by Eros, Marata
Brandon heaves a huge sigh. “It's not about you being interested. It's about you being safe and accepting we're meant for each other.”
Oh boy.
“Listen, you're cute and all, and I dig the whole chemistry thing we have going on, but I'm not a crazy about the ‘drag her by the hair’ scene.”
Brandon rolls his eyes at me. “We're arguing instead of running.”
“Yup,” I answer.
“Nova, be reasonable. Please,” Ren asks.
I give him a sharp look. “Are you better?”
“Not all the way, but I continue to heal.”
I turn back to Brandon, taking in his six-foot-eight hotness. Broad shoulders, black eyes. All smolder-y and stuff.
“Fine.” I fold my arms. “I want Ren with me.”
The guys look at each other and Brandon states, “She doesn't need you anymore.”
Wow. “I do need Ren.”
“Take us back to his car by All Night Long. They can't scent rubber, can they?” I ask.
He frowns because a teeny snippet of sarcasm leaked out.
Brandon palms his chin, shaking his head with a scowl. “No.”
“Let's go,” I say.
“Let me carry you. Both of you.”
That's how I find myself tucked under the arm of a vampire who has the hots for me and thinks he's a legend.
My life doesn't feel as though it can get any more weird.
Just when I think he'll jiggle my guts out, we get to my street and I see Ren's car.
And a tow truck.
“Shit!” I howl.
Brandon sets me on my feet. He takes in my look of horror as the tow truck driver attaches the wench to the front bumper of Ren's car.
“Do something!” I yell at our vampire escort.
I didn't mean for him to toss the tow truck upside down, sans driver.
Whoops.
The driver looks at his flipped truck and runs away.
Ren and I calmly walk over to his car.
“Get in,” Brandon says.
“I'll drive, Druid,” Ren says.
“Yeah,” I say, “Brandon's probably all kinds of great at sucking blood but would wreck us in the Chevelle. Wouldn't ya?”
He sighs again, raking his fingers through his hair.
We all pile in, and Ren pulls away.
Brandon answers my last comment. “I am great at sucking blood.” His eyes find me in the gloom. The streetlights cast them in rhythmic pulsing shadow and light. “But there are other things I do even better.”
My panties get a little wet.
Brandon makes me hot and bothered.
But mainly hot.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Brandon
My bond to Nova is undeniable, but if there was any way I could deny it, I would.
She's stubborn and has a sharp tongue that she uses like a weapon.
The Harborer, Ren, seems to have enough brain power to make out that I'm the Druid male she is destined for. Otherwise, why would I have dreamed of her? It’s an irrefutable connection, but Nova's in obvious denial. She's clinging to some kind of independent streak that's about a mile wide.
Ren leans over the steering wheel as he hunts out the alleys, seeming to find them all similar. “I don't see it.”
“It has... there!” I point at an alley that begins wide and narrows sharply.
Ren slows.
“Don't.” I put my hand on his shoulder, and he grits his teeth.
“Park three blocks forward of this position, and we'll go on foot after that.”
“Fine, you don't have to crush the bones of my shoulder.”
“Do you need another thwack, Brandon?” Nova asks like butter melts on her tongue.
Not likely.
I glance at her beside me. “I will bind you myself if you ever do that to me again.”
“What makes you think I won't dig that?” Nova asks, her eyelashes fluttering. Her irises are the green of a forest during the deepest part of the night.
I palm the space around her head, caging it against the back seat as Ren slows to park alongside the curb. Her eyes round, her breaths coming fast and hard. I breathe deeply and smell her wet and ready pussy.
“Maybe you will, but the only place my cock and balls are going is inside here.” I cover her sex, cupping its heat. My dick goes to instant rigid attention.
She groans, her face rolling away from my penetrating stare. I grab the edges of her lips beneath the light denim and tease them together, gently squishing her engorged clit.
“Stop!” she whispers in a hiss.
It sounds like don't stop. Fucking works for me.
