***
“Stop pacing. You’re making me dizzy.” Niko stared at his brothers, then added Dante to the mix before he started pacing again. She would be dead right now if his brothers had not been there when that car started to roll.
He might have been dead as well. It was up in the air, since he was still in humanoid form, if he would have survived. As if there was such a thing as survival without Dee. That’s why he was pacing the floor.
They had gone back to his house and taken Dee downstairs to the room that was kept prepped and sterile in case an operation needed to occur.
They couldn’t take her to a hospital. The gun used was alien in origin, not even from the planet they had called home. It came from the most lawless planet in their galaxy. They couldn’t allow the humans to get their hands on that technology, even if it was destroyed.
More than Dee’s life would be at stake then.
How long had he been in there? Nicolas was working on her. He was the best. Niko looked around at his brothers. He caught sight of Rena crying silent tears. He had a sister now too. They all cared about him. They cared about Dee too.
Family. It was really all he had to offer her. Himself and his family. He would protect her. He had done a poor job so far, but he would be more vigilant in the future.
She just needed to live. Him in a tux, her in a beautiful white gown. He could see it. Soon when they were mated he would see that dream for himself.
Nicolas walked out looking tired and drained.
“Dee?”
He nodded his head yes, looking at everyone. “It was touch and go for a while. The bullet hit her lung.”
Nicolas swung his eyes to meet Dante’s wondering what he had put in the Rowl they were feeding Dee. Whatever it was he was sure it helped to keep her alive.
He focused on Niko. “She is going to live.”
Chapter Eighteen
He looked at Dee laying on the bed. She had been out for longer than a day. Nicolas had assured him more than once that she was ok. Her body was taking the time it needed to heal.
Not that she would just wake up and be fine. She was human. Nicolas kept reminding him that she healed differently than he did, much slower.
He went and leaned over the bed again, no change. Sighing he left the room and went to the game room, where his brothers had been hanging out waiting with him for signs of Dee’s recovery.
“What’s going on?” They were all staring at a newscast.
“They’re here.” A young woman who may have been pretty screamed as the cops surrounded her, trying to contain her without hurting her.
“Who’s here?” The newscaster asked her. He should have said it with a mocking voice, but he seemed to care.
“Monsters. They look like men but they are not.” She screamed and broke into tears. “We have to stop them, before they kill us all.”
The cops moved in and subdued her.
One cop gave a sad smile. “Don’t worry. We will get her help.”
“Aran.” He answered his phone.
“Yeah I saw.”
“Ok I will leave it to you.”
“That was Dante. He caught the news. He has a brother who can get to her. They will be feeding her Rowl soon.”
“Who is after us?” Niko’s voice was even, but he had no doubt they were now being targeted.
“I don’t now, but we had better figure it out soon.” Aran said. “I need anything you may have seen. It may help us figure out what is happening.”
The brothers sat. Every eye locked onto Aran looking for direction.
“The night I followed Dee to that bar, I thought I caught a smell that was foreign when we came out. For a minute I thought one of us, a created one, was there. When I took a deep breath the smell was gone. Since the smell was off, I figured it was my imagination.”
“Niko.”
“I know, Aran. I let my guard down. I was so sure we were safe here. All I could think about that night was getting Dee to my house. Do you think I was followed?”
“Did you follow protocol?”
“Yes.” He wanted to say he would not ever veer away from that, but he had already let his guard slip once.
“Then no. Your base has not been compromised.”
“It’s been a while since I have thought of my home as my base.”
“We are all there Niko. Since Rena has come into my life, I see my base as my home also. I see it through her eyes. She has made changes and the place is more comfortable, but I make sure to remember to keep it a highly defensible position. Our bases truly become our homes as mates appear, but we can never let down our guard.”
The brothers nodded in agreement.
“What else do we know?”
“The bullets used came from a weapon that is only found on Yulen.” Nicolas looked around as each brother schooled his face not to show disgust. “We also know it was not a Yulen that fired the gun.”
“If a Yulen was here there would be blood running in the streets.” The Yulens were the most vicious race they had ever encountered. They didn’t take prisoners and they practiced no restraint. They killed or were killed.
“Someone pried that gun from a Yulen’s cold stiff fingers.” Hale spoke to no one in particular.
Aran nodded and went on. “There was my attack last month. Although I did not fight a created, I do think one was behind my shooting.”
“Let’s not forget the fire at the warehouse followed by the one in our office space.” Hale volunteered. “There is also the computer code. It was too sophisticated to be done by a human.”
“On that note, I am going to the other room.” Rena stood with a good natured smile, kissed Aran and left the room.
“Why would one of the created come after us?” Sergey asked, his voice quiet.
“That’s want we need to find out.” Aran looked around, meeting each of his brother’s eyes. “Until we know more, we are on high alert. Expect an attack.”
