Tangled Fates
Page 18
took it out of his pants and tried to get into the ringtone directory, but couldn’t.
“What the hell?” he murmured.
“So I take it Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ wasn’t your idea?” Hudson asked. He was tipped
back in his chair, his hair pulled back into the standard ponytail. The guy wore a gray silk shirt
under his full-length leather coat and a sly grin on his face. He was deadly suave.
“Not really,” Blake said. “Do you know something about this?”
Hudson’s eyes slid over to Talin.
Brandy came back and served everyone their drinks.
“We’ll start a tab,” Noah said, handing her a credit card.
“Sounds good!” she chirped and walked away.
Blake looked over at Talin. Dressed in a white T-shirt and a leather biker jacket, he
sipped his beer staring straight ahead at the dance floor. The jacket hid the two pistols Blake had
watched him pack in his underarm holsters. Talin seemed a little rocky and unstable. The guy
probably shouldn’t be so heavily armed.
“Talin, do you know something about this?” Blake asked, holding up his phone.
Talin looked over at him. “Of course I do.”
Blake glanced at the other Warriors around the table, who were all smirking.
“And?”
“And the next time you start talking about washing my balls, I will make your ringtone
something by Beyoncé.”
Laughter erupted around the table, but Blake was pissed. After the laughter died down,
Blake said, “So what exactly did you do to make it so I can’t get access to my ringtones?”
“I’ll never tell.”
“And are you going to fix it?”
Talin shook his head and stared at the dance floor again.
“My phone’s still ringing Rod Stewart’s ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,’” Hudson said. He
hitched a thumb at Talin. “That’s why I always have the damn thing on vibrate. This asshole put
it on there as a joke, but I’d love to hear how you offered to wash Talin’s balls and ended up with
a Michael Jackson ringtone. If you offered to wash my balls, I’d probably just stab you or some
shit, half-breed.”
Blake was about to unload on Talin, and maybe Hudson too, when Rayner said, “It’s go
time, gentlemen.”
All heads at the table swiveled to the entrance, and four large men, all wearing dark
sunglasses walked in, Micah being the biggest of them all. They looked around, and one of them
nudged Micah and pointed at the Warriors. The Platoon threaded through the crowd.
“Jesus, that guy is huge,” Noah said.
“Nervous?” Blake asked.
Noah smirked and stood. “Nah. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
The rest of the Warriors got to their feet, waiting for The Platoon. When the four arrived
at the table, all stared at each other, sizing each other up.
“I’m Noah,” he said.
Micah’s nostrils flared.
“Why don’t you guys sit down, and I’ll buy you a drink. We can talk like respectable and
civilized people.”
Micah glared at Noah another moment, then pulled a chair out. All sat down together.
“You’re able to be out at night without glasses,” Micah said.
Noah nodded. “Contacts.”
“What exactly is a contact?”
Noah waved him off. “We’ve got more important things to talk about.”
“What are contacts?” Micah demanded.
Noah sighed. “Its something that goes over your eyeball and mutes the glow of your
SR44 color.”
“I would like those,” Micah said, and the rest of The Platoon grumbled in agreement.
Noah shrugged. “Well, good luck with that.”
Brandy appeared. “What can I get you guys?”
Blake surveyed The Platoon. Only four had shown up tonight, and Blake wondered
where the fifth was.
“Who are your friends, Micah? And where’s the last one?” he asked after Brandy
sashayed her way back to the bar.
Micah pointed to his left. “This is Simon and Titus.” He then gestured to his left. “And
this is Jael.” Micah grinned. “We had a little fun tonight with Annis, and unfortunately, our Nico
suffered a stab wound from her.”
Blake took a long swallow of his beer to calm his fear and anger, wondering what fun
they were having with Annis. He wanted to take out Micah’s eye with a beer bottle and a
ballpoint pen.
Hudson laughed and leaned in. “I’m surprised you still have your intestines intact, Micah.
That is one female I don’t want to tangle with.”
Micah eyed Hudson with disgust. “I’m not afraid of any female. They are weak and only
good for carrying on our species.”
Blake cast a glance around the table, and he could see that statement went over as well as
an enema with the Warriors. Micah wasn’t making any friends at this table talking like that.
“Well, you aren’t going to get far on this planet with an attitude like that, Micah,”
Hudson said.
The tension at the table was pretty high, and Blake was happy to see Brandy making her
way through the crowd with a tray full of drinks. He decided that she needed to be returning on a
regular basis to keep the tension to a low boil, so he slammed back the rest of his beer. Glancing
over at Jovan, Blake noted that he must have been thinking the same thing, because the guy was
sucking back his whiskey like someone was trying to take it from him. And you didn’t take
Jovan’s whiskey.
Brandy set down the drinks and Blake motioned her over. He gently grabbed her arm and
pulled her down so he could whisper in her ear. “Honey, make sure you check back every ten
minutes or so. There are some thirsty guys at this table.”
