Nico's Heart (RARE Book 1) (9 page)

Chapter 30

When Nico reached the cottage, he heard laughter coming from around back.  What a sweet sound, he thought.  The past few days had been hell.  First with the mission they’d had rescuing the senator’s son, then with Lily being kidnapped, and finally with the women and children they had just rescued.  He needed a break.  He needed time to rest, but he also needed time to spend with Jenna and Lily.  He wanted to get to know his sweet, beautiful mate better.  He wanted to learn her likes and dislikes.  Hell, he wanted to sit dow
n and watch a movie with her, to just hold her. 

And Lily.  He had a daughter.  Could she ride a bike yet?  Or was that something he would get to teach her?  Did she like to read?  He would read a different story to her every night before bed.  What about her ABC’s and numbers?  He could help her with those.  What about a pony?  Did she want one?  Hell, he would buy her a whole herd of ponies if that made her happy. 

They still weren’t safe from the General.  That bastard was still out there and he still wanted Lily.  But Nico was going to keep his family safe.  And he knew Angel and the team would be there to help.

As he walked by some pink roses, he took out his knife and reached down and snipped off two of them.  He carefully removed the thorns and then walked around to the back of the house with them.  His girls looked over as he rounded the corner, and Lily jumped off the swing and came running.  He leaned down and scooped her up, smacking a kiss loudly on her cheek and hugging her tightly.

“A rose for my princess,” he said as he leaned back and handed her one of the roses.  She giggled then whispered loudly, “You cut Mommy’s roses, Daddy!  You are gonna be in trouble!”  He laughed and snuggled her closer.  “We better not tell her where I got them from then, huh?”

As Jenna walked towards him, Nico felt his heart expand.  Damn, he couldn’t love her already.  He had only known
her for a few days.  But that was how it worked with mates.  Once they sealed their souls together, there was nothing keeping them apart.  He leaned down and kissed her softly, handing her the other pink rose.  “A beautiful rose for a beautiful lady,” he told her, nuzzling her ear.  He breathed in deeply, taking in their shared scent.  God, that was perfect, he thought.

“What should we do the rest of the day, ladies?” he asked.  “Whatever you want, I’m all yours.”  Jenna’s smile grew as she leaned into him.  “Really,” she whispered?  “Doesn’t Angel need you?” 

“Not as much as my family needs me,” Nico said.  “She sent me home to spend time with you.  I will need to meet with everyone tomorrow to discuss security issues and other things, but today is for my family.”

“A picnic!” Lily said.  “Let’s go on a picnic!  And where’s Phoenix?  He needs to come, too!”

“Phoenix?” Nico said laughing.  “I can hunt down Phoenix for you if you want.”  Lily’s eyes lit up as she clapped her hands together. 

They made their way into the house, and Jenna went to pack a picnic lunch while Nico placed a call to Phoenix.  Phoenix was at the hospital still, helping out with the little bear cub.  It seemed the cub had ta
ken a liking to him and would not leave his side. 

The cub was still in bear form and refused to turn back to his human form.  It was a defense mechanism the doctor said.  The little boy was stronger in his bear form and felt like he needed to stay that way to protect himself.  But, Phoenix said he would be over to go on the picnic soon.  He would just bring the cub along.

When Phoenix and the cub showed up, their lunch was packed and ready, so they all headed out towards the beautiful land beyond all of the buildings in the compound.  They walked about a mile before they came across the place Nico had seen in his vision.  It was on the side of a hill.  There was a swing hanging from a tree and there was another tree not too far away that Jenna went to and spread out a blanket under to put their picnic lunch on.  Yep, this was definitely his vision.  He nodded to Storm, Ryker, Aiden and Xavier as they fanned out around them to keep watch. 

Lily smiled over at the bear cub and asked him if he would like to swing first.  The cub watched her for a second, and then he looked over at the swing.  He turned to Phoenix and crawled up his leg digging his claws in.  Phoenix grabbed him and pulled him all of the way up snuggling him close.  “It’s alright, buddy,” He said.  “Hunter,” Lily said.  “His name’s Hunter.”

