by Lexi Blake
I put a hand on his shoulder. “Dev, they’re victims, too.”
“Victims who are trying to kill you,” he growled at me. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t feel a lot of sympathy.”
“Please.” I forced him to look me in the eyes. “They’re contained. Let’s go and wait on Danny. If we can get out of this without killing our allies, won’t it be best for all concerned?”
He shook his head but lowered his weapon. “We’ll go, my goddess, but there will be no mercy for Halfer. Understand that now. I will not be swayed.”
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t about to plead for that bastard’s life. “I won’t try to sway you. Kill Halfer, please, and use a painful method.”
McKenzie found a flashlight on a shelf built into the side of the tunnel. He clicked it on, and I watched as he stared back with the greatest of regret. There were more wolves at the gate now but it seemed like it would hold. I was sure McKenzie was looking back at those wolves, recognizing them and wondering if he was going to have to kill them before the day was through. I wondered if it wouldn’t have been easier on him to give in to that initial urge to join the pack, to follow the Strong Arm of Remus. McKenzie had fought so hard to remain in control, to maintain his alpha status, but now it was costing him as he was on the other side from everyone he knew and loved.
“I’ll do everything I can to keep your wolves safe,” I promised him.
He gave me a sad half-smile, not showing any sign that Lee’s weight was bothering him. “I believe you, Your Grace. I’m not so sure about your husband though.”
He started to guide us down the tunnel, leaving the wailing of the angry wolves behind.
“I won’t kill for pleasure, John,” Dev explained flatly as though he didn’t care what the other man thought. “I will also not allow my wife to be killed.”
“My wife is out there too, Quinn,” McKenzie snarled, his temper fraying. “She’s out there and for the first time she has a real shot at getting what she’s always wanted—a baby. We’ve tried for years and she finally believes it’s going to happen. She’s a strong bitch. She won’t stand at the back of the crowd. She’ll be fierce. She’ll kill or be killed, and I don’t want either of those options for her.”
I needed to bring down the testosterone level a bit or my husband and the alpha would be at each other’s throats. “None of the wolves want to attack us. They’re being used, and we have to remember that. The rounds aren’t silver so more than likely they won’t kill if we don’t use too many or hit vital organs. We just have to hold them off until Zack wakes up Danny.”
“Well, I can certainly kill the wolves.” Declan held his sword in hand, walking with an arrogant swagger. “I assure you with my weaponry, when I fight them, I can kill them.”
“I’m asking you not to, Declan,” I said between clenched teeth.
He simply shrugged and kept walking. “I promise you nothing, Zoey. I am a prince of Faery. I will defend that which belongs to Faery. I will agree to allow the wolves to consume the others if that is your wish, but I will kill them if they lay a single paw on anything that belongs to me or mine.”
I drew in a frustrated breath and followed McKenzie as we walked through the dimly lit tunnels. It was cold here, deep within the mountains. The chill seemed to come from the tunnel itself. We were down to single file at one point. The faeries had to duck down to get through the shortened ceiling in part of the passage. Every now and then we came to another gate and McKenzie opened it and locked it again, a wall between us and the wolves. We walked for what seemed like hours, but I knew it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes. I wondered if Zack had done his job and Danny was awake or if he was still out there, waiting for his chance.
We came out of the smaller portion of the tunnel into a wide room, and I could hear Dev sigh as he could finally stand up straight again. McKenzie let Lee drop to the ground as he felt around in the darkness. He lit a match and then the room started to fill with the glow of torches.
“This is a way station. There’s food and water. We rest here for a minute and then push on.” The alpha pointed to a group of metal shelves containing bottled water. He took one for himself and started to pass them around.
I cracked open a bottle and went to where my bodyguard was resting.
Lee was a little better now that we were farther from the artifact. He lay against the floor, but even in the gloom I could see his color was coming back. I sat down beside him and shifted his head into my lap. I twisted the cap off the water and held it to his lips. He drank for a moment and then let his head rest back down. Without thinking really, I stroked his head.
“I said no petting,” Lee growled.
I pulled my hand back. “Sorry.” But I was happy that he was growling again.
He sighed deep in his chest. “Just this once, Zoey. But it doesn’t make me your lapdog.”
I grinned down at him and let my hands rub his head and scratch lightly behind his ears. I was glad he let me do it because I knew he felt bad and the contact would help. I stroked his now flea-free scalp and he tried not to show me how nice it felt. I gave him another drink and thought briefly how much nicer he smelled after his time in the tub. If we survived, my bodyguard and I were going to have a long fight about grooming.
Before I could mention it, my brother-in-law was standing over me.
“If you do not mind, I would like a word with my sister-in-law before we move on.” Declan held his hand out, and Lee managed to get himself into a sitting position. I took Declan’s hand and allowed him to haul me up.
The prince glanced behind him and when he was certain his brother was engrossed in the conversation with Padric, he pulled me to a place where there was no way Dev would hear our conversation.
I didn’t like the proprietary way he clutched my arm. I also didn’t like the fact that he didn’t want his brother to know what he was going to say to me.
“What do you want, Declan?” I practically hissed the question.
