by Honor James
“Then Talon needs to apologize to him,” Maya murmured. “Because if it were anyone but me…” She shut up completely then. “All right.” She stopped herself short. “Let’s go and see what we can do about getting Michael out of here.” So that she could figure out how the hell to disappear without anyone being the wiser.
Aiden nodded slightly. He watched her a moment more and then led her to the door. Opening it, he stepped out with a glance to Quincy who avoided looking at them entirely. Wondering what was up with that, Aiden guided her to the conference room. “He says anything you don’t or can’t answer, squeeze my hand twice quick like. I’ll take it as my cue to speak up. All right?” he asked under his breath as they moved through the halls.
Looking to Aiden, Maya couldn’t help but ask, “And if I do want to say something to him? Something along the lines of, get a fucking life you asshat douchebag?” She felt it then, the crackling of the air around her, and shivered. She turned. She figured it out then. She figured out why she was drawn to the man in the hall, to Quincy.
“What the hell?” she asked as she stopped in the middle of the hall. Turning, she left Aiden’s side and moved to Quincy. How the fucking hell? “It can’t be right. Tell me that I’m wrong,” she whispered to the man that still wouldn’t look at her. “It can’t be.” She had been foretold to never be complete, to always miss a part of her soul because of no bond-mate. “How?” He was standing right there, her bond-mate. How could he be there when she was supposed to never have a mate?
Walking back to her, Aiden shot a look at her and then Quincy and then back once more. “Someone want to let me in on what’s going on?” he asked curiously.
“Yo, bro, what’s the hold up?” Allister asked as he came up the hall. “Seriously, Talon is dancing a fucking jig practically, and as amusing as it is, he’s starting to look a little desperate. You don’t hurry up and put on this show, he’s likely to shift and eat the little shit.” Stopping next to his twin, he looked around at everyone. “Why is everyone just standing here staring at everyone else?”
She looked at the other man that came up and staggered, literally. She felt a panic hitting her hard and felt ready to pass out. Two. She had not one but two bond-mates. One who didn’t have the first clue who the hell she was and another that looked at her like he was ready to kill her. Shaking her head, Maya took hold of her insides, her heart that had broken in half when the Warlock ignored her and then splintered even more when the Dragon didn’t recognize her as who she was to him. This was why and how she was destined to be alone, because she wasn’t good enough for a mate to even want or recognize.
Turning to Aiden, she whispered, “I guess that means we should get going doesn’t it?” She moved to his side but jerked when he went to touch her, her features drawn and her pain visible. “Not yet. Please,” Maya whispered and shoved her hands down the pockets of her jeans to walk alongside the other Dragon, following the magic trail her brother left in his wake.
Falling back, Allister walked next to Quincy. “What is going on, Skittles?” he asked in confusion. He felt like he’d walked in at the end of the joke and missed getting it.
“What do you mean?” Quincy asked in an exhausted tone, one that clearly said that he needed to sleep.
“What’s up with the cute little bit?” He could just eat her all up if she’d let him. Oh yeah, she’d be worthy of at least a three-day sexathon, he was sure.
“Still not getting your meaning,” was Quincy’s mumbled reply.
Shaking his head at the Warlock, Allister moved up next to the woman. “Allister, Aiden’s much better looking twin,” he introduced himself. “I’m extremely pleased to make your acquaintance even though we still haven’t formally been introduced.” He smiled at her. “Why are you looking so sad, sweetness?” he asked quietly, feeling the need to wrap her up in his arms.
She continued to walk and shook her head. “Maya,” she told him simply. “And as for why”—she shrugged—“just one of those things. Sometimes you realize something so profound and it rocks you so hard that you move off your foundation. Sometimes just realizing your inadequacies makes a person re-think everything.” She took in a deep breath to try to control the tears she felt coming. Yep, one who hated her and one who didn’t know who she was to him. Life was a jolly fucking lollipop that she was more than ready to wrap back up and return. Why, why would Gaia do that to her? Why in the world would she hate her so very, very much? She felt the tears ready to fall and reached out, taking Aiden’s hand and giving him the signal, the quick two squeezes. She was done talking. She was hurting too much right now to talk.
