Chapter 14

I grabbed Daxx’s arm before she opened the back door to the gym. “Wait. I can’t go in like this.”

She turned and looked at me. “Like what?”

I motioned to my face. “Without a mark on me.”

Her eyes widened. “Shit.”

I looked up at Woods. “Hit me.” I tilted my face up.

He looked horrified. “I—my king—”

Daxx shook her head. “They won’t do it.”

Tim snorted. “The law wouldn’t take that well.”

I frowned. “The law?”

“He means Michael.” Daxx said biting her lip.

I shrugged and looked at her. “Okay. You do it. Queen trumps the law, right?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. “I suppose.” She looked at my mouth. “Fat lip, that’s all I can bring myself to do.”

I nodded. “That will work.” I turned my head so she could catch as much of my mouth and jaw as possible in one shot.

~

Stepping inside, Daxx mumbled. “Don’t ever tell Michael I did it.”

I licked the blood off my lip. “I won’t.”

Joe came out of his office and limped toward me. He stopped when he reached me and looked at my mouth. “Guess he hit like a girl.” He looked me up and down. “You don’t even look like you fought.”

I shrugged. “First guy was a joke.”

He nodded. “Second one was all bulk, no skill.” He glanced to Woods and Tim. “You want to tell me what you’re into?”

I sighed. “I got some people after me, trying to get me into things that don’t sit well.”

“I figured something was going on.” He said quietly.

I nodded. “Yeah. I need to lay low,” I motioned to the end of the hall, “going to grab my stuff and erase myself from here.” I touched his shoulder. “I don’t want them coming after you.”

He looked at me for a moment, then to the men behind me. “Keep her safe.”

Tim and Woods nodded briefly.

We started walking toward the gym. “You get the money tucked away?”

He grinned. “Yeah, took half to the shelter this morning. I’ll go to the kitchen later.” He motioned to Pete where he was working on the bag. “Pete will go with me.”

I nodded. “Good.”

“Dynamo.” Someone called out from the ring in the center of the gym.

I turned to see Smith, one of the regulars leaning on the ropes. “You keeping your jab tight?”

He nodded. “Of course. Heard you impressed last night. Fought a beast.”

I shrugged. “More of mountain, he had no bite.”

He motioned to the men walking behind Daxx and I. “You cheating on us with another gym?”

I laughed. “No. I’m helping some friends out.”

He nodded and motioned to the ring. “Got a minute to check out what I’m working on?”

I looked at Daxx, she shrugged. “Just a few.” I went over and climbed into the ring with him. Going over I picked up the punch mitts and put them on. Turning, I held them up. “Show me what you got.”

Daxx and I went around the corner of the hallway.

She grinned at me. “It’s great that they respect you like that.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s not easy to take a bunch of men and get them to see you in that light.”

I laughed. “I had to throw each one of those guys down to earn that respect.”

She stopped walking.

I glanced to see what she was looking at. Michael and Troy stood outside the door of my room. Troy’s arms were crossed over his chest as he spoke to his brother. Michael’s posture said he was having nothing of what Troy was saying.

“This can’t be good.” Daxx said then started walking again.

I hefted my bag on my shoulder and followed her, watching Michael as we walked. His hair was wet, like he’d just had a shower. My brain prodded me with images of what that would look like.

Troy frowned as we got closer. He was looking at my face. “Do we need to get you a face mask to protect your mouth?”

I smirked, then licked over my fat lip. “No. But I’d love some safety glasses or something so yesterday never happens again.”

Michael was in front of me, tilting my chin up. He was not happy. “What happened?” He glanced to Troy. “You said they went to grab her belongings.”

I jerked my head out of his grip. “It’s nothing.”

Daxx gave me a quick look and glanced to Troy. “You should see the way these fighters hang on Autumn’s every word. You all could take lessons from them.”

As far as changing the subject went, that worked well, I thought.

Daxx waved her phone. “Got your message. What’s up?”

He dragged his eyes from his brother then looked down at her. “We’re going to meet and go over a few things I picked out of Eunice’s head.”

