“Thank you.”
Ethan opened his eyes at Calvin’s soft words. He looked down, and Calvin stopped dancing to stand on his toes and kiss Ethan. Their friends cheered, and Ethan returned Calvin’s kiss, pulling him up against him. Calvin laughed against his lips and threw his arms around him. He’d never been happier. They pulled apart and danced in each other’s arms until someone knocked on the front door. It looked like the guests were finally arriving. Bradley emerged from behind the bar and went to open the door, greeting the group as they came in. A few Ethan recognized from work; some he’d never seen before. They came dressed up in suits and flapper dresses, feathers in their hair and gifts in their hands. As if sensing his unease, Calvin took hold of Ethan’s hand.
“Come on. Let’s get something to drink,” Calvin said, leading him toward the bar. The end of the bar was always more comfortable for Ethan. It meant he was less likely to get boxed in. They ordered drinks from one of the waiters, and Calvin started chatting to him about ideas for Dex’s tattoo. Ethan loved when Calvin talked about his art. He was always so passionate and excited when he talked about it. Like when they were kids and his mom would buy him a new sketchbook. One year, Calvin’s mom had managed to save up enough money to get him some fancy colored pencils that professionals used. Calvin still had them. He’d been so careful with them, cherishing them, using them only for extra-special projects. Even though he could now afford to buy himself whatever colored pencils he wanted, he kept those safe.
Less than a couple hours later, Ethan couldn’t believe how packed the place was. The whole thing made him feel a little nervous, but he was okay. The music was good, with some fun eighties tunes thrown in the mix, courtesy of a certain loveable gummy-bear-eating nutjob who was bouncing around on the dance floor while his partner attempted to keep up. Dex was obviously already tipsy, but then again it didn’t take much. Nina had finally shown up before the majority of the guests arrived. She looked dazzling in her white flapper dress and glittering silver headpiece with feathers. Ethan hadn’t seen her come in, and she was alone. He had a sneaking suspicion Rafe was keeping a low profile. He had to admit, he was worried. Would Rafe be here as Nina’s boyfriend or “work colleague”? Things were getting far too complicated for Ethan’s liking. He didn’t want to see anyone hurt, not even his brother. Rafe would never admit it to Ethan or Seb, but his brother cared about Nina.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Seb either. Hudson had arrived, looking snazzy in a blue three-piece suit and striped tie, and he’d disappeared sometime after. Occasionally he’d appear at the bar or chatting at one of the tables with coworkers and friends. Cael and Nina were dancing in the center of the crowded floor, blowing on their party favor horns. Everyone was having a great time. After a few more snacks and another beer, the music started getting a little loud for Ethan, and the bar was getting crowded. Calvin put his hand to the small of Ethan’s back and nodded toward the stairs.
“Hey, how about we go up to the roof garden? It’s a little quieter and less busy. I could use some fresh air.”
Ethan’s heart swelled at Calvin’s thoughtfulness. Calvin didn’t need a break; he knew Ethan did. Ethan took Calvin’s hand and laced their fingers together. A blush crept into Calvin’s cheeks, and Ethan leaned in to kiss him. It was the first time they were out in public as a couple. He led Calvin to the stairs and headed up. The second floor was packed, though not as much as the ground floor. They took the second set of stairs up to the roof. Ethan liked it up here. There was outdoor heating and a roof that helped keep the cold out. It was pretty amazing, decorated with strings of lights and colorful lanterns. There were tables and a small bar, along with plenty of seating where folks could get cozy. Calvin had excused himself to say hi to someone when Seb and Taylor showed up. Seb grinned broadly when he saw Ethan.
“Hey, little brother. Rocking that cardigan.”
He threw an arm around Ethan’s shoulders and gave the side of his head a kiss. Ethan chuckled and playfully shoved him away. He made a drinking motion, and Seb poked Ethan’s side with a chuckle.
“No, I’m not drunk, wise guy.”
He ordered a drink for himself and one for Taylor, who was trying to chat up one of Nina’s cousins. Here we go. Ethan motioned to Seb’s brown three-piece suit before putting his thumbs up.
