Bound To The Enemy Eternal Flames Maddox 3

by Cree Storm

  “Wait! We’re here! We got everything you asked for,” Ollie yelled as he and Pas ran back into the room, their arms loaded. Ollie got to his knees between Jett and Angelo and dropped his load onto the cloth.

  Jett picked up food tongs and held them up in front of his face and looked to Ollie with a raised brow.

  “It’s to grab the baby and pull it out,” Ollie answered as if it was perfectly clear.

  “You are not putting salad tongs in me! I am not a fucking head of lettuce!” Rhys screamed.

  “He insisted on a turkey baster too,” Pas said as he leaned over and placed a first aid kit and a stack of cloth napkins next to Ethan.

  “A turkey baster? Really? What do you think we’re going to do with that, marinate me for a few hours!” Twix yelled, then let out a scream that filled the room, hurting everyone’s ears.

  “Well if that gets you all pissy, then I don’t think you’ll much appreciate the meat cleaver,” Ollie said indignantly, but held his chin up in defiance.

  “Meat cleaver? What the hell, Ol?” Jett said in frustration.

  “Yeah, well, when those babies come out and are still attached to Rhys and Twix, you’ll be thanking me that I thought about bringing something to cut the cord.”

  Ethan sighed heavily as he shook his head. “Can we please all stop. Rhys and Twix don’t need this right now.”

  The opening along Rhys’s pelvis opened further, catching everyone’s attention. The glow from within started to close in on itself, focusing in on one point. Then to everyone’s surprise, it lifted from Rhys’s body and hovered before Ethan’s face. Ethan stared at the glowing orb, his eyes wide in wonder. Then Ethen reached out slowly and brought up his hands on either side of the orb, closing them around it, and grasping it gently. As soon as Ethan’s hand held the orb, the glow disappeared, and Ethan held what looked like an egg. It was four times the size of an ostrich egg, and it was sun glow orange with red and black swirls. They all just stared at the egg, awestruck.

  Twix screamed, grabbing everyone’s attention and Jett turned just in time to see the same type of glowing orb rise out of Twix and hover before Angelo. Angelo followed Ethan’s motions and held onto the orb, but this one didn’t stop glowing. “Why won’t it change?” Twix asked, his voice shaky with deep concern.

  A small crack sounded and Jett looked back to the egg in Ethan’s hands. A long line appeared on the shell, growing as it moved around the orb. A small piece of shell fell off onto the floor, then suddenly disintegrated into a small pile of ash. Blue flames lapped out of the opening in the shell and more pieces floated to the floor. Finally, all the shell dropped and Ethan’s hands were full of the blue flame. It pulsed and brightened, causing everyone to squint, then swirls of red and black flames mixed in. The brightness held for a few seconds, then just went out. Jett sat staring, awestruck as he watched the cute baby in Ethan’s hands blink up at Ethan.

  “Our baby. Ethan, it’s our baby,” Rhys cried, tears running down his cheeks. Jett looked at Ethan’s face and saw that he too was crying as he gave Rhys a bright smile.

  “Yes, love. And she’s perfect,” Ethan said.

  “But there are supposed to be two. Where is the other one?” Rhys asked and Jett could hear the stress in his voice.

  Ethan looked down to Rhys’s body, smiled again, then turned to Pascal. “Can I have a cloth, please?”

  Pascal handed Ethan a clean tablecloth and Ethan wrapped it around the baby, swaddling her, then turned to Jett. “Can you hold my daughter, please?”

  Jett got very nervous then and began shaking his head as he held up his hands in protest. “I don’t want to drop her. Maybe you should let Rhys hold her first. She is his daughter too, after all.”

  “I would love to let my wonderful mate hold our child, but I’m afraid it may be too much for him until we get the next one out. Here, Jett. Please,” Ethan pleaded.

  Jett sighed, then held out his hands. Ethan gently placed the baby in his arms and Jett pulled its little body close against his chest, cuddling it and keeping it safe. Lavender eyes looked at him and Jett saw a light within them. “Hello, little one. I’m your Uncle Jett,” he whispered.

  “Why won’t mine change?” Twix asked as he cried.

