Wicked Waves: Solsti Prophecy #2 (39 page)

“I know.”

She swallowed hard. “I’ll have to do this again. Use my power this way.”

His eyes locked with hers. “I’ll be with you. Every step. Every fight.”
 

“You will?”
 
Her heart flipped.
I love you
.

He stroked her hair. “Remember when you thought I was asking you to go steady?”

“Yeah.”
 
A jittery feeling spread through her body. Anticipation lit up her insides like a Roman candle.

“I want more than that.”
 
He tilted her chin so she could meet his eyes. “I love you.”

She nearly forgot to breathe as waves of happiness washed over her heart. Her hand clutched his T-shirt to draw him close, but he wasn’t done talking.

“I want to be with you forever. I want to fight at your side. I want to be there when you wake from every bad dream.”
 
He kissed her hand. “And every good one, too. I want
you,
Brooke. Be my mate.”

Her soul exploded in joy, a million fragments swirling, melding with the essence of the man who held her. Gazing into the soft amber glow of his eyes, their bond wrapped her heart in a chain of diamonds, binding them together forever.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I love you, Kai.”

“You’re mine.”
 
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with tender possession.

His soft, demanding lips sent shimmering waves of pleasure down her arms.
Mine
. The man she never thought she wanted had become a soul-baring force she couldn’t live without. He belonged to her.
We saved each other.

As their souls entwined, she realized she could share in his strength. The burst of power from him was exactly what she’d needed to finish her task with Cale. Kai would never hold her back. He wanted to fight at her side.
Together
.

She tangled her tongue with his, deepening their kiss. Still on his lap, she shifted so she could run her hands through his hair.
       
He groaned. “You’re killing me, Sprite. We’re not alone.”

“Damn.”
 
She pulled away from his sensual mouth and gazed into the warm honey glow of his eyes. “Is that it?”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Is what it?”

“We agree to be mates, and then we are?
 
No special words or ceremony?”

His mouth met hers in a swift kiss. “No ceremony. Unless you want one. Some mates make up their own.”
 
He raised her hand and kissed each knuckle. “We’ll be able to sense each other’s emotions all the time. And when we’re close by, we can project our thoughts.”

“Oh yeah. Nicole and Gunnar do that all the time. It’s kind of annoying.”

He nuzzled her ear. “It won’t be annoying when I’m telling you exactly what I’m gonna do to your naked body.”

A shiver of promise zinged up her spine. She felt the carnal heat of his words just as strongly as she heard them at her ear. She linked her hands behind his neck and pressed her lips to his. Her fingers wandered into his hair, sifting through his blond locks—

“Our hair!”
 
She pulled away and sat up straight in his lap. “When will it change?”

He chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose. “That takes several hours. We may not see the change until tomorrow.”

Brooke shook her head. “I gave Nicole such a hard time about that. She probably won’t let me forget it.”

“You two are going to look like Goth sisters.”

“Yeah.” She rested her head on his shoulder, wishing she could stay wrapped in Kai’s arms forever.
Well, that’s what being mated is all about
. But they were still in the gray-green forest. It seemed like they’d been here for months. She peeked over his shoulder and sucked in a breath.

Bodies lay everywhere. Some gave off a sickly smoke, some were twisted at odd angles, some had arrows protruding from…
wait, arrows
?

“Did you and Mathias kill all the Serus demons?”
 
She pulled back to face Kai. “It looks like I missed a lot of the action.”

He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m glad you didn’t have to see the carnage. The Serus demons were moving to attack. Mathais, Raniero, and I were going to divvy them up, but then the elves got their butts in gear.”

“Jason?
 
And his brothers?”

“All safe and sound. And Mathias returned the memories he took. He can’t return Jason’s memories of Rosa though, because she erased those.”

“Oh. Well, some is better than none.”
 
Relief coursed through her. She didn’t know why the memory thing bothered her so much. It just didn’t seem fair. Sometimes memories were all you had to catalog the events in your life. She ventured another glance at the group standing several yards away. “What about Raniero?”

Kai shrugged. “He dropped his weapon as soon as Cale went down. He couldn’t fight the urge to protect his mate. No male can. If anyone threatened you, I’d rip his intestines out through his nose.”
 
