I mumbled the first thing I thought of. “Honey?”
He froze with his eyes still narrowed and glowing on mine, but an instant later, he nodded once curtly, his voice a deep rumble. “Honey.” His head cocked, his wolf’s action. “Now, answer my question.”
Still stunned by the endearment, again, I mumbled stupidly, “That was amazing. Can you teach me how you did that?”
He growled quietly in clear impatient wrath. “Honey?”
Oh, yeah. I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll wake you.”
Clipped words. “Thank you.” He walked away, the sheet slapping at his legs as he put my gun away, stating over his shoulder, still clearly irritated, “And, yes, I’ll show you sometime.” The drawer closed with a loud click. “But, why would I even need to when you can so clearly take care of yourself without me?”
My eyes widened a bit as I watched him stalk—prowl—into the bedroom, realizing he was not only furious with me…but I had hurt his feelings when I hadn’t called on him for help…and possibly hurt his ego in the process, a bit unbelieving. “Oh, good grief,” I muttered under my breath, running a hand over my face, realizing this was going to be our first “discussion”. He and I had never fought, and I didn’t think this would turn into one, but it was definitely going to take a few strong words. So, I moved into the bedroom, inhaling heavily, and turned off the overhead light he had turned on, leaving my robe on as I slipped into bed beside him. He was lying on his stomach, arms under his pillow, already staring—glaring. “Alright,” I licked my lips, pulling the blanket over me, “I get who you are. I get the position you hold. I get that you will always want to protect.” I met his gaze softly. “But, I’m not weak, Cain. I’m not sweet or innocent in life. I’ve had a hard life growing up, and it’s taught me to be strong. I’m a fighter, a criminal bitch, at heart.” His hand snaked out, placing his fingers over my lips, stopping me from saying anymore.
Navy blue eyes never left mine as he dropped his fingers a bit, running them softly along my jaw in a soothing gesture, even though I could tell he was still angry. “I know your life’s been hard, since you were telling the truth about asshole foster parents.” He shrugged a shoulder, voice still cool. “But, what your dark past has done is build a wall.
“You should have woken me the moment you saw who it was. Sometimes, there are instances in life you need to know how to deal alone, but in this situation, you didn’t have to. I’m not saying you’re weak,” he paused, brows raising slightly, “remember, I felt your power, and saw your will, so I definitely know you’re not.” When I just shrugged it off, his brows raised a bit more, but he didn’t press at my humble response. “Anyway, I’m not saying you’re weak or sweet or innocent, but, Sadie, being a criminal bitch can’t always save you. You should have woken me. In the future, if anything like this happens again, I want you to come to me for help. I’m not weak or sweet or innocent, either, and if I need to give you my damn credentials on how many kills I have, I will if it’ll help convince you I’m more than capable of helping in a tough situation if I’m here.” He paused, his brows slamming together. “Or even, if I’m not here. I think we’ve reached a point where you can call me anytime you need help.”
I didn’t think it possible, but my heart kind of…hurt…melting for him in that moment as he plainly pulled back his own feelings to talk sensibly…to make sure I was safe. I rested my hand on his cheek, caressing his stubbly chin softly. “Cain,” I peered back and forth between his eyes, telling him honestly, “you’re a good man.”
That made him scowl further, but his fingers didn’t stop their soft play, gliding down my neck. “I’m trying to convince you I can help, and all you say is I’m a good man?”
“Mmm-hmm.” I kissed the tip of his nose lightly. “And you convinced me. Your debate valid in reasoning and fact. All of what you said is true. All of which I already know. It just may take a bit for me to break out of the mold, so you’ll just have to have patience.”
“I’ll take it,” Cain growled, pulling me halfway under him, making me squeal in contented laughter. He stared down at me, brushing hair off my forehead with gentle fingers. “Are you planning to finish the game you started with Mr. Stellar?”
“Nope,” my lips popped with the word, “I’m right where I want to be.” If I was stuck in this life, in this time, I was exactly where I wanted to be.
A slow tilt of his lips, the sweetest smile I had ever seen. “You don’t say,” more tilting of his lips, “that’s incredibly fortunate, seeing as I’m exactly where I want to be, too.”
