Raven: Guarded Hearts Book 3

by Claire Marta

  Her daughter was tackling her eggs with aplomb. Killian shook his head, amused by her healthy enthusiasm. “Aye,” he said. “We’ll be happy to.”

  Excusing herself, she rose quickly and hurried toward the door, each step feeling heavy and awkward. She could do this. She had to for the sake of her daughter. What harm could a few license plates do? If they were being watched, they’d soon be known to whoever the culprit was.

  Rationalizing it didn’t make it better. Raven hated the deception.

  Sprinting for the front door, she drew in a breath of fresh morning air. It was still early, but the summer sun was already bathing everything in a brilliant warm glow. Crossing to her right, she headed toward the garage. With everyone occupied, it would only take a few minutes to get what she needed.

  As she had hoped, the doors were unlocked. Pushing it open enough for her to slip inside, she eyed the vehicles parked in sunshine and shadows. They certainly had plenty. Black SUVs, Jeeps, bikes, even a few vintage cars. Knowing she didn’t have long, Raven swiped a finger across the screen of her phone and started snapping photos. Wracked by guilt, she felt jumpy and nervous. Any tiny sound had her head jerking toward the door to verify she was still alone. By the time she had taken the last two pictures, her nerves were wound tight.

  Checking that the images weren’t blurred, she sighed with relief. It was short-lived when she heard one of the overhead garage doors open.

  Heart leaping up into her throat, Raven practically jumped out of her skin. Whipping around, she saw Iosefa step inside, watching her with dark, curious eyes, his head tilted to one side.

  “Are you looking for something?” he asked, sounding as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

  “Jaysus,” she breathed. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Casey wants ice cream,” he explained. “Handmade with pickles and peanut butter. There’s a little artisan shop that sells it.”

  He continued to observe her, obviously waiting for her to explain why she was lurking in the garage alone.

  “I came out to get my phone charger and remembered Morgan telling me about this fabulous vintage car,” she lied. “She said that Zac and Aiden used the Pierce-Arrow to impress her when they took her on a date. I can certainly see why.”

  “That’s the one,” he confirmed with a nod.

  The Samoan’s attention dropped to the phone in her hand. Raven’s heart rate spiked with panic. What the hell could she say without incriminating herself? It already felt like she had the word LIAR branded on her forehead.

  “You need to get ice cream and I’d better get back to breakfast,” she babbled, moving past him. “I left Willow with Cayden and Killian. She’s sure to be causing mischief by now. If she’s not, the puppy probably will be. We didn’t have time to shop for a crate before coming here.”

  Iosefa crooked a grin. “You might ask Emmett,” he suggested. “See if he has an extra one sitting around.”

  “I’ll do that,” she said, wondering wildly why the librarian would have one. “Thank you. Oh, while you’re at it, could you see if the shop has lemon ice cream? Sherbet. Gelato. Lemon anything. I’ll be happy to pay whatever it costs.”

  When Iosefa drew a deep breath and smiled enigmatically, she thought about what Cayden and Killian had said. How everyone knew they’d had sex because they could smell the change in her scent. Lifting her chin, she dared him to say something. So she’d had sex with them. And she wanted lemon ice cream. The first wasn’t his business and the second wasn’t his concern.

  “I’ll see what I can find,” he told her smoothly, mounting a motorcycle. “Enjoy your breakfast.”

  She could feel his eyes on her when she walked to the front door of the Citadel and disappeared inside. Still pumping adrenaline, she tried to calm her racing heart before rejoining the others.

  “You didn’t find it?” Cayden questioned, frowning when he saw that she’d returned empty-handed.

  Crap.

  “No, I must have already brought it in,” she told him, retaking her seat. The food looked less appealing than before, but the dark chocolate lemon coffee was amazing. With her stomach in knots, she only managed a few mouthfuls of toast.

  Raven would need to send the photos the second she was alone. Meanwhile, she was forced to watch her daughter sitting with her toy unicorn, laughing and eating, teasing Killian and Cayden while Raven sat in silence, eaten by the guilt of her betrayal but convinced that she had no choice.

