Behind These Masks

It seemed to take Gabe an hour to drive from the original hotel to the one that Mel and the others had now holed up in. After circling a few different blocks, he found a parking garage without surveillance to leave the SUV in and texted Mel that he was on the way up. That was when he turned his phone off and headed down to the street below, to walk the remaining way to the hotel. No doubt Ambrose would be making sure that the GPS trackers on the SUVs were being watched and trying to triangulate their locations by their phones.  While he would be able to find the SUV Gabe had driven, where he’d gone when he’d left the garage would be something that would take him longer to figure out.  The fact that all the others with Melania had also turned off their phones indicated that they too had thought of this.  

It was after 2 AM and there were no other people or vehicles in the area.  The area appeared deserted, although he could see lights behind curtains on the floors above street level.  Even if there were surveillance cameras in some of the shops and buildings he was passing, Gabe had turned up his collar to make it hard to see his face. One more step in making it harder for Ambrose to track them down.  There were only four blocks he had to navigate, but he was hoping to keep to the shadows and make the trek as quickly as possible.  He had been trusted not to give away their location.

Fifteen minutes after he’d stepped onto the street, he walked into the hotel lobby. It was bright and filled with old-world elegance. Marble floors, ornate furniture, and live flowers on every table; this was not your budget hotel. Bypassing the front desk, much to the interest of the desk clerk, Gabe headed straight for the elevators. He knew the room number and wanted to waste no time hanging out in areas where he could attract attention. Now he knew he had been on camera, but there was no way that the others could have made it up to the room without being recorded as well. Hopefully, there wasn’t a way to back door into the hotel’s security system.  He knew the type of men Ambrose hired, and if there was, they’d do it.

When he’d finally made it up to the room, he could hear laughing inside. Obviously, even if Mel had been tired, she hadn’t fallen asleep just yet. He knocked on the door and found himself yanked inside when the door cracked open. Facing him were Mel, Alexander, and Cade all sitting on the couch with bottles of wine, gin, whiskey, and scotch on the table in front of them. Judging from their demeanor, they had all enjoyed some while waiting for him.

“Feeling more relaxed?” Gabe asked with a bemused smirk as Dez headed back over to the chair he’d been sitting in.

Mel was on her feet and on the way over to him before he could finish asking the question. “I am now, you finally made it!” Her arms wrapped around him and her face was buried in his chest.

Instinctively his arms went around her and he held her in close. Only now did he notice the slight tremor in her body. His eyes looked questioningly at Alexander and Cade. What the hell was going on?

“She tried to sleep; needless to say some things cause horrible nightmares,” Alexander answered the silent question that hung in the air. “So, we decided to drown her in booze.” His hand gestured to all of the bottles on the table.

“Did you know she has five fake identities in her purse? They’re complete with driver’s licenses, passports, and credit cards. FIVE. Do you think the boss will let us keep her?” Dez had obviously had too much whiskey, but he did get a half-chuckle out of Gabe.

“She’s not a fucking pet asshole. And no, I doubt Ambrose would allow us to take her on missions. Although you would have been proud Gabe, the girl intimidated the ever-loving hell outta the front desk clerk that was here when we got in. I think he may have wet himself.” Alexander chuckled as he poured himself some more scotch. 

Cade moved over to one of the chairs, stretching his long legs out to rest atop the coffee table, as Mel and Gabe moved to sit on the couch. Mel was still all but trembling and Alexander put his arm around her shoulders when she sat down. He looked over at Gabe with an expression that said he was worried about her, but that it wasn’t the time or place to say anything. Gabe nodded, this wasn’t a great situation.

“If you guys want to go back to the other hotel, I’ll understand.” Mel’s voice was soft and quiet, hardly the woman any of them had seen earlier in the day at the hotel. 

“I don’t know about the other boys, but I was hired to keep your ass safe while you were here. I don’t see how I’d be doing that if I left you here. If Ambrose decides to take the money back…I’m not worried.” Cade was the first to answer. There was no hesitation or doubt in his voice as he looked over at her with a slight cocky smirk on his face, and then gave her a wink.

“I think my boy said it well enough. If I was doubting, I wouldn’t have shown up beautiful.” Gabe used two fingers under her chin to turn her face towards him, then kissed her forehead.

“I was never here just because of a job from Ambrose,” Alexander added, causing Mel to look over at him with affection. He really was like a big brother, and just as protective. 

“Fuck, if I wanted to go back, I wouldn’t have driven that damned SUV all the way out to the airport and had to take a cab back.” Dez laughed, winking over at her. 

“If your money is taken back, I’ll still pay you,” Mel said softly, even as she knew that didn’t seem to be a concern for any of them. When Cade started to object, since he was the one who had mentioned money, she added, “I’m worth more than Nic now that my parents are dead. And it means nothing to me.” Cade reached over and squeezed her fingers. Damn, the girl was stronger than she looked, both inside and outside.

“That reminds me, how the hell did you guys get here from the coffee shop? It’s quite a hike.” Gabe asked as his hand took Mel’s to keep hers from shaking. “And did you leave all the weapons out at the airport? Really?” He looked over at Dez.

“She has a Porsche SUV bro. A FUCKING PORSCHE.” Cade laughed. “And all the weapons are in the back safely in their cases. Well, except for the two cases that have the tracking devices in them. They’re at the airport along with the SUV, just no weapons in them.” He laughed. They had swept everything that they transferred between vehicles. There had been no tracing devices in any of it. All of them, knowing Nic and Ambrose, didn’t want to take any chances. 

Gabe nodded as he saw Mel’s head starting to nod. “I think it’s bedtime for you before you fall asleep on Alexander and me, then we’re pinned to the couch all night.” She laughed as he helped her up and to the bedroom on the right side of the small living room that had two beds in it. There was a bedroom on the other side that had two beds in it as well. He helped Mel off with her hiking boots and up onto the bed. Exhaustion, emotions, and the liquor were starting to have a strong effect on her. 

Alexander came in behind them, kicking off his shoes and flopping on the other bed in the room. “I’m taking this one, Dez snores when he’s drunk. You can have one of the beds in the room across the living room. Cade is going to take the first watch for the next few hours.” His words were slightly slurred as he was obviously drifting off to sleep.

Gabe looked down at Mel who was starting to drift off. He leaned over to place a kiss on her forehead. How could Klaus have been such an idiot as to not listen and just hang up on her? Furthermore, how was Erik an even bigger idiot for what he’d done? She was a woman who proved she wasn’t afraid and could be just as fierce as they could. Shaking his head, he began to back up.

Gorgeous blue eyes cracked open and looked up at him. “Don’t go yet, just sit here till I fall asleep? Please?” The look in her tired eyes tore at him. Damn it if he wasn’t a sucker for a damsel in distress. He saw Alexander chuckle as he rolled over, giving him a thumbs up as he did. Sitting down on the bed next to where she was lying, he took her hand in his and leaned back against the headboard. He prayed the next day wouldn’t be nearly as long or as sideways as the previous 24 hours had been. 

Soon Gabe felt his head starting to drop. He started to move off of the bed but looked down at his fingers intertwined with hers and changed his mind. Instead, he slipped down to lay flat on his back next to her. A soft smile formed on his lips as he felt her move closer to him and he drifted off to sleep. Fuck what any of the rest of them thought, Klaus may have promised to keep her safe but he was actually going to do it.

Just over three hours later, the soft click of the lock on the door to the suite signaled that someone was coming in. A lone figure slipped through the barely cracked door, carefully closing it behind him. The feel of a gun barrel at his temple told him instantly that his entry had not gone undetected. As he waited to find out who it was that had gotten guard duty, a slow smirk crossed his lips.

“You’d better have one damn good excuse for being in here asshole, because if you don’t you’re going to wish you had never opened that door.” The end of the barrel pressed more firmly into his skull as he heard Cade’s voice low and growling.

“Seeing as my grandfather is paying your fucking ass, I think I have a good enough excuse to come in if I want. Although how the fuck you all got here is something I’ve got to hear.” Nic’s quiet voice held amusement. It had taken him what seemed like forever to even find a clue where any of them had gone.

“Shit bro, you’re lucky I asked questions first. How the fuck did you find us?” Cade holstered his weapon and moved closer to Nic so that they’re voices wouldn’t wake the other four up.

“Gabe parked his SUV four blocks away. When he stopped answering his phone, I went hunting.” Nic shook his head. “Y’all were fucking hard as hell to find. One female with three bodyguards does make an impression on a desk clerk though.” He chuckled. “Two rooms? Who’s where?”

“Dez is over there. The door is closed because his snoring was about to drive me insane. Alexander, Mel, and Gabe are all over there.” Cade gestured as he talked. He had sobered up an hour or so before and was now annoyingly clear-headed and awake, albeit with a massive headache.

“You know how she got out? And how did you end up here with your SUV at the airport?” Nic looked over at Cade as he leaned his back against the wall.

“Window in your grandfather’s office in the suite, along the ledge to the fire escape that was one room over, then down to the alleyway. Then she just walked until she got to a coffee shop. From there she rented the car and got ahold of Gabe. Gabe texted us. We met up with her at the coffee shop. When she got tired, Dez took the SUV to the airport and got a cab back here with the cash she gave him. We had already transferred all the weapons into the back of her SUV, so it was safe for him to leave it. Then she drove us here. She was the lead the whole time bro, organized the whole damn thing. Did you know she has five false identities?” Cade almost laughed as he talked.

“More than five, and yes I did. Although apparently, grandfather’s men have made some new ones because I couldn’t find a trace of the old ones. I only got the key up here because I scared the desk clerk more than the rest of you did.” Nic answered, pausing for a moment. “I wasn’t here. Understand? Tell none of them. She’s safe, you’re all alive. That’s all I cared about. I’ll keep grandfather off your asses, but you’re going to have to show up eventually. Let me know when you are and I’ll buffer the reception.”

Cade looked over at Nic with a newfound respect. He had expected to get dressed down for going off grid and helping Mel, not that he cared, but he hadn’t expected Nic to cover for their asses. Not that he was going to turn it down. “Never saw ya bro. I gotta ask though….how insane have Ambrose and Klaus gone?” 

“Grandfather is convinced one or more of you are with Mel. This Oglesby though, he’s a major player and violent and vicious. He’d kill Mel if it gave him a tactical advantage with grandfather and Alexander, so I wouldn’t say he’s exactly calm.” Nic looked over in the dim light of the room, the expression on his face clear to Cade. Nic was worried. Ambrose was worried. The main thing was not to let this asshole know that Alexander and Mel were in the same place.

“Klaus is a mess. I don’t know if Gabe told you but he damn near shattered Erik’s jaw. Grandfather had to fly in a medic to at least set it enough for the moment so that he wasn’t in so much pain he couldn’t think. He also broke his cheekbone and gave him a concussion. The doc thinks Erik may have a couple of broken ribs too. That was from less than a half-dozen punches. I think that Erik’s lucky that the blow to the throat didn’t crush his windpipe. Erik is having to use the laptop to type out his answers to questions at the moment. Although threats of letting Klaus back in the room are more effective than anything in getting his cooperation.” He saw Cade’s eyes go wide in the gloom and nodded. “So I think that tells you how he’s doing. He’s no less upset now than he was when he about knocked me and grandfather over to get to Erik. We’ve had to keep Klaus separated from grandfather, they do nothing but butt heads because Klaus is being kept in the hotel and not out looking for Mel. They’re going to end up shooting one another if they’re left alone too long.” Nic sighed. “ That she hasn’t called or contacted him is driving him out of his mind. He’s like a caged lion. So yeah.” Nic shook his head lightly. He felt for the other man, truly he did. There was just nothing that could be done at the moment to make the situation better without pissing off his cousin. Klaus had made his own bed when he hung up on her, he’d just have to lie in it a bit longer.

“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full bro. But hey, you think in the future we could get the short chick to come with us on missions?” Cade tried to lighten the mood. “She’s good; I mean she’s damn good. She put the fear of God in Andreas, she slipped out of a locked room and had you chasing your tail, and she can pull off a cover identity as well as any of us. We could use her.” 

“I take it you want to have Ambrose committed to the lunatic asylum. He would go all kinds of batshit crazy.” Nic laughed. He had to admit, she might have picked up too much over the years from being around him and their grandfather. “Now, before any of them wake up, or I’m out of contact for too long and they start checking up on me…I’m getting my ass out of here. You need anything…ANYTHING…you call ME, no one else.”

“Got it, bro. Be careful, if there could be a target on Mel’s back from this Oglesby, there could be one on yours too. We’ll keep her safe, don’t worry.” Cade nodded once toward Nic. They were friends, more like brothers, and as much as he would guard Mel’s ass, he’d guard Nic’s back as well.

With that Nic slipped out of the room as almost silently as he slipped in. Now he knew that his cousin was safe, it was time to hunt Oglesby.

Back in the hotel, Erik paced the room as he waited for the unconscious Andreas to come around again when the door to the room was almost taken off his hinges as it slammed open.  His head snapped to look over and he barely had time to register there was male crossing the room before his face exploded with pain.  Next came the blow to his throat and then his gut, pain exploding throughout his body.  Falling to the ground, he coughed and wheezed, trying to draw in breath, before he was flipped onto his back and a fist slammed into his face a couple more times.  With the beating he was taking, he was pretty sure it was Oglesby’s men who’d found them, and was sure he was going to die.  Each blow raining down on him caused the pain to increase exponentially, then the world went black.

