His Angelic Mate [Paranormal Protection Unit 7] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Honor James

  “Who says I’m sharing?” Quincy asked, coming in with a box of things. “Not sure if she should have sugar, given her apparent reaction to bacon.”

  “Is bacon that stuff that was so good?” Cinnamon asked, and at Talon’s nod she turned wide and happy eyes to Quincy. “I would very much love to try Skittles, please. I want to make all kinds of memories, so if you will share your Skittles with me, I will share my blood with you.”

  “Well, she apparently has blackmail to an art form,” Quincy said, shaking his head. Setting the box down, he poured a few of the candies into his hand and passed them over to her. “Put one in your mouth and suck on it for a moment so you can taste the hard shell. As it melts you can then chew on it and break into the gooey center.”

  Popping one of the candies into her mouth, she offered him her arm. Making a face, she wrinkled her nose. “It’s sour,” she grumbled. “I don’t think that I like this sour thing.” She watched as Quincy prepped her arm and stuck the needle in. As he was taking her blood, she added, “Whatever you don’t use you must burn. Promise me that you won’t save it for any reason, that it will be completely and fully destroyed?”

  “All right.” He nodded, pressing a cotton ball to the wound as soon as he withdrew the needle. “Bend your arm up and hold the cotton there until it stops bleeding, Should only be a moment or two,” Quincy said, careful of the vial and of disposing of the needle. “So, now that I have this, what do we do with it?” he asked her, popping some candy in his mouth. Going into his other pocket, he dug out a different bag and handed her one. “These are the sweet version of them,” he told her. “I prefer the sours, but I always keep a bag of sweet just for emergencies.”

  She took one of the sweet ones tentatively and popped it into her mouth. A wide smile lit her face and she grinned. “Oh I like those a great deal.” To Talon she added, “Can I get some for me please? I want to try absolutely everything before I have to go back please.”

  “Here.” Quincy handed her the bag of sweet ones. “It’s only a half bag but should hold you over until the big guy can get you some more. Now, quit stalling, female. Tell me what we need to do with your blood and the shields to keep me from being eaten alive by a Vampire.”

  “Oh thank you,” she said with a grin, but as soon as he mentioned Vampire she became serious. “The spell that you need is in a grimoire that your bond-mate knows of. Tell her that it’s the one that her great, three times over, grandmother created several hundred years ago. It’s a blood spell for protection. There is one word that is written in there that I would appreciate you not saying aloud, and you will know it as soon as you see it.” The woman had known Angels, had known of the creator and how Chaos had wooed the fallen ones to becoming Wraiths, but what worried Cin was the mention of the Angels. She couldn’t have Chaos knowing she was there yet, and as soon as any of the magical beings read that word aloud he would know. “Use my blood. It will tell you how.” It spoke of the Angel’s blood being key to the spell.

  “All right.” Quincy nodded. “Get the grimoire, read but don’t speak the spell aloud until I know what I’m doing and where, and then get it done. Got it.” He smiled at her. “Well, it’s been interesting meeting you, Cinnamon no-last-name. Good luck learning the world as we know it, especially with sire Grumpy Pants there.” He grinned at Talon. “And aren’t you supposed to be on holidays? Why are you checking your e-mails on your phone?”

  “Because apparently those I left in charge weren’t listening when I said that everything had to be dealt with immediately,” Talon said as he shot off yet another reply. “Nearly three quarters of all my e-mails are extremely time sensitive, and even a few minutes of delay could end up getting us sued, fined, or having someone’s death being our fault.”

  Cinnamon frowned and shot a look to Quincy. “You will ensure that his work is taken care of properly?” It wasn’t a question, it was a command. A command from one who got everything she wanted. “So that Talon can leave for his holidays. I will learn life as it comes. I will try to find the missing bond-mates and send them here for protection or for their bond-mates. He deserves a true vacation.”

