Tangled Innocence (17 page)

Dante nodded. No, he’d missed something. Something far
greater than he could have imagined. The end was coming, and he needed to look
at the pieces and figure out how he could save his mates.

They were running out of time with the Conclave, and his
mother had thrown a new player into the fold. Nadie gripped his hand, and he
knew it was time to get everyone home so he could try to heal her. He pulled
her closer and closed his eyes.

He’d fought off a dragon for his mates, and now it would
seem he’d have to kill his mother. It was never ending, and he’d be damned if
he’d lose. He had too much to live for.

****

Faith tossed her bag on the table and threw herself on her
couch. It had been one hell of a night, and frankly, Faith was tired of nights
like these. It seemed that every time someone in their group found their mate
or mates, the world went crazy and people had to fight for their lives.

She’d watched each of her friends who’d bonded almost die,
and then when they were healed, they lost a part of themselves. Oh, they told
Faith they were happy with all the changes and
loved
being part of a mating bond where it seemed they would
readily sacrifice themselves for their loved ones.

Hell no.

It didn’t seem worth it.

Not one bit.

It didn’t help that she was the weak one in every
situation—not something she was used to. She might be able to fight with
knives, but that meant nothing against a fucking dragon or wolf with claws and
fangs. Everyone was moving on, and Faith was left behind.

She needed to find a way to protect herself and her friends
because she’d be damned if she had to hide behind little Nadie again. Not that
she wasn’t grateful that the little succubus could protect them and herself,
but Faith didn’t want to have to rely on anyone.

And she damn sure didn’t want to rely on a mate.

Men lied, cheated, and treated her like trash.

No thank you.

It seemed the only way to find a way to grow stronger and
become the paranormal the lightning had triggered was to bond with her true
half. That was something Faith wasn’t prepared to do. Not now. Maybe not ever.

She’d just have to find another way.

Because there was no way Faith would allow herself to be
weak, helpless, and she’d never rely on the kindness of others.

There was no way she’d give up her freedom…her heart…for a
man she would never be able to trust.

She’d just have to find another way.

Somehow.

Levi ran a hand through his hair and promised himself that
if he made it through this Conclave meeting without killing someone, he’d get
himself a present. Like a beer. Or a willing woman.

Anything
to entice
him to stay somewhat sane and not…dead.

Because if he started murdering, or at least maiming, those
of the Conclave who were so out of touch with the rest of the universe, he’d
surely be killed by one of their cronies. Gods, it sounded as though he worked
with part of the human mafia, not a group of powerful supernaturals who were
supposed to be the rule makers, the
protectors
of their realms.

And now he was sitting in a room as the others plotted to
kill when they didn’t get what they wanted.

Levi didn’t know what to do, but he knew he
had
to do something.

“What’s your plan?” Tristan, his fellow member and friend,
whispered to him. While Levi was a wizard, Tristan was fae. The two of them in
some respects would have different ways of helping their own realm, but right
then, they had the same goal.

To keep the Conclave from falling to the hells it was on the
fast track to.

“I would try reason, but I think we’re long past that.”

Tristan snorted. “They’re going to war. You know this.”

Levi nodded. “You’ll have to stay here. There are those who
will stay behind with you, trying to take over the Conclave or use its powers
to harm even more.”

Tristan’s expression darkened, but he nodded. “And you’ll go
with the Conclave. Protect the innocent.”

Levi nodded. That was why he had joined the Conclave with
Tristan at such a young age. He’d sacrificed so much to do what he thought was
right, and now it seemed he might have made a mistake. Levi closed his eyes,
taking a deep breath, before standing, his chin held high.

He’d follow the Conclave to Dante’s and do his best to find
a way to protect them all. He’d been too late with the accident on the road,
too late with the lightning in the first place. He just prayed he wasn’t too
late for this.

****

Jace leaned against the wall, watching his two mates
practice hand-to-hand combat in their gym. While Nadie’s powers were growing
day by day, as was her ability to control those powers, he and Dante wanted her
to learn to use every weapon she had.

“It annoys me that we need to teach her these things,” Faith
said as she walked up to him and leaned on the wall as well. “It annoys me that
I
need to learn these things.”

Faith had come to their place so she could learn along with
Nadie. Though, at least in Jace’s mind, Faith’s skill was well beyond Nadie’s
in hand-to-hand and blade combat.

“It annoys me as well that any of you have to learn this.
The seven of you should have been able to live your lives the way you wanted
to. Now, as each of you learn your new powers and realms, it seems we’re always
on the brink of war.”

