by Maggie Ryan
Resting his chin on the top of my head, Deo tightened his arms around me.
“Draco,” Deo addressed our mate with venom in his voice. I could feel the clench of his jaw as he spoke the word.
“There was no choice,” Draco responded coolly.
“There is always a choice,” Deo growled. Reluctantly releasing his hold on me, Deo pulled away from me. His dark eyes looked me over to be sure I was in one piece. He turned me toward Draco, wrapping his arm protectively around my shoulders.
“How dare you take her without consulting me. She is our mate.” I had never heard Deo’s tone sound so dangerous. It scared me.
“Deo,” I said gently, placing a hand over my husband’s chest. “Listen to Draco.”
Looking down at me, Deo’s hard gaze softened a touch. Turning back toward Draco, he said, “Speak, then, Dragon.”
Alekos’ eyes cut from Deo to Draco. I watched as he casually positioned his body between the two men.
“When Cassandra saw the paper, she came to the same conclusion as I had. I gave you time, Deo. Too much time. This morning, when you still had not given me permission to remove our mate to safety, I had to do what was required.”
Deo’s body went rigid next to mine. I could feel his anger at Draco’s words radiating through his body, his grip around my shoulders tightening.
“Easy, Deo,” Alekos breathed. “Disagreements are to be expected at times when two men share one woman. Being able to have peace and a quick resolution is what makes the trinity strong and admirable. It strengthens our pack. You know Draco has Cassandra’s best interests in mind, just as do you.”
I ran my hand up from Deo’s chest to his cheek. Turning his gaze toward me, I gently stroked his locked jaw over his bristly beard. “It was the right thing to do, Deo. I hate to see you two in disagreement.”
Breaking away from my hold, Deo ran his hand through his thick hair. Not a good sign. He paced back and forth before Draco and me, his steps quickening despite his heavy tread. “How can this be possible? I read every document.”
“Every one?” I asked. Having spent the last week poring over stacks of documents with Artem, I knew the pages were endless. How long had Deo been studying them?
Deo turned to me, circles under his dark eyes. “Almost. As you know, there are three pages missing. I had hoped you and Artem would find something I had missed… anything.”
“You must have been going nonstop since… that night.” I pictured Deo, the day after my threat of leaving, bent over the heavy oak desk in his office in our home, reading till all hours of the night.
Deo was over to me in three swift steps. His strong hands wrapped tightly around my upper arms. His gaze locked on mine. There was a look of such need it bordered on desperation in his eyes. “I had to. I must protect you, Cassandra. I will do whatever it takes.”
Draco’s deep voice penetrated the tense atmosphere of the room as he commanded, “Then do what it takes, Deo. Let me take her far from Ravensloft.”
“What? Go away from the castle?” My gaze went from Deo to Draco. My dragon guardian husband stood, arms crossed against his chest, his shoulders rigid. His chestnut brown eyes, usually warm with a hint of amusement in them, were blazing. Deo stood tall, his hands on his hips, his face tight with anger. Never had I seen a member of the pack challenge Deo in this way. It hurt to see them at odds with each other as I loved them both so much.
“Deo,” I pleaded, my thoughts of leaving the castle forgotten. Fearing what he might do.
Hearing my soft word, Deo’s stony face softened. His gaze turned toward Draco.
Draco did not back down. “You know I speak the truth, Deo. I would not request it if there was another way. That, I assure you. I do not desire the three of us to be separated any more than you do.”
It hit me—we would be separated. Deo somewhere else, with Draco taking me to safety. I did not want that. We had just reunited at the castle and I wanted both of my husbands by my side when we faced the demons that we all knew were going to come.
“Surely, we will be safe, here at the castle. The others will come. We will fight together as a pack. As we did before,” I protested.
“Yes, the others will come. Baal will bring Andrew and Cynthia to join me, here at Ravensloft. I will have the strength of over half the pack with Xander, Alekos, and Baal by my side, as well as Andrew’s agility and Cynthia’s speed.” Deo paused for a long moment, his gaze moving from me to our co-mate. His shoulders dropped for just a moment before they straightened as he took a deep breath, nodding. When his eyes returned to me, I could see acceptance in their dark depths and I knew before his mouth opened that I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“Draco will take you far from here, where they would never think to look for you. Artem and Dolly are preparing for the trip. They will make the journey behind you and Draco, bringing supplies. Artem, Dolly, you, and Draco will remain hidden until you receive word it is safe to return to the castle.”
