Tangled Fates (27 page)

without a word.

Blake walked over to her. “Everything okay?” he asked.

She watched as Cohen pushed through the double doors and stared in that direction until

the door clicked shut.

Was everything okay? She didn’t know. What she was certain of was that Cohen was one

troubled male, and she was one very, very confused female.

What did he mean his dream concerned her? What did his dreams consist of that involved

her? What had Nico seen?

“Annis? Was Cohen being an ass?”

She turned her gaze to Blake. “No, Blake, he was fine. Everything is okay.”

But she couldn’t help feeling an ache in her heart for Cohen, because it seemed that

everything was not okay.

Chapter 44

The call from Micah came the next day. Cohen hadn’t heard the conversation between

Noah and Micah, but Noah appeared at his quarters.

“Hey, man,” Noah said, leaning up against the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his

chest. He wore a red T-shirt that read,
Tapout,
and a pair of baggy jeans.

“What’s up, Noah?”

“How’re you feeling?”

Cohen shrugged. His mental playfield was still crowded with too many players, but

physically, he was good. “Fine.”

Noah nodded. “I need a favor.”

Noah explained how Micah had called and was really pissed about Cohen and Annis

escaping. “The deal was that we trade some contacts for you and Annis.”

“Seriously? He wanted fucking contacts for our lives?”

Noah shrugged. “Simple minds, Cohen. What can I say?”

To extend the olive branch, Noah wanted to make good on the contact delivery. “I want

to show him that I’m a male of my word and that I mean business when I say I want to live in

peace.”

Cohen nodded, admiring Noah.

“I’d like you to go with Talin and Jovan for the drop-off.”

If Noah was sending Cohen, it had occurred to him that shit might go tits up and Cohen’s

healing abilities would be needed.

“When do we leave?”

“Now.”

“Rayner took my guns,” Cohen said.

Noah pulled out two handguns from the back of his jeans. “I heard about that. Here. Take

mine.”

Cohen went to his closet to get his holster, then put on a jacket over it. He rode up the

elevator with Noah. Jovan and Talin were waiting in the kitchen.

“Ready?” Jovan said.

Cohen nodded, and the three filed out to the black Hummer.

“Where are we supposed to meet him?” Cohen asked.

“Downtown. In the alley by the Black Cuff.”

They rode in silence as The Rolling Stone’s “Sympathy for the Devil” played through the

speakers. Jovan drove and Talin rode shotgun. Cohen reflected on their conversation in the

desert, and he wondered how Talin’s metaphorical scorpions and snakes were doing.

Jovan pulled the Hummer into a parking space at the mouth of the alley. “How’s that for

luck?” he asked.

“Lucky indeed. It’s like you’re a leprechaun or something,” Cohen said.

Jovan chucked as he checked his rearview mirror. “Yeah, next thing you know I’ll be

shitting four leaf clovers.”

“Or gold coins,” Talin said.

“Ride that rainbow, Jovan,” Cohen said with a laugh.

“Okay, here they come,” Jovan said. “Put on your friendly faces, boys. Remember, we’re

supposed to be the goodwill ambassadors.”

Cohen turned to see Micah and two others of The Platoon, Simon and Jael, walking down

the street.

Jovan rolled down his window, and Talin handed him the box with the contacts.

Micah stepped up to the car.

“Hey, Micah, good to see you again, man. I got the contacts with me. Your life is about

to become a lot easier, my friend,” Jovan said. “And Noah says hey, and hopes that you enjoy

this gift.”

He handed Micah the box, and Cohen’s gut clenched. Something wasn’t right.

Micah smiled, and Jael appeared behind him. It was as if everything went into slow

motion. The gun came up, and two shots were rapidly fired, one hitting Jovan in the chest, the

other hitting Talin. Then the gun swung in Cohen’s direction, and he saw the flash of the muzzle

as he dove for the floor. He felt the fire and pain of the bullet as it pierced his bicep. There was

another shot, then he heard footsteps running away.

