Blaze (The Protectors Series) Book #10

by Teresa Gabelman

  “Am I allowed to continue to train?” Katrina asked, her eyes shifting away from Sloan, unsure of herself. Blaze could read her like a fucking book, and he wanted to shake her and tell her she was good enough.

  “Slade has released you?” he asked, but looked toward Blaze who nodded. “Then I see no reason why you can’t.”

  “Thank you.” She turned to leave but stopped. “I know you guys are good at what you do, but you have morals. The Iron Drakes don’t. Be careful.”

  Sloan actually grinned. “Blaze, it seems our façade has been working. We have morals.”

  Blaze snorted but didn’t smile.

  “If things go down, I’ll do my best to protect your brother,” Sloan added before she could leave. “Which one is he, you didn’t point him out?”

  “I don’t have a brother.” Katrina opened the door. “The day my mother was brutally raped and murdered I lost whatever family I ever thought I had.”

  Blaze watched the door close behind her, and his eyes went to Sloan. “You know this MC well?”

  “Yeah.” Sloan glanced to where Becky had gone back to her desk and lowered his voice. “It’s going to get bloody.”

  With a nod, Blaze walked out to get prepared, and he knew the first motherfucker who was going to spill blood.

  Chapter 3

  Katrina stood in the shadows waiting. Sager sat quickly beside her. As soon as Blaze disappeared down the hallway, she snuck toward Sloan’s office with Sager creeping right along behind her.

  “What are you doing?” Both Katrina and Sager jumped straight up in the air.

  She spun, her hand slamming to her throat where a scream was lodged. “You scared me.”

  “Good.” Blaze cocked his eyebrow. “What are you and that damn dog sneaking around for?”

  “His name is Sager, not damn dog,” Katrina corrected him absently, her eyes not meeting his. She really didn’t want to have this confrontation with Blaze or explain why she had been waiting in the shadows for him to leave.

  “Look at me,” he ordered, taking a step toward her. When she did, he crossed his arms over his massive chest. “What are you going back to Sloan’s office for?”

  “I… ah… I remembered something,” Katrina said, her eyes flickering away from his intense stare.

  “What?” Blaze stared down at her instead of turning around and leaving, which she had hoped he’d do.

  “Samuel Drake has a unique power.” Katrina licked her lips nervously. She had learned that the hard way. “He can control moods as well as manipulate thoughts, but you can block, and he can’t do anything.”

  “I’ll let everyone know, but we are always blocked,” Blaze replied with his “always business” attitude.

  Katrina nodded and then glanced at Sloan’s door before turning to walk away. “Just be careful,” she whispered, but knew he heard her.

  “You lied to me.” He stopped her, turning her back around to face him. “You knew exactly who attacked you.”

  “I didn’t want to bring trouble here,” Katrina replied, her lip trembling. “I’m sorry.”

  Before Blaze could say anything, Sloan came out of his office with Becky following him.

  “You ready?” Sloan asked, his eyes going between Katrina and Blaze.

  Katrina looked up at Blaze, who was still staring at her. He was so handsome, and his touch warmed the coldness she always felt. She would give anything for him to take her into his arms, but she knew that would never happen. When his touch left her, so did the warmth.

  “I’m ready.” Blaze nodded, finally looking away from her.

  “I should go with you,” Katrina said, her stomach clenching at the thought of walking into that hell again. “I know where everything is. I know how they operate, but I don’t know if I can physically walk in there again.” Katrina had never felt more like a failure than she did at that moment. “Not very Warrior-like.”

  “Actually, it’s very Warrior-like,” Sloan replied, his eyes narrowing. “It’s smart to know when to step back.”

  “Just, please, be careful,” Katrina urged, her worried eyes landing on Becky, then Sloan. “They live by no rules.”

  “In certain situations, neither do we,” Sloan replied, then bent down and kissed Becky before leaving.

  Katrina quickly glanced away from their show of affection, everything in her body wanting what they had, but she could only wish for something like that in her own life. Blaze only gave her a nod before following Sloan out the door.

