“Oh, but you are wrong there, my little bird,” he declared.
“Damn it, Tamara. I don’t know how much more I can take of this. Do you know what that jerk did while you were upstairs?” Lydia yelled once they were in the kitchen.
“What did he do?” Tamara asked as Lana, Ishka and Ana followed into the room.
She spun and glared at her. “You’re making fun of me again.”
“Lydia, I wouldn’t do that, but you know fates don’t mess around, so what did he do?” Tamara leaned against the counter and waited.
“He cornered me in the hall and kissed me,” Tears fell down her cheeks and she slid down the wall and rested her head on her knees. “I haven’t been with anyone since…”
“Since Gus?” She asked, sitting next to her and hugged her.
“Yeah, every time I see his face,” Lydia sighed. “Why would the fates put me with someone that has more experience than anyone I know?”
“Maybe that’s why he’s your mate. To help you get over the hurt.” She patted her knee. “Let him help Lydia, give him a chance. Didn’t you tell me that a true mate will always be there for you?” She stood and held out her hand.
“You would throw my own words back at me,” she grumbled.
“You know I could tell my father to back off, if it would help,” Ishka stepped forward and hugged Lydia. “He can be pushy, but if you are truly his mate, he’ll listen. Welcome to the family, mom,” she teased and Lydia looked at her bewildered...
“Relax, she’s kidding. Now come on, I have to run this idea that I have by Gage and his brother,” she looked at Ana who held out her hand.
“Come on let’s get this over with, but it’s a good idea.” Ana said and Ishka agreed taking Lydia’s hand and pulled her along.
“Later tonight, you and I can talk. You can ask me anything and I’ll tell you. Maybe if you got to know him without him being there that would help ease the worry,” Ishka said as they stepped back into the den.
Just as Tamara thought, Gage and Herick had a royal fit when she told them about her idea. They growled and paced back and forth, until Lana yelled, scaring even her. “Enough! Do you think Tamara would even suggest this if there wasn’t a better way? Do you really believe a human would be able to handle Bane’s mother or Baal?”
Both men grumbled and finally nodded. They finally agreed that each woman who volunteered had to have Fae blood and that their mate would have to agree to it.
Tamara took the phone and started calling around looking for a band,. Two hours into her task, she had not had any kind of luck. “Damn it, I can’t find anyone.” She looked over at Lydia who frowned.
“We’ll find someone. Who was going to play at Lars’ parents’ party? Maybe they’d do it? How are you going to decorate the dome? You know you’re men aren’t going to allow you there till the last minute.”
“You’ve got that right,” Lars said scooping her up and sitting where she had been. “My mother will be here for lunch. She’s going to help with the plans. Will that be alright?”
****
He didn’t want to upset Tamara, but his mother was furious with his dad the way they had treated Tamara and demanded to see her.
“Lars, I love your mom and I never had any problem with her. Her help would be greatly appreciated.”
Hearing those words, Lars released the breath he was holding. Lars would have denied his mother if it would have upset Tamara. She’d been through too much and he was bound and determined to protect her.
“Don’t forget you two promised me a trip to the town. I still need clothes.” She kissed his chest. “Do they have material there?”
“What do you need material for?” Maxim said plopping down next to Lydia.
“Back off,” Lydia said as she got up, but not quick enough. Maxim pulled her back down onto his lap.
“Relax, I just want to hold you,” Maxim said, turning his attention to her, and waiting.
“I have an idea for a costume and it’s going to be perfect,” she smiled from ear to ear and Lars knew Tamara had something up her sleeve.
“Tell me what you need and I’ll get it,” Maxim said.
“Red silk, I’d need over six yards of it. Lana, do you have a sewing machine?” She asked Gage’s mother and she nodded.
“Yep, sure do and I can help if you need it. I’ve made many costumes in my time,” Lana offered, giving her a bottle of orange juice. “Drink, it will hold you till I make lunch.”
“I’ll help since we have more people coming.” Tamara kissed his cheek and hopped off his lap. “Do we have any chicken? I would love to make chicken salad sandwiches,” His beautiful woman and Lydia followed Lana into the kitchen where they talked and laughed.
“It’s good to hear her so relaxed and laughing, isn’t it?” Gage said siting down next to Maxim.
“But she won’t really be free of stress until we get rid of this threat. What have you found out, Maxim?” Lars drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair as Bane joined them, pulling a chair over.
“Well, if what Bane suggests is true, then Baal is building an army. I bet he’ll have most of it there at the event. Bane, have you met any of his other children, the ones with that take after your father?” Maxim asked and the man nodded.
“I’m taking each of these children are different?” Lars asked and got the confirmation he needed.
“I’ve killed at least three of my brothers and one sister over the years. Sometimes I hate carrying his blood. The only good thing is that my children will never carry his gene. It’s not passed down through me. If I don’t have the gene, my children won’t, but from what I’ve seen the children from his kids that do carry the gene have a fifty percent chance of getting it.”
“What kind of force are we dealing with here, his children? If you were able to destroy a few of them that gives me hope,” Lars said, leaning forward.
