“How is she?” he asked, stopping a few feet away. Neither Eli nor I were in the mood for conversation.
“She will make it,” Eli answered, before I could even open my mouth. “Thank you for getting her here safely.”
“Anything for the people who take such good care of my girls.”
“We very much appreciate everything you do for the town, Harrison. Please excuse us, though, we have to speak with Rose,” I added.
“What about the bus? I can’t leave until you boys defrost it for me.”
We’d walked right past it without even noticing. Diana was distracting both of us and we needed to get our heads straight before soldiers showed up. “I will make sure it’s done by the morning. Do you need a room to stay for the night?”
Harrison shook his head. “I’m good. Meredith has a spare room since her sister’s in Ada right now. I just wanted to check in with you both before I left for her house. Rose said you were on your way.”
I nodded.
“Thank you again, Harrison,” Eli repeated.
“I know what it’s like to lose someone,” Harrison spoke again, his eyes watering. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to have another moment with the girls’ mother. Annie was everything to me. I’m just glad you both have a second chance. It doesn’t happen often.” He rubbed his hands through his bushy head of gray hair and sighed. “Goodnight, boys.”
We were centuries older than him, but he still insisted on calling us boys. At first, we’d balked at it, but as you grew to know Harrison Bateman, you only grew to care about him more. As many years as his girls had lived in Sanctuary now, we were used to their dad saying just about anything he wanted to. The old warlock had been invited to move back to Sanctuary several times, but he always told Rose he liked being on the outside. That he felt like he was more help that way. We all knew it was because he’d lost his wife here. He just couldn’t bear the thought of living in Sanctuary without her. Too many painful memories. The girls, on the other hand, couldn’t stand the thought of leaving the town their mother had guarded her entire life.
I could relate. If Rose hadn’t set us as guardians over a houseful of crazy women, Eli and I would’ve drunk ourselves into a permanent stupor. The Sisters were the only reason we hadn’t caved in from the grief. There was something about the laughter of women and children that had helped keep us sane throughout the centuries.
“Good night, Harrison.”
He waved as he walked out of the cafe. The annoying little bell rang again and I grimaced. The cafe was mostly empty. It was the middle of the night, but several of the Protectors sat along the back wall with the twin pixies, Raven and Maven. Marcus with his mate, Sita, along with Javier, were deep in conversation. Only Sita looked up, a question in her blue irises.
I shook my head.
She nodded and refocused on her group.
Eli started for the kitchen and I followed him around the breakfast bar and through the swinging door. The smell of cinnamon and yeast filled the room.
Rose was alone in the kitchen. She folded a ball of dough on the counter and mashed it down, repeating the process several times. Pans of rising cinnamon rolls were laid out behind her, the source of the spicy, sweet smell.
“How is she?” Rose’s voice was soft, but filled with the strength of a leader. She was thousands of years old, millennia older than we were—yet she looked no older than thirty-five.
“Stable and healing,” Eli answered, pulling up a stool and sitting across from the counter where she was working. I followed suit and sat next to him on another empty stool.
“And the female vampire? What has she said?”
“Just that Diana has no memory of who or what she is. I get the feeling they struggled to help Diana keep her magick under wraps. Even so, she shifted to dragon form at least twice, from what we’ve been told. Both times were to protect herself from SECR soldiers. They’re tracking her, Rose.”
Rose sighed. “I know.” She picked up a rolling pin and began to flatten out the large ball of dough she’d been kneading. “They’re coming. I’ve felt Djinn scouts outside the city for the last few hours. But this won’t be out in the open; they risk a war with the Texas Republic if they’re discovered. These will be skilled soldiers.”
“They’re still human,” I added.
“But they’re working with Djinn. Xerxes’ reach is growing.”
She put down the rolling pin. Picking up a bowl of cinnamon sugar, she sprinkled it evenly across the dough, smoothing and spreading it until there was a generous layer over every inch. Baking helped Rose calm herself. The fact that she had three trays of rolls already done and was working on her fourth, said volumes about her stress level.
“I need you two to be focused. The Lycans and Protectors will be able to pick off most of them, but some will slip through. We must protect the town. Meredith and her father are here and I’ve already spoken with them about amping up the power to the wards that protect the buildings. But that will only slow the soldiers. It will not stop them.”
“Of course. You know we will do anything to protect Sanctuary.”
“Erick also informed me after you both left with Diana …” She rolled the dough into a long cylinder and started slicing it, putting each roll on the waiting pan to her side. “… that he recognized the vampire accompanying her. He doesn’t think she recognized him, though.”
“She’s that old? There aren’t many left their age,” Eli said.
“He said she was a shield-maiden from a territory adjacent to his Jarl’s. She is one of the fiercest warriors he’s come across in all his years. Her betrothed was killed in the same battle that claimed her human life. She was sired by the same vampire who turned Erick.”
“And they never met? After all these years?” I asked.
“No,” Rose answered, wiping her hands on the apron around her waist.
I added what I knew about her. “She works with the Mason pack currently. But as attached as she is to Diana, I’m not sure she will be leaving any time soon.”
