Shadowed (Dark Protectors)

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Good plan. Jase smacked his brother on the back. “For now, I’m going to dance with my mate.” Stalking across the room, he swept her up just as the band belted out a new song. He twirled his bride around in a fast dance, enjoying the delight flashing across her classically lovely face. He’d been dancing for centuries but had never felt so free. The music slowed, and he tucked her close.

  She snuggled in with a soft sigh. “I’m glad you’re not on fire about this treaty business.”

  He slid a hand to her lower back, spanning her waist. “Peace would be good for the Realm.” If he could keep Garrett and his buddies away from a war, he’d negotiate in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he knew Suri. Being tortured for years tended to give insight into the torturer. If Suri was offering peace, there was a huge price. Chances were, Dage would refuse to pay.

  “So you won’t kill him?” Brenna asked softly.

  “I’ll kill him.” Even if they found peace, a time would come when he and Suri would meet again. Destiny was ongoing, and fate could take eons. But in the end, they’d be fulfilled. “I’m in no hurry.” He eyed Garrett and a pretty wolf-shifter trying to slip away. Terrent Vilks was immediately in the vicinity, pointing them both to the cake table. Jase laughed. Nice try, Garrett.

  Brenna glanced up. “What’s so funny?”

  “Young love.” Frankly, his money was on Garrett. The night was early. He glanced down at his stunning witch. “Our love.”

  Brenna smiled. “Did you think we’d end up like this?”

  “No.” He tucked her close. “At my lowest, when I’d been tortured for so long, and Willa made her offer, I almost considered accepting her as a mate just to get out of hell. Until I looked up and saw your painting.”

  Brenna tightened her hold. “My painting grounded you?”

  “No. It made me think of you, and you saved me.” He tilted her head back, needing to explain. “You are kindness, class, and beauty. I knew if I ever had a chance to experience any of those things, I had to say no. So I did.”

  A soft smile curved her lips. “You’re saying we saved each other.”

  “Yes.” He closed his eyes and moved to the music. He’d never doubted fate, and he’d never been worried about destiny. Perhaps there was a bigger plan in place, perhaps not. Either way, he’d found his path home to the one woman who would always be his. She’d healed him, and he would protect her forever. In fact, she’d made him believe in forever. The brand pulsed on his hand in agreement. He glanced down at the Kayrs marking, finally understanding what it meant.

  Forever had teeth, and when it was right, it sank in. “I love you, Bren. Forever.”

  Epilogue

  Janet Isabella Kayrs knew better than to dance all night in three-inch heels, but she’d been having so much fun, she’d forgotten to change her shoes. As she slid into bed, she tried to flex away the pain. Cramps escalated up her calves. Good thing she’d had plenty of wine, or it’d hurt worse. Her head spun. Yeah. Plenty of wine.

  She breathed deep, sliding into the misty world between dreams and reality. There was a time she’d controlled the world, and now she needed to learn how to reclaim the power. For tonight, she drifted away and wandered inside the now empty ballroom.

  Zane entered from the ocean side, his footsteps echoing in the empty room, his gaze taking in the remnants of the party. “Who got married?”

  She glanced down at her heels and slipped them off. This was her dream, and her feet deserved a break. “My uncle Jase married Brenna Dunne.”

  “Ah.” Zane brushed flowers off the bar. “Did you have a date?”

  She tilted her head. “Maybe.”

  “Hmm.” He moved closer, his gaze on her shimmering blue dress. “You look beautiful.”

  So did he. In faded jeans and a dark T-shirt, Zane was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Deadly angles made up his face, which highlighted eyes a deep green. Deeper than any river she’d ever seen. “Thank you.”

  He traced a knuckle down her face. “Your birthday is coming up soon. What do you want?”

  Heat flared through her at the gentle touch. She sighed at the approach of her twenty-fifth year. As a child, she’d known that was the year fate would be met. “I want to win.”

  Zane nodded. “Me, too.”

  “Speaking of which, thank you for saving Garrett.”

  “Not a problem.” Zane’s eyes darkened. “Now you owe me one.”

  Was that a fact? She was damn tired of waiting for destiny, and twice as tired of waiting for Zane. So she stepped into him and tilted her head. “What exactly do you want?”

