Tangled Fates (25 page)

them? It's going to be the same with bacon. Mark my words. You can’t live off vegetables, you

know.”

“Of course not. You need your protein, some good carbs . . . ”

Blake tuned them out, wishing they’d both just shut up.

He turned his thoughts to early this morning when they had brought Nico in. It was

decided that he would stay the night down in the gym, just as Blake had when he was first

brought into the silo. Nico got the five-star treatment though—no one connected the butt of their

gun to his head as they had done with Blake.

Fuckers.

They had also fed him this morning. Blake remembered he had gone quite a while before

being offered a meal.

Annis walked in, and Cohen was right behind her. Annis found a chair and sat down.

Cohen sat next to her, and the two were chatting like old friends.

What the hell was this all about? The fact that she was sitting next to Cohen and that they

were on friendly terms spoke volumes.

And he didn’t like the decibel level of the situation. At. All.

Noah came in with Nico and told him to sit next to Annis.

It was getting crowded around the table. In fact, it was getting crowded in the silo. Blake

realized that if Nico did stay, he would be rooming with Cohen. Poor bastard, but better him than

Blake.

“Okay, guys, and Annis, let’s get started.”

Everyone shut up and focused on Noah, except Annis. Her gaze was fixated on the

middle of the table, her brow furrowed as she concentrated on what was being said. Blake

checked is watch. It would only be a little while longer and her sight would be back.

“Now, I’ve had some time to talk to Nico, and I’d like you all to hear what he has to say.”

Nico looked around the room, his eyes black.

“If I may say something first,” Annis said, standing.

“Of course, Annis,” Noah said.

She stood tall, her fingertips on the table and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I

would personally like to vouch for Nico. He’s a virtuous and honest male. I trained with him on

SR44, and he was a dear friend to me. I trust him with my life, and believe he would be an

excellent addition to the Saviors.”

There was a beat of silence. “How do you know he isn’t playing us?” Hudson asked.

“Because the male I know would never do such a thing. Jovan has checked him for truth,

and Jovan didn’t detect any deceit. Am I correct on that, Jovan?”

“Yes, that’s true,” Jovan said.

“Is that all, Annis?” Noah asked.

“Yes, Noah. Just please remember my words when making your decision on Nico.”

She sat down, and Nico squeezed her hand.

“Nico, tell everyone what you and I talked about,” Noah said.

“Thank you, Noah,” Nico said, looking around the table. “The first thing I think all of

you need to realize is that Micah is crazy.”

“No shit,” Jovan said.

“Noah told me that you all agreed to peace.”

Everyone nodded their heads.

“He’s lying. Micah cares for no one but himself and his own agenda, and he will use

whoever he can to make it happen.”

“And what’s his agenda besides offing Noah and the rest of us?” Hudson asked.

Blake watched as the Warriors’ eyes began to change colors, and he looked over at

Annis. Hers shimmered gold, and she found his gaze and smiled. He grinned, glad to have her

safe in the silo. His heart ached as he stared at her for what would never be.

He turned his attention back to Nico, whose eyes were now silver.

Spiderman, indeed.

“He plans to grow our species,” Nico said.

“And he plans to do that how?” Rayner asked.

“Wait a minute,” Noah said. “Nico start at the beginning. Let’s just get this whole story

from beginning to end.”

Nico nodded.

His version of what happened on the vessel to Earth gelled with Annis’s. It had been

mayhem, and Micah had quickly vied for control. Those who disagreed with him were beaten,

and he terrorized everyone into falling in line.

When the government captured Micah after the craft landed, Nico had escaped with two

females and the male named Titus. It was agreed before they had all split up that they would

meet in two days time one mile west of the crash site. Titus insisted on finding Jael and Simon,

which Nico now regretted following his lead.

“I should have realized that Titus was third in line on the vessel and he would want to

find Jael and Simon. Neither Jael nor Simon could take a crap without permission from Micah.”

