The Trials of Gregg (7 page)

There was a desk in the middle of the room, and a body was slumped over it. Blood pooled from a gaping neck wound, making the papers around the man stained and wet.

“Was he the one who was running this operation?” John asked Shane.

“Yes,” Shane said as he gave the body a cold-eyed stare.

“Did you make him suffer first?”

“A lot.”

“Good.”

Shane glanced back at John and cocked his head to the side. “I think I’m going to like you.”

After saying those words, Shane turned around and walked out of the building, his cloak making it appear as though he disappeared into the night. Gregg came over and put a hand on John’s arm.

“How are you handling everything?” Gregg asked, a concerned look on his face.

John gave a shake of his head as he just gaped at the horrifying scene in front of him. “Who treats people like this?”

“A monster. The shifter world can be cruel at times. Just like the human world can be.”

John had to admit that Gregg was right. During his time with the military, John had seen some pretty awful examples of how badly humans treated each other. But this still had to be the worst thing he’d ever seen.

He and Gregg began to make the rounds with the rest of the team, opening up the cages and freeing the captives. Some of the shifters were so weak that they had to be carried out of the cell, not an easy task, given how small their cages were. The cells were also filthy, so by the time that John was finished, he was covered in grime, dirt, and God knows what else. He didn’t even want to think about what some of the smears on his vest were.

Medical teams showed up and took over, handling the patients. John’s team stayed to guard until all the wounded could be loaded up and transported back to the coalition infirmary.

He and Gregg ended up guarding one of the back doors. At first, they were silent. No doubt due to the adrenaline drop that always comes after a battle. It tended to make one feel tired. John fought it, knowing he had to stay on alert for any signs of trouble.

“You still sure you’re okay?” Gregg finally asked.

“Right now, I’m numb. Ask me again tomorrow. I may have a better answer for you then.”

“If it makes you feel better, that was one of the worst slave compounds I’ve ever seen. So not every one is going to be that rough.”

John was somewhat mollified to hear that, although truth be told, he didn’t know how it could possibly be any worse than they’d just seen. If he lived to a hundred, he’d never forget the smells, the sights, or the cries for help from the captives. It made John want to vomit, and for one brief moment, he thought he was going to do just that. But he swallowed hard a few times, then took in a few deep breaths and managed to get his stomach under control.

“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” John said. “If they were going to sell the captives as slaves, you would think they would want them in better conditions than what they were in.”

“But it’s Snake run. That means that they were selling them for something else.”

John’s stomach dropped. Surely Gregg couldn’t mean what John thought.

“What were they selling them for?” he still asked to make sure.

“For food,” Gregg said, confirming John’s worst fear.

“That is so sick and wrong.” John took in a shaking breath. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for this whole shifter world.”

Gregg gave him the tiniest of smiles. “Sorry, but you were born a shifter, and this is where you belong. Although, you’re not alone in your thinking. There hasn’t been a day when all of us haven’t wished we’d been born human. It would certainly make our lives a lot easier.”

“All I can think about are those poor slaves back there and what would have happened to them if we hadn’t gotten here in time.”

John still was horrified at the idea of trading a living person as a food source. It was just so twisted and demented that it made him want to punch the nearest wall. Not that it would do any good or solve the problem, but it would get some of John’s rage out.

“But we did get there in time, and that’s all that matters,” Gregg said. “Plus they’re now getting the medical attention they needed so badly. So it’s a win for us today. Look at it that way.”

John took in a deep breath as he rolled Gregg’s words around in his head for a while. Finally, John accepted Gregg’s view. While the captives might have suffered greatly, at least they’d made it out alive, and now thanks to the coalition, they had a great future to look forward to. That had to count for something.

“You’ve been a great mentor,” John said.

When Gregg started to blush and duck his head, just like always whenever given a compliment, John reached out and tucked a couple of his fingers under Gregg’s chin. Now Gregg had no choice but to maintain eye contact.

