by Abby Blake
“Because we know who the traitor is.”
“So tell me,” Dyson said as acid churned in his stomach. Benjamin’s demeanor suggested that it wasn’t somebody from Deeks Security, but someone far closer to them all. Dyson took a deep breath and steeled himself for bad news. In the end, it didn’t matter who the traitor was. That person’s betrayal was going to hurt all of them for a very long time. It had already damaged their trust in each other.
“Dyson,” Benjamin said in a sad voice. “I’d really prefer to discuss this face-to-face.”
And like a lightning bolt, it finally struck Dyson who Benjamin was talking about. “Jason,” he said as pain lanced through him.
“Jason,” Benjamin confirmed quietly. “I’m sorry, Dy—”
“Are you certain?” Dyson asked, cutting his commanding officer off even though he knew his boss would never lie to him. That was probably the most concerning part—that he would believe Benjamin over the man he’d worked most closely with for the past fifty years. Dyson had spent a good part of the past three weeks trying to avoid thinking too deeply on who might have been their traitor. In some very small place inside him, he’d suspected Jason all along. The timing of his family crisis had been suspicious, and it was no secret that warlocks, for the most part, had little time for humans.
“We’re positive. Amber identified him when he opened a bounce tunnel into the middle of the PLA headquarters. If Wilson had stepped through…” Benjamin left the thought unfinished, but it was obvious what the outcome would have been. Landing in the middle of the Pixie League of Assassins was the very last place any of the Oracle’s receptacles needed to be. “The evidence is overwhelming,” Benjamin said in a tight voice. “We can go over it when you get here, maybe talk to Darian and Wilson, but it’s unfortunately not going to change anything. Once Jason realized Amber was onto him, he tried to force her and Wilson into the bounce tunnel. When that failed, he dived through it himself.”
“So Amber has the same ‘knowing’ skill as the others?”
Benjamin hesitated for a moment, perhaps trying to understand Dyson’s quick change of topic. “Yes, Amber had some skills, but since meeting Kali, Ava, and Hannah, she has developed many more.”
“Hannah’s alive? You lied to us?”
Benjamin cleared his throat. “It was necessary to protect her.”
Inside his head, Dyson understood Benjamin’s reasons why. He would have done exactly the same thing under the circumstances, but it didn’t change the fact that the man he’d assumed mere moments ago would never lie to him, had lied to him. Fortunately, before Dyson could say something he’d regret later, Benjamin cut him off and started giving him orders. It wasn’t often that Benjamin actually gave orders—mostly, he trusted his team to do what they do best—but today Dyson sought comfort in following his boss’s directives. If nothing else, it gave him a chance to keep moving when a part of him just wanted to stop and sit still. It didn’t seem possible that a man he knew better than a brother would betray them all, but at the same time it almost seemed like Dyson had been waiting for this exact news.
At least by following orders, he didn’t have to think about what that meant just now.
Benjamin wanted them all to return to Sugarvale because recent happenings had proven that the Oracle’s receptacles were safer together than separately. Dyson considered explaining Kristen’s lack of skills, but decided to wait until he was face to face with the man. They were going to Sugarvale via slip travel, so it would be less than an hour anyway.
But at the mention of Thomas and Adam, Dyson decided to share his observations on that subject. It was obvious that something was going on. Both men had gotten more on edge the closer their travels took them to Skye’s sister’s hometown. Dyson remembered how the wolves had acted the night Skye and Jennifer had been attacked by their old boss, and he knew enough about werewolf mating to suspect that at least one—maybe both of them—was mate to Skye’s sister, Jennifer.
Benjamin laughed softly. “I always knew Thomas was going to fall hard when the right woman came along. Tell him and Adam they have twenty-four hours to grab their mate and get back here.” Dyson could almost feel the relief coming through the phone line. Obviously, he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Adam and Thomas noticing Jennifer. “We’ll expect you, Angus, and Kristen in one hour. In the meantime, I’ll try not to tell my wife that her sister’s probably coming for a visit.”
