by Grey, T. A.
“My word is final. You will obey me on this.”
Her back stiffened like a rod. “No.” A new fear sent her on the defensive.
He marched towards her and grabbed her by the neck. His touch was gentle, his words were not. “I’ll have guards on the cabin. They won’t let you leave. Unless I’m with you, I don’t want you going anywhere.”
A strange feeling settled inside her like a black hole. Her stomach felt hollow, empty; her heart weighed heavy. It ached and throbbed with each painful beat.
“Fine.”
He nodded once, gave her a brief kiss, then swept out the door. It closed with a bang.
Willow collapsed into her seat. The hollow feeling grew even worse after he left. She knew this feeling, she’d felt it before. Betrayal.
How did she miss it? Had she been too enthralled with his good looks and sweet words?
Willow buried her head in her hands. “Or maybe it was the baby thing or the demon thing or the Amy thing or the Stephanie thing.”
Her words broke halfway through her tirade. A sob came, then another. Soon tears cascaded wildly down her cheeks and there was nothing she could do to stop it. He won her heart and wanted to rule her, just like David. David...the thought sent a rise of anger surging through her so fast that she lashed out with a raw cry and tossed the table over with a loud crash.
She stood there, shaking; her fists clenched so hard her nails bit into her palms. The front door opened and a guard appeared in front of her. She recognized the man but couldn’t have remembered his name if her life depended on it.
He looked from her to the table with a frown. Then without a word, he righted the table, gave her a quick, awkward pat on the back, and left.
The tears slowed eventually, but the hollow feeling in her gut never stopped, never lessened. She never let herself cry. After David she vowed she wouldn’t cry unless whatever or whoever she cried over was deserving. She’d cried at Papa’s burial. Pity tears didn’t matter didn’t help anything.
She did it again. After all the years of making herself strong, of changing herself, she’d done it again. She’d given herself to a man just like David.
She sat back down. Time passed, her tears dried, but the hole in her heart didn’t heal.
She’d give him another chance. Maybe the stress of hearing about Danny going missing had just been too much for him. She’d make him explain himself to her tonight. If he didn’t change his mind, then she knew what she’d do.
Chapter 31
Lyonis stormed into his office feeling as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. His lieutenants Thane and Jackie waited for him patiently. He’d gotten the call this morning from Thane that Danny hadn’t been seen since the festival. That was two days ago.
What the hell was going on here? The last he’d seen the sixteen-year-old he’d been asking for dating advice over some girl he liked. Now he was gone.
“Tell me everything,” he ordered.
Thane recited the incident. Danny went to the festival with four of his friends. According to his friends, they cut the festival soon after the theatrics with Amy and made for the woods to hang out. Oddly, none of the friends recalled returning to the festival with Danny or even thinking twice about where he’d gone.
“So he just disappeared in the woods?” Lyonis sat at his desk and buried his face in his hands. Not one disappearing child since he reigned and now within the span of a month two had disappeared.
“That’s what it looks like. We’ve already tracked over every square inch of the place, no signs of struggle,” Jackie said.
Lyonis stood. “Where’s that vampire? Get Draven to check out the scene. He sensed something last time.”
Jackie and Thane exchanged weary glances. “He left,” Thane said.
“What do you mean he left?” He hadn’t meant to shout but his words echoed off the walls.
God, he needed to pull himself together. He was mated now, finally had the woman he wanted, had a child on the way. Then why was his gut twisted a thousand times with dread? He’d woken today with an awful feeling. It wasn’t exactly what he expected after mating with Willow last night. When he’d gotten the call about Danny, he wasn’t even surprised. But he knew that Danny wasn’t the only reason his beast was agitated. Something bad was about to happen or was coming to his pack. He couldn’t let it happen. He’d do anything in his power to keep them safe.
“Some of the pack saw him go into The Wolf’s Den asking about his frimar. Apparently she left him. Don’t blame her really. So he went after her.”
Lyonis was quiet for a long while. His guards understood and kept silent while he thought. It pained his ego sorely but he knew what he had to do.
“I’m calling Tyrian en Kulev.” Their eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Why him?” Jackie said.
“We need the Atal Warriors.”
“We do not need those undead vamps!” Thane shouted.
Lyonis stood in a rush. The air around him crackled with anger. “Do not talk back to me.” He sensed he surprised his underling, but Thane hid it well by ducking his head.
“I mean no offence, Alpha Lyonis. What can they do that we can’t?”
Jackie took a step towards Thane. “Since when do we call on help for our problems?”
Lyonis knew this was unheard of. It wasn’t like he was happy with the idea but something in his gut told him he might need them.
“Since now. We have an ancient demon that wants to kill our Queen. I’m not about to let that happen. Whatever’s happened to Stephanie is happening to Danny. If we take care of the demon, then this all stops,” he said.
He watched the hard expressions on his lieutenant’s faces. Slowly they nodded.
“Good. Now prepare for guests, I’m calling the Atal Warriors.”
* * *
It wasn’t until the next day that Tyrian came to meet with him. Along with him he brought his mate, her sister Lily, and two guards named Henry and Rayn. The last to teleport in was the demon Telal Demuzi. His unnatural demonic presence unsettled Lyonis like bugs crawling along his legs.