***
“Dee you better be awake.” Rena walked into her room, looking at her best friend on the bed. “You know I am tempted to roll your ass on the floor.”
“Some best friend you are.” Dee croaked, her voice sounded rough and she winced, then winced again at the pain.
“How long can you pretend to be asleep?”
“Wasn’t hard,” She whispered, “Every time I blink my eyes, I fall asleep.”
“Looks like you’re avoiding Niko. Care to tell me why?”
Dee closed her eyes. Rena leaned over her and snapped her fingers in Dee’s ear. Dee jumped a little.
“That hurt.”
“Then stop avoiding me and talk to me.”
She tried to push herself up in the large bed, but couldn’t get her arms to work. Rena came over and partially lifted her, carefully adding another pillow so she wouldn’t be flat.
“What should I say to him? Sorry, Niko. I’m not sure what happened, but someone hates me enough to try and kill me, and they almost took you with me. Want some lunch? What man stays with a woman with a price on her head?”
“Your man.”
“He’s not my man. He was just a temporary distraction. Now that I am thinking clearly, I see this would never have worked.”
“Bull. You’re just scared and you’re putting your fears on him. He has been doing nothing, but walking in front of this bed like it held the answers to all of life’s unanswered questions. Now tell me he’s not your man. Tell me you really want to walk away and never see him again.”
“I want him to live Rena. Obviously, one of the brothers hates me. Why else would they have tried to take me out?”
“What?”
“Niko wasn’t cruising Rena. Who else could have targeted me at that speed?”
“Dee, listen to me. It wasn’t one of Niko’s brothers. They have been here pacing and waiting for news of your recovery. Nobody has left. Each one of them has marched in here and knelt by your bedside and sworn an oath to help protect their
new sister.”
Dee shook her head.
“Yes. Listen. The Dare brothers are not the only created on this planet. Dante and his brothers are not the exception. There are created in every city. I don’t know why one took a shot at you. Maybe he was jealous of Niko. We both know jealousy can drive men to extremes. What I do know is that the created in this house are your brothers and your mate. They would never hurt you.”
“Look at me Rena. I am a mess. Why would he want me?” She lowered her eyes. Most of her confidence, when it came to her looks, was a lie. The only thing she knew for sure was that she could work numbers until they sang. Who really needed someone like that?
“Because I love you.”
Niko stepped into the room. He had stopped not wanting to intrude on their conversation. He wouldn’t allow her to believe that he didn’t want her.
“Niko.”
He smiled at her. “Hi, kitten.”
He smiled at Rena and touched her shoulder saying thank you as he moved past her.
“How do you feel?”
“I hurt, but it’s getting better.”
“Liar. It will get better. You just need time to heal. I wish I could give you my healing ability.”
“Sorry I brought all this drama into your life.”
“Every life needs a little drama. Nicolas is going to want to see you now that you’re officially awake.”
“I know. Niko, Rena said that there are other created on the earth besides you and your brothers.”
He nodded his head. “There are many of us. My family is family because we share the same mother. Other families share different traits. The created is a family as a whole, because were all created.”
“Each of your brothers has a different father?”
“It’s not that simple. The male DNA was manipulated and combined with other male DNA. A different combination was used on each of us. We all hail from more than one male.”
“Does it make you mad?”
“No. It is who I am. I know things are different for many species, but this is how The Created were made.”
He sat on the side of the bed and took her hands in his.
She reached up and rubbed his cheek feeling his smooth skin.
“Dee?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to leave me?”
Chapter Nineteen
She had been thinking about it. From the moment she woke up, she had started to plan her escape. Her ‘it’s me not you’ routine was so fluid, she should patent it.
She allowed her eyes to close. He had been so direct. He knew her better than any of the others. If she were honest, she would say she liked that about him. She had no intentions of being honest.
She opened her mouth to reassure him that she was not leaving and closed it again. She wouldn’t lie. She wanted to. She did it so well. How had a few days changed her? Had it changed her or was she just on temporary hiatus?
“I don’t know. How do you stay with someone when you know you are putting their life in danger?”
“Seems selfish doesn’t it?” He got up and walked away from her, moving to the window. “Right now you should be home, laying in your bed watching television or maybe out drinking with some guy in a bar. It would have been that way, but I couldn’t leave well enough alone.”
He looked at her, giving her a smile that about broke her heart.
“I couldn’t walk away from you, even though I knew I should. You are so beautiful, but that’s not why I couldn’t leave you alone. The outside fades you know. It’s the fire in your eyes and the kindness in your heart that attracts me to you. The smell of your skin is intoxicating. I need to be around you. You make me feel alive. Selfish, I know. Now your life is in danger. You almost died, all because I want you.”
“Are you saying this is your fault?”
He nodded his head and broke eye contact. Turning he looked out of the window over his base, his home. It would be nothing without her here.
