Shadow Soldier (7 page)

“I don’t need protection,” she whispered. “I just need an advantage.”

Deke didn’t know whether to be pissed off or impressed. Pushing up on his elbows, he bared his fangs, growling a warning at the female. He’d never hurt her, but she needed to understand what world she lived in now. Roux was a survivor—smart, strong, fearless—but she was also hotheaded, impulsive, and reckless. Traits that had served her well in the wild would only end up getting her killed in Trinity Grove.

“Captain?” Peter stood just behind Roux, a coy smile curving his lips. “Is everything okay?”

Partly to maintain their cover in case anyone had seen them through the window, but mostly because he’d been able to think of little else, Deke fisted his hand in the collar of Roux’s shirt and jerked her down on top of him. Her surprised gasp caused his cock to twitch, and a deep groan rolled through his chest when her breath fanned against his face.

Tangling his free hand in her curls, he held her close, slanting their mouths together in a kiss that seared his blood.

“Never mind,” Peter muttered, his footsteps shuffling away back toward the counter.

Roux stiffened, her muscles tensing while her thighs squeezed his hips. Her eyes rounded momentarily before creasing at the corners, the brilliant green alight with murderous rage. Pushing at his chest, she arched her back in an attempt to free herself, but only succeeded in rubbing her pert ass over his aching groin.

Releasing his grasp on her T-shirt, Deke slid his hand under her arm to caress her back in long, soothing strokes. He didn’t close his eyes or look away, but watched her intently, mesmerized by the soft shade of pink that spread over her cheeks. Sweeping his tongue across her unyielding lips, he teased and coaxed with gentle ministrations until…

A quiet, utterly feminine moan spilled from her mouth as she relaxed into him, suddenly groping at his chest rather than pushing him away. The first glide of her tongue against his sent a jolt of electricity through his veins, awakening something ancient and primitive inside him he’d never experienced before.

His skin burned with a heat that consumed him, and his naturally elongated canines grew in length until the tips pierced his bottom lip. Deke had always prided himself on his control, but in that moment, he was little more than a beast, driven only by desire and instinct.

His gaze shifted from his mate’s lovely face to the soft, delicate skin at the crook of her neck. Breaking the kiss, he pulled her closer, nuzzling the column of her throat with his nose and lips. The gums around his canines throbbed, and his mouth filled with saliva at the thought of kissing her there, licking…biting.

Deke jerked away with such force his head smacked against the aging, brown linoleum. He released his hold on Roux, and without hesitation, she scrambled off him to kneel at his side.

Brushing her tangled hair out of her face, she panted as she leaned over him. “Holy shit,” she breathed, pressing her fingers against his right temple. “Deke, your eyes. What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Colors blended together, some muted, others distorted, and the sunlight streaming through the large, storefront windows caused an ache in the center of his forehead. The noise from the Square exploded in a thunderous roar, making it difficult for him to understand her. Not since puberty had he been unable to control his shift, and in the middle of a bakery didn’t seem like the best place to relearn bad habits.

“They’ll shift back,” he assured her. “Just give me a second.”

“Deke,” she whispered urgently, glancing out the windows and then over her shoulder as though to be sure no one could see them.

“It’s okay.” Pushing to his feet, he hauled her up with him and smiled. “It’s a town full of Gemini, Roux. No one’s going to be fazed by a pair of cat eyes.”

“Maybe not, but they might have something to say about a pair of glowing ones.” Lunging past him, she grabbed the silver napkin dispenser and shoved it toward his face. “Look.”

A ring of ghostly blue light surrounded his slitted pupils, reflecting back at him in the metal surface.

“It’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing.”

No, but unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything about it. The change didn’t happen in most shifters until they’d already claimed their mates, but nothing seemed “normal” with Roux.

Staring at a fixed point on the floor, Deke took several deep breaths while he focused on his heart rate. As the rhythm slowed, colors bloomed throughout his surrounding again, and the deafening noises of the city quieted to a low, steady murmur.

“What was that?” Roux returned the napkin holder to the table and fisted her hands on her hips. “Are you okay?”