  Not if she wanted to keep her daughter safe.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Cayden watched Raven bugger off with Willow, headed back upstairs to check on Prince, she claimed. Something was going on with their mate, but what, he didn’t know. He could always use his true voice to get the truth out of her, but he’d much rather see her do it on her own.

  “Daily orders in five minutes, gentlemen,” Tobias boomed. “My office.”

  Their superior headed that way, taking out his cell phone as he walked. As soon as he turned it on, the thing was ringing. After centuries of quietude at Rosslyn Chapel, Cayden still struggled with the noise of modern urban life.

  Killian elbowed his ribs. “She liked yer coffee. Dark chocolate mocha espresso with lemon. Ye’ll have to teach me how it’s done.”

  Unlike most of the cadre, Killian preferred tea to plain coffee, which endeared him to Emmett, and he preferred Irish coffee to plain, which made him the perfect partner for Cayden. They’d truly bonded while working to restore the chapel, making it once more a place of perfect peace and quiet contemplation.

  As they did every morning, the cadre members assembled in Tobias’s office to receive their daily orders. Aiden had accompanied Morgan to college for her classes. Malik and Iosefa were also absent, taking care of their mate Casey. Everyone else was here.

  Their superior was especially broody today, his brow furrowed, his lips pinched, and the corners of his mouth turned down. He set down his phone on his desk and looked at Cayden and Killian. “We have a problem,” he began.

  The last time he’d used that tone, they’d had a vampire to kill. A local pizzeria had delivered a pizza with tainted sauce, and Morgan Leviss had ingested vampire blood. The bastard was holed up in a safe room, but he and Killian were waiting for him when it opened.

  Papa Antonio’s restaurant was still in business but the vampire who’d originally owned it was no more.

  “Zac and Lukas report that Raven met with her ex-husband Colin Burke yesterday after her midwife appointment. They only know it because he followed her out. Otherwise, they’d have tried to slip inside and listen. As of now, they know nothing beyond what they saw.”

  Jaysus. This was not good. Not good at all. For all they knew, he could have been behind the attempt to kidnap Willow at the zoo. Maybe she wanted to warn him away.

  Maybe he wanted her back.

  “And just this morning, Iosefa caught her taking pictures of the motor pool. He was leaving to get Casey ice cream and watched her through the window. He sent me a picture he took of her shooting a license plate of one of the motorcycles. He said she photographed each unit and its plate. Something’s going on and we need to find out what it is. Meanwhile, we must be on our guard. Raven and Willow must be watched closely while they’re here. A Fae prince named Calodin has already made contact with the child. If anyone manages to catch him, I want him brought to me. As for Raven, we need to determine what she’s up to and learn if her actions are motivated by her ex. Colin Burke is an Irish mobster. He’s linked to Ivan Michalov and that makes him dangerous for everyone here, especially the mates.”

  Cayden experienced a jolt of alarm. “I dinnae believe the lass means us any harm. That’s nae like her at all.”

  Tobias leveled a sharp stare at him. “That may be, but we can’t risk the safety of the other mates or their offspring. You and Killian must learn the reason for what she’s done. Learn who or what is driving her.”

  Beside him, Killian spoke for them both. “A
ye. We’ll see if we can sweet talk the truth out of her and watch her closely to see what else she’s up to.”

  Their superior’s voice lowered ominously. “Fated mate or not, if it is discovered she is working against us of her free will, she’ll be escorted off the premises and never permitted to return.”

  “Tha’s nae fair!” Cayden protested vehemently, clenching his fists, unable to believe what he was hearing. “Ye cannae do that!”

  “Yes, I can,” Tobias informed him. “No one can be allowed to jeopardize our mission. We will watch over Willow from afar if need be and you have permission to see your mate, but they will not set foot here again.”

  Killian growled in his throat. “You wouldn't be doing this if she was able to give us babies. You’d never abandon one of our females.”

  “I am your leader. Sometimes I have to make difficult decisions. I’m thinking of you all, not just the two of you. Hopefully, she’s not in league with the Irish mob or the Russian Bratva. Confirm this.”