“Oh,” I said with extra oomph, my eyes wide, “now that is fortunate.” I grinned, kissing him quickly before letting my head fall back to the pillow. “I’m still so happy you left that note.”
“Me, too,” he said softly, a deep rumble, his gaze running over my face before his lips gently landed on mine, kissing me lightly, murmuring against my lips, “Honey.”
I groaned in contentment. “I like that…darling.” His lips curved against mine, a large grin, and on a sigh, I kissed him back leisurely.
Chapter Six
Lying on a cot inside a jail cell, bleeding from multiple different spots, bones broken, also, in different multiple locations, while in silver handcuffs, I had to wonder how the hell this had happened. Only last week, I had been lying on a soft bed, happy and sated and relaxed with Cain, our first moment of a “possibly-not-just-casual”. And now, I was the exact opposite, gritting my teeth through the pain, and trying to stay conscious.
It probably had something to do with the illegal rave party the Prodigies, plus Fi, Kincaid’s mate I had finally—again—met tonight. Or the possibility of the Com police, eventually along with the MIA, had broken it up. There was also the likelihood of me being separated from Nelson during the mad dash of the raid, and when I had seen Kincaid and Venclaire get stunned, then taken down from behind, and silvered, I may have…reacted…on instinct, coming to their rescue. It more than likely, though, was a result of me failing in that attempt as a swarm of Com police and MIA had surrounded me after I took four down. After that, it all got a bit blurry.
I remembered being on the ground at one point staring directly into Venclaire’s eyes as he shouted at them to stop, right before a foot connected with my gut. I was then strategically taken to another less rowdy room as those caught in the rave were beginning to get hauled away. A few of those in Law enforcement I had taken down beat the living shit out of me while I was silvered.
Currently, I could hear Kincaid and Venclaire down the hallway voicing their opinions loudly that I be released. I was really hoping someone took their advice because I was seriously beginning to wonder if I was going to die, breathing becoming an issue while my heart beat erratically from all the blood loss. Someone else was shouting back at them, they had no jurisdiction because I was Elemental, and not Vampire or Shifter. Well…that would be a Law I would definitely nudge the Prodigies shoulders into changing…if I survived.
Then I heard Kincaid chuckling, and he bellowed over the officer’s shout, “You want jurisdiction? You’ve fucking got it. From what I can see through that little window…he’s walking in through the front door right now.”
Venclaire’s reply was steady. “The last guy to upset him over her ended up spending three days in the ground. So, you might want to run…if you think it’ll help.”
“Where is she?” Fergus’s voice bellowed through the entire jail, sounding farther away, but echoing roughly through the silvered bars.
Venclaire muttered, “Yeah, actually, I’m pretty sure it’s too late for you to run.”
“Kincaid? Venclaire?” Fergus shouted loudly. “Where the fuck are you?”
“Back here!” Kincaid called steadily, but loudly.
The jailer must have tried to run because I heard a hard grunt, then Kincaid murmured almost so quietly I couldn’t hear him, “Nope. You’re going to deal with some of this fallout because if she were my kind…and the state she’s in…I w
ould rip everyone’s fucking head off that did this to her.”
A door banged loudly in the direction of their voices, everyone’s heads inside the different cells, all the captured ravers, staring down the hallway where they were, everyone mute to listen to their conversation. Everyone in my cell staying clear of me like the plague after Kincaid and Venclaire, and King Townsend and King Bridges, who had been by their sides, bailing them out of trouble, while all four of them had stood outside my cell, staring, Kincaid and Venclaire, arguing for a good minute on who should call Fergus, neither one of them wanting to do so. Venclaire got that honor by a lost coin toss, his conversation on the phone, apparently, relieved to have reached the King, and not Fergus, asking him to relay the message I was in jail.
That had been around fifteen minutes ago, lots more blood lost.
And, seemingly, Fergus had entered the cell room, along with many more voices, but I still heard his over the rest when he growled, “Where the fuck is she?”
“Down there.” Kincaid’s voice turned quiet and steady. “Third cell on the right.”
