Page 5 of Kai (Alpha Heroes #13)

Cece

The man before me didn’t bat an eyelash.

He wore a dark neoprene suit and gazed at me calmly, as if I didn’t have a loaded weapon in my hand and the ability to kill him on the spot.

Instead, the stranger leaned a brawny shoulder against the door frame and crossed his arms, raining an impossibly serene smile on me.

“Aloha, Sorceress,” he offered in a quiet, rustling voice that tingled all over my body. Keeping his gaze on me, he settled a hand over his heart and inclined his head. “Don’t be afraid. Peace is all I want between us.”

The relaxed harmony built into his face and the total absence of fear I spotted in his eyes struck me mute.

For a moment, all I could do was stare at his wide face, square jaw, and straight nose, finding beauty in the symmetry of his handsome features.

His brown skin gleamed under the yellow bulb as if the light adored him.

That same skin stretched taut and smooth as a canvas, highlighting the strong bones of his cheeks and forehead.

Daaamn. If I had to suffer hallucinations, this was a good one.

Shoot him! Panic shook me out of my shock and screamed in my head. Shoot him NOW!

My finger refused to obey. I couldn’t move. Or breathe. Or think. But I could see. Oh, yeah. I could see him very well. And he was quite a sight.

He wore his straight, midnight-black hair longer at the top and faded at the sides.

Water dripped down his wetsuit and pooled around his neoprene booties.

Translucent drops clung to his raven hair and his dark eyelashes, sparkling like tiny diamonds beneath the light.

His full, straight eyebrows curved slightly down at the ends and perched above a pair of angular eyes that looked nearly black and yet projected the purest kind of light.

I don’t know why, but his stare struck me as both dangerous and gentle. His eyes narrowed into perfect crescents as he expanded his smile. Holy fuck . This man’s grin could shatter rock and melt glaciers.

I opened my mouth to speak or perhaps to scream, and yet only silence poured out of me. My pulse hammered in my head, marking the crucial seconds passing me by, the ones that could save my life.

Knock knock. Anybody home? Hallooooo. My sarcasm waved at me. Stranger danger. Whoever the fuck he is, he’s not supposed to be here.

My heart jackhammered against my ribs, but I forced my mouth to close, rose from my chair, and keeping my gun on him, ground out the words. “Who the hell are you?” I pretended I wasn’t about to crap my pants and my hands weren’t shaking. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Easy now.” He showed me his bare hands, stretching out his large palms and his long, blunt-edged fingers in the air. “See? I’m not here to harm you.”

Could a bad guy fake a smile like his?

It seemed… implausible.

He seemed impossible.

How the hell had he made it inside?

He’d made no sound. He’d evaded my security system altogether.

Had I forgotten to replace the batteries?

No, I checked every week. How had he climbed the old, creaky spiral staircase without making a single squeak?

The steps always screeched when I moved about.

Maybe I was going deaf. Perhaps he was yet another type of visual disturbance.

Could he be a ghost haunting the lighthouse?

A ghost?

I gave myself a mental kick in the ass. Did I accidentally inject myself with crazy juice or was I turning into Affie, who believed in shit like that?

No ghosts.

In fact, the man had a devastating presence.

Standing at the threshold, he seemed to occupy all the space in the room.

He was solid and breathing, and judging by the lithe shape of his limbs, I suspected there was a lot of fit, flexible muscle beneath his neoprene suit.

For all I knew, he could’ve been a bronzed god, except he was real, as real as I was.

Stop ogling him.

I’m not ogling!

Close your mouth and use your brain, Astor. It’s the only part of you that’s worth a crap.

Would a criminal or a kidnapper announce his presence by clearing his throat when he could’ve taken me by total surprise? Were those powerful hands he held in the air trained to force me to do his will? Was the owner of those deep mahogany eyes gleaming with flashes of copper capable of violence?

Maybe he wasn’t capable of violence, but I was.

“Answer my question,” I snapped. “Or else…”

He cocked a curious eyebrow. “Or else…?”

“I’ll blow your head off,” I spat, hoping my threat worked better than my croaky voice.

“You don’t wanna hurt me, Sorceress.” He offered me a rueful smile. “In fact, you can’t.”

