by Jo Penn
It was after midnight, and both were tired. As they got into bed together, Freddie asked a question heavy on his mind. Rico said the block had been placed on him by his father, uncle, and aunt when he had difficulties with his third surge, so he’d never reached his full potential.
“Do you resent your father?” he asked, resting his head on Rico’s shoulder.
“No. At first, yes, for I felt he’d tampered and blocked me as he did not trust me and have faith I could control the projector ability. But, over time, I saw what he did was right. There are some abilities that are harder to control and develop, and by tampering and blocking, this assists a young pouvoir to develop without pressure of making a grave error. Lulling, another ability, can wound badly. So can the mind ability, incinerator, freeze, mist, ash, judgment, mesmerizing, lure, voice, smile and a few others. I guess I was full of over confidence and wanting to prove myself.
“My mind clicks over constantly, processing, learning, needing stimulation. And I knew my destiny was to search out the soul globe.” Rico sighed, rubbing Freddie’s back. “Ma was afraid I would leave the brethren forever.” He sighed. “I was probably a difficult kid and very different from my kind.”
“In what way?” He began at the base of Rico’s neck, tracing the marking tattoo.
“I was all about science, inquisitive, needing large doses of intel. That was my nature rather than social and outgoing. I didn’t form bonds with others and preferred study over socializing. I also wished to go to the real world and investigate more than most. I did go, too, took off without permission and my parents’ knowledge. I built tunnels and developed shields no one could sense to hide the trap doors and tunnels throughout the old family castle.” He grimaced. “Damn, I was a total shit.”
Freddie draped himself over Rico’s side, chuckling as his eyes drifted close.
“You were learning and sound like a pretty normal adolescent, except for the magic of course. From what you’ve told me of your kind, pouvoirs are all different, so you were probably more alike than you thought.”
“You know, you’re probably right,” Rico murmured.
Drifting off with the feel of Rico’s heart beating beneath him, Freddie guessed he should be honest.
He was just a little bit in love with Rico Arkman Tarok.
* * * *
What the hell was I thinking dragging Freddie on this mission? Rico snapped at himself the next morning as he paced the hotel room gulping coffee.
He should be taking care of his mate, protecting and making Freddie comfortable while building something tangible between them. Not trekking them across Sweden to Oslo with crāwan on their trail, no doubt brethren, too, waiting for the next ambush.
He wanted to say screw the globe and take Freddie home, but he didn’t have a home any longer. He’d left his brownstone with the intention of never going back, and everything was meant to go into storage. His entire objective was the mission, and if the globe fell into the wrong hands, Rico would never forgive himself for the horrors the crāwan would use it for. What good would he be to his mate then?
This was a frigging mess. He needed to think with logic, not let his heart and soul override every ounce of sense.
He’d slept only an hour last night and was losing too much time. The attack at the safe house showed crāwan were closing in fast. He needed to get the next piece of parchment. It was the last part of the map. Once he joined all the pieces together, the map would lead the way to the globe.
Once the mission was over, he’d come back for Freddie. In the meantime, there was a large branch of sprites here and a few other supernatural groups. He couldn’t send Freddie to his family because they’d track right back to Rico.
The globe was screwing up his life. He cursed inwardly. Finally given what every one of his kind yearned for, a precious soul mate, and he was placing him in danger! Or was he? Tired, worried, and consumed with concern Freddie would be hurt, Rico wasn’t sure what was the right course to take. Freddie was a fighter. But should Rico take the chance?
What he should do was get the globe, and then he’d get his sprite.
Right, that was what he must focus on, Rico decided. In the end, it came down to keeping his mate safe, and that was a need in itself.
Rico paced again, had a few cups of coffee, and ignored the hunger pangs that weren’t for food.
