by WEST
He took off his shirt and stood up to slip down his pants. He swayed a little as he stood and immediately, Levi was beside him. “Sit down before you fall,” he said, pushing him back on the bed. He put his hands in the waistband of Cole’s jeans and pulled down sharply, raking off his underwear along with the pants. He rolled Cole over on his side and frowned down at the large purple bruise on his hip, cursing faintly under his breath. He ran his fingers down it and his touch was surprisingly gentle. “You need some ice for this,” he said, standing back up beside the bed. “Lie still and I’ll get some.”
He strode quickly over to the ice bucket on the dresser, picked it up and left the room without a backward glance. Cole lay there feeling awkward with his pants bunched down around his ankles. He pushed them off and pulled the sheet over his body, feeling too exposed to just lie there and wait. Levi was back in a minute or so, though, with his bucket of ice. He ducked into the bathroom for a towel and then came back to sit beside Cole on the side of the bed. Dumping some ice in a hand towel, he wrapped it up carefully before placing the makeshift ice pack on Cole’s hip.
“This will help bring the swelling down,” he said brusquely, frowning down at him. “Though if you’d look more carefully at your surroundings, this might never have happened.”
Cole felt his cheeks grow even warmer. He hadn’t thought it was possible to be even more embarrassed, but apparently he was wrong. “I’m sorry. I never saw that car until just before it hit me. It seemed to come out of nowhere. And how was it going so fast in all that traffic? The others were barely moving.”
Levi glanced up at him sharply before lowering his gaze back to Cole’s hip again. “Did you get a look at the driver?”
“No, it all happened too fast. One minute I was stepping out from behind the van and the next thing I knew I was flying through the air.”
“I saw you,” Levi said quietly, looking back up into Cole’s eyes. The look in them was almost—tender. Levi raised his hand and trailed the back of it down Cole’s jaw, just lightly skimming over his skin. Cole’s breath caught in his throat and Levi softly laughed. It had a breathless sound to it, and he leaned closer. He rubbed his smoothly shaven cheek against Cole’s and then turned his head so that his lips were only an inch away. Cole closed the distance between them, parting his lips with a sigh. He didn’t stop to think about what the hell he was doing, kissing a half-demon—kissing the Blood Prince—he simply gave himself up to it, getting lost in his kiss.
It was a long kiss and almost unbearably sweet. Levi tasted of vanilla cream with a slightly smoky flavor, and a hot trail of lightning flashed over Cole’s skin on its way to his groin. Just like that, his cock was erect and straining. Little goosebumps rose up all over his skin and the hairs on his body stood up, crackling in a storm of static electricity. At least Cole thought it was static electricity. Whatever it was, he wanted more of it, and he threw his arms around Levi’s neck and surged up against him.
This close his scent was overwhelming, a clean male scent mixed with some kind of smoldering sweet-as-honey smell. Was it his cologne as he’d been thinking? Or was it Levi himself? It was intoxicating, whatever it was, and Cole raised his head and made the mistake of gazing directly into Levi’s bottomless brown eyes. The effect was so immediate and so dizzying, he put out a hand to steady himself, touching Levi’s chest.
Levi hissed in a sharp breath, and then Levi was kissing him again. The startling reality of it was such a shock to his system that Cole felt like every nerve ending in his body was buzzing and sparking with electricity. The raw heat of that kiss made his mouth fall open in surprised welcome, and he touched his tongue to Levi’s and heard himself moan deep in his throat.
Levi gave a surprised little grunt of his own as he pulled Cole’s body tightly against his. His mouth moved against Cole’s, and Cole could just make out the strange half-growl against his skin. “You taste like sugar. And trouble. What in hell am I going to do with you?”
Before he could answer, Levi palmed Cole’s eager cock, which was straining against Levi’s thigh, eager for his touch. It twitched and jumped in his hand, and Levi welcomed it in long, gentle strokes. It was the gentleness that undid Cole. He’d had a few men do this to him before, but it had always been quick and rough in the past. Never with this almost loving, tender touch. He glanced down at himself and saw blue diamond-like sparks swirling around Levi’s hand where he held him. The sparks burned Cole with a little sting and teased him with tiny pinpricks of sensation.
