by Reus, Katie
“I’ll go with you tomorrow.”
She shook her head, and though it was subtle, she took a small step back. “You need to handle your family business. And worrying about me is going to distract you. Clearly this guy is bad news and doesn’t need to be in our territory. I’ve already talked to Santiago. He and Olga are coming with me.”
Mikael gritted his teeth. Yeah, he would just see about that. “You’re mad at me.”
“Not mad. I’m just tired.”
“I can scent when you lie.”
Her brow furrowed. “That’s not fair.”
“I have been told that life is not fair.”
She full-on glared at him then. “I’m not mad…exactly. I’m just feeling… Conflicting emotions, I guess. I’m kind of hurt that you wouldn’t tell me about the key, and yes, I’m probably being irrational. Sometimes humans aren’t rational,” she said. “I know I’m the one who said that we were just having fun, that it’s not like you’re my boyfriend or anything. But I thought we were friends too, and…I thought I meant more to you.”
What was she talking about? How did she not understand what she meant to him? “Explain this boyfriend talk to me.” There were some things he still didn’t understand and he thought there might be a miscommunication happening.
“You know…like boyfriend and girlfriend. I don’t know if dating exists anymore.” She rubbed a hand over her face, and in that moment she did look exhausted. He didn’t like contributing to part of that. “I just meant we’re not committed or anything, and I’m fine with just having fun with you.” Her words and scent did not match, however.
He frowned as understanding settled in. “I’m not just having fun with you!”
Her eyes widened, at his tone or words, he wasn’t sure.
“This isn’t fun for me. I mean…” That sounded bad. “What we’ve done is a lot of fun.” So much, and they had just started exploring each other. He wanted many, many more years with her. Forever, in fact.
Her cheeks flushed red but she still didn’t speak.
“But it’s more than fun for me. I am committed to you.” He wasn’t sure what that not-committed nonsense was about. “I don’t want another female. I only want you.” The very thought of her seeing anyone else had his dragon half growling angrily.
She rubbed her hands over her face again and let out a groan. The emotions that rolled off her were sharp, tart, the scent raking against his senses. “I…I need to get some sleep. It’s been a long day and honestly I’m emotionally drained.”
“I take it you want to sleep alone.”
She paused then nodded, and the disappointment cut through him like a blade.
“I’m heading to bed. My door will be unlocked all night if you change your mind.”
She paused as if she wanted to say more, then she stepped back and shut the door.
Inwardly groaning to himself, he laid his forehead against the door. Well that had gone well.
“Still the charmer, I see.” Zephyr snorted softly from down the hallway before ducking into the room they’d given him.
Oh yes. Quite the charmer. He had miscalculated with Avery. But he would be remedying that very soon.
Chapter 26
Avery ended the phone call as she hurried down the stairs. Neither of her brothers had slept in their beds last night, which meant they hadn’t come home at all. She knew them well enough that they didn’t make their beds until after they’d had coffee and a shower.
Neither were answering her phone calls or texts. She desperately hoped that when she got downstairs she would find that they had simply come home late and fallen asleep on the couch or something. It seemed unlikely but she was holding on to that hope.
She could hear voices trailing from outside and opened the back door to find Mikael and his three brothers all drinking coffee on the patio.
“What is it?” Mikael stood immediately.
“Anthony and Riel never came home last night. And they’re not answering their phones. Would that guy hurt my brothers to get to you?” she demanded before he and his brothers could do one of those silent conversation things again.
They were all quiet, until Zephyr spoke. “Maybe. But he would use them as a bargaining tool long before he would hurt them.” He had a similar faint accent to Mikael’s, she’d noticed.
Mikael nodded, though his expression said he didn’t want to agree. She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.
“You know that both of them have been seeing different people,” Mikael said.
“They would never ignore my calls or texts. You know that. Ever.” That wasn’t the type of relationship she and her brothers had. If one of them hadn’t answered she would be okay, but both of them not responding? No. Her instinct said something was wrong.
“She’s right,” Mikael said, looking at Cas and Ivyn.
They nodded and looked at Zephyr, and Ivyn spoke. “They would never ignore her. She’s like a mom and sister to them.”
Mikael pulled out his phone. “We’ll start searching—”
Her own phone rang and she almost jumped. She didn’t recognize the number but answered immediately in case it was Anthony or Riel. “Hello?”
“If you want to see your brothers again, put Mikael or one of his brothers on the phone,” a silky male voice demanded.
That little ball of ice in her stomach spread, coating everything in its wake. With a trembling hand, she pressed speaker. “They can hear you,” she rasped out.
“So you escaped too, Zephyr,” the male said.
Her gut tightened. All four males straightened and gathered around the outstretched phone, staring at it as if they wanted to murder whoever was on the other end.
“Why are you calling?” Mikael asked.
