He looked up from his book with wide eyes. “Yeah?”
“Could you… Can you…” I wasn’t sure how to finish the rest of my question. I knew what I wanted; it was just getting over the fear of asking. “Will you lie beside me?”
His mouth parted, but nothing came out. He blinked as if trying to figure out if what he heard was actually what he had heard. “Um, yeah.”
He shoved a hand through his disheveled hair and put the book down. He glanced down at the bed and shifted from foot to foot. I tried not to smile at how nervous he was. The fact was, I was nervous too, and deep down I was hoping I wasn’t making a mistake with inviting him to lay here with me.
I scooted over to the side and pulled the covers back. I patted the mattress beside me. “Come on. I won’t bite.” At least I would try not to. What? Where was this coming from? I blamed it on my lack of strength. Damn those stupid Valks for making me this vulnerable.
He smiled and crawled underneath the sheet. I curled over to my side and shifted back into his nook. One arm wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me closer to his body.
I closed my eyes and breathed out. Now I could be at peace. At least for now. In his arms.
9
Shayla
I stared at the closed door. Slowly and deliberately, I raised my fist to knock, but then stopped mid-motion and decided against it. I let it drop loosely to my side and continued to stare. For some reason the white, crisp paint pissed me off. It wasn’t anything new. Nowadays everything pissed me off. Maybe I should get some type of anger management. Nah. That was for pussies. Fuck a whole lot of that noise. I couldn’t deal with someone in a pencil-pusher suit trying to tell me to think of butterflies when I wanted to pound some dude’s face in.
Gritting my teeth, I turned away from the only thing between me and Reese. She was in there hurt. Why? Because she went out on her own again and got her ass handed to her. It didn’t matter if it was against like twelve Valks. That was beside the point. Why hadn’t she bothered telling anyone she was leaving? Deep down, I knew the answer. I had known it since the moment she looked at me after filleting Varcies. She had nothing to live for anymore. Her purpose was to kill the person that took her love. I couldn’t say I blamed her. If it had been Jace, I would have been the same way. Of course, it hadn’t been Jace. Jace was a dick who left me high and dry when I needed him the most. My fingers curled into a ball and my muscles tensed. I paused long enough to recoil my arm and punch a door as I passed by.
Pain shot upward from my fist to my shoulder. “Fuck,” I muttered between clamped teeth. Why did I think that was a good idea?
“Bet that shit hurt,” a deep voice said from behind.
I kept walking. Of all people to see that, why him? Dude was such a tool. One of those typical guys that thought he was God’s gift to women. He was the total opposite. Sure, he was hot and had that whole bad boy vibe going hard, but I just didn’t know if I could get over the attitude that came with him.
“No point in running away. You’ve got the joy of doing portal duty with me,” Hollywood said finally catching up with me.
I increased my pace in the off chance he would catch the hint that I didn’t want to be around him. The resounding pound of his heavy footprints squashed those dreams. A girl could hope, right?
“For shit’s sake, slow down!”
My heels dug into the ground as my hips turned. He collided into me just as my mouth opened preparing to dominant him with a stellar verbal assault against his manhood or lack thereof. His chin slammed into my forehead, launching me back a few steps. Both of us touched our wounds, too prideful to say it hurt. We stared at one another, waiting on the other to break. I had news for him. It wasn’t going to be me.
“Wouldn’t you rather take your turn watching the portals with someone else? I mean, if I’m recalling correctly, you told me to stay away from you. I’m not arguing with that. Believe me; I want to stay away from you.”
He sucked air through his teeth as one hand rubbed the nape of his neck. “See, there’s a problem with that.”
I crossed my arms and waited for whatever stupid response was about to emerge from his somewhat luscious lips. I mean, they weren’t bad. Not as good as Jace’s though.
“Did you hear me?” he repeated as his brows slashed inward.