“Thanks. You know me. Not exactly the suit type, but it feels nice.”
While Taylor was busy, Ethan leaned into Seb to whisper in his ear. “How come you’re up here? Party’s downstairs.”
There were a number of people up here but nowhere near the crowds downstairs. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, except his big brother.
Seb shrugged. “Just needed a break from the noise.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Ethan’s heart squeezed in his chest, and he whispered again.
“Hudson?”
“Can’t hide anything from you, can I?” Seb replied with a sad smile. “Yeah. At work it’s not so bad. I don’t really see him around, and when I need something, I call Nina instead.” Seb rubbed a hand over his face in frustration. “I thought it would get easier. It’s supposed to get easier.” He shook his head somberly. “But every time I see him, it kills me.”
“Why do you do that to yourself?” Sure, there was something Seb could do. He knew it was especially hard with Seb having marked Hudson, but he couldn’t go on like this. It was steadily getting worse. His brother was always so cheerful and playful, it broke Ethan’s heart.
“I don’t know how not to love him, Ethan.”
Ethan swallowed hard. The anguish on his brother’s face was hard to see. Before Ethan could reply, Taylor appeared, throwing his arm around Seb’s shoulders.
“Listen, bro. I heard about what happened. Sorry things didn’t work out with Cael. You two looked good together. Man, I can’t believe he chose Keeler. Him and Daley have a hard-on for fucked-up guys. You took him home a couple of times before that. Tell me you at least got to bang him.”
Unbelievable. Ethan glared at Taylor, when he happened to glance over Taylor’s shoulder. His eyes widened, and a lump formed in his throat. Ethan tugged at Seb’s sleeve. His brother turned around, and Ethan could almost feel his brother’s pain when he saw Hudson standing there looking devastated. When Hudson spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.
“You and Cael?”
“It’s not what you think,” Seb said quietly, taking a hesitant step toward Hudson. “It was a few drinks. We didn’t—”
Hudson held a hand up. “You don’t owe me an explanation, Sebastian. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Lobito, please.”
“Don’t,” Hudson warned sharply before seeming to get ahold of his emotions. He straightened and smoothed out his vest. “Please don’t call me that. Excuse me.” He started to turn, when Seb caught his arm.
“It was drinks and talking. Nothing happened.”
Hudson tried to pull his arm out of Seb’s grip to no avail. “Sebastian, please….”
“He’s in love with Ash, and I’m—”
“Stop,” Hudson pleaded.
His grief was as heartbreaking as Seb’s, and Ethan wished he could do something to help. The despair filled the air like a thick fog. It made Ethan anxious. He hated seeing his brother hurting, and Hudson had always been a good friend to him. There was a time when Ethan believed Hudson would become part of their family. The two had been so in love, as if they’d always been together. From the first day they met, they’d been drawn to each other. Ethan cared about Hudson very much, but he couldn’t understand why Hudson was determined to be apart from Seb when he clearly still loved him deeply. Why was he torturing himself? Especially since his pain would be greater than Seb’s, considering he was the one bearing his ex-lover’s mark.
“I love you.” Seb put his hand over his heart, his grip still on Hudson’s arm. “I told myself that I could move on, that my heart would heal, but after all this time, the wound’s
only gotten deeper. I need you in my life, Lobito.”
Hudson swallowed hard. A tear rolled down his cheek, and Seb brushed it aside with his thumb. “Our bond is as strong now as it ever was. I can’t stand to be away from you. Please, come back to me. I know you still love me.”
Something flashed in Hudson’s blue eyes, and his gaze turned hard. “You’re wrong.”
“And you’re lying,” Seb replied, moving his hand to Hudson’s neck, his thumb stroking Hudson’s skin. A visible shudder went through Hudson before he pulled away.
“I’ve moved on.”
Seb flinched.
Ethan didn’t know how much longer he could take this. The anger, hurt, and pain was overwhelming. Whoever had been on the roof garden when Hudson showed up, they were gone now. It wasn’t some scandalous fight their coworkers would gossip about the next day. This was something that cut deep. Everyone in Unit Alpha felt for Seb and Hudson. Please, Hudson. You love him. Calvin placed his hand to the small of Ethan’s back, and he felt himself calm.
