All That Shimmers

by N. J. Nielsen

  “So fucking beautiful.” Tagh gave one last thrust. The heat pouring into him with Tagh’s release crashed over Eric. His balls tightened, drawing up close to his body. Sparks of energy shot through him as he came. Tagh tightened his grip on Eric’s legs as Eric’s cum painted his chest.

  Tonight there were no games. Tagh rocked slowly as they gazed into each other’s eyes. There was so much love and Eric knew where he now belonged. Tagh was going to wind up being his whole universe and Eric wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

  “I’ll be right back, unless, of course, you want to join me in the shower?”

  Eric chuckled. “I don’t think I’m up for standing right now, but if you change that offer into a hot bath, I’ll crawl there if I have to.”

  “I’d never let you crawl. Not when I can carry you.”

  He squealed when Tagh lifted him into his arms and carried him to the bathroom. Tagh sat him on the counter and Eric watched as Tagh began to fill the huge tub. Holding up a bottle, Tagh arched an eyebrow at him.

  “Always bubbles,” he answered.

  When the tub had filled, Eric slid from the counter and into the opposite end of the tub from Tagh. He lifted his foot and placed it on Tagh’s chest, knowing full well Tagh would take the hint and give him a massage. One that wouldn’t stop at his feet.

  Who knew Tagh could be a closet romantic?

  Eric hadn’t, but he sure enjoyed the benefits of it now.

  “So, about this ceremony, has Lara really taken control?”

  “Like you, I now can’t lie. The princess and guild master swear this is going to be the biggest thing our world has ever witnessed. I’m not sure whether I should be honored or horrified at being put on display. Now, I know how it must have felt for Mitch when we forced the ball on him and his men to introduce them to the world. I don’t like being the starring attraction for everyone to scrutinize and comment on.” Eric sighed.

  He knew there was no use in trying to get them to tame things down. Daven had tried so many times over the years and each time it had only made the princess push right the hell back and make it twice as big as she’d originally planned.

  “Maybe we can duck out as soon as the oaths are taken and the vows are said,” Tagh mused.

  “Not bloody likely. I bet she posts guards on our asses to make sure we stay put. We aren’t getting out of this easily. I think they see it as their way to bring some kind of unity to our people.” Eric sighed in bliss as Tagh massaged higher on Eric’s calves.

  Tagh snorted. “Unity, by having a very public wedding for one of the most hated species in the whole world. Yeah, I can see that going down a treat.”

  “At least we can assassinate anyone who decides to go against us.”

  “And already you start making jokes about who we are.” Even though Tagh smiled, Eric realized the joke had gone over like a lead balloon.

  Sitting forward, Eric reached for Tagh. “I’m sorry. I know you’re not a killer. I know you’re a good person and revere life of all kinds.”

  “Our kind are the monsters of our world and nobody wants to be thought of as a monster. I know I don’t,” Tagh said.

  “I know, and that’s what I love about you. You put everyone else before yourself.” Cupping Tagh’s face, he kissed him. “You, my love, are not a monster.”

  “We have to basically think about this whole situation as more about the nice thing our friends are doing for us. They may want to unite our world, but deep down they really only want us to be happy.” Tagh sighed. “We should be grateful they didn’t try to hide us away from the world.”

  “They love us and they’d never do that. They’re our friends.”

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning, a noise outside their bedroom door woke Tagh from his light doze. Opening up his senses, Tagh knew without a doubt the person standing there wasn’t a member of the household. He jumped out of bed, making sure Eric still remained covered, yanked on his jeans and threw the door open. His breath rushed from his body when he found a pale young woman standing outside their room. Half her face carried markings similar to yet completely different from his own.

  “I beg for sanctuary,” she said as she dropped to her knees before him.

  Tagh crouched in front of the stricken and malnourished woman. “Who are you and where are your people?”

  “My name’s Malaya. My people are caught. Imprisoned against their wills.”

  “Oh my.”

