by Fall, Carly
“I know, but I was just thinking about how damn sexy you are.” He pulled the sheet down and palmed his erection. “Why don’t you come back to bed for a quickie, and I’ll make sure you have another one of those orgasms you like so much.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she laughed. “Get up, Blake. I know if I get back in that bed, you’ll miss your patrol tonight. I also have to take the kids off of Beverly’s hands.”
Disappointed, he sighed and got up, making his way to the shower and stopping in front of Sophia. “That just breaks my fucking heart, but I still love you,” he murmured.
“And I love you. Now, go.”
She gave him a quick kiss and swatted his butt. He did as he’d been told and headed for the bathroom.
After his shower, Sophia had gone, and he got dressed—jeans and a t-shirt for the night. He’d be wearing a bulky leather coat, so he didn’t want to wear long-sleeves, although in the late winter it could get cool in Arizona.
As he rode the elevator up to the top floors of the missile silo, he softly whistled to himself. When the panels parted on the top floor, the silence would be replaced by controlled chaos.
When they opened, he grinned. Hudson and Abby, Noah’s mate, scurried around the large kitchen preparing everything for dinner. Sophia sat at the small table with the kids, listening with intensity as they told her about their day at the zoo with Beverly and Liberty. When Megan saw him, she screeched and launched herself up to his chest. He caught her and pulled her close, inhaling deeply, loving the innocent scent of her shampoo.
“Hi, Blake!” she screamed in his ear.
“Hi, Princess.”
They hugged for a moment more, then he set her down and she ran back to the table.
“What can I do to help?” he asked Hudson.
“Take this second turkey out to the table, and tell Rayner to get off the damn X-Box. Then go get Noah—I think he’s still in the War Room looking over those reports on the murder rates, and then tell Jovan he’s on dishes.”
He picked up the turkey. “Why are you making me deliver all the bad news?”
Hudson grinned. “Better they be mad at you than me, my man.”
Blake set the turkey on the table and found Rayner in front of the TV.
“You need to get off.”
“I already did that today.”
He sighed. “Off the X-Box, Rayner.”
“Shut up, half-breed. I need to finish this level. I’m so close. I need to figure out what’s in that treasure chest.”
Blake glanced at the screen. Sophia had become quite the gamer, and she’d surpassed this level last week. “You get another life, and you aren’t even close to finishing.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Sophia did this last week.” He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV before walking out of the room.
“You’re lucky there’s kids in the house, Blake, or I’d—”
Blake flipped him off and went to find Noah and Jovan.
Jovan played pool, still believing that one day, he’d actually be able to beat Abby.
“Dinner’s on, man.”
“Good, I’m starved.”
“You’re on dishes.”
Jovan glared at him. “Says who?”
“Says Hudson.”
Jovan cursed as Blake left the room.
That went well.
For sure, he’d have to beat Jovan with a pool cue to get him away from the table, and well, everyone had to pitch in on dishes at some point.
He found Noah in the War Room with the door closed, sitting in the dark. The light glow from the bank of computers casted shadows around the space.
“What’s up, Noah?”
“Just thinking.”
“Dinner’s ready.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Blake sighed and sat down. “You need to eat, man.”
“I know.”
Noah had a tendency to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, although what had happened with his species hadn’t been his fault.
“We’ll get it figured out, Noah.”
He sighed heavily. “Yeah, we got no other choice. Let’s go get some grub.”
Dinner always tended to be a loud affair as everyone talked, laughed, and ate. Two turkeys quickly disappeared, as did multiple bowls of vegetables and salad.
After the plates had been cleared, Noah announced the patrol would be leaving in a half-hour, and Blake went down to his quarters to get his jacket. After pulling it on, he went to the closet and opened the gun vault, strategically placing weapons in his coat and on his body. He didn’t hear Sophia come up behind him, and startled when her palm landed on his shoulder.
“What’s up?” he said, turning to her.
“I just wanted to tell you to be careful tonight.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I will. I’ve got too much to come home to.”
“I just have a bad feeling about tonight. I was watching the news with Alaina and they were saying that the city might start imposing a curfew. Is it really that bad?”
He pulled her close, and her head rested against his chest. “The Colonist, Daniel, has organized his followers. There are a lot of them, and they're sneaky. We’re outnumbered at this point, so yes, it’s bad. We thought by killing Micah it would be like cutting the head off a snake, but the body apparently has another brain, which is Daniel. I don’t think a curfew is going to make much of a difference.”
“I just worry about you going on these patrols. I don’t really see the point in them.”
Frankly, he really didn’t, either, but he’d never stop. “Sophia, if your house is on fire, do you stand back and watch it burn, or do you do everything you can to put the fire out, knowing that you may very well be fighting a losing battle?”
“I’d at least try.”
“Exactly, baby. Exactly. We can’t let this city burn.”
They stood silent for a few moments, holding each other.
“You better get going,” she said. “Just please promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise. I doubt anything will happen tonight that we’ll know about. There won’t be any blood running in the streets or anything. It’ll just be a quiet evening.”
