She smiled at him and Cyclops wished he could take her right there. But he had to help his friends—that was more important than what his body needed. Cyclops kissed her deeply then left without looking back. He geared up with Ronin and after finding out where Zero and Thunder were, they set out on their way.
“Once this is over,” Ronin said. “I’m going to head into Mexico.”
“Mexico? Why?”
“I heard from some people that Kraken could be down there,” Ronin replied. “Going to check it out.”
“I don’t think Kraken is in Mexico.”
“How do you know? I’m going to run down a lead. That should give you some alone time with your lady before I barge into your life.”
“You’re my brother.” Cyclops frowned. “You’re not barging into anything. Anywhere I am is your home. If anyone would understand, it’s Zahrah.”
Ronin turned and looked out the window. The tips of the pyramids sliding by the car in the distance. From time to time, homes and buildings gave way to desert and cars and life eased into bareness.
“I have to do this.” Ronin stressed. “I want him back. Kraken always got me—never made me feel like I was less than.”
“That’s why you have a brother.”
“I don’t mean like that.” Ronin sighed. “You’re my brother but there are some things I can’t come to you with.”
“What?” Cyclops frowned. “What do you mean? I’ve always left myself open for whatever you needed. Was it something I did?”
“No—Cyclops. Look, I shouldn’t have said anything, okay? All I’m saying Kraken was—you’re my brother and your love for me tends to make you biased. Kraken tells it to me straight. When I’m being a rotten little shit you always found a way to say it, like a brother who loves me should. Kraken tells me, you’re being a little shit.”
“I…” Declan drew to a stop beside the other SUV and turned off the ignition. “Shit. I always thought—well shit. Sorry I was so shit as a brother.”
Ronin reached for him, but Cyclops shrugged from his grasp and eased from the vehicle. Once he closed the door and walked to the window of the other.
“Hey guys,” Declan said. “What’s up?”
“He hasn’t left the compound all day.” Zero said. “He called in reinforcements though.”
“The coward is scared shitless.” Thunder added. “What do you think, boss?”
Declan turned his head to look in the direction of the house. “Have you seen Gulzar go in?”
“Not yet.” Thunder replied. “But there was one van with tints—we couldn’t see who was in it.”
“Which means there is a possibility Gulzar could be inside.” Ronin pointed out.
“I don’t want to make a move until I know he’s in there.” Cyclops admitted looking back at Zero and Thunder.
“Well, Tex left me access to the cameras…” He pulled out his cell and activated the screen. They all crowded around the phone to see what they could see.
Ronin reached in and tapped one section then zoomed in. It didn’t take Declan long to recognize a face Tex had pointed out as the man Declan wanted to kill even more than Hadeel.
“New plan,” Cyclops said. “We end this tomorrow night. The house has windows but since all the curtains are drawn it will make it hard for a sniper to work. But I’ll take the scope tonight.”
“You know Zahrah is going to want to be in on this.” Thunder told him.
Cyclops frowned. “I love that woman, but she is going to give me premature grey hairs.”
The others choked.
“About damn time you admitted it,” Zero said.
“Admit what?” Cyclops asked.
“You just said you loved Zahrah.” Ronin pointed out. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to admit it. Anyway, let’s figure this out.”
Zero and Thunder left, and Cyclops remained alone with his brother. Something had changed between them from the conversation they’d had earlier. It was strange. Cyclops had never felt as though their relationship was strained. But as he stared through the binoculars Thunder left him with, Cyclops couldn’t help thinking, at some point during their separation, after 4Guardians went kaput, the relationship he had with his brother had frayed. How had he not even realized that was happening?
Could be he overreacting?
“We should address the elephant in the room.” Ronin shifted.
“I can’t.” Cyclops said. “Not right now.”
“Declan—I love you, you know that, right?”
“I’m not so sure.” Cyclops handed the binoculars to Ronin. “Who does that look like to you?”
Ronin lifted the binoculars to his eyes. “You’re my brother and I know you love me. I’ve never stopped—Gulzar—loving you. The friendship I have with Kraken is just different.”