For an instant, his smile held me hostage. Then I shook off the warmth of that gorgeous grin, even though it kept reaching out, trying to hug me.

“I’ve got a gun,” I reminded him curtly. “Of course I can hurt you.”

“Not this minute,” he returned rather confidently. “Your safety’s on.”

My eyes flew to the gun.

Fuck me. He was right!

I’d forgotten to take off the safety of the old Sig Sauer Nix had gifted me eons ago.

My clumsy fingers struggled to flip the switch, but I was shaking too hard.

I’d been so rattled that I forgot my basics.

I snapped my gaze to him and found him studying me, alert but not threatening.

It said something that he hadn’t attacked me yet.

Right?

“Here.” His movements were so fast and fluid I only saw a blur.

In what felt like a millisecond, he closed the space between us, reached out, and took the gun from me.

A soothing heat emanated from his touch as his fingers skimmed over mine.

I jumped back. The room spun around me, and my legs buckled as if they were made of melting butter.

What. The. Hell?

I should attack now, and yet all I could do was lock my knees and steady myself on the desk. I now knew how weak Missy felt right before she fainted.

Weak? You’re not weak! Fight, Astor. Fight!

I pulled my shit together and assumed my best fighting stance, squaring off to face my opponent, one foot forward, the other back, abs tight, head down, hands up. I was about to sweep my leg around and kick my gun from his hand when he flashed that devastatingly peaceful smile.

“Please don’t,” he said as his capable fingers flipped the gun’s safety off. “I hear you’re a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and quite capable of kicking ass. I’m here to help.”

Before I could make my next move, he checked the mag, chambered a bullet, and settled the weapon on the desk, next to me, but pointing away from us. He seemed impervious to the shock that kept my brain from functioning and me in my fighting stance.

“Your gun is chambered and ready to fire,” he informed me in that quiet, silky, nearly hypnotic voice of his. “Please be careful. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

He didn’t want me to hurt myself? What about him? He wasn’t making any sense. Was he crazy? He’d just put himself in mortal danger by returning my weapon, loaded no less.

“Better?” Showing me his palms, facing me all the way, he backed up to the threshold and resumed his relaxed pose, leaving me blinking like a fool, frozen in my defensive stance, and unable to understand anything.

“That’s a live weapon on the desk. You can shoot me if you need to do so, but if my opinion counts, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. ”

My lips rounded into a soundless big “oh,” and then an also soundless little “oh.” I gaped like a guppy out of water. It occurred to me he’d disarmed me and risked my black belt only to arm me properly.

Who the hell does that? And how the fuck did he know I was trained in the martial arts?

I looked from the gun to the man. Easing my fighting stance, I lowered my hand and fingered the weapon.

I didn’t pick it up, even though I knew I should.

He was totally chill, and yet, he was also stronger and taller than me.

At five seven and a half, I was tall by female standards, but he easily towered over me by at least six inches.

“Cersi Astor.” The sound of my name startled me. Coming from his lips, it sounded soft, kind, almost pretty. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

“I doubt that,” I tossed out defiantly. “Especially once I kick your ass and throw you out the window.”

“I get your reaction.” He lifted his wide shoulders and let them drop. “But violence between us is unnecessary.”

Who the hell said stuff like that?

And why?

I took in the man all over again. Encased in his wetsuit, his body showcased the classic proportions of an Olympic swimmer.

He was broad at the shoulders, narrow at the waist, with a flat stomach and supple, well-defined biceps.

He braced on strong thighs that stacked above muscular calves, and a pair of neoprene booties that enhanced the power of his stance.

And those bow-shaped lips that curved up way too often?

How would they feel during a purely experimental kiss?

What the fuck are you doing, Astor? Did your brain rot in five seconds?

“I’m not Cersi Astor.” I hissed like Medusa and all her snakes. “I’m not that person.”

“Yes, you are.” He pushed off from the wall and stood to his full height. “Pardon my rush, but our time is short and we don’t have the luxury of playing games or telling lies.”

“Fine.” I braced against the desk, my hand lingering by the gun. “Then get the fuck out.”

“You’re Cersi Astor, the second-born daughter of Richard Astor,” he said evenly.

“You’ve been hiding from your father for over three years.