“We may need her. It will be good if she stays a while. The Masons are a strong family, but foolish. They know Xerxes is the driving force behind the SECR’s corrupt government, yet they continue to risk so much each time they go back East. Hannah knows several of the Masons. She has friends in Ada, where they usually settle for the winter.”
“She should be more careful who she hangs out with,” I said, growling at the thought of little Hannah Bateman spending time with a pack of Lycans.
Rose smiled at me. “She’s a big girl, Miles. They would never hurt her. She goes up there to help with healing.”
I knew that. I also knew Hannah and Meredith both traveled back and forth to Ada. It was where their mother was from originally and they still had other family there. Sanctuary was blessed that the girls both decided to stay after their mother passed away. Their family had created the warding spells that kept Djinn from being able to teleport in and out of Sanctuary’s buildings.
“Hopefully, the girls can help Diana once she wakes from the healing sleep. She has no memory of her life before three weeks ago.”
Rose frowned. “That’s strong magick. I promise you both, we will find a way to help her. First, I need you to take the four wolves outside the cafe and set them up with these.” She pulled two sets of two-way radios from a cabinet behind her. “Have them stay in the four corner towers of the Castle.”
I nodded.
She pulled out a handful of small ear buds from the same cabinet and handed everything to me. I took the radios, put a listening device in my right ear, and handed another to Eli. He followed suit and placed one of the enchanted ear buds into his right ear. At first glance, the tech looked normal—like our mobile phones—but thanks to Bateman magick, humans couldn’t listen in. We were invisible on the heavily guarded networks, no matter which Republic we were in. They hadn’t figured out how to use the Internet undetected yet, but at least we had the modern conv
eniences of mobile phones and two-way radios.
I rose from my seat and headed for the door. Eli padded quietly behind me.
“Be careful.” Rose’s warning was soft, but sincere. “None of the soldiers can be allowed to leave the town,” she added.
Looking over my shoulder, I caught her deadly gaze and nodded. “I know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ELI
Killing humans was always messy. People tended to come looking for them. I hated that Xerxes was using them to try and get to Sanctuary. It was bad enough he’d enslaved an entire race of supernaturals, branding them as evil and vicious in human and supernatural eyes alike. The Djinn had not always been hated or feared. But now, stuck under Xerxes’ thumb, they had no choice.
I followed my brother through the dining room of the cafe and out onto the front porch. Four Lycans stood off to the side. I couldn’t remember a couple of their names, only two had visited the Castle that I could recollect.
“Liam O’Connor,” one of the unfamiliar men approached with his hand outstretched. “Brogan is my cousin. I believe Kieran and Douglas said they’d met you previously at the Castle.”
“Thank you,” I said, shaking his hand. “I couldn’t for the life of me recall your names.”
The Lycan smiled. “No worries. There are a lot of us to keep track of, especially when we keep taking in strays.”
“Rose knows you took more into the pack?” Miles growled softly.
“Aye, no worries there. She knows and has approved each new arrival. Most we’ve taken in have been extended family to pack members already living here,” Liam answered, not letting Miles’ attempt at intimidation get him down.
The wolf Liam had called Brogan stepped forward. “Even though some of us haven’t been here as long, I can assure you we will fight to the death to protect this town and our families.”
My gaze shifted to the blond man next to Liam. His green eyes flashed yellow for just a second and I let my lips curl into a smile. I liked his attitude. That was the kind of man I wanted at my side in a fight, even if he was just a wolf.
“Miles, give them their earbuds and let’s show them where they’ll be camping until the action starts.”
My brother doled out the tech and we headed for the Castle. I reached the massive doors first and pushed one of them open. Miles followed next and then the four Lycans. I closed the door behind the group and then heaved the heavy bar into place. It didn’t need to be there yet, but out of habit, I replaced the barrier anyway. Better safe than sorry, though it would take a hell of a beast to even push the door open without the bar.
My brother was barking out instructions as they climbed the grand staircase to the right. I followed quickly behind them, catching up in a few strides. Our footsteps echoed down silent hallways. Even the courtyard was empty and quiet. The Sisters probably already knew the shit was about to hit the fan. Their main living quarters were in the lower levels of the Castle, below ground. But they spent most of their time in the outdoor courtyards or the living areas on the first floor.
We climbed two more flights of stairs and split. Miles continued straight with Liam and Brogan and I waved the other two Lycans to follow me. We followed the path under the parapet and doubled back toward the front of the Castle.
Each Lycan was assigned a corner tower of the Castle. Liam and Brogan would stand watch in the two back towers, while Kieran and Douglass covered the front. With Lycan hearing and telepathic abilities, any humans approaching the town would be noticed immediately. If Djinn approached first, Calliope and Rose would come on the protected radio signal and let everyone know to be on high alert. Because of the magickal wards, Djinn had to physically enter the buildings in town. No teleporting in and out.
I thanked them for their help and then turned, following the parapet pathway to the back stairwell nearest our living quarters. I stepped down a flight of dark, stone stairs and came out in the hallway that leads to our bedrooms. Miles’ footsteps echoed behind me. We were both thinking the same thing.
