Lorelei (13 page)

“No, you…”

“Yes.” She propped her chin on his chest, over his heart. “You’re not the only one who can share thoughts, Dylan. Or take a peek.” He flinched but she kept speaking. “I don’t know how to control it, but I saw. So, I understand. But you also know why I have to do this, don’t you?”

Dylan closed his eyes, shutting out the beautiful vision before him. Yes, he did know. The connection between the three sisters was tight and unbreakable. They’d leaned on each other, taking comfort, and supported each other through every trial. But truly, it all went back to when Rebecca was hurt. They’d formed a bond during those months of the woman’s recovery and now they would do anything to keep the other safe.

“I know,” he whispered and then focused on Emmett. “What has to happen?”

Levy answered, “We’ll suppress their matings and put them in your hotel room. The rogues already know where Rebecca’s room is and they know we’ll be on guard for an attack there. Instead, both women will be in yours.” Levy’s gaze shifted from Dylan to Lorelei and back again. “We’ll be in the suite directly above. It’ll take a single thought to drop through the floor and capture whoever attacks.”

“And what if it’s Maxim? What then? He has the Grimoire. Either ours or Sarvis’, remember? He’ll be powerful.” Dylan had no doubt about that fact.

The Ruling Alphas shook their heads. “No, he’s smarter than to come himself. He’ll send disposables to try and get them. He’ll stay in hiding and expect them to bring the women to him. He won’t make himself that vulnerable.”

“You know it has to happen, D.” Zeke’s hand came to rest on his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. Their discussion had obviously awakened his partner.

“I’m outnumbered.” He gave a sad chuckle. “It doesn’t really matter then, does it?”

“Can you guys give us a minute?” Lorelei formed it as a question, but the order was unmistakable and their visitors padded back the way they came. The moment they were out of sight, she forced him to stare into her eyes. “It will always matter. What you two feel will
always
matter. Any other time, any other situation, and we’d all come to some sort of agreement. But Dylan, this is my sister. She…”

Dylan cupped her cheek, recognizing that his delay merely upset her more. “I know. I just don’t wanna lose you. This has to happen and I support you. I needed to get my fears on the table. I can’t lose you,
we
can’t lose you, Lorelei. Not when we just found you.”

“I won’t go anywhere.” Her eyes filled with tears and when one snaked down her cheek, he brushed it away with his thumb. “I have something really, really good to come back to.”

Dylan leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of her head, closing his eyes against the moisture gathering behind his lids. “I won’t tell you that I love you, Lorelei. I will say that if something happened to you, if they managed to hurt you, my heart would die alongside yours. It’s not worth beating if you’re not with me.”

Zeke’s heat enveloped them and he knew his partner eased closer, bracketing Lorelei with their bodies. “It’d destroy us, Lorelei. If the worst happened and they got their hands on you… No matter what, you’ve gotta live. Live and we’ll find you.”

They would come for her and kill anyone who stood in the way.

It wasn’t a half-hearted promise, it was a soul binding vow.

* * *

The waiting would kill Lorelei. Every slam of a door down the hall had her jumping, and each time the AC kicked on, she trembled.

It didn’t help that she felt as if ants crawled over her skin, biting and pinching her flesh. It hurt, but it didn’t. It was hot, but it was cold. When she glanced at Rebecca, she found her sister was in the same shape.

She rubbed her arms, fighting to brush off the awkward sensations. The initial spell to blunt the connection to their mates hadn’t been painful. It was simply a throbbing ache that enveloped her, pulsing in time with her heart. The journey to the suite hadn’t been difficult, either. A couple of guards, a voiced promise to remain inside and that they’d send a wolf along to watch the door soon.

Just don’t open the door.

Since that’d been Rebecca’s downfall, the Ruling Alphas and Wardens hoped the men working with Maxim were dumb enough to fall for the blatant trap.

As they’d said, the first guy was beyond an idiot.

Rebecca twitched. Another tremble wracked her youngest sister.

Hadn’t she suffered enough for the damned wolves? For all of… this bullshit?

Lorelei crossed to her sister and lowered to the couch, wrapping an arm around her shoulders the moment she was settled. “Hey, you okay?”

