The Real You

by N. J. Nielsen

  Remi was wondering the same thing.

  Lara stopped beside the opposite wall. “Now we take the passage up to my office. Only Murtagh and I knew about this way in. Hopefully none of the others have figured it out.”

  Remi hoped so too. The passageway was narrow, so they had to go single file up the spiraling staircase. He was right behind Lara when they stopped at the top. After quietly opening a small vent in the wall, they could all hear voices clearly coming from the other side of the wall.

  “What are we supposed to do, Phaedra? Sumar is out of control, and we all know it. It’s bad enough that he wants to be permanently installed in the position of guild master, but to bring in those demons to kill anyone who gets in his way? I can’t abide by that, can you?”

  “Thallon, I totally agree with you—we all do. We still need to figure out a way of getting those demons out of here, then we knock Sumar off his self-appointed throne,” Phaedra answered coldly.

  An audible sigh was followed by a new voice. “We should have listened to Murtagh when we had the chance. If we had, he wouldn’t be confined now, and we’d be out of here with our families. If that bastard didn’t have my Katie, I wouldn’t be here at all. Simon, Daven and Telarah are the lucky ones.”

  “We’ll figure it out, Eland. We’ll get our loved ones back and finally be free of that idiot once and for all.”

  Remi had known there was a reason Sumar had gained control so fast. Right now, they had to think of a way to rescue everyone without anyone getting hurt in the process. When silence fell on the other side, Lara flicked a switch and part of the wall swung open. Stepping through the doorway, she said, “It’s good to know you haven’t all turned into evil dictators. I was beginning to worry for a moment.”

  “Telarah, how did you get in? Sumar has the demons watching out for you.”

  “The clan he has working for him are frickin’ idiots. They’re not interested in helping Sumar at all. Jordon only wants his powers back. As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t going to happen. Now tell us, who is Sumar holding?” Princess Telarah demanded.

  One of the men stepped forward. “He has our families. My son Jack was the last one caught and brought in. He says if we don’t stand behind him, he’ll start killing off our families.”

  “What the hell does he want?” Remi growled out.

  The same man answered, “World domination.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Claudius had had enough. Turning to Princess Telarah, he asked, “Do you have any weapons hidden in here? Because I think the ones we brought with us won’t be enough.”

  “I have a few stunners, but that’s about it. I’ve never found I needed a lot of weapons here,” she answered. “After this bullshit, I’ll make sure I am forever prepared.”

  Talking to the group of guild members at large, Claudius asked, “Where are they keeping Tagh and your kin?”

  “Murtagh is being held in his office. Our families are in the detention cells on the top floor,” guild member Lilliana explained.

  An internal debate was going on inside of Claudius. He warred about whether or not to say what was on his mind. In the end, he decided to lay everything out on the table. “I think Remi, Isiah, Mitch, Princess Telarah and I should go and rescue Tagh while the rest of you head up and free the families.”

  “Is it wise to split up?” Gabriel asked.

  “I think if we stick together, the group will be too large,” Claudius answered.

  Eland stepped forward. “What do you want us to do?” He gestured, indicating the rest of the guild.

  “What are you supposed to be doing? Maybe if you all acted normal, we could get in and out without too many problems,” Remi asked.

  Eland looked at his watch. “In about five minutes, we’re all supposed to be having a guild meeting. Sumar is supposedly going to give the kill order on you, your mates and everyone who’s had a hand in helping you.”

  “Who’s attending beside the guild members?” Gabriel asked.

  Claudius could already see the wheels turning in his ex-day warden’s mind. Gabriel always did have a quick-thinking brain—even if a slightly psychotic one.

  “Us and most of the demon clan. Sumar will insist on having the building in lockdown, so he won’t even have that many men guarding Murtagh and our families. Probably one at each position,” Eland offered.

  Gabriel nodded. “Okay then, I say let’s follow Claude’s plan. We get the hostages safely out, then we descend en masse on the boardroom. Once you hear us coming, hit the floor, because we’ll come in guns blazing.”

