“Love you, too.”
He whipped around to look at the vampyre. “So what’s happening? Can we get her up?”
Reuben nodded. “I had her under mesmerism; it stops her from feeling the pain. I’ll need to be the one to take her up to the infirmary so I can hold her mesmerized.”
The thought of some other guy’s arm around her sent his back up. “No,” he growled.
“Lucien,” Jaeden snapped, unlocking herself from Ryder’s embrace. “Let him take her to the frickin’ infirmary or I’ll stab you next.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. Had everybody completely forgotten he was Alpha? “What did you say?” he asked quietly, dangerously. Sudden realization dawned on her face and Jaeden curled back into Ryder protectively.
His friend eased closer. “Come on,” Ryder pleaded. “Just let the guy do this. If you carry her, her shoulder will be in agony the whole way.”
Lucien glanced back at Caia. She had gotten even paler. “Please,” she whispered weakly.
That was all it took. He nodded jerkily and let Reuben take the reins.
Lucien concentrated on watching the gentle rise and fall of Caia’s chest. He sighed. He was never going to get used to this feeling. Even when she was right there in front of him he was worrying about her. Her lids fluttered in her sleep and he hoped to the gods she wasn’t having nightmares. What she needed right now was a dreamless sleep to help heal the shoulder that had been ripped open. At present she was lying beside him in a huge bed in one of the suites a council member utilized while she stayed at the Coven. Penelope Argyros. She was a kind woman and she seemed to be fond of Caia. Vanne had brought the magik straight up to the infirmary and she had utilized some herbs and magik to seal Caia’s wound. She had then insisted they all use her suite while the Council and Vanne brought the Center to order. While Caia was being treated, Lucien had questioned Vanne on what the hell had been going on. He now knew all about Reuben – the slick bastard – and how Vanne and Saffron had been working for the vampyre all these years. Vanne had been placed as Marita’s husband. He had done his duty. He hadn’t loved Marita, but he had respected and admired her. And then the years passed and he’d grown to dislike the secretive, pretentious and callous shrew she was turning into. After discovering what she had been planning with the labs and especially now that Marion was dead, Lucien could see hatred for the Head of the Coven blazing in Vanne’s eyes. The warlock had gone on to tell Lucien about persuading Alistair MacLachlan of the truth, how they had had to wait thirty minutes before they believed it was really Vanne in their home telling them that Marita was experimenting upon lykan and vampyre children, and that she had imprisoned the Council. After that it had been pretty easy to persuade them to rescue the Council and the kids. According to Caia, Vanne had said the Council members’ families didn’t need persuading. They had been waiting for them at the gymnasium when they had arrived. Lucien shook his head. This time last year he’d thought his biggest worry was what the arrival of his mate (who didn’t know she was his mate) was going to do to his pack. Being part Midnight he hadn’t known whether she would be dangerous to them all, a trouble maker? And then there was the thought of being tied to someone you didn’t know for the rest of your life. Never in a million years would he have suspected Caia’s arrival meant his entire world turning upside down – the Daylight and the Midnight Coven now sharing the same purpose: to see the Head of the Daylight Coven destroyed. He sighed again. Crap, all he ever did these days was c*ck his head and sigh wearily. He brushed Caia’s hair back off her face and thanked the gods that she was still here. Every day his gut twisted with panic that today might be the last day he ever saw her again.
“Stupid son-of-a-bitch,” he whispered. Why couldn’t he have fallen in love with someone simple and uncomplicated? Someone like Rose. Rose, who had joined his pack in the fight against the Center without question when she saw Phoebe fighting off a vampyre from the Center. At this very moment she was in the other room watching TV with Jaeden and the others.
But it wasn’t Rose who ran through his veins as if she were part of his very blood.
“Why are you a stupid son-of-a-bitch?” Caia mumbled and he smiled as her eyes fluttered open.
“Hey you,” he whispered back and leaned over to press a soft kiss on her lips. She smelled like Caia, damp earth of the wolf and the vanilla scent of a magik.
“My shoulder feels better.” She twisted to have a look at it. She wore a nightdress, as the clothes she had been wearing were so drenched in blood one of the witches had insisted on incinerating them with her fire magik. Her shoulder was in one piece again although the scar was still healing. “Hmm nice… dress.” She wrinkled her nose and Lucien chuckled. Getting Caia into anything remotely feminine was like asking the moon to be the sun. In fact, this was probably only the third time he had seen her in something that wasn’t jeans or shorts.
“I like it,” he purred, tugging at one of the straps.
She laughed and reached up for him, her lithe arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him down to her. He went more than willingly, cuddling her into him and breathing deeply of her, reassuring him she was OK.
“I was so worried about you,” she breathed in his ear and he laughed. “What?” she asked pulling back, a cute little frown wrinkling the bridge of her nose.
“You were worried about me?” He shook her gently. “Of the two of us, who disappeared from whom? And who had her shoulder ripped open? Oh and I heard about Marita’s attack,” his voice rose as he continued on, “Apparently you were set on fire and drowned from the inside out!” He knew his tone would annoy her and wasn’t surprised when she wriggled out of his hold and eased herself up into a sitting position. She was so easy to read. She hated being physically and emotionally vulnerable to anyone, and it bothered her that she was with him.
“Lucien, do I have to remind you that this is a war? I’m going to get hurt every now and then.”
He shrugged and turned away. “I’m just saying it would be nice for once to be waking up in bed next to you for a reason other than you having just come under attack.”
“We have… you know…” she started to blush and he struggled not to smile. “You know… there have been times-” she stopped suddenly, watching his expression, her eyes narrowing as realization dawned on her. “You enjoy tormenting me, don’t you?”
