by Lynn Hagen
He rounded the table that was holding quite a few of the plants in the room and glanced down, spotting a trail of blood. There were tiny speckles of blood that had splattered to the floor, leading back toward the exit to the outside.
“Do you think it’s his?” Trigg asked as he swallowed so loudly that Renato could hear the man’s heart beating in his throat. He knew who Trigg was referring to. It could only be the mate’s blood. Hell hound blood was black.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Renato replied. Kneeling on one knee, Renato swiped his finger through the small crimson dot and then licked his finger, tasting the blood on his tongue.
Renato closed his eyes as his entire world came crashing down around him.
He tasted his zaterio.
His chosen one.
The other half of his very soul.
Renato stood and let out a heart-wrenching roar, feeling his beast rip its way to the surface as he tasted the noxious taste of hell hound mixed in with his zaterio’s life essence. His body jerked and convulsed at the mixture, his chest tightening at what his mate must have gone through at the hands of Morbius.
He staggered back as the tears filled his eyes and then he flew out of the exit, scenting the air around him. He smelled the forest, the humidity in the air, and felt the soft breeze as it slid past him, but he scented nothing that would lead him to his mate.
“What’s wrong?” Trigg asked as he ran out of the castle behind Renato, his eyes wide as he snapped his head around.
Renato felt a loss so great encompass him that he dropped to his knees. The hell hound had sentenced him to madness by biting his zaterio. He would kill every last one of them if it was the last thing he did before he went mad.
“Is he yours?” Trigg asked gently.
Instead of answering Trigg, Renato shot into the air, searching for his dying mate.
Wolf climbed from the bed when he heard shouting. He tucked Jaycee in, his mate still fast asleep, and grabbed his jeans. It took him a moment to wrangle them on, but he managed to get them snapped and then hobbled from his bedroom.
“He flew off,” Trigg was shouting. “What the hell are we going to do?”
“What happened?” Wolf asked as he entered the living room.
“The bitten human is Renato’s mate,” Vydeck answered bleakly. “Renato went nuts and flew off.”
Wolf’s eyes snapped over to Nazaryth. “And no one is looking for him?”
“Dog and Ruthless went out, and I was just pairing everyone else up, if that’s okay with you,” Nazaryth snapped.
Wolf knew everyone was under a lot of pressure to not only find Renato, but knowing that the remaining brimstone demon was still out there. He also knew that Nazaryth was spitting nails over the hell hounds breaching their secure castle.
And the commander was feeling the weight of Renato going mad.
“I’m sorry.” Wolf bowed his head. “I meant no disrespect.”
Nazaryth sighed as he waved Wolf’s apology away. “We’re all tired. But we have to find Renato. Even if he goes mad, he has to be brought home. I don’t want him causing havoc anywhere but here, among us beasts.”
The beasts would be able to take down Renato. Wolf winced at the thought of snuffing out Renato’s life. Aside from losing one’s zaterio, madness was the one thing that the beasts worried most about.
“We need to find him,” Nazaryth said. “I know he’s searching for his mate, but if Renato finds him and he’s dead, there’s no telling what kind of chaos he can create.”
“There’s no chance his mate can still be alive,” Vydeck said, frowning. “Is there?”
“If he’s not dead now, he will be soon.” Nazaryth sighed as he rubbed his eyeballs with his fingers. “Humans just can’t survive a hell hound’s bite.”
Wolf crossed his arms over his chest to ward off the chill those words brought him. Jaycee was human. Even though they were mated, Jaycee would still die if he was bitten by a hell hound. And that was something Wolf didn’t even want to consider.
“He could be alive,” Wolf said, just because he needed to believe that there was a chance for his own mate.
Nazaryth spun around and glared at him. “He’s dead!” he shouted. “You know it and I know. In all of our history, no human has survived the bite of a hell hound. It’s just not possible.”
“It wasn’t possible for a human to breach the castle walls either,” Wolf snapped right back. “And yet, somehow, Renato’s mate did just that.”
