Believe me when I tell you that you made the right choice, Malek. Cain’s voice sounded in Malek’s head. The Taal king raised his chin in stark admiration. The Monsters leader had never actually spoken in his mind before. It took not only tremendous strength, but tremendous audacity to do so. Cain was showing him the slightest glimpse of the true depths of the man’s power.
Malek, right now it’s only the fact that Crow is my second that keeps him from attacking you outright. And it’s only due to Caliban’s edict that we hold back here tonight. The Unseelie King wants to deal with this himself. Otherwise we would settle this here and now, Cain mentally explained. It wasn’t a threat, nor was it some kind of dark promise. Cain was simply telling it like it was. He made the situation very clear.
As it is, he went on, I had to promise Crow that if Angel was harmed in any way, I wouldn’t stop him from setting things right. And every man here would back him up.
Malek continued to study Crow in silence. The vampire had strong generational magic in his veins. It had taken a very expensive spell cast on expensive bullets to get anywhere near the man’s mind. And then holding it hadn’t been easy. There were a few times when Malek had felt Crow nearly break free of his influence. Which was highly impressive. No one had escaped Malek Taal before.
All in all, he was fairly certain the vampire could not single-handedly destroy him… but then again, love makes a man do crazy things. And Malek was sure Cain was right; Jake would also have the help of every Monster here.
She means that much to him, Malek mused.
She means that much to all of us, Cain told him. “She’s one of us, Malek,” he said aloud, probably for the benefit of everyone there. “Know that as of this moment, Angela Clemens and everyone she cares for is officially under the protection of the Monsters.” He waited a moment before he lowered his head, and his fierce blue gaze pierced through the darkness to strike Malek deep. “You know what that means.”
Malek Taal took a deep breath. When he let it out, he nodded and stepped back, putting distance between himself and Angel’s sleeping form. “I do.”
It didn’t matter anyway. Angel hadn’t been the one for him. Somewhere out there, his soul mate yet waited. He had no idea how to find her, where to even start. But tonight was not a night for further advances. Instead, it was a night for making amends.
He continued to watch Crow, knowing full well the greatest danger was from him. The vampire’s hands were loose at his sides. There were no clenched fists, no bared fangs. All of Crow’s rage was internal. Malek knew enough about that kind of seething, male dominant wrath to recognize that Crow was exercising impossible restraint. The vampire was probably tearing Malek apart six ways to Sunday on the movie screens of his mind.
So he addressed Crow specifically when he spoke next. After all, this concerned him directly. “Angel is completely unharmed,” Malek told him. “She only sleeps, in fact. I know I will most likely never fully rectify what has transpired tonight. But I’m going to try anyway, and in a show of good faith, I am going to tell you something, Crow.”
Now Jacob Crow smiled. The smile was very slow, it was very dark, and it actually brought Malek up short. Crow took an equally slow step forward, breaking the circle to gradually approach the Taal king.
“Oh yeah?” the vampire asked softly, so softly. There was ice in his voice. It crackled frostily on the edges of his words. “What’s that?” Crow quietly asked as if he were terribly amused. Malek stared into those piercing green irises and was certain he knew what Crow was thinking right about then. It was most likely along the lines of, … Because nothing you could say to me, Malek Taal, will ever change how I feel about you. If it weren’t for the Unseelie King’s hand in this pot, I would flay you alive for touching her. Or die trying.
So Malek got right down to it. “I’m not your enemy, Crow. I mean Angel no harm. But heed me now.”
The shadows in the room stretched, his magic at work on them on an unconscious level as he prepared to divulge his secret. He could sense that the other Monsters members noticed the change – a thickening of the magic in the air. But Crow never broke eye contact with Malek. In fact, the man never even blinked. There was more rage in the man’s veins at the moment than blood.
“But she is not safe. For there is another who very much does.” He lowered both his head and his tone and the realm grew very quiet as he delivered his final and crucial bit of information. “And it isn’t who you think.”
