by Skye Jones
Cade’s mind spun. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t I know? Why wouldn’t he tell me? Many of our kind are adopted. There is no shame in it. But he always said you were his true birth parents.”
“Oh gods,” she sobbed and put her head in her hands.
Damian, one of her bonded males, put his arm around her. “You don’t have to talk about this, my love.”
“No. I do! Our lies and cover-ups have placed our beautiful child at risk.” She was crying properly, with tears streaming down her face and smudging the makeup she wore. “The truth about Jay’s father is shameful, and I never wanted anyone to know. I told Jay, but I made him swear he’d never share my disgrace. His birth father took me when I was a young female. Against my will.”
A quiet gasp from Gwen was the only sound. Rape? It was such a taboo among their kind. One of the things that separated them from the lowly humans.
Betrayal hit Cade hard. His bonded male had lied to him for the longest time. He began to pace, conflicting emotions warring within. His tight jaw and fisted hands must have given him away, because a tentative touch to his back had him spinning around.
Gwen watched him warily, but she didn’t let go. Her hand slid around his body as he turned, to end up placed right on his heart. “You’re angry? At him? I think you are, but he did nothing wrong.”
“He lied to me,” he seethed. “If he hadn’t done so, then maybe I could have protected him, but I never knew he might be in danger.”
“Don’t be angry with him. You can’t guess what it’s like. You’re…you. A famous, almost mythical warrior. Only a dozen or so of you left in Britain now. Males like you, Steffan, Awen, and Lucien, you’re like living gods amongst our kind. People such as myself and Jay… We’re viewed as nothing but trash by the less kindly elements in Dragonea society. Maybe he wanted to keep his promise, but perhaps he also couldn’t find a way to tell you.”
Her words made sense. Snippets of memories flooded to him. Jay sitting down, face serious and sighing, as if to begin a conversation but then brightening and turning on the TV. Yeah. Maybe Jay had wanted to tell him but didn’t know where to begin?
“And, after all, the important thing is we find him. Isn’t it? You can chastise him for hiding it from you then.”
She was so right. Such a smart female, this gorgeous creature of his. And she was his, as was Jay. They belonged together, and he would move heaven and earth to ensure they got to be together.
First, they had to get Jay back.
Chapter Ten
Oh gods. His head pounded with pain, and his mouth ran so dry. Jay sat up, blinking, his eyes getting used to the light pouring from the one bare bulb in the center of the room. His head lolled on his neck as if the muscles were torn, whereas, in reality, he’d lost the strength to hold it up. The room spun a little, and he groaned as he tried to focus his gaze and stop the damn wall from moving around him.
The cloth in his mouth tasted foul and explained the dryness. He couldn’t even lick his lips. Could hardly swallow, and as soon as he realized that, panic struck. His breathing accelerated, his nostrils flaring as he worked to suck in enough air through his nose alone.
“Take it easy, or you’ll hyperventilate.”
The male voice had him looking to the corner of the room. His father sat there watching him, like the piece of shit he was. Such a hideous thing to do, take a female, rape her, and then, years later, come back for the young. He’d broken all the most basic and fundamental rules of their society. Why did he want Jay? It made no sense.
“I’m going to take the cloth out of your mouth. I suggest you keep quiet and listen to me. There are people in here who don’t share my patience or my concern for you. We are kin, after all.” He gave an oily smile, and it was so odd to see such a sneering expression on features similar to his own.
The rag got ripped from Jay’s mouth, and he took in a huge gulp of air. The coolness rushing over his tongue and down past his tonsils tasted like the sweetest nectar.
“What the hell do you want with me?” His voice came out all croaky and gruff.
“Not so much me. I’d have happily left you alone to live with your new family. I did wonder once or twice if I could use you as leverage to get that ungrateful bitch of a mate of mine back. Then I decided she wasn’t worth the hassle, and neither were you.”
“She was never your mate,” Jay interrupted the delusional freak. “You took her, kidnapped her, and then raped her. You’re scum. And I ask you again. What the fuck do you want with me?”
