Melonee Bracs Mistletoe Madness 30 (9 page)

Carter paced back and forth as he stared at the man who was scowling at him. He couldn’t leave this fey alone, but he needed to go rescue Cecil, Blair, and Oliver. This was a mess, and he couldn’t figure out what to do.

“Does he bite?” Keata asked as he stood there with his arms crossed over his slim chest, glancing nervously at their capture.
“No,” Carter answered. “But don’t trust him. He’ll probably tell you whatever you want to hear in order to get free.”
“Why are we kidnapping him again?” Johnny asked as he peeled back the wrapper on his candy bar and took a bite.
“Because there are big blue men out there trying to kill him,” Carter replied. “And according to Cecil, we have to keep him alive.”
“He looks harmless enough,” Drew said. “But I still don’t understand why we have to keep him hidden. Shouldn’t we just tell Maverick the guy needs our help?”
Carter paced around the room, worried about the men he had left behind. Cecil should have called by now to tell him where to pick the three mates up. It wasn’t like the man to chance getting caught. Okay, maybe it was, but that still didn’t stop Carter from wanting to pull his hair out in frustration. “No, Cecil said to keep him hidden from everyone.”
“Then why are we here?” Keata asked.
“Because I need help watching him.” Carter checked the bracelet he had placed on Fire’s wrist to make sure it was snugly in place. He didn’t need the man shimmering out and getting away.
“I think he’s trying to talk,” Johnny said as he strode forward and pulled the gag from the man’s mouth. “What?” He took another bite of his candy bar.
“Who in the hell are you guys?” the man asked, looking around bewildered. “Why have you taken me?”
“We’ll be the one asking the questions,” Johnny said with a mean little growl, slapping the candy bar on the palm of his hands. “Who are you and why are you here?”
Carter glanced at Johnny and wondered if the man was aware he asked the man the same questions Fire just asked them.
Fire stared at Johnny as if he had lost his mind. “I could have sworn I just asked you that.”
“Oh, double-talking me I see.” Johnny reached over and placed the scarf back in the man’s mouth. “Watch him. He’s a crafty one.”
“Will he be staying for Christmas?” Keata asked. “Someone should make sure he has something under the tree if he is going to be here.”
Carter rubbed his eyes. “He isn’t a houseguest, Keata. He’s our prisoner.”
“I’ll go get him some bread and water,” Drew said as he exited the room. Carter wasn’t sure if letting these men in on the fact that Fire was here had been a good idea. If Maverick found out who this man was and why he was here, Ruttford would probably be skinned alive and his flesh used as a damn carpet in Maverick’s office.
He still couldn’t figure out how he had gotten dragged into all of this. Just because he knew who Fire was didn’t mean he knew the guy personally. Why was he stuck watching the man? If Maverick found out what Carter was up to, his skin just might be laid out next to Fire’s under Maverick’s feet.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
Carter swallowed when his mate, Tryck, walked into the room, his eyes zeroing in on Fire.
Johnny quickly ran to the door and closed it, pressing his back into the wood. “Were you followed?”
Tryck glanced at Johnny and then turned back toward Fire. “Who is he?”
“Our prisoner,” Keata replied.
“But watch him,” Johnny warned. “He’s a real smooth talker.”
Carter grabbed Tryck by the arm and pulled his mate across the room. He knew he couldn’t lie to Tryck. “He’s Ruttford’s brother. He had a gambling problem and is in debt to some very shady Shadow elves. If they find him, they’ll kill him, and then come after Ruttford and then us.”
Tryck glanced back at the bound fey. “This is Ruttford’s brother,
gatito
?”
Carter nodded.
“And this will piss Maverick off if you keep him hidden in here?”
Again, Carter nodded.
“Count me in then.” Tryck moved closer to Fire. “You will stay here and keep quiet or I will ensure you have no more fingers for gambling, understood?”
Fire’s eyes widened as he nodded his head at Tryck.
Drew slipped back into the room. “We’re out of bread so I grabbed him a few cinnamon rolls.”
Carter groaned when Gabby walked in, gazing at everyone. “So it’s true. We kidnapped a man.”
He shot a glare at Drew.
Drew shrugged. “What? He won’t tell anyone.”
Carter ignored him as he turned back to Tryck. “I have to find Cecil, Blair, and Oliver. They were with me when we found Fire. I had to shimmer out and left them behind.”
Tryck clucked his tongue. “Maverick just went to bail them out of jail.”
“Jail!” Carter felt like he was going to be sick. They were supposed to find Fire, kidnap him, and bring him back here. The plan was simple. How had it gone so wrong?
“No worries,
gatito
. You know Maverick will bring them back.”
Carter wished he was that confident. He wanted to punch Fire for getting him into this mess. He was happy decorating the house for Christmas, and now he was going to be skinned alive.
“How long do we have to keep him here?” Drew asked as he pulled the scarf down and hand-fed Fire the cinnamon rolls.
“Hell if I know,” Carter answered honestly. “Until he isn’t a wanted man anymore I guess.”
Carter turned when Kyoshi stuck his head into the room. “Maverick’s back and he doesn’t look happy.”
Just how many people knew Fire was here?

