by JL Madore
Z left his daughter to fall back to sleep, and reached over the table to shake her hand. “Hello, Sunshine, welcome to our home. When you’re done your breakfast, would you like to meet my baby girl?”
“And don’t leave out Zane,” Seth said, arriving with his blue bundle. He set his newborn in the bassinet facing his cousin and waved. “Hey baby girl. Did you sleep good?”
“Did you take Mommy to heaven?”
Seth gave her a wink. “Don’t you worry, sweetheart. Phoenix and I took good care of your mommy. Everything is all right now. We’ll all make sure of it.”
Bo thought Sunshine might be about to cry, so he drew the attention off her for a bit. Standing, he pointed over at Phoenix and Ringo working at the island. “I know it’s been a long night, but if you don’t mind setting it up, Z, I want to visit the Djinn Master and see if he can ID our mystery female.”
“No need,” Tanek said, joining the huddle. They’re ghostly co-commander came around to get a better look at the drawing and nodded. “That’s Jhaia’s sister, Layne. The one who freaked about Zane having the Djinn essence.”
“You’re sure?” Zander said, his scowl firmly back in place. “Well, what does that say about our alliance with the Djinn? Are Gheil and Jhaia playing us, or is the sister working against us and them on her own?”
Seth scrubbed his skull-trimmed hair. “I honestly don’t get any deception from Jhaia when we’re together.”
“Or she’s just better at mastering the minds around her than her sister.”
“Nah, Jhaia’s good people. I can’t vouch for the sister though. Never met the bitch.”
Bo’s beast raged at Seth’s disrespect. Still, as a warrior of the garrison, he didn’t blame his brother. He studied the drawing, and his jeans grew confining. Layne. A member of the Djinn Master’s family. That complicated things.
How did he explain to Gheil, that he’d randomly fucked his sister in Hell, and now they were bound for life?
Maybe Seth was right, and it was all part of her mindfuck. Made sense, Djinn were a powerful species in brain-mapping and compulsion. He couldn’t trust they’d bonded.
Seth and Phoenix had their sights locked on him and were obviously wondering the same thing. Bo shrugged. “Only one way to find out, right?”
Zander nodded and looked around to see who was dressed and ready to roll this early. “Seth, Phoenix, Bo, and I will go. Kyrian, it’s your turn to help Austin with the dishes. D, you and Ronnie take Sunshine to Drina and make sure everything’s good on that front.”
“Road trip,” Seth said, grabbing a slab of bacon. “Too bad we’ve got no wheels.”
“Old news,” Zander said, heading out to the foyer. Stetson ran along beside them as they moved out to the foyer. He stomped his feet into his Motorocks, and snapped the silver buckles closed. “I picked up our new ride this morning. Let’s try to keep it in one piece, shall we?”
“Yeah, Bo,” Seth said, grabbing his jacket and shrugging it on. “Trucks have wheels not wings. No more flying off expressways.”
Bo rolled his eyes. He would never live that one down. “You’re one to talk. How many trips to the garage were you responsible for? Transmissions. Brakes. Body work?”
Seth snorted as they headed down the vestibule stairs into the tunnel to the garage. “At least there was a truck to take to the shop. You left nothing but scrap metal.”
“One word Egyptian. Cement truck.”
“That’s two words. One word is shotgun!” Seth flipped his middle finger into the air and jogged ahead. When they got to where they were going, the four of them stopped to eye the new wheels. Seth whistled. “That’s a fucking sick beast.”
Bo agreed. “Part tank, part get the fuck out of my way.”
Not gonna lie, Phoenix signed. I’ve got a bit of a hard-on.
Zander waggled his brow. “Fully restored, six-seater, H-One Alpha Hummer, metallic Viper blue Kevlar liner, brush guard in gloss black, hood scoop, LED go lights, forward looking infrared, sixteen-hundred-pound search and rescue winch, and RECARO ergo-med seats in Italian leather.”
“Damn, Sumerian. Someone should have wrecked the Navigator ages ago. This is spank.”
