Chapter 14
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
CHRYS
As we drive into the underground parking structure, I have a feeling Jess would object to being thought of as an evil queen… so I shift the mental image over to one of a dragon, and Arc’s lips twist as he tries not to laugh.
A fire-breathing overprotective being is more fitting of my eldest sister. I doubt her brief time on this planet has changed her at all.
“Ready?” Shock asks as he opens the car.
They’ve each asked me at this point, and even though I want to say no… “Probably not, but let’s do it anyway.”
Risk is right behind me, but Arc is the one who takes my hand and leads me inside.
The room we walk into is very clearly a command center for the Brotherhood.
It takes me a moment to get my bearings when my attention is yanked to the banks of equipment with blinking lights and fluctuating holographic displays.
“Holy moly,” I say under my breath. It’s like a freaking battle station in here.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Arc says, kissing my hair.
The only thing that feels out of place is the enormous curved sofa.
“It’ll make sense in a few minutes.”
“Good.” Kimba clasps her hands together in front of her chest. “You’re here on time.”
“Looks like we’re early,” I look around the room, wondering if sneaky Kilo is here.
“He’s not.” Arc grips my hand once and then releases it.
“I wanted you to get here first so that we could have a moment of quiet before the others arrive.” She glances at the door. “But I’m willing to bet your sisters are going to get here early too, so that time is limited.”
She takes a deep breath. “You are the purpose of the meeting, but I am going to try to make this as painless as possible.”
“Is there any specific reason it might be painful?”
“I don’t know if you’ve fully prepared for the onslaught your sister may bring to bear.” She looks up at Arc. “She already doesn’t like you. Finding out that you’ve been lying to her is going to be… interesting.”
“Has she been that bad?” I ask, pulling her attention away from Arc.
“Be thankful she didn’t know where you were. She might have gone so far as storming their outpost to get to you.”
I could easily see her doing that.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you needed a drink to deal with what’s coming.”
It doesn’t feel like fishing. Besides, she knows we aren’t bonded. Arc told me she’d be notified once we put the paperwork through. No bonding, no baby.
“I’ll be alright. Jess and I have been fighting since I learned how to say the word ‘no,’ and I don’t think we’re going to stop until one of us is dead and buried. If I needed to drink to get through an argument with her, I’d be an alcoholic.”
Kimba’s brows raise and she looks from me to over my shoulder. And I don’t have to guess which of them she’s locked eyes on. “Then it’s no surprise you get along.”
The door opens then, and seeing my middle sister bustled through the door makes me realize just how much I’ve missed her.
Laurel fusses and Richter tries to make her slow down, but she barely lets him get her coat off.
“What are you doing here?” She comes to me and almost manages a real hug.
Very definitely pregnant, she moves like she’ll tip over at any moment.
Maybe that’s why Richter keeps so close.
I’m glad she’s the one who got here first. Jess and I might have lived together and, in some ways I feel closer to her, but Laurel has never judged me for anything. She won’t start now.
“That is a strange story… one I’m sure the full details of will be given to the group once everyone’s here, but… surprise! I was abducted by aliens!” I give a little jazz hands movement to soften the blow.
“You’re very calm about this.” Laurel looks past me to the cold boys. “How long have you been here?”
“Like a week?” I guess. I don’t actually know, when I glance at Risk, he says, “Nine days.”
“That feels like so long but it really isn’t.” She sighs.
“No it’s not. But how are you? Is everything okay with you and your plus one?”
She laughs at that and says, “Yes. Luckily, I have more help than I could ever need.”
I look up, over her shoulder, “Hi Ric, nice to meet you in person.”
We’ve met digitally, but the virtual version of him was less imposing.
“Welcome to the club.” The way his eyes flick up to the guys… I don’t know if he means me or them.
Laurel grabs my hands, squeezing my fingers tight. “Blink three times if they’re holding you hostage.”
She winks at me so I know she’s joking, but I know her well enough that if I did blink three times right now, it wouldn’t go well. She’d have me out the door and to… whatever safety looks like in her estimation. It would take less than five minutes.
“I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“Good.” Her smile falters just a little as she glances toward the door. “Don’t let anyone try to tell you you don’t know that, okay?”
She squeezes my arm and nudges me back toward Arc.
I go as if pulled by the opposite pole of my magnet.
It’s been like this for the last week. I move, they move. Every shift met by a reaction… sometimes so subtle, I doubt they even notice it.
