Guardian (2 page)

“Do you still blame me?” he asked, and though the question was out of the blue, she knew exactly what he was talking about.

Fuck. She squeezed her eyes shut and banged her head back against the wall as she suddenly remembered Zach rushing into the room the night of her miscarriage. She’d forgiven him years ago, she thought, but the things he’d said, the questions he’d asked… She’d been willing to let it all go. He was the one trying to drag history into the present. They’d managed to avoid this conversation for three years. Why now? Did she want to hear explanations now? Rehash the past now? She’d thought she was over the past and ready to move on.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach and knew they couldn’t avoid it anymore. She’d always miss feeling the life quicken in her belly. She’d always remember what happened after.

“Do you remember what you said? How you reacted?” she asked, striving to keep her voice cool. Composed. “I did not send my brother to fight my battles for me, but can you blame him for taking steps to protect me now? And what did you do? Just let him warn you off?”
 

She wasn’t sure if she should be pissed off or hurt. Probably both. “You should have contacted me about this, but that’s always been the problem, hasn’t it, Zach? You’re great at ordering. Not so good at talking and listening.”

He knew he’d fucked up. He’d accused her of not following his orders, of doing something, anything that would miscarry their child. He’d been scared out of his fucking mind. He hadn’t just lost the child, the son, but almost lost his wife. She’d waited so long to call him. Waited until she hoped he was done with his research for the day. It was a bitter pill to swallow. She’d believed his work was more important to him than she was and given his behavior towards her the last three years, he couldn’t blame her.

At first she’d kept their contact limited to the occasional email or phone call, and he’d allowed it. He’d been harsh and cruel and hadn’t spent the time he should have with his wife. He’d lost himself in work and by the time he thought she might have recovered, she’d made a life for herself. He was still stunned she’d done it without him. And damned proud.

But like an idiot, when she’d finally agreed to see him, he hadn’t told her that. Instead he spent those rare hours trying to convince her to move back in with him. To quit the job she clearly loved and excelled at. Because whether she wanted to admit it or not, there was an element of danger to it and the idea of losing her permanently was paralyzing.

Their last confrontation was the worst and he knew that was the proverbial straw for her. The divorce papers had shown up a few days later and he’d thought for a time maybe he could let her live her own way. But damned if he could keep living without her. It was a gnawing ache in his gut that grew worse all the time. He had to try to fix this. Especially now that she’d walked back into his life.

And, damn, his reaction to her hadn’t changed one bit. He was hurting, aching to bury himself inside her. He’d been so fucking afraid of that when he’d claimed her. She may have been in her early twenties, but she’d had an innocence that held him back. She wasn’t innocent now. She was harder, tougher. He’d let her suffer through the loss of their child alone and hadn’t made the last three years anything but harder. He could never make up for that, but if she let him he’d spend the rest of his life trying. And he had to start with the past they’d both refused to confront.

He gripped the nape of her neck and pulled her close. She held herself stiff against him, though he could scent her arousal.
 

“It wasn’t your fault, baby. I know that. I knew it then.” He took a deep breath. “I was so angry at myself for not paying attention, so sad and worried, but it’s inexcusable that I took it out on you.”
 

She grew stiffer in his arms and tried to shove him away. He wouldn’t let her. He’d never survive it.

“It doesn’t matter now.” That new calm, expressionless tone was in her voice. He fucking hated that. “It was a long time ago, Zach. Just…let it go. Let me go.”
 

He growled. He couldn’t hold it back. He didn’t want to. “Not going to happen.” He tried to soften his tone, but he knew he failed. “I’ve refused to sign those papers and you haven’t pushed it. Don’t you think there’s a reason why, baby? You aren’t willing to give up yet either.”
 

He was positive of that, and it gave him hope. He kissed her temple. “Mine,” he whispered. “My wife. My woman. I won’t release you.”
 

She shoved at his chest. He was lucky she didn’t burn him, and he knew it. She may have been human, but she had a strong pyrokinetic ability, one she had a shaky, tenuous control over. He let her go, let her stalk away. She whirled back around to face him, shaking her head, a confused expression crossing her face.
 

“I’ve made a life for myself and you’ve made it really clear you want no part of it. Why are you messing with that? I can’t do it again, Zach. It was hell losing the baby. But then I lost you too, and I had nothing. I won’t do that again. I can’t be that woman again.”
 

Jesus. He’d been a fucking idiot. He pulled her close. “I am not going anywhere, baby.”
 

“And I’m not going backwards. Can you live with that?”
 

He wasn’t sure if he could and he knew she saw it in his expression.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. We’re finished with this, Zach.
I’m
finished.”
 

She yanked the door open and motioned for the others, who waited in the hall, to come back inside. Zach moved back against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest and just watched her. Finished? Not by a long fucking shot.
 

Chapter Two

Mallory took one of the chairs in front of the desk and tried to ignore Zach. She dug a folder out of her shoulder bag and handed it to Brax. “My report.”

She could feel Zach behind her through a connection, a bond she’d thought she’d severed. It was weak, but it wasn’t dead, and she knew he was up to something. Planning. Plotting. She tried to ignore him and smiled at Esme, who’d taken the seat next to her.
 

“How’s the arm?”

“Good. Ready to take the stitches out?”

Mallory shook her head. “Let’s give it a couple more days.”

It wasn’t a serious injury. The bullet was small caliber and had barely grazed her. Mallory had put in three stitches, and as Esme showed her the wound, she was pleased to see it was healing nicely with no signs of infection. She pulled a file folder from her satchel and flipped it open, handing over the typed-up witness statement Esme had dictated over the phone to her.
 

