by Joyee Flynn
“I didn’t know those were there,” he said, still acting shocked as I pushed one of them into his hands.
“I know. You weren’t supposed to. Stay behind me and don’t move more than ten feet away from me. My gift will keep us hidden while we get out of here,” I ordered as I grabbed his arm and pulled him from the room.
“Why did you hide guns in my lab?” Really? “I use caustic and explosive chemicals in there sometimes. Guns in there aren’t smart.”
“For the genius of our race, you’re not too bright sometimes, Riley,” I mumbled, pushing him against the wall as we moved along slowly. My gift could hide us from people’s minds, leaving something like a void in what they saw. But if they knew to look for it, or could smell us, we could still be a target. They couldn’t hear us, so that helped, too. “Why do you think you got a warrior medic when you requested more help? One you didn’t know.”
“You were sent to protect me, too,” he growled. Bingo!
“Yup. That was my first job. Helping you in the clinic was secondary.” I reached on top of the shelf behind the front desk, grabbing a few grenades and clips of ammo I’d stashed there. Then I ran my hand under the desk and hit the silent alarm that would warn everyone we were under attack and would lock down the Council’s compound.
“Oh my god, most of the warriors are out with the transport today,” Riley whispered, realizing the same thing I had. This wasn’t an accident that the demons had tried to get him today. “Why aren’t we going out the side door? It’s light outside. The demons can’t be out there then.”
“We can’t chance that only demons are here. Besides, my car is always parked right out front in case I ever needed to get you out of here,” I answered quietly. “If the demons picked today because the warriors were mostly gone, then they had help.” Maybe he didn’t understand that yet.
“Why would anyone help them?” Riley asked, sounding a tad frightened. Yeah, he could be one of those really smart people who were dense sometimes.
“Later,” I hissed. This was not the time to talk about this. We’d just passed out of the main clinic doors when three more demons came rushing down the hall. I shot them, realizing the third one was already going down by the time I made my shot. Go, Riley! I wish someone had told me he knew how to use a gun instead of just coming up with the ammo.
“I should be pissed at Micah for getting me a bodyguard, but right now I’m just kinda grateful,” Riley mumbled after they were dead.
“This is way above Micah’s pay grade, Riley. I doubt he even knows.” Actually, I was pretty sure he didn’t.
“Elena and Desmond?”
“I don’t know. It was Council orders so I’m guessing they knew.” Two more demons came running when we turned the corner, lashing out at us with their claws. “Can we talk about this later?” I took them out, wondering how many more there were and how the hell they got into the compound during the day. I slipped Riley the fob and keys to my car. “We get outside, you unlock it, get in the backseat, turn it on, and duck down.”
“But—”
“No arguments,” I snarled. “Your safety comes first.”
“Okay,” he whispered, shaking. I think he finally realized that the demons weren’t just attacking the warriors but were there for him.
“Come out, hermanito,” someone called out across the main foyer as we reached it. I felt my blood run cold.
“Aemilio?” I gasped, knowing only one person who ever called me that.
“I can smell you, Cyrus. Come out and play,” he taunted. “Bring your friend.”
“Change of plans,” I whispered as we stepped toward the main door and I could see my older brother approaching us with an evil smile on his face. “Run, drive to the Council compound, and tell them what’s going on.”
Riley hesitated, worry crossing his features. “You know him?”
“I did. My older brother is supposed to be dead,” I answered, needing someone to know the truth in case I didn’t make it out of this. Two more demons appeared, and I shot them, my brother snarling in rage as he made his way to us. We made it to the main door, and I threw it open, using the sunlight as a weapon to protect Riley. “Go!”
“Come with me,” he begged.
“I need answers and so does the Council if we are to stay safe.” I shoved him out the door and shut off my gift so my brother could see me. “Don’t make me shoot you, Aemilio. You saw what these bullets can do.”
“You got the doctor out,” he growled, a litany of Spanish cuss words leaving his lips. “Well, at least this trip wasn’t a total failure. Now you know we’re alive.”