  Tagh jumped at the sound of Lara talking beside him.

  “Where did she come from?”

  Malaya sat back on her calves and stared at Lara. “A demon named Cheyenne found me. He brought me here, and told me this warrior would help me rescue my people.”

  “I’ll go find Orion and Cheyenne,” Eric said from behind him.

  Tagh hadn’t even realized his mate had woken and dressed. All he could do was nod as Eric raced down the hall.

  “Tagh, we need to get her cleaned up and fed. She deserves to be treated better than she has been.”

  Tagh gently touched her arm when Malaya flinched away from Lara. “The princess won’t harm you. You can go with her and will remain safe. We’ll make sure no one harms you.”

  After seeing the state in which the found Malaya, he now agreed wholeheartedly about finding Jory. The longer they waited, the more discouraged Eric became, and Tagh hated it. He liked his mate happy and not fretting over things he had no control over. He just prayed when they found Jory he was in much better shape.

  “Come, little one,” Lara said.

  Malaya got to her feet and followed Lara. Her whole body seemed to vibrate with fear and mistrust.

  Tagh paced the living room while he waited for Lara to bring Malaya back out to talk to him. He needed to find out as much as possible about where she’d come from if he had any chance of doing what Cheyenne had promised. He wondered why the demon had left her at his door and not stayed to talk and explain things.

  “What’s going on?” Orion asked after he entered the room, followed closely by Cheyenne and Eric.

  “I’m hoping Cheyenne can tell me,” Tagh answered, staring at the demon.

  “Cheyenne?” Orion asked.

  Cheyenne shrugged. “I was coming to fill you in, but Eric got there before I could. Levi and I were doing rounds along the west side of our boundary. When we found a young Draconian Warrior staked out, we brought her straight to Tagh’s room before Levi went to inform Remi and I came looking for you.”

  “A female warrior.” Orion shook his head. “I didn’t even know there were any. Are you sure she isn’t mated to a warrior?”

  Tagh answered him, “She’s definitely a full-blooded Draconian. Usually we are male. It’s very rare for a warrior be born a female.”

  “You found her not far outside our property lines?” Eric asked. “Where exactly?”

  “Yes. She had a thick metal collar around her neck. The chain attached was long enough only for her to kneel on the ground and it had been driven into the concrete with a huge railway spike. Someone had left her out there for the whole world to see, yet no one seemed to stop and offer help,” Cheyenne growled out the last bit in obvious disgust.

  Tagh looked at Remi then Orion. “Are you thinking she’s bait?”

  Remi nodded. “The question is, who left her out for you to find?”

  “So you think this is aimed at Tagh?” Eric said before stepping in front of Tagh to stop his pacing. Tagh allowed his mate to lead him to the sofa.

  “Well, he is our resident Draconian Warrior. One who has recently been revealed to the world.” Orion stated the obvious.

  “She wants you in her stable. She thinks with someone as strong as you in her ranks, her army will never be beaten.”

  Tagh stared at Malaya as she spoke. Underneath all the dirt, she appeared to be a very beautiful woman. It also came to his attention how she moved closer to where Cheyenne stood. If she got any closer, she would have been flush up against t
he demon’s body.

  “Who had you?” Tagh asked.

  “I don’t know. She took me from my bed when I was young. Years later I came across my brother. He told me our parents had died trying to save me. Brydon’s still there. I caught glimpses of him every now and again. The cook’s assistant who brought our meals promised me he’s still alive, but he’s not in a good way. He may not last.”

  Cheyenne put a protective arm around her shoulder. “She needs rest. You can talk to her again afterward.”

  Chagrin filled Tagh at not having remembered Malaya would need to sleep. He tried to make sense out of what she’d revealed to them. He started when Orion spoke.

  “Do you think she’s telling the truth?”

  “She’s Draconian. They can’t lie. I’d say, she’s telling the truth as she believes it to be,” Remi said.

  “What do you mean by that?” Tagh demanded.

