Mandy M. Roth

by The Zodiac Gatekeeper Collection One (BOX SET)

  Sirius froze and arched a dark brow. His blue eyes locked on her. “Phoebe?”

  “Hmm?” she asked, her mind numb from pleasure.

  “You love me?”

  Her answer came in the form of a slight nod and sexy smile. Sirius’ response was a bit more boisterous. “You love me? Why?”

  Why? What kind of question is that? Stop thinking and finish making love to me, une mukko.

  “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered, kissing the tip of her nose. “I never did.”

  Phoebe bit his chin lightly and growled. “Sirius Baron, stop sulking and start fucking me.”

  A shit-eating grin spread slowly over his handsome face as he began grinding in her again. Wet sounds of sex surrounded her and she could think of nothing beyond having him possess that back hole with more than his finger.

  “Mmm, Slatkiska, I will very soon but you’re not ready for that just yet.” Sirius added a second finger and she cried out as her orgasm hit. His cock twitched a second before she felt him filling her with his hot cum once more. Her pussy milked him and Phoebe went limp beneath him.

  Kissing her lips gently, Sirius chuckled. “I feel the same way. That was—”

  “Amazing,” she said, nodding.

  “Phoebe?”

  “Yes.”

  He kissed her sensually and stirred slightly. “You’re not human either, are you?”

  “No. Are you mad?”

  Laughter erupted from him. “Mad? Hell no! I just found out my wife isn’t human and absorbed my power completely before returning her own and you think I’d be mad? Do you know what this means?”

  She shook her head, lost.

  “It means you’re immortal too, Phoebe. I don’t know if you were before but the minute your body accepted my seed and my magik without a fight, you not only acknowledged you’re my wife but bonded fully with me, as an immortal.”

  That was absurd. She wasn’t immortal. She went to question him about it but he put his hand out and a tiny white light appeared on his palm. It flared and then dissipated, leaving two silver bands in its place. Her breath caught as she realized what they were—wedding rings.

  “Sirius? We’re really…?”

  A slight smile curved his lips as he slid his band on and then did the same for her. Another flare of white light occurred and the ring seemed to almost fuse to her finger. She watched in awe as various signs of the zodiac magikally appeared on her band. The same happened with Sirius’, though the sign for Pisces was large and on the top of his. “Why?” she asked, pointing to it.

  He smiled. “Because it’s the sign you were born under and the sign I help to guard, control and serve.”

  She arched a brow. “I don’t understand and I’m not sure I ever will.”

  Her ring finger flared once more. Phoebe looked down to find an engagement ring butted against the wedding band. The stone in it was aquamarine and breathtaking. She stared into her husband’s eyes and realized they were almost the same color as the stone in her ring. For a split second his eyes seemed to fill with water and then it faded away quickly. “Sirius?”

  “It’s okay, Phoebe. Sometimes it happens when my emotions get a little out of whack.” A slow grin spread over his face. “The knowledge that you’re my wife now sort of has my heart fluttering and my entire body on overdrive—in good way.”

  Rubbing her ring finger, Phoebe kept her gaze locked on Sirius, wondering just how powerful her husband truly was. He obviously had a great deal of power considering the ring situation. It was painless but that did little to stifle her shock. “Am I dreaming? That’s it, isn’t it? I’m going to wake up and find you’re not real, that none of this is.”

  “If it’s a dream, Phoebe, I hope we never wake.” He planted a tiny kiss on her nose and winked. “Mmm, how about we eat and then I take you home to show you where you’ll be living?”

  “Excuse me, but I live here.”

  “Not anymore, Slatkiska. Your cousin seems like a nice girl but I refuse to share your time with anyone else. I’ve waited too long for you. I’m not about to change my ways and learn to be nice.”

  Phoebe cupped his scruffy cheek and stared into his blue eyes. “I don’t want to share you either and you’re the nicest man I know.”

  He did a rather fake growl and appeared to be doing his best not to laugh. “We need to get you out more then.”

