Defender Cave Bear: Protection, Inc: Defenders # 1

by Chant, Zoe

  “No, Dad.” She rolled her eyes at him like he was missing something incredibly obvious. “I know you’ll protect me.”

  She threw her arms around him and gave him a hug. Instinctively, he hugged her back. Only then did he remember that he couldn’t touch her, couldn’t touch anyone but Tirzah. He started to brace himself to endure the pain…

  …but there was none. There was just his daughter hugging him and him hugging her back, like they’d always used to do. The shock of joy and relief made his eyes sting.

  Suddenly, Caro stiffened in his arms. “Hey!”

  Before Pete could react, she’d yanked down his collar, exposing the bandage taped to his chest.

  “What’s that?” she demanded. She didn’t give him a chance to reply—not that there was any explanation he could think of anyway. Her voice rose in a fury. “You lied to me! You said you had food poisoning! Did your bad burger shoot you in the chest?!”

  “Okay, first of all, it’s not a gunshot wound.”

  “What is it, then?” she demanded.

  Pete took a deep breath. “I can’t tell you that. I’m sorry I lied to you. I should’ve just said I couldn’t talk about it.”

  “I’m sick of you not being able to talk about it!” Caro shouted. “You never tell me anything! I’m not a little kid anymore!”

  “Then stop yelling like one!”

  “You’re the one who’s yelling!” she yelled.

  Tirzah pushed the door open. “Hey guys—whoa, sorry, awkward—but we should probably get going, right?”

  “Right.” Pete had never been so relieved to be interrupted in his life. He lifted her chair down the step.

  “You can take the front seat,” Tirzah said to Caro.

  Sulkily, she said, “I’ll sit in the back.”

  Pete decided not to make an issue of it. He loaded Tirzah’s wheelchair, checked to make sure no one was waiting to ambush them outside, and peeled out of the garage.

  As he got on the freeway, a small voice rose from the back seat. “Dad? Are you all right?”

  “Sure,” he said automatically, then realized what she was talking about. “Yeah, mija. I’m fine. Just a few cuts.”

  “A few cuts wouldn’t make you not be able to get out of bed!”

  Pete glanced at Tirzah, who seemed to be trying to make herself invisible. He couldn’t blame her. There was nothing worse than being trapped in the middle of a family argument when you weren’t part of the family.

  She is family, his cave bear rumbled unexpectedly. She is our mate.

  And there was that mate thing again. He was watching the road, making sure they weren’t being followed, but all these questions were bubbling at the back of his mind.

  What did being a mate really mean?

  Was Tirzah really his?

  What happened if your mate didn’t love you?

  Why had he only been able to touch Tirzah before?

  Why could he suddenly hug Caro now?

  Who was the gargoyle’s boss, and where was he now?

  Tirzah softly cleared her throat, catching his attention. She indicated herself with a flick of her hand, then raised her eyebrows questioningly: Want me to talk to her?

  Pete nodded. Caro, who was very selective about who she liked, adored her already; if he hadn’t already noticed, he would have when Caro actually invited her to the cook-off.

  “I wish I could tell you everything,” Tirzah said. “I hate being curious and not knowing what’s really going on, so believe me, I get it. But I’ll tell what I can, and I promise it’s the truth. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Caro said warily.

  “First off, Pete really is fine. And he really does just have a few cuts. They bled a lot and he was exhausted, and that’s why he needed to rest for a while.”

  “So why didn’t he say that?” Caro asked.

  Pete started to open his mouth, but Tirzah gave her head a small warning shake. He closed his mouth again.

  “Because he couldn’t tell you how he got hurt, and he knew how frustrating that would be,” Tirzah said. “He thought it would be simpler if you didn’t know there was more to know. And because he was afraid that if he told the truth, you’d worry about him and it would upset you.”

  Pete wouldn’t have put it in those words, but it was the truth. It was almost scary how well Tirzah understood him.

  “Okay,” Caro said. He could hear from her tone that she accepted the truth of the explanation. “But isn’t there anything you can tell me? I’m old enough to understand, I promise. And I won’t tell anyone else if it has to be a secret.”