“Is there any way he could know our ancient spells?” Vydeck asked. “Maybe he counteracted the warding spells Nazaryth placed around the castle.”
“Look,” Trigg said as he stepped in front of everyone and waved his hand between them in the air, “it doesn’t matter how he got into the castle at the moment. We can figure that out later. What does matter is finding Renato and his mate before they both end up dead.”
“No, no,” Nazaryth said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re right. We need to find them both, dead or alive.”
“Hopefully alive,” Trigg said.
The sad glint in Nazaryth’s eyes said he didn’t think that was possible. Wolf pretty much knew Nazaryth was right even if he wished things were different. And his heart ached for his friend. He had known Renato for centuries, fought beside him, laughed beside him, and dreamed of having a mate beside the man.
Now, they had both found their mates, only Renato’s was dead or dying while Wolf’s was lying asleep in his bedroom. While Wolf was overjoyed at the mere presence of his mate, he was heartbroken by the idea that Renato would never feel his joy.
“What can I do to help?”
Chapter Ten
Jaycee’s hands shook as he dialed a number on his cell phone and then placed the phone against his ear. This was a phone call he never wanted to make. He and Rico weren’t best friends, but they were friends. Jaycee liked the guy.
He didn’t deserve to die the way he had.
Hell, no one deserved to die that way except maybe the hell hounds, and the brimstone demons. Jaycee was actually thinking slow torture was good for them. They needed to suffer just like they were making everyone else suffer. That damn king needed it the most.
Jaycee started to growl when he heard a soft female voice answer the phone. He winced and started pulling at a loose thread on his jeans. Gods, he so did not want to talk to Rico’s mother.
“Mrs. Cruz, this is Jaycee Raynes, Rico’s roommate.”
“Oh, hello, Jaycee,” the woman replied. Jaycee could hear the sweetness in the woman’s voice and knew he was about to crush her world. He felt like he was as evil as one of the hell hounds.
“I have some bad news, Mrs. Cruz.”
“Bad news?”
“Rico’s been involved in an accident, Mrs. Cruz.” Jaycee swallowed back the sob working its way up his throat. “I’m afraid he didn’t make it.”
Jaycee’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when the woman started laughing. He had been under the impression that Rico and his mother were pretty close, especially after the death of Rico’s father. Had he been wrong?
“Mrs. Cruz, did you hear what I said?”
“Of course I did, son, but Rico is not dead. He’s sitting right here.” The woman laughed again like she hadn’t just made Jaycee totally speechless. “And he wants to know what you did with his car.”
“Uh…I…” Jaycee frowned. “He’s sitting right there? Right in front of you?”
“Yes,” Mrs. Cruz said. “Would you like to speak to him?”
“Please,” Jaycee whispered, holding his breath until he heard Rico’s voice in the background. Tears started sliding down his cheeks. Rico was alive. He was…then who was killed by the hell hounds?
“Dude, where’s my fucking car?” Rico said when he came on the line. “I was about to call the police and report it stolen.”
“It’s parked in front of the house,” Jaycee said quietly, not quite believing that he was he
aring his friend’s voice. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, dude. Since Mike was working and you had taken off, I decided to go visit Mom for a few days, that’s all.”
“Good, good, that’s a good place to be right now. Maybe you could—” Suddenly, the rest of Rico’s words started to make sense to Jaycee, and he knew who had died. “I…” Jaycee swallowed again. “I think Mike is dead.”
It was the only explanation.
“What?”
“I think Mike is dead.”
“How?” Rico asked.
“There was an attack at the house. When I came home, I found…” Jaycee wasn’t sure how to exactly explain this situation to Rico without telling him about the winged beasts and he couldn’t do that. “There was a body in one of the bedrooms, but it was beyond recognition. I thought it was you because Mike is always at work and…” Jaycee licked his dry lips.
“Dude.”
Jaycee could just see Rico pushing his hand through his dark brown hair, ruffling the ends. It was what the man did every time he was agitated.
