Abel: A Sabine Valley Novel

by Robert, Katee

  Cam stops next to the bed. “Once he wakes up, we can arrange to have him transported to the compound, but after that, his health is on you. He’ll need to see another doctor to be monitored, and if he tries to do something noble and bullheaded, he’s going to rip open his wound and probably bleed out all over again. I highly suggest you prevent him from doing that.”

  “We will.” Even if I have to tie Eli to a bed to make it happen. I can’t stop myself from reaching out and pressing my hand lightly to his back, measuring his slow breathing for several long moments. He’s alive.

  He’s alive.

  Cam leaves at some point, and Abel drags two chairs over to the side of the bed. And then we wait, and wait, and wait.

  I’m not sure how long it’s been when Eli stirs and opens his eyes, but it’s the happiest sight I’ve ever laid eyes on. I squeeze Abel’s arm, and he jumps to his feet. “You fucking fool!” He plants his hands on either side of Eli’s hips and leans over him. “What the fuck were you thinking, jumping in front of that bullet?”

  Eli blinks up at him, looking a little lost. Cam must have him pumped up on a boatload of drugs, because he simply says, “I love you. I couldn’t lose you.”

  Abel opens his mouth, no doubt to deliver a blistering lecture, but then curses and closes the distance between them and kisses Eli. It’s quick and thorough and when he lifts his head, he growls. “Don’t you ever do some bullheaded shit like that again.”

  “I make no promises,” Eli says faintly. He looks at me and holds out his hand. “The compound?”

  Trust him to gather his wits about him faster than anyone I’ve ever met. “Broderick took care of it. Half the team tried to infiltrate the walls—I think they were headed for the supplies—but they didn’t have a chance to harm anything.” From the contents of their packs, they planned to poison us. Which means there will be questions for the Mystics at some time in the future; if there’s a poison in Sabine Valley, it’s sourced back to their faction. I’m sure Fallon will have some thoughts on that as well, which is an unexpected boon. Shifting the Mystic Brides’ allegiance in our direction would have been impossible yesterday, but today, one of their own decided that they were expendable. Dropping that information…

  I shake my head. We’ll figure it out later, once we’re home and have had a chance to get Eli looked over. “We need a doctor on staff.”

  “We need a lot of people on staff.” Abel sinks onto the edge of the bed next to Eli. “But yeah, doctor takes precedent.”

  “I have someone I can call,” I finally say. “I don’t know if they’ll do it, but I can ask.”

  Abel passes me his phone. “Go for it.”

  It takes two minutes to make the call, and Rae surprises me by agreeing to come check Eli out and consider the position, which means they’re between jobs again. Not surprising given their attitude—every surgeon I’ve met has a god complex, but Rae is on another level. It doesn’t help that they’re something of a prodigy. Or they were when they were a teenager.

  It takes a few more hours before Cam announces Eli fit to travel the short distance back to the compound. Abel gets things arranged with his brothers, and there’s a convoy waiting for us as we help Eli into a wheel chair and get him out the back door to the street that runs parallel to Old Town. Abel lifts him into the middle truck despite his protests, carefully setting him on the bench seat. I climb up after him while Abel goes around to the driver’s seat.

  I lace my fingers through Eli’s. I can’t stop touching him, can’t stop trying to reassure myself that he’s real. “I was really worried about you,” I say quietly.

  “I know.” He squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry.” He waits for Abel to put the truck in drive before continuing. “I promise to loop you both in on any meetings or plots in the future.”

  It’s the best offer we’re going to get. I squeeze his hand again. “Good.”

  “I’ve half a mind to whoop your ass once you’re healed.” Abel follows the lead truck around the corner and toward the compound. “But I guess your promise will suffice.”

  Up ahead, the compound comes into view. Something in my chest eases. I used to feel like this place was a cage, but for the first time in years, it feels like a physical representation of safety and security.

  It feels like home.

  That feeling has nothing to do with the place and everything to do with the two men in the truck with me. I twist to look at them. “I love you. Both of you.”

  Eli gives a faint smile. “We love you, too.”

  Abel grunts. “Look, it’s a three-way of love and all that shit. Can we talk about this once we have the doors shut and locked behind us in the compound?”

  “I want to make the compound home. A real home.” I reach over Eli and brush my fingers over Abel’s knuckles where they’re whitened on the steering wheel. “Someplace that’s really safe for us and your brothers and their Brides and your people. I also want to expand that home to the entire faction in a way we’ve never tried to do it before. So that everyone is safe.”

  “Why stop there?” Abel replies. The shadow of the top of the compound moves over us as we drive through the doors. “Why not make all of Sabine Valley home?”

  I give him a look. “Isn’t that what you’ve been planning from the beginning? Sabine Valley under Paine rule?”