It took Case, Nic, and Gabe to be able to finally pull Klaus off of his brother who was trying to pound Eric into the carpet of the floor.  Ambrose was immediately in the large man’s face, rage written on every line and curve of his face and the steel grey of his eyes almost glowing with the fires of rage.  The threats and promises of pain that were expressed were enough to keep Klaus from going after Eric again, but everyone knew if they didn’t get Klaus out of the room that it was only a matter of time before his resolve would weaken and it would become chaos again.  

No one had heard from or seen Melania.  The group who had been at the hospital were now also missing, and knowing that Oglesby was at least the money behind the attacks, if not the brains as well, put everyone on edge.  If finding out that Andreas was involved in the threat to Alexander hadn’t been enough of mind fuck, now having Erik threaten Mel was definitely one for everyone.  Things were going sideways faster than anyone could adjust and compensate, and that was not a good thing.  For men whose entire lives were adjusting to ever changing circumstances, not being able to find solid footing was not something that put them in a good mood.

“GET.HIM.OUT!” Ambrose bellowed at the men restraining Klaus, his jaw ticking as his teeth were clenched.  He didn’t turn his attention back to Erik until they had succeeded in getting him out of the room.  If they hadn’t been able to, he was ready to shoot the German asshole himself to accomplish it.  His patience was completely gone and he was ready to start dealing out pain to accomplish his orders to those around him.  That  Klaus had surprised him as soon as the lock had clicked on the door had pissed him off to begin with, the condition that he’d left Eric in only made it worse.

“Restrain him like his cousin.  Make sure they’re both still alive and able to talk when I’m ready for them.  Come get me when they are.  I’m done with the bullshit, I think they believe the old man has gone soft.  I’m about to show them differently.”  Ambrose gave instructions to Cam and Donovan before following the others back out of the room.  He could hear cursing down the hall in the direction of the suite.  Time to go talk with his team and calm down enough not to kill anyone, yet.

“Now we know who hired the assholes at the mansion.  That’s one question answered.” Nic was saying as Ambrose walked in.  A quick head nod to his grandfather and he continued. “How the fuck could he NOT know who was financing this fucking dig?  Oglesby is far from stupid, that’s the only reason he’s still alive.  He’s never crossed us, never crossed the wrong person before.  For him to be this careless and foolish now seems a misstep that is unlike anything he’s done before.  I think there’s still something we don’t know about this.”

“We can figure this out later.  We have three missing team members, my granddaughter is missing, and the asshole that orchestrated this is out there as well.  Priorities, gentlemen.  We can assume that Cade, Alexander, and Dez are all still together for now.  Hopefully that will make them easier to find.  Case, Nic, and Gabe, get out there and find all of them.  No excuses for failure.  AM. I. CLEAR?”  Ambrose’s voice was calm but there was no missing the undercurrent of rage in it.  None doubted that he was barely controlling the desire to hurt, maim, and possibly kill someone in the near future.  All the men’s heads nodded as they rose to leave. “What am I supposed to do? Fucking sit on my ass while they’re out there?”  Klaus bit out at Ambrose in frustration.  Eyebrows raised on the other men as everyone froze.  No one wanted to be between the other two if they were going to go at one another.  Was this really the time to piss off Ambrose more? He was never known to suffer fools lightly. 

“That’s exactly what you’re going to do.  You’re a loose cannon, Klaus, I can’t have you out there possibly blowing up at an innocent person, and bringing the Serbian authorities attention swinging around to us. We’ve got two men tied up in here, and a couple dead bodies in a burned out car out in the woods near the excavation site.  You think we want attention on us?”  Ambrose’s head tipped to the side, his lips thinning as his cold blue eyes pinned Klaus with a hard stare. His voice was cold and almost emotionless, something that rather worried the others in the room, who exchanged quick glances.  He was like a volcano that had been smoking and suddenly stopped, an eruption was imminent.

“Someone needs to see if they can locate the GPS tracking devices on the cars, run their credit cards, see if there is ANYTHING that can tell us where the four have disappeared to.  And sweep this fucking room!  How the fuck did she get out of here and leave no trace?”  Now, now there was anger, lack of sleep or coffee was showing in Ambrose’s demeanor.  Just a crack, not a full explosion, but if Klaus pushed him again, there was no telling how big it could get. “Now, you all have your tasks.  Do them.  I’m going to handle our guests here, and find out what the fuck is going on.  I’m sick of playing catch-up.”  Ambrose turned and headed out of the room with no further comment.  He was about to shoot someone, and he’d prefer it to be one of the two assholes down the hall rather than one of the team that he still needed. As Gabe prepared to slip away, he looked over at Nic and Klaus.  Both men looked utterly defeated and worry was etched deeply into their strong features.  Now it wasn’t just Mel that was missing, but the other three who had been at the hospital, at least as far as anyone else there at the hotel knew.  He was the only one who knew that none of them were in danger and they were all together.  There was a little bit of guilt that gnawed at him over that, but not enough to stop him from what he planned on doing.  No, his loyalty did not lie with anyone in the hotel where he now stood.  He was going to those with whom he felt the most loyalty.

“Guys, try and look on the positive side.  Maybe the others have found her, and that’s why they’re not answering.  Case and Cam said that they had called the guys more than once before they had gone out looking too.”  Gabe tried to give some reassurance, if only to relieve his own guilt. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re all kicked back and drinking coffee in some posh shop while we have been looking for them and worrying.” Nic bit back, sorry afterward that he had been quite so harsh.  “Oglesby has got to be close, Mel is a bargaining chip and Alexander is a target.  It’s not safe to assume anything at this point.”  This time exhaustion and worry was clear in his tone and words. Gabe nodded curtly and headed out the door behind Case.  He felt a vibration in his pocket and swiped to open his phone while they waited for the elevator.  It was the 228 number again.  ::Omni #955.  Package is tired::  It was all he could do not to laugh, someone had clued her in on the lingo.  As soon as he could be, he’d join the four that were there, then they’d have to figure out how to deal with the boss.

It was late, the night outside was chilly. People strolling by were bundled up and a few looked in the windows.  Those that did made little note of the brunette sitting alone and sipping on her latte and picking at her pastry.  She didn’t look much different than the other customers in the small cafe’.  Looks can be deceiving.  

*DING*  The phone laying on the table in front of her chimed softly once to indicate that a text had been received.  A long, lithe finger swiped across the face to open the text message that had just arrived.  ::Where r u?  R u ok?::

Melania picked up her phone and stared at the screen. So, she had finally gotten a response.  She had called Gabe after she’d slipped out one of the windows in the suite and onto the fire escape that took her down to the alleyway that ran alongside the hotel.  From there she’d just started walking aimlessly through the city streets with no real plan where she was going.  She couldn’t stay held up in those few rooms, and she knew that Cam and Case weren’t going to allow her out on the streets.  Escape and evasion were her only options, but she knew that she could only do it so long on her own.  Maybe her cousin and grandfather shouldn’t have allowed her to hang out with them quite as much as they had.  Or maybe it was having to get in and out of dig sites over the years.  Either way it had been too easy to get out of the room and to the street, and she had the knowledge of how to organize and run an operation as well.  That knowledge was now going to come in handy.

Now she sat in a small 24 hour coffee shop in a more touristy area than the one they were staying in.  She blended in, no one paid her any attention, which is what she had wanted.  It had been well over an hour she’d walked before she stopped and took the chance to rest for a little bit.  Quite frankly she had expected Case and Cam to come rolling up on her in the SUV long before she reached some place to stop.  They didn’t, which surprised her, so now she was sitting there alone, drinking coffee, and trying to figure out the next steps that didn’t involve going back to that damn hotel.  

*DING*  ::Damn it Mel!  Plz answer::

She picked up the phone and started typing with her thumbs.  ::I’m ok.  At Jasper’s Bistro.  Coffee.  Don’t tell Klaus or Nic.  Def not GD.  Need backup.::  -SEND-

*****

In the rear seat of the SUV that was still miles away from the hotel, Gabe saw the LED on his phone start to flash.  He had a response.  Hot damn!  

He still didn’t know why Mel had chosen him, but he wouldn’t betray her trust.  Now just to get to her and keep her safe without being found out by the two in the front of the SUV he was currently in.  He’d figure something out once he got back to the hotel, but that was still a ways off and there were more immediate needs.  Then ithe solution occurred to him.

He pulled up Alexander’s name in his phone.  ::Missing package found at Jasper’s Bistro.  Was left unaccompanied.  Please proceed to location for pick-up and staging.  Package may be slightly volatile.::

Gabe had just hit send and locked his phone again when Ambrose’s voice boomed from the front seat again yelling at Klaus. Everyone in the SUV winced.  Since Ambrose had gotten off the phone with Case and Cam, it had either been Nic or Ambrose yelling at Klaus about his brother. All of the men had headaches from the volume of it, and were ready to beat Klaus themselves from pure frustration and the annoyance of it.

During that time, Gabe had seen Klaus try to call Mel several times, text her several more, and get absolutely no response.  There was something akin to a mixture of rage and devastation that was etched over his features.  Gabe did not envy him, but more so, he didn’t envy Erik when they got to the hotel.  Everyone understood him being upset to hear the name, but what Cam and Case had described, there was no excuse for.  

All Gabe could hope now was that Alexander, Dez, and Cade arrived to find Mel still safe and still in the coffee shop.  If anything…ANYTHING…happened to her, someone would die, maybe more than one.  For sure, there would be a lot of pain dealt out by Ambrose and Nic.  

*****

What had Erik done?  What had he been thinking?  If Ambrose and Nic didn’t beat him senseless, Klaus was going to.  When Mel had called before the raid, he hadn’t thought she literally meant he’d put a gun to her head.  After talking to Case personally, he now knew the entire series of events.  One wrong twitch and his own damn brother would have killed her.  His heart lurched at the thought of it, and he was simultaneously enraged.  There was no doubt he owed Case and Cam more than he could repay.  She was the one precious thing in his life, and his brother was ready to destroy her out of nothing but blind rage.  He wanted to find Oglesby as much as anyone else, but losing all sanity was good for no one..  

The drive back to the hotel seemed to be taking forever.  Ambrose and Nic taking turns verbally berating him was not helping any either.  There was part of him that wanted to rage back at them, remind them he hadn’t done a damn thing; but he knew that wouldn’t help the situation.  They were furious over what Erik had done; the fact that Mel was now missing just added fuel to that raging inferno.   They couldn’t get ahold of Erik yet, and there was no way to know where Mel was, so he was the whipping boy for the moment.  He blamed himself enough for it all, they might as well too.   The only thing that was going to help now was to find her.  No one had a clue how she’d gotten out of the hotel, let alone where she’d gone.  If she’d gone of her own free will to begin with was a whole other question that had no answer.

The thought of Oglesby’s men getting ahold of her made his stomach lurch and his hands close to fists.  If anyone hurt her, he’d make his brother wish he was dead.  If it hadn’t been for what Erik had done, the others wouldn’t have felt the need to give her some space.  She wouldn’t have been alone.  Right now they might even have an idea where she was, but instead they were just lost.

*****

When Alexander’s phone chimed, he looked down and his brows knit together at seeing Gabe’s name.  Opening the message, he breathed a sigh of relief and replied.

::Heading to get package.  Should we notify owners?::

“Boys, we have a date with a beautiful brunette.  Maintain radio silence and head to Jasper’s Bistro.  Apparently she’s touchy.”  Alexander tried not to sound too happy, this was still a dangerous operation, but he was relieved that she had been located.  Mel wasn’t just his best friend, she was closer to him than family.  When he’d heard she’d gone missing, he’d feared the worst.  If she’d left on her own then he at least knew she’d be okay.

*DING* ::NO.  Repeat DO NOT contact the package’s owners or the one who wants to take ownership.  Package could detonate if they find out.::

“Gabe says not to let Ambrose, Nic, or Klaus know.  Something’s going on boys that we don’t know about.  But, let’s keep the girl safe.”  

Cade swung the SUV onto a side street and followed the GPS until the café came into sight.

*****

Gabe kept looking over to Klaus as they drew near the hotel.  The vehicle had gone silent a few blocks ago and now it was like being in the calm eye of a hurricane.  You knew that it was going to explode into violence; you were just waiting for it.  Again the LED on his phone started blinking, and he swiped to open it. 

::Package spotted.  Retrieval party unhappy.  Former package handler will be dealt with for damage to package.::  

Gabe relaxed some.  At least the other three were there.  He wanted to kill Erik himself, but he thought there was going to be a line for that joy.  Part of him also wanted to take on Klaus, even if it meant he’d probably be limping for a couple of days.  It hadn’t taken much to figure out who had been on the other end of that phone call and what she’d wanted listening to all the conversations going on around him since Ambrose had learned the news.  

For the entire drive he had been trying to figure out why she had called him, trusted him.  As they went over a bump going into the parking garage, throwing the three in the backseat towards the passenger side, he remembered the second time that Case had cornered as they were being chased.  She had grabbed ahold of his leg to keep from hitting the passenger door with her head and looked up at him, blue eyes filled with fear framed with long dark lashes.  He had taken her hand and told her it was going to be okay.  He hadn’t let go till they’d arrived at the dig site.  Even then he’d kept her safe till the others came in.  

