by Kali Argent
Stretching out beside him in the dirt, she pushed the damp hair back from his forehead and smiled. “Hey back. Gabriel went to get you some clothes.”
“You’re hurt.”
“A little.”
“What happened? You were supposed to stay in the registration office.” Pressing his palms against the ground, he pushed into a sitting position with a grunt. “Let me see it.”
“Yes, well, I was actually in the office when this happened.” She stuck her injured leg out, propping it up in his lap. “One of those things broke down the door. I sent Abby and that chick with the baby to the library, killed the Ravager, and came to find you.”
Carefully, he peeled away the makeshift bandage and examined the gashes in her calf. “Roux,” he sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”
She shrugged and decided not to point out the fact that she’d just saved his life. “I wouldn’t say no to some painkillers.” She’d finished her antibiotics, but she still had half a bottle of prescription-strength Ibuprofen back at the house. “And a hot shower. Food could be an option. A nap, too. Not necessarily all in that order.”
Chuckling, he slipped a knuckle under her chin and tilted her head up to brush their lips together. “Don’t worry, kitten. I’ll take care of you.”
It had never crossed her mind that he wouldn’t, but not because she felt entitled. After everything that had happened in the past couple of months, even the smallest everyday things, she couldn’t deny that he cared for her, and not because of some mating bond, either. She knew because she saw the same emotions swirling inside her mirrored in Deke’s eyes.
Reaching up, she cupped his cheek and pressed their lips together again. “We’ll take care of each other.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Dressed in borrowed clothes, Deke stuck around the Bastille just long enough to issue orders to the guards before setting off to see how much damage had been done to the Square. He’d mostly healed by the time they reached the fountain, but with the adrenaline wearing off, Roux’s limp had worsened. Keeping an arm around her waist, he supported as much of her weight as she’d allow.
Given his way, he’d have carried her home and put her ass to bed. Of course, as soon as he’d mentioned that he needed to assess the situation in the city center, she’d stubbornly refused to return to the house. As a compromise—after a fairly heated argument—she had agreed to let the doctor in the infirmary examine her leg.
Because of the vaccination she’d received when she’d been registered, she wouldn’t need an antibiotic, but the gashes in her calf had needed thirteen stitches to close. At his request, the doctor had also given her something for the pain, though Deke had been forced to restrain her while she received the injection.
It some ways, it amused the hell out of him. She’d fought and killed two Ravagers without blinking, yet she fell into hysterics at the sight of a needle.
“Gabriel said he’s never seen a pack of Ravagers this big before,” Roux mused. “How many were there?”
“Nine here,” Zerrik answered, joining them in front of the fountain. Healing claw marks marred his face, and his uniform shirt hung off him in shreds, but he appeared otherwise unscathed. “We stacked the bodies in front of the bakery.”
“Peter will love that,” Roux mumbled.
Deke laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Grab a couple of SUVs and the other three Ravagers from the Bastille,” he told the lieutenant. “Burn them out by the edge of town.”
“Did you get the one inside the registration office?” Roux asked.
Zerrik nodded, his pale eyebrows lifting toward his hairline. “You did that?”
“I did what I had to,” Roux answered evenly. “Have you seen Abby?”
“Yeah.” Zerrik angled to the left and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “She was with Peter at the bakery. I’m pretty sure they’re still there.”
She dipped her head once and started toward the bakery, but Deke caught her around the upper arm, pulling her back. “What are you doing?”
“Going to find Abby.” Roux looked at the hand on her arm and then back up to meet his gaze. “What are you doing?”
She’d more than proven she could take care of herself, but Deke couldn’t let her go. He’d told her to stay in that office, and in doing so, he’d inadvertently put her in danger. He should have been there, should have protected her.
“You shouldn’t be walking around on that leg. You’ll pull the stitches.”
Rolling her eyes, she tangled her fingers in the front of his shirt and pulled him down to kiss his cheek. “I’ll be across the street.”
