Lover Mine (Blood Brothers 1) (10 page)

Slithered was the best word Chayle could use
to describe him as he took a wide stance. She quickly took in the
military haircut, the wide shoulders, and dead eyes. Her brain
instantly calculating that something was not right.

"You aren't one of Kayne's men, are you? How
did you get onto the grounds?" She took a couple of steps back,
positioning her back so she was not trapped in a corner.

"You don't need to worry about that because
you're coming with me. My Master had plans for you and the other
one, and he doesn't like to be cheated out of his work." The eyes
did not change as he took a couple of steps forward looking too
confident for Chayle's piece of mind.

"Well, your Master can go screw himself,
because I'm not going anywhere with you!"

She almost missed the slight motion of his
shoulder, that little "tell" that indicates when an opponent is
about to attack. He came in low, ready to sweep her up but Chayle
was ready. With a quick slide to the ground beneath him and between
his legs, she punched straight up with her legs and into the one
area of a man's anatomy that would always bring them down . . . his
groin.

She kicked with everything in her legs, back
and abs, making sure that when he fell it was all the way down.
Chayle would only have one chance and she knew she could not
miss.

He dropped like a stone, his scream of agony
music to her ears as she turned for the door to the control room.
As she flung the door open she ran into an immovable wall, felt
steel bands wrap around her and the control she had fought so hard
for disappeared with a terrified scream.

"Kayne!" Her terrified scream echoed
throughout the facility, vibrating off the walls.

"Shush, little one . . . I've got you!" The
arms holding her did not squeeze but held firm, pulling her behind
him and pushing her into someone else's waiting hands. She barely
had time to registered Rafe's massive body entering into the
holo-cave before a sob escaped. Rafe turned to look at her, an grin
lighting up his face.

"Not to worry, Chay . . . he'll not bother
you again and he will tell me who sent him! I promise."

"He said it was the Master, Rafe," she
whispered. "It's the same ones who took us before." She was shaking
now, frantically looking around for Kayne. "Where's Kayne, why
isn't he here?"

"He had a quick mission but will be back
before sundown. My brother didn't want to worry you."

Anger hit hard as adrenaline surged through
her system. "Worry?" she screeched, not recognizing her own
voice.

"Take her back to the main house and guard
her. There may be more that got through the perimeter and the
guards and I don't want to have to explain to my brother why she
has additional bruises." Rafe's matter-of-fact attitude almost sent
Chayle over the edge.

"I'm not going anywhere until that son of a
bitch tells me what his boss wants!" She fought off the gentle
hands of one of the men trying to lead her out the control room
door as Rafe motioned for two others she had not seen to follow
him. But she was not going anywhere and it was time these men
understood that.

Rafe's men hauled the intruder out of the
holo-cave and through the exercise facility toward a back entrance
she had not noticed before. The other men were so distracted that
she slipped out of the grasp of the one holding her and
followed.

"Kayne's going to kick my ass if anything
happens to you!" he hissed, drawing Chayle's attention to a man
standing behind her. She had not seen him before, but now that she
had it would be impossible to forget the mountain of a man guarding
her back.

"He will if you don't help me, I'll see to
it," she promised. Her eyes narrowed when long, tawny hair was
pulled back from a hard face sporting a scar that ran from the
right eyebrow to just above the upper lip. It did not detract from
the handsomeness of the face or the strong bone structure that
hinted at his Native American lineage, but the look in his eyes
reminded Chayle of a wounded animal hiding in the shadows waiting
to attack.

"My orders are to take you back to the main
house, Miss." His hiss came out low and lethal, yet Chayle only
felt a sense of protectiveness from him.

"Please . . . "she begged, hearing the waver
in her voice and hating it. "I need to hear for myself, know why
they took me."

Chayle watched the guard's face and saw the
instant before something settled in his unusual eyes and he shook
his head. Slowly a grin ghosted his full lips and a huge shoulder
shrugged his agreement.

