“I say we let the Hob question her.”
Constance stilled. “Robin Goodfellow is here?”
The terror in her voice proved she was smarter than she seemed. “Yes. He is.”
At that point the real struggle began. Constance pivoted in Jaden’s grip, ignoring the long scratches that appeared from his claws. She lashed out with her foot, catching him the upper thigh. Her elbow flew back, catching Akane in the throat. Akane’s grip loosened and the Sidhe was free.
“Oh goody. I was hoping for a fight.” Jaden laughed and went on the attack, dancing around the Sidhe with lazy grace. His hands moved, and small cuts appeared on Constance’s face. He licked his lips at the sight of the blood. “You’re not getting out of here alive.”
“I know.” She reached up and clasped the simple onyx pendant around her neck.
Neither of them could have predicted what happened next. The explosion damn near destroyed the safe house, sending both Jaden and Akane flying. Akane unfurled her wings, halting her flight through the air. Jaden didn’t fare so well. The vampire plummeted, knocked cold by something that left a bleeding gash on his forehead.
She flew down and scooped the vampire up in her arms, racing skyward in an effort not to be seen. Jaden was unconscious, unable to help. There was no sign of Constance.
She hoped the bitch had been blown to smithereens.
Akane flew over the house just to make sure and blinked. One room remained standing amidst the rubble. One room in perfect, horrific order. Akane hovered over the room and stared at the black sludge that coated the walls, the floor, every bit of furniture within. Only the ceiling was gone, the victim of the explosion. Akane wasn’t sure why when not even the furniture had overturned.
Then the scent hit her, that acrid, horrible stench of the
She blew, burning the room to ash in the blink of an eye. She didn’t have to worry about someone caught in the flames. From the looks of things Robin was already gone, his job done, his erstwhile son either dead or close to it.
When she was sure none of the sludge had survived her fire, Akane took off, Jaden cradled in her arms. There was still no sign of Constance, but Akane couldn’t worry about the Sidhe now. If Constance had survived, she wouldn’t stay alive for long. If the Dark Queen didn’t take her out for her failure to capture Leo, Akane would see to it that she died a long, lingering death by fire.
Akane headed home, already aware that Shane had been saved.
Shane blinked. The visions before him weren’t swirling, twirling, puking, hurling or otherwise doing something that would make him want to do any of the above. Moira was staring down at him, her eyes red from crying. Duncan, pale and trembling, held a hand to his head.
“Hello.”
Shane looked up into a face too long to be pretty, too interesting to be called plain. Her full, bow-shaped lips were curved in a smile. Her nose was slightly crooked, as if she’d broken it at some point and it hadn’t quite healed right. Her eyes were absolutely huge even in her human Seeming, a turquoise so bright Shane blinked to see if they were real. Their most dazzling aspect was the intelligence and humor that lit them from within. Her forehead was really a fivehead, further elongating her face. She’d made an attempt to hide it with bangs, but then she’d pushed half of those bangs back with a headband. The ends stuck out of the back of the headband, giving her an odd, rooster-like look. She had a sharp, pointed chin and quirked, full eyebrows. Her hair in her Seeming was brown, but it would be sea green in her true form.
Shane smiled. “Hello.” There she was. He’d been wondering when she would show up.
“My name’s Cassie.” Long fingers brushed back his hair. In the background Sal barked happily. “You gave us quite a scare.”
“It was a lot less pleasant on my end.” Shane’s throat ached. His voice sounded weak and scratchy, like he’d been screaming. He probably had been, but he didn’t remember it.
“Those were some mighty powerful visions you were having.” Duncan sat wearily beside Shane’s bed. His gray gaze was full of speculation. “How many of them will come to pass?”
Shane shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Well. That just sucks.” Duncan ran a hand through his hair wearily. “Some of them involved Jaden and Moira.”
“I know.” And Shane was now on the path to ensure they never came to pass, but there were still forces out there that would try and make them come true. “Jaden’s hurt.”
Duncan stared at him in disbelief before sighing. “I agree with Jaden. You
Shane nodded even though Duncan wasn’t looking. “Would you look at him? He took a powerful blow to the head.”
Cassie nodded. “What race is he?”
“Part vampire, part Robin Goodfellow, all pain in the ass.”
She blinked, amusement once more lighting her face and turning it from plain to riveting. “Ah. That should be interesting.”
Shane chuckled. “Understatement of the century. Jaden’s something else.” He tried to sit up, startled to find how weak he was. He could barely get his head off the pillow. “Akane will be here soon too.”
Long, slender hands pushed him back down with ease. “I’ll send her in as soon as she gets here, I promise.”
A fragment of a vision floated before him and Shane gasped. “Who’s after you?”
She froze just long enough to confirm his vision. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But the warmth that had been so much a part of her was closed off now, her bearing chilly and stand-offish. She’d closed down on him, and Shane would have to be careful what he said from here on out.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. Your business is your own.” He made sure to get just the right amount of sincerity and regret in his voice. Eventually he’d see exactly what he needed to see. It would come to him in time.
His part in this was almost over.
She thawed a bit, smiling at him once more. “Thank you. Now rest! Or you’ll undo all the hard work I just did.”
Shane allowed himself to do just that, drifting off to the sound of a softly sung lullaby.
Akane landed in front of the Dunne house. She took just enough time to hand over the still-unconscious Jaden to his two mates before rushing off to Shane’s studio. She didn’t care that she could feel him deep inside, knew he was all right. She had to see it with her own eyes.
She slammed into the studio at full tilt, only stopping long enough to shut the door to the cold. She raced into his small bedroom and sagged in relief.
Her big man was curled up on his side, one hand under his cheek. The other clutched the puzzle box he’d given her for her birthday. Akane smiled at the sight. She opened her inner vision to check him with that, just in case they’d missed anything again.
Something inside the puzzle box gleamed, glittering like a gem. Akane narrowed her eyes and did her best to ignore it, but the damn thing kept calling to her sight. “What the hell. Why not.”
She went to the bed and gently lowered herself onto it. She took the puzzle box from his hand, glad her action hadn’t awakened him. She studied the golden box once more.
Damn, her mate did fine work. She recognized several of the symbols he’d carved into the box, like the…wait. Wasn’t that the tattoo that had appeared on her arm? She glared at him for a split second before realizing exactly how futile it was to be pissed over it. The man had a good idea she was eventually going to accept the mating. Her dragon half and his Sidhe half would have ensured it no matter how desperately she tried to get away.
Still. There were times when he was a seriously freaky dude. “We are going to have the weirdest children.”