“I’m pretty sure you already know the answer to that,” the male said. “Mikael, I know you care for the human female. More than care for her. I have her brothers with me—”
She gasped but Mikael held a finger up to his lips. She quieted but couldn’t control the rush of fear, the blood pulsing in her ears. This man, this monster who had somehow created a rip in the fabric of reality and sucked Mikael into it—someone Mikael had battled with and not killed—had her brothers.
“I want to hear their voices. I need to know they’re okay.” Mikael’s voice was ice-cold but she saw the fury in his gaze, his dragon peering out at her as he spoke.
She took a deep breath, tried not to panic even as it swelled inside her. Her brothers were wonderful and kind and she couldn’t imagine a world without them in it.
“Avery?” Anthony’s voice came across the line and he sounded young and terrified.
Oh, God. “I’m right here. You’re going to be okay.” If she sounded confident, she hoped it would give him hope.
“We’re both here. Riel… They hit him on the head but he’s going to be okay. I love you, Avery.” Anthony’s voice slightly trembled.
“I love you too.” She clenched her jaw tight, trying to force back the tears that wanted to spill over.
“You will not hurt them,” Mikael snapped out, his voice whiplash sharp. “I know what you want and I will give it to you.”
The male made a pleased humming sound. “You gave in to that far too easily.” Then the line went dead.
“Ozias wants the key,” Zephyr said, his words filled with frustration.
Whatever the key was, she doubted they’d give it up for her brothers. Mikael might care for her, but she knew how the world worked. She’d seen it firsthand. Seen the way her father left her mother when she got too sick, too inconvenient. This key clearly meant a lot to them, so much so that he wouldn’t even tell her what it was.
“I will get them back, I swear,” Mikael said to her.
She simply nodded, her throat too tight to speak past the tears she was trying to keep at bay. He didn’t say he’d give up “the key,” just that he’d get them back.
Zephyr said something to Mikael in a langua
ge she didn’t understand, drawing his attention away.
“Excuse me.” She hurried back inside and toward the downstairs bathroom. Inside she sat on the toilet and then leaned forward, placing her head between her legs, breathing in and out as she tried not to go into a full-blown panic attack.
Then she sat up abruptly. No way in hell was she going to panic. Her brothers were depending on her. She had resources and she was going to use them. Pulling out her phone, she started to call Aurora but then remembered that the others would likely overhear her because of their stupid supernatural hearing. So she texted furiously, her fingers flying across the screen.
Emergency at my house. My brothers have been kidnapped. I need help. Please bring King.
That was as succinct as she could be. Avery knew that King would do whatever Aurora asked, and she and Aurora were friends. Avery also knew that King would help her if she asked, but she figured she’d get faster results if the request came from Aurora. Because something told Avery that one day the female would become the Alpha female of this territory.
Give me ten minutes. The text came back immediately and some of her tension eased, but only by the smallest fraction. Because her brothers had still been kidnapped, were being held captive somewhere, and she didn’t know by who. Not really, other than the name Ozias.
Think, think, think.
Okay, so Aurora would bring King. That was good. But they needed more backup. She would ask every damn person she’d ever met for help if it would get her brothers back.
Going on instinct, she sent off a text to Prima, the dragon female she vaguely knew. Mikael knew her well and he trusted her, so that meant Avery did as well. And Avery knew the female was skilled. Plus Prima had once told Avery that if she ever needed anything at all, she simply had to ask. So she was going to take Prima at face value because right now she needed all the backup and firepower she could get. And it was going to take supernatural firepower to fight supernatural firepower.
Avery received a dragon emoji moments later in response. She blinked, unsure what that meant, hoping the female would hurry over here.
Standing, she shoved her phone into her jeans pocket. She thought about texting the Magic Man, but decided to hold off. First, she would wait for Aurora and King and hope they would help. King would be able to mobilize his pack quickly—if he decided to help. And she couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t.
Avery had lost her mother. And as far as she was concerned, her father was dead to her. She could not lose her brothers as well.
She simply couldn’t.
Chapter 27
When Avery stepped into the kitchen, she found Mikael and the others waiting, all standing and talking quietly among themselves. She hadn’t even heard them come inside—quiet dragons.
“We’re going to get your brothers,” Mikael said immediately. “We’re going to reach out to all our contacts and start a manhunt. Ozias has to be in the city or nearby.”
Before she could respond, her phone rang again. Unknown number.
Mikael took the phone from her and answered, but thankfully he put it on speaker. “Yes.” The word was dagger sharp.
“Have you decided what you will do?” That same silky male voice.
“I already told you I’d give you what you want. I’ll exchange the key for her brothers. And if you try to double-cross me—”
“I have no need to double-cross you. If you give me what I want, you’ll get what you want.”
“They better not be injured.”
There was a long pause. “They were a little roughed up, but they have no broken bones and none of their injuries are permanent. From this point forward I will not hurt them.”
Even Avery didn’t believe him. This male would hurt her brothers. She bit back a sob, forcing herself to remain quiet while they talked.
“Neither you nor anyone else will hurt them. Say it,” Mikael demanded. “Swear it.”
“I swear it.”
“We will meet you—” Mikael started.