He couldn’t explain what had happened without delving into topics best left for another day. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” Nodding, she doubled up her fist and punched him right in the stomach. “Don’t kiss me again.”

A soft smile played on her lips as she turned away, a smile he hadn’t been meant to see, and one that solidified what he’d already known. She could pretend all she wanted, but she wasn’t nearly as unaffected by him as she pretended to be. No matter what he’d promised, he couldn’t let her go, not at sundown, not ever. Whatever he had to do, whatever it took to make her stay, he’d convince her. If he planned to succeed, he’d need a lot more than charm and persistence, though.

He needed backup.

“Mason!”

“Collins!” Peter yelled back sarcastically, rounding one of the square tables to join them.

“Is Abby working today?”

Peter crossed his arms and nodded. “Of course.” His gaze slid sideways to Roux. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Your tattoo.” Roux’s gaze settled on Peter’s wrist where a crescent moon and four stars had been inked into his skin. Her eyebrows drew together, and she glanced at Deke from the corner of her eye. “What does it mean?”

Deke tensed, but Peter didn’t miss a beat.

“It’s the symbol of the Coalition,” he answered easily, shaking his sleeve down to cover the ink.

“It’s not,” she muttered, her scowl deepening. “That.” Jerking her thumb to the side, Roux jabbed the patch—a shaded silver star surrounded by a simple circle—on the sleeve of Deke’s uniform. “That’s the symbol of the Coalition. I’ve seen it before.”

“This isn’t the place,” Deke interrupted, casting his gaze around the bakery to make sure they were still alone and couldn’t be overheard. “Come on, we need to go.”

Roux looked between him and Peter, her jaw clenched in mutiny, but she only nodded. “I’ll get the coffees.”

“Where the hell did you find her?” Peter asked as he watched Roux march to the corner table to retrieve the remains of their order.

“Where I found her isn’t the problem.”

“She wants to leave,” Peter surmised.

“Of course.”

“And you think Abby is going to convince her to stay.” The corners of Peter’s brown eyes crinkled with amusement. “You fight dirty.”

Deke shrugged. “She’s worth the fight.”

The city center had come alive while Roux had been inside the bakery. Sidewalk merchants set up around the fountain in the middle of the Square, their blankets and tables overflowing with all manner of goods from handcrafted jewelry to intricately woven blankets. Coalition guards also roamed the streets and sidewalks, easily identifiable by their uniforms—urban camouflage cargo pants, black T-shirts, and black, military boots.

She wanted to ask about the tattoo again, to find out what it meant. If Deke had been unwilling to discuss it inside an empty bakery, he certainly wouldn’t tell her anything while surrounded by curious ears.

“Is it a secret?” she asked, unable to let it go, but careful to not say anything damning.

“Yes,” he answered shortly, leading her past a table filled with beautiful, vibrant paintings.

“A dangerous one?” she pressed, using her coffee cup to cover her mouth as she spoke.

“Yes,” he answered again, nodding at another guard as they passed.

“Okay.”

His shoulders visibly relaxed, and he released a deep breath. “Just okay?”

Roux understood dangerous secrets all too well. “Will you tell me later?”

Deke nodded, taking a long sip of his coffee.

“Then, yes…okay.” Letting her attention drift to the vendors camped out around the fountain, Roux slowed until she came to a complete stop. “They’re human.”

“Mostly.” Deke stopped beside her and chuckled. “Did you really think we kept your kind in shackles and cages?”

Rolling her eyes at his reference to her “kind,” she gave him a shove to the shoulder to start him walking again. “Forget it.”

Laughter and conversation echoed through the Square, the sounds filled with happiness and solidarity. Friends embraced each other, mothers chased their children down the sidewalk, and humans greeted guards with warm, genuine smiles. Roux hadn’t seen anything like it, but then again, she’d spent most of her time avoiding populated areas. The few cities she had seen, however, had been nothing more than cesspools of pain and misery.

“Where are we going?” she asked, forcing those nightmarish memories to the back of her mind.

“There’s someone I want you to meet.”

“No.” Roux stopped again and squared her shoulders. “I’m not meeting anyone else or parading through the streets like a dancing monkey until you take me to see the rest of my group.”