“My…associates want money for you. We know you are bonded to a very wealthy male, and they are sure he’ll pay handsomely to get you back.”
Jay began to laugh. “If you know Cade is wealthy, then you also know how powerful he is. He’ll tear your little band of merry men apart.”
“True, he might. If we didn’t have help. Powerful and ancient and magical help.” His father laughed bitterly, and the cruel sound reverberated off the walls.
Jay looked around him. He sat in a chair in the center of a circular room. It was ancient-looking, with high, vaulted ceilings. Dark beams ran from every corner of the room into the center. The walls were stone, covered with moss near the ground, and full of cobwebs. Where was he? Some sort of old farm building or something?
“Doesn’t matter. You still can’t beat Cade.” Jay prayed what he said was true.
The door at the far side of the room opened, and a woman walked in. Small and wiry, she had long hair that looked like it needed a good conditioning treatment and to be introduced to a comb. Her eyes were horrible, a cold, slate gray like the stone in a quarry, but filled with an eerie fire. He shuddered and fought the urge to look away.
“Well, hello, pet. And aren’t you a pretty one? So lovely. And your mate is a gorgeous little thing too. Pity she’ll probably be dead once this is all finished.”
He automatically fought against the restraints on his wrists at her words. The thought of anyone laying a finger on Gwen pumped his blood, gave him a total lack of concern for his own safety.
“You’ll probably die too, Jay. Because you’re a pawn in a much bigger game. I’m going to use you to get what I want more than anything. Those damned proud, arrogant males of the Dragonea who think they are the greatest and the best… Dead. All of them. Starting with Rhyndor.”
“Rhyndor?” He racked his brains. “He hasn’t got anything to do with me.”
“Oh,”—she tapped her lower lip with one pointed, gnarly nail—“but he has. You see, your bonded male will call for help from others of his power. For certain, he’ll ask Awen and Lucien. But he’ll probably also talk to Steffan, and perhaps Nathan. Better yet, your female, the lovely Gwen, is friends with the Havsa trash bitch, Lilly. And Lilly is mated to Rhyndor and Callum. Do you see where this is going?”
He did, and he hated it. But why did she want to kill all the warriors of their kind?
“You don’t know who I am, do you? I am Celine, and Rhyndor owes me a debt. But all those males are nothing but a stain on the world. Their arrogance and hubris know no bounds. They’ve stopped fighting, become lazy, and now they live off the fat of their reputations. And they have a lot of money, gold, and power. A lot of power. Beyond their physical prowess. For example, did you know that Nathan alone could probably crash the markets of a small nation if he wanted to? They have financial power. Once I’ve ruined them, I want some of it to help with plans of mine.”
“You’re insane. They’ll kill you.”
She laughed, and it sounded oddly pretty and carefree. “They won’t. I kept Rhyndor as my pet dragon for the longest time. Those males don’t scare me. They irritate me.”
Damn, the bitch had bigger balls than him. Taking on Cade, Nathan, Rhyndor, and company? Jay wasn’t too scared for them because he truly believed they could take this freak on and win. But her absolute confidence did give him pause.
“You’re so gorgeous. I wish I’d met you before now. You’d make a lovely ple
asure slave.”
He scoffed. “I wouldn’t touch you with a barge pole.”
The vile female gave another of those melodious laughs and did something with her fingers, some sort of drawing in the air. He didn’t believe it, but despite his mind still finding her repulsive, his body began to react. His pulse quickened and not from fear, his breathing rate increased, and he grew hard.
She smirked and leaned in close, placing her lips on his. The taste and scent of her revolted him on one level, but turned him on somehow. A horrible moan escaped his closed lips. Part horror and part want.
Pulling away, the witch looked him dead in the eyes. “I can make you do whatever I wish, dragon. Don’t you forget it.”
With a rustle of the long, dark gray skirts hanging around her pointed red boots, she stalked out of the room.
Panic engulfed him as soon as the door closed. The evil creature certainly possessed strong magic, and perhaps she would be able to defeat their males. Even if they all worked together.
Shit. They were in a whole world of trouble, and it was all his fault for letting his guard down and being taken by the piece of crap who’d sired him.