  He opens his mouth and then huffs out a laugh. “Yeah. It is.”

  Eli shakes his head. “I knew it.”

  It would be smart to tell him no, to redirect that ambition to peace. But you know what? Fuck it. Abel’s already put his plan in motion, and we have a year to lay down the foundation to enact it. Not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but with the three of us putting things into motion? It’s possible.

  It’s more than possible.

  “We start with the compound.”

  “Deal. We start with the compound.” His gaze flicks to Eli. “But first we get Eli on bedrest until your doctor shows up.”

  “Yes.”

  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Eli grumbles, but it’s half-hearted at best. He’s already looking a little green around the edges from the car ride. The faster we get him somewhere stable, the better.

  I wait until Abel puts the truck in park to say, “So we’re doing this. Together.”

  “Together,” Eli echoes.

  Abel gives us both a fierce grin. “Fuck yeah. With the three of us working together, Sabine Valley doesn’t stand a chance.”

  Not a conventional happily ever after. Not really. But it’s one I trust with two men that I love. And I couldn’t be happier.

  * * *

  Thank you so much for reading Abel! I hope you enjoyed Abel, Harlow, and Eli’s wild ride! If you did, please consider leaving a review.

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  The Paine brothers’ story continues with BRODERICK. Broderick never wanted a Bride, let alone one as volatile and dangerous as Monroe. He’s loved his best friend, Shiloh, for years. She’s the woman he’d choose if he had a choice. Unfortunately for him, Monroe picks up on that love very quickly and sets about tormenting him by seducing Shiloh…

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  * * *

  Check out this sneak peek of BRODERICK!

  I always knew it would come to this. Handfasted, not to the woman I want, but to the heir to the Amazon faction. Monroe Rhodius stands next to me, her silence doing nothing to detract from the danger rolling off her in waves. She’s gorgeous, of course; all the ruling Amazon family is. Long blond hair, pretty green eyes, and a mouth painted blood red. She only comes up to my shoulder, which is the most surprising thing about her. Given her reputation, I thought she’d be bigger.

  It feels like the ceremony occurs between one blink and the next. The Herald
says the appropriate words, binds my hand and forearm to Monroe’s with pretty silk.

  There’s no going back now.

  My older brother, Abel, leads our group through the crowd to the waiting trucks. My six brothers, our seven Brides—eight Brides now that Abel has had his way. No one stops us, but we still rush out of there as if someone will sink a dagger between our shoulder blades at any moment. Old habits die hard.

  It’s only when we’ve piled into the back of one of the trucks that Monroe breaks her silence. She gives me a slow smile that feels more like a threat than an expression of joy. “Bold move, Broderick Paine. You’re going to live just long enough to regret it.”

  I already regret it.

  Not the necessity of these theatrics. They were necessary. Arriving back in Sabine Valley during the feast of Lammas, one of the four times when the city’s three factions come together in ritual designs to maintain peace. Abel stepping into the ring and issuing his challenge—seven fights, a Bride the reward for each victory. By taking Brides from each faction, we forged a forced peace. They can’t move against us for the year we’re hand fasted. Technically, we can’t move against them, either, but it’s more than enough time to get our roots in deep and prepare for the coming confrontation.

  If we survive this year.

  The problem with taking Brides from the enemy factions? It means we’re essentially married to that enemy, that we’ve invited them into our beds and our lives and close enough to harm.

  I stare at Monroe. I’m not as hard as some of my brothers, nowhere near as cold as others, but I’ve survived eight years of exile and that’s put scars on my soul that will be there until the day I die. “Cross me, and I won’t be the one who regrets it.”

  Monroe gives a throaty laugh, a sound so full of the promise of sin that it sends a bolt of desire straight to my cock. Damn it, I don’t want to react to her. It doesn’t matter that she’s mine for the year, that she’s beautiful. None of that changes the truth.

  She’s not the one I want.

  Not the one I love.

  Monroe lets the jostle of the truck bounce her nearly into my lap. She leans against me, her breasts pressing to my upper arm. “I’m a Bride. That means this handfasting isn’t official until it’s consummated.”

  I clench my jaw and stare at the buildings we pass. We cross the bridge into Raider territory—territory that used to be ours, at least until we were betrayed and exiled. It doesn’t look like home. I don’t know if I’ll ever consider it home again. “I’m aware.”

  She drags her finger down the center of my chest and over my stomach. I catch her wrist before she reaches the band of my jeans. “No.”

  Monroe gives another of those throaty laughs. “I was going to do my duty—no oathbreaker, after all—but this is going to be fun.”

  “What?” I finally drag my gaze to her face. She’s got features too perfect to be real. It almost hurts to look at her.

