Eternal Envy (The Seven Sin Sisters 2) (12 page)

“Fuck!” Lucas’s voice echoed through their
earpieces
. “Incoming. We’ll pull in behind them and take them out
.
W
atch your backs.”

“Got it,” Caedon replied before turning back to his parents and surveying Donovan’s efforts. “I’ll watch the door while you keep working.” Caedon ignored his parents’ protests that he leave. A man rounded the corner. He appeared to be a doctor of some type
in
a white lab coat. Caedon almost dropped his gun to capture
the man
for information when he saw him
re
move his hand from his pocket and extract a pistol.

Quicker than any mortal, Caedon drew his gun and took the man out. Other shots were being fired in the distance. To hell with their quiet extraction mission
,
Lucas
shouted as he
rounded the corner with Gage on his heels.

“We’re all clear. Granger is up top in case anyone tries to enter but we’ve taken out six men. Heat sensors never showed more than that in the building at one time,” Lucas looked relaxed now. He believed the end of the mission was near and the most difficult part was complete.

It took them another thirty minutes to release Caedon’s parents and vacate the building.
Once the team had neutralized the men sent in to take them, nothing more prevented them from a successful evacuation. T
heir trek back to the boat and then the ride back to the island were uneventful.

“That might’ve been too easy,” Gage sounded concerned. It was no less than what any of the rest of them thought.

They had sedated Caedon’s parents for the trip. Both his mother and father were too weak to walk on their own and the removal of their collars that seemed to have been soldered on needed to be done without a single movement
from the captives
. Caedon wouldn’t forget the slight tremble in Donovan’s hands as he released his
friend’s
parents. None of them knew if there was
any type of bomb
or
trap set to the device. Despite all their power and strength, Valendite Breeds still relied on their faith in these moments.

Caedon couldn’t wait to hear that they were well. “Donovan, what can we do for them?”

“I need to determine what’s wrong with them. It’ll help once they can talk. They should be able to give me some clues,” Donovan assured him before climbing out of the boat to get it docked.

The other men were gathering up their gear when a bright light
suddenly
shone from behind him. Caedon turned to see Eloise. She was magnificent.

With h
er arms held above her head, colorful swirls surrounded her as she simply seemed to form on the dock right in front of where Caedon now stood with the other men behind him. She’d come into her full powers. Caedon blinked. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The small cloud of smoke disappeared and left Eloise standing before him. Un
mistakable purple and blue swirls blew away in the breeze when she waved her hands before reaching for Caedon.

“Your powers are m
agnificent,” Caedon’s voice was laced with reverence. He knew his mate had powers of the
Magdalena Circle
but to see them was absolutely another thing entirely. Stunned
.
Caedon was stunned by this woman he claimed as his.

“I know,” Eloise almost giggled like a little girl, “Micalena helped me. I was telling her about some changes to my body after the Claiming. She put it all together. My connected responses were magnified from our Mating. Isn’t it wonderful?” Eloise swirled in a circle before Caedon caught her up in his arms.

“You are wonderful,” Caedon whispered into her ear before taking her lips with a fervor that immediately caused Eloise to stir.

“Wait,” she stopped him, “Your parents? How are they?”

“We don’t know yet but they are alive. Once we determine what was done to them, Donovan can work at healing them.”

“Remember
,
too
,
that most women in the
Magdalena Circle
have healing abilities. Micalena may be able to help. She’s been brewing some kind of soup for them since you left.”

Seamus appeared down at the dock with a worried look playing across his face. “We’ve got incoming.”

“Where?”
each
man responded at once.

“Eastern shore. Coming at us from the south. Heat sensors show six large bodies so my guess is men. Another boat
is
moving in from the east looking to come in roughly the same location. Likely another seven on that boat. And for good measure, another four on the western edge.”

“How the fuck?” Caedon was asking when Donovan lifted a bloodied hand from his father.

“There’s a tracking device on him. I’ve pulled it but it’s still operational,” Donovan held up the small device.

“Dammit. This is why it was so easy. They wanted us.”

Lucas shook his head, “This entire mission has gone to hell. We need to cut our losses and evacuate. There’s nothing her
e
to disclose us, right?” Lucas looked to Caedon for confirmation.

“Nothing. Nearly everything was cleared years ago.” Caedon’s heart rate had accelerated. The battle was coming to his island, to his home where his mate was vulnerable.

Lucas seemed to read his mind. “Seamus, get the jet and copter ready. We’re heading out.”

Chapter Seven

It had been two weeks since they returned from Italy. Caedon and Eloise spent every day with his parents. Mostly, they sat in silence. Micalena helped and the five of them found a rhythm. After what seemed like endless debriefing and then a full day of sleep, Caedon’s parents were recovering. Their color returned. Another amazing benefit of their blood exchange was the ability to heal one another. Eloise’s father had suggested it and after nothing else seemed to work, they’d begun drinking from one another daily.

Eloise was surprised when she walked into the sitting room and Andreas smiled at her. “Andreas, do you need anything?” She asked tentatively.

His broken voice
was
so soft, Eloise leaned in to hear him, “We are blessed.” It was such a simple statement but not one she expected to hear from a man who had been held prisoner for a decade.

Eloise just smiled and said nothing. Her hand rested on the arm of his chair and he covered it with his own before pushing himself forward and coming to his knees. He knelt onto one knee in and brought her hand to his lips.