“Look at me?” She waited until he turned around. “You got this all wrong. I never form attachments with men. I know better. It’s safer for all of us if I keep moving.”
“Did you form an attachment to me?”
“You’re not listening, I just said I did. That’s why I know this is my fault. I can make it right. All I have to do is walk away. Then you will be safe.”
She was exhausted. Now he would understand. He would tell her politely to leave. He would because he was a smart male. She wondered who would help her, because she was weak as the kitten he liked to call her.
“Seems we share a problem.”
She would have tried to raise her head up to look at him, but her small amount of strength had deserted her. She closed her eyes and prepared to listen.
The feel of his hand covering hers made her open her eyes.
“We both feel responsible for putting the other’s life in danger. We blame it on our inability to walk away from each other. I have put my life in danger many times. I fought for a world that cared nothing for me. Only my fighting skills. I almost died more than once for them. Now the most important person I have ever met is lying in my bed. I would rather die for you, than live without you.”
She closed her eyes as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t condone it, but she understood her mother’s desire to meet her father in the only place that was still open to her.
She smiled through her tears. Whatever door she had kept shut against her mother had opened. Sometimes grownups did stupid things. Her mom had. She should have gotten help, but Dee wasn’t her mom.
She would fight for the man she loved and the life she wanted to live. She waited as the L word had slipped out and there were no shakes or tears of denial. She loved him. It felt right. Now all she had to do was actually find the courage to say the words. One slow step at a time.
“I have a better idea. I talked to death recently and he agreed dying is not fun. How about we live for each other?” She gave him a smile.
“Sounds like a plan.”
He held her hand tight. Leaning down he kissed her.
“Do you think you can put up with Nicolas sticking and pinching you as he looks you over?”
She nodded her head. “Tell him if he sticks or pinches me I will knock him out.”
“You bet.”
He walked out of the room to collect Nicolas.
This was commitment. This is what it felt like to stay with someone, even when the chips were down. She had been so sure there would be none of that in her life, yet here she lay ready to stay by his side.
She looked up to see them entering the room together, brothers who looked so vastly different. No one would call them brothers unless they knew. But there was something. Was it the looks in their eyes or the swagger in their steps? There was something that declared them family.
“Dee I just want to take a look at you. Your lung was hit and I need to make sure you’re okay.”
“Nicolas, I hate to disagree with you, but I am smart enough to know that if my lung was hit, I would not feel this good. I say that with the understanding that I feel like a car ran over me, then backed up. A punctured lung would put me in the hospital, maybe even the grave.”
“You’re right. That’s where you should be, one or the other. You have Dante to thank for not being there.”
She frowned. Nicolas was an excellent doctor, he practiced in several different fields of medicine. Right now he was talking like he was crazy.
“What?”
“The Rowl. How much of it did you eat?”
“A lot that stuff is addicting. The more you eat the more you want and it taste’s so good. It’s not like a drug. You said it was safe.”
“It’s not a drug and it is safe. It is also laced with a healing property that would have no effect on you whatsoever unless a certain created took a nip, exchanging blood.”
“How would Dante know?”
“He has to have their blood.” Ne
ither wanted to be the first to go down that road.
Niko nodded considering this. “He’s a good friend to have, if that is the case.”
“He’s a good friend either way.”
“I know. Do you think his brothers are like him?”
“Possibly.”
“Would someone tell me what’s going on?”
“Dante added something to your Rowl that would help you heal faster. It would only work if I bit you, exchanging DNA. We don’t waste our raw materials, so he would only add it if he was sure. Between what he added and Nicolas, your life was spared. I have great brothers.”
She didn’t like the fact that Dante had not told her, but she was alive because of it. She wanted them to trust her, to include her in their secrets, but trust was a two way street. It was a street she hadn’t gone down with any of them except Niko. She had made it clear when she had stayed with Aran and Rena that she didn’t want to get too close to anyone.
“You do have great brothers. So what did Dante’s little cocktail do for me?”
“You’re not going to be dancing anytime soon, but your lungs responded to a therapy, although not an intense one, that I would have used on my brothers in the same situation. So you’re mending, and given time, will be as good as new. For now no straining, no heavy lifting and sleep when your body tells you too. I have meds for you to take that will help. Keep eating the Rowl and see your friendly neighborhood doctor.”
She gave a tired laugh. “I think I can manage all of that. How long do I have to stay in bed?”
“You can get up tomorrow, as long as you heed my warnings.”
“Can I leave the house, with Niko, if I need too?”
“As long as you do not over do it.”
“You should rest now. I will go tell everyone that you’re going to pull through.”
“Kitten, I am going to go downstairs. I will be back soon. Sleep.” He leaned over and kissed her before following Nicolas out.
“Is she really going to be fine?”
Nicolas had stopped to wait for him at the top of the stairs.
“She should pull through no problems.”
Niko: Love me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 9