  Chapter Five

  Phoebe slid her T-shirt over her head and glanced up at the television in the corner of the locker room. Like clockwork, the nightly newscaster popped on, looking every bit as devoid of emotion as she did every other broadcast. She waited for whatever “breaking news” the woman had this time.

  Something clanged near the showers and drew Phoebe’s attention from the television. Everyone was gone for the night. She’d have come here earlier but Sirius wouldn’t let her out of his sight. Thoughts of Xipil danced in her head and Phoebe did her best to stay calm. She’d sworn to Sirius that she wouldn’t leave her apartment without him when he’d gotten paged again to go into the station and the last thing she wanted to do was alert him through their mystical connection that she was scared. Guilt managed to ebb into her already crazed emotional scale.

  They’d spent the greater part of the last two days making love to the point neither could move comfortably before Sirius had conceded that he needed to show up for work at least long enough to tell them he was taking vacation time. Since he never took vacation, he had quite a bit accumulated. He’d even gone as far as to tell Phoebe he would quit his job, that money wasn’t an issue at his age and that he only worked for something to do. While she thoroughly believed him, she didn’t want him to stop working on account of her. He liked what he did, it was plain to see and he enjoyed Aland’s company. They were closer than friends, almost brothers in a way, and Phoebe refused to let Sirius give that up.

  Something made a banging noise and it sounded like the heavy exterior door to the dance studio. Phoebe’s heart leapt to her throat and for a minute she could swear the pounding in her ears would cause them to burst or alert whoever was with her of her location.

  Slatkiska, what’s wrong? You’re upset.

  Phoebe pressed her back to the row of lockers the minute she spotted a dark shadow moving over the wall. She held her breath and tried to mentally push reassurance at Sirius. His power wrapped around her and from the way it clamped down, she realized he wasn’t buying the fact she was fine. Probably because it wasn’t true. The move wasn’t the brightest thing she’d ever done but it was all she could think to do to ensure Sirius’ safety. Dying on account of her foolishness wasn’t something Phoebe wanted to happen to him.

  She took a step, thinking she could run to the door and instead found herself standing face-to-face with Xipil. His gray eyes locked on her and for a moment, Phoebe forgot how to breathe. He towered over her and looked entirely too pleased with himself for having caught her off guard.

  “I told you we would meet again, Phoebe.”

  Phoebe, what the hell is going on?

  She swallowed hard and did her best not to show Xipil how terrified she was. “You can’t take me now, I belong to someone else.”

  Gods, no! Phoebe, tell me you’re at your apartment, close to Forest!

  “I’m not,” she said softly.

  Xipil gave her a wry grin. “You’re not what?”

  Phoebe, listen to me. I need you to get somewhere crowded right this instant. I’m coming.

  In a flash, Xipil had hold of Phoebe’s hair and was jerking her towards the back of the locker room. White light flashed all around her. It was too bright to keep her eyes open but she knew if she closed them, it would be the same as giving in to Xipil. She tried to kick out, strike anything that could break Xipil’s hold on her but it was like hitting at thin air. A mischievous laugh sounded and she knew her efforts were in vain. Phoebe also knew that if she passed through the white light she’d be entering into one of the portals Sirius guarded and would not retu
rn on her own.

  A hand slid over hers and she was suddenly thrust away with a growl. “You mated with him!”

  Phoebe bit back a “duh” as she skidded across the floor. The man clearly wasn’t the brightest Constellaziogēn rebel in the bunch. She’d already announced the fact she belonged to another. Apparently, seeing was believing.

  The white light faded enough for Phoebe to open her eyes. The minute she spotted the female newscaster on the television, she breathed a sigh of relief. She’d not gone through the portal. Another shadow appeared to her right and she rolled to her feet just in time to find Xipil coming at her from the left. Dropping into splits, Phoebe narrowed missed being tackled by Xipil. Instead, he went over the top of her head and slammed into a row of metal lockers.

