Unique Ink (Shadow Assassins Book 5) (14 page)

Morgan nodded. “I’ll tell Lor what’s going on and he can decide how to proceed. This is out of my realm of expertise. As soon as one of the Mystics has scanned you, Elias can take you topside so you can make your calls.”

“Sounds good.” Compromise. They were starting to work together rather than butting heads and it was infinitely more productive.

“We’re going to conference at o-six-hundred to discuss options. Obviously, I expect you both there.” Morgan looked from Elias to Roxie and back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chapter Six

After letting Morgan out of his apartment, Elias returned to Roxie. She sat on the edge of the chair with her hands tucked between her legs. Her face was pale, eyes wide, nearly unblinking. “You look dazed.”

She came back to life with a sudden burst of energy. “I can’t just sit here. Can we go find Lor?”

Easily understanding her anxiousness, Elias took a step back so she could stand. “Lor’s likely in his office, but let me call and make sure.”

“Let’s just go there. I need to move. The walls are closing in on me.”

She started for the door so he followed, reaching around her to pull open the door. “That way.” He motioned to the right and they started walking.

They didn’t speak and she was so distracted that she nearly collided with two different people. He finally took her by the hand and adjusted his pace so he walked at her side. His semi-rude behavior drew several annoyed looks from the people they passed, but it was better than letting her smack into someone.

“Are you okay?” He knew the answer. He was just hoping to draw her out of her stupor. “That was a lot to take in all at once.”

“I haven’t been okay since Sevrin strolled into my store.” She glanced up at him then shook her head as she continued down the corridor. “I’m not a coward and I’m not going to fall apart on you. I just can’t understand how all of this could be true when I knew nothing about it.”

“You were still very young when your mother died. It’s likely she would have told you.” Roxie had fought all of her battles alone, unaware of the forces shaping her life. It was a wonder she’d survived. Yet Roxie hadn’t just survived, she’d blazed a trail through the destruction and built a life of which anyone would be proud.

She looked at him again, her gaze more focused. “Suddenly Aunt Shelia doesn’t seem so crazy. She might not have known the nature of the danger, but she knew something was wrong. Maybe if I’d listened to her, both of our lives could have been different.”

He paused and turned her to face him, his hands lingering on her arms. “Her death was not your fault. Neither was Jodi’s. You have to stop blaming yourself for things you had no control over.”

Her initial response was a tense nod then she shrugged off his hands and squared her shoulders. “I’m not trying to be melodramatic and I did play a part in Jodi’s death. But that’s not the point. If I’d been old enough to sense the truth behind Shelia’s paranoia, if I’d taken her warming seriously, my aunt might still be alive.”

“Or whoever staged her suicide might have gotten you too.” Unless Shelia’s death had actually been a suicide. From what little he knew about her, it seemed just as likely that she had just neglected to turn on the radio because she knew she wouldn’t be singing anymore.

Roxie thought for a moment then sighed. “You’re right. Speculation is a waste of time. We need facts and Lor is a good place to start.” With that settled, at least in her mind, she turned and continued down the hallway.

Elias watched the sway of her hips and the stubborn tilt of her head. Even in a utility uniform the woman managed to look appealing.

Lor and Blayne were engaged in a terse conversation when Elias and Roxie arrived. Lor sat in the desk chair, but at some point he’d turned around and faced his friend. Elias tapped on the open door, drawing the other two’s attention. “Can we interrupt for a minute or should we come back?”

“We were just venting.” Lor motioned them forward. “Come in.”

Elias ushered Roxie into the office/lounge. They were halfway across the compact room when he noticed Roxie staring at Blayne. Her expression was hesitant yet curious, so he disregarded the unexpected surge of possessiveness twisting through his being. “That’s Blayne, one of the other Mystics. He and Lor are married to sisters.” Why had he felt it necessary to establish the fact that Blayne was unavailable? Jealousy wasn’t usually one of his problems.

