Mystic Realms: A Limited Edition Collection

by Nicole Morgan

  “Zane will shield your mind from her,” Christian volunteered.

  Megan shook her head, knowing he must be playing a trick.

  “He doesn’t have that capability.”

  “If you’d stuck around long enough, you would have discovered his other talents, as well as mine.”

  That coldness, which she did not care for, entered Christian’s voice again. Megan shivered, and this time she did grab the sheets and tug them over her nakedness.

  “I cannot trust you. Either of you,” she told them, the familiar anger of their betrayal washing over her again.

  Zane swore.

  The muscles in Christian’s cheeks spasmed again, and to her surprise, his gaze softened. “Why do you not trust us?” he asked. “Have we not in the past proven to you we would never hurt you?”

  That question felt like a lethal arrow to her heart. Megan’s fangs throbbed. She hated both of them so much at this moment.

  “I need a mind shield,” she demanded.

  “I am inside your mind now,” Zane replied. “I cannot read your mind, but I can place a shield around all your thoughts. You should feel my presence now.”

  Megan noticed the oddest hum sift through her thoughts. The restlessness, the panic, the confusion, all of those emotions were being calmed. So blessedly calm. The cold chill she’d been feeling off and on since being recaptured was gone.

  Megan relaxed, smiling. Zane could protect her mind from Seer. Could protect her daughters from Seer’s wrath.

  “How long can you keep the shield up?” she asked.

  “As long as you like,” Zane replied.

  Relief poured over her. “She can never know what I am about to tell you,” Megan admitted.

  “I don’t think—” Christian began, but Zane cut him off with a jab of his elbow to his stomach.

  “Agreed,” Zane replied in a cool voice. “Right, Christian?”

  Megan watched anxiously as Christian inhaled deeply and pursed his lips in thought.

  “Agreed,” he reluctantly said.

  Gosh, where should she start? Megan pondered this question as she gathered her thoughts. With Zane’s mind shield, it seemed easier to think now. Everything seemed to piece together.

  Over the years, she’d managed to build a wall around her thoughts where her daughters were concerned. They were vibrant young females, growing at a rate twice as fast as other youngling vampires. She attributed this quick growth to Warrior genetics. Most Warrior offspring seemed to mature at four times quicker the rate than vamps in other covens.

  At forty years old, they were of mating age, whereas Megan hadn’t been able to mate until two hundred years. She didn’t want to think of what troubles they might be getting into while Megan was here and unable to be with them for guidance. She could only hope they had listened to her instruction to be very careful in who they associated with. Megan had drilled it into them that they had to follow the same rules as she did under Vampira. They had to continue to take their vaccines, which allowed them to walk in the sunshine as a human, as well as not allowing Megan’s past to find them. And Vampira’s number one rule was no sex with males. Until now, they had not questioned their mother, but she did suspect they might be testing their sexuality in the human world. If they hadn’t yet, they soon would be.

  Each possessed the same temperament of their sire. Christina was so much like Christian, and Zeena so much like Zane. She wanted so badly for them to meet their fathers. So badly for Zane and Christian to bond with them. But with Seer here, and her premonition, none of it could happen.

  “It all started the night I found the two of you in bed with that female.”

  Both Zane and Christian stared back at her with obvious puzzlement.

  Chapter Eight

  Sweet vampire! They needed her to describe the female? They’d had that many?

  “The one with the huge…” Megan held her hands over her breasts.

  The males continued to stare at her as if she’d lost her mind.

  “The one you slept with the night I left.” Perhaps that would help them pinpoint the female she spoke about.

  It was Zane who shook his head first. Christian followed suit.

  “We did not take any other females to our beds when you became our mate,” Christian growled, anger apparent in his voice. “You asked us not to use the female Master Arousers. We honored your request. We were faithful to you. Even on the night you left. I don’t know what you saw—”

  “I saw both of you asleep with a female I’ve never seen before lying between the two of you. Her arousal scent was everywhere. An idiot would have known what transpired.”

