Tangled Fates

by Carly Fall

  She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes slowly faded from the glowing gold to an onyx

  black.

  Cohen sat up in bed. It was fascinating watching the gold slowly disappear into a

  pinpoint, then nothing but blackness.

  “What’s that like?” He was truly curious, but not as a Healer, because he knew there was

  nothing that could be done for her lack of sight during the daylight hours. It was the body she

  had been given, and it couldn’t be fixed. However, he did want to know what she was

  experiencing.

  She shrugged her shoulders and hesitated for a moment before she answered in a soft

  voice, “It used to bother me, but then I realized it is just part of who I am now.” She smiled. “It’s

  just one flaw of many.”

  Cohen smiled. He admired her so much.

  His stomach growled, and he realized he was starving. Both him and Annis hadn’t had

  anything to eat since that awful dinner at the police fiesta, except noodles and broth. He needed

  to get both of them fed.

  “I’m going to grab a five-minute shower, Annis, and then you and I will head upstairs

  and get something to eat. I make a mean PB&J. Then, I’ll escort you back to your quarters so

  you can rest.”

  She stood and said, “What is a PB&J?”

  Cohen smiled, not quite having enough energy to laugh, and frankly, he didn’t really feel

  like it. “Peanut butter and jelly. Breakfast of champions. But don’t tell Hudson I said that. The

  male would have a serious meltdown hearing that one.”

  With Annis standing and giving him a few feet of space, Cohen got out of bed. Even

  though he knew she couldn’t see a blessed thing, he still felt odd standing there in front of her

  with his cock jutting out like a torpedo from his hips. He quickly found some boxers and slipped

  them on. He walked her over to the black overstuffed chair and she sat down.

  “It sounds good, Cohen. I don’t believe I’ve had that combination before. And don’t need

  you to escort, me. I’m perfectly capable of getting around by myself.”

  He turned and looked at her. “I know you are, Annis. But please, let me do it. Friends

  help friends, and I have a lot of shitty behavior to make up for.”

  Annis smiled and gave him a slight nod. “Very well, my friend.”

  Chapter 41

  Blake yawned and stretched out his legs in front of him, the leather chair creaking under

  his weight. His sleeping habits were all over the map. Once again he’d been up all night and

  most of the day. Now it was almost dinnertime, and he was tired and crankier than an old woman

  without her Wheel of Fortune.

  He listened to Rayner and Hudson talk about the menu for tonight as they waited for

  Noah, Nico, Cohen, and Annis to join them in the War Room. Everyone else was present.

  “Why can’t you make something with bacon, Hudson? It’s not just a breakfast food.”

  “That shit will clog up your arteries like glue, Rayner. If you want that, fine, but the rest

  of us don’t need to be subjected to it.”

  “Everything is better with bacon, Hudson. Maybe wrap a chicken breast in it or

  something? You just wait. One of these days they're going to come out and say that bacon is

  good for you. Remember when eggs got the bad rap and now they say that you're supposed to eat

  them? It's going to be the same with bacon. Mark my words. You can’t live off vegetables, you

  know.”

  “Of course not. You need your protein, some good carbs . . . ”

  Blake tuned them out, wishing they’d both just shut up.

  He turned his thoughts to early this morning when they had brought Nico in. It was

  decided that he would stay the night down in the gym, just as Blake had when he was first

  brought into the silo. Nico got the five-star treatment though—no one connected the butt of their

  gun to his head as they had done with Blake.

  Fuckers.

  They had also fed him this morning. Blake remembered he had gone quite a while before

  being offered a meal.

  Annis walked in, and Cohen was right behind her. Annis found a chair and sat down.

  Cohen sat next to her, and the two were chatting like old friends.

  What the hell was this all about? The fact that she was sitting next to Cohen and that they

  were on friendly terms spoke volumes.

  And he didn’t like the decibel level of the situation. At. All.

  Noah came in with Nico and told him to sit next to Annis.

  It was getting crowded around the table. In fact, it was getting crowded in the silo. Blake

  realized that if Nico did stay, he would be rooming with Cohen. Poor bastard, but better him than

  Blake.

  “Okay, guys, and Annis, let’s get started.”

  Everyone shut up and focused on Noah, except Annis. Her gaze was fixated on the

  middle of the table, her brow furrowed as she concentrated on what was being said. Blake

  checked is watch. It would only be a little while longer and her sight would be back.

  “Now, I’ve had some time to talk to Nico, and I’d like you all to hear what he has to say.”

  Nico looked around the room, his eyes black.

  “If I may say something first,” Annis said, standing.

  “Of course, Annis,” Noah said.

  She stood tall, her fingertips on the table and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I

  would personally like to vouch for Nico. He’s a virtuous and honest male. I trained with him on

  SR44, and he was a dear friend to me. I trust him with my life, and believe he would be an

  excellent addition to the Saviors.”

  There was a beat of silence. “How do you know he isn’t playing us?” Hudson asked.

