by Sadie Jacks
His spirit whispered to mine. Not words I could understand, but I felt cherished and loved as the sounds registered in my heart and soul.
I whispered back, trying to convey my own feelings and thoughts.
With peace, I reentered my body. No ritual, no custom, no words needed. I simply breathed in the will to return and there I was.
I stepped back from Xander’s arms.
His eyes were no longer so dark brown as to be practically black. No, now his eyes swirled with purples and blues. It was stunning and breathtaking to watch.
Tears tracked down his cheeks as he stared at me. The dark emotion on his face and in his eyes had lifted. Gone was the heavy burden of living half a life.
He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
A spark of heat enveloped me. Behind my closed lids, I could see the furious colors bending and swaying together.
Before I could say, do, or even think anything else, I was thrust from his arms and pulled into the arms of the last of my men.
Taryk.
Chapter 18 – Taryk
Xander pushed her into my arms. Our bare arms sliding against each other. The expression on her face before she buried it in my chest was one of awe and peaceful contentment. I’d never experienced anything that could put that kind of look on my face before.
“Xander, what the fuck were you thinking?” Ransom looked ready to tear Kiema from my arms.
Asher held him back. “You can’t pull her out now. We don’t know what could happen to her.”
I would have laughed at the reversal of roles if I didn’t feel Kiema poking around inside me. I winced as she hit something that felt pretty fucking vital. “Is it supposed to hurt?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
Xander still looked like he was riding the best high of his life. I’m pretty sure the building could’ve exploded around us and he would have that dopey look on his face still. Deep inside me, I felt the tug of happiness for him.
In college, I’d stayed up with him countless nights as he slid under the influence of whatever substance he could get his hands on. Anything to quiet the screams in his mind, the phantom aches, and agonies of remembered pain. This time, though, this time he’d found that peaceful calm at the other end of a hug. Not at the bottom of the bottle, or a pile of crystals, or a handful of pills, or a full plunger of liquid. I’d love Kiema for that alone, for saving the adopted little brother I’d been unable to reach. For easing my heart over the brother I’d been too late to save.
Another pinch washed some of that love away. “What the fuck is she doing in there?” I asked.
“Mine hurt, but more like I was freaking out because I didn’t understand what was happening. It didn’t physically hurt,” Asher said as he directed his brother to one of the seats at the kitchen island.
“Mine was the cessation of pain, not the increase of it,” Ransom supplied. He shrugged. “I don’t know, brother. Sorry.”
My back arched as it felt like she was stabbing me in the kidneys. I almost pushed her from my arms as it felt like she was sliding the dullest knife known to mankind in between my vertebrae to repeatedly smack into my ribs.
I could feel a scream building at the base of my throat. I tried to swallow it down. I could handle whatever this tiny woman wanted to dish out.
“AHHH!”
I was wrong. I was so wrong.
My body convulsed as I fell to the floor. No longer in human form.
Chapter 19 – Ransom
“Fuck.” I leapt forward, catching Kiema as she was forcefully thrown from the magical outburst of Taryk changing.
“Well, fine, you douche. I didn’t want to be in there anyway. Asshole,” she muttered as she dusted off her hands.
The huge black panther splayed on the floor didn’t really bring to mind the idea of insults or taunting. Rather, it made me want to run into a room with a steel door that had a fantastic lock and call animal control.
“You okay, angel?” I asked, not taking my eyes off of Taryk in his new form.
“Yes.” Kiema sounded irritated, but not in a sexy kind of way. I was afraid for Taryk when he turned back into a human. My angel sounded like she wanted her pound of flesh. “That twat waffle was fighting me the whole fucking time.” She leaned forward, out of the ring of my arms.
“Hear that, Taryk the Twat Waffle. See if I ever help you again.” She lifted her nose into the air and went to sit by the still blissed-out Xander and the howling Asher.
“Twat waffle, Ki-Ki? That’s inspired. I’m going to start calling him TTW.” Asher collapsed against the island, tears running from his eyes as he gripped his belly in laughter.
