Jax (The Protectors Series) Book #8

by Teresa Gabelman

  "Get down here and let me see it," Caroline called up.

  "I'm fine," Jax repeated, his eyes going from Caroline, who glared up at him with her hands on her hips, to Sloan, who couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

  "Come down here right now, Jax Wheeler, and let me see or I'm coming up there," Caroline demanded. If he weren't so pissed and in pain, he'd smile at her trying to order him around. Then again, he didn't want her climbing the unsteady ladder she had set up on the side of the house, and he sure as hell didn't want her walking around on the roof that was nowhere close to being safe.

  With a curse, he stood and leaped to the ground, landing light-footed next to her. She grabbed his hand carefully to look at it. It looked like a busted thumb with blood leaking from beneath the nail.

  "You need to be more careful." She turned his hand over, palm up, with a frown, to check it that way. "I'll go get a Band-Aid for it."

  Jax stared down at the top of her head as something deep inside him cracked. It had been so long since anyone had cared for his well-being and it felt damn good. It also scared the hell out of him, so he forced the crack closed. He couldn't afford to let anyone care. It wasn't worth the risk and he wouldn't let anything happen to this woman because she showed him any kind of care, friendship, or— He cut those thoughts off, pulling his hand away.

  "It's already starting to heal," he replied, with a gruffness that made her frown up at him. "I'm fine."

  "I'm putting a Band-Aid on it whether you want it or not." Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "If you're helping me and get hurt, I'm taking care of it whether you like it or not, so get over it, Warrior."

  Before Jax could say another word, she walked past him to go get the Band-Aid. He felt that crack creaking open again and cursed. Feeling Sloan staring at him, his head snapped his way. "What?" he growled, wanting nothing more than to punch the smug look off Sloan's face.

  Sloan cocked an eyebrow, but didn't respond because Caroline was coming back at a fast clip.

  "Let me see." Her voice was firm, daring him to tell her no.

  When he raised his hand, she gripped it carefully and gently put some antibiotic cream on it. "I don't get infections, Caroline." He was going to have to seal that fucking crack closed because at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to drag her into his arms and kiss her senseless for caring about his fucking thumb. "I'm a vampire."

  "I know exactly what you are and it won't hurt anything, so shut up and let me take care of this." Her focus was on bandaging him without causing pain, and yet she was causing him pain beyond anything she or he could ever imagine. Caring for him could mean the end of her life and that was something he couldn't overlook, no matter how badly he wanted to.

  Chapter 5

  After bandaging Jax's thumb, Caroline went back inside to help Lana set out the food she'd returned with.

  "You planning on feeding an army?" Caroline opened the bread, setting it next to the platters of lunch meat on the table.

  "Yes." Lana laughed, nodding. "You've never seen those Warriors eat before. I seriously doubt I bought enough."

  They continued to work in silence, except for the radio playing in the background. She loved the oldies station and her students always made fun of her. During study times in her class, she would let them play the radio on one condition: at least once during the week, they would listen to her favorite station. They moaned and groaned about it, made fun of most of the songs and yet, they respected her because she understood them and allowed them to be who they were: high school students. Kids who loved rock, rap, and something in between—she still hadn't figured out what that exactly was yet. She let them be individuals.

  "So, what was that call about this morning?" Lana asked without looking at her, busy setting out drinks, plates and utensils.

  "Just me being dumb." Caroline kept her gaze on the task, knowing if she looked at her sister, Lana would call her on the lie she was spouting.

  "You might be able to fool Sid, but not me." Lana stopped what she was doing to stare at Caroline. "Spill it or I'll have the Warriors interrogate you."

  "Seriously, Lana." Caroline rolled her eyes. "It was just a weird dream and I wasn't fully awake when I called. It's nothing."

  Caroline knew for a fact if she told Lana the details of her dream, she would tell Sid, who in turn would tell Jax, and she didn't want to tell Jax. Maybe she should, but in all honesty, she was afraid he would leave, disappear in some heroic man thing to keep her safe. He was so strange about his brother, and the last thing she wanted was for him to vanish from her life because he felt it would keep her safer.