  Remi scrubbed a hand over his face. “Not being able to lie, she can only tell us what’s true to her. She can’t tell us about what’s true for other people. I think we’re only getting part of the story.”

  “You think this is a setup and we’ll be walking into a trap?” Tagh surmised.

  “Yes, I do. We just need to know how to trip the trap before we get caught.”

  “Trip the trap?” Orion chuckled. “It sounds like some sort of country dance.”

  Remi gave his brother a shove. “You know what I meant.”

  “Does this mean you’re planning on helping me track down where this woman is keeping the others?”

  “We’re family now,” Remi stated.

  Orion followed this by adding, “And family sticks together.”

  “I wonder how long she was outside before Levi and Cheyenne found her?” Eric asked.

  Levi entered the room. “Malaya fell asleep. Cheyenne took her down to the den to let her rest. He’ll be back in a minute to answer anything he can.”

  “Is she his mate?” Eric asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe, but, then again, she could be clinging to him because he’s the one who set her free,” Levi said while he walked to the bar and grabbed himself a cola. He popped the top before he sat on a stool with his back against the bar. “Though I will say Cheyenne seems really protective of her.”

  It wasn’t long before Cheyenne came back into the room with them. They didn’t even give him time to sit before Orion asked the question they all wanted answered. “Is Malaya your mate?”

  Cheyenne shook his head. “No, but I think I may be partially responsible for her being held against her will.”

  “Speak.” Coldness filled Orion’s words.

  “My last leader wasn’t a very good man. He had his fingers in many pies. He thought himself to be a much more important person than he actually was. He traded favors with many a lowlife in his need for vengeance.”

  Cheyenne looked pointedly at Remi. “Our clutch didn’t always agree with the way he went about things, but, after all, Jordon stood as our leader and we had to follow him.”

  “What does that have to do with Malaya?” Remi asked.

  “Jordon St. James wanted to be seen as the man in charge. The person who everyone fawned over and came to for help.”

  “The man was an asshole,” Remi stated.

  Cheyenne grinned. “That he was. Anyway, years ago, he hooked up with a human couple who wanted to…” He shook his head and sighed. “They wanted a zoo of sorts. Exotic creatures. Jordon sold them information on the rarest and most fearsome creature of all, the Draconian Warrior. This couple then hired Jordon to capture a warrior and present him to the couple. My clutch did balk at this. After one death and more than a few beatings, Jordon told us not to bother, as he’d do it himself. He, with the help of his friend Sumar, set out and captured a young warrior, and they got paid handsomely for their efforts. That’s when we believe Jordon started to lose his grip on reality.”

  “What I don’t get is, if you all hated him, why the hell did you follow him?” Eric asked.

  “It’s an instant death penalty to go against your own clutch leader. I’ve seen many a good clutch wiped out because they had fucked-up leaders. To be honest, I don’t ever recall the name. Then again, there were so many things Jordon didn’t involve us in. He had quite a few secrets from us,” Orion answered.

  Eric nodded. “I bet he’d been involved in more than we’ll ever know. I say it’s a good thing that he’s dead. Why didn’t Orion get in trouble for killing him?”

  “Because the fucker wasn’t my leader,” Orion grinned. “Now, if I had killed Remi…”

  “My mates would have hunted you down and skinned you alive,” Remi retorted.

  Tagh wanted to know more about this human couple who thought they had the right to capture and keep other beings against their will. Especially when they didn’t even have the decency to treat them well. If the other prisoners were in as poor health as Malaya seemed to be, these humans needed to be tracked down and stopped.

  “Do you remember anything at all about where Jordon took this captured warrior?” Tagh asked. “Maybe it could lead us to locating where not only they held Malaya, but find a link to Jory.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t. I’m hoping when Malaya wakes, she might be able to fill you in on what you need to know. I might not be her mate, but I think Agar might be. From the second she entered the den, Agar has been standing guard over her. I thought he was going to rip her out of my arms when I carried her in. He even made me put her into his room so she won’t be disturbed. I don’t think he’ll give her up easily.”

