Newport/Aftport #2: Danea

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Danea…baby, you’re scaring me…what’s wrong?” Two firm hands framed her face, lifting it until their eyes met.

  “Could you…just hold me,” she whispered, a little part of her feeling silly while the other part wanted nothing more than to curl against him, or between them, she realized.

  “Easy answer for that one,” Noah pushed his back against the wall and pulled her onto his lap. She curled toward him, her head snuggled into the crook of his arm and knees bent. He repositioned her and wrapped his arms tightly around her body. “Can’t tell me what it is?”

  “Moving…I never thought I’d move again…and you and Wade…it feels like a whirlwind,” she tried making sense of the feelings crashing around in her. “I think I’m afraid…” she whispered. “I…what if I mess this up? What if…”

  “Shhh…first, you can’t mess it up alone,” Noah brushed his lips over her forehead. He’d talked to Jase for a while when she disappeared with Breanna. He figured he and Wade needed all the help they could get in making this right for her. “All you have to do is never stop talking to us, Danea. We’re far from perfect and I’m not sure how we got so lucky, but the last week…you make all the mixed up things inside me smooth out. I’m not the professor,” he said with a sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “He’s a lot better with the words than I am…maybe if we spent eons dissecting things, we could figure out why the three of us fit, why we work.”

  “You sound so confident.”

  “It’s okay to be afraid. Can’t imagine too many women willing to take on a couple guys used to living alone with issues of our own,” Noah relaxed his hold when she lifted her head. He was more than a little relieved that there weren’t tears. For that, he was sure he’d need a lot of moral support. “I thought you called our confidence arrogance?”

  Noah relaxed a little when she smiled up at him, something sweet and reassuring in the warmth she offered when she leaned forward and kissed him.

  “Thanks…I think I’m okay now.”

  “Need help tossing things into the suitcase?” He followed when she climbed to her feet and took an armload of clothing to the bedroom.

  “I’m not a good packer…and my stuff is pretty much wrinkle proof,” she shoved things inside and quickly had the lid closed and latched. “A bit at a time…”

  He wasn’t sure if it was the anticipation of living together or hormones or what, but he was relieved when she easily started talking about changes to the daycare and asking questions about being sheriff. Somehow, the three of them never seemed to run out of things to talk about and he actually found the soft, feminine voice soothing.

  Noah told her to go inside, the light winds picking up and dragging dark clouds toward them as they pulled into the driveway. He looked at the large stretch of porch and made a note to talk to Wade about adding an overhanging carport type thing to keep the rains off. For a brief minute, he saw Danea running to the house with a small child in her arms and the smile spread over his features.

  A year ago, that vision would have sent him to the bar for a few beers.

  “Who’s the blonde and what’d you do with our chick?” Wade asked with a wink at Noah before heading out to help unload.

  “I heard that!” Danea called out loudly, scowling at the joint laughter.

  “She ran into Brea at the market,” Noah answered, hauling the large case up the stairs to the bedroom.

  “I was seriously hoping whatever she did…you’d be able to fix if it went wrong,” Danea said when Wade set a couple bags on the counter for her.

  “Ahh…she’s having problems with the demon side mixing with the Fae as far as her magic is concerned,” Wade nodded. “I believe I’ve managed to convince her to just be herself for a while and let things settle.”

  “I was afraid to open my eyes,” Danea admitted with a little laugh, quickly binding the long hair into a ponytail and setting to work on the cabinets.

  Both men offered their help and strategically retreated to other activities when she waved them away, the relief clear on their faces.

  Wade looked up from the paper he was grading and saw the video blinking at him. With a frown, he tapped on the link and stared at the director of the Institute.

  “Seth? This is a surprise,” Wade adjusted his camera and audio. The scent of food began filling the large house after a couple hours and he looked over to see Danea curled on the floor with a couple books, a pen and a pair of headsets over her ears.

