by Honor James
“We never want to get rid of you, Briar. We love and adore you, sweetheart,” he smiled at her. Pressing a kiss to her lips he slid her off his lap. “Let me get back in my seat and buckled up and then you slide on over and buckle up as well.”
“Sounds good. You get yourself into your belt.” She moved so that he could do just that. Once he was buckled up, she slipped her hand into his and leaned her head to his shoulder so that they could get home. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
Squeezing her fingers, he threw the truck into gear and got them moving again. He was still careful but was definitely driving faster than before. He didn’t let her hand go the entire time they drove to the condo. It only took about ten minutes and they swung into the parking lot. Coming to a stop in their spot, Danel turned the engine off and popped the door open. “Come on, love,” he said.
Briar scooted out on his side of the vehicle and slid into his arms. Hugging him close, she simply held on to him for several long minutes. Finally, however, she pulled back and looked up at him. Licking her lips, she smiled and nodded. “I needed that,” she admitted. “You to hold me like that. You to touch me and remind me that life will be okay.”
“I know,” he said. And he did, he got her, got the situation and understood it. She could see it in his eyes. Lifting his hands, Danel cupped her face gently and leaned in to kiss her. “Now, can we get out of here and upstairs to our super-fortified condo with all the techno gadgets you could ever want if under siege?”
“Yes, that sounds very good. Byrne will be home soon, too, right?” Briar paused and chewed her lip. It wasn’t until they were inside their home that she asked again, “How? How could he have gotten free? I was assured that he was under the strictest of watch because he had done what he did to me.” A woman who had been destined to be a mate.
“I don’t know, Briar. But you know we’ll find out. Byrne will be home in just under twenty minutes,” he said. Taking her coat, he hung it up and hustled her to the room farthest from the front door. That it happened to be the bedroom wasn’t all bad. “Up on the bed and I’ll hold you,” he told her.
Doing as instructed, she climbed up onto the bed and covered herself up. “Hopefully Byrne will have some answers for me. I really hope that he will have the reasons why that man has been able to become free.”
“I’m sure he will. He definitely wasn’t happy.” Danel was stating the obvious. Given the call they’d both listened to, Byrne was beyond unhappy. He sounded particularly homicidal. Grabbing a gun, Danel checked it and then joined her on the bed, setting the gun in reach and in view of them both. Wrapping her in his arms, he pressed a kiss to her cheek as he spooned behind her. “Try and rest if you can, Briar. I have a feeling this day’s only just started its trip down the shitter.”
“I am not sure I want to close my eyes,” she whispered and curled into him. Holding onto Danel, she sighed. Closing her eyes, she snapped them open again. “I can’t.” She hated that, too. “I close my eyes and I see him. I don’t like that. I would rather just lay here in your arms and talk for now, please?”
“We can do that, but you need to relax. You are so tense right now I can feel all your muscles vibrating from the overload. So take a couple of deep and slow breaths and tell me what you want to talk about. Nothing to do with the case though, absolutely nothing.”
She did just that. She began to take slow and calming breaths. She slowed her heart to match Danel’s beat and closed her eyes again. Her mind focused on the scent of Danel, the heat of him, the beating of his heart. She found herself calming, easing with him.
“Good,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “That’s good, Briar. Take a couple more and let all that tension just slip away from you. It’s not needed and not wanted. Let it go and just be here, with me, in this moment.”
She did just that. She forced calm upon herself. She forced herself into that calming place that she had with him there at her side. She knew that having him there helped to calm her, helped to center her. “Only with you could I calm.” Only with him and Byrne.
“I know, love,” he said, his voice still in that soft barely there tone. She felt his lips brushing over her cheek as he gathered her in closer to him. Now that she was relaxed and loose, she got a hell of a lot closer and comfortable. “Thank you for trusting in me. I don’t have the words to describe how that makes me feel.”
