“Oh, I do.” She said in a low sultry voice that had him surging into her with his hips.
“Nope, you need food right now, let’s eat.” She gave him a baleful stare but stood up. Mary, devoted to the woman of her dreams, followed along, licking a bare leg in adoration.
Jacqui laughed and petted the puppy before dropping down a piece of chicken for the dog. “You’re as greedy as me!”
Together they plated up the food and sat down to eat. They were just emptying their plates when Jacqui looked up at Cade guiltily.
“I thought that would be enough. I guess we’ll have to have that chocolate pie now.” Jacqui was denying herself little with the pregnancy, a firm believer in eating what your body craves.
“I’ll get it out. Shall I just bring two spoons?” He was serious and that made her laugh. He smiled with her, knowing that yet again this was their normal now. Life kept changing lately but it was all for the better. For the moment anyway.
“I think that would be wise. I can feel her moving around in there every time I think about that pie.” Jacqui’s pregnancy was advancing as quickly as Damesha’s had, and he’d told her about his connection with their baby. He knew she was disappointed that she didn’t seem to have it so he shared with her all he knew about the baby so far.
“So what was that name you wanted to give her again?” He’d brought the silverware and was busy digging into the pie with her.
“Stella Amanda Alexander.” Jacqui stopped eating long enough to say the name then went right back to eating.
“Why Stella?” He gave her a quizzical look.
“I just like it.” Back to eating. He smiled as he watched her. She really loved eating now but it wasn’t making her gain weight so he knew she needed it.
“I was thinking I’d like to name her Anastasia.” He spoke tentatively, unsure of how she’d respond to his offer of a name. Men weren’t supposed to think of girl names and such were they?
“Oh, I do like that! How about Anastasia Stella Alexander?” She looked at him happily. He should have known she wouldn’t laugh at him.
“That works for me. That really does.” He realized they had a name for their daughter now and suddenly she became even more real. She had a name, a presence, and would soon be here. He was stunned by the realization. His daughter was real!
“Stunning isn’t it? We’re having a baby!” Jacqui’s intuitive interpretation of his thoughts had stopped shocking him and had become normal to him now.
“It is. Wow. Anastasia. Just, wow.”
They both stopped as a deep vibration started to make the whole house buzz. At least it seemed like it until they realized it was Jacqui’s new phone. Who could be calling them? She looked to Cade for an answer but he knew who it was.
“Kane. He’s the only one that has the number. Unless it’s a wrong number. Or a telemarketer.” He went and found the phone between the cushions of the couch. Obviously, this one wasn’t as important as the phone she’d sent back to the house in Kansas.
“Hello?” He put the phone on speaker as he connected, knowing Jacqui had followed him in. She was going to be a part of everything now, she knew the secrets, she’d know them all.
“Cade, they have Damesha. We need you.” Kane sounded distraught and angry. On the verge of doing something very stupid, Cade could tell.
“I’ll be there shortly brother, send the helicopter.” Cade looked over at Jacqui in dismay. She looked terrified, he knew she loved Damesha.
“We’re on the way already, we should be there in an hour. Cade, don’t delay, please. I’ll go in by myself if I have to.” Kane’s voice, so like Cade’s, shook as he spoke.
“I understand the bond now, Kane, I do. I know it won’t be long before you start to feel the separation. How far is she?” Cade had explained to Jacqui that the further the distance, the longer the separation was, the quicker the damage was done to the spirit-bound partners. The same would happen to them if they were separated.
“She’s far, Cade, very far. And getting further. It’s not so bad now that I’m in the air, I think we must be getting closer. I think we’re heading to Texas. I’ll know when they stop moving.” Kane’s voice was strained and Cade knew it was pain.
“Alright, where’s Elspeth?” Cade gestured to Jacqui to get ready, he wasn’t leaving her on her own.
“Jadrian and Jacob are taking her to Montana.” Kane coughed, a dry sound that made Cade frown. He didn’t have long.