Unable to help himself, he closed his eyes and thrust his hips upward into Levi’s hard hand, pushing his cock into that sure touch and whimpered just a little. “Oh, fuck.”
“That’s the plan,” Levi said with a funny little half laugh and then bent over him, his mouth enveloping Cole’s shaft like molten lava. Stars exploded behind Cole’s eyes and swirled outward into the room and up to the ceiling. As Levi bent his head, Cole saw the glint of his sharp incisors. It was terrifying—beautiful. Levi worked his tongue and his lips with careful precision. The stars were pelting down on Cole’s head, their brilliant bodies disintegrating as they touched his skin. He looked up into those dark eyes glowing with unholy fire. Levi no longer looked remotely human, but Cole wasn’t afraid, knowing there was nothing to fear anymore. He had survived the falling stars. Nothing could hurt him now.
Cole was aware that he was making noises he’d never made before, but he couldn’t have stopped if he’d tried. After only seconds of Levi’s incredible heat, Cole felt himself exploding, his climax taking him by surprise, forcefully wrung from him. It racked his body, squeezed him dry and flung him down again so quickly that he thought this must be what a seizure felt like—helpless and violent and totally out of control.
As he lay panting to get his breath, the hotel room door suddenly shuddered beneath a heavy knock. Cole tightened his arms reflexively around Levi and held on tightly as he gasped his surprise. Levi pulled slightly away to gaze down at him. He was a little out of breath too, and his face was not yet totally human.
“Don’t be alarmed. It’s probably only one of the other agents.” He kept his arms around Cole, though, and called out, “Yes? Who is it?”
A high, thin voice replied. “Room service, sir.”
Levi tilted his head to the side. Fire sparked from his lips and lit up his eyes. “Really?” His smile grew wider. “Just a moment.”
He held up a finger to his mouth as he urged Cole out of bed and pushed him toward the bathroom. Cole snatched up his jumbled clothing as he went, confused as to why Levi didn’t just tell them they had the wrong room. They’d come straight inside the hotel and certainly hadn’t called for room service in the short time since they’d arrived.
Levi shoved him inside the bathroom and closed the door abruptly in his face. Cole pulled on his pants, wincing as they touched his bruises. He heard Levi walking toward the door. “Coming,” Levi called out, sounding almost gleeful. There was a tremendous crash, followed by the sounds of a violent struggle taking place on the other side of the door. Cole pulled the door open and was greeted by a scene straight out of a nightmare. Three hideous creatures were grappling with Levi, who had taken one of them to the floor and was kneeling on its stomach with his big hands wrapped around its neck. Another of the creatures was on Levi’s back, attempting to get its own grip around the commander’s throat, but its hands wouldn’t quite go around his thick neck. The third one stood by, keeping a close eye on the action.
The creatures were tall but cadaverously thin. Their skin was a rusty red color and their eyes and noses were merely slits in their faces. They had strange dark hair like the ruff of a hyena on their heads and going down their backs. It was their mouths that were so terrible, though, a wide slash of a thing with widely spaced teeth that looked like they’d been sharpened into points. The third creature whipped his head around when Cole opened the door, cracked open its mouth lined with saw-blade teeth in a parody of a grin, and
made directly for him.
Cole looked around wildly for a weapon, but there was nothing on the counter except for tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner. He grabbed the shampoo anyway and wrenched off the top. By this time, the creature was on top of him, its bony hands gripping his shoulders as it brought that horrible mouth down toward his face. He brought the bottle up between them and squirted the liquid directly into one of the creature’s slit-like eyes. The creature let out a terrible, high-pitched shriek and clapped a hand over its eye, turning away.
