As she answered questions as clearly as she could and spoke to faceless voices as calls were hurriedly put through, Dax hovered near her the whole time, as if silently supporting her. She didn't find him obnoxious and overbearing at all. Perhaps Melynda was mistaken about her boss.
Jasynta tried to turn back to smile her thanks at him, but her face wouldn't work. Her face was threatening to crumble into pieces, but no, she would hold herself together. The lawyer seemed to sense her intention, and acknowledged it with a nod. Dax was tall and very good-looking, but he couldn't compare to her Blake. Her Blake was hunky, handsome, hot, and so, so strong. Physically, emotionally, mentally.
She gasped and blinked when she became sharply aware of her own swirling thoughts. He was...her Blake. Hers!
Images of them together flashed before her eyes. She saw them working together in the PAC meeting room, saw his burning desire for her in his eyes. The image of him holding her, kissing her, pleasuring her made her entire body heat up, and she shook herself. She saw Blake carrying her over his shoulder through the woods, saw him chasing her and catching her in the lake. She saw their passion sizzling through the fog, under the silvery moonlight. She felt his anger and pain when he saw her at the lip of the crater, teetering on the knife edge of danger. The haunting, harrowing image of him sacrificing himself for her seared through her heart, shattering it. She staggered back at the fading image of Prince Deviazel's demon guards closing in on Blake, forcing the proud bear shifter to his knees...
“No,” she whispered, clutching at her chest.
All around her, plans were being finalized and commands issued, but the only thing on her mind was Blake. Was he now being tortured? Was a red hot iron being pressed into his flesh, branding the demon prince's vile sigil onto his back?
Had Hellizendra ensnared him? Was Blake lost to her forever?
She choked back her tears and fears, blinking hard. Jett was speaking furiously into his watch. When he straightened up, she heard him inform the Council, “My Enforcers on patrol have reported that the twelve witches have been sent to the city hospital. The healers on duty have reported that the witches are stable and recovering well.”
Lucas turned to Jasynta. “You rescued the witches?”
She took a painful breath and said in a strong voice, “Blake rescued them.”
Lucas gave her shoulder a squeeze before turning to confer with the other PAC members. After a quick but intense discussion, Lucas approached her to ask if she could lead them back to the Gateway.
“I know it's going to be hard, but...” Lucas began.
“Yes,” Jasynta replied without hesitation. “I have enough magick for a Homing spell. I can take some vampire and demon Enforcers with me,” she said, referring to the good human and paranormal Enforcers in Jett's Enforcement Unit.
Lucas nodded his agreement, giving her a tight smile. “The vamps can then return to the PAC Headquarters and mist as many of us to the Gateway as they can. Those demons who can teleport can do the same. Once our forces are gathered at the Gateway—” Lucas looked Jasynta in the eye, giving her his word. “We'll get Blake out.”
A trail of fine mist was curling into the conference room from under the door. Jasynta stepped back just in time as the mist rose and gathered in the middle of the room, becoming denser and more solid it formed a tall, masculine shape. In an instant, Glenn Constantine stepped out of the mist and nodded grimly at everyone present.
“You got my message, Glenn?” Lucas asked the newly arrived PAC member without preamble.
“Yes. I misted here as soon as I could,” the Master vampire answered. His features were sharp and chiseled, a picture of masculine perfection. He was dressed in a black turtleneck and black combat pants, instead of his usual designer suit.
Glenn glanced around, his dark eyes sharp and alert. “Who's leading Operation Gateway?”
“An elite team of vampire and demon Enforcers will go with you and Jasynta. Jasynta will show you where the Gateway is. Once all the vamps and demons know the way, come back and get us all there.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
As Jasynta braced herself and mentally rehearsed her Homing spell, she felt hope and strength well up in her breast. The PAC was behind her. The city was behind her. Brave men and women, humans and paranormals were all behind her. They were ready to fight with her, for Blake.