Every man loves a Hummer.
Bo ignored his brother. Even with his mind reeling, and his body and beast warring with bonding impulses, he had to admit the new truck consumed his attention. “Well done, Z.”
Zander nodded, pleased they’d all been stunned by his new baby. “If we’re drawn into a battle of vehicles in this war, I wanted to up our game. Can I get an amen?”
They all chimed in for an amen and then hopped in and buckled up. The Navigator was never confining, but the back of the Hummer kicked its ass. With just two of them in the back, there were two open seats behind their inside elbows. It gave them plenty of space to stretch out and manspread.
When they pulled out and got moving, Phoenix shifted to the side and signed. Are you letting Z in on the possible mating issue?
Bo shook his head. I’m sure my reaction is part of her mindfuck. Nothing will come of it.
Phoenix looked doubtful but let it slide.
Gheil sat across from his sister at the breakfast table, the two of them lost in contemplation. Jhaia and he were a well-meshed team. Where he lacked emotional connection with situations, she saw the opportunities to build relationships. Where she led with emotion, he had the cunning and strategic insight to rule his people with forward progress.
Their younger sister possessed both but excelled in neither. She had insight and the drive to move the Djinn into the future, but her emotions dictated too much of her decision process to be effective.
It frustrated him to no end. It hurt Jhaia to see her struggle.
Movement at the dining room door drew his attention to Datiel, his personal attaché. “Master, the Sumerian is at the guardhouse with three of his men. He apologizes for the unannounced visit but insists on an audience.”
Jhaia frowned and set down her herbal tea. “Strange that he wouldn’t call, if even en route.”
Gheil thought so too. There was an aggression in showing up uninvited that irked him. “Perhaps we lost confidence with Layne’s behavior with baby Zane after all.”
Jhaia tossed her napkin onto the table and rose. “I’ll greet them and escort them into the receiving room.”
“No. I’ll meet them on the front step. If there is ill will brewing, I won’t invite them into my home.” Gheil stood and collected his jacket, readying for their guests. When he was presentable, he turned to Datiel. “Tell the guards to open the gate and escort them up.”
As he strode through the house, he wondered what could be so important to bring a squad of Watchers to a Darkworld Master’s home in the bright of day.
The throaty rumble of a monstrous blue vehicle made quite the announcement as the Sumerian pulled into his cobbled drive. Gheil adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt at his wrists, and Jhaia folded her hands at the front of her dress.
“If this devolves into unpleasantness, I want you to retreat into the house. Lock yourself into the basement as we’ve practiced.”
Jhaia’s mouth dropped open. “Do you think it might come to that?”
Gheil shrugged. “They are Watchers. Never underestimate any situation, sister.”
When the mighty engine cut off, four Nephilim warriors climbed out of the blue tank. The Sumerian, the Egyptian, Seth, and his twin, and a Scandinavian-looking warrior. “Who is the blond?” he mumbled, so only Jhaia would hear.
“The Nephilim Viking, Bo.”
Gheil dipped his chin. Fine. At least they knew the players. “Zander? To what do I attribute this unexpected visit?”
Zander rounded the hood of the truck and strode forward, looking grave. Dressed in his usual black jeans, leather, and chains, one would never mistake him for a diplomat. The male was a warrior, through and through.
“Unfortunately, it isn’t a social call.”
“I’m sorry to hear t
hat.”
Zander stopped on the driveway at a non-threatening distance, and his men filled in behind him. They projected a wall of intense force that made his morning victuals churn in his guts. “Djinn Master, I am sorry to inform you that one of your members is actively working with the Red Metal Rebellion. We have proof of mind manipulation, and conspiracy to infiltrate and endanger my men, and our families.”
Gheil gritted his teeth, his fingers clenching in fists. “I am disappointed to hear this. When you say proof, I assume it is irrefutable because that is a serious allegation.”
Zander nodded. “It is. When the first planning session of the council broke out in chaos, we reevaluated our security and found evidence that Bo had suffered mind-tampering.”