His voice ended on a menacing growl.

Brooke shuddered, but in a blast of heat that touched her every cell, she knew he meant it. “Hey, I feel your anger. Or chivalry, or urge to protect. Whatever you call it, I feel it. Here.”
 
She patted her heart.

“The bond is strengthening.” He captured her mouth again.

She would never get enough of his kisses. As if the elements approved, a familiar warmth tickled her back and shoulders. Smiling against Kai’s lips, she said, “Is that the sun?”

Rays of gold highlights shot through his hair as he tilted his head back, eyes closed. “Yep. It only shines about three times a year here. And you got to see one of them. Lucky Solsti.”

“I’d almost forgotten what it looked like.”
 
When was the last time she’d seen the sun?
 
Oh, yeah, the morning Kai brought me to my office
. That seemed like months ago.

Someone in the demon group laughed. A flash of red caught the light moving against the green leaves.
Red?
 
She hadn’t seen much red, or any other colors except green and gray, since they’d arrived. She looked closer. Long red hair and curves. Disbelief shot through her. “That’s not…”

“No. It’s her twin.”

Kai knew she’d instantly thought of Miranda. Brooke threw a mental choke hold around her reflexive twinge of jealousy, quashing it before it could fully form. The past was done.
He loves me.
“Twin?
 
What’s she doing here?”

“She’s a porter. Cale forced her into his service. He used her to move the prisoners.”

Prisoners.
Brooke stared at the group of demons, and then at the group of elves. The events of the last several days weighed on her with a bone-numbing fatigue. She sank into Kai’s warm chest, drawing strength from him. About to tell him she wanted to go home, a remembered promise jolted her upright. “Garnet!
 
We have to go back for her and her son.”

Kai scowled. “Killing Cale made you pass out. I don’t want you near Stroehm until you get your strength back. Besides, if word’s gotten out that Draven’s dead, it’ll be chaos inside. A power vacuum, unless one of Draven’s brothers steps in. Either way, it’ll be a pain in the ass to get in and out of there.”

Footfalls sounded behind Kai. Mathias’ tall frame loomed over them, casting a long shadow. “Where is it a pain in the ass to get in and out of?”
 
He rubbed his palms together, a gleam in his hazel eyes. “Sounds like a challenge.”

“There’s a kitchen slave at Draven’s compound. She helped us. I promised her we’d come back for her.” Brooke nibbled her lip, hoping Garnet could stay safe in the midst of an upheaval.

“One slave?
 
I can take care of that.” Mathias folded his arms.

“She has a son,” Brooke added. “And it’s too dangerous for you to go alone. That place is awful.”

“I know,” Mathias said.

“What do you mean,
you know
?
 
By the time your pretty ass showed up, we’d already booked out of there.” Kai narrowed his eyes.

“I’ve been inside that compound before.”
 
Mathias held up a hand as Kai started to speak. “It was decades before you were even born, pup.”

Brooke sucked in a breath. “Were you a …did you…”

“No, I wasn’t a slave. I never fought in the ring. I was there for an assignment.” A dark look crossed Mathias’ eyes, quickly replaced by his usual affable smirk. “I know the layout. It’s better to have fewer numbers going into a place like that.”

“But she doesn’t know you, and you don’t know her,” Brooke said.

“Wouldn’t be the first time I retrieved someone who’d never seen me. Although I can work faster if you have anything she may have touched, that might carry her scent.”

Kai dug in his pants pocket. “I have the throwaway phone she gave us. But we took a dip in the river, so I’m not sure how good it’ll be.”
 
He tossed it to Mathias.

The Hunter caught it one-handed and grinned. “I can tell you specifically how many Serus are a half mile away from us, and you don’t think I can pick up a days-old, river-washed scent from a gem phone?”
 
He held it to his nose. “Your nasty-ass smell is all over this, but yep. Still a trace of her. Got it.”

Kai rolled his eyes. “Show off.”

“That place has hundreds of guards. Are you gonna just walk in?” Brooke asked. Mathias’ words of caution made sense, but she felt like she needed to be part of the mission.

