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Moxie’s eyelashes fluttered as she felt soft caresses on her skin.
“Did last night happen?” She opened her eyes to find Rada staring at her. “Freaky, much?” She pushed at his shoulder, giving a smile.
“I can feel you here.” Her hand went to her chest as her mouth stretched into a larger smile. She snuggled closer, giving him a kiss. “This is our room?”
She looked down, not meeting his eyes.
“That’s up to you.”
“Me?” She raised her head too fast, hitting his chin.
“You.” His hand was moving against her leg while he waited for the answer.
“Yes, you and me, together.” She kissed his cheek. “Let’s go.” She climbed over him, getting out of bed.
“Go where?”
“Me to my old room to shower and change. Then I’ll pack up before we go to breakfast. Sound good?”
“It does.” He grabbed her hand, squeezing it before letting go.
When she left the room, Rada lay in bed, trying to comprehend his journey. It didn’t feel that long ago that he wanted nothing to do with a female; now, he wasn’t sure he wanted to live without his brown-haired female. Her short curls and brown eyes mellowed his heart. The desire to see blood, to draw it, was no longer riding him. He wouldn’t turn down a good fight, but he wasn’t looking for one either.
His door opened, and in waltzed Bullet, Moxie’s teacup poodle was really a dragon in disguise. Why else would he have wings?
“I am on to you. Don’t bat those ever-changing eyes at me.” He told Moxie that human animals couldn’t do that with their eyes and then pointed out the wings again. She ignored him. He was beginning to think it was a human female quality. They simply ignored what wasn’t convenient.
The poodle-dragon blinked until he gave in and picked him up.
“No wonder you and Puck are best friends you’re both pains.” Bullet cuddled in his hand, making soft noises like he was talking.
“Of course, I am going to take care of her. You don’t have to threaten me. She’s my mate, not yours. She is not a mother! Eh, okay, she’s an honorary mother. How old are you, by the way? What! That’s older than all of us put together. Are you seriously laughing? What do you mean the mark on Moxie and Rose is not the mark of Kilryn but something far more evil? You talked it over with Puck, and he agrees. Well, who’s mark is it?”
Bullet jumped down, leaving him standing in the middle of the room.
“Did I just have a conversation like I understood what the poodle-dragon was saying? And I thought Moxie was crazy,” he muttered, finding his way to the bathroom.
_____
Moxie stood before the mirror staring. Her eyes blinked not believing what she was seeing. Once or twice she thought she caught a strange image on Rada’s body, but it was always gone when she looked a second time. There was no denying what she was seeing. There were marks all over her.
Some of them reminded her of what she’d seen on the cavern wall of where the demon was kept. Wards. It was impossible but true.
“Moxie!” Rada’s loud voice brought her back to the land of what? Reality? Another look in the mirror showed her that whatever was happening wasn’t a dream. Snatching a towel to wrap around herself she went to the door.
“Something is wrong with me.” She stopped when she caught sight of a ward on his neck. That hadn’t been there, and she knew since she did a thorough inspection of his body.
He pushed her back in the room and closed the door.
“These are wards.” He pointed to the one on is neck. “I have them all over my body, but thought they were dead.”
“Dead?”
“Yes, we all have them, I think. I know for a fact that Lael has them because his wards are active although he keeps them from showing. He ran a hand over his neck and the ward disappeared.
He maneuvered her into the bathroom taking off his clothes to show her his wards and then showing her how to make sure no one else could see them.
“I didn’t know this would happen or could happen.”
“Didn’t it happen to Rose?”
“I don’t know. Lael’s my brother but there are things we don’t talk about.”
She was going to have to give him that. No matter how excited she was to see her brother they never talked about sex or mating, and she planned to keep it that way.
“What does this mean?”
“To hell if I know. You look sexy with them etched in your skin.”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I?” He kissed her neck and then showed her the ward for protection.
“Do you think they will work in the battle to come?”
“I don’t know. They didn’t help Lael in his battle and if Rose does have wards, they didn’t help her either.”
“They have to mean something. There a cool party trick.” Especially the one that seemed to light her up from the inside. “I find it hard to believe that I have them for no reason. Maybe it means when you go back to the Mist I can come with you.”
His icy green eyes faded, and her heart plummeted.
“It was just a thought.”
“Do you know what I thought?”
“No.”
“I thought of you cutoff from daylight and fresh air. Then I pictured you confined to a house you couldn’t leave. Me in my hell beast form as she stayed a female unable to really interact with me and my heart labored to breathe. I don’t want that for you. I’d gladly sacrifice my life to give you a chance to live.
“Nobody is sacrificing anything. We’ll work this out together.” She ran her finger down his chest over one of the wards. “They are rather sexy.”
“I told you so.” He picked her up and carried her to the bed. They should christen it before she moved out.
_____
Moxie and Rada walked into the kitchen, hands linked, proud to show off their connection. The table was filled with his brothers and the others.
“Looks like you found your answer.” Leif’s eyes twinkled as he took in their hands.
“I did, thanks in part to you. Marlin gave me the extra push I needed.”
“Isn’t he wonderful? I got this outfit from him. It fits like he made it for me.” Leif stood to show off his dark wash jeans paired with a loose-fitting shirt.
“You look good.” She winked at him.
“Thank you.” He gave her a deep bow before sitting. The rest laughed at his antics.
“How are things with you and Silas?”
“My honey bunny is wonderful.”
Silas scowled at his mate. “Didn’t I tell you not to call me that around the brothers?”
“Kiss.” Leif tilted his head. Silas kissed him, not able to hide the smile that crossed his lips.
“I swear,” Lael said. Silas growled. “I never thought there would come a day when anyone would have the magic Silas touch.” They stared at each other until Silas groaned and turned away.
