by Aliya DalRae
“We had a last-minute addition to our travelling party,” Mason said, and he sounded less than pleased about it. A quick glance at the Warlord, though, revealed nothing of his thoughts.
Five minutes later, the scent of clean cotton and wild heather filled the cabin. Nox knew immediately who boarded the plane, even before her sweet Scottish accent reached his ears.
“Sorry I’m late,” Rachel said. The sound and scent of her propelled the acrobatic creatures already present in Nox’s stomach into a motion that would put the Russian Olympic gymnastics team out of contention for the gold. “It took longer than I expected to get Perry and Martin settled in with the twins. I hope I don’t regret that choice.” She hesitated a moment, then flopped into the seat facing Mason with an exaggerated sigh.
Nox looked a question at Raven, but this brother only shrugged. Mason answered the unasked question.
“As you know, Rachel is the daughter of a Seer. While she doesn’t have Miss Sweet’s level of the gift, I’m told she has strong instincts. Those instincts told her she needed to be with us on this journey. I thought it wise not to ignore them.”
Rachel, turned to Mason but didn’t quite look at him. “Thank you, Warlord. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
Raven caught Rachel’s eye and nodded. “Jessica was concerned as well. She hasn’t had a vision since the pregnancy, you know, but she said she’s sensing a darkness around us.” He motioned between him and Nox. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Well, that made one of them, Nox thought.
Only then did Rachel glance at him, but Nox looked away, his thoughts having returned to his original concerns. Harrier revved the engines, and their low growl became a crescendoing whine that reverberated in Nox’s chest.
Harrier’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “Good evening, passengers. Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for take-off. My name is Harrier, and I’ll be your captain this evening. Weather looks clear from here to London, so turbulence should be at a minimum. Bathrooms are in the back, along with the usual array of eats and treats. We don’t have a flight attendant unless my sister is feeling generous.”
“In your dreams.”
“So, once we’re in the air and the fasten seatbelt sign goes off, feel free to roam about the cabin and help yourselves to any of the amenities. Until then, hang tight and enjoy the ride. Thank you for flying Air Harrier.”
Nox checked his seat belt, pulled the strap as tight as it would go. The engines grew louder and his knuckles turned white as he grabbed the armrest and squeezed his eyes shut.
They accelerated down the runway, and the noise created by the wheels on the ground grew to near deafening proportions. The only thing more terrifying than that sound was when it stopped. The nose of the plane lifted, tilting him forward in his seat, and when the wheels left the ground, a momentary sensation of weightlessness enveloped him. His eyes flew open and he couldn’t help the “holy shit” that slipped from his mouth.
As the plane leveled out, the cabin came back into focus and he saw Raven watching him, his lips turned up in a small smile. “It gets easier,” he promised, but Nox shook his head.
“Are you kidding?” he said. “That was fucking awesome!”
Chapter Nine
O nce the Cessna was in the air, Merlin packed up his laptop and headed back to his suite. With Mason and Raven both out of the country, it would fall on Tas to handle the Legion business. The Aussie had things under control, leaving Merlin with a bit of time on his hands.
Nothing would come up that he couldn’t handle from his personal office, and his recent lack of sleep added weight to an already overflowing plate. The thought of settling into his own space with an ice-cold beer, relaxing a bit…it was too tempting to ignore.
With his computer bag slung over his shoulder and a stack of folders in his arms, Merlin boarded the elevator and hit the button for his floor. Thinking of beer reminded him of the Yuengling he’d shared with Martin, and he reached into his pocket to caress the bottle cap that had taken up near-permanent residency there. The Soldier had managed to lighten up a bit and they’d had a nice conversation. Too nice. Merlin vowed he’d never put himself in that situation again, alone with the aristocratic male. It was too risky. Definitely not worth the trouble it would cause. With that conviction firmly implanted, Merlin exited the lift and headed toward home, forcing his thoughts in a more benign direction.
He’d chosen not to think about the fact that the Soldier would be spending the next however many nights just down the hall in Rachel’s suite. Convinced himself when Harrier asked him to rearrange the schedule that it would be easy to avoid the Soldier. He almost never saw Rachel or the kids. The odds of him seeing Martin were practically nil. Of running into the male on the very first night? Even less. Had he thought otherwise, he would have chosen to spend the next few days in his office, or down in the Club.
And so, he was genuinely surprised when he rounded the corner with nothing but beer on his mind, and ran headlong into Martin.
“Sorry,” Merlin mumbled, as he bent to gather his things. The folders lay in a scattered pile at his feet, and he haphazardly collected the escaped documents, eager to retrieve and retreat.
“No, no, it was my fault.”
Merlin looked up and locked eyes with the most dangerous male in the Legion, to him, anyway. It was as if his thoughts had conjured the Soldier from thin air.
“Fancy meeting you here.” Martin flashed that devastating smile of his as he scooped some of the papers into a pile and tapped them on the floor to neaten the stack. “Perry and I are taking care of the twins while Rachel and Harrier are out of town. We’re staying here until they get back, but then you probably already know that.”