***
Cade paced, and Gwen followed him as he took long strides up and down the length of the kitchen. Her mother sat at the table chewing on a nail, a nervous habit she’d never quite gotten rid of and a sharp juxtaposition to her put-together glamour. Lucien and Awen were talking to one another in low voices, and Jago’s parents sat next to Lara, their faces etched taut with worry.
The phone trilled out in the kitchen, jarring in the low hum of worried conversation. “Yes,” Cade barked into the handset.
“What?” He roared the word, and all the heads in the room snapped up. “One minute. Lucien and Awen are here. I’m putting you on speaker.” He jabbed the button and placed the phone on the table in the middle of the room.
“It’s Rhyndor.” He told them with a jut of his chin toward the table. “Speak.”
Rhyndor sighed. “Not good news, I’m afraid. I’ve just had a call from an old nemesis of mine.”
“Fuck, I can guess where this is going.” Awen shook his head.
“Celine has been in touch. It seems she’s very much alive and hell-bent on revenge, not only on me, but all of us warriors. I don’t know why she wants to drag you guys into it too, but she does. She wants us all to go to a specific location, or she’ll kill Jago.”
A sob rang out in the room, and Jay’s mother covered her face with her hands. “How could his father do this? I know he’s a bad male because of what he did to me, but to take his only son and give him to a woman who will use his life to make a bargain?” She wiped at her tears as she shook her head.
“Not a woman,” Rhyndor corrected her. “A very powerful witch. I’m not sure if she’s perhaps bewitched Jay’s father, or maybe he is simply evil. Either way, we need to go and fetch Jay back.”
“Not you.” A voice sounded on the line, someone in the room with Rhyndor. “You’ve already lost far too much trying to help others of our kind. We’re sitting this one out.”
“No, Callum, we’re not.” Rhyndor’s words rang with solemn finality. “I’m going to call Nathan and Steffan, and we and our mates will be with you tomorrow, Cade. I’ve informed the witch we’re coming and doing as she asks. She’s given her word, for whatever it is worth, that until then, not a hair will be harmed on Jay’s head.”
“Tomorrow.” Cade hung up the call without any further pleasantries.
Gwen’s heart cracked wide open as the significance of the call sank in. They might lose Jay. She had tried to fight the bond with these males, and now she faced losing one. Why hadn’t she simply accepted it, welcomed her fate and biology with open arms? And now she might never get the chance.
Cade turned to her, his dark eyes blazing with something she couldn’t decipher. He took her hand and pulled her out of the room and down the long corridor toward his bedroom. What the hell? She glanced back at the kitchen, wondering what her mother must be thinking, but he gave an impatient tug. Flinging open the door of his room, he almost dragged her inside after him. She expected sex, but instead, he simply pulled her into his arms, pushed his face into the crook of her neck and breathed her in. It was glorious, and her panic ebbed as he held her tightly, his strong arms wrapped around her as if he’d never let her go.
After what seemed like a good five minutes, he stepped back and looked down at her. “I’m sorry about that. I could feel myself spinning out of control, and we don’t have time for meltdowns. I needed to scent my mate, get my head on straight.”
His face changed then. “I know you’re not my mate, and may never consent to be, but for me, you’re it. And right now, I need you.”
“I do want to be your mate.” She put her feelings out there. “I’m here, Cade.” And she was. No more fears about her autonomy. She needed these guys like she needed air. Plus, she knew, soul deep, that her mother would be with those two huge males out there. The thought didn’t scare her anymore—the idea of settling down tempting not terrifying. She’d still surf because her mates loved to surf. Life would still be fun because Jay was fun. Life would still be scary and intense because Cadan was scary and intense.
They made a perfect mix, the three of them. It might not have been much time at all that they’d been doing this thing together, but they were Dragonea, and they didn’t do things the human way. Finally, for the first time in her life, she accepted this fact and all it entailed.
Cade stared at her. “You mean it?”
She nodded her head, grinning.
“I do. I really do.” She laughed then, joyful for a moment despite the fear.
