Boreal and John Grey Season 1 (44 page)

Clutching her gun, Ella stepped out and shaded her eyes from the sunlight reflecting on fluffy clouds. “Can’t see a damn thing.” In the haze, the old brick buildings lining the street, stacked together seamlessly like books on a shelf, took on a rosy hue. “Are you sure you saw a snake?”

“Are you accusing me of having imagination?” Mike muttered, a corner of his mouth quirking. “Of course I saw it.”

“You’d better not be kidding.” Her arm ached and the bandage felt loose and wet.
Ow
. “I’ll inform HQ.”

Flipping her phone open, hitting the speed dial, she looked up and caught Finn’s expression. He was smiling.

Turbo butterflies somersaulted inside her stomach as the memories hit and...
Goddammit
. She’d told Finn she loved him.

Maybe he didn’t remember. Maybe he hadn’t heard. He certainly hadn’t replied. She gripped the phone harder. It was just sex. Great sex, granted, but that didn’t mean Finn felt anything...

“Ella, is that you?” From Dave’s exasperated tone, she’d say he’d asked the question a number of times already.

Focus, Ella.
“Yep, it’s me.
Flying snake reported in my neighborhood. Looks like it’s heading toward the docks.”

“Roger that. Stay put, I may need you there.” Dave cleared his throat. “An awful lot is happening in your neighborhood these days.”

“Yeah, aren’t I lucky?” she bit off. “Talk to you later, boss.”

“You’d better,” he said and hung up.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? He was the one with the secret agenda.

Finn’s expression had blanked; he had a hand on his gun, eyes flicking around as if expecting an attack from every side.

Maybe he was right to be worried.

“Mike, did you notice anything else — any other animal, or Shades?” Ella asked, holstering her gun and turning toward him.

He looked haggard, she noticed, dark circles around his eyes and stubble on his cheeks. She tried to jolt her mind into coherent thought — hard task when her thoughts kept returning to Finn, his body, his face, his hands — and frowned.

“Is Scott...?”

“He’s still in hospital,” Mike said. “Doctors said he’s gonna be okay but they’re keeping him for observation for a while longer. He...” A shiver. “He has nightmares.”

Oh man, welcome to the club
. Ella clucked her tongue. “I guess he’ll need a lot of cuddling.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. “I don’t mean to downplay what you and he went through.”

“I know,” Mike said. “But, hey, I think you’re right. Cuddling. And so on.” He winked. 

She stared. She hadn’t meant it that way, but it seemed to lift some of the gloom off Mike, and hell, why not?

Maybe that was the reason why Finn looked a fraction easier in his skin this morning, his shoulders more relaxed.

Christ, heat went up her neck again. It was just a tumble between the sheets, goddammit, not a promise for anything more.

There you go again, Ella... One might think you want more, and here’s how your world looks right now
: Huge snakes flying across the sky, and dragons and scaly wolves lurking around corners, the Shades pouring from every tiny crack in the Veil, and Finn...

Finn was a whole brand-new can of worms.

 “I need tea,” she announced to the world in general. “Before the flying beauty returns.”

***

“Ella.” Mike caught her arm as they entered the building, his youthful face serious and drawn with fatigue. A scratch ran down his cheek, crusted with blood. Probably hadn’t slept a wink in two days.

“I’m sorry,” Ella whispered. “I should have visited at the hospital. I can’t seem to catch my breath these days.” Torn between the wolves, the Shades, and Finn.

He shook his head and gave a rueful smile. “After that last attack in your apartment, I wish I had been there for you. I hope things were quiet afterward.”

Quiet. A relative term
. “Yeah.”

“Listen, I’ve been meaning to say this for the past week.” Mike licked his lips, glanced over his shoulder at Finn who stood by the elevator, arms crossed, studying the grain in the dirty wall. “If anything happens...”

“What are you talking about?” Fear froze her insides. “Nothing will happen, Mike.”

“But if...” He lowered his voice. “If they do get Finn and you need help, I think we should think of what to do. Unless the Shades grab him, in which case he’s a lost cause, but if your boss finds out, or the army, then—”

“Mike.” Ella tipped a nod toward Finn. “You do know he can hear every single word we speak, right?”

Finn lifted a brow and grinned.
Damn sneak
.

