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Sienna gently pulled free and went over to the fireplace hearth, curious about this wolf and his chosen profession. “So, you’re a soldier. It must give you a big advantage over the others, to be a wolf with strength and healing abilities. Was it easier for you to become a navy SEAL?”
“I went through the same training, except every paranorm who strives to become a SEAL has extra tests to pass after we become SEALs. Makes the playing field even with humans who complete BUD/S, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs. Most civilians think SEALs are all firepower and muscles.” Matt gave a crooked grin. “They don’t realize half the battle is up here.”
As he tapped his forehead, she gave him a puzzled look. “Your mind?”
“Physical strength is important, but mental strength is equally important in defeating the bad guys.”
“So how would you learn to defeat a paranormal bad guy? It’s not the same as defeating a terrorist.”
“Same basic techniques. Study the enemy. Get to know him as intimately as you know yourself. What drives him?” Matt’s gaze went distant. “Although in our case, we can’t see the enemy until it’s too late. If we had, maybe Adam …”
He fell silent. Sienna felt a tug of sympathy. Not wanting to grieve him further, she changed the subject. “Back at the hotel, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore called you Dakota.”
“All the guys on my team have nicknames. I like John Wayne movies. Even the worst one of his, Dakota, so they slapped that on me.”
His teammates shared close bonds. Sienna wistfully longed for the same. Her few Fae friends had been distant and aloof, not playful and friendly. “I’ve never had a nickname.”
“Maybe I should give you one.” He cocked his head, considered. “Pixie. You’re small and feisty like one.”
“I am not,” she protested.
“But you are cute.”
“Oh.” A furious blush chased across her face.
“Very cute.” His grin faded, replaced by an intent look. All alone here, with this big Draicon wolf, the chemistry between them hot and intense.
Sienna drew in a deep breath, willing her arousal to lessen. “What did you find at the witch’s house?”
Matt’s expression became guarded. “Spells for warding off pyro demons. And bank receipts, a business ledger and a Craigslist ad. Evidence.”
As she sucked in a breath, he added, “Don’t worry. I let them burn on purpose. All the info’s up here.”
He tapped his head again. “The ad was cryptic, selling secrets revealed by a crystal ball. The witch recorded the transaction in the ledger, making a note of the seller’s name and place of business for future reference. She paid two hundred thousand dollars for the intel about myself and Adam from the Orb’s holder. She sold it to a Darksider Fae for three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a nice little profit for herself. Only she didn’t realize who the real client was until it was too late, when the pyro demons decided to cut out the middleman.”
Cold dread crept up her spine at the SEAL’s hard expression. “Who was the seller?”
Eyes the color of an icy ocean swept over her. “His name is Tim McMahon. He’s Fae. Seelie Sidhe.”
Words sank into her like steel claws, shredding her insides. “It can’t be … The thief was a Draicon.”
“No, Sienna. He’s Fae. One of your own.” His words sent a chill through her. “From your own colony, Los Lobos.”
He stretched out on the sofa and fell fast asleep. Never had Sienna seen anyone crash that fast. He’d muttered something about taking a combat nap and bam!
Sienna brought in their bags, showered and changed into fresh jeans, a cable-knit turquoise sweater and sneakers. Her suede boots were ruined. She sighed and set them aside. A month’s pay from the little convenience shop where she’d worked and they were good only for the garbage can.
The kitchen was bare of food. Her stomach rumbled. Sienna rubbed her arms. She was low on energy herself. Unlike Draicon, Fae didn’t need beef. They could survive on sprouts and berries. They were creatures of the forest, protectors of innocents.
Betrayers and dealers of dangerous secrets to pyrokinetic demons.
Her palms gripped the granite countertop. Tim. She knew him. He was quiet, introspective and hovered on the fringes of the society. He’d left the colony the same time the Orb went missing. Why hadn’t Chloe suspected him? It made no sense.
Because Chloe wouldn’t dare suspect one of her own pure-blooded Fae would commit such treason, Sienna realized. Instead, she blamed a Draicon who’d been seen in wolf form near the sacred ground.
All her beliefs and convictions about her people crashed like a house of cards smashed by an uncaring hand. Emotion rose in her throat. Not Draicon but Fae had been the real enemy all along.
She had to regain herself. Everything in her world was collapsing. Sienna lifted her head and stared at her watery reflection in the microwave.