Chapter Six
Angus heard Dyson come back into the apartment and listened closely as he filled the others in on the news that he’d been given.
It wasn’t until Adam asked, “Jason’s the traitor?” for about the hundredth time that Angus finally realized they were talking about Dyson’s usual squad partner. Hell, of all the men in PUP Squad Alpha, Dyson had been the one closest to Jason. It didn’t make any sense that Jason would work and fight side by side for the past fifty years and suddenly turn on them, but at the moment, it would seem that was exactly what he’d done. Angus knew enough about warlocks to understand that most detested being mistaken for human, but not usually enough to want the humans dead.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Dyson said, sounding annoyed. “Benjamin said it. Wilson, Darian, Amber, and Jed confirmed it. The evidence is apparently overwhelming.”
Angus slid out of bed slowly, careful not to wake Kristen, and quietly opened the bedroom door. He didn’t say a word. He simply nodded that he’d heard, gave them all a concerned look, and went back to guarding Kristen.
“The good news is that they’ve discovered that the Oracle’s receptacles are safer as a group. Benjamin has ordered me and Angus to transport Kristen to just outside of Sugarvale via slip travel in a little under one hour. They have a house already set up and waiting for her.”
“So the assignment is complete?”
Angus stopped listening to the rest of the conversation as he slid back onto the bed and pulled Kristen into his embrace. With their assignment complete—sort of—they would have a chance to fully explore the relationship that was building between them. But there was also a part of him that realized that this could be the beginning of the end. Relationships built under the stress of a life-or-death situation usually fizzled out once the threat was removed.
Was it weird that he was happy that the threat against Kristen wasn’t completely removed? Yes, he was definitely relieved that they’d identified the traitor. And he was very glad that Kristen was in less danger than she’d been in the past three weeks, but he was also grateful that she couldn’t just return home in the same way many of his protection assignments ended. At least by having her in Sugarvale he and Dyson would have a chance to get to know the woman better under relatively more normal circumstances.
He watched Kristen as she slept, his mind partially focused on the conversation still going on in the living area, the rest of him wondering if what Alex had told him about minimizing the effects of slip travel on humans was actually true. It had certainly sounded like a far more pleasant experience for the humans involved.
Dyson came into the room a few moments later.
“Asleep?” he asked in a whisper as he started moving around the room. They didn’t have much stuff with them, so it wouldn’t take him long to pack it up.
“Awake,” Kristen mumbled, sounding far from actually being conscious.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” Dyson said as he crouched beside the bed and looked at Kristen. “We move out in less than an hour. Would you like to grab a shower?”
“Move out? Where are we going?”
“Sugarvale,” Dyson said as he lifted Kristen out of the bed and into his arms. She snuggled against him for a moment longer before their destination registered.
“Isn’t that the town where your headquarters is located? Isn’t that kind of dangerous?” As her own sleepy words filled the air, Kristen seemed to become more alert. “I mean…um…sorry, that was rude. You guys are the experts. As long as I have a kitchen, I
’m happy.”
“Good to know,” Angus said before he thought to stifle the impulse to tease Dyson yet again. After the news he’d just been given, Dyson wasn’t liable to appreciate his usual argumentative demeanor. But when Dyson rolled his eyes and reacted exactly as he’d done the past three weeks, Angus realized that his instinct to tiptoe around his mission partner was probably the last thing the fire demon wanted. “Of course, moving means we need to have a celebratory breakfast. I’m thinking five courses at least.”
“And I’m thinking you can damn well cook yourself some toast. She’s not your personal chef,” Dyson said gruffly as he carried their woman into the small bathroom.
Once they were out of sight, Angus thought he heard Kristen try to say something, but her words cut off quickly. He couldn’t help but smile as he dragged on some clothes and went to find Adam and Thomas.
