Nexus by Mary Calmes Read Free Book Online Page A

would you leave your swords at home?”
    “Think about what you’re saying,” I reminded my boyfriend.
    “No, Marcus!” he shouted. “You should have brought them! You should always bring them! Being a warder is twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week job, and we both know it!”
    Shit.
    “You know I’m right.”
    He was right.
    “Say it, because I can’t see the look of resignation on your face!”
    I crossed the room and grabbed him instead. His arms wrapped around my waist as he pressed his body against mine.
    “Please,” he spoke into my throat, his breath warm and his mouth on my skin causing a shiver of anticipation anyone could see. “Baby, you have to be more careful. I can’t lose you, okay?”
    I nodded. He clutched me tighter.
    And we stood like that with my cheek resting on the top of his head, one hand in his hair, the other around his back and both his arms wrapped tight around me. He always liked listening to the steady beat of my heart. 
    “Marcus Adam Roth!”
    I started and looked across the room at Deb.
    “Oh, you’re in trouble,” Joseph chuckled, lifting his chin. “Gimme a kiss before you die.”
    I growled at him, kissed him, and then turned my head to his mother.
    “How dare you keep a secret like this from us, from your family!”
    “I—”
    “And you!” she roared at her husband. “How dare you not trust me with this?”
    “I thought you’d think I was nuts talking about demons and such.”
    “We have been married for forty-five years, Elliot Locke. There is nothing that would come out of your mouth that I wouldn’t believe!”
    He stared at her because he had no excuse to give her.
    “All of you,” she said fast, “need to go get in the car so we can go home and have us a talk.”
    Joe groaned.
    I pressed his face into my chest before his mother killed him. “His stomach hurts,” I told her.
    She leveled me with her look. “Marcus Roth, I’m about ready to skin you alive.”
    But the thing was, she was mad, really mad, and I loved it. There was no talk of how scared she was and how I was putting her son in danger or how I should get out. She was just mad that I hadn’t confided in her.
    I moved fast, crossed the floor, and grabbed her, hugging her tight.
    “Marcus,” she whimpered against me, her arms around me, and her hands digging into my back.
    “I thought you would hate me or not want me near Joe, and I’m so sorry, but I love you all so much and the thought of losing you, any of you, just—”
    “Marcus, don’t be stupid. We’re your family. Families don’t turn their back on their own.”
    I clutched her tighter and put my head down in her shoulder.
    Seconds later she pushed free. “But you, Elliot Locke!”
    “Yeah, you’re toast,” Joe laughed at his father.
    “Joseph Locke!”
    And it was a free-for-all after that as Barbara started yelling too. It was nice to be part of a family that cared.
     
     
    I N THE van it was quiet, so I took that opportunity to call Jael.
    “Marot,” he said, and I realized he sounded annoyed.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” he grumbled.
    But something was and I could guess. “Your warders and Deidre’s not hitting it off?”
    There was a long silence.
    “What leads you to that?”
    I grunted. “Ryan and Collin, right?”
    “How did you know?”
    “I know.”
    “And?”
    “And it’s simple. Collin’s taken an interest in Julian, and Ryan and Julian are like a minute old as a couple. Ryan’s jealous, that’s all.”
    “Ryan Dean used to be a model. Why in the world would he—”
    “Have you ever known Ryan to be logical?”
    “No, that’s Leith’s job.”
    “There you go.”
    “Well, Marot, let me go put my house in order and I’ll call you—Wait, you called me. What’s wrong?”
    Marot. It was my warder name.
    Some of us had special names, some of us didn’t. The more public a figure you were, the more likely you would get a call sign to protect your identity, and while I understood,