by Carly Fall
she supposed that at this point, she didn’t need to give any thought to the belief, because the proof was sitting right in front of her. The doctor in her was speaking volumes, wanting to get her hands on the potion or herbs, time machine, or whatever he used to heal himself so quickly.
“How did you heal so fast?”
“Cohen has special healing abilities. It’s complicated, but involves combining the energy of the injured along with Cohen’s, and he’s able to heal us.”
She imagined the implications on the human medical field, and goose bumps rose
on her flesh.
On a personal level, she thought about the past few days and her ignorance of
what she had been living with. She had found them all so kind, so bonded, so much a family. It was something she had wanted again, and she found it very comfortable to be among them. Even if they had sort-of kidnapped her.
These…people? Beings? They were generous and kind. They loved each other
with ferocity. They were what she could only hope to have one day.
“Do the other’s eyes turn yellow, too?”
Hudson shook his head and explained that each had their own unique SR44 color.
“If I went upstairs right now, what would I see?”
“You’d see a bunch of guys with dark eyes. We have special contacts that Talin
developed to help dull the glow of our eyes.”
“Where are yours?”
Hudson pushed back a piece of hair that had escaped from his ponytail and looked
down at the floor. He cleared his throat. “Being the intelligent guy I am, when I woke up I thought it was seven in the morning, so I took them out. I’ve never slept through the day like that, but then...”
After a beat of silence, she asked, “But what?”
He looked back at her, and after a long pause, he said quietly, “But I’ve never had such an amazing night as last night.”
Beverly felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She felt the same. Hudson was everything and more than she had ever experienced or imagined. He was an incredible lover,
concerned about her needs before his own, and he was also very skilled, because he found her buttons quickly and pushed them frequently.
She also loved the talks they had had throughout the night. His confessions about Iris were surprising, and she knew that he would never love anyone again. Which hurt, because she was beginning to have serious feelings for him, not just blatant lust of a beautiful man. There was much more beneath the stunning exterior that was Hudson.
“Me neither, Hudson.”
As she stared at him and the warm, yellow glow emanating from his eyes, she
wondered what this screw-up meant for Hudson.
“What are the others going to say when they know that I know?”
Hudson shrugged. “What can they say? They’ll probably curse at me, but then
that will most likely be the end of it.”
Beverly nodded, feeling brave. “Should we go up and see exactly what happens?”
Hudson let out a laugh. “You just want to watch me get my hide torn to pieces.”
Beverly looked at him. That was the last thing she wanted. She actually was
thinking that maybe everyone would go easy on Hudson because she was there, hoping that the “be polite in front of the company” rule held fast in this house.
Wasn’t she becoming protective.
Chapter 31
On the ride up to the top floor of the silo, Hudson thought it was probably a good thing to have Beverly around. Before Abby and Faith had come into their lives, there had been hard-set rules that they simply didn’t break. Noah had been the first to breach them, and Rayner had pretty much put an ax through them. Hudson thought things had loosened up a bit with Abby and Faith entering their secret folds, and maybe his fellow Warriors would go easier on him in mixed company. But he seriously doubted it. He felt in his soul that Beverly could be trusted, but he had a feeling he would have to convince the others.
In fact, he was pretty sure things were about to ugly.
With a capital U.
The door to the elevator slid open to the kitchen area, and Noah was in there with Rayner.
“I’m telling you, Noah, ice cream with sprinkles. Bring some to her, apologize for being such an asshole, and—”
Hudson watched Noah’s head snap over to where he and Beverly stood. Rayner
stared at them with his mouth practically hanging open.
There was a brief moment of silence while Noah processed what he was seeing.
His eyes darted from Hudson to Beverly and back.
“What the fuck, Hudson?” he said in a low voice. Hudson watched Noah’s eyes
turn angry, and then he yelled, “Are you kidding me?!”
Hudson had known Noah for a lot of years. Hundreds upon hundreds of years, and
he knew that no matter what he said at that point, he wouldn’t be heard.
Noah was on a roll, and Rayner had stepped back and taken a front seat against
the counter, his arms crossed, watching everything.
Noah paced back and forth, put his finger in Hudson’s face a few times, cursed
like there wouldn’t be any curse words left in a few minutes, and finally stopped, breathing heavily.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Hudson. Like I don’t have enough problems. Abby’s
pissed at me, Jovan’s getting into trouble over in the U.K., we’ve got one firm spawn of a Colonist who was eating a human, another possibility, and now this.”
Noah shook his head and turned around.
“I’m not a problem, Noah,” Beverly said. Hudson noted how she had partially hid
herself behind him while Noah was on his rampage, but now she stepped out a bit. “I’ll never say anything to anyone. I promise.”
Noah turned to look at her, and Rayner remained where he was. He still hadn’t
said a word, but he looked at Hudson like he had a dick growing out of his forehead.
“For your sake, Beverly, I hope you can keep that promise. If the government gets wind of what you know, they’ll stop at nothing to get all the information out of you that they can. And I mean nothing.”
