Undone (The Amoveo Legend) (20 page)

“Are you sure?” Marianna asked. Pete cast a glance at Marianna and saw that she seemed as surprised and relieved by this revelation as he was. “Pete can go out in the daytime?”

“Does a bear shit in the woods?” Asmodeus replied with a mischievous grin.

“That’s not funny.” Marianna narrowed her eyes.

“I thought it was rather witty,” he mused. “Well, I have to go now. I’ve already interfered far more than acceptable, and if the rest of the brotherhood find out, there’ll be hell to pay.” He stood and added, “Literally.”

“Hey.” Pete closed the distance between himself and Asmodeus in the blink of an eye. He lowered his voice and bared his fangs. “I appreciate the heads-up, but stay out of my bedroom, and no more spying on Marianna and I. The next time you pop into my room uninvited and invade our privacy… I’ll drink you dry.”

Asmodeus’s eyes brightened, and his jaw clenched as he stared Pete down. Heat filled the room, and for a moment, he thought things were going to get ugly. However, when a huge grin cracked his bearded face, and his shoulders shook with laughter, Pete was too stunned to say or do anything.

“That’s my boy,” he said with a loud laugh. “I’ll be seeing you around.”

Then in a cloud of smoke and flash of fire, he was gone.

***

Marianna sat on the couch in the living room of Richard and Salinda’s ranch and stared into the roaring fire. Pete sat with his fingers linked with hers. It had been over a month since Pete had been turned and Artimus had been killed, but it felt like a lifetime.

The moon cast an eerie light over the melting snow on the fields of the Montana ranch, and Marianna couldn’t help but wish they were back at Pete’s cabin. Her gut instinct to run away and hide from trouble began to rear its ugly head, but she squashed the urge to visualize herself out of the mess.

“Any word on where Dr. Moravian might have taken Courtney?” Pete asked.

Marianna glanced at Pete and brushed her fingers along his ever-present five o’clock shadow. He knew how desperate she was to find her friend, and as always, his only concern was for her happiness.

“Not yet,” Dante chimed in from across the room. He and Kerry sat side by side on the other sofa and looked as concerned as she felt. “When we went back to the compound to see what information we could gather, everyone was gone, and all the computers had been wiped clean.”

“Understood.” Richard nodded solemnly and looked intently at each. “Have any of his former followers attempted to come back into the fold of their clans?”

“The two Purists who defected from the Council returned to the Falcon Clan with their mates and asked for forgiveness.” Standing ramrod straight by the windows, William smoothed the lapel of his jacket. “I suggested that they speak with you directly.”

“My aunt, Bianca, said that there was one Cheetah Clan member who returned with her mate and asked to be forgiven.” Layla shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and blew a bubble with her gum. “I don’t think most folks are feeling forgiving at the moment.”

“Forgiveness is one thing,” Richard said quietly. “Trust is quite another.”

“What about Steven?” Dante said tightly. “He still hasn’t come out of the coma. There’s a part of me that thinks it’s actually merciful he’s like this. When he wakes up and finds his mate pregnant and abducted, well, that may send him back into a coma.”

“When I connected with him, I found that his current state is somehow linked to what’s happened to his mate.” Kerry chimed in. She looked at Richard and continued. “Steven is a healer, and this coma seems more like a perpetual dream state than a brain injury. From what I can tell, he’s keeping himself on the dream plane so that he can stay connected with her.”

“I’d like you to communicate with him, and see whether we can get him out of it. He can’t help her if he stays where he is.” Richard ran a hand through his long dark hair. “In the meantime, we’ll look for her. The bottom line is we owe it to him to find Courtney so they can have a proper mating. He’s in this situation because he was acting on orders from me.” His voice dropped low. “I will not rest until we find her and bring her to him.”

“I thought that perhaps I’d connect with Savannah, but so far, I haven’t had any luck,” Marianna added. “She was going to help me get out, and if she hadn’t slipped that Taser under my pillow, I don’t want to think about what Hayden would’ve been able to do.”

Marianna shivered at the dark memories of that night. Pete held her tighter and placed his other hand over her rounding belly. He didn’t say anything, but his actions spoke volumes.

“The only piece of hope I’ve got is that Savannah is still working with her father and doing it so she can protect Courtney.” She locked eyes with Richard. “I know that she’s not a Purist, Richard. If she’s alive, then she’s with Courtney.”

The room filled with static, and Salinda appeared next to her husband with their infant daughter in her arms. “Your daughter wants her daddy to tuck her in,” she said as she handed the smiling child to Richard.

Marianna watched as their leader was instantly reduced to a big heap of mush as his daughter wrapped her tiny fingers around his much bigger one. The chubby, blue-eyed cherub gurgled happily as she looked at her father. Marianna held Pete’s hand against her belly and smiled.