  Soon, all the Warriors were heading out the door as the mates stood in the entryway watching them leave.

  “How about a movie and a drink?” Tessa suggested, her eyes still on the door that Jared had just disappeared through.

  “I think tonight we’re going to need a few drinks, strong drinks,” Nicole replied, a worried frown marring her features.

  “I’m sorry,” Katrina said to the group of women. “They were never to find out.”

  “Honey, this is what our men do.” Lana wrapped her arm around Katrina’s shoulders. “And they are damn good at it.”

  The women nodded in agreement as they made their way to the game room where the Warriors and their mates usually enjoyed some downtime. Even with their kind words, the feeling of doom wouldn’t leave her.

  ******

  Blaze followed on his bike, his focus on what had to be done and Sloan’s warning to him to not burn the fucking place to the ground without specific orders. Yeah, well, he made no promises. Heat pounded his body, wanting release, and it wouldn’t take much to release it. Just one fucking word about Katrina and shit would get real, fast.

  Pulling into a Park N’ Ride behind everyone, Blaze stepped off his bike and waited for instructions, hoping he could follow through with them. He was a fucking Warrior now and needed to play by the rules. Well, was supposed to play by the rules. He didn’t play fair, never had, so he guessed it was up to the fuckers he was about to play with whether they died tonight by Sloan’s orders or his own.

  “We’re about a block away,” Sloan said as soon as everyone gathered around. “Steve, you’re going to go in first.”

  “What?” Sid and Jared said at the same time, while everyone else stared at Sloan as if he’d lost his mind.

  “Yeah.” Steve eyed Sloan surprised. “What?”

  “You wanted a power, you got a power, and now you get to use that fucking power,” Sloan growled. “You think you can do that without fucking up?”

  Steve thought for a moment. “Absolutely.”

  “Good, because if you fuck this up, it’s your ass.” Sloan eyed him.

  “Ya know, I’m so glad this job comes with low stress levels,” Steve mumbled, sticking his hands in his back pockets. “I’d sure hate to shit my pants.”

  Sloan pulled out a paper and handed it to Steve. “Disappear.”

  “Okay.” Steve took the paper and started walking away looking down at the sheet of paper.

  “You want to kick his ass or want me to do it?” Jared sighed, shaking his head.

  Steve turned, glancing around. “He said disappear.” Steve tossed his hands up in the air. “I’m disappearing. Why kick my ass for that? I’m sure I’ll do something worse than that before the night’s over.”

  “Amen to that shit.” Sid nodded with a cock of his eyebrow.

  “Let me go.” Blaze was done with the Steve Show. This shit was too important to fuck up, not to mention he was ready to get his hands on someone.

  Sloan ignored him, his glare never leaving Steve. “Are you that stupid, son?”

  “Depends on who you ask,” Steve mumbled again, then stood quietly for a minute as if in deep thought. His eyes popped open as his mouth formed a perfect circle of understanding. “You meant disappear as in my power disappear, not walk away disappear.”

  Jill stepped next to Steve and smacked him upside the head, but leaned close to him with a whispered, “He wants to see if the paper disappears with you. Get your shit together.”


  Blaze rolled his eyes and watched as Steve disappeared, but the paper didn’t. He knew the paper he held was the notes that Katrina had given Sloan on the Drakes’ compound.

  “Is it gone?” Steve asked, waving the paper around, making it look like it was just blowing in the breeze.

  “No,” Sloan replied, taking the paper as Steve reappeared. “All I want you to do is get in and give us a count on how many are there. Look for scouts that we need to worry about and their location.”

  “No problem.” Steve nodded, waiting for more orders.

  “It better not be.” Sloan glanced up from the paper then passed it to Blaze. “You have fifteen minutes. If you aren’t back here to report by then, we’re coming in.”

  “I’ll be back.” Steve gave him a nod before turning around. “Do I get a raise if I pull this off?”

