Her Warriors' Three Wishes (Dante's Circle) (20 page)

Dante nodded then left without a word, presumably to put his medallion away—wherever it was he hid his things. That dragon sure had secrets, but she didn’t mind. He deserved them. If he didn’t do something about the longing looks he shared with Nadie, Jamie would have to do something.

Apparently, being in love caused her to wish all her friends were in love.

Wasn’t that just sickening?

Oh, Faith would love it.

Becca wrapped her arm around Jamie’s shoulders. “Come on over to our table. We all brought in food, and we have the normal bar food too. You can tell us all about your….trip, and we can tell you what’s been going on here.” They all sat around the table, Balin and Ambrose on either side of her. “Plus, when we get you alone, you can dish on those two men of yours.”

Balin laughed. “There really are no secrets between women.”

Faith narrowed her eyes. “Nope, so that means if you do something wrong, we’ll all know about it. So, no funny business.”

“Behave, Faith.” Jamie scowled as she took a bite of her nachos. The taste exploded on her tongue, and she moaned. She’d eaten that morning but hadn’t had any food in hell so she was still trying to eat everything in sight.

Balin rubbed her back, a glint in his eyes.

“No, stop thinking about that,” she whispered, and Shade laughed across the table.

Damn supernatural hearing.

“Be nice.” Lily giggled.

“I have no idea what you’re whispering about over there but leave it in the bedroom please,” Eliana said as she picked up a chicken wing. “Now, before you tell us what you’ve been up to… and by the way, I love how we’re talking about this ordeal like it’s a freaking vacation… but whatever… anyway, you should know that, between all of us, we took care of your shop and your bills so you don’t have to worry about that.”

A huge weight slipped from her shoulders as she looked at her friends. “You did all of that?”

Amara shrugged. “Of course. We knew you’d be back.”

“Ambrose wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Nadie added, a wistful note in her tone.

“Well…just…thank you. When I found out we’d been missing two months, I had no idea what I’d be able to do with my store. As it is, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to close it.”

“Why?” Balin asked.

Jamie shrugged, trying to act as if she didn’t feel like a failure. “It’s a small indie bookstore, and the brick and mortar stores are a dying breed. I’ve done all I can think of to make it worthwhile for people to come in, but ebooks are all the rage. And, frankly, I love my ereader, so I can’t blame them. I don’t have the room in my house for more books, so I understand people’s logic.”

Balin traced her jaw. “Even if you understand why it’s happening doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

She closed her eyes, grateful that he understood.

“Don’t give up hope yet,” Ambrose said. “We can find a way to make it work. Or at least try.”

“As much as I’d like to believe you, I’ve been through it all before, Ambrose.”

“Then let me and Balin take a look.”

Jamie narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying that the big strong men should handle it while the little woman hides in the corner?”

She heard the rumblings of her friends at the table, glad they were on her side. Her men would have to get it through their heads right now that she wouldn’t back down and let them control her.

“Not at all, Jamie. I’ve been around a long time, and it never hurts to put a new set of eyes on the problem. I know you’ve done everything you can think of, so let me help. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll find something to make you happy.”

She nodded, not completely convinced. If they wanted to take a look, why not? It wasn’t as if she could afford to be stubborn. 

She knew Ambrose’s late wife had been content to stay at home with the babies, but Jamie needed to have a job and do something more. Now she sounded like a bitch considering her own mother had been a stay-at-home mom and worked harder than anyone she knew.

She just needed a nap.

Or a drink.

While they ate, she detailed her ordeal in hell, pausing to wait for the gasps and comments when she mentioned Pyro and the others. No matter how detailed she got, she couldn’t describe the fear, the smell, and the pure terror.

“So, you’re a djinn?” Becca asked. “That is so cool. Now we have a brownie and a djinn. I wonder what we’ll have next.” 

Amara shuddered. “I’m just fine how I am. Thanks.”

“We’ll just take it as it comes to us,” Faith said as she crunched on some celery. “It’s not like we’re all alone, right?”

Right there, that’s why she loved her friends. They were there with her no matter what happened.

