by JL Madore
A shiver racked her, and her chest grew tight.
As her worst childhood fears came back to haunt her, she lost all hope on calming her mind. What could she do?
She was trapped.
Bo jolted awake on Seth’s old bed and took in the twins. He didn’t remember Seth getting there. In fact, he didn’t remember lying down for a nap. “What happened?”
Seth sat forward in the corner chair and shrugged. “No idea, you tell me.”
Phoenix rolled off the bed and faced his brother. His hands sliced the air but Bo’s sleep grog hadn’t cleared enough to track it.
“Oh shit,” Seth said, casting a sympathetic gaze over to him. “And you think she’s the one?”
It came back to him then—his Djinn mate, her being the one who fucked him and then fucked him over. He rubbed his face with his palms and stopped that shit when pain exploded on the left side of his face. “Why is my face swelling?”
Seth grabbed his wrist, and hauled him off the bed and out toward the kitchen. “My fist and your face got acquainted when you tried to blow this place. Sorry about choking you out.”
Choking him out? “I don’t remember that.”
Phoenix slid three glasses onto the kitchen counter and opened a bottle of Jack. After pouring, he passed them around. You were in programmed zombie mode. Sucker punched me on my ass and walked out the door.
Bo had a hard time believing he laid out Phoenix. Then again, the guy wouldn’t expect a strike attack from him, so the advantage of surprise certainly applied. “Are we damned sure? Was that female actually there to fuck with my head or was it a bad dream?”
Door number one, Viking. Sorry.
Yeah, so was he. “And you locked her down?”
Soul-trapped. She’s mine. She won’t get anywhere until she answers our questions.
“Fucking A,” Bo said, clasping Phoenix’s hand. “At least that’s something, right? I’m totally fucked on the mating, but we’re in the solution on me getting compelled again. We need to update Zander.”
“Yeeeah,” Seth said, making a face. “About that.”
Bo and Phoenix both stopped sucking back their booze, waiting for Seth to put them out of their misery.
“It seems Zander detonated a power surge and we’re looking at a city-wide blackout.”
“What? When?” Bo opened the fridge and flicked the switch for the lights. Nothing and nothing.
Do we know what happened?
Seth chuckled. “Kyrian didn’t get into TMI, but amazingly wild sex was his best guess.”
Bo scrubbed his hands over his face and didn’t know whether to laugh or swear. Zander’s gift was electrical charge. The Sumerian lightning-bolted the Shadow Caster King when the asshole tried to rape Storme. He fried the bastard on the spot, simply by losing control.
Passion was passion, and Z had it bad for Austin.
Is Austin okay?
“Yeah, embarrassed but fine. It’s Z they’re worried about. Last I heard, he’s still out cold.”
Phoenix poured them each another round. So full blackout and it’ll be dark in five hours. Seth, tell Tanek we’ll be on the streets and geared up for a long night. Until dark, we’re tracking down our mystery female.
Bo’s mind cleared more every moment. This wasn’t good.
With the memories of Purgatory unlocked, he saw the female front and center in his mind and his body finally sync’d up with his memory. Yup. That female was the reason he’d been off his game for weeks. She’d messed him up both mentally and physically. “What do I do, boys. She’s actively working against us, she hates me, and if Zander gets ahold of her, he’ll want her dispatched for her treachery.”
Phoenix set his tumbler down and raised his hands. You’re sure she’s your mate? Why now?
“I didn’t remember before. She blocked my memory, but now that they’re unlocked, yeah, I’m sure. That female and I shared a couple of frenzied days and nights at Shayton’s party.”
Seth sighed. “At least we know how she got to you.”
He appreciated Seth’s positive spin but didn’t share the sentiment. More than the betrayal of getting played by the female, he mourned the possibility of never having a love like his brothers shared with their mates. Giving up on the glass, he lifted the bottle to his lips. “To the asshole who whored himself into a mating with a Darkworld traitor.”
The grim, blank faces staring back at him summed it up.
