Nexus Chapter 30

30.
      Brynn closed the bathroom door, waving away steam from in front of her so she could see.   
      “Drew.” She called out over the sound of the spraying water.  
      “Yeah?”
      “Are you done yet?”  
      The water turned off and Drew’s arm reached out for the towel hanging on the shower door.  She wrapped it around herself and stepped out the shower.  
      “Why are you in here rushing me?”
      “Cause he’s out there.”  
      “What?  You’re not making any sense.”  
      Brynn puffed out a breath.  “There is a divinely gorgeous man, dressed in leather, currently lounging on my couch.”
      Drew went very still.  
      “You know the one,” Brynn grinned at her sister. “Tall, dark curly hair, dimples.  Is this ringing a bell for you yet?”  
      “Seth is here?”  Drew whispered
      “Yeah, and why the hell didn’t you tell me he was so yummy?  God what he must look like naked.”  
      “Brynn!”  Drew stopped pulling on her tee shirt to glare at her sister.  
      “What?” Brynn grinned.
      “Don’t you dare try and picture Seth naked.”  
      “Why not, you don’t want to do anything about what you feel for him.”  
      Drew tugged her jeans over her hips and tied the button.  
      “That’s not the point, he’s still mine.”  
      “Oh god you’re jealous!”  She laughed.  
      “Am not.”
      Brynn rolled her eyes.  “I’m not going to have an ‘am not – are too’ war with you.”
      Drew took a deep breath and tugged the bathroom door open, the sooner she faced Seth the sooner it would be over with, she was positive he wouldn’t be going anywhere till he got to see her.  She stepped out but turned at the last second, time for a little pay back.
      “Oh and by the way…  He looks heavenly naked.” She heard her sisters gasp as she shut the door.  Drew couldn’t help but grin when she thought of the expression on Brynn’s face.  
      
      “Seth?” Drew asked softly when she went into Brynn’s living room, still not believing that her sister hadn’t been joking.  
      He rose from the couch and turned to face her.  Drew thought she saw a flash of pain go through his eyes before he hid the emotion.  Instead he marched over to her and grasped her shoulders in his big hands, he leaned down and rubbed his cheek along hers.  
      “Hey!  What the hell are you doing, you’re going to give me stubble burn.”  
      “I’m sent marking you.”  
      “What?”
      “I’m making sure that everyone can smell that you are mine.”  
      Drew didn’t know what to say.  His words had sent a warm glow through her body.  He considered her his. She felt like grinning.  Then she remembered the nexus, of course she was his, it didn’t mean that he really cared.  
      “What exactly are you doing here Seth?”  Her tone was hostile.
      “I’ve come to fetch you.”  His voice was angry.
      “Why, I would have come home in a couple of days.”  
      “The question should be, why did you feel you had to run away – no wait” he held out a hand silencing her.
      “I can answer that.  You hate the idea of being tied to me.”  
      Drew couldn’t hide the truth of that statement, she did hate being tied to a man who didn’t love her.  
      He must have seen it because his jaw clenched.  
      “I don’t care Drew, I really don’t care that you don’t want to be with me.  I don’t care that you don’t love me.  The nexus is too important for things like that to be an issue.”
      “Wait…”
      “Just listen,” he interrupted her.  “I’m sorry.” He ran a hand trough his hair breathing in deep and hissing it out.  This was killing him.  Why the hell did he have to love her, this would have been so much easier if he didn’t love her.
      “I’m sorry that you can’t be happy with me Drew.  The fact is we are tied together through this nexus – for all intents and purposes we are married, so we will just have to try and get along.”  
      Drew got angry, how dare he assume he knew what she was feeling.  He was the one who was only too happy to palm her off on someone else.  
      “What if I do love you Seth? What then, would you still try and pass me off to someone else as soon as you get another chance.  Why should I have to risk that pain.”  
      Seth went very still, his heart had flipped over when she asked that question. He’d damn near gone to his knees.  If only she hadn’t just thrown it at him, he wished with everything in him that she had meant it.  
      “You don’t love me, so what ever you think I’d do in that situation is moot.”  
      Drew felt tears well in her eyes.  God damn it, no, he was not going to make her cry again today.  
      “We have to go, they’ve started the search for Namara and the Omega need us both.”  
      Drew nodded mutely.  
      Seth turned to the sentins.  “Khan, Khettah, wait for us at the compound.”   
      The sentins phased out.  
      “Drew you’ll ride with me.  I’m sure Brynn won’t mind brining your car to the compound at a later date.  Will you Brynn?”  
      “Um, sure, not a problem.”  Brynn stuck her head out from the corner she’d been eaves dropping behind.  
      “Good.  Lets get moving Drew.”  
      Brynn hugged Drew.  “He loves you, I just know it.”
      “Yeah right, and happy ever afters actually exist.  Bye Brynn.  Come visit me soon okay?”
      “Sure kiddo.”  
      Seth opened the door and waited for Drew to leave.  
      
