Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Igripped Creed’s hand. “Is that necessary?”
“What if one of my people tries to visit? Or someone tries to leave? Will they be killed on the spot?” Anger darkened my features.
Creed rolled his eyes. “You’re being overly dramatic. I am not a young pup. My wards are like living, thinking extensions of me. When anyone gets too close, the wards reach out to me. If I’m busy, then they make the decision to allow entry or not depending on the being.”
“Jenna, if you don’t want them up, then he will take them down.” I jerked away from Creed, exasperation stamped on my face.
He could look at my face for an eternity and never tire.
Porcelain skin with jet black hair that he’d swear had blue highlights under the overhead lighting.
My eyes reminded him of the bluest skies, drawing him in with promises of pleasure, but my air of innocence kept him in check.
Instinctually, he believed I wasn’t as worldly as he.
How would I feel about mating with a demon?
He’d sampled just about every creature known to man.
Hell, he was thousands of years old. He looked at the tiny being the Fates had decided was his.
Although he’d dallied in many sexual escapades, never had he found himself attracted to another man, and had never thought his mate would be a hybrid vampire/wolf shifter.
“Your wards may stay up. I have modified them for my people.” A quick check revealed a pulsing vein of pure white light flowing throughout his wards.
Creed inclined his head. “Lead the way, my Lady. I do believe my Eros here is in need of some refreshment. I, too, could use a glass of your best hard liquor. Please tell me you have whiskey?”
“Of course. You should meet Kellen Styles. I think that wolf has whiskey running through his veins.” Jenna took the opportunity to reach for my free hand, drawing me away from Creed for the first time.
“You are scared?”
My pulse jumped at Jenna’s words, the vein visible on the slim column of my throat. “Wouldn’t you be?” I asked without trying to pull away.
Honestly, Creed would have been pissed if he’d been jerked from his home. But he kept that to himself. He followed, staying alert for signs of danger.
Inside the room we entered, Jenna waved at a couple who reminded him of pixies. “This is Dane and Kandi. They helped to prepare a meal and a suite for you for the evening. If you are going to be here longer, then they have also volunteered to help make sure you are both comfortable,” Jenna said.
The male came forward with a short crystal glass and held it out to Creed, while the female had a taller glass for me. Jenna took them both when Creed didn’t reach for them. “Thank you, Kandi.” She gave him a mock growl. He pulled me in with him. “You too, Dane.”
“Sorry, Kandi and Dane. I forgot my manners.” Creed winked at them both, taking the glasses from Jenna.
Dane’s petite wife did a little curtsy, making him shake his head. Little Kandi would probably have a heart attack if she knew the Devil’s son and a half vampire, half wolf shifter were standing in front of her.
Once the couple left, he sat, taking me with him. “Time for you to feed, Eros.” He held up the tall glass with the fresh lifeblood. “I can help you, or you can do it yourself. Either way, you need this. Your hunger pains me.”
I licked my lips. “Thank you.” With hands not quite steady, I took the cup and drank my fill.
He took a sip, his own hunger pushed back until he was sure I was satisfied.
The fact that he’d put another’s needs first was a new thing for him.
He glanced across the room and caught Jenna staring.
In that moment, he realized she knew more than she was telling.
“Are you finished?” He asked when I sat back with a sigh.
“Yes. Now what?”
His body had an answer, but he was sure I was not up for that just yet. “Now, you need rest, and we need to figure out just what the hell is going on.”
“I need to contact my family, or you’ll have an army falling upon your home.” Truth rang out in my quiet words.
Jenna crossed her arms. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. You see, only the Fey can contact here, and only the Fey can make contact out. I can be a go-between if you want, and if you trust me.” Something in the other woman’s eyes that belied her easy words flashed.
“I’m afraid the wards will keep you from mentally contacting others and vice versa, as well, Jenna. However, I should be able to reach out to my mother.” Creed kept his eyes locked onto her pulse for any sign she was being dishonest.
“How do you reach your mother? A cellular device?” Jenna stared between him and me.
I laughed. Those gorgeous multifaceted eyes of mine rolled before I gave a smile he’d love to see every day for eternity. “Of course, we have cell phones. Well, I did until some snake thing took me away.”
A snap of his fingers, and a new phone was in his palm. “Here, this is yours. Whatever your old number was, just think it and it will be.”