  His nostrils flared. “Don’t play, Janie Belle.”

  She kept still. “What in the world makes you think I’m playing?” Her frown narrowed her focus. “I’ve always known how this would end, and I’ve never considered it a game.”

  “None of us knows how the war will end.” His lip twisted as his hand slid around her neck. “We know the players, but do you really know who wins? Are we together or on opposing sides?”

  “Together.” Heat cascaded off him, even in the dreamworld. But no smell. She’d always wondered about his scent.

  “Is that your heart or brain talking?” His lids dropped to half-mast. “What do you really know?”

  “I know the good guys.” She kept her face set in honest lines. Was it possible to have fallen in love as a child? To have known her destiny since she was four years old? “Without a doubt, I’ve always known the Realm wins. So you might want to get on board.”

  “Ah, Belle. You don’t know the final outcome, and there are no true good guys in this war.” His fingers tightened on her nape. “I’d like to think you’ve never lied to me.”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Then tell me the truth. Tell me about your vision. You owe me.”

  Yeah, she did. “Why did you save Garrett?”

  “Because he’s your brother, and I could.” Zane lowered his head closer to hers. That close, she could see tiny flecks of darker green in his irises. His lips covered hers.

  Warmth flushed through her along with an intriguing edge of need. She’d never felt it with anybody else. Only Zane. Her knees weakened and her spine tingled. He swept inside her mouth, taking claim.

  She’d always known he’d stake a claim. He lifted his head, and the desire swirling across his strong face gave her strength.

  He licked his lips. “Now talk.”

  The man was right—she did owe him. The need to trust him, to have him trust her, became stronger than the desire to be strategic. “The end to the war comes this year, when I’m a quarter of a century old. You, Kalin, and I end up in the same place at the same time. At least one of us doesn’t make it out.”

  “At least one?” Zane asked.

  She closed her eyes and exhaled. “My feeling is only one of us will be left standing.” Frankly, she’d never truly believed it would be her. “I’ve always hoped you lived, Zane.”

  He made a noise low in his gut. “Don’t be sweet. Please, don’t be sweet.”

  She couldn’t help the smile as she opened her eyes. “You didn’t think this would be easy, now, did you?”

  Read on for a sneak peek at Rebecca Zanetti’s e-novella Tamed, available May 2014.

  Lily Sotheby settled back into the worn leather of the booth, her fingers around the stem of a wineglass. “This cabernet is, um . . .”

  “Piss.” Hilde Freebird pulled the label off her longneck beer as Garth Brooks crooned from the jukebox. “You don’t order wine at a honky-tonk, Prophet.”

  “Shhh.” Janie Kayrs, the other accomplice, said, eyeing the peanut shells lining the tavern’s floor. “Don’t call her that.”

  “Oh yeah. My bad.” Hilde pushed her glasses farther up her nose and nodded at a group of men playing pool. Fit and hard, several wore handmade silk suits. They seemed out of place, as well. “Have you chosen?”

  This was such an incredibly bad idea. “No.” Lily tracked the distance from the booth to
the door. “If the king discovers we’re at a bar, he’s going to kill me.” What in the heck was she thinking bringing the vampire king’s niece to a public bar? Half of the immortal species wanted to kidnap Janie, the other half wanted her dead.

  Janie snorted. “I know. We’re safe because nobody in the world would expect to find us here. But I’m twenty-five, and I’ve always wanted a real night out with the girls—without vampires or bodyguards.”

  Hilde nodded. “That is important for a human woman, which you are. And getting the prophet laid is an admirable goal.”

  On all that was holy. Lily’s face heated. “I’m sure I don’t remember how to, ah, copulate.” She’d mated a vampire three centuries ago, and he’d died shortly thereafter. Once mated, a vampire or mate could never become intimate with another being . . . until now.

  “Well, first you need to stop using the word copulate.” Jane took a swig of beer. “How odd is it that a virus created by our enemies now allows you a second chance at love?”

