Chapter Fifteen
Asher placed Juni in the passenger seat of his car and then slid behind the wheel. He could feel her stare on him as he drove above the speed limit. She was his mate. He would not let her die.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I’m taking you to get cured.”
“So, there really is a unicorn?”
“Yep,” he replied, sparing her a quick glance. “What do you know about them?”
“I thought they were a myth, so nothing.”
“The last herd made a pact to live as humans. To hide and never reveal themselves. They thought they’d make a comeback, if they hid their scent, but they didn’t. Their numbers dwindled and now, as far as I know, there’s only one left in the world.”
“When you call Alpha Jericho, can you have him send someone to take care of Clover? She’s alone in the house. I mean, she can take care of herself but she’s only nine.”
“Of course.” He reached out and took her hand in his, threading their fingers. “Did you mean it?”
“Mean what?”
“That you love me.”
“Yes,” she replied in a small voice.
Happiness filled him. Once upon a time, hearing the L-word would’ve had him running for the hills, but with Juniper it felt right. He never thought he’d have these emotions for a woman, but now, there was no denying them.
Turning off the main road, he traveled past his own house for the one further back. The house was practically hidden and completely isolated.
“Where are we?” Juni asked.
“You’ll see.”
When the house came into view, she gasped. His was nice and big, but this one was amazing, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. The Queen Anne style house had a regal air about it. Round towers and wrap-around porches made it feel extravagant.
After parking on the circular driveway, he cut the engine. “Stay. I’ll come around to get you.”
She watched as he rounded the front of the car. He opened her door and bent to scoop her up. As he marched up the steps, the front door opened and his best friend, Corbin Leonelli, greeted him.
“Hey, Asher.” His confused stare went from him to Juni and back. “What’s up?”
“This is Juniper, and I need you to save her.”
“Wait,” she said. “The lawyer is the unicorn? He smells like a wolf.”
Immediately, Corbin’s body language went from casual to angry in the blink of an eye. “What the fuck? You told her?”
“Not until just now. Please, Corbin. I’ve never asked you for anything, but I’m begging now.”
“I can’t believe you’d betray me like this!” he spat.
“I haven’t and I have no intentions of doing that, but, please, she can’t die.”
Corbin’s hands closed into fists. They’d been friends for years, but he’d never seen his friend this furious.
“A mob attacked him,” Juni said. She stared at Corbin.
“I was on the phone with him when I heard what was going on. So, I ran to the bar and saw them trying to force him to shift into a unicorn. He kept denying he was one. Kept repeating he couldn’t help them, and now I know it was to protect you.
Even in their anger, all he thought about was you. ”
Some of the anger eased from Corbin’s body language. “You’re infected?”
“Yes,” she said sadly. “I decided to walk home and I saw Keegan. It was strange because she was just standing there on the sidewalk. I know Alpha Jericho told us to stay in our houses, so I was confused. I went up to her...”
Her voice broke, and it took a moment for her to regain her composure.
“She collapsed, and ... in the next moment she died in my arms.” Tears trickled down her cheeks and she fruitlessly wiped them away. “My friend is gone.”
Corbin sighed, his shoulders slumping a little.
“You don’t have to reveal yourself,” Asher told him. “And they don’t need your horn. Just some blood. I’ve kept your secret all these years, so you know I would never willingly betray you.”
“Yeah, I know about the blood. I was there when they pulled the ghost off Kadie.”
“Corbin?” came a shaky female voice.
His friend abruptly turned and rushed inside. Asher saw a thin, pretty woman as Corbin placed his arms around her.
“You can’t come out here,” he told her in a tone that Asher had never heard before. It was tender. Concerned. Almost ... loving. “She’s infected.”
The woman looked at them. “Are they here because you can save her?”
He hesitated for only a fraction. “Yes.”
“Then you must save her. Don’t let anyone else die. Please.”
“It’s not that easy,” he told her. “My kind was hunted to near extinction. I hid my scent to live among them.”
She placed her hands on his chest and stared up at him. “You’ve honored your ancestors’ memory by keeping their secret. But we can’t let those who hurt your kind win. I don’t know why I was spared from this horrible sickness, but if it was me, you’d save me, right? Why is so different for them?”
Leaning his forehead against hers, the next thing he said to her was too low for Asher to hear it. But he saw the gentle way he touched her. How he cupped her face to place a light kiss on her lips.
“She’s your mate,” Asher surmised.
Corbin glanced at him. “Yes. Kadie is my alpha mare.”
Asher smiled. “I’m happy for you.”
“And she?” Corbin asked, nodding to Juni.
“She’s my mate.”
For a moment, he and Corbin connected once more. They’d met when they were kids, growing up on the streets in Denver. Protected each other’s back. Kept each other sane. Seemed only fitting that they found the women they were destined to love within days of each other.
“Okay,” Corbin said. “I’ll give you my blood.”
“Thank you,” Asher said, his shoulders slumping in relief. “I won’t tell them who you are.”
“I won’t tell either,” Juni added. “Your secret is safe with me. I know what it’s like to lose your freedom and I would never do that to someone.” She looked at Asher. “Put me back in your car to make sure Kadie stays safe.”
****
Niall stepped from his portal and stared up at the odd warehouse where his contacts told him a powerful necromancer lived. Stepping up to the door, he banged his fist and stepped back. A moment later, the door opened revealing a large, muscular man staring at him with cool suspicion.
“Yes?”
“Dr. Lang?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Niall. I talked to your assistant the other day.”
“So, you did.” Mathias tilted his head. “You’re not human.”
“I’m a warlock.”
One dark eyebrow lifted. “That’s different.”
“I have the spirit of a witch who needs a body. Any way you can help with that?”
Dr. Lang stepped back and used his arms to invite him in. “Call me Mathias.”
Niall stepped inside and took in the spacious interior. Crystals, stones, herbs, things in jars he’d rather not speculate about it. It looked a lot like his own home.
“Tell me about this witch.”
“First,” Niall said. “Do you know anything about the red death?”
“Not a clue.”
“It kills shifters. Kills the animal inside them. A witch was killed by her coven when she created a curing spell.”
“That makes her a powerful witch.”
“Yes, it does. The cure is unicorn blood.”
Mathias didn’t even blink.
“Can you bring her body back?”
“How long has she been deceased?”
“Days. Probably weeks.”
“Then, no. The body is too far degraded and I don’t do zombies.”
Niall smiled. “She was wronged and she deserves a chance to live. Is there any way to help her?”
Mathias studied him for a moment. “To give her a second chance, I’d have to switch her soul with another. Not sure who would volunteer that.”
“If I have an opportunity, would you try?”
Mathias nodded. “Sure. But it would have to be an ethical reason why. I don’t kill people unnecessarily.”
“Thank you. I’ll be in touch.”
****
Juniper held up a prescription vial filled with shimmery reddish blood to the sunlight.
“Why does it look like it has glitter in it?”
“You know how our blood has iron? Unicorn blood has silver. That’s what gives them their healing abilities.”
“You named the bar after him?”
“Corbin is my silent partner. He thought I was crazy to name it The Unicorn, but like I said to him, no one would’ve ever guessed why.”
“And it can save me?”
“I won’t accept any other outcome.” The dashboard lit up as he placed a call to Jericho, who immediately answered the call. “Meet me at Savannah’s. I have the blood.”
He disconnected and they fell silent as they drove back downtown.
“By the way, I love you, too,” he murmured.