“Thorne,” he grunted, and curled one hand over Sable’s left shoulder, pressing dark claws into her pale skin. “Mine.”
“I got the memo.” Talon had the feeling that Thorne acted this way around any new male, and constantly around Bleu for some reason.
Thorne jerked his chin towards Sherry. “Yours.”
Sherry blushed a thousand shades of red.
“Well… no… um… no.” She didn’t sound so sure, which was a victory for Talon.
She wanted him, just as he wanted her.
Sable petted Thorne’s hand. “So here’s the plan—”
“I’m going into Archangel.” Talon cut her off and didn’t back down when she glared at him.
“Not a wise idea.”
“It is,” Sherry said and he couldn’t stop his eyes from leaping to her, or the shock that rippled through him. She smiled softly. “I don’t want you going back there, but you know the building, and you know where your friends are being held. If you’re right, and there’s a secret part of the building, Sable will need you there to show her the way.”
Sable cursed, a string of them that had her mate’s eyebrows rising.
She went through every obscenity imaginable, and then reluctantly sighed. “If that’s true, then the tiger comes with us… but it means a change to my plan.”
“What sort of change?” Bleu moved into the room, edging to his right, keeping his distance from the demon.
“I’m on the way out with Archangel. If we’re going to get the tiger in, we’ll need help. Emelia has good standing with the organisation, and she’s taking over my team, which makes her the perfect candidate to be the one who captures the tiger.”
“Wait… what?” Talon’s blood ran cold. “Capture me?”
Sable nodded. “How else do you plan to get back into Archangel without them locking it down? If you go barging in there, you’ll never get your friends out. Bleu can’t teleport you in, douse the lights, and get you and your friends back out. It would be too much of a drain on his powers and would set off alarms all over the building. Hell, even with Iolanthe helping, it would be too risky. We need to focus on the getting you all out part… which means you need to sneak in.”
By being caught. He didn’t like the sound of that.
He had no reason to trust Sable, or this Emelia character.
“Look… I get it… I’m with Archangel, and they’re enemy number one, but I’m mated to a demon, and I’m allied with a lot of different species now… and if Archangel are up to something, I want to know about it, and I want my friends at Archangel to be aware of it too. Emelia needs to see what’s going on.” Sable stepped out from her mate’s shadow, her golden eyes meeting Talon’s, sincere and determined. “Word on the grapevine is Archangel are still looking for you. It’s the perfect opportunity to get you back inside. Emelia catches you, and takes you in. You’ll lead her to your friends, and I’ll create a diversion with Thorne to keep everyone busy. When you’re in position, you’ll contact Bleu and Iolanthe—”
“And me,” Kyter interjected.
“And Kyter.” She didn’t miss a beat. “They’ll help you get your friends out.”
“I’m going too,” Sherry said, and Talon opened his mouth to tell her she damned well wasn’t, but her jaw tensed and her blue eyes narrowed on him. “I’m going.”
Sable’s eyes lit up. “I have the perfect job for you!”
He wanted to tell Sherry no, that he didn’t like the idea of her going into Archangel because it was dangerous and he needed to protect her. He held his tongue though, because he could read in her eyes and feel in the trickle of emotions that ran from her and into him, how much she needed to be there with him. He silently promised that he would be there if she needed him, he would keep her safe.
He wouldn’t fail her.
“You can borrow some of my Archangel gear,” Sable said and Sherry nodded. “We’ll get you in through the roof access and you can meet up with Emelia after she’s left Talon with the others.”
“What do you want me to do?” There was a wobble in Sherry’s voice that betrayed her nerves, and the need to tell her no kicked back to life inside him, stronger this time, so fierce it was a struggle to tamp it back down.
“I want you to get important information for me.” Sable’s expression shifted, growing warmer, yet determined, and Sherry’s courage rose in response, her nerves fading. The ex-Archangel huntress had clearly been a leader, and he admired her ability to inspire people and give them strength. “You’ll meet up with Emelia after she drops Talon off in the cells and she’ll take you to the central files division. You should be able to use one of the terminals there to find out why Talon and the others were taken. I’ll give you a USB drive so you can download anything you find that might be useful.”
Sherry nodded.
Talon didn’t like the sound of that.
“Just download whatever you find and get out of there. We can look at it when we’ve met up and we’re safe.” His desire to have her get in and out as quickly as possible was partly because he wanted her safe.
And partly because he wasn’t sure whether Archangel had discovered his secret.
He didn’t want Emelia, or any of the others learning about it.
And he didn’t want Sherry finding out about it before he had a chance to tell her himself.
“I’ll meet up with you,” he said.
Sherry shook her head, a flicker of fear entering her blue eyes again. “No. I want you out of there as soon as possible.”
That touched him, even as it riled him. She wasn’t questioning his ability as a warrior, and she wasn’t saying she didn’t need him to protect her, but it felt that way.