  “Dr. Franklin…do you know how I can reach Noah Decker?” Seth Anderson sat at his desk, dark eyes studying the monitor patiently.

  “He’s here somewhere. Do you have information?”

  “He’s there?” Seth said the words slowly. “And Danea Polnari?”

  “On the floor reading and writing and beneath headsets,” Wade answered quietly. “Is there a problem, Seth?”

  “Maybe I missed something in the communications from the pair of you regarding Miss Polnari,” he said very carefully, as if selecting just the right words one by one.

  “Danea is under our protection,” Wade replied, never taking his gaze from the director. “Wait a minute and I’ll track down Noah.”

  Wade set his glasses on the desk, rubbed a palm over his eyes and went to drop down on his heels next to Danea. He tapped the headset and waited. No matter what they were doing, she always smiled at him like he was the only one in her world. She went up on her elbows just high enough to kiss him before dropping back to the floor.

  “What did you need?”

  “The house smells good. Dinner?”

  “Italian,” she hinted with a grin.

  “Any idea where Noah went?”

  “Either the garage or one of the spare rooms. He was talking about a gun safe and a place for workout equipment,” she answered, accepting the nod before going back to her music and books.

  After a stop at the bathroom, he quickly checked the garage before finding Noah in the farthest bedroom, measuring and rearranging the sparse pieces of furniture.

  “Seth wants to talk to us. Did you mention how Danea fit into our lives to him?” Wade waited while Noah lowered the notebook he was jotting things in, leaving it sitting on the small chair.

  “I didn’t think it was his business,” Noah answered with a shrug. “How does it matter?”

  “I guess we’re about to find out,” Wade went back behind the desk and cleared his throat.

  “You said Miss Polnari was there with you?” Seth Anderson stared stoically into the camera.

  “Danea is here, on the floor of the living room,” Noah answered, keeping his voice level and low. “Is there something you don’t want her to hear?”

  “Is she under protective custody?”

  “Ever the polite bastard, Seth,” Noah laughed, his head shaking. “I know you have an open mind about such things. Danea is our mate. We’re in the process of setting up a household. How does this matter to her attack?”

  “You should have told me that earlier,” Seth ground flatly. “Now it fucking makes sense.”

  “Once more,” Noah said firmly. “How does it matter?” He leaned on the edge of the desk, a cautious glance over at the quietly bobbing Danea and then one back at Wade.

  “Because the MO of the attacks – in various locations – seems to center around women recently connecting with a partner in a permanent situation,” Seth said the words carefully, his hands moving over some papers on his desk.

  “You’re talking about a mating with shifters?”

  “Usually human females, but not always. The males, various races, but, yes, usually,” Seth looked from one to the other. “You should have told me. It makes a difference and fits the other issues we’ve been tracking.”

  “How does it matter?” Noah repeated again.

  “Our researchers believe that nature selects mates. We won’t get into the philosophical aspect of the whole thing, it gives me a headache at the moment,” Seth exhaled and glanced toward the
front, looking past the monitor for a quiet minute. “As I was saying…they’re of the belief that nature makes the selection and that the given female is predisposed to accepting and carrying a child, regardless of the species involved.”

  “Okay,” Noah shrugged slightly. “I suppose that makes as much sense as any other theory out there. We know from history and statistics that mates rarely part and that children occur. So?”

  “They’re selecting their targets because they’re capable of breeding,” Wade said flatly, the dots finally connecting in his brain. “So you believe Danea is being targeted because they know she’s capable of carrying a species child – because of her involvement with us.”

  “Exactly,” Seth replied tiredly.

  “Is this assumption or fact?” Wade asked carefully.

  “Unknown,” Seth exhaled slowly. “The last eight weeks has been…a revelation, to put it mildly. You’ve seen the story on the news channels regarding Luna St. Germaine?”

  “It’s everywhere,” Noah answered, frown lines creasing his face. “It’s also put you on the map.”

