Jonas (Darkness #7) (11 page)

I vaguely watched three people chasing one large, male warrior through the cabbage field as I neared the place Cato and I had linked. And though he’d been removed, it wasn’t hard to figure out where he’d gone. A collection of bowed heads gathered near the back of a van, all somber, a few crying.

I walked up slowly and was greeted by a grim-faced Toa and Dominicous.

“How is he?” I asked quietly, seeing the white head between the bodies as it lay in the van.

Dominicous reached out and ran his fingers down the side of my face. He let his hand settle on my shoulder. “He didn’t make it.” His eyes were soft and relieved as he looked at me, and though he wouldn’t say it where we were standing, I knew he was intensely relieved I had pulled through. That if it was a choice between Cato and me, even though Cato was more valuable, Dominicous would’ve chosen for me to come out alive.

I stepped toward him and circled his waist with my arms. He hugged me tight. His cheek came down on my head. “Thank the gods you are okay,” he said quietly, right next to my ear. “You scared me.”

“I scared myself. Nathanial was… unreal. Far above anything I have seen.”

“He’s had a lot of experience,” Toa said. I felt a light pat on my back. Toa’s version of gushing. He was the creepy uncle in my life, and I loved him for it.

“But Cato had more.” A pang hit deep inside me. I hadn’t known Cato all that well, but what I did know, I really liked. He was a sweet, kind of senile guy with so much history and world experience. I wished I had a chance to get to know more of him. To learn more from him.

“He did, and he didn’t,” Toa said cryptically. “They were evenly matched at one time, but Cato’s age caught up with him. He lived beyond his years. Nathanial was still in his prime. He was still experimenting and learning.”

“Cato held on to pass on the most important of his knowledge—linking our kind to humans.” Toa turned slightly to allow Mage June to join our small circle. Dominicous released me so Mage June could look directly into my eyes. The gaze held intense sadness, loss, uncertainty and a slight edge. “He imparted the knowledge of the black and white link. The magical yin and yang. Throughout the battle he muttered that you were a natural. That you took to it as if the danger wasn’t an issue at all.”

“Danger… wasn’t an issue. Was it?” I scrunched my face up in confusion. “I mean, I got dizzy and whatever, but then… it was kind of like what I always had. Only, easier, kinda. It was more balanced. It
felt
natural.”

“Yes, his point exactly. It took him ten years of study to link in that way without his spells morphing into something dangerous. Something that could kill him, his link partner, and everyone around them. When a person works with the other half of magic, inverting is always a huge risk. To invert is to create some horrible, unpredictable spells.”

“Oh.” I waved that thought away. “I’ve already learned that lesson. My teachers taught me like they taught their own kind. I set whole rooms on fire.”

“Me, too,” Paulie said from a few feet away.

Mage June’s eyes flicked toward Stefan. I could tell it was a silent reprimand by the sudden stiffness of my mate and the defensiveness bleeding through the link. She focused back on me. “We will need to pick your next linking partner with care. It has to be someone both familiar with you, your type of magic, and—“

“It’ll be Toa. Anyway, can I see Cato?” I interrupted. If she thought I was going to be sucked into the world of politics on the tail-end of a vicious battle where I lost one of my mentors, she was losing her mind.

Her lips turned into a thin line, but she moved aside slowly. Toa stepped closer and moved me closer to the van. In my ear, he whispered, “Cato was hoping for you and Stefan to one day take his and Mage June’s role. You two will have a lot of interest from the Council. I would be wary, were I you.”

“Not in the mood, Toa.”

My breath caught as people stepped out of the way and I saw Cato. He lay on a pad. His eyes were closed and hands crossed over his chest. He looked so peaceful, as though he were sleeping. But his chest was still. There was no rise and fall of breath.

Tears sprang to my eyes. “Does he have any family or anything?”

“No. His mate lost her life in childbirth along with the child. He never re-mated or adopted any other children.” Toa stared down at Cato with glossy eyes. “He was my mentor. When I first started working with magic, he saw my potential and worked with me. He’ll be greatly missed.”

“Yet you didn’t want to be his mage?”

Toa steered me away so others could pay their respects. “He already had Mage June. Plus, he knew I wanted to be in the thick of things. I wasn’t meant for stuffy meetings and staying in one place for long. I was meant, instead, to find you. And pass on my teachings.”

He led me away from the others a little. We turned toward the cabbage field, which was mostly demolished near the road, and stared out for a while in silence. A few more people had made a run for it, but it looked as though they’d been caught, hog-tied, and left to think over their life’s choices, because they lay in heaps sporadically through the field.

