Dead Zone (Blue-Eyed Bomb Book 3)

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  The screech of grinding metal echoed through the living area, and I turned to find a very concerned-looking TS staring at me across the room. One look at the fear in my eyes and he was right behind me, his hand on my shoulder.

  “It’s Alek,” I said, my voice full of sadness. “He’s Changing.”

  A groan from my brother pulled our collective attention back to him. He was so pale. So thin. He looked like he was dying, and somewhere deep inside me, I started to wonder if he was.

  “If you’re not going to leave,” Cooper said, anger at our disobedience plain in his tone, “then you are going to back the fuck up. All three of you.”

  We obliged, falling back a few paces. Nico and I stood shoulder to shoulder—hand in hand—with TS at my back, all of us looking on, helpless. Though I might have been familiar with that feeling—TS as well, to some degree—my oldest brother was not. I could feel the struggle coursing through him into me.

  “Have you done this before?” Cooper asked, looking over at Jenkins. He nodded in response and took a step closer.

  “Yeah. It’s not my favorite, but I have.”

  “Nobody likes this part. If you do, there’s something wrong with you.”

  Alek bucked on the floor, and Cooper placed his hand on his chest to hold him down as gently as he could.

  “What will happen if he doesn’t kill something after?” I asked.

  “That’s what we’re about to find out, kiddo.”

  Before I could process the implications, Alek bucked so hard against Cooper’s hold it looked as though he’d have flown up to the ceiling if my uncle hadn’t been pinning him down. As it was, Cooper looked to be using every ounce of his strength to do that. Jenkins stepped even closer to lend a hand, but a growl and snap from Cooper seemed to keep him at bay.

  From that moment on, the speed and surrealness of what occurred made it hard for my mind to keep up. One second, my brother was pinned to the floor, near death; the next, he was standing on all fours—in wolf form—growling and snapping at Cooper. Then he turned his lime green eyes to us and lunged. I heard Cooper shout at him, the compulsion in his voice forceful, but it had no effect on Alek. Neither did Jenkins’ command. Instead, the wolf, black as night with blazing eyes, launched itself right at me, on a direct course for my face. I could feel Nyx preparing to stop him as only she could, but I fought to keep her at bay.

  “He’s my brother…he won’t hurt me.”

  TS’ hand on my shoulder was like a vise as he moved to pull me out of the way and intercept Alek, but it was too late. Those fangs were only inches away from me when I heard Nico’s voice ring out, loud and terrifying. “NO!”

  Alek’s form dropped to the ground at my feet in response, as though gravity suddenly had a different effect on him. He sat before me like an obedient dog, and my eyes went wide. I turned to find Nico staring down at our lupine brother. Even in profile, I could see just how black his irises had turned. Just like our father’s did. Just like mine did when Nyx came out to play.

  “No!” Nico repeated. “There will be no killing!”

  My heart racing wildly, I glanced over at Cooper and Jenkins, who now stood side by side staring at us in disbelief.

  “You made him stop,” Cooper said, taking a step forward. At the sound of the creaking floorboard, Alek whipped his head around and snarled in such a menacing way that every hair on my body stood on end.

  TS stepped between Alek and me, and my brother wheeled on him next, growling as his paw crept forward, prepared to lunge at him.

  “Alek,” I said softly. “It’s okay. It’s TS. He’s just here to help.” A warning growl escaped him, but it held far less intensity than before. Without thinking, I stepped around TS and began to crouch down before Alek. I wanted to comfort him. I could feel uncertainty emanating from him; I wanted him to feel my touch and know that everything was okay. But halfway down, TS caught my arm to stop me.

  Whether it was due to my surprise or my anger, I couldn’t tell, but Alek whipped his massive black head around and snapped at the arm that held me captive. Just before his teeth clamped down, Nico roared at him to stop, and Alek hit the floor, ears pinned back.

  It was then that I realized what was going on—what pack dynamics were at play.

