Though I barely knew Godric, I already felt close. Felt attached. Felt myself falling over a cliff I wouldn’t be able to come back from. And I’d drag him with me.
He rolled to the side and clambered off the bed in a hurry. “What the fuck is going on? You say yes then no. Is this your magick torture? Are you testing me?” He snarled, and his blue eyes flashed red. “I can’t stop myself. I don’t want to stop myself. Every time we touch, I feel so much. Magick is pulling us together.”
I shook my head. “I—you—.” Rarely was I at a loss for words, but I stood staring at Godric, not sure how to answer him. “I’ve never felt this—but it’s not safe. It is better if we do not get close.”
He glared at me, disbelief and anger written across his face.
I sat up and slid off the opposite side of the bed. Of course he would feel angry at first. I was rejecting him. I couldn’t be with him. I couldn’t be with anyone I had the potential to actually care about.
“That’s it? ‘It’s not safe.’ What kind of bullshit is that?”
“It’s complicated,” I said, my voice low and weighted down by the truth I kept hidden.
“Fine,” he snarled. “Then tell me where Charlie is. I’m supposed to find a Lycan named Charlie. Supposed to save my niece. My sister will be back any moment, thinking I abandoned the plan.” He paced the length of the room and back. “You distracted me on purpose. You know who Charlie is, don’t you?”
I nodded, absorbing the facts he’d stated. “She’s inside the castle. Who is your niece?” I asked, suddenly more curious about his motives than I’d been since laying eyes on him.
“Mandana Farrok. Asa says some monster has her.”
“You’re related to that traitorous bitch?” I scoffed, the mention of the Djinn who’d betrayed the people of Sanctuary on more than one occasion helped me ignore the still-overwhelming urge to rub myself all over the man like a damned cat in heat.
I walked to the window across the room. Unfamiliar buildings blocked my view, but a faint trace of salt in the air let me know we were near a coast. “Charlie won’t help you.” No one would help him get Manda back from Xerxes, even if they could’ve. After she had betrayed Sanctuary over and over, her fate was whatever that psychopathic Lamassu wished.
“How do you know? Asa said they were friends.”
I turned to face him slowly. “Manda caused the death of many in Sanctuary. And Charlie has children and mates now. She won’t help you, but—” Jared might. The stupid mate-sick Phoenix was a different story entirely. But telling this asshole anything didn’t help me.
He tilted his head and stepped toward me, but stopped short, studying me as if I’d grown a third eye. “You thought of something just then. What?”
This magick bond between us was going to be messy if we didn’t split up quickly. “I need something from you first; then I’ll tell you.”
“Tit for tat, eh?” He frowned and stalked closer, his massive invading form rubbing my inner Siren the wrong way. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I felt my claws descend from the tips of my fingers, and my vision changed, meaning my eyes had gone black.
I hissed at him and took a step backward to give myself some breathing room.
His eyes widened, and he froze. Then his head shook back and forth slowly a few times, disbelief once again painting his face.
“I need you to take me to a village off the north-eastern coast of Russia—Krestovaya. I can show you on a map.”
He breathed in deeply then exhaled, meeting my gaze head on. “You help me first. Then I’ll help you. Tell me how to save my niece.”
“No. I have to get there now.” The least I could do was warn my sisters before he found them and killed or tortured them to try to draw me out or blackmail me. A vicious cycle of pain and self-inflicted death awaited me, but I couldn’t say that out loud. Anyone I’d ever tried to explain my situation to had looked at me like I’d turned into a three-headed hydra. Godric would be no different. He already thought I’d set out to ruin his plan.
What the fuck do I do now? I didn’t have time to introduce him to Charlie or anyone else. Most of them would want to kill him and ask questions later, anyway.
“Tell me,” he said again, staring me down like some kind of animal whisperer...Bastard.
“You can’t influence me, asshole. That shit doesn’t work on me.”
He frowned. “What’s in Russia?”
“None of your business.” I felt my Siren rise up and bristle again. My voice was more animalistic growl than human.
I didn’t have long before he found me and my sisters. They could already be dead. He could be on his way to Texas right now. Probably not quite yet, but I didn’t put it past him. I didn’t put anything past him.
“Look, just take me first. Then I’ll tell you who to talk to in Sanctuary. It’s not Charlie you want.”
Air whooshed around me. He pinned my body to the wall of his apartment with a heavy thud. I struggled, but strength and size were in his favor. The world folded in around us, and we were back in the middle of Main Street Circle. The castle loomed to our left, and the café lay to the right.
No. No. No.
“You will help me,” he snarled. “I’m the solution to your problem. The only solution. You think I care what you want.”
“You should care. If I scream, a big black Dragon will break through the ice and come over that wall and burn you to a crisp.”
“While I’m holding you?” His eyes bored into my soul, and I growled in frustration. My Siren pushed for control. She wanted to climb on top of Godric right here in the middle of the street. Or have him climb on top of me. Closer. I wanted him closer. I didn’t want to fight, but I had to get to my sisters. I had to get away from him before I did something I couldn’t come back from.