  He turned quickly, getting his bearings faster than she’d have liked. Xipil rushed her. For a minute, Phoebe could do nothing other than stare at the powerful man moving at her with inhuman speed. Something clicked a second before he would have struck her, forcing her to roll out of the way. She pushed to her feet and charged at Xipil, delivering a rather nasty kick between his shoulder blades.

  He rounded on her, his eyes hard and his intentions clear. He’d be taking her regardless what kind of fight she put up. “Phoebe, you have proven to be more work than the others. Why is that?” Xipil glanced around the room. “Do you have the aid of another of our kind? I smell his power lingering. Is that it? Have you found a way to tap into your temporary mate’s power?”

  “Temporary?”

  He smiled. “You do not honestly think I will allow you to stay mated to him, do you? I’ve grown tired of waiting for the Fates to hand me what is rightfully mine. I will just take a mate.”

  It hit her then, Xipil had never referred to Sirius by name. All he knew was that she was destined for a Gatekeeper. Remembering Forest’s response to Sirius’ name, she let a slow smile spread over her face. “My marriage to Sirius is anything but temporary. I love him and I’ll be damned if I let you break us apart.”

  “Sirius?” he asked, his eyes growing large. “No.”

  “Oh yeah, and trust me when I say he’s really looking forward to dealing with you and your buddies.”

  For a minute, Phoebe thought Xipil would flee. He didn’t. “Tell me, Phoebe, when is the last time you visited your sister?”

  Her breath caught in her throat. “What’s wrong with Sidney?”

  Xipil shrugged nonchalantly. “Nothing other than the fact she foolishly separated herself from you on purpose. With no mate present, and two powerful females in one location, you were like a beacon to us. She sensed this.” He smiled. “She even managed to keep us at bay. There is even word that she managed to reach a Gatekeeper, summoning him forth to aid in protecting you.”

  The voice in her head. Sirius. Sidney had been the reason she linked with Sirius?

  “What do you want from me? You have to realize that I’m not about to run off into the sunset with you and that my husband will kill you when he gets his hands on you.”

  Phoebe, get down and cover your eyes. You don’t need to see what I’m about to do to this traitorous bastard.

  She would have commented but Xipil picked then to do something she’d never dreamt possible. He pointed at the television in the upper corner of the locker room and the channel changed. While that in itself wasn’t nearly as impressive as him floating or making humans disappear the image he managed to pull up was. On the screen was an image of Phoebe, Heather and Sidney as little girls. Their dog Copper was with them so it narrowed the time frame down considerably since he died when Phoebe was only eight or nine. Seeing the love in her sister’s eyes as Sidney helped the younger version of Phoebe double-knot her shoestrings left her on the verge of tears.

  “You were destined to be one of us,” Xipil said as she continued to stare at what looked like a home movie. The others, the Gatekeepers, do not see what we see. The resistance knows the truth. You and the others like you, Phoebe, are more than connected to us. You’re not human like the others wish to believe. See for yourself.”

  Phoebe watched as the younger version of herself sat down near the sidewalk to direct Sidney on how to best make her chalk drawing. Sidney, four years older, glanced at Heather, who was the same age as her, and sighed. “How long do you think she’s going to keep making us draw the same thing?”

  Heather laughed. “You don’t want to know.”

  “You’re not putting all of them on there again. Why?”

  Sidney gave her a droll look and pushed a handful of black hair out of her face, revealing a pair of royal blue eyes. Yellow chalk was smeared over her cheek. “Because you just keeping making up new ones so I have to draw more.”

  “No I don’t. Lynx is real. It’s just not as old as most of them. But it’s really up there. It’s another gate point. A secret one.” The look Phoebe cast the other two girls was very dramatic. “Don’t tell anyone that it’s a gate point too because they’ll know I visit and they’ll get mad.”

  Sidney and Heather exchanged worried looks. “What do you mean visit?” Sidney asked, shifting a bit to face Phoebe head-on. She smiled. It was forced but warm all the same. She’d always been able to make Phoebe feel like all would be well even when it was clear, it wouldn’t. “Phoebe, please tell me you’re just making up more stories.”

