by Honor James
“Briar we will figure this all out. I promise you, no matter what we will figure this out and stop it. We won’t let war come to us again. Somehow and some way we will stop it. We have to. I love living far too much to let some idiot take over our lives and destroy our worlds.” Lacey said sternly, shaking her head to ensure that the woman understood the truth of the matter in this. Somehow and someway they would find a way to prevent war.
Zhubin and Ansell walked in only to find themselves being stared at. “There are some days that getting outta bed is just a bad idea,” Ansell said. “Today was one of them and I have a feeling you two are about to make it so much worse. Why are you looking like the world’s about to end?”
“Well we have an ID,” Lacey said and looked between the men. “Does the name Graham Donovan ring any bells?” She watched the looks on their faces and added, “Godson of Vasiky of the clan Bromer.”
“They’re a clan to the west,” Zhubin said. “Regent Vasiky only had one son who died years before the Veil fell. His mate passed to the other side so he had no chance to ever have others. He saw something in Donovan that reminded him of his son and adopted him in a manner of speaking. I hear he’s been dating Mr. Donovan’s mother too.” When they all turned to look at him he shrugged, “My mother likes to gossip. I so wish I’d had siblings she could torture, instead she focuses everything on me.”
“Exactly. And just what do you think would happen if it came to light, even a hint, that a Luhpyne killed him? He’s a powerful political figure, was going to run for mayor. Think about it, Zhu,” she whispered. “What would cause the humans to be up in arms faster than anything?”
“Have the guy that was going to end corruption and give the people just what they’ve always wanted killed by the evil assholes on the other side of the Veil,” he said. “Yeah, I figured that out as soon as you told me his name. We just need to prove that either it wasn’t what it appears to be, or there will be a war that your people won’t survive.”
“Which is why Briar and I are just flabbergasted. The mates would survive, but how many would die in the process? As I said before, humanity as a whole is a bunch of sheep that are going to be led to slaughter if we don’t stop this. We will do what we have to in order to ensure that doesn’t happen, right?”
“’Course we will,” Ansell said, bumping his shoulder to hers. “And it’s not just mates that would be safe. Friends and those that are innocent would be safe too. We protect those that we consider ours,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“I know that. I know that I would always be safe with the two of you.” Leaning in, she brushed her cheek to his and shuddered. Licking her lips, she whispered against his ear, “And I know that you would always protect me.”
“In a heartbeat, little mate,” he said, sliding an arm around her. He turned his head, their noses brushing as their lips connected. “Against any foe or trouble.” He then kissed her, gently, lightly, with infinite care.
When they parted Lacey licked her lips and smiled, “Good.” She whispered for him and him alone. “Now then.” She touched his cheek only very lightly before pulling back from him and looking to Briar and Zhubin. “Now we need to figure out how to keep this quiet so that we can find who did this.”
“We keep it off the radar,” Zhubin said. “We need to fudge the autopsy a little so that no one sees anything they shouldn’t. Because of the high-profile nature of this case us taking a little longer to dot the I’s and cross the T’s won’t be amiss. But in the end we need to have it look like one of his haters took him out. At least until we can prove what we are all thinking, that it’s one of those cult freaks who wants all the races dead.”
“Exactly. Somehow we will figure this out. We will do this, because we have to find out who did what and why. The why part is what will drive me nuts.” That was always one thing that drove Lacey nuts, the whys of things.
“Can you stall the autopsy report at all, Briar?” Ansell looked at the other woman. “And then when you do, release the prelim make it very muddied. Tell the cap that you’re still digging but the actual cause of death is unclear. While the markings appear animal in nature you’re awaiting lab results for the actual possible animal. Anything at all that can buy us a couple days.”
Briar thought about it for a moment and finally nodded. “I can do that. I can stall it and make it muddy enough that no one would really question it. I will ask for more time and equipment so that will give me another week. Just find who did this?”
