I know immediately that she’s a succubus. She waves her hand at us to follow her and holds a slender, pale finger up to her mouth in the universal signal to stay quiet.
Elon nods and takes two steps behind her when my hand shoots out and I grab his shirt. He pauses, turning to look at me over his shoulder. I shake my head. We can’t go with her. How can we trust her?
Elon and Teague both give me a sharp glare. The guards are almost on top of us. I get the silent message loud and clear. We have no choice. I grimace and shake my head, but I go with them, hurrying after the girl through an old wooden door. She closes it behind me and slides a well-greased bolt into place without so much as a sound.
It’s dark in the room, but there’s a hint of light from a hallway outside of the opposite door. She rushes through it, and we follow again. The hallway is aglow in soft lights set at intervals, glowing upward toward the ceiling. It’s all made of stone. She leads us down the hall, turns a corner, and we trail along behind her into another hall, and then a third, before she disappears into a large kitchen, holding the door open for us.
The moment we’re in, she closes it and then exhales heavily. She’s been holding her breath too. She turns her sky-blue eyes to us.
“Thank goodness I got to you before they did.”
We stare at her.
“Who are you?” Elon asks, giving voice to the question we’re all thinking.
“I’m Kera. I’m Sydney’s handmaiden.”
Sydney’s handmaiden. My heartbeat quickens again. This girl—this succubus—has been near Sydney. As I move closer to her, I can smell Sydney’s scent lingering on her. It’s faint, but it’s enough to send my mind into a frenzy.
“You are?” I take two steps toward her, along with Teague and Elon. “Where is she?”
“Is she okay?”
“Can you take us to her?”
“What about Isla?” I implore further. I can’t forget about my sister, even in the frenzy to get to my mate.
She shakes her head and holds her hands up, keeping her voice very low. “She’s fine. Isla is all right, but she’s locked up. There’s no way to get either of them out; they’re both under guard. It was foolish for you to come. I do have this for you, though. My mistress wanted me to find a way to get it to you. I was going to send it through our secret succubus and incubus contacts on the outside, but since you’re here, I’ll just give it to you now.”
From some hidden place inside her humble dress, she withdraws an envelope and hands it to me. “It’s a message from her. I don’t know what it contains—she’s sealed it.”
I reach to take it from her, but her fingers grip the paper, refusing to let it go as she levels me with an even stare. “Everyone knows that there’s an intruder in the compound. There’s no way that you can get to her now. The only thing you can do is take that letter and leave. I can show you a secret way out. It won’t be pleasant, but they won’t find you. You’ll be able to get out alive. It’s the best you can hope for now.”
“I’m not leaving without her!” Elon vows passionately, his voice raising dangerously close to more than a whisper. “Can you bring her to us? Is there some place that she could get to alone?”
Kera shakes her head. “No, there’s no way to do it right now. Rylan is no fool. He will have her and Isla so heavily guarded right now that there would be no way for them to get out. I know that my mistress would be devastated if anything happened to you three. She speaks of you so often to us. She loves you. Please … listen to me and leave now. Do not be captured. Do not break her heart. Rylan would kill you on sight.”
I have half a mind to risk it anyway—but I know the succubus is right.
It was a fool’s errand coming here to begin with, but it’s accomplished one thing.
I know these walls can be breached. I have hope.
We might not leave with Sydney and Isla tonight as we had hoped, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up. The succubus’ words have given me hope. Of course, Sydney doesn’t want to be here. I was a fool to think, even for a second, that she chose Rylan over us.
She chose Rylan for us.
Teague sighs and nods. “I know you’re right. We’ll go. There’s no way we can take her and Isla right now. It’s best that we leave and try something else.”
“There will be another opportunity, I am sure. You must do this at the right time.”
Still, I look away from them. “We’re so close.”
“We’re not close enough. I’m not going to risk Isla’s life, or hers.” Elon shakes his head.