A flurry of voices came closer to us, but I saw Fergus first through the one eye I could still see through, the other swollen shut, and he came to a screeching halt, staring into the cell, glowing amber eyes scanning everyone’s faces while jailers followed behind him, along with King White, who was waving them off, watching his Prodigy closely. And I peered back to Fergus, unable to mutter a single word since I was fairly sure my throat had some internal injury from being choked, and I saw when his eyes landed on me. He couldn’t see all of my injuries, hair hanging in my face, and clothes covering the rest, but he completely froze, eyes dipping to the blood dripping slowly below me on the concrete floor, back to my face, and a voice void of all emotion, he asked slowly, “Who did this to you?”
“I don’t think she can talk,” Venclaire stated, voice overly tranquil.
“Alright.” Fergus’s arm snaked out to an air Elemental, voice still void, and in a second, he had the man’s face and body slammed up against the silver, making the guy cry out in pain. “You, get her out of there.” The guard instantly grabbed for the keys on his belt, apparently, the man who oversaw the inmates—which I was thinking was a blessing for him right now—so Fergus released him, slamming another Elemental guards face against the bars, asking him coolly, “Did you do this to her?”
“No,” the guy stammered instantly.
“Kincaid?”
“Truth.”
“Alright.” Fergus shoved the guy away, his eyes never leaving my face. “Get a medic here now.” The guard nodded quickly, starting to walk away, but Fergus stated steadily, “Run, not walk, before I kill you, too, for challenging my order.”
And…he was serious. I could see it in his cold eyes, the icy kind that feeds from the soul as he stared at me. Intelligently, the guard started running.
I heard the door bang again, way before the guard could have gotten there, then Elder Merrick’s voice could be heard, booming, his tone frigid, all business. “King Townsend, Kincaid, what the hell’s going on? I got a call from MIA—”
Fergus’s actions cut him off as he took a step back as the jail cell door opened, conveniently putting him in reaching distance of another Elemental guard, an air, and he shoved his face against the bars, asking him, “Did you do this to her?”
“What the fuck is going on here?” Elder Jacobs’s voice instantly cut in, apparently, having come in with Elder Merrick.
That guard didn’t answer, and I was pretty sure I vaguely remembered him as one who had been in that back room.
“Finally,” Fergus muttered, ignoring the Elder Elemental, and…in a heartbeat…the guards neck was snapped, his lifeless body falling to the ground where Fergus absently kicked the guard’s hand to rest against the silver bars. He didn’t have a shot in hell of healing, or anyone healing him, while he stood there, calmly gazing back at me as my mind screamed silently, getting nauseous in fear, not wanting his fate to be on death row, everyone having witnessed him…killing…without a trial or witnessed verdict or…anything Lawful.
“Jesus!” King White barked into the silence descending on the room, even as Fergus reached out and grabbed another guard, slamming his face against the silver bars over the dead guard’s body, making the man freak the hell out, but he shut up nicely when Fergus squeezed his throat tighter. “Fergus! Stop! Make your argument!”
“What the hell is going on?” Elder Jacobs shouted, the sound ringing throughout the room.
Kincaid’s eyes were just as cold and remote as Fergus’s when he tilted his head toward me, glancing wherever Elder Jacobs and Elder Merrick were standing behind the guards. “Sadie’s in there. It’s bad. What they did,” his head jerked back and forth, “it’s fucking wrong.”
Fergus didn’t stop, keeping his hold tight, but stated coolly, “Law seventy-one clearly states that if Law enforcement should unduly beat a Mystical, or if a Mystical unduly beats a Com, per the peace treaty, their punishment is up to death. And my ruling is that she has been unduly beaten. And I choose their deaths.” He slammed the guards face again, asking calmly, “Did you do this to her?”
“She resisted arrest!” the guard shrieked, even as I heard grunting from the mass of guards.
“They took her to a back room after she’d already been taken down and silvered, then beat her,” Venclaire stated, his voice still serene.
“Did you?” Fergus asked voice void.
No answer, except for a pitiful whimper.