Lifting a brow, Aiden mentally told his brother to back off for now. She was feeling shaky. He was guessing, of course, but whatever. It worked and had his brother stepping back. Stopping just outside the conference room, he touched her chin lightly. “Happy thoughts. This is not a funeral. This is us gaining your freedom away from that doofus, all right?” he said with a slight smile. “And if that fails, remember the thong,” he smirked, throwing a look at his oblivious brother who was talking to a nearly comatose Quincy.
Maya tried to find a smile but it didn’t work. So instead she forced it. Lied to the world just as she had every time that she took to the stage. Forcing a smile on her face, she moved in closer to him and walked into the conference room with Aiden at her side. “Hello, Michael. Were you able to free Felicity from whatever spell had been cast over her?” she asked as she accepted the seat beside Talon, Aiden taking the seat at her other side.
Stopping just inside the door, Quincy leaned back against the wall. He knew who the woman was and knew that Allister was about twenty minutes from figuring it out, too. Allister would charm her and have her, but Q wasn’t going there. Yeah, she was gorgeous, she was perfect in every way, and she was a Magic User, someone that would understand him. But he wasn’t sharing now or ever, not with his mate. Take that, Gaia, and stomp it to dust, he thought, looking toward Michael who was glowering down the table at his sister. What a douchebag.
Rubbing a hand over his neck, he kept his gaze off her. She wasn’t his alone. Therefore she wouldn’t be his ever. While he knew it would hurt and eat at him and eventually someone would have to put his crazed ass down, he couldn’t share. Not again. It hurt too much to even contemplate being second or third best again in anything. Gods, he just wanted out of the room, away from her and the temptation that she was.
“Of course I did,” Michael said simply. “Did you even doubt me for a moment?” he asked, offended. “Maya, you know that I am far more powerful than any other of our people. Of course I could have helped the poor girl. She’s resting now with her family.”
Maya nodded. “Well that’s good.” She then sighed. “Why are you here, Michael? I haven’t lived in the palace for a number of years.” Since her parents died. No, before that actually. “So I simply can’t believe that you are here out of the goodness of your heart.”
Time blurred, wavering as the Goddess stepped from the wall opposite Quincy. “You really hate me right now, don’t you?” she asked and moved around the people at the table and then to stand at Quincy’s side. “You really and truly hate me for bonding you with a trio rather than just you and your woman.” She looked at Maya and then the brother. “She’s special,” she murmured and touched the woman’s red hair. Glittering shimmers left in her wake. “She was gifted with the power that should have gone to the King. She has the strength of the Alpha Royals but will never be able to lead.” She looked to Quincy. “Could you?” Direct and simple. “Should you have the chance, could you lead?”
“I don’t hate you, Gaia. I just don’t like you right now or since you dropped this bomb on me,” he muttered. “I’d never want to lead. I’m not a Royal, wasn’t born to any line even close to them,” he said honestly. “To answer your question, if I had to”—he shrugged—“I suppose, but I’d not want to. It’s not who I am. I’m a techie plain and simple. I don’t like public speaking, neve
r have, and having that kind of pressure on me, not exactly what I’d want either.” He shot a look to Allister and knew he’d just lost out. “He’d serve her better. Make it so she doesn’t hurt and make her wholly his. Especially after growing up with that for family, she deserves happiness and he’ll give it to her. Leave me out of this triangle, Gaia. I don’t care if I ever get a mate but I can’t and won’t do a triangle. I can’t.”
