Viking Warrior Rebel (6 page)

“Fine.” Holden ran his hand through his hair. “Answer the second part of my question. Why are they trying to kill you?”

This one would be a little trickier. A long explanation about the power struggles in the Norse gods' council and Loki's circumvention of the rule about not taking the gods' battle to the human realm by instead sending wolverines seemed like a lot to lay on Holden all in one go. Plus, describing herself as an immortal sentinel fighting for Odin and Freya to keep humanity safe from Loki and his deranged plans might make Holden put her in a straitjacket.

She drank from the juice bottle again and took her time swallowing. The tic in Holden's jaw pulsed faster. Maybe he was able to control his physical reaction to her—which she so obviously struggled with, her nipples still hard—but she definitely got to him on some level.

She looked down and fiddled with the cap on the bottle to hide the small smile tugging at her lips. “That's a complicated story. I'm not sure if they wanted to kill me as much as capture me. I'm just good at fighting back.” She looked up.

Holden met her gaze with an intense stare. He didn't blink before firing the next question. “Why do they want to capture you?”

“They want information.” She held up her hand when it looked like he was about to explode out of the chair. “Information I can't give them and I can't give you. It would endanger people I care about.”

He sat back and studied her. “If these people are so concerned about keeping their secrets, why are you here on your own? Why aren't they protecting you?”

Good question. Although a better question would be: Why was she such a stubborn dumbass that she didn't take someone with her instead of endangering herself and the queen's brother? “They wanted to, but I…screwed up a few weeks ago, and I had to prove to them and myself that I could do this on my own.”

His eyebrows shot up. Obviously he hadn't expected her to admit to that weakness. She hadn't expected to either, but it slipped out before she could stop it, and it was very much the truth. Somehow it was easier to admit this flaw to Holden than to her Norse brothers and sisters. Although she was pretty sure they were aware not only of her stubbornness, but also of how tightly she held on to her pride.

“Is Daisy Driscoll one of those people?” He used the name of Naya's fake identity. The one he'd known her by when she worked as his security consultant.

“She's a friend. That's all you need to know.” Astrid kept her voice flat so no emotion would slip out. Let him interpret that statement as he wanted to. She would not betray her queen.

He seemed to sense that questions about Naya were off-limits because he nodded. “Fair enough. But then tell me what your business here in Denver is.” She hesitated, and he leaned forward, putting his hand on top of hers. “Astrid, they almost killed you. Let me help you.”

She shook her head and looked away in case the sudden burst of tears welling up in her eyes escaped. The blood loss had made her into an emotional mess.

Trust
whispered through her mind. The berserker again, but it didn't come out of its slumber.

“I have great resources.” Holden squeezed her hand. “Please, let me help you.”

Could she risk taking him up on his offer? He seemed awfully eager to help. “What's in it for you?” she asked.

He looked away. “What do you mean?”

“Why do you want to help so badly? What do you get out of this?”

Holden stood and paced the room. “I care about you.”

Her heart fluttered, but she ignored it. She already knew she couldn't trust her hormones around Holden. Apparently other parts of her body were now betraying her too. “Bullshit. You hardly know me.”

He turned, a wicked smile on his lips. “I would say I know you quite intimately.”

Her whole body tingled, and heat pooled in her stomach before moving lower. She was glad she was under the covers so she could hide her body's reaction. She forced her breathing to remain steady and quirked an eyebrow. “Can we keep this conversation serious?”

His grin widened, but he nodded. “Alright, let's just say that I have an interest in this since you're a friend of Daisy's.” Naya had worked with Holden before she met the king. Had there been something more than just a professional relationship between the two humans? The thought disturbed Astrid more than it should.

The berserker suddenly woke fully from its slumber.

Mine
, it growled. An intense burst of anger flooded Astrid's senses. Images of her fighting the queen invaded her mind. She struggled to keep her face from betraying the horrific thoughts flittering through her mind and the rage spreading through her body.