  She tugs her wrist out of my grip. “You have to do your duty, too, Broderick.” She draws out my name as if tasting it for weakness. “Even if you hate every moment of it.”

  “I’m aware.” My voice is too hard, giving away how much I don’t want to do this. Damn it, I have to get myself in line. She’s been in my presence less than thirty minutes and she’s already digging around beneath my skin.

  “Like I said—fun.”

  We pull into the warehouse that we’ve been secretly staying in while we got everything lined up for the feast. It’s as secure as we could make it, which is why it’s where we’ll spend tonight. Where we’ll consummate the handfasting with our respective Brides.

  We climb out of the trucks, piling into the open space around Abel and his two Brides. Harlow, we planned on, an extra little revenge against the faction that used to be ours. But Abel’s second Bride? I study Eli Walsh, the man I used to consider a friend who was nearly a brother. The man who stood by while our father and people were killed in a coup eight years ago. He’s running the Raiders now, which more than speaks for itself.

  I hope Abel knows what he’s doing.

  My brother looks at each of us in turn, his expression hard. “Consummate the handfasting tonight. No exceptions. Get it done.”

  There’s nothing to do but exactly what he said; get it done. I turn and head for the bedroom I’ve been using, and I’m relieved when Monroe keeps pace with me. I don’t want to have to drag her behind me. No matter what we want, this has to be done tonight or the handfasting won’t hold. It’s not necessary for normal handfasting, but Brides are different. It’s an old tradition in Sabine Valley, a way to ensure peace for a period of time. But it only works if the rules are followed to the letter.

  We’re nearly to the door when the person I dreaded seeing appears. Shiloh. She’s flushed as if she’s been running, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her gaze skates over Monroe and lands on me, and the relief on her face has guilt worming through me.

  Shiloh.

  My best friend.

  The woman I’ve been in love with for years.

  “You’re okay.” She doesn’t touch me, doesn’t close the last bit of distance between us, but she gives me a trembling smile. “I was worried.”

  “I’m okay.” I speak softly, just like I always do around Shiloh. She’s a capable fighter and scrappy as hell—she has to be to run with our group—but there’s something soft about her that even years of violence hasn’t hardened. It’s something I cherish.

  Her smile goes a little strained. “I, uh, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Yeah.” I can’t look at Monroe, but I feel her watching us. She’s gone still, a predator scenting weakness. I clear my throat. “Tomorrow.”

  Shiloh searches my face, gives me one last faint smile, and then she’s gone, weaving her way through the trucks and disappearing from sight. I turn toward the door, but Monroe is there, pressing herself to my chest and staring up into my eyes with a devious smile on her red, red lips. “Broderick Paine, you’ve been holding out on me. Who was that delicate little creature? She looks tasty.”

  Alarm blares, and it’s everything I can do to keep it out of my tone. “She’s no one.” Better that Monroe believe that than literally anything else. Especially the actual truth.

  Her smile widens and her green eyes light up. She’s never looked more beautiful than she does in this moment. She’s never looked more dangerous, either. “We both know that’s not the truth. It looks to me like she’s everyone to you.” She presses her nails to my chest, a cat toying with its prey. “I changed my mind. This isn’t going to be a drag. This is going to be fun.”

  Gods alone know what Monroe considers fun.

  I’m suddenly sure that I’m going to find out…and that Shiloh is going to bear the cost.

  Purchase BRODERICK now!

  Acknowledgments

  Huge thank you to my readers for taking the journey to Sabine Valley with me. This series promises to be one of the most challenging and rewarding I’ve ever worked on, and I’m really excited to share the Paine brothers’ stories with you!

  Endless thanks to my developmental editor Manuela Velasco for helping me make this book the best version of itself. Thank you to Lynda M Ryba for copy editing the hell out of this book! Much love!

  Special thanks to Sabra’s Bun Tschi for coming up with the name Sabine Valley for this city, and also to Melody of the Heaving Bosoms for all the Amazon inspiration. You, my friend, are an honorary Amazon forever!

  Writing can be a very solitary experience, so I cannot thank my friends enough for being support squad, brainstormers, and just endlessly being there for me and my increasingly worrisome “what if” questions. Asa Maria Bradley, Piper J Drake, Andie J Christopher, Nisha Sharma, and Jenny Norbak, THANK YOU. I’d be lost without you. Biggest of thanks to Tasha L Harrison and everyone in the Wordmakers group for keeping me company while drafting this book! I appreciate those word sprints more than I can say!

  Always at the bo
ttom of the acknowledgements list, but at the top of MY list: Tim. Thank you, babe. I love you. Your faith in me never fails to motivate the hell out of me. Love you forever and always.

  About the Author

  Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.

  www.kateerobert.com

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