“I need to rethink a few things.” Cyclops was typing on his cell to Tex. “I’m not sure how I feel right now. But I need to focus.”
“Just tell me I’m not losing my brother.”
Cyclops sent the message and put the phone away. He looked at Ronin and couldn’t help lifting a palm to the side of his brother’s face. “You’re not losing me. I want to be more to you.”
“Don’t you get it?” Ronin frowned. He looked so much like their father in that one moment. “You’re everything to me.”
Cyclops smiled.
That one sentence took away all his fears and everything was right with the world. “I get you need friends outside of me. Honestly, I do.”
Ronin nodded. “How about we get this done and go home? I’d kill for a nice, juicy, super unhealthy burger.”
“With all the toppings.” Cyclops moaned as he reached for the binoculars again. “Even bacon.”
“Mmm—bacon.”
Chapter 20
Zahrah listened to what they had to do. She was still uneasy about it, but it had to be done in order for her to get her life back. The night before, as she laid wide awake, worrying about Declan out in a car watching Hadeel, she wondered how far she would go to get her life back.
She couldn’t decide.
She supposed both her and Hadeel were about to find out.
“It’ll be a surprise to us both.” She muttered.
The day swam by. Farhad seemed stronger. He was able to walk under his own steam, used the bathroom on his own and ate on his own. By the time the group were preparing to leave, Farhad was ready and determined to join them. They agreed he would stay with Declan on his perch as backup for everyone else.
“You mean Zahrah is going in?” Farhad was incredulous. “She’s not a soldier.”
“No, but the way I’m feeling right now, Hadeel better not test me.” She snapped. “I’m done letting him make me be afraid. If he can’t behave like a normal human being he can die.”
“Zahrah…”
“No.” She held up a finger as a warning. “He’s going to learn that every decision he makes comes with consequences. And if I’m the one to teach him that lesson, so be it.”
Though she was pretty sure Farhad wanted to say something else, Zahrah didn’t give him a chance. She picked up the gun Declan had given her, she shoved it into the holster on her hip and faced Declan. “Are we going or not?”
Declan nodded and glanced back at the others. She watched their silent conversation between them then led them out the door to the vehicles. One was banged up from their previous little battle, but it was deemed road worthy.
The air around them was humid. It was a little hard to breathe in the heat but Zahrah turned to face Declan.
He caressed her cheek tenderly and smiled sadly. “Be careful,” he said. “I want you home to me.”
She kissed him. “Don’t worry. Zero, Darius and Thunder has my back. And if all fails, I just lead them outside to you.”
He nodded, closed his eyes and kissed her deeply. When he lifted his lips, he walked away without looking back at her. His shoulders were drawn up, almost to his ear and it was as if he carri
ed the weight of the entire planet on his back. She swallowed the lump in her throat and climbed into the back with Zero.
Close to the house, Zahrah shifted in her seat and watched Declan turned off in the other vehicle. Her heart was heavy knowing he’d be in a different place than she was in this fight. Still, she knew it was for the best. When she turned in her seat, Zero smiled at her.
“You don’t have to worry.” He told her. “He’ll be okay.”
Zahrah nodded and patted Zero’s thigh.
It didn’t take much longer for them to arrive at their location. She rolled the plan over in her head repeatedly, even as they carried out their side of it. Zahrah inhaled, glanced over at Ronin and walked up to one of the cameras. She lifted her face so whoever was inside monitoring them, could see who she was. She gave them a pretty little wave. Zahrah was pretty sure it was Hadeel. She didn’t think he trusted anyone else to do that—especially now.
When Ronin caught her attention from the opposite end of the house, she knew Zero had disabled the cameras, rendering Hadeel blind. She jogged over to him and the four of them made their way into the house via a side door. They waited as hurried footsteps rushed through the house, no doubt going outside to see if they could find her.
Silly Hadeel.
