She's not fine, not if she's transforming for the first time. I tighten my hold on her. "I need to get you out of here."
"What and miss all the fun?" She pouts.
I chuckle.
She rubs her cheek against my back. "Let's kick this motherfucker out of our home. Let's defeat him, once and for all."
"So bloodthirsty, my little Char?"
"You know me too well."
"And you know I could never risk your life."
She huffs, tries to pull away.
"Aww, come on Ember, don't be upset."
She scoffs.
"Right, keep the women out of the action while the menfolk save the world," she grumbles.
"Now, babe that's not the issue here." I turn to survey her flushed features.
"Oh?" She juts out her chin, "Then what is?"
"We need to attack, before the bastard grows stronger," I growl. "And I bloody well can't do it unless I am confident that you are out of his reach."
She tosses her hair. "What-bloody-ever."
She tugs on her arm and I release her. "Back away, to where it's safe, little one, please."
She opens her mouth. I stab a finger at her, "Go."
She huffs, then retreats a few steps.
I scowl. She sidles back some more.
More thunder booms. Above us, the clouds swirl. I glance back at Dimitri and...The fuck? He brings his hands together, lightning bleeding from his veins. A ball of blue and white appears between his palms. All the hair on my neck stands on end. Not. Good. This is a bloody nightmare. It's going to take everything we've got, and some more, to defeat him—and my fucking heart, my life, the most precious thing in my world, is barely a few feet away.
"Jesus, fuck." I tug at my hair, half-angle my body, taking care not to expose my front to Charley. I cannot let her see my injuries. "Go on," I snap, "Back the fuck away, Char."
Her face pales. She sets her lips, plants her palms on her hips.
"I'm not a child." She straightens; sweat beads her brow. With a ripping sound, her wings snap out. Streaks of green and gold bisect the scales. Wow.
"What you are, is fucking gorgeous."
Her chest heaves and her body trembles. Shit, is she having trouble staying upright? It's too soon. "You shouldn't push yourself to complete the transformation."
"I'll do whatever the fuck I want."
"Not now." I stab my finger at her, "I need you out of here, Char."
She juts out her chin, opens her mouth.
"Please."
Her features crumple; her body sags. Lighting flashes from behind, illuminating the moisture on her cheek. "Fuck, don't cry. Please, Ember."
She tosses her head, then shuffles back, without taking her gaze from mine. She doesn't stop until she reaches the edge of the clearing. Another step, and she's behind the tree line.
“Thank fuck." It's not that much protection, but it will have to do. I swing my head around. Pain swathes my front and sweat pours down my face. The scene swirls in front of me. I shake my head to clear it. I am going to see this through—not going to stop—until she's safe.
I lower my chin, glower at the asshole who threatens the life of my mate. "I'm going to kill you." I crack my neck. "You hear me, asshole?"
Dimitri spreads his arms out. His bloodied fingertips glimmer red, blue and white. Thunder rolls above. Lightning flashes down to sear his fingertips. The power scrolls up his arms, lighting up the veins, flows down his neck, his torso, until his entire body gleams a strange silvery-white. Fuck!
There’s a gust of wind, then Gabriel swoops down to land beside me.
Lily peels away from her position, races to him. He scoops her up, so the bawling twins are crushed between them. "The hell you doing here, woman?"
"Someone had to face the monster, given the lot of you were otherwise occupied."
He growls low in his chest. "Someone's all sassy."
Lily smirks. "Someone's all talk, and no action."
He glares at her. "You challenging me?"
"Maybe." She giggles.
"Can't wait to show you what I have in mind." He scowls, ”But first," he places her on the ground, "you need to get little Mika and Amber home."
She pouts, "Not yet, Gabriel, I want to help."
"And you can." He cups her cheek. "By staying away, so I don't have to worry about you and the babies."
"But..."
"Please?"
She draws in a breath. "Fine." She brushes past him and heads toward the tree line.
"Thank fuck." His wings susurrate, then settle.
"Yeah." I couldn't agree more.
