The Cardinal Bird - Book 1: Reverse Harem Series (The Cardinal Series) Page 6

  I nodded. "Adrenaline. I think." I used the wall to get to my feet shakily. "Or shock. I don't know.”

  "I don't think that's what my teammate is talking about, malyshka."

  I glanced up at Aleks. His gun was gone again, vanished magically into the ether.

  My mind went to the fact once more that he wasn't wearing a jacket like the others. Was it his jacket that I was wearing? My eyes traveled over his bulging torso. And where exactly was he hiding the gun?

  I ran my eyes down, trying to find the gun and then remembered what he had said about his shirt. I had a front view of it now.

  Just like the backside, the shirt was molded to his front as if painted on. I could make out muscle details that were probably not appropriate in mixed company. His hair was dark on top, but lighter at the wavy ends, and even though it was in a ponytail, the blond tips brushed against the tops of his shoulders against the black of the collar. My eyes lingered on the way the sleeves were stretched out taught over his melon-biceps.

  Other than that, though?

  It was just a plain black shirt.

  There weren't any buttons or even a pocket. It just had a slight V-neck. I frowned, scanning it once more in a more clinical manner.

  And…ruined? The thing didn't have a speck of dirt on it.

  "Do you see something you wish to try, malyshka?" Aleks’ voice was decidedly deeper as he spoke in Russian. Husky almost. My eyes flew to his white-blue ones. He had a devilish grin on his face as he used his tongue to stroke his dark beard that framed surprisingly full and sensual lips.

  I decided for my sanity to ignore his question. "That's your favorite shirt? And why do you keep calling me 'little girl’?"

  Aleks’ grin grew even wider, and for some reason, he decided to keep speaking in Russian. "It exhibits the assets well, no?"

  I didn't even bother to point out that he had ignored one of my questions completely. I looked to the side, fidgeting with the sleeve of the jacket. Aleks’ jacket. My cheeks tried to heat up, but they probably had a losing battle ahead of them. I was low on energy. Low on blood.

  Jace pointed a finger at the devilish Russian as he used his other arm to turn me towards the stairs. He gave a gentle push. "I don't know what you're saying to her but stop it. You're embarrassing her."

  Aleks just laughed. I could feel the heat in my cheeks for sure this time, but there was nothing I could do about it.

  I started to make my way down the stairs, but then I turned back, managing to surprise both Aleks and Jace as they had been close behind ready to follow me down. I dodged around them easily only because they were probably too shocked to react. I slipped by unhindered.

  I walked up to Kaz's body and knelt down. My hand reached out to grasp his once more. It was cold and waxy, but the size of it was still familiar. I worked at untying the twine bracelet I had given to him as I leaned down and kissed his cheek. I whispered a promise against his cold cheek. "He should have shot me," I said, steel in my voice. "I don't know how yet, Kaz, but he will regret not killing me. I will make him regret it. For the both of us."

  I sat up a little bit, noticing that I wasn't alone. Aleks was kneeling next to me. "What is his name?"

  "Kaz," I said.

  Aleks put one knee down and rested his forearm on his other. "My grandmother had a saying, an old Russian poslovitsa, a proverb. Would you mind if I say it?"

  I shook my head. "Pozhaluysta, please."

  "When death is there, dying is over,” he cleared his throat, switching back to English. “Be brave, little Kaz. The hard part is done. You are free now."

  I nodded my head, my throat clenching too tightly to swallow for a minute, and then I could breathe again. Aleks grabbed my wrist as I fiddled with the bracelet. He deftly plucked Kaz's bracelet from my fingers and turned me towards him. "May I?"

  I nodded my head, not sure what I was agreeing to.

  Aleks laid my hand across his leg that was braced on the floor and used his deceptively nimble fingers to tie Kaz's bracelet onto my wrist, right next to the matching one that was already there. He untied mine and put it back on Kaz. When that was finished, he helped me stand up. "Come, malyshka, we have another team on standing that will make sure he gets a proper burial."

  “He means, ‘Standby.’ We have another team on standby,” Jace said.

  I nodded, unable to say anything against the swell of emotion, and got to my feet, only slightly flinching at the pull in my stomach and thigh.

  "That," Aleks said. "Is what my teammate was asking about earlier."

  "What?" I looked over at Jace who had waited at the top of the stairs for us.

  When my gaze met his, he inclined his head towards my leg. "You're bleeding."

  I looked down in confusion and then remembered that my bullet wounds had softened enough to open back up. There were watery trails of blood now traveling down my legs. "Oh, that."

  "Da, that," Aleks said back.

