Bolt nods. “Yes. I believe Morgan was at the hospital watching you,” he says to me.
“I wasn’t watching him,” Morgan mutters, giving me a dirty look that makes me want to laugh. “I was keeping a look out for the harpy…and good thing too, or she would’ve had you,” she says to Bolt. “I’m going to assume you’re not human and that you have powers as well?”
Bolt folds his arms, looking annoyed. He ignores Morgan. “You said you don’t really know her. You said you don’t trust her. Why is she here again?”
“I just saved your ass,” Morgan says to Bolt before turning to me. “This asshole is rude.” She points at Bolt. “I just stopped that harpy bitch from—”
“This asshole over here…” he points at himself, “just helped you move your car. I have dirt on my Armani suit,” Bolt says to Morgan.
“Boo-hoo!” Morgan looks like she’s getting ready to stab Bolt.
“Maybe we should talk privately.” He turns back to me.
“Excuse us for a minute,” I say to her. “Let me have a quick word, and we’ll be right back.”
Morgan looks murderous. “Whatever,” she mutters, taking off her jacket, which she scrunches into a ball and throws into her car. She isn’t wearing the wig which I assume is in the car. We walk away. I hear Morgan pop the hood.
“What the fuck?” Bolt says under his breath. “What just happened?”
“I should have told you Morgan was tailing me, but I didn’t want to get into it with you and Night. The rest, you know.”
“This is a fucking mess.” Bolt rakes his hand through his hair. “That harpy is after the rest of us now, isn’t she?”
I wince. “It looks that way.”
“And the only help we have is a female you don’t trust.” He raises his brows. “A female we know nothing about.”
We both look in Morgan’s direction. She’s bent over the hood, her feet are apart, her knees slightly bent. She’s fiddling with something in the engine. Her ass is in the air, and it’s a thing of beauty. I realize it’s a thought I shouldn’t be having right now, but there it is. She’s wearing her shoulder holster. I know she has another gun and a knife somewhere on her person, and I find it incredibly sexy. I find the fact that she knows her way around a car engine a huge fucking turn-on as well. I’m trying hard not to picture her in my shirt, covered in grease, on the hood of a car, any car.
Morgan leans in a little more, and I all but groan. Those black slacks are formless and do nothing for her. Bending over like that, however, they’re molding to her ass in a way that—
“What the fuck are you doing?” Bolt whisper-shouts.
“What do you mean?” I know what he’s talking about.
“You’re checking her out. Are you kidding me right now?”
I shrug. “What? She has a great ass, but it’s not—”
His eyes widen, and he gasps. “You are checking her out. Stop it! This isn’t going to end well. You know that, right? You don’t trust this woman.”
“I don’t trust her because she’s so cagey. I don’t trust her because of what happened with the harpy. Otherwise, she doesn’t give me any reason to doubt—”
“There must be a reason, or you wouldn’t feel this way. You hid her from us.”
“I told you about Morgan,” I retaliate.
“You told us half of it, managing to leave out the important part. The fact that she was there in the hospital, tailing you. She saw me with you. Maybe it was she who led that thing to us…to me. Have you thought of that?”
Fuck! I hadn’t.
“Firstly, I didn’t hide her; I just didn’t tell you everything about her, and secondly, last time I checked, I was capable of making my own decisions. Third and lastly, Morgan is helping me. She wants payback for her partner.”
“Yeah, yeah. You told us. Brain injury yada, yada… Maybe she’s bullshitting you. You’re hiding a woman from your best friends. From us…your brothers. Why?”
“I doubt very much that she’s working with the harpy.”
“But you can’t say for sure.” Bolt folds his arms, he has mutiny written in his eyes.
“I can almost say for sure. My gut says I can trust her.” I’m shocked to find it’s true.
Bolt chokes out a laugh. “You mean your dick says you can trust her.”
“This has nothing to do with my dick.”
“You have a hard-on for this woman.” Bolt gestures towards Morgan, whose ass is still up in the air… Lord, help me, I have to force myself to look away.