“Remember who’s cooking your breakfast, Lael.”
“Good point. You can’t just demand kisses from Silas; he’s a mage with an image to uphold.” He scolded Leif, who laughed harder.
“I think his image will withstand being mated to me.”
“I had an interesting conversation earlier,” Rada said. It was time to turn their attention in a different direction.
“With whom?” Moxie asked.
“Bullet.” Both his brothers pinned him with a stare. Rose scratched her head.
“Moxie felt his forehead. Maybe he is coming down with a fever.”
“Bullet wasn’t in the room when I left.”
“He came in after you were gone.”
“And what did he have to say?”
He went over the whole conversation stressing it was imaginary. Bullet could not speak, and he might need more sleep.
“Bullet might have a point,” Moxie said.
Rose nodded. “Especially since Puck agreed with him.”
“Think about it, Rose and I had never met before I came here. We were kept in two different places. Two different states, but we each have the same mark that says evil has targeted us. Neither of us can see it, only you. Kilryn feels like my personal demon.”
“My personal demon is gone, so they can’t be the same. There’s another demon out there coming for me.” Lael slipped his arm around her, pulling her close.
“Could it be Botis? He’s the one that tried to claim me in the Target parking lot. He also has my son. He will come again.”
“No, his attention was fully on you. He wasn’t interested in anyone else,” Rada said.
“Great, that’s what I needed over breakfast.” She looked at her plate, surprised to find it empty. “I guess demons threatening to disembowel me aren’t that scary anymore.”
“More like you get used to it,” Rose said.
Moxie gave a nod of agreement before helping to clear the table. She followed Rada outside, wondering why he skipped going back to their rooms. When he moved in the border's direction, she picked up the pace to stay by his side.
“Where are you going?”
“To a safe house. It’s a cave, actually. When Rose got free, she was able to set some of her friends free too. They are staying in the cave. It’s where Silas kept Leif until he was ready to meet his sister. Asa and I learned about the cave and the friends recently. I’ve only been there once.” He shrugged, making her wonder if he learned more from Bullet than he was admitting.
“The last time I looked, there was no cave around this part of the land.”
“Remember weaver, reality and perceived reality are different.” He winked at her. When they took another step, they were in a cave.
“I’m going to need all of you to stop playing with my head.” Her hand came up a finger pointing at him while her other hand was sitting firmly on her hip.
He gave her that look, the one she found on his face when they first met. Instead of wanting to smack him, she rose to her toes and kissed him.
“My image,” he growled, and she laughed.
Introducing him to cable was worth every dollar it cost to have it hooked up.
“Is there more to this corridor?” They were in a cavern made of rocks, but it was long like a hallway, but she could see both ends, and it just ended.
“There is. This keeps anyone without the knowledge from entering or leaving.” He walked her to one end, and then they were in a large cave, the kind you found on hiking expeditions.
Music floated in the air with laughs. They moved until she saw steps cut into the rock wall. They were smooth with a banister to keep everyone from falling. They walked upstairs to find a large living room and a kitchen.
“This is the main floor with a large gathering area and a kitchen. One level down is the rooms with another large gathering area. Then on the third level is where our rooms would be if we stayed, and it’s also the exit or entrance we took to get here.”
“Rada,” a redhead called out, waving timidly.
“That’s Mary.” He pointed her out. “Over there is Lisa and Joy.” They each waved as he called their names. “The two males are Ken and Larry.”
“Everyone, this is Moxie, my mate.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Mary said. The others grinned and nodded, but Mary seemed to be the greeter for the group. “We weren’t expecting you.”
They went to have a seat with the others who were lounging around the living room.
“Moxie has a pet named Bullet. He seems to be a cross between a teacup poodle and a dragon.”
“That one is all adorable. He’s like Puck; he grows on you. You realize he isn’t a dog, right?” Mary frowned at him.
“He is an itty bitty poodle,” Moxie said.
“Didn’t you see the wings?”
Moxie shrugged it off. “When did you see him?”
“He comes with Puck. They like to visit to make sure we’re all right.”
“Are you?” Rada asked.
“We’re fine.” A smile replaced the frown she wore momentarily. “I just don’t know what we’re going to do when we leave here.”
“Who said you have to leave?” Moxie’s brow wrinkled.
“We can’t stay here forever. That’s not fair to you. Eventually, we’ll have to live in the real world.”
“It’s highly overrated. Take my word for it. Why can’t you move to the town when you’re ready?”
Mary looked at her friends, and they gave her helpless looks. “We don’t want anyone to think they have to take care of us.”
Rada looked at each of them, slowly nodding his head like he was coming to a conclusion.
“There’s something about the town you need to understand. Everyone there has been together for more centuries than I want to talk about. We all rely on one another. None of us are lone rangers. We collectively help the other. If you choose to live there, we expect you to do the same. That means your time and talents would go to help others.”
“We have no talent,” Mary said, the others agreed.
“Who made this?” Rada picked up a knitted throw from the back of the couch.
“I did.” Ken’s voice was so soft they almost didn’t hear him.
“That’s talent. None of you know what you have inside of you. One day when you’re steadier, you’ll begin to find out that there’s a wealth of knowledge inside of you,” Moxie told them.
“Men don’t knit,” Ken insisted.
“Poppycock!” Moxie’s eyes got wide. “I did not say that. Forget you heard that. As far as men not knitting, people love to lie and make stupid rules. You can do whatever you want to up to an including wearing a dress. What you can’t do is hurt someone, rape someone.” She stopped because they shivered, fear highlighting their eyes.
“We understand each other. We love to make rules, but usually, they are meant to keep others like us down.”
They nodded before reaching out to give Ken gentle hugs.
“Was there something you needed?” Mary asked Rada.
“I wanted to talk about Bullet.”