by Linzi Baxter
Diem was quiet for a few seconds. “I figured it was. I’m talking about the one over your heart.”
“There are a few supernaturals who have it.”
He let go of her wrist, and her fingers went back to tracing the eternal life symbol. He would have preferred to tell her about the vision he’d had than have this conversation, but he couldn’t stall forever.
She didn’t say anything, just patiently waited for him to tell her.
“It’s the symbol of immortality.”
“Like someone who would live forever?”
“Yes.”
Diem didn’t stop tracing the symbol. Her touch soothed him, and he wanted to stay in the place forever.
“Do you understand what that means?” he asked.
She glanced at him with her green eyes. “That you will live forever?”
“Yes, and so would the person I mate with.”
Her finger stopped tracing the symbol. “You said I was your mate. Does that mean I’m automatically now going to live forever?”
He had so fucked up. Over the past couple of days, he’d had time to explain the whole mating thing, but he hadn’t wanted to wreck their time together. In the back of his mind, he knew there was a chance she wouldn’t want to be with him when she found out about being immortal.
“No. We haven’t mated. When or if we decide to, it will bind our souls together forever. There is no divorce, no backing out of a mating. It will be you and me forever. And mating with me is different from other shifters. You will live forever—longer than your friends and family… your sister. So when you’re ready, you can make a choice, because I will never force you to be with me.”
A tear streamed down her cheek, and she started to answer him. At the same time, his phone rang. He didn’t want to hear her turn him down. Not now.
“You don’t have to answer now.” He grabbed his phone. “Think about what I said.”
She nodded but looked out the window. He could tell she was lost and sad.
14
Diem
Immortality. Gideon had dropped a bombshell on her.
She knew what her answer would be, but he’d stopped her from saying it. She wanted to be with him. It wouldn’t be easy having to watch their friends and her sister grow old, but leaving Gideon would be even harder. He’d wormed his way into her heart.
Now they were lying in the bed of the private plane. Every time she tried to ask why they were leaving, he would distract her with sex, and her body fell for it every time. When his hands were on her, all thoughts and common sense went out the window.
Her scar, along with her vision of when she and Kayda were younger, had trigged Gideon’s response. She wanted to stay another night and find out what everything meant and, more importantly, how she could find her sister. She couldn’t imagine where Kayda might be.
Gideon ran his hand down her scar. He hadn’t stopped tracing it. Growing up, she’d wondered where it came from. She and Kayda had tried to remember, but Diem didn’t remember much from her early childhood.
Because it was blocked. That was her only guess. There was no doubt someone could block memories. Hell, I can turn into a dragon, so anything is possible.
“Do you think it was the right decision to leave?” she asked.
“Yes.” He sighed.
“We’re going to have to talk about everything soon, Gideon.”
“I know, but when we do, I know you’ll leave me.”
It angered her, knowing he didn’t believe in them as much as she did.
“You think that little of me?”
“The total opposite. You’re the light to my darkness, and I have so much darkness. Things are coming back, memories…” His fingers skimmed over her scar. “Memories you will hate me for.”
She twined her fingers in his. It wouldn’t be long before they landed back in West Virginia. Kirin would be at the airport when they arrived. Gideon had told him more than he’d shared with her, and that hurt.
“How do you know if you keep it to yourself?” She sighed. “Don’t get me wrong. The sex is amazing, but you can’t distract me with your body for the rest of our lives. From the little I know about mates, it’s like a husband and wife. A team. And teams work together, and that makes them stronger, and when they don’t work together, they fall apart.”
“The sex is amazing,” he mumbled as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “When we did the rituals, they didn’t help. I didn’t see anything useful or anything I really wanted to look further into. I’m not sure if it relaxed me enough to clear my head.”
He was finally talking, and she worried that if she said anything, he would stop, so she nodded. The first time they were together, it was like their bodies had bonded. Gideon had told her they hadn’t, but something had formed between them. Her dragon pranced in her mind, telling her to claim him. But even if she was ready, Gideon wasn’t.
“You’re going to be mad,” he said.
“Let me make that choice, not you. Now, spit it out.”
“When I ran my hand over your scar, an event came to mind. I was there the day you got this.”
“Did you do it to me?”
“Fuck no,” Gideon growled.
“Do you know who the man was who did it to me? Well, bear-man?”
Gideon held her tighter. She didn’t know what he was going to say, but it would give her answers.
“The man who hurt you is Darius Klin. Like I said the other day, I can heal people. Once he did that to you, he called Kael. I made it to you just in time and healed the wound.”
“Do you remember anything else about who the woman was?”
“I don’t know who she was. I helped Kael take you. Yes, he put you into foster care and didn’t hurt you back then, but it’s my fault. I should’ve done more.”
Well, that explains why he felt guilty and didn’t want to tell me about what he remembered.
“We already know you didn’t have much control, if any, during that time,” she said. “I’m not mad, and I don’t wish you’d done anything differently.”
