“Huh,” Thaniel thought about what he said. It was a lot to think about.
“Or, she really does want you as her mate,” George said with a slight smile.
The thought turned Thaniel’s stomach. “I can’t imagine why. I’m nothing special, and was just a street rat, and human.”
George shrugged. “Who knows how a woman thinks. Besides, have you seen the old geezer who wants her?”
Thaniel didn’t say anything, and a moment later George moved back.
“All done. It’s still long, just not as long,” he said and Thaniel stared at himself in the mirror. His waist-length hair now hung just past his shoulders.
“Thank you,” he said, turning to his half-brother.
“Yeah, well, it’s the least I can do,” George said, then he surveyed the dreary room. “Do you want to play some cards?”
Thaniel shrugged and taking that as a yes, George smiled and raced to go get some.
“I want to see him again,” Thaniel said a little while later, meaning the Tomlee. He just couldn’t bring himself to call the man his father.
George shook his head. “You can’t. He’s not here.”
“Where is he?”
George shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. The man definitely does not tell me his business.”
Thaniel gazed blankly at the cards in his hand, then looked at George. “Does he normally keep guards at the door?”
George looked up at him sharply. “You’ve seen them?”
Thaniel nodded.
“Were you trying to leave?” George asked, staring at him.
Thaniel didn’t say anything. While he now trusted George a little more, he didn’t know how loyal to their father his brother was, or how badly he still wanted his father’s favor. So he wasn’t about to chance it.
“I’ll let you know when he’s back, then I’ll get Mom to tell him you want to speak with him.” George said and laying down his cards, he won the game.
That evening, when his supper was delivered, Thaniel thanked the woman, but she didn’t say a word and he got the distinct feeling that she was annoyed at having to bring him his food. I need to leave. I can’t stay here. The thoughts kept revolving around in his mind.
When the house was silent a few hours later, he got up and made his way back to the front entrance. But just like the time before, the guards stood there. They spotted him immediately but didn’t say anything. Thaniel watched them a moment, then turned and walked back to his room.
The next day was a repeat of the day before, but when George asked him to play cards, he wanted to decline. Then he looked at his brother and didn’t have the heart to say no, so he just nodded.
After a few games, George looked up at him. “So, I was thinking you should join us for Nightmeal tonight,” he said.
Thaniel’s heart raced at the thought of being the center of attention. As if sensing his reluctance, George smiled.
“It will be good for you to start meeting everyone.”
That was the last thing Thaniel wanted to do. He hated being the center of any attention. Besides, he knew everyone would stare at him, especially after the scene the other night. He also didn’t want to stick around long enough to get to know anyone else.
Then he thought about the woman who delivered his meals. He hated having someone wait on him, and she obviously wasn’t excited about it either. “All right,” Thaniel nodded, resigning himself. I can do this, he thought, though the very idea sent fear rushing through him.
Chapter Forty-Six
Minion Elves
TIERNEY FOUND JAX sitting in the chair in her dad’s office, his head in his hands. “What are you doing?” she asked, concerned and more than a little worried. The night before he was pretty quiet and clung to her like he needed to feel her next to him. Not that she minded. She craved the same, but the situation with Chloe’s husband was eating him up, and she didn’t know how to help.
Jax straightened up. “I just had some phone calls to make,” he said, then frowned. She watched him stand up and walk around the desk. “C’mon, I have an idea.” Taking her hand, he led her from the room.
Once in the great room, he looked at Lilly and Bastien. “Hey, guys, turn of the game off for a while, I need your help.”
Tierney frowned as the kids did as he asked. “What’s going on?”
Jax gave her a little smile. “Just a little distraction, get the kids outside. You’ll see,” he said.
Bastien turned everything off and then looked at them curiously while Lilly ran up to Jax.
“What can we help you with?” the little girl asked so seriously that Tierney wanted to laugh.
“It’s a surprise. Go and get your jacket and shoes on,” he instructed her.
“Me too?” Bastien asked and Jax nodded just as Goldy walked in.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Tierney shrugged. “No idea, but it looks like we’re going outside.”
Goldy’s eyes lit up. “Can I come, too?”
Jax nodded. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” He headed toward the kitchen but stopped and turned to Tierney. “Go on, I will be right there,” he said as he hurried up the stairs.
Tierney watched him go before turning back to see Goldy looking at her quizzically. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea what he has up his sleeve.”
Goldy smiled. “No matter, it will be good to get out and stretch my legs.”
A couple minutes later, Jax stepped outside and Tierney almost gasped when she saw Dimitina, bundled up in a coat and mittens, right behind him.
Tierney looked at Jax. “How did you manage that?”
Dimitina hadn’t spoken or acknowledged anyone since her arrival.
With a shrug, Jax glanced at Sami’s sister behind him. “I just told her to get up and follow me. She did.”
Tierney gaped at him and Jax nodded. “Figured it would be good for her.”
“That, I agree on,” she said, before she noticed Bastien staring at Sami’s sister like she was the best thing he’d seen in a long time. Tierney almost groaned. Great, just what they needed, a teen romance in the house. When Dimitina didn’t pay him any attention, Tierney turned back to Jax. “So now what?”
