by Jana Leigh
“I am pretty sure he is gonna disagree, but we will deal. Do you remember the cave well?” Chase asked.
“I remember that it was drilled into our heads that it was our safe place. I also remember how Lagon told us how some of the Indians made complete little settlements in the mountains by using the natural caves and expanding them,” Cameron said and thought harder.
“I remember how big it was; I also remember how he used his magic and created things we needed. Not sure what we are going to do for food and stuff, but once we get there, we can figure it all out,” Chase said, and then Cameron pointed out the front windshield yelling.
“Fuck, look!” Chase slowed enough so he could drive as he searched in front of him, thank goodness there weren’t cars behind him. Then he saw it, and he pulled over and slammed on his brakes quickly.
Chase and Cameron both jumped from the car. Regardless of where they were, they both ran to the side of the road and used their speed and jumped. Making use of their vampire powers, they landed on the other side of the river that ran in between the tracks and trees and the road.
When they landed and looked up, they saw the two eagles fighting mid-air, but there was nothing they could do about it, they were too high up. They could conceivably jump, but one, they didn't know which eagle was which, and they also could do some damage if there were people driving by, so they both stood at the ready.
One of the eagles was using their beak to grip one of the other’s wings. The other eagle was pecking at him. They heard noises of pain, as well as saw several feathers float out and down from the fighting pair.
Chase said quietly, “Sienna is the one pecking.”
Cameron looked and nodded then said, “You get her; I’ll get the other one?”
Then they saw Sienna break free and she attacked, both men grimaced as they stared at the way she was relentlessly hitting him with her beak, her wing, her talons as they scratched and held onto the bird.
“I guess we aren’t really needed,” Chase whispered.
Cameron chuckled. “She is Simon's sister.”
“Well yeah, that could explain a lot,” Chase said and chuckled.
Sienna was tiring, they could tell, and then Cameron pointed to a branch and said, “There is a bag.”
“Got it,” Chase said, and he jumped and landed on the tree branch and grabbed the bag. Sienna stopped for a second, her eyes narrowing in her shifted form and Chase paused. Crap, she was pissed and since her eagle hadn’t met him or Cameron. This could get dicey to get the eagle to understand they weren’t here to hurt her. When a shifter was in the middle of battle, they have a hard time recognizing their mate.
“Chase?” Cameron called from below, and Chase remained staring at the eagle, who was holding the slightly struggling other eagle with her beak and her talons.
“Yeah, a little problem,” he whispered, and Cameron looked and then swore under his breath.
Sienna released the shifter she had a hold of because he wasn’t a threat anymore, the damned thing was beat, and Chase was hoping Cameron caught the bird who dropped suddenly. They didn't want it to escape. Chase remained focused on Sienna whose was looking ready to attack him now. Her talons were contracting, and her wings were holding her in place. She didn’t seem too much worse for the wear, so the other eagle had not hurt her.
Cameron jumped up and caught the eagle who was wounded and unconscious, he or she would shift back soon, so he looked up at Chase and Sienna and whispered as not to startle Sienna. “Chase, I am going to take the eagle to the car before they shift on the side of the road, we don't want people to see.”
“Go,” Chase said, still not moving. He waited until Cameron had gotten to the car and he heard the door shut before he said to Sienna while still staring at her in the eye. “Honey, I was getting your bag for you, take a deep breath, and you will see we are your mates.”
The eagle turned her head to the side and landed on the end of the branch where it was thick enough to hold her but too far away for Chase to get to her. She remained staring at him as if she was testing him. He nodded and held her gaze; he wouldn’t break it for any reason, he knew for a shifter, if their mate didn't show he was unafraid of her, they would have problems when the time came to complete the mating. Sienna needed to understand and cooperate.
He stared and waited for her to make up her mind. Right now, it looked like she was ready to attack; he really didn't want to have a fight with her. That would really not be a good start to their mating.
Sienna felt the pull, but her eagle was more into protecting her and her possessions. Her animal hadn’t been released in so long; she felt threatened. She closed her eyes and tried to force her eagle to listen. Mate, she was sure of it, but her bird wasn't. It was too hyped up, but she felt it. The man before her was her mate, but he wasn’t the man who had helped her out in the bar. No, this one was not the same, which meant she had two mates. Great, two for the price of one, and they are alpha males, she could feel the power flowing from them.
Her eagle wasn’t backing down, and she really needed him just to let go of the bag. Right now that was what was pissing her animal off.
Her mate began to talk in a calm voice; she felt her eagle tense, but she listened. “Honey, can you shift?”
Sienna made a noise she hoped he understood that her animal wasn’t in agreement with allowing her to shift right this second. The man's eyes kinda twinkled with amusement. She didn't find this amusing, what if she was stuck this way? What if her animal took over and she turned feral, then what? Yeah, they wouldn’t think it was funny then? Her eagle smiled at her and nodded, it was giving her approval, and finally her bird let go and she shifted. Unfortunately, at the wrong time, though.
