by Lisa Ladew
But he just looked at her with those green eyes latched on hers, pleading like they had before for Gemma to understand. She heard a flutter outside the entrance, and the next second he was gone.
Why didn’t he come to me? Her heart felt like it had been struck with a spear but Gemma didn’t let it show. She sucked in a breath and turned to her hunting companions.
Back to the fight, Dario’s voice rang in her skull. You don’t need him. You've got this. And Gemma knew he was right but she still wanted to swat that overgrown puppy with a newspaper for saying so. She screamed in fury and headed back into the belly of the bloodsucking beast, Shiloh and Dario at her side once more.
But it wasn't them she wanted there.
Chapter 41 - Win The Battle, Lose The Switch?
Riot cursed as he turned from the mineshaft entrance and ran to meet Aven where he landed, ten feet away. Shit! Gemma’s hunting with Dario, probably going to Prowl with him, and you can’t muster up a fucking meow? What the fuck is wrong with you? Riot’s chest ached with his failure, but now wasn’t the time. You got shit to do.
The eagle shifter was leaning on a rock, breathing hard as he reported his findings. “Explosives. Whole place… rigged to blow. Didn’t see… before.”
For a moment Riot couldn’t comprehend what Aven was saying, then his eyes shot to the eagle’s. “Get to the Fatherborne. Distract him, steal the detonator if you see one, fuck, do whatever you can!”
Riot sprinted back to the mineshaft and inside, not even bothering to see if Aven agreed, calling out with his mind as loudly as he could. Gemma! Cora! Goldie! You have to get out! The whole mine is a trap!
But Riot knew it was useless. Not only was he too far away, but if the switches hadn’t killed all the vampires yet, they wouldn’t be able to leave. Their biology forbade it.
Great Cat help us all if they start to Prowl here. In fact, it was the only explanation Riot had for the Fatherborne not blowing the mine already. A Fatherborne would know about the Prowl. Might be counting on it. Riot would have to hope he was right. And run faster.
His paws hit the packed earth at top speed, the muscles of his legs and torso straining with every push. Cheetahs eat my dirt. The wind rushed through his whiskers as he ran, thick with the scent of bloodsuckers, of warring shifters, and switches at full power.
As he ran, Riot could feel himself changing. Not shifting, but… growing? His strides got longer, his bones burning with their lengthening, the sound of his paws hitting the ground changing with the additional weight. Riot was going into battle for the switch he was heartbound to, and his puma was stepping it the fuck up. Alright, then. Let’s do this thing.
They were down to the last of the vampires, Riot saw, as he turned the final corner and came tearing into a huge space. The floor and columns were made of pristine white marble, the walls and ceiling of muted-yellow rock and dirt that glittered with gold dust. Little piles of sparkle littered the corners of the room, the green glow of the switches reflected in the shine.
Riot’s eyes went instantly to Gemma, stalking a young vampire with Shiloh and Dario, cornering the skinny fuck against a wall. Her magnificent glow spilled onto the shifters beside her, coloring their fur.
The black wolf snapped his teeth in the bloodsucker’s direction and the skinny creature jumped away, then back when he came too close to Shiloh. He looked at Gemma with weepy eyes. “If you let me live, I’ll… I’ll tell you where they took the women.”
Gemma paused as Riot watched, her knife clenched in her hand. My knife. Her Resonant. Riot didn’t want to fight it anymore. He wanted to belong to her just as much as that weapon did. He took another silent step closer and sent his thoughts in her direction. Gemma.
She whirled to face him, the smile on her face so bright that Riot wished he could smile back. Instead he invaded her mind again. Find out what you need to know, then kill him. This place is a trap.
Gemma turned back to the vampire. “Tell me.” Riot listened with half an ear to the answer as he sent the news about the mine to Goldie and Cora, each finishing off a bloodsucker of their own. He could tell they had relayed the message when Jameson and Flint - I ain’t callin’ him Yogi when he’s standing twelve feet tall - started herding their mates toward the mineshaft.
Gonna have to pin ‘em to the nearest tree as soon as they’re out, Riot thought to himself with an inner smirk, but still he urged them on. Run! Fast as you can! Two switches and four shifters got the hell out of Dodge.
