Chapter 3
“Idon’t know!” Cyrus roared.
“You don’t know? You don’t know?” The Black Bear’s bellow echoed through the mountainside, reverberating back to them somehow stronger and louder than when they left his mind. “How the fuck do you not know?”
“I don’t know!” Cy tried to get around the Bear again, then snarled when the big guy once again blocked the way. “Get the fuck outta my way. I need to…”
“You ain’t goin’ nowhere. So, you might as well just tell me what the fuck is goin’ on, and why somebody you thought was dead has shown up here and taken your Mate.”
Looking up, something he wasn’t used to doing because he was almost always one of the tallest people in the group, Cyrus took a step back to lessen the upward tilt of his head and seethed, “You think you can stop me from leavin’ Smokey.”
“I’m gonna ignore that Smokey shit even though I already warned you, but I’m only gonna do it this one time ‘cause you’re worried about your Mate.
” Taking a step forward, something Cy knew Luke did subconsciously because he wasn’t the type of man to use his height against a friend, the Black Bear Shifter flatly stated, “You’re not goin’ nowhere ‘cause we’re locked down tight.
Whoever threw that bolt of nasty Magic at you and made that big, old hole over there…
” He poked his thumb over his shoulder. “…tossed a net of nasty Voodoo or Hoodoo all over this whole side of the mountain and it’s got an especially heinous Dampening Spell attached to it. ”
“Nope. Can’t happen. Maybe that shit affects you, Big Guy, but not me.
I got pure, white Dragon Magic and wings.
” Putting his hand on Luke’s bicep, he moved the Black Bear to the side.
Clapping his hands, he rubbed them together.
“Ain’t no crappy, homemade Voodoo Spell and a little hole in the ground gonna stop me from gettin’ to Nessy,” he snickered with the best southern accent he could muster.
“Now, step aside, and watch me work.” Then mentally, he said, “Dom, it’s your turn, Old Man. Make with the wings and let’s get…”
“I can’t.”
“…into the… Huh? You what? The fuck you say?”
“Yep, the fuck I do say,” the Dragon King with whom he shared his soul deadpanned.
“I don’t have time for this shit, Dom,” Cyrus almost begged. “We need to get to…”
“You know I can hear everything y’all are saying, don’t ya’?” Luke snickered.
“How the hell…?”
“I’m pretty sure King Dom put it all on the loudspeaker.” Tapping his temple, Luke added with a grin, “Buster, my Bear, he does that shit all the time when he gets tired of me bein’ a pain in the ass.”
“DOM!” Cy snarled.
“I do not have time for your childish tantrums,” the Dragon King sarcastically replied. “I felt it necessary to keep Luke in the loop, as he is also trapped, and I did not want to repeat myself.”
“But…”
“Furthermore, I could not tell you because you were– as I stated before– throwing a tantrum.”
“I was…”
“Yes, you were. Now, let me work. I am trying to find out how this is happening and what I can do to get around it.”
“Work fas…”
“Hold your tongue, Lad,” the Dragon King warned. “I am doing this for Vanessa. If it wasn’t for her, I would be taking a nap and leaving you and your ill-mannered antics to come up with your own solution. So, be thankful I adore that woman and her Polar Bear Princess.”
“Dom…”
“Stop. Bothering. Me.” And with that, the Dragon King slammed the mental shields that separated his consciousness from Cyrus’s into place with a Magically resounding thud.
“No!” Cyrus shook his head. “This cannot be happening. How is this…?”
“How about instead of asking questions you know we don’t have the answers to, you tell me what’s going on?” Luke calmly suggested, leaning back against an especially large boulder, he crossed his right ankle over his left and shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.
Eyes flying to the Black Bear’s, Cyrus thought about screaming, but decided to try to be civil even as he was losing his ever-loving mind. “As I said before, I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Opening his eyes wide and tilting his head to the side, the Black Bear added, “Really?”
“Yes, really.” Cy shoved the words through gritted teeth. “Why would I lie?”
“Now, I’m not sayin’ you’re lyin’. I’m askin’ if you’re keepin’ things to yourself.
“I can assure you that I do not know what is happening.”
“But you know who’s doing all this?”
Running his hand through his hair, Cyrus ground out through gritted teeth, “If you ask me who’s on first base, I swear to the Heavens I’m gonna set your tail on fire?”
“Who’s on first base?” Luke growled. Taking a step forward, he jabbed his finger into the air between them. “Is the guy you thought was dead a first baseman?”
“Oh. My. Goddess.” Pulling his hand out of her hair before he snatched himself bald, Cyrus ended up clenching both fists at his side, inhaling deeply, and counting to three all the while glaring into the blue eyes of the big Black Bear Shifter.
