Son of Our Blood (6 page)

The man had kidnapped her. She tried to
look around the room, but it was simply too dark. She rolled to the opposite
side he was on and got up. Banging her knee twice, she made it to a door and
was relieved to find it was a bathroom. Moving inside and closing the door
before turning on the lights, she peed and then washed up.

The bruise on her jaw startled her. She’d
been knocked around before and this wasn’t anything new. She remembered the man
and her fighting, not really about anything other than she wanted him gone. And
how the hell did she end up here? She found her pants on the counter and pulled
them on. A shower was out of the question because she didn’t know how soundly
the man on the other side slept, nor did she want to be naked when he decided
to wake. She hurried out of the room and walked as carefully as she could
across the room to the door.

She thought it would be locked, but that
proved to be wrong. Opening it up, she slipped out and nearly into the arms of
a dapper little man holding an armload of towels.

“Oh my, miss. I was not aware that
anyone was within the house but family.” He looked at the door she’d just come
out of. “Master Mac did not say he had company. His mother will be most
displeased.”

The man leaned forward and sniffed her
and she stepped back. “I didn’t get a chance to shower, thanks. That idiot in
there, you said his name is Mac? He kidnapped me and brought me here. I would
very much appreciate it if you’d tell me how to leave.”

“Of course, miss. This way.” He set the
towels on a table outside the room across the hall and smiled at her. “You are
most welcome to follow me. I will be more than happy to show you to the
kitchen.”

She nodded and followed him. Strange man,
but she found she liked him. And she wasn’t usually so quick to like another
person. Hell, she rarely liked anyone she'd just met.

The trip wasn’t long, but she hadn’t
realized how deep in she’d been in this house. The basement must have been
about fifty feet below the surface. No wonder the room had been so dark; there
was no light ever getting in that sucker. When he opened the door and nodded
for her to precede him, she thanked him and stepped into the room. She nearly
fell backward when a large…dog sped by her.

“For the love of…get out of here right
now, Tyler, or so help me, I’ll tell your mother.” The woman’s voice was
followed by the person. And damn, what a woman she was. She stopped suddenly
when she saw her and Andi could only stare. “Hello. You must be Mac’s friend. He
told his father you were here. Would you like something to eat? You must be starved.”

The little man walked around her and
started to the stove.

“Duncan, could you please let the master
know that our guest is up? Also, please notify the alpha. He will need to be
here as well.”

“Yes, my lady.” The man walked out of
the room and the big animal whined at the door. The woman opened it up, let him
out, and then moved toward Andi. “Why don’t you have a seat? I’ll fix you
something. I’m not as good as Penny was, but…well, I can fix some things.”

“No, thanks.” She did ask for a glass of
water and waited for it to be set before her before she spoke. “Where the hell
am I? Who is that man in your sublevels? And who do I have to kill to get out
of here?” Andi wasn’t normally so rude, but she was nervous. Scared too, if she
was truthful. But the woman only laughed and sat down. She smiled at her before
looking at the doorway just before a man walked in.

“You,” Andi shouted before standing up. “What
the hell did you do, find some asshole to kidnap me so that I’d have to stay
and work for you? If that isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve ever…where the hell am
I?”

“My home. And I would appreciate it if
you would tone it down a bit. I’m still not used to being up this time of day
and I’ve been under a great deal of stress lately.”

“Well, poor baby. Did someone shit in
your oatmeal?” He snarled at her and she ignored him. “Fuck off. I demand to
know why I was brought here.”

“I brought you here.”

Andi turned to the voice she knew as
well as her own.

“And these people are my parents. So I’m
asking you to be civil to them. They don’t have any idea why you’re here.”

The man from the bed and the hotel
seemed bigger in the bright of day. She moved back a step then stopped. He was
not going to intimidate her. She folded her arms over her chest and glared at
him. “Take me back. I don’t know how you got me here, but you’ll take me back
right now.” He simply moved her out of his way and went to the table and sat
down. She nearly stomped her foot, something she never did, when she realized
that the man and woman were laughing.

“Andi, why don’t you sit down and we’ll
try to figure this out. A lot is going on and maybe we can—”

“You know her?”

Mr. MacManus nodded.

“What’s her name? How do you know her
and how long? Where are her children?”

“Hey.” He looked at her when she
shouted. “I’m standing right here, jackass. And I told you yesterday, I don’t
have any kids. My name is Brandi Daniel. I work for…used to work for Wolfe
Construction. But my sentence has been paid in full and I’d very much like to
move on. Do you think maybe I can get my money and do that?”

“She was caught in Bradley’s territory
and he hired her to pay for the rent she owed him or go to jail. She opted for
work.” Mr. MacManus grinned at her. “You might as well have a seat. Until
Bradley gets here you’re not leaving.”

She moved to the door only to find the
big guy standing in front of it. For a large man he moved quickly. When she
tried to step around him he simply picked her up and sat her on his lap. When
she tried to move off him, he growled. She was still trying to figure out why
that made her feel like he touched her when the back door opened.

Bradley Wolfe entered and sat at the
large kitchen table with everyone else. She was just about to ask why they had
to have a meeting when a lovely woman walked in a few minutes later. She didn’t
look to be happy and huffed at the construction company owner as she sat.

“The very least you could have done was
wait for me too. You are so inconsiderate when you know that there is food
involved.” She smiled at Mrs. MacManus when she set a glass of tea in front of
her. “See?” she said to the man again. “This is how you treat someone.”

He growled low and pulled her to him for
a kiss. Andi was pretty sure that in a few more minutes they would have been
having sex on the table. She looked at the man she was sitting on when he
laughed.

