Niklosi's Nightmare (First Wave Book 10) (13 page)

BJ was just getting ready to drift
back off to sleep as the soldiers laughed and joked with her mother until the
last voice she expected to hear whispered through her mind like a bucket of ice
water to the face.

“You look like shit. Why the hell
aren’t you sleeping?” Nik demanded, covering his concern with anger.

“Oh shut up, you asshole, and get
out of my head! You have no right to be there!” BJ growled back at him, suddenly
wide awake.

“I’ll get out when you answer my
question,” Nik fired back, not liking that she was so angry at him.

“I don’t have to answer you since
you mean nothing to me!” BJ countered, her own anger rising at his attitude.

“Were you up all night doing a
stupid supper to find another mate?” Nik demanded, unreasonably pissed off at
the thought.

“It’s called a dumb supper, you
idiot, and no I didn’t bother since I don’t want a mate! If I were you, I
wouldn’t mock what I don’t understand,” BJ shot back.

“Are you threatening me?” Nik
roared in fury that she would dare when he’d done nothing to deserve it.

“No, you fool, you threaten
yourself with your ignorance. I doubt anyone else could even break through your
veneer of intelligence and crack the hard head you’re so proud of,” BJ
countered, suddenly tired of dealing with everyone-especially Nik.

“BJ, honey,” her mother prodded.

“What now?” BJ yelled out,
surprising everyone in the room. She immediately blushed. “I’m sorry. I’m just
tired and need more coffee.”

“Yes, dear, you can go home and get
some rest later,” Bess said aloud before speaking to her daughter through the
shengari’. “Pull it together for a few more hours, honey. Everything will work
out as it should. Have patience.”

BJ nodded at her mother and
immediately blocked Nik from talking to her again. It was going to cost her
energy she didn’t have to spare, but she couldn’t stand fighting with him
either. Blocking or fighting, both were going to cost her later, but blocking
him would save her peace of mind, and that was more important to her when she
still had to deal with Major Kyle and his team of foolish men.

“What did you ask?” BJ turned to
the major.

“Oh, I was wondering why you hadn’t
taken any pictures of the suspects,” Kyle asked again, looking closely at the
cop.

“I couldn’t get the camera to work.
Mojo was supposed to fix it, but he’s not been himself lately,” BJ explained,
trying to remember that Mojo was supposed to be a drug addict.

“Interesting,” Kyle added as he
openly stared at BJ until she shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

BJ looked over at her mother.

“What did I miss? Why is he staring
at me like that?” she asked.

“I don’t know, honey. Try to pay
attention because I can feel a shift in his energy that doesn’t bode well for
our plan,” Bess warned as she felt a shiver of fear skitter up her spine.

BJ couldn’t be more grateful when
Dennis and Irwin came barreling through the door a few minutes later.

“Good morning, you handsome devils!”
Irwin shouted out as he strode in carrying a large picnic basket over his arm.

“’Morning, all,” Dennis added,
carrying a covered basket as well.

Kyle eyed the baskets and prayed
they hadn’t brought them some culinary disaster made from the bullet-ridden
raccoon from the night before.

“Is that food?” one of the soldiers
asked, causing Irwin to immediately flutter over to the young man.

“Of course! It’s my almost-famous
raspberry coffee cakes,” Irwin told the soldier as he set the basket down,
fished out two large plates, and set them on a desk.

The soldiers fell on the plates,
and within seconds both plates were empty, dashing all of Kyle’s hopes of
trying the delicious looking treats until Dennis nudged his arm.

“I got some homemade deer jerky and
some hard boiled eggs. A man needs more than that sugary crap to stay strong,”
Dennis assured the major as he pulled out several mason jars and handed them to
Kyle.

Kyle was so hungry he felt like he
was holding the holy grail of food. He ignored the jealous looks of his men as
he opened the jar of jerky and sunk his teeth in a strip of meat.

“Oh, this is so good!” Kyle mumbled
as he took another bite.

“My own recipe,” Dennis said with
pride.

The way Dennis said that gave Kyle
pause and he stopped chewing as he looked at the large man.

