Niklosi's Nightmare (First Wave Book 10) (19 page)

“Then why are we staying here
tonight?” Greg countered, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. “The
aliens are gone; we know that. Odds are they’re never coming back here. So why
are we still here?”

Kyle grew angry at the question,
mostly because he didn’t know why the hell he was staying either. Something
inside him wouldn’t let them leave yet.

There’s something here, and I’m too
close to finding it
, Kyle thought as he looked around in frustration.

He wasn’t about to admit to his
captain that he wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to remain one more night.

“I think they know something, and
they’re hiding it. I think all this supernatural shit is another ploy, and I
want to catch them in it. I don’t think they willingly helped the aliens, but
they might have helped what they believed were AWOL soldiers,” Kyle argued, and
understanding dawned in Greg’s eyes.

“OK, I see where you need to
exhaust all options before you consider this one. But I don’t understand why
the supernatural would be hard for you. For god’s sake, we hunt aliens! How the
hell can a demon or any other creatures surprise you?” Greg asked, seriously
curious.

Kyle shook his head, not wanting to
have that conversation.

Not here, not ever, and definitely
not with the captain,
he thought.

“Get the men assembled outside the
station. I want to go over perimeter ideas,” Kyle ordered before he walked away
and into the station.

*****

“You played that really well,” Nik
told BJ in her mind. He was grinning from ear to ear at the way she’d handled
the major.

“He’s a hybrid!” Grai roared behind
Nik.

Nik winced knowing that someone,
most likely Bess, had informed Grai that the major was indeed one of their own.
He turned to look at Grai and saw him glaring back at him, confirming that he
should have told Grai before he heard it from someone else.

He mouthed, “I’m sorry,” to Grai
and was relieved when Grai just shook his head and sat down.

“I think your mom just told Grai
about Kyle. He’s just as shocked,” Nik told BJ, not wanting them to stop
talking.

“I can imagine,” BJ replied as she
watched Kyle come inside the station. “For the life of me, I can’t see anything
about him that even gives a hint of it. I don’t know how he’s hidden from the
military all this time.”

“Do you think he knows?” Nik asked.

BJ mentally shrugged.

“I can’t tell. Momma and Dennis
might know, but they haven’t said anything to me yet. I’ve stared into his eyes
a dozen times though, and there’s nothing in them. I’ve never seen a hybrid
without the discolored dots of an unbound beast or the swirls of the beast
bound. He has nothing,” BJ said, staring at the major’s eyes again while he was
distracted at the coffee pot.

“Regular contacts hide it. We use
them on missions in order to blend in with the humans,” Nik admitted.

BJ sighed and closed her eyes as
she mentally kicked herself.

“That’s why I didn’t recognize you
right away. I’ve always looked at the eyes. I didn’t know contacts hid the
beast signs,” BJ muttered, feeling stupid.

The hybrids who lived in their town
had never had a reason to shield themselves from one another, and she’d never
encountered one in all the years she’d been in St. Louis. 

“You have a natural ability to
shield your beast, and your eyes come from your mother’s side of the family.
You can’t blame yourself for not knowing what we do to conceal ourselves,” Nik
assured her.

“I’m going to try and get close
enough to see if he has any contacts in,” BJ said as she stood, determined to
find out if the major knew he was one of them.

“Do not! The major knows what he
is,” Bess boomed through the shengari’, her voice echoing through those in the
transport above as well. “The council has decided to deal with the major
personally this evening. No one is to interfere in any way.”

Grai, Disc, and Nik all looked at
one another.

“I don’t think that is going to be
good news for the major,” Disc said with a grin.

“We don’t even know how many of our
people he’s responsible for capturing, torturing, and killing. I think whatever
they do to him won’t be nearly enough,” Grai growled with a shake of his head.

“I’m sure we could do the same
thing to you, Grai T’Alq, and afterwards you could tell us if you think it fair
enough,” Rolantro whispered through his mind.

Grai turned pale and shook his
head.

“On second thought, maybe we should
wait and see what happens in the night before we judge fairness,” Grai amended,
wanting no part of what the demigods had planned for the military unit below.

“I think if anyone could make the
punishment fit the crime, it’d be the demigods,” Disc added.