“Sho’ didn’t. And I’m not going to apologize for ignoring you. When words come out of your mouth, it’s like the schoolteacher on Charlie Brown to me.” Using my hands, I started making mouth movements with a hornlike sound.
He stepped forward and wrapped his fingers around each of my wrists. In one fluid motion, I was pinned against the wall with him leaning heavily over my body. “You’re impossible, you know that?” His mouth was so close to mine, I could smell mint on his breath.
I slammed my knee into his crotch, dropping him like a sack of hot potatoes. “And you’re a creeper.” I stared down at his withering form beneath me. It felt good to be standing tall with him groveling at my feet. I could get used to this. “Don’t ever get that close to me again without me telling you it’s okay.” I kneeled and tilted my head. “Now, once you dislodge your nuts from your intestines, how about meeting me outside? We’ve got some work to do.”
Hollywood didn’t say much on the way to Devil’s Den. I assumed his pride wouldn’t let him. I pressed my lips together to keep the need to laugh inside. Just picturing his scarlet face as he grunted in pain was too much. It might possibly go down as my new favorite moment. I stopped the Jeep a few streets over from our destination. It was walking from here.
“How you holding up there, chief? Nuts doing okay?” I called over my shoulder. At least he had learned to give me my distance. Maybe he could be trained after all.
“Fuck you.”
“That’s nice. It is a really pretty day, I agree.” I knew my lack of engaging him in a fight would piss him off more. He was the type of guy that loved a good fight. And I refused to give it to him while we worked together. I didn’t want him enjoying this. At. All. Come to think about it, the two of us had a lot in common. I shuddered. Shit. Was I that gross?
I darted down a familiar path descending to Devil’s Den and stopped at the perimeter to make sure everything was copasetic before emerging. Inside, I was surprised to hear laughter. Scratch that. It was the giggles. Leaning back, I sniffed the air. I could recognize the smell anywhere.
“Shit.” I stomped up with stairs to find Eight Ball and Zeke sitting on the floor. “What the hell, guys? Burning one down while you’re supposed to be keeping watch? How smart is that?”
Zeke’s mouth pulled into a thin line. “We were bored.”
I walked over and kicked the heel of his boot with mine. “No excuse. If y’all were just shooting the shit, then it’s whatever. Although I’d still be pissed because you didn’t invite me, but this is a different story. I could practically hear you two when I got to the back of the building. What would you have done if I were a Valk? All I had to do was sneak up here and off you.”
Eight Ball pressed both of his giant gorilla-like fists to the ground and stood. “Off us? What are you, a part of the mob now? Tony Montana? You gonna pull out a big machine gun and start ripping the place apart with it?” He bent over at the waist as tears strained down the sides of his face, dampening the hair.
“Say hello to my little friend,” Zeke said in a weird voice.
“Um yeah, that so did not sound like Scarface—more like a leprechaun.” I turned to look at Eight Ball. “And for the record, I do own a gun that big, so next time you guys are on duty and I walk in here and hear this kind of shit, I might just do what you suggested. Now please take your high asses and be gone.”
They both stumbled into one another and disappeared down the stairs. I paced back and forth in front of the portal. Being this close to it made me antsy, not that I wouldn’t be ready for a fight. I would be, but still. I never knew what to expect. So far, there had been no action since we’d started taking
shifts and that also made me antsier. It was like the game Jenga. Instead of blocks, we were slowly taking away the days; something was bound to come crashing down at any minute.
“Glad I’m not the only one you hate,” Hollywood said, sliding down the wall until his butt hit the floor below. He pulled his knees toward his chest and rested his arms over them.
I paused. “I don’t hate either of them. Just can’t stand it when people do dumbass things.” I continued my pacing, every few seconds glancing at the black hole.
“They were right about one thing, though. This is a boring job, and there’s really no need on wearing yourself out walking a hole in the floor. Unless that’s what you’re going for.” He smiled.
Was he actually trying to be nice to me? Um, we hated each other, or had he forgotten that so quickly? Maybe it was true. A man’s dick head really did hold the brains and I’d scrambled his with that swift knee kick.
