by Tess Oliver
"They'll manage. Besides, Maximus counts for two guards." This earned Feenix a round of laughter and a menacing scowl from Maximus.
Flint took the momentary distraction to approach me. "We are thinking about just blowing shit wide open in here and getting you out, no matter what the consequences."
"No. No fucking way. Like Feenix said, you'll manage without me. No sense in all of us dying."
"Executioner, let's get on with this. The spectators are getting restless."
Willow jumped off the dais and ran to me before anyone could stop her. She wrapped her arms around me. I carefully lowered my shackled wrists to not hurt her with the heavy chains. She felt frail and shaky in my arms. I lowered my head and kissed her.
"No regrets, my diamond covered angel. My pack will continue to try and free you. I've left that as my only wish, and I know they'll deliver. So stay alive."
She shook her head and pressed her face against my chest. "No, I won't go on without you."
Paygon roughly grabbed her away from me. She jerked out of his grasp and walked on her own back to Feenix. "I can't stay. I won't watch you murder the man I love."
Feenix flinched at her words but then produced an ugly laugh. "You will stay or I will instruct the executioner to do a messy job. And you don't want that for your lover boy. Now sit."
Willow sat down and covered her face. Her shoulders shook with sobs.
Feenix flicked his hand toward the executioner. The troll waddled up and yanked me to my knees. I lowered my chin to the stone. It seemed I been handed a raw deal in life right from the start, but I'd accepted my destiny. I just hadn't expected this quick of an end.
A murmur vibrated the crowd behind me, and a familiar voice floated up from the clamor.
"Oh thank goodness, I'm not too late."
At first I wondered if I'd just imagined the voice but then Wilder spoke her name.
"Nessa?"
A hunched over cloaked figure shuffled into the middle of the chamber. "Yes, it's me." She pushed off her hood. Her hair was now pure white, and the lines carving her face were deeper. But there was still a warmth in her gaze that made it clear that even though she had aged, she was still Nessa.
Boys of Wynter were forbidden to visit their caretakers once they were taken into training but the four of us had managed a few secret visits. It was good to see her, but I couldn't for the life of me understand why she had shown up just in time for my execution.
Nessa said nothing at first. She walked over to Maximus, Wilder and Flint and gave them each a hug. Then she turned back to me. Her steps were slow and careful as she headed over to the stone. She smiled at me as she smoothed her warm palm against my face. "My wonderful Stryker." Her eyes clouded with tears. "We have wronged you so terribly." She took time to shoot an angry glare at Paygon. "You deserve everything you get, you big oaf."
Nessa turned back to Feenix. She pulled a piece of paper from her cloak pocket and waved it in the air. "You must let Stryker go. He doesn't belong in this world. He should never have been put in training or forced into serving you."
Feenix rolled his eyes at her. I didn't need to look at my pack mates to know they'd curled their fingers into fists just like me.
"Ridiculous, old woman, you are done raising our Boys so you have no more business with me or the underworld. "
Nessa ignored his insult and unfolded the letter. "A week ago, I received this letter from a woman who was married to Roger Price, one of the many heartless individuals who had traded his first born son for a life of power and greed. He recently met his end when his life of gluttony brought on a massive heart attack." Nessa nodded in approval at his much deserved death. "I'm sure he's either floating in the River of Souls or already in Vapour's realm." Nessa laughed. "Also well deserved, just like the others who trade a child for money. But Roger Price did not trade his own son's life for wealth and power. According to the letter, his real first born went on to lead a normal life. That son died recently of too much drink."
Feenix sat forward and rested his arms on the carved gargoyles. He stroked their wooden heads, something he did when he was irritated. Nessa was definitely irritating him. And she was loving every minute of it.
Willow looked my direction to see if I had any idea where Nessa's story was headed, but I was lost. I had never even heard of Roger Price but then none of us were ever told anything about our real parents.
Nessa smiled at me and then changed back to a scowl as she faced Feenix. "Just before Roger's son was born, he went underground and bought an orphaned baby boy off the black market. He hid his real son and placed the bought baby in the bassinet. That baby was Stryker. He was never meant for this life. You—we—" She stifled a sob. "We had no right to send Stryker into training. You have no say over him at all. In fact, I did some research, and it seems he has the right to leave the Boys of Wynter and return to human life. It is his legal right to do so. Now take those shackles off of him before I call the whole damn witch's realm down here for a sporting day of spell casting."
Feenix held out his hand, and Nessa placed the letter on it. The room was silent as he read it. Then he folded it up and tossed it back to Nessa. "If he leaves his pack, what will keep him from telling the mortal world about us?"
"If he wishes to leave," Nessa said, "I can erase any memory of Wynter and the underworld. He'll leave behind everyone he knows." She looked pointedly at Willow.
