M&L03 - SS (8 page)

Solomon groaned, closing his
eyes and inhaling deeply as a tremor ran through his entire body. When he
opened his eyes again, they were bright gold with no trace of the human’s
caramel or the vampire’s black. I knew his fox was in control and if I didn’t
act fast, I’d be pinned to the wall with him thrusting between my legs again.
Not that it hadn’t felt incredible, but there was more going on here than
sating physical desire.

Reaching up, I brushed my
hand along his jaw. It was rough with stubble, at least two days growth adding
a few years to his boyish good looks. To me he was always a living fantasy, but
when he let his beard grow just a little like it was now, he was something
more. It was almost as if this shadow of manhood transformed his carefree
teenage persona into something edgy, something dangerous. It made it that much
harder to rein in my own fox and stop what was about to happen.

“Come back to me Solomon,” I
whispered, holding his powerful gaze. “You know I don’t want to do this. Please
help me stop it before it goes too far again.”

His hands fell away from my
face forming fists at his sides. He tensed, his muscles rigid as he struggled
to gain control. “Go Renee,” he finally ground out through his teeth. “Get away
while you still can.”

Tearing my eyes away from
his, I hurried down the hall with my fox howling in my head the whole way. I
knew exactly how she felt; I wanted Solomon just as much as she did, but I
would fight this mating with everything I had until I was sure all three parts
of his soul wanted me as much as his fox did. I just couldn’t accept anything
less.

~ Solomon ~

I clenched every one of my
muscles tight in an effort to keep myself from following Renee. I’d never had
to struggle so hard to bring the fox back under control - but then, he’d never
been face to face with our mate before tonight. It didn’t help that she still
carried the fire demon’s scent on her either. The fox wanted to cover her with our
scent until there was no mistaking who she belonged to. He also wanted to
slaughter Dimitri and any other male that dared to even look at Renee.

As soon as she was out of
sight, I took a few tentative steps and found that I had enough control to
leave the dance club and the fire demon behind. Using the back hallways and the
service elevator, I headed back up to my suite, maintaining a tight leash on
the fox along the way.

Once I was in my room I
flopped back onto the bed with my hands behind my head and thought about
everything Renee said. When I looked back at the last thirty years from her
point of view, I could see why she might think I wouldn’t want her to be my
mate. She was right; I’d fucked just about every unmated female that crossed my
path since I met her. Most of those women came to me easily, but the ones who
hadn’t I’d pursued relentlessly until they finally gave me what I wanted. Renee
was the only woman that I’d ever accepted no from without putting up much of a
fight.

How could she not come to the
conclusion that I didn’t want her?

Shaking my head at my own
stupidity, I vowed to make things right between us. Somehow, I was going to
show her exactly what she meant to me, and not because we were mates, but
because she’d always held my
heart in the palm of her hand.

~ Solomon ~

The following morning I stood
in front of the bathroom mirror examining the new mating marks on my body. It
looked as though my flesh had been ripped open by claws to reveal reddish brown
fox fur underneath my skin. The marks started at my wrists and spiraled around
my arms up to my shoulders. There was also another set of claw marks slashing
across my back from my right shoulder to my left buttock with a fox eye hidden
behind them.

I was happy to see the mating
marks, but I was concerned because the eye on my back was closed. Usually that
only happened when one of the mates had gone into the afterlife. With both of
us still living, it should have been open and reflecting whatever emotions
Renee was feeling. On top of that, I should have been able to feel those
emotions coming through the mating bond. The closed eye and the fact that I
couldn’t feel even the slightest twinge of emotions from her indicated that
whatever spell Renee used to keep me away was still working to some degree. It
shouldn’t have been possible since magic normally treated mates like one being,
but I couldn’t deny the evidence.

The only reason I wasn’t
completely freaking out was the fact that there was already so much color in the
marks. That reddish brown fur was proof of the love Renee and I already shared.
Normally new mating marks resembled pencil sketches and the colors filled in as
the couple got to know each other and fell in love. The marks on my body
weren’t as colorful as they could be but they were certainly more complete than
I’d ever seen on a newly mated shifter before. That led me to believe the spell
was strong enough to complicate my life by blocking the flow of emotions
through the bond, but it wasn’t strong enough to stop the mating altogether.

Deciding not to reveal my
newly mated status quite yet, I put on a long-sleeved Walking Dead T-shirt and
a pair of black cargo pants. The fox did not like hiding the mating marks, but
I wanted to make sure Renee was ready before the inevitable gossip started.

