“You’re staying?” Betsy looked hopeful.
“I am. Mom and Carl bought a house, and he handed off control of the law firm to his partner. We’re buying a warehouse for all the Sectorum business.”
Betsy glanced back up at her husband and then over at Max and finally back at Amy. “Dad is staying?”
Niko must’ve heard the tears in her voice and trotted down the stairs to put his arms around her. Max moved to join them.
“Your dad is staying, agapité ena. He and Patricia moved into their house just last week when we got confirmation of release.”
Amy grabbed her best friend’s arm. “We’re going to need your help, Betsy. Lots of shit has gone sideways and we need to figure it out. Least of which is Keni…”
“What?”
“We lost Keni in a portal,” Niko explained. “She was moving things from the different depositories around North Carolina in October, and the stupid fucking stone fired and killed the portal while she was in it. We haven’t been able to find her.”
“She’s not…dead?”
“No,” Max answered. “Rijn has seen her, and Amy’s found her a few times in the dreamworld. We just need help to get her out of the void.”
Betsy nodded. “I’ve really stepped back into something here, haven’t I?”
“You have no idea,” Max said, shaking his head. “What do you think of my fiancée’s plane?”
“Wait—” She looked between them. “That was a double whammy. Not fair!”
Amy chuckled, and Max helped her hold her hand out to show Betsy the ring. Betsy squealed, again, and grabbed it to study it. She gasped and looked back at Niko, who nodded.
“Yes, my design.” He smiled. “Now that you’re back, I’m going to start working on expanding my work and offering it to some of the dealers around the world. I may never be a Harvey Winston or Louis Comfort Tiffany, but I’ll happily make beautiful baubles forever. With you.” Niko kissed the top of her head.
“Gag,” Max teased them.
Betsy flipped him the bird, then pointed over her shoulder. “Woman, how is that your plane?”
Amy smirked and leaned in. “I’m fucking filthy rich. We had to get the family fortune out of France and here, to the vault. So I bought a plane. People don’t ask as many questions when you buy your own.”
“Well, shit.” Betsy laughed. “You’re buying dinner.”
Chicago, Illinois
The lobby of the building was understated, just two stories and a simple reception desk. The desk was blocking a direct path to the four elevators in the hall behind them.
The design was intentional, Brent knew. He pulled the plain white ID-sized card and swiped it over the reader on the top of the reception desk.
“Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. His Eminence is waiting. Second elevator.”
Shoving the card back in his wallet, he headed for the doors. They opened as he approached and he walked in, clasping his hands in front of him as they closed and it stared to rise through the building.
He tried to keep the nerves at bay. Things had gone radically wrong, and he had seriously underestimated Amy Marie Hogan. A snort slipped out. He’d had no idea that girl was that smart, or that powerful in the dreamworld.
Certainly, he didn’t expect Carl Tillman to fracture off. He’d been confident that he could bring the man back in line. But then his daughter turned out to be a dragonmate as well.
What a disaster.
The car stopped and the door drew back to let him out into the headquarters of the Sectorum Esse, Novo Terra.
Exactly the person he didn’t want to see was standing just outside the doors. Dressed to the nines, the woman was clearly not amused.
“Brent, what the hell?” Her arms were crossed and she was wrinkling her pristine suit. That alone was a clue to how angry she was.
“Do not yell at my husband, child.”
Ashka walked into the hall from the left.
“I am not a child.”
“You are to me, Erin.”
“Ashka, please,” Brent said, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in. “This is not the time. We have a lot of things to reorganize and we need to all be on the same team.”
“I missed you,” his wife purred. “Are we really done with that stupid girl?”
Erin cleared her throat, and Ashka flipped her the bird.
“Stop. Both of you. We’re in this together,” Brent said. “Yes, we’re done. You and I are out of the bag with those freaks.”
“Excellent.” Ashka gave him a long, slow, promise-filled kiss. “We need to go on a honeymoon. I just need time away with you, love. I don’t care if it’s just to Niagara.”
“Like I would take my wife to Niagara for her honeymoon?” Brent grinned. “We’re going to Canouan Island.” Ashka clearly had no idea where that was. “St. Vincent in the Caribbean. I think you’ll love it.”
“It sounds utterly perfect if it’s with you.”
This time, Brent leaned in for the long kiss.
Erin cleared her throat. “Could we save the tongue wrestling for another time? The Eminence is waiting. He’s not happy.”
“Is he ever?”
Ashka laughed, but nodded. “Let’s go. Get this over with. I want my honeymoon.”
Erin pushed the door open and walked through, tossing them a look over her shoulder. Brent followed with his arm still around his wife. He needed the Eminence to remember who he was and what his status was, because he was going to be really, really pissed.
Following Erin down the hall to the last door on the right, they found the Gray Eminence seated behind his desk in an impeccable charcoal suit with a red tie and pocket square. His hair was black with mere hints of gray at the temples.
He was engrossed in writing something and the three of them stood still until he finally looked up, his whiskey brown eyes almost glowing with anger. Sitting back, he threw the pen on the desk.