His reaction was a little over the top, but I wasn’t going to call him on it. I, too, had seen the look on Xander’s face after being with Kiema. It was like, for the first time since meeting him all those years ago, he was finally home. He, Xander Finneas Kandma, was at last living in the body he wore every day.
The black panther rose from the floor, shook himself like he was getting rid of water, and snarled at me.
“What am I?” he asked over our mental connection.
“A twat waffle,” Asher replied out loud before I could say anything.
Taryk snarled again. His now bright green eyes widened at hearing himself. “A cat of some kind?” He sounded hopeful.
“Yeah. A big motherfucking black panther.” I waved him over to me. As he reached my side, I lifted a hand to just under my breastbone. “I’d say almost five feet tall on all fours,” I said for everyone’s benefit.
“Damn I make big animals,” Kiema said under her breath.
“Yeah, you do, Ki-Ki. But let’s be honest, I’m the biggest and the best.”
I rolled my eyes. “I think you’re forgetting the over twenty-foot tall dragon at home, Ash.”
Taryk opened his panther’s mouth. Shut it. “Why did it hurt so much this time?”
I repeated the question for Kiema.
“Because your panther was being a little baby bitch. She didn’t want me to touch you. I told her I couldn’t get her out unless I healed you. She didn’t care. She kept swiping at me.” Kiema rose from the chair next to Xander. Lifted her shirt, exposing her soft, silky belly. Three deep gouges ran from directly under her left breast to her right hip bone. They were already fading, almost as if they weren’t really on her physical stomach.
I turned on Taryk. “You fucking bastard.”
“I didn’t knowingly do it, Ransom. You have to believe that. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose.” His tail dipped between his legs.
“Oh Ransom, don’t be that way,” Kiema said on a sigh as she moved past me to Taryk.
I wanted to gather her up in my arms and carry her away.
But I didn’t.
She crouched down next to Taryk. On her knees in front of him, he was taller than she was. She wrapped her hands around his neck, buried her face in his ruff. Mumbling something into his neck, I couldn’t understand, Taryk wrapped his long, lithe body around her smaller frame.
My heart settled.
“She’s truly amazing, Ransom. I love her.” Taryk’s voice on the implant network more closely resembled the purr I heard rumbling from his chest in cat form.
I felt my belly drop.
“But I only love her like a sister. There’s no sexual attraction for her inside me. I’ll cherish her, beat up any of you who hurt her, but I won’t be having sex with her,” Taryk said on our mental network.
A choked sound behind me brought me around to see Asher. His golden brown eyes were wide. “Fuck, man.” He sounded disappointed and sad. “I’ve been trying to figure out why I haven’t put the moves on her. Over and above the fact that she’s been either missing or sick since I met her. But seriously, every time I think about it, it’s giving me the heebs, man. And the fucking jeebs.”
He shuddered. “I was beginning to think I was broken. That the healing made me not want sex. I was going to be really pissed off about
that. Samesies with Taryk. I don’t want to dip my wick. But I’ll clobber anyone who messes with her.” He looked me dead in the eye. “Including you, Ransom. None of your regular shit with ladies. You treat her well, or you answer to me and TTW, over there.”
Xander snorted. His face was a little livelier now. His voice only the tiniest bit slurred on the mental link connection. “I don’t know what I am, yet. But I know I want her. I guess she and I will have to figure that out for ourselves. Her kisses pack a fucking punch though, bro.” He gave into a full body shiver.
Kiema snorted behind me. I turned to her. She was rubbing a hand through her hair, an irritated look on her face. “If you’re all done talking about me like I’m not here, I suggest we get moving. We need to contact Juan and Ferria. See what kind of deal they want to make.”
“Sorry, angel. The boys want to talk to you, separately. But you’re right, we need to go and hook up with the rest of the guys. Make a game plan.”
She stood up, rubbed Taryk’s head that he laid against her shoulder. “Good thing we brought the big truck, isn’t it girl?”
