Authors: Quinn Loftis
Lilly’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Hey, I’m just calling it like I see it. She was furry and ripping through my army. As far as I know, she lived through it. So that’s a plus, right?”
Lilly stared speechless at the witch and then in the blink of an eye the witch was gone.
She looked around as if Mona was going to pop up and yell “boo”.
Cypher let out a deep breath. “She can be very dramatic at times.”
His voice drew Lilly’s attention back to him.
Cypher stood and stared at her, unblinking and unashamedly. It had been a very long time since he had spent any quality time with a female and he couldn’t remember if he had ever been with a female of such beauty.
Lilly cleared her throat, trying to not worry about Jacque because she knew that there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. She could only deal with the situation before her.
“So are you going to throw me in a dungeon or something?” she asked the tall, handsome king. She really wished she hadn’t thought of that last adjective, but truth be told, he was a looker. Jacque would call him eye candy and Lilly would agree.
Cypher smiled and it transformed his hard features. “I don’t have any plans to throw you in a dungeon. I thought you would prefer a room with a bed and human amenities.”
“Huh,” Lilly said, lifting a single eyebrow. “Well, that does sound better than a dungeon.”
“I know you must have questions, and I’m willing to answer them. But I would really like to take care of your immediate needs. Are you hungry?”
Lilly nodded. “But first, can I use the ladies' room?”
Cypher pointed down the hall. “Third door on the right. I’ll just wait here for you.”
Lilly walked to the bathroom, only looking over her shoulder once. Cypher was still watching.
Lilly stepped into the restroom, finding the light on the wall and flicking it on. She closed the door and turned the lock. Letting out a deep breath, she looked in the mirror over the sink. Her face was pale and haggard. She turned on the water and splashed her face with it. A towel hung on a hook and she used it to pat her face and hands dry. She hung the towel back up, laughing at herself for being so cordial in her captor’s house. She shrugged.
Might as well be neat.
She closed her eyes and sighed, knowing she had to stay calm, no matter how badly she wanted to scream for someone to show her where Jacque was. From what she could tell so far, she didn’t think this King Cypher meant her any harm, but Mona had called Lilly his mate. The way she understood “mate” meant a long-term relationship, as in the rest of your
life
long time. So at this point she needed to assume that Cypher had no plans to let her go. He didn’t seem evil, but then again he was working with Mona, and she was most definitely evil.
She jumped when there was a soft knock on the door.
“Lilly,” she heard his voice speak through the door, and the way her name rolled off his tongue sent shivers down her spine.
That’s just rich, Lilly. Your crushing on your warlock captor. Nice one.
“Is everything alright? I know you must be distressed and I will explain all that I can if you will please just trust me when I say I don’t mean you any harm.”
Lilly unlocked the door and pulled it open slowly. She looked up at the towering man – well, not man, but male. His face said he was maybe in his late thirties or early forties, but his eyes said he had seen centuries and centuries. What stories he must be able to tell.
“I would definitely like you to explain.”
He held his hand out to her, a silent request of trust. She stared at it a moment before she finally placed her smaller hand in his. His hand was much larger, and warm. So very warm that she
felt heat move up her arm. She wanted so badly to not feel that warmth, and even more she wanted so badly not to enjoy it. But it had been so long since she had felt any warmth from, well, a man’s touch. And though the term
man
applied loosely to the king, he was all male. And all that maleness was focused on her.
Cypher took her hand and led her to the smallest sitting room in the large mansion. He didn’t want to give her the opportunity to put too much space in between them. He was struggling with what to tell her. He had been excited at the idea of having a mate, but, truthfully, he hadn’t expected to be so attracted to the female that Mona had promised to bring him. Not just attracted to her appearance, but to her spirit as well. She filled up a room when she entered it. The fire in her eyes was enough to stop a male in his tracks. It had sure stopped him.
There was something about her that was so good, so real and so fresh. He hated to dirty that with the truth of what was to come. Maybe he could just give her an overview.
