by Heather Linn
“Look dumb and dumber, we are here in the closet and we are coming out. It would be really nice if the two of you can control the testosterone levels and not shoot or kill either one of us.”
I am sure we made quite a scene, Darien pointing a gun at Akia, Akia staring at me and Jace, and Jace and I huddled against each other as the closet door swung open and revealed us. “What were you doing in my closet Cat?” Leave it to Akia to miss the obvious.
“Seriously your Majesty, is that the only question that comes to mind?” Jace was still pissed and I didn't know if that made me happy or nervous. But he wasn’t done yet.
“What the hell is wrong with you two? You are talking about her like she is a frail little creature that needs you to get through her day. You’re both way off and pathetic; I can only imagine how insulted she is from listening to both of you. You two are making my skin crawl.
“Who in the hell is this guy?” Darien threw the question at Akia, and ignored me completely.
“It seems like our sweet little Cat has a new pet,” Akia smirked. ”It is kind of cute actually; this pathetic little man thinks he is saving her from me. Can you imagine that? I think his escapades are amusing and that’s why he continues to breath. Cat seems to be fond of him too, though I am not sure why. I was kind of hoping that he would replace you, since he’s not quite as boring.”
“I want both of you to quiet yourselves now,” I said. My voice was so controlled and melodious that it shocked even me.
I had heard enough from Darien and Akia, their egos were more than I could handle. I had to admit it was flattering though. There was no reason to deny the fact that I liked the idea of getting to keep both of them, though I didn’t believe that was ever going to happen. I wasn't going to let them drag Jace through the mud for their amusement either. He may have been the new guy on the block, but he was the new guy that knew more about me than both of them together did and the fact that Jace had not abandoned me and run for the hills yet meant a lot to me.
Still, despite all the anger I felt, I let go of Jace’s hand and ran to Darien’s arms. I didn’t think that I was ever going to see him again and now here he was. He had come back to find me. How could he have been so stupid and so irrational? He could have been killed. Yet, standing there in his arms, I didn’t want to let him go. I was safe and warm and that felt good. Still, there were things I had to know.
“What are you doing here? How did you know where to find me?” I wasn’t sure I was going to get a straight answer from Darien, not because he would hide the truth from me, but because he might need to hide the truth from Akia. Of course! The answer was simple. Kira! Kira had probably told them all what happened when she finally woke up. She probably knew where all of Akia’s castles were too. I figured that Walker wanted Kira to stay hidden in his little bag of tricks for now, so he had sent Darien in for the rescue without her.
“I would never leave you behind with the monsters Cat,” Dairen said and then he leaned down and kissed me quickly on the lips. I wasn’t sure if his kiss was for my benefit or to demonstrate his ownership of me to the other two men, but that was something I’d sort through later. Just as I was about to speak, Darien placed his finger gently on my lips and glanced toward the door to Akia’s office and gestured toward it.
“You two might as well come in now. Our cover has been blown.” Darien sounded crestfallen now, as if each new development took him further from his plan to shoot Akia and move on to a life spent with me. I looked toward the door and wondered who would come through.
And then Walker and Jaden smoothly came in and stood side by side, looking dangerous and ready to fight. They really were a sight for sore eyes. It is amazing how much you miss people when you don’t think you are ever going to see them again.
“Not that it matters at all at this point, but how did the three of you just walk into my kingdom?” Akia had a good question, and hopefully, finally, he was realizing that his security staff was greatly lacking. The first to respond was Dairen.
“Amazing how easy it is to drop one of you Dominus from 100 yards away with just one good shot. Funny thing? It doesn’t even matter where the bullet hits, ten seconds flat after it breaks your skin, you Dominus are gone. I would love to show you. You want to see?” Darien was just begging Akia to give him a reason to shoot him and make everyone’s life simpler.
“No one is killing anyone. At ease Darien. He has yet to give you a reason to harm him.” Walker’s voice boomed through the room amazing me once again that after everything that he had done to us, everyone seemed to do whatever he commanded automatically.
Darien paused and then quietly lowered his gun. The look on his face made it clear that it caused him pain not to shoot Akia. The tension in the room seemed to lessen a little. I took the opportunity to distance myself from all three of my love interests. I guess it is fair enough to call them that. I walked towards Jaden who greeted me with open arms.
“Promise me someday before we all grow old and die that you will go one week without getting in trouble?” Jaden always managed to make me smile.
“Asking me not to get in trouble is like asking a fish not to swim, Jaden.” It was nice to feel like the old me again and I smiled. And then Jaden released his grip on me slightly and turned to Walker.
“So what now Walker? Seems like you have the floor,” Jaden said and he pressed his lips against the top of my forehead and smiled cordially at everyone.
Chapter Forty-Two
Less than twenty minutes later we were all seated around a long table in Akia’s private dining hall. It really was surreal, kind of like seeing worlds collide in slow motion. Darien sat with Walker and Jaden on either side of him. The other side of the table contained Jace and Akia. I knew this game. Whatever side of the table I chose would indicate to the others who I felt closest to. Nope, not this girl, none of that for me. Instead, I decided to drag a chair from the other side of the room and put it at the head of the table. I was being very, very careful to stay in the dead center of the seating arrangement. Maybe I was being childish, but if taking a neutral chair meant avoiding another argument, I was all for it.