  “You’re his alpha, Nico,” I said, staring at him, “and he thinks I’m the omega—the one who needs protection.” Everything started to make sense. “I don’t think he was going to attack me. I think he was coming to protect me…” I turned to look over my shoulder. “From TS.”

  My eyes fell back to Alek, who was still cowering, though clearly not happy about it, and I smiled to myself, thinking how similar it was to how they behaved in human form: Nico barking orders and Alek begrudgingly taking them. “I told you he wouldn’t hurt me,” I said, looking over to Cooper and Jenkins. “You won’t, will you, Alek? You’ve always had my back. You still do.”

  This time, when I bent down to pet him, TS didn’t try to stop me. I crouched before my werewolf brother—who had apparently inherited more of my mother’s lupine DNA than Nico or I—and reached out my hand for him to sniff. He nudged it once with his nose before licking it. I looked up at Nico and smiled, realizing that I wasn’t the only one who had evolved a new power after I’d merged with Nyx and our combined sibling gifts had come to light. Both of my brothers had as well. Alek was now a werewolf—and Nico was our alpha.

  Our own little pack.

  “Well,” Cooper said, taking careful steps toward us, “that went way better than it could have.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. After how tense everything had been, I needed a little comic relief.

  I felt a low rumble in Alek’s body as Cooper neared, and I shushed him gently.

  “You cannot eat Uncle Coop, Alek. He won’t take it well. Besides, we don’t eat family. Not Mom’s pack. Not the PC…except maybe Muses. You can eat him.”

  Alek chuffed at me. I couldn’t tell if it was a laugh or a sigh of disappointment.

  “How do we get him to change back?” Nico asked as Cooper came to stand beside him. Jenkins approached with caution, headed for my side. Alek, seeming to remember that he was neither family nor pack, growled yet again.

  “Jenkins gets a pass too, Alek. For now.”

  “Thanks for that,” he said, sounding less than grateful. I simply shrugged in response.

  “He’ll return to his human form once his system acclimates to his Change,” Cooper explained. “Could be minutes or hours. Maybe days. Since nothing about your mother or Alek seems to follow the standard process, it’s hard to say.”

  “But he should be fine? No eating anyone?”

  “Nobody here, at least,” Cooper said with a wink.

  “That’s super reassuring.”

  “You didn’t ask me to sugarcoat my answer, Fifi, so you got the real one.”

  “Ugh. Fine.”

  “I might be able to help with that,” TS said from above me, “but only if you think he’s a threat.”

  “I think he’s going to be fine,” I said, scratching behind Alek’s ears. He rose, his massive body looming before me, and licked my face. “How terrifying you are. You big hunk of black fur.” He jumped up on my shoulders and knocked me down so he could lick my face until I begged him to stop. He didn’t listen to me, but the second Nico commanded it, Alek heeled. I climbed up off the floor and dragged my sleeve across my face to dry it. “That’s so gross.”

  “Better than body parts and carnage strewn about the warehouse,” TS countered.

  “And I was worried for a second there that that was going to happen,” Jenkins said, exhaling hard.

  “I guess we should call Mom and Dad and tell them,” I said, wincing at the thought.

  The boys looked at one another, their trepidation plain. I groaned, realizing that meant I was going to have to do it. I wondered if both my parents would show up seconds later to make sure he was okay or if they would let us handle things. My father was more likely to d
o the latter, but my mother—not so much. Worry was her middle name, and I doubted she’d calm down until she saw Alek with her own eyes.

  “You know what?” I said, rethinking my plan. “We can let them know tomorrow. No need to get them all worked up over nothing.”

  “This is hardly nothing, Fi,” Cooper said.

  “Well it’s hardly Little Church either, so I think we’re good for now.”

  “I’m going to take Alek upstairs and not ask why Jenkins knows about the warehouse,” Nico said, heading toward the stairwell door, Alek right on his heels. “For his own good, I suggest he forgets it exists—and quickly.”