“What are we doing?” Lilly asked with childish excitement.
“Follow me,” Jax said, walking over toward the barn.
“Oh-kay.”
Tierney, with Lilly skipping beside her, and everyone following them, did as he asked. They waited outside while Jax walked under the overhang where they stored the wood for burning in the fireplaces.
Tierney smiled when he emerged.
Jax looked at all of them. “Now, we go cut a tree down.”
Lilly frowned at him, perplexed. “Why we gonna cut a tree down?”
Jax crouched down and smiled at her. “Well, we need a Christmas tree, don’t we?”
“Huh.” Bastien snickered.
Lilly, still frowning, thought about it for a moment. “Don’t you buy a Chrismiss tree?”
Jax chuckled and stood up. “You can, but we like to cut our own up here.”
Lilly thought about it for a moment and then she looked at the surrounding forest. “Which one we gonna cut?”
“That is the tough part. We have to go search for the right tree.” He led them over to the trail leading up the mountain.
Tierney saw a few wolves watching them while a couple others followed like silent shadows in the forest.
“Did you tell Kyrian where we were going?” she asked Jax a few moments later.
“Of course, after what happened the other day, I’m not taking any chances with our family,” he said, and she nodded, grateful for the wolves and Jax’s thoughtfulness.
As they started up the trail, Tierney watched Bastien fall in beside Dimitina.
“Hi, I’m Bastien.”
Dimitina just kept walking like she hadn’t even heard him.
“Or you can call me Bass,” he said, taking it in strid
e.
Tierney smiled as she heard him continue talking to Dimitina while Lilly bounced up and down beside Jax. Her excitement was catching and they were all smiling as she asked about each and every tree she saw.
“Are you crazy?” Bastien said, rolling his eyes at one of the trees she picked.
Jax chuckled and stopped beside Lilly who was glowering at Bastien. Again Jax crouched down. “I think that one is just a little too big,” Jax said as they gazed up at the towering, hundred-foot tree. “We need something that will fit in the house.”
Lilly blinked. “Oh. Okay,” she said and bounded off only to stop twenty feet up the trail. “What about this one?”
Bastien snorted and they all smiled at Lilly. Well, except for Dimitina.
When Sami first brought his sister home, Tierney had tried to read her emotions and came up with nothing. It was as if she didn’t have any emotions. Tierney figured she just had super strong shields, stronger than anything she’d ever encountered before. Though it didn’t help that the girl seemed to be lost inside of herself.
“I think we need one a bit bigger than that,” Tierney said, “but you are on the right track. That’s just the kind of tree we need,” she added and Lilly beamed at her.
They didn’t get much farther before they all stopped. The trail veered to the right and directly in front of them was the perfect, or more accurately, un-perfect tree. It definitely matched how they were all feeling. “A Charlie Brown tree,” Tierney whispered as Lilly grinned and pointed. “I like this one.”
“I do as well,” Tierney said with a smile.
“Yes,” Jax added with a twinkle in his eyes.
With Lilly’s help, Jax put the first cut in the tree.
Then he showed Bastien how to cut a tree down.
They were in the process of decorating the tree in the great room when Chloe walked in and stopped dead at the sight of them, a horrified expression on her face.
But she quickly hid the look when Lilly turned to her. Having forgotten all about Christmas with all that had been going on, Tierney was pretty sure the same thing had happened to Chloe. She also knew the woman didn’t have a dime to her name.
“Mommy!” Lilly squealed, eyes shining with excitement as she ran up to her mother and grabbed her hand.
“Looks like you’ve been busy,” Chloe said, and a loving, if wistful smile crossed her face as she stared down at her daughter.
“Look, Mommy!” Lilly said, pulling her mother over to them.
Chloe followed her gaze to the tree and then she grinned.
Lilly stood proud as she inspected the tree. “It used to be a real live tree and I helped cut it down for Chrismiss.”
“You did?” Chloe asked, sounding impressed.
“Yup, and I helped to pick it out,” Lilly said, eyes full of excitement as she let her mother’s hand go, grabbed a decoration, and proceeded to dance. “Wanna decorate with us, Mommy?”
“Sure. I’ll help,” Chloe said and Lilly grabbed a couple more ornaments out of the box.
“Here, you can hang these ones.”
Lilly had just finished hanging the one in her hand on a lower branch that already had five decorations on it, when she stopped and frowned. Then she scowled up at her mother. “Mommy, how is Santa gonna know where I am?”
Completely taken off guard, Chloe blinked at her daughter and Tierney could see the sheen of tears in her eyes.
“Santa knows everything,” Jax jumped in, tugging on Lilly’s yellow curls.
With a gasp, Lilly turned to him and giggled then grew serious. “He does?”
Jax nodded. “Of course he does.”
“How?”
Jax grinned at her. “Magic.”
“Magic?” Lilly blew out a breath and rolled her eyes.
Jax nodded. “Yup, magic. Well, that and he has minions.”
