His brother appeared in the doorway. “How long have you known I was there?”
One of the cooks swore, and something fell on the ground. Lael winced but didn"t look to see what it was. Some things were better off not noticed, especially when it came to preparing mass quantities of food.
“Since you landed.”
His brother raised an eyebrow and stepped further into the room. “How could you possibly have known?”
Lael tapped on his own head. “Just a genius, I guess.”
The air around Draco moved differently, but Lael wasn"t going to try to explain that phenomenon to Draco. Better he keep his observations to himself, which would allow him to continue to know when Draco was spying on him. Not that it happened too much anymore.
“This place looks great.”
Now Lael looked up, not able to stop his smile. “It does.”
“And it was a very good idea to open this place. I have to admit I had my doubts….”
“Really?” Lael interrupted him as he picked up a dirty dish and took it to the sink. “I had no idea? Was that you bellowing about it so loudly that they could hear you three states over?”
Draco sighed. “You know I"m always watching the bottom line.”
“We"re never going to be broke again. Not after what you built. It"s safe. It"s safe.”
His brother didn"t acknowledge his comment. It might be that the creator of Powers, Inc.
would always wonder about landing on the street, about the poverty of his childhood sneaking back up to overtake them all. Those were Draco"s demons. He could wrestle them himself. Lael had his own to fight, and they weren"t the same as Draco"s.
Lael stood in front of Draco. “Did you need something?”
“I wanted to tell you your project…this shelter where people who think they might have Guardian abilities can come and stay, be fed, live, while we test them? Ultimately, it"s going to be profitable.”
“All of a sudden you have more potential employees. People who can be Guardians who weren"t necessarily born as completely powerful as you and I were but who, nonetheless, can be helpful to Powers.”
It was the argument Lael had been making for months until he"d gotten the okay to open this place. Draco had never been charitable, at least not out in the open, even though it could be arguable he"d always been charitable with Lael. He"d been less than thrilled with Powers taking
on any more pro bono enterprises than they already had. Lael had to come up with a way his dream would make money.
He"d lied through his teeth in his sales pitch. Who knew it would actually come true?
“I"m so glad it"s all working out.” He really didn"t know what else he should say. I’m so glad that I took a serious gamble and you’re not here to hand me my ass?
“How is Margot?”
“She"s fantastic.”
“You both glow when you talk about each other.”
Lael looked away. Surely there had to be something he could do to get Draco out of there.
“Then you know how I felt looking at you and Wendy for all these years.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Draco stepped away. “When can I get you in the field?”
“Never.”
His brother swore. “Damn it, Lael. You"re one of my strongest Guardians. You have super human powers. Are you saying you will never come back to work in the actual field? I"ll set you up an office. You can be right next to Ace and me. You"ll have a Handler. It"ll be just what you always wanted.”
“Past tense. It"s not what I want anymore.”
“I"m what he wants now.”
His woman rounded the corner, a smile planted on her face. He should have known she"d show up when Draco arrived. Somehow she always knew when Lael needed her. Maybe it was one of her powers, or maybe it was just that she loved him. Things with Draco were better, but he"d always be something Lael struggled with. Margot would never leave him alone to do it.
“Margot.” Draco nodded to her.
“Draco.” She grinned back, coming inside to hug Lael. She leaned her head against his side, and he smelled her vanilla essence that both calmed him and made him hard as hell. “How are tricks?”
“Good. You know, when I placed you for Lael to find, I had no idea we"d all end up here.
Family.”
She held up her finger to show the engagement ring Lael had placed there just the week before. “Almost family. We have to run off and get married first.”
“Wendy and I really wish you"d let us throw you a wedding.”
“Well, Wendy wishes it anyway.” Lael grinned. “Since when do you give a crap about stuff like that?”
“You"re right; I really don"t. Do what you want. Big weddings and lots of tears and photographs would never be your style.”
Lael shook his head. “Nope.” He needed to finish up in the kitchen and then whisk Margot away somewhere where he could make her scream in pleasure. That meant Draco had to leave.
Immediately, if not sooner. He opened his mouth to tell him when Ace plowed into the room, his long, blond hair swinging behind him.
Lael had no idea how the man managed to not always get it stuck everywhere he went. He rubbed his own shorter version. Maybe he"d take a razor to it later that day. Go bald for a change….
“Did you tell him?”
Draco shook his head. “Not yet. Was just getting to it. Or I might have been able to. I think Lael was about to throw me out.”
Ace grabbed his chest in mock horror. “Is that true, baby brother? Were you going to throw our illustrious leader out of his own charity house?”
“It"s not a charity house.” Draco and Lael spoke at the same time, which left Ace in hysterics, bent over, laughing so hard he was holding his gut.