Heading downstairs, I went in
search of Katerina to see if she needed any help with the finishing touches
before the banquet tonight. When she wasn’t in her office, I checked the dance
club but only found a few dancers rehearsing on stage. My next stop was The
Outer Rim, the one and only restaurant in this dimension. It was adjacent to
the Supernova dance club and served breakfast, lunch and dinner 24/7. Scanning
the dining room, I noticed several people looking like death warmed over,
probably hung over from the night before, but no sign of Katerina.

Moving on, I reached out to
push my way through the swinging door to the kitchen when it nearly hit me in
the face and Olivia, The Outer Rim’s Head Chef, barreled through it muttering,
“Thinks he’s Chef Fucking Ramsay, he does. I’ll show him
hot and tangy...
”
The tall brunette didn’t even notice me as she stormed by fuming with anger.

Shaking my head, I reached
out again and this time the door opened easily allowing me to pass through into
the kitchen where I finally found Katerina. She was stunning as always in her
designer dress and spiked heels with her silky black tresses hanging in loose
curls down to her waist. Our friendship went back to her childhood and she was one
of the few unmated females I’d never even considered approaching for sex.

Some things just weren’t
worth risking your life for.

Katerina was arguing with
Serrano while the kitchen staff tried to ignore their presence and continued
working.

Taking a deep breath Katerina
said, “Serrano, I need you to have a little faith in Olivia. She and her staff
are more than capable of handling the extra workload this tournament and
especially the banquet tonight have created.”

He ran a frustrated hand
through his shoulder length black hair. “I’m only doing my job Katerina. She
needs to learn how to accept constructive criticism.”

Katerina snorted. “Look, I
know Dragon put you in charge of everything related to food service at all of
his properties, but that doesn’t mean you have to come in and step on the local
managers’ toes every time you come for a visit - especially not at this
particular location where the Head Chef happens to be your ex-girlfriend.”

“Olivia was a lot more to me
than a girlfriend,” Serrano growled.

“Fine,” Katerina said
throwing her hands in the air. “Whatever she was to you it’s over now, and has
been for decades. Let it go. And if you can’t, at least leave her alone for the
remainder of the tournament or I’ll be forced to take this up with Dragon.”

With that, I knew the
argument was over. Dragon very rarely sided against Katerina and everyone knew
it.

Serrano glared at her for a
moment with the black eyes of his vampire then turned on his heel and stalked
past me.

Once he was gone I asked,
“Playing dirty now aren’t you?”

Katerina smiled, a slow
mischievous curl to her full lips and came over to give me a hug. “Is there any
other way to play Solomon?”

Chuckling I pulled back from
the hug. “I guess not.”

She stepped back and leaned
casually against a stainless steel countertop. With her four-inch heels, she
was just slightly taller than I was. “Why can’t all the division managers be
more like you Solomon? You never come here and make waves, not even when you
find something not to your liking. Somehow your visits always seem to make the
entertainment department run smoother and everyone you interact with is singing
your praises by the time you leave.”

“I guess I just have more
faith in the local managers and their staff,” I told her with a grin making her
smile in return. “Besides, I find it’s far more effective to encourage creative
problem solving than it is to point out what people are doing wrong and expect
them to start doing things my way.”

“And that’s Serrano’s problem
in a nutshell. He’s too much of a control freak to let people think for
themselves,” she said shaking her head. “Even if he does stay away from Olivia
for the rest of the week I think I’ll still have a talk with Dragon and ask him
to keep Serrano out of our hair permanently. I don’t need his help to run one
restaurant and a banquet hall.”

Serrano and I were friends
but I knew he could be difficult to get along with. I also knew he liked to
hold a grudge.

“It may come to that, but I’d
urge you to look for another solution before you take that step.”

She tilted her head to the
side considering my advice for a moment before nodding. “That’s good advice
Solomon. I don’t want to make an enemy of Serrano; I just want to look out for
Olivia and her well-being.”

“I’ve always liked the way
you stick up for your people Katerina,” I told her sincerely.

“Thank you Solomon. Now tell
me why it’s taken you so long to come visit us. When Renee told me she wanted
to stay here and work, I half expected you to make this your primary base of
operations within a week. Then you never showed up. I don’t want to pry, but
you’re like a brother to me and Renee is my friend. I know something is going
on between the two of you, but Renee won’t talk to me about it. Is there anything
I can do to help?”

I looked around and caught
more than one glance in our direction. With supernatural hearing it would be
impossible for the kitchen staff to miss our conversation even if they tried
not to eavesdrop - which they probably wouldn’t bother doing.

“Maybe we could move this
conversation somewhere more private.”