They each took a seat in the conference room. The air in the room crackled with tension so thick only lightning could break it.
“Where’s our sister?” Chloe demanded. She looked like she was about to leap across the table and shake him until he told her. Her mate wrapped his arm around her, which seemed to calm her.
“She’s at home. I’m sure she’ll be excited to see you both,” he said.
“Why isn’t she here with us?” Lily said softly.
Lyonis looked sharply at her. For once the youngest Bellum sister wasn’t bouncing in her seat or vying for the demon Telal’s attention. A soft frown pulled at her mouth as she sat there quietly.
“She’s with child. I’ve asked her to stay at home to rest.” Inwardly he flinched at the lie.
The Bellum sister’s exchanged jaw-dropping gapes then leapt to a stand at the same time.
“A baby!” Lily said with astonishment.
“A baby!” Chloe said threateningly.
“Yes, a baby. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it. We’re mated now.”
I’m sure she’ll tell you that I ordered her at home. He had a brief flare of panic that he quickly quelled. She wouldn’t escape him; she wouldn’t be leaving with her sisters. He wouldn’t allow it.
Telal leaned back casually but his words were anything but. “I hope you didn’t send for me to talk about throwing you a bachelor party.”
Lyonis didn’t laugh. “We’ve had two incidents,” he began then related the missing occurrences of Stephanie and Danny to them. By time he was finished the room sat in silence.
“Well the demon’s using them to get to Willow,” Lily said simply.
“What are you talking about? Since Stephanie’s been back her parents say she’s been back to normal. Doesn’t even remember her whereabouts of that night.”
Lily nodded then said,
“Sure but then she met with Willow in the bathroom and the demon showed itself.” She said the words as easily as if she were reciting her favorite colors.
Lyonis leaned forward in his seat, blood beginning to boil. “What are you talking about?”
All eyes turned to her. She only shrugged. “I had a dream of a young girl standing before Willow in a bathroom. The girl wasn’t herself though. The words she spoke were demonic.”
Before Lyonis could say anything, Chloe spoke up. “What did it say?”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t know. It was a dream. Things were blurry as they usually are. I didn’t hear any words. Only had impressions of the demon inside the girl. Willow was scared.”
Lyonis’ hands curled into fists. His mate had been scared and he didn’t know about it?
“I haven’t heard anything about this. Why wouldn’t she have told me?” The thought that Stephanie had been walking amongst his pack while a demon possible sat inside her sent his hair standing on end. The thought that she might have gotten close to Willow with that thing inside her nearly sent him into a rage.
“Ask her that,” Lily replied.
“I intend to.”
Telal sighed as if bored. “Again, why did you send for me?”
Lyonis looked Telal and Tyrian in the eye. “I need your help. Something’s coming.”
“Unless you require a load of guns then I’m afraid I can’t help you,” Telal said, coming to a stand.
Lily came to a stand too and walked around to face him. “You can too. You know more about this demon after my sister than anyone here.”
The demon sent her a withering stare. “I already told you everything I know.”
Lily clamped her mouth shut and stared him down with a withering glare. “You’re staying.”
He cocked a condescending brow.
“I’d like the assistance of the Atal Warriors.” It pained Lyonis to say that so much that he couldn’t hide his grimace.
Tyrian readily nodded. “Agreed. I will have them stationed here immediately.”
He answered so readily that Lyonis wasn’t prepared for it. He’d been expecting to coerce the vampire commander into it. The knot in his shoulders eased a fraction.
“You need to keep Stephanie away from Willow. Probably away from the whole pack,” Lily insisted. She hadn’t returned to her seat but stood close to the demon who made a pointed interest in ignoring her.
“I can’t do that. Too many questions will be raised. Her parents will be furious. I can’t betray their trust like that.” He thought about how happy the McLannhan’s were to have their daughter back. No way could he steal their daughter away.
“You have to. The demon’s using her,” Lily said.
“It’s easy to say that but I can’t take the girl away from her family. Hell they’d thought she was dead before!”
“What can we do?” Chloe asked the helpless question. She directed it at Telal. The demon only rolled his eyes and moved away from the youngest sister.
“I should let you all dig yourselves out of your own grave,” he muttered to himself. He turned back around to glare at all of them, especially the sisters. “This is all your fault. Your foolishness has put people in danger.”
“Oh and I thought you didn’t care about anyone but yourself,” Lily said innocently.
The demon took a threatening step towards her then growled and turned away.
“All of my resources have been silent. That tells me something. The demon is keeping quiet, hidden, biding its time.”
“For what?” Lyonis said, afraid of the answer.
“As if I know. The only thing I know is that you can’t let Willow get into Dura’s hands.”
“Why? What would happen?” said Chloe, her features pinched.
“Aside from her death? Dura made a demonic pact, a revargen, with the demon Karr that you ‘killed.’ If she finishes her end of the deal then Karr will be brought back to life again and then there will be two ancient demons to terrorize the world.”
“How are you certain it made the revargen?” Lyonis said.