Rebecca chuckled. “Not even close.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I know.”

“It’s like the burns are back and fresh. Eating away at me.” Her sister’s voice was hoarse and strained.

“It’ll be okay. I made them promise that if nothing happens in the first twelve hours, we’re done.”

“You can’t put a timeline on idiots, Lor.”

“Yeah, well, I can put a timeline on our suffering.” She didn’t think she could stand more than twelve hours of this. And if Rebecca was reliving the pain from the fire…

“You’re happy, right, Lor?”

“Yeah.” Lorelei leaned into Rebecca. “When I’m not feeling like I’m being eaten alive, I’m really happy. They’re…”

Amazing. Frustrating. Gorgeous. Heart melting.

Hers.

“Yeah, mine too,” Rebecca whispered. “Do you think, when we get Paisley back, she’ll have mates, too?”

“I hope so.” Lorelei couldn’t think of anything better than having mates. Even if they were wolves and came in sets of two. And with magic. She couldn’t forget that part.

Which had
her
power pulsing and nudging her. Dammit.

That was one thing they’d told her she absolutely could not use. The moment she let it rush forward and began glowing like the ball that drops on New Year’s, they’d know she’d been mated. Or at least met her mates. She was too strong to have been merely an activated Warden Born.

That’d make this whole charade useless and the wolf—or wolves—could possibly get away.

So, Lorelei tamped it down, quietly begging that part of her to retreat for Paisley’s sake. Slowly the energy receded, easing into the back of her mind and crawling deep into her body.

Lorelei pushed to her feet. “We can’t just sit here and wait. Snag the remote and I’ll raid the minibar. There’s gotta be something worth snacking on.”

“Don’t you think we should remain, you know, vigilant?” Rebecca sounded unsure, but Lorelei was sticking to her plan.

“We can vigilantly eat chocolate covered raisins and keep the TV low. I just can’t sit here waiting for the door to blow in.”

And… that’s when the door blew in.

Nice.

At least the idiots finally got their shit together.

Wood scattered, and the crack and thud of the panel being torn from the wall warred with her sister’s surprised scream.

Three men strode through the entrance, their bodies perverted imitations of humans. Their faces were half wolf while their hands and arms were heavily muscled and coated with fur. Their fingers and hands were replaced by paws and claws, the men seeming more than ready to tear them into pieces.

Rebecca rose from the couch in a quick rush and Lorelei was just as fast to place herself between the intruders and her sister. Rebecca was scarred enough due to werewolves. She wasn’t going to risk her sister being hurt further.

They had to go through her.

The males fanned out, one remaining in front of her while the other two tried to block her sides. Yeah, no. Not happening.

Lorelei eased backwards, nudging Rebecca along. Getting to the door wasn’t gonna happen, but all she needed to do was hold the men off until the cavalry showed up.

Like, any time now. They supposedly set up some sort of spell. If anyone entered—anyone—Emmett and Levy would be notified. Then they’d haul Lorelei and Rebecca’s mates into the suite as well as the Ruling Alphas. Lotsa testosterone in an instant.

Instead, they were still alone.

“Where are they?” Rebecca whispered, but she knew the supposed leader heard.

An evil grin filled his features. “Your little friends don’t know we’re here. Blood magic has its benefits.” The man raised a hand and she noticed splashes of burgundy marring his skin. “Something your Ruling Wardens aren’t willing to accept. Know what else?” That grin turned into a feral smile. “They didn’t use your blood for this lovely little spell and only focused on your family.” He chuckled. “Blood from your family gets past the barrier without a problem.”

Lorelei bent at the waist, clutching at her stomach as she realized… the deep hue wasn’t paint. It was… “Paisley.”

“She’s very pretty. Much like you two. And I can definitely see the family resemblance to the Wickhams.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Too bad we can’t get those three, but they’ve already tainted the wolves. We’ll settle for stopping their cousins.”

“She’s alive?” The two men at Lorelei’s sides eased closer.

“For now,” the man on her left sneered.

“Can’t make promises.” The man on her right chuckled. “She’s a pretty one. Who knows what Ma—”

“
Enough
,” their leader snarled. “Get them and let’s go. The magic got us in here, but it can’t hide us from prying eyes. We need to leave before anyone sees that door.”

