by L. A. Banks
“Have you eaten?” Sir Rodney asked quietly as the large double doors closed, then went to the table to pour her a goblet of wine.
“Not since yesterday,” Queen Cerridwen said in a soft tone as he brought her the chalice. She accepted it from him, allowing her fingers to gently graze his. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. but that is not good. We must rectify your nutrition before you waste away. My kitchen staff is at your disposal, if what Rupert has brought isn’t satisfactory.”
Only a few inches from him, she looked up and took a slow sip of wine. “You’re right. It isn’t good and I’m sure that what has been brought will suffice. But this inexplicable thing between us has always been the best sustenance for me, Rodney.. It’s the one thing that could always revive me. and it was always good.”
He nodded and touched her cheek gently with the back of his knuckles. “We may war, but I would never allow Vampires to brutalize you or your Sidhe, Cerridwen. Never.”
She closed her eyes and turned into the warmth of his caress. “I swear to you this is no game or ploy. I have not done that which they hold me liable for. I would not involve you in my mischief, were it thus.”
“I believe that,” he said quietly, allowing his hands to slowly cover her soft, creamy shoulders. “Maybe because I want to believe it as much as I need to believe it.”
She closed the gap between them, letting the chalice dissolve away with a sparkle of magick. “Can we forget the past and start anew just for tonight. on this beautiful autumn eve—this halfway mark between the end of summer and the beginning of the winter? Shall we meet in the middle and join as one?”
Tracing the edge of her delicate jaw with trembling fingers, he lowered his mouth to hers. “What past, Cerridwen?” he murmured, gently tasting her lips. “When we’ve just truly met for the very first time tonight.”
New Hampshire’s woodlands were in full fall color, their breathtaking splendor made even more glorious by the light of the brilliant moon. Hunter turned quickly and protectively pressed his naked body against Sasha’s as a sparkling multihued Fae missive parted the fall foliage, whizzing through the branches like a heat-seeking missile. It terminated with a loud thunk into a birch tree, narrowly missing them, its silver tip deeply embedded in the ghostly wood under the full moon.
Slowly peeling his skin away from Sasha’s, Hunter reached out and yanked the arrow out of the tree trunk with annoyance.
“Two inches closer and we would have spent the night trying to recover, instead of enjoying the moon or each other,” he said with a growl.
“Something’s gotta be wrong, baby,” she murmured, touching his clasped fist as she gazed up into his amber wolf eyes. “Usually their missives just find us and hover. This one was sent with a lot of extra topspin on it.”
“It had better be a matter of life and death.”
Hunter’s voice filled the glen in a low rumble as he flung the arrow away from them, clearly still peeved that Sir Rodney had sent a missive that interrupted a full-moon wolf run. But she tried not to smile as she gently caressed the five o’clock shadow that graced Hunter’s jaw, tracing the lush contours of his lips while waiting for the kaleidoscope-like missive to open and unfurl the message it contained.
Leaning into his warmth, she could understand his frustration. His massive six-foot-five frame was still burning up from a near shape-shift, and the chase erection he owned was still angrily bobbing up and down with every deep inhalation and exhalation he took. Waiting to be with him required every ounce of discipline she had. Her body was also on fire from the promise of the pleasure his would surely bring as he possessively held her and nuzzled the crown of her head against his cheek.
Her breasts ached with anticipation as she remained pressed against him. Damn, Sir Rodney has lousy timing. Her hand traveled down Hunter’s stone-cut chest to trail over his amber and silver clan medallion, loving the feel of his dark skin beneath her fingertips. She wore the mate to it, and she could feel his body heat almost soaking into the metal and exquisitely etched talisman. For a moment she was driven to near distraction, almost forgetting that there was even a Fae missive hovering mid-air in front of them until it suddenly opened. She’d have to gently remind Sir Rodney one day not to send urgent requests during the full moon; it was just not good form when dealing with Shadow Wolves, or even Werewolves for that matter.
Quickly sensing Hunter and Sasha for authentication, the missive released silver glowing letters into the air before them—a standard protective measure to keep its contents safe from demon or Vampire interception.