Then Malek wordlessly called forth his magic – and transported away – leaving thirteen Monsters and one dreaming warden behind in the shadows of his chamber.
Chapter Fifty-Four
When Angel’s eyes fluttered open to reveal she was still on the floor of Malek’s chamber, but in Jake’s arms instead, she experienced a sudden discombobulation so strong, it was terrifying. She was being moved; that was what had awoken her. She opened her mouth to ask him what the hell happened, but Jake cut her off gently. “I know you have a thousand questions. Bear with me, Angel and I promise to answer them all. I just need to get you to safety first.”
She stared up at his fallen angel face and felt so lost. The last time she’d seen him, he and David Sharpe had been attacking her with sleep darts and handing her over to Lord Malek. Now he was lifting her in his arms and… Angel blinked and looked around. Oh gods, this is every last one of them, she thought. His entire motorcycle club was standing around them watching them silently, every last tall, strong, inhumanely handsome member.
Even Cain.
She knew who he was at once. The power emanating from him was enough to make a person feel drunk if they weren’t aware and careful. He was so tall – an inch or two taller than Jake, even. He stood with the kind of bearing and command that could only be earned, and only over a vast amount of time. And he was extraordinarily beautiful. But it was a cold beauty, hard and unforgiving, as if it had been sculpted by someone who was in anguish.
His very blue eyes were filled with ancient knowledge. Angel could not look at him for more than a second or two. Cain alone was enough to convince Angel that she wasn’t dead or dreaming, that she hadn’t actually faded to nothing under Malek’s kiss.
Cain’s presence was just far too real for that.
She turned her attention to the other Monsters members. They were all watching her.
The weight of their cumulative gazes was heady. As Jake got to his feet and hugged her firmly to his chest, Angel actually started to feel aroused under all those eyes. Sexually aroused. It was embarrassing. And she felt even more unsettled. She slipped her arms around Jake’s neck and held on out of self-preservation.
Angel could feel that her mental wards were still up; she’d only cast them a few hours ago as far as she knew, and they were supposed to last at least a day. But she gave her fear away when she clasped tightly to Jake. As if he knew what was happening to her and what she was thinking, Jake smiled knowingly and laughed softly, drawing her attention back to him. She studied his strong profile as he strode across the room toward his leader. “Let’s go,” he said.
Cain nodded.
Angel watched and listened as all at once and seemingly in unison, the Monsters members called up transport spells. The air in the room grew heavy with magic so thick, she actually saw sparks of electricity zap around her as if she were in a Faraday cage.
When Jake’s portal opened, he stepped in, his grip on her strengthened, and the portal whisked them through space and time.
When they stepped out again, Angel realized they’d not only transported out of Malek’s chamber, but the entire Unseelie Realm. They now stood back in the mortal realm, in the Monsters safe house parking lot beside Jake’s GTO. But the rest of the lot was no longer empty. She glanced around. Motorcycles filled the other spaces, each magnificent machine gleaming with a perfect paint job and miles of chrome.
Jake carried her toward the car. She watched as the GTO’s passenger side door opened of its own accord. Angel’s
cinephile mind was instantly reminded of Stephen King’s Christine. At first, her eyes widened and her grip on Jake grew claws. But Jake laughed again.
She snapped her eyes to his to find them glittering with amusement. Then she remembered Jake had admitted to her that he could manipulate objects. “Very funny,” she hissed. He laughed harder.
Now that he had no reason to hide anything from her, including his powers and abilities, Angel experienced a strange thrill wondering what else he was going to reveal. She pondered this as Jake approached the car.
She felt perfectly capable of walking on her own and didn’t strictly need to be carried, which surprised her given how thoroughly drained she’d been before she’d lost consciousness in Malek’s grasp. It was one more confusing thing that she tried to push back and compartmentalize.
Regardless of her new found strength, she stayed quiet about it and chose to let Jake take care of her, enjoying the tight warmth and hard protectiveness of his arms as he held her. She loved the way he smelled… the leather of his jacket filled her nostrils and played pleasantly in her head.
