18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Omaera
A bear-like snore woke me up. Thick, veiny arms lightly dusted with blond hair wrapped tight around my body, keeping me warm and safe.
My cheek was pressed against Zandren’s bare chest, with more soft, blond hair tickling my lip and nose.
Grunting from how much of a furnace he was and how I needed to escape the inferno, I wiggled to get him to release me.
He grunted, snorted, and opened his eyes. “’Mornin’.”
“Too hot,” I said, panting.
Nodding, he relaxed his arms, and I sat up, straddling him. Then I immediately remember all of last night and leaped off the bed, throwing open the door.
Maxar and Drak were in the living room with coffee, along with Bauer and Arik.
“Fresh pot just made,” Maxar said, jerking his chin toward my fancy machine.
I ignored the coffee. “What do we know about Gemma? Do we know where she is? Do we know who took her?”
Zandren came shuffling up behind me, resting hands on my shoulders with affection and protection. He kissed the crown of my head. “Coffee? ”
I nodded, and he made his way into the kitchen.
“We visited Elena Playfair’s gravesite,” Bauer said, remorse in his eyes. “Someone desecrated it.”
My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. “What? How?”
“They dug it up. Exhumed her body—then left it there.”
My jaw dropped. “Why would they do that? Oh my god. My mother’s corpse is just . . .” Anger, sorrow, and disbelief formed a sickening cyclone in my gut until I thought I might be sick.
“Presumably it was a way to figure out how your mother died. And what species she was,” Arik added. “Also to get her scent, which will be tied to yours. They will be similar. Just like any children you have will share similar scent markers as you—particularly the females.”
“D-do you know when this happened? Before or after Delia was killed?”
“We can’t say for certain. But based on the fact that nothing had been done about the grave site, the casket was just laid open and disturbed, I would say it was recent. Last day or two. Maybe three at most.”
“Well, I was only just hit by lightning Friday. Delia was killed Saturday, and it’s Monday now. So . . .”
“We understand. It’s just tough to tell.” Arik’s expression was grim. “We visited Delia’s home as well and just like the gravesite, we scented the demons. They are definitely working with a mercenary hunter mage though. I smelled him too.” His face darkened. “I also know him.”
“Yarvak?” Maxar asked with disdain.
Arik nodded.
Maxar growled. “Fucker has zero morals. He provides his services to the highest bidder, regardless of whether that bid is from an unscrupulous source or not. He’s been on the Council’s watch list for a long time.”
Arik nodded again, as did Zandren and Drak.
“Yeah, I smelled him at the gravesite,” Arik went on. “My guess is they were told by whomever hired them to look into your mother. When they found out she was dead, they exhumed her body to get answers on where to find you, which led them to your aunt—the last person to touch her, I’m assuming. And when Delia wouldn’t give you up, they killed her. But then Yarvak followed the scent trail from your mother and possibly Delia’s home, if she had anything left of yours, to your apartment here.”
“But Gemma doesn’t have my scent, so why’d they take her?” I frowned. “I mean, we do share clothes sometimes. And live together. Would that be enough for her to have my scent on her and confuse the hunter mage and demons?”
“Yarvak is a mercenary hunter. Not a kidnapper. Not a murderer. Although he has no morals, he does have a code which he will stand by rigidly. He won’t go beyond finding someone. So he’ll have told them where to go, but the demons were the ones to do the kidnapping. And they obviously couldn’t differentiate. At this point, because they exhumed your mother’s body, they knew that you are half human. So they could smell human when they came to the apartment. My guess is that they probably figured your human scent was stronger than your demon scent, which led to them taking Gemma. Who knows how these sadistic fuckers work?” Arik shook his head and exhaled with frustration out of his nostrils.
“Or they took Gemma because Omaera wasn’t here and they’re using her as bait,” Bauer added.
Arik nodded in agreement. “Or that.”
“So do we know where they have Gemma?” I asked. “We need to get to her now.”
Bauer scratched at his stubbly chin. “We’ve managed to track her scent to a place across town. An abandoned meatpacking plant.”
