Protective Shadows (The Protective Series, Book 2)

Chapter Five

I panted in anger, my breaths coming out hard and heavy, forming a white cloud in the air in front of me. I needed to get out of here, but I didn't know where I would go exactly.

A thought crossed my mind then: I could go home to Bunbury, Australia, but I dismissed that idea right away. The guys needed me, and I needed them. It wasn't their fault there were so many jerks in the world, and that Devon happened to be one of them.

The doors to the dance studio swung open, slamming hard against the brick walls. I spun sharply, drawing a dagger from my belt, and froze when I realised it was Asko walking towards me, hands dug deeply into the pockets of his jacket.

"No need to stab me," he sighed, lowering my armed hand. "I just came to see if you were okay."

"I'm far from it," I mumbled, sheathing my dagger. "Now do you believe me, when I say I don't trust him?"

Asko looked thoughtful, drawing his brown eyebrows together. He'd cut his hair, so now it was cropped around his ears and the nape of his neck, leaving a bunch of gelled hair spiked on top of his head. I was relieved, to say the least. He looked too weird with long hair.

"Try not to judge people too harshly," he said pointedly. "Devon seems to know what's best for us, and Izzy too. Dan just wanted our money, Jed. This might end up being very beneficial for all of us. We need dictatorship."

I gave a defeated sigh, resting the side of my face against his chest. He'd chosen to pull a dark grey trench coat over his leather jacket. He was smart, and I was dumb. I was freezing standing here in minus seven degree weather, my entire body violently trembling as a strong gust of wind blew through the city. Light snowflakes fell from the morning white sky, sticking to the surrounding concrete sidewalks.

"Our flight leaves in four hours time," Asko said, tilting his head to gaze down at me. "The first place we're going to is Connecticut, and our first gig will be the following day."

I nodded, laying my hands against his shoulder blades. I had some idea as to what I wanted to do once we touched US soil - check out the White House, of course. My American friends were always crapping on about how great Barack Obama was as a president, in every single attempt to prove to me how, in contrast, Tony Abbott was a complete douchebag.

While I wasn't very digital in the political field, I sure as hell agreed with them. He was as useless as a nun's tit, only angering us Australians more by increasing the costs of tertiary institutions and cutting budgets, and not to mention being a homophobe, despite his sister being a lesbian. That's why I had been so reluctant to try and marry Asko in my home country, because the guy was a dickhead with a capital D.

My nose wriggled, smelling and observing a foreign scent lingering on Asko's coat, featuring peach, mandarin and bergamot essence with hints of oak moss, jasmine and lemon. "Is this a girl's perfume?"

He pulled back instantly. "No," he faltered, quickly adding, "Well, yes. It's Hannele's, the new singer we have for my band. She loves giving hugs."

I pursed my lips in a firm, unconvinced line, but didn't tell him I thought he was lying. He had been there for me, after all, during Janne's episode last year. Despite everything he had done, he had never lied to me once, and I wish I was that certain about Asko.

"Are you okay, Jed?" His thick Finnish accent cut through the cold.

I lifted my eyes to Janne's face, disentangling myself from Asko's chest. "I'm alright, Janne."

His shoulders relaxed. He exhaled a relieved breath, moving towards us. "Devon can be a real piece of work, can't he?"

"Didn't you hear him?" Asko snapped irritably. "He said he's fine, so you can drop the concerned persona and go find your next one night stand."