Dark Alpha's Claim

by Donna Grant

  That was news to Cael. Perhaps he needed to look into the Warriors and see what was going on. “So why did one visit Rhi?”

  Daire ran a hand down his face. “He’s half-Fae.”

  Cael eyed the decanter of whisky he saw on the table. After the day he’d had, he could use a drink or two. “I came to let you know that we got a new order to kill every half-Fae we find.”

  “What?” Daire demanded, shock making his face go slack. “Since when do we kill humans?”

  Cael held up a hand to quiet him. “The order came from a messenger. I questioned the orders, and the others refused to carry out the order. So I spoke to Death. The new command didn’t come from Death.”

  “If not Death, then who?” Daire asked.

  “That’s the question. As hard as it is, remain veiled here and see if you can find out anything about who would want to attack us or Death.”

  Daire gave a nod. “Certainly. And if Rhi wakes?”

  “Stay with her. No matter what.”

  “You really think she’s that important?”

  “Death does, and that means I do as well.”

  * * *

  Jordyn came awake slowly. For a moment she didn’t move, afraid she would find herself alone. Then she heard Baylon’s breathing.

  A second later she realized she was on her side facing him while he lay on his back. Her leg lay across him while his hand rested on her bare ass.

  Her eyes opened to find sunlight streaming through the windows. Baylon slept, giving her the opportunity to study him.

  His black hair was mussed in a way that made her smile. She had begun to think there wasn’t a part of the Fae that was ever out of place. And the way he made her feel.

  Lord, he was dangerous to her soul.

  Her smile faded as she thought of their night. She lost track of how many times they made love. Jordyn hadn’t realized she was such a wanton. But in his arms, she became someone else. As if he brought out the Fae in her.

  Jordyn was confused at the myriad emotions she felt for Baylon. The thought of him leaving left her reeling so much so that she didn’t think she would ever right her world again.

  Then there was Baylon himself. She couldn’t be near him and keep her hands off him. Jordyn had heard of couples who were so insanely attracted to the other that nothing else mattered. Well, she experienced it firsthand.

  It was glorious.

  And frightening.

  To hunger for someone in such a way. It linked them on a level she hadn’t known existed before. Then there was the fact he couldn’t have any sort of relationship.

  They had one night together. That one night ruined her for anyone else. Not because Baylon was Fae, but because he stirred something within her that had been waiting to be found.

  No other male—human or Fae—would ever be able to touch her as deeply as Baylon.

  Jordyn slowly removed his hand and climbed out of bed. She walked from the bedroom and found her robe. After she had it on, she made her way to the kitchen and started the coffee brewing.

  A glance at the clock told her she had a couple of hours before she had to get to work. Jordyn yawned as she got down a mug from the cupboards. It took forever for the coffee to finish.

  She poured the steaming liquid into her mug and added milk and sugar until the coffee was a light tan color. Jordyn took a sip and looked into her bedroom where Baylon still slept.

  A soft knock jarred her. She walked to the door and peered through the peephole to see it was from a delivery service. It must be the books she ordered last week.

  Jordyn unlocked the door and opened it. “Morning.”

  The man smiled, showing dimples in his handsome face. “Morning, Miss Patterson. I’ve got a delivery for you.”

  “Great. You can bring it up now.”

  He hesitated and glanced down the stairs. “The thing is, a couple of boxes busted. I’m not sure what all belongs to you. Could you come down and take a look?”

  “Mine are the books.”

  “There were three boxes of books,” he said. “I want to make sure everyone gets what they ordered. It was my screw up, and I really don’t want to get fired.”

  Jordyn sighed. “Let me get some clothes on.”

  She was turning away when the Irish accent hit her. She had gotten so used to listening to Baylon all night that she almost hadn’t recognized it.

  Her gaze returned to the deliveryman to see that he was insanely good looking. His hair was blond and his eyes green. She hadn’t bothered to ask Baylon if Light Fae had different color hair and eyes. Then again, he could be using glamour.