He needed the blood of his kind. A supernatural of strength would take the edge off, but only one of his kind’s blood could quench the hunger and give back full strength. The fights with crāwan, his projector ability block bursting off, and limited sleep all contributed to draining him. Rico needed to feed to replenish but couldn’t take the risk. He was not entirely sure whether the brethren were looking for him or not but had a strong sense they would be if the argument he had with his brother Darkness a few days ago was anything to go by.
Grabbing his backpack, Rico headed into the bathroom to splash water on his face, brush his teeth, and cover up, downplaying his appearance.
The marking weavings down the side of his body had expanded a lot and had Rico pausing as he recalled Freddie’s fascination and the way his fingers had traced the lines and symbols. He closed his eyes, sucking in deeply, remembering the feel of Freddie’s hands on him, his body vibrating with needs he had to suppress.
Fangs sliding out and cock hardening painfully, he groaned low and wished a cold shower would help. Nothing could dampen the need of your mate, the raging lust for only that one person, the instinct of old to sink your fangs and cock in deep, mate and link minds forever. The need was a driving, out-of-control burn that would never be appeased.
Gods, there was nothing better or as distracting as your soul mate, as he’d been told.
He wanted to go into the next room, bear down on the sprite sleeping so cutely, and take him. Freddie was his, belonged to him, was his to have…Rico drew in sharply, trying to rein himself in.
Easing down, he concentrated on Freddie, how his mate brought fun, curiosity, and a fighting spirit into Rico’s narrowly focused existence. He tried to ignore the throbbing in his pants. Yeah, that was hard to ignore, frigging hard, but also good.
Thoughts moved to what needed to be done today, and he wondered about the crāwan. Obviously, they knew what he was after and were following. He needed to scout Oslo to see exactly what he was up against, whether the Crāwan were sure of where he was or simply putting out feelers.
But how had they found out he was finding pieces of the old map and putting it together to lead the way to the soul globe? He’d been so careful all these years. What had tipped them off? As frustrating as it was not to know, Rico knew he’d have to wait on answers to that.
“Rico?”
Putting aside his toothbrush, he heard his name called again, this time with shuffled movements.
By the time he was coming out of the bathroom, Freddie was standing in the middle of the room, yawning, scratching his cinnamon-colored treasure trail and wearing only briefs. Rico’s cock was standing up and throbbing painfully against his zipper again.
“Morning.” Freddie stretched, and Rico nearly came. “What’s the plan for today?”
Remembering the plan, Rico had a moment of doubt. He knew Freddie wasn’t going to like it, and was it really his choice? His decision to make? Growling a little, hands clenching, he dismissed all his doubts. He had to do this.
“You have to go,” he bit out, fighting away the last of his own resistance over being separated from his mate.
“What? Go where?” Freddie’s sherry eyes narrowed. “Oh, I see. You don’t want anyone there when you find the globe.”
“No, that’s not it at all. You know the crāwan will do whatever they have to in order to get that damned globe, and I don’t want you around getting hurt.”
“Listen, you arrogant pouvoir, I am—”
“Sprite, yeah, I know,” he growled. “Sprites fight, I get it, seen you in action, love, but you’re a distraction I don’t have
time for right now. It’s safer if I drop you off with the sprites here in Oslo. Get dressed. I need to get moving.”
For a moment, neither said anything. Then the look Freddie gave him could have melted a marble statue and hurt his heart. Hurt, betrayal, and fierce anger. But there was no way Rico would back down, not when it was for Freddie’s safety.
“A distraction? Safer? What makes you think you have the right to decide these things, or anything for me?” Freddie said very quietly, sherry eyes hot with anger. “I’ll get dressed.”
He collected his suitcase and slammed the bathroom door after himself.
Rico stared at the door. He had a bad feeling his logic wasn’t working.
Chapter Six
A distraction.
Freddie scowled. He’d show the rotten son of a bastard exactly what he was dealing with and make him regret ever dumping Freddie on the Oslo sprites for “his own safety.” The man had been annoyed and stern when leaving the Oslo sprite leader’s house and spent a good ten minutes lecturing, very harshly, on keeping Freddie hidden, safe, and not to tell anyone.