Adam needed to get to his files. He knew Les would be calling soon, but he didn’t even have his cell phone. He knew that if Les tried to call him and Adam didn’t answer, Mr. Kenyon would send a scout to find out what was going on.

And then there was Vincent. If Vincent couldn’t get ahold of Adam, he would show up looking for him. That was something Adam didn’t want to happen. He had never met the guy, but the vibes he got whenever they talked told him Vincent wasn’t anyone to mess with.

“Where are you going?” Ruttford said as he turned over, pulling Adam close to his warm body. He still couldn’t believe he was mated to two fey creatures. It was weird as hell. If he hadn’t seen the strange silhouette figures, he wouldn’t have believed it. None of this seemed real.

“I have to get back to my apartment.” Adam saw that Melonee had already slipped away, and oddly enough, he missed her already.
Ruttford nuzzled Adam’s neck as he ran his hand down Adam’s back. “You can’t leave, handsome.”
God, feeling Ruttford touching him was sending licks of fire through Adam, making him want to repeat what they had done earlier. Never before did he hunger for two people the way he hungered for Ruttford and Melonee. “I have things I need to gather from there and phone calls to make.”
Adam yelped when Ruttford smacked his bare ass. “Still trying to exploit us, naughty man? I can’t let you go.”
“But you don’t understand,” Adam said as he tried to get from under Ruttford’s strong touch. It was odd as hell letting someone else control him. Adam was used to being in control. He was the dominant one in all situations. He was a shaker and a mover, never allowing anyone to have the upper hand. Yet here he lay, allowing Ruttford to tell him what he could and couldn’t do.
“Then explain it to me,” Ruttford said as he kissed Adam’s shoulder. God, would the man stop thinking about sex for one minute? He was making it hard for Adam to think.
“I can’t.” There was no way Adam was telling Ruttford why he was sent here. He had already fucked up when he mentioned telling the world about fey. If anyone found out he was here to buy the town out and demolish it, he was pretty sure Maverick would do more than just kidnap him.
“Then you are going to stay in bed with me,” Ruttford said with a wicked gleam in his green eyes. Adam felt like he was arguing with the wall. The man wasn’t going to budge.
He was about to tell Ruttford to get the hell off of him when a knock sounded on the door. Who on earth could it be?
“Come in,” Ruttford called.
“Are you nuts?” Adam asked, trying his best to cover himself. “I’m naked.”
“You have a blanket on, handsome,” Ruttford reminded him.
The door opened and a man walked in carrying a box.
“What do you have, Micah?” Ruttford asked as if they weren’t lying in bed naked together. It was embarrassing as hell. Adam wanted to demand the man leave at once.
“Adam’s stuff from his apartment,” Micah replied as he sat the box down.
Adam almost leapt from the bed until he remembered he wasn’t wearing anything but his birthday suit. He wanted to smack Ruttford when the fey began to caress his arm.
“Thanks, Micah,” Ruttford called when the guy turned and closed the door behind him. “Jeez, make one mistake and everyone wants to cut my balls off.”
“What did you do to them?” Adam asked as he hurried from the bed to rummage through his things. He blew out a relieved breath when he saw his briefcase. It had a combination lock and looked undisturbed. Now if only he had his damn phone.
“I played a few pranks on them,” Ruttford said offhandedly. “No sense of humor.”
Adam searched through the box and pulled out his clothes. He needed to talk to Maverick. Maybe the man would see that Adam really didn’t care about exploiting them. He had just been blown away by the discovery. That was all. There really was no need to keep him here.
Adam moved to the bathroom to take a shower and then dressed, needing to find Maverick and have a talk with him. The man seemed fairly intelligent. He should listen to reason. Besides, kidnapping was illegal.
Ruttford went into the bathroom next and showered. Adam glanced through his files and reread Maverick’s while Ruttford was busy in the bathroom. If Maverick was fey, then that might explain why there was no record of when he first ran for mayor. The more Adam read, the less he feared the man. So Maverick could pop in and out of places, big deal. Adam had dealt with true sharks in the work world. He wasn’t afraid of Melonee’s dad. The guy was pissed because his daughter had two men. He’d get over it.
Confident he could face the man down, Adam tucked the file away and locked the briefcase just as Ruttford came out of the bathroom. He didn’t wait for the man. Adam marched from the bedroom and went in search of Maverick.