He glanced at her as his mind brushed hers
. I want you all to myself, so let’s make a graceful exit.

“One more thing before you go,” Richard said with a grin.

Marianna’s face heated with embarrassment as she realized that he must’ve heard Pete. He’d gotten a much better handle on the telepathy, but he wasn’t always great at shielding it from others. The prince adjusted the child in his arms and turned his attention back to Pete and Marianna.

“I’ve been in contact with the Presidium’s New York czar, and he’s agreed to allow you to work as a sentry and a liaison between our races.” He glanced at Marianna and then to Pete. “If that’s acceptable, of course.”

“I’d be honored,” Pete said. He stood and shook Richard’s hand. “However, if it’s all right, I’d like to take Marianna home to get some rest.”

“Yes,” Richard said through a smile, casting a knowing look to his wife. “We’ll reconvene here next month to review new developments. Dante and Kerry will look for hybrids that may still be out there. William and Layla will follow new leads that pop up regarding Courtney or the doctor’s whereabouts, but I imagine I can count on you if we need extra assistance.”

“You can count on both of us.” Marianna rose from her seat and linked her arm around Pete’s waist. She winked at her brother.
No
more
running… I promise
, she whispered. Dante smiled and winked back.

Marianna whispered the ancient language, static flared with a gentle breeze, and within seconds they were back at her apartment in New York City.

Before she could say a word, Pete dropped to his knees and kissed her slightly rounded tummy. He pushed her sweater up and kissed her belly button as he cupped her bottom.

He peered at her with those arctic-blue eyes and grinned as his fangs burst into his mouth. He spun her around so that her ass was in his face, and she giggled as he splayed his hands over her stomach and kissed her butt.

Smiling, Marianna looked over her shoulder. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m kissing your ass.”

“Really?” She arched one dark eyebrow. “Kissing is nice, but I’m in the mood for a bite.”

Marianna laughed at the surprised look on his face and slipped from his embrace. Still laughing, she ran to the bedroom as she visualized her clothes away and jumped onto the bed buck-naked.

In a flash, Pete was naked and tackling her. He wrapped her in his arms and slipped inside her on a sigh. Tangled up in skin, he drove into her with slow, loving strokes and held her gaze as he sank into her again and again. As the passion coiled deep inside, Marianna turned her head and gave him access to the tender skin along her throat.

“Not yet,” he whispered.

Marianna groaned and urged him faster, wanting to make him lose control and chase the orgasm to the edge. To her disappointment, Pete disengaged from her body.

“Turn over,” he rasped.

Marianna complied and turned onto her belly. Pete grabbed her hips and pulled her so that she was on all fours. She looked over her shoulder and wiggled her hips enticingly. That was all the encouragement Pete needed.

With one swift stroke he drove deeply inside. Marianna gasped with pleasure as he speared her again and again. Still pumping her, Pete held her hip and brushed her long hair aside. As the orgasm crested to the top, Marianna quivered in anticipation, knowing what was next.

Yes.
Her voice, rich with pleasure, touched his mind as he sank his fangs into the side of her neck, and they tumbled over the edge together.

Sated and gloriously exhausted, the two lay with their limbs entwined, and Marianna didn’t know where he ended and she began. As she drifted to sleep in the arms of her mate, the energy signatures of their unborn children surrounded her like a blanket. This was what she’d been looking for all her life. No more running. A smile curved her lips.

Unless, of course… she was running after their children.

Look for
Unclaimed
, the fifth book in the Amoveo Legend series, coming December 2013 from Sourcebooks Casablanca

In the meantime, read on for an excerpt from
Undenied
, an Amoveo Legend novella, available for free from
DiscoverANewLove.com

And take a sneak peek at
Tall, Dark, and Vampire
, the first book in an exciting new series from Sara Humphreys, coming August 2013 from Sourcebooks Casablanca

A growl rumbled in the back of Boris’s throat as he struggled to keep his irises from shifting into the glowing yellow eyes of his clan. He gripped the tequila bottle in one hand and snatched a glass with the other before pouring a shot and sliding it across the bar to his unwelcome patron.

His instinct was to shift into his Tiger form and rip Hayden’s throat out, but since he had a bar full of humans, that wasn’t likely to happen, and Hayden knew it. Hayden threw the shot back and slid the empty glass across the bar to Boris. As a member of the Bear Clan and the son of a high-ranking Council elder, Hayden had to be tolerated—unfortunately.

“What do you want, Hayden?” Boris asked as quietly as possible.

He moved to the far end of the bar and motioned for Hayden to follow. The last thing he needed was more rumors flying around about him or his place. Ever since the incident with his sister, business hadn’t been booming, and discussing Amoveo politics within earshot of humans was unwise. The existence of their race had remained secret for centuries, and he’d rather not be the one to let the proverbial cat out of the bag.

