Authors: Dakota Trace
She gave a deep sigh of appreciation before sobering.
Goddess, what am I going to do? What could the God of the Underworld possibly want with me and why do I think it has something to do with the
godling
who just left? Why else would he assign such a man to protect me?
Chapter Two
Striding back towards the dais after he’d completed his perimeter check, Flannery seethed, still pissed that the misty scent of the girl refused to leave his nose, tempting him to want things he shouldn’t.
Babysitting a beautiful young banshee shouldn’t have even been on his list of duties to
Bilé
, and definitely wasn’t his idea of a good time.
The things I let myself get talked into and I can’t even blame my brother this time. Nope, this time it’s all me. I had to up and join his protective detail. I’m a warrior, dammit!
Tugging his flask of his ambrosia-laced wine from his pocket, he took a quick swig of it then pocketed it again.
“Why such a face, young Flannery?
Braelyn
isn't giving you more trouble than you bargained for, is she?”
Bilé’s
well modulated tone was like fingernails over a chalkboard. Flannery paused to scowl at him. “I’m a warrior, not a babysitter.”
The corner of
Bilé’s
mouth twitched. “Just consider yourself a member of your topside Royal Protection squad. The court believes she’s my god-daughter and nothing more. If it gets out I want to meet with her, danger will rise. You know how unsettled the court is at the moment after
Rancin’s
last attack.
In addition I’ve tried to keep my actual relationship to
Braelyn
a secret. If they think they can use my niece against me, then her life may very well be in danger.”
“Still jumping at shadows, Daddy?” The melodious tones of his brother’s
TrueMate
,
Jasmyn
, drew Flannery’s attention from
Bilé
.
A genuine smile graced
Bilé’s
face. He drew his beaming daughter into his arms. “Of course, pumpkin. There are many who would love to take my throne.” He nuzzled her dark hair before releasing her. “It’s been too long.”
Stepping back, she was enveloped by her lover and mate,
Kennet
. The mischievous wink his brother gave him made Flannery twitch.
I detest that damn wink. He’s up to something.
Scanning the room, he didn’t see anything out of place. His attention turned once more upon the intriguing banshee
Bilé
had charged him with watching. It took most of his formidable self-control to keep from sprouting an erection when he spoke with her earlier, and now was no different.
In the flickering light being tossed off by the huge torches set in the wall sconces, her creamy skin glistened.
It's obvious she’s unused to the heat.
The urge to track every droplet over her body filled him, to see more tiny beads form then trickle downward as he teased her with his fire…
Pushing the thought away before he disgraced himself, he remembered his first taste of the humid air of the Underworld and how he’d sweated. Unfortunately that brought memories of his first glimpse of a master demon wielding fire cups on his bound lover. Intrigue had kept him rooted in place as the light flickered off the glass orbs clinging to a slender
demoness’s
body as her master moved them over her bound form. She’d arched and writhed in ecstasy as they slid across her sweat-sheened skin.
Thus began my love affair with fire-cupping.
A trickle of sweat ran down his own back as he caught a glimpse of Ramses, one of his lower lieutenants, watching
Braelyn
. A low growl built in his chest before he could stop it.
Even if she’s interested in you, she’s a banshee and they don’t even allow fire in the same room with them, so get those thoughts out of your head, Flannery.
He clenched his teeth as he looked to see if the little banshee was returning Ramses stare. His breath caught in his throat as she licked the trickling juices off the tines of her fork before stabbing another piece of sliced meat off the plate he’d given her. His damned cock stirred despite the fact he couldn’t have her. He wanted to groan.
This is neither the time, nor the place to get a hard-on!
“You okay, brother?”
Kennet
drew his attention back to the conversation around him. A huge ass-eating grin covered his twin’s face. “You look like you might be constipated or…”
Kennet
glanced around. “…some young thing has finally caught the all mighty Flannery’s attention.”
Unbelievably, Flannery felt his face heat with embarrassment. Leave it to his twin – the one man he couldn’t hide anything from. The fool had hit a little too close to the truth for Flannery’s comfort. He shifted a bit, glaring at his brother. “Knock it off, you idiot.”
Kennet’s
lips parted as if he realized he’d been correct in source of Flannery’s distraction. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He leaned closer to Flannery. “Who is she?” He gave his best dog-boy expression and put his hands together. “Come on, dude. You can’t keep this from me. I may be mated but I’m not dead…” His muffled whoosh corresponded with his
TrueMate’s
well-placed elbow to his stomach. It was obvious she wasn’t impressed with his exaggerated begging.
“Keep it up, Master, and you will be.” The sugary sweetness of
Jasmyn’s
verbal reply was at odds with the dark glare she gave
Kennet
. It made the rest of the men chuckle when her hands found her slender hips.
Kennet
had the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows at her, sweep her into his arms, and dip her. The loud smacking sounds he made had Flannery shaking his head.
He shook his head. “Are you sure you want to be related to him,
Bilé
?”
The god roared with laughter. “Seeing as they already mated, I don’t have much of a choice.” He wiped at his eyes. “Now, you on the other hand, I would like to add…are you sure I can’t adopt you?”
Flannery snorted. “Not likely. I already have one self-appointed prick for a father, I don’t need another.” A huge, warm hand landed on his shoulder. “It’s nice to know what you really think about me, Son.”
“Like he’s lying,
Cami
. You can’t fault the boy for being honest– you can be a total prick when it comes to getting your way.”