“I’m not blind, asshole,” I growl. “Morgan is sexy. I’m not denying that, but I’m not stupid. I won’t be laying so much as a finger on her. I want my power back. I need to keep a clear head.”
“Damn right, you do. What else haven’t you told us?”
“There isn’t anything else.” I push out a breath. “Not much, at any rate. I didn’t sleep with the harpy…she did that neck thing before I…before we could have…”
“Fucked,” he says when I don’t say it.
“Yes. For a little while there, I thought that I had a blackout; that maybe I drank too much or something. That I slept with her and couldn’t remember.”
Bolt laughs. “Yeah, that would’ve eaten at you.”
“It’s not funny.” My brothers know that taking a woman home like that, for sex, isn’t like me. I was raised by a single mother after some asshole – my father – fucked and left her. “I was worried I had unprotected sex. I couldn’t remember anything much after we got to my place. I woke up naked and in my bed, alone. What was I supposed to think? There was no evidence of a condom being used. It messed with my head for a while there.”
“You can chat about this with your therapist. Anything of importance that I should know? That all of us should know?” He can be such a prick at times.
“There is one other thing.” I have to come clean. I was hoping to have my power back by now. No harm, no foul. I had hoped, somewhere deep inside, that my brothers wouldn’t be targeted or affected by this. I knew it was a possibility, but I had hoped it wasn’t something that would come to fruition. Now that it’s a distinct possibility the harpy is targeting my brothers as well, I need to tell them everything. “When I told you the harpy took all my powers, I meant all of my powers.”
“Are you being cryptic?” Bolt has his head cocked, his eyes are narrowed on me. “Spit it out.”
“I can’t shift into my dragon form.”
He staggers backward a step. His eyes are wide. “What the fuck!” he yells.
I glance at Morgan. She’s sitting on her car, the hood is still open. She’s watching us. “Keep it down.”
“I can’t believe you kept this from us.”
“I didn’t!” I make a face. “I said that all my powers were gone.”
“You could have elaborated.”
“I felt like an idiot, like a complete fool. I should have specified,” I acknowledge. “I didn’t. I had hoped to fix it before it became an issue. That isn’t the case.”
“You really should have elaborated.”
“It doesn’t change anything. This harpy is after us. She wants our power. She followed me to get to you. We need to stop her. We need Morgan on this. She knows these creatures. If she hadn’t been following me today you would have been in a world of trouble by now.”
“Except, even knowing all that, we can’t trust her for shit, and we can’t trust you to be open with us either.”
“I thought I could take care of it. The fact that all of you are in danger changes things.” I clasp his arm. “I’m sorry. I promise to be nothing but honest from here on out. Morgan and I will fix this.”
“No fucking around with the human. No trusting her, either.” He looks in Morgan’s direction.
“For the last time…no.” I pull in a breath. “I need to stay clear of all of you. I can’t lead her to you again. I’ll fix this. In the meanwhile, you have to let the others know what’s going on.”
“That’s for sure.” He is frowning. His gray eyes are dark. “Except Jarrod and Stephanus are off the grid.”
“I had forgotten about that.” They’re hiking in Armenia. Left a day or two ago.
“I’ll message them. You need to stay in touch.”
I nod. “I will.” We start to walk back towards Morgan. “Be nice to her.”
“Nice?” He raises his brows.
“Okay, nice might be asking too much. Don’t be a dick.”
“Fine.” He sounds anything but fine.
Morgan
I watch the two of them walk to me. Suit and Tie might be an asshole, but he’s gorgeous. At least, he thinks he is.
Lyre must know he’s gorgeous as well, but he doesn’t have that arrogant, asshole air about him. That’s not entirely true. There is arrogance there but not in the same way. He’s gorgeous and yet, sweet. I mean, he can cook better than most people I know. That will have taken time and patience to learn. He noticed when I didn’t buy food at lunch today and bought me some. An arrogant asshole like Suit and Tie has his head so far up his own ass. He would never have picked up on any of that.
