by Amelia Jade
In front of her, Chad finished up his speech to a rousing sound of applause from the decent-sized crowd of perhaps a thousand people. He then began to answer questions from the audience, moving into the unscripted portion of his appearance that day.
While he did, Hannah focused her attention on Josh. The shifter’s eyes roamed among the crowd and the various people backstage. But they always flicked back to her, his primary responsibility. They never lingered long; even now as she stared at him they seemed to glaze over as he looked in her direction.
Dammit. How am I ever going to talk to him if he won’t let me?
Hannah was still scared shitless about talking to him. About opening up and revealing the truth behind her actions. Things could go so horribly wrong in ways she couldn’t imagine, and also in plenty of ways she could. It seemed unlikely he would be able to change what had surely been ingrained into him in time to save her, but perhaps she could start him down that path.
Fuck this. I’m tired of doing nothing. He can’t avoid me right now, and it’s unlikely he’ll do anything crazy while we’re in public.
Without thinking it over a second time she pushed herself off the wall and strode across the stage, not caring that she would then be seen by those in the audience.
Josh tensed as she moved, his eyes looking around for the danger that must have caused her to move toward him. He took a half step in her direction, but then he stopped. Perhaps he had recognized the unhurried manner in which she approached, which would suggest she didn’t feel she was in danger.
“Hi,” she said, stepping right up to him.
“Hello Ms. Terrik,” he said dully.
“Oh knock it off,” she snapped. “We both know you aren’t like that.”
He didn’t respond.
“Remember when you said lying doesn’t suit me? Well, this doesn’t suit you,” she scolded, owning up to the truth of the situation.
Silver-blue eyes focused on her with an intensity that caused her heart to skip a beat.
“I’m listening, Hannah,” he said softly.
She bit her lip. “I didn’t mean to lie to you,” she said. “I didn’t want to. Hell, I still don’t want to. But I just... I can’t tell you everything.”
Josh looked disappointed. “Why not?” he asked curiously. “What did I do?”
Hannah smiled ruefully. “It’s not anything you did,” she told him. “It’s more about who you are.”
The big man looked hurt. “Am I that bad?” he asked.
Horror welled up in her. “No, no no no, that’s not what I meant,” she said, agitatedly wringing her hands. “You aren’t a bad person. It’s not that. It’s who you are,” she said forcefully. She meant that he was a shifter.
“Oh,” he said, then looked over at her brother with confusion. “But I thought that you were…”
Hannah dropped her head as she realized what he was thinking. He had looked at her brother, who was here talking about equality. Great, now he thinks I’m prejudiced against shifters, or human-shifter relationships. Speak your mind, woman!
“Not like that,” she said. “Damn, this is hard to explain.” Her heart was hammering at the insides of her ribcage. Mostly in terror, but sprinkled in it was a bit of hope.
“Try me,” he said gently. “That’s all I ask. Try me.”
She stared into those beautiful silvery eyes for a long moment. Out on the stage, Chad made his way to the front, standing on the very edge as he spoke with fans. Then, with a sharp nod she made up her mind and opened her mouth to speak. “What do you know about w—”
An explosion ripped through the center of the stage.
The force of the blast would have flung her straight into some of the steel bars that supported the roof if it weren’t for Josh. Although she was already bringing her arms up in a display of agility that would have put most people to shame, he was even quicker. His arm snatched out as he too was lifted from his feet. He latched onto her and wrapped himself around her like a shield made out of flesh.
The force of him grabbing her altered her trajectory, bringing her along with Josh, who was blown through the black curtains that formed the walls of the stage. The shifter grunted in pain as they landed on something, his body cushioning her.
Heat washed over her, so intense she felt it singe hairs on her arm, and then suddenly it was gone as the roiling fireball moved upward into the sky before dissipating in a huge cloud of black smoke.
“Come on!” Josh said as she stared in horror. The stage creaked, and part of it came crashing down. Fire began to eat at the curtains, and before long she knew the whole place would go up in flames.
“Chad!” she screamed, getting to her feet and stumbling back toward the growing inferno. “Chad!” There was no answer.
“Hannah, we have to go!” Josh pulled at her again, but she angrily shrugged him off, not caring how much strength she used.
“We have to get my brother!” she shouted, her voice sounding distant and tinny as her hearing struggled to return following the roar of the blast.
Josh appeared in front of her, shaking his head sadly. “Hannah, there’s nothing more we can do. He’s gone, I’m sorry. But we have to go.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her over his shoulder. The big muscles were flexed enough this time that she knew she would have to do something drastic to get free. Her fists beat on his back as she screamed at him to let her down, to go back for her brother.
He was the only family she had. Hannah couldn’t just abandon him!
Once they were clear of immediate danger he put her down.
“We have to go back for Chad!” she repeated, struggling to get past him, but the shifter moved to block her way.
“Hannah, that blast was at the center of the stage. I’m sorry, but your brother is dead,” he said firmly, pain etched on his features. Not just pain for himself; she could see blood trickling down his shirt and forearm from some wound he’d sustained. But also pain for her loss.