Faith snorted. “I’ll stand by all of my friends and wish
them luck in every area of love and all that crap they want, but that won’t be
me. I won’t start a war for any man. I’m learning so I’m not the weak one in
any fight—human or not.”

Jace thought Faith’s words would come back to bite her in
the ass later, but he didn’t comment on that. “I don’t think anyone would ever
mistake you for weak.”

“Such flattery,” Faith mumbled. “I’m still not prepared to
go against a dragon.”

Jace shook his head. “I’m not either. I could only take down
Rock in my bear form because Dante’s fire was there. Without it? I would have
lost easily. Only a dragon can take down a dragon.”

“Sounds shitty to me.”

“Agreed. You do know that we won’t let you actually fight
against the Conclave when they come, right?” And they would come.

Faith turned so she was facing him, her hands on her hips.
“Really? You’re not going to
let
me?”

“Stop bullying my mate,” Nadie said as she walked up to his
side.

Jace held out an arm, and she sank into him as if without
thought. “She’s not bullying me, or at least she’s not succeeding.”

Faith rolled her eyes, but she grinned anyway.

“You’re doing better, my sprite,” Dante said as he prowled
toward them. Honestly, the man never walked. He always looked as though he was
ready to fight or take someone to bed when he moved—something Jace appreciated.

“I’m not fully there yet, but I’m getting better.”

Jace kissed the crown of Nadie’s head. Her skills improved
by leaps and bounds every day, and he was beyond proud concerning how well she
was doing. Dante was patient with her and taught her to use her own strengths while
fighting. As each moment passed, the three of them were learning facets about
each other that he never thought he’d know. These two were the center of his
life, and his role as Mediator could be damned. He’d already shunned his
responsibilities, as well as a Conclave that had tried to pull him away from
the ones he loved. The pixies were being cared for by another.

Now, it was Jace’s time.

Jace had straightened, ready to take his mates and Faith
back to the kitchen to get something to eat when the house shook. Nadie dug her
fists into his shirt, and he gripped her hip, trying to decide if it was a
normal earthquake or something far worse.

He met Dante’s gaze and knew the time had come.

“The Conclave is here,” Dante growled and let his hand fall
from Faith’s shoulder.

“Where are they?” Jace asked.

Dante tilted his head as if sensing something. “They’re in
the clearing, and there are more than a few of them.”

Dread settled in Jace’s stomach, but he buried it. “What are
our options?”

“Running and hiding won’t work. They’ve put their own wards
around
my wards. No one can get out, but
others can come in.” Dante raised a brow. “They did that for their own
reinforcements, but I’m bringing in my own.” He turned to Faith. “I would tell
you to hide in the basement with my mate until this is over.” He held up his
hand to silence both women. “But I know that wouldn’t work. Even if I thought I
could keep either of you away from this, being by our sides will be safer.”

Jace pulled Nadie in front of him. “I’m going to go call my
parents and have them come here. I want you by my side or Dante’s the entire
time until I tell you to go somewhere else.”

Nadie nodded, worry in her gaze. “I will. I can use the
powers I have to protect myself and Faith. I won’t do something stupid. I
promise.”

Jace cupped her face and kissed her. Hard. “I’m not going to
lose you.” He pulled away and kissed Dante the same, repeating the phrase until
he started to believe it himself.

Dante growled. “Go call your family and tell them to come
here quickly. Faith, call Shade and the others. I will call my House. We have
only thirty minutes at most I believe until the Conclave is gathered before
they come at us. They need to fully get through our wards first. They’re
taunting us right now, and we’re going to use the time to prepare.”

Jace fisted his hands but didn’t let the others know
anything was amiss other than the fact that they were about to go into battle.

The time had come, and he’d damned if he’d lose. He was a
grizzly and would fight by tooth and claw until the end.

Jace growled once they made it outside. The phone calls had
been made, messages sent, and the Conclave was on the other side of the trees.
Waiting.

“Ready?” Dante asked, his hair undone so the wind blew it
behind him.

“As I’ll ever be,” Jace answered.

Nadie moved to his other side. He felt the tension wafting
off her, but she didn’t look scared. No, she looked determined, a far cry from
the woman he’d met in the bar those months ago with the broken-down car.

“It’s time.”

At Dante’s words, Jace moved off to the side and shifted.
The warm feeling of home and an inner rage spread over his body, and soon he
stood on four legs as a six-hundred-pound grizzly. It didn’t hurt to shift. It
felt as if he was in his second skin.

He’d be able to fight as a bear easier than as a human, able
to cause more damage with his claws than hands. The ground shifted beneath his
paws as Dante shifted to his dragon form. Soon he and Jace dwarfed the two
women between them, ready to fight for all they loved, all they needed.