  Jenkins’ body went rigid at the threat, but he nodded in agreement.

  “I’ll come up with you, Nico” Cooper added.

  “Well, if we really are good for now, then I should head back to the bar,” Jenkins said, looking at me. “I need to get things in order before I go into temporary hiding, thanks to you. And you have a party to get ready for.” He made his way to the door. “Let me know when the coast is clear. And be careful tonight, you two.” Before I could reply, he slipped through the door and disappeared, leaving only TS and me behind.

  I looked up at him and forced a smile. “Well that was fun…”

  His eyes narrowed at me, his mind clearly working overtime on something. Something that made me squirm.

  “Lucky for you Cooper was here to help.”

  Oh shit.

  “Yeah. Maybe the universe doesn’t totally despise me.”

  “Or maybe you suspected something like this was going to happen. Maybe Cooper’s surprise visit wasn’t really a surprise at all.”

  “You give me way more credit than you should,” I said, turning away from his sharp gaze.

  “I think I give you just the right amount of credit, which is why I can’t overlook this coincidence.”

  “What are you saying, TS? You think I knew Alek was going to Change and didn’t tell you? Why would I do that? How could I have known?”

  His expression darkened. “Perhaps you felt it. Or perhaps someone saw this fate and warned you of it.”

  Mayday…mayday…

  “Like a ghost? You know they only answer what they’re asked.”

  “If not a ghost, then perhaps another being…” He stepped closer to me and took my chin gently in his hand, forcing me to look at him. I prayed that he wouldn’t see the truth—that I’d lied to him. Betrayed him. He’d said he would leave if I ever went to Damascus again, and I had no doubt that he would. I couldn’t bear that, especially not after realizing how I felt about him.

  With one misstep, I could lose everything.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, hoping to cleanse my fear enough to lie to him again and save our friendship—maybe more. But just before I opened them, I felt Nyx blast past me, taking over. I screamed at her in our mind, but she ignored me with ease.

  “You want to know who alerted her to his impending Change, or the possibility of it?” she asked, though her question was clearly rhetorical. “I did. I could feel a shift in his energy. I tried to warn her, but she denied it. I finally convinced her to send for Cooper so that we would at least have his guidance if things went as I suspected.”

  “And you said nothing to me? Why?”

  She leaned toward him, her face a hair’s breadth away from his.

  “Because I don’t answer to you.”

  Anger blossomed around him. “Neither does she, but she confides in me. She always has. What’s changed? Why not tell me this?”

  Nyx smiled a smile that begged for trouble. “Perhaps things between you have changed.”

  “Changed how?” he demanded.

  “Perhaps she feels differently about you now.”

  Shut up!

  “There’s no harm in admitting it, Phira. He will learn the truth soon enough.”

  I will kill you if you say another word…

  “Kill me? Let’s not be dramatic, shall we?”

  With some effort, I managed to elbow her out of the way and regain control of our shared body. Breathing hard from the effort, I looked up at TS, who couldn’t quite seem to decide what to make of what he’d just witnessed.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just…I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to distract you with everything going on. I thought having Cooper here would be enough to cover our asses.”

  He seemed to consider my answer for a moment.

  “Do you not feel you can come to me with things like this anymore? Is that how you feel differently?”

  “What? No! Of course not. That hasn’t changed. There’s just been a lot going on, and you’ve been away. We haven’t had a lot of time together since Nyx told me her suspicions.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his expression full of regret. “For accusing you. And for not being around more.”

  “Your job is to serve the PC however you are needed. Don’t apologize for that.”

  He started to speak, but his phone rang before he could get a word out. He pulled it out to see who was calling and sighed at the name on the display.

  “I must take this,” he said, heading toward the front entrance.

  “Okay.”

  He nodded before disappearing through the metal door, leaving me alone with my guilt. Before I could let it take over, I headed up to the place I always went to clear my head. The roof had become my refuge at the warehouse.

