by Leah Silver
He blinked as he stared, certain parts of him coming to attention. All at once, he dove in the water. I sucked in a breath, knowing how shallow the pool was. But he stayed near the surface and popped up right in front of me. Just like a man, he crashed into a perfectly romantic scene. I half expected him to spit water at me when he appeared like a wet puppy with a goofy smile on his face.
“Is this what you had in mind?” he asked. I splashed him, and he splashed me back.
“Not exactly,” I said, sputtering.
“Oh, excuse me. Perhaps you should show me what you were thinking?”
“I don’t align myself with stupid men, Edthar. You know exactly what I meant.” Letting my gaze linger on him, I sent out the desire I felt. He swallowed hard, his playfulness gone. It was replaced by a new hunger.
The scent of lavender rose from the pool, and I thought it was a nice touch. He’d used it to cover up the smell of whatever he had on him. I made a mental note to ask him at length about where he’d been later. But now was for touching. Feeling. Loving. Not thinking. Not saving lives. Certainly not dodging death.
I put my arms around his neck, my body pressed against him. His arms went around me automatically, and he gazed at me. “You are beautiful.”
“You’re not half bad yourself,” I said, making his eyes sparkle as his laugh lines crinkled.
He leaned down and kissed me, gently at first. The warmth of the water soothed me, letting me fall into it, filling me. His hands pushed me harder against his body, crushing me against him, but it didn’t hurt. I wanted it. Needed it. Had to be closer to him. I responded in kind, clinging to him, wrapping my legs around him. When I felt the hot length of his erection, I moaned and squirmed to get closer.
He guided us to the edge of the pool, never once stopping his exploration of my mouth. His cupped my ass as I rolled my hips against his obvious arousal.
“Demons’ breath, woman,” he swore. But the curse was a good thing. He set me down on a perfect little flat rock that formed a bit of a bench at the edge of our hot spring. “Well, isn’t that convenient?” I purred.
“I live to please,” he said.
“Do you now? Where’s that little zing of electricity?” I asked, my clit twitching with want for it.
“No. This time will be me. All me. Only me.”
I pouted a bit, but I understood what he wanted. It would just take longer. Maybe. I was pretty worked up.
He positioned himself between my legs, letting his tip just barely graze me. I scooted closer to him, but he pushed me back with a sly grin. “Patience, love.”
“No. There is no patience right now. I need you. Now.”
The adrenaline coursing through my body from the last incident, built upon by the last several days, was making the need for him feel very urgent.
He leaned in and kissed my neck. But I was feeling so impatient I pulled a fast one on him. Somehow, I managed to trade places with a full-grown wizard in a flash. I wasn’t going to lie—it helped that we were both wet and slippery.
“Well, well,” he said. He tried to act annoyed, but I could tell he was pleased. How could he not be? A naked lady was straddling him.
I eased myself down onto him, shuddering with pleasure as I took him into me. He groaned, eyes closing. Taking his face in my hands, I kissed him. His hands gripped my ass, swiveling my hips to teach me his rhythm. Slow at first. Very slow. Achingly slow.
But he kept me distracted. One hand left my ass to venture upward to my breast, weighing and massaging it before gently pinching my nipple, which made me gasp. He drove deeper into me, and my moans rivaled his. I leaned back, bracing myself on his knees, opening myself to him more fully. His hand delved between my legs, working my clit. Gentle pressure at first, easing me as I rode him slowly. But as his pace became faster, so did mine, until we were both frantic. Until we were both gasping with the need to dive over the edge.
Frantically, I raised my hips and slammed them down over and over onto him, the water splashing around us, until he pinched my clit. Not hard, just enough to send me into absolute ecstasy. I crumpled onto his chest, my orgasm rolling through me. My body squeezed him, milking his release from him as he came with a shout.
We held each other until our breathing slowed. I rested my head on his boney shoulder, and felt his beard tickling my back. I wanted to stay that way forever. As if we didn’t have any cares at all. As if our entire world wasn’t threatened by some arrogant twatwaffles we had to set straight.