Ozias made a tsking sound. “You’re smarter than this. You know how this works. I make the rules. You will meet at a place of my choosing. Do you need to retrieve the key?”
“I will have it by the time you want to meet up.” He flicked a glance at Avery.
“Good.”
“Do you know Boswell Cemetery?”
Before Mikael could answer, Avery nodded at him.
“Yes.”
“Good. Be there one hour after sunset. I would tell you no backup but I know you’ll bring your brothers. So please, bring them.” He hung up.
“It’s a trap,” Zephyr murmured.
Mikael nodded along with his other two brothers. “He’ll bring backup. He wouldn’t meet all of us willingly. He chose after sunset so he could bring his ‘turned’ with him.”
“What does that mean exactly?” she asked. He’d put too much inflection on the word turned and it wasn’t like she didn’t know what a vampire was. So…was he something else?
“He’s like a vampire but…different. He can work spells, control fire, create illusions of sorts.”
“Is he like a hybrid or something? Like a witch, I guess?” She’d thought only females were witches.
The brothers all paused, then Zephyr spoke. “When I was trapped in that realm, I heard others refer to him as the Dark Mage. So, yes, like a witch I believe.”
“He has vampire qualities but he’s powerful, as ancient as we are,” Mikael continued. “And he has now fought against me one-on-one in a tight battle, so he will come at me differently next time.”
“He’s grown stronger in the time we were trapped,” Zephyr said.
“So have I. We need to be prepared, however.”
Everyone froze at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Avery must have looked guilty or something, because Mikael’s gaze narrowed slightly.
“I called in backup already,” she murmured. Before she could move, he sighed and hurried past her.
She followed after him in time to find Aurora, King, and all of Aurora’s roommates—or packmates?—clustered on the front porch.
To her horror, tears sprung to her eyes that they had all shown up. They had come because her human brothers had been kidnapped. She and her brothers weren’t supernaturals or considered special or integral to the city, but they were special to her. They were her entire world.
Aurora shoved past Mikael and pulled Avery into a tight hug. “We’ll get them back,” her friend said, even as Lola and the others pulled her into a tight hug as well, surrounding her.
She was with males the majority of the day, had more or less grown up as one of the boys, but having these female friendships touched her on a deep level. She allowed herself to be vulnerable, to trust all of these women.
“Thank you,” she said as she wiped her tears away and stepped back.
“I need to know everything,” King said quickly, drawing their attention to him.
“Let’s do this on the back patio,” Mikael said. “There’s more room out there.”
Before anyone could respond, the front door opened again and Prima strode in, strapped down with a plethora of weapons.
Mikael turned to Avery. “You called her too?”
“She texted me. Why wouldn’t she? I am excellent at killing things.” Prima, tall and gorgeous, looked almost insulted that he would even ask.
It made Avery feel even better about asking for help.
As they all stepped outside, Axel, who she hadn’t even seen come inside with the others, wrapped his arm around Avery’s shoulders. She’d never seen his expression so serious, so deadly. He didn’t look like the laid-back lion now. “We’ll save your brothers. I swear it.”
Throat tight, she nodded. She didn’t doubt they would. But she was terrified that they might not get them back alive.
“Thank you,” she rasped out. Then she found herself being tugged away from him, Mikael physically body-checking Axel as he pulled her tight to his side
.
“I’m not going to apologize for contacting everyone,” she said almost defiantly.
“They are your brothers,” he said simply as he squeezed her once. Then he turned and looked at everyone, nodding respectfully at King.
“First of all, this is my brother Zephyr. He recently escaped from a Hell realm.”
When King simply nodded, it became clear to Avery that he understood what that was. Apparently so did the others, because no one looked confused.
“Avery’s brothers have been kidnapped because an ancient male named Ozias wants something my family possesses,” Mikael continued. “Putting it in his hands would be detrimental to…everyone.”
“How detrimental?” King asked.
Mikael rubbed the back of his neck, looked at his brothers.
It was subtle, but Zephyr nodded ever so slightly and Avery realized that Mikael was deferring to him, even though he had not seen him in thousands of years. It was definitely an older sibling or clan leader thing.
Mikael looked back at the others. “It’s a key… It has the ability to open any Hell realm. Anywhere. No dragon blood needed. No sacrifice needed. Nothing. Just the key.”
The entire group went preternaturally still, some staring in shock and some in horror.
Okay, so this was definitely a big deal. Avery wasn’t exactly certain how big though, because she barely understood what a Hell realm was.
King recovered first. “You can’t give it to him.”
“I am well aware of this,” Mikael said stiffly. “Not that I was asking for permission.” He continued, though King’s wolf flared bright at Mikael’s words. “That said, I will do whatever it takes to get Riel and Anthony back. They are family to me too.”
Avery felt his words like a punch to her senses even as Mikael continued.
“He will be expecting me to bring my brothers but perhaps not so much backup as everyone here. He is strong, skilled, and he uses…dark magic, I think it would be considered. He’s called a Dark Mage.”