“Or ours …” Teague gives us both a narrow look. “We need to be smart about his. We can’t win this round. We will come back when we know we can do it. We’ll find a way.”
He looks at the succubus, Kera. “How are we going to get out of here?”
She bites her lower lip, looking deeply apologetic. “Through the sewer.”
Our mouths fall open slightly as she points to a grate in the floor. It looks like it’s too small for us to fit down into, but there’s no other way out. If we can get into it … It’ll be a tight squeeze.
“It’s not too bad; the tunnels are for excess used water and rainwater that goes down the grates all over the compound. Lower yourself down into it until you hit the bottom. It’s a small tunnel, but head forward through it until you come to the bigger tunnel. Follow that out and you’ll come to a grated opening. It empties into a river. Be really careful at the river … there are alligators. Also, there are rats and snakes all through the tunnels. When you get to the grating, there’s a hole on the right side. Just push and it will give. You can get out that way.”
“Do you use it often?” Teague tips his head as he gazes at her thoughtfully.
She shrugs and looks away from him. “When we have to.”
Elon reaches for her hand and looks her directly in the eye. “I’m sorry you and your kind are living like this. Sydney and the rest of us were ready to make a peace pact with your kind. We wanted things to be different between us going forward.”
Kera nods. “I know. That’s why we’re helping you. We wanted that too. We’re thankful that you tried. I must go now, before I’m missed.”
Teague lifts the grate and squirms down into the hole in the floor, struggling to get through it. His clothes rip, and I hear him swear quietly. A moment later, I hear his feet hit the wet floor beneath him. With a sigh, I push Sydney’s unopened letter to us inside my shirt and follow Elon as he forces his way into the hole.
I’m bigger than both of them, though not by too much, and I get stuck at the ribs. There’s no way my torso will fit into the opening. Kera grows fearful and I can hear footsteps coming down the hall. Her eyes grow wide as she glances from me to the door and back again.
There’s nothing else to do. I shift my upper body into that of a wolf, and Elon and Teague grab my human legs and pull as hard as they can. I barely manage to silence a yelp of pain as they drag me through, and my feet hit the floor.
Kera’s face reappears in the hole above us. “Whatever you do next, do it quickly,” she hisses, glancing once more over her shoulder conspiratorially. “The incubi and succubi are moving in. They won’t wait for your pack to attack—and attack they will. They want payback, and they won’t stop until this whole place is razed to the ground.”
We want to ask her more, but she suddenly jerks to her feet and the grate scrapes above us, mere seconds before the door of the room above bangs open.
“What are you doing in here?” a man’s voice shouts.
“I’m preparing food for my mistress. She desires something to eat.” Kera’s voice answers them shakily.
“It doesn’t look like you’re doing anything at all.”
“I … I just came in,” she lies.
“Have you seen anyone who shouldn’t be in the compound?” the man continues.
“No, sir. I’ve just left her room and come here for the food. I didn’t see anyone.”
All three of us are holding our breath, but our shoulders sink in relief at hearing her answer.
“Get on with it then, demon!” he snaps coldly at her, and we hear him leave-grateful for the stench of succubus hiding any lingering traces of us.
The only sounds now are the opening and closing of cupboards, and a refrigerator. Teague peers through the darkness as I shift my upper body back into my human form.
He jerks his head down the tunnel, and we follow him, trying to keep our footfalls from splashing, as every sound we make echoes loudly around us. Every fifty feet or so, we catch a small trace of light coming through the shafts of grates up above, and we can hear voices. They’re still searching for us.
Breathless, with nothing but adrenaline flooding our veins, we reach the grate. I pull it aside much further than it was, and once we’re out, I draw it back again so as to keep the secret of the opening for those who need to use it after us.
The river rushes at our ankles, and we all exhale loudly, catching our breath as we look around and listen closely.
Teague glances left and right and then waves his hand for us to follow him. We move silently along the bank, ducking low in the reeds and bushes, and after what feels like a century, we reach the SUV.