“Oh, shit...” Sienna screamed as she fell backward. Chase jumped and caught her just before she hit the rocks on the side of the river. He straightened and felt the zing of awareness from touching his mate, shit. Sienna’s eyes widened as she stared at him and then said, “Good catch.”
Chase chuckled and then set her on her feet and said, “In all ways.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Cheesy!”
Chapter Five
Cameron sat in the car and stared as his mates began to move toward him, thank the gods she had finally shifted. Driving with an eagle would have sucked. However, driving with a pissed off woman with the man who attacked her, well it was downright idiotic. Cameron and Chase knew the moment she got into the car and hit the Ulfer, it was going to be a long ride.
“You asshole!” Sienna yelled once again and smacked the other eagle upside the head when he refused to speak to them. He was growling at her, but she didn’t care, Sienna was pissed, and damned if his mate wasn’t hot as shit when she was pissed. Cameron looked in the rearview mirror and grinned.
When they had first gotten to the car, Sienna refused to get into the car because she wanted to kill him, right there on the side of the road. She told the man she would ‘bury his ass in the mountains where no one would find him.’ Then she proceeded to stubbornly stand next to the vehicle and try to question him. It didn’t work. Finally, Chase had gotten her into the car, especially when traffic actually began to get more frequent since they were nearing the place that hover cars needed to park. Cameron could already feel the chugging of the engine in the thinning air. So many years of pollution, as well as the dense air at the high elevation, was a problem. Then she started what Cameron would refer to later as the ‘Sienna’s Wrath.' It wasn’t a nice thing. Because their mate was bound and determined to get answers out of the other eagle. She didn’t want to bring him to the cave. Both men knew they couldn’t let him go, and since he wasn’t ready to talk, well, he was coming.
“Sienna,” Chase said warningly. They had just met, and yep, both men had their warning tones already down. She was going to be a handful.
“What? All I asked him was how the fuck he found me? It’s not a hard question, you know? Especially since I know he didn’t follow
me from the bar. I purposefully made sure no one knew where I was going, dammit, well except for you, I showed you. So then how did he find me?” she snapped and glared at the man who was staring straight in front of him now since he actually told Sienna to ‘fuck off’ right when she finished her question. Not real smart because that led her to threaten to kill him again, in a very colorful way. Chase glared at Cameron who was laughing now. He needed to get a handle on the situation.
“No, do not Sienna me, this asshole is now a prisoner of war. There is no way he’s going to be given the royal treatment. It’s bullshit, and you know it. He is gonna talk,” Sienna snapped and folded her arms across her chest.
“She sounds like her brother,” Cameron chuckled.
Chase nodded solemnly. “I know; she is freaking me out a little.”
“Brother?” she snapped and then shook her head. “I am an only child, my parents died in a fire.”
Chase took a deep breath, and Cameron turned and looked at her while the man who was sent to kill her laughed loudly. “Really?”
She glared at him and said, “Now you have something to say?” Sienna reached across and grabbed the man’s shirt and yanked him across the seat until she was face to face with him and growled, “Unless you’re gonna tell me why the hell you were sent to kill me, I don’t want to hear your voice.”
The man was an idiot because he grinned at her and said, “Seems I know more about you than you do. Really, how fucked up is that? I would assume they didn’t allow you to keep your memory because they didn’t trust you.”
Chase growled and said, “Fucker, that isn’t the truth.”
The man chuckled and said, “Hell, I probably know more about all of you than even you do.”
Cameron snorted. “Why? Because your boss likes to mess with people’s freaking lives. Last time I heard, cloning wasn’t exactly legal.”
The man rolled his eyes and said, “Whatever.”
Sienna pushed him back and then glared at Cameron. “What the hell is he talking about, and why can’t we kill him again?”
Chase looked at Cameron and shook his head, and then he said, “Honey, let’s get to where we’re going and then we will deal with all this. Right now, I need to make sure I can get us as close to the cave as possible without this car dying.”
She sighed and then nodded. “Fine, but I will hold you to that.”
The Ulfer said, “Cave? What cave?”
Sienna looked at him and then slapped him upside the head again and said, “Shut up, you do what we say and maybe we will let you live.”
They drove in silence as Chase and Cameron hunted for a place to pull off and hide the car. They also needed to figure out how the make sure the man who they captured remained captured and with them. If he shifted into an eagle, it would be hard to catch him, for both men.
Cameron pointed to a turn-off and said, “There, it’s the last turn on the road.”
Chase nodded and said, “Let’s hope it hasn’t changed much since we were younger. I remember Lagon telling us to stay away from the road when we were here.”
Sienna watched from the backseat, she knew the road they were turning on. After they had gone a little way, the road was rough, but she knew they were on the right track, especially when the road opened to a large outlook area. It was a hiking area, but the signs said they could park as long as they had a permit. It was late enough in the day there were only a few cars, but it looked like most of the cars belonged to campers who hiked into the mountains.
Chase and Cameron got out, made sure they took care of all the permits and Sienna watched the prisoner. That was what she called him because that was what he was, both of the guys found amusement in this, she did not. In fact, she not only didn’t like their amusement, but she also was beginning to have small flashes of memory, something she had never had before. It made her uncomfortable. Mostly because it felt like she was missing something, dammit.
