Ardyn & Zaria

by Jessica Cage

  “All right, so spill it. What’s so important that you’re here, interrupting my good time?”

  “Cool it,” Rosie snapped, and Bruto shrugged and reached for the tray of finger sandwiches that were on the table in the middle of the room.

  “I’m here because we have another issue on our hands and I need to ask for your help, again.” Jinn provided.

  “Is this about the fae girl?” Rosie was astute in her inquiry.

  “Yes, Praia. As you know, we believe she is in shifter territory. We were intending to launch a search once Mike healed a bit more, but Rick went to go try to find her.” Jinn grunted, annoyed at the errant, love-sick fool.

  “Dragon boy …” Rosie raised her brow. “Who would have thought it?”

  “Yeah, it would seem that he really cared for her, enough to go rogue and damn near ruin all of our plans. We wanted to take time to regroup before going after her, especially with everything that has happened since … well, since finding out Nitara was still alive. Unfortunately, that timeline has been moved up. Jax has some guys trying to run interference and get to Rick before he creates any unnecessary bullshit for us to have to sort out on top of everything else. If they succeed, it will put some more time back on the clock, but not much.”

  “Do you know what we’re walking into?” Bruto perked up at another chance to take part in what he hoped would be an all-out war.

  “Possibly hostile territories. Not sure what it’s like over there, but I do know that they aren’t a fan of dragons and Jax has already decided to join us. He knows Rick won’t allow us to go without him. Jax and a handful of others will be there to keep him in line.”

  “What part of shifter land?”

  “According to Mike, she was last spotted on the border just outside of wolf territory. That will be our first stop.” Jinn sat down on the plush sofa that tried to swallow him. Bruto moving in had effected the mood music but clearly had no impact on the uber fluffed décor.

  “I haven’t had an encounter with a wolf in … well, damn, I don’t know how long!” Bruto shook his head. “I can tell you that they weren’t exactly fans of mine. I wonder if my reputation is still intact.”

  “Let’s hope not. Honestly, you act like that would be a good thing.” Rosie rolled her eyes. “Well, you know you can count me in. That little girl risked her life for Nitara. We owe her a debt.”

  “And you know I’m in. I could stand to kick a few shifter tails!” Bruto flexed his muscle as he popped another sandwich in his mouth.

  “That’s not why we’re going there,” Jinn warned.

  “Yeah but look at our track record. Odds are, we’re in for a nice brawl!” Bruto pumped his fist in the air, shadow boxing.

  “Lord.” Rosie shook her head and stood. “Let me go prepare my babies for my being away again. They won’t be pleased.” She vanished in a cloud of pink.

  “Is she serious?” Jinn stared at Bruto. “She’s talking about the birds, right?”

  “Yeah, she is serious.” Bruto stood and stretched. “What can I say, I love her crazy ass!” Picking up the tray of sandwiches, he offered one to Jinn.

  “Considering where your hands just were, I’ll pass.” He laughed and then choked on the sound as Bruto’s declaration registered. “Wait a minute! Love? Did I walk into the twilight zone?”

  “Yeah, whatever. As if you hadn’t known all this time.” Bruto lowered his voice. “You know, the crazy ones are the best in the sack!”

  “I heard that,” Rosie’s voice called out from a location unknown.

  “Damn.” Bruto laughed and punched Jinn in the shoulder. “All right, big boy, let’s get this show on the road!”

  When Jinn popped back into his home it was a full house. With Rosie and Bruto by his side, he was greeted by a house full of dragons, fairies, and slithers. Mike sat in a corner chair surrounded by his men who watched him with worried eyes.

  “You’re going to need a much larger place.” Bruto slapped him on the arm.

  “Tell me about it.” Jinn groaned. He wished they would all leave his space but knew that wouldn’t be happening any time soon.

  “Welcome back.” Nitara appeared as Jinn’s side and tugged on his arm. “Can I see you for a moment?”

