"And you let her go on her fucking own?!" I yelled at Taryk through the implant. "I won't be a jailer for her, Ash. Neither will you. I trust her. Get your head out of your pants and on straight, and you'll be able to see that she's a better covert operative than any of us could ever hope to be. She trained on the streets for twenty-two years. She'll be fine.""Reminding me about the sheer shittiness of her life is not helping your case right now, T," I said as he pushed me into the room we'd helped Cherry clear out not even a week ago."And your bullheadedness is proving mine. Look at her, Asher. Really see her. Not the version of her you carry in your head in the spot you've named mate.' See her. Otherwise, you're going to lose her." Taryk got up in my face, his expression more serious than anything I'd ever seen cross it before. I felt the deepest parts of my heart clench at the idea of her out there alone while we idiots cowered and crouched in her old hole. But the clea
Wrenching pain was swallowed by searing heat as something was plunged repeatedly through my body. My chest felt like a herd of elephants were sitting on it while something was gnawing on my legs. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what was wrong, and I couldn't fucking open my eyes to see what it was either. The only thing I did know was that Kiema was with me. Her magic wrapped me in layers of love and peace even as agony rippled through me. Phantom fingers mussed my hair, smoothed my brow. A cool kiss was pressed to my head as a blazing inferno incinerated me from the inside out. "Xander." I grimaced. "Xan baby, I know you can hear me," a wrenching familiar voice said. I'd longed to hear that feminine voice one more time. To wrap it around me like a blanket, to store it forever in my memory. My memory hadn't done it justice. A husky chuckle that brought a tear to my eye. "Come on, Xan baby. Just open your eyes."I shook my head. If I didn't open them, maybe
I caught her before she tumbled to the floor in a dead faint. Xander disrupted his unit's embrace, almost shoving Scarlet to the side to get to Kiema. His face showed his horror. Saint grabbed Xander before he could hurt his own mate. "She's just exhausted, Xander. She's fine. I swear," Saint said. Xander looked up at me. I nodded. "She told us as soon as you both came out of the Gateway. Apparently, she used a lot of power and it drained her. She's going to be fine, I promise you." His dark brown eyes were flickering with the white, blue, and purple colors of his elemental tiger. "You swear on your life?"I dipped my head. "On my life."He fell back, scooped Scarlet back into his arms. Buried his head against her shoulders and began sobbing. "What the fuck do you think happened in there?" Saint asked me quietly as we moved out of the small room. I gave a low whistle as I looked at the carnage on the warehouse's former showroom floor. Pieces and parts of the Wa
"Good, luv?" I asked Atlas as he finished washing his hands for what had to be the millionth time after getting back to the warehouse.He nodded, not even bothering to look at me. His shoulders were trembling and small shoots of water sprang up from the sink at different intervals. I waited him out. One of the few things I'd learned about this enigmatic man, over and above the fact that he was a seriously good kisser, was that his love for his brothers and family was the solid core of him. I'd watched in helpless horror as the realization that he'd been unable to save Xander's life had washed over him back in that slaughterhouse.He turned from the sink, his head still down, his eyes closed tight. He shook his head. Still not bothering to look up at me. I walked over to him, careful not to get too close to invading his personal space. "Need some touch or rather not?"He nodded. The first tear splashed to the floor between my feet. I had him in my arms before the next cou
Xander was the last to slide into a seat at the huge dining table on Asher's level. The man himself was trying to play it cool by staying in the kitchen. But I could see the starkness in the gaze that had yet to leave his brother. He saw me looking at him. I nodded at him. He returned the gesture before going back to keep a close eye on his twin. "Anytime there, Kord," Ransom said from the far end of the table. The head of the table. I smiled at the unspoken hierarchy. I cleared my throat. "Right." Shit, now that the time was here, where did I freaking start? I rubbed my hands down my pants, trying to dry the suddenly damp palms. I wasn't quite sure where I fit in the hierarchy yet, but I knew I fucking wanted to. Damn, did they make family look appealing. I glanced at Kiema, she gave me a soft, if slightly unfocused smile. Fuck, she was a bright light in a world full of shitty darkness. And suddenly, I knew where to start. "Okay, so there are a total of four proph
"And I still don't care what it says. Unless they're just out there waiting to gobble me up, I'm going to freaking bed," I said for what felt like the tenth time. Ransom opened his mouth. I held up a hand, a frown pulling at the edges of my mouth. "If you suggest the Hold one more time, I'm going to shove you in there."He opened his mouth again."Without me," I said quickly.His mouth snapped closed with a click. I caught Scarlet's gaze. She rolled her eyes. So fucking true, girlfriend. So fucking true."Bed. Now. Any of my mates who want to join, there will be no sexy times. Sleeping is it. The end. The rest of you, good night. Pleasant dreams. I'll see you after I wake up. And I better not be woken up by any of you." I turned on my sock-covered heel and headed for the elevator. I couldn't handle their worry or expectation. The sliver of Scarlet's magic that I'd inherited made other people's emotions feel like weights around my neck while I was trying to just t
"I swear to Gaia if you keep hovering over me like mom used to, then I'm going to cock-shot you and lock you in the Hold," Xander said, his voice a hard whisper in my ear. We were hovering over Kord as he discussed the finer points of foreign language translation.I felt my shoulders relax at his hard tone. He was back. Fully. Completely. My belly unwound itself. I nodded, not looking at him. He bumped his shoulder into mine in response. "What the fuck happened in the warehouse today? How did it get decorated with body parts and blood?" he asked. The fucker! I just now relax and he brings it back up like he's discussing the fucking weather?He growled low next to me. "Our Cherrypie happened, bro," Taryk said. "I have no idea how she did it, but the bodies just ended up sliced and diced. She was either moving too fast or hidden under massive camouflage. The Wardens just ended up on the floor in different pieces.""I'm not convinced they were Wardens," Kord said befo
Two days later"Last chance, Alok. I won't be asking again. You can talk to me or to one of the women," I said. The blue-haired idiot strapped down to a chair scoffed. "I'll take one of the women." He leered at me, a sickening glint in his eye.Saint laughed. "Have a preference?""How about both?" I look at Saint. He was already looking at me. A different kind of glint in his eye. "Works for me if it works for you. Scarlet has been working with Kiema," he said over the implant network. I turned back to the asshole. "That works for us. But don't come begging and whining when they break you." We turned to leave the Hold, the door open. The two women this imbecile was mocking were waiting at the door. He laughed, the sound full of scorn and derision. "I break for no woman. Least of all two magical half-wits."Just outside the door, Kiema laughed. The sound low, husky, sexy. "Finally, a willing participant." She brushed past Saint and me as she tugged Scarlet in behind