Chapter 3
“Little chilly tonight for Arizona,” Hudson commented with a shudder as they walked down an alley.
“You can’t complain, man. Tomorrow will be in the sixties and it’ll be a perfect day for a run in the desert,” Blake said, noting Noah’s silence. He hadn’t said much all night.
“I’m not doing any running tomorrow,” Hudson answered. “Tomorrow, I think Bev and I are going to do something with Killian.”
“Oh, yeah? Where you guys going?”
“I’m not sure. Beverly was talking about—”
The blow to the lower back knocked Blake to his knees, his hands painfully scraping across the asphalt, the smell of urine wafting up. He staggered to his feet, the baseball bat almost hitting him again.
Quickly assessing the situation, he realized they were outnumbered four to three. He could summon Nico, who sat in the Escalade waiting to be called if they ran into a situation like this. However, as the guy with the bat came at him again, he ducked and then pile-drove him into the brick wall, sending the bat flying.
As they traded punches, Blake’s rage morphed and grew, giving him intense focus on his attacker. Letting the anger build, he promised himself he wouldn't kill this bastard. He guessed this piece of shit had the same make up as him—part Colonist—yet, they resided on two different planes of humanity. Both were half-Colonist, half-human, but somehow, Blake could control his need to kill. The urge to end life didn’t course through his veins.
He took a fist to the jaw, but landed one of his own in the guy’s liver. As the man doubled over, Blake delivered an uppercut, certain his attacker would be seeing stars and probably have a good case of whiplash, as well.
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Blake took a foot to the gut and cursed as he curled over. Apparently, his blow hadn’t been as powerful as he’d originally thought.
A forceful elbow landed in his shoulder, and he snapped his head back, connecting with the man’s face. Blood gushed from his nose as he fell to the pavement, and Blake couldn’t help but grin.
He glanced over and saw Hudson battling two assailants, his arms and legs moving in a lethal dance; yet, his attackers seemed to be able to match him blow for blow. Noah battled someone as well, his body moving in the fluid motion of a born warrior.
Hudson cursed and bent at the waist, and Blake saw a blade being pulled from his side. Blake pounced on the man who had stabbed him, taking him to the ground. As he wrestled the knife away, he felt a significant shift in the air. Someone else had arrived.
As he rolled to his back, he heard the distinct crack of bones breaking as he squeezed the man’s hand, the knife falling to the ground while howls of pain echoed in the alley.
Standing, he found the other assailants on the ground, and another man standing next to Noah.
When recognition set in, Blake lunged at him and slammed him face first into the building.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled.
“Is that who I think it is?” Noah asked, breathing heavily.
Hudson gingerly walked over to them, holding his side. “It is.”
“Are you in charge of this mess? Did you take over for Micah?” Noah yelled as sirens blared in the distance.
“The cops are going to be here any minute,” Blake murmured. “We need to finish him off.”
“No! Just listen to me!”
“Shut the fuck up, Titus,” Hudson growled.
“Just hear me out!”
“Kill him, Hudson,” Noah said. “I thought we were done with the Platoon, but I can see this one keeps coming back like flies to shit.”
Hudson pulled out a knife and moved toward Titus.
“I found more like us, Noah!” Titus yelled. “I found more SR44ians! Justice!”
Footsteps rounded the corner, and Noah drew his gun.
A huge black man came into view. He stood just as tall and wide as Noah, his bald head gleaming in the low lights, and sunglasses covered his eyes. He slipped them off, and his eyes glowed battleship gray.
The guy was definitely an SR44ian.
“Who are you?” Noah asked, and Blake heard the shock in his voice.
When SR44 had exploded, the Warriors had come to terms that they were the last of their people.
“My name’s Justice. Which one of you is Noah?”
“I am.” Noah stepped forward, his gun still leveled.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
As Blake caught his breath, he examined the situation around him. The cops drew closer; their attackers writhed on the ground; Hudson needed to be healed; a guy they thought dead had his face mashed up against the wall; and now, they had a surprise of epic proportions on their hands.
He let go of Titus and pulled his phone out and hit number one on speed dial. Nico picked up on the first ring.
“We need you here stat. Shit just kind of moved into the critical zone.”
He gave Nico directions to the main cross streets one block up and stuffed the phone back in his pocket.
“We need to move, ladies, unless you feel like having a chat with the cops.”
“Split up. Blake, you’re with Hudson. Titus and Justice, follow me. We’ll meet you there,” Noah ordered.
He and Hudson crossed the street and slinked down another alley. More SR44ians? Titus was alive? Man, things were about to get real interesting.
“You okay?” he asked.
Hudson nodded. “I just need a healing from Cohen.”
“I told Sophia it would be a quiet night on patrol.”
“Funny, that’s what I told Bev.”
“We were pretty wrong.”
“No truer words have ever been said.”
Chapter 4
Justice glanced out of the corner of his eye at Noah who walked behind him and Titus, noticing the gun discreetly pointed at both of them.
Based on the conversation he’d heard back in the alley, it seemed that Noah and Titus shared a history, and with the fact that Noah wanted Titus dead, he could safely guess it hadn’t been positive.