More than a little put out, Freddie waited till Rico left then turned to his fellow sprites. Immediately they led him to the weapons room, where he collected whatever needed and was asked if he wanted company.
Declining and loaded up, Freddie headed out.
The pouvoir may be powerful, but he was a jerk and was about to learn a lesson. Knocking back a sprite’s help was plain stupid, and thinking Freddie needed protecting and would stay safely tucked up? Wrong. This morning Rico seemed strained and pale, Freddie keeping his cool and letting it play out. He suspected Rico hadn’t slept. Instead of getting into an argument, he would just go ahead and get on with things. Rico would learn soon enough.
Of course, Freddie was mad. Why wouldn’t he be? But he wasn’t insensitive and could see Rico had a lot going on. Before leaving the Oslo sprites, he called his leader and found out his house had been trashed and his group were being discreetly watched by crāwan. The sprites had run them off. They also noticed a supernatural, but she disappeared before they could find out who, or what, she was. They suspected a pouvoir since one had been in contact after Freddie disappeared.
Okay, everyone made mistakes. Rico had done everything he could to protect his kind, the sprites, Freddie, and innocents. He was trying to protect the whole damn world! One mistake now Freddie wouldn’t hold against him. He’d be angry for a few hours though. That was reasonable.
Rico just needed to learn to accept help. Freddie would make sure Rico learned how to do that in the future.
Trailing Rico through the city, he noticed how good the pouvoir was at fitting in with mortals, even downplaying that amazing beauty with contact lens, a bad woolen hat, and part of his face covered by a plain facial mask.
Nor was he easy to follow, but then, Freddie was an expert.
And after three hours, hungry. Thankfully Rico stopped for a roll and coffee, Freddie noting this was his third since leaving the hotel, and he’d had a few there also. Rico should really regulate his caffeine intake. Too much of that stuff was bad for you, some supernaturals saying it slowed their reflexes.
Buying himself a roll and water, he noticed when starting off again that Rico had gained himself a stalker, besides Freddie that was, and he was not stalking. He was protecting.
He tossed the bag with his uneaten roll into a nearby bin and followed Rico and his stalker through a pedestrian shopping walkway, past store fronts, and up a long set of stairs.
Where was he going? Did he realize he was being followed by two people now, and neither was Freddie? Looking up, he saw Rico moving just a little faster, nothing obvious and appearing casual and disinterested in everything around. At the top of the stairs, he turned left, Freddie not increasing his pace but glancing around once more to see an observatory and looking out in the direction Rico was walking toward.
To obtain a better view of Oslo? Damn, was the man lost?
It’s lucky I’m here to watch his back, he tutted. And his awesome behind.
At the top of the stairs, Freddie followed slowly, studying the two stalkers without giving any indication he was, and kept Rico in sight. When Rico jogged down five steps to a narrow cobbled path between buildings, Freddie took another route, able to catch a glimpse until Rico went in the opposite direction. Not panicked at losing sight of Rico—he was an expert at trailing—Freddie walked on, acting like anyone else on their way somewhere and studying the stalkers without making it obvious.
One, he was sure was a mortal, a beefed-up one, and like crāwan did these days, he’d ingested or been given a magical boost in strength. The other stalker he couldn’t be sure of.
Having circled about and not able to identify the second stalker, Freddie figured it best to use the tranquilizer gun with sprite darts collected from the Oslo branch. The tranquilizer would knock out anyone nearly instantly regardless of species. No one could fight a sprite tranquilizer.
Making it all the way around in a short time, Freddie paused at not seeing Rico or the stalkers and, for a moment, wondered if he’d missed a path then dismissed the notion. They’d studied the city map yesterday before going out to the store for weapons. He was good at maps and, when going somewhere he didn’t know, memorized them to avoid getting lost.
A shuffling noise caught his attention. Freddie glanced upwards.
