Page 36 of Shadow Boxed (Shadow Warriors #2)

Chapter twenty-nine

Muriel gave O’Neill a full day after she’d heard Wolf and his warriors had returned to base, before she set off in search of him. Twenty-four hours would give him time to sleep, eat, and attend whatever mission debriefs Wolf required.

She’d planned to give him two days, but the questions were choking her.

She needed to know if he’d talked to Wolf about Gracie.

She needed to know if a solution concerning her daughter’s spirit gifting had been discovered or decided.

And then there were all the other worries.

..like what were his plans for Gracie? Did he still intend to train her?

Was he going to teach her the warrior ways?

Gracie hadn’t seen him since that day on the obstacle course, and her daughter was not happy about it. She might not express her disappointment verbally, but her short temper and snippy attitude were nonverbal screams of frustration.

As soon as she’d heard the Chinook had returned from its mission, Gracie had flown back up to base. Muriel knew Gracie was waiting for her father, waiting for his promised lessons. With each hour that passed without O’Neill’s appearance, Gracie’s attitude soured further.

Muriel had cautioned patience, explaining that something must have happened during the base’s last mission.

Nobody was talking about it, and the helicopter had returned without losing a single warrior, but there was a heaviness to the warriors she passed on base—furrowed brows and tight faces. Tension in their eyes and strides.

The mission had obviously not gone well, or at least as planned.

Gracie would not seek out her father, Muriel knew this. But she also knew that each hour that O’Neill didn’t show dampened their daughter’s mood.

Surely, he was free by now. Wolf was free. She’d heard from Rachel that he’d visited her and Jilly this morning. If Wolf, as the base’s Betanee, had found time to visit his family, why couldn’t O’Neill make time for their daughter?

She texted Wolf asking where O’Neill was and waited impatiently for his reply. The reply only took five minutes but felt like hours.

Third floor, Apartment 18.

So, he was in his quarters, which were only a dozen doors down from hers. She’d been to his place before, not even three days ago, so dropping by unexpectedly shouldn’t feel so...awkward. Yet...it did.

She thought about swinging by the clinic first to check on Samuel’s condition and see how Olivia was doing but decided to wait until after she spoke to O’Neill.

O’Neill could leave his quarters at any moment, while her brother wasn’t going anywhere.

And Olivia always remained close to the clinic, in the hopes Samuel would relent and allow her to visit.

Which hadn’t happened since he awoke. Muriel wasn’t even sure the two were engaged anymore.

Without giving herself time to chicken out, she stepped into the hall. The bang of the door closing behind her sounded defiant. Although what did it...or she…have to feel rebellious about? She was an adult. There was no reason she couldn’t visit an old…friend…in his living quarters.

It wasn’t like she was hitting him up for sex.

Goddess knew her poor, withered libido wouldn’t know what to do with a man these days.

Far too soon, she stood in front of his door. She smoothed her hair, tucking the loose strands behind her ears. She should have braided it before heading out, but it wasn’t quite dry after showering. If she braided it now, it would turn into a frizzy mess for bedtime.

Pressing a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart, she took a deep breath. How ridiculous. She was here to talk about their daughter, to work with him on a plan that would keep Gracie happy. She wasn’t here on her own behalf. There was no reason for the butterflies to congregate in her stomach.

Still, her fingers trembled as she formed a fist and knocked. The door opened so suddenly, she took a startled step back. He didn’t look surprised to see her standing there. He must have known she was coming.

His green eyes locked on her loose hair and started to glitter. The butterflies in her belly fluttered harder.

“Did Wolf tell you I was looking for you?” she asked, which made sense. It was bad form to give out people’s room numbers without permission.

“Yeah, he knew I was planning on showering after our PT session.”

For the first time, she noticed his wet hair. She slipped past him as he opened the door wider and stepped to the side.

“You and Wolf are workout buddies now? He trusts you not to drop a dumbbell on his head?” Wow, talk about an earth-shaking change.

In the past, the two would have used the weights to beat each other to a pulp. She’d known the two men had tabled their high school feud to work together. The apocalypse certainly made strange bedfellows. But working together, without killing each other, was a far cry from hanging out.

