Jessa snapped me out of my head and I focused on her and Jackson, who she was cradling close to her chest. Before I could say anything more, the baby turned his ancient eyes on me and then levitated out of his mother’s arms.
“Holy. Fuck!” Jessa whispered as we watched him sail across the room and land in my lap. I met Jessa’s gaze over the top of his little head.
“Did you know he could do that?” I asked her, keeping my voice even.
She just shook her head, eyes wide as she stared at her son. A beat later, Braxton burst into the room, looking around as he tried to figure out what had alarmed his mate. Clearly Jessa hadn’t shared it through their bond.
“Jackson can levitate,” Jessa breathed, turning from me to the dragon shifter towering over her. “He just fucking flew himself out of my arms and into Louis’s lap.”
The little boy reached up and touched my face, and some of the darkness thrashing inside eased. I hadn’t seen the babies since they were born, having been sucked into a demon hellhole on the same night, but the last few days had been a huge comfort as I watched them interact with their very obsessed parents and pack.
The children were special, and I had made the right decision to save them, no matter the personal consequences. “What are you trying to tell me, little one?” I whispered to Jackson, sending out lights of power to entertain him. The kids loved when I created light shows for them. “You think I’m getting a little too worked up?”
Jessa and Braxton were in front of me now, staring down at their son, a mixture of pride and fear in their faces. The unknown was scary, and we had two natural-born dragons in our midst for the first time. The possibilities of what they could do were endless.
“He soothed you?” Braxton guessed.
I nodded. “Yes, the darkness that wasn’t suppressed, the parts that will always be in my soul, have been more erratic since Tee left. Jackson’s power just calmed them.”
I stood, handing the child back to his mother before leaving a brief kiss on both of their foreheads. “But Tee is back now, and I need to go to her. We have a lot to talk about.”
First thing we would be discussing was the futility of running from me. We were going to have some very serious words about that. I’d always been a bit of a control freak, but now it was worse. So much worse.
She could handle it though. Tee had always known exactly how to deal with me. We were yin and yang like that.
“Will you be back in time for the meeting?” Jessa asked, cuddling Jackson against her shoulder. “I have a bad feeling about it, Louis. So many powerful supes in the same room. I mean … everything could go wrong.”
I nodded. “Yes, I won’t leave you all to face that alone. It’s the perfect time to plot death and destruction. I also need to convince the stubborn bastards that my ‘expose us all’ plan was a terrible one brought about through dark energy pushing me for more energy.” Dark energy did not care about possible deaths, as long as it meant more power. My darker alter ego had been willing to sacrifice many in our community, but I didn’t feel the same way now.
The meeting would be held in the next thirty-six hours or so, in the Sanctuary of all places, because it was neutral ground. “You know we’ll have to deal with the mystics, right?” Braxton told me, his eyes flaring with yellow. “They betrayed us and almost destroyed the worlds.”
The mystics definitely had to be brought into line. Their little trick with Grace and her jeweled sisters had been too far. “Except for your brother, of course,” Jessa rushed to reassure me. “Quale was nothing but helpful to us, at great risk to himself. I hope they haven’t hurt him.”
“He’s lying low right now.” I’d been in touch with him. “But he’s not sure how much longer he can stay off their radar.”
Luckily, we’d be there soon, and then he wouldn’t have to worry about the mystics any longer. As I was leaving the house, I passed Tyson and Grace. Grace had just returned from Faerie, even though her sisters remained there still. She’d been in Faerie a day, no more, and still it had been days away from her mate. I could see how happy they were to be back together—neither of them even noticed me as I strolled down their front porch. They were too wrapped up in each other.
That sort of love was rare, even amongst true mates. It was more than the fated bond, it was genuine caring and respect. They didn’t just love each other, they liked each other too. Taking a sharp left, I exited the town and found myself in the forest, not too far from the Compasses’ house. I opened a step-through, cloaking myself in warmer clothes as I stepped out into Alaska—blending was important.
Tee had chosen a beautiful area to live in her reclusion, with a small town that I knew she was fonder of than she’d like to admit. I scented some shifters in the area: bears. I’d expected this; I knew they were friends of hers, and somehow during the years I’d kept an eye on her, I hadn’t killed them.
Her cabin was high in the hills, very isolated, but her energy was not there right now. Tee was in the town. This surprised me a little. But then, what did I really know about her day-to-day life here? Checking in on her a few times a year and keeping track of her energy didn’t tell me about how she lived. I’d missed all of that because I was a stupid, stubborn bastard.
It had been painful though, being near her and not being able to go to her, which was why I never stuck around. The ache of our lost friendship had been as strong as the ache Regina left in my life.
Following her energy, I stopped in front of a bar with bright purple logs lining the outside. A flashing sign advertised this place as Mary Lou’s, and I could hear the laughter and music from inside. Tendrils of energy swirled in my center, and I prepared myself for what I was about to see. This was the sort of place that Tee would have frequented in our youth, because she loved to dance. It was one of her favorite things to do, especially when she was sad or angry or hurting. Dancing took her away from her worries.
But was she here alone?
The guard at the front gave me a look, and I knew I didn’t have my shit together, but since he was human he couldn’t tell how dangerous a creature I truly was. Especially when I stepped through the door and caught sight of her.
She was in the dead center of the room, her head thrown back as she moved her body in slow sensual twirls around the space. She wore tight jeans that showed off her perfect curves, her long hair streaming out behind her in golden lengths.
As a child she’d been beautiful, but now…
She was sexy and fierce and strong and powerful. She was everything I would have wanted and chosen in a mate. My eyes snapped to the three bear shifters that had their paws all over my girl. I could feel the familial ties between the four of them, like a pack…
Which meant I had to try really hard not to kill them.
