CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Maxar
“But we’re mate-bonded,” I argued, when Omaera came back through the mountainside with panic on her face. I fell thirteen trees, and with the help—sort of—of the bear, we created a much more open space that would be harder to set up an ambush.
“Apparently that doesn’t matter,” Omaera argued. “Drak said because you’re not of royal blood, you can’t go through the wall.”
“That’s not exactly what I said,” Drak corrected, coming back through the mountainside as well and joining us.
She narrowed her brows and glanced at him. “You said because he’s not highborn, he can’t.”
The vampire nodded. “I did say that, yes. But it has more to do with blood than nobility. All he needs is a drop of highborn blood in his veins and it should let him walk through no problem.”
I shook my head, cringing. “That’s your deal, man. Not mine. I’m not a bloodsucker. I’ve got kinks—oodles of them—some of them are freakier than drinking blood, but I’m not a leech.”
The vampire rolled his eyes. “It would literally be a drop.”
“Of your blood?” I exclaimed, rearing back. “I’ll just torch the place and escape that way. Easy peasy.”
“We’re being serious, Maxar,” Omaera protested. “It’s just a drop.”
I shook my head. “Not of his blood.” Then I glanced at the bear. “Or his blood.”
“You tickled his nuts,” she argued.
“But I didn’t lick them!”
Omaera growled.
“You seem to be forgetting who is the highest born among us here,” Drak said stoically. “A drop of Omaera’s blood should work.”
My mate pouted at me. “Please, Sparky?”
The idea of drinking blood like a creepy-ass vampire made my gut spin. But the way Omaera pushed out her bottom lip and batted her long lashes at me had me giving a growl of my own and nodding. “Fine. Fucking fine.”
Relief creased her gentle features. “Thank you. I need to know that we can all escape the same way.” She turned to the vampire. “How do we do it?”
“Same way we always do it. Puncture a hole in a vein, then he drinks your blood. He may not have a coagulating enzyme in his saliva to seal the puncture. So I can do that.”
Like it was easy peasy, lemon fucking squeezy, Omaera nodded and held up her wrist toward me for sacrifice. “Go for it, Sparky.”
I gaped at her. “I don’t have fangs. And I’m not going to gnaw on your arm like a beaver.”
Her mouth opened, and a strangled sound came out before she faced the vampire again. “Does he have to be the one to open the vein?”
“Of course not. He just needs to be the one to drink the blood.”
She pivoted her outstretched arm toward Drak. “Can you … please?”
This was getting weirder by the fucking second. Surely, she had enough of my cum in her from all the times I filled her up that the Fates and magical mountain wall would accept that in lieu of blood. And if they preferred fresh cum, I was willing to whip up a batch and fill her up right now.
“They need you to have my blood in you,” Omaera said to me with exasperation. “Not your cum in me. ”
Shit.
I still wasn’t used to her reading our thoughts wherever she wanted.
“Please, Drak?” she asked again.
The reluctance in the vampire’s eyes was almost as strong as the hesitation that swirled in my belly. But he gently took her wrist in his hand, dropped his fangs, and carefully pressed one to the inside of her wrist. Almost immediately, a bubble of scarlet formed on her tanned skin. Drak released her, his nostrils flaring, pupils going dark, as she swung her arm toward me.
“Bottom’s up,” she said, bringing it right to my face.
“Can I just go down on you for like an hour and drink down all that sweet honey?” I asked, my lip curling up as the coppery tang of blood hit my nose.
A nudge from behind—Zandren—pushed me close enough that her arm brushed against my chest, leaving a smear of blood on my light gray shirt.
“Just a drop,” Omaera said as more blood welled up on her wrist. “Just enough so you have highborn blood in your veins, and you can get through to safety.”
Damn those big green eyes. They got me every fucking time.
Holding her wrist, I carefully dropped my mouth over the red drop and sucked.
Not that she had bad tasting blood. It just tasted like blood to me. The same as my own when I bit my tongue or the inside of my cheek. Metallic, maybe a little sweet, but mostly just unappealing. I certainly didn’t understand why vampires went gaga for the stuff.
