flat screen television. Behind the couches was a small kitchenette, also neat and tidy. The appliances looked old, but the only thing Annis had to compare to them was the shiny appliances
in Hudson’s kitchen.
The bedroom housed a neatly made queen-sized bed covered in a forest-green quilt. The
walls were pained a sea-foam green.
“The woman liked green,” Blake mumbled as they toured the apartment. Annis noticed
Blake kept the gun to his side as they looked around, which was a good thing. They had no idea
if Susan had company.
When they had gone over every inch of the apartment, including closets, looking under
the bed, and behind the shower curtain, Blake had sat down on the sofa and grabbed the laptop
from the coffee table.
“I noticed a small filing box on the kitchen counter, Annis. Why don’t you start going
through there and see what jumps out at you.”
She had looked at a few pages, but was unsure what she was looking at.
“It’s a bank statement,” Blake said after she brought the paper over to him. She bent over
the back of the couch, their heads almost touching. She could smell his cologne, which reminded
her of clear, fresh, cool winter days. “You’re looking for large deposits.”
As she paced the small apartment, she looked over the papers. On the kitchen table she
piled up the papers with the large numbers, and on the kitchen counter were the ones she deemed
not important.
“Oh, for fuck’s sakes,” Blake said.
“What?”
“Not only was she a child trafficker, but it looks like she was also into kiddie porn.”
Annis walked over to the computer, confused as to what kiddie porn was. Just as the
image changed, a shiver crawled down her spine. She didn’t see the picture in detail, but she had
seen enough. How could a person do that to a child? This detail Blake had revealed only made
her more certain that she had done the right thing by ending the horrid woman’s life.
Memories of her own experience in captivity started to filter through, coming out of their
locked cage within her mind. How the government doctor had strapped her to the table. The
needles stabbing her eyes. How she had prayed for someone to save her, but wouldn’t give the
doctor the satisfaction of hearing her scream. She shut her eyes and fought the memories,
desperate to keep them barred from her conscious mind.
After a moment, she opened her eyes and met Blake’s stare.
“Are you okay, Annis?”
She forced a smile and nodded. “I was just thinking how fortunate we were to get to
Laura in time.”
Turning back to the papers in her hand, she continued pacing. When she reached the
kitchen, she stifled a yawn and noted the time.
“Blake, I will be blind in about an hour.” Her eyes would cease to function when the sun
came up.
“Shit. Okay. Let me see what you’ve got and then we’ll boogie.”
“Boogie?”
“We’ll get the hell out of here.”
Annis laughed. “I thought the boogie was a dance. I thought you were going to spin me
around the room.”
Blake stepped up to her and smiled. Taking her hand, he slowly turned her in a circle.
Annis felt the temperature in the room spike, her cheeks became warm, and a slow burn
developed within her.
When she had completed the circle, he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her close.
Her breath hitched as she was certain that she was about to be kissed for the first time. A little
ripple of fear tore through her, and she remembered how Liberty had told her that a sexual
experience with the right male was a wonderful and beautiful thing, filled with waves upon
waves of pleasure. She would not let her secret past dictate what was going to happen in her
future. Or right now.
Suppressing the fear, she tried to even out her breathing. What would his lips feel like on
hers? She was certain it would be wonderful. Perhaps they would kiss here, and when the got
back to the hotel room they would—
“I suck at dancing,” Blake said, “but I’ll kick your ass at darts.”
He gave her a wink, then said, “Let’s get out of here.”
Annis struggled to catch her breath as they left the apartment.
Chapter 8
Cohen stared at the white screen on the wall in the War Room. Annis and Blake were
speaking to the Warriors from New York, their heads crammed together so they both fit on the
screen.
Noah wasn’t happy.
“It was supposed to be a recon mission. End of story. And you two ended up killing her?”
Noah said, exasperated.
“We didn’t have a choice, Noah. We caught her in the midst of selling a child,” Annis
said.
“Oh, Christ,” Noah mumbled. He rubbed his face and sat back in his chair. “Okay, tell us
what happened. From the top.”
Cohen looked around the table as he half-listened to Blake and Annis tell the story. All
the Warriors were present, and they hung on every word that Blake and Annis said. Cohen knew
he should be paying more attention, but the only thing he could think about was if Blake and
Annis were sleeping together. They seemed like two peas in a pod, perfect for each other in
every way. They were always laughing together. Blake was more than happy to train with her,
while the other Warriors were still uncertain of her and acted like she would break if they
touched her wrong. They were used to gentle females, not a strong, capable Warrior such as
Annis. Cohen didn’t understand why the thought of Annis and Blake sleeping together bothered
him so much, or why he was even thinking about it at all.