Now Klaus had hung up on her, Case was at the hotel and who knows what really happened with that, Nic and Ambrose would try to drag her back to the hotel, Erik held a goddamned gun to her head, and Alexander was being hunted.  Those that would have normally been her go-to basically had been unavailable.  Besides, Gabe had told her before that he’d been one of the snipers that had laid on rooftops watching over her in Long Beach and Gulfport.  It had been his memory of that that made him realize who it was trying to get in touch with him.  Thank the gods she’d remembered to take the burner phone with her when she left.  Otherwise…well, he didn’t want to think of otherwise.  She had trusted him, and as soon as he could slip the rest of the team, he’d be joining the other three that were taking care of her now.

*****

“You are going to get one of us killed some day.”  A deep voice with a heavy British accent had Mel’s head tipping up.  Cade on one side and Dez on the other, square in the middle was Alexander, all 3 looking down at Melania with slightly bemused expressions.

During the ride back to the hotel, Case and Mel had changed their whole dynamic.    He found she wasn’t nearly the princess that he had believed her to be; and she found he wasn’t nearly as serious and dour as she’d thought him to be.  By the time that they pulled into the underground garage to park, they were laughing and cutting up like they’d been friends for years.  Case never lost sight of the fact that someone had just tried to kill everyone in the last SUV he had driven, and was ever vigilant now that their means of escape was greatly reduced.  

After assessing the area and deeming it safe, he let Mel out her side, casually draping an arm around her slim shoulders and pulling her in close like they were lovers.  Looking down at her, he gave her a grin and a wink as he started to lead her towards the doors into the hotel.  Her arm looped around his waist as she hip bumped him.  He had to give her credit, she picked up on non-verbal cues a lot better than most he’d had to guard over the years.   And the fact that she had shot Andreas, and had a bead on Donovan at the dig site, gave him a healthy respect for her skills and also the strength of character she possessed.

All the way up to the top floor, the two looked like a couple returning to their room for the night.  He considered walking that way in to see Erik and Cam, but decided that he didn’t feel like getting shot by Erik.  Lord knew that he was as twitchy as Klaus right now, since it was Andreas that they were trying to get information out of, and who was part of this whole plot to take out Alexander.

Once they had reached their floor, they went straight to the room that Erik, Cam, and Andreas were in.   Case noticed the way Mel visibly tensed as her hand landed on the doorknob; she had not been nearly as relaxed as she’d acted.  Damn, she was good.  They could use her on some of the missions they went on, that was if Ambrose wouldn’t lose his mind in the process.  Hell, might be more fun if he did.

Erik and Cam were over by one wall talking when Case and Mel walked in. Andreas’s eyes went wide seeing the petite female again.  It was clear he remembered their previous conversation and was in no hurry for a repeat.  Before Case could stop her, she was before the male again with her gun drawn and pointing firmly at his manhood.

“I just got back from what had to be the least enjoyable car ride I’ve ever had.  I am getting seriously tired of being fucking shot at Andreas.  SERIOUSLY. FUCKING. TIRED.  Now you are going to tell me who the fuck ordered this, and you’re going to do it now; because my patience ended somewhere between here and the dig site while I was in the back of that SUV.”  The distinctive click of the safety being turned off was heard and none of the other men moved.  They had to hand it to her, the woman knew how to make an entrance and a statement…all at the same time.

“They…they weren’t supposed to shoot at you.  You’re not even supposed to be here.  No one wants to piss off Ambrose, they’d be stupid to.”  Andreas was stuttering and stumbling over words in his haste to get them out.  He wasn’t so much afraid of dying; however, his cousin and Cam had been inflicting pain on him already, but nothing like she was about to.

“A name, Andreas.  NOW!”  He felt the gun move slightly, and another click sounded, which was the hammer being pulled back.  Now all that separated him from pain he’d wish he’d be dead from, was a twitch of her finger.  “I don’t think you’re getting how tired I am of games.”   The other men glanced at each other, they all had to remember not to piss her off in the future.

“Oglesby.  It was Oglesby.  He doesn’t want the relics coming out of that dig site.  Dear god, don’t kill me!  It was Oglesby.”  Tears started to form at the corners of his eyes.  

“WHO is Oglesby?”  She pressed the gun further against his groin.

“You LIE!”  Erik growled and his fist struck the side of Andreas’s face making a sickening thud and a crunch that may mean that Andreas’s jaw was broken.

Mel stepped back and looked at Erik, gun now at her side. “Who is Oglesby, Erik?”  

“Get out Mel.”  

“WHO. IS. HE?”  Her teeth were clenched, and she was not backing down.  She was done being pushed around.

In a flash, Erik had taken the weapon, and the barrel was up against her forehead.  “GET. OUT!  Cam…Case…get her the fuck out of here, and stay out too.  I will deal with this.”  

Mel stood frozen.  Tears of betrayal and anger stung at her eyes, but she couldn’t even force herself to move.  She felt male hands grab her shoulders; slowly and gently they began to pull her back. 

Erik’s face was a mask of rage as Case slowly guided Mel away from him.  Whatever that name meant, Erik might have just signed his own death warrant.  One twitch and Mel was too close for it to be anything but a kill shot.  She seemed in shock though, and he was afraid if he pulled her backwards any faster, she’d fall.  Thankfully as soon as they were far enough away, Cam stepped in between the gun and Mel, meaning he’d take a chest shot instead of  one to the head.

“I hope you know what you’re doing Erik.  Ambrose will hear about this,”  Cam said calmly as he kept himself between Mel and the gun till they were out of the room and the door closed.

Mel leaned up against the wall across the hallway, bent at the waist with her hands on her knees.  She was fighting panic.  One of the men she trusted most had just put the barrel of a gun, with the safety off, and hammer back, against her forehead.  The look he had in his eyes said he would have pulled the trigger too.  After a few deep breaths, she pulled her phone out and dialed Klaus.

As she listened to the soft ringing in her ear, she saw Case and Cam discussing something, and verifying they both had their weapons.  Klaus’s answer told her that he was irritated, but he should know she wouldn’t just call for anything.  “Klaus, Erik just had a gun to my head.  Who the fuck is Oglesby.”  A curt reply and he hung up.  She stared at the phone in disbelief.  She dialed him again but it went straight to voicemail.  Hanging up, she threw her phone against the opposite wall, then walked towards the suite.

Case and Cam had both pulled out their phones to call Nic and Ambrose when Mel’s crashed into the wall and shattered.  Phone calls were forgotten for the moment as they followed Mel.  They had to make sure she got into the suite okay.  After what had just happened, they weren’t sure she was going to stay in the hotel, and now she wasn’t armed anymore.  If something happened to her. they would both be dead, but at least their deaths would be quick. Erik was going to suffer first, and she might not even have to be dead first for it.

Melania walked through the doors to the suite after sliding her card, and the men stayed outside.  After being shot at in the SUV, and now having a gun to her head, they thought she might like some space.  They weren’t going to leave from outside that door though.  If Erik decided he wanted to make his point more clearly, they were going to stop him.  This whole trip had gone massively sideways in an instant.

While they were waiting, they repeatedly called Nic and Ambrose, even calling Klaus a few times. No one was answering.  They did get a hold of Alexander, Cade and Dez.  All was quiet at the hospital, Sasha had been moved to a private, posh room, and that’s where they were all held up as well.  As soon as it was dark and quiet, they’d slip out and be on their way back.  All three were shocked to hear what Erik had done, but none knew who Oglesby was, or why Erik would react like that.  

After they hung up, all three at the hospital were ready to head back to the hotel whether it was dark or not.  None of them doubted that Cam and Case had it well in hand back at the hotel, but if Erik had lost his mind, there could still be bloodshed.  They also wanted to beat Ambrose, Nic, and Klaus back to at least keep Erik alive long enough to find out what the fuck was going on.  It wasn’t like the man to go off half-cocked, and for him to have literally put a gun against Mel’s head, he had to have completely lost his mind.

Hours passed, more phone calls to Ambrose, Nic, and Klaus were made with no answer, and the interior of the suite remained eerily quiet.  Finally Case and Cam decided they were tired of waiting in the hall.  Knocking on the door first, Cam slid his copy of the master key for the floor through the locking mechanism and heard the soft click of the door unlocking.  Slowly pushing it open he called out for Mel.  Silence greeted him like an adversary.

Neither man liked the cold feel of stale air and the lack of sound that enveloped them like a thick blanket as they entered.  The feeling of dread grew in the pit of their stomachs. as if someone were adding stones one by one to the bottom of the well, as they searched all rooms to find them empty.  There was no sign of Mel or how she’d gotten out.  They were truly and royally fucked now.  They blew up the voicemail and text messages of Ambrose and Nic, this was not good.  Case called the guys at the hospital and found out that they were just getting ready to leave since the doctor had made the last check of the night on Sasha.  Word was passed on of what had happened, and they promised to be on the lookout for Mel as they headed back to the hotel.  

Finally Cam’s phone sounded the familiar chime of an incoming call.  Unfortunately the usually lively tune sounded as if a death dirge this time, and when he looked down he saw Ambrose’s number.  The weight in his stomach only seemed to grow when he hit the green button to answer, then put the man on speaker phone so they could both talk to him.  “Yeah boss, we got a problem…a big one.  Mel is missing.”  Cam replied to his boss’s first words. Case’s eyes closed at the pure rage that radiated out of the phone with Ambrose’s reply.  “Boss, Erik went off the rails when Mel got the name Oglesby out of Andreas as being who’s behind this.  He damn well put a fucking gun to her head and told her to get out of the room.  Boss, Cam had to step in between them because he didn’t lower the damn thing the whole time we were getting her out of the room.  Head shot boss, he would have taken a head shot.”  Case was alternating between pissed as hell and worried for the woman.  She was unarmed as far as he knew and missing with someone out there that was after their team.  If she had been kidnapped, she would be leveraged to get them to hand over at least Alexander.   

“FUCK!”  The word almost made Cam’s phone vibrate in his hand.  “Oglesby is who killed Erik and Klaus’s parents.  Get your asses out there and find her.” Ambrose’s voice vibrated through the small speaker on the phone, then got quieter. “If ANYTHING happens to my granddaughter because your brother couldn’t contain his fucking goddamned temper, I’m going to kill him my own damn self.”  Cam and Case looked at each other, shit had just gotten worse.  Ambrose’s voice came back loud again. “Find her.  That isn’t a nice request, that’s a goddamned order.  We’re on our way back.”

Mel and Klaus stood arguing about her safety while they waited for Ambrose and Nic to make an entrance.  He wanted her back in the suite at the hotel, she wanted to get to the hospital or help at the dig site.  Melania was tired of being treated like a china doll by everyone around her.  While he understood that, he couldn’t get her to understand what that drive had just felt like to him; knowing that if the asshole in the passenger seat of that SUV had been a better shot, she could have been hurt or killed.  It had felt like being on that plane when the bullet had gone through Grant and hit her during the extraction in Peru.  

Finally, tired of arguing with him and getting nowhere, she had agreed to go back to the hotel, but not for the reasons he would have wanted.  She didn’t tell him, but she planned on getting every drop of information from Andreas she could.  His final disposition she’d leave to Klaus and Eric, but she was going to make that man hurt…a lot.  Being shot at while going on archaeological expeditions was something she was seriously becoming tired of.  Ever since she’d landed in Peru last year, she felt like she’d had a gun pointed at her every damn day.  Whether it was because they were keeping her safe, or because they were considering taking her out…it mattered little to her at this point. 

Klaus was relieved that she agreed to go back, even if he didn’t trust that his thoughts and feelings on the matter had any bearing on her decision.  He could tell there was something more going on behind those crystal blue eyes of hers, but if she was out of the line of fire, he could at least focus on taking out the threat to her and their friends.  When it was all said and done, he knew there would be a reckoning to be had over this, and the incident in the hallway at the hotel.  That didn’t bother him; the possibility of her being hurt bothered him.  He could take her anger.  Seeing her in a coma in a bed again, that he wasn’t sure he could take.  Twice in less than six months was too much for him.

When they showed up in the Quonset hut, looking frustrated and ready to commit great violence, Nic and Ambrose agreed with Klaus about Mel going back to the hotel.  They hadn’t found anything of use in the SUV.  Whoever was funding this was good, very good.  Ambrose already had calls out to people who technically didn’t exist.  The word was being spread that there was a price, a high one, on the head of whoever thought to try and take out the heir to the Meyers fortune.  There was to be no expense spared in finding out who did it.  Ambrose was calling in favors in spades, and he knew that in the end he would get what he wanted.

Tossing his keys to Case, Ambrose told him to get her back to the hotel.  After seeing the man’s driving, Ambrose was sure that he could keep her safe and in one piece if there was another incident.  He considered sending Gabe back with them as well, but decided to keep him with the team for the moment.  With Cam and Erik back at the hotel in addition to Case, that should be enough. With the warning going across the wires, anyone attempting to harm his granddaughter did truly have a death wish that every man in that building would gladly grant.  From the look on Klaus’s face and the missing rear window of the SUV they had been in, he had no doubt that retribution was going to be swift and brutal from him.

Following Case and Mel out to the SUV that was parked alongside the one that they had arrived in, Klaus hated that she was going back without him but also wanted to go hunting for those responsible for what just happened and wanted her safe.  He was pissed, beyond pissed.   Cupping her face in his hands, he gave her a look that spoke volumes about the warring emotions that were inside him.  Her hands rested on his hips before she went to her toes to kiss him.  