  Forget love. Lily just wanted an orgasm with somebody else in the room. “Virus-27 is designed to unravel our chromosomes until we become bacteria . . . no doubt we’ll die before that happens.” But, for now, the virus took away the mating ties, and she could actually touch a man again without inflicting a horrible allergic reaction upon them both. If she found a man. She smoothed down her long skirt.

  “Speaking of copulation”—Hilde clucked her tongue—“did you have to dress like a puritan?”

  Lily examined her flowering gown. “This is how I dress.”

  “Well, at least ditch the sweater.” Without waiting for agreement, Hilde grasped the sweater’s hem and yanked it over Lily’s head. “Oh my.”

  Lily glanced down at her breasts rising above the bustier. “This is to be worn underneath the sweater.”

  “Not if you want nookie.” Hilde shoved the sweater in her bulky purse. “Come on. Unlike you, I’m a widow who hasn’t contracted the virus and can’t touch a male without an allergic reaction. You must get some for both of us.”

  Lily tried to relax and smile at her friend. Hilde had moved in with the vampires when her granddaughter had mated one of the king’s brothers, and she’d become a friend to Lily and a pain in the butt to the vampires. “This top is indecent,” Lily murmured.

  Janie smiled, pretty blue eyes lightening. “You look hot.” She leaned forward. “In a couple of days, you’re going to be so busy brokering the end of the war, you won’t have time for fun. You deserve this. Now pick a man.”

  Lily cleared her throat. “As one of three Realm prophets, I feel the need to caution you about strange men and pre-matehood sex.”

  “Shut up.” Hilde grinned as the waitress set down shots of tequila. Waiting until the woman had bustled away, Hilde pushed glasses toward the other two women. “Here’s to ending the vampire war.”

  Lily took her glass. “To peace.” Tipping back her head, she allowed the liquor to slide down her throat with instant heat. Her eyes watered.

  Janie played with the label on her beer. “So, ah, Caleb Donovan is supposed to arrive at headquarters in a few days.”

  The mere mention of the vampire’s name sent heat spiraling through Lily’s body to pool in her abdomen. “All three of us prophets will be involved in negotiations.”

  Hilde rolled her eyes. “Come on. Even though I’ve only been at headquarters a short time, I’ve noticed how you blush whenever the Realm rebel is mentioned.”

  Lily sighed. “We dated briefly centuries ago, but my parents arranged a marriage to somebody else. Caleb was angry, but duty called.” She’d always wondered if she’d made a mistake in choosing duty.

  Janie sighed. “Screw duty. Caleb is hot. Maybe you should scratch an old itch and forget finding a human male for the night.”

  “No.” Lily straightened her shoulders. “Caleb was kicked out of the Realm and only returned because your uncle needed allies in the war. Then, when fate made Caleb a prophet, our chance for anything ended. He’s so angry, and he hates being a prophet.”

  “That’s because he’s a vampire and a soldier. The soft approach doesn’t work for him.” Janie frowned. “Sometimes fate gets it wrong. Trust me.”

  Enough talk about fate and the mistakes of the past. Lily glanced around the tavern. “The bartender is handsome.”

  Her friends instantly swiveled to check out the blond behind the bar. Green eyes, broad chest, hard-earned tan.

  Hilde blew out air. “A twenty-five-year-old human male in that good of shape? I bet he could go all night.”

  Lily coughed out the scent of peanuts, dust, and tequila. “For goodness’ sake. I can’t do this.” Especially with a human only on earth a quarter of a century. He was just a kid.

  Janie nodded. “Yeah, I agree. You need a guy with some mileage . . . experience matters.”

  Lily turned in slow motion to eye the psychic. “You’re much too young to be so wise. Tell me you haven’t been dabbling with some guy with mileage.”

  Janie grinned. “Don’t ask questions if you don’t want the answers.”

  Yeah, right. The poor woman never had a moment to herself. “Someday you’ll find your bliss, Janie.” Lily straightened her shoulders. “Now, let’s finish our drinks and go catch a movie.”

  Hilde frowned. “No sex?”

  “No. I’m a prophet, for Pete’s sake. I can’t sleep with one of these boys under thirty years old.” Lily sighed. Dignity was her middle name, darn it.

  Hilde pushed her beer way. “Seriously. No sex?”

