by Quinn Loftis
“Alright then. Good work, team,” Jen said, clapping her hands. She may have said more but Costin didn’t hear it. His attention was completely focused on his mate.
“Let’s get Titus in bed and then we’ll talk, alright?” she asked him.
To be honest, she could ask him to walk through fire for her and he’d build the fire himself and light that sucker up.
A small smile tilted on her lips as they made their way to Rachel and Gavril’s suite to get Titus. “I don’t think I need anything quite as dramatic as you building your own burning inferno.”
Costin wrapped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her tightly into his side. “Keep me posted if you change your mind.”
Chapter Seventeen
“The most difficult thing about past pain is, even though you might have healed, your mind still remembers exactly how the pain felt. Sometimes, the memory of the pain is worse than the actual pain because it’s easy to let that past pain dictate your future choices.” ~Sally
* * *
Titus climbed up into his bed and Costin sat down next to it, pulling the blanket up over the boy’s little form. Sally walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down.
“Daddy,” Titus said, looking up at Costin with wide, innocent eyes.
“Yeah, bud?”
“We’re going to be okay.”
Costin felt his gut clench at his son’s words. “Did the angel tell you that?”
Titus shrugged. “She says a lot of things. She said we would face some scary stuff, and I asked her if it was scary stuff like when I open the bathroom door and the light is off and it just looks like an empty cave or if it was the kind of scary like when I fell and hurt my knee since I know pain can cause someone to be afraid. At least pain makes me afraid.”
Costin ran his hand through Titus’s hair. “Yes, pain can cause fear. Even I get afraid at the idea of pain.”
“What did the angel say?” Sally asked him, and she took his small hand in hers.
Titus grinned. “She said yes.”
Costin chuckled. “Sounds like your angel has a sense of humor.”
The smile dropped from his son’s face, and there was suddenly a fierce look in his eyes. “But even though we are going to face scary things, she also said that it would all be worth it. And I asked if she meant worth it like how even though being with the vampires was scary and horrible, it was worth it because it brought me to my mommy and daddy. And she said yes, that’s what she meant. So I guess that means that things are going to get messy and painful and dark. But then there will be love on the other side.”
Sally wiped away the tears from her cheeks as she glanced up at Costin. He could feel her love for Titus, and it matched his own. The feeling was nearly painful. “Is that how you see your time with the vampires? As a dark tunnel with love at the end?”
He nodded. “Because that’s what it was. When I came out of the dark tunnel, you and Daddy were there.”
Costin leaned down and pressed a kiss to the child’s forehead and then hugged him. “And we will love you forever and beyond,” he whispered to his son.
Sally said her good night, holding Titus closely to her. He patted her hand and told her, “to get some sleep.”
When they entered their bedroom, Costin immediately began shedding clothes. He escaped to the bathroom, getting in the shower. He knew where Sally was the entire time, could feel her patience as she waited for him. He was stalling. Costin had always thought he was pretty progressive with his ability to talk about his feelings, but since he’d found out about Skender and now leaving Sally behind, he couldn’t seem to put into words what he was feeling.
After fifteen minutes, he finished his shower and dried off, grabbed a pair of pajama pants from their closet, and headed back into their bedroom where his mate sat quietly on the bed.
She patted the spot next to her. “Let’s talk.”
Costin smiled at her and gave her the best smoldering look he could. “Are you sure that’s really what you want to do in our bed? Talk?”
“Nice try, Don Juan,” she said dryly. “You’re not getting out of this. You’ve been less than forthcoming about your emotions lately.”
“It’s not that I was trying to hide it from you, Sally mine. I just didn’t want to burden you with it. You’ve had enough stress in your life, and there is more to come. I want to keep things between us as drama free as possible.” He sat down beside her and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees.
“I appreciate that you are trying to keep my life stress free, but not at the expense of honesty and openness in our relationship,” she said. “We make each other stronger, Costin. The Great Luna put us together because our strengths and weaknesses complimented one another.”
Costin nodded. He knew the words she spoke were true. They were stronger together. “When Vasile told me he wanted us to leave our mates here, well, let’s just say it was the first time I’ve ever wanted to attack my alpha.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to gather his emotions into words, something that would make sense and not just come out as growls of frustration and fear. “I hate the idea of being separated from you, of not being with you to protect you. The last time I wasn’t there…” He paused as he attempted to get his wolf under control.
“It wasn’t your fault I was taken, Costin,” Sally said, obviously having picked up on the direction of his thoughts.
“Maybe not,” he admitted. “But had I been there with you, you might not have been taken. We don’t know. I don’t want to leave your safety in the hands of anyone else.”
“I don’t like being separated from you either, but we aren’t the only people who matter in the grand scheme of things. There are so many lives at stake, and they need our help. Sometimes we have to set aside our own wants and needs in order to do what’s right.” Sally placed her hand under his chin and turned his head so he was looking at her. “I love you. I am so very thankful that you are my mate.”
