by J. L. Weil
His lips might have twitched, but it was hard to tell in the night. “It definitely helps, Cupcake. I need you to come with me.”
My brows pulled together. “And if I refuse?”
“It would be easier if you didn’t.”
My fear was now off the charts. I didn’t care how perfect his face was. “Easier for who?”
His gaze locked on mine. “I won’t hurt you. I give you my word.”
“Sorry, but I don’t trust you, and for your word to mean anything, I would have to trust you. So, you see, I think we find ourselves at an impasse.” My eyes darted behind him. There was a very slim chance I could take him by surprise and run off. A knee to the groin usually worked, and would give me the window I needed to escape.
“Don’t even try it. I will catch you,” he warned me, his eyes darkening to a deep plum.
“If you don’t let me go, I’ll scream.”
The stranger’s jaw tightened. “Time is running out. We must go.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. No matter how cute your dimples are.” I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. Why did stuff like that always have to come out of my mouth? I needed to learn how to not blurt out the first thing that popped into my head.
He blew out a breath. “I figured you’d want to do this the hard way.”
I was about to take my chances and give my lungs some more exercise, when he blew in my face. A cool mist that smelled of lavender and vanilla, and felt like the spray of a waterfall rained over me. I gasped—the worst possible reaction I could have had—inhaling a huge gulp of the mysterious mist. The effect was instant. A heavy calmness overcame me, making my eyes droop.
It took away my fear. It took away everything.
A shriek tore through the darkness, like a soul being tortured. My last thought was I might never get to tell Staci about the hottie I ran into in an alley. She would have loved every second of my discomfort.
I blinked several times, hoping to recognize my location. No such luck. This wasn’t the first time I’d woken up in a strange place. However, it was the first time I’d woken up with my wrists tied together.
What the hell?
Thickly corded ropes bound my hands, and no matter how much I tugged, I couldn’t loosen the knot. Breathe, Olivia. You can figure a way out of this. Just Breathe.
My body quivered, and a veil of panic came over me as my eyes followed my bindings to where the rope attached to a wall. I felt chilled, but unlike the cold I was used to in Chicago, this emanated from the inside.
Where am I?
How did I get here?
Jase! my mind hissed—the hot guy with the dimples who had cornered me in the alley. His face was the last memory I had before my mind went fuzzy. What had he done to me? I should have listened to the stupid voice in my head, the one that had told me to run when I’d had the chance. Now look what I’d gotten myself into—tied to a wall.
At least my clothes were still on.
But for how long? that little voice asked.
Shut up.
“Hello?” I called, my voice echoing through the silent room. “Is anyone there?”
The only sounds were my heavy breathing, and the pounding of my heart. My frantic eyes took in my surroundings: a plush bed in the corner, soft cream carpet on the floor, and flickering candles casting a soft glow.
At least I wasn’t in a dungeon or a cellar. I had that going for me.
Opening my mouth, I was about to call out again—louder this time—when the clopping of footsteps approached outside the door. The knob turned, and I shifted straighter in the chair, prepared to fight if necessary.
But that implied I knew how to fight, and I didn’t.
Four extraordinary guys strolled in, their eyes immediately finding me in the room. One I might have been able to handle, but four? How the hell could I take on four? They gathered around me in a semicircle. I had to crane my neck to look at them since they were all tall, built like football players, and extremely good looking. I had thought Jase had muddled my brain, but four of them? All coherent thoughts went out the window. Each was different in his coloring and look, but they all held a sense of power and importance.
Jase stood in the middle. At least I knew who to blame for my capture. To his left was a guy who looked as if he belonged in a punk rock band. His hair was spiked down the center and green-tipped. His emerald eyes twinkled when he noticed me staring at the metal ring in his bottom lip. He winked, letting me know he noticed I was checking him out.
