Bastard. I’m not scared of you. Okay, so I am, but I’m not running from you.
“Taylor! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
I just bet you have.
“I’ve been here and there. Needed some time after Grandma’s passing.”
“Right. Can we go somewhere and talk?”
“No. We were about to start on dinner, so you can say whatever it is you need to before me and Cale.”
“Yes, Cale. Your boyfriend.”
He called himself my boyfriend.
“What about him?”
“I didn’t know you were dating anyone. When did this start?”
She narrowed her gaze. “None of your business. What did you need to see me about? We have plans for the evening.”
The men behind him moved and she glanced up to see Tiarnán entering, his broad shoulders forcing the others out of his way.
Jeremy frowned and glanced between all three of them. “Wait, is he one of your boyfriends as well?”
Tiarnán stiffened before peering at her with one eyebrow raised a bit.
Oh yeah, this is going to be fun.
She plastered a smile on her face. “Of course. We’re all one happy couple.”
Cale pinched her on the ass, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. Not yet.
“I found out a while ago I needed two men to make me happy, sexually.”
Colour drained from his face. She blinked and leaned into Cale. “Did I shock you? I’m sorry. I thought we were old enough to speak frankly.”
“What…what about Dale?” He gestured behind him.
She looked at the boy she used to date. Boy, not man. She waved at him. “What about him? He wasn’t good enough in bed and wasn’t all that fun. These two are…wow.”
Jeremy cleared his throat, tried unsuccessfully to wipe the shock from his face and said, “I need the charm from Grandma.”
“Sorry. She gave it to me, I’m not giving it over to you.” She licked her lips, fortified by the knowledge the two men with her would keep her safe. At least for now. “I know you’re trying to kill me, but know this. I don’t have it on me so if you do, you’ll still never get your greedy hands on it.”
“Kill you? You’re family.”
“Family you’ve never wanted. We really don’t have anything to say to one another, so why don’t you leave?”
He shook his head. “I’d really hoped it wouldn’t come to this.” Jeremy drew his piece and the others who’d fanned out before the door did as well.
Five guns pointed at them. Fear? Yep, she had it in spades.
Cale moved his body in front of her. “You want to put them away.”
“No. I want that fucking pendant.”
“One last chance.” Cale’s tone was hard and unyielding.
“There’s five of us and three of you.”
Cale shook his head. “Actually there’s two of you and three of us.”
“Need to learn to count, dude.”
Cale shrugged and she counted.
Shit. He’s right. What happened to the others?
“Where’d they go?” she asked.
“Tiarnán.” Cale’s explanation was relaxed.
“And he left two for you why?”
“He wanted me to feel like I was protecting you.”
Jeremy glanced over his shoulder and saw he was alone with Dale. There was no sign of the other men he’d arrived with. “What the fuck, man?”
Cale moved with a blur of explosive motion. Taylor saw it happen but wasn’t sure she believed it. In less time than it took her to blink, he’d disarmed and knocked Dale unconscious. Jeremy was between Cale and the wall, feet off the ground as Cale shoved his face up to his.
She wasn’t sure what to do. Should she stop him? Would he kill Jeremy?
Chapter Eight
Cale snarled at the man he held against the wall. He wanted to reach in through Jeremy’s mouth and rip out his spine. The man’s eyes were wide with fear and panic.
“Let me make one thing clear,” he rumbled. “You look at Taylor sideways again and think that in some way you can get that pendant she received from her grandmother, not to mention kill her, I will introduce to you a world of pain you can’t even begin to imagine.”
“You can’t do this,” Jeremy sputtered.
He sneered. “I’m doing it. You’re alone now. The
crew
you travelled with isn’t here to back you up. Do you really think you can take me? You hide behind the threat of your gun, now you don’t even have that anymore.”
“She’s my family and I don’t know what lies she’s told you, but I don’t want to kill her. We’ve been searching for her to bring her home.”
