Chapter 5

New Orleans

Jesse knocked on the Queen's office door. When he received no answer, he barged right on in. Aiden was sprawled out on the floor with her laptop in front of her and headphones in her ears. No wonder she couldn't hear him. She probably had the sound turned all the way up.

He shut the door behind him, walked over, and flopped down beside her, rolling under the blanket she had thrown over her. She was reading an e-mail sent by Tyler. They were in Jackson going to see Nieman. He made an annoyed sound. Nieman was an idiot who needed to be terminated but for some reason he couldn't understand Aiden refused to do it.

She suddenly moved, pointing her finger at the screen. He followed the line and noticed she was looking at a tracking system. She hit a button and a camera popped up. It was right in front of Speaker of the House Eric Blakemore's house. She clicked another button and the camera feed from in front of his office door filled the other side of the screen.

They waited a few moments and the door to the office opened. They watched as three men walked out. One was obviously Blakemore. The other two weren't distinguishable until they turned around. The tallest one was dark headed and the shortest was light headed. Blakemore looked around suspiciously before nodding. The other two men turned towards the camera, giving them a good view of their opponents.

When they had walked away, Aiden and Jesse continued staring at the screen as Blakemore straightened his tie and blazer then walked back in his office. Finally one of them spoke.

"What do you suppose Boris Mikailov and Valentino Medici are doing with Mr. Blakemore?" Jesse asked as he looked at his sister.

Aiden minimized the screen and rubbed her face. "I can only imagine. Unfortunately I already know. Boris is the best assassin Russia has. The same can be said for Medici. But teaming up? They must know I'm on to them or they wouldn't be conspiring against us."

"How can we stop them?" He watched his sister roll to her feet, pick up her laptop and walked back to her desk. He realized she hadn't answered him as she folded up her blanket. "What's bothering you?"

"Why the Speaker of the House? Why not someone else, say the president? That would have been the better way of getting us. He has to sign the any bill into law. Why not use him?"

"Well, if the president leaves a bill on the table for ten days it will become law. Also if he sends it back and Congress overrides his veto by two-thirds vote. If he controls Congress, he may control the president." He frowned as he watched her gnaw on her lower lip. "What is it?"

"What if Blakemore had a run in with one of us?"

Jess rubbed his arms as he mulled it over. "It could have some merit to it. Our only problem in getting the information is our hacker is on the run with our brother." Aiden's eyes suddenly lit up. "What?"

"Do we know if he has any tattoos?"

"You think he was bonded?"

"It may be a possibility. If he is then his bonded must be an outside faction."

"You never did explain being bonded compared to having a bondmate."

Aiden leaned against her desk and crossed her arms. "Having a bondmate means you've found your other half, the missing piece to the puzzle. You, some of our crew and I have found our mates and we're bound to them. Keldin, on the other hand, is gay and he refused the mate bond with Max. I'm glad about that one though. Instead of the mate bond with Max, he has a bond with Skander. In essence he's replacing the mate bond with a bond he can handle."

"It makes sense considering he is in love with Skander."

She nodded. "That he does. It's also why I haven't said anything to him. It's taken him a long time to get over Eric's death so I've given him as much space as he desires."

Jess knew that face. He stepped into her personal space and pulled her into a hug. "It wasn't your fault Tallyn decided to jump stupid just as it wasn't your fault when Alysse tried to kill Kielan."

He hoped saying it out loud would ease his sister's guilt. It hadn't been her fault when Tallyn, Tyler's late twin brother, had killed Eric Martin after burning the back of Keldin's neck. Tallyn had always been in love with Aiden and for years he had kept it to himself. But when she was used by the asshole who got her pregnant with Dylan and walked away, he had lost what sanity was left. He had orchestrated a plot to get her to come to him. It had only gotten him killed.

