Lacey's Luhpynes [Beyond the Veil 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (12 page)

“That sounds like the best plan. From now on we won’t run from what is between us. We will figure out what to do when the time comes but for now we focus on finding and eviscerating this son of a bitch that has been a bane to my existence and yours, for far too long. Please,” Lacey said with a straight face.

“We can do that,” Zhubin said softly. “After dinner, eat.” That said, he and Ansell began to dish up food onto their plates, offering her some of everything. Finally they were all eating and just talking about things of no importance, music, movies, books. They all had their own tastes but amazingly there were a few similarities and they ended up in a debate over a TV series of all things.

Chuckling, Zhubin leaned back in his chair and then made a face. He shifted and drew out his phone. “Yeah, Cap,” he said into it. He frowned suddenly, “Where?” he asked, getting to his feet. Pacing to the counter, his voice dropped down to a murmur she couldn’t quite catch. Then he hung up and turned. “We have to go,” he said, looking at her.

“Sounds good. What is it now?” she asked quietly. “What other mess has hit the fan?” She was not going to like it, whatever it was. She was certain that whatever happened was not going to be good, she knew that whatever was going to happen was going to be something that was going to cause them all a great deal of hurt.

“Your admirer has left us another scene,” he said to her as he walked closer. Then his eyes moved to Ansell. “You up to coming? May need your nose just in case he’s left another bomb. I’d prefer not getting blown up again. Once was more than enough for me.”

“Give me two minutes, I’ll grab my gear.” His friend nodded and got up from the table.

“I would really rather not be blown up again as well,” Lacey said simply. “I truly think that being blown up again might just get me pulled from duty and that would really, really piss me off like crazy. I would much rather be able to be in the field with you guys if you wouldn’t mind, please.”

“And we’re going to keep you out there with us,” Ansell told her. He turned and headed off, leaving her standing with Zhubin at her back.

“That’s why I want him there. His sense of smell is much better than mine. He can actually pick through the layers of scents. He’ll be able to tell if there are explosives there even with all the blood. Gods, I wish all this had waited until after the full moon. I’m so not in the mood to deal with this shit right now.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Lacey looked up at Zhubin and frowned. “What do you mean? Why can’t you wait until after the full moon? I’m a little lost here. Is it because you have to shift during the full moon?” She knew that during the full moon her guys got more and more wound up.

“We get extremely agitated here in your realm when the moon rises. We try not to be here during that time. That’s why the dinner is planned for that night, gives us a good excuse not to be here,” he murmured. Rubbing his hand over her back, he pressed a kiss to her temple. “Let me put everything away so we can get moving.”

“Sounds good.” She turned to face him and licked her lips. “I have never been on the other side of the Veil,” Lacey admitted quickly, quietly. “I don’t know what things are like over there, what do I wear? What do I do? I’m a little lost. Will you guys help me?”

“Of course we will,” he said, sliding his arms around her. “Just be you, Lace. Wear what you normally would wear to meet the parents of any other-worlder of high rank. You know.” She could feel his smile against her cheek. “The usual.”

“Right, yeah I’ve met
so
many people of higher ranking here in this world.” Lacey rolled her eyes and then shook her head. “I need to go shopping and since I freaking hate to shop I’m making you guys go with me to help me pick something out. Both of you,” she added and looked pointedly at Ansell.

Poor guy had just walked back into a shitstorm and didn’t even know it. Oh, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights and even wary, but he kept coming. Slower though, definitely slower. “What’s going on?”

“Apparently, Lacey feels the need to go shopping to get something to wear to impress my parents,” Zhubin said as he let her go. He began to stack dishes. “She’s volunteered us to go along on this excursion of pain and agony.”

“She doesn’t need anything special,” Ansell said before looking at her. “You really don’t need anything special. Just be you and dress how you are comfortable. Besides, given the pets in that place, you’ll just end up covered in fur the moment you walk in.”

“I want to look nice for meeting the people that might be my in-laws one day.” Or something like that. “I’m just so worried that I won’t be good enough, that I won’t be what they had envisioned for the two of you all your lives. That’s what worries me.”

