Chapter 41 Katarina
Private jets were the best way to travel. Especially when I couldn’t wait another minute to get home.
Blaise and I snuggled up in the oversized seats, and despite wondering what it might be like to have sex at thirty thousand feet, we both ended up falling asleep just a few minutes after takeoff.
In fact, I didn’t open my eyes until we touched down.
Blaise woke me with a long kiss, and I’d been tempted to pull him on top of me and steal a few more minutes.
But when the pilot cleared his throat, and I giggled with embarrassment, Blaise guided me off the plane with a promise of more time together once we got back to the abbey.
The sun was just starting to rise as we drove into the city. The fiery orange streaks mixed with spots of grey clouds decorating the sky reminded me of a bad omen. Something felt off. Different. Like the whole vibe of the city was on edge and anticipating the worst.
Blaise wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him in the back seat of our hired car. As he kissed the top of my head, he said, “It will be okay.”
“Will it?” I whispered.
“Yes. I promise.” I squeezed Blaise’s thigh as he continued. “They all made bail, and Roman is working his connections to try and get the charges thrown out.”
“What about the coven?”
Blaise let out a deep breath that rumbled in his chest. He held me tighter. “We’ll figure that out together.”
We didn’t say anything else, but when we pulled off the highway and got closer to the abbey, both of our bodies stiffened at the scene in front of us.
Two miles out from our driveway, the sides of the street were filled with news vans and curious onlookers.
They stared at our SUV as we drove slowly by, trying to figure out who might be inside.
“What is all this?” I asked Blaise.
“The aftermath. Roman warned me about them.”
“The media?”
He nodded. “And the rest of the curious humans who can’t mind their own damn business.”
We passed an oversized white van with a logo I recognized as a national news channel.
The female reporter tapped the cameraman on the shoulder until he turned around and started filming us.
I pulled away from the window, afraid they would see me.
Blaise grabbed my hand and squeezed when he saw me suck in a worried breath.
“They can’t see inside.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Gently, Blaise put a finger under my chin and turned my face until I was looking at him. “What do you mean?”
“This,” I said, waving my hand around to the crowds. “The coven doesn’t need magic to win this war. Roman, Dorian, and Aiden will be tried in the court of public opinion. They’ll be crucified before they even have a chance to defend themselves. And then Murielle will win. Just like she planned.”
Pressing his warm lips to my mouth, he rubbed his thumb against my cheek. “Don’t count us out yet, Katarina. We’ve survived these types of power plays before. Roman is master at manipulating humans when he needs to be.”
“But things are so much different now. With social media, and smartphones, and video apps and—”
Blaise kissed me again, his stubble brushing against my chin. “We will survive this,” he said again.
Instead of arguing my fears anymore, I simply nestled up beside him as we turned into the abbey’s driveway and waited for the iron gates to open.
Roman must have hired a security team, as several uniformed officers surrounded the vehicle and kept the nosy news media away from the private property line.
Once we slowly rolled through and the gate closed behind us, I let out a sigh.
The driveway was about half a mile long.
And it felt like the longest half mile we’d traveled so far.
The moment our car stopped in front of the main entrance, I jumped out and ran to the three men waiting for me.
Dorian had been the closest, but just before I reached him, Aiden appeared by my side and lifted me to his chest.
“Kitty Cat!” he breathed into my ear. “You’re here.”
I grunted when Dorian’s chest slammed into my back, and he ripped me away from Aiden’s arms. “Oh my god,” he whispered only to me. “I needed you so bad.”
A rush of air blew my out-of-control curls around my head a moment before another pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me free of my wolf. “Katarina,” Roman purred, turning me so I could face him. His hands gripped my cheeks, and he kissed me hard. “We’ve missed you.”
I wasn’t too proud to admit that I was a melted pile of emotional goo and a weak-kneed, love-sick girl who couldn’t stop her tears.
Every set of lips that touched my face incited another sob.
Especially when Dorian dropped to his knees and hugged the back of my legs.
His head pressed against my lower stomach as he cried his unnecessary apologies.
“I didn’t do it, Kitty Cat. I didn’t do it. I swear.”
I ran my hands through his hair and cried with him. “I know,” I whispered.
Aiden still had his arms wrapped around my shoulders, nestling against the back of my neck, while Roman ran his thumb over my lips and stared down at me with his dark eyes filling with so many emotions. I swear I saw tears brimming in them as well.
Blaise cleared his throat and I chuckled.
Reaching out my left hand, I invited him into our group hug.
He hesitated a moment, but when I smiled his way, he took the three steps forward he needed and pulled me, Aiden, and Roman into his large arms. We stayed that way, wrapped in each other and momentarily forgetting the shitty world around us for several minutes.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard the clicks of cameras and the muffled voices of our watchers, but for just this one moment in time, I didn’t care.
The rest of the world could go fuck itself for a few minutes.
I must have laughed at my internal monologue because the guys all pulled away slightly and looked at me in concern.
“Are you all right, Katarina?” Roman asked.
With another chuckle, I smiled. “Yes. Now I am.”
“Let us take this inside, shall we?” he said.
Everyone muttered their agreement as Dorian and Aiden each grabbed one of my hands, and the five of us walked up the front stairs and entered the formal access of the abbey.
This was the wing where Roman entertained his guests, but it wasn’t the part we called home.
Without saying anything, we all followed Roman through the foyer, past the library, and across the grand ballroom until we found ourselves in the main kitchen.
I’d only been in here once before when Grim and I had made Pasha a grilled cheese sandwich. That was the day he died.
Pasha was gone, and so was Grim.
I swallowed the giant lump in my throat and blinked back my tears. “Has anyone seen Grim?” I asked, doing my best not to let my voice shake.
