by Nova Blake
"What?" I asked, turning my head to see everyone else. Brax was frowning, and Zephyr... I didn't even know how to describe what was happening on his face. "Will one of you say something?"
"You should have told me," Colton said. His voice was quiet, full of disappointment. "I should have asked. I should have sat you down and made you tell me everything that happened."
He wasn't disappointed in me. He was disappointed in himself. And for some reason, that stung me way more. I'd done this to him, with my rage and my crazy. With my desperate need and selfishness. None of it had been worth this.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think it would matter."
"It might matter," Rafe said. He was calmer than I expected, more measured. "We can't be sure though, and now we need to make a plan to get out of here safely."
"We need to call Hunter," Brax said.
"No!" I cried out, only to be echoed by Rafe and Colton, the two I thought would be most on board with that plan.
"Not yet," Rafe added. "Let's strengthen our defenses, do some recon and find out everything we can. If we call Hunter then this is over and we have to start from scratch. I'd rather we do everything we can to fortify our current location."
"Besides, he's already been in once this week, you just know he's going to be pissed to be called in again so soon," Colton grumbled.
I'd never been able to figure out why he had a bug up his ass about Hunter, but it was there for everyone to see right now. Personally, I wasn't complaining. I was in no rush for the dressing down he'd give me for not telling him about the old woman. If I could avoid that a little longer, then it was totally fine by me.
The guys crowded around the table, waiting for their orders. I'd never seen them so responsive; they did such a good job of just pretending this was a normal life in a normal house every day that I'd been lulled into a sense of security, despite their rules and frequent reminders.
Well, now I could really see how serious this was.
"Colton, you take Zephyr and Sheehan, I want you sweeping the area. Start wide, and then come in, do loops, cover as much ground as you can and be random. We can't be seen."
"Got it. Come on, boys." Colton pushed his chair back and headed for the garage door, not waiting for the others to follow. Sheehan gave me a glance over his shoulder, a nod, maybe one that was meant to tell me to be good, or maybe confess about the nightmares.
They already had enough to worry about though, and that was my problem. Something I had to try and handle on my own.
"Arien, I want you training Ebony. She needs to work on her skills. Once you're confident she’s got the basics down, you need to do some weapon training."
"Weapons?" I squeaked. "Have you seen me in the kitchen? I don't think that's a good idea."
Rafe leveled his steely blue gaze at me. "Arien is an excellent teacher. And while you might think you have no experience, that's not entirely true." His eyes swept away, taking in the others. "Felix, I want you strengthening our defenses around the house, Brax, you can help him out. I'm going to get some supplies. We'll stock up and bunker down."
The men nodded, though they didn't move fast enough because Rafe slapped his palms against the table. "Go!" he shouted. They scattered, leaving me alone in the kitchen with Arien and Rafe.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked him. "You know I hate it when Hunter comes to tell me off, but are we going to be okay?"
Rafe stood up and came around to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We don't know anything for sure, but it's not just your ass on the line. None of us really want to face his wrath, so we'll follow protocol and if we find any evidence that they know you're here, then we run. But this is our home. It's your home. And if we can be here and be safe, then that's what we'll do."
I let out a sigh of relief. How he knew things that I couldn't even put into words was beyond me, but he was right.
This was all I remembered.
So much about my life was unknown, but these walls, the routines we had... I knew those. They made me feel safe - safe enough to do stupid things like take off in the middle of the night, but still, safe. "Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome. Now get your ass upstairs and change into some gym gear." He patted my shoulder, an evil gleam in his eye and a grin on his lips. "I have a feeling you're going to be sore this afternoon."
I spun to face Arien, who was smiling too. But not in the 'we're going to have a sexy afternoon' kind of way. In the 'I'm going to train you until you fall over' way.
Dammit.
CHAPTER NINE
We spent hours in the gym, working through all the self-defense moves before beginning knife training.
"I still don't think I need this," I said. I had the blunted knife in my hand. It was heavy and foreign, and I didn't like it at all.
Arien just shook his head. "Rafe told me to train you, so I'm training you." He held a knife as well, though it looked like a natural extension of his body.
"Okay, okay. I get it. This isn't as fun as yesterday though." I kept my eyes on his face, watching for a reaction. There it was, a little grin, but he pushed that down, seriousness pulling his features straight.
"Agreed, but things have changed. Get into a fighting stance, like this." He slid one foot back, bending his knees slightly.
I mimicked his movement, but I had to ask. "Things between us, or things in the house?"
Arien straightened, blowing a breath out in frustration. "In the house, Ebony. Can't you feel the tension? It's so thick that even your blunt knife could cut it. We have to focus. There is no time for games now, not if we want to get through this alive."
"I just... I'm sorry." I rolled my shoulders back. "I know I need to focus. I know this is serious. It's just that we never talked after... And then..."
He laughed. Actually laughed, the sound filling me with relief. "I don't mind that you slept with Sheehan, because you and I both know I could have done that first if things hadn't changed. And we will. Someday. Soon. When things are a little calmer here and we have all the time in the world to explore each other’s bodies." His gaze traveled over my body, making me flush. "Because I want to, and I know you do too. Right?"
