Page 86 of Damien’s Mate

It brought him Lila’s voice.

Damien? Damien, where are you? I need you.

I need you…

He stared around him, trying to see her, but there was nothing but grass. He walked into the wind, thinking he must be heading towards her, but the plain was never-ending and always looked the same.

Damien… I need you…

Then the ground heaved underneath him, like a real ocean instead of a sea of grass. No, he was in bed, and it was moving, the covers being dragged off him by an unseen hand.

“Fuck off,” he muttered.

Then he heard a beer bottle sliding across the night table, and a second later it tipped over and bonked him on the head, spilling warm stale beer on his pillow.

“Dammit!” He sat up, glaring around.

Phantom Nick was sitting by his bed, his lip lifted in a silent snarl.

“What the hell?” Damien demanded. “It’s the middle of the fucking night!”

Actually it was early morning—faint light was showing through the window. But he’d only gone to bed a couple of hours ago.

Nick stood up and bumped his ghost-nose into the carving Damien had made for Lila, moving it slightly. Then he put his front paws on the bed and bit Damien’s arm. The ghost teeth went right through him, but they were cold and creepy and sent goosebumps up his arms.

Lila was calling him, in his dream. She needed him.

“Lila’s in trouble?” he asked Nick.

Nick rolled his eerie green ghost eyes like Damien was an idiot, and nodded his ghost head.

Damien was out of bed in a nanosecond. “Well, why didn’t you fucking say so?”

He still had on his jeans. Grabbing his shirt, he pulled it over his head and ran down the hall to Brandon and Kitty’s suite.

Lila’s in trouble. I knew I shouldn’t have let her go without me.

He pounded on the door, and burst into the living room without waiting for an answer. “Brandon!” he called.

There was a rustling, scrambling sound and then Kitty yelled, “Fuck! Not again!”

Brandon came to the bedroom door, naked. Damien averted his eyes. He could hear Kitty getting dressed, muttering, “Dead. Dead. You’re fucking dead.”

He didn’t care about Kitty’s orgasm. “Lila’s in trouble.”

Brandon said, “Are you sure? I haven’t heard anything.”

“You think I’m relying on Teenage Snack Cake Boy? I heard her calling me. And then Phantom Nick dragged my covers off and dropped a beer on my head.”

“Nick?” Brandon called. But the ghost was nowhere to be seen. He ran his hand through his hair. “Okay. We’ll gear up. But we need Dragon Boy’s intel, so we can find her once we’re through the portal.”

He started pulling combat gear out of the closet. “The last thing we need is to have to hunt through their entire base, fighting Lion Guard all the way. We don’t have enough manpower to—”

Damien snarled, “You think I care about fucking Lion Guard? That’s my mate we’re talking about.” Claws came out of his fingertips.

Brandon was across the room like a shot, slamming Damien against the wall. “You need to check that lion right fucking now, or I will trank your ass, chain you up and leave you here. We’ll get Lila, but I am not letting you get the rest of my crew killed because you can’t keep your shit together.”

Damien was overcome with a wave of fury. Kill him! Do not submit! Fight for our mate! His claws came out again, and the rumbling growl in his throat wouldn’t stop.