“I am Seelie Sidhe of the Los Lobos colony, guardians of the Orb of Light. I am pure and honorable, a protector of nature and innocents. I will never defy the land, nor bring shame to my people. I embrace all living things good and natural, and walk with honor.”
But the pledge sounded hollow to her ears. Walk with honor? Tim had not. One of her own kind!
Exhausted, confused, she needed to eat, regain her composure. Which was she?
Draicon or Fae?
Was either species truly honorable?
Lieutenant Matthew Parker certainly was. His actions dictated it. Tim may have recited the oath along with every other colony member, but it had been a lie.
Matt lived the oath of honor with every step he took.
And yet he was Draicon, like the man who’d fathered her, and then killed her mother.
Could she ever trust a Draicon?
Sounds of the shower began. Matt was so quiet, she hadn’t heard him wake up. An image, unbidden and erotic, filled her mind. He was soaping himself, running the bar along those smooth, taut muscles, water beading off his sun-darkened skin. His head flung back, eyes closed, growling with pleasure as she fell to her knees, removed the soap from his hands and began lathering him much lower …
No longer cold, Sienna gulped down a breath.
As a distraction, she paced the kitchen. It was pretty, homey and welcoming. Layered through the air was a scent of love and deep affection that pulled at her in deep yearning. It was the type of cozy house she’d always envisioned for herself.
“Hey.”
Dressed in jeans and barefoot, he stood in the doorway, hair slicked back, droplets beading the thick waves. The bandages were gone from his now-healed wounds. A long-sleeved flannel shirt hung open, showing a muscled abdomen strong enough to break bricks. Dark hair feathered his chest, arrowing down his stomach and vanishing into the waistband of the jeans.
Arousal filled her as she thought about following that line much lower. Her body loosened with want and yearning. Sienna felt warm and open.
His pupils darkened as he swept his gaze over her. Matt’s nostrils flared. He’d scented her desire.
She licked her lips. “There’s no meat here. Um, I mean, nothing here to eat … and I’m hungry.”
“Me, too,” he said, his voice hoarse as he stared at her wet mouth.
He pushed back at his damp hair. “Let me get dressed, and we’ll go out for a quick bite. I saw a sandwich shop around the corner.”
When they reached the restaurant, she ordered a hamburger with cheese and an order of fries. Matt paid for their purchases and brought them over to a quiet table by the window, facing the door.
He always had his back to the wall, facing whoever walked inside. Tension tightened his body, but not from the hot encounter with the pyro demon.
Nope, this tension was purely sexual from something equally smoking hot. He watched with avid hunger as Sienna poured ketchup over a fry and delicately licked it off with her small, pink tongue. Thinking about what delights that tongue could deliver.
Desire heated his blood until all he could think about was how much he wanted this woman in his bed. How much he wanted to bury himself deep inside her, driving into her until she clung to him and screamed, and all the animosity between them became animal passion.
Big mistake. He lowered his gaze and dove into his hamburger.
They had the dining area to themselves. Still, he kept a guarded eye on the street. Small houses dotted the lane, some with bicycles scattered over the driveways. It was a solid family area, known among his kind as a safe zone. Draicon lived here among humans.
His gaze shot back to Sienna, who was devouring her burger with zest.
“I thought Fae were vegans.”
She stifled a burp with her hand and gave an apologetic look. Damn, she was so cute, so charming.
So Fae.
Matt took another bite, grimly concentrating on his other, more appeasable hunger.
“I’m starved. I guess everything caught up to me.”
“I didn’t know Fae ate meat. I thought all they liked were sprouts. Except the ones who have an appetite for killing.”
Guilt shadowed her expression. She bent her head, studying the red basket containing her fries. “I doubt it.” Sienna glanced around. “We can talk openly here, right?”
Matt nodded.
“I want to know something.” Her fingers curled around the basket’s edge. “Tell me, how did Adam die?”
His stomach tightened. Out of all the questions he’d anticipated, it wasn’t this. As appealing as the hamburger had been, it turned to cardboard in his stomach.
“Please. I need to know.”
“Why?”
Direct, commanding, curt. She raised her chin. “Maybe that will help me understand why you hate my people.”
Fair enough. Though he doubted it would change anything. They were too opposite. Too different in their worlds.
