How Beauty Saved the Beast (Tales of the Underlight) (13 page)

Jolie nodded. “Yeah. For a while, anyway.”

Travis ducked his head, nodded his acceptance and left, shutting the door behind him with a gentle click.

She pulled her phone back out. Started the video. Once again Hauk’s real face filled the screen and she wanted to hold him, to have that face to see, to kiss.

Unfair though it may be, she had been blinded by appearances. She would’ve realized what they had weeks ago if he still had this face. It was so right, so
him
.

The violence began again. She tried to watch, hoping to find a clue that would explain his rage, to rationalize it in some way. The seconds of blood ticked by, fueling the sickness in her stomach until he picked up the burner and she couldn’t watch any more. The emotions of the day, the kisses, the stress of being carried back, the alcohol…she couldn’t make sense of it tonight. It wouldn’t even be wise to try.

Instead she examined the room, trying to glean more about the man who’d turned her inside out. She hadn’t been in Hauk’s room since the morning after they’d met, and once again it impressed her with its simple elegance. Like much of The Underlight, everything was handcrafted, often from reclaimed pieces of older things that had been shined up and repurposed. That age gave the room a lived-in, funky feel despite the formal elements. One wall had a weapon collection of shining axes and swords that she now knew were for fun, not work. Bookshelves contained a combination of leather-bound tomes, J.R.R. Tolkien’s collection along with volumes of history and poetry, and one anachronistic shelf of worn paperbacks—Tom Clancy, George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman and Piers Anthony.

Next to the fireplace was his ancestor altar. Jolie had gone through a “Pagan phase” back in high [ baldn’ school with a couple of her friends. For Hauk, though, the religion was deeply meaningful, and his ancestor altar was the most important part of his practice. He believed his ancestors were watching out for him.

Either they were doing a crappy job, or…he should’ve died five years ago and they were doing a fantastic job.

Jolie shivered and hopped off the bed to take a closer look. An old pair of glasses, a watch and a cheap china candy dish were watched over by three female figures molded out of metal, probably by Hauk himself. They had the same perfect smoothness and rounded angles that she recognized from the ornament he’d made for her at Yule. In the center of the table were an incense dish and a plate with a piece of biscuit and a few drops of dried coffee.

She checked on Hauk. He still slept quietly. Feeling a little like an invader in his private space, she opened the table’s one little drawer. Inside were incense cones and matches. She dropped a cone into the holder. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to do this or not…” She swished her mouth a few times, debating. “What the hell.” She lit the incense.

Clearing her throat and feeling foolish, she gave a respectful nod to the figurines. “I’m sure Hauk keeps telling you he’s fine. But as you probably figured out, if you actually exist, he’s a big-ass liar.” She stopped. “Can I say ass in front of you? Oh, whatever. He’s a big-ass liar about being fine.” Good grief, she was rambling to a statue. “Hell, I’m bad at this. Okay, so anyway, this is for Hauk. Wesley Aaron Haukon. He doesn’t deserve what’s happened to him, and he’s so damn busy looking after other people, he needs somebody to look after him. I’m trying to. And if you’re helping, I guess that puts us on the same team. So…go team. Jesus H. Christ, I need to quit trying religion.”

Feeling stupid, she turned away and watched the slow rise and fall of Hauk’s chest as he slept. The image was so peaceful it calmed her.

She pivoted back to face the thin line of smoke curling around the statues. “If you’re really there, do something, okay? The last two months have proved to me that magic’s plenty real. So please use it to help him instead of just driving him crazy with it.”

An old phrase Papa Marcel used to say popped into her head: “The Powers That Be help those who help themselves.” She smiled, remembering her grandfather’s dancing brown eyes and wagging finger. It was because of him, and the cancer that took his life, that she’d applied to The University of Texas and moved to Austin to spend the last few months with him before he died.

Put that way, she’d met Hauk becaus
e of him.