When she tried to stand again, he put
his hands on her hips and held her there. His hard cock beneath her made her
still. When he spoke to her, she had a sudden thought of the dream.

“You should know what you do to me when
you’re close like this. It was everything I could do last night not to take you
as I had in our dreams
.” Andi turned to look at him.
“Yes, it was me. I’m
your dream lover. And you mine.”

“No.” Andi stood up and he let her. Terror
rippled along her skin and sped up her heart rate. When she moved to the door
this time she was stopped by Mr. MacManus in front of it. “No. It was a dream. A
very vivid dream, but…he can’t have been there. He can’t know what I dreamt
about.” She looked at the others in the room. She was panting now, her heart
pounding in her chest. She was also dizzy again and reached behind her to grab
anything and encountered the pretty lady.

“Back off, both of you. Can’t you tell
that you’ve scared her?”

She looked at the woman.

“That’s it, sweetie, look at me. My name
is Airic. Airic Wolfe. The big man at the table is my mate, Bradley. You know
him, right?”

“Yes. Yes, please.” Andi wanted Airic to
keep talking. She was very calming for some reason. “I want to go home now,
please. Can I?”

There was a noise behind her, but she
ignored it. Airic glared over her shoulder, but smiled when she looked back at
her. “I know that you’re frightened. So was I when I was first brought here. But
these people are normally nice.” She glared again. “Sara and Aaron tried to
raise a good boy, but he’s gotten a bit big for his britches lately and needs a
woman like you to keep him calm.”

“She’s not my mate.” The softly spoken
words had her turn to him. “You’re not. They told me my mate would have
children. You don’t. So you’re just the one I have to save and not the one they
think to tease me with into keeping alive.”

That snapped her right out of her
terror. “Why, you arrogant asshole. What on earth makes you think I’d want you
to save any part of me? You haven’t the slightest clue what I’ve been up against,
nor will you ever know.” She looked back at Airic. “I’d very much like to leave
now. I don’t know where I’ll go, but I’m certainly not going to stay here.”

“You have to stay here. I’m not sure
what part you play in this, but you have to stay until I talk to Mel.” She
watched him stand up and cross his arms over his chest as he continued. “I’m
not allowing you to leave here without me.”

She swore she heard someone say, “oh
shit,” but was too pissed to turn to agree with them. Going toward the stove
she pulled the skillet off it and pulled it up over her shoulder. They may be
bigger than her, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Stop.”

She nearly didn’t, but at the last minute
checked her swing. She turned to the newcomer and looked at him.

“Sit. Now.”

She glared, but didn’t move.

“If you don’t do this my way then I will
be forced to make you sit.”

He was a very handsome man, but a man nonetheless.
And right now men were on her shit list. She turned toward him, but didn’t
lower her weapon. “Bring it on.”

She thought she’d gone too far when he
continued to look at her. Then when he threw back his head and laughed she
simply stared. But if she thought there was going to be a way for her to leave
she was sadly mistaken. She found herself pinned against the wall so quickly
that she couldn’t breathe. She looked over to see that Mac wasn’t too far away.

“Now. We’re going to do this my way. My
name is Shamus. I am King of Magic. You, my dear, are going to come with me, as
is Mac here.” When Aaron looked like he was going to speak, Shamus raised his
hand. “I’m sick of this fighting. I will not have my mate feeling like she is. We
go. Now.”

~~~

Mel was waiting for them when they landed
in the antechamber. Mac had been here enough to know that there were guards
everywhere and if either of them, him or Brandi, made a move to harm her,
they’d be dead. He looked over at her when she dropped to her knees.

“Here, let me help you up.” She swayed a
little then pulled away from him. She was moving toward Mel when she was
suddenly surrounded by ten guards. “Brandi, I’d stop right where you are if I
were you. These guys play for keeps.”

“Where am I? And how the hell do I
leave?” Brandi crossed her arms over her chest as he’d done and tapped her
foot. Mel looked at him then back at Brandi. “Well? I don’t have all day.”

“Actually, you do.” Mel looked at him
and smiled. It was sad and didn’t reach her eyes. “Marcus, could you take Mac
to see Kilia? Brandi and I will visit.”

“I don’t want to visit. I want to go
home.” Brandi looked ready to commit murder as Mel walked away. Mac wanted to
stay with her, but knew that when Mel spoke, he had no choice.

They were nearly down the hall when he
spoke to Marcus. “She’s not aware of anything, you know? She doesn’t have any
idea what she’s here for…well, neither do I, but I’m guessing it’s to see if
Kilia will speak to me. Do you know what Mel wants with Brandi?”

“No, sir, I do not. My lady doesn’t
share her plans with me.”

Mac thought that wasn’t true. Everyone
trusted Marcus. He’d been around forever.

“But you’re right about Miss Kilia. She
would like to see if you can find out anything about her.”

Mac nodded. He would if Kilia would
speak to him. Some spirits didn’t want to be bothered. And the older they were,
the more stubborn they seemed to be. He walked into the waiting room, the room
where the body of one of magic waited until her ring, flowers in a circle,
could be completed.

The family would be able to visit her,
much like the humans did for headstones. The pixies would keep the flowers
fresh and growing strong for the deceased and the family would see those and
think of the one they lost. Not the cold stone that the humans seemed to
prefer.

Kilia was waiting for him. He didn’t
know if he’d have to call her, but she seemed to be expecting him. Marcus
closed the door behind him when he left the room. Mac looked over at the young
woman. “In order to speak, you must have something to say. You cannot ask me to
do things, say things that will harm anyone you left behind. Do you
understand?”

“Yes.” She smiled at him. “I have heard
of your abilities from the others. They say that you work with the queen to
bring justice to those who were taken. Taken as I have been. Is that true?”