“When you"re done”—Draco glared at Ace—“I"ll proceed.”
Margot lifted her head to stare up at him. He would move moons for her if she wanted it.
“Should I be worried about whatever this announcement is?”
Lael ran his finger down the side of her face, tracing her profile simply because he could.
“Our rules. Our way. Remember? Whatever they want, if we don"t like it, it doesn"t hurt us.”
“Right.” She nodded.
Ace stopped laughing, and both his brothers narrowed their eyes at him. “Why do you assume the worst?”
“I"ve lived with both of you.”
“Fair enough.” Draco nodded. “In this case, I think you"ll like it.”
“Enough beating around the bush. Get to it.” Good news or just Draco"s version of it. Lael loved his brothers, but he was tired of the drama. Things to do, his fiancée to pleasure….
“We"ve decided to cut you in. You now own one third of Powers. Whether you come back to run it with us, go out in the field, or spend the rest of your days here doing this, it doesn"t matter. Powers is now as much yours as it is ours.” Draco smiled. “You"re our brother. It was always meant to be our family company.”
Lael wasn"t sure how long he stood there staring at his brothers. At some point, his mouth fell open, and he must have looked like a landed fish.
Margot elbowed him in the side. “Say something.”
What was there to say? How could he thank someone for just handing him the financial means with which he would be able to save so many people"s lives? Not just the potential Guardians, but anyone who needed it? There were so many things left to do….
“You rendered him speechless.” Ace grinned. “I love it. Lael with nothing to say.
“Thank you.” It seemed so completely mundane, so lacking in true gratitude.
Draco grinned a smile to match Ace"s. “You"re welcome.”
Lael had been a lost boy, alone in a homeless shelter, and then he had been found by the greatest Guardian the world had ever seen. Draco had taken him home and, along with Ace, given him a family. Now, he had Margot, and dreams he hadn"t known he possessed were coming true.
He wasn"t lost anymore. He had a f
amily, and a calling—and yes, people to save.
A Thank you from Fated Desires
Thank you so much for reading Last Ascension! We"re so happy that you had a chance to look into the paranormal world of The Capes. We do hope if you liked this, that you would please leave a review from where you purchased this or on another platform. Not only does a review spread the word to other readers, they let us know if you"d like to see more stories like this from us. Rebecca loves to hear from readers and talks to them when she can. You can reach her through her website and through her Facebook and Twitter accounts. You guys are the reason we get to do what we do and we thank you.
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About the Author
As a teenager, Rebecca Royce would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She hopes, these days, that her parents think it was well worth it.
Rebecca is the mother of three adorable boys and is fortunate to be married to her best friend.
They"ve just moved to Texas where Rebecca is discovering a new love for barbecue!
She's in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and tries to use all of these elements in her writing. She's been told she's a little bloodthirsty so she hopes that when you read her work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. Rebecca loves to write series because she loves to see characters develop over time and it always makes her happy to see her favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.
In Rebecca Royce's world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.
www.RebeccaRoyce.com
Also from this Author
Now Available:
The Capes:
Seductive Powers
Adrenaline Rush
Last Ascension
Fallen Alpha:
Alpha Rising
Alpha’s Strength
Alpha’s Sacrifice
Coming Soon:
Fallen Alpha:
Alpha’s Truth
Excerpt: Seductive Powers
Did you enjoy this selection? Why not try another romance from Fated
Desires?
From Bestselling Author Rebecca Royce’s The Capes Series
Seductive Powers
Chapter One
Wendy Warner knew why her coworkers stared. They did the same thing every time she
wore the outfit. She thought by now they'd be used to seeing her this way, considering she dressed in the uniform the second and third Fridays of every month. That equated to twenty-four days a year. Maybe the first couple of times warranted the amount of attention her outfit drew, but not now. After all this time, garnering the looks and the gasps was just out of hand.
Wendy sighed and nodded to the receptionist, who didn't respond—she never did—and
continued walking toward the elevators of Powers, Inc. Only support staff used the elevators because, well, Guardians didn't need them—they could fly.
She sipped her coffee, noticing she was, once again, alone in the elevator. Almost as if everyone in the building thought he or she would become 'nerds by association' simply being near her. Shrugging, she pushed the button for the top floor and decided to move on with her day.
It wasn't as if she was the only person in the world ever to wear a Space Adventures uniform. Over four million people watched the show every week. Sure, to be as devoted as she and the rest of the Space Adventures fan club were may be unusual, but Wendy enjoyed showing others how devoted she was to the show. She wasn't hurting anyone. Hell, she only wore the uniform to work because at the end of the day, she'd have to rush to the soup kitchen her group volunteered at twice a month.