  “It’s not safe,” Pete said firmly. “The less you know, the safer you are.”

  “We just had to flee our own house!” Caro said. “How would I be any less safe if I knew why? Maybe I’d be more safe if I knew what was going on.”

  For his ears only, Tirzah murmured, “She has a point.”

  Pete gave her a quick headshake. For all of her brilliance, there were things she just couldn’t understand, not being a parent herself. Not to mention not having been experimented on and turned into a shapeshifter. To Caro, he said, “No, you wouldn’t. There’s things you just can’t know. And that’s that.”

  Sulkily, Caro said, “I wish I’d gone with Abuelita. Maybe you should put me on a plane to Phoenix!”

  Tirzah glanced at him, eyebrows raised to signal, Should you?

  “I’m not putting you on a plane alone,” he said. “And don’t call your Abuelita and tell her to come get you. She’s safe where she is. If she comes here, she may not be. Understand?”

  “I would never put Abuelita in danger!”

  “I know you wouldn’t, mija. I just wanted to make sure you understood—”

  “I’m not stupid,” she snapped.

  Pete was so relieved that there was no chance of Caro texting Mom to come get her that he let that slide. The rest of the ride to the office occurred in an uncomfortable silence. On the positive side, nothing attacked them on the way, nor did he catch anyone following them. When he pulled into the Defenders parking lot, he saw that Merlin had beaten them there, and Roland and Ransom’s cars were also there.

  At least Carter’s not around, he thought with relief. The last thing he needed right now was dealing with that arrogant billionaire who wasn’t even on the team.

  Caro perked up once they parked, jumping out of the car and looking around curiously, still clutching her jewelry box. “Ah-ha! So this is the Bat Cave!”

  Pete, imagining Batcat flapping around the parking lot, couldn’t help grinning. Tirzah gave a sudden laugh, loud enough to echo in the cavernous space.

  “You can leave your jewelry box in the car,” Pete said.

  Caro hugged it to her chest. “No! Where I go, it goes!”

  “It’s completely safe in the parking lot,” Pete began, then broke off when Tirzah again jabbed him in the ribs. He had no idea what had gotten into Caro, but there was no point wasting time squabbling and it wouldn’t do her any harm to walk around cradling the box like it was her pet cat. Maybe she was so stressed out that she was using it as a sort of lovie for teenagers.

  On the other hand, other than clinging to her jewelry box for dear life, she sure didn’t seem stressed. She seemed excited and curious.

  “Are the rest of the bodyguards as cool as Merlin?” she inquired. “Are any of them women?”

  “No women yet,” Pete said resignedly, since the cat was sure out of the bag as far as telling her nothing about his job was concerned. “But there’s only four of us total. You think Merlin is cool?”

  “His T-shirt had a Harry Potter joke,” she pointed out. “Well? Are they?”

  The elevator dinged and opened, saving him from having to answer that. As it carried them upward, he mentally crossed his fingers that it wouldn’t open to some scene of craziness like the last time he’d come in. For that matter, he really hoped the flittering creature wouldn’t decide to make an encore appearance, just for his daughter
.

  Merlin was waiting for them in the lobby, alone. At first Pete was relieved. Then he realized that given what was going on, all three of the guys ought to be waiting for them.

  This feeling was only bolstered when Merlin began speaking, a bit too loudly and rapidly. “Hi, Pete, Tirzah! I put your luggage safely away. Hi, Caro! Want a tour of the office? We have some rooms in case you end up staying overnight—want to put your jewelry box in one of them? Let me show you around while Pete and Tirzah have a talk with our boss! He’s in his office.”

  Caro glanced at Pete, who nodded, then back at Merlin. “Who’s your favorite Harry Potter character?”

  “Luna Lovegood,” Merlin said instantly. “Who’s yours?”

  “Harry,” she said. “I think I’d be in Gryffindor too.”

  “Oh, you’d definitely be in Gryffindor,” he said. “Just like your dad.”

  “What about you?” Caro asked.

  “Well, that’s hard to say…”

  They were still discussing Harry Potter as they vanished down a corridor. Once Pete could no longer hear them, he and Tirzah exchanged glances.