I lean close to her ear. “Why stop?” I grind my finger harder and she rewards me with a muffled moan.
Does the presence of the Harborer restrain her? Because when I'm ready to mate, I'd get naked in front of my parents, the urge is so primal.
Nova shakes her head, pointing at the window behind my back. I note a fine tremble in the digit.
My gaze flicks to the window she’s pinned against, and I see the reflection of my enemy.
“Close your eyes!” I yell.
Nova squeezes her eyes shut, and I punch out the window above her head, my knuckles turning to shreds of flesh.
Ren yells, but a face juts inside the hole like a bird after a worm.
Perfect.
I punch the Reaper's face as I hit the door handle with the other hand. It's an archaic thing I have to dig for. I jerk the lever and elbow the door wide. It slams into one of the Reapers, and I stagger awkwardly from the passenger seat as the Reaper is knocked on his ass.
I drag Nova and come face to face with the three from the fortress. We didn't outrun them after all.
Fuckity-fuck-fuck.
“Give us the breeder, and the male lives.”
Ren.
The eyebrow of the one who is clearly the leader shoots up. “And you live as well.”
I don't miss a beat, pulling Nova tighter against me. “Fuck off.”
He glowers, and I grin.
“You're out of your territory, Reaper.”
“You are Druid. You must be aware of how rare the fuller-blood breeders are.”
“Yes.” I keep the youngest of the three in sight. He looks like more of a weasel.
Ren backs away as Nova stays quiet behind me. For once.
“She is fated to be with me,” I explain, jabbing a thumb into my chest.
Small pieces of glass fall from my clothing with the motion.
They narrow their gazes on me.
We're equal speed, and I can almost see their metal wheels turning, weighing if I'll be faster, if Nova will be hurt.
I think of my coven a half mile away. I feel the ocean around me and ready a siren's wail.
It's a tool in my arsenal, and I'm betting none of the Reapers are part Mer.
My mother, Aubree, will hear the warning and send reinforcements. Then I can get rid of these three prick Reapers.
*
Nova
I'm not much of a damsel in distress, but when Brandon opens his mouth and a noise unlike anything I've ever heard pierces the night air—something blows apart deep inside me.
Like glue that finally gives, I feel my insides resonate with the call.
I know what it is. I just didn't know what I was.
I'm Druid. I've always been certain of that. I manipulate magic to stay alive. It hasn't made my life easier, but my existence continues because of it.
Right now, I feel as though I’m traveling through water. Music pours from Brandon's mouth as I circle him. I never let my fingertips leave his body.
It is he and I in a bubble, and we float in water we can't see.
My mouth opens without me consciously being aware. I join him in the siren's wail.
I feel the ocean in a new way. Every molecule of water, each drop speaks to me with salted weight and breadth. They are mine, and I am theirs.
I feel
myself awake as though from a dream.
“What the fuck is going on?” a voice grates from somewhere around us.
The words break through our bubble slowly, a popping sound ripping through the warm tide of our song.
The note of the call echoes as Brandon closes his mouth. My fingertips touch his lips. He captures them with his hand.
A rough hand grabs my elbow and wrenches me away from him.
I react as I do to all threatening things: I use the element of surprise. I go limp, letting my sudden weight be the unexpected.
The Reaper drops me, though I'm sure he didn’t mean to.
My hands break my fall, smacking the pavement. I look up at Brandon.
He smashes into the Reaper who jerked me away from him. They fall to the side, hitting the dark asphalt with a jarring thud.
Ren moves to my side, but the Reapers beat him there by a hairsbreadth.
Metal flashes, and a hand full of talons flies away.
Oh goddess.
Ren picks me up by my arm, and Mikhail, the leader, hits him. Ren jerks his face back, but the glancing blow still causes his jaw to swing. Ren spins with me in his arms.
I pull him away.
“Leave him alone!”
Mikhail and Damon move in.
I clutch Ren and use the last trick in my almost empty bag.
