Evans, Gabrielle - Hell's Tempest [Fatefully Yours 4] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (11 page)

“Do we have to leave?” came a tiny voice from near the front door. Jet bit his lip, shifting from foot to foot as his fingers fumbled together in front of him.

“We’ll talk about it,” Vapre answered icily. Logically, he knew they hadn’t been the ones to hurt his mate, but reason had taken a temporary vacation from Vapre’s thought process. Jet and Pax had allied themselves with the enemy, therefore forfeiting any friendly consideration he’d felt for them.

“What is wrong with you?” Echo gasped. “Of course they can stay!”

“We’ll talk about it,” Vapre repeated just as coldly, his eyes boring holes into the shifters.

A soft palm caressed his cheek, and Vapre couldn’t stop himself from leaning into the touch. “They hurt you,” he whispered. “We can’t trust them.”

“Sage hurt me,” Echo replied firmly. “He tricked us all, but that doesn’t mean we should condemn Pax and Jet just because they knew him. In fact, they may be able to help us.”

He struggled to his feet with a groan, gripping Vapre’s shoulder to steady himself. “Now, I’m hungry, I know Mac is, and I guess we’re having another meeting.” He sighed as though he found this quite irritating. “Oh, and Mac, be a sweetie and shower first. You’re burning my nose hair.”

Chapter Ten

Men moved around the kitchen, talking in hushed voices and casting furtive glances at Echo. He ignored them as he rubbed his temples, trying to massage away the deep ache and constant throbbing. He’d felt a little off since his episode in the living room, as though his head wasn’t quite attached to his shoulders, but floating somewhere just above.

Things seemed murky and unclear, and he had to think extra hard before he could answer any questions that were tossed his way. His other hand pulled absently at the end of his chestnut locks. He vaguely remembered being all fired up about chopping it off and casting aside his “golden boy” image. He just couldn’t remember why. His mates loved his hair, and he’d never had a problem with it before, so why had it seemed so imperative at the time?

“You’re thinking too hard,” Eyce whispered in his ear. “Relax and breathe, baby. We’ll figure this out, and if you’re that worried about your hair, we can always dye it back. It’s just hair, sweetheart.”

Echo gave his lover a lopsided grin in gratitude. No one had called him sweetheart before, and he thought he might like that even better than
baby
. “I know, and it’s not the hair exactly. I just can’t remember why I felt the need to cut it in the first place.”

“Do you remember what happened in the car?” Syx sat up a little straighter in his chair and bent forward, folding his arms on the table.

After a moment’s hesitation, Echo shook his head slowly. “I know there was a voice in my head telling me all kinds of nasty things, but it’s all muddled like a dream you can’t quite remember when you wake up.”

Mac entered the kitchen then, followed closely by his mates, and headed straight for Echo. Eyce rose instantly, moving to the next seat over to allow Mac to sit beside Echo. “How are you?”

“I should be asking you that.” Echo leaned forward and pecked his friend on the cheek. “We’ve missed you around here.”

Mac’s cheeks heated, and he smiled shyly. “I’m better now, thank you.”

They were being awfully formal, each tiptoeing around the other. Some things you just have to jump into with both feet, however. “What happened out in the woods?”

Everyone stopped, and all heads turned to Mac, waiting for his response. Gage seemed the most interested in the answer, moving around the table to sit on Mac’s other side to lend his support. Echo smiled at the former guard and nodded his approval. Sony stood just behind Mac, his fingers drifting through his mate’s curly brown hair. “You can tell us, Mac,” Sony whispered. “Did you
see
something?”

“Not exactly,” Mac began, and everyone listened with rapt attention. “Everything went black with kind of a tangled red haze at the edges. I felt like I’d been plunged into a bucket of ice water.”

“That’s when you first arrived at the place where you found the shifters?” Echo asked.

“Yes.” Mac bobbed his head up and down, staring at his hands where they twisted together on the table. “I couldn’t see anything except what was inside my head. I couldn’t hear, or smell, or even feel my own body.”