Though we’re a good distance from the compound, we’re not willing to risk it. We get in as quietly as we can, and Teague starts the engine. I’m so grateful we bought a hybrid, it’s practically silent. He keeps the lights off, and backs us out of our place, taking us onto the dirt road we came in on, going the long way out away from the compound, until we reach a paved road, and only then does he turn the lights on. It’s not until that moment that all three of us slump in our seats and begin to breathe normally again.
“That was close.” Elon groans; his hand on his forehead as he stares out of the front window.
“Too close. We all would have died if we’d been caught.” Teague shakes his head.
I lean back in my seat and grit my teeth. “We were so close to her. To them. So close. God, I wish we could’ve gotten them.”
Silence answers me. I know they wish the same.
“What’s in the letter?” Elon asks, twisting in his seat to look at me as Teague takes us out of the Miami area, driving us toward Tampa. Rylan won’t bother looking for us there. It’s part of his territory, but not something he really cares much about. He loves Miami, and he’s focused on that. Tampa is his backyard, and somewhere we can hide.
I pull the letter out and flip the overhead light on.
I begin reading, and my heart catches as I see her familiar writing. Elon closes his eyes and inhales slowly.
“It smells like her. The paper. God, I miss that smell.”
I sigh. He’s right. I try to focus on the words.
Both Teague and Elon look on with bated breath until I glance back up.
“She has a plan. One that’s much better than ours,” I admit, handing them the letter. “But we’re going to have to trust her—and the goddess.”
Teague’s eyebrow raises as he looks over the note. “And you’re prepared to do that?”
I don’t hesitate. “Anything,” I say. “Anything for Sydney.”
Even if that anything is following a dream that leads us to an island to fetch a “Crimson Death” flower and return it here to the compound.
I might not have served the goddess in my short life, but I can serve her to help Sydney. I’ll serve her all the rest of my life if she gets Sydney out of this mess when I couldn’t.
Not that we have the choice. Not when Sydney is now facing danger from two fronts, shifter and succubi.
Chapter Eleven
I set my afternoon tea down as Kera slips into my library and hurries to my side. She looks around, just to be sure, and then reaches into the sleeve of her dress to pull out an envelope.
“This was smuggled in to me for you. It’s from the boys.” She smiles at me hopefully. My heart skips a few beats as I take it from her.
It’s been a few days since the compound went into lockdown—not that I knew. By the time I found out that one of the gates had been breached, it was morning.
I knew right away who it must have been, and just knowing that my boys had been so close to me made my whole body ache. To think they were so close and I missed them …
“Thank you so much for all that you’ve done. It means everything to me,” I tell her earnestly, my fingers pressing into the starchy paper. “Especially you helping them out of here. You saved their lives, mine, and Isla’s when you did that. I can’t ever repay you for that. We owe you a huge debt.”
She beams at me. “You’ve been so good to us, my lady. I’m glad to help you. I wish that we had the lives of peace that you were working to achieve. Maybe someday that will still come to pass. As long as you live, I can hope for that.”
“As long as I live, I will work for it to happen,” I vow to her.
We share a tender smile, and I am just about to open my letter when I hear heavy footsteps coming through the front door of my sitting room. Kera’s eyes and mine both grow wide. I shove the letter into my book and set the book beside me in the chair, then grab my coffee cup in my hands just as Sergei strides into the room.
I let out the slightest sigh of relief.
That relief is short lived, however, when I hear what he says next.
“Rylan wishes to see you, and he demands that you wear this, my lady.” He hands me a sleek black box with a white satin bow on it. “I am to escort you. I’ll wait here while you prepare yourself.”
Frowning, I open the box and gape as I pull out what looks to be a very slinky gold dress of extremely thin fabric. It’s nothing more than spaghetti straps and I’m not certain just looking at it, if it will even reach the middle of my thighs.
