The Mercenary Read online

  “Of course, you guys are my favorites.” Jodie gave him a goofy grin and burrowed down beneath the blankets.

  “I’ll remember that next time you decide to make mincemeat out of me.” Adam teased back as he fluffed his pillow.

  “Well, I’m exhausted. I vote we get some sleep.” Eddie yawned, tousling his hair and settling back down.

  “Okay.” Jodie said, happy to oblige.

  It felt much less awkward than the first time the three of them had shared a bed. Jodie had convinced herself they would have a good night, thinking she’d started to improve, yet again fate proved her wrong. With seven episodes, it became her worst night to date.

  Poor Eddie and Adam were wrecks the next morning. Jodie made them both coffee and apologized numerous times. It didn’t matter how often they repeated that she had nothing to apologize for, Jodie felt responsible.

  It turned out that her dramatics had kept everyone else awake too. The kitchen had been deserted when they got there, it didn’t look like the room had been used since the night before. It wasn’t normal for the entire household to sleep so late.

  Coffee cup empty, Jodie’s drowsy form still draped over the table when Luke walked in.

  “Man you weren’t kidding about needing help,” he said as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep everyone awake,” she sighed.

  “Are you okay? It sounded pretty intense.”

  Jodie nodded, glancing at the other two guys, “thanks to Eddie and Adam.”

  “Oh, so you’re Adam.” Luke studied him for a minute. Adam looked at Jodie and raised his eyebrows in question.

  “My house - the bathroom,” she mumbled, gesturing wildly with one arm.

  “Oh,” smiled Adam. “I think she needs more coffee Eddie.”

  “Evidently,” Eddie smiled back, sauntering over to the coffee pot with Jodie’s cup in hand.

  “They know you well.” Luke grinned. My brother is smiling. Jodie noticed in shock. He’s in an unfamiliar house with people he despises, he’s just found out he has another animal form... And he has a smile on his face.

  “I’m starving,” moaned Adam. “Where the hell is

  Mark?”

  “Mark always cooks?” Luke asked.

  “He’s a chef,” Eddie replied as he set the coffee down in front of Jodie. “Do you drink coffee Luke?”

  “I prefer tea. I can cook if you want.”

  “Can you make omelettes?” Adam blurted with a childlike eagerness.

  “Sure.” Luke shrugged.

  The smell of the eggs cooking brought Rufus and Jarvis in a hurry and eventually the others followed, everyone except Danny. Jodie knew he’d been avoiding her. It didn’t make her feel good, but she decided not to give him the satisfaction of knowing he got under her skin.

  “Would you like me to talk to Matt for you?” Leon asked from across the table.

  “Huh?” Jodie frowned incoherently.

  “You can’t go to work Jodie.” Luke reminded her.

  “Oh.” Crestfallen, Jodie tightened her grip on the fork in her hand. She wanted more than anything for normality to resume, being cooped up at the Fortress day in and day out had started to make her feel like a prisoner.

  “Let me talk to him Jodie,” Leon repeated. “I’ll let him know what’s going on.”

  “I don’t want Matt to know!” She cried.

  “He already knows you’re a shifter,” said Leon, his tone controlled.

  “What?” Jodie felt mortified. “So anyone else who is a shifter knew that I was one, even when I didn’t know it myself?”

  “Pretty much,” shrugged Adam, who sat next to her.

  “Oh God...” She moaned and covered her face with both hands.

  “Has she had coffee?” Rufus asked.

  “Two,” answered Eddie, holding up two fingers.

  “I think you’d better get her another one bro.” Rufus suggested, full of concern.

  “Isn’t two more than enough?” Mark shook his head, eating Luke’s cooking without comment.

  “I’ll be all right.” Jodie insisted with slight irritation.

  “Okay Leon. You can talk to Matt. Thank you.” He nodded and headed off.

  Luke’s cell phone started ringing. Their father’s voice blared out of the earpiece, so angry that Jodie could hear him from clear across the table. Luke said a few things and then slid the phone across the table at Jodie. Making a face at him, she proceeded to reassure John that Luke would be fine and hadn’t got into any trouble. Promising that she’d kept her brother alcohol free, Jodie told him that Luke would be home later.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Sarcasm dripped from her words as she slid the phone back across the table.