Echo shuddered in empathy, remembering the time he’d spent inside the capsule at the lab. He recalled the feeling of being disconnected, as though his brain was somewhere outside his body—functioning independently from him.

“There were these things…these monsters, living inside my head with me. I guess I could feel when someone touched me, but in my mind, it was the creatures attacking me. I didn’t know I was screaming out loud, though.”

Jet and Pax stood by the back door, both looking contrite and fidgeting nervously. They looked afraid, but not in the guilty kind of way. “Did you meet Sage in the lab?” Echo wracked his brain, trying to place the stranger. He remembered Jet, and Pax a little more, but he couldn’t remember seeing Sage before he’d shown up in their house.

“No,” Jet whispered. “We woke up in this cave near where you found us. It was snowing outside, and we had no idea how we’d gotten there.”

“Sage was there when we finally came around. I don’t even know how long we were asleep,” Pax picked up the narrative. “He said he was from a different facility, just like the one we came from. He had a number.” Pax said the last part as though that explained everything.

“So before a few weeks ago, you’d never met him?” Echo didn’t like where this was heading.

“No,” the shifters answered together. “He seemed kind of...different, though. We figured it was because he’d been alone for so long and didn’t know how to interact with people anymore.” Pax shuffled from foot to foot as he spoke.

“Alone?” Echo sat up a little straighter and tilted his head to the side.

“That’s what he said,” Jet replied. “He told us that he’d been hiding out for years.”

“You lied to us,” Vapre broke in. “You said that you’d all been in the lab together.”

Jet and Pax bobbed their heads slowly. “He said that if you knew he didn’t come from the same lab, you would be suspicious, and we wouldn’t be allowed to stay here.” Jet still wouldn’t meet their eyes.

“We were cold and hungry,” Pax whispered. “I’m sorry that we tricked you.”

Echo glanced over at Mac. “Did you see two or three in your vision?”

“Two,” Mac answered immediately. “But I could kind of feel a third person at the peripheral.”

“How did you know to come here?” Fiero asked pointedly.

“I don’t know.” Jet looked like he would pass out from the admission. “I swear I don’t,” he added hurriedly. “I had these dreams and a kind of pull in this direction, but I can’t explain it.”

“Then why were you hiding in the woods?” Fiero lifted both eyebrows, the suspicion written all over his face. Echo couldn’t blame him. After finding one traitor in their midst, it would be hard to trust any newcomers.

“We wanted to,” Pax took his turn at the story. “Sage said we needed to stay put, that someone would come for us.”

“Bait,” Eyce murmured under his breath.

Echo closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples again. “Did Sage…Did he hurt you?”

Jet and Pax stared at their feet, hands linked behind their backs, and didn’t say a word. Their silence spoke volumes. “He said that you three…um, played around some.” Myst wrinkled his nose and sighed. It wasn’t exactly a question, but at least he was trying to be tactful. “Did you…” Myst huffed out a breath and rubbed a hand over his face. “Did you volunteer?” he finally blurted.

If Jet’s face turned any redder, Echo would have worried he was having a stroke. Pax made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, and Echo couldn’t take it anymore. Rising from his seat, he gripped the back of his chair until the dizziness passed, then moved carefully over to the two shifters. He hugged Pax first, then Jet, squeezing the man tightly. “You’re safe here,” he whispered.

Jet hugged him back, shuddering as he pressed his face into Echo’s neck and exhaled on a long sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“Which one of you was hurt?”

Jet tensed in his arms and tried to move away, but Echo squeezed him tighter. “You can tell me, Jet.”

After another moment of struggle, Jet slumped against him in defeat. “Pax,” he murmured. “Hex fixed him right up, though.”

“Is Sage the one who hurt him?” Echo spoke quietly into Jet’s ear, barely more than a breath.

Jet nodded.

“Are you hurt?”

“Just some scratches.”

Echo finally released him and took a step back. “Let me see.”

