Niko: Love me Harder (17 page)

She nodded. It was crucial to have something to give them the element of surprise. No matter how sure she’d acted with Niko, she still remembered the hell she went through and didn’t want to volunteer for a repeat performance.

She looked over at Rena and noticed that she was wearing a hair piece that was similar to hers. She caught her eyes and then lifted her hand to her hair. Rena nodded and touched her hair. Aran had outfitted her with a weapon also.

If one of the brothers loved you, they loved you all of the way. You weren’t just his mate. You were part of the family. You became created. It was more of a commitment than becoming a Jones or a Smith or any other last name out there. You made a commitment that really was ‘until death do you part.’ Any and all of these males standing here would lay down their lives for you.

How could she ever walk away from that? She couldn’t. She’d been lost the moment she’d looked into Niko’s eyes at that meet and greet. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

She followed them out of the door to find three modified jeeps. Aran, Rena and Sergey climbed into the first one.

Niko and Dante climbed into the second one and she followed them in. The other brothers climbed into the last one.

Each had explicit directions on how to get to the address that Hale had traced down. They would each approach from a different side. The plans now would be coordinated on the mental path they all shared.

They sat still with no one moving. There were no jeeps roaring silently to life. She looked at Niko. He was staring at her.

“Kitten, I want you to be a full-fledged member of my family.”

“I thought I was.”

“You are, but I want you to be able to access the common path that will allow you to hear and speak with my brothers. I know that is a lot when you’re only just beginning to learn to speak with me.”

She’d known they were talking. She hadn’t known that she could be a part of it also.

“I want to be a part.” She didn’t ask what came next, because the last time it involved a bite, but a bite from Niko didn’t bother her.

She was seated in the back of the jeep. The door on the opposite side of her opened and Aran took the seat next to her. He met her look and stared at her while his fangs dropped. She wouldn’t be getting bitten by Niko that much was clear to her.

He was the leader, no matter how many times he sat back and said nothing or watched his brothers figure it on their own. There was no doubt in her mind that he ruled and when he said something, they jumped. He was the oldest and he held their family together.

Now he wanted her to become part of that family. A family he protected, a family he expected to respect both his word and his loyalty to them. It was a family that was willing to do as he commanded. Maybe marrying a smith or a jones was making sense to her.

He never moved. He simply looked at her, waiting. Her mind swirled with all kinds of scenarios, good and bad, while a few of them were just ridiculous. The one with Rena beating her up because he bit her to make her part of the family made her laugh. Probably because Rena had whispered in her ear before they entered the jeeps ‘I can’t wait until you’re here with me.’ Then she’d tapped her head and followed Aran.

She was stalling now, costing them time, but no one was calling her out on it. They all waited silently. This mattered and they all knew it.

She took the time to look at Aran. He sat there with his fangs lowered. There was no drool. Yet there was no denying the animal side of him. She could see it in his eyes. Not the same animal that she saw in Niko, but one that was definitely related.

Family, her family. She would’ve given anything when she was growing up to feel like she was a part of a family, to feel like more than a weight placed around her mother’s neck. She’d wanted to be wanted and needed and loved. Being loved is important to a child as important. As it was to an adult.

She met his eyes, this time having made up her mind. She bared her throat to him. She saw his smile, which was full of acceptance. He reached over and moved her shirt a little, exposing her shoulder.

He stopped to look in her eyes one more time to make sure he had her acceptance and then moved. One minute he was staring into her eyes, the next his teeth were locked on her shoulder.

Before she could cry out in pain, before she could reconsider her acceptance of this different culture, he was done and leaving the jeep. Her hands flew to her shoulder. It was knitting itself back together, even as she touched it.

The jeep came to life. She could feel the rumble of the powerful motor under her, but no sound was made. Males and their toys! If they ever decided to branch out with some of their technology, they could take the earth by storm.

She waited to hear something. Nothing. No familiar voices in her head. No brothers bickering the way brothers do. She closed her eyes for a moment to mourn the fact that it hadn’t worked with her.

“Kitten?”

She opened her eyes to what she was sure was a lab, an alien lab, but a lab just the same.

“What is this place?”

“This is where I was born. This is where all the created I call brothers were born. There are many labs like this all over the planet, but this is where we were planned, conceived and born.”

The room they stood in was huge. It reminded her more of a football field in length as opposed to a room. She saw things that mirrored test tubes and beakers, things one expected to see in a lab. She saw things that may have been their equivalent of high powered lab equipment, but it was what was set up in the middle of the long room that gave her pause.

She walked over to them, taking the time to walk around them. Her mind screamed that this could only be one thing on any planet, but she rejected the thought. It was better to stay sane than to believe that someone had done this to her family.

“What is this?”

“We call them incubators. We took that word from your planet. There is no translation for what we call it in your language. You would also call it a womb, if it were inside your body. That is where the created grew until we were formed and could live on our own without the help of a mother’s body.”

“That’s not a mother.”

He looked at the tubes that ran into the mechanical womb, it was as close as they came to being cradled by a mother. He showed her how the sac that surrounded them expanded as they did. He explained the fluid inside that kept them alive.

“This may not be a mother, but it was the closest we ever got to a mother we could touch. If not for our mother’s memories and thoughts that were passed to us, we would’ve had nothing but this.”

She really tried not to cry for him, but it was such a devastating way to be born, to live knowing that none of the women on your planet had been willing to bear you. They could have. She was sure of that. They had refused. She could almost hear the disdain and understand the social pressure they would’ve faced. No self-respecting female would’ve allowed her womb to be used for the creation of something they were told would be no more than an animal used for the purpose of fighting.

