by Amelia Jade
Although Ajax was happy he didn’t have to tangle with the Extremis squad yet, he had an unhappy feeling that he would have to at some point. He just hoped they weren’t what he thought they were.
Chapter Fourteen
Arianna
The doors burst open as she flung herself through them, letting her body carry her forward. The floor came up to meet her as she finally collapsed with exhaustion.
“Miss? Miss? Are you okay?” A concerned voice shouted and footsteps pounded on the floor as they approached.
“Flint,” she tried to shout, but it came out as a hoarse whisper instead.
“Just relax, I’ll call for help,” the voice said from above her, then, “Oh my goodness, you’re covered in blood!”
“Not mine,” she managed to get out. “Flint,” she repeated.
“Just stay still and I—”
Arianna’s hand shot up to the unidentifiable person’s neck, her fingers wrapping around the collar. She dragged him down until they were face to face.
“Get. Me. Flint. Now.” She said in very carefully controlled tones.
The move took a lot out of her, and she collapsed back to the floor as the person nodded jerkily and took off, shouting for Flint at the top of his lungs. She wondered how long it would take for him to get over to her. They didn’t have much time.
Arianna had been on the run for several hours now, most of it a blur. She remembered being hit with the first dart, and the sluggish effects it had on her system. There was also the surprised look on Levante’s face as his gun didn’t go off the second time, followed by his shout of horror as she threw herself into him.
With his death, and her shooting of the guard who had snuck up behind her, Arianna had thought she was free. She was wrong. There was a big ditch at the side of the road, and she had been halfway through a sewer drain under the freeway ahead before the final man caught up with her.
That fight should have been it for her. He had thrown punch after punch, opening cuts all across her face as she tried to escape. At one point his boot into her side had sent her into a particularly sharp piece of metal, slicing a big gash down her forearm. That mixed with Levante’s blood had turned her into a gruesome figure of death out of some sort of B-level horror movie that the unlucky person inside Flint’s club had seen.
“Arianna?” Flint asked as he walked swiftly to her side. “What happened to you?”
A vision of the last man pursuing her flashed through her head. Of her feet connecting with his chest, sending him stumbling backward. Of the sudden spike of red-stained steel that sprouted from his chest as he impaled himself on a twisted piece of the sewer piping.
“No time,” she told him tiredly, feeling one step above exhaustion after her rest on the surprisingly comfortable floor. Or was it just comfortable because of how tired she was?
“No time for what?”
“Story. I was followed. We need to go. Now,” she said, trying to haul herself to her feet.
“Followed? By whom?”
She rolled her eyes. “Whoever it is we’re up against,” she said angrily, allowing herself to be hauled to her feet by his strong arm.
“You let them follow you?”
“Thought I’d lost them,” she said as they moved away from the front door. “Saw their truck just before I came inside. I’m sorry,” she said at the end. “But we need to go. Now.”
Flint took one look at her, then nodded. “Danny, tell everyone to go home, now. You included,” he said in firm tones that brooked no argument.
The smaller man, who might have been a bartender, nodded and took off once more.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said, and she began to hobble alongside him toward the rear of the club.
“Where are we going to go?” she asked as he helped her into the front door of a sleek, low-slung sports car.
“To see someone who is missing you badly right now,” he said with a smile.
***
“Ajax!” she said weakly, though with more energy than she had felt earlier.
“Arianna!” he shouted, bullying his way past several others who were standing closer to the door. He stopped short as his eyes took in her appearance. “Are you okay?” he asked, eyes blazing with anger as he looked past her at Flint.
“I’m fine,” she said with a wave of her arm, instantly regretting the excess motion. “I’m really hungry though.”
Ajax looked at her funnily, but didn’t say anything for a moment. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he suggested. “There’s plenty of food here, I’ll get a plate together once we have you in a bath.”
“A bath?” she asked, sagging into him as Ajax’s strong arms picked her up with careless ease and headed toward an open doorway on the far end of the room. “Where are we that we can have a bath?”
“One of Flint’s safehouses,” he told her.
“And who are all those people back there?”
“Those are the people we rescued,” he said proudly.
Arianna went rigid. “Benjamin?” she asked softly.
Ajax frowned. “He’s here. Arianna, who is he to you?” he asked, with what sounded like a hint of trepidation or nervousness.
Why would he be nervous of the answer to that? It hit her fatigue-dulled brain like a bullet.
“Oh, no Ajax, not like that!” she told him with a sad smile.
“Then what?” he asked, still on guard.
Arianna leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “He’s my half-brother,” she said, admitting a secret she hadn’t told anyone.
“What?” Ajax almost shouted in surprise. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
She blushed. “I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want to put any more pressure on the rescue attempt to begin with? It was already far-fetched that we might find him or be able to save him. I didn’t want you to feel guilty in case this group had already killed him.” She paused, then continued after a moment of hesitation. “Plus, it’s been ingrained in me for so long to be private about my life, not to reveal things to strangers.”
Ajax nodded. “Do you want to see him? He’s standing watch with Milos and Andre at the moment.”
