Untamed (18 page)

Tara stumbled.
Brody reached to steady her. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Tara’s brow dipped. “I’ve never tried to teleport more than once in a day. It’s depleting my energy.”
She glanced up into his face. “I’m not going to be able to run when we get out of the building. You’re going to have to leave me.”

His palms cupped her cheeks. “
That’s not going to happen, Tara. You’ve already saved me so I want you to teleport out of here.”

She shook her head. “I can’t just leave you behind, not until I know you’re out and safe.”

He pressed his lips to hers once more effectively pulling one of her guns from her shoulder holster when he broke the kiss. “Now be a good girl and get out of here.”

He
stepped back, glanced up at the tiles above the commode, and steeled his nerves. He knew that what he was about to do and say had the potential for friendly fire…well, not-so-friendly fire from her. “You’ll just slow me down and get us both killed. Let’s face it, honey…you’re just a pretty face and a good distraction, but you’re not cut out to be a Phantom. So why don’t you pop on out of here like a good girl and go tell the General that I’m on my way?”

The longer she stood there, the greater the chance
became that neither one of them would make it out. He knew the instant he glanced back at her that his words had hurt her. Her lips were turned down, and she looked like he’d sucker-punched her. He didn’t have time to comfort her. He needed her to go…and he needed her to leave him now. So he did the only thing he could think of to get her moving. He used the butt of the gun he’d taken and used it to knock out the rusted screw that was half hanging out. He hoisted himself up into the crawl space and left her standing in the bathroom.

“Screw you
, Brody Connors.”

He
r words followed him as he moved farther into the crawl space. His lips tilted up in a smile. He’d wanted to make her mad, and he’d succeeded. He’d have hell to pay later, and it might include some begging and groveling, but hopefully he’d gotten her to teleport like he’d intended.

Brody crawled on his hands and knees through the tunnel system, hoping that whatever was keeping Veronica busy
, kept her that way. He paused as he turned down another side tunnel. The asshole from the bar was at the other end of the tunnel and was about to jump down outside the building. Had Brody gotten there even a few minutes before the barfly, he might have had a chance to escape. The guy jumped disappearing out of site.

Deep breathing behind him was the only indication that someone else was in the tunnel. He glanced over his shoulder and wanted to curse. Tara took a deep breath, lowered to her forearms to rest
, and asked in a whisper, “Aren’t you glad I stayed now?”

Are you kidding me
?
Why the hell hasn’t she left
?

“
Tell me what you need.”

“I need you splayed over my knee
s so I can spank your ass till it’s a bright pink for not doing what I told you to do.”

“Keep dreaming, Brody, because if and when we get out of this…we’re done. I’m here as your partner, nothing more.” She crawled past him and continued down the ventilation shaft. “You were right
. I’m not cut out for this shit… but I can tell you one thing… I would never,” She glanced back at him, “ever…leave my damn partner behind, no matter how much I wanted to kill him myself.”

“You were supposed to shimmy back to the General, out of here.”

She peered out of the vent shaft before sliding her legs around. She held out her arms, and he almost gasped as a machine gun appeared and she hopped out. He quickly followed her and landed on the ground next to her.

“I don’t suppose you can conjure a vehicle.”

“You’ll be on your own after this.” She lifted a brow, handing him her machine gun. “I’ll be useless and unconscious on the ground.” She closed her eyes and used the last of her energy to conjure an SUV to their location. He wrapped an arm around her waist before she tumbled to the ground. Her head fell back.

Shots hit the wall by his head. He lowered to his knees and exchanged gunfire
, even as he lifted a shield to protect both Tara and himself from getting hit. Brody’s second shot took down his target, and he knew he had to move. It was only a matter of time before more showed up. He kept the shield around them both as he slid Tara’s limp body into the back seat. He belted her in as best he could, ran around to the front of the vehicle, and hopped in. He said a silent thanks that Tara had managed to somehow pick one of the Phantoms’ SUVs with the keys still in the ignition. It was just like the one he had shown up in. Even as he threw the SUV into gear and gunned the gas, he reached into the glove box and pulled out his spare Beretta. This
was
the exact same SUV he’d arrived in.

