by Haley Weir
Chapter Eight
Destiny shut the door to her apartment and fell back against the door. Memories of her encounter with Brock caused phantom hands to dance over her body, summoning a spattering of goosebumps on her arms. The old air conditioner rattled as Logan banged on top of it with a hammer. He looked over his shoulder at her when he sensed her presence. “You really need a better place. Your father would be happy to send money.”
“I’m sure he would, but the whole point of running away was to make sure he couldn’t control my life anymore. You might be here in my apartment, but I still live my life the way I want whether you like it or not.”
“This town is boring, Des,” Logan groused. “No one to follow or—”
“Actually, I have a job for you.”
“What?”
“Have you ever heard a facility called Sector A?” she asked. Logan’s painful grip on her arm was so different from Brocks. Her former friend now held her with contempt. He tossed her across the room, sending her sprawling on the floor. The tip of Logan’s knife pressed into the underside of her chin.
“Where did you hear that?” He pressed hard enough that she felt a trickle of blood slide down her neck. “And don’t lie to me.”
“Hunters were here. They took my boyfriend to Sector A and tortured him, but he escaped. I wanted you to watch the hunters, but the way you’re reacting tells me you already know about them.”
“What do you know about Hydra?” Logan questioned.
Destiny’s lip curled. “You’re working for him, aren’t you? You work for Hydra. God help me, Logan, I will tell Michael Adair and you won’t live to see the dawn when he gets his hands on you. Do you have any idea what my father would say if he—”
“Darling, your father is Hydra.”
She gasped, clutching his arm, trying to force the knife away. Destiny refused to believe Logan. He was known for lying and scheming to get what he wanted, but there was nothing in his expression to suggest what he said was false. “No! No, no, no.”
“Yes, Des. It’s true. Hydra is your father and Corey was the one who helped your little boyfriend escape. If I had known the man you went on a date with was Brock Wasting, I would have killed him on sight.”
“Corey? Th-they said he was dead.”
Logan snorted and shook his head. “Corey was sent away the same time you were, but he didn’t go to a hospital. His memories were wiped so he wouldn’t try to run back to his precious baby sister and then he was trained to be a weapon of your father’s making. He’s here, you know? That’s the real reason I was sent to Haden Springs.”
“So, not to protect me, but to bring us both to my father?” Destiny fought against Logan’s hold, but he was too strong for her. She fought against him, cutting herself on the blade. He banged her against the floor, forcing the air from her lungs, but the knife skidded across the glistening hardwood.
She was able to pull her knee up and ram it into his groin. In the back of her mind, Destiny replayed the conversation she had with Brock.
“A friend of mine is in town. We’re both going through some difficulties at the moment, but he’s in a lot of trouble. I’m doing all I can to help him, so he’s staying at my place for awhile—I owe him that much.” Brock poured the wine and unwrapped the sandwiches as he spoke. “He recently found out that everything he had been taught to believe was a lie. And at the moment, I’m the only one who he trusts.”
Brock was the only person who could protect her. She rolled Logan off of her and crashed through the door when he grabbed her ankle. Splinters clung to her hair as Destiny coughed, breathing in a cloud of dust. Logan tried to force her back into the apartment, but she kicked out, catching him in the stomach.
Destiny crawled down the stairs and pushed open the backdoor. She limped around the building and looked down the street toward the fire station. Brock’s apartment was a block away from where he worked. She hurried down the street, ignoring the people who stopped and stared as she hobbled along. Destiny gritted her teeth and wished she could fight the way Sapphire could. Though her friend looked like a hippy and preached about peace, Sapphire White was a force to be reckoned with.
But Destiny knew she couldn’t go to any of her friends. After everything her father and brother had done to this town, she would be lucky if they didn’t demand her head on a platter. Destiny hoped that Brock would help her in the way he helped Corey. She opened the main entrance to the building and dragged her body up the staircase.