“Food,” she croaked, her throat hurting after talking so much at once. “And water too,” she said.
“Bath,” Ajax told her firmly. “I’ll get you the food once you’re in it. No arguments, miss,” he said sternly, before smiling and planting a kiss on her forehead.
With food warming her stomach and hot water caressing her skin and cleansing her, Arianna felt far better than she had just a short while earlier.
Ajax hovered over her, watching her every move.
“I’ll be okay,” she told him, feeling energized and ready to go as the food hit home.
The big shifter paused in his pacing, looking down at her with a look she had never seen on him before.
“What is it?” she asked him, reaching out to wrap her fingers around his leg.
He dropped to one knee, taking her hand in his, big brown eyes focusing on her. “I thought I had lost you,” he said so quietly she almost didn’t hear him.
The depth of emotion present in his voice stunned her into silence. Her eyes searched his as she poured forth her assurances to him through their locked gazes. Assurances that she was okay, and that he hadn’t lost her. Assurances that, as long as she was alive, he wouldn’t lose her. Those startled her, but they were there nonetheless, and she didn’t try to fight it.
“I love you,” she blurted out.
Ajax froze, his body so still he didn’t appear to be breathing. She waited for him to shake it off, to smile. Arianna didn’t know if he would reciprocate her words. They hadn’t been ones she had expected to say herself, so she could only imagine his internal thoughts right then.
“Arianna, I...” he started, then fell silent.
She watched as the big, tough, and preternaturally strong shifter collapsed into her arms at the side of the tub. He didn’t seem to care as wat
er washed over him when she moved to embrace him, her arms soaking his shirt as she wrapped them around his neck. He buried his face in her neck, nuzzling his unshaven face gently against her skin as she rocked back and forth slightly, lips kissing the side of his head over and over again. Arianna had no idea what was going on, but instinct told her that just then, she needed to be there for him.
“It’s okay,” she whispered into his ear, pulling him as tight into her as she could. He tensed for a moment, and she felt his head try to rise. “No, just stay,” she ordered.
She felt lips press against her skin as he did as ordered, just relaxing into her embrace for several minutes. The next time he tried to rise, she let him, though her hands stayed in contact with him the whole time.
“I loved her, you know,” he said, strength returning to his voice.
“Loved who?” Arianna knew that he was going somewhere with this point, that it was important to their relationship that he vocalize it.
“Lizzie—Elizabeth,” he said, locking gazes with her once more. “She and I were set to be married. I thought she was my wife. We were even supposed to have a cub. She told me she was pregnant. I...” he hesitated. “I believed her.”
“What happened?” Arianna asked, prodding him gently when he didn’t continue.
“I’m not sure,” he replied. “But whatever it was, she up and left. Just disappeared one day. Left me a note, telling me there never was a baby. No apology,” he explained, his voice growing harder as he spoke. “No explanation. Just that she was leaving.”
“Oh Ajax, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Instinct told her to pull him in, to kiss him and tell him that she would never do that. He was hurt, and needed healing, healing she could provide. But her brain told her to hold off, to let him come to her, that he needed to do this and discuss his past with her. It obviously still affected him deeply, and she couldn’t blame him. To fall in love with a child, only to be told it never existed and to not know for sure would tear any man apart.
“I’ve gone a long time now without a female in my life,” he said at last. “Just myself. Until you came along.” He smiled at her, and she could see the sad happiness in his face. “I told myself I would never love another, not after her.”
She stiffened at that proclamation, realizing now why he had locked up earlier. He couldn’t give her his love. She would be meaningful to him, but she would never be that woman to him. Arianna nodded, letting him know she understood.
Rough, powerful fingers gently caressed her jaw as he lifted her gaze back to meet his.
“I told myself that,” he repeated. “But what I told myself was a lie.”
Her heart soared as she understood where he was going.
“I will love again. No,” he corrected, “I do love again. I love you, Arianna. I don’t know how, though I can certainly count a few reasons why, but I do. You’ve awoken in me a need I thought I had extinguished years ago, and I know I’ll never fulfill that need without you by my side.”
Tears welled up inside her eyes as he proclaimed his true feelings for her.
“Oh, Ajax.”
He smiled. “I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said, pulling her gently to him so that he could kiss her.
Arianna wrapped her arms around him. “It’s okay, I’ll have my revenge,” she whispered, then fell backward into the bath.
Ajax yelped as he landed in the tub of warm water, his landing splashing liquid everywhere as it soaked his clothing. Arianna, on the other hand, dissolved into a fit of howling laughter at his drenched puppy-dog look.
“That,” he sputtered, “was unexpected. And mean. I’ll get you back for it, don’t worry.”
She laughed and pulled him down to her, kissing him again.
“So tell me, my big strong bear of a man,” she said with a wink. “Who are you? Where do you come from?”
“My name is Ajax Templeton. I work for a company called Lionshead Mining Consortium, and I lead a team working in the mines near a town called Origin, in the middle of nowhere. It’s a rough life, but it’s one that’s also filled with more love than you can imagine.”
