Fortress

Chapter 10

Rome

“No, I'm not leaving the state. I want to help I told you that already”, Mina said furiously as we drove away. I heard Jared chuckling under his breath from the front seat. I had never dealt with a woman before not even the ones in our clan. When we returned home from Helios I distanced myself from everyone besides Jared. I felt no need to make bonds with anyone maybe it was because I was displaced for so long that I felt like everyone was temporary. I only knew Jared and the woman who appeared to me every night in my dreams. The woman who was now fuming in front of me pleading to be in the center of chaos. From the little I did know about women, I knew they didn’t like to hear the word no.

“I know but we don’t even know where to go from here everything is different now. Helios isn’t just taking people they are murdering them in large numbers and I won’t have you in danger. No” I said in a low tone but I was aware my brothers were amused listening to me and my mate.

“You can’t keep me from this! My best friend was murdered by these monsters and I can’t sit back and do nothing Rome!” Mina yelled before covering her mouth with a shaking hand. Her head fell onto my chest and another round of sobs started. She wanted to be strong but was so emotionally torn she could hardly get her argument across. I held my mate tight waiting for her burst of sorrow to pass. Iris passed back another handful of tissues and I quickly took them passing them along to my mate. Mina blew her nose before looking at me again. Her eyes were so red and sadness lingered in them I reached up to wipe the next few tears that fell.

“I want to help, there must be some way for me to help” she pleaded looking around the SUV at my brothers. I growled low enough for their ears to catch as a warning for them. If anyone spoke to encourage her I would gladly rip their heads off to silence them for good.

“You were supposed to be dead back there. You were supposed to be in a body bag. Do you understand that? I’m not risking it. That’s it.” I managed to keep the panic from my voice but on the inside, I was losing it. I pictured Mina in one of those body bags and felt my eyes shift as they always did when I was on the edge. No, she won’t be a part of any of this.

“But Rome if you-“, Mina tried to continue but I had heard enough.

“No!”I said too harshly than I intended but the fear of losing her was suffocating me now. Closing in on me like the cage I was thrown into after each  excruciating experiment. Mina said nothing as she pulled her hand from my lap and turned her body away from me. I could feel the coldness forming between us and cursed myself. I was being reasonable here, I would not lose my mate when I had just found her after so long. We all remained silent as we drove out of New York and into Vermont. Mina refused to eat the whole way and didn’t speak a word to me.

Jared pulled onto a road that wrapped around a small mountain and I was relieved we weren’t headed to the clan’s headquarters in this state. The clan has six headquarters around the world and more being built to help track down Helios. Although a lot of the time the traffickers we run into aren't Helios it is still

rewarding to bring them down. The house before us is one I had never seen before, must be one of the new crash houses.

“I’ve already called around to let everyone know this house is off-limits. It’s been cleaned thoroughly” Jared said proudly and I was grateful for that. I knew how the younger members of the clan liked to spend their free time and I preferred not to kill unless necessary.

“Thank you,” I said as Jared parked beside a small car.

“The car’s yours for as long as you need it, I know it’s no motorcycle but I figured you’d adjust,” Jared said with a smile as he got out of the SUV along with Iris. Mina didn’t look at me as she pushed her door open and I desperately wanted to reach over and touch her but I resisted.

Jared gave us a walkthrough of the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house which looked to be newly renovated. The living room had a warm feel with its brown sectional and a large coffee table. I eyed the large mounted flatscreen and small bookshelf with plants as we made our way down the hall.

“There is one room downstairs and two upstairs, Mina there should be some clothes arriving tomorrow. Of course, if they are not to your liking more can be ordered,” Jared said before turning to face us.

“The refrigerator is full and you should be good on blood for the next two weeks just call me when you need more.” He continued and winked at me which I returned with an eye roll.

“Well, that’s it, oh the alarm system information!” Jared walked into the kitchen and everything appeared to be stainless steel except the white granite countertops.

“The alarm code is changed monthly so here’s the one for August,” Jared said pointing to a piece of paper. I turned to show Mina but she was already gone.

“She took one of the bedrooms upstairs,” June said before heading outside behind Iris.

“Seems like you have a lot on your hands we are going to head out. Stay in touch and I’ll let you know if anything comes up with Helios” Jared said as we walked to the front door.

“Thank you for all of this,” I said looking around at the house.

“We are brothers. Always” Jared replied and then turned on his heels to join the others. I closed the door and set the alarm. I decided I was just going to give Mina her space for now even though all I wanted to do was hold her in my arms. I took time to get familiar with the house before heading upstairs.

Mina

I prayed the shower was drowning out the sounds I was making as I cried hard. Then I eventually didn't care as images of my best friend flooded my head. My heart hadn't felt this broken since my mother passed away. I stood under the water until it ran cold. I stepped out and pulled a towel around my body before heading into the room. I thought about sleeping in a separate room than Rome but that just didn't sound right to me. Every time I thought about being away from him it felt wrong. Rome sat on the and tilted his head when he saw me. He held his arms out welcoming me into them and I didn't hesitate as I rushed into them.

“I'm sorry”, he whispered as he rubbed my back and I fought the tears trying to escape from my eyes but failed. I was sick of crying I was stronger than this. My stomach growled and Rome mimicked the sound causing me to laugh.

“We need to get some food in that belly, let me wash up first I want to smell as pretty as you look,” Rome said as he kissed my forehead. Rome stood and wiped the tears from my cheek looking into my eyes.

“What?” I asked my voice sounding broken.

“It's just you,” he said before walking into the bathroom. I pulled my bag open but couldn't find a clean shirt so I opened Rome’s and rambled through it I pulled out a long black shirt. My eyes caught a glimpse of a folded piece of paper and I looked toward the bathroom door before pulling it out. I felt a little bad about snooping but that feeling quickly as I thought back to everything this man revealed he knew about me. I unfolded the paper and was rewarded with a drawing of myself. I was sleeping and the shirt I wore was one I had on at the motel. This drawing was recent and its artist was passionate about his work because it was so detailed. Rome the vampire artist I thought to myself with a smile. When the shower cut off I quickly folded the drawing up and placed it back in his bag. Rome walked out with a towel around his waist and a cloud of steam behind him he grinned.

“I know all this sexiness right,” he said and my head fell back as a laugh escaped my lips. That was the first thing he said to me when we first met.

“I'll leave you to it,” I said while backing out of the room my eyes didn't want to lose sight of this man but my stomach won the battle.