Merlin looked at the floor, at the mess of documents he would have to re-order, but seeing, instead, the mess his life would become if he weren’t careful. Until Rachel and the twins had moved in down the hall from him a few months ago, he’d enjoyed having the floor to himself. But the walls were well insulated and Merlin kept ridiculously long hours, so having them next door rarely bothered him.
Until now.
Martin went back to gathering the folders, his long fingers brushing Merlin’s hand as they worked.
“I’ve got this,” Merlin growled, but Martin ignored him.
“You live on this floor, too?” Martin asked.
“Yeah, Merlin said. “Just over there.” He nodded toward the end of the hall, where his door lay nestled in a secluded alcove. He’d been but a few yards from avoiding this collision. Had he waiting five minutes, just five short minutes…but as they say, timing is everything.
Once he’d gathered the folders, Martin handed the last of them to Merlin.
“Are you done for the night?” he asked.
Merlin nodded and took a step toward his door. “Yeah, thanks. See ya.”
“Have you eaten?”
The question took Merlin off guard.
“I only ask because I’m running out for Perky’s. We ordered a ton, so there will be plenty. You’re welcome to join us.
Merlin glanced again at the sanctuary of his home. He should decline, should walk away, was going to, but…
“In fact, why don’t you ride along with me? You could help me carry the pies. Come on,” he said when Merlin hesitated. “It’ll do you good to get out of this place.”
Merlin thought about the work he had and of his plans to turn in early. The cause of his sleepless nights stood before him, asking him to go for a ride. And he wasn’t ignorant to the fact that turning in early would in no way ensure he got the rest he so desperately needed. Not with Martin just a few yards away.
Fuck it.
Maybe if he spent some time with the male, the dreams would stop. Maybe his infatuation would go away if he got to know the kid better. Maybe it would put to rest the nightmares of Kioshi and eliminate the threat of the Kurai Senshi.
And maybe the Easter Bunny laid hard boiled eggs.
>
He pushed away further arguments from his more reasonable subconscious, said, “Give me a minute,” and went to drop his things in his suite.
Chapter Ten
T he take-off was a relatively smooth one by Rachel’s figuring, but from Nox’s reaction you would have thought the plane was about to go down. Once they hit the air, though, his look went from one of pure terror to that of absolute bliss. His eyes widened and he loosened his grip on the armrests as he chanced a peek out the window. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see him throw his hands in the air, like a kid on a rollercoaster.
“First flight?” she asked.
Nox turned to her, his cheeks flushed. “Could you tell?”
Rachel laughed. “Hardly noticeable at all. Harrier’s a very good pilot,” she added. “You’ve nothing to worry about so long as my brother’s at the controls.”
“I wasn’t worried,” Nox said. Rachel knifed a sideways glance at him. “Much” he added. “I had no idea it would be so…so…”
“Exhilarating?”
Nox snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Yes. That’s the word. Exhilarating.”
Rachel laughed again. “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it. We have eight or nine hours of exhilaration ahead of us.”
“That’s amazing. I’ve only crossed this ocean once before, and it took nearly two months by ship. I barely slept, terrified they’d find me and pull me out of my hiding place in the middle of the day.”
“With your talents?” Rachel waved her finger around her head.
“Yes, well, even I can’t manipulate a human’s mind in my sleep.”
The “Fasten Seatbelts” light went off and Rachel unbuckled, shifted in her seat so she could see Nox more clearly. Her bloody curiosity got the best of her, and despite previous assertions to keep her distance from this male, she gave in to it.
“How exactly did you escape?”
Before he could answer, Mason stood. “Raven, join me in the back. I have some things I want to go over with you.”
“If you need to speak to them both, Warlord, I can find a place out of the way. I have plenty of reading material to keep me occupied while you attend to business.”
Mason looked from her to Nox and shook his head. He seemed tired, sad, and Rachel chose to believe that concern for the upcoming meeting with the Primeval made him so. She refused to consider it had anything to do with their failed dinner date.
As the two Warriors made their way to the back of the plane, Rachel returned her attention to Nox. He was staring out the window again. Rachel moved to Raven’s seat and looked out her own window, curious what Nox’s first flight looked like to him.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked.
Nox nodded. “I had no idea. Am I crazy to wish for a little light so I could see things more clearly?”
Rachel smiled. “The windows are specially treated, so Harrier can transport us twenty-four/seven. I’m sure if you asked him nicely, he’d take you up during daylight hours.”
“You think so?”
He really was like a kid on his first carnival ride, his one eye bright and dancing with excitement. Rachel couldn’t help but share his joy.
“I could stare out this window the whole flight.” He leaned back in his chair and smiled at Rachel. It was open and unguarded, a look she’d never seen on him before, at least not when aimed at her. She tried not to let it affect her, but he was simply beautiful. The glass eye Allon had fitted him with recently matched his natural color perfectly. If she squinted just so, she could almost imagine it was real, that Nox had never suffered that horrendous loss. Butterflies took flight in her belly and she had to look away.
“It all looks the same after a while,” she muttered, staring out her window, but not seeing the clouds, or the shapes of land below them. She closed her eyes, but even then, she saw only him.
“Perhaps,” Nox said, “but I’ve a feeling the view would never get old.”