“I give you back what you have given me. The two of you trust me, and that gives me leave to trust the two of you. It’s such an amazing feeling to know that I have two such powerful and amazing men to fall back on when I need. Ones that will stand at my side, my back or in front of me. You believe in me enough to trust that when I need my protectors I will ask for you. And I do. I need you both.”
“I know, love,” he said gently. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he stiffened and lifted up to a leaning position on his elbow. He was staring at the bedroom door just as his phone rang, startling them both. Grabbing it, he answered. “Yeah? Oh thank the Gods, I was worried we had rats. Yes, rats, dude. You’re out there making a shitload of seriously confusing noise. What? I’ll tell her.” He hung up, shaking his head. “Byrne is here, and he even remembered your pizza too. And he brought you a sweet treat, too, apparently for dessert.”
Briar grinned. “Oh, sweets. Yum. I want to eat, just don’t be upset if I don’t eat a great deal okay? I’m not going to starve myself, but my stomach is in serious knots so I don’t know how much I can force down.” She gave Danel another hug and sighed. “Okay, let’s go and have a meal with our mate?”
Nodding, he rolled off the bed and then gave her a hand disentangling herself from the blankets. Grabbing his weapon, he kept it in one hand, one of her hands in his other, and led the way out of the bedroom. Keeping his body fully in front of hers the entire time. When he relaxed and stepped to the side, she finally saw Byrne.
“Hey, love,” he said, walking to her. Opening his arms, he looked at her and waited.
Briar smiled, and then without even hesitating once she ran to Byrne and jumped into his arms. Briar’s arms and legs wrapped tightly around him and she simply held onto him with her face buried in his neck. She breathed in the clean and masculine scent of her mate and smiled. “I missed you.” It was all she said to him.
His arms were around her and snug, holding her to his chest tight. “I missed you, too, babe,” he said softly. He was nuzzling at her cheek and neck lightly. Growling softly, he gave her another squeeze before leaning back a little. “How are you doing, darling?”
“Oh, well, you know, just another day in paradise. Someone looking to kill me and all of that happy-happy-joy-joy stuff. You know, the usual.” She might be teasing but Byrne felt her fear, knew it was there and nearly crippling her.
Stroking his hand over her hair, he stared into her eyes. Shooting a look to Danel, he let out a breath. Briar was one step from totally breaking down into a full-fledged mess and he knew it. So did Danel if the watchful eyes on their mate was anything to go by.
“Well, let’s eat and then after dinner we’ll talk. I have some more information that you’ll both want to hear. Not dinner conversation though, so let’s sit and relax and eat,” he said. He really hoped she’d be able to keep the food down after he gave her the news. It wasn’t good, not by a long shot. Her life was about to get a whole lot less happy and fast.
“Just so that you both know, I don’t like throwing up. When we eventually get pregnant I will cuss you every single time that I get sick, so if it’s something that will make me puke please tell me now. I would rather not eat than toss it all up when you tell me whatever it is that you have to tell me.” There was a hesitation before she added, “And don’t tell me there is nothing. I see the looks that the two of you are sharing.”
Danel shot him a look and Byrne sighed. “Then let’s sit down and talk first,” he muttered. Damned stubborn female. Easing her down to her feet, he took her hand and tugged her along into the living room.
Giving her a nudge onto the sofa, he moved to pace. It was easier to think when he paced. Danel settled in at her side and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders while he gathered his thoughts.
Briar was snuggled back against Danel and sighed. “I know that he’s out, so what could be worse than that?” she asked quietly. “Come on, Byrne. Talk to us, please?” she asked quietly. “We need to know what’s got you in such a tizzy and what’s going to have me ill so please, just out with it.”
Right, spit it out, Byrne, he told himself. She deserves to know it all and it is her life, so just tell her. Stopping, he faced them and sighed. “Gregs is part of a group that is against humans mating with the races. They do things like what they did at AEDA headquarters, blowing up shit to make a point, and are not worried about the body count. They prefer to kill the races, but if it stops a mating they will take out a human. They call it a justifiable loss of life, collateral damage, and blame us, the races for it. Basically the party line is that we are doing something to you, chemically or hypnosis or something, that is making you turn from your own kind and therefore you are no longer really human.”
