M&L03 - SS (3 page)

~ Solomon ~

I awoke in the pitch black of
my bedroom to the sound of loud banging on my front door. Covering my head with
a pillow, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

The banging finally stopped
only to be replaced by Doyle’s voice. “Good morning sunshine; time to get out
of bed.”

I groaned, wondering why I
ever gave him access to my apartment.

“None of that now, we’re
supposed to spring Josephine on our way to Rook’s for the game. If you don’t
get moving we’re going to miss the kickoff, and it’s the first game of the
season.”

Damn, I must have slept all
day and into the next evening.

I sat up, tossed the pillow
aside and immediately wished I hadn’t done either. Doyle must have flipped the
light switch on when he came in the room. The bright light combined with my new
upward position was enough to send shooting pains through my skull and make my
stomach feel like it was doing summersaults.

Doyle laughed. “That’ll teach
you. Here, Claire said this would help.” He tossed me a tiny bottle, which
landed on my bed when I missed catching it.

Claire was our resident
psychic. She was Dragon’s mother and the former Dragon Queen. Once I retrieved
the bottle, I drank the potion inside and immediately felt better. Sometimes I
truly loved having a psychic looking out for us.

“Better?” Doyle asked.

“Yeah. Give me a few minutes
to take a quick shower then I’ll be out.”

Doyle left me alone and I
hurried to get ready so we wouldn’t be late.

Once I was dressed, we headed
over to Josephine’s apartment. Josephine was Serafina’s mother. She’d come to
live at the resort shortly after Dragon and Serafina mated six months ago. We’d
been slowly introducing her to our world and a few weeks ago when she decided
to become a nightshifter, she asked me to be her sire. She’d been confined to
her apartment since her transformation but I was confident that we no longer
needed to take that precaution.

Along the way to Josephine’s
place Doyle asked, “So how did your experiment go last night?”

I took a deep breath then
told him everything that happened in the dream.

He stopped dead in his tracks
and asked, “What are you going to do now?”

I shook my head rubbing the
back of my neck. “I don’t know. We’re all supposed to leave for Supernova two
nights from now, but I think I might just head over there tonight after the
game and try to talk to her.”

“Any idea who might have
worked the spell for her?” Doyle asked when we started walking again.

“None, but when I find out
I’m going to kill the bastard,” I answered just as we reached apartment number
513.

We knocked and after a few
moments Liam, a member of the security staff, answered the door then stood
aside for us to enter. I quietly let him know his services would no longer be
needed and he agreed to notify his supervisor of the change in security
protocols.

Josephine rose from her chair
to hug us when we came into the living room. She was about five-five with
mahogany hair spiraling down her back and a surprisingly fit body for someone
in her mid-forties who’d recently been human. If it weren’t for the gray hair
peeking out near her scalp, she’d look more like Serafina’s twin than her
mother.

“What brings you by to see
me?” Josephine asked as we took our seats on the cream-colored sofa.

Doyle smiled brightly and
replied, “We brought you a get out of jail free card.”

Her eyes flew to mine and
brightened when I smiled. “I think it’s time to set you free. You’ve shown
exceptional control over your fox and your thirst for blood. We still need to
work on your mind control abilities a little, but that isn’t any reason to keep
you isolated.”

“Oh thank you Solomon,” She
gushed coming over to hug me again. “And thank you so much for agreeing to be
my sire.”

“I was honored when you asked
me, and I’ve enjoyed helping you adjust to being a nightshifter,” I told her
honestly when she pulled back from the hug with tears in her eyes.

“Enough of this mushy stuff,”
Doyle said. “We’re going to Rook’s to watch the game. There’ll be a bunch of
people there. Why don’t you go get some shoes on and come with us?”

Her hand went to her head and
I knew she was thinking about the gray hair that was only visible because she’d
been under house arrest since becoming a nightshifter. Reaching into my pocket,
I pulled out a silver ring and started chanting. A minute later, I handed it to
Josephine who eyed me curiously.

“Put it on and look in the
mirror, then hurry up and get some shoes on. We don’t want to miss the
kickoff.” She started to argue but I said, “Trust me,” and motioned towards the
bedroom with my hand.

Once she was gone, Doyle
asked, “What was that all about?”

I shrugged. “She told me once
that she felt self-conscious when people see her gray hair. As long as she
wears that ring, nobody will ever see a gray hair on her head again.”

Doyle rolled his eyes. “The
things women worry about...”

We arrived at Rook’s place
about half an hour before kickoff and found almost everyone already seated in
his living room. There were several recliners and small sofas all arranged for
easy viewing of the ginormous TV mounted on the wall. To my surprise, Josephine
joined Serrano, the Food Facilities Manager for the resort, where he was
sitting on a small couch near Lucien, the Myths and Legends IT Manager, and his
new mate Liliana. Dragon was sitting opposite them with Serafina lying across
his lap and Claire was with Kalen, an Elder time demon, to their left.

The kiss Josephine and
Serrano shared and the way Claire was wrapped up in Kalen’s arms made me wonder
what I’d been missing the last few months while I was cooped up in my
apartment.

Sitting alone in a corner was
Jasper looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here. Since this wasn’t his
usual crowd, I figured Rachel must have invited him. Jasper was a good kid and
even though he was only a few decades younger than me, his maturity level made
the tall, blonde wolf shifter a perfect match for Rachel. He’d been a young boy
when we were cursed so he’d had almost no experience controlling his wolf until
six months ago when it ended. Going by his early twenties appearance, he was
most likely changed into a vampire sometime during his forties just as I was.

I wondered for a moment why
everyone was staring at their phones but quickly realized they must be looking
at their fantasy football apps.

