HeroRevealed (6 page)

This connection they shared had the potential of working
out. She was still there, unafraid and apparently fascinated by his tale.
Euphoria didn’t begin to describe the relief he felt at her interest. He wanted
to pull her into his arms, stretch beside her on the bed and answer any
question she had while he ran his hands over her body. Acceptance was the first
hurdle. Once that passed she would become his mate and their life together
could begin.

“I want to tell you everything about my world.” He held out
his hand, encouraging her to join him.

Hesitation clouded her features and the consideration she
gave his outstretched hand gave pause to his inner celebration.

Patience. It wasn’t his best quality, but when what he
wanted was worth his life, no obstacle was too great.

He held his breath until he almost passed out before she
slowly lifted her hand. The heat of her skin hovered over his upturned palm
when the rattle of metal on wood erupted from the dresser.

Brett jerked back with a gasp and reached for her phone,
breaking their tentative connection.

“Briggs.”

“Sheriff, its Reutgers.” Kristos could hear the deputy shout
over the line even without his super hearing. “There’s been another cave-in at
the National Park. It’s about a half mile south of the last one.”

She jumped to her feet and reached for her gun, pushing it
into the waistband of her pants. “Anyone injured?”

“Not that we can tell.”

“Who called it in?”

“Rangers thought it was an earthquake, but then a dust cloud
rolled in that obscured everything. When they went to investigate, they found
the trench.”

“I’m on my way.”

Kristos jumped in her path as she raced for the door. It
took all of his considerable strength not to shove her back in her chair and
tie her down. “Where are you going?”

“There’s been another cave-in.” She pushed him aside on her
way to the door.

“You’re not going. It’s not safe.”

She froze with her shoes in hand and leveled a glare at him
that was icier than a Skandavian glacier in mid-winter. “You did not just say
that.”

“You are in no condition to travel. You’ve been in a
cave-in, you haven’t slept, and it’s not safe.”

“This is my job, Kilsgaard. The people of Cedar count on me
to protect them. It’s my duty and you, of all people, should understand that.”

“Of course I understand, don’t you get it?” he shouted after
her as she stalked to the living room, hopping from one foot to the other as
she slipped on her boots. “My queen was doing her duty and was slaughtered for
it. I will not let you suffer the same fate.”

She choked and sputtered as she turned to face him with fire
in her eyes. “Let me? Who do you think you are? Just because you fucked me does
not give you any control over my actions.”

“Don’t say that. We made love. It meant something to me. You
mean something to me.”

“That still does not give you the right.”

“I forbid you to leave this house.”

In one fluid motion she pulled the Taser from her belt and
leveled it at his chest. “Are you faster than a Taser probe?”

Anger and pure feminine fury lashed out at him like a
cat-o-nine-tails. With her valor he almost believed she was strong enough to
handle any obstacle thrown at her, but he knew better. Still he found her
fervor incredibly arousing. As fear for her soured his stomach, his cock reared
to attention, ready to claim that passion as his own.

“Please.
Alskata
, my hearts, I beg you, don’t go.”

“Fuck you, Kilsgaard. I would never tell you how to attack a
class five rapid, because I trust in your ability to do your job. Why can’t you
trust in mine? If I see you at the site, if I even think you are at the site, I
will have you arrested and throw away the key. Do you understand that, E.T.?”

She snatched her sheriff’s coat off the rack and jerked open
the door. “Do not be here when I return. You broke in, I assume you can lock up
behind you.”

A painting of a mountain crashed to the floor as the door
slammed on his gloriously infuriating tempest.

He gritted his teeth and fully prepared to chase after his
woman then skidded to a stop at the door. Yes, no woman on Skandavia was like
Brett. He had no doubt that if he followed her, she would shoot him without
hesitation.

He pulled at his hair, and then bellowed in frustration. The
front window rattled under the pressure.

Borrowing Brett’s favorite expletive, he shouted, “Well, fuck!”