I don’t think Arc fully registers that he’s placed his hand on my back or that his constant contact might be seen as steering me.
The other two notice his actions, though I’m not sure they notice their own.
“We know,” Arc says softly. “Ric thinks you’re bonded to one of us. He’s just politely waiting to find out who.”
The door opens and I shift so that Arc’s body blocks me from view as Jessica and Trench arrive.
“I thought you were an old pro at arguing with your sister,” Arc says softly, a wry smile twisting his lips. “But here you are… hiding.”
“Just because I’m a veteran with tried-and-true tactics doesn’t mean I want to go into battle. Especially here.”
Thankfully, Jess doesn’t make a beeline for Arc when she and Trench break apart. But as she goes to Laurel, he moves toward us…
And then he stops.
He looks from me to Arc and then he reaches out and grabs Jess by the arm.
When he pulls her back to him, he makes sure her back is to us.
Arc laughs, just a single breath of a sound. “He’s trying to keep her from killing me.”
“I won’t let her.”
“What?!” Jess’ word is so sharp, almost everyone in the room winces.
She turns sharply, and I step out from behind Arc, placing myself between her and him.
I like to hope it won’t come to that, but even if I can’t keep her from attacking him, I like to think—to hope—that at least three of the people in the room would try to stop her.
“You!” Jess doesn’t attack Arc, she attacks me. The hug she grips me in is so tight, I have to hit her back.
“Can’t breathe.”
“You lied to me.” Jessica glares at Kimba. “You lied right to my face.”
“I didn’t. I just told them a different time than you… which is why you’re early, and they are the only ones here.”
Jess isn’t happy about that answer, but she turns back to me. “What are you doing here!”
She’s wearing earplugs… but ignore that. “Abducted by aliens, long story.”
“How long have you—” She looks out the window at the smoldering wreckage. “Oh my god.”
She’s pale when she turns back. “Oh my god.”
“Yep. My smoldering chariot.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were here?”
I don’t tell her it’s because she has a tendency to try to bulldoze my opinions, or that I know she won’t understand what I want.
“The kidnappers drugged me, and I wanted all of my wits about me when I finally faced you.”
She pulls back, holding me at arms length, eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Laurel said as she joins us, Richter helping her. “That you can be overbearing in your protectiveness. Do you want a repeat of when she was twelve?”
Jess’ mouth shifts to a pinched frown, and I know she’s remembering the time our parents left for three days and put her in charge.
She’d been so overbearing, I decided I’d had enough and ran away. I’d gotten on a bus and was two states away at my friend Haylee’s house before they finally figured out I wasn’t just pouting in my room.
She shakes her head. “She’s right. You’re not twelve anymore. Here’s what’s going to happen, you and I are going to have a long talk, but first, you’re moving in with me and Trench.”
“No.”
She flinches, blinking at me like she can’t quite believe I’d deny her her wonderful solution.
“I’m not going back to your place, and there’s really nothing for us to talk about.” I don’t remind her how old I am, because she definitely knows. “You’re my sister, not my mother.”
“And thank god for that.” Jess throws her hands up. “Can you even imagine what would happen if she was here?”
“None of us would enjoy it, which is why I didn’t go out of my way to have that particular conversation.”
Jess’ brows pinch. “That’s cruel, Chrys.”
“I’d like to point out that, of the three of us, I’m the only one who didn’t come here without telling her by choice.”
Laurel laughs, turning her head away as if it will help. “She has a point.”
“Don’t take her side!”
“Why does it matter whose side I take, Mom’s going to blame me for this anyway.”
“It’s true.” I glance at where Arc and Trench are watching us. “My guess is, they’ll blame you for coming in the first place and putting the idea in my and Jess’ heads.”
Laurel’s sigh is tired. “And she wonders why it was so easy for me to leave the planet.”
“Look, I’ll figure out calling Mom when we get home after this. I just… I really don’t want to deal with her.”
“When you get home?” She looks at Arc over my shoulder, and I can bet I know the question that’s coming next.
“We’re not bonded.”
“Of course not.” Jess rolls her eyes and I…
“What does that mean?”
She makes a face that has always reminded me of a frog. “Well, you are a commitment-phobe.”
I don’t hear the rest of what she says. My stomach has twisted too sharply, my eyes prickling too much. I have to focus on breathing because I think I might stop if I don’t.
A firm hand on my wrist pulls me away from her and knocks me mentally back into place.