Cole tore the hair dryer off its perch on the bathroom wall, swung it over his head by the twisted cord and using every bit of his strength, smashed it against the creature’s mouth. The creature wailed again, a claxon-like shriek that set Cole’s teeth on edge. The thing stumbled backward, putting both hands up to its bloody mouth. Then the slits turned a fiery red and it leaped forward, its clawlike hands clutching at Cole’s throat. Cole fell to the floor and pushed with all his strength against it, but he couldn’t loosen its grip. Just as stars were winking on behind his eyes, the creature suddenly flew forward over Cole’s head and crashed into the tile wall of the tub behind them. Cole looked up in wonder and saw that its sudden flight had been helped along by a powerful kick from Levi’s boot.
Cole turned to watch the creature slide down the wall to land in a heap in the bathtub, its bony skull caved in. Trembling a little, he turned back to Levi. “What the fuck is that? What are they?”
“Goblins,” Levi said, taking hold of his arm. “I was hoping we’d have more time, but it looks like they’ve discovered our location. They were sent here for you, Cole. They’ve come to kill you.”
Chapter Three
Belief! Belief! And unbelief…
And, though you tell me I shall die,
You say not how or when or why.
“Loneliness”—Sir John Betjeman
“What on earth are you talking about?” Cole pulled his arm away, upset and angry as he glared at Levi. “I don’t understand any of this.”
Levi watched him closely, allowing him to pull away, though surprised at how much he wanted to hold Cole close to his side for protection. Cole’s extraordinary green eyes flashed up at him, and he wondered how much longer it would be before the powerful glamour the wizard had put on Cole so long ago would hold. Already glimpses of his ethereal beauty were shining through the widening cracks in the spell. Soon he would assume his true form, and there’d be no way to hide it.
Levi folded his arms across his chest. “I’m talking about the fact that those were goblins—mercenaries, who’ll fight for whoever offers them enough money. My father has several platoons of them himself. I’ve trained with them, Cole, and I know them. Goblins are relentless once they catch the trail of their mark, and now that they’ve caught yours, they won’t stop coming.”
“But why?” Cole blew out a deeply frustrated breath. “I don’t understand.” Levi could almost see the wheels spinning in Cole’s head as he tried to comprehend. Before he lost his grip on what he’d believed all his life to be reality. Levi knew that grip had been slipping since the day they’d called Cole into the bureau chief’s office in Washington, and things had been going rapidly downhill for him ever since. Now he had dead goblins in his hotel room, and he’d just made love to a half-demon. Levi could only imagine how he must be feeling.
“No,” Cole said, shaking his head. “Don’t even answer that. It won’t make any sense, just like none of this makes any sense. You’re all a lunch of lunatics.” Cole tried to turn away, but Levi caught his arm again.
“You have to listen to me. We may not have much time.”
“Before what?”
“Before they send more goblins in to finish the job. We need to get out of here, and you need to understand what’s happening.” He let go of him long enough to pick up his shoes and his shirt that were lying beside the bed. “Put these on—we’re leaving before any more show up.” Levi pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in a number. “Gonzalez, this is Levi. Cole has been attacked again in our room. Get the others together and leave as soon as you can, but split up and go to different locations. Rendezvous only with burner phones on the secure lines. Marek’s goblins just attacked us in our room and they’ll be able to track us by following the shine.”
As Gonzalez replied, Levi hardly heard him, watching Cole pull on his shirt and button it back up with trembling hands. Cole sat back down on the bed, studiously avoiding looking anywhere near the dead goblins and put on his shoes.
He was so intent on watching Cole he almost missed what Gonzalez was telling him. “We just got a message from your father’s council. Marek has appealed to the High King for his brother to be restored to his family. He knows you have him, and he’s made a strong case, but your father is stalling. He said to tell you he won’t be able to hold them off much longer, so you need to make a decision about him.”
“Tell him I’ll be in contact soon.” Levi said tersely, hanging up the phone. So Marek was attacking on a diplomatic front as well as taking matters in his own hands. His family ties would make a strong case for an appeal, even given his well-known penchant for treachery. His father may not be able to hold them off much longer. Levi sat down on the side of the other bed facing Cole. It was time to make Cole realize at least a part of what was happening to him.
