Touched by Lightning (7 page)

“Woo-woo shit?” Troy came back with a slap to the bigger man’s shoulder. “I see those sensitivity classes Joe makes you go to have really paid off.” He jostled his way so the three men strode abreast of each other, trailing behind Leo like schoolboys following the headmaster. “I don’t know what he did to her,” he finally admitted. “I’m just a Reaper who was brought in just in case she went ape shit worse than she did. And did anyone else notice how quick she got her powers back? Clay’s still out like a light after reaping from her last time.”

“She’s tough as nails,” Murphy muttered with approval. “Got me before I could pull up my armor.”

Troy nodded with an impressed grin. “She nailed Brit so hard I’m positive she kicked his balls into last week. How’re the boys, Brit?”

He didn’t answer, although he liked knowing his girl could take care of herself. She just didn’t have to take care of herself anymore. Not with him around. And yeah, he was totally aware he was calling her
his girl
in his mind.
So the fuck what?
He’d known from the minute he saw her at Mendoza’s that she was his. She just didn’t know that yet, but as soon as things calmed down, as soon as Joe was sure they could erase some of the bad things Gyda had done over the years and brought her into the O.T. fold, he’d make sure she knew. She’d probably kick his ass for it, or try, but it would be worth it.

A mid-level medic met them before they got on the elevators, pressing one hand to Gyda’s shoulder and closing the slow seeping wounds on her arms. Brit frowned at the man, not liking all these guys touching her in front of him, but he said nothing. He didn’t want her in pain, didn’t want her to suffer any longer.

His resolve lasted through the long walk from the basement of The Office to Joe’s private suite elevator, through the mini rendition of
I’d Do Anything For Love
(But I Won’t Do That)
to Joe’s suite of offices. It almost faltered when the doors opened to reveal the stunning brunette he knew to be Estelle Jendrix, Leo’s wife, and the tears dripping down her face as she looked at Gyda as though she’d set her eyes on a long-lost sister. The care and compassion the Void showed his girl as she smoothed her hand over Gyda’s forehead eased the tightness in his chest a little. Others cared for her, which would help her transition to the light side.

The light side, really? Are we in
Star Wars
and no one told me? Does this mean I need to get a gold-lame bikini? ’Cause I could rock that.

Brit’s gaze slid to Joe, who smiled at him as though she hadn’t betrayed both him and Gyda. He was still pissed at her for bringing Murphy and Clay into the equation. She’d made him look as though he didn’t keep his promises. That hurt, betrayed look in Gyda’s eyes seconds before she collapsed told him everything he needed to know about her reaction when she saw him again. And she hadn’t disappointed. Too bad Joe hadn’t been there to get her metaphorical kick in the balls.

Now that’s just not nice, Brit. I did what I had to for the Order of Themis.
She kept her voice light but there was no mistaking the steel beneath the velvet.
I have a duty to protect the entire Order of Themis and the norms that live within its boundaries. That means no goddamn vigilante bullshit.

He didn’t budge.

Her cornflower-blue eyes narrowed on him and her nostrils flared.
Are you arguing with me? Dammit, Brit she killed…
She flapped her arm uselessly.
A lot of fucking people if the police reports are any indication. This is going to be a mess to clean and you’re giving
me
shit about it?

“Ha!” she said out loud, crossing her arms over her chest. The others in the room looked at her askance, but she didn’t pay them any attention. “You’re not the only one who can give the silent treatment, buddy.”

Murphy and Troy, used to Brit and Joe’s battle of wills, wisely moved out of the way and closer to Estelle and Leo, who had Gyda sandwiched between them on the sofa. Brit knew this because even though he wasn’t looking directly at her, his entire body was aware of Gyda. His power reached for her. It knew exactly where she was at all times, had accepted her as part of it from the moment Brit kissed her.

Proving she couldn’t hold her silent treatment as well as Brit could after years of practice, Joe finally folded. “Okay, fucking fine! I’m a bad guy for having your girlfriend knocked out without your permission, but that’s only because I knew you wouldn’t give it. But let me tell you something else, my little lightning bug, Gyda is not some fragile flower you need to protect from everything. She’s a lot stronger than you give her credit for. We probably could have gotten her to this moment without having Clay suck her powers or me break her shields, but it would’ve taken a lot longer.” She pressed a hand to her temple. “And we don’t have that time, not if we’re going to catch the bastard who hurt her and do it
right.
Because, Brit? Your girl is on a one-way track to a very bad place. You know it and I know it. Better we get her now and guide her in the right direction than have to put her down later.”