  “Me?” Quincy squeaked at her. “No, no, no.” He shook his head, holding up his hands. “I have more than enough on my plate, lady. Besides, I’m more than sure he left a pair of Dragons in charge of everything, and they are the ones you should be tearing a strip off of.”

  “He is right, darling,” Talon said when she got a rather terrifying look of promised agony and death on her face. “He has the new system to integrate as well as getting the shield up to date, plus looking after his wife and their soon-to-be-popping-into-the-world child. He’s got plenty on his plate. Rane and Synister were supposed to be taking care of everything here on my end of things. Where are they anyway?” he asked Quincy.

  “They had to go to some meeting apparently, but were supposed to remain in full contact the entire time,” Quincy said slowly.

  “Find them and let them know that they can’t be letting anything slide more than ten minutes at a time,” Talon said on a sigh. “Go and do what you need to, Skittles. I’ll check in later this week and see if you need anything.”

  “You got it, Bulldog.” Quincy grinned before heading out with his box of things and the vial of blood.

  “Are you going to come with me, Cinnamon?” Talon looked at her as he put his phone away. “I did promise you a bunch of new experiences, and I can’t do that if I’m not with you.”

  “I…” She wasn’t certain if she should. She really wasn’t sure if she should go with him. She had been sent to earth to find and protect the bond-mates, to warn Gaia’s children that there was serious danger to them and their own. “I would love to come with you, Talon. You have no idea how very much I would love to come with you, but you deserve your vacation. You deserve your time alone, and I need to find and protect those that need me.” She rubbed at her chest and frowned. “Why do I hurt?” She had an ache in the center of her chest, a pain that she didn’t understand at all.

  “Because you know you should come with me,” he said softly. “How are you going to find the bond-mates when not all the men are on base all the time?” he asked her, his mind racing. “We can go through some of the places that they reside in during the two weeks, and you can see if you can get a read for who their mate might be. We might even find a few bond-mates and be able to help them out while you also get to see some of the world, darling.”

  Cin frowned as she looked up at Talon. “But what about your vacation? That’s really not much of one if you have to play babysitter to me.” She continued to rub at her chest. “Yes, I would like to meet some of the other men so that I can see if I can’t figure out how I know their bond-mates, but as it is you deserve, you need a vacation. I can’t be the one to hold you back from that.”

  “I think we could quite enjoy my time off,” Talon told her honestly, relaxing a little. She was trying to talk herself out of letting him take her along. “Come on, Cin, it would be fun,” he said softly. “We can see some of the countryside, stop wherever we want to, visit with a few of the Team members, and just enjoy the time together. I’ll even take a vehicle instead of the bike to ensure you are comfortable and don’t get a sore bottom from riding the bike for too many hours. But either way, we are going to have to get you some more modern clothes so you blend in a little more, sweetheart.”

  Looking down at her gown, she grinned. “Yeah I can see me not blending.” Everyone she had seen had been wearing pants and real shoes instead of the golden sandals she was wearing. Chewing her lip, she was obviously mulling over whether or not she wanted to go, but finally she nodded. “All right. I will come with you, but only if you promise that you will also try to relax? And I can pay my own way. I just need to find a place to exchange my currency for the paper stuff that you used.” There was only the smallest of pauses before she added, “Why would anyone think paper was better than gold?”

  “Paper money isn’t be
tter than gold, it’s just a more compact way to carry what is needed around,” he told her honestly. “Quincy can change the gold to cash currency at today’s market. Depending on what you have we may need to set you up an account. A place to store the money securely,” Talon explained when she looked confused. “Then you would have a card you can swipe that is directly linked to the account and the monies within without having to carry all the money around and potentially be robbed. Does that make sense?” he asked softly.

  She nodded but still looked confused. “I have an endless supply of those gold coins,” she told Talon. “My pouch never empties. I have an endless supply of the gold and gems as well as identification,” she said with a shrug. “So I suppose that I could give him whatever you think I would need.” Once more she looked to him. “My father would never send me here without ensuring that I had everything that I needed.” Her weapon was a part of her though. It wasn’t something that could come off. It came to her when she willed it.