“How old were you when you were left on those hospital steps?”
Cole glanced up at him, a little frown creasing his brow. “How did you know about that? Is that in my file?”
“Answer the question, Cole.”
“I don’t know. A few months old, I guess. That’s what they told me, anyway.”
Levi nodded. “Have you ever wondered about your family? Where you came from?”
“Of course,” Cole said, a little irritated shrug lifting up one shoulder. “All orphaned kids do that, I guess. Why are you asking? What’s this all about?”
“I’m trying to tell you.” He let another moment or two pass before he took a deep breath. “Your father was King Bathial, the king of the Faery Domain and all its tribes, except for the Sidhe. You are the first and only son of his consort Lilliane, and you were stolen from your cradle when you were six months old, not long after your mother’s death. A changeling was left in your place. It was only a fetch, an enchanted piece of wood that soon appeared to grow sick and die. Your father grieved for you, but he buried what he thought was your body and he and tried to go on with his life.”
Cole jumped to his feet, his face drained of color and his emerald eyes flashing fire. “This is crazy! I won’t sit here and listen to this.”
Levi pulled him back down and held onto him, preventing him from running away from it. “It’s true. It was said that your mother never recovered from your birth. That she stopped eating and literally withered away, but I think she was murdered.”
Cole gasped and what little color he had drained from his face. “Murdered?”
“Yes. I can’t prove it, but it seems likely to me in light of what happened next. Your father was heartbroken, but his people demanded an heir. He remarried one of her handmaids, a woman named Melisande. Within a year Prince Marek was born.”
“But all this is crazy. You actually expect me to believe…”
“You know you’ve always been different from other children. Think about it. You’ve never fit in, have you? Never really belonged.”
Cole firmed his jaw and turned his face away, looking embarrassed. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
Levi kept on relentlessly. “You must have noticed the change in your face and body over the last few months. The one who stole you put a glamour on you to hide you from our realm. It was a powerful spell, but it’s been wearing off. To our eyes in the Vargr realm, you shine now like a beacon. You’re an Immortal Being, Cole. A Vargr. And it’s time you learned of the heritage that was stolen from you. We’ve been aware of you for some time now. Your body shines brightl
y, but it was only recently that we learned your true identity.”
“These are lies! All of it.” Cole shook his head, refusing to look at Levi. He would have jumped from the bed and ran from the room if he could have, but Levi was holding him too tightly.
“It’s true. I think Melisande killed your father to put her child on the throne. But her plan backfired. Marek was as twisted and dark as the wicken-trees that fill the Faery Realm. He used poison on his own mother when he was fifteen to end her regency. It was on her death bed that she admitted her crimes.”
Cole continued to shake his head, unwilling or unable to believe what he was hearing. Impatiently, Levi took his shoulders and gently shook him. “Someone sent a message to both the high king and to Marek telling us of your existence in the mortal realm and telling us where to find you. As it was, I was only steps ahead of your brother’s agents.”
“That’s impossible.”
“They were waiting for you at your home the afternoon I met you, Cole. That’s why you couldn’t go home. Thompson told you that you had to make a choice, but you never would have been allowed to leave.”
Cole put up both hands and shoved against Levi’s chest as hard as he could, but it was like pushing against a stone wall. “You can have hysterics over all this later, Prince Elvie. Now we have to act quickly.”
Cole lifted his head, his eyes round and shocked. “W-What did you just call me?”
A little smile quirked up the corners of Levi’s lips. “Prince Elvie.” He shrugged, trying to hide his smile. “It’s your true name. But you must guard it closely. Faeries can be summoned by using their true names, so most Faeries guard the knowledge from all outsiders. My father found it only with the help of his wizards. Marek doesn’t know it, because you hadn’t yet gone through the formal naming ceremony of your people when you were taken. If he finds out, he can use it to compel you to come before him.”
