by Reus, Katie
As she stepped out of the hallway and into the bar, she immediately sought out Mikael.
But as soon as she spotted him, she froze.
He was still at the bar, with Lindsey. He was leaning down talking to her, had his hand wrapped around her neck, his thumb along her jaw as if embracing her, like a lover would do.
Avery stared in horror at the picture the two of them made. She knew she didn’t have that kind of relationship with him, but still, he knew exactly how much that woman had hurt her.
He spoke in Lindsey’s ear, as if he was whispering to her. He wasn’t pulling back. No, he was…still embracing her, talking to her. Everything looked so damn intimate.
Feeling as if she’d been punched in the stomach, Avery ducked back into the hallway.
Nope. She couldn’t do this. She could not walk up there and act like everything was normal. She was… Well, she wasn’t going home. That was for sure. And she wasn’t staying here. Thankfully this place had a back door and she was going to use it.
Because she wasn’t going to stand around and watch that shitshow, that was for sure. If Mikael wanted Lindsey, he could have her.
This was exactly why Avery didn’t believe in fairy-tale bullshit.
Because that was exactly what fairy tales were.
Chapter 8
Mikael waited until Avery was out of sight before he approached the female who was most definitely a vampire. The one who made Avery smell like pain. The scent coming off Avery before had been the same as when her father had come to see her.
Avery hadn’t allowed him to end her father, but this vampire was about to get her head ripped off.
He leaned in close, wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed. He didn’t care that he was in public, didn’t care about anything but taking away Avery’s agony.
The vampire gave him a smile she probably thought was seductive. “So you do have good taste after all,” she purred.
He tightened his grip as he leaned close to her ear. “You are going to want to be quiet now. You’re simply going to listen to everything I say, you stupid little vampire.” His words were subvocal, so only she could hear him.
A trickle of fear intermingled with her lust. Good. His dragon half was ready to burst out, take out this threat with fire and destruction, and destroy the whole damn bar, but he kept his control.
Barely.
“It would be nothing for me to rip out your jugular right now. Or drag you into the parking lot and burn you alive. You will turn to ash under my fire, as if you never existed at all.”
He let his dragon flare in his gaze now, his beast wanting to do just that, to stop this vampire who had caused Avery even an ounce of pain.
“I am thousands of years old. I know ways to torture that you cannot even imagine.” A solid truth she heard in his words if her jerk of fear was any indication.
She was breathing hard now, not from lust either. She hadn’t tried to yank away, very likely her fight-or-flight instinct telling her to be very, very still or the predator with his hand on her throat would end her life.
“I could drag you into the mountains, shackle you in a cave and torture you for decades for what you’ve done to Avery. Make sure you receive the barest hint of blood so you won’t die. Just exist in pain. Give me one reason why I should not.”
The stench of her fear was acute now, overpowering him and his beast. He did not like weak bullies.
“This necklace,” she whispered. “Take it, give it to her.”
He stilled in surprise. “Why do I care about a necklace?”
“It was her mother’s,” the vampire rasped out, from fear or because he was squeezing her throat so tight she could barely talk, he wasn’t certain.
With his free hand he opened the clasp and grasped the necklace lightning quick before it fell. “You will leave New Orleans—”
“What?”
“You will leave this city and never come back. You have two days to pack your things and find a new place to live.” He wasn’t the Alpha, didn’t have that authority. But he didn’t care. This female was leaving.
“That’s not—”
“I told you to be quiet. If you are smart, Avery better never see your face again. Or I will do everything I said I would. And worse. Do you have anything else of hers?”
There was a long pause, then she tried to nod but could barely move her head at this point. Thankfully no one was paying any attention to them. He’d already waved the bartender off and everyone else was all huddled up in their own conversations, not worrying about the two of them.
He glanced over his shoulder, looking for Avery. He wanted this done before she returned. “What is it?”
“Just some jewelry.”
“You will bring them back to me. And if I have to hunt you down, you won’t like what happens.” His dragon was still in his eyes, watching her.
The acrid stench of her fear intensified but she nodded. “Give me half an hour,” she whispered. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
“Good.” He released her and she practically sprinted from the bar, stumbling in her skinny heels.
His beast wanted to hunt her down, fillet her alive, do all the things that Avery would look at him in disgust for. He was not a good male, not the right type of male for her, but it didn’t matter to his dragon. He would do anything to keep her safe, to make sure she was happy. And if that stupid vampire didn’t listen to him, well…he might eat her as a snack. His dragon rumbled an agreement in his head. With barbecue sauce.
He’d recently discovered barbecue sauce and his dragon half was now obsessed with it.
He glanced around the bar again, looking for Avery. She’d been gone for too long. The place had gotten crowded in the last few minutes, with people caught up in their own conversations, and trying to wave down the lone bartender.