And why did it have to be me, anyway? Why was I the one charged with saving the world? Why not some other Sally Sunshine? Because Sally Sunshine would be way to fucking soft to do this job, I thought in disgust.
I sighed as reality threatened to crush me. As much as I loved the escape Ed had given me, it made it awfully difficult to go back.
“What’s wrong?” Ed asked.
I didn’t sit up. Instead, I snuggled deeper into his shoulder. “I don’t want to fight this fight. I never did. I was blackmailed into it when Sara got sick, and now I just want to stay here with you and the others. I don’t want to save anyone but us.” It sounded lame when I said it out loud, but that didn’t change how I felt.
He gently pushed me off him. Taking my chin in his hand, he forced me to look at him. A half smile graced his face, and his clear blue eyes shone with understanding and compassion. “The hero of the story is never treated fairly. You must know this. Look at Frodo, Cinderella, Katniss, or for the Mother’s sake, Ned Stark, poor bastard. You still have your head at least.”
“I don’t think Ned was the hero of that story.”
“All right, that one had many heroes, I suppose. My point remains. You’re not a hero without certain struggles.”
“I don’t want to be a hero,” I said, eyes cast down. “I just want to live my life.”
“Everyone is the hero of their own life, Merry.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Maddeningly so. I even fought with the urge to punch him in the face for being so unfairly right.
He reached up and stroked my cheek with his thumb as the pool melted away. The waterfall. The lush green oasis he’d created. He never took his eyes off me the entire time. No matter our surroundings, we had each other.
Slowly, my clothing and weapons returned, and so did his.
He shrugged. “Getting dressed isn’t nearly as fun as taking them off,” he said with a smirk.
“True enough.”
He drew me into a tight hug. “You are not alone, Merry. Not anymore. I promise I will not leave your side again.”
His hands brushed my new knife, and he pulled back. “What’s that?”
“A gift that will help us win this war.”
“That’s a tale I’d like to hear.”
“You first,” I said with more than a little mischief.
But his face turned serious. “Yes. There is much to tell. Let’s wait until we’re all together. My seal is solid, but it won’t hold forever. We will need to return to this place. All of us. Soon.”
I frowned at the portal. In my heart, I already knew that. I’d be going through that doorway into the unknown sooner rather than later. It held the key to the end of this. But I couldn’t face it without my vampire.
“Let’s go get Levi.”
The Mother knows, I ain’t no Sally Sunshine
We climbed the narrow stairs into the country house to be greeted by Ike waiting in the living room.
“Well, you two took your sweet time.”
Julie was pouting in the corner. “I can’t believe you’d take a mate that isn’t loyal to you.” She glared at me as I crossed the room.
“Perhaps you should learn a thing or two about loyalty before you go judging others,” I suggested, more than a little threateningly. She straightened and tried to act like she would stand against me, but she’d quickly crumple like a piece of paper.
I didn’t want to challenge her anymore. The only thing I wanted was to ge
t back to Levi.
“Julie, you’ve been told your place in this,” Ike said. “It isn’t with me. Perhaps Merry is right. If you learned loyalty, your pack would be stronger. You could teach it to them. Fear is a weakness, not a strength. You’d do well to remember that.” Ike stood and came to my side.
Oscar waited in the corner of the room, a frown on his face. “Guard the portal. If anything happens, you know how to reach me. We will be back as soon as we can. Our last member was…ill the last I heard,” Oscar said.
Levi’s plight came screaming back to me. He had the plague. And although he’d been dismissive about it, I couldn’t help but think about how we’d all rallied to save Sara, but not one of us had helped him during his sickness. We hadn’t even thought to. We’d all been a bit preoccupied. It made me feel even more urgency to get back to him.
“I don’t take orders from a gargoyle,” Julie spat.
Out of the shadows, a girl stepped out. “That’s enough, Julie.”
“How dare you challenge me?”
