by Cynthia Eden
He stared down at the blood gushing from his chest. A dull ringing filled his ears, and he tried to figure out just what in the hell was happening even as more bullets ripped into him.
“Fate can’t help you now,” one of the men snarled. “She’s ours.”
“Leo!” Mora screamed.
His head whipped up. The winged men were flying fast through the sky. Their wings were huge and white. They looked like…shit, they looked like they were freaking angels.
Impossible. I control the angels.
His knees gave way. Some of the bullets had passed through his body, but others were lodged in him. One is in my damn heart. And the bullets were draining him of power with every moment that passed.
“Leo!” Mora’s cry was weaker now. She was farther away. “Help me!”
His fingertips became claws as he began to cut into his chest. He’d get those bullets out. And he’d get Mora back.
He hadn’t been lying when he said that she wouldn’t escape him again. He’d searched too long for Mora. And no one—no one—would take her from him again.
Chapter Three
“I thought she would be more impressive.” The guy to her right gave a grim nod as he studied her. “Are we really to believe that this woman is the all-powerful Fate?”
All-powerful was a huge stretch.
Mora had been chained up—chained like a beast!—in some low-rent, cobweb-filled basement. The men who’d taken her had flown hell-fast and even though she’d tried to fight them, her magic had yielded zero impact.
She tested the chains that held her. They were old and strong, and things were not looking good for her. “Am I supposed to believe…” Mora demanded as she gazed at her captors. “That angels kidnapped me?” Their wings looked like angel wings, that was true, but she wasn’t buying this act. Angels would have no reason to abduct her.
The man to her right—tall, with red hair and green eyes—gave a quick laugh. It wasn’t a reassuring sound. “We’re hardly angelic.” And with a snap of his fingers, the wings vanished.
There were three other men with him. One was a thin blond, one sported a dark tan and even darker eyes, and the third guy…oh, hell, he was currently transforming.
Into what?
“Aidan, go patrol the perimeter. Let’s see if he comes after her.”
Aidan was the one doing the shift. As she watched, his hands hit the floor. He tossed back his head and a moment later, bones were snapping and breaking. Fur exploded all along his skin. His face contorted—
“Oh, shit,” Mora whispered. The guy had just transformed into a panther.
An angel one moment…a panther in the next breath?
She yanked on the chains. “What is going on here? Who are you? And why did you take me?”
The redhead laughed. “It’s so funny. You make demands like you have power.” He waved his hand and the other men filed out—even the panther left. Off to patrol the perimeter? And she was alone with the guy who was seriously creeping her out. He stalked toward her, and he put his hands on either side of her head.
“You’re in my space,” Mora snapped at him.
“And you are in my way.” The guy glared at her. “Fate. Fucking Fate. I thought you were long gone from this world until Leo high-tailed it across the country to find you.”
The chains were made out of silver—pure silver. Had to be. That was why she couldn’t muster up enough power to break free.
She had a wee bit of a silver allergy. And the jerks who’d taken her had known that. They’d barely gotten airborne before silver handcuffs had been slapped around her wrists. Then when they’d gotten to this hole-in-the-wall place, the cuffs had been replaced with chains. The guys had moved with the supernatural speed that she hated, and Mora hadn’t been able to break free.
“I’ve got to know…” His fingers curled around her chin. “Are the stories true? Did the Lord of the Light really fuck Fate?”
Her stomach clenched. She didn’t like the way the guy was looking at her. She didn’t like the way he was touching her. And she didn’t like the way he was talking to her. “No,” she snarled right back. “Fate fucked him.”
Her captor blinked.
“Who are you?” Mora asked him, her voice cold and flat. But there was something about him that nagged at her. An odd familiarity. I’ve seen him before…The problem was that when you lived for thousands of years, you tended to forget a few faces.
Her captor just laughed. “You’re Fate. Shouldn’t you know everything?”
She didn’t answer him.
“Let me tell you what I know,” he murmured. “I know that Leo will follow you. Hasn’t he already followed you to the ends of the earth? And beyond?”
She’d certainly run to the ends of the earth to escape him.
“He’ll come for you, and when he does…we’ll have him. It’s time for a change, you see. The status quo? Not working for me and those like me. We want the battle. We want the end. And we know it’s going to be spectacular.”
“I’m bait?” That news was hardly reassuring.
But her captor nodded. His eyes gleamed. I’ve seen those soulless eyes before. “What will happen when Leo learns that light paranormals killed you? His precious Fate? I mean, he saw with his own eyes that angels took you.”
His touch was making her skin crawl. “You aren’t an angel. We established that.”
He finally let go of her chin. He put his index finger in front of his lips as if to silence her, and he said, “Shh. Let’s keep that part secret for now.” Then he stepped back. “Leo has to break, you see. He has to lose every anchor he has. We’ve waited, we’ve stayed to the shadows, but a price must be paid. You’re that price.”
This was not her night. What will happen when Leo learns that light paranormals killed you? “I hate to break it to you,” Mora snapped, “but I’m not exactly easy to kill.” Technically, though, she was. It was the staying dead part that was a sticking point for her. “So if you think you’re just going to stab me or shoot me, think again.” Been there, done that.