“I’m trying, Papa,” she whispered.

Hauk’s bed was comfortable and she was tired, so she considered sliding into it. She had a history of sleeping next to him when he lost his mind.

She was a little afraid, but that was even more reason to do it. Hauk was her best friend. She would not be afraid of him. In the morning, they’d talk. Hopefully they’d both find what they needed to not be fearful anymore.

Chapter Ten

Jolie stirred sugar into her coffee and speed-walked back to the room, praying nobody else would try to stop her. Unsure when Hauk would wake up, she’d slipped out of bed for her morning cuppa, wearing one of Hauk’s T-shirts and her jeans from last night. The night had been calm. She’d woken in H ^)2 Be heauk’s embrace feeling well-rested and surprisingly optimistic.

Of course, the morning she was dying to get back quickly was the morning everybody wanted to stop and have a nice chat. If she wasn’t trying so damn hard to win over the population down here, she’d have breezed right by their greetings with a wave and a smile, but she didn’t want to miss a PR opportunity when people were in charitable spirits. Instead of the five minutes there and back she’d intended, she’d been a good half hour out of Hauk’s room, hoping he didn’t wake up without her.

She had a feeling their conversation would go better if she could start in his bed and in his arms.

Besides, she liked it there.

When the lab door opened and shut with a soft click and that now-familiar angelic golden hair whipped out of sight, she almost didn’t stop to check what Ashley was doing in Tally and LaRoche’s mad-scientist HQ first thing on a Saturday morning.

But was she sticking something in her purse?

Crap
. Jolie took a sip of coffee. Took two steps back to the lab. Peeked in.

It was dark. Ashley had gone into the lab when nobody was there and grabbed something out of it? What the hell?

Jolie wanted to get back to Hauk, but the situation felt wrong. She should at least see what Ashley took, and then she could return. Swearing under her breath, she hurried after the girl. Ashley made quick progress through the great room, while Jolie held one conversation with a smile plastered so tightly she was sure it was both cracking and peeling.

She just managed to follow Ash into the UT garage above and watched as her car pulled out of the lot. Jolie’s car was still at the club. But Hauk’s steambike—his gasoline-free pride and joy that Tally had built for him out of junkyard scraps—was here. He’d forgive her. Right?

Saint Ashley was leaving The Underlight with something she’d liberated from the lab while no one was looking. The girl needed to be followed, and there was nobody else to do it.

Hauk’s ride it was. With a grin, Jolie slammed on his helmet, straddled the bike and shot out of the garage.

* * *

Jolie wasn’t there when Hauk woke up. As he sat in bed, back propped up against the headboard and forearms on his knees, he contemplated her absence. He remembered their fight then walking out into the alley. He’d been so twisted inside he hadn’t sensed the violence until the ambush was on him. Then Jolie’s arrival. She’d been attacked.

And blackout.

Apparently he hadn’t brought her back with him this time. Or if he had, she’d left.

Not that he’d blame her. Memories of their argument crashed around him, making him want to cringe. He’d made an ass of himself, walking away like that. And the things he’d said…

He tapped his forehead against his knees in frustration. Hadn’t she offered him exactly what he’d been dreaming about for two months now? He wanted Jolie more than he’d ever wanted another woman. Gods, some nights he wanted her more than he wanted his next breath.

Why didn’t he just say “hell-fucking-yes”?

If he’d done that…they’d still have walked out into an ambush, so he’d likely still be waking up from a rage, wondering what happened last night.

But she might be with him.

He could fix this between them. Couldn’t he?

Maybe a better question was,
should
he? The panic he’d felt yesterday when she’d said she wanted to touch him had been so intense, he’d felt the fight-or-flight instinct rear its irrational head. It had taken all his resolve to stand still instead of backing away.

He ran his knuckle along his worst scar, the one that pulled up one corner of his mouth like a manic clown, and felt how the puckered, knobby tissue wrapped over muscle and bone.