“Short and sweet,” she said, turning to meet Brax’s worried gaze. “The fire was caused by a gas leak. What my report won’t mention is the line was too cleanly cut to have been an accident.”
 

The air in the room went frigidly cold and Mallory was reminded just how powerful Brax was. She rubbed her arms and after a few seconds her chills went away, but it wasn’t Brax’s powers that had warmed her. She spared a scowl over her shoulder for Zach, who just shrugged, before turning back to Brax.
 

“And the murder investigation?”

“Stalled. It won’t be connected to this.”

Esme had only come to the attention of the Elect a few days before. She’d been testing her nephew’s DNA for any clue to explain the boy’s recurring, undiagnosed illness and discovered that, like herself, he wasn’t human. She’d consulted Zach, another expert in genetics, which led Brax to her lab just in time to save her from a kidnapping attempt. A few hours later, Esme’s half brother, Carter Owens, and his son Kaden joined her inside the Elect compound. A damn good thing, since the next day Esme’s house was set on fire and Kaden’s old doctor killed.
 

The big question was—why? Brax believed someone had discovered the existence of the Elect because of Kaden. Until a few months ago, Carter and Esme hadn’t even known of his existence. Then his mother, Jamie Wade, died during surgery and Carter was contacted. After he discovered his son had been sick much more than a normal six-year-old, he’d taken him to a new physician and asked Esme to check for genetic diseases.
 

She’d been destroying her results the night Brax found her. During the scuffle, her would-be assailant dropped a business card for a private mental hospital called the Stirling Institute. Brax suspected someone at the Institute was involved. A theory bolstered by Kaden, who was precognitive, when he’d seen a photo of the building while the adults were researching it. Kaden had insisted that not only was his mother there, but so was Esme’s and Carter’s.
 

“I talked to my friend at Stirling,” Mallory said. “He says they’re wonderful to work for if you know how to keep your mouth shut. The salary and benefits are great. They actually pay for six months of maternity leave, and they pay for their staff to advance their certifications.” And here was where it got a little tricky. “But they’re secretive. Everyone signs a nondisclosure agreement.”
 

“We need to find a way in,” Mason said.
 

He was Brax’s security chief. At his side stood a man she hadn’t met before but knew was Carter Owens. He was a former Special Forces soldier and looked just as she imagined such a man should, cold and hard. His gaze gleamed with intelligence. Another Elect male out to protect the species and their women. She almost rolled her eyes. That was just what they needed. More of them. But she was getting off track.
 

“I pick up enough hours every year to keep my nursing license current,” she told Brax. “Usually I volunteer at a free clinic, but it turns out Stirling has a short-term, part-time position available. My friend pulled some strings and they’ve already offered it to me.”
 

“Absolutely not,” Zach snapped, and this time she did roll her eyes. “You think they won’t run a check on your name? They’re after Esme. She’s with Brax. I’m in charge of research and development for his company. It won’t be hard to figure out you’re connected, Mallory.”

She ignored him and focused on Brax. “I used my maiden name and I have the documentation to support it. You aren’t going to be able to get anyone else in there, Brax.”
 

“She has a point, Zach,” Brax said, but his reluctance was clear. “This is too important. We need to find out if they know about us, and if so, how big a threat they are. And if there’s a possibility Jamie and Merilee are alive and being held there, we have to find a way to get them out. We need someone inside for that.”

“You wouldn’t allow Esme to do it.” Zach’s voice had gone back to cold and unaffected.
 

“Whoa,” the woman in question countered. “Brax doesn’t allow or not allow me to do anything.”
 

She switched her glare from Zach to Brax, who just sighed. Zach wisely kept his mouth shut.
 

“It’s the easiest and fastest way in,” Mallory reminded them.
 

“She’s right,” Mason said, and she gave him a smile of thanks. “When do you start?”

“Tomorrow morning. They don’t have a problem working around my regular schedule.”
 

Brax nodded, but she could see how unhappy he was about it. Elect males tended to go crazy protecting their females and as the president of the committee that ruled them, Brax considered it his job to protect
all
the females, not just family.
 

“You aren’t going in cold, though.”
 

“It can’t be something they’d suspect. Everything that goes into or out of the building gets searched. No cell phones or cameras are allowed inside.”
 

“I’ve got that covered,” Gabe chimed in, grinning. She wondered what kind of gadget she was going to get stuck with. He turned to Brax. “Are we done here?”
 

“You check in before you enter and as soon as you leave,” Brax ordered her. “Mason will keep a team close by in case something goes wrong.”
 

She nodded. “Fine.”
 

Gabe motioned her to join him and she followed him down the hall to the security office. It was a long space with one end set up as a lab. It looked like the kind of place a mad scientist would work. She’d always loved to hang out with him. He had the coolest gadgets.

He dug in one of the small drawers and pulled out a cross on a short gold chain, handing it to her. A diamond was mounted in the center. It wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.
 

“We’ll be able to see and hear everything you do. Unfortunately, you won’t hear us.”
 

He looked over her head, and she turned to see Zach entering. When he reached them, he looked over the necklace and nodded once in approval. “The GPS tags?”
 

“Ready when you are.”

“We’ll do it in my lab.”

“What are you talking about?” And why was she really sure she wouldn’t like it?

Gabe picked up a small white envelope and opened it so she could see the tiny hermetically sealed chip. “Subdermal GPS.” He grinned and she could tell how impressed he was with himself.