“I know that place. We’ve been to raves there before.”
They both nodded.
“I could only smell two demons when we were there. More may be on the way. But if the four of you go, and it’s just the two demons, it should be manageable.”
“The four of us? What about you two?” Were they just going to abandon us when we were this close to getting my friend back? Were they going to abandon their Queen? An uncomfortable rush of helpless fury filled my chest, and I had to quickly lasso it and squeeze, condensing it into a ball and putting a shield over it. Even though she was a xenophobic, murdering bitch, Raewyn’s one lesson on containing my anger had proved to be very helpful, more than once.
“I have a code too,” Arik said. “I’m a hunter. Period. I find people. I don’t fight. I don’t kidnap or kill. I also have a mate and kids. I’m not going into battle. I’m sorry.”
Bauer nodded. “I have a wife and pups at home. I agreed to help find the human, but unfortunately, I’m not willing to risk my life for one. I won’t risk leaving my mate and pups without a mate or father.”
“Not even for your Queen?” Drak asked, anger edging his tone.
Both Arik and Bauer made regretful faces, though Bauer still managed to also convey his deep-seated hatred for Drak.
They faced me. Arik bowed his head slightly. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
“As am I,” Bauer echoed.
I exhaled and nodded, expelling a lot of energy to not parboil their brains. “Please take us to the meatpacking plant. Then you may take your leave.”
They nodded. We gathered ourselves; I put on better clothes, and even Drak dressed down in less formal and restrictive attire. I wasn’t sure when he’d gone out to get clothes, but I also didn’t care. He was still in all black, only this time it was black sweatpants and a black hoodie. Maxar was in loose-fitting, black, stretchy pants and a black sweatshirt, while Zandren said he planned to shift when we got there, so color-matching with us wasn’t a concern.
Keeping with the theme, I wore all black as well—it was easy since ninety-five percent of my wardrobe was black anyway. I went with yoga leggings and a tight-fitting, but stretchy, black hoodie. I put my combat boots back on and a knit cap over my wild hair, which I tied into a bun at the nape of my neck.
It felt like we were going to rob a bank or knock over a jewelry store.
“I have a minivan,” Bauer said. “We can take that.”
I froze as the elevator reached ground level. I hadn’t been in a passenger car in ages, and the idea of squeezing into a minivan with all this testosterone sat uncomfortably under my skin.
Zandren reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s the fastest way to her, Little One. I know you’re reluctant, but it’ll be okay. ”
His smile was all the reassurance I needed. Or at least that’s what I told myself, and I rallied.
For Gemma.
I would do whatever it took to save Gemma.
She was my person.
Well, now I had at least two people. Gemma and Zandren.
I’d get in a car to save Zandren too.
Nodding, I took a deep breath and said, “Okay.”
We piled into Bauer’s minivan, which had Cheerios on the floor, a sippy cup under the seat and so many children’s books shoved into the pockets behind the front seats.
“How many pups do you have?” Maxar asked.
Bauer snorted in mirth as he pushed the start button for the van. “Six. Two are grown though. Four are young pups, and my mate is pregnant with our second set of twins.”
“Jesus,” Maxar murmured. “That’s . . .”
“Dogs for you,” Arik finished from the front passenger seat. “Almost as bad as rabbits.”
“Fuck off,” Bauer said with a grin, as he pulled away from the sidewalk and out into traffic. “We’re just lucky.”
“And fertile as fuck,” Arik added.
I had to work on not holding my breath. Zandren sat beside me, our fingers laced together. Maxar was on the other side of me against the window and Drak was in the back, kept company by his perpetual bad mood. We made sure to give him another capsule before we left and also stashed one in his pocket, just in case we were gone longer than four hours. The last thing we needed on this raid was for him to get distracted with the need to jump my bones again.
What normally would have been a twenty-minute drive across town was closer to forty because of the morning rush hour traffic. I was on pins and needles the closer we got to the warehouse. The area of town was still quite industrial, unlike where my apartment was located, which used to be the industrial district, but was now residential and commercial .