“Are. You. Serious?” Melonee asked in astonishment as she stared at Ruttford’s brother and then glanced at Carter. “You kidnapped him?” This was not good. Maverick already wanted to skin Ruttford alive. If he found out Fire had put them all in danger, he was going to—Melonee wasn’t even sure what he would do.

A few days ago, all she had wanted to do was mate Ruttford. That was it—nothing more. And she had stupidly thought her life was complicated then. Now she had Adam and Fire was sitting here bound and gagged, glaring daggers at her.

She didn’t even want to ask what else could happen for fear the skies would open up and lightning bolts would rain down on the house.

“So what do you plan on doing, keeping him for the rest of his life?” she asked as she stared at the bracelet around his wrist. She knew it was the one Maverick kept in his desk. It neutralized a fey’s power and prevented him from shimmering out. But after trying to get away herself, she knew it wasn’t needed. Maverick had made damn sure no one was shimmering anywhere.

“Yeah, Cecil hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Carter answered her. “Right now we just have to keep him hidden so the Shadow elves don’t find him.”

“I still vote we hand him over to Maverick and let him decide what to do,” Drew said.
Melonee felt her stomach turn to ice. “Oh, no. We can’t let him find out.” She glanced around. “Where is Cecil anyway?” He may be a troublemaker, but Melonee was pretty confident the man would have a solution to this. He was a crafty guy.
“In jail,” Keata answered.
“What!” Melonee pressed her hands over her stomach as she gaped at Keata. Everything seemed to be falling apart at a rapid rate. “Why is he in jail?” There would be no talking reason with her dad if his mate was behind bars. Maverick had to be spitting mad right now. Melonee ground her back teeth and wondered if she was going to have the happily ever after everyone else had or if she was doomed to a life of madness. All she had ever wanted was the happiness she saw in the other couples. Was that asking for too much? Was wanting a family of her own with two loving mates not in her cards? It seemed she had hurdles the size of the Empire State Building to jump over and they kept getting larger by the day. She ached inside to have a life with her mates, in this house, with her family.
But it didn’t seem like she was going to get her wish.
She strode across the room and yanked the scarf out of Fire’s mouth. “How much do you owe those bastards?”
Fire raked his eyes over her from head to toe, and then back up again. “I see why Ruttford kept you all to himself.”
“If you don’t answer me, I’ll gift wrap your crude butt and hand you over myself to those henchmen. Now tell me how much you owe.”
“Fifty thousand dollars, sweet cheeks.”
Melonee felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She didn’t have that kind of money. Hell, she didn’t even have a fourth of it. “How did you rack up that kind of debt?”
“Let me go and I’ll show you.”
“Be nice!” Johnny growled at the man. “Or I’ll kick your butt.”
“Where are we going to find that kind of money?” Melonee asked.
“Honey, if you can come up with fifty grand, I can use it to—”
Melonee shoved the scarf back into his mouth. “First of all, I’m not your honey or your sweet cheeks. It seems you need a lesson in how to treat a woman. Secondly, your days of gambling are over.”
That was if Fire lived past Maverick trying to kill him. She turned back to Carter. “Why is Cecil in jail?”
Carter dipped his head toward Fire. “For trying to get this asshole back here. Fire was at an illegal boxing match. The police raided it, and Cecil, Blair, and Oliver were arrested.”
Melonee hadn’t known about Blair and Oliver being there. Kota and Micah were going to kill Ruttford. She just knew it. As soon as they found out it was Ruttford’s brother who had caused all of this, they would find a way to blame her mate. A sudden heart-stopping thought occurred to her. “Does Maverick know it was because of Ruttford’s brother?”
“Unless Cecil said something, no,” Carter answered.
She knew Cecil wouldn’t rat her out, which made her feel all the worse for what was going on. She had to get him out of the clinker. “Where are they being held?”