“That should be enough,” Drak said, pulling me out of my momentary fugue. I removed my lips and wiped my mouth as the vampire reached for Omaera’s wrist, swept his tongue across the puncture mark, and sealed it.
“Now try going through the wall,” Omaera said, pointing to the same place she and Drak walked through earlier. “We need to make sure it works.”
Sighing. I stalked over.
“You can’t hesitate,” she added. “You have to just walk through with confidence.”
It was comical that she was already an expert after just learning about the magical passageway thirty minutes ago.
“With confidence ,” she said again, then snickered and turned to Zandren. “No, you’re right. He’s not lacking that at all. I just don’t want him to face-plant into the rock.”
I could have sworn the bear chuckled as I took a deep breath and, without hesitation—or at least very much—walked toward the flat slate mountainside with the crevice in the center.
“Eyes on the crack,” Omaera instructed.
“That’s always where I focus.” I shot her a cheeky smile before reaching the wall, not slowing down, and thankfully, walking right through and out into the most gorgeous meadow filled with wildflowers.
“Oh, thank god,” Omaera said behind me, making me turn around. “It worked.”
I went to her, taking her mouth instantly.
There was zero hesitation on her end, and she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back with the same level of passion and need. My cock was hard in seconds, and the intense craving to drop her into the soft grass, peel off her clothes, and bury myself inside of her, was more than all-consuming. Was this because her blood now ran through my veins?
“We can’t,” she said, out of breath as she broke the kiss. “We need to get back.”
There she went again, reading my mind. It was hot, but also disconcerting. Would my thoughts ever be my own again?
“Sorry,” she said, dropping her gaze to the ground. “I’ll try to stay out of your head.”
Shit .
Cupping her face so she couldn’t look anywhere but at me, I pressed my forehead to hers. “Don’t ever apologize to me, angel.”
She blinked at me. “I’m still learning how to go in and out of your mind and emotions. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to read them.”
“Stop. Apologizing.” I kissed her again, hard, fierce, and passionate, then pulled away, keeping her head in my hands so we could only look at each other. “I love that you’re in my head. You’re already in my heart. And now your blood is in my veins. We’re more connected than ever and I fucking love it. It’s just taking some getting used to, is all. But I don’t want you to stop. I don’t want you to leave. I want you there, always. You’re my mate. My forever. And you’re welcome to all my thoughts—even the super depraved ones.”
That made her smirk, which was what I was going for, breaking the tension.
I grew serious again. “You’re still learning, and our Mate Bond is still growing. Don’t be hard on yourself. You’ve come a long way in a month.”
Her expression turned sad. “It feels like so much longer than a month. It feels like a lifetime.” That made me smile, which caused her to chuckle mirthlessly. “I know that sounds stupid. Considering that I’m only twenty-two and you’re hundreds of years old. You’ve literally lived many lifetimes. So I’m sure this month feels like no more than a few minutes of your life.”
My heart softened for her. “We spend our whole lives waiting for our mate. Even though I’ve lived for centuries now, my life didn’t truly begin—at least not in my heart—until I met you.”
Affection filled her gaze and this time her smile was real, and I could feel the love radiating out of her. “For a pyromaniac psychopath, you know just the right things to say.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes. Sometimes I stick my foot in my mouth.”
Lacing her fingers through mine, she tugged me back toward the rock wall. “As much as I would love to spend more time here with you, we really should get back.”
I nodded, and together we stepped back into the woods where Zandren—still in bear form—was rubbing his big ol’ hairy ass against the rock wall and groaning in delight while Drak did … vampire things? I really wasn’t sure what the big bat was up to. His hands were behind his back and he slowly paced along the rock wall. Then, making a square along the tree line, he returned to the rock wall. He was a weird fucking dude, there was no doubt about that.
“What are you doing?” Omaera asked him, releasing my hand.
