Laurann Dohner - Slade

133

Laurann Dohner

Trisha had met Moon. He was one of the men who showed up with Harley and Brass at her house to watch movies. The tall man didn’t talk much but he had a wicked sense of humor she enjoyed when he decided to break his silence.

“Thank you.”

Brass held out his arm and Trisha wrapped her fingers around his forearm. He genuinely smiled at her and escorted her out of the office.

134

Slade

Chapter Fourteen

Trisha knew she wasn’t going to make it to Reservation without being deeply embarrassed. Brass rubbed her back gently while she sat on his lap. She fought the urge to puke all over the floor. She miserably glanced at Moon and Harley.

Both of them gave her sympathetic looks, knew of her pregnancy, and had been sworn to secrecy. They were going to be protecting her, living with her, and they had needed to know the truth. She glanced at the floor and used her hand to motion to them. Both men quickly lifted their feet. Moon grinned.

“Motion sickness is not funny!” she shouted. She wasn’t sure if he heard her over the loud helicopter and the headset he wore to keep in contact with the pilots but Moon winked in response, making her believe he had.

“We’re almost there,” Brass said next to her ear. “Just hang on, Trisha.”

She miserably nodded. Her stomach pitched a fit but she didn’t want to throw up.

She’d be humiliated if all three men got to see her lose her breakfast, not to mention the pilots having to clean it up after they landed. She closed her eyes but it made the sick feeling worsen. She could feel the helicopter lowering. Thank God . It’s nearly over. The helicopter landed and the pilot started to shut the engines down.

Moon moved first when he opened the side door and jumped out. Harley exited next. They split apart and stood at both sides of the door. Trisha tried to stand on her own but her knees trembled so badly she swayed the instant she put weight on them.

Brass scooped her into his arms where he cradled her tightly against his chest as he bent to carry her out of the helicopter. Harley and Moon gripped Brass with Trisha inside his arms and lifted both of them to the ground. It prevented Brass from jostling her if he’d had to jump down.

Trisha rested her head against the curve Brass’ broad shoulder. She hugged him around his neck as the world spun a little. She hated motion sickness. Brass shifted Trisha in his hold, lifting her tighter against his chest, to make her more comfortable.

“Hang on to me,” he whispered. “We’ll get you settled and I’ll put a cool washcloth on your forehead. You’ll feel a hundred times better.”

“Thank you,” she murmured to Brass. “You’re the best.”

He laughed. “I know. It’s a hard burden to shoulder but I’m willing.”

She smiled, really grateful to have him as a friend. He always knew how to make her laugh. She heard Harley talking but didn’t dare lift her head from Brass’ shoulder to see who he spoke to, still fighting the urge to be sick.

“She’s motion sick. She will be fine once we get her to a bed and give her some time to recover.”

135

Laurann Dohner

“Is that right?” The male voice sounded furious and was one that Trisha knew too well. She tensed and lifted her head, regardless of the consequences.

Slade stood about five feet from her. He glared as he glanced from her face to Brass, and then back. Trisha knew she’d be experiencing the last seconds of life if looks could have killed and his reaction confused her.

Why is he so angry? Does he hate me? He obviously had an issue with her being near him. Their gazes met and held.

Trisha noted that Slade’s hair had grown a little since she’d seen him. He wore his usual NSO black outfit, minus the vest though. Instead of NSO stamped onto the breast of his shirt, his name had been printed in the space. He looked fit and handsome. Trisha would have thought he even looked sexy if it wasn’t for the murderous rage she saw in his expression. Her heart did a twist from being close to him again.

“Trisha?” Brass whispered against her ear. “That’s him, isn’t it?”

She turned her head and met his gaze. Brass stared at her for a second and then tensed. “Shit.” He nodded. “Let’s get you settled.”

Brass turned with Trisha and walked toward a Jeep. Slade moved into their path, still glaring at Trisha. “Nice to see you, Doc.”

“Hello,” she got out.

His focus tore from her for a few seconds as his attention shifted from Brass to Harley, to Moon, and back to her. He finally glared at Brass, locking gazes with him.

“What level of threat is she rated? Justice wasn’t clear and I had to watch what I said because I had a human around me during the time of the conversation. He’s been in meetings ever since, unable to take my calls.”

“Four.” Brass frowned at Slade. “She’s our prime priority and yours. No one is to have access to her who is not New Species. No humans whatsoever.”

That information made Slade blanch a little. “No humans at all? We’re in the middle of large construction jobs and we have humans crawling all over Reservation. I have hundreds of them here twenty-four hours a day to complete all the projects we need done as soon as possible. We’re doing things in a matter of a few months that should have taken a good year to finish. It took almost four hundred humans three full weeks just to build those security walls to enclose the property. We have them working in two shifts around the clock, seven days a week. We’re still wiring the walls for security purposes and I have a hotel being refurbished at breakneck speed. We’ll need the housing completed so our people aren’t living in tents and a clubhouse is being built still. We have another project going on for the offices to prevent us from permanently being stuck using a trailer. On any given second, on any given day, there are well over four hundred humans here. Does Justice want me to shut down everything so we can’t get any work done until the threat is over? He’s been pushing me hard to get it all done.”

“No,” Harley stated. “He just wants her put somewhere safe on where humans aren’t permitted. Moon and I have been going over the layout and we believe we 136

Slade

should hide her inside the center of the wild zone. No humans would dare go there and they are forbidden in that area. I’m aware that some of our people have already been relocated and that makes it even better since no full human would get past them.”

“That wouldn’t be safe for her. She’s full human.” Slade’s rage seemed to intensify.

“Sure, no humans would ever be stupid enough to venture there and survive it, but it would be baiting them. I believe they would attack if you took her inside their territory.

They are very unstable. The second we relocated them, they started marking territory and have been vigilant to make certain no humans breach it.”

“We will protect her,” Brass promised, his voice firm. “They won’t attack her.”

“They are insane,” Slade snarled. “Some of them will never calm and hate humans to a degree that is beyond what you can imagine. They go into rages just by picking up the scent of one.” He pointed at Trisha. “She’s seen us but not the failures. Don’t you think they would scare the hell out of her?”

“What failures?” Trisha glanced at the men.

Slade glared at her. “We look mostly human but not all of our people were so fortunate. Some appear more animal than human. We have a few dozen who survived.

Some of our people were tortured until they were left insane or hold hatred for humans to the point they would kill one on sight. Those are the ones we relocated here. You would not be safe inside the wild zone. It’s where we put the most antisocial of them.”