Chapter Six

“No way will that son of a bitch alien tell me what to do,”
Brett fumed as she pushed her Jeep Cherokee past sixty on the twisting dirt
road.

Tires skidded on the soft embankment as the truth of what
she said sank in and her mind disconnected from her body for a brief moment.

Alien. Kristos was an alien.

She jerked the car back on the road and placed a hand over
her racing heart. Kristos was an alien. As inconceivable as it might be, there
was no reason to doubt his tale.

That’s probably why he’s an out-of-this-world lover.

She groaned at her own joke and pounded her head on the
steering wheel a few times before sitting upright and drawing a deep breath.

His fear for her safety stemmed from the past, that she
understood. He loved his queen and it was obvious her death continued to haunt
him. It was exactly why she wanted to avoid a serious relationship while she
was still on the force. She couldn’t promise to spend eternity loving a man if
every day she willingly placed her life before others. It wasn’t fair and just
too cruel. Knowing there was a family waiting to love her when she came home
each night would always make her second-guess her choices, and as a cop the
slightest hesitation would most certainly get her killed.

And the jerkwad knew that. He was exactly aware of the types
of sacrifices required when such a vow was made, yet he forbade, actually
forbade
her to continue her life’s work because he said so. Why? Because she was a
woman? Because he thought of her as
his
woman? What gave him the right?
They weren’t dating. Their entire relationship to this point quantified as
nothing more than a one-night stand.

That realization made her grip on the steering wheel slacken
as her vision blurred.

Kristos made her want. She knew when she kissed him that the
night was not going to end with cuddling and breakfast in bed, yet when her
phone had rang earlier, she almost didn’t take the call. His life story was
fascinating. He was loyal and brave, and the passion he had shown her was
beyond anything she ever imagined. That type of attention was addictive and a
soothing break from the stress of her job. Each second spent in his company
made her crave more of his loving attention.

She liked him. Really,
really
liked him, and fighting
was both exhausting and a waste of their time. But his insistence that she
change who she was cut her to the quick. All of her professional life had been
spent fighting for the respect that others, men mostly, had been freely
granted. Once, just once, could someone believe in her without having her run
through an obstacle course to prove her worth? Nothing riled her more than
being told she wasn’t good enough based on a personal preference and not her
actual ability. If Kristos continued to stand in the way of her doing her job,
any possibility of them becoming a couple was as likely as a stripper keeping
her clothes on.

Blue and red flashing lights snapped her out of her
introspection. She mentally gathered all the fragments of her out-of-control
reality and tied them up with a sturdy knot and shoved them into a deep pocket
of her brain to process later. She had to focus on the task at hand, and an
overbearing, well-meaning alien with super strength, super speed and a super
cock was not at the top of her priorities.

A tittering laugh escaped. Yep, in her fucked-up world she
had bigger issues to contend with.

With her resolve firmly in place, she arrived at the scene
just as the sky lightened to a deep-purple haze. Dust hung in the air in a
thick curtain, and a wide swath where trees once stood cut through the forest
like a reverse Mohawk. Trepidation burst forth like a periscope bursting from
the ocean to scan for hidden danger. This wasn’t just a simple cave-in.

Brett smoothed back the fringe escaping her braid with one
hand while she reached for her coat with the other. She really wished she had
time to put on her uniform, but she knew if she hadn’t gotten out of the house
immediately, Kristos would have tied her to the bed, and no, that would not
have been a good thing, she admonished her traitorous libido.

Deputy Reutgers approached her as she stepped from the
vehicle. He was young but eager, and hadn’t fallen into the complacency of
policing a small town like some of the other officers had. She had high hopes
of him being a big part of the next generation of the department she was
working so hard to reinvent.

“Morning, Sheriff.” He tipped his hat in greeting then his
jaw dropped in alarm. “What happened to you?”

“What are you talking about?” She frowned then tried not to wince
as she imagined what she must look like. Shit, had Kristos left a hickey she
hadn’t noticed?

“Your eyes,” he stammered and pointed at her face.

