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“We’re all witches and all powerful, but some of us have extra abilities. Thane can commune with the dead. When a Braddock dies, when one body ceases to breathe and its heart stops beating, another body is born. It’s like reincarnation, but we remember our previous lifetimes.” Lynk paused, unsure how much he should divulge about how that had come about in the first place.

  “And this has to do with you being the keys to the Book of the Banished, right?”

  Lynk nodded slowly. “The original circle of thirteen witches tried to destroy the book but was cursed in the process. The book bound itself to the faerie, Camdin. The witches’ souls were ripped in two, and half of it sent out into the universe. Those thirteen would always protect the book.” Lynk paused, trying to figure out how to finish his abbreviated version of the legend.

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  “Torren says it’s never happened that all thirteen have been born to the same family before,” Demos offered from the front passenger seat.

  He didn’t realize that anyone else knew the story and wondered how many others Torren had told. Part of him also began to panic and prayed that Demos would keep his mouth shut about anything else that he knew. Lynk would eventually have to tell Kieran, but he wasn’t ready for that just yet.

  Luckily, Demos wasn’t one to divulge secrets or offer much in the way of small talk. He settled back into his seat and turned his head to stare out the window. Varik continued driving in silence, not even glancing at them. Ridley was either asleep or doing a good imitation of it in the third-row seat.

  Kieran cleared his throat, drawing Lynk’s attention back to him.

  “You lost me again. If Mikko is supposed to be reborn, how is he in Purgatory?”

  “Well, because he isn’t dead. We won’t know how he got trapped there until we get him back and he tells us.”

  “And why couldn’t Aslan get him out?”

  “Too dangerous.” Lynk shook his head. “Aslan doesn’t understand his power yet and can’t control it. He could end up letting out the wrong spirit and hurting himself in the process.”

  “Okay.” Kieran paused and a big smile lit his face. “I’ll leave the witchy stuff to you because I don’t understand most of it. I’ll just hit stuff really hard.”

  Lynk laughed the first real full-out laugh he could remember in so long. “Fair enough.”

  “So, more about your brothers.” Kieran wasn’t just asking to make conversation. Lynk could see it in his eyes and the way he leaned forward just slightly that he was really interested. Who had ever been interested in what Lynk had to say?

  “Well, Mikko’s twin is Nix. Our mother died shortly after they were born, and our father remarried a couple of years later. I don’t 48 Gabrielle

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  think either woman was his true mate, though.” Lynk shrugged. His father had seemed happy, and that was all that mattered to him.

  “Torren said that your stepmom was a shifter.” Lynk bobbed his head. “That’s right. She was a jaguar shifter as are my half-brothers. Eris is the oldest of that group. Then the twins Edge and Blade. Sabin was born next, followed by the second set of twins Sapphire, but we call him Phire, and Silver, and finally Indo.”

  “Interesting names,” Kieran commented, but he didn’t sound like he was being an ass. “I always wished my name was cooler.”

  “I like your name. It suits you.”

  Kieran shrugged. “It’s kind of wimpy.”

  “Not at all. It’s a strong name fitting of a warrior. Like I said, it suits you.”

  His mate might have argued further, but the vehicle began to slow, and Varik announced that they were approaching the front gates of the Snake River Coven. Lynk’s stomach tried to twist itself into knots, unheeded by the deep breaths he sucked in to try and calm his racing heart. He didn’t want to appear nervous or fearful, but his body was betraying him by slowly coming unglued.

  An arm wound around his waist and slid him across the seat until he was pressed right up against Kieran’s side. Lynk had been so lost in his frantic thoughts that he hadn’t even realized the man had unbuckled his seatbelt. Oh, this was going to go so wrong. They weren’t even inside yet, and he couldn’t even keep it together.

  “Nothing is going to happen to you,” Kieran whispered in his ear.

