furiously. From across the aisle, a low growl started up in Cole's chest once more.
“Stop. Calling her that,” Cole demanded in a low, booming voice that drew everyone's attention. “She is not your draga.”
Hesitantly, I looked between the two of them. “I feel like I'm missing something here. What does it even mean?”
Vali smirked, and I could see him gearing up to antagonize his brother. “It simply means darling or sweetheart. Andrei is just upset that you don't seem to mind it. You don't mind it, do you… draga?” This last bit was delivered with a challenging glare at Cole, who was clenching the arms of his seat so hard I thought they might snap off at any second.
“Andrei?” I frowned. “Is that your real name, Cole?”
“My name is Cole. Andrei is dead.” His voice was like ice, and the lines of his shoulders were bunched with tension.
For a moment no one spoke, until Vali, the fucking shithead, decided to escalate the situation by brushing my hair back over my shoulder and pressing a light kiss to my neck. The sound that came from Cole could have been described as nothing short of a roar, and a thin layer of ice seemed to envelop the seat he was in. His breath was coming in short, sharp gasps, his eyes unfocused as the temperature inside the small aircraft plummeted to Arctic levels.
“Shit,” Vali swore before any of the rest of us could recover our senses. “Did someone say something about you healing Andrei recently?”
“Uh, yeah, yesterday. Why? What the hell is happening?” I responded, eyes wide with panic as my breath fogged in front of my face.
“This is sort of what I have been trying to talk to you about. Ugh, we don't have time to explain. You need to calm him the fuck down, or we are all most likely going to die,” Vali told me in a tense voice, pushing me up off his lap and into the aisle.
“What?” I exclaimed.
“Cole, mate!” River barked, leaning forward but stopping just shy of touching him. Probably a wise move, given how frigid the air was around him.
“I doubt he can hear you,” Vali suggested. “If anyone can get through to him, it'll be Kit.”
“And if I can't?” I demanded, trying really hard not to freak the fuck out. Cole's exposed forearms were almost glistening, as though they were coated in scales or something.
“Well then this plane is not likely to reach the ground all in one piece. So I really, really hope you can.” The thread of panic in Vali's usually so calm voice had me stressing out even more.
“You can do it, Kitty Kat,” Caleb encouraged. He and the other guys were all crowded around now, and as the turbulence hit once more, everyone was thrown a little off balance. Except Cole, who sat stock still, his gaze distant and the frost spreading slowly from under his hands.
“Okay, um.” I hesitated. What the hell was I supposed to do? He wasn't responding to anyone!
“Touch him or something, princess,” Austin suggested in a tight voice. “At least try something. I would really prefer not to die in a plane crash, and I seriously doubt your ability to heal all of us before we actually died for real.”
Taking a deep breath, I did as Austin suggested, crouching down to kneel on the floor between Cole's spread legs and tentatively placing a hand over his. The cold bit into my skin instantly, but I didn't pull away. I had endured much worse pain in my life, and his eyes had flickered ever so slightly when I’d touched him.
Up close, I was able to see clearer that it was scales coating his forearms and hands. They were all shades of blues and greens and appeared and disappeared sporadically, sometimes just leaving cold human skin and others totally engulfing his arms. Under my hand I could feel the transitions sliding in and out, and the sensation creeped me out in a big way.
“Cole, hey,” I said in a soothing voice. “Can you hear me? It's Kit…” I grasped onto his hand a little more firmly, and was rewarded with a slow blink.
“Hi there, big guy.” Smiling, I tried to meet his eyes, but they were still unfocused. His jaw was clenched so hard it looked like he was about to break his teeth, so I sat up higher on my knees and slid one hand along his jaw.
“What's going on, Cole?” I murmured, hopefully loud enough for him to hear. “You're kind of scaring us here.” At this, he blinked a couple more times and focused on my face. He bli
nked again, and this time when he opened his lids I had to suck back a startled gasp.
The beautiful granite gray color of his iris had bled out, eradicating any trace of white and filling the space with gray. His pupils had stretched and narrowed to slits, giving an effect not unlike a reptile's eyes.
“Hon, you're really freaking me out now. Can you tell me what's going on?” I pleaded, shuffling in closer on my knees and running my hands over his skin. The contact seemed to be helping him because the more I touched his skin, er, scales the more he seemed to regain his wits.
“Vixen?” he murmured, frowning at me in confusion with his unnatural, reptile eyes. “Why am I so cold?”
A startled laugh snorted out of me at his question; I had always been a nervous laugher. “Um, that's kind of what I was wondering too…” My breath was fogging in front of me, and I could feel myself beginning to shake.
“Keep contact with him,” River said quietly from somewhere close by. “It's helping.”
Nodding my agreement, I shuffled closer to Cole, then gave up and climbed into his seat, straddling his waist and facing him from inches away. His whole body was like one giant ice cube, and the cold radiating into me where my butt was resting in his lap was making me shiver hard.
“Talk to me, big guy,” I urged, my teeth chattering as I held his cheek in one hand to maintain his eye contact. “What's going on? How can I help?”
“You're so warm,” he murmured, with a confused frown. “Why am I so cold? One minute I was feeling this… insane, out of control rage and then the next it felt like I had been dipped in Antarctic waters.” As he spoke, his words came out clearer and stronger, but his body began trembling uncontrollably. “You feel really warm though…” He picked his hands up from the arm rests where they had been resting, half frozen and covered in scales. When he lifted them, there was a loud cracking noise, and shards of ice dropped to the floor.