  “Something wrong?” he asked.

  Jordyn smiled and shook her head. “It’s a little early for deliveries, isn’t it?”

  He shrugged and looked at his clipboard. “I’ve got a lot of stops, so I thought I’d start early.”

  “Look,” Jordyn began, but her words ended when four Dark stepped out behind the driver.

  One of them threw a large iridescent bubble at the driver, killing him instantly. The four Dark stepped over his body and started toward her.

  For a moment, Jordyn couldn’t move. Her mind wasn’t able to process the fact that the Dark were there and coming right at her.

  She spun around and tried to run, but a Dark wrapped his arm around her neck, jerking her back. Jordyn shrieked as her coffee spilled on her arm and shoulder, burning her through the silk.

  “Time to die,” the Dark said in her ear.

  The other three Dark stood around her with their magic at the ready and smirks on their faces. They were going to enjoy killing her.

  There was a loud bellow. Jordyn looked toward the bedroom in time to see Baylon launch himself from the bed with his sword over his head.

  He crossed the flat in a blink before he killed one of the other Dark, but the one holding her dragged her out of her flat into the hallway. Jordyn tried to grab hold of the doorjamb, but her fingers couldn’t get a good hold. She stared at Baylon watching him go from one Dark to another, killing them.

  Then she was out in the hall, the Dark’s grip became lethal as he continued to drag her. Suddenly there was another man standing in front of her. His silver eyes blazed with fury directed at the Dark. His black hair hung long and straight to his shoulders.

  The Light Fae held up his hand and said one word that Jordyn didn’t understand. The Dark holding her gurgled as if he were choking. His hold loosened, and Jordyn tried to get away.

  But the Dark held fast even as he struggled to breathe.

  “Jordyn!” Baylon bellowed from inside the flat where he killed the last two Dark.

  Chapter Ten

  Jordyn reached for Baylon as the Dark holding her began to fall backward. There was nothing but stairs there, and she doubted she could survive the fall.

  The Light who had killed her attacker grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the Dark. Jordyn turned and watched the Dark fall down a flight of steps, only to disintegrate a second later.

  “Jordyn.”

  She turned her head to Baylon and started to go to him, when she noticed his tight expression. Jordyn halted, wounded that he would treat her in such a fashion.

  “You’re hurt,” the Fae said.

  Jordyn blinked and looked at him. Hurt? Yes, her heart hurt. That’s when she realized he was holding her injured arm where the coffee had burned her.

  Her robe was ruined, but that’s not why she wanted to cry. It was because her time with Baylon was over. It hurt far worse than she thought it would.

  “Perhaps we should take this matter inside,” the Fae said to Baylon.

  Baylon nodded woodenly and strode past them. Jordyn watched him, her chest feeling as if her heart had been ripped from her with a spoon.

  She let the Fae guide her inside her flat. He didn’t release her as he closed the door behind them. The Dark who attacked her was gone, as was the deliveryman. She wasn’t sure what happened to him, and she was fairly certain she didn
’t want to know.

  “I’m Cael,” the Fae said as he ushered her to the sofa. He gave her a tender shove to sit and followed her.

  Jordyn winced when he gently pulled the silk away from her burns. The material was beginning to latch onto her skin, and it was painful to have it drawn away.

  “Your skin is blistered.”

  She didn’t bother answering him. Nor did she look at her arm. She just wanted both of them to just go away so she could begin to try to pick up the pieces of her life.

  Her gaze was on the floor staring at the pattern of her rug when she saw a pair of boots step in front of her. Baylon. Her body reacted instantly to his nearness.

  Cael then put her hand atop her leg and patted it. “It’s not as bad as I feared. I don’t think you’ll even scar,” he said and stood.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Jordyn saw him go to the window. She glanced at her arm to find her robe no longer ruined. The pain of her arm was lessening by the moment. Had Cael healed her? “Thank you.”

  “What the hell happened?” Baylon demanded of Cael. “Why did they attack her?”