Riot turned back to Gemma just in time to see the killing blow. She stepped close to the vampire, raising her left arm as if to touch his shoulder reassuringly, smiling at the look of relief on his pale face. But her right hand slammed into his belly, the blade she held opening a wound of red light that threw the vampire backwards to the floor.
We good? Time to go, he mind-shouted at Gemma, frantic to get her out of the mine before it collapsed on top of them. Riot ran forward and tugged at the back of her slip of a white sundress, noticing that this time, she’d put on a pair of shorts underneath. He frowned internally at losing the view of her ass even as he admired her quick learning curve. Damn smart switch.
Gemma turned to him. You called?
Riot snarled in reply. Cute. Now run.
And that was when the walls caved in.
* * *
Gemma screamed as an explosion rocked the back of the huge cavern where she, Riot, Dario, and Shiloh were just turning to leave. The gleaming yellow rock walls shuddered, and the ceiling rained down chunks the size of her fist. One hit Shiloh and sent her screeching to the side, her mouth wide in an offended yowl. Gemma heard Riot’s voice in her head again. Run!
She didn’t question, just trusted, her feet in motion before the echo of Riot’s voice had left her mind. The exhilaration coursing through Gemma’s body was partly because of the Undoings, partly because she was pretty sure she was about to die, but almost entirely because he had come back!
Joy ripped at her, making her want to run to him, but the cavern shook with another explosion, this one closer to the mineshaft. Gemma decided that mostly she wanted to, well, not die, so that she could thank-slash-reward Riot properly. And that meant they all had to get out.
A glint caught her eye as she ran toward the power. Gold is metal, and Palladium said that’s where we get our power. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Without breaking stride she bent far enough to snatch up a clump of small yellow nuggets with her left hand.
Gemma felt her magic surge at once and blew across the gold nuggets, into her hand, envisioning the results she wanted as she sent an urgent thought to all three of the shifters with her. Stay close!
Her breath expanded at once, forming a ball of magicks big enough to enclose her upper torso. Gemma heard and felt another explosion rock the shaft over their heads, and saw a rock fall from the ceiling to bounce off her green bubble. Perfect! Then the rock ricocheted, hit Riot in the side, tearing his fur and making an ugly gash. Shit!
Gemma tucked her knife away and scooped up another lump of yellow gold and rock as she ran. She held her hands together, squeezing the jagged rocks tight, forcing all her energy, all her love, all her everything into the ball of magicks. She thought of the symbols in the Keeper’s Book that represented her sister switches, their coven, and most of all the slash marks that meant to her the bravest of all beings, their protectors. And now they need my protection, so fucking work, dammit!
And as if in answer to her demand, the ball of magicks swelled to fill the mineshaft, covering Gemma and all three of the shifters with a sort of magical umbrella, bouncing the falling rocks to land behind them, filling the shaft like a grave.
They took the next corner together, and the next, all four of them moving in stride, a perfectly-crafted machine. Strength surged through Gemma's body and out her hands, as if she was just the conduit for this energy, the source a mystery.
Another corner and Gemma could smell the air again, but at the next her magic was waning.
She could run for miles but now her legs felt heavy and slow. Sweat popped on her upper lip and dripped down from her hairline.
Riot noticed. She heard the thought he sent her, his voice dead serious. Tell them to run. Now. I’ve got you.
Gemma sent the message to Shiloh and Dario at once, not even questioning. She felt them look at her and tried not to show how much she was struggling. But Shiloh’s clipped voice in her head let Gemma know they saw. We’re good from here, Gemma. And then the leopard and black wolf tore away, darting through the falling rocks towards the exit.
But Riot was still with her. Gemma pulled her magic back, just big enough to cover the two of them, and ran on. Just a couple turns left. Has to be. The green umbrella above them sputtered, a rock breaking through and tagging Gemma on the shoulder. “Ow!”
Riot spoke inside her mind, his voice sounding like it came through gritted teeth. Just cover yourself. I’m fine.