  “I swear that I won’t let anyone touch you.” The words spoken in that deep timbre soothed his frayed nerves like a cool aloe to overheated flesh. The soft lips that brushed over the side of his neck just made his dick hard, but he appreciated the gesture all the same. “Thank you, Kieran.” Kieran brushed Lynk’s hair back from his shoulders and nuzzled him just under his jaw. “That’s what I’m here for, sugar.” Flawless 49

  Oh, Lynk was in trouble. He was far too weak where his mate was concerned. He loved the way Kieran always nuzzled him, growled for him, the silly endearments he used. The man was quickly becoming someone Lynk couldn’t walk away from, and that could be a problem.

  The guards must have been expecting them because one look at Varik, and they just waved them through the gates. The main house loomed ahead of them, not small by any measure, but not nearly as large as the one at Haven. Still, Lynk liked the four huge columns that lined up along the front porch.

  “Can you feel anything?” Demos asked, turning in his seat to look at Lynk. He was obviously tense, his eyes wide and alert, ready for trouble. It did nothing to reassure Lynk that they weren’t going to end up a midnight snack for the residents of the coven.

  The sooner he could determine if his brother was close-by, the quicker they could get the hell out of there. Closing his eyes and drawing on the strength that Kieran offered, Lynk stretched his mind, flexed his magic, and sent out feelers for Thane.

  It took approximately half a heartbeat before Lynk’s eyes snapped open and he gasped. “He’s here.”

  * * * *

  “Shit!” Ridley cursed from the backseat. “This is going to blow goat balls.”

  Kieran had to agree. While he was glad they’d located Thane Braddock, getting the witch out of the coven was going to be another matter entirely. “What do we do now? It’s not like we can just walk in and accuse them of being slime.”

  “We should go back and let The Council deal with this,” Ridley answered. “We know he’s here. That should be enough for them to send a whole army of Enforcers in here.”

  “We are Enforcers, numb nuts.” Varik growled and slammed his fist against the steering wheel as he came to a stop in the circle drive 50 Gabrielle

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  just across from the double front doors. “I agree that we can’t just go in there and demand that they hand him over, but if we leave now it looks suspicious.”

  “Do we have a cover story?” Kieran asked. “I mean, is there a reason for us being here?”

  “We used to be part of this coven.” Demos looked out the window to the enormous house. “We’re just coming to see some old friends and see if our old leader has any new information for us about enslaved paranormals.”

  “Well, then let’s get this over with so we can leave.” Ridley slapped the back of Kieran’s seat. “This place makes me twitchy.”

  “Everyone just keep your cool and act normal.” Varik glanced at them over his shoulder. “The leader is a vampire by the name of October Tuesday.”

  Kieran snorted while he tried to contain his laughter, but in the end it was just too much. He’d thought the Braddocks had some interesting names, but this guy took the cake. Hell, he knew strippers with less ridiculous names. What the hell had his mother been smoking when she birthed him?

  The look Demos leveled on him quieted his mirth instantly.

  “Don’t let his name fool you. He is over a thousand years old and deadly. Do not fuck with him.”

  “Don’t piss off the guy who is named after the month and day he was born on,” Kieran recited. “Got it.”

  “Lord, save me from fools,” Varik mumbled. “That is the kind of attitude that will find your head separated fr
om your shoulders. Just keep your mouth closed unless you’re asked a question. Now, c’mon.”

  They all exited the SUV and climbed the front steps as a unit.

  Before anyone could knock or announce their presence, one of the two doors opened and a tall, too-skinny vampire waved them inside while she smoothed the wrinkles from her dress. “Leader Tuesday is Flawless 51

  expecting you.” She kept her head down, her eyes looking somewhere around their knees as she welcomed them.

  No sooner had she spoken the words when Kieran heard several sets of footsteps coming in their direction. Not sure of the coven’s stance on same-sex couples and not wanting to embarrass Lynk, Kieran stood close, but kept his hands to himself.

  “Demos, Varik, it’s so good to see you again!” If that was Leader Tuesday, he looked damn good for his age. Six-foot give or take with broad shoulders, short blond hair, and a smile straight out of the movies, he was everything most men wanted to be.

  He just looked kind of fake to Kieran.

  Three other vampires flanked him, two bigger and dressed from head to toe in black—obviously the man’s personal guards. The man to his left was fairly average in size and appearance. Perhaps the leader’s assistant?