“Come on,” Chase said and grabbed the prisoner’s arm.
Sienna shook her head and then said, “He will shift,” and moved so fast neither Chase nor Cameron had a chance to stop her. She grabbed the back of the man’s head and then slammed it into the car door, once, twice, three times, and then she let go. The man slumped to the ground. She grinned and stepped out of the car and looked at the vampires and shrugged.
“The key is to hit a shifter eagle where they’re most vulnerable, which is on the temple. They tend to drop like a sack of potatoes, see, no problem!” She smiled and then she said as she walked, “Okay, I am pretty sure it is…”
They walked down a trail that led to a large drop-off. Chase turned and pointed. “There.”
Sienna followed his finger to the large mountain that was directly across from them. She knew it was right, but the opening was on the other side. They would need to make it to the other side, she turned and nodded, she wouldn’t have a problem with that, but the prisoner plus Chase and Cameron, she could not do. Cameron seemed to know her issue, and he said, “Won’t be too hard, do you know where you are going?” and she nodded.
Chase winked at her and then turned and said to Cameron, “We will bring him, but when you get to the ledge, we all wait until everyone is present before we enter.”
Sienna frowned and then tilted her head. “Security.”
Chase nodded and then said, “We need to make sure it’s active; I would prefer you fly with us, so we get there at the same time.”
Sienna nodded and said, “No problem, but my eagle may want to spread her wings a little. I see that not shifting has kinda led to my eagle being upset.”
The guys nodded. She handed her bag to Cameron and then she shifted. The men each took a side of the man who was still knocked out, and they began to move going slow at first, making sure no one could see them. When they knew they were in the clear, they began to run. It was like they had been working together for years.
Chase felt his steps match Cameron’s, and Cameron felt his movements while avoiding things, mirror Chase’s. And Sienna flew right over them, watching around, making sure no one was following or paying attention. She swooped around a time or two making her eagle happy while watching over her mates.
They reached the other side of the mountain and they stopped looking for the path they knew was there somewhere. It was all covered with trees so no one could see them. Finally, Chase saw the small break in the trees, and he whistled softly to Sienna who followed them as they moved, climbing higher and higher. The cave entrance was close to the summit and covered by a large boulder, which was placed strategically to keep the entrance hidden.
Chase looked quickly up and then glanced at Cameron who nodded. They were going to need to jump the last little bit. Stepping three steps and then pushing off with Cameron, they made it to the landing without any trouble.
Sienna shifted quickly next to them and then pointed to the entrance. “I remember this place.” They both nodded, but she pushed a little more, “I remember my brother. Simon.”
Both guys nodded and then they moved and dragged the man to the entrance. They all took a breath because the magical way to enter could have been changed. Chase pursed his lips and whistled a tune they had been taught over and over when they were young, it allowed them to enter the cave. And once in, no one could follow unless they allowed it, or it was another of the children.
Sienna felt the magic fall, and she sucked in a breath. She did recognize it. “Wait,” she said and grabbed their arms, and they stopped.
“What?” Cameron asked.
“That was Grant,” she whispered, and both of them frowned.
“Uh, no,” Cameron said softly. “It is Lagon.”
She paused and then turned to them and frowned. “But?”
“Let’s get inside, and him secured, then we can talk,” Chase said softly, and she looked at the prisoner and narrowed her eyes. Yeah, she didn’t want him to overhear anything before she killed him, and she was going to kill him.
They walked into the cave, and all of them paused, the memories flooding over them. It was like they had been asleep for years, memories they hadn’t remembered slamming into their head, and all of them almost buckled under the weight of it. Thankfully they didn’t. The shifter who attempted to kill Sienna pulled against Chase’s and Cameron’s hands as he finally woke up. Both men held firm and then a huge cell appeared in the back of the large cavern.
They moved quickly and threw him into the cell as a bed and other necessities appeared for him so they wouldn’t need to worry about taking care of him right now. Sienna whispered something, and they saw a veil fall over the cell. They knew it was soundproof as well as hidden by the veil. The prisoner couldn’t see out, or hear them. Chase put his hand to his head, and he snapped, “What the holy hell was that?”
Cameron nodded but said quietly, “The spell is gone.”
Sienna glared at them. She remembered everything, and when she should have been happy, she was pissed. “Someone tell me what the hell is going on right now. How is this even possible? Where is everyone? And why the heck did they do this all without us knowing? And why did I know to whisper a spell to close him off? I’m not a witch.”
Both men were silent, they knew instinctively, in the cave, it was possible for them to use magic they normally didn’t have. Aunt Lacy had made sure they were attached only in the cave to her magic. They all frowned and shook their heads as everything was coming back, but they didn’t realize that it would slam back into them so hard when everything came back. Damn, Chase and Cameron both wondered if the rest of the Drekinn knew they were still not remembering everything. They both remembered little things like the others. They really thought they remembered everything, and they were so wrong. Both men turned and looked at each other and frowned. They had a lot more to talk about than just what Sienna didn’t remember.
