Fuck, if he hasn't a point, but still... "Why him." I stab a finger in Rafael's direction. "Why this dickwad of a Fae Vampire? Why do we need him?"
Rafael snickers, "For my dashing good looks, of course."
I tighten my grip on his collar. He holds up his hands. "Just kidding. You need me because, I am the most skilled navigator there is."
"Fuck if I care."
"You're not thinking straight." Dante moves forward to stand facing the two of us, "We have one shot to take out Dimitri with our combined energies. We can't miss. And turns out, Rafael here," he claps the motherfucker on his shoulder, "specializes in directing energy bolts to their destination."
"Bulls-eye." The vampire-Fae's lips twist. "When you don't have wings, you get one chance to save yourself."
"Oh?"
"I never miss."
I scrutinize his features. Should I believe this man who dared touch my mate, who'd run away with her? He'd protected her. Ensured she came to no harm, until I tracked them down.
"If you're lying, I'll—"
Waves of fear seize me. All of my nerve endings pop, my chest hurts, and the mating bond in my chest erupts in a cacophony of noise. I reel back. My grip loosens and Rafael pulls away. My guts churn; sweat beads my forehead.
Across from me, Gabriel's shoulders bunch. "Lily, fuck!"
Doc wheezes, clutches his chest. "Alice..."
"Charley." I race for the exit, wrench open the door. Flashes of light implode as a crushing weight barrels into me. I stumble back.
Fiery strands dig into my flesh.
I peer through the static. Fireballs and geometric shapes rain over us. All of my senses pop.
"The fuck is happening?"
"A psychic attack." Dante staggers forward, his body braced against the force of the disturbance. "The bastard—Dimitri—he's behind this I—" White noise cuts him off.
The environment thickens, rolls in on itself. A massive pressure pushes down on my chest. My lungs burn.
"Jesus. Fuck. Charley..." I am coming. Hold on. I push my way back toward the front door. My senses scream, pain seizes me, white and red hooks dig into my skin, and I am flung back.
My body arcs through the air.
Then everything goes dark.
37
Charley
"What are you talking about, Alice?"
I glance sideways in time to spot her belly ripple. The waves bunch up her dress. The hell? She isn’t going to give birth that soon, is she? She sways; her grasp on me tightens.
"You okay?"
Her features pale further, then she firms her shoulders. "You bet. No lunatic is going to take away the pleasure of my giving birth to my first child."
Another ripple grips her body and she bites down on her lower lip, "Shit."
"The baby," I stutter. The world seems to sway.
"Don’t you dare faint on me," Alice whisper-screams.
"No." I force myself to crack my eyes, take in a deep breath, then another. The bastard’s face comes into view. "I’m fine." I shake off her arm, then stalk forward.
"Charley," Alice calls behind me.
"What are you doing?" Lily snaps.
I ignore both of them. "I am tired of this, you hear me."
I pause in front of the angry Fae male. "You keep surfacing at the most inopportune times. It’s fucking annoying."
"Annoying?"
I nod. "And your bullshit story about using me to propagate your species. Honestly, I don’t give a flying fuck about it."
His features freeze; the hollows beneath his cheekbones seem more pronounced. A coldness vibrates off of him, slaps me in the chest. My stomach twists and my skin crawls. My legs quake. Shit. Not good. Where the fuck is my courage when I need it?
Dimitri's features harden, "I meant what I said."
"Like I fucking care?"
He sets his jaw, draws himself up to his full height. "For someone who is so vulnerable, you sure talk big."
"For someone who dares intrude on the Fae Corps home, on their turf, and mess with their women, you sure are being too confident."
"Maybe I have a reason."
"Oh?" My heart begins to beat faster. Why would he walk in here with no apparent backup and unannounced? So he says he wants to take me… Whatever. But still, he wouldn’t just flounce in, not unless— "What…what have you done?"
His gaze sharpens. "I knew you weren’t a pushover, girl."
"Tell me," I snarl. "What’s your plan?"
"You can rule out your men… They were stupid enough to get together in one place. Made it easy for me to take them out all in one stroke."
