Chapter Seven #2
“On their way to a prison island for human trafficking. Nice thing about these islands is that they are all kingdoms. Rules are rules. We got all six, and they are done. Well, I got one, and they got five. Well, I was suffocating Cain, and Xeti got me to stop.”
Eden walked up to her and hugged her. “Thank you. Thank you for not making me face it.”
Krossos was looking like angry, crackling shadows. “I will get your bag. Where are you staying?”
“The bed and breakfast. Narro is going to lead us there. I think it is on the other path.”
Krossos walked toward the building, and he was inhaling as he went. Rached held Eden, but Xeti and Terus looked wary. Krossos came back with Rache’s purse and Eden’s bag. The shadows were crackling around him.
Eden chuckled. “He’s upset that he wasn’t here. If he had been, this would have been the last trace of them.”
“You two are getting along.”
“Something about him just makes me relax. I feel... treasured? I guess that is it. It isn’t something I have felt before.”
Eden inhaled and stood straight. “They are really all under arrest?”
“Yes. I saw them with my own eyes. I just didn’t want to sleep in the room where they had been rifling through our sheets.”
Eden nodded. “You are right. Absolutely. Horace must have tracked us from the port.”
Krossos took her hand. “May I stay with you tonight?”
Eden nodded and leaned against him.
Rache nodded to Narro. “Lead the way. I think we really want to take a load off and make some plans.”
She took her purse from Krossos, and they headed down a nearly invisible path through the jungle.
Following a dark elf through the shadows might not have been a great idea.
She paused, and Xeti chuckled, taking her hand and leading her until she stumbled.
Then, he picked her up. “I am fairly sure Narro did this on purpose.”
She glanced and saw Eden’s pale features curled up in Krossos’s arms. “Yeah, for guys who live as long as you do, you are in a terrible hurry when you find your matches.”
Xeti chuckled. “Well, Terus didn’t.”
Terus sighed. “Am I going to be hearing about that forever?”
Rache nodded. “Until you actually, properly apologize for being a dick. Yes.”
There was a snort of laughter behind them.
Terus nodded. “I am ready to be on my knees for hours.”
Rache nodded, then caught the inference, and said, “That wasn’t what I meant, pervert.”
Xeti laughed. “If you think that is perversion, we are going to shock you to the tips of your sandals.”
Rache put a hand over her eyes and groaned.
When they made it to the bed and breakfast in the jungle, her two hosts were there to greet them, and two rooms were booked already. Krossos carried Eden up to her room, and Rache looked at Xeti and Terus. “Don’t you two have a hotel room to musk up?”
Xeti laughed. “We will be sharing your room. Nothing physically intimate, but we need to remain with you tonight.”
“Need to?”
“We want to charge to where they are holding those men and take them apart. Krossos will enact his own sort of revenge, but destruction is preferable.”
She growled. “Fine, but I get the first shower and most of the towels.”
Serin chuckled. “I will bring you extras.”
Rache said softly, “When are you due?”
“Six more weeks to go. I am going to be very relieved, and so is the island. It hasn’t had little ones since I left. The spirit of the island was pissed. But now, it has taken over my mate, or rather, it wore what would be my mate, and now, we are settled and ready for the baby.”
“Congratulations. You will be right behind Haravin.”
“Yeah, she’s having a little boy, right now in fact.”
Eden perked up. “Really? Krossos, will you come with me?”
Krossos grinned. “Of course. Are you going for support?”
“No. I can help.”
Rache looked at her guys. “I would love to be there, but I don’t have the skill set that Eden does.”
Eden grinned. “Come by in the morning. She will still be at it.”
“Okay. Thanks. Tell her that I am done for the night.”
“She will understand. Okay, come on, Krossos. This way, I think.” Eden was serious and walked up toward the palace. Suddenly, she knew what to do.
Rache took the wristband and walked up the steps to her suite. Xeti took the lead inside, and Terus was behind her. She sighed. “I hope Mimi is doing well. It looked like she and Mickey go way back.”
“She will be around for the race.”
Rache chuckled. “She will be around tomorrow. I need a change of clothes.”
She headed for the bathroom. “Do what you like; I wasn’t kidding about a shower.”
It took her under a minute to get under the spray, and while she was there, she washed her outfit and hung it up. The sweat was removed, and she was less tense than she had been facing Cain. He had looked like he wanted to kill her. It wasn’t a great look.
The peacekeepers were good for one thing. Confining other alphas.
She sighed and finished her shower, squeezing the water out of her clothing and wrapping herself in a towel. She took her clothes to the balcony and draped them on the edge of the railing.
