by Cassi Carver
She smirked. “Maybe. Twice I’ve needed him and twice he’s come through for me. Why would I choose a sexually repressed guy like you when I can have him?”
Gavin growled and flipped her onto her back, suspending her in the clouds with nothing under her but his arms. “I could do things to you that would make you forget he’d ever touched you.”
Kara saw the battle raging behind his eyes. “But you won’t, will you?”
His nostrils flared at the challenge. “I’m trying to protect you, and you give me nothing but your disdain. You have no idea what our people are like, yet you judge my efforts and my manhood. Let me show you what you ask. Let me show you a lady of our clan and your destiny, Kara, then you can decide.”
He dropped, as though gravity had suddenly won the battle, and Kara felt like she’d been swallowed down the throat of a dragon. She couldn’t see or hear a thing. Her only line to reality was Gavin’s tight grip on her arms. Black pitch blinded her eyes, sucked at her skin and stole the breath from her lungs until she thought she might drown in the oppressive sludge.
Then, only a few moments after it had begun, she dropped to her hands and knees on a bed of cool, white sand, her skirt still riding up over her ass.
Kara squinted and looked around her, sucking in gasping breaths as she took in the bright sunlight glinting off the clear blue waves. The pristine white beach was completely surrounded by dense vegetation, and mountains awash in every shade of green towered in the distance.
“Come on,” Gavin said from behind her, reaching down to cup Kara’s hips and lift her to her feet. “That position is entirely too tempting for me.”
She balled up her fist and spun around, catching Gavin off guard as she slammed her knuckles into the side of his face. “Asshole!”
Gavin stumbled back, then righted himself and ran his hand across his scarlet cheek. “Yes, you’re definitely your father’s daughter. Your mother would never have lifted her hand against another.”
His words alone rocked her head back, boring into Kara’s heart like a poison-tipped arrow. “Screw you, Gavin! You deserved it!” She stepped toward him and poked him in the chest, following him step for step as he retreated. “What the hell was that? Where are we? You can’t just spring all this on me like that!”
She felt stretched to her limit and couldn’t get a hold of her racing heart. “Oh, by the way, you’re in danger, Kara,” she mimicked in a low voice. “I worked for your father. Your saintly mother is dead. Your neighbors have wings. I just sucked you through a black hole.” She threw her hands up in desperation. “What the hell!”
Gavin stopped, arched a brow and hooked his thumbs in the waist of his buckskin pants. “I thought you were tough enough to handle it. Am I wrong?”
Kara’s lips pulled back and she growled, stepping closer still. A couple of days ago, she didn’t even know it was possible for a woman to really growl, and now she couldn’t seem to stop. “Where are we and how did we get here? Did we time travel?”
“Time travel?” Gavin rolled his eyes and stepped forward, bumping his chest to hers as he yanked her skirt back into place.
“That’s what I said.” It sounded ridiculous, but the sun in the sky was proof enough—it had been dark when they’d left San Diego.
She situated her white T-shirt then adjusted her skirt again, just for good measure. After she got back home, she was done with these damned skirts. It was sweats and jeans for the next year, hunting or no hunting.
“Let’s call a truce, shall we?” He took her hand and pulled her along beside him as he began to walk down the beach.
“Start talking, Gavin. I’ll decide on the truce after I hear what you have to say.”
“This is the domain of the Mercury Clan. We didn’t lose any time in traveling here.”
“If that’s true, then we must be halfway around the world from San Diego.”
“I’d rather not say where exactly, for your own protection, as well as ours. We have many enemies, Kara, and our females need to be protected. But I can tell you we’re on Earth.”
“Earth? Well, that’s a relief.” Her tone oozed sarcasm.
Kara fell into step beside him, sensing she’d get more answers from him on the move than arguing with him on the beach. She breathed out a long, calming breath. “Okay. Pertinent facts. How many of you are there?”