Watching her limp down the cobblestone street to Sunrise Bakery, Deke gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at his sides. It took everything in him not to call her back, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. Aside from tossing her over his shoulder and wrestling her back to his house, he couldn’t make her leave until she was ready.
“She’s tough, Captain.”
He acknowledged Zerrik with a grunt but continued watching Roux through the window of the bakery. She greeted Abby with a brief hug and scrutinized her for a moment before launching into a full-scale interrogation. Deke had to laugh.
“There was a redhead?”
Zerrik shook his head, but he didn’t bother to ask why Deke was eavesdropping on his mate. “Kate Rogers, human female, arrived in town a couple of months before Roux. Just had her baby about three weeks ago and moved into one of those apartments off Kramer Street.”
“The father?”
“Killed by raiders in the Deadlands. That’s all she’d say about him.”
Most newcomers didn’t volunteer any more information than necessary, so it didn’t surprise Deke that she wouldn’t discuss her baby’s father. What did surprise him was why he cared so much about this woman he’d never met. He blamed Roux.
“Was she hurt?”
“Shook up, but otherwise okay. Mendez walked her and the baby to the clinic on her way to get the SUV.” Scratching at a patch of dried blood on his wrist, Zerrik jerked his head toward the smashed door of the registration office. “Kate said Roux saved their lives, sent her and Abby out the back while she held off the Ravager.”
While proud of his mate’s tenacity and courage, Deke recognized that tone, and he doubted he’d like what the vampire had to say next.
“She could be an asset, Deke.”
“No.”
“Why not? She’s smart, intuitive, and with a little training, she’d make a hell of a fighter. Not to mention, she’s a born leader.” Zerrik glanced over his shoulder toward the bakery and snorted. “Have you ever known Abby to take orders from anyone?”
“Abby left Roux in that office do die while she saved her own ass.”
“Abby and Roux worked together to save a young mother and her newborn baby. There’s a difference, and you damn well know it.”
Yeah, he did, but that didn’t change his feelings on the matter. “The answer is still no. I’m not dragging her into this.”
“She’s your mate,” Zerrik reminded him. “She’s already in this.”
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Deke bit back his retort and turned to face the newcomer. He’d expected another guard, but not a royal guard, especially not the one striding toward him.
“Foster,” Deke greeted the Warden with a slight inclination of his head.
“Collins.” The shifter turned to Zerrik with a curl of his upper lip. “Leave.”
Lieutenant Lynk Foster hadn’t earned his position as head of the elite group of guards who protected the Diavolos family by mincing words. At six-foot-three, Deke didn’t look up to many people, but Lynk towered over him by an impressive six inches, maybe more. With a chest the size of a tree trunk, and biceps that strained the fabric of his black T-shirt, the shifter presented a truly imposing figure.
He wore his white hair—not gray or silver or light blond, but pure
white hair—in a long curtain that brushed against his shoulder blades. His eyes—pale gray eyes the color of moonlight—were always watchful, gleaming with an intensity that most found disconcerting, if not outright intimidating.
Right then, his menacing gaze was locked on Zerrik. “Leave,” Lynk repeated, his nostrils flaring with distaste. “Now.”
To his credit, Zerrik didn’t back down, but he did swallow hard enough to make Deke wince.
“Mendez just pulled up,” Deke told the vampire, hoping to diffuse the situation and let his friend walk away with a shred of his pride remaining. He pointed to a dark SUV at the end of the street. “Take care of the Ravagers and assign a detail to start cleaning up the Square. Greg can help. He used to work in construction.”
Zerrik turned toward him with a furrowed brow. “Greg?”
“Yeah, Roux’s friend. Big guy, blond hair, doesn’t say much.”
“No, I know who he is.” The lines across his forehead deepened, and he rested his hands on his hips. “No one has seen him all day, though. He was supposed to start installation on some new countertops at the salon this morning, but Laney said he never showed.”
