Gravity (7 page)

experiments initially. He really did like your mum.”

Novis sipped on a cup of coffee while Logan pulled his loose hair away from his shoulders and

tied it with a band. Logan had gone as protection but wasn’t privy to the interrogation that

Christian held with Grady.

Christian went on. “The poor bastard had no clue his woman would be the first offered up in

the experiments until they baited him. They promised the child would be his.”

“His? A Mage can’t have children, can they?” I looked at Novis and he shook his head with

absolute certainty.

“They told him otherwise, and his curiosity and need to procreate got the better of him.” He

shrugged indifferently. “I suppose dear ol’ mum was in for a shock.”

“So he met my mom and it was love at first sight?”

Christian scratched his short beard and threw his feet on the coffee table with a thud, his dirty

black shoes disgustingly close to a cheese tray. “I think he’s been tampered. Em… scrubbed.

Something’s missing I couldn’t get from him. I suppose it may have to do with how they met;

perhaps it was arranged or he was given a list of women to find and they erased those memories.

Maybe he kept your mom in hiding before he gave her up. He liked her, but he obviously didn’t

love her. Grady was your spark daddy,” Christian said with a dark chuckle. “When you were

conceived, it was known from the start you would be female. Grady said it had something to do

with how they created the embryo—Breed magic and all that shite. That was to his

disappointment, and he washed his hands of it.”

“Because I was a girl?” I dropped my eyes to the table. “So I have an actual father, but…”

“Not quite, lass. You’re not paying attention. Grady put his light in you, but he wasn’t positive if

he was your sperm da. You have mixed DNA. Hell, Silver, you’re a fecking cocktail.” He snorted and

swayed his feet left and right on the table.

“Can we not laugh at my genetic flaws and my father disowning me because I’m a girl?”

It shouldn’t have mattered, but it did.

“You’re not a flaw,” Novis assured me. “Grady provided us the location of one of their labs. They

kept in contact with him over the years because of his involvement. That’s why we suspect his

mind has been tampered with and selectively erased. Perhaps they thought that Abigail, your

mother, would one day try to contact him. They wanted to find you, study you. You were their first

patient.”

“Where’s the lab?” I tapped my boot on the rung of the chair.

“Simon is there as we speak,” Novis said, gliding his finger along his bottom lip. “He’s doing

what he does best. We might find out who’s coming and going from that location.”

Justus always had an opinion and his silence bothered me. I nudged him with my shoulder.

“What’s up?”

He lifted his cobalt eyes to Novis and pushed his unopened beer to the center of the table.

“She has a father… who is a Mage?”

Their eyes met and shared an enigmatic moment.

The light from a Mage was as unique as a fingerprint, and even if that’s the only thing I

acquired from Grady, part of him lived within me and that’s what they saw.

One thing that didn’t escape my attention throughout our conversation was that across the

table, Logan’s face was painted with disappointment. I knew he wanted confirmation that I had

Chitah blood in me. This would validate his claim as kindred spirit and more importantly, he could

officially claim me in front of his elders. Chitah laws only granted us partial rights because I was a

Mage, therefore we would never be protected by their laws since they did not legally recognize the

pairing.

“Logan?”

He startled me when he abruptly stood up and pressed his fingertips against the wooden

surface.

“Your Mage father is despicable,” he said with restrained anger, his lips peeled back. “Only a

worthless male abandons his young. Among Chitahs, it is the greatest privilege to have a female

child. They are the givers of life and unite the family; it is an honor to bring a female child into the

world.” He struck his chest with a closed fist.

Logan’s words weighted down the conversation.

Justus placed his hand across my back with a light pat before easing out of his chair. Either he

was being supportive, or he actually approved of Logan coming to my defense.

An unexpected emotion surfaced—guilt. I’d never be able to mother his children if he stayed

with me. In the end, he would want a family, and that was something I couldn’t give him. Nothing

held more importance among his kind. I touched my brow and turned my head away.

Logan inhaled a slow breath, reading all the emotions in the room. Immediately, he strode

around the table and leaned in close, brushing my hair away from my ear. “I meant what I said,

Little Raven. I would have you no other way,” he whispered.

***

After the meeting, we rejoined Sunny and Knox in the dance room. Levi sat to the left of them,

scarfing down a messy chilidog with cheese fries.

“Love these,” he said with a mouthful of food. “You guys want me to order a round?”

My stomach turned at the quantity of chili sliding off the dog as he shoved it into his mouth.

“I’ll pass,” I said, taking the chair next to his. Novis sat beside Sunny, across the table from me,

folding his arms. I couldn’t help but notice a melancholy expression on his face.

Knox abruptly stood up and lifted Sunny’s hand, pulling her out of her seat. They made their

way to the dance floor, exchanging flirtatious looks.

“Now this I have to see,” I said, pivoting around in my chair. Simon would just have to get the

recap of the night that the Red Door came down because Knox was breakdancing. I was sorry he

was missing this.

Knox slipped his strong arm around Sunny’s lower waist and stood still while she danced

around him.

Typical.

“Did your ex leave?” Logan asked his brother.

I turned around and reached for Sunny’s bottle of soda to keep an eye on it.

Levi wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and licked his thumb. “Doubtful, but he never

had all the right moves anyhow, so I won’t have to worry about him showing up back here,” he

said with a private snort.

“Who broke it off?” I tried to be sensitive, as I didn’t know how serious they were.

He took another wide bite of his chilidog and scrunched his nose. “I can’t deal with Shifters

who are wolves. They’re too damn territorial. Maybe I need to find me a cat, or a bear.” Levi wiped

his hands on the napkin and smiled. “Dollars to donuts if I had me a bear, then I’d at least get the

perk of a winter vacation while he’s hibernating.”