Costin leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Few things were better than kissing his mate, and so he kissed her a little deeper until they both needed air. “I love you, Sally Miklos. And you’re right. We need to help others. I won’t lie and say I don’t really want to be selfish and take you and Titus to some other realm and just hide out there to keep you both safe.”
Sally laughed. “You’d get bored without Jen to mess with.”
Just then the door to their suite flew open. It slammed against the wall and bounced back, only to be pushed open again. Jen stood in the open doorway breathing like a puffing freight train with brilliant blue glowing eyes.
“We’d both be bored,” Costin said as he and Sally stood up and faced the seething she-wolf.
“Sally, get Titus. Costin and I will escort you to the archives. Then the rest of us are going hunting,” Jen said, her voice filled with a feral growl.
“What’s happened?” Costin demanded.
“Skender and that she-dog escaped. They’re in the mansion. You and I both know what they want,” she said, looking pointedly at Sally.
Costin felt his teeth lengthen as his wolf pushed to be set free. “Who’s guarding the archives?”
Jen rolled her glowing eyes. “Less talkie-talkie and more walkie-walkie. Move it, Healer! Get your son and let’s go.”
Costin rested his hand on his mate’s shoulder. “I’ll get him. You wait here with Jen.” He hurried and was back in a matter of seconds with a sleeping Titus in his arms.
Jen clapped her hands together and then rubbed them as if she were trying to warm them. “Now, let’s get our hunt on.”
Skender watched as the two wolves who’d been placed in charge of his and Stephanie’s care entered the basement. One of them he knew. The other must have been in the Serbia pack because Skender wasn’t familiar with him.
“How are you doing, Stelian? Found your true mate yet?” Skender asked the younger wolf.
Stelian stopped in front of the
door to the cage and met his eyes. Skender was surprised because he’d always been more dominant than Stelian. But the younger wolf didn’t even blink.
“Haven’t found my true mate yet,” Stelian said, still holding Skender’s eyes. “But I also haven’t betrayed my pack, so I’m thinking mate or not, I’m doing a hell of a lot better than you.”
The wolf Skender didn’t know coughed to cover up a laugh. Skender narrowed his eyes on the wolf. “Something funny, pup?” Skender growled.
“Actually,” the wolf said, “I find it hilarious that I used to be in a rival pack and you were a member of this pack, and now you’re the one in a cell.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You both act like you know what’s happened, but you have no clue what I’ve done or why I did it.” Skender stepped back from the cell door. “Are you going to let us use the facilities, or were you planning on standing out there all day gawking at us?”
“Decebel told us what you did,” Stelian said. “And your reasons for your actions aren’t good enough. You’re a traitor. Spin it however you want to. Doesn’t change what you did.” He unlocked the door to the cage and stepped to the side.
Skender reached out his hand to Stephanie who was standing quietly behind him. She took the offered hand and followed him out of the cage. The unknown wolf led the way into the stairwell that rose to the main floor of the mansion.
When they were all in the stairwell and about halfway to the door Skender squeezed Stephanie’s hand, giving her the signal.
They both lunged. Stephanie toward the wolf in front, Skender at Stelian who walked behind. Skender had no intention of killing either, but he had to get away.
He managed to punch the younger wolf so hard that it knocked him unconscious instantly. Skender turned to see how Stephanie was faring. She’d managed to jump on the wolf’s back and got an arm around his throat, under his chin, and was attempting to put the male to sleep. She jumped off just as he started to crumble, and Skender caught the man before he could hit the stairs.
Within a matter of minutes, he had both males in the cage with the door closed and locked. Skender turned to Stephanie. “You good?”
“Yes, let’s just get this female and get out of here,” she said.
The pair headed for the stairwell once again, this time without the guards. They just had to get the healer, get out of the mansion, then get somewhere Alston could flash to without worry of his magic being traced.
“Try not to kill anyone,” Skender said to the woman he claimed as his mate.
She rolled her eyes. “You still feel sentiment toward them,” Stephanie accused. “You need to let that go. They are the enemy. If the wolves won’t join the Order, then they need to die so they can’t oppose us.”
The pair were out in the hallway now, and Skender was moving to the healers’ laboratory within the mansion. “Maybe, but there is a whole pack of them and only two of us. Let’s try and not piss them off any more than we have to.”
Zara was shaking. Just around the corner, the male called Skender and a female were moving off in the opposite direction. Zara had taken one step into the hallway and seen the back of the two people retreating quickly away, so she ducked back around the corner. She’d also heard the woman chiding the man for being sentimental toward the pack. The woman had spoken so casually about killing that Zara had started shaking.
She yanked her phone from her back pocket and pulled up Jen’s contact information. It was a good thing the she-wolf was pushy because it was the only contact information she had, and that was because Jen had forced Zara to put her number in the phone. Zara could have reached out to Wadim, but it was late and he was sound asleep. He was exhausted. Out of sympathy, he’d been trying to stay awake since she’d had so much trouble sleeping. He’d finally succumbed to his exhaustion, and she’d managed to slip out for a nightly stroll.