  “Your Dad’s a bit of a tyrant isn’t he?” Mark commented.

  “He’s just concerned about Luke’s sobriety.” Keeping her tone light, Jodie tried not to make a bigger deal of it than it already was.

  “So, am I going home later?” Luke wanted to know.

  “I don’t know. Are you?” Bouncing back the question, Jodie raised an eyebrow. Luke looked at the others, still skeptical.

  Rufus smiled as he leaned both thick forearms on the table. “You aren’t a prisoner here bro.”

  “I’d like to go home, I’m worried about the girls. If I’m a target, they may be in danger.”

  “If Danny gives us the all clear, we’ll be happy to keep an eye on you.” Mark said.

  Luke seemed surprised, “really?”

  “Sure.” Rufus agreed. “Though now you’re a leopard, you could give those pigs a run for their money.”

  “Maybe,” Luke smiled. “But I’d still appreciate any help you could throw my way, for the girls.”

  “Of course,” nodded Mark.

  Leon came back in to say that Matt had been updated on the situation. He’d said he would stop by later with Jodie’s work laptop. If Jodie felt up to it she could get some work done from here. Thanking Leon, Jodie felt relieved he’d done the talking. It would have been a monumental disaster if she’d tried to tell him of her recent self-discovery. As some of those ‘what ifs’ played on Jodie’s mind, she began to think of the numerous episodes she’d had the night before and felt sad. She needed an Ainsley hug.

  “You okay?” Eddie’s worried voice brought Jodie back to reality.

  “Yeah,” she said, though her tone sounded anything but convincing.

  Luke got out of his chair and walked around the table to where she sat, taking her hand and pulling her to a standing position. In a purposeful and yet unhurried fashion his arms wound around Jodie in a tight protective hug. Jodie had no idea how he’d known she needed comfort but it helped a lot. She couldn’t even remember the last time Luke has hugged her of his own accord. Is this newfound ancestry going to draw us closer together, the way we were as kids?

  Jodie ran into Danny as she headed for the shower. He had an armload of sheets, and she saw that his leg had bled a lot through the night. The boxer shorts he wore left his thigh exposed, so Jodie could see the wound clearly. It had started healing now, just an angry red line remained.

  “I’m fine,” he said as though he could read her thoughts.

  “Good.” The response seemed automatic but no less true. She needed to think about something other than Danny and what had just happened to him.

  “I’m sorry you had a rough night.”

  They were saying all the right things but it sounded wrong. The emotions hanging in the air above were not casual concern or personal interest in each other’s goings on. Jodie could tell he was hurting and not in a physical way, he also seemed confused. She sensed that he missed her, but somehow she didn’t find that reassuring. Jodie wondered what he was getting from her.

  “I’m sorry as well,” she said, though uncertain what she she’d just apologized for.

  “You feel it too,” he whispered.

  Jodie didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded.

 
“My mother once told me that when you find an Eros you become so connected that you can tell what each other is feeling, I didn’t understand what she meant before now.”

  “It’s very weird.”

  He gave a sad smile, the familiar sparkle gone from his eyes. “I’ll do anything to make it right Jodie, just tell me what that is.”

  Looking at her feet, Jodie shook her head. “I can’t Danny, I can’t get anything straight in my head while everything is so messed up - last night was insane.” “I know.” He said in quiet acceptance.

  “Did you feel everything that I was feeling?” She asked, though she knew what the answer would be.

  “Yes,” Danny’s eyes were haunted as he recalled the events she spoke of. “I have gone through everything with you since you first changed. The problem is I’m not with you at all because you won’t let me near, you have no idea what that does to a person. I feel so much guilt over it all, I wish I could put my arms around you and hold you, I want to fix this but you won’t let me.”

  A tear rolled down Jodie’s cheek and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. How could she admit that being in his arms was what she wanted more than anything? How could she tell him that whenever she got near him, she relived the horror of that first change as though it was happening all over again? Jodie was a mess. With nothing left to say, she brushed past Danny and continued on to the shower.