“I didn’t stop anything. Kael took Darius in, but I also think he helped him escape. And the woman who was trying to protect you was never avenged. I’m not even sure what Kael did with her body. Only bits and pieces come back, and the harder I try to remember, the more it hurts. But you deserve answers, and if I could unlock more of my memories, I might be able to give them to you.”
“You’ve given me some answers. What I want to know is, do you think that guy has something to do with my sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” she asked.
The question hung in the air for a few seconds.
“I think you were part of his clan or related to him,” Gideon finally said.
“Clan?” As soon as she was starting to understand the supernatural world, another term was thrown her way.
“Bears have clans, and Darius was the alpha of the Colorado clan for years. He was evil, and if someone tried to leave his clan, he would kill them.”
“Do you think that’s why the woman was killed?”
At least he was telling her something and not keeping her shut out, and nothing he said changed how she felt about him. If anything, it made her feel closer. She would be dead if it wasn’t for him. He’d saved her. How could he possibly think she wouldn’t see that?
“Kirin is going to talk with Kia and see what they can find on Darius and the woman.”
“You think Kia can find Darius?”
“Honestly, I don’t know…” He ran his hand through his hair. “Darius has been on the list for years.”
That was one thing she knew. The shifter world had a most-wanted list, just like the human world had. There were even rewards attached to it.
“For killing people?” she asked.
“Yes. I think he had Kael’s help for years, and now he’s on his own. Kirin and Kia took down many of the men who worked for Kael. Darius doesn’t have as m
any people helping him.”
“So if we can find him, we can find my sister?” Diem thought the fairy had been crazy for sending her to Costa Rica, but it might have worked. They had a lead.
“It’s our best shot at finding him.”
“Why now? Why did he wait so long to come looking for us?”
“Those are good questions I’m hoping Kia can help us answer. Kael was close to taking over and using his army to take down the council. His end game was for shifters to rule the world. Most of us like living in the shadows. Others think we are better than everyone else. We’re not. Just because some can shift or use magic doesn’t make us any better.”
She worried the pitchforks would come out if people knew about shifters. “I’m surprised nobody has ever found shifters.”
“You’ve been in the council building. They watch all the news outlets, making sure our identity is kept quiet, and if someone catches something on the phone, it’s hacked and erased.”
“Even if Kael was close to”—she made air quotes—“taking over the world, why me and Kayda?”
“Kia’s looking into what exactly your sister did for the government. If she was working on something that would help lead Kael to his end game, he would use her. And Lucy said your body accepted the dragon gene easily because you have shifter DNA. When Kirin and his brothers first went into the labs, they found many dead bodies. A few people were transformed into shifters, and they are doing well. Others are still struggling. If the person isn’t open-minded, it’s hard for them to grasp.”
“So Kayda should be okay?”
“I can’t guarantee your sister is fine, but she has a better shot than most.”
The flight attendant knocked on the door and asked them to take a seat. Diem grabbed her clothes from the edge of the bed and got dressed.
Gideon took her hand, and they walked back out into the main cabin. The landing was quick. Once the plane had stopped, the flight attendant opened the door. When they walked down the stairs of the jet, something in the air had changed.
Diem didn’t have time to ask what was going on. Gideon threw his body over hers, and they fell six feet to the ground. He twisted while they were in the air so that she landed directly on his chest. Seconds later, he rolled her to the side.
Two black SUVs across the tarmac had their doors open, and she could see the men’s heads come up behind the doors. “Guns?”
“I’m guessing it’s tranquilizers. They can’t use magic and shift. There’re too many humans around.”
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
They were in the open, barely able to hide behind the stairs. It would only be a matter of time before they took a shot.
“See that building?” he asked. About fifty feet away was a white building.
“Yes.”
“When I say run, you’d better use your shifter strength and run. No shifting. The last thing we need is for someone to get a video of a giant dragon at the airport. It wouldn’t be safe for you.”
“What are you going to do?”
He glanced back at the SUV. “Run behind you, and if I go down, keep going. And when you get inside, hide. Kirin was supposed to be here soon. When he gets here, he’ll take those men out, and he’ll take care of you.”
“This is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard—” Another shot sounded, and it pinged off the stair. She looked back at the SUV. It was slowly making its way toward them. They were out of options.
She nodded.
“Run.”
Diem pumped her arms and ran as fast as she could. She didn’t need to glance over her shoulder to know Gideon was only a few steps behind her. Her dragon sensed him. That wasn’t the only thing her dragon sensed. It heard the slight pop in the air of the gun firing again. The building was only twenty feet away when she heard Gideon grunt behind her.
A couple of steps later, she heard him stumble. Instead of doing what he’d asked her to do, she stopped and caught him before he fell. A blue dart was sticking out of his back. She yanked it out and threw it to the ground.
“Leave me,” he slurred.
She shook her head and wrapped his arm around her neck, helping him stand. “Come on, Gideon. We’re almost there.”