I use the most dangerous power I possess, and I feel our forms shift to nothing.
Hands pass through us.
Ren and I are in the spectral realm now. The Reapers can't touch us, see us.
We leave no scent.
But we have more problems than just the vamps now.
By coming to the spectral realm, I open myself to spirits, and not all of them are good.
I scan the area. The Reapers sniff and hiss, trying in vain to find me. I see Brandon beating Kellan into submission, and even in my panic and fear, I waste a smile on that prick getting his.
My smile is short-lived when I see them coming. It’s the army of the recently deceased. They're lost and look for anyone living who can lead them.
Think Sixth Sense squared.
In a word: terrifying.
Only I'm not seeing dead people because it's so nifty.
They see me because I chose to flee to their world, their territory.
I realize now, and feel like kicking my own ass, that I am more than a Druid. I'm some kind of mermaid chick too, like the Reapers said. How and why doesn't really matter at the moment.
Grammy was busier than she let on, maybe some Mer in the woodpile.
“Nova, I can't do my job here.”
I nod at Ren's hard expression. “I know. It's—it's what I could do on the fly.”
“Get us out of here. I'll take my lumps from the vamps.”
I look at Ren, the man I really love. “No.”
I forget the bond with Brandon I never wanted. I forget that somehow he woke up that sleeping part of my lineage with a siren's song.
I'm a goddamned fish in the middle of a ghost strike with a Harborer who is unable to protect me.
The best news? I've got three Reapers determined to breed me the minute I move out of this danger zone into theirs, and one Druid who won't ask permission.
It's all about taking. Gotta love it.
As the spirits reach for us, I feel their evil. Seeking our lives like a giant food funnel, they will suck our living energy away like ghostly thieves. There's not a damn thing I can do about it unless I move from the spectral realm and put Ren and I right back in harm's way.
I bite my lip as the first icy fingers touch my skin.
That's when more vamps show up.
Ren says, “Now, Nova!”
I take in a huge vampire, his skin so black it appears like a bruised plum in the moonless night. The girl with him is so magnificent. Hair like spiraling dark honey shoots out in a ‘fro that reaches her hips, her eyes flashing gold in her coffee-colored skin that is bleached to tan ivory under the streetlights.
She's breathtaking, and any fool can sense she's as dangerous as she is gorgeous.
She's also making short work of Kellan, leaving Brandon to take care of Mikhail and Damon.
I leave the spectral. Icy fingerprints remain on my flesh, chilling me to the bone.
I exhaust myself by sliding between worlds.
“I'm sorry, Ren.” I slump against him as we reappear before everyone.
“Apologies later, survival now,” he says, throwing himself into the fray.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Brandon
When Tarrin shows up, I won't lie—I feel profound relief. He’s an Exotic Druid vampire, one I've fought beside; he'll see this fucking mess through.
Maybe I'll get the girl after all.
Lucia, Tarrin's mate, kicks the smaller Reaper's ass. That's beyond perfect. I'm sure her being female and all is a real ball-buster.
The other two take one look at Tarrin and Lucia in action and I watch them pause.
When Cole, Zach, and my father show up, the Reapers stall out.
Lucia shoves the Reaper’s chest with her palm, her nostrils flaring.
“Piss off,” she says in a low voice. “Tarrin.”
Tarrin's large body turns toward hers like a flower seeking the sun. “Lucia?”
His voice fills me with a warm feeling that says home like nothing else.
“He's not full Reaper—and he made our boy wail the siren.”
“Aye,” Tarrin replies thoughtfully, keeping the other Reapers in sight.
Father, Zach and Cole move around the car, circling the other Reapers. “What the fuck's going on?” Cole asks, his eyes taking in the scene.
“These three have been chasing my ass ever since I found my mate.”
I look around for Nova and see her clasped in Ren's arms in a slouch that has me striding over there.
“Is she well?”
Ren shrugs. “It takes a lot of energy to go spectral.”