My heart begins to race. "What... what do you mean?"
"First, you answer my questions, then I answer yours. Guess what happens when you fold women into the mix?"
He tilts his head, looks at me expectantly.
Sweat beads my palms. Something is very wrong.
"The Fae Corps men... What...what have you done to them?"
He shakes his head, "Remember our arrangement? You first..."
I squeeze my fingers at my sides.
He cups a palm behind his ear.
I swallow down the bile that threatens to boil up. "What?" I croak. "What happens when you fold women into the mix?"
His features light up, "You end up ignoring what truly matters."
My pulse thuds. "Which is...?"
"Focus, strategy, power." He scrutinizes me from head to toe. "Not that I don’t appreciate why they find you so distracting, but they let themselves get complacent. Enjoying the joys of marital bliss."
"Unlike you?"
"Exactly." He widens his stance. "I plan to take you, use your body as a vessel, keep you alive long enough to birth my successor, then kill you."
"Jeez." I press a trembling finger to cheek. "That’s such a romantic proposition."
"Right?" He grins. “So, either you come with me voluntarily and I spare your friends..."
"Or?"
"Or I take you, and kill them while I am at it." He wipes the smile from his face. "Every single one of them, including the baby in her belly."
Alice stiffens. Waves of fear tremble from her. Lily shuffles her feet and his gaze darts to her. I move forward, wave my hand. "I’m here, asshole, don’t you want my answer?"
He glances at me, "All ears."
I tilt my head, peruse his body. My stomach churns; bile coats my tongue. I pretend to give his proposition a lot of thought, "My answer is—"
Jess barrels into the clearing, "Take me instead."
38
Hawke
The ball of sensations in my chest spikes out, stabs into my rib cage. My eyes snap open.
"Charley." My heart twists; my stomach churns. I lurch to my feet.
Ahead, Doc rises to his feet. His big body sways, then he steadies himself.
The mating cord in my chest wheezes; the blood drains from my face. "Fuck." Pinpricks of pain pinch my body. I glance down. My clothing's torn in places, the skin lacerated. Blood drips from a cut at my thigh.
"That attack has Dimitri written all over it." Rafael joins me.
"No shit." I glare at him.
"Fuck." Dante stalks forward. "I can’t believe I allowed myself to be trapped in here."
Gabriel curls his fingers into fists; his wings susurrate at his sides. "He thought he could take us out in one go, leaving our mates and families vulnerable."
"Fucker's moving in on them as we speak." Tristan's brow furrows. He rubs his chest. "Fuck, Jess... Something's not right. If he does something to her I'll..." He peels back his lips and his canines drop.
"Easy." Dante grips his shoulder.
"The fuck are we doing standing around talking?" I stalk toward the smoking hole that was once a door. "I am going to find Charley and ensure that she's all right."
"Hawke." Dante growls.
I pause.
"Now is not the time to let sentiments cloud your thoughts."
"Oh?" I curl my fingers into fi
sts.
"You need to keep a cool head. We need a plan."
I turn to face the men. "I have a plan." I bare my teeth, "Thanks to that cheap-ass stunt of his, all of us have a lock on the location of the bastard, right?"
The men nod.
Dante frowns.
"Well, then," I thrust out my chest, "let's kill that motherfucker. Let’s eviscerate him, so he never draws another breath, never dares show his face and threaten what's ours."
"Finally." Doc slaps my shoulder so hard that I stumble. "Someone who speaks my language."
I glare at Dante, who growls right back, "You dare question my decision?" His lips twitch, "On the other hand," he peels back his lips, "fuck planning. We do this Fae-style." He shoves out his arm, palm facing downward. "We will protect what is ours."
Tristan comes up next to him. "We’ll kill the asshole, once and for all." He slaps his palm across Dante’s.
Doc stalks up, "Death to those who dare threaten our city, our families, ours." He slams his massive palm over Tristan’s.
Gabriel prowls over. "Let's do this." He zaps out a sliver of telekinetic energy around the clasped palms. "You in?" He glares at Rafe, who smacks his palm on Doc’s. He frowns at me.