She bent to look in the side mirror and choked on a gasp.
She blinked once, twice, then three times in hard, tight pulses, but the image
didn’t change. How the hell had she not noticed that?

Her irises, once a plain, nondescript hazel, were now milky
white.

A string of curses that would’ve made a Hell’s Angel blush
rent through the morning air, scattering whatever remaining wildlife in the
area scurrying for their lives. Her fingers dug into the cold metal around the
mirror as she wished it was the neck of a certain alien from Saturn.

He did this to her, whatever
this
was. He must have.

“Sheriff?” Reutgers asked. She didn’t miss the way his hand
covered his privates, as if he expected her to pummel the first victim she
encountered. With the anger surging through her, it was a very real
possibility.

“It’s, ah, it’s a…uh bandage the doctor gave me for some
scratches on my eyes. They’re like contacts. I just didn’t expect it to look so
dramatic.”

“I didn’t know that even existed.”

“Modern medicine for you.” May the boy be kind enough not to
question her further. “Show me what’s going on.”

A handful of park rangers and a few of Cedar’s finest stood
where it looked like Willie the Giant dragged his trowel in the ground in
preparation for planting.

She let loose with a low whistle as she surveyed the damage.
“Are we sure no one’s under there?”

“Yep,” Deputy Dawson answered then scratched at his belly
hanging over his belt.

Where Reutgers was the department’s future, Dawson was the
epitome of everything wrong with the old regime. He was a coffee-guzzling,
doughnut-popping chauvinist who reinforced the stereotype of
good ol’ boy
law enforcement. On some days she wished his size thirteens would get in his
way, tripping him up so he could retire with his pension and leave the real
work to those who actually gave a shit.

“I’m not taking any chances. Call in Joyce and Armando. I
want their dog out here, now.” She crouched near the edge and drew in a deep
breath. Under the damp, bitter scent of freshly turned earth and metallic rock,
she tasted the burn of primer on the back of her tongue. It reminded her of the
year she spent on the bomb squad during her anti-terrorism training. Each night
she had come home smelling like a fireworks factory. “Someone set this to
blow.”

Dawson snorted and tried to fold his arms across his chest,
only succeeding as far as crossing his wrists. “Why would anyone go to the
trouble to create a ditch with explosives?”

Her gut told her it had something to do with the tunnel
found yesterday. “That’s our job to find out. Bust out the gloves, boys. I want
samples of dirt, rock and foliage from all over this area. I also want a
geologist called out for a consultation.” Oh what she wouldn’t give for a
proper forensic unit.

“A geologist? What for?”

“Unless you have a degree in topography or geology that I
don’t know about, I want to know what’s so special about this stretch of rock.”

He turned to spit then sucked at his teeth. “It’ll just be a
waste of time, and it’s not like anyone was hurt.”

“I’m sure these rangers appreciate your concern. If bending
over is too much for you, Dawson, then find me the geologist.”

“Where the hell am I going to find one of those?”

“It’s called the internet. There are websites out there
beyond the ones with three Xs in the URL. I want them in my office before
noon.”

“Fine.” He turned away, muttering under his breath, “Sheriff
needs to get laid.”

Nope, problem was Sheriff got laid.

* * * * *

At 12:30 p.m. it was Reutgers who came through and had a
professor from the University of Washington arrive in her office. His knowledge
of the area, along with what she pulled from the permit office, gave her the
first solid lead on a suspect and motive.

Eight miles over the ridge and down into the valley sprawled
Neimi Gravel and Mining. Brett arrived just as the morning and evening shifts
converged and parted ways. A female driving a squad car attracted a lot of
lingering glances and a few wolf whistles, which she ignored as par for the
course. This might have been the bosom of mother nature but it was also
definitely man’s land.