“Since you’ll be a part of it, you
and Blade can fill us in,” Grai suggested, curious about the plans for the
evening.

“I would like to invite you, Traze,
and Nik to the mercantile tonight to watch the events with us,” Bess whispered
through their minds.

Nik nodded his head vigorously at
Grai, wanting to be on the ground near BJ. He had no idea what was going to
happen, but he wanted to be close in case anything went wrong.

“We would be honored,” Grai
replied, not quite sure if he wanted to go or not.

“Looks like your mom is letting us
come down to watch from the mercantile,” Nik told BJ.

BJ grinned at the excitement in his
voice and quickly masked it.

“Hmm, it sounds like the elders
have a real show planned,” BJ replied, wondering what they had in mind. “I
still don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“Is that even safe?” Nik asked.
“You’re the one that’s going to be so close to them when this plan unfolds.
These are heavily armed men who won’t hesitate to shoot. I’m not sure it’s a
good idea that you remain with them.”

Nik had to admit that he felt
immensely better having voiced his concerns, but he expected a backlash of some
kind from BJ or her eavesdropping mother.

BJ was suffused with warmth at his
concern and had to stop the smile from spreading across her face.

“I doubt the elders-much less my
mother-would let me be here if they thought I was in danger. But thanks,” BJ
replied, then wanted to kick herself for adding the last.

There was an awkward pause between
them when Greg came into the room.

“The men are ready outside,” Greg
told Kyle.

“Let’s get this party started,”
Kyle said as he stood and gestured BJ towards the door. “After you.”

“Show time,” BJ whispered to Nik as
she smiled at the major and headed back outside.

Chapter
Eighteen

Nik had been pacing the transport
for an hour as he waited for BJ and the others to finish their dinner at the
diner in town. BJ had allowed him to remain in the back of her mind, listening
to the conversations going around the table between Dennis, Irwin, Bess, Mojo,
BJ, Kyle, and Greg.

Though everything appeared to be
going well, and the conversation remained light and friendly, Nik couldn’t
shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. He was so tightly wound that he
had his weapon levelled on the intruder on the transport before he realized
what he’d done.

“I do not believe you will need
that,” Rolantro stated as he pushed the barrel of the rifle away from his chest.

“What’s wrong?” Grai asked as he
stepped towards the leader of the demigods.

“Why, nothing,” Rolantro replied.
“I am here to glamour you all before we take you down.”

All personnel on the craft had
gathered near the demigod, staring at him in curiosity. All but Traze, who was
again looking around for who his brother was speaking to.

“Seriously? Still not going to let
me see you?” Traze asked as he threw his hands up in frustration.

Rolantro waved his hand, grabbed
Grai, and the two completely disappeared from the craft. Seconds later, another
one of the demigods appeared and took Disc. It continued until Nik and Decano
were the last standing in the transport, but Decano was to remain with ship.

Without any warning, Nik felt like
the craft was spinning, and moments later he was wobbling around and blinking
his eyes to clear them. He looked around the kitchen of the mercantile and saw the
other demigods steadying some other people.

He turned to the beautiful woman
holding him upright while the dizziness passed.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

The tinkling laughter that erupted
from the woman held a pleasant musical quality to it.

“If you hurt my cousin again, you
won’t be thanking me,” Tori whispered and let go of Nik’s arm when she saw that
he was able to stand on his own.

Nik turned to talk to her, but she
disappeared in a small flash of light. He looked around the kitchen and saw
several people talking to Rolantro, and he walked over towards them, not
knowing where Grai or the others were.

“What the fuck did you do to me?”
Traze screamed out in a small voice from the other room.

Nik headed into the other room to
check on Traze and make sure he was alright. He walked through the short
hallway and into the showroom area where all the basic goods were sold, but he
didn’t see Traze or the others anywhere.

He was just heading back into the
kitchen to ask where Grai and the others were when he turned towards Traze’s
voice.

“What the fuck? This shit isn’t
funny, you bastards!”

“Traze?” Nik called out, wondering
if Traze was sitting behind one of the stocked shelves.

“Nik?”

