“Always so serious.” Theo waited patiently while his brother opened the cell. He strolled out like he didn’t have a care in the world and patted Isaac on the cheek. “I wear that face better, by the way.”
“Start letting out the others,” Isaac ordered as he moved down to the next cell.
Theo didn’t bother asking for the keys. His right hand reddened as dark scales pushed from under his skin. Once the plates covered him up to his forearm, he punched the lock until he crushed it. While Isaac worked up the left side, Theo smashed his way down the right. Soon all the officers were freed, and most looked primed for violence.
“I came for my brother,” Isaac told them. “He’s not an inmate here.”
“I know Specter,” one man said, cutting his eyes toward Theo. “Know he doesn’t belong in this place, and know I don’t want to find out what he was doing in that warg girl’s cell when the lights went out.”
Other than a hardening of Theo’s eyes, he didn’t betray his feelings on being called out by the guard.
“Can you handle things here?” Theo kept his voice low as he addressed the guard. “Or do you need my help?”
Not our help, but his help. What the hell had Theo gotten himself into with these people?
“Help us break up the fight?” The man ruffled his hair. “The scary bastards left the instant the magic failed. We can handle the ones who are left, from what I’ve seen, but they’re hopped up on adrenaline and spoiling for a fight.”
“Consider it done.”
Theo didn’t ask for Isaac’s permission or for his help. He did, however, pause long enough to pat me on the head like I was a freaking dog and he was telling me what a good girl I was for coming to his rescue.
Clearly, this wasn’t the reunion Isaac had anticipated. He shoved through the bodies in hot pursuit of his brother, and I followed.
“What was all that about?” Isaac clamped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Why are they calling you Specter?”
“I’ll explain later.” He shrugged off Isaac. “Right now, we need to get this mess cleaned up.”
I caught up to Isaac and butted my head in the bend of his knees. His legs buckled, forcing him to stop and pay attention to me. Theo had always gone his own way, always done his own thing. We could either help him, or we could fight him. We didn’t have time to spare, so it made the most sense to run with the crazy instead of against it.
“Message received.” Isaac tangled his fingers in my fur. “We do what we need to do—what he needs to do—then we get out.” He stared after his brother. “He and I will sort out the rest on the way home.”
Home.
The single word blasted happiness down every nerve ending. I missed my pack, my family, but it was more than that. This was Isaac and me, together, claiming a place as our own. I couldn’t wait to get back. As much as I feared what we might find, I was ready to see how Butler had weathered the storm with my own eyes.
I heard the cheers up ahead before I grasped that the recreation yard had been transformed into a fight ring. Inmates crowded around the perimeter, cheering as the fae in the center battled a guard with pebbled skin and thick wings that arched over his shoulders as he tucked them to his spine.
“Oh crap.” I rushed forward a few steps. “That’s Officer Littlejohn.”
“Friend of yours?” the Huntsman asked.
“Not exactly.” I’d brawled with him once or twice myself while in prison, but never like this. “He’s one of the good guys.”
“What’s the plan?” Isaac fell in beside Theo, and I drifted after them. “How do you want us to handle this?”
“We incapacitate as many inmates as we can as fast as we can.” He shrugged. “The guards can handle the rest.”
Without waiting for an invitation, the Huntsman threw back his head and howled a single, piercing note so ripe with magic even the spectators paused in their cheering for an instant before shrugging off their feeling of unease.
The hounds flowed around us, pouring into the makeshift arena and lunging after the oblivious inmates, and Theo was right on their tails. Isaac ran after his brother, leaving the Huntsman and me standing shoulder-to-shoulder while we stared at the carnage.
“I owe him” was all I said before plunging into the turmoil and fighting my way to Littlejohn.
Screams rose all around me, piercing my eardrums, and the horror was due to more than injury. The Huntsman had dropped our glamour. The inmates could see who had come for them, and their terror spiced the air as the fae boogeyman took his due.