He paused to let that sink in as he paced another round before stopping again. “His group is also associated with who broke your attacker out of the prison he was in and killed nine guards and six other inmates awaiting trial. Again, justifiable loss of life. We’re race so we don’t deserve to live. We’re not sure as to the why, but we know it was them and it was bad from what we’ve been able to glean from the information sent over from the other side.”
He shot them both looks and couldn’t figure out who was more stunned and horrified at the news. “One of the guards who survived but will need a lot of surgeries told one of the first responders that he’d overheard the humans talking to him. They told him to get back to Earth and finish the bitch off since they’d missed. That he was the only one who could since one of his own was guarding the bitch who’d betrayed their race. Your attacker is apparently more than a little psychotic and didn’t question the help. Last known location was the portal into Florida where he killed three guards and injured a hell of a lot more watching the portal. A traffic cam caught him on this side, and then we’ve had nothing since then.”
“Oh God.” She knew that the blood drained from her face. She knew that she was panting, nearly hyperventilating and couldn’t help it. “Please tell me that you are allowed to kill him on sight. No questions, no hesitations? If not I will kill him myself.” She had an itch for a weapon. She knew she would have a very hard time even trying to sleep now. “So what now? Do we remain here? Do we go on the run? Go into hiding? What happens next?”
“We stay here,” Byrne said. He moved around the coffee table and sat down on it so he was facing her. Taking her hands in his, he stared into her eyes. She saw determination but no worry in his eyes. Either he was hiding it or he wasn’t worried. “The captain has authorized use of lethal force or whatever other means we deem necessary, as well as resources to protect you. We currently have several AEDA agents, all race, in the building with us as well as in neighboring buildings and on the street and roofs. Many are Luhpyne, but there are some Vhampires as well, plus a couple Ahnjels who offered their services.” His eyes went to Danel at that last part.
“They know she’s important to me,” Danel said quietly. He slid his hand up and down her arm gently. “We may not always be the most sociable of the races, but we always will step up when needed.”
“I had noticed that about the Ahnjels.” Briar laid her head back on Danel’s arm and sighed. “All right. We will do this. I want a weapon as well. I know how to shoot most handheld weapons and I want one please. I know that the two of you will be with me to protect me, but I want to be able to protect myself as well. I love you both, but I need to know that I can protect myself as well. Please?”
She watched while her men shared a look. Something passed between them, some mysterious guy code she was sure, but Byrne nodded. “You can look through the weapons safe and pick something out. Just pick something that feels comfortable and that you can carry with you. And remember, wherever you put it, keep it close at all times even if you only need to move for a second. We’ll always be damned close, but all it takes for a Luhpyne to attack is one second of inattention.”
“Sounds good to me. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt anyone. I actually really do know how to handle a weapon. I just don’t carry one with me.” She had a license to carry, she just never did. She abhorred violence, but was making a special exception for the fucker that had gotten free and was hunting her now.
“Who do you think made sure you had weapons training with one of the female agents?” Danel asked softly. Smiling at her sharp look his way, he shrugged. “It was a good release for tension as well imagining blowing his head off.”
“Or his balls, as the case often was,” Byrne muttered, throwing her a dirty look. Men and their balls, all sensitive when a woman goes and shoots out a target’s junk.
“Well, then thank you, and yes it felt amazing. It felt empowering and I liked it. Yes, I blew his nuts off more often than not, but do you blame me? I also blew off his jaw, hands, head, heart, everything.” She had wanted to rip the mannequin she had shot to shreds, and had with her weapon.
“No, we don’t blame you in the least, Briar,” Byrne said. “But you have to look at it from our point of view, too. We knew you were our mate and you were on a serious man-hating kick for a time there. Anytime you saw us, you’d glower and your eyes would narrow, and all we could think of was that poor target mannequin with the shredded groin. We were plenty nervous for a time there.”