Hudson straightened to his full height and lifted his chin. He pushed his glasses up his nose, his voice laced with a harsh tone unbecoming of him, one Ethan didn’t like.
“It’s time for you to move on, Sebastian. We can never get back what we had. It’s over.”
“Sweetheart….”
“We let a child die!” Hudson snapped. “We were so wrapped up in our perfect little world, we failed to protect those who counted on us. We swore an oath, and we bloody botched that up in spectacular fashion, didn’t we?”
Seb shook his head. “That’s on me.”
“Listen to yourself! The guilt is still eating away at you.” Hudson turned away from Seb, his voice quiet. “Well, it eats away at me too. Can’t you see that? What we had died that day with that poor boy. There’s no bringing either back. Please, for both our sakes, let me go.”
“I can’t.”
“Then I’ll have to take the initiative.” Hudson met Seb’s gaze, his expression firm. “Unless there is no other option, considering we both work in the same unit, I’d like you to stay away from me. Good-bye, Sebastian.”
Hudson walked off, and Ethan’s heart sank. He’d thought that was it, but by the look on his brother’s face, it was clearly not over. Seb followed Hudson.
“I know what you’re doing, and you have to stop right now. You can’t hide your emotions away in a little box and lock them up without losing a piece of you, without locking everything else up too. I know you. You shut your heart away until you don’t feel anything at all. I won’t let you do that to yourself.”
“You really have no say in what I do or don’t do to myself,” Hudson replied sternly as he headed for the stairs with Seb on his heels.
Ethan quickly followed his brother, Calvin sticking close to him. He didn’t like where this was heading. Hudson was determined to push Seb away, and his brother was having none of it. After years of Seb backing off every time Hudson asked him to, it would seem his brother was trying a different approach. Ethan wanted to do something, but he had no idea what. They followed Hudson as he pushed his way through the crowd on the ground floor toward the front of the bar, when the brewing shitstorm erupted into a tempest.
Nina and Rafe sat in a booth by the door kissing.
Ethan could see the exact moment in which Hudson’s heart finished shattering, but Ethan had bigger concerns than Hudson at that moment, and it was in the form of his seven-foot, three-hundred-pound brother launching himself at his even bigger brother, Rafe.
“You son of a bitch!”
Ethan took a step back, shaking his head as Seb landed a punch across Rafe’s face.
“For years you blamed what happened on my being in a relationship with Hudson, giving me shit for it, and you’re with Nina?”
“Get the fuck off me!” Rafe growled, pushing Seb away.
Hudson stood frozen, his wide eyes on Nina. “You and him?”
Nina quickly exited the booth and held her hands up. “Hon, please let me explain.”
“Explain?” Hudson’s pale skin flushed a deep crimson, his eyes reddened and glassy. “How could you keep this from me? I confided in you. You knew everything. You knew that bloody arsehole tried to get me sacked, and you’re sleeping with him!”
Seb stared at Rafe in disbelief. “You tried to get Hudson fired?”
“He ruined your career,” Rafe spat out heatedly. “He put you and our family through hell. We got death threats!”
“What?” Hudson looked aghast.
“That’s right,” Rafe replied through his teeth. “Seb never told you, but we got threats. Someone jumped him and tried to stab him, and that was after someone tried to run him down. Bet he didn’t tell you that either. You ruined his fucking life!”
“He didn’t do shit except put up with your disgraceful behavior time and time again. You’re such a fucking hypocrite,” Seb growled, shoving Rafe.
Having had enough of getting pushed around by Seb, Rafe pushed back. A fight broke out between them, both ignoring Hudson and Nina’s pleas to stop. Ethan felt his anxiety bubbling up. He’d never liked it when his brothers fought. When he was little he’d cry at the top of his lungs, screaming until he was blue in the face and made himself sick. Soon the crying had become enough for them to stop, but when Ethan turned seven, he stopped crying, yet the horrible sick feeling it gave him remained.