  “What was that about?” she asked. “One of the kittens is loose in Roland’s office and he and Ransom are trying to catch it?”

  “Got me,” Pete said. “I hope that’s all.”

  She touched his shoulder. “Hey—I hope it didn’t come across like I was second-guessing your parenting. You’re a great dad.”

  Her thoughtfulness warmed him as much as the touch of her fingers. He could feel the outline of each one like a brand, if fire could burn without pain. “I’m trying. There’s been so much of her life I wasn’t there for.”

  “Well, she really loves you, so you were obviously there enough. And, Pete—you’re here now.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze, then released it as they went to Roland’s office.

  The door was closed. Given what Tirzah had said about the kitten, Pete knocked. “Roland? It’s me and Tirzah. Caro’s getting an office tour from Merlin.”

  Roland opened the door. His usually-neat clothes were rumpled, and he looked worried. “Come in.”

  They went in, and he closed the door behind them.

  “Where’s—” Pete started to ask. Then he saw Ransom. His teammate was sitting on the floor in the corner, knees up, face down, arms wrapped around his head. Lowering his voice, Pete asked, “What’s the matter with him?”

  “He saw… knew…I don’t quite understand how his power works, but it somehow showed him that you and Tirzah were in danger. We tried calling you both, but we couldn’t reach either of you. I asked Ransom if he could get some specifics, like where you were now and who was after you. He said he’d try. He closed his eyes, and then he told us what I’d asked for. And then…” Roland gestured toward Ransom. “He’s been like that ever since. Something obviously went wrong, but he can’t seem to explain what it is.”

  “Pete,” Tirzah said. “Maybe you could do for him what you did for me. You know, the Shoulder of Strength.”

  “What’s that?” Roland asked.

  “Tirzah had a nightmare, and I calmed her down. I mean, inside her mind. I didn’t know I could do it until I did. So maybe I could do that for Ransom. I don’t know, though. I might only be able to do it for Tirzah.”

  Roland looked puzzled. “What makes you think it might only work on her?”

  “Well…” Pete didn’t want to give his boss the entire story. Not now, anyway. Instead, he said, “Can you shake my hand?”

  Pete held it out. Roland looked into his eyes, startled, and Pete realized that Roland had guessed far more of his secret than Pete had ever known. Then he reached out and gravely took Pete’s hand.

  He felt nothing more than Roland’s grip, solid and strong.

  “Okay,” Pete said. “I’ll try.”

  He knelt down in front of Ransom. His teammate didn’t move, but Pete could hear his shaky breathing. “Hey. Hey, buddy. Can you hear me?”

  Ransom lifted his head and looked at Pete with bleak, haunted eyes. Or rather, Pete realized with a chill, he was looking through him, as if he wasn’t even there.

  “I opened the door,” Ransom said in a barely audible voice. “I opened it, and I can’t close it.”

  “What door?”

  Ransom went on talking over Pete, as if he hadn’t heard him. “It’ll never close again.”

  Stepping inside the storm of Tirzah’s emotions had been strange enough, and there was nothing in her mind or soul that he didn’t love. For all that Ransom was his teammate, he’d never felt that he’d known the man well. And the way he was talking now sent a chill down Pete’s spine. He wasn’t sure he wanted to get inside Ransom’s head.

  He’s still your buddy, Pete reminded himself. And he’s in pain. He needs you.

  His bear agreed, You are pack.

  Pete put his hand on Ransom’s shoulder.

  Tirzah had been a storm, but Ransom was chaos. He was battered by a million voices shouting different things at the top of their lungs and a million images flashing too fast for him to see.

  Is this what it’s like for him all the time? Pete wondered.

  Ropes of guilt wrapped around his throat, choking him. He was drowning in a cold black well of despair.

  A few voices rose about the ear-shredding cacophony:

  “Why don’t you try it on yourself?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with the lights.”

  “What card am I holding?”

  “You’re a born betrayer.”

  Pete recognized the last one. He even remembered those exact words. They’d been spoken by the wizard-scientist Lamorat at the base where they’d all been changed, who’d taunted them all before they’d managed to turn the tables on him.