Brit turned on his heel and stormed over to where Gyda leaned against Leo, her eyes half closed as though she were about to fall asleep. He didn’t know what the Sensor had done to her, but he didn’t like it. Without giving either of them a heads-up, he snatched her off the sofa, cradled her to his chest and carried her to another chair away from Estelle and Leo. No one said a word as he settled himself with Gyda in his lap, her head pillowed on his shoulder, long dark hair loosely falling over his arm.

She didn’t respond to her change of protectors, her body completely limp as though Leo had snapped something inside her. Brit glared at the Sensor, the electricity in his body racing to the surface. “What’d you do to her?”

The Sensor blinked slowly, his face a mask of impassivity. “She was going feral. I locked her down.”

His entire body tensed at Leo’s words, but his hold on Gyda remained gentle, careful, as though she’d break. “Unlock it.”

“I don’t think you understand, Harper, she was going feral. And your ass was the first one on her list to rip apart. She can’t be trusted when she’s in her altered state.” Cool, calm and logical, the other man spoke as though the woman whose brain he’d fried wasn’t sitting in front of him and it pissed Brit off even more. Leo’s head cocked to the side, his gaze thoughtful, then his eyes widened. “You’re infatuated with her.”

“Gee, what gave you that idea, Leo? Could it be him banging on his chest, acting like a fucking caveman?” Joe muttered as she threw herself in an armchair. Mr. Dimples nosed open her office door and trotted to her side as though she’d called him. Her hand instantly went to his scruff, holding on, grounding herself. Some of the irritation faded from her eyes the minute she touched the dog and her eyes sparkled with renewed happiness. “Although I’ve been waiting for
ever
for Brit to fall, I wasn’t expecting it to be with Jill the Ripper here.”

Estelle sat forward, her class evident in the way she carefully arranged herself on the edge of the sofa. “Joe, Leo and I were the ones who rescued her. We brought her to our home and we were making progress with her before she disappeared. Release her back to our custody and let us finish the healing process.” The soft, maternal light in her eyes when she looked at Gyda spoke volumes about the woman’s compassionate heart and something in Brit’s chest eased. “Yes, she acted outside of the O.T.’s rules, but you know what happened to her. Can you say you blame her?”

Brit’s muscles tightened around Gyda as he turned to bury his nose in the soft hair near her temple. She still hadn’t moved, but with Estelle’s words, tension began to gather in her lean body. She didn’t like the conversation. He brushed his lips over the silky skin at the top of her ear, unable to stop himself from instinctively trying to soothe her. Even his powers had eased down to a low-level hum, the kind that acted as background noise in an attempt to ease her without him actively thinking about it. As though everything in him was tuned in to her every need and ready to provide it.

The others kept talking, Estelle trying to convince Joe to let her take Gyda back to Philly while Joe stuck to her guns. She wanted to find out what Gyda knew, how she knew what she knew and she wanted to keep her under wraps. Brit wanted to know all that as well, but mostly so he could protect his girl from further pain. If it were up to him, he’d take her to his home in the Ozarks, shield her from the world and let her heal. Because that was what she needed more than interrogation. She needed food and peace and love.

And if my sisters could hear me now, they’d think the pod people finally invaded.
Because he didn’t think like this. When his sisters had their fragile hearts broken, Brit was the one who demanded names and kicked ass, but not before he told them to rub some dirt on it. Each blow to their romantic hearts meant they would grow a callus strong enough to withstand the sharpest pain. Yet here he was wanting to wrap this woman in cotton, to protect her from everything. Even himself.

“Does she…” Estelle’s voice finally registered again but only because of the hesitancy in it. “Has she spoken?” she asked in a low whisper, drawing Brit’s gaze.