On the other side of Jase stood a golden god—olive skin, whiskey-colored eyes tinged with crimson, caramel brown hair, and full beautiful lips. Beside him was the fourth. Whereas the others seemed approachable, the blond with icy blue eyes was the fiercest of the four, and also the biggest. His lips formed a thin line as he eyed me with disdain. He reminded me of an ice prince.
“Welcome to the Veil Isles, Olivia,” Jase greeted, in that calm and sensual voice.
“She is quite beautiful,” the one with the mohawk and hot lips added.
Golden God smirked. “Did you expect anything less from Jase? She fits his type to a T.” His voice was like honey, thick and sweet.
“You better be right about her,” the blond replied in a sharp tone.
“Trust me, this one is different, Issik,” Jase assured him.
“So you said the last one hundred and ninety-nine times,” Golden God muttered.
They had done this one hundred and ninety-nine times? Kidnapping girls? My eyes went wide with fear. What kind of crap did I get myself into?
“Don’t look so alarmed. Who knows? Maybe Jase is right,” Hot Lips said, rewarding me with a wicked grin. “You could be the one we’ve been searching for.”
I didn’t really care if I was the one. In all honesty, I hoped I wasn’t so I could get as far away from these four as possible… and this place called the Veil Isles. “Can you untie me now?”
Jase lifted a dark brow. “Depends. Are you going to run? Because I’m not in the mood to chase you through the castle.”
Castle, my mind echoed.
“He might not be, but I am.” Hot Lips winked.
“Kieran,” Jase scolded. “Do we have your word, Cupcake?”
The three guys on either side of Jase smirked, even the cold one, Issik, his lips twitching.
“Fine,” I agreed, while cursing the four of them under my breath. “But call me cupcake one more time, and I’ll be forced to introduce my knee to your junk.”
A few snickers erupted as Jase bent down and fumbled with the knot, loosening it so he could slip it over my hands. “Better?” Now he suddenly cared about my well-being.
Rubbing my hands over my wrists, I tried to release some of the sting from the bonds. “Are you going to tell me what I’m doing here? What is the Veil? And why did you kidnap me?” I presumed it was because I had been living on the streets, and Jase knew no one would be looking for me.
He had assumed correctly, but I wouldn’t admit it.
“You have questions, clearly,” Jase added, sounding too calm and collected for someone who had just committed abduction.
Duh. I think I had made that point already. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
Issik scowled.
Kieran smirked.
Jase frowned.
And the golden god, whose name I still didn’t know, coughed.
“I like her,” Kieran said. “Can we keep her?”
Ice Prince’s jaw tightened. He was every inch the image of a Viking. “It doesn’t really matter if you do or don’t like her. She is here for a reason. Don’t forget that.”
“And just what the hell is that reason?” I demanded.
“It’s complicated,” Jase answered. “I think we should get you settled in, let you clean up, and rest. Tomorrow will be soon enough to answer those questions I see swimming in your eyes. And before you argue, remember, there are four of us.”
They all loomed over me, daring me to ch
allenge them with their stern demeanors and firm abs. Damn the four of them to the deepest parts of hell. “It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice in the matter.”
Jase hovered over me, power exuding from his chest. “You have no reason to trust me, but I saved you. You no longer have to live on the streets or steal to eat. You don’t have to worry about where you’re going to sleep. Do us all a favor and don’t do anything foolish.”
I tipped my chin up, feeling my cheeks flood with color. He might not have meant to embarrass me on purpose, but he did so all the same. My pride refused to admit that what he offered sounded like an answer to my prayers. Too good to be true.
I was struck again by his handsomeness, but it didn’t last more than a few seconds before my sanity returned. Me? Do something foolish? A glint in his expression gave me pause, and I couldn’t determine why I wasn’t demanding him to let me go, or why I wasn’t threatening him. “What happens if I decide I don’t want to stay? Am I allowed to leave, or are you going to stop me?”
