Gabriel shifted
into mankind
, but just barely. His white Bengal remained imprinted over his human form. “Goddamn
it, Sameya!” The feline snarled and flickered bright. “You fucking promised to keep
us informed!”
Maybe they were a little more agitated than she’d anticipated. “I left a note.”
“A note!” He morphed back into the tiger and paced in front of her, tail swishing,
fangs bared in an unceasing low-throated growl.
The grip on her neck tightened as the vampyr’s other hand
threaded in
her hair and tipped her head back to meet his furious
green
gaze. “You should’ve told us where you were going so we could’ve joined you. Fucking
protected you.” He released her and crammed his fingers through his overlong hair.
“Do you know how terrified we were when we discovered you gone?”
“
Newsflash, Maximus.
I want them to come for
me. It’s the only way I can draw them out.”
Gabriel roared and tackled her and the chair to the floor in one easy leap. In the
next breath, he had her neck
between his jaws in a
death-grip—well, what should’ve been the beginnings of a death-choke.
While not in any real danger, i
t was effective at displaying his temper.
“Gabriel says no,” Maximus said
, his tone too mild for Gabriel’s
evident
wrath
.
He stared her in the eyes, his vampyr on display.
“My goddess.
” E’Neskha giggled, a high-pitched trill of awe. “I’d always heard shifters were easily
agitated,
and ruled by their emotions.
D
oes
he
realize she could neutralize him with a single thought?”
“He knows.” The vampyr maintained his focus on Sameya. “Our stubborn mate needs to
learn her place in our life.”
Her place? If he meant at the sidelines while they
went head on into danger
, then they both needed a reality check. “I know my place
, vampyr, it’s as your equal. Damn sure not
so much as
half an inch behind either of you.
” The tiger growled against her flesh. She wrapped her fingers around his ears and
wrenched them until he chuffed.
“The sooner you both realize
I’ll never
allow you to coddle and protect me
, the better.” The cat
remained in position
, making puffing noises of disapproval
,
his whiskers tickling her.
“
Get over it,
Gabriel
.
Just so you know, t
he next time you put your teeth on my neck either use them or be prepared for me to
serenade you.”
A lick to her skin was his response.
Gooseflesh paraded across her body.
“Don’t you dare distract me with your tongue.”
His tongue was wicked good
at distraction
.
Releasing her neck, he settled on top of her and licked the indentions his canines
had created. “
Shit, you’re heavy like this.” When he began to purr, while delivering small flicks
of his tongue against her skin, she attempted a different tactic. “You want to fuck
me ever again, you’ll get off me.”
That delivered the outcome she
sought
.
He
moved backward a fraction,
enough
that she could
sit up
, but n
ot sufficient enough to sit up straight without bumping her head into his feline jaw.
“Really? This is ridiculous. You
r
hovering is getting on my last fucking nerve.”
“Your life will never get boring with these two around
,
”
E’Neskha said.
She
can
say that again.
Sameya rolled to her feet
,
and Gabriel morphed into man
.
Her Empress’
eyes widened
,
and only then did
Sameya
realize he hadn’t reappeared with his clothing on.
Yeah, the tiger was well endowed, but thankfully her leader remained mute about the
obvious.
Shifters and their lack of modesty.
Sameya rolled her eyes.
She dusted the back of
her
pants off, not that there was ever a spot of dirt in the palace. “Now that we’ve settled
our domestic
dispute
, can we get back to business?”
Maximus leveled a glare on E’Neskha
and opened his mouth to speak, but
Lucius presented himself
instead
.
“
I’d no idea the tiger at your side was your other mate, Sameya.
I figured you’d done away with him. Your duplicity astounds me.
”
Her Empress
shot her a nervous glance
.
Sameya stiffened at the sight of
E’Neskha’s brother
.
“Lucius
….” The tiger at her side issued a low-throated growl
when she identified the male
. She clasped his wrist in her hand and shot a thread of serenade into him. “Sorry,”
she muttered when she looked at him and his eyes widened at what she’d done. The only
reason for the song was to keep Lucius from getting to him first
,
and he wouldn’t be able t
o override hers.
S
ince she
offered no commands
to the song
,
Gabriel
was
free to act as he
chose
.
She eyed the male siren. “I figured you’d have taken the cowardly way out and be running
by now.”
“Why on earth would I do that?” Lucius cocked his blond and aqua head to the side
as if contemplating her.
“We both know why
, you traitor
.” To pretend he wasn’t the instigator of the rebellion against his sister was an
insult to her intelligence.
The arrogant bastard smirked.
“You know me better than that, Sameya.”
Gabriel
effected
some more low-throated growling. She didn’t chance a
glance
in Maximus’s direction, but she wouldn’t be surprised if his fangs overlapped
h
is bottom lip.
“I’
m
considering relinquishing
my status as Empress.”
E’Neskha reclined in her seat, but for all the effort she put into a
casual pose, it failed wide of the mark, her tense shoulders giving her away.
“If she does, I’ll be making a bid for her position.”