She must not have been successful, because Holden frowned and took a step toward her. She held up her hand to stop him.

A knocked sounded on the door. Saved by room service.

As Holden turned, Astrid bolted out of the bed and slipped into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and leaned her forehead against its cool wooden surface. What the fuck was going on?

Luke checked the tray of food. Everything was exactly what they'd ordered, so he tipped the room-service guy and sent him on his way. Astrid was still in the bathroom, and he debated knocking on the door to see if she was okay.

He replayed their conversation in his head to figure out what had upset her. He'd teased her about how close they actually were, at least physically. That's when Astrid's eyes had widened and all the color had drained out of her face. Did she feel sick all of a sudden? Hopefully it was the cranberry juice that didn't agree with her. He'd hate to think the memory of them in bed made her physically ill.

They'd also talked about Daisy Driscoll—Naya—but was that before or after Astrid's strange reaction? If they were close friends, talking about the other woman shouldn't upset her.

He sighed. He'd probably never figure this out.

Astrid kept so much information hidden from him that he didn't even know how to start unraveling her secrets. If he wanted her to share, first he had to gain her trust, and Astrid didn't seem to trust anybody. Maybe if their night together had ended better, they'd have a chance. As it was, that little fuckup would cost him. Instead of starting at zero and building from there, he was now setting off from a position of negative infinity.

The shower turned on in the bathroom. He considered waiting for Astrid before eating, but he had no idea how long she'd be in there and his scrambled eggs would taste awful cold. He put Astrid's burger plate on the dresser and took the tray and his two cell phones with him out onto the balcony. There were no new messages on his work phone, so he slipped that into his jeans' pocket and tucked into his breakfast while scrolling through the emails on his alter ego's phone.

He'd been undercover so long that he felt like the two personas were starting to merge. It didn't help that he'd kept his real first name, but that had been a conscious decision since he'd just come out of a different assumed identity. He'd react authentically to someone using his real first name in much less time than having to absorb a new persona with a new first name.

He scrolled through the list of emails on Holden's phone. None seemed urgent. Rex, the head of security at his club and his occasional bodyguard, had some problems with one of the liquor deliveries, but it had been taken care of and now everything was fine. Not that Luke had ever doubted it would be. Rex was responsible and efficient. In a different situation, the two of them would have been great friends. Rex probably thought they were, but he was friends with Luke Holden, not Luke Hager.

Luke put the phone down and doused his eggs with more hot sauce. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the bathroom door open and glanced up to watch Astrid through the sliding glass doors.

She glided into the room swathed in one of the hotel bathrobes. The white, fluffy terry-cloth should make her shapeless, but instead she looked like a sexy Amazon queen draped in royal cloth. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders in wet waves.

She turned her head and locked gazes with him out on the balcony. That finally broke the trance he'd apparently succumbed to. He cleared his throat and put down the Tabasco bottle he was still holding midair. Gesturing toward her plate inside the room, he motioned that she should grab it and join him outside.

Astrid cocked her head and gave him an odd look, but then headed toward her food. The robe flowed around her, and he wondered if she was naked underneath or had put underwear back on after the shower. The idea of the robe sliding unhindered against her smooth skin made his cock throb, and he had to adjust himself before sitting back down. Since the table was made of wrought iron, he positioned his napkin so it hid the evidence of his attraction. This mission was going to give him a bad case of blue balls.

Astrid joined him at the table and dug into her burger. She looked up and caught him staring. “What?” she asked. Wearing no makeup and with a glob of ketchup smeared in the corner of her mouth, she was still the sexiest thing he'd seen. He was in big trouble.

Luke adjusted the napkin on his lap and then forced out a slow grin to hide his reaction. “Looks like you were hungry. You've got ketchup on your face.”

“Thanks.” She wiped her mouth with the napkin and kept eating.

He reclined in his chair. “Let's continue our earlier conversation.”

Astrid took a big bite out of the burger and chewed demonstratively, pointing at her cheek to show her mouth was full.