I bit my lip and nodded, unable to talk. Focus, Ebony. Come on. Push those thoughts aside and focus or you're going to get killed and you'll never get to the fun parts.
Focus or you'll get someone else killed, and then you'll never be able to live with yourself.
"Right." I nodded, steeling myself. I was tense all over, so I forced my muscles to relax a little, to be springy and light like I could see Arien was.
"You want to stay loose. As soon as you tense up you've lost the fight. And the key thing to remember is that you're not fighting my knife, you're fighting me. If you focus on my knife you'll miss everything else I'm doing, and that will cost you."
"Got it. I think. In theory?"
"Now, put your knife down."
"What? Is this some kind of trick, because I’m not falling for it." I put my free hand on my hip.
He broke his stance and moved towards me, taking the knife away and carrying it to the bench, where he put his down as well. He came back with markers.
"What?" I frowned and stood up straight, scratching my forehead. "Why have you got those?"
"Strip, down to your underwear."
I gave him the side-eye, thoroughly confused. "Not until you tell me what's going on. I thought we were meant to be focusing. That's not going to help."
He stripped off his tee and threw it to the side, then pulled off his pants so he was only in boxers. "We're going to use these markers to show when we get cut. You're red, and I'm blue. We're stripping off so you can see the visible marks on your body. It'll help you really see what damage can be done."
With a shrug, I undressed, feeling bare and exposed in my underwear. He'd never seen me like this before, and I could tell he liked it from the way his eyes skimmed my body.
"Focus, Arien," I said playfully. "Someone’s goin
g to die if you don't stay on task."
He rolled his eyes and tossed a marker at me. I managed to catch it, gripping it the same way I had the knife.
"Ready?"
"Ready," I said.
And the lesson really began. By the end of it I was covered in blue lines, and he barely had a scratch of red on him. Which just showed how good he was, not just at landing blows, but avoiding mine. He walked me through the severity of each cut - which ones would slow me down, which ones wouldn't be too bad.
The ones that would kill me.
And then he made me try to land the same strikes on him. Only the worthy ones. The ones that would really hurt, the ones that would kill.
I was so worn out by the end of it that I was falling over tired, the only thing keeping me standing was the fact that Arien had red on him now. Big bold slashes across his arteries.
I tossed the marker back on the bench and sagged against it.
"We're done now. Right?" I grabbed my drink bottle and guzzled it as Arien approached. He capped the markers and stashed them in a drawer, and then snatched my bottle away, making water dribble down my chest.
"Hey!"
He shrugged, drinking deeply, though his eyes never left me.
Focus, Ebony. Focus.
I rubbed the water into my chest, the cool of it refreshing. I needed a shower badly, because I was covered in sweat and marks, and I didn't think there was enough deodorant in the world to mask my smell.
Arien put the empty bottle down, then he reached out and cupped my cheek. "You did good today. Real good. You're not ready yet but you will be. Tomorrow we'll use the blades."
"Oh, I don't know about that. I know I was a bit hesitant about the markets to begin with, but I quite like them. I think I'd rather be covered in pen than bruises."
"I'll be gentle on you," he said, his words soft. He closed the distance and kissed me, soft and sweet.
"Only on the battlefield," I murmured, leaning in to deepen the kiss. His hand slipped around the back of my head and I pressed my body against his, our mostly-naked bodies still hot from our workout.
There was a cough from the door and we broke apart, spinning to find Felix leaning against the door frame.
"As much as I love a good show, I need Arien, and it looks like you need a shower. Maybe a cold one, Princess?"
I rolled my eyes at him and kissed Arien on the cheek. "Thank you for the training session."
"Any time," he said, his eyes deep and meaningful. Damn. That man was dangerously hot. "I'll see you later."
"Mmmhmm. I'm going to shower. I'd hate for my smell to offend anyone." I poked my tongue out at Felix as I approached him, and he slapped my ass as I walked through the garage door.
"Don't take too long, I need to run you through the new system too," he said
"Whatever," I called over my shoulder, grinning. At least I knew he wasn't fazed by what had happened last night, and it was a relief. I didn't want to be checking in with every single guy to see how they felt. I cared, yes, but there were more important things to get on with right now.
Hopefully we could all just be adult. For now at least.
WHEN FELIX SAID HE needed to show me the new system, I hadn't thought much about it, but it was a technical beast.
"There are now stronger sensors around the property, and I've set up a video feed. If anyone comes in or out of the house we'll have them on tape. Someone will monitor this for as much of the day as we can," Felix explained. We were standing in front of a bank of screens in his bedroom, and it was hard enough for me to focus on one let alone all six.
"Is this... How the hell do you keep track of everything?" I asked. I leaned in, looking at a couple of people who were walking past our house on the street, just a normal couple, with a little dog. In fact, I was pretty sure they lived a few houses down.
"It's all recorded, so if we miss something we can look back. This is part of our job, right? Serve and protect." He grinned at me, and then did something I never imagined. He held out a cellphone towards me.
"For me? Is this mine? You're giving me a cell phone?" My hand hovered in the air between us, too nervous to think this was real.
