“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’ll handle her,” I interrupted. “I couldn’t leave him to die, Vaughn. He’s the only reason I’ve lived this long.”
“Handle her,” he laughed. “That’s funny. We’ll be back after the fight. Try to get some rest.” His last words were spoken through water as he misted out of the hall and to the campgrounds. It took him seconds to get there and back with an unconscious Levi in tow. “I tossed him on the couch,” he yelled to me through the bathroom door. “He passed out, and he’ll probably be nauseous when he wakes up. I’ve never misted a human before.” Then he was gone again.
I inhaled a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror while I waited for the water to run hot. I did look like shit. The heat of the shower washed away my anxiety as I stepped in. It swirled all the dirt and filth that covered my body down the drain. I hadn’t been this clean since the day I was taken. I lathered the soap and cleansed every inch of my body twice before rinsing and cutting the water off. I looked a little better now, but I still needed a haircut. I took the clippers and buzzed them over my head, leaving less than a half inch of hair behind. Then, I trimmed my facial hair up and hopped back in the shower to scrub my scalp and wash the excess hair off my body. I rubbed my skin again and again, trying to get the feel of the underground cell off of me. My skin was a raw, dusty pink color before I stepped out and dried off. Now I looked like myself, minus the haunted look left in my eyes. I hoped that would go away with time.
It felt good to be clean. It felt even better when I sunk into the oversized recliner in the living room and popped the footrest up to get some sleep. Until Levi woke up screaming.
21
Palmer
Monday Early Morning
After Vaughn disappeared with Levi, I turned my attention to Novak. “Where’s Sloane?”
“She’s playing hide-n-seek.” He grinned at me like that was the answer I sought.
“What d’ya mean?” I didn’t like the idea of her hiding or being by herself. I knew she was strong, but she should still have some backup.
“She killed a couple guys and then went for a joy run around the camp. They haven’t been able to catch her yet. She’s playing with them while she cuts them down,” Novak explained a little better.
“Shouldn’t we help her?” Stone asked us all.
“Yeah, Novak and I were checking tents for stragglers when you guys found us.” Vaughn sounded like he was underwater as he spoke. His body formed in front of us, and we all started walking while he kept talking. “She said to pair up and take them out. Briggs and the hounds are tightening up the perimeter, forcing everyone to the center.”
A bolt of lightning struck right in front of my feet. We all jerked our heads to the left and saw a group of males standing together. It was a face off, but our odds were too good. “Why don’t ye keep goin’? Stone an’ I will take care of these eejits.”
“Yeah, we’ll keep checking the tents,” Novak proclaimed as they spun in the opposite direction.
Stone tempted me with an ecstatic, “Ready to kick some ass?” When I nodded my head, he began to morph his lean 6’0 frame into the monster he kept hidden within. Stone as a demon took some getting used to. If I had to put numbers on his growth, I’d say he was at least a foot taller and nearly two hundred pounds heavier. His skin was so dark he looked like a moving shadow. His horns twisted out of the sides of his head, a few inches above his pointed black ears. They swooped out and up and curled towards each other behind his head. His horns were pretty fucking cool.
Stone was enough to make any sane male run away in terror. He loved the thrill of a chase. Apparently, just like our mate. Three males turned and ran, leaving two gaping shamelessly. Stone unfurled his leathery wings and lifted to the sky, tail lashing back and forth as he slowly ascended. The only way to see him in the sky was to follow the absence of stars as he glided through the night in search of his prey.
“Are ye for running too, or will ye stand and fight?” I called out to the last two males. I didn’t know what they were, but that didn’t change anything for me. I wanted to fight and sling some magic of my own. Maybe test out this medieval weapon the old Vampire showed me before I went to sleep last night. I thought he had called it a dire flail. It was a three foot pole with a foot of chain on either end. Attached to the chains were large metal spheres covered in spikes. He said I could feed my magic through it. I liked the way that sounded and the ease at which I could sling the weapon around. It felt like an extension of my limbs when my power flowed through it.
No one moved, and I grew tired of just standing there, so I threw up my hands. “That’s grand, yas don’t have to fight me, but I don’t fancy yer chances with the demon.” That got them moving. I waited until they got closer, then decided instead of drawing my weapon, I’d use my favorite move. It was a classic. I drew my fingers in so my hands looked like guns and aimed them both at the incoming males. With a childlike “pew, pew,” I squeezed my bottom two fingers and shot bright orange magic rods straight into their chests. The sound effects were for me.
They collapsed to the ground in heaps. I blew the invisible smoke from my finger guns for good measure. Handy little trick that was. I swaggered over to them and pulled the magic from their weeping wounds before dissolving it back into my hands. Laughter rang out behind me and I froze in my tracks. Sloane skipped over with a manic grin on her bloodied face. She placed her hands on my chest as she leaned into my ear and whispered, “That was really dorky, but so fucking hot.”
“Ye liked that, did ya?” I gave her a cocky smile, setting my hands on top of hers.
“Mmm, very much,” she confided.
“An’ if I did it again ta the gobshite that was followin’ behind ya? What would ye do?”
“Do it and see.” She waggled those silver brows at me, and her eyes twinkled with mischief. My cock lifted to attention with a vengeance, straining to break free of its zippered cage. I groaned as my mind whirled in a terribly inconvenient direction for a split second. I was a patient male, but I was ready to see her naked and tied to my bed. I wanted to break out some toys and tease her until her moans turned to whimpers and they were all I could hear. That would have to wait, though.
The guy behind her kept stalking closer. I let him move in as I memorized the details of her face. I leaned in and took her mouth in a fierce kiss, pulling her body against mine with my left hand while aiming my right. After a flex of my fingers, we heard the thump of a body dropping. She broke the kiss to look over her shoulder and then back to me. I smirked at her with a smug attitude, waiting to see what she had in mind. “Now what?”
Sloane snatched me so fast I almost stumbled over my own feet. She dragged me into the nearest tent and ran her fingers over my cock through my khakis before unsnapping the button. As she sank to her knees, she took the zipper of my pants down with her, and my length sprang free from its confinement. “This’ll have ta be quick, Love. There’s a wee battle going on outside.” She looked up at me through her lashes without concern as she traced her lush lips from the base of my shaft up to the head. Her silk tongue darted out to lick at the precum gathering against my tip. She downed me fully in a single bob, showing me she had no qualms with her gag reflex. Then, she wrapped one hand tightly around my base while the other gently tugged on my balls, pushing and pulling as her mouth did the same. Her teeth lightly grazed my shaft every few strokes, her tongue swirling around before every pump.