LAILAH
ONE
“We finished the serum today. It was ready to be tested, and we made a batch of twenty vials. They’re gone,” Chadwick said, his British accent becoming stronger in his distress.
I sat stunned on the hotel couch between Hudson and Brayden.
This was worse than we thought. Not only had we discovered that the Dark Lord has a hidden army, but he now had the one tool he needed to make more soldiers for it.
Watching Hudson’s father start to fray at the edges of his perfectly maintained exterior made my heart ache for him.
I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but seeing as we only met a few hours ago, I didn’t think he would welcome it.
Pulling himself upright, he gathered his thoughts and stood.
“If you will excuse me, it seems that I must be getting back to the facility. There is an investigation that needs to be done. We must find out who took the Day-Brite formula.” Chadwick turned to Brayden’s father, Oliver, gripping his shoulder. “Please tell Adriana I’m sorry.”
With that he left the room in a hurry, phone to his ear, talking to someone in what sounded like French.
I turned to Hudson and found his face void of emotion, but his mouth was tight, as if he was holding himself back from following.
His honey blond hair that was typically styled to perfection was mussed, and his bright blue eyes were guarded.
Pushing his glasses back up his nose, I saw his hand shake with the need to do something.
“Hudson, you need to be with him,” I said softly, taking his hand. “We will stay here tonight, so go take care of your father.”
Hudson held my face in his hands and placed a kiss on my forehead. “I’ll be back in the morning.”
I nodded, waving for him to follow after his father. “Go.”
Hearing the door close after Hudson, I sagged against Brayden, the events of the evening catching up to me.
Battling a demon-enhanced warrior from the Dark Lord’s army sure takes a lot out of a girl.
Never had I expended that much power, or been attacked quite so viciously.
It had taken me shampooing my hair three times to get all the blood out of it. Made me jealous of Jay’s shaved head.
“Father, I think it’s best if we turn in for the evening. We can talk more tomorrow when we’re rested. There isn’t much we can do at this point,” Brayden said, wrapping an arm around me.
It was moments like this that the connection we had by being bonded was very useful.
I knew he could feel how exhausted I was through my emotions.
Not that he was much better—the worry he had about his mother was chipping away at any energy reserves he had.
When I glanced at my other three boys, they all looked ragged too.
Even Jay was sitting on the edge of the couch.
For some this wouldn’t be a big deal, but Jay always preferred to stand.
His dark gray eyes, that typically were alert and watchful, drooped slightly, making their almond shape more pronounced.
Micah sat next to him, head tossed back, staring at the ceiling with his signature scowl.
His thick brown hair was loose around his shoulders when he typically kept it up.
Then there was Parker, the man who looked at life as a big party or game to play.
His bright orange-red hair was still damp from his shower and flat on his head instead of styled in his signature spiked faux-hawk look.
As if he knew I was watching him, he looked up at me from where he was sitting on the floor, leaning against my legs.
His brown eyes were missing that teasing glint as he gave me a half-hearted grin.
I didn’t like how defeated everyone looked right now. I clearly needed to do something about it.
“Of course, you’re right. We can meet over breakfast and figure out the next course of action,” Oliver said, slapping his hands on his knees and standing. “Come along Makoto, Tobias. Let the kids get some sleep. They worked hard tonight keeping us safe.”
Jay’s dad, Makoto, slowly stood and opened his mouth like he was going to say something to his son but thought better of it. Nodding to us all, he shuffled off in his yukata and slippered feet.
Tobias walked past Parker and ruffled his hair, giving him the grin Parker had inherited. “G’night son, proud of you.”
Once the dads left and it was just us in the room, emotions were heavy in the air, thick with defeat. Pulling myself away from Brayden, I stood and walked to the other side of the coffee table, taking them in.
“Why do you guys look like a bunch of kicked puppies?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips. “Did I just come from a different battle where we didn’t kick that creepy woman’s ass?”
Micah, of course, was the first to glare at me with his sapphire eyes. “Did you not just hear what happened? What we did doesn’t matter.”
“Bullshit it doesn’t matter, Micah!” I snapped. “We saved Brayden’s mother from possibly being turned into one of those things. Besides, if we hadn’t gotten that information from Tabitha, how long would it have taken Chadwick to check his office?”
“She makes a valid point,” Jay said, standing up and starting to pace behind the couch. “There is a very small window in which the Day-Brite serum could have been taken.”
“Thank you, Jay, for seeing my side of this,” I said, giving him a soft smile. “Can we also talk about what happened during that fight?”
“You mean the armor thing?” Parker asked with a hint of his real grin. “That was pretty sweet! What do you think brought that on?”
The three boys all looked at Parker like he was an idiot, and Micah slapped him upside the head. “Lailah, you moron.”
“Fuck off, a lot happened all at once,” Parker said, getting up and shoving Micah over, then taking a seat on the couch. “Notice she isn’t bringing up the fact that she almost bled to death right before that.”
Now I was the one that was under their scrutiny. I raised my hands in surrender, trying to hold back my grin of triumph that I’d pulled them out of their pity party.
“Who would have guessed that she could gather that much demonic energy? Let alone try and pull the small bit I have out of me,” I said, defensively.