“Yeah . . . where are you?” Nik
called out as he walked through the store.

He’d just turned down a short aisle
when he was surprised by a young boy. Nik smiled at the kid and was moving to
the next aisle in his search for Traze when he heard Traze again, and he turned
back to the aisle. He stood there speechless for a moment as understanding
slowly dawned on him. Then Nik burst out in laughter.

“You asshole! This isn’t fucking
funny!” Traze growled out.

The noise brought the people from
the kitchen into the store area, and Nik tried to contain his laughter long
enough to scan for Grai and the others until he realized why he hadn’t seen
anyone. He raised his hand up.

“I’m Nik,” he said, dying to see
the glamour the demigods gave him. From what he could tell as he looked down at
himself, they hadn’t changed his appearance much.

Not as much as poor Traze
, he
thought as he again looked down at the small, red-faced boy who appeared no
older than a five or six-year-old human child.

“Grai,” a mid-50s man called out
with his hand raised as he headed towards his brother and Nik.

“Discorian,” a strapping young man
added.

“Blade.”

Blade appeared unfazed by his
sudden change into a shaggy haired teen, and it only made Nik more curious to
see what he looked like, so he moved over to the mirror standing near the
register.

He was shocked to see he was an
attractive looking young man with dark hair that needed to be cut and dark brown
eyes. He was also a good eight inches shorter.

Still damn glad to be me and not
Traze
, Nik thought as he saw Grai trying to calm him down.

He couldn’t help but grin when he
heard BJ’s voice in his mind.

“Momma said she had plans for that
boy, but I didn’t think she’d do that,” BJ said by way of an apology.

Nik looked up and saw BJ waving at
him through the mercantile window as she, Kyle, and Greg headed down the street
to the station while Dennis, Irwin, and Bess headed towards him. He gave BJ a
brilliant smile and waved back at her. When she disappeared from view, he found
himself walking to the windows to see her again.

“You fucking bitch! Put me back!”
Traze screamed, launching himself at BJ’s mother the moment she came through
the door.

His small fists were flying at Bess
before she grabbed them both in one hand, turned the boy around and gave him
four solid whacks on his backside. When she was done, she turned him back
around and stared into his tear-streaked eyes.

“Since you refuse to learn in your
own way, you will learn by mine. Now take yourself into the bathroom and clean
yourself up. When you get back out here, you show some respect, or I will teach
it to you my way,” Bess warned, then turned him towards the bathroom and
swatted his bottom gently until he started walking towards it.

Traze was halfway to the bathroom
door when he turned towards Bess.

“I hate you!” he screamed then ran
into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

“Is this really necessary?” the
middle-aged Grai asked Bess as he looked towards the bathroom with concern.

Bess turned angry eyes to Grai.

“If you want what is best for that
boy, you will leave him to me.”

“I know he can be impulsive and
piss people off, but I think you’re taking this too far. Maybe you can just
send him back to the ship,” Grai suggested, trying to find a happy medium and
spare his brother the humiliation.

“There is much he needs to learn
and not much time to learn it. Do not interfere,” Bess warned then stormed off
to the bathroom.

Grai was getting ready to follow
when Rolantro’s hand stopped him.

“Leave him to Bess,” Rolantro
warned, his glamour unable to hide his swirling blue eyes.

“Why?” Grai asked in exasperation.
“Why does she dislike him so much?”

“She likes him enough to skirt our
laws to save him. The only soul meant to be kept this weekend is your brother’s,”
Rolantro warned.

The blood completely drained from
Grai’s face, and Nik gasped in shock, turning to the demigod.

“What?” Grai asked hoarsely. “You
said no souls were meant to be taken!”

“No military souls. Your brother
will die here if Bess cannot get through to him,” Rolantro said. “So to say she
dislikes him is incorrect; she is risking much to save him.”

“How is he supposed to die?” Grai
growled in fear.

“Though Bess chooses to tempt
punishment with her actions, I cannot. His fate rests in his own hands; his
only hope is Bess,” Rolantro explained.

“I want him on the ship then. Now!
I want him out of here. I’ll send him back to Dillon,” Grai replied, trying to think
of the fastest way to get Traze away from there.

