Adam (17 page)

“Oh, really?” Adam tickled her, but stopped when she grabbed him tightly with enough pressure to make him hiss in pleasure.

“Yeah really
,” she whispered, the teasing gone.

God
, he had been a fool. How could he have failed to fight for his Angel? He made a promise to himself; he’d spend his life fighting for this woman, and no one had better stand between them…ever.

Before he could lean down to take her mouth
, someone pounded on the door making Angelina yelp and Adam cuss a blue streak.

“What!”
he growled loudly, covering Angelina with the sheet.

“Sloan wants everyone in the game room now
,” Steve shouted through the door.

“Dammit
,” Adam sighed, rubbing his face. “We’re getting our own place.”

Laughing
, Angelina climbed out of bed pulling on her clothes. “Does that happen a lot?” She nodded to the door.

“Yep.” Adam pulled on his jeans carefully because he was still wanting Angelina in a big way.

“You having a problem there?” she teased seductively, watching him carefully tuck himself away.

Grabbing a t-shirt
, he pulled it on and down over his obvious hard-on. Pulling her toward him, he kissed her hard while running his hand over her breasts and down between her legs, driving her crazy. He then pulled away suddenly.

“The same problem you
’re having.” He winked and then pulled away, but steadied her when she wobbled. Once she gained her balance, he laughed.

“That wasn
’t very nice.” She glared at him and he knew she was trying not to smile.

“No
, it wasn’t, but it was fun.” He took her hand in his, and then opened the door.

Steve stood
, leaning against the wall looking at his phone. “Hey, Angelina.” He smiled then led the way down the hall.

“Hey
, Steve.” She smiled back at him, a flush coloring her cheeks.

“Glad I knocked
,” Steve whispered, tossing him a knowing wink.

“
So am I.” Adam winked back, but without the grin. “Today is too great of a day to be killing someone.”

“Duly noted.” Steve nodded
, looking relieved which made Adam smile. Damn, he was one lucky bastard.

Chapter 20

Adam slowed once they made it to the game
s room. Everyone was there. Instinctively, he knew this wasn’t good. Sloan stood to the side. His face, usually emotionless, was a mask of fury. Pulling Angelina beside him, he stopped next to Jill.

“What
’s going on?” he whispered toward her, his eyes on the Warriors who looked ready; he just was not quite sure ready for what exactly. Everyone stood around looking on edge. The women were whispering together nervously while the Warriors stood with no expressions whatsoever, which was never a good thing. No emotion meant shit was about to get real.

“You know as much as I do
,” she responded, also searching the Warriors for a clue. “Slade got a phone call and we took off.”

Sloan pinned each and every person in the room
with narrowed eyes as if silently counting. “I sent Jax to the Mayor’s office to see if he could get information about this bullshit he’s trying to pull.” Sloan pinched the bridge of his nose. “It looks like that bullshit has become reality. Jax is waiting for us.”

Sloan tossed Damon a set of keys as the rest of the
Warriors kissed their mates. Adam looked down at Angelina, who squeezed his hand before letting go.

“The women will go with Damon and the rest of us will ride.” Sloan
ordered before heading toward the door.

“Ride what?”
Steve whispered to Adam, who just shrugged.

“The women?” Jared stopped in midstride
glancing back at Sloan, who had just made it to the door.

“That
’s what I said.” Sloan looked around. “Is there a problem with that?”

“Yeah, there is
,” Duncan spoke up. “I’m not taking my son or mate into something I don’t know anything about.”

“I agree with Duncan.” Jared nodded,
and then looked at Sid and Damon who were also nodding with agreement.

Sloan sighed.
“I didn’t want to alarm anyone until I saw it with my own eyes, but Jax is waiting for us at the location they are taking and keeping half-breeds.”

Since the
Warriors didn’t keep much from their mates, no one was shocked at the news.

“I want to go.” Pam held Daniel close. “I
’m a half-breed and this involves me.”

Nicole and Tessa followed Pam
’s lead, also wanting to see what was going on. “We’ll be fine.” Nicole looked toward Damon. “I want to go.”

“
As do I,” Tessa told Jared.

Each Warrior looked at each other with a silent message before walking out of the room.
Knowing there was nothing they could do to stop their mates from going—other than tying them up—they made their safety top priority.

Adam followed everyone out of the compound
, his arm wrapped tight around Angelina. “You okay?”

“Fine
,” she responded and looked up at him. “A little surprised I’m being included.”