I glanced at Ike to see a broad smile on his face. “Merry, this is Fantasia. She’s the one who found me when I’d been infected. She got me the help I needed. She’s stronger than she knows.”
I nodded at her with pride. “I expect she knows more than you think, Ike.”
Julie ignored us. “You would challenge me?”
“I’m tired of your fear mongering, Julie. Ike is right. Loyalty is what we need. Not more fear. Which means we don’t need you.” She darted her gaze to Ike for just a flash. If I’d blinked, I wouldn’t have seen it. But Ike nodded, urging her on.
“Fine. I’ll take you out, right here. Then you’ll all see I’m what’s best for this pack.” Julie moved to the center of the room, and the rest of the pack lined the walls.
“Ike, we don’t have time for this. Can we let them sort this out and meet up with the winner later?” I pressed.
“This will just take a second. And I want to make sure the right person wins.”
“But, Levi…” I wasn’t willing to sacrifice Levi for some idiot beta masquerading as an alpha. Clearly, Fantasia was the stronger one.
Oscar leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Too much time has passed now, Merry. Either he’s alive, or he isn’t. Five more minutes won’t change that.”
“We left him alone,” I said, guilt threatening to choke me.
“Sara was there. And he knew our plates were full. He would’ve called if he needed help. He said he could handle it. Rid yourself of that guilt right now,” Oscar commanded.
But it was difficult to obey that order. Luckily for me, I had a distraction playing out in front of me.
Julie and Fantasia sized each other up, and I could see Julie getting more panicky as the moments past. Fantasia, on the other hand, was eerily calm for a beta who was new to asserting herself.
“Make it quick, Fantasia,” I urged her.
She nodded as Julie shifted quickly and lunged at the small girl. Fantasia stepped out of the way and shifted herself, letting Julie crash into a china cabinet. While Julie was trying to regain her footing, Fantasia went in for the kill. The brown wolf leapt right on top of the white one and took her by the neck. She put her teeth on Julie, asserting dominance. Fantasia held her there for several moments while Julie growled. Not giving up, apparently. I sighed.
“Julie. You’re beat. Learn to recognize that,” I suggested.
But that stupid twat didn’t listen. Fantasia backed off, thinking she’d adhere to the rules of a fight won, but Julie seized her, knocking Fantasia off her front feet and taking her hard by the neck.
Ike jumped in at that moment, shifting midair as he jumped toward Julie. He grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her hard away from Fantasia, who was actively bleeding. Ed was at her side in an instant, already healing her wounds.
I followed Ike as he hauled Julie outside. No sounds passed between the two beasts, but somehow, I could tell she’d crossed a major line in doing that. Ike would kill her. The disdain I felt for her overpowered all my jealousy, and a very tiny part of me felt bad for the stupid twat.
“Well, it seems you made a poor choice, Julie,” I said.
Ike held her down on the back lawn, having dragged her all the way outside, knocking chairs and end tables over as he went. She’d gone limp. Her face was ashen, and she was absolutely no help to him at all. Not that I was surprised.
Ike growled, a low, rumbling sound that mimicked distant thunder. I took out one of my daggers, and she struggled when I approached. Ike jerked her roughly and got her flat onto her back, holding her down with not only his teeth, but also his two front paws for good measure.
“Tell your family beyond the void, hello.” It was lame, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say. There were no more chances for her. What we were doing was justified. If we let her go, she’d only come back and hurt this pack while we were gone. She had to die. Despite how she’d undermined me, I didn’t want to do it.
She growled at me, but she was so panicked it came out rather high pitched, almost like a whine.
With a sigh, I slid my blade across her neck in a flash. Even Ike was startled by it as her blood sprayed on his coat. He yelped, shifting back to human seamlessly.
“Sorry about that,” I said as I wiped the knife on the hem of my shirt.
“No. I’m sorry. I suppose I should’ve done that a while ago. I just wasn’t sure Fantasia was ready to take over.”