I’m not here on his behalf, but you need to know that several tangos have landed on this island and are on their way to this lighthouse with orders to capture or kill you on sight. We need to leave right now.”

“W-what?” I couldn’t make sense of anything he said. “T-tangos?”

“I’m told you’re brilliant, so I’m not gonna beat around the bush,” he continued in that quiet voice that made my stomach flutter so oddly. “My name is Kai King. I’m a Marine Raider who now works for Dash Dagger.”

“Dash?” I breathed. “ Our Dash? Oh, my God! He’s back?”

“Yes, your Dash, and yes, he’s back,” he went on as if he weren’t shattering my world with his every word. “Your sisters sent me to find you. Your father was murdered.”

“Murdered?” I hated my poor excuse for a father, but murder? “What the fuck?”

“The assassin who ordered your father’s death has pledged—and I quote—‘to wipe his seed from the face of the earth.’” He pointed a blunt-tipped finger at me. “That would be you. And your sisters as well.”

“My sisters? ” The air refused to inflate my lungs.

“Your sisters,” he repeated. “The mercs charged with your abduction and/or murder are on their way here. We have…” He glanced down at his mission watch. “Fifteen minutes max to get out of this place.”

My legs gave out, and my ass hit the chair.

I stared at the man who’d called himself Kai King and tried to process.

He worked for Dash. My sisters had sent him.

Someone had murdered Father, and there were bad guys coming my way.

Either I’d gone off my rocker or my world had become even more dangerous than before.

I managed a ragged breath. A raging river of questions flooded my mind. I opened my mouth and discovered that my throat was so dry I couldn’t ask them. In the end, I raised my chin and, keeping the gun within reach, defied everything he had just said. “I don’t believe you.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve heard you’re the skeptical type, not to mention belligerent—”

“I’m not—” I stopped. No need to argue with truth. “Yes, I’m belligerent, and violent, and highly trained in jiu-jitsu, so you should go.”

“Hang on.” Keeping his eyes on me, moving cautiously, he lowered his wetsuit’s frontal zipper, gifting me with a glimpse of his smooth, strapping chest. “No need to reach for the gun. I may not be able to operate at my full potential if I’ve got holes in me.

Your preferred MO might be the scientific method, but we don’t have the time for all the steps it entails. ”

I growled. “How the hell would you know that?”

“Thena told me, and Missy confirmed.” He took out a piece of folded paper from an inner pocket and waved it in the air before he offered it to me. “Read and go, please.”

“Don’t make any sudden movements.” I glared at him.

“This is me, not moving.” He held out the paper.

Keeping my hand hovering over the gun, I rose and snatched the paper from him. Fingers trembling, I snapped the page open and read the neat lines.

We’re the merry sisters.

Berry merry sisters.

Hang on, hold on,

And don’t let go.

Holy fuck . The old childhood rhyme my sisters and I had made up to the tune of Ring around the Rosie stared at me from the page.

Written in Thena’s elegant calligraphy, the sentences seemed to glow blue on her pink linen stationery.

A small, red heart drawn with eyes and a little curve for a mouth graced the corner of the paper.

Missy’s personal smiley, the one she’d used all the time as a kid.

My head snapped up to meet the man’s eyes.

Was he telling the truth?

As if the question required an instant answer, a sweet, melodic hum soothed my hearing, and a bright aura fanned around the man until it framed him like a full body halo. The light shone in spectacular shades of indigo, edged with a golden outline as bright as the sun.

Oh, fuck . I squinted, shielding my eyes with my hand. Not again! Not now!

He scrunched his eyebrows, peering at me with something like concern. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled, a total lie, but I lowered my hand from my brow even as his aura flared around him, golden light emerging from a cobalt ocean at dawn. I didn’t know much, but considering what I learned, and given the rhyme I held in my hand, I had to believe the man.

Even so, skepticism wrinkled my brow. “How did you get through my security system?”

“I disarmed it,” he said. “Can we go now?”

He’d disarmed it. Just like that. But if he was right and there were tangos on this island intent on killing me, I had to get away from this place. Since he’d been voluntold by Dash and my sisters to find me, his pretty ass was on the line, too.

Move, Astor .

I had a life to save.

Mine, and possibly his, as well.