During the really bad fights, he’d run to his room and shut himself in his closet with his headphones and his music so he wouldn’t hear them. Seb would always come find him afterward and apologize. He’d make Ethan hot chocolate and explain why they’d fought. It didn’t mean Ethan could stop feeling the way he did. For all of Rafe’s faults, he was still Ethan’s big brother, and he loved him.
Ethan wanted to shout at them to stop, but his throat closed up. He wished Sloane and Ash were here. Hudson wasn’t big enough to pull two tiger Therians apart, and Ethan didn’t want Calvin getting hurt. A crowd gathered, and Ethan felt his agitation growing. There were so many people, and the noise was hurting his ears. It was getting hard to breathe.
Seb punched Rafe, and Rafe tackled him to the floor. They thrashed around, cursing and shouting at each other, blaming each other, hitting.
Please, stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.
Rafe grabbed Seb and hauled him to his feet. Ethan shook his head. He started to tremble and wheeze. He knew he shouldn’t fight it, that he could tolerate the discomfort. That it couldn’t hurt him and would dissipate soon enough, but he couldn’t stop himself. There was nothing he could do. His brothers needed him, and there was nothing he could do. He was a horrible, useless brother. Everyone probably thought so. They were probably watching him and wondering why he was so useless. Ethan’s heart raced, and his fingers got tingly. Sweat dripped down his face, and he made a strangled sound.
Calvin and Hudson were at Ethan’s side trying to calm him, but Ethan couldn’t breathe. There were so many people. It felt like everyone was watching him, judging him. He was frozen to the spot, his chest tight.
“Seb, it’s Ethan!”
Seb and Rafe pushed away from each other, and Seb hurried over just as Ethan heard a familiar “pop.” On instinct he turned and grabbed Calvin, bringing him down to the floor as Rafe lunged for Nina and shouted to the crowd.
“Get down!”
Everyone hit the floor as a spray of bullets shattered Dekatria’s glass windows and splintered the wooden beams, tearing through everything and anything. Screams and shouts echoed through the room as everyone scrambled and dropped to the floor. Ethan covered Calvin with his body, shielding him from the falling glass and debris. Tires shrieked as a car sped off. Ethan’s adrenaline kicked in, and as soon as the noise stopped, he looked up and out the front. It was clear. He swiftly got to his feet and pulled Calvin up with him. They needed to check on everyone, see if anyone was—
“Oh God, please, no. No.”
Ethan turned, a gasp caught in his throat. No.
r /> “Lobito, what did you do?” Seb cradled Hudson in his arms, his lips pressed together in an attempt to keep himself together as Hudson coughed and sputtered blood. “Why?”
Hudson smiled, tears in his eyes as he placed a bloodstained hand to Seb’s jaw. “We both know why.” His bottom lip trembled, and his face crumpled as the tears fell. “I’m so sorry. For everything.”
Rafe pulled out his phone and called emergency services while Nina knelt beside Hudson, shouting for Bradley, who came running with the Therian First Aid Response kit. He handed it to Nina, the rest of Destructive Delta joining them. Rosa and Sloane rushed to Hudson’s side.
“Shit.” Sloane looked Hudson over, swiftly inspecting him. “I found an exit wound.” He pushed his hand down against Hudson’s side. “Where else is he hit?”
Rosa put her hand on Seb’s shoulder. “Seb, you need to lay him on his stomach. One of the bullets is still in there, and he’s losing a lot of blood.”
Seb ran his hand over Hudson’s head. “Please, don’t leave me. Not like this.”
“Seb!” Sloane ordered in his most authoritative voice, knowing it was the only way to get through to him.
Seb gently laid Hudson on the floor on his stomach. He removed his tux and folded it up, placing it under Hudson’s head before taking hold of Hudson’s hand while Rosa and Nina went to work trying to stop the bleeding. In the distance sirens wailed. Ethan joined Seb on the floor, kneeling beside him. He put his arm around his brother, letting him know he was there. Behind him Dex, Ash, Letty, and Cael were checking up on the rest of the guests to see who else might be injured and how badly.