“Ah, ah, ah.” He waggled his finger at her. “I can only speak of such things to friends of our clan, and you wouldn’t accept my truce.” He paused and looked her in the eye. She could tell he was teasing, trying to make her smile. “Are you friend or foe?”
“Friend,” she finally mumbled.
“We have to shake on it.”
She reached out and placed her hand in his. Touching hands, her sensitive fingertips dragging across his palm, she felt a surge of energy between them.
“Friends,” he said at last, then gave her hand a quick kiss and continued down the path. “Our clan has several hundred men and twelve females.” He grasped her elbow to help her over a fallen log that stretched along the beach.
Kara’s mouth dropped open. “Twelve? Twelve women total?”
Gavin nodded. “We’re fortunate. We’ve tried to make a good home here for our females. We’re expecting a child in the coming months. It will be Olivia’s tenth and her first with her man Ryen. He’s so proud, you’d think he’d personally defeated a hoard of Aniliáre with his rod alone.” Kara glanced at Gavin to see his face beaming. Ryen wasn’t the only one who was proud.
“So, you have a lot of kids running around, huh?” She kept her voice neutral, trying not to be judgmental, but Gavin looked down at her as if she weren’t all that bright.
“No, this will be our third. The other two are grown and have chosen to live on the mainland.”
“Oh.” Kara looked out at the transparent turquoise waters of the ebbing tide, trying to make sense of Gavin’s strange world. An oddly familiar smaller island sat in the distance, black rock rising out of the sea.
“We’ve only been growing our clan for twenty-six years,” he said defensively.
“Okay.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about it when his grip loosened slightly on her arm like she’d hurt his feelings. “So, there’s not a very high fertility rate with the Demiáre women?”
“I told you Olivia has had ten offspring.” He pulled Kara onto a path leading into the dense tropical forest. “But this is her first child on Mercury Island.”
“If you’re all so excited about…offspring, why did she wait so long?”
“Ryen is Demiáre, like us, but the first nine had Aniliáre fathers.”
“And?”
She stepped over a short fallen limb and almost shrieked when the leaf sticking to the side of the log skittered away. Ew. What if she’d stepped on it? She was a city girl and squishable, leaf-colored lizards were on the con side of the tropical-island-in-paradise checklist.
“The purer the sire, the easier the breeding.” Gavin cast her an amused glance, as if he’d caught on to her aversion to tiny, scaly critters.
“It’s not usually easy?”
“Our women rarely come into season, and even then, a child is not guaranteed. The ancients say the Maker made it so to keep the balance of life.”
“Ah.” He’d lost her when he started talking about the balance of life. Maybe that was a conversation for another day. “So…what I really need to know is, when do I get my wings?”
A bark of laughter burst from Gavin’s chest. “Never. Females don’t have wings, princess.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. Why the hell would she want to be Demiáre if she couldn’t fly? “No wings at all? Are you sure?”
“Completely sure.”
“Shit.”
There had always been differences between Kara and the other witches that hadn’t make sense. She tried not to advertise how quickly she healed or how she could sense things without using magic. It had been hard enough growing up as a fledgling witch who couldn’t mix
a spell. Being Demiáre didn’t seem much better.
Gavin took her hand and led her through a maze of roots stretching from the tree’s canopy all the way into the ground. “But fangs and claws are not out of the question. I’d say about half the females I know sprout fangs and claws when their blood gets pumping.”
“Why would I want those? That’s nasty.”
He sighed. “Well, let’s hope you’re in the other half then. Besides, those are the least of the powers you can expect when you reach maturity.”
“What else is there?”
“Every Demiáre is unique. I can’t say what your gifts will be.”
“So when will I know?” She could just imagine how much better she’d be at hunting if she could zap people like Gavin could. Abbey would be so impressed… Or would she?
What would Abbey think when she found out Kara wasn’t a witch at all? Believing they were the same species had been the thing that had brought them together as children. Would Grammy D still invite her over at Christmas when she learned Kara wasn’t one of them?
“You are twenty-six…” Gavin paused like he was calculating something in his head. “I’d say two to three more decades until you make the transition.”