“Care to tell me what the hell happened?”
“Amy is a dragonmate,” Erin stated.
His eyes snapped to her. “Two of them?”
“Yes, Eminence,” she answered.
“And it was too large a task to keep them apart?” The man’s question was directed at Brent. “You were engaged to her.”
“Eminence, the dragonmate call is nearly impossible to resist,” Erin said. “And, with respect, Brent couldn’t keep his dick out of his wife long enough to play the part well. I’m sure every single person around her could smell the sex on him and warned her away.”
The man stood from the desk and walked toward them. “We had two excellent positions to get this eliminated. Both have been botched.”
“What about you, Neil? Aren’t you in a position to help with this?” Ashka asked.
“I was hoping that my position would be a backup. We have two unmated dragons and the Omphalos is unstable. We need those last two to stay unmated. We need to destroy the Omphalos. I can keep the one unmated. What about the other?”
“The earth elemental?” Brent asked. “Not going to be a problem. From what I can tell, his mate is missing. Sucked into the ether during an attempt to move the North Carolina library.”
Neil folded his arms. “The ether?”
“The stone fired while she was portalling.”
A grin spread across his face. “Excellent! Excellent. Where is our stone?”
Erin, Ashka, and Brent all shared a look, and Brent sighed.
“Gone.”
“Gone where?”
Erin answered, “The bottom of the Arctic Ocean. There was no way to stop them. The two dragons, the dreamwalker, and the leprechaun all set it up.”
“We have a fucking leprechaun involved in this too?”
“Eminence, we have most of Pine Valley in this now,” Brent said. “I am sorry, but we knew this might happen. We just need to make sure that the last dragonmates either stay gone, or aren’t found.”
The Eminence was quiet a moment. “They moved the librar
y?”
“Under Carl’s direction.” Brent nodded.
“So they have consolidated themselves in Pine Valley.”
“It’s bad…” Ashka said.
“They splintered,” Brent said.
Neil stood from his lean on the desk. “They what?”
“They splintered. They aren’t part of the Sectorum anymore,” Brent said. “The Onyx Sectorum, and Carl Tillman has declared himself the Black Eminence.” He allowed the words to hang in the air for a moment. “They welcome the magicals into their ranks.”
Neil chewed his lip. “Then war it is.”
To be continued…
Armed with a pen name, Katherine Rhodes has gird her loins and set her mind to writing erotic romances which are kinky, dirty, and fun. As a lackadaisical laundry goddess, and an expert in the profundities of bad music and awful literature-thanks to her husband-Katherine strives to find balance in the universe and time to cook dinner. An East Coast dweller, currently located in the Philadelphia Tristate area, she is the proud servants of three cats and would take a vacation in Prague over a day at the beach any time…
www.katherinerhodes.com
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Also by Katherine Rhodes
CONTEMPORARY
CLUB IMPERIAL
Consensual
Broken Bonds
Knots
Untied
Lessons
Now. Forever.
Inevitable
SILVER SOUL
Not Quite Juliet
CITY OF STEEL (THE VAULT)
Innuendo
Double Entendre
THE CLUB SERIES
The Darkest Corners
Anything for Her
Teach Me To Sin
Come Fly with Me with Isobelle Cate
Sweet Pain with Emily Walker and Jenni Moen
THE DA SILVA HEIRS
All the King’s Horses
Princess of the Plains
Empire of Dirt
STANDALONES
Captain
Acts of Contrition
Obsidian Escape
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
VAMPIRE CROWN
Queen of Gods
King of Gods
Death of Gods
Blood of Gods (Coming 2019)
THE COMPLEX
Balance Point
One Thousand Wishes, One Thousand Stars
Brilliance (coming in May 2019)
THE JUNEAU PACKS
Taming Alaska
Frozen Alaska
Exploring Alaska
Uncovering Alaska
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THE REALM
Half-Soul
THE NIGHTSHIFT IN NEW YORK
Moonlight Calling
THE DEMON SLAYERS
Passion Flames
THE ELEMENTAL DRAGONS (Pine Valley)
Darkwater
Skydance
Fireborn (coming Jan 2020)
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Also By J. Rose Alexander
Katherine Rhodes Writing as J. Rose Alexander
Chatter box, compulsive writer, bon vivant, stunt commuter, and a ninja in her dreams, J. Rose enjoys losing herself in the capes and masks of her superheroes, finding new trouble for her witches and werewolves-- and is always on the look out for a new adventure, on the page or in real life. J. Rose write sweet, clean(ish) stories that are suited to readers 13 and up, unless she warns you otherwise...
www.jrosealexander.com
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THE ORIGIN STORIES
Penumbra: Equinox
Penumbra: Solstice
The Art of Dying
The Art of Living
THE FACTION STORIES
Apathetic Avengers
The Natural Order of Things
The Royals of Grand Island
Shadow in Glass
Family Portraits (coming 2020)
SKELETON KEY
Eunica
STANDALONES
Zenko (Woodland Creek)
Slip the Waves (Hotel Paranormal)
Skydance Page 28
