Heart of the Warrior (17 page)

Absolutely, he’s mating to you, Sev, just as you are to
him. He won't be able to part from you for long.

How were they going to make it through their calling phase
if they had to keep what was happening between them a secret? If Ari would just
realize that they were mates, he would know that they needed to tell someone.
Newly-mated males usually dropped out of the public eye during their
calling.
They were too dangerous during that volatile time. Any little thing could set
them off, and the peaks and valleys of their moods were at severe extremes at
each end of the scale.

Somehow they would have to make it work.

Sev itched to see Ari again, and he pushed down on the
accelerator, weaving in and out of traffic to get to the compound. He could
have just dematerialized to AKM, but that wouldn’t have made Ari get there any
sooner and would only have driven him nuts. At least in his Challenger, he
could work off some of that extra adrenaline by hitting the gas.

Before he knew it, he was pulling into the underground
parking at AKM then taking the elevator to the main floor.

On his way past Dispatch, Adam caught his eye and waved.

"Hey, Sev."

By now, everyone at AKM knew Adam was gay. Most accepted it
without incident, but some ribbed the kid behind his back. It pissed Sev off.
Adam was a good kid. He was talented, too, and in only a short time had risen
to the rank of Dispatch Supervisor, probably because he was the only one who
had followed procedure two months ago when Micah had gone missing. Shit had
certainly hit the fan over that. One supervisor had been demoted for ignoring
Adam’s concerns over Micah’s lack of response to calls.

"Hey, Adam. How’s it going?"

The kid's shaggy blond hair hung over his forehead.
"It’s actually kind of quiet tonight. So far, anyway."

"That’ll change."

"How come?"

Sev made a face and bugged out his eyes. "Because I’m
here now." Then he laughed.

Adam chuckled. "You’re certainly in a good mood."

"What do you mean?"

"You’re always so quiet, is all." Adam blew over
his mug of coffee and sipped.

"I guess I’ll have to do something about that,
huh?"

Adam laughed again and shook his head. "Get out of
here, Bozo."

"Ten-four. You’d better get to work, too, before the
supervisor catches you loafing."

"Ha ha."

Severin mock-gasped. "Oh, that’s right. You
are
the supervisor." He grinned at Adam and high-fived him then left him to
his work. Sev realized Adam was right. He was in a good mood. He even had a
skip to his step, as if he couldn’t quite keep all his happy energy bundled up.

He hit the prep room and practically popped a button on his
pants when he rounded the corner and saw Ari securing his shoulder holster. His
face jerked up and he let out an audible sigh of relief when he saw Sev.

"Anyone else here?" Sev eyed him hungrily.

Ari shook his head. "Just us, but I expect—" He
didn’t have time to say anything more because Sev swooped down on him like a
hawk catching a field mouse. Their mouths fused with enough heat to melt steel
as he spun Ari around and slammed him against the lockers.

Ari gave in to the kiss for a couple of seconds then gripped
his shirt and shoved him back. "No, Sev. Not here. Not at work." He
glanced around as if making sure no one had seen them. But since they were
alone, no one had.

"Fuck, Ari. I don’t care who sees us."

"Well, I do." Ari pressed his palms against Sev’s
chest, holding him off.

"Fine. I’ll give that to you, but after our shift, when
I’ve got you to myself, I’ll make you pay for denying me." He grinned at
the way Ari’s breath hitched and the way he licked his lips as if reconsidering
pushing Sev away.

"Tease."

Sev chuckled and backed toward his own locker. "You
know it, but you? Your ass is mine in the morning."

"Sshh." Ari frowned and pushed his hands down
through the air as if to tell Sev to put a lid on it.

He laughed at him, but in a way it bothered him that Ari was
so concerned with what other people thought. Who cared? It wasn’t as if he
would be able to hide what was happening from the others forever. Because when
you mated, it became pretty clear to everyone around who your mate was.

Hell, no one had even met Sam when it became vividly clear
that Micah was mated to her. A mating wasn’t something that a male could hide
for long.

The door swung open, and speak of the devil, Micah walked
in, followed closely by Trace. Those two couldn’t be seen anywhere, anymore,
without the other in tow. They were joined at the hip, as it were, and Micah
refused to patrol with anyone other than Trace. But at least he was patrolling
with a partner now. Until his meltdown last month, he had apparently bucked protocol
on a regular basis, insisting on solo patrols. Tristan had let him get away
with it, but now the problem seemed to have sorted itself out.

