Page 17 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

“Yes,” Blaze says in exasperation. “Leader is Ari, blondie is Ace, Tats is Keon, and the other one is Tyler.”

“Are they nice?” I ask quietly.

“I think so.” Blaze shrugs. He’s probably not the best to judge who’s nice, and if he’s worked with them before, that means they’re somehow mixed up in this life.

I just don’t know how.

The next day,Kane convinced me to go ahead and meet the guys, so they were flying out to New York. I’m a ball of nerves when Kane goes to answer the door. I keep tugging at my beanie and make sure my sleeves are covering my arms.

“Stop,” Eli whispers.

“I can’t help it.”

Kane comes back into the living room with four guys trailing behind him. I can spot the leader even without Blaze’s description just by the way he carries himself.Ari.Kane introduces them, and to their credit, none of them bat an eye at the puckered scars on my face.

“I’m going to leave you to get to know each other,” Kane announces, kissing my cheek and putting his arm around Eli’s shoulders. He leads him to the back of the house, and I suddenly don’t know what to say.

“Why does this feel like one of those awkward birthday parties your parents made you go to in middle school?” the one with the reddish hair says.

“Tyler,” Ari sighs.

“No, it’s fine,” I assure him, relaxing a little. “It really does. Let’s sit.” They all sit on the couch while I take up the chair in front of them.

Ari sits forward, bracing his arms on his knees. “Look, we know you don’t want this, but we know why Kane wants it. We’re going to make it as painless as possible. Tyler and Ace will bewith you most of the time since they can blend in better. Keon and I will be backup if needed. You can still do all the things you want to do. You just have to take them with you.”

“I know, and I’m not trying to be difficult. I just wanted a normal experience, and that isn’t going to happen with you tagging along.” I know that sounds harsh, and I don’t mean it to be, but I’m still not happy with Kane taking this decision from me, even if Blaze was right about them being hot.

“I take offense to that,” Tyler says. “I’m barrels of fun.”

“Tyler. Shut up,” Ari replies, making my lips twitch. “No one will ever know they’re security.”

“It’s not like I have much of a choice.”

“Sure you do,” Ace speaks up. “It just wouldn’t be the smart one. You obviously know who your brother is, so you know you can’t escape this. Take it from someone who had absolutely no clue who his father really was and found out the hard way. You at least have a heads-up. We aren’t here to babysit you.”

“I’m sure you have more important things to do.”

“We make every mission important,” Keon throws in. “In this case, it’s you.”

I sit back in the chair, trying to relax. How the hell am I supposed to concentrate on doing anything with them hovering everywhere? Every single one of them has those unnerving assessing eyes like Kane and Blaze. “Do you have any questions for me?” I offer.

Tyler raises his hand, earning a hard look from Ari. “I have one.”

“Of course you do,” Keon mutters.

“She offered,” Tyler defends.

“It’s fine. What’s your question?”

“This is an important one.” I nod for him to continue. “Do you like the movie Legally Blonde?”

“Oh my God,” Ace groans. “Not this shit.”

“Bend and snap,” I laugh.

“Yes!” Tyler pumps his fist in the air, making me laugh harder. “Please say we can have a movie marathon. These assholes won’t watch it with me anymore.”

“Because you know it word for word, weirdo,” Keon retorts.