His eyelids flickered. “I have a few tricks to try…And you know the old saying, if at first you don’t succeed…try, try again.”
Oh, hell.
“And I will be sure to try all night—”
The ceiling exploded. No other word for it. Chunks of ceiling and plaster rained down on Mora and the redheaded jerk. When the dust cleared, she saw that Leo was there. Leo with his dark, menacing wings spread so wide behind him. His head was up and his eyes were locked on the redhead who’d abducted Mora. The mysterious ring leader.
“You’re dead,” Leo said simply. Then he launched across the room. He grabbed the redhead and threw him—threw him so hard that the guy flew right through the wall. Then Leo turned to go after the jerk…and probably pound him some more.
“Wait!” Mora cried out. “Get me out of the chains first!”
Leo swung toward her. His eyes—they were different. They were…red. Glowing with fury. Not normal. Not a Leo kind of thing.
For a moment, she forgot to breathe. “Leo?”
He stalked closer to her. “Did they hurt you?”
“Uh, no. And if you get me out of the chains, they won’t. You can use those awesome wings of yours and fly us both far away from this place.”
He grabbed at the chain that bound her right wrist and with one yank, he pulled that chain right from the wall.
Footsteps thundered on the stairs. Mora’s head turned. The guys who’d abducted her were rushing down those stairs. Yes, it would have been hard to ignore the crash of Leo’s arrival so their frantic return was only expected. “We need to work on your stealth,” she whispered.
He took her left wrist and yanked that chain from the wall, too.
Silver still encircled her, but at least she could run now. “They aren’t angels, Leo,” she said, her words tumbling out fast. “They want you to think they are but—”
Gunfire exploded. The m
en who’d burst down the stairs were firing at them. Mora screamed, expecting to feel the bullets rip into her flesh but…
Leo.
His arms were around her. His wings were protecting her. He was shielding her.
“I’ve got you.” His voice seemed to vibrate around her. Her head tilted back and she stared into his eyes. Still that scary red—and she missed the burnished gold of his gaze. She’d loved that unforgettable gold.
His body jerked against her, and she knew the bullets were sinking into his flesh. “Let’s get out of here,” Mora said. “Now.”
But he shook his head. “They…pay.”
“Okay, let them pay later. There are at least four of them…and one’s a panther.” She could hear his growl. “I do not want to tangle with a shifter.” Her hands slid over his chest and…
Blood.
A lot of blood.
“Leo?”
He staggered. “Not…ordinary…bullets…”
His knees buckled, and he fell on top of her, sending them both crashing to the floor. The panther’s growls got louder and the thud of footsteps closed in.
“How many bullets hit him?” That was the redhead’s voice.
“At least a damn dozen.” The response was a hard growl.
Mora tried to shove Leo off her. He didn’t move, but he did groan.
“We have got to get out of here,” Mora whispered. “So push past the pain, lock those arms around me, and fly.”
“Did any of the bullets hit her?” Again, it was the redhead. The ring leader.
“Can’t tell.” A grunt came from another man. “He’s covering her.”
“That’s because he cares too much about fucking Fate.” Footsteps came closer and then—
“Fly, dammit,” Mora ordered Leo as her hands clenched around his shoulders. “Save us both.”
He rose into the air—a short, jerky lift—and her breath choked from her. Mora kept a death grip on him even as her captors started shouting. Shouting—and firing. One of the bullets burned over the side of her arm. “Fly faster!” A lot faster. “And higher. They have wings, too, remember?”
And he erupted. Leo blasted through the basement ceiling—going up, up—breaking through another ceiling and then a wall and finally surging into the night. He didn’t stop. He flew fast even as shouts echoed behind them. The wind whipped against Mora’s face, and she tried to look beyond his massive wings to see if her abductors were following them.
She tried to see—
“S-sorry…”Leo muttered.
“What? What are you sorry for? You got us out. You—”
They were falling. Dropping straight down to the ground. Oh, no. “Leo! I don’t have wings!” And an impact with the earth wasn’t going to be pretty. Her eyes squeezed shut as the ground rushed up to meet them. This would hurt, a lot.
But he twisted his body. His arms curled carefully around her and then—
They hit the ground. He hit first, obviously trying to cushion the fall for her, but Mora slammed into him and the impact—falling from so high in the air—knocked her out.
***
“We should go after them!”
Reever shoved his hand against the chest of his friend Banyon. “No,” Reever said quietly. “Not now.” He stared at the gaping hole above him.
“But we wounded him! You saw the blood!” Banyon gestured around the basement. Then he raked a hand through his blond hair. “Hell, his blood is everywhere! Those magic bullets fucking worked. If we can hurt him, we can kill him. If we—”
Reever smiled at him. “He came for her. The stories are true.”
The other men closed in around him. Reever spared them all a quick glance. “I told you, she’s the weapon we need in this fight.”
“She’s gone.” Those growled words came from Aidan. No longer in the body of a panther, he stood with his shoulders hunched and glared at Reever. “We can’t use a weapon that we don’t possess.”
They didn’t understand the particular end game that Reever wanted. Soon enough, they would.