  His questions had Jordyn curious. She lifted her head and looked at Cael. His fingers gripped the windowsill as if he would rather break the glass than look out of it.

  “I didn’t see you last night,” Cael said in response.

  Baylon briefly closed his eyes, wondering yet again why he hadn’t left Jordyn in the middle of the night. But then he knew the answer. He hadn’t been able to.

  Cael turned his head to Baylon before he then looked to Jordyn. She rose to her feet and tried to walk away. “Please stay,” Cael said. “This involves you now.”

  Baylon didn’t like the sound of that.

  Cael shifted so that he leaned back against the windowsill, his hands resting on either side of him. “Someone wants half-Fae dead.”

  “I don’t understand,” Baylon said. “Why?”

  “We’re trying to find out.” Cael’s gaze slid to Jordyn. “How long have you known you were half-Fae?”

  She lifted her chin and replied, “Since last night.”

  Cael raised a brow and motioned around the flat with his hand. “Yet, you’ve been studying the Fae.”

  “They’ve always interested me.”

  “Cael,” Baylon said, fast losing his patience.

  The leader of the Reapers turned his eyes to Baylon. “Someone has made it their mission to find half-Fae humans and kill them, if this morning is any indication.”

  There was something Cael wasn’t saying. Baylon didn’t press him since he knew Cael would reveal nothing in front of Jordyn.

  “If I’m going to face more Fae, then I’d like to do it with my clothes on,” Jordyn said as she got to her feet. “I’m sure you lads can entertain yourselves as I shower.”

  Baylon wished Cael wasn’t there so he could join Jordyn in the shower. His cock hardened as he imagined pressing her against the wall with the water running over them, soap allowing their bodies to glide against the other.

  It was everything Baylon could do not to follow Jordyn to the bathroom. He stared for long moments at the closed door as the water turned on. His few hours with Jordyn had changed something within him. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but he knew he would fight to his last breath for it.

  Baylon waited for Cael to ream him for missing the meeting. Instead, Cael remained silent. Baylon finally looked at him.

  Cael regarded him with a curious look. “Death didn’t send us the order to kill the half-Fae.”

  “I’m relieved. Who did then?”

  “That’s what we need to find out. It’s unclear whether they are targeting Death or us.”

  Baylon crossed his arms over his chest. “Or both.”

  “Or both,” Cael replied with a nod. “I’m keeping Daire with Rhi. She’s at Dreagan for the moment, and he could find out something there.”

  “You really want to drag the Dragon Kings into this?”

  Cael shot him a perturbed look. “Absolutely not. Hopefully, they’ll never know Daire was there. I’ve sent the others out looking for anything that might help us find whoever knows about us.”

  “Why did they attack Jordyn?” Baylon ran a hand down his face and dropped his arms. He glanced at the door, remembering how his heart had lurched in his chest when he woke to find Dark surrounding her.

  “You stopped them from taking her away. Smart thinking putting that spell on her.”

  Baylon gave a little shake of his head. “I did it while she slept last night. I had a feeling something might happen. I knew that she stood a chance if one of us was near to help her, but if the Dark took her, I’d never find her.”

  “What is she to you?”

  He wasn’t yet ready to tell Cael, mainly because he wasn’t sure he could admit to what he was feeling. It was all too new, too raw.

  Too visceral.

  “We can have sex with Fae,” Baylon said.

  Cael raised a black brow. “Death would rather we stayed away from humans. I suppose you figured since Jordyn was half-Fae you were in the clear?”

  “What I knew was that I couldn’t keep my hands off her,” Baylon said in a harsh whisper. He looked at the bathroom and turned his back on it. “I was going to leave her this morning.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “I was. She knew it as well.”

  “Then you woke to the Dark,” Cael said.

  Baylon briefly looked sideways at him. “In all the years you’ve been alive, even before you were a Reaper, was there ever something you wanted so desperately that you were willing to do anything for it?”

  There was a long pause. Then Cael responded in a voice pitched in a whisper, “Yes.”