He had to think about it, really. He’d seen her, had it only been three times? Yeah, three times and each time he read her body language. Her expressive eyes. But he couldn’t recall ever hearing her voice, only that eerie growl when she got that animal-wild look in her eyes. Not even when she was beating the shit out of him, Murphy and Troy had she made a sound other than a soft grunt or hiss. His heart leapt into his mouth and he turned stunned eyes on Estelle, shaking his head.

Her narrow shoulders slumped. Leo scooped his wife off the edge of the sofa and closer to his body, offering support and comfort in one move. His sharp gaze met Brit’s. “When we rescued her, she never said a single word. We communicated through our empathy, but that was about as close to talking as we got.” He sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose before he continued. “She was more…animal than human when we found her. Dangerous.” He opened his eyes to pin Joe in place. “She hasn’t changed much if the feelings I read off her earlier are any indication. If anything, she’s more dangerous because she’s developed martial skills. You might need to—”

“I’ll take her to Arkansas,” Brit blurted before Leo said something that couldn’t be taken back. His skin crawled at the thought of Gyda ending up in one of the Sector prisons where she’d be cryogenically frozen to prevent her from using her powers or escaping. His stomach turned at the thought of her living out her life in one of those ice coffins. “I’ll take her to my cabin and work with her,” he said firmly. “There’s not much in terms of civilization nearby, the town closest to me has maybe three hundred people in it. I can work with her, Joe can come by for weekly meetings to see how she progresses, but she’s not going to El Dorado.” The supermax prison was the closest one in their sector that had the means to hold supes and imagining this fragile girl in that place sent chills down his spine. “We’ll give it eight weeks before we bring her back to K.C. for evaluation.”

Joe didn’t say anything for several minutes, her thoughtful gaze resting on him. “I’ll have to pass this by the Sector Leaders.” She held up her hand when Brit opened his mouth to argue. “No. If the reports our intelligence division have pulled up are any indication, she’s a serial killer who has killed at least one person in four sectors. That’s not anything to sneeze at, Brit.” He choked back his argument because he’d read the reports as well. Gyda, if she’d committed all the unsolved crimes they’d discovered during their initial investigation of her, had no less than fifteen kills under her belt. Joe laced her fingers together over her stomach, studying Brit and Gyda. “If they agree to the investigation period, there will have to be better security than just you there. You’ll need someone who isn’t attached to her to act as a failsafe in case you’re compromised.”

“Give me a team of recruits and we’ll monitor the situation,” Murphy said in a low tone. “It’ll be good experience for the greenhorns and it’ll get me out of this city before I go ape shit.” His gaze shifted to Joe. “And it’ll get me away from your goddamn Spa Days.”

“Now, Murphy, I was going to give your entire unit some downtime, a trip to Aruba or something. You can go scuba diving and…pet the dolphins or sea turtles or whatever they have to pet out there. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” she finished with a perky voice that was just shy of a cheer. She practically bounced in her seat. “And then I was going to make an appointment for you all to have a massage on the beach and—”

“Send me to fucking Arkansas,” Murphy growled.

She sat back in her seat with an exaggerated pout. “You and Brit just want to get out of office fun time. I know how you guys think.” She threw her hands in the air. “Okay, if the Sector Leaders agree to this arrangement, you can handpick a team and go play Rambo in the woods with Brit and Jill the Ripper. Happy?”

“I don’t like this,” Estelle protested, her eyes on Gyda. “She was never easy around men and if what you’ve found out is true, then she hasn’t changed much. Is it smart to send her to the country with a group of men she doesn’t know?”

Joe waved her hand. “She’ll be fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to make an appointment with the Sector Leaders.” She stood and fixed her skirt. “Bring Gyda back to her cell and this time I want anything dangerous taken out before she comes back to herself. Troy, get someone to go with you and trace her psychic signature back to wherever she’s staying and get her stuff. Murphy, handpick your team of baby-commandos and let them know they’ll be shitting in the woods for the next eight weeks if this goes through. See how many of them jump at the chance to do that rather than get a full-body massage from Inga.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Leo, Estelle, I’m sorry but I can’t agree to send her back with you. You lost her once before and she went on a Mickey and Mallory Knox killing spree. Sorry, but that doesn’t exactly scream stable to me. I won’t forbid you from seeing her any time you want. I’ll be sure you know where she ends up.