Mary Ann was currently protected against death by physical injury and mind control. To bypass those, the witches would have towhat? Cause mental injury through some kind of trickery? He wasnt sure how theyd pull something like that off.
How many others were nearby? Had they seen Mary Ann already? They obviously hadnt attacked her. Determined to discover the truth, he drew closer to them.
The boy will have to be taken care of, as well, Marie said on a sigh.
What boy? Him? Or someone else? Jealousy sparked.
Hes done nothing wrong, Jennifer said.
Doesnt matter. Hes powerful. Hell be trouble, Marie replied.
Powerful could mean Aden but could also mean Riley. However, the done nothing wrong part eliminated them both. Rileys jealousy sprouted wings with razored tips and flew through his entire body.
Marie continued, We cant risk his coming after us. He could do serious damage. Especially if he decides to aid the other one, the new king. And since Aden has Tyson stuck inside him
I know. Fear coated Jennifers voice.
Tyson? One of the souls BD? Before Death.
Riley made a mental note to tell Aden, see if the name sparked a memory in a soul. He stopped when he reached the front doors of an apartment building. One of the crumbling, rundown ones. The witches were inside, their auras practically crackling beyond the bricks. So badly he wanted to charge through the building, biting and chewing the magic wielders to pieces. Threaten Mary Ann and hurt. That was the lesson they needed to learn. But he was without wards. His wolf skin couldnt hold them. The witches could cast a thousand different spellsdeath, destruction, painand he would be helpless.
That was why wolves never challenged witches without a vampire by their side.
A low growl slipped from him. He hated walking away from a fight, but he did it. He clomped back into the shadows and saw the motel across the streetand the four telling auras inside it. Those auras crackled, glitter swirling in a rainbow of colors.
Fairies.
They were here, too. Dread slithered through him. His ears twitched as he honed in, listened.
reach her before the witches, someone was saying. Female. Possibly Brendal, the fairy whod tried to mind-control Aden into doing as she wanted. A princess, and the dead and ghostly Thomass determined sister. Shes mine.
Yes, princess.
Oh, yes. That was Brendal.
Riley sped into action, Mary Anns scent strengthening the moment he reached the Charleston Motel. The sign underneath read Weekly Rapes Available. Nice. Someone had screwed with the letters.
Would Mary Ann have gone inside such a dilapidated facility? Doing so was completely out of character for someone known as a Goody Two-shoes. (And what the hell did that mean, anyway? Why were shoes considered good?) She might have, though, simply to throw off whoever was following her.
And the witches and fairies had seen her. No question of that now. Why else would they be here, talking about her?
As his anticipation and concern returned, strengthened, he raced across the street. Headlights washed over him, a car horn blared, tires squealed. Shoulda looked both ways, he supposed, jumping out of the way. The motel doors opened from the outside, rather than from an inner hallway. His favorite. He sniffed each one until he caught another whiff of Mary Ann.
The instant he did, his blood heated with all kinds of gooey emotions only girls were supposed to feel. She was here.
He shifted to his human form, naked and suddenly cold, picked the lock, shifted back to his wolf form, settled his mouth around the knob and gave a little twist. Or tried to. No movement, which meant shed done more than lock it. Good. Not that any kind of rigging would stop the witches, the fae or him.
Rather than shift back to his human form and undo her handiworkperhaps waking Mary Ann and giving her time to run, hide or call the boy the witches had mentionedRiley slammed into the door with all his considerable wolf weight. Hinges snapped, and wood shards rained.
He remained there in the entrance, taking stock. First thing he noticed: there was someone on the floor, sitting up, glaring. Tucker Harbor. Second thing: someone on the bed, sitting up, gasping. Mary Ann. That fall of dark hair, her aura the dark red of fear, the blue of hope.
In an instant he knew. Tucker was the boy. The powerful, supposedly done-nothing-wrong boy.
In a blink, the scene changed. No longer was anyone on the floor. No longer was the person on the bed gasping at him with a combination of fear and hope.
Now, there were two people on the bedand they were having sex.