“I’m such an idiot.” He paced over to the window wall. The offices were busier than usual for midday, and soon everyone would be out in the streets and heading home.
“Maybe you’re not mated,” Seth said. “She’s messed with your head for weeks. Maybe your hamster is jumbled.”
“It’s not my hamster I’m gauging here. My cock is a solid granite column, my skin is on fire, my beast is raging in triumph and as much as I hate her—and I do—if that female were standing here right now, I’d hike her up around my hips and nail her against the wall with the two of you looking on.”
He shifted his hand over the aching bulge in his jeans and groaned. “How can I be aroused when every part of me is reeling in fury?”
He was appalled at the idea. A Darkworld female used him and endangered not only the establishment of the Otherworld Council but his family attending.
“Honestly, I can relate to that one. If it helps, Thea and I turned it around. You can too.”
“How? I don’t know her name or anything about her, other than she’s declared war on my family and pitted us on opposite sides.”
Phoenix handed him another drink. Kyrian and Cassi started off on the same shaky ground. They found their way.
Seth slammed his glass down. “Shayton assures the guests at his parties that it’s free love, no repercussions. This is a breach of expectations. Mating is definitely off-brand. I say we pay the Dark Prince a house call and demand he reverse it.”
“Good idea,” Bo said, sucking back the amber sedation and letting the burn take the edge off his afternoon.
He had no clue what madness had taken him over. Maybe he was being punked, or maybe it was mindfuck PTSD. No need to jump to conclusions and think it was a Dark Angel match from Hell.
“The Dark Prince has his reputation to protect. We’ll start there. Maybe we can ID her while we’re at it.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice.”
Well, whoever she is, she isn’t going anywhere. I’ve got her trapped until we figure this out. She won’t be causing you any trouble in the meantime, Viking.
Bo’s beast flailed within, the darkest part of himself enraged his female was being held against her will. Tipping the bottle up, he forced down the urge to defend her all the way to the acid pit of his stomach.
She could rot, for all he cared.
He had no idea who the raven-haired vixen was, but no way in the Hell Realm would he accept her as his other half. Setting the bottle down on the counter with a bang, he headed for the door.
“C’mon, boys, let’s see what kind of customer service return policy Shayton offers, because I definitely want to swipe left and get my money back.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kyrian ended the last of his calls and leaned his tailored ass against the rails of the pool table. Rallying extra bodies to cover this blackout was turning out to be a Pocahontas Band-Aid on a vivisection—all kinds of blood and guts spilling into the open and no way to stop the hemorrhaging. If things went badly for them, they’d go very bad.
“Okay, so Rayvn and Wilder are game to patrol the docks tonight, and I left a message for Drake to keep an eye on Chinatown if he’s able. Has anyone heard from Colt? I called the precinct, and they said he’s taking personal time. If he’s around, we’ll need help downtown.”
“Personal time?” Danel snapped. “What the fuck does that mean?”
He cast a glance to Tanek, Hark, and Brennus, but they offered nothing up. “No idea. Okay, Bo and the twins said they’d be on the streets by
nightfall, I’ll give them the core since there’s three of them. They’ve got a lead on what’s been happening to Bo and are running it down.”
“Should he be on the streets?” Danel shrugged as all eyes turned. “I’m only saying what everyone else is thinking. Is the Viking solid?”
Kyrian shrugged. “The twins vouched for him and will keep a sharp eye on him. They’ve made progress and will fill us in later. Besides, we’ve got too much in the definite problem category to add things to the maybe column.”
“Where are we,” Zander said, letting himself into the war room and closing the door behind him.
Kyrian was about to front and be all “We got this, Z,” but the guy looked good—like, really good. Like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders and catapulted across the city. He straightened and clasped his brother’s wrist. “Damn, Z, glad to see you up and about. How’s things?”
The scowl on the Sumerian’s face said how much he wanted to talk about that. “How much damage are we talking? What’s the grid?”
