Bad Boy Prince: A British Royal Stepbrother Romance

by Vivian Wood

  Pere Mal threw back his head and laughed, his teeth flashing white in the moonlight.

  “You are a fool, Guardian. And too late, to boot,” Pere Mal said, raising his free hand to show Gabriel his watch. “Just a few more seconds. Can you feel it, Guardian?”

  Gabriel did feel something. Beyond his muted rage and the icy fear filling his chest, he felt a stirring, a foreboding….

  In the distance, church bells rung the hour. Twelve slow tolls, and with each deep sound Gabriel felt energy forming and building around him. The darkness seemed to thicken and gather in a way that made all the hair on Gabriel’s body raise straight up. A metallic scent filled the air, something old and dingy and sour. Gabriel had no experience in this area of magic, but he was nearly certain that Rhys’s words were coming true.

  Pere Mal was opening one of the Gates of Guinee, granting himself access to the spirit realm.

  “Don’t—” Gabriel started, but it was indeed too late.

  Shadowed mist slid from the darkness, rising and taking shape as the final bell tolled. The mist formed crooked, angular creatures of half-shadow, insubstantial yet frightening. There were perhaps a dozen of them between Gabriel and Cassie, and more just out of Gabriel’s focus. He reached out to the closest one and pierced it with his sword. The metal slid right through the spirit, not causing it a moment’s concern.

  Though Gabriel longed for something he could fight, he suspected that the creatures could not harm Cassie any more than Gabriel could run them through with his sword. That was something, at least.

  “My ancestors,” Pere Mal purred, and the creatures turned to him, creeping closer and closer. A pair of them reached out to Cassie with wicked-looking fingers, probing her unconscious form with evident curiosity.

  “Stop this!” Gabriel said, taking another step forward.

  “Ah, ah!” Pere Mal warned, pressing the dagger against her flesh until a thin red line of blood appeared. “Not another step, sorcerer. You can stay and watch, of course. We wouldn’t want you to miss seeing your child’s spirit, would we, Papa?”

  Bile rose in Gabriel’s throat as he parsed Pere Mal’s words. Before he could sort it out, before he could say another word, Pere Mal clapped his free hand to Cassie’s abdomen and closed his eyes, the gesture affirming Gabriel’s greatest fears.

  Papa.

  Gabriel swallowed, trying to think of a way that he could strike a blow at Pere Mal, fire a spell at him. Move him far enough away from Cassie that Gabriel could fight him properly without fearing the dagger at Cassie’s throat.

  Pere Mal ignored him, chanting a string of words in a foreign tongue. After a moment, light seeped through his splayed fingers, and Pere Mal opened his eyes and grinned.

  “Here she is, Papa,” Pere Mal said, slowly pulling his hand away from Cassie’s stomach.

  A tiny ball of shimmering white light floated along in its wake, and the second Gabriel saw it his soul lurched. Much like the first time he’d laid eyes on Cass, he knew without a doubt that this thing, this tiny flicker of light, belonged to him.

  His child.

  “Stay nice and still, Guardian,” Pere Mal warned. “I don’t mind carving your little mate up after the way she betrayed me. She deserves much worse.”

  Gabriel’s teeth pulled back in a snarl, but his attention was all on the floating light.

  “Mighty ancestors,” Pere Mal said, his voice ringing loudly now. “If you please, guide the new Oracle to her new home.”

  Pere Mal pointed to the dark-haired girl laid out on the ground.

  “No,” Gabriel whispered, his gaze darting back and forth between Cassie and the flickering light.

  To his surprise, the light stopped moving for a moment, then drifted toward him a few inches. Did it… recognize him, somehow?

  “Yes, come to me,” he urged, beckoning with his wand.

  “Silence!” Pere Mal thundered.

  He slid the dagger along Cassie’s shoulder, eliciting a low sound from her, and a slow stream of blood spilled down her body, soaking her white shirt. Pere Mal’s outburst seemed to startle the little floating blob, and it moved toward Gabriel again. A foot, this time; it crept on inch by inch.