“Why can’t you take a compliment?” John asked.

Gregg let out a tiny sigh. “Let’s just say I haven’t had very many come my way.”

There was a flicker of pain that passed through Gregg’s eyes. It was so brief that John almost missed it. But there was no denying the fact. It had been there.

“Somebody has hurt you. Haven’t they?” John asked.

“If you’re asking if anybody has ever hit me, then the answer is no.”

Gregg was dodging the question a bit, and John damn well knew it. He could see the guilt that was stamped in Gregg’s big, brown eyes.

“Have you ever heard the expression that sometimes words can hurt more than any physical blow?” John asked.

When Gregg nipped on his bottom lip and shook his head, John knew he was on the right track. He recalled Gregg saying that he only lived with his sister and father, and since a teenage girl wasn’t capable of this kind of damage, so that only left one candidate.

“How long has your father been verbally abusing you?” John demanded.

Gregg tried to turn away, but John still had a firm grip on his chin. Gregg had no choice but to answer the question. “My dad drinks…a lot. I’m sure he doesn’t mean half of what he says.”

Rage filled John at the thought of anybody making Gregg think less of himself or hurting him in any way. In all of his life, John had never met a kinder, gentler person than Gregg. So the verbal slurs must be hitting him hard. It made John want to hunt down Gregg’s father and rip out his tongue, then beat the man with it. If for nothing else, then because he wouldn’t be able to hurt Gregg again.

“You really need to let go of my face,” Gregg said. “We’re supposed to be on guard duty.”

John did, but it was with great reluctance. If he could have at the moment, he would have wrapped Gregg in a tight embrace and told him that he would find some way to protect him from the world. John turned around and returned his attention to the field in front of him, but he continued with his questions.

“Have you told anybody about the way your father treats you?” John asked.

“No, just Tiffy knows, and that’s because she lives there.”

“Does he treat Tiffy the same way?”

Gregg gave a little snort. “No, he completely ignores Tiffy. I don’t think he’s said a word to her since our mom took off.”

John frowned. “Why’s that?”

“Tiffy looks exactly like my mother. I think that she brings up too many painful memories for him.”

Damn, this asshole just kept getting worse and worse. It was a wonder that Gregg was such a great guy. Most people growing up in that kind of environment would turn out bitter and jaded. But not Gregg. He was as sweet and easygoing as ever.

“Does that mean that you’re the one who’s been taking care of her?” John asked.

“Yes, I make sure she has clothes, school supplies, lunch money, and dinner at night. Otherwise, she’d go without.”

John shook his head in disgust. How could a father do that to his own daughter and one who was still so young? Gregg had been right, there were a lot of monsters out there. Gregg was living with one.

“Why don’t you go to Daniel or Mitchell and tell them what’s going on?” John pressed.

Gregg turned to him, his eyes wide with fear. “I could never go to them. You have to promise that you won’t say anything, either.”

Now John was really confused. If Gregg’s father was such an asshole, why was he going to such great extremes to protect him?

“Why not?” John asked.

“Because they’ll banish him from the cast.”

“So? It sounds like that will be a good thing for you and Tiffy. You guys will be way better off without him.”

Gregg shook his head. “That’s just it. They won’t let me keep Tiffy with me. Cast law says that minor children always go with their parents. So if my dad is exiled, then I’ll lose Tiffy, and she’ll have nobody to look after her.”

John let out a deep breath. Talk about a sucky situation. He was bound and determined to make sure that Gregg was free from his father, but how was he supposed to do that and protect Tiffy at the same time? John realized his life had just gotten a lot more complicated.

It was a week after the fight at the slave compound that Gregg woke early and made his way down to the training center. He expected it to be empty and thought it would be a good time to work on some of his shooting.

He’d slept like crap the night before. Not only had he gotten into another shouting match with his father, but for the third night in a row, Tiffy hadn’t eaten. Not only that, but she had started to speak less and less with each passing day. Gregg knew it was because things in the household were beginning to affect her. He just didn’t know how to fix them.