“This is deer meat right? And
chicken eggs?” Kyle asked cautiously.

Kyle was praying he hadn’t eaten
the dead raccoon from the previous night. For all he knew, they called
everything deer jerky.

Dennis puffed up and crossed his
arms over his chest.

“Son, we may do things differently
here and use some words you ain’t never heard, but a deer is a deer and a
chicken is a chicken. That there is deer jerky and chicken eggs,” Dennis
chastised.

Kyle sighed in relief and finished
chewing the meat he had in his mouth before he looked at Dennis again.

“I’m sorry. I meant no offense.
Thank you so much,” he said.

Kyle was hoping he wouldn’t
alienate the man since he needed to talk to him, and he sure as hell wouldn’t
mind more of the jerky and eggs either. The big man was right-he needed protein
and a clear head if he was going to get his unit out of there that morning.

“No problem,” Dennis said with a
hearty chuckle before giving Kyle a pat on the shoulder.

Kyle saw Dennis take a few more
jars out of his basket and set them on the desk next to the now-empty muffin
baskets. His men looked at him pleadingly, waiting for him to tell them they
could eat.

“Go ahead, but make sure everyone
gets some,” he ordered as the jars disappeared and the men turned towards one
another to share the food.

“Wow, you boys are real hungry this
morning. The diner is serving all day,” Irwin offered, looking over the men
with concern.

“No!”

“No, thank you!”

The men all shouted varying degrees
of “No!” around the room, and Kyle looked to a surprised Bess, Dennis and
Irwin.

“Yeah, we uh, we’re not fond of
possum or raccoon . . . it makes some of them sick and a few are allergic,”
Kyle lied, hoping not to offend the few people who’d given them real food.

“Oh, you poor, poor dears,” Irwin
said with a cluck of his tongue. "I'd be more than happy to host you boys
at my place. I have chicken and deer.”

Kyle was surprised to see some of
his men consider it before they collectively shook their heads.

“Thanks,” Kyle said, turning to
Irwin, “but, I don’t think we’re going to be here long, and we wouldn’t want to
trouble you. In fact, why don’t we get started?”

Dennis and Irwin shrugged and
nodded before pulling up chairs near another desk.

“Do you need us today?” Bess asked,
referring to herself and BJ, who’d already been questioned the day before.

Kyle thought about it for a moment
and didn’t want to take the chance that one of the men would say something that
he’d want to verify with Bess or BJ and they’d be stuck while they waited for
someone to find the two women.

“Is there a way you can stay in
town? Close by in case I have something else? And is your son coming?” Kyle
asked.

“Of course we can. We’ll be at the
diner or the mercantile, easy for one your boys to find. I woke Mojo up, and he
promised to be here. I’m sure he’ll arrive shortly,” Bess assured him.

Kyle watched her and BJ pick up the
empty picnic baskets and head out of the door before he turned to Dennis and
Irwin.

*****

Nik growled in frustration as BJ
headed out of the station, still refusing to speak to him through the
shengari’. She’d cut him off completely, and for reasons he couldn’t explain,
it hurt. He felt like a piece of him was missing. A piece he hadn’t known he’d
lost. Knowing that only pissed him off and frustrated him even more.

“Should I follow them?” Disc asked
Grai.

Grai shook his head.

“No, we need to keep an eye on the
major,” he stated.

Nik huffed in frustration. He
wanted to follow BJ and make sure she was all right. He knew how long it must
have been since she’d slept, and he’d seen her stumble in the road when she’d
left the station. He tried and failed to convince himself he was only concerned
because it was partly his fault. Even Targe had begun laughing at his efforts
to avoid thinking of BJ as a mate when his actions and emotions said
differently.

“I think we need to follow the
women,” Nik muttered before he could stop himself.

“Tactical reasons?” Grai asked.

Nik scrambled for any valid reason
he could think of and drew a blank.

“No,” he admitted.

“Then we can’t do it, my friend.
There’s too much at stake,” Grai explained, feeling sorry for the conflicted
man.