Brandy nodded and gave him another wink.
“She was a nice piece of ass,” Jael said to Blake, tauntingly.
Blake looked at the guy, perplexed. Why hadn’t Brandy acknowledged she knew Jael?
Even if she didn’t like him, she would have acted a little uncomfortable around him. Instead, she
treated him no different than anyone else at the table.
He glanced over at the rest of the Warriors. “You bastard,” Rayner hissed, his eyes
narrowing. “Which one of you has it?”
“Has what?” Blake blurted.
“Since she doesn’t seem to recognize any of you, my guess is that one of you can erase
memories.” Rayner sat back in his chair and shook his head in disgust. “It’s a rare gift, Blake.”
“That would be me, Savior,” said Jael. “I’ve bedded sweet Brandy many, many times,
and every time I walk in here, she doesn’t know who I am. It’s really a nice gift to have.”
Blake imagined Brandy going back to wherever they were living and having this asshole
take off his glasses, only to see his eyes glowing. Did she scream and run? Did he rape her?
“You son of a bitch,” Blake said, on his feet before he even knew it.
“Relax. I also have the gift of making people see . . . or not see . . . things that aren’t
there. She never saw my glowing eyes, you fool. She enjoyed every blessed second with me.”
Blake sat back down and looked over at Brandy. He decided that if she would let him, he
would give her a night to remember for a long, long time.
“So where’s Cohen and Annis?” Noah said, staring at Micah.
“I thought you didn’t care?”
; Noah shrugged. “Just curious. Like I said, they’re dead weight to me in this mission. A
blind Warrior and an SR44 male without his mate don’t bode well for productivity.”
Micah threw his head back and laughed. It was a deep, throaty laugh that vibrated around
the table, and his fellow Platoon members joined in.
Blake looked down at his drink to make sure it wasn’t shaking right off the plastic surface
of the table.
“I believe that we are handling your mission for you, Savior,” Micah said, his chest
expanding in what looked like pride.
Noah leaned in. “No, you stupid shit, you’re not. You’re smashing in the heads and
carving ‘The Platoon’ on the backs of humans. Human scum, mind you, but in the three you’ve
killed there isn’t one ounce of Colonist in any of them.”
Micah deflated a little. “How did you know?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jovan said.
“And those carvings?” Noah continued. “They’ve been turned over to the FBI. So you
have now officially put the SR44 language into the FBI database, which brings them one step
closer to finding out that there are indeed fuckers from outer space living among the humans.”
Micah didn’t say anything, but took a long drink of his beer.
“And as you well know, the government doesn’t exactly throw out the welcome mat for
our kind.”
Noah sat back and took a pull of his Jack Daniels.
There was silence around the table, the tension once again high. Blake looked around for
Brandy, but didn’t see her.
“We thought we were killing Colonists,” Titus said. “Those humans did terrible things.”
Noah nodded.
“They’ve got their own crop of bad guys,” Rayner said.
“So how do you know who is a Colonist?” Jael asked.
“Ash. They drop ash when they’re in a heightened state. Humans can’t see it.”
There was a long beat of silence. “That makes finding Colonists almost impossible. They
could be anywhere,” Titus said.
“Bingo,” Hudson said, and Blake noticed that Titus was having an “aha” moment, as if
everything was coming into focus for the first time. Yep, that’s why it took so long for the
Saviors to find the Colonists.
Blake saw Brandy coming out of the corner of his eye and slugged back the rest of his
beer.
“Can I get you guys anything?” she said with a smile that could have lit up downtown
New York.
Orders were placed and the tension was relieved just a bit.
“So do you still want to put a bullet in my head, Micah, or are we solid and we agree to
live in peace? And you guys stop killing humans.”
Micah studied Noah for a long time, then nodded. “We shall co-exist in peace.”
“And you stop pulling your voodoo shit on women,” Rayner said, pointing at Jael, the
memory eraser.
He shrugged. “I don’t see how I can do that without some of those contacts. I rather enjoy
the female body and the sensations I get when I’m rubbing against one.”
Noah tilted his head. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll give you contacts, you give us Annis and
Cohen.”
Micah smiled. “That seems fair. Very well.”
And just like that the tension was gone. And it didn’t sit well with Blake at all.
“Shall we celebrate our peace? Wine, women, and song, I believe the saying is?” Micah
asked.
Noah shook his head. “We’ve got all the wine, women, and song we need at home. I want
Annis and Cohen.”
“I want my contacts. And for someone who doesn't care about them, you certainly seem
concerned.”
Noah shrugged and turned to Talin.
“Tomorrow,” Talin said. “I can have the contacts done tomorrow.”
Noah reached into his back pocket and slid a card across the table to Micah. “I expect a
call by noon tomorrow with a place for us to meet to make the exchange.”