“Go get ‘em killer.  I’ll be fine.”  Her voice was low and sexy, her lips brushing over his. There was something more in her eyes though, something feral and lethal.  Damn if it didn’t turn him on.   She was going to be the death of him someday, but damn he’d die a happy man.

He looked over to Case as she got in the vehicle and nodded.  Shutting her door, he headed back into the building and the waiting team.  His strides were long and purposeful; it was clear from his gate that this was a man on a mission.  He was going to find out who put her in danger, and eliminate them with great malice.  Maybe he’d even let the others help.

“Dez, get to the hospital.  That SUV had run flat tires.  They had expected to take fire, they were on a mission.  Alexander and Sasha aren’t safe and Cade isn’t enough backup in this situation.  I don’t want Mel leaving that hotel and the only way to keep her there is to get Alexander back there.  As soon as it’s dark, get him back to the hotel and keep his ass there.”  Nic was talking when Klaus walked back in.  He nodded over to him as he joined the others.  

“Klaus, Gabe, Donovan…you’re with us.  Grandfather just got intel.  We’ve got a visit to make to a mansion just outside of town that’s being rented by a mysterious Australian.  Seems there have been some rumors of the resident being a relics dealer.  Seeing as how we have one archaeologist down and another as a target, I think we’ve found who we’re looking for.”  Nic smirked as he looked at his men.  Damn he had a good team; he trusted every damn one of them.  

Both groups headed out to the two remaining SUV’s.  Ambrose had gotten the keys from Case for the one that was missing the back window.  Klaus took up position in the back of it as the other males got in the front.  Then they followed Case and Dez back to the main road towards town.  Just outside of the city, they turned off on another road, heading in the general direction of the manor.   They weren’t going to just roll up to the front door, they might have before someone tried to take out four of them.  Too late for being polite now.

When they were within a quarter mile, and on a road that didn’t lead directly to the house, Ambrose pulled the SUV off of the road onto a turn in that was rather overgrown.  Pulling past the tree line so that the rear of the vehicle was at least partly hidden, everyone slipped out as quietly as they could.  Doors were left slightly ajar and the tailgate was left up. Silence was the name of the game now.  The sun was up and that meant that they would stay low and in the trees as much as possible.  

That quarter mile seemed to take forever to cross.  If whoever was in the house was responsible for the attack on Sasha, and the price on Alexander, they didn’t want to give them warning that hell was about to come down on them.  They were as silent as possible, making sure to stay undetected and hidden the whole time.  Once they reached the tree line, they were no more than 50 yards from the main house.  There were no guards that could be seen, but there were people inside.  While the windows did reflect some of the surroundings, shadows moving inside could be seen.  

Each of the men took up observation positions to try and determine how many were inside and their locations.  They would wait till the cover of darkness to move in any closer.  There could be no more than two or three hours of daylight remaining.  Klaus and Donovan had shotguns, Ambrose and Nic were brandishing pistols, and Gabe had an AR.  They were ready for whatever lay inside that house.

As dusk was beginning to set, Klaus’s phone buzzed.  Pulling it out, he looked down at the number and sighed as he swiped to answer it. “Yeah?” His eyes closed tightly, then he responded curtly, “not now,” before hanging up.  Turning his phone off, he stored it in one of the pockets on his pants before returning his attention to the house.  

No one asked who it was or what they had wanted.  For him to answer it right now meant it was Mel or one of the other men on the team.  His response told them this wasn’t a good time to start a conversation on it either.  But they all did pull out their phones and turn them off.  Last thing they needed was a distraction when they were raiding the house.  

Soon darkness had fallen.  The men emerged from the tree line and headed towards the house.  Hand signals guided the entry to the house, 3 through the back and two through the front.  As Klaus, Donovan, and Nic headed around back, they were careful to avoid being seen through the large windows that each room on the bottom floor seemed to have.  While they had seen people inside the house earlier, no one was seen in any of the rooms now.  They could only hope that this meant that they hadn’t been spotted.

At the back door they paused and listened.  Seconds ticked by slowly till they heard the distinctive whistle that meant it was time for entry.  Klaus and Donovan brought boots to door at the same time to break the lock and swing it open.  Klaus took point with Nic bringing up the rear.

There were no sounds on the first floor when the teams made entry, but the sounds of the scraping of chairs could be heard upstairs.  Neither group delayed in heading up, where they were met with two armed bodyguards that were quickly dispatched.   The other men in the room looked surprised at first, and then fearful when Ambrose’s tall frame rounded the corner to enter the room they were in.

“So gentlemen, you’ve decided it was a wise thing to take out a hit on members of an expedition team on a archaeological dig that I’m financing.  You’d better have a damn good reason that you just put my granddaughter in jeopardy because I don’t take kindly to her being shot at.”

This is where the stammering started, first from one then another of the men.  All seemed to be claiming that they had no idea that Ambrose was financing the dig nor that Mel was one of the archaeologists on site.  If it hadn’t been abundantly clear they had found out who was behind the attack on Sasha and the hit on Alexander, Klaus might have found their stammering amusing.  As things were, he found it irritating and annoying.

“Boys, restrain our hosts.  I think they’ve forgotten what it means to do their homework before starting a job.  A refresher on exactly what happens to anyone who crosses me might be in order as well.”  Ambrose smirked as the color began to drain from the faces of the men who were facing him.  

Four hours later the men emerged from the house.  A little blood splatter here and there, but only the two bodyguards had ended up dead.  Now they needed to get back to the SUV and to the hotel.  Hopefully all the rest of the team would now be there with information from Andreas.

As they got to the SUV, everyone started pulling out phones and turning them on.  Most likely there would be texts or calls with updates to at least Ambrose and Nic.  Klaus knew he needed to return the call he’d gotten to, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to do that with everyone in the vehicle able to hear him.

“Shit!  How the fuck do I have over 100 missed calls.”  Nic growled as he started to flip through his call log.

“I’ve got 50,” Klaus replied, not really wanting to look through his log.

“What, did I get the jackpot with only 3?”  Gabe joked as he tried to figure out who was calling him from the 228 area code.

“FUCK!”  All heads turned to look at Ambrose.  In the dim light of his cell phone, pure anger showed on his face.  He hit a number on his phone and the soft sound of ringing could be heard in the stillness as no one else moved.  “What is so god damned important?”  His voice left no room for misunderstanding that he was pissed.  “What do you mean she’s missing?” 

Klaus’s heart dropped through the floor and Gabe almost dropped his phone.

Finally Case’s voice cut through the slightly uneasy silence that had fallen throughout the interior of the car. “Boys, we got a problem.  Mel get in the floor…NOW!”  This was not a request, it was a command, and one that Melania did without question or hesitation.  

Gabe was leaning over her a second later, his gun resting in his lap, safety off.    She could hear the engine of the SUV rev as Case accelerated and they were all thrown towards the passenger side of the vehicle as he cornered, drifting the back end through the turn.  The screech of tires behind them a few seconds later told Mel all she needed to know…they were being tailed.  “How many?” Klaus asked as he pulled body armor from behind the seat, putting one over Mel, then handing another to Gabe.  

“One SUV, at least two passengers.  Driver has a pistol, passenger has a… FUCK!” Case cornered hard again as the distinctive ping of a round hitting the body of the vehicle was heard.  “rifle.  I’d guess AR, but there’s hella reflection off of their windshield.”  It was clear he was frustrated.

Klaus slid over the back of the seat, to be in the rear of the SUV.  Donning his own body armor, he pulled out his cell as he dug through the cases of munitions and firearms that were back there.  Getting a hold of Donovan, he let him know the situation.  “Head to the dig, our boys will be waiting for these fuckers when we hit the tree line.” Another few hard turns, and they were headed out of town.  Case had the accelerator floored as the engine whined.  Of course Ambrose had secured vehicles that would surpass the limits of the normal factory models, but they were at speeds well over 100mph now.  Klaus had called Nic and after an exchange of profanity laden information, there was another SUV with Nic and Ambrose headed to back them up as well.  

“Why are they after us?  None of us were in those pictures, and Andreas had said those were his only targets.”  Gabe growled as he acted as a shield over Mel. “They don’t know we don’t have Andreas.  No doubt his employer has noticed him missing by now.” Klaus growled as an AR came over the back of the seat to rest next to Gabe.

“And, I realized what at least Sasha and Alexander have in common.” Case added from the front as another hard turn was made.  “They were on that dig that went south in Peru with Mel.  The one with the amulet of second sight.”

“Damn!  That means anyone who knows where that thing is could be a target.”  Klaus leaned against the back of the rear seat as he watched the other SUV trying to keep pace with them as they headed up towards the mountain the dig site was on. “If they’re taking out those who know, my guess is that it’s more information they’re wanting to bury.  You’ve got two of the preeminent archaeologists in Europe on that list; that can’t be coincidence.”  Gabe surmised.  “Although…Alexander and Sasha’s names were on the permits for that dig.  We all know the nice little artifact that Mel got ahold of.  If there’s more of that kind or of historical references of the dark arts, then it could be that they’re wanting to shut it down because there’s something bigger there.”  He added looking down at Mel with a tight lipped expression.  He felt sorry for her getting in the middle of this.  After what had happened in Peru, he felt the woman should have a break.  Seemed she walked back into the line of fire completely by accident.  

Another ping of a round hitting the body of the vehicle broke his thoughts as he looked back at Klaus.  The other man had almost gotten his setup complete.  Time to return fire.  Make those mother fuckers back off till they could get to where they had more cover.

“Case, you’re gonna lose the back window…now,” was all the warning anyone in the vehicle got before Klaus fired.  

The bullet took out half the back window and hit the hood of the trailing SUV.  The driver swerved, causing his passenger to be jostled about and messing up the shot he was trying to take at the time.  The bullet went far wide of the SUV, into the trees on the side of the road.   Klaus fired again, hitting one of the tires this time.  The SUV jerked again, and slowed, but didn’t give up chase.

“Fuckers are persistent.  This thing have any more power, Case?”  Gabe yelled forward, pulling on his ear to try to get rid of the ringing from the high caliber shots had caused. “We’re going to find out!”  Case yelled back and pushed the SUV even harder.  

They were pulling away from the SUV and getting closer to where Donovan and Dez had taken up sniper positions at the tree line of the dig site so they would be able to disable the SUV before it got to the actual site.  As the opening of the trees became visible, another black Mercedes SUV could be seen gaining on the one trailing the group.  Ambrose and Nic were arriving on scene and the sound of shots coming from the rear meant they were ready for a fight too. Case ignored all the sounds of shots and focused only on getting through that tree line and to the site.  He blocked out every sound and became fixed on the other black SUV that had been parked in such a way as to provide cover for the door to the Quonset hut that had been erected to protect the dig site from the elements.  Bless whichever of the guys had thought to give him that gift.  It would hopefully get Mel into the building safe while giving him and Klaus cover to hide behind.  

“HOLD ON!” Case yelled over his shoulder as the SUV cleared the tree line.  Dust and gravel flew up behind them, blocking the view of the SUV following them.  Using all of his driving skills, Case was able to brake, steer, and accelerate in the right combination to bring the SUV to a stop 3 feet from the building, running parallel alongside it.  “Gabe, get her ass inside.”  

Not waiting for a response, Case grabbed the body armor and rifle in the back seat as he saw Klaus slipping out the tailgate and advancing towards the hood  of the other SUV.  In a flash his own body armor was on and he was doing likewise.  Both men’s rifles were trained on where the SUV should emerge from the treeline.   While the sound of the gunshots from their teammates had been obscured by the sounds of the gravel before, the sound of a large vehicle striking a tree now was unmistakable.  

Klaus and Case held position.  They didn’t know which of the SUV’s that had been behind them had wrecked and they weren’t going to give up the advantage of having good cover to hide behind.  The treeline was now unable to be seen, the dust from the way that Case had brought their SUV to a stop was still hanging in the air.    The question of which it was got answered less than a minute later when there were two shots that were unmistakable as pistol.  They didn’t need to see the scene to know that instead of being taken prisoner, the driver and passenger of the vehicle had ended their own lives.  This was going to put Nic and Ambrose in just peachy moods, they were both sure of this. 

A moment later, Donovan and Dez came walking out of the swirling dust, rifles hung against their backs.  Both were shaking their heads and obviously highly annoyed.  Klaus and Case lowered their rifles as the two drew nearer; throwing the slings over their shoulders so their rifles hung like the other two’s did.  They leaned against the SUV watching the two frustrated mercenaries.  “This ain’t gonna be pretty.”  Case said looking over to Klaus with an expression that said they both knew that Ambrose and Nic were going to go ballistic if they couldn’t find anything out from the wrecked SUV that was still near the road and a ways from the treeline. “No shit!  At least none of ours got hit or killed.  Though I’m not sure they’re going to like what I did to the back window.”  He chuckled as Case shook his head.  Dez and Donovan reached them and all four turned to head into the building.  Might as well rest where the environment was more comfortable, when the two boss men got up there it was going to be anything but.

As soon as Donovan cleared the door he came to a halt, hands up.  “For the love of God, please tell me these are from the two of you hiding somewhere.”   

Dez raised his eyebrows to look around and saw two red dots in the middle of Donovan’s chest.  “If not, you’re fucked.”

