by R. E. Butler
She couldn’t imagine living with the knowledge that someday people you cared about would find a weakness and kill you.
Her gaze moved from the empty parking lot to the SUV where Abbie had rushed to.
Demi knew Abbie to be a calm and sweet female. She’d never seen her look scared before.
She left the males to discuss the situation and walked to the SUV, knocking on the passenger side window.
Abbie opened the door.
“Are you okay?” Demi asked.
“I want to tell you that I am, but the truth is that I’m not.”
“What happened?”
Abbie looked at her for a long, quiet moment. “I saw Benecio with my power.”
“You did? So, there’s a match for him in your book? That’s great! Why didn’t you tell him?”
“Because there’s something wrong with what I saw. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Abbie turned in the seat so her legs hung out of the SUV and she faced Demi. The book sat in her lap.
“Wrong how? I always assumed your power was pretty fail-safe.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that I believe what I saw was wrong, it’s that I feel like there’s something wrong with the circumstances. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I believe that who I saw in the book when I used my power to match for Benecio will lead to death. I just don’t know whose death.”
Demi rocked back on her heels. “So, you can divine the future?”
“Not really. It’s just a feeling, but I’m positive the feeling is not wrong. I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve never been faced with the situation before, and there isn’t anyone I can talk to about it. There’s no match-maker helpline or online group.”
“Is the match a female from our pride?”
Abbie didn’t say anything for long enough that Demi started to get nervous. And then a thought occurred to her, and it wasn’t a good one. She didn’t even want to say it out loud, but before she could stop herself, she blurted it out. “It’s not me, is it?”
She looked like she’d been smacked in the face. “What? No, of course not!”
Demi let out a relieved breath. “I didn’t really think it was me, but I felt compelled to ask anyway.”
“It’s okay. I’d probably be asking the same thing myself.” She leaned against the seat and let out a deep sigh. “Yes, the person I saw with Benecio is someone from our pride. But like I said, I don’t think I can go through with it. It seems wrong to send a female to a male who is so clearly dangerous and off his nut.”
Demi wanted to agree. She didn’t think it was right for anyone to be stuck with Benecio. But she also didn’t want to mate him herself or watch her mates fight him on her behalf. It would be easier if he found his own mate and turned his sights off her. “Who is it?”
Abbie’s eyes were closed and she opened them. “China.”
* * *
An hour later, Demi, her mates, and her father were seated at the diner waiting for lunch. She’d been blown away by Abbie’s reveal about China and hadn’t known what to say. Abbie had explained things to everyone once they’d joined them at the SUV. Duke had agreed to abide by Abbie’s insistence that China not be brought into the situation when she couldn’t know what the future held. Everyone was unnerved by the revelation that China could somehow be involved with someone like Benecio and Abbie’s belief that someone—maybe even China—might die if the two were brought together.
“I know she’s your friend, sweets,” Rhaider said, “but I still think someone should at least tell China about it and let her make her own decision about whether to meet with him or not.”
Demi shook her head. “Absolutely not. She’s my best friend. What if she’s the one who dies? I would never forgive myself.”
“We don’t want her to be hurt either,” Rafe said. “But if she and Benecio are meant to be together, if she’s the right female for him, then it seems cruel to keep them apart.”
“Abbie never said that they were heart-matches. This is mate-matching, which is a kind of magic and has nothing to do with the heart,” Demi said.
“Your mom and I were mate-matched,” her father said. “But I believe we’re also heart-matches as well. I think mate-matching can turn into heart-matching.”
Demi threw up her hands. “So, you’re on their side? You want me to tell China to potentially put herself in danger to save me from either sacrificing myself or potentially sacrificing my mates? That’s the height of selfishness.”
“I’m in danger?”
Demi’s heart dropped and her stomach twisted as she recognized China’s voice from behind where she sat in the booth.
Turning slowly, she faced her bestie.
“China.”
“What’s going on?” China put her hand up. “Before you say something like it’s not my concern or I misheard you, just remember that we’ve known each other our whole lives and we both detest lying.”
Demi pursed her lips. China was right—there wasn’t much Demi hated more than lying.
“Sit down,” Demi said, gesturing to the end of the half-circle corner booth. When China was seated, Demi told her everything that had happened from the meeting with Benecio to Abbie’s disturbing vision.
China sat back and drummed her fingers on the table.
The waitress appeared and set everyone’s food down, then asked if China wanted anything. She shook her head. When they were alone again, China cleared her throat. “So, if I mate with this Benecio asshole, someone might die?”
“We just don’t know,” Demi said.
“To be fair,” her dad said, “Abbie said she saw death related to Benecio and that there was something off about the match. So, she’s not sure you’re his match, which is why she asked us to keep quiet about it.”
“Sorry,” Demi said. “We shouldn’t have been talking about it in public, I’m just so frustrated.”
“It’s okay, really. I’d rather know than there be this weird thing between us because you needed to keep it from me.”