“Perhaps you’re right. We can
talk in the arena. There’s something I want to show you and along the way you
can reopen the portal that you closed last night,” she said linking her arm
with mine and guiding me towards the exit. “We have a new sorcerer, Grayson,
but he’s young and not very experienced with portals. Not that that mattered
much in this situation because when he failed to reopen the portal, three other
visiting sorcerers tried and also failed. All of them said they’d never seen
anything like it, but they couldn’t touch the portal - couldn’t open it or even
dissolve it and create a new one. Whatever you did made it impossible for
anyone to travel from here to that location.”

“That was the idea,” I told
her, unable to keep the growl out of my voice when I thought about the fire
demon and the reason I closed the portal to begin with. Katerina glanced over
at me, one eyebrow raised in question but I shook my head. “Not here.” Her dark
brown eyes lit up with curiosity, but she inclined her head and we strolled out
to the portal arm in arm.

Once the portal was up and
running again, I accompanied Katerina to the arena just outside Supernova. This
arena was very similar to The Pit with its archaic stone seating and sand
covered battleground, but rather than a cavernous underground death chamber,
this was an open-air stadium that would be transformed many times over the
course of the tournament.

Thankfully, this dimension
was what we called a dark world, so we never had to worry about burning to a
crisp. The only light here came from a pair of moons that were always high in
the sky casting an eerie glow over the forested landscape.

When I finished telling
Katerina about the spell and everything that happened the night before, she
took a moment to digest the information. Finally, she said, “
Mated
, is
not a word I would have ever expected to hear in the same sentence with your
name Solomon.”

“I’m sure a lot of people
would say the same thing; and that’s the problem isn’t it? Not even Renee can
believe I want to be mated to her.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way
to convince her. You can be very charming when you set your mind to it,”
Katerina assured me.

“I don’t think charm alone
will do the trick, but I have some ideas that might help. How are things going
for the tournament?”

“Everything is in place for
the banquet tonight and almost everything is ready for the tournament itself. I
did want you to take a look at the playing field for the marksmanship finale
however,” she replied handing me a smooth rectangular stone the size of a
domino with a hole in one end and runes etched on both sides.

I took the stone and turned
it over carefully examining the runes. It was similar to the stones I had
attached to a ring in my pocket and the hundreds like them that I kept locked
up in my apartment. Sorcerers often used stones like this one to prepare spells
ahead of time. A few whispered words could then trigger the spells. Depending
on the strength and skill of the sorcerer creating the stones, the spells they
contained could be cast multiple times, or in my case an infinite number of
times.

My father practiced, and
taught me how to wield, a mixture of human and Druid magic that he liked to
call self-sustaining magic. Every spell I cast is designed to draw energy from
the environment and channel it back into the spell to either keep it running or
recharge it for the next time I need to use it. It’s a form of magic that very
few people alive know is possible, and even fewer would be able to pull off.

Based on the runes covering
its surface and the magical energy I felt emanating from the stone in my hand,
I whispered the ancient words most likely to trigger its spell. All around us
trees sprouted from the ground and the sandy floor of the fight arena was
replaced with fallen leaves and twigs, but before the transformation was even
complete, I knew exactly why Katerina wanted me to see this.

“Did your new sorcerer
Grayson create this stone?” I asked Katerina.

“Yes. He really did do his
best, but there seems to be something missing.”

I snorted, glancing around.
“There’s actually a lot missing. This spell only contains the visual elements
of a forest, and what’s here isn’t very creative at all. Is there any way you
could get him out here so I can help him make some modifications to the spell?”

“Sure,” she replied pulling
out her cell phone.

When she was finished making
the call I conjured up a couple of chairs and invited her to have a seat.

“It must be nice to have
comfortable recliners at your fingertips wherever you may go,” Katerina
commented as she pressed the button to recline her chair.

“It doesn’t suck,” I replied,
kicking back my own chair. “So how many other sorcerers are participating in
the tournament this year?”

“We’re only letting the top
five sorcerers compete in the tournament and the dance club transformations
this year. The rest of the sorcerers can show off their skills and wow the
crowds at the fair between tournament events if they like.”

“Who made the top five?”

“You of course, Merek the
Irish wolf, Chen the Asian dragon, Hannibal the Alaskan bear and... Sergio the
Italian scum.” The final name was spat as if she almost couldn’t bring herself
to say it.

Sergio was Travali’s
sorcerer; the one who cast the spell during The Great War that put our beasts
to sleep for more than four hundred years. If the red flames glowing in
Katerina’s eyes were any indication, she wouldn’t be forgiving the sorcerer for
his past deeds anytime soon. Since almost everyone invited to the tournament
would feel the same way, I had to wonder, “Why would Danarius bring him here?”