Destiny's Shift (28 page)

then put his hands on the table and leaned in. Micah backed up.

“There is no reason why we can’t just get along and co-exist without violence. We

don’t have to spend holidays together, but we can leave each other alone.”

Micah threw his head back and laughed, a deep throaty sound. “You fool. I

guarantee you that if you had watch SR44 explode, you would feel the same way we do.

We are getting stronger as we figure out the way this world works, and when the time is

right, we will find you and we will destroy you.”

Jovan shook his head and looked at Blake. “I can see this chat is going nowhere.”

Blake nodded. “Agreed.”

“Of course, if you just want to turn over Noah, we will spare your life. Maybe,”

Micah said, smiling.

Jovan smiled. “Okay, Micah. But suck on this for a while. We wanted to leave

your sorry ass in Area 2. Remember that place? I bet you’re still bleeding from what that

doctor did to you. Noah said to get you out. He saved your ass, and now you want to kill

him. Not a very nice way to say thank you, is it?”

There was a brief pause.

“I would have gotten out eventually,” Micah said.

“C’mon, Jovan, let’s go. This is like talking to a brick wall. You can’t reason with

stupid,” Blake said.

Growls erupted from the table.

“Down, boys, down,” Jovan said.

“We have been smart enough to procure weaponry, like the one that is pointed at

you under the table,” said the guy to Micah’s right.

“Good for you,” Jovan said, “and now let me give you a little advice. Humans

don’t take kindly to guns going off in public places so don’t get trigger-happy. Have a

nice night.”

Jovan turned and weaved his way through the throngs of people toward the exit.

He really didn’t see how The Platoon could track them to the missile silo in Fernley, but

one thing he had learned on his time on Earth was that anything was possible.

Blake fell into step with him when they reached the sidewalk. They rounded the

corner and stopped.

“I want to see if they come out and where they go,” Jovan said.

The waited about a half-hour, and all five of The Platoon came out, each with a

woman on their arm, apparently finding their stride in the pick-up department. They

walked across the street to a SUV, and everyone piled in. Jovan and Blake watched as it

drove away in the opposite direction. Apparently, they had found their stride as far as the

female race was concerned.

“Do you want to make a run for our bikes and see if we can follow?” Blake asked.

Jovan shook his head. How in the world were they making it with women when

their eyes were glowing? Or were they seriously getting busy with the sunglasses on?

And where had they gotten a vehicle? They also looked showered, shaved, and well fed.

How were they doing it?

When the Six Saviors had arrived, it had taken them a year before they were able

to secure a place to call their own. Showering was a luxury, as was food. They had landed

with close to nothing and had worked hard to get where they were today, which was well

pampered. Was The Platoon much more resourceful than the Saviors had been?

Or had they turned to crime to survive?

And if they were honestly getting busy with their sunglasses on, they were going

to get caught, which would mean a whole shitload of trouble for them, but also for

Saviors. He could see Micah flapping his jaws, more than happy to turn in Noah and the

rest of them to the government. Jovan cringed as he thought of his own experience. No,

he wasn’t going back into that. No. Way.

They should have left him to rot with the doctor in Area 2. Damn Noah and his

good intentions. Good intentions usually got you a sack of crap, and in the case, an

arrogant, cocky asshole who seemed to be hell bent on humans finding out exactly what

he was.

“Nah, let’s get out of here.”

For now, he had seen enough. He was ready to get back to Fernley and report

what they had seen to Noah. Then there was the groveling he needed to do to Liberty, and

hopefully make the female he loved understand that he was sorry and not a complete

asshole.

Chapter 60

Blake paced his quarters, waiting for the phone to ring. Noah and the other

Warriors were in the War Room deciding his fate.

It sucked having someone else in charge of that.

He knew there were three options for his future. First, they could outright kill

him, which he doubted they would do. Shit, he’d taken two bullets for Liberty, helped

them get their people back, and rescued Jovan’s ass.

Bonus points scored for him, especially for taking the slugs.

He figured the other two options were more along the lines of what they would be

thinking. They would either cut him loose, or ask him to stay and help them.

He would be an asset to them. If Talin could get him into the FBI databases and

files, he would know where to access all sorts of information for them. Also, he wasn’t

too bad with a gun or the hand-to-hand, even if they did have a few inches on him and

more than a couple pounds. He could beef up a bit with some more working out and hold

his own against any of them.

Probably.

If they tossed him out, he hoped they would at least give him a few days to get a

new life together, or maybe help him do it. It seemed Talin could get just about anything

done if he had a computer in front of him.

Blake knew he would have to be buried deep, and even then he would have to live

the rest of his life on the run. At some point, someone would figure out that it was him

who had busted into Area 2, and he would have a bounty on his head, and he wouldn’t be

a bit surprised if the FBI hired a few “specialists” to take care of that bounty.

Yeah, he’d be a hunted man.

As he paced around the room, he noted the high-class, yet comfortable

furnishings. His bed was still rumpled from his sleep the night before, the rust-colored

sheets looking like blood against the white comforter. Perhaps they had put him in this

room in case he sprung a leak and bled all over the place.

He had watched the eleven o’clock news the previous night on the big sixty-inch

plasma on the wall, and there had been a very small story of drug activity on a lonely

stretch of highway down by the border. They hadn’t mentioned any names, but they did

note that there was three death and two injuries.

The drug cartel was always a great fallback. He had fabricated stories for the

media using the drug cartels as the instigators many times when secret shit went sour

down by the border.

Sitting down on the rust-colored overstuffed chair, he contemplated what he

wanted to do. “Should I stay or should I go now?” he sang softly to himself. God bless

The Clash for that classic.

