by Lynn Hagen
“Adam,” Melonee said as she leaned up and cupped his cheek, “you aren’t dreaming, sweetheart. This is real. I’m real. Ruttford is real.”
“I’m a highly intelligent man, Melonee. But you cannot kneel there and tell me a person can pop in and out of places.”
Adam blinked when Ruttford popped in and out of his apartment repeatedly. He just kept doing it over and over again like someone was turning on and off a light switch. One minute he was there, the next he wasn’t. One minute he was there, and then he wasn’t.
“I think he gets the point, Ruttford,” Melonee said over her shoulder. “Stop it. Even I’m getting dizzy watching you.”
All three froze when there was a knock on the door.
“Are you expecting company?” Ruttford asked.
Adam shook his head.
“Open up, Melonee,” a deep voice called through the door.
“Crap, it’s Micah,” Melonee said as her eyes widened.
Adam wasn’t sure if he could take any more surprises tonight, so he didn’t even ask who Micah was. He was just praying they didn’t say he was anothermate.
“Time to get ghost,” Ruttford said as he grabbed Adam, Melonee grabbing his other arm.
Adam was about to tell them to get off of him when the apartment disappeared and all of a sudden they were surrounded by palm trees and the sound of the ocean as it broke its waves on shore.
He had officially lost his mind. “Where are we?” he asked as he glanced around.
“The Bahamas,” Ruttford answered. “It’s the place that popped into my head as I shimmered us out.”
Adam took a hard look at Ruttford, glancing at his ears and then into his eyes. “You really are magical, aren’t you?”
“No, you’re imagining all of this. Melonee slipped something into your drink and you are having one big hallucination.”
Melonee smacked Ruttford’s arm. “Stop messing with his head.”
Too late for that.
Adam was becoming less afraid of the two and more excited by the moment. He had stumbled into a gold mine in this town. He knew something was amiss, but he had no idea it was filled with fairies. “Are there more of you in Brac Village? Is Mayor Brac a fairy?”
Melonee gaped at him as Ruttford narrowed his eyes. “Oh, please, I’m begging you to ask the alpha if he’s a fairy,” Ruttford said with a tone of amusement.
“You would exploit us?” Melonee asked in hurt astonishment.
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Adam said. “I would commercialize you. Do you know how rich you would become if everyone found out what you could do?”
Instead of answering him, Melonee swung her arm and decked Adam on the jaw. He stumbled back, the pain exploding on the side of his face. “What the hell did you do that for?”
“You better be lucky that’s all I did!” Melonee shouted. “You are talking about exploiting my family. How in the hell did fate give me such a self-serving asshole?”
“Now you’ve pissed her off,” Ruttford said. “She never curses…much.”
“Don’t you guys see the opportunity I’m presenting to you? Don’t you see the fame and fortune that could be yours?” Adam couldn’t see a downside to this. What was their problem?
“I am already rich. I have the richness of a big, loving family and don’t want the fame,” Melonee explained.
Adam rolled his eyes. “But the richness of family won’t pay your bills.”
“How did you end up so coldhearted?” Ruttford asked as he leaned against a palm tree. “I’ve heard of guys like you who don’t care who they destroy for monetary gain.”
Adam thought about the sterility of his childhood, how the only family he had worked to the point they forgot they had a son. His parents had told him that money was the key to happiness and that to be happy, he had to be the best of the best. Well, Adam had become the best at what he did, had secured enough money for him to be the happiest man on the planet, yet he wasn’t. The only happy memories he had as a child were when his parents took him to his grandparents’ house for the holidays.
They had been loving and doting, showing him not all parents thought their child an inconvenience. But he had always felt like something was missing in his life. No matter how much money he made, how many deals he had clinched, a part of him had always been restless.
He glanced at Melonee and Ruttford, feeling some strange attraction toward them both, but Adam chalked it up to his discovery. “You’ll see, Melonee, once you can buy anything you want, walk into any store and buy the place out.”