A creature with light-pink skin and tentacles battled with Littlejohn, landing heavy blows with each of his arms. The gargoyle took the beating, but exhaustion weighed on him. They must have been working him over for hours to wear him down to this point, and he was almost out of steam.
The next time a tentacle swept past, I clamped down on the fleshy appendage and sawed my jaw until the limb fell from my mouth. The bitter, salty ichor that coated my tongue burned, but I didn’t let that stop me. I kept going until the fae was left with two limbs instead of his original eight. That was all the advantage Littlejohn required. He ripped off one of the remaining arms and beat the creature with it until it collapsed in an unconscious heap at his feet. Then he turned on me.
“Dell Preston,” he rumbled from deep in his stone chest. “Figured you’d show sooner or later.”
Muscles tensed in anticipation of his next move, I strained so hard I almost didn’t hear what he said after.
“We’re square.” He slung the tentacle over his shoulder like a baseball bat. “I knew when that one magically appeared in your cell that you’d had help getting gone. Thierry’s my bet.” He grated out a laugh. “Someday maybe you’ll tell me the story, yeah?”
Grateful the stony behemoth was on our side, I bobbed my head in an exaggerated motion.
With that debt repaid, I went in search of my mate and found him hauling Theo off a crimson smudge that might have once been a redcap. Hard to tell how much blood was his from the beatdown Theo had just dished out and how much was due to the blood-soaked rag wrapped around his head.
Certain the boys were okay, I scanned the frantic crowd for signs of the Huntsman and found him swallowing a man whole. All that remained was a pair of orange-jumpsuit-encased legs kicking frantically.
Okay then.
“You about done over there?” I suppressed a grimace when the Huntsman licked his lips in my direction. “We got what we came for. I say it’s time to boogie.”
“Aye.” Bits of Day-Glo fabric stuck in his teeth. “We’ve had our fill.”
With that settled, I nosed my way between the brothers Cahill and barked at Isaac until he looked down at me. I darted a few steps then spun to make sure he got the message. After fisting the back of his brother’s shirt, he dragged Theo after him.
Many of the inmates had chosen to bolt rather than stay in their comfy prison hangout, creating a bottleneck at the exits. The few who squeezed through didn’t make it far, though. A line of guards awaited them out front, and more pushed in from the rear.
Magic ruffled my fur as the Huntsman shielded us with his glamour. Just as quickly, Isaac shifted to his alkonost aspect and disappeared from sight, gripping his brother’s elbow and sharing his invisibility with him.
Littlejohn and a few others might recognize us and let us pass, but there were no guarantees at what promised to blossom into a melee as the guards forced the inmates back into their cells.
Cloaked from sight, we maneuvered through gaps in the jostling bodies until we broke through. We didn’t stop until we’d reached the portion of Wink owned by fae, and only the scent of Isaac in my nose kept the wolf from panicking at being unable to inspect him for damage.
“We rest here,” the Huntsman decreed. “I have replenished my stores, but I need to recover before we return to Thierry. I expended too much energy reaching you and then this place.”
Replenish. That was a neat way of saying
he’d eaten too many inmates and needed a spot to curl up and digest them.
“I understand.” We selected an alley darker than the others to reorganize our group, and I slipped inside while the brothers carried on a low conversation not even my sensitive ears could parse. “Be back in a few.”
The Huntsman grunted acknowledgment and let me go. The old fae’s nearness must have boosted me again, because I managed to get two legs under me in about fifteen minutes, a miracle considering how many shifts I’d already done today.
Despite that, I was pretty certain I had lost time somewhere in the middle, because I was crushing my eyes closed against the agony one minute and waking to Isaac leaning over me the next.
“Hey, beautiful.” His hands balled at his sides, the urge to touch me quivering in his fingers. “How are you feeling?”
A moan was all the answer I could muster.
“I have room keys.” Theo’s voice carried down the alley. “I got three. That ought to do us, right?”
Isaac flung his arm out behind him, keeping his brother from getting closer. “That’s fine.”