  “We waited for you that night,” Christian said. “You sent your maiden with an arrangement of blood informing us you had a surprise. That we must gorge ourselves on the blood to sustain ourselves for a night of succulent lovemaking. We did as you asked and drank the blood. Later, while we waited, we fell asleep on the bed.”

  Megan’s pulse raced.

  “I sent no arrangement. I only spoke of my surprise to Seer. I wished to come directly to you, but she insisted I go back to my room to bathe and dress properly for my announcement. Seer must have drugged the blood.”

  Yes, it was all starting to make sense now. Seer hated her. She’d said as much by telling Megan she was no better than a human because she couldn’t dematerialize. Seer’s friendliness up until that point could only have been an act as she waited for an opportunity to get Megan out of the Warrior Empire.

  “Why would she drug the blood?” Zane was shaking his head, not believing Megan’s suggestion.

  “Because she wanted Megan to see us with the female,” Christian said thoughtfully. “I thought I had smelled female arousal scent upon awakening. I knew it hadn’t been yours. I’d forgotten that upon learning of your sudden absence.”

  “Now that you mention it, we had slept hard that night,” Zane acknowledged. “I had thought it due to the military exercises we’d been participating in for the few days prior.”

  “But why would she want Megan out of the way?” Zane asked. “Just so she could frame her for the terrorist acts?”

  Christian was shaking his head, and Megan could almost see the wheels grinding in his brain as he tried to figure out the web Seer had woven around them.

  “Father survived several days after he’d been pulled out from the avalanche. The doctor said his injuries were life-threatening, but he might have still had a chance if his healing powers were strong enough,” Christian said out of the blue.

  “You’ve never said this before.” Hurt lashed Zane’s face as he gazed at his older brother.

  “You were too young to remember. I never mentioned it, for I saw no need.”

  “So? What happened? Obviously he did not survive,” Zane retorted.

  “He took a turn for the worse. I was with him alone when it happened. I wanted to call for the doctor, but he would not allow it. He grabbed my arm. Held me so tight, I thought he would break my bones. As he spoke, I could barely understand him. His speech was slurred, as if he were drunk.”

  “Or poisoned,” Zane added cynically.

  “The possibility does exist,” Christian acknowledged, and Megan shivered at the prospect their father could have been poisoned by Seer.

  “I didn’t get everything he was trying to tell me. But he was mentioning Seer and I understood three distinct words of his last sentence. Seer. Power. Anger. Like I said, I was young. I did not understand. He died holding my arm.”

  Painful sorrow raced through Megan for the young Christian. Watching his sire die would have been very traumatic.

  “Seer. Power. Anger,” Zane repeated.

  “I always thought he meant Seer would be angry if she didn’t have the power to raise us.”

  “Of course a child would perceive it that way,” Megan soothed, feeling the need to reach out and touch him. She held back. There would be plenty of time for touching later. Right now they had to figure out wh
y Seer would wish to have Megan out of the way, and what their sire had meant to say on his deathbed.

  “Power could mean her power of foresight,” Zane volunteered.

  Megan shook her head. “But everyone already knew of that gift. Certainly your father wouldn’t need to repeat something everyone already knew.”

  “Which means maybe he was trying to tell you something you did not know,” Zane surmised.

  “That’s usually what a deathbed confession entails,” Megan pondered. Unless he was simply delusional and just speaking out of pain, she added to herself.

  “I think the answer lies in why Seer would benefit with Megan out of the way,” Christian said, and both males were focusing their attention on her again.

  “The Empire was very happy to have Megan as their Queen. After you left, many became angry,” Christian said.

  “Seer wanted you out of the way and it may have to do with this announcement you were to make to us,” Zane said. “The mind shield is protecting you from her. I have added one around Christian as well as myself. You can tell us of her prediction of what would happen if you told us about this surprise too. I doubt her prediction is true. She did not wish for you to tell us something. What is it?”