“They are not strong at all. Having this gene not only screws with their brain, but with every gift they are born with. They’re almost stupid. It’s the strangest thing to see, but when dear old daddy is around, it’s like they are a part of him. Like little robots who don’t think and just do what he says.”
“What about your mother? How is she affected when your father is around?” Maxim asked.
“He has no control over her and that pisses him off some, but usually her agenda is the same as his. My mother was no saint before all this, but she would never kill people like she does now. There is also a slight problem with my mother that we’re going to have to deal with.” Bane sighed.
“The last time I saw my mother, she was getting ready to give birth. She was holed up in some sort of cave. From what I’ve been told, a spider can lay up to nine hundred eggs. Now, I have no idea if my mother will lay eggs or give birth to live children.”
“When did your father give her his blood?” Maxim asked.
“When she had me she was dying and he wanted her to raise me from what he said, so he saved her alright, but changed her totally. Seeing that my mother couldn’t take care of me, the one good thing my father did was place me with a couple, but one of them happened to be Fae. Father didn’t know this till it was too late. They had already taken me to their realm, afraid of what Baal would do. So the grudge against the Fae is not a new one.”
“When was the last time you saw your mother?” Lars asked.
“Over a hundred years ago,” Bane said.
“Shit! So she could have had a crap load of children already,” Gage snarled. “Do we have any idea what her children would be like/? Does she need Baal to father these children or will anyone do?”
“That I can’t answer, I was just lucky enough to kill her last bunch of eggs and yes I said eggs. There were over five hundred of them when I found them and they weren’t normal eggs.” Bane nodded to the middle of the room where some sort of video played. “This was her nest.”
Every male in the room gathered around as the video changed and a p
icture of a woman was there. Her upper body was that of a woman, but her lower was that of the spider. In a matter of seconds the woman shifted into a human. “That’s my mother.”
The picture was gone. Bane looked tired. “Why don’t you go lay down for a few?” Lars said, but already he was shaking his head.
“No, I have more calls to make.” Bane got up and moved to the other side of the room where he once more picked up the phone.
“Lars I wish to visit,” his mother said.
“Mom is ready.” Lars stood as his mother and father flashed into the room.
She immediately came to him and hugged him. “I’m sorry Lars. I had no idea what your father and grandfather were going to do or I would have tried to stop it.”
His father snorted behind her. “It had to be done. She needed to be tested.” His father said, earning him a hiss from Bane and Storm from across the room. His father turned and glared at them, then recognized who they were. “You’re not staying, Angeline.”
Lars was getting ready to say something to his father, when Tamara did it for him. “You may say what you will about me, but I will not have you insulting my sister and brother. They are here to help with this issue of my father. If you can’t handle it, then maybe you should leave,” Tamara said as she lifted her chin and stood there in the doorway.
“Angeline, now we are leavening” Trevor demanded, but Lars’ mom only turned and glared at his father. “Go, leave. I have a lunch date with my daughter, and Trevor…if you can’t be civil to her, leave. I’ll stay here with her and you can fend for yourself. She didn’t do this and you know it. This vendetta was started between your father and hers. Tamara just happened to be in the middle of it, like your mother.”
Lars had never heard his mother speak against his father and it was obvious his dad didn’t know what to do. “I’ll be back for you in two hours.” With that, he was gone.
His mother turned to Tamara. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t know and I would have stopped them somehow.”
With a smile, Tamara shook her head and stand in front of his mom. “No, you wouldn’t have been able to stop them. At least they know for sure now, but I’m glad you’re here. We can use your help and I’ve missed you.” Tamara hugged her tight.
Looking up at him, his mother had tears rolling down her face. “I missed you, our chats, but I promise I don’t care what happens. Each day or every other day, we’ll make time to have one of our chats when this is all over.”
“I’d like that. Come, we have lunch ready. We’re serving it in the dining room since there are so many here helping.” Tamara took her hand and led her towards the room. Lars and Gage followed as did Bane and Storm.
“I’m sorry about my father.” Lars looked over his shoulder.
Bane shrugged. “It happens, but I’m surprised you two allowed Tamara to have the test done?”
He stopped and frowned. “Why do I get the feeling we’re missing something here?”
“The test that is performed requires a piece of her skin to be removed, but what you don’t understand is that our skin is different. When you remove a piece of it, it’s a very painful process for us. I’m surprised Tamara didn’t tell you.” Bane at his sister.
“How painful?” Gage asked.
“Put it this way, it would be like you losing an arm. It was part of her.” Bane’s gaze met his. “If she didn’t say anything, then my sister can tolerate more pain than I did.”
“Or I,” Storm said next to Bane. “I cried for a good hour.”
“When this is over, I think I’m going to have a long chat with my father,” Lars snapped and headed into the dining room. Gage was close at his heels as they cornered their woman.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Gage demanded and looked down at the place where they’d removed the skin but it was cover with her jeans.
“What are you talking about now?” She put her hands on her hips, frowning at both of them.
“When you had the test done,” Lars said. “You acted like it was nothing?”
She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. “Thanks Bane. Look it hurt like hell, but there was no sense in broadcasting it around. It had to be done or none of your family would have spoken with you. You know how I feel about that.” She looked up at him and Lars pulled her into his arms.