Taryk snorted. “Someone fucking tell her my panther is not a girl.”
Xander and I chuckled. We also kept our mouths shut.
“Dibs!” Asher yelled, racing out of the house to the truck’s driver’s seat.
Chapter 20 – Asher
“Here’s what I don’t get,” I said as I maneuvered the huge truck down the street to our lab and house.
“What’s that, Asher?” Kiema asked me.
Damn was I glad I’d figured out what was bugging me about her.
“Captain Silent said I needed to save ‘her’ in the future. Was he talking about you, Ki-Ki, or some other chick who’s going to be overwhelmed by my awesomeness?”
“What else did he say?”
“That my spirit was brave and light.” I buffed my fingernails on my shirt.
Kiema shrugged beside me in the front passenger seat. “I don’t know, Ash. I think I’m pretty brave and light on my own. Maybe he saw someone else who would need those qualities from you in the future.”
I nodded, tapped my thumbs against the steering wheel. “True dat, Ki-Ki. You, baby doll, don’t need any lighter or braver.” I shuddered. Watching her walk up to Taryk like she didn’t have a care in the world, made me want to yell, puke, and lock her up all at the same time.
Kiema chuckled. “Thanks, boo.” She winked at me.
Well, I think that’s what it was supposed to be. It looked kinda like she was having a short facial spasm of some kind.
I shook my head at her. “Nope. Not answering to that one. Try again.”
She stuck her tongue out at me.
I laughed at her as I hit the button to open the bay doors.
“Honey bear?” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
“I’m going to be sick if you keep playing this game. Call him Asher. It’s his name. He doesn’t need a pet one,” Ransom groused as he opened the doors for Taryk to jump out in his panther form.
Xander rolled his eyes. “Don’t pay him any mind, sweets. You call us whatever you want to call us. Except apparently ‘boo.’” Xander leaned over the back of the front passenger seat and kissed her cheek.
I don’t remember a time I’ve seen my brother so happy. Even before our lives fell apart in our teens, he’d always been reserved. Distant. After what happened with our parents, he took that weight on himself. Claimed it was his fault, that if he’d done or been better, then none of it would have happened.
Kiema leaned into the touch, her eyelids at half-mast. Just the tiniest sliver of silver could be seen. “Sure, Xan baby. Whatever you say.”
He chuckled, the tone low and smoky. Then he turned, punched my shoulder, and slid out of the van.
Ransom was already waiting at Ki-Ki’s door, a harassed look on his face. Kiema grabbed Ransom’s hand as she got out of the vehicle.
Three doors slammed in the quiet alley. We moved through the massive bay doors, Atlas at the controls. As soon as I moved my ass over the line of the door frame, Atlas hit the button to close them.
“I like my ass the shape it is, Oh Learned One.”
He flipped me off, his face tight, his eyes pinched.
“What’s up?” Atlas usually took my teasing in stride. Something must be up for him to not respond with anything other than the one finger salute.
He shook his head, blond hair flying around with the motion. “Nothing. We’re meeting in the conference room.”
I slowed my steps. He didn’t want to talk; I wasn’t going to push him on it. With a lot of us, you could annoy us into talking. Atlas…not so much. He’d shut you down, shut you out for days if you pushed too hard.
I was the last to arrive in the conference room. I lifted my eyebrows at Ransom, tipped my head in Atlas’ direction.
He shook his head, his brows furrowed.
Great, he was sulking.
“I finished the testing on Asher, Ransom, and Saint.”
“Where is our favorite dragon?” I asked, tipping back in my swivel chair.
“He’s getting some clothes on. Ransom, he had to use your closet.”
I whistled long and low. “He beefed up that much?”
“I wouldn’t say I beefed up, but I’m certainly taller than originally thought,” Saint said as he walked in behind me.
He grabbed the back of my chair, pushed on the back until it felt like it was going to flip over.