There may be foul play at the Sidhe—stop. Queen Cerridwen of Hecate has arrived with news of Vampire graves being daylight invaded—stop. The queen claims no Unseelie involvement, despite her permafrost signature being found at the destruction sites—stop. The last invasion murdered Monroe Bonaventure, Sixth Viceroy of Vlad. Sir Rodney could be compromised by his own emotions and must not know that I have asked you to return to New Orleans to both investigate and support him, should he be lured to ally with the Unseelie—stop. I may have said too much—stop. But this is a matter of Seelie Fae national security—stop. She is with him tonight—stop. Do you understand—stop. In the morning, when cooler heads prevail, he will need to speak to those he respects who can reason with him—stop. This is not our war—stop.
Respectfully requested,
Garth
“Whoa. ,” Sasha murmured as the message disappeared and the arrow flamed. “Garth sent a missive behind Sir Rodney’s back—about his ex-wife the ice queen. who is at the Sidhe as we speak—on the run from Vampires?” Sasha dragged her fingers through her hair and looked out into the distance, thinking for a moment. “What the hell happened in the coupla months we were gone on vacation?”
Hunter just stared at her for a moment, taking in how her gorgeous gray eyes reflected the moonlight and the way her dark, tousled tresses hung about her shoulders. His gaze swept her full, kiss-punished mouth and he unconsciously wet his lips with the tip of his tongue as his eyes slowly followed the length of her throat, over her fragile collarbone, to linger at her pendulous breasts. His palms ached with the need to touch her there, to feel her lithe torso beneath his and to feel the gentle swell of her hips in his hands. or the tight lobes of her delicious ass and the way her long, shapely legs wrapped around his waist to anchor him in deep.
“Hunter—what are we going to do?”
“Huh?”
“Did you read the missive? Do you see what’s going on?” She shook her head and paced away from him to get her bearings. “You have to do better than ‘huh?’ Come on.”
He smiled and rubbed his jaw, then flung his long ponytail over his shoulder with a shrug. “Brain blood loss. It is a gender condition. Repeat the question.”
“Are you serious?” Sasha opened her mouth for a moment and then closed it, and suddenly began to laugh. “Oh, my God. We have potential World War Three about to happen and—”
“How long have you known me?” he asked with a sheepish grin.
“Long enough to know that you were serious when you said, ‘Repeat the question,’ ” she said, smiling.
“I read and comprehended that Garth said we should speak to Rodney in the morning, when cooler heads prevail. Yes?”
“True, but. ”
“Worrying all night serves no purpose and we are too far away to save him from the queen in his bedchamber, if she is there to poison him or to do him harm. Yes?”
“Yeah. but—”
“And I am in no condition for war.”
Sasha’s smile broadened. “True.”
“Then, may I make one request?” he murmured, slowly stalking her.
“Maybe. ,” she said, beginning to laugh. “Depends on what it is.”
He smiled, now showing wolf canines. “It’s very simple, I promise you.”
She tilted her head and sidestepped his quick lunge, taunting him. “What?”
His smile faded a
nd his voice deepened to a sexy rumble. “Run.”
CHAPTER 2
“It still feels pretty weird,” Fisher said as he hauled another crate of equipment into their new makeshift lab.
“Change is always weird, dude,” Winters shot back without looking at him.
Fisher wiped the perspiration forming on his brow with a lanky forearm and then dragged his fingers through his damp blond hair after he set down the heavy load. “Yeah, but for as long as I can remember I’ve been in the military. I don’t know jack about this entrepreneur crap. Two months out and I feel like a. well. yeah. like a fish out of water. Get it?”
“Fisher being a fish out of water, aw, man. bad pun.” Clarissa shook her head and offered Fisher a reassuring smile. “Me, Winters, and Bradley have been government contractors for years. Even Doc Holland has after coming out of uniform. So don’t worry. It’s almost the same as having a lifetime job, as long as we don’t screw up.”