He hit the volume button from the jukebox remote. He could speak with Hayden telepathically, as all Amoveo could, but he didn’t care for the idea of allowing this asshole into his head.

“My father asked me to come and speak with you.” He took the seat at the very end and kept his voice low. “You know that our race is under attack from within, and we need to gather as many true believers as possible before we can make our move.”

Boris stilled and gritted his teeth against Hayden’s dark energy signature. It slithered around the bar like a snake and set him on edge. All Amoveo had a signature, a spiritual fingerprint that distinguished them from everyone else, and Hayden’s was dark and thick. Aside from being a spoiled, self-entitled tool, he also had a mean streak a mile long, and Boris couldn’t stand him.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree. My sister got involved in this crap, and look where it got her.” He shifted his body so that his back was to the rest of the bar and fixed his intent gaze on Hayden. “Dead. That’s where.”

“Your sister was a patriot,” Hayden seethed. He grimaced and dropped his voice to just above a whisper as he leaned both elbows on the bar. “Are you telling me that you would encourage mating with humans and add more hybrids to the mix?”

“There’s nothing to encourage.” Boris crossed his arms over his broad chest. “You know as well as I do that our matings are predestined, so there’s little choice in the matter.”

“We are not supposed to mate with humans,” he seethed. “It’s going to be our undoing.”

“Listen.” Boris poured him another shot and leaned onto the bar with both hands, getting right in Hayden’s face. “All I’m telling you is that I want no part of politics. All I want to do is run my bar and be left alone. Got it?”

Hayden narrowed his dark beady eyes and leveled a suspicious gaze at Boris. “You haven’t found your mate yet, have you? You’re in your midtwenties, so the clock is ticking. I hope you’re not thinking that your predestined spouse is a hybrid freak like the ones that Dante and Malcolm have shacked up with.”

“No.” Boris stilled and looked away, busying himself with cleaning behind the bar. “I am positive that my mate is not a hybrid.”

“I see.” Hayden nodded and made a sound of understanding. “Good. Because I’d hate to see you put yourself in a dangerous position. We’ve got a civil war brewing, and you don’t want to be one of those hybrid sympathizers when it happens. Better to be unmated and fight with us than to allow this cycle of birth-defect breeding to continue.”

Boris said nothing and hoped that Hayden would be satisfied with his lie. The truth was that he had found his mate—and she was not a hybrid—she was one hundred percent human.

At least, that’s what he suspected.

He’d found her in the dream realm years ago, the way all Amoveo found their predestined mates, but he’d never been able to see her. At first he thought she was from a different clan, and that’s why it was difficult to connect. There were, after all, ten animal clans among his people. But after several years of not being able to connect, he realized that she was likely human.

He didn’t exactly know how he knew it… he just did. After listening to Hayden and his hatred, the last thing he was going to do was tell him. The hybrids and their Amoveo mates were under attack from men like Hayden, so God only knew what they’d do if they found out his mate was a human.

He’d rather never connect and die alone than put her life at risk.

He could already feel his powers slipping away. He walked in the dream realm less as the days passed, and his skills of visualization and shifting took more and more energy. He knew that if he didn’t claim his mate and connect with her by his thirtieth birthday, all of his powers would fade away until they were nothing but a distant memory. At that point, death would be merciful.

Hayden tossed back another shot, stood from the stool, and threw a twenty on the bar. He glanced at the row of pictures along the stairway that led to the upstairs dining area and stopped to stare for a few minutes. Boris watched him intently, and every cell in his body went on high alert.

“Your sister was quite a piece of ass,” he said through a heavy sigh. Hayden turned to face Boris and gave him a smug smile. “Too bad I didn’t fuck her when I had the chance.”

Rage flashed over Boris’s skin at the crude comments about his sister. He leaped over the wooden bar with a growl, grabbed Hayden by the throat, dragged him through the crowd, and tossed him into the street as stunned patrons looked on.

“And don’t you ever show your goddamned face in my place again!” he yelled. Seconds later, he watched Hayden plow into a young woman as she rounded the corner. The poor thing tumbled to the ground in a heap and gaped at Hayden, too surprised to say anything.

Hayden screamed something at him, but he didn’t hear it because he was completely transfixed by the disheveled creature sitting on the sidewalk. Boris wanted to apologize and tell her how sorry he was, but just as he was about to offer her a hand, the familiar sound of bracelets jingling stopped him dead in his tracks.

He’d heard that sound countless times in the dream realm as he’d looked for his mate. While he’d never seen her, he had heard her voice, and it was always accompanied by that jingling.

Boris froze, and all reason left him when her voice reached out and touched his mind with the gentlest of whispers.
Worst day ever.

His instincts had been right.

His mate was a human. She was here, and she was pissed.