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  Jae glanced at Alexa who watched TV, brooding. She’d had quite an eye-opener today. Alexa had a tough fight with another lykan, and Jae could see her wince every time she shifted in her seat. Over all, though, to their surprise and smug delight, their side had managed to take down a number of the coven who’d fought against them. According to Phoebe, two of them had been Michael Brown, the head of the Third Unit (Vampyre division) and Lyla Thomson, the head of the Second Unit (Lykan division). Ironically, Michael had fought by Caia’s side just weeks before. They were powerful enemies to have, but thankfully the two of them, like good soldiers, stood down under the Council’s orders.

  The atmosphere in the Center was horrible, full of anxiety and fear and hostility. But the Council were competent and altogether more powerful than Marita, now that she didn’t have any goons working for her. Well, except for the group of magiks who left the Center when she did. According to Alfred Doukas, she had perhaps ten magiks with her at the moment, but with the trace magik, it would be easy for her to find more followers. They had to move fast. At this very moment, they were trying to figure out her most likely hiding place and putting together a plan to capture her.

  Jaeden rubbed at the tension headache in her temple. Ryder made a noise above her and then he was pulling her hand away from her head, replacing it with strong fingers that pressed soothingly against her forehead, making gentle circles. She sighed happily and relaxed into him.

  “You’ll have me drooling in a minute,” she whispered so as not to disturb Magnus.

  He leaned down, his lips brushing against her ear, sending a shiver of delight throughout her entire body. “I’d like to be doing more to you than that in a minute.”

  She grinned. There were lykans in the room. Lykan hearing. Magnus snorted. Yup, he’d heard them.

  “Ryder,” she admonished him lazily, but that didn’t stop her hand from inching over his thigh.

  He jumped under her touch and then growled, “Right.” He grabbed her hand, pulling her up from her seat, his hazel gaze light with passion. Clearly he was intending to take her somewhere private to ravish her! Hell yeah! They had missed their wedding night, after all, and Ryder, the perpetual gentleman, hadn’t wanted to make love to her until she was his mate for real. She’d been waiting for this night forever.

  The door behind them cracked open, stopping them in their tracks. Caia appeared, her arm wrapped around Lucien’s waist. In normal circumstances she was tiny next to the giant that was Lucien, but there was a strength to Caia that made you forget her stature. Now, however, after the beating she’d taken today, she looked fragile and so small. Jae felt a rush of protectiveness at the sight of her and tried to forget what it had been like to see Marita and the others torturing her.

  “Hey, guys.” She smiled brightly, and Jaeden grinned, happy to see her friend’s eyes sparkling. Being with your mate tended to have that effect on you. It was kind of annoying, she grunted, determined to remember she was an independent woman.

  “Lucien.” Rose half stood and Jaeden frowned at her.

  Lucien nodded gently but didn’t leave Caia’s side as he said, “Thanks for all your help today, Rose.”

  She smiled warmly at him, lighting up under his praise. “No problem. Of course. Anything to help.”

  Jaeden snorted and then bit back a cry of pain when Ryder pinched her. Instead she threw Caia and Lucien a sly smile. “You were in there awhile.” She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. Caia blushed, making Jaeden laugh. “Jeez, I was kidding … but if we’re to go by those red, red cheeks of yours, clearly I was on the mark.”

  The grit of Cy’s teeth told her she was probably bugging her, but the look on Rose’s face was worth it. There was nothing wrong with hitting home to the delusional woman that Lucien was no longer on the market. And she knew Caia would never be underhanded or mean to Rose, so it was up to Jae to do that for her!

  “Hey, I have a question, if you’re feeling better, Caia?” Alexa asked.

  Jaeden wasn’t buying the tone. Something not good was about to come from Miss World’s Bitch Division Crown Champion. Caia nodded, probably too weary to be on alert. Jaeden tensed, waiting.

  “So.” Alexa turned toward Cy. “How come you let Marita beat the living crap out of you?”

  “Ale—” Lucien began, but Caia held up her hand to cut him off.

  She frowned at the other female. “What do you mean?”