Because you want to sleep with her, you idiot. And you are one of the most despicable
people on this planet for even thinking about it.
“Whoa,” Noah said. “Back up. Who killed Susan?”
Cohen’s bet was Annis. Why, he didn’t know. Maybe it was because he liked her better
—or hated her worse—depending on which way you looked at it.
Annis and Blake exchanged a glance, then Annis looked out at them. Her golden eyes
were blazing as she tossed some beads over her shoulder. “I did,” she stated flatly.
There were a couple of low whistles around the table. He had been right. Cohen just
stared at her realizing his respect, and therefore his hatred for her increased. The female was
fearless, as well as strong and capable. He no longer had those traits within him, and he wondered if he ever would again.
He remembered a time where he was honorable and respectable. He had grown up in the
forests and learned to harness his healing gift at a young age. His parents had helped him
understand the importance and weight of such a gift, and once word had spread throughout the
Forest Dwellers that there was a true Healer among them, they had come in flocks.
And it was through those flocks of people that he had perfected his craft. He often
couldn’t do much to heal the elderly, and there was something within him that was very
accepting of that. However, he healed who he could, fusing their energy with his own, and
moving around their body to mend whatever ailed them.
It became such a burden. He felt he needed to be available at all times, and it drained
him. Not only did the healing expend a great amount of energy, but so did knowing that the
re
was always someone who was in need of his gift.
After a few centuries, it all became too much, and he and Mia had run away to the city
where he had learned what life was like without the constant strain of people wanting him or
needing his attention.
It was there he had met Rayner, and they became fast friends. Cohen had convinced him
to join the military, and they were two very gifted souls on a path to who knew what.
He did know that if he had had a crystal ball at that time and could see a few centuries
into the future, he wouldn’t have signed up, and probably would have hightailed it back to the
forest. Even the stress of someone always wanting you wasn’t as bad as the stew of witches’
guilt-shit he had brewing within him.
In short, he was one fucking mess, and there was nothing hot about him or what he had
going on inside.
The guilt over his philandering while away from his lovren ate at him. It was truly a beast
that lived within him, consuming him slowly, its jaws sluggishly chewing away at his very soul.
He had thought about trying to tap it down, but he deserved whatever came to him, he
frankly, he kind of hoped it came. It had been almost a year since he found out he was stuck on
this rock called Earth and that he would never see home, or his lovren, again.
Fucking life.
The first time he had strayed from his mating vows was seventy-five years after they
arrived. It had been a frigid night in New York. They had struck out yet again on the Colonist
front—it had turned out to just be a piece-of-shit human, just like the very dead Susan Kresper.
Cohen had been alone at the rooming house they had checked into while the other Warriors were
out and about, doing whatever they did during the day when they weren’t searching for
Colonists. All except Noah, of course. He was upstairs sleeping, getting prepared for the next
hunt. Cohen sat at the small bar and drank whatever the still had produced, feeling desperate for
a connection with someone.
His thoughts were hazy from the liquor as he thought of Mia. He remembered her fear
when they had first run away to the cities, her awe of the high, golden towers.
“My lovren, we shall forever be lost here!”
And that was what he had wanted. He had wanted to be lost in a place where no one
knew him, where he had a fresh start as a male, not a Healer. Where he was spoken to because of
what he said, and people wanted to be around him because of who he was, not what he was. In
the forest, it had gotten so overwhelming always being wanted and needed, and never really sure
if people were being kind because he was in demand, or because they actually enjoyed his
company. He had relished the sheer privacy the large cities brought him, but Mia hadn’t. She
fought the change in their surroundings, and also battled him on whether he should join the
military. Being a Forest Dweller, she was peaceful, and he was as well. However, he had wanted
a new career, something that involved him being a part of something, not being the something, as
he was as a Healer.
He remembered thinking that loneliness was a strange thing. It didn’t matter how many
people were around; one could still be lonely. He had gone from being happy with no one
knowing who he was, to desperate for a connection with anyone. As he’d sat in the bar, there
were three other male patrons and the bartender. Yes, there were people around, and he had even
struck up conversations with two of them who seemed nice. However, the isolation had seeped
into his bones, making him feel anxious and . . . well, lonely.
She’d strode into the bar, her dark-blue velvet dressed cinched tightly at the waist
flattering her ample bosom and the flair of her hips. Her shoes clacked across the wooden floor,
and she perched herself on a barstool. Turning to him, she smiled. Black hair framed porcelain
skin that covered high cheekbones and thin lips. The smile never reached her dark eyes. Cohen
pegged her somewhere in her thirties.
