KnightForce Damian (La Patron's KnightForce Book 4) (16 page)

A long whispery sigh came through the door and it opened. Gem tried not to be alarmed but she knew all the doors were locked. "What'd you do? You look different?" The Lamia appeared older than the young girl Gem had worked on.

"What, my hair? I prefer it dark like yours and changed it." She walked past Gem, pulled a chair close and sat.

"I see that, but when I found you lying in the woods you looked younger, around nine or ten. Why’d you change that?"

Lamia shrugged. "Tell me of your life. What type of things you like to do and why?"

Gem noticed the gleam of curiosity in Lamia's eyes, and a flash of fear. She recalled Lamia was in a stolen body. "I will, but answer me this first, who is in there with you?"

"Where?"

Gem tapped her chest.

"A child, I don't know her name. Why?"

"You want to know about me, I want to know about you," Gem said, trying to think of a way to help the child.

"Understandable. I'm Lamia, former mistress of Zeus, cursed by Hera to roam the earth searching for my children and never finding them. Not even the witches could help, and I've paid their prices for centuries."

"I've heard of you," Gem said, trying to sound impressed.

"Good. Your turn."

Gem told her about growing up, school, and her two brothers. Not once did she mention her mother's animosity or not knowing her sire.

"If you'd like, I could find him for you," Lamia said.

Gem frowned. "Who?"

"Your sire. If he's alive I can find him, but then you'd owe me a favor. That's the way it's played."

Gem shook her head. "I don't want to see him and I don't want to owe anybody any favors."

Lamia laughed and it was a nice, hearty sound. "See? This is why I choose you. It's so refreshing to speak with a human who's balanced."

Remembering Damian’s unbalanced comment, Gem asked another question. "What's the child's name? Ask her name and age." Gem crossed her hands over her stomach and waited.

"Daphne Arat, she's ten and wants her mother."

Gem wondered who was the child's mother but didn't ask, not yet. She waited for Lamia to ask her next question.

"Why do you fear the machines in the air? Have they hurt you before?"

Gem's cheeks burned. "No, that was my first flight." She leaned forward. "It was long and mostly over water, I'm more comfortable on the ground."

"You will not fly again?"

"Yes, to get home." But this time she'd have Damian to distract her and she looked forward to that.

"Why did you fly if you don't like it? I don't understand."

Gem didn't understand either, especially given all the lies Ivona told. "Have you heard of wolves itching? Really bad to where they tear their skin off trying to stop the itch but nothing works."

"No...no, I have not. Is that why you are here, to see itching wolves?"

Gem shook her head and tried to think how to explain.

"Are you going to have sex with the hunky full-blood later?"

An image of Damian with no shirt flew across her mind, she answered immediately. "Yes, most definitely."

Lamia laughed. "He's a fine one, reminds me of a time long ago." She side-eyed Gem.

A growl rolled from Gem's throat. "No. Don't even think about it. You don't get to ride with me."

Lamia's face fell. "Living in these young bodies, it's been too long since I've experienced the rush of being taken on a rough ride. Please reconsider, I'll owe you a favor."

Gem shook her head. "It's been too long for me to even think about sharing." She leaned forward. "Seriously, you think it'll be a rough ride? I mean I hope it will and he's hinted, but I'm not sure."

Lamia blinked a few times and then laughed so hard tears rolled down her cheeks. She pointed at Gem. "You are... priceless. I was right in choosing you. Yes... yes, he will ride you so hard tomorrow your walk will be crooked." She wiped her eyes and continued smiling brightly. "I cannot recall the last time someone looked at me the way you just did, I had friends and we talked in this manner. It was a long time ago. Very long." She met Gem's gaze with a soft expression.

"You are good medicine, Dr. Okla. Your mam and sire have missed a rare opportunity to see and appreciate you. My spirits are lifted and I will not keep you from your assignation with the wolf. Do not despair that he's not your mate, both of you are orphans in that regards and are free to choose your own paths." She stood and looked down at Gem. "The witches are here to remove me, they hold one who is dear to you and wish for an exchange. I have decided I will not be tied to them any longer and will go my way."

Exchange, Raoul? So the witches did have Raoul. Tomorrow she'd try to get more information on them but it had been a long, draining day and she wanted to rest. "How will you do that? In the human world you're underage and…"

"I'm working through it all. It disturbs you that I'm altering this body at an accelerated rate. Am I damaging it?"

Gem stood and inhaled. The fear of the child filled her nostrils. "I don't sense damage right now. But the child is terrified. Who is her mother?"

Lamia returned to her cell without speaking. When the door closed behind her she looked out the small window. "Tara is the child's mother."

