Love's Subterfuge (Warrior Camp Book 12) Read online

  “But you don’t want anyone to know you’re here. Why?”

  “Let’s just say I have darkness in me too, and I’m not sure I want to come back to this world.”

  I glanced up and met those orange eyes. “But you’re not thinking of going completely dark side.”

  “I’m not? How would such a young one know that?”

  I smiled. “Because you risked your plan to save an idiot newb warrior, and you’re explaining stuff to me instead of using your persuasion because you promised you wouldn’t.”

  “Hmmm, good point. But maybe I want a reward for being so noble?”

  “Like what?”

  I saw his wide grin even in the darkness. “I believe I said you were delicious. But let me ask you a question, young warrior.”

  “Zibon.”

  “Let me ask you something, young Zibon. What would you give to have this trench finished? The faster it’s done, the faster more can be moved onto, and you might get your new warrior dorm and updates, yes?”

  “You’ve been hanging around longer than seeing me and Mark eat,” I whispered, a bit freaked out and thrilled.

  “I have. Now what would you give me?”

  “What will you give me for keeping my mouth shut?” I challenged.

  “Something good, I promise, but answer me before I lose my desire to play with you.”

  I had actually been stalling because I couldn’t think of a damn thing I could give an ancient vampire. “A kiss?”

  “I accept,” he purred and moved closer.

  Except he didn’t lean down… He unzipped his pants.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You didn’t say where you would kiss,” he chuckled, pulling his cock out. Which was crazy because he still seemed to be surrounded by darkness. Except that was his gift. I didn’t understand it, but it was like when people started the sentence I could finish it. I could finish that he had an ability to manipulate shadows.

  And there were a lot of those in the dark.

  “I’ve never done this before,” I admitted before leaning in and kissing the cock of a stranger, an ancient warrior no one knew was around.

  Yeah, I’d officially moved into Crazytown.

  “Open,” he ordered, and I did, moaning at the taste of him as he pushed his dick in my mouth while I stared into those orange eyes. “Lovely. I knew you’d be lovely.” He cupped my cheek, and I felt my skin heat, flush at the compliment. “Suck it, darling, and I will make your trench and come back to take such good care of you.”

  A thrill went through me at the idea of having actual good naked time as opposed to the one time crap I’d had. I did what he wanted, my eyes never leaving his. He got a bit impatient after a few minutes and gently thrust after telling me to pump his dick with my hand too.

  It was crazy.

  It was so fucking wild.

  It was amazing.

  “Swallow it all, darling,” he warned before grunting and shooting down my throat. I did what he wanted, completely enthralled with him and how nice he was being to me.

  Which, again, was crazy, because I was the one giving him a blowjob.

  “Mmm, you might be worth coming in from the cold,” he murmured as he tucked himself back in his pants. He pulled me onto my feet and then ran his fingers over my lower lip. “Do you wish to see me again?” I gave a slow nod. “Good. I’d hate to be an ancient stalker.” His eyes filled with heat as I licked my lips… And his fingers. “You will leave your door unlocked tomorrow after dinner so I may join you.”

  “Okay,” I breathed.

  “You will tell no one I’m here or what happened. Not yet.”

  I snorted. “I don’t even know your name. What would I tell?”

  He leaned over, I thought to kiss me, but instead pressed his lips against my ear. “But isn’t it thrilling? Isn’t this a bit of the chase and romance you’ve always longed for?”

  “How do you know so much about me?”

  “Darkness is drawn to darkness, and I found yours.” I went to ask more, but he turned me towards the dorm and patted my butt. “Go, get to safety. I don’t like the feel of tonight.”

  I was about to ask what he meant but realized I was alone. I left the cooler and tools, jogging towards the camp entrance and waving to whoever was in the tower so they didn’t worry. The gate swung open, and I felt the tension I didn’t realize was there ease when I was safe on the grounds. For a moment I wondered if I’d made it all up, but I could taste him on me still.

  Was I so far into Crazytown I was hallucinating people and something fun?

