by Honor James
“Keep talking, love,” Slade encouraged her. “Just say whatever comes to mind. We can sort it all out once you’ve told us,” he said quietly. Sounded like a silo maybe, from her description, but who knew for sure.
“It was cold, but there was heat that seemed to come from above maybe? Where I was it was very, very cold, but high above it seemed warmer.” Her face warmed and she added, “I tried to climb the door to try to get out. Didn’t work. I fell and, well yeah it didn’t work.”
Frowning at that he looked to Rayne again but the Dragon seemed baffled by her description. “Anything else, love?” Slade asked her quietly. Pressing a kiss to her neck he breathed her in. “Did you smell anything that could help us?” he asked quietly.
“A bonfire,” she said suddenly. “I thought it was the guards but there was laughter, too. Maybe a party? I don’t know but whoever it was they weren’t there for long before they all left screaming. I know they lived because I heard the guards laughing about scaring the hell out of the humans. Maybe a police report was filed?” she asked hopefully.
“We can definitely look,” he assured her softly. Pressing a kiss to her temple he breathed her in and squeezed her tight. “You did great love, so amazingly great,” he told her quietly. Rubbing his cheek to hers Slade closed his eyes. “I want you to go with Rayne and lay down, curl up in a ball and relax. I’m going to call Q and talk with him and let him know all of this, all right?”
Parker nodded. “Will you come and lay down with us after you have talked to him?” she asked hopefully. “Please?” she asked softly. “I really do think that it would be lovely to have a nap with both of you.”
“I will be there as soon as I’m off the phone,” he promised her softly. Tipping her chin up he kissed her gently on the lips before helping her to her feet. Passing her hand to Rayne as the Dragon moved to take it he rubbed his hand down her back. “I won’t be too long, promise.”
Laying her head on Rayne’s shoulder she let him lead her out and felt an oppressive heaviness in her chest that hadn’t been there earlier. That fast and she had gone from happy to sad. She didn’t like it. At all.
Grabbing the phone Slade called into the base. “Quincy, put me on speaker,” he said quietly. Only when everyone could hear him he related every single detail that Parker had told them. “He’s under Chaos’s control from what I got from what she told us. He’s not going to like that and I think that may be his only Achilles in this whole mess. Nathaniel believes he’s making all his choices, that he’s the one in control and deciding, but if we tell him that Chaos is yanking his chains it might, possibly, give us the hole we need to take him out.”
“It’s possible.” This came from Cinnamon. “Dragons are notoriously protective of their children and if you say that he pulled a child from his bond-mate that he had created, he would never have done that. No matter the darkness that filled him he would never do it. He would have ensured the child was born first and raised it to be subservient to him but never would have killed it.”
“Well then that’s something else that we’ll need to use if needed in facing him,” Slade said, rubbing his hand over his neck. “Look, I’m going to leave you guys to figure out the logistics and hopefully figure out where Nathaniel is. Call us when you’re ready to move. We want in on this and not just because Parker’s our mate. This needs to end once and for all.”
“We will be in touch,” came Talon’s strong voice. The strain of what his son was doing was clear to those that knew him well. “Take care of your mate and we will let you know when and if we come up with anything. If there is anything, anything at all that she remembers call us back.” He disconnected the call then, ending it there because he knew that Slade would call should anything else come up.
Hanging up Slade dropped the phone next to him on the sofa and leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. He was so tired of all this crap. He could end it all but then he’d lose Parker. He couldn’t give into the darker urges even if it was for the good of the whole, his mate included. It would scar his soul too much and that he couldn’t live with. Pushing up he snagged the phone and walked wearily toward the bedroom, all his four hundred plus years weighing on him heavily in that moment.
Parker felt Slade as he came into their room far more than she heard him and saw him. “Slade,” she whispered and held her hand out to him. It felt like his soul was screaming out for her help, begging her to help it heal.
