Burned In Shadows (Shadow Unit) (27 page)

Chapter 33

“
W
e need to get back to the apartment, scope shit out and find the best way to get in and get our girl out.” Royce said.

“What about Draven?”

Ronin grunted.

“I’ll
clock him, and drag his ass out of there if I have to.”

“Sounds like plan.”

Bells walked to the other side of the room and started to pull clothes out of the dresser drawer.

“E
ven though there’s no ceremony, I want to say bye to Aria. My mom said she’s devastated I’m leaving again so soon.”

She
pulled on a pair of black Capri-cargo pants, black boots and a black tank top. His woman was ready to kick ass.
So fucking hot!

“I’ll be right back,” she turned and pinned his brother with a smile. “And Ronin.”

“Yeah Deva.”

“You think you could grow your hair out for me?”

What was with her asking for Ro to grow his hair out?

“Anything you want.”

“Good, cause I want something to hold onto when I’m taking you there.”

She winked a
t his brother and playfully threw him a kiss as she headed out the door.

“We’re so fucked.” Ronin said after
the door closed.

Royce threw back his head and laughed. Yeah, they were fucked, but in a good way.

“Let’s be ready when she gets back.” Ronin said.

The
task of being ready didn’t take long. Royce was lounging in a chair. He was trying to contact Jes, but he still couldn’t get her. It had to be this location. He didn’t know if it was due to their location being in another dimension or what.

“Still nothing?” His brother asked.

“Nada.”

“As soon as we hit the streets we should be clear.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Ronin’s back was to him, hands in his pocket
s. When he stood like that it was because he was contemplating their next move. He always calculated risks, was good at it.

“It bothers me that we
’re in the dark.”

It bothered him too.

“We were able to read D.”

“Natural defense is what I’m thinking Royce. Because if it’s the other
way around, we just tied ourselves to a woman who’s not truly ours.” Ronin turned to face him so he’d know he was seriously considering the latter of the two possibilities.

Royce disagreed, he did not repeat his mistakes twice. Ever.

“Stop looking for pot holes.”

The look in his brother’s eyes were
fierce but also vulnerable.

“I
need her. I need her so I can breathe. So I can rest easy.”

“You als
o need to prove it to her. From the beginning, you’ve been avoiding her. Leaving her in bed when we're no longer tangled. Leaving me to do the emotional shit. If you plan to be a part of this, you need to give in and contribute one hundred percent. Don’t let the past steal your happiness. Bells is doing the best with what she has. Knowing Dietrich was her intended didn’t make things easier. He left her at the altar, scarred her deep. Made it hard for her to believe our intentions were real.”

“You had a big part in her hesitance, bringing women around her, when there was a possibility she was ours.”

Ronin walked to the side of the room and leaned against the wall.

“We all have issues, and me and her are trying to move past it. You
need to as well brother. We can heal each other.”

Was he being overly sappy or what?

“I hear what you’re saying. I get it.”

“Don’t just
get it. Do it. I like fucking my girl alone, but I also like giving her something that’s fucking phenomenal. Together we give her that.”

Ronin nodded in agreement.

Royce looked down at his watch and glared. She should have been back already.

“Aria
probably needed extra time with her sister.”

Yeah, but they had to get going so contact with Jes could be made.

“We need to get Jes, Aria is a big girl. She can handle her sister leaving to help out her best friend.”

Royce
walked over and opened the door.

What greeted him on the other side was not
who he ever expected to see. Or the four feral standing guard. The one person who could incapacitate him and his brother with her words alone. Sanya.

“You tw
o thought I would forget all about you.”

She stepped into the room with the guards and Royce could do nothing but step back. When they cleared the door Ronin pushed off the
wall and approached her.

“How? You’re-
”

“Dead.” She finished for him. “Hardly.”

She laughed and walked over to the table and picked up one of Bells perfume bottles. The guards positioned themselves on either side of her.

“You’re not Sanya.”

“I am.” She turned to face both brothers. “You let them torture me.” Her face hardened. “Let them burn me at the stake, and didn’t once come back to see if I’d survived.”

She was
human, she should technically be dead. How was she even here? Royce thought to himself.

“You ran away from us. We would have given you everything.” Ronin said on a strained whisper.

“Well, now you can.”

They both stared at her in what could only be
shock. She hadn’t changed a bit. Long hair flowing free around her shoulders lightened from the sun. She was beautiful before, but now he saw it, could see her for what she was. Conniving. The cold calculation and the woman he thought had fight was a woman with callus feelings.

“Now we can what?” Ronin asked carefully.

“Now, you can give me everything.” The guards moved forward blocking in him and his brother. Royce knew they were fucked.

Chapter 34

J
es was trying to get a hold of Royce again, when the door to her cell opened. She sat straighter against the wall and looked up into eyes, so black there was a chance of never seeing the green again.

“Get up.”

“What?”

“Get up, you’re coming with me.”

Finally.

She stood and approached Draven cautiously. She didn’t want to assume anything, but couldn’t help but
hope.

“You say we’re mated.”

“Yes.”

He led her through a
series of doors.

“That I have a daughter.”

“That’s right.”

“Melissa knew me from before.”

“Yes.”