Tristan stalks up to flank my other side. Dante and Rafael bring up the rear, with Doc at the far end.
"The women?" I ask aloud.
"Safe." Dante mutters.
I follow the direction of his glance to where Gia and Alice have joined the other two.
Rafael's voice reaches me. "You all are making a mistake."
I whip my head to face him, "If ensuring our mates are safe means that we upset them, then so be it."
Rafael scowls, then jerks his chin toward Dimitri. "The fuck is he up to?"
"Seems our uninvited guest is harnessing nature to regenerate the telekinetic powers inside of him."
"Can he do that?"
I jerk him chin toward where the strange apparition seems to grow in size. The power fills him, swells his form. His muscles ripple, his chest expands, his entire body seems to lengthen...higher, higher. I tip my chin up as he grows to twice his size.
"Jesus Christ," Gabriel growls.
"Didn't take you for a praying kind of man." I widen my stance.
"Me neither, but as I see it... We need all the help we can get, to whip his ass."
"What are we waiting for?"
Dimitri stills, his attention focused on us. The rest fall silent, then Dante turns to me.
"We've all faced him in one way or the other, but your fight with him is the most personal, Hawke."
"The hell are you talking about?" Doc rumbles.
Pain tears up my front. I ignore it. Grit my teeth and take a step forward. "The fucker killed my family, then gave me to his men, who abused me. One of them sprung me free, after he'd extracted his price, of course. He deposited me at the orphanage."
"Where the Fae Corps recruited you?"
I nod.
"You going to tell them the rest?" Dante's eyebrows knit.
My heart begins to thud. Fuck, I am no longer a child. Why, then, is it so difficult to admit it?
"Hawke?" Dante prompts.
I draw in a shuddering breath, then square my shoulders. "Dimitri..." I school my features to betray no emotion. "He's my piece of shit father."
Gabriel stiffens. "Yep," I jerk my chin at him, "that makes us half-brothers."
Gabriel's wings susurrate. His lips firm, then he nods.
"Dimitri's your parent?" Tristan growls.
I crack my neck. "Now you know how rotten my genes are. Think you still want me to take care of Charley?"
Tristan stalks to me; he raises his hand.
I stand straight. I will not flinch. If Tristan asks me to walk away from her... I'll, I'll kill myself... After I've slaughtered my father, of course. "Well?" I tip up my chin.
Tristan grips my shoulder, "After everything you've been through... When I look at what you've made of yourself...?" His grip tightens, "I'm fucking proud of you, Killer."
A ball of emotion blocks my throat.
"Now that you ladies have had your moment," Doc flexes his fingers. "What say we kill this motherfucker?"
I drop into myself, yank on the telekinetic energy and let it swell my veins. The golden waves flood my cells, bleed to my fingertips.
A pulse of energy spirals up my spine, shoots up from my crown, melds with the individual streams from the other men. The colors swirl and the powers twist in on themselves, forming a helix of gleaming gold. The combined telekinetic energy floods out.
> "Rafael."
I sense him nod. He focuses his intent on the wave of power that floods forward. It leaps toward our opponent, only to crash into a wall. The energy ricochets back.
"The fuck?"
It careens toward us, the light crowding my eyesight, shoving in on my chest, squeezing my ribcage. Sweat slicks my palms, my knees tremble. This is it? Is this how we are going to die?
The Fae Corps, defeated by an enemy we should have taken out. The city burnt, our mates at risk, and all because of my negligence. I should have killed him when I had the chance in the cell. Should have insisted that Dante rally the forces and go after him. Instead, I had been sidetracked. I had been selfish enough to not think of anyone else, not even her. I had let it come to this, and now I must pay.
"Hawke."
Her voice brushes against my mind.
I stiffen. "Charley?"
"You can't give up."
"It's my fault it came to this."
"Don’t' look back, Hawke. Remember, you're the one who told me to never regret your actions."
I swallow. The mating bond in my chest stutters.
"I am relying on you, Hawke."
Something inside of me snaps.
"Let me help you. This fight is yours as much as mine."