  “Well.” Alexa shrugged. “I wasn’t there, but according to the good folks in this room who were, you turned Ethan’s insides into kitchen décor last time you were faced by an all-powerful magik. Uh, I’ve heard stories that you took out four magiks in one go just a few weeks ago. All I’m saying is, how come you sucked ass today?”

  Jaeden was right. “You’re a bitch,” she snapped.

  Alexa exhaled. “Uh, hello, where have you been?”

  “Jaeden’s right.” Ryder shook his head in disgust at her. “You always have something unpleasant to add to an already bad situation.”

  Ah, that was her man … always a gentleman even when he traded insults. She patted his arm affectionately and then glanced up to see her Alpha’s reaction. Clearly he was biting back a retort cuffed by Caia’s nails digging into his arm.

  “You’re right, I don’t know why I sucked ass today.”

  “Tut-tut,” a new voice entered the room, and they turned to watch Reuben swagger in. “I was waiting on that answer with bated breath.” He shook his head. “It was a letdown.”

  Ugh. Soulless fiend. Cheating, lying son of a bitch. A son of a bitch who’d used mesmerism on her to make her leave her own pack! Why was she the only one who saw how messed up that was? And to think she had defended him to Ryder.

  “Did I mention you were right about this douche bag?” she huffed, turning to her mate.

  He smiled sympathetically. “I heard.”

  “Still angry, Jaeden?” Reuben smiled too sweetly, holding a hand to his heart. “That’s nice. I guess our friendship meant something after all.”

  Ryder snarled. Jae grinned but threw him a “down, boy” look.

  “Anyhoo.” Reuben smirked and looked back at Caia. “I can answer Alexa’s question, no problem.”

  Caia perked up at his regard, and Jaeden sighed inwardly. Caia actually trusted this jerk, even after he’d lied through his abnormally elongated teeth the entire time Jae had known him. And he was good. He’d had her completely fooled. Did the others know about him? Did Lily and Styx know they were living it up with a twenty-four-hundred-year-old, second-generation vampyre who could snap them in half without even blinking? This guy had lived centuries doing gods know what, and now he wanted Caia to go off on some suicide mission to destroy trace magik and free them all! And the Caia was considering it.

  Jae sighed. Some serious intervention was going to be necessary. And she really hoped Lucien would be the one to do it ’cause she had a wedding night to get to.

  “We’re waiting,” Alexa told him shrilly.

  Jae snickered. Alexa was finding the adjustment of not being center of attention when there were men in the room a little tough. After almost eighteen years of school with the girl and drooling humans following her around with their eyes, it was a nice change of pace.

  Reuben shrugged. Goddess, his every movement bugged her. She stifled an irritated growl. “When Marita attacked Caia, the only person in danger was Caia herself.” He smiled softly at Cy.

  Alexa rolled her eyes. “Uh … meaning?”

  He threw her a distasteful look. “Uh … meaning,” he imitated, “that Caia, like, totally isn’t, like, a self-absorbed bimbo. She only, like, totally mashes people into a pulp when someone else is in, like, total danger.”

  “I don’t say like and totally that much, O-K!”

  Jaeden felt a suspicious shudder from her mate. She scowled. “Are you laughing?”

  He smirked. “It was funny.”

  “Hmm.”

  Yeah, it was … but still … Reub
en equals bad. No laughing at his mocking a person no matter how much said person needed to be mocked.

  “What are you saying?” Lucien batted away their bickering.

  The vampyre turned slowly to look at him, his eyes narrowing. His expression had tightened imperceptibly. Hmm, interesting. Does Reuben have a problem with Lucien?

  “I’m saying that if we rewind and think about the occasions when Caia’s other powers have gotten the best of her … you were involved.”

  That’s true, Jaeden mused. Huh, that made sense. He was her mate, after all.

  Alexa’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, right, like when she blasted me against the classroom window for …” She trailed off and then blushed.

  Ooh. “For what?” Jae pushed.

  “Um, nothing.”

  “Caia?”

  Caia’s eyes widened at having been put on the spot and then swung around to Alexa who was pleading with her eyes to not say anything. “Let’s not get into it, but … suffice to say Lucien’s name came up.”

