Stealing Hope [Midnighter Seductions 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Corinne Davies

  “Looks like you have a live one there, Falcon.” A deep voice she didn’t recognize had her twisting to try and look. A man as tall as Falcon was holding open the door as he carried her though.

  “That’s an understatement. She’s very ungrateful, too.”

  “Ungrateful! For what? Being stolen from my house in the middle of the night and brought here. I swear this is not happening!”

  “Hope, I said you could trust us.”

  “Oh sure, because when a psycho douche bag says ‘trust me,’ I have no reason to doubt him.”

  Wolfe entered and clasped arms with the large man at the door and then locked it behind him. Fear spiked through Hope’s system. I’m running out of time. All she needed to do was get away from Falcon. There were lots of construction tools around here she could use to defend herself.

  “No!” Hope threw her weight to the side, but Falcon’s stride didn’t falter. Grabbing handfuls of his hair she yanked hard. He grunted and a sharp pain exploded on her ass where he smacked it with his large hand.

  “Ow!” she exclaimed and tried to kick him in the stomach. He turned around and she watched in horror as one of the men pulled up a large section of the floor, exposing a black hole. How many women were down there, or was she about to be killed and dumped? Clenching her stomach muscles she reared back, lifting herself up and finally throwing Falcon off-balance for a moment.

  “Hope, stop it!”

  “Fuck you!” She tried to elbow him in the back of his head and kick him in the balls. She might not be able to fight them all off, but she wasn’t going to accept her death as inevitable. The world dipped and swirled dangerously as she felt herself tossed around.

  “Catch her, Wolfe.” Falcon’s words weren’t enough warning before she felt herself become weightless as she was tossed into the black.

  She managed a single terror-filled scream before landing hard in Wolfe’s arms. He used the momentum to flip her up and over. The air rushed out of her lungs with the impact of her stomach against his shoulder. The nausea that followed didn’t abate when she saw Falcon land nimbly on his feet behind them. They were plunged into darkness when the floor closed above them. A moment later, eerie silver light filled the room, creating waves on the wall like lights reflecting off a pool. They’re going to drown me?

  “I can’t stand her fear, let’s go.”

  Wolfe started walking and Hope’s sense of survival kicked in again. This was her last chance, but Wolfe tightened his arms around her legs and another over her waist, pinning her in place. Her breath caught and she felt her eyes fill with tears.

  “Please don’t hurt me.”

  Falcon’s expression softened and filled with guilt. “Never, I swear. Trust us.”

  She felt her lower lip shake as true terror washed over her. “Fuck…”

  The world elongated and she watched in horrified curiosity as Falcon became nothing more than a speck in the distance in the blink of an eye. In the next blink he rushed back up to her so fast she feared he’d crash into them. She closed her eyes and gripped handfuls of Wolfe’s shirt as it felt like the world around her melted and her body catapulted into space.

  “I’ve got you, Hope.” Wolfe rubbed his hand on the back of her thigh. “We’re home.”

  She blinked her eyes open and then rubbed them for good measure. Behind her she watched as Falcon stepped from a large mirror of undulating mercury. The substance peeled away from him like water from oil. Wolfe stopped and gently lowered her to the ground, keeping his large hand at her elbow. That she appreciated since she felt as shaky as a leaf in a tornado.

  “This way.” He directed her to walk down a long hallway where a bright light lit up the entrance.

  “What is this place?” She felt strangely detached from herself. Part of her wanted to run, but her body didn’t seem to want to cooperate. “And what did you carry me through?”

  “That is a portal between your world and ours. You are now on Lu’um, our home.” Falcon caught her other elbow.

  “That’s not possible.” Hope moved with them as she tried to process everything they were saying.

  “Considering you just experienced it, I’d say you’re mistaken. We will take care of you here, I swear.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Fear and adrenalin fueled her actions as she jerked her arms and broke the hold they had on her. Jumping backward she turned and ran for the dais where the strange mirror stood, her aching knee forgotten in her panic to get away from them. At the last moment, she ran around it, looking for another way back into the building. But there was no doorway behind it. Nothing but a series of pillars and seats, and the mirror was only about six inches thick.

  Wolfe and Falcon both chased after her, their cowboy boots stomping against the stone beneath her as they drew closer. But she knew that you didn’t get good traction in those boots and used it to her advantage. She was barefoot with a much better grip and abruptly spun and headed in another direction. The skittering sound of two men slipping and muttered curses told her she was right. They tried to grab her again, but she ducked out of their grip and saw her opening. Running full tilt for the entrance, she ignored their yelling behind her as she headed for freedom.

  Her eyes were blinded for a moment when she crossed over the threshold, but even squinting she realized her mistake. She skidded on the stone floor herself as she tried to stop, but the momentum threw her forward. The floor dropped off into a steep staircase and she knew that she’d never survive the fall.

  A large arm snaked around her waist, plucking her out of the air and forcing the breath from her chest. She was slammed up against another chest as hands gripped her upper arms.

  “What the hell were you thinking? You almost killed yourself and us in the process.” Wolfe’s voice echoed in her ears he yelled so loudly. She blinked up at Wolfe’s expression. He looked sick and she could feel Falcon resting his head against her spine, his arms still wrapped around her waist.