"Ours." I nod. I open myself—mind and body and soul. Her green energy slams into me, twines with my golden essence. The mating bond snaps into place. Our green-gold power combusts. Pain seizes my chest, burns my skin from the inside out. I grit my teeth, dig my heels into the ground.
The green-gold energy solidifies, broadens, to form a solid hammer head. "Now." I swing the psychic weapon. It knocks the psychic blast back at Dimitri, who reels. Then rights himself and charges us.
"Back him up." Dante commands.
Strands of energy stream out from the men.
"All of you." His voice projects out, "Everyone."
There's a clap of thunder. Then more streams of power rush out to twine with our energies—it's the women. Their sparkling auras merge with the power of the men, and lock in to form a secondary layer.
My chest hurts and the green-gold mating chord trembles. More light infuses it, from Charley.
Once more.
Her voice infiltrate my heart...my soul. I drop into my telekinetic power... Then deeper, to the part of me that I have guarded for so long. I open myself up completely. The energy zooms up, lighting up the mating bond. The psychic weapon of our combined essences blazes, solidifies once more. I grab it, raise it above my head, twirl it around, then let it fly.
It connects with Dimitri, lifts him off of his feet. His spine bends; his body arcs through the air, then hits the ground.
A crack emerges from under him, the earth rupturing all the way up the clearing. A tree splits in two and crashes to the ground.
Then silence.
The light from Dimitri's body switches off. He doesn't move.
"Get him." Dante draws abreast. "This time, we ensure that not even his body exists. He will not rise again." Dante thrusts out his arms and the secondary shield begins to rotate.
Gabriel, Doc and Tristan move forward, and the shield screeches forward with them.
"Got him," Rafael growls. He moves up to flank Dante. I sense the women moving closer. The energies weave and dive around the secondary shield. The entire mosaic spins faster. The vortex of deadly energy rises, then hovers above the body of the fallen Dimitri.
"Now." Dante commands.
The hair on my forearms rises. Static fills the air as the scent of ozone deepens. I sense the entire group focusing their intentions on the vortex, which swoops down to envelop the prone body. Flames rise up. For a second, the outline of the mortal remains of the Dark Fae male light up. Fire shoots up into the air, then switches off.
Finally.
"It's over." Dante breathes out.
I draw in a breath and my entire body shudders. The world tilts. Darkness envelops me.
41
Charley
"Hawke."
I race forward. My wings flap, propelling me forward. My feet don't seem to touch the ground. I reach Hawke's prone body, as the men turn him over.
I gasp.
The cloth of his pants clings in clumps to his flesh. I rake my gaze up his blood-splattered chest to his gorgeous face. His eyelids lie in dark fans against his pale cheeks. He's so still. So silent.
"Hawke." Fear twists my guts and a pressure builds behind my eyes. I reach inside myself to where the mating bond had writhed, to find... Nothing. No heartbeat. No pulse. Where's the psychic bond? Where is it? I grasp for it on the psychic plane, can't find it. What the fuck? How could this happen?
I drop to my knees, press a finger to the base of his neck. There's no pulse. I press my palm to the space above his heart...already knowing that I won't find a heartbeat. No, not possible.
"Hawke." I palm his cheek. "Wake up."
There's a touch on my shoulder, "Let me take a look." Doc looms over me.
"No." I shake him off, then lower my lips to Hawke’s and kiss him. I shove my tongue into his mouth, open myself up. I let go of all of my inhibitions, my fears, my past. All gone. See? Only for you, Hawke.
"Charley." Doc's impatient voice reaches me. "I need you to step aside, so I can look at him"
"No," I snarl. "I'm not leaving him." Tears drip down my cheeks. I bury my face in his neck, inhale his scent, his masculinity, that edginess that had defined who he was... Is... No, I cannot, will not let him go.
Hands grab me. I twist my torso. "Leave us alone."
"Charley, you have to let Doc take a look at him." Who is that? Tristan? Dante? No matter.
They don’t know how to save him.