  Hmm, she’d find out from Caia later.

  “See?” Reuben nodded. “A trigger.”

  Magnus, who had been leaning in closer and closer to the TV to hear Harry Potter, had given up and clicked it off with a frustrated press of the remote. He strode toward the group. “Reuben’s right. Let’s not forget it was only when Lucien was being tortured by Ethan that Caia splattered … smooshed … whatever it was she did to him.”

  Jaeden smiled at him. “And she only killed those magiks when Lucien was in danger in the forest.”

  “And I blew up a tree once,” Caia muttered, but with lykan hearing they all whipped around, pinning her with amused glances. She blushed. “I was pissed off at him.” She smiled adoringly up at Lucien. “I’m not anymore, sweetie.”

  Lucien looked like he wanted to ask what she’d been pissed off at him for, but Jaeden snickered. She couldn’t help it. They looked at her. She gestured at Lucien pointedly. “Sweetie.”

  Ryder chuckled and pulled her into his side. “Don’t make the Alpha mad, baby.”

  Before she could retort with something flirtatious, Alexa was on her feet. “So … what? We can’t expect Caia to save our asses unless Lucien’s is under fire?”

  Caia blushed again, but Reuben shook his head. “Not at all.” He pinned Cy with his gaze. “We’re going to train you.”

  “Uh, how about asking her?” Jae snapped.

  Lucien growled and Jae bristled. Rose smirked, which made Jaeden want to tear out that pretty red hair or maybe throw her in a room with Alexa and hope the two of them took care of each other.

  “Guys!” Caia stepped away from Lucien and gestured at them all. “I’m a big girl. I can speak for myself. And Reuben’s right.”

  “Wha—”

  “You can’t—”

  “Be ser—”

  “Than—”

  “Shut up!” Magnus demanded. “Let the girl speak.”

  Caia smiled gratefully at her uncle and then spoke directly to Reuben, “I want you to help me if you can.”

  “And you’ll do what I asked?”

  “I’m still thinking on it.”

  “You have one night to sleep on it.”

  “That’s a little unfair.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lucien frowned, stepping between them. Ah, so Caia hadn’t told Lucien yet about what Reuben wanted her to do. Yup … that wasn’t going to go down well. There was no way Lucien would ever forgive her for killing Daylights.

  “We’ll talk in the morning,” Reuben commanded, and she saw the way Lucien flinched. He was used to being the one who gave the orders. “Get some sleep. We’ll get you all back to the pack tomorrow.”

  12

  The Pawn

  “Whoa … this place looks different,” Caia said as she strolled into Marita and Vanne’s suite. Before, it had combined their individual tastes (heavy on the wife’s), but now all Marita’s stuff was gone and in its place were sofas and mahogany tables, and a great big old library desk that looked like it cost more than Caia’s once-upon-a-time, brand-new car. On the walls hung paintings of hunting scenes and birds rather than sumptuous Renaissance debauchery. The lamps with vine-leaf stands had been replaced with green banker’s lamps. There was even an old-fashioned globe. Come to think of it, Caia had seen very similar décor once before elsewhere. Caia smiled at Alfred Doukas as he stood to greet her.

  Alfred’s study. Of course.

  They had made Doukas Regent while Marita was AWOL. Caia had awoken to that news, as well as the request for her presence after breakfast. It had been difficult to pull herself out of Lucien’s embrace, but at least her shoulder barely ached now.

  “You know, there’s still a few hours till after breakfast.” Lucien had grabbed her gently, trying to pull her back into bed.

  Caia had rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you tired out from last night?”

  He grinned, eyeing her suggestively. “Hey, I wasn’t the one who started it. I was going to leave you alone because of your shoulder, but nooo … you needed your dose of Lucien Love.”

  Caia grunted. “Keep calling it that and I’m sure I’ll be cured of needing a dose of Lucien Love ever again.”

  He frowned. “How’s the shoulder?”