  Megan wanted to tell them, but she couldn’t put Christina and Zeena into harm’s way.

  “Need I remind you of the mind shield again? You are protected.”

  “I do not fear my safety. I fear for the others. Seer probably knows I am telling you, as she is probably reading my mind now, and when she comes upon the mind shield she will know I am telling you. She will escape, mind shield or not. The others will be in danger from her.”

  “I will have her found and immediately detained.” Christian was up and out of the bed before Megan could even stop him.

  “She will know for sure then,” Megan cried out. She tried to go after him, but Zane grabbed her arm, preventing her from leaving the bed.

  Christian, in his nude state, swung open the door. Fear rushed through Megan as she heard Christian and a guard speaking. A moment later, he closed the door and strolled back toward the bed. Megan swallowed at his determined stride. The powerful muscles in his thighs jerked as he climbed back onto his side of the bed.

  “The order for her imprisonment is active now. You must tell us now who you are protecting, so we can make arrangements to take over their protection. Who is in danger?”

  Fear simply took hold and Megan shook her head, unable to speak.

  “If she’s been reading your mind since you’ve been here, she most likely already knows the whereabouts of those you seek to protect. We cannot help whomever it is if you do not tell us who they are. Surely you see this,” Zane urged.

  “She won’t know where they are, for I do not even know,” Megan admitted. “The instant I went missing, previously made arrangements will have gone into play.”

  Christian shook his head. “But Seer can find out. She is very powerful in the way of predictions and reading minds. Don’t keep us in the dark. She cannot read Zane’s mind nor mine. Your secret will be safe with us.”

  Despite Zane’s mind shield soothing her other emotions, it couldn’t seem to relax the anxiety racing through her about her daughters. She’d been protecting them for so long she couldn’t seem to open up and tell them.

  “Who are you protecting, Megan? This is now of the utmost importance. You must tell us now.” There was such an urgency in Christian’s voice that it merely increased her anxiety.

  “Tell us, so we can protect them from Seer. We are trusting your word, Megan. We are trusting you when you say she is your enemy. If she is your enemy, then she is ours as well. She will be apprehended. Now tell us.”

  Megan could hold back the dam no longer. It simply burst.

  “She did not want me to tell you that I was with child. With twins. Your twins. One from each of you.”

  Her two males looked properly stunned.

  Megan continued, “You each have a daughter.”

  “I will kill her,” Zane growled as his fangs unsheathed.

  Terror clawed through Megan. Zane wanted to kill his daughter! Seer’s prediction had been correct!

  “I will kill Seer with my bare hands,” he continued. “The bitch must die for this deception. She knew we wished for offspring. She bloody well knew it would make us happy and the Warrior Kingdom extremely happy.”

  Until now Christian had remained silent. Quiet as one of those human store mannequins. He did not appear happy nor distressed, as Zane did. He wasn’t one to show his emotions freely, but when he spoke, she understood why he’d been quiet. He’d been absorbing everything she’d said, and been trying to figure out why Seer had done what she’d done.

  “Anger. She found an opportunity to make the members of the Empire angry. That’s where she must get her powers. From our anger. It makes sense now.”

  “Where’s my daughter, Megan?” Zane interrupted. “I wish to see her now. We need to protect them.”

  Zane was crawling over her and Christian to get out of the bed. Once outside, he pulled on his pants, but Megan focused on Christian, who seemed to have the coolest head of the three of them.

  “I know she derives her powers from those around her. But I knew not how. It must be through anger. Before Megan came, the Empire was angry. We spoke of how we reacted to your scent at the alpine house and she said she’d had a premonition. That you would bring us grief and you would be catastrophic to the kingdom. But we defied her. When word came that you had not returned from your mate search, Seer warned us not to search you out. She predicted Megan would bring trouble for us. But she must have realized Megan would bring trouble for her. Megan brought the captured females of the Empire happiness. They saw she had begun to fight for females’ rights from the day she entered the Kingdom. The females were happy and their males became happy.”

