Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Wylder
Wylder didn’t even know Silva, not really, but he could tell Silva was pissed. They’d relocated to the Paranormal Council building and gathered in a basement conference room with no windows and runes carved into the doorframe.
Most of them were sitting around the table, debating their course of action and how to handle the threat, but not Silva. No. He hadn’t said a word since they left the house, and now he was leaning against the back wall, arms crossed over his chest with a blank look on his face.
Fine, Wylder thought. Let him be angry. Wylder wasn’t backing down.
“We must find out how much they know,” Kerak was saying when Wylder tuned back in.
He’d seen the Demon King before, but never in such close proximity.
When Kerak had first walked in, the invincible force of his presence pressed against Wylder’s chest until he felt like he couldn’t breathe.
It had only lasted a moment, but Wylder understood why people—paranormals included—were terrified of him.
Derek nodded. Kerak had insisted his Hellhound Alpha be included in the meeting. None of the others objected, so Wylder listened as they brought Derek up to speed. “I can handle that.”
“Good.” Kerak let out a deep breath.
Lenette narrowed her eyes. “Feeling alright, Kerak?”
For a moment, he only looked at her, dark gaze burning with a power Wylder couldn’t truly wrap his mind around. Eventually, he let out another breath. “It’s Reid. He’s…unwell, and it weighs on me.”
Lenette, Sigurd, and Silva all straightened like they’d been shocked.
Lenette spoke first. “Unwell? How?”
“We don’t know, but please, let’s stay on task. Reid’s health is the reason I wanted Derek here. He and the Hellhounds are at your disposal. My focus and energy must be with my mate.”
“Of course,” Sigurd said.
Wylder tried to keep from looking at Silva, but it was impossible. He glanced in Silva’s direction, hoping he’d be focused on Kerak like everyone else, but his silver gaze met Wylder’s without hesitation.
“Take care of your mate, your Highness,” Silva said, never looking away from Wylder. “We’ll handle this.”
After a few more minutes of discussion, they adjourned.
Kerak was gone so quickly that Wylder’s half-human eyes couldn’t track the movement.
“Holy shit,” he mumbled to himself as he pushed in the chair he’d been sitting in and started for the door.
He’d barely walked through it, the others a fair distance in front of him, when Silva grabbed his arm.
Searing warmth radiated up from Silva’s bare skin against his, making his breath catch.
Behind him, Silva made a similar noise a second before he yanked Wylder to the side and pressed him against the wall.
For a moment, all Wylder could focus on was the unyielding stone against his back. He met Silva’s gaze, so close to his, and his whole focus shifted to the equally determined Fae in front of him.
“I don’t like this,” Silva said into the space between them, breath rushing over Wylder’s face. Silva might have been a couple inches shorter, but it didn’t affect his stature in the least.
Wylder lifted his chin. “I’m not backing down.”
Letting out a hard breath through his nose, Silva tucked his chin for a moment before meeting Wylder’s gaze again. He stepped forward, closing the last few inches between them, pressing until Wylder could feel every lean inch of him.
Swallowing, Wylder searched the silver eyes in front of him. There was no give in Silva.
“You’ll do exactly as I say and follow my lead without question. The creatures we’re going to see aren’t the kind who work in this building or stand in line at a coffee shop. Do you understand?”
Wylder nodded, nose bumping Silva’s and nearly going cross-eyed keeping him in focus.
Silva relaxed, but only an inch. Wylder swayed forward, unable to help himself.
One corner of Silva’s lips lifted in a smirk. He started to step back, but Wylder wasn’t ready to let him go. Gripping Silva’s hips, Wylder pulled him close again. It felt good to have Silva between his hands, in his space. He was dying to know if Silva felt the same.
“Wait…are we going to talk about this?”
The smirk left Silva’s face. “Eventually. For now, keeping you safe and keeping the door closed are the only things that can have my energy.”
It stung. More than Wylder wanted to admit. He nodded and dropped his hands.
Silva took a full step back. “We’ll head to your uncle’s, help him re-fortify, and then we’ll head out once the sun goes down.”
“Why wait that long?”
“The Fae we need to talk to only dwells in the dark.”
Silva
Not closing the distance between him and Wylder had taken every drop of Silva’s considerable will.
Having his mate’s hands on him and Wylder’s breath warm on his lips without tasting him was perhaps the harshest test Silva had faced in all his long years.
But he’d held firm. Wylder’s safety and the safety of this realm he’d pledged his existence to protecting were paramount.
If they were successful in their quest to keep the door sealed and the Hunt on the other side of it, he and Wylder would have time to explore their bond.
For his part, Silva knew his choice. The affection he already felt growing for Wylder was evidence enough.
Whether Wylder would feel the same once he’d gotten to know Silva was another story.
The afternoon and evening dragged on. After they’d gone back to Sigurd’s, Wylder went to cover the gym while Sigurd dealt with rebuilding his wards. Silva spent his time reaching out to the network of contacts he’d made over the last thirty years—the ones in this realm, anyway.
Most realms guarded the portal between their own and the Fae with tenacity. Humans, however, had no means of finding the door, let alone safeguarding it. Silva and many other paranormals who called this realm home had made it their mission to do it for them.
Once the sun had gone down and Wylder returned from the gym, Silva got them on the road. Wylder didn’t question their destination until they were standing in the aisle of a local grocery store.
“Are we meeting your contact here?”
“No.” Silva scanned the items on the shelf. He could have sworn he’d found it in this aisle before.
“Oooookay. So, what are we doing here?”
Finally, he spotted it. He grabbed a can and turned to present it to Wylder.
“Cheese Whiz.” Wylder’s eyebrows rose to his hairline.
Silva nodded, already moving in the direction of the self-checkout stations he’d seen on the way in. “Cheese Whiz.”
It wasn’t until they were back in the car that Wylder said, “Do I get to know about the Cheese Whiz?”
Silva chuckled. “We’ve got someone to bribe.”