I glance at the assembled faces, then bring down my joined-up fists onto the men’s hands. "Let’s get the fuck out of here and teach him a lesson that none of our enemies will ever forget."
Gabriel snaps out his wings. Their lethal edges extend, pushing against the opposite walls of the living room. The ceiling above us cracks; the walls collapse.
My telekinetic energy ignites, flashes into the center of our joined hands. Streams of energy crackle out from the other four, excepting Rafael, who focuses on concentrating the combined power into a ball of crackling, streaming, glowing, pure firepower that grows, streams up, slices through the ceiling, continues up, building momentum. It slams into the telekinetic net. Silence for a beat. Another. Then an inhuman wailing screeches through the air. The entire dome of energy lights up above us. The flames reach toward each other, meet, fuse. A bright flash cocoons us, intense heat bathes us, then with a ripping sound, the entire psychic structure disappears.
Complete stillness, then a breeze hits my fevered skin. The ball of sensation in my chest erupts. Sweat pours down my temples. Turning away from the door, I race over to the broken wall. Telekinetic energy rips past me and, smashes into the remaining structure. It collapses. I leap past the broken fragments, onto the lawn in front of the bungalow. I race forward, the others on my heels. A gust of wind bats at me. A shadow coasts over me. I glance up to find Gabriel airborne. He flaps his massive wings, propels himself forward. I pump my legs, shoot forward. The air whips past me, the scenery flashing by as I keep pace with the airborne Fae-vampire.
Racing past the treeline, I burst in on the clearing in front of the next bungalow.
The man at the far end of the clearing glances up. His dark gaze locks with mine. In between us, are the women.
My scalp tingles; the hair on the nape of my neck rises.
"The hell?" Tristan comes to a halt next to me. His entire body is one seething muscle-mass of tension. "The fuck is he up to?" He halts next to me.
I glance at him sideways. His features are set, a nerve throbs at this temple, his ears pull back, and his eyes burn with the same kind of hatred that fills my veins.
"Leave them alone." I stalk toward Dimitri.
"You’re in time." Sparks of energy shoot out of his fingertips. His gaze narrows and lightning flickers off of his skin. The hair on my forearms hardens; the ball of sensation screams. I race forward, but I am too late. Dimitri throws out his hand. A strand of silvery energy snaps around Charley. He yanks her to him, pivots her to face me. "Say goodbye."
39
Charley
"Let her the fuck go!"
Hawke’s voice slices through my mind.
I watch as he stalks toward me, hands raised, chest thrust out. The wind tears the hair back from his face. His beautiful features are contorted with anger… Fear? For me? For what will become of us?
What was ‘us’ but a fragment in time, when I had looked at him and known he was it? And I had spent my time wanting him. Then when I had him, I rejected him. Typical, Charley. I’d lost my nerve at the last second. Not this time. I strain against the arms that restrain me. His grip tightens and he pulls me back. My skin crawls.
All of my pores tighten, try to seal themselves against him. He is a thick, smothering shroud of darkness inexorably strangling me. I draw in a breath and my lungs hurt. The ball of sensation in my chest flares. The darkness stamps down on it, makes it nearly impossible to inhale. Pain streaks down to my extremities. I gasp, feel only resistance, tilt my head up, refuse to take my gaze off of his. I mouth the only word that matters, "Hawke."
"I’m coming." His voice reaches me over the breeze. The trees whine against the increasing gales. A drop of ice hits me on the nose. I glance up to find gray clouds swirling, moving in on us.
"Hawke." His name is wrenched from me. I shiver; my arms and legs tremble. My stomach seems to bottom out. A hollowness fills my chest. My head spins. Geometric images press in from all sides. I stare past the gathering mist, as the outline of Hawke’s body fades in and out. Bloody hell. I am losing him. Losing him.
Charley. Hawke’s voice brushes my mind. I shudder. Fight him, my little Ember.
I can’t.
You can.
No.
Yes!