Nik knew Grai was right, and it
only frustrated him more.

“Woman, you better damn well talk
to me, or I’m coming down there to make sure you’re OK,” Nik growled through
the private path.

His words only echoed back in his
mind, telling him she still had him blocked. Narrowing his eyes at the
challenge she presented to him, he began searching the area below to find a way
around her obstinate refusal to talk to him.

“Maybe you should have started off
with an apology for being an ass instead of attacking her for looking rough,”
Targe
accused.

“Fuck you, Targe. She’s being
hard-headed. If she’d talk to me, I’d get around to apologizing for last
night,”
Nik argued back to his beast.

“This is going to go badly.
Everything you’ve done since you met her has gone badly. You’re only going to
leave her with another of your messes to clean up,”
Targe
warned, knowing his host was going to take things too far.

Nik only snorted, ignoring his
beast as he plotted a way to teach BJ a lesson about being hard-headed. With
the military leaving soon, he had nothing to worry about.

Chapter
Twelve

BJ paced the back kitchen of the
small mercantile as she tried to concentrate on what Mojo was relaying to her
from his meeting with Kyle. Time and again she found herself having to force
her mind back to Mojo and away from that infuriating Nik.

Her mother had come into her room
that morning and talked to her about what had happened in the cavern and Nik’s
reaction. BJ believed her mother was right about why Nik had reacted as he had,
but she still couldn’t stop the disappointment and hurt that flooded her when
she thought of the things he’d said.

“BJ, you have to pay attention,
your brother needs you,” Bess warned her softly.

“I know, Momma, I will,” BJ replied
and then tried to focus on Mojo, who was doing an outstanding job of acting
like a stoner-even though he’d never done a drug in his life.

She ignored Nik prodding at her
mind, unable to deal with him and concentrate on getting the military out of
her town at the same time. She was far too tired and emotionally worn out to
deal with his issues regarding her heritage and his unwillingness to be a mate.

“Apparently, I frustrate the major
a little too much,” Mojo finally told her with a laugh. “I’m on my way to you,
where I’m supposed to wait until he’s done with Dennis and Irwin.”

Minutes later, he was coming into
the mercantile’s kitchen.

“You think it’s going OK and
they’re finally going to leave?” BJ asked him.

“The major seems to be a little
frustrated between Irwin’s antics and my stoner routine,” Mojo admitted with a
chuckle. “I think the mix of herbs in the muffins and jerky helped.”

Bess smiled and kissed the top of
his head as he sat at the table.

“Guess someone should have
mentioned that the herbs used in the muffins create terrible side effects when
combined with the herbs in the jerky,” Bess said with a wink.

“They were all starving, sweating,
and ready to leave when I left,” Mojo added with a laugh.

Bess moved over to BJ and put her
hands on her shoulders.

“I think it’s safe for you to go
home and get some sleep. I’ll wake you for dinner,” Bess’s tone of voice dared
BJ to argue.

BJ stood and kissed her mom’s
cheek.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.
If you need me . . .” BJ began when Bess waved her hands in the air.

“You go. We’ll be fine,” Bess
assured her.

“See you at dinner,” BJ said with a
wave as she left the mercantile and headed home through the path in the woods.

Nik had been watching for BJ around
the mercantile when he saw her leave through the back door. He noted that she
appeared to be heading along the same route she’d taken the day before when
she’d gone home.

“I need to get down there,” Nik
said aloud to no one in particular.

“What?” Grai asked.

“I need to talk to her and
apologize. I can’t leave here without at least telling her I’m sorry,” Nik
admitted.

“Dude! You barely escaped with your
life, and you want to go back? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Traze asked in
shock.

Nik glared at Traze before Grai
slapped him in the back of the head.

“Shut the hell up, or you’ll be
spending dinner with Bess again,” Grai threatened.

Traze stormed off into the sleeping
area of the transport.

“You better bring a fucking army,
because I’m not going anywhere near that crazy witch again,” Traze mumbled.

Grai turned to Nik and leaned
against the wall.