  “Well then we will empty it a couple of times to start up an account, give you some cash and then the card to go with the account. I think though we should leave the pouch here, in my safe where no one can get to it, since I don’t want it getting stolen either,” Talon said carefully. “If you need more money while we are gone, you can borrow from me and pay me back when we return, deal?”

  “All right,” she grudgingly agreed. “As long as you are certain that you are all right with me tagging along on what should be your time.” She hated thinking she was going to ruin his vacation, but she couldn’t seem to deny him anything either. “Then let’s go and talk to your friend so that he can get me an account started and all that fun stuff. We should likely figure out which of my identities we want to take with us as well.” At his look she grinned. “I have passports and identifications from every country on the face of the planet. I’m a native of all the countries, just have to choose one.”

  “You just need your American one, darling,” he told her honestly. “And no passport necessary, just the ID,” he said. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he breathed her in slowly. “We’re not going to be travelling anywhere you’ll need a passport, not this trip. But we’ll take a trip another time so you can use the passport,” Talon promised her, dropping another kiss to her lips before lifting her to her feet and standing next to her.

  Cinnamon touched her fingers to her lips and smiled. “I really do rather like it when you kiss me. Do you think that while we are looking for others to watch over and protect you can kiss me often? I think that would be joy for both of us, don’t you?” She slipped her hand into his and looked up at him trustingly. “I look forward to sharing this time with you, Talon. I really do need to make memories to keep with me forever.” She smiled and then a little sadly added, “And if we meet your bond-mate while we are traveling you can send me on my way so that you can finish your vacation with her with you.”

  “We won’t,” he told her, leading her out of his office and toward Quincy’s. “Gaia told me she’s not quite ready yet,” he said, feeling her gaze on him. “So we will have a lovely vacation and get to know one another again.” Talon smiled down at her.

  Chapter Seven

  Winking, he guided her into Q’s office. “Skittles, my man, we need you to change some gold and jewels into cash and throw it into an account for the lady plus give her some hard cash and a card for the account.”

  “All right, how much?” Quincy asked, looking at each of them.

  “How much would be a good start?” Cin asked and opened her pouch to pull out a handful of heavy gold doubloons, and then another, and another before pulling out large uncut diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies. When there was a large pile before him, she asked, “Do you think that I need more than that?” She wasn’t trying to be flippant or rude. It was a true question in her mind. Chewing her lower lip, something that seemed to be a nervous habit with her, she said, “Maybe more? I don’t want to have to make Talon pay for anything, and since I need clothes as well, perhaps I will need more?”

  Picking up one of the coins, Quincy knew his eyebrows were as far up as they could go. “Uh, let’s just wait until I figure this pile out first and go from there, all right?” Waving a hand, he sighed. “Grab a seat. This will take a few minutes,” he told them as he began to sort out the gems from the coins. Digging out his pouch, he tossed all the gems in and shook his head. “That’s about six thousand,” he told them and put in half the gold before adding the other half. “That is, in total, six hundred twenty-two thousand four hundred and ninety dollars. I don’t think you need any more, darling girl. You will have enough to do many things for the next several months with this.”

  “Are you sure?” Cin asked the man and then sighed. “Thank you.” She smiled wide at him and nodded. “Then I suppose that I will take some of that weird paper money and a card to swipe so that I can pay my own way?” she asked proudly. “And buy bacon,” she added happily. “In fact I really think that should be our first stop, somewhere that we can have more bacon.” Her new favorite treat.

  “We will stop for food, darling,” Talon assured her.

  “All right, I need some sort of ID to set up the account with,” Quincy said, digging out a couple hundred dollars. Setting the cash on the edge of his desk, he looked to her. “It will have to be for the States. Otherwise I’ll have to create an overseas account, which is a big pain.”