“Spectral?” Lucia asks.
The Reaper slinks closer.
“As you were, lover.” Her talon stabs him in the chest. “Unless you want to deal with my mate.”
Tarrin stares at the smallest Reaper, saying nothing.
It's enough—he stills.
The leader of the foreign Reapers steps forward. “I am Mikhail. This youngling…” He sweeps his palm at me, and I flip him off. He scowls. “Has been after the same female as us. You know the ancient rules. When a Druid female is full-blood, she must be shared unless she is queen.”
“Holly is queen,” Zach states, crossing his arms.
Mikhail inclines his head. “Then you understand this female cannot be.”
“It doesn't mean she's not descended of royal blood, that a proper pairing could not result in fine Druids,” Lucia comments.
“Thanks,” Nova says, straightening against Ren. “I'm awake enough not to dig the commentary about breeding me, guys.”
Brandon moves closer. He doesn’t like Nova's paleness. She seems spent from her escape into the world of spirits.
Lucia lifts a shoulder, her gaze flicking to the smallest Reapers as though to make sure he's where she can keep an eye on him.
He doesn't have a chance against all of us. Even Ren, though not vampire, has skills well beyond human norms as a Harborer.
“You might not like the talk, Druid, but those are the facts. Females who breed true are rare. You being Druid and nearly full-blood? Pfft,” Lucia dismisses Nova’s protest readily. Her eyebrow rises. “What else are you?”
Nova shifts her weight under their scrutiny. I think of our union in the siren's wail. She has the blood of the Mer, as I do. That's why she was maiden enough to call me, Druid enough to breed. These Reapers don't have the claim I do.
“I guess I'm a mermaid,” Nova says sullenly.
I smile. She's feeling better.
Father chuckles. “She's got that Druid temperament.”
“Don't let Mother here you say that,” I
in thin warning.
Father smiles at me. Our relationship is tight with everything we've left unsaid, but the uplift of lips is there all the same. It makes the tension from my shoulders uncoil slightly. I wasn't looking forward to my parental reunion. Mother had given me her blessing, but Father and I were at odds.
I look at Ren over Nova's head. He hands her over. I wrap my arm around her shoulders, which feels like holding a prickly porcupine.
Zach folds his arms, looking over the new Reapers. “He has a point, Brandon. You know that only the female can accept your claim. If she chooses, she can mate more than one Reaper.”
His words make my blood boil. I hate the idea of sharing her. I hate truths I don't want to hear.
“Let us go,” Lucia says. “It might be the deadest hour of the night, but if a lone human were to discover us here...”
She leaves the need for their inevitable death unsaid.
“Lucia's right,” Tarrin says.
Her lips curl. “Of course I am, my king.”
He grins, jerking her against him. “Temper your words, female.”
I look away. Their banter is typical of their interactions.
Nova snuggles closer to me. I'm not fooled, though. I know she could turn on a dime. Her dalliance in the ghost world has weakened her.
“Do you concede a truce until such time as we can determine the”—Zach, the king of the Druids, looks at Nova and me—“nature of a potential union?”
“I am Damon,” the other Reaper states. “I don't see that we have much of a choice.”
“There is always choice,” Cole says.
“I see what your choice would be,” Mikhail says dryly.
Cole shrugs, his hair an inky skull cap in the moonless night. His eyes reflect his suspicion. “We work smoothly in our kiss. We have females who bear young; we fight well together, take sustenance. Why fuck that up with a few more males and one lone Druid? It is a sure recipe for an epic problem.”
Zach raises his palm, and Cole glowers. “Cole's points are valid. However, you are not Faction—vampiric locusts who seek, consume, and pillage the spoils of the land. As Reapers, you deserve our due diligence.” He glances significantly at Cole, a Reaper himself.
My hands clench. These males want my female.
Trouble is, she hasn't committed to me, accepted my claim on her. But as a Druid female with Mer blood, she could be my perfect match—is my perfect match.