“You were certain what you said to Mage June—you trust me to engage in the deep link?” Toa’s voice sounded wispy and uncertain.

I crinkled my eyebrows as I glanced over at him. “Yeah. Who else? By now you know how much I eff-up. I figure you’re the only one who won’t throttle me inside the first minute.”

“I have less patience than others.”

“Well, whatever. You’re family. And I think you have a better handle on how my magic works than others.”

“Yes.”

He fell silent again, staring out. The crinkle in my eyebrows got deeper. I didn’t say anything this time, though. The guy was grieving—he was allowed to be weird. We were all strung out and flipped around—I doubted anyone would be right for a while.

“I am honored that you call me family,” Toa said finally. “And once we are recuperated, we will attempt the link in a safe location. Thank you for bestowing such a deep level of trust for me. Excuse me.”

I must’ve looked like I was trying to solve a difficult riddle as I watched Toa stiffly walk away, because when Stefan appeared at my side, he said, “He acting weirder than normal?”

“Yeah. Way weird. I get the feeling that he’s half afraid of that magic merge… thing.”

Stefan glanced toward Toa as Ann trudged up to my other side.

“I think it’s hilarious that those guys took off running through an open field as if no one would chase them.” Ann pointed at another guy who’d made a run for it. About a hundred yards away, he quickly changed direction. Someone popped out of the cabbage and gave chase.

“The yin and yang of magic is a terrifying thing for people that know absolutely nothing of human magic.” Stefan watched the chase in progress. “They know the dangers of inverting, but not the result. We’ve been taught since we were little that inverting magic is a life-ending situation. Until you did it regularly, and then the rest of the humans, we didn’t realize the explosions and angry flora that result aren’t the disastrous situation we were led to believe.”

“So why is Toa freaking out?” I asked as I leaned against his arm.

“He has the potential to mess up as badly as you always do.” Ann ran her hands through her shock of blue hair.

“Yeah. He’s probably afraid you’ll say ‘I told you so’,” Charles added from behind us.

I sighed. “Let’s get home. I’m exhausted and I miss my babies.”

Stefan kissed me on the head and turned to lead the way when Ann said, “Can I ride with you guys? Tim got a shallow knife wound and you would think his arm was falling off. The man is such a baby with the small stuff.”

“What are we going to do with Emmy?” Charles wanted to know.

Jonas still had his arm around his new love-interest and was following the group’s movements at a small distance. I didn’t think it was because of the alone time, though. I had a feeling Emmy wasn’t comfortable being in the presence of Stefan and Charles. Maybe even Ann. I was too tired to force my sparkling wit on her just now, though. I’d have to wait until I got some sleep and some coffee.

“Let Jonas sort it out.” With a last glance at the crumbling building, we headed to our cars and what would hopefully be a stress-free few months to follow.

“
I
’ve never been anywhere
where things were so… lax.” Emmy huddled next to Jonas as everyone got out of the cars at the Mansion. From what the Boss said, they only had about half of their force returning right now. The rest were left behind to collect any that didn’t make it. With the amount of bodies strewn around, Jonas had every reason to believe it would be a black few months to follow as they mourned their lost.

At the moment, though, Jonas could barely keep his eyes opened. He hadn’t slept soundly since he’d been taken. On top of that, he’d battled. He was on empty.

“Sasha is a rare breed. She needs things to stay light and easy or she gets bogged down with the pressure. If she spends too much time in her head, she makes mistakes. She’s in charge, but it helps to often let her forget it.”

“And Stefan—the Boss?”

“It doesn’t help for
anyone
to forget that he’s in charge. Except Sasha. He bends whichever way she pushes him, generally. Lax around Sasha, alert around the Boss.”

Emmy shot her eyes to the ground as the Boss strode by with a nod to Jonas. Sasha trailed behind, pale and weary. She stopped briefly in front of Jonas and Emmy. To Emmy she said, “I’m full human. Totally, one-hundred percent human. I didn’t even know Stefan’s people
existed.
The humans wandering around here are the same. When we’re not treated equal, we kick someone in the balls. Well, the others do. I earned my place. I zap them with magic. Anyway, my point is, you will only be
lesser
as long as you think that of yourself. No one else will see that about you. Hell, you have half their blood—you’re one step above me. And Paulie has already led the way on that score. Plus, he got someone pregnant—but don’t talk to him about it, because he’s totally freaking out about it. He was determined never to have kids. He totally likes the girl, and he’s only ever with her now—they have an understanding, which she is apparently fine with her since he can give her babies—but she’s pressuring him to mate, and he—totally freaking out. Anyway, my point is, you will be like gold. People will be knocking on your door to try and get at your womb. It’s freaking weird, but there ya go.”