Another growl left him, this one as savage and lethal as a dagger. Probably cutting much deeper. Hed already decided to kill Tucker, but now he was going to make it hurt.
Riley shifteduncaring that he was nakedand closed the door as best he could. With the damage to the hinges, he could only prop the fake wood against the opening. Then he turned and crossed his arms over his chest.
I know what youre doing, you bastard, and you can stop. Illusions. This was an illusion, and he knew it soul deep. Neither person on the bed, so lost to pleasure, cast any kind of aura.
Riley, Mary Ann said on a raspy breath.
The sound of his name on those lips affected him. His blood heated another degree and not with fury.
Tucker, she said next, pleasure giving way to irritation. Stop, or Ill stab you.
A funny threat, coming from her, but effective. Tucker dropped the illusion, and once again Riley saw that Tucker was on the floor and Mary Ann was on the bed.
She looked away from Riley, even as she tossed him a sheet, a hot blush staining her cheeks. For fricks sake, Riley, cover yourself. Tuckers here.
Had she just said for fricks sake? And, if he didnt obey? He wanted to ask but didnt. He caught the sheet and wound the material around his waist, tucking in the end to ensure it stayed put. He recrossed his arms over his chest. Im sure Tuckers already come to grips with the fact that everyone he encounters is bigger than he is, so dont worry that hell slip into a shame spiral and kill himself. Just start talking. Before I start maiming. Whats going on?
Cant you tell? Tucker asked, smug enough to boil Rileys good intentions. Were dating again, and shes playing hard to get.
Riley ran his tongue over his teeth. Not another word out of you, demon. Mary Ann? Shed ditched him to go on the run with her cheating, evil ex. Riley had never been more stunnedor more pissed. Youve got witches across the street, fairies here in this building, and both are planning your execution. You can either tell me whats going on now, or tell me after I kill Tucker.
She gulped. Now is fine.
Good choice. Man, she was beautiful. Not just quietly pretty, he realized, but drop-dead beautiful. And, yeah, maybe the fact that hed missed her so much was responsible for the change, but just then she was perfect in every way. Except for the ex. Tucker was an accessory that would not go with any of Mary Anns outfits.
Tucker stood. He wore a T-shirt and a pair of boxers. Both would look so much nicer torn to ribbons. Along with his skin. You want a piece of me, wolf? Then come and get it. Cause your girlfriend sure did earlier.
Another gasp left Mary Ann. You are such a liar! Ive changed my mind, Riley. We can talk after you kill him, she added primly.
He flashed a grin. Until he heard wolf is back! What should we do? The speaker was Jennifer. Through magic, they could watch anyone at any time. Why the hell hadnt he thought of that?
The slaughter will have to wait, he said. Grab your stuff. We need to leave. The witches are watching you. And he needed to do something to stop them.
Okay. Yes. She was pale and trembling as she unfolded from the bed, but her bag was already packed, the same backpack shed left home with, so the moment she slid her feet into her tennis shoes, she was ready.
They were racing into the night a second later.
Tucker, the bastard, followed them. Youll need me, he said, smug again. If you want to succeed.
Like you did such a good job before, Riley snapped.
Shes alive, isnt she?
No arguing with that.
Zip it, both of you, Mary Ann said, exasperated. We can yell and threaten each other when were safe.
He heard her unspoken question: Would they ever be safe? Truly safe? He wanted to reply but zipped his lips as ordered and shifted back to wolf form, the sheet falling away.
Hed make sure she was safe. Whatever he had to do, hed make sure.
NINE
WHEN ADEN FINISHED PLAYING fetch with the beasts, he asked them to return to their hosts. They snorted and groused, but ultimately they obeyed, wanting so badly to please him. After that, he ordered his people to go about their business and no oneno onewas to disturb him.
After that, he spent a few hours walking the grounds (pristine), the house (immaculate), listening to gossip (boring) and ignoring the councilmen, who obeyed his edict to leave him alone but who purposely cast their voices his way as they argued about his future marriage plans (not gonna happen).
They also discussed his coronation ceremony having been canceled because hed been missing, and then picked a new date, agreeing they could have everything ready in a week. Which, miracle of miracles, was nearly the same date as the ceremony theyd canceled, but whatever.