  “Because the male I know would never do such a thing. Jovan has checked him for truth,

  and Jovan didn’t detect any deceit. Am I correct on that, Jovan?”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Jovan said.

  “Is that all, Annis?” Noah asked.

  “Yes, Noah. Just please remember my words when making your decision on Nico.”

  She sat down, and Nico squeezed her hand.

  “Nico, tell everyone what you and I talked about,” Noah said.

  “Thank you, Noah,” Nico said, looking around the table. “The first thing I think all of

  you need to realize is that Micah is crazy.”

  “No shit,” Jovan said.

  “Noah told me that you all agreed to peace.”

  Everyone nodded their heads.

  “He’s lying. Micah cares for no one but himself and his own agenda, and he will use

  whoever he can to make it happen.”

  “And what’s his agenda besides offing Noah and the rest of us?” Hudson asked.

  Blake watched as the Warriors’ eyes began to change colors, and he looked over at

  Annis. Hers shimmered gold, and she found his gaze and smiled. He grinned, glad to have her

  safe in the silo. His heart ached as he stared at her for what would never be.

  He turned his attention back to Nico, whose eyes were now silver.

  Spiderman, indeed.

  “He plans to grow our species,” Nico said.

  “And he plans to do that how?” Rayner asked.

  “Wait a minute,” Noah said. “Nico start at the beginning. Let’s just get this whole story

  from beginning to end.”

  Nico nodded.

  His version of what happened on the vessel to Earth gelled with Annis’s. It had been

  mayhem, and Micah had quickly vied for control. Those who dis
agreed with him were beaten,

  and he terrorized everyone into falling in line.

  When the government captured Micah after the craft landed, Nico had escaped with two

  females and the male named Titus. It was agreed before they had all split up that they would

  meet in two days time one mile west of the crash site. Titus insisted on finding Jael and Simon,

  which Nico now regretted following his lead.

  “I should have realized that Titus was third in line on the vessel and he would want to

  find Jael and Simon. Neither Jael nor Simon could take a crap without permission from Micah.”

  Blake smiled and leaned forward. At least the stony-faced Nico seemed to have some sort

  of sense of humor. If the guy was going to stay here, he would need that. There wouldn’t be any

  beatings, but he sure as shit better know how to stand up for himself and take some verbal

  prodding, and have the ringtone on his cell phone changed to something so incongruent to who

  he was . . . if he got his own phone, which Blake didn’t understand why he wouldn’t if the

  Saviors took Nico under their protective wing. He made a mental note to do something really

  immature like put glue on the toilet seat or itching powder in Talin’s boxers for that little

  ringtone move.

  Game on, asshole.

  “Where are these females?” Rayner asked.

  “I don’t know. Micah took them and stashed them away somewhere.”

  “We should find them,” Hudson said.

  Noah nodded.

  “It should be a priority,” Nico said. “I cringe thinking what he is doing to the females.”

  There was silence around the table as Blake remembered what Jael had been capable of

  with Brandy. He could erase memories. Blake shivered about what those women—females—

  whatever—could be going through.

  “How did you get that house, Nico?” Cohen asked.

  “We broke in, tied the elderly owners up, and they told us it was something called a

  Snowbird home, which we found out means a second home. Jael erased their memories of ever

  having lived there. Micah put them in a car and told them to go to their first home. I haven’t seen

  them since.”

  Blake tossed that one around. At least they hadn’t killed the couple.

  “Why are you defecting?” Blake asked.

  Nico turned to him. “I have always wanted to get away from Micah, but I was so new to

  this planet that I didn’t understand how things worked. I tried to leave, but I basically became a

  prisoner, brought out when he wanted to have a little fun, like the other night when he made me

  fight Annis.”

  Whoa. Annis had been fighting? Annis looked fine, but he remembered Nico’s

  bloodstained shirt from the night before. He smiled, wondering if she had been the cause of his

  wound.

  “Thank you again for healing me,” Nico said, leaning forward and looking past Annis to

  Cohen.

  Well, wasn’t that sweet. Not only had Nico been fed, he hadn’t had a gun put to his head,

  and he’d been healed.

  Bastard.

  Cocksucking bastard.

  Blake wondered what Annis had done to him and made a mental note to find out. He was

  quite the list-maker in this meeting. Apparently, he had a lot of stuff he needed to catch up on.

  “So I’m guessing that it’s safe to say that Micah is pretty damn angry that you, Annis,

  and Cohen aren’t at the house,” Noah said.

  “I think that sums it up,” Nico said.

  “I just wonder why we haven’t heard from him,” Hudson said. “That’s what worries me.”

  Nico nodded. “My guess is that you will hear from him soon, when he is ready to be

  heard. Until then, we will have to sit tight.”

  Blake noticed the “we.”

  “Does anyone have any objections to Nico staying with us? Obviously, I don’t want to

  send him back to Godzilla.”

  No one said anything, and Blake noticed Annis let out a long breath. “Okay, let’s debate

  it.”

  They talked for a few minutes, but what it came down to was Jovan saying that Nico was

  being truthful. Everyone agreed that if he could convince Jovan he meant no harm and wanted to

  get away from Micah, it was truth.