She leaned into Ambrose’s hold while Balin ran a hand up her leg. And, now, she had the two loves of her life. What more did she need?

****

Becca groaned as she threw the trash bag in the dumpster. Even though it wasn’t her shift, she wasn’t just going to leave the trash around for Dante to clean up. She liked the man—no, dragon—more than that.

It was really too bad that she and Dante weren’t true halves since they got along so well, even when they were yelling at each other. Alas, she didn’t feel those special tingles or that weird weakness that came with finding a true half.

Nope, she was just plain old Becca.

Healthy and boring.

Plus, she was pretty sure Nadie and Dante needed to get together, but she had no idea why they circled each other the way they did. Nadie didn’t seem as weak as Lily and Jamie had, but something was off.

Becca on the other hand, felt nothing.

She let out a breath and ran a hand through her too-long hair. At some point, she should probably cut it, but she didn’t have the time to make it look nice. It was just easier to let it go crazy around her head or put it up in a ponytail.

Plus, she had the absolute worst luck with haircuts.

She blocked the image of the bang incident from her memory.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned, expecting to see Dante or one of her friends. The fist to her chin knocked her off balance, and she hit the ground hard, her elbow taking the brunt of it.

“What the hell?” she asked as fear clawed at her.

“Give me your money, bitch.”

Mugged. Really? She was getting mugged. Now she knew she had the worst luck of anyone she knew.

“I don’t have my apron on me,” she explained. “I have nothing you want.”

The man, his hat shadowing his features, cursed. “Fuck, lady,” he said as he ran his hand over her body, and she tried to break free. That’s when she noticed the knife in his hand.

“If you don’t have any money, then I’ll take something else from you.” He reached up to unbuckle his pants, and she opened her mouth to scream. “Make a sound and I’ll fucking kill you.”

Her body shook, her mind trying to find a way out of this. Her friends were right inside that building and would come out for her if she took too long. At least she hoped. 

Oh, God, please come out.

“Get off her, you prick,” a deep voice said from behind her attacker. 

The mugger twisted her nipple hard and laughed when he looked over his shoulder. “I don’t see a fucking knife or gun on you, so why don’t you get lost?”

“Have it your way,” the stranger said as he moved quicker than humanly possible, taking the mugger by the throat and throwing him into the wall. The man fell to the ground, unconscious. The stranger stalked toward him, and Becca was sure she was about to witness a murder—not that the mugger didn’t deserve it.

“Wait, don’t kill him.”

The stranger turned to look at her, and her breath caught. He was beautiful. Strong cheekbones and lush lips made him look like a model. His brown hair brushed his shoulders, making him look dangerous. His eyes…they were yellow.

And totally not human.

The stranger’s nostrils flared as he stalked toward her. “He hurt you and would have done worse if I hadn’t been here. He doesn’t deserve to live.”

“And you don’t deserve to have that blood on your hands.”

The man froze then shook his head, as if the possibility had never occurred to him. “I can call my Pack to take care of him.”

“Your…Pack?”

The stranger nodded. “I can smell Ambrose and Jamie on you, so you must be one of the friends she talked about in hell.” He reached down to trace her jaw, sending shivers of something she didn’t want to think too much about down her spine. “And from your milky-white skin and hair that looks caught by the sun, I would say you are Becca.”

“Hunter? The…wolf that saved Jamie?” Her heart beat against the wall of her chest as she lay on the ground, staring at the man who had saved not only her best friend, but had now saved her as well.

They’d said he was almost feral, and they had been right. Becca caught the look of something stronger than that in his eyes…something that needed…her?

What was she talking about?

She didn’t even know this man.

She watched as he quickly made a call to someone, then hung up. Before she could breathe, he had her in his arms and strode toward the back door of Dante’s.

“I can walk you know,” she complained, even as she leaned into his hold. He smelled wild, like the forest and even a bit of wolf. Though she didn’t know why she knew that. For some reason the heady combination made her want to sink into him and never let him go.

Apparently, she’d hit her head when she’d fallen.

“I know you can, Becca, but you don’t have to. I’m going to take care of you.”