  “I didn’t know.” It might be a lame excuse, but she was the one who’d been kidnapped. Her heart slammed rapidly against her chest as she panted. Her body felt jittery and she had trouble thinking clearly. She wanted to get away from them, but for a reason she couldn’t comprehend she felt secure between them like this. It was a contradiction she couldn’t explain.

  “Hope, you aren’t going to the bathroom without us for a while after that stunt,” Falcon said behind her. He slipped his arm from her chest and stepped away from her.

  “I’m not saying sorry, Falcon. I didn’t ask to come here and if you think I’m staying long enough to use the bathroom you’re nuts!” She wriggled and tried to get out from between them. It was disconcerting feeling so much in a short amount of time. Hope was used to her life being predictable and, well, kind of boring, but she was fine with that.

  “Hope, you’re not going anywhere.” Wolfe autocratic tone grated on her nerves and pricked her temper.

  “You wanna bet, Wolfe?” she snapped.

  “You’re pushing to get your ass spanked.” Wolfe swept her up into his arms and started down the stairs. She glared at him but wasn’t about to risk him dropping her at the moment. Those stone stairs looked treacherous, but he and Falcon navigated them like they’d been born with Super Stick on their feet.

  She glanced over at Falcon and noticed that he’d already pulled his shirt off and balled it in the crown of his cowboy hat. There wasn’t a spare inch of fat anywhere on his body, and she could see the muscles moving under his skin. Markings that looked like shiny new skin curled up both his arms from wrist to shoulders. He’d taken his boots off and held them in his other hand as he descended. Physically he was incredible, but the warmth she felt ogling him faded when she looked back up at his face. He looked at her as if he was disappointed in her, making her feel bad for running, but what did they expect? She wasn’t the bad person here.

  Falcon pulled at the gauze on his arms and she winced. Pulling the fabric out of the dried blood
had to be painful, but he didn’t flinch. When his arm was bared she noticed that there wasn’t a single bit of damaged skin, only streaks of dried blood. What is going on here?

  “Why did you have fake scratches on your arms?”

  “They weren’t fake. I couldn’t heal them till we got back here,” Falcon answered as he balled up the fabric. “We need to find IxChel and have her look at your leg.”

  “My leg?” As if his words flicked a switch in her head the pain sensors in her brain reactivated and her knee blazed in agony. Hope grit her teeth and tried not to let it show. “You have very strong self-preservation instincts which I can appreciate.” Wolfe moved his arm slightly. She realized then that when he picked her up he’d been careful not to put too much pressure on her injured leg. “But I don’t like that you are hiding from us.”

  “What do you mean ‘hiding?’ You’re carrying me for Pete’s sake.”

  “Your leg is very painful at the moment and you’re trying to hide it from us,” Falcon said. “I can sense the agony that is radiating up from your leg. You probably hurt it further by running.”

  “Okay, wait, I don’t understand any of this.” Hope was hopelessly lost at the moment. “What are you talking about? From the beginning. Where am I? What is this place? And who are you?” And are you planning on killing me?

  She didn’t voice the last question, but by the angry look Falcon shot her, she wondered if they could read her mind. Now that her panic had eased slightly, she noticed the sun was shining. It had been the middle of the night when they took her from her home. The mirror thing they had stepped through was inches thick. She remembered seeing the back of it as she tried to evade them, and as she took a moment to look around it dawned on her that Wolfe was carrying her down a stone staircase on the side of a large triangular-shaped building.

  “One question at a time. You already know who we are. We’re the same men we were fifteen minutes ago.” Falcon spoke as he stroked his hand down her leg.

  “That’s not reassuring. I thought you were going to kill me fifteen minutes ago.”

  “For the last time,” Wolfe’s voice rumbled above her. She looked at his face and he was frowning. “We’d never willingly harm a single inch of you, and we swear to protect you with our dying breaths. Is that clear?”

  It might have been romantic if he hadn’t been glaring at her or if she hadn’t still been half scared out of wits. “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because I haven’t strangled you yet?”

  Hope frowned at him before turning back to Falcon. A part of her believed him, even though a sane person would still be questioning him. Maybe that was it. She’d gone insane. Falcon rubbed his hand against her shin, capturing her attention again.

  “I understand it’s a lot to take in at the moment. There is a portal beneath the club between your world and ours. That is why we’re building out in the middle of nowhere. First and foremost we need to secure the portal and prevent our enemies from using it to gain access to our world. You are in Lu’um right now. We are descendants of the people you know of as Mayans.”

  They reached the bottom of the stairs and Wolfe didn’t pause as they set out across the grass and around the building. Everything looked so green and lush. Hope was torn between asking the million questions that filled her brain and staring at the world around her.

  “Can you read minds?”

  “No,” Wolfe answered. “But we are sensitive to the emotions, more to those that are close to us. Our world has a rich natural energy to it and we can draw on that to aid us in healing. That is why our arms were injured on Earth but not here. We both healed moments after stepping through the portal.”

  “Can you heal others?”

  “No, we have healers like IxChel. That is who we are taking you to now. We want her to meet you and see to your leg.”