Roxie offered the Mystic a quick smile, but didn’t hold out her hand. It hadn’t taken Elias long to realize Roxie didn’t like to be touched, especially by people she didn’t know. And his quick trip through her past made her reaction tragically understandable.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Blayne returned her smile and Elias felt another annoying surge of jealousy. Blayne had responded to the crisis at Unique Ink along with the other Mystics, but Roxie must have blacked out before she saw him.

“Did Morgan step on your toes again?” Elias asked Lor. It was a safe bet. Lor and Morgan had been politely butting heads ever since her project networked with the Mystic Militia. Neither leader was used to having their decisions questioned and the collaboration required compromise on both sides.

“Actually my mood has nothing to do with Morgan, for a change.” Lor rubbed the back of his neck as Elias and Roxie sat down. “King Indric found out about Gerrod and sent three of his private guards to ‘escort’ Jillian to Bilarri. Just like that,” he snapped his fingers, “I’m out one sixth of my team.”

Roxie leaned closer and whispered, “Who is King Indric?”

Before Elias could reply, Lor provided the explanation. “He’s one of four regional kings on Bilarri. His sister was the war bride who gave birth to Gerrod, which makes her Jillian’s grandmother. King Indric never knew who captured his sister. She claimed that she never learned his name.”

“Why would she lie? Was she protecting her captor?” Roxie made it sound like the worst sort of betrayal.

Elias shook his head. “She was protecting her people. The hostilities between Bilarri and Rodymia had deescalated at that point. The war continues to this day, but there hasn’t been a full-blown battle in years. She knew if Indric found out that Pern Keire had been her captor, Indric would rally all of Bilarri on her behalf. Hundreds, maybe thousands, would have lost their lives over something that couldn’t be changed.”

“Is that going to happen now? Will King Indric call his forces to war now that he knows who abused his sister?”

“It’s doubtful,” Lor told her. “Pern is dead, as is King Indric’s sister. King Indric was simply protecting his progeny.”

“And of course Odintar went with her,” Blayne grumbled. “So we’ve lost our best healer.”

“Enough about our problems.” Lor waved away the gloom and managed to smile. “What can we do for you?”

Roxie looked exhausted and was obviously still on edge, so Elias dove right to the heart of the matter. “When you scanned Roxie, did you sense any latent abilities?”

“I was focused on the language infusion. What you’re requesting requires a more invasive scan.” He looked at Roxie as he said, “The scan won’t harm you, but it might be uncomfortable.”

“It’s important.” She produced a wan smile. “I’m not afraid of a little pain.”

The comment sent a jolt of pity through Elias. She’d dealt with way too much pain in her young life. He wanted to surround her, protect her from anything that might hurt her again. Starting with Lor. Elias knew the scan was necessary, but he didn’t want any of the Mystics near Roxie, physically or metaphysically.

“I’m going to go see if our mates are finished with training.” Blayne smiled at Roxie again. “It was nice meeting you. Hope the scan reveals what you want it to show.”

After Blayne left, Lor persisted, “Are you sure you want to do this? You seem hesitant?”

“I’m just tired.” Her weary tone reinforced her claim. “It’s been a really long day.”

“All right. Then close your eyes and try not to resist me.” Lor bowed his head and silence descended.

Much to Elias’ surprise, Roxie reached over and took his hand as she closed her eyes. This wasn’t the first time she’d turned to him for support and it pleased him immensely. Protecting her was his primary focus and earning her trust would be an integral part of his success.

But it wasn’t professional responsibility that sped his pulse each time his fingers encountered her skin. Roxie attracted him, intrigued him. He wanted to be near her. Hell, he wanted to be inside her, surrounded by her heat as he caressed her entire body with his.

He brushed the back of her hand with his thumb and her fingers tensed against his. She squirmed in her chair, her features tight with concentration and uncertainty. He didn’t speak, didn’t want to distract her, but he wanted her to remember she wasn’t alone.

The silence lengthened and her discomfort became more apparent. He covered their joined hands with his other hand and gave her a little squeeze. He desperately wanted to pull her into his lap and wrap both arms around her, but he drove back the impulse through sheer force of will.