“You’re going to be okay,” Seb told Hudson, brushing Hudson’s hair away from his brow as Nina and Rosa worked furiously to stop the flow of blood until the EMTs arrived.
Hudson appeared to be having trouble breathing, and he looked as if he were on the verge of passing out. His face had gone pale, his brow beaded with sweat. He looked over at Seb and smiled.
“I know it’s… selfish, but… please stay with me?”
Hudson looked scared, but Seb held on to his hand, his expression determined.
“You know I will. It’ll be okay.”
The EMTs arrived on scene and rushed through the doors. Ethan stood to one side to give them room, but his brother remained at Hudson’s side, though he was forced to step back while the team swiftly got to work preparing him for transport. The moment Hudson was on the gurney, Seb was beside him again holding his hand. He followed them to the ambulance and climbed in after him. Before the doors closed Nina called out to him, telling him they were right behind him. She ran off with Rafe close behind. Ethan wanted nothing more than to go after them. His brother needed him, but so did the people inside Dekatria. He had a job to do, and tonight’s party had become a crime scene. Luckily, the majority of the guests were agents. They knew the drill. Ethan still couldn’t believe this was happening. Had someone found out about the bar full of cops and decided to make a statement? Had it been personal?
Dex rushed over, wiping his bloodied hands on a cloth napkin. “How’s Hudson? How bad is it?”
“I don’t know,” Sloane said, shaking his head. “One of the bullets went straight through, but the other is still in there. He had his back to the front of the bar.”
“He was protecting Seb,” Calvin said quietly. “When Rafe called out, Hudson threw himself at Seb. He knew he wasn’t strong enough to bring Seb down, but he did it anyway, protecting him. Even after telling Seb he wanted him to stay away.”
Everyone went quiet for a moment. Hudson had tried to push Seb away, yet none of what he’d told Seb had been true. Hudson loved Seb as much now as he did then. Ethan hoped Hudson pulled through this okay and realized how much he needed Seb. For all he knew, this incident wouldn’t change anything between them, but Ethan was hopeful. Sloane was the first to break the silence.
“Seb and Hudson will get whatever support they need from us, but right now, we need to contain this situation and track down whoever’s responsible for this. What have we got?” he asked Rosa.
“We’ve got several wounded, but luckily no fatalities or critically injured other than Hudson. The ones who heard the ‘pop’ first hit the ground, the rest the moment Rafe sounded the alarm. We’re lucky we’ve got mostly agents and law enforcement here. EMTs are taking care of it.”
Sloane nodded. “Did anyone see what happened?”
Ethan shook his head. He tapped his ear.
“Ethan heard the first shot. Then we heard the tires,” Calvin replied.
“So this was a targeted attack.”
Ethan frowned and put his hand on Calvin’s shoulder. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
Calvin sighed. “This is about me. I’m sure of it.”
Sloane shook his head. “This is about all of us. We’re a team, Cal. If someone decided to take matters into their own hands and express their opinion on what happened with Ruiz, then it’s on all of us. Whoever did this has to answer for it.”
Ethan put his hand to Sloane’s shoulder and motioned out the door. He put his hand to his heart. I need to check on Seb.
“Yeah, of course. We’ll meet you guys at the hospital. I’m going to call the sarge.”
Ethan nodded his thanks and hurried out the door with Calvin at his side. If things had been tough for Seb before, they were about to get a whole lot tougher. Ethan had no idea how his big brother was going to handle this. He’d been struggling with it for months now. Not that he’d had it easy back when Hudson had ended things, but like Seb stated, things had been getting worse for him.
Calvin climbed in behind the wheel of his Jeep, and Ethan joined him in the passenger side. He buckled up and tried to wrap his head around everything as Calvin drove them to the hospital.
“Hector Ruiz.”
Ethan glanced over at Calvin. “You think he did this?”
“Do you remember what he said to me the day of the protest? He said this wasn’t over.”
Ethan nodded. Calvin was right. Hector had motive. Just because his aunt had accepted Calvin’s word didn’t mean Hector felt the same. He’d been pissed. Ethan