Secrets of the Mazza: A Paranormal Romance (Mazza Series Book 3)

by Blake Blessing

  “What do stars have to do with it?” Seriously, no one mentioned anything about stars.

  Yunez rolled his eyes, “It was just a saying,” then whatever veil was cloaking Yunez fell away, and his expression hardened, the angles of his face more sharp, “Take Isolde to your suite and feed her, clothe her, outfit her with weapons. Rand will show you the way to the front of the estate if you cannot remember; I will meet you there.”

  Sage reached out and tugged Yunez into an unexpected hug. I mean, that was the last thing I would have thought would happen. It lasted less than a minute before Sage released Yunez and ushered me out the door.

  I nervously rubbed my palms down my thighs. Our happy little world was about to come to an end, and we didn’t have a fucking clue how to stay alive.

  Once Jari relayed the plan, I got distracted kisses as the guys ran around the suite, getting dressed, brushing teeth, pulling weapons out of a beautifully decorated chest, that silly me thought was a footstool.

  “Hurry, we don’t have much time,” Rand touched my waist on his way through.

  Oh, damn. I was daydreaming while they rushed around me. I jumped into motion and got ready in record time. When I entered the living room, Egan waved me over to the magical chest. Without saying a word, he fastened a belt over my waist with two incredibly sharp daggers, then strapped a bandolier over my chest with additional knives in the sheaths.

  “Uh, Egan, I don’t want to mess up your hard work, but are you forgetting I don’t have a chance in hell of defending myself with actual weapons. With my skill, I’m more liable to trip and stab you in the ass.”

  “Don’t worry,” Rand walked over holding my super sleek and sexy nipple clamp nunchucks. I hadn’t noticed the empty snaps on the belt. As I watched him secure the nunchucks, it was glaringly obvious they were made specifically for them.

  Egan stood up, brushing his hands over the dark material of my stealth clothes.

  “Let’s go,” He maneuvered me in front of him as we left the suite, and my Lusty Legion took up their positions in the loose diamond formation they had started doing whenever we weren’t in our rooms.

  The servants stopped and dipped their heads in respect as we passed. I didn’t think that was a good sign. Their actions almost reminded me of a funeral procession where cars would pull over until the funeral party would pass with the casket. Surely they weren’t in the know on what was going on, were they? The knowledge that Ado hadn’t made it was probably public, but these people wouldn’t know we were off on a retrieval mission.

  Unless they knew Ado had a significant other, and that she was still in the evil clutches of the Shadow Society. Actually, anyone who knew him probably did know she was still there. And, if they knew Yunez even a fraction of the way I knew him, they would know he wouldn’t leave her there.

  Yup, the servants were saying their farewells in case they never saw us again.

  A warrior joined us on our march to the main entrance, a reluctant smile on his face, “I’m Marcin. I was the fourteenth fighter to take you down in hand to hand combat yesterday.”

  And now I knew real humiliation. This guy must have been paying a hell of an amount of attention to know where he fell number wise.

  “Hi,” I grumbled. This was one of our warriors, I couldn’t show him my bad side because he witnessed a dark moment in my life. In an effort to be friendlier, I ended my greeting with a smile.

  “I’m leading the second squadron under Batse. I’ll be accompanying you to the gates.” He raised his hand, and as if out of thin air, at least a dozen well-armed warriors created a second ring around me.

  I would not be intimidated, I would not be intimidated.

  “Thank you, Marcin,” Rand clapped him on the back. His familiarity divulged the fact that he knew Marcin well. They probably trained together. We finished the rest of our walk without conversation. The mission hadn’t even officially started yet, but there was a somber air about us.

  In front of the estate, another group of men were in a tight formation behind a man with gray hair, only he appeared no older than twenty-five. Wow, I hadn’t seen that hair color at all here.

  Batse was chatting with him, drawing something on the ground with a staff. He looked up as we approached and beamed.

  “Mazza! I had dreams about you and the nipple clamps last night.”