The four moved through the house, searching rooms, taking out guards and littering the corridors with bodies. When the first shot rang out, someone outside shouted for the others to return and guard Hadeel. But Thunder had gone through and locked all the doors leading to the outside on the first level. They were hoping that would slow down the guards outside.
Ronin veered off from the team and though Zahrah had no idea why, she was sure it was for a good reason. She continued on with Zero and Thunder, taking out treats and clearing the way for when they finally laid their hands on Hadeel.
They finally located Hadeel in the monitor room, hunched down over a keyboard, frantically tapping away at it. Zahrah suspected he was trying to get the Cameras back up and running.
“All alone in your glass tower, I see.” Zahrah stepped between Zero and Thunder.
Hadeel swerved in his wheeled chair and shoved to his feet. Zero rested a large hand to his shoulder and dropped him back to the chair.
“Have a seat,” Thunder said. “While we wait for the others.”
Hadeel glared at Zahrah but she only ignored him, walked over to the window and pulled the drapes open. The fear in her brother’s eyes at that moment, told he knew precisely what she was doing. Still, Zahrah didn’t speak. She sat on the edge of the window, folded her arms across her chest and waited.
Soon, Darius brought a bleeding Gulzar into the room.
“He’s bleeding?” Zahrah asked.
“He fell into my fist,” Darius said with a nonchalant shrug. “I hate repeating myself and he’s one of them hard learners. I wanted to shoot him but couldn’t.”
“Why not.” Zahrah asked.
“My brother made you a promise.”
Darius shoved Gulzar forward and the man stumbled and fell to his knees in front of her. She didn’t want him being so near. Memories of what he’d done to her came flying back and it took everything to remind herself she had three men with her to make Gulzar very sorry if he tried anything. Then she merely wanted to kick him in the groin until his balls escaped his mouth.
“How dare you do this?” Hadeel thundered.
“How dare I?” Zahrah stared daggers in his direction. “How dare I? You know, ever since I was a little girl, I was saving myself for my husband or at the very least, a man who loved me. You both knew! This man stole that from me, and you thought he was the best person to be friends with? Hadeel, you are my brother! When the rest of the world is against me, you, Hadeel, you should have been there. You were supposed to protect me—to make sure my life was happy.”
“Your life is insignificant!” Hadeel thundered. “You’re a woman!”
She winced. Though she wanted to back hand him across the face so hard his great-grand children felt it, Zahrah remained where she was.
“Where did you get that mentality from, Hadeel?” She asked, her patience shaking. “It wasn’t from father. For as long as mother was alive, he never treated her as anything more than his partner, his lover, his wife, his everything. Farhad has never been like that—why is my life less valuable than yours?”
“You’re a woman.” Darius’s voice cracked. “And he’s a miserable excuse for a man.”
“Stay out of this!” Hadeel snapped.
“Oh, Hadeel.” Darius eyed him. “The time for that has passed. And the only reason you’re still breathing is because Zahrah doesn’t want you dead. So, I’d be a little bit more grateful.”
The coldness in Darius’ voice wasn’t lost on Zahrah. She also knew he meant every word he’d uttered.
“And you.” Zahrah glared at Gulzar before moving. Hadeel pushed his back hard against the chair but she ignored his reaction to the open window. “You took from me something I didn’t want to give. You’ve touched me in places you had no right and you left me, alone, in pain and bleeding. I want to know why you did it.”
Gulzar said nothing and Zahrah slammed a foot into his back. He crashed into the windowsill. “Words! Gulzar! I want to know, why you thought I deserved that.”
“Hadeel…” Gulzar began.
“Shut up!” Hadeel barked. “Kun hadi!”
Thunder shoved his gun into his holster, ripped off the sleeve to his shirt and used it to gag Hadeel. “This is important business.” Thunder’s’ voice held the resonance of his name. “If you’re not going to help, you need to be silent.”
Zahrah returned her attention to Gulzar who’d turned and was sitting on the floor.
“Hadeel wanted me to.” He explained. “He promised to pay me handsomely if I made it so you’re unclean and your father wouldn’t be able to find you’re a husband.”