Dropping the phone on the side table Slade slid onto the bed and, taking her hand, curled into her heat. Burying his face against her breasts he shut his eyes and let her just hold him. He couldn’t talk about it, wouldn’t, but he was so glad she understood his need to just be held.
Parker gave him her everything. She let him in to feel the barest bones of her very soul and she sighed when she felt him giving in as well. This was about them, her connection to Slade, and she knew that Rayne got that. They both understood that they meant so very much to her, together and separate. Stroking her fingers through Slade’s hair she simply held him close and rubbed her cheek to his head as she held him.
He must have fallen asleep because it was dark in the room when he felt the bed shifting. Yawning he nuzzled closer to Parker and refused to move. He was quite happy where he was. But he was curious what time it was and then his stomach grumbled, dinner time obviously.
“Rayne is ordering us take-out. Evidently you guys know a guy who will deliver to you guys from your favorite steakhouse?” Parker shrugged and rubbed her cheek against his chest. “Are you feeling better?” she asked quietly. “I was very worried about you, honey.”
Wrapping his arms around her Slade hugged her to him and sighed. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. He couldn’t lie. She’d know instantly and besides that, he couldn’t lie. “This is all hitting too close to home, love, and I don’t just mean because you’re involved. This is dredging up the past. A past I never ever wanted to revisit, for any reason.”
“I can understand that,” Parker whispered and brushed her fingers through his hair. “Do you know why Nathaniel wants me so very desperately?” she asked quietly. “It’s not just because of what I can do with a computer or finding the bond-mates. It’s because somehow when they burnt me with Dragon Fire I was changed in ways that, well even Nate didn’t truly understand,” she whispered. “There is only one reason that he never killed me, never tried to take my power from me, and never tried to bite me. Why he would only use his fists or his lackeys who didn’t know better. It’s my blood, Slade. If my blood were to even touch a Dragon, blood not freely given as I do so often to Rayne, he would die,” she whispered softly. “Because of our bond and my love for Rayne he is protected but any other…” She shook her head. “It’s as if their very souls wink out of existence.”
Lifting his head Slade frowned at her words. “That’s different,” he commented softly. Rubbing his hand up and down her back lightly he inched up the bed so they were face to face. Cupping her cheek he stroked her damaged skin lightly. “No one is going to get to you, Parker. You are ours. They will have to get through a very old and sneaky Dragon and me. And trust me, when either of us is pissed off, not even the Devil would dare.”
That had her smiling and she nodded. “I love you, too, Slade,” she whispered softly. “But I haven’t finished telling you my truth. I changed so much in that day. I don’t know why but it was as if all of Magic was reaching up to try to save me but instead”—she shrugged—“it was a Dragon with Dragon Ice that saved me. It was Nathaniel, I know this now that his happening upon me in the hospital was a lie. He had saved me that day and I honestly believe that he did because he somehow knew what I could do. I’m a lot stronger than you think I am. I know I don’t seem it but I really am. You can pull a part of me and feel me inside of you, use that magical part to help you. I want and need to help you, please?”
“I wish I could, love, but it doesn’t work that way, not for what’s wrong with me,” he said softly. “Bu
t thank you for the offer,” he murmured, brushing his lips to hers. “Mage and Sorcerers, while related to a degree, use magics very differently and we can only intermingle certain ones. Even at that we need to take care and precautions or we could have a serious misfire that could kill us or take out at least a part of a country.”
“Yeah we don’t want that.” She shook her head and began to stroke him again. “Then that means that when we fight him I will stand at your side. I won’t let you do this alone, Slade, not now and not ever.”
“Uh, I don’t think so,” he said, shaking his head. “You are going to stay where you will be safe,” he told her, pressing a kiss to her lips again. “I will not have you harmed for no reason and I will not have you put in Nathaniel’s line of vision.”
“But you need me,” she argued. “Honey, you will need me. Not because of him but to help you pull back. You need me, honey. You know that deep down inside as well,” she whispered softly to him. “Think about it, love. You know that you do.”
