Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

LIAM

T he plan was just this side of crazy, but it was also sexy as hell. From the first time she proposed it, I’d been curious as hell to see how she would pull it off. Not if she could, but how she would. Kellan stood three feet from me, arms folded and his expression a mask of contained concern.

“She’s been practicing,” I reminded him. We’d segregated the warehouse to create a stable background for her target and to give her the room for mistakes. We’d also banned all the rats during her sessions, as much to keep their eyes off her while she practiced. Particularly since most of it involved her being in leotards with lots of skin on display.

While she might not care if they stared at her, she was used to performing, it was better for the rest of us and the rats’ health if they didn’t indulge in any wolf whistling or other behavior. Hellspawn was gorgeous, and grew more beautiful with every single day. She had all the right curves in all the right places. Her muscle definition was back and she wore a smile like some women did a ten thousand dollar diamond necklace.

Perfection.

“I get that. I’ve even watched her practice.” The even tone Kellan used didn’t betray his opinion of the practice rounds.

“She got better.” The first few rounds had been… Well, painful and entertaining are not two words that should be linked as they were. I’d winced more than once and damn near laughed on far too many occasions.

“She’s—something else,” Kellan admitted and I heard every definition of “something else” that he didn’t say aloud. I agreed with all of them. He blew out a breath. “It’s not that I don’t think she can do it. I know she can, whether it’s today or tomorrow. She will do it.”

“It’s that doing it opens doors to more challenges?” I’d seen it coming on the road with her performances. I wasn’t alone in that. Vaughn, Freddie, and Rome had all said variations on the same thing since the tour began. I’d been anticipating Rome getting up there with her as a partner, and that was coming with the next run of shows.

He’d been more than ready for it, but he’d waited for her to be ready. The past year had been one challenge after another for Hellspawn. From ending Bradley Sharpe to backing Milo and the others in Prague when it came to dealing with King—the world was so much better off without either of those men in it—, she’d come into herself and cemented the ties between all of us. She’d helped us as much as she’d let us help her, sometimes I thought more.

The tour? The tour was just her reclaiming another piece of her own life, making her mark. It had taken her time, sweat, and effort, but I’d watched the joy bleed back into her. Reclaiming the stage let her take back another piece they’d tried to steal from her. She was getting back every damn piece she wanted and more besides.

“She can handle it,” I said when Kellan hadn’t responded to the question. Hellspawn was setting up the bow and the arrows while Vaughn rechecked the targets. Freddie had claimed a seat on one of the crates with Jasper standing there, arms folded and looking like tension vibrated around him in a cloud.

Rome appeared to be perfectly relaxed. Then again, little worried my other half, particularly when she was directly in front of us. Nothing would touch her that we didn’t allow the privilege and he was within arm’s reach should she require anything.

“Doc is on his way,” Kellan said after he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“He had new arrivals today,” I said, more stating it than asking but I glanced at Kel for his nod of confirmation. The safe houses offered shelter and protection to abused women, teens, and children. They kept Doc busy and he thrived on being able to do something. “He take Theo with him?”

Kellan nodded. Doc’s schedule meant Theo didn’t always get to hang with Doc as often as he wanted. It also meant we made time for him. Another reason I respected Doc’s work, his devotion to it didn’t take a damn thing away from any of us, not Theo, not Hellspawn, hell not Freddie.

It was also why I was more than happy to invest. I had my accountants already setting up a cash stream so Doc could access it at his discretion. Not everyone could do the work he did. So it was better to make sure he had all the resources at his disposal.

“He’ll be here,” I said, then folded my arms as I fought the urge to go over and sweep Hellspawn up and steal her away for the night. We were all giving her and Freddie a lot of space for the dance they were doing. Didn’t mean I didn’t want the time with her too, but I could be patient. Freddie needed her attention and fuck knew, I wanted it to work for them.

“Yep,” Kellan said, tucking the phone away. Jasper drifted over to stand on the other side of Kel.