“There are many things I want, dear sister, but I have to put those things aside and think of my position,” Declan whispered bitterly. “Several things have become clear to me over the last twenty-four hours. The first and foremost being my brother loves you. He will not be swayed away from you.”
“Well, he is my husband.” I wondered where he was going with this. I held my tongue, waiting for the threats to start.
“Yes, and you aren’t going to let him be the priest he should be. At this point, I do not think he would do it even if you let him. I do not know what you did to my brother to ensnare him so much he will not even look at another woman.”
“Why is it so bad, Declan?” I didn’t understand his point at all. We were in love. That couldn’t be a bad thing. “If your brother is happy with me, then what’s so wrong with that?”
His eyes took on an angry sheen. “What is wrong with that? He is the only one of our kind with this magic. We are not a fertile people. We need his magic or we will die. We may be immortal, but even immortals need a reason to live. Without children to love and care for, many of our kind have faded. Dev is a mortal. When he dies, that magic dies with him. The best and most reasonable course of action is for Dev and his new friend, Bris, to impregnate as many women as possible in order to pass on their magic. You have made that impossible.”
I tried to step back, but his hand gripped my arm like a chain keeping me where he wanted me.
“I thought about killing you myself. I believed he would mourn you for a while, but then go about his business. Then last night happened and I now think he would lay down somewhere and allow himself to fade if you were to die.”
“Why are you telling me this, Your Highness?” I kept my voice low because here and now wasn’t the place for a brotherly throw down.
Declan raised himself to his full, intimidating height. “I am telling you this because I need you to understand me. Your womb is now the most important thing in my life. Devinshea has been too ha
ppy with his brand new marriage to think about the consequences of last night’s activities. I am well aware of what happened.”
I didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. “I’m not pregnant. You don’t understand how medicine works on this plane. I take this shot and it chemically stops me from getting pregnant until Dev and Daniel and I all agree to it.”
Declan had the nerve to laugh. “I assure you, Your Grace, that even if your womb had been removed, after that magic Bris pumped through your body last night you would merely find you had grown a new one and it would be full. He said it himself. You are very fertile. He knows what he is talking about. I do not doubt that even now his child is starting to grow inside you. I want that child. Faery needs that child.”
Lee growled behind Declan. He’d gotten to his feet and even now his eyes were changing to hold his wolf. He was quiet about it, not wanting to attract attention, but he wanted Declan to know he was there and he’d heard everything. I noticed the others were still resting or talking. Only Neil was making his way from Sarah’s side, moving toward me.
Declan let my arm go. His voice was perfectly steady now, all brotherly caring. “I am concerned for your safety, sister. You should understand I now count your safety as my highest priority. I would sacrifice anyone to save you. I request that you not make that necessary. I would prefer to not have to make hard choices.”
The ramifications of what he was saying washed over me. I should watch myself because if it came down to it, he would take the child in my womb over his brother. I felt sick to my stomach and suddenly Neil was there holding me up. He didn’t understand what was going on. He only knew I needed him.
Declan turned to go but I had one more question and I needed to know. “If I am…is it Dev’s?”
“No, Zoey,” Declan replied remorselessly. “Though I have no doubt he will consider the babe his. The child would look like Dev’s, but it would be a magical child. He would be a fertility god. That baby in your belly could save all of Faery. I will kill to protect it.”
I heard Neil breathing behind me and knew what Declan said shocked him, but he held his tongue.
Declan looked down on me and sighed. “I like you, Zoey. I am sorry it must come to this. I told you before. I am to be king one day. I must think of my kingdom. The needs of a single person must be pushed aside for the safety of all my people.”
“What is going on, brother?” Dev asked, finally noticing our little gathering.
Declan sent his brother a smooth smile. “I was just telling my new sister how things work in Faery. I would not wish for her to go into her new kingdom ignorant. She should be well aware of her duties. All of this is, of course, dependent on our surviving this current experience.”
Dev pulled me to him and kissed me. “Her only duties are to be my sweet wife and to drive me and Daniel as crazy as possible.” He cradled my face with his hands. “Don’t let him scare you, sweetheart. I will take as good care of you in Faery as I do in our world.”
I plastered a smile I didn’t feel on my face. “I have no doubt.”
“It’s time to go,” McKenzie said. “We have another mile and a half to cover. I hope your wolf has done his job.”
Dev nodded as he took my hand firmly in his. “He will do his job as Lee and Neil will do theirs and protect my wife.”
“I assure you, I’ll protect her. From everyone,” Lee said in a low growl, but he was looking at Declan when he said it.
McKenzie’s flashlight was joined with several more and now we could move more freely through the tunnels. The opening was larger, and Dev was able to hold my hand as we made our way toward the cave.
“It’s going to be all right, Zoey,” Dev promised. “I would never let anything happen to you.”
I knew he meant that, but I suspected something had already happened to me, and I had no idea how I was going to deal with it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Let me kill him, Zoey,” Lee growled in my ear as I sat toward the back of the cave we were hiding in. I’d been informed by Padric that I should sit at the back of the cave, far away from the entrance. I had no doubt Padric was protecting my womb from any possible long-range weapon.