“Twenty or thirty more years? Really?”
“For the most part. You’ll have your first season soon—if you haven’t had it already—but it’s very rare for a female to be fertile until after she reaches full maturity and her powers come in.”
Hearing the odd note in his voice, she glanced over at him. He met her eyes and schooled his frown into a more encouraging smile. Maybe he wasn’t comfortable having “the talk” with her, like some dad counseling his adolescent daughter. But if she could handle the embarrassment, he’d just have to suck it up. “Seasons? You mean like having my period? That’s the biggest change I can expect until I’m old enough to be a grandma? Well, that’s a letdown.”
“It’s not something you want to rush, princess. Think of it as stages. Physical changes are just the beginning. Then…it gets interesting.”
She was about to dodge a thick branch hanging in her path, but Gavin reached out and snapped it with one hand, shoving it out of her way. “Okay, so it’s going to be a while before I know what my ‘gifts’ are. Do they run in families? What were my mother’s gifts?”
He smiled. “Your mother was a prize. Beautiful, with such a gentle disposition. But she died so young, I doubt all her gifts had fully manifested. And what she did possess, Ailexon was careful to hide.”
Kara halted on the path. “Ailexon…” she breathed. “That was my father’s name?”
Gavin stopped and faced her. “No, Ailexon was her husband, the king of the most powerful tribe in the Shadowland. Your father was Teras.”
“Holy shit! She cheated on her husband with my dad?” It just got worse and worse.
Gavin almost laughed, then he shook his head. “Ailexon probably thinks so, but it’s much more complicated than that. Our females are not like humans, or even the witches you are used to. Once you meet them, it may give you some perspective.”
Kara frowned. The whole conversation was weighing on her. “I always wanted to know who my birth parents were. But I didn’t expect this.”
“How could you have?” He took her hand and started walking again.
“Do you have any family? Did you grow up with a mom and dad?”
“Not quite. Highborn Demiáre—silver-wings and females—are born only to Aniliáre sires and Demiáre mothers. I’ve never seen an Aniliáre answer to ‘dad’.”
“What about Ryen and Olivia’s baby?”
“A demibreed. That’s what you get when a silver-wing sires a child with one of our females. Demibreeds don’t have wings—well, most demibreeds don’t have wings—but they can have fine gifts.”
“What about an Aniliáre and a human woman? Does that work?”
Gavin chuckled. “It works quite well. It’s the easiest breeding by far, but the offspring is a demibreed. Not nearly as strong as one of the highborn.”
Crap. Her head was going to explode. “Okay, I think I’m getting this. I’m a…”
“Kara, it’s not that complicated. The Aniliáre are the true fallen angels. The Demiáre consist of the highborn—silver-wings and females—and the demibreeds. You, my sweet princess, are highborn.”
Kara nodded, mulling it over. “That’s kind of sad. It’s like two classes of citizens.”
Gavin frowned. “Not at all. I hope to have my own son one day. He won’t live forever, but four or five hundred years would still be worth it.”
“Four or five hundred years?” Her mouth gaped. “Yeah, I’d say that was worth it. How long do the highborns live?”
He gently pinched the curve of her shoulder. “Until their heads are no longer attached to their necks.”
Of all the things she’d learned, this was the toughest for her to comprehend. Even witches topped out at a hundred years or so. What would living forever be like? Would she even want to? Hell, why was she even worrying about it when her own mother hadn’t even made it to retirement age?
“Are you all right?” Gavin asked.
“Hey, we were talking about you, remember?” Anything but talking about how she felt at the moment. “So…no children, no mom and dad…”
Gavin looked into the distance, his gaze traveling over the mountaintops toward some unseen destination. “No. No mother or father, but…” He squeezed Kara’s hand tighter and glanced over at her. “I have a brother.”
“Really? Are you close? Did you grow up together?”