The silence was nerve wracking. If someone didn’t talk soon I was pretty sure I was going to lose my mind. But if someone did talk I was equally positive that I wouldn’t like whatever they might say. Fortunately I didn’t have to decide which would be the lesser of the two evils for long because soon the inevitable talking commenced.
Darien was first to make his view clear. “Walker I cannot believe you are going to trust this beast. You are giving him the power to completely destroy everything that we have worked for.”
If I hadn’t been so pissed that I could kill all of them, I would have had to agree with him. I couldn’t see any reason to share anything with Akia. I thought what we needed instead, was to figure out a way to just part ways. It could still be that simple right? Why not?
“Stupid human, do you still really believe that I couldn’t kill you all in a less than a second? If I wanted to harm her I would have harmed her. As far as I am concerned you four are living on borrowed time anyway. I should have had the four of you executed as soon as I figured out what she was. I didn’t though, because for one reason or another she loves all of you and I couldn’t bear to take more than she has already lost away from her.” I could tell by the tone in Akia’s voice that he was getting tired of everyone questioning his intentions.
He was right. If he wanted us dead we would have been dead a long time ago. Why did it seem to be Akia, more than Walker, even more than Darien that was worried more about my wellbeing than his own? Why did this monster have to keep surprising me? He was making what had to happen all the more difficult to imagine. I needed to think, to absorb all the factors. I couldn’t hear any more from him. I didn’t want to be forced to decide which one of the men I was going to hurt most when I left.
I studied each of them hoping it would help my mind defog a little. Walker was looking at
his notes. I knew that his mind was already made up. He was going to tell Akia everything, no matter who protested. I was positive the others would keep our secrets for now. I could at least take a little solace in that. I wasn’t sure how a random unknown royal like Kira would go over in the Dominus world. As calm as Walker looked, his strategy of presenting an illusion of peace and tranquility wasn’t fooling anyone else in the room. Akia and Darien were trying to will each other dead; glaring holes right though one another. As I took stock of the two of them, I really wasn’t sure which one of them would be most likely to make the first move, if there was a first move to be made, and that thought was enough to send a shiver down my spine. Even rational level headed Jaden was being affected by the mood in the room, sitting on the edge of his seat. He looked tense and ready to jump in if needed. His eyes never left Darien’s. I knew all he needed was to see one muscle twitch in Darien’s face and he would lunge at Akia, no questions asked. If someone didn’t decide who was in charge here soon, a lot of people and maybe even a monster or two were going to get hurt. When I looked at Jace my heart skipped a beat and I blushed instantly. He was watching me with a level of concern in his eyes that I wasn’t used to seeing anymore.
“Are you ok?” he slowly mouthed to me. This man that I had known for less than a week was more worried about me than the men that I had known forever. How was that even possible? I wanted nothing more than to hug him and I didn’t even care what the others might think. I settled for shrugging my shoulders and faking my best smile. I didn’t need to know him forever to know that he didn’t buy my charade for a second. Yet, so unlike what either of the other two would have done, he smiled back at me and pretended to believe me instead of arguing.
“We are getting nowhere here gentleman,” said Walker. “Darien, I know that you are concerned, but you have to remember when Akia found out what Cat really was and decided not to kill her, he became just as guilty as the rest of us. We have to figure out what to do before the Elders figure out what is going on or we will all be killed. Not even the Regent will be spared,” Walker said in a tone that told me Akia’s death would mean nothing to him.
My breath caught in my throat. I’d always known we would be dead if anyone ever found out we were human, that was a risk we all had decided to take. Akia however, was really never given a choice. How could he not hate me for dragging him into this? He was living the royal life until I crashed through the ignorance that was bringing him bliss. He should have just killed me back in that cave; that was truly the only thing that would have established him as nothing more than an innocent victim.
Darien wasn’t going to let it slide no matter how much Walker tried to make peace. “Oh come on Walker, would you stop defending him? You know that there has to be something in it for him or he wouldn’t be trying to help. What is it your Majesty, what are you hoping to gain from this little game?”
“Darien that is just about enough, one more outbreak and I will ask you to leave. Do you understand?” I wondered just how much longer Walker was going to get away with controlling us as he’d done so effortlessly in the past.
“No offense Walker, you can ask me to leave all you want but unless you physically remove me I am going absolutely nowhere.” He glanced at Akia. “So come on you coward, tell us all why you care so much about us stupid humans? You know as well as I do that you could kill us where we stand, make the bodies disappear, and no one would ever know your dirty little secret.” Akia wasn’t my biggest fan right then, but he didn’t deserve disrespect from Darien. I just had to speak up.
“Lay off him Darien. There is no reason for you to be ripping into him the way you are.” I wish I could just learn to keep my mouth shut. How much easier would my life be if I could just sit back and play the victim? I could let them destroy each other and my hands would be clean of the burden of having to pick sides. Darien was still going strong.
