Destiny's Shift (16 page)

He swiveled in his chair as he heard voices outside the glass door. Noah came in

with a man who looked like he would rather be dead.

“Blake, this is Talin,” Noah said.

Talin just gave a nod and headed to the bank of computers.

“Blake, help Talin figure out where the semantics on Area 2 are in the FBI

database, or whatever database you need to get in to. Don’t mess around; just let him do

his job and let him get back to bed.”

Noah turned and left.

Talin was in bad shape. His feet were bare, and he wore black sweatpants and a t-

shirt that read,
There is intelligent life on Earth, but I’m just visiting
. His black hair stood

on end and looked like he hadn’t showered in a while. Deep bags were under his eyes,

and his skin was a pasty white. He walked as if he was ninety years old, even though he

didn’t look a day over thirty-five.

Blake wondered what was wrong with him.

“Quit staring and come over here,” Talin said.

Blake did as he was told and pulled up a chair next to him. He had been right. The

guy needed a shower.

Noah and Blake had discussed the importance of getting the layout to Area 2. Yes,

Blake had spent some time in the facility, so he knew the general design. But this was the

government they were talking about, and nothing was ever as it seemed.

“My guess is that they have back rooms, hidden halls, and tunnels underneath that

connect to another building somewhere,” Blake had said.

“We need to know about all of it then,” Noah had said.

“Agreed.”

For the next two hours, Talin and Blake worked together, and finally they found

the layout of Area 2 buried deep within the FBI’s files.

“That’s it,” Blake said.

The printer came to life and the image appeared on the big, white screen on the

wall. Blake turned to study it.

“Son of a Colonist, huh?” Talin said.

Blake turned and shrugged. “What can I say, man. I got the short end of the stick

in the DNA department.”

A small smile tugged at Talin’s lips, but never made it to his face. His eyes were

dark and . . . dead.

“And an FBI guy. I don’t know how you talked your way in here. You are the

walking billboard of everything we try to avoid or kill.”

“Jovan and Liberty did their little voodoo on me and said I was solid. If they had

said otherwise, I’m sure Hudson wouldn’t think twice about putting a bullet or four in

me.”

“You’re right on that one,” Talin said, sitting back in his chair and putting his

hands on his head. He stared at the map of Area 2 for a few minutes.

“Are there really more of our kind in there?” Talin said in a quiet voice.

“Yeah.”

Talin met Blake’s gaze. “Thanks for helping us get them out.”

Blake nodded.

“There aren’t many of us left now,” Talin said.

No, there wasn’t. Jovan had told Blake about the whole planet being gone. “Did

you lose someone?” he asked.

Blake watched as tears welled in Talin’s eyes. “I lost my everything,” he said as

he stood up and made his way to the door.

Chapter 33

The plane ride had been uneventful, although Jovan’s nerves were humming so

hard he felt like he had just survived a plane crash. And a lightning strike. And being run

over by a bus. All in the same day.

Liberty was making him crazy.

He remembered just a short time ago how she was a subservient little thing who

could barely look anyone in the eye. How times had changed. It was almost as if she had

gone from a scared, little girl to a strong woman in a matter of days.

When she had told him she wanted to have sex with him, or as she had said, “the

sex with him,” he had almost choked on his green beans. He couldn’t imagine the

conversation that she had had with the other females in the house, and he had a feeling he

really didn’t stand a chance in his plan of not sleeping with her. He had a shot at it when

he was certain she wouldn’t want anything to do with the likes of him. But she had come

right out and told him that she wanted to have sex with him.

So shoot that barrier out of the water.

And he also knew that when those females got together, they were a near

unstoppable force. With them behind Liberty, pushing her along, he was in trouble.

He wanted her, and there were no two ways about it.

When he and the other Warriors had been sent to Earth, it had been programmed

into their human bodies that if they were to fall in love and make love to that person, they

would lose their SR44 forms and begin to age as humans did. Yeah, he liked Liberty, but

he was pretty sure he wasn’t in love and doubted he ever would be. Hell, if it hadn’t

happened in over a thousand years, he figured chances were slim to none that he would

ever experience it. He had been alone for too long, and he couldn’t imagine it any other

way. But the thing was, Liberty was different from everyone else. She understood what

he was going through, and she had been the one to teach him how to harness the power of

his gift.

And damn, he wanted in that girl’s pants.

He had spent most of the flight mentally going over the pros and cons of taking

care of that want.

Pro: he wouldn’t be walking around with a semi-erection 24/7 anymore, which

turned into a full-fledged bar of steel when they were in close quarters. And taking care

of his problem himself was doing nothing to ease the pressure. He was an SR44 male

with a need to fuck. End of story.

That was pretty much the only pro he saw. It went downhill from there.

Liberty deserved better than what he could give her. She was a virgin, for God

sakes, and she should have someone who loved her be her first, not some loner like him

who couldn’t even stand his gift enough to get a haircut because he didn’t want

someone’s hands on him.

Not to mention Noah’s threat of beating him into next Thursday. Jovan was kind

of attached to the present.

So ruining Liberty and the threat of Noah pretty much sealed the deal for him.

It simply couldn’t happen.

However, those were some weak obstacles he could easily step over.

As they approached the Phoenix airport, he listened to the hushed tones of Faith

and Liberty in the back of the plane. Jovan knew that Faith was always one to get what

she wanted—hell, she had somehow talked Rayner to taking her on a mission. Jovan

hoped that Liberty had kept her whole “I want to have sex with Jovan” thing to herself,

because if she was back there getting pointers from Faith on how to bulldoze her way into

his pants, he was a goner.

When the plane landed, Jovan stood up with the others, said goodbye to the

captain, and headed down the stairs. The man with the salt-and-pepper hair stood a few

feet away with the two brown Hummers Jovan requested. Jovan fell in step next to

Rayner, with Blake a few feet behind them, and Faith and Liberty trailing behind.