Maximus, Wilder and Flint looked over at me. I'd just had my chin on a chopping block only to be saved by the woman who raised me and who I hadn't seen in years. Just as quickly, I'd been informed that I was a black market baby purchased by some villainous human who decided to stand me in as his own sacrificed son. It sure explained some things. It was a lot to consider, especially beaten, bruised, hungry and weighed down by shackles. And all with the woman I loved stuck as a prisoner in the underworld. My only possible response was a confused shrug.
Feenix sighed loudly to assure everyone he'd grown bored with the whole fucking thing. "Release him and then all of you get out. I'm tired."
Paygon skewered me with his one eye as he abruptly turned the key in the locks of my shackles. The chains fell away, and I went straight to Nessa for a hug.
"My gosh, you boys certainly grew up to be giants." She winked up at me. "I've got one more surprise."
"Not sure how much more you could throw at me, Nessa. I'm already feeling numb from shock."
"Oh? Does that mean you'll leave here without Willow?"
I looked over at Willow. Now that I was out from under the executioner's ax, some of the color had returned to her face and the tears had stopped.
"No, I'm going to figure out a way to get her out of here. How did you know about Willow?"
"Those angels do love to gossip. Thank goodness. That was how I heard they were going to execute you. And when I was searching for someone who could tell me what this letter would mean, I ran into someone very important."
Nessa turned back to Feenix. "I've brought someone else with me."
Chapter Thirty-One
Willow
Nessa's newest announcement didn't stop Feenix. He stepped off the dais.
"I have no interest in anything else you have to say, old witch. Leave my lair and take your stolen orphan boy with you. You can take him back to your island for all I care." His clammy fingers roughly took hold of my wrist. "Willow stays with me. Stryker's freedom has nothing to do with the bargain I made with her father."
Stryker's forearms tightened with ridges of hard muscle as he clamped shut his fists. He took a step toward us, but Nessa put up her hand to stop him. "There's no need for bloodshed. I have a much more peaceful and lawful solution."
I was still dizzy with relief that Stryker had been spared the ax. I had already made up my mind to follow him into death as quickly as I could. But he had been saved, and even if I was still Feenix's captive, I was beyond thrilled that Stryker would make it out of the underworld alive. I couldn't imagine wh
at Nessa had up her long sleeves, but she looked rather determined. I'd only just met her and I liked her already. It was easy to see just how profound an impact she'd had on the four Boys by the way they watched over her now, with both pride and with a watchful protective eye in case Feenix or Paygon tried to hurt her.
The crowd had been slow to disperse. Apparently good entertainment in the underworld was rare. But suddenly, the goblins and ghouls and other blood thirsty creeps that had gathered to watch the execution, parted, stepping as far away as possible from the tall man who had just walked into the chamber.
I had never seen an archangel in person. They lived in a different part of the angel's realm and since my time in that realm had been short-lived, I never came across an opportunity to meet one. But I knew when I was looking at one. And the way the miscreants had scattered, as if his aura burned them on contact, assured me I was right
"Ranier," Feenix sneered. "What do you want? Aren't you afraid you'll give up your dirty little secret?"
I hadn't eaten in several days, and I'd just gone through the heartbreaking notion that the man I loved would be executed. Now it seemed I was looking into the face of my father, a man who was as much a stranger to me as some individual standing on the other side of the world. Before I could stop them, my knees buckled.
Feenix yanked me sharply to my feet. The brutal move was too much for Stryker. He shot forward and grabbed hold of the arm that Feenix held me with. His eyes glowed with anger and a low feral growl followed. Feenix might rule over the Boys of Wynter, but it seemed he also feared them. And rightly so.
Feenix's long chin swished back and forth nervously as he peeled his fingers away from my wrist. Stryker wasted no time lifting me from the dais and away from my captor.
"Say your good-byes," Feenix said quickly. "But she will stay here." His sharp, angry gaze turned defiantly toward my father. I was standing in the same room with my father. It was still too hard to believe.
Ranier stood in silence, filling the dark, dreary chamber with his glowing presence. All eyes turned to him. Even his deep, melodic voice seemed completely out of place in the shadowy room. "Willow is not a dirty secret. She is my daughter. And I've come to take her from this wretched place and from you."
"But our bargain—" Feenix sputtered with anger.
"It was no bargain. It was blackmail, and you no longer have anything to hold over me. I've given up my status in the angel world. I've decided to marry Odessa, the love of my life."
I tightened the hold I had on Stryker's arm, sure that I would once again drop to my knees.
Ranier walked over to where I was standing. Stryker stepped politely aside, but I held his arm to make sure he didn't go too far. Every part of my body trembled with shock and nerves. It took all my courage to peer up at my father. My mother had always rambled on about how handsome he was. I'd just assumed that she had convinced herself of it because she was so in love with him. But she had not been exaggerating. His blue-gray eyes reminded me of my own eyes. And it seemed my nose had been his as well.