“You know we will, Briar,” Ansell said quietly. “Let us know if anyone, and I do mean anyone, starts sticking their nose into things they shouldn’t. Keep all your findings as hard copy for now. Tell the Cap that it’s to ensure that no one knows or construes the wrong thing before you’ve gotten all the answers his body can give. It will pacify him and keep him on our side of covering this up for the time being.”
“I know that you will.” Briar nodded. “Don’t worry, if someone starts to poke their noses where they don’t belong I will call you immediately. I do not want to deal with anyone that will cause me trouble so I will send them your way without any hesitation or question.”
“Thank you, Briar.” He smiled at her. “Keep us in the loop on whatever you really find. We’ll need everything we can get to stop this guy. But we need to get moving now. If we hang around here too much longer the others will wonder what’s going on.”
“He’s right, we need to get working on this, looking at the evidence we do have and figuring out our next move,” Zhubin said. “I also need to call the Regent. Apparently he needs to chat.” He held up his phone for Ansell to see but at the wrong angle for her to get a good look.
That had Lacey frowning and she moved to them as well. “All right, why would he want a phone call?” She wanted to look at the screen and frowned as she was herded out of the room as well with them. “Come on, babe, show me,” she demanded.
“Don’t know, all it says is, call now damn it.” He showed her the message that said just that, including the words damn it. “I won’t know why he wants to chat until I actually call him. And I’m not calling him until I can get a full signal, which I can’t do from here. So, we go to our office and then I’ll call. When he goes old school with the cells it makes me worry. You may be meeting them sooner, depending on what he has to say.”
“Why is that?” Oh crap, that’s right! The Regent was Zhubin’s father. Crap. “Uhm. I think that I have a doctor’s appointment.” Nerves caused her stomach to start to roll and pit. “Or something. Yes, I don’t think I can meet with them right now. Sure. Yeah.”
“Wuss,” he said, grabbing her one arm. Ansell grabbed her other and they lifted her, carrying her to the elevator, her feet just dangling. “You’d think he had a bad rep for eating those that annoyed him or something.”
“He does,” Ansell commented, hitting the button. “Though I think the one she might worry about is the rumor about the guy that told the bad joke. Apparently, though it’s never been confirmed, Thorin beheaded him and strung his body from the wall. But it’s just a rumor.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You big dorks aren’t making this any easier. And no, you goobers, it’s because he’s your freaking dad,” she muttered. “I mean it. Really that’s what’s crazy. It’s your dad, Zhu, that’s why I’m freaking out.”
“He’s just like any other male,” Zhubin said as he looked down at her. “Treat him with respect and be yourself. That’s all that matters to him. Besides, you have to meet him and Mom eventually. You are mating his one and only child, though I think they like Ansell better most days.”
“I know but I can’t help but to feel nervous,” Lacey admitted and chewed her lower lip. “I mean don’t get me wrong, I really do want to be with you boys but it’s the whole meeting of the parents thing that has me really nervous.” She didn’t have parents so they didn’t have to feel that, thankfully!
“We’re not throwing you to th
e wolves,” Ansell said. “Okay, perhaps not the best turn of phrase,” he muttered when she shot him a look. “You know what I mean, damn it. We’ll be there with you and really, he’s a good guy. He put up with me so he can’t be all bad, I guess.”
“I know but you guys are his family. I’m an outsider. I’m a human whose family is long gone. I’m only someone that I’ve made myself.” She had never been so unsure or sad about not having a family in her life until that moment.
“You are our mate,” Zhubin told her. “You are our family and they will be yours as we are yours, Lace. You’re no longer alone in the world. You are loved, cherished and have a place to truly call home. With us, wherever we might be.”
She couldn’t have stopped the tears if she had wanted to. Tears began to roll down her face and she wrapped her arms around Zhubin and pressed her forehead to his chest and hugged him tightly. “I love you. I’m so happy that you are mine.”
