Chapter One Hundred and Three

Blade

S tepping out of the cabin, I stopped dead in my tracks.

He half smiled at me. “Brother.”

Church.

Fucking speechless, I looked from one ghost to another.

My blood brother, Church, and a SEAL brother I’d watched die over ten years ago. Petty Officer Second Class William “Billy” Nilsen.

Aka Bravo.

Standing next to Church. Who I’d fucking buried.

Both of them looking at me like they needed kid fucking gloves to handle my shit.

“Haakon.” Bravo tipped his chin. “Been a long time.”

Church grinned at Bravo like they were fucking buddies. “Not that long. He still looks surly as shit.”

“Do I need to remind you he’s armed?” Bravo asked with a detached calm he never used to have.

Church chuckled. “He can’t kill us.” He winked. “We’re already dead.”

Rage hit. Animalistic instinct took over.

Dropping my rifle, I fucking lunged.

One second, I was vertical. The next, I was on top of Church, beating the absolute fuck out of him.

Blow after blow, he took it.

My rage escalated. “Fight, motherfucker!”

“Not gonna.”

“FUCKING FIGHT, YOU GODDAMN QUITTER.” My arm reared back.

Her voice sailed. “Blade, stop!”

My fist slammed into his face.

Church’s head snapped back.

She screamed. “PLEASE!”

My arm fucking froze.

I glanced over my shoulder.

My woman’s face morphed from fear to shock.

“ Oh my God ,” she rasped. “It’s you!” A five-foot-nothing lioness flew off the front porch with the Winchester in one hand and shoved at Bravo’s chest with the other. “Where the hell is Reena?” She uselessly pushed at him again. “You don’t just—”

Church grunted.

Lioness’s head whipped toward him. “ Holy shit . YOU!” She pointed at Church. “You took my phone at the laundromat!”

Grabbing my brother by the front of his shirt, I yanked him up and slammed his back against their SUV.

Church grinned at my woman through bloody teeth. “Hey, hellcat.”

I drove my fist into his solar plexus.

Church doubled over.

Bravo addressed my woman. “We meet again.”

I grabbed my MK 12 and threw a lethal glance at my woman. “I told you to wait inside.”

“It was scary in there, and you were yelling like you needed help.”

Church fucking choked on laughter. “I knew she was all fire. You should’ve seen her bumper cart game in the laundromat.” He looked past me. “But maybe you should set that Winchester down before you drop it, hellcat. Looks like a helluva lot of gun for you. Do you even know how to shoot?”

My Lioness hefted the shotgun like a fucking pro and aimed at Church. “Maybe you shouldn’t take women’s cell phones and mess with them. And for the record, I shoot just fine. Call me hellcat again, and you can find out if my aim’s any good.”

Church chuckled. “You’d shoot your man’s brother?”

“Oh my God.” Lioness glanced at me. “ He’s your brother?”

Not fucking claiming him as shit yet, I ignored my Lioness and leveled Church with a look two years in the making. “Start fucking talking.”

Motherfucking Bravo cut in. “Why don’t we go inside. Your woman isn’t dressed for the weather.”

The muzzle of my MK12 hit Bravo’s chest dead center. “You’re not stepping one goddamn foot in my house, Bravo.”

“It’s Phoenix now,” the motherfucker corrected.

“I don’t give a fuck what you call yourself.” Glaring at him, I addressed my Lioness. “Get inside, woman.”

“You sure?”

“Not repeating myself,” I warned.

“Okay.” She shifted the Winchester, barrel up, and rested it on her shoulder. “But holler if you need me.”

We were all silent as she marched back into the cabin and slammed the door.

I glared at Church. “Why are you here?”

He looked at Bravo.

More fucking pissed by the second, I shifted focus to Bravo. “What the fuck did you do to my security system?”

“Precautionary.” Bravo, Phoenix, whoever the fuck he was now, pulled out a cell, swiped a few times, then repocketed it. “You’ll be back online as soon as we leave. In answer to your question—”

“I didn’t fucking ask you.” I looked back at Church. “You’re working with this motherfucker now?”

Church shrugged. “You were, too, a couple weeks ago.”

Fuck him. “That was to get intel on whether or not you were dead.”

Church nodded casually like this wasn’t a complete fucking shit show. “Well, not dead. Apologies for the timeline. I was lying low for a while.”

I had a hundred fucking questions. None I’d ask because I knew how the fuck this worked. Any intel I got would put me deeper into their shit, and I wasn’t going down that hole. I had my Lioness. I’d served my country. I’d been there for Alpha. I was fucking good. Almost. “I’m not keeping this shit from Alpha if he asks.”

Church glanced at Bravo.

Bravo looked at me. “I’d like to make you an offer.”

