Chapter 2

Present Day

“Okay, guys, shut the hell up and let’s get this meeting started,” Noah said.

Blake looked around the War Room and sat back in his chair. He glanced down at his phone; the meeting was already running ten minutes late, and he knew it would take the Warriors some time to settle down. Irritation brewed in his stomach. He had plans for the night, and he wanted to get moving.

Cohen and Rayner laughed about something and didn’t look anywhere near ready to be silent.

“Hey, Rayner,” Blake said. “Shut the fuck up.”

Both Rayner and Cohen looked at him, and Rayner narrowed his red gaze. “Excuse me, half-breed?”

“I said shut the fuck up.” Blake kept his eyes locked on Rayner and ignored Cohen. “Noah wants some silence so we can get this damn meeting started, and you keep flapping your jaws.”

Blake turned his attention to Noah, who furrowed his brow in confusion. Blake had been getting that a lot lately from all the Warriors, but he didn’t care. He had places to go, women to screw, and other things to do.

His life had changed dramatically in the past year. After Annis chose Cohen over him, he still pined for her, no matter how hard he tried not to. They had shared one single kiss, and it had been awkward at best. However, he still fantasized that they could grow into a mutual physical attraction, because she was perfect in every way for him. He admired her spirit, her beauty still left him breathless, and he missed her friendship most of all.

He had tried to keep the relationship platonic, but it hadn’t worked. He still lusted after her; he still wanted her. She invaded his dreams, and she was a distraction during the day. It seemed the only way to save himself was to just break all contact and conversation with her.

During that time, he also developed an intense dislike for Cohen, and it always came down to one question: What did Cohen have that he didn’t? He’d spent far more time considering the question than he’d like to admit.

As far as he was concerned, the new changes in his life were good. He did a fabulous job of completely ignoring Annis and Cohen. In fact, it was as if they didn’t exist. He spent as much time as possible away from the silo, preferring to shack up with Brandy. She was a hell of a lot more fun than any of the Warriors, and she provided a really nice distraction from reality.

The room fell silent, and Blake felt eyes on him. Annis’s golden gaze pierced him, but he pushed away the desire to look at her. She didn’t exist.

“Okay, well, thanks for quieting everyone, Blake,” Noah said, sighing. “The first thing we need to cover is who was on security detail here last night.”

Silence filled the room, and when Blake looked up, all the Warriors were staring at him. Security detail consisted of making sure all the sensors and intricate systems were online both on and off the property, as well as programming the computer to call your cell phone if any part of the security system was breeched.

“It was you, half-breed,” Noah said, his eyes burning with fury. “Did you realize that not only did you neglect to set any of the systems, but your phone wasn’t programmed? And just to make things really interesting, you didn’t even lock the front door?”

Shit. He’d forgotten it was his turn as security overseer about halfway through his bottle of whiskey.

“That translates into anyone being able to walk in here, Blake. Anyone. A Colonist could have come in here, made a sandwich, and then proceeded to kill every one of us.”

Blake sighed and looked at the table. It was all speculation on Noah’s part, and Blake didn’t like living with possibilities of what could have happened. He’d done that long enough. He now lived in the present with no thought of yesterday and very little of tomorrow.

“Micah could have come in here and done the same, Blake,” Hudson said.

“But none of that happened,” Blake countered.

There was a beat of silence. “Are you at least going to admit you fucked up?” Rayner asked.

Blake rolled his eyes. “Fine, Whatever. I fucked up.”

Noah sat back in his chair, his jaw clenching as his gritted his teeth. “See, when stuff like that happens, Blake, it breaks this thing we have among ourselves called ‘trust.’ I trusted you last night to be on security detail and keep everyone in here safe. You didn’t do that.”

“I was busy,” Blake countered.

“Bullshit,” Hudson spat. “You put my family in jeopardy with your lack of actions, and that pisses me off.” A black ponytail hung down Hudson’s back, and his blue shirt cost more than some people made in a week.

“Look, I fucked up, okay?” Blake retorted. “End of story. Now, can we please get back to this damn meeting?”

After a long stint of silence, Noah said, “Okay, Blake, back to the meeting. So priority number one for the past few months has been the SR44 women, and we’ve gotten nowhere. Nico, you said that you knew of two women, but you hadn’t seen either of them for a long time when you were with the Platoon. Micah has them stashed away somewhere. Simon offered up their location in exchange for asylum from us, but I’m not comfortable with that. At one time I would have said to throw him down in the gym, but we’ve got Killian up and running around now, and it’s too big of a risk to have a stranger among us.”

Blake nodded. At three years old, Killian was definitely mobile, and frankly, it drove Blake nuts. He tried to be nice to the kid, but at his core, he wasn’t a kid person. No, he didn’t want to build blocks with him, he didn’t want to play hide-and-seek, and he didn’t want to watch stupid TV shows and sing annoying songs. He wanted nothing to do with the kid, but he remained polite and nice in the most distant way possible as not to offend Hudson. That was one guy he definitely didn’t want to piss off, especially when it came to his mate, Beverly, his daughter, Abby, and his son, Killian.

“Thank you for thinking of my boy, Noah,” Hudson commented.

“Of course,” Noah said. “I think we can all agree that we love the little turd like our own.”

There were mumbles of agreement around the table. Blake had seen Rayner and Jovan play hide-and-seek with the kid, and Annis loved to cuddle up and read to him at night when she could see. He’d heard Cohen tell Killian stories of SR44, painting bright, vivid pictures with his words that kept the child’s attention.

He’d watched Liberty building blocks with him, and Faith and Abby loved to take him outside to search for wildlife poop, or scat, as Faith called it. He walked into the gym the other day to find Nico on all fours with Killian on his back, screaming, “Go horsey!” at the top of his lungs while Alaina pretended to be a monster and chased them around. There were so many people in the silo who wanted to spend time with the kid, it was a wonder Hudson and Beverly got any time alone with him at all. As far as Blake was concerned, he was doing Hudson and Beverly a favor with his indifference. Parents needed time alone with their kid.

“We could just bring Simon and beat on him for a while until he cracks,” Jovan said.

Noah shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t want him anywhere near here. We’ve got too much to lose if shit goes wrong. What if he’s got a tracker on him or something? The last thing we need is Micah and that psycho Jael showing up at our front door.”

“Especially when the half-breed can’t even bother to lock it,” Hudson muttered.

“Agreed,” Nico said. “We don’t need Simon here. We don’t need any of them here.”

As the Warriors talked about other options, Blake’s thoughts went elsewhere. Namely, to Brandy and what they were going to do tonight.

Brandy wasn’t the prettiest girl on the block, but she was definitely the most fun. He certainly didn’t have feelings for her, but that was the way he was playing things these days. After losing Annis to Cohen, he’d made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t get attached to a woman again, and so far so good. Brandy was a good time and nothing else. He tuned back in and realized the conversation had turned to what they were having for dinner. He wasn’t going to be around, so he stood and headed for the door.

The murmurs quieted as Blake reached the door. “Blake, you’re needed here tonight,” Noah said.

Blake turned and looked at Noah. “Sorry, man, I’ve got plans.”

“But you’re supposed to be on patrol tonight downtown. We’ve got that cluster of Colonist offspring hitting it, and we need to—”

“Jovan,” Blake interrupted, “do me a solid and patrol for me tonight.” Jovan stared at him a minute and then nodded.

“See, Noah?” Blake said. “All fixed.” He left the room, walked out of the silo into the night, got into the Hummer and sped away.