Charity was one of the principles aspired to on Space Adventures, and to do things as a group, to remember the principles of the show and why they loved it so much, was good. People who worked for an organization employing Guardians should understand the idea. One would think.
Only no one had ever asked why she wore what she wore. Instead, they preferred to gawk.
But Wendy was comfortable in her flashy red shirt tucked neatly into the matching pants, with the show's emblem displayed proudly on her shirtsleeves and right pants pocket, and the pretend communicator she affixed to the top right of her outfit.
The elevator dinged her arrival and she steeled her shoulders. Walking through the lobby made her skin tingle with awareness from all the stares, but her discomfort multiplied exponentially whenever she got to her floor.
The brightly lit area was sparsely populated. Only the top executive Guardians worked here—Ace Hudson, who, it seemed, was never in the office, and Wendy's boss, Draco Powers.
He'd started the company a decade earlier upon graduating college and pronouncing to the world,
"Yes, superpowers exist. Yes, people with them wanted to do good things; but no, my Guardians will not be working for free or without health benefits."
Part of her job as Draco's Handler was to make certain he got paid, got enough sleep, and didn't get overbooked. She also ensured cases and tasks beneath his skill level were farmed out to the underling Guardians. Wendy smiled. Draco would never call them underlings. No, he would probably say his 'associates'. He was good at being politically correct. Wendy, as a rule, was not.
But that was why she did what she did and he did what he did.
Walking toward her desk, she held her head high, her stare straight. As Wendy passed through the rows of cubicles, she overheard Ace's secretary, Tania Monroe, take a deep breath.
"Looks like it's that time of the month again."
Biting her lip, she dug deep, hoping to find the ability to keep her mouth shut stored somewhere in her personal reserves. After a moment, she concluded no such ability existed. She came to an abrupt stop. "You know, Tania, it's bad enough men talk about us using derogatory remarks; you would think as women we could find better ways to speak to one another."
She turned the corner without looking back. Tania had been standing next to Kate, which meant the two would have a grand time at Wendy's expense as soon as she was out of earshot.
Some of the hostility, Wendy knew, stemmed from jealousy. As a Handler, she got to leave the office and travel with the Guardians. Her job was integral to their operations. She was highly trained, highly sought after, and all but impossible to replace. Not to forget, they paid her a hell of a lot more than they paid those mere secretaries.
But the underlying reason for their attitudes? They just didn't like her. Though they weren't the type of people whose good opinion she should seek, their comments still hurt every time she recalled them.
She settled at her desk and took the deep breath she'd attempted to take earlier. If she wore the uniform to work—at this point, she did so out of principle as much as anything else—then she needed to accept the snide remarks that accompanied her decision.
In truth, she was more than prepared to do so. Unfortunately, the hurtful comments didn't cease when she dressed in her regular work clothes. No, if anything, the words stung even more.
She could take off her pretend uniform, but she could never alter the things about herself everyone seemed to hate.
Her computer bleeped, and she looked up. Draco wanted her attention. The chat box
appeared seconds later.
Come and see me.
Glancing at the clock, she couldn't help but smile. He was so damned efficient; he put even her
to shame. Every morning, at precisely 7:21 a.m., Draco buzzed her computer to invite her into his private sanctuary.
Settling her purse in her bottom drawer, she pushed her chair backward. She turned and walked past Kate, Draco's secretary, who shot a glare in Wendy's direction. Wendy ignored her and proceeded toward Draco's door. If you wanted to see Draco, you had to buzz him on the computer system. Not doing so first meant an automatic ignore. She'd been asked to come in so she did.
"Good morning, Mr. Powers."
He spun around, his blue eyes regarding her with the steely magnificence it had taken almost a year of working for him to get used to. If he noticed, or even cared about her Space Adventures uniform, he'd never once indicated.
"Good Morning, Ms. Warner. How was your evening?"
She shrugged. "Fine, thank you. I made it a level further on Hero Land." She didn't know why she told him about her online gaming. Every day she gave him a tidbit of
information when he asked how she was. It just seemed imperative to say something, which was foolish because after their time working together, she knew he asked only out of habit. Keeping to a routine was one of the things Draco did well.
"Great. I assume you have today's schedule prepared."
She nodded. "Yes sir, I copied it to your desktop from home. There are no additions...well, not yet."
She never knew when the police or a government agency was going to have an emergency and she'd have to rework Draco's entire schedule. She didn't like to toot her own horn, but she handled crises better than any Handler on the payroll did, and if Draco's services were needed past 7 p.m., she made certain he always received overtime compensation.
"Excellent."
Draco rose from his seat and she stifled a gasp. He almost never stood at their first morning meeting.
"Sir?"
"Hmm?" He looked at her questioningly. "I told you not to call me sir two years ago."
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