  “Leader Tuesday,” Varik and Demos said in unison as they bowed their heads in respect. Then Varik made the introductions, giving Kieran a warning glare when he said his name.

  “Yes, yes, you’re all welcome here.” Tuesday waved a hand, indicating the men surrounding him. “You remember Axton, Gideon, and Zasha, of course.”

  None of the men looked happy to be there, but they acknowledged their names with curt nods. All except for the little guy, Zasha, who looked like he’d been clubbed over the head. He was staring in Kieran’s direction, but his eyes were glazed as though he wasn’t seeing anything or anyone in the room.

  Kieran opened his mouth to comment on the odd behavior, but before he could say anything, Zasha flew across the room, faster than Kieran had ever seen anyone move. He had Lynk around the waist and pressed up against his chest in the blink of an eye, jerking his head to the side to expose his neck.

  “Mine!” Zasha snarled, right before he sank his fangs into the neck of Kieran’s mate.

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  Chapter Six

  Lynk screamed.

  He didn’t pause to think if it made him look weak or appear less manly. When that vampire douchebag embedded his wicked sharp canines into his neck, it hurt like the seven shades of hell. It also scared the fuck out of him because he was almost certain that Kieran was going to kill the guy.

  Protocol forbade a witch from using his or her powers inside another’s home unless under duress. Well, having a bloodsucker making a Slurpee out of his neck felt like duress to him. With a few words uttered through gritted teeth, Lynk had the vampire on the floor howling in pain.

  The instant he was free, Lynk lifted the spell and hurried to Kieran. It was too late, though. In the four seconds it had taken for Zasha to bite him and Lynk to forcibly remove the guy from his artery, Kieran had apparently lost his damn mind. Lynk was pretty sure it was also bad manners to shift into a seven-foot werewolf in the middle of someone’s foyer, but that wasn’t stopping his mate.

  Russet-colored fur, a long tail, pointed ears, and gleaming daggers that doubled as teeth—Kieran was damn scary. He didn’t stalk his prey. He charged the vampire down like a herd of stampeding elephants. Growling and snarling, the pair rolled across the floor, snapping at each other while fists and feet flew in every direction, some connecting on target, other blows missing entirely.

  Demos, Varik, Ridley, and both of Tuesday’s guards attempted to pry them apart, but ended up being thrown several feet away. When one of the guards pulled a dagger from his belt, Lynk had seen Flawless 53

  enough. Throwing his hands up in front of him, he froze everyone in place and glared at the Enforcer with the dagger.

  “Are you for real? You were going to stab him? I can break your spine with a snap of my fingers.” He held his thumb and forefinger together, daring the man to give him a reason to do it. When he felt he had everyone’s full attention, he focused his power and released only Kieran from his invisible bonds. “Please shift back.” Gods, he was going to vomit. He hated confrontation of any sort, but seeing Kieran in danger had snapped something inside of him.

  Now that the situation was under control, he just wanted to go back to being invisible.

  Though he looked resistant, Kieran huffed, knelt down on the tiles, and shifted back to his human skin. “I just want to kill him,” he whined. “It’s just one little vampire. No one will even miss him.” Lynk didn’t find the man funny in the least as he rushed forward and threw himself into Kieran’s arms. “Are you okay?”

  “I should be asking you that.” He fingered the bleeding punctures on Lynk’s neck and growled. “I need…I can’t…I have to…” Rage apparently killed werewolf brain cells and made it impossible for them to form coherent sentences. Luckily, Lynk understood what Kieran was trying to tell him.

  Pulling his hair to the side, he tilted his head, offering his neck to his mate. Kieran growled again, his arms tightening around Lynk until he could barely breathe. Though he didn’t fully shift, his canines burst through his gums, and his gorgeous blue eyes became an eerie yellow just before he struck.

  Kieran’s fangs penetrated the skin just over Zasha’s mark, erasing any traces of the vampire’s claim to Lynk. Where Zasha had caused him only pain, Kieran’s bite sent heat spreading through his body until his cock ached with need.