  “We can’t kill them,” Princess Telarah pointed out. “Doing that will make us as bad as they are.”

  “Fine. We’ll set them to stun, but if they use live ammunition, all bets are off,” Gabriel said.

  Once the plan was finalized, they waited for the signal to come through that the meeting was in progress and that everyone was present and accounted for. They didn’t have long to wait. Claudius was stunned when Gabriel pulled both him and Isiah into a hug and warned them to be careful. Remi and Mitch stood not far away, taking in the scene.

  His group waited for the others to head off, then Telarah led them through the building to Murtagh’s office. Eland had been right. Only one guard stood in the hall outside the door. Remi made short work of him. Once the sentry was on the ground, Mitch used garden ties Gabriel had insisted they all carry to bind his hands and feet. When the guy woke, he’d be pissed off, but at least he wouldn’t be dead.

  Princess Telarah cursed loudly when she opened the door and Murtagh came into view. The poor guy had been all but beaten senseless. Blood dripped from his many wounds. His head was bowed, and Claudius wasn’t even sure if his friend was still breathing. The anger in the air was tangible. Everyone stilled and, in the silence, Claudius heard the tell-tale rhythm of a steady, if somewhat slow, heartbeat. Although Murtagh’s battered and bleeding form was awful, it wasn’t what shocked Claudius the most. It was the obvious design on his skin marking him as a draconian warrior. His breed was rare as hell. Weirder still, Remi, Mitch and the princess didn’t as seem shocked as he and Isiah were. No wonder Murtagh swung so easily from happy to pissed in under a second.

  “Let’s get him out of here,” Isiah whispered. “Call someone to come and get him.”

  When Mitch went to lift Murtagh into his arms, Remi stopped him. “We’ll need to take him to Vance. He’s hurt badly. I feel him slipping away.” After letting go of Mitch, Remi pulled out his phone and called his brother. He hadn’t told the others, but he’d gotten some of the clan to follow them in case something like this happened. Vance even carried a small medical kit to treat any wounded.

  “Pull around back by the bin. You’ll find a door there. You’ll need a code to get in.” He rattled off the code Lara supplied. “The Draconian is hurt badly. Get him home under wraps and see what you can do for him.”

  After he ended the call, Remi used some of his power to nullify any damage he might cause by lifting Murtagh. It also ensured that his friend would have a more comfortable ride back to the den. He kept his fingers crossed that nothing came along to interfere with their getting Murtagh safely out of the building. After getting back to Lara’s office, Remi quickly carried Murtagh down the stairwell and handed him over to Vance and his crew.

  After Murtagh had been taken for help, they heard the sound of many feet descending the stairs. Seeing the relieved faces of the freed hostages made everything worthwhile.

  However, his brother wore a very pissed-off expression. “The guard’s dead. He shot himself through the head before we could stun him. I guess he didn’t want to fall into our hands. Where’s Tagh?”

  “Vance has him. It doesn’t look good,” Remi murmured, not wanting everyone to overhear their conversation.

  “You better let his mate know,” Orion whispered back.

  Remi shook his head. “I can’t. According to Mitch, both are in denial of their attraction to each other, and
we promised the Draconian we’d keep his secret.”

  “And we could lose him altogether if you don’t,” Orion said harshly.

  Remi was afraid Orion was right. Draconian warriors needed their mates to keep them tethered to the here and now. If they stayed apart for too long, irreparable damage would be done, because sooner or later, Murtagh would lose himself to his darker nature.

  “Is everyone out?” Remi asked to change the subject.

  “Yes, and the others are waiting for us upstairs. It’s time to gatecrash the meeting and get things back to fucking normal.”

  “Last I heard, there were twenty members of Jordon’s clan. With Sumar, it makes twenty-one. We have eight of us, plus the seven remaining guild members. Fifteen against twenty-one is going to be tough, seeing as demons make up most of their side.”

  Remi shook his head as he did a quick calculation. “Eighteen. I wouldn’t count on Adrian helping Jordon. If we can, we need to get him out of sight. I don’t want him to wind up dead. Plus one guard is tied up, and the other offed himself.”