  “Good. Ahhhh!” She squealed as he hauled her back into bed, rolling her over so she was pinned beneath him. She tried to shake him off, but he just laughed and peppered her face with kisses. The relief that he wasn’t throwing things around in a fit of rage after she’d told him what Reuben wanted still amazed her. He actually understood why Reuben could be so ruthless.

  “Two thousand years of death would do that to you.”

  He said he trusted Caia to make the right decision. The depth of his understanding floored her, and she took advantage of him being in the same room with a bed numerous times throughout the night.

  “Lucien, stop.” She giggled. “I have things to do. I have to check Desi and see if she’s all right before I head up to see the Council.”

  “I know,” he mumbled and then bit down gently on her ear as his hand slid up over her ribs. She gasped, falling into the deliciousness that was being with him and knowing he was safe … and hers completely.

  “Lucie—” She was cut off as he kissed her so deeply, she thought she might faint. She clutched him tightly, stroking his muscled back as he strained against her, clearly delighted by every gasp that escaped from her mouth when it wasn’t being devoured by his lips.

  “We really have—”

  “We will, we will.” He groaned and then kissed her harder. “Caia.”

  “Caia.”

  Oh dear goddess, she blinked and then blushed as she came back to the present, shaking the outstretched hand of Penelope Argyros, the magik whose suite they’d been using and whose bed she and Lucien had christened … several times.

  “Are you alright, dear?” she asked sweetly, a crinkle of concern between her brows.

  “Oh, I’m fine. Now. Thank you, by the way.” She gestured to her shoulder. Jeez, she had to start paying attention. Just because she had Lucien back did not mean she could forget that the Head of the Daylight Coven had fled and was probably gathering followers at that very moment to take back the Center. Then there was Reuben who was pressuring her into doing what he wanted because he’d helped rescue everyone and had offered to show her how to control her “superpower.” Not to mention the complication she felt buzzing in the trace. A Midnight faerie had been spying in Paris and somehow got wind of what was happening at the Center. She warned Reuben, who in turn warned Nikolai, who was heading out to stop the faerie before she took it back to the Midnight Council.

  When had her life gotten this complicated?

  “Oh, I am pleased.” Penelope nodded and then turned to gesture at the Council who circled the table at the other end of the room. Caia sighed. She’d had strategic meetings there before when she hadn’t known Marita was a psychopath.

  She wasn’t going to lie—the Co
uncil intimidated her slightly. But this was no time to show that. They needed her help, and she had to prove she was as capable as she’d promised. Helping break them out of prison was a start, but technically that had been Vanne. She was, after all, being eaten by a werewolf at the time.

  “Caia, do you remember the rest of the Council?”

  “Of course.” She nodded at them, glad to see them all in one piece. She smiled when she saw Vanne and Saffron, and they acknowledged the smile with a nod of their heads. They were both still grieving.

  Marion.

  Her absence, here, now, in this very room, was more gaping than ever. Caia missed her so much even her teeth ached with it. A fire erupted in the pit of her belly. Caia couldn’t wait to find out what the plan was to bring Marita down.

  “Caia, as you can see for yourself this morning, we, the Council, have brought the Center back under control.” Alfred Doukas led her to the table, his hand on the small of her back, guiding her and giving her reassurance at the same time. “We’re getting the word out to the rest of the coven about Marita, and things are progressing smoothly. We want to thank you for the part you played in rescuing us from the containment center—which, by the way, will be called prison from today onward.” He rolled his eyes. Yeah, Caia had always thought it was a dumb name as well. “We brought you up here to thank you and to let you know that we know about everything … Reuben and all that.”

  She blinked. Shocked. Surely … they didn’t know everything? Reuben wouldn’t have allowed that, right?

  “Vanne tells us that Reuben has a very particular gift against trace magik.” Alfred was frowning, as were the others around the table. “As much as we’d love to know more, we are not Marita, and Reuben is free to go. Vanne tells us although Reuben isn’t a very old vampyre, he is extremely apt at training and control. Apparently he has helped Vanne in the past, and with the loss of your mentor Marion, we think it only best that you do as Vanne has suggested and return home to the pack to train with Reuben. Not only will he serve as extra protection for the pack but it means we can get on with finding Marita and bringing her in.”