Cale’s power moved within him and he struggled to control it. Never before had the urge to kill been so strong within him. “No woman stays in a place where there are huge bugs on the floor for no reason when she has a home to go to unless death awaits her there. Your lies reek and I despise people who can’t own up to what they’ve done.”
Jeremy’s expression grew defiant. “Fine. We wanted to kill the bitch. She shouldn’t have been part of the family anyway. She was only around because grandmother refused to let one of her father’s offspring, no matter how illegitimate, not be in the family. She always said we had to own up to our mistakes. And that’s what she is, a mistake.”
Cale tightened his hand around the neck he held. Jeremy gasped but still maintained his smug arrogance.
“She wasn’t ever wanted. Not by any of us.”
“So why try to kill her? Why not just let her go?”
“That pendant is worth millions. We looked it up one day before she died and had plans to sell it. When the old bitch died she gave it to
her.
”
“Which is where it will stay. Listen to me and listen well. You even sneeze in her direction again and I’ll find you. When I do, you’ll wish you were dead because I’m really good at making your desire for death last a long time.”
“You can’t threaten me.”
“I just did. And if she wasn’t here watching us right now, I’d kill you. Just because I don’t think you’re anything more than a waste of oxygen and space in the universe. You and your stupid friends.” He took another deep breath to try to calm down. “Let me repeat this. Taylor is mine, got it?
Mine.
And I will die to protect her, and go through whomever or whatever is sent after her to keep her safe. You don’t know what you’re messing with because if you think by killing me, you’ll get to her, you’re wrong. She’s well protected and will always be.” He leaned closer. “Forget her, forget the pendant. Live longer.”
“You and I will meet again.”
Cale’s smile was feral. “I do hope so. I can’t wait to strip the flesh from your bones. This was a warning meeting. I see you again, I will learn what your blood looks like.”
“You’re sick, man.”
“I’m a man who will do anything to protect his woman.” Sparks began to flash along his skin.
“What…what is that?”
“My power.”
“Power?” Jeremy’s word more resembled a gasp than anything.
“Yes.” He stared down his nose at Jeremy. “Do us both a favour and never show your face around us again.”
“What about my friends?”
“Hope they’re still alive, I don’t know. Tiarnán is the warrior and looks at Taylor as his. He’s very protective of her as well.”
“We’ll go, let me down and we’ll go.”
Cale squeezed tighter then dropped him. Jeremy hit the ground with a whimper and rubbed at the mark on his neck before scrambling to his feet and bolting out of the door. Cale turned once he’d vanished to spy the woman standing behind him. Taylor watched him with wide eyes and her hands were knotted before her.
He beckoned to her. “Come here.”
She followed his directive and moved into his embrace. Cale wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose into her hair.
“He’ll not bother you again.”
“I thought you were going to kill him.”
“I wanted to,” he admitted.
She didn’t move away. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Why?”
“He’s an asshole and a jerk, but I don’t want you to have his death on your conscious.”
“Make no mistake, Taylor Kenyon. I would kill for you. And I’d die for you.”
She pulled back, staring intently at his expression. “Why?”
“Why?”
She nodded.
“Because you are my mate.”
“But that could have been anyone.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Yes. You didn’t know who would set off that spark thingy. It could have been anyone. I’m not special and while I thank you for standing up to Jeremy for me, I don’t need more than that.”
“You aren’t seeing what I do.” He had to get her to understand.
“So explain it to me.”
He led her to the couch and sat beside her. Propping an arm along the back, he held her hand with his other.
“You see this as you could have been anyone. That any person could be sitting here with me that causes the rainbow display of sparks.”
“Exactly.”
He brushed back a few strands of the diagonal fringe from her forehead and allowed his touch to linger along her smooth skin before returning his hand to the couch.
“Allow me to enlighten you, Taylor. I see this,
us
, as something beyond our comprehension. I’m sitting across from a woman who was handpicked for me. There could be no other because not any other person could give me what you can. The Guardians have been given a task that’s dangerous. We didn’t have a choice, but we’re given…extra to help us deal with it. The ones who are our mates don’t have extras like we have, and in my estimation, they have to be extremely special to put up with us and what we’re going to go through.” He squeezed her hand. “You are, in my estimation, the stronger of the two of us. And you were put here for me. No one else has the strength to do what you will and give to me that which I need.”