  Jaysus. First, they’d had to keep her quiet. Now they were ordered to make her talk. Tobias had no idea how stubborn the woman was. They’d have to get creative… put her in a position where she’d willingly tell them whatever they wanted to know.

  Just like Mirabella with Giorgio and Paulo in the book Raven was reading. The pirates had bound her. Flogged her. Made her so desperate to be drilled that she’d tell them anything, including where her uncle had hidden his treasure. They’d plucked her jewels and claimed the rest of the booty in short order.

  Cayden had an idea. He waited until they were alone to share it with Killian.

  “It might work,” his partner agreed, excited by the prospect. “We’ll need costumes… and someone to watch Willow and Prince. Since Raven’s not trusting us after the Calodin incident, maybe we can get that cousin of hers—Darcy—to come here.”

  It was early in the day, leaving time enough to put their plan into action. After reserving the dungeon they needed, they placed online orders for things that were delivered in a matter of hours. Contacting Darcy, they swore her to secrecy and told her they wanted to surprise her cousin with an evening out. Darcy was on board with it, volunteering to watch Willow before they had a chance to ask.

  They spent the afternoon transforming the space with help from some of the others, building a set for the scene they had planned. Morgan agreed to take Raven a lemon pie and a jigsaw puzzle for Willow. Lingering longer, she would ensure that Raven remained inside and unaware of her cousin’s arrival.

  Darcy came as planned, parking out of sight in the garage. Zana smuggled her inside and hid her in the movie room. That done, Cayden and Killian headed for the guest suite. Expecting to find Raven with Willow and Morgan, they were surprised when Zac and Aiden’s mate answered the door.

  Morgan eyed their outfits with undisguised interest.

  “Where’s Raven?” Cayden asked her.

  “She said she had to check something in the infirmary.”

  What? Why…?

  “Raven’s cousin, Darcy, is here,” Killian told her. “She’s in the movie room. Will ye see that she and Willow and Prince get to the communal living room? There are games and movies waiting for them.”

  Expression darkening, Cayden frowned. Unless she needed first aid supplies, there was no reason for Raven to be in the infirmary.

  A sense of foreboding curled its icy fingers along his spine. He motioned to Killian and headed downstairs.

  Entering the infirmary with a gift of stealth their kind possessed, they found their dark-haired beauty hunched over a file. Phone in hand, she was snapping shots of an image that Cayden immediately recognized. It was the latest ultrasound of Casey’s twins. Another that hadn’t shown their genders. Raven had already seen the set. Why would she want to look at them now? And why did she need photographs?

  “Can I help ye wie something there, lass?” he questioned with a hint of steel.

  Raven straightened, flustered. Turning swiftly, she knocked papers off the table and onto the floor. Not at all pleased at being caught, she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders defensively, eyes widening when she saw the pirate-wear they had donned just for her. She drank them in from the scarves tied around their heads, their oiled chests and fitted breeches, past the cutlasses hanging by their sides to the tops of their knee-high leather boots.

  A guilty flush reddened her cheeks. “I…”

  Killian slid his partner a sideways look. “I think we need to deal with this wench. What say you?”

  Cayden gave a humorless grin. “I say, go fer it.”

  The next second, the Irishman had Raven hoisted over his shoulder, carrying her off like spoils of war. They headed upstairs, ignoring the looks cast their way and the curses she spewed under her breath, choosing to not shriek like a banshee and alarm her child.

  Cayden opened the door of the dungeon they’d transformed for the night into a scene from Bound by the Pirate King. The beams Zac used for shibari now supported the ceiling of the captain’s cabin, thanks to a stage design they’d built with help from Malik, Emmett, and Theo.

  Raven went still when she saw where they were. Not a word passed from her lips when Killian bent his knees and slid her off his shoulder to stand on her own two feet.

  “Weel, weel,” Cayden hummed. “What hae we here, Paolo? The governor cannae rule his household and neither, it seems, can we. What do ye hae to say fer yerself, wench?” he growled, adding enough of his true voice, her knees threatened to buckle.