He slipped off his barstool and made his way through the crowd. It was easy enough. Most people moved to the side so it didn’t take long to make it to the little hallway where the bathrooms were. Avery should have come out by now. Maybe she was still upset.
He knocked once on the door. When there was no response, he opened the door. The lights were off and it was empty.
His dragon clawed at him, the foreign emotion of worry spiking inside him. He had never worried about anyone before Avery. He immediately called her, but she did not respond.
To his surprise he received a text from her.
I’ve gone to a friend’s house. Have fun with her. Then she included a red-faced, angry-looking…emoji, he thought the symbols were called.
Have fun with who? He frowned even as he realized what she meant. She must have seen him with the vampire and thought… Hell, she must have assumed the worst. He’d been whispering in the female’s ear, but only so no one would overhear his threats to kill and torture her.
Damn it.
He texted back. Where are you?
Avery didn’t respond.
He wasn’t going to wait or try to text her so he called her again, wanting to clear this up immediately. But it went straight to voicemail. He growled low in his throat as he stepped out into the parking lot.
He understood enough about these cell phones that he knew she’d turned her phone off. He inwardly cursed to himself. He had a feeling he knew where she’d gone at least, especially since she was on foot.
He wanted to rush after her, but he would wait to get the rest of her jewelry. Once he brought this treasure to her and explained everything, Avery would understand.
Twenty minutes later, which seemed to stretch on for an eternity, the vampire was back in the parking lot, a purple bag in her hand. She shoved it at him, her entire body trembling, the fear rolling off her pathetic.
She was a vampire, not completely weak. Yet she had no backbone.
“Everything is in here?” He didn’t bother looking inside. He would have no idea if all of Avery’s jewelry was inside or not.
“Yes. Everything.” Sh
e took a step back, her movements jerky.
“Good. Remember what I said? Tick tock. Two days,” he growled, his dragon watching her like the prey she was. Riel had taught him the phrase “tick tock” and it seemed to have the effect he wanted.
More likely, she was just terrified he’d burn her to death.
* * *
Mikael made his way up the long walkway to where he suspected Avery had gone—the mansion where the stupid lion lived. He’d tracked her scent and it was strong here.
The females who lived there were all right. He didn’t like most people, but they had always been kind to Avery. Before he’d made it to the front door, one of the redheaded tiger shifter twins dropped down seemingly out of nowhere in front of him, tall, lean and… She looked annoyed. At him.
She crossed her arms over her chest, her expression pulled into a scowl. “What are you doing here?”
Okay so she was annoyed at him for certain. And he knew that Avery was here, partially because of the tiger’s reception but also because her scent was growing stronger. If he had to guess, this tiger was Brielle. Her twin, Harlow, always looked as if she was deciding whether she should kill you or not. Which he appreciated. He liked to know where he stood with other shifters.
“I’m looking for Avery.”
“She’s not here.” Brielle’s tone was flat.
“You are not a good liar.”
The tiger shifter looked at her nails, as if bored. Then he watched as two of her claws started to grow. “You can come see her out back. If you upset her, you’ll get to see more of these.” She waved her claws at him and then her tiger flashed in her eyes once before she gave him her back. Which was definitely an insult.
He didn’t care what this tiger thought of him. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him. He only cared about Avery.
He fell in step with the tiger, following the sunshine scent of the sweetest female he’d ever known around to the back of the mansion.
He’d been here a couple times before and it looked much the same. There were chickens running around, little round lights hanging over a patio set, and a greenhouse in one corner of the yard, as well as another garden they’d started growing. But all his attention was on Avery, who was curled up on a lounge chair next to Lola.
Lola’s hair was still that bizarre rainbow color.
“You left.” Apparently he was saying obvious things as he stalked up to Avery. He knew his dragon was in his gaze too.
“Why are you here?” she sniffed and he thought he detected tears glittering in her eyes.
No. He could not handle tears. Not from her. “I had to take care of something.”
Now a sharp sense of rage rolled off her as she glared up at him. “Take care of…something?” she said through gritted teeth.
The rest of the females—Axel thankfully was not there—stirred in their seats, giving him death glares.
“I was not fucking that female,” he spat out, because clearly she must’ve been thinking something along those lines. He crouched down in front of her so they were more at eye level. He wanted her to see the truth, to know he could never betray her like that. How…could she even think that of him?
“I saw you. And I know we’re friends and you can do whatever you want, but I told you about my past. I told you what she did to me. I just… I saw you.” Her voice cracked on the last word and something inside him cracked as well.
Show her the jewelry, dumbass, his dragon snarled at him. Now!
Moving quickly, he laid the small, soft bag on the table in front of her. Though he hated to tear his gaze from hers, he unrolled it so that all the pieces were visible. They sparkled under the lights above them.
She gasped in shock and jumped from her seat, the blanket around her shoulders falling behind her. She stared at him, then at the jewelry, her pale green eyes going wide. “This is my mother’s. Which…you obviously know. How…how did you get this?”
