[06] Slade (14 page)

“Not yet,” Sloan’s voice was even. “You got something to say to me?”

“Yeah, I do.” Slade turned to look him square in the eye. “I respect the hell out of you and always have, but if you ever hurt her again to make a point to me, I will kill you.”

Slade didn’t even wait for a response, he just turned and followed the rest. As he watched Jill and the little fucker, Dillon, who he honestly had nothing against except his hand on Jill, Slade knew he was in deep shit. He also knew that he and Jill would happen. They’d already happened, yet he totally fucked that up, but as soon as her initiation into the Warriors was complete, she was
his
and no one better have a problem with it.

“Maybe Jax was right,” Sloan called out behind him. “She’s a liability.”

Slade slowed, but didn’t stop. “Jax is an asshole,” Slade responded. “You’d be a fool to let her go, Sloan, and you know it.” Not sticking around to hear what else Sloan had to say, Slade took off. His eyes instantly going to Jill who was a few yards ahead of him, a thought hit him right in the gut. He’d be a bigger fool to let her go. Son of a bitch, this was a mess.

******

Jill was glad Dillon was back, but he was getting on her last nerve. Every few seconds, he was asking if she was okay, did she want him to carry her, on and on he went. Yeah, her head and body hurt, but she knew it would be short-lived. She was half-vampire, just like them. She would heal. She was fine and she wanted to tell him to shut the hell up.

Spotting the two men she had shot in the woods, bright pink splattered across their vests, she sidestepped and tried to avoid being seen by them as they walked by, but she wasn’t that lucky. One of their buddies spotted her.

“Is that the one who got you?” he said loudly, pointing at Jill. “Hey, girl, come here. I want to get a picture.”

Ignoring him, she continued to walk behind Steve and Adam.

“Jill, who is that?” Steve was looking at the guy coming up to them, then his friends. Seeing the pink splatter, his eyes shot to Jill. “Shit, did you shoot them? Sloan is gonna be pissed. Citizens were off limits.”

Jill mumbled, nudging at Steve, “Just go.”

“Hey! I’m talking to you.” He grabbed her arm. “I want to get a picture of you with my boys.”

Jerking her arm away from him, she turned to glare. “Get off.” He was decked out in his paintball gear with a hunter’s hat on his bushy head and a lip full of chewing tobacco.

He stumbled backward when he got a good look at her eyes. She had taken her safety glasses off after getting shot. “Holy shit, you’re a breed.” He looked at Steve, Adam and Dillon who were giving him a death stare. “You’re all breeds.”

Slade walked up, stepping between Jill and the man. “You got a problem?”

“Yeah, I do.” The man spat, looking from Jill to Slade. “They’re breeds.”

The rest of the Warriors surrounded them as Slade lifted his sunglasses off, sizing up him and his friends. “And you’re a redneck asshole, but
we’re
not making a big deal out of it.”

“Oh, hell, man.” The man held up his hands, backpedaling after seeing Slade’s golden eyes. “We don’t want no trouble.”

Slade dropped his sunglasses back in place giving them a nasty grin. “Good choice.”

“Really, man. I just wanted to get a picture with my buddies and the pretty girl there that shot them.” He smiled as if he and Slade were now buddies, but his smile disappeared when Slade took a step toward him.

“But she’s a breed,” Slade growled back the man’s word. “Isn’t that what had you all upset?”

“Ah, no…” The man laughed nervously. “It just took me by surprise is all. Didn’t want that sexy thang taking out my neck or something. I’ve heard breeds are unpredictable….ya know?”

“No, I don’t know.” Slade’s growl turned menacing.

Sid stepped in, waving his two fingers to the guy. “Come here.” As the man took a few hesitant steps, Sid grabbed him, putting his arm around his shoulders like they were the best of friends. “Listen, Cooter.”

“My name’s Buck.” The man gave Sid a sideways glance, not sure what was about to happen.