Dante led them, prowling toward the clearing, his head high.
The path to the area where the Conclave stood wasn’t hindered by trees, so
Dante could move without destroying anything, but the trail wove around so it
wasn’t a straight line.

Nadie and Faith walked side by side. Faith had strapped
knives to her body, ready to fight that way if needed, and Jace was so fucking
happy Nadie had friends like hers. The other women in their group either had
not learned their powers yet or were mothers to very young children. Jace had a
feeling their mates would not let them come to this fight.

There was only so much loss one could take before it became
too much to bear and all hope diminished into a nothingness that left them
alone, fragmented, and ready for death.

“Have you made your decision, Dante Bell?” the dragon who
looked so old he had to be Alexander asked.

Dante stood in front of their entourage, Nadie and Faith not
quite hidden but standing as off to the side as possible. Jace stood behind them
all, his eyes moving over the crowd of Conclave members that had come for
Dante’s death.

There had to be at least forty paranormals in front of him
and only a couple pairs of paranormals from the same realm. The diversity of
realms made Jace want to scream at the injustice of it all. So many wanted his
mate dead. Wanted the power in the hands of the few rather than the people they
governed in secret.

Jace’s family and the rest of their people would come soon,
but by the looks on the members of the Conclave’s faces, they wouldn’t be fast
enough.

Jace risked a glance at Nadie, who had come to his side, her
hand in his fur, petting him. He couldn’t speak to her in this form, but he
leaned into her touch, letting her know he was there—would
always
be there for her as long as he still breathed.

“Your silence doesn’t bode well,” a male pixie said from
beside the dragon, and his eyes narrowed.

“You come to my land and dare threaten me?” Dante asked. “I
asked for time, not to contemplate my decision of whether to join your ranks
but how to live with the decision I have made. I will not be put in a corner
and forced to fight like a dragon with no honor. I choose to live with my
mates.”

The crowd rumbled, and Jace kept his attention on the
masses, his senses going out to find the greatest threat but not ignoring even
the weakest of ones.

“Don’t act surprised at my words. You knew from the start I
didn’t want this. I want to choose my own life, but no, you’ve decided for me.
I will not let that stand.”

“You’re
just
a
dragon,” a witch sneered.

“Just?” Dante bellowed. “
Just
?
You’ve forgotten your place. All of you. You were supposed to protect your
people, not rule them from afar and treat them like ants.”

“Enough!” Alexander shouted, and Jace’s hackles rose. He
pawed at the dirt, ready to fight. Words were useless now, and they all knew
it.

“You don’t say no to the Conclave,” the witch yelled.

“I bow to no one,” Dante growled.

“So be it,” Alexander rumbled. “We tried to give you time to
come to your senses. We even tried to take the woman you think you care for
from you so you would have an easier path to take to us. Instead, she lived and
you won’t come to us like you should. It is an
honor
to be part of the Conclave, and yet you deny it. You are
worthless and not the dragon we thought you were.”

Jace stood on two legs, towering over Nadie and Faith,
throwing his head back, letting out a roar that would be heard for miles.

They’d thought they could attack Nadie when she was on her
own? He’d never been as scared as he’d been when he’d thought he’d lost her.

He wouldn’t be that scared again.

Dante roared with him then calmed—at least it looked that
way to others. Smoke escaped from his nostrils. “You go too far.”

Alexander snorted, smoke surrounding his face as he blew
small fires—a dragon in waiting.
 
“We
clearly haven’t gone far enough with you, blue dragon. We are the Conclave. We
are gods. We changed fate because we could. We alone have the power to do all
in our grasp. We are the ones who brought the lightning to Dante’s Circle. We
are the ones who turned these women into who they are today. And what are they?
Failures. They are nothing but abominations that must be destroyed. We wanted
to see how they would fit in with their realms, how the lighting would change
their DNA. We know now that the women were weak.
Are
weak. They are worthless. Much like you.”

At his side, Nadie and Faith gasped, and Jace lifted a lip,
baring a fang. These fucking crazy lunatics had played with the lives of seven
women just to see what would happen? Dear gods, the Conclave was crazy. It
wasn’t just that they wanted Dante for themselves, but they’d forced the
lightning-struck to learn about a new world that was far more dangerous than
anything they’d ever lived before.

Nadie could have
died
because of the selfishness and curiosity of a group of people Jace couldn’t
even respect or care for.

He’s spent his entire life acting as Mediator on orders from
the Conclave. He’d thought he’d been doing something worth living for,
something
needed
. But what if all of
that had been a lie? What if he’d only acted because the Conclave had a
vendetta?

His bear growled, ready for blood, for redemption.