“Desdemona is a powerful witch,” he started. “She came to me with a proposition, and when she mentioned that she could bring me a mate, I couldn’t turn her down.”
Lilly stared up at Cypher as he spoke and watched the way his unusual eyes never left hers, nor did he ever blink. It was a little unnerving.
“Forgive me if I seem a little confused, but why would she have to come all the way to the United States to get you a mate? I mean, it’s not like you are hard on the eyes. Surely she could find you someone closer to home. And why don’t you find a mate that is a warlock like you?”
“You think I’m handsome?” Cypher asked her, pleased.
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Out of all that, that’s all you got? That I think you are good looking?”
“It’s been a long time since I have been with a woman. You will have to forgive me if I do not know the protocol,” he replied stiffly.
“Protocol?” Lilly repeated incredulously. “So you have protocol for having a witch abduct a woman to be your mate? Man, this ought to be good. Please do tell, what exactly is the protocol for such a thing?”
Cypher cleared his throat and considered her response to him. He had obviously upset her.
“I didn’t mean protocol for Mona taking you. I meant for talking to a woman, for being a gentlemen.”
“Well, for starters, you don’t kidnap her.” Lilly shook her head in exasperation. “Just saying.”
Cypher let out a low growl as he stood abruptly. Lilly flinched at the quick movement.
“My people are dwindling. We have no females. The magic in this world is failing because the Fae have locked themselves behind their veil and refuse to be bothered. It is the only hope of my race. I’m their King. A King with no Queen, and no heirs. I need you. I will not harm you. You will want for nothing. Those things I can promise you.” Cypher was breathless, his nerves on edge because he didn’t understand the feelings he was having toward a human woman he had just met.
“What about my daughter?” Lilly raised a single eyebrow at him. “What can you promise me about her?”
“Who is your daughter?” Cypher asked cautiously. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“She is the mate to Fane Lupei, the son of the Romanian wolves' Alpha.”
Cypher let out what sounded like a hiss.
“Vasile.” He whispered the name like an accusation.
“That’s correct,” Lilly confirmed, not picking up on the rage that had begun to cloak Cypher.
Desdemona had not bothered to tell him that the woman she'd singled out to be his mate was the mother of the Alpha’s daughter in-law. This was not good.
“I don’t know anything about your daughter,” he told her truthfully. “I know who Vasile is, and I met him once, many, many years ago. How does Mona know of your daughter?”
Lilly shrugged as she stood and began to walk around the room, looking at her surroundings. “When Mona called me she was pretending to be Alina,” she glanced over her shoulder at Cypher, “Vasile’s mate. She told me that they wanted to surprise Jacque and bring me to see her here in Romania. I knew something was off, but I played along anyway.”
“Wait,” he interrupted. “What do you mean you knew something was off? You knew she possibly meant you harm and you came with her anyway?” Cypher knew his voice had taken on a rough quality, but it angered him to think that Lilly had knowingly placed herself in danger.
“I will do whatever I have to in order to protect my daughter. If that means getting on a plane because a witch pretends to be inviting me to see her, then I will fly on the damn plane if I need to.”
Cypher didn’t respond. He simply watched as she continued to look around the room. He was lost in thought, finally realizing exactly what Mona had gotten him into. He did not want to be on the bad side of an Alpha, especially not one as powerful as Vasile. Cypher himself was powerful, there was no question about that, and if it was just Vasile against him, that might be an equal battle, but add Vasile’s wolves into the mix and the scales tipped. Besides, Cypher had nothing against the wolves, he just wanted a mate. He hadn’t planned for the two to intersect.
He knew that Mona wanted him to open the veil to let out the hoard of demons and he had planned to help her do just that, but there was something deep inside him that was telling him he wouldn’t follow through. Oh, he may appear to be doing what she asked, but he could find some way to foil her plan. Now, seeing Lilly in his house, seeing such goodness left in the world, he knew he wouldn’t help Mona. If he could convince Lilly to stay with him, to maybe one day love him, he would move heaven and earth.