Over the sound of her shuffling steps, Destiny heard muffled voices through the door. She knocked as hard as she could before darkness swam in her vision. The door opened and Destiny collapsed against an unfamiliar chest. Corey had only been a year older than her when their father separated them. Now, he was a man in his prime, a deadly killer with no reason to remember her.
“Corey,” she breathed. Her eyes looked past him at the startled expression on Brock’s face. The mountainous man that was her mate closed the distance between them and swept her up into his arms. He ran his thumb over the cut on her chin and carried her to the bedroom, carefully laying her down.
“What happened, sweetheart?” Brock asked, but Destiny’s eyes wandered back to her brother. They both looked like their mother, but only Corey had her father’s steely-blue eyes. Her bottom lip trembled. But the darkness won before her tears could fall as she lost consciousness.
***
“Who is she?” Corey demanded. Brock turned to stare at him, but was lost for words as he finally saw the resemblance. They had the same porcelain complexion, naturally red lips, inky-black hair, and regal bone structure. Brock noticed on more than one occasion how unearthly pretty his friend was. In fact, the jaguar shifter had the same fullness to his lips as Destiny, and the same wide-set eyes. Aside from their body types, the only difference was his grey eyes didn’t match her hazel stare.
“Corey…she recognized you.”
“Why? I’ve never seen her before in my life,” his friend insisted.
“Hell, I’d bet my brother’s fortune that the two of you are related. Actually, I think Destiny might be your sister.”
“That’s impossible.”
“A lot of impossible things have been happening lately, partner,” Brock said reasonably. “You never thought you’d be here with me and yet you are. Not to mention, it wasn’t so long ago that you learned Hydra was your father.”
Corey sat down on the edge of the bed and observed Destiny. The need to protect his mate amplified when another male was near, whether he was her kin or not. Even so, Brock’s mind battled with the knowledge that his mate was somehow related to his greatest enemy. He balled his hands into tightly clenched fists and walked out of the room. Brock grabbed his phone and dialed Michael’s number.
It rang once before the phone was snatched out of his hand. Corey ended the call. “Don’t. Calling your brother will only put the three of us in danger. Do you really want to risk the life of your mate when you’ve only just met her?”
“Michael wouldn’t hurt her.”
“No, but Hydra’s men are still out there. And I’m going to caution a guess and say that one of them did this to her,” Corey said. He handed Brock the phone, but made no move to leave his side. “If you call anyone, then I’ll take her and leave.”
“Take me where?” Destiny called from the bedroom. Both men rushed to her side. Large hazel eyes widened when they crowded around the bed. “Corey…I—”
“Are you my sister?”
Destiny nodded. “One night, we snuck into our father’s office to use his computer so we could play some games online. We accidentally clicked on a file that contained videos and images of...monsters. Not the kind that parents use to scare their children, but real monsters. Father walked in and caught us.”
Brock curled his fingers around Destiny’s, offering her support even though he was still reeling from it all. She smiled up at him a little and then turned back to her brother. “No one spoke abo
ut it for a long time. You said it was best we forget the whole thing, but I couldn’t. He separated us. I was sent to a hospital for refusing to turn a blind eye and I was told that you were sent to train to take father’s place in the company.”
“I don’t remember anything.”
“Logan says they wiped your memory and trained you to become a weapon.” Destiny sniffled. “While I was in the hospital, they told me that you had died in a plane crash. I blamed myself for us being sent away, so I tried to forget what we saw that night. All my life I have mourned your death. I don’t know what happened to you, but I want to help you make it right. It’s understandable if you hate me, but Logan attacked me when I tried to ask about Sector A and I didn’t know where else to go.”
Brock squeezed her hand. “You came to the right place. I’m glad you’re here.”