  “Of course.” Jinn smiled. She was the only person he ever wanted to see in his home, despite the fact that the two-bedroom suburban remodel was overflowing with guests. The two popped into his bedroom, the only space not occupied by extra bodies. “What’s wrong?” Jinn asked her when they were alone.

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, Nitara pulled his head down to hers. She kissed him with an uncontrolled passion that took him off guard. When she released his lips, he gasped. “Absolutely nothing.” She smiled.

  “Well, if that’s the way I’m going to be greeted when I come home, I’ll have to take a lot more trips.” Pulling her into him, he kissed her again.

  “It’s just been so long since I’ve been able to kiss your lips. I miss you. Besides, we have a war room right outside of our bedroom door. We need to take these moments to really appreciate each other. Who knows how long it will be until we get to truly be alone again.”

  “You know, you’re right.” Jinn lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. “How long you think we can get before we’re interrupted?” He growled as he dug his face into the mane of curls that spread out around her head when he lay her down.

  “Not long enough for what you’re thinking.” She lowered her hand to graze the bulge between his legs.

  “Yo, you in there?” Bruto called and banged on the door.

  “Dammit!” Jinn cursed, climbing from atop her.

  “Yeah, we are. Come on in!” Nitara giggled as she sat up and straightened herself before the door opened to reveal their grinning friend.

  “Oh, no, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” Bruto teased as he winked at Jinn. “I would never want to do that!”

  “Oh, shut up!” Jinn threw a pillow at their intruder. “What do you want?”

  “The masses are getting anxious, and we just got word back from Jax. They were able to intercept the love-sick dragon. He’s waiting to hear what our next move will be.”

  “Great, I’ll be out there in a minute.”

  “Okay, cool.” Bruto lingered by the door, whistling and tapping his foot.

  “Get out!” Jinn threw another pillow in his direction.

  “All right, man, you don’t have to be so feisty!” Bruto laughed as he pulled the door shut behind him.

  “He’s such a dick,” Jinn muttered, turning back to Nitara. “Where were we?”

  “We were about to head out to the war room.” She kissed his cheek and stood from the bed. When he pouted, she stuck her hand out to him. “Okay, come on. Once we save the girl, we’ll have all of the time in the world to ourselves.”

  “Yeah, right, tell me anything!”

  Returning to Reverie was not as easy as Nitara thought it would be. With Tyrellis and his evil wife out of the picture, she assumed the place wouldn't affect her as much. She was wrong. The moment her feet touched down on the cliff that overlooked the city, all she could think of was the destruction brought to her life because of the time she was forced to spend there. She had a sense of déjà vu, and though she knew the circumstances weren’t the same, the feeling didn’t sit well with her. Reverie was a place of death—no matter how they prettied it up, it would always be that to her.

  She told Jinn that she needed time to clear her head before they went further, and he gave her that. They were the only two to return; it wasn’t necessary to bring the entire group, Ardyn was expecting her. She’d called ahead to let him know that they were coming, yet she still had trouble excepting that he had remained with the vampires. She thought he would be just as eager to leave as she had been. He’d spent so much time hiding from not only Daegal, but the entire territory of Reverie, and now he was the right-hand man to its new leader. So far, he hadn’t done anything to make his p
resence known in Reverie. He presented it as the vampires not being able to accept another leader with a djinn in his pocket, but she knew that he kept it to himself because he was afraid of being sought out by his family. In the few days that had passed since the world found out about all that happened in the land of vampires, Ardyn had taken to the shadows. He led the city alongside Graham, as an aid and advisor, but as far as the world knew, Graham ruled alone.

  Nitara knew just how much Ardyn wanted to stay hidden, and yet she was there to ask him to do the very opposite of that. She was there to ask him to return to his home, and to the people he thought would never accept him because of the way he was changed. Ardyn was no normal djinn, not that she had encountered one in quite a long time. He was formerly a werewolf, captured by the same bastard who turned her and Jinn into what they were. When Daegal couldn’t control Ardyn, he tossed him to the side and moved on. Nitara and Ardyn found each other and they’d been friends ever since. Djinn tended to stick together, as there were so few of them. Without Ardyn they had no hope of getting in to shifter territory and saving Praia. She knew that the man would resist her, but in the case that all of her convincing failed, she had an ace up her sleeve. She hoped it was a card that she wouldn’t have to use, but she came prepared.