Demi reached across the table and took China’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “You’re my best friend and I love you dearly. I don’t want you to get hurt in any way. I’d rather deal with Benecio on my own than involve you.”
Rafe and Rhaider both growled softly. Demi released China’s hand and touched both of theirs.
“I understand. I wish he’d never come to Kedrick,” China said.
Demi wished that as well.
“Don’t worry about anything,” Rhaider said. “We’re not going to let Demi get hurt. We’ll defeat him and send him packing, and it will be the end of things.”
“If Abbie wanted you to know, if she thought you were meant to be with Benecio, I think she would’ve contacted you,” Demi said. Which she believed, but she also kind of thought that Abbie hadn’t planned to tell China because she was afraid she was the one to die in the vision. Demi was glad that she didn’t have to deal with that kind of burden of knowledge.
“That’s a good point,” China said. She slid from the booth and stood. “Thanks for filling me in. I hope that he sees the truth that you’re mated and moves on. It’s pathetic that he’s been acting like a toddler who had a toy taken away.”
“Fact,” Demi said. She stood and hugged her. “Love you, bestie.”
“To the moon and back,” China said.
She said goodbye to their group, stopped at the counter and picked up a to-go bag, and left.
“She’s sweet,” Quentin said. “You’re lucky to have her for a friend.”
“I am.” Demi picked up the grilled ham and cheese sandwich. “We still need to talk about this fighting for me business.”
“Trust us to protect you and our mating,” Rhaider said. “Rafe and I were both trained to fight in our human and bear forms. He might be a powerful alpha, but we’re fighting for you and that means we’re going to do everything in our power to win.”
“Let’s just table things while we eat,
” Quentin said. “All this fight talk is giving me indigestion.”
Demi smiled. “Sorry. Let’s talk about looking for a new place to live.”
“There’s a house near us that’s empty,” Quentin said.
“Really?”
“Yep, Clive Henderson moved down to Florida after his mate died. His daughter is in a pride down there and he was having some trouble getting around with his arthritis. It’s been empty since he left.”
Demi took a bite of the large sandwich and let out an appreciative sound at the melty gouda and cheddar. “I know the house you’re talking about, and I wasn’t aware it was empty. It might be perfect for us.”
“You can call Duke about it. He’s got the keys to the empty homes that belong to the pride,” he said.
“The pride owns the homes?” Rafe asked.
“Yep,” Quentin said. “It’s one of the perks of being a pride member and it ensures that even if pride members move from the house or leave the pride, the property remains in the pride’s control and part of our territory.”
“That’s pretty neat,” Rafe said.
“It makes it easy to move around if we need to. Someone will take over our place when we leave too. It won’t sit empty for long.”
“I’m game to go looking at houses when we’re done here,” Rhaider said.
“Me too,” Demi said. She sent a quick text to Duke, who told her to come to the bar for the keys and addresses of the empty homes in the territory.
She knew that house hunting was a way to take their minds off the fight on the horizon, and she didn’t mind the distraction.
She really hoped that Benecio would come to his senses about her and move on, but she didn’t think she had that kind of luck.
Chapter Fifteen
Rhaider didn’t feel even a little bit like playing at the bar, but they’d made a commitment and couldn’t just take the night off because they were having personal problems. Although an alpha male trying to steal their mate seemed like a really good reason to take a break.
Someone snapped their fingers in front of him and Rhaider jerked back. Rebel gave him a wry grin. “I’ve been calling your name.”
“Sorry, my mind’s a million miles away.”
“It’s understandable,” Rebel said.
They’d filled their band mates in on what had happened. They’d both promised to stand with them as a show of force, but Rhaider knew that the fight with Benecio would only be between the three of them. That asshole male didn’t seem to be bothered at all by the fact that he’d have to fight two males of a different shifter species, which made him wonder just how strong he was.
Rhaider was confident in his ability to put down the threat to his mate, but he’d be a fool not to be cautious in approaching him. Benecio was alpha for a reason and it wasn’t because he was a friendly guy.
“We’ve got your backs, so don’t worry.”
“I know. Thanks.” He glanced out at the slowly filling bar. Hemi and Blu were taking drink orders and it looked like Titus was serving the drinks. Which was really weird.
“What’s that face for?” Rebel asked.
“I was just wondering why Titus was playing server. He’s usually in the office.”
Maverick and Rafe joined them. “I was teasing him earlier about serving drinks when I took our drink order to Hemi, and Titus said that China called off at the last minute and he couldn’t find someone to fill in on such short notice,” Maverick said.
Rhaider opened his mouth, and then snapped it closed. China had called off?
“What’s wrong?” Rafe asked.
“I think we need to find out why China isn’t here.”
Rafe’s eyes went wide. “You don’t think…”
“Think what?” Maverick asked.
“Hold on, we’ll be right back,” Rhaider said. He hurried down the steps and grabbed Titus’s arm. “Where’s China?”
“Not here, why?”
“No, I mean why isn’t she here?” Rhaider asked.
Demi, who’d been sitting with Annie at one of the tables by the stage, walked over. “What’s going on?”