“Almost done,” Lor told her. “Take a deep breath. Now another.”

She leaned closer, resting her head against the side of his shoulder. He couldn’t wrap his arm around her because she still clutched his right hand, so he settled for caressing her forearm with his left hand. Her light, clean scent filled his nose, making him hungry for another taste of her mouth. Kissing her had been an impulse, an unwise impulse apparently. He’d thought of little else since their mouths separated. She’d responded far more enthusiastically than he’d thought she would, which fueled his already errant imagination.

Her hand tightened around his and a ragged hiss escaped her lips. Elias looked at Lor, ready to make him back off, but the Mystic raised his head.

“I sense no latent abilities of any kind.” He waited for Roxie to open her eyes before he added, “She has trace amounts of Mystic energy, as all hybrids do, but not all hybrids can manipulate magic. I hope this isn’t too much of a disappointment.”

“Actually I’m relieved.” She might have been able to convince Lor with her sincere-looking smile, but Elias didn’t miss how quickly she glanced away. “Let’s get going.” She pulled her hand out from between his and stood. “Thanks for your help.”

Elias hurried after her, knowing she wasn’t nearly as calm as she appeared.

“What does this mean?” she asked as soon as they were alone in the hallway. Not that anyone was ever really alone in the Bunker. Every square foot of the complex was under continual surveillance. Except for the living quarters. With his hand on the small of her back, he led her back in that direction.

“I’m not sure what it means. Either Pern’s hypothesis was wrong or there’s something unique about your DNA that prevented the conversion.”

“Either way, I’m dead.” Her voice sounded flat, hopeless.

He stopped and spun her toward him. “Not a chance. We will protect you.
I
will protect you.”

“I know you mean it, but protecting me is certainly not Morgan’s priority. I’m a means to an end, an acceptable loss applied toward the greater good.”

It was hard to argue with her when everything she said was true. Morgan had been particularly ruthless where Roxie was concerned. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”

After twisting out of his hold, she walked even faster. “You don’t know that. No one does.” She led him straight to the freight elevators without missing a turn. Obviously, she’d been paying more attention to her surroundings than he’d thought. Like most doors in the secure levels, the elevator required a palm scan to access, so knowing where things were didn’t help her all that much. Still, he was impressed by her ongoing attempts to control the situation. Most civilians would have given up long before now.

“Even outside, the signal sucks,” he warned as the elevator took them topside. “We’ll be lucky if we can get a call to connect.”

“How do you guys communicate with the outside world? What about Ontariese? Can ‘ET phone home’?”

“We’re playing cat and mouse with the Shadow Assassins. We don’t want them to know where we are any more than they want us to find them. The Mystics can communicate with other planets, but for the moment they’re limiting their transmissions to absolute emergencies. Same with our transmissions. Every call we place, be it cell phone, satellite uplink, or two-way radio, runs the risk of revealing our location.”

“Is that your way of talking me out of this?”

They stepped out into the purple twilight as she dug her cell phone out of her pocket. “Not at all. I’m just warning you that you might have to be content with texts.”

She held the phone up, likely looking for a signal. “Two bars. I’ll give it a go.” She activated the call and raised the phone to her ear. “Hey, Tess, can you hear… Yeah I know the connection sucks… I’m fine, I promise… I know, but… I’ll explain everything… Damn.” She looked at the screen. “It’s gone.” She glanced at him and asked, “Will a text go through?”

“Go ahead and enter it. If the phone finds a stray signal, it usually sends the message.”

She quickly entered several messages then returned the phone to her pocket. “Hopefully she heard me well enough to know I’m still alive.”

“She’ll see you tomorrow and you can explain… Well, you can’t tell her much more than our cover story, but at least she won’t be worried anymore.”

She was quiet and brooding as he took her back to his quarters. He’d hoped talking with one of her friends, though extremely briefly, would lighten her mood. The opposite seemed to have happened. He scanned open the door and she hurried inside.

“Are the corridors monitored?” she asked.

He fought back a smile, impressed by her instincts. “They are, but what made you ask?”