Page 3 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

2

TYLER

We pull in front of Axel and his family’s house, and I look at Gavin in the passenger side seat, then Keon in the rearview mirror. They all have the same resigned look that Ari had before we left High Flyer. We’ve barely been home for two weeks, and he’s already planning on sending us out again.

Ari bangs on my window, making me jump in the seat. I stab the button to roll the window down with a glare. “What the fuck, asshole?”

“You were daydreaming. Let’s get this shit over with.”

Keon leans up between the seats, bracing his arms on the console, and looks at Ari. “Before we go in there, I have a question. What were you doing in the stockroom with Jason?”

“I told you I was helping him with something.”

“Wait,” I say, looking between Ari and Keon. “You were in a locked room with Jason?”

“It wasn’t locked,” Ari grits out.

“Why is your face getting so red?” Gavin asks with a laugh.

Ari pulls his Glock from the holster and casually lays it on the door facing Gavin. “We’ve already learned you aren’t indestructible.”

“This conversation doesn’t require a weapon threat,” Gavin says. “And how come they can talk shit, but I can’t?”

“Because I haven’t figured out if I like you yet,” Ari answers. “Now, let’s go.”

He walks away before we can reply, and Keon starts laughing. “Something was definitely going on when I knocked on that door.” We get out of the car and go through the outside door that leads into the garage. “Ari came out of there looking like he won the goddamn lottery.”

“Ari always has that look,” Gavin says.

“Not lately,” I reply. “He’s been more hostile than usual.”

“That’s because you push every button he has,” Keon points out.

“No. Well, I mean, yeah, I do. But this is different.”

“Maybe it’s because he’s human, and not everyone can pretend that what we saw never happened,” Gavin barks and shoves into the house, slamming the door in our faces.

“That’s not any better?” Keon asks.

I rake my hand through my hair and shake my head. “No. He won’t talk to me, he has nightmares every night, and I’ve caught him more than once just staring into space. This fucked him up. He won’t even talk to Ghost.”

When Gavin first started coming around, I was suspicious as fuck. I thought for sure he had something to do with the shit happening with Axel. When he got shot trying to protect Chelsea and Nolan, all of the suspicions disappeared. We thought for sure he wasn’t going to make it, even the doctors were shocked he survived, but it showed me how strong he is. We’ve become close friends, and normally he’ll talk to me, but that mission messed him up worse than any of them.

Keon opens the door to the house, and we follow the voices to Axel’s office, where Ari is already sitting, and Gavin is brooding in the corner. I sit to Ari’s left, and Keon sits on my other side.

Axel tosses a folder in front of Ari. “I have a mission for you guys.”

Ari looks at it and then back to Axel. “Where?”

“All of the information is in there,” Axel replies with a raised brow.

“When are you going to pick up some slack?” Gavin asks, and Keon covers a laugh with a cough. I turn wide eyes to him, and he’s glaring back at Axel. “We’ve been going non-fucking-stop. What have you done?”

Axel crosses his arms on the desk. “Do you have anything else to add, Ace?” he asks between clenched teeth.Oh. This should be good.

“Yeah, I do, since no one else will.” Gavin pushes off the wall and walks to stand in front of the desk. “You’ve been running the dogshit out of us while you sit in your fucking fortress. Do you realize what we just got back from?”

“If you can’t handle it, maybe this isn’t the job for you,” Axel answers, leaning back in his chair. “You were warned before you joined.”