Why couldn’t real life be like books or movies where the problems so easily solved? Where everything could be tied up in a nice, tidy bow? Where the good guys could always beat the bad?

But this wasn’t fiction, this was real life, and Gregg had to deal with it. He needed to find a fix fast, too, before Tiffy withdrew even more into her shell. His biggest fear was that she would withdraw so far that there would be no getting her back. He missed the old Tiffy, the one who laughed all the time, the one who was always talking and would never shut up. He didn’t want his father to make that girl fade away into nothingness.

As Gregg walked into the training center, he was shocked and somewhat dismayed to see that he wasn’t the only one in there. That was until he got a closer look at the other occupant. Then he nearly swallowed his tongue because the sight was so stunning. In fact, it made Gregg go from gloomy to horny in less than five seconds.

It was John. Or rather a shirtless John and he was working out at a punching bag. He must have been going at the thing for a while, too, because a nice sheen of sweat made his taut muscles glisten under the dim lights of the gym.

All Gregg could do was stand there, stunned by the visual in front of him, and drooling as he watched John move. Really, his body was the most amazing thing in creation. He moved with the grace of a feline, but was all man, too.

Never before had Gregg felt the desire to be pounced by somebody more than at that moment. But then again, aside from that one kiss, John had never shown any real interest in him. Maybe it was because Gregg was a Hawk. Or perhaps John preferred blonds. Or it could just be that John wasn’t into Gregg. For whatever reason, he hadn’t shown any other signs that he was attracted to Gregg.

Whether John smelled him or just sensed his presence, Gregg didn’t know. But the Lion stopped punching the bag and slowly turned to gaze at Gregg. Before he even realized it, Gregg’s feet were moving toward John. They didn’t stop until he was standing in front of John with only inches separating them.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt your workout. I didn’t think anybody was going to be down here so early,” Gregg said, not breaking eye contact.

“I couldn’t sleep. I had another one of those nightmares.”

“The ones where you can’t remember what they were about when you wake up?”

John had confided in Gregg about the night terrors a few days before. Personally, Gregg thought it was some part of John’s subconscious recalling the night of the Raven attack, but he didn’t go so far as to tell John that. He’d wait and let John figure that one out on his own.

“Yeah, so I thought I would work out some of my aggression on the punching bag,” John said.

Gregg gave a small laugh. “That’s funny, I was just coming down to work my aggressions out in the shooting range. I couldn’t sleep last night, either.”

“Was it your father again?”

Gregg nodded. “We got into a horrible fight this time. When I yelled back, he threatened to kick me out. Normally, I would have been all for that. Hell, I would have left a long time ago if I could have. But then there would be nobody there to take care of Tiffy. Even with me there, she’s not doing so hot. She’s not eating, and she hardly talks anymore. I can’t remember the last time she laughed, let alone smiled. This whole situation is slowly eating her alive, and I don’t know how to make it better.”

John pulled Gregg into a tight embrace, and just like that, Gregg felt safe for the first time in what seemed forever. He laid his cheek on John’s chest and let out a sigh. He’d been fighting this battle on his own for so long it was nice to finally have somebody that he could talk to.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. If I go to Daniel, he will for sure exile my father. Then my dad will take Tiffy with him. But if I don’t go to Daniel, I may end up losing her anyway because she’s fading away from me more and more with each passing day,” Gregg said.

“Shhh…it’ll be all right. You’re not the only one who is facing this challenge anymore. You have me by your side, and I’ll help you think of something,” John said.

“Why would you do that for me?”

“Because I care for you.”

Stunned, Gregg lifted his head. The move made it so their lips were only inches apart. It would only take Gregg standing on his tiptoes, and they would be kissing. He was so tempted, but he wanted to ask John something first.

“What did you just say?”

“I care for you,” John repeated as he rubbed the back of his fingers along Gregg’s cheek.

“Like a friend cares for a friend or something more?”