  Maybe. Maybe I really had crossed the line into insanity.

  2

  The next morning there was a buzz in the cafeteria, and I saw a bunch of my friends standing around a table. I walked over to them, curious as to what was going on. Mark saw me first and tapped Wally.

  “What?” I asked, realizing they were waiting for me.

  “Dude, how did you do the whole tunnel like that, and who’s sending you stuff?” Wally blurted loudly, getting the attention of others.

  “Sending me—what?” I stepped closer and realized there was something on the table. Mark stepped aside, and my eyes went wide as I saw what they were blocking. “What—how did this get here?” I gestured to the table full of different sized boxes, glancing at each of them in turn as if they had answers.

  Which was stupid because they started by asking me things.

  “A damn delivery truck showed up about ten minutes ago,” Alexander told me as he joined us, not sounding happy. “You need to explain yourself on this, Zibon.”

  “Me? How do you even know it’s for me?” I asked, glancing back at the pile of boxes.

  He handed over a small card with my name on it. I realized no one had opened it, and they wanted to know what was in it. I turned away, at least not wanting everyone to read it.

  Sometimes fun can be in the darkness. Don’t fear it. ~Your Secret Admirer

  I swallowed down a laugh that bubbled in my throat, having seriously wondered if what I thought happened last night really did. I turned to Alexander and showed him the card, shooing others off. “I swear I have no idea who sent this.”

  “Did you finish the whole trench?”

  I snorted. “No, I got maybe twenty feet past where I left the cooler and tools last, but then I realized it was night, got freaked out, thought I was seeing some things it was so dark out, and hurried back into camp.” I was answering very carefully so I didn’t get busted in any sort of lie.

  He handed me back the card and nodded to the boxes. “Open them. We waited for you after Rune checked them with his metal detector wand. He had to open a few because of that, but he said they were safe but wouldn’t tell anyone until you got a chance to look.”

  “That was nice of him,” I muttered, stuffing the card in my pocket before moving closer and picking up one of the smaller boxes in the huge array all over the large cafeteria table. I actually giggled when I saw what was inside, unable to hold it in. I picked out one of the plump, chocolate-covered strawberries and bit right in, moaning at how good they were.

  “Dude, seriously, you were just saying yesterday that you were so in the mood for strawberries and it had been forever since you had any,” Mark murmured, reaching into my pocket and yanking out the card. He read it, and his eyes flashed shock. “Someone was watching us last night.”

  “Why do you say that?” Alexander demanded.

  I cleared my throat and shot Mark a look. He nodded for me to go ahead. “Nicholas Sutton informed me we couldn’t have sessions anymore, and I was talking to Mark about how I felt talking to him was pulling me out of the darkness and him blowing me off seemed like I was getting dragged back under. That’s the basics of what we were talking about privately.”

  “I am not trying to pry, but if we have eyes watching us, we should know that,” he assured me gently.

  I shrugged. “I’m sure there are lots of eyes over what Councilman Ashton’
s doing.” I cut through the next thought or something they might say by setting aside my dozen chocolate-covered strawberries and opening the next box.

  Only to find two dozen this time. Nice.

  Next was a huge strawberry tart, and the tin pan made sense as to what had set off Rune’s metal detector. Then a massive strawberry shortcake. Ten boxes in, and there were so many strawberry treats I couldn’t stop smiling.

  “Seriously, who sent you all of this?” Wally asked as my friends started helping me.

  “Dude, this strawberry wine is like eighty a bottle,” Mark told me as he pulled one out of another box. “I saw it when we were in Denver and thought it sounded fancy. They sent you a case.”

  “This is strawberry Champagne,” Lance said of another box. “This is fancy French shit. This isn’t cheap, either.”

  “I’ve got strawberry fudge here,” Norris added. “Shit, this smells awesome.”

  “This one is a strawberry cheesecake and scones. Dude, someone’s really into you,” Wally said with a chuckle. “He’s almost making my mate look bad with all the ways I’ve gotten spoiled.”