  Gabriel realized that he had no idea what he’d do with the little light if it reached him. He couldn’t possibly keep it safe out in the open, not without Cassie’s womb to shelter and nourish it. Glancing up at Pere Mal, who was utterly fixed on the light, muttering curses at the gathered spirits, Gabriel knew he needed to take a shot. Something, anything.

  The shadowy spirits began to circle around the little light, and Gabriel could wait no more. Summoning every ounce of power within him, he focused all his will on a spell to shove Pere Mal away from Cassie. He held for as long as he could stand, eyes glued on the flickering spirit, and then he released his spell in a bright, arcing beam that sparked and sizzled as it hit Pere Mal square in the chest.

  Rhys appeared out of nowhere across the clearing, holding something in his hand. As Gabriel launched himself toward Cassie and Pere Mal flew back, arms flailing, Rhys moved to Marie Laveau’s tomb and began to etch chalk runes across it.

  A sucking screech resounded in the air and the shadowed forms of mist drew back, apparently repelled by whatever magic Rhys was working. Gabriel paused when he reached the little light.

  “You have to go home,” he told it, cupping it gently in his hands. Careful not to let the light touch his skin, he herded it back toward Cassie’s prone body.

  The second the light reached Cassie, it zipped upward toward her heart. It seemed to hesitate, uncertain.

  “Go on,” Gabriel urged. “You’ll be here soon enough, I promise.”

  The light sunk into Cassie’s skin, and Cassie absorbed it with a gasp. Her head jerked upright, revealing her shocked face.

  “Gabe?” she croaked, struggling against the ropes that held her.

  “I’m here, darling. Hold still for me,” Gabriel said, sheathing his wand and slicing at her bonds with the tip of his sword.

  Cassie tumbled free, limbs paralyzed from captivity, and Gabriel dropped his sword to catch her in his arms. He turned to find Rhys brandishing his sword at Pere Mal, who looked thunderously angry.

  “You Guardians know nothing,” Pere Mal spat. “You cannot stop me.”

  “Is that right?” Aeric’s voice boomed, louder than Gabriel had ever heard from the man.

  Aeric and Asher appeared on either side of Rhys, backing Pere Mal up so he was pinned in on three sides.

  “That’s right,” Pere Mal said, his characteristic grin returning. “You might have the future Oracle, but I still have the Third Light.”

  He pointed a bony finger at the brunette on the ground, now lying several feet behind him and out of the Guardians’ reach. Gabriel noticed as Aeric stiffened, looking at the woman. Aeric bared his teeth, his face contorting as he struggled for control.

  “Mate,” Aeric hissed through clenched teeth.

  “Don’t worry, little bear. I am doing you a favor, in a way,” Pere Mal said, his tone bordering on conversational. “This one is much more than you could possibly handle.”

  Aeric leapt at Pere Mal, sword clattering to the ground. Pere Mal took a neat step backward and leaned down to touch the girl, and in the blink of an eye both of them vanished. Aeric’s arms closed around empty air, a snarl ripping from his chest.

  “Aeric—” Rhys started, but his words were lost.

  Aeric scrambled to his feet and squared his shoulders. Throwing his head back, he release a bone-jarring, ear-shattering roar that grew and grew until Cassie flinched in Gabriel’s arms, quaking with fear. The sound was impossible, no bear could produce such a noise…

  Without warning, Aeric’s body shimmered and rippled, then a blinding flash of light consumed him. Gabriel flinched and blinked, stumbling and dragging Cassie back a step. He felt a supernatural wind waft over his body as his vision cleared, and then Gabriel’s jaw dropped.

  Aeric was gone. In his
place, unfurling and flapping twenty-foot long wings coated with dazzling, unbelievable gold, was…

  A bloody dragon. It lifted into the night sky with effortless grace, and in moments it was out of sight.

  Aeric was gone.

  14

  Cassie clung to Gabriel the entire car ride back to the Manor. They hadn’t spoken more than a dozen words to one another; Gabriel was clearly wound too tightly to talk at any length. He’d gathered her up in his arms in the graveyard, holding her so tightly that she could scarcely breathe, and hadn’t put her down for a moment since. For her part, Cassie was exhausted, and content to let her mate covet and protect her all he wanted.

  After her scare tonight, being in his arms was the deepest kind of comfort. Her hands still trembled when she thought of all they’d nearly lost, and Gabriel’s touch was the only thing that soothed her restless fear.