"Yes, Princess. We're giving you a phone, and what's more, we want you to have it turned on, charged, and on you at all times." He grinned and pressed the phone into my hand. "I debated whether it was easier to just put a tracking device on you but the consensus was that it would be a tad sneaky."
"Like you, you're a tad sneaky. How can I be sure you didn't do that too?" I raised an eyebrow, but my focus was on the phone. I slid my finger across the screen, calling it to life. It was like being gifted magic. Magic they'd denied me for as long as I could remember.
"There is a kiddy blocker on it, so you can't access the whole web, but... Well, this was the easiest way to ensure we could keep in touch when we need to. You'll never be alone, but just in case." His voice twisted strangely and I looked up to find him frowning, like he didn't want to think about those things. "Just, be good, and once this is over, you can keep it."
"Okay." I nodded, stupidly, couldn't seem to stop. I was overwhelmed because I finally had an ounce of freedom to explore the world through the internet at leisure, but at the same time Felix was obviously struggling with the situation that had caused the need for it. "It's going to be okay, Felix. You guys take such good care of me, how can it not?"
I'd never seen him look like this before and it made my chest hurt. He was the fun one, always stirring the pot, but he didn't have any of that energy around him now. I moved towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into my embrace. "Please say something stupid so I can hit you," I whispered. "I hate seeing you like this."
His arms folded around me and he buried his face in my hair. "Trust me, Princess. I hate feeling like this, but if anything happened to you..."
"It won't," I promised him, "it's going to be okay." I squeezed him harder and he crushed me with his hug. We stayed there like that for a minute, and then I tried to step back, but he wouldn't let me.
"Just a little longer. Please?" The need in his voice killed me. I couldn't breathe, but it wasn't from the pressure, it was from the ache in my heart.
I nodded, squeezing back, letting him have this until he released me, a smile tugging at his lips as he pulled away. "If you tell the others, I'll have to put stricter permissions on your phone. Maybe I'll even remove game privileges."
"I can get games?" I asked, eyes going wide. "Well, I'll keep my lips sealed in that case." I squeezed his arm, getting him to look me in the eyes. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, of course." He shrugged, his features returning to normal levels of happy-go-lucky Felix. "I was just making you feel sorry for me so I could get a hug."
"Uh huh." I punched him in the arm, knowing he was just covering. "Well, I'm going to be in the lounge installing stupid games to distract myself. You staying here?"
"Yeah, work to do.” He turned away, fiddling with the monitor positioning. “Oh, and none of the windows open anymore, just so you know."
"What?"
"We nailed them shut. The only way in or out is via the doors. Means we don't have to watch every single window on the monitors." He turned back to me and shrugged.
I rolled my eyes. "You guys are crazy."
"Crazy about keeping you safe, Princess." He winked and laughed, spinning away before I could smack him again.
I left him to it, eyes back on my phone, flicking through the options. It was all so foreign to me, but I'd seen the guys mess with theirs so I found the app store and set about filling my home screen with pretty, mindless things. Far better to think about crushing levels than having my skull crushed.
THE REST OF THE DAY was a flurry of activity from the guys. They left me out of it, blessedly. I had zero interest in the technical aspects, and the more time I spent thinking about people actually physically hunting me, breaking into our house to kill me, to kill my men, the more anxious I b
ecame.
Because they were my men. I knew that now. It wasn't just a job for them, it was more than that. Their devotion spanned the breadth of emotion and went way past honor. I wasn't going to say the L word though, that was for them to decide.
"Ebony!" Rafe hollered at me from the garage. I ran to meet him, only to find that he'd actually driven the car in. That never happened.
All the gym gear was shoved to one side and the door was just about done closing.
"Help me unpack the car. We're going to need to make some room in the inside fridge, but most of it can go out here in the freezer."
"We have a second freezer?"
"We wanted to be sure we'd have supplies in the case of a siege."
"A siege?"
"You seem to have become a parrot since I left. Are you okay?" He raised an eyebrow, then threw a large pack of toilet rolls at me.
I managed to catch it, but I frowned. "It feels like everything is a lie. Like you guys just wanted to paint this picture of a lovely home for me, but really it's a bunker and now we're ready for all-out war."
Rafe sighed in frustration, running his hands through his hair. "It is a bunker. It's always been a bunker. You just didn't know it was a bunker."
"Don't get short with me, Rafe. I'm coming to terms with it, and it's not my fault you guys kept me in the dark. That's on you."
He shook his head, eyes full of regret. "All of us, and maybe it wasn't the right call. We just wanted you to have a slice of normal, whatever the hell that even means."
"I don't think it means doing laundry for seven hot guys, but hey, it is what it is."
One side of his mouth quirked up in a grin. "Hot guys?"
I groaned. "Come on, you know you're hot. With your bulging arm muscles, your sexy blue eyes, and ability to cook an amazing meal from scratch. You don't need me to stroke your ego." I pressed my lips together, realizing how he could take that. I was trying to be focused. On the situation. Not on Rafe, or any of the others. "Now hurry up, we have a car to unload."
