“Asher, wait! I can help,” Andrew called as he jogged up behind him. “I think I might know where he is.”
Spinning around, Asher wrapped his hand around the fucker’s throat and slammed him up against the wall, pinning him there in an iron grip. “Stop playing games with me and tell me where my goddamn mate is!”
Andrew’s eyes looked in danger of popping out of his head, and his mouth fell open in shock. “Mate? You’re mated?”
“Yes,” Asher hissed. “He is my mate, my lover, and my entire fucking world. I will burn down this entire city to find him. Do I make myself clear?”
Bobbing his head rapidly, Andrew wrapped his fingers around Asher’s wrist and tugged lightly. “I’ll help you.”
Asher released him abruptly and spun on his heels to march toward the elevators. “This doesn’t mean I trust you,” he called over his shoulder. “If you try anything, I will incinerate you and laugh while you scream. Got it?”
“Got it,” Andrew repeated as he stepped up beside Asher and jerked his head toward the door to the stairwell.
Asher nodded his agreement, motioning for Andrew to go first. No way would he turn his back on the man in such a confined space. Andrew sighed and pushed through the door first, leading the way.
They took the stairs two at a time to the ground floor and went swiftly but as casually as possible through the main hotel lobby and out to Asher’s Mustang. Once inside and buckled up, Asher popped the clutch and peeled out of the parking lot, anxious to find his mate.
“How do I get to his office?”
“Broadway to Commercial, then straight down on the left,” Andrew answered tightly as he gripped the door handle.
Asher mashed the accelerator to the floor as he zipped in and out of traffic, honking his horn and weaving through the slower moving cars. Following Andrews directions, they swerved into the parking lot in front of Zaiden’s office in four minutes flat.
Leaving the engine idling, Asher sprang out of his seat and sprinted over to Zaiden’s car. Maybe his mate was still inside the building. Relief tried to creep its way in, but Asher shut it down firmly. He needed to see Zaiden with his own eyes.
“Look,” Andrew said as he stepped up beside Asher and pointed toward the ground.
Asher’s heart flopped over in his chest as he squatted down and dipped his fingers in the dark liquid pooled beside the back tire. Lifting his hand, his face fell at the crimson staining his fingertips.
He started to rise, but a flash of light from beneath the vehicle drew his attention. Ducking his head and pressing his chest closer to the pavement, he fumbled around until his fingers wrapped around something cold and hard.
Pulling the object from beneath the car, he jumped to his feet and stared down at Zaiden’s cell phone in his hand. Someone had put their hands on his mate, had hurt him, and Asher wanted their blood. “We have to find Zaiden.”
“I don’t know where to look, man.” Andrew crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “This is insane.”
Asher still didn’t know what the hell Andrew had been doing at his hotel room, or even how he’d known where to find them. He didn’t really have time to prod for answers right then, either. He’d have to save it for after they found Zaiden.
His phoenix cried out, his song beautiful while heartbreaking as it searched for their missing mate. Asher smacked himself in the forehead and groaned. God, he was such an idiot. “I know how to find him.”
“What do we do?”
“I have to shift. I’ll be drawn to him, and my phoenix will know where to go.” Asher jerked his head toward his car. “I need you to follow me, then call the police when I land, okay?”
“Let’s go.” Andrew hurried to Asher’s car and slid in behind the wheel.
Stripping off his clothes, Asher figured he should probably be concerned with public decency laws, but at the moment, he just didn’t give a fuck. All he cared about was finding his mate. Once naked, he closed his eyes, spread his arms out wide, and let his phoenix take over.
* * * *
Groaning as consciousness slowly came to him, Zaiden rolled over on his side and reached for his throbbing head, hissing when his palm brushed over the gaping gash just below his hairline. His eyelids fluttered open, and he had to blink several times to dispel the bleariness that surrounded the edges.
What the hell had happened? Where was he, and how did he end up there? Struggling to push into a sitting position, Zaiden took in his surroundings, almost passing out again when he realized he was back home in his own bed.