  “Doesn’t he mean hatch?” Ollie whispered from the side of his mouth.

  “Everything is just fine, Twix,” Angelo said as he shot Ollie a glare. “Here, why don’t you hold him, sweetie. It’s the way of the phoenix. I don’t know about all those glowing lights and hovering, but the flames, the shell turning to ash, and all that, is perfectly normal when a phoenix is born. Once the phoenix father touches the egg, it starts to hatch. It makes the father part of the process.”

  Twix held out his hands and Angelo carefully placed the large burnt orange with golden and green swirls egg, into Twix’s hands. As soon as his hands touched the egg, it began to crack and break. As before with Rhys’s egg, the shell began to crumble to the floor, turning to ash as it did. When the shell was all gone, bright orange and golden flames were left behind. Green flames grew, twisted, and danced with the orange and gold, then suddenly went out and a beautiful baby boy sat in Twix’s grasp. Pascal quickly handed Twix a clean tablecloth and Twix wrapped his baby up before pulling him close and kissing his head.

  “Welcome to the world little one. I’m your daddy. And your other two daddies are going to be so thrilled that you’re here,” Twix whispered. Jett noticed that Twix’s baby, his true blood nephew, had the same lavender eyes as Twix and Rhys and his daughter.

  A loud thud hit the outer door, causing everyone to turn in its direction. “What the hell was that?”

  “I don’t know. Someone go check it out,” Jett said.

  “I’m not doing it. Who knows what’s going on out there,” Ollie replied.

  Another hard bang sounded and suddenly Jagger and Zen were there in the opening to the alcove. “What was that? Oh shit. Babies,” Jagger said as his eyes went wide.

  “Not all of them. One more to go,” Ethan said as he concentrated on the opening in his mate’s pelvis.

  A series of loud bangs and pounding came from the front door, and a loud snap as if wood were breaking. Jagger and Zen turned to look behind them. “Shit, they’re coming in!” Jagger yelled out and he and Zen ran for the door, with Avery close behind.

  Jett watched as the three threw themselves against the doors, trying to hold it closed, while whoever, or whatever, was outside was pushing back, trying to get in.

  Rhys cried out again and Jett turned back to him. Ethan slide a hand into the opening in Rhys’ pelvis and after a few minutes he pulled his hands back, and enclosed in his grasp was another, larger egg. This one was jet black with red and orange veins running around it with lavender spots. But this one was not glowing or cracking, and it wasn’t engulfed in flames.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Rhys whispered, his voice filled with fear.

  “I don’t know, my love. It looks fine, but there is no light, no flames,” Ethan replied, his voice shaking with concern as he stared at the egg.

  “It’s a dragon egg,” Jett said.

  “Wow,” Ethan whispered, staring at the egg in his hands.

  “So, what happens now? Why is it not opening?” Rhys asked.

  “A dragon egg can take a few days, to a few weeks, to hatch after coming out,” Jett informed them.

  “So, all you phoenix and dragons were hatched? Then how the hell did you get so damn big? Well, not you phoenix dudes, but you’re still bigger than us,” Ollie said.

  “I can’t hold it!” Jagger’s voice yelled from the alcove.

  “Just hold on and let me in!” Avery yelled.

  They turned to watch as Jagger made room for Avery. The top of the door was being shredded and Avery put his hands up toward the opening. A bright light shone from his palms and flashed against the door. Loud screams came from outside as if someone was in pain.

  Suddenly another louder crash hit the door, pushing Jagg
er, Avery, and Zen backwards six inches, but they each strained against the door.

  Manny put a pile of napkins under Twix’s head, then stood and raced to the door.

  “Manny, no!” Ethan screamed, but Manny didn’t listen.

  Once he got to the door, standing behind the other three, his body began to shake, and all of a sudden, his skin was green again. Manny threw up his hands and the doors shattered, blowing outward forcefully, and whatever was on the other side got blown back with it.

  CHAPTER 14

  “Did I hear you say the club?” Day growled as he came to stand by the others. Morgan, Finn, Zev, Dallas, and York behind him.

  “Yes. Day, we believe all of this was a diversion to keep us away from the real target,” Nick replied.