Bauer parked his minivan in front of the meatpacking plant and unrolled his window. Arik did the same.
They both sniffed.
“They’re here. So is Gemma,” Arik said.
“Can you tell if she’s still alive?” I asked, fear ransacking me until my voice and body shook. “I can feel her fear, but . . . I need you to confirm it.”
Arik nodded. “I believe she still is. The body does smell different when dead. And I don’t smell death here.”
“Which says a lot, considering it used to be where they packed dead animal meat,” Bauer added.
“Good,” I breathed, only feeling a modicum better.
“We’re going to leave you here,” Bauer said.
I nodded. I couldn’t really argue with him. I’d been orphaned. That was the last thing I wanted to do to either of these men’s children or mates. They agreed to help us, but they also had a code. And I needed to respect that code. Without them, we’d still be searching for Gemma. So at least we knew where she was now.
Maxar, Zandren, Drak, and I piled out of the minivan, thanking the wolf shifter and hunter mage for all their help.
It was a foggy, gray day and rather drizzly, so the fact that we were dressed in black even though it was the morning, wasn’t as redundant as I thought it might be.
Zandren sniffed. “I can smell them too.” He dropped to all fours and shifted.
I’m not sure I’d ever tire of watching him shift. It was still really new to me, but it was so fascinating to watch that I hoped the novelty never wore off.
He was my big, ferocious Pooh Bear in seconds, instantly nuzzling my side with his muzzle.
“So . . . like what do we do?” I asked, glancing around for signs of people. There wasn’t anybody around, but steam rose from various warehouses, indicating that businesses were still running as usual.
Despite my world coming to a full stop when Gemma was kidnapped, the rest of the world kept turning. People kept living their lives, caught up and making the best of their daily grind .
“Well, you put on these first,” Maxar said, making four orange flame ropes and waggling his fingers over them like he was enchanting them with some kind of spell. “I figure if putting this rope on Raewyn stopped her from frying our brains, the same principle should apply if we wear them. It should stop the demons inside from trying to fondue our gray matter.”
“I thought you could block demons?” I asked.
“I can. But we don’t know what kind of demons we’re dealing with.” His expression turned sad. “Delia could block them too, but—”
“Right,” I said, not needing him to finish that sentence. But they had beaten her so badly that she didn’t have the strength to maintain the block. Then they attacked her and tortured her until they nuked her brain.
Drak cleared his throat. “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”
Maxar shot him a look. “I wasn’t sure if it would work. I’m happy to leave one off your head though, smartass.”
The vampire grumbled something and accepted the fire rope, tying it around his head.
I let Maxar place it on my head. Zandren did the same, but his ears kept twitching and it wouldn’t stay put. “Is it itchy?” I asked him.
He nodded his big fury head.
I tried tying it tighter, but he growled.
“Try to keep it on,” I said. “I’d hate for them to hurt you.”
He licked the back of my hand and kept it on as best he could, even though his ears continued to twitch.
We followed my big grizzly around the building as he followed his nose to the back door, then up a flight of metal stairs to a second door on an upper level. He used his claw to pick the lock and carefully opened it so it didn’t creak or squeak.
Maxar went in first, followed by Zandren, then myself, and finally Drak.
It was dark inside, but even I could feel the presence of the supernatural. Were these my new powers beginning to take shape, courtesy of my Mate-Bond with Zandren? I could also see better.
Bears had excellent night vision. Did this mean my night vision was superior too?
It felt like my sense of smell was stronger. The air smelled like damp fire logs and . . . death.
Arik said he couldn’t smell death—just demons and human—so I took solace that the death smell was simply the makeup of whatever evil demon thought it was okay to steal from a queen.
We crept along the metal grate that made up the second floor. If you hung your head over the railing, you could see down into the ground-level main part of the warehouse. I wasn’t going to do that though. If I saw Gemma chained up or hurt, I would lose my shit, and any semblance of our plan would be over.
We let Zandren lead the way, the soft pads of his paws silent on the grate. His breathing was heavy, but quiet enough they probably couldn’t hear us.