“I’m finding you and bringing you out of there with me. I’m not going to let Archangel do anything to you, Sherry. I’m not going to leave you unprotected.” He stepped closer to her, so she had to tip her head back to keep her eyes on his, and refused to back down even when the softer side of himself, the part that was in tune with her, warned he was upsetting her.
And exposing himself to the others.
Their eyes pierced him, their unspoken questions ringing in his ears. What was Sherry to him?
He didn’t want them knowing the answer to that question, even when part of him knew they already did, and that his little outburst had only confirmed it all for them.
“Talon,” Sherry whispered and placed her hand on his chest, right over the tiger inked on his left pectoral.
That touch unravelled him.
All of his anger washed out of him as if she had lifted a barrier, his need to fight her in order to keep her safe running from him with it, and he could only stare down into her blue eyes, catching the resolve that flashed in them, among the other emotions.
Ones that stole his breath.
Ones that told him things she couldn’t say.
She liked his desire to protect her.
She understood it.
Because she felt the same way.
Kindred spirits.
They both wanted to know the other one was safe, wanted to protect and shield them, and stop anything from happening to them.
Gods, there had never been a female who had wanted to fight in his corner, who wanted to protect him.
Females had always looked at him as a protector, a warrior, one who would keep them safe.
Now a female was looking at him as an equal, as something important enough to her that she wanted to be the protector, the warrior, the one who would keep him safe.
It warmed his heart.
Had he really only known this fierce, beautiful female for a few short hours?
It felt as if he had known her his entire life, that he had always been aware of her.
Waiting for her.
Needing her above anything else.
She was the other half of his soul, everything he had been missing, and now she was within his reach.
He only had to overcome one hurdle and s
he would be his forever.
One that felt impossible to leap.
One that might take her away from him forever.
CHAPTER 10
Talon was acting strange.
After they had fixed her front door, and the others had left, he had kept his distance from her. He looked troubled as he stared at the TV, and he hadn’t heard a word she had said when she had asked if he was hungry.
Now she stood at the end of the couch, watching him as his coffee went cold on the wooden table, waiting for him to notice her.
Something was troubling him.
“Talon?” She inched closer.
His amber eyes snapped up to her, focused and he blinked. “Sorry. You say something?”
Was he just anxious to get going on the plan? Nervous that he was going to play bait for Archangel?
It scared the hell out of her.
Sherry sat on the arm of the couch, planted her feet on the cushion, and rested her chin on her upturned palm. “Are you worried?”
He shook his head, but that troubled edge to his eyes remained. “Archangel can’t hold me again. I won’t let it happen.”
“I won’t either,” she said, and his eyes widened a little, a ripple of warmth and light chasing through them before the darkness closed back in. “During the meeting… you mentioned you had a brother.”
He nodded, sighed and leaned back into the couch, tipping his chin up and his face towards the ceiling. Obviously he had a brother that exasperated him, was trouble enough that just thinking about him had Talon’s mood degenerating. Or was it because he had failed to keep Jayna safe?
“Is he going to be pissed at you?” She studied his face, trying to discern from it how he felt about his brother.
His eyes told her everything as they slid towards her, overflowing with weariness and the smallest hint of fear.
“Probably,” he muttered, and then added, “Definitely.”
Another long sigh escaped him, shifting his bare chest, tempting her eyes to fall there.
Talon closed his eyes.
“My older brother Byron is my pride’s alpha. I’m his second in command, not a very enviable job when it involves dealing with him. He can be… moody. Normally, a small group of females are sent together with a couple of our males, warriors, to visit another pride and return with a bride. This time, Byron tasked me with meeting Jayna and bringing her to the village.” He grimaced, and Sherry had the feeling he was imagining how upset his brother was going to be when he returned home and told him that Jayna was gone. Her heart whispered that his reluctance to go home was about more than his brother’s anger though.
It was because he had failed, and he didn’t want his brother to know about it, or the pride.
She could understand why. He was second in command of an entire tiger pride, an important position by the sounds of it. When he returned and revealed what had happened, his ability to hold that position would come into question, along with his abilities as a warrior.
How could he be expected to protect his pride if he couldn’t protect a single female?
“Good job I can’t go back yet, huh? Not with Archangel still looking for me. Guess they’re a blessing in disguise in a way, stopping me from having to go back and face my brother’s wrath. I should probably thank them when they capture me again.” He cracked his eyes opened and looked at her, but there wasn’t an ounce of humour and not a trace of light in them.
He looked tired, worn down just thinking about things.
Was it only the thought of heading into Archangel and returning home that was hurting him?
Or was it something else?
Whatever it was, she wanted to free him of its chains.
She wanted to take away his pain.
“Talon—”
“Do me a favour,” he cut her off and she nodded. His handsome face shifted, dark slashes of his eyebrows falling as he turned his head towards her, suddenly so serious that a shiver went down her spine. “Don’t look at my file… and don’t let anyone else see it. Keep it separate… or don’t download it at all. I don’t want the jaguar or the others seeing it.”
She had a feeling that he didn’t want her seeing it either.