“I’ve just never met a lykan as shy about sex as you, that’s all.” He smiled and then gave a bark of laughter as her expression turned mulish.
“That’s what every woman wants to hear. My boyfriend finds me amusing in bed… not sexy… amusing. Shy? Wow. Hot.”
All this talk of sex… he took a deep breath trying to regain some control. But he leaned into her anyway, his lips inches from hers. “Your mate,” he corrected her hoarsely. “Not boyfriend. Mate. And I find your shyness refreshing. I find it even more so when it completely goes out of the window when you’re in my bed.”
He felt her breath shudder against his lips and that was it. His control snapped. Well he was a lykan. He couldn’t help it! Her hair slipped through his fingers as he clasped a hand behind her head and pressed her mouth to his gently. She groaned and kissed him back and when he felt her tongue against his own he growled, kissing her harder.
“Lucien,” she whimpered against his lips and he knew what she wanted. He held her face between his hands, gazing into huge eyes that were, at the moment, glazed with lust.
He trembled with indecision. And then an eruption of laughter from the other side of the door brought him back to reality.
“We can’t.” He shuddered and pulled back. “You need to rest that shoulder… and we have company.”
She was gazing at the door now, a moue of disappointment touching her lips where his had just been. “I hear that.” And then her eyes widened. “For Gaia’s sake! I didn’t even ask what happened. The Center?”
11 – Trigger
Jaeden snuggled deeper into Ryder on the sofa, breathing him in deeply. She felt his arm tighten around her but his gaze never left the television. They were watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the boy wizard was presently pissing off Jim Broadbent’s character.
“Badly done, Harry,” Magnus muttered and Jae hid a snicker in Ryder’s chest. He felt it and squeezed her. He was telling her to quit it. You did not make fun of Magnus when he was watching the Harry Potter movies.
“Do you think Caia is awake?” Rose suddenly asked from her spot on the other sofa next to Alexa.
“Ssh,” Magnus hushed her without looking at her. Jaeden, however, turned to look at her sharply, her gaze narrowing in on the wolf. Jaeden knew from what Caia had told her, Rose was Lucien’s ex-girlfriend. The lykan was watching the double doors to the bedroom. She had been ever since Lucien had closed them behind himself and Caia. Jae did not like the possessive look in Rose’s eyes when she watched Lucien… and she watched him all the time. When the fighting had stopped, Rose had made her way to the infirmary to see Lucien. Jaeden had watched her face when she realized Lucien and Caia were no longer ignoring their mating. Hatred for an unconscious Caia had seared in her eyes. But no one else had seemed to notice, Jae mused. Hmm, didn’t matter. She had. And she was going to be sure to keep an eye out on Rose from now on.
She thought about the state of the Center outside of this suite. The Council had been amazing. They had taken control in a matter of minutes, their combined power washing over the Center and stopping everyone in their tracks. They had ordered everyone into one of the large reception halls and had explained the truth about Marita and the labs downstairs. When Christian and Lucia, along with a couple of magiks, came out of the Altar with the kids in question, the supernaturals could smell the truth in the air and see it on the faces of the traumatized children. Those supernaturals who wished to leave were asked to do so and those who trusted the Council could remain and help place protective spells around the Center to keep Marita out. After the revelations about the labs, though, there were only a few who left. Unfortunately, the kids had to stay to answer some of the Council’s questions so they could find out exactly what had been done to them, especially since the lab techs had all fled at the first sign of trouble. They’re families were being brought in, however, to be with them during the questioning. As for the pack kids, who were in Christian and Lucia’s charge until they returned to the pack, Alfred promised to question them that night so they could return with the pack in the morning. Jaela was too young to be questioned. Thank goddess. Jaeden had been relieved to feel little Jaela in her arms. She had cried and blubbered over her family for a minute or so before the events of the last few days seemed to be forgotten. Thankfully, she was young enough for this to become a distant memory. A lump of anguish lodged itself in her throat as she thought of Sunday, Ivan and Kerianna. Unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same for them. It was going to take them some time to get over what they had had to endure. Damn it, she tensed and Ryder turned to look at her sharply. She shook her head and just rested it against his shoulder again. She was just so mad. They were too young! They shouldn’t have had to go through what she had! And thank the gods it had only been a mild version of it. The day they hunted Marita down was the day Jaeden took a turn tearing into her! The witch was going down! Because of her they had traumatized kids on their hands. One of the MacLachlans had been killed alongside two of the Council’s family members that had been fighting with them. Word had also reached them that Desi, one of the travellers that Caia had apparently befriended, was injured when she had begun fighting on their side. Jae’s own brother had been wounded but he had changed and healed himself. It hadn’t stopped Lucia fluttering around him and Jaela like a mother hen on crack. Jae glanced at Alexa who was watching the television broodingly. She had had quite an eye-opener today. Alexa had been in a tough fight with another lykan. Jae could see her wince every time she shifted in her seat. Over all, though, to their surprise and smug delight, their side had managed to take down a number of the Coven who had fought against them. According to Phoebe, two of them had been Michael Brown, the head of the Third Unit (Vampyre division) and Lyla Thomson, the head of the Second Unit (Lykan division); and ironically, Michael had fought by Caia’s side merely weeks before. They were powerful enemies to have, but thankfully the two of them, like good soldiers, stood down under the Council’s orders. The atmosphere in the Center was horrible. It was full of anxiety and fear and hostility. But the Council were competent and altogether more powerful than Marita, now she didn’t have any goons working for her… well… except for the group of magiks who had left the Center when she had. According to Alfred Doukas she had perhaps ten magiks with her at the moment, but with the trace magik it would be easy for her to find more followers. They had to move fast. At this very moment they were trying to figure out her most likely hiding place and were putting together a plan to capture her.