Lyre’s wearing the shirt. The one I wore the other day when those cops came knocking. Why is he wearing it? He must have dozens of shirts. Maybe it’s his favorite. That must be it. Seeing him in it makes me think of that morning. Of how Lyre looked at me in it, like he wanted to eat me whole. Like he wanted to do things to me… By the size of his erection, I can safely say he wanted me. There was a distinct possibility when I propositioned him, to prove a point, that I may have followed through. I’m appalled that he could scent my arousal over the perfume. I wear heavy perfume because I don’t want Lyre and others like him to be able to smell my emotions. I was turned on, damn him. I enjoyed having dinner with him a bit too much as well. So much so that I’ve turned down every meal offer since despite being hungry for proper food. I do watch him. I shouldn’t, but I do. It needs to stop.
Lyre’s eyes soften as they land on me. My mouth wants to smile, but I hold back.
“And?” He looks at the engine. “Is it bad?”
I sigh. “Worse than bad, my car blew a gasket. I can’t fix it without parts.”
Lyre’s eyes flash with something that looks a lot like respect. “So, if you had the parts, you’d be able to fix it?” He lifts his brows.
“For sure. I have a toolkit in the trunk. I don’t have the parts I need, so I can’t.” A new gasket will cost a small fortune. I had enough money for another week in the motel. Now I’m going to have to buy that part. At least I’ll still have my car.
“Thanks for your help earlier dealing with that harpy,” Suit and Tie says, grudgingly.
“Sure thing,” I say. “Thanks for helping me with my car,” I reciprocate.
“I’m heading out,” he says to Lyre.
“Be careful!” I blurt. “That harpy is after you and anyone else like you. You’re a dragon demigod, and therefore I’m assuming you have powers. She wants your power.” I need to lay it out there.
“You told her about us?” Suit and Tie snarls at Lyre, his finger coming up.
“No, he didn’t!” I yell, getting ready to get between them.
“I didn’t.” Lyre shakes his head. “I told Morgan about me.”
“That you’re not human is obvious to someone who has any knowledge of non-humans,” I say.
“What knowledge do you have?” Suit and Tie asks, eyes narrowed.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”
“How convenient,” Suit and Tie throws out.
“You have those who you need to protect. So do I. It’s as simple as that!” I don’t like this guy.
Lyre gets between us, and I realize that Suit and Tie and I are almost chest-to-chest. “Bolt is good people,” he says to me.
I push out a breath, trying to calm down. I finally nod, and Lyre relaxes some.
Then he turns and faces Bolt – the name suits him. “Ease up…please. Morgan is with me.”
“Fine!” Bolt says. “I worry about you. That’s all.” Okay, so maybe his asshole behavior is coming from a good place. I can accept that…to a degree.
“Lyre and I have an understanding,” I say. “We’re working well together.”
“An understanding…” He gives his head a shake. “That’s what worries me,” Bolt mutters.
Lyre elbows him. “Leave it,” he says.
“Lyre didn’t tell me anything about you…or any of the others,” I say.
“No one said anything about others.” Bolt glares at me.
I’m convinced there are more, but I leave it alone. “I put two and two together when I saw you at the hospital. The harpy did too. She was watching from the parking lot. She saw you together. I knew as soon as I saw you,” I tell him. “When you leave here, you need to make sure you’re not being followed. Take the long route home or to your office. Be overly cautious. Call if you’re concerned.”
He glowers at me.
“Listen to Morgan,” Lyre urges.
“You don’t even know her,” he growls.
“I know her well enough.”
“What are you going to do about the car?” he asks.
“We’ll take care of it,” Lyre says.
“Be safe!” Bolt says to Lyre, who nods.
“You too. We’ll stay in touch.” Lyre holds up his phone.
Bolt nods once and walks to his car. Seconds later, his engine is purring and he’s pulling off.
“Don’t take it personally,” Lyre says to me. “Bolt can be…an ass.”
“I don’t care what Suit and Tie thinks of me,” I say. “I have a job to do. Like I’ve told you before, I’m not here to make friends.”