He helped Kara over some stones in their path and kicked aside the low-lying branches brushing her ankles. “I like to think we would have been close if we’d stayed together, but it wasn’t possible. He’s here now though, and that’s all that matters. I’ve been given my brother back and a second chance. He’s the only family I will ever have and I mean to make the best of it.”
She heard the passion in his voice and realized she wasn’t the only one who’d missed out on an average childhood. Maybe they all had. “That’s great. I’m happy for you, Gavin. Abbey is the closest thing to a sister I have.”
“You were never adopted?”
Kara cleared her throat. Gavin didn’t know her well enough to know she didn’t discuss her childhood. Ever. “No. Almost, once, but she died. I don’t have family and from what I’ve seen out there, I’m probably not missing much.”
Gavin glanced over at her with a quirked brow. “You have us now. Whether or not that’s a good thing is something you’ll have to decide for yourself.”
Chapter Twelve
An hour into the hike, Kara knew they were being followed. It wasn’t like being on the streets of San Diego where she could sense only evil. Here, she could feel the presence of Demiáre and vague impressions of intent, good and bad. “Gavin, I hate to tell you this, but I think somebody’s watching us.”
Gavin placed his hand on Kara’s lower back to guide her over a small stream, leading her around the slippery, moss-covered rocks to find surer footing. “I certainly hope so, or somebody’s ass is going to get handed to them when we get to town.”
Despite Gavin’s best efforts, Kara slipped on the last stepping stone and buried her shoe in the cold, clear water. “Crap! If you were going to fly us here, couldn’t you have landed us closer to civilization?” She stopped and stripped off her soggy, brown leather flat. She wasn’t a klutz. The damn thing didn’t have enough traction.
“I could have, but I wanted to spend time alone with you.”
Kara’s heart pounded as she drained the water out of her shoe and placed it back on her foot. “Why?”
He grasped her hand and pulled her down yet another vegetation-choked path. “To answer your questions. To prepare you for meeting your people.”
“Oh.” The disappointment in her voice was unmistakable. But what did she really expect? That he would take her up against a tree and show her what she’d been mis
sing? He was so beautiful. Every inch of his six-and-a-half-foot frame was hard-muscled perfection and she’d never been beauty-queen material.
They walked into a clearing with tall grass and a small pond. Gavin stopped and took Kara’s hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. “The women here aren’t what you’re used to, princess. I hope when you see them, you’ll understand my choices. I hope you’ll understand I’m doing what’s best for you and our clan.”
Kara felt Julian’s presence only seconds before he descended into the meadow, black hair blowing about his face and silver wings extended. He landed beside them and smiled at Gavin. “Yes, you’re all about clan, aren’t you? Is that why you took Kara through the jungle instead of bringing her directly to me?”
Gavin’s corresponding smile was just lips stretched over teeth. “Here she is.” He bowed in a courtly gesture and stepped away. “Let’s go.”
When Gavin turned on his heel and started making his way to the other side of the clearing, Julian glared daggers into his back. Even indignant, her lover was gorgeous, with brilliant, black-diamond eyes and virile strength. Seeing him again, Kara couldn’t believe she’d had a man like him an hour before. If she wasn’t still in shock about the whole life-changing fallen-angel revelation, she would have enjoyed running her fingers along the smooth planes of his wings and inspecting the grooves where they disappeared into his back.
“Stay close to me, love.” He linked her arm through his and pulled her in the direction Gavin had gone.
Kara was a woman who could take care of herself and would have yanked her arm back on principle alone, but she was nothing if not pragmatic. When it came to traipsing through the jungle on what appeared to be an island of supernatural creatures, she didn’t mind a tour guide. Besides, if they got lost, she’d have a buddy to keep her warm at night. “What took you so long?”
“Why, did you miss me?”
She couldn’t get enough of his scent or his smile. Her heart got warm and fluttery just being near him, and it wasn’t a sensation she was used to. “Just wondering what happened.”
His jaw flexed. “Gavin was cloaking your energy and his. It’s a lovely little trait that runs in his family and can make him a true pain in the ass. I had to search for you by sight.”