“What did the police say?” Rico asked. “Did they catch whoever did it?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been back to the house since then and the police haven’t come to talk to me.” Mostly because they couldn’t find him. “I guess they will when the time is right.”
“Yeah, yeah. Um…do you think I should come home and talk to them or call them? Maybe they have questions for me.”
Jaycee’s heart jumped into his throat. “No!”
“Dude!”
“I’m sorry, Rico. I just don’t know if they have caught whoever did this and if you come home, they might go after you and…just stay where you are until I call you, okay? I’ll give the police your mother’s number, and they can contact you if they need to.”
Please stay where you are. It was the only way that he could see to keep Rico safe until the hell hounds were killed or stopped coming after him.
“I need my car, Jaycee.”
“I’ll have someone bring it to you.” Who, he didn’t have a clue, but maybe one of the winged beasts would drive Rico’s car over to him. He could hope anyway. “Just don’t come back to the house, not until I give you the all clear.”
“Yeah, I hear ya,” Rico grumbled. “I’ll stay put until you call.”
“Thanks, Rico.”
“But call me the second you find out if it was Mike or not.”
“Yeah, I will.” Although, Jaycee was pretty damn sure that it was. “Take care, Rico. I’m really glad you’re safe.”
“You too, dude.” Rico chuckled nervously. “Don’t take any candy from strangers.”
Yeah, like that was going to happen. Wolf would flip his lid. Jaycee hung up the phone and just stared at it. Rico was alive and Mike might be dead. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t know whether to be grateful or not. He liked Mike just as much as Rico.
This sucked.
“Did you make your phone call, zaterio?”
Jaycee glanced up when Wolf walked into the room. He nodded absently. “Yeah, I just got off the phone with Rico.”
Wolf’s eyebrows shot up. “Rico?”
“Yeah. It seemed he went to visit his mother a few days ago. He’s fine.”
“So, if that wasn’t Rico back at your place, who was it?”
Jaycee sighed deeply. “I’m betting it was Mike, my other roommate.”
“Oh, zaterio, I am so sorry.” Wolf walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Jaycee and wrapped an arm around him.
Jaycee leaned into Wolf, loving the larger man’s innate strength. He always felt so safe in Wolf’s arms. “I wish I could stay here for the rest of my life,” Jaycee mused as he rubbed his cheek against the side of Wolf’s chest.
“You can, zaterio.”
Jaycee chuckled. “Only in my fantasies.”
“Where else would you go?”
Jaycee peeked up at Wolf when he felt the man’s arms tighten around him. “Well, I have to go back to my place for one, and—”
“The hell you do!” Wolf snapped as he jumped to his feet so fast that Jaycee didn’t have time to stop his fall, and fell right into the spot where Wolf had been sitting. He slowly pushed himself up and brushed the hair out of his eyes.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Wolf snapped his teeth and then pointed to the floor. “This is where you belong, right here with me. Nowhere else.”
Jaycee blinked in surprise, and a bit of growing anger. “What I meant was that I wanted to stay wrapped in your arms for the rest of my life. But I knew that couldn’t happen because I needed to go back to my house and pack up everything I owned so that I could move in here with you.”
Jaycee watched Wolf’s face flush. The man’s eyes darted away when Jaycee pushed himself to his feet and stepped forward. Jaycee thumped Wolf in the chest with his finger.
“That may change if you think you can control me like some little pet. I refuse to be under someone’s thumb for the rest of my life. And mate or no mate, if you ever even think about trying to make me into some little brainless slave, I will become your worst nightmare. You’ll wish that you were battling an entire pack of hell hounds by the time I’m done with you.”
Jaycee yelped when Wolf’s mouth suddenly slammed down on his and the man’s arms wrapped around him in a vise grip. Either this was the kiss of death or Wolf was really turned on by Jaycee’s little temper tantrum.
The hard cock pressing against Jaycee’s abdomen said horny as hell.
Jaycee allowed Wolf’s tongue to war with his for several moments as his mouth was totally ravaged, and then he pushed away. The puppy dog blinking eyes look Wolf gave him almost did Jaycee in.