The four of them suddenly couldn’t look me in the eye, and I knew I had my answer. They weren’t going to let me go. After a minute, Jase took a deep breath. “I give you my word no harm will come to you. You’ll be under my protection.”
“Protection from what? Am I in danger?”
Kieran crossed his arms and gave me a cheeky smile. “This one is a lot quicker and calmer than the others. We’re keeping her.”
“She’s not nearly as frightened as she should be,” Ice Prince added, his frown deepening.
Oh, there was a good dose of fear inside me. I was just better at faking it. I took a second to study Issik. He oozed bitterness—a warrior with a chip on his shoulder. His silky blond hair hung straight, just reaching his chin, which was covered with day-old stubble. It suited him.
“Don’t let her doe-eyed face fool you, Zade. She’s scared.”
I wanted to wipe the smugness off Jase’s pretty face after his words. Bastard. I was starting to really not like him, but at least I had gotten the last one’s name—Zade, the one who looked like a golden god.
“Will the four of you stop talking about me as if I wasn’t in the room?” I shouted.
That got their attention.
“This will be interesting for sure. Do you think she’ll get along with the others?” Kieran asked.
Jase was no longer amused, the pupils of his violet eyes sobering. “We’re keeping her separate until we know for sure if she can be the one.”
Zade lifted a cinnamon brow. “Is that the only reason?”
I opened my mouth to complain yet again, but Issik beat me to it. “How old are you?” he asked, directing the question to me.
Under his piercing eyes, I fidgeted in the chair. “Why does it matter? If you have no qualms about kidnapping, I doubt my age is suddenly going to give you a conscience.”
There were a few snickers.
Jase shook his head. “This room will be yours for the time being.”
My gaze swung to the door. “Let me guess, there’s a lock.”
“You got it, Cupcake, not that it matters. There’s no leaving the Veil Isles.”
We’ll see about that. If there was a will, there was a way. “I thought I told you not to call me that.”
“Try not to—” Jase was interrupted by a loud shriek.
All four glorious heads swung to the balcony doors I had failed to notice in the room before.
What was that? It sounded like a bear being tortured. Their hard bodies stiffened as each of the guys’ faces became dark scowls. A large shadow flew over the window, causing the room to go black for a moment as it moved past. It was a lot bigger than your average hawk or crow.
Sweet Jesus.
“Dammit,” Jase growled, causing trepidation to dance inside my chest.
Chapter Four
“What is it?” I asked, my eyes bouncing between the four of them. Each guy was glowering, so I could only conclude it wasn’t good.
“A wraith,” Issik hissed, swinging his frozen glare to Jase. “Did you forget to close the portal?”
“No, of course not,” he replied. “I’m not an idiot.”
Issik lips thinned as he strutted to the double doors that led outside. “How did it get through, then?”
Another scream echoed, both long and piercing. I didn’t know what a wraith was, but I also didn’t want to know. My mind was kind of still hung up on the word “portal.” That couldn’t mean what I thought it did, could it? No. It wasn’t possible. Traveling from one place to another through a swirling black hole?
Jase sighed. “I’ve got it. Stay with her,” he told Hot Lips and Golden God, walking toward the French doors. I caught a flash of something on his face before he spun away, and if I already weren’t having the most otherworldly day, I would have brushed off the speck of worry I thought I glimpsed.
Angling my head so I could see around the bulky form of Issik, my eyes bulged. Jase tossed his cotton shirt over his head, revealing chiseled abs. I won’t lie, for a moment, my mind went blank and my mouth dry. I stretched to the side for a better view, but the bellow of another roar outside snapped me back.
The wraith, as they called it, was clearly pissed off. I didn’t know what Jase thought he could do about it. I knew what I wanted to do: curl up in the corner and cry. This day was taking its toll.
But my emotions were pushed aside as I stared at Jase, my mind rejecting everything it was seeing. Dark purple scales that were almost black appeared on his shoulders, multiplying until they covered his entire torso. His fingers went to the button on his pants and off those went too.
