“Same here. But let’s be real, J.T. The Brotherhood needs someone here who knows this area and the cops. That’s me.”
The confidence I hear in her voice quells my fear. That is when an idea forms. One which will take me away from her for several minutes, which I don’t like. But I have to trust in my sholani’s skills, and more importantly, her.
With one tap of my wrist comm, the charges I set in three nearby locations explode simultaneously. Men stream out of the room where my sholani has been taken.
“That’ll be the local cops,” Noelle says. “You tripped their security around the stadium.”
“There’s no security?—”
“Not that you know about. Which proves my point. You know nothing about this region. The cops have had trouble with gangs using the stadium as a base.” She’s figured out what I’m doing, or she doesn’t know I’m here and she’s using the distraction to her advantage. Either way, my clever female has a plan.
“There’s a reason why the Brotherhood putmein charge here. You want to move up in the organization? Find a way to stand out. Do something bold. Prove your worth to them. This gang-style mentality of taking over a territory won’t work with them. It doesn’t give them an advantage. They kill people for interfering with their plans and moving those blasters along the east coast is their plan, not mine. I’m only in charge of getting the pieces past the check points. So go ahead, cause trouble, but don’t expect me to be a part of it. Now, tell your neanderthals to let me leave.”
“You’re not going anywhere. If those are cops out there. You’ll make a good hostage.”
Noelle laughs. “I’d make a better decoy. They’ll shoot me to get to you. Go, J.T. I have no desire to hinder the cause, which is why I’ll save your ass. This time.”
“How?” He sounds skeptical.
“I’ll tell the cops I tripped their security system.”
“And sacrifice yourself to save me? You’re screwing with me.”
“Like I said, I know the cops, how to deal with them. But it’s your choice. Stay here if you’re so sure you can talk your way out of prison. I’m guessing you have two, maybe three minutes before you lose your chance to escape.”
“Fucking hell.”
I slide behind a concrete pillar just as J.T. and three other males race from the room. As their footsteps grow faint, my sholani enters the corridor, her knife in one hand, the other on her side where blood continues to flow.
“Noelle,” I whisper, gaining her attention.
A huge grin crosses her face. “You set those explosions, didn’t you?”
I peel back her coat to see the wound. It’s not life-threatening, but she’s still bleeding. “You shouldn’t have?—”
“What? Saved you? It was the only play. One that saved both of us.”
I cup her face. “Never risk yourself for me again.”
“I can’t make that promise.”
“Vekk, female, don’t you realize what you mean to me? I can’t lose you. That would break me.”
Her eyes narrow. “What are you saying?”
I seal my lips to hers, but break the kiss sooner than I’d like. We need to leave, in case J.T. or any of his men return. “I love you, sholani. I never understood the concept before I met you, and the bond deepens the more I learn about who you are.” I scoop Noelle into my arms.
“I can walk.”
“I will carry you. Until we reach a med-center.”
“It’s not a deep wound.”
“No, it is not. But I need to feel you in my arms, to know you are well. Do not ask me to put you down, not yet.” I lean my forehead against hers. “Perhaps not ever.”
Her arms tighten around my neck. “Sounds like a plan, sholani.”
My heart swells when she calls me by the zyanthan word for heartmate, even if it is the wrong gender. “Sholanfor males. I am yoursholan.”