“So clinical,” she teased.
Ajax shrugged. “I’m not sure what you wanted to know,” he replied sheepishly.
“That’s a good start,” she told him, pulling him deeper into the water next to her, as best they could in the cramped confines.
“Be careful,” he warned after a moment. “I don’t want you pulling open your—”
“My what?” she said, frowning, following his eyes to her arm. “What the hell?” she exclaimed.
The gash on her arm, once bleeding profusely, was already closed and scabbing over.
She looked up at him in alarm. “How is that possible?”
Ajax just shook his head. “I’m not sure,” he said guardedly. “But if you’re feeling better, we should get downstairs. They’ll be waiting for us.”
Arianna blinked. “They?”
***
With food in her stomach and dry clothes on, Arianna descended the stairs to the central room. They were in an old motel run by Flint, or one of his companies that had turned it into an elaborate bed and breakfast. Neither of them were sure what. Ajax had told her it felt vaguely familiar to him, but when she’d asked why, he would only smile.
“Arianna, it is good to see you looking much better,” Flint said as they entered the room.
“I feel better,” she admitted. “Thank you for taking me in,” she told him, shaking his hand firmly.
“It was the least I could do,” he told her. “Besides, maybe you can help him decide how to fix his problem.” He jerked his chin in the direction of Ajax.
She heard the shifter growl softly, and wondered just what was going on that she had missed.
“Problem?” she asked, turning to face Ajax.
“Flint is refusing to help us anymore,” he explained.
“I operate from the shadows,” Flint replied in a hard voice. “I don’t do open combat, and I certainly cannot harbor all these people myself. You are asking too much of me. I don’t have the funds to maintain this large of an operation.”
Arianna looked back and forth.
“There must be a way we can make this work. Ajax, do you have funds that Flint could draw on?”
Ajax hesitated. “Yes, I suppose I could talk to some people.” His eyes narrowed as he focused them on Flint. “But if we helped you, then you’d have to get these men out of town. I will help however I can, but you are the only one with the expertise, unless you think we can simply hide them in a truck and drive away.”
Flint looked back and forth at the two of them for a moment.
“Even if I had the funds, I still don’t like operating so overtly. It puts me at risk.”
Ajax rolled his eyes. “Flint, you are out of the shadows now. They know you exist, and they aren’t going to stop. You can run, and I wouldn’t entirely blame you. This is big-boy shit. Scary stuff. But if you’re in, you’re in.”
Arianna looked between them. “Flint, can you house everyone for another day or two?”
He nodded. “Even a few days if need be, especially if I have more funds to keep hiding my tracks. But getting these men out of the city is going to be tricky. We can’t use rail or planes, probably not boats either. All of those are too heavily watched. That leaves by road. Despite the size of the city, that’s not as easy as it sounds,” he explained.
“Why not?” Arianna asked. She had grown up in King City, but she had rarely actually left it.
Ajax looked at her and then back at Flint, also curious as to the reasoning.
“The city is three quarters surrounded by water. Yes, there are major highway arteries that cross the water, but if you count them, there are only a few chokepoints they would have to post teams at to catch us. I doubt we lost them coming here, but with the police station next door, they’re going to be loath to try anything. Still, when we try to leave, they’ll be able to follow
us.”
She blinked in surprise. The news about the police station was news to her.
“So can you do anything to help or not?” Ajax asked.
“Give me a day,” Flint said, sighing in defeat. “I’ll come up with something. Is that okay?”
Ajax looked at her. It took Arianna a moment to realize he was waiting on her approval.
“Yes, yeah, that will work,” she said. There didn’t seem to be much of a choice, all things considered. “Whoever these guys are, they’re going after shifters. We need to get them out of town. It’s the right thing to do,” she said firmly.
What she didn’t mention was why Flint had such a vested interest in shifters. He wasn’t one himself, but before they came along, he had been using his limited resources—which she didn’t think were as limited as he made out, just traceable by those with the right contacts, which made things tough to use them freely—to help those shifters who were targeted get out of town. There had to be a reason for his devotion to them, but she didn’t know what it was, and she was beginning to suspect they might never.
“The real question I have,” Ajax said aloud, looking at all the shifters that had been rescued. “Is why you guys? What do you all have in common that made them want to target you?”
A strong voice rang out. “We all were vocal in the community about the treatment of shifters, and how many of us are still at risk from unsavory parts of society, including the government.” Benji stepped into the room at last. He paused with a start as he saw Arianna.
“Ari?” he asked, amazed.
“Hi Benji,” she said, turning to allow herself to be embraced in a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“And you!” he exclaimed. “But what are you doing here?”
“She helped us find you,” Ajax said proudly, putting his arm around her.
The gesture seemed innocent, but she recognized it as a subtle challenge by Ajax to show that she was with him, no matter what Benji might think. It was silly, because Benji would recognize that Ajax was a good man. Even as she watched he glanced back and forth, and gave Ajax a discreet nod.