Um, this was way more than I’d bargained for. His violet eyes brightened as the transformation took over.
I bit my lip to keep from screaming, because some inner voice told me that was not the right response, and would only make this situation worse. Three other pairs of eyes all watched me with intensity, judging my reaction.
Claws exploded from his fingertips and toes. He was already a tall and muscular guy, but his body grew, filling out and lengthening. Scales covered his entire form. A massive tail unraveled from behind him and across the room from one wall to the other.
My eyes swept the length of him from head to tail. What Jase had changed into, nearly made me pee my pants. He was a mother-freaking dragon.
I held back a squeak as he angled his triangular head toward me, and if it weren’t for those violet eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it was possible. I felt positive this creature could do a serious amount of damage; his sheer height and powerful tail were formidable enough on their own. Then he took off, spreading his massive wings when he leaped off the balcony.
“I’m not letting him have all the fun,” Kieran announced, whipping off his shirt.
Oh my god. Please tell me they aren’t all going to get naked and shift into dragons. I didn’t think my nerves could handle it.
Dragons! my mind screamed. I’d been abducted by a group of sexy dragons. Or at least two of them…
It wasn’t possible, but I had just seen it with my own eyes.
Kieran walked across the room, and in a similar fashion, his body changed and stretched, but his scales were green with long spikes lining the end of his tail. Dipping his head, he followed Jase into the dark sky.
My heart hammered in my chest, and I expected, any second, it was going to jump out. This kind of stuff didn’t happen to me. It only existed in movies and fantasy novels. Had they injected me with drugs today? What the hell had been in that pizza? Was I dreaming? That had to be it. This was a nightmare, and I would wake up at any moment alone in my little shack behind the food mart.
I squeezed my eyes closed, praying when I opened them that all this would disappear.
Crap.
Issik and Zade stared down at me with twin expressions of curiosity.
Dammit.
“She hasn’t freaked out yet,” Zade said to Issik, possibly impressed with my composure. If he only kne
w what was going on inside me.
Issik’s lips pressed together firmly. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. She’s probably in shock.”
I shoved off the chair, not caring if they tried to stop me. I had to see what was happening with my own two eyes. Were there really two dragons flying around outside this castle? Was I really in a castle at all?
Neither objected when I stood, but they followed me outside to stand on the balcony. I gasped. The view was… breathtaking. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. I had to be at least six stories high, and directly below me was a body of water that surrounded the entire castle, almost as if we were in a stranded oasis. Beyond the flowing sea were dark trees of various heights, and further yet, I could just make out through the fog three other castles with multiple towers that jutted into the sky and disappeared into black clouds.
“What do you think of your first glimpse of the Veil Isles?” Zade asked, leaning so he could whisper in my ear.
A shudder rippled through my body, and I couldn’t tell if it was because of his proximity or the shock, but I was rendered speechless. My hands gripped the edge of the balcony’s railing as I searched the sky and found what I was looking for. Proof my eyes hadn’t deceived me. The two dragons soaring in the night were easy to spot; their impressive wings spread wide as they glided in the air, circling a small figure. “Small” was only a relative term to the size of the dragons, because next to me, this dark creature would have dwarfed me.
The shadowy figure moved with a deathly grace that filled my veins with ice. Then again, Issik had moved closer. He could very well have been responsible for the sudden coldness running through my blood.
I didn’t know which I should be scared of more: the dragons or the wraith. Or the two guys flanking me.
I thought the night would have made it hard to discern between the dragons, but I spotted Jase easily enough. His scales glistened in the moonlight, and it was difficult to believe only moments ago he’d been standing in front of me.
The breath in my lungs escaped as my eyes followed his movements. Jase and Kieran seemed to work together, taking turns swinging their claws at the wraith while they hovered in the air supported by their wings. I could hear the flapping as their wings beat, both powerful and elegant.