“We’re?” I asked, my knees wanting to give out as my head swam. “All of you?”
“No, Mother wouldn’t join. Her god would never have approved of that,” he answered in a mocking tone. “But now we know where you are and you can join us.” His smile was feral, and gone was the boy I knew, replaced by this monster with the bloodred eyes.
“Never,” I snarled, leaping on him before he was ready. I didn’t shoot him. I couldn’t. I should have maybe, but two things stopped me. He had information we would need, and he was still my brother. But I needed to get him restrained before more demons came.
“They have taught you well,” he grunted before my fist collided with his face again. He raked his claws down my right arm and I blocked out the pain. I reached for my other gun and used it to knock him out. That was actually much easier than I’d expected. But then again, my brother wasn’t a warrior. Hell, he wasn’t much bigger than Riley.
I yanked down a tapestry and wrapped it around Aemilio, knowing we’d have to move him, and if he went out into the sun, he’d be ash anyways. Then I pulled out my phone and called Riley.
“Did you make it?”
“Yes, I’m on my way back with Desmond and Victor. He was speaking to the Council today anyways. I told them that one was your brother.” He paused, probably unsure of how to ask what needed to be asked.
“I knocked him out. We need to question him,” I said, making it easier for him.
“We’re pulling up now.” I ended the call and stuck my phone back in my pocket. Then I heaved my burrito-style brother onto my shoulder and pulled out my gun again, just in case.
I made it to the front door with no problem, glad they had thought to open the trunk. I dumped him in and got into the front seat while Victor drove, Desmond and Riley in the back.
“You did good, son,” Desmond said gently. “You saved Riley and got one of the intruders we can question.”
“It’s not that simple,” I whispered, shaking like a leaf at the idea that some of my family survived.
“It never is,” he sighed, patting my shoulder. “We’ll get him to one of the cells in the Council’s basement then regroup at home. The warriors are on their way back and we’ll figure out what happened. We’ll get through this.”
“I hope so,” I whispered before dazing out. I barely noticed what was going on around me, everything having been reduced to meaningless shapes and colors as my mind drifted elsewhere. Some of my family was alive… And demons. That was a harsh fucking reality after twelve hundred years of thinking they were dead.
* * * *
Damian
I raced into the house, hearing commotion coming from the front room and headed in that direction. I’d been a wreck the flight back and broke every speed limit getting home from the landing strip. The room was in chaos, everyone shouting as my mate sat, his whole body sagging, in one of the chairs, comatose and bleeding.
“Enough!” I roared and raced to his side. “Riley, help me.”
“He won’t let me,” Riley sighed, shaking his head. “He’s in extreme shock.”
“Fill me in,” I said firmly, staring at my father. He did, and I just sat there with my mouth hanging open. “Wait, Cyrus was assigned here to protect Riley?”
“Yes,” my father answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“And you didn’t
think that was something you needed to tell your son about his mate?”
“I figured he would tell you.” My father shrugged as if saying it wasn’t his place.
“Bullshit,” I growled, shaking my head. “He was under Council orders. You knew he wouldn’t tell me.” I glanced between my father and Riley. “And how did you know he’d need extra protection?” I was still trying to process that some of Cyrus’s family was actually alive, but I’d get to that later. Right now I needed the pressing facts.
“It seems my old coven was recently attacked,” Riley said angrily, not any happier than I was.
“We didn’t know that they were looking for Riley and no one had been hurt,” my mother added with a sigh. “But we thought it prudent to take extra precautions.”
“But not tell any of us,” Micah accused.
“Yes, we fucked up, okay?” my mother shouted, silencing everyone else in the room who was shocked at her outburst. “There’s no parent handbook to handle situations like this. We screwed up. You just had a baby and we didn’t want to put extra worry on you both or any of you.” Tears filled her eyes as she looked between the three of us, pleading for us to understand.
“I agreed with the decision,” Marian, Riley’s grandma, said quietly as she stepped closer to Riley. “They told me what was going on and I asked that they find you a guard but didn’t tell you.”