“Is that all life is for you, Adam, money?” Melonee asked. “Is that all you care about?”
“This isn’t about me,” he replied, feeling that hole in his chest grow. “This is about the way we could change the world.”
“And here I thought Ebenezer Scrooge was a fictional character,” Ruttford replied. “If Maverick thought he didn’t like me after what I had done, he is going to think me a saint when he meets Adam.”
“What does Maverick have to do with this?” Adam asked.
“He’s my dad,” Melonee confessed. “And trust me, he’s someone you don’t want to get on the wrong side of.”
Adam thought about the extremely large mayor of Brac Village who he had met in the foyer when he had gone to meet Lewis. Adam had thought the mayor was going to be some fat, lazy bastard who didn’t care about his town. The man he met looked like the leader of some outlaw gang, but from the way he had stared at Melonee in the foyer, Adam knew the man loved her beyond words.
And from the looks of the home they lived in, Adam had a feeling no one was going to be selling to him. He had to recoup his losses somehow. This discovery would make him rich beyond his wildest dreams.
“We can’t let you tell anyone,” Ruttford said as he pushed away from the tree. “It can’t be allowed.”
“How are you going to stop me?” Adam asked. Even if they thought to abandon him here, Adam could easily make his way home.
“By keeping you at the Den until you see just how important family is and why it should be protected with your life,” Melonee replied as Ruttford grabbed Adam around his waist. The man had taken him by surprise and Adam had to bite back the moan—which surprised him. No one, not even his parents, knew that Adam was bisexual. It wasn’t encouraged in the world he moved around in. The encounters he had had with other men were always behind closed doors and very discreet. It had cost him to keep the other men quiet, but Adam had paid and had enjoyed his time.
“Sorry, Adam,” Ruttford said in his ear, “but you leave us no choice.”
“What are you doing?” Adam asked as the palm trees and ocean disappeared. He found himself standing in Melonee’s front hallway.
And Maverick Brac was standing there glaring at them as if he was the angel of death and they were next on his list of victims.
Ruttford swallowed as he looked at the way Maverick was glaring at them—or more precisely, him.
“What are you doing here?” he snarled as Melonee ran forward and slapped the palms of her hands onto Maverick’s chest, trying her best to hold him back. Ruttford had a feeling she wasn’t stopping him so much as he didn’t want to bowl her over.
“You have to listen, Dad,” Melonee began. “It’s a long story.”
“I’ll listen as I’m roasting Rutt-fucking-ford’s balls over an open fire!”
Oh jeez.
“Why the hell is he here?” Maverick asked as he looked at Adam. “What the hell are you into, elf?” Maverick’s face contorted into pure rage. “What in the hell did you have my baby girl doing with you?”
Ruttford shimmered himself and Adam to the staircase when Maverick moved Melonee aside and came after him. The man was going to kill Ruttford. There were no two ways about it. He was going to find a way to blame him for the two of them having a second mate.
“He’s my mate, Dad!” Melonee yelled as she grabbed Maverick’s arm, trying in futility to pull him back
.
Maverick stilled.
The house grew deathly quiet.
Ruttford could have sworn he heard the devil himself laughing.
“Your what?”
“Adam is my second mate,” Melonee replied behind him. “So you can’t kill him.”
Maverick slowly turned, piercing his grey eyes into Melonee as his face became mottled with rage. “Wait. Right. Here.”
The three watched as Maverick walked down the hallway to his office and slammed the door so hard, Ruttford’s teeth rattled. A second later, something very large and very heavy crashed in the man’s office.
“Oh, hell,” Melonee whispered.
Then something else was destroyed.
“You really do need to work on your subtleties, beautiful.”
They all winced when something else crashed and they heard Maverick cursing so loudly that people started gathering downstairs.
“What’s going on?” Johnny asked as he glanced between the three and then looked down the hallway.
“I think Maverick is finally cracking,” Law Santiago said as he came to stand by Ruttford. “Who’s the human?”