I licked my chapped lips. “Room keys?”
“You collapsed outside of a fae hotel. We’re spending the night so the Huntsman can recover.” He stripped his T-shirt over his head. “Let’s get you inside.”
Nudity wasn’t usually a big deal for me, but I would prefer to cover my buns in front of the Huntsman. And Theo. “You’re telling me we get a whole night together where no one is trying to kill us, kidnap us, molest us or otherwise violate our persons?”
“Yep.” He slid his shirt over my head with a grin. “For the next eight hours, we accept there’s nothing we can do to stop the world from burning, and we sleep.”
Grateful the downtime would give me a few hours to regenerate the skin on the soles of my feet and palms, I let him pull me up and into his arms where I snuggled in and whispered, “Or not.”
A shuddering exhale gusted over my cheek, and I hid my grin against his chest.
Finally, Operation Payback was back in play.
Chapter 7
Our bedroom was about the size of my pop-up RV back home, but it did have a full-sized bathroom and a few other amenities to recommend it. The queen-sized bed dominating the center of the space for one. The takeout menus scattering the nightstand for another.
A groan clawed up my throat, and my head drooped on my neck.
No power, no phone. No phone, no delivery. No delivery, no dinner.
“Theo promised he could handle dinner,” Isaac said, proving the man was capable of reading my mind. “Why don’t you go shower while we wait?”
The light fixture in the center of the room glowed softly when he flipped a switch by the door. Not electricity. Magic.
“Do you think we’ve got hot water?” I peeled his shirt over my head. “Why don’t you check for me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Eyes caressing my every curve, he toed off his boots and padded into the bathroom. “I’m pleased to be of service.”
I let him reach the bathroom. I let him crank on the water. I even let him stand there bent over, hand in the stream, while I admired the view.
Until Isaac, want had never manifested as a physical ache, an unmet hunger that hollowed out my gut when I couldn’t taste him. Sex had been fun. Sometimes it had been expected of me. Once or twice it had even been used as punishment. But it had never meant anything until the cold metal of an RV cut into my spine while I breathed in mountain air and scorched metal.
“The food ought to be here in a minute.” He twisted to stare up at me and shrugged when my eyebrow quirked. “You look hungry.”
“I am.” I prowled toward him, and he stood to meet me. “I want you.” I kicked the door shut behind me and latched it so he couldn’t escape. “I’ve wanted you for a long, long time.”
All my life I had been waiting for him. I just hadn’t known it until our eyes met that first time.
“Last chance.” He fisted a hand in my hair, his eyes searching mine. “There’s no going back after this, Dell. I’m not that strong. I won’t let you go again.”
“Good.” I popped the button on his jeans and slid down the zipper. “I’m glad we’re finally on the same page.”
Words came easy, but this? There was truth in skin, absolution in touch. This made the land Isaac had purchased for our future home, the promises, the sweet murmurs, real. This made our future a reality I could touch.
“Wash my back?” I offered as I hauled him under the lukewarm spray with me. “Promise I’ll return the favor.”
Husky chuckles answered me as he joined me in the narrow tub, his front plastered to my back, his hard length poking me in the hip. Gentle kisses rained down on my shoulders and sprinkled over my nape while his hands roamed my body, tracing my rib cage and rising higher to cup my breasts. His talented fingers tweaked my nipples, and I moaned, grinding against him.
“Behave.” He sank his teeth into my shoulder. “Or I won’t last.”
The quick flash of pain sent a bolt of heat rocketing straight between my legs, and I forgot why not lasting was a bad thing. I reached behind me and fisted him, pumping my hand while he groaned at my ear. His exploration dipped lower as he parted my folds and set a rhythm with short, wicked strokes I was quick to imitate. I shattered the fourth or fifth time his thumb circled that taut bundle of nerves he’d worked into a frenzy. Boneless, I didn’t protest when a firm hand at the small of my back bent me forward, but I did manage a sharp exhale when he sheathed himself in me with a single stroke.