All the exposed duct work ran below the catwalk where we traipsed. There were a few sets of stairs that led elsewhere, all metal grates and rusty, but Zandren seemed to know exactly where to go, so we just kept following him.
We reached the end of the line, which was the landing for more stairs heading downward.
“What’s the plan?” I whispered, even though we’d gone over it in the minivan on the way over. I needed to hear it again.
“You go,” Maxar said. “Whoever is there needs to think that you came alone. As far as we know, they don’t know you have mates, or that you’re aware of your powers. They could be banking on your human side being dominant.”
“This is all speculation, of course,” Drak said.
“Of course it is, but we have nothing better to go on right now,” Maxar snapped while still whispering. “Everything is speculation. For all we know, it could be King Howar or Queen Anysa pulling the strings here because they want to usurp the throne from the demons once and for all.”
Drak glared at him. “Howar would never.”
Zandren snorted like he wasn’t so sure.
Maxar shot a skeptical look at Drak. “How well do you know your King?”
“Better than you know your Queen,” he retorted.
“Table the pissing match until after we have Gemma safe and I’ve killed some fucking demons,” I said with a hiss, glaring at both of them.
Thankfully, they actually managed to show a little remorse.
“A hybrid has never been documented. But the idea of a hybrid having a mate—let alone three—is so unfathomable that it’s a safe bet they’re not going to expect us.” Maxar glanced over the railing and down into the main ground level of the warehouse.
“Unless Gemma told them,” Drak followed up.
Maxar nodded. “Here’s hoping she didn’t.”
Zandren rumbled next to me, and I turned to him. He licked my hand, then my face. “I’ll be safe,” I said, kissing his snout. “I promise.”
I glanced at Drak and Maxar. “I’m going to go rescue my friend.”
They both nodded, then watched as I took the long metal stairs down to the main level. I never looked back because I knew they had my six. I couldn’t take my eyes off my twelve though. Demons, at least the only other one I’d met, were as slippery as they came. So I needed to expect the unexpected and keep my wits about me.
I reached the main level, taking in the old, wooden pallets strewn about, along with some thick, blue packing plastic. I glanced over at the metal scraps, old brown blood smears on the concrete floor, and the hooks and chains hanging from a long metal rod that ran nearly half the length of the space, supported by thick iron posts secured to the floor. I’d never seen the place in the daylight, let alone without a DJ booth, flashing lights, and people dressed in crazy clothes and glow sticks dancing to the beat of the music with a plethora of psychedelics in their system.
I had to assume that they just tarped over some of this stuff, or moved it out of the way when they hosted a rave in here. But maybe they just set up the DJ booth and stage to block the permanent structures?
“Hello?” I called out, my voice echoing up to the rafters. “Gemma?”
Silence.
“It’s Omaera Playfair, Queen of the Realm. Illegitimate daughter of King Donovar and Elena Playfair. I’m assuming I’m the person you’re looking for, and you either took my best friend by mistake or as bait. A mistake either way, but you’ve gotten what you wanted. I’m here.”
I swallowed and tuned into my surroundings, listening for even the faintest sound of breathing.
Gemma was here. I could feel her. I could feel her fear. I sniffed the air and relaxed just a little. Lavender and cinnamon.
“I highly suggest you bring out my friend—unharmed. You don’t want to see me when I’m angry.”
A deep, raspy chuckle made the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand straight up. A cold drop of fear played leapfrog down my vertebrae, and I spun around. Where was the sound was coming from.
“Stupid girl,” said the same voice. “Stupid little girl. Stupid little human .”
“ Half human.” I corrected. “At least I’m not a coward, hiding in the shadows. I’m here, aren’t I? I’m here to get my friend and take her home.”
Slowly, from behind a corner that led to a hallway, he appeared, sauntering with his ego leading the way. I’m not sure what, or who, I was expecting, but this man wasn’t it. He was . . . ordinary. Handsome- ish , in fact. Tall, muscular with blue-hazel eyes and thick, dark brown hair. His features were chiseled, with a strong chin and high cheekbones, and his swagger was practiced and confident. Too confident. A four-inch, pink, puffy scar ran up the right side of his jaw, and he would have looked even better if he’d hidden his thin lips with some facial hair.