Brody skidded out an open gate and noticed the skid marks already on the pavement
, figuring this was how the General had escaped. Brody’s mind raced as he tried to figure out where the hell he could go and take Tara so that he could keep her safe while she healed. He needed a doctor….no, he needed a damn healer, and he knew how to find one of those. He hit the Bluetooth on the phone and dialed the one person who could help Tara and bring her back to consciousness. He needed her to be awake when he chewed her ass about not listening to him, and then they would discuss this crap about her wanting to leave. She wasn’t going anywhere if he had anything to say about it. Jamie, the resident martial arts specialist and healer, answered on the first ring.

“Her ass better be with you.”

“Of course she is. Both, you and the General should know that. He sent her.”

Jamie chuckled. “Negative. She was ordered to stand down
. She went of her own accord without permission, and the General is pissed off and ready to kill her.”

“He’s going to have to wait until you heal her, and even the
n, he’s going to have to stand in line because I’ve got first dibs.”

Brody adjusted the mirror to glance at his sleeping beauty. “
Where are you?”

“We flew the co
op and landed in the Eagle’s Nest.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. You better get
your energy juices flowing. She’s going to need all of the extra whammy, juju healing powers you can spare. She really outdid herself this time.”

Chapter 18

Tara snuggled deeper into the soft comfort
er on the bed she was in. She rolled on to her side and flung her arm over where her soft extra pillow should have been. Her fingers splayed against a hard, warm body, and her eyes shot open.

“Welcome back to the land of the
living, princess.”

Tara groaned and rolled on
to her other side. “You’re in the wrong bed, Connors.”

She felt
him shift and heard the rustle of covers. His arm came over her side, and he pulled her body back against his. “Now that’s no way to be to the person who saved your butt.”

Spooning
me, is he for real
?
Like hell
. Tara rolled her eyes and turned in his arms. No matter how wonderful his arms felt around her, she knew better than to act even remotely interested. “I saved your ass first…so technically you should be thanking me. If you hadn’t gotten caught, then I wouldn’t have even had the need to use my gifts to the point of passing out.”

He pressed closer to her
, and she could feel his jean-covered erection pressing against her belly. He propped his cheek in his hand, leaned over, and kissed her neck.

His hand slid up her stomach to just below her breast
s, and he whispered, “You’re wearing too many clothes for me to thank you properly.”

She cupped his other cheek. “Brody…this isn’t going to work.” She patted his cheek
and slid out of the bed. She glanced down at her clothes. She was still in the clothes that she’d worn to go save the General and then Brody. “I’m leaving when this is over, and you were right. I’m nothing but a pretty face with no fighting experience. My life isn’t here, and it’s time we both quit acting like we have any chance of a happy ending or winning the fight.” She hugged her midsection. “Because we don’t.”

She was saved from his response by a knock on the door. She turned around in circles and realized she’d never been in this room before. She moved to the door and pulled it open. Jamie stood on the other side
, leaning against the wall behind her. “You’re already looking better.”

Tara glanced over her shoulder before meeting Jamie’s gaze. “Yeah, a little sleep always helps replenish me.”

Jamie clicked her tongue and grinned. “I’m sure it had more to do with my…” She glanced over Tara’s shoulder at Brody. “What did you call it, Brody? My healing juju?” She rubbed her hands together. “So how are you feeling? Do you have a headache, any aches or pains that I need to fix in the next hour?”

Tara shook her head.
“No…Why? What is happening in the next hour?”

“We’re
storming the castle. It’s time to take the evil queen out of the equation.”

Jamie spun on her heel and was walking down the hall before Tara caught up. “Do you think this plan is wise? She apparently has some mind
-control gift where she can project appearances and take physical control over a body. Shouldn’t you guys be worrying about stuff like that?”

Jamie waved her hand through the air. “
We would be better off with Lydia’s husband, Rick, or if Gracie were participating in the raid since they both can siphon powers, but we aren’t that fortunate. Last I heard, they finally woke Lydia from her coma, and Gracie is still recuperating.” She turned and continued down the hall. “We’re going to have to wing it.”

