by AJ Anders
Black dots appeared, clouding her vision. Seconds from passing out, she nodded her assent, and after a moment, the pressure left her throat. Coughing at the sudden intake of cool oxygen rushing to fill up her heaving chest, she lost precious moments.
“Hey, motherfuckers! Let her go!” Joy sang through Evie’s body as she recognized Max’s voice.
Caleb’s deep baritone voice added to the melody, “You heard him, assholes. Let her go and walk away.”
The two guys standing in front of Evie turned to face the alley’s entrance. She couldn’t see around their broad shoulders, but knew Max and Caleb spoke from the other side of them.
“What’s it to you?” the guy holding Evie growled. “You and your fag boyfriend better move along and mind your own business. Otherwise, I’ll let my boys off their leashes.”
Once again, he dragged Evie closer into his body, his arm moving from around her waist to encircle her upper arms and chest.
Evie shuddered with anxiousness as she watched the two guys in front of her step forward, their shoulders tense with anticipation.
“Keep talking asshole. Maybe, someday you’ll say something intelligent. Now, let the girl go. Last chance,” barely concealed fury wove within Caleb’s words, but the three guys were too stupid to pick up on it.
“Like hell. Fuck last chances. They don’t deserve it,” Max snarled, his voice tight with excitement. “Let’s teach these pricks why you shouldn’t put your hands on a girl without her permission.”
“Sorry, man, you know the rules. They’re human,” Caleb reasoned. “We can’t throw the first punch. We can only defend ourselves. And Evie’s not in any real danger from these assholes. We could kill them before they even thought about raising a hand to her.”
“Shit! That’s right. Fucking Dashiel! Always tying our hands, so we can’t have any fucking fun. But, no worries, man, I got this.” Evie heard Max sigh and then laugh. “Hey, motherfucker! Can I borrow your face for a few days while my ass is on vacation?”
The question was met with stunned silence.
Max, never one to stop once started, tried again, “How ‘bout you, stupid. Yes, that’s right. I’m talking to you, now. Oh wait. My bad. I shouldn’t call you stupid. That would be an insult to stupid people.”
The two guys exchanged glances, confused about what to do. The guy behind her moaned dramatically, but he stayed quiet.
Max, on the other hand, didn’t. “Fuck! You two are more useless than rubber lips on a woodpecker!”
Caleb’s laughter echoed around the empty alleyway as he caught on to whatever Max was doing.
“Are you always this stupid, or is today a special occasion?” Not stopping, Max let another insult fly. “Shit. Do you talk, or are you brain dead? Are your parents siblings by chance? Did the mental hospital test too many drugs on you?”
“Your momma is so…” Max began.
“Don’t you talk about our momma!” The guy in the blue shirt finally spoke up. The guy in the jersey nodded vigorously in agreement while cracking his knuckles.
Silence descended on the alleyway for a moment, but then Evie heard Max taunt, “Your momma’s like a postage stamp, you lick her, stick her, and then send her away.”
The two guys in front of Evie roared. In unison, they lurched forward, the one in the blue moving toward Caleb, the other toward Max.
As Evie watched, Blue Shirt threw a punch straight at Caleb’s face, but the other man turned his head to the side at the last second, and the fist barely grazed his shoulder. The guy stumbled and regained his balance, lifting both fists in front of himself once again. Blue Shirt swung out in a second attempt. Caleb dodged and quickly jabbed him in the face. As the guy shook his head and tried to find his balance, Caleb delivered a roundhouse kick, catching the guy directly on the side of the head. Blue Shirt dropped and stayed still.
Evie’s attention turned to Max. Jersey Shirt must have scored a direct hit to his face. A thin trail of blood dripped down his face from a small cut on the corner of his left eyebrow. The guy went in for another hit, but Max swung at him, catching him in the abdomen. As Jersey Shirt straightened, Max’s foot flew up, his heel making direct contact with the guy’s chest. Instantly, the guy hit the cement, and Max went in fast, fists flying, as he repeatedly hit the guy in the face. After a moment, Jersey Shirt stopped moving.