Michael pointed at me. “Why would you flaunt Autumn in front of Eunice?”

Troy looked at his finger pointing to Daxx and then turned to Michael. “She didn’t flaunt her. The mere sight of her on the other side of that wall stopped Eunice from scrambling her thoughts and allowed me in.”

“I think Eunice has a thing for women.” Daxx said.

I made a face. “Let’s not go there. The way she looked at me—” I shuddered.

“So, what did you see?” Daxx looked up at Troy.

“The caverns.” He said quietly.

Daxx looked from him to Michael. “Caverns?”

Michael finally looked somewhere other than at me. “Yes. Under the palace there are caverns and tunnels throughout the mountain.”

Daxx huffed out a breath. “Awesome not just rodents to worry about, but wild animals.” She shrugged. “When do we leave?”

“We’re meeting the others at the practice room in a few minutes.” Troy said.

Michael looked at me, his gaze moving to my mouth. “We’ll be along shortly.”

I glanced up at him, then to Daxx. Him healing my mouth was not going to help. I was finding it difficult to not daydream about this morning. I shook my head. “No, we’ll come now.” I opened the door and tossed my bag inside then turned and started walking in the direction of the practice room, at least I hoped I was.

~

When we walked in a few of the men stood there leaning on wooden practice weapons.

“Clairee said she can send someone to cloak us, as long as we keep the numbers down.” Rafael said.

“Why can’t we just port in?” Bethany asked.

Victor shook his head. “Too many unknowns. We won’t know what we’re dropping in on.”

Leone grinned at Beth. “I won’t let you fall off the horse.”

We walked over to the group. “Horses?”

Quinton nodded. “Be easiest to ride in undetected.”

I glanced at Michael, remembering my last and first ride. “Oh.” I shrugged. “Has to be easier not chained up, right?”

Leone grinned, then stopped when he looked at Michael’s scowl. “Yeah.”

“We don’t know what we’re going to find.” Michael said crossing his arms and bracing his legs. “I think it’s best Autumn stay here; she’s not experienced with our sort of fighting or weapons.”

I looked at him, then to Daxx, her eyes were wide.

“I don’t know about the rest of you,” Alona said, “but if we’re skulking around in dank caves and caverns under a mountain—” she motioned to me, “I will feel much better having Autumn beside me.”

Paisley nodded. “I agree.”

Daxx glanced to Troy, then to me. “Add her skills to what the rest of us women have and we’ll be a force to be…”

“She stays here.” Michael said in an abrupt tone.

I huffed out a breath and stepped in front of him. He looked down at me, his eyes holding mine with a cold look. “I’m going.”

“You’re not taking chances…”

I lifted my arms out from my body and glared at him. “Look, just because we had sex, that doesn’t give you proprietary rights.”

Everyone stopped talking.

“Oh boy.” Quinton muttered.

I glanced around. Rafael looked at the ceiling when I turned. Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and looked back up at Michael, the hard look had changed, but I didn’t know what it meant. “You’ve made your feelings on all fronts quite clear.” I waved a hand up and down my body. “My body, my choice. I’m going.”

The muscles in his jaw pulsed as his blue eyes locked on mine. He inhaled deeply through his nose, then flicked his eyes to Troy. “I’ll be at the stables. We leave in an hour.” With that he spun on his heels and stormed out the nearest door.

I stood there with my back to the rest of them, staring at the door he exited through. Sighing, I turned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to cause a spectacle.”

Chase waved his hand at me. “Not at all, we all enjoy a good spectacle from time to time.”

I blew out a breath and motioned to the weapons wall, then looked at Rafael who was watching me warily. “Help me find something that won’t hinder my movement, but will weaponize me.”

He glanced to Troy for a second, then nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Maybe something compact on your back?”

I nodded and followed him. “Yeah, something no longer than a baton, but pointy and easy to work with.”

He glanced at me, then went down the wall. “Maybe a kama? It’s the same length as a baton, but you have the blade as a backup.” He pulled one down. “Of course, the blade on the real one is steel.” He flipped it back and forth in his hand, changing from offensive to defensive. “You can use it to block and disarm,” he smirked, “like you did me. Or,” He flipped it so the hooked blade was turned out, “when you mean business.” Holding it out to me, I took it. “Trick is to keep that blade away from your body while in motion.”