“Ah, there you are, then.” Denise bustled into the room, pushing on his shoulders and urging him back down to the mattress. “I was beginning to think you’d never wake up.”
Zaiden knocked her hands away and growled as he ripped the blankets off his legs and climbed to his feet. “Where the fuck is Asher?”
“He’s perfectly safe, I assure you. Now sit down and let me look at your head. It’s still bleeding a bit, I’m afraid.”
“You fucking hit me!” he roared.
“Well, of course I did.” Denise continued to smile brightly as though they were discussing nothing more than the weekend weather report. “How else would I have gotten you back here?”
“You?” Zaiden’s heart hammered against his sternum, and heat spread throughout his body as rage settled over him. “Female or not, if you do not move the fuck out of my way, I will knock your ass into next week.”
“You are being completely overdramatic.” Denise huffed and clucked her tongue. “That little bird can’t take care of you the way I can. You’ll see this soon and forget all about him.”
Zaiden had heard enough. He went to push past the delusional woman, but found himself frozen in place. No matter how hard he fought against the invisible constraints, he couldn’t move. Glaring at the bitch in front of him, he bared his teeth and snarled. “Witch!”
Tossing her head back on her shoulders, Denise laughed high and shrilly. “Just now figuring that out, are you? How did you think I knew about your little phoenix?” She winked at him impishly, then waved her hand in front of his face.
Zaiden’s eyes rounded when he felt himself fly through the air and land on his back in the middle of the bed. Still, he couldn’t move.
“Now, just stay there and rest. We don’t want any accidents, now do we?”
“Let me go!”
“Now stop that, or I’ll have to gag you. I plan to use that pretty little mouth later, so that would be most unfortunate.”
Ceasing his struggles, Zaiden continued to stare back at her mutinously. “I trusted you.”
Denise’s eyebrows rose to her hairline, and she stared at him in shock before bursting out in laughter. “Oh, that’s a good one,” she finally managed around her mirth.
When she’d calmed herself, she prowled toward the bed and leaned over Zaiden, crushing their mouths together in a kiss that left him wanting to vomit. “I seem to recall you made the same mistake the first time,” she said sweetly. Then Denise’s voice deepened, flowing smoothly like clear water over river stones and sounding all too familiar. “You really are quite redundant, my little broken toy.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Darkin,” Zaiden growled. It seemed as though his old flame had gained a few more powers over the years. Not many magic users could change their shape and hold it for long periods of time.
The woman beside the bed began to vibrate, moving so quickly she became nothing more than a shadowy blur. When the shaking finally stopped, Darkin stood where Denise had just been, his long black hair flowing over one bare shoulder. He looked just as gorgeous as ever, dressed in only a pair of low-slung jeans, flaunting his immaculately muscled body.
His lips curved into a wicked grin as he held his arms out to the side and turned in a slow circle. “Still like what you see, Zaiden?”
“Fuck you!”
“Oh, we’ll get to that part.” Darkin laughed at his own joke longer than wa
s really necessary. “You don’t look very happy to see me, little sprite.”
Pure hatred coursed through Zaiden as he struggled against the magical bonds that held him to the mattress. With no magic of his own and Darkin’s powers far greater because of his unfortunate habit of draining his victims, he knew he had no chance of overcoming the bastard. That didn’t mean he would just wait patiently for whatever games Darkin had planned for him, though.
“You already took my magic. What more do you want from me?”
“I don’t want you, silly boy.” Darkin scoffed as he paced about the room. “You’re just the bait.”
Cold fear seeped into Zaiden, chilling him right down his bones. “You can’t have him!” he roared. “He never did anything to you!”
Darkin just rolled his eyes. “They rarely do. It’s nothing personal. I simply desire his flame. It’s not as though I’m going to kill him. He’ll just be a bit more…fragile.”
“You can’t do that to him! Even you can’t be that cruel.”