Cohen sat up and looked at Jovan and Talin. Jovan’s eyes were wide as he watched the

blood seep from his chest, and Talin was unconscious, but still breathing. The fourth shot had

apparently hit Talin, which made him the big winner with two holes in his chest.

Quickly, Cohen evaluated what needed to be done. First, he needed to get all of them out

of there. That was priority number one. Who knew if The Platoon would be back to make sure

the job was complete, or worse yet, the police. He heard sirens in the distance, letting him know

that someone had called in gunshots.

“I need to get us out of here,” he said to Jovan, who nodded. Cohen got out of the

Hummer and opened the front door. He pulled Jovan out and helped him into the back seat.

Climbing into the driver’s seat, he threw up a prayer that he would be able to get them somewhere safe in time so that he could heal both of them.

He pulled away from the curb and turned right. The freeway was dead ahead. If he could

get on it, they should be home free. Once they reached the deserted stretch of Highway 85, he

could pull over and heal them. He figured it would be about twenty minutes. Looking at both of

them, he didn’t know if they had twenty minutes. He might have to come up with a Plan B. A

garage somewhere? A neighborhood street? Dammit! He needed somewhere secluded. He

needed to concentrate, not worry about someone witnessing a good old-fashioned SR44 healing.

Once he reached the freeway, he fished out his phone and dialed Noah. It went to

voicemail. He cursed and dialed Rayner.

“Hello?” It was Faith.

“Faith, it’s Cohen. I need you to listen very carefully.”

He gave her the rundown, told her to have everyone meet him outside the silo, then hung

up. He was going to have to hope Talin and Jovan made it to the silo and he was need help

getting these guys out of the car.

Shit.

Both Talin and Jovan were bleeding, but breathing. Cohen took off his shirt that read,

There is no such thing as stupid questions, just stupid people,
and ripped it in half. He pressed

one half to Talin’s chest, hoping to stop some of the bleeding. He might as be trying to stop a

tornado with a hand-held fan.

“Both of you fuckers better hang in there!” he yelled. Jovan groaned, which Cohen

considered an excellent sign.

Once he hit Highway 85, he stepped on the gas. There were very few patrols down here,

which was good. A few minutes later, he turned onto the dirt road, dirt and rocks flying all

around him. He noticed the chain link gates leading to the silo were opened, which meant he

didn’t have to slow down.

As he pulled up to the front of the silo, the front door burst open.

“Jovan!” Liberty screamed, tears streaming down her face, the others in the silo right

behind her. She rushed to the backdoor and threw it open.

Noah grabbed her and spun her around. “You need to focus, Liberty. Losing your shit

now isn’t going to help him. We need you to apply pressure to the wound and remain calm so

Cohen can do his thing, okay?”

She nodded, and in controlled chaos, Talin and Jovan were lifted out of the Hummer and

into the house.

Annis stood at the top of the steps. It was obvious to him that she was irritated at her lack

of sight. “Cohen?” she called.

“I’m right here,” he said, climbing the metal stairs.

“You’ve been hurt as well!” she said, reaching for him.

“How did you know?” he asked, pulling her in to his chest.

“I can smell the blood!”

He guided her into the house and was met in the kitchen area by everyone.

“It doesn’t look like either have much time,” Noah said. “We better just get the healings

done ASAP.”

Cohen glanced over at the kitchen floor, where Talin and Jovan laid side by side. Liberty

sat with Jovan’s head in her lap, pressing on the chest wound. Her face was dry, her demeanor

calm, but the storm of emotions brewed just below the surface. Everyone else was gathered, the

silence in the room deafening. As he studied their worried faces, he knew they were all

depending on him to save Jovan and Talin. He took a deep breath and went over to them,

kneeling in between Jovan and Talin.

Both were in bad shape, but Talin had two holes while Jovan had one. He needed to start

with Talin and hoped that Jovan would hold on.

He closed his eyes and put his hands on Talin’s chest and abdomen. Channeling his

energy into him, he got a lay of the land. Both bullets had missed his heart, but an artery was

nicked, and one bullet was lodged in his lung. The other had traveled down to his liver and out

his side.