She tipped her head to the side and he gave a small smile.
“You, Taylor, out of the millions of people in the world, were picked for me. That doesn’t make you ‘just anyone’, it makes you so special and unique.”
“What are we going to go through?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. If I knew, I’d let you know. But I haven’t a clue and Lian isn’t exactly being forthcoming with whatever it is on the horizon for us.” He spied the flash of fear and uncertainty in her eyes and squeezed her hand. “I will protect you.”
“What about you? Who’s going to protect you?”
He jerked his head towards the door. “Well, I do have Wolverine at my back.”
While shaky, she at least produced a smile. “I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.” Turning her head, she asked, “Where is he?”
“Tiarnán took them somewhere else.”
“So we’re alone?”
He stared at her and nodded. “Completely and utterly.”
Heat flared in her eyes as her pupils dilated. “Good to know.”
“We need to talk.”
“Oh, the misty thing is happening. Someone contacting you?”
He grunted. “Billy.” Damn the man for interrupting him now.
Taylor allowed her touch to skim over his cock before she got to her feet. “Handle what you need to. I’ll fix some food. Will Tiarnán be back for the meal?”
He turned his head and watched her walk, the sway of her hips making him think of things that had nothing to do with talking to Billy at all. Nor did it deal with thinking about Tiarnán. “Nope.”
“Okay.”
“What is it, Billy?”
“Edmond figured out the other symbols, both on the chain and pendant.”
“And this couldn’t wait until we got back?”
“No. Listen. The symbol on the pendant we didn’t know before is
storm
. However, when we ran the ones from the chain through the system we got hit.”
“A hit?”
“No. Hits as in someone was looking specifically for those words. Members of The New Order. So they’re on even higher alert now. There’ve been some odd sightings going on over in Scotland, which Lian has said to be the work of Uma. I’m going over there to see what I can find. Maybe I will hit paydirt and find another artefact.”
“Be careful.”
“You know me, I always am. But I am also a thief, so I can steal it if that’s what it comes down to. He just thinks that if Uma or some of the ones with her are there, they must have a lead.”
“How does that work though, if there’s no sign of anything between this person and their mate?”
“They may just know what the artefact should look like and be after it. If it’s in a museum or buried somewhere, perhaps I can get to it and bring it back to the vineyard for safe keeping.”
“When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow I’m heading out. I won’t see you until I get back. So stay safe.”
“You too.”
Their connection broke off and Cale sat there for a moment, running over what he’d just learnt.
“Everything okay?”
Pivoting around so he could see Taylor, he was touched by the concern in her expression. “I hope so.”
Taylor watched him as the mist that surrounded him when he talked in his mind to his brethren settled back into his skin. She could stare at him all day without it being a problem.
It’d be perfectly okay by me to do so.
Right now, it seemed something was wrong. “You hope so? What’s going on?”
In for a penny, in for a pound. She was in this and might as well learn as much as she could.
“Billy is going to Scotland.”
“How wonderful.” She pursed her lips, canting her head to the side. “Isn’t it?”
“I’m not so sure. There’ve been reports of some destruction going on over there. Lian said it sounds like one of the creatures we’re going to have to fight against. So he, Billy, is heading there to see if they’ve discovered an artefact.”
Destruction? What the hell am I missing by not watching the news?
“What happens if they have? He can’t take it from them, can he?”
I’m talking about ‘they’ and ‘them’ as if I’m part of this whole insane fiasco.
“Before he came to the vineyard, Billy was a thief. And a damn good one. His skills haven’t diminished. If anything, they’ve gotten better. His sign is the monkey and it’s given him an added bonus of agility and sneakiness. So he can take it from them if they have it.”
“You’re concerned for what reason, then?”
“We’re not so close if he needs us.”