Araxalim’s mouth stretched in what could loosely be called a smile. The sharp edges of her canines slid down, pushed against the soft skin of her lip. “Be careful what you say next, shifter.”
Scarlet stiffened next to me. Her cheeks flushed a bright red as she stomped her way over to Asher and Araxalim. She pushed herself between the two people who were at least a good foot taller than her. Bumping her ass into Asher’s upper thighs, she got in Araxalim’s face.
“Do not threaten any of my family, especially my mates. You don’t want to dance with me.”
Araxalim backed off, bowed low. “My apologies, Princess.”
“And stop calling me that.”
One of the male Wardens walked up to Scarlet from behind. Before he could reach out and touch her shoulder, Scarlet had slipped to the side, her hands raised in defense. “And don’t try sneaking up on me.”
“Yet you doubt that you are one of us?” he asked, his voice low.
“I never said that. I said I’m not your Princess.” Scarlet kept her guard up.
“And if she’s your Warden leader, why is she so small and dainty?” Xander said as he joined the group. His fists were clenched. “Except for your idiot leader, you’re all over six foot tall. Our Cherrypie is barely tall enough to ride any of the rides.”
Scarlet turned, glared at him.
I chuckled. It was so freaking true. She was tiny.
She glared at me.
I smiled at her. I also noticed that none of the Wardens defended Alok to Xander the way Araxalim had the supposed betrothed.
“The royal family are not Wardens. However, Cardinal showed spectacular aptitude. She was granted special dispensation to train with our unit. When she reached her majority, she was granted the captaincy.”
I looked at my mate. Looked back at the tall female Warden. “Just how old do you think Scarlet is?”
The male Warden answered. “We reach our maturity at 115 years.”
We humans all looked at each other before bursting into howls of laughter. Scarlet’s snorting peppered through the deeper laughs from us men.
“Why is this funny to you?” the man asked.
His mouth tipped down at the corners as one of his lips curled up. His breathing picked up as he leaned toward Scarlet.
I had a gun pulled from my waistband and pointed at his head even as the laughter died from my face. “Do not make another move toward her or I’ll blow you away.”
A rush of heated air stroked my neck. “Put your weapon down or it will be the last foolish move you make,” a new masculine voice said from behind me.
Xander, Asher, and Scarlet took up defensive postures. “What the fuck is your problem?” Asher asked the Warden closest to him. A male with violet hair with eyes in a triad of yellow, gold, and white. They looked to be evenly matched in the physical departments.
“You disrespect us and then ask why we are offended?” the man behind me said.
“If you’re offended it wasn’t because we were doing it on purpose. Believe me, I’m very blunt in my disrespect.”
Xander shot his twin an irritated grin. “That’s right, he is. If you look up blunt in the dictionary, his name is next to it.”
“What is a dictionary?” the female behind Xander said. Her face was screwed up in an odd combination of confusion and disgust.
I lowered my weapon, but kept my eyes on the guy who had twice crept up on my mate. “You move towards her again, you die in your sleep.”
“Well then the joke’s on you, human. We don’t sleep.” He sneered at me even as he leapt for Scarlet.
Chapter 7 – Scarlet
I pulled my invisibility around me like a blanket and darted to the side. The man’s purple, gold, and brown eyes glinted as he tracked my movements. “We can still see you, Princess.”
On instinct, I reached down into the pool of magic that I’d gained from Kiema, I pulled the shadows tighter around myself.
The Warden’s face went blank.
I moved to the side.
He didn’t follow my movements.
These idiots thought to take me by force after Kiema gave them that whole spiel about them not earning our trust or even respect? Seems they needed a bigger example to drive the point home.
I threw the shadows around my men, wrapping them up tighter than a virgin. The room around us erupted into chaos. I really wished I had the ability to speak into their minds the way they did. Even Kiema’s one-way telepathy would be good enough right now.
I moved around the frantic Wardens, making sure to keep out of the way of their incredibly long legs and arms. Two of the females pulled bows and arrows from thin air as quivers of shining black arrows rested against their backs.
I reached Taryk’s side, he was dodging the misguided blows of one of the males. I jumped into his arms. He cradled me against his chest, breathed into my ear, “How the fuck are you doing this?”
We danced to the side. “No idea. But I have an idea. Can you talk to the twins through your link while you’re wrapped up in my magic?”
Another twirl and bend as we moved back again. “Yeah. Asher’s both excited and pissed at your abilities. Apparently, Papa Bear has some choice words for you later.”
I giggled. Thankfully it didn’t end in a snort this time. “Well, tell Papa Bear to make his way outside. Xander, too. We’re going to box them in and then rally the rest of our troops.”
Taryk nodded. “Done. Which way do you want to go?”
“I want you guys to go back to the room I was using for shelter. We can hunker down there while these assholes wander around on the false trail I’m going to leave.”
His arms tightened around my waist as the corners of his eye pinched. His brown eyes held wary caution. They closed on a sigh. “Promise me you’ll be safe.” He laid his forehead against mine.
“Always.” I edged my chin closer to him, slid my lips over his.
“I wish that were true,” he said against my lips.
I nipped his lip for that.
He growled before setting me down.
We both ducked as two of the males were now fighting their invisible foes together.
I moved to the far corner of the room as my men negotiated around the fighting Wardens. The slight wince on Xander’s face as one of the women lunged at nothing, told me she’d gotten a taste of him with her sword.
For that alone, she would die first.
Chapter 8 – Asher
“And you let her go on her fucking own?!” I yelled at Taryk through the implant.
“I won’t be a jailer for her, Ash. Neither will you. I trust her. Get your head out of your pants and on straight, and you’ll be able to see that she’s a better covert operative than any of us could ever hope to be. She trained on the streets for twenty-two years. She’ll be fine.”
“Reminding me about the sheer shittiness of her life is not helping your case right now, T,” I said as he pushed me into the room we’d helped Cherry clear out not even a week ago.
“And your bullheadedness is proving mine. Look at her, Asher. Really see her. Not the version of her you carry in your head in the spot you’ve named ‘mate.’ See her. Otherwise, you’re going to lose her.” Taryk got up in my face, his expression more serious than anything I’d ever seen cross it before.