A knock at the door made her start. Cade stalked to it and yanked it open, impatience written all over his face. But at the sight of the elderly female standing there, he changed. His expression, posture, they both took on the appearance of deference.
Cade gave the small formal bow their kind offered in respect to another. “Ruth.”
“Cadan. This is a fine mess you find yourself in.” The female had a gravelly voice, and as she smiled gently at Cade, her face creased into hundreds of fine lines.
Trying not to stare, Gwen wondered how old this dragon was because they aged slowly, and she looked ninety in human years.
Ruth walked into the room and scented the air. “Good. This makes what I am about to say easier.”
Cade’s brow furrowed, and Gwen bet hers did too because she didn’t follow what Ruth meant.
“I think there may be a way to help even the odds for your young male, but it involves you all mating. Now.”
Cade let out a harsh laugh. “Erm, slight problem, Ruth. We can’t mate because he isn’t here.”
“Ah, but you can. I can use a very ancient and powerful magic to let your dragons be together and mate in their ethereal form. It’s binding, no need for the more…physical act to occur at the same time.” She blushed and picked at some imaginary lint on the long silk skirt she wore. “I need help, and so I have asked Steffan to bring Rhiannon with him tomorrow. That female possesses much magic. You two need to go to bed, alone, and rest. Sleep well, for tomorrow your inner dragons are going to go through a tremendous amount.”
Without any more to say, she swept out of the room, pausing at the door to arch an eyebrow and point at them. “Alone. No cuddling and kissing. Retire to your separate rooms and sleep. I want you all together tomorrow, and you being together now without Jay may weaken the magic.”
She closed the door behind her, and for a moment, the silence in the room roared in Gwen’s ears. Mated? Tomorrow? Okay, so she’d decided she was ready to take the next step. But in her mind, she’d imagined they would go get Jay and then perhaps have a few nice weeks reunited before a lovely ceremony and the whole mating thing. Now it would happen tomorrow, and via magic! Crap.
“You okay?” Cade was watching her with concern in his eyes.
“Yes. Of course.”
“It’s just, you’re hyperventilating over there,” he added with a wry grin.
“I told you I want this. It’s only… It’s a little soon, you know?”
He nodded. “For me too, and this is not the way I pictured it.”
“How did you picture it?” She thought of her own little fantasy of herself and her males on the edge of the cliffs, surrounded by a small gathering of family and friends. She’d be wearing a long white, bohemian-style dress, with flowers in her hair. Cade maybe in a suit, Jay in jeans probably. There’d be music, and the wind would blow in her hair.
Cade’s voice interrupted her dreaming. “You’d be on all fours, I’d be balls deep inside you, and Jay would take your mouth. Then our dragons would merge.”
She stared at him for a moment, lost for words, and then saw the telltale twitch of his lips. She smacked his arm, hard.
“Ouch.” He pretend-winced.
“Serves you right, you debauched pig.”
“Debauched pig? That’s a new one.”
“It fits.”
They both smiled at one another for a moment, but the air in the room soon grew heavy once more with the seriousness of the situation.
“I suppose I ought to go to bed.” She rubbed her toe on the plush carpet.
“As much as I want you here with me tonight, I trust Ruth. She’s an ancient and knowledgeable Warder of the clans. I’m going to kiss you goodnight, and you’re going to go to your room, however much we might not want to do so.” And he did. He bent his mouth to hers, giving her a chaste kiss, and then held the door open for her. “Until tomorrow, my mate.”
Wow. Those words! She smiled at him and then left his room, not looking back as she walked down the corridor to the room she’d been given earlier. Tomorrow, her life would change forever, and she doubted she’d get the rest Ruth prescribed.
Eight hours later, and Gwen felt more like a bear with a sore head than a dragon shifter. She’d had no more than three hours of fitful sleep, and all she wanted was rest, but her crazy mind simply wouldn’t let up. She gave up trying and decided to go make some coffee instead. Glancing at the clock and seeing it was only six in the morning, she doubted anyone else would be around. Cade and Jay were generally late risers like herself, she’d found out from chatting to Jay. They only got up early when the waves called to them. Yet another way they’d complement one another.