Dropping his eyes to study the kitchen floor again, Jet slowly lifted the hem of his shirt just past his belly button. Echo gasped, and his eyes stung as unshed tears prickled the corners. Jet’s “scratches” were four long gashes that stretched from one side of his rib cage to the other. “Hex, why didn’t you heal these?”

“They weren’t there,” Hex replied with a growl.

“This happened since you’ve been here?” Echo hadn’t thought his eyes could get any wider, but he’d been wrong. “Why didn’t you tell someone?”

“Please,” Pax whispered. “No more questions right now.”

Echo closed his eyes and held a shaky hand over his face. “Hex…”

“Come on, baby.” Eyce scooped Echo up in arms and cradled him close. “You need to rest. You’re still a little unsteady.”

Echo didn’t resist, didn’t argue. He felt miserable down to his bones, and he just wanted to wrap his men around him like an Ace bandage and sleep until things were better.

“I’ll get him fixed up and food in his stomach, then send him back to bed.”

Echo opened his eyes to see Hex standing beside Eyce. He offered his mate a wobbly smile and inclined his head. “Thank you.” Eyce started to carry him out of the room, but another thought occurred to him, and he patted his lover’s chest to stop him. “Sage or the forest?” he asked weakly. His head swam, and his tongue felt too big for his mouth, making speech almost impossible.

“Both,” Mac answered, understanding his inquiry. “There’s still evil in the woods, but Sage brought it to this house.”

“M’kay. Fix later,” he mumbled, then turned his head into Eyce’s chest and drifted off to sleep.

* * * *

“Interesting,” the Oracle hummed as she lifted a strand of Echo’s dark hair and let it slide through her fingers.

“Do you like it?” For some reason, he wanted to please her.

“No,” she said flatly. Then she combed her fingers through his hair, starting at the crown and ending at the newly shorn tips. “Ah, much better.” She smiled radiantly.

Staring down at his hair, Echo gasped. Lifting the waist-length blond locks, he stroked them in amazement. “Thank you,” he breathed.

“You have had many adventures since we last spoke.”

Echo’s cheeks heated as he recalled some of his more carnal adventures. “Yes, ma’am.”

The Oracle laughed her soft, tinkling laugh. “My dear, Echo, it is always a pleasure to see you.”

“Who are you?” Echo slapped a hand over his mouth. He hadn’t meant to ask that.

“All answers in time.” The Oracle continued to smile and reached for his hand. “Walk with me.”

Taking her hand without thought, Echo drifted along beside her, his heart light and his mood peaceful. “Why am I here?”

“You are in great danger.”

“Well, no shit.” Echo bit his lip and winced. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“This is unexpected. You must remove this obstacle from your path, or you will surely fail in your tasks.”

“What is unexpected? What obstacle?” He knew better than to anticipate an answer, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. The realization that the Oracle was not all knowing was a hard pill to swallow.

“You will need to be wary. Your adversaries grow more desperate.” And her grip tightened around his fingers as she spoke quickly. Echo had never seen her so agitated before. The Oracle had always seemed like an omniscient being to him, but now, in her current state, she appeared almost…normal.

He decided he liked her better before.

The Oracle stopped suddenly and swung around to face him. “Go. Go now and warn the others. They must stop the evil, or there will be no hope.”

“What evil?” Echo shouted. “Warn who? You are being even creepier than usual!” He yanked his hand away from the Oracle and glared at her. “Who are you?” he demanded.

“Shine the light and force out the evil,” she whispered and then vanished before his eyes.

Groaning, Echo closed his eyes and dropped his head back on his shoulders. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Chapter Eleven

“That bitch is crazy,” Echo said quite clearly as his eyes snapped open and he pushed up in bed. He looked royally pissed off, and it was the best sight Vapre had seen in days.

Moving quickly, he settled onto the mattress, touching Echo everywhere and trying to form coherent words past the burn in his throat. “You’re okay. Oh, gods, you’re awake.”