He was king, and he didnt need a coronation to feel the part. Nor did the people need a coronation to follow him. Not after theyd seen what he could do with their beasts.
And nownow he was weary. He found a shirt, pulled it on and spent the rest of the night in the throne room, the power wafting from the wards woven into the carpet quieting the buzzing in his head, comforting him but not reassuring him. At least no one tried to enter, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
He wondered where Victoria was and what she was doing. Fine. He didnt care about either. He just wanted to know who she was doing whatever it was with and kill the guy.
Victoria was his girlfriend. Right? So, warning other males away with violence was his prerogative. Right?
He massaged the back of his neck. Something is wrong with you, Riley had said. Victoria had agreed, and now Aden did as well. He was uncaring, cold and murderous, his emotions dying before they had a chance to grow, his thoughts traveling dark, dangerous paths he didnt understand.
More than that, he knew things he shouldnt. Like the names, faults and strengths of vampires hed never met. Like how blowing the golden horn would summon his allies. Or Vlads. He knew his way around this home. Every secret passage, every forgotten hidey-hole. And his desire to start a war with anyone and everyone who opposed his rule? That topped the list of weird.
He had become someone else.
How was he supposed to fight this when part of him actually liked the changes?
By the time the sun rose, he hadnt yet come up with a decent answer. He was tired, but still too restless to try and sleep. Good thing, too. Being vulnerable in a nest of vipers wasnt wise. On top of that, his meds were wearing off, and the souls were murmuring inside his head. Nothing distinguishable yet but enough to assure him they were with him still.
He was relievedhe supposed.
Mostly, he was hungry. Not for pancakes or cereal or even a bagel, but for blood from a living host. Something else he should care about but didnt. All he wanted was to feed. And he wanted to do it before the souls woke completely and decided to comment about his new eating habits. Although they might understand and accept, considering what theyd witnessed inside the cave.
He stood, his bones creaking from the hours of disuse, and finally strode out of the throne room. He waited, expectant, but the buzzing never started up again.
Two wolves stood sentry at the double doors, one the pure white of a snowflake, the other a rainbow of golds. They followed him as he walked, not even trying to hide their purpose.
Nathan and Maxwell, Rileys brothers. Undoubtedly his new guards. Hed met them before, so it wasnt strange that he knew them. They were good guys, if a bit irreverent.
One of his feet knocked into the other. See? Those werent his thoughts. Nathan and Maxwell were good guys, yeah, but Aden had never considered them irreverent before.
Younger vampires wandered in every direction, blood-slaves trailing behind them, worship glazing their eyes. That could have been me. In the cave, hed craved Victorias bite more than anything in the world. Had wanted to bite her even more than that.
The way his gums throbbed and his teeth ached in a sudden chorus of oh, please, now, he still wanted to bite her. Her, and no one else. And he could do so. He was her king. He would bite her. He had only to find her.
Or not, he realized next. Thats what minions were for.
Minions? Really?
Maybemaybe the only way to fight this strange new part of himself was to do the opposite of what it wanted. He nodded. That made sense. The first hurdle, of course, was Victoria. He yearned to feed from her, therefore he couldnt feed from her. The second hurdle would be telling her they couldnt spend any more time together.
Telling her would require seeing her. A tingle of anticipation swept through him. Deep down, in the part of himself that he did know and did understand, he would cut off an arm to see her.
Take me to Victoria, he commanded the wolves. There would be no sending minions. Not for this.
Nathans ears perked up. Maxwell chomped his teeth at him. Then the pair of them bounded in front of him, a silent demand for him to follow. He did and soon found himself in the backyard. The sun was brighter than usual, and despite the chill in the air, he experienced a rush of burning bristles against his skin. Not enough to send him back inside but just enough to annoy him.
Aden? Is that you? an unsure male voice asked. Julian, alert at last.
Aden should have been happythe soul sounded like himself and hadnt changed like Aden. Yes, he should have been. Its me, he said, and the wolves stopped to look back at him. He waved them forward.