“But… surely we are stronger as one. Let us stay and fight beside the pack.”
“It cannot be, my love,” Deo said sadly, reaching for my hands. “This is why I have delayed the inevitable. You must… you must go.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You must go away, without me. It is the only way the pack can assure your safety. The demons will come to the house, the office, the castle. They will be looking for you, through me. My presence is easier for them to detect and they cannot fathom that I would part from you. And they would be right if not for the trinity. They are not aware of the vows we made. Don’t realize that I know you are as loved and as safe in Draco’s arms as you are in mine. When they come for me in hopes of finding you, we will battle. We will defeat them. You will be safe and can return to me.”
“No,” I breathed. I could not bear the separation of the three of us. Especially when the pack was risking their lives to protect me. I could not fathom Deo fighting in a battle, without me and Draco by his side. “I won’t go,” I said, yanking my hands free to wrap my arms around my middle as if they could provide some sort of shield to keep the truth of the situation from penetrating.
Pain glinted in Deo’s gaze. After staring at me a moment, Deo reached for me, easily pulling my arms away in order to pull me close to him, lifting our linked hands to his face and giving my palm a kiss. “You will.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he placed a fingertip on my lips, stilling me. “You must. It will be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to bear, being away from you. But I will do whatever it takes to protect you, babygirl.”
“But it—”
“Sucks,” Draco interjected, moving to us, taking my other hand. “None of us would choose this path, but it is one we all must travel.”
At the same moment, both of my mates lifted their free hand to lay their palms on either side of my face, the warmth that instantly coursed through me emanating from both their touches and the looks of devotion and love in their eyes. Draco was right… it sucked big time. But continuing to argue, to protest, to deny what my mates were telling me was the truth, would only make this harder. Finally, blinking back the tears that had welled, I slowly nodded.
Draco gave me a small smile. “We will have to confer with Xander, but I believe we have enough time to remain tonight, together, here at Ravensloft. We will depart in the morning and only be gone as long as necessary. Cassie, I swear, we will return the moment the battle is over.”
I nodded again, and some of the tension drained from my mates, relaxing bodies they’d held rigid since Deo had burst into the castle. Both of my men bent to kiss my cheeks before dropping their hands and stepping back just a bit.
“The other missing officers. They will be planning their attack,” Alekos mused.
“The demons are down by at least one,” Draco said.
Deo’s hope-filled eyes flashed to Draco’s. “You have defeated one?”
Draco answered, pride in his voice, “Not I. Our C
assandra.”
Alekos chimed in, “Cass—good for you! All of Baal’s training paid off, no?”
“It was a group effort,” I muttered humbly. “I could never have hit my target without Draco’s expert driving skills.”
“What!” Deo’s calm exterior was quickly replaced with fury. “You gave her blades? Out in the open without the protection of the castle walls or the training facility?” Deo moved to Draco, his face centimeters from our co-mate’s. Whatever peace we had managed to create dissolved in a split second.
“It is my job to protect her. And teach her to protect herself,” Draco said, his voice deadly calm. Deo crowded in closer. Draco did not flinch. His voice cut like a knife when he spoke. “We all have a job to do, Deo. Now do yours.”
Deo froze.
When he spoke, it was with barely controlled fury. He spoke was so low I almost didn’t hear his words.
“Outside. Now.”
Alekos tried to step between Deo and Draco, but both stood as stony as statues, only a sliver of space between them.
“Outside as in… you two are going to fight?” I asked, my hands clenched tighter, my fingers trembling. “That can’t happen. That is not what we vowed one another.” My mind raced as I tried to gather logical arguments to throw at them, to stop them from destroying one another.
Deo and Draco continued to stare each other down. Draco, feet planted shoulder width apart, arms crossed over his chest, dressed in cream and tan. Deo in his black suit, feet planted just as firmly, with his hands underneath his suit jacket, sitting on trim hips.