  Rand smacked him on the back of the head, “I heard about that; I like you, Batse, you’ve always been a great friend to me, but Isolde has more dick than she needs already. There is no room for you in our harem.”

  He took on a sly look, “That word never even crossed my mind, Yunez is in someone’s harem!” For some reason, all the men outside of my LL thought this was hilarious.

  At my frown, Batse sobered. “Sorry,” he wheezed. “It’s just that Yunez has been our leader since he formed the Three Suns. He’s always been singular. You must know the Fennin people as a whole are usually monogamous,” he lifted his eyebrows and waited for an answer.

  “Yes, I know,” because the guys had told me.

  “Yunez never talked about his love life. Honestly, we either thought he was waiting for the one, or he was Asexual.”

  Yunez, Asexual? Yeah right, only a bunch of straight men would ever think that.

  Marcin rested an elbow on Batse’s shoulder, “Yeah, it’s just odd to know he isn’t the center of someone’s world.”

  I bristled. Why did that offend me? “He is the center of my world,” he would be, we hadn’t had any time to ourselves to really learn each other yet. But, I already knew he was someone very important to me, “I just have six centers of my world.”

  Batse smirked and shook his head. “That’s great that you feel that way, but we all know, you’re the sun, and your men are the planets that revolve around you, forever bound to your whims.”

  I scowled, I really liked Batse at first, now he was getting on my nerves. “You make me sound like some kind of twit.”

  Marcin laughed. “No, not at all. I know Yunez has strong enough sight, that if you wouldn’t bring him unimaginable joy, he would avoid the bond. But, based on what we saw in the great hall, he very much wants it.” He shrugged, “It’s an adjustment for us.”

  I got that, the steam that had been building behind my eyes dissipated. Marcin’s words made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

  The men created two halves of a formation, fanning out in a v, much like geese. Instinctively, I knew we were supposed to go in the middle.

  The double doors opened, and hundreds of men flowed out, lining up along the driveway. Every Manno who lived here must be present. After they were all in place, every man, even the ones in formation, and my Lusty Legion stood at attention.

  I wanted to follow suit so badly, but my curiosity was this giant ugly cat inside of me that couldn’t follow the crowd if its life depended on it. Instead, I watched the ball of yarn slowing rolling out on the floor aka the doors that were wide open.

  Yunez appeared in an all-black, formfitting outfit that molded so nicely to his trim and muscular form. My LL were the best looking bunch of men I’d ever seen. And they were all mine. I knew that, had known it, but it was really driven home seeing them dressed and ready for some ass kicking.

  Yunez didn’t spare a glance for anyone, keeping his eyes on the horizon. His steps were slow and measured, crunching pristine blades of grass beneath his boots. This moment was big. Huge.

  I leaned forward, anticipating what would happen next. Electricity nearly hummed in the air as Yunez stopped ahead of us, exactly halfway between the two groups of men lined up on the outsides of the drive.

  “Yesterday we lost a great man, humble friend, and loving brother,” Yunez’s voice easily projected, “For what, I am not yet sure, but I will find out. There will be no stone left unturned, no enemy bed left unchecked, and when I find his killer, he will pay.”

  I thought the men would have cheered, but they remained silent sentinels.

  “Upon my return, with
the one person who meant more to Ado than his own life, we will give Ado a proper burial. One worthy of the person he was, but let it be known that while we have worked secretly against the Shadow Society for centuries, undermining their cause and stopping their schemes…know that today… today, we step into the light of the sun and declare war on all that is wrong. Today we enter into their realm, steal Kia from under their noses, and they will know it was us that did it. They will know from this day forward, their days are numbered.”

  Yunez took a deep, shaky breath, “Before I leave with my Mazza and bond mates, escorted by two fierce squadrons, see us off with the Three Suns call to battle…It’s time for the realms to know we exist.”

  There was no count, no gesture, or anything to give the men a signal to the battle call. They were perfectly in sync as if they had waited their whole lives for this. And, it was beautiful and soul rending. The screams from the throats of mourning men tore at my heart because it said they were in pain, they were angry, and revenge was coming.

