Guardian (12 page)

“The truck is clear,” he said. “Here comes the gatehouse, but the arm is down. I thought they left the exit open on Saturdays.”

“They do.” Damn it, she’d been right. Someone had been watching her. “They’re looking for me.”

“They won’t find you, but they are checking cars,” he answered grimly. “Just stay calm, I’ll get you through.”

“How?” She felt panic building.

“I’ll just plant the suggestion in his mind that you’re harmless and not who he’s supposed to be watching for.”

“At that distance? You can do that?” She’d heard rumors, but damn, that was a lot more power than most of the Elect she knew.

He chuckled. “Yes. Now be quiet so I can concentrate.”
 

She pulled up the gate and the guard stepped forward. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“We just need to check all the outgoing vehicles, ma’am.”

“Did someone escape?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.” His voice was wooden and his eyes blank. Brax was true to his word. “If you’ll pop your trunk, I’ll get you cleared.”
 

She did as the guard asked and after a moment was on her way. It wasn’t long before she saw Brax pull out behind her and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is everyone okay?” she asked him.

“Yes. There were two nurses on the floor that were sedated, and they brought out four patients. Merilee, Jamie and two teenage boys.”

“Do we know who they are?”

“I haven’t been updated yet. Zach is taking the four of them to the infirmary. He’ll update us as soon as he can.”

She should have expected that, but damn it, she wanted to know what was going on. “Why did we need the fire?” she asked instead.

“Bad timing,” he said, sounding a bit aggrieved. “The two guards assigned inside took a smoke break when the team needed to exit.”

“But everyone got out uninjured?”

So much could have gone wrong.

“They’re all fine,” he assured her again.
 

“Of course they are,” she muttered.

Zach was fine, she knew that. If something had happened to him she would have felt it through their bond. Knowing that didn’t change the fact she was a nervous wreck. She couldn’t imagine life without him anymore. Damn, that had happened fast.

She was starting to adjust to the idea when they finally got back to the compound. When she walked in the house, she knew time was up. A group of larger-than-life men were lounging around the foyer, waiting for her. Behind them Zach entered from the hall that led to the infirmary. He came straight to her side. More likely they were waiting for Zach, she concluded, when four sets of angry eyes zeroed in on him. She loved them all, but God help her, they tested her patience. She sighed.
 

“Where’s Mom?” she asked.

“At home. Where you’re going,” her youngest brother said.

Zach gripped her shoulder. “I think that’s up to her.”

It was far from the angry objection she’d expected from him and she stared at him until he shrugged one shoulder.
 

“I can learn,” he said softly. The response may have been nonchalant, but his eyes were far from it. There was a vulnerability she’d never seen from him before.
 

“Mallory,” her father said, demanding her attention.

“How was the cruise?” she countered.

“Great. We didn’t expect to come home and find you with him, though,” he said cautiously.
 

“And Vince and Derek think I need rescuing?” She glared at them. “I can rescue myself. If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t. Y’all should know me better than that.”

Her brothers had the grace to look sheepish and her dad was curious. “Call your mother. She wants an update on—” He paused, giving Zach a dismissive once over. “Your…”

“Husband,” Zach offered when her father trailed off.
 

“That remains to be seen.”

Without a word, the four of them left the house. Brax walked out of his office and smiled when he saw them.
 

“You survived the firing squad.”

“Temporarily, at least,” Zach muttered.
 

Brax grinned. “Do you need to get back to your patients? We’re all meeting in Mason’s office in ten.”

“Rose and Esme are with them, and no one is awake yet.”

Brax nodded. “If you want to grab something to eat, now’s the time.”
 

“I’m going to check the blood tests. I’ll be there in a minute.” He turned and held his hand out to her. She resisted the temptation to take it. “Mallory?”

“I want to clean up.” She always did after starting or controlling a fire. The heat seemed to come from the inside out, and she felt a little on the grungy side. “You still keep the suite upstairs?”

He nodded. His expression was closed and he was blocking his mind. She had no idea what he was thinking. “There’s a couple boxes of clothes in the closet I never got around to moving. You should be able to find something in them.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in ten.”
 

Chapter Eleven

Mallory half-expected Zach to trail her upstairs and was mostly relieved when he didn’t, but there was a tinge of disappointment too. She understood why he gave her space. They both knew she’d decided to stay with him. The decision left her feeling raw and edgy. But mixed with that anxiety was eagerness and excitement.
 

She didn’t know how much he’d changed, but she’d grown a lot. She could handle his prickly side now, found she liked sparring with him. Grinning, she found the boxes and dug through them. She pulled out jeans, a T-shirt and short boots, tossing them to the bed before walking into the shower. She made it quick and was in the office just in time to meet Gabe, Mason, Brax and Zach, who pulled her close.
 

You’re okay?
he whispered in her mind.
 

Fine
. She smiled up at him, surprised to find she really was.
 

“We’ll get the report on your patients in a minute,” Brax said to Zach and then turned to her.
 

“You thought someone was watching you. Are you sure they weren’t watching me?” Brax asked.

Oh great. She waited for Zach to explode, but he was suspiciously silent. “It was me.”

“How long?”

She hesitated. “When we went outside, definitely.”