“Good. She’ll be safe there with them.” The Montana house was underground and impenetrable once the hatch was closed, even from other magicals.
“I know. I’m going to cut this off now. I’ll see you in a bit. Be ready.” Cade knew Kane would only allow the helicopter to land long enough to pick them up before taking off again. He had to, he didn’t have long before his body started to shut down.
That’s part of the reason it took his parents so long to wither and die. They weren’t separated by a great distance. A few acres really, nothing more, but enough to cause the withering.
Cade and Jacqui flew through the house, closing and locking everything. They were standing outside in the clearest spot for landing when the helicopter came down, hooded sweatshirts over t-shirts against the cooling night air. Mary was wrapped in a blanket, her little head bobbing around happily as she watched what was going on. She ducked into the blanket when the helicopter came down and shivered in Jacqui’s arms. They ran for the doors as the machine came down and Cade had barely closed the door when Kane signaled the pilot to go back up.
“Where are we going?” Cade asked as he put on headphones so he could hear his brother.
“Louisiana, down in the bayou around Houma. I’ll know more once we get there.” Cade’s eyebrows rose for a moment. Back to Louisiana then.
He’d had to fill his days with endless meetings while on his honeymoon to distract himself from the beautiful wife he thought wouldn’t accept his advances. If only he knew then what he knew now.
Cade glanced over to see Jacqui in ice queen mode once more. Not because of him but because he knew that she was preparing to do whatever it took to get Damesha back. The only sign of his loving wife was the way she stroked Mary to calm her as the helicopter flew through the air.
“How did they get her, Kane?” Cade was trying to distract his brother, the brother that was going to chew his own fingers off if he kept gnawing at them like that.
“They waited until we were in bed. They’ve been tormenting her for ages and we thought it was the clan. They stand out there, calling to her with different animal sounds. She thought she was crazy for a long time. I guess they learned our patterns then.” Kane sighed, staring out of the glass to his left.
“No, that wasn’t anything the clan was doing. I wish I’d known.” Cade knew why Kane hadn’t told him, he’d been a dick to his brother and he knew it. He understood that now. “I’m sorry.”
“You were doing what you thought was best for the clan, Cade. I know that.” Kane sighed again.
“Still, I should have been a little more understanding. We’ll get her back, try not to worry.” Cade patted his brother from his seat behind him.
The rest of the flight was spent making plans, plans that saw Jacqui right at Cade’s side. He was not letting her out of his sight. He knew in movies they always told the woman to stay put but he always thought that was stupid. Leaving her would do nothing but distract him as he worried over what he couldn’t see. No, his wife would be right by his side.
Jacqui stayed quiet, listening to the men plan, but knew she was involved. Cade watched her and saw a fierce resolution come over her. Yes, she’d be an asset. Smart, observant, and a quick thinker, Jacqui would not be a hindrance.
They soon landed in a town just outside of Houma, a car was waiting for them. Jacqui handed Mary over to the man waiting with the keys after Cade assured her the man would take her to safety. They piled into the car and Cade followed Kane’s directions. They headed down
a dirt road and stopped as lights came into view. Stashing the car on the side of the road, they stalked up to the house quietly. Cade looked down at Jacqui’s footwear and knew her choice of trainers was a good one.
Things went all to Hell the moment they got near a window and heard a nasty male voice demanding answers from a whimpering Damesha. When Jacqui heard flesh smacking flesh, she went ballistic. Cade tried to stop her but with a dropped jaw and round eyes all he and Kane could do was watch as she strode up the front steps, kicked in the door, and started doing…something with her hands. Men flew against walls, women screamed, and Cade and Kane finally moved, guns suddenly in their hands as they stalked in behind the witch that had just found her powers.
“Where is she?” Cade saw Jacqui’s eyes had a dark green glow to them as she held her hands aloft. Looking up he saw a fat, scruffy man with a long dark beard in the air, a wet spot in the front of his pants.