  “I’m more than on the fucking map,” Seth growled, so atypical of him, both men on the other end of the call stared in surprise. “They’ve thrown down a gauntlet that I can’t ignore.”

  “I’m making a guess that this has become personal,” Wade suggested quietly.

  “And don’t make the mistake of believing that I’m in any way blaming Luna,” Seth said after a lengthy pause. “After Luna’s arrival and that of her father, one of my people who had been working for Gaurdarville, made a discovery. It seems at the same time Luna’s mother was…fuck…evidently Gaurdarville has been working with the purists for most of his life. I don’t know how he latched onto Luna’s mother. She’s deceased and he’s sure as hell not talking, at least not the truth. They impregnated her and she produced Luna. At the same time, they used another woman, we don’t have a name, and created Lydia Jones, who turned out to be her twin. An exact replica. Lydia was raised in one of the home labs. I don’t know what else to call it. When she was four or five, she tells me a little over two dozen pregnant women were brought in, delivered and removed, leaving the newborns behind.”

  “Christ,” Noah gaped in disbelief.

  “Oh, believe me, that’s mild,” Seth closed his eyes for a long minute. “Their doctors have been working on a suppressant. Somehow, they managed to create a serum that stopped their animal from ever finding an out. With Luna, they coupled it with some kind of antidepressant. She was very subdued and kept compliant. The problem was, as her body grew and changed, so did her hormone levels and gradually, her mind was breaking free and ridding her body of it faster and faster. During one of those times, she escaped before our guy could get her free.”

  “She escaped and found you?”

  “She was on her way to MorningStar Lake…and found Sage along the way,” Seth said quietly.

  “And they want women to breed test subjects,” Wade concluded quietly.

  “It’s what we believe. There have been too many attempts, and very amateur attempts, at that. Information from people tapping their sources, tells us that it’s like a bounty,” Seth leaned back in his chair, running two hands over his face. “A kind of underground system where they’re offered a reward if they produce a viable female.”

  Noah lowered his head. “That means someone is watching shifters.”

  “Again…that’s the only theory I can come up with. Breanna Cooper was targeted because she’s half demon. Her powers were sensed as soon as…she’d been shielded most of her life. Once her abilities struck the spectrum, she was attacked and blood taken. We believe it was for use in certain spells. Once her grandfather became involved, the demons after her blood…disappeared and I’m not the least bit curious as to how. The man has serious connections and powers.”

  “You know others who are targets?” Wade asked, his voice controlled. His gaze wandered to the woman lying on the floor, jotting notes in a notebook, her head bobbing to whatever music she was listening to. He couldn’t remember feeling the power or heat of anger that was sweeping through him right now. That type of fury he had master a long time ago. Yet here it was. Fresh and violent.

  “We’re keeping an eye on several. We’ve alerted every law enforcement agency about the threat and have sent red alert memos through to every shifter agency we know of. Inside that problem is the fact that we don’t know who is working against us for the money involved,” Seth exhaled and shook his head. “Lydia and Jude have gone to Montreal where she knows of several lab houses and they’re working a combination sabotage and rescue.”

  “So what we have is someone aware of the reward program. One or two individuals,” Noah said aloud, his head nodding. “Alright. My people are alerted and that’ll cover Newport and Aftport, as well as the smaller towns north and south of us.”

  “Making it as public as possible is a good idea,” Wade said, quietly gesturing to Noah when Danea stretched and climbed to her feet, setting her book, notebook and headphones on one of the small tables. She smiled at them both and continued on to the kitchen. “If we learn anything else, we’ll let you know, Seth. Thanks for the information. We’ll keep an eye on her.”

  “Fuck.”

  “We have to tell her,” Wade didn’t comment on his assessment.

