Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
ROMAN
One minute I’m sitting with my two mates, admiring the view, and the next Lochlan is out of his seat and in defensive mode as two vampires descend on our table.
I get to my feet, throwing myself between the vampires and Loch, but they’re tricky, ducking and going around me.
“What the fuck is going on?” Jareth yells, joining me.
“You killed our prince,” one of the vampires yells, climbing up onto the railing to give himself a height advantage.
Other supes are interested in what’s happening and my nose catches a familiar scent.
“You picked a fight with those guys?” When I turn, a handsome dark-skinned man is shaking his head, and I realize he’s a wolf. “Bad news.”
“Vampires typically are,” I grunt.
“They aren’t just regular vampires. They’re addicts. Fae blood. Everyone in the city knows to steer clear of them. Rumor has it they work with a fae mafia.”
“Fuck.” I nod at the man in acknowledgment then jump back in, pulling one of the vampires off the wall and slamming him to the ground.
It takes him longer to recover than it should, and I have to wonder if it’s related to what the wolf just told me. If they’re strung out on fae blood, they could be easier to fight. Or they could be worse. How the fuck would I know?
My chest is tight as my attention is torn between my two mates, and my wolf is losing his shit, thrashing and threatening to shift.
Lochlan kicks one of the vampires and the two of them tumble to the floor.
I run over and grab the offending vampire to pull him off my mate, and as I do, the other one jumps on my back.
Lochlan gets to his feet, baring his fangs, his eyes glowing red with rage as he launches himself at the vampire on my back. A demon waiter attempts to intervene, but he’s thrown across the roof by one of the vamps.
Panicking now, I search for Jareth but I can’t see him. I can smell him though, so he’s close. But where?
“Did you kill our prince?” a vampire asks, holding Lochlan over the railing at the edge of the roof. “You were with him last. We have orders to kill anyone responsible.”
“You can’t kill another vampire,” Lochlan shouts. “It’s against etiquette.”
The vampire laughs. “We can and we will avenge the death of Iswyn!”
The two of them tussle as the other one pins me to the floor, strong enough to slow me down, but then everything around us suddenly freezes and a tall woman with flowing black hair hovers above me.
She smells of pomegranates and flowers and even a hint of honey.
Massive black wings jut from her back, and as she flaps them, the air around me cools.
Her features are a blur to my eyes, and though I don’t understand what she is, whatever it is, it’s powerful.
“Dear wolf.” Her voice vibrates through me, focusing all my attention on her. “You should know your attackers have met one of you before.”
“What?”
She points to a corner where I spot Jareth huddled, his arms wrapped around his knees, his face flooded with panic. My wolf loses it, threatening to shift even as I lie pinned under a vampire.
“Be a love and handle them for us. They’ve been a plague since they had a fae orgy two full moons ago. It is not in my nature to kill, but I can certainly provide information to those who can.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, already crawling across the room to Jareth as her words ring in my head. “Jare.”
“I-it-it’s them, Rome. It’s them. After all these years…”
My wolf thrashes and a roar I’ve never produced before bellows out of me.
Kill.
Protect.
Now.
I’m half-shifted by the time I get to my feet, and I’m about to show these fuckers where immortals go when they finally die.
LOCHLAN
Holy hell.
Roman’s wolf has made a partial appearance and all I can do is watch with wide eyes as he effortlessly lifts me off the floor. His eyes glow yellow and his teeth are long and gleaming. He’s beautiful.
“Go. Be with Jareth.”
His voice is a deeper version of his usual rumble with a new animalistic quality that vibrates through me and heads straight for my dick. Bad time to get a hard-on, but the body does what it wants.
I scramble across the floor to where Jareth is huddled, his mouth hanging open as he watches Roman. The woman in black who spoke to Roman is standing to one side, watching our wolf lose his shit with a serene smile on her face while the other patrons and workers hover nearby.
“What happened, Jare? Are you okay?”
“It’s them. Not all of them, but those two for sure.”
I don’t have to ask what he’s talking about. I can feel it. I pull him into my arms and kiss the top of his head. “Our mate will protect you. He’ll make them pay for it.”
Jareth buries his face in my chest and I look up in time to see Roman body slam one of the vampires. It slows him down, but of course, it takes more than that to truly hurt a vampire.