“We should have followed them.” This snarl erupted from Benjamin. He rammed his hand into the wall. A small dent immediately appeared. Benjamin always had the hardest time controlling his rage. His dark eyes reflected his fury. “We could have ended this—”
“We will end things.” Reever wasn’t about to lose this particular battle. “But we have to be smart. We started a chain reaction tonight. The Lord of the Light will unravel for us. We know his weakness. We know how to break that precious control of his. We will shatter him, one piece at a time, and soon there will be nothing left.”
“The bullets worked!” Benjamin pounded the wall again. “We could have fired those bullets into his brain and killed him!”
“No.” Reever was getting tired of explaining himself. “We filled his body with a dozen bullets and even with their magic in him, Leo was still able to fly away. We aren’t the ones that can end him. You know the prophecy. You all know it. The only way for Leo to die…it’s by his brother’s hand.”
The Lord of the Light must battle his twin brother. It would be a battle to the death.
“We have to push them toward that final fight,” Reever murmured. He smiled. “And then when Leo falls, we’ll get the power we deserve.” The power they had been promised.
After all, a deal…was a deal.
***
Mora sucked in a deep gulp of air. She hurt. And she was also sprawled all over Leo. Seriously sprawled. Her breasts were smashed against his chest. Her legs straddled his hips, and his arms were still locked tightly around her waist.
“Uh, Leo?” She lifted her body up a few inches. “You can let go now.”
But his eyes were closed. His face was slack. He barely seemed to breathe.
She tried to slip from his arms.
His hold didn’t loosen. Even unconscious, he was holding her tight.
Her jaw clenched, and she moved her hands, pressing to his chest. Mora shoved down so that she could push herself up more—and her hands immediately were soaked in blood. His blood.
“Leo?” Worry slithered through her.
He didn’t stir. She grabbed for his hands and pried them away from her, and then Mora rolled off him. She started to sprint away—
He’s hurt.
Mora froze. She looked back at his prone form. So much blood. Hesitating, Mora bit her lower lip. He was a fast healer, she knew that. He probably should have woken up before she did.
But he hadn’t.
And he still seemed to be bleeding from the wounds he’d gotten.
Her eyes widened. The bullets are still in him. And considering the way he was being so slow to heal, she figured those had to be bullets that packed some kind of paranormal bonus punch. She edged back toward him. The chains rattled as they trailed her. The damn things were still bound around her wrists. “Tell me that you’re going to heal on your own,” she ordered, aware that her voice was gruff. “Tell me that I don’t have to save you.”
But he couldn’t tell her anything.
Slowly, Mora lowered to her knees beside him. Her abductors could show up at any moment. And if they did, he wouldn’t be able to fight back in this condition. “I’m going to help you,” she said, her breath hitching a bit. “But then we are done, got it?” Her fingers were already covered in his blood. They inched toward his chest, but the minute she touched him—
“Mora…” The rasp slipped from him even as his eyes stayed closed.
“Yep, it’s Mora. Doing the dirty work. About to dig bullets out of you when I should just leave you here—”
“Missed…you.”
Her heart was beating too fast. “Leo?”
His lashes were still closed. And he wasn’t talking any longer. Maybe that had just been some delirious nonsense that burst from him. Maybe the words had meant absolutely nothing.
But…the sad truth was…I missed you, too.
Her shoulders stiffened, and she got to
work on those bullets.
Chapter Four
Leo opened his eyes. A bright, blue sky stared back at him. He blinked, trying to figure out where in the hell he was and—
Mora.
He sat upright, adrenaline burning through his body. He didn’t see Mora. Had she been taken from him again? Oh, hell, no. He leapt to his feet. His body ached, but the wounds were closed. He vaguely remembered being shot—again and again. Some of the bullets had gone through him, but the others…hadn’t they been lodged inside of him?
His hands slapped at his clothing. Holes were there—where the bullets had torn through the fabric—and his shirt was stained with blood, but his wounds had healed.
“I dug out the bullets.”
His head whipped to the right. Mora was standing beneath the small shade of a nearby tree. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her hair blew lightly in the breeze. She sighed as she stared at him, and then she rolled back her shoulders in a shrug. “I figured I owed you, since you flew in and got me away from those creeps.”
He hurried toward her.
Mora lifted her hand. “Stop.”
Leo immediately stilled.
“Don’t go thinking this is some kind of—of a thing, all right?”
Her saving him wasn’t a thing? It seemed like a thing to him.
“I didn’t dig those bullets out because I still have feelings for you or anything emotional like that. It was simply a repayment act. You saved me. I saved you. Now we’re even. Done.”
He wasn’t sure they’d ever be even. As far as being done? Not while I’m still alive. “How long was I out?”
“Long enough for the night to end and the sun to rise.” A faint smile curled her lips, but that smile never reached her eyes. “I kept thinking those jerks would swoop in after us, but they never showed. Odd, isn’t it? That they didn’t give chase?”
His jaw locked as his gaze swept over her. Then he stalked forward. She stiffened at his approach, and he hated that. Once, she’d smiled when he drew near her. She’d smiled and her body had seemed to soften. She’d lit with a special glow that told him how happy she was just because he was near.