“He can’t live.” Hex shook his head sadly.
“No! Please, please, Craze! I love you.” The naked Jinx completely broke down, great shuddering sobs wracking his body.
“Don’t listen to him, love,” the other Jinx called. “He will say anything to make you doubt.”
Well, it was working. Echo was very much doubting. What if they chose wrong? Gods, he didn’t think he could live with that kind of guilt, and it would completely destroy Craze.
“Can’t we ask them questions only the real Jinx would know?” Myst asked as he stepped out onto the porch behind them.
“I love your brilliant mind,” Echo purred to the man, “but I have a better idea. Will you please go hold the other Jinx?”
“Anything you want, baby.” Myst pulled Echo into a deep, passionate kiss—completely inappropriate in their given situation. “Take from me,” Myst breathed into Echo’s mouth.
Oh! Echo wound his arms around Myst’s neck, sucking the demon’s tongue into his mouth while sucking in Myst’s power as well, then letting it trickle back into his mate.
“Hey!” Jinx shouted.
“Close his mouth, too, babe.”
Myst chuckled and kissed Echo on the nose. “Got it.”
“Why did you need me for that?” Echo tilted his head to the side in confusion. “I mean, that’s pretty elementary stuff, Myst.”
“I froze them both,” Myst answered with a cocky grin. “I’m going on the assumption that the skinwalker is a witch, and damn powerful. I’d rather err on the side of caution.”
“Yes, definitely love that sexy brain.”
Myst laughed again. “So, what’s your plan?”
“Syx?” The warrior stepped up beside Echo and looked at him expectantly. “Which one is the right one?”
Cocking his head to the side, Syx looked back and forth between the two several times. “How am I supposed to know that?”
Echo huffed and rolled his eyes. “Are you telepathic or not? Read their minds.”
“Already did,” Syx said with a wink. “I just wanted to throw them off their guard.” His arms crossed over his chest, and he locked eyes with Craze. “You are ripping your mate’s hair out by the roots, man. I don’t think he’s going to thank you for that later.”
If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Echo would have laughed at the stricken look on Craze’s face. He released Jinx’s hair immediately, shaking his hand as though the dirty strands had electrocuted him. “Myst,” Craze whispered, his eyes never leaving Jinx’s.
The next instant, Jinx gasped for breath and stumbled forward. Craze caught him up, crushing him to his massive chest as he petted and cooed to the little vampire. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”
“Shh, love.” Jinx stroked Craze’s hair and peppered kisses over his face. “It’s okay now. Everything is okay now.”
Syn looked like he was going to throw up. He jumped away from the imposter beside him, rubbing at the skin on his arms as though he felt dirty. Then Craze had him lifted in his arms as well, holding both his mates and raining kisses over them. “I’m so sorry to both of you.”
“We’re fine,” Jinx and Syn said in unison then began giggling.
Echo swallowed past the lump in his throat. Damn, he was a sucker for happy endings. He doubted the trio even realized anything existed outside of the three of them at the moment.
Craze set his lovers on their feet, whipped his shirt off, and pushed it down over Jinx’s head. “Cover up, baby.” Jerking a thumb toward the side, Craze looked up at Hex. “You still want me to kill it?” he asked casually.
“Syx?”
Syx glanced at the doppelganger, then back to Hex, and nodded once. Craze mirrored the nod and ushered his mates up the steps. “Go inside, guys. I’ll be right there.”
“You, too, Echo.” Myst took Echo’s hand and pulled gently.
Echo didn’t argue. He’d seen enough death and mayhem to last him a lifetime. Things would only get worse when the war came. He knew this, but that didn’t mean he looked forward to it.
Allowing Myst to lead him inside, Echo glanced over his shoulder and gasped. The bones in Craze’s neck and joints shot out through his skin like lethal spikes. His fingers elongated, those bones also pushing through the skin as he stalked toward the skinwalker.
“Let him go, Myst,” Craze growled.
Echo couldn’t look anymore. Snapping his attention to the living room beyond, he hurried through the door and straight to the kitchen—as far away from death as he could go.
