Tangled Fates (21 page)

to meet whoever it was, and Micah turned the corner with Jael and Simon.

“Hello, Annis,” Micah said.

She said nothing, but crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the giant.

“Let’s go. Upstairs. We’re going to have some fun.”

She didn’t know what “fun” he had planned, but she wasn’t going anywhere.

He reached out and grabbed her arm so tightly, she yelled out.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Cohen growled from the other room, coming to his feet.

“Get your paws off her. Now.”

“Ah, the Savior is awake! Wonderful! You can watch the fun!”

Cohen slowly moved into the room. “And what fun would that be?”

Micah walked up to Cohen so that they were almost chest-to-chest. He towered above

Cohen by a few inches and bested him by about forty pounds, but to Cohen’s credit he didn’t

flinch, even though he was injured and sweat formed on his brow from the fever.

“We’re bored, Savior, and we have a while until we go out. We thought it would be fun

to see if Annis can really fight.”

Oh, no. Annis looked down at her long, golden gown. This challenge did not bode well

for the gown, or for her—it would only slow her down. A Warrior simply did not belong in a

dress.

Cohen glanced over at her, then back up at Micah. “And why would you want to do

that?”

Micah shrugged. “Because I can.” Micah came over to Annis and ran his finger down her

cheek. “The only question is, who shall you fight?”

Annis remained silent, trying not to outwardly cringe at his touch.

“It can’t be the Savior, that simply wouldn’t be fair to him. He’s injured.”

He turned to the other two in the room and announced, “She will fight Nico.”

Annis studied Jael and Simon, trying not to let her surprise show. She would have

preferred to fight either of them—at least she had the anger at Jael, who had been instrumental in

shooting and kidnapping her and Cohen. She hadn’t been aware that Nico was still among The

Platoon as she hadn’t seen him since the crash upon their arrival.

“I won’t fight,” she said quietly.

Micah turned to her and smiled. He then spun around and hit Cohen in the stomach,

sending the male crashing to the floor. Micah jumped on top of him and hit him in the face. He

then looked at Annis. “You will fight, or I will continue this assault until he’s a bloody, beaten

mess.”

He waiting a moment for her answer, and she provided none. He hit Cohen in the face

again, who was barely able to stand due to his injury and fever, let alone fight back.

“Enough!” Annis yelled, stepping toward Micah. She couldn’t take watching him beat

Cohen.

Micah stood and stared at her, his rust-red eyes glowing. A slow smile came over his

face. “Let’s go upstairs and find Nico then, shall we?”

Chapter 34

Cohen slowly made it up the stairs behind Annis, The Platoon member named Jael at his

back. Jael kept hitting him just below his gunshot wound with the butt of the gun, and if Cohen

had any strength, he would have turned around and beat the guy’s head in with it.

He’d been unconscious when they arrived at the house, so this was his first glimpse of the

upstairs. The living room had been cleared of all furniture except one chair, and their footsteps

echoed on the hardwood floors that gleamed beneath the recess lighting. The walls were painted

navy blue, and all the blinds had been closed, which gave the room a cave-like feel. As Cohen

studied the rock fireplace, he realized that this had been planned. The room had been prepared

for this fight, and Cohen wondered where the house’s rightful owners were. Based on his short

interaction with Micah, the guy didn’t have the brainpower to figure out how to make money in

order to buy it, and he seemed more like the type who just took what he wanted anyway.

“Sit, Savior,” Micah said, pointing to the light-blue wingchair. As much as Cohen would

like to argue that one, he wasn’t going to. Gingerly, he lowered himself into the seat.

“Nico!” Micah bellowed. A moment later, Cohen heard footsteps approaching from down

the hall. A male with blondish hair and glowing silver eyes came into the room wearing a pair of

sweats and sneakers. On the left side of his chest was a tattoo that at first looked like a sun a

child would draw, but then Cohen realized it looked more like a closed eye. Interesting. He

wondered what it represented.

“Nico, you will fight Annis.”