Max and Caleb turned their attention back to the guy who still held Evie. This guy hadn’t said a word the whole time, watching without comment as his friends were knocked out.
“Let her go, man. Your friends are down. You’re alone.” Caleb walked forward another step as he spoke. “You don’t stand a chance.”
The guy behind Evie laughed. “You two should have minded your own business. She would have been fine, we were only trying to scare her a little.”
The man shifted his weight, dragging Evie a step further back.
“You can’t do shit, motherfucker.” Max matched the guy, stride for stride.
“Oh really?” the guy taunted. “Watch me.”
The guys other arm flashed forward, coming from around her left side, and then, without warning, the pressure at her back disappeared.
Not expecting to be released, she fell backward onto the ground. She lay still, trying to make sense of everything. Where did the guy go?
Next thing she knew, Max and Caleb peered down at her, relief evident on both of their faces.
Max kept repeating something, and Evie strained to make it out. “Fucking hell. That fucker teleported. He’s human, and he fucking teleported.”
“W-what?” Confused, Evie sat up. Max realized her intent to keep moving until she fully stood and offered her assistance.
Caleb had walked off a few feet, barking into his phone.
“Max, what’s going on?” Evie demanded, not sure who those guys were. They didn’t look like the soldiers from her father’s camp. Where had he found them?
“We don’t know, sweetie. The human who held you activated a teleportation rune. That shouldn’t be possible. Caleb is calling it in, and a team will look into it.” Max nudged Evie toward the alley’s entrance. “Are you okay?
Evie nodded, brushing off her pants. Two attacks in one day. They had to be connected somehow. “What now? Are you going to try to track down the guy who escaped?”
Max sighed, watching his mate a few feet away. “I’ll walk you to the coffee shop where you can wait for us, sweetheart. You will be safe within its walls while Caleb and I wait here for the team to show up. Then we’ll talk before we meet up with the others.”
Chapter Seventeen
Evie didn’t have to wait long. About fifteen minutes after she ordered, the guys walked through the door into the coffee shop. They spotted Evie in the corner and made their way over.
“Hey, sweetie. Did you miss us?” Max’s grin lit up his face, making him appear years younger.
Caleb shook his head. “I’m going to grab a cup. Want anything?”
Max waved him away, but turned in his chair to watch his mate walk away. “Damn! That man has one fine ass. I could stare at it all day.”
Evie choked, spitting out the last sip of her coffee. “Max!” She grabbed napkins to clean up the mess sprayed all over the table.
Max turned back around and grinned, waggling his eyebrows. “You’re just jealous. You can only look, but I get to touch.”
By the twinkle in his eyes, it was clear he teased her. Evie pictured a few bottoms she wouldn’t mind touching. Her hands actually ached, wanting to experience how it would feel. Evie blushed at her imagination. She really needed to move past these silly crushes. Nothing could come from them.
She sighed deeply. Her first real crushes, and they were off limits to her.
“Did you not find a costume?” Evie asked, trying to trick her brain into focusing on something else.
“Naw. I guess we’ll have to make a trip into the city soon. There are a ton of costume shops there. I’m sure we’ll have better lu
ck.” His look turned hard, and he asked bluntly, “Do you know what those guys wanted? And why the hell didn’t you defend yourself, Evie. You are trained for situations like this.”
Evie stared her friend in the eye as she answered honestly, “I don’t know. My training has always been in controlled conditions. Handling myself against one of my father’s soldiers is second nature to me. But, being attacked by a stranger with no apparent motive was a first for me. I guess I froze. I’m sorry, Max. I will do better next time.”
“Damn right, you will. I’m gonna talk to Xander about running you through some more advanced techniques. Working with you until they become second nature. I’ll talk to him this weekend about it, and we will set up a schedule. Did they say anything to you?”
“No, he didn’t have time really. He grabbed me right before you and Caleb showed up. Did the other team find anything?”
“They are checking out a few leads and will get back to us. Dashiel has ordered us away from the investigation since we were directly involved. He will let us know if the other Kaveri finds anything.”