“Yes,” Neil said in my other ear. He sent a hard look to the front of the cave where Declan was sitting with his brother. “Let Lee kill him.”
I shot Neil a look.
“Well, I’m still weak. I don’t dare change forms,” Neil replied. “I promise to help Lee eat him once he’s done with the killing part.”
“I’m thinking about killing Dev, too,” Lee admitted. “And the vampire.”
“You have to stop that.” I couldn’t have Lee threatening to kill my husbands at every turn.
“Daniel has to know that there’s a freaky-ass god in Dev now and that he apparently wants to knock you up,” Lee replied.
“It’s not like that. You weren’t there and yes, Daniel knew. He’s trying to make Dev strong for the fight.” When I really thought about it, it was a testament to how far Danny had come that he even considered allowing Dev into the fight. As possessive as Danny had become, he should have been plotting to hide Dev away with me. But he’d allowed him to take the risk to ascend. It would kill a part of Dev to not be involved. He’d spent his life being thought of as a lesser being. “And Bris was sweet. Almost like a different side to Dev.”
“I don’t know about that, and I’m going to watch him like a hawk, but from what the brother said, Dev doesn’t even realize what happened yet,” Lee shot back. “We should tell him that his brother plans on taking Zoey’s baby from her.”
“We don’t even know there is a baby, yet.” We had more urgent problems. “Can we not borrow trouble? We need to get out of this situation before we deal with any possible babies. And we are not telling Dev or Daniel anything. This stays between the three of us until I am certain there is a problem.”
“Zoey, I have to tell Daniel.” Neil laced his hands together, a nervous habit.
“Why?” The truth was I needed people on my side who didn’t feel the need to run to my husbands and gossip. “Are you his wolf or mine? That goes for you too, Lee. Make the decision now.”
“You know my answer, Your Highness,” Lee replied, breathing deeply as he sat back. He was letting the situation go for now, but I knew we would revisit it in the future.
Neil seemed to struggle. He’d been Daniel’s servant for many years. Breaking with him was hard. It was still his instinct to serve Daniel first. “I belong to you now, Zoey. The truth is I always belonged to you. I’ll follow Lee’s lead. If you want to keep this quiet, I will. But I’m never going to let that bastard take your baby. I don’t care if it’s Dev’s or some asshole god’s. It’s yours and I won’t let him take it.”
“That goes double for me,” Lee proclaimed. “I’ll kill him twice if he tries it.”
I let that settle in as I watched Dev on his belly, trying to see down the mountain. He was attempting to get some idea whether or not Daniel was awake. I thought not. It was awfully quiet even this far away. If Daniel was awake then he would be making some noise. I let my head fall against Neil’s shoulder. The air in the cave was cool against my skin, and the light had been a shock after spending so much time in the darkness. What was taking Zack so long?
Dev crawled backward, keeping his head down. Padric, Declan, and McKenzie joined him in the back of the cave.
“He has people around him,” Dev said. “I count four men, all armed with high-powered rifles.”
“Well, we knew he still had followers.” I kept my voice down even though we were far from where Halfer could hear. “Where the hell is Zack?”
Dev shook his head. “Zack is following the pack. There’s a man stationed outside our tent. Halfer has been talking to him for a while. Zack keeps circling, but he can’t get in without Halfer seeing. He’s going to keep trying, Zoey. Don’t give up hope. So far, they don’t know where we are.”
“How long is that going to last?�
� I wondered out loud.
“How many people know about the tunnels?” Dev asked McKenzie.
“Just my wife and my second in command,” he replied. “Both of whom are down there waiting for the chance to kill us.”
“I think it only works when the victims are in wolf form. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he just have them switch forms and tell him where we are?” I had a sudden idea. “Dev, I need to check on Halfer’s location.”
Dev’s eyes closed briefly, and I thought he might reject my request. He took a long breath and his hand slipped into mine. “Stay low and close to me.”
“Dev,” Declan started. He sent a pointed stare in my direction.
“She’s my wife and she’s good at things like this,” Dev shot back to his brother. “She’s an asset. I will not allow her to come to harm, but I’m not going to stow her away in the background when she can help, either.”
I gave Declan a “go to hell in a handbasket” smile and crawled low to the ground along the cave floor, following my husband. We reached the edge of the opening, and I could see both the valley below and the field where we’d spent last night. He shook his head in the direction of the valley. “There’s Halfer.”
My nemesis stood in the middle of the wolves, who twitched and growled around him, waiting for something to kill. He was talking to a young man with a rifle in his hands. Halfer gestured around the valley, obviously telling the man to find us no matter what it took. Everything about him screamed frustration, from the frown on his face to his bunched up, bulky shoulders.
There was no way we were getting out of this cave without someone noticing, and I doubted it would be long before some wolf got our scent. The best werewolves in the country were down there in that pack. They would eventually catch something in the air and it would lead them back to us. We would be caught. We could run back into the tunnels, but we would have to face the wolves at the gate. This was what it meant to be caught between a rock and a hard place. I was just grateful the artifact didn’t work on Lee because while the gate might have stopped him, he could have tracked my scent through the ground. If Lee had been tracking me, he would have been waiting when I emerged from the caves.