Next he waited for Talin’s energy to join with his own so that the healing process could

begin.

Nothing. He shifted on his knees and focused again. “C’mon, Talin,” he whispered.

“Where are you?”

Again, nothing.

“Rayner!” Cohen yelled. “Where’s his goddamned energy?”

Rayner looked around and a string of curses left his lips as his gaze fell on Talin’s body.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Rayner yelled.

Cohen stood and looked down at Talin. He couldn’t see anything, but he knew Rayner

had found Talin’s energy.

“What’s he saying?” Cohen asked.

“You don’t want to do this, Talin,” Rayner said, shaking his head.

“Rayner, a little help here,” Cohen said.

Rayner shook his head again. “He’s floating right above his body. He doesn’t want to

live. He says his reason for living died when SR44 was destroyed.”

There was silence for a moment, then Rayner said, “He wants you to help Jovan. He . . .

he doesn’t want to be helped. He’s . . . asking that we let him go.”

Cohen looked around at the shocked faces. The fact of the matter was that there was

nothing he could do for someone who didn’t want to be helped. Unlike human medicine, he

needed Talin’s energy in order for the healing to be effective. Without Talin’s energy, there

wasn’t anything Cohen could do.

He looked over at Beverly, Hudson’s mate and a human doctor. She had tears in her eyes

as she met his gaze. “Beverly?” Cohen said.

She shrugged her shoulders. “He’s lost so much blood, Cohen. We would need to get the

operating table set up, and I don’t have the right instruments . . . I don’t know if it would do any

good.”

“We have to try!” Cohen yelled.

She nodded.

“Talin is begging you not to,” Rayner said quietly. “He’s asking us to please let him go to

be with his
lovren
.”

Cohen swore and looked over at Jovan and Liberty. He didn’t have time to fight with

Talin, but he could save Jovan. He knelt next to him and put his energy into Jovan’s body. Jovan

met him right away, and together they were able to repair the damage the bullet had left.

As the final moments of mending were taking place within Jovan, Rayner said, “He’s

gone. Talin’s gone.”

Chapter 45

Annis stood hesitantly at Cohen’s door.

After Jovan had been healed, Cohen had told Liberty that Jovan needed to rest, and then

Cohen left. She heard the door to the stairway shut.

They all stood in shocked silence, the only noise from those quietly crying.

“We . . . we . . . uh, need to get this place cleaned up,” Noah said, his voice choked with

emotion.

Shadows formed in front of Annis, and a moment later she could see. She was stunned as

she gazed around at the bodies and blood.

There was so much blood everywhere. Jovan was trying to sit up, and Noah and Liberty

were helping him. They led him to the elevator and disappeared.

“We’ll need to do a burial,” Hudson said quietly. “Someone help me with the body.”

“I’ll go get a gurney,” Rayner said, and he and Faith went to the stairway.

They returned minutes later, and Annis stepped up to help Hudson lift Talin on it. She

couldn’t help but notice that Talin looked peaceful, and she realized she had never seen him look

so content. She spread a white sheet over him.

Hudson, Beverly, and Rayner wheeled the body out of the silo, and Abby and Faith went

to the pantry to get buckets and mops. Blake, Nico, and Annis stood in silence.

Faith and Abby both had tears streaming down their faces. They didn’t need to be doing

this awful job. They had known Talin a lot longer than Annis had, and Annis imagined this

would be very difficult for them. “Go and be with your mates,” Annis said. “Please. Go comfort

each other.”

“Yes. I’ll help Annis,” Blake said.

“As will I,” said Nico.

Abby and Faith began to argue, but Annis, Nico, and Blake would have none of it.

Slowly, everyone disappeared, and the three of them cleaned the blood in silence, making sure

that the black marble floor shone brightly and was free of any reminders of the bloodbath that

had once been.

When the blood was cleaned up, Nico excused himself, and Blake and Annis held each

other for a long time. Words weren’t needed, and Annis felt comforted by Blake’s embrace, but

she knew there was someone else who needed comforting more than she did.

And here she was at Cohen’s door.