  “Now, that would be a shame.” One of the men from the pool area slid around the corner, his wide shoulders blocking the nearest light. “Sex with strangers can be exhilarating.”

  Hilde’s smile lit up her green eyes. “Exactly.” Scooting from the booth, she all but shoved the man in. “This is Lily, and she’s trying to ‘get back out there’ after ending a relationship a long time ago.”

  The man held out a hand. “Peter Dunphy, and I know what you mean.”

  Janie slid from the booth and gave Lily a look. “We’ll go play darts. I expect to see his license if you decide to leave with him.” The woman followed Hilde.

  Lily’s mouth dropped open. She shook her head, “I, ah—”

  Peter captured her hand and shook. “It’s all right, Lily. No judgment here.” He yanked on his silk tie and loosened the top. “I like your bar.”

  “This is my first time here.” If Peter didn’t stop ogling her chest, she might have to kick him. “This doesn’t seem like your kind of place.”

  “We finished signing a deal around the corner, and this seemed like a good place to let off some steam. I’m a financial broker.” His voice lowered on the last as if the statement should impress her.

  “That’s nice.” Lily tried to signal her friends. Time to leave.

  “What do you do?” Peter asked her breasts.

  “Well, they just sit there mainly.” Lily waited until his gaze rose to her face. “I, on the other hand, am a counselor.” Which was true. “But I have an early morning tomorrow and need to get going.”

  “Early morning? What are you, twenty-five?” Peter leaned in close, charm in his smile.

  Three-hundred and twenty-five, actually. “I feel much older.”

  He frowned and brushed her hair from her face. “You look like a princess with those blue eyes and white-blond hair. And you smell like . . . what is that?”

  Strawberries, or so she’d been told. She allowed her empathic abilities to open just a bit and then drew away from the darkness in her new companion. Kindness lived nowhere in the man.

  “Strawberries,” he mused. His eyes darkened. “I’d love to taste you. How about we get out of here?”

  Caution straightened her shoulders, and she plastered on her smoothest smile. “I appreciate your offer, but I must be going.” She moved to scoot from the booth.

  His hand wrapped around her wrist. “Don’t tease. I heard you earlier—and I know what you
want. A girl like you from a place like this? You could even earn some money if you make me really happy. You gave the token refusal, and now we’re going to leave.”

  Lily centered her mind. This was so bad.

  Janie Kayrs instantly appeared at the table. “Is everything all right?” She glanced pointedly at Peter’s restraining hand.

  “Just fine.” Lily shook loose. “Though I’m ready to go.”

  Peter grabbed her upper arm. “You’re not leaving.” He glared at Janie. “Get out of the way, or you’re going to get hurt.”

  Janie slid one leg back. “Let go of my friend. Now.”

  Lily’s heart roared into gear. God. This was going to be disastrous. She bunched her free hand into a fist and nailed Peter in the Adam’s apple. His eyes widened, he released her, and then he grabbed his throat.

  Janie tugged her from the booth. “Let’s go.”

  They turned and ran into Peter’s friends. The closest one glanced at his choking buddy and then frowned at Lily. “You hit him?”

  “She sure did.” Janie instantly side-kicked one guy, following up with a punch to the gut.

  Lily went for the groin shot, knocking the guy down.

  A third man ran from the pool area, and Hilde smacked a beer bottle down on his head. “Whoo-hoo,” she yelped as he fell.

  Oh, things just couldn’t get worse. Lily grabbed Janie’s arm. “Run, now.”

  Peter launched from the booth and captured Lily from behind. Bugger that. She’d trained for three hundred years and might accidentally hurt the guy.

  The front door opened, and the situation went from disastrous to pure hell. Lily stiffened, her eyes widening as two men stalked into the bar. Tension spiraled through the room, and furious multicolored eyes met hers.

  “Caleb,” she whispered.

  He was even bigger than she remembered. Well over six feet, broad, and dangerous as hell, the Realm rebel filled the doorway. His blond hair hung to his shoulders, and those odd eyes promised death.

  He took in the scene with one glance, focusing on the male currently holding Lily against her will. He stepped forward, only to have the king grab his arm.