“As of recently, yes.” He closed the door and followed her deeper into the room. “With his Caetanee sidelined and his javaanee… distracted... there are few available to spot him.”

He made it sound like Wolf had no choice but to call on O’Neill, regardless of how much he hated doing so. Muriel scoffed. “Doesn’t he have an entire base of warriors at his disposal? Why chose you unless he wants you by his side?”

He shrugged, crossing his arms and rocking back on his heels. “There are few warriors on base who can match Wolf’s strength. A spotter who cannot manage the required weight is a danger to himself and the one lifting.”

Which meant what? That O’Neill was as strong as Wolf? It wouldn’t surprise her. The two men looked evenly matched, as they had in high school.

Before her brain thought better of it, her gaze dropped to his shoulders.

Even beneath his plain blue t-shirt, she could see the width and strength of his upper torso and arms. Muscles stretched the fabric tight.

A tingle erupted in her belly. Her gaze skimmed down further.

An impressive breadth of chest met her eyes.

Oh my… She could swear the muscles of his arms and shoulders inflated beneath her scrutiny.

She glanced up. A hungry glitter had lit his grass green eyes to emerald. There was no doubt her interest had caught his. The flame in her belly billowed into her chest and caught her blood on fire.

Her libido wasn’t as withered as she’d thought.

“I’m assuming you didn’t come for sex?” he asked dryly.

The question snapped her eyes back up. Her face heated.

Good goddess, she was blushing. She tried to shake the embarrassment off.

Of course she responded to him. He looked like a Greek god.

There was nothing wrong with appreciating what stood before her.

The little pep talk reduced some of the heat in her face.

It helped that the attraction was clearly reciprocated. The heat in his eyes broadcast that. Besides, she suspected his blunt question was an attempt to bring their combined lust to heel, rather than shame her.

Not that she was going to let a normal, healthy reaction to his superb physique shame her.

“You assumed correct.” She smirked, wrestling her libido back into its cage. “But then you had to go and show off all those muscles you’ve acquired over the years.” Still smirking, she strolled further into the room, putting distance between them.

“In that case.” The electric glitter subsided in his eyes. Poker-faced, he brought his arms up and flexed his muscles like he was in a body builder competition.

The pose was so unexpected, it gutted the last of her embarrassment.

“If you had less clothes on and applied some oil to those muscles, you’d give those beefcakes a run for their money.” Which they both knew was untrue. Sure, his body was muscled, but the muscles were honed by necessity and meant for strength and endurance, not showmanship.

He dropped his arms. Although his eyes followed her, his legs didn’t, and his face shifted to a neutral expression. One that was becoming increasingly familiar.

“You didn’t bring Gracie?”

Muriel faced him, forcing her eyes to behave, even though they wanted to wander. “I came to find what you learned from Wolf. Before we talk to Gracie, we should frame his...decision...carefully. If the news is something she doesn’t want to hear—” She broke off with a wry shake of her head.

Gracie was so set on learning the warrior ways, her response, if Wolf denied her the training she craved, would be...strong.

With a frown, O’Neill headed toward the kitchen counter, where a carafe of water was sitting next to the coffee pot. Three days ago, when he’d brought her here, there was a layer of dust over the machine, indicating he didn’t make the beverage for himself very often. Was he making it for her?

“Wolf has not yet discovered what the elder gods expect from Gracie.” His voice tired, he poured the water into the machine’s dispenser and hit the start button.

Turning, he leaned a hip against the counter and scrubbed both hands down his face.

After they dropped, his gaze found hers.

“You have heard that Benioko walks Aiden’s dreams, yes?

” He waited for Muriel’s nod before continuing.

“Wolf has asked his javaanee to speak with Benioko about this matter.” A frown settled over his face.

“Whether Aiden will do the asking, as Wolf requested, is...uncertain. He does not believe in the Tabenetha . To him such questions are unnecessary.”

“But surely, if the Taounaha is walking Aiden’s dreams, he would ask the questions Wolf requests.”

O’Neill shrugged, then followed it with a jaw cracking yawn. “From what I have seen, Wolf’s javaanee clings to his closed mind.”