Blake smiled and leaned forward. At least the stony-faced Nico seemed to have some sort

of sense of humor. If the guy was going to stay here, he would need that. There wouldn’t be any

beatings, but he sure as shit better know how to stand up for himself and take some verbal

prodding, and have the ringtone on his cell phone changed to something so incongruent to who

he was . . . if he got his own phone, which Blake didn’t understand why he wouldn’t if the

Saviors took Nico under their protective wing. He made a mental note to do something really

immature like put glue on the toilet seat or itching powder in Talin’s boxers for that little

ringtone move.

Game on, asshole.

“Where are these females?” Rayner asked.

“I don’t know. Micah took them and stashed them away somewhere.”

“We should find them,” Hudson said.

Noah nodded.

“It should be a priority,” Nico said. “I cringe thinking what he is doing to the females.”

There was silence around the table as Blake remembered what Jael had been capable of

with Brandy. He could erase memories. Blake shivered about what those women—females—

whatever—could be going through.

“How did you get that house, Nico?” Cohen asked.

“We broke in, tied the elderly owners up, and they told us it was something called a

Snowbird home, which we found out means a second home. Jael erased their memories of ever

having lived there. Micah put them in a car and told them to go to their first home. I haven’t seen

them since.”

Blake tossed that one around. At least they hadn’t killed the couple.

“Why are you defecting?” Blake asked.

Nico turned to him. “I have always wanted to get away from Micah, but I was so new to

this planet that I didn’t understand how things worked. I tried to leave, but I basically became a

prisoner, brought out when he wanted to have a little fun, like the other night when he made me

fight Annis.”

Whoa. Annis had been fighting? Annis looked fine, but he remembered Nico’s

bloodstained shirt from the night before. He smiled, wondering if she had been the cause of his

wound.

“Thank you again for healing me,” Nico said, leaning forward and looking past Annis to

Cohen.

Well, wasn’t that sweet. Not only had Nico been fed, he hadn’t had a gun put to his head,

and he’d been healed.

Bastard.

Cocksucking bastard.

Blake wondered what Annis had done to him and made a mental note to find out. He was

quite the list-maker in this meeting. Apparently, he had a lot of stuff he needed to catch up on.

“So I’m guessing that it’s safe to say that Micah is pretty damn angry that you, Annis,

and Cohen aren’t at the house,” Noah said.

“I think that sums it up,” Nico said.

“I just wonder why we haven’t heard from him,” Hudson said. “That’s what worries me.”

Nico nodded. “My guess is that you will hear from him soon, when he is ready to be

heard. Until then, we will have to sit tight.”

Blake noticed the “we.”

“Does anyone have any objections to Nico staying with us? Obviously, I don’t want to

send him back to Godzilla.”

No one said anything, and Blake noticed Annis let out a long breath. “Okay, let’s debate

it.”

They talked for a few minutes, but what it came down to was Jovan saying that Nico was

being truthful. Everyone agreed that if he could convince Jovan he meant no harm and wanted to

get away from Micah, it was truth.

So Nico was staying.

And there was only one place for him to go, and that was with Cohen.

Blake smiled. Yeah, he’d gotten a gun to the head, been knocked out cold, deprived of

food, and his life had hung in the balance, but at least he didn’t have to room with Cohen.

Poor Nico.

Bastard.

Chapter 42

Cohen watched as Hudson and Rayner brought in a cot for Nico. It was getting tight in

the silo, and there wasn’t any place for Nico to crash except Cohen’s room.

Man, that sucked.

He’d been on his own for so long, and now he had to play nice and share. And he had to

do it all with Annis’s old lover.

Fate could be a real bitch sometimes.

“We’ll get a real bed in here as soon as we can,” Hudson said.

Another bed in the room? It wasn’t like there wasn’t space for it. In fact, there was

plenty, but Cohen just didn’t want it.