  “Even if the kid swaps to our side, it’s still sixteen against eighteen demons. We all know Sumar is part demon himself,” Orion insisted.

  “What do you want me to do? Do you think we should walk away and live to fight another day? If we do, the rest of the guild is dead.”

  Orion glared back at him. “I’m saying that it’s going to be tough. We have four vampires, two demons, a day warden, a demon-human hybrid. And whatever the hell the rest of the guild is.”

  Remi could see his brother’s point of view, but there was nothing they could do about it now. In this moment, they had to take the hand dealt to them and do the best they could. If everything went to plan, no one on their side would end up dead after this little skirmish.

  He and Orion quickly made their way back up to where everyone waited. The plan was to knock once before slamming the doors open and storming the board room. The knock was to warn the guild to duck and take cover. Eland had been given the task of getting Adrian out of the line of fire. In their earlier talks, everyone had agreed Adrian was being an asshole under duress. Lilliana had informed them of the part Sumar had played in forcing Adrian into attacking Mitch. If Adrian hadn’t done as he was told, Sumar would have informed Jordon that a member of his clan was a cock-sucking homo. Still, thinking back to the night in question, it pissed Remi off that the kid had been so convincing. He guessed fear could do that to a person.

  Checking his weapon one last time, Remi banged his fist against the wooden door then hauled back and kicked the fucker in. Relief flooded him when he saw the guild drop and roll under the long table. Eland had even managed to drag Adrian with him. At least with them out of the way, the fun could begin. Storming across the room, Remi made a beeline for Jordon, Orion not far behind him. Lara and Daven both fought their way to Sumar, who was cowering behind his throne-like seat, a seat that didn’t belong to him.

  “Kill them all,” Sumar screamed as Princess Telarah stepped in front of him.

  With Remi’s attention divided, Jordon rammed a dagger into his side. Anger rushed through him as the weapon was ripped free. The wound itself was yet to hurt, but right now he had more important things to focus on. Clutching at his side, he snarled and backhanded Jordon straight into Orion’s arms. His brother seemed to forget the whole plan of not killing them. Orion grabbed Jordon’s head with one arm. Jordon’s screams rent the air, but were cut off when Orion dragged his blade across the man’s neck, slashing Jordon’s throat. Silence seemed to fill the room, along with the acrid stench of the man’s blood.

  Remi approved of the way his brother held Jordon’s head back so the sides of the wound couldn’t meet and begin to heal. The man was dying, and this time he needed to stay that way.

  Orion snarled into Jordon’s ear. “That’s for stabbing my brother, and this is for killing him the first time.” Orion went from holding Jordon upright to snapping his neck. He then threw the lifeless corpse to the floor.

  A blood-curdling scream filled the air as Jordon’s clan stopped the fight and every one of them turned on Sumar. By demon law, with Jordon dead, their pact with the would-be guild master was over and done. They would now blame him for what had happened to their leader. One of the demons, a man Remi knew as Cheyenne, stepped away from the clan and bowed in Remi’s direction. “The war is over. Blood has been spilled by both sides. We never wanted this, but Jordon was blinded by his hatred of you. As our lord, we had no choice but to follow him.” Turning to Orion, Cheyenne bowed again. “As demon law states—you replace what you kill. You’re now our clan lord.”

  The shock on his brother’s face was there for the world to see. Hell, Remi, along with the whole room, stood waiting to see what Orion was going to do.

  The silence was broken by Isiah speaking. “If that’s true, why didn’t Jordon become the leader of the Larkos clan when he killed you?”

  “Because Laramie wasn’t dead. Wounded yes, then Jordon administered a drug to keep him in stasis,” Cheyenne explained.

  Well, that was news to Remi. He sure felt like he was dead at the time. “We have to go home. Tomorrow we can start to deal with the fallout.” He looked under the table “You can come out now. Your kin will be worriedly waiting outside to make sure you’re all okay.”

  “We are forever in your debt,” Eland said for the group.