“Well, even though I was seriously angry, and I really was, I would never have harmed you. I was angry and hurting,” she said honestly. “It was good for me to get it out when I did and how I did.” And now that old fear was surfacing. She rubbed her temples and sighed. “I’m scared,” she admitted to these two men, but only them. “Terrified that he will somehow be able to take away the most important parts of my life, the two of you.” And that would destroy her.
“Not going to happen,” Danel said, squeezing her closer. “We’re not being cocky here, Briar. We are prepared for all eventualities. And what we couldn’t cover we brought in help to cover, or Byrne did actually. Yes, there is always a chance he could get close enough to harm one of us. There is also the high probability that one of the spotters will get to him before us. He could also be hit by a bus or have an airliner crash onto him. No one knows or can predict the future. We all live in the moment and must deal with things as they come to us. We are forewarned though, so we are thereby forearmed.”
Briar nodded and took in a deep breath. “Okay,” she said with her eyes closed. “I trust the two of you. I really do. I very much believe that I want to sit with the two of you holding me for a bit? I need to let all of this soak in and then we can eat?” When she had her stomach calmed down enough to eat, that was.
Nodding, Byrne moved from the coffee table to her other side. Taking her hand in his, he held on to it while Danel rested his head to hers. They just sat quietly, both of them stroking her to keep her focused on them, that she knew. They were good at keeping her mind on them.
Briar felt relaxed, felt calmer when they finally pulled apart. “We should eat now. Eat and then go and figure out something else to do in order to kill time. I look forward to doing just that. Figuring out a way to kill time with the two of you.”
“I suggest we watch a movie,” Danel said. “I doubt you’re going to sleep until you are truly exhausted. So, we watch a movie or two and then get some sleep when you can’t keep your eyes open anymore.”
“That’s very true,” she said with a sigh. “I seriously doubt that I would sleep at all right now. A movie would be good but only with the two of you on each side of me. Blanket and perhaps popcorn? Maybe that would work?”
“Sounds like a good plan. Now, let’s go and eat your pizza before it gets any colder,” Byrne
said. Getting to his feet, he helped her up from the sofa. “Do you want anything to drink with the pizza?” he asked her, moving toward the kitchen.
“I would like to have a bottle of water. I don’t want soda because I’m afraid that the carbonation would make me ill. I would most likely toss my cookies if I were to drink that. So just water please.” She looked up at Byrne and said, “Thank you for getting me my pizza. That was very sweet of you.”
“You asked for it,” he said with a shrug. Like it wasn’t a big thing to do. Typical of her mates, they did all sorts of things for her but didn’t like taking any thanks or appreciation for any of it. Byrne came back with a water for her and two beers, one of which went to Danel as they all sat down at the table. There were paper plates and napkins in the bag on top of the pizza, no dishes, big plus. But there was another bag, smaller, with a box in it that Byrne set to the side, as far from her as he could put it.
“Is that my sweet treat that Danel told me that you were bringing me?” She had a bit of a sweet tooth and her mates knew that. “What is it?” she asked with a grin and wiggled a little closer to him as she looked at the box. “Come on, Byrne, you know you want to tell me.”
“It is and you can wait until you’ve had at least one slice of pizza,” he said. Opening the lid of the pizza box, he hoisted out a large slice, put it on a plate, and passed it to her. “All of it, even the crumbs,” he told her. Pulling out a couple more slices onto a plate, he handed that one to Danel before taking a couple for himself.
“Oh crap. Okay.” She sighed and took another bite of her pizza, her eyes on the box as she did so. “It looks small. Are you sure that the treat is going to be enough for all three of us?” She was worried that there wouldn’t be enough for all of them, and that would bother her greatly.
“The treat is only for you. Most of the races do not like sweets as you humans do. We prefer the fruits that are naturally sweetened over the artificial sorts your people like to hold on to despite the fact sugar is bad for you. So this is all yours, because I knew you’d need something to cheer you up.”