“I know she described this, but am I the only one feeling a little tense at the moment?”

“No,” I said in the same moment as Kellan. In front of us, Hellspawn was in a hand stand and she was using her feet to pick up the bow, along with the arrow she had set up to have it notched.

Every controlled motion elongated her legs and showed off the muscle definition in them. More, the lines of her arms stood out in sharp relief as she maneuvered on her hands. The problem was the angle. How the hell was she supposed to see her shot?

I wasn’t the only one canting my head to track her movements. “She’s been practicing,” I repeated the earlier phrase, more as a reminder to myself than to them.

“Yeah,” Jasper said, rubbing a hand over his mouth as though masking his response. “That’s not really making me feel better at the moment.”

“No,” Kellan said slowly. Hellspawn had the bow and arrow aimed at the target.

“Clear,” Vaughn said as he moved away. She had the arrow nocked, but she wasn’t drawing back on the string.

“Why is she doing this again?” For some reason, sweat gathered at the back of my neck and slid down my spine. I knew all the reasons, I could tick them off easily. At the same time…

“Challenges,” Kellan responded.

“Pushing herself,” Jasper added.

“She’s good,” Freddie said and I hadn’t even realized he’d drifted over to join us as she got into position. The guys weren’t saying anything so I assumed this was part of the process. If she was essentially aiming at the target she didn’t have to correct anymore?

There was no fucking reason to be this nervous. Hellspawn could do this. She could do any goddamn thing she set her mind to. The mental castigation only got me so far, I still held my breath when she pulled back on the string.

Without hesitation, she fired and the arrow thwocked against the target, but outside of the ring and it bounced to the floor.

“Dammit,” she swore.

“Three degrees to the left,” Rome told her as he crossed over to set another arrow in place for her. The whole time, she maintained her position, upside down, on her hands, back arched with her legs angled so she could grip the bow and arrow.

“Got it,” she murmured, the softness of her voice underscoring her concentration. She shifted her position and it was just a gradual one. Three degrees to the left.

“Clear,” Vaughn repeated.

Good plan. Make sure she knew she wasn’t going to accidentally shoot one of us. The next five seconds ticked by almost endlessly as she pulled back on the string and then the arrow flew.

This time it struck the target, and inside the ring. I wasn’t alone in cheering even as Jasper whistled.

“Another two degrees,” was all Rome said and I shook my head. She needed a break from that angle but she took the next arrow and had it set up.

Vaughn called clear and the arrow flew. This one struck the inside ring, right on it, but still inside.

“Nailed it,” Vaughn called and she lowered the bow slowly, setting it down before she rolled the rest of the way and to her feet.

Jasper had her up and swung her around. “That was amazing. You’re also absolutely crazy.”

Her laughter was the perfect response. Sweat soaked her face and left her hair damp. She hugged Jasper and locked gazes with me over his shoulder.

“Looking good, Hellspawn.” The compliment only made her smile widen.

“Water break,” Vaughn said. “Then we’ll reset.”

“Her arms are going to fall off,” Kellan muttered as Jasper rejoined us. I wasn’t so sure about that, currently Hellspawn fisted a bottle of water and she didn’t even show a sign of trembling.

“She can handle it,” Freddie said, absolute confidence underscoring every word. “Touring with her taught me a lot.”

He had all of our attention.

“She doesn’t quit and she has endurance for days. The harder something is, the more she’ll push. Each time I think it’s too much, she proves to me it isn’t.” He shrugged. “It’s wild.”

Frankly, I couldn’t argue with that. “Once we got into self-defense training, she was a lot like that too.” Get past her reserve and she was tenacious as hell.

“I don’t know why any of us would be shocked by that,” Jasper said, his tone far more self-deprecating than judgmental. “If she wasn’t this stubborn, she wouldn’t have survived.”

“You guys doing okay?” she called as she swung her arms and stretched them a little while pacing around her mark. She tapped a spot on the floor and Rome moved to add a small X with the chalk.