She opened her mouth defiantly, and almost said something that would get her in big trouble. Her jaw clicked shut so loud it had to be audible, but by then it was too late.
Josh looked at her, eyes narrowing. Then he swore violently. “He’s not dead, is he?”
Chapter Nine
Josh
Hannah looked away, biting her lip. Then she shook her head.
He swore again.
“When I get back, you’re telling me everything, you understand? Everything.”
She nodded, looking very unhappy and still not saying a word.
“Until then, you stay with the damn car!” He turned and charged back down the street toward the wreckage of what used to be a temporary stage. The big banner with the Shift First logo on it went up in flames as he approached, the flimsy material practically exploding it burned so quickly. Elsewhere the flames worked slower at the heavy curtain material and the wood of the floor.
What remained of the floor at least. As Josh vaulted himself up onto the stage from the side, he looked around. Right in front of him he saw the huge blast hole in the middle of the stage. In his mind’s eye, he could picture Chad, standing there, microphone in hand as he spoke to the crowd, telling them about the way shifters were treated around the world, about how they were seen as less than humans.
There was nothing remaining of that spot now. The bomb had been placed perfectly. Chad had to be dead. No human could survive that. Hell, even he would have been hurt badly by that, if not killed. Hannah for some reason was convinced that he wouldn’t have been killed by the blast. It wasn’t trauma or denial at his death either. Josh had seen that in people before, and knew what it looked like from his vantage point. No, what Hannah had exhibited was a confidence that spoke to something else.
I’m being kept in the dark, and now it’s going to come back to haunt me.
He pushed his way through the heat to the center of the blast, ignoring the pain as best he could. Hair and skin would regrow quickly; he had nothing to f
ear from this. He peered down into the hole that had been ripped in the stage, resting his near foot on the jagged pieces of wood that stuck up from around the perimeter, ignoring the flames engulfing it.
There was no body immediately visible, but that didn’t surprise him. If Chad wasn’t immediately disintegrated by the explosion, he would have been flung clear. Josh moved toward the front of the stage in case Chad had been thrown that way. As he did the lights went dark, the power finally having been cut to the area.
The entire park was now shaded in darkness, lit only by the dancing lights of the flames as they moved ever higher into the sky. His shifter eyesight allowed him to see well enough, however. Through the wall of flames at the front of the stage, he caught a glimpse of a swift shape disappearing into the night.
It had to be Chad! Everywhere else, people cried and held each other. Several people lay on the ground with gashes on their faces and arms, but he didn’t see a single dead body. The force of the blow had been directed up, for which he was extremely thankful.
Josh moved to follow the shape, but as he did, a thick metal bar swung down from out of sight and slammed into his side, flinging him ten feet toward the back of the stage and through rising flames.
“Ow,” he said, angry that the stage had decided to start collapsing on him.
Shaking it off, he climbed to his feet. He looked around to see if anything else was coming down when he realized that the entire metal structure still seemed fairly stable. The blaze was eating everything else up, but it hadn’t yet gotten hot enough for the metal to begin to melt.
Then his eyes picked out something on the far side of the stage where the pole had come from. There! In the corner two men were standing with their hands covered in black soot, looking directly at him.
Josh’s eyes widened, then narrowed quickly as things fell into place.
The stage isn’t failing yet. They hit me!
Why the hell would they do that? His eyes went wide as he realized they were wearing tactical gear. Josh was used to seeing people attack him while wearing gear that looked very similar to what the two men were outfitted in. Similar, but definitely not the same. Which could only mean one thing.
“That’s not Agency getup,” he said to himself, climbing to his feet and shaking himself off. Nor are explosions part of their repertoire. These guys are new, and they don’t give a shit. Not good.
The Agency didn’t use explosions, because it caused more damage to bystanders than the local authorities could theoretically ignore. Although it was common knowledge police and government forces had been bought off or ordered to remain neutral in the fight in King City, when normal citizens were hurt by something like what had just happened, they couldn’t ignore it. The Agency preferred to operate in the shadows as much as the Underground did. Not so with the newcomers.
The rules had changed.
Well, time for them to realize their mistake. He leapt to his feet and walked to the men, keeping the gash in the floor between them. The newcomers eyed him speculatively, but they didn’t move. Using his superhuman abilities, when he closed to within two steps of the hole, he suddenly accelerated and hurled himself over the opening, landing half a dozen feet from the other men. They must have already decided to depart, because the two men were disappearing before he even cleared the hole.
Josh made to chase after them, but something stopped him. If this was a new group, he had no idea who or what they were. Which meant only one thing.
Hannah was in danger.
He turned and leapt back over the hole and off the stage as his bear went berserk inside, charging back down the road toward where he had left her, hoping that for once, she had obeyed his command to stay with the damn car so that he could find her.