  “The club. Which has my pregnant pixie mate, as well as the pixie king’s pregnant son, and Manny, the white phoenix. What the hell are we all just standing around here for?” Day yelled and turned, running down the street and in the blink of an eye, shifted into his massive black dragon. Morgan and the others turned and followed Day, shifting and flying off in the direction of the club.

  “We need to get there, too,” Nick yelled and headed for the tanker sitting nearby.

  A loud screeching caw came from above and they all looked up to see a Vambat twice the size of the others flying toward them, heading right for Dain and Rune. Dain quickly pushed Rune out of the way, then held up his hands to defend against the large creature. Suddenly, a small grey man appeared out of nowhere in front of Rune. He looked at Rune’s face, then turned to see what Rune was looking at. The Vambat went stone-still, then turned to stone, and dropped like a brick to the ground, shattering.

  They all turned their heads slowly toward the little grey man, all eyes either wide open in shock, or narrowed in confusion and caution.

  “Timmy, you must go now. Go and hide. I will come to you when I can,” Rune said hurriedly but gently, as if talking to a frightened child.

  “But…um…I…felt you were in…um…danger…and…I …um…yeah,” Timmy said in a very small, soft, timid, shy voice, as he looked down and twisted the hem of his torn sweatshirt between his fingers.

  “Thank you, my friend, but you need to go now for your own safety. I will be there when I can,” Rune replied, still speaking softly.

  “Okay,” Timmy’s tiny voice said, then he just disappeared.

  Dain and Kerrick looked to Rune with raised brows, silently questioning. “I’ll tell you another time. We don’t have any time to waste right now. We need to get to my son and the others,” Rune said.

  Everyone jumped onto the tanker with Nick and his boys, as Dain jumped in his car with his mates. It was a tight squeeze, but they did it, and Dain took off like the hounds of hell were chomping at his ass.

  * * * *

  Day couldn’t believe when he overheard everyone talking about a threat to his pregnant mate and the others at the club, yet no one was moving. His dragon was going ballistic inside him, fighting to get out and slash them all, but wanting to get to its mate at the same time. Day calmed the beast enough to find out what they were saying, but then he wasn’t standing around waiting for a fucking invitation. His beast agreed and raged to the surface the minute Day got what he wanted. His shift had happened faster than it had ever done before, surprising Day. He was in flight within seconds and heading for his family.

  He heard flapping behind him, and Day chanced a glance over his shoulder. Not surprised to see Morgan, Zev, and Finn. Finn’s mate, Twix, was at the club too so he knew his friend was just as anxious as he was. Another sound came from his other side and Day looked around to find Dallas and York’s dragons, but also Marco and Frank’s phoenix. Another phoenix was approaching and Day was surprised to see that it was Aracas. As far as he knew, Ethan’s uncle was supposed to be at the club guarding his mate and unborn children. Day worried that Aracas’ appearance meant something terrible had happened, but when the phoenix took up a place in their formation, it gave Day a small sense of relief, even though he had no idea why Aracas wasn’t at the club. They all flew in striking formation, with Day in the front. They were prepared for any battle they may find.

  The club came into sight and Day could make out a few figures on the roof and a mess of them by the front door. His dragon growled low and deadly inside him, and Day headed for the roof. As he flew over, he spotted ten men. Nine of them were tall, sleek, and green like Rune. The last one looked like a human, but he was small. The man lifted his hand, holding it out toward the door, and a light began to grow. Day wasn’t waiting around for them to get inside and harm his mate and family. Day sent out a growl that he knew Zev, Finn, and Morgan would understand, then headed straight for the roof. As he dipped low, he opened his mouth, and a stream of fire erupted. He kept on his current path, straight for the threat, with the fire before him.

  A few of the fairies turned, their eyes going wide. Immediately, they held up their hands, probably to cast a spell, Day figured, but they were too late. He pushed his fire out harder and it engulfed the eight from the back. Just as the fire was spreading to the front, the little man got the door open and he and two of the fairies raced in, hiding from his blast.

  Day flew up and around again, making another pass, as he blew more of his fire on the burning fairies, making sure they were dead. He then flew down to the street and shifted as his feet hit the ground. Bodies of dead fairies littered the area in front of the door and Day just stepped over them. His eyes went wide in panic as his heart beat heavy in his chest, dread filling him, when he saw that the front door of the club was gone.