Matt closed his eyes, seeing the sand swirl around him, feeling it sting his face. Smelling the heat and the arid air, the sharp tang of metal. He told the story, each word slicing open wounds that were still fresh. When he got to the part where Adam died, he struggled to speak.
“The pyrokinetic demons caught up with Adam outside. I heard him …”
Scream.
Moisture filled Sienna’s eyes. She slid a hand over the table, but Matt pulled back. He couldn’t let her touch him. Couldn’t break apart.
“You tried to help. You were amazingly brave in facing the demons. You did the best you could,” she said gently.
“It wasn’t enough.”
The image came back to him, searing pain from the burns, shoving down the oily panic clogging his throat as he lapsed into unconsciousness.
“When I regained consciousness, I didn’t dare radio back for help. The Darksider Fae could be imitating any one of the troops. Shay was on standby. Called him and made him give me the code of our squad. He came and fetched me, did a glamour so it looked like I was fine. Our C.O.—you met him, Lieutenant Commander Curtis—made sure I had private quarters to recover. Then he did a cleanse of everyone who’d come into contact with Adam. No one remembered him, or that he’d ever come to Afghanistan.”
“Oh, Matt,” she said softly. “That must have been horrible.”
Here was the one person he could talk to about Adam. Sienna, a stranger, who silently forged the connection he’d needed back on the subway. The safety clicked off his hard-won control. Words burst out of him like machine-gun fire.
“It was as if he’d never existed. He was my swim buddy. We went through BUD/S together—we were teammates, best friends. I was closer to him than my own family. I was there at his mating ceremony. And I couldn’t even be there at his damn funeral because I had to pretend I never knew him. Because no one is supposed to know about the Phoenix Force. So when we die, all memories die with us.”
A stray tear escaped, sliding down Sienna’s perfect cheek. Seeing her cry for Adam made him no longer feel alone in his grief, but also made him protective. Made him want to cup her face in his hands and kiss away her tears. He hated seeing her cry. Matt lifted a hand, then dropped it. Gods, he felt so damned confused lately.
“What about his body?”
“We made a promise in the team. No man gets left behind. Shay returned for Adam, but couldn’t find anything. The pyro demons had reduced him to ash, and his ashes had been taken by the wind. There was nothing left of him to return to Tatiana, his widow. Nothing.”
After wiping her eyes with a napkin, Sienna covered his hand with her own. “I’m sorry, Matt, for what the Darksider Fae did to you. To Adam.”
First-name basis. No more Lieutenant Parker. And she’d said Adam’s name again. He struggled against the urge to kiss her senseless in thanks and took a long pull of his water.
Backhanding his mouth, he shook his head. “I should have saved my buddy. We were tight. Always watched each other’s backs.”
She stroked his wrist, her thumb making little circles. Always calm and cool, his rare outburst was alarming. It was Sienna, her soft, sweet smile and genuine air of concern. She dug beneath his defenses, past the emotional berm he’d erected since Adam’s death.
“Too crowded in here,” he muttered, glancing around. “Let’s get back. I’ll arrange for transport, airline tickets.”
“To New Mexico?”
Matt nodded. “Home of your friend Tim. I’ll do some initial recon …”
As she gave him a questioning look, he sighed. “Reconnaissance. Scout out the shop and the lay of the land for a couple of days. And then move in. If the pyro demons know he has the Orb, those guys aren’t patient. I need to retrieve it before they do.”
Back at the house, Sienna watched Matt type on his laptop. Since returning, he’d been quiet and aloof. When he snapped the computer shut, she waved a hand.
“Hello? Remember me? The one who’s working with you?”
He gave her a long, cool look. “Not anymore. The stakes have changed. I know who has the Orb, and how to get it back. I’m sending you home.”
A quivering began in her belly. Sienna took a controlling breath. “Not so fast. I understand you’re angry at my people.”
Matt remained silent.
“But I didn’t steal the Orb. We’re a team in this, got it? Those were the terms. We both get the Orb and I show my people it’s safe once more.”
A bitter laugh escaped him. “Safe for how long? Your people did a helluva job guarding it. It’s because of them Adam’s dead.”
Sienna’s throat tightened. She felt his anger, his pain and frustration. But she had to convince him to let her stay. If he forced her return, he’d wipe her memories….