  When they walked into the Manor, he carried her straight to the living area and gently placed her on one of the couches. He knelt next to her and cupped her cheek, tilting her face up to give her a deep, soulful kiss.

  “I want nothing more than to take you upstairs and put you in my bed. Our bed,” he corrected himself, a tense bit of humor bringing out the dimple in his cheek. “We need to settle things here first, my love. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”

  “You’ll stay with me?” Cassie asked, biting her lip. She hated her weakness just now, but she hated the idea of Gabriel being out of sight more.

  “Of course. I’m not going anywhere,” Gabriel assured her, giving her another long kiss. “You need to be part of this discussion as much as anyone. You’re part of the Guardian family now, and you’re as entangled in this madness as anyone.”

  Cassie nodded. Tonight, Pere Mal had nearly harmed her irreparably, and had threatened to do even worse. She ran her hand up the bare skin of her arm, realizing that her gloves were missing. Her scars were laid bare for everyone to see, and yet…

  Gabriel noticed her momentary discomfort and squeezed her hand.

  “Do you want me to go get your gloves?” he asked.

  Cassie gave him a soft smile of gratitude, then shook her head.

  “No. You were right. The Guardians are my family now, and I won’t hide from them. I don’t think I need to, not anymore.”

  Gabriel gave her another tight hug and kissed the top of her head. Before they could continue their conversation, the rest of the Guardians arrived in a loud group, a lively argument already in progress. Rhys and Echo led the charge, Asher following with a steely expression. Mere Marie and Duverjay trailed them. Mere Marie directed a low, harsh whisper at the butler. Cairn slunk in last, his sleek fur glinting as he jumped up on the conference table, looking and acting like nothing short of royalty.

  Gabriel helped Cassie to her feet, though she felt much steadier now, and they joined the rest of the group at the massive oak table.

  Echo jumped up and came over to give Cassie a hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Echo said, looking a little teary-eyed. “I wish I could have stopped Pere Mal from taking you. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

  “I’m fine, honestly,” Cassie said. “I wish I could have done more, too. They blindsided us all.”

  “We have to take Pere Mal down,” Echo said, sliding back into her seat and slapping her hand on the table. “He can’t just come into our house and abduct people!”

  “I don’t understand how this happened,” Gabriel said, turning to Mere Marie with a distinctly menacing tone. “The Manor’s wards were supposed to be impenetrable. I can’t leave my mate here, knowing that Pere Mal can just waltz in anytime he wishes. It’s unacceptable.”

  Mere Marie arched a brow and cocked her head, and for a moment Cassie was afraid the older woman would fire back a retort, sparking an argument that no one could win. Instead, Mere Marie surprised her.

  “I underestimated our enemy,” Mere Marie conceded, pursing her lips. “It will not happen again.”

  “But how did he get in?” Asher asked, all business.

  Cairn rose and jumped into the conversation in his husky, rough purr of a voice.

  “It appears that he coerced one of our cleaning staff,” the cat said, whiskers twitching. “She came in a few days ago, reeking of fear. I should have investigated further. The staff have passed background checks and given extensive references, but it appears that Pere Mal bought this woman’s gambling debts and extorted her to help break the wards temporarily. It was an oversight.”

  There was silence for a few moments.

  “We’ll need to interrogate all the staff now,” Rhys said. “How many Kith are working here?”

  “Seven,” Duverjay said. “I would like to personally apologize for letting the woman into the Manor. I consider it my purview to manage the staff, and if I’d had any idea…”

  “There’s no use talking about what’s done,” Mere Marie cut in with a wave of her hand. “We were moving toward heavier security measures already. That’s why Asher was brought in, actually. He’s going to take the reins in that department.”

  “What do you intend?” Gabriel asked Asher.

  “I’m going to install a top-to-bottom state of the art security system, for a start. I am also going to suggest that we work out a schedule, make sure that at least one Guardian is in the Manor at all times. And we’ll have a security guard for Echo or Cassie anytime they leave the Manor,” Asher explained. At Echo’s skeptical glance, he added, “A discreet guard. You’ll hardly know he’s there. A precaution, until we settle this Pere Mal business.”