Something flashed across Nico’s face. Cohen couldn’t place the emotion because it came

and went so fast. But in its place was disgust, and one thing Cohen was certain of was that Nico

wasn’t happy about his orders. Cohen wondered if Nico and Annis knew each other from the

military on SR44.

He glanced over at Annis, who definitely had her game face on. There wasn’t any

emotion as she ripped the long skirt to thigh-length, throwing the extra fabric aside while ignoring the catcalls from the rest of The Platoon. Cohen saw red listening to them, and clenched

his jaw. No one should be making those noises at his female.

The thought totally caught him off guard. His female? He already had a female he had

made a grave oath to. A
Tambaran
—where he had stabbed himself, for God’s sake.

Nico and Annis circled each other, and there was silence for a few minutes as everyone

watched. Cohen was so uncomfortable with the situation, he wanted to scream and drive a stake

through Micah’s heart, but that wasn’t going to happen in his condition. Instead, he sat still,

gripping the arms of the chair, sweat dripping from his forehead from fever and what he was

witnessing.

“Get on with it!” Micah bellowed, and the other three agreed.
Fucking animals.

This whole scene reminded him of one night many years ago where Talin had given him

a lecture on Roman history. According to Talin, early Romans were barbaric, often feeding

people to lions and other vicious animals, or forcing animals to fight each other. This was very

Romanesque, if there was such a word, and Cohen wouldn’t have been surprised if they did have

a tiger or two hidden in the back rooms waiting to eat the loser.

Nico lunged at Annis, who took his momentum, brought him to the floor with her, then

flipped him over her head. His back slammed against the floor with a large thud, knocking the air

out of him. She was on him in a heartbeat, her fist cocked and loaded. She swung, and he

grabbed the fist and twisted, causing her arm to bend at an awkward angle. Pain flashed across

her face, and Nico was on top of her. He didn’t try to hit her, but instead flipped her over to her

stomach. Cohen thought the barbarianism was over, but Annis caught him in the face with an

elbow, stunning him and sending him off her. She moved to the fireplace and grabbed the poker.

Silently, her feet carried her to Nico, her breathing just a little heavy. She lifted the poker, and

Cohen struggled to his feet. Annis couldn’t kill the guy. If she did, she would only be playing

into this sick game.

“Annis, don’t!” he yelled.

The rest of The Platoon egged her on like they really wanted her to stab him. What was

wrong with these guys? They were willing to lose one of their own for blood sport?

Annis stared down at Nico, and the calls for Annis to stab him escalated. She glanced

over at Cohen, and their eyes locked for a moment.

“Don’t,” he said, shaking his head. He knew she couldn’t hear him over the cacophony of

The Platoon, but he hoped she understood him.

She nodded, looked down at Nico and said something, but Cohen couldn’t make it out.

With force, she brought the poker down and planted it in Nico’s left forearm.

The roar from the members of The Platoon overrode the scream from Nico. All were on

their feet shouting obscenities at him about being bested by a female.

Annis pulled the poker out of Nico’s arm and tossed it aside, away from The Platoon. She

bent down and pulled on Nico’s good hand, helping him up. They stood together in the middle of

the room facing everyone. Both of their faces were covered in a sheen of sweat, and both

breathed heavily. The whole fight had lasted less than ten minutes.

Micah approached them. “You were beat by a female,” he sneered in Nico’s face.

Nico said nothing, just glared at him while leaning on Annis.

“You sorry piece of crap.” Micah turned to the others. “Jael, get the Savior and Annis

back down to the basement, and make sure the door is locked.”

As they made their way down the stairs with Jael once again poking Cohen with his gun,

Cohen wondered what would happen to Nico.

Once back down in the basement, Cohen collapsed on the bed.

“Can I get you anything?” Annis asked.

Cohen shook his head. “Why did you stab him?”

Annis put a cold cloth on his forehead. “You’re burning up, Cohen,” she murmured.

Yeah, he knew that, but he needed to know why she’d stabbed Nico.

“You aren’t answering my question,” Cohen said softly.

