Force of Knight Magic (8 page)

“Fuck.
She’s in labor.
I have to…where did they go?”
Instead of answering him, Holly guided him after them.
His mind was suddenly mush.
“Where are they going?”

“To the car.”
He wasn’t sure he liked her tone. Sort of a cross between her talking to him like he was four and afraid he was going to fall apart.

“I know that.
I was…I was simply testing you.” She nodded
,
but again her body language led him to believe she was humoring him.
They made it to the car
,
which was parked on the sidewalk in front of the doors.
He was shoved in the back with CJ.

Austin was being handed out of the car before he could think.
The guy standing there had a wheel chair and Austin started to tell him he was fine now when he was pushed out of the way and
the man reached
in for CJ.
Before he could help she was being rushed into the hospital doors and away from him again.

“Are you going to be this dense when the pups are born?
If so, let me know now so I can get them cell phones with
GPS
on them. That way when you leave them somewhere
,
I’ll be able to track them down with it.”
Austin growled at Phil.
“You know
,
you really should get in there
,
alpha
. Y
our cubs are about to be born.”

That got him moving.
He heard someone say his name and before he could slow and see what they wanted, Phil was there.
He wondered briefly what he said to the nurse
,
but she simply sat back down and resumed working.
The three of them rushed to the elevators.

~~~

Phil watched the others in the room.
Gordon paced, worried
,
he was sure
,
about his own mate, Alexis
,
who was just beginning to look ready to pop with her pregnancy.
Connor sat in the corner and talked with Gordon and Alexis’ two boys, Tim and Jake.
Darcy and Sis sat and colored in the books that one of the nurses had given them.
The four children weren’t really Gordon’s children and only Alexis’ nieces and nephews
,
but
one
couldn’t tell by looking at them.
And they all called them
M
om and
D
ad.
The adoption was ready to be finalized any day now.

Nancy Force sat quietly with her eyes closed
,
but he’d bet all his money that she knew where every one of the people in the room were.
She even smiled once in
a while
,
he was sure at something one of the children said.

But Dallas looked upset.
Phil had had a few minutes earlier
,
before everyone had shown up
,
to give him a heads up on the woman
Theresa
and her bloody mess and murder at the bar in New York.
He didn’t mention Holly’s involvement as the two of them had agreed to her telling her family what she did when everyone was all together. Even with them all here, he knew that it would be much later before they got to have a family meeting now.

When Austin came through the double doors two hours later
,
he looked as strange as he’d ever seen him.
Walking toward him Phil was suddenly nervous.
The man looked like he was going to, first kill him then eat him for dinner.
When he wrapped both his beefy arms around him and
almost
squeezed the life out of him Phil nearly passed out.

“Hey there
,
killer.
Want to let me breath a bit?”
Austin let him go for a few seconds only to pull him back in and hug him tighter. “You’re happy, I get it
,
but I have to breath
e
.”

“They’re beautiful.
And just like you said.
My son first then my daughter.
They’re…I can’t tell you how much I already love them.”
Phil had an idea
,
but wasn’t breathing well yet
,
so only grunted.
“You have to come see them.”

They all moved after the two of them.
Phil tried in vain to pull his arm free of the giant man
,
but Austin seemed determined to be in the lead.
It wasn’t until they were standing before a large glassed
-
in room that he could see where they’d been going.
And right there in the front were two babies with the name “Force” written in a bold hand.
Christ
,
they were beautiful too.

“That one is my son, Austin Jackson Force
,
and our daughter
,
Nancy Alexis Force
.
”
H
e pointed to the pink little bundle next to the other one in blue.
“She is going to be a daddy’s little girl.”

Holly snorted and then grinned when Austin glared at her.
“You tried that crap on me and it didn’t stick. What makes you think I’m going to let her be a girly girl or
,
for that matter
,
her mother let her be a girly girl?
CJ is the coolest woman I know and she drives a big rig.
That little girl is going to be as tough as nails and meaner than a snake.
I’m going to make sure of it.”

Phil stepped back and then walked to the elevator.
When Holly started to follow he told her he’d be right back. He wanted to go and get something from the gift shop.
She said she did as well and they both went down.
He looked over at her when she cleared her throat.

“Did you want kids, Phil?
Ever?”
She looked so sad that he nearly pulled her into his arms
,
but didn’t right away.
“My job…I’m pretty sure when I try to quit
,
they aren’t going to throw me a retirement party unless it’s of the permanent kind.
I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone to give notice with this group and not die of