* * * *
Kristen wanted to referee what was becoming a rather regular argument between her two demons, but then Dyson started kissing her and every other thought flew out of her head. She squeezed her thighs together, still deliciously sore from their sexcapades of the past few days.
Dyson lifted her onto the cold vanity, pushed her legs open, and wedged his hips in between her thighs. He kissed her again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, his hand in her hair holding her still for his attentions. His other hand smoothed down her stomach, his fingers pressing gently against her swollen folds. He caressed her slowly, his now-familiar touch awakening every nerve ending in her body.
“Are you sore?” he asked quietly. She had no doubt he would pull away if she said yes, but she needed him as much as he needed her.
“Please,” she begged, softly trying to wriggle forward so that she could rub against his hard shaft.
“Answer the question, sweetheart.” It was an order, pure and simple, but it was the caring that lay behind it that had her answering honestly.
“Maybe just a little.” She held on to him, terrified that he would pull away. He lifted his head, smiled, and then went back to kissing her. His fingers slid gently over her clit, her body’s natural lubricant coating his fingers as he expertly brought her to the edge of climax.
She whimpered, needing him inside her, any discomfort forgotten as he pressed the latex-covered head of his cock against her vaginal opening. He entered her slowly, easing in an inch or so before retreating and then easing forward once more. Dyson watched her face, his movements sure but tender, controlled yet also controlling. He held her to him, a hand on her lower spine keeping her still as she shook in reaction.
This wasn’t fucking. This wasn’t the fun they’d been having over the past few days. Dyson was making love to her. Truly, emotionally, genuinely making love to her. She closed her eyes, frightened of the need that coursed through her. This connection, the spiritual melding, terrified her more than anything else in her entire life. Knowing this side of him, being a part of something special, was going to make her loss even greater when they realized she wasn’t the woman they should be protecting. She wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t an Oracle’s receptacle. She wasn’t the person Dyson thought she was.
A single tear slipped from her closed eye. She quickly swiped it away, but not before Dyson noticed. His movement faltered, his hips stilling as he reached up to touch her face.
“Open your eyes, Kristen.” She shook her head, embarrassed by her weakness. “Am I hurting you?”
“No,” she managed to force out of her mouth without sobbing. “Please, I need you.”
“I need you, too, sweetheart,” he said a moment before taking her mouth in a devastating kiss. He didn’t move his body, just held her impaled on his cock as he kissed her over and over and over. “I lo—”
But Kristen cut him off. She kissed him again, dragging him close, trying to practically inhale the words he would have spoken. She couldn’t let him say it, couldn’t hear the words that would make leaving him impossible, even when she knew it was the right thing to do. She tightened the muscles in her vaginal wall, squeezing and releasing, dragging her own orgasm closer, desperately trying to take him with her.
Finally, his control snapped. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, his large hands grabbing her hips, his movement forcing more of his cock deeper into her pussy. She slid forward, offering her body, giving him what he needed, nearly screaming when his fingers grabbed her clit and squeezed tight. Heat exploded over her, her orgasm intense, violent, heart pounding. He fucked her harder, slamming into her pussy like a man possessed, his cock throbbing as his orgasm gripped him and he pumped his cum deep into her body.
He continued to kiss her, his movements less frantic, his touch no longer meant to arouse but to soothe instead. She clung to him, her breathing finally evening out, but her heart aching with all that she knew she would lose. She may have stopped him saying the words out loud, but she felt his love in every gentle stroke, every soft kiss, every heartbeat.
But it wasn’t hers to keep.
She was the wrong woman, and sooner or later Dyson and Angus were going to figure it out.
Chapter Seven
Sugarvale was a truly beautiful place. Some of the original houses had been lovingly restored and some had been built from scratch, but they all blended perfectly with the surrounding area. Angus glanced around the town and wondered how such an amazing place could also be the setting for the failure of the relationship that had begun with such promise.