Gheil took in the hulking blond but couldn’t get a read on him. Whatever his emotions, they were complicated and surging in powerful waves.
“And how did you discover the infiltrator?”
Zander pointed to the mute Egyptian twin. “Phoenix has many gifts. He was surveilling Bo’s mind when the perpetrator engaged in a dream-walk to continue the manipulation and further the rebel’s agenda.”
“So, you saw who it was?”
Zander nodded. “More than that, Phoenix took the female’s mind into custody until we could collect her body.”
“Her?” Gheil’s confusion rang in the air. They had a few Alpha males in the Djinn community who he might have considered rogue enough to do something so stupid, but one of their females? “I find that hard to understand. Our females are nonviolent and have little if nothing to do with the politics of the Darkworld. You must be mistaken.”
Zander shook his head. “I’m afraid there is no mistake. Please escort us to your sister, Layne.”
Jhaia gasped beside him, and Gheil’s breath caught. “No. Not Layne. She’s spirited and rash, but she would never—”
“We’ll know when we see her. Please take us to her?”
“What will you do to her?” Gheil asked, his mind racing. He grasped for any way to avoid turning his sister over to the Watchers. He knew the sentence for overt aggression against the policing warriors.
“What will happen to her?” Jhaia asked.
Gheil swallowed. As much as he wanted to take his sister’s hand and ease her panic, he couldn’t afford such an overt sign of weakness. “If the charge is proven, she will be dispatched from the living plane. Her essence won’t live on. Her soul won’t join the collective of our ancestors.”
“But they must verify the situation first,” Jhaia said.
“I give you my word,” Zander said. “We’ll discuss the outcome before any action is taken, but she attacked not only our council, but also members of our family. She will be held responsible for it.”
Zander was within his rights to take her by any force he deemed necessary. Plotting against them was beyond a mere infraction. It was a declaration of war.
Not seeing any way to avoid taking them, he gestured to Jhaia and Layne’s home next door. “Very well. Follow me.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Bo’s heart hammered, pushing up at the back of his throat until he had to fight to swallow. Getting one foot in front of the other was a struggle with everything tangling up inside him. Zander took a hard line with the Djinn Master on his behalf, and while he appreciated the show of solidarity and understood why he went that route, a sinking feeling warned him things were about to blow up in his face.
“Layne’s apartment is down here,” Jhaia said, leading the way. He hadn’t spent more than a passing moment with the the older of the two sisters, but from what Seth and Thea said about her, Jhaia was a good woman.
She put up a good front, but he saw the tremble in her hands and the terror in her eyes. Being told your little sister was a traitor about to get clipped for collusion with criminals had to be horrible.
As they entered the spacious, walkout apartment, a wave of possession struck him. The living space carried Layne’s scent and left him reeling against control.
It wasn’t real, he reminded himself.
It was part of her manipulation.
Jhaia frowned at an untouched tray of food on the table and turned to the group. “Please, let me go in first. I want to ensure she’s decent for company.”
Zander looked around and shrugged. “If we’re right, she’s not going anywhere.”
Phoenix raised his hands. It’s her. Her existence is reaching out for the body in the next room. We’ve got her.
Bo fought not to growl. Rage burned within him that the female was trapped in stasis. Without realizing it, he drifted to the open door of the bedroom.
Jhaia lay folded over her lifeless sister, sobbing. When he entered the room, she sat up and wiped her cheeks. “What did you do to her?”
“When Phoenix found her consciousness tampering with my mind, he essentially arrested her. He holds her mind with his powers.”
Jhaia looked horrified. “A childhood trauma left her claustrophobic and terrified of being trapped. Please, stop this. Free her spirit.”
Bo leaned out the door and nodded to his brother-in-arms. “Phoenix, you need to release her. Make her whole.”
Phoenix checked with Zander. “Yeah, do it.”
Layne woke with a gasp, her gaze flittering around the room like a spooked animal.
Jhaia pulled her into an embrace. “You’re all right now.”