Evie nodded, her early misgivings leaving her now she knew Dashiel was handling the matter.
Max’s eyes drifted back to Caleb, watching him talk with the blond barista. When he turned back to her, Max’s gaze had lost some of the light, replaced by sadness.
Reaching out, Evie grabbed his hands placed on the table. “What’s wrong, Max? Why the long face?”
In the past, when Max thought no one watched, he would lose his happy persona, and his shoulders would slump, like the weight of the world rested solely on his shoulders, dragging him down. Evie never questioned him about it, not sure if it overstepped boundaries in their timid friendship. Their friendship had grown in leaps and bounds over the years, though. Even more in the last two days. Evie felt comfortable taking the plunge.
“It’s nothing, sweetheart.” Max tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Max!” She put a sharper edge to his name, letting him know she wasn’t buying his bullshit. “Talk to me, please. You help me all the time. Let me return the favor.”
Max huffed out a breath as he contemplated Evie’s request. Coming to a rapid decision, he squeezed her hands tightly, like a lifeline. “I wasn’t completely honest with you before. When I said Caleb and I are mates. That’s not exactly true.”
Sorrowful, sky-blue eyes met hers, full of apology, and she returned his squeeze. “It’s fine, Max. You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
The man in front of her shrugged sadly. “Caleb and I share the same Merkki markings, making us Kaveri. You remember when I said the markings would branch out for each male in your destined Kaveri?” Evie nodded, remembering. “Our marks aren’t separate, they are intertwined. This makes us different from other teams. Intertwined marks mean we are mates as well as Kaveri. Hence, the sexual relationship between us. Before we joined together when we came of age, both of us were exclusively into girls. Caleb is the only male I’ve ever slept with, and the same goes for him. I’m his only male lover.”
The explanation made sense, but Evie still couldn’t figure out the reason for Max’s sadness. She hazarded a guess. “Do you miss it? Sleeping with females?”
Max let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Not in the way you’re thinking, sweetheart. A fully bonded Kaveri always has a female. No exceptions. Caleb and I met our Toinen Puoli over three years ago.”
The phrase rang a bell, but Evie couldn’t place it. “Toinen Puoli?”
“It’s Surmata for soul mate. Anyway, we met her, but she was still under age. A Surmata doesn’t reach maturity until their fiftieth year. She was a few months shy of her birthing day. She wouldn’t recognize the mate bond with us until she came of age. We kept our distance and watched over her, making sure nothing happened to her. Her parents planned a huge celebration for her, but a week before the event, she was called away to help on an investigation. Caleb wanted to accompany her, but we had an important mission ourselves, one we couldn’t pass up. We were gone for two weeks. Her mission ran a little longer. The day she was due back, Caleb and I could hardly contain ourselves, we were excited.
“But when she saw us, instead of recognizing who we were, her eyes filled with hate. She denied us, denied the bond. It’s not supposed to be possible, but somehow she didn’t feel the pull towards Caleb and me. We thought there was something wrong with her, believed she was sick, but she passed her examination. The Mestari Kuuri checked her over himself and couldn’t find anything wrong. He believed we were mistaken, somehow misconstruing the signs of the bond. The fluctuations in power levels, the need to be around the person, the urge to want to pull them close, to bury yourself within them. He thought at first, since we hadn’t been with a female for quite a while, we mistook simple attraction for a bond. He called in a witch who could sense bonds. She confirmed that we were right, a bond did exist, but Cammie wouldn’t be swayed. She told us to stay the hell away from her.”
Shocked, Evie remembered the model perfect redhead who had clung to Dashiel the other day while looking at Caleb and Max with contempt.
Max’s voice went soft, and Evie strained to hear his next words. “The first year was hard. Anytime we tried to get close to her, to talk with her, she would become enraged. One time, she even attacked Caleb with his own Takari blade. After that, we were ordered to maintain our distance. I couldn’t handle it. I volunteered for the mission to come protect you. I left Caleb on his own to deal with the situation, and I ran like a fucking coward.
