Malaya shook her head. “We called it that, but the cook’s girl called it Tekeste.”
“Why does that name sound familiar?” the princess asked as she frowned in concentration. “I know that name. It’ll drive me nuts until it comes to me.”
“Vernon Tekeste and his wife Ursula were on vacation at the Doric resort when they were set upon by an out-of-control vampire. The rogue vampire was blinded by bloodlust and he killed ninety-nine percent of the people staying at the resort. Apparently, Vernon and Ursula were the only ones who survived the whole ordeal,” Agar recited as if he was reading the information from a sheet of paper.
Stunned, Eric asked, “How the hell do you know that?”
“Because my cousin’s clutch was sent out to stop the rogue by any means necessary. Shayle and his brother, Christos, lost their lives that day. They’re considered heroes in the Crilly Clan.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Eric spoke softly. He hung his head in silence for a minute before asking, “So, how do we find this Tekeste fella?”
Agar shook his head. “We don’t. As ironic as it seems, they were killed only a month later. Some kind of lesser demon broke into their house and slaughtered them in their sleep. They were survived by their son, who, as luck would have it, had been away on a business trip with his wife at the time of his parents’ deaths.”
“Knowing your parents were attacked and murdered by non-humans might just have been the catalyst to inspire a human to start their own paranormal zoo,” Eric said.
“If you want my opinion, I think the son hired the vampire to attack the resort then hired the demon to finish the damn job. As soon as the parents were out of the picture, Richard and Carol Tekeste became very wealthy people, with more land and money than a person could poke a stick at.”
Tagh pinched the bridge of his nose and Eric wondered if his mate had a headache. “I wonder why this never came up before the guild.”
“It did and Sumar sent the Crilly Clan out to deal with it.”
“But why wouldn’t he inform the rest of us about what was going on?”
Am I the only one seeing the obvious? “Because if Sumar and Jordon were mates, Sumar would have informed Jordon on who he could contact for moneymaking jobs. They probably would have exploited the humans the same way the humans used them to acquire all of their specimens.” Turning to Malay, he added, “No offense meant.”
“Cookie’s girl is called Carolina. Maybe she’s really the wife and Cookie is the son of the murdered couple?”
“Makes sense,” the princess said, “but it still doesn’t tell us where they are.”
“But we now have a couple of names we can start with. They can’t have erased their existence. We’ll find them eventually.”
Eric stood and walked over to the bar area and pulled out a sketchpad and the pencils they kept there for the triplets. “Here. If you can draw what you remember, that would be a great help.”
“It’s okay, baby. We’ll find your brother and free him soon. I promise,” Agar stated.
With a determined nod at her mate, Malaya set to work. As her hand flew over the page, one of the most realistic buildings he’d ever seen came to life. It wasn’t one Eric knew, mainly because she sketched the inside of the building. There seemed to be buildings inside the walls of the structure with the center only bare ground. It reminded Eric of an old school or possible a sporting stadium.
When she’d done, Malaya flipped the page and drew the face of a woman, and Eric wondered if this could be Cookie’s girl. Malaya didn’t stop there. She drew many faces and Eric realized they were the faces of the people she’d seen every day. These were her dorm mates. Her family. Sadly, none of them resembled the Jory in his dreams.
“You’re really good. These are going to be a great help. Don’t forget to draw your brother, so if we see him, we know to bring him back here to you,” Eric encouraged.
A nervous rush of tension in the room filled the room. He knew everyone wanted to rescue these poor people being held captive, but a bigger part of the tension permeated the air around his mate. Turning to the princess, he asked, “So, Princess, how soon can you perform the ceremony needed to keep Tagh’s darker nature at bay?”
“How about you give me three hours to make some calls and I’ll have you and Murtagh wed and bonded?” she said as she stood up.
“Sounds like a plan. I suppose I should go and find something to wear,” Eric said cheerfully.
The princess threw back her head and laughed. “No robes needed. The warrior mating ceremony is done in the nude.”
“She’s kidding, right? My body is nowhere near the shape I need it to be in for other people to see me naked, even if they are family and friends.” Panic swamped him as he grabbed at Tagh’s hands.
“I might not be able to, but Lara can lie. Nakedness is not a prerequisite of our marriage ceremony. We can reserve that for the bedroom.”
Eric breathed a sigh of relief. “Naked in the bedroom I can handle. Naked with all my friends watching is a whole other story.”
“We’ll be wearing clothes.”
“I’m just making sure.” Eric paced around the room again until he once more stood in front of his mate. “Will the ceremony take effect immediately? Will you start to feel better?”
Tagh leaned back against the sofa and smiled up at him. “It’ll take a couple of days, but this will slowly start reversing my darker nature.”
“What are you talking about?” Agar asked.
Eric and Tagh took the time to explain as much to Agar and Malaya as they could about what would happen to Malaya now she’d met her mate. They also promised to give them the wordings for the oath and set aside a time after this mess ended so they could have their own bonding ceremony.
“Does this mean Malaya may turn into a rogue if the ceremony isn’t completed soon? How soon?” Agar asked.