His chuckle grated on my few remaining nerves, and when he looked me up and down, sneering like I was no more than dog shit on his shoe, I knew then and there that only one of us was going to walk away from this encounter alive.
“Where is Gemma?” I asked, determined not to let my voice crack.
“You mean the human ?” he asked, curling his thin top lip up in disgust. “Why do you even care?”
“Because she’s my best friend and I love her. And not all humans are bad. Just like not all demons are bad, present company excluded.”
He chuckled some more, and I gnashed my molars together at the irritating sound. “I knew my brother took a human whore. We all slum it at some point in our lives. I just never expected it to result in a . . . child . ”
Even though they’d all speculated that the culprit was my uncle, I was still flabbergasted that it was true. He caught me off guard and my mouth opened, but no sound came out.
I gathered my wits quickly though. This was just like a poker game.
I needed to keep my face neutral. Kill my tells. Play the player. There was only one sucker here and it sure as hell wasn’t me.
“Yes, well, their union did result in a child. The rightful heir to the throne of the Realm. Let me ask. Uncle, dear, how did my father die?”
His smile was serpentine, and I resisted the urge to squirm. I didn’t have a lot of fears in life, but snakes and cars were at the very top. God, I hoped there weren’t any snake shifters.
“Sir. Sir,” came a petulant voice from the same direction Lerris had come from. Then a slimy demon with beady eyes, ears too big for his head and greasy, dark hair appeared, reminding me of a ferret that fell into a vat of oil. He took one look at me and sneered.
“What?” Lerris barked.
“She’s not alone, sir.”
Lerris’s eyes found mine, panic in his gaze.
I smirked. “You think I’d be stupid enough to come alone?”
He doused his initial fear and smiled with feigned confidence. “Let me guess, you brought your little human friends with you?”
“Nope.”
“What’s that on your head?”
I lifted my brows. “Just something my mate made me.”
Now, I really had his attention. His henchman’s too. “M-mate?” he stammered. “That’s not possible.”
“No? Then why do I have one?” I tapped my chin. “No, wait. I don’t have one.”
Relief creased his features.
“I have three .”
Lerris shook his head vehemently. “Impossible. You’re lying. You’re a filthy, disgusting human and a liar. No hybrid has ever been recorded. So for the Fates to give you a mate, let alone three . . . you’re lying.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
He tried to infiltrate my mind, but Maxar’s fire crown was doing its job. I could feel Lerris trying to manipulate me and burn my brain, but it wasn’t working.
When he realized it wasn’t working, he roared with fury.
I fought back, harnessing all the anger and fear I had over losing Delia, over never meeting my parents, over losing Gemma, and this new, fucked up world I was part of, and I blasted him hard right back.
He wasn’t prepared for it and crumpled to the ground with a scream.
But he was a strong, old demon. So he rallied quickly and shot back to his feet.
A scream from the side drew my attention. That’s when I saw Maxar, wrapping Lerris’s henchman in a rope of fire and binding his hands and feet, then gagging him.
I smiled at Maxar, then quickly pivoted back to face Lerris. “Where is Gemma?”
Still thinking he had the upper hand, my demonic uncle grinned, reminding me so much of The Joker. “The throne belongs to me. I am the rightful heir to the Realm. Not you. Not some disgusting, abomination, half-breed.”
A sharp scream from down the hallway where they both originated diverted my attention. Gemma. Her fear slammed into my brain and I could almost feel the pain and terror as if it were happening to me.
Ignoring Lerris, I took off in that direction, weaving through the narrow corridor and into what had probably once been an office and staff locker rooms. There were bathrooms here too. I knew that. We used those during the raves.
“Gemma!” I called out. “Gem!”
Another harsh, pained scream.
Was Lerris torturing her from where he was in the main part of the warehouse. Could he project his power that far away without looking at his target?