“Maverick said that China called off. I was just asking why.”
Demi’s face went pale. “She didn’t.”
“I don’t know why she called off. She said she had something to do and needed the night. I was going to offer her some extra cash to come in, but she hung up before I could. I have no clue what she’s doing.”
Rhaider looked at Demi. “Try to call her.”
“Is something wrong?” Titus asked.
“I don’t know,” Rhaider said, watching as Demi found China’s name in her contact list and called it. “China found out about Abbie’s vision relating to Benecio. It was an accident, but she seemed content to leave things be. Maybe she went to see Abbie.”
“Her phone went right to voicemail,” Demi said. “Abbie’s too. I’ll run by her house, see if she’s home.”
“Not alone,” Rafe said.
Rhaider nodded. “I’ll take her. You three can play the songs that don’t have heavy piano in them.”
“Be careful,” Rafe said.
“Tell me if you hear from her,” Titus said. “I hope she’s okay.”
“Us too,” Rhaider said. He took Demi’s hand and stopped at the bar to tell Hemi what was going on. He urged them to be careful, and Demi promised they would be.
It was clear when they arrived at Abbie’s home that she wasn’t there. Her car was gone, and the interior of the house was dark.
“Well shit,” Demi said. “I don’t like this one bit.”
Rhaider nodded. It was one thing for China to be gone but adding Abbie into the mix was another story. It meant that the females were most likely together, especially since neither was answering their phones.
Demi called Duke and put the call on speaker. “Do you know what’s going on with Abbie and China?”
Duke cleared his throat. “I do.”
“They went to see Benecio, didn’t they?”
“Yes, they did.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because China made me promise not to reach out to you directly. Normally as alpha I’d do whatever the hell I want, but she got Ree on her side first and I can’t say no to my mate.”
“What if she gets hurt? What if she…” Demi’s voice choked off at the last moment and she didn’t finish her sentence.
“Vale and Reign are with them,” Duke said. “They won’t let any harm come to them. China said she felt like it was her destiny to meet Benecio and see things through, no matter what the outcome might be. I agreed to keep it quiet unless you reached out, so here we are.”
“I want to go help her,” Demi said. “I don’t want her to be alone in this. It’s…I can’t lose her.”
“Absolutely not,” Duke said. “We have until the deadline to meet him and I don’t want you going off half-cocked and getting yourself hurt in the process. If you show up while China’s trying to diffuse the situation, it could blow up in your faces. We want him to want to move on from you, not dig his heels in and refuse to see the light.”
“We won’t go,” Rhaider said.
“But,” Demi protested.
Rhaider shook his head and she snapped her teeth together with a grunt. “Thanks, Duke. Let us know if you hear anything.”
“Will do.”
The call ended and Rhaider looked at his mate. “Sweets, we can’t interfere. I might be a different shifter than you, but an alpha is an alpha, and he said no. We need to honor that. I’m not interested in pissing him off, especially not when we found the perfect house for us.”
She narrowed her eyes like she was trying not to smile and then she gave him a smirk “True.” She sighed and rubbed the space between her eyes. “I hate feeling helpless. When it comes to Benecio all I’ve ever felt is helpless.”
“You’re not helpless, you’re just not in a position to do anything at the moment. You stood up to
an alpha male. That’s not useless, that’s brave as hell.”
Demi leaned into him and he hugged her tightly. “I’m so crazy about you,” she whispered.
“Me too, sweets. One hundred percent, loony-bin-bound, crazy.”
She lifted her face to his for a kiss and he gave it to her, letting go of all the thoughts swirling through him about Benecio and China, and what it meant that Demi’s best friend went traipsing off into danger.
He wanted the kiss to go on forever, but the real world beckoned, and he needed to get back to the bar to join the band. Pulling from her addictive lips, he smiled when he saw that dazed, sweet look on her face.
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Demi.”
“You are for me, too.”
He wanted to do something special for her, to show her how important she was to him, and to his brother too. She was the center of their world, and he wanted her to have everything she ever wanted or needed.
An idea formed in his mind, and he turned away from her so she didn’t ask what he was grinning about. He needed to talk to Rafe. And Hemi and Duke, too. He had a feeling the males were going to want to get in on the surprise, too.
“Ready to go?” he asked as he pulled out of Abbie’s drive.
“Yeah. I hope they’re okay,” Demi said wistfully.
“I’m sure they are. Let’s put worrying on the backburner for the night, okay?” He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “We can’t do anything about what China and Abbie are doing, and worrying isn’t going to do anything but stress everyone out. We should hope for the best and focus on the night ahead.”
“You’re very smart,” she said.
“I have my moments.”
She chuckled and leaned on his shoulder. “No more worrying. I’ll just send you sexy texts when you’re on breaks so you get all worked up and can’t do anything about it until after the last set.”
“Wow,” he said with a laugh. “That’s dastardly.”
“No one has ever called me that,” she said, chuckling. “I like it. Just call me Dastardly Demi.”