  So Nico was staying.

  And there was only one place for him to go, and that was with Cohen.

  Blake smiled. Yeah, he’d gotten a gun to the head, been knocked out cold, deprived of

  food, and his life had hung in the balance, but at least he didn’t have to room with Cohen.

  Poor Nico.

  Bastard.

  Chapter 42

  Cohen watched as Hudson and Rayner brought in a cot for Nico. It was getting tight in

  the silo, and there wasn’t any place for Nico to crash except Cohen’s room.

  Man, that sucked.

  He’d been on his own for so long, and now he had to play nice and share. And he had to

  do it all with Annis’s old lover.

  Fate could be a real bitch sometimes.

  “We’ll get a real bed in here as soon as we can,” Hudson said.

  Another bed in the room? It wasn’t like there wasn’t space for it. In fact, there was

  plenty, but Cohen just didn’t want it.

  After Hudson and Rayner left, he went to the minibar, poured a Captain, and sat down on

  the overstuffed chair to watch Nico make the bed. Cot. Whatever. Blake had been right in calling

  him Spiderman. Those eyes were pretty cool, or pretty weird, depending on your view.

  The guy didn’t have any clothes, so at least until that was rectified, Cohen wouldn’t have

  to share a closet. Jovan had offered him up a couple pairs of jeans and sweats as Cohen had

  nothing clean, and Nico would take care of the rest at some point in the very near future.

  “Do you want a drink?” he asked. Might as well try to be hospitable.

  “Yes, I would.”

  Cohen got up and headed for the bar again. “Do you like Captain Morgan?”

  Nico shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never had any.”

  Cohen shook his head. “Man, you are missing out.”

  He poured Nico a drink and handed it to him, then went back to his chair. Nico took a sip,

  and his face contorted like he wanted to throw up. He swallowed and shook his head back and

  forth as a dog would, then met Cohen’s gaze.

  Cohen smiled.

  “Not too bad,” Nico said. “But I think I prefer a good old-fashioned beer.”

  Cohen shrugged. “Beggars can’t be choosers, buddy.”

  They sat in silence for a moment.

  “May I ask a question of you, Cohen?”

  Oh, hell. Nico could ask all he wanted, but that didn’t mean Cohen would have any

  answers.

  “What is the deal between you and Annis?”

  Cohen closed his eyes for a moment and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Why was he

  asking that? Did Nico want to try to get back together with Annis? Cohen couldn’t handle it if

  that was the case.

  He knew that he could never have Annis, and he needed to learn to accept that. But

  watching her with another male? Under the same roof? He was so not down with that scenario.

  “Nothing,” he said, meeting the silver stare. “There is nothing going on. We're friends.”

  Nico nodded and looked around the room, and Cohen did as well, seeing what Nico saw.

  The place was a mess—chaos, in fact. The bed hadn’t been made in months and it was

  sporting a green sheet, a dark blue sheet, a
nd some red pillowcases. Clothes were strewn

  everywhere—the floor, the chairs, the bed. A large throw rug covered the bloodstain from the

  Tambaran ritual. As he hadn’t told anyone when he first made the oath, he couldn’t exactly bring

  in a carpet cleaner at that time. Maybe now he would.

  Continuing his evaluation, there were empty glasses and bottles on the nightstand and

  dresser. He really needed to do some laundry and clean this place up. It represented what his life

  had been—utter chaos.

  At least he had made his peace with Annis. He got a little relief thinking about that.

  He still wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but he was getting there. He wondered if he ever

  would be again, and he kind of doubted it. He was an SR44 male without his mate, and shit was

  never good for one of them.

  Nico looked as if he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.

  “You have something on your mind?” Cohen asked.

  Nico eyed him over the glass. “Yes, as a matter of fact I do.”

  “Well, just say whatever you’re going to say. If we’re rooming together, I appreciate

  honesty over bullshit.”

  Nico looked at him. “Very well.”

  There was a beat of silence.

  “I hope you understand that there is nothing between Annis and I, and there hasn’t been

  for over a hundred years,” Nico said.

  Cohen felt a little relief at that one. He was certain that he couldn’t watch Nico as Annis’s

  lover. “None of my business, man,” Cohen said.

  Nico studied Cohen for a moment, his silver gaze penetrating. Cohen tried to play it cool

  and meet the male’s stare.

  “I’m afraid I violated some of my own standards,” Nico said, taking another sip of his

  drink.

  Shit. Another guy just like him who couldn’t seem to keep his own ducks in a row.

  Cohen wondered what he was about to spill.

  “That sucks, my friend.” He really didn’t think of Nico as a friend, but if you told

  yourself something enough, sometimes it became truth. “I’ve violated a few of my own standards

  and oaths in my time, and it’s a tough road to atonement.”

  Nico nodded. “I don’t feel as though I have to atone for what I did, though. I’m not

  sorry.”

  Okay, a guy who wasn’t sorry for his own self-proclaimed violation. “So why do you