  Chills snaked down my body, followed by an uncontrollable shiver.

  The call ended, Yunez slid into the head of the Lusty Legion formation, but behind the Mannos, then we were off. The march was steady, but not too fast that I lost my breath. In record time, we passed the barrier of Yunez’s estate, and the Mannos we left behind never moved.

  I had so many questions. So many, but now wasn’t the time. In whatever town we were in, because I had no idea, I hadn’t even asked, people stopped when they saw us.

  We must have been a scary sight; a militant group of men, with murder on their faces, passing through the streets without even attempting to blend in.

  Thinking back on what Yunez said, I didn’t believe he wanted us to hide. He wanted everyone to know there was a problem, and the Three Suns were going to solve it. Only they didn’t know we were the Three Suns, did they? The Shadow Society wasn’t even a villain the Fennin recognized. If anything, they believed Rainer was behind any schemes to take over the human realm, but their ultimate goal was much more sinister than that.

  A city guard dressed in shades of blue nodded as we passed. I tried not to stare, but I was really fucking confused about how we weren’t drawing the attention of the city. The street was decently empty, there were some people out, but not so many that a deadly group in a military formation wouldn’t draw attention.

  I squinted. Ah, this one moment of clarity was making so much sense. The man on the street corner, the city guard, was a Manno. He was the first man to put me on my ass yesterday. He winked as I passed.

  This was Halfei. The city Yunez ruled, and the Mannos were the guards that protected the city. Yas! It was like I just ate from the tree of knowledge, as pieces of information kept clicking into place on this huge life puzzle.

  I grinned, then faced forward. So what if Yunez wasn’t filling us in quite as quickly as I’d have liked. I was Nancy fucking Drew, and I was about to solve the case my own damn self.

  We passed through town, then took a narrow dirt road that was nearly overrun with giant trees. The wide, navy blue leaves danced over the path, branches intertwining above to make an arch. I was just tall enough that I didn’t have to duck. The others however, because let’s face it, they all towered over me, weren’t as lucky.

  The road ended, but Batse continued on an invisible path, breaking branches as he went. I reached out and caught Egan’s hand, squeezing when he glanced my way.

  “Why is this path so overgrown? If this is the path to the Shadow Realm, wouldn’t it be well used from their constant travel?” They did constantly travel between the realms, right? That made more sense than if a bunch of them had sequestered themselves here.

  “Because, my love,” Yunez slowed until I was next to him, he tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear, “The portal the Shadow Society uses is in the center of Halfei. This one is a portal I made.”

  I gasped, “Their portal is in the center of your city? That’s dangerous!”

  An arrogant smirk. “Why do you think I rule that city? When I am outside the estate, I am Phin, the leader of the House of Zien. They have interacted with me on numerous occasions, to gain my favor, sway my decisions; it is very amusing,” he leaned forward until his nose brushed my cheek, “It is a bit like fucking them up the ass, and they did not even know it.”

  I huffed a laugh, but the others outright lost it.

  Up ahead, Marcin grinned and propped himself up on a young sapling, “If you haven’t figured it out, Yunez is an adrenaline junkie. He likes to live on the dangerous side, constantly poking at his enemies when they don’t even know he’s the enemy.”

  Yup, that totally sounded like Yunez.

  “Who are you?” Nato rounded on Yunez, his hands out to the sides.

  Egan pulled my back to his front with hands on my hips. With his chin on my shoulder, he answered my unvoiced question.

  “Yunez was very specific in his instructions while we were growing up. Never take unnecessary risks, never reveal your true allegiance, keep each other in line; he was pretty adamant about his rules.”

  Yunez tossed his hands up in the air, “I knew you would one day be my bond mates. I was trying to keep you alive so we could all be with Iss. Believe it or not, she needs all of us, and not for your powers or your good looks. She gets something emotional, metaphysical from each of us that she needs. Don’t look at me like that Sage,” he pointed a finger at Sage’s infamous RDF.

