Bone Deep(26)

Bullet shifted and turned as the one who’d stolen her heart walked up. Rand Beckett was a strong man to have taken Bullet on. And though her sister had broken, it was a fascinating thing to observe the softness in her gaze as she looked at him.

“Bone, this is Rand Beckett,” Bullet murmured.

Bone glanced at him, took his measure. He was a big man, though not quite as tall as Dmitry. Her gaze automatically sought the man who made her feel things she should not be feeling. He stared at her and for some reason the cast of his jaw, the readiness in his stance communicated he was there for her—would fight with her should any of these men attack.

She was being fanciful. It would get her killed.

She slid her gaze back to Rand Beckett. “If you hurt her, I will kill you.”

Bullet stepped in front of Rand, her mouth flat, blue eyes shadowed with darkness.

“We have always had truth between us, sister. If he is yours he should know all of it, yes?” Bone questioned.

Arrow sighed. “I would introduce you to Adam Collins but I’m afraid that if you terrorize him, we will fight and you have just arrived. After so long without my sisters by my side, I would mourn your loss.”

Bone raised her chin in the air. “We have had this argument before, Arrow. I am stronger, quicker, and meaner than you. Threats will earn you that fight your soul is screaming for if you continue.”

Dmitry stepped to her, hovering at her back, waiting. For what, she wondered.

“Do not threaten him, Bone. Do not ever threaten him,” Bullet whispered harshly. “And it seems you have truths of your own to be concerned with.”

Bone’s spine snapped tight and she narrowed her gaze on Bullet.

“I will not hurt her. Not intentionally, I assure you,” Rand Beckett offered into the taut silence.

“You would fight your sisters?” Adam Collins asked, inserting himself into the conversation.

She looked at him, really looked at Adam Collins for the very first time. He, too, was handsome but where Rand Beckett whispered elegance, this man shouted warrior. Much like Dmitry, the well of his past was deep and littered with death. “It is all we know, Mr. Collins. Would you rather we held hands and sang Kumbaya?”

“You had the holding hands part a minute ago,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I wondered if breaking into song was coming next.”

“I believe a laugh would be expected here—something to alleviate the tension,” Bone mused between clenched teeth, no smile, and no laugh forthcoming. “He’s a funny man, Arrow. Like loyalty, it is a commodity.”

Arrow nodded and smiled. It was sweet and nothing Bone had ever seen from her sister.

She had hoped, long ago, that her sisters would possibly find peace. Perhaps that was still possible for them. Bone turned to Rand Beckett. “If you don’t hurt her, I won’t kill you. It’s a deal, yes?”

Rand looked over her head to the man who stood behind her. His jaw clenched then released and he smiled. “Deal.”

“The same deal I will offer to you, Mr. Collins. For as much as the death inside Arrow calls my name, she is still mine and should you harm her, I will hunt you, warrior, and I will eliminate you.”

Collins nodded, accepting the warning from another warrior. Arrow said nothing, simply sighed again.

“Now that the pleasantries are over, I am hungry. Tell me Carmelita is cooking.” Dmitry’s smooth-as-whiskey voice broke over Bone, and much as her sisters’ presence soothed her, so did his.

“She has indeed. A feast, I’d say. Shall we go eat?” Rand asked the group.

Everyone turned to walk into the house except for Bullet, who stayed where she was, staring at Bone. She wanted to warn Bone again, out of hearing range of her man, but Bone was having none of it.

Bone shook her head. “You cannot change what I am.” She drew in a rough breath. “What we all are.” Her gaze snagged on Rand who had stopped and turned back to them. “I am what Joseph made me and to venture too far from that makes me weak, sister. You are mine. Arrow and Blade are mine. I will not lose another one.”

Bullet nodded after long moments, which made the band around Bone’s chest ease somewhat. But still there were other truths that must reach the light and suddenly all she wanted was to fight the inevitability of it all.

How she hated Joseph Bombardier.

The others walked in and she was left with Dmitry. He stepped to her side, gazing down at her. “You want to fight, kostolomochka?”

He read her like a book. She had only ever had that connection with her sisters. Bone closed her eyes, unable to find her mind when she stared into his blue, blue eyes. “I do.”

“We will eat first. Then, if you still want to fight, we will,” he assured her.

Her response was immediate. “Not you.”

“You are too much for anyone else here. And since you gave me truths earlier, allow me to give you one in return,” he responded patiently.

She nodded—entranced by this man who had never ceased searching for his sister. What kind of love was that? To never stop searching? She would do the same for Bullet, Arrow and Blade. Was that then what she felt for her own sisters?

Love?

No. She could not claim that emotion. It wasn’t to be for Bone.

“Give me your truth, then Asinimov. But make it quick, my stomach is empty.”