“But, see, here’s the thing.” Lorelei licked her lips and straightened fully. She let her arms hang loose at her sides, relaxed but ready for whatever they had. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“We’re at the wall,” Rebecca whispered.

“You’re gonna stay really still. ’Kay? I’ll take care of this.” Lorelei didn’t let a hint of unease or nervousness enter her voice. She’d trained-ish for this, right? Albeit she hadn’t planned on more than one attacker, but she could do this.

She hoped.

If what the man said was true, these three got in undetected so she needed to keep her and Rebecca safe while making as much noise as possible. The damned wolves had good hearing, right?

“Take care of this?” The main guy snorted. “Just give in and maybe you’ll live through this, huh? We can neutralize you and send you three on your way.”

Neutralize…

“What do you mean?” It’d be great if the asshole revealed his plan.

Like, super great.

“Enough.” He flicked his gaze to the other two men. “Take her. Quietly.”

The only thing that saved her, at least at first, was the fact they came one at a time.

The first guy—Asshole One—raced forward, hands outstretched and not even attempting to protect his body. Well, sucked to be him. He’d probably been banking on her being inexperienced like Paisley and Rebecca. Let him think that. At least until she broke a bone or two. Not that she had in the past. Hitting a bag and kicking a man in the knee were two different things.

But that difference didn’t have him stopping. No, he vaulted over the couch and shoved one of the end tables aside. He wasn’t schooled in fighting and was probably used to depending on bulk and strength to get by.

The second he was within range, she went after him. She didn’t hesitate. Hell, she didn’t think. No, she just… let it all go.

She’d been attacked once. It was the reason for the gun and the self-defense lessons. A woman was motivated to protect herself when she’d experienced violence. She would never have another black eye or split lip. A gun would never again be pressed against her forehead and she wouldn’t cower before a male with tears in her eyes. Ever.

She punched him in the eye with a quick jab and followed it with a cross to his cheek. Then came a hook to his jaw and a nice uppercut to his chin.

Asshole One didn’t go down, but he was dazed and despite the throbbing of her fist, she was damned proud of herself. He shook his head and straightened, taking another step toward them. Well, what’d she expect? A big guy like that—a werewolf—wouldn’t be disabled.

When he stepped forward this time, she shifted her position and went for the knee, kicking it on the side and enjoying the nice crunch that came with the move. He toppled to the ground, clutching his injury. Now on his knees, it made it easy for her to kick him again, this one right to his face, left to right and in the perfect spot to… Send him tumbling to the floor unconscious.

One down, two to go and she doubted those tactics would work a second time.

“
No
!” Lorelei knew that scream and she cursed herself for not watching after Rebecca.

Asshole Two got his hands on her. He wrapped his arm around her neck, forearm pressed against her throat and her face slowly reddened. He was strangling her and she could do… nothing about it.

Her magic twitched and pulsed, reminding her it was still present. It was there, but who was she facing? Would she manage to get Rebecca free only to have the main guy take them both out before they found out where to find Paisley?

She split her attention between Rebecca and the male near the door. Her power pushed at its bindings and Lorelei let it free. Something inside her said to trust the magic, that it knew how best to deal with the situation. She was the conduit at this point, unable to direct the sizzling magic.

Lorelei watched it dart forward, skim the main male and then Asshole Two, flicking them with an invisible tendril before telling her the two wolves definitely weren’t Wardens. Regular wolves. Weak. Oh, werewolves were physically superior to both Rebecca and Lorelei, but she had something they didn’t.

“Let her go.” She kept her tone smooth. The last thing she wanted to do was alert them of what was to come. The crackle of her rising power teased her skin, but she fought to keep the telltale glow under wraps. She had to surprise Asshole Two.

Asshole Two snorted. “Right. Because you said so?”

“Look, just come with us,” the man by the door said.

Now Lorelei snorted. “So you can kill us all? No.”

“You either come along and have a chance at living or I can guarantee your sister will die. Now.” The wolf by the door kept the words flat and emotionless.

Lorelei glanced at Rebecca and the purple hue that showed her sister was nearing the end of her oxygen-infused rope.