Lilly continued to frown at him. “You mean elves?”
“Minions—elves, same thing,” Jax said, and handed her another ornament.
“Oh-kay,” Lilly finally said, accepting what he said.
Tierney could see the relief in Chloe’s eyes as Jax picked Lilly up.
“Here, put that one up there,” he said, and held her up so she could reach a higher branch.
“Thank you,” Chloe mouthed to them a few minutes later.
“I need to go make a phone call,” Tierney told Jax and slipped away.
She made it to her dad’s office, sat down in his office chair and wiped her eyes. She couldn’t believe Christmas was only four days away and neither Sami nor Thaniel were here.
“Hey, you okay?” Jax asked, stepping into the room.
Tierney wiped her eyes again and nodded. “Yes.” Then she shook her head. “No—”
Jax came around the desk and pulled her into his arms. “We still have a few days. You never know, they might both make it back.”
Tierney hung onto him and his words. She sure hoped he was right.
“Who do you need to call?” he asked a minute later when she pulled away.
Tierney smiled up at him. “I had an idea,” she said, mimicking his earlier words.
But when she exited the office an hour later she was shaking as she ran into Jax.
“Hey, I was just coming to find you,” he said, then seeing how upset she was, he frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It’s Sami. I feel that he’s in trouble, but I can’t reach him.” She stared up at Jax as he pulled her into his arms. “Hold me, please.”
“Of course.” And he did, Jax held her tight, fighting his own fear for his brother and wondering what the hell was going on.
“I’m scared,” Tierney said, words he never thought he’d hear from her lips.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Nightmeal
THANIEL FOLLOWED GEORGE to the dining room late that evening. Nervous and with his head lowered, he tensed up when all conversation halted. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him and wanted to turn and run, but George nudged him.
“Come on, we’ll sit over here,” he said and led Thaniel to two empty chairs. After they sat, the conversations resumed.
Thaniel noticed that some people were eating, while other’s sat and waited. A couple of gangly teen boys, eyes glowing with hunger, sat there watching everyone eat. They looked ready to pounce on the plates on either side of them. As growing boys, and Were-leopard on top of it, they were likely famished.
“The Tomlee and Queenlee, if they decide to eat with us, eat first,” George explained in a whisper to Thaniel. “Then their four advisors eat next. After that, the advisors’ two assistants eat, then the elders come next. We’re after that and when we are done, it’s their turn,” he said, nodding at the teens. The young children eat in a separate room.”
Horror filled Thaniel. “You mean we have to sit here and wait for everyone to eat and then they,” he nodded at the teens, “wait for us to eat?”
George nodded and Thaniel swallowed. That seemed so cruel and with too many eyes drilling into him, he lowered his head. He wished he’d stayed in his room after all.
When a plate was finally set in front of him, he looked up at the server. “Thank you.”
The server stopped and glanced at him in surprise, before moving on to serve the next person.
Thaniel noticed how quiet it had gotten and shifted uncomfortably when he noticed everyone staring at him. He peered over at the teen boys and the pained look in their eyes as they stared at his food tore him up. His face turned red and he was ready to offer the boys his food when George leaned over.
“Don’t you dare. If they take your food, they will be sent to the dungeon without food until Nightmeal tomorrow.”
Thaniel swallowed and nodded and George turned and surveyed his plate and gave an exaggerated sigh, drawing everyone’s attention away from Thaniel.
“Again?” he grumbled loudly in disgust. The guy beside him mumbled something and George snorted. After that, everyone went back to e
ating or talking.
Thaniel let out a sigh of relief and studied the food on his plate. It was some kind of fish and veggies. His stomach rumbled and not one to be picky, he quickly ate. Every now and then he’d feel someone’s eyes drilling into him, but he ignored it. Instead, he concentrated on eating as fast as he could so that the boys would get their food and he could leave.
George didn’t seem to have the same agenda and took his time.
Thaniel, with his head lowered, gazed around at everyone through his hair. Everyone who had already eaten had either left or were sitting and talking. They were also dipping into the wine pretty heavily and a group of them got a little loud and boisterous.
Relieved when George pushed his plate away, Thaniel did the same. He purposely didn’t look at the teens who were just now getting their food. He felt so bad for them. George pushed back his chair and climbed to his feet and Thaniel followed his lead.
Then, he kept his head down and was right behind George, when a hand shot out and grabbed him. All laughter and talk instantly halted and so did Thaniel. His heartbeat picked up and he slowly raised his gaze to that of an old man who appeared to be about sixty-five or so.
“She’s mine,” the man said and Thaniel frowned, not sure what he was talking about.
“Let him go,” George said and glowered at the old codger.
The man didn’t release him. Instead, he sneered at Thaniel with frigid, watery, hazel eyes in his wrinkled and lined face.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Thaniel said, pulling his arm from the man’s grasp.
“The girl. Elianna. She’s mine,” the man said as Thaniel and George walked out of the room.
Once they were back in his room, he turned to George. “That’s the guy who wants to mate her?”
Dracones Boxset Books 1-5 Page 115