“I have my ways, Solsti.”
 
He winked at her, eliciting a growl from Kai. “I’ll ask the porter to come along. That’ll make it even quicker. And when we’re out of that hellhole, Bianca can take the female and her son wherever they need to go.”

“I made the promise. I should go with you.” She and Kai stood up.

“As much as I enjoy your company, Brooke, you’d only slow me down. You and this SOB who’ll insist on going wherever you go.”
 
He nodded at Kai. “I’ve got this. You two should go home.”

“Will you let us know that you got out safely?” she asked.

“You got it, pretty girl.” Mathias grinned.

Brooke found herself tucked so tightly against Kai’s side that she gasped. A rumble vibrated from his chest as he glared at Mathias.

The Hunter took a step back, laughing. “I’m just messing with you, dude. That’s for calling me old. Now calm down and come meet everyone before you take off.”

Brooke bit back a smile at Kai’s possessiveness. She turned him to face her and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her body into his. “It was just a compliment.”

“Our bond just formed. Newly mated pairs tend to be more territorial.”
 
Kai shrugged. “You can expect that from me for about the next hundred years.”

“I love you.”
 
This time she smiled in earnest, and through their connection she felt the tension flow out of his body.
How cool is that?

His calmness steadied her as they approached the others. She held Kai’s hand and kept her eyes on the gorgeous Deserati female.
 

With her long red hair and Barbie doll figure, Bianca stood out as much as her twin. But that’s where the similarities seemed to end. The demoness was all business and sisterly warmth as she greeted Brooke.

“Thank you.” She pulled Brooke into a hug. “I’m honored to be set free by a Solsti. I’m in your debt. Anywhere you need to go, just name it.”

“That’s very generous,” Brooke said. “You probably have a whole list of places you want to go, now that you’re free.”

“I’ve got a few stops in mind, including Stroehm. My only other commitment is to these two.” She stepped back and nodded at Ashina and Raniero.

“Oh?” Brooke raised her eyebrows and looked at Ashina. Green eyes assessed her with a healer’s critical glance, but this went deeper. Ashina wanted her to be well on all levels, physically and emotionally. Brooke couldn’t begin to explain it, or how she knew it.
That’s just the way it is.

“Bianca has agreed to be a sort of permanent transportation from Raniero’s duties here, to my medical practice on Evena.”
 
Ashina stepped forward to fold Brooke into a quick embrace. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. And ready to go home. But I’d love to have you visit me. I mean, us.” She smiled at Kai. “And you can meet my sister Nicole.”

“I’d love that. I’ve never been to Earth,” Ashina said.

Brooke shifted her gaze to the tall dark-haired demon standing behind Ashina. Wariness stirred in her gut, even though the fight was over, and even though Kai had explained the protective nature of mated pairs. Raniero didn’t seem as threatening now that he wasn’t brandishing a weapon. Even so, the image from her dream haunted her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said. “I met your sister when she was here with Gunnar. I’m honored.”

Brooke nodded.

“I’m sorry I had to threaten Kai’s life,” Raniero continued.

“I know Cale forced you.”
 
She glanced up into his dark eyes.
What a hellish life, working for that corrupt demon.

Kai’s arms wound around her from behind. “Good riddance.”
 
He kissed the top of her head. “Someone else wants to say goodbye.”

A touch on her arm made her glance down.

“My lady,” Jason said.

“Jason!” she exclaimed, kneeling to throw her arms around him. “Call me Brooke. I’m so sorry you had to lose your memories.”
 
She let him go and he pulled back, a lopsided grin lighting his face and color tinting his cheeks.

“The Hunter returned them,” he said.

Brooke sighed. “There’s more. Before the incident with Draven, you traveled with us to Rosa’s.”

“The witch?” Jason’s eyes widened.

“Yes, and she erased your memories of us. So that in case Cale caught you, you wouldn’t be able to tell him Kai and I were free.”

“I’d do anything to help you, my la—I mean, Brooke,” the elf said. “Maybe you can tell me the story another time. On another visit to Torth, perhaps?
 
I’ve heard that elves would be conspicuous on Earth.”