“I’m not afraid to die, are you?” Of course I wasn’t really in the mood to die at this particular moment. I needed to warn my sisters, or we’d all be starting our lives over sooner rather than later. Without Rose’s amulets, he would find us. It was only a matter of time. I would lose my memories when I died and, with them, all the knowledge about my situation.
For a hundred years, I wouldn’t remember anything about my life, but it was the only way to keep him at bay. I’d done it many times, and it was never pleasant. And there was no guarantee I’d be able to escape him this time, but death was the only way to keep the information he sought inaccessible.
At least for a while.
“You seem afraid.”
“Not of the Dragon,” I hissed. “I can get a new body if he burns this one. Can you?” Shit. I hadn’t meant to reveal so much. No one in Sanctuary knew the truth about Siren lore. It was safer that way. It always had been. I hadn’t even told Rose I could reincarnate. Why did I tell him? What was it about this man that kept me off balance?
I took a deep breath and focused. My claws receded, and my vision returned to normal. If force wouldn’t get me what I wanted, then I’d just have to use my other skill.
He stared at me for a moment as if deciding how to respond to my claim of body jumping. “I’d teleport before he even saw us,” he said finally, his tone arrogant and annoyed. “Eliminates the need for a new body. I like the one I have.”
That was it? No questions? Just acceptance that I…wouldn’t stay dead if the Dragon threw a flame my way…that I would get another body. I was more confused than ever about him, but I still needed him. If I could avoid dying and starting over, I would.
“You might be my solution, but I have something just as important. Information.” I slid my hand down into his pants and wrapped my fingers around his rock-hard cock, enjoying the feel of him in my hand a bit more than I should’ve. I was supposed to be keeping him at arm’s length, not cock-in-hand and so close I could see the hunger blazing in his red-rimmed blue eyes.
“If you continue to touch me, I’m going to drink from you again and fuck you until you can’t breathe.”
&nb
sp; “What’s that going to accomplish? I’m not opposed to fucking you.” I squeezed his erection, making every muscle in his face twitch. I wanted him to bite me again—desperately. Even though I knew it was for nothing. I couldn’t have him. Not for long. But maybe sex with him now, before I cared about him, wouldn’t trigger the curse. There wasn’t a long-term scenario where I would get a happily-ever-after with Godric.
With anyone.
Ever.
But maybe it wouldn’t count yet. I didn’t love him yet. He was just an annoyingly sexy—damn, his cock was nice. I squeezed again, enjoying the hiss of breath he released.
“You’ve already bitten me once. The bond is spreading through my veins as we speak, but I’ll be d—.” I bit off my own words and looked away from his captivating gaze. I didn’t want his pity. Revealing my truth wouldn’t help me get what I needed.
“You’re mine, and I intend to have what is mine,” he said, his voice full of so much confidence.
If only you knew how futile pursuing me was. How deadly. “I can never be yours.”
Chapter 10
GODRIC
“I don’t give a fuck what you say you want. You’re already mine, Calliope.” The beasts within me roared, demanding we take our mate. She was. Whether she admitted it or not. I grabbed her hands, hating that she wasn’t caressing my cock any longer, and teleported us from the middle of the street to a shadowed alley behind a half-destroyed building. I pinned her to the wall again before she could refuse me and buried my fangs in her neck for the second time. She didn’t struggle against my embrace—against the bite. Instead, she surrendered to the magick drawing us to each other and melted into my chest.
The sweet scent of her blood fused with the bright taste of her. Pure power. Like bottled light that seemed to chase away the dark from even the corners of my ravaged soul. So much power. So much passion. The earlier glimpse of the monster within her assured me she could handle anything I might throw at her. Probably welcomed the challenge. She was far from a simpering, weak female. She was a warrior.
She was magnificent.
But I needed information from her. If she wouldn’t give it willingly and I couldn’t use my power of influence on her, then perhaps a good fucking was all she needed to see it my way.
I’d never seen anyone like her before. Heard stories, yes. Tales of sailors from centuries past about beautiful women that lured their ships off course and then turned into demons. Eyes black as night. Claws made from evil itself. At least that’s what the storytellers of old said…
She wasn’t evil, but she was powerful and old. She’d seen everything I’d seen and possibly more. I could taste it. All the emotions swirling like a hurricane inside her mind, each with its own telltale scent. Along with an overwhelming sense of…dread and sadness?
I pulled away from her neck and watched the wound slowly close, leaving just a few drips of her crimson blood to stain her caramel skin. She was right. The bond was already growing between us. Strange after so many years alone to suddenly care so completely and totally about another person. It’d come on so fast. I hadn’t hesitated or thought about it. Just acted. Instinct and magick had recognized my fated mate in her, and I’d made sure I could find her again, no matter what.
And no matter what I thought I felt for her, I couldn’t risk taking her to Russia without getting the information I needed first. Asa was depending on me. I’d not get another chance to redeem myself to my family.
This was it.
Mate or no mate, I had to save my niece. And I needed to know more about the luscious female body beneath my hands.
I dropped my hand to the waistband of her jeans, unbuttoned them, and slipped my hand down into her warm, wet folds. Tit for tat was fair, right? I dipped into her arousal and then slid my forefinger across her swollen pearl of nerves.