“I won’t risk you,” he said softly, resting his forehead to hers. “I can’t risk you, love,” he whispered, rubbing his thumb to her skin gently. He knew she was right but he couldn’t let her get hurt. He’d rather risk his soul than see her harmed by Nathaniel again. And there was the puzzler. He let her go and she could personally be hurt. He didn’t let her go and if he fell over to the darkness finally she’d be hurt when he was torn from the bond with her.
“What makes you think you have a choice?” she asked softly. “I mean it, Slade. I will be there. I will not, cannot lose you to the darkness that we both know you would try to pull from in order to defeat him. I will not lose you. I love you too much to let you go.”
He wrapped his arms around her and drew her in close. “This is not the end of this argument, woman. I will figure a way around this damn it.” One way or another, he had to. He couldn’t risk her life, not after he’d just found her.
“You won’t be risking my life. You will protect me and so will Rayne. We both know it. Now, no more arguments.” She reached out and touched her fingers to his cheek and smiled. “Instead I really think that we could waste some energy making love?”
“You have too many clothes on.” He had too many clothes on. “We both have way too many clothes on, darling, and, knowing Rayne, he put a rush on the steaks. We only have minutes if that, so if you’re of a mind to use and abuse my body we should get naked and fast.”
That had her laughing and she shrugged. “We could always wait. Heavens only know that I wouldn’t want to ‘abuse’ your poor body. I don’t want you to feel bad later after we have had a quickie and make you think that you weren’t getting as much as you needed in life, you know.”
Frowning at that he lifted his head as he rolled her to her back. Sliding his hand under her shirt to her belly he rubbed his thumb to the soft skin. “Why would I ever think that, love?” he asked softly. “We’re mated, Parker. It doesn’t mean that every time we’re together has to be slow and luxurious. Sometimes fast, hard, and in the moment is needed, too. But since food will be here soon and I know we’re all starving, we should likely wait.”
“I think you should kiss me,” she grumbled. “Totally. You need to kiss me, mister.” She reached for his head and tugged him closer. “And you are the one who said that I would be abusing your poor body, remember?”
Grinning he nipped at her full lower lip. “Well, after dinner you can abuse my body all you want as we burn off a bit of the calories.” Pressing a kiss to her lips he breathed her in as he slid his tongue over hers. Pulling her in closer to him he pressed his heavy erection against her body.
Parker wrapped her arms tighter around him and lifted her hand to touch her fingers to his cheeks. “I love you, Slade. I look forward to being able to burn off those calories, darling mine.” Her hand moved down his cheek, down his neck, and across his chest. She allowed her fingers to move so very slowly downward until she was able to touch his cock and squeezed him lightly. “You sure?” she asked with a grin.
Groaning he nipped at her mouth. “Yeah, I’m sure. We have to wait,” he said, catching her hand and lifting it, pressing a kiss to her fingers lightly and dropping another in her palm. “Let’s get up and go see if food is here yet. Hopefully he got their coleslaw and some of the ribs, too,” he said with a grin.
“You are killing me here.” She heard her stomach growling again and laughed. Shaking her head she smiled. “All right, let’s go and see Rayne and hope that he’s gotten all that you want and need, darling,” she said with a smile. “And hopefully I can get some, too, the ribs that is,” she teased. She knew that these men would make sure that she had the best of the best of the pieces.
Pressing a quick kiss to her lips he sat up and, getting off the bed, helped her to climb off. Collecting his phone, he checked for messages before dropping it in his pocket when nothing came up. Wrapping an arm around her middle he walked her toward the kitchen and the scent of food. “I didn’t hear the bell ring,” he said in surprise.
“Had to buzz him through the gate,” Rayne pointed out, “and I was starving so I waited at the door less than patiently for the guy to drive up and gawk the entire time at the house.”