  Gabriel nodded, seeming satisfied. Cassie didn’t like the idea of being guarded every moment of her waking life, but she wasn’t willing to take any chances either. Not after tonight. Not with… her daughter.

  Cassie lost the thread of the conversation for a moment, mulling over Pere Mal’s insistence that Cassie’s child would be a girl. Even now, Cassie was too overwhelmed with the idea of it, of carrying a child. Gabriel’s child.

  But still, the idea of a daughter thrilled her. More than that, really. When she turned her focus inward, studied the new life blossoming within, the word daughter just seemed… right.

  A smile curled her lips, and she traced circles on the table with her fingertip. Weariness pulled at her as her fear began to subside. She found it hard to keep her eyes open, but tried to focus on the conversation.

  “There’s nothing more to be done about Pere Mal tonight,” Mere Marie was saying. “Cairn and I have reworked all the warding spells, and all the outside staff have been sent home for the time being. We can’t progress any further on so little sleep, and not without Aeric.”

  A moment of tension stretched as everyone considered the third Guardian.

  “I have to know…” Rhys said, giving Mere Marie a hard look. “Were you aware that he’s not a bear shifter?”

  “Of course,” Mere Marie said, looking offended. “It’s the reason I chose him. There are so few left in our age, and Aeric is one of the oldest and most powerful dragons alive.”

  “And yet, still indebted to you,” Echo wondered aloud, earning a glare from Mere Marie.

  “I don’t understand why you didn’t just tell us,” Gabriel interjected. “We should know who we’re working with, should we not?”

  Mere Marie gave him a bitter smile and shrugged.

  “Aeric is private. Dragons are not understood in our world. They’re hunted, even. If Pere Mal gets so much as a whiff of Aeric’s true nature, he could be in even more trouble than his future mate. I gather that we discovered the Third Light tonight?”

  “Aye,” Rhys said, bobbing his head. “Unconscious, probably drugged, likely chained up in a bolt hole somewhere. Aeric’s got a tough road ahead. We don’t even know her name, much less how to begin to find her.”

  “Alice,” Cassie said. Everyone looked at her in surprise, prompting her to explain. “We knew each other in the Birdcage. She’s as mysterious as Aeric, but… from the little
I know, I can understand why they would be paired together. Alice has power that I can’t even begin to fathom or explain. It’s chilling.”

  “A dragon and his mate… it will be volatile,” Cairn said. Cassie was fairly certain that the cat was smirking, if such a thing were possible.

  The conversation swirled, everyone guessing at Alice and Aeric, dragons and… whatever Alice was. Cassie scooted her chair closer to Gabriel’s and leaned into him, giving a pleased sigh when he wrapped a big arm around her. Her head fell to his shoulder, her eyes growing heavy…

  The next thing she knew, she was in Gabriel’s steady arms once more as he carried her up the stairs and straight to their bedroom. Gabriel laid her down and undressed her silently, his every touch gentle, his gaze possessive.

  When he tucked her under the thick comforter, he stripped off his uniform and climbed into bed with her.

  “Come here, darling,” he said, turning on his side and fitting her to his body. “I need you close. I just— I never…”

  Cassie felt the fine shudder that ran through Gabriel’s body, the well of fear and anger and shock that ran too deep for words. She turned in his arms and kissed him, understanding that it was her turn to comfort him.

  “I’m here,” she said. She took his hand and drew it down to her stomach, splaying his fingers out across her bare skin, reminding and reassuring him at once. “We’re safe.”

  “We,” Gabriel said, looking down at her belly with something like awe. “I’m sorry, darling. In all this mess, I haven’t even said… Hell, I don’t even know what to say.”

  Cassie hesitated, a little burst of fear flaring in her heart.

  “You’re happy, aren’t you?” she asked.

  Gabriel placed the softest kiss on her lips, taking her breath away.

  “There isn’t a word for how I feel,” he said. “Happy isn’t enough. Elated? Proud? Surprised, certainly.”

  He slid his hand across her body, skimming it up her hip.

  “Afraid, a little?” Cassie said, giving him a wry smile.

  “God, yes,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. “What a world we live in. And now we’ve brought this new life into it, defenseless…”