“We’re doing just fine, Sparrow,” Kellan told her. “Enjoying the view.”

She grinned.

“I like an easy audience.”

“Keep it up, Hellspawn,” I teased her and earned another of her laughs.

Rome said something to her and she turned to him.

“Can I ask you guys something?” Freddie said, shifting to face us rather than Hellspawn.

“What’s up?” Jasper asked, taking point like he always did with Freddie. The bond between the pair had always made Jasper a natural for Freddie to reach out to when he was in trouble.

Instead of answering immediately, Freddie glanced over his shoulder to where Hellspawn was counting off the paces between her mark and the target.

“I… Just, you know Boo-Boo and I are dating?”

“Yep,” Jasper said easily. When Freddie glanced at Kellan and me, though, we both nodded. The dating had become a little more formal, but they were spending dedicated time together.

Freddie didn’t follow-up his question with anything more. Worry raked its claws across my belly. The past few months had been good for Freddie. The time on the road, he’d been sleeping better. He wasn’t using, maintaining his sobriety seemed to be working and he just—seemed happier.

He was, right?

“Going again,” Hellspawn called. “Going to nail it on the first shot.”

“You can do it,” Freddie replied immediately. “You got this, Boo-Boo. Or you know, you could always do strip shooting, lose a piece of clothing for each arrow that doesn’t land.”

I snorted. Jasper groaned, but Kellan just shook his head.

“You wish,” was all she said before she rolled back up into her handstand. There was just something deeply sexy about how aware of her body she was and how much control she could exhibit.

“I want to do more with Boo-Boo than just date,” Freddie said abruptly, his voice pitched low and his attention on us. “I want… I want a real relationship. Like you guys have. I want to be able to have sex with her and not freak out.”

“Have you freaked out?” I didn’t think he had, but I still wanted to ask.

Freddie frowned. “No, but we also haven’t done as much as I would like…I mean…”

None of us prompted him. We let him sort it out. This was not a conversation he needed to worry about having, no matter how long it took him.

“Clear!” Vaughn said, though his attention was divided between us and Em. I had to wonder if Freddie had already had this conversation with them.

It was possible.

“She’s been teaching me to dance.” Freddie wasn’t looking at us. “It means she touches me and I touch her.”

Made sense.

“How is that going?” Damn, sometimes I forgot how easy Jasper could be and how gentle.

“Good, I think.” Freddie paused, then shook his head. “No, I know it’s good. Sometimes it feels like my chest is gonna explode, but she always seems to know and backs off.”

She probably did know. Her reaction the first time I’d teased her ass. Yeah, she had her own triggers. Her own wounds to heal.

“I hate that she knows and at the same time…” Freddie blew out a breath. “I’m so goddamn grateful for her.”

“Agreed,” I echoed the same sentiment as Kellan and Jasper. Then, Hellspawn fired and the arrow landed inside the second ring, but it thwocked into the target neatly.

I put two fingers to my lips and wolf-whistled. She laughed but Rome was already bringing her another arrow.

“How do I know though?” Freddie said abruptly, facing us. “Like dancing is great. Touching her is great, but—how do I know when I’ll be okay with the touching and the naked?”

None of us could answer that. None of us had Freddie’s experiences. The fact it happened to him long before we’d ever known him didn’t make me hate what happened to him any less. Or wish we’d been introduced sooner.

I’d love a list of names. I’d love to scratch them off.

“Shrike,” I said when Kellan and Jasper both seemed to be taking their time. “The only one who can answer that is you. But the one piece of advice I can give you is trust her. No matter how fast or slow you want to go, let her be your partner. She can do it.” Then because I needed the reminder as much as they did, even as she let the second arrow fly and it hit the bullseye. “She’s a hell of a lot tougher than she looks.”

“I know she is,” Freddie said before he whistled and applauded. But instead of taking a break, Hellspawn had Rome bring her another arrow.

We were going to be here all night.

It was fine, nowhere else I’d rather be.