* * * *
“I don’t understand. Where did you come from?” Onyx asked later that night after everyone had calmed down. They all sat or stood around the kitchen, their usual gathering place for important conversations. He was glad to see Craze showered and changed into a pair of Eyce’s pajama bottoms. Echo didn’t need to see the blood that covered the Addonexus when he’d walked through the door.
Jinx was also showered and wearing some of Echo’s clothes. He fidgeted nervously under everyone’s scrutiny, curling himself further into Craze’s lap. “It took me five days to crawl out of the rubble from the house,” he answered quietly.
Onyx felt a twinge of guilt but kept his face impassive. “That was still nearly three weeks ago. Where have you been since then?”
Jinx shuddered violently and pressed closer to Craze. “There are still vampires from the coven out there. They’ve named a new leader and are recruiting again. Four of them jumped me about halfway here.”
“How did you escape?” Echo spoke quietly, but his voice still held a deep despair that tugged at Onyx’s heart. He gathered his mate into his arms and rocked him from side to side while they waited for Jinx to find the words to continue.
“They drained me and dumped me in the woods to die near dawn. That was two days ago.”
The room went unnaturally quiet, and it seemed no one was breathing. Craze’s arms tightened around his lover, and his eyes looked shiny in the overhead light. The unshed tears didn’t make the man weak, though Onyx knew Craze would view it differently. The man had almost lost his mate. Onyx would probably have been a blubbering mess if it had been Echo.
Syx cleared his throat a few times before addressing Syn. “You had a dream?”
Syn startled a bit but nodded slowly. “It was just that Oracle lady telling me that everyone here was in danger. I didn’t know Jinx would be here until we arrived. I mean, I thought Jinx was with us.” His slim shoulders began to shake, and he swallowed several times. “I kissed him,” he whispered.
“Did you…did…” Jinx trailed off, pain blatant in his features as he waited for the answer.
Syn shook his head. “I tried,” he said dejectedly. “He wouldn’t touch me, though.”
Onyx sighed and hugged Echo closer. The beginning of the triad’s mating should have been amazing and wonderful, filled with getting to know one another in between bouts of hot, kinky sex. And newly mated or not, no one should ever have to endure the things Jinx had. Onyx hurt for all three, but his heart shattered for Jinx.
“And you?” Jinx whispered to Craze.
Craze closed his eyes and looked as though he’d fall apart into a million pieces. “I wanted to, and tried several times. That’s enough to count.”
“How could you not know it wasn’t me?”
“He’s had your blood,” Syn tried to explain. “He smelled like you.”
“I’m sorry,” Craze whispered. “I don’t know how to make this right. I’ll do anything. Just tell me what to do.”
Jinx was quiet for a long time before he finally sighed. “I’m starving. You can start by feeding me.”
“Anything. What do you want? I’ll go kill a deer and roast it over a pit for you, if that’s what you want.”
Jinx laughed quietly before becoming serious. “No, love. They drained me, and it was over a week before that since I’d taken any blood from you. It hurts,” he whimpered.
“Can we talk more
later?” Craze asked of Hex, his eyes boring into Jinx’s.
“Get out of here and take care of your mates.”
Craze nodded, snatched Jinx up, grabbed Syn’s wrist, and practically sprinted from the kitchen. “I’m glad they’re going to be okay.” Echo pressed closer to Onyx. “That was really sad at first.”
“It’s late,” Hex announced. “The new moon is tomorrow night. Everyone get some rest, and I’ll call Lorcan to fill him in on what’s happening.”
Echo’s hand slid into Onyx’s and pulled to get him moving. Then he took Hex’s hand and tugged on him as well. “Send him a text. You can talk tomorrow.”
Unsurprisingly, Hex didn’t argue.
Chapter Fourteen
“What are the chances that we actually guessed right this time?”
Onyx kissed the top of Echo’s head and shrugged. “Whether we did or not, we’ll face what comes.”
“You sound very calm.”
