Tangled Fates (14 page)

But none came.

“You have no idea how blessed you are, Cohen,” Talin said. “I would give anything to

live with the ghost of Lana. Anything.”

There was a long beat of silence, and Cohen felt a stab of guilt. Here he was being

tortured by Mia, and Talin was telling him how blessed he was and how he wished the tables

were turned. Cohen admired Talin’s dedication to his mate, and he wondered if he could spin the

whole Mia thing within himself so that he looked at it as a blessing instead of something that was

driving him to madness.

“Well,” Rayner said, “let’s finish up and go see Mia.”

Later that night, Cohen watched Abby give a billiards lesson to Annis and Liberty. Annis

listened intently as Abby explained the grip of a pool cue and how it needed to slide gently

through the shooter’s hands.

He had overheard Annis tell Blake that the grip was the most difficult part of playing

pool for her because she was used to wielding a knife. Not that she held on to the knife grip very

tightly, but a pool cue required a certain finesse that she was having a hard time mastering.

Annis leaned over the table, flipped her braids over her shoulder, and Abby helped adjust

her cue. Annis’s long fingers delicately wrapped around the stick, her jean-clad legs held her

stance firm. The muscles beneath her chocolate skin rippled from the sleeves of her red T-shirt as

she moved the cue back and forth.

After the stick made contact with the ball, she stood up to her full height and watched the

action on the table. When a ball went in, she smiled broadly and turned to Liberty and Abby,

who were grinning as well. Abby said something, and Annis and Liberty burst out laughing.

Cohen couldn’t help but smile as well. His knees felt weak as Annis turned and caught him

staring at her. Her laughter faded, but the smile remained. Her golden gaze pierced him as Mia

shimmered to life next to her. Guilt flowed through him, and along with it came the rage.

Taking a deep breath, he tapped down the anger. “Nice shot, Annis,” he said, and he

meant it. It really was a great one.

Her smile widened. “Thank you, Cohen.”

She turned back to the pool table to watch Liberty.

Rayner came up behind him. “Is Mia here?” he asked quietly.

Cohen nodded.

“Where?”

Cohen motioned over to the pool table. “Floating right next to Annis, staring at me.”

Mia’s red-rose form swirled, reminding him of wispy clouds on a summer’s day. His

heart ached as he watched her. He longed for the simple days and ways of his life with Mia on

SR44.

“Let it go,” Mia said.

Startled, Cohen turned to Rayner. “Do you see her? Did you hear her?”

Mia had never spoke to him before. What the hell did she mean? Let what go? He wanted

to say something back to her, but he didn’t want everyone in the room to know he was possibly

losing his shit.

“Nope,” Rayner said in a low voice.

“Seriously? You don’t see her? You can’t hear her?”

“Nope.”

“So what do you think?”

“Man, I think your bolts are disengaging from your screws.”

“You mean my bolts are disengaging from my nuts.”

“Nuts, screws . . . whatever, Cohen. I think you’re going batshit crazy.”

Chapter 18

Cohen made his way to the kitchen, tossing a glare at Blake as he got on the elevator.

It really irritated him that Blake and Annis got along so well, and he could see that Blake

had it bad for her. Which was fine, and none of his business, but it bothered him nonetheless.

He got down to his quarters and stood in the middle of the room. “Mia!” he yelled.

It was time for them to get some shit straight. If she was going to be hanging out and

talking to him, she was going to do it all the time, not just when Annis was around. If Rayner

couldn’t see her, she was dead. So she must be a figment of his imagination. And if that were the

case, then she should appear whenever he wanted her to.

Well, that was his logic, anyway. Whether it was sound or not was up for debate, just as

his sanity was.

“Mia!”

He slowly spun around the room, searching for her.

“What do you want me to let go of?” he asked quietly. Maybe if he lowered his voice

she’d appear. Mia had always been soft-spoken, and almost meek in her ways.