“My poor Quincy,” Gaia spoke as she sat on the table beside Aiden. “Do you know that I’ve had a plan for you since you were born? Those nights that you felt pain and fear I came to you. I hated to have them happen to you but I had to allow it. You needed to know what it felt like to be the lowest of the low so that when I did gift you with your bond-mate you would understand that and you would be willing to stand at her side no matter the obstacles standing in your way.” She sighed and shook her head. “You have never been second best, Quincy. I have loved you just as I love all my children,” she told him simply and looked to the woman. “She has two paths in life.” There was a profound pause before the Goddess spoke again. “That I see should I cut you from her life.” She then looked to Skittles again. “Allister would make her happy but because of the power inside of her she would never be safe. She needs a Warlock mate, one that can accept the power that was given to her so that her brother never received it. If she doesn’t have one”—she shrugged—“others of her familial line will come for her. When Allister isn’t at her side because of being on assignment she will be killed. She will die and the power that’s inside of her forced into another.” Shrugging, she added, “The second path is worse.” She advised him, “I gave her two mates because she needed them. Not because you weren’t enough, Quincy, but because you were what she needed. She needs a Warlock mate who can rule. Someone who understands what it is to be the downtrodden. She will also need a Dragon mate to help you keep her safe because if she has but one mate, she will be left alone from time to time and she will die.”
Standing, Gaia moved back to his side, leaning against the wall. “You wouldn’t be a third in the bonding. You would be her lifeline. From the time that you were born I knew that one day I had to gift you with greatness and that comes from her. It’s time to change the Royal Line of the Magic Users. I want that change, no I need that change to begin with you.”
Sliding down the wall, he sat on the floor, his knees drawn up and his elbows braced on them holding his head. “I can’t,” he whispered. “I hear you, Gaia. I even understand your reasoning, but you bet on the wrong horse. I just cannot and will not be a third in anything or part of a tri-bond. I can’t.” He looked at her in anguish. “All you did to me as a child changed me. I’m not what you thought you molded. I’d rather see her with another Warlock and Allister than share her with anyone. I know I can’t protect her so find someone that can, but it’s not me. It will never be me if there is another to the bonding.”
Wiping a hand down his face, he shoved up from the floor and stared at her. “You may mean well but in this you failed. This is not me. I’m all or nothing so break my tie to her. Strip me of ever having a mate. I don’t care. But I will not ever share my mate with another for any reason, ever.” He could hear the nails being driven into the coffin of his future but he wouldn’t flinch. He’d made up his mind at age ten what he wanted. Her prediction had only made him more positive and this, this solidified it. “Find someone else. I’m not going in for threesomes, period.”
“My poor Quincy,” Gaia murmured and reached out to touch him. “You need to find your own self-worth. You are worth so very much more than you think. You are amazing Quincy, but you just don’t see it. You think that they don’t have respect for you but nothing could be further from the truth. You are loved. You are respected. You have family here and you don’t realize it. I have no other to turn the line to. None would be as well suited as you are.” Her words were spoken with absolute honesty. “You have a part of me inside of you, far more than you realize,” she admitted. Touching Quincy’s cheek, however, she leaned in. “I won’t let you be mateless,” she assured him. “I release you,” she whispered softly. “May the Gods help her.” She breathed out and vanished, the room returning to normal time as she did so.
Maya was speaking when time went back into sync. “If you don’t mind, Michael, I’m going to simply spend time here with my bond-mate. I want to get to know him. You know as well as I do that there is nothing that you can do to stop me. I’m a grown woman, and I’ve found my bond-mate. You know how revered that relationship is,” Maya told her brother, an ache in the back of her head and a feeling of loss swamping her, but it was a feeling she was well used to and pushed back.
Still staring at where Gaia had been, Quincy was barely aware of the talk going on at the table to his left. She was never mine if she had to have another in her life, he whispered to the Earth, knowing Gaia would hear. She wouldn’t answer, now that she’d done as he’d asked, even though he felt the need to do something. Looking to Allister, he moved over. “Good luck,” he murmured to the man. “You’re going to need it with your bond-mate. The Gods be with you both,” he mumbled before slipping from the room. He couldn’t stay, not if he was going to ever chance seeing her. Moving crisply to his office, he stood in the middle. He had to leave, had to go anywhere but there.