  I watched as one by one Bowie, Norris, and Gary frowned. They were all new warriors, or Gary was almost one, but they’d mated or were close.

  “I’ll share?” I offered, glancing between them.

  “Lynx has spoiled me,” Gary defended.

  “Sam hasn’t,” Bowie grumbled at the same time Norris said the same about Philo. Oh, they were in trouble.

  “This box is full of frozen goodies,” Lance said as he picked up one of the big ones. “Damn, man, you better like strawberries.”

  “I do,” I admitted, thanking him when he said he’d take it to the freezer. I looked in the last box and burst out laughing. I pulled out one of the bottles with a big grin. “Strawberry daquiri mix with the booze in it.”

  “Seriously, who did you lay the charm on?” Wally demanded as he glanced in there too.

  “I have no idea. I didn’t know I could be charming.” I hurried to get the chocolate-covered strawberries and some of my other favorite stuff hidden in a fridge with Manny’s permission, promising he wouldn’t let any of us goofs steal it. I did, however, share the stuff that could work for breakfast treats, and that left a lot.

  I mean, I had scones, muffins, cupcakes, shortcake, strawberry bread—which I’d never heard of but was nummy—and a bunch more we made work for breakfast. I did frown when people gobbled up the strawberry coffee cake before I got a bite.

  “I’ll share, but at least let me try all of it,” I grumbled.

  “Sorry, thought you got a piece,” Matteo apologized, giving me half of his slice. I moaned as I ate it, smiling at the man who nodded it was good. “You’ve got some admirer, Zibon. Good for you.”

  “Yeah, unless he turns out to be a nut job.”

  “Why do you say it’s a he?” Alexander asked before biting into a muffin, giving me a hard look.

  I frowned, mad I’d slipped but letting them think I was confused. “Oh, I just assumed. If it’s a girl, she’s screwed. I mean, all the treats in the world won’t make me touch boobies.”

  “Classy,” Lance chuckled.

  The problem was London was watching me. I ended up asking him to help me carry the booze to my room before I was going to help Matteo with the pre-trans on a run since he was covering for Dimitri. I now needed to work off the calories. He gave a slow nod and told Drake he’d see him later.

  “Time to confess,” he muttered under his breath when we reached the warrior dorm.

  “I didn’t lie. I don’t have a clue who the guy was. Shit, I wasn’t sure I wasn’t making shit up from being so upset and so sleep deprived. I think he’s Wyrok.”

  “Another one? Here? Why?”

  I opened my mouth and closed it when we got on the elevator. “Look, I don’t know you well, but you seem cool. I wouldn’t break your trust and—”

  “Zibon, you don’t know this guy. That’s the difference here.”

  I bobbed my head. “You ever get that feeling like instantly you know you’re safe and someone has the answers?”

  “Yeah, when I met Drake,” he sighed, realizing it was a lost cause. “And I’m glad you never told me or anyone what my gift was. I’m sorry yours is a rough one too.”

  “So you know,” I grumbled as the doors opened and we got off at my floor.

  “Just today. I-I can’t control this. I just get shit, and it’s not fun.”

  “I feel you. It’s not fun. I don’t always get it, either.” I set down the two boxes at my door. “It’s like if someone starts the sentence, I can finish it with someone’s gift. I don’t just know, like I have to have that on my brain, if that makes sense.”

  “I would kill for a lead in to then have my gift take over,” he admitted with a heavy sigh as he set his boxes down. “I’ll be talking to Drake or thinking about food in the cafeteria, and suddenly I know Alexander’s worried his mating might be over and Dimitri is a hundred million miles from him and asked to travel because it hurt to be around him. I shouldn’t know that shit, and I know people want to use me as a weapon, as a spy.”

  “Yeah, shit, that’s rough. Okay, I won’t bitch about my gift or knowing what gifts others will get because as much as that freaked me out, yours is way worse.”