“You may be adults but you are still our children,” my mother whispered, her voice sounding slightly strangled from the emotion she was feeling. One of the tears she had been fighting back fell and tumbled down her face. “We can’t help but want to protect you from some of the harsh realities of life. Besides, we weren’t sure.”
“And Cyrus’s family? Did you know about them?” I asked bitterly, not ready to forgive them just yet.
“No, how could you think we’d keep that from you?” she asked, hurt lacing her tone.
I raised an eyebrow and gestured to Riley. “It seems like that would be another harsh truth you might want to protect us from.”
“No, we had a few guesses that the demons might be out for Riley, but we had no facts,” my father said firmly, wrapping an arm around my mother’s shoulders. “If we’d known for sure, we would have told you. But no, we didn’t know about Cyrus’s family. All accounts were that they died twelve hundred years ago and we had no reason to think otherwise.”
“Okay, then,” I replied as I got to my feet, nodding. “But this keeping shit from us stops. We’re adults and we’re the warriors here. We should have known you even guessed the demons might be after Riley.”
“You’re right,” my mother sighed, leaning heavily against my father. “We’re sorry. We thought we were doing what was right given all the stress they were under.”
“Fine, then I’m done being mad,” I said, blowing her an air-kiss before turning to Cyrus. “Mi alma? I need you to snap out of this.”
“We’re done being upset as well,” Riley mumbled from behind me as he pulled out a pocket flashlight and waved it in front of my mate’s eyes. “You need to snap him out of this and fast. Otherwise it could get worse.”
“Good to know.” How the hell did I do that? I thought for a moment and went with my gut. “Cyrus, you need to come back to me, okay? I can’t live without you now that I’ve found you. I love you.”
I saw something flicker in his eyes and he started to focus on me. I mashed my mouth down to his, not giving a fuck who was in the room. He didn’t respond at first, and I was ready to cry out in despair when suddenly his hands were behind my head and back, pressing me closer.
“Say it again,” he growled weakly when we broke the kiss. “I want to hear the words, Damian.”
“I love you,” I said, letting the emotion cloud my voice. “I knew from the moment you made me pull over so you could hug me that I loved you. It didn’t matter if I didn’t know everything about you yet. My heart knew who you were and loved you. You are my life, Cyrus.”
“Mine,” he snarled, ripping off my shirt as he moved us to the floor in a flash. He struck fast, his fangs piercing my neck as he started shredding our clothes.
“We’ll just give you guys a moment,” my mother said quickly as I distantly heard everyone leaving the room. Yeah, I couldn’t give a shit right then if my mate fucked me in front of my family. I was just too happy that he snapped out of it and I was able to admit how I really felt about him.
“I love you,” I shouted as he drank from me. He grunted his acknowledgement and stroked my cock hard.
“Come now,” he ordered as he pulled his fangs from my neck. I stared deeply into his swirling amber eyes and cried out my release. I felt him spread my legs wide, both of us naked now. He used my cum as lube, rubbing it over my hole and then his cock. “You belong to me, amante. I will kill anyone who tries to take you from me, and if you run again, I will drag you home and chain you down.”
“Okay,” I whispered, still riding my orgasmic high. “I’m all yours.”
“Say it again,” he demanded as he lined up his cock with my hole.
“I love you forever.”
He thrust into me hard, all in one shot. It was a lot to take, but the pain felt so good. “I love you, too.” He bit me again as he pounded into me like a man on the edge of control.
“Ah, fuck, mi alma,” I groaned as my cock filled right back up. “Harder. Claim me in every way!” He snarled around my flesh and pumped his hips faster. I climbed my legs up his back, folding myself basically in half so I could take more of him. There was a burn on my back, and I realized he was fucking me so hard we were moving right across the carpeted floor from the force of it. It would have been funny if it wasn’t so damn hot.