  “Are you ready for this?” Jinn’s hand warmed the small of her back as he joined her on the cliff. “I hate to rush you, but time is ticking.”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She looked up at him and tugged on one of his dreads. “I really like these on you.”

  He kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you do. Now, stop stalling and let’s get this over with. The sooner we go in, the sooner we leave, and the sooner this is all over with and I can have you to myself again!”

  The pair mounted their bikes—both chose to bring their beloved motorcycles along for the trip. They found humor in the fact that they were both in love with their rides. Even with all the time they’d spent apart they still shared the same passions. While they headed for the center of the vampire’s land, Nitara smiled remembering what it was like to ride alongside him atop her horse with the thunderous sound of hooves echoing the racing beat of her heart. As they drove through the streets, they encountered not a single soul, living or undead. The sun was still in the sky and the place was a ghost town. They would have a few hours still before the city came to life.

  The front gate to what was once the battle scene for their fight to save Mike was repaired. They’d blown it from its hinges, turning it into a weapon which gave their side the upper hand in the fight. Ardyn, of course, had repaired all of the structural damage to the home. He’d also done quite a bit of downsizing on the structure. At least half of the dozens of add-ons that their former leader wished for had been deconstructed, and the land was given back to the vampires it was taken from.

  “Well, so far it looks like they’re doing good.” Jinn commented on the appearance of the place.

  “Yeah, it does look a bit more normal. I didn’t think Graham would want to keep the Prince wing, or the wing dedicated to bearskins.”

  “What?” Jinn scoffed. “Bearskins?” She had told him about the wild things the vampire made her create for him, but he hadn’t heard about a bearskin room.

  “Yeah. It was all fake, but the walls, floor, and everything in the room was covered in bearskin. He would go in there, strip down, and roll around on the floor.” She laughed, then shuddered. “Once, he did it while I was trapped inside of him.”

  “That’s just sick.”

  “Tell me about it.” She shook her arms, trying to escape the memory she had previously locked away in the safe at the back of her mind.

  They climbed the steps that ended at the front door. Jinn grabbed Nitara’s hand into his own before he knocked. She allowed him to take the lead because if it was up to her, they would have stood there for at least another half hour before announcing their presence.

  Jinn’s hand had barely dropped to his side again before the door swung open and Ardyn met them with a wide smile.

  “You’re here! It took long enough.” He shook Jinn’s hand and hugged Nitara. “What was the hold up?”

  “Sorry, I got a little nostalgic when we got here.” Nitara smiled. Nostalgia wasn’t the proper term for what she experienced, but it was the one she’d be giving to him. “Ardyn, it's so good to see you again.” She thought it best to change the topic before he started to drill into her like he usually did.

  “Nitara, I’m just glad to see you here. I didn't think you’d ever come back. And I figured, with the recent reunion of you and Jinn, that it would be a much longer time before I heard from you.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and winked. “I was planning to come to you whenever you got back in touch, so this is a surprise.”

  “Yes, well, it seems things have taken on a bit of urgency, so our plans for a lengthy vacation got the ax,” Jinn commented as he took in the updates that were done to the interior of the building. All of the gaudy design elements had been removed. Instead of a gothic cathedral, the place reminded him of a 21st century state building. Clean elements with a front desk where he assumed a vampire receptionist sat, and instead of the grand staircase, there was a glass elevator.

  “Urgency? Why?” Ardyn shut the door behind them and ushered them to a side room where they were able to sit and talk. Once they took their seats in the waiting room, they continued their conversation.