Adam glanced up at Law and then looked back at Ruttford.
“Not a damn word,” he warned his mate. Adam struggled to get out of Ruttford’s arms, but Ruttford wasn’t sure if he still needed to shimmer them out to safety. “Hold still.”
Everyone grew quiet when Maverick walked out of his office, dust and small pieces of splintered wood on his shoulders and in his hair. “Tell me why you have brought them here,” Maverick said to Melonee.
Ruttford grabbed Adam tighter because the werewolf was about to try and kill Adam when he found out their mate wanted to exploit the supernatural world.
Chapter Nine
“Is that him?” Cecil asked as they walked into the back room of an illegal boxing match. The place smelled of sweat and blood. Cecil wasn’t too sure about the unsavory characters around them either. He’d dealt with his fair share of bad guys, but these men looked like they would slice someone’s throat while they were smiling.
They didn’t really scare him—not after dealing with vampires, demons, and rogues—but he was cautious, staying alert to everything going on around him.
He nodded at a few people as they worked their way through the room. Carter had met Fire before, so knew what he looked like. Cecil wasn’t about to ask how Carter had met Ruttford’s brother. He just wanted to grab the man who had gotten himself into this mess and get out of here.
“Gross,” Oliver said as he lifted his boot. Cecil glanced down to see that the Goth man had stepped in blood. “Can we just get the guy and get out of here?”
“That’s the plan,” Blair said.
The four turned when the bell rang and two men began to box in the center of the room. Cecil had seen boxing on television, but never up close. They weren’t even wearing gloves, just white tape around their knuckles.
Carter tapped him on the shoulder and nodded toward the back of the room. “We need to get Fire and get out of here before the Shadow elves show up.”
Cecil tore his eyes away from the fight and began to make his way back to Fire when he saw two blue elves shimmer in.
Fuck.“Hurry,” Cecil shouted when the two henchmen began to glance around the crowded room. He pushed through the throng of people, trying his best to reach Fire before the other men did.
Just as Cecil cleared the crowd, someone yelled, “Cops!”
Okay, now he really needed to get his ass out of here. If Maverick found out that Cecil was in a place like this, the shit would hit the roof. Cecil darted between the running crowd, trying to keep his eyes on the men who had come with him, Fire, and the men after Fire.
Not to mention the cops.
Cecil knew everyone was in a panic because no one noticed the two blue men heading toward the elf with murderous glares on their faces.
Someone grabbed the back of Cecil’s shirt, but he pulled free and continued to head toward Ruttford’s brother.
He was relieved to see Carter reach Fire first, but before he could make it there himself, a man in a blue uniform stepped in front of him and cut his path off.
“This way,” Oliver shouted, grabbing Cecil by the arm and yanking him along. Blair was right behind them, all three heading for the door. He knew Carter would get Fire back to the Den. The question was, would Cecil and the other two make it back. He hadn’t a clue where they were or how far away from home Carter had taken them.
Cecil almost made it to the door when he was thrown to the disgusting floor, his hands pulled behind his back. “Hold it right there.”
“But I didn’t do anything!”
“That’s what they all say,” the cop said as he snapped the cuffs into place. “Tell it to your lawyer.”
As the cop pulled him to his feet, Cecil began to struggle. There was no way he was calling Maverick and telling his mate that he had been arrested at an illegal boxing match.
The cop yanked at his arm. “Do you want to add resisting arrest to your charges?”
“Where’s your holiday spirit?” Cecil asked as the cop started marching him toward the door.
“Santa hasn’t left it under my tree in years.”
Glancing around, Cecil saw that Oliver and Blair were cuffed as well. Thankfully, he didn’t see Carter, Fire, or the two blue men. Cecil just hoped like hell Carter got the man out before the henchmen were able to get them.
This was not going as planned.
“Where am I?” Cecil asked the cop.
“Earth,” he answered sarcastically. “Welcome.”
