Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
“Let me…whoa!”
Sparkles appeared before Luke’s eyes. He shook his head, waiting for pain to kick in, but none did. Something had happened, though.
Luke blinked to clear his vision because he wasn’t in the alley anymore. Nope. Now he was surrounded by stone walls and ornate furniture with gold accents that screamed old money—or someone really committed to interior design.
Then there were the vines. Bright. Twisting. Moving? Very much not normal.
“Fuck,” Luke muttered. “Concussion it is.”
He dragged his hand over his face, trying to force the world into order…maybe without vines that moved by themselves? Unfortunately, they didn’t cooperate, and the sparkles continued to swirl around him.
Definitely a head injury.
The last thing he remembered was being in the alley. Maybe he’d been knocked out or something? Connal had grabbed him, much to Luke’s annoyance, and then…they were in this room. This sparkly castle room.
Luke barely had time to finish assessing the space before something moved behind him. Make that someone. Because Connal still had his arms around Luke, pinning Luke’s back to his chest, supporting most of Luke’s weight.
Great. Fantastic. Love that life for him.
His body reacted before his mind caught up. He turned, fists already forming…and stopped. Connal looked even bigger here.
Closer.
More solid than anything else in this place, which immediately made him the most dangerous thing in it.
Luke’s gaze flicked around the room, checking for exits, weapons, and obstacles.
No clear exit.
No visible weapons.
Too few obstacles.
And one very large problem.
Because the giant, gorgeous man in front of him had started taking off his clothes.
Luke stared. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Claiming my mate.”
Luke flicked his gaze toward the sword hanging on the wall. No way was he letting this guy claim anything, especially when—
“Oh hell no. No way.”
Connal was big everywhere.
No. Not Connal. The guy. Keep it generic.
It would make it easier to do what Luke was going to have to do to keep himself in one piece. Luke glanced down at what the undone clothes revealed and swallowed hard. Literally.
“Why do you smell afraid?” Connal paused with his freaking breeches around his hips and stared across the room.
Smell…who the hell was this guy? Better yet, what was he?
“Look, as I said before, you need to take me back. I appreciate you saving me, but I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Unlikely.”
What? Luke kept his expression clear, his innocent college boy act back in full force.
“What do you mean?”
Connal locked gazes with Luke, sending a shiver down his spine. “They were after you, which shouldn’t happen in your world.”
In his world? What did Connal know about his world? “Seriously, you need to take me back.”
Connal grunted and pulled his pants off. Of course, that left him naked. “As I said before, no.”
Luke ground his teeth as Connal tugged back the ornate covers on the bed.
He was going to have to fight, and he’d already witnessed Connal’s brute strength firsthand.
Luke’s skills would be put to the test, especially considering he couldn’t see a way to escape from this godforsaken room, no matter how hard he tried.
“You understand that you’re already in big trouble, right? Kidnapping is a serious offense, and if you do what you seem to be planning without my consent, that’s going to add a whole other—”
“What?” Connal lifted his head and scowled.
“Kidnapping, Connal.”
Dammit.
Luke needed to stop thinking of Connal as a person. He was going to have to hurt him, or possibly worse, to get out of this.
Connal waved his hand, dismissing the word as if it meant nothing. “I brought my mate home.”
“Against his will. That’s what kidnapping means. And I am not your mate.”
Connal snorted. “You are my mate. But what was the other thing you said, my Luke?”
“Not yours. Just Luke, as in Skywalker.”
Connal scowled. “You are not a sky walker. Foul creatures. Now, do as I say, my mate, and repeat what you said.”
Luke moved behind the only chair in the room, putting his backpack on the seat so the straps couldn’t be used against him.
Connal growled and stalked toward him.
What the hell had he said? Luke tried to recall the conversation without getting distracted by rather impressive appendages.
“Um…I said you would be in more trouble if you touch me without my consent.”
Connal finally stopped moving. “You are my mate.”
That really didn’t explain anything to Luke, but it seemed to be a real point of contention. “That doesn’t mean you get to touch me without permission.”
“I do not have your consent?” Connal seemed to be truly baffled by the statement.
“No, Connal, you do not. You didn’t have my permission to bring me here—”
Another scoff and a waved hand.
“—and you don’t have permission to touch me.”
Connal crossed his massive arms over his chest and glared. “Damn Consort and his rules. Why are humans so confounding? I’ll be back.”
Without another word, Connal left through a doorway that mysteriously appeared.