The stench of diesel fuel obliterated the sweet pine air and
burned the inside of her nose. Before her lay a vast expanse of destroyed earth
that stretched along the valley floor. The terraced steps of the giant pit
looked like a street-whore version of the Grand Canyon. A fleet of dump trucks
zigzagged to the bottom and delivered their load to a hopper-type machine that
ground its food into tiny bits and flushed it out onto massive conveyors headed
for God only knew where. Gravel was the mine’s bread and butter, but they
recently entered the copper game, and the crash course she received from the
professor an hour before hadn’t prepared her for the reality of the destruction
that fueled the modern world.

That’s it, mandatory recycling of everything at the
station. Fuck that, all of Cedar
, she decided, closing her eyes to block
the view of the wasteland below.

“Sheriff Briggs, what a surprise.”

Brett turned to see Jebadiah Neimi approaching from the
steps of a trailer. He wore a yellow hard hat and a matching vest. As one of
Cedar’s city council members, she had many run-ins with the head of Neimi
Mining. His smooth charm and too-loud laughter always flipped on her bullshit
meter.

“Aren’t I a lucky man to have your beauty brighten what had
been an unremarkable day.”

Years of practice kept her pleasant smile in place in the face
of such crap. She shook the offered hand just long enough to be polite and with
the right amount of pressure to suggest that she wasn’t a pushover to the Y
chromosome. His hands were rough and gnarled, like a man who spent long hours
doing manual labor. However, years spent behind the desk softened any other
existence of a once fit body.

“So to what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked.

“I’m doing some research that I hope you can assist me with.
Do you have a few minutes?”

“For a pretty lady? Of course. My office is this way.”

He gestured for her to precede him back to the trailer and
opened the door with a flourish. The darkened interior gave her pause as did
the tightening pressure in her chest. Her hand instinctively hovered near her
knife, her preferred weapon in close quarters, as she took the first step into
the lion’s den. The scent of wet rock and burned coffee blurred her vision,
making it difficult to discern all of the maps and permits tacked to every inch
of available wall space.

“Please, have a seat. Can I get you some coffee? I can close
the blinds if it’s too bright in here for you.” He motioned to his face.

She sat gingerly on the edge of a metal folding chair and
resettled the sunglasses, hiding her freakish eyes. “No, thank you. The light
is fine. Just had my eyes dilated.”

“What can I do for you?” Instead of taking a seat behind the
desk, he sat on the corner by her knee.

A smile flirted with the corner of her lips at the subtle
display of dominance. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but yesterday two children
fell into a sinkhole in the national park.”

“Oh, I’ve heard all about it. I’m sorry, Sheriff, but I
don’t know who he is.”

She cocked her head. “He who?”

He reached for the newspaper lying on the desk then handed
it to her.

The Chameleon Rescues Sheriff
screamed the headline.
The half-page photo captured a black-hooded Kristos as he jumped into the pit.
His multicolored tunic blended into the scenery, obscuring most of his body.

Jiminy Christmas. They gave him a frickin’ nickname.

The paper crackled like a dying firecracker in her
tightening grip as she handed it back to Neimi. “No, I’m not here about…him.”

“Any idea who he is? Did he really lift a two-ton boulder
with his bare hands?”

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good look.” She shifted in
her seat. “Mr. Neimi, I wanted to ask about what type of equipment is required
to dig a tunnel.”

He arched a blond brow. “What type of tunnel?”

“Oh, one about”— she stretched out her arms—“this wide and
about four feet tall.”

“What type of terrain are you digging through?”

“Mostly basalt.”

His lips pursed in thought as he scratched his cheek. “Well,
a good ol’ hammer drill will get the job done, if you got nothing but time and
years on your hands. But the most common tool is a continuous miner. It’s a long,
combine-type machine with a grinding log in the front that eats away at the
rock.”

“How difficult is it to obtain one of these machines?”

“Anyone with a decent cash flow can get a hold of one. If
they’re a small-end mine, renting would be a more viable option.” He folded his
arms and smiled. “Looking to get into mining, Sheriff?”

“Perhaps.” She motioned to the window. “You’ve been in
business here a while, haven’t you?”