After Hudson and Rayner left, he went to the minibar, poured a Captain, and sat down on

the overstuffed chair to watch Nico make the bed. Cot. Whatever. Blake had been right in calling

him Spiderman. Those eyes were pretty cool, or pretty weird, depending on your view.

The guy didn’t have any clothes, so at least until that was rectified, Cohen wouldn’t have

to share a closet. Jovan had offered him up a couple pairs of jeans and sweats as Cohen had

nothing clean, and Nico would take care of the rest at some point in the very near future.

“Do you want a drink?” he asked. Might as well try to be hospitable.

“Yes, I would.”

Cohen got up and headed for the bar again. “Do you like Captain Morgan?”

Nico shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never had any.”

Cohen shook his head. “Man, you are missing out.”

He poured Nico a drink and handed it to him, then went back to his chair. Nico took a sip,

and his face contorted like he wanted to throw up. He swallowed and shook his head back and

forth as a dog would, then met Cohen’s gaze.

Cohen smiled.

“Not too bad,” Nico said. “But I think I prefer a good old-fashioned beer.”

Cohen shrugged. “Beggars can’t be choosers, buddy.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“May I ask a question of you, Cohen?”

Oh, hell. Nico could ask all he wanted, but that didn’t mean Cohen would have any

answers.

“What is the deal between you and Annis?”

Cohen closed his eyes for a moment and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Why was he

asking that? Did Nico want to try to get back together with Annis? Cohen couldn’t handle it if

that was the case.

He knew that he could never have Annis, and he needed to learn to accept that. But

watching her with another male? Under the same roof? He was so not down with that scenario.

“Nothing,” he said, meeting the silver stare. “There is nothing going on. We're friends.”

Nico nodded and looked around the room, and Cohen did as well, seeing what Nico saw.

The place was a mess—chaos, in fact. The bed hadn’t been made in months and it was

sporting a green sheet, a dark blue sheet, and some red pillowcases. Clothes were strewn

everywhere—the floor, the chairs, the bed. A large throw rug covered the bloodstain from the

Tambaran
ritual. As he hadn’t told anyone when he first made the oath, he couldn’t exactly bring

in a carpet cleaner at that time. Maybe now he would.

Continuing his evaluation, there were empty glasses and bottles on the nightstand and

dresser. He really needed to do some laundry and clean this place up. It represented what his life

had been—utter chaos.

At least he had made his peace with Annis. He got a little relief thinking about that.

He still wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but he was getting there. He wondered if he ever

would be again, and he kind of doubted it. He was an SR44 male without his mate, and shit was

never good for one of them.

Nico looked as if he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.

“You have something on your mind?” Cohen asked.

Nico eyed him over the glass. “Yes, as a matter of fact I do.”

“Well, just say whatever you’re going to say. If we’re rooming together, I appreciate

honesty over bullshit.”

Nico looked at him. “Very well.”

There was a beat of silence.

“I hope you understand that there is nothing between Annis and I, and there hasn’t been

for over a hundred years,” Nico said.

Cohen felt a little relief at that one. He was certain that he couldn’t watch Nico as Annis’s

lover. “None of my business, man,” Cohen said.

Nico studied Cohen for a moment, his silver gaze penetrating. Cohen tried to play it cool

and meet the male’s stare.

“I’m afraid I violated some of my own standards,” Nico said, taking another sip of his

drink.

Shit. Another guy just like him who couldn’t seem to keep his own ducks in a row.

Cohen wondered what he was about to spill.

“That sucks, my friend.” He really didn’t think of Nico as a friend, but if you told

yourself something enough, sometimes it became truth. “I’ve violated a few of my own standards

and oaths in my time, and it’s a tough road to atonement.”

Nico nodded. “I don’t feel as though I have to atone for what I did, though. I’m not

sorry.”

Okay, a guy who wasn’t sorry for his own self-proclaimed violation. “So why do you

need to tell me about the bad stuff that you did? I’m cool not knowing.”

Nico took another sip of his drink. “This stuff kind of grows on you,” he said, nodding to