“I can’t believe you have
Adrian Peterson and Arian Foster on your team,” Serrano complained to me after
he finished greeting Josephine.

I smirked knowing he had good
reason to worry and replied, “At least you have Drew Brees.”

“Yes, but you also have
Peyton Manning along with those two great running backs,” Rook added shaking
his head.

“Don’t worry Rook, it’s only
the first game of the season,” Dragon tried to console him. “Players get hurt,
trades get made, it doesn’t always matter who has the best players on opening
day.” He was idly rubbing Serafina’s belly which was twice the size it had been
only two weeks ago, making her pregnant state glaringly obvious.

The banter continued while I
glanced around noticing some differences since the last time I’d been there.
Rook and Angela were recently bound as
anai
, which was the time demon
equivalent of a shapeshifter mating bond. Since their mating, Rook’s apartment
had apparently been undergoing some remodeling.

“You mind if I take a look
around?” I asked Rook.

“Not at all.” He waved his
hand in a go-ahead motion and I strolled over to the dining room that had never
been there before.

As Dragon’s blood-bonded
Guardian, Rook’s life was dedicated to keeping Dragon and his mate safe. Dragon
lived on the top floor of this building and as a security measure, Rook
occupied the entire floor beneath that. Most of the floor was still unfinished
so there was plenty of room to expand his and Angela’s living space.

Doyle, who followed me from
the living room commented, “I’m glad the big ass TV and recliners are still
here; football season just wouldn’t be the same without them, but I can’t
believe Rook gave up the bar and his stripper pole.”

I nodded towards the back
corner of the dining room where the bar now sat. “I don’t think Rook would give
up his stripper pole either, it’s probably just been moved somewhere more
discreet than the living room.”

“Are you willing to bet on
that?” he asked with a smirk.

Doyle and I used to bet on
everything from what would be served for lunch in the cafeteria to how many
blonde women would walk into Mystique from nine to ten. But as my sexual
frustration grew over the past few months, I slowly pulled away from everyone
including him.

“Sure, the usual amount?” 

“Yeah. Let’s go find Angela
and make her cheeks turn red.” Doyle grinned shamelessly heading for the
kitchen.

We found Angela removing a
pan from the oven. She was tall for a woman, about my height, but that made her
perfect for Rook who was six-six. The contrast between her fair skin with white
blonde hair and Rook’s dark complexion with black hair was almost startling
when they were together. Yet just like salt and pepper, they complimented each
other perfectly and I couldn’t imagine one being without the other.

“So Angela, was it your idea
to get rid of the stripper pole in the living room?” Doyle asked.

As predicted Angela’s cheeks
turned bright red but she didn’t have a chance to respond because Rachel, who
was loading the dishwasher, chimed in with, “They didn’t get rid of it, they
just moved it to the bedroom and Mom’s been taking dance lessons from
Serafina.”

“Rachel some things are
private.” Angela scolded as Doyle handed me a twenty-dollar bill.

I hadn’t known about the
dance lessons but I knew Rook wouldn’t have given up the stripper pole. It
wasn’t a surprise however, that the only woman he’d see using it from now on
would be Angela. The two of them were so in love anyone could see it.

“Would you two mind taking
some of these trays into the dining room?” Angela asked pointing to several
trays filled with various finger foods. “Everyone can fill their plates in
there and the bar is fully stocked with beer and soft drinks”

“No problem.” Doyle and I
said together then got to work.

We had just enough time to
get everyone settled in right before the kickoff. Sitting front and center with
Doyle, I tried to forget about Renee for a few short hours but even with
everyone cheering and talking smack about their fantasy teams, it was
impossible to get her out of my mind. I wondered where she was and what she was
doing, but most of all I wondered how she could deny our mating.

Mated couples were supposed
to be two parts of a whole, as if one wouldn’t exist without the other. If that
was true, how could Renee turn her back on me so easily? Of course, we weren’t
actually mated yet and if Renee had her way, we never would be.

When the game was over Dragon
stood in front of us. “Two nights from now we will be heading to the annual
tournament at Supernova. Unlike previous tournaments, this one will include
participants from groups that may or may not be our allies. In addition to the
usual grudge matches, there will be a lot of political maneuvering as we
prepare for the upcoming interracial summit. With demons and vampires present,
that will likely lead to backstabbing in the literal sense. So watch your backs
and keep your eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble. Now, if you don’t
mind hanging out for a few more minutes Rook has something he’d like to say
before we all go our separate ways.”

Dragon went to sit with
Serafina and Rook took his place holding a small velvet box in his hand. “A
while back Dragon and Doyle were discussing this upcoming tournament and
something they said helped me save Rachel when she was addicted to Oblivion.
Claire should be given some credit too, since she was the one who sent me to
see them in the first place.”

Claire inclined her head to
him from where she sat snuggled up against Kalen on a sofa. I thought they made
a great couple, but going by the way Dragon was scowling at them, he wasn’t
very happy about their relationship.

“Anyhow, since the River of
Time was freed I’ve been learning how to use my new abilities and I managed to
retrieve something from the past that I think Lucien might be interested in.”
Rook stepped forward and handed Lucien the small box.

Lucien was dressed in his
usual T-shirt, jeans and Converse and I was surprised to see Liliana wearing
similar attire. The fashion magazine owner usually wore nothing but the best
designer clothing.

Lucien opened the box and
stared at its contents. After a moment, his finger stroked whatever was inside
then he closed the lid. With tears in his eyes, he stood and bowed to Rook with
his hand fisted over his heart. “Thank you. I will never be able to repay the
debt I owe you for giving this back to me.”