It put him in danger.”
I came to help you and you put yourself in harm’s way, Drace said, his voice growing weak. I would die to protect you and you throw yourself into the middle of the fight.
“Because I didn’t want you to die, you impossible man!”
Drace let his head rest on the ground, obviously no longer able to hold it up on his own. That is how you were able to pass through the gate. His voice grew thready, weak.
Griffin laid a hand on his head. “Sleep, old friend. Everything will still be here when you awake. You must save your energy. Sleep.”
96
* * * *
Aliana and Griffin paced outside the doctor’s office. “He wouldn’t be here if not for me.” She bit her thumbnail as she paced the interior parlor of the doctor’s home. The old woman who answered the door and introduced herself as Nettie walked toward them.
“Come along now, you two. You won’t do Drace any good if you starve yourselves to death.”
Someone knocked on the door and she hurried to answer it. “My, my. We’re having a regular epidemic of injuries here lately,” she said when she opened the door on another old woman who carried a chainsaw in one hand and held a boy’s ear in the other. The boy grimaced and tried to pull away, he stood half bent over beside the woman who was so much shorter than he.
“That hurts, Mrs. Connor.”
“Myrtle Connor, what in the world are you doing here with David Gibson?” She looked at the boy, her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong? Who needs the doctor?”
Myrtle snarled. “He’s going to need the doctor after I lop off his hand for stealing my sculptures.”
“I didn’t steal no sculptures. I was just lookin’
at it.” The boy stared at Nettie, his eyes wide, obviously hoping for help. He dropped his head and stared at the floor. “I like ‘em is all. I like to 97
look at ‘em. I’d help her if she’d let me. I want to learn how to do it. She didn’t have to grab me by the ear and drag me all over town.”
“Bull puckies!” Myrtle snarled. “You know you’re the one stealing them. I’ve seen you staring at every one of them that go missing.”
David glanced at her, his eyes sullen. “I look at
‘em all. They all don’t come up missin’.”
Nettie crossed her arms. “He has a point, you know. It’s only the ice sculptures that get stolen.”
“The wood ones are probably too heavy.” She kicked at the boy, her toe not making contact.
Letting go of his ear, she stepped forward and wagged her finger in front of his face. “Don’t you let me catch you touching one of them, boy, or I’ll lop that hand off quicker than spit.” Myrtle turned around and stalked down the stairs of the porch.
“Come on in, David.” She pulled him with her as she left the room. “Come on, you two, there’s no sense in starving yourselves. You won’t help Drace a bit.” The older woman left, expecting them to follow. Ali glanced at Griffin.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t hurt to have a cup of tea.”
She didn’t feel like drinking tea. She felt like curling up in a little ball and crying. How could they sit here acting like nothing happened when Drace was in the other room? What if he was dying?
98
“Why do you suppose it’s only her ice sculptures that come up missing?” The old woman asked David.
He shrugged, looking sullen. “I dunno. I like to look at them, but I’d never steal them.”
Nettie patted his hand. “I never said you would, dear.” She set a plate with a huge piece of cake on it in front of him.
“Thank you, ma’am.” David wasted no time digging into the confection before he stopped, thoughtful. “Maybe she shouldn’t mount the lights over them. It can only help who’s stealing them.” He half smiled. “Makes it easier to see what they’re doing.”
Aliana sat at the table, her hot tea resting between her hands. She hated this. The not knowing what went on behind the closed doors.
Worrying.
Griffin placed his hand over hers. “He’ll be all right.”
Nettie sniffed, coming to stand between them.
“You’re mated!” She clapped her hands. “Another truebond!”
She looked at Griffin, confused. “True bond?
What’s that?”
“It’s a bond between mates,” David answered, his mouth full of cake. “It’s when two males bind themselves to a female and they have a threesome.” He looked down at his plate, his face 99
red.
Aliana’s face blazed. Could things get any worse? One of her lovers was dying and an old woman ratted her out to a teenager! A noise to her left caught her attention and she looked up.
Doctor Parker stood there, his expression grim, his eyes tired.
Immediately, Ali’s eyes filled with tears. The look on the old doctor’s face was telling. Standing quickly, she knocked her chair over and ran from the room, looking for Drace. She didn’t know how she’d come to care so much for the both of them in only a few days. She’d first awakened in their cabin only two days ago. Had it really only been that long? The room was quiet but for the beeping of the monitors. She walked to the side of the bed and took Drace’s hand. “I should have gotten there sooner.”
The doctor’s son walked in behind her, set his hand on her shoulder. “You got there in plenty of time. He took a few bullets, but it was the gouges in his sides and stomach I was worried about.” He winked. “It’s a good thing we don’t scar.
Otherwise your mate would have many.”
“I don’t care. I only want him to live,” she sobbed. “I can’t…I can’t lose him. I can’t lose either of them.” She rocked back and forth on her chair. Gasping, she looked up when Drace’s fingers curled around hers. “Drace!”
100
“I’ll be fine, Ali. Don’t worry about me.”
Aliana smiled through her tears. Everything would be all right. It had to be. She’d come here, trying to run away from one fate and finding another. She looked around her, realizing that somehow, she’d come home.
And one day you will find Paradise. It is out there, waiting for your return. A place that is not a place, through a gate that is not a gate. Your family awaits you there. You will learn your place is not here, but there. Find him, Ali. Find the man who can tell you who you are.
Smiling, she squeezed his hand at the memory of her mother’s words. After finding out about shifters, she assumed her father was not her father. Perhaps that was why he’d been so quick to sell her like a possession. Now she knew who her mother meant. Somehow Ali had found her way home and found the man who could tell her who she was. Two of them. She was their mate.
101
About the Author
is an eclectic author of numerous paranormal, sci-fi, time travel, romance erotica books.
Gaining inspiration for her characters and dialogue through her family and her addiction to the internet, she never fails to amaze readers with each new book she creates. As a reading junkie herself, Tianna has no problem reading whatever is available at the moment from romance novels, murder mysteries and encyclopedias to books on solar energy.
Tianna’s life wouldn’t be complete without a
“happily ever after” of her very own. She resides in Michigan with her husband, two children, three cats, two dogs and an intimidating bunny. Never one to fail to give credit where it’s due, she commends her family for their constant support. After writing many books and receiving rave reviews, her family is just as proud of her. Always full of ideas, Tianna rarely puts the pen down, so readers can look forward to many more exciting stories in the future.
Tianna can be reached at this email: [email protected]
Tianna’s website is located at: http://www.tiannaxander.com
www.myspace.com/Tianna_xander and her
yahoo group page
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TiannaXander/
Sign up for Tianna’s newsletter by sending an email with ‘newsletter’ in the subject line to [email protected]
Gates of Paradise Page 8