He dug deep for an answer.

He actually really did like the Warriors. Working with Talin to set up the mission,

and then actually executing the mission with Jovan, Rayner, and Noah had upped his trust

in all of them. Cohen must not think he was too bad if he used his healing gift on him,

and he really did have a special place in his heart for Jovan.

Feeling he belonged here, he was certain he wanted to stay.

For the first time in his life, he felt like he didn’t have to hide his past. These

people knew exactly what he was, and because of them, he knew now too. He was half

SR44ian, and these people were his tribe. Granted, he was part of the SR44 clan that they

wanted to eradicate, but he hoped he had proven himself otherwise, and that someone’s

past, or heritage, didn’t always mean that was what the person brought with them to the

present.

He rubbed his head and decided he was going to let his hair grow out. It would be

pretty ugly while the black grew back, but maybe he could make the whole blond-on-

black thing work. Or maybe he should just have Faith and Liberty dye it back black. That

was probably the best course of action.

He thought about the females of the house. They seemed like a happy bunch, and

he liked that each had their own thing going on. He learned Abby just had a book

published, Faith was doing fundraising for her tribe, and Beverly served as a back-up

doctor for the Warriors, and, of course, she was a new mom.

He wasn’t quite sure how Annis and Liberty were going to fit in to everything, but

they seemed to get along with everyone.

Annis.

That was one attractive woman. Female. Whatever. She was pretty during the day,

and he felt bad for her that she couldn’t see, but it didn’t seem to dampen her spirit. She

moved around the house with an intricate knowledge of the layout, which she must have

studied when she had her sight at night.

When her eyes lit up, she was gorgeous. He loved watching the ridges of her

heavily muscled body move under her dark chocolate skin.

The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He jumped and quickly strode over to

the phone.

“Your fate will be determined by how fast you can get your ass up here,” Noah

said.

Blake didn’t bother with the formalities of goodbye; he had on his Nikes and was

ready to make a run for it. He hung up the phone, threw open the heavy, wooden door,

and didn’t bother with the elevator, glad he only had three flights of stairs to go.

Chapter 61

Jovan sat at the black marble table staring at the shine in the middle of it from the

lights above. Hudson sat across from him staring at his Rolex, timing how long it would

take Blake. It was hard to take the male seriously while he sat with a burp rag over one

shoulder while absent-mindedly playing with a pacifier.

Jovan supposed he should have offered up a little more support and reasons for

keeping Blake, but he didn’t have it in him.

He really missed Liberty, and she would be coming home today. He hadn’t seen

her in eight days.

Glancing over at Cohen and Talin, he noted that both of them stared off into

space, their thoughts elsewhere as well. Both still looked as though they weren’t sleeping

or eating much, and like something was crushing them on the inside.

A SR44 male without his mate; it wasn’t pretty.

He had been thinking about what he would say to Liberty. Sorry just didn’t seem

like enough. He had to make her understand exactly what she meant to him and how he

couldn’t lose her.

He would grovel, beg, and plead to get her back. He couldn’t let her go. But he

also wouldn’t smother her. He would see if her words were still true and she didn’t want

anything to do with him.

He heard Blake before he saw him as the male ran down the hall.

“Two minutes, fifteen seconds,” Hudson said when Blake came into the room.

Blake sat down in the chair next to Jovan with a nod to everyone.

“So the good news is we aren’t going to kill you,” Noah said with a smile.

“Excellent. That is good news,” Blake said.

Noah sat forward, the leather creaking under his weight. Putting his arms on the

table and clasping his hands together, he studied Blake. “I guess the question is, what do

you want to do, Blake?”

Noah gave Jovan a nod, and Jovan reached forward and grabbed the back of

Blake’s neck.

Blake turned slightly. “Checking me for truth?”

“Yep.”

“Well,” Blake said, looking around the table, “I would like to stay here. I know

I’m part of the very thing you were here to kill, but I’m not a bad guy.”

Jovan looked around the table. No one said anything, but all stared at Blake.

“I did take two bullets for your sister, Noah,” he said.

“I know, and for that, and I’m eternally grateful.”

There was a long stretch of silence.

“Look, I get it if you want me to go, okay? Just give me a few days to get a new

life put together and figure out where I’m headed. I’m thinking that for my safety, out of

the country is best.”

Noah sat back in his chair lacing his hands behind his head, and glanced at Jovan.

“Nothing but the truth, man,” Jovan said, letting go of Blake and sitting back in

his chair. “Dude wants to stay.”

Noah nodded. “Well, here’s what we’ve come up with, Blake. We figured that if

you do want to stay, you’d make a good addition to the crew. We’ve got room for you to

live with us, which would probably be smart since you’re probably a wanted man. We

think you’ll be a good asset to us with your FBI background, and anyone who takes a

bullet or two for my sister is solid in my book.”

Blake turned and smiled at Jovan, offered a fist, and Jovan bumped.

Noah began talking about exactly what type of role Blake would play in their

band of merry Warriors, and Jovan tuned out.

He glanced over at Hudson’s watch and saw that only three minutes had passed

since the last time he checked. It was hard waiting to beg your female to take you back.

Chapter 62

The plane touched down, and Liberty looked out the window and saw Noah and

Hudson standing with baby Killian on the runway next to the large, black vehicle. She

was giddy at the sight of them.

Her heart sank a little when she noted Jovan wasn’t there, but what did she

expect? She had told him that she didn’t want anything to do with him.

“Okay, we’re clear to let you off now,” the flight attendant said with a radiant