He leaned down, knowing he was pushing into her personal space and not caring. Because he needed to make something clear. “The only reason I was touching that vampire was because I was threatening to torture her. She’s lucky she’s still walking.” He decided not to tell her that he had contemplated ripping out her jugular. “She returned your mother’s jewelry to you as an offering—so I wouldn’t kill her. And she will be leaving the city within the next two days. You’ll never have to see her again.”
He couldn’t believe Avery thought he would be with someone else. He couldn’t even look at another female. Clearly she didn’t understand what she meant to him. He wasn’t even sure he’d understood how much she meant to him until that moment. But he still couldn’t fathom touching another woman. Never. Now he’d told her what kind of male he was, that he would kill another being. She was watching him still, her eyes wide, her scent unreadable.
She…was probably disgusted by him. But he’d had to tell her the truth.
Taking him off guard, she suddenly threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tight in a hug.
He didn’t pause, and wrapped his arms around her as well, inhaling deeply. Sunshine.
She leaned back, grabbed his face and planted a kiss right on his mouth.
Before his brain had time to register that Avery’s mouth had actually been on his, she’d already pulled back and crouched down in front of the jewelry. “I can’t believe you did this,” she whispered as the other females crouched down with her, looking at the sparkling jewels. “I never thought I would see any of this again. Some of these actually belonged to my great-grandmother, were passed down to all the females in my family.”
Brielle handed him a beer, the tiger shifter able to move with more stealth than any shifter he’d ever known. “So you’re not an asshole. Apologies for threatening you,” she said as she tipped the top of her own bottle to his.
Mikael nodded at her because he wasn’t sure what to say and took a sip of the beer as he watched Avery pick up one of the necklaces—not the one the vampire had been wearing—and put it on around her neck. It was a simple gold chain, but the way she touched it… Hell.
He knew the others were talking, could hear the hum of their voices as he watched Avery’s brilliant smile light up the entire backyard. But he couldn’t make out any words.
The only thing he could actually focus on was the fact that she’d kissed him. She also…didn’t seem to care that he’d threatened to torture that vampire either.
He filed that away, not quite sure what to do with the knowledge yet. But just maybe he had a chance with her.
And now that he’d had a tiny taste, it would never be enough. Would never satisfy him.
Chapter 9
Four weeks after The Fall
Mikael ducked as Cas swung his arm at his head.
He jabbed quickly into his brother’s ribs, a sharp punch he pulled back just as lightning fast.
Cas swiped out at him, trying to knock him off his feet—which was the purpose of this exercise.
He stumbled, righted himself and ducked to avoid another rapid-fire incoming punch.
“You should just concede,” Cas said, a grin on his face as he jumped back out of reach. Normally his brother was so serious. Both of them were. Had been that way for a long time, but today things felt different.
After a long day at work, they’d all needed an outlet. Mikael had already sparred with Ivyn and then Cas had challenged him.
“To my baby brother? Never.” He ducked low and rammed his head straight into Cas’s middle, taking him completely off guard. Ignoring the rain of punches to his back and then ribs, he twisted and flipped Cas in the air.
Instead of landing on his back, his brother righted himself midair and landed with the grace of a panther.
He heard a gasp of surprise from the patio and turned, scenting her even as he heard her short gasp.
Avery was standing there, the female of his fantasies. Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open, and all he could
think about was biting that bottom lip between his own teeth before he fully claimed her mouth. Her body.
And that was when his brother slammed into him, tackling him to the ground.
“That’s what you get for being distracted,” Cas said as he jumped to his feet, holding out a hand.
Grumbling, Mikael grabbed his brother’s hand and jumped up with ease.
“I get the winner!” Ivyn jumped down from the patio railing where he’d been sitting.
When he looked up, Avery had disappeared and he fought disappointment—until she strode back outside with something in her hand.
“Are you okay?” The petite human who smelled like peaches and sunshine and shared music with him seemed so concerned about him. He was not certain why, but he could admit that he liked it. It meant she cared.
“We were just sparring.” His gaze flicked down to what he now realized was a bag of ice in her hand.
She pointed at him to sit, then joined him on the bench. Her fingers gently skated over his skin as she held the bag to his forehead. “You guys are so rough,” she murmured.
He wanted to tell her that he didn’t even feel this injury she was so concerned about, that he would be healed within ten minutes, but he really, really liked the sensation of her soft fingertips moving over his skin.
“Yes, my brothers like to fight dirty,” he murmured, fighting a smile because he did too.
“We learned it from you!” Cas’s voice carried out from the yard.
Mikael didn’t even bother looking at his brothers. All his attention was on the dark-haired beauty with the big green eyes who was watching him carefully.
Her eyes dilated slightly and a curious scent played in the air for a moment before she cleared her throat and glanced away. “So is this normal for you guys?”