One of them jumps on Roman and bites his neck, making my chest hurt. I want to get back in there and help, but I want to stay here and comfort Jareth too.
The three of them crash into a drink cart, breaking glasses, but they continue their battle. I have to do something. I can’t just sit here and not assist.
“How does a vampire kill a vampire, Jare?”
He rubs his forehead. “Bad blood, um… beheading… and, um…” He squeezes his eyes. “I can’t remember the third one.”
“Beheading it is.” I stroke his hair. “I need to help our mate.”
He nods, his brow creased, but as I go to sit up, he grabs my arm. “Wait. I can help. Just need a minute.”
“No. You’re mortal, love.”
“I can help. Trust me.”
JARETH
I manage to push down my shock and the ocean of trauma I found myself floating in. I recognized them immediately, even though it’s been years since my attack. Vampires don’t change and I’d know those sneering faces anywhere.
Right now, Roman needs help and I can offer it. I close my eyes, summoning my magic. Loch holds my hand, but I can feel his stress, wanting to jump in and help, but these aren’t mortal men. They’re not even regular vampires. They’re fueled by the fae magic in their veins.
A spell I never thought I’d have a use for appears in my mind, the words scrawled on tattered parchment paper, the scent of old magic permeating the air.
The words bleed from my lips in a whisper as the tattoos embedded in my flesh come to life, pulsing with light.
I feel a hand on my shoulder, then another one, and I know without looking that they belong to other magic users, offering me their power to help strengthen mine.
A bright white light shoots out of my chest and washes over Roman, while at the same time, it flows down my arm to where my hand is intertwined with Loch’s and spreads through him too.
“Whoa,” Lochlan whispers.
Then he’s on his feet, rushing into the chaos, and he and Roman are side by side.
I watch in awe as the two of them make quick work of the vampires.
Roman tears into the neck of one of them, tearing his throat out while Lochlan literally rips the other guy’s head off.
Fae-scented vampire blood spurts everywhere, drawing in the other supes, who either lap it up or collect it for later purposes.
I slump against the wall, nodding in appreciation to the two magic users who helped me.
Loch and Roman both looked dazed as they survey the bloody mess around them.
Roman’s eyes find me first, and his shoulders relax as his wolf features retreat until he looks fully human again.
He hooks his hand around Loch’s arm and the two of them walk back to me.
After struggling to my feet, I meet them halfway and fall into their arms. I’m worn out from the spell I cast, but so thankful my mates are okay.
“Draining me did no good,” Loch mumbles.
“Not true,” Roman growls. “They didn’t hunt you. I walked us right in.”
“You didn’t know,” I say. “You couldn’t have known.”
“It took me longer than it should have,” Loch says. “I smelled something off but I couldn’t name it.”
“You’ve never smelled anything like that before.”
“Gods, it reeked. Did I smell that bad before you drained me?”
“No. They were tweaked out.” Roman strokes Loch’s hair. “You smelled perfect. Still do.”
Loch nods, then rubs my shoulder. “Are you okay, love?”
I nod. “Yeah. My strength is returning.” Much quicker than usual too. I don’t know if it’s because of all the magic in the air recharging me, or if it has something to do with regularly sharing energy with Roman and Lochlan now. Either way, I’ll happily take it.
“I’m so sorry,” Roman says. “I just wanted us to have a nice night.”
“We did,” I say softly. “My mates killed two of my attackers.”
Loch presses a kiss to my cheek. “We’ll find the rest of them too when this fae mafia shit is sorted.”
“That’s right. They’ll be very sorry for what they did to you,” Roman snarls.
I turn to see the restaurant has been put back to normal. The blood and vampire bodies and parts are gone, and the other supes are sitting at tables enjoying the ambience again. Gotta love the supernatural world.
“Do you want to get out of here?” Roman asks.
“Are we allowed to stay?” Lochlan asks.
“Oh yeah. Supe fights break out all the time in the city.”
I smile. “Then I vote we stay and enjoy our date.”
“I agree. We won’t let them spoil our night.” Loch looks down. “Shoot. I ruined Cas’s clothes anyway.”
“He’ll get over it.” Roman kisses first Lochlan, then me, tenderly. “Come, my perfect mates. Let’s have dinner and then see what we can get up to.”