In the distance sirens began to sound from all directions. This was a big event, and in minutes would be swarming with police and firefighters, and likely a horde of EMTs. That was not somewhere he wished to be stuck. The game had changed, and his team needed to be alerted because of that. Josh hadn’t seen any of them since, but they all had their priorities.
Thankfully she was still there, and unharmed. The other Sentinels were now clustered around her as well.
“Everyone okay?” he asked, looking around at the drawn faces.
There were nods all around and he sighed in relief.
“We have a problem. New guys in town,” he said, then turned to Hannah. “You owe me an explanation,” he said angrily. “Right now.”
She looked unhappy. The others perked up, looking around in confusion.
“Right now, Hannah. Who the hell was that?” he raged, pointing back at the stage as flames leapt into the sky, the entire place now ablaze. “Those are not my enemies. That is not the Agency. They don’t work like that, and the men who attacked me are not Agents. What the hell have you brought to King City?” he asked. “We don’t need anything more!”
The beautiful woman crumpled under his verbal tirade. Josh knew he didn’t mean it as angrily as it came out, but right then, he didn’t have any patience left for lies and misdirection. He needed the truth if he was going to do his job properly.
“It’s a government agency,” she said. “I think.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Explain.”
“I can’t,” she said with a nervous squeak.
“Why the hell not?”
“It’s not my place to tell you outright,” she said. “Besides—” she stopped speaking.
“Besides what?” he pressed.
“Besides, I’m afraid of what you’ll do if I told you,” she said after a long hesitation.
***
“We’ll meet you back at base,” Jared said into the stunned silence, as if sensing that he and Hannah needed a moment alone.
“Roger that,” he said, but his eyes never left the woman in front of him.
The others departed, leaving them alone in the middle of the street. Josh kept his senses open in case anyone approached, but for the moment they were fine.
“You have no reason to be afraid of me,” he said softly. “I’m here to protect you, and I intend to do that job.”
Or die trying.
“You won’t have a choice,” she told him, still refusing to meet his gaze. “You’ll have to do something.”
He rolled his shoulders, trying to defuse some of the tension building there. What the hell was she talking about?
“What kind of secret can you be holding that would make me do something to you? I can’t be compelled against my will,” he said. “I care for you, Hannah. You’ve made it harder than I’d prefer, true, but that hasn’t stopped my dumb self from falling for you.”
She winced at his words, and Josh cursed. He had meant it in jest, not as a jab at her.
“If you found out, it would change everything.” She opened her mouth to say more, then hesitated. He saw her find some inner strength before she continued, something he admired, though the words she spoke surprised him. “I like having you around, you know. Despite all…this,” she said with a wave of her hand to indicate everything going on, “and I don’t want that to change.”
Josh frowned. “I’m not going anywhere, Hannah. I promise.”
She looked up at him at last, her deep hazel eyes filled with pain and suffering of such a degree that he felt himself take a step back. How could one person carry so much? His bear roared, wanting to reach out and take some of that burden from her, to ease the weight on her shoulders in any way he could.
“I know,” she told him. “That’s why I would have to leave.”
“I don’t get it,” he said, throwing his hands up in confusion. “Why can’t you just stay with me?” He reached out to touch her shoulder, but Hannah pulled away from him.
Josh stood there, arm outstretched in stunned shock at the recoil in her body, the way she had desperately tried to pull away from him. He scanned over all the memories he had of their time together. What had he done to make her so afraid of him? He wasn’t su
re what was pulling his bear toward her either, but it had rarely steered him wrong. Had it finally gotten things wrong? There had been far fewer happy moments with Hannah than there had been sad or frustrating, that was for sure.
But that smile of hers…
“Please,” she whispered. “This is already hard enough.”
“If you would just get over your fear and tell me, then perhaps I could help you. You don’t have to do this alone!” he all but shouted.
Anger threaded its way into her expression. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” she said, pushing him away from her, turning to leave without him.
“What?” he said, chasing after her. “You can’t handle being called out? I don’t know what else to do, Hannah. You tell me you like me, but you can’t be around me? You avoid me for three days—I’ll give you it was somewhat mutual—but I see the glances you give me. I see them because I’m looking at you as well,” he said, catching up at her, getting in front of her.
“Josh,” she tried to protest, but he shook his head.
“No more,” he said, and before she could react, he stepped forward, cupping her chin and lifting it toward him.
Then he kissed her.
Chapter Ten
Hannah
She stood still, unable to react as his lips pressed fiercely against hers, the pent-up passion that neither of them had been able to release bleeding through his touch, infusing her with its power.
Against her better judgment, Hannah felt her head begin to tilt, her resistance to his touch fading.
It was all but over once her eyes started to close. Her body melting into his grasp was an afterthought by then, resistance futile at that point as she allowed herself to be swept up in his calming touch.
Odd, she thought as their lips locked furiously. The last few times he’s touched me, it’s driven me wild.
Not that I’m not this time, but different wild.
She was confused, but delighted at the delicious surprise of being able to have bodily contact with him without needing to flee. That was reassuring on a level she couldn’t begin to describe.