“And yet you are crying.” His arms wrapped around her. “What is it with human females crying over everything anyway? You cry when you are angry, sad, happy, for no reason at all, it’s very distressing to the males of all species I should mention. Especially since it’s pretty much a kick in the gut for us when you do such things.”
She shrugged. “I am not sure,” she said softly. “I don’t mean to hurt you.” She looked up at him and smiled. “I’ve never really had a family, I really haven’t, so knowing that you guys will be mine, knowing that you accept me and all that I am. You have no idea how very much that means to me.”
“I have a feeling I might just at that,” he said before looking past her to Ansell. “But he sure knows it.” Pressing a kiss to her lips Zhubin wiped her tears gently. “I love you, sweetheart, but no more tears please. It drives the Luhpyne insane to see my mate in tears.”
“Then kiss me,” she suggested. “Kiss me and then we will go and do what we need to do so that I can get my mind off meeting your family. Kiss me and assure me with that simple touch of your lips that everything will be okay.”
“Oh darling, nothing is ever simple.” He smiled. “Especially with a woman such as you in our lives.” She couldn’t reply to that, not then anyway. His lips were on hers again, taking her deeper into a full-out kiss with tongue, teeth and heat.
She kissed him back and her only thoughts were, damn this is so far from simple that it’s in another galaxy, and then she stopped thinking and only felt. Lacey moved her body against his, she let him mold her form closer and closer to his and opened fully for him, not just her mouth but her heart and soul she opened to him.
His growl vibrated through her entire form before he broke the kiss. “Son of a bitch,” Zhubin hissed out with a shudder racing through his body. He licked his lips as he drew back further. “We really shouldn’t be starting something like this here, little mate.”
“I know we shouldn’t but tell me that it didn’t feel good. Tell me that it didn’t feel as amazing and right to you as it did me. If you can tell me that then I will leave it, but it rocked my whole body, that kiss. And you are right. We are anything but simple.”
“Babe, it was a fucking explosion going off,” he told her bluntly. “My entire body is one live wire. Every single cell of my being is focused on you and only you. If I didn’t know for a fact you’re still weighing everything in your head I’d have stripped you naked and fucked you right here, in front of everyone without care.”
“The only thing really weighing on me is how long until the three of us are alone. I’ve known you boys for years, Zhu. No, I don’t understand Ansell’s views on not wanting to be a father but I will respect them. I love him far too much to try to push anything on him.” Which had her worried. “Do you really think that he would be all right if we had children or should we go from the start knowing we would never birth a child?”
“That is your call to make but you spoke to him, he told you what he felt, you have all the answers Lacey,” he said quietly. His hands slid down her body before falling away as he stepped back further. “Whatever you decide is forever though so be sure you have made the choice that you, not Ansell nor I, can live with. We made our choices clear, it’s only your own heart and worries that are making you question it all again.”
“Believe me, I know,” she said with a sigh. “And that’s what is pissing me off all over again.” She watched him stepping back from her, felt him pulling away and hurt shadowed her mind. Hell she didn’t know if he even wanted her. “And what about you, Zhubin? Do you want this? Do you want me? If you had to, would you want children with a human?”
The snap of his teeth coming together was loud, and his growl even more so. Then he was in her face, so fast she hadn’t seen him move. His hand buried in her hair, head tipped back and staring up into his eyes, eyes more Luhpyne than she’d yet seen. “I love you Lacey. I don’t care if you are human or one of the races, all I see is the woman who is mine. Why do you constantly doubt that? Doubt me?”
“I had to know.” Lacey growled right back at him. Leaning in closer she bared her neck to him and lowered her eyes in a subconscious submissive move. One that she would never give to anyone except the two men that would be hers. “And now I know. Now I want,” she confessed.
He growled again, but it was different, warmer sounding. His tongue was on her throat, a slow, hot swipe before his teeth clamped down. Right where shoulder met neck he held her for a moment. It didn’t hurt, not at all, just the slightest pressure that was soon gone. “You are ours, never doubt that again female,” he rumbled next to her ear.