a
natural or not so natural cause later.”

He nodded
,
glad that she understood too.
“They won’t hurt you.
Ever
. N
ot so long as I’m around.
I swear to you
,
Holly.”

She moved to him and he pulled her close even as the elevator came to a stop.
“They don’t know what I am.
I never told them.
I never told anyone what I am.
I let them think all this time that I’m super smart and know all there is to know about tracking.
They don’t have a clue that I shift and hunt my target down by scent as a wolf.”

He had already figured out that she did that.
He nodded over her head and watched the door open.
He shoved her behind him when he saw who was standing there.
Phil bowed before the two women and the man and
,
before he could stand
,
they spoke as one.

“The council needs you.
You will come with us now, Knight of the Order.”
He rose slowly as the man stepped forward.
“There is a problem and you have been
—
”

“You’ve a mate.
A she
-
wolf.”
The darker of the two women spoke alone this time as she sniffed the air.
“She will be required as well.”

When they touched him he could feel the air rushing around them and knew that there was nothing at all he could do other than hope that Holly was al
l
right.
Phil hadn’t seen this group of warriors since just after his two hundredth year.

When they stopped suddenly he reached for Holly. He knew she’d be sick
. He had been
the first time he’d traveled this way.
But she wasn’t.
If anything
,
she looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her and she was pissed.
He didn’t even try to hold her back knowing that as his mate
,
they would never dare to harm her.

“You take us back right fucking now.
My brother and my best friend just had their first cubs and you pulling this shit on us before I get the chance to hold either of them is bullshit.”
She put her hands on her hips and started to tap her foot.
“Well, I don’t see any of you rushing to do what I said. I can only conclude that you’re either incredibly stupid, deaf
,
or you want to make me get all medieval on your asses.”

Phil couldn’t help it, he threw back his head and laughed.
He’d never seen anyone with
more confused look
s
on their faces than the men and women assembled before them.
He took Holly’s hand and kissed the back of it before he addressed them formally.

“Council, my lady, I’d like to present my mate to you, Holly Force Campbell.
Holly, this is Anye Sabalz and the High Trustees of Vampires.
Anye is the head of this smaller group of council members and the one who decide
s
everything.”
He bowed before them and was happy to see Holly do the same.
“Council.”

“We have a rogue.
She is…we believe that she may catch your scent and will now follow you back to your home.
There will be trouble for all those that you have taken to your heart if she succeeds in finding you,” Anye said without any preamble.
“If she makes it to the area, she will need to be taken down.
We ask you for your help once again, Knight Campbell.”

He bowed again.
“And would her name be
Theresa
Sykes?”

Holly was still thinking about the fact that Phil was a knight when they were brought back to this realm.
She didn’t know what to say to him and wasn’t sure what she wanted to ask him either.
They were buying nearly every toy in the gift shop when she suddenly sat down on the floor.

“Holly, are you al
l
right?”
She didn’t know how to answer that
,
so she didn’t.
“Holly, you’re scaring the nice people in here.
Is this after
e
ffects of the trip?
I assure you that when we have to travel like that again, you won’t even feel it.
The first time is always the hardest.”

“We
will
be traveling that way again
?
” she asked him incredulously.
It was suddenly too much and she needed some air.
“I’ll be back.
Don’t follow me.”

She threw everything she had in her arms at the startled girl at the counter and was out the door and into the hot afternoon sun.
Looking up at the sky
,
she took several deep breaths when she felt him stirring in her mind.

“I won’t follow you if you please tell me what’s wrong.
Is it because I have to go and find this woman?
I assure you
,
if I had a choice
,
I’d rather stay home with you and make love all night.”

Sighing heavily
,
she sat down on the bench before answering him the same way.
“No. It’s just that…were you going to tell me about your knighthood?
I mean
,
that seems
like
a really big deal.
And the fact that they nearly fell all over themselves trying to please you was sort of disconcerting.
Especially since I kind of thought you worked for them.”

“I do, work for them I mean.
And
,
yes, they want to please me.
Very badly.
They can’t make me do what they want and if I say no, they have no one else.”
She felt his distraction and knew he was paying for the gifts and talking to the girl about all of it.
“Remind me never to take you shopping again.
I think spending three thousand dollars on two infants that can’t even play with these things is a little extravagant, don’t you?”