Sam finished his beer. “While I like the idea of an internal war within the Kurjan nation, we have to get this guy now. I agree. Let the news out. If Dayne has any intention of protecting the Kurjans from everyone else, he’ll take care of it.” Dayne had led the Kurjans for decades, and from what Sam understood, he was an asshole who wanted the Seven dead but didn’t necessarily harm women in the way those two had been hurt. He hoped.
Garrett rolled his shoulders back. “All right. Enough of this. We did our jobs and will continue to do so. I had another dream.”
“Same one?” Sam asked.
“I saw her.”
Sam jerked. “You finally saw her?”
“Maybe not with my eyes, but I have a much better sense of her. It’s like I saw her, in a way. My mate isn’t human, Sam. For some reason, I would’ve bet my soul that she was an Enhanced human. But she isn’t. She’s an immortal—maybe witch or shifter—or even a demoness. Solid, full bodied, and strong.” Garrett sounded almost dreamy. “I felt incredible power from her.”
Sam paused. “Keep in mind the Kurjans have hacked your dreams. Or at least, they know you’re having them. You can’t trust your dreams, G.”
“I trust my gut,” Garrett countered. “For the briefest of seconds, I smelled the ocean. Not sure what it means, if it means anything, but at least it’s something new.” He hung his head, letting sweat roll from his thick hair to his knees. “I was thinking, maybe I’d talk to Honor about it? I know she doesn’t read dreams or anything, but perhaps I’m missing something. I don’t know.”
“Sure. Why not?” Sam could still taste her blood, and it had been like drinking summer. “I bit her.”
Garrett swung his head and looked up. “Seriously? Did you mark her?”
“No. If the marking had appeared, I would have.” Sam held out his hand, looking at his empty palm. Was this what impotence felt like? Oh, he could get it up, but he couldn’t control what mattered. The marking. “I want it to appear, Garrett.”
Garrett sat up and leaned back on his elbows. “I’ve never heard of anybody not being able to make the marking appear, so there has to be something going on with you. It’s kind of obvious with the fire and dimensions and all, but I don’t know how to fix it.”
Sam liked that Garrett’s first thought wasn’t that Sam was with the wrong female right now. “What if— ”
“No. She’s it. I can see you two together easily. She complements you perfectly. That’s not it,” Garrett said, his voice sure.
Sam agreed, but it was still nice to have his feelings confirmed by his best friend. “Then the problem is me.”
“Yep. It’s in your head,” Garrett said easily. “Not sure how or why, but you need to figure it out. Like everything else around you, it’s in your control.” His phone buzzed, and he retrieved it from the pocket of his shorts. “What?” He listened. “All right. Thanks.” Then he set the phone back and remained quiet.
“Well?” Sam asked, not wanting to know the answer.
“Two women taken from Boston, three from Los Angeles, and one from Indianapolis within the last twenty-four hours,” Garrett said, a muscle working in his jaw.
Something was happening and soon. Sam shook his head. “Guess we’d better gear up.”
“There’s more,” Garrett said, not looking at him. “The bounty for Honor has been tripled, so long as she’s alive. They sensed her power the other day, and now they want her. Bad.”
A low sound of denial erupted from Sam before he could stop it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
There were at least ten bears waiting by the porch the next morning, even though the rain had increased in power and the wind had decided to get in on the action. The lights flickered. Honor peeked out the window as Sam handed her a cup of coffee and a bagel already made up with cream cheese and honey—her favorite. “You don’t have to counsel anybody you don’t want to,” he murmured, sipping his mug.
She took a drink and looked him up and down. Man, Sam Kyllwood looked good in the morning. In fact, he’d made her feel good the night before. Her limbs were loose, and most of the tension had left her body. When he’d bitten her, she’d had the oddest expectation of feeling his hand against her hip. Had he wanted to mate her? They’d agreed to wait, so she wasn’t sure how to ask. Oh, she would, but not until she figured out how she felt about it and what she wanted to say. “I like counseling people, and bear shifters sure have a lot of pent-up tension and emotion,” she mused. “This feels right. I mean, while we’re hiding out here, I like it.”
He tensed just enough for her to notice.
She cleared her throat. “Speaking of which, how long do you intend to take cover here? I spoke with or emailed friends last night, so nobody is worried about me, but I do need to return to my life sometime.” Not right now. Right now, she was on vacation in bear country with a male who could give multiple orgasms in one go-around. It was the best vacation of her life.
“I live here for now,” Sam said, still watching the quiet shifters through the window. “I plan to keep living here and covering Garrett’s back until he figures out what he wants or finds it, I guess. Unless Ulric gets free, and then I assume we’ll go to war. Again.”
She ate half of her bagel, kicking back on the sofa. “That was only half of an answer, Sam.”
“I’m aware.” He partially turned to look down at her, his eyes a lighter green this morning. “I don’t have an answer for you. There’s a bounty on your head, so you have to stay locked down until we can figure out what to do with it. In addition, you and I have some things to work on, and we need to stay in the same place to do it.”
“What if I decide to go home?” she asked, mildly curious.
His frown drew both eyebrows down. “I’d go with you, but I’d need some planning time.”
“To get somebody in place to cover Garrett?” she murmured. So he’d go with her? He’d choose her? That made her all squishy and warm inside. Did they have a chance at forever? Times like this, she felt maybe they did. Oh, she’d never been good with men or boyfriends, but Sam was different. In a very good way. The guy wouldn’t let her push him away as she’d done with everyone else for years, and she was starting to rely on him. He was good and kind and so strong it hurt to look at him sometimes. But even he needed somebody. Could she be that somebody? “You’d need to protect Garrett before leaving.” That was just sweet.
“As well as plan for you, sweets. You have a bounty on you, remember? That means round-the-clock security, and we’d need a force. The Kurjans aren’t messing around.” He surveyed her in the light jeans and blue sweater she’d found in the pile of clothing Nessa had brought. “I have a crew fetching clothing and such from your house right now. Should be here today.”