“You don’t say,” Sid grinned. “Well, listen….
Buck
. I suggest you and your boys go on about your business before you get an asswhoopin’ you’ll never forget.”

The man nodded then hurried toward his friends when Sid let him go. Jill really didn’t want to look at any of the Warriors, but her eyes went to Sloan because he was the one glaring at her. She started walking ahead knowing he was coming up beside her.

“So, Jill.” Sloan moved up beside her as they headed into the parking lot. “Did you not hear the part where I said all citizens were off limits?”

Jill grimaced, trying to think up something intelligent to say, but Sloan made her nervous, really nervous. “I got excited,” came out of her mouth; well, at least it was the truth. “Sorry.”

“And is there a reason you shot Slade in the ass before time started?” Sloan grilled her more.

Jill’s grin was filled with evil glee; now that was worth it. She glanced at Slade, who was giving her a ‘payback’s a bitch’ look, then to Sloan, wiping the grin off her face. “I slipped.”

He actually laughed at that, shaking his head, but then his face turned serious as if he had never laughed at all. “Next time you…slip, or get excited and shoot civilians, you will get written up.”

Jill cleared her throat with a nod. “Yes, sir.”

Sloan glanced at her sideways as he walked beside her, his silence made her nervous. “You take your driving test yet?”

“No, I was….”

Before she could finish, Sloan broke in, looking at his watch. “You have plenty of time to do it today,” he ordered, heading toward his bike. “I want it done. I’ll make a call so you don’t have to wait the required time to do the driver’s test, but I want that written test done today.”

“Yes, sir.” Jill frowned, and after Sloan started his bike, she cursed, “Dammit.”

“Come on.” Adam heard the whole conversation. “We’ll stop there first.”

Waiting for Adam to unlock the doors, Jill tried not to watch as Slade rode past on his bike, but her eyes, damn them, had a mind of their own and went to him like a magnet. As if that wasn’t bad enough when he rode past, his head slowly turned, and even though his sunglasses hid his eyes, she felt the heat of his stare burn through her body. Quickly, she looked away, climbing into Adam’s car.

The ride to the DMV was silent. All Jill could think about was taking the test she was surely going to fail because she couldn’t read without it taking her hours, and remembering the questions was going to bring up memories of what Slade did to her body as he quizzed her. As Steve would say, she was screwed.

Adam pulled into a empty parking spot. Dillon followed in his car, parking beside them. Once they were all out of the cars, Adam stopped Dillon and Steve from walking. “Why don’t you guys stay here? I’ll go in with Jill.”

As they made their way inside, Jill was relieved Adam had told Steve and Dillon to stay outside. She was a nervous wreck and really didn’t need an audience for her humiliation. Having Adam there was bad enough, but out of the three, she’d rather have Adam with her. The woman behind the counter stared at them as they walked up to the counter. “I need to take the written test.”

The woman continued to stare until Jill gave her a look. She fumbled with a paper, stood, did something and came back. “Take this and go to computer number four.” She handed the paper to Jill, still staring. “After you finish the test, bring the paper back up.”

Taking offense at the woman staring, Jill sneered, “Is it my mismatched eyes or do I have something on my face?”

The woman was taken back for a second. “Ah, actually you do.”

“Do what?” Jill’s tone was not polite.

“Have something on your face.” The woman pointed. “It’s black.”

Jill’s hand flew to her forehead then brought it back down, nothing was on her hand. “Do you have a bathroom?”

The woman nodded toward the right. “Over there.”

Jill headed toward the bathroom, pushing the door open hard. Going directly to the mirror, she laughed. Hell, no wonder the woman was staring. She looked like total shit. The whole side of her forehead was splattered black and her hair was pushed back and standing straight up from the blast of the paintball gun. She had a large bump where she’d been hit. Specks of black was scattered all across her face. Turning on the warm water, she bent over the sink, bringing water to her face and scrubbed. After a few minutes, she looked up into the mirror. It wasn’t totally gone, but at least she looked a little better.