  “No, you’ll get to live,” Blaze answered for Sloan, ready to beat somebody’s ass. If it was Steve’s, then so be it. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he wanted answers to who Katrina really was. Why it mattered so much to him, he didn’t know. Yes, he did, but he refused to admit anything other than looking out for her. End of fucking story.

  “Oh, great,” Steve called out as he headed toward his first real orders with his new powers. “You know this should be a happy time for me. Thanks for fucking that up with threats of my looming death, Blaze. Appreciate it, bro.”

  Blaze didn’t reply, but he did look toward Adam. “You reading him?”

  A grin split across Adam’s face. “Like a book.” Adam glanced at him. “And you really don’t want to know how he feels about you at the moment.”

  Chapter 4

  “Fucking fire boy, being all badass,” Steve said under his breath as soon as he knew he was far enough away that the big bastard couldn’t overhear him. “You’ll get to live.” He mocked Blaze’s deep voice as he continued down the street.

  Knowing he was close, Steve disappeared. They all may think he was just a fuckup, but Steve was damn serious about what he did. He just liked having fun and yeah, sometimes he had major brain farts, but who the fuck didn’t? Well, Sloan probably never had a brain fart in his life, but the rest of them had, so screw them.

  Seeing the entrance that Katrina described, Steve stopped and studied his surroundings. No one was around that he could see. Stepping out into the street, he crept toward the gate then stopped. What the fuck was he doing? Nobody could see him. He started walking again, this time normally, and noticed the place looked deserted. He tried the gate, finding it unlocked, and then slipped in. If anyone was watching, they were probably shitting themselves thinking they were having a paranormal experience, seeing the gate open on its own. Steve chuckled to himself. He couldn’t wait to start fucking with people.

  Once inside, he waited, but no alarms were shouted. Making his way deeper inside, he noticed a large house that had seen better days, along with two garages and a large fire pit in the middle of a huge concrete slab. A noise had him looking back toward the house. With one last look around, he walked toward the house. Finding the door open, he walked inside.

  The stench of sweat, sex, vomit, and cigarette smoke filled his senses. He immediately found two men sitting at a table playing cards, smoldering cigarettes hanging from their mouths. Across the room was another man, this one with his bare ass facing him. Steve looked around, knowing that they were the only ones in the room. He headed toward the bare-assed guy, who wore a vest with a prospect patch sewed on the back. Steve noticed shapely legs wrapped around the man’s waist—well, not exactly wrapped. They hung limply while the man held them as he pumped his hips.

  Anger hit Steve as he rounded the couch to see a girl passed out as the asshole repeatedly rammed inside her. His eyes left the girl as he looked up at the man, then around the room again. Without thought, he let his anger fly and punched the man square in the face, knocking him back and off the woman.

  “What the fuck!” The man jumped up as fast as he hit the ground, pulling his pants up while he gazed around, confused, with a look of fright on his face. Once he had his pants fastened, he glared toward his buddies at the table who were staring at him.

  “What the hell is your problem?” one of them asked, the cigarette still dangling from his lips, his cards held up as he glared at them.

  “Somebody fucking hit me.” The guy Steve had hammered touched his jaw.

  “What? Did Jenny have enough of your little dick?” The other one guffawed, then broke out in a deep, racking cough.

  “Fuck you!” The prospect rubbed his jaw as he looked around wide-eyed. “Someone fucking hit me, and it wasn’t Jenny. She’s passed out cold.”

  “You are a sick fuck.” The first guy stood, shaking his head as he looked over the couch. “She’s going to be pissed when she wakes up because no way in hell would she let you touch her.”

  Disgust rolled in Steve’s gut. He knew he’d fucked up, but no way in hell could he just stand there while this bastard had his way with an unconscious female.

  “Like I give a shit,” the prospect spat, still looking dazed and confused. “I want to know who fucking hit me.”

  “You’re an idiot.” The guy walked back to the table and sat down, shaking his head.

  Steve nodded in agreement, then glanced at the two men who were back to playing cards, dismissing everything the dumbass said. Figuring to fuck with the guy further, Steve reached over and grabbed a throw blanket and placed it over the girl.

