Destin's Hold (The Alliance #5)(68)

“Mason’s apartment is this way,” Mary said, turning and hurrying to a set of doors with a sign stating authorized entrance only.

“I never understood why he wanted an apartment in the subbasement of the building,” Beth remarked, waiting while her grandmother pressed her palm to the access panel.

“He hates heights and said he has a better chance of rising from the rubble than falling to the pavement,” Mary replied with a wave of her hand for Beth to go ahead of her after she opened the door.

“How do you know that?” Beth asked with surprise.

“I may be old, Beth, but I’m not dead, and Mason is a very good-looking man,” Mary replied with a twinkle in her eyes. “What do you think I do when you’re working nights, sit at home and knit?”

“You don’t… Oh!” Beth hissed out in surprise, staring at her grandmother’s back with her mouth hanging open.

“You’re catching flies, honey,” Mary retorted, opening the door to Mason’s apartment.

Beth snapped her mouth closed and shook her head. How could she have not known that her grandmother and Mason…. She blanched and shuddered.

“That’s just nasty,” she muttered at the thought of them getting it on. “I didn’t think old people could still – and with Mason! Wow!”

Beth hurried into the apartment. It was sparsely decorated, but Beth could see small signs of her grandmother’s touch. Releasing a long breath of air, she turned and strode down the hallway.

“Can you reach the top shelf?” Mary asked when Beth walked in the door.

“Let me find something to stand on,” Beth replied, spying a chair in the corner. “Move aside.”

Beth grabbed the chair and dragged it over to the closet. Climbing up on it, she turned and looked along the shelf. A neatly folded blanket, a couple of hats, a shoebox, and….

“Massage oil?” Beth asked, glancing down at her grandmother’s upturned face.

“Don’t look under the blanket,” Mary instructed with a straight face. “That’s where he keeps the sex toys and the bondage straps.”

“Yew, Grandma!” Beth replied, grabbing the shoebox and thrusting it into her grandmother’s outstretched hands before jumping off the chair. “You know you have totally damaged me for life.”

“Well, it’s about time you learned about the birds and the bees,” Mary sniffed, not bothering to hide her grin.

“I don’t ever remember seeing any bees or birds with massage oil and sex toys,” Beth muttered under her breath, shaking her head in disbelief.

Mary took the box over to the bed and opened it. She briefly rummaged through the box before she held the ring out to Beth. “You hold onto this,” Mary said. Beth nodded and slid the ring into her pocket while Mary put the lid back on the box. She handed the box to Beth as well. “Here, if you can put this back up on the shelf.”

Beth took the shoebox, climbed back on the chair, and replaced it on the shelf. Jumping off the chair again, she returned it to the corner while Mary closed the closet door. Beth strode back toward the front door, wincing when the muted sound of an explosion nearby shook the building.

“Let’s get out of here. Sula said she saw the building in flames. I don’t want to be buried in it,” Mary replied, pulling open the door to the apartment and motioning for Beth to go through first.

Beth stepped out into the hallway and turned when she heard frantic footsteps. Jason was running down the corridor toward her. Behind her, Mary closed the door to Mason’s apartment.

“How bad is it?” Beth asked when Jason drew to a stop in front of her.

“Bad,” Jason responded, reaching out to grip her arm. “What are you guys doing here and where in the hell have you been?”

Beth winced in pain when Jason grabbed her sore arm. “Ouch, let go,” she muttered, pulling her arm away from him. They all hurried down the corridor, talking as they went. “Sula and I were attacked at the base last night by a couple of badasses known as Waxians. I took a minor hit, but Sula was hurt pretty badly. Anyway, there was a meeting this morning; Sula was looking for something important, Mason had it, some weird French dudes predicted the attack, and the tower is supposed to become the next inferno so we’ve all got to get out.”

Jason stopped, looked at her with a strange expression, then shook his head, and began moving again. “Troy and Justin are up on the roof. We have weapons set up there. Richard’s organizing the ground troops. I was heading to join him when I saw you enter the garage area,” he explained.

“We’ve got to get back to the base,” Beth said. “There may be information that can help defeat the Drethulans.”

“I thought you said they were Waxians. Who the hell are the Drethulans?” he demanded, pausing at the door leading out into the garage.

Beth tossed back the long braid that was starting to come loose and sighed. Trying to explain this was almost as bad as learning about all the different countries when she was in elementary school.

“The Waxians attacked us at the base, but the pod things are the Drethulans. They are supposed to be working together,” Beth explained as she opened the door.

“All I know is they are aliens and I’m fucking tired of them pissing on us,” Jason retorted with a disgusted expression. “Sorry about the f-bomb, Mary.”