“She blocked you?” he asked,
already knowing the answer by Nik’s determination to leave the ship with the
military still below.

Nik just nodded his head and looked
back to the video and where BJ had disappeared into the woods.

“So you’re thinking she can’t avoid
you if you’re already in front of her?” Grai prodded.

“Something like that,” Nik
admitted. “You think it’s a bad idea?”

A part of Nik was hoping that Grai
would deny him the request so he wouldn’t have to face BJ again. With the
military still in the town, there was a very real risk that he could endanger
them by getting caught, but he knew by the way Grai was reacting to his request
that he wouldn’t say no.

“I think you were a fool for not
handling it right to begin with. I admit-before I knew of what Tristan truly
is, the whole wing thing would have given me pause. But I would have explained
to her that I needed time to understand, and I wouldn’t have hurt her feelings
if I could avoid it. You need a do over,” Grai agreed with a grin that made Nik
a little nervous.

“Uh-huh. Why do I get the feeling
you already have something in mind?” Nik asked.

“Oh, I don’t! I wouldn’t dream of
interfering in an issue between mates unless asked, and even then I would only
facilitate something like a private getaway or—” Grai began before Nik cut him
off.

“Get to the point,” Nik ground out,
wondering what the hell Grai had done.

“Bess believes that you and Traze
need a do over and has graciously invited you both to dinner tonight,” Grai
said with such amusement that Nik knew there was more to it than that.

“What else?” Nik was almost afraid
to ask.

Grai threw his hands up innocently,
but Nik wasn’t fooled.

“I don’t know of anything. It’s not
like Bess would confide in me. She didn’t appear to like me at all,” Grai
added, unable to wipe the grin off of his face.

“Damn it, Grai!” Nik growled in
frustration. “What aren’t you telling me?”

By now most of the crew had heard
the conversation and were raptly listening to every word.

“OK, OK,” Grai gave up and decided
to tell Nik everything he knew. “Bess also mentioned that she thought it would
be a good idea for you and Traze to learn more of their people. She thinks it
will help you both to understand them better.”

Nik closed his eyes and rubbed a
hand down his tired face. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy that the woman
was giving him another chance or concerned for his and Traze’s well-being. He
dreaded the thought of BJ’s mother taking a “shine” to him like she had Traze.
That gave him another thought.

“That kid isn’t going to go, and I
can’t say I blame him. Even I had to pause a few times over the things we saw
down there. I can’t imagine what he went through when I left him alone with
Bess,” Nik argued.

He was hoping he wouldn’t have to
take Traze again. Nik wasn’t sure if he could handle finding out more about the
winged people, apologizing to BJ, walking on eggshells around her scary mother,
and dealing with the man-child’s dramatics too. It would have been hard to do
if he’d had any sleep; without sleep it was damn near an impossible task.

“He’s not making too much sense
about what happened down there,” Grai admitted then paused to see if Nik would
elaborate.

Nik shrugged and tried to convince
himself he was helping Traze out if he was a little more dramatic in his
account than necessary.

“I was a little shocked when the
living house smacked him in the back of the head. Then Bess strangled him quiet
and forced him to try the food. Granted, it was really good food and harmless,
but poor Traze had a really rough time,” Nik said with a shake of his head,
adding extra sympathy to his voice to convince Grai to let his brother sit this
one out.

Grai tried to contain the laughter
bubbling up but failed miserably.

“Even Traze didn’t put it that
badly! Damn, are you that worried he’s going to cock block you? Because Bess
assured me that she wasn’t allowing any shenanigans between you and BJ until
you could fully accept who she was,” Grai said and chuckled at the stricken
look on Nik’s face.

He put a hand on Nik’s shoulder and
squeezed it in support.

“It won’t be that bad. Traze will
come around and not be so . . . terrible to deal with, and it will do you and
BJ good to learn more about one another,” Grai assured him.

“You really suck; you know that?”
Nik accused before slumping into one of the chairs in defeat.