Diana.
I pulled open Miles’ bedroom door and Eira turned her head to face us. “She hasn’t stirred.”
Miles approached the bedside first and leaned down, pressing a kiss to Diana’s forehead. He moved away, giving me room to do the same. She smelled as sweet as Rose’s cinnamon rolls.
I glanced up and caught Eira’s gaze. Her jewel-blue eyes sparked and she stood from the chair on the opposite side of the large, four-poster bed.
“Perhaps there’s somewhere I could freshen up before the all goes down. I expect the first wave of soldiers to be arriving near the twelve-hour mark, so I have a few minutes before I need to be prepared to fight.” She walked around to the foot of the bed. “I haven’t seen her sleep this soundly since I met her. Whatever you guys did, it’s helping.”
It tore at my heart to hear she’d been suffering … how many years? At least our healing spell was giving her some peace. Would she still be the same woman we fell in love with and married so many years ago?
Wait!? “The first wave?”
“It’s how the SECR operates. First wave will be small, maybe thirty to fifty soldiers. They can’t get more than that over the borders at a time. Texas law will let them send up to fifty for hunting an escaped prisoner, which is what they will have their orders written up to look like.”
“Gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want in the Texas Republic,” I muttered.
She nodded. “Another reason the Masons hole up in Ada for six months out of the year. Helps with soothing them into forgetting they need to come after us.”
“You’ve been doing this a while, haven’t you?” Miles asked.
“Since the walls between the republics first were built. So almost forty years now,” she added with a sigh. “It’s nothing new. I’ve always helped. Wherever I lived. I am an ageless warrior. What else am I good for?” She shrugged her shoulders and looked away.
“You’ve never wanted a mate? How many years have you been alone?”
She rolled her eyes. “No need to go playing matchmaker, dragon man. I’m perfectly happy on my own.” But the tone of her voice hinted that she didn’t speak truthfully.
“I’ll stay with Diana,” Miles said, catching my gaze.
I nodded and motioned to Eira. She followed me out of his bedroom and down the hall. We had several spare rooms in our wing of the Castle. All of them had their own bathroom en suite.
Pushing open a large, wooden door, I gestured for Eira to enter first. To my surprise, she didn’t come back with a witty comment about me holding the door for her. I peered inside and noted that it had been freshened lately and the bed had clean sheets, not that a vampire would really need to sleep.
“There should be fresh linens in the bathroom. If you need anything else, just let me know. There are four Lycans in the Castle right now, just so you know. They’re on lookout in the four towers.
“Thank you,” she said. “I noticed their scent on you, but didn’t realize they were in the building.”
I turned to leave, but paused and looked back at her one last time. She was pulling her chocolate tresses loose from its ponytail, reminding me how much I’d missed running my hands through a woman’s hair. After Miles and I took charge of the Sisters, our sex lives had become kind-of empty.
A casual fling with a visitor or two at the private Castle club or one of the pixies from town, but never more than that. We tried to find regular subs for a few years to release stress … or grief, but they knew our hearts weren’t in it. It wasn’t fair to a sub to have a Dom who wasn’t focused. Now we taught in the Club once a week, training males from town or visitors how to be responsible and attentive Doms.
The Sisters appreciated our efforts creating a safe and controlled environment in the club for them to practice BDSM; but neither of us was willing to have sex with any of the Sisters, even though they had attempted to coax us on multiple occasions. The idea that we might fath
er children into the House of Lamidae made it completely unappealing. My brother and I preferred to know our children—should we ever have any.
Which brought me back to the horrifying question in my mind. Did we have a child with Diana? Had that experience been stolen from us along with our wife?
This room had been crafted for the sole purpose of one day being a haven for a son or daughter. Though both of us had given up the hope of Diana’s return, the Sisters had insisted when the Castle had been designed that we put a nursery and spare bedrooms in our wing of the fortress.
Maybe the Sisters had held back information all along.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DIANA
I could smell him before I saw him.
The scent of male flooded my nostrils and the beast within me roared to life. I recognized it, but I didn’t. Everything was muddy, except the need to touch the male, taste him, and have him completely. Turning my head toward his scent, I opened my eyes slowly, thankful for the dim lighting. It made it that much easier to focus and take in the handsome face staring down at me from the bedside.
He had strong, deep-set eyes, hard brow lines, and a square jaw covered in several days’ growth. Black, wavy hair hung forward from either side of his face, easily shoulder length and beautifully familiar. He was one of the men from my dream. No doubt about it … yet I still couldn’t remember his name or how we knew each other—just that we did.
His brown eyes widened, surprise flooding his face like a man who’d been caught spying on a naked lady washing. I felt the corners of my lips turn up into a smile.
Heat flowed rapidly through my body and I clenched my hands into fists to keep from reaching forward to touch him. He smelled like heaven. The damned dragon inside me was not helping either. A light sweat coated my body in seconds. I knew what was coming next—ice. Every time this blasted fever rose, my powers overwhelmed me and ice covered the room, froze the bed, the sheets, and the walls. I ruined everything around me.
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