by Lucy Rains
I felt her sincerity, and remorse, knowing I couldn’t hold anything against her. The guys were gorgeous, visually tantalizing in every way, I didn’t blame her for being smitten.
My hand came up and I waved off her words. “It’s fine. I’m a little possessive.” I turned the tap water on and filled my glass.
“With good reason,” she said softly, a slight hint of envy lay beneath her words.
Alex approached the kitchen and I turned to see him come around the corner. He swatted my butt and nudged me away from the fridge so he could get inside.
“We literally just ate,” I said. “What are you doing?”
“I followed my heart, and it led me to the fridge.” He grabbed a glass container full of chicken wings and popped it into the microwave.
Lettie had turned her head back down and was purposefully ignoring us. So she didn’t see when Alex pushed me backwards into the counters with his hips and placed his hands on both sides of me.
“How are you feeling?”
My mouth stilled, a pause in my response. I knew better than to answer without considering everything word that came from my mouth.
“Cold. Tired. Anxious.”
He squinted, his eyes narrowing onto mine. A hand came around to settle on my lower back. “You seem very uptight. Should I help you relax?”
I choked on a cough, my eyes glancing at Lettie as I felt her curiosity and interest rise in her emotions.
“No, thank you.” I seethed at Alex.
He smiled, pleased with himself at catching me off guard. His arm reached up beside my head and opened the microwave door. “It will help time pass by faster.”
“So does sleeping,” I countered.
“Exactly. After I help you relax.”
Blood burned in my cheeks. My eyes widened in a mixture of shock and irritation. “Would you shut up?”
He chuckled unapologetically as he bit into a chicken wing. I reached over and filled up my glass of water again. “I hope karma slaps you before I do.”
Clive and Kyson walked into the kitchen then, both grabbing water bottles from the fridge.
“We are going to a club tonight,” Clive said, leaning on the counter by Lettie. “Would you like to come?”
“If by club you mean a turkey and cheese sandwich with a fat piece of bacon, then yes,” Alex nodded emphatically, “I am there.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. Eyeing his fourth chicken wing in his hand, I said, “I hope you choke on a bone. Maybe that will shut you up.”
“We don’t do clubs,” Gavin said. “The environment is very uncomfortable for us.”
Lettie looked up and Clive frowned. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“If you're talking about a typical club,” Gavin took a drink, “the music is too loud, the lighting is awful. All of our senses are functioning at a higher level than yours.”
“What if it was a quiet, low lighting type of club?” asked Lettie.
“We don’t drink,” Gavin responded curtly.
“And not to brag or anything, but I don’t need alcohol to make really bad decisions.” Alex raised up a half eaten wing as in some sort of salute.
“Do you ever think before you speak?” I asked. Alex smiled and opened his mouth to reply but I held up a hand, “No. Don’t answer that.”
Alex smiled, his eyes darting to my lips. “Admit it, life would be so boring without me.”
With a shake of my head, I turned and walked out of the kitchen, ignoring the humoured chuckles behind me.
*********************
My eyes flew open and the muscles in my legs jerked at the sudden flow of consciousness.
I blinked, my vision adjusting to the dark room. There was no feeling in my hands, as usual. Cold pricks of pain stabbed into my hands and fingers. I flexed them, moved my fingers, twisted my wrists around.
Alex was still deep in sleep beside me. His arm up over his head as he laid on his back. His bare torso exposed and showing all the lines that I loved to touch.
My mouth was bone dry and I could feel that my body was dehydrated. My muscles ached, my joints felt stiff. Kyson had said that my body was absorbing fluids at a rapid pace to help counteract the fatigue running through my body. No matter how much I drank, it was never enough.
I sat up slowly and moved away from the bed silently. Tiptoeing around our packed bags, I opened my door and slid out into the dark hallway.
My senses felt that no one else was awake. If Tobias had still been under the same roof, I would have made Alex fetch me a glass. But at that point I felt comfortable to move around the apartment without fear of any issues or confrontations.