The bear cub swung his head around to Lily quickly, obviously surprised.  She just smiled at him sweetly.  “It’s ok, Hunter.  I will swing first, and when you are ready to change so you can have your turn, my mama brought you some clothes to put on.”  As Lily ran off towards the swing, Hunter turned and nuzzled Phoenix under his chin chuffing softly.  “I gotcha, Hunter,” Phoenix said.

Nico pushed Lily on the swing and listened to the sound of her laughter.  She was so precious, he thought as he pushed her higher.  He glanced over at Jenna where she was sitting on the blanket watching him and Lily, a huge smile on her face. 

The vision came out of nowhere.  They were in the jungle and he was up at the top of a steep incline.  He felt a searing pain in his chest.  He looked down in horror and watched as blood spread from the right side of his chest down.  His team was yelling for him, but someone was dragging him away.  It hurt so fucking bad and he couldn’t fight them off.  “Oh yeah,” someone said.  “He will make the perfect specimen for the program.  The General will be pleased.”    Before his team could get to him, he was loaded on a helicopter and as it lifted into the air, he watched out of the window as Phoenix ran balls to the wall to catch him, screaming his name.  Then he closed his eyes and the darkness came.

As Nico became aware of his surroundings again, he saw Jenna looking at him with concern.  He shrugged the vision off for now and smiled at her.  Then he felt Phoenix touch his mind,
I don’t know what the fuck just happened, but you will tell me later, my brother. 
Nico gave a slight nod and stopped the swing.  Grabbing Lily and throwing her up into the air, he caught her, and then swung her around in a circle.  He was distracting her because he didn’t want her to somehow catch his thoughts.  He took her over to Jenna and said, “Let’s eat!” 

As everyone gathered around and sat down to eat, Hunter suddenly changed.  One minute he was a little bear cub, and the next he was a five year old little boy with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes that desperately needed a pair of pants.  With a laugh, Jenna handed him some jogging pants and a tee shirt, and Phoenix helped him get them on.

Hunter didn’t say a word.  He just snuggled up on Phoenix’s lap and waited for Jenna to give him his lunch.  His eyes grew round at the amount of food she put on his plate, but he ate every last bit of it.  Then he tugged Phoenix with him to the swing so he could have his turn.

Chapter 31

Later on that evening all of Angel’s team had gone home except for Phoenix.  He had brought a bag with him the night before and planned on staying with Nico as long as Nico needed him.  Or until Jenna kicked him out, whichever came first.

What most people didn’t know was that Nico and Phoenix had been friends for years.  They had been in the military together and Nico had once saved Phoenix’s life.  He had taken a bullet for Phoenix that would have killed him, but with Nico’s shifter abilities, even though it had hurt like a bitch, it had not mortally wounded him.  That was how Phoenix had found out about shifters.  He had hidden Nico and kept him safe for several days until he was physically capable of fighting again, and then they had returned to camp with a story about getting separated from their team and being lost.  They had been inseparable since then.  RARE was the family Phoenix had never had.  Nico was the brother he had always wanted.  And there wasn’t anything he would not do for him.

He sat out on the back porch drinking one of the beers that Jenna had stocked the fridge with while they were gone.  He was waiting for Nico.  He didn’t know what the hell had happened earlier in the day while they were on the picnic, but he was damn well gonna find out.  He had seen the vacant look come into Nico’s eyes first.  The one he always got when a vision started.   Then had come the terror and stark fear.  He didn’t know what
was up with that, but he was not going to bed until he found out.  He had patience, and he would sit out there and wait until Nico was ready to talk about it.

As he waited, he watched Storm come towards him.  She sat down beside him and crossed her arms over her legs as she pulled them up to her chest.  Silently, he handed her the extra beer he had brought out for Nico.  What the hell, Nico wouldn’t be out anytime soon.  She nodded her thanks, and tilting back her head took a long drink.  As he watched her throat move as she swallowed, his dick jumped to attention in his jeans.  Oh shit.  Shifters could smell lust couldn’t they?