Zahrah pressed her lips into a thin line.
“He knew Afram was about to find you a match.” Gulzar continued. “And when that happened, Afram would pay your dowry and handed you a very wealthy inheritance for your life with your husband. He didn’t want to lose the money—Hadeel figured if Afram didn’t have to do all that, his inheritance would be bigger. If you weren’t—the end result was either your father disowned, you or Afram would force you to marry me.”
She nodded. When she turned her back, the sound of glass breaking shattered through the room. Zahrah whirled around to find, Gulzar lying on his back, bleeding from his shoulder.
“He missed?” Zahrah asked Darius, now standing by her side, gun drawn.
“Cyclops doesn’t miss.” Thunder replied. “This scum isn’t dead because Cyclops didn’t think you wanted him to be—yet.”
“Try that again.” Darius growled at Gulzar. “And we’ll find out if you can breathe through your forehead. And you…” He met Zahrah’s eyes. “Never turn your back on the enemy—got it?”
Zahrah nodded.
“I was in love with you.” Gulzar sputtered.
“Love?” Zahrah hunched down beside him. “You didn’t love me. If you did, you wouldn’t have violated me in the worse way possible. Let me explain something to you. I don’t want any part of your love. You wanna know who loves me? The man who put that bullet in your shoulder. He hasn’t said it, but he looks at me in a way that doesn’t make my blood run cold. When he touches me all I feel is pleasure. He speaks to me as if I have a brain in my head.”
“You can’t be with him.” Gulzar told her. “He doesn’t know our ways.”
Zahrah frowned. Now this dick thought he could tell her what to do. “Maybe not. But I’ll teach him the good parts of the world I’m from. For so many years, I was afraid of intimacy. Because all I would see in my head was you. I would smell the alcohol on your breath, and feel your fingers digging into my thighs and I would run.”
Gulzar smirked.
“But you wanna know something, Gulzar?” She leaned in closer. “When I lay w
ith my man now, you or your demons are nowhere to be seen. And I will give myself to him over and over—for as long as he wants and however many times he desires it. I will not think about you ever again.”
The mirth was wiped off his face. Zahrah didn’t care. She stood and backed away from Gulzar, a smile tracing her lips. “Zero?”
“Yes, Sunshine?” Zero stepped forward.
“Take him.”
“What do you want me to do with him?” Zero asked.
“I don’t care. He is no longer my concern.” Zahrah replied.
“As you wish, my queen.” Zero smirked while grabbing Gulzar by the back of the neck.
As he was being hauled out, Gulzar struggled against Zero’s hold. “I should have killed you that night!” Gulzar screeched. “I should have fucked you until you passed out then slit your throat!”
“Zero, wait.” Zahrah called.
Zahrah walked slowly toward them until she was directly in front of Gulzar. She reached up and gripped his wounded shoulder, squeezing, making him scream in agony.
“Here is your chance.” Zahrah growled softly. “Since you believe my body belongs to you—give it your best shot…”
When he merely glared at her, Zahrah tilted her head to ensure she had his attention. “Listen to me very carefully, you miserable piece of wasted flesh. If my body belongs to anyone, it’s Declan Stone. What you are, is a bad dream that will go away the minute Zero walks you from this room and Declan claims what’s his.”
Zero dragged Gulzar from the space.
“Zahrah!” Gulzar screamed. “You can’t do this to me! Zahrah! You have to forgive me! I love you! Please, I’m begging you!”
But she ignored his shouts and turned to Hadeel. “Dear, dear brother.” She pulled the gag from his mouth. “What are we to do with you?”
“We have in coming,” Thunder said.
Zahrah frowned. Hadeel would have to wait. Rising, she pulled her gun while Darius and Thunder took up positions on the other side of the door. Zero positioned himself a little further into the space and waited. But they didn’t really have to do anything, each man to come through the door wound up with a bullet through the head. One guy’s head exploded all together.
Defending Zahrah Page 18