Trying to formulate a plan, I looked at Alekos pleadingly. They could not fight. It would tear apart the pack. It would tear me apart.
Alekos looked back at me, his face dismayed. He did not know what to do either. The tension ran through the air like a taut wire attached to a detonator, just waiting to be depressed.
Then, there was another blood-curdling scream. All four of our heads whipped to the doorway to the great hall.
Never in my life would I have thought I would be relieved to see Dirtbag again.
“What the—” my husband mused.
I heard Margaret before I saw her. “Get over here, you lousy scrap of trash!”
Margaret came shuffling through the threshold of the dining hall, following her monster of a cat.
“I’m talking to you, Deo, not my beautiful kitty,” she cackled as she made her way over to my husband.
Despite the utter fury he had displayed moments ago, a small smile crossed Deo’s face. Throwing Draco a hard ‘we aren’t finished here’ look, Deo walked over to greet Margaret. Embracing her, he softy kissed both of her cheeks.
“Margaret, what a pleasure to see you again.”
Laughing, Margaret gave Deo a quick hug, patting his shoulder as she wiggled out of his embrace. “So, you’ve met my cat. Isn’t he lovely?” Dirtbag gave an ear-piercing howl.
“He is—unique,” Deo replied.
Reaching down and scooping up the mangy feline, Margaret held him to her chest. “Where is my ship, Deo? I am out of tea and was forced to have Alekos take me down to that piece of skata market the Americans think is so super. Nothing super about it, I tell you. The tea is so weak, I use five bags to make one cup. And it still tastes like hot water. Disgusting.” Narrowing her eyes at Deo, she poked a bony finger into his chest. “And you owe me two Vamma del Sols. Don’t think I didn’t know you and Artem pilfered them from my stash.”
“There are two crates of them on the ship, Margaret,” Deo assured her.
“Good boy,” she said, patting him on the back. “And how is the shoulder?”
“Good as new,” Deo said, his hand hovering over the place he had been wounded in battle.
“I want to have a look at the scar later, boy. Want to see how I did stitching you back up,” she said. Turning to Draco, Margaret flashed him a smile, saying, “The dragon returns to his lair,” with another one of her cackling laughs.
Smiling, Draco gestured to me. “Margaret, I believe you remember our princess and our mate, Cassandra.”
My face burned as the older woman turned to me. I had hoped she had planned on ignoring me completely. Leave it to Draco to not let me off so easily.
Stroking her cat, Margaret slowly shuffled over to me. I gulped as she drew nearer.
“Cassandra,” she said, when she reached me. I was surprised by the soft pretty scent of lavender that floated around her as she moved. Dirtbag, purring loudly, glared up at me with his one eye. “Did you enjoy my gift?”
I heard Alekos snort back a laugh. I shot him a dirty look, then one to Deo, who also had an amused look on his face.
“You really shouldn’t have,” I said sweetly. “I know how much you enjoy cooking those magnificent meals and the sacrifice of one of your kitchen implements is really too much,” I added dryly.
Not taking her eyes from my face, Margaret called out, “Deo, tell me, did I win our little bet?” She continued watching me as she waited for my husband’s reply.
Clearing his throat, Deo answered, “Your whiskey is in the car, Margaret.”
Smiling, she hooted with laughter. Patting my shoulder hard, she said, “Couldn’t make it a week, could you, girly? Good thing you have two husbands to keep an eye on you now—although there may not be enough energy between the two of them to keep up with the likes of you.”
To my surprise, she leaned in, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and pulling me in toward her. She whispered in my ear, “You are welcome for the little interruption provided by my precious kitty cat. Good to have you back.” Giving me a wink, she turned to leave, her cat in her arms, shuffling back off toward the kitchen. “Alekos, go and fetch my liquor from the car. I’m having a celebratory drink. Couldn’t make it a week. I knew it,” she mumbled to herself as she went.