Corey said nothing as he stared down at his socks and clenched his jaw so hard that Brock could hear his teeth grinding. Destiny tried to sit up, but he kept her steady, not wanting her to injure herself further. Brock checked her leg. “You twisted it badly. There might be some bruising, but it doesn’t look like anything is broken. If it still bothers you tomorrow, I’m taking you to see Anders.”
“Jenny and the others know you’re my mate,” she revealed. “Sapphire was happy for us, but I don’t think the others will like it very much.”
Brock flinched, pulling away from her as he asked, “Are you ashamed of me?”
“No, not at all. I just…don’t want them to use me against you. I couldn’t stand it if you were hurt because of me. Haven’t you been through enough?”
Corey looked over at Brock as if to see if he was alright. He smiled at his friend and nodded. Destiny watched the exchange between them and blushed. “It took me a while to catch on that you were the jaguar he mentioned. ”It was Corey who flinched then. His eyes were shadowed with misery. Destiny hastened to explain. “I don’t judge you, Corey. I knew about Michael and the others being bears before anyone else did. This isn’t a problem for me, if that matters. I just…want you to know that I accept you.”
“Why? You don’t even know me.”
“You’re my brother,” she stressed. “Nothing will ever change that. I think I know you a lot better than you know yourself. And if Michael has any chance at taking down Hydra and Sector A, then he’ll need our help to do it.”
“No.” Brock stood up from the bed and paced across the floor. “I saw what happened when Sapphire and Jenny were out of their mates’ sights. I won’t let you get hurt, Dezzy. If anything happened to you…”
“They were going up against me,” Corey said. “This time it would be all of us going up against my father. They made the mistake of letting me into their system, giving me access to their world thinking I would never retaliate. Well, I’m tired of being the good little soldier. It’s time we fight for our kind.”
Chapter Nine
“My apartment is bigger than this flat and I can’t abandon my business,” Destiny argued while sipping her tea. Corey rolled his eyes and looked to Brock for help. She pinched her brother’s arm as if they had never been separated. He shot her a glare that only goaded her to stick her tongue out. “I’m serious. You can have the second bedroom. It’s usually made up for friends, but it’s yours as far as I’m concerned.”
“Where will you sleep?”
“In my bed with Brock,” she stated firmly. Tea sprayed from Brock’s mouth as he coughed and sputtered. Destiny clapped him on the back. “He’s my mate.”
“Now that I know you’re my little sister, I don’t think I like the thought of you sleeping beside him unmarried.”
Destiny thought it was adorable that Corey took on the role of older brother so naturally, but she was an adult. “Trust me, Brock and I have done more than sleep next to each other. I’ve been able to resist temptation for the most part, so don’t worry.”
“Believe it or not, she never said a word to me the entire time she lived in town. She knew who I was, but we weren’t properly introduced until our first date,” Brock revealed to Corey. “She just used to stare at me over the rim of her glasses.”
“What was I supposed to do? You were the object of my fantasies since the first time I saw you in your uniform.”
“You could have introduced yourself,” he sighed.
“Hello, my name is Destiny Collier. I’m a thirty-year-old woman from Manchester, England. Though I look young for my age, I somehow became an eighty-year-old British man who enjoys hot tea, long books, black and white comedies, and getting lost in he daydreams—many of them include the glorious muscles of Brock Wasting in his firefighter’s uniform.” Destiny crossed her arms and looked down at the steaming liquid in her teacup. Her cheeks were stained with a scarlet flush that worsened when Brock kissed her forehead sweetly.
“W-we’re from Manchester?” Corey asked quietly.
Destiny turned toward her brother. “You really don’t remember anything?”
“Nothing before my training in the military. I was a prodigy, a perfect specimen. For as long as I can remember, I was observed by doctors and military officials who tried to replicate my abilities. When I was tested, I had the highest marks in American history. No one matched my skills or experience.”
She leaned forward and covered Corey’s hand with her own. “Father might have never shown much care, but our mother loved us. She showered you with affection. So much that I was jealous sometimes. And you were a hellion. Always getting in trouble.”