Both dots disappeared as Donovan shook his head.  “You know that’s not funny.”  He watched as Melania and Gabe came out of where they had been hidden.  He had to give them credit.  They had been pretty well hidden, until they moved he hadn’t noticed them.

“No, you know what’s not funny?  Being squished in the floor of a SUV while it’s being driven like it’s on a roller coaster track.  Oh, and being shot at, at the same time.”  Mel was pissed, and Klaus moved to intercept before she shot one of their own guys. 

“She may have made it so that if Andreas survives that he is never able to have children…with her foot.   And she quite literally threatened to shoot his dick off.  Not the day to mess with her bro.”  Case slapped Donovan on the shoulder as he passed heading to where there were some chairs setup.  

While Klaus and Mel talked in hush tones, the two obviously butting heads, the others found seats either in the folding chairs or on tables.  Dez jerked his head over towards them. “I take it that they’re….together?  Or is he just the one she wants to kill least?”  

“No, killing least would be me.”  Gabe chuckled.  “Together…” he coughed, “well, from what I walked in on at the hotel…yeah.  I think they literally kissed and made up.”  He smirked.

“Who gave her a gun?”  Donovan laughed as he watched the two arguing about something.

“She stole Gabe’s pistol and shot Andreas.  After that, no one was going to tell her no.”  Case answered with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I was the lucky bastard out of the four of us who had laid our guns down in the room with Andreas.”  Gabe said sarcastically.  “She wanted to keep it and after watching her shoot Andreas, I wasn’t going to tell her no.  I like my cock where it is.”  He chuckled.

“Wait…wait…”  Donovan laughed, “you’re telling me that little prima ballerina literally shot Andreas?  Andreas, Klaus’s cousin?”  

“Yes.”  Case and Gabe answered at the same time.  “And threatened to put a bullet through his cock before knocking his chair over and driving her heel into his groin.”  Both Case and Gabe slightly cringed at the memory before Gabe continued. “Yeah, she went all badass.  And I thought she and Klaus were going to kill each other before we could get out of the hotel.  Maybe we should go get the weapons from those two.”  He chuckled.

“Fuck! Mine.” Gabriel growled before heading to the door to follow the petite brunette who had left the room stunned by her actions. None had ever even thought she’d do anything like she had, let alone use that kind of language. She had always been more of the quiet and reserved type of person. Now Gabe worried what she might do, and who else she might shoot, with his gun.

“Well, that was exciting!” Cam chuckled as he reached down and flipped the chair with Andreas in it back upright. Everyone was pretty much ignoring the whimpering of the man in the chair, although his groans when the front feet of the chair hit the floor again did make Cam chuckle even more.

“Come on; let’s keep her from killing someone. Erik, Cam…you two play nice with our guest here and see what he has to say. If he stops cooperating, let me know and I’ll have my granddaughter come back in.” Ambrose grinned and winked at Andreas. He was quite proud of Mel; he wouldn’t have suspected she was capable of such violence. One should never judge a book by its diminutive and graceful exterior though; it was all just a mask that hid what lay underneath. “The rest of you, come on. We have some work to do.”

Ambrose and the others left the room, leaving only Andreas and his two interrogators. The reduction of people in the room didn’t make him feel any better though. He was quite sure he wasn’t leaving the room alive and that one of his two cousins would be the one putting a bullet in his brain in the end of it all. That Mel would be back and inflict more pain also seemed to be a foregone conclusion in the man’s mind as well. He had known her for years, and never had he seen her like that. When she found the one that hired him, he did not envy what she or those around her would do.

Back in the suite, Mel had changed out of her dress and into a black tee and jeans. She was just pulling on her hiking boots when Gabe came in. “If you’re thinking of trying to stop me, I still have the gun and I’ve just proven I’ll use it.” Her eyes were hard and full of fury, but her expression also said that she didn’t really want to hurt him, which made Gabe relax some. He honestly didn’t blame her for her reaction to Andreas. She wasn’t the only one who wanted to shoot him; she was just the one that had.

“I’m not here to stop you Mel. I’m here to make sure that you don’t kill a friendly or get yourself hurt while you lash out in this anger.” Years of experience allowed Gabe to keep his voice calm as he spoke to her. Inside his heart was racing. He knew there was no way that if she went for the weapon that lay on the couch beside her that he could stop her in time for her not to get even a poor shot at him, and at this distance that meant a world of pain for him. Never had it crossed his mind while they’d been in the other room that Mel would take any of their weapons. All of his years of training and attention to detail was now nagging in his brain that he was an idiot for giving her the chance.

“I’m not going to hurt anyone. I’m going to the hospital. Alexander and Sasha are both there. I don’t know who that third man is, but someone needs to be there to keep an eye on them, and not just Caden.” Mel stood after tying the laces on her shoe. Picking up the pistol, she unscrewed the suppressor and tossed it to Gabe. “I don’t need that part. You can either come with me or stay here, but I’m not giving back the gun Gabe.”

Catching the suppressor, Gabe nodded. He wasn’t going to argue with her. “I’ll go with you, but will you give me a minute to go get another pistol. You happen to be holding mine and I don’t like being at a disadvantage.” Gabe gave her a half smile that was a little sheepish.

Nodding, Mel lifted the back of her shirt and slid the weapon into the back of her jeans, after making sure that the safety was on. As he turned to leave the room, she started to follow him. Their path was blocked by Klaus, Case, Nic, and Ambrose. The four of them looked at the pair expectantly, eyebrows raised.

“And you’re going where?” Nic asked, his eyes alternating between the two of them.

“The hospital.” Mel’s tone was flat and her gaze even.

“I’m going with her, but since she has my gun, I have to get another one.” Gabe followed up with a look of resignation on his face and a slightly sarcastic smile on his face as he held up the suppressor.

“I don’t think so.” Klaus challenged her, earning raised eyebrows and amused expressions from Nic and Ambrose. Had he just watched what they had? Did he really want to challenge her right now?

One eyebrow rose and Gabe stepped back as he saw the woman tense. “Excuse me? I don’t remember asking your permission. And what’s more…I don’t need to.” The challenge in Mel’s expression and tone of voice said that if thought he was going to stop her that he was severely mistaken.

Growling, Klaus’s jaw ticked. How had things gone so sideways? “Fine,” he ground out, clearly displeased. “But it won’t be just Gabe going with you. Case and I will be too.” It wasn’t a request, it was a statement. A flat out statement. His expression was a stubborn one and as set as hers was. It was going to be a meeting of the wills and the other four standing there weren’t sure who was going to win.

“Fine, you two can have a pissing match later. I need a gun.” Gabe sighed and started to move forward. He had a new respect for the female, but that didn’t mean he wanted to stand there and watch as she had a stare down with Klaus. He’d seen enough people do that over the years that he knew that it was better to just carry on and let them catch up later.

Ambrose reached behind him and pulled his weapon, handing it by the barrel to Gabe. “Take mine. You,” he pointed to Mel, “don’t argue and take all 3 men. You,” he pointed to Gabe, “keep them from killing each other. You,” he pointed to Case, “be the lookout, take up a sniper position when and where you can. I want you to be the ghost of the operation. And finally you,” his eyes met Klaus’s with an expression that said he was in control here and wasn’t going to be challenged. “You are going to make sure that she gets out of there exactly like she is right now. One bruise and we’ll have words. Got it?” Klaus nodded, as did the others.

Mel smirked and went to her toes to kiss Ambrose on the cheek. “You got it boss.” She gave him a wink before grabbing the front of Klaus’s shirt and started to pull him out the door to the suite. “You heard him, make sure I don’t get myself killed. Your job is to watch my ass, and I doubt you’ll have a problem with that.” She had mostly gotten her way, if she was going to have an entourage; she was going to give them hell.

Case about choked as he laughed and Gabe rolled his eyes as he followed the pair. They could both see the tick in Klaus’s jaw. Neither was exactly sure what he was restraining himself from…throttling her, or kissing her senseless. Knowing Klaus, it might be a mixture of both.

“Who’s driving?” Mel’s voice came from the front.

Case and Gabe looked at each other for a second before Gabe answered, “Case. You get to play pampered princess in the back seat with me and Klaus.” He slowed up a bit, half expecting her to come round at him.

“At least you have it down what my position is in this.” The sarcasm was thick in Mel’s voice and this brought a full on laugh from Gabe. She was going to give them hell every step of the way, he was sure of it. Not that he really expected any less of her.

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” There was no missing the resignation in Klaus’s voice that she was not going to give an inch and be in charge.

As they waited for the elevator, Case and Gabe took up positions on each side of Klaus. They were ready to block anyone coming from the back and shield anyone coming off of the elevator. Given they were taking the entire top floor of the hotel, the first wasn’t really too great a possibility unless it was another member of the team. And since this floor required a key to get to, the same was true of the elevator, but one never knew and you always planned for contingencies.

Mel turned to face him. “I’m going to do what needs to be done. That’s what I’m going to do. They’re after Alexander, Klaus; do you really expect me to sit her on my hands and do jack shit? It’s your cousin in there, who shot one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and would have put the red dot on Alexander’s head too. So, no, I’m not going to make it easy. You’re going to tell me when you run and op that it’s always easy? Of course not…so if you can’t handle things…”

Mels’s words were cut off as she found her back against the wall and Klaus’s face in hers. His eyes were hard and even she saw his jaw tick. “If I can’t handle it, what? I can walk away. NOT.FUCKING.HAPPENING. Feel me, doll? You can try to push me away all you like, it ain’t happening again.” His breathing was heavy and it was clear she’d hit a nerve. Still her face didn’t relax, she was defiant as ever and he found it sexy as fuck. Watching her when she’d been sad and meek had broken his heart, this was the woman he had fallen in love with all the years ago. The one who was ready to take on the world.

Before she could stop him, his lips crashed into hers. One hand was next to her head, against the wall, and the other was holding the back of her neck, his thumb by her ear. His kiss was rough, demanding, and possessive. All truth, he wanted to pin her against the wall and do much more than kiss her, but he knew this wasn’t the time or the place. His cock straining against his pants wanted to argue that point though.

There had always been something about his possessiveness and dominance that was a turn on and that was no different now. The fist holding his shirt tightened, digging a small pearl button into the palm of her hand. She kissed him back with the same passion, not caring about the two other men who were standing there. They were big boys, they could deal.

Finally Klaus broke the kiss, keeping his forehead against hers and looking into those clear blue eyes he adored. “I’m not gonna back down, doll. You want to take out my cousin? So do I. He’s gone too far. And I want to make sure Alexander is safe too. But you going off half-cocked and getting yourself hurt, or worse…it isn’t going to help a damn thing. So be pissed we’re with you if you want, but it ain’t changing. So we can have the rest of this discussion later.”

Fingers combed through her long dark hair, Klaus’s larger body pressing her smaller one back into the bar.  Her heart was racing, she could hear the blood rushing through her ears and she loved every minute of it.  There was no mistaking his passion, his restraint having come to an end when she had uttered those words.  The kiss on the plane had made her heart skip, but now she was lost in him.

One hand had slid down her back and he was getting ready to lift her up onto that bar, or maybe to find her room, he didn’t care as long as he got to feel more of her.  He had longed for this for too long and he wasn’t going to waste a minute more now.  That thought was fully interrupted when the door to the suite slammed open enough it made them both jump.  

In an instant, Mel was behind Klaus and his gun was drawn.  Nic and Ambrose burst out of the study with weapons drawn as well.  The look on Gabriel’s face when he drew up short was one of surprise and slight fear.  He had been in such a hurry to get to them all that he hadn’t thought of their reaction to his entry.  He was mentally kicking himself now for it.

“Damn it!  Sorry!  There’s…”  His eyes cut over to where he could see Mel peaking from behind Klaus.  It was kind of cute but he had to resist the urge to smile; there were three very pissed men with hairpin triggers who still had guns aimed at him. “Been an incident at the dig site, and another one here afterward.”

Nic growled as he holstered his weapon, Ambrose and Klaus doing likewise. “What?  What the fuck has happened NOW!?”  Annoyance and aggravation was clear in his voice.

“Sasha Dominko has been shot.”  Gabe paused as he heard Mel’s gasp.  Another mental kick for not thinking of a better way to state that.  “And…Andreas is here.  It’s not a friendly visit.  Erik and Case have him in one of the rooms…talking.”  The look Gabe shot to the three men said talking was the least of what they were doing.

“Wait…Andreas…no!” Klaus’s face became a mask of anger as Cam entered the room.

“Uh, Gabe.”  Cam cleared his throat and looked tired. “You might want to come back in there.  Like…NOW!”   He turned and left after nodding at all the others.

Gabe turned and hurried out of the room, followed by everyone else.  Mel had to almost jog to keep up with the men.  She was several inches shorter and while she had long, dancer’s legs...she still had a hard time keeping up.  Pissed off men seemed to move far faster than they should have.  When they got in the room, they found out that Alexander and Caden had headed to the hospital when they’d heard of  the shooting and before Andreas had arrived.  Donovan and Dez had headed to the dig site.  Both pairs of men had been made aware of the latest development and were on guard for any associates that Andreas might have.

“Situation update,” Ambrose barked out as soon as they were all in the room.  He was handed several photos, which he looked at and then passed them to Nic.  