Raewyn was able to do it to you and Gemma. So obviously it’s possible.
Right !
That motherfucker. He really deserved to die. And not swiftly the way Raewyn did.
Slowly. Painfully. And I was going to enjoy it.
“Gemma!” I cried out, the panic and guilt hitting me in nauseating waves. I clutched my stomach and choked on a sob. How could we leave her alone in the apartment? How could the guys not have checked on her before they followed me like imprinted little ducklings?
I tried various doors, but they were all locked.
A third, terrified, agonizing shriek juddered my soul.
“Gemma!”
Drak appeared, slightly out of breath. “Did you find her?”
“No! She’s screaming, but I can’t figure out where she is.”
“Maxar said it’s Lerris who took her?”
I nodded. “And killed Delia. And my father.”
His eyes widened.
“He’s out in the main part of the plant. Go. Detain him. I need to find Gemma.”
Drak nodded and took off in the direction I came.
I kept trying doors.
More and more screaming.
Where was she?
The hallway was never ending. I grunted and growled, wishing for Zandren’s strength so I could just tear down the doors. She had to be behind one of them. I just couldn’t get in to her.
I ran back out to the main part of the warehouse only to see Zandren charge Lerris, teeth bared and ready to destroy. But as he charged him, his flame crown fell off, and that was enough of a window for the worst to happen.
I watched it like it was in slow motion.
The moment Zandren’s eyes changed. His target, his mission, his alliance was distorted. Lerris had his mind now, and rather than tear it to shreds, he was going to use my mate as a weapon. A weapon against us.
Maxar was there, throwing flames at Lerris. He landed quite a few good hits. Scorch marks covered my uncle’s clothes, and he had to pat out flames a few times. But when the last batch of black flames whizzed out of Maxar’s hands, Zandren spun around and charged Maxar, roaring and shoving him to the ground, standing on top of him. He slashed at his shirt with his sharp claws. Maxar screamed out in pain.
I ran up, crying, “Zandren! Zandren, stop! You’re hurting him.”
I glanced over to find Drak in a hand-to-hand battle with Lerris. He kept baring his teeth, his fangs dropped, and he searched for an opening to lunge forward and bite. But Lerris evaded him well.
One of them would land a sharp blow, knocking down the other, then the other would retaliate with just as much precision and force. They were matched for strength and agility.
I couldn’t worry about them right now though. I had to trust that Drak had this. My focus was on stopping Zandren from killing Maxar. I threw myself over Maxar’s body. “Please,” I sobbed. “Please stop. You don’t want to do this.”
I braced for the swipe of his claws against my back, but they never came.
Glancing up, I found him sitting back on his rear, staring at me with a confused head tilt.
He even gave a cute little whimper.
“He can’t hurt you because you’ve mated,” Maxar wheezed beneath me. “You’re the only thing keeping him from killing me. Lerris has manipulated his mind and made him believe that we’re the enemy.”
Lerris landed a harsh blow to Drak, sending him flying across the warehouse and into the wall. That pulled Zandren’s attention, and the murderous look returned to the bear’s eyes. He bounded forward with a devastating growl, head-butted Drak, then opened his mouth wide and took a huge bite of the vampire’s thigh. Drak bellowed out in pain.
I screamed. “No!”
Lerris clambered back up to standing and laughed. “You’ve only mated with the bear. If you’d mated all of them the bear wouldn’t attack the other two. Stupid girl.”
“And where’s your mate?” I asked. “Hiding from you, I’m sure. ”
“She hasn’t come of age yet,” he said, brushing debris off his black pants as he walked toward where I still lay across Maxar’s body. He removed my flame halo and sharp shards of pain speared my brain.
“Ahh,” I cried, closing my eyes and visualizing pushing him out and slamming down a shield. The pain receded. It was working.
“You have powers,” he said, surprised.
“I am half demon, and also the Queen,” I said, slightly breathless.
“Not for long.” Stepping over to a small table I hadn’t noticed until now, he pulled a sword from a sheath, then walked back toward us. “Do you know what this is?”