“It’s late,” he told her in a soft, deep voice. “Let me show you to your room so you can get some rest. I need to think.”
Lilly followed him without a word. He led her up a flight of stairs and turned right down a hall. They passed three doors until he finally stopped at one on the right. He opened the door for her and turned on the light.
“There is a bathroom inside that should have everything you need. Your bag is in here as well.” Cypher turned to leave her for the night but stopped when she placed a small hand on his large arm. He looked down at the hand on his arm and then into the whiskey-colored eyes of its owner.
“You don’t seem evil to me,” she said softly. “Why are you working with Desdemona? What could she possibly offer you that would be worth it?”
Cypher turned so that his body was flush with hers. He took a step closer and took a deep breath, taking in her delicate scent.
His eyes locked meaningfully with hers when he spoke.
“You,” he told her. “She offered me you.”
“'Who am I to you?' That’s what she asked me. 'Who am I to you?' I told her ‘You are my friend, my mate, my beloved; you are all the things I need and all the things I don’t deserve. That’s who you are, Sally. You are mine.'” ~ Costin
Costin walked with Sally and Drake to the bar the next evening. Things had been tense ever since Sorin had met his met. Decebel had ordered everyone but Costin, Sally, and Drake to stay in their rooms until he said otherwise. Costin had agreed that it was best that not everyone returned to the bar, especially after what had happened. They had drawn a lot of unnecessary attention to themselves. Though unintentional, it was still not good.
“How was Sorin when you talked to him?” Sally asked.
“He’s good, just a little off-kilter.”
“I can imagine. He’s been alone a long time. I’m so glad that he found his mate. We were all rooting for him.” Sally smiled up at the night sky.
Costin and Drake both laughed.
“You were rooting for him?” Costin asked playfully.
Sally pushed him. “Shut up. We hated seeing him alone when others were finding their mates.” She looked over at Drake. “Sorry Drake, I didn’t mean to…”
Drake cut her off with a wave and a smile. “No worries, Sally,” he told her. “Mine’s out there somewhere. She’s just not ready for me yet.”
Sally smiled back and then laughed when Costin pulled her closer to him.
“Problem?”
she asked him, using their bond.
“You’re smiling an awful lot at someone who isn’t me.”
Sally laughed again as they arrived at the bar and Costin pulled the door open. He walked in first and after determining it was safe for Sally, he ushered her in.
“You find that amusing?” he asked her as they continued toward the bar and Drake broke off from them, heading to the back of the room.
“It’s just weird to see you be possessive, that’s all.”
Costin’s eyes began to glow as he paused just behind the counter.
“Make no mistake, Sally. I love to have fun and can cut up with the best of them, but when it comes to you, there is nothing I am more serious about. You are mine. As long as you and everyone else remember that, then all will be fine. If anyone forgets that, if they think that because of my
good nature that I will be okay with anything less than the way Decebel expects Jen to be treated, they will be making the biggest and last mistake of their lives.”
Sally stared in awe at her mate as she saw his wolf stare at her through his eyes. Costin was fun and lighthearted, but as she stared into his hazel glowing eyes, she saw that Costin was also deadly – very, very, deadly.
“Now,” he said in a totally different voice and a big grin on his face, “let’s show these fine patrons what a fantastic bartender I am.”
Sally snorted. “We really should work on your self-esteem.”
“I know, I know. I really don’t think very highly of myself.”
Sally watched Costin greet new customers, pour drinks, and occasionally make the bottles dance in his hands doing fancy bartender tricks. He would turn back and wink at her to make sure she was watching anytime he performed a nifty maneuver.
It was during one of the times when Costin was chatting amiably with a guy who had just sat down that Sally overheard a conversation going on to her left. Distinctly she caught the words,
pixies, spell, witch
and
price
. She listened harder, trying to figure out exactly which order those words went in. She knew that the
group that Jacque and Fane were with was
supposed to be meeting the pixies.