Where was he going with
all of this? He took her through the training room and back out into the open room, where once again the stage was set. Enri was there, and a man she didn’t know but looked vaguely familiar. There were other people up on the dais, but she couldn’t tell with everyone blocking her view. There was also a woman standing off to the side of the dais who relished the foreboding atmosphere. She smiled the entire time, satisfied that everything would work itself out. Something terrible was about to happen, and she had a feeling it was her.

“Why am I here?”

“To stand trial.”

“What?” Jes hissed.

‘To stand trial. You were human once before you were given something you should never have had.”

What the hell did that mean?

Two guards caught her by the arms and began dragging her up towards the center where everyone waited, watched. She didn’t see Adam in the crowd, so maybe he’d gotten out. Maybe he’d get word back to the team. As she got closer to the stage she noticed the two other forms were men nailed to the cross. Two men who’d taught her to survive. Ronin and Royce.

# # #

They were gone. They’d left her. She’d been ready to give them her all, and now they were…..Gone. Anger rose up from somewhere deep, it was a darkness she had no way of controlling. Her mother had stalled her for what seemed like hours. Aria hadn’t cared she was off again. Her little sister hugged her and wished her well. It was Surelle that had needed the attention. Complaining about the new Matria leaving her post so soon after her rebirth.

“Did you think they would want you after they’d used your body in such a manner?”

“Shut up.” Belinda whispered.

She clutched her stomach and tried for calm.

“Well did you?”

She was so sure they cared for her as much as she cared for them and maybe even a little bit more. Ronin didn’t
like to show it, but he did when they were in private. She didn’t’ deserve this. Not the betrayal and certainly not the loss. They’d ask to care for her, to let them be the one she could depend on. Were they just empty words? Things said so they could get her to spread her legs?

“They defiled you baby girl. Debased you in a way that is
shameful.”

“Shut up.”

“Made you a distraction. Something easily discarded when the time suited them.”

“Shut up.” Her voice was getting louder with every
attempt to keep her mother’s words from striking at her soul. Somehow, she’d believed this time would be different.

“Made you there whore.” Her mother spat the last
word and Belinda lost it.

“Shut the fuck up!”

“You would still stick up for them after this? You reek of their stink. Soiled in their needs. I didn’t raise the future Matria to be so careless with her body.”

She turned
fiery eyes on her mother. Even Bena tightening her hold around her waist did little to comfort her. How could they go without saying goodbye? Were they so quick to be rid of her?

“I talked to those men while you were nesting. Tried to
engage their intentions. They were unworthy of you daughter. Unfit to walk by your side.”

She would have stood next to them, hell, behind them if that was what was needed. But to leave without
word. Nothing. That was so unlike them.

“Get the fuck out of my room Surelle. I hope you’re
happy. If they’ve left it was because of you and your callousness.” The words felt right, she needed them to. It couldn’t be blind hope. There had to be a valid reason for them to leave before she returned. She’d asked them to wait for her, and in the heat of the moment it felt as if they understood. Her mother had the audacity to look hurt, but was wise enough to retreat.

Once again her sense of self was failing. When Dietrich left her, she’d been hurt, but never broken. Now, she was scattered. Split into so many pieces she wasn’t sure she could
find the courage to piece back that part of her that she’d carelessly handed over to them. Did she even want to? She’d been hesitant, always careful who she let her guard down with. Both Ronin and Royce had convinced her, kept pushing until all her walls had been breached. They’d left no wall standing, not one.

“Belinda.”

Dietrich’s voice was quiet. His face unreadable. She hadn’t heard him come in.

She smiled. It wasn’t a
happy smile or a smile of joy. It was cynical, filled with knowledge and harsh reality.

“This must be fucking funny to you huh Dietrich.” She said in a tone void of emotion.

“None of this is funny. But I will say it’s fucked up.”

“You think?” She laughed
, and it hurt. She wanted to shed her skin and be rid of all the pain. Replace it with a fresh new skin. A sturdier armor to combat the emotions crawling all over. D took a step toward her, but stopped when her eyes focused on him.

‘Don’t
step any closer.”

A commotion in the hall got both of their attention. Ryan threw open her
door his breath heavy and a look of concern on his face.

“They didn’t leave, they were taken.”

“Taken?”

“Your mother arranged the entire thing with that bastard half-brother of yours, Solon.”

She didn’t dare hope he was right. If Ryan was right, what would that say about her trust? At the first sign of trouble, she’d doubted them right off. She couldn’t bring herself to care. If there was even the smallest of chances they were taken, it meant they had no intentions of leaving her.

“Where?” Dietrich growled.

“They were headed back towards your mother’s personal jet, which is no longer there. I checked the coordinates and flight plans. They were headed towards the air field”

“Let’s go retrieve some fucking people.”

“How? We don’t know where they’re headed.”

“One of mine will
. I got my eyes stashed all around. Including one at your mom’s airfield and one on board the jet. Let’s go.”

“Why would you do that?” Ryan asked Dietrich.

“Just be fucking happy I’m that paranoid. Let’s roll.”

The three of them filed out of the room
, and Belinda prayed she had time to get to them. Even by jet it’d take time to reach them. There was no telling where Solon would have taken them. Her brother would pay, and he would pay with his life.