“Get used to it because you are a part of this crazy family now.”
They waited until they got Daniel settled into his car seat, and the women piled in. He helped Angelina into the van where she sat next to his sister. Then with a wink, he closed the door and headed for Jill and Steve.

“I feel like the last one picked for kickball
,” Steve grumbled as they stood around alone. The women and Damon were in the van. The other Warriors headed for their bikes, and they stood like losers wondering how they were going to get to the party.

The sound of bikes echoed. Sid was the first to appear. Stopping
, he nodded toward Steve. “Get on.” Steve did as ordered, not knowing where to place his hands. “Don’t grab my balls,” Sid growled the warning.

“I
’ll try to refrain,” Steve snorted, and then grabbed on when Sid jerked the bike in motion.

Sloan positioned his bike in front of the van
, while Sid positioned behind. Slade pulled up stopping in front of Jill, who jumped on. Adam turned when Jared pulled up, nodding toward him. Adam slid on and Jared positioned his bike behind Slade next to the van. Sloan turned to check and then pulled out with them all following as one. Everything the Warriors cared about was in that van. If an enemy wanted to take out the Warriors, all they would have to do is take out the van filled with their mates.

It was six
o’clock and rush hour traffic was heavy, but they never once got separated. Adam glanced at the van next to him, and even though he couldn’t see inside with the dark tinted windows, he felt Angelina’s stare. Stopping at a red light, two girls in a Mustang GT openly flirted with Slade, who ignored them keeping his head straightforward. Adam and Jared laughed when Jill leaned toward them with a snarl, showing her fangs. The girl in the passenger seat rolled up her window quickly.

Jared just shook his head as the light turned green and they passed the Mustang. Adam looked inside the Mustang, but both women stared straight ahead. Finally
, out of heavy traffic, they followed Sloan who turned off onto a gravel road. Adam spotted Jax leaning against his bike in front of a large chain-link fence that surrounded a two-story block building that spanned at least an acre of land. It was massive.

The bikes curved off
, giving room for the van. Jax didn’t move as everyone made their way toward him. As soon as Sloan walked up, Jax produced a paper handing it to him and then gave him a minute to look it over. When Sloan cursed long and loud, Jax pushed away from his bike.

“I
’m sure Sloan has told you that he asked me to meet with the Mayor, which I did. My orders were to find out exactly what his plans were with the half-breeds as well as if it were a serious threat. Two important factors I found out. First is that your Mayor is the puppet of Alice, his fiancée, and from the look of hatred on most of your faces, I see you know her. The second important fact I discovered is that a roundup, as they called it, of half-breeds has been approved by the US Government and signed by the President himself. Effective immediately. Our question is why our leading officials were not notified of this.”

“There is no way I can live there.” Pam
’s eyes were on the building; she held Daniel tightly to her. “And what about Daniel?”

Duncan stepped up protectively. “You
will never live there.” His response was final and his look dared anyone to contradict him.

“But
this is an order from the US Government.” Pam struggled with Daniel when he became restless.

Adam watched as Duncan took Daniel
and he whispered something to Pam. His eye swept to Jill who was staring at the building before looking at him. She shook her head slowly and he knew what she was silently saying. She wouldn’t be locked down there either.

“I
’ve called an emergency meeting with all the High Council members,” Sloan replied, his hand tightly gripping the official paper. “The US Government has broken Treaty 5701 by ordering this without Vampire Council knowledge.”

Jax actually laughed, but his laughter held no humor. “I
’m surprised it has taken this long.” He held out his arms shaking his head when everyone stared at him. “As a Native American, this comes as no shock to me. But I thought it was important for each and every one of you to be here to see this firsthand.”

Night was falling and lights clicked on around the building as headlights swept across the group.
The Warriors surrounded the women until the plain white bus turned into a paved drive further up from them. The gate opened and the bus drove through. Following the bus were two police cars and a black Cadillac followed by another police car.

The bus stopped and six uniformed officers came out of the front of the building
, each carrying a shotgun positioning themselves in different areas around the bus. The officers in the police cars opened their trunks retrieving their own shotguns. Once everyone was in position, the officers raised their guns.

“Get the women in the van now!” Duncan turned to Adam and Steve, who jumped into action doing as ordered.
Jill and Lana remained outside of the van watching the horror of what was happening. Once the women were safely inside, Adam stepped away to see what was going on.