For Blake, she whispered, feeling molten steel and fire course through her veins. For her Blake.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The PAC cavalry arrived more or less as planned. The demons and vampires were highly efficient in teleporting and misting all their forces to the volcano. Some exhausted vampires couldn't muster the strength to mist all the way to the top, and dropped their load unceremoniously at the foot of the steep volcano. There were muttered grumbles and grouses as the latecomers made their arduous climb to the top. A few young demons who didn't have much experience in mass teleportation materialized in the middle of the lake, amidst spluttered yells and frantic splashes.
“Everyone here? All in one piece?” Glenn called out. The younger vampires immediately patted down their bodies, checking if they had accidentally demisted some vital body part.
Jett swiftly checked through his ranks of Enforcers. “All good.”
Silently, everyone crouched at the rim of the crater, tensed and ready. At Lucas's signal, they made the leap.
Jasynta dived headlong into the crater, aiming for the shadowy, swirling Gateway. She'd thought she would dread leaping through the Gateway again, recoiling and shrinking from it. But here she was gunning straight for it.
She wasn't afraid. In fact, she was all fired up, twitching and spoiling for a good fight. She was among the first to crash through the Gateway, and she tucked and rolled as she landed, cushioning her fall.
Coughing, she pushed herself up. The acrid stench of burning and brimstone made her eyes water, and she swayed a little as she righted herself.
Humans and paranormals burst through the Gateway. There were PAC members, Enforcers and even some civil defense groups from the city. Everyone had rallied and had leaped unflinchingly into hell. She stood proudly among these brave fighters, shoulder to shoulder, back to back, as they faced a circle of towering flames.
There was a wet, sickening sound, like a living thing being ripped apart. A rent appeared in the middle of the flames, widening like a festering wound. With a sound which sounded too much like a human scream, the flames fell away and were swallowed up by the smoldering ground with a hiss. Jasynta stifled a cry as she blinked the scene before them into focus. They had landed in the middle of a raging battlefield.
There were demon soldiers and generals fighting and clashing all around them. In the distance, a demon general on the back of a snarling three-headed beast charged into the fray. He was bearing a flag with Zorath's sigil on it.
“Engage the red skins!” Lucas hollered. “Zorath's army is in blue!”
At the Alpha's command, everyone charged into battle, aiming their makeshift weapons at the red-skinned demons. As a blue-scaled demon thundered past swinging a mace, Jasynta glimpsed Zorath's sigil under his armor of translucent blue scales. Lucas had made eye contact with Zorath's general, who was steering his ferocious three-headed beast towards them. The general rode up to Lucas's side and spoke quickly to Lucas. The demon general drew his sword and presented it to Lucas, hilt first. Then the general clapped the Alpha on the shoulder with a force that would surely have driven a lesser man's feet into the blood-soaked ground, and thundered back into battle.
Jasynta raised a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the seven blood moons rising from the smoky, flaming horizon. She could make out the jagged shape of a castle in the distance. On the battlements flew flags bearing Prince Deviazel's sigil.
As she started running towards the castle, she glanced back and caught a glimpse of Lucas's human mate, Charlotte. Charlotte was a full-fledged, qualified Enforcer, and the tricks and trials she got up to wit
h her vampire partner, Bryn, often drove Lucas to the very edge of his sanity. Charlotte and Bryn's movements were well choreographed and perfectly coordinated. They had gone through a lot together, and it was clear they had each other's backs. They were a dream team, working and fighting together, and often giggling and gossiping together. The hapless subject of their giggles and gossip was more often than not Jett Riley, Head of their Enforcement Unit and their Chief Trainer.
As Jasynta sprinted away, she distinctly heard Charlotte yell out, “And this little piggy cried—”
“Wee, wee, wee!” Bryn screeched, punctuating each wee with a smart, sharp flick of her knife. Each flick took off a clawed digit from the red-skinned demon they were attacking together.
“All the way home!” Charlotte and Bryn shouted in unison, driving their blades into the demon's body at the same time.
Jasynta gasped as the two young Enforcers yanked out their blades and attacked another demon with yet another nursery rhyme.