“It's okay,” Luke said. “You eat and I'll talk. Just nod or shake your head if I ask you a question.” She frowned at him, but he pretended not to see her irritation. “These creatures obviously want very badly to capture you. They're not going to give up.” He paused.

Astrid nodded.

“Let's talk strategy then. You basically have two options.” There were probably more, but not if she wanted to resolve this quickly. He'd thought it through. His Marine instincts would be right in this situation.

She paused mid-chew and raised her eyebrows.

Luke leaned forward and snagged a fry from her plate. He chewed slowly, dragging it out to see how long she would hold out before speaking. He didn't have to wait long.

Astrid finished chewing her bite too quickly and started coughing. “What two options?” she choked out. He pushed his glass of water toward her. She took a deep swallow. “What options?” she insisted.

Luke reached for another fry, but she slapped his hand away. “It's basic battle strategy,” he said as he pretended to nurse the hand she'd hit. “Either you wait for them to come to you, in which case you set an ambush. Or, you go on the offensive and attack them at their home base.”

A fleeting shadow passed across her face. “I don't know where they hang out.”

He'd love to know what she was thinking right now. “Find out.”

She cocked her head, studying him like he was a new species she'd never seen before. “How?” Her voice trembled a little.

He waited a breath longer than necessary. “Let me help you.”

Astrid just kept looking at him. “How will you find out where their home base is?” Skepticism practically dripped from her words. Did she really have that little faith in him? He would enjoy proving her wrong. If he could get her to partner up with him, that was. And that was a big “if.” But he could tell she wanted this badly. She was holding herself too still and trying hard to keep her voice steady.

Luke shrugged. “I've got resources.” He grabbed several fries from her plate. Whalert would shit ducklings when Luke requested to use DTU's computers and databases, but he'd come around eventually. He wanted to flush out these covert labs as badly as Luke did, just not for the same reasons. Whalert wanted to put a stop to the domestic terrorists they brewed up through their illegal genetics program. Luke's reason was personal. He wanted revenge for Donovan.

Astrid didn't seem to notice the theft of the fries this time. “What kind of resources?”

“I can't tell you that,” Luke said. “Let's just say I've got a way to find things.” Well, the government did. Big Brother was watching and listening intently everywhere.

Astrid picked up her burger again, but put it back down before taking a bite. “Okay, let's say we find where the wolverines hang out. Then what?” She looked up, her green eyes as clear as a forest lake.

“What do you want to do? Blow them up? Capture them?” He almost held his breath. What she chose would tell him a lot about why the creatures were after her.

She looked away. “They have something I need.”

Money? Guns? Drugs? Luke's mind reeled with possibilities. “I need more than that if I'm going to help you with this.” His pushed some authority into his tone of voice. This game they were playing was taking too long.

“Okay,” she nodded. “I came to Denver to retrieve something—someone.” She was finally sharing. But who had she come to pick up? A boyfriend? The thought bothered him more than it should, and he pushed aside the alpha instinct to demand answers. Instead, he waited for her to continue. “The wolverines somehow kidnapped him before I could pick him up.”

So it was a
he
. Luke forced his voice to remain even. “Someone important to you?”

She traced the table's lattice iron pattern with a fingertip. “Someone important to…Daisy.” She looked up, studying him closely.

The relief he felt was immediate. “Daisy's boyfriend?”

“Would that bother you?” she asked in a dry voice.

Why the hell would he care who Daisy—Naya, whatever the hell her name was—dated? “Why would it?” He frowned. What crazy tangential path had they gone down now?

Astrid looked him straight in the eye, as if his next answer would be very important. “I thought the two of you had a thing while you worked together.”