Tara shook her head
, clearing her scrambled thoughts. This couldn’t be happening. She imagined a wall blocking the hallway and Jamie’s exit. It appeared within seconds. “Wing it? I don’t know how to wing it. We need a plan, or we’re all going to die. I only went in without a plan because we didn’t have a choice.”

Jamie turned and leaned h
er back against the newly added wall. “Well, if it’s any consolation, we’re all supposed to live long enough and still be around to fight Black…not this bitch. So I don’t think this one will be a problem.”

Tara threw her arms up.
“Well then….Are you kidding me? Lydia’s visions are subject to change. Who’s to say she didn’t just finish dreaming of our demise while she was in her freakin’ coma.”

Tara felt her powers being pulled from her in a way she’d never experienced
, almost as if they were being sucked out of her body by a vacuum. The wall behind Jamie disappeared, and Jamie almost fell on her butt. Tara would have been worried if she wasn’t so relieved by who was walking down the hall toward them. She couldn’t contain the smile that formed on her lips.

Lydia’s husband, Rick winked at her. “Nice gift. I bet that comes in handy.”

Tara felt her cheeks blush. “Is that what it feels like when you steal gifts?”

Lydia leaned into her husband and patted his chest. “He didn’t steal it, Tara. He borrowed it.”

Brody appeared next to Tara and threw his arm around her shoulder. “Glad to have you two back. Where’s the General
?”

Rick lifted his thumb over his shoulder. “In the command room. We were sent in to round up the troops.”

Rick turned and Brody and Jamie followed him, everyone except for Lydia. She placed her palm on Tara’s arm, stopping her. “Can we talk for a minute?”

Tara glanced at the retreating backs. “But…”

“It’s important,” Lydia reassured Tara. “What I need to tell you might save a life.”

Lydia glanced over her shoulder before pulling Tara back down into her temporary room. “I had a vision and I need to warn you.” Lydia pushed the door closed.

“Okay.”

“Ethan Jacobs has a talent like none I’ve ever personally seen. I’ve dreamt about his kind, but never met one.”

“His kind?”

Lydia gave Tara’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “He’s a shifter?”

Tara pulled her hand back as if Lydia’s touch burned her. “Come again?”

“He shifts into a big black hair
y wolf.”

Tara shook her head as her mind tried to process the possibility. “That’s not possible. It’s not natural.
You must be mistaken.” Tara reached for her. “Maybe you hit your head when you passed out into your coma. You aren’t thinking clearly.”

“
I know what I’m talking about and he does shift. I needed to warn you so you don’t get scared out in the field and shoot him. He’s important to this mission.”

Tara’s hand automatically moved to rest on her gun. “How is
it that he’s kept a secret like that and you’re not screaming at the top of your lungs that he’s crazy? Let’s say for a minute that I actually believe you, don’t you think that kind of information is important?”

Tara couldn’t help the rise in her voice. The more she thought about it, she itched to go hunt Ethan down and expose the truth. What a joke, he’d kept his secret alright and almost to the point of
gaining everyone’s trust, including hers. Oh God, Cathy. Tara reached for the door. She was going to go find Ethan and give him a piece of her mind and out him for the monster he was.

Lydia placed a palm on Tara’s hand. “Tara, I only told you this so you don’t shoot him. While I was in the coma I saw the outcome
played out both ways. In one, everyone dies if you shoot him. But with you aware of what he is, everyone stays alive. He saves you, he saves Brody, and he saves my husband.”

Tara paused letting the information sink in.

“He’s still a good guy. Just because he’s gifted, he’s still the same guy. It doesn’t make him any different than you or me. His gift is just
different
.”

Tara glanced at Lydia over her shoulder. “There’s one difference. We’ve always been honest and forthcoming about what we can do. He hasn’t.”

Tara yanked the door open and stalked down the hall. How the hell was she going to confront him? What was she going to say and was anyone going to actually believe her?

****

Tara glanced back at Lydia’s worried expression one last time before letting the door to the compound close behind her.
Crap. Crap. Crap
. This couldn’t be happening. Tara adjusted the Velcro on the bulletproof vest around her body. The visions Lydia had while unconscious sent a shiver down Tara’s spine.