With the town heavily protected by magical wards, Kristen had insisted on sleeping in her own room, in her own bed, alone. He had no idea what Dyson had done to fuck things up the day their assignment had brought them to Sugarvale, but it had somehow affected Angus’s relationship with Kristen as well. Being a demon, he didn’t mind sharing, but he sure as hell didn’t appreciate being punished for someone else’s mistakes.
It didn’t help that Dyson had withdrawn into his own misery thanks to the betrayal of his ex–squad partner. The two days they’d been living in Sugarvale had been the most confusing and miserable of Angus’s entire life.
Kristen hadn’t even cooked since they’d arrived. It wasn’t that he expected her to feed them every day—he and Dyson were decent enough cooks themselves—but it had seemed to give her such joy when they’d been on the run. The fact that she didn’t want to cook now was probably more concerning than her request to sleep alone. He knew enough to recognize depression when he saw it.
Angus was still lost in thought when Dyson came in the front door.
“She’s still in her room?” he asked as he walked past Angus and headed into the kitchen.
“Yes,” Angus replied. He didn’t want to make things worse for Dyson, but he needed to know what had gone on between them. One minute their relationship with Kristen had been fun and amazing, and the next it wasn’t.
“What happened that morning?”
Dyson seemed to not want to answer, but then he shrugged as if it were no big deal and mumbled, “I told her I loved her. Apparently, it was something she didn’t want to hear.”
“Did anyone ever tell you your timing sucks?”
“The thought has occurred to me,” Dyson said with a self-deprecating laugh. He leaned against the bench, crossed his legs at the ankles, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “But she was pulling away from both of us before then. I know you felt it, too.”
“I did,” Angus admitted. Somehow it had been easier to blame Dyson than to look at the situation more objectively. It couldn’t have been easy for Dyson to deal with Kristen’s rejection on the same day that his best friend had been revealed as the traitor, but Dyson had continued protecting Kristen and doing his job. Somehow the man had found the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other as his whole world fell apart around him. “Do you love her?” Considering the timing of Dyson’s declaration, it was very possible it had been a knee-jerk reaction to Jason’s betrayal.
Again, Dyson rubbed his eyes before answering. “I think I do, but there’s a
lso a part of me that thinks maybe we don’t know the woman as well as we thought we did. Did you know we got her fired?”
“How?” They hadn’t even been able to track down where she was actually working. How the hell could they have managed to get her fired?
“The transport company where we went looking for her. It turns out she worked there for six years.”
“But the boss and several other employees denied knowing her. Were they protecting her?”
“No,” Dyson said, shaking his head as if he couldn’t quite believe what had happened. “They literally had no idea who she was. It’s like she was invisible. None of them ever noticed her.”
“Do you think that’s why she often seems to do the exact opposite of what her instincts tell her?”
“That’s my guess,” Dyson said, glancing up at the ceiling as if he could somehow see into the bedroom upstairs. “She probably lived in the apartment we had listed for her as well. She just somehow never made an impression on anyone.”
“How is that possible?” Angus asked as he tried to imagine going through life without anyone noticing he was there. “She’s an amazing woman with an incredible heart. How the fuck didn’t anyone notice?”
“I think maybe she’s been going against her nature ever since she met us. You know the way she is when she cooks? She just gets in and does the job. She doesn’t ask for thanks, or expect help, or even think she deserves it. She just does it and then goes on to the next task. I think that’s who she really is. The argumentative, stand-up-for-herself woman that we’ve seen is her trying to break out of that biddable personality that basically left her invisible to others.”
“So what changed? Surely you telling her you loved her shouldn’t have caused this sort of reaction.”
“I’m not sure it did.” He laughed again in that self-deprecating sound that suggested nothing about this situation was funny. “My timing could have been better, but I think it was learning that the other Oracle’s receptacles had extraordinary powers that she doesn’t have that changed everything.”