Grabbing the paper, she looked at it and her stomach dropped. She was going to fail this test, she knew it. The words on the paper were jumbled to her eyes. She just hoped she saw some familiar words and could figure it out on the test. Slade said it was multiple choice so at least she had a slim chance of picking the right one. With one disgusted look in the mirror, she turned and walked out. Adam sat in one of the metal chairs. He gave her an encouraging smile as she headed toward the computers.

Sitting down, she saw notes posted on the computer figuring it was instructions on how to start. Hitting a button next to the note, the computer made a loud noise, which she figured indicated she had hit the wrong button. Hot embarrassment swarmed her body. Closing her eyes, she gave herself a quick pep talk. She could do this.

“Hey, you can’t go over there while she’s testing,” the woman called out.

Jill opened her eyes to see Adam heading her way. “Just let me help her get started. She’s dys—”

“Adam.” Jill shook her head with warning.

Adam walked over, hit a button and a screen came up with more jumbled up words. “You can do this,” he told her before walking away. “Just take your time.”

While Adam knew she was dyslexic, he had no clue how bad it was. “Thanks,” she managed to say with a calmness she didn’t feel. She was freaking out. It was like she was back in school and being asked by the teacher to stand up and read.

Jill didn’t know how long she sat in front of the computer. Some of the words made sense, but her dyslexia was severe and was going to prevent her from doing what she wanted most in the world. She heard the door buzz as someone came in, but she ignored it. She didn’t want to see whoever came in because her pride really couldn’t take it. Three people had come in since her, taken the test and left. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at Adam. She had hit some buttons figuring she was taking the test, but she really didn’t know.

A chair scraped against the floor toward her. Looking over, she saw Slade turn the chair backward to straddle it. “What are you doing?” she whispered, shocked, looking back at the woman behind the desk. “You can’t be over here.”

“Yes, I can.” Slade was looking at the computer screen as he reached over using the mouse. Then he turned around. “Can you please start this test over?”

Watching the woman get up quickly to do what Slade asked, Jill frowned. “You know her or something?”

“Nope, but she knows Sloan.” Slade scooted closer, still looking at the screen, then looked at her, his eyes going to her forehead with a frown. “How’s your head?”

“Sore.” Jill sighed, “Slade, what are you doing? You can’t take the test for me.”

His eyes searched hers before he spoke, “I’m not taking the test for you. I’m going to read the question. Give you the options for answers.”

“How did you even know I was here?” Jill was actually relieved, despite her discomfort. She wasn’t a dumb person, but having him read to her like she was a five-year-old made her feel less than.

“Adam,” Slade replied. “Okay, you ready?”

She looked back at Adam who shrugged as if he didn’t care if she was pissed he called Slade or not. She gave him a smile, letting him know she was cool with it, when in reality she didn’t know what the hell she felt. Not even twelve hours ago, this handsome man was inside her and now he was sitting next to her helping her take a written driving test. Her life sure had taken a strange turn. For him to take time to turn around and come here for her almost had her tearing up, but she controlled it. She was still mad at him, so she simply nodded, afraid she would start blubbering if she opened her mouth.

Slade gave her a small encouraging smile before looking at the screen. Then he hesitated, a funny expression crossing his face. He cleared his throat, his eyes on the screen. “What does a flashing yellow light indicate?”

Jill’s eyes shot to his in disbelief. They then slammed back to the computer screen. Heat that had nothing to do with embarrassment flushed her body. She looked back at Slade and the heat in his eyes melted her to the chair. “Slow down,” she said quickly, her voice shaking. “Next question.” She watched as he clicked something on the computer and a new, what she figured question, popped up. Holy shit, that did not just happen. Knowing her luck, it did just happen. Her stomach clenched painfully.

“Who has the right of way at a four-way stop?” Slade’s voice sounded deeper as he read the question and then gave the four possible answers.