Kyrian got back to business and stifled a laugh. “Gotta hand it to you, Adelphos. When you do something, you do it big. We’re looking at the entire greater Toronto area. Halton, Peel, York, and Durham.”
Zander rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry about this, boys. I, uh, I shouldn’t have lost control like that. It’s inexcusable.”
“Bullshit,” Danel said, scratching his goatee. “Letting off the energy obviously did you good. You look better than you have in months.”
“D’s right,” Hark said, the Moor’s gaze locked and solid. “We can handle the fallout.”
Kyrian handed Zander a tablet and gave him the lowdown. “There’s never much to worry about in the east. The twins have downtown with Bo—we’ll get a full report on that later. Hark and Brennus have Scarborough and Guildwood covered. Danel’s got Birchmount, and if you’re up for it, you and I can take Regent Park and Cabbagetown. S’all good.”
Zander exhaled a heavy sigh. “That’s a lot of ground to cover. This shouldn’t have happened.”
Tanek slapped their brother on the back and laughed. “Look at it this way, Z. You caused less trouble than Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. Toronto’s still standing.”
They all got a laugh out of that and finished their drinks.
“Now,” Tanek said, sobering up. “Stay tight tonight, my brothers. I want everyone home for breakfast in one piece.”
“What’s the incentive?” Brennus asked, shrugging into his vest and checking his weapons. “Any idea what Austin’s got on the menu?”
Kyrian rolled his eyes. When had the incentive of the warriors changed from getting home safe for safety’s sake to not missing breakfast? Easy. When Austin started stuffing them full of homemade meals. “I may have heard her mention huevos rancheros and peameal bacon sandwiches.”
The resounding growls of male approval had them gearing up to head out.
Toronto, in full darkness, was a different city than it was lit up. As Bo stalked through the streets with the Egyptian twins, he remembered a time before electricity, when oil lamps lit the dirt, and later, cobbled streets.
He’d like to say “a simpler time,” but the ancient days of Scandinavia held dangers and trials too. As did his transition, and the years of training under the scrutiny of the Seraph.
Life was what it was. A balance of good and evil, right and wrong. He’d never had a say in his future, and nothing had changed. Life happened while you made other plans.
He thought about his sweet, frail Gyda and then the fiery, Darkworlder who’d seduced him in Hell. He felt stupid and ashamed for missing the deceit and endangering his family. He regretted his actions. He regretted the end result. He’d do it differently, if given the choice—but mulligans didn’t apply to life. What’s done was done.
“Fucking Shayton,” Seth said, still fuming from their visit down to Purgatory. “Saying our mating magic exceeds his reach is a cop-out. He’s the fucking Dark Prince of Hell.”
He doesn’t want to mess with his sister. The two of them tread lightly on each other’s turf. Lady Divinity gives us our bonding match, the Dark Prince won’t interfere. It’s not good news, but it’s understandable.
“Says the guy who’s mated to his dream girl,” Bo said, annoyed at his brother’s cool logic. “Your mate is smart and successful and would sacrifice herself to keep you solid any night of the week. Mine is a conniving, duplicitous bitch in league with the rebellion, who used me against my own family. Not the same.”
Phoenix let that hang in the night air, and Bo stormed on.
Mated. To who? Every time he pictured her, his body and mind went to war. The ache gnawing at his intestines, his beast’s urge to attack Phoenix and set her free. He wanted to scream. He was two men, divided in purpose and intent.
He needed to stab someone taking advantage of the blackout and work off this mood. Yeah, nothing soothed the soul like beating the shit out of some soul-sucking Darkworlders. Except, now he was mated to one.
Would the person he killed know her? Be related to her?
At the very least, he needed to find out who she was. “Do you think Gheil and Jhaia would know who she is?”
Seth chuffed. “There’s only like, three or four hundred Djinn in Toronto. Sure, I’m sure they’d know. Especially since we don’t know her name.”
Smartass.
Bo’s phone vibrated against his hip, and he pulled it out. “Yeah?”