Zara txt: 911! There’s been an escape from the cages.
She didn’t know if Jen was awake or if her phone would wake her if she wasn’t. Zara didn’t have to wait long to find out. A few seconds later her phone vibrated in her hand. She looked down at the screen.
Jen txt: Where are you? Are you safe?
* * *
Zara txt: I’m around the corner to the left of the basement door. The male and woman went right.
* * *
Jen txt: No one else was with them?
* * *
Zara txt: Nope.
* * *
Jen txt: Is Wadim with you?
* * *
Zara txt: Nope.
* * *
Jen txt: Stay put. We’re on our way to you.
* * *
Zara txt: Yep.
* * *
Jen txt: Are you in shock?
* * *
Zara txt: Nope.
* * *
Jen txt: You sound like my mate when he texts. It’s creepy. Stop it.
Zara couldn’t help but smile. Jen and Decebel’s texts were probably hilarious.
A couple minutes later, Zara saw Jen and Decebel, with Thia in his arms, coming down the hall. They weren’t running, but they were definitely walking with purpose.
Jen started talking the minute she reached Zara. “We’re going to check on Stelian and Marko. Dec said that’s who was guarding the door tonight. Then, Dec is going to take you and mini-me to the archives. Vasile has been made aware, and I’m sure he is putting guards at every entry point. Sally and Titus will join you and history boy, along with Slate and Rachel. Any questions?”
“No but you might want to know that the female who was with Skender is all for going on a killing spree,” Zara said, remembering what initially had made her scared.
Jen growled. “Let’s see how good she is at killing when her teeth have been ripped from her skull.”
“There will be no teeth ripping,” Decebel said in a voice that seemed much too calm a reaction to his bloodthirsty mate. He was walking toward the basement door still holding his daughter and not appearing nearly as worried as Zara felt the situation warranted.
“Fine, I’ll just rip her arms off and beat her with the bloody appendages.”
“Wow, you’re kind of scary,” Zara said as she followed the pair down the stairwell. “Remind me never to tick you off.”
“She thinks I’m scary,” Jen said, directing her comment to her mate.
Decebel glanced over his shoulder at her just before he pushed the bottom door open. “You’re utterly terrifying, and your enemies shake in their boots at the mere thought of you.”
Jen glanced at Zara. “Why do I feel like he isn’t taking me seriously?”
Zara held her hands up. “I’m not getting in the middle of that one. It’s bad enough that I’m going to have to explain to Wadim why I was out wandering the mansion at night while he was asleep.”
Jen grinned. “Yeah, have fun with that.”
“Zara,” Wadim’s voice sounded sleepy in her mind.
“Speak of the devil,” Zara muttered.
This time Jen laughed. “Woke up, did he?”
Zara nodded. “Wadim,” she said using the same curious voice he had.
“Why am I here and you are not?”
“Well, I couldn’t sleep, and you needed sleep and were sleeping so soundly. I didn’t want to disturb you, and I just needed to get some fresh air. But it turned out to be a good thing I was out and about because I caught Skender and his mate escaping from the basement.”
She felt his shock and alarm through the bond and then his fear. “Skender is free in the mansion and you’re out there alone?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I mean, yes he’s free but I’m not alone. Jen and Decebel and Thia are here. We’re checking on the guards, and then Decebel is delivering me to you.”
“Are you alright?”
She knew he wasn’t asking if she was physically alright. He wanted to know how her mind was. Zara wanted to be honest with him, but she hated feeling weak. “
I don’t know,” she said, finally.
“Okay, that’s okay,” Wadim told her gently. “Just come back to me, please.”
“On our way.”
Chapter Eighteen
“I’m seriously considering a life as a bounty hunter. Despite the danger—or maybe because of the danger—chasing Skender and his, I’m quite certain, fake mate is exhilarating. Not sure what that says about me … or maybe I am sure and I’m just not ready to own up to the fact that my blood lust is bordering on unhealthy.” ~ Jen
* * *
“Do you think, maybe, you were a little hard on Stelian and Marko?” Jen asked her mate as they stood outside of Vasile’s office. They’d rounded up all the pups, Bethany, and two healers and squirreled them safely away in Wadim’s lair. Now they were waiting on Vasile, Jacque, Fane, Alina, and Drake to join them. Costin was guarding the door down to the archives. Hell was pretty much going to have to become the coldest place in the universe before he was moving away from that door.
“No,” Decebel said. “They shouldn’t have taken both prisoners out at the same time and they shouldn’t have allowed them out without their hands being bound. Their punishment will guarantee that they don’t make the same mistake twice.”
“Well, as long as you’re sure,” Jen said as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Her wolf was restless inside of her, ready and eager for the hunt. “These people need to hurry up. Don’t they know we have fugitives to catch?”