“Is that what she was doing?” Micah asked, leaning forward, his eyes swirling with anger.
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s the only thing I can think of. It felt like she was trying to pull something out of me that definitely didn’t want to leave.”
“It could have been your heart. You know, like the wicked stepmother from Snow White,” Parker suggested.
I could see Micah gearing up to smack Parker again, so I interjected. “Whatever it was, we stopped it and I’m fine. Let’s get some sleep before something else happens and we’re running on empty.”
Parker groaned, flopping against the couch. “Why would you even put that into the universe, Trouble? So not cool.”
I chuckled as I headed into one of the bedrooms that had the king-size bed.
Tossing off the extra pillows, I pulled back the covers and got settled in the middle of the big bed.
A few minutes later, Brayden crawled in next to me and pulled me against him, intertwining our legs.
I tucked my head under his chin, and we both let out a heavy sigh.
“You scared the shit out of me, Lailah,” Brayden whispered after we had been lying there for a few minutes in silence. “I could feel how much pain you were in, and I couldn’t do anything to help you.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist, clutching him to me. “You did do something—you saved me. If you all hadn’t placed a hand on me, I don’t think I would have survived.”
He kissed the top of my head, then my forehead, the tip of my nose, and then our lips met. I could feel his need for reassurance that I was truly okay. This wasn’t about sex; it was purely the need to hold me. I surrendered to him, giving him what he needed—what we both needed.
“I didn’t know how much I was truly in love with you until I thought you were going to leave me,” Brayden said, pulling me away so he could look me in the eyes.
I felt my eyes widen at his words. “Brayden, did you just declare your love for me?”
“Apparently not very well if you’re questioning it,” Brayden said, love and laughter in his gaze. “Lailah Mackenzie, I am hopelessly in love with you.”
My chest burst with the happiness and love that flooded my body. I couldn’t tell if it was from him or if it was me… not that it mattered, since the feeling was mutual. This time I could say it in return.
“Brayden Dolton, I love you too,” I admitted seconds before his lips came crashing onto mine.
We made out until both our lips were swollen and red from being nibbled, bit, and sucked.
Neither of us had much energy to do anything else, but with our connection, there was no doubting how we each felt about each other.
Finally, we both found ourselves drifting off to sleep, my hands under his shirt planted on the skin of his back, while he wrapped his arms around my waist.
Sometime later, I was awoken when I felt someone climbing into the bed on my other side. I cracked an eye and found Micah, who was pulling up the covers and laying on his back beside me.
“You okay?” I murmured, untangling myself to face him.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Micah said gruffly.
“Want to tell me about it?” I pushed, knowing there was something more. He never showed his vulnerability.
He turned to look at me, and the fear in his eyes shocked me.
I’d seen many emotions from Micah, but fear like this hadn’t been one of them.
I reached out and took his hand, and that seemed to break whatever control he’d been holding onto.
Yanking on my arm, he pulled me away from Brayden and across his chest. His breathing was fast and uneven, like he was on the verge of having a panic attack.
“Shhh, it’s okay. We’re all safe. We made it out in one piece,” I murmured as I combed my fingers through his hair.
“You can’t leave me, Lailah,” Micah rasped.
I squeezed him tighter as his words almost made me cry. “I’m not going anywhere, Micah. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”
“I won’t be able to survive if another person I care about dies. Losing my parents nearly broke me, and I haven’t let anyone else in besides Brayden,” Micah said, talking quickly. “I don’t know how it happened, but you somehow forced your way into my heart, and I can’t lose you too.”
I pulled Micah’s face away from my neck and looked into his eyes before I kissed him.
Unlike my kisses with Brayden, Micah’s was desperate, clutching at me, fisting my shirt in his hands.
I held onto his face, cupping his jaw in both my hands so he could feel me.
Kissing Micah was like a thunderstorm; it was wild, electric, and completely unpredictable.
Micah kissed down my neck, biting every so often, making me gasp at the jolts it sent through my body.
He started to fumble with my shirt, but I stopped him.
“Micah, wait,” I panted.
“Why? You want this, I can tell,” he asked, frowning.
I shook my head at him with a smirk on my lips. “Yes, I want you, but I don’t want the first time we have sex to be because you’re upset. Not to mention that your best friend is right next to us.”
“Brayden won’t care. I’m sure he’d even join in if he woke up,” Micah countered.
I sighed, fighting what my body was crying out for now that he had lit the fire within me.
“I’m still going to say no tonight, Micah.
As much as it kills me to stop, it’s not the right time to do this.
I want you to be absolutely sure you want to be with me and are ready to take the Oath, because I don’t take sex lightly. ”
Micah flopped onto his back and ran his hands through his hair before looking back at me. “You’re right. It’s not fair of me to ask you to give me your heart when I can’t offer mine in return.”
Leaning forward, I pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”
“Can I still sleep here tonight?” he asked.
“If you think you can manage it, you’re more than welcome,” I said, letting him snuggle up against me.
Once we got settled, Brayden pressed up against me from behind, wrapping himself around me and nuzzling the back of my neck. I’d never felt so safe or cared for in my life, and this was just the beginning.