“You can’t stop it. He’d only die
in your ship, or when he landed, or any number of other ways. The only one who
can stop it is Traze. Bess is trying to help him,” Rolantro explained.

“I don’t understand . . . how can
it happen if he’s locked up at home?” Grai asked, shaking his head and still
determined to get his brother out of Baker’s Creek.

“It is he who is choosing the path.
It is he who must stop it. His reckless and disrespectful behavior has far-reaching
ramifications. It is this refusal to accept responsibility for his own actions
that will cause his death,” Rolantro explained.

When he saw that he still wasn’t
getting through to Grai, he went further.

“If he stays here, he could lose
control and accidently kill someone, setting off a chain of events that would
see him shot and killed. If you send him away, he could do something reckless
in a fit of anger that causes the ship to crash. He is running towards death
with his actions, and Bess is trying to help him find the brakes,” Rolantro said,
seeing the dawning understanding in Grai’s eyes.

Grai looked towards the bathroom
where Traze was now standing outside of it while Bess dried his tears. It
reminded him so much of the times he’d done the same for his brother when he
was a child that he almost choked on the need to hug the little boy to him and
protect him.

“If anyone can reach him, it is
Bess,” Rolantro assured Grai as he put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t take him,” Grai choked out.

“We don’t want to, which is why
we’ve allowed Bess to skirt our laws and her obligations. But she can only go
so far; your brother needs to meet her halfway. Give her some time,” the elder
demigod said.

Grai saw the little boy that was
his brother nod his head at Bess before he reached up a small hand and placed
it in hers. She smiled broadly at him as she led him into the kitchen.

“What is she trying to do? How can
she help?” Grai asked, desperate to save his brother.

“She will give him back that which
he has lost,” Rolantro replied.

“What has he lost?” Grai asked, at
a loss what the demigod meant.

“The destiny he is meant to fulfill
is bigger than the problems he’s facing within himself. I cannot say anything
more, but I hope that Bess is successful,” Rolantro said with a tone of
finality.

Grai looked as if to speak, but
closed his mouth and went into the kitchen after his brother.

“We shall wait until they are
settled at the station then discuss the plan for the evening. Make yourselves
comfortable,” Rolantro called out to those gathered.

Blade and Disc went into the
kitchen to check on Grai while Nik continued to stare out of the window even
though he’d lost sight of BJ a while ago.

“You approve of your glamour?”
Rolantro said from right beside Nik.

Nik was a little startled at the
man’s sudden appearance beside him but shook it off quickly.

“Yes, it’s fine. Thank you,” Nik
said, truly grateful they’d finally let him off the ship.

“I know you fear for her. There is
no reason. She will leave the moment we put them to sleep for their mental
readjustment and not return until before we allow them to awaken. Use the time
with her wisely; you will only have this one chance to repair the disaster you
made of your first impression,” Rolantro warned then turned to walk away.

“Wait, does that mean I can spend
some time with her?” Nik asked, his hope rising.

Rolantro laughed.

“I would think you need to ask her
that,” he said and chuckled as he walked into the kitchen.

“Well, hell, when are you putting
them to sleep?” Nik asked the now-empty room.

A thread of excitement coursed
through him as he headed into the kitchen to find out when the readjustment
would begin so he could ask BJ on a date. He had no idea what he was going to
do on the date or even where they would go, but he was too thrilled with the
chance to care.

“Yeah, asshole. Too bad you had to
fuck this all up first, only to end up at the beginning again,”
Targe
complained in his mind.

“Shut up and help me figure
something out,”
Nik growled back at his beast.

*****

BJ was tired after helping the
military string fishing line with cans around the wooded perimeter of the
station. Although Kyle and Greg had a private meeting with their men earlier,
she could see their disbelief as they mocked the preparations being made for
the evening.

Won’t be so cocky in a little
while,
she thought with a grin.

It was hard to believe they were
brutal killers and torturers of her people as she watched their jovial banter
and the innocent smiles. Though she knew the events of the evening could change
from what she and Mojo had seen, she knew the men would never be the same again
when it was all over.

They deserve the wake-up call
that’s coming,
she thought as she sat back down at her desk and
propped her feet on the desk.