  Then his long, slippery tongue lapped over the wound, sealing it so it would heal. He didn’t stop there, though. He nuzzled Lynk in a proprietary way, rubbing over every inch of him he could reach. It 54 Gabrielle

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  took Lynk only a second to realize that Kieran was covering him in his scent.

  With his very possessive werewolf distracted and unlikely to dismember anyone, Lynk released the rest of the men from his spell, though he kept a firm hold on his mate just in case. Kieran’s head snapped up, and he growled viciously when Zasha climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. “Mine!”

  Zasha snarled back, prowling a few steps closer before both coven Enforcers grabbed him and held him immobile. “Get your hands off of him!” Zasha demanded, jerking against their hold. “Stop touching my mate!”

  “What the hell is going on here?” Leader Tuesday stepped between them and crossed his arms over his chest. “Someone had better start talking.” His voice was low, cold, and dripping with threat.

  “That man is my mate,” Zasha growled.

  “Mine!” Kieran roared, clutching Lynk closer to his naked body as his fangs elongated again and sank into the opposite side of Lynk’s neck.

  There was no stopping his orgasm this time. It slammed into him, steeling his breath as semen shot through his slit to stain the front of his jeans. While he appreciated that Kieran couldn’t control his primal instincts, there were just so many times a man could be bitten before the loss of blood became a severe problem.

  So, when he could finally make his limbs work again, he slapped at the back of Kieran’s head. “Stop that,” he mumbled. “They get the point.”

  Kieran extracted his canines and licked the wound closed but refused to release Lynk. Not that he was complaining since he’d probably end up in a puddle on the floor if Kieran let go of him.

  “This is my mate, Kieran Delaney,” Lynk said just loud enough for everyone to hear him. “That man”—he pointed at Zasha—“is not my mate. I’m pretty sure I’d know if he was.” It was so hard to speak Flawless 55

  in a dignified manner when Zasha was eye-fucking him, Kieran was butt naked, and there was cum cooling on his own dick.

  Demos and Varik looked like they wished a hole would open up in the floor and swallow them down. Ridley’s face was bright red—

  probably because he had a hand clamped over his mouth and nose,
cutting off his oxygen flow while he tried to control his laughter at the situation.

  Leader Tuesday did not look as though he found the situation amusing at all.

  “It is common for vampires and werewolves alike to have more than one mate. If Zasha says that you are his, I believe him.”

  “While that is true of werewolves and vampires,” Lynk responded in a subdued tone, “it is not the case for witches, especially a Braddock. I have only one mate, and he’s currently licking me like I’m the Thursday Night Special.” He swatted at Kieran again where the man was trailing his tongue up the side of his throat. “Focus.” Kieran just made that rumbling sound in his chest somewhere between a growl and purr that made Lynk’s cock hard and his pulse race. With his mind tumbling out of control and his body hyperaware of his mate’s closeness, Lynk couldn’t keep his shields in place any longer. Every scrap of emotion Kieran felt flowed into him, invading his heart, body, and soul.

  The wolf in Kieran had taken over, stepping up to defend his position as Lynk’s mate. Fury and a fierce possessiveness were the dominant forces, but under that lurked a gentleness, a determination to keep Lynk safe at all costs for he was the only thing that mattered.

  He was the quintessential alpha, the man other men wished they could be, and in that moment Lynk realized why they were so perfectly matched for one another.

  He needed Kieran’s strength, his take-charge and leave-no-prisoners attitude. The structure, the discipline, the control—the caring, understanding, and protection—he craved it, yearned for it, was starved for a little taste of the peace it would bring him. He was a 56 Gabrielle

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  mess, out of control, on a downward spiral into the black abyss, and only Kieran could save him.

  Only Kieran could tame him.

  Only Kieran Delaney could master him.

  “Maybe we should come back another time,” Varik said, interrupting Lynk’s epiphany.

  “No. I believe this is a matter that needs to be settled now.” Leader Tuesday wasn’t an overly large man, but that didn’t make him any less terrifying. A ripple went through the group, a deep shudder like that caused by the frigid winds on a winter’s day.