by A. B Lee
The sound of Seth’s phone ringing made us both jump. I knew technology- every human that walked these lands had one of those things, but the Fae had no use for them- they were too big for one thing, not exactly Mobile for a Faerie to carry around. He snatched it out of the back pocket of his jeans and frowned hard… Unknown number…
“Yeah?” Such a lovely greeting for… “Robert, where the hell are…?”
My heart leapt- my spirits soared… Seth was scowling now, but that didn’t dent my resolve to believe that it could be good news.
“On my way.” He growled, his eyes flicking to mine and confirming what I truly wanted to believe. He was already talking before he’d even snapped off the phone… “He knows where they have Bree…”
“Let’s go…” I started for the vehicle, but his hand yanked me backwards.
“Stay here, Jasmine…” Seth was playing the man card- or maybe it was the wolf card, but whatever he thought he was doing, he just came over as being an idiot.
“You saw me take on vampires last night,” I tossed his words back at him, “without magic, this will be an eye opener for you.” I assured him.
Seth growled for a long moment, maybe the longest of my life to date.
“And I will only shift into my wings and follow you anyway.” I thought I’d up the stakes.
“Fine,” he growled harder in annoyance, “get in.”
I had no qualms about getting into that contraption now. Not when we knew where Bree was.
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Then there were six of us. Robert was naked as we squatted down behind a hedgerow that ran the length of the estate and around the huge sprawling mansion that sat buried deep inside of a Glen miles from anywhere.
Seth had made a call on the way here, and Finlay and three of the pack that I had met at our handfasting had joined us shortly after we arrived. Now the men were debating…
I had itchy wings. I wanted to storm the house all by myself and rescue Bree if she was inside, but they needed a plan. Pah! The plan was simple in my mind, kill the vampire and get the girl, end of.
“I haven’t been able to get up close to the property yet… line of sight for whoever is inside is too good. I didn’t want to risk tipping my hand that I was here until you guys arrived…” Robert growled in annoyance. He’d wanted to storm the building all by himself, I could see it in his eyes.
“That’s where I come in.” I announced and three sets of eyes turned on me.
“You’re…” Seth started, but I cut him off.
“Fae, remember. I shift into my invisible me and go scout the area.” I liked that plan, it meant that I was doing something. It meant that I could go and see if Bree really was inside.
“It’s not a bad idea, Seth.” Robert’s eye were practically begging.
I could see that Seth didn’t like it. I knew why; because it meant that he wasn’t at my side ready to protect me. Too bad, this was the best that we could do.
I didn’t wait for Seth’s permission. I didn’t need it. He may have been my mate, but I was still me and this was happening.
I jumped from the ground and shifted to the sound of another annoyed growl.
“Fine…” Seth bit out.
I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t find it in me to do so. Then I took off on fast wings, not worried about the line of sight that Robert was talking about as I headed right for the first open window that I could see, I loved summer all over again just because it afforded me an easy entrance to this house.
‘Bree…’ I called out to her with my mind… ‘Bree, answer me, damn it…’
‘Jazz…?’
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
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My heart had never felt so damn good; it soared at the sound of her voice. I knew that voice; sleepy. I’d pulled her out of sleep and she was still dopey.
I could see her face in my minds eyes as I flew right in the window, and that was all I needed to keep venturing further into the dim light of the building. Bree was alive and here…
‘Am I dreaming?’ Bree asked and I wished she’d been in front of me so that I could roll my eyes at her.
‘Yes, you’re dreaming. Wanna tell me where you are?’
‘Jazz, oh my, you’re here? How’d you find me…?’ I took heart that one night with a vampire had not stunted her personality as her excited words rushed out.
‘Robert tracked you… where are you?’ I was speeding from one room to the next; aside from the ones with the closed doors, of which there were too many, I had open access to the house and not a vampire in sight.
‘Upstairs…’
‘At least you’re not in a dungeon…’ I practically growled those words.
‘He said as long as I didn’t try to leave then I could see the sun rise and set…’ She didn’t sound so happy anymore.
‘Did he feed?’ I demanded and she stayed silent. I wanted to rip him limb from limb.
‘Is… Robert here?’ I almost grinned at that one.
‘Outside. I could have tried to spell him into being Faerie sized but I don’t think it would work for him.’ I kept it light as I continued my search.
I shot into a room through an open doorway and pulled up short… a bird in a gilded cage. I’d never seen anything like it… the floor of the room was covered in earth, and there in the centre was a damned human sized bird cage with a fine mesh crafted between the bars from the floor to the ceiling, a cage alright, designed for a Fae…
‘Oh, Bree…’ I knew that I couldn’t get inside in my Fae form. I speed around and around it looking for just the smallest opening; knowing that there wouldn’t be one because this was made to keep a Fae inside.
