“Yeah, a nice guy who wants you.”
“So what? He didn't try anything when we went out. You know that. Why are you worried about him now?”
“I don't know.” Brax frowned deeper. “Something's off about him.”
I sighed and ran the card, then printed up the paperwork. By the time I had everything finished, Elaine was back with a wooden crate, tied with rope that formed a handle. She gave it to Kaleo as I brought the clipboard over for him to sign the receipt. He signed, and I folded up his paperwork.
As I handed it over, he leaned forward with a grin and whispered something in direct opposition to his smile, “I'm so sorry, Lora. Please understand that they forced me to do this.”
“What are you talking—”
“Run!” he hissed as he dropped the leather bag he had slung over his shoulder.
I hadn't thought anything of the bag, but now it looked suspicious. Especially when the whir of something powering up came from it. Kaleo ran for the front door.
“Run!” I screamed. “Bomb! Everyone get out!”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Even as I shouted, Braxen picked up the bag and tossed it over Kaleo's head. It sailed through the door as he opened it, the harmony almost beautiful. With Braxen's extraordinary strength, the bag coasted over parked cars, into the street, and would have kept going if it hadn't hit a van parked across the street and bounced, exploding in mid-air. Kaleo stumbled to a stop, then was blasted backward. My windows blew inward, people screamed, including me, and I fell to the floor, thrown there not by the bomb, but by Braxen, who covered me with his body, hunching around me like a turtle's shell.
I stared up at Braxen in shock as smoke and debris shot over his head. He grunted as glass sliced him, but didn't move an inch. He stayed bent over me, a living shield, allowing nothing to touch me, not a single shard of glass. And I stared into his eyes the whole time, seeing the orca within them. Family, romance, and protection. He was all of those things to me and more. My killer whale.
It was an insane thing to do, but I couldn't stop myself. As my ears rang and smoke billowed into the gallery, as people screamed and cried, as the world went to hell around us, I took Braxen's face in my hands and kissed him.
Braxen made a soft, happy sound, his muscles relaxing as he sank into our kiss. Eternity rolled between us. Magic. Destiny.If I had met Braxen first, he wouldn't have walked away. I knew it in my heart. He would have insisted that his packmates accept me and deal with my baggage, even if it was a god. Braxen would fight Hermes if he had to. The knowledge was both terrifying and stirring. I wanted to stand with him. Beside him. Face anything we had to together. But Hermes . . . my mischievous Coyote. He had done so much for me.
The Coyote and the Orca. Who would win? The Orca had certainly won my heart. Yup, I was his. Completely in love in less than 48 hours. Was it magic? The better question was; did I care? And the answer was; no. But the bigger question was; who would win if Hermes refused to let me go? That, I wasn't so certain about.
“Lora!” someone shrieked.
I jerked back and stared at Braxen. “Holy shit. Oh, Gods! Are you all right?” My hand slid back, over his head, and hit a piece of glass that was lodged there. In his head! “Oh, fuck!” I yanked it out. “Brax, oh, Gods!”
“I'm fine,” Braxen said as he helped me up. He shook himself like a wet dog and glass fell in a tinkling rain, glittering in the light of fires burning in the street. “Check on your employees.”
Braxen stalked away through the smoke looking like a god again. I had to remind myself that he was only the son of a god. That made him a demigod at best. Could a demigod defeat a god if love were on his side?
I shook myself free of my dark musings and called out, “Elaine!” Then immediately coughed out the smoke I'd inhaled and tried again, “Simon!”
“We're over here,” Simon said.
I fanned away the smoke and peered around the shop. “Is there anyone who needs help? Is anyone hurt?”
“We're okay,” Elaine said.
Simon was with a woman who was curled into a ball, weeping. He patted her back. “We're all right. It's over. You're all right.” He started coughing.
“Outside!” I said. “We need to get out and find some fresh air.”
I helped Simon get the woman to her feet as Elaine stumbled out to the street. We followed her into a war zone. Smoke was still wafting up from a hole in the street. Parked cars, a few on fire, were angled onto the sidewalks, shop windows gone, and people were on the ground, moaning and bleeding. Some weren't moving.
“Oh, Gods,” I whispered as I left the woman leaning against my building. “Braxen!”
There was no sign of him or Kaleo. Oh, fuck. Kaleo. What in the world was going on? Was Kaleo one of Michael's minions? But no, he tried to warn me. He said they forced him. How had they forced him to bring a bomb into my gallery? I turned to look at the gallery. The windows were gone, and the art was probably damaged, but the building was intact. Insurance would take care of the repairs and cover the art. I wasn't worried about it. I was, however, worried about my employees and the neighborhood. If Braxen hadn't acted so quickly and been so strong and dextrous, the building could have come down and the ones to either side of us may have been affected too.
“I should have listened to Rune,” I whispered.
“You're damn straight, you should have listened to me,” Rune growled.