Going back to sleep was going to be near impossible, with my mind so ramped up about leaving that morning. To Russia.
To Roman.
I wished we could have left a week ago. I didn’t want him to spend another second in that place, knowing the pain he must be suffering. There was the nagging question in the back of my mind of how the other guys would adjust having him apart of the group. Would they be able to accept him?
After drinking a few glasses of water I peered into the fridge to see if there was anything I could snack on in the middle of the night. I scowled at the leftover fish that Charles had prepared that night. Apparently he thought it would be funny, knowing how much I hate it. Thankfully he cared for me enough to have prepared a separate dish in advance.
I was moving containers to the side to reach a carton of yogurt hidden in the back of the fridge, when my elbow bumped a jar of raspberry jam and sent it crashing to the floor.
The sound was defining in the quiet space. I waited. Waited for someone to wake, to come running out. There was nothing. No footsteps, no panicked emotions. The maroon jelly substance was spread over the white tile and probably looked like blood to someone with less advanced eyesight.
I was about to let out a breath of relief when the fluttering consciousness of Alex’s mind ran over me. I cursed under my breath, knowing I was in for a painful bout of teasing.
The fridge door slammed closed and I began looking around the kitchen quickly for paper towels. I didn’t want to use cloth towels. I wanted to clean up the mess and hide the evidence in a garbage bag.
“Jade!” Alex hissed in the dark. “What the hell?”
“Shut-up,” I whispered back, opening drawers and closing them softly. Utensils, oven mitts, silverware, bowls…
“Why are you breaking stuff at two in the morning?!”
“Just be quiet and help me hide the evidence, would ya?” My heel came down on a stray glass shard and I yelped. A tear drop of blood slid down my skin and dripped onto the floor.
“Damn it,” Alex hissed. His emotions flared with worry and frustration.
“We don’t have time for band aids,” I pulled the piece of glass out and tossed it into the ruined jam. “Don’t these people have any paper products?” I pulled up the cabinet doors above the stove, then fridge.
“Haven’t you noticed you haven’t touched a cheap napkin since we’ve been here?” Alex asked pointedly.
I paused, trying to think back over the past few days. I groaned and wiped at my forehead.
“How about just waking up Charles?” Alex suggested.
“How about I kill you and make it look like an accident?” I growled back, pushing past him to search the side panty closet.
He watched me for a second before coming beside me to look around the closet as well. The only thing we could find was a pile of various colored hand towels stacked on the bottom shelf. Neatly folded, just as Charles had folded ours when I was young.
“I guess we’ll just have to use these,” Alex suggested. “Just grab a few and we’ll toss them out with the mess.”
I let out a sigh and resigned myself to his suggestion. I reached the back of the stacks to grab a few towels, hoping they would be least missed, when my knuckles ran into something hard. I cringed at the sharp pain to my skin and pulled my hand back to shake
it out. My head ducked lower and I knelt down to peer at the back of the shelf, hoping I didn’t damage something.
It was a small black box, no words and no markings. It was the only thing on the entire shelf other than the towels. Placed out of sight. Hidden.
Feeling nosey, I moved the towels aside, knocking a few to the floor, to pull the box out. Alex had left my side and was scooping glass and jam debri into his towel and tossing it into the wastebasket. My fingers lifted at the cardboard slits, pulling the tabs out to release lid. There was a familiar smell, a sharp tang that I couldn’t place but brought a horrid dread to the pit of my stomach.
When I saw what was inside I gasped and dropped the box to the floor.
Alex grunted in shock, “What is it now?”
I pointed at the box, speechless, confused. Bewildered.
Alex leaned over, “What is it, like a head or something?” He picked it up casually and lifted the lid. A soft curse escaped his lips.
“Why?” I whispered. “Why are those here?”