He was making himself dizzy with all the spinning. Instead, he went over to his dresser,

found a little Captain Morgan in one of the bottles, grabbed a glass that didn’t look too dirty, and

poured.

Cohen lit some candles that smelled like evergreen, turned off the lights, and sat down on

the throw rug that covered the bloodstain from his
Tambaran
. He couldn’t make the setting any

mellower. If Mia was going to make an appearance, then she would do it now.

“Mia?” he whispered.

As he leaned his back against the bed, his legs stretched out in front of him, he

remembered the fight he had with Mia when he told her that he wanted to move out of the forests

and to the cities. Which city, he didn’t care. He just need to get away from it all, get away from

always being needed.

It had stared off as a normal conversation, but quickly escalated into an argument.

“I do not wish to live in the big cities, Cohen! We are Forest Dwellers! I like the

simplicity of our lives!”

“Your life is simple! I am a well-known Healer! My life is the constant caring for others

—I have no peace!”

In the end, she had relented, as she always did. Mia had been timid.

“Mia?” he whispered as he watched the flame of the candle dance in the darkness. It

reminded him of the way Mia used to move—constant swirling and twirling, her red-rose

coloring so beautiful.

He looked around the room again.

Nothing.

Was he losing his mind? Why did she only show up when Annis was around? And what

did “let it go” mean? What should he let go of?

So many questions, and apparently, there wasn’t anyone to go to for answers.

Chapter 19

Blake paced the kitchen waiting for Annis to finish her game of pool. He was so jacked

up, he felt like bugs were using his arteries as their own personal freeway.

Tonight was going to be the night. He and Annis were going to get physical.

On the rational side, he understood that he couldn’t go to Phoenix. It would be like a

duck walking into a grove full of hunters, all with rifles cocked and loaded. He was the one who

had instigated the breakout of the SR44ians from Area 2, and he was on the Top 100 wanted list

the FBI liked to put up in post offices and send to police departments. It wasn’t like he could go

down to a cop function without a good dose of rightful paranoia. He wasn’t about to take that

chance.

But Annis was going, and so was Cohen, and that sat with him as well as if he were to

find out his father had been resurrected. And that was not a happy thought.

The elevator opened, and Hudson came in with baby Killian strapped to his chest and

carrying a tray with empty bowls and plates. Hudson’s eyes were glowing a fierce yellow,

Killian’s a lighter shade.

“Hey, man,” Hudson said.

“Hey. How’s Beverly feeling?” Blake asked.

“Like a sack of shit. The flu is a nasty one this year.”

Blake nodded and watched as Hudson put the dishes in the sink while his smiling son

grabbed his chin and said, “Dada. Dada. Dada,” over and over again.

“That’s right, big man, I’m your daddy,” Hudson said to his progeny, a warm, gentle look

coming over his face as he looked at the little guy.

Blake just didn’t get the whole wanting-to-be-a-parent thing. He just didn’t seem to have

the daddy gene floating around in him. When he found out his father was of the Colonist variety,

it had pretty much sealed the deal on the kid department. This was the end of his lineage. Blake

would never chance passing down the bad genes and having his kid, or any other heir thereafter,

end up being a mass murder or some psychopath to be seen on the evening news.

“Ray-Ray, Jo-Jo,” Killian said, pointing toward the Great Room. “Ray-Ray.”

“You want to go see Rayner and Jovan?”

Killian grunted and smiled.

“Let’s go then. Mommy needs to rest anyway.”

As Blake watched him go, he remembered the first time he had met Hudson. Hudson had

practically begged Blake for a reason to kill him, his yellow eyes glowing brightly in the night.

Now the guy had a baby strapped to his chest and was on his way to find “Ray-Ray” and

“Jo-Jo.”

Blake shook his head and continued his pacing. Jesus, he was so nervous, he felt like he

was about to lose his virginity or something.

He heard Annis bid a goodnight to everyone, and she came into the kitchen.

“Blake, hello! I was just going down to workout and then grab a glass of wine before bed.