Almost.
But he had a point to make.
“Are we clear, Wolf?”
“Yes, zaterio.” Jaycee really didn’t like the wicked grin that crossed Wolf’s lips. “I will continue to keep you safe, making you my prisoner. And you will continue to put me in my place when I step over the line.”
Jaycee felt his eyebrows shoot up. That wasn’t quite the answer he had been looking for, but it wasn’t a bad one either. Jaycee just wasn’t sure how to reply to what Wolf had said. If he agreed, Wolf might think that he could walk all over Jaycee. If he remained silent, Wolf might think he didn’t want exactly what the glint in Wolf’s eyes promised.
“Wolf, I…” Jaycee licked his lips, smirking when Wolf’s eyes instantly dropped to his lips and the man’s cock pulsed against Jaycee’s leg. “Pay attention, beast man.”
Wolf’s eyes snapped up.
“Your world scares me, Wolf. There are more dangers in it than a Wes Craven horror flick. And I’m not sure how to deal with that. Not even here in your secure castle am I secure. That hell hound got inside. How are you supposed to keep me safe?”
“Remember what I said, zaterio. I would die one thousand deaths if I ever lost you.”
“Death is still death, Wolf.”
“But I will not let you see yours until we are old and grey, and in my world, that could be a very, very long time.” Wolf reached up and brushed Jaycee’s hair back from his eyes, a strange, intense sheen in his eyes. “I will not let anyone take you from me. None of my brothers will let that happen. And even though the castle was breached, Nazaryth is putting in new spells, better spells, to keep us all safe here.”
“But—”
“No buts, zaterio. You are my world, my very reason for breathing. Keeping you safe is all that matters to me anymore, and I will not let you down. Times may get scary, but as long as we are together, there is nothing and no one that we cannot defeat.”
Jaycee felt like the lump in his throat was going to leap right out. He could barely swallow. “Wolf,” he croaked out through dry lips.
“Zymlye, my wonderful mate.”
Jaycee blinked back his tears. “I love you, too, Wolf.” And maybe that was all that really mattered.
Wolf grumbled as he watched
Jaycee practically hyperventilate. He wanted to argue about Jaycee going back to his house, even if the man was packing up all of his belongings to move into the castle.
It wasn’t safe.
But after the chewing out he had received when he tried to assert his authority…okay, he had lost his temper, clear and simple, but when Jaycee had mentioned leaving, all he could see was his future without his mate, and he had simply lost it.
Which was another reason he didn’t want Jaycee here. But the man had refused to even consider anyone else packing his belongings. He said no one else would know what to pack. And he was probably right. But still…this wasn’t the place for Jaycee.
“Are you finished?” Wolf asked as he glanced out of the bedroom window for the hundredth time. He wasn’t afraid of a hell hound, not when it was just him. But he had his mate with him and the thought of Jaycee being attacked again chilled him to his very core.
And he didn’t even want to think about the damn demon.
“Stop rushing me. If one of those doggies comes back, I’ll grab a stick,” Jaycee teased as he grabbed a gym bag from his closet. If the situation wasn’t so serious, Wolf would have laughed. Okay, maybe not. Nazaryth had told him about Jaycee killing the hound with a damn stick. He still had nightmares about that.
“I’d rather get out of here before they even know we’ve returned.”
Jaycee dropped the bag on the bed and then slapped his hands on his hips, his lips pulled back in a wicked twist. “I’ve been running from the scary monsters from day one since meeting you. I’m tired of running, and I’m tired of being scared. We can take them,” he stated adamantly. “You fly around their heads and I’ll beat them with a stick.”
“That’s your plan?” Wolf asked as he stared in shock at his mate. “I’m still not walking right because of the damn goo that demon spit at me and you want to beat him with a stick?” Had his mate lost his mind?
“Oh, I thought we were talking about the doggies. I didn’t know you were referring to the demons.” Jaycee cocked his head, tapping his chin with his finger, and then shook his head. “If it’s demons, we run like hell.”