“Stay close to Nico,” she said softly, still not looking at Phoenix.  “There’s going to come a time when he is going to need you.  Be there for him when he does, and I will come for you,” she promised.  I would like to come for you right now, Phoenix thought.

“I would give my life for him,” Phoenix said out loud.  “It won’t come to that,” she said.  “Just remember, no matter what, I will come for you.”  She turned and looked him directly in the eyes.  And then, reaching over and cupping his face in her hands, she pulled him to her and kissed him softly on the lips.  Tears filling her eyes, she stood up.  “I’m so sorry it has to be this way,” she whispered.  “But he will die if you don’t do this.”  Reaching out, she trailed a hand across his shaved head and down the side of his face.  Then she leaned down and kissed him softly on the head, gently nuzzled his cheek, and turned and walked away.

What the fuck was that about, Phoenix thought as he tried to will his hard on away.  Be there for Nico.  Hells to the yeah, he would be there for his brother, no matter what.  But when had hard ass Storm the Enforcer become Storm the beautiful, sexy woman he wanted to fuck?  He reached down and palmed his erection trying to move it into a less painful position, and groaned loudly when he about shot in his pants.  What the fuck? 

Chapter 32

Nico silently slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts.  Phoenix had packed him a couple of bags, knowing there was no way Nico was leaving his family again.  “Where are you going?” his mate whispered softly.  “Just going to talk to Phoenix for a bit,” he said.  “Check on the kids, will you?” she asked.  Hunter was staying the night with them, too. He was sleeping on a small twin bed that had been moved into the spare bedroom Phoenix was using.  They were going to have to talk to the council about what to do with him eventually, but for now he would stay with them and Phoenix.  “I will, sweet mate,” he said as he leaned over and kissed her.

He checked on Lily first.  She was sound asleep in bed, snuggling with Shadow and her blanket, snoring softly.  He walked over and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

Next he checked on Hunter.  Hunter must have changed in his sleep.  He had started out sleeping as a little boy, but now his clothes were shredded and he was curled up in a ball at the end of the bed, once again in his bear cub form.  Nico silently shut the door and moved on.

He found Phoenix out on the back porch lost in thought.  There was one beer sitting beside him empty.  Another sat on the other side of the steps, just over halfway full.  Nico sat down beside him and raised an eyebrow.  “Did ya have company tonight?” he asked.  “Yeah,” Phoenix said roughly and left it at that.  Nico inhaled and then grinned.  “Storm come to see ya, did she?”

Phoenix looked at him, and the smile left Nico’s face.  “Hey man, what’s wrong?”  Phoenix looked away, rubbed his head, and then looked back.  “What happened today, brother?  At the picnic?  Talk to me.”

Now it was Nico’s turn to look away.  “Shit, Phoenix, you don’t want to know.”  Phoenix just waited, watching him.  “I had a vision.  A really fucked up vision.  We were in the jungle fighting some of the General’s army.  That’s what they were, too, man, a fucking army.  We were fighting them, and then I took a bullet in the chest.  The bastards got me and threw me in a helicopter and took off.  None of you could get to me in time.  You were too far away.  They said the General would be happy.  That I would make a good addition to his program.  His fucking program.  First of all, I have a mate.  I can’t have sex with anyone else but my mate.  It just won’t happen.  I doubt it physically could, but I would never do that to Jenna. They would have to kill me first.”

As Phoenix watched Nico look out across the lawn, he understood what Storm had meant now.  He had to be there to take that bullet.  It would kill Nico if he did, not because the bullet would kill him, but because if he got pu
t into that program and would not or could not perform, eventually the General would have him killed.  He took a deep breath.  He could do this.  For his brother, for his brother’s family, he would do this. 

“Tell me everything you remember about the vision,” he told Nico.  “Describe where we were, where you were standing when you took the bullet, everything.”  As Nico talked, Phoenix mentally stored all of the information in his mind to take out and go over later.  He would go over it all again and again until he was sure he knew exactly what had happened and exactly where he needed to be at the right time to make sure that he was the one that took that bullet and was taken by the General’s men instead of Nico.  He didn’t give a shit about what happened to him after that.  All he cared about was keeping Nico safe and with his family.