“Failure is not an option, that’s all. I know I’ll win, because there is no other choice.” Onyx stared out over the horizon, watching as the sun slowly sank and then disappeared.
The other warriors gathered around them, along with Gage and Craze. The last two men had forbidden their mates from leaving the house, and with good reason. If Onyx thought he could get away with it, he would have Echo locked away as well. Not only would it be one hell of a fight to keep Echo inside, but Onyx knew he needed the man’s help.
“It’s time,” Hex said tightly. “You ready, man?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
He’d no more than spoken the words when the night erupted into total bedlam. Clucks, squawks, and fierce screeches rent through the air, echoing around them on the warm night breeze. Onyx spun in a circle in the field behind their house, looking in every direction, even searching the sky, but he found nothing.
The calls of the birds seemed to surround them, coming from everywhere at once. How many were there anyway? His heart kicked hard against his ribs, his stomach turned, and his sweat slicked his palms. Could he do this?
Just when he’d began to work himself into a good panic attack, the air began to whistle around them, and something shot past Onyx’s head, barely missing him. “Everyone down!”
Feathers shot toward them at alarming speeds, flying from the tree line like arrows. There were so many! Then Onyx heard the most horrible, gut-wrenching sound on earth.
Echo screamed.
He screamed as though he’d been ripped apart and boiled in acid. The scream went on forever, then tapered off into a gurgle just before Onyx heard a loud thump to his left. Whipping around, he found his mate slumped on his side, rivers of blood pouring from his body and at least a dozen of the feather-like arrows piercing his skin.
He started to crawl toward Echo, the blood draining from his face, and his chest constricting with fear and agony. “Echo. Echo, open your eyes, baby.”
Hex got to Echo first, turning him slowly to his back. “Go,” he said to Onyx. “I’ll take care of him. You have to stop this.” That’s when Onyx looked around the clearing and realized Echo wasn’t the only one shot.
Myst sprawled on his back with an arrow protruding from his chest. Syx groaned a few feet away, clutching at his shoulder.
“I don’t know what to do,” Onyx admitted. He needed Echo’s help. He couldn’t do this alone. “I can’t even see them, Hex.” In the legends of Hercules, the goddess Athena appeared to the hero and granted him castanets to scare the birds into flight. Onyx didn’t have anything like that, and he seriously doubted Athena was going to show up and help him out.
“Use your head,” Hex snapped. “Part the goddamn trees.”
“Hex, I can’t part all of these trees! Those fuckers are everywhere.”
“Then be prepared to die.”
With a frustrated growl, Onyx crawled away from his lovers and pushed to his feet. He pulled on all the strength he had, remembered everything Echo had taught him, and threw his arms wide. The trees in front of him whipped and thrashed violently, but only those.
It was a start, though. More loud cries rippled through the air, and a dozen crane-like birds took flight, scattering once they were airborne. Now what? He could see them, but he still didn’t know how to defeat them.
Three of the birds broke away from the flock, swinging in a wide, graceful arc, then diving straight toward Echo and Hex, their metal beaks snapping menacingly. Fear and rage warred inside Onyx, and with no other thought but keeping his men safe, he dove in front of them, lifting his arms and pulling a protective barrier around them.
Dirt rose up from the ground like a great tidal wave, wrapping over the top of them and concealing them inside its earthy domed cocoon.
“Impressive,” Vapre breathed.
Maybe, but Onyx wasn’t going to be able to win this battle alone. Already, he felt exhausted, and they’d barely even started. “I need you to hurl some arrows.”
A wicked grin spread across Vapre’s face, and he nodded quickly. “I can do that.”
“I’ll help gather feathers.” With that, Craze darted out of the mouth of the dome, right into the chaos beyond, Gage following without a word.
A minute later, the men returned, both clutching armfuls of the strange feather-arrows. “How are we going to do this?” Craze asked.
“I don’t have a bow, so you’re going to toss them, and I’m going to do my thing.” Vapre shoved at Craze’s shoulder, pushing him back out into the night. “It will be up to Onyx to scatter them.”