“It would be nice to know what
exactly we’re dealing with here, Nik. Even you’ve noted the power they hold,
and I’ve felt this power before,” Grai said, sitting beside Nik and confiding
in him. “I think we need to know what we’re dealing with here. I have no
bargaining chip, nothing that they want or need in order to negotiate a truce
and an alliance. We need to know where we stand with them.”

Nik sighed and leaned back in his
chair.

“You’re the leader, the diplomat,
not me. So why aren’t you going down to talk to her?” Nik asked, even though he
already knew the answer.

“Bess hasn’t taken a ‘shine’ to me
the way she has you and Traze,” Grai said with a frustrated snort, “and I need
you to ask the questions he’s going to be too preoccupied and scared to ask.”

“Grai, I’m not a diplomat. You need
Dread or Scaden . . . damn anyone but me. I’ve already screwed this all to hell
with her daughter! You need someone to fix this, not fuck it up even more and potentially
end up in a war with them,” Nik warned him.

“Trust me, Nik,” Grai said with a
snort. “You can’t make this any worse. Give yourself a little time between now
and dinner to get some rest, and try to open your mind a little to what you may
learn. You may find out that it’s not so unsettling after all.”

Nik nodded his head and headed back
to the sleeping area. He hopped into an upper bunk and closed the privacy
shield, sealing the bed in darkness. Not wanting any lights, Nik left them off
and stared up into the darkness as he considered what Grai had said.

As exhaustion overtook him, the
last thing he thought of was a pair of beautiful hazel eyes.

*****

BJ punched her pillow again, trying
to find a comfortable position before giving up and flopping onto her back. She
stared unseeing at the ceiling as her mind continued to replay her moments with
Nik.

Why can’t I just forget the damn
jerk?
she wondered as she flopped back onto her side.
I love my
life just the way it is. I’m not ready to be a mate or leave here again any
time soon. So why do I care so much that he doesn’t want me?

“Grrrr!” she growled to the empty
room before she threw her pillow at the door in frustration.

Moments later, a small vine crept
its way through the open window and slid along the floor towards the door. It
wrapped itself around the pillow and pulled it back to the bed before plopping
it by BJ’s side.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she
pulled the pillow close.

The vine gently rubbed her shoulder
then retreated back through the window as a sparkling light flew inside and
alighted on the foot of the bed. BJ didn’t even flinch when the light flashed
and there sat her cousin, Toritania.

“What are you doing here, Tori?” BJ
asked tiredly, not wanting to socialize.

“I could feel your exhaustion and
your pain,” Tori admitted and stood to her full seven-foot height.

Tori leaned down, brushed a hand
over BJ’s head, and kissed her cheek as her eyes swirled with a myriad of colors.

“You must sleep so that you can see
things more clearly,” Tori chastised. “You are worrying over nothing.”

“How do you know that?” BJ
countered, sitting up and putting the pillow in front of her as she faced her
beautiful cousin. “You aren’t mated yet, you don’t seem to miss it at all, and
you’re a lot older than I am!”

“Wow, thanks,” Tori laughed, not
taking offense at BJ’s words.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” BJ
explained. “You know what I mean. You’re happy with our people and being here.
You’re not pining for some man who’s going to wreck your life.”

Tori laughed and pushed BJ to move over
so she could sit next to her on the bed.

“How do you know that I don’t pine
for a mate? Or children?” Tori countered as she pulled the covers up around
them both like they used to when they were children.

“Oh, please,” BJ said with a snort.

“You’re jealous. I understand,”
Tori said, ignoring BJ’s indignant gasp. “But you can’t expect our paths to be
the same. There is no shame in admitting that you want those things, especially
not when the gods have brought your mate to you.”

BJ didn’t say anything because she
knew she couldn’t lie to her cousin. Not because she didn’t want to try, but
because she knew that Tori could sense it.

Tori only laughed at her cousin’s
silence.

“So many things are going to change
now, and you need to try and ride the energy instead of fighting it. I promise,
things are going to be beautiful for you,” Tori’s voice held a hint of her own
jealousy, and she quickly covered it with a smile for BJ.

“Sometimes change isn’t a good
thing,” BJ countered.