  “Are you out of clothes?” Adam asked as Jodie exited the bathroom.

  Mortified, she froze mid-step and stared down at her outfit. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Maybe not to some,” he smiled. “I’m dropping Leon and Luke off at your parents’ house in a while. Shall I swing by your place on the way back and pick up some more stuff?” “That would be fantastic!” Jodie smiled.

  “Write me a list,” he instructed.

  Still fussing with her hair as she walked, Jodie went to the office to find some paper and a pen. Doug was already hard at work, and at another desk, Luke surfed the internet. Beside him, a fluffy orange cat sat on the desk.

  “Leon?” Jodie questioned, hesitant to begin with. The cat jumped down and began nudging her shins. Giggling, Jodie resisted the urge to stoop down and pet him. “You make a very nice cat.”

  “And very convincing too,” added Luke. He brought up a picture on the monitor and turned to the cat. “Well what about that one?”

  Leon jumped back onto the desk, approaching the screen. Scrutinizing the webpage for a long time, he turned and meowed his approval. Both her eyebrows shot skyward as Jodie got a view of what they were looking at. There on the screen sat a very expensive, furry enclosed pet bed. Right.

  Luke got to his feet. “Okay, well come on then Fluffy.”

  Hissing and spitting, Leon’s ears turned backward and he glared at Luke.

  “I can almost guarantee that will be what Grace decides to call you,” Luke laughed down at him.

  “Undercover body guard hmmm?” Jodie asked, looking at Leon. He narrowed his eyes at her, but she kept her smile firmly in place. “You know Luke, why don’t you just tell

  Grace that he already has a name.”

  “Like what?”

  Jodie studied Leon’s form as he rolled back into a sitting position and pricked his ears up in interest. A smile curled at her lips as she picked up on the faint stripes in his marmalade coat. “Why don’t you call him Tiger?”

  Turning to Luke with a smug look on his feline face, Leon began to purr.

  Luke snorted, shaking his head “that’s stupid.”

  “Well if he’s going to put up with your girls hauling him around, the least you can do is let him pick his own name.” Jodie pointed out.

  “Fine, come on then Tiger,” Luke muttered. He threw Jodie an unimpressed look.

  “Good luck,” she said, her lips still turned up on one side as she failed to hide a smile. Luke nodded, having missed that Jodie had been talking to Leon. Picking up the cat she hugged him and stroked him behind his ears. Purring, he snuggled down into her shoulder.

  “That’s disturbing.” Luke said, and walked off.

  Jodie didn’t care what Luke thought, but she put Leon down anyhow and watched as he trotted off after Luke. Lowering herself into a chair, she turned to find Doug grinning at her.

  “You know you fit in when Leon likes you.” Doug said.

  “I don’t know that he likes me, tolerates is probably more accurate.” Jodie disagreed, tucking her hair behind her ear and breaking eye contact.

  “Oh no, he likes you. He allowed you to pick him up and hug him. That’s headline news.”

  “It is?”

  “He hates to be treated like a pet.” Doug informed her, his attention already back on his security footage.

  “Well why is he doing this for Luke?”

  “He isn’t doing it for Luke. He’s doing it in part because Danny ordered it, but mostly for you.”

  Jodie gasped, speechless for several moments, “really?”

  “I mean the whole assignment makes sense. It’s the easiest way to keep an eye on the girls without raising suspicion. There are no woods to hide in by your parents’ house, so it would be difficult for any of the other guys to be assigned there.

  But I’m telling you he would have kicked up a hell of a lot more fuss, if they weren’t your nieces.”

  “Why are you all so nice to me - how did I earn that? I’m such a burden to you all, what if Danny and I never get back together?” Jodie clamped her mouth shut as the words came rushing out and blinked several times as she looked back at him, embarrassed.