Even though there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t acutely aware of her exact proximity to him at all times, he acted like he was surprised to see her, and his brows darted toward his hairline. “Scoping out possible attack points,” he said, continuing to wander like an old man out for a stroll.
“Can you show me?” Omaera asked.
Drak’s blue eyes lit up a little, and he nodded. She could probably feel the flash of jealousy that raced through me, but I shoved it away as fast as I could. She mate-bonded with me. She loved me. She was also fated to mate the three of us. I needed to accept that and be grateful for the piece of her I did have. I’d never have her completely to myself. That wasn’t how the Fates designed it, and I needed to be—we all needed to be—okay with that. There was no arguing, no negotiating, no bargaining with the Fates.
While Drak taught Omaera some basic war strategies and Zandren continued to rub his ass on a rock, I went to work felling more trees. There was something so utterly satisfying about dragging my flaming broadsword through the thick trunk of a pine and watching the bark char and smoke. And the smell … oh, I fucking loved the smell of burning wood.
A grunt and a growl behind me pulled my attention to the bear. He was sniffing the air like he either smelled another rabbit, or danger.
Drak and Omaera noticed too, and we all paused to wait for Zandren to either go Cocaine Bear in a second, or shuffle off to scratch his furry ass again.
A deep growl rumbled in his throat, and he sniffed the air some more. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, then he lifted up to his hind legs only, bringing his enormous body to its full height of over ten feet tall.
I already had a fire sword in my hand, and Drak was covering Omaera as we waited for the threat Zandren smelled to reveal itself. It very well could be just an actual bear, but either way, we needed to be ready.
Brush and twigs rustled and snapped, and when a gust of air ruffled the shrub beside me, even I could smell something.
Then I saw them. Three absolutely massive grizzly bears ambling toward us. One was older than the others and by far the biggest beast on four legs I’d ever seen. The other two were quite a bit younger, and smaller, but not by much.
I glanced at Drak, who pushed Omaera behind him more, but she shoved the vampire out of the way. “Pooh Bear, is this your dad?” She stepped toward Zandren, who had dropped back to all fours and made his way toward the other bears, a little bounce in his step. “You guys can relax. This is King Ryden, and I’m assuming, two of his lieutenants.”
Zandren answered her with a nuzzle of his nose against her hip, then a lick on the back of her hand. The big, older bear in the middle approached Zandren, and the two rose onto their hind legs again, only to collapse against each other in a bear hug.
Omaera giggled, which caused father and son to glance at her, drop back to all fours, and each of them licked her hands.
“Please to meet you as well, Your Majesty,” she said, smiling to the King of the Shifters. “Your son has told me a lot about you.”
Ryden glanced at Zandren and growled.
“All good, I promise,” Omaera said quickly.
“Why don’t they shift so they can speak to us?” I asked, snuffing out my sword and coming to stand next to Omaera—which, of course, earned me a glare from the old grizzly.
“Because they’re more comfortable in bear form,” Omaera said simply. “They’d also all be naked, and I’d rather not have the first time I meet my father-in-law in person be when he’s naked.”
All four bears chuckled in a way only bears could.
Drak hadn’t come any closer to us though, and judging by the way the Shifter King looked at him, it was probably a good thing.
I’d been around shifters all my life, but it was still weird when the conversation with them was so fucking one-sided. I didn’t like it. Luckily, Zandren, his father and the two lieutenants wandered off toward the edge of the woods, grumbling with each other. So I went back to work as a sexy lumberjack. Drak finished up teaching Omaera how to spot threats, quizzing her on places where various attacks could come from, until the sun began to sink behind the mountain.
“We should get back,” Omaera said, creating a blue torch of her own. “Bears in the front, bears in the back?”
“Sounds like the name of a shifter porno,” I murmured, which actually earned me bear chuckles from our furry allies .
We walked mostly in silence until we reached the vehicle—well, the vehicles , because King Ryden and his lieutenants also had one—a big diesel truck they parked beside our rental.