“Lacey.” Ansell moved in closer and put his hands on her shoulders. Leaning down, he looked her in the eye. “You’re our mate, the Fates determined this, which means you are perfect as you are. You could show up naked with your hair shaved into weird patches and they wouldn’t care. They likely would stare at you, but they wouldn’t care.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Well since I really don’t wanna show up naked I think that this will be good.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “I guess I am worrying a great deal about something that I truly shouldn’t, aren’t I? I’m worried because I want them to like me.”

“They will like you, they will love you,” he said. He tapped her nose lightly. “But first we have business to attend to. You can freak out about meeting the in-laws later.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling back.

“I hope so.” She sighed and nodded. “Right. I can handle hunting and killing. I can totally handle those things because I can be in control with those things.” Well at least as much control as she could be in, she supposed. Thanks again, for the reassurance. You know me and how I work far too well don’t you?”

“I have been paying attention for the last five years.” He gave a lazy shrug. “But you still find ways to surprise us both. Not usually good surprises, but they are still surprises. Grab your jacket. We need to hit the office and get you geared up before we go to the scene. We can take hits but you can’t,” he said softly.

“Yes, body armor is needed,” she agreed. They could take a hit and keep on going but not her. She was far more fragile than they were, if one could call her fragile that was. “And weapons, lots of them. I don’t want to have to think about wishing that I had this or that when I didn’t. I think that it’s going to be very good to get some weapons and body armor.” Repetition was something she did when her mind was already moving on to what they needed to do, planning and anticipating.

“We’ll load you down, darling,” Zhubin said from behind her, his hands landing on her hips. “But we need to get moving. We have to get to the scene before Briar moves the body. I want to see it in place. So grab your boots and jacket, we’ll take my truck.”

“Sounds good.” She grabbed her boots and put them on, then pulled on her jacket. “We will take your truck because it is bulletproof and mine isn’t.” Her car was low and fast, not armored at all, where their trucks were heavily armored and fast as well.

“Kind of my idea by suggesting it,” Zhubin told her, moving past her to pull on his boots. He crouched to tie them. “Don’t need to give this asshole stalker of yours any more ways of getting at you. This way he’s got to get through us both and the truck.”

“Which, given the additional tweaks we’ve done to them both, won’t happen,” Ansell said, shrugging into his jacket. He moved to the door and pulled it open. “No human will ever get their hands on most of the tech.”

“Which is likely for the best. Yes there are some good people out there but honestly humanity as a whole…sometimes I wonder if we are worth fighting for.” It was sad to say but even worse to feel. When she saw some of the things that happened because of “humanity,” it broke her heart into pieces.

“People as individuals are decent, kind and generous. People in groups are assholes who do whatever the strongest personality amongst them says. They stop thinking as individuals and turn into a hivemind. Just look at your Salem witch trials, prime example,” Zhubin said as he locked the door and moved with them to his truck. “As a whole I’d say no, flat out, humanity isn’t worth bothering with. But it’s the individuals, the good ones like you and Briar, that I focus on. We can’t save everyone and we can’t save the world. But if you focus on one person, one soul and do everything you can to make that person’s world better you end up making everything a little better on the grand scheme.”

Lacey sighed and nodded. “And I hate that people as a whole are like that. We will do whatever we can to hold that line because it simply has to be held. We will do whatever we have to in order to ensure that people are able to live and enjoy their lives, right?”

“Of course we will,” Ansell told her softly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He was leaning back against the door as Zhubin drove and tugged her in closer. “But stop thinking about them as a whole. Focus on that one person you need to make a difference for, someone that needs it and deserves it. If you make their life better, then you choose another.”

“The only person who I keep thinking of is poor Briar. I just want to make the hurt that she’s feeling to ease a bit for her. I worry for her, so very much. I just hope that she will be able to emotionally heal from what has happened to her.”

“Then she is your focus, making her world a better and safer place. We’ll help you with that and we’ll ensure she is safe. Whatever we do, including getting your stalker out of the world, will help make her a little safer,” he said, brushing his lips over her cheek.