“You have no idea what I’m capable of, Zaiden.” Darkin shrugged. “Sacrifices have to be made. I’ll make sure he goes out with a smile on his face.” He leered at Zaiden as he cupped his groin and rubbed his palm against his growing erection.
Gnashing his teeth, Zaiden snarled and growled straining toward the bastard across the room. “If you so much as breathe on him, I swear there is nowhere you will be able to hide where I can’t find you. I will hunt you down like a dog and rip your balls out through your belly button.”
“Enough.” Darkin spoke calmly as he flicked his wrist lazily.
Zaiden yelled out as his clothes disappeared, and he was thrust into the air before be flipped over and dropped back to the bed on his stomach. Strong hands gripped his ass, squeezing the globes roughly and pulling them apart.
“Get your fucking hands off me!”
“Play nice now, love.” Darkin’s fingertips brushed over the skin between his shoulder blades. “And what do we have here? A mating mark. You’ve mated the phoenix?” Darkin sounded thoughtful as he spoke, drawing the words out slowly.
A sudden idea sparked to life inside Zaiden’s mind, and he went perfectly still, working to calm his voice and his breathing. “You know he’s immortal right?”
“Yes, but then, so am I.”
“True, but not like Asher. He can’t be killed. You can’t syphon that from him, though, can you?” Zaiden let the smirk leak into his voice, goading the man. “As long as I’m mated to him, I can’t die either.” Okay, so that wasn’t exactly true, but he hoped Darkin wouldn’t know that.
“What are you trying to say? That I should mate with the phoenix?” Darkin scoffed at the idea, but Zaiden could hear the hesitancy in his words. “True immortality,” the man murmured.
“Yes. Imagine the kind of power that would bring you. You’d have to mate both of us,” Zaiden hurried to add. “We are already mated and can’t break the bond. You can’t claim him as your mate unless you accept us both.”
The room was silent for several long, agonizing minutes. Zaiden remained silent, praying his insane plan would work. He only needed Darkin to release the binding spell. If he could lure the witch into a false sense of security, play to his ego, then just maybe he’d have a chance to make it out of this alive.
It was complete bullshit, of course. Their mating had been etched in the record book, the seal forged, and never would he or Asher be able to claim or be claimed by anyone else. If Darkin had been at the gathering, he would know this. Zaiden hadn’t seen him there, but he’d been purposely keeping to the shadows so as not to gather attention and awkward questions from his former clan.
“Why weren’t you at the gathering?” Zaiden blurted in panic.
Darkin laughed darkly. “It seems one of my…acquisitions was rather upset when I took his ability to manipulate water. He went crying to the elders at the last gathering. I’ve been in hiding ever since.”
The last gathering. Not only had Zaiden been nothing more than a toy and a source of power for the bastard, but he hadn’t been the only one to suffer that night. The knowledge only served to make him feel like a cheap whore. What had he ever seen in this man?
Musical cries drifted through the room, beautiful and amazing, but Zaiden could detect the underlying menace in his mate’s call. Still, the sound calmed and comforted him, reminding him of the strength his lover possessed. Asher could take care of himself. He didn’t need Zaiden’s protection. If anything, Zaiden was in need of his own hero just then.
Asher’s cry echoed through the room again, louder and much closer this time. Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling, Zaiden relaxed against the comforter and waited. His mate was pissed, and Darkin was about to have his ass handed to him.
* * * *
Asher circled the sky, skimming just above the roof of his home, following the tether that would lead him to his mate. He kept one eye on the street, waiting until he saw his Mustang pull up to the curb before landing on the shingles and letting out another loud cry.
He didn’t know who was inside the house with his lover, but he knew they were preternatural, and extremely powerful to boot. Asher didn’t really give a shit. He would torch the fucker to the ground, then spit on the ashes. No one touched his mate.
Gripping the apex of the roof with his talons, Asher bent his head and folded his wings, trying to calm his rage to shift back to human. It took him several minutes of deep breathing before he felt his feathers begin to recede, giving way to his usual creamy skin. His torso shrank, his limbs lengthened, and his long, ebony hair fanned out over his shoulders.