  “Wait, you can tell before they can?” he whispered, his eyes going wide. I gave a slow nod. “Shit, dude, that’s rough. So do you tell them? What if you don’t really know that? Or what if you could be wrong because you’re new? I mean, who do you think you know about?”

  “Lance is telekinetic, which I think Gary’s mom figured out,” I muttered. “And Wally’s will be something with water. I don’t know if it’s ice or he can manipulate water… I don’t know. It’s like that blank on what his gift is just gets filled in my mind with water.”

  “Wally shouldn’t get his for a while. I don’t know he’s had the right traumas to be so early,” London said gently, basically saying I obviously had.

  “We’d have to break open the booze for me to get into all of that.”

  “Another time. At least Wally won’t have to wait long, right?” he checked, his eyes going wide as I winced when pulling my keys out of my pocket. “You know how long it will be?”

  “No, I just know I’ve got fill-ins for some of the pre-trans so, yeah, it doesn’t seem like an indication of time. God, I hope I don’t learn like how long until people get them.”

  “This shit is so much fun,” he grumbled.

  “Want a strawberry booze bottle?”

  “Yeah, I’ll take a wine.” He shot me an evil smirk. “I might just set it on my dresser and let Drake stew about not wining and dining me.”

  “Oh damn, I’m going to get a bunch of angry lovers bitching I’m being romanced.”

  “Dude, you deserve to be romanced for real,” he murmured gently. I met his gaze as I pushed open the door, seeing in his eyes he knew more than I wanted him to and probably about Shane. Oh well, that was in the past. Hell, Shane was gone.

  And I now had a mystery man sending me so many treats I was in heaven.

  I smiled the whole several-hour run, being that annoying guy of the group pushing others and egging them on that I needed to burn off all my treats because I planned to eat more and more.

  “So what do you think you’ll get next?” Wally asked as he fell into step with me. “Roarke’s started a betting pool.”

  “You think I’ll get more?” I gasped, missing a step and almost going down. “Why? I mean, just why? Why would someone do all of that for someone they don’t really even know?”

  “How do you know you don’t know him?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me as if busting me I was hiding something.

  “Do you see any of the people we know doing that?”

  “Fine, brat, keep your secrets.” Again I almost fell, and he grabbed my arm and made us stop, waiting until everyone else passed us. “What?”

  “It’s not about the p
resents, but I’m pretty sure my gift is starting, and I don’t know what to do, so yeah, I guess I have secrets,” I mumbled, having trouble looking at him.

  “You’re early,” he worried.

  “Shitty parents.” I shrugged. “I’m not sure if I should tell people, though. I mean, not that my gift is starting, but what I know, you know? I’m not sure I’d want people telling me stuff.”

  He nodded for us to start jogging again, so we did as he stewed over what I said. “I think there’s a lot—too much—confusion in life, and if you can help shed some light, then that’s a gift.”

  “Right, but people whisper about London and whatever he’s got and being a weapon. I think I’m terrified of that.”

  “You learning something that good?” I gave a slow nod, and he let out a whistle. “That’s rough. I’m dying to know, but yeah, that sort of proves your point it’s a slippery slope.”

  “And new, so what if I’m not right? Could I make things worse? Am I a dick for meddling?”

  “No, meddling isn’t bad when it’s because you care. When people do it for glory or to be super cool, then it’s a dick move, but if you want to help, then it’s okay. Look at Ms. Neal. She’s helped a few people, and even if Dimitri left to check out other pre-trans programs, I think it was to help them because they’re always in each others’ faces, especially being first and second at the camp and running it all.”

  “My gift tells me what yours will be,” I whispered, my stomach clenching.

  “But you’re not sure?”

  “I was right about London. I knew the answer somehow when he asked, but then Helios said it. I’ve had others confirm I was right, but before they even get it? No, I don’t know.”

  “What is it?”

  “Water. Something with water. It’s like someone says something about their gift or having one, and I can fill in the blank. Or like I thought ‘I wonder what Wally’s will be,’ and I just knew it was water. Whether you can manipulate it or like ice to Nate’s fire, I have no idea.”