The Mercenary Page 13

  For the first year, the pretense had been enough. Luke forgave her the affairs because she forgave his Lycan side. The more time passed, the more Luke turned to the drink. Now that he had become Lycan, it took a substantial amount of alcohol to get drunk. The little amount of savings he had dwindled fast.

  One day, he woke up from a drinking binge to find Mara had left him. He knew she’d gone because he’d been fired. Now that he had no income to offer, he was useless to her. By then, Luke’s love had all but dried up. He couldn’t have cared less if he didn’t see Mara again, but did care about the girls and became a broken man without them. They’d been the only things keeping him going.

  Luke owed money to so many people. The things he had done to repay the debt when he couldn’t raise the funds... He had sunk so low that he didn’t know if he could ever pull himself back up. No longer recognizing the man he’d become, it near killed him to admit it, even to himself. Luke had almost given up. Perhaps he should just stop running from the pigs.

  He’d grown so tired of running and hiding, and lying.

  Chapter 10

  First thing Thursday morning Jodie felt a marked improvement in her condition and hoped to go home. She loved the adjustable hospital bed; but didn’t love the sterile environment.

  Jodie missed her mismatched furniture and Gran’s home- made quilt. She missed decent coffee and even missed Danny, though she had seen him less than twelve hours before. Jodie knew that she’d fallen for him, which raised a problem. They still hadn’t had their serious talk and hoped that once she got home it would happen.

  While she waited, Jodie decided to read the paper. The novelty of seeing her name in print had worn off quite early in her journalistic career and she had the option of seeing many of the major articles before they’d been submitted for editing. Right then Jodie felt bored and a little curious at the goings on in town during her absence.

  The front page contained political hype and a write up on a hurricane in the Philippines. Turning the page, Jodie discovered a quarter page article on two missing men. She recognized one as the were-boar that Danny had killed and she would have bet money on the other man being his accomplice. Jodie felt cold all over, grateful she had no idea where the bodies were. As Irene kept reminding her, she was a terrible liar.

  Danny has killed two men; the words reverberated in her head. The man she wanted to enter a relationship with had killed two human beings. Though he had done it to save her life and the lives of her two nieces, it would not be reason enough to keep him out of prison. If anyone found out it had been his doing, trouble would come crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. This brought to attention the other problem: his shape shifting. Is his secret in jeopardy? Which is the biggest concern: Murderous charges or being exposed? Jodie still had so many questions.

  THE AMOUNT OF TIME Danny had been spending at the hospital hadn’t affected Eddie because The Furnace didn’t open Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. Wednesday, Danny had spent the day with Jodie and still made it in for work. Eddie hadn’t had to call in a temp bartender. However, Danny’s other employer was not happy at all. Danny had refused four assignments in favor of his bedside vigil.

  Danny knew that it had been reckless and irresponsible to let his work slide. He’d tried to tell himself he’d done it to protect Jodie, but he knew that was untrue. The pigs couldn’t touch her at the hospital, but he couldn’t shake the guilt at her being there in the first place and being around her became addictive. The more time he spent with her, the more he craved.

  Thursday he went to see Jodie, intending to pull back a little. He planned to tell her he had some things to take care of and then ask her out on a proper date. Danny rehearsed the short speech in his head all the way from the house to the hospital, but when he arrived, he found her dressed and sitting in the visitor chair. She looked pleased to see him and the innocence of her smile made Danny cringe. Keeping so many secrets from her had begun to take its toll on his conscience.

  “Hi there,” Danny said and smiled. “You look nice today.”

  She looked down at her white stretch top and camel-colored pants, and blushed. She looked so cute when she blushed, it made Danny’s smile widen even further, apprehensions shoved aside for the time being. She opened her mouth a few times, but not a single word escaped her lips. Confused by her continual speechlessness, Danny didn’t understand why she found it so hard to talk to him. Used to women throwing themselves at him, especially at the club, he didn’t know what to make of this. She got so discomposed around him. He’d never expected it, as she didn’t behave anything like that when he took leopard form.

  “Are they letting you out of here?” Danny finally asked. “Yes,” she nodded. “Will you take me?”

  “Of course. Danny cursed under his breath. He would have to rearrange his day again and postpone his newest assignment for another twenty-four hours. The boss would just have to accept it.

  He found a wheelchair for Jodie and together made their way to the car park. Jodie had protested the chair, until he’d told her the alternative was being carried. She’d decided that being carried would a far greater spectacle, amusing him with sudden compliance.

  Lifting her from the chair and lowering her into his car, Danny realized that the bucket seats would be uncomfortable for her back and wished he’d known he would be bringing her home so he could have come in a different vehicle.

  Glancing in the make-up mirror, Jodie fixed her hair a couple of times and put on seat belt. She appeared nervous. That didn’t make any sense to Danny, but he’d started to get accustomed to it. Gunning the engine, he put the car into gear and they took off. Conversation remained absent as they drove and Danny found himself compelled to mention it.

  “I find it most intriguing that when I’m an animal you never seem to stop talking and when I am human, you never seem to start. Is it because my leopard can’t talk back?”