“New York,” Carter answered and then told her where in New York. Melonee had an urge to deck Fire for this. It was bad enough she was dealing with an irate dad over her mating. Fire had to go and make things worse.
“Keep him hidden,” she said as she walked from the room. Maybe she could sneak out with her mates and go to New York and rescue the three. There had to be a way to get them released and the charges dropped.
Melonee froze when she saw Adam walking toward Maverick’s office, Ruttford close behind. What in the dickens were they up to? Her dad would eat them alive in the mood he was in right now.
She took off down the hall, but didn’t reach them in time as Adam walked into Maverick’s office. Melonee wanted to scream in frustration. Was the man insane? She was about to lose the damn human before she even got to know him.
Coming to a halt outside Maverick’s office door, she stood there holding her breath. Ruttford stayed by the door, leaning against the wall. When Melonee glanced at him, Ruttford just shrugged his shoulders.
“I demand that you let me go,” Adam said as he stormed over to Maverick’s desk. Her dad was sitting in his usual position—feet on desk, hands clasped across his stomach, only his eyes were dark, lethal.
Maverick studied Adam, his eyes darkening further, telling Melonee he was at the edge already. “I suggest you go back to your room, human. Count your blessings that you are still breathing.”
“Do you know who I am?” Adam asked in a tight, angry voice. “There will be people looking for me when they don’t hear from me.”
Melonee flew forward and yanked on Adam’s arm when Maverick slowly stood, murder in his light-grey eyes. “Apparently you don’t know who I am,” he thundered as his eyes shifted to wolf and his canines slid from their sheath. Melonee truly feared for Adam at the moment. She could tell by the tic in Maverick’s jaw that he was about to eviscerate her mate. “Tell me, Adam Nyte, why did you come to Brac Village?”
Adam swallowed and took a step back, shaking his head rapidly back and forth. “You’re not a fairy.”
Maverick growled.
Melonee yanked on Adam.
Ruttford cursed and came to their side.
“What did you call me?” Maverick asked as he began to walk around his desk. Melonee pushed Adam into Ruttford’s arms.
“Get him out of here!”
“Not before he answers my damn question,” Maverick said low and with lethality in his voice. “Why did you come here, Adam?”
Melonee turned, glancing at her human mate, waiting for the answer.
Adam stood, spine straight, locking eyes with Maverick. “I came to buy the town out so Kenyon Corporation could level it and build a shopping mall and luxury homes.”
Melonee felt as if her world had just shattered at her feet. No, this couldn’t be true. Her mate hadn’t deceived her. He just couldn’t have. She saw the green bleed from Ruttford’s eyes as he released Adam, staring at him as if the human had sliced his heart out.
“Tell me, Mr. Nyte,” Maverick continued. “Does Brac Village seem like a prime location for what Kenyon Corporation plans to do? We are way off the beaten path, not easily accessible. Why would a large corporation want this land?”
“It is not my job to ask why,” Adam answered. “I seal the deal for companies looking to acquire certain properties.” Adam didn’t sound as confident as he had a few seconds ago. Melonee was wondering where Maverick was going with this. She knew her dad and knew he was leading up to something.
“It should be your job,” Maverick replied. “You should know when you are getting into bed with the devil.”
“What did you do?” Melonee asked her mate. “What have you done to us?”
Adam glanced her way. “Nothing. I took on a contract. There was nothing special or different about it.”
“I haven’t lived as long as I have without knowing a few things,” Maverick said, moving closer to Adam until he was towering over the man. Melonee knew she should save her mate, but she was rooted to the spot, fear of what Adam had done paralyzing her.
“It’s just a midsized corporation that wants to buy this land,” Adam defended.
“No,” Maverick said as he shook his head. “We’ve been investigating Mr. Kenyon for some time, Adam. He may own Kenyon Corporation, but he is also the head leader of the vampire hunters, and you have just invited him to Brac Village.”