The kicker was he had had a mate that none of them knew about. Then again Tallyn was adept as was Tyler, Aiden, Keldin and Austin at hiding what he didn't want found. So when Alysse had showed up at the palace when Kasta and her father showed up, no one thought anything of it. She was just another person to help in Court.

She had gotten close to Aiden and the children, even going so far as to earn Aiden's trust. Then she stabbed her in the back by trying to kill Kielan as well as the some of the Elves. They'd had no choice but to put her down. It had hurt Aiden and Tyler because she was one of the last ties they had to Tallyn. The last tie Tyler had was Tallyn's twins. He was now their legal guardian but he couldn't get them until he came off this last mission.

"What is Tyler going to do when he gets the twins?" he asked.

"He's going to have find a big enough home for them. His one bedroom apartment's just not going to cut it. He'll be a good father," she replied. She pulled away from him and looked at the clock. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night."

Jess stepped back as well. "Good night. I'll take this to Cole and let him have a look at it. He might know more than we do."

She nodded and walked to the door. Closing it gently behind her, she walked down the hall until she got to the right door. Opening it, she stared at the three small beds arranged around the huge bedroom. Dylan slept on his stomach with his arms tucked under his pillow as Kielan and Stormy slept on their sides. Her children were gentle while they slept but tyrants during the day. It helped that their cousins were around for them to play with.

She watched them sleep from the door. If they should wake, they would wonder why she was standing there watching them. There was no way she could tell them the entire reasons so she kept to the shadows.

A familiar, comfortable heat radiated from a weight on her shoulder. Instinctively she turned into it and nestled her head on Clint's shoulder. They stood silence for a few moments then Clint tugged her towards their room. When he opened the door for her, she walked to the window immediately. He followed her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What's bothering you?" he asked.

"Klark's in danger and Tyler's gone to help him. In a month, he's going to be getting his nephews and I don't think he's ready. It's different when you have to raise them as your own than having your brother raise them," she said.

"You're worried he's not going to be able to do it?"

"He doesn't have many friends in Seattle except his team. Who's going to watch them while he goes out on missions?"

"Considering he doesn't take many missions he should be fine but I can understand where your worry comes from."

She turned around in his arms and buried her face in his chest. This was the reason he loved the woman as much as he did. This was why she was the best Queen her people had had in centuries. She truly cared about people even if they were her enemies. She wasn't a tyrant but she ruled with an iron fist.

"Come on," he said after a few moments. "Let's get some sleep."

* * *

Nieman crossed his arms and stared at Klark. Klark stared back, content just to remain quiet. After driving an hour and a half just to sneak up on Nieman and listening to his companions give out their secrets, Klark was annoyed. He wanted to hit something.

He glanced over at Emily. She was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. She was watching him intently and he could feel it. It made his skin burn even more. He wanted desperately to do what instinct told him to do but he couldn't. Not when his entire existence could be made public knowledge in the next few days.

Nieman flicked his eyes from his cousin to the woman across the room from him and smiled. It was so sadistic that Klark caught it immediately. He stepped forward slightly and a small line of flames raced towards him.

"Hey! You can't do that!" he exclaimed as he jumped up on the table.

"Silence your thoughts," Klark demanded.

"It's not my fault you're holding back."

"But it's your fault for having all this," Tyler stated as he walked back in the room holding a small laptop. He was typing away with his right hand. Finally he looked up at them. "He knows everything."

Rowan snatched the computer from his friend and looked at it while Tyler stood still. "Klark, he has lists of people in the Sector who are and are not bonded. The top of the list is your sister." His eyes locked with his friend's. "Do you think…?"

"Scroll down." Tyler watched over Rowan's shoulder as he did as he said. After a few moments, he looked up. "Your log here says you were in contact with Alysse James two years ago. It also shows that the two of you had a discussion the day Alysse attacked Aiden. Is that true"

"Alysse who?"

The younger man face's contorted in anger. "You were with Alysse the day she attacked the Queen. You were the one who told her Aiden had twins and where to find them. It was your idea to hurt them. Why?"