  Zane was nodding now, obviously understanding where his brother was going with his observations.

  “Everyone was happiest when Megan was crowned Queen,” Zane continued. “Secretly Seer must have been losing her power of foresight and mind reading. She did not want to lose her stature in the castle. Didn’t want us to know, or the people to know of the offspring, for they would be ecstatic. When you told her of the pregnancy, she must have panicked and found a way to get rid of you and then to further anger the people by framing you for the acts of terrorism. Your alleged betrayal of our Kingdom angered everyone. She drew her powers from their anger.”

  It made sense, but Megan couldn’t believe Seer could be so horribly cruel. Seer’s manipulations had affected the entire coven, Christian and Zane. Prevented her daughters from knowing their sires. She wanted to kill the conniving bitch!

  An abrupt knock on the bedroom door had Christian hurrying to open it. While Christian stepped outside, Zane sat up on the bed, taking Megan’s hands into his. His eyes glowed with apology and hurt.

  “I’m so sorry for what she did to us, Megan. I had no idea she could be so evil. No idea. But it’s over now. We will be reunited. All of us. I promise.”

  “Seer has been imprisoned in the dungeon,” Christian said a moment later when he returned. “She was apprehended trying to dematerialize. A guard had the forethought to place one of the golden necklaces around her neck. They are infused with garlic and other ingredients in a crucifix. It instantly weakens a vampire and prevents him or her from dematerializing. We usually reserve them for our soldier of war prisoners. Her hands are now tied, so she cannot remove the crucifix. I have ordered it be placed around her neck with a gold band, which cannot be removed. This will be done within the hour. She will be dealt with in the harshest ways for what she has done to us. She will pay dearly,” Christian said in a flat voice.

  Relief, unlike any Megan had ever experienced in her existence, poured through her.

  “I surmise you know who can tell us where we can find our daughters?” Christian asked.

  Megan nodded. Thankfully, the coolness in his
voice was gone, replaced by a huskiness she’d never heard before. Although outwardly Christian rarely showed emotions, she sensed he could barely contain his euphoria at knowing he had a daughter.

  “They will be asleep now. I will call someone who knows someone else who knows where they are. In a few hours she will make the arrangements for us to go and see them.”

  Megan couldn’t contain her own happiness any longer, as tears bubbled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.

  Her males moved quickly, climbing onto the bed on each side of her, holding her, comforting her, their strong arms melting her hurt, their passionate kisses melting the anger in her heart at what had happened to them. They took turns touching her breasts, her belly, her pussy.

  Wild, wanton emotions swept through Megan as they moved closer against her. She loved her males so much, it hurt so good. Her fangs detracted in a flurry of both arousal and hunger. She needed to feed from them. Needed to feel their love inside of her. Simply needed to feel again, for she’d closed off her sexual side for so many years while under the protection of Vampira.

  Their lips moved over her body in featherlike kisses, teasing her skin. Their breaths grew rough and fast and urgent. Her breaths matched theirs.

  “How do they look?” Christian asked.

  “They’re beautiful, full-grown females.”

  “Full-grown?” Zane gasped as he looked up from between her thighs where he’d positioned his head. She inhaled sharply at the unsheathing gleaming fangs pushing past his lips. Hunger slashed his eyes and she moaned at the overwhelming need to nourish herself on these males. She would. Soon.

  “Yes, they’ve inherited the growth spurts of the Warriors and the temperaments of each of their sires.”

  “I can’t wait to meet them.” Zane grinned then dove between her legs.

  Megan gasped as Zane’s hot tongue brushed against her clit. Moving her hips into a better position, she pulled up her knees on each side of his broad shoulders, placed her feet upon his rock-hard back, effectively holding his head and upper torso hostage between her legs.