“That’s funny,” Deke mused, dropping his paper cup into a nearby trash bin. “You’re concerned about them, but I’ve never heard you call them friends.”

“Because they’re not my friends.” She shrugged. “I don’t have friends.”

Deke’s broad shoulder shook as he laughed. “You keep telling yourself that, Roux Jennings. Maybe one day you’ll actually believe it.”

“Don’t pretend to know me.” Angry, she tossed her own cup into the trashcan with more force than necessary.

“That’s the second time you’ve said that to me, but I’m starting to think I know you better than you know yourself.” Advancing, Deke backed her against the brick wall of one of the shops and loomed over her. “If they’re only allies, why are you so insistent on seeing them? Why do you care what happens to them?”

Roux couldn’t think when he stood so close. Her gaze dropped from his eyes to his mouth, and her own lips tingled when she remembered the way he’d kissed her in the bakery. She couldn’t explain what had happened. One minute, she’d been furious, concocting various and imaginative ways to make him suffer. Then, her body had overruled her mind, and she’d kissed him back.

Worse, she wanted to do it again.

A rumble vibrated through Deke’s chest as he sniffed at the air between them, no doubt scenting her arousal. “Your heart is beating so fast.” Carefully, he cupped the side of her neck, pressing his thumb against the jumping vein on the side of her throat. “So fast,” he repeated, “like a hummingbird’s wings.”

Roux couldn’t think. He was too close, crowding her, muddling her thoughts.

“Do I make you nervous, Miss Jennings?”

A high-pitched, feminine scream reverberated through the Square, interrupting them and saving her the trouble of formulating a convincing lie.

“What was that?” Without waiting for a response, she shoved past Deke, scanning the cobblestone streets for the source of the commotion. “Why are you just standing there? You’re a cop. Go protect and serve.”

“I’m a soldier,” he corrected, still not moving off the sidewalk.

“Okay, well, get out there and…soldier.”

Snorting, Deke stepped out of the shade created by the overhead awning. “What exactly would you have me do?” His hands landed on the tops of her shoulders, and he turned her toward the street that led into the Square. “Should I rescue her?”

Roux looked up just in time to see a young woman with bouncing blonde curls jump into the waiting arms of a guard. Laughing, he lifted the squealing female into the air, spinning her in large sweeping circles, before slanting their mouths together.

“Dangerous, I know,” Deke continued, his tone mocking. “I might need backup.”

Shaking off his hold, Roux turned and glared up at him. “You’re an ass.”

“No, kitten, you’re the one looking for shadows where they don’t exist.”

“I’m not—wait. Kitten?” She snorted. “The last I checked, you’re the one who turns into a cat.”

A shallow
V
formed between his eyes, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not some common housecat.” His upper lip curled, revealing his pointed canines, and he leaned toward her with a menacing snarl. “I’m a fucking panther.”

Despite the aggressive display of testosterone—or maybe because of it—Roux had to laugh at him. “Leave it to a man to argue about the size of his pussy.”

The seconds ticked by while Deke continued to glare at her. “You’re hilarious,” he said at last. “Now, do you want to see your friends or not?”

Uninterested in arguing terminology with him, Roux swiped a strand of loose hair back from her face and nodded. In reality, she hadn’t had “friends” since high school. She’d known people in her old life, some she’d even liked. Experience, however, especially in the months after the Purge, had taught her that the more she cared, the more people could use it against her.

“So, you don’t care about these people,” Deke mused, his tone gentler as he led her away from the city center. “You’re pretty adamant that you don’t have friends, and yet you risked a lot to try to protect them last night. Today, you’re hell-bent on getting to the Bastille to see them.”

Since he hadn’t technically asked a question, Roux stared straight ahead and did her best to ignore him. Just because she didn’t casually toss around the word “friend” didn’t mean she was indifferent to what happened to Cade and the others men.

“Tell me,” he continued, clearly amused, “if you really don’t care, why is this so important to you?”

“I owe them,” she answered, the words spilling from her lips before she’d registered the intention to say them. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, and it was the closest she could get to telling him the truth. “Especially Cade.”

“Cade?” Deke’s voice didn’t waver, but the cords in his neck strained. “Is he…yours?”