“Hello?”
Bo recognized the timid voice of the girl from the soup kitchen. “Hey there, little one? Is everything all right?”
“Mommy won’t wake up,” she whispered. “And bad men are coming.”
Bo raised a finger to halt their patrol. “Where are you, sweetie. Are you at the soup kitchen?”
“No. At our box.”
Fuck. He headed toward the soup kitchen anyway. If that’s where they ended up at the end of every month, they must live in one of the alleys near there, right? “How close are the bad men? Can you see them?”
“I hear them.”
Okay, so—yep, he could hear them too, faintly, on the other end of the phone. “I’m coming, sweet girl. Stay hidden.”
As the three of them ran, he filled in Seth and Phoenix, and they took to the air. With the entire city in darkness, the odds of someone seeing men in all black flying above, were slight. Plus, they could cover way more ground. “My friends are coming too. If they get there before me, don’t be afraid.”
Bo’s shitkickers beat the street as fast as his legs could pump. A thousand things ran through his mind as he sucked in winter air. He wished he had wings and could search faster. It was waaaay too cold for little people to live on the street. He’d been so wrapped up in his own problems he hadn’t bothered to follow up with Clara.
His comm clicked, and the line opened.
“I’ve got human assholes rolling homeless off King and Adelaide,” Seth said, his annoyance clear. “Engaging.”
“I’m not far.” Bo took a left and hurdled a cement planter. Raising the phone to his mouth, he tried to find his voice. “Sweetie, did a big man come? Can you see men fighting?”
“The angel?” she said, her voice so quiet he wasn’t sure he heard her correctly. “I see him. Oh, another angel.”
Okay, so he heard her correctly, and she could see their Otherworld attributes. Kids. “Yes. The angels are my friends. Stay hidden until I get there, and call you out.”
A gunshot cracked off and he pumped his arms, banking into the next alley at a blur. Shoving his phone into his pocket, he gripped his gun and rounded the last corner, armed and ready to join the melee.
No need. His brothers had things pinned down. Sheathing his gun in his shoulder holster, he stepped over the human hotshots who thought it would be cool to harass the homeless, and searched for possible hiding places.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are. It’s me.”
A hea
p of rubbish shifted about ten feet from where he stood, and he cursed. She was hiding in an alley under cardboard and garbage. He rushed over and dug her out, tossing the junk away.
“Hey there, beautiful,” he said, pulling her clear of the debris so he could assess her properly. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, but pointed down at the woman’s leg now exposed. “Mommy won’t wake up.”
Bo set the girl back on her feet and checked the mother’s vitals. Yeah, no, that ship had sailed. Shit. What now? He dialed up Colt’s phone, but the cop didn’t answer. He didn’t trust anyone else in the system to do right by her.
He turned to a man gathering his scattered belongings down the alley and pulled a card out of his wallet. “I’m taking this little one with me. She’ll never spend another night in the streets, I swear it. If anyone from her family ever comes looking for her, they can contact me here.”
The man took the card and nodded. By the color of his aura, he belonged to the Lightworld somewhere. “Don’t expect a call, Watcher. There ain’t no one for any of these people. Good on you for taking her in.”
Bo straightened and went back to the little girl. He wasn’t taking her in, was he? He was thinking more like finding her a family. He pictured Austin, Ronnie, and Thea back at the house and wondered what better family he could offer her.
Her sad eyes pierced his cold heart and yup, he was a goner. “Okay, sweetie, your Mommy is going with the angels now. I’m going to take you somewhere safe. Is that all right?”
She looked at him, the understanding in her blue eyes too old for her age. “Can I bring Kitty?”
He smiled and followed her to the little cache of personal belongings she had stashed in her box area. The lump that blocked his throat made it hard to breathe, but he forced himself to swallow. “Of course. Kitty, and anything else you want to bring. Tell me what you need, sweetie. Anything.”
Zander ended the call with Bo and smiled. The Viking might be off his game, but he was still the same male where and when it counted.