He placed her carefully in the passenger seat before straightening and nodding to his MC brothers, who all stood in the lot as if waiting for a signal from him, even Cain. Looking at the enigmatic leader, Angel thought maybe she understood this. Cain had nothing to prove. This was Jake’s rodeo after all; Angel was his girl. For the night, Cain was deferring and letting Jake take the reins.
I’m his girl, she thought. A small smile graced her lips as Jake closed her door and moved around the car. But the smile didn’t last; she was still so confused. So much needed to be cleared up – and she couldn’t get the nerve-wracking experience of Jake and Dave hunting her down out of her head.
Jake got in on his side and turned the car on. A few seconds later, the thunder of a dozen motorcycles starting up at once filled the night. Angel closed her eyes and rested her head against the red leather seat, just letting the sound ride over her like the notes of Angus Young’s guitar.
Then Jake and the entire Monsters motorcycle club escorted Angel back into Vega territory. She felt like the president with an entourage of powerful people surrounding her while they traveled the streets of San Francisco. It was a little thrilling. And a lot bewildering. She wanted to film it or something for posterity’s sake. Elena would have been so jealous.
Elena! Fuck!
In the chaos of what had happened earlier tonight, she’d forgotten to call her friend about canceling drinks at the Fairmont…. Well, technically that wasn’t true. She hadn’t even had a chance to think about calling her to cancel, much less the time, nor frankly even the cell phone signal. If she’d had a signal when she’d been in that forest and Jake was cuffed against those rocks, she would have used it to call Gabriel.
Her memories of the night assaulted her again as she stared out the window. She remembered David’s form bending over her as she lay helpless in the dirt in the forest and consciousness slipped away. He’d taken her pendant off her.
Instinctively, Angel touched her chest. When she did, her fingers were greeted with the hard, warm outline of a large bear claw resting against her ribcage. She pulled it out from under her shirt and looked down at it. The green glow was faded now, but still there.
Jake had put it back on her.
Angel glanced at him again. Such a beautiful profile. Strong. Tempting.
She wanted to be able to look at it forever.
With that thought, Angel rested her head and listened to the surrounding roar of the motorcycles that hovered around the Pontiac like bees around their queen. After a few minutes, she saw him move out of the corner of her eye and turned to watch him press a few buttons on the clearly updated stereo in the GTO’s dashboard. Lighted text announced coming music, and top-of-the-line speakers began to play to Angel’s frayed nerves.
This was her favorite song. I’m On Fire by Bruce Springstein.
Angel smiled. Of course Jake would know that from having read her file. And because he was Jake, he knew she needed to hear it right now. She closed her eyes and relaxed her head against the seat again, letting the drive and the Boss comfort her.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Angel saw the extra cars in the lot of the Vega safe house when they pulled up to it a few minutes later. But the lot was soon filled with motorcycles, which overshadowed everything else.
Three men were standing at the front of the safe house waiting for the convoy: Gabriel, Caliban the Unseelie King, and Roman D’Angelo the Vampire King.
She felt instantly intimidated. But Jake could obviously see her discomfort because he laughed softly and shook his head. “Don’t worry,” he told her gently. “They’re far more concerned with your wellbeing right now. That’s why they’re here. Just try to relax.” He squeezed her hand. His touch was warm and comforting.
Jake parked the car and helped her out, and they joined the three at the door of the building. Gabriel met her gaze, but there was no anger in his amber eyes. There was no disappointment. There was only relief.
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her hard. He felt good. She hugged him back.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said, releasing her to look down at her. “Cal and Roman have some questions for you if it’s okay. Do you feel up to it?”
She nodded. She knew how the politics of the Thirteen Realms worked. What Lord Malek had done to her, a high ranking warden, constituted breaking the laws of the Unseelie Realm, and the situation had already been tense as it was.
No one wanted another fae war, and Angel imagined it was that concern that was going through everyone’s mind right now. If there was anything she could tell them that would help allay that, she was game.