  He only wished it was Finn, Morgan, and the others who had done it. It wasn’t like that when they arrived. He heard trucks and cars pulling up behind him, but he couldn’t worry about that right now, Day needed to get to his mate. Day raced through the opening where the door used to be and headed straight into the main room of the club then froze. He saw all the other men sitting around, but his focus was on the two beautiful men that owned his heart.

  Ethan sat on the floor with Rhys in his lap, his arms holding their pixie mate as he looked down at Rhys so lovingly. His heart clenched with love and filled with joy from the sight. But then he saw it. Rhys was holding a blanket with something wrapped inside. His pixie mate was also cradling a large egg. It was jet black with red and orange veins running around it and it had lavender spots.

  Ethan looked up and their gazes met and Day was filled with an overwhelming sense of happiness. Ethan gave him a bright smile and held out his hand, motioning for Day to go to him. Rhys turned his head and spotted him, and his beautiful pixie mate gave him one of those heart stopping pretty smiles of his, then his eyes filled with tears, and Rhys began to cry.

  Day raced over to his mates and dropped down onto his knees on the floor before them. He cupped each of their faces with each large hand, then leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Rhys’ lips, then Ethan’s. “I was so scared,” he admitted in a whisper.

  Ethan placed a hand over his that sat on Ethan’s cheek. “We’re okay…Daddy,” Ethan said, and suddenly all the breath rushed from Day’s lungs.

  He looked down and it finally hit him. His babies were here. The egg Rhys held so tenderly, but protectively, was a dragon egg. They had a dragon child. Day’s heart grew from that thought. Even though his child wouldn’t come from the egg for a few days or so, the child was still here, ready to hatch. Then Day’s gaze shifted to the blanket Rhys was holding and he began to cry. The most beautiful little face he had ever seen, with large lavender eyes, looked back at him. “A pixie,” he whispered.

  “No, love of mine. Not only a pixie, but a phoenix as well,” Rhys replied.

  Day’s gaze flicked up to meet Rhys’ eyes, then it shifted to Ethan’s and they both nodded. “But how? How do you know?”

  “Our little girl was born in the way of the phoenix, and she has those pretty lavender eyes, which means she is also pixie,” Ethan explained.

  “Girl
? A girl? We have a daughter?” Day’s heart filled even more than he thought was possible, but then he was stricken with a sense of fear as well. A pixie child they would have to make sure was kept out of the wrong hands. And a girl. A female among all these males? God bless the man that tries to date his daughter, because he won’t get within fifty feet of her if Day had anything to say about it.

  He met Rhys’ watery gaze again and leaned in, giving him a tender, loving kiss. “You did it, my love. You did it. You gave us a beautiful daughter.”

  “We still don’t know what the other is, but Jett said we would know soon,” Rhys said, his voice coming out scratchy, which made Day concerned.

  “What’s wrong with your voice, love? Are you okay?”

  “Yes, my big strong dragon. It’s just from all the yelling I did,” Rhys answered shyly as a blush rose up his cheeks.

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, my love. You were bringing babes into the world and deserved to yell all you wanted.”

  “Yeah, says the man who didn’t have to hear it and be the whipping post for these two,” Jett grumbled.

  Day chuckled as he looked at Jett and saw him pouting as Zev held him. Then his eyes moved to Twix who was sitting in Finn’s lap with Marco pressed against them and Twix was also holding a blanket. Day met Finn’s watery gaze and raised his brow. “I have a son. My amazing mate gave me a son. Who happens to also be half phoenix and half pixie.”

  “Congratulations you three.”

  “Isn’t this sweet? The perfect picture of family. Something almost out of one of those Norman Rockwell paintings,” a snide voice came from the alcove, making everyone turn toward it.

  Shit! This was all his fault. He had put his family in danger. Day thought. When he had stepped through the front door he fully intended to head up to the roof to make sure the three he had seen from the roof were headed off and taken care of. But once he stepped into the club, all thought went to his mates and new children. Now because of his error, they were all in danger.