His neck was snapped instantly, his body falling on top of the other dead guard, hand also kicked against the silver bars, and Fergus stated coolly to the guard inside the cell, “I said get her out of there.” The air Elemental glued to the middle of the cell snapped out of his daze of staring at the dead guards, and moved toward me, but the grunting from the guards mass was Elder Jacobs and Elder Merrick ramming through their ranks, barging into the jail cell, both of their expressions upset, the other inmates of the cell backing the hell away, actually shoving their backs against the silvers bars. It was Elder Merrick who held my attention, his face trying to be so carefully blank, but his eyes were furious navy blue orbs, his gaze hooded, his hands fisted. Both saw me at the same time, and Elder Jacobs muttered a curse, but started racing toward me while Elder Merrick froze completely until his body jerked and he leapt easily through the air, swatting the guard back onto the floor, the man smacking his head so hard he was unconscious, his own bit of blood pooling from his head. Elder Jacobs only jumped over him as he knelt next to Elder Merrick, who wasn’t saying a word, his jaw clenched tight as he blinked repeatedly before his gaze started running over my frame in a professional manner. Elder Jacobs turned, and grabbed the keys from the jailer, even as Fergus questioned another guard who said no, and it was honest, so was released from Fergus’s hold.
Elder Merrick’s voice was completely void of all emotion as he stated monotone loudly, “We’ll have to take her out on the cot. We can’t move her without injuring her more without it. Both legs and arms are broken in several places, and the way she’s breathing, I’m betting,” he inhaled slowly, carefully, “her ribs are probably also broken.”
I saw Fergus over their heads as Elder Jacobs leaned over me, talking softly, soothingly as he removed my cuffs, not even flinching when he grabbed onto them, working them deliberately slowly as to not cause any more pain on my body. If I could talk I would tell him…a bit more pain wouldn’t matter, seeing as how my brain was utterly disoriented from it, lying in a hazy daze as I was. Fergus finally unfroze, bending slowly, grabbing one of the guns off a dead guard, checking the clip efficiently, probably making sure they were silver, and in a quick round of questioning with Kincaid’s assistance of honest answers, he shot the other two dead in the head. Elder Merrick stated clearly, voice still so cool and emotionless, his eyes as cold as death, “King Bridges or Venclaire, we need you in here before we lift her and someone make sure the medic’s ready.”
/> Venclaire was inside in a blur, bringing a breeze with him, Elder Jacobs tossing the silver cuffs outside the jail cell’s door, moving to the bottom of the cot, since Elder Merrick had already risen and moved to the top. Venclaire sucked in a harsh breath as he bent, pushing the hair back from my face, revealing the good package of swelling, probably making me appear like a phantom.
Elder Merrick ordered gruffly, possibly a bit too harshly, “Venclaire, if you can’t handle it, get the fuck out and let your King take care of business.”
Instant. “Fuck off.” And then…peace…sweet beautiful peace touched down on me as Venclaire instantly touched me, making me sigh on a wheeze, and I noticed my body had been shaking even worse than I had imagined as it stopped quaking, settling like dead weight on the cot. “She’s good. You can move her.”
They lifted me carefully, but I wasn’t feeling anything but peace even if they did jostle me because Venclaire stayed connected to me while they gently moved through the cell and out the cell’s door, actually stepping on the dead, not even bothering to step over them, earning a small gasp from a few of the frightened guards, but Venclaire stated quietly to Fergus, who walked next to him, Kincaid on the other side on me, “Remember, she doesn’t heal as fast as other Mysticals.”
Brusque words from Fergus. “I remember.” Then Fergus, the Prodigy, who was protecting like the King he would be one day, remained mute thereafter as guards quickly scattered to the bars as we passed, the sound of the three Kings talking quietly behind me as they followed, King White giving barking orders to one of the guards to dispose of the bodies. When the Elders stopped, lowering me in a small medical room inside the Com police station the Mage medic had shown us to, I was fairly sure Elder Merrick leaned more heavily against the wall across the room, everyone cursing quietly, and not so quietly, when the Mage evaluated my body with knowledgeable eyes, asking, “Is there any chance she may be pregnant?”
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