  Now this was something Baylon had never expected Cael to answer, let alone admit. He looked at him in a new light. Was that why Cael had yet to tell him that he had to leave Jordyn behind forever?

  Cael rubbed a hand along his jaw. “I came to get you this morning. It was a surprise to arrive and find Dark attacking Jordyn. They’ve targeted her. And not to take her back to their realm for sex. They want her dead.”

  “I know.” It tore Baylon to pieces that she had been so close to being killed. “I should’ve warded the flat so Dark couldn’t get in.”

  “She’ll have to leave the flat eventually,” Cael pointed out.

  Baylon turned to meet his gaze. “She’ll be safe if she’s with us.”

  “That’s not possible. She can’t know of us. She’s Fae.”

  “She’s also human,” Baylon argued. “Death doesn’t care if we tell humans.”

  Cael pushed away from the window and shook his head. “She’s either human or Fae, Baylon. You can’t keep changing who she is to suit your purpose.”

  “Then I stay with her.”

  “You can’t,” Cael said, his forehead furrowed deeply. “Your place is with us.”

  Baylon walked to stand in front of Cael. “I’ll not let her die.”

  “If you remain with her, Death will see it as abandoning your duties.” Cael’s face was a mask of confusion. “You’ll die. Who will protect her then?”

  Baylon heard the shower cut off. “For whatever reason, she was brought into my life and I into hers. It doesn’t matter why, really. All I know is that I have to protect her.”

  Cael simply looked at him, no emotion on his face.

  So Baylon tried again. “She’s lived her entire life as a human. She’ll continue to be human. It’s not her fault she has Fae blood.”

  “That can be said about any mortal with Fae blood.”

  “Exactly,” Baylon said earnestly. “We can’t allow the Dark to kill them.”

  Cael looked away and sighed. “Even if we wanted to help, it’s not our mission.”

  “No. Our mission was to kill the Dark that remained in Edinburgh. I’d say that’s one and the same.”

  Cael laughed and swiveled his head to Baylon. “Nice thinking. It’ll work for those in Edinb
urgh and throughout the UK, but the others around the world won’t be so lucky.”

  “We can do this, Cael.”

  “You’re risking a lot for her.”

  Baylon was willing to risk everything. “Yes.”

  A moment later Jordyn walked out of the bathroom in her robe once more. She didn’t look at them as she entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

  Baylon wanted to go to her, to pull her in his arms and kiss her until she melted against him. He didn’t like seeing her put up walls around herself as if she were trying to keep him out.

  He saw her clearly last night, and he refused to have anything less. They laid each other’s souls bare. Baylon had tried to pull away, but it was impossible with Jordyn.

  She had a way of making him want to tell her everything. He wanted no secrets between them. She tried to hide her disappointment when he hadn’t told her he was a Reaper, but he had seen it through her smile.

  “She’s going to have to leave her life behind,” Cael said.

  Baylon shook his head. “No, she doesn’t. We need to find out who is after us. The best way is to get some answers out of those trying to kill her.”

  “Do you think she’ll agree to your plan to use her as bait?”

  “I won’t know until I ask.” Baylon stood straighter when the bedroom door opened a moment later.

  Jordyn emerged wearing a pale pink button-down, opened enough to reveal a white shirt beneath and a pair of jeans. Her short dark blond hair was still damp, and there wasn’t a stitch of makeup on her face.

  “So what’s the verdict?” she asked as she put her hands in her back pockets.

  Cael smiled at her. “How do you feel about helping us catch whoever is after you?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Jordyn stared at Cael for a moment before her gaze swung to Baylon. It wasn’t as if she had any choice really. The Dark were coming for her, and if there was even a shred of hope that she might escape them, then she had to help Baylon and Cael.

  “I believe it’s the right thing,” she replied.

  Baylon’s head lowered as his gaze dropped to the ground. A part of her had hoped—okay, really all of her —that he’d see she could be brave, that she could do her part.