It took half a second for Nieman to unleash his power. Water rained down from the sprinklers over head, dousing Klark's flames. Emily stood up and took notice.

"That little bitch thinks she can rule us all in the way she has been. She thinks the rest of us aren't like the rest of you in Court. You flaunt your powers and don't see any of the repercussions while the rest of us live in squander. You get the better houses, cars, mates and we get nothing. So when that squalling woman came to me for vengeance for having her mate killed, I figured this was my time to get my vengeance as well," he seethed.

"So you take it out on an innocent child?" Emily asked. "That's not something a real man would do."

He glared at her. "What would you know? Your brother's the best assassin the navy's got. No, wait. He's the second best behind Andy Lowen but you knew that right? You knew Andy Lowen was part of the other culture living among us? Your brother knew because he and Andy are friends. How do you think you got your job?"

She didn't let anything he said faze her, even when Klark turned to look at her with accusation in his eyes. She knew she was going to have to explain everything once they got out of this.

"You still attacked a child. That is unforgivable."

"There's nothing you can do about it."

"Actually, we can do something about it." Klark sent a steady stream of fire at him.

Laughing, Nieman launched water at him. "You idiot, water negates fire." As soon as he got the words out of his mouth, the water turned to ice and started creeping up on him. "What the hell is this?"

"This is my vengeance," Tyler replied as he fell in step with Klark as they advanced on their enemy. "Aiden told us not to harm you unless you attacked. What she doesn't know is that you were the one behind her son's attack. If she did, you'd be dead. So we're doing her a favor and getting rid of you."

"But I'm your cousin!"

"You're no cousin of mine," Klark said as the ice finally encased him. He looked over at Tyler. The other man nodded and he unleashed his fire once again. This time it burned hotter than ever.

"What are you going to do?" Emily asked.

"Collect the rest of his stuff. We'll go through it once we get back to New Orleans."

"Are you sure you should head back?" Rowan asked.

"We're not going back just yet." His gaze landed on her immediately. "I'm not taking someone to meet my sister until I learn everything."

Emily nodded. "Fair enough. You've been honest with me."

"Does this mean you're not going to turn him in?" Tyler asked.

"I may not have a choice."

He scoffed. "Everyone has a choice." He looked over when Klark snapped his fingers. "What?"

"I have an idea."

"This ought to be interesting," Rowan stated drolly. Tyler snickered.

"Just listen, jackass." Rowan inclined his head in acknowledgement. "You and Tyler head back to New Orleans and help Aiden. Miss Emily and I will figure out what to do about the other bounty hunters."

"Are you sure you can handle her?" Tyler laughed.

"I'm sure I'll be fine,' Emily said.

Rowan and Tyler looked at each for a long moment Klark thought they were going to be snide once again. He was pleasantly surprised when they nodded.

"We think it's a good idea. I mean who else can curb your wild side?" Klark chunked a book at Tyler. The younger man laughed as he batted it away. "Are you going to your hunting lodge?"

"Yeah. I've got stuff stocked up. We'll be able to live there for at least three months. There's plenty of room for both of us."

Tyler snorted. "You call that house a cabin. It's more like a mansion." He waved his hand when Klark went to say something. "In any case, you better get off grid before anything else happens." He watched his friend nod. "What are we going to do?"

Rowan and Klark looked at each other then shrugged at him. "Burn it."

Emily stared at Klark as he led her out of the house and onto the back street. She watched with fascination as he looked between his two friends then back at the house before fire erupted from his feet. It raced towards the house, catching everything in its path. It was white hot and beautiful as it rose up the sides of the house.

She didn't have time to ask any questions as Klark grabbed her wrist and yanked her into the trees as sirens were heard coming down the street. She looked back at Tyler and Rowan. They were gone.

Once they were in the trees, Klark wrapped his arms around her. As she was preparing to ask him what was going on, she was tugged into darkness.