Mike paled. “Oh. Really? I hadn’t realized.” He shot Finn a nervous smile. “Well, then.” He swallowed. “I’m sure he agrees a contingency plan is needed, right?”

Finn was observing them, eyes narrowed. He glanced to Ella and shrugged. Finn-ese for “Why not” or “What is he on about”?

“Sure. Got any ideas?” Ella scratched at the loose bandage under her blouse. It itched and she didn’t know if it was a good or bad sign — the smarting of knitting flesh or the tingling of infection? “If Dave turns out to be a Guardian after all and—”

“Dave?” Mike’s dark eyes bugged out. “I thought the Guardian was Simon?”

Oh damn
. Urgent updating needed. “The situation has changed,” she muttered, tugging on her sleeve, teasing at the seam. “Dave seems to be the one to worry about.”

“Fuck,” Mike whispered and Ella couldn’t agree more.

“Yeah.”

“And if it’s true... If he knows you know...”

“What will he do, kill me?” Ella shivered. “He has no reason to. Nobody would believe me anyway.”

As if suddenly feeling the cold, too, Mike zipped up his leather jacket. “We need a special code, in case we are separated and can’t communicate.”

Ella suppressed a sigh. Mike, she decided, had been watching too many spy movies. “Like?”

“Like, if you’re on the run and you need help. We need a way for you to let me know where you are, without anyone else knowing.”

Finn’s head dipped forward; listening or thinking. “We leave messages by piling stones,” he said, his deep voice echoing in the empty entrance hall.

She could see it — dark stones on the snow, forming symbols. Had she seen that in a dream?

“That’s it, we could do something like it.” Mike’s voice rose in excitement. “If needed, you can leave me a message—”

“I could throw stones at your head,” Ella muttered.

Finn snorted.

“Forget it,” Ella said firmly. “It won’t be necessary. Nothing will happen.”

“I hope so.” The light in his eyes went out. “You’re family to me, Ella. If anything happens to you...” He shook his head.

Awh
. There, her warm fuzzy of the day. “Thanks, Mike. It means a lot to me.”

Mike tsked and pushed back his shoulders. “Good, because it’s the truth. Now, how about some breakfast? I’m inviting.”

***

Ella could see why Mike insisted on breakfast at his place. Inside her apartment, she righted a chair she didn’t remember pushing over and looked around the messy living room. The stench of old blood lingered, mixed with Finn’s musk.

Leaving her gun on the coffee table, she headed to the shower, questions tumbling over and over in her mind. Why was she seeing Finn’s dreams so clearly now? Why couldn’t she touch and talk to him in the dreams? Had she ever been able to before?

She stripped and removed the bandage, giving the wound on her arm a cursory glance and shuddering. Damn wolf had tried to sever her arm.
Bastard
.

She left the butterfly bandages on — water-resistant, the package had read — and stood under the hot spray, letting it beat on the knots behind her neck as questions buzzed inside her skull.

What was the connection between the stabilizing ability Dave’s notes mentioned and sharing Finn’s dreams? And why Finn? Across the Veil, from the millions living in either world, why him?

That cold feeling again in the pit of her stomach, telling her something bad was lying in wait, and like in the dreams there was nothing she could do to prevent it.

Not one of us...

The bathroom door creaked and whined. Gasping, heart booming, she reached down for her gun, then remembered she was naked. She clenched her fingers into a fist as she pushed the shower stall door open—

Finn
.

He straightened, a pile of knives at his feet, and turned toward her. His eyes widened. A breath of cool air rushed into the shower stall, then he was there, right in front of her, his gaze raking her body, sliding like warm honey over her breasts.

Without thinking, she took a step forward, fingers unfolding to touch his face. His lips tilted in a smile that took her breath away, and a brow lifted in question.

She closed the gap and rose on tiptoe to kiss his lips, throwing her arms around his neck, drenching him. His ripped shirt molded to his muscled chest, growing transparent, outlining every dip and bulge.

Mmm...
Who needed breakfast if she could taste Finn?

He nipped at her mouth, his eyes closing, pressing their bodies together. She tugged on him, drawing him under the water. He laughed, a rich, bronze sound, and resisted just long enough to pull off his shirt, tearing it to shreds in the process. He struggled to get out of his wet pants, and she heard another ripping sound.