Alex set the box on the counter and stared at the two black plastic guns that held syringes. Syringes full of a fluid made specifically for our bodies to paralyze us.
“Maybe Matteo just got them from Zraa or something?” Alex wondered, “I mean, they were working together at some point.”
I shook my head. “They were hidden,” I pointed behind the towels. “Not in some drawer in his office. But with kitchen towels!”
“So what, are they Charles’s? That wouldn’t make any sense.”
Maybe it was nothing. Maybe there was an innocent explanation to the weapons. Weapons created just for us. Here. In Matteo’s apartment.
“It couldn’t be his,” I stated, refusing to believe such.
“That leaves Lettie,” Alex said.
“Or Tobias?”
“But why?” Alex asked what we were both wondering, “Why would they want to tranq us? They can’t be working for Zraa, I would have felt their deception and lies by now.”
“Maybe we should wake them up and ask them?” I suggested.
Alex sighed, “Lettie’s not home yet.”
My eyes looked over the black box again. “Are we in danger?” I asked softly.
“Well, duh,” Alex scoffed. “Maybe not in this moment, but usually, yes, we are.”
“Here!” I said louder. “Are we in danger staying here?! Should we wake the others and leave?”
Alex stared at the weapons, rubbing his hand over the stubble lining his jaw. “No.”
“Then what?”
He turned and placed the soiled cloth into my hand. “Here, hold this.” He wiped his hands on his black sweat bottoms and turned to the box. “I got some sketchy shit to do.”
Chapter 28
“Oh no,” I groaned painfully.
Pierce jerked backwards as I stopped walking. Looking at my face and then to where I was looking.
“I don’t want to do this again,”
“Don’t have a choice, Princess,” Gavin said from behind me.
“You’ll be fine,” Pierce assured me.
I shook my head, “This isn’t some small airport in the Caribbean. This is freaking Charles de Gaulle.” I turned to Gavin, “How am I going to get past security this time?”
The lines of body scanning metal detectors loomed in front of us, surrounded by security personal, computer monitors, and red lights ready to go off at any detection of threat.
We had managed to get through the identification security just fine. Gavin had gone first, and then remained nearby as we all passed through, making sure that we all passed inspection without any problems. For some reason, I hadn’t thought far enough ahead about the metal detectors.
A curse slipped from my mouth as a hand went to the small of my back to push me forward. Pierce hung on to my hand and led me up to the back of the line. When we got up to the front, my hands were sweating and I had chewed a sore onto my tongue.
Gavin went through first, then Pierce. They stood on the other side, watching, waiting for me.
Sure enough, the obnoxious hum of the alarm alerted the airport staff that I had metal on me somewhere.
“Did you empty your pockets, ma'am?” A petite lady asked me, her face set in a permanent frown.
I patted my hands on myself to show that I didn’t have any pockets. Leggings, long sleeve t-shirt, flannel tied around my waist. I raised my eyebrows in innocent confusion.
She turned over her shoulder to call out to a coworker. Gavin and Pierce stood a few feet away with their arms folded.
Can Gavin work his magic now, please?
Almost, Pierce responded.
A second security worker came over and pointed to a black mat for me to stand on. I shot another glance of panic to Pierce but obeyed. The black, metal detecting wand came out and began moving over my body, ringing out in alarm with every swipe.
The man’s eyes narrowed on me and I swallowed. Bracing myself for a pat down, I kept my mouth shut and held very still to seem cooperative.
But the man never moved closer to me. His hands didn’t raise and his mouth didn’t open. His brown eyes last focus for a small second and with a nod, he turned and walked away from me.
My shoulders sagged as I let out the breath I had been holding. Kyson handed me my backpack and grabbed my hand to lead me away.
“Has anyone seen Charles?” I asked, pulling on my flannel with a shiver.
The airport was congested, making it impossible to try and pick out a slim, eldery man wearing a black jacket. We had separated upon arrival, thinking it safest to stay away from each other until Russia. We never knew who might be watching.