Pulling for breath, Layne shook her head. Tears brimmed and streamed from her eyes. “I couldn’t get back. I was trapped.”
Bo wanted to go to her, his instinct to scoop her into his arms undeniable. His beast raged as he paced back to his brothers and fought the primal need.
Zander cast him a look. “Are we ready to begin?”
Bo’s stomach knotted tight and, what do you know, his Mark chose that moment to weigh in.
Zander squeezed his shoulder and offered him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry she took a toll on you, my brother. We’ll make it right. I swear.”
Stepping back, he scrubbed a rough hand over his face and cursed. As much as he’d like to take a hard pass on the convo that needed to happen, now was the time. “It’s not that, Z. I . . . uh, could I have a word with you two in private?”
Seth and Phoenix excused themselves and went outside with the Djinn guard who’d been standing at the door. Closing the bedroom door, he left the females to console one another and faced off with Zander and the Djinn Master.
“We can’t dispatch her, Z.”
Zander arched a brow and smiled. “Why not? She fucked with your head and endangered a dozen people at that meeting, including two females from our own family.”
“I’m not excusing that, or my part in it, but you can’t dispatch her. I can’t allow it. My beast won’t allow it.”
The muscle in the side of the Sumerian’s square jaw started doing an angry jig. “Because?”
“Because she’s my female.”
Zander’s eyes widened, and he took in his glowing Mark with tighter scrutiny. “How did that happen?”
“What are you two talking about,” Gheil snapped.
Bo ran his hands down his jeans and drew a deep breath. “Several weeks ago, I attended a private event held by your Dark Prince. Your sister was there.”
Gheil’s mouth tightened, his frown growing more severe. “Never. Layne would never attend one of the Dark Prince’s gatherings. I’ve heard rumors of what goes on there and—”
Bo understood the male’s outrage. What went on at that party went against every bit of patrician Miss Manners breading the females of a royal line would be held to. Sexist, yes, but tradition ran deep in the Otherworld.
He cleared his throat. “Apologies, sire, your sister was absolutely there. She and I . . . In hindsight, I suppose she targeted me to gain access to information.”
Crack!
The left hook left him with a mouthful of blood. The Djinn Master had a fist like solid stone. “Don’t you dare imply that my sister is some
depraved whore. She is many things, but she is not the kind of female who would shame her family with such behavior.”
Awkward.
“I’m not saying that, sire. She used our”—he searched for a word that didn’t take them back to throwing punches—“connection to gain intel. She was part of the team that kidnapped me, and then attacked the council meeting the other night.”
It kicked his male pride in the ass to admit he’d been seduced and sucked into a Darkworld plot. Unfortunately, that was the truth of it. “The why of our union is irrelevant. She and I are bound, now. She is my mate.”
Gheil pushed forward and looked like he might take another run at him.
Zander intercepted. His commander cursed and took a crack at it. “Nephilim mating is a crazy and volatile thing. We have no control over who Lady Divinity and fate deem our perfect complement. When it happens, it’s irreversible and undeniable.”
Gheil threw up his hands, looking baffled. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying, when your sister and I had sex, our bodies and souls altered to bind us as a couple. I didn’t recognize it at first because she blocked my memories, but now that I’m whole, I assure you, Layne is mine.”
Gheil stared from him to Zander and back again. “And there is no undoing it?”
“Not so far,” Zander said, looking pissed. “From those of us who have experienced it, there is no fighting it, and no changing it. In the next hours and days, the two of them will grow increasingly more attracted to one another until they accept their fate and Bo transitions to a fully bonded Dark Angel.”
Zander pointed behind his shoulder and unfurled his ebony wings to their full, awesome glory.
“Does the process curb her will?”
Zander flashed Bo the ocular version of a fuck-you, but what was done was done. “No. She’s herself, but her desires will change. Bo will be the center of her world as she will be for him. There is no length a bonded Nephilim won’t go to keep his beloved safe and happy.”
Gheil frowned. “She will hate this. And she’ll fight it.”
Zander shrugged. “For a while, she might.”