"Hey, homos," Micah said.

"Wh-what?" The color flew out of Ari’s face.

Trace laughed.

"I’m just fucking with you, Ari." Micah opened his
locker and shoved in his coat. "Wouldn’t want to get you in trouble with
your boy, Io, now would I?" Micah glanced at Sev knowingly. "We all
know how much of a fucktard homophobe
he
is."

Severin narrowed his gaze on Micah. He knew. Somehow, Micah
knew. He wondered if the rumors he had heard about Micah always seeing inside
others' thoughts were true. From the looks of it, they were.

Ari laughed awkwardly and checked his clip before smacking
it back into his gun. "Yeah, he is that, isn’t he?" Ari turned away
to fish his knife out of his locker.

Micah looked from Sev to Ari and back again. "He should
mind his own business, if you ask me. Let people be with who they want to be
with."

Sev wondered what Micah’s game was and frowned at him. Micah
just arched an eyebrow and threw him a challenging look. It was almost as if
Micah was daring him to deny it.

"How’s that?" Ari said, turning around.

Micah looked at Ari and shrugged. "What do I care where
a guy dips his wick. If it makes him happy, who gives a fuck if he’s doing a
guy or a girl?" He paused. "You don't think I know about the shit he
said about me while I was with Jackson? Little cocksucker knew not to say it to
my face, though. I'd have beaten the stupid out of him."

Trace chimed in. "Io had better not bring that shit to
my door. I’ll shove my hand down his throat."

"Down whose throat?" Malek pushed through the
door, followed by Io.

"Nobody," Micah said, turning back toward his
locker.

"I’m always the last in on these scintillating conversations,
aren’t I?" Malek said, opening his locker.

"Don’t take it personally." Micah slammed his
locker closed. "We’ll see you fuckheads in there."

He and Trace left, and Io regarded Sev casually as he passed
him and held his tattooed right arm up to Ari. "Hey, bro! You survive your
night off unscathed? No, uh, surprise attacks?"

Sev knew what Io meant. He was checking to make sure Ari’s
back door hadn’t been violated by Sev’s gay dick. Io’s obvious poor humor and
lack of tact made him want to punch the guy for making light of his sexuality,
given how he felt about Ari and how Ari obviously felt about him.

Yeah, this is the
calling
phase getting good and
pissed off right here.

"Nope. It’s all good. How about you? How was your
date?" Ari acted like nothing had happened between them.

How the hell could Ari talk to that asshole like he was okay
with how Io felt? How could Ari stomach knowing that Io had made fun of him,
was making fun of him now, and would probably make fun of him again later? He
looked into his locker, but he wasn’t sure for what. He was done getting ready.
What was he waiting for?

Ari, you’re waiting for Ari, you mush head.

Io sniggered. "Ah, man, it was hot. Those two girls can
party. I’m taking you with next time, bro. You would definitely like that
scene."

"Okay, yeah, sure. Whatever. Let me know when,"
Ari said.

"I'll line it up for next weekend." Io holstered
his pistol.

"Yeah. Great. Sounds good." Ari pulled the jacket
from his locker and shut it.

Severin’s heart felt like it was in a vise. What the fuck?
Had Ari just agreed to go with Io the next time he got together with those
women? For what? Tea and crumpets? To share pointers on how to fuck a man? It
was as if they hadn’t just shared twenty-four hours of unbelievable intimacy with
each other. Had it all been a lie?

"Hey, Sev, how you doing?" Malek glanced over and
chucked his shoulder.

He slammed his locker shut. "Fucking great. How are
you?" He didn’t wait for an answer and stormed out.

"Uh-oh, we’ve got another Micah on our hands," Io
said with a laugh.

"Shut up, Io." Ari sounded testy as the door to
the prep room closed.

Sev skulked down the hall to Tristan’s office for their
weekly meeting. He strode in and plopped down on the couch where he normally
sat and crossed his arms. He was certain a grey cloud hung over his head to
match the scowl on his face. So much for that good mood he'd been in earlier.
But then, his mated side hadn't felt spurned fifteen minutes ago, either.