  That memory—his own memory, not Ransom’s—enabled Pete to find himself again within the chaos inside his teammate’s mind. And once he had done that, he searched for Ransom himself: the essence of him. He was harder to find than Tirzah had been, but Pete located him at last: brilliant and brittle, wounded and enduring, self-sacrificing and fearless. And, small and alone within the enveloping darkness, a spark of hope burned bright.

  Pete offered Ransom strength and calm and steadiness, support and clarity and friendship.

  Let me be your rock, Pete thought to him, trying to make his voice heard above all the rest. You can lean on me.

  And then he was abruptly back in the real world and his own body, kneeling on the floor of Roland’s office, with his hand on Ransom’s shoulder and Tirzah’s hand on his.

  Ransom jerked away, then scrambled to his feet. The shutters had come down over his face again, showing none of what Pete had seen within. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

  If Pete hadn’t felt what he’d felt, he might have been angry. But he was still shaken by what he had experienced, and moved by the knowledge that Ransom had endured that willingly to protect him—and more importantly, to protect Tirzah. And now that he’d met the Ransom who lived behind that closed-off interior, he couldn’t help liking him.

  “Thank you,” Pete said. “Me and Tirzah and my daughter are safe here because of what you did.”

  “Oh.” Ransom glanced around. “Where is she?”

  Pete was about to say, “With Merlin,” but he saw then that Merlin was in the room but Caro wasn’t.

  “In a client room. Shopping. She left without packing any clothes, so I gave her my laptop and an Amazon gift card,” Merlin said. “Couldn’t you just X-Ray vision her, Ransom?”

  “No. Finding Pete took everything I had.” Ransom blinked, then looked from Pete to Tirzah to Merlin. “Wait. Pete’s daughter is here, in the office? When Pete and Tirzah are here too?”

  “Is there something wrong with that?” Pete asked.

  “Your enemy can track you,” Ransom said. “You and Tirzah. And he can drive people into a rage. Anyone near you will be pulled into the fight once he catches up with you.”

  The cave bear roared in protect
ive fury.

  Pete felt the blood drain out of his face. Then his gut-wrenching fear transmuted into anger. “Merlin! Why the hell didn’t you tell me that?”

  “That’s the first I heard,” Merlin protested.

  “My fault,” Ransom said. “I think I got… lost… before I said everything I knew. But your daughter needs to be somewhere else, if you’re staying here.”

  “You know where he is right now?” Pete asked. “Or how close behind us he is?”

  Ransom shook his head. “Sorry, no idea.”

  “I have to get out of here,” Pete said. His mind was in a whirl of protect Caro and protect Tirzah, and his cave bear was roaring out the same things. It was hard to think straight. “Or get her out. Or—”

  Roland held up his hand. “Pete. Wait. You weren’t attacked at your house, and that would have been a good time to do it. I think we can assume that it takes your enemy some time to recharge, so to speak. Let’s not rush off half-cocked.”

  “Then Tirzah and I need to leave before he does recharge,” Pete said.

  “Should all three of you split up?” Merlin asked. “If you go together, couldn’t he turn the two of you against each other?”

  A bone-chilling horror came over Pete at the thought of being forced to hurt Tirzah.

  Never, snarled his cave bear. We would die before we harmed our mate!

  Pete wasn’t sure if the bear actually knew something or if he’d just rather die than turn on Tirzah, but something deep inside him believed that what his bear said was true. And though he couldn’t logically justify it, staying with Tirzah felt right. “Well, I can’t leave her alone if someone’s after her!”

  “I don’t think he’ll turn us on each other,” Tirzah said calmly. “If he’d wanted to do that, he’d have done it already, instead of using the neighbors to drive us out. He wants to get that file from me and he wants… something… from Pete, and he can’t get it if either of us is in a blind rage.”

  Pete nearly blurted out, “That’s what I love about you.” But though he couldn’t express it, he was immensely relieved that she had pinpointed the reasons for what he’d instinctively felt. “Yeah. We should stick together. But not here.”