by Brianna West
The no-no face resurfaced for the first time in weeks.
“I cannot lose you again,” came his whispered reply. “It nearly drove me mad to have you willingly beside him, to be unable to persuade you back into my arms, to watch you nearly die from poison.”
I pressed into him, kissing the prickly goodness of his cheek before pulling away. “You won’t lose me. You have the Sword of Judgment, and when he decides to come out of hiding, we’ll be ready for him.”
Lucas pulled me forward, wrapping one hand around my neck and the other around my waist. He pressed his lips firmly against my own, kissing me so passionately that I almost forgot how to breathe.
He maneuvered me onto his lap, slipping his hands roughly underneath my shirt, and thrusted into me with purpose. I threw my head back, overcome with sensation before Lucas hid me against himself just in time for Pavel to throw the front door open without hesitation.
Can’t believe I missed that. Guess that’s what Lucas’ kisses do to me.
“Pavel,” Lucas growled.
Pavel stalled at the doorway with a raised eyebrow. “Am I intruding?” he asked knowingly. “Terrible sorry,” he continued, unabashedly strolling inside and sitting right next to us on the couch.
I groaned with frustration, hiding my red cheeks in Lucas’ shoulder.
Bloody Russian.
“You had better explain yourself, Pavel. My patience is wearing thin,” Lucas growled, cradling me into himself.
Pavel sighed deeply. “Why were you the one to get the girl? It doesn’t make any sense at all. You are uptight, stubborn, and no fun at all.”
“Pavel,” Lucas warned.
Pavel sighed again in defeat. “We are needed back in London. At Edward’s request.”
“No,” Lucas responded easily.
“Victor’s order,” Pavel proclaimed with a devilish grin that I caught sight of as I pulled away, finally over my initial embarrassment. “Says we are to leave in the morning. Seems like we’ll be the three amigos once more, moya solnishka.”
“Hurray,” I said without feeling.
Pavel’s eyes danced with mirth. “I think this is cause for celebration, don’t you?”
Celebration to Pavel always came with a whole lot of drinking and inappropriate touching.
“No,” I said easily, causing Lucas to chuckle as a result.
Pavel’s eyes became downcast. “And here I just bought all the ingredients for your most favorite whiskey sour.”
“I guess one drink couldn’t hurt,” I recovered.
Whiskey sour!
Lucas sighed with a shake of his head. “Do not placate him, Izzy.”
“Oh, but Lucas, just look at this cute face,” I said in baby voice, smashing Pavel’s cheeks in my hands.
Pavel batted his eyelashes, emphasizing my point, and unsurprisingly, Lucas remained unaffected.
Pavel and I laughed as we started to dish out the usual amount of snacks and drinks. There was a beauty in our partnership that drove Lucas absolutely crazy. I would feel bad if it weren’t for the fact that Pavel was just as gifted as Andy at making whiskey sours.
--
The Cowboy Twins met us at the house just before we departed for London Headquarters. Cecile and the rest were on a mission in Milan and wouldn’t be accompanying us for the trip.
So far, the details were minimal. All that we were told was that there was a very prominent Dark group that had resurfaced in London, possibly a vampire coven. Deaths often as a result of blood loss and other vampire associated reasons expressed the direness of our help.
Apparently, in the last two weeks, there had been nearly fifty cases of missing individuals. Of those fifty, there was over thirty of them found attacked, bled dry, and left like trash in alleys all throughout Britain.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Bernie greeted, hugging me a bit too tightly and receiving his usual punishment from Lucas.
Carl sighed, coming forward and moving his brother out of the way. “Hello, little lady.”
“Carl,” I greeted with a smile. Still my favorite. “I’ve missed you.”
Lucas grunted with distaste. Obviously, he wasn’t thrilled with this proclamation, but I ignored him anyway.
I might be a married woman now, but I could still appreciate the merchandise.
“Why are you always so nice to him? We are basically the same person,” Bernie whined.
Carl tossed his brother an insulted glance. “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little,” he croaked.
Pavel’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Oh, come here you.”
“Oh, Pavel, hold me,” Bernie cried out in an effeminate voice.
“Jesus,” Carl cursed. “Can’t believe I have to be connected with these two idiots for the rest of my days.”
Idiots indeed.
I shrugged. “At least they’re entertaining,” I commented with a smile.
“To whom?” Lucas added with a smirk.
“You big old meanies,” Bernie said, coming towards me as if he intended to be comforted.
Lucas very easily blocked his advances with a hand to his forehead, pushing him back and nearly sending him to the ground with the sheer strength of it.
“As quick and overprotective as usual, boss,” Bernie said with admiration in his voice.
Lucas all but ignored him as he began speaking, “We need to leave. I expect you three to meet us at headquarters. We will be debriefed with all of the current information, and I will assign the teams.”
Carl nodded with understanding while Bernie and Pavel high-fived like this was some lame teen movie.
At least Bernie had dressed relatively practical. There was very little humor in his outfit, until he turned around, and I saw the white letters painting over the back of his shirt.
It read: I stopped fighting my inner demons. We’re on the same side now.
‘Nuff said.
The usual way of travel still made my stomach queasy and hair fly into my face despite my best efforts to tie it down so it wouldn’t. Lucas had us there in record time. We walked through the usual dark, scary alley to get to the door that creaked a little too loudly as we went.
Still need to be oiled, I see.
When we arrived inside, they were all waiting for us. Edward came forward, a look in his eyes that spoke volumes. We were dealing with something particularly rough. I watched with bated breath as Lucas walked forward and over to the holographic image displayed on the nearest wall.
I heard Pavel’s short growl. Carl and Bernie both stiffened beside me as we all looked at the woman on the screen, gorgeous dark hair nearly hiding her face as she stalked from the alley they found the last victim. She was nearly translucent in color, almond eyes the color of midnight, and a body that was both youthful and extremely beautiful.
There was something very familiar about her face. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but she reminded me of someone I knew. I attempted to figure out who but was interrupted when I nearly figured it out.
“Mother?” Lucas gasped.
My eyes widened as I looked at him and then the screen. The woman’s face came into view with another photo, and I immediately saw the resemblance.
Fuck. That was Lucas’ mother. The very same mother that had betrayed his father and left him for dead all those years ago.
“I am terribly sorry that I have to beg for your assistance in this matter,” Eddy croaked beside the frozen Lucas. “Unfortunately, as you may have concluded, the only one that might be able to track her is you.”
Lucas gazed at the images, ignoring Eddy.
“Is she behind this?” Lucas finally managed to ask.
Fallon stepped forward when Eddy seemed unable to speak. “Yes,” he answered evenly. “We suspect that she is here in hopes of growing a larger coven. However, we are not sure as to the reason. We require your assistance for tracking her. All others have failed.”
Lucas turned around, eyeing the two men. His eyes finally g
lanced over my way before he was answering, “Very well.”
Holy hell. Shit just got real.