“I’ve known Eric for about three months, and you can tell how badly it’s affecting me.” Tagh lifted his hand and held it so they could see the tremble. “It’s like I need to go out and cause some damage and I don’t even care what—or who—might get hurt in the process. I’m lucky because Eric and I have already bonded sexually. We basically only need the vows and oaths now for it all to be good again. As much as we would prefer to be out with the scouts searching for Jory right now, we know we need to get our ceremony completed or I won’t be able to function. I might become reckless, and a reckless Draconian Warrior is not something anyone would want in their hunting party.”
“It’ll all be over soon.” Eric sat back beside his mate and snuggled in. “I promise we won’t let you go all psycho killer on us. Have no doubts whatsoever that you will find Jory.”
When Tagh gave a chuckle over the psycho killer comment, Eric knew he’d said the right words to make everything better.
Chapter Twelve
Tagh shook like a complete nervous wreck. The tremors in his body seemed to be getting worse and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He smiled when he saw Eric had laid out his favorite suit for him to wear. Agar had agreed to stay with Tagh while Mitch and the boys were helping Eric get ready.
While he waited, Tagh went over and over in his mind the words he’d need to say so that he didn’t mess them up. With this ceremony, he played for keeps. By tying their life forces together, not only would they be bound for all eternity, but Tagh’s power would strengthen the longer they were together.
He wished this part had been completed. Like Eric, he didn’t like being on display for people to talk about their lives. A soft knock at the door let them know everything had been set up in the living room for them. Tagh hadn’t seen it for two hours, but Agar had told him they were getting it ready for the marriage to take place.
“It will all be over soon,” Agar assured him as they made their way back to the living room. His breath caught when he saw Eric standing in front of Lara. He looked absolutely stunning in the dark suit he wore. Tears gliste
ned in his lover’s eyes as he and Tagh joined hands and Lara began reciting the welcome to all the guests. Tagh shifted nervously from foot to foot while he waited for his turn to speak. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stand still.
“My love. My life. The very core of who I am and will always be. I give unto you my protection as I give to you myself and all that I am. From this day forth we will breathe as one, love as one and age as one. Your life is my life. Your death is my death. What fate has gifted us, may no one take.”
Tagh’s eyes burned as Eric recited the same words back to him. Tagh cupped Eric’s face and placed their foreheads together. He held out his palm and waited for Eric to do the same. The sting of Lara slicing his palm open was worth it the moment he felt his and Eric’s life forces joining together. When Eric’s breath hitched, Tagh knew his lover had felt the same thing. From this day forth they were basically living and breathing as one. By the time Tagh had pulled back, the design on Eric’s face had darkened and grown from his temple to curve around his left eye. Eventually, the markings would work their way down Eric’s body until they reached his heart.
“You’re now mine—completely.” Tagh grinned and kissed his mate, not caring that everyone was watching. The tremor inside him had lessened just a fraction and Tagh started to believe everything would eventually be all right.
Eric had a goofy look on his face. “I think you got that backward, mister. It should be you who belongs to me—completely.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
“I wish we could stay this way forever.” Eric sighed. “But the real world wants us to start participating again. One of these days you and I are going to take a long timeout and get to know everything about each other. You feel me?”
Tagh pecked him on the lips. “I think I’ll be feeling you later tonight, and all night long at that.”
Wedding sex, when we get around to it, is going to be the best sex ever.
But get back to the real world they did. There’d plenty of time for the party later. Tagh’s darker nature would recede now he’d been fully bound, and that was all that mattered. Now he’d be able to physically help in the search for Jory and the others, as well as looking for the rest of Malaya’s fellow captives.
With the help of what Malaya had told them and some much-needed research, they’d shortened their suspect list to one couple in particular, but finding said couple came with its own hardships. The people they were looking for had covered their tracks extremely well, but Tagh also knew they couldn’t hide forever. Sooner or later they would screw up, and when they did, Tagh and his people would be there waiting.
“We already have the scouts out among the populace to see if anyone’s heard anything, even if they don’t even realize it may have something to do with what we’re looking into,” Remi said. His words were filled with both anger and concern.
“How long has this been going on? That’s what I want to know. I’m talking about the operational zoos,” Eric asked.
Malaya spoke up. “They took me not long after I turned five. Cookie’s girl told me I’m now twenty-two. And they had people already there.”
Gasps filled the room. If Malaya’s memories were correct, they had been collecting specimens for over two decades. Tagh turned to Agar.
“When were your cousins sent out to take down that rogue?”
“Ten years ago. So I guess, given the new timeline, the parents really did start this whole mess,” Agar answered.
That was what had Tagh so worried. This whole situation seemed to be getting more and more complex. Tagh walked over to Cheyenne. “When did Jordon capture the first warrior for these people?”
“Nine years ago.”