“Your dildo?”
Fury flickered back at me in his eyes. “Disgusting child. It is Moloch’s Sacrifice.”
“And I’m supposed to know who that is?”
He scoffed and shook his head. “All the more reason the throne should be mine.” He lifted it high in the air, preparing to behead me. I couldn’t risk Maxar getting hurt any more than he already was, and I wasn’t sure if Drak was even still alive.
No. He was alive. I could feel his energy. Even if we hadn’t bonded, I could still feel our connection. Still feel the pull . . . and also his fear. He wasn’t dead, but he was hurt and scared.
“Zandren!” I cried out, hoping that he’d come to me. That he’d leave Drak, see his mate was in trouble and come to my aid before it was too late. “Help!”
The large sword glinted under the harsh glare of the obnoxious fluorescent lights hanging among the exposed duct work.
Was this really how it ended?
Was this really the finale of my story? This man killed my father and my aunt. Was he going to get the hat trick and finish me off too?
I glared at him, funneling all the anger and loneliness, the fear, and betrayal I’d ever felt in my life into a big ball of fire in my mind. Then I brought in all the other emotions too. The love. The joy. The independence and stability Delia gave me. The unwavering friendship and support from Gemma. The pure and utter devotion of my mates, even though they’d just met me. Zandren’s love and how with him I felt so seen. So known. I was vulnerable with him, and I was vulnerable with so few people. Gemma and Delia were the only two people who had ever seen me cry until three pushy men showed up on my doorstep, telling me I was theirs and they were mine forever.
I hated the idea. But I also kind of loved it.
The ball of fire grew bigger and bigger. Brighter and brighter. I closed my eyes and, with every last ounce of energy and power I had left, I hurled that ball directly at Lerris.
A startled and pained cry made me open my eyes. Lerris was on the ground, halfway across the warehouse. Drak leaned against the wall, bleeding from his leg, and Zandren was . . . I glanced around.
Where was Zandren?
I carefully climbed off Maxar. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “I . . . I think so. I’ll live.”
“Zandren?” I called out. “Where are you?”
“I had to put him out,” Drak said, his voice weak.
I ran to him. “You what?”
“I had to. Or he was going to kill me. I had to . . .” Drak was paler than I’d ever seen him, and he could barely keep his eyes open. “I bit him and then I wrapped the flame rope around his head.”
I took in Drak’s bare head. “Where is he now?”
“He stumbled that way.” He pointed. “I had to put him down. I’m sorry.”
I glanced in the direction Drak pointed, only to see two big bear paws sprawled out behind the pile of pallets and packing plastic. I ran to Zandren and checked to see if he was breathing. He was. Thank god. Then I ran back to Drak.
“What can I do?”
He opened his eyes, just barely. “I need . . . I need to feed.”
“To feed?”
He lifted his brows, then nodded.
Oh !
“Oh . . . uh . . . okay.” I double checked that Lerris was still unconscious and Maxar was okay before I and tilted my head to the side to expose my neck. “O-okay.”
“A wrist will do,” he said weakly.
Swallowing, I pulled up the sleeve of my hoodie to expose my veins. He carefully slid one descended fang into my skin, which hurt less than a vaccination, then pressed his lips to my flesh. In seconds, his complexion regained color, and I watched before my very eyes as his wound began to close up and stop bleeding.
Unlike the first time he bit me when we had sex, this wasn’t as pleasurable. It didn’t hurt, but I got no ethereal high. No out-of-body experience.
He removed his lips and swept his tongue over the puncture hole to seal it. I helped him stand, and he only hobbled a little as we made our way over to Maxar and helped him sit up. “You need to make another flame crown thing for Drak,” I said.
He nodded and used up probably every last bit of energy he had to create one more.
I picked up the thrown sword and held the immense weight in my hand. A rush of pure magic flowed from the handle up into my arm and body, filling my heart with heat and, just like that, the sword wasn’t heavy anymore. I spun around to go deliver Lerris his final death blow, to make him pay for all the people he killed, but he was gone.