Would you care to join me?”

Fuck. Yes.

“Sounds good.”

They waited for the elevator, and Annis asked, “So what have you been up to tonight?”

Getting up my nerve to seduce you.

“Not a lot. Just hanging. Chillin’.”

Jesus, he was such a liar. There was nothing on him hanging, and he wasn’t chilling. He

was on fucking fire.

As they stepped in the elevator, Annis said, “You seem tense, Blake. Is everything

okay?”

Oh, hell no.

“Great. Perfect. But before you go to the gym, I wanted to talk to you privately in your

quarters if that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

Blake shut his eyes and thought about pressing Annis’s body up against the elevator wall

as their lips moved over each other. He imagined his hand traveling up her jeans, to her waist,

where her skin would be silky smooth. He would gently caress her breast, and then he—

“Blake?”

He opened his eyes and saw they had arrived on Annis’s floor. She stood on the other

side of the elevator doors looking at him curiously.

“Are you coming?”

“Yep.” Hopefully in more ways than one.

She opened the door to her quarters and turned to face him.

“What’s going on, Blake? You’re acting so strange tonight.”

Blake took a deep breath. “Annis, I . . . I want more from our relationship. I care about

you, and I want to . . . I want to make love to you. Tonight.”

Annis stood, stunned at Blake’s words. Make love? To her? Before she was able to

process the thoughts further, fear kicked up its head. She had never made love in her human

body, and every sexual experience that she had been torturous.

As he stood at the door, she stared at her friend. His dark hair had grown out a bit from

the stubble that used to cover his head, and his hazel eyes burned with heat. This was a male who

wanted a female.

Blake wanted her.

Unable to move, she stood frozen as he slowly came toward her. He gently set his hands

on her shoulders. “I know you have feelings for me as well,” he said in a soft voice. “We’re

perfect together, Annis. I want us to be a couple.”

Still unable to speak, Annis’s thoughts spun out of control. Yes, her and Blake did get

along so well, and she did have feelings for him. They shared the same sense of humor; they

liked the same movies and foods. She could be herself around him, and he wasn’t intimidated by

the fact that she was a Warrior. She trusted him and liked spending time with him whether it was

working out in the gym, or on the couch sharing a bottle of Chardonnay and watching movies.

His hand slowly caressed her cheek. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever

seen, Annis.”

Beautiful? No one had ever called her that. Strong. Capable. Tough. Words like that were

used to describe her, not feminine descriptions such as beautiful. Her heart might very well beat

out of her sternum it was pounding so hard.

“Can I kiss you, Annis? Please? I’m dying to taste you.” His thumb slowly brushed over

her lower lip.

Annis trembled and felt like her knees would give out at any moment. She stared into his

blue-green eyes and the room around her seemed to disappear. The only thing that mattered was

the male in front of her, the one who told her she was beautiful, the one who had just said he

wanted her. Her heart swelled, and she felt tears stinging her eyes. Did she care for Blake? The

answer was a resounding yes. Yes, she cared for him deeply.

But was caring for him enough?

Blake licked his lips, his gaze searching her face. “God, Annis, answer me. Please. Can I

kiss you?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

His lips slowly came down to hers, and she shut her eyes and prepared herself for the

onslaught of emotions and physical feelings Liberty had told her about. “It’s like your whole

body is consumed in flames, Annis. It is the most miraculous feeling . . .”

The kiss was soft and gentle. Blake’s lips moved over hers slowly, and after a moment,

he pulled away.

And Annis felt nothing.

There were none of the fireworks that Liberty had described; there wasn’t any heat

coursing through her veins. She felt completely normal and perhaps a little let down.

Opening her eyes, she met Blake’s gaze.

Desire swam in his eyes, and he brought his lips to hers again.

And . . . still nothing. In fact, it felt very strange, like she was kissing a relative or a . . .

friend.

She stepped away. That’s what it was—Blake was her friend, and although she loved