“Are they coming back to the B&B with us?” Omaera asked, directing her question to Zandren.
Zandren shook his head right before he lifted onto his hind legs again and shifted back into human form, giving his head a big shake right before his snout receded back into his normal Homo sapien nose. “No. Dad, Groy, and Leno are going to sleep out here tonight.” He reached into the back of the rental and tugged on a pair of loose-fitting shorts.
Omaera approached King Ryden, and cautiously, but with confidence, reached out her hand. He took a step forward so that her palm made contact with the top of his head. She smiled and scratched his ears, which made the old bear close his eyes and a noise akin to a purr rumble in his chest.
Grinning even wider, Omaera turned to Zandren. “He’s purring like you do.”
“Of course he is, Little One. Dad loves you.” Zandren roughly, but affectionately, ruffled the top of his father’s head. “Don’t you, you big old bear?”
It was impossible not to be envious of Zandren’s relationship with his father. Omaera glanced at me, clearly feeling my envy, and her gaze softened, as did her smile.
I had faint, fuzzy memories of my childhood with my parents. And a handful of happy, blurry memories with my father. None really with my mother. I was so little in all of them. They were arrested when I was only four, after all. Then they were gone. Imprisoned in Hell for choosing hate over love. For choosing darkness over their own child. I would never choose anything over my own children, over Omaera. I wanted what Zandren and Ryden had, and with any luck, Omaera and I would have that one day.
Ryden made some noise as if speaking to Zandren, and Zandren rolled his eyes. “Lay off, Dad. We have to deal with Lerris and Howar first.”
“What’d he say?” Omaera asked, continuing to scratch Ryden’s ears. “I’m slowly learning to understand bear, and I can’t read his thoughts very well. Did he say something about grand bugs?”
Zandren snorted. “He’s asking when he’s going to get grandcubs.”
Omaera’s eyes widened. “Oh. Uh …”
Ryden chuckled again, made a noise, and Zandren laughed.
“This really isn’t fair,” Omaera said. “What’d he say now?”
Zandren shook a finger at his father, playfully chastising him. “You’re a cheeky old man.” He turned to Omaera. “He said that he spotted a cave back there a little ways, and is happy to have his lieutenants stand guard if we’d like to start trying for grandcubs now.”
Pink filled Omaera’s cheeks. “I think we need to take care of a few pressing matters first. Like treason, and that there seem to be a number of people out for my throne. Then we can discuss grandcubs.”
Ryden made a noise of disagreement, but a stern look from Zandren had the older grizzly nodding and backing down.
“We should get going,” Drak said from where he stood, far away from the bears.
Ryden and his lieutenants growled at him again before the Shifter King licked Omaera’s hand one more time, and the three of them ambled off into the trees until we could no longer see them.
“All right,” Zandren said, climbing into the front seat behind the steering wheel. “I’m hungry. Let’s go.”
“When are we going to call Howar and let him know the change of plans?” Omaera asked as we bumped down the narrow country road in the dark.
“Tomorrow morning,” Drak said. Howar will have taken the jet. Anysa has her own as well and will have likely done the same. They’ll be in Colorado within hours, which will give us time to come back out here and get ready.”
Omaera was in the front seat with Zandren, but spun around to face Drak and me in the back. “Drak, I think you should reach out to Raver. Feel him out, and see if he’s coming and if you can maybe sus out his true allegiance.”
Drak’s expression was stoney, even in the dark cab of the rental SUV. After a moment though, he nodded, then brought up his phone and fired off a text to Raver .
A hand landed on my knee and I glanced up at my mate. “You okay, Sparky?”
She was specifically referring to my mood regarding Zandren and Ryden.
I nodded and placed my hand over hers. “Yeah. I am. History doesn’t have to repeat itself. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. I won’t be the kind of dad I had, to my kids.”
Her eyes widened. “More talk of kids.”
Zandren chuckled. “Can you blame us, Little One? We’ve been waiting for a mate and family for centuries.”
“I’m only twenty-two,” she protested.