Chapter 23

Gem lay on Damian's chest, her heartbeat in sync with his. After that last bout of sex she should be asleep, yet she was wide awake. Her thoughts raced around an imaginary track in her mind so fast she couldn't keep up. Inhaling, she appreciated their mingled scents and wondered if Randi smelled them as well. When Gem left Lamia and returned upstairs, Randi had been knocking on Damian's door. Seeing Gem, she stopped and offered a fake smile. Gem contacted Damian through their mental link about his guest and he opened the door, frowned at Randi and smiled at her.

Some days it didn't matter if you weren't the prettiest girl at the ball, especially if the big bad wolf wanted a taste of your goodies. Randi left before Gem entered Damian's bedroom, but Gem was sure the bitch knew what was happening. She'd started to ask Damian about his past relationship with Raoul's sister, but didn't want to go into her own past, which knowing the little she did about Damian, he would go there.

"Can't sleep?" He pulled her closer.

Her nose smashed up against his bare chest until she turned slightly to breathe. "Just thinking."

"I didn't do my job right if you can still think about anything else." His tone had a teasing quality which she appreciated. After all the noise she made as he took control and the way her body shook when she crested, he knew he'd given her what she needed.

She slapped his chest. "You know better, but I can't shut it down. Something's unsettled. I can't explain it, but when this happens it usually means I've missed something my beast wants me to notice or deal with. Could be anything."

"Yeah? Like what? Raoul? Ivona? Lamia? La Patron? Something personal, like your home?" He paused. "It could be anything." His fingertip ran down her arm and then made tiny circles, sending tingles through her. "Seems like the only thing to do is take this sweet-pot again and this time I won't stop until you can't think of anything or remember your name." He rubbed his chin on the top of her head.

Her core throbbed at the husky promise in his voice. Goddess knows she was sore and hungry for more of him at the same time. She wished he could stop her thoughts, but it wasn't likely. Why'd her beast have to be so persistent?

"No?"

She rubbed his chest, glad he didn't sound offended or disappointed. Hmm, okay, he could've sounded a little disappointed, since she was. "I just... I need to silence my thoughts."

"Which means you need closure."

Pleased he understood, she nodded. "I don't think it's Raoul. That's cut and dry, the witches kidnapped him in the woods because they were too afraid to take on a pack of full-bloods. Strange we didn't smell them, though. That's something that needs to be addressed at some point."

Damian grunted.

"Ivona is a strange one."

"True."

Gem rubbed his chest as she searched her thoughts to see if she'd missed something about the witch. "We searched her bag, discovered the cross, the book, and some herbs." She tasted the words on her tongue, weighed them to see if that's what she'd missed. "Herbs? Did we ever check to see what they were? I recall saying we would but things got crazy."

Damian grunted again while she thought hard.

"It's not the herb, something in the book? Is the key to all of this in that red book?" she murmured. A few seconds later she scrambled out of bed, half pulling the sheet with her as she bent over to dig into her bag.

Damian grabbed her hips from behind and held her in place, cupping her bottom, and then grinding against her slowly. She gasped as pleasurable sensations swamped her.

"You can't tempt a wolf with all this and not expect a reaction," he growled as the head of his cock teased her slick opening. Her beast grunted in pleasure as he moved her feet wider apart, and eased inside her warmth. She stiffened at the fullness before relaxing her muscles.

"You feel damn incredible," he growled, his teeth crowding his mouth. "More. I need more."

Excited and suddenly just as needy, Gem placed her hands on the back of the chair and bent a little further. Damian's thrusts became deeper and faster. The chair moved with each thrust, adding an odd note into the guttural sounds filling the room. She growled happily at his primal ferocity as his cock slid deep within her.

"Fuck me, you're tight."

Determined to give as good as she got, Gem clamped down on her muscles and pushed back when he thrust forward. Eyes closed, heart racing, and her beast howling and thrashing her head wildly from side to side in sublime pleasure. Her beast howled as she felt his cock growing bigger inside of her as he stretched her tight, pushing deeper, demanding she meet him all the way. Her whole body shuddered; her hips bucked upwards, squeezing his cock with the force of her climax as red hot pleasure shot through her body.

She screamed her release as his thickness pulsed, and then the intense heat of his cum bathed her inside as his body jerked a couple of times as he gave a few final, weak thrusts. Gasping for air, Gem tried to speak and couldn't. A few moments later Damian disengaged while keeping his hand on her waist, which she appreciated.

"Damn, Gem, you're addicting," Damian murmured while bending and rifling through her bag. He held the red book up for her to see. "This what you were looking for?"

She inhaled as tingles continued to shoot through her body. For the first time in a long time her beast and her mind were silent. Rather than speak, she nodded as she wrapped her arm around his waist. Together they returned to the bed. Damian pressed his palm against her chest and she lay flat on her back, exposed.