Noah ran his hand through his hair and stared at Beverly again. “There have been
people who have claimed to see aliens, and some of them have disappeared. Others aren’t even able to recall their own names, let alone function in society. They end up in some facility where they piss in a bag and are basically a vegetable. Others end up dead. So yeah, pretty Beverly, you better keep that damn promise. For your own safety. Not to mention ours. Because see, once they get everything out of you they can, then they hunt us. None of us are interested in being sliced and diced in the name of science or some other bullshit.”
He turned around and looked at Rayner. “Can you believe this shit?”
Rayner remained silent, not giving any indication of whether he believed the shit or not.
So much for his fellow Warriors going easy on him in mixed company.
“Noah, I trust Beverly.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck, Hudson. This is an epic screw-up. It was fucked from the beginning when Rayner brought her back here. Hell, for all our sakes we should probably just get rid of her!”
Hudson growled, a sound that came from the very depths of his soul. He pushed
Beverly behind him with such force that she stumbled a bit. He took a couple of steps toward Noah. When they were face to face, he said, “I’m not exactly sure what ‘get rid of her’ entails, Noah, but it better be walking out that door with all her limbs attached. If it doesn’t, and you try to do something, I will kill you. It will be an ugly fight, but I will kill you.”
“Back up, Hudson,” Noah growled right back at him. “Now.”
There was a moment of silence while Hudson and Noah stared each other down.
Hudson was glad Rayner stayed exactly where he was
against the counter, because his anger was off the charts. If Rayner had advanced on him, he might snap and end up killing them. He was the assassin of the group, after all. He could annihilate Rayner in a minute or two. Noah would be more difficult, but he would get the job done.
He hadn’t heard the ding of the elevator through the rage that raced through him.
“Oh, for God sakes,” he heard Abby say, her soft footsteps sounding across the
tile. She came up to them and gave them both a push. “Would you two knock it off?
Please, not in front of the company. Have your pissing contest some other time.”
Hudson heard her gasp as she noticed his eyes, and then Noah stepped away.
“Well,” Abby said quietly. “I guess our little secret is out.”
“Yeah, it is. And I’m heading downstairs to take out these contacts. I hate these things,” Rayner said, stepping around everyone.
Chapter 32
Beverly watched as Rayner passed and was startled when he gave her a wink. She
wrapped her arms around herself, trying to remain calm, thoughts of little white droplets of delusion dancing through her mind.
She abhorred violence having seen the effects of it through so many patients. Not to mention the after-effects. She had consoled many families who had lost loved ones because of violence, and she admired Abby for inserting herself between the two men. To her, it looked as though Abby was putting herself between two loaded guns waiting to go off.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled, wanting a pill, but remembering the breathing
techniques she had used in rehab to get her through rough patches. She concentrated on the air going in and out of her lungs and not what was going on around her.
“Hey, are you okay?” She hadn’t heard Abby come up next to her and jumped
when she felt her touch her arm.
“It’s okay, Beverly,” she said quietly. “I can’t believe how bad you’re shaking. I know that sometimes they can be a little scary. They bark loud, but they never bite. Faith and I were just about to go to my quarters to have some cocktails and some girl talk.
Please, come with us.”
Beverly looked at Noah and Hudson. Both were pacing the area like mad bulls
waiting to be let out of their shoots. They were ready to charge at any minute, and she knew she didn’t want any part of it, regardless of what Abby said. This was stressing her out and making her anxious, and she needed to get away from it.
“I...I would like that,” she said. Abby wrapped her arm around her shoulder and
guided her back to the elevator. Once they were in, she said, “I love Noah, but he’s been a little too alpha for a couple too many days. I know it’s stress because he has so much going on, but I’m done being his punching bag.”
Beverly took a step back. “He hits you?” she asked incredulously. Beverly had thought that his threat of ‘getting rid of her’ was empty, but maybe not. Maybe her first impressions of these people had been totally wrong. She looked at Abby, completely surprised by her statement, as she had witnessed nothing but love between them. Noah looked as though he worshipped the ground Abby walked on, and Beverly couldn’t
imagine him laying a hand on her. But she had seen cases where things didn’t appear as they were.
“Oh my God,” Abby said, bringing her hand to her mouth, her eyes growing wide.
“I didn’t mean it like that. No. No, Beverly.” She took a deep breath. “What I meant was that Noah has been a little short with me. He’s been irritable and grouchy. Noah’s never laid a hand on me. I mean, he’s laid his hands on me, but...”
Beverly watched as Abby’s face got red.
“Oh hell, I’m tripping over my tongue.” Abby closed her eyes and took another
deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she met Beverly’s. “What I mean is that he’s never hit me. He’s not cruel. He’s a wonderful man, it’s just that he’s under a lot stress right now and he’s being difficult. Does that make sense?”
Beverly nodded and smiled. She believed Abby. Having seen the way Noah
looked at Abby, Beverly couldn’t imagine him touching her with nothing but love and affection, and she was glad her initial feelings were correct.