“Just think of how many cubs—”
“And mages,” I interrupted.
Zandren grunted, but eventually nodded. “Just think of how many cubs and little mages we can have in our lifetimes if we start trying now.”
Omaera gulped dramatically. “Like I told that big old bear back there, one thing at a time. First, we kill my uncle and deal with the treasonous Vampire King . Then we can discuss making little princes and princesses.”
I met Zandren’s gaze in the rearview mirror, and the corners of his eyes creased. His big hand fell to Omaera’s thigh. “I can’t wait to see your belly all swollen with a little cub in there.”
“Okay, enough,” she said, spinning around to face forward again. “Let’s talk food. I’m thinking barbecue. I saw a grill, or tavern, or something, near the last junction. Let’s go there.”
“I’d sooner just dine between your legs,” I said, earning a chuckle from the bear.
“Gah!” Omaera slammed her hand down on the dash. “No more. We need to focus.” She spun around again. “Drak. Did Raver reply?”
The vampire’s nod was stiff and slight. “He did.”
“And is he coming?” I asked.
Another barely there nod. “He is.”
“And?” Jesus, it was like pulling fangs to get this guy to utter more than a couple of words. What the fuck?
“It would appear …” He exhaled through his nose and a muscle bounced in th e corner of his jaw. “That he is loyal to the crown. To Howar’s crown.”
Well, shit. That killed the mood in the vehicle. Nobody wanted to have to kill their best friend, and here Drak was probably going to have to kill both of his. It made me actually feel a little bad for the guy.
“Sunset Bar and Grill, three miles,” Zandren announced.
“Let’s go there,” Omaera said, still facing Drak, her face sad. “What does the text message say?”
“It’s what it doesn’t say,” Drak said solemnly.
“Vampires are so fucking cryptic,” I murmured. “What does it not say then?”
“I asked Raver if he shared the location of Melissima’s with Howar.”
Even though I was still new to feeling Omaera’s feelings like they were my own, I instantly felt panic rise up like a tidal wave inside of her. “And?” she asked.
“He said it was his duty to disclose all his king requested of him,” Drak said. “Which means, even though I asked him not to tell Howar the location of Melissima’s in order to protect Gemma, Raver did it anyway. Therefore, his allegiance is not to me, not to you, but to Howar.”
“Does this mean Gemma’s not safe?” Omaera practically screamed.
“Already messaging Melissima,” I said, on my phone and shooting off a text to the healer-mage.
Just checking in on our patient and how things are going where you are.
The question that was on all of our minds though, was: when did Raver share the location with Howar? How long had we been in Hell, and traveling to Colorado while Gemma and Melissima were … hurt? In danger? Being tortured? Dead?
My phone buzzed in my palm and a message from the healer-mage popped up.
Everything is good here. The human is healing. Hope you’re all okay. Where are you now?
I glared at the screen. Melissima knew better than to ask where we were. And if she did want to know, she wouldn’t ask it like that. She also referred to Gemma as “the human” which was not like Melissima at all. I was not communicating with the healer-mage .
Thanks for replying so quickly. Glad to hear she’s better. We’re all good. Heading to Arizona. Touch base soon.
“I can feel your feelings, Maxar. What’s going on?” Omaera asked.
“He’s not communicating with Melissima,” Drak said. “Someone has her phone, and quite possibly has her.”
Omaera glanced at me for confirmation, and, sick to my stomach, all I could do was nod.
“What about Gemma?” Omaera asked.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, devastated that I couldn’t give her a better answer. That I didn’t know more. But if I continued to text with whomever had Melissima’s phone, I could give away the fact that I knew it wasn’t the healer-mage. Then, if Melissima and Gemma were still alive, that could put them in even more danger.
“We need to go to them,” Omaera said. “We need to go now.”
Drak shook his head at the same time Zandren and I did.
“What do you mean?” she exclaimed. “We have to go to them. We have to make sure Gemma is okay.”