Isaac grasped my wrists and held them pinned at my spine with one hand, and his hold was all that kept me upright. His other hand smoothed the curve of my hip and sank between my legs, flicking tight circles that brought me up onto my tiptoes, shattered my world and left me sinking back to the soles of my feet. And still he didn’t stop loving me.
“Isaac?” I panted. “I can’t—”
“Yes, you can.”
And I did, this time dragging him over the precipice with me.
I was toweling my hair dry when the banging started. I had been standing at the foot of the bed where Isaac sprawled, his thumb tracing lazy circles across my knee that made me weak remembering how we’d spent the last hour.
“You lovebirds done yet?” Theo bellowed through the door. “Food’s getting cold out here.”
“I should probably get that,” Isaac said without moving.
“We did go through an awful lot of trouble rescuing him for you to ignore him.” I angled my body toward the door and inhaled. “And he does have food.”
“Food.” He grunted. “We didn’t even have to hunt it or skin it.”
“Novel idea, right?” I tossed the damp towel at his head. “Precooked food should totally be a thing.”
“I can hear you talking in there,” Theo muttered. “I’m about to leave your dinner outside your door and let you take your chances.”
Threatening our food roused the wolf enough to abandon our mate and allow Theo entrance. “What is that?”
“Grilled chicken marinated in fae herbs of dubious origins, and veggies.” He offered me a bag with two plates then joined his brother on the bed with their share. “There’s a guy down the street with a charcoal grill and a line a mile long. I hope it tastes as good as it smells.”
Theo passed Isaac a plate then toyed with the lid covering his dinner. “Mind if I join you?”
“Knock yourself out.” I let the brothers take the bed and claimed the only chair in the room, the one standing in a corner like a desk might have once gone there. “Did you find drinks, or are we using plastic cups and faucet water?”
After reaching into his bag, Theo tossed me a bottle of lukewarm water, and I nodded to him. “I appreciate it.”
“You can thank family, Dell,” Theo chided. “We won’t hold it against you.”
“Until you do.” I took my first bite, and my eyes rolled back in my head. Tender, juicy, with a hint of smoky
flavor. Delicious. Theo did good bringing me two plates. I couldn’t have stopped after one. “So, do you want to get this party started?”
His gaze tagged his supine brother, who still hadn’t sat up to start eating, then catalogued our damp hair and pajamas. “Looks like it started without me.” His lips quirked. “Unless you’re ready for round two?”
That brought Isaac upright, and he leveled a glare on Theo.
“You’ve been wolfed out for too long.” Theo flicked a balled-up napkin at his brother. “Your eyes are golden.”
“I like it.”
Both of them swung their heads toward me.
“What?” I took a swig of water. “I do.”
“I’m not here to discuss your kinks.” Theo stabbed a piece of chicken with his plastic fork. “I’m here to answer your questions so you stop glaring at me. Distraction will get you killed, bro. Don’t pin that on me, okay?”
“Who’s Specter?” Isaac didn’t hesitate.
Neither did Theo. “Me.”
Unsatisfied, Isaac kept pushing. “How did those guards know you?”
A careless shrug. “I get around.”
“Theo,” I interrupted. “It’s late, and we’re tired. We haven’t slept in an actual bed in days, and we’d like to snuggle since God only knows when the next chance is we’ll get. Tell Isaac what he wants to know. You claim you wanted to clear the air. Do it, or leave. Either way, stop blowing smoke up his ass.”
“Your girl has bite.” Theo cracked the lid on his water. “Where can I get me one of those?”
“You heard her.” Isaac pegged his brother with a glare. “You’re interrupting. Make it good or make yourself gone.”
Theo let his mask slip for maybe the first time since I’d met him, and I didn’t recognize the man beneath. He set his food aside and stood before bracing his hands on his hips. “This is what I do. Problems arise, and I fix them. It’s why Thierry didn’t blink twice when I volunteered to go inside Macon.”
Over the Moon (Gemini Book 6) Page 7