I flipped it a few times. “Yeah.” I looked over to the others, then back to him. “Can I practice for a few minutes?”

Crossing his arms, he nodded. “We’ve got time.” He motioned to the mat. “Usually they’re used in pairs, so navigating with one shouldn’t be too difficult.” He paused and rubbed his jaw. “Do I want to know what happened to your mouth?”

I licked over the puffy lip, then glanced over at Daxx. “Probably not.” I said quietly, then stepped back a few feet. “Help me get this down so your brother doesn’t try to bench me again.”

He snorted. “He’s going to keep trying,” he motioned to the other men, “they all do and fail every time.” He motioned with his arm behind his back. “Find the angle that will be easiest for you to access it quickly.” Rafael put his arm behind his back a few times and pulled out from different directions. “Over your head works best,” he did it a few times, “because then you’ve got that downward swing to use to your advantage immediately.”

I held the kama above my head and bent my elbow. “And how to I not cut my head off pulling it out?”

Quinton came over with a leather case and strap. He motioned for me to turn around. “It takes practice, you don’t want to know how many nicks we got in the beginning, getting those swords past our heads.”

Rafael grinned, “My head wasn’t the issue, it was other body parts with our knives.”

Nodding, Quinton placed the strap over my shoulder. “Left or right?”

I looked up at him. “Can’t I do either?”

He glanced to Rafael, then cocked his head to the side. “Not if you’re pulling over your head. The handle will have to rest against the back of your neck and might impede your motion.”

I bit my lip and reached to my lower back with the hand not holding the wooden weapon.

He shook his head, “blade will have to be against your shoulders, one wrong move and you stab yourself.”

I huffed out a breath and looked at them.

Chase came over and held up his hand. “We have something similar to a kama, same curved blade, but retractable.”

Rafael’s brows drew together. “We do?”

Chase nodded. “Alona has been working with our armory staff to make weapons for the girls, so they’re small and concealable, but deadly when needed.” He smiled at me. “Would you like to test our new design?”

I grinned. “Oh yes I would.” I looked at Quinton. “Then I could wear it so I’d pull from the bottom?”

Quinton nodded. “Without the blade, you could wear it anywhere you wanted.”

I nodded to Chase. “I’ll test it.”

He inclined his head. “I’ll bring it to the stables.” He motioned to Alona. “The girls are going to get changed now, I believe they’re waiting for you.”

I handed Rafael the kama. “Thanks.”

“Just don’t use it on my brother.” Chase said tilting his head to the side. “Regardless of how much he deserves it.”

I sighed. “I’ll just use my feet on him.” I winked and turned to go with the girls.

~

I tapped the end of the baton again and watched the blade flip out of the other end.

“That is cool. Scary, but cool.” Paisley said.

I nodded and pushed the blade back in with the heel of my boot. “I feel like a kickass ninja.” I grinned at her.

She looked at my outfit and nodded. “You look like one too, with that hood up.”

I pushed the hood back. “Mitz somehow knew I needed to feel unseen.”

“Mitz knows everything.” She laughed.

I turned to see Troy and Arius watching us. “What’s up with your guy today? Every time I turn around, he’s watching me like I’ve done something wrong.”

She turned and looked over at him. “I’m not sure, but I’ll ask on our ride.” Paisley cringed. “I haven’t been on a horse in my life.”

Leone walked out of the barn and handed Bethany a pouch. She smiled up at him and then stretched up to kiss him. Turning, she came in our direction.

Daxx and Alona came over. “Just once I’d like to take a car somewhere.”

Alona nodded. “At least it’s not a boat.”

“I want to take a plane.” Crissy said.

We all looked up to see her on the branch above us. She waved, then flipped over and jumped down.

Bethany shook her head and put her hand in the pouch. “Leone and I have been working with Elder Arian on these.” She held up a small plastic case about the size of a battery. “They’re signal amplifiers,” she looked at Alona, “so we don’t end up in some dark place with no signal on our phones again.”