  “It’s okay, I have one.” She produced the ID as well as the passport for the States. “See, I even have a last name,” she stated proudly. Cinnamon Smith. Weird name, but people now had a first and last name, so she had to have one as well.

  “Thank you,” Quincy said, turning back to his computer to set up her account. Humming softly, he dug out a blank card as he worked and, with a bit of magic, had everything set. “Here you are, Ms. Smith, one card good in any ATM or banking machine in the United States and several other countries. Some cash”—he handed it over—“and you two are set to go.”

  “Thank you, Quincy,” Cinnamon said with a grin and then impulsively went to him and gave him a hug. “You are a very good man. Moth—” She paused. “Gaia chose wisely the new King of the Magic Wielders. You are just what they need,” she told him with a smile and then turned back to Talon. “Bacon?” One-track mind, and right now it was on bacon.

  Keeping his facial features still after her near slip, he nodded. “Bacon, right.” Shaking his head, he left a few messages with Quincy and took her hand in his to lead her back through the base. “We will take a truck so we can be comfortable and talk easily. Plus, since we need to purchase you some clothing, we will need a bit of room for that, and my bike only holds so much.” Which reminded him, he’d have to grab his saddlebags from the bike so he had what he needed for his vacation.

  “All right, then let’s go and get your truck and bacon,” she teased with a grin and slipped her hand into his. Giving another wave to Quincy, she walked at Talon’s side. “He’s a truly good man. I like him. He thinks that he’s not good enough for the Crown, but in reality he was born to lead.” She spoke as she walked along at Talon’s side. “He, like you, is one of those rare people that others instinctively gravitate toward. He’s just better at keeping them away than you are.”

  “He had a great many years where he was put down, and at least I believe, he still thinks it will all start again, so he guards his heart,” Talon said as they walked. “He’s going to be amazing in a few years when he realizes how we actually see him. But he needs to regain confidence in himself as more than a techie. Until then I try and do whatever I can to help and guide him.” Talon had been leading his people for so long he really didn’t know any other way of life.

  “You are a very good man, Talon. I hope that whomever Gaia chooses for you is just as amazing as you are and realizes just how good you are for not only her, but others as well.” Cin rubbed at the ache in her chest again. Why was it that when she thought of him with another woman it made her hurt?
She felt like being physically ill from the thought and didn’t like that, at all.

  “Stop thinking about it, Cinnamon,” he whispered, seeing the pain in her eyes. Wrapping his arm around her, he hugged her close. “What will be will be, little darling. But that will come later. For the moment it is just you and I, Cin. There is no other but the two of us.”

  “I like that,” she said with a smile and nodded. “Just the two of us, and food. Oh yes, food. I look forward to trying other really yummy things. Do you think that we could test everything?” she asked happily.

  “We can definitely try a great many things over the next few days,” he told her. “Not all in one sitting because you would get ill, but we have plenty of time. I definitely want to give you a treat that has your name involved in it.” Talon grinned. He couldn’t wait to give her a cinnamon roll. It would be interesting to see if she liked it or not.

  “Oh I love treats.” She had never had them before, but she was finding that if he thought she would like it, she would. “I think that you and I are going to have fun together over the next couple of weeks, don’t you?” She hoped so. She also wanted to figure out a way to ask him to help her ease the ache of need that she had since she wrapped her legs around him on the motorcycle.

  “We will have lots of fun.” He grinned at her, pulling her into the parking garage. “Don’t worry. I will keep you out of trouble, darling. And I will ensure that you have a marvelous experience while you get a hands-on tour of some of this country.” Going to the boxes, Talon pulled out the keys for the Hummer he preferred to use. “Let’s grab the truck. We’ll go and get my bags and then we can hit the road. First stop will be a shop to get you a new outfit and, if I remember correctly, a bag from the place next door to carry it all in.”