One of Bree’s feet was shackled to the floor in some kind of metal boot and that was filled with earth to keep her human. Her wrists were bound with heavy chains, and as I went to land on one of the outside ledges of the bars she panicked…
‘Don’t touch it, it hurts…’
Just in time I pulled up and away. There was nothing I could do for her as a Fae- I would have to shift into my human form.
‘I’m going to shift and get you out of…’
‘No, it’s too dangerous. The bars hurt if you touch them, and these things on my wrists sting if I try to mess with the locks…’
‘I don’t care…’
‘I do…’ Bree was on her feet. She looked through the mesh of the cage in my direction. She could see me, but only just, in her human form I was mere shadows and light. ‘I don’t want anyone to get hurt for me, Jazz.’
‘I’m going to get Robert, Seth, and the others…’
‘Others?’ She sounded as surprised as she looked.
‘You’re a mate, Bree. The pack are here to rescue you.’
‘I… well… that’s…’ she took a second to compose herself and then she nodded, ‘ok.’
‘Don’t go anywhere…’ I teased as I took one more look at her, turned fast on my wings and headed back the way that I had come.
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I had continued my search of the property. I knew where Bree was and she wasn’t going anywhere, but what I didn’t know was where the vampire might be or if he was alone.
That was when I spotted him. I flew directly towards him, my anger rushing up inside of me. I knew that I was supposed to go back to the pack and report what I’d found, but he was right there…
I wanted to do him harm- but the sound of someone else approaching threw me off guard. Two of them…
I turned on fast wings just at the last moment, just in time before I was too damn close to the man to pull up, and that was when I saw him…
Jacob…
Something inside of my mind was screaming in disbelief. Alarm bells were ringing, and he was now the centre of my rage…
I pulled on my magic and concentrated everything that I had on him…
Jacob roared as I attacked. His body twisted in pain and he drop
ped to his knees on the floorboards, but I wasn’t done with him yet.
“What the…?” I heard the first vampire roar from somewhere beside me, and then, to my utter damn amazement; he was longer standing beside me, but had vamped across the room, grabbing handfuls of Jacob’s clothes, he swept the man off of his feet and smashed his back into the nearest wall…
My mind froze in comprehension of what was happening… I’d screwed up… big time.
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I panicked. It was only the sound of wolves growling that snapped me out of it. I turned to see them spilling through the front door, running on fast paws through the house towards us…
My heart leapt at the sight of them. I’d misjudged Jacob. He hadn’t been there as an accomplice, he’d been there to kill the vampire, rescue Bree, and I had intervened in the worst way possible.
With a roar of pure anger from Jacob, I had to zip out of the way as both men came hurtling towards me at speed. Jacob, having regained some of his strength to fight back, was charging Bree’s captor towards the other wall… the sound of the man hitting the wood of the furniture on route was almost deafening…
Both men had drawn on their fangs and claws and I was spellbound for the longest moment as they tried to kill each other in the heat of battle. I’d seen vampires up close and personal during the attacks on our realm, but fighting each other was a new one on me…
When Jacob was tossed away across the room like a ragdoll I rushed to action, sending a bolt of magic right at his attacker. In that moment I could see why they valued Fae blood so much… it barely phased him…
The wolves attacked from all directions; hunting as one pack, taking him down under their combined weight, and ripping and tearing him asunder.
I turned away; there was a part of me that wanted to garner some justice from seeing the man ripped to shreds, but there was also a part of me that didn’t want to witness the horror.
I shifted into my human form and landed on my feet by the doorway… Jacob was at my side in a heartbeat…
“That didn’t go quite to plan…” his black eyes bore into mine and I had to grimace.
“You’ll get over it.” I turned on my heels and started from the room, closely followed by the vampire, and the sound of fast paws following on behind us.
“You’re welcome.” Jacob bit out from behind me. I owed him an apology; and I’d deliver it too, just as soon as Bree was set free and I could swallow my dislike for all things vampire.
“Where is she?” Robert growled. He’d shifted back into his human body and was racing up the staircase behind us. “Is she hurt, did it feed from her?”
“Third door on the right, no, yes.” He raced by me, almost knocking me into a wall as he went, but I forgave him that, considering he was probably the one person who wanted to get to Bree more than I did.
I heard the roar of anger and disgust that came from his lips when he encountered the sight of Bree inside the cage.
“You’re naked!” Bree exclaimed and I almost tripped up the last stair as the amusement finally hit me hard; like a release valve going off in my brain.
“Get used to it sweetheart…” Robert growled out and I could have head butted the nearest wall trying not to crack up laughing at the two of them. They were truly meant for each other!
“Don’t touch the…” Bree rushed out, but the sound of the big man yelping in pain told me that he had done just that, long before I turned the corner into the room and found his hands practically moulded to the bars…
“Ah, nuts!” Bree bit out as every muscle in Robert’s body clamped down hard on the voltage that ran through him.
“Ok, now that’s just funny.” Jacob bit out. He stalked across the room and flicked a switch on what I assumed to be the power supply.