Unable to stand still while her daughter’s future hung in uncertainty, Muriel circled the room. “If he refuses to pass on our questions, how will we find out what the elder gods expect from Gracie?”

“Wolf will not let him ignore these questions,” O’Neill murmured, his face softening as he watched her pace. “He has a stake in the situation as well.”

That stopped her feet. “You’re right. He needs to know what the Tabenetha has planned for Jillian and her heschrmal spirit.”

O’Neill’s eyes widened. “You know of that? Wolf means to keep her claiming quiet.”

Had Rachel known that? “His anistaa filled me in.” Of course… “That was after I told her about Gracie’s Ho'cee claiming.” She hesitated before adding. “She thinks something is going on in the Tabenetha .”

O’Neill scoffed. “She is not wrong.”

Muriel nodded and finally asked, “Are you going to talk to Aiden too?”

O’Neill shook his head. “He and I are not...close. He listens to Wolf though. Wolf will handle his javaanee.”

When O’Neill yawned again, she eyed him with concern. He looked tired. Maybe the coffee was for him. He certainly looked like he needed it. “You look exhausted. You should get some sleep.”

He shook his head. “I’ve got people to call, and no,” he said as her mouth opened. “It can’t wait.”

The more she studied his face, the more certain she became that it wasn’t just exhaustion lining his face and darkening his eyes. A heavy weight hung from him. It furrowed his forehead and dragged down his shoulders. It was the same burden the rest of the warriors on base carried.

Something had happened on their last mission. Something terrible. Something that still weighed on everyone.

“Something went wrong on your last mission, didn’t it?” she asked quietly. “The entire base feels …heavy.”

His face tightened. Muriel didn’t think he was going to answer.

“The mission went ass-up before we were halfway to our mark,” he suddenly said, before falling silent to stare at the wall across the room. A muscle twitched above his jaw.”

“How so?”

“We’d been looking for the location of the bot bomb Kuznetsov sold.

We finally locked down the location. It was on a ship—the Harbinger—anchored in San Franciso Bay.

So off we go to collect it. Halfway there, drone images of the Harbinger’s crew indicated the bots had already gotten loose and infected everyone on board. ”

Muriel shuddered. “They killed each other?”

“No.” Another twitch to his jaw. “That’s the hell of it.

They weren’t violent...not like the incidents before.

These people were just...standing there.

..all of them...in this huddle, staring at the ocean.

No moving. No talking. No expressions. Just standing and staring, for hours.

” He grimaced, his jaw clenched. “They looked like mannequins.”

“But that’s not the same pattern, is it? Wolf said the people in Karaveht and his javaanee’s SEAL team went crazy and killed everyone within reach. Even their mates. Even their children.”

That had horrified her most of all when Wolf detailed the danger of this new weapon.

The weapon that had inadvertently caused Daniel’s death.

Her son had gone to Russia to prevent the nanobots from spreading.

To stop this terrible technology that caused husbands to kill their mates and mothers to kill their anvaat .

Daniel died to prevent such horrific attacks.

“Are you certain the bots had seized the ship’s crew?

Could something else have caused their strange behavior? ”

He shot her one quick look before returning his stare to the wall.

“They were infected. They had to be. A different type of infection, but still an infection, one that passed through physical contact. We knew the bot bomb was onboard the Harbinger...we knew there was the possibility the bots could get loose. Taking that into account, the crew’s abnormal behavior was suspect.

They were infected. They had to be, nothing else made sense. ”

Muriel digested that. Her stomach knotted. This retelling did not have a happy conclusion. She could sense it.

“What did you do?” she whispered.

“What we had to. We couldn’t chance the Harbinger’s crew swimming to shore.

Nor could we allow the ship to be boarded.

Even without their previous violence, the bots would destroy humanity, turning Hokalita into a stage for a new species of living mannequins.

So we hacked into the ship’s navigation system, guided it out to sea, and hit it with our payload of ballistic missiles.

The Harbinger went down within minutes, with the full crew on board.

” The eyes he turned on her were dark with sorrow and shame.

“We drowned every one of those poor bastards.”