  Chapter 5

  I walked down the stairs, feeling a slight sense of vertigo when they shifted out of time underneath me from the combined weight of the two men following, like trying to walk through a funhouse when you're already nauseous.

  The rail was a wobbly, rusted thing that I eyed with distrust before deciding to lightly trail my hand along the wall instead. It helped the room stop spinning as it grounded me.

  Not wanting to trip or fall, I kept my head down, until I felt the cool, dusty surface of the concrete floor beneath my bare feet. Only then did I feel secure enough to look up at the others.

  Karl was a commanding presence as he divvied up where he wanted the others and what they should be doing.

  Brock was being ordered about on how to start dividing and processing the scene. In the stronger morning light, I could make out that his short hair was a dark brown color, nearly black. His gray eyes were intense and didn’t seem to miss a thing as they surveyed the scene. His body was fit and bulky and stretched under the same black shirt that all of the guys seemed to be wearing.

  All of the men were fit and probably double my size…or more. And they were all dressed in a dark shirt, utility jacket, cargo pants, and heavy-duty boots. Well, except Jace had lost the shirt, and I was pretty sure that it was Aleks that had loaned me his jacket now that I could see he was the only one missing his.

  I looked down at my own bare feet, pruned, pale, and dirty. That fact alone made me feel more naked than anything.

  Karl told Jace to go retrieve some equipment from the van since it was here now.

  A throat cleared.

  I looked up from the perusal of my feet, momentarily distracted from my longing for a pair of shoes.

  A large hand softly found its way to the place between my shoulder blades.

  "Callie," Jace said. He gave what he probably thought was a gentle push, but I nearly toppled over from it. His hand wrapped around my upper arm to help balance me. “I’ll be right back. I have to go get some equipment from the van, and then we’ll work on getting you bandaged.”

  I nodded my head and sat down on the metal stairs. I huddled Aleks’ jacket closer to me, taking comfort in the masculine cologne. I buried myself deeper into the material, trying to avoid looking at the rough carnage scattered around the warehouse. Instead, I kept my eyes down.

  Karl gave orders to Aleks to keep an eye on our surroundings, focusing on the gravel road that I knew was the only way in or out of the place.

  Jace returned not a moment later. He dropped the heavy bags to the ground which got Karl's attention rather quickly from where he was crouched down next to one of the dead bodies. "Easy, Jace! There are thousands of dollars of equipment in there."

  Jace shrugged. "Don't see why. They're mostly cameras. Ever heard of cellphones?"

  "Your phone? Do you have any idea of the resolution of--, no, never mind." Karl rested his elbow on his hand so that he could pinch the bridge of his nose. He let out a breath. "And you're your team's lead. It's a miracle you guys are rated so highly."

  Jace just smirked in response.

  "Whose blood is that?" Brock's deep, growly voice asked.

  I had a feeling he was talking to me, but I checked anyway to be sure. His gray eyes were focused on my legs, and I felt my cheeks heat slightly.

  "Is it the boy's?" Karl asked distractedly from where he was photographing one of the bodies to the side.

  "It's mine," I said softly.

  "Jace, why don't you take her to the van and get her some bandages. Patch her up temporarily. We're only going to do a quick scene analysis--maybe 40 minutes or so -- before I call the agency teams in to do thorough cataloging of all the details. Just in case something is disturbed or lost in the time-lapse. Once they're done, we'll collect the bodies and send them off for a proper burial."

  "Even Kaz," I asked, desperate for it to be confirmed, though Aleks had already promised as much.

  Karl’s blue eyes focused on mine. "Especially Kaz. We'll take care of him, Callie."

  I nodded quickly, feeling increasingly tired and achy the more I warmed up. Jace's hand made it back to my shoulder blades and started guiding me forward, giving wide berth to the ring of death and gore as he led me out into the fresh air. The smells that my nose had gotten accustomed to over the past day were suddenly gone, and it was like being beaten in the face with a ball of flowers after bathing in alley garbage.

  It was fresh, warm. Clean.

  I took in a big breath and just kept walking where Jace guided me. I think he was being more mindful of sharp objects on the ground than I was.

  "Would you like me to carry you? We have to cross gravel, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed. But you’re barefoot,” he said.

  I looked up and saw two ocean blue vans parked side by side near the trees maybe twenty feet away. They didn't have any sort of logo on them, so they were probably rented. "Barefoot? I hadn’t noticed. I’ll be fine."