She pushed her heft out of her chair and went to help Bradley arrange his dark-arts manuals and ancient texts on the wall-to-ceiling bookshelves. When she neared him, he brushed her mouth with a casual kiss and moved a strand of her short blond bob behind her ear.
“When you guys get to be my age, past forty, you learn to take things in stride and count your blessings.” Bradley allowed his intense dark gaze to settle on Clarissa for a moment before he glanced over his shoulder at Fisher. “Like not having to deal with the possibility of coming under the command of another SOB like Colonel Madison, even though he finally came around. The next commander you got might not be as forward thinking as General Westford, you know.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Fisher said, giving Bradley a mock salute. “But as long as the POTUS likes our unit and is gung ho about this whole supernatural thing, dickheads like Madison won’t be a problem.”
“Until there’s a change in administration, and then it’s a crap shoot again.” Bradley pushed his horn-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose, studying the binding of a text as he spoke. “Like Winters said, Fish—change is inevitable.”
Winters nodded but didn’t glance up from the computer he was installing. “It’s gotta be bizarre, though, dude. Like, how long were you and Woods in the Service?”
Woods smiled and playfully ruffled Winters’s shock of brunette hair as he passed him, sipping a longneck beer. “As long as you’ve been in diapers, kid.”
Winters pulled back and then suddenly jumped up to play-box with Woods, who only responded with one hand, expertly maneuvering with his brew held mid-air. The matchup was so ridiculous that the other team members simply shook their heads. Winters was a skinny 150 pounds soaking wet, and his greatest physical exertion was wielding thumb strength on his computer games. Whereas Woods had been combat hardened for years, stood a full head taller than the poor kid, and weighed in at about 180, with less than 5 percent body fat, not to mention the fact that he owned a quarter compliment of wolf DNA, like Fisher did.
“Hey, no fair,” Winters finally said, laughing, unable to land even one blow. “Between Delta Force training and freaking wolf DNA, I didn’t stand a chance against you—but that’s the only reason. My kung fu, under normal circumstances, is strong, bro.”
“Yeah, okay. Save it for a hunt.” Woods chuckled and polished off his beer, then hauled another crate over to the lab tables.
“It’s cool. I got your back, lil’ brother,” Fisher said, grabbing a beer and heading toward Woods to roughhouse with him. “This ole country boy’s got a little bit of the wolf thing going on, so—”
“So I wish you gentlemen would stop horsing around in here with all this expensive equipment,” Doc Holland said, suddenly filling the doorway. Although deep frown lines wrinkled his dark, leathery face, amusement played around the edges of his mouth and hid in the gray stubble covering his cheeks, despite his gruff tone. “There’s over a quarter-million dollars’ worth of hard-negotiated-for Paranormal Containment Unit government-issued, breakable items in this room alone. How would you like it if I started yanking around in your artillery shed out back? Not to mention the cost that went into restoring this Spanish-style single and pulling strings to get the zoning, need I go on?”
Bradley offered Doc a half smile. “I told them if they come near my bookshelves with that nonsense, or knock into my crystal ball, I’ll hex them.. Perhaps you need a ward for the computers and lab gear?”
Both Woods and Fisher let go of each other and downed their beers, laughing as they pounded each other’s fists and pointed at each other to signify the fight game would resume later.
“Just because we’re no longer in uniform doesn’t mean all discipline goes out the window,” Doc fussed. “I might take you up on the ward, though, Bradley.”
“All right, all right, we’ll be outside in the backyard,” Woods said in a good-natured tone. “All this packing and moving is making me claustrophobic. Are we done yet?”
“It ain’t the move to this big ole house in the French Quarter, bro,” Fisher said, turning a beer up to his mouth and waggling his eyebrows. “The moon was a beaut last night and is even better tonight, feel me?”
Woods took up a beer from one of the six-packs on the table and clanked it against Fisher’s. “That she was, brother. and that she is.”
Doc released a weary sigh. “The guy working in the basement should be done within the hour. Once we get the alarm system installed, you gentlemen are off the clock. It’s been quiet lately, but almost too quiet. so be careful when you head out, all right?”