“And earlier?”
 

“I think I was just nervous before then.”
 

“I’m not so sure about that,” Zach interjected. “You were nervous all day, but there were a couple times I felt your anxiety spike.”

She thought back over the day. He was right. Two times her unease had risen sharply. She’d looked around, not noticed anything unusual, and the sensation faded. She’d put it down to worry of one of them getting caught.

“Twice I thought maybe someone was there, but the feeling only lasted a few seconds. Not like when we left,” she finished, mulling it over.
 

“What did you feel then? Describe it to me,” Zach demanded.

A week ago that order would have pissed her off. “I’m not an empath.”

“Maybe not, but you are very intuitive and you share some of my strength through our bond.”
 

“But not your abilities.”

“I’m not so sure of that, baby. Quit stalling and tell me,” Zach said gently.

“Earlier in the day it felt general, like someone was studying a crowd the way you’d do in a bar.”

He squeezed her hand. “You wouldn’t be checking out anyone in a bar, would you, baby?” His tone was teasing, but she felt the displeasure in his mind.

She rolled her eyes. “You want to hear this or not?”

“Absolutely. Go on.” His voice gentled, almost conciliatory.
 

“When we left there was…intent behind the watching. And suspicion.” She shrugged. “I’m not Elect. Not a telepath. I could be completely wrong.”

He squeezed her hand again. “You’re not. I wonder what they suspect?”

“I don’t know.”
 

But she was pretty sure they suspected something. By now the missing patients must have been discovered at least. Most likely they hadn’t fooled them at all since the guard was searching cars at the gate. Stirling knew
something
was up and would suspect her of the fire when she never returned.

“Damn it, I wish we knew what they know.”

“I got eighty percent of the database,” Gabe said. “We’ll know something soon.”

What about the other twenty percent? What if someone had been caught on tape or identified later? This was crazy. Why was she panicking now when her part was done?
 

“We’re fine,” Zach tried to reassure her, whispering as he pulled her away from the others. But she just couldn’t shake the feeling it wasn’t over. “All of us got in and out without incident, and trust me, as much as Gabe irritates me, he’s good at this stuff. No one has a clue who we are and no one saw him.”

“You sound very sure of someone you referred to as
that irritating brat
three years ago.”

He half-snorted, half-laughed. “And he still is an irritating brat. But the brat knows what he’s doing.” He sobered. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, honey.”
 

She bit her lip when she realized how easily that had come out, an old response, the way she used to tease him. And her heart kicked when he gave her a sexy, rakish grin. She almost groaned. What the hell was she doing encouraging him? That was a huge mistake, committing her to a course she wasn’t decided on yet.
 

Before she could respond, her phone chimed.
 

She read the message twice before it sunk in and shoved aside a spurt of disappointment. She wouldn’t be gone that long, after all. She had the rest of the day and night with him. First she called her boss at the fire department.
 

After the usual greetings, she told him, “I’m on vacation, remember? You practically danced a jig in your office when I requested it.”
 

He sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

She knew he would. “Okay. What’s up?”

“Busy day, too many fires, and half my staff is out sick. I need you go check out a warehouse fire.”

She wrote down the address, hung up and turned to find Zach. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I need to go check out a fire scene.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re supposed to be on leave from the fire department.”
 

“They need me.” She shrugged, wondering if he’d protest. How she’d deal with it if he did. He ground his teeth together, jaw clenching hard with the action. Then he nodded and told the others he’d be right back.
 

“I’ll walk you out.”

He didn’t speak again until her car door was open. He crowded her, cupping her face with his hands. “Be careful,” he whispered.
 

Then he kissed her and the world tilted on its axis. It was hot and hungry, demanding and possessive. Her body flared to life with a demand of its own, and groaning, she moved closer, plastering herself against him and resenting the hell out of the clothes that separated them. He broke away, panting, and leaned his forehead against hers.
 

“You make me crazy,” he said softly.

“Ditto.”
 

She didn’t have the words to elaborate, but she didn’t need to. Finally, he stepped back and waited until she was settled in the car. Leaning in through the window, he kissed her again.
 

“Hurry back and keep in contact.”

“I will.”

She smiled. He was such a worrier. It was kind of sweet. Irritating as hell, but she knew he loved her more than anything. At the thought, her last resistance to the bond re-forming between them melted away. It was a zinging sensation from her to Zach, then back to her. His eyes widened.
 

 
“Sure you have to go?”

“Yeah. We’ll…talk later.”

“Whatever you say, baby,” he said lightly, but the heat and hunger in his eyes almost made her change her mind. He stepped back and shut the door. She watched him until he faded from her rearview mirror, shook her head and tried to regain her focus, but it didn’t work.
 

She was distracted when she reached the warehouse and spoke briefly to an engine captain who was leaving. The fire was out, it was safe to go in and she rarely took anyone with her when she physically checked over a scene. So why did she feel so uneasy when she walked inside?
 

She shook her head. It was just the day catching up with her, the eerie light filtering through bits of missing ceiling, creating weird shadows in the burned-out hull. Flipping the on switch on her heavy flashlight, she played the light around the cavernous space and her feeling of unease returned. She tapped the power that not only let her start and stop fires, but read the origins and progression of one.