I paced for another hour or so until the sun started to go down behind the clouds. Great. I hated being here, but having a night shift made it ten times worse. I walked over and sat against the wall opposite of him, but avoided meeting his burning gaze.
“Giving up?” he asked. I ignored him. “Can I ask you a question?”
I rolled my eyes. “What?”
“Why are you so angry?”
Was I hearing him correctly? He wanted to know why I was so angry? He had just as bad of a temper as me! At least sometimes I was pleasant to be around. I shrugged. At least when people weren’t pissing me off.
“How about you answer that first and then I will.”
“Fair enough.” He picked some invisible lint off the flannel shirt he wore for a moment as if thinking of the perfect words on how to describe his assholeness. I had to respect that. Being as big of one as he was required determination and was an art form. “I hated coming here. Fighting was my life, and then boom! I had to come here and lay low. It was a drag. It made me hate everything about this place and everyone in it.”
I clapped my hands together. “Well, guess your wish for a fight came true,” I snapped more harshly than I intended. I pointed at the gaping black hole. “Because there’s about to be a shit ton more of those things coming.”
“True,” he muttered. “Now I think it’s your turn.”
I stared down at my shadow, wishing it were just me and her kicking it here tonight. Hollywood had suddenly gotten too personal for my liking. I could already hear his reaction when I told him my reasoning.
“What do you want me to say? It’s a typical girl answer. Girl falls in love with guy, and guy leaves her with a broken heart. There’s not much more to it than that. He made hate the way I do, even myself at times.” Sadness blanketed me. Talking about Jace always did that to me. In spite of my feelings, I erupted into a fit of laughter. “Guess if you don’t love anyone or yourself you really have nothing to lose.” It wasn’t funny. I knew that. But it helped me cope. And suddenly I knew why Reese was acting the way she was. A hole opened in my heart for my best friend. My pain was nothing on hers.
Heavy stomps cut my manic outburst short. Hollywood and I glanced at each other and stood at the same time. He motioned for me to come over to him and I motioned for him to come over to me. His jaw locked, and he rolled his eyes. With his finger, he hastily pointed to his side. The footsteps drew closer with each second that ticked by. I hiked one brow, cast a glance at the staircase, and darted across to Hollywood. I felt tiny next to him. Even though I knew I was fully able to take care of myself, I had to admit it was nice to have someone want to shield me. Or at least that’s the way it seemed. Hell, he could shag ass the second this thing appeared and leave me for death. I eyed his back. I should never have trusted him.
A Valk topped the stairs and stopped short when its eyes landed on Hollywood. Saliva pooled in the corner of its mouth and dribbled down its chin as it hungrily sized him up. I reached around my back and slowly pulled my gun out. Before I could fire one through the forehead, Hollywood threw his hand in the way.
“We take it alive. We need answers.”
My tongue flicked across the top of my teeth. As bad as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Guess it was a good thing he was here. All I was thinking about was killing this thing.
The Valk lunged in our direction. With one hand, Hollywood shoved me back as he darted to the side. Within a flash, both of them had swords in their grasps inching around the small area in a circle. My breath held tight within my chest. This was too much tension watching from the outside.
Sparks erupted as steel clashed on steel. The Valk charged toward Hollywood with a roar, hacking away like a caged animal desperately trying to fight its way out. With a swift twist of the hips, Hollywood spun and caught the Valk off guard. Using his elbow, he caught it in the chest with a sickening thud and lifted it from its feet. The two of them plummeted forward in several strides before crashing through the wall. Dust and splintered wood exploded around us, covering my hair and coating my skin. I waved a hand in front of my face, trying to clear the air.