  It had been the first time he’d admitted to his other life. He watched her stumble over the words as she began to speak. “I think it’s because when I met your leopard, I had no idea who you were. I guess I just didn’t expect you to be so attractive. I’m never good at talking to guys and you being so gorgeous made it all the worse. I didn’t have the fear of rejection with the leopard. I could say anything and it didn’t matter.”

  Danny grinned, though he kept his eyes on the road. “Oh, is that all? You can say anything now, there’s no need to fear rejection.”

  She appeared to be thinking it over. “Have you read the paper this morning?”

  The paper? Is she serious? Jodie could be the most confusing woman Danny had been around. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she would say something like this and he would realize that she remained an enigma.

  “No, I haven’t,” Danny responded smoothly, giving no indication of what he had just been thinking. “Why is that honey?”

  Jodie frowned and wrinkled her nose as she told him how she’d read about the two men he had killed. She worried about him being caught and or exposed. Danny didn’t bat an eyelid. He had known there would be an article, though not what it would say or when it would be printed. He assured her that she had nothing to worry about, but it didn’t seem to ease her fears.

  The ten-minute drive to Jodie’s place felt like ten years. When they got there, Danny lifted Jodie out of the car. She protested, but he insisted on carrying her into the house. He set her down on the couch and disappeared into the kitchen.

  Danny rummaged around in the pantry looking for refreshments. Moments later, he’d whipped up a plate of cheese and crackers, and some coffee. When he brought the food and beverages into the living room, he could tell he’d scored major brownie points.

  Danny placed the refreshments on the coffee table and pushed it closer so that Jodie could reach without getting up.

  Sitting on the couch at the opposite end, he took a sip of his coffee and leaned back against the cushions. She gazed out the window, oblivious
to his penetrative stare.

  “We need to talk.” He said simply.

  Danny began by telling Jodie his own history. He could shift so fast and with such fluidity because he was Therian. Jodie asked a number of questions about Lycans and Therians, the knowledge she possessed impressing Danny, every question well thought and relevant.

  After revealing his Therian ancestry, Danny talked about his parents, who were both Therian too. He told Jodie how his father claimed snow leopard and his mother Siberian tiger. This made Danny special for two reasons. Therians often resorted to marrying humans. Since their clans had dwindled in number, it grew dicult to meet someone the same species to whom you were not related without travelling far from home.

  It was also very rare for Therians to marry other Therians outside of their animal group. Each species had its own complicated social strata. For two to combine, a conflict of interests seemed inevitable. There were often too many compromises required in order for the prospective marriage to succeed.

  Danny had fallen out of favor with his parents when he reached his mid-teens. He’d fled Europe and ended up in England, and in a bid to spite them, had gone to work for the government. He’d been shocked to discover that his parents had kept many secrets from him.

  He’d had no idea that the world’s leaders were aware of the existence of the Lycans and the Therians. He’d been even more surprised to learn of an elite group of shifters working for the government. Sometimes the job required that they be undercover spies. Sometimes they acted as mediators and informants between the animal groups and the humans.

  Other times, they were little more than paid assassins.

  Jodie blanched the moment he uttered the word assassin and began to fidget. Danny noticed and wished he could take it back, but he had to continue with the story. If she’s truly my Eros, then she will have to find a way to accept me for who I am. His coffee cup clinked as he set it down on the table, and leaning back again, Danny took a deep breath to continue.

  He explained the importance of certain shifters being removed. There were some, Lycans in particular, that when subjected to the change for the first time, became unreasonable and developed personality disorders and psychoses. They just couldn’t permit shifters running around turning innocent people, disregarding human law, or killing humans.

  Their law had a considerable lack of definition with shifters. Human laws were almost irrelevant. Shifters could not be disciplined in the usual fashion – especially Lycans. They couldn’t be put through the public justice system. Shifters were stronger than humans were and had many other abilities that could not be kept discrete in prison and with Lycans, the full moon posed a problem.

  Institutions existed for the shifters who became a menace to society or in danger of leaking the secret. However, if they posed immediate danger, elimination became the only option them. Always the last point of call, but sometimes it had to happen. Danny had trained to do this. He wasn’t just an assassin, he was one endorsed by the government.

  The Furnace had never been a real club. Danny’s employers owned it, possessing many businesses under false pretenses, their way of keeping their hand on the pulse. It also gave Danny and his comrades legitimate employment, making it so much easier to be inconspicuous. Jodie listened as Danny explained; letting him say everything he needed to say.

  He dared to look at her when he’d finished and Jodie met his gaze. She seemed to understand why he had not rushed into telling her all of this until now. Danny felt grateful that the level of trust involved had not been lost upon her, but her continued silence filled him with unease.

  I’ve gone insane. I shouldn’t have told her. Danny thought to himself. She’s never going to want to have anything to do with me again.

  “Is there anything you would like to ask?” He implored, keeping his tone quiet and reserved.

  “Does the government know you killed those boars, the ones featured in the paper?”