Well then, maybe should get used to that.

Maybe.

****

“I can’t believe Becca was almost raped, and we were so close to her,” Jamie said as she wrung her hands together. “What use are our powers if our friends can still get hurt?” She closed her eyes, biting her lip. “Thank God Hunter came when he did. I know he only came to see us, but it seemed like fate had something to do with it.”

Balin nodded as he watched his mate and love pace around their bedroom. When Hunter had brought Becca into the bar, chaos had erupted. The other girls had thought he was a crazed killer with the way he walked in holding Becca. While the three of them knew he didn’t have the ability to hurt one of Jamie’s friends.

As none of the people in the bar were healers to those who weren’t their mates, Becca left with the bruise on her face, as well as a few on her body that he knew hurt Jamie to see. The single girls rallied around Becca and had taken her home, leaving a longing Hunter behind.

Balin had an idea of why the wolf looked so crestfallen, but he wasn’t about to bring it up—not with the dangers lurking about from common thieves as well as demons.

Walking up behind her, he brought Jamie to his chest, inhaling her sweet scent. That act alone calmed his body from the rage he felt that it could have been her—though other parts of his body had the exact opposite effect.

“She’s okay,” he whispered as he nuzzled her neck. “Hunter got to her in time.”

She turned in his hold, wrapping her arms around his waist. “What if he hadn’t chosen that exact time to visit us?”

He rubbed small circles on her back, willing her to believe. “Stop thinking in what-ifs. All it will do is make you worry more. She made it, and now that we got that scare, Ambrose, Shade, Dante, and I are going to teach you all self-defense. I won’t have any of you hurt because you didn’t know what to do.”

Jamie took a shuddering breath, and he hugged her tighter. “I just wish the rest of the girls would find their true halves and find their inner supernatural. That way they’d be stronger and have a fighting chance.”

He leaned down to kiss her, unable to hold it back any longer. “Fate will provide it when necessary.”

“You put a lot of stock in fate, Balin.”

“I have to. Fate brought me you.”

Jamie looked up at him, a small smile on her face. From that smile alone, he knew he’d at least brought her out of the darkness of feeling helpless.

“About that…”

Balin froze, a slow terror creeping its way along his spine.

“About what?” he asked, surprised his voice was so steady.

“I hardly know you, Balin. I know everything down in hell made us feel like we had to bond in order to live…” 

His heart stopped. No, she couldn’t be doing this. He couldn’t lose her.

“No, don’t look at me like that. I want you, Balin. I
love
you. I don’t want it to be just because of magic. I mean I just met you. I need to know more about you. I need to know
you
. Plus, there’s this whole future thing. We’re in a triad, Balin. Humans don’t live in triads. Or, if they do, it’s taboo, and people think it’s a dirty, sinful thing.”

Balin narrowed his eyes. “And you think our bond is like that?” Anger, yes, anger, was a better feeling than the hurt and loss that threatened to take over.

She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “No, of course not.  Maybe before I started reading so much romance, I would have. After reading about those fictional characters in triads, I thought that at least emotionally, it could be done. That’s fiction. I
know
emotionally we can handle being a triad. I feel it in my heart, in my every breath. That could be because of the magic, but I don’t care. Balin, how is this going to work in real life? I figured the three of us would live here or in Ambrose’s realm. You’re a demon, how would that work? Would they accept you?”

Balin took her by the hand and led her to the bed, needing to sit down and let his mind work. Yes, he knew it would be difficult, but to be honest, he hadn’t thought past
finding
his mate. He hadn’t thought about actually
living
with her.

Or, in his case, them.

“Jamie, I don’t know, but I know we’ll work it out.”

Jamie stood up and broke his hold. “How? I need specifics. It’s all well and good that we’re great in bed and we love each other. We know the bond’s the reason it all started. I love you and Ambrose in spite of the bond, Balin. The bond might have started it, but what I feel for you finished it. You have to believe that. I love the way you two take care of each other and me, I love the way you joke when you’re upset, I love the way you try and be better than you think others think you are. I know all of this just by watching you for a short time.”