Xeti and Terus watched her move through the room. The heat of the evening wrapped around her, and it would either dry her clothing or leave it clammy.
She looked at them. “Do either of you know if there is a hairbrush?”
Terus rose to his feet and twisted his wrist. A silver comb was in his hand. He walked behind her and started working on her hair.
“Wow, you two went quiet.”
Xeti said, “We didn’t want to ruin the illusion. If you were a creature of our imagination, we didn’t want to scare you away.”
Terus murmured in her ear, “Which side do you want the braid on?”
“Left? It’s traditional, right? Just behind the ear.”
Xeti came around and brought his finger to his lips, and then she smelled blood in the air. She smelled it when Terus did the same.
Rache waited, and Xeti got Terus’s braid in place and then looked at her. “Can you do mine? He is all claws.”
She walked over to the bed and stood on it, separating his locks and getting the three strands. She held her finger out to Xeti and said, “Bite.”
He grazed her finger carefully, and she patted his head. “Thank you. Is the placement okay?”
He chuckled. “It is perfect.”
Three minutes later, her blood was locking her own braid, and she felt her soul shudder and lock. Two bright emotions that didn’t belong to her were suddenly in her mind.
She sucked her finger and said, “Okay, that’s done. I am heading to bed. Join me or not; it is your choice.”
Xeti grinned, and they were both naked in a surge of power. She flipped her towel off and climbed between the sheets, and she sat and wrapped one of her webs around the bite mark.
The bed was huge, but it felt much smaller when they each crawled in next to her, one on the left, one on the right. They were on their sides next to her, bracketing her. She found it rather pleasant and let the security of being guarded take her to sleep.
* * * *
TERUS CHUCKLED SOFTLY. “Two naked elves in her bed, and she’s sleeping.”
Xeti looked down at her. “Does she sleep after she’s stressed?”
Terus blinked. “I don’t know.”
She didn’t open her eyes but said, “Yes, I do, and facing Cain while he wound up to beat the hell out of me wasn’t a fond moment. I prefer my scares to come in the form of bad wiring.”
Xeti asked, “Do you mind cuddling?”
She rolled toward him, and he wrapped his arms around her. Terus muttered, “Fuck.”
Rache nuzzled Xeti’s neck. “You lose; I snooze. See you tomorrow.”
Xeti was laughing silently and holding her close. He kissed her temple and cheek. He kissed her softly, and she smiled against his lips. She murmured softly, and he grinned and said, “I look forward to seeing the result of that.”
Rache snuffled and slid into a restful breathing pattern.
Terus whispered, “What did she say?”
“She wonders if she’s going to want to eat me after mating during receptivity.”
Terus laughed silently and curled against her backside. He whispered, “One way or another.”
She didn’t move, but he knew she had heard him. He could feel it through their link.
In the pre-dawn light, Rache woke up and wiggled a little. “I want to go and help Haravin with the delivery.”
Terus was warming her spine and thighs. “No, you feel good.”
She laughed. “I will feel good after I see if a friend needs anything.”
He sighed and kissed her shoulder before he moved away. “Good luck with Xeti. He doesn’t wake up easy.”
“How did you two partner?”
“Ah, his partner, Jorin, was stabbed in the first attacks. He was buying time for us to escape, as giant spiders usually make folks hesitate. That stunned Xeti, and he was dumped into holding with the rest of us.”
Xeti’s voice spoke softly, “And Terus helped me heal and got my mind back together. His relentless cheer was hard to ignore. I did try.”
Terus snorted and rolled out of bed. “He did. Our beasts are all basically loners, so finding a match was tricky. Not to mention finding a mate. You walked right up to me, and I didn’t see you because I wasn’t looking.” He trailed his fingertips down her spine.
She snorted and looked at Xeti. “Okay, you are awake, let go.”
He groaned and pulled her closer. “But you feel so good.” His hands were on her shoulders, arms, middle of her back... too many arms.
She glanced down and snorted as three sets of biceps on his right side were visible and felt on the left. “Funny.”
“This form showed up last night. I am wondering what else will show up once we are properly mated.”
“I am thinking there will be little proper about it.”
He opened his eyes and grinned. “You want to get up?”
“And dress. If Hara is in labour and Eden has been there all night, they might need a hand or even comic relief.”
He smiled. “A kiss and then I let you go.”
She kissed him, and he slid one of his hands into her hair, then another, and another and— “Oh, knock it off.”
He started laughing, and she webbed his eyes and mouth. She rolled out of bed and went to grab her clothes. They were clammy but wearable.