He was heavy and almost dead weight, but he kept going with her. They only had two more feet to go. But luck still wasn’t on their side. Sudden pain hit her back. Her dragon roared in her head, and her feet stumbled, but she had to get Gideon inside.
With each step, the world became hazier, and it felt like the ground was moving. Gideon was stumbling next to her, making each step harder to take. With the final step, they made it into the hangar. She sat Gideon against the wall, and she slid down next to him. But they weren’t safe. She hadn’t shut the door.
Loud voices arguing in the background were the last thing she heard before everything went dark.
15
Gideon
His head pounded. Whoever was in the room was trying to whisper, but the voice was so loud. It took only a second for the nightmare to rush back. Diem hadn’t left him like she was supposed to.
When he opened his eyes, he found Kirin standing next to the bed.
“Where is she?” Gideon demanded.
Kirin glanced from him to the window. Rage filled Gideon’s body.
“We don’t know.” Kirin sighed.
Gideon went to sit up, and blood rushed to his head. Everything spun for a second. He rested his hand next to himself, trying to stay upright.
He didn’t want to show weakness. It was enough that Diem was gone because of him. He could barely think, and he needed to find her before they did something to her. But who? He hadn’t seen their faces. The assholes had worn masks and hidden behind a car with tranquilizer guns.
“How long?” Gideon asked.
The sun was still up, so he was sure not too much time had passed. They’d arrived in West Virginia a little after noon. She’d been hungry. Instead of feeding her, he’d kept her in bed. The drugs would take longer to wear off because her dragon wouldn’t be at its strongest. Another failure on his part.
“It’s been a couple hours.”
Lucy walked into the room and handed him a glass of water and a large white pill. Ignoring the pill, he took the glass. In one gulp, he drained it, but it didn’t quench his thirst.
The scientist rolled her eyes, grabbed the glass, and walked to the bathroom. When she came back out, she had the glass in one hand and shoved the pill at him with the other. “It will help with the side effects of whatever they gave you.”
He nodded and took the pill and downed the rest of the water. “What have you found so far?” He moved to the side of the bed and swung his feet over the edge. His limbs still felt heavy.
“Kia is working on the footage.”
Fuck, she’s gone. And it’s been hours. He wanted to scream and break something. His magic sparked from his fingers.
Kirin grunted.
Gideon took a couple of deep breaths before he stood up. There wasn’t time to sit and feel sorry for himself. He needed to find Diem.
When he swayed, Kirin gripped his arm. “Any chance you will agree to lie back down?” Kirin asked.
“Would you if Talia was missing?”
“No, but it didn’t hurt for me to ask.”
“I couldn’t see their faces. Do you know who it was?”
“Yes. In the warehouse, two men lifted Diem and carried her away. Darius walked in and stared down at you. I swear he was about to lift you up, but he changed his mind.”
“What? He had to know I would come for her.”
Kirin ran his hand through his hair. “I think we’re the reason. When we pulled up to the gates, he stepped back from you. I’m guessing he had a radio in his ear.”
“Still doesn’t explain why he didn’t pick me up.” Darius was a bear shifter and strong.
“He might’ve worried that you would get loose.”
“I’m going to kill him,�
�� Gideon said.
“And I have no issue with that. I know what it feels like to have the people you care for taken from you and threatened. And before you go all sulky on me, that wasn’t a dig at you. It’s me telling you I understand that you feel frustrated and want to get your revenge, and I promise you, we will find her.”
They were heading down the hall to Kia’s computer room when Lucy’s voice cut through. “I need you to come to the lab for a few tests, Gideon.”
“I feel fine.”
It was a lie, and Kirin would know. The fucker grunted next to him. A test could wait. Finding Diem was the only thing that should be on his mind.
“Men,” she huffed. “How about I make Kia come to the lab, and you guys can do all your planning there, and I can work on you?”
“Will you drop this?”
“No, and I will tell Kia to stop looking until you come to the lab.”
“You’re frustrating.”
She shrugged. “So I’ve been told, but Kirin mentioned you were getting memories back. I want to run a few tests to see if we can help them come back faster. Maybe you could remember something else. A lab we can’t find. Anything.”
If she’d led with that, he would never have complained. He would allow her to stick him with needles if it helped get Diem back, because that was the only thing he cared about.
The trip from the bedroom to the lab was quick. He sat down in the same chair Diem had been in the last time they were in the lab. It was only days earlier, but it felt like a lifetime. Lucy walked over with needles.
Kia entered the lab and pressed a kiss to Lucy’s lips. “What have you found?” he growled.
Kia didn’t sugarcoat anything. He got straight to the point. “Darius had two daughters, twins, with a human. I’m still working on trying to figure out who the human was or where she is. It’s like she disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“Or she’s dead,” Kirin barked. “Darius ruled his clan by killing. I’m still not sure why the council didn’t take him down earlier.”