Despite its faulty appearance, his skin still barricaded against infection, kept him warm and held his insides together, just like anybody else’s. Things he’d never appreciated before they were taken away. But his cheek didn’t register any sensations along that line as he touched it. His whole body was like that—feeling here, deadened there. The way it came in and out at random startled him sometimes when somebody brushed against him as he made his way through the common room or moved into line to fill a cup of coffee.

He had a hard time casually bumping into people, and he thought he was going to have sex like it was no big deal? And not just some hook-up, but sex with Jolie Benoit. Making love to that woman would be…it would be fucking epic, is what it would be. Sensation overload.

This was a problem.

If he ever wanted to have a sex life again, and gods, did he, he had to move past it. But Jolie shouldn’t have to put up with his mental shit. She was already putting up with his physical damage; it wasn’t fair to ask her to put up with more. He should’ve faced this before he met someone who mattered so much. But since the accident he’d never met a woman worth pushing himself for. It was always easier to just deny he had any feelings or needs.

At least, it had been until a feisty redhead showed up with a smile that turned him inside out.

He took a deep breath and pushed himself out of bed.
No
wallowing
.
Get
up
,
get
some
food
,
say
hi
to
friends
.
Have
a
normal
day
. If he could drag himself out of a hospital bed with swollen skin and no prosthetic for the “pleasure” of rolling up and down a hallway, he could get out of bed any day. Everything looked better when he got his ass moving.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Hauk was clean and in the kitchen scrambling eggs.

But he was not feeling better. Maybe it was paranoia, but he could swear he was getting sidelong looks and a little extra space from half the people who walked in. Breakfast made, he ignored the instinct to take it back to his room and hide, and instead brought his meal out to the common room. But after five minutes of terse nods from people choosing to sit anywhere but at his table, he decided he wasn’t being paranoid.

Then Brayden took three steps into the room, saw him and turned around.

That was it. Hauk chased him down the hallway and caught him by the collar. “Come have breakfast with me.”

“O-o-okay.”

Despite the acquiescence, Hauk held on to his friend until he deposited Brayden on the bench acro che >
upss from him. “What did I do last night?” Hauk scooped more eggs into his mouth.

“Last night? Oh, uh, you took out some guys from Atropos and carried Jolie back home.”

Hauk paused. “I brought her here again?” Fuck. She hadn’t stayed. “Where is she now?”

Brayden’s sigh sounded relieved, as if this was an easy subject to talk about. “I thought she was with you still. At least, she was when we all left your room.”

Hauk raised an eyebrow. “All?”

“Yeah. Travis was worried about Jolie, so we—Tally and LaRoche and he and I—ambushed you.”

Hauk put his fork down. “Did everybody survive?” He hoped he was joking.

“Yeah! That sedative you had LaRoche make worked like a charm. Good call on you.”

Hauk took another bite. “Okay, so did everyone see? What’s the deal this morning?” He waved his hand around. A horrific thought struck him. “Did I hurt Jolie?” He’d never hurt her before. He hated not remembering what happened.

“Oh, no. She’s fine. We got her away from you and everything. And like I said, when I left she was sitting on your bed, looking all dreamy-eyed at you.” He gave Hauk the first smile he’d gotten all morning. “I hoped she’d stay, but I guess she went home.”

He wasn’t sure what Brayden meant by “dreamy-eyed” but it didn’t sound like a bad thing. Although Brayden sometimes had an interesting way with the truth; she might’ve been more like nightmare-eyed. “Why was Travis worried? Was she protesting or something?” Not that he’d blame her, but he hoped not. Jolie had assured him repeatedly she wasn’t afraid of him when he wigged out because he was “nice” to her.

She’d actually used the word “nice” and he’d about laughed his head off.

“No, Ash said she’d seemed surprisingly happy to be, quote, dragged off by an out-of-control lunatic, unquote.” Brayden stole a piece of bacon off his plate and took a bite. “She saw the fight, and I think you wigged her out pretty hard core. Sorry ’bout that.”