Annis sighed and sat down on the bed. “I was afraid,” she said.

“Of what? You had him beat.”

Her golden stare met his, and he felt like he had been punched in the gut. “I was afraid

that if I didn’t, Micah would view me as weak . . . and . . . ” she looked down at her hands. “And

he would want to hurt me the way a male has hurt me before.” Her gaze met his again. “I needed

to show my strength. Besides, Nico’s fine with it.”

She got up and went over to the microwave on the dresser. He heard the rustle of the

plastic coming off the soup container. How in the world could Nico be okay with being stabbed?

He asked her.

“Nico and I have a past. He was my lover many centuries ago on SR44.”

The flood of anger and jealousy that raged through Cohen propelled him into the upright

position.

“Nico was your lover?” he asked loudly, hearing the irritation in his voice.

Annis turned to him and smiled. “Yes, Cohen, he was. His full name is Nicoli, and I

called him Li.”

Chapter 35

Annis felt a wave of happiness roll through her. Cohen was jealous—that she could see

clearly, and she felt like giggling. The joy was quickly tampered down by sadness as she

remembered the
Tambaran
Cohen had made.

Jealous or not, he would never be hers. He belonged to Mia. But that didn’t mean she

couldn’t tease him.

“Cohen, is that jealousy I see?”

He said nothing, but laid back down on the bed and closed his eyes. “If he’s your ex-

lover, why is he with The Platoon? Why isn’t he helping us get out of here?”

Annis studied him. “I didn’t know Nico was here. I haven’t seen him. I didn’t know what

became of him after the crash.”

Just then the upstairs door opened and footsteps shuffled down the steps.

Annis knew it wasn’t Micah, as he alone sounded like a herd of buffalo. With another

member of The Platoon with him, the herd was upgraded to elephants.

Nico rounded the corner. His dirty-blond hair was short, and his eyes glowed silver. His

strong jawline, full lips, and high cheekbones made for a very nice-looking human male. He

wore the same sweats and tennis shoes he had fought in, but he had donned a white button-down

shirt.

No one said anything, just stared at each other.

Annis was the first to speak. “Hello, Nico.”

“Annis.” His gaze traveled to Cohen, who was sitting up again.

“Nico, this is Cohen.”

Both remained silent.

“I’m sorry I stabbed you,” Annis said quietly.

Nico tore his gaze from Cohen. “I understand why you did it, Annis. You needed to show

strength, and it was smart.” He gave her a small smile and held up his bandaged arm. “It sure

hurts though.”

Annis glanced over at Cohen, then stepped up to Nico and laced her arms around his

neck. “I’m very happy to see you. I didn’t know you were still with The Platoon.”

His right arm went around her waist, while his left hung to his side. “I’m happy to see

you, too. I was afraid of your death when I saw the FBI take you away from the crash site. I was

relieved when Micah said that you had gone with the Saviors after being rescued.”

There was a low growl from the bed, and Annis stepped away from Nico and shot a glare

at Cohen.

“Nico—”

“We don’t have a lot of time, Annis. Micah has put me in charge of guarding you,

threatening to end my life if you are not here when he returns. Everyone has gone to the meeting

with the Saviors. We can leave, but we must hurry because I’m uncertain of when they’ll be

back.”

“You aren’t coming with us, Nico,” Cohen said, standing to his full height. “You are not

a friend of the Saviors.”

Nico withdrew a gun from the pocket of his sweats. “On the contrary, Savior, you will

take me with you. I can’t stand another goddamn day with that psychopath Micah.”

Cohen shook his head, and Annis noticed that his complexion was a little green. “I

appreciate that, but I can’t let you near the rest of the Saviors, Nico.”

“Are you okay?” Annis said, taking a few steps toward Cohen. His whole body was

covered in sweat, and he swayed in his shiny dress shoes.

“I’m fine. Just saying that—”

Cohen collapsed, and Nico was the one to get to him first, grasping him under the arms

and laying him out gently on the floor.

“Do you know how to operate a vehicle?” Nico asked.