  “No. We don’t,” Noah returned, his tone low, menacing.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Danea wasn’t sure what the topic was, but she could feel the tension all the way across the open space between her and the men. They’d been going at it for ten minutes. Loudly. And she wasn’t even sure what they were arguing about. The escalation had been slow and frightening. She quickly wiped her hands on a towel before striding to squeeze between them. Hands were up on Noah’s chest, the gold edging around his irises making her frown.

  That meant his wolf was very, very close to the surface and something was terribly wrong. Because it was aimed at Wade.

  “Stop it,” she said firmly, turning quickly and putting her back to his chest and palms on Wade’s chest. “What are you two doing? What’s wrong?”

  Both men looked down at her, but only for an instant before they were once more glaring at one another. Neither spoke. Heavy breathing and seething did not make her feel at ease.

  “Alright,” she said slowly, swallowing and trying to think. “You’re arguing about something. I could feel it in the kitchen. That’s not normal…okay, so arguing might become a normal thing for us if we don’t belong together but…”

  “Return to the kitchen, Danea,” Wade ordered flatly. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “Wade…” Danea squeezed her hands higher and framed his face, forcing his gaze to hers. His eyes were dilated and far too large, she realized. “Listen to me. Something is wrong. Both of you. You’ve been arguing and quite loud for the last ten minutes and I can’t even figure out what you’re fighting about.”

  “Go to the kitchen, Danea,” Wade’s teeth were close together, his voice strained.

  She stumbled slightly to the side when Noah’s hands gripped her shoulders and almost lifted her from between them. She stomped one foot on the floor and glared at them.

  “Fine…” She paced back and glared at them. How to get their attention…Danea took a step back and pulled her t-shirt over her head, tossing it to the sofa before reaching for the snap of her jeans. The sound of it ricocheted through the house because all of a sudden, everything went silent. She shoved them down her legs and bent to retrieve them and add them to the shirt. Standing in a skimpy bra and panties, she leaned her fists on her hips. “Got your attention now?”

  Her scowl deepened, carefully studying their expressions, their eyes.

  “Wade…do you have a shield around the house?” She asked abruptly, staring into his eyes. It was almost like he was struggling to translate her words. Okay, she thought, October or not, they needed fresh air. She grabbed both hands and pulled, catching them by surpri
se and throwing them off balance as she led them to the patio doors. At least in the back, it was private since she was almost naked.

  “Danea, damn it…” Noah pulled his hand free just as she threw the patio door wide and shoved him through it. He went stumbling forward on the porch, righting himself and crashing into Wade when she pushed him outside. She closed the door behind her, blocking it and stared at them.

  “Answer me!” She shouted loudly. “Is the house shielded?”

  Wade raised two hands to his face, rubbing hard before his fingers moved to his temples.

  “A headache…”

  “You were complaining about a headache earlier. That…is not normal,” she told him fiercely. “Noah…why were you fighting? Tell me the words…explain to me why you were arguing!” Danea demanded, trying to think of something for them to focus on since she wasn’t getting through to them. Dark eyes stared at her, slightly confused but the glimmer of heat was fading from his eyes. She’d seen it on a human. Once. Just before they started a fight with a demon twice their size. They hadn’t begun the fight because they wanted to; but because the demon compelled them to.

  “We…” Noah shook his head, one hand up on the back of his neck. He blinked and stared at Wade. Then he stared around and realized they were outside. “How did we get out here? We weren’t…were we?”

  “The house isn’t shielded,” Wade finally answered, dropping to his heels and hanging his head between his knees. “Christ, my head is thumping.”

  “You were shouting and shoving at each other like a couple teenage boys,” Danea shivered, wrapping her arms around her and crossing her feet over one another. “And now you can’t remember it…because whatever was making you behave that way, is inside the house, not outside. So…think…what could it be?”

  “Demon spell.” Wade answered after a few minutes, he stood up slowly and stretched. He closed his eyes, his lips moving silently to words that had long ago been etched into his memory. “For that kind of control, that kind of spell, there has to be something inside that is tainted. Something that carries the spell into the house.”