She grabbed her gun from the holster and held it
, clutched in her hands, across her lap as she glanced up into the front of the SUV. Brody and Ethan were leaning against the hood of the SUV talking as if they were headed to a football game and not to a battle of epic consequences.

Cathy had walked them out. The General had deemed Cathy’s truth
-telling gift not pertinent in their mission. She was ordered to stay behind.

Cathy leaned into the SUV.
“I wish I was going.”

Tara glanced
up at the men as they meandered around, getting in the vehicle. “I’m glad you’re not.”

Cathy touched Tara’s arm.
“Everything okay?”

Tara shook her head. “Not even close.”

Tara took Cathy’s hand and squeezed it as she leaned in and whispered, “How much do you know about Ethan?”

Cathy tilted her head,
and her brows dipped. “Not much. I haven’t gotten him to open up.”

Tara leaned in closer and whispered in Cathy’s ear. “
Be careful until we find out more about him.”

“
What’s going on?”

Tara grabbed Cathy’s arm
and held her gaze. “He was in one of Lydia’s visions, and I don’t know what it means.”

Cathy shook her head
, and her gaze flew to the front seat. Both of the men shut their doors, and Brody turned in his seat. “Are you ready, princess?”

Tara nodded
, gave one last smile to Cathy, and shut the door just as Rick climbed in next to her.

Tara leaned back in the SUV,
and her mind raced with the implications of what Lydia had told her. Tara placed her hand on her stomach to calm the nerves and, if Lydia’s vision was believed to be correct, the fetus growing inside. This can’t be happening. She didn’t have time for a baby. She wasn’t even mother material and Brody…

He wasn’t
anywhere near ready to be a daddy. The player had been out of the game for only fifteen minutes. Tara closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She’d told him they didn’t have a future. She’d told him they were over. What the heck was she going to do now? She met Brody’s gaze in the rearview mirror. She knew exactly what she was going to do. Keep her baby daddy alive.

The thought of anything happening to him made her feel
as though she was going to be sick. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she lowered her head, breaking the connection.

If she wondered
whether Lydia had told her husband of Tara’s dilemma, Rick confirmed her suspicion. Rick, who’d silently witnessed everything, leaned closer to her and whispered, “Just breathe. I have it on good authority that everything will be okay.”

Tara gasped.
“How did you know? Did she tell you? Did she tell anyone else?”

He grinned. “She didn’t tell me officially.” His grin grew. “She talks in her sleep
, and I didn’t leave her side until she woke up from her coma. So I heard some things I won’t repeat, just yet.” He glanced up front, but to Tara’s surprise, it wasn’t at Brody. He narrowed his eyes as he studied Ethan.

Well
, double damn. It appeared Lydia had spoken in her sleep. At least now she wasn’t the only one who knew Ethan’s secret.

“Ethan, where did you grow up?” Tara asked into the silence of the SUV.

He glanced back at her. His jaw ticked. Yeah, she’d unnerved him. Just the small sign was enough to know that she needed to dig deeper. Cathy’s life just might depend on it. “I grew up in an orphanage in a little town in Texas until I got adopted.”

She
leaned forward. “Does the town have a name?”

He turned back in his seat. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

She sat back, still clutching the gun in her hand. “Try me.”

“Paradise.”

She couldn’t stop her lips from twitching. “Really? Paradise?”

He cleared his throat. “Paradise
Falls, but don’t let the name fool you. It may sound nice, but they don’t like outsiders.”

Tara leaned back and exchanged a look with Rick. He shook his head, as if that was going to stop her next question.

She leaned over to the window and glanced up at the cloudy night sky. “Ethan, you’ll have to forgive my ignorance. Are you strongest during a full moon?”

He glanced back once more. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t know how it all works. I’ve only read about men like you in books.”

Brody glanced in the rearview mirror
, and his brows dipped. “What kind of men, princess?”

Tara pegged Ethan with her gaze.
“Men who shift into wolves.”

Brody threw his head back and laughed. He was the only one laughing.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “I believe you’ve read one too many romance novels, Ms. Clarkston. Have you always believed in fairy tales?”