Hollywood bared his teeth as a low growl, sounding more dragon-like than man, resonated from his chest. His muscles contracted and sent a fist whizzing through the small space between them. The Valk dropped its shoulder, blocking the blow. Hollywood spun, grabbing its arm holding the weapon and brought it down over his knee. The crack was gut-twisting. The creature howled as Hollywood tossed him over his shoulder and to the ground. He planted one foot on the Valk’s chest, holding it in place.
“Why fight? You’re all going to die!” the Valk croaked as it struggled to free itself.
“Looks like you’re going to be the one to die.” Hollywood brought the hilt of his sword down to the Valk’s forehead with enough force to knock it unconscious. He continued to stare at the fallen beast as his chest heaved.
For a moment, I thought he was going to reconsider taking him alive. But to my surprise, he looked up at me and his eyes softened. “Call someone to come pick it up before I have to end up killing it.”
“Sure.” I turned around and pulled my phone from my pocket. With a quick swipe, my screen came alive. I quickly dialed Fuzz while stealing a quick look over my shoulder at Hollywood.
Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought.
10
Raven
A door slammed shut, jarring my nerves. Things were tense enough already without idiots slamming doors. Ugh. I had almost resettled on the couch when loud voices followed shortly after. I stared at the book in my hands, rereading the last sentence at least three times and not remembering what it was I’d read before deciding to get up and see what the commotion was all about.
“You sure the hands and feet are bound?” Fuzz asked Freeman as they wiggled through the doorway, dragging something along the way.
“If you ask me that again, Fuzz, I’m going to tie you up so you know how tight that shit is.”
My eyes dropped, focusing on what it was they were bringing in here. If it had to be tied, it couldn’t be anything good. I brought a shaky hand to my mouth. “Have you two lost your mind bringing one of those things in here alive?” They were trying to get us killed. It was plain as day with such a stupid idea as this.
“We need answers,” Freeman said without turning around. He kicked what appeared to be a broken arm. The Valk grunted but didn’t open its eyes. “Maybe it has some information we can use.”
I followed them in the direction of the holding cells.
Shouts stopped me in my tracks. Both of them were hurled against the wall. The Valk struggled, breaking the restraints within seconds and jumping to its feet.
“What’s going on?” Savannah asked, rounding a corner. She froze at the sight of the beast heading at her.
To my surprise, it didn’t turn toward the exit. Instead, it sidestepped past Savannah, pushing her down in the process, and rushed in the direction of the lab. We raced after it with Fuzz and Freeman on our heels and entered the room just as it reached a cor
ner cabinet. With one quick motion, it bumped the wall and a secret drawer darted out. It reached inside and scooped something out. No one moved. We stood frozen with no idea what was inside its palm. Before anyone could react, it slammed the object into the side of its neck and collapsed to the floor.
“Is it dead?” Savannah asked, peering over the counter. Everyone else had entered now, just as curious to find out what was going on.
Freeman lowered himself, making sure to keep an eye on the creature. “No. If I had to guess it put itself in a coma to keep from talking.” He stood and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, shit. There goes that plan. What are we going to do now?”
“What if we can find out what we need to know without him talking?” a voice said from behind me. I turned to find Harley wheeling in Reese. She looked awful. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. Through the anger I still had for her, a little sympathy was all I could muster.
Fuzz rushed to her side. Of course. Her protector. Reese could never do any wrong in his eyes. “Didn’t I tell you to stay in bed?”
She shrugged. “You expected me to stay in bed with all the loud noise out here. Are you crazy?”
I glanced over her shoulder at Harley. Somehow in the middle of all this chaos she managed to land not one but two luscious man-meats who would walk through fire for her. How was that even possible? I couldn’t even get one to sneeze in my direction, and here she was with one catering to her beck and call. He hadn’t left her side since she came barreling through the door a bloody mess.
“Yes, I did,” Fuzz answered in a firm manner.
She waved him off and maneuvered the wheelchair to the side of the slumped-over Valk. “All we need is someone that can get into his mind, then we won’t need him to tell us anything.”
“Who do you know that can do that?” Savannah asked.
War Page 6