Sally picked up a round tray that she had seen one of the few waitresses that worked here holding – whenever they felt like it, it seemed – and walked out onto the floor. She went slowly around the table where the conversation was taking place. In the guise of cleaning dirty glasses off the tables and wiping crumbs off of them, she listened.
“I’m usually hunting in the Carpathian Mountains this time of year,” the guy in a long black jacket with messy black hair said. His eyes seemed to glow slightly and something in Sally told her he was a werewolf.
“So why aren’t you there now? Why are you way down here?” the other guy asked.
“It’s like I said, the pixies are all in a tizzy. The witch has offered them something they can’t resist, apparently, because they have protection spells all over the forest. She must be desperate if she wants something badly enough to petition the pixies. You know how temperamental they can be.”
Sally realized that she had caught their attention when they stopped talking. She looked over and smiled innocently.
“Hello,” the one with the messy dark hair said. She realized that he had been speaking really fluently in English the entire time.
“What’s your name?” His eyes were kind and his tone of voice didn’t indicate that he wanted to do anything other than talk. She glanced over at Costin, who had his back to her.
“I’m Sally,” she told him.
As soon as she spoke, both of the guys froze. She herself became still.
“Is everything okay?” she asked them cautiously
“Healer,” the light-haired one whispered.
Sally’s eyes got big. She realized then that both of the men had gotten a glazed look – it almost seemed like they were in a trance.
“What did you say?” She turned so that Costin couldn’t see the guy’s faces.
“You are a healer,” the dark-haired one answered.
“Yes, what does that mean to you?”
He let out a slow breath. “You are unmated. You are a healer and unmated.” His voice was becoming more urgent as he spoke, and Sally realized that she
wasn't
bonded and they didn’t know she was Costin’s.
“No, no, you are mistaken,” she told them quickly. “I have a mate. It’s Costin.” She pointed over her shoulder to the bar. “He’s my mate.”
“You do not bear his mark,” the light-haired one said, not unkindly, simply as an observation.
“You should not be walking around un-bonded. You are a healer.”
Sally was growing frustrated with their inexplicable responses.
“Why does it matter that I’m a healer?”
“Your mate must be young if he doesn’t understand.”
Again with the vague answers. Sally growled. Then she stiffened as she felt Costin’s eyes land on her. She saw the other two men begin to slowly stand. She turned to see Costin moving swiftly toward her. He took her hand and gently pulled her behind him.
“Hello, gentlemen,” Costin said in English. Both of the wolves took a step back.
“We mean her no harm,” the dark-haired one said.
“Why aren’t you bonded to her yet?” the one with the lighter hair asked and based on the snarl that came from Costin, that was not a question he appreciated being asked.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but she is new to our world.”
They both nodded.
The room was quiet and thick with anticipation as Costin continued to stare at the two wolves. They had dropped their eyes, instantly recognizing Costin’s dominance over them. Sally’s head whipped around when the door to the bar opened. Decebel came striding in with Jen in tow. Decebel looked hastily around the room, assessing the situation. He made eye contact with Drake and trusted him to watch their backs.
As he approached Costin and the others, he held up a hand to stop the unknown wolves from moving back again.
“You do not want to continue moving backward. You know this. You will simply provoke his wolf to hunt,” Decebel told them coolly.
“Decebel,” the dark-haired one acknowledged, and dropped his eyes and exposed his neck. “Didn’t know you were Alpha again.”
“Many things have changed.”
“Costin, this is Creed and Josef. They are members of the Bulgarian pack.” Decebel motioned to the two wolves. “This is Costin, my Beta, and his mate and our pack healer, Sally.”
The two wolves bared their necks to Costin and bowed their heads to Sally. Both stared at her as if she were a precious stone.
“How long, Decebel, has it been since there’s been a healer?” Creed asked him, his eyes never leaving Sally.
Costin began to growl as he watched the wolf stare at his mate.
“Creed, it would be wise to look away,” Decebel told him.