  "Our dreams are different, Caroline, and you know it." Lana eyed her thoughtfully, then looked behind her. "If the threat of the Warriors interrogating you doesn't work, then I'll just have to ask the little boy who keeps peeking around the corner."

  Dammit! Caroline turned to see the dead little boy, who she still didn't know anything about, staring at her with his sad eyes. Knowing her sister couldn't see her, she mouthed "'no'" to him. When he gave a slight nod before disappearing, she sighed with relief. Turning back to her sister, she frowned.

  "He doesn't know anything because there isn't anything to know, and you just scared him." Caroline decided not looking at Lana was best because her sister always knew when she was lying. The boy did know something, and Caroline needed to figure out what that something was.

  "Bullshit." Lana pointed her fork, with an olive speared on the end, at her.

  "Oh, thank God." Steve walked in the door and Caroline wanted to hug him. Her sister was tough and Caroline had a hell of a time lying to her; she always got caught. "I was about to perish out there, slaving away on that roof."

  "You nailed one board." Blaze shook his head as he passed Steve.

  "Yes, I did, and I did an awesome job if I do say so myself." Steve huffed with pride. "I want to make sure that it's perfect for Caroline. Plus, it’s almost dinner time if my stomach is correct, which it always is. I totally missed lunch."

  Caroline laughed at Steve when he batted his eyes and gave her a sappy grin. "Eat." She handed him a plate.

  Soon Caroline's house was full of Warriors, and Lana was right: she hadn't bought enough food. Caroline didn't even get a sandwich, but she wasn't really hungry anyway. For a little while, she had forgotten about the dream, but with Lana bringing it up, it was at the forefront of her mind, making her jumpy. Her eyes kept going to Jax, who stood alone. She noticed he hadn't eaten anything either.

  If anyone had told her a year ago she would have a group of VC Warriors helping her rehab her home, she would have laughed and called them crazy. But because of Lana and Sid, they were a part of her family now and she couldn't be happier.

  "We need to fill in Jax, Steve, Blaze, and Sid," Sloan announced, his voice filled with authority.

  "Fill us in on what? We finally going to get to do something more exciting than fix a roof?" Steve was in the middle of making himself another sandwich. His eyes popped up to Caroline's. "Not that I mind fixing your roof."

  "You nailed one fucking board," Blaze added again with a shake of his head. "You haven't fixed shit."

  "Hey, stop the hate." Steve pointed his sandwich at Blaze. "Perfection takes time."

  "No, dumb asses take time." Blaze glared at the sandwich Steve pointed at him and it started to smoke.

  Steve looked away from Blaze to his smoking sandwich. "Dude, so not cool." Steve stared at his sandwich, then shrugged, taking a big bite. "Then again, toasted ham and cheese is pretty amazing."

  Caroline laughed, watching in awe. "I still can't believe you have the power to do that." She glanced at Blaze who had a half smirk on his face, watching Steve demolish the rest of the sandwich.

  "Yeah, he's a walking, talking toaster oven," Steve answered for him before grabbing a handful of chips and heading away from Blaze quickly.

  "Are you done?" Sloan glared at Steve, who had just shoved a whole handful of potato chips in his mouth.
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br />   Steve's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but he might as well have been trying to whistle with a mouthful of crackers, because all that came out was crumbs of potato chips. He held up a finger as he chewed quickly, but Sloan's growl had him backing up behind Lana.

  "Jared and Duncan went on a call. I'll spare you the details," Sloan began.

  "Ah, damn, Sloan, the details were the best part of the call." Jared frowned. "A horny shifter—"

  "I definitely want to hear about the details." Sid raised his hand. "All in favor of hearing about the horny shifter details, raise your hand."

  Caroline just stood back watching the Warriors in action, and she had to say it was entertaining. Not only were they the fiercest men she had ever met, but the funniest. She watched as Steve raised his hand. Adam and Jill just laughed as Damon, Slade, and Duncan all wore matching serious faces. And Jax was watching her, his face emotionless.

  "Enough!" Sloan shouted, making her jump. "We may have a lead on Mika."

  Caroline's eyes shot to Jax, whose face was no longer emotionless. He had the look of the intense Warrior she knew lay close to the surface of the man she knew so little about. Her eyes moved from him to the rest of the Warriors. The change in their demeanors was impressive. No longer were they in a joking mood. It was as if they were ready for war.