We laughed and clinked our glasses together.

“Excuse me,” a man said behind my left shoulder. “Would you care to dance?”

Wow. Awkward with Logan right beside me. “Um, no thanks,” I declined, glancing up at him.

But he wasn’t looking at me.

“Hell yeah,” Levi nearly shouted, shoving his plate forward and standing up.

I turned my blushing cheeks to Logan. “Well, that was embarrassing. I guess I don’t have the

touch anymore.”

He lifted my chin with the crook of his finger. “You shouldn’t rely on others to validate your

worth as a woman. If it makes you feel any better, three males tried to approach you.”

“Tried?”

His lips eased into a grin as he stroked my bottom lip with his thumb. “I stared them down and

they changed their minds. You are a desirable female, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to watch any

man grind with you on that floor.”

I lightly bit his finger and smiled. “Next time, let them ask me. A woman likes to feel a little fuss

over her once in a while. I’m not interested in dancing with anyone tonight.”

His brow arched. “Is that so, Little Raven?”

Chapter 5

Jack Daniels may have been a strong drink, but it only took one shot of Green Dragon for Page

La Croix to loosen up. She rarely got out, so it felt great to let go of her inhibitions and dance. No

stress, no work, no obligations. Just music.

Few people really considered the life of a Relic, knowing that their purpose was only one of

servitude. Yet the knowledge that thrived within her made it difficult to walk away from a life that

she was born to live.

Page should have never let Sunny talk her into the second shot. Being new to the club, Sunny

had no clue just how legendary Green Dragon was.

Slater had tried to call her five times, so she turned off her phone. He had always been a

control freak, scheduling appointments for her and deciding how to divvy up their clientele. It was

as if she had no mind of her own around him. Page knew some Relics had it worse, so she was

apprehensive about requesting a new partner.

The music vibrated through her body like a massage, and it didn’t matter that she was dancing

with a complete stranger. In fact, that made it better. He didn’t know anything about her

problems, and he didn’t care. He also had a phenomenal smile—although she was too busy having

an out-of-body experience to dwell on it.

“I’m a Shifter,” he said against her ear. “You?”

“Relic,” she said proudly, throwing her hands in the air and turning around.

Her black snow boots with thick tread on the bottom were great for winter, but not for dancing.

Her feet were beginning to hurt.

Snow boots or not, Page was having a blast. Except the man behind her enjoyed his position a

little too much; she should have known better than to turn her back on a Shifter, and based on his

reaction, he was probably a wolf. It was an open invitation to his kind, and his arm hooked around

her waist.

The crowd ahead of them began to part as someone made their way through. Flashes of

colored lights sprayed across a sea of moving bodies until the only thing in her line of vision was

that cantankerous Mage.

De Gradi.

That man rubbed her the wrong way with his arrogance and aristocratic lifestyle. Most of the

older ones were like that, Remi being an exception—to a degree. He’s the one who asked a favor

of her to treat Silver after the Chitah attack. Remi was a Gemini and because of his dangerous

nature, he was forced to close off his emotions, but in no way did he have a superiority complex.

Unlike De Gradi, who charged at her like a bull. Or maybe it seemed that way because she was

drunker than a skunk.

“Is everything all right?” he asked in a controlled voice, threatening the man behind her with

his stare.

Her eyes hooded and she smiled. “Peachy.” The Shifter’s hand tightened around her waist and

Justus engaged in a staring match with him.

“Is Silver here yet?” Page wondered aloud.

“We have a table. Come with me,” he said, offering his arm.

But Page wasn’t ready to sit down. How often did she get to go out on the town and wind up

dancing with a handsome man? Almost never.

“Let me finish out the song.”

She shuddered when the man blew against her neck and tugged her short hair. If it’s one thing

she didn’t like, it was a man getting overly familiar with her.

“Dance is over,” she announced over her shoulder. “It was lovely.”

“Not done,” he said, still moving.

Justus caught the man’s wrist and twisted his arm away from her. “You’re done.”

Page outstretched her arms. “No violence,” she slurred. “I can smell the testosterone brewing,

gentlemen.”

A couple of hiccups made her pause, but the sickly feeling subsided and she turned around to

face her dance partner. He had a golden tan and midnight eyes, and was watching her in a

ravenous manner that made her uncomfortable. Most Shifters sought out their own kind, but they

were notoriously territorial when it came to another man encroaching on their prize, regardless of

what Breed she was.

Time for a new tactic. “I’d love for you to meet my two kids,” she blurted out.

His eyes widened.

Page smirked. “They’re five and two. They’d just adore you.”

The Shifter took a few steps back and shook his head, walking away. Page knew how to get rid

of persistent men through logic, not so much experience. Most Shifters didn’t like women who had

borne another man’s child. They wanted to claim and conquer their women without any male

competition. Children meant there was a father in the picture they wouldn’t be able to get rid of.

Her feet were hot and she wiggled her toes and frowned. Page turned back around and saw a

wide-eyed Justus staring down at her. Wide, beautiful eyes. They glimmered in contrast with his

shaven, lightly stubbled head and hard features. His gaze was like finding a blue diamond in a war

zone.

“I don’t have kids, so don’t look so appalled,” she grumbled, waving a hand. Then she blew

through her lips making a sound similar to a horse, followed by a snort and chuckle. What a joke.

If he only knew.

“I think you should sit down, Page. You’re… inebriated.”

Page laughed so hard she bent over, clutching her side. A woman accidentally bumped into her