“We are here for a reason,” Drak said slowly. “That reason is to put this growing war between you and Lerris to rest once and for all. It’s to also determine whether Anysa is on your side, or Howar’s. And we also need to deal with Howar. Too much is riding on this meeting to abandon it now. Especially since Howar is making noise about someone challenging you for the throne.”
Omaera’s mouth opened, and a strangled noise came out. She glanced at me, her emotions raw, pleading. She wanted me to disagree with the vampire, but I couldn’t.
“I know she’s important to you, Little One,” Zandren said gently as he continued to drive down the pothole-riddled road. “But this is important too. We need to stick to the plan. Then, as soon as we’ve dealt with Howar and Lerris, we’ll go find Gemma and Melissima.”
Omaera shook her head. “That’s not good enough. I’m not going to be able to concentrate until I know she’s okay.”
Without any notice, Zandren yanked the wheel to the right and pulled over to the shoulder, putting the SUV into park. “Somebody give me their phone.”
I handed the bear mine.
“What are you doing?” Omaera asked.
“I’m sending some bears I know that live near Melissima to go check on things.”
“And you’re sure we can trust them?” Drak asked.
Zandren whipped his big frame around and growled at Drak. “I trust them more than I trust you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s table the pissing match for now, hmm? We have bigger issues to deal with than the ongoing war of whose dick is bigger between vampires and shifters.”
“The answer will always be shifters,” Zandren murmured, firing off a series of messages. He pressed so fucking hard on the screen of my phone with his enormous sausage fingers I was worried he might crack the screen.
He handed the phone back to me, then pulled out onto the road again. “Let me know when they text back.”
I saluted him. “Will do.”
The sign for the barbecue place, saying it was a mile away, came into view. “We still stopping to eat?” Zandren asked.
“I’m too stressed to eat,” Omaera said, shaking her head and staring out the window.
“We’ll get it to go,” I replied, reaching forward and squeezing her shoulder. “Melissima is a brilliant mage. She will have contingencies in place for an attack. She’ll have hideouts and passageways for escape.”
“But if Gemma is unconscious or sick, how’s she going to move her?” Omaera choked out. “Is she just going to leave her?”
I couldn’t answer that.
Zandren’s phone buzzed in my hand, and a message popped up.
I read it out loud. “Hey, Z. For sure we can take a look. Going to head there now. Will touch base with you when we’re there and let you know what we find. -O.” Only a modicum of relief from Omaera made its way toward me. “Who is ‘O’?” I asked .
“Ottvo,” Zandren said. “Was my father’s enforcer for over a century before he mate-bonded and started a family. He’s loyal through and through, and tough as nails. He’ll take his two grown sons, Niall and Dorryn, with him.”
Omaera exhaled a deep, defeated sigh which caused her shoulders to round forward. “I’m going to be nauseous until we hear from them. How far away are they from Melissima’s?”
“An hour or so, maybe,” Zandren replied. “We’ll hear soon, Little One. Don’t worry.”
The junction where the barbecue joint was came into view, and Zandren pulled into the fairly-full parking lot. He parked the SUV and turned off the ignition.
“Might want to put a shirt on, big guy,” I said before climbing out of the back seat.
The bear grunted, but didn’t argue. He located his tight black T-shirt and tugged it over his muscles. “You coming in or staying here?” he asked, directing his question to Omaera.
“I’m going to stay here,” she said.
“I’ll stay with her,” Drak replied. “Please order me a rare steak with a spinach salad if they have it.”
Zandren merely growled, but I nodded and shut the door. The bear and I headed to the front door of the restaurant, leaving the vampire, our mate, and her frazzled nerves in the vehicle.
“This isn’t good,” I said to Zandren as he held open the door for me.
“No shit,” he grumbled. “If something happens to Gemma, Omaera’s never going to forgive herself.”
That was absolutely true. But that wasn’t what I was worried about the most.
If something happened to Omaera’s best friend, her sister, her only family until a month ago, it could push her over the edge and on to a path of total realm annihilation and revenge.
It could push her over to the dark side.