  Danny nodded, “of course. I let them know immediately. The newspaper article was to placate the families; we had to remove suspicion from where it belonged. One of the families didn’t even know their son was a Lycan, it’s hard when that happens. The families would never understand things from our point of view; we don’t have a clean-cut image. Even though not knowing is hell for the families, it is better that they think their loved one vanished under mysterious circumstances. Can you imagine what would happen if the humans did an autopsy on the men I killed with my leopard teeth?”

  “What about the polar bears?” Jodie asked. “Do they work for the government too?”

  “Yes. Rufus from the club is one of them.”

  Her eyes widened, “oh.”

  “My boss would string my ass up six ways from Sunday if he knew we were having this conversation. You can’t say anything about any of this. Not even to Ainsley or Laura.”

  “I won’t say anything,” she chewed on her lip, still deep in thought. “So, you’ve killed a lot of people then?” A flush of red raced up her cheeks, making it plain that she hadn’t meant to say the words out loud.

  “More than I’d like,” he admitted. “I’m sorry; I know that’s not an easy thing to accept. But my job isn’t always like that, there are many times I get to help people too.” “Like me?” Jodie wondered aloud.

  “You were a welcome surprise,” he smiled.

  Jodie turned her head and looked out the window for a few moments. She tried so hard to digest the information. Danny could see that she wanted very much to be able to accept it all. Please, he prayed, please let this all turn out okay.

  “A penny for your thoughts?” He murmured.

  Without thinking, he’d slid closer to her and rested his hand on her thigh. She jumped and he wanted to kick himself. If he needed to, Danny could move incredibly fast. He’d grown so comfortable around Jodie that he kept forgetting this was all so new to her.

  “Um,” she said with hesitation.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he intercepted. “You’re allowed to freak out; I’m surprised you aren’t yelling at me.”

  “I’m not that way inclined,” she said, lowering her gaze. “I’m more of the sort who bottles it up, stops functioning well and then has a meltdown.”

  Danny blinked. “You aren’t going to do that now, are you?” He took her hand in his, so tiny next to his own, and her skin delicate and soft. When she didn’t answer he looked at her beautiful face, the picture of innocence, with no idea what she’d gotten herself into. So much more needed to be said, but not yet.

  “Jodie?”

  “Hmmm?” She snapped back to reality.

  “Are you going to be alright? I haven’t pushed you away have I?” Danny asked, crestfallen. I’m an idiot, he groaned to himself. This is too much for her.

  “I’m not sure; maybe you’d better kiss me.”

  Did she just ask me to kiss her? For a moment, concern dominated his expression and then he grinned, leaning in for the kiss. The world might tilt on its axis if every kiss turned out to be this way; life around Jodie had the potential to be very distracting. Whenever their lips met, Danny couldn’t even remember what day it was, never mind what he should have been doing. Holy shit, what’s it going to be like if we ever have sex?

  A weird sound crossed her lips as they parted and Danny tensed thinking that he’d hurt her. Jodie’s goofy smile put that theory to rest, so he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

  “I like you Jodie, I really like you. I want to make this work, but I can’t offer you a normal relationship. There are times where it’s going to be frustrating for you. I won’t always be able to explain things I have done or have to do and I worry about the danger I may put you in just by associating with you.”

  “Like now, you mean?”

  He winced. “Yes, like now.”

  Closing the distance between them, her hand touched his silky-soft hair. The sunlight streaming through the window enhanced its usual caramel shade, making it almost
like liquid honey. Danny usually wore it in a low ponytail that hung half way down his back, and always kept it glossy and clean.

  In the beginning, he’d allowed it to grow as a way to further spite his father and his disappointment that Danny was not bigger, stronger, and more masculine in appearance.

  In time, Danny had realized that being on the shorter side of average and a pretty boy with long hair had its advantages. Nobody expected him to be a martial arts expert or an assassin, not when he looked so non-threatening and naïve. People didn’t seem to expect any sort of intelligence at all, making it a great ruse to hide behind.

  Jodie began to withdraw her hand and he stole it to his lips for a small kiss. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “No thanks,” she declined, distracted. “Would you just hold me?”

  “Now that, I can do,” he chuckled.

  Danny lay back on the couch with his legs apart. Turning her around, he lay her down on himself chest to chest, her uninjured cheek resting on his shoulder. He waited for signs of discomfort and felt none, her only response at all a tiny sigh each time their bodies touched. The gentle aroma of her wildflower shampoo filled his nostrils as he wrapped his arms around her and it felt so right. Danny stroked her hair for a while before his hands slipped lower, cupping Jodie’s buttocks. He squeezed gently and it made him want a lot more than she could offer.

  “That was cute,” he mused. “My ass is cute?”

  “It most certainly is, but that isn’t what I meant. I love all those little sighs of yours.”

  “You should put your hands somewhere else or I’m going to be doing a lot more than little sighs.”

  “Sorry,” Danny laughed. “I can’t seem to help myself.”

  “When I’m not physically challenged, that will be fantastic.” She said, and he laughed even harder.