Cyrus pulled his fangs back out of my neck. “Come for the man you love,” he demanded before biting me again on the other side of my neck. This time, hard enough that I knew there would be bruises, and he went really deep, not just pricking me but pushing into me all the way. Kind of like he was in my ass.
I screamed out his name as I filled the space between us with my seed. Cyrus followed me right over, pumping everything he had to give inside of me, crying out around my flesh. As we rode it out, I felt him slump against me, his cock pulsing inside my hole. Yeah, it had worn me out, too.
“My mate is an animal,” I purred, rubbing his back as I lowered my legs. My arm came up wet and sticky, and I remembered the claw marks on his arm. Fuck! “Cyrus, we need to get that looked at.”
Nothing.
“Cyrus?” I was starting to panic. I pushed him slightly and winced. His fangs were still in my neck. I couldn’t move him without tearing my throat open. “Fuck!”
I reached to his neck and felt his pulse. His heartbeat was soft, too quiet against my chest, but it was steady at least, slowing down after the exertion from sex.
“Come on, my mate. You need to get up.”
I tried a few more times, scared when his heart got quieter. I didn’t know what to do. His cock was still inside of me, for god sakes! But none of that mattered more than the chance he was really hurt. So I did the only think I could think of.
“Riley!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “We need help in here!” I heard footsteps pounding seconds before the door opened. I sighed when I realized we were hidden from view by the couch. “Riley and Victor only. Don’t let Mother see this.”
“Wow, it smells like sex in there.” Noah chuckled as everyone else started to back out. I was going to kick his ass later.
“Noah.” My mother giggled. I heard the click of the door and sighed in relief. That could have been worse.
“Umm, are you guys across the room from where you started?” Riley asked, teasingly as he stepped around the sofa. I met his gaze and he instantly looked away. “Um, you’re still having sex. Why did you call out my name?”
“We’re done technically,” I groaned, my mate’s cock softening and his cum leaking back out of me. “I think his wound is worse than we thought. He’s out and his heart
is slowing down. Help him.”
“And you couldn’t get him off of you?” Victor asked, still not looking at us either, instead staring fixedly at a spot on the wall.
“Vic, I can’t,” I said quietly. He looked then and I pointed to where Cyrus’s teeth were embedded in my neck. “I tried but pushing him off would tear out my throat.”
“Oh fuck,” he exclaimed, all modesty leaving as they hurried to help us. I moaned as they got him off of me, Cyrus’s dick leaving my very well-used hole. “Stop fucking moaning.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled sheepishly as my face heated up and I scrambled out of the way. “Umm, he shredded my clothes.”
“Yeah, that we saw.” Riley chuckled. He pulled off his lab coat and tossed it to me. It wouldn’t cover all of me and it was too small to wear, but at least I could use it like a towel. “Get Micah. I’m going to need him after I heal Cyrus’s arm and then it’s just allowing his body to recover. You might want to ask him to grab towels and a blanket for your mate. There’s blood everywhere.”
“Right.” I quickly got to my feet, my legs feeling like gelatin as I securely wrapped the lab coat around my waist. I’m sure I looked like a disaster as I opened the door, Cyrus’s bites still on my body and bleeding. “Micah, Riley needs you in there.” My brother brushed past me and into the room. “Remus, can you grab clothes for Cyrus and me?”
“Yeah, sure.” He snickered, shaking his head. “Nice bites, bro.”
“Shut up,” Noah growled, elbowing his mate. “You bite me just as much.” I shook my head as they ran off toward my room. That was more than I needed to know but took some of the awkwardness out of the situation.
“Mother, we need towels, hot water”—I winced—“and probably new carpet in here. It seems Cyrus’s wound was worse than we thought since he left it unattended. He passed out.”
“During?” she asked, her eyes wide before slapping a hand over her mouth.
“No, right after,” I shot right back before I even realized it. Crap. “Mother,” I groaned, shaking my head. “He’s hurt. You can all pick on me later.”
“Right, yeah, just umm, my baby’s having sex,” she grumbled, gabbing Marian’s hand before rushing to the kitchen.