  And with Alejandro’s party in a couple of hours, that was exactly what I needed.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I exhaled hard, letting out the stress that had built up as the evening went to shit. It had turned out fine, which was no small miracle, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still reeling. Alek could have killed someone—or been killed. That level of adrenaline surge was hard to come down from, supernatural or not.

  The wind whipped at my hair, blowing it into a tangled mess around me. I tried to tie it back, but it wouldn’t be denied its glorious dance, so I finally gave up and let the curtain of dark curls obscure my vision.

  “You should probably put it up tonight.” A familiar male voice drifted toward me, and my hackles shot up. “Can’t have it a mess for your party...”

  I wheeled around, the wind now blowing the hair from my face, and saw Gabe standing by the far edge of the roof. His eyes were murderous, but his expression held an edge of mischief. I didn’t know which I preferred.

  “It takes balls to come here,” I said, trying to calm my nerves. I wasn’t ready to face Gabe again. I was no closer to solving his little problem.

  He merely shrugged in response. It made him look like the good old farm boy I’d met in Iowa, not the cold-blooded killer he craved becoming.

  “Consider it a warning of sorts. Letting you know I can get to you anywhere.”

  “How generous of you, considering that last time we spoke, you threatened to kill me the next time we met.”

  “That would be too kind—better than you deserve”

  “You think I won’t kill you? That I’d put you above myself?”

  A wicked smile overtook his countenance. “After everything you’ve done? Yes I do. I can practically smell your guilt from over here.”

  “Guilt or not, Nyx would end you, even if I tried to stop her. She feels nothing for you. You’d be wise to remember that.”

  He took a step forward. “I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to yet. In fact, I’m surprised by how easy it’s been to evade detection by her, or any of the PC for that matter.” His smile widened as he took another step toward me. “I’ve learned a lot over the past week or so. Talked to all kinds of interesting creatures around this city. It seems the PC isn’t very popular among those they police. I didn’t have to work that hard to dig up information on them—especially once I told these individuals that I planned to take out the PC’s most valuable weapon.”

  “They don’t even know I exist.”

  He feigned surprise. “Oops. I guess they do now.” His comment
lingered on the wind for a moment before slamming into me. “Did you think I’d keep that secret for you? With the few memories of you I have, you’d have to be crazy to think I’d do anything but come after you any way I can.”

  “You loved me once,” I said, a hint of sadness in my tone that made me hate myself.

  “Yeah…I don’t remember that,” he replied, looking me up and down. “You look like you’d be good for a roll in the hay, but nothing more. You talk too much. And you’re weak.”

  “I am not weak.” My response was little more than a guttural noise.

  “You want to put your money where your mouth is, then? Tonight?” He shook his head at his rhetorical question. “Nah...you have your little party to go to. Wouldn’t want you to miss that; could be really interesting, from what I’ve heard. Besides, haunting you is reward enough for now.”

  I could hear footsteps from inside the building, ascending the stairs to the roof. My fear heightened as I stared at the door. Funny how I was less afraid of Gabe than I was of being caught in my own lie. My eyes flew back to Gabe, who seemed to be assessing the situation. It was clear that reinforcements were coming, but he appeared to notice that I wasn’t happy about that.

  “You look a little pale, Phira. More than usual. Something wrong?”

  “If you don’t want to die, you need to leave.”

  He watched as I grew more nervous with every footfall from the other side of the door.

  Then realization dawned in his expression.

  “They don’t know…” He sounded equal parts shocked and amused. “You didn’t tell them I’m alive. Well this just got a whole lot more interesting.”

  “Go or I’ll let Nyx end you now.”

  “Then I’ll be seeing you around, Trouble,” he said, stepping up onto the roof’s ledge. With a hop backwards, he dropped out of sight just as the exterior door swung open to reveal TS. One look at me and he was on high alert.