  He frowned but didn't say anything as we started our way across. I could hardly feel it as the rocks pressed into my skin. It was a weird sensation as if I was feeling everything through a muffler that muted the sensations in my feet. I hoped it was just from my waterlogged skin and not something more serious.

  When we reached the van, Jace raised his fist and banged on the back doors. I could just barely make out what sounded like typing coming from within before a voice called and started talking back to us.

  "Can't you get the door yourself?" a muffled, though eerily familiar voice sounded. Why did it sound so familiar?

  "Just wanted to make sure you weren't doing anything private, ya know. You and yourself and your computer," Jace said back, with a nearly perfect innocent-face if it weren't for the slight upturning of his lips, just at the very corners.

  I had just enough time to realize the van was rocking back and forth. Was there really someone in there doing something...private? My mental question was somewhat answered a moment later.

  The back door violently flew open, the handle whacking me right between my shocked, wide eyes.

  There was a shout that sounded weirdly in stereo as I braced myself.

  I thought there would be more pain, but all I remembered was staring up at the sky. I felt the gravel underneath my jacket, biting into the bare skin of my thighs. I blinked slowly, trying to focus. Jace, or I'm assuming, was above me. It was hard to tell what his expression was because his face was still a bit blurry, but I definitely recognized the short-curly blonde hair as the soft sunlight made it glow, even if it was on two separate heads opposite each other. I was seeing double.

  I tried to sit up, wanting to slow the spinning vertigo but only making it worse.

  "Whoa, slow down there," Jace said, in a light, cheery tone. It was vastly different from the soft, smoky, and sarcastic voice he’d spoken in so far. A palm pressed against my chest bone, and I didn't fight it. I plopped back down.

  My mind was unsettled a bit because I realized that I had somehow fallen on the ground without remembering it.

  My immediate reaction was to frown but doing so caused a sharp pang in my forehead. I raised my hand, intending to figure out what the damage was, but another large hand caged my wrist and brought it back down. He didn't let me go when he had it settled back at my side.

  I focused on breathing through my still sore throat. "Ow," I whispered.

  "I am so, so sorry," Jace babbled. Weird. He had seemed so cool and aloof before. Did he really feel that guilty? What for?

  I blinked again trying to clear my vision. Nope, there were still two Jaces. Just what exactly was that door made of? Reinforced tungsten? Perhaps vibranium?? I could pull that door off and be the next Captain America.

  "Are you okay?" Jace's voice was much calmer now, back to that smoky, calm quality. "You're not supposed to introduce your face to the door like that, you know."

  I closed my eyes, so I didn't see the hit that followed his statement, but I heard a thud followed by a grunt. Had Jace just hit himself?

  "Please," I said with my eyes closed as my head lolled on the ground. "Don't ask me how many fingers you're holding up."

  "What? Why?" There was that weird stereo sound again like the same voice was coming from different places. It was extremely disconcerting.

  The hand that had been on my sternum slowly shifted up to wrap around my shoulder while the other one continued to hold my hand.

  "W-what? Is she bleeding?"

  I frowned, flinching just slightly at the pang it caused. "You knew that. That's why we were coming out here."

  I heard a weird breathy sound that made me open my eyes. My vision wasn't so blurry now, but I was definitely becoming increasingly concerned with the double vision.

  A hand lifted to brush at my hair in a comforting motion. It helped me relax, easing the tension in my forehead. If it was physically possible, I would probably be purring right now. I settled down, snuggling into the rocks beneath me and not minding one bit.

  And then, I stiffened. My eyes flew open as my mind started counting. Numbers were sort of a thing for me.

  One. A hand wrapped around my shoulder.

  Two. Hand clasping my own, fingers wrapped around all the way to my wrist.

  Three. Hand petting my hair.

  Three hands.

  I shot up. Pushing between two very real bodies. "Nope. No way. Not happening. I can handle double vision, but I draw the line at physical hallucinations."

  Minus the slight dizziness and pang in my side, I didn't have much trouble getting to my feet. Somehow, the sharp press of the rocks helped me focus as I put all my body weight onto a smaller surface area. I turned around.

  Two Jaces were staring up at me from a crouch. One of them had their arms held out near me with a worried expression on his face that was warring with the buried humor that remained in his eyes. I could just detect the synthetic orange scent underneath the pungent brine of the tank. His broad chest was bare underneath the open jacket.

  Opposite him and closer to the van was what I thought was a hallucination but, to my great relief, was actually not. He was wearing the same outfit as Jace and the rest of the guys, except he still had his black shirt on underneath. From him, I picked up just the most subtle smells of lemon...perhaps even something spicy and sweet underneath that, yet still citrusy. Bergamot?