Caedon walked in to the room. “Eloise, do you need...” His words were cut off by the view before him. Eloise knew what he saw. His father was in the traditional posture of accepting a child’s mate.

“
Che bella donna
,” Andreas spoke while he searched her eyes. Eloise bit down on her lip so as not to cry. “And you are our blessing.”

Caedon moved around Eloise to kneel beside his father. From his pocket, he pulled a sparkling ring and held it in his palm. “So I heard this was the American custom and I thought we should
follow this particular protocol
.”

“It’s also customary to ask a woman for her hand,” Eloise teased.

“I’d rather like to think we can do away with some customs. I prefer the direct command approach,” Caedon
ribb
ed right back.

“So long as we keep the tradition of the Pronouncement,” a slight female voice came from behind the men still kneeling at her feet. Together they looked at Caedon’s mother.

Angelica moved towards them slowly. Both Caedon’s parents had the appearance of human elderly and moved in the same fashion. When Angelica finally reached them, she placed her hand on Eloise’s shoulder and Eloise felt a twinge of electricity. She felt Angelica’s power. It wasn’t entirely gone.

“Yes, that we will definitely do,” Eloise agreed.

With Andreas still kneeling in front of her, Angelica’s hand on her shoulder and she and Caedon holding hands, their family formed what appeared to be an electrical connection. Eloise nearly let go and pulled away from the shock at first until she saw her power beginning to swirl itself around Angelica.

“Wh-what’s happening?” Eloise’s voice shook with uncertainty.

“I think you might hold some healing qualities, baby. Look at my mother,” Caedon told Eloise. All eyes turned towards Angelica.

Sparks burst around them and the vibrant colors of Eloise’s power swirled up to encircle Angelica. Slowly, both of Caedon’s parents transformed with color and health. The black circles under their eyes disappeared, their muscle tone filled in, teeth turned whiter and their eyes once again
shone
with life.

“It’s a miracle,” Eloise heard herself say.

“It’s you, Eloise. This is your power. You have saved our family,” Angelica smiled down at her. And Eloise could see all the beautiful features Caedon had received from his mother. He shared her gentle cocoa brown eyes and infectious grin.

Andreas rose to his full height
—
he was quite a formidable man
—
and pulled his wife into his arms. They embraced and Eloise felt the tears begin falling down her cheeks. She couldn’t
wipe them away fast enough as she watched Caedon’s parents. Andreas touched Angelica as if for the first time. His hand stroked down her cheek and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip before he leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. It was incredibly romantic.

“You saved our family,” Caedon spoke into her ear as he pulled her up and into his embrace. Her body was pliable against his touch. All the fear and concern they’d held for his parents had evaporated. Seeing them healthy again was a balm for their worry. With each stroke of Caedon’s hand down her back, Eloise wanted more and more to be alone with him. Besides, she felt very much like a voyeur as she watched his parents. Quietly, she tugged on Caedon’s arm and led him from the room without being noticed.

*
*
*
*

Eloise was amazed by Caedon’s strength
as he cradled her in his arms
. He had been through so much and yet
remained
steadfast through it all. While she worried for his parents, he researched. While she sat idly by, he tried everything to heal them. And in the end, it was his belief in her
—
in
their bond as mates
—
that gave Eloise the power strong enough to heal Andreas and Angelica.

Caedon’s skin was cool against her own but she adored how it sparked when they touched. She sighed and stroked down his arm watching the dancing lights. Caedon raised his eyebrow in question.

“I’m learning to control them.” Eloise spoke of her powers, embarrassed by the effects he had on her that she could not hide, “though it seems whenever I touch you, they become a bit out of control.”

“I think I like making you out of control.” Caedon teased and Eloise lightly hit the side of his arm. He still held her in a tight embrace, his arms solidly wrapped around her.

They sat on their private balcony off their bedroom. It turned out his apartment was two floors and quite large enough for them and several guests. Eloise’s favorite places were still those that brought her outdoors. They sat on the sofa facing the most beautifully colorful sunset.
Without any warning, Caedon used his powers to remove their clothing. Eloise had only a moment to gasp in surprise before Caedon dragged her onto his lap. He held her hips, his cooler touch causing shivers to run up her back and her nipples to pucker.

“I am awed by you.” Eloise’s voice broke as she spoke the words.

“I feel the same way about you,” Caedon responded. Their Acclimation period
hadn’t been a typical one
.
The stress of their trip to Italy and the rescue, along with his parents’ recovery left none of the solitary time most mates had during the Acclimation.
Eloise could feel through their bond how badly Caedon felt
about not giving this to her
.

“You know, I’m pretty stubborn sometimes. And I can be bossy and pushy. Oh yeah, and lots of times I just want my way because I can get it. I like to control things. Frankly, I’m not always very nice,” Eloise confessed, “but with you, none of that matters. All I want when I’m with you is to be yours. So if being yours meant this was how our Acclimation needed to be, it was the best.”

Caedon was grinning by the time Eloise was done. “You, my beautiful strong mate, are the best. If I hadn’t found you, hell, if you hadn’t fallen in those damn shoes in the vineyard, you might not have been there when I needed you most.”

“So you’re glad now that I was wearing those shoes?” Eloise tried to lighten the mood.

“I’ll never be glad you were hurt,” Caedon grumbled but then he stroked down her legs where she noticed he’d once again left her shoes on while he stripped her of everything else. “But these shoes, baby, give me ideas I can’t even begin to describe.”