“Deadly certain. This demon Dura would not be alive if not for Karr resurrecting her. The revargen would ensure that if he died he’d come back. If I had to make a pact, I’d do the same thing.”
“Then why’s it after Willow and not me?” said Chloe.
Telal shrugged. “Each of you casted the spell. Probably in order to gain all of his powers back he’ll need to kill all of you. Or attempt to anyways.”
There was silence for a moment as everyone contemplated the mess they were in.
Then softly Telal looked at Lily and said, “Whether your sister lives or dies, it will not stop until you are dead next. There is a pattern to these attacks. Eldest to youngest.”
Lily grimaced. “Bummer.”
Telal took a threatening step towards her, then another. “Bummer? Your life is in danger and all you have to say is ‘bummer?’”
Her lips curled into a slow smile as she looked up at him. She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “And here I thought you didn’t care about me, Telal.”
His body stiffened then he stepped away from her. “I don’t.” The ice in his voice could freeze the desert. Lily smiled happily as if he’d just said something magical.
“So let me get this straight,” Chloe said, “the demon that was after me, Karr, is dead. Though Telal doesn’t look as though he believes that. Before he died, he made a pact with another dead demon named Dura. What a stupid name that is—
“Chloe,” Tyrian interrupted.
She looked at him. “What? It is. Anyways, so now in order to fulfill her end of the bargain for getting resurrected herself she must kill Willow. Then...Karr will somehow come to life again?” she said unsure. She looked at Telal to fill in the gaps.
He only shrugged. “I have no idea. These are all guesses based off rumors of rumors I’ve heard.”
Lyonis’ harsh voice interrupted him. “That’s not good enough.”
“It will have to be,” Telal said.
“Well I was able to kill Karr with that blade and spell. We’ll do the same and give the stuff to Willow. Whenever the time comes, she’ll be prepared,” Chloe said.
Telal sneered at her. “You think it will be that simple? Already the demon has infiltrated the pack and the girl and boy are merely the only two you know about. It could be controlling dozens and you’d be none the wiser. It’ll watch, plan, then kill her and resurrect Karr again, completing its part of the pact.”
“It does not control my pack,” Lyonis growled.
“That you know of,” Telal said.
Lyonis stood with a roar and launched himself at the demon. Right before he was about to tackle him, Lily stepped between them. The demon was quick though and grabbed her by the waist. Together they disappeared and reappeared in the corner of the room. Telal shoved her behind him and took a hard step forward.
“Your fight isn’t with me, Alpha. But if you wish for a brawl I’ll gladly accept.” His words were as cold and hard as his eyes. The gold of his skin seemed dimmer than it had been a minute ago as if his dark emotions swam through it.
Lyonis collapsed into the chair, the air whooshing out from him on a defeated sigh. He’d almost hit a woman. Shaking his head slowly he said, “I’m sorry. I respect all of your help. Lily, forgive me?”
She peeked around Telal’s body and winked at him. “No biggie.”
Telal’s eye twitched. “I’ve had enough of this.” He disappeared with a quick dissolve.
“Isn’t he dreamy?” Lily sighed wistfully.
Chloe snorted. “If you say so.”
As conversations picked up and plans were made Lyonis sat back in his seat in contemplation. His mate and child were in danger. The Atal Warriors were coming into his pack and he honestly had no idea if he could protect her.
He flinched as he thought about it. Bitterness engulfed him. He’d die before he’d let her go. Lyonis wrapped up the meeting
and knew. He had to kill his demon.
Chapter 32
At the sight of her sisters, Willow almost dissolved into another babbling mess of tears. Somehow she managed to force a smile though as she hugged them and led them into the living room. Her sisters refused to sit though, too engulfed in rubbing her belly and gushing.
“A baby, God I can hardly believe it,” Chloe said.
“I know! We’re gonna be Aunts!” Lily squealed.
Willow tried her best to appear excited, happy. It was hard though with the black cloud hanging over her. Lyonis hadn’t returned. She had no idea where he was or what he did but his actions spoke volumes. Finally at about nine o’clock her curiosity got the best of her and she went out front to ask the guard where he was. He’d merely shrugged and said he didn’t know. Great.
When her sister’s finally calmed down they spotted her dark look and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Chloe said.
They sat on the sofa together and Willow spilled the beans on everything. The pregnancy, the mating, the fight yesterday morning. A part of her yearned to tell her sisters about David so they could truly see why the fight was such a big deal to her, but she couldn’t do it. Her ego refused to suffer the blow of them knowing.
“Oh honey, he’ll come around. He’s just worried about you,” Chloe said.
Willow scoffed then laughed bitterly. “So he forces me to stay in this house? I tried to leave and the guards actually blocked me off, said they had the right to use force to keep me in here if necessary. What kind of relationship is that?”
“You love him,” Lily stated.
Willow felt her cheeks flush and tried her best to force it away. “Maybe,” she grumbled.
“He loves you too. I’m sure he’ll come around,” Chloe said confidently.
“You don’t know that.”
Both of her sisters turned to give her a hard stare.
“That man is so toe up for you he was about to start a fight with Telal, Willow. He loves you,” Lily said.