Mystik Warrior: (Dark Warrior Alliance Book 2) (4 page)

“Like I said—”

She cut off what was sure to be more of his platitudes. She didn’t need him to protect her right now. She knew something was wrong. “Don’t keep anything from me. I have a right to know. Besides, I’m not so fragile that I will break.”

He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. Automatically, she turned into his palm and kissed it. “You are fragile, so very fragile. Your head injury has worsened when it shouldn’t have. I can’t say for sure but I think you may be bleeding internally. Your liver is slightly enlarged on palpitation. None of this should be occurring. Aside from the broken leg, your injuries from the accident weren’t that bad. I believe it’s the spell and I have no idea how to break it, and I don’t know anyone who does.”

She reached up and smoothed the crease between his eyes, ignoring her own fear. She wanted to reassure him and had no idea why. She was the one under some nefarious spell. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way. Zander said he was going to see the Fae Queen. Surely she will help, right?”

He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. Hope furled in her that maybe he did like her. “The queen isn’t sentimental or helpful unless it benefits her or her people. Giving away Fae secrets goes against that entirely. Asking her for help is a long shot, but it’s our only option.”

Her stomach clenched when she detected the bitterness in his tone. It was so at odds with what she had seen of him so far. It made her wonder about his history with the Fae. She tried to reach out and grab his hand but she was so weak her hand fell clumsily onto his arm instead. She was getting worse. “I have to say, I’m not feeling optimistic about my chances here. What about what you mentioned this morning? Some mystical grim something? You said you wished it would appear. Can it help?”

“The Mystik Grimoire,” he said and twined his fingers with hers. She didn’t think he was aware of what he was doing, but her heart skipped a beat. Touching him eased the pain and settled her heart into a more regular rhythm. It was frightening and confusing how much he affected her.

“Grimoire, that’s like a book of magic or something, right? If it has the answers, go get it. Or Zander can get it, just tell him where it is,” Cailyn offered.

“That’s impossible, Cai.” She shivered at hearing him say her name like that. Only Elsie and Jessie had ever called her that. He said it like benediction, making her melt. “It disappeared over seven hundred years ago and hasn’t been seen since. There is no way to simply retrieve it.”

“How does a book disappear?” The idea that a book simply disappeared was unbelievable enough, but to think they had been unable to find it in
seven hundred
years
was outrageous. How any of it was even possible baffled her.

Jace’s eyes took on a faraway look as if he was lost in time and he reached out with his free hand, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. “It’s a long story. You need to understand more about the creatures the Goddess Morrigan created that make up some of the Tehrex Realm. Sorcerers are one of those races. We wield magic, as you know. Well, my father, head of the Miakoda family, held the position of Guild Master for millennia, up until the Great War killed both he and my mother. After that, my cousin, Evzen, was appointed to the position of Guild Master over the sorcerers in my absence.” He paused, and swallowed thickly. His features contorted in pain and he fisted her hair tightly. The action sent pain shooting through her already aching head, but she stifled her wince, sensing he needed the contact.

He realized how tightly he was holding her hair and loosened his hold, but didn’t let her go. “The Grimoire had disappeared many years before the war. The Goddess endowed the leather-bound book with magical powers and it appears and disappears of its own accord. My father always told me that it was the book’s way of protecting its contents. It is bound to my bloodline, and will only appear to one of us…either me or Evzen since we are all that’s left. Anyway, the book not only holds spells and incantations but prophecies from realm Oracles, as well as ways to counteract various types of magic.”

Cailyn tried to scoot closer to his body, needing more of his warmth. She was getting colder. He noticed and brought his body closer. She sighed in contentment and focused on what he’d told her. “All of this is so outside anything I’ve ever known,” she mused. “I can understand why you’d want the book. Call it to you again, and keep calling for it. Until it answers, we need to find a way to convince the Fae Queen to help us.” This was not going to be easy, but she refused to give up. And, she wasn’t going to let him either.