“Oh.” Alona took it and turned it over in her hand. “This is wonderful.”

Beth handed each of us one. “It’s mostly to keep us connected, not so much for making calls or,” she looked at Paisley, “downloading music.” She turned it over and pulled a short thin cord from it. “It can also be used to charge your phone, but the battery life on it is only good for about an hour.” She shrugged. “For now.”

Paisley clipped hers to her waist. “I’m good with not being stuck in the dark with no phone again.”

Beth nodded. “We’ll turn them on when we get there, and don’t forget to charge them again later.”

I clipped mine to the strap on my shoulder. “Sounds like you guys have had some adventures.”

“That’s one word for it.” Alona rolled her eyes. “Ah, my man is ready to go.”

We turned to see Chase riding toward us.

“Is it just me, or do they all look hot in their gear?” Paisley asked watching Arius get on his horse.

Alona smiled. “Yes, and they know it too.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if they fought like that so they could look like warriors with those swords on their backs.” Bethany said watching Leone get on his horse.

I shook my head. “Having attempted to wield one of those swords, sexy or not, they have my admiration for using them.”

“And I’m sure all you think is admiration when you see Michael looking like that.” Daxx said.

I turned to see him on the horse. He looked larger than life and sexier than words. “Yeah. Admiration doesn’t come to mind right now.” He was riding this way. “Shit, I can’t ride with him.”

Daxx nudged me, I turned to see Quinton going by.

“Quinton, can I ride with you?” I said quickly.

He stopped and looked at me, then glanced to Michael heading this way. Sighing he held his hand down to me. “Sure, I’ve lived a long enough life.”

I went over and clasped his wrist and vaulted up, although with his strength it wasn’t hard, he could have tossed me right over to the other side. Settling behind him, I looked and grabbed the strap on his waist, then decided that holding on with two hands would be better, and took the other one.

Michael stopped his horse and looked at me. His eyes moved to Quinton. I didn’t know what look he gave him, but Michael inclined his head to his brother and then prodded his horse and rode in the other direction.

“That wasn’t tense at all.” Quinton said quietly. He looked over his shoulder at me. “When I said I’d help you girls, I didn’t mean at my own peril by the way.”

I shrugged. “I just needed to make a point.”

He snorted. “You succeeded.” He turned and looked down at Daxx. “Don’t toy with fate too much, it could get messy.”

She grinned at him. “Just enough to make him think.”

Shaking his head, Quinton turned the horse and followed Michael.

As soon as we started moving, I decided holding onto his waist would be better than a strap.

“Just don’t smack your face on my swords.” He said over his shoulder. “Your mouth can’t take many more hits today.”

Chase and Alona caught up to us, she sat in front of Chase, sideways like Michael had done the day they’d found me. Chase paused and looked at me behind Quinton and shook his head. “Don’t play with the devil too much, dynamo, he’s been known to bite.” With a smirk he turned and followed Troy and Daxx.

I looked around to see all the other women riding in front of their mates, except the tiny woman with Rafael, she rode behind him like I was.

Quinton shifted and turned so he could look at me. “The one with Raf is the witch, she’s cloaking all of us and the horses, so no one can see us.” He looked at Michael at the front of the group beside Emil, then shook his head and turned back around.

“Why do I feel like I’m missing something here? I realize with this many of you, there has to be some sort of pact so you don’t steal each other’s dates, but—”

He snorted. “Oh, we’ve been there more than once over the years.” Quinton let the horse walk so we were behind the others. “It’s not for me to explain, I’m sure the girls will if you pull out a bottle of wine, but just be thankful your arm isn’t adorned with a tattoo right now.” He gave an abrupt nod. “That will put it into perspective a bit.” Prodding the horse, he caught up to the rest.

I looked at my arm, not knowing what he meant by that. I knew the couples had theirs done to match, it was cute and an original tradition, but what it had to do with Michael and I, I had no idea. When he nudged the horse into a full run, I decided I’d just hang on and think about things later.