My father stared down at me for a long moment and then put out his hand. I hesitated but only for a second. I released my hold on Stryker and placed my hand in Ranier's.
His long, firm fingers wrapped around mine. "I was never ashamed of you, my child. I was ashamed of myself. I've been living a lie, and it was time for me to face reality. I'm sorry I put you through this."
I'd spent years practicing what I would say to my father if I ever met him. I had so many angry lectures and harsh words for him, but now, as I stood in his presence, with my hand in his, all I could do was cry. He rested his palm against my face and wiped a tear from my cheek. I stepped forward and hugged him. For so long, I'd tried to imagine what it would be like to be in my father's embrace. It did not disappoint.
Behind us, Feenix cussed and snarled and swept out of his chamber leaving the stench of anger in his wake.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Stryker
Nessa and Wilder walked out of his cottage. She had decided to stay in Whitecrest for the night to catch up on our lives. She'd also told us the heartbreaking news that she was dying of cancer. She had raised her last group of Boys and was glad to no longer have to endure the agony of watching them get ripped from their beds and taken away for good. It turned out she had taken the position of caretaker when she realized she could provide us with some level of nurturing and love.
Nessa and Wilder joined Maximus, Flint and me on the beach as we watched Willow walk amongst the elephant seals on the sand. Normally, they waddled away or even pushed up and made threatening noises when someone walked nearby. But they all remained perfectly relaxed, even allowing her to check flippers and eyes as she circled around their bodies.
Nessa came up and put her hand around my arm as she watched Willow. "The healers have such a natural talent with earth's creatures. She is as lovely as her mother, but it seems she has a great deal more sense than Odessa ever had. But I suppose her mother deserves some credit. She hung on to the hope that Ranier would someday return to her, and now she has him. It all worked out nicely."
Nessa looked up at me. "I'm leaving, Stryker. It's time for you to make up your mind, although I think it was made up long ago."
I looked at my pack mates. They had stood by me my whole life. Aside from Nessa and Danique, they had been my only true family. My brothers. I could never leave them. I could never leave Willow.
I leaned down and kissed Nessa's cheek. "I've been trained for this job. Besides if I'm being completely honest, I like what I do. Don't think I'd be happy doing anything else. Even if it means I'm stuck with these idiots for the rest of my life."
My eyes turned down the beach. Willow had just straightened from examining an elephant seal's eyes. Her long black hair fluttered around her face, and her white smile lit up the already sunny day. "And I don't think even the worst, ugliest damn wraiths could drag me away from the woman standing out there on the sand. Just like you said all those years ago when we sat around your wobbly kitchen table, I wasn't expecting her and I'll never take her for granted. My heart assures me, she is the one."
Nessa hugged us all. "Take care, my sweet boys. My friend, Harold, is waiting at the marina with a boat to take me back to the island."
"Harold?" Flint asked with a lift of his brow.
"Do you think you boys are the only ones allowed to have fun?" Nessa winked as she headed away.
"Say hello to Danique if you talk to her," Wilder called.
The three of us turned to look at him.
Wilder held out his hands. "What? I'm being polite."
Maximus clapped him on the shoulder. "Of course you are, buddy."
Flint walked over and put his hand out to shake. "Glad you're staying on, Stryker."
"Yeah, me too." I turned back toward the sand. Willow was walking back toward the cottages. "Now if you assholes will excuse me, there is an incredibly beautiful woman walking toward me looking sorely in need of a kiss."
They shouted a chorus of wolf howls that scared off every seagull and pigeon as I jogged toward Willow.
"What are they so happy about?" she asked.
"Don't know but I sure as hell know why I'm happy." I picked her up in my arms and kissed her as I swung her around in a circle.
"So you are staying?" she asked.
"Yep. Is that all right?" I lowered her feet to the sand.
She smiled. "What do you think? But about your proposal . . ."
"I know circumstances have changed, but I still want to marry you, Willow. "
"Good. But I think we should give it a year. I just want to make sure you get all the wildness out of you first."
I pointed at my chest. "Me? Wild?"
"Your pack mates just spent the last five minutes howling like wolves."
"That? Yeah, that wildness is here to stay, I'm afraid." I pulled her to me and pressed my hard cock against her. "Besides, I thought you sort of liked that side of me."
/> Willow ran her fingers along my beard. "You're right. What the heck was I thinking? Besides, Boys will be Boys. And I like mine just the way he is." She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.
More from the Boys
Maximus’s story is next! Coming July 2017
About the Author
Tess Oliver is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of sexy romances. She’s always working on new and exciting projects. You can stay up to date, and get a free book by visiting her website and subscribing to her newsletter.
www.tessoliver.com
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