  Raven stayed silent, which was no more than he expected. The dissonance of guilt radiated from her, leaving her aura jagged and torn.

  “No? Ye’ll confess soon enough,” he predicted. “One way or another, ye’re gang tae tell us. Yer choice,” he said. “We can do this the easy way or do this the hard way. What’s it tae be?”

  When she didn’t answer, Killian chuckled. “Cat got yer tongue?”

  Cayden strode around her in a circle, boot heels clicking on the floor. “The hard way it is. Strip.”

  “Now wait a damn min—”

  “I said strip!” he commanded, cutting off her words, his true voice flowing freely from his lips.

  Mouth snapping closed, she moved to obey, her hands trembling.

  He knew he should feel guilty using it against her but he couldn’t deny the thrill of power. She’d lied to them. Hidden the truth. If this was the only way they’d get it from her, so be it. They’d torture her with pleasure until she spilled every secret she harbored.

  He watched silently as she stripped out of her top and tugged off her jeans. Socks, trainers, and underwear followed.

  Gaze sweeping over her, he greedily took in the sight of their mate. She was beautiful. Hips rounded, breasts high, her pale skin unblemished except for the fading remnants of stretch marks. A legacy of motherhood’s gravid belly. What once was and would never be again.

  Her loss and theirs as well.

  Fertile or no, she was still a magnificent creature. Cayden could imagine the lust of the pirate king surveying his captive. A treasure stolen from his greatest enemy, ready to be seduced and despoiled by not one but two men.

  He wondered how Mirabella felt. Unfortunately, he’d had to stop reading before he finished the book. But looking at the titles in Raven’s library had been eye-opening. She might not be kinky but she was certainly curious. His bet was that she would be open to an evening in the dungeon spent testing equipment and toys and seeing what she liked.

  Instead, she’d forced their hand and changed the scenario from pirate play to pirate interrogation. She was keeping secrets, withholding things from them that could potentially put them all in danger. Tobias had ordered them to learn what they could. That’s exactly what they were going to do, however unconventional their methods might seem.

  “Rope!” he ordered Killian, watching as his partner bound her wrists and tied them to an overhead beam. She stood, gloriously nude with her hands high above her head and just enoug
h slack that she could slightly bend her elbows, twist and turn, but more importantly, spread her feet and keep them apart.

  “Cayden.” Her voice was a tortured whisper.

  “Captain,” he corrected her. “Ye’ll call me Captain in here. Ye’ll call him Sir. Is that clear?”

  She dropped her gaze and swallowed hard. “Yes, Captain. Yes, Sir.”

  Cayden hummed his pleasure. “She’s a sight to behold, isn’t she, First Mate?”

  Circling around her, Killian ran his finger along her side. “That she is.”

  “Let’s adorn those breasts of hers with jewels.” Stalking toward a table with everything they’d set out, he collected a pair of clamps linked by a chain. Returning to their captive, he pinched her nipples erect before attaching them. The faceted stones dangling from the ends glittered in the ambient light.

  “Time for the stocks,” Cayden decided. The pair that Malik had made would encase her ankles and keep her legs apart, acting as a wooden spreader bar.

  She might have fought them if she’d known what he planned next.

  “What are you doing, Captain?” she bleated when she saw the single, telling clamp in his hand.

  Ignoring her pleas, he fastened it to her clit. Killian lubed up the anal hook. Cayden used a length of thin rope to bind her hair and tie it to the top of the hook once it was in. She couldn’t drop her chin without pulling it deeper into her rectum.

  Alarmed brown eyes met Cayden’s. He didn’t miss her tiny whimper of confusion. Restrained as she was, she’d have to give them her trust.

  Caressing her jaw soothingly, he brought his lips close to her ear. “Ye're a sight tae behold, wench. By the time we’re through with ye, all yer treasure will be plundered and ye’ll belong tae the both of us.”

  He and Killian would have to monitor her reactions. Make sure the clamps and hook didn’t become too uncomfortable. His medical training and ethics as a healer would not allow true harm to come to their mate.