Pam stepped out of the van shutting the door.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Duncan growled, grabbing her arm to usher her back to the van.

“I
’m a half-breed.” Pam snapped her arm away. “And this affects me more than you. I am not going to hide in a van.”

Duncan frowned, but didn
’t push the issue. He did however look back at Adam. “Keep a close eye on that van.”

Adam nodded, but his eyes were on the w
omen and children being ushered out of the bus at gunpoint. Even though they were a distance away, Adam could see the fear and confusion on their faces as they took in their surroundings. Anger burned deep in his stomach and the rumbling growls around him indicated that he wasn’t alone in that feeling.

“Where are the men?” Lana asked as the last of the women and children were out of sight.

As soon as she spoke those words, the first man appeared with a police officer following closely behind aiming a gun at his back.

“That
’s a Taser.” Sid frowned, looking at Sloan. “That would be enough to put a half-breed down, but not for long.”

“Anne
explained in her report the way the humans who kept them controlled the half-breeds. They did so by drugging them enough to keep them in a weakened state,” Duncan replied, not taking his eyes off the scene.

Once the male half-breed disappeared
, the cop came back, climbed up on the bus and appeared with another male and it continued that way until the bus was empty.

A car came flying down the road slamming to stop inches from the closed gate. Three people jumped out grabbing the fence screaming and shaking the fence. Their frantic cries for their loved ones reached the Warriors. The people outside the fence were human who had just lost their loved ones.

The driver in the black Cadillac got out walking back to open the back door. The Mayor stepped out, straightened his suit and then reached in; out came Alice.

“I swear I
’m going to kill that bitch one day,” Jill hissed, her fists tightening.

Alice and the Mayor ignored the screams at the fence, but just before they disappeared
, Alice looked their way. Raising her hand, she gave them a finger wave before disappearing.

The officers got back in the
ir cars following the bus out of the gates, on their way, no doubt to find more half-breeds. Officers pushed the three humans away before closing the gates and locking them.

“This can
’t be happening.” Lana turned toward Sid in shock.

“But it is
,” Jax responded, looking at each of them. “And now we have a big decision to make. Whose side will you fight for, because war is coming?”

“Nothing has changed on my watch.” Sloan stepped in the middle of the group. “We fight for those who can
’t fight or protect themselves.”

Sloan
’s fist slammed into his chest and stayed there as one by one each Warrior did the same in a show of what they stood for. It was a Warrior’s oath. Adam followed as did Steve. Jill was the last to slam her fist to her chest as she turned and looked toward the massive stone building. Adam, Steve and Jill all made eye contact knowing that they had just taken their first oath as future Warriors.

As everyone made their way back to the bikes
, Adam stood, staring at the building, feeling Jill and Steve beside him.

“I didn
’t work this hard to overcome my demons to end up in a place like that.” Adam glanced at Jill, then Steve.

“We didn
’t ask for this life.” Jill looked over at Slade who was waiting on his bike.

All the
Warriors sat patiently watching them, giving them a moment. The only Warrior close was Jax, who again leaned against his bike, his back to the building.

“You may not have asked for it, but here you are.” Jax stared at Jill. “Looks like you won
’t have to worry so much about being a liability, since Warriors are going to be in great demand.”

Jill
’s head snapped toward Jax, a hard look flashing across her face. “Oh, I’m more of a liability to anyone who even tries to put me or one of my loved ones in a place like that.”

Jax nodded as he watched the three half-breeds turn to walk away, but his eyes went back to Jill. “Guess I
’m planning on staying on for a while, Sloan.” His gaze turned toward Slade who was looking ready to run him over with his bike. “I need a raise and a studio apartment.”

“Yeah, I
’ll get right on that.” Sloan kicked up his kickstand.

“Anyone want
a roommate?” Jax called out, sliding onto his bike, his grin growing as he looked straight at Jill. Slade kicked his kickstand up a little too hard, almost sending Jill tumbling off. “Guess not.”

Jax laughed as he started his bike. Waiting to fall in behind everyone
, he made eye contact with Steve, Adam and Jill. Even giving Slade a hard time about Jill, he was going to make damn sure those three would be the best damn Warriors the council had ever seen. Before pulling out, he glanced back one more time. Alice stood at the corner of the building staring at him. With a large smile, he lifted his hand and flipped her off, making sure she knew he saw her. As he pulled out, he sprayed rocks against the fence and building, clearly stating they weren’t going to lie down and take it. They would be back.