Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(37)
“I understand—”
“No, you don’t.” He had the option of living a normal life in a normal world. People didn’t judge him based on genetics he couldn’t help, and no one had ever locked him away like an animal because of it.
She curled her fingers against the helmet so she didn’t throw it out of frustration as her emotions swelled. She was so tired of all the crap. So tired of always having to be on the defensive. Having to weigh and measure every word ten times over to keep from condemning herself by a simple slip. “My day starts at sunset and ends at daylight, which gives me extremely limited time to accomplish anything in the summer, so I can’t afford to waste even a nanosecond. Everyone knows I’m nocturnal, especially Sen.”
“Your point?”
“He got his kicks once today by making me drive two hours in the heat in full gear while my skin boiled. So I don’t give a flying effing fig what he wants right now. I’ll do my job. I always do, because I am not the animal that bastard thinks I am.” She lifted the helmet halfway and paused, shooting a glance loaded with warning at Storm. “And one more thing. About that little show of power at headquarters this morning? Don’t ever screw with my emotions again or I’ll make you regret it.”
She pulled on her helmet and stepped out of the truck before he could answer. The driver door slammed at the same time hers shut. When she reached the trailer, Storm was already there. She’d order him to get his hands off her bike if not for her helmet, which would muffle her words.
He cranked open the wheel chock that prevented the front tire from moving, then leaned the bike against his hip. Someone walking along the street wouldn’t notice the harsh flex of his shoulders as he moved.
She’d hit a nerve, but taking the words back or smoothing things over would destroy any ground she’d just gained with him.
When he had the wheel free to move, he toed the gearshift up one click to neutral, then rolled her bike off the trailer with the same graceful ease with which he seemed to do everything else.
The bike would roll for him as long as he didn’t straddle it and the motorcycle was within her energy range.
The minute he put the side stand down and backed away, she walked over and slung a leg over the seat.
Storm stepped in front of her and stood alongside her front tire, waiting.
Ignoring him wouldn’t budge that determined angle of his chin. When she did look up, she was glad for the black shield on her helmet that prevented her from having to meet his eyes.
Or so she’d thought.
He put a hand on her handlebar and leaned forward, eyes staring as though he saw right through the mirror shield. “Are you finished issuing orders?”
The quiet words would have sounded like a gentle caress if not for the low vibration of anger thrumming in his voice. She didn’t say a word, just gave a slight move of her head to indicate she was listening.
“Good. I have a job to do, too, and it’s not all about you. It’s about saving the world and all those humans who know nothing about what might hit this world in three days. I’ll be at Piedmont Park at midnight. Come prepared to work together, which means answering questions. Truthfully. Not playing a word game two-step. And as for the comfort spell I sent you at HQ, I didn’t do it to screw with your emotions or show off my powers. I did it because I didn’t like seeing you feel threatened and figured you didn’t want to give Sen the pleasure of knowing he’d rattled you.”
Her heart thumped an extra beat. Storm had been trying to do something nice for her when he’d used his power to calm her? That floored her. Kindness from strangers was not something she was used to, and she was sorry she’d misjudged him.
While he’d been handsome to her before, this set him up a few notches in her book.
Storm clenched his teeth before he spoke again. “I’m heading over to where the Birrn was killed to pick up a trail. I should know something tonight.”
No, no, no. She had to clamp down on her panic before he sensed it.
Going to the killing site would have been enough to raise her blood pressure without the way he swept a gaze over her that thawed out the frigid shield she used to keep all men at bay. His gaze scorched her. “You don’t like me using my powers on you … that’s fine. I’m much better with my hands anyway.”
NINE
The crisp smell of fresh-cut grass reminded Laurette Barrett of life as a child during a more hopeful time when mistakes hadn’t had such dire consequences. Long before she’d become a twenty-four-year-old woman who lived at the crossroads of adversity and fear.
Her granddad would shake his head at her and say, “You’ll survive this, Laurie girl.”
If he were still alive, she might. But he was gone, and her life was ruined.
Daylight was abandoning her by the minute, which made walking through the park that much more difficult, but she had Brutus by her side. When she’d been looking for a small dog with spirit, a nice lady at the Humane Society had jokingly told her she had a twenty-pound dog that was a cross between a terrier and a hedgehog.
Laurette had fallen in love at first sight with the patchwork mutt and named him Brutus to build up his self-esteem.
How was she going to take care of him if things got worse?
How was she going to pay any bills if she couldn’t make a living? Negative thinking had never solved a problem—she knew that. She’d survived on her own for seven years by not letting anything defeat her.