Sasha paused and rubbed her hands over her face.

“Did you just say people would try to get at her
womb?”
Charles asked, aghast. He hovered right behind Sasha.

Ann punched him in the side as she passed. “She’s divulging some heavy shit, Charles. Let the lady work.” Ann snickered and moved up the steps to the Mansion. “Sasha, you need to sleep. Seriously, you’re losing it.”

“You agree with me, yet you still punched me and argued?” Charles stalked after Ann.

“You’re an idiot.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” they barely heard as Charles and Ann went through the door.

Sasha stared at Emmy with bloodshot eyes. “What I mean is, you’re welcome here. You’ll fit in as soon as you stop cowering. Because if you cower, people will think they rock, and that is no good. It goes right to their heads, and then they’ll get kicked in the nuts when they try to put that on another human. And when people veer away from you, it isn’t you. It’s Jonas. He scares people. They’ll think you’re a tough bitch just dealing with him. Also, you have the weekend off, but then you best get in school. You need to earn your keep, and Jonas thinks you’re strong in power, so that’s good. We can use you.”

“You’re babbling, human.” Jonas shooed Sasha toward the door. “Go see your kids. I’ll be by tomorrow to hold one.”

“Oh no. Can’t just take one. You’ll take both or none. Do my job, or don’t. No halvsies just because you’re boinking a halvsie. Get it?”

Sasha’s shoulders drooped and she shook her head. “Yikes. I’m tired. See ya.”

Jonas smirked as he led Emmy up the steps to the front door behind Sasha. They went down the hall slowly so Emmy could take in the Mansion, and then turned up the stairs toward Jonas’ quarters. “Do you mind staying with me? We can have a room made up for you tomorrow if you want your own place.”

“With you is fine.”

Jonas gave her shoulders a squeeze as they walked down the corridor. As Sasha had said, people saw him coming and immediately hustled to the sides to be out of his way. Most had probably been tossed through a door at one time or another and didn’t want a repeat. It made Jonas’ life easier.

“She seems nice. Weird, but nice,” Emmy said quietly. “And the Boss seems to really dote on her.”

“Yeah. They make a good team.”

“Is what she said true—are those with human blood sought after because of their ability to reproduce?”

Jonas couldn’t help stiffening slightly. He wanted this female more than he’d wanted anyone in his whole life. Being near her, hearing her voice, breathing her scent—she felt like a piece of him. He wanted to mate her, mark her if she’d let him, and see if they could bear children. But what he didn’t want, and didn’t know if he could handle, was someone else trying to get at her or her brood. He didn’t think he could share. Not her.

“Toa is thinking that our stunted reproduction might have to do with staying to ourselves. We don’t inbreed, obviously, but we don’t have a lot of input from diverse regions. Humans are great at reproduction anyway, and they are fresh blood. Toa thinks that helps. I, personally, think humans are great at populating. That’s their defense against a harsh environment.”

“Nathanial kept me to himself all these years to try and get me with child. He thought the child would lean toward his race. Yours. Then he was afraid he might be the problem, and didn’t want anyone else to touch me.”

Jonas felt a pang in his chest for her treatment. He squeezed her before he opened his door and waited for her to go in ahead of him. Once the door was closed behind him, he said, “At least you only had one tyrant, rather than multiple.”

Emmy nodded as she wandered into the room, the weight dragging down her shoulders relenting for the first time since she’d met his people. She sighed and then giggled. Hurrying to the other side of the moderately-sized room, she ran her fingers over his various sexual tools, a stand not unlike hers in the dungeon.

“And now I see.” She leaned against the wall as she fingered the paddle. Heat crept into her gaze. “I know you’re tired, but take off your sweats and get on your knees. I want to punish you. Then let’s see if you can get me pregnant before we go to sleep.”

Jonas went from dead-tired to wide-awake with a hard-on in the time it took him to strip his sweats. He knelt right where he stood, doing as she said. He gulped as she released a heavy leather paddle from the stand. His heart started to beat as she stripped out of her blood-spattered dress and stood before him completely in the nude. His stomach flipped as she sauntered toward him with all the command and grace as the first day he’d met her. This time, however, she wasn’t ashamed of her sexual nature. This time, she was exploiting it.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said in a gush.