The man couldn’t speak and his face was turning red but his eyes moved to a wall to his left. Going to the wall, Kane kicked it in, not caring that there was a release for the hidden door somewhere. The man fell to the floor unconscious, and Cade followed Kane into the room.
A blast of cold flew past Cade and he heard a male scream as the sound of an impact came from the room. The twin of the other man, this one was trying to scream as Jacqui’s energy held him against the ceiling. Kane flew to Damesha, releasing her from the rope bonds holding her in the chair.
Jacqui’s demeanor was cold, heartless, and Cade knew if he didn’t do something soon she’d kill every single person in the house she didn’t love. Stunned at his wife’s sudden power, he walked up to her carefully.
“We need to question these people, honey. Let him down. Knock him out if you want to but let him down without killing him, please.” Cade stroked her cheek, her eyes still glowing, as she let the man down.
With a shake of her head, the glowing stopped and she looked at her husband.
“Oh my.” Her eyes were round, shocked, but full of glee. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t the plan at all was it?”
“No, but it definitely worked. Well done.” He took her hand as they walked around the house, pulling people into the middle. Jacqui somehow pinned them all down without touching them as Cade called in help from an allied clan.
“I’m taking her to a hotel. I’ll call you later.” Kane came in with Damesha in his arms, she hid her face as they came into the light. Jacqui growled, looking back at the men.
She knew which one had done it, twin or no twin, and he’d get the worst of it if he didn’t tell Cade whatever he wanted to know.
“What’s going to happen to them? Once we’re done with them?” She turned to Cade as Kane left.
“If you leave anything sizeable enough they’ll go before the magical court. The court will decide whether they continue to exist or not. They can’t move, right?” Cade began to walk around the large house.
There were no leaders here and that confused him, but there were a lot of papers. Plans he saw. Plans for destroying the magicals in America in order to take over.
“Look at this. They plan to take over the country and turn Europe into a V-Farm.” Cade held a paper out to Jacqui.
“What’s a V-Farm?” She took the paper studying it.
“Some idea they’ve come up with. They plan to enslave the humans of America, make them work for the vampire blood.” He said the words as if they’d make sense to Jacqui.
“Pardon? Humans can drink vampire blood without, you know, becoming a vampire?” She looked really confused.
“Oh yes, you only turn when it’s done ritualistically. Otherwise, the whole world would be full of them. No, humans can and do consume vampire blood. It’s very addictive and can make you magical for a short while if you can get past the euphoria it causes.” Cade sounded like he was disgusted.
“That’s just gross. Ew! Just ew! And they want to get their humans addicted to this to enslave them? The ones they allow to live?” Jacqui was eyeing the group of werewolves and shifters once more.
“Yes, the Mungon's seem to have formed an alliance with the werewolves. This isn’t good. And it’s not over yet. Shit.” Cade scrubbed at his face as he looked at his wife. “But we have you. We’re going to have to go before the magical court. Ask for help with this. Form alliances. Damnit, I should have done all of this already but I had no idea it was this bad. I thought they just wanted to destroy my clan.”
“Why your clan?” Jacqui looked as though she was deciding which one was going to get their nails pulled out first as she spoke to her husband. Cade pulled her away from them as members of the ally clan showed up.
“My clan is the most powerful and oldest in the world. If they take us down the whole thing crumbles.” He shook hands with the woman, a very beautiful woman with almost translucent white skin, eyes as blue as the sky, and hair the color of the flames he so loved to watch. Very beautiful indeed.
“We can’t allow that to happen.” Even Jacqui turned as the woman spoke, her allure prickling into Jacqui’s brain.
“Oh my.” Jacqui’s new favorite catch phrase passed her lips as she stared at the beautiful woman.
“Hello, I’m Allana, leader of the Tuscola Clan.” She held her hand out to Cade and he took it. Unlike Jacqui, he’d shaken off his initial reaction and gone back to normal. He smiled as he looked at his wife’s stunned face.