      The trip down to the lobby was silent.  Each of them stewing in unspoken pain.  
      Something made Drew tense as she stepped out the door.  
      Seth felt it too.  “Something is wrong.”  He pulled her closer to him.  Extending claws onto both hands.  Drew saw him and did the same.  
      “Careful now.”  He eased down the steps, keeping her close, alert to everything around them.  
      The attack was vicious and sudden, before they could blink six vampires were on them.  It was clear they were trying to kill one or both of the wereleopards.  
      Drew dusted one then another of the vampires. Seth holding his own at her back.  It didn’t take them long and the vampires were nothing but gray power coating the pavement.  
      “Those weren’t fair odds?”  Drew remarked when they were sure there were no more vampires.  
      “For us or for them?” Seth grinned exhilarated by the fight.  
      “Men!” Drew snorted and looked around for the Porsche.  
      “Where’s the car?”  
      “That’s our ride, right there.” Seth pointed to the Harley Davidson next to the curb.
      “Your kidding right?”  
      “Nope.”
      “I’m not getting on that crotch-rocket Seth.”  
      He laughed at her description of the bike.  God this woman couldn’t help but be loveable.
      “Well its how we are getting back, so you’re going to have to.”  
      “Does the term ‘death on two wheels’ have any meaning to you?”
      “Oh common Drew, you’re a lycos, its will take more than a bike accident to make you take a dirt nap.  Besides, I do know how to drive the thing.”  
      She snorted as if she didn’t believe him, but then sighed.  “Okay lets go.”   
      He grinned, at least she trusted him to get her home safely on the bike.  
      Seth’s cell phone rang, he pulled it out his pocket and flipped it open.  
      “Hello.”  
      “Don’t you answer your damn phone Seth?”  Gabriel yelled at him.
      “I do when it rings Gabe.  What the hells got your panties in a bunch.”  
      “Is Drew with you?”
      “Yeah.” Seth looked at Drew, she was standing at the curb eyeing the bike as if it was a big hairy spider.  
      “Did you tell her you love her.”
      Seth sucked in air “What! No! Shit Gabe what’s up with you?”
      “Are you both okay, no attacks?”  
      Seth frowned.  “We were ambushed about ten minutes ago.  What is going on Gabriel.”
      “Are you both okay?” Gabriel repeated.  
      “Yeah, we’re fine.”   
      “Look, just get your asses back to the compound pronto, you got me?”  
      “Yeah, but…”
      Gabriel hung up.  
      Seth took the cell phone away from his ear and frowned at the contraption.  Something was up.  Time to get a move on.  
      “It wont bite you Drew, you are probably going to love the ride,” he almost groaned at the image that phrase had put in his head.
      He cleared his throat.  “Come, Gabe wants us back at the compound in a hurry.”  
      He mounted the bike and almost hissed when Drew got up behind him wrapping her arms tightly around him.  Why the hell hadn’t he just brought a car.  Now he was going to have to deal with Drew’s soft breasts pressing against his back all the way home.
      
      Drew didn’t even wait for Seth when they got back to the compound, she ran straight for the stairs and up to her room.  Blowing past a startled Kyle.  He laughed, who’d ever heard of a ghost getting the fright.  
      He followed her until she slammed the door to her room.  He wasn’t going to follow her in there so he went back down stairs to wait for his brother to get into the house.  
      “Check it out Seth, I finally got out that tomb.” He spun around with arms wide.  But of course Seth couldn’t see or hear him.  So Kyle followed him to the living room.  
      Seth slumped into a chair.
      “Give a beer would you Gabe.”  
      “Gees, you come in here just to drink my beer?”
      “Yeah, and who ever heard of a Corona swigging angel.”  
      “Point taken.” Gabriel tossed him a beer.
      “What was up with you on the phone?” Seth asked as he caught the beer.   
      “You need to tell her.”  
      “What.”
      Gabriel lifted a brow.
      “Oh god, don’t start that again.”  
      Gabriel considered Seth for a moment.  No, this wasn’t something he was going to be able to push with the wereleopard.  Seth would tell Drew when he was ready too and no one would force it.  So he decided not to tell Seth how fragile the nexus was.  It would only make Seth feel he had to do it.  Gabriel knew that would end in disaster.  
      “Just stay close to Drew for the next while, and be very vigilant.  There is a rumor that Sandamar has marked the Omega.  So be careful.”
      “Sure.  Any news on the search?”  
      They got back about an hour ago.  No luck yet.  Darius suggested they should separate the area into a grid and work one at a time in shifts.  It would cover more ground faster, and more thoroughly.”  
      “That’s a good idea.”  
      “Yeah, so Crimson and Darius are working out the grid and schedule right now.  We’ll know by morning how we are going to do it.”  
      “Great.  Okay, I’m going to bed, it’s been a long day.”  
      “Sleep tight.”  
      “I’ll try.”  
      
      After an hour of tossing and turning Seth cursed and sat up, putting his head in his hands.  Khan lifted his big head and stared at Seth, then put it down on his paws again, not willing to get his head bitten for making a comment.  
      “Yeah well, Khan might not tell you what and idiot you’re being but I’m not so nice.”  Kyle spoke from a chair in the sitting room area.  
      “Go to her you moron.  She’s suffering just as badly as you are.”  
      Kyle jumped up, completely frustrated that Seth couldn’t hear him.  
      “Crap, I shoulda bought you a ouija board when I was alive, maybe then you’d hear me…  Hold on.”  Kyle moved over to the bedside, maybe he could make Khan hear him.  He bent down and shouted at the sentin.  “Go lie by Drew’s door.”  
      Khan jerked and looked around.  Then got up and moved to sit in front of the connecting door.  
      Seth looked up when he felt the sentin hop off the bed.  
      “No, stop it Khan, I’m not going in there.”  
      “Oh for Christ’s sake. I give up.” Kyle threw up his hands and walked through Seth’s bedroom door in frustration.  “Dig yourself outta the hole you’re in brother.”  He walked down the corridor to see if there was anyone else he could visit at this late hour.  
      Seth groaned and flopped back pulling his pillow over his face.  He so badly wanted to go to Drew.  He needed to feel her body wrapped around him.  If he couldn’t have her heart, couldn’t he at least have her body?  Damn it, why the hell not.  Seth threw the pillow across the room and got out of bed.