  Yunez tried to hold his scowl, but a smile broke free, “Remember that time you stole Theon’s puppy? If I had not been so strict with my rules and made you give it back, he would have had you publicly whipped, leaving you in the cold all night, causing pneumonia, which he would not have allowed to be healed; you would have died at thirteen,” the smile left as if it had never been.

  “He kicked that puppy every time he wouldn’t fetch his bone. One Theon would smear in horse shit,” Sage whispered as if defending why he had acted against Theon in the first place.

  Yunez nodded, “Yes, and that is why I had one of my Mannos pose as a visiting dignitary from Halfei and buy the pup. He could not refuse as were the rules of hospitality.”

  The surprise that crossed Sage’s face was almost as sweet as Yunez fixing the problem quietly for Sage, even if Sage hadn’t known it at the time.

  Then suddenly, Yunez’s finger was pointed at Jari. “You, the time you laughed at Travon when the girl he wanted to court embarrassed him in the center of the city, during the busiest hour? That was an unnecessary risk, it took three Mannos to change not only his memories but the surrounding people as well, so he did not corner you in a dark alley and gut you like a dead fish; you can thank Rand since he was one of the three.”

  Jari’s head whipped toward Rand, then back to Yunez. The movement so fast, I was afraid I had whiplash. “Seriously? I wondered why Travon never acted like I had laughed at him. Seriously?” He repeated again and looked to Rand. Three long strides, and he picked Rand up in the tightest bear hug I had ever witnessed Jari give.

  The naked emotion on Rand’s face made a small tear in my heart, but hearing Jari’s gruff response, thick in his effort not to cry, finished the job. “I’m sorry I was an ass to you all this time; I didn’t know. Ever since you saved Iss at Rainer’s I’ve started to see you differently, but knowing you helped save me when we were kids, really makes me feel like a jackass. How did you not turn bitter with every verbal jab we dealt you?”

  Rand patted Jari on the back then returned the embrace, like finding a long-lost friend. “Because I had enough of the sight to know you were good people. I knew that we would not always have that kind of relationship. There is often more to the person than what they show the world, and I knew the reasons behind your masks.”

  Okay, they were going to make me cry. I gripped Egan’s hands over my stomach and turned my face into his chest. My breaths were tight in my chest as I attempted to control the lump in my throat.

  “Nato—” Yun
ez started.

  “No!” Nato and Egan yelled.

  “No,” Nato repeated again. “We believe you, I had a moment of bitterness to know the Mannos really knew you, while we didn’t, but I’m over it. I can do without knowing the way I would have died without your interference.”

  These guys. I grinned but wiped it from my face by the time I faced the group again. “So, where is this portal?”

  “Right here,” Marcin said as he pointed to the incredibly young tree he was using as a resting spot.

  “Why is that tree so young?” This was a far cry from the centuries old trees that made up the Waesaris to Earth.

  Yunez walked over to the trees to lovingly inspect them, fingering each delicate flower with a gentleness that kind of made me jealous. Get a grip, Iss. It’s a tree.

  “The trees on the other side of the Waesaris are old and wise. The saplings on this side are actually two hundred years old, but I’ve been healing the damage from age, and have essentially stopped their growth. Everyone expects the guardians of the portal to be of substantial age and size. But young, small trees aren’t as fragile as most think; they are actually quite strong and durable. So you see, it is an extra layer of protection for this Waesaris.”

  Huh. That was pretty genius.

  “Batse, spread your men around the portal and settle in. My plan is for us to get in and out within a day’s time, but one never knows when a wrench will fuck things up.”

  Batse nodded. “You have my word that we will not leave until you and your bond mates have made it back safely.”

  Yunez cut his gaze to me so quickly, I might have imagined if not for his next words.

  “If for some reason one of us does not make it back, or any of us, I will make sure Isolde comes back to you. She is your only hope of victory over the Shadow Society. She is the human’s only hope. The Three Suns must protect her, help her succeed.”