  “We have a friend who needs our help, and I don’t think we will be successful in saving her if you aren’t by our sides.” Nitara decided to fill Ardyn in because she thought he would take it better if it came from her.

  Ardyn nodded. “The fae girl.”

  “You know?” Jinn straightened in his seat. “Have you heard anything?

  “I may have overheard a thing or two while your crew was here,” Ardyn admitted, “but nothing from back home.”

  “So, you’ve been expecting us?” Nitara questioned.

  “I assumed it would be a possibility.” He sighed, and she knew he’d been dreading the day that he got her call.

  “Will you help us?” There was no reason to tiptoe around the issue, he knew why they had come.

  “I’m not sure, Nitara. You know I’m not looking to go back there.”

  “Why not?” Jinn asked. “I mean, I won’t claim to know much about you, but from what I heard, letting someone suffer when you know you can help isn’t the way you roll.”

  “Because I don’t belong there now. My people … well, they don’t consider me a part of that world anymore.”

  “You don’t know that. You’ve never even tried.” Nitara repeated the same words she’d said to him about a thousand times before. “How can you keep claiming that when you haven’t even attempted to find out for sure?”

  “I know my people enough to know how they would react to this.” He stood from his seat and stared out the nearby window. “Hell, it’s how I would.”

  “Either way, we made a deal. I faced my shit, now it’s your turn.” Nitara referred to the promise they’d made to each other. She allowed him to move forward with his plans to free her, and in turn had to face Jinn and his anger. His side of that deal was that if she did as promised, he would face his fear about returning home.

  “I need to reconsider the terms of this deal.” He turned back to her. “Maybe I can offer you something else?”

  “Oh, no! It’s way too late for that!” She frowned. “Ardyn, going there wouldn’t be just to help us, but to help you. You’re hiding here. No matter how you try to present it, that is what you’re doing. How long do you expect to live like this? You need to face whatever happens back there. At least then you can move on with your life, in a real way.”

  “I’ll consider it. In the meantime, let me get you all set up here. I don’t know how long you plan on staying, but even if I am to join you, I’ll need to wait to speak with Graham about it.”

  “Is he your boss now?” Jinn took a jab at the man he would never rea
lly like, but he had agreed to learn to tolerate him. If Nitara got her way, Ardyn wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

  “No, we’re partners so to speak. It’s a courtesy.” Ardyn ignored Jinn’s passive aggressive tone.

  “Hmm … well, we have about twenty-four hours for you to handle your courtesy before we need to get on the move.” Jinn grunted as he stood from his seat. “So, where in vampire land are we bunking?”

  “Scaring the locals again?” Graham entered the bar that was once a common rendezvous point for him and the djinn who was now free to leave Reverie. She sat in her usual spot at the end of the bar. The locals had cleared the establishment the moment she arrived, causing her to get a very angry glare from the bartender.

  “Well, you know, that was always my favorite part about the job.” Nitara spun on her stool away from the bar to greet the new leader of the vampire nation.

  “Looks like you haven’t lost your touch, considering how everyone has fled the scene. You know, business was just starting to pick up in here.” He tapped the bar, requesting a drink from the man who scoffed at his statement. He would be losing money that night.

  Nitara shrugged. “Good to know.”

  “I hear you’re here trying to recruit a bit of help.” Graham stood dressed in a custom suit that hugged his body. Nitara had never seen him so done up. Being the king was very good for him.

  “Something like that,” she responded shortly.

  “Where’s your guy?” He looked over his shoulder. “Surprised to catch you here alone.”

  “He’s off doing guy things.” She winked at him. “Are you going to stop Ardyn from joining us?”

  “I don’t control him. Like I told him, whatever he decides, I support.” He shrugged. “Sure will miss him if he does go.”

  “How sweet of you,” Nitara laughed. “It’s a good thing you’re being so supportive with this. I’d hate to have to kick your ass, too.”

  “Ha.” He sat down next to her, lifting the fresh drink to his lips, and smiled. “You know the drinks are so much better than they were before.”