She scoffed back at him. Shut up, Riot! I’m not letting you get crushed by a rock!
But this motherfucker wanted to argue. Gemma heard his voice again, even tighter this time. You have to get out. I don’t.
Gemma’s heart stuttered - he thinks I would leave him? - but she didn’t respond. Just clenched her jaw, sturdied her heart, and pushed that green bubble as wide and strong as she fucking could. She could see night at the end of this tunnel, and she’d be damned if Riot wouldn’t make it out.
If only so she could kill him herself.
Chapter 42 - A Switch Scorned
Riot kept pace with Gemma as they took the last corner, but he could no longer hear her thoughts. Her mind had gone deadly silent. For the first time during this hunt she did the opposite of what he told her to do. The umbrella of green magicks above them got so thick, pushed back the falling rocks so thoroughly, it reminded Riot of a bulldozer’s scoop. Not running out of juice, then.
They burst out of the entrance to the mine, he and Gemma, just as the ceiling caved in behind them, a dust cloud billowing out for dozens of feet. Riot shifted immediately, scrambling to grab Gemma as she stumbled, slumped with exhaustion, pulling her further from danger, shielding her body with his. Rocks pelted him, tearing new gashes in his human skin as he lifted Gemma in his arms and ran.
A glance around showed Dario and Shiloh both panting by the tree line, in their animal forms but healed, so they must have shifted to human and back. Ryder was just behind them, a dark-pelted clouded leopard, barely visible in the thick foliage. He made a chuffing sound that Riot understood better than English. His friend had been waiting to see if Riot made it out alive; he was glad Riot had.
Bryce was standing nearby, all-human and buck naked, arms crossed in defiance, leaning his back against a tree. Aven stood beside him, fully clothed, a furious scowl on his face. Bryce lifted his chin at Riot and shouted, “Great, someone else who didn’t get the everweft memo.”
Riot scowled and looked more closely at their surroundings. No switches in sight, and not Jameson or Flint, either. Prowling. And as Gemma started to come-to in his arms, he knew he needed to get her to privacy, too.
He met the other shifters’ eyes. “Get clear. We’re done for the night.” At once the three who were already animals turned to leave, Bryce shifting to lope after them. Aven gave Riot a stony look, one that promised they would talk, then shifted into his eagle and soared impossibly straight up until Riot lost sight of him.
Now Riot had his own evening to plan. And he was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be wine and candlelight.
Gemma came barreling out of her magical exhaustion, pushing at Riot’s arms like she was still in the hunt. Nah, we’re not doing that shit again. He set Gemma on her feet, grabbed her hand, and looked her straight in the eyes. “Run.”
Like before, she took off, her hand in his, not even questioning his order. The implication settled deep in his bones. She trusts me. No question. Riot started to deny that he was worthy of that trust, like he always did, but the part of him that wanted her love, needed it like water, fought with him.
No! You’ve always done your best for Gemma. She’s the one who says if that’s enough.
Riot snarled deep in his throat as they ran, accepting the truth. If he was going to ask Gemma to trust him through every Undoing and Prowl for the rest of their lives, then Riot was going to have to start trusting himself. No more of this insecure bullshit.
They sprinted, hard, fast, feet pounding on the ground, past the spot where the Range Rover and J’s truck had been parked, all the way to where Riot had ditched his bike on the side of the road. He slowed, pulling Gemma to a stop.
Instantly she came at him, punching and scratching. What the fuck?! Riot grunted as she landed a solid blow to his stomach. “Could we… have one time… where we don’t… have to fight… before the good part?” Riot tried to keep his voice light as he blocked Gemma’s blows, taking in stride the ones that connected.
But Gemma wasn’t playing. She shrieked as she raked her fingernails across his chest then punched right on top of the scratches. “Maybe… if you would stop… acting like such… a dumbass!”
Like a what? Riot took a closer look at Gemma’s face, at the tears spilling over her eyes and onto her cheeks. Shit, she’s really not okay. He grabbed Gemma’s wrists, stopping the fight, holding her arms wide so she couldn’t bury her face or turn away or scratch his eyes out like he knew she wanted to. “Gemma, what did I do?”