“I think you should know that the three that dive-bombed us had their beaks stuck in the dirt when Onyx threw up this wall.”
“What do you mean “had” their beaks stuck?” Onyx asked as he ducked out of the small opening in the dome.
Craze gave him a significant look, and Onyx understood that there were three less birds he’d need to worry about. Keeping low, he crept away from the group again, pushing his energy toward the trees where the loudest noise came from.
The sky erupted with the flapping of wings and the calls of the man-eating cranes. The Stymphalian birds were every bit as vicious as the legends said. Once they took to the air, they wasted no time, converging together and diving toward them. Arrows flew through the night as the wind whipped around them in a violent dance.
Birds fell from the sky one after another, dropping to the ground with a sickening crunch. Vapre couldn’t get them all, though. A few of the birds broke ranks, circling around and speeding toward them from the back.
Onyx whirled around, punching upward at the air, and a twenty-foot wall of earth rose up to barricade them from the attack. As before, the birds flew headlong into the dirt, their beaks becoming stuck in the thick soil. Instead of waiting for Craze to do his thing, Onyx twirled his wrists, manipulating the dirt so that it wrapped around the birds and suffocated them.
Then he moved on to the next set of trees, shaking the limbs and scaring the birds into the air. His power was draining though, his energy almost depleted. Arrows still flew through the air in all directions, some narrowly missing him, and some hitting their mark.
Onyx roared in pain and frustration as his thigh, shoulder, and right flank burned from the feathers, sending scorching pain through his entire body. He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. He continued to shake the trees, and more birds continued to erupt from the forest.
They were overwhelmed, outnumbered, and losing.
A feather soared through the air, too fast for Onyx to see it in the dim light, and pierced him in the neck. He screamed like a fucking pussy, dropping to his knees as his stomach rolled with the pain of it.
No! He would not lie down and die for these bastard cranes.
The pain stole his concentration, though, and his power slipped away from him. The dome he’d constructed to protect his mates began to crumble. His men came stumbling out just before it collapsed completely, but now they were out in the open and unprotected.
“Everyon
e inside,” Onyx managed to get out through his gritted teeth. He gripped the arrow in his fist, took a deep breath, and jerked it from his neck. He screamed again, and blinding heat shot through his neck, making his head swim.
It hadn’t been a deep wound, but it still hurt like the seven shades of hell. Warm, coppery-smelling wetness flowed over his skin and down his throat to soak his shirt. Onyx ignored it.
The field was littered with dozens of the white and orange birds, all dead and bleeding. At least twenty more flapped above them, dive-bombing them, throwing their feathery arrows, and screeching like mad.
He remembered Vapre saying the birds’ dung was toxic, but that was just too gross and gruesome to even contemplate. He pushed the thought away and tried to concentrate on how to defeat them instead.
The birds circled together, tumbling over one another before forming a massive V in the sky. It looked as though they were banding together to make their last stand, and Onyx girded his proverbial loins to do the same. “Inside!” he shouted again.
The cranes circled once more, gaining altitude, then as one, they turn and dove toward the ground like one enormous bullet. They didn’t fly toward Onyx, though. They soared beyond him, calling out as their beady eyes locked on Echo. Why the hell was it always Echo?
Onyx let the rage fuel him, stoking his gift, building the energy inside him. As the birds neared his mate, Onyx gave a loud, primal cry, and pushed both palms upward.
The ground split wide open, creating a massive gorge in the middle of the field. The birds never stopped, never varied their course. With another push of his palms, Onyx sent soil gushing from the cracked ground, shooting straight into the air and engulfing the flock as they flew over the crevice.
The dirt hit them with enough force to knock several from the formation and send them flipping through the sky. A great gust of wind blew from the south, gathering up the birds and pushing them back together.
Onyx gave a mental sigh, and reminded himself to thank Vapre later. Then with the last bit of strength he possessed, he wrapped the soil around the birds, pulled them straight down into the earth, and closed the gap.
Evans, Gabrielle - The Hunger [Fatefully Yours 7] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) Page 12