Hauk snorted. “Why does that not surprise me?” He smirked at Brayden. “‘Ash,’ huh? When did you start calling her that?”

“That’s what you call her. And hey, she’s justified with the wigging out, man. You’re freaky when you’re all rawr.”

“Is that what they’re calling it nowadays?” Feeling decidedly more relaxed, he took a sip of his coffee and scooped up the last of his eggs with toast. “So what’s got everybody else on edge? It’s not like this is the first time I’ve come home ‘all rawr.’”

Immediately Brayden tensed up again.

Hauk sighed. “Come on, Brayden. Just tell me. You know I can’t stand all this hush-hush shit.”

He frowned. “Okay, so, you know that stick drive from yesterday?”

Hauk nodded over another gulp of coffee.

“It’s full of video footage of you fighting. We think they’re using it as a training video.”

Made sense. Professional fighters studied their opponents when they could. “And?”

“Well.” Brayden slouched down, growing even more uncomfortable, if that was possible. “Travis was watching them to see if he could figure out why Ananke was trying cke ouched to hide them from us. And it sort of attracted an audience. People were cheering for you and everything. It was pretty awesome.” He drew a figure on the table and blushed. “I don’t think I realized how often you’ve saved my ass. Thanks, man.”

“It’s my job. So what went wrong?” It wasn’t like people didn’t know what he did. Did seeing it change things? He didn’t think his friends were that hypocritical.

Another big breath. If Brayden didn’t just spit it out, Hauk was going to consider shaking it out of him. But finally Brayden licked his lips, cleared his throat and said, “There’s a video of the fire.”

Hauk froze. “The fire? On base?”

“Yeah.”

His mouth went dry as trepidation clenched his chest. “And?”

Brayden bowed his head and there was pity in the gaze he shot up from under his shaggy black bangs. “You’re guilty, man. You went into a rage, killed those guys and set the fire. I’m sorry.”

Hauk set the coffee cup down before he squeezed it into broken shards. “Show me.”

* * *

Jolie frowned at the law firm across the street. Her jeans were tight, her shoes pointy and her T-shirt obviously not hers. She looked exactly like she’d spent the night at a man’s home. Which she had. And she was pleased with that. It wasn’t, however, the best disguise for getting into a law firm on a Saturday morning. But that’s where Ashley had gone (looking a little rumpled herself, Jolie had noticed), so that’s where Jolie needed to go.

She squared her shoulders and headed for the two-story Craftsman-style home that had been converted into the offices of McKey and Lancaster. Nobody was out and about in the quiet neighborhood. The small lot only contained three cars, Ashley’s and two others.

A window was open upstairs, likely taking advantage of the unseasonably warm day. God bless chaotic Texas weather. That entrance would be simpler.

The porch was easy to scale. After a quick glance inside to make sure no one was around, Jolie climbed into a conference room just as Ashley passed by the door, blithely on her way down the hall.

Jolie reached into the hallway, slapped a hand over the girl’s mouth and hauled her inside the conference room. Ashley tried to struggle, but it was no contest, and soon she went still.

“Sorry to startle you,” Jolie said with a sly smile as she turned Ashley around and released her mouth.

Ashley sucked in a breath of relief. “You scared me to death! What are you doing here?”

Jolie propped a hand on her hip. “What did you take from Tally and LaRoche’s lab?”

Ashley dropped her jaw in surprise and closed it again. “What makes you think I did anything of the sort?”

“Other than watching you?”

She shifted uncomfortably. “What I’m doing isn’t your business, and you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Anyone stealing from The Underlight is my business.”

To Jolie’s surprise, the girl blushed. She’d expected Ashley to deny it; hell, Jolie halfway didn’t believe her own accusation. Ashley didn’t seem the stealing type. But that blush was as good as a confession.