Beyond Pain (25 page)

"You got to learn things." She couldn't quite keep the hunger out of her voice. The hacked tablet Noelle had given her made it easier to work her way through books, but now the struggle was to focus on learning the words at all when listening to the tablet's soothing female voice was so much easier.

"Yeah," he said wryly. "I learned the art of assassination. The most effective silent kills. How to line up a two-mile sniper shot, accounting for wind shift. Your basic Special Tasks education."

"How to be strong," she countered. "How to hurt evil bastards, so they can't hurt anyone else. How to be a protector."

"No." Bren's smile held a tinge of sadness as he reached out and ran his fingers over an escaped lock of her hair. "All those things, I learned right here in Sector Four."

She wanted to turn her face into his hand and kiss his palm, but she couldn't look away from his eyes. "So teach them to me. I don't have to fight for survival anymore, but I can protect people."

His smile widened, and he brushed his thumb over her cheek. "You'll be better at it than I've ever been. Just wait."

Biting back her smile, she gave him her sternest look. "So stop being mushy, Donnelly, and throw me around this room."

"Yes, ma'am." He climbed to his feet and stretched again. "Want to come at me? Want me to come at you?"

She bounced to her feet, to her toes, watching him warily. He could lunge into sudden movement without the slightest tensing muscle to give warning, but sometimes she caught tiny hints in the crinkling around his eyes or the set of his mouth. "I wanna see that arm lock one more time."

"Oh yeah?"

If it had been anyone else, she would have asked if he was ready. But Bren was always ready, and when she came at him, driving hard for his ribs, he swatted her wrist, knocking it aside without apparent effort.

He must have slowed the progression down so she could see it, but it still happened so fast. His wrist slid up to slam against the inside of her elbow, forcing her arm to bend as he twisted behind her, somehow getting his other arm threaded through hers and his hands linked together.

A few seconds, that was all it took for her to end up against his chest, her arm bent out to her side at an awkward angle, her wrist trapped in the crook of his elbow and his other hand gripping her shoulder.

It would take very little force to drive her to the floor now, and even less to cause so much pain that she'd beg to end up there. But he hadn't thrown a single punch, hadn't smashed his nose into anyone's face. He'd simply moved to take control of the situation--and her--with minimum fuss.

Quick, efficient, deadly.

It turned her on.

She inhaled slowly and tested the limited range of motion she had within the lock. "I bet you could move a pretty big guy with this."

He increased the pressure, but only the tiniest bit. "He'll go where you point him, all right."

Easy to believe, since she was up on her toes, her fingers twitching, as if her body was ready to tap out whether she wanted to or not. "Do you think I can pull this off on someone a lot taller than me?"

"There are other locks that might work better for you." He released her and rubbed her shoulder. "We'll go over them."

"Okay," she murmured, distracted by the warmth of his fingers soothing away the lingering ache.

His eyes darkened, and his fingers slowed to a sensual caress. "Six--"

Someone rapped on the door, the hollow sound still echoing as it swung wide, and Emma poked her head in, dark and bleached-blonde locks swinging. "Amira's having her baby!"

Instead of taking a step back, Bren pulled Six into the circle of his arm. "How long?"

"What do I look like, a fucking psychic? It's a baby, Donnelly, not a shipment of booze." She slammed the door behind her.

Six laughed, and it didn't even feel awkward anymore. "Unless your Doc has some fancy city tricks, it's probably going to be a while."

"Christ help him if Flash starts getting pissed." He kissed the top of her head. "First O'Kane baby. Want to go wait with everyone else?"

Her wrists were still bare, but with Lex's offer on the table, Six didn't feel nearly as hesitant to take him up on it. She'd have her ink soon. She'd be one of them in a way outsiders would have to acknowledge, a way no one could take from her.

For now, the fact that they included her was enough. Hell, it was everything. "Yeah, let's go."

The first time Flash punched Doc, Jasper had to go in to run interference.

Bren would have volunteered, but his experience with pain and blood was far less helpful than Jas's years on the farm, where he'd assisted with numerous births. No, Bren was better off with the others, gathered around the makeshift bar in the warehouse, waiting for news.

"God, how long does this take?" Ace demanded as the fourth hour rolled around. He'd given up making jokes and was sprawled in a chair next to Six, staring broodingly at the door.

She patted him on the arm. "I'm sure everything's fine. I've seen it take all night."

Ace shuddered. "Flash'll pound us into the ground one after another if it takes much longer."

Lex shoved another beer into his hands. "Relax. Doc's under strict orders--nothing goes sideways. This kid's an O'Kane."

"Still, maybe I should go check on--"

"No." Noelle wrapped both arms around Ace's neck and rested her chin on his head. "Amira doesn't need everyone hovering, and Jas can handle Flash. But you're adorable when you're worried, Ace."

He scowled. "Oh, shut up, princess."

It drew a round of laughs, and Six grinned. Bren found himself matching her expression as he wove his fingers with hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Lex caught his eye and winked, though her amusement faded as Dallas walked in from the back office, tablet in hand.

He shook his head slightly at Lex before pointing to Bren. "I need you for a minute."

Trouble. He recognized the look on Dallas's face even before he released Six and followed his boss to a quieter corner. "What is it?"