“I think that sounds like a damn fine idea then.” Lacey closed her eyes and sighed. She could seriously become accustomed to this, to being held by one of these two men. She just hoped that she didn’t bring them more harm than good into their lives. They deserved far, far more than that.

Zhubin walked in with Lacey straight for the body. Ansell started walking around the walls, working his way in. Zhubin moved off ten feet before they reached the body, leaving Lacey to move to Briar and find out the scoop on their latest corpse. He didn’t stray far, just stayed out of range and where Briar could see him.

Lacey nodded to Briar. “Hey, Doc,” she said with a smile. “So what were you able to figure out about our John Doe here?” Since they hadn’t found a chip with the missing hands they were at a loss as to how to ID this guy.

“I’ve done a dental impression and sent it back to the lab already,” she said. “I don’t feel like having another of these blown up and making it all the harder to identify. Just what is he doing?” She pointed a gloved finger to Ansell.

“He’s checking for explosives,” Zhubin said. “His nose can pick up such things even with the layers of blood. He’s one of the few Luhpyne that can separate scents and follow only the one he wants to.”

“He’s doing it to protect me,” Lacey explained. “As you heard already, I’m sure Zhubin and I were kind of hit with explosives. If not for Zhubin’s quick reflexes and my hard head we would not be here to discuss this guy with you.” She watched Ansell and then looked back to Briar. “What do you think the possibility of figuring out who he is, well, is?”

“Since we have him still and hopefully will continue to, probability is high. He is human and old enough to have been in the system before the Veil fell. Given the tattoos he has, he was either in prison or a gang so I’m betting he’s in the old system.”

“Zhubin,” Ansell called from in the rafters. “Get everyone out.
Now
!”

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, racing for Lacey and Briar. “Sorry, Doc,” he told her, scooping her over one shoulder and Lacey over the other. Running for the door he couldn’t see, Ansell jumped down, flipped a flak blanket over the body and then raced after them.

Lacey reached out for Briar, her hand closing over the woman’s and giving a squeeze. When Zhubin came to a halt, his large body covering theirs, she instinctively covered Briar, putting her body between her mate’s and the woman’s, not just for the woman’s sanity but for hers as well. The explosion rocked the room, the lights dimmed and Lacey felt her ears ringing in the aftermath. “Zhu? Ansell? Where are you?” she demanded of the man that had been in the rafters, of all damn things.

“All present and accounted for,” Ansell muttered from her left. “My ears are fucking ringing but I’m in one piece.”

Zhubin moved off the women. “Still alive and nothing poking out where it shouldn’t, I think. But my ears are bloody ringing too,” he muttered with a groan. “You still kicking Briar?” he asked.

Briar nodded and shook her head. “Damn ears are ringing, but yeah. Thank you.” She then looked at Ansell. “How in the hell were you able to smell that? We were practically on top of the body and didn’t smell it.” She was thankful, damn thankful, but still it amazed her.

“Skills, doc, mad skills,” Ansell said, rolling to his knees, and sat up. He leaned back, arms in the air and let out a groan as he cracked his back. “Like Zhubin said, I can separate out smells. Hopefully I managed to salvage your body too. I tossed a flack blanket over it but I didn’t stick around to ensure it was fully covered.”

“Good.” Lacey moved to Ansell and checked every inch of him before doing the same with Zhubin. Satisfied that they both were okay, she frowned, “Now, who the hell is it that is determined to piss me off so badly? Messing with our crime scene, rigging bodies to blow. I’m seriously about to rip this fuck’s head off myself.”

“It was the same as the other, but this time it had projectiles built in,” Ansell told her before he collapsed on the ground again. “I should have stayed home with the wolves. It was safe, warm, cozy and didn’t have shit blowing up.”

“If you had we’d all be dead,” Zhubin pointed out, getting on his feet and bending to touch the ground with a groan. “I’m rather thankful you came along and kept me and Lace in one piece. Hell, I think even Briar’s thankful I dragged your mangy ass along.”