Bryn skewered demon eyeballs on her blade as she sang about three blind mice, while Charlotte loped round and cut off their tails with her sword, which she haughtily introduced to the screaming, sightless demons as her carving knife. The sassy human Enforcer was pretending to be a farmer's wife as she pranced around the tailless, eyeless demons. But a farmer's wife she was not. She was the Alpha's mate.
Jasynta had to admit that she had never seen such a sight in her life.
“Look out!”
A demon was rearing up, aiming his spear at Charlotte's back.
The words had barely left her lips when she saw Lucas appear out of nowhere at his mate's side and took off the demon's head with a roar. The Alpha clasped his mate to his side and kissed her hard before releasing her back to battle. The kiss was brief but scorching, and even in the heat of a raging battle, the passion and pride between them burned more fiercely and intensely than all the fires of hell.
Jasynta hid a smile. She was so proud and so happy that her Potion of Promise had saved Charlotte's life and given the Alpha his mate. She whirled round, gasping as she narrowly dodged a flaming arrow.
She let loose a string of curses. This was worse, much worse than the grueling, nightmarish obstacle course the trainee Enforcers had to go through. She tripped over a decapitated horned head, ducked under a swinging axe, skidded between the legs of a rampaging demon, slipped on black demon blood and kept going. She had to reach the castle. Blake was in there. He wasn't on the battlefield. It would be hard to miss a roaring, rampaging golden bear amongst the horde of demons.
Jasynta's heart clenched, lurched and sped up as her legs and arms pumped furiously. Was the demoness Hellizendra having her wicked way with Blake?
Was she too late?
The gates to the castle were wide open and unguarded. All the demon guards had been sent to the battlefield, and Prince Deviazel—who cared where the hell he was. She had a feeling the demon prince was sulking in his war room, probably eviscerating demon generals in a hissy fit while his latest weapon was being...serviced.
She scowled and growled. She might not be an animal shifter, but she could growl all right. And right now, she was a killing machine, mean but not so lean.
She tore into the castle, and stood panting in the middle of a gloomy courtyard. She turned in a circle, her mind whirling and her hopes sinking. There were corridors stretching in every direction. How would she find Blake in time?
“Blake!” she croaked. “Where are you?” Mocking whispers echoed down the corridors in reply.
Raising her head, she screamed, “Blake! Answer me!”
This time, she heard a distinct, distant roar.
Blake!
She pivoted in the direction of the sound, and hurtled down a dark corridor, past rows of heavy doors until she reached the last one.
She stood and stared at the dark, heavy door. She knew that Blake was on the other side of the door. She could feel him with every fiber of her being. He was her mate. Hers!
Muttering a spell, she slammed the magick into the door, splintering it on its hinges.
“Blake!”
He raised his head at her voice, but his blue eyes were pale and unseeing. His eyes lighted on her, but he didn't seem to recognize her. Baring his teeth, he roared and jerked against his manacles. He was naked, his muscular body gleaming with oil and something else. Something that shameless succubus was coating over his chest—with her tongue.
She rushed in, her entire body trembling with pain and fury. “Get off him!” she screeched. “Don't you touch him!”
The succubus stood up, and Jasynta fought against a crushing sense of defeat. The succubus was slim, tall, with the tiniest waist and pert boobs and bum. She was naked, and her hairless, scaleless smooth skin was tanned and glowing. She looked like she had just stepped out of a swimsuit magazine, without the swimsuit.
“Tsk, tsk, don't interrupt when Hellizendra is eating,” the demoness drawled in a voice dripping with poisoned honey. “I've barely started, but I have to say that I've enjoyed what I've tasted so far. De-lish!” She sucked her long fingers. “I'm planning to take my time and fully enjoy this very satisfying meal,” she purred. “So, go away, and close the door when you leave.” A look of annoyance passed Hellizendra's sharp features. “I see you've destroyed the door. You could have just knocked, you know, witch.” A dangerous glint flashed in the demoness's purple eyes. “Oh yes, I know what you are. I have a good nose.” Hellizendra injected a note of boredom and disdain into her tone.
“What have you done to him?” Jasynta advanced.