“Fuck off. I’m done speaking to you.” The motherfucker had a sister who’d been a minor when he’d gone dead.

Church chuckled, but I fucking saw the disappointment in his eyes. “I guess that’s your answer, Phoenix.” He pulled out a cell and typed before looking back at me. “Texted you my number. Maybe we can have one of those Sunday dinners sometime.” Not waiting for an answer, he headed for their SUV.

I glanced at Bravo. “Get in the fucking vehicle.”

Both of them reading me loud and clear, Bravo got behind the wheel and shut the door as Church turned toward me.

Fucker lowered his voice. “I’m sorry, brother. There was no other way. Ground Branch pulled their strings. I was fucking pissed. Phoenix pulled me. You know how this goes. That’s all I can say. I wish shit had gone down differently. I’m sorry about Arlington.”

I wanted to shoot and hug my brother in equal measure. “Walk away.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. It’d always been his tell. “Would you have voluntarily walked at my age? At any age?”

“I did fucking walk.”

“You’re working for Alpha.”

“We’re not our old man.” And Alpha was not Bravo.

Church smiled without humor. “You sure about that?”

No. “Yes.”

His smile dropped, and he stared at me a beat. “Missed you, brother.” He pasted on a forced grin. “Don’t be a dick. Fucking call.” He tipped his chin toward the house. “Glad you got a good woman. You deserve it.” He turned toward the vehicle.

“No one deserves shit,” I reminded him.

“That’s the truth.” He gripped the door handle and glanced back. “Till Valhalla.”

I didn’t ask him to stay. I didn’t ask what the fuck Phoenix was into. I didn’t ask shit. But fuck, I wanted to. “My woman will want to know about the blonde.”

Church winked. “Which one?”

“Your wife.”

His entire countenance locked down. “Who says I have a wife?”

“You did. Last conversation we had before I buried you.”

My brother scanned my land, then looked back at me with an expression I saw every damn day in the mirror. “Like I said, brother. You know how this goes.” He got in the SUV.

I didn’t watch my brother drive away.

The Church I’d known was dead.

I turned toward the cabin, and the front door opened before I’d cleared the porch steps.

My Lioness looked up at me with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I stepped inside, shut the door, and checked the security panel. It came back online as the SUV exfilled my property.

“That really was your real brother, Church? He didn’t look like the picture you showed me.”

“Yes, it was Church. His hair’s longer. But he’s not the brother I used to know.” I set my MK 12 next to the Winchester she’d propped up by the front door. “Didn’t know you could handle a bolt action rifle.”

“I told you I knew how to shoot.”

“Did you?” I reset the access code on my security system and gave her the new number.

“Okay, and I thought I told you. My dad taught me to shoot. And my grandfather, sort of. Doesn’t matter. I hate guns. I mean, for me. Not when you use them. I know you have to. I wasn’t saying I hate anything about you. I was just—”

I grabbed her nape, hauled her into me, and leaned down until my mouth was almost on hers. “Take a breath, woman.”

She inhaled on a shiver.

“You cold?”

“No,” she whispered.

“You good?”

“No,” she whispered again.

“Combat truth,” I ordered. “Talk.”

She let loose. “I’m worried about you. That was a lot, like, a lot, a lot . And oh my God, Church is alive , which is HUGE. So huge, I can’t even process it, so I can only imagine how that feels for you. Are you okay? Because you don’t seem happy about that. You seem really, really angry. Which I get. I would be really upset too. But still, I’m worried. And I don’t understand what just happened, but that was the blond god who bought me and Reena our phones, who isn’t a god, by the way—he’s just a man. But I think he is a man like you, like a SEAL or something, but not a good one. Like, a sinister one, and he’s scary. And I’m sorry your brother was with him, because that seems bad, and Reena said he was her Charlie’s brother. And oh my God, none of this makes sense, and I’m being selfish. Your brother is alive . That’s huge . But what is going on?”

I stroked her cheek. Then I reined in all my own shit to give this woman the focus she deserved. “Church is working covert ops for a paramilitary contractor.” I assumed. “That intel stays between us. Yes, I’m glad Church is alive. Yes, I’m pissed he didn’t tell me he wasn’t dead. Yes, I’m okay. As far as everything else, including Reena, Phoenix, and Church, it’s all dead to us, woman. Today never happened. You hear what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” she whispered, tears welling.

“Good. I owe you cookies. Come on.” I stood to my full height and tucked her under my arm.

“Blade?”

I glanced down.

“Did they come here today to ask you to work with them?”

Christ, my Lioness was perceptive. “Yes.”

She shrank half a foot. “What did you say?”

“No.”

She whispered. “But he’s your brother.”

I leaned down and put my mouth on hers once. “You’re my woman.”

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