His voice was quiet, something in it drawing her eyes back to him. He was no longer looking through the window, but staring at her, his beautiful eye swirling with purple light.
Rachel gave herself a mental check, pushed away the stirring in her belly brought on by his intensity. If she didn’t acknowledge it, maybe it would go away. “You were about to tell me how you escaped the Primeval,” she said.
Nox blinked, his eye returning to its natural blue, and Rachel gave a mental sigh of relief.
“Was I?” he asked.
“Yes,” Rachel whispered. “You were.”
Chapter Eleven
T hey rode together in silence, mostly due to Merlin’s shock at the changes in the landscape. When had they replaced that old bridge? And where had all these houses come from? What used to be fields upon fields of corn and soy beans had now been planted in early McMansion. Of course, he knew things wouldn’t be the same. His computer maps kept him up to date on everything. Yet, he never dreamed it would look so…different.
As if reading his mind, Martin asked, “Exactly when was the last time you left the Compound?”
Merlin raised a shoulder in indifference, though his mind was scrambling to remember.
“I only ask because you look like you’re seeing all of this for the first time. Weren’t you one of Mason’s original Warriors?”
Merlin lifted that shoulder again. “Close enough,” he said. “But that was eons ago.”
“Did you patrol back then, or have you always been a nerd?”
“Geek.”
“What?”
“I’m a geek, not a nerd.”
“Same difference.”
“Don’t let a nerd or a geek hear you say that. Look it up. It’s offensive to confuse the two.”
Martin smiled as he made a left turn. “You’ll have to educate me further sometime, but you’re avoiding my question. Did you ever—”
“No.”
“So, you can’t fight? How the hell did you make Warrior if you can’t fight?”
And he’d thought being called a nerd was insulting. Merlin felt a tingling behind his eyes. It was a sensation more of memory than anything, and he knew when the dash lights dimmed, the headlights nearly extinguished that it was his doing. He didn’t need a mirror to know that his eyes had gone black, that he was absorbing every particle of light in his vicinity. He slammed his lids closed at Martin’s muttered, “What the hell,” pushed his emotions deep inside him when the Soldier slammed on the brakes and fiddled with the lights.
It took but a moment for Merlin to regain control, for the lights to shine again and for Martin to pull back onto the road, saying something about having the vehicle checked when they got back.
But this was more proof that being near Martin was dangerous. While he may not remember the last time he left the Compound, Merlin recalled precisely the last time he’d sparked. Except, for him, it was more the opposite. His eyes didn’t give off light, they drew it in, and before a few months ago, that hadn’t happened in over a thousand years.
“I’d ask if you’ve ever seen a car do something like that before, but that would bring us back to our conversation. Why did Mason make you a Warrior if you can’t fight?”
“‘Can’t’ and ‘don’t’ are two different things,” Merlin said. “I choose to serve the Legion in a non-violent capacity.”
“So, you’re a pacifist Warrior?” Martin grinned.
Merlin turned his eyes back to the window as he fought the emotions churning inside him. Other than Mason and Tas, no one knew of his past. It was better that way, safer. He watched the houses fly by as they drove through Fallen Cross, a town now full of pharmacies and fast food joints, of properly paved roads. He saw none of it. Instead, it was another time, another place. Another boy.
“We’re here,” Martin said as he pulled into a parking lot behind a two-story brick building in what appeared to be the center of town. “Come on.”
They exited the vehicle and Martin said, “So, you’ve ne
ver been to Perky’s before?” Of course, Merlin had not, and he didn’t know why that would cause Martin to grin the way he did. “You’re in for a treat.”
They entered through the back and worked their way through a maze of dine-in seating. Red and white checkered cloths covered the tables, and hurricane lamp centerpieces providing an ambiance that felt forced. Not that it bothered the hordes of customers who crowded the place, dining on pizza and drinking beer out of frosted heavy mugs.
Merlin and Martin wound their way through to the front where a pretty girl stood behind the counter. She had dark hair and bright blue eyes that lit up like a couple of birthday candles when she saw Martin. She flashed a megawatt smile his way and fluffed her hair as they approached. Merlin chose to ignore the flash of jealousy that smacked him on the head. He couldn’t afford to let his emotions loose in this place. Besides, it would be a whole lot easier if Martin were straight, and the attraction Merlin felt between them were simply wishful thinking.
He kept telling himself that as Martin leaned against the counter to chat with the girl.
“Hey, Marty. Long time, no see.” The girl was bubbly and cute and clearly infatuated with Martin. And what the hell was this “Marty” crap?
“Hey, Becky. Been busy,” Martin said. “Work is killing me.” He turned and winked at Merlin, then returned his attention to the girl.
“Your pies are almost ready,” she said. “Can I get you and your friend a beer while you wait?”
“That’d be great,” Martin answered for the both of them, though Merlin would have preferred to get their pizzas and go. “Yuengling on tap?”
Orrrr, he could stay.
“Thanks.” Martin smiled again as he handed a frosty glass to Merlin, who nodded his appreciation to the girl.
“So, who’s your friend anyway?” Becky leaned across the counter to push her ample cleavage closer to Martin’s arm.