"Hell, we only live once, right? If Kayne
kills me at least I had a hell of a ride!"

"What's your name?" she whispered, amazed at
the sudden change in his appearance and attitude.

"Gabriel, ma'am," he quickly answered. "And
if you're going to watch Rafe get any answers before that dude
expires I'd suggest we get down there." His firm hand guided her
toward the doors the other men had disappeared through and Chayle
instantly heard screams.

They descended a set of stairs that led to a
dark, subterranean cavern below the training facility where she
immediately found the man who had tried to grab her strapped to a
chair in the middle of a room. Somehow, she had expected to see
blood and violence.

Instead he sat there with his eyes closed,
arms clamped down to his sides with straps and his legs wide apart
and strapped to the legs of the huge metal chair.

No one touched him, no one spoke, but Rafe
and another man stood on either side of him, eyes closed and
breathing evenly. Suddenly the man screamed, twisting and
struggling as if demons were chasing him, his eyes wild and blank
as he searched the room for whatever he saw in his terror.

"Tell me who sent you," Rafe whispered into
the room, his voice gentle yet scary as it vibrated against the
walls.

"No . . . " screamed the prisoner, "you
don't understand! He'll kill me!"

"No, you don't understand," Rafe replied,
his stance becoming more menacing when he finally opened his
eyes.

Chayle soft gasp did nothing to distract him
from the task at hand, but she had never seen anyone's eyes change
to that color before. The blue-gray swirls continued to focus on
the man strapped in the chair as if he were the only thing in the
room.

"Your Master took someone who was beyond
replacement, and now you have invaded my home and tried to take her
from my brother again. Not only have you failed but your Master
will never have his hands on her again." The profound confidence in
his voice, the assurance that his words were law seemed to rock the
prisoner's world.

"She is only one of many, he can gain others
but she was one of the first who was successful. Her and the young
one! He won't stop until he has them for his breeding program, and
many will die until he gets his property back." The man suddenly
wailed as if in supreme agony, "He is the Master for a reason, he
cannot be stopped!"

Suddenly the man began to convulse, his head
shaking back and forth, foam coming from his mouth like a rabid
dog. Chayle watched in horror as Rafe untied the man and started
CPR but it seemed nothing could save him. Finally, he and the other
man stopped their efforts.

"He's gone, sir." Rafe looked stunned, and
looked over his shoulder at Chayle.

"Something triggered the episode, Chayle. I
did not do it. Whatever he was afraid of was deep seated enough
that it killed him." Rafe could only stare at her as she began to
shake.

Kayne raced into the training facility just
as their team doctor was loading the prisoner onto a gurney and had
already covered the body with a sheet. Chayle was sitting in the
corner, her face white and hands shoved between her knees.

"What the hell happened?" he growled,
rushing over the pull Chayle into his arms and rub her back as he
wrapped his massive arms around her.

"The guy under the sheet tried to take me
again," Chayle whispered, but she slapped a hand on Kayne's chest
when he growled loud enough for the entire room to hear. "Stop with
the growly shit. He's dead, ok?"

"How?" He looked to his brother and Mercury,
but both kept quiet for a minute.

"Oh for pete's sake. I watched the whole
thing. Do you think I haven't gotten it yet that you guys are not
entirely normal like most of us?" she growled herself this time,
pointing at Rafe. "Tell the big guy here before he kills the creep
again just for the hell of it."

"I like her," Gabriel commented from his
position against the wall. He had not moved ten feet from Chayle
until Kayne's arrival, so Chayle was surprised to see him so far
across the room.

"Mine," Kayne growled again, his arm
tightening around Chayle.

"Stop it!" she slapped his chest again.
"Concentrate, will you?"

Kayne looked down at her in shock. She had
slapped him again, in front of his brother and men. He heard
Gabriel laughing against the wall and wanted to go put some serious
hurt on the junior team member but he could not do that as long as
Chayle was here. It seemed she liked the man and Kayne was not
having any of that!