“Why?” she whispered, certain that he wouldn’t answer her, but needing to ask.
He stared at her in silence.
Eventually sighed.
Looked away, fixing his gaze back on the ceiling.
“I have a secret, and I need to keep it.”
That just made her want to press him even more. What sort of secret? Why did he want to keep it from her too?
The shimmer of nerves that entered his eyes, and seemed to echo inside her, connected the dots in her head and his behaviour since the meeting had ended suddenly made sense.
Because his demeanour hadn’t changed since everyone had left.
It had changed the moment Sable had announced Sherry’s part of their grand plan.
He had been worried since then, slowly withdrawing into himself because he felt a need to protect himself, and that was manifesting in him pulling away from her.
That gave her the strength to let it go, to place her trust in him and not let this secret bother her or stand between them. Everyone was entitled to their secrets. She had plenty herself and she knew Kyter had a few that only Iolanthe knew.
Perhaps one day, Talon would be ready to tell her his secret.
She stared at him, reeling from that thought, and the need that went through her in response, the deep desire to be that close to him.
To stay with him.
Shit, she needed to keep things lighter than that between them, couldn’t let them get heavy. Hadn’t she vowed that she wouldn’t fall in love?
His eyes slid back to her.
A sudden need to say something rushed through her, as if he would know her ridiculous thoughts if she sat there in silence, and she didn’t want him to know how deeply he affected her.
“Do you have other family?” She fiddled with a fraying patch on the hem of her pale blue jeans, teasing the threads. “You mentioned Byron was your older brother… do you have a younger one?”
He shrugged. “In a way. I have a younger sister too.”
“What’s it like having brothers and sisters?” Damn, had she sounded envious?
The tension that had been building inside him seemed to flow out of him and he relaxed into the couch, turning his head towards her, a light back in his amber eyes. “You don’t have any?”
Sherry shook her head, a flare of regret bursting inside her, together with a question that had always plagued her. If she’d had brothers and sisters, would things have been different?
“They can be a pain… but I like having family… I think it’s an instinct thing. Might be a pride thing. Feline shifters like to have others around.” He almost smiled.
She did smile at that. “Kyter certainly does. He tries to pretend he’s cool with it all, but in reality, he gets weird if we’re not around… like antsy.”
Talon dipped his head to his left, his eyes wide and eyebrows high on his forehead as he clearly considered it. “It’s a pride thing. The jaguar views you as his pride, and he gets restless when you’re unaccounted for… and how the fuck did you end up working for a shifter in a club that is for immortals anyway?”
He looked as if he had been dying to ask that question for a long time now and was relieved it was finally out in the open. Curiosity killing her cat? She scrubbed that thought. He wasn’t her cat.
Sherry looked deep into his eyes, catching how badly he wanted to know the answer to that question. She didn’t want to answer it.
She didn’t want to think about how she had ended up at Underworld.
Talon shifted closer, concern washing across the rugged lines of his face. “You’re upset.”
She shook her head, but stopped herself halfway through and sighed instead. “It’s not a pretty story, Talon.”
He leaned closer still and placed his h
and on her knee, his eyes sincere as he held her gaze and softly murmured, “But it’s one I would like to know.”
Was it so important to him? The way he was looking at her answered that, telling her that he was being honest, truly wanted to know how she had come to be at Underworld. He wanted to know about her.
“You don’t have to tell me if—”
“I ran away from home,” she cut him off and he frowned at her. She held her hand up when he opened his mouth to speak, because if she was going to do this, if she was going to bare this part of herself, she needed to do it quickly, like ripping off a sticking plaster. “When I was nine, my mum died in a car accident. I was in the car with her. My dad… he took it hard. It was like all the light went out of him with her… and he was never the same again. It killed him. He fell apart… and I realised how much he had loved her.”
His amber eyes filled with sympathy.
“It was hell after that.” She lowered her eyes to her knees, placed both hands over them and stared at them. “Dad blamed me for her death… hated me… he pretended to be fine around my teachers and others, but when we were alone… he couldn’t even bring himself to look at me. I lost count of the number of times he told me he wished I had died instead.”
“Fucker,” Talon snarled.
She closed her eyes. His fingers flexed against her knee.
Before he could utter a word about her stopping, she said, “I’m doing this… just… I need to finish.”
He didn’t say a word, but she could feel how much he wanted to speak, how angry he was about how her father had treated her. Her father had been a broken man. Love had utterly destroyed him. In the end, it had almost destroyed her too.
“It wasn’t any way to treat you,” he growled, and she let him have that one.
“He was hurting… had lost someone he loved. I was hurting too. I would lash out at him in return, and then we would fight… and it would be ugly… and all because we had both lost someone we loved.”
She sighed and couldn’t bring herself to look at him as he stared at her, his eyes boring into her, as if he could see how it had coloured her opinion of love and he didn’t like it. Sometimes, she didn’t like it either. Sometimes, she wanted to take the risk and fall for someone.
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