Jovan stopped and turned to Rayner. “Do you know what they’re talking about?”

Rayner shook his head and looked behind him as Blake passed, and Jovan

followed his gaze. Both Faith and Liberty were about the same size, which was

considered small. Both of them came up to the Warriors’ chests, and both were thin,

although Faith had many more curves than Liberty. Jovan and Rayner watched as Faith

said something and Liberty threw her head back and laughed.

“I don’t know, man. But I do know this: big trouble comes in small packages.”

Jovan looked at Rayner. “What does that mean?”

Rayner shook his head. “I love Faith as an SR44 male should, but that female is

also the biggest thorn in my side. You get me? I try to protect her, and what does she do?

Somehow she talks her way into a mission.” Rayner shook his head, looked at the

ground, then back at Jovan. “You’ll get it figured out, Jovan, but that little thing back

there is your serving of big trouble.”

“There’s nothing for me to figure out, Rayner.”

Rayner rolled his eyes. “Right.”

They moved over to the man with the salt-and-pepper hair, who smiled at Jovan.

“You just left,” he said.

“I know. Glad to be back, too. The weather’s much better here.”

“Oh, that’s changing. There’s a big storm on the way. At least two days of rain,

my friend.”

Jovan sighed as he got in the driver’s seat of the Hummer, and decided he’d rather

be cold than wet, as he was going to be here in Phoenix. He just couldn’t win.

Blake slid in the backseat, and Liberty jumped into the front seat. Rayner and

Faith sped off in the other Hummer.

“When shall I learn to drive, Jovan?” she asked.

Oh, hell.

“I don’t know, Liberty. We’ll see.”

“I’ll teach you,” Blake said from the backseat. “I’m a great instructor, Liberty.”

Liberty turned in her seat, excited about the lessons that he promised.

As he listened to them talk, Jovan felt a need to hurt something, or in this case,

someone. He rubbed his face and realized that his possessive SR44 male side was waking

up and saying hello. He didn’t want to be possessive over Liberty, but he couldn’t help it.

Thinking about Blake helping her with anything made him want to rip the spine from the

human.

Through his mouth.

This was so not good.

A half hour later, Blake whistled as they pulled up to the mansion Liberty and

Jovan had stayed at the first night they met. “Nice pad,” he said.

“Why aren’t we at the missile silo, Jovan?” Liberty asked.

“Because there was some asshole FBI guy trolling around there and we’re afraid

the place is compromised.”

Liberty giggled and looked at Blake. “I do believe he is speaking of you.”

Blake mumbled something and got out of the car while Rayner pulled in behind

Jovan. Jovan got out, grabbed his duffel bag, and waited for Rayner while Faith and

Liberty headed inside.

“Nice digs,” Rayner said.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Let’s get settled and get a plan, okay?”

“I’m with you.”

As Jovan moved to go into the house, Blake grabbed his arm, holding him back.

“I’m getting the distinct feeling that I should stay away from Liberty,” Blake said in a

low tone.

The guy was smart.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“How is that?”

“The way you’re looking at me when I offered to teach her to drive. The way you

step between her and any man you don’t know or fully trust. I don’t even think you

realize you do that.”

Jovan thought of his actions, and yes, he had been guilty. The pilot had said hello

and smiled at her, and Jovan had wanted to make a necklace of his teeth.

“I think your perception is right on, Blake.”

Might as well warn the guy.

The male didn’t flinch. “That’s fine, Jovan, but just make sure you can provide

her what she needs.”

“And what is that?” Damn, he wanted to chain this guy behind the Hummer and

drag him for a few miles, even if he did like him.

Blake smiled slightly. “If you can’t figure that out, you’re a sorry sack of crap.

And not that I should need to tell you this, but I’m not interested in bedding her. I just

like her and I’m being friendly. That’s it.”

Jovan watched Blake walk into the house without looking back, and Jovan gave

some thought to his statement.

What did Liberty need?

She needed protection. She was simply too good and pure for this shit swamp of a

world.

If she wanted one, she needed a male who wasn’t dealing with his own mind

catastrophe, as he was. Even though she had helped him with his gift, he wasn’t as strong

as she was with it, and it would take time for him get full control over it.

It was decided that Rayner and Faith would take the upstairs master suite, while

the rest of them would sleep in the bedrooms downstairs. Jovan was thankful that he

would finally have some space from Liberty now that he wasn’t around Talin and Cohen

and their endless, unrepentant grief. There would be no reason for Liberty to stay with

him; he could mind his own marbles now.

He walked down the hall and decided that he would also be in the bedroom

between Liberty and Blake. Blake said he didn’t have any plans to make a move on

Liberty, but better safe than sorry, and all that. Jovan was a light sleeper and would most

likely hear the creaking floorboards of anyone walking past his door.

Noting that he had inserted himself into a protective role yet again, he grumbled.

What the hell had happened to him being the lone ranger, on his own, minding his own

business? That’s right, a little hurricane named Liberty had spun into his life and turned it

upside down.

He reminded himself that she had also helped him harness his gift so that he

didn’t have to be alone anymore.

Which meant he could be with her, if he chose to.

He stopped at the middle bedroom, not liking where his thoughts were going and

pointed to the door on the left. “Liberty, you take that room.” Then he pointed to his right.

“You take that one, Blake.”

Blake narrowed his eyes at him, but said nothing.

“This room is lovely,” Liberty called out.

Jovan stepped into his room and shut his door. A red, pink, and green-flowered

bedspread greeted him, along with moss green walls. It had to be the most girlie room he

had ever been in. Apparently, Noah hadn’t gotten around to ordering the redecorations