Chapter Six
After Michael left, sulking like a child, Maya asked to speak alone with Talon. When she was finally alone in the conference room with Talon, she sighed. “I can’t remain,” she told him softly. “I can’t be here. Now that Michael is gone I can open a Slip and get out of here. I’m not sure where I will go but I will find a place. Sometimes it’s absolutely best to go to ground and hide instead of hanging out in the front of the world so that I can die,” she murmured. “And you know as well as I do that he’s even now trying to figure out a way to kill me.” Or worse.
The large dragon before her ran a hand through his hair and finally asked, “And your mate? You planning on telling him you’re ditching out?” Talon smiled at her shocked look and said, “What, thought the old Dragon wouldn’t notice the sparks between you and Allister when you came into the room or the fact you were aroused?” He snorted at her. Waving a hand, he shook his head. “It’s your life to do with as you will, Maya, but know we’ll be here if you ever need us. Right now I have a Warlock I need to go and try to keep from leaving,” he muttered.
“Why would he want to leave?” Maya asked with a frown. “And as for him.” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m missing something,” she admitted bluntly. “Yes, I am very attracted to him but…” She paused and then whispered, “I feel as if I’m missing something so very important and can’t figure out what it is.” She never thought she would have a mate, had been told she would be forever incomplete and maybe this was why. “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted, for the first time. “In any of this. I just don’t know what to do, Talon. I’m terrified of Michael. Not just that he would kill me but if he were to collar me.” She shuddered. “No one would stand a chance,” she whispered. “Do you know what that feels like? To know that you have to die for humanity and the others to live? That just sucks.”
“Your brother is power hungry and more than a little pissed he didn’t get what he feels he deserved when your father passed,” he said, moving toward her. Taking her hand, he gently sandwiched it between both of his. “As I said, I can’t tell you what to do, Maya, but always follow your gut. The head will always muck things up, your heart will always assume the best of everything, but if you listen to your gut, your instincts, you’ll never be led astray. As to Quincy”—Talon pulled out his phone to re-read the message—“apparently he’s been released from something and can’t remain. I have no idea what it means but I have a feeling he may have lost whatever last screw he still had holding all his marbles in.”
“He won’t stand a chance. Allister,” she clarified. “Against Michael,” she added and then frowned. “Can I talk to him? I unde
rstand just how confusing it is to be a Magic User,” she told him honestly. “It really and truly does suck sometimes to be a Magic User. Sometimes there is so much pushing at us that it’s not even funny. If you wouldn’t mind, can I talk to him?” So far the Dragon that Talon mentioned hadn’t even so much as batted an eye her way, apart from introducing himself, that was. “Have you ever felt as if there just isn’t something fully right in life? Anyway, can I talk to him?”
“Couldn’t hurt,” he said with a shrug and touched her arm. “Come on,” he said lightly, taking her arm in his hand. “I always feel as if most things in life are completely and totally fucked up. But I’ve learned to roll with it and wait for the sequel. There’s usually a better clue in there at some point that tells me where I should go. Not always, but on occasion.”
“Ah, good advice,” Maya said with a smile. “Well, hopefully I can talk to this guy and he will stick around. You need a good Warlock that you can depend on, one that will always have your back.” She looked up at Talon and said, “You need to apologize to him as well. From what I understand you gave him hell about the Vortexes. Just because I can open a Slip and not have others in danger doesn’t mean that he can. No one else could do that,” she told him. “So you should apologize to him for giving him hell.”
“I’ll apologize.” Talon rolled his eyes at her. “When did you become such a bossy little thing? Last I remember you were all terrified of the big, bad Dragon,” he teased with a grin as they walked along. Reaching Quincy’s office, he knocked and pushed open the partially open door. Staring at how empty the room appeared, Talon shifted his eyes to Q as he stood there staring right back. “Going somewhere?” he asked.