I huff. Even on the psychic plane, the alphahole must have his way.
You bet, my little one. You didn’t think I’d allow you to give in so easily, eh?
I can’t stop the snort that escapes me.
Do it. Now!
I begin to struggle in earnest. I yank at his grasp; he slams me against his chest. I snarl, bring up my knee; his fingers encircle my neck. "I wanted to keep you conscious, but perhaps I should not extend you that piece of empathy."
What the—?
"I don’t need you awake to use your body."
Anger clouds my vision, tints it red; the ball of sensations in my chest blazes. My guts heave; my breath comes in short pants. No way, am I going to let this bastard abuse me. Not again. No one gets to fuck with me. Certainly not this piece-of-shit Fae. I drop into myself.
I reach for that emptiness, that space deep inside that I have never acknowledged. I sink into the farthest reaches of my consciousness, grasp the strand of green essence that is solely mine. I tug the tiny thread. Nothing happens. A growl rips up my chest. I dive into that reflective pool that is my true self. Yank it, bathe in it, reel in it, embrace it. A bubble shimmers up to the surface, and another, and more. A stream of energy floods out, builds into a river, a sea… An ocean of green and gold whooshes into my blood, fills my cells; it bursts out of my pores. With a ripping sound, my wings unfurl from my back.
The edges are lethal weapons that dig into his flesh.
With a howl, Dimitri releases me.
The vortex of telekinetic energy folds back into him. I pivot to face him.
The Fae folds his bleedings hands against his chest. "I am going to kill you."
He lowers his gaze. Silver and black strands of power erupt from him. I stare, frozen. Flap my wings, which are too new, unused. The darkness screams toward me. This is it. I am going to be…vaporized. I squeeze my eyes shut. Wait… Wait… A breeze sweeps past me, then…the stench of burning flesh. The scent assails me, I open my eyes, and a scream rips from me. "Hawke!"
My alpha stands between me and Dimitri. His broad back shudders; his shoulder blades bunch. He holds out his arms on either side, taking the brunt of the psychic attack. The scent of burning meat deepens. His big body sways. He stumbles back a step, another. I fling myself at him, flatten myself against his spine.
"My Ember."
I flap my useless wings. Damn it, why didn't I explore my shifter self before this? If I had, I would have been stronger. I’d have been able to help hi
m.
You still can.
His words brush against my subconscious mind.
It's intimate, closer than any other soul has ever been to me. Tendrils of lust crawl up my spine. I clench my thighs as moisture pools between my legs. Shit. On the verge of a crazy-ass fight, with our lives at stake, I still can’t resist him. How he seems to understand exactly what to do, how to reach into the innermost recesses of my soul, twine himself to me, make me his. I reach out to him on the psychic plane, Hawke, what should I do?
His reply is instantaneous, Open yourself, darling.
How?
Follow your instincts.
That’s what got me into trouble in the first place, you know.
This time, it will all work out.
Promise?
I do.
If I ask you a question again, I wonder if your answer would be the same?
There's a hitch, then his voice reaches me on the psychic plane, Are you proposing, my little Char?
Not so little. I push my breasts into his back.
He huffs. No, that you’re not.
You have a problem with my asking you to be mine?
I am yours, always have been, Char.
Humor me.
You want me to say it out aloud?
Will you?
"I’ll marry you." He rumbles, "Fuck, if these human rituals are so important to you, I’ll even wear a bloody tie. "
"I’ll hold you to it, Old Man."
Ahead, flashes of light shoot out of the angry Fae. He seems to increase in height, in girth. His entire body glows with some strange-ass power. The heat shoots off of his body in shimmering waves.
"Shit, the hell is he up to Hawke?"
"I don’t know, but it’s time, my little Ember."
40
Hawke
Charley wraps her arm around my waist. I hiss in pain.
Her chin wobbles. "Shit, you’re hurt."
"So are you." I growl.
Her body trembles. "I’m fine… Just, you know…mid-transition."
Kidnapped by the Fae: Paranormal Dark Fae Romance (Fae's Claim Book 5) Page 18