  Remi shook his head. “Put Simon back in the guild master seat, and we’ll be happy to call it even. Oh, and no sending anyone after my mates again. As you’ve seen today, I’m willing to bitch slap anyone who comes after us.”

  “What are we supposed to do about them?” Daven asked as he thumbed toward what was left of Jordon’s clan.

  “I guess we take them home until Orion decides what he’s going to do. They can merge their den with ours or we can extend ours to accommodate everyone.” Remi was tired. It had been a long couple of weeks, and it wasn’t over yet. He turned his attention to Adrian. “My mates are off your radar. And Eric is spoken for. I don’t care who you love, as long as you don’t make any more waves in my family.”

  At his announcement, Daven’s gaze snapped around to meet his. Remi could have explained, but it wasn’t his place. The truth would come out when Murtagh and Eric finally figured their shit out.

  “Let’s go home.”

  * * * *

  “Where’s Tagh? Didn’t you guys meet up with him?” The worry in Eric’s voice was evident to all assembled.

  Mitch walked to his friend, and pulled Eric into his embrace. “Tagh got hurt, sweetie.”

  “Hurt how? How bad is it?” Eric demanded, trying to struggle free.

  “Very bad,” Remi stated. He walked over and placed a hand on Eric’s shoulder. “Only time will tell how he recovers, but considering the circumstances, I think it will be touch and go for a while.”

  “What circumstances? Where is he?” Eric begged. “Tell me something.”

  Mitch decided honesty was the best policy. “He’s down with Vance. Though I think—” He didn’t get to say more as Eric rushed from the room. In his heart, Mitch hoped he’d done the right thing by telling Eric.

  “Whoa! I think I’ve been traded in for a different guild member,” Daven joked then sobered, “So tell me, how bad is it really? And what’s the fallout going to be?”

  Shit! He knew he should keep Murtagh’s secret, but as soon as Daven saw the man, he was going to know. Wincing in Remi’s direction, he blurted out the truth. “Tagh’s a draconian warrior, and I think Eric is his mate.”

  “Fuck me running,” Daven exhaled sharply.

  Mitch chuckled. “As cute as you are, you aren’t my type. I have my hands already full with the three men I have in my life, without complicating it by adding more. But if you’re that way inclined, I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.”

  “Don’t wish that on me. For the next long while, I want nothing but peace and quiet.” As Daven talked, Mitch was sure he saw something
akin to pain and sadness run over Gabriel’s features.

  Was life ever going to get back to normal? Mitch very much doubted it was possible. They had all willingly started this crazy ride, and now they would have to see it through to the end. If the prophecy was true, his family had opened the way for everyone to seek their True One, no matter what species they were. He hoped everyone’s life turned out as good as his had.

  But right now, he had three very special and sexy-as-fuck men to love and to reconnect with. He needed to make sure they were all safe and sound. Tomorrow was the first step into the rest of their lives. Mitch grinned as Isiah and Claudius grabbed him and Remi and dragged them from the room and started toward their bedroom.

  Yeah, the night had suddenly gotten a hell of a lot better.

  Here was hoping it stayed that way.

  Also available from Pride Publishing:

  The Connelly Chronicles: Family Connections

  N.J. Nielsen

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  “Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, what are you doing to me? Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, what are you waiting to see? I loved you more through all of your games…”

  Viv snapped his head toward the stage as the young male singer’s melodic voice filled the room and drowned out the chatter among the other nightclub patrons. Why this song after all they had been through? Why did memories of her have to come back and haunt him now? Even if it was through the lyrics of a stupid song, sung by a total stranger. Viv had thought he was finally getting over Grace. Especially after the last time she had decided to hurt him by screwing with his brother Daniel’s life. Even though he had once loved Grace with all his heart, Viv never wanted to see her again. “Oh my.” Daniel turned to Viv and smiled sardonically. “Now there’s a blast from a very fucked-up past. This song makes me hate the fucking bitch even more than I already do. Mind you, at least this guy’s way sexier than Grace ever was.”