“Never do that again. The thought of you in so much pain like that…I want to rip my father and grandfather apart for making you go through that.” Lars held her tight, but stepped back when she squeaked. “Sorry.”
“I’m fine,” she laughed and reached up to kiss Gage. “Grab some food and sit. We can talk while we eat, but nothing about spiders please. I want to keep my food in me this time.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sitting at the end of the table, Tamara listened to Lars’ mother and Gage’s talk about when both of her men were small children. She placed her hands on her stomach and looked over at her men.
Both were in a discussion with Gage’s brother and father. Both of them strong in their own ways and they were hunks. She smiled as her gaze traveled down to the tight round globes of Lars’ ass.
“You’re almost breathless and if you keep staring at him like that, he’ll have you over the table.” Lydia teased. “I was thinking of taking a walk. Want to join me? Some air might help clean those impure thoughts from your mind,” Lydia said in her ear. “Plus, I ate too much and need to work it off. He-Man over there keeps giving me the eye and I sure don’t want to have to slice his sorry ass too.” Tamara heard the sound of her knife opening and closing behind her.
Tamara rolled her eyes and looked behind her to see her sister, Storm and Ana in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Go on, we’ll keep the men occupied while you young ones take a walk,” Lana, Gage’s mother, leaned over and whispered. “You won’t have much time, but we’ll stall them.”
Wiping her mouth, Tamara leaned over and kissed Lars’s mother on the cheek. “Will you be here when I get back?”
“No. I need to get back and start gathering that information for the band. I’ll also work with the elder’s mates to get this done. But I’ve already arranged to come back tomorrow so we can plan this thing. Be safe, my daughter.” She squeezed her hands and shooed her off.
They were lucky the men were so busy trying to figure out security that none of them noticed them slip into the kitchen and out the back door. Ana held up her hand and pointed to the outer barn.
Not waiting, Tamara took off running as she zipped up the coat her sister-in-law had given her to wear. The cool air felt great against her cheeks and with the fresh snow, Tamara squinted against the moon rays.
“God, it feels great to be outside. I take it the men can hear when you are close to the house?” she asked and Ana nodded.
“Yes, and I learned that the hard way. It won’t be long before they come to find us. At least I don’t have to worry about the kids. Maxim took them to Ishka’s home. they’ll stay there till this is over.” Ana looked at her for a second, before she turned her attention to the ground. “Gage did tell you that staying here you can also go out in the daytime?”
“What?” Both she and Lydia stopped to stare at Ana. Ana rolled her eyes and pointed towards a path she hadn’t seen.
“When grandfather created this place, the shields, he made it so it would also protect from the sun. Guess he knew someday he would need it.” Ana focused on Lydia.
“Don’t look at me. As soon as the threat is gone and the party done, I’m out of here. There is no way I’m getting hooked up to a man that has been around so long he makes the dinosaurs look young.” Ana busted out laughing as did she.
“Hey, you know Lars is no young thing either.” She stopped and frowned. “You know he never did give me his true age. Do you know how old he is?” Tamara asked and looked at Lydia who shook her head, but what caught her attention was on the wolves moving in and out of the trees around them.
Seeing Tamara turn to the ri
ght, Lydia snarled. “Nope, I know he’s over two hundred, but that’s it. Damn, we’ve got company.”
A wolf howled and the others followed suit as Ana moaned. “It won’t be long now. They’ve warned the men about us and where we are. I’d hoped we could have made it to town, but...”
Tamara jumped and grabbed for the knife she had at her thigh as Lars and Gage appeared at her side. “Don’t do that!” She took a deep breath and watched as Herick, Maxim, and Bane appeared behind them.
Both Lars and Gage glared at her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She rolled her eyes and continued on the path with Lydia, and the others following. “Are you really that dense? We’re taking a walk. Ana was taking us to the town. Now you want to explain why you didn’t tell me we could be out and about in the sun here?”
“Easy. We didn’t want you to get used to being in the sun. What if you forgot one day and were not in the protection of this shield?” She stopped, looked over her shoulder at Lars.
“You really think I’m so stupid I would forget?” Tamara held up her hand. “Don’t even answer that. Maxim, is there a way to do the same thing over the stadium we’ll be using? Just a shield protecting…no! I got it!” She turned fully toward the men. “Can you make some kind of shield that goes around us for the day of the party? We could get in there before anyone else and be set up? That would give us a huge advantage.” Tamara flinched as a strong pressure started to throb in her head.
“Lars, Gage are you doing something?” She looked at them while rubbing the spot between her eyes trying to release some of the pressure.
“No, what’s wrong?” Lars said at the same time she felt their presence in her head. The pressure eased in a few seconds and she sighed.
“Thank you. Maybe it’s a headache coming on. God, I hope it’s not a migraine.” Tamara looked to Lars and he shook his head, but her brother’s moan drew her attention.
“I feel it too and it’s no headache. Seems our father wants to talk. When he can’t get hold of us, he sends out these pulsing energy bursts and if we don’t answer them, instant headache.” Bane informed her.
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