Erik, Klaus, and Ambrose went off to the side to talk in hushed tones.  Mel’s eyes swept over the man gagged and tied to the chair.  How could this man she knew have done this?  Sasha had never hurt anyone.  She was a kind, peaceful woman who lived to dig up artifacts.  She didn’t have a cruel bone in her body and never said a harsh word.  How dare he hurt her like this, there was no reason.  Well, sure…there was money…but who the hell would want to hurt her?  Then again, she would have thought the same thing about herself before Peru.  Now she knew that greed and ambition drove people to do stupid and deadly things.

Nic and Gabe tried to keep between Mel and Andreas, as if they expected him to somehow slip his bonds and attack the petite brunette.  This wasn’t a part of their jobs they necessarily wanted her to see.  The condition that Andreas was in wasn’t pretty.  One ear and his nose were bleeding.  There were bruises in various shades of purple adorning his face, and some on his neck that resembled finger marks.  His shirt was torn and there was what looked like dried blood in a few places there as well.  Cerebrally Mel knew what business the Parte’ Defensionis branch of the Meyers conglomerate did, and it was more than just providing bodyguards and private investigators.  Still, knowing exactly who had inflicted those injuries hit a part of her deep inside.  What had Andreas done that his own cousin would beat him bloody?

Cam and Case were behind and slightly to each side of the chair, the looks on their faces spoke to supreme and very finely veiled rage.  Whatever had gone down, it was bad.  The fact she had been allowed in the room with Andreas told her only one thing:  she wasn’t the target this time.   Still Mel’s mind couldn’t come to grips with what was happening.  Who?  Who had ordered this?

Finally the grouping off to the side broke up and the males started to come back before Andreas.  As they did, the pictures Nic had been holding were laid on a table off to the side where several weapons lay as well, from Erik, Case, Cam and Gabriel from Mel’s guess.  You didn’t want to give your prisoner an opportunity to get your weapon if he broke the restraints, this much she knew from listening to her cousin and grandfather.  As Cam delivered a few blows to Andreas when he spit on Ambrose rather than answer the elder man’s questions regarding who had hired him, causing Andreas to be gagged once more, Mel moved the photos aside.  In addition to Sasha there was a male who she didn’t recognize as anyone on the dig.  Then she slid those two pictures aside…

“Andreas, you can either tell us what we want to know or we will continue to inflict pain till you are of no use to us.  You know this.”  Ambrose’s words were spit out with venom.  The man had tired of being even the semblance of polite. “So are you going to cooperate?”

Before Andreas could answer there was the very loud and dull thunk of a high tech suppressed gunshot and a muffled howl of pain from Andreas as blood began to stain his shirt on his right shoulder.  All heads turned to behind them and slowly a path was made as Mel moved forward, gun still held very steadily in front of her.  Her fine features were covered in a mask of rage and hatred.  She stopped right in front of Andreas and his eyes widened in fear.  Never had he seen her this way and he knew instinctively it was a very bad thing to be seeing.

Nic, Ambrose, Klaus, and Erik all exchanged glances.  Their eyes said that someone should probably do something, but the fact none of them moved said that none of them were going to be that someone.  They knew why she was pissed, and from the look on Andreas’s face she was making quite an impression that none of the rest of them would be able to quite match.  “You, absolute cocksucking son of a bitch.  How fucking dare you show up here!  You see this face?”  She held up Alexander’s picture less than an inch from the tip of  Andrea’s nose.  “If a single hair on this man’s head is damaged I will kill you.  I will make your last moments so painful that you will pray for death to a god that doesn’t fucking exist.”  Now her face was in his and her eyes bored holes into him.  True fear began to show in his eyes, Mel had finally lost it and he was about to feel the full weight of it, he was sure.

“So, you’re going to tell all these nice men what the fuck they want to know, or I’m going to start causing you pain that they won’t.”  The muzzle of the gun pressed into his cock, slowly the pressure increasing.  “Oh, and I won’t just shoot you…I told you I’m going to make it painful.  And, see, I know where they keep the drugs that will keep your ass awake through every damn second of it.  They’re all pissed, but I’m fucking crazy and none of them are going to stop me.  I’ll give you a minute to think about it.”  Placing her hand in the middle of his chest, she shoved him backwards, causing the chair to tip over, Case and Cam stepping back and looking at each other with raised eyebrows.  Nope, neither of them was going to get in her way.

A hand landed on Nic’s shoulder, almost making him jump.  Turning, he saw Ambrose looking at him with an eyebrow raised.  Their grandfather was as on guard for any upset to Mel as Nic was.  The days in the hospital after Mel’s fall had been rough on the whole team, but none more so than the two men now facing each other.  More than once, Ambrose had to step between Nic and either Erik or Klaus.  While the elder Meyers male understood Nic’s protective nature, he also knew that infighting would help nothing.  It had to be her decision to hear Klaus out or not; they couldn’t deprive her of that.  

Both Meyers men turned to look across the room.  From where they stood and the position of the couple over by the bar, all they could really see was Klaus’s back.  Giving them some privacy, Ambrose pulled Nic back into the office and shut the door behind them.   The suite wasn’t so large that they wouldn’t hear if something happened.

Mel gazed up into the clear blue eyes that she had long adored and missed.   Words were failing her.  She wanted to tell him so much, but nothing came forth from her.  Her heart ached, old wounds ripped open by his words.  There was so much regret, so much heartache that had transpired because she had given up on his return and tried to move on with her life.  But had she really?  It’s not like it worked out for her; she had still ended up as she had been for most of her life…alone save Alexander, her cousin, and her grandfather.   They were the only ones she knew that she could depend on, a fact that made her heart ache often.

How many times had she wondered what was wrong with her that she was so often relegated to the shadows and the corners, to second place behind others when all she wanted was to be everything to someone.  Never had she dreamed that there in someone’s heart she had been paramount even if she never knew it, never suspected it.  In truth, she guessed that she had never gotten over him either; there had always been a part of her that loved him from their first kiss and through all that came after.

For Klaus the seconds ticking by on the clock on the wall over the wet bar seemed to take eternity to tick by.  His heart was thundering in his chest as he stood there, those gorgeous blue eyes of hers looking up at him, but the room remained silent.  The scene in the hospital room played through his mind as he waited, the words that had sliced through him like razor blades.  They had cut him to the core because he knew so much of her pain had been started when he walked away.  How much could he have stopped if he had never ended things?

“Klaus…I…”Her hands slid up his chest from where they had come to softly lay when she turned around.  One on each side of the row of buttons, they slid smoothly over the fine fabric.  Her voice and her hands stopped when she came to a lump, one Klaus had felt every day since the chain that held it had been put around his neck.  The day that he had walked away full of rage and bloodthirst, making the greatest mistake of his life.

Klaus was sure his heart was going to pound out of his chest as her eyes first held confusion then dropped to look at the small bulge in his shirt.  He didn’t move to stop her as lithe fingers undid the small button that was the only thing keeping it concealed from her, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t almost shaking with nerves waiting to see her reaction.  His hands on her lower back were almost vibrating, ready to hold her still to him should she pull back.  The last time he’d felt so nervous was when he’d bought it.

Nimble fingers made short work of the button and then slowly reached in to retrieve what she seemingly already knew was there.  However, instead of what she expected to be his mother’s wedding ring, another greeted her eyes, one that she knew.  Tears sprang to her eyes, and she choked back an almost sob looking at it.  Searching for answers, her eyes again met his, “ is this…”

His head nodded softly, “yes.”

“From that store…” her voice was choked with emotion, and it was playing out over her face.

Again, his head nodded, “yes.”  He was barely keeping his own voice from breaking.  How he had planned the way she would eventually see the ring over and over in his head.  This scenario, it wasn’t even close to what he had wanted.  But he knew he had to stop hiding things from her; maybe this is one he shouldn’t have hidden so long.

Once again, her eyes dropped to the ring as she slowly moved it between her thumb and finger.  She couldn’t look at him, it hurt too much.  She was an idiot.  A complete and total idiot not to have known, not to have had an inkling, not to have waited.  “When?”  Her voice was quieter, still filled with so much emotion that it caused Klaus’s heart to almost ache.  

He’d been a fool to walk away those years ago.  Did he regret hunting down those who had killed his parents? No.  Should he have let her know he’d be back?  Yes.  His eyes closed as he now fought back tears. He could hear the heartbreak in her voice, and it was killing him. “The day after you saw it, fell in love with it.”  There was a strain in his voice. The fact he was fighting to control his emotions was crystal clear.  His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer to him.  How had things gone so sideways?  He knew the answer, his own temper and stubbornness.

Mel’s head tipped forward to lay against his chest, tears freely flowing.  The Alexandrite ring slid over the tip of her index finger, and she curled it slightly as she clung to his shirt.  “How long have you….”  Her ability to finish sentences was missing at the moment, but it wasn’t even necessary.  He knew her so well that he had anticipated every word she was saying and every question that she would have.  

“Since the day I was a fool and left you heartbroken.  I’ve never taken it off.”  His hands softly caressed her back as his head dipped to press a kiss to the top of her head.    He stilled there, closing his eyes and still fighting back tears.    At any moment, he expected her hurt and anger; to be pushed away like he deserved for being a fool and a pig headed man.  He had hurt the one person he’d sworn never to, and he deserved whatever she had to throw at him.

As they stood there, she could feel it.  His heart was pounding, his breaths ragged, and it was only his iron will that had kept his voice from cracking.  Visions of the day that she had first seen the ring in that little antique and estate jewelry shop on Royal Street in the Quarter danced in her mind.  They had been in and out of shops all along the street as they searched for presents for Nic’s birthday.  She never liked the mundane things, and they had looked everywhere.  It had started by looking at an elegantly engraved fountain pen, which she did end up buying, but then her eyes had landed on the ring.  Instantly, she fell in love with it.  They had spent a long time looking at it before Mel said she’d wait and just got the pen.  When she’d gone back a couple of days later, the distinguished man behind the counter had told her a man had bought it as an engagement ring because his wife-to-be had so loved it.  Never had she suspected that he was referring to Klaus.  

Slowly, Mel began to pull her head, then her shoulders, back.  Klaus fought the urge to hold her tighter, not let her move.  Part of him was preparing for her rejection, that once again, he was too late.  Large hands slid down her back to her waist as he tilted his face down to look at her.  Even with tears streaking her cheeks and her eyes red, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.  As he waited for her to speak, he was memorizing her face, sure that it was to be the last time he got to see it.  At that thought, his jaw clenched, and finally, one tear began to make its slow journey down his cheek.  

She could see it written plainly on his face, he thought she was going to reject him.  Maybe another woman might have after all that had gone on, all the deception, knowing what he truly was now…Nic having explained everything while she was in the hospital…but not Mel.  Nic had told her a lot…a lot…and what she could now see in those blue orbs of his spoke even louder and more deeply than any of the words that Nic had used.  They spoke of regret, remorse, fear, but most of all they spoke of a deep and unbridled love.

Letting the ring slide off of her finger, she raised her hand to slowly wipe the one tear away with her thumb as she cupped his cheek.  Her heart ached for him…for them…for all that had gone on between them.  “Klaus, I…” her voice cracked and failed her, and he visibly winced.  God, why did this hurt?  Shouldn’t this be a happy moment, and her heart lurched beneath her ribs instead of souring with the eagles.  Her hand pressed more against his cheek as she swallowed before trying again.  This time, her voice came out broken, hoarse, but clear, “it’s not too late this time.”  

Words seemed to fail her; the silence that stretched on in the room was all encompassing.  She knew Klaus was waiting for her to say something, anything, but her heart and mind were at war with one another.  A broken heart is a delicate thing and she was not sure that she could take another blow to it from him after the last time.  On the outside she may have appeared to have shrugged off the pains of the past, but that was just a mask she wore so that no one would feel sorry for her.  Inside she was a mess.  Her trust was destroyed, her heart shattered, and the loneliness so overwhelming at times she felt as if she was drowning.  On the outside she was a self assured business woman, professor, and archaeologist; that’s what masks do, they hide the truth of the matter.

Still, the honesty and emotion in Klaus’s voice could not have been missed.  He wasn’t a man who asked, he was a man who took what he wanted and it had always been something that had drawn her to him.  Now he was asking, which meant that he was as broken as she was; unsure of his footing in this dance they’d been doing since the plane.  For him to have put voice to that, it spoke louder than any words he could have used.  Gently her hand lay upon the one that was at her waist, her fingers softly sliding between his as they stood there.

Her voice was choked with emotion when finally she found the words, “you never came back.”  The emotions changed in those four words.  Bitterness, hurt, anger and pain.  Each word held a different one and they all were meant to cut the one they were aimed at. 

Her breath caught at the last word, the name she wished to truly never hear again.  Anger flared anew within her at the man, as if he had not done enough destruction, it was his coming into her life that had destroyed one more thing.   A second tear formed and began to fall, this one born of anger and regret.  “I didn’t know…”  Her voice was soft, achingly so and Klaus longed to be able to see her face and dry the tears he could hear laced through her voice.  He wasn’t sure that she’d allow him to though.

The words were a knife to Klaus; the emotion she had put into them having accomplished their mission.  She didn’t know reality, but in her eyes this was the truth.  “I did.  I was just too late.  Preston had already…” He couldn’t even finish what he was going to say, guilt and regret that had been eating at him for over two years was now ripping him apart again.  Damn it, this wasn’t like him but there was only so much he could hide, and he was never good at hiding things from her.  His arm tightened around her slightly, his head pressing against the side of hers; there were no words to express what he was thinking and feeling.  He could only hope that she had some clue; as well as she knew him, he thought she would.