Hellizendra laughed. To Jasynta's surprise and chagrin, her laugh wasn't high-pitched and evil sounding. It was a musical, lovely laugh, feminine and charming.
The kind of laugh that bewitched and enslaved men. Most of them would gladly rip out parts of their bodies, parts she deemed the choicest and juiciest, and present them to her on a silver platter just to hear that laugh again.
“What I have done—is simply my job. Like you, I am a career woman. I enjoy my job, immensely. And he, is a very pleasurable job.” Hellizendra smiled and trailed a claw down Blake's chest towards his navel.
Jasynta's gaze followed her claw, and dragged lower. She almost slumped with relief when she saw that Blake...wasn't aroused. There was a small black bottle with a strange, writhing pattern all over the dark, translucent glass near this feet. As Jasynta squinted at the bottle, she saw ghoulish faces swimming all over the surface of the black bottle. The tormented faces loomed up to the surface as if trying to break free, then sank back down in desolation into the black depths. Was the succubus planning to trap Blake's essence and will in this bottle? No doubt she would present this precious bottle to her lord and master, Prince Deviazel, for a hefty reward.
Jasynta looked up to see Hellizendra staring shrewdly at her. Her purple eyes were intelligent, full of cunning with not a crumb of conscience. Jasynta saw a glint of design and menace in the demoness's eyes, and resisted the compulsion to back away.
She would go toe to toe with this skinny bitch.
This wicked, willowy succubus with the tiny waist, big boobs and toned, flawless limbs didn't intimidate her. Much.
“I think I know why despite my ministrations, he remains—unmoved,” Hellizendra said at last. “As you can see, he is huge, but not hard.” She pursed her lips, her eyes studying Jasynta from under long sparkling lashes.
Jasynta did see that. Blake's legs were spread wide apart, his ankles locked in shackles and chained to the ground. His hands hung limply from rusty manacles above his head. He was chained in the middle of a windowless room, not against the wall, so the demoness could circle him and run her hands and her tongue down his back.
Hellizendra undulated her slim, naked body, making her breasts quiver. Her skin was smooth and tanned, her breasts high and round. She had glittering black hair that reached all the way to her taut buttocks. And she was all legs. Long, toned, tanned legs that went on forever.
Neelit
h was right. Hellizendra was every male's wet dream.
Jasynta bit her lip unconsciously. Her figure was the opposite of Hellizendra's. She was curvy and petite, her pale, short legs no match for Hellizendra's perfect, airbrushed pins.
No wonder Blake didn't seem to see her. Why would he even look at a stumpy, flabby witch now that he'd had a taste of Hellizendra? She was as good as transparent in his glazed, glassy eyes.
Hellizendra was walking around her with mincing steps. Her purple eyes glowed as they took in every detail of Jasynta's body. Jasynta could feel the demoness's eyes caressing down her back, her hips, her breasts, her legs and finally climbing up to study her face intently. She was still in her old t-shirt and shorts that were now stained with so much dirt and blood. Hellizendra smiled.
“I think I know how to finish the job now.” Hellizendra air kissed her and strolled back to Blake.
Before Jasynta's shocked eyes, Hellizendra's form and figure began to change. Her tanned skin lightened, her long black hair shortened into brown curls, and she became shorter, curvier, rounder. Between one blink and the next, the tall, tanned, black-haired succubus had become a curvy, buxom brunette.
She had become Jasynta.
Jasynta let out a wordless sound of stunned horror.
Every inch of Hellizendra looked like Jasynta, right down to the tiny mole at the back of her neck. Only her eyes didn't change. They remained a deep, mesmerizing purple.
The two Jasyntas stood facing each other. Hellizendra's self-satisfied smile faded as she copied Jasynta's expression. Jasynta watched disbelievingly as the demoness widened her eyes and parted her lips to assume a look of outrage and distress.
How dare she!
Jasynta's hand shook with the urge to slap the smirking succubus.
“Now if you'd excuse me, I have a job to do.” Hellizendra flicked her brown curls over her shoulder and turned away.
Bear Mate: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance Page 11