Arizona
Aaron
We got the call from Seth letting us know his suspicions that Bane was in Arizona, then he called with an update a couple days later with some other news. He met a woman in Arizona who he felt the H-15 bond with. We didn’t know much about the bonding code except for what Doc explained to us briefly when it was discovered.
Our friends, Triton and Tristan, were the first in our group to experience it when they met Trisha, who was now their wife. Why the fuck did they fall for a woman with a “T” at the beginning of her name? The twins called it fate; I say it’s a disaster. Garrett and Dallas also bonded with Trisha’s friend and partner, Melissa. Now, Melissa had a four-month-old. Guess the H-15 serum makes birth control null and void.
The guys explained how the bonding worked for them. When in the area or near their bond person, the tingles start. Followed by touch and sparks, then the sense of wanting to be with this person, to be connected with them. After that, Trisha and Melissa, both experienced a fever and became aggressive in their desire for sex. We were unsure if the bonding caused the fever or if it was the serum that had been slipped into their system prior to their coming into contact with the men. We did know that the scent of their guys calmed them down.
Finding someone with the drug in her system in town confirmed that Bane must've been there at one point in time.
Even more curious was that this woman was named Amber. Just like Amber Myter. But she was pronounced dead a year ago. Even though the body was never found, Seth said she had similar features and asked us to email a picture of her prior to death. Between the two, we realized it could be her. She was a little curvier, but before the H-15 serum, she was thin and dying from cancer. If this was Amber Myter, then where in the hell was Bane?
Weston and I hopped on a plane, grateful to be out of the hair of Melissa and her little boy. She was baby proofing everything on the mountain. All of us were unsure about how having kids with this chemical in our body would go over. We were essentially superhumans with talents and abilities others didn't possess, but so far, little Parker was normal. Having a baby around changed things, changed us. We didn’t have just the women to protect, we had a child.
“Where are we going again?” Weston gruffed.
“Arizona.”
Due to our special nature, the Army demands we blend in with society so as to not draw any attention, but nothing too extreme. Since our last mission, I let my hair grow slightly past my shoulders. Weston had gone for a more preppy look with hair short on the sides and slightly longer on top, but I would never call him preppy to his face. In fact, he was the total opposite of that. If anything, I was the one who wore designer stuff while Weston was all about black, blue, and gray, and the more pockets the better. But he had always been like that, even when we lived with Emma at the foster home.
The three of us had history. We came from some harsh backgrounds which landed us in some shitty homes. Weston and I were the first to land ourselves at Emma’s farm house during the same week. We were only six at the time. At first, the two of us couldn’t stand one another, but with a fist fight shortly following, between blood and broken noses, we established boundaries. As weeks flew by, Seth came, and it was like all of us clicked. We had hard shells with reasons why we were the way we were, but we were brewed from the same hops, just bottled in different cases. Brothers in the making.
“Seth said he felt the bond with her,” I told Weston when we took off. “That’s one of the reasons he wanted us to come.”
“It doesn't mean we’ll all connect with that same feeling,” Weston retorted.
I held back, knowing he was right, but hoping he was wrong. It could be just Seth who connected to her, like Weston said, but it happened with the other two before. Maybe it would just be with two of us? Or maybe all three. I was itching to know.
***
Weston
Off the plane, bags in hand, we met up with Seth on the tarmac. Aaron got to him first as I stayed back, leery about this whole arrangement. Amber Myter, alive? Seemed liked a joke. A cruel and vicious one. This all felt like a ploy to get us here and try to capture us. Like rats in a cage.
As I neared Seth, he brought me in for the bro hug, a one arm pound on the back, then pulled away. We were family. It’s what families did.
Seth’s sharp gaze met mine. “You ready for this?”
I shrugged. “Not really.”
“He was quiet the whole way here,” Aaron offered. “Fuckin’ worried.”
“Someone has to be,” I growled back. “It’s Bane behind this. It’s not only us and the girls we have to worry about keeping safe. We have Melissa’s son, too.”
We fell silent until we reach the car, and I climb into the backseat. Aaron, the lucky bastard, won the front seat in a game of cards on our flight here.
Since my mood caused the tension, I threw them a bone. “How do you think we should proceed?”
“With Amber first,” Aaron answered.
“She has a severe case of amnesia,” Seth warned as he started the car and turned out of the parking lot. “She was found beaten, and the folks who found her, the Jameses, took her to the hospital. From there, no one came forward to claim her so the Jameses let her stay with them. She’s been slowly getting her life back and still has no clue who she is. It’s a touchy subject for her.”
“You think?” I snapped. “I would go fuckin’ crazy not knowing, but in her case, it’s probably best if she doesn’t know. Her mother’s dead, and she was headed in that direction herself until Bane kidnapped and most likely beat her before she escaped. Then, to find out her dead father was a traitor to our country? I say she’s better off not knowing. All the evidence from a year ago is likely gone, but we have the police and hospital reports. We can start with those. Have Triton dig up the information. And the bond. We should find out if the two of us feel it as well.”
“Either way, we better get our stories straight,” Aaron said. “With the bond happening to Seth, someone needs to explain things.” I shifted from my place in the backseat.
“We could say she was an orphan going through chemotherapy, like that friend of hers,” Aaron suggested. “And Bane wanted new subjects that wouldn’t be missed so he staged her death and took her, gave her the H-15 serum to cure her illness, then experimented on her.”
“She’ll probably run the other way as fast as her little ass can when you tell her that, or anybody else for that matter,” I scoffed.
“Well, I don’t see you coming up with a solution,” Aaron retorted.
Seth glanced at me from the rearview mirror. “You got something better?”
My body tensed with an idea. “Yeah. Find her, fuck her, take her back with us. Because the way I see it, if she did escape from Bane, then I guarantee that during the past year, he’s been looking for her, if he hasn’t already found her.”
“Fuckin’ shit,” Seth muttered. “He could do anything once he realizes she doesn’t remember him.”
“Call himself her uncle,” Aaron stated, now getting it. “Or brother.”
“Or father,” I added. “So, I suggest we don’t pussyfoot around this mess. We found her, we’ll find Bane, but only after we take Amber back to the mountain where it’s safe.”
“She won’t come willingly. She touched me, and there was a spark, electricity, or whatever we want to call it. You know what that means. Three days, and she very well could go into a fever.” Seth kept his gaze fixed on traffic. “We’re going to have to figure out a way.”
Aaron brought out his phone, scrolling through a website. “Dates. We can keep our eyes on her. Besides, Melissa and Trisha were given the serum prior to them having the fever. Amber’s had it in her a lot longer. We should get her comfortable with us. The feelings she’ll feel with us alone will make her realize she’s different, that we’re different. Seth had one date and mentioned she worked at the library. I’ll visit her there. Besides, I like to read.”