“Most excellent,” Fisher said, dodging away from another one of Woods’s quick jabs.
Woods bobbed and weaved away from him, a beer in hand. “We’ll be reachable by electronic leash—the old cell-phone method—but tonight. this dog’s gotta hunt.”
“Come on, guys, can I go to the bar with you this time?” Winters looked from Fisher to Woods with a plaintive expression. “Who wants to be stuck in here with Brads and ’Rissa? No offense, but you guys are like sickeningly in love. Or Doc, seriously no offense, but need I say more?”
“Take him with you before I kill him,” Doc muttered. “I may only be half Shadow Wolf, but sometimes I swear I feel my canines coming in.”
Winters shrugged. “Sorry, Doc.”
Doc Holland released a long breath. “And note that he’s Vampire bait alone, so do look after him, if you do take him to those houses of ill repute you gentlemen frequent.”
“The strip club? We’re really going tonight!” Winters was up and out of his chair again. “Like, seriously, you’re not just messing with my mind?”
“Yeah, lil’ bro. We’ll hook you up, but once we get the ladies to say yes, the rest is on you. You’ve gotta handle your business—can’t do that for you.” Woods gave Fisher a wink and then turned up his beer and guzzled it.
“Cool,” Winters said, enthusiastically heading for the door.
“You guys are off the clock once all this new equipment is installed and the alarm guy finishes the install,” Doc said flatly, dampening all enthusiasm in the room. “So the faster you work, the faster you’re out of here.”
Clarissa shook her head. “There is entirely too much testosterone in here. I don’t think I can take another month of this. Any idea when Sasha will be back?”
“You tell me,” Doc grumbled, checking the microscopes for any signs of damage. “You’re our resident psychic.”
Clarissa smiled. “Yeah, but she left with Hunter, remember, and right now the moon is full. Some things I don’t want to open my third eye to see—TMI, ya know.” She dug in her jeans pocket and produced a cell phone. “But there are some old fallback methods that work just as well.”
“You sure you wanna do this, man?” Bear Shadow leaned in close to his pack brother and kept his voice low. “You don’t have to do this, if you don’t want to.”
Crow Shadow pulled away from the huge, linebacker-sized Shadow Wolf and lifted his chin. “Listen, I don’t need you to
be talking me out of this as my best man. I’m not gonna have my kid not know his dad. or leave Jennifer ass out to raise a kid all by herself.”
Bear Shadow held two beefy hands up in front of his chest. “I make no judgments. It just seems hasty. Hunter doesn’t know. Silver Hawk doesn’t know, even your sister, Sasha, doesn’t know. and neither does Doc, who would be the last person to have an issue with this, given he never knew you were made until you were grown. So, if there is no so-called family problem with this, then why are we standing in Vegas wearing tuxxes and—”
“Because I need to do this right now, tonight, before I change my mind,” Crow Shadow said, squeezing his eyes shut. “Are you with me, brother?”
“Does she know what you are?”
Crow Shadow opened his eyes and stared at his friend without blinking. “Not. well. not exactly. Like, I tried to start her off easy, you know. telling her that there’s genetic differences that our kid is gonna have. But she got all angry with me and said I was racist.” Crow wiped at the perspiration on his brow and then laughed sadly. “She said she loves what’s growing inside her no matter what color it is. But she don’t know the half of it. If I actually show her, she might have a heart attack. or what if she miscarries or something, man? Like, who knows what could happen, and if I just tell her, she’ll think I’m hitting a crack pipe and that’s the real reason I don’t wanna be there for her and the kid.”
“You do realize that it’s a full moon tonight and she’s pregnant. and this will be your wedding night.”
“Yeah, I know—that’s why. ” Crow Shadow’s voice trailed off as sudden awareness slammed into his brain.
“You gotta go easy, that’s all I’m going to say. She’s a pregnant human female, and I can’t even fathom how you’ll be able to consummate this.”
“Oh, shit. oh, shit,” Crow Shadow said, beginning to pace in a tight line back and forth. “I can’t just back out now, brother. like that would be so fucked up to do to her.”