"Word from Three." He tilted the tablet, showing the curt message. "Emma's suggestion worked. Noah surfaced. And reading between the lines, he's pissed."

"About us looking for him?"

"Could be." He glanced across the room, his gaze settling on the cluster of O'Kanes. "Could be he'd take any mention of Emma as a threat. Lex thinks there's some history there, and I don't want this whole thing blowing up in our face. I need you to meet him and explain the situation."

Which likely meant heading over into Sector Three, or at least to neutral ground. "What do you want me to offer him?"

"Money for services. And if he asks to see Emma instead..."

She would have made the offer to unearth this Noah character, even if he presented a personal danger to her. She was an O'Kane--she'd do whatever the gang needed, and trust them to keep her safe. "If he asks after her, I'll tell him he has to see her here, and only after he meets with you and Lex."

"If you think he's more trouble than he's worth?" Dallas met his gaze, eyes serious. Unyielding. "You take care of it."

The real reason Bren was the best choice to take the meeting. His involvement in Three aside, he was uniquely suited to tackling the potential danger this hacker represented. "Quick and clean," he promised. "If I have to."

"Good." His lips twisted into a grimace. "From what Doc tells me, you can leave now and still maybe show back up before this kid does. Which is good, because we'll all be taking turns sitting on Flash by then."

"Doc's got plenty of drugs. If he can't find anything in his case, make him front Flash some shit from his personal stash."

Dallas's laugh was far from amused. "Just as long as he's not dipping into it while he's taking care of our girl."

The man had seemed sober, the surest sign that his rampant death wish apparently didn't involve having Dallas dump him in a shallow grave for endangering Amira and her baby. "Don't worry, I think he's straight tonight."

"Damn well better be. I only got so much time for crazy motherfuckers--" A wail from beyond the room drifted through the walls, and Dallas started before breaking into a wide grin. "Well, thank fucking God."

Relieved murmurs gave way to cheers as people laughed and hugged, already toasting the newest O'Kane. Then the door at the far end of the room swung open, and the celebration halted as Jasper walked in.

He grinned, an expression at odds with the fresh shiner darkening one eye. "It's a girl."

"A girl." Dallas clapped Bren on the shoulder. "You got this? Lex and I have to check on Amira and Flash."

"Yes, sir."

Bren stopped beside Six to squeeze her shoulder and whisper in her ear. "Got to run an errand. I'll be back soon, though."

She tensed as she peered up at him. "Everything okay?"

No need to borrow trouble.
Coop's voice rang in his ears, and for the first time Bren understood the warning. So he smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yeah. I'll see you soon."

Smiling, she grazed his jaw with a quick, shy kiss. No one was paying attention--there was too much excitement for that--but even if they had been watching, Six didn't seem to care. She only blushed softly, with no uncomfortable squirming, no hiding.

Damn, he hoped he didn't have to kill that motherfucker from Three. A life just had begun, and it seemed wrong to end another so soon, with the baby's first indignant cries still ringing in his ears.

Besides, nothing stood to upset the fragile balance he and Six had found like executing a hit on someone from her old sector. Especially someone she actually
liked
.

Scarlet's directions to the meeting site were something out of a pre-Flare spy movie--
He'll meet you under the bridge. Come alone.

By itself, the location was enough to make Bren nervous. At one point, the bridge had served as an overpass, part of the system of shipping roads that ran in and out of the city. One end had disintegrated in the sector bombings, rendering it unserviceable, but Wilson Trent had found other uses for it--namely hanging people he felt had betrayed him, letting them swing from the girders as a reminder and a warning.

The place was quiet, and the bits of frayed rope still swinging above him only heightened its sinister air. A thin layer of fog clung to the ground, swirling around the plants that had burst up through the concrete in a ghostly dance.

The whole place gave him the goddamned creeps.

"Brendan Donnelly." The rough voice echoed off stone, and Bren tilted his head, trying to pinpoint his location. "Former military police, burned for falsifying evidence. All those years working for the smartest men in Eden, and they never realized you were a fake from the start."

Bren turned just as Noah Lennox materialized out of the darkness. "Did you know I was coming, or have you memorized dossiers on all the O'Kanes?"

"Not all." Noah stopped a few paces away and offered a smile that would have chilled even Dallas. "Only those of you with a digital footprint, real or fabricated."

"I certainly have one of those," Bren agreed.

Noah met the words with silence, tense beneath his battered leather jacket. He was tall and lean, built more like Ace than Bren, with the kind of deceptive strength that might fool someone into thinking he wasn't a threat.

Bren knew better.

After another moment of studying him, Noah narrowed his eyes. "Where's Emma?"

"I was told to come alone."

The man gritted his teeth. "I know what the note said. I want to know where she is."

Bren shrugged. "She's back in Four."

"Guest or hostage?"

"Member." He held up his wrist and flashed his ink. "She's an O'Kane."

"Bullshit."

For all the force of his denial, Noah Lennox looked rattled, and Bren pressed the advantage. "You can see her any time you want--back on the compound, after you meet up with Dallas and Lex."

"Then what did--?" Noah bit off the question and ran a hand through his short red hair. "Fuck. If this isn't about her, then what the hell does O'Kane want?"

"Scarlet didn't tell you?"