Sergei looks away in utter disgust. My mouth twists as my eyes narrow.
“Do I have to wear this?”
“I’m afraid so, my lady,” he answers, and the resentment is thick in his voice. I know that he didn’t want to give it to me as much I don’t want to wear it. At least one man around this place respects me.
With a heavy sigh, I rise from my chair and give a momentary longing glance to the closed book left in the chair as I head reluctantly to the bedroom. Elise, Kera, and Mara help me do my hair and makeup, and I slide into the dress. It’s almost like a second skin on me. It’s unthinkably sexy, but I look like I’m for sale, or worse, like I’ve been bought.
I grimace and Mara hands me the heels that came with the dress. I slip them on and head into the library. Sergei gives me one startled look and then turns away, his face reddening.
“If you’ll come with me, my lady,” he speaks evenly. I’ve learned that it’s this tone he uses most often when he’s working hard to hide his emotions.
I follow him uneasily. I have never felt more self-conscious in my life, and I have never hated the way I look more than I do at this moment.
I’m escorted into Rylan’s quarters, where I find him waiting in his sitting room. He’s sitting in one of the chairs facing the door, a tumbler of booze in his hand. His eyes move over every inch of me slowly, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
“You look good,” he practically purrs as he stands and comes toward me.
I turn my head away from him.
“I look like a hooker.”
He stops right in front of me, taking my chin firmly in his hand and forcing me to look at him. “You look like I want you to look tonight. Sexy. Desirable. Like a goddess. That’s a designer original you’re wearing, made especially for you.”
He sneers slightly as his hand leaves my chin and drifts over my shoulder and slowly down my arm, leaving a heated trail behind it. “I want people to know that you are mine, and to know that I have the best.”
Rylan’s hand drops away from me, and I silently curse the fated mate bond between us. I may loathe him with my mind, but my body reacts to his touch in a way that I cannot deny. Nature sucks.
The self-made king strides out of the room, and I am made to follow just behind him, with Sergei at my side. Sergei’s eyes are locked straight ahead, and we are followed by a guard of six enormous hunters—the traitor Anuba among them.
There’s a small part of me that wants to know where we are going, but I already know there’s no point in asking. If he wanted me to know, he’d have told me. We get into his SUV, along with Sergei, and the rest of the guard fills another SUV behind us. Both vehicles leave the compound, and I stare out of the window at the sunset, thinking of my boys, and how they came to rescue me. It’s by nothing short of sheer luck that they weren’t caught. No one in the compound has said a word to me about the break-in except Kera, and I will not speak to anyone about it. Everyone knows it happened, and no one is talking about it.
Just as it was the last time we were in a vehicle together, no one speaks and we ride in silence. The vehicles stop in front of a wildly popular dance club on the beach in Miami. This is an elite stretch of road; only the very wealthy and popular come here. There are limousines and exotic sports cars lining the road, lights flashing all over, music thumping loudly, and everyone outside is dressed to the nines.
Rylan’s door is opened, and he steps out onto the sidewalk and holds a hand out to me. I absolutely hate it, but I take it all the same, and the moment my feet touch the pavement, I look up and immediately understand what he’s doing.
It’s a mob scene around us, and his security holds them back, along with additional security from the club we’re entering. Camera’s flash all around us like lightning striking in an electrical storm. There’s a line of people waiting to get into it, and there are more people on the sidewalk, craning for a view of us. He’s a big shot here, and he is parading me in front of them like a piece of meat.
He’s showing off his power, his money, and his new woman—out in public where anyone can see us. The ultimate flex.
Rylan keeps his hand on the small of my back as we walk in. He walks slow, not looking at anyone on the sidelines, but making sure he’s seen all the same. My jaw is set tightly as we enter the club, and it’s all I can do to keep from gaping at what I see.
Alpha Returned: A Rejected Mates Reverse Harem Shifter Series (Feral Mates Book 3) Page 9