“I think we’re looking for two different groups of people. I don’t know how I know, but my gut is telling me there are two or more groups out there creating these damn zoos. It’s too much for it all to be the one person. They may be connected somehow but not owned by the same person.” Tagh shouldn’t have been shocked that there were so many cruel people out there, but he always wanted to see the best in people. He wanted to believe goodness lived in everybody, but sadly that wasn’t the truth. Especially if the current situation was anything to go by.
“How did we not know about this?” Lara asked. “How did we not know people have been disappearing? And I can almost guarantee if there are two groups, we’ll find out about more. They all need to be shut down.”
Tagh knew how she felt. “Probably because we were all caught up in our own lives and problems. We didn’t take the time to see what’s happening around us.”
“Well, it needs to change. I’ve been messaging Simon, keeping him updated on this. He’s on his way over. We have to come up with a strategy to shut down these people and stop it from ever happening again,” Lara said.
“Then we have to see if we can find the families of all those who have been taken. See if any are still alive and wondering what the hell happened to their kin. I would be devastated to learn I had family who’d been taken captive,” Eric said.
His mate had a tender heart under his sarcastic exterior. It was one of the things Tagh cherished about the man. Eric had the capacity to care about everyone around him and often did. This same tenderness drew people to his mate and Eric didn’t even see it.
“How long before he gets here?”
A loud popping noise followed by the house alarms blaring gave him the answer he needed. When the chaos died down, the guild master stood there with Adrian at his side.
“Will someone turn off the alarm? It’s giving me a damn headache,” Lara snarled. “When you said you were coming over, I thought you meant by car. Like a normal person.”
“Why would I do that when our way of traveling is so much faster, and has less chance of anyone being able to track our movements?” Simon asked, as if it wasn’t obvious enough.
Tagh had to smile. Simon never did quite follow normal. Even though he led them, Simon had always been an outside-the-box type of thinker. Actually, he lived permanently outside the box. It kind of made the man the perfect leader. Maybe we should all try doing the same.
“You are such a…such a…” Lara waved her hands in the air.
“I’m a what? And please remember, I’m not only your boss, but I’m quite capable of kicking your ass both in and out of the guild room.” Simon gave her a look that Tagh could only interpret as a ‘what have you got next?’.
Tagh had never thought of Simon as a strong man, but there was something about him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but Tagh knew it was there. He wondered where Simon’s base species originated. It would probably do a lot to explain the man’s actions at times.
“I know this is against protocol and good manners, but what exactly are you?” Tagh asked Simon. “In times like this, we need to be as open and honest as possible with one another. Secrets will only mire us down and probably get us killed because we’re not prepared.”
Simon seemed to take a moment to think about whether or not to answer, and Tagh relaxed when the man did. “I’m a Feymon. I’m a demon-fey hybrid. You wanted to know why this cause is so close to my heart. Well, this is why. It’s because my mother once suffered as the toy of somebody’s twisted mind. Her captors thought it perfectly acceptable to experiment on her. I’m the end result. I loved my mother dearly and will defend my right to exist. I also know I don’t want anyone else to suffer the same fate she did. In the end, it drove her mad and she took her own life. At least she waited until I’d become old enough to take care of myself.”
“How the hell did you become guild master?” Agar asked.
Simon stood, pulled his shoulders back and announced, “I’m the guild master because I’m damn good at what I do.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” Agar apologized.
“Yes, you did. This exact reason is why most people don’t reveal who they are and where they come from,” Simon countered. “I don’t e
xpect you to understand my heritage. I expect you to respect me enough to understand I know how to do my job.”
“He’s a half-breed. So what?” Mitch stated. “I’ll be more impressed if we find another tri-being like me. So far, I think I win the title of the most mixed-up species.”
Tagh knew his friend was trying to alleviate some of the tension in the room, and hoped like hell it worked.
“Diva much?” Eric coughed into his hand to disguise his words, before adding, “Simon is trying to have a perfect ‘I have the right to exist’ moment and you have to go and make it all about you.”
The trickle of laughter soon filled the room. Even Simon cracked a smile. Tagh could only shake his head at his mate’s antics.
“Shut up, Eric,” Mitch bitched through his laughter.
Lara threw her hands in the air. “I think you’re all fricken nuts.”
“Oh, come on, Lara,” Tagh said the moment he sat beside her. “The tension is so full-on here something has to be done. I, for one, would rather laugh than have to clean up blood after an all-in brawl.”
Remi came and joined them. “At least they’re laughing together. If they think we’re gathering an army for some nefarious use, they—whoever they are—should know we’ll be prepared if they come at us.”
“I just don’t understand why they’d even think we were amassing an army,” Lara griped.
Tagh shrugged. “Because we have merged two demon clans and we have multiple species under one roof. Don’t forget, most of our older generations like things the way they are. Change is not necessarily wanted by them. Only the younger ones among us seem pleased with the idea of a new era dawning.”
“How do we show everyone we’re not out to take over?” Remi asked.
“We don’t. At the moment, I think we should concentrate on shutting down these so-called exotic zoos. Especially if some of these people are being sold for sex,” Tagh answered.
Lara sighed. “If we team up and shut them down, won’t that just stoke the whole fire of us taking control?”
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