“Human soldiers?” Logan asked, elbowing Garrett to get closer to the screen.
“I think it was Kurjans in disguise,” Talen said. “One of the doctors described the males as very pale with black hair and dark eyes, which were probably contacts. Now that the Kurjans can venture into the sun, it could easily be them.”
The Kurjans had been the Realm’s enemy from the beginning of their species. They were pale-skinned, with purple or red eyes, usually. Their hair was either black tipped with red or red tipped with black, and until very recently, exposure to the sun had killed them. Their scientists had just overcome that weakness. The Cysts were their religious leaders, and Ulric was their ruler.
Sam elbowed Garrett’s other side to see the screen. “Has sweet Dessie left behind a trail of bodies?”
“No. Didn’t find any murders,” Talen confirmed.
“Thanks for checking,” Garrett said. None of this was looking good for Dessie. Just what had they done to her? Why couldn’t she remember? Or did she remember but didn’t want to level with him?
“What did you get from that Aster who was with her when she found you?” Talen asked.
Garrett rolled his neck. Aster had been brought to the Realm, but Garrett hadn’t even gotten to hit the moron. Not once. Aster had folded like a wounded fish. “Dessie answered an ad to be a freelance journalist with Aster’s small-town family paper, and that was legit. Then terrifying goons, as he put it, forced him to take Dessie and chase a story about the Grizzlies, which was why they’d walked into that diner where I was eating.” Of course, even the Kurjans hadn’t known how he’d react, if at all. He’d had to let Aster go home unharmed.
Talen frowned. “You fell right into their trap.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Garrett muttered.
Talen shook his head, his face as sharply cut as any mountain around them. Rugged and strong. “Not what I meant. She’s human, and you jumped right in. You kind of mated her. She has to be enhanced, and I think you recognized her.”
“Agreed.” The female was his, and Garrett would fix this. Even though his dad was the toughest male on the planet, sometimes Garrett forgot that he was also a romantic. “Dad—”
“Or she knows a lot more than she’s telling you, which is probably what’s happening. She must have said or done something that caught your interest, and you know it. Either way, you’ll probably have to kill her,” Talen murmured, watching him closely.
The beast inside Garrett stretched awake. “She will not be killed.” His voice went demon guttural.
A very rare dimple flashed in Talen’s cheek. “Interesting. You’re gonna want to smooth things over with your mother before she cuts off Dessie’s head, then.” He ended the call.
Chapter Nineteen
Destiny felt like a fish trapped in a beautiful aquarium as she sat on a barstool at the kitchen counter in Garrett’s lovely home. Guards were stationed outside at every exit. “I thought they wanted to put a tracking monitor on my ankle.”
Garrett slid warmed-up pasta across the white granite top to her. He’d changed into ripped jeans, a dark T-shirt, and black socks. “They did. I said no.”
She sipped the coffee he’d already given her. A shiny green plant bloomed on the bar. Had it looked that good the other day? “Does everybody do what you say?”
His eyebrow lifted as he dished up his food. “They do when it comes to you.” Then he leaned back against the counter and began to eat, one hand holding the bowl and the other his fork. The mood between them was casual and comfortable, as if they’d been together for more than a few days. In the evening light, he looked more dangerous than ever, with his dark hair curling around his ears and his muscled chest filling out the faded black T-shirt in a way that gave her those Garrett-sized butterflies.
She took a bite of the spaghetti, and it was as delicious as dinner had been the night before. Had it only been a day since her entire world had been changed? “Because you brought me into vampire territory?” Should she feel comforted by the shield he was providing? What if he changed his mind? She had tried to take off his head just that morning, apparently.
“You’re my mate,” he said simply. “You’re my responsibility, and my word is law.”
Some of that coziness began to dissipate. “Your word is notmylaw.” They had to get that straight, even if it meant he stopped providing shelter for her from his people. “I might be a hot mess right now, but you’re not my dictator.” She’d heard the expression on a television show she’d seen in a motel room on her journey to California, and it seemed to apply to her.Hot messsounded better thantotal disaster.
He kept eating and didn’t answer. Almost as if he didn’t want to bother arguing with her.
“Garrett?” She glanced at the ancient book he’d given her, which was sitting on the counter. She’d already translated half of it, and it was indeed, filled with romantic fables.
“Eat your dinner, Dessie. We need to figure out our next steps.” He reached for a bottle of beer on the counter and drank it down, his throat moving in a way that should not be so sexy. The man was completely healed now, with no bandages or even stiffness in his movements.
She sipped her coffee. “We’re not mated.” The marking didn’t stay on her hip, and she wasn’t even comfortable enough to ask him if she could look at his palm.
“We are.”
She couldn’t help but frown. “Do you boss everyone around?”
He finished his bowl and placed the heavy pottery in the sink. “I’m usually in charge one way or another.” He drank more of his beer, his gaze thoughtful. “I guess it’s a little different here at home with my family, because my uncle is king and my dad is the strategic leader of the entire Realm.”