“W-what are you doing?” She shuddered through the question, but still didn’t attempt to pull away.
“I’m going to fuck you.”
“No, you’re no-t. Just take me to R-r-ussia,” she whimpered through the next few strokes of my hand.
Soon I’d have her writhing in my arms, begging for the release I would only give under one condition. It was only a matter of time.
“Give me what I want.”
She turned from my gaze, her body quaking with need. But she wasn’t far enough yet. She didn’t need it bad enough.
She would.
Chapter 11
JARED
I stood silently on the parapet, staring through the icy barrier out over the half-burned landscape of our town. Most of Main Street had taken a beating. The café still stood, probably thanks to Pixie magick. Several of the neighborhoods were smoking, while others looked completely undamaged. I touched the dome of ice stretching over my head. It was as clear as glass even though it was at least a few feet thick and would slow down anything trying to climb over the walls of the castle. The Djinn couldn’t teleport through the invisible wards protecting the castle and every other building in town. And it would take something huge to break through ice like this. We were safe.
Safe was relative though. Were we safe? Or just trapped and doomed to wait until Xerxes and his army figured out how to break the ice and come over the walls.
“Jared. Thank you for waiting.” My friend—my brother—Alek walked quietly down the stone walk toward me. His face haggard and tired, creased with worry over his newly acquired mate and the fate awaiting us outside these walls.
“How is Gretchen?”
“Resting again. I told her I needed to speak with you for a few minutes and then I’d return.”
“You should’ve just stayed with her, Alek, unless you plan to help me. I would say you owe me, but I won’t take you from a mate that needs you. And Gretchen needs you. After everything she went through…”
I turned from my friend and stared back out through the domed window of ice.
“You can’t leave on your own, and we have none to spare right now. We’re still trying to recoup and treat injuries. Just wait. Let everyone take a breath. You don’t even know that she’s alive, brother.” Alek laid a hand on my shoulder, and I stiffened. He was still against me. Against Manda.
“I would know if she wasn’t.” Something deep inside me refused to believe that I’d lost her.
“You said you couldn’t feel her.”
“She’s alive,” I snarled, wrenching away from his hand. “I have to save her. You have a mate. You feel that connection now. That’s what I felt in Savannah. I only held her for a few moments, but it was enough.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them. “You have your mate. Mine is out there. Hurting,” I said, the last word coming out broken with emotion.
“We know what Xerxes is capable of. What he does to women…”
Alek stopped, and I turned to face him again, bile rising in my throat. I wanted to scream. I knew where this was going, but I didn’t think Alek would desert me. He was supposed to be family. He was always on my side. “You know what he did to Gretchen, and he only had her for a little more than a day, Jared. He’s had Manda for months. If she’s still alive, it would be kinder to put her—”
A roar exploded from my chest. Heat surged forward, and flames covered me from head to foot as my phoenix pushed forward, seething and wanting to kill.
“Should I kill your mate for you and put her out of her misery?” I shoved Alek backward, sending him flying down the walk with two singed spots blackening his shirt. My clothes, thanks to a little extra spell from Calliope, were flame retardant, even to my beast’s fire. “Would Gretchen be better off dead, Alek?” I marched toward him, my phoenix wanting nothing more than to punish him for even thinking that death was better than living for my mate.
He growled and leapt to his feet. His beast matched my anger, and a scream from deep in his chest sent me tumbling backward as a focused sonic wave slammed into my chest.
Fucking Gryphon. “Leave me, Alek. I have nothing left to sa
y to you. If you won’t stand with me, then I’ll do this alone.” I climbed to my feet and glared.
He gritted his teeth, but didn’t speak. We’d been friends longer than we hadn’t. Family. But now. Now, I wasn’t sure what we were. What we would ever be again.
Alek turned away from me and left me alone on the parapet.
I would save Manda. I had to.
I turned the opposite direction and hurried toward the tower stairwell. What am I going to do? I was just one man. One beast. I couldn’t feel Manda. I wouldn’t be able to track her, even though I knew we were meant to be together. We hadn’t bonded. I had nothing to go on except determination.
A few minutes later, I found myself exiting the castle through the back entrance, around the block, and then across Main Street Circle toward the café. Maybe Bella or the other pixies would have an idea. There had to be someone left in this town that would help.
Chapter 12
GODRIC
“Tell me who cares about Manda. If not Charlie, who is it?” I whispered into her ear as I dipped my fingers into her slick folds again. Her hips undulated and thrust toward me, begging wordlessly for more. Soft mewls and cries slipped from between her lips. I was harder than stone, but my goal kept me focused. She was a master manipulator, but she’d met her match. I wouldn’t be distracted again. I would torture her until she couldn’t stand the longing. The hunger. The need to release.
“Fuck me,” she hissed back, slipping a hand to the back of my neck and pulling my mouth to meet hers. Her tongue dove into my mouth, and mine tangled with hers for control. She tasted like honey and cinnamon and heaven, and fuck, I was losing my mind in her again.
Sanctuary, Texas Complete Series Box Set Page 119