“You want him to know everything Walker then you tell him. I just want to say here and now that I think that it is the dumbest idea that you’ve ever had. And let’s face it, you’ve have had some bad ones lately. It’s over Walker, I am done with this. I am not going to sit here and listen to you and the woman I love defend that bastard anymore.” Darien started to stand and leave, and that wasn’t good. He didn’t need to be out wandering around alone. Then Akia’s words stopped him in his tracks.
“I am helping all of you because I love her.”
“Oh come on. You don’t love her, you don’t even know her. It makes me sick that you would even associate love with her. Oh and let me guess. Hey new guy, you love her too right?” Darien was pissed at the world and every species in it tonight.
I was hoping that Jace would have enough common sense to keep curt remarks to himself, but as soon as I saw the flash of anger in his eyes I knew I was wrong. Whatever came out of his mouth was going to be enough to increase the tension in the room by ten.
“Yeah, so what if I do? You know what? I think if I have to play second fiddle to someone else that loves her; it will be beast boy over there, not you. You don’t scare me Darien; I don’t even see you as a serious threat. You might be a big man, but I haven’t seen much action from you so far. So far, all you’ve done is just whine a lot.” There was that wild smile again, the one that meant Jace had no fear of dying and no intention of backing down from anything he’d said. Both Akia and Darien had challenged his claim to me, to the point where he felt that he had to step into the ring with them and go a few rounds at a two to one disadvantage to himself. And they said chivalry was dead? Well it wasn’t, and for some reason, that thought lifted me.
Then surprise sliced through my thoughts. What did Jace really mean? Had Jace just sided with the beast that tried to kill us both in the cave? I didn’t know if Jace was just trying to get under Darien’s skin, or if he was hoping to stay in Akia’s good graces, but whatever the reason, I could see that Akia was smirking in victory as much as Darien was fuming. I bent forward, put my head in my hands and I waited. I couldn’t protect them from each other and frankly, at this point, I could have cared less what happened to any of them. If their manly pride was more important than all our lives being on the line, then fine. I wasn’t going to fuel the flames anymore. So be it. Maybe they would kill each other and I would be left alone to deal with Trāves. I sat there thinking a period of solitude would be preferable to putting up with these babbling idiots anyway.
“What in the hell is wrong with all of you?” Jaden’s voice surprised the room and made them all stop what they were doing and turn to look at him. “Do you see what you are doing to her? If you all love her so much, why aren’t you noticing that she is sitting there inches from tears? I have no idea where you all come into play. Akia fine, you love her, but it’s time to let her go. New guy, just sit down and shut up OK? And Darien, I am so sick of having the same conversation with you day after day when all it dies is go nowhere. The best thing she could do right now would be to walk away and let all three of you self-destruct.”
His words were all it took for me to find my courage. I didn’t need any of them. I really didn’t. I had always managed just fine alone, before I let the stupid emotions that come with love take over. I still wasn’t sure I believed in love. Lust I could do. Lust? That was easy.
I stood up. I looked at Jaden and I silently thanked him for being the only one in the room that was thinking straight. I wasn’t sure how I was rating Walker today, so I excluded him from my judgment.
“Look, you all have exactly three seconds to sit there and shut up or I am walking out of this room and I swear on everything that has ever mattered to me, I will never give any of you a second thought.” Much to my surprise, I saw they were all suddenly listening. None of them were happy, but they were listening to me just the same, and at that point I figured I would take advantage of my momentum.
“Seems like you have the floor now Cat, so tell us how we fix this and find a compromise.” Walker was still nose deep in his notes
and seemed to be completely unaffected by all the recent declarations of love. Maybe I should try to be more like him.
Chapter Forty-Three
I didn’t have time to second guess myself. There were so many ways that I could have chosen to go. I could have appealed to their emotions, begged them all to calm down and bought myself some time to think. I could have fanned their flames of anger, and pinned them against each other until they either killed each other or figured things out on their own. That way I’d be free of making any fateful decisions. My last option was my least favorite. I could play the truth card; I could hope I could make them see just how bad this really was and then count on their fear of losing me to make them get along long enough to protect me.
I didn’t want to tell anyone the thing that I felt destined to admit, but I knew if I didn’t admit it quickly we would all be tracked down and killed one by one. Together we stood a chance, as risky as that sounded. Before I had time to change my mind I ripped my shirt off. The only two that had never seen me exposed like this, Walker and Jaden, were trying really hard not to stare; the other three just looked puzzled, trying to figure out what I was up to.
“We have bigger problems to deal with. So take a look.” I turned around and I let them see the rose on my shoulder.
No one made a sound. Jace was completely lost, since I told him that the rose had always been there less than an hour ago. “Holy Mother of God, Cat! Where did that come from?” Walker changed gears from cool and collected to agitated quickly. “That can’t be what I think it is. Please tell me it isn’t.”
Walker was standing now, a glazed look in his eyes. This was worse than I expected. Darien looked like he was busy explaining things to himself, trying to figure out how I had managed to get inked while kidnapped, pissed as usual that I had done something without asking him first. Jace was just blankly staring. Akia confirmed my worst fears though. He put his head in his hands, no longer able to look at any of us. He looked defeated and he never even raised his head when Walker continued shouting.