Rico must have taken the path across and gone up the few steps back toward the lookout. Maybe he’d lost track of the paths. Gah, Rico really needed a guide.
Heading up, Freddie heard a grunt abruptly cut off and hurried into a small spot beside a shop. Rico came up from a crouch, the mortal stalker slumped awkwardly against a stone wall, a surprised look on his face.
One down, one to go. Turning fast, Freddie jumped back and shot the creature swinging a large knife at him. Hissing and lunging, the stalker staggered a half a second before falling flat on his face.
“Damn it, Freddie!” Rico had jumped in front of Freddie just after he released the shot. Now Rico faced Freddie, fangs out and snapping in a furious way. “You’re meant to be safe with the sprites.”
“Would you care to deal with the crāwan coming up behind you, or would you prefer me to?” Freddie pointed past Rico, ignoring the man’s anger.
Honestly, for such a smart person, Rico hadn’t a clue when to thank someone for their help. In fact, it was like he didn’t even want help, which was ridiculous considering how the vile crāwan seemed so focused on him.
While Rico dealt with the crāwan who had been trying to sneak up on them, Freddie looked around. Spotting an industrial bin, he had an idea.
Jumping up, he opened the bin’s lid. “Put them in here. We can ask the sprites you ditched me with to come do a cleanup.”
Which they would, and while they were at it, they’d interrogate the surviving crāwan for any information they may have, such as who they were targeting and the next big attack. With angry movements and a grim expression on his face, Rico dumped the three crāwan into the industrial bin, shut the lid, and bent the steel without any trouble, effectively locking them inside and stopping anyone from opening it.
“I don’t know what you’re so angry about.” Freddie sprang along beside Rico, who had a large hand clamped tightly around his arm as though to make sure he didn’t try to take off.
He thought that was strange since Rico was the one who’d ditched Freddie earlier.
“We’ll discuss that back at the hotel.”
“Oh? Are we not going to drop me off at the sprite offices again?” He arched a brow. “I’ll just leave and follow you.”
Rico grunted something, face still grim, and led them down the stairs, away from the lookout.
“Where are we going now? Don’t worry. I memorized every street, road—”
“Back to the hotel.”
Rico seemed very uptight and had that grim, intimidating posture he’d used on a few people during their trip. Up ahead Fred
die could see a tram and guessed they were going to catch that back to the hotel.
“What were you doing? Did you get lost and have to go to the lookout? If you tell me where you need to go to pick up that piece of parchment you mentioned, I can direct us. I know how bad you are with a map and directions.”
“I’m not,” he denied gruffly.
Having to rush to keep up with Rico’s long, fast stride or end up being pulled along, Freddie bemoaned the fact he’d thrown away his ham and cheese roll. He was starving!
“What were you doing by the way? I thought you must have gone to get the parchment. Then I assumed you were lost—”
“I was drawing crāwan out,” he hissed in a low voice. “Get on.”
Climbing onto the tram, Freddie found himself pulled back into Rico’s hard, long body, a large arm wrapping around him just beneath his chest, the other holding a steel bar beside them as the tram took off.
With his butt fitting so snugly against Rico’s groin, Freddie felt a stirring in his stomach. Desire. Freddie liked the sensations and remembered being with Rico last night, the pleasure, that feeling that he couldn’t get enough of the man.
The tram jolted, Freddie pressing back. Rico’s erection was thick and long, and his body went stiff.
“Don’t,” the big male hissed out in a hushed whisper.
“Why?”
“Because I want you so fucking bad right now, I may ignore the fact we’re on a tram full of people,” he growled quietly into Freddie’s ear. “Then we’d be arrested and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy you the way I really want.”
Freddie’s desire bloomed, his heart racing and nipples tightening.
“Y-yeah? But you dumped me,” he whispered. Rico could pretty much have anyone he wanted. Even now, other commuters were casting him appreciative looks. Freddie knew who he was and what he looked like. Average height, average build, with a good head of hair. He was okay, not unattractive, and had a few admirers over the years.