  Tagh sighed. “If she is his mate, he won’t have to give her up.”

  “He won’t want her back in danger, either, and to find where the others are being held, that’s exactly what we’ll be asking her to do.”

  Damn.

  Chapter Eleven

  How can things go to hell in such a short amount of time? One week had come and gone and they were still no closer to figuring shit out, nor had the scouts found any positive leads into where Jory was being held. Just when they’d thought they were getting things back to normal, something had come along to blow them out of the water.

  “I think we may have to put our ceremony on hold.” As much as Eric hated saying it, he thought he should bring up the obvious. “We don’t have time for a big elaborate party when we have to concentrate on finding and rescuing these prisoners.”

  “No time for the party, but we’re having our ceremony. I don’t care if we have a private one here at home with none but our family and friends as witnesses,” Tagh said. “I’m not trying to be an ass about it, but I need this ceremony, or you’ll soon meet my darker nature. I sense it surfacing with each passing day.”

  Worry filled Eric. “Then how do we do this? I want you at your very best if it comes to fighting.”

  “Lara will officiate. The vows I gave you must be memorized. You can’t vary from them. They are very important to the binding of our souls. After the words are spoken, I will slice our hands so our blood may be joined forever, giving you the ability to call me back from the brink of death,” Tagh explained.

  “You were serious about that whole ‘brink of death’ thing?”

  “I cannot lie.”

  Eric smiled. “Yeah, I know that. It’s so overwhelming to me that I’ll have that much power over you.”

  “That’s what being a true mate means.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by a slightly ticked-off princess. “You might get out of the party for now, but I refuse to cancel it. We’ll settle for a rescheduling instead. Actually, this might be a good thing. It’ll give us more time for the planning, especially if we have more warriors to present to the world. Have you spoken to Malaya yet?”

  “Agar has agreed to let us talk to Malaya today, though he insists on being by her side,” Tagh said.

  “That’s a good thing, babe. It’ll show Malaya we care about her wellbeing. Hopefully she’ll remember how they brought her
here, and better yet, how to get back to wherever she was held,” Eric said as he patted Tagh on the thigh. “In fact, they should be here any second. Do you want to stay, Princess?”

  Lara gave him a ‘why do you think I’m here’ look.

  “Okay, sorry I asked.” Eric held up his hands in surrender.

  They didn’t have long to wait until Agar led Malaya into the room. He really did seem very protective over his charge, making sure she felt comfortable and didn’t need anything. In the same vein, Malaya seemed to be lapping up the attention.

  “Let’s get this over with. Malaya still needs to rest,” Agar said bluntly.

  “Umm, Malaya, we’re wondering if you remember who held you and how to get back to where they are holding the other prisoners?” Eric decided to just come right out and ask the two most important questions. Then added, “Were there other warriors besides you and your brother?”

  Malaya nodded. “In my dorm, there were three other warrior beings, a vampire and a day warden. Cookie’s girl told me there were five other dorms, some with more inhabitants than mine, but I definitely wasn’t the only warrior. I’m sorry, no one in my dorm had the name Jory, and we didn’t get to mix with the other dorms.”

  “Do you know why they were holding you?” Eric asked. Sadness washed over him that she didn’t know Jory. If she had, it would have made things so much easier.

  Malaya shuddered. “We were nothing more than slaves. Some dorms cleaned, some dorms were trained as soldiers and others were sold purely for the sexual needs of others. Thankfully, that wasn’t my dorm, but I think it may have been my brother’s.” Her voice filled with sadness. “I pray that it wasn’t.”

  “Would you know how to get back there?” Tagh asked.

  “No. They knocked me out to bring me here. I woke up chained to the ground. I never saw anything besides my dorm and the training yard.” She began to tremble. “But I can draw what I remember of the inside of the institution.”

  Eric caught on her words. “Is that what they called the place—the institution?”