“Fuck, bro.” I lurched forward. Turning, I whistled again. “You’ve got to be at least six-eight. How the fuck did that happen?”
“Ten says dragon carriers are always bigger than average. They must be in order to host the dragon form.” He shrugged his shoulders. The borrowed clothes he wore were still too short and small. A line of olive skin showed between his pants and his shirt like he was a college girl on her way to the beach for vacation.
I looked at Kiema. Her gaze was glued to that stripe of skin like she couldn’t wait to get her mouth on it.
I chuckled. Her gaze left Saint’s body and moved to meet my gaze. Her cheeks reddened when I winked at her.
Saint slapped me over the head. “Don’t embarrass her,” he ordered over our mental connection.
“If I could have your attention, please. I’d like to get through this as quickly as possible,” Atlas spoke up, throwing cold water on our relaxed vibe.
“Why is there a stick up your ass, Dr. Atlas?” Xander asked. My younger brother by two minutes jumped into the fray without regard to personal safety.
Damn, bro. Let me know when you need that salve for your ass, I said through our twin connection.
Maybe Sweets can apply it for me.
I would have burst out laughing except for the look of almost sheer hatred on Atlas’ face. Something was truly wrong. Atlas got testy and uppity, but he never got mean. And mean was all that was written on his face.
“I’m going to take that stick and beat you to death with it, Xander, if you don’t shut your fucking mouth.”
Daaamn. Bitches be crazy.
“Atlas? What’s wrong?” Ransom asked. “Where’s this coming from?” He rubbed his hand up and down Ki-Ki’s arm as she shrank back from the violence living in Atlas.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?!” He shot up from his seat. He was so fired up I could almost see the smoke coming from his ass.
“He is the last to shift in a family of shifters,” Saint said. I mean, the words came from his mouth, but somehow, I knew it was Ten who was talking.
Atlas glared at Saint. “Shut the fuck up, Ten. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Saint just crossed his arms, leaned back against the door. Effectively locking us all in the room.
“Did I do something wrong?” Ki-Ki asked. She had shrunk as far into Ransom as humanly possible without merging essences.
I felt my hackles rise at the fear in her voice, at the evidence of it in her body.
Taryk, sti
ll in panther form, snarled softly from the far side of the room.
“You’re going to want to watch how you respond right now, Atlas. Don’t say anything you can’t take back,” Saint said. His normal calm reserve settled like a balm over the heat in the room.
Atlas pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezed his eyes shut. He took a couple of deep breaths. “No, Kiema, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
I could barely understand the words his teeth were clenched so tightly as to make speech virtually unrecognizable.
Kiema shook her head, buried her face in Ransom’s chest.
That was it. He’d hurt her twice, even if that wasn’t his intention. He wouldn’t get a chance to do it again.
A rush of fire slid over my skin. I watched in stupefied awe as dark brown fur sprouted from my skin.
Hells fucking yeah, assclowns. Papa Bear was gonna beat some ass.
I pushed from the chair onto the floor. There wasn’t a lot of room available, but I did try not to break all the shit around me as I changed. That glorious feeling of freedom slid into my soul as my bear came rushing out of me. I didn’t even mind the pain that accompanied it. The pleasure and utter awesomeness of shifting was all I remember.
“Asher, you little shithead. Get back in your human body,” Ransom said, his arms still around Kiema’s slightly shaking body.
“No. Atlas hurt her feelings. And all because he’s feeling left out? We left that kind of childish behavior in the past,” I said in our mental network.
“And if Asher is telling other people they’re being immature, I’m going to call truth,” Taryk added as he came around to my and Atlas’ side of the table. “Apologize, Atlas. I won’t ask again.”
“Pretty sure he’s not asking now,” Xander said.
A ripple of magic flowed through the room.
“Get the fuck away from me,” Atlas shouted out loud. He pointed at both Taryk and me. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. And you’re certainly not going to hurt me for accidentally bruising her feelings. She doesn’t need that kind of protection. Get over yourselves.”