Hello, Sev? This is your
calling
calling. Ha ha,
buddy. Get good and comfy, because I'm here to stay.

"What’s eating you?" Micah's eyes narrowed
knowingly.

"Nothing." Sev wasn't buying for a second that
Micah didn't know what was going on. Somehow that fucker knew.

Micah chuffed. "Uh-huh, sure."

"Fuck you."

Tristan sighed from behind his desk. "Well, it looks
like tonight is starting off as usual."

"Yeah, but it’s usually Micah with the attitude,"
Traceon said. He pulled out a matchstick and stuck the handle between his
teeth.

"Am I going to start having problems with you now,
Sev?" Tristan glanced over at him.

Ari and the others chose that moment to enter the room and
Sev could feel Ari’s eyes on him. "No, sir."

"You sure?" Tristan tapped his pen on the desk.
"Maybe you should stay after the meeting and we can talk about it."

"No. I’m fine."

"You don’t look fine. You look like a loose cannon
about to blow. What’s up?"

"Fuck, Tristan. I’m fine, all right?"

"Leave him alone, Tristan," Micah said. "It’s
that time of the month is all."

"Yeah, fuck you, Micah!" Sev lanced Micah with his
glare.

"Fuck you back, Sev!"

"Fuck the both of you!" Tristan stood up and threw
his pen across the room. Trace grinned as he watched it ricochet off the wall.

"Enough of this shit! I have got to have the most
dysfunctional team in this whole fucking compound. Now straighten up! Sev, get
out of here. Take the night off and cool out. I’ll call you later and you
will
talk to me." His massive arms flexed as he pushed against the top of his
desk and glared a warning at Sev. "The rest of you, we need to talk about
this cobalt issue." He paused, glancing back at Severin. "Sev, I said
get out! Now! You’re pissing me off for real."

"Fuck all of you." Sev shoved himself off the
couch and wouldn’t meet Ari’s eyes as he barreled out of the room and charged
down the hall to the parking garage elevator.

"Hey, you going so soon?" Adam said as he blew
past Dispatch.

He didn’t answer. Yeah, where was the good mood he had
walked in with? Sev chuffed. It had left town with Ari’s spine.

Lakota pulled up to the townhouse on East Benton and shut
off the engine. His hands were shaking. Amazing what developing a conscience
could do for a guy.

Even though he no longer drank, he wished he had a shot of
Jack sitting in front of him to chill his nerves.

He got out and trudged the short distance to the front door.
Since the first time he tracked Felice and Severin down right after marrying
Mary (it had been her idea to find his firstborn son), he had kept tabs on
them. Or tried to. Felice had been easier to stay in touch with. Sev, on the
other hand, traveled all over the place. His son had fought in more wars than a
Navy SEAL, Green Beret, and a career soldier combined. It was a wonder he was
still alive.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Are you ever going to ring the doorbell?"

He looked up to see Felice standing with one hand on her
hip, head tilted, door propped against her other arm. It dawned on him he had
been standing on her front porch for at least a couple of minutes.

"U-Um…I’m sorry, I guess I—"

 She lifted her hand to shut him up. "Just come in,
Kota."

He entered her home and she shut the door behind him.

"Wine?" she said, walking back toward the open
kitchen. The townhouse was lovely. Well-lit with an open floor plan. And the
place smelled wonderful, like she had spent the day cooking Italian food.

"Uh, sure." He followed her and stood back as she
poured two glasses of red wine. "Actually, no. I'm sorry. I don't drink,
anymore. I'll just have water." He was so caught off guard by her
welcoming demeanor he had temporarily forgotten he had given up alcohol.

"Oh, okay." She sounded surprised, but grabbed a
clean glass and filled it with water.

"Thank you."

"I figure we can eat up on the terrace," she said,
handing him the glass.

Okay, so he was thrown for a loop here. He hadn’t expected
Felice to be so inviting. After what he had done to her, even though it had
been a lifetime ago, he assumed she'd only agreed to meet with him to get him
off her back and would hustle him out as quickly as possible. Dinner and wine –
well, water – were a surprise.

And that was only the half of it. She was a dreck. He was a
vampire. The two races didn’t exactly mix well.