  Hope’s brain ticked through the many stories she’d researched from around the world. From the Tuatha Dé Danann in Ireland to the Midnighters she’d heard of in New Mexico and many others. Most cultures had legends and stories about advanced civilizations that lived in differed worlds than theirs. She’d often wished that some of those stories were true. What if this one was?

  “The Mayans were a very violent culture with a lot of rituals involving sacrifice before their disappearance. Is that true here?”

  “No, we are a peaceful people for the most part. We have enemies and those are creatures that have tried to invade our lands and enslave us. Much of what happened thousands of years before is lost. We are a people that enjoy exploring and we found Earth and were fascinated by its people and creatures. Also your world was the first we found that has a similar natural energy to it as ours does. But we retreated out of Earth because the Kimil had followed us there. When the portal closed, there were some trapped there. We had a calendar lock on it so that no one could cross over until we hoped you would be advanced enough to defend yourselves.”

  The information flooded her brain, awakening the odd story she’d researched, but also the rampant fear- and conspiracy-filled theories of last December. “Your portal opened when the Mayan calendar ended.”

  “That’s right. It was the first chance we had to cross over and find what had been trapped over there.”

  “And what did you leave over there?”

  “According to our legends, the women who are meant for each one of us.”

  Chapter Seven

  Falcon liked the feel of Hope’s shin under his hand, a simple gesture, but considering her panic when they first brought her here, he took it as a positive step forward. He’d never anticipated the waves of emotions that would pound at him, to the point he had trouble deciphering between his own and hers. She was putting on a brave face at the moment, but the rush she’d gotten from her panic had worn off and he could sense the agony she felt from her leg. When she broke away from them he’d thought for a moment that she’d somehow tricked him, but he’d sensed the rush her body provided. When she ran wildly for the entrance he’d felt his own rush of fear.

  Their little Atan was a continual surprise to him. He’d expected her fear when they stole her away, but essentially he’d thought she’d meekly go along with them. Not fight back and almost kill herself in the process. Now that she had a moment to take in what they’d done, instead of railing at them and screaming she was peppering them with questions about Lu’um.

  “And who exactly are these women and why are they yours?”

  Hope’s obvious fascination with this part of their past didn’t surprise him. He knew of her obsession with legends and stories and was happy to tell her as many as he knew. Anything to distract her from the fact she would never go back to Earth.

  “As Midnighters, we have a sacred duty to protect our Nohchils, the people they rule, and Lu’um. The gods are the one that choose us and also our Atans. Because our lives are often threatened we are gifted with a warrior brother to watch our back, and we share our Atan so if one of us is lost, she will never be alone. She is also under the protection of all the Midnighters when she is claimed.”

  “I wish I had my notebook.” Hope muttered, “I’m never going to be able to remember all my questions and your answers.”

  “You can ask any of us about the legends, Hope.” Wolfe rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “What does that mean?” Her tone sharpened and she darted looks back and forth between the two of them.

  Falcon could have throttled his warrior brother’s bad sense of timing. They’d just managed to get her calmed down and here he was riling her up again. “Because you can barely walk,” he quickly answered, but by her narrowed look he suspected she didn’t completely believe him.

  He looked up and felt a wave of relief come over him as IxChel stepped through one of the lower doors of the temple.

  “I thought I felt you all come through.” She glided up to the three of them and laid her hand on Hope’s arm. “They gave you a
good scare, didn’t they? I can still feel your heart racing.”

  “I think I’ve calmed down quite a bit,” Hope responded. She looked unsure of IxChel’s bold interruption.

  “Of course you have, child, but I can still sense the rapid sparking of your nerves and the kind I’m talking of is not because of the warrior carrying you.” She patted Hope’s blushing cheek. “That is a completely different reaction.”

  “Come with me, boys. Let’s see to her leg. I’m sure you don’t want to put off the Cha’an.”

  “What’s that?” Hope asked and IxChel pinned a chilling glare on him and Wolfe.

  “Why do you warriors refuse to tell your Atans everything they need to know before coming here?” She spun on her heel and marched off ahead of them.

  “Um, what was she saying?”

  “We’ll tell you everything in a little bit. Let’s get your knee feeling better first.” Wolfe squeezed her a little bit and Falcon could feel him pulling on her energy levels.

  “That adrenaline rush must be wearing off big time.” She yawned and covered her mouth with her hand. “I could so use a nap right now.”

  “Rest your head on me for a moment. I’ll keep you safe, Atan.”

  Falcon watched as her eyes drooped and then snapped open, only to close halfway. She was fighting the draw into sleep, but they didn’t want her awake when IxChel fixed her leg in case the process hurt.

  “How can I be so scared of you and then not be? I don’t get it.”

  “Because deep down under what you think you know, your soul recognizes us,” Falcon answered, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

  She yawned again and her head drooped against Wolfe’s chest. “That’s so romantic.”

  Her words were almost a whisper as she drifted off into sleep. “It’s not a deep sleep.” Wolfe spoke softer than Falcon had ever heard him before. “If it looks like she will be in a lot of pain during the healing I’ll pull her deeper.”