Lacey's Luhpynes(25)

"Sounds good to me. Especially the drink part of it," she admitted to  him. "We will work out the details of everything later, for now I'm just  ready to get out of here. This place is creeping me out more and more  by the second," she confessed. "So yeah, the sooner we are out of the  wide open, the better."                       
       
           



       

"Stick close, Lacey. I know that will likely grate your independent  nature but,"-Zhubin shrugged-"I've got a feeling he's here, watching,  gauging us and figuring out what to do next. Don't give him a shot at  you. He's still likely planning to kill us but he'll take you out as  collateral if he can. But if he can grab you and leave us without a mate  he will."

"Yeah, too true and I feel as if the skin on my body is about to prickle  up and come off. I'm really not liking this feeling in the least, at  all. So yeah, if you wouldn't mind I think that it would be best if we  were able to just simply live through the night please." She teased him.

"Fully plan on it," he assured her. Winking, he looked up. "Ans, let's  give Briar a hand so she and her gang can get rolling." Looking back at  her, he pressed his fingers to her arm. "Stick close, no more than ten  feet from us until we leave. We'll get Briar moving and then have the  uniforms lock down the scene. We'll head out after that."

"That sounds like a plan to me." She watched Briar and how she  interacted with everyone. It wasn't just men from the other side of the  Veil, it was human men as well. Interesting. She had begun to loosen up,  however, they had all seen that. "So how close do you think he is?"  Lacey asked softly.

"Probably over in the brush line about forty yards from here. There's  enough shadows and with the slight breeze any movement he makes would be  camouflaged. He's far enough away and downwind but I can feel it on my  neck. My instincts are on full too," he said softly. "Let's get going, I  don't want you in the open any longer than necessary."

"Sounds good." She was starting to wig out like crazy as well. "I feel  as if my skin is crawling and someone is totally watching us. I hate  that feeling too." She felt as if she were being watched through a scope  right now and it was driving her crazy.

"I could just go and gut him," Ansell offered as he moved in closer. "It  would be my greatest pleasure to make him squeal like the little rat he  is."

"Ansell. It may not even be him. It could be someone he hired to keep  watch while he's planning his next step. Or it could be a homeless  person. Yes, someone is watching us but that is all we know." Zhubin's  voice carried the frown in his tone.

"Yeah. I think that no matter what he will keep himself hidden until the  last possible moment. He wouldn't take any chance at all at getting  caught, we both know it, honey. Even if he were close he wouldn't make a  mistake at getting caught." Lacey's voice came out after a deep breath,  one that it was obvious she had been holding.

"You two are just no fun at all. You need a hand with that?" he asked Briar, moving toward her straight on.

"He's in an awfully bloodthirsty mood. Not that I blame him in the  least, but we may need to keep him on the sidelines until after the full  moon. He tends to be even more temperamental than even I. And given I'm  not exactly." He frowned. "Damn it, I remember reading the nun's name  in your history but for the life of me I can't recall it. Did all those  good deeds, there's a saying involving her name." Zhubin looked to her  for assistance.

"You mean Mother Theresa?" Lacey supplied with a grin. "Because yeah, I  can't see either of you as her." She loved that about them though. They  were just as bloodthirsty as she was when it came to protecting those  that she thought of as hers. "Anyway, yeah let's get out of here before  he chooses not to listen to us, shall we?"

Nodding, he waved her ahead of him but he was right on her heels.  Slightly behind her, a protective position, his whole demeanor harder  now. He was watching the shadows, she was sure. "I want Briar and her  people out of here before we leave. The uniforms are in large enough  numbers I doubt he'll do anything if it is him. But I won't let Briar or  her people get hurt."

"Agreed," Lacey murmured. She looked to Briar and gave a winding motion  of the hand and when the ME nodded she said, "She knows something is up,  you can tell by the way that she's moving." Briar had moved so that  there were at least three uniforms between her and the shadows. "They  will have the body bagged and boarded in likely two to three minutes."  Tops.

"I know, she's nothing if not fully efficient. Just like you." He smiled  down at her. "And she'll do it faster so that Ansell can't keep bugging  her." He chuckled. "I swear he's totally doing it on purpose because he  knows it spurs her on while keeping her mind off things."                       
       
           



       

"This is very true." Snickering, Lacey nodded. "I would lay money down  that he's doing it just to annoy the hell out of her. I know that look  and it's totally one that screams him bothering her just to get her ass  in gear. I know because he's used it on me far more than once."

"It's effective, you have to admit," he said, pointing. "Look at that,  she's practically throwing everyone into the van and racing for her car.  She just wants to get away from him. Not really a bad plan, given  everything here."

Lacey snickered and shook her head. "When she figures out how you boys  manipulated her she's gonna be out for blood, you do realize that,  right? She's gonna be in your faces and I'm just going to sit back and  giggle."

"If she ever gets back to herself enough to get into our faces I'll  stand there and take it," Ansell commented from behind her. "But she's  not there yet and if this helps get her there, get her past the fear of  men, so be it. I'll take whatever the fuck she has to say in the end."

"Yeah, let's just hope that she can get back to herself soon because I  miss the old Briar. The in-your-face and giving-you-hell Briar." That's  why Lacey and Briar got along so well, they were both kindred spirits.

"We all miss her," Zhubin said softly. "But I doubt she'll truly heal  until we catch the Luhpyne asshole who hurt her. Whom we will catch,  soon. Come, let's clear out of here. I don't like having you standing  out in the open like this Lace."

"Agreed." Lacey moved with Zhubin, it was time for them to get the hell  outta Dodge and worry about one issue at a time and she knew it. "We  will figure stuff out but one issue at a time. Since my guy is trying to  kill me I think we should deal with that first and then we will find  Briar's pain in the ass and make him pay."

"And we will," Ansell said, looping his arm around her shoulders. "We'll  find him, kick his ass, rearrange his parts and then do the same to  Briar's rapist. It's been too long since I've gotten to beat on someone.  It's way beyond time," he muttered.

"Exactly," Lacey agreed. "But I think that honestly one that would  benefit the most from it is Briar." Shrugging, she added, "All that I  know is that if something like that happened to me I would want to be  right there to peel his face off personally."

"Yes and we adore how bloodthirsty you are, darling." He nodded. "I just  worry that Briar wouldn't be able to even get near enough to spit on  him. He hurt her bad Lace," Ansell murmured. "I just wished we could do  more, help her through this in some other way."

"Yeah, sadly I think that you are right. I honestly think that right now  the only things that will help her are time and perhaps if she met her  mates. I really think that nothing else will suffice for her sadly."

"I don't even know if she'd let them close to her," he commented.  Shaking his head, he pulled open the passenger door. "Hop on in and  slide over. I'm feeling the need to keep you boxed in and close to us  right now."

"That's okay because I am feeling the same thing," she confessed. "So,  between the two of you is an amazing place to be." She felt safe there.  She wasn't going to touch the thoughts she had of Briar and the long  road she had before her. It simply wasn't something she wanted to even  think about.

Zhubin got them moving as soon as the door shut. "We're heading straight  home. But we will need to call in and let the Captain know that this  asshole tried to blow us up, again. Because the next scene could be one  of ours, we step off and someone else goes in and gets hurt."