"I was rough, let me take care of you," he said, touching her gently between the legs.

Surprised, she scooted up, placed her hands behind her head and watched as he walked into the bathroom and quickly returned with a washcloth. The warmth soothed her personal parts. All too soon he was finished and lay in bed beside her.

Yawning, she stretched and lay her head on his chest.

"Ready to sleep? Or do you want the book?"

With another yawn, she looked at the book and shook her head. "Not now, later."

He pulled the sheet over them and turned out the light.

As sleep pulled her under, in the corner of her mind, she'd swear she heard Lamia laughing.

Chapter 24

Silas looked at each person around the table. They’d spent the last three hours tossing out ideas and best case scenarios, but they were running out of time. They had no choice but to hand over the child in exchange for Raoul. He covered Jasmine's hand, and cleared his throat.

"Hawke contact Agatha, tell her I want to speak with her face to face." He looked at Tyrese. "Fix it so that she only sees and hears me, but I want the rest of you to listen and watch. If there's anything that I can do to satisfy everyone, let me know and I'll do it. But my allegiance is to Raoul, a full-blood in Scotland assisting my KnightForce agent. I understand there's a child involved but she is not my priority, I want to make that clear."

Jasmine tried to remove her hand but he tightened his grip, holding her in place.

Hawke nodded and pulled the keyboard close, while Tyrese and Tyrone set the stage.

"She's a child, Silas. They'll kill her,
" Jasmine said.

"
We don't know that, plus they have too much vested in her. They want the Lamia, not the girl."

"It’s not right to steal someone's life and you know it. What if that was Renee or Jacki?
"

A shot of blinding rage sliced through him. Everyone in the room, except his irreverent mate, froze and stared in their direction. Smoke wafted from several pens, now melted. "
Don't ever,
" he ground out.

"
Why? Because they are ours?"

"Yes. My seed, my child, who I wouldn't allow to be in that situation."

"You won't be with them every day for the rest of their lives,
" Jasmine said, aggravating him further.

"No. But you can be damn sure those six will be the baddest wolves walking when they leave my den, I'll train them personally. Witch, human, or anyone in the damn animal kingdom that comes after my pups better be prepared for a swift burial, because that's what's coming.
"

She sighed and he knew she wasn't done. "
See how lucky they are? They have you to teach them, protect them. Who does this child have? How can we leave her at their mercy?"

"So we leave Raoul? A full-blood sent to watch Damian's back? Barticus' son? Is that what you're saying?"

"No.
" She paused, inhaled and licked her lips drawing his attention. "
We take them both, by force if necessary."

He couldn't believe it, but he should have expected it. When it came to children and those his mate deemed vulnerable, she had to save them. "
You do realize Lamia is a spirit, right?"

"Yes."

"How do we force a spirit to do anything?"

"The same way the witches do. A spell or ceremony or something
." She met his gaze with unblinking sincerity.

"We don't work spells or dabble in those things, Jasmine."

"I know, but Angus works with crystals and Amynta protected her lands for decades with some sort of spell."

"Jasmine.
" He shook his head at her stubbornness.

She removed her hand from his and looked away.
"I think we should explore every option. Otherwise, what's to stop these women from taking someone else and holding them for ransom as Ivona did. She was able to get a team of full-bloods to travel across the continent to do her bidding. How'd she do it? By using some type of spell."

"A combination of herbs which when inhaled set off a bad reaction to our beasts, made the animal part of us itch."

"Which caused the death of full-bloods."
She held up her hand.
"I just think we need to knock the coven down a few pegs so this never happens again, that's all. But if you don't want to do that... you're the Alpha."

Silas grimaced at her comment and met Hawke's gaze.

"The call will connect in ten minutes, she wasn't at a place where she could talk and will call back," Hawke said.

He nodded and sat back in his chair to process what Jasmine said. Normally, he'd agree with her, but when dealing with a centuries old spirit, he wasn't sure. Maybe those closest to the situation had some ideas.

"
Damian?"

"Sir?"

Silas started to bring him current and then stopped. "
One second, I want Dr. Okla's opinion on this too.
" He tapped into her mental link and merged the two links. "
Dr. Okla."

"Yes, Sir?"

Silas ignored the sleep in her voice and discussed everything he knew so far.

"
The Lamia decided she's not going to work with the witches anymore,
" Gem said.

"
What? When did she say that?
" Silas asked as he opened the link with Jasmine.

"When I talked to her last night, no, four hours ago. She's tired but she's not going to self-destruct."

"Now that you know Raoul's life is on the line, what do you suggest?
" Silas asked and met Jasmine's gaze.

"Complete the exchange
," Damian said.