“I told Nic not to tell you.  I didn’t want to ruin your happiness, or what I thought at the time was at least.  Then there was Peru…and that plane….”  His voice broke and he hated himself.  Hated that he couldn’t control his own damn emotions.  He was a fucking trained killer and at the moment he was a mess.  This wasn’t like him, but damn it he couldn’t…wouldn’t hide shit from her anymore, but it didn’t mean he had to like it one bit.  Could he have backed up and closed the world off, hiding everything behind a mask of anger and hate?  Yes.  He’d done it before, fuck he’d been doing it since he’d found out she was married to someone else.  And that had been part of what led to them being in this situation now.

Mel felt as if her heart stopped.  Klaus had been in Peru?  Nic had never told her, nor had her grandfather.  Why had they never mentioned it?  They knew her ache…   Slowly sliding her fingers from his, she turned to face him.  Blue eyes, wide and slightly shocked, searched his face for some sign that he was lying.  That what he had just said had been to evoke emotion and was not reality.  Every emotion he was feeling was etched there, reading him was as easy as a written page.  The only time she’d ever seen him like this was when they were in private, only she could open him up like this.  What she saw there stole her breath.  “You were there?”  Barely more than a whisper, her voice still held so much emotion, but this time it was not accusatory.

He may have been in the suite to talk to Nic and Ambrose about some disconcerting news regarding the dig site, but Klaus’ eyes never left the brunette lounging on the couch as he waited for both of them to be ready.  Since the day in the hospital, he hadn’t seen her, no one other than Alexander, Nic, Ambrose, and Marie had.   His heart ached as he saw her lounging there, reading some kind of book and completely ignoring him.  He wanted to go to her, to talk to her, to get some kind of sign from her what she was thinking.  Tensions had been high in the room when last they spoke and he knew he hadn’t handled things well.  

When Nic and Ambrose approached him, he had to stop looking at Melania and move farther away in the large living room of the grand suite that Ambrose had rented.   He could swear that Nic positioned himself just perfectly to block Klaus’s view of Mel afterwards.  Still, it was almost as if he could feel the beautiful brunette’s eyes on the three of them, even without being able to see her.    

The discussion seemed to take longer than necessary.  Still Klaus kept his composure and tamped down his internal feelings, regardless of what else was going on, he still had a job to do.  That job was to protect Mel and the dig, who he had found out that morning had all of their heaters sabotaged so that they failed.  There were contractors out working on them now, but that meant more people had access to the site and that didn’t make Klaus or the others too comfortable.  Cam, Dez, Case, and Cade had all gone out to the site to supervise the work.  None wanted there to be any danger when Mel was ready to return out there.  So far, their reports were that at least the contractors seemed on the level.  Now to figure out who sabotaged the heaters to begin with.

When the men were done talking, Ambrose headed into the office portion of the suite; and before Nic followed him he grasped the collar of Klaus’s shirt to pull him in close.  Keeping his voice low, but a feral growl still being laced through it, “watch yourself VanDakken.  I will end you if she so much as pouts.  You feel me?”  Nic’s eyes bored into Klaus’s  before he released the man and headed into the office following his grandfather.  There was no mistaking exactly how serious Nic was about this subject.

Klaus turned to look where Mel had been sitting and found the couch now empty.  Motion off to his side caught his attention though, and he found the object of his affection standing at the small wet bar that was next to the large windows that looked down on the quaint street that ran in front of the hotel.  Her hair was down, tumbling down her back in soft curls and waves, it made him want to run his fingers through it.  The olive green shirt…dress…jacket?...whatever it was had been pulled up on her shoulders now from where it earlier had been allowed to slide down her arms to expose her dark camisole underneath,  and the way it was cut highlighted her perfect curves.  The way it cupped her ass had him starting to harden and strain against his jeans. This was not helpful in the least.  He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as he started to cross the room.

Less than a minute had him standing right behind her, her scent wafting to him on the slight breeze that seemed to be in the suite.  His clothes suddenly felt too tight and overly hot.  The voice of reason in his head was screaming for him to turn around and walk out, to forget the insanity he was about to embark on and save his ass from the beating that Nic was sure to give him.   His hands that were at his sides clenched to fists and released before he moved till his torso gently brushed against her back.  When her head came up quickly, he was glad he’d waited to bend his head down or she would have got him square in the face.

One hand slid around her slim waist to rest against her flat abdomen as he gently pulled her back against him, his heart thundering in his chest as he waited for her to either stop him or hit him.  Instead, she leaned back into him.  After the hospital he almost dared not to breathe, afraid he’d break whatever spell she was under that had her so close to him.  His free hand gently traced along the outside of her upper arm, then shoulder, before moving  her hair on that side to away from her ear.  It was then that his head began to dip to be near hers.  

What he could not know was how hard and fast her own heart was beating.  She had heard him coming across the room to where she had been standing.  When he stopped, she had expected him to talk.  So when he’d drawn closer to her, pulling her to him she had gone along.  His words in the hospital had echoed in her ears for days afterward.   There was something about the fact he had come to her, even knowing that Nic had said something to him before leaving, that tugged at her heart.   The feel of his hot breath on her neck sent a chill down her spine, her mind wanted to replay the last time that she had felt that and all the emotions of that long ago time wanted to well up.  Even after all these years, Klaus had that effect on her.

A tick began in Nic’s jaw as he looked at the way Klaus was holding Mel.  He had heard what had been said and it was all he could do to restrain himself from taking the man out.  Mel was now saying something, he couldn’t hear what, her voice was low but the look on her face wasn’t happy.  He looked over to his grandfather and he saw the same look of displeasure painted across Ambrose’s face.  “Catch Mel,” was all he said before he started to move forward.

Ambrose saw Nic start to move, then heard what he said.  It took a second for it to register what his grandson’s intention was; but once it had, he was firmly behind him.  While he held Nic partially responsible for the situation they all found themselves in, that didn’t mean he didn’t support him and wanted to protect his granddaughter just as much.  It also didn’t mean that he liked Klaus in the slightest.  For the rest of this expedition, he would be on site and overseeing everything.  It was clear to him that someone who knew what they were doing was required.

Klaus had barely registered the movement off to the side before his jaw exploded in pain, pinpricks of light danced in front of his eyes as he released his hold on Mel and staggered back a couple feet.  Before his head had a chance to clear, he felt hands grab both of his arms and he was quite roughly dragged to the door.  He could hear Ambrose’s voice in the background talking to Mel in a soothing tone.  That meant that the blow had come from Nic or Alexander.  He wasn’t sure which one he should look forward to kicking their ass, or maybe it was both.

As soon as Klaus had let go of Mel, she stumbled backwards in shock and because she had been pushing hard against his chest to try to get free of his hold, so when it was suddenly gone she was in motion.  Strong hands grabbed her from behind and she was gently supported.  Her head turned quickly to meet the kind eyes of her grandfather, who swept her up in his arms to put her back into the bed.  “You, young lady are going to end up hurting yourself more than you already have been.  No more getting out of this bed till the doctor tells you that you can.  Do not make me breakout the restraints, I did bring them with me.”  He grinned and winked down at her, which elicited an amused smile and laugh.  He had been teasing….mostly.  No matter what those knuckleheads that were heading down the hall had in mind, he would ensure that his granddaughter was well taken care of.  She and Nic were the jewels of the family; he would protect either of them at all costs.  That included having to do cleanup on an international disappearance of one of his grandson’s men.

“I promise, no more getting up.”  Mel smiled up at him, then a movement to his side caught her attention.  She looked over to see the kind smile of her mother.   A soft hand took Mel’s in hers.  “I’m glad to see you mama; you look as beautiful as always.”  Mel smiled, but the wheels in her mind were turning quickly.  When had her grandfather and mother shown up?  How long exactly had she been out?  Now that she had time to think more on everything that had just happened, anxiety began to creep in.  She could feel a tremble start in her hands and watched the color drain from Marie and Ambrose’s faces.  Her grandfather’s hand smoothed over her hair and down onto her cheek.  “Sleep princess, rest.  Nic and I will fill you in when you are better.”  Mel’s eyes closed but she wasn’t sure how much sleep she’d get.  A calming feeling began to emanate from her mother, and soon Mel had drifted off.

Meanwhile down the hall, the door to the waiting room where the team and Nic had gone was now locked.  Cam and Dez leaned against the door; arms crossed and pissed looks on their faces.  They had no real dogs in this fight, but they would back Nic till the end.  One thing that they knew was that Nic’s cousin was the only thing he really cared about.  When she had been taken hostage in Peru, he had left a trail of blood getting out of the operation that they were in to be able to be part of the rescue team.  Then when she’d been shot, it was all they could do to keep him on the damn plane and not going after the shooter and ripping him to shreds with his bare hands.  There were few in the room that had that kind of dedication to anyone.  

Once they had gotten into the room, Klaus discovered it had been Nic that hit him and Alexander that had dragged him down the hall.  Now the two men faced Klaus with pissed off expressions, arms crossed and feet spread wide.  Gabriel sat in one of the chairs, fingers steepled and looking up at him with a look that spoke of barely restrained violence that was itching to come out.  Cade was leaning up against a wall, in much the same position as Nic and Alexander.  Donovan and Case were sitting on the backs of chairs that were up against the wall,feet in the seat of it as if they were ready to be in motion at any second.  Only Erik stood by him, but the look on his brother’s face said that even Erik was none the too happy with Klaus.

“Proud of yourself asshole?  What did you think you’d accomplish deciding to pull that stunt NOW, after what just went down?”  Nic’s voice held a growl to it that was nie on feral.  If Klaus didn’t know better he’d swear that the man had grown taller and more broad shouldered since they’d been in the room down the hall.  Maybe being furious beyond all reason did that to someone, made them seem larger than they were.  Klaus wasn’t sure, but he knew that he really didn’t want to tangle with Nic in the state he was in.  Not that he ever really wanted to be on the receiving end of Nic’s fury.   He, along with many others, had seen that over the years and he was one of the most brutal men any of them knew.

“I thought…” Klaus started.

“You thought?  You THOUGHT?  No the fuck you didn’t!  If we had all left, grandfather and I could have gone back in there and gotten her calmed down.  But no, you just had to go and amp up the stress she’s under.  Were you really thinking of anyone other than yourself Klaus?  I mean, I know you’re damn good at that, but fuck I thought you had more sense than this.” Nic’s finger was pointed at Klaus, but he didn’t move forward.  Several of the men around him tensed.

“Now wait Nic…” Erik started to defend his brother.

“Fuck off Erick.  Suck his dick later; this is between him and I.”  Nic growled at Erik.

“No, fuck you Nic.  You think you’re the only one in there that gave a damn what was going on?  Seriously, FUCK.YOU!”  Erik turned and advanced on Nic.  There was no way this wasn’t going to turn into a brawl if something wasn’t done, there was no doubt of that in the mind of anyone in the room. Instantly Donovan and Gabriel were on their feet and moving towards the two men who had come till they were in each other’s faces.  They weren’t the two that anyone had expected to go at it, but none truly wanted violence.

“Maybe you should put that brother of yours on a leash Erik.  He obviously isn’t house trained yet and not able to be let around sane people.  I mean, we all knew Klaus could be one narcissistic motherfucker, but this took the cake.”  Nic spit out.

“Look who’s talking asshole.  I think I’m looking at one of the most egotistical men on the planet, so that takes a lot of balls to say about someone else.  You forget how many bullets you’ve put in someone just because they fucking pissed you off.  Bet each one of them had someone that cared about them too.” Erik sneered at Nic.  “I think Mel was handling herself back there pretty damn well till you decided to handle it for her.  I didn’t realize she was a princess in need of your saving.”

Erik had hit low and hard with his comments.  Yes, Nic had killed a lot of people…a lot.  He never denied that, but only Mel knew how the ghosts of what he had done haunted him on a daily and nightly basis.  How many nights he had gone without sleep because he was unable to silence them.  How often he had turned to booze and sometimes herbal remedies from her brothers to silence them so he could have some tranquility.  Only when he was with his family did Nic feel he could finally relax.  Now to have what he had done thrown in his face sent his blood to a full rolling boil with anger.  His hands came up to grab Erik’s neck as he pushed him back, strangling him.

As everyone came through the door, Alexander’s eyes swept from Nic to Klaus, then to Erik.  He moved out of the doorway with deliberate steps and an expression of supreme annoyance.  What had one of the others done that had upset Mel to the point they could hear her down the hall?  It was clear that she was enraged, to a point he had never seen her before.  She was normally the calm and composed one in all situations but now she looked as if she might well explode at any minute.  He was glad she didn’t have a weapon, or someone would probably be shot.  “What have you done to upset her?”  His voice held accusation for the other three men.  He was quite sure that it was not Marie or Ambrose who had upset her, which left only them to be held accountable for her current mood.  “Well?  Would you care to explain?”  His patience was wearing thin and he DID have a weapon, one he was currently considering using if someone didn’t answer and soon.

“Done?  We haven’t DONE anything!  She woke up like this!”  Erik responded, obviously distressed.  He had no clue why Mel was so mad, but it was clear that something had enraged her instantly upon awakening.