“Suit and Tie?” Lyre chokes out a laugh.
I watch as Bolt drives down the road. “Here I was, thinking you were arrogant.” I look back at Lyre, whistling low. “I was wrong.” I look over at my car and pull in a breath. “I’ll need a couple of hours to take care of this.” I touch my car. “I don’t want to leave you, though. Not now.”
“Are you saying you’ll miss me?” He smirks.
I roll my eyes and then laugh. “You wish! Maybe you are more arrogant than Suit and Tie, after all.”
His gaze softens. “You sort your car out. I’ll be fine. I think the harpy is gone.”
“You think?” I give him a look.
“You don’t think so?” He raises his brows.
“Nope, she won’t stay gone for long. Not after catching wind of your friend. You need to warn the others – because I’m sure there are more of your kind - how persuasive harpies can be. How manipulative. Men are most at risk.”
Lyre gives me the stink-eye. “Are we going to go down that road again?”
“No! I’m not teasing you. You know her. She’s coming after them and they have no idea who this woman is and what she’s capable of. That’s all. You are still the one she has in her sights, so that she can get to them, but you are all at risk.”
“I know. Bolt is aware.” He nods, looking thoughtful. “Thanks for helping him.”
“Of course.” He’s being so sweet, I almost don’t want to ruin the moment. “Who’s in the maternity ward,” I have to ask. “You’re a heart surgeon, not an OB-GYN and yet you’ve been going there an awful lot lately.” I watch him closely to see his reaction.
His eyes flare with uncertainty for a moment. “I have a patient in maternity; she just had a baby.”
“And Suit and Tie happens to have a friend in maternity at the same time as you’re seeing a patient there?” I’m not buying it.
“Yes. That’s right.” It’s all a bunch of BS. The guy still can’t lie for shit, and I find it endearing.
I push out a sigh. One of us has to relent at this point. If we’re going to beat the harpy, we need to start trusting one another. “I belong to a group that keeps watch over non-humans. There are several hundred of us in the US and many more across the world. We exterminate th
e creatures who prey on humans. You’ll be shocked at how often it happens. All those missing persons reports are not all the work of serial killers. Or they are, but they’re mostly not human killers.” I pause to let it sink in. “We keep a close eye on everyone…or try to.” I haven’t heard of these dragon demigods, and Tom doesn’t seem to know much about them either, so I’m betting they’re okay as a species. I’m praying they are. I find I’m liking and trusting Lyre more and more. “I’ve been with this group for seven years. I was recruited into the organization. A drug addict tried to steal my bag one day, and I held my own. Broke his nose and put him down. It turned out that the addict wasn’t entirely human. He was a vampire and money for drugs was not what he was after. My boss saw the whole thing go down and was impressed. I’ve been partnered with Andy for three…” My voice breaks a little. I clear my throat. “We need to start being honest with each other if this is going to work. Otherwise, this harpy is going to keep the upper hand. I left the organization to chase after Lilith. As of a couple of weeks ago, I’m a free agent. I need to know who is in that maternity ward. You need to be honest with me.”
He holds my gaze for several long seconds. “One of my kind just had a baby day before yesterday. His wife is a human.”
Crap!
“They’re not safe. None of you are.”
“I know. Bolt is going to brief—”
“You don’t get it. If I was the harpy – and I’ve had to learn to think like these creatures – if I was her, I’d be headed for the hospital right now. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that you and Bolt were in that ward together for a reason. She saw you two together and then followed him. I’m sure she’s going back. Might even be there as we speak.”
His jaw tightens, and his eyes blaze. “You’re right! I’ll let Night know.” He grabs his phone and dials. I catch snatches of his conversation. He tells this Night person what happened and urges him and his family to leave the hospital. Then he calls another doctor at the hospital and tells him to sign a release form for the mother and baby. “They’re leaving as we speak. I wonder if I should go over there.” He scratches his beard.
Lord of Life (The Dragon Demigods Book 4) Page 12