She pushed forward, against his arms, and screamed in his face. “You told me to leave you!” Then her shoulders started to shake with sobs, and the fight rose in her again. She yanked her hands free and started slapping at Riot, clawing at his chest like she wanted to rip straight through to his heart.
I told her to- what? Riot was so stunned, it took a second for him to respond. He grabbed Gemma’s wrists again and started dragging her off the road, into the thick trees just yards away.
Riot replayed every encounter, from that first night in the forest to now, through the lens of him meaning more to Gemma than just a warm, protective body. His knife being her Resonant, the look on her face in the courtyard the night he’d spied on the switches, that thing she’d said about him being the best of shifter-kind. The way she’d pushed to learn the truth about Faith, overcome her phobia because of him, taken over his grow, involved the whole Cause so he’d know they wouldn’t reject him.
Great Cat, I am such a fucking idiot. Riot found a thick tree surrounded by dark green moss and fallen leaves, and pressed Gemma against it.
Her back scraping bark made Gemma hiss in a breath and look at him, her fiery, watery eyes squinted in fury. “Don’t you ever say that shit to me again!”
Riot swallowed and shook his head, meeting her eyes. “I never will.”
Then he kissed her. Or she devoured him. Equal credit. Either way it was the opposite of fighting, a full one-eighty from the way he’d been holding back all this time. Riot crowded Gemma against the tree, getting as close as he could, wanting to be even closer.
Her voice was a whimper against his lips. “I need you, Riot.”
She didn’t have to say another word. Riot’s hands stole under the hem of Gemma’s dress, undoing the fastening of her shorts and crouching to shove them and her underwear down and off her slender legs. He looked up the petite length of her, wanting to stand and feel it all, but wanting something else even more.
The apex of her thighs was just at Riot’s eye level, the hem of her dress dropped down to cover the sweet treasure he sought. Riot settled his knees on the leaf-padded moss and looked up at Gemma again from his place before her, meeting her eyes as he tapped each inner thigh, urging her to spread them wider, daring her to be so bold.
Gemma smiled wickedly, placing her hands on the tree trunk behind her and leaning into it, slowly lifting each leg to plant them further apart. Her eyes never left Riot’s, but even so he could see her chest rising and falling with panting breaths, glistening with perspiration in the moonlight that broke through t
he trees.
Riot placed his hands just above Gemma’s knees and slipped them higher, to her thighs, pushing up the white cotton of her dress as he traveled, slowly exposing the heart of her to his view. Riot’s breath stuttered as her scent reached him, slightly different than before. Not so candy-sweet now, her scent had morphed to become richer, deeper, so complex that it was sure to take him years to discover every nuance. And I am so down for that ride.
He reached for her softness, stroking her lower lips with one fingertip, glad he was already on his knees when they almost buckled at the sensation of her tender, warm skin. Soft like petals, like velvet, and he slipped his finger between her lips to the sensitive flesh they protected, loving the way Gemma’s hips jutted forward when he did.
She was already wet and ready, but Riot wanted her wild. He gripped Gemma’s hips in his big hands, holding her dress up and her lower body still, and leaned forward.
Riot slipped his tongue between her lips, tasting her, and Gemma let out a shaky moan. Riot glanced up and saw her nipples tightening to points under the white cotton of her dress, her eyes locked on what he did to her. His dick filled to rock-hard.
Riot’s tongue slithered between plump softness, feeling the give of her flesh as he worked his way higher, almost touching her clit, and then low again, working his tongue just inside her entrance. Just enough to tease her.
Gemma cried out Riot’s name as he worked her with his mouth. Licking, sucking, teasing, until finally she dug her fingers in his hair and held him to her. Her voice was the sweetest harmony in Riot’s ears, crying out, telling him how much she needed him to go faster, slower, harder, deeper, back to that other spot. Riot finally had mercy, sucking at Gemma’s clit, flicking his tongue at the little spot he remembered from her last Prowl, where Gemma stopped directing and started chanting, “Yes. Riot. Don’t stop. Yes. Oh, God. Yes, yes, pleeeeaaase…”