Opening his eyes, Asher shook his head to clear the disorientation from his shift and stood slowly to his feet. He watched Andrew jump from the driver’s seat of his Mustang and pull his cell phone from his pocket.
“No police,” Asher called. He knew anyone in the house would hear him, but his phoenix had been so angry, crying out for its mate, they would already know Asher had arrived anyway. “Stay outside.”
“I’m coming with you,” Andrew called back, running across the front lawn toward the front door.
Asher sighed and shook his head. He didn’t have time to argue with the guy. He just hoped the idiot didn’t get himself killed. Hurrying quietly across the roof, Asher scurried down the trellis that climbed along the siding on the back of the house.
Approaching the widow of his bedroom, he reached down deep, gathering his spark, fanning and stoking it, forming the flames in his hands.
Asher directed all of his energy into the softball-sized fireball, took a deep breath, and hurled it toward the glass separating him from his mate. It zoomed through the air, smashing the widow and invading the room beyond. A loud crash, cursing, and his mate’s muffled yell followed swiftly as Asher took a running start and propelled himself through the gaping hole and into the house.
“Asher!”
Rolling across the floor feet over head, Asher came to an abrupt stop when he collided with the bedroom door. Damn, he’d kind of overshot that landing.
“Just look at his power,” someone breathed from behind him. “I need it.”
“Then come and get it,” Asher growled as he jumped to his feet and whirled to face his enemy. His eyes darted around the room, taking in his mate’s prone form, naked and sprawled face down on the bed. His fists clenched and a red haze of fury settled over him.
Turning his attention to the half-dressed man standing beside the bed, Asher advanced slowly, moving on pure rage and instinct, and completely forgetting his nudity. Fire licked up his arms, over his chest, and down his thighs, growing brighter and more vicious with each step he took.
“Release him,” he snarled.
“Give me your power,” the douchebag countered.
The demand gave Asher pause. Cocking his head to the side quickly, hard enough to audibly crack his neck, a slow, devilish smile covered his face. “Darkin.” Oh, could this get any more perfect? He’d b
een practically salivating to get a piece of the asshole who’d hurt his man.
“Ah, my reputation precedes me.” Darkin gave a tiny bow, proud and cocky, sweeping his arm in front of him to wrap around his opposite flank.
The action snapped the frayed thread on Asher’s self-control, and he roared loudly as he forced a stream of fire from his hand toward Darkin. The man deflected his attack, shooting out his arm and redirecting the fire away from him. The flames fanned over Zaiden’s back, pulling a soft moan from him.
Asher called back his flame and had the insane urge to laugh. Even in the midst of a crisis, Zaiden still got off on the feel of Asher’s fire. He started toward the bed, but movement from the corner of his eyes caught his attention, and he whirled around, dropping to the floor just as a fist swung out toward his head. Diving forward, he wrapped his arms around Darkin’s legs, driving his head into the man’s knees.
The witch cried out as he tumbled to the floor, landing in a heap on top of Asher. They struggled for dominance, pulling, shoving, biting, and punching as they rolled across the floor. Asher gained the advantage, ending up straddling Darkin’s hips, and plowed his fist into the man’s nose.
Darkin roared, one hand going to his nose and the other pushing into Asher’s chest. Pain lanced through him, quick and fierce, as the magic tossed him through the air to crash against the metal bed frame. His head cracked against the bedpost, dimming his vision and making his ears ring.
When sight finally returned to him, he found Darkin on his feet, stalking toward him with a murderous expression in his black eyes. He lifted his arm, pointing his fingers at Asher as he mumbled unidentifiable words under his breath.
Asher arched his back, the cords in his neck straining and his eyes shutting tightly as he cried out in pain. His chest burned, feeling shredded, as though he were being ripped from the inside out. His muscles locked down, and he began to convulse, jerking and shaking as his heels pounded against the floor.
Evans, Gabrielle - Fire and Ash [Midnight Matings 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 12