Brock winked at her from across the table and took his leave. “I’ll go pack while you two talk. Then I’ll move the necessities to your apartment.”
Corey seemed a bit panicked at the thought of Brock leaving them alone, but she gripped his hand tighter and held his stare. She tried to push some of her strength into him. “Corey, is there anything that might have triggered a memory before? Something you blocked out because you didn’t want to face it?”
He closed his eyes and concentrated. Destiny’s leg bounced under the table, causing the teaspoons to rattle slightly. “I do,” Corey said after a while. “There was a time when Patrick, my tracker, began to question the intentions of our employer. Something he said made me defensive and I hid my feelings behind blind loyalty.”
“We’re all running from something.”
“When does it stop?”
“I’ll let you know when I figure that out,” Destiny chuckled. “Logan and I were friends. Actually, he was your friend as well, but he started working for father as a mercenary of some sort. After I was released from the hospital, he tried to kill me.”
His eyes flashed with anger. “Does Brock know you’ve been sleeping under the same roof as a killer?”
“No. He doesn’t and I don’t want him to know yet,” she said. “When Logan came back, he made me believe that he had changed, that our father wanted him to protect—”
“Was Hydra the one who sent him?”
Destiny was tempted to lie when she heard the beastly rumble that weaved around his words. But she told the truth. “Yes. Father sent Logan to kill me. Apparently he was afraid I would remember, but by that time, I had completely forgotten.”
“When did you remember what you saw?”
“I’ve been on the run for a long time, Corey,” Destiny said shamefully. “If it wasn’t for my friends that I met in college, I would have fallen off the face of the earth and never came back. I’m surprised I’ve stayed here for so lon, but it was the legends of Haden Springs that reminded me. Hearing stories of beasts and bear protectors made me feel…less crazy, I guess.”
“I was instilled with a prejudice that I never questioned, so I never took the time to truly understand how shifters felt until I had to face the hatred for myself. Being here in Haden Springs did open my eyes, but not until it was too late.”
Destiny took a deep breath and turned around in her chair. She lifted her shirt to show off the small tattoo on her back. It was two infinity symbols inter
twined with the word ‘forever’ in the center. “You drew this when we were kids. Whenever I was upset, you used to climb up the side of the house and sneak into my room. You would hold me until I stopped crying and say—”
“This is us. No matter where we are or how far apart...”
Tears welled in her eyes as she finished the last part. “We are forever.”
“We are forever,” Corey parroted.
***
Brock unlocked the front door of Books & Baubles. He checked the entire shop for possible threats and made a mental note to fix the lock on the back door. The door that led to the upstairs apartment was badly damaged. Brock swung it open carefully and took the stairs two at a time. His boots crunched down on the chunks of wood that were similar to the splinters he found in Destiny’s hair.
While the door on the lower level was damaged, the front door of his mate’s apartment had been completely decimated. Brock ducked his head and stepped inside to find the entire place in shambles. The living room furniture had been turned over along with the kitchen table and chairs. Books, knickknacks, houseplants, and other things cluttered the floor. It was clear that someone had been looking for something.
He rounded the corner and came face to face with Michael. His brother sat on the floor of Destiny’s bedroom with the beginnings of a black eye and a busted lip. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked. His brother grunted and tried to stand, but stumbled back. Brock felt panic rise up in his chest. He had never seen Michael look so weak.
“I got an anonymous message that Hydra’s men were poking around town. Anders and I went out to the forest where Corey Reed and the others used to operate, but the place had been raided before we got there.”
Guilt stole Brock’s ability to speak, so he just helped his brother off the floor.
“We found them in the same field where they held you before they flew you off in that helicopter,” Michael wheezed. “I followed one group here and Anders followed the rest. He called me a few minutes ago and said the trail went cold. Want to tell me why Hydra’s men are meeting up at your girlfriend’s apartment, Brock?”