“You knew she was the right one?”
“As soon as I learned she’d saved me, I did.”
I turned to go back in the house, only to find an audience watching us from the back porch, Fantasia among them. I crossed the yard to her, and then stuck out my hand. “You helped Ike when he was hurt?” She nodded briefly and maintained silent eye contact with me. Another sign of her hidden power. “Seems I owe you my gratitude, alpha.”
She smiled when I shook her hand. I leaned in close. “Keep your friends close, and don’t be afraid to get them to help you get rid of your enemies.” She snorted, and I grinned before I pulled away. “A pleasure to meet you, Fantasia. I hope we see you again soon.”
Ike’s smile was approving as he approached her. I let them have their moment.
“I’m proud of you,” he said. She beamed. “Can I ask you something?” She nodded. “Whose house is this? Why were you keeping it safe? Julie never did tell me.”
“It’s patient zero’s. She was on vacation when they attacked her.”
Around and around we went.
“Fantasia, do you know why that woman was targeted?”
“I do. I overheard Julie bragging about it. Like she was so important to know some of these answers. Anyway, according to Julie, patient zero was a supernatural scientist of sorts. She helped open that portal. Then when she realized what they were doing with it, she tried to close it, so they offed her.”
Holy mother of Bael. A vampire had helped start this? I didn’t even know what do to with that information, so I went with a slightly safer question. “And did Julie target Ike or was that a wrong place at the wrong time kind of thing?” I asked, unable to stay out of it.
“That I don’t know. She said she wanted to go for a walk that day, which was unusual. She usually liked to stay close to the house.”
I looked at Oscar and knew. He’d been targeted. Just like the rest of them.
“Sit tight, Fantasia. Hold the fort. We’ll be back,” I assured her. She nodded one last time, and Ike stopped to shake her hand.
I walked around to the front of the house with Oscar and Ed in tow.
Ike caught up to us before we were to the gate in the front yard. “We need to get back here as soon as we can. Ed’s warden will be back.”
“Agreed. That guy seemed like a real parade of pleasantries,” I said.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Ed said, unable to hide the grin on his face.
“How long have you been waiting to say that to me for once?�
� I asked as we started down the street.
“A while,” he admitted.
“What’s our plan here? We walking back to the hospital? That’ll take us all day,” Ed pointed out.
Oscar had his face buried in his phone. “A large van is going to meet us on the corner about a block from here.” He flashed his screen. “Uber.”
“Wonderful,” I said, picking up the pace. Everything that had brought us here were distractions meant to keep us apart. And I was over it.
We were silent on the ride over. But the air was thrumming with unsaid words. The driver glanced at me in the mirror more than once. He was on edge, which made me tense. Demons’ breath, what had we got ourselves into? Oscar was on my left. I tapped his leg to get his attention, then pointed to my head.
Something is up with this guy. Be on your guard.
He nodded and straightened. Ike sat to my right, and Ed in the passenger’s seat next to the driver. The light ahead of us was red, with no one waiting at it. But the driver didn’t slow. In fact, he accelerated.
He was a fool if he thought he could kill a bunch of supernaturals with a car accident. He’d only end up killing himself and delaying us. And I wasn’t having it.
“Ed,” I prodded.
“Already on it.” With his hand outstretched, a translucent grey ramp appeared to our right, and the car that would’ve T-boned us sailed perfectly over the top, landing spectacularly on the other side. I watched it as if in slow motion, my mouth likely hanging open. His magic never ceased to amaze me.
Ed snapped his finger. Apparently, he’d taken control of the car and the driver, whose eyes were wide and wild by that point. We were in the city by then, and he pulled off into a small local drugstore to question the man.
“Who sent you?” Ed demanded.
“I don’t know,” the driver said in a shaky voice.
“Wish we had some more of Agatha’s truth potion,” Ed said, frowning. That little potion had come in handy with Devlin, making him to reveal a few key points in this plot. Ed was right; it would’ve been helpful here.