Seduced by the Storm (33 page)

And
he held her while she was torn apart, pulled in two different directions. She
had to go back to Creed, but Dev needed her too.

Eyes
watering, she stroked his hair, his back, doing what she could to comfort him,
and wishing she’d killed Troy in Greece, because this caring for people crap
really sucked.

CREED
WOKE with the worst headache—and hangover—of his entire life. It only took a
moment for the memories of the night before to rush back to him and oh, Christ,
he doubled over and headed for the bathroom to get rid of the poison—in the
form of the whiskey he’d poured into his body in an attempt to exorcize the
pain.

It
hadn’t worked at all.

He
crawled back to the bed and climbed in, collapsing under the weight of last
night’s events.

But
Ani, she’d come for him—he called out for her now, but no one answered. He rose
on his elbow to check the driveway from the window next to the bed; her car was
gone. It was six in the morning—he didn’t think she taught that early, and he
needed her. Needed to tell her about Kat, the fact that, with Oz dead, there
would never be a way for Creed to be separated from the spirit who protected
him.

Speaking
of Kat, the spirit was nowhere to be found, which was unusual. Whenever Annika
wasn’t around, Kat was all over him, as if to make up for time lost.

He’d
expected her to be here now, in the same way he’d expected Annika to be here,
holding him. Comforting him. Helping him to figure out what the hell to do now.

The
pain in his chest returned and he wondered if the phantom pain, centered over
his heart in the exact place Oz had shot himself, would linger forever.

He
rolled off the bed and got into the shower, so the tears could mingle with the
running water and he could ignore them, push them back.

Oz
was my brother.
And now he was gone.

He
dressed quickly, and heard Annika come in through the back door. He met her in
the kitchen, where she was unpacking a big take-out breakfast from their favorite
diner in town.

She
stopped when she saw him, walked over immediately and put her arms around him.
"Hey, baby, did you get enough sleep?"

How
could he tell her it felt as if he’d never again get enough sleep?

Her
arms felt good around him, her body always bringing a crisp, cool air to his
overheated one, and for a second he cradled her and fought the tears that
threatened again. "Yeah, I got enough sleep," he heard himself
mumble, not quite sure why he was lying to her. "I didn’t even hear you
leave this morning."

He
pulled back and caught a glimpse of something in her eyes that didn’t sit well
with him. She smiled, rubbed his arm and then returned to unpacking the bags
that held the take-out food and coffee.

"Come
have something to eat," she urged.

"Am
I the only one you made a delivery to this morning?" he ground out, not
wanting to go there again but unable to stop himself.

"I
went to see Dev, yes. I was worried about him too—even though I wasn’t close to
Oz, he and Dev have been together forever. And when he refused to sleep last
night—"

"Last
night." He heard the anger in his own voice and desperately wished he
could rewind to last night, before any of this happened. But there was no going
back and he was too old to believe that wishes could come true. "You were
with Dev last night."

"Creed,
you were asleep."

Kat’s
hands came down comfortingly on his shoulders, no sign of
I told you so
about Annika in her touch. He was grateful for that. "I needed you. I
can’t believe…" He stepped away from her. "I need to get the fuck out
of here. I need some air."

"I
can’t believe you’re going to do this now." Annika’s arm shot out to grab
his wrist, but he twisted away. "I want to be there for you both. Can’t
you understand that?"

"I
understand it, Annika. And that’s the biggest part of the problem." He
strode out, his eyes nearly closing in response to the bright sunlight—and
dammit, there shouldn’t be sunlight today, not when someone you cared for,
someone you loved, was never going to be there to enjoy it again.

He
slid his sunglasses on, jumped on his Harley and took the winding back roads to
the base and up the long hill to Dev’s.

A
walk around the house showed him that the sliding glass door was still open
from last night, and he pictured himself walking in, seeing Dev…

Wondered
what the hell it would solve. Oz’s body would no doubt be gone—only a
bloodstain on the carpet would still be there, as a sickening reminder. And
with the anger, the grief boiling over inside of him to the point where even
Kat wouldn’t be able to contain nor comfort his rage, he might do or say
something to his friend and boss he’d never be able to take back.

There
was nothing sexual between Devlin and Annika—Creed knew that. He wasn’t sure
why that somehow made it worse, that Annika had such an emotional connection
with Devlin, a connection she couldn’t and didn’t want to break.

Creed
would be the one to do the breaking now.

He
turned and went out the way he’d come, rode his Harley over to ACRO’s
headquarters and found Dylan, the head of his department, practicing meditation
techniques, like Creed knew he would be.

"Creed."
The man’s eyes opened.

"I
want to be sent on assignment. I’ll take anything."

Dylan
stared at him and Creed tried for any semblance of normal. "Creed, I’m so
sorry about Oz."

"Yeah,
me too. Thanks. Now, what about an assignment? I’m sure you’ve got something
good on your desk that I can sink my teeth into." Creed grabbed one of the
plain manila folders on Dylan’s desk and flipped through it. Dylan sat back and
waited patiently, until Creed closed the folder and sighed. "Please,
Dylan."

"I’ve
got orders from Devlin. He doesn’t want you on assignment. He wants you here.
And he’s right."

"Fuck
Devlin, and fuck you, Dylan. None of you knows what’s right," Creed spat,
and stormed out of the office, back into the sunlight.

The
only problem was, Creed didn’t know what was right anymore either.

ANNIKA
TRIED for nearly two hours to reach Creed on his cell phone. She couldn’t spare
the time to physically hunt him down because she’d been too busy preparing
hurricane survival kits for rescuers to hand out to victims immediately
following a landfall. But dammit, she knew how to work the redial feature on
her phone, and she used it every five minutes.

