Jacob's Trial [Forbidden Legacy 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

Forbidden Legacy 2

Jacob’s Trial

New alliances are threatened…

Wizard Jacob, Fae Helcyon, and their paramour Cassandra have set up a household together. Jacob and Helcyon have accepted the other in Cassie's life, but they must work to realize that they need each other too in order to become a true trio.

Dark pacts are revealed…

The Fae are trending worldwide, but the arrival of many dangerous beings, old foes, and new friends bring about charges of treason for Jacob and a new danger for Cassie. Intrigue closes in on all sides as factions jockey for power on the divided Wizard Council.

One legacy may unite them…

Helcyon and Jacob are determined to keep the woman they love safe, but danger lurks at every turn and the old ways threaten their future.

Genre:
Contemporary, Fantasy, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length:
63,769 words
 

Forbidden Legacy 2

Heather Long

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

JACOB’S TRIAL

E-book ISBN:
978-1-61926-731-2

First E-book Publication: July 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

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Jacob’s Trial
 by Heather Long from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

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This is Heather Long’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Long’s right to earn a living from her work.

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www.SirenPublishing.com

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For Kristi, who wanted more Hels and Jacob.

JACOB’S TRIAL

Forbidden Legacy 2

HEATHER LONG

Copyright © 2012

Helcyon’s sword flashed through the air, slicing toward Jacob’s throat only to be caught between his hands. Jacob was both a Homeland Security Agent and Wizard. A vibrating hum ripped through the room. Cassie stared at them both with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Are you out of your mind?” They were currently occupying the mansion’s solarium. Morning sunshine poured in the broad windows, warming every surface.

“No,” Jacob said slowly, giving a push with his hands to send the blade back to the Elf. “You need to learn to defend yourself.”

Cassie pointed a long painted nail first at Jacob and then at Helcyon. “No.”

“Cassandra.” Helcyon’s voice carried the patience of the ages, his stance relaxed. “The Wizard is correct. Self-defense is vital to your survival.”

“And I’m still not learning how to use a sword.” She wrinkled her nose at both of them, nibbled on a cruller, and pointedly returned her attention to the digital tablet in her lap. In the week since their announcement went live on every major news network, the shit had literally hit the fan about the Fae. Appointment calls poured in from late-night television, daytime television, newspapers, and Congress. She’d expected them all, even the calls from congressional leaders. She simply hadn’t imagined they’d come all at once.

“Cassie.” Jacob stalked toward her, and she barely managed to wrap her fingers around the tablet before he tried to tug it away. “This is important.”

“Yes.” She yanked the tablet back to her chest, wrapping her arms securely around it. “It is important. I don’t have an assistant to field these calls. I need to review every single one.”

Her heart spasmed on the word “assistant.” Billy had been dead for two weeks.

Two.

It seemed impossible that in less than two weeks she’d gone from footloose media consultant to coveted Fae-human liaison. More impossible that she’d gone from overworked professional woman to up to her eyeballs with two of the most gorgeous and loving men she’d ever met. Well, when they weren’t arguing. She glared up at Jacob, meeting his hot, demanding stare with steel.

Typically she wore contacts to cover up her previously green, now supernaturally colored eyes. A byproduct of a blinding spell, her men wanted the hue disguised whenever she was in public. They cited safety, security, and simplicity. It wasn’t a point she felt the need to argue. At home, she skipped the contacts, so she knew he was staring into her gold eyes the same way she watched the gold flecks in his liquid brown eyes warm to flinty points. Behind him, Helcyon sighed.

The sound dragged her attention to the Elf. He and Jacob were so alike and yet so wildly different. Helcyon was the dark to Jacob’s light in looks. Silky, midnight-black hair poured down his back, and warm, mysterious forest-green eyes softened whenever his gaze touched her face.

Her heart squeezed. They were amazing. Both of them.

“Dammit, Cassie.” Jacob’s fist came down on the arm of the chair, and she pursed her lips, bracing for the argument that always erupted when she fought back against the total obedience he demanded. She understood his need to protect her, a need that just seemed to escalate after they captured Michael. He was still pissed that the Glashtyn, the Fae vehicle he traveled in, chose to aid her and demonstrated remarkable affection toward her. Affection she used to run away from the warring pair just a week earlier.

Blowing out a breath, she tilted her head. “Jacob, be reasonable. I need to do my job.”

“This is me being reasonable. I haven’t turned that annoying thing to ash.” He pointed at her tablet. “And your job includes you staying alive, which means you need to increase your knowledge of self-defense.”

“For all those times you two plan on leaving me alone?” She pretended to ignore Helcyon’s faint smile. The Elf was so much more patient than Jacob, but in the hours before the press conference, they’d informed her that they were willing to stay with her…both of them. A thought that sent heat skittering through her blood and thrummed pleasure against every pulse point.

No one fell in love in seven days, and she’d done it twice. A week later, she knew she loved them, every stubborn, argumentative inch. They both wanted her to choose, but they were willing to share her body, her heart, and her defense.

The defense part was getting on her nerves.

“Weren’t you the one who said I had to agree to go nowhere without one of you? I would never be alone? Not a moment’s respite without being in one or both of your companies?”

The throbbing vein in his forehead warned that she pushed too hard, and she released the tablet to fall against her lap. Her hand covered his. Electricity raced through her, every nerve ending tingling.

“Cassie, they’re already threatening you.” The low, gruff voice softened and Jacob picked her up, digital tablet and all, before sitting down and resting her on his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she snuggled against his chest.

“And I’m safe, right here, with both of you.” She spared a look toward Helcyon, imploring him to take her side in this, but he merely shook his head once. For all that he and Jacob argued, they were united in this.

Damn stubborn men.

“Threats are normal when you’re in the public eye. The news is starting to filter out, it made a huge splash. We knew that was going to happen. We knew the media coverage would be intense. Why else would the two of you insist that I move into this fortress?” The house, a sprawling mansion with more than a dozen bedrooms plus ten common rooms and a kitchen she could have moved her whole house into, occupied private land in the Sierra Nevadas. The remote location coupled with an eighteen-foot wall circling the perimeter turned luxury into a veritable castle.

Her only comment when they’d brought her to see it that first night had been, “Where is the moat?”

She should have kept the question to herself. The next morning, a moat extended ten feet beyond the stone wall, requiring a specialized gate to be extended down in order to bridge the still and muddy water.

Running water, according to Helcyon, was a brilliant idea.

Rubbing her fingers in a slow, circular motion over his heart, Cassie let Jacob’s heat wash over her. The man was his own solar battery, the warmth of him pushing at the shadows of grief that chilled her heart and filling them with light.

“I suppose I can learn some basic techniques. I just don’t think it’s realistic to expect me to use a sword.” The concession, easily given, relaxed the stiffness in Jacob’s posture.

“We don’t expect you to fight with the sword.” His voice was muffled against her hair. “You just need to learn to defend against one.”

Cassie sat up and peered at him. Was he serious?

“Who is going to attack me with a sword?”

“The Fae.” The men answered the question in unison. Cassie blew out an impatient breath. A hard staccato knock interrupted any response she might have made.