Cayleigh
stepped around his dad to reach up and brush her lips across Flannery’s cheek. “Can I run away with you, Flan, if your father gets to be too much?” The barely suppressed laughter as she peeked at his dad out of the corner of her eye begged him to play along with her.
“Sure, Auntie. I’ll protect you from the big, bad God of War.”
The shocked look on his dad’s face was too much. Laughter rumbled in his chest until it became a full-fledged guffaw. Once he started, he found he couldn’t stop.
With loons like this for family, who needs a mate? I have all the chaos I need at the moment without adding a mate to the mix.
He tried to push his reaction to
Bilé’s
god-daughter out of his mind.
* * * * *
The sound of hearty laughter from her right made
Braelyn
crane her neck to see up on the dais. A sudden sharp pain from the toes on her left foot dragged her attention back to her dance partner. She’d just finished her meal when the man had approached her and asked for a dance. Deciding she’d needed the exercise after her filling meal, she now wished she hadn’t. His hold on her was too tight; he kept trying to look down her gown while he continued to trounce on her toes.
Graceful, he is not.
She’d seen more agile buffalo than the idiot trying to lead her around the room in a simple waltz.
“If you don’t mind, sir, I walk on the bottom of my feet; I don’t need you to walk on the top of them.” Her taunt was tart, but after the third time he’d stomped on her poor toes she didn’t care.
Oh, why did I accept his invitation to dance? The fool can't even dance.
She sobered as she caught a glimpse of the golden god who’d ordered her to eat before stomping off. He had his head tipped down to hear the
demoness
who had one hand wrapped around his arm possessively
.
Strangely enough, it bothered her. She wanted to be the one he laughed with.
“Do I look like I care about your toes, woman?” His retort drew her attention away from the dais.
“I asked you to dance to provoke the
godling
. When he attacks me, I’ll prove to
Bilé
once and for all he chose the wrong man to lead his protective guard.” He gave a bitter smile. “Unfortunately for you, the
godling
is ignoring you now.”
The man’s eyes glowed with red flames. “I guess I’ll just have to change the situation. He will give me my battle!” His hands tightened around her waist as he twirled her near the exit. With a glance up at the dais, he swept her through the open door while digging razor sharp claws into her sides. “Scream, bitch!”
Pain radiated from the puncture wounds, but they did little more than anger her. “Never.” She clenched her jaw shut.
In such close quarters, the fool's asking for a death sentence, not only for himself, but everyone else.
With her banshee wail she’d decimate all those present but fellow banshees. Not even gods were immune—or so she’d been told.
He roared, ignoring her status as
Bilé’s
god-daughter, and backhanded her. Pain exploded along her cheekbone. A muffled cry forced its way past her lips. She couldn’t believe he’d dared. If
Bilé
found out the man struck her, he was as good as dead; his plan to ire the
godling
would all for naught. “You will scream or I’ll beat you until you do.”
Tears begged to be released as he tried to hit her again. This time she sidestepped the blow, stumbling against what she thought was a wall. She gave a muffled shriek when the
godling’s
arms wrapped around her. “Are you all right?” The gruff words breathed against her hairline were more felt than heard. A nod was all she was able to convey when he handed her off to another before launching himself at her attacker.
At the sound of thudding fists, she buried her face against the wide chest. For all her worldly knowledge of retrieving dying souls, her mother had kept her sheltered from the potential violence of both the Underworld and the human realm.
She’d always come in afterwards to help harvest the souls. Never had she seen an actual fight. Her purpose was one of clean-up and faced with violence for the first time, she froze, uncertain what to do. She’d never been trained how to fight. All she could do was hide like a scared rabbit and it made her angry, but even she wasn’t foolish enough to wade into a fight between two full grown men with only her banshee scream as a protectant.
The grunts of the two men and the sound of flesh hitting flesh escalated behind her. She could only imagine the pain being inflicted. Her stomach heaved and she swallowed as the snap of breaking bone reached her ears.
Gods above, they are going to tear each other apart.
“They’re going to kill each other, aren’t they?” She was barely able to force the words past her tight throat.
The man holding her upright sighed. “No, Flannery won’t kill him. He’ll make him wish he was dead though. No man should abuse a woman like you the way he tried. I can’t believe you didn’t scream. I thank the gods above you didn’t though; a banshee scream in such a small space could’ve been disastrous.”
“I know. Too many innocents might have been hurt. I couldn’t risk it.” A muffled scream had her turning, but the man who smelled so similar to the
godling
, pressed her face deeper into his shirt. “No, don’t look. There’s no need to see my brother giving that ass his comeuppance. Only a coward strikes out at a much smaller and defenseless woman.”
Lifting her head, she peeked up at the rugged profile of the man holding her. For a split second she’d thought it was the man who had been the object of her lust, but something about him was off. He wasn’t making her heart beat faster nor was she as intrigued to explore his body. “Who are you?”
An infectious grin crossed his face. “
Kennet
—the twin to the Neanderthal over there.” His grin faded. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Good. Now stay put. My mate will be here in a second, but I need to break this up before Flannery actually forgets he’s teaching the idiot a lesson, and ends up killing the
òinseach
.” Leaning her up against the wall, he strode towards the men. Unable to resist, she watched on in shocked horror as
Kennet
waded in between the two scrapping men, and promptly took a blow to the jaw from his own brother.