“Allana, this is my wife, Jacqui, and I’m Cade of the Alexander Clan.”
“It seems we have some work to do.” Allana looked at the pile of 13 people on the floor of the main room as her people came into the room. “If your wife could release them…?”
Jacqui shook herself from her stupor and looked over at the men and women on the floor. She’d seen bruises on Damesha’s face and Cade knew what she was thinking. She wanted to make them all pay whether they had anything to do with Damesha’s pain and bruises or not.
“Later, princess. Let Allana handle this. This is her territory. We must not intrude more than we already have.” Cade spoke to her gently, taking her in his arms.
“If I must.” Jacqui let out a long slow exhalation, and the people on the floor started to move as Allana’s people took them away.
“I’ll need one of your representatives to come, a statement from you both and from your brother and his wife, but you can go now. I have my people at the hotel where your brother is. You’ll be safe. But I think you are already. Your wife is… special, isn’t she?” Allana’s blue eyes searched over Jacqui, a curiosity there that made Cade prickle a little. Jacqui was his.
“Yes, she is. There aren’t many like her left.” Cade spoke the truth, witches were rare now and Jacqui was very special. She was his wife, not just a witch. He took her under his arm and they left, heading to the hotel in Houma.
Chapter Twelve
“This is all very messy isn’t it?” Jacqui asked as they settled into their bed later that night, Mary at their feet.
“It is but we’ll sort it tomorrow. At least Mary’s letting us know when she needs to go out. For now, I just want to hold you. That was utterly astonishing and I knew you would be safe with me, but damn Jacqui. You kicked ass!” Cade was impressed now that a shower and some more food had helped it to all sink in.
“I’m pretty impressed with myself. Something just snapped in my head and I knew what I needed to do. Evelyn warned me this could happen. I didn’t really believe her, but wow.” They snuggled together under the covers, and Jacqui’s hands began to wander.
“I didn’t plan on loving you. I was just looking for a wife to shut people up, but I’m so glad I chose you.” Cade pulled her up over him, her legs straddling his hips as she looked down at him.
“I didn’t plan on loving you either. I planned a nice boring life, with no excitement, no worries and no love. I was afraid to love, terrified of it. But it started with Damesha. Then you. And Elspeth and Annie and now, sometimes I feel like I’m going to explode from all of the love
I feel. You gave me that, Cade, you melted the walls with that first email we shared. I had no idea you were doing it but you and your family, well, you’ve changed my life for the better.” She leaned over to listen to his strong heart beating in his chest, the most reassuring sound in the world.
Cade stroked her back, staring up at the ceiling as he inhaled the clean scent of her hair.
“I know it makes us weak but that’s part of the thrill of love, isn’t it? Giving up part of your control, part of your security, to share in another person’s life. I was terrified of falling into the same trap my parents fell into, of leaving behind a child that would have to experience what I went through. But we can change that, can’t we? Together, with the help of the other clans, we can end this threat once and for all. I know we can.” He pressed up into her, his mind already on the delights hidden between her thighs.
He pushed her up gently, cupping her breasts. “They’re heavier.”
“Yes, which is another reason we have to end this now. Anastasia cannot grow up in this world the Mungons have planned. We have to stop them.” She pressed down into his hard length, moving gently to entice him with her wet heat. His fingers on her breasts created an ache inside of her that she needed filled.
“We’ll do it together, princess. That’s the only way it can be done.” Cade rolled her to her back, entering her expertly as he did so.
They cried out together as they lost themselves to the passion that only the other could stir. This had not been the plan at all, love was the last thing they’d wanted. But love had found them and they would, had to, fight to maintain it. Life wasn’t going to be the simple plan that Jacqui had in mind, or the chaotic but ordered plan Cade had wanted. But it was worth fighting for now and fight they would, to their dying breaths if need be.
The End
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Cade
Don’t forget to read the SPECIAL DELETED SCENES.
Cade (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 2) Page 12