Zander and Elsie entered Cailyn’s room, causing Jace to fall off the bed as he quickly pulled away. The action nearly caused him to rip out a handful of Cailyn’s hair and she missed the contact right away. Hell, she wanted to crawl into his lap. She had a feeling Jace didn’t show others the vulnerability he had just shown her. She clearly saw the defenseless, lost child he had been when his parents had been killed. The intimacy of the moment had connected them, even if she sensed he was fighting it every step.

Zander looked at them with a raised eyebrow in question. Cailyn turned to her sister and gave a slight shake of her head. Zander caught the exchange and let it go. “I’m ready to visit Elvis and question Zanahia about the spell on Cailyn. I want you to come with me, Jace. Or Gerrick. I need someone who knows aboot magic.”

“I’ll go,” Jace said at the same time Elsie asked “Who’s Elvis?” Elsie’s question brought images of the famous rock star in his blinged-out polyester suit to Cailyn’s mind. Could he be a supernatural and still be alive? She smiled at the image of the famous rock star’s curled lip with fangs protruding.

“He is the troll under the Fremont Bridge and he controls one of the portals to the Fae Realm,” Zander replied. Ok, not at all what she had expected. She had a picture on her digital frame at home of her with Elsie beside the troll from her first visit to Seattle. It was difficult to think that big concrete sculpture was a living, breathing part of this realm. Things just kept getting weirder.

“You mean to tell me that the huge statue is an actual troll and protects a portal? I’ve said this before. You really need a handbook explaining your world. You could be cliché and call it Tehrex Realm for Dummies,” her sister teased, patting Zander’s chest.

“Aye, that’s Elvis. And I’ve placed Gerrick on that assignment, mate. You should have the book in aboot a decade.” Zander leaned down and kissed Elsie with an indulgent smile on his face.

“Are you guys at it again? Unlock those lips, we have a crisis to deal with,” Orlando blurted as he entered the room followed by about half of the warriors. Cailyn heard the longing in Orlando’s tone and knew he hadn’t gotten over his feelings for her sister. The warrior was careful with his feelings out of respect for Zander, but the feline shifter couldn’t hide it entirely from Cailyn’s telepathy.

Cailyn glanced at the men in the room and suddenly felt very naked under the covers. As if reading her mind, Jace leaned down, pulling the blanket to her neck and smoothed them down, his hand lingering on her thigh.

“Later, mate,” Zander whispered to Elsie who had a dreamy, love-struck expression before turning to the newcomers. “Orlando is right. We need to figure this oot for your sister. While Jace and I are gone, I want all of you but Bhric oot on patrol, keeping an ear open for any talk of the accident. If we are lucky one of the skirm will boast aboot Kadir’s intentions. Bhric, you keep an eye on Jessie.”

“No problem,
brathair
, but Kyran isna here right now,” Bhric said, referring to their other brother as he reclined against one wall. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that that particular Vampire Prince was gone, Cailyn thought. He had always frightened her.

“Where the fuck is he?” It was impossible to miss the anger in Zander’s tone.

“Where else? Bite.”

“Of course he is. I’m going to castrate him when he gets back. He is never here when I need him,” Zander growled. “Go patrol your sectors, now.” The room began to empty with Zander’s order.

Elsie turned in Zander’s arms and Cailyn could see that her smile was forced. “Do you want to call John while the guys are gone? I’m sure he’s worried about you. He is your fiancé after all.”

Cailyn’s heart twisted at the thought of John. She felt guilty that she hadn’t told her sister that she had broken off their engagement. She hadn’t wanted to ruin her sister’s big day, and had kept her news to herself. Now wasn’t the time to tell her either. Cailyn had no desire to deal with Elsie’s upset over that until she was feeling better.

She looked away from her sister and her gaze went directly to Jace. She noted how he had frozen halfway up from the bed beside her, and those remaining in the room were all looking at him. The tension between them could be cut with a knife, and she had no doubt the others sensed their attraction to each other.