“You have a real fucked-up sense of humor,” Cecil snapped.
“At least I’m not the one being arrested.” He was pulled through the back door and taken out into the lot. There were cop cars there, swirling lights, and a lot of noise as more people who had been arrested were brought out.
“Can’t you just give me a warning?” Cecil asked. “I cross my heart I won’t be caught here again.”
“Real comedian.” The cop opened the back door of the car and pushed Cecil’s head down. “Laugh your ass into the backseat.”
“Maverick is going to shoot me this time,” he mumbled as the car door slammed shut.
Melonee squeaked and leapt in front of Ruttford and Adam when Maverick went after them. “He wants to do what?” Maverick shouted. “I’ll kill him.”
Kota and Hawk grabbed Maverick and pulled him back. “You can’t kill her mate,” Kota said as Maverick shoved them off of him.
“Watch me.”
“I swear to god, if you lay a hand on either of them, I’ll leave and never come back!” Melonee shouted at him. “Go cool off, break something, shoot something, but go.”
“Your goddamn mate wants to expose us and you want me to cool off?” Maverick asked in angry astonishment. “He better be lucky he is still breathing.”
“Dad.”
“Don’t dad me,” Maverick said in a tone he only reserved for when he was truly pissed at her. “Both of your mates are real damn winners. The only reasonthat humanisn’t dead right now is because he’s your mate. But trust me, he isn’t leaving this house until I know he isn’t a threat to us.” Maverick glared at Adam. “But if I find him in your bedroom, I’ll make him into a eunuch.”
“You can’t keep me here!” Adam shouted indignantly.
Melonee groaned.
Maverick walked closer, his eyes narrowing to two tiny slits. Melonee could see the vein on the side of his temple not only pronounced, but throbbing. “Oh, I can keep you here, human. I can do whatever the fuck I want. You would be wise to keep your mouth shut and stay under my radar if you want to leave here with your balls attached.”
Thank heavens Adam didn’t say another word. But then again, it might be the fact that Ruttford had a hand over the man’s mouth. Whatever the case, Adam didn’t utter another sound.
Maverick turned, stabbing a finger in Hawk’s direction. “Show the
m both to a room. Make it on the opposite end of the house as Melonee’s.”
Melonee knew her dad was talking about Adam and Ruttford. She wanted to kick him. She could understand his anger about what Adam wanted to do. But it had been a while since Ruttford had pulled his pranks. Her mate had tried his best to make it up to the alpha, but Maverick was as stubborn as they came.
“You can’t keep me from my mates,” she argued.
“As long as you are under my roof, watch me.”
Melonee wanted to pull her hair out in frustration. “I’m not a little kid anymore!”
He ignored her as he walked away. Melonee wasn’t sure if he would ever see her as the woman she had become. It was as if he refused to let her grow up. What hurt her heart was that fact that she knew the only way she could ever be with her mates was to leave.
Once the crowd had dispersed and Hawk took her mates to their room, Melonee sat on the step leading upstairs, rubbing her hands on her thighs and wishing she didn’t have to make the hardest decision of her life.
She had been ready to leave before she knew she had two mates. She was still ready to leave now. But that didn’t make the decision any easier. She listened to the noises of the house and knew she would miss each and every one of the people under this roof. All of them had come to mean so much to her over the years.
“He’ll come around,” Tank said as he walked down the steps and sat down beside her. “Just give him time…like one hundred years.”
“I don’t think he’ll ever come around, Uncle Tank. He’s got it in his head that I’m still the little girl who was brought here when I was five. He refuses to see me any other way.”
“It ain’t easy letting go.” Tank wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “But you can’t let him win, or you’ll be miserable.”
“I know that, but I can’t figure out how to make him see me for the adult that I am.” Melonee had racked her brain trying to come up with a solution. She had argued until exhaustion with the stubborn man, but Maverick refused to hear anything she had to say. In her heart, Melonee knew her only option was getting from under his roof.