Sameya
ignored Lucius
, her focus centered on
her leader. Why would she
contemplate
something like that? They’d spent over
fifty thousand
years maintaining the safety and
well being
of Atlantis. To give it up on a whim, because it had to be a
n
impulse
, otherwise her
possible
resignation made
little
sense. Surrendering wasn’t in her personality
,
and she would never give up on her people
merely
to spare a
battle
.
Not if it were in their best interest.
“Why?”
“As
if that’s any of your business.
” Lucius sniffed haughtily as he approached. “You
’re overstepping
your boundaries.”
“And you’re getting on my nerves.”
“I think it’s time to concede, Sameya.” E’Neskha
shrugged
, sending her brother a disillusioned glance
. “We discussed it once before and—”
“Discussed it two thousand years ago. To forfeit when it’s revealed Lucius is the
turncoat…I don’t understand your reasoning.”
“Pish-posh, you know I’m no threat to E’Neskha. That you’d deliver false information
simply to place a wedge between us is atrocious. Verifies what I’ve been telling her
all these years
, that your advice cannot be trusted
.” Lucius
lounged
in a chair beside his sister, his overconfident demeanor nettling Sameya. Judging
by the conceit in his eyes, he thought he’d won.
“Do you believe him, E’Neskha?”
“Which part? Your misinformation or his innocence?”
“Either
,
and both.” She watched her, gauging the leader.
E’Neskha
was silent
a long moment before she responded, and not to her question.
“You’ve got your mates to keep you busy now. You don’t need me
, a
nd I’ve been restless this last millennium. Maybe I should’ve stepped aside sooner.”
She shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about it until
all this mess with the rebellion. A
ll things must eventually come to an end.”
Sameya
stomped to the
table and slammed
her palms facedown on the tabletop.
“Do. You. Believe. Him?”
The Empress wouldn’t meet her gaze. “He’s my brother, Sameya, we’ll leave it at that.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“You’ll mind your tone,” Lucius said condescendingly.
Sameya ignored the
arrogant
bastard.
“What reason does Lucius have to lie?” E’Neskha shot back, her bottom lip trembling.
No way was the Atlantian leader that gullible. That they shared the same blood softened
her. Maybe it was time E’Neskha yielded her throne, but there wasn’t a chance in hell
Sameya would allow Lucius’ behavior to
go
without repercussions.
Utilizing her siren speed, Sameya
zipped to Lucius and drenched him
in
a serenade.
He screamed and slapped at his forehead as E’Neskha vaulted to her feet. “Sameya!”
“No closer, E’Neskha, or I’ll reap him.”
The coldness in her voice halted her leader’s approach.
She plugged the male siren with her special magic, the magnitude of the effects
more
pronounced
on someone as strong as him. But he still held no chance of evading her control.
With his
sister
staring on in horror, Lucius finally gave up the fight and went limp in his seat,
his hands dropping into his lap. He
twitched as if suffering the
delayed twinges of an
electrocution, but with his mental struggle a
gainst her song eliminated, he had
become her puppet.
At her mercy, he’d do her bidding with no hope of E’Neskha superseding Sameya’s song.
The other woman’s hands shook as she lifted them in prayer-like fashion below her
chin. “Please don’t harm him
, Sameya
. He’s all the family I have left.”
When I’m done with him, you will be all he has left.
“I’m disappointed you’d turn your reign into a mockery like this, E’Neskha.” Sameya
couldn’t understand her leader’s tolerance for Lucius’ comportment. “Being your brother
doesn’t grant him indefinite liberties. He is still accountable for his actions, yet
you
won’t
hold him to that standard.”
E’Neskha notched her chin higher.
But Sameya wasn’t finished and continued to talk. “You’ve given him everything he’s
ever wanted.” She had, too. His parents had died while he was young, just like Sameya’s
parents had. The Empress had raised him from his early teenage years into adulthood.
“Are you going to give him this,
also
?”
“It’s the only thing I have left to give, and if he wants it….” E’Neskha didn’t finish
the sentence, but her meaning was clear enough.
“Pity.” Her mates must’ve sensed her intention because they moved a little closer
as if they expected her former Empress to make a go for her. “I won’t allow him the
position.”
“Sam—”
“No!” She notched her thumb into the base of Lucius’ neck. “You’re commanded to tell
your sister everything, Lucius.”
Standing at the male siren’s back, she couldn’t see his face, but his sniffles told
her he’d begun to cry. H
e spilled
all…how he coveted
E’Neskha’s
power and the respect her people gave her.
How he felt worthless stacked against a sister bearing such high accolades
, and a sibling who placed more clout in Sameya’s opinions than his
. Growing weary of waiting for her to concede her position, he’d incited
discord among the
Atlantians. The disharmony was easy to come by, telling Sameya the people were ready
for a change.
He’d formed a resistance and given instructions to those closest to him to do anything
to gain his seat as Emperor, even if that meant E’Neskha’s death. Knowing if his sister
were murdered
, Sameya wouldn’t accept
a fatality
without a formal inquiry, he’d concocted her kidnapping and demise, as well, at the
hands of a griffin with only one requirement…a power he could dine on for centuries.