“Um, I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to him yet,” Cailyn told Elsie. Aside from not wanting to tell her sister, she didn’t want to have to explain in front of everyone, especially Jace, why she had broken off their engagement. She didn’t fully understand the reasons herself. What she knew was that from the moment Jace had entered her sister’s apartment all those months ago, something inside Cailyn had snapped to attention and locked on him, like a heat seeking missile.

His sexy body had captivated her, and caused her to have fantasies about a man other than her fiancé. It was something she had never before experienced, and it was what ultimately led to her breaking off her engagement.

She met Elsie’s gaze and saw her disbelief and confusion. That made Cailyn’s guilt all the worse. “You’re right. I will call him.” Cailyn was not looking forward to the conversation. The last time she had spoken to him, she had once again rejected him, and she didn’t want to twist the knife any further.

*****

Kyran’s groin tightened as he placed a metal nipple clamp on the female. The beautiful nymph bit down on the leather strap in her mouth and whimpered. He loved the fear and arousal in her silver-blue eyes. And hated it. The sound of her mewling fueled his deviant desires. Lost to his passions, he clamped the other nipple and stood back to admire the picture she created. Her come-fuck-me-thigh-high boots gleamed as he perused her body from head to foot.

As his gaze made its way back up her body, he noticed blood trickling from one of her breasts. The reason he used metal clamps instead of plastic. Pain and pleasure. The sight of blood hardened his shaft further. He bent over and licked the blood from her moist skin, tasting a note of salt mixed with copper elements. He groaned as pre-cum leaked from his cock.

The blood sent him over the edge of his control. He roughly grabbed her hands and pulled her to a bench. She stumbled and fell onto the wood face down. Perfect. He strapped her wrists into the leather cuffs under the bench. The position kept her upper body immobile with her delectable ass in the air. He ran his hand across the glistening globes and smacked one cheek. She moaned. He needed more force than his hand allowed and he swiveled to take in his options.

Skipping the huge four-poster bed, he contemplated strapping her to the wooden X, or placing her in the swing hanging from the ceiling, but decided he was too far gone. He was on a razor’s edge, and needed to make his selection before he lost even more control. Along the opposite wall was an assortment of whips. He stalked quickly across the room, his large steel-toed boots echoing loudly throughout the room. He ran his fingers across the various wooden canes. He skipped those, and decided the knotted cat o’nine tails would fit his current mood.

Weapon in hand, he strode back to the waiting female. As soon as he was within range, his hand arched back and the ropes hit her back, eliciting a deep moan from them both. He hadn’t even given his hand the order to strike. He was wound tighter than he realized.

He reached down and ran his hand through the curls between her legs and found wet female flesh. He loosened the tension on the leather straps and flipped her over. He brought the leather down on her breasts, enjoying the red welts that immediately formed. Returning to the chest of drawers, he bypassed the toys and other implements to grab a black candle off the top. The strike of a match widened her eyes; she knew what was coming, and was as eager for it as he was. He reached her side and caressed her red swollen breasts while he dripped black wax onto her clit. She arched back and screamed.

He slid the leather strap from her mouth and lowered to whisper in her ear, “What was that?”

“More, whip me more. Please, sir,” she whimpered.

He stood up and smiled. This was why he came to this Goddess forsaken club. The cat bit into her flesh repeatedly, amplifying his arousal. His leathers hit his knees and his cock was in his hand before he blinked. He stroked himself then flipped her back over. Her ass was so soft and plump. The cat hit her plush globes, causing them to redden enticingly. He thrust his cock into her ass and stilled.

Grabbing a fist full of her hair, he pulled her head up to him and growled in her ear, “Tell me, bitch. Tell me now.”

“Mmmm,” she groaned in pleasure as he felt her orgasm begin. He yanked on her hair again and grasped it tightly, anger burning through him. She blurted, “Please don’t kill me...”