"No, she's just a child and she's scared. Who knows what Lamia or the witches will do to her if they get her back again."
She paused.
"You think she's Ivona's daughter instead of Tara's?"

"Ivona had a child, the age is right,"
Silas said.

"
That means Ivona's on her way here,"
Gem said
. "She's pretty good with tapping her fingers and breaking spells."
Gem told him what happened with the stags and Tara's home.

"
You think she'll help Raoul?
" Damian asked.

"
I don't know, but if Daphne's the child she's seeking, I'd rather give the girl to her than the witches
," Gem said.

"But where does that leave Raoul?
" Damian demanded.

"She's his mate, shouldn't she have some responsibility? I don't know much about breeders but the Goddess wouldn't fix it so they could be this heartless, would she? I mean, why allow humans and wolves to mate at all if there's no reciprocity? We would perish,"
she said.

No one spoke for a few seconds.

"
Gem, this is Jasmine, La Patron's mate, and you make a valid point, one I hadn't thought of before. As a breeder, I wanted no part of Silas when we met, he was arrogant, pig-headed, with a superiority complex you wouldn't believe
."

"
They get the picture, mate,
" Silas said, with a smile.

"Plus, he didn't like humans, but he liked me. A lot. I suspect this is what's happening with Raoul and his mate."

"La Patroness, I apologize for my comments on breeders, I meant no disrespect
," Gem said speaking fast.

"None taken,
" Jasmine said. "
We're running out of time for Raoul and I think you reminded us of an important link. Mates. Regardless of what my mind said about Silas, I couldn't walk away, or leave him in danger even while I carried our babies. It just doesn't work that way. If Raoul's life is threatened, I think Ivona suspects it and is on her way to find her mate to protect him. She may tell herself it's so she can find the child, but that bond is there even if they haven't strengthened it with a commitment."

"So what do we do?
" Gem asked, sounding fully awake.

"Continue talking with Lamia, see if you can get her to use another vessel, not you
," Silas said quickly.
"An older human, no children."
He looked at Jasmine, who nodded.

"Make sure she understands that neither Silas nor I will allow her to tamper with your wolf. If necessary, we will remove her last connection to you,
" Jasmine said. "
We’re only leaving for now because we aren’t sure how removing it will impact you."

"I will explain all of this to her,"
Gem said.
"She's old and accustomed to having her way."

"Yes, that makes this a challenge.
" Silas paused as the monitor lit up and he saw his face as Jasmine slid to the side. "
We are about to communicate with Agatha. If there are any new developments, I'll inform you later. Get some rest if you can, it's going to be a full day once the sun completely rises."

"Yes, Sir."

Silas pulled out of the link and waited for Agatha, the leader of the coven, to appear.

"La Patron?" The strong, almost masculine voice surprised him in that it was at odds with her fragile appearance.

"Yes." He tried to recall her title, was it high witch or Mistress? He couldn't recall. As the silence stretched he asked Hawke, Angus, and Jacques what was he supposed to call her.

"Are you there, La Patron?"

"Yes. To be honest, I want to be correct in addressing you, but don't know what to call you."

She smiled and it created wrinkles around her eyes while stretching the taut skin around her small mouth. "Agatha is fine."

"Thank you, Agatha. How is Raoul?"

Her face never changed. "Resting."

"When do you want to make the exchange?"

"At sunrise."

"Where?"

"We are on the fringes of Lord Barticus' compound where the Lamia is resting and will retrieve her from here."

"I want to see Raoul." Silas looked at Barticus.

"I suspected you might." The camera panned left and rested on Raoul's face.

"What's that rash on his cheeks?" Silas demanded.

"A barometer of how much time he has until the condition cannot be reversed."

Silas' fist slammed against the table. "Understand this witch, if he is harmed in any way, there is no place you or your coven can hide from mine and Lord Barticus' wrath. If you don't believe me, ask the Liege. I protect mine."

Her cheek tightened for a brief second. "If we do not secure the Lamia, we are dead anyway. Your threats are noted."

"Not threats, promises," Silas said with cold certainty.

"We are aware of the line, we tread, and if our survival didn't depend on this course of action, we would never have entered the woods that day. Our only hope and the hope of those who depend on us for their livelihood is that you honor your word to make the exchange without bloodshed. I assure you we are prepared to die to fulfill our commitment."

"You should be," Silas growled. Jasmine covered his hand and his beast calmed slightly.

Agatha nodded. "Be well, La Patron." She clicked off.

Silas looked at Jasmine, wondering if she still wanted to rob the witches and exhaled at the pensive look she wore.

Tapping her fingers on the table, she caught his gaze, then looked at Asia and Hawke. "That sucks, the witch to help us with all of this we left on the side of the road."