  "Where?" Jax's voice cut through the room with a tenseness that matched the stern look on his handsome face.

  "There's a club downtown, a shifter hangout called the Venue," Sloan began, eyeing Jax. "And before you go running off, we already have a plan set up."

  "Has he been seen there?" Jax didn't back down from Sloan's warning.

  "The horny shifter gave a positive ID of your brother," Jared replied. "Seems like Mika has become comfortable and doesn't think he has to hide his identity."

  "He's making himself known for a reason," Jax warned, his eyes going to each Warrior. "Believe me when I say everything he does is for a reason, his end goal, and he does have an end goal. If you don't start realizing how smart and evil my brother is, we lose. And what we lose is what we hold most dear to us."

  Caroline actually shivered, images of her dream playing across her mind. Jax wouldn't even look at her, but as hard as she tried, her eyes wouldn't leave him.

  "He can fucking try." Sid growled the words, pulling Lana close to him.

  "Yeah, well that's not all," Jared added, glancing at Sloan then Jax. "Seems he's recruiting a bunch of shifters to start a council of their own."

  "I have already contacted some of the local shifter leaders to let them know. They're obviously not happy, but we can't wait for them to do something about it. If Jax feels that he's a threat to us and those around us, we need to stop him now," Sloan replied, his eyes narrowed.

  "Yeah, well, there's only one council," Sid sneered in anger. "And we're fucking it. So what's the plan to stop this bastard?"

  "We're going to draw him out by sending Jill in," Sloan began.

  Jax immediately shook his head. "And you will be playing right into his hands. That's exactly what he wants." Jax walked toward Sloan. "He's showing himself to bring us out on his terms. If we send in Jill, he will know that we're there for him."

  Sloan thought for a minute. "Okay, then what do you suggest?"

  "I can do it," Caroline blurted, wondering if she had totally lost her mind, but to her it made sense.

  "No!" many male voices rang out in unison.

  "If any of you are seen anywhere near the place, he will know." Caroline shrugged, as if she didn't care whether they listened to her or not. She wanted Mika caught almost as badly as the rest of them, if not even more so because she strongly felt that was exactly why Jax hadn't made a definite move for her.

  "Not happening," Jax replied, his tone final.

  "I would be safe." Caroline didn't back down. "My date would make sure of it."

  "And who the fuck would that be?" Jax took a step toward her, his voice going from final to deadly.

  "Caroline, this is Warrior business." Lana tried to defuse the situation. "I don't think bringing up—"

  Caroline didn't even look at Lana, but stared at Jax. "You."

  "Uh, Caroline." Steve broke in with an exaggerated shake of his head. "I think you need to leave the Warrior stuff to us because I think Mika would know his own brother."

  Caroline broke eye contact with Jax and moved her eyes to Steve with a cocked eyebrow. "Wow, it takes a Warrior to figure that out?" She turned her attention back to Jax. "And he wouldn't know it was Jax if Jax wasn't Jax."

  "Not a bad idea." Damon gave her an impressed nod.

  "How could Jax not be Jax?" Steve snorted.

  Everyone ignored Steve, who looked totally confused.

  "It won't work." Jax shook his head. "Mika would know."

  "I think you give your brother too much power," Caroline whispered, but knew he heard her if the glare he sent her way was any indication.

  "Well, we can't let this opportunity pass. It has to be checked out, so it's either Jill or Caroline. I wasn't for letting Caroline anywhere near the situation, but she actually has a pretty good idea, and your brother doesn't really know her as he does Jill. Seeing Jill walk in without Slade would be a dead giveaway. And if you shift, you'll be there to keep her safe," Sloan added, as Jax continued to glare at Caroline. "So what's it going to be, Jax? You know your brother better than anyone."

  "Ahhhh!" Steve said loudly with a snap of his fingers. "I get it now." Adam smacked him on the back of the head.

  "When are we wanting to do this?" Jax turned away from Caroline.

  "The quicker the better. We don't want him to move on, if it actually is him," Sloan said, then looked around at every Warrior. They nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow night. It's Saturday and will be busy."