“There’s pizza, just delivered,” Gabe told her, nodding at the kitchen table. “And fresh drinks in the fridge. Just have a seat at the table and make yourself comfortable.”
“You had me at pizza,” she told him. She could smell it when she stepped inside, and her stomach made an unattractive sound. Gabriel smiled. Then he turned to Jake, and for a moment, the space between them felt charged.
Angel’s heart rate increased, and she was sure her blood pressure probably shot up a few points. But a moment later, the two seemed to come to some kind of unspoken agreement. Gabe nodded at him, then faced the kings. “I’m going to have a word with Cain. I’ll meet you all inside in a minute.” He stepped off the front step of the building and approached one of the motorcycles.
Out on the lot, the Monsters members revved their engines and tore out, all but for Cain, who kicked down his stand, dismounted, and began speaking with Gabriel. Angel watched them for a few seconds before she entered the kitchen.
She got several plates, napkins, and drinks just in case anyone else wanted any, then she put a slice of pizza on her plate and moved to the table. Three beautiful, powerful men sat at the table watching her.
She stopped in her tracks. Roman D’Angelo immediately started laughing. “We won’t eat you, we promise,” he told her, sharing a secret look with Caliban. Jake’s green eyes twinkled as he tried to hide a smile and failed.
Angel shook her head, took a deep breath, and decided to just fucking go with it. How many girls got to eat pizza at the same table as two members of royalty and two vampires at the same time? Not many, that’s for sure.
But Gabriel had been right. Caliban and Roman seemed far more concerned with what had happened to her and how she felt now than they were with any kind of royal decorum. They were down to earth and friendly, and they listened intently as she told them everything she knew.
She told them in detail about her encounter with Malek Taal. But she only went as far back as the moment she woke up to find herself being handcuffed by Malek and transported away. Everything that happened up to that point, she kept to herself. She didn’t want to get Jake in trouble. Especially with Gabriel.
Then Jake filled them in on what transpired from the moment the Monsters clan transported int
o Malek’s chamber. But when he shared Malek’s final, parting words, Gabriel latched on to them. So did Angel, actually.
Gabe leaned forward. “He said someone meant Angel harm and it wasn’t who we thought? Did he mean it’s not Dmitri?”
But no one at the table had an answer for that.
Eventually there was really nothing more to say. Roman and Caliban had come because of a major breach in fae law involving the leader of a very old and powerful unseelie race and a high ranking warden, a healer no less. But in retrospect, Angel had to admit that Malek hadn’t actually hurt her. In fact, she felt better now than she had before he’d taken her away. “He seems lost,” she added suddenly as the group fell into a lull of contemplative silence.
They looked up at her. She didn’t try to meet any of their gazes. Instead, she stared at the table and shrugged. “He’s facing something he’s never had to face before and he’s the leader of his people. He’s scared and he’s desperate. And even then – he didn’t hurt me. I could have come out of the encounter a lot worse off than sleeping.” Most people did, when dealing with the Taal.
A half hour later, the sovereigns had gone, and Gabriel was called in almost at once on a job for the Phantom King, Thanatos. He exchanged another meaningful look with Jake, and Jake told him he would remain behind to watch over Angel. Malek’s warning echoed in everyone’s mind, no doubt. It certainly echoed in hers.
Despite everything – Gabriel seemed genuinely okay with that. Grateful, even. Something had changed when Jake and the Monsters clan rescued Angel from Malek’s grasp. Gabe seemed to come to grips with something, as if Jake’s actions had won him a good amount of respect in Gabriel’s eyes.
Whatever the reason, she was relieved that Gabe was grateful rather than resentful Jake was staying with her. For her part, Angel was especially grateful for Jake’s company. After all… she hadn’t forgotten that in a few hours, she was going to have to give her answer to Dmitri. She wanted to be with Jake until then.
Monsters, Book One: The Good, The Bad, The Cursed Page 30