Taking a deep breath he looked around the
room.

"Someone, anyone other than Chayle, had
better tell me what happened here. Now!"

His order echoed in the room for several
heartbeats before Rafe finally recounted what had happened, in
complete detail. Chayle just stood there, nodding her head the
entire time, or pointing in agreement like she knew exactly what
Rafe was talking about. Which, once his brother got to the end,
Kayne realized she had watched the entire thing.

"Are you telling me that you saw this
interrogation?" He calmly asked Chayle.

"Well of course I did. He came after me, so
why wouldn't I watch it?" Kayne realized she was perfectly serious
and convinced that there was no earthly reason whatsoever why
someone should have not allowed her in the viewing room. He could
feel his blood pressure rising as she talked.

"Kayne, you cannot kill Gabriel." Rafe said
it very calmly and carefully, like it was every day he told his
twin something like this.

"Why in the world would you want to hurt
Gabriel?" Chayle asked, moving away from Kayne and looking up at
him. She noticed instantly that his eyes were a dark, stormy
blue-grey, and his neck muscles were bulging.

"Gabriel can take care of himself," was all
Kayne said as he took off out the side door. It was at that point
Chayle realized Gabriel was no longer in the room with them, and
Rafe was shaking his head.

"Why is Kayne angry at Gabriel? He saved me
from that man, he shouldn't hurt him." She started to go after the
men and Rafe grabbed her around the waist, barely holding her.

"Kayne won't hurt him - much. He's just mad
because Gabriel didn't get you out of the viewing room and allowed
you to stay through the interrogation." Struggling to hold her in
place.

"He didn't have a choice. I made him take me
in there and I wouldn't leave." She screamed, trying to stomp on
Rafe's foot.

Rafe took her back to the chair she had been
sitting in and made her sit in it, standing in front of it so she
could not move. When she could finally breathe, Chayle looked up to
see a faint smile on those lips so much like his twins.

"What?" she growled.

"You will give my brother a run, but he so
deserves you. Come, let us get you back up to the house before it
gets too dark. The men are checking all of the grounds and check
points. Kayne should be back within the hour."

Rafe took her hand and guided Chayle back
into the house. Something smelled good coming from the kitchen and
she realized just how hungry she was now. The kitchen was bright
and filled with people as preparations were being made for supper.
An older lady worked at the double stove stirring a couple of large
pots. One looked to have pasta and the other a wonderful smelling
sauce.

"Well, young lady. You must be Kayne's girl.
I'm Clara and I do most of the cooking around here." Clara's
motherly arms encircled Chayle and pulled her against an ample
bosom. "Welcome and come give a hand. These guys all have two left
feet and several thumbs but they can help, too." Clara handed
Chayle the large spoon she was stirring the sauce with and moved
over to one of the ovens.

One of the younger men came over to assist
her in taking out several large sheet pans of what smelled like
garlic bread and Chayle's stomach growled again. In less time than
it took to set the table, the bread was cut and ready for dinner,
the sauce and pasta plated, and drinks poured. Just as everyone was
washing up Kayne and Gabriel came in the back door.

Gabriel was sporting a black eye and a spit
lip but he had a smile a mile wide when he saw what was for dinner.
Kayne did not look much better. His clothes were ripped and muddy
where Gabriel's were not and his mouth looked swollen.

"Oh no you don't, scamps. You are not
sitting at my table all muddy and bloody. Off with you and wash!"
Clara made shooing motions to both grown men.

"Well, are you happy now?" Chayle said loud
enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Both men looked embarrased for only a minute
before bursting into laughter. She only shook her head and told
them to go wash up before sitting down. It was a unique experience
sitting at the large table with so many huge men eating. Clara sat
next to her so she did not feel like the only female at the table.
However, talk was of weapons and training, programs and sports.
Typical testosterone-type conversation, to say the least, but once
everyone had eaten Rafe motioned for silence.