  Heather nudged Sidney. The two had been the best of friends and often mirrored each other’s movements. “What? You don’t believe her, do you? I mean, no one can…” She stopped and bit her lower lip. “What if I told you I dreamed about this constellation?”

  Sidney’s gaze leapt to Phoebe.

  “Ooo, want to go for real? Here.” Phoebe put her hand out and the air around them began to swirl. Pink petals from the flowers near them blew around their heads giving an already intense moment an edge that left Heather and Sidney running towards her.

  “Phoebe, stop! They’ll sense you! They’ll come and steal you like Daddy said they would. Stop!”

  “But, don’t you want to see it? It’s very pretty. It’s like when we go to stay at Great-Grandma’s house. Lots of trees, birds—really big birds. I saw a purple one before. Honest to Gods purple.”

  Several men appeared out of nowhere. Phoebe hadn’t realized they’d done that at the time. When she was eight, she assumed they’d walked up while she wasn’t looking. In fact, the entire event had felt more dreamlike than anything. Seeing it replay now helped to jar her memory and to fill in the blanks.

  All the girls were tall for their age but the men still looked like giants next to them. One of the men grabbed her around the waist and she screamed out. Copper lunged at him, biting his arm, causing him to drop Phoebe.

  Heather and Sidney seized hold of Phoebe’s arms. They pulled so hard that they all toppled into a pile. The men converged on them. Sidney pushed her way to the top of the pile and stared defiantly up at the men. She said something in a language Phoebe didn’t recognize and the men were instantly sucked backwards.

  Phoebe had been pinned to the ground by Heather, who shielded her eyes from the horrors around them. Whatever Sidney had done looked painful for the men as they were pulled into what could only be described as a vacuum. Seeing it now as an adult, Phoebe had a whole new respect for Sidney. No longer did she see her as crazy. She saw her for what she was—someone who protected those she loved with all her heart and all her power.

  Heather shook and it was clear she was terrified. Phoebe cried and Heather instantly began to sing a soothing song as the winds died down. It was at that moment Phoebe realized she was right when she’d thought of Heather’s ability to calm her matching Aland’s and Sirius’. It made sense. Heather possessed gifts similar to theirs.

  She concentrated on the image before her once more. Sidney turned and faced her and Heather. She whispered something else in a language Phoebe didn’t know and smiled, her image freezing. Xipil sneered. “Do you know what she did for you, Phoebe?”

  Phoebe, get down now
or so help me I will drag you to the ground! I can’t use my magik until I know you’re clear. I’m almost there, baby. Aland is close. He’s waiting for my command to move in.

  She ignored Sirius’ voice in her head and focused on Xipil. “I didn’t remember all of that but I do now.”

  “Of course not. She cast a memory spell on you and Heather. She did it so you could both still sleep at night. Though in doing so, she isolated herself, never able to talk about what had happened, what she knew was going to happen.” He took a step towards her. “You see, Phoebe, your sister was well aware we would keep coming for you all. She shouldered that burden on her own to allow you, the baby girl, to live without fear. It drove her mad. You drove her mad.”

  She shook her head. “No. I didn’t drive Sidney crazy. I didn’t. Did I?”

  Xipil put his hand out to her. “Come. I can fix her, Phoebe. I can make Sidney whole again. All you have to do is agree to come with me. To join me.”

  Phoebe, get down!

  This time, she listened. Dropping down, she felt a blast of hot power shoot over her head. It slammed into Xipil and he tumbled backwards. Another man appeared out of thin air next to Xipil. The second she spotted scars on his left forearm, Phoebe recognized him from that day, long ago when Copper had attacked him. What she’d long since pushed deep into the recesses of her mind, labeling as a nightmare, now rang true. Her temper flared as did her power.

  Close your eyes, Phoebe.

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she rose slowly, narrowing her gaze on the newest addition. He smiled and licked his lower lip. “Xipil, she is even more glorious than you said.” The man made a move to come at her and she couldn’t help but laugh. “You think me funny, human?”