“Fifteen minutes ago,” Pierce said. “Leaving the security checkpoint.”
That was good. That meant he had no problems on his end getting passed security.
We grabbed food and waited by the gate before our flight boarded. A smoothie for me, burgers for the rest of the guys. Eating was the last thing I wanted to do. Alex ate like it was the last thing he would ever do.
I didn’t realize I was pressing myself into Kyson until he shifted beside me and I almost fell over. The absence of his warmth was immediately felt through my body and I shivered.
Alex swore under his breath. His emotions darkened with anxiety. “What is the weather like where we’re going? Can’t be as warm as here.”
“High of 60,” Gavin said while popping a fry in his mouth. “Low of,” he chewed, “50. Maybe high forties.”
Alex leaned forward, his face coming closer to Pierce’s. “It is 90, flipping, degrees outside.”
“I’m aware of that,” Pierce answered.
I reached over and tried to pull a french fry out of Gavin’s brown paper bag. He smacked my hand and pull the bag out of reach. My bottom lip pushed out in a pout.
“How in the hell are we going to keep her warm enough there, if we can’t even do that here?” Alex demanded in a low tone.
Gavin held my gaze and stuck another french fry in his mouth.
“You can’t spare one?” I teased.
“As Alex would say, there’s no ‘we’ in fries.”
“Give her a damn fry,” Kyson growled from across the walkway, staring daggers into Gavin.
Gavin peered into his bag and shook it slightly. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he spit into it, just to spite both me and Kyson.
He set the bag on the ground, grabbed my waist, lifted me onto his lap, picked up the bag and set it on my thighs.
“What are you doing?” I asked in a mixture of confusion and humour. Gavin was not one for public affection.
“If you’re going to eat my fries, then I get something in return.”
Kyson rolled his eyes and looked away. The smug satisfaction from Gavin overwhelmed the envy I felt from coming from Kyson.
“I only wanted one,” I reminded him.
Gavin didn’t respond. His eyes scanned the waiting area and his senses felt on high alert. Alex was bouncing his kn
ee nervously and chewing on his bottom lip.
Lettie and Matteo had both wished us good luck that morning in our departure. I could sense their own anxious emotions tightly woven into their minds. Their compassion was warm, their care for us evident in their eyes.
My heart constricted when Matteo gave Charles a firm hug and I couldn’t help but protest again at his coming. How would I live with the guilt if something happened to him? Matteo spoke up for Charles, “This is his choice, mademoiselle. He cares for you like his own. You won’t be around in his life much longer, so let him do what he can.”
“What are we going to do afterwards?” I asked out loud to the guys. Gavin’s hand had wrapped around my waist and slipped under my shirt to press against my stomach. I chewed on a lukewarm french fry absentmindedly. “After Russia, after we get Roman? I don’t want to stay in Paris.”
My mind wandered to endless blue waters and the powerful sensations I felt. My body ached for the pure essence of the natural waters around me. I knew I would end up by the ocean. Somewhere.
“Where do you want to go?” Kyson asked.
“Well,” I rolled up the paper bag, “Gavin wants to be close to the mountains. I would pre-, ow!” I glared at Gavin, the pinch of his grip digging into my abdomen. He glared right back at me.
“Mountains?” Pierce asked Gavin. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because Jade doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Gavin argued back, his eyes still on me.
“Um...,” I raised an eyebrow.
“I like mountains,” Kyson agreed.
“Whoa,” Alex held up his hands. “Are we talking like ‘Mt. Rainier' mountains, or like ‘Hawaii’ mountains?
“We don’t need to talk about mountains at all,” Gavin grumbled, his other hand giving my thigh a light smack.
“Don’t hit Jade,” Pierce and Alex said together.
“There has to be somewhere on this planet where there are mountains and water together,” I said. “What if we settled by a lake, rather than an ocean? Does lake water have the same affect?”