Luke tried to catch the door before it closed, but the damn thing snapped shut before vanishing.
How the hell had Connal opened it? Luke searched for some sort of lever or knob or even a motion sensor, but nothing stood out.
He grabbed his phone out of his pocket, but he had zero signal.
Hell, he hadn’t even switched to roaming.
Where had Connal taken him? When Luke tucked his phone away, he checked the small pocket hidden in the waistband of his pants.
The thumb drive was still there. He needed to finish his mission, because someone seriously did not want the information on the drive to reach its destination.
Luke spent the next few minutes searching the room once again while pointedly ignoring the fact that Connal had referred to him as human. What else would he be?
But maybe that was one of those language barrier things. That had to be it. It was the only thing that made sense. Connal didn’t understand him. Luke let out a little sigh of relief. Maybe this whole thing was a cultural and language barrier mixed up in a confusing mess of complications.
The room didn’t have any obvious windows or lighting but glowed with a warm, sunlit hue. There wasn’t a fan or air vent in sight, but a cool breeze brushed over Luke’s skin.
Some spy he’d turned out to be.
When the bedroom door opened again, Luke positioned himself beside Connal’s enormous sword. He’d use it to defend himself if he had to. What he wasn’t expecting was a small man with…were those horns?
Maybe he’d been drugged. It explained the anomalies, especially the sparkles.
“Your Majesty—” Connal scowled at the man who’d darted into the room, while holding on to the fabric now draped around his hips. It looked like a tablecloth. Someone obviously hadn’t liked Connal strutting around naked.
Wait. Majesty? What? And those were absolutely small horns on top of the guy’s head.
The horned guy sucked in a deep breath. Was he smelling? What was with all the smelling? Then horny guy’s eyes widened as he turned to stare at Connal. “He’s human.”
“Yes.” Connal’s frown deepened. “He used the words you lectured us about last week, Consort Cosmo. I must confess that I didn’t understand the concept, but now that I’m faced with my mate—”
“Your mate. Fuck me sideways.”
“Your Majesty!”
“That wasn’t an order, Connal. Oh, forget it. Garzaxie!”
A tiny creature popped into existence beside the…
Consort? Luke had never been more certain in his life that he’d been drugged.
Some sort of hallucinogenic. At least he’d managed to keep the details of his work to himself.
He wouldn’t give away any secrets. Not that he’d be believed if he didn’t get the thumb drive delivered within the next couple of hours.
“Bah! Another human mate.” The tiny creature wrinkled its nose at Luke before positioning itself between Luke and the Consort.
Oh, Consort, as in spouse of the King or Queen. There’d been enough royal hoopla in the media lately that Luke finally recognized the word and put two and two together.
“I must claim my mate to stop the Lady’s curse,” Connal said.
His tone didn’t impress the Consort one bit. Lucky for Luke, since it seemed as if Consort Cosmo, whoever he was, would determine Luke’s fate.
“You’ve got to take him back,” Consort Cosmo said.
The tiny creature released a loud, disagreeing huff.
Luke leapt to his own defense. “Yes, you’ve got to take me back. I don’t belong here.”
“Mates belong together,” the little guy said.
“But Garzaxie—” Cosmo the Consort tried to argue with the peculiar looking short man. What exactly was he anyway? Maybe Luke had a concussion along with being drugged? Having his brain completely scrambled might make some of this make sense.
Before Luke could think of something else to say in his own defense, Connal took the little guy’s side, because of course he did. “Exactly. We belong together.”
“Not exactly,” Consort Cosmo growled. He glanced over at Luke and his eyes softened. “Sorry about this. Don’t worry, though. I’m friends with the hellhounds. They’ll zap your memory and you’ll be none the wiser about this entire mess.”
“They will not touch my mate,” Connal growled.
“We don’t kidnap humans, Connal! Why do you think I’ve been giving you so many lessons?”
Connal scowled. “I don’t know, but no one is touching my mate but me.”
“I don’t want my memory zapped,” Luke yelled. “My brains have already been through the wringer today. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m hallucinating at the moment, so none of this will matter. Oh, maybe I’m unconscious and this is all a dream. Gotta take notes so I can tell Gomez. He’ll love this one.”
Connal’s eyes narrowed. “There is no one but me for you now.”
Luke scoffed. “Wrong again. Now, Your Majesty or whatever I’m supposed to call you, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I really need to get back. I’ve got a very important interview this afternoon. I can’t miss it.”