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Chapter One

ARIC WASfast coming to the conclusion that hearing his mates’ thoughts was both a blessing and a curse. Sure, he loved knowing they were safe, that they were thinking about him.Who wouldn’t love that?And while it made keeping secrets more awkward, he could get around that with the mental lock boxes Horvan had told them about.

The last half hour, however, had been nothing less than torture.

Okay, so they were safe. The mission to liberate the Maine camp was over, and the inmates had all made it out alive. Better than that—they were all on their way to someplace where they could be safe, and it wouldn’t be long before whoever was left got shipped out, heading back to Illinois or wherever Aelryn’s base was located.

What tortured Aric was one man.

Well, one monster.

Aric had sat in the sunshine, and despite its warmth, his blood had run cold every time Fielding opened his mouth, every time Jake revealed some new atrocity.

How could Seth stomach it?

In the camp, Aric had lost count of how many times he’d seen Seth all weak and wobbly after coming back from their goddamn tests, but still doing his best to care for Aric.And how did they treat him once they’d separated us?Once Seth was too far away for Aric to feel his distress, his exhaustion. Even when he’d seen Seth in his dreams, Seth had hidden his fatigue.

And then there was Brick. He would have heard Fielding’s interrogation too. Aric had known countless nights when he’d lain beside Brick, conscious of the inner turmoil Brick couldn’t hide.

He’s already suffered so much. This is making it worse.

All Aric wanted was to hear Fielding’s fate. Execution by firing squad sounded like a good solution, and Aric wouldn’t draw the line at aiming a rifle at the son of a bitch. He was a crack shot—he’d grown up around gunson his dad’s farm—and having that bastard in his crosshairs might go some way to healing the pain.

Yeah, right. As if they’d let me.

And that right there was the problem. Aric felt useless as fuck.

I want to help my mates, to helpthemheal.Except what could he do?I’m not a polar bear. I’m not a big cat. I’m a freakin’ house cat, and that means I can’t overpower anyone, I can’t run fast, I can’t take down bigger animals….All Aric had going for him was his brains, and his recent attack on Fielding should have proved to everyone that underestimating him was a big mistake.

The base felt empty. Aelryn’s people were all but gone. The medics had done their job and checked how all the prisoners were faring, so now they were heading out too. Doc hadn’t left, though, not that Aric was surprised. Right then he was with Jake, and Aric thought nothing short of an atom bomb would drive him from Jake’s side.

Jake seemed a little older than the last time Aric had seen him, before they’d sent him to Maine. Gods knew what the Gerans had subjected him and Seth to.

Fielding was part of that.Yet another reason to plant a bullet in his brain.

Aelryn, Horvan, and Saul were deep into planning… whatever they were planning. There’d been whispers, something about artifacts, a tomb; it all sounded a little surreal. Aric’s chest had swelled with pride to learn Seth had been a part of whatever it was they’d discovered.

Eve, Roadkill, and Hashtag had taken off in the C-17, along with the rest of Horvan’s team, and were on their way back to Illinois. Aric longed to go there too but was torn between yearning to start his new life with Brick and Seth and needing closure. He’d walked around the base’s perimeter three or four times, trying to calm the muddle of thoughts and fears that fogged his mind.

So far he’d had little success.

“Ready to get out of here?”

He jumped at the sound of Brick’s voice and turned. Brick and Seth strolled toward him, and he ran to them. Brick’s strong arms enfolded him, and Aric breathed him in. Seth’s hand was on Aric’s back, a welcome connection.

“Can we go now?” Aric asked.

“Soon,” Brick murmured. “We’re almost done here. We’re waiting on H and Saul. They’ve let Jake sleep a little longer. He was wrecked.”

Aric kept his cheek pressed to Brick’s chest. “So what happens to Fielding?” He managed to keep his tone nonchalant, except he knew that wouldn’t work around his mates.

Sure enough, Seth stroked Aric’s hair. “That hasn’t been decided yet.”

Aric stiffened. “They can’t just forget about him.”

He wouldn’t let them.

“Hey, no one’s said that will happen,” Brick said in a low voice. “But right now Aelryn and Horvan have a mission to plan, and they might need him.”