“When was this?” Lynk interrupted, suddenly appearing much more interested in information about the missing human.
“I talked to Laney right after lunch, I guess. Why?”
Lynk grunted. “Nothing. Go away.”
“I’ll check with the others, find out if anyone has seen Greg.” Folding his arms over his chest, Deke nodded toward the bakery. “Send Roux this way, yeah?”
Zerrik glared at the Warden, but didn’t argue. “Yeah. All right.”
Watching Zerrik disappear into the bakery, Deke shook his head and sighed. “Foster, has anyone ever told you that you’re a dick?”
Lynk shrugged. “Frequently.” He sounded almost proud of the fact. “We need to talk.”
“So you said. What is it?”
“Not here.” Subtly, he raised the sleeve of his uniform shirt, revealing the bottom half of the Revenant emblem tattooed on his bicep. “Your place, ten minutes.” Then he turned and stomped away, but before turning the corner, he called over his shoulder, “I’ll meet you there.”
“Who was that?” Roux limped down the street toward him and practically collapsed into his arms.
“Lynk Foster. You’ll meet him later.” Holding her around the waist, he supported some of her weight to take pressure off her injured leg. “How much does it hurt?”
“I’m okay,” she insisted.
“Stubborn.” A grin stretched his lips, and he bent to press a kiss to her temple. “We need to go.”
“But there’s still so much to do here.”
She had a point. The dead needed to be burned or buried. Some of the injured still needed medical attention. Many of the shops in the Square would need repairs to one degree or another. Everyone standing had a job to do, and Deke’s duties didn’t include fixing broken doors or digging graves.
“We’ll come back,” he promised. “There’s somewhere we need to be right now.”
Roux struggled along beside him, her limp growing more pronounced with each step. Twice, he tried to carry her, and both times, she growled and slapped at him, insisting she could walk on her own. Her tenacity both frustrated and awed him. She had more heart, more determination and drive, than anyone he’d ever known.
Their new reality didn’t cater to or make allowances for the weak. The Revenant protected those in need, but Deke often wondered if they fought a winless battle. Physical prowess helped, but without strength of mind and will, the people they worked so hard to save would still end up as cannon fodder to a merciless world.
Not Roux, though.
In essence, she didn’t need him. On the other hand, it did give him a measure of relief to know that she could survive on her own. While she could be reckless and impulsive, she was also smart, cunning. If she couldn’t fight her way out of a situation, she knew how to run, how to hide.
As much as he hated to admit it, Zerrik had a point. With a little training and direction, Roux had the potential to become a tremendous asset to the Revenant. She already had the instincts of a soldier, and with a little focus, Deke had no doubt he’d be able to help her hone her natural abilities. Moreover, it would give her purpose, a place to belong, and an extended family to watch over her if something ever happened to him.
“What are you thinking?” Roux asked as they trekked up their driveway to the front porch.
Deke grinned. “Isn’t that my line?”
“Don’t change the subject? I know that look, Captain Collins.” Reaching into her front pocket, she pulled out the spare key he’d given her when she’d started her new job. “You’re trying to decide if you should tell me something. Spoiler alert, you’re going to tell me.”
Taking the key from her, Deke unlocked the front door and pushed it open. “Is that so?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Roux demanded when she stepped into the foyer.
“Excuse me?” Her question made no sense until he realized she wasn’t looking at him.
“You’re that Warden,” she accused. She shook off Deke’s hand when he reached for her elbow, but she still didn’t look at him. “How did you get into my house?”
Standing from the sofa, Lynk Foster rested his hands on his hips and smirked. “You’re not the only one with a key, sweetheart.”
Instead of being pissed at the lieutenant, Deke groaned and reached for his mate again, catching her around the waist as she lunged at Lynk. “Down, tiger.”
The corner of Lynk’s mouth hitched up a little higher, revealing the tip of one pointed canine. “Are you talking to me or her?”