“Hello,” she had said with a nod.
“Good day.”
They both faced forward, and Cohen listened as she ordered a drink.
The barkeep set down the glass in front of her, then went down to the other end of the
long slice of mahogany to chat with another patron.
“It’s lovely out today, don’t you agree?”
Cohen remembered being startled and turned to her. Yes, it was lovely outside; it was
what he had going on inside that he wasn’t too fond of.
Two hours and a few drinks later, Cohen had her in the room he shared with Rayner, the
bed squeaking beneath their weight. After, he had almost cried at the sheer joy the experience
brought him. It wasn’t just the physical release, which was off-the-charts awesome, but it was the
sheer act of sharing something intimate with another being. From then on, he sought out the
experience.
Now, as he scratched the scruff on his chin, he tried to focus on the screen, his eyes
shifting back and forth between Annis and Blake. His brain was so scattered it felt like it was in a
million pieces, each struggling to get away from the others. A box of a thousand marbles
dropped on the floor didn’t have a damn thing on how he felt.
Except both were messy.
Noah was lecturing Annis that she simply couldn’t go around killing people, and that it
was imperative that they stay under the radar, although how far under they were was up for
debate. Blake had come from the FBI, and all were fairly certain that he was a solid addition to
scrape up since his disappearance into the world of the Six Saviors.
Cohen didn’t see much radar for them to hide under, but whatever.
“Do you understand, Annis?” Noah asked.
Cohen watched as she moved closer to Blake, and the tops of their arms crossed. Were
they holding hands? Did she reach for him in comfort, or for strength? Was she grabbing his leg?
His cock? Would they enjoy the privacy of a hotel room after this pleasant, little chat ended?
And why did he care?
Because at his core, he found Annis the most beautiful, forceful, amazing, intelligent, and
funny female he had ever laid eyes on.
And he hated her for it.
Suddenly, Mia shimmered on the screen, just behind Annis’s shoulder, a reminder of
what a shitty mate he was, how he had broken his vows, and how he would never love another.
He got to his feet quickly, the need to get out of the room as urgent as if the place was
burning to the ground.
“Where are you going?” Hudson asked.
“It’s none of your fucking business. I just need to get out of here,” Cohen said quietly,
and made his way to the door. Behind him he heard, “Bye, Cohen.”
He didn’t answer; he didn’t acknowledge he had been spoken to. But while the words
from that soft and deep, yet feminine, voice vibrated within him, lust and hate fought for first
place.
Chapter 9
Blake ended the Skype chat with the Warriors and exhaled slowly. It had gone better than
he’d thought it would. He knew Noah would be upset that Susan had ended up dead, but there
really wasn’t a choice. Now they just needed to find out how the child trafficking ring Susan was
involved in worked, who the other players were, and if any of them were Colonists.
He stood up and looked around the room. They had made it back to the hotel just before
dawn, and both had crashed and slept until just before dusk. Blake had gotten busy with Susan’s
computer, and Annis lay in bed waiting for her sight to return with the setting sun.
When it had, they ordered room service and called Noah. Now they were waiting for their
food.
Blake paced around the room. It was a nice place. They were staying at the Westin in
Manhattan and decided that getting one room would be the best course of action. Abby, Noah’s
mate, had made reservations for them, getting them into a one-bedroom suite. Blake gave Annis
the bed with the cream-colored comforter and black throw pillows, while he took the dark-brown
pullout couch. He had definitely slept on worse. The walls were painted in the same cream color
as the bedspread, while the desktop and coffee table were a shiny black. The carpet reminded
him of the color of the desert floor—a light dirt color.
“I’m going to take a shower, Blake,” Annis said.
He nodded and continued to pace.
They were scheduled to leave in the morning. The original assignment had been two
nights of watching, studying, and maybe a little B&E or a possible chat with Susan. Those two
nights had turned into a couple of hours, then a murder.
But whatever. Honestly, the world was better off without people like her.
Blake sat down at the desk and opened up Susan’s laptop, pushing his own aside. He
hadn’t had much time to go through things last night, so he was hoping that tonight would yield
some results so that they weren’t at a dead end.
While he waited for the computer to warm up, he grabbed the remote and flipped on the
TV. As he cruised the channels, he thought about last night.
Had Annis wanted him to kiss her?
God knew he had wanted to. He was so attracted to her that the thought of her in the
shower, naked with white soapy bubbles running down her chocolate skin just a few feet away
from him, made his jeans uncomfortably tight.
Yes, he wanted her, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why he wasn’t making a