The elevator doors slid open to reveal Faith standing there, her wild, red hair
cascading all around her, a huge smile on her face that faded once she saw the look on Abby’s face.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Abby rolled her eyes. “Hudson screwed up. In a nutshell, Beverly knows
everything. Well, pretty much everything. I’m sure after seeing Hudson’s eyes glowing she has a few more questions, but the cat is out of the bag.”
“Are they upstairs having their pissing contest and acting like jerks?”
Abby nodded. “Yes.”
“Well, let’s just be glad Cohen is back in case they can’t contain their inner alpha dogs,” Faith said. She then reached for Beverly’s hand and pulled her into the room. “I bet you have a lot of unanswered questions. Let’s have some margaritas, let them do whatever they’re going to do, and Abby and I will tell you what you want to know.”
Despite the tension she was feeling, Beverly smiled. She felt such a connection
with Abby and Faith. They each loved their own glowy-eyed beings. They were sweet and opened their arms to her, as if she belonged here.
She finally had friends again, despite the fact she was a recovering drug addict.
She felt pretty stable, and she didn’t have anything to hide. Again, she drew strength from Hudson’s reaction to her confessions. You are Beverly, she reminded herself. You’ve come a long way, honey, and there’s no turning back. You look forward, not at the past.
Chapter 33
Hudson and Noah continued to scowl at each other, both keeping their eye on the
other. Rayner came back up in a matter of minutes with Talin and Cohen, all their eyes glowing their SR44 colors.
“All right,” Talin said. “If you fuckers are going to pound it out, do it now while the rest of us can watch, and then when you’re done, we can drag your broken bodies together and have you kiss and make up.”
“So did I hear this right? Hudson spilled the beans on us to Beverly?” Cohen
asked with a yawn, still wearing his robe and boxers. “It better be that important, or you guys aren’t going to have to worry about Noah and Hudson going at it, because I’m going to pound Rayner into the ground for waking me up. And if you’re going to do damage, let’s get it over with. I’m fucking tired.”
All of them stared at each other for a moment.
“And Hudson, if I have to heal you twice in one day, I may have to kill you.”
“Okay,” Noah said. “Let’s take it down a notch. Seems everyone’s getting a little fidgety. Let’s all head to the War Room. Rayner, grab some bottles from the bar and a few glasses. Whatever you can carry.”
Rayner took off for the bar, and Hudson was still warily eyeing Noah as they
made their way down the hall.
They all dropped into the black leather chairs, and all stared off in different
directions while waiting for Rayner. It was silent except for the odd sigh or the creaking of the leather.
Rayner came in with four different bottles and three glasses. “Sorry, guys. This
was all I could carry. We’ll have to share.”
There were a few grumbles around the table, and then Noah took one of the
bottles and drank, not bothering with a glass. “Here’s the deal, boys. Hudson fucked up.
We’re outed. Nothing like this has ever happened with the exception of Abby, who turned out to be one of us, at least partially. Faith found out by accident, but Rayner already knew she was the one for him. I hate to say it, but for our safety, we should take Beverly out and put her down. It’s too dangerous for us.”
Rayner shook his head. “I’m not having any part of th
at, Noah. It’s so not going to happen. I won’t let it.”
“Faith and Abby are our mates, Rayner,” Noah said. “Hudson doesn’t have any
intention of that.” He paused for a moment, as though someone had flicked him in the nose. Hard. Then he looked at Hudson. “Do you?”
Hudson shook his head, taking a long drink of the scotch. No, he doubted he
would ever be able to love again, not the way he loved Iris. But, he had to admit he did like Beverly. A lot. But she needed to move on with her own life, not be stuck somewhere with a demolished soul like him.
Rayner didn’t say anything, just kept staring at Hudson.
“I don’t have any intention of making Beverly my mate. She deserves better than
what I can give her. Besides, I’d never put myself in that position again. I’m not looking for Iris round two.”
His fellow Warriors knew the basics of Iris: he fell in love, she didn’t, they had a kid, Iris died, and he finally got to have a relationship with Abby when Noah fell in love with her. They didn’t know of the constant ache, the demon clawing at him all the time, or his attempts at soothing it with all his extra-curricular activities.
Except Jovan. He probably had a good idea about it, but had never said anything
to anyone as far as Hudson knew.
“Okay. So she’s not going to be sticking around,” Noah said.
Hudson nodded.
“I guess it comes down to whether we trust her or not,” Noah said.
Hudson sighed. “There’s nothing to worry about, Noah. Nothing.”
“I think Hudson’s right,” Rayner said.
“Agreed,” chimed in Talin.
The room went quiet, and Cohen said with a yawn, “I have nothing to contribute
to this convo, guys. I’ve seen her for about three minutes. She seems nice, she’s nice to look at, but that’s all I’ve got to offer. I’ll trust the general consensus.”
A low rumble emanated from Hudson’s throat.
What the fuck was wrong with him? Why did he care if Cohen thought Beverly
was pretty? There wasn’t a male around who could say she wasn’t.
There was a beat of silence as everyone turned to stare at him, and then Cohen