Parker frowned. “Why would he gawk at our home?” She couldn’t see of course so was a little confused. “And what gate? I don’t recall a gate.” Then again when they brought her home she was still processing so much that she likely had just ignored it and now that she was learning about it, well she was surprised.
“The gate at the road onto the property,” Rayne said, setting out the containers of steak, ribs, and smoked chicken as well as the coleslaw, potato salad, cornbread, and hot wings. “I own forty acres of land that the house sits on. Most of it’s wooded area and you really can’t tell there’s a house here from the road except at night when the lights can be seen through the trees. Plus the house is a good”—he paused to think—“four or five thousand square feet give or take.”
“Oh wow.” Parker had walked all of the home but she hadn’t believed that it was that large. “I’m so surprised,” she whispered. “So you are basically telling me that I’m bonded with a couple of richer-than-sin men?” She shrugged. “Good thing I honestly don’t care about that.” All she cared about was the men. That was it.
“We have been alive for a good long time,” Slade pointed out, getting her seated. Passing her a napkin he handed her some wet naps to set to the side. “Rayne got all the good stuff but I know you said ribs so I’ll give you a half a rack to start on and we’ll go from there if you like. But did you want some coleslaw, potato salad, or cornbread?” he asked, moving to get her a glass of milk.
“All of the above. I have a serious need for food and those all sound really good.” She loved to eat and seemed to eat a lot, often, now that she was with him.
Laughing Rayne dished up her plate and sat it before her letting her know where everything was. “There’s also smoked chicken and hot wings if you want some after you make your way through some of that mountain before you. Oh, and I got a pie for dessert, too, and brownies so you have options for sweets.”
“Brownies,” she told him without even waiting. “I really and truly don’t want any of the hot wings because”—she wrinkled her nose—“I’m so not a spicy-foods kinda gal.” She loved some things, but she didn’t like spicy at all.
“Good to know, now all I have to do is fight Slade for them,” Rayne teased, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “Dig in, darling, no point waiting on us as you damn well know. Eat, woman, we won’t be far behind you.”
Parker laughed and dug in, eating the food slowly and with care so that she could enjoy the meal, and enjoy having her men with her. She smiled. Life was amazing and even with all that was bad in life there was still far more that was good.
Chapter Eleven
Eyeing his sister Quincy cursed. “Listen here, missy, no way are you going along on this mission.” If they ever got it off the ground. S
o far they hadn’t be able to pin Nathaniel and his idiots down. “I know what you’re saying but you get in view and Nathaniel is going to try to kill the lot of us to get at you and he’s not going to be pleasant about it.”
“And he’s going to make mistakes,” Parker shot right back at him. “If he becomes as idiotic as we know he will, he will come for me. He will also be vulnerable because he will be so focused on me that he won’t be watching what he’s doing and he will be able to be taken down. Quincy, you know it’s the truth.”
“No, I know that you’ve got your bond-mates mostly convinced to let you go and they are morons. Nathaniel has dark magic,” Quincy said quietly, enunciating carefully. “He will have traps laid, he will have contingency after contingency set out and he can because he is using dark magic. He will have brought others to his cause, paying them a mercenary fee or talking them into it because of some small festering anger inside of them. And we will set off his traps. I know we will because we can’t find them all and disarm them all. We’ll try but we will fail and only through the almighty Hail Mary of all magic and sneaky Dragon moves of all time will we manage to defeat him. But if you go you will die. No ifs, ands, or buts, your life will be forfeit. Want to know how I know that?” he asked her, his tone getting softer and sharper with every word. “Because I woke in an icy-cold sweat last night from a vision, a fucking vision of all things, of your death and Slade going off the fucking deep end because you wouldn’t listen to me. Do you know what it does to the King of any of the lines to have to kill someone he knows, likes, and thinks of as kin? You want to go, fine, accept the consequences now.” Throwing up his hands he headed for the door. “I’m done. I have my mate and son to kiss good-bye,” he said before slamming the door behind him.