None of them can anchor him. They don't know how he laughs, how he fights, how he...fucks, how he can push away all of my fears with a smirk, how he can bring me to the edge of control, push me over into an orgasm... How he can touch me, suck me, twist my guts until I can see no one else, hear nothing else but his voice, feel nothing but this overflowing need to be one with him. To be his. To love him. There's no one else for me, but him.
"Charley, step aside—"
I snap out my wings.
"Bloody hell." Someone swears.
I spring up, stand over my mate's body. "Back the fuck off."
Someone gasps. Jess?
"Char?"
I tip up my chin; my eyesight clears.
Jess frowns, "Charley, what are you doing?"
"Can't you see? I am trying to save him."
"That's what Doc is here for."
"No, none of you understand. This is my fault. I didn't trust him completely. I owed it to him to be his completely. If I had submitted to him, I could have anchored him, held him back."
"You still can."
"What?"
Jess' features are serious. "Reach out to him. Bring him back, Char."
"How?"
"You know how."
"Dragon...dragon fire?" I swallow. "Are you sure?"
Her forehead scrunches. "I am not...but—"
"It's a risk I am willing to take."
She nods. "How can I help?"
"Hold them back."
She grimaces,
"Please, Jess." I reach forward, take her hand in mine. "If that was Tristan down there—"
"Shh!" She grips my shoulder with her free arm. "Say no more."
I release her and she steps back. Pivoting, she claps her hands. "Let's get out of here."
Tristan frowns, "Jess."
"Trust me, Chef."
He nods, turns to Dante. "Charley and Hawke need this time alone."
Dante lowers his brows, "What's she going to do?"
Jess walks around Tristan, "She's going to help him."
Dante glances between them. He widens his stance. "I’m not so sure. Maybe it's best if Doc—"
Doc rubs the back of his neck. "Let her do this."
Dante jerks his chin. "An hour." He glares at me. ”The
n we come for him." Turning, he stalks off. The rest follow.
Jess angles her head. "Go get your mate."
Mate. My mate. My heart stutters and my legs almost give way under me. I found him; I am not going to lose him. "I am not letting you go. Do you hear me?" I sink down next to Hawke, and place his head in my lap. My wings fan out above us.
"I hope you don’t think you can beat me on this one. Wherever you go, I am with you. We do this together or not all, do you understand?"
Tears slip down my cheeks, plop on his face. I wipe them away. Focus, Charley. Focus.
I draw in a breath, another. Quieten my racing heart, focus on the hollowness inside of me, move further down to where the dragon fire burns bright. I draw on it, pull it up, let the heat fill my veins, extend to my fingers, my toes. My eyes burn and my scalp feels as if it's on fire. My wings extend. I grip Hawke's shoulders, dig my fingertips into his skin. My nails slide out, hook into his flesh. The fire drips from me, pours into him, his blood, his cells. Hot, it's so hot. Sweat beads my face, slides down between my breasts. I lower my head, touch my lips to his. His scent, the dark edginess, cocoons me. My belly stutters and my chest hurts. The fire inside of me bubbles up. I grip his chin, tip it up, open my mouth and force the embers down his throat. The fire pours through, green and silver flames, my essence, the culmination of everything I am.
I reach out to him on the psychic plane. Hawke.
There's no response.
Come to me.
I force the slivers of heat into his blood—from my fingertips, my mouth. I open myself, body and soul. Take what you need.
He's so still, his big body, so hard. That silence that's so absolute coats him. On the psychic plane, there's utter emptiness. Nothing. Not even eternity could be so complete. So terrifying.
Sobs bubble up my throat. The salty taste of defeat seeps into me. No. I will not give up. I cannot. I tear my mouth from him. Raise my hand and slap him. "Fuck you, alphahole. This once, couldn't you give in to me?"
Why? His voice brushes up against my mine on the psychic plane.
Because...
Say it.
Because I love you, my alpha.
Do you.
I always have, I always will.
Then show me.
Wh...what you mean?
Simple, my Ember. Show me how much you want me.
Kidnapped by the Fae: Paranormal Dark Fae Romance (Fae's Claim Book 5) Page 19