I looked down at the floor, knowing the pale skin of my cheeks was bright red. Alekos brushed past me on his way to retrieve Margaret’s whiskey. Leaning in, he whispered into my ear, “She does love you, Cassandra. I promise. She says a lot of sweet things about you—when you aren’t around.”
“Great,” I muttered.
Giving my hand a reassuring pat, Alekos flashed me the dimpled smile he knew I couldn’t resist. Despite myself, I could feel the corners of my mouth turning up. “There’s a good girl,” he said, giving my cheek a quick buzz of his lips before making his retreat.
As much as she had humiliated me, I was grateful to Margaret for the dissolution of the anger between Deo and Draco. I looked at the two men, now, as they stood, meters away from one another, both facing me.
“What are we to do?” Deo asked Draco, shooting me a tortured look.
Uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his sides, Draco looked me over as well. His tone firm, he said, “You know what must be done, Deo.”
“It doesn’t make it any easier.”
“How about you both stop talking about me like I am not even here,” I interjected, crossing my own arms over my chest angrily. “I would like to be included in the decision-making of my own life.”
“No,” Deo and Draco both commanded as one.
A smile came to their faces as they finally agreed.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I groaned, rolling my eyes and throwing my hands up in the air. “Now you are getting along and the one thing that is bringing you together is the joy you both take in keeping me the helpless victim.”
“Not true,” Draco said, raising a brow at me. “I gave you knives.”
“It is true on my part,” Deo answered, making his way over to where I stood. Wrapping his arms around me, he said, “I would keep you locked up in your tower room, wearing your flower dresses, sitting on the cushion of your window seat, if I could, young lady. I’d love nothing more than to have you under lock and key, under the watchful eyes and passionate hands of both Draco and myself, every minute of the day.” His eyes were sad as they gazed into mine.
My heart hurt fo
r Deo. It was clear that it was torture for him to know that I was safer apart from him.
I ran my hands through Deo’s dark hair. “I’m sorry, Deo,” I said quietly. I was sorry for so many, many things. My past mistakes, taking my husband for granted, testing him the first months of our marriage. And for the vow I’d threatened to break, the darkness I’d unleashed.
“I will do anything to protect you, Cassandra, even if it means letting you go. I am sorry I waited so long. I should have let Draco take you as soon as he showed me the paper.”
Nuzzling my mouth against his neck, I murmured, “I understand, Deo. You think I would have been able to let you go easily, had the situation been reversed?”
Giving me an unhappy smile, my husband held me at arm’s length. “Join us, Draco.”
Draco came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. I stood between my mates, sandwiched safely by their chests. How could we three possibly part?
“I want to go back in time… to relive our honeymoon.”
My words made Deo’s unhappy grin turn real.
“I wish it didn’t have to end,” I continued, reaching up to kiss Deo. My arm reaching back, my fingers finding Draco’s mouth.
Deo pulled back from our kiss, murmuring, “You said we have some time, Dragon?”
Kissing my fingers, Draco spoke in a hushed voice. “I’d say twelve hours at most.”
“Let us make good use of what little time we have.”
The room had emptied. One hand held by each of my mates, Deo on my right, Draco on my left, we ascended the grand staircase. To share the bedroom in the castle for the first time.
Chapter Ten
Cassandra
Entering our bedroom had my heart beating like the wings of a hummingbird. At our manor home in New Jersey I would sometimes dream of the time Deo and I had spent together in this room. Now, tonight, for the first time, Draco would join us, completing our union.
The room was more beautiful than I had remembered. The rich red and gold tapestries hung from the stone walls like old friends. The tall four-poster bed was stacked high with pillows, the red velvet duvet smooth and inviting. A large armoire stood against one wall, the wood covered in beautiful carvings. I knew that once opened, the interior would reveal that it was filled with those floral dresses Deo had referred to, each one fashioned of some soft, flowy fabric. Tucked inside the drawers were piles of lace, silk, and satin lingerie that was meant far more to enhance a woman’s feminine attributes than to provide a modest covering of breasts or ass. The memory of how Deo’s eyes had glazed over when I’d stood before him in nothing more than a lacy bra that barely covered my nipples and a matching thong that purposefully left both cheeks of my ass exposed had my body begin to heat.