Creed’s eyes dropped from Sally and looked toward Decebel, though not in his eyes.
“Why are they not bonded, Decebel?” Creed’s voice was earnest. “Do you not remember the importance of healers being bonded to their mates?”
Decebel snorted. “There hasn’t been a healer in so long, and I no longer remember their place or effect on the pack,” he admitted without shame.
“She will draw wolves to her, especially damaged wolves. If she were bonded, that pull would be only because they were seeking healing, but un-bonded, she is a temptation to other needs besides that.”
Costin snarled and Sally grabbed his arm. She wrapped an arm around his waist and snuggled in close to him, trying to get his attention on her and off of the other males.
“Look at me,” she whispered.
Costin looked down, his eyes glowing, but his face softened.
“I am yours,” she told him with a smile. “Only yours.”
Costin leaned down and kissed her soundly on the lips for all to see. He looked back up at the other males smugly. Sally looked over at Jen who had crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
“Men,” she mouthed at Sally in exasperation.
“How do you know this?” Costin asked the males, now that he felt he had made it perfectly clear to whom Sally belonged.
Creed answered, “Our pack had a healer, a very long time ago. We have records on her. We are very good about keeping our pack educated on these things. It will not do good to forget our history.”
Decebel nodded. “It seems that we have spent much time looking forward and not much looking back.”
Josef nodded. “It’s important to remember where we come from, and what we've been through.”
Jen stepped up next to her mate and smiled sweetly. “Not to interrupt up this little meeting of the Confucius -” Jen waved them off. “Who am I kidding? I totally mean to interrupt. What you guys are saying, just for clarification purposes, is that Sally is like a wolf magnet?”
Creed and Josef looked at Jen and then at Decebel. Decebel let out an exasperated breath.
“Gentlemen, this is my mate Jennifer. She is a force to be reckoned with, and I usually do not try. Do not flirt with her and you will live to see tomorrow.” He added that last bit with a low growl.
Creed and Josef nodded toward Jen but didn’t make eye contact or speak to her.
Jen slapped Decebel’s arm. “How am I going to make friends if you are always scaring them?”
Decebel gave her a wolfish grin. “You won't.”
Jen rolled her eyes.
Creed cleared his throat. “Um. Basically, yes, she is a wolf magnet. The healing spirit, the purity and light calls us to her. It’s part of the reason she can work with injured werewolves and not risk getting her arm torn off.”
Costin pulled Sally tightly to him and glared at the two wolves. “Mine,” he growled.
“Easy.” Decebel’s eyes met Costin’s. Costin held them for a heartbeat, then dropped his gaze.
“It would be wise of him to complete the blood rites with her as soon as possible,” Creed told Decebel.
“Thank you, Creed, Josef. I appreciate your help, as does Costin.”
Costin had begun to lead Sally away when she called back over her shoulder.
“Wait,” she said urgently. “Tell Dec what you guys were saying about the pixies and the witch and stuff.”
Costin froze and turned slowly to pin the two wolves with his hazel eyes.
“I was telling Josef that I usually hunt in the Carpathian Mountains this time of year, but the forest is a mess with spells and magic right now,” Creed explained.
“What do you mean 'a mess'?” Decebel asked carefully.
“The pixies are casting magic on anything and everything that comes through there. The witch has promised them something, something that is significant enough for them to choose a side.”
Decebel murmured his thanks to the two wolves again and pulled Costin aside.
“I will see if I can get in touch with Vasile. You need to finish out the night here, then you need to deal with your mate.” Decebel met Costin’s eyes. “Are we clear?”
Costin nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”
Sally let Costin tug her back toward the bar.
Jen was glaring at her mate.
“Did you just tell him to deal with his mate?” she growled.
“Jennifer, not now.” Decebel took her hand and led her to the door of the bar. Jen turned and looked at Sally and smiled in encouragement.
“I got this, Sal. Don’t worry, okay?” she hollered to her best friend above the noise.
Sally gave a short nod.