Humans. He'd been about to ask Gentry if he was fucking humans now. Blaire backed toward the wall slowly.
Movements slow and calculated, Gentry maneuvered himself gracefully between Blaire and the others, his back to her, and now she could hear it clearly-that snarl in his throat. She'd thought it was habit, and he'd been quiet about it, but now it sounded like an animal. It sounded like a wolf.
Tears blurred her vision as her back hit the wall. She'd never been more terrified in her life.
"Blaire, no one will hurt you." Gentry tossed her a glance over his shoulder. "You have to settle down or you'll set them off."
"No one will hurt her?" Roman asked, jumping off the counter and barely making a sound as he landed. "What you're doing is punishable by death, Gentry. Yours and hers."
"Roman," the other man warned.
"Fuck off, Asher." Roman cast him a glare and dragged his attention back to Blaire before Gentry cut off her line of sight with his wide shoulders. "No wonder you were a favorite, Gentry. No wonder! Dad saw you in him, right? Human fucker? He was doing it and saw the same weakness in his favorite boy. Made him love you even more. Made me and Asher invisible because we weren't weak like you!" Roman yelled the last three words, and Blaire jumped hard. "This will get you killed. It'll get her killed. It'll get me and Asher killed. This ain't your town anymore! It's Rhett's, and he will use this as an excuse to end the Striker line. And why the fuck is Winter's Edge trashed?"
"I don't know, Roman! Back the fuck off!"
"You were supposed to be running this place, right? Destiny and all. Instead, Dad died alone, unprotected, and his legacy is trashed, and what are you doing?" Roman jammed a finger at Blaire and raised his eyebrows at Gentry.
One last step was all Gentry allowed before he blurred to the man and blasted him across the face. But Roman was ready and hooked his arm around the back of Gentry's neck, taking them both to the ground. And there they went to work pummeling each other.
"Gentry!" Blaire screamed as he slammed the man against the hardwood floor.
Asher was searching the thrashed liquor cabinet like there wasn't this awful frenzied fight happening in the middle of the bar.
"Do something!" she pleaded with Asher as Gentry lifted Roman into the air and slammed him onto a table, shattering it to splinters.
Asher tossed her a slit-eyed glare as though offended she'd even talk to him and went back to searching cabinets. He found a bottle of what looked like Jim Beam and took a long drag, tossed the cap onto the counter, and then walked out the way he came without a second glance for the two clashing titans.
Fury blasted through her. Enough was enough, and everyone had bled all over the brand new clean floors. She'd been lied to, and she was pissed! Adrenaline pumping through her, she screeched at Roman, who was straddling Gentry, pounding his face. Dicks everywhere. Dicks and blood and bruises and scars and tattoos, and these men were freaking ridiculous. Blaire picked up a ladder back chair, and before she could stop herself, she swung it like a bat and shattered the old wooden seat across Roman's back.
The bearded man rocked forward and froze, his fist clenched mid-air. Gentry had his hand on Roman's throat, and his face was beat red, but when Roman turned a slow, deadly golden gaze on her, she instantly regretted getting involved.
"Accident?" she tried with her face scrunched up.
"Are you trying to die faster?" Roman gritted out.
Blaire stomped her snow boot on the floor. "That's enough! I didn't ask for any of this … this … whatever is happening! I've been through hell, and I'm having a nice break from work, and I like Gentry the whatever-he-is. He's cute and a little terrifying, but mostly nice, and there will be no more death-talk on my fucking vacation."
"You said fucking," Gentry muttered from the floor. His lip was split, but he was smiling.
Roman shoved off him, stood, circled back, and kicked him in the ribs, but Gentry just blocked him and said, "You kick like a girl."
Roman flipped him off and then flipped Blaire off, too, before he strode out the door, still butt-naked. He tried to slam the door behind him, but it gently swung closed, and he roared a sound of pure frustration.
Gentry stood slowly and rested one hand on his hip. He pressed the back of his wrist onto his bloody lip as he glared out the window at Roman, who was stomping through the snow like an angry yeti.
At a complete loss on how to tackle anything that had just happened, Blaire murmured, "Well, tonight was weird."
Chest heaving, body shredded, naked as a jaybird and shaking, Gentry gave her a strange look, trapping her in that wild green gaze of his for a few moments. Suddenly, he let off a single laugh.
"I have a hundred questions," she admitted.
"Well, I can't answer any of them, so swallow those back down."
"Fantastic. Can I ask you one question I think you can answer?" She had a hunch, but she wanted to know for sure.
"Fine," Gentry muttered, shifting his weight.
"Whoooo are those terrifying men?"
Gentry rolled his eyes closed and sighed. When he looked at her again, his expression was exhausted. "Those would be my brothers."
Chapter Thirteen
Well, last night had been terrific. Blaire poked the dark circles under her eyes. Her dreams had been riddled with avalanches and monsters chasing her through the woods, and she'd given up on sleep sometime around five this morning.
Vacations were supposed to be sleeping in and rest and relaxation, but the Striker brothers had taken all sense of safety away from her. Well, except Gentry. As much as she tried to convince herself he was scary, he'd been tender with her last night, and then put himself in front of her and protected her from Roman.
What she needed was a day away from this place for some clarity, so she could wrap her head around what was actually going on in Rangeley. This wasn't some fun mystery to unravel anymore. There was an entire supernatural dynamic here that she knew nothing about. And from the mention of the rules and the deadly consequences, she was pretty sure she would never find out.
And now her head and heart were all mixed up. Head said Gentry was dangerous to get involved with, but heart didn't care. Heart thought this was a great idea, to attach to a man of a different … species? Was this even okay? He wasn't human, and she was, and maybe there were rules because it was wrong. Or something. Also, in addition to her head and heart was her needy vagina that kept her eyes on the prize, and that was another tempting body-smush with Sexy Gentry. Couldn't be wrong, not if it had felt this right.
She glared at her tired face in the mirror and applied an extra layer of concealer to cover the dark circles. Then she plumped her lips with a glossy pink and pulled her jacket and purse off the chair in the bedroom.
Blaire let the door bang closed behind her and jogged down the porch stairs with a bounce in her step.
"Mornin', human." Roman called from the porch of the smallest cabin next door. He was clad in teal underwear, a faux-fur winter hat with ear flaps, and unlaced snow boots. He was also eating a bowl of cereal.
"Question," she said, coming to a stop in front of the porch and doing her best not to look at his big dick bulging in his undies. "When would you say it's too early for day drinking?"
Roman slurped a bite of cereal, and with a full mouth said, "No such thing as too early."
"That was my first instinct, too." She turned, but hesitated. "Aren't you cold?"
"I don't get cold."
"Terrific. Stay weird, Roman."
"Will do. Hey human?" Roman called.
"Yeees," she drawled, annoyed with the nickname. She knew what he was doing. He was making sure she knew she was separate from the rest of them. "Gentry left you a present in the front seat of your car. I opened it." His eyes weren't gold anymore, but a vivid sky blue as they narrowed. "You're playing a dangerous game. Both of you are. One that will get you hurt."
"Is that a threat?"
Roman gave her an empty smile. "A promise."
Something moved behind him, and Blaire startled hard when Asher stood from a rocking chair and approached the railing. He locked his arms against it and dragged his gaze down her body and back to her face. She hadn't even realized he was there, he'd been so still.
"Blaire Hayward, acquisitions editor for Always Ink Publisher, divorced, and human. Bad match in more ways than one." He jerked his chin toward the big cabin, ten-ten, where Gentry stayed. "I have no spare love for my brother, but he deserves better than a mate who doesn't know how to stick around and will get him killed."