  Doug smiled, his quiet and reserved personality taking a back seat for once. “For a start, you and Danny will get back together, that’s undeniable. Secondly, you aren’t a burden. You can be challenging but that isn’t the same as a burden, you make life interesting. Thirdly, you aren’t like anyone we’ve ever met. Even before you knew any of us, you were so accepting. You welcomed us all into your life without question, even when it scared the crap out of you. You make us forget the thugs that we are and feel like human beings again.”

  Standing there with her mouth hanging open, Jodie didn’t know how to respond to such high praise, not when it had come from Doug. Though he didn’t often say much, he never missed a single thing. Both scientific and mathematically minded, Doug had the most photographic memory Jodie had ever come across. It shouldn’t have surprised her that he’d taken such an analytical approach to her life or her inclusion in theirs but it did, she felt overwhelmed.

  “We like you Jodie.” He smiled. “Now, if you have run out of things to do, I would love an herbal tea and a slice of banana loaf.”

  And there is the Doug I have grown to know so well. Jodie laughed. “After that speech, how could I refuse?”

  “That’s what I was thinking.” With a lazy grin, Doug went back to his work.

  “Thanks Doug,” Jodie said, giving him a hug. He stiffened at the uninvited contact which made Jodie want to giggle.

  Feeling on top of the world, Jodie danced all the way to the kitchen. After she’d taken Doug his refreshments, Jodie decided to do some laundry and found Danny’s sheets still in the washer. Putting them in a basket, she refilled the machine and set her own clothes to wash, humming to herself as she wandered outside to hang the sheets on the line.

  Upon completion, Jodie realized two things. The first being that she’d forgotten to give Adam a list of things to get from her place, the second that she should have told someone that she was going outside. Jodie had no way of getting back in, she didn’t have her key for the front door and didn’t know the combination for the keypad at the back. What an idiot.

  She’d been sitting on the back steps for an hour before Adam pulled into the back yard in his green VW golf, looking a little alarmed to find her there.

  “Aren’t you on the wrong side of the door?” He asked, jogging over with a large black trash bag in hand.

  Jodie flashed a sheepish grin and told him what had
happened. Adam made a comment about how the guys inside were dorks for not noticing her absence as he handed her the bag.

  “What’s that?”

  “I forgot to get that list you were going to write, so I just brought every article of clothing you owned. I also noticed a few other things that I thought you might want.”

  “Thanks” Jodie gave him a hug. Wow, I’m on a roll today. “With the size of this bag, the guys might think I’m trying to move in.” She joked as her fingers closed around the knotted top.

  “We wouldn’t mind,” he smiled back and Jodie knew that he was serious.

  “I can’t do that. And even if I did want to, you don’t have any spare rooms.”

  “There are plenty of places you could sleep until you mend things with Danny.”

  Jodie pursed her lips and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Why is everyone so certain that is going to happen?”

  Adam folded his arms as though it were obvious, “we see how you look at each other. All other things aside, he’s your Eros. The rest of your life is going to be pretty miserable if you don’t sort it out.”

  “But what about when people never meet their Eros?”

  “Then they don’t know what they’re missing. Now that you and Danny have connected, you’ll never be complete without one another.”

  Jodie didn’t like the sound of that, not wanting to be so tied to Danny. What if they couldn’t sort it out? What if something happened to him on an assignment? Oh great. Now

  I’m going to worry about that too.

  Adam noticed her mild distress and sagged. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he sighed.

  Jodie picked up the laundry basket in one hand, the trash bag in the other. She waited while Adam keyed in the code and went back into the house. Adam made sure everyone knew that Jodie had been locked outside for over an hour. Despite her humiliation, he insisted that they needed to know. Doug claimed that he’d checked on the security cameras and knew Jodie was out there. He said she looked to be enjoying the morning sun, he’d thought she had wanted some privacy.

  The notion entertained Jodie and also left her somewhat reassured. She had felt vulnerable sitting there alone. Rufus and Eddie were full of apologies, Jarvis and Mark seemed amazed they hadn’t noticed Jodie leave the building and Danny had gone. How and when he’d left remained a mystery. It could have been when I was talking to Doug. With so many people under one roof, it appeared impossible to keep tabs on everyone. So why do I feel as though it was wrong not to have said goodbye to him? She pondered.