Robert roared and tossed his body backwards away from the cage. I was sure that I could see steam coming out of his head, but it might just have been me.
“Are you ok?” Bree rushed out. Trust Bree to ask a stupid question. I had to snigger.
“Y-e-s…” The big man bit out through clenched teeth. His hands still made loose fists in front of him. He shook it off as I double over into laughter. It wasn’t just the sight of a naked Robert getting zapped- it was the whole damn relief of the moment…
Bree was still undoubtedly Bree as her face flicked between concern and amusement, and her big wide eyes flicked from his face, down his naked body to his very erect manhood. There was glee there…
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“I told you to wait. You were supposed to do recon and come back to us…” Seth growled long and hard at me as he stalked, naked, along the upstairs hallway of the vampire’s mansion towards me.
I’d left Bree and Robert to it. Jacob was around somewhere, not that I wanted to see him again for a while…
“Things… changed.” I offered with a small shrug off my shoulders.
My eyes devoured every inch of him that I could see- I couldn’t help it- when the man was offering me such views who was I to look the other way?
“You- are- reckless…” Seth growled as he reached out and wrapped an arm around my waist, hauling me against his naked body, and making certain that I felt every inch of what I’d been seeing…
“She attacked me too.” Jacob’s silken tones came out of nowhere and snapped me back to the reality of where we were. I’d been quite happily considering climbing up Seth’s muscled legs and wrapping myself around him… trust a vampire to ruin the moment with a little thing like a wakeup call to sanity. “Nearly got us both killed.”
“I was in no danger.” I smiled innocently at Seth as he growled in annoyance again.
“I see where your priorities lie.” Jacob had an amused tone. I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t, Seth’s jet black eyes held me spellbound.
“Leave…” Seth growled out, and I kind of guessed that he was talking to the vampire, because he still had a death lock around my body.
“So much gratitude could go to a man’s head.” Jacob said as I felt him moving by us.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Seth growled out as he focused all of that anger on me.
Ha! I could have argued the point of equality.
I could have dug my heels in, found my feminine battle cry and gone twenty rounds with him, literally toe to toe, but instead- I tipped my head to one side and just stared him right in those sexy puppy dog eyes…
“We should mate, bond, now.”
I thought his head might explode. Then I thought he was trying to swallow his tongue, but finally… he reached down, lifted me over his shoulder, growled possessively, and started to stalk back towards the staircase…
“Not exactly what I had in mind.” I grumbled. But I did have a damn fine view of his taut, naked backside as I hung down his back. I couldn’t help but grin.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
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I’d like to say that Seth swept me off of my feet, carried me away- caveman style- and made mad passionate love to me, but it didn’t quite go like that…
We had to drive back to pack land. Robert and Bree were in the back of the car with a strange sort of invisible dividing line between them of Bree’s choosing. I was in the front of the contraption with Seth, and both men were continuously growling… it got to the point where I couldn’t wait to escape the confines of the damn car.
Of course, the moment we got back Bree wanted to go home and assure everyone that she was alright. I needed to check to see how the queen was doing, and that my mother hadn’t had an attack of the spirits and gone loopy, and then there was Piper to think about.
Mating would have to wait.
Seth was… disappointed… but understanding.
“I told you I would wait for you, Jasmine, and I will.” He informed me as I looked up into those eyes, at those damn dimples on his cheeks, and had the urge to tell the world to go to hell and climb up into his stron
g arms.
“I kind of promised you mating…” I grumbled, fighting to resist that urge with every heartbeat.
“And we will.” The underlying growl in Seth’s voice rattled my nerves and called to that part of me that wanted him so badly… I groaned.
“Go and see your people, and when you come back to me, know that I am going to mate with you come hell or high water.”
Well, that made my heart slam into my ribs and my womb do a funny dance. I backed away from him, slowly, still unsure if I would have the will to fly away- then I turned and jumped in the air before I changed my mind and ravaged him right there and then.
Life didn’t always go as planned.
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“She died?” My heart hit the floor as Piper spilled out the news about my queen.
“Even with the strongest magic that the elders could muster, it wasn’t enough, Jazz.” Piper looked to the floor between us and I closed my eyes and felt that heavy weight pushing down on my shoulders once more.
“Damn it…” I kicked out at the stool that Bree was sitting on.
“Hey!” She grumbled, wiping the tears from her cheeks and hoping that neither of us noticed.
“It gets a little more complicated than that, Jazz.” Piper’s words drew my eyes back to her and I saw her wince. What could be worse than losing our queen?
Could this day get any worse?
“Please don’t tell me that Sybal has…”
“No.” Piper cut me off, but it was the foreboding look in her eyes that had me stumped. “She named you queen.”
My jaw must have hit the floor a moment before my backside did. That couldn’t be! Me- queen. Laughable, funny though, I didn’t feel like laughing.
“I…” I shook my head to try to clear the myriad of thoughts that shot into my mind, clogging up my brain, and making it almost impossible to think clearly.