  The guy actually yelped as he stumbled backward, banging into the wall. “Holy shit!” he shouted, his voice shaking with fear. “Did you see that? Did you fucking see that?”

  “Pollard, shut the fuck up,” one of the men growled, not even looking his way. “Stay off the dope, man.”

  “The goddamn blanket just floated in the fucking air, man.” Pollard looked over at them but pointed to the couch. “Floated!”

  Steve chuckled just loud enough the asshole heard him. Damn, this shit was fun. He could stay here all night and fuck with this asshole, but he needed to get back before the Warriors came running in full force, blowing shit up. Not able to help himself, he walked close enough to the idiot who remained staring wide-eyed at the blanket draped over the girl’s naked body and flicked him hard on the earlobe.

  The large grin Steve wore at the man’s girly scream faded quickly as he saw who stood in the doorway. Shit was about to get real.

  ******

  Katrina sat watching the movie without seeing a thing. She had no clue what the movie was, who starred in it, or what was even going on around her. All she could think about was the Warriors walking into the unknown. She hadn’t given them enough information. She knew they were grown badass men, but the Drakes were no joke. Finally pulling her blank stare away from the television, she looked at the women who surrounded her. If anything happened to any of those men, it would be her fault. These were her friends now, her family, yet she’d let them go without giving them all the information. But why? She was afraid of what they would think of her once they knew exactly what her life had once been. This was her fight, not theirs, and there she sat watching a movie.

  Nicole glanced her way, giving her a small smile. Katrina tried to smile back, but failed miserably. She stood quickly, drawing everyone’s attention.

  “Are you okay?” Tessa, who was lounging next to her, sat up.

  “Yeah, just think I’ll head to my room,” she lied, hoping they didn’t press because she didn’t want to lie any more than she had to. She hated to lie because she was damn good at it, had been taught to be good at it. Mentally she told Sager to stay, which the pup did. “If you don’t care, I’ll let Sager stay here so he’s not cooped up in my room. I’ll come back to let him out in a little bit.”

  Pam was on the floor with Sager and Daniel. Daniel loved playing with the pup and Sager was loving the attention.

  “Go ahead and rest. We’ll take care of him.” Pam laughed when Sager licked Daniel on the nose.r />
  “Thanks,” Katrina replied. Then without looking at anyone else, she quickly slipped out. Once out of sight, she ran to her room. Quickly she changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She didn’t have a coat, but she’d be okay. She didn’t really get cold anymore, at least not like she had when she was human.

  Peeking her head out of her room, she made sure no one was around, then headed out one of the many doors toward the garage. The crisp November air seemed to crackle around her as she hurried toward the garage. Her eyes slid toward the cameras that were watching her every move, but she knew no one was manning them. The Warriors were gone for the moment, so the place was on lockdown. No one could get in, but they could get out.

  Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her lock picks as she reached the garage door. Glancing up, she saw the alarm system and frowned. Dammit, she hoped this worked. It usually did, but with the Warriors’ setup, she wasn’t too confident. She was going to have to work fast, but one thing her piece-of-shit daddy taught her was how to pick a lock and disarm an alarm system. Her eyes once again found the camera pointing straight at her, and guilt washed over her, but she had to do this.

  Kneeling, she got to work on manipulating the components of the lock, and within seconds, the lock clicked. She grabbed the piece of thin metal that had never let her down and slipped it between the two magnets that would set the alarm off. With a deep breath, she slowly opened the door, keeping the metal in place as she slipped in and then closed the door, removing the metal strip. The alarm began its warning beeps, and without thought, she used her fist and smashed it. She should have known the Warriors’ alarm wouldn’t work like the other alarms she had disarmed. She knew that the only alarm that would sound was the one on the computers that no one was sitting in front of. She had spent a day in their control room learning everything there was to know about the security of the Warrior compound. There were no cops who would show up, because what the hell could the cops do that the Warriors couldn’t to an intruder? She actually felt a smile slip across her lips remembering Jared saying those exact words. And yes, the guilt weighing her down by using that information for breaking into their garage was unbearable.