Roman opened the refrigerator and started piling ingredients on the large kitchen island that encompassed most of the room.
He bobbed his chin toward Aiden who blinked out of existence and, three seconds later, was back by my side.
Handing me a black envelope with my name written in perfect calligraphy on the front, I stared at him. “What is this?”
“From your grandmother,” Roman said as he gathered a bunch of pans and started clicking the burners on the oversized gas stove. “She said not to worry.”
I looked down at the envelope and immediately tore it open. Inside was a single piece of scarlet red paper cut to match the size of the envelope.
Katarina,
I will take care of Grim until it is time for him to return to you. He is well.
Farah
I read the note out loud so all the men could hear. “What does that mean? When will it be time?”
Blaise huffed a laugh, wrapped his arms around my waist, and kissed the side of my head. “Demons,” he mumbled. “Your grandmother may be vague, but I assure you that she won’t let any harm come to him.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked, even though I knew in my gut that he was right. Farah wouldn’t hurt Grim because it would devastate me.
“Demons tend to be very loyal to those in their bloodline,” Blaise explained, pulling out several cutting boards from the island and gently setting one in front of each of us. “She’ll protect him.”
I swallowed another lump and glanced across the counter toward Dorian and Aiden, who’d collected several tomatoes, green peppers, and red potatoes.
They started chopping up the veggies without any direction from Roman.
“It’s all right, Kitty Cat,” Aiden said with a wink.
“If anything, she’s bragging about him.”
“About Grim?” I asked. “Why?”
“Hell hounds are a rare gift,” Dorian added. “She’s probably gushing over the way one of her offspring managed to create him.”
I didn’t know if it was the jet lag or the cumulation of everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, but my brain simply would not comprehend what Dorian was saying. So at that moment, I chose to change the subject.
“Are you all okay? I mean… legally?”
Aiden opened his mouth to answer, but Roman immediately cut him off.
“Nope. No talk of that.” He sauntered around the corner of the island until he could pull me against his chest. He smelled like spices and soap.
“There will be plenty of time to discuss strategy. But right now, for the next few hours, we are simply going to enjoy making and eating breakfast together.”
As if on cue, my stomach growled, and all the men chuckled. I glared at each of them even though I couldn’t stop the smile growing on my lips. I loved hearing them laugh. “Fine,” I said, agreeing to Roman’s commands. “What can I do?”
“Eggs?” Roman asked and I grinned.
“I am a master at cooking eggs. How do you all want them?”
Two hours later, we were done stuffing our faces with the full spread and sitting around the island laughing and enjoying each other’s company.
For the moment, I’d forgotten about all the trouble brewing outside these walls.
From human legal issues to a coven hell-bent on taking down Roman’s empire, we simply chose to ignore it for a while. And it was absolute bliss.
“So, you faceplanted into the lake?” Dorian asked Blaise with a laugh.
Aiden took a swig of orange juice and pointed across the island at Blaise. “After you fell off the cliff?”
I set my hand on Blaise’s thigh and squeezed.
He was sitting on my left, Dorian and Aiden straight across from us.
And Roman, as usual, stood at the head of table…
or island, resting his elbows on the dark-stained butcher block.
He was watching Blaise with fascination in his eyes.
In fact, I’d never seen him so interested in someone’s story before.
“You are all assholes,” Blaise grunted as he tossed an uneaten potato cube at Dorian, who gracefully grabbed it from the air and shoved it in his mouth. He winked at me when I giggled.
“You all should have seen him,” I gushed. “His dragon is absolutely stunning.” Blaise pulled me to him and kissed my cheek.
“Well, when do we get to see you in real life?” Aiden asked.
“Never,” Blaise grunted, back to his old mannerisms.
“Bullshit, Blaise.” Dorian wagged his finger at him like a petulant child. “The minute the coven knows you’ve shifted, their stupid attacks will be over. They can’t compete with a fucking dragon.”
“We will figure this out, but later,” Roman interrupted. “Let’s just… enjoy this moment.”
All three men snapped their heads around toward him, jaws open and mouths gaping like they’d never heard Roman speak before. His dark hair hung over his brows as he looked at them and let an awkward laugh escape his lips. “What?”
It took a minute before Blaise finally spoke. “You’ve just never wanted to enjoy anything before.”
“Yeah, like ever,” Aiden added while Dorian nodded his agreement.
A pang of pity danced in my stomach for him. Why had Roman never wanted to enjoy a moment in time before? Was that the curse of an immortal existence? Or the curse of someone responsible for others?
Roman dropped his gaze and twirled the champagne glass that once had a mimosa in it. “You know what I mean,” he grumbled, seemingly embarrassed.
“Well, I love the idea of enjoying the moment and not stressing about all of the other things waiting for us outside our doors,” I said with a smile.
Aiden suddenly appeared beside me, and I yelped as he pulled me off the stool and set me on top of the island. Giggling as he pressed himself between my legs and buried his head in my breasts, I twirled his wispy blond hair in my fingers and enjoyed the heat coming off him.
“Speaking of enjoying the moment,” Dorian growled as he crawled on the island behind me and gently tilted my head back. “I missed you, Kitty Cat.” He bent over and kissed me. His tongue pushed into my mouth, and with how I was positioned upside down, the kiss was more intense than usual.
“We all missed you,” Roman whispered. I managed to look over at him and didn’t mistake the way his eyes had darkened and how his fingers dug into the edges of the wood.
“Shall we… ” I breathed as Aiden nipped my breast and Dorian’s lips trailed down my neck. “Should we go upstairs?” I managed to get out. But then Aiden lifted my skirt and buried his mouth against my panties and I sucked in a sharp breath.
“No, Katarina,” Blaise rumbled as he watched the expression on my face. “We won’t make it upstairs.”