“Niko? Did the scientists intend to kill the created when they were finished using them?”

“Yes.”

Chapter Twenty-nine

“Lights off. We’re five minutes out.” Aran’s voice rang in her head. She heard the replies of his brothers as they checked and gave their positions.

She shook herself free of the memory that Niko had shared with her. Things were making sense now. Maybe the scientists had hired one of the created or even a family of the created to hunt the others down. He may have promised them life if they were willing to destroy the others.

She looked out of the window when she felt the rumble of the jeep end. They were in a highly wooded area. A cabin was sitting in the shadows caused by the moon’s glow. It was a good size one. It could’ve been someone’s weekend retreat.

There were one or two lights lit inside. The bulbs were dimly lit sending just a peak of light through the windows, as if whoever was on the inside wanted enough light to see, but didn’t want to draw attention to themselves.

“We’ll do this in two waves. Sergey, Dante, Ash and Nicolas. You’re the first wave. Blend in, so whatever is in that house won’t be able to see you. The rest of us will be the second wave. Remember, our mates can’t blend, so we will be going in knowing we can be detected. Mates, now is the time to arm your weapons. Remember, aim only at the enemies.” He gave them a warm laugh and then communication went dark.

The first wave was approaching the cabin. She wasn’t sure how she knew it. It was like being gifted with an extra sense. She could feel them as they moved. She could almost tell you exactly where they were.

As the first wave hit the door, Niko silently got out of the jeep. She followed suit, moving up to his side with her weapon firmly in her grasp. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s victim ever again.

The first shots that rang out had Niko falling on her. His large body covered her making sure she wasn’t a target and inhibiting her ability to breathe.

“Get off of me. Can’t. Breathe.”

He rolled over, but kept a hand on her to keep her from getting up. Like she was going to stand and shout ‘Over here you missed me. Wanna go for two out of three?’

She listened to the laughter on the wind, laughter she knew. She’d heard this laughter when the crazy created had held her. He’d tormented her and laughed with a gleeful joy as he did it. The very sound of it reminded her of horror films and demented humans all wrapped up into one eerie package.

“Dee, we’re too open here. We have to get to cover. Follow me.”

He was using his elbows in the dirt showing her how to propel herself forward. She mimicked his moves, as he followed behind her. It was nowhere as graceful, but it got the job done. He stopped her when they reached a thick set of trees with heavy foliage on the ground. It gave them a perfect view of the front door. When it opened on oiled hinges that made no sound, she saw it. When nothing entered, or for that matter opened the door, she knew it was one of the brothers who had blended in. He looked as if he was invisible, impossible to pick out in the environment.

The silence felt like it lasted years, when in reality it only took them a few minutes to search the first floor. Ash whispered ‘clean’ through their mental link and Nicolas let them know they were headed for the basement.

She followed Niko as he stood, then crouched and started for the door that was standing wide open. She tried to place her feet in the spots he stood in before her. She felt when her foot tangled with a vine. She pulled on it, even as she heard Niko shout stop in her mind.

She heard a series of shots go off, as small explosions happened around her. Once again Niko’s body was covering her. This time he was careful, making sure she could breathe.

It was rigged to blow. The evil son of a mechanical womb had rigged the place to blow and she’d walked right into the trap. It had looked like a vine, green with leaves attached. How was she supposed to know? That wouldn’t help the brothers that had died because of her.

She was finally in a family and she’d killed her brothers or maybe even her best friend. Some people weren’t meant to be part of a team. She sent out a mental sorry to all of them, wondering if they could even still hear her.

“Are you finished feeling sorry for yourself?” Rena’s voice was one part laughter and the other part exasperation.

“I was enjoying this.” That voice belonged to Ash.

“Really Rena, we have so little fun.” Nicolas was laughing.

“Some people weren’t meant to be part of a team was rather amusing since she’s a part of us.” Hale was enjoying himself.

“Ok, stop it.” This came from Niko.

“Wait, I didn’t get to chime in.” Dante said. sending her a mental grin.

Rena sent her a mental eye roll. Of course she would figure out how to do that mentally.

“Enough. All of your brothers and your mate are fine. Back to the problem at hand.” Aran had ended it, after giving them a chance to blow off steam. It had been close, but they had reacted as they had been trained to do. It would take more than that to get rid of them.

Ash began giving them a running commentary. They were on the steps going in to the basement. The lights were off, but they could smell human blood. They found the light switch. Then the commentary stopped. Nothing but silence.

“Aran.” Sergey’s voice rang out in her mind. “You have to see this. The created is gone. We swept the place from top to bottom. There are no explosives.”

“Wave two, hold your spots. I’m going in.” Dee watched as Aran left Rena with them.

He moved with lethal grace as he approached the door, blending in with the environment so that she lost sight of him.

The link was silent as they waited for him to announce what they had discovered. “Wave two, come down Ash will come up to provide a look out for us.”

They traded places as Ash emerged, blending in with the surroundings. They stepped into the cabin, making their way to the basement. Dee took the time to look at the surroundings of the floor they were on. It was wide open with the possibility of at least two bedrooms from the attached doors. It was a beautiful place for a well off family to come and spend time. Nothing seemed out of place.

When her feet touched the basement floor and her eyes took in the walls, she knew the upper floor was a sham to hide all that had happened down here.

There were pictures everywhere. All of the pictures were of them; the brothers, or Dante, even Rena and herself. All of them were captured in bright color as they went along their day, unsuspecting.

As she picked out pictures of herself, she told herself that it had to be done with long range cameras, telescopes maybe. There was no way that this created could’ve been so close to her without her knowing.