“Two years ago,” Max’s voice caught, the emotion of the memory almost strangling him, “she started pursuing Dashiel, insisting they were mates. She follows him around relentlessly, throwing herself at him.”
A single tear coursed down his cheek as he spoke, and Evie couldn’t take it anymore. She crawled into his lap, hugging him close. He crushed her to him, and she laid her head on his shoulder as his tears turned into silent sobs.
Caleb walked up, blowing into his steaming cup of coffee to cool it off. His gaze met Evie’s, the question clear.
“Cammie,” she mouthed to him.
His face shut down, his features going pale. Caleb sat his coffee on the table, knelt beside them, and wrapped his arms around both of them. They stayed huddled together until Max’s shoulders stopped shaking. When he raised his head, his eyes were still sad, but the earlier torment Evie witnessed in them was gone. Max released his tight grip on Evie and scrubbed away the evidence of his tears with his palms.
“Hop up, sweetheart. I’m gonna wash my face before the guys arrive.” Max shared a quick kiss with Caleb before making his way towards the bathrooms. Caleb sat down in the seat Max vacated, and Evie resumed hers.
Caleb’s eyes remained on the cup of coffee he once again held in his hands. His thumbs scratched at the cardboard sleeve. “Thanks, Evie. For talking with Max. He won’t even discuss Cammie with me anymore. It hurts him too bad. He’s been struggling, especially the last two years. If I push him, he walks away, not talking to me. Thank you for being such a good friend to him. You’ve given him something I haven’t been able to give him in a long time. For that, I will always be grateful.
“But do me a favor, please. Surmata are possessive of their mates. We get jealous over the stupidest of things.” He let out a small laugh. “It hurts like hell to see how relaxed Max is with you. How casually he touches you.”
The pain in Caleb’s eyes made Evie’s heart hurt in sympathy.
“It burns, Evie. But that’s my problem. Max needs you right now. And, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t interact with him like you did today. But, if you see me walk away, stay with Max, please. I need to know someone is with him, but at the same time, I need time to deal with my anger.” Caleb let out a frustrated huff. “What I’m trying to say is no matter how upset I get seeing the two of you together, please continue to take care of Max. I trust you with him.”
Evie didn’t hesitate before agreei
ng. “I will, Caleb. He’s my best friend.”
Chapter Eighteen
The three friends sat around, sharing stories from their childhood, as they waited on the Shadewolf team to make an appearance. They listened to Max sprout ridiculous, tall tales about half demons, some Evie couldn’t repeat. Sexual in nature, she blushed just thinking about them.
“I’m telling you the truth! It was this big.” Max held his arms apart about two feet.
Caleb laughed and smacked him upside the head. “Max, we need to do something about your dirty mindedness. You are going to scare poor Evie with your lies.”
“Pfffttt! I’m telling the truth.” Max sniggered. “Don’t get me started on his fangs.”
“Half demons have fangs?” Evie asked, intrigued. “Do you?”
“Depends on what type of demon you come from, but yes, I have fangs. So does Dash.”
“What?” Evie straightened in shock. “Dashiel is a half demon?”
Max’s eyes grew large, and his mouth hung opened in a wide O shape. “Did I never tell you Dashiel is my older brother?”
Once again, Max rendered Evie speechless. Max and Dashiel were similar in color, but Dashiel was taller and broader. While they both shared light colored hair, they looked nothing alike. Evie shook her head.
“Fuck, Evie. I keep dumping surprise after surprise on you. I am the world’s shittiest friend.”
Evie glared at him. “Shut up, and tell me about your fangs. You can buy me popcorn at the movies to make up for your serious lack of communication skills.”
“Deal. Let’s see. Several different types of demons have fangs. But our mother was a Nosferatu. Humans would call her a vampire. We inherited some abilities from her as well as the fangs.”
“Do you drink blood?” Evie paled, realizing what she blurted out.
Max shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t need blood to survive, but yes, I drink blood sometimes.”
“When do you drink blood? Can I see your fangs? What’s it like to drink blood?” Fascinated, question after question rushed out of Evie.