Was that what had made her bolt into the bathroom earlier? “Ms. Driscoll and I had a strictly professional relationship.” Naya was attractive, but he'd never been drawn to her. Not like with Astrid. She'd practically shone like a beacon on the dance floor the first time he saw her. He had spent the whole night staring at her. Plus, he'd always known that Naya was involved with the covert labs. A brief glimpse of her was on the security tapes from the North Dakota explosions. What was left of the footage, which wasn't much. Naya had been his mark from the beginning.

Astrid muttered under her breath, but he couldn't make out the words. Before he had a chance to ask, she spoke again. “Daisy's engaged to someone else.”

“The guy who was upset with her when you came to find her at the club?”

She nodded. “The guy I was supposed to pick up is her brother.” She looked away. “I should never have lost him.”

Luke grabbed her hand and was ridiculously pleased when she didn't pull away. “Don't beat yourself up. You couldn't have known.” He still wanted to know what this guy meant to her.

She looked him straight in the eye. “But I should have known. I should have been more careful.” Pain filled her gaze. “He's not well.” She swallowed. “What if they're hurting him? Daisy will never forgive me.”

Was she talking about torture? So, this brother knew whatever Astrid was keeping from these creatures. And Naya was connected to all of this, as well as to a lab like the one that had destroyed Donovan's life. Excitement rose in Luke's chest. He was so close. After all these years, would he finally get revenge for
his
brother? He forced himself to concentrate and not let his emotions trip him up. He couldn't give anything away now. “We'll find him.”

Astrid nodded. “We'll get him out.” Her voice dropped lower. “And then we'll kill all of those miserable wolverine bastards.” Chills ran down Luke's spine. She must have noticed, because she looked at him, a cold smile on her lips. “Sorry, I can get a little bloodthirsty.”

A little?

* * *

Luke found Broden in his office on the second floor of the Denver FBI field office. The modern building was made largely of glass and located in the east part of the city, where the old airport had been. Broden's office had large windows, but for some reason he had the blinds drawn. “It's too bright and freaking hot when the sun shines straight in,” he explained when asked. “Plus, I don't like the view of Walmart and Sam's Club across the street.”

Luke took a seat. He'd called Whalert before heading over. The special agent in charge had grumbled for a while but finally given his consent to Luke using the Denver office's resources. “I need your help,” Luke told Broden.

The field agent watched him from across the desk. “So I've heard. Your boss called my boss, and here we are.” His tone wasn't exactly unfriendly, but his body language said he wasn't too thrilled about the request. Great, another person Luke was going to have to cajole into trusting him. When he'd left Astrid back in the hotel, she'd worn exactly the same skeptical expression that Broden's face bore right now.

“My mark had a run-in with some bad…people. I need to check last night's security footage from the parking garage at the train station.”

Broden quirked an eyebrow and picked up his phone receiver. He punched a button, and when someone picked up on the other end, he issued a few short commands. Slipping the receiver back in its cradle, he nodded to Luke. “They're pulling the feed and preparing a viewing room for us.”

Oh shit.
No way he could watch that creature with Broden in the room. Talk about freak-out in the FBI. “Some of the information on there could be of a sensitive nature. I'm not sure you have the security—”

Broden slammed his hand down on the desk. “Don't give me that shit about security clearance. Unless your girl has her top off and is blowing the president while he's reciting secret missile codes, I'm watching that footage with you.” He took a breath. “And even then, I'd just watch it after you left. Maybe with the sound off, but I'd watch.”

Luke's mind raced. He had to keep Broden from seeing that fight. “Look, I've been working this case for eighteen months. I can't risk it falling apart just because you have your panties in a twist and want to watch a movie with me.”

“How would me seeing security footage from a parking garage make your case fall apart?”

Well, he had Luke there. Maybe he'd just have to knock out the agent before the wolverines showed up on the video. “I don't know, but it could happen.” He sounded like a petulant teenager.

Broden raised an eyebrow. “Are you doing something illegal in that garage?”

Luke shook his head. “No.” Technically, he had attacked first, but considering the creature had claws, he didn't think anyone would hold that against him. They'd be too busy freaking out about the monsters walking among them.