  Jax didn't say a word as he slammed out of the house. In the next minute, the sound of pounding from the roof echoed through the house. Soon, all the Warriors left until only Caroline, Jill, and Lana remained.

  "Guess you get to play Warrior." Jill grinned at her.

  "Hope you're ready for this, Caroline," Lana replied, eyeing her. "This isn't a game."

  "No shit, Lana," Caroline hissed at her sister, then glanced up at the roof. She hoped she was ready also, since it was her stupid idea.

  Caroline began cleaning up. Grabbing the empty platter, she headed for the sink. With only the sounds of hammering in the now quiet house, the radio played clearly in the background. The platter dropped from her hands, shattering across the floor, as the opening lyrics to "Sweet Caroline" filled her with terror.

  Chapter 6

  Jax saw red as he hammered furiously, angry enough to crack the hammer right off the wooden handle. "Shit!" He tossed it off the roof. He'd heard Caroline's whispered remark about him giving Mika too much power. She didn't understand, none of them understood.

  "Hey, man, relax." Sid came up behind him, taking a place on the roof. Soon, the roof was full of Warriors. "We got this, and Caroline's idea is pretty fucking smart. We can hit him and he won't even know it's coming."

  Jax didn't say anything. He didn't shift often, hated shifting if he were being honest. But what bothered him most was putting Caroline in danger, actually more danger. Mika may not know the full extent of her relationship with him, but if their plan didn't work, then Caroline's involvement would be fully exposed. He wasn't sure he wanted to chance that. The risk was too great. Hell, he was already putting her and everyone else around him in danger just by being a part of their lives. Mika needed to die. He should have killed him when he had the chance, but that was the past. He hadn't, and he was now paying for that moment of mercy he'd given his brother.

  "She'll be fine, man," Slade added as he carried a stack of wood, careful of where he stepped.

  "And I'm sure you were all for Jill going in there knowing she could run into Mika again?" Jax glared up at Slade.

  "She's my mate," Slade replied, his eyes narrowing. "Anytime my mate and danger ar
e mentioned in the same breath, I'm not happy. What's your excuse?"

  "Ehhh, ahhhh." Steve cringed, looking between Slade and Jax. "So, ah, Jax, who do you think you'll shift into? Man, how cool would that be? I'd shift into one of the One Direction dudes. All the women love them."

  "One Direction?" Adam glanced at Steve. "Who in the fuck is that?"

  "Are you kidding me?" Steve looked at him like he was a moron. "You don't know who One Direction is?"

  "Do I look like I'm kidding?" Adam gave him a blank stare.

  "It's the boy band that fills arenas with screaming women." Steve sighed. "Seriously, to have a gig like that. How do they get so lucky?"

  "You want to throw him off the roof or you want me to do it?" Blaze glared at Steve, but asked Adam.

  Sloan walked over, ignoring Steve, and started ripping off old wood as if he knew what he was doing. He checked over the side of the house, and then threw it down. "We'll have the place covered, Jax, and you'll be right there with her." Sloan took the new piece of wood that Damon handed him. "I don't like the idea any better than you do. Letting a female who's not Warrior status be involved in an operation is not ideal, but it's a pretty solid cover."

  "If I have any feeling of unease, I'm getting her out of there. To hell with the plan," Jax stated, his voice indicating his statement was not up for debate.

  "I wouldn't expect you to do anything else," Sloan replied, tossing Jax another hammer. "Now, let's get this fucking roof done before it rains again."

  The Warriors worked in silence until a loud sound of breaking glass blasted from underneath them. Jax was the first off the roof. Slamming inside, he spotted Lana and Jill staring at Caroline, who stood in the middle of broken glass. She was staring at the radio, her face pale.

  Lana grabbed his arm, stopping him with a shake of her head. She also stared at the radio. Jax stopped, but kept a close eye on Caroline surrounded by the shards of glass. Everyone had filed into the house, but no one said a word as Lana closed the distance to her sister.

  "Why is the little boy pointing to the radio, Caroline?" Lana looked from Caroline back to the radio. Sid quietly came closer, but stopped when Lana raised her hand.