Her
phone rang just as she was picking it up to try again for the eight hundredth
time. "Creed?"

"Dev.
I need to see you. My house. Now." He hung up, and she tore out of the
gym, which had been turned into an emergency prep area.

She
made it to his place in about sixty seconds flat, found him in his kitchen,
dressed in his usual black BDUs and staring into the open refrigerator.

"Dev?
You okay?"

He
looked up and shut the door. "No, but I have an agency to run, and there’s
a hurricane about to destroy New York City. My breakdown will have to
wait."

She
wanted to hug him, but he was doing pretty well, considering, and she didn’t
want to take him back to a vulnerable place. "I can’t locate Creed,"
she blurted. "Not since this morning."

"Dylan
called. Creed tried to get an assignment about three hours ago."

"An
assignment? Why?"

"I
was hoping you could tell me."

"He
wasn’t thinking straight," she said. "He’s hurt and angry. At the
world, at me…God, he must be really pissed at you and Oz if—" She cursed
silently when Dev flinched.

This
time she did hug him, sank into him as he wrapped his arms around her. "I
have to send you on a mission," he said.

She
shook her head. "I can’t. I can’t leave you like this."

Dev
stepped back. "You have to go, Annika."

"You
just lost Oz," she whispered.

"I
know, and I know you want to be here for Creed too, but this is
important." He blew out a long breath. "Why is he angry with you
anyway?"

She
waved her hand dismissively. "The usual. He flipped out when I told him I
came to see you."

"His
world just got turned upside down. Give him a break."

Abruptly,
her emotions veered sharply to anger. "He’s never understood our
relationship. He’s never wanted to. He’s completely irrational when it comes to
you."

"Is
he?" Dev asked quietly.

"Is
he what? Irrational? Unable to share? Yes and yes!" She huffed. "You
still think I’m too immature for a relationship, don’t you?" The
conversation they’d had last spring brought heat to her cheeks, but Dev shook
his head.

"I
think Creed is exactly what you need."

That
wasn’t what she’d asked, but he was right. She knew it, but now wasn’t the time
to talk about it. Not with Dev’s crazy idea to send her on a mission at the
worst possible time. "I thought you wanted all available operatives here
to deal with the hurricane. What’s so important that I have to go out
now?"

He
jammed his hand through his hair, and she knew the reason was going to be a
doozy. "Wyatt needs backup."

Yeah,
she’d have hit the floor if not for the fact that she’d braced a hip on the
counter. "Wyatt’s alive?"

"And
kicking like a damned mule."

Relief
warred with irritation that she hadn’t been let in on the big secret, but she
scoured the annoyance quickly. She’d been in the life long enough to know that
everything an agency did was for a reason, and Dev didn’t do shit just for
grins.

"What’s
he need?"

Dev
explained the situation to her, and once he finished, she understood the need
for the secrecy.

"So
basically, I’m going in blind?"

"Sorry,
but Wyatt doesn’t yet know who wants the motherboard or where they’re meeting
for the exchange. All I have for you is that you’ll land in Dublin. I should
have more info by the time you get there. It’s critical that you stay back and
not get caught in the open. I’ll need you to bring in the operative Wyatt’s
with if he can’t."

"What
do you mean
can’t
?"

"He
might have gotten too close."

She
snorted. "Wyatt? No way."

"Just
be ready. Backup only, until the situation requires otherwise, got it?"

"Loud
and clear. How much time do I have? I need to work things out with Creed."

"How
much time do you need?"

A
sinking sensation made her gut feel full. For the first time, she wasn’t sure
things
would
work out. Before, her reluctance to commit had been an
issue, but her relationship with Dev had always been a touchy subject and
something that grew into a bigger problem every time his name was mentioned.
The fact that Creed had tried to get the hell out of Dodge without even telling
her meant that the problem had grown so large that it could no longer be
ignored.

Creed
had reached his breaking point.

Tears
stung her eyes. "I—I don’t think I need any time. Get the plane
ready."

"You
need to make a choice, don’t you?"

Unable
to speak through the lump in her throat, she just nodded.

"You
realize that if you leave without talking to Creed, you’ve probably made it,
right?" He brought his hands down on her shoulders and looked her in the
eye. "You need him."

"I
need you too," she whispered.

"I’m
not going anywhere," he assured her. "But maybe it’s time to let
Creed be the one you lean on." He turned away, braced his knuckles on the
counter and stared out the kitchen window. "God, I should have done this a
long time ago," he muttered, almost so softly she couldn’t hear it.
"Remember when I changed my locks a few months ago? It wasn’t because I
was trying to protect you from what was going on in my life. It was because I
was tired of you walking in anytime you want."

"Bullshit."

He
sighed. "I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me and ACRO, but I
need space, Annika. No more coming to my house. No more barging into my office.
From now on, you make appointments like everyone else."

Like
everyone else.

She
stared, unable to believe what he was saying. Her first instinct was to chew
out his ass. Instead, she replayed her entire relationships with Dev and Creed.
Dev had taken her forcibly out of her old life, one full of anger and
vengeance, where she had been little more than a feral animal. He’d been
patient, never giving up on her, and had eventually brought her around. Dev had
given her a shot at a real life.

Creed
had been endlessly patient with her, reeling her in slowly and carefully,
situating himself so deeply in her life that she couldn’t imagine it without
him. He’d taught her to love, when she’d been raised to feel nothing.