“I didn’t say speak.” She swung the paddle with force. The leather slapped against his stomach. Pain lanced out across his skin.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I said, I didn’t say to
speak!”

He heard her giggle right before the paddle slapped across his back. He clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, soaking into that pain. Feeling it morph into adrenaline. Feeling his dick lurch, begging to touch this beautiful, commanding female.

“Good.” She slapped him across his butt, and then again on his shoulder. He could hear her breathing speeding up. Hear her excitement. She loved being in control. He loved when someone else took the reins. She felt free, and he was free within the confinement. She needed to hold the power to escape her past, and he needed someone to rein him in to quell the violence raging in him from his. They fit perfectly. They were made for each other.

“I love you,” he said without meaning to. “I want to mark you.”

The leather paddle hovered in the air as she stared down at him. Incredulity and uncertainty mingled on her face. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. He dropped his head. He didn’t even know how she felt—if she felt anything. He could’ve just been her meal-ticket out of her situation.

Way to jump the gun you idiot!

He felt the sting of the paddle. “What did you say?”

To his silence he felt it again. And again. More violent now. He felt her power humming through him. His dick was so hard it was painful.

“Tell me!”

“I love you and I want to mark you,” he blurted. “Please touch me, baby.
Please
.”

The paddle dropped to his side in a collection of dull thunks. One of her palms slapped the top of his head and pushed his head back. Before he could blink, she bent to his neck in a rush. Her hot breath soaked into his skin before her teeth bit into him. The sweet draw from her mouth was pleasure unlike he’d ever experienced. His eyes fluttered closed and he moaned.

She straightened up and walked quickly to the bed. Her perfect body settled into the middle with her legs bent and slightly spread. Her fingertips trailed down between her breasts. “I love you, too. And I accept.”

Something washed over Jonas. A primal need to take his female. To make this female his. Forever.

He rose on smooth joints and eyed her pale skin amid his crimson sheets. His cock pulsed. His stomach twisted with anticipation. His senses sharpened. A thrill coursed through his body.

Her breath quickened as he approached. Wariness flashed in her eyes before heat-soaked desire took its place.

Mine.

In a gush of speed, Jonas was on her. He pushed her body into the mattress, trapping her under him. Her thighs were pushed wider to accommodate his size. He captured her wrists and held them above her head. With a quick thrust, he entered her fully, stretching her to fit his size. Her heart rapped against his chest. The vein at her neck throbbed.

“You’re mine.” He almost didn’t recognize his voice through the possessive gruffness. Through the raw, unyielding desire. “Forever.”

He bit into her neck and took her blood in greedy gulps. He thrust into her repeatedly, hard and fast, feeling the friction of her body against his sensitive skin. He took his prize as the animalistic secretion in his skin permeated hers. He was laying his mark. If anyone touched her from this day on, he’d kill them without asking questions.

“Yes,” Emmy sighed.

Jonas pumped into her harder. Into his female. Her heat, her wetness, overcame him. He drew once more on her neck, savoring that wild, battle-laden taste. His hard length seared into her soft depths. Faster and harder. His skin slapped off of hers. His bed squealed in protest.

“Yes, Jonas. Please,
yes!”

“Take more of mine,” he commanded. He bent so she could reach his neck.

Her draw was such succulent pleasure. It reached down through the core of him. An orgasm rocked his body. He emptied himself into her as she trembled in completion under him. The last of his mark settled firmly into her. His lips sought hers with a deep, lingering kiss.

After they were done, she shifted a tiny bit to get comfortable with his weight, and stroked his back. “It’s kind of late to ask, but are you sure?”

Jonas huffed out a laugh. “I was thinking of asking you the same thing, but I was worried you’d say no.”

“I’m not worried. Not at all. You don’t scare me. I don’t mind when you overcome my strength—it’s hot. I don’t care if you get bossy, or command me—I
know
you. I feel like I’ve known you all my life. I worried that once you got me home, though, you wouldn’t want me.”

“I should’ve waited. I should’ve let you have a taste of your freedom before I shackled you.”

“You are my freedom. I hope I can give you a baby.”

“It doesn’t matter. If you do or don’t, it doesn’t matter. I have you. And I’m an uncle, of sorts. That is more than I’d ever thought I’d have. I’m the happiest in this moment than I have ever been. And if you tell Charles any of this, I will never speak to you again.”

Emmy blurted out a laugh. “I’m excited to get to know your friends. They aren’t what I’m used to.”

“They aren’t what anyone’s used to. Trust me. And that’s how I know that I fit in this life. With them. Where I am. I’ve finally found a real home.”