Hearing her words was his cue, and he set into a punishing, brutal rhythm, seeking a brief moment to silence the voices from his past.

*****

“That could be the nastiest thing I have ever seen, I think my retinas are fried,” Jace remarked as he and Zander drove down North 36
^th
Street toward Elvis’ home under the Fremont Bridge. He had no idea trolls had sex, and wished he was still ignorant of that fact. The female troll’s body was grotesque, her backside was as big as a house, and Elvis was using a small car as a toy in places nothing should ever be shoved.

“Och, I agree. The Queen is going to be pissed off that her portal is being used as a sex toy. I doona think I’ll tell her she is crawling through a device that was shoved up a troll’s ass,” Zander shuddered.

“I haven’t seen the female troll before,” Jace observed as he twisted his head upside down to get a look past intimate body parts to her face, “and I would’ve paid two tolls to avoid this whole fucking scene.”

Zander chuckled and glanced over at him. “Aye, me too. I think she is new to the Montlake Bridge. I heard a rumor that there was a new transfer. Elvis looks to be quite the player.”

“That’s not right, Liege. Should we wait for them to finish or do we interrupt? I’m not sure of troll mating habits and we don’t have all night, but I don’t want to cock-block him either. He could crush us both with one swing of his fist.”

“I doona know aboot troll habits either but from the frantic sounds, I think they are close to being done,” Zander observed. “I’ll park here and take our time walking over that way we can stop them before they begin another round.”

Jace stepped onto the damp sidewalk, grateful the late summer weather hadn’t turned too cold yet, and looked back to Zander. “I hate that your Eve of Eternal Union was interrupted. I know you aren’t in the dog house with Elsie seeing that you have been busy saving her beloved sister, but you guys should have been in bed for weeks. We had a poll going on how long you two would be holed up in your rooms. I lost a bundle on my bet.”

A secret smile inched across Zander’s face, telling exactly where his thoughts were at the moment. Locked in that bedroom with his beautiful mate. For the first time, Jace was jealous of what Zander had with Elsie. “I will rip that fucking demon limb from limb and shred his insides for interrupting our night. I should be inside my Queen right now rather than watching these trolls go at it. But, no, that Goddess-damned demon had to go and up the ante.”

“Do you feel any different now that you are fully mated?” Jace wanted to eat his words as they escaped his lips. Except that his curiosity about what he would never experience wouldn’t be denied. The Goddess knew better than to gift a broken male like him with a Fated Mate.

“Aye, I feel verra different. Like I can take oot the archdemons and their skirm with a flex of my little finger, then take on the demons in hell withoot breaking a sweat. This new strength is invigorating. I never knew what I was missing before…but having both our souls complete and intertwined is beyond words. I havena had an opportunity to explore the new powers I was given through the blood exchange of our mating, but I look forward to it. Any description you have been given on the sexual changes you will go through is woefully inadequate,” Zander murmured.

Jace wondered what it would be like to actually ejaculate when he had an orgasm. Not that he knew what it felt like to have an orgasm. At this point, he wondered what it would be like to be aroused by a female and not vomit. Unfortunately, he was doomed to never know any of it.

Tinkling sounded in his ears, and strong pheromones reached his nostrils at the same time. None of which, he realized, were coming from the randy trolls. He glanced over and Jace’s eyes bulged at the sight of ice crystals dripping from Zander’s fingertips. Those were major new powers for the Vampire King, and Zander needed to control them ASAP. “Uh, Liege, did you know that you’re icing the sidewalk?”

Zander snapped to attention and the ice immediately disappeared. “Och, I was thinking of Elsie. She consumes me completely.”

The bellow of a T-Rex interrupted their conversation. “I hope they didn’t just topple the bridge.”

Zander chuckled, “From the look on his face, I would say that was the grand finale. Och, I’d wager that registered on the human’s Richter scale.”