“Wow, you’re powerful.” I smiled. “Oh, I love that phone. I have the same model. But, it still won’t work here.”
“Jenna, make it so.” Creed turned to see a dark-haired beauty saunter into the room.
“Talia, what did I say about staying out of this?”
The woman named Talia shrugged. “Yeah, well, you were torturing the poor girl who looks like she needs a hug from a motherly figure. Hence, I am here.” Before he knew what the other woman was going to do, she bent and hugged me.
“All is well, child. Call your mama and let her know that you’re safe.
Tell her the big bad Fey Queen has her bitch pants in a twist, because her twin mates are assholes. ”
“Talia, Damian, and Lucas are not assholes. They are just…male,” Jenna cried.
I jumped up. “Did you just say, Damian and Lucas? As in Damian and Lucas Cordell?”
Talia moved next to me. “Now Jenna, you know them boys are randy, so if they slept with this sweet thing, it’s not her fault.”
Creed growled. He felt his horns grow and his skin stretch—a sure sign he was not in control—while I started laughing like a loon. And to make matters worse, the Fey queen looked ready to do real damage.
“Oh, my gawd. This is awesome, except the part about me and you know...I have never. I mean ewwww. They are my brothers.” I made some gagging noises. “Seriously, I just threw up in my mouth. That’s why you smell like them—you’re their mate? Where are they?” I looked around.
Talia fell into a chair, her laughter grating on his last nerve. “So, you’re their baby sister? I thought her name was Alecia?”
Jenna sat next to Talia and smacked the other woman in the arm as she continued to giggle. “I go by Raina. Fate must have decided to send us here since we are connected. Where are my brothers?” I asked again.
Jenna took a deep breath. “You may call your parents now.”
“I’m really nervous. What do I say to them?” I looked at Creed, then Jenna.
Creed shrugged, figuring he had no experience to offer in such situations.
The fact that he had a past with the elder Cordells was something he needed to address.
He looked at his Chosen and wondered how he should handle it...
handle her. His mind raced with worry at how she’d react to the knowledge that he’d known her mother long before she’d been created.
“That’s what I thought. I must warn you both…I’m sort of considered the baby, and as such, my family is a little overprotective.” Chewing on my lower lip, I dialed a number.
“Alecia Raina Cordell, where the hell are you, girl?” A booming voice yelled through the line.
I winced. “Now, Daddy, don’t freak out, but I was sort of dragged into Hell.”
Creed’s eyes widened as he felt power trying to break through his wards. “Let me speak with your father, Eros.” He held out his hand.
Damikan Cordell’s low growl could be heard through the phone. A lesser man would have pissed himself. I shook my head. “I don’t think that is a good idea, Creed.”
“Who is with you?” My father spat the word.
He didn’t let the Vampire King’s words shake him. He’d faced worse beings and lived to tell the tale. Now, he waited for his Chosen to hand the phone over.
“Be nice. Both of you,” I admonished before placing the slim rose gold device into his large palm.
“I’m always nice.” He brushed a kiss across my lips, the action making me gasp. “Hello, Damikan. How are you and your lovely wife, Luna?”
The ache he’d felt anytime he’d thought he’d never have a mate of his own was no longer there. He glanced down at the beautiful creature before him and realized for the first time what the Fates must have had in store for him. The reality of his situation had him chuckling into the phone.
“Listen, you bastard. If you touch one hair on her head, I will kill you slowly. I will make you wish for death, but not allow you that, until I alone deem it is time.” The words were spoken in a low, menacing voice. If Creed had been there, he was sure Damikan would have reduced him to ash.
Realizing he didn’t want the conversation to be overheard, he put a shield around himself.
“I would never do anything to harm my Chosen. Your daughter is the light to my dark. Without her, I would sooner die than continue on.” He shook his head, trying to figure out a way to make Raina’s father understand.
“If I open myself to you, I am allowing you the opportunity to kill me. I don’t do this lightly, but I do it to show you my true feelings.
I know you remember me as I remember you.
Had I not saved your mate’s life all those years ago, she would not have lived to birth my true Chosen.
Loneliness is a cold beast that hardens a man.
She brought sunshine into my dark life. Now, fate has brought Raina and me together.
Had I not been there at the time I was, Luna would have been killed before you’d met her, hence keeping her from creating the being meant for me.
I guess fate has a fucked-up sense of humor. ”