“Haven’t done anything?  Haven’t done ANYTHING?!  Are you fucking kidding me?”  Mel was growing more enraged, if that was at all possible.  Her hands had fisted in the sheets and she was all but trembling with rage.  Max moved back on Alexander’s head, sensing his mummy was about to explode.  “You!  ALL OF YOU!  You have hidden the truth of who and what you are from the first moment I met any of you, and for some of you that means years.  You’ve lied repeatedly.  So you can stop pointing fingers at each other, I’m incensed at you all!”

“Mel,” Gabriel started as he stepped slightly forward of the rest of them.  He kept his tone calm even though he knew she was most likely beyond reason, and he couldn’t really blame her.  He wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about, and from the confused look on Alexander’s face it was a good bet he didn’t either.  “Sweetheart, you’re not making sense.  I think for your own good, you need to calm down and maybe tell us what you’re referring to?” His brows were raised as he looked at the others.  What the fuck had gone on in this room while the rest of them had been down the hall?

“For my own good?  For MY own good?  Oh, cut the bullshit Gabe!  Do you even want to know how much I’ve heard that before?  How many lies I’ve been told by people who claimed to have my best interest at heart?  Who claimed to even love me and then turned out to do anything but?  Would you like to hazard a guess?”  Her neck was now stained with a bright pink that was creeping up into her face, the blue of her eyes seemed colder and harder as she leaned forward and started to get out of the bed.

“Let’s start with the bastard that I called a husband for a year.  He hid his intentions and who he truly was for the entire time.  Everything he told me was a fucking lie, and supposedly so he wouldn’t hurt me.  No, he didn’t tell the truth because he was a fucking selfish asshole.  Where he was and what he was doing when he wasn’t with me was a lie, every single damn word of it.  He never did admit the truth, even when fucking confronted with it.  But everyone including you,” her gaze swept to Klaus, then Erik, and finally her accusatory gaze fell on Alexander.  “You all told me that I was better off without him, encouraged the anger, but ignored the pain.  The pain of having everything you believed you knew destroyed and the person who did it not giving one single damn about any of the fallout from it.  The pain of realizing that I never meant a damn in any way, shape or form to him.   In his eyes I didn’t even deserve a modicum of the truth and until the very end he denied lying, he continued to lie, and then he got mad I wouldn’t buy them anymore.  I honestly never knew who the fuck he really was in any way because not one word of anything he said was true.   But I was just supposed to fucking suck that up because my pain made everyone around me uncomfortable.  So I did, I sucked it up, tamped it down and pretended it wasn’t there.  I’ve worn nothing but a mask of being okay ever since because quite frankly not a damn one of you wanted to hear any different.“  Tears welled in her eyes and began to spill down her cheeks as she exited the bed and shoved Erik away from her.  Klaus was on the other side of the bed, trying to make his way to her while the rest of the team stepped back slightly to give her more room.   Remorse and regret were etched on the features of every one of them.  None had expected quite this outpouring of truths and were not sure what had caused it.  Nervous glances were cast over to Ambrose and Marie.

“Do you really want to go into what came after…who came after?  Should we really go into that?”  Most of their eyes fell at this point; all knowing what she was referring to and none being easy with it.  All had been there in some form or another for not only what happened, but the aftermath.  The cleanup of Peru had involved them all, and they had watched personally what she’d gone through.  The room echoed with the shuffling of uneasy feet.  “Once again I was just supposed to act like none of it bothered me, like being abandoned was the easiest thing in the world to move forward from.  Get up, get dressed, put on my makeup, my mask against the world ever knowing I hadn’t slept the night before and could barely face the outside world because of how bad it all hurt.  None of you wanted to hear about that or deal with that.  It was easier to pretend it didn’t exist because it didn’t involve you.”  She was shaking now and the monitors attached to her were starting to beep.  Erik had moved to the side and was trying to stretch the cord of the IV machine out so she didn’t end up unplugging it or pulling it out of her hand.  

“So I don’t want your excuses, I just want you to leave.  Shut up with all your reasoning and get the hell out!”  She pointed to the door and there were none in the room that doubted the sincerity of her words or actions.  Her face alone spoke of the upset and anger she felt.

Nic touched Marie’s arm and nodded towards the door.   Maybe it was best that they left and let Mel calm down.  She had enough of an upset at the dig site, then falling into the hole and getting a serious concussion, the last thing she needed now was for things to continue to escalate.  Ambrose followed Nic and Marie, touching the shoulder of Cam as he headed towards the door.  His granddaughter would calm and then maybe they could talk some reason, but all they would do now was continue to upset her and get themselves thrown out of the hospital.  That was not a good situation for anyone.

Just as Cade was beginning to turn towards Cam and the others leaving, another voice broke the uneasy silence that had only been punctuated by the beep of the machines behind Mel.  “NO!  You can be mad at me, you can hate me, you can curse me to all sorts of fates in Hell but I’m not fucking leaving Mel!  Not this time, not again!”  It was Klaus and he was now face to face with the svelt female who he now had by the upper arms as she tried to push against his chest.  “You are making no sense.  Not one lick of it.  They’re all afraid of upsetting you more, but I’m not going to let that fact make me do what the others have done because unlike them I fucking give a damn.  You want me out of this room; you’re going to have to hurt me bad enough that they have to put me in one like it.” His eyes bored into hers and his voice conveyed the seriousness of his words.  He’d take her anger and whatever came along with it but it was clear that she’d been hurt enough by those who left and he wasn’t going to be another one to do the same thing.  

It had been three days.  Nothing much had changed except the men had started to take shifts staying at the hospital and Mel had been moved out of ICU and into a normal room.  She was stable, her brain waves were normal, but for some reason she was just not waking up.  The doctors seemed mystified as to why she was still unconscious, but the prognosis was good.  She would wake up, it was just now a matter of WHEN she would wake up.

Klaus was sitting in the room in the chair next to the bed.  Mel’s hand rested lightly in his as the rough pad of his thumb gently stroked across the ridge of her knuckles.  As he looked over at Eric, who was asleep in the other chair he wondered how things could have gone south so damn fast.  If only one of them had been faster, if Alexander had grabbed her arm tighter, if…something…anything…had been different.  Nothing could be done now, he knew that.  Still he couldn’t stop his mind from analyzing every second of what had transpired at the dig site.  This type of analysis is what made him good at what he did; normally it helped him avoid repeating any accidents.  Now, now it just frustrated him and reminded him of every single thing he could have done to prevent them being where they were now.  

Looking down at his watch, he knew dawn would soon be approaching.  That would bring Nic back to the hospital along with the elder Mr. Meirs.  He had shown up the day after Mel had fallen and for a man in his 70’s was damn intimidating.  None of the men on the team wanted to cross him, especially after hearing how he’d killed his own son to save Mel years before.  None of them had met him before except Alexander, but they all had a healthy respect for him now.  When he was at the hospital, all others cleared the room to give him time with his granddaughter.  Klaus had to admit he wasn’t looking forward to that part of the day, but he would not argue with a man who had seen and done enough to earn his respect.

Slowly the light filtered into the room through the thin drapes that covered the window.  It bathed the walls and all within in a soft golden glow.  As he looked over to where Mel still rested, the corner of his lips turned up in a wry smile.  There in the golden light, she looked almost ethereal, something he found ironic when compared with her fiery temper and her headstrong personality.  She only looked weak and fragile, especially when dancing.  The truth was that she was tough and had the respect of the entire team.  They knew what had gone on in Peru, how she had stood up to the guerilla forces who had taken her team there hostage, how she had kept the entire team alive until their rescue could come, and they had also watched her when she came back and fought to find normalcy.  

During the time that there had been a price on her head, he had been one of the snipers who guarded her dance studio and the mansion in Gulfport where she resided while those responsible for what happened in Peru were hunted down and eliminated.  He had never seen her cower, and for that he was proud of her.  Even when the asshole assassin showed up that had tried to fucking kill her, which he still believed no matter what anyone else said, she hadn’t backed down and gone into a corner.  It’s what bothered him about the scene at the dig site.  While he had seen fear in her eyes before, never had he seen the sheer terror that had resided there when the artifact had affected her.  He could only hope that when those sky blues opened again that she wouldn’t try to run away again.  He still didn’t know what had happened, she hadn’t said anything, and that bothered him.

Klaus was so lost in thought that at first the slight flutter of Mel’s fingers barely registered.  It wasn’t till the second time that her fingertips danced across his palm that he was fully aware of it.  Sitting up quickly, he tried not to grab her hand too tightly. “Erik!”  He grit out between clenched teeth not to yell at his still sleeping brother.  

Groggy eyes and a popping back came as an answer when the other man sat up after hearing his brother’s voice, trying to figure out why his brother was agitated.  Their friend was still unconscious, but it was clear that something had caught Klaus’s attention.  “What the fuck you want Klaus?  I know my snoring wasn’t that damn bad.”  Erik grumbled as he ran a hand over his face a couple times.   He was sure there was SOMETHING that had his brother all worked up, but what it was hadn’t been seen yet.  

“I think she’s waking up.  Her hand moved.”  Klaus had barely finished answering when Erik was over next to the bed opposite his brother.  Both men stared at her face, almost as if they were willing her eyes to open once more.  The room seemed almost too silent as both men were perfectly still.  It was the opening of the door behind them that had them almost jumping out of their skin.

Erik spun around taking almost a defensive stature as Klaus came to his feet quickly, leaning over Mel protectively.  A very startled Nic, Ambrose, and Marie stood staring back at them.  For a moment, no one moved, not one word was spoken.  Slowly, the two males next to Mel began to relax and Marie let out a shaky breath that turned into a laugh.  “Morning chere’s.  Twas not our intention to startle you.  Ambrose and Dominic wanted me to come straight away to see my daughter.   Seems she is in a bad way and won’t wake up.”  A broad smile spread across the face of the woman who looked to be in her 30’s, yet almost needed another zero added to the end of that to reflect her true age.  

Erik moved from in front of Mel as Marie walked over, he had heard Nic speak highly of her and knew if she was there it was to help things.  He didn’t go far though, standing at the end of the bed and keeping a keen eye on the diminutive, yet obviously powerful woman.  Marie laid her hand on Mel’s forehead.  “She is choosing not to come out of this.  Pain, pain is buried deep within.”  The elegant and beautiful woman’s chocolate brown eyes closed, her brows furrowing just slightly as she was in deep concentration.  It was also clear from her countenance that she was troubled by whatever she was detecting.  “Fear and confusion is clouding her way out of the darkness.” She sighed softly and her hand gently caressed her daughter’s forehead.

Marie drew her hand back, opening her eyes and shaking her head softly.  “I have looked at the figurine that she had ahold of when this happened.  It distorted her view of reality, and I think that is what has her trapped in her mind.  She does not know what to believe.”  Marie looked at all of those gathered in the room, her gaze resting on each one for a couple of beats before moving onto the next.  “It holds a great amount of power all these many years later.  Melania’s latent powers flared it to life and she was not prepared for its effects.  I do not know the original purpose of the item, it is hard for me to imagine why someone would create something that would do this.  The images I saw when I held it were frightening, but I am more used to such magic.” Her voice held a great deal of concern and as she spoke her face became more and more troubled.  She was truly worried about her daughter.  

“I can awaken her, but I cannot predict how she will react to seeing you all.  It will take some time for her to come back to reality most likely.  Her brothers are on their way, they should be able to help, as will I.  None of you that were there can force anything.”  Marie’s back straightened, her chin lifted, and she looked again at each of them in turn.  “If you try, I will make sure you don’t try again and you will not like my methods.  I am a mother and I WILL protect my child.  Whether what happened was your fault, I care not.  What I do care about is if you further traumatize her.”

“We understand Mama Marie.”  Nic’s voice sounded strained, almost harsh, as he spoke from the back of the room.  He was trying to keep emotion from bleeding in, which made him sound cold and distant.  If there were any in the room who knew what the last year of Mel’s life had been like, it was Nic.  He had been there through it all, and could well understand why it would be that Mel would not want to come back from a blissful darkness in which she now kept herself.  One betrayal after another, false hopes that someone could be trusted.  If she ever fully trusted another human being again, he would be shocked.  The only thing keeping him from ending up on his knees was that she had survived the blow to the head from the pottery she’d landed on.  When he’d seen the blood his heart had stopped.

Marie nodded slowly before turning back to where Mel lay.  One hand went to her forehead while the other rested over her heart, a soft chant emanating from the powerful woman.  No one in the room could understand the language the words flowing from Marie’s lips were from, so all they could do was wait and hope whatever gods she was calling upon would respond, and respond the way they hoped.  A soft breeze started to swirl around the room, just barely brushing over the skin of all those assembled.  No windows were open and the door was closed, so there was no doubt where it was coming from.  It was another reminder how much true power the small woman before them held.

Seconds seemed to be minutes and minutes were hours until slowly Mel’s hands began to twitch again.  Marie stopped her chanting and slowly backed up to where Ambrose was standing.  Nic pushed off from the wall to stand on the other side of her, taking her hand in his.  He could not imagine how she had to feel seeing her daughter once more in such a state.  The look in her eyes was wary, and her expression grim as she slowly looked at Erik and Klaus.  Both felt as if they had stones in the pit of their stomachs as they waited.  Finally Melania’s eyes fluttered and opened.