Ceasing her struggles, Roux leaned heavily against Deke’s side, holding her weight on her good leg. “He’s a tiger shifter?” At his nod, she rolled her eyes and snorted. “You trust him?”
“I do.”
“So, he’s a Revenant.”
Deke nodded again. “He is.”
“Fine.” Pushing away from him, she limped toward the kitchen, wincing with each step. “He’s still a dick.” She stopped just inside the doorway and looked over her shoulder at him. “Beer?”
Shaking his head, he strode toward his mate, lifted her up, and carried her to the overstuffed armchair. There, he settled her gently into the seat and propped her hurting leg up on the cushioned ottoman.
“Don’t move,” he ordered. “Where are the painkillers?”
“Medicine cabinet, top shelf.” Gritting her teeth, Roux leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Thank you.”
In the short time it took him to find the pills and return to the living room, Roux had her shoes off and an ice pack pressed against her stitches. She even had an unopened bottle of water sitting on the end table next to her.
“I told you not to move.” Easing down on the ottoman beside her foot, Deke placed the two tablets in her upturned palm. “Here, take these.”
Roux thanked him again and reached for the water. “And I didn’t move.”
He twisted around to look at Lynk, but the lieutenant simply arched an eyebrow at him and said nothing. The guy did his job, and he did it well. His post with the Diavolos family made him an invaluable member of the Revenant, but words like comfort, kindness, and compassion had never been part of his vocabulary. For him to go out of his way to ease even a little of Roux’s pain wasn’t in his nature, not that Deke had ever seen, and he had no idea what to make of it.
“Gabriel said the Ravagers don’t come into town.” Shifting in her seat, Roux held the water bottle in both hands as she looked between him and Lynk. “What makes this time different?”
Lynk stared back at her blankly. “Who the fuck is Gabriel?”
“Sergeant Riccelli,” Deke answered. “Werewolf, assigned to the Bastille, you’ve met him a few times.”
“Did I like him?”
Deke snorted. “As much as you l
ike anyone, I guess.”
“This is all very interesting,” Roux grumbled. “Now, is someone going to tell me what the hell just happened out there? Or are we going to braid each other’s hair and continue to talk about our feelings?”
“You called this meeting,” Deke reminded the shifter. “What’s going on? What do you know?”
“You’re being watched. All of you.” Without elaborating, Lynk rose from the sofa and marched into the kitchen.
“Is he always like that?” Roux asked, not bothering to keep her voice down.
“Pretty much.”
Returning from the kitchen with two frosted bottles of Corona, Lynk passed one to Deke before popping the top off his own beer. “You, that fuckhead vampire, the baker, and even that feisty puma—you’re all being watched, and everything is being reported back to the family. Nikolai Diavolos in particular has taken a special interest in you, Captain.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Back up.” Gripping the cushioned arms of the chair, Roux pulled herself up straighter, her bright green eyes locked on Lynk. “What puma? Who is Nikolai Diavolos? And what the hell does he want with Deke?”
“Thea is a puma shifter,” Deke explained. “You probably saw her in the Square during the attack.” He paused, choosing his next words carefully. “If you think of the Diavolos family like royalty, Nikolai would be the crown prince. He’ll take over the region when his father passes.”
“And?” Roux prodded, clearly unimpressed. “Why does he have such a hard-on for you?”
Since Deke didn’t have an answer for her, he turned to Lynk. “Do you know why he’s having me watched?”
“No, not for certain, but I think it’s to make sure you don’t interfere.” Moving to the edge of the cushion, Lynk sat his beer on the coffee table and rested his elbows on his knees. “I overheard a couple of the guards a few nights ago. They were talking about making a delivery, only it didn’t sound like they meant groceries.”
“People,” Deke deduced lifting Lynk’s beer to slide a coast beneath the bottle. “They were talking about delivering people.”
“The missing residents,” Roux whispered, growing visibly more restless as the conversation continued. “Abby might have mentioned it,” she added when Lynk arched an eyebrow at her. “Where are they delivering them?”