“Good, then the sooner that you boys finally claim me the better.” She was up on tiptoes, her cheek to his and demanding more. “You should talk to Ansell one final time and ensure that he is happy with the decision and then we should go to the other side of the Veil. I want to have my men. I need my mates.”
“Ansell can hear you just fine,” Ansell said. “Not like you two are being quiet or anything,” he muttered. “Even without Luhpyne hearing I’d have caught all of that. Sheesh,” he shook his head. “Have his babies, Lacey, I’ll be there happy just to have you but I’m not having any of my own kids, ever. There, settled, can we deal with the dead guy left by your stalker now?”
“Well?” Lacey turned to face Ansell. “You don’t want to be a dad but do you want me, too? I want you, a great deal, Ansell. I happen to have fallen in love hard with both you and Zhu, but I’ve never asked you that question. Do you want me, too?”
He growled at her. “Woman.” He looked to the heavens and let out a breath. “She really has issues with listening, doesn’t she?” he asked no one in particular before he walked toward her. “I want to be with you, just as much as you want us if not more, likely more. So get it through your head. I’m not going anywhere, Lacey. Not today, not tomorrow and not ever. You are mine,” he snarled, a lot of teeth showing during that display. A lot of very sharp teeth.
She smiled and nodded. “All right, I think I heard you that time. You should kiss me though to make sure that you understand that I want you just as much.” She had a toe-curling, mind-blowing kiss from Zhubin and now she wanted one from Ansell as well.
His growl raised the hair on her arms before he pulled her in close and kissed her. Hard, hot and off the charts of mind blowing. His hands cupped her ass, hauling her up against his erection. Yeah, he definitely wanted her.
Lacey’s kiss melted right along into his. She kissed him back with everything she had in her and then when she pulled back she licked her lips. “Damn, how long until we can do this whole mating thing?” She wasn’t sure how long she would be able to survive without attacking her men.
“Any time after dinner with Zhubin’s parents,” he said. “After that we can pretty much do whatever you want darling.” He pressed another kiss to her lips and let her ass go. Letting out a sigh, he stepped back slightly, “Right now we have other things to worry about.”
“Yeah, like trying to figure out who keeps trying to blow us
up, or rather finding the asshole. Then I have to worry about surviving the dinner with Zhubin’s parents.” She grinned. “Does he have two dads as well or are they one and one?”
“He has three, only one is his birth father as you know. His father was already Regent when he found his mate and their bonding mates. His mother knew one of their bonding mates from her childhood, the third was a soldier in the Regent’s army. Though his mother could have chosen any of the three to be the one that would give her children the story goes she fell in love with the Regent the moment she laid eyes on him. She loves them all but he holds a special place in her heart that made her choice easier I suppose. At least that’s the tale she tells, though I know there’s more to it. So, too, does Zhubin but we’ve never pried.”
“You mean like the story that I will tell our children one day?” she asked softly. “Because I love you both.” She truly did, she didn’t think she would ever fall in love once so finding that she did twice, well it was stunning to her. “As long as you are certain that we will do all right we should get this done as soon as possible because I want. I need. No I have to have you both, and soon.”
“We’ll be fine, Lacey.” He touched her cheek with gentle fingers. “I’m not going to run off when you and Zhubin have children, little mate. I will always want you and need you. I’ll even change the occasional diaper if you ask nicely enough.” He smiled.
“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “For wanting to be with me, for being willing to remain. I love you so very much.” Crap, she didn’t mean to say that, at all. “We will be good together, right? Somehow and someway we will be able to get through this?”
He was wearing a smirk on his face. “You didn’t mean to say that, did you?” he asked, sounding damned smug. Chuckling, he shook his head. “You are too adorable when you try and cover your ass up, darling.” Pulling her under his arm, he led her back to the warehouse. “We’ll get through anything as a team, Lacey. Even your psychotic admirer with a serious need to blow me and Zhubin up.”