“You know this is karma for messin’ with the poor lad on the trip up here, right?” Dom chuckled.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be findin’ our Mate?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be…?”
Ignoring the Dragon King with whom he shared his soul, Cy was just barely holding onto the last fraying thread of his temper as he slowly replied, “No. The asshole who I thought was dead but obviously isn’t, who I am 99.
9% sure just took Vanessa from that fuckin’ cave, has nothing to do with baseball. ”
“Then why did you…?”
Holding up his hand and continuing to speak as if Luke hadn’t said a word, he went on, “I was trying to be funny. Trying to ease the tension.” Throwing his hands in the air in mock surrender, he hurried on, “I’m sorry.
” Clearing his throat, he finally got to the explanation.
“Aamon. Aamon Blackwood is the asshole I’m talking about. ”
“The only son of the Old Man Blackwood?” Luke looked concerned. Pointing at his head, he added, “Got red hair and a nasty attitude?”
“You know him?”
“Hell, yeah, everybody on the mountain knows the Blackwood Wolves.” Shaking his head, the Black Bear’s stance relaxed, but his expression grew more pensive. “But we give ‘em a wide berth. They are bad fuckin’ news.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“How do you know Aamon? Why did you think he was dead? And why would he kidnap your Mate?”
“To be honest, I didn’t know he was dead. I was just hoping.” Cyrus exhaled. “Okay, here goes.” His fingers were once again brushing through his shoulder-length hair. “Aamon Blackwood is the main reason I wanted Nessy to stop tryin’ to help everyone.”
“Oh, shit! Spill, Dude. Tell me everything.”
Not sure if the Black Bear wanted the information to help him or for the gossip, Cyrus had nothing better to do than be pissed off that Aamon had gotten the upper hand, so he started, “About two months after Nessy and I started dating, Aamon turned up in Holly Bush.”
“Just showed up and acted like he owned the place, I bet.”
“Yeah, he damned sure did,” Cy nodded. “Nessy and I were sitting at the lunch counter of the new diner Bonnie Sampson and her twin, Maggie Mae, had just opened, talking about getting some steaks and having dinner at her house, when Aamon threw open the door, marched into the diner, and yelled, “Is this the only place to get food in this one-horse town?”
“Of course, Bonnie walked out of the back, was as sweet as she could be, and welcomed him to opening day. When he ignored her, she just kept smiling and talking. Grabbing a menu, she tried to show him to the first booth, but the asshole wasn’t having it.”
“Oh, my Goddess,” Luke huffed. “I can only imagine.”
“Yeah, the asshole snatched the menu right out of her hand and made a beeline for the stool on the other side of Vanessa. As he sat down, he hollered, “How about you make yourself useful, Waitress? I need a beer.”
“Holy shit,” the Black Bear growled. “I’m gonna skin that runt myself.”
“Yeah, well, everybody in the diner wanted the same thing, but Bonnie and Maggie don’t stand for any fighting in any of their businesses. Of course, that didn’t stop every single person in there from getting to their feet.”
“Bonnie stopped ‘em, right?”
“Yeah, she did,” Cy nodded. “Sadly, that only made Aamon act out more.” Sighing, the Dragon leaned against a huge stump and went on.
“He started laughing. Then he said, ‘Oh, you’re the big boss lady, are ya’?
’ Bonnie smiled, let the Alpha She-Wolf she shares her soul with shine in her eyes, and nodded, ‘Yes, sir, we are.”
“Did he settle down?”
“No,” Cyrus flatly replied. “He acted like he wasn’t scared shitless and started trying to show off. He leaned over, slid his arm alongside Nessy’s, and whispered, ‘How about we get outta here, Hot Stuff?’’
“And you kicked his ass, right?”
“Who’s telling this story?”
“You are,” Luke chuckled. “But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop commentating.”
“Great.”
“Now, come on.” Luke motioned with his hands. “Don’t leave me hangin’.”
“Why not?” Cy grumbled. “It’s not like I can go anywhere.”
“See there,” Luke beamed. “That’s the right attitude.”
“Okay. So, Aamon was messing with Nessy, and it pissed me right off. Of course, my sweet Mate grabbed my hand when I started to get up and throw the asshole out on his ear. She gave me the sign that she could handle it, and even though I thought it was a bad idea, I did it for her.”
“Of course.” Nodding, Luke added, “’Cause you coulda beat that boy black and blue with one hand tied behind your back and a blindfold on.”
“See?” Cyrus emphatically agreed, getting into telling his story because his new friend was into it too. “That’s what I thought, and for a while it worked.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah, oh, shit,” Cyrus scoffed. “And by ‘for a while’, I mean, until we saw him two days later when we were in Valentine.”
“Now, how did that boy, who I know has never been off this mountain, get to not one, but two, small towns in the whole big old state of Texas?”