A black SUV pulled up to the curb, and Noah opened the door.
“Get in the car, Justice,” Noah commanded. “Titus, get the fuck out of here before I put a bullet between your eyes.”
“I say this with the utmost respect, Noah, but Titus stays with me.”
Noah glared at him, and then glanced down the street at the cop car that had just pulled up only a block away, its lights flashing. They would come across the males writhing on the ground at any moment, and who knew what would happen then? Would they say they had been attacked, and then send the police after them? As far as Justice was concerned, they didn’t have time to argue whether Titus stayed or left—they just needed to get the hell out of there.
The two other males walked quickly across the street as Noah nodded. “Fine. Both of you get in the car. We’ll hash it all out later, but right now, we need to go.”
The car sped off after Noah climbed into the front seat while he and Titus sat in the back smashed between the two other males. Although the car was large, it definitely wasn’t made to sit many beings of his size.
They drove in silence for a moment, and Justice looked at the passing landscape. The lights, the tall buildings, the people bustling about reminded him of home, and an ache overtook his heart. He believed it would be considered the feeling of homesickness.
“Thanks for being so quick on the pick up, Nico,” Noah said to the driver, who nodded.
Noah turned around. “Hudson? You okay, man?”
“Yeah.”
“Blake?”
“I’m solid.”
Noah glared at him for a moment. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Justice nodded. “As do you.”
Blake, who sat next to him, began to wiggle, and Justice turned to see what he was doing.
“Sorry. Just trying to get my phone out of my pants. I’m not trying to play grab ass with you or anything.”
Justice moved slightly, and Blake found the phone, then hit a button.
“Hey, Rayner. Listen, we’ve got some company coming back with us, so make sure we’re in lockdown mode. Also, Hudson’s been stabbed, so Cohen will need to heal him, and you better tell Beverly, as well.”
“No, don’t tell Bev,” Hudson mumbled. “She’ll just worry.”
Blake rolled his eyes. “You’ve been stabbed, dumbass. Just because you don’t want to deal with your mate doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. I’m not setting myself or Rayner up to take Beverly’s wrath when she finds out she wasn’t told.”
Hudson sighed. “Fine.”
Blake turned his attention back to the phone. “Yeah, I’m serious about the lockdown. We’ll see you in a bit.”
The other cars on the freeway flashed by; some of the lights almost seemed blinding. Justice’s heart pounded in anticipation at finally finding out where the Saviors lived, and to talk to Noah and hear his excuse as to why he hadn’t met Justice and the crew of Rescue One when he’d been the one to summon them.
He couldn’t wait to let the Royal Congress on SR44 know that he’d succeeded in his mission and that they would all be able to return home and their natural, smoky forms instead of residing in these cumbersome human bodies.
Blake squirmed again next to him, and he glanced over at him.
“I need to take off my jacket,” he said, and Justice sat forward so he could do so. Then the male removed his t-shirt, ripping it in half. He handed on half to Titus, and then the other to him.
“Wrap this around your eyes,” he ordered. “Neither of you can see where we go from here, especially you, Titus, you piece of shit.”
Justice did
as he had been told, but again felt surprise at the way they spoke to Titus.
The car slowed, and then picked up speed again for a while. They came to a stop, sped up, stopped again, and then drove a couple hundred feet and Nico killed the ignition.
“I’ll run inside and make sure they’re ready for us,” Blake said as Justice heard the car door open.
“Where is he?” a female’s voice asked. “Hudson?”
“He’s in the back,” Blake answered. “He’s fine.”
“You let me be the judge of that.”
Justice sat still as he heard the door to his right open, and then a soft gasp met his ears.
“Are you okay, Hudson?” she asked.
“I’m fine, Beverly.”
“Who are these two?”
“Company,” Hudson said, “but not the good kind. Sort of like having bed bugs come for a visit.”
Justice remained where he sat, waiting for orders. Apparently, whatever Titus had done, he was now guilty by association to be compared to a bug.
“Let’s move,” Noah growled, taking his arm. “You’ve got three stairs, then a doorway where you’ll have to lift your leg about six inches so you don’t fall flat on that pretty face of yours. You’ll then have a few more stairs to maneuver. After that, I can take off the blindfold.”
Justice moved slowly as Noah guided him.
The echo of his feet moving up the metal stairs rang in his ears, and after a moment, he could see lights through his blindfold.
“Stay right where you are,” Noah said.
Someone brushed up against his left side, and he had to guess it was Titus, unless they’d shot him and taken him out to the desert to be buried. However, that would make him a little irritated as he’d worked hard to save the male’s life after finding him lying like a sack of crap in the sagebrush.
The blindfold was removed, and he squinted in the glare. After a moment, his eyes adjusted, and he took in his surroundings.
They stood in a kitchen, much different from the one where he resided. Black marble countertops gleamed while silver appliances shined. To his right, he saw a hallway with thick, plush dark brown carpet. He caught a glimpse of another room that looked like it may have a bar and some couches.