Micah took the card and put it in his pocket. “Very well. Perhaps we could come to
dinner?”
Noah laughed and stood. “We’ve agreed to peace. That’s it. There’s no way in hell I’m
sitting down to dinner with you.”
The rest of the Warriors stood as well. “It’s been fun, Micah. I expect a call tomorrow.
No excuses. Just think of all the excitement you’ll have when you’re not walking around like you
have a flashlight stuck up your ass. Life gets a lot better with the contacts.”
Brandy came over. “Hey guys. My shift is ending. I was wondering if you could cash
out?”
Blake checked his watch. Midnight on the button. How very convenient for him.
Noah glanced at Blake. “Sure, Brandy,” he said. “My buddy here is going to sign for me
and grab my card. I’m heading home to my woman.”
Brandy smiled and looked at Blake. “Great!”
Blake grinned back.
Yes, it was great.
Chapter 37
Blake waved goodnight to Brandy, not believing he was actually leaving the woman
without bedding her. What the hell was wrong with him?
What was wrong with him was that he wanted a relationship, and not just a one-night
stand consisting of shallow conversation and meaningless sex.
Well, well, well. Look at all that maturity just oozing out of him.
Spending time with Annis had made him realize that somewhere out there was a woman
for him, a woman he could connect with, a woman who he could let his guard down with.
Someone who would accept him for exactly who he was and what he was. Who that woman was,
he had no idea. He had thought it was Annis, but boy, he’d been on the south side of wrong on
that one. Maybe this perfect woman was just a figment of his imagination, but he decided he was
done with meaningless encounters. The last one ten months had left him feeling empty and
unfulfilled, and tonight he just couldn’t muster up the energy to do anything but walk Brandy to
her apartment.
What he wanted to do was get on his bike and ride for a bit, and he was glad he had opted
to follow the Saviors into town instead of riding with them in the Hummer. Not that he really had
a choice—watching those five jam themselves into the Hummer had been like watching clowns
get into a car at the circus.
The October air was a little bitter, but it would feel good against his face and help clear
his head.
He reached his bike and his phone went off in his pocket. Looking at the number, he
didn’t recognize it, and sent the call to voicemail.
The phone started ringing almost immediately, and he repeated his actions.
The third time, he was pissed and answered. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Blake! It’s Annis. Oh, thank goodness. I didn’t think you were going to answer!”
Blake’s blood ran cold. Something was wrong—he could hear the panic in her voice.
“What’s going on, Annis? We’re getting you back tomorrow—”
“Blake! Listen to me. We’ve escaped. Cohen is very ill—his fever is so high. The
gunshot wound is infected. I don’t know where we are, but we stole a vehicle and I drove—I’m
not a very good driver—and we’re somewhere, but I don’t know…”
“Annis, look at the street signs. What do they say?”
She recited the signs, and Blake had a general idea of where she was, which just
happen
ed to be on the other side of town.
“Okay, good. Now obviously you’re on a pay phone, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Look around. Are there stores?”
“Yes. I’m in front of a Safeway.”
“Okay. Now Annis, you two need to hang tight. I’m coming, but it’s going to be awhile.
Can you wait in the car?”
“Yes, we can do that. But Blake, there’s—”
“I’ll see you in a bit.”
Blake hung up the phone and got on his bike. He debated calling the Saviors, but decided
against it. They were probably back at the silo now. He didn’t have time to wait for them to drive
another forty-five minutes to meet up with him, then head out to Annis. Once Micah got back to
wherever they were holed up in, he would most likely go out searching for them. Time was not
on his side in this situation.
He didn’t know how Annis and Cohen had escaped, but it didn’t matter. He’d get the full
story after everyone was safe and sound at home.
Chapter 38
A half hour later, Blake found the store and saw Annis parked by the payphone. He drove
over, got off his bike, and hugged her fiercely. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said, stepping back
and looking her over. She looked a little worse for wear, and he was pretty sure that there should
have been more to the dress, but she was alive, and that was all that mattered. “Let’s get out of
here. Where’s Cohen?”
She led him over to the car.
“Who the hell is that?” he asked, pointing at the stranger.
“He’s Nico, part of The Platoon. He helped us escape, Blake. He had nowhere to go.”
Blake’s eyes narrowed. “Well, let’s buy him a bus ticket then.”
Annis shook her head. “Blake, we can’t do that. Nico is my friend. He’s our friend. If
Micah finds him, he’s dead.”
“We can’t just roll up to the silo with a stranger, Annis, especially one who is a member
of The Platoon. What if this is some kind of trick or something?”
“It’s not. He told me that The Platoon are monsters, and he doesn’t want to have anything
to do with them.”
“Then why didn’t he leave?”
“He doesn’t know this world very well. He’s had nowhere to go and no one to help him.
Until now.”