Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

“S o you fixed Cullen, man,” Corbin said. “That’s pretty cool.”

“What do you mean I fixed him?” Orion pruned back the grapevine as Corbin had shown him. They were cleaning up the yard outside Corbin’s house before late summer turned to fall, which would then turn off super cold. The roses needed pruning, the bulbs digging and saving, the vegetables that had gone to seed needed drying and the onions needed hanging.

Corbin was quite the gardener. He really ought to introduce the guy to his da.

“He’s not flinging out random illusions anymore unless you say something really sweet. Then it’s the hearts.”

“Ah.” Orion scoffed a bit. “That was Da. His cookies are magical.”

“And no one brought me any?”

“You’re not pregnant,” Orion pointed out.

A fat, happy beaver waddled by, heading for the stream. He’d never seen Yarrow look so ready for winter.

Corbin watched him too. “You think he’s an omega?”

“Why?” He gave Corbin a sly grin. “You always wanted to try a little beaver?”

“Oh, you suck.” Corbin threatened him with the clippers. “Be good.”

“Eh. Good is boring.” He winked broadly before going back to the grapes. Corbin had explained that one trimmed leaves off in the spring so there was room for the grapes, but in the fall, you trimmed back the dead parts of the vines.

“Yeah, but aren’t you like, the epitome of purity.”

“What, I can’t be pure evil?”

“Corbin!” The voice thundered from an upstairs window. “We need you!”

“That was Hawk.” They sprinted inside, Orion on Corbin’s heels, though really, if Corbin went inside without him, Orion would just be transported inside the house. Boom.

They sprinted up the stairs, meeting Hawk on the way down. “What is it?” Corbin asked.

“Come down to the main parlor.” Hawk led the way down to the parlor, where Cullen was already sitting, his baby bump really growing some.

The sight never failed to make him smile, his heart beating faster.

“Hey, babe.” He plopped down next to Cullen.

“Hey.” Cullen looked very serious.

“What’s happened?”

“Hawk just got back from a meeting with Gavin. Arian visited him.”

Orion raised a finger. “Sorry, who is Arian?”

“A friend of my mother’s. A fae woman. She has long been a go-between for one of the dragon clutches and the lands beyond the human ones.”

He tilted his head. “So she can move between all the worlds?”

“Yes.” Hawk waved a hand. “She came to ask for help. Her nephew stepped out into the human world to do a job for the fae court, and he was taken.”

“Taken how?” Corbin blurted out.

“Kidnapped.” Hawk’s expression had gone very grave. “They think it’s vamphyr.”

“Shit.” Cullen put a hand on his belly. “Where?”

“He was in the Pacific Northwest. Not too far from where Gavin’s house used to be.”

“So the boss wants us to go look?” Cullen asked.

“Oh, no. Not you or Cosmo either one,” Orion snapped.

“One, it’s my job. I have to go. Two, Corbin can’t go out there by himself.”

Corbin blinked at his brother. “Of course I can. I am entirely capable.”

“You’re green. Green .” Cullen shook his head, worry pouring off him in waves. “I can hold it together until?—”

Orion shook his head. “No, no. You are having a baby. You’re having our baby. You cannot go. I’m sorry, but no.”

Cosmo came down, holding the baby. “Well, I can go if you need me to. Someone has to watch the children though.”

“You aren’t going,” Hawk growled. “You have a new baby.”

“So do you!” Cosmo shot back.

“Guys, brothers. I’m the one who keeps everyone from looking at us like we’re insane and need to be dissected. You’re pink, you’re green, I’m purple.” And getting more so every second.

“You’re pregnant.” And Orion simply wasn’t going to listen to this anymore. He was not going to put up with this nonsense. His pregnant omega was not going to go out to wherever and save someone from vampires. No.

“I’m fully aware that I’m pregnant. I’m not broken.” Cullen stared at them. I’m not. I’m not broken. I can help. These are my brothers.

I know, love, but this is our baby. Our little girl, our butterfly.

Cosmo suddenly sat on the floor with a thump, and the baby began to cry. He stared out into the room, his eyes beginning to glow.

Corbin rolled his eyes. “Really. Right now?”

“Apparently.” Cullen stood and grabbed the baby before even Hawk could get to her, holding tight.

Cosmo began to rock back and forth. “You can’t go. We can’t go. We can’t go. But we have to go. If they infect the fae. If they infect us, the disease will spread like wildfire. It will get all of us, all of us with even a drop. Kill him. Did they change him? They infect him. All of us. Every one of us. You have to go and save him.”

“See, I told you.” Cullen shrugged. “We have to go and?—”

About the time that Orion was about to scream, Cosmo stared right at him. “You have to save him. And bring him back here. As fast as you can. As fast as you can. Very little time.”

This temptation to look at Cullen and say, “see” was huge, but he wouldn’t, because the last thing he needed was for Cullen to get stubborn.

“Wait,” Corbin snapped. “Shouldn’t it be me and Hawk? Orion can’t fly.”

“No, I can do one better. I’ll just, I’ll get us there and get us back.” It was exhausting, and the worst part was that he had to teleport in his actual form, which meant taking the chance of being sighted and also periodically walking into someone’s home as a unicorn was problematic.

But it was a thing.

Hawk nodded. “So you can teleport?”

“I need a place to go. We have to know where we’re going.”

“It won’t work.”

“What?” He stared at Corbin.

“You have to be with one of us. I don’t think it works with Hawk. If you can really teleport us, and we can do it late at night. I’ll just wear a hoodie. Gloves. We’ll just stay in the dark.” Like it was just that easy.

Hawk shook his head. “No, that’s when the vampires are going to be the most active.”

Orion nodded. The last thing they needed was to drop into a nest of vampires and get eaten alive. They used their sheer numbers against their prey. “Then we’ll have to do it during the day when they’re sleeping.”

“Makeup. All anyone would see is my face.” Corbin helped Cosmo up off the floor. “If they see me, I’ll wear makeup. The three of us will go. We’ll get the—Do we have a name?”

Hawk nodded. “Evander.”

“We’ll go get Evander, and then we’ll come back. Quick. Easy. The last thing we need is for Orion to be bringing Hawk somewhere and then discover that he can’t go through, and then Hawk is stuck out in the middle of Oregon being attacked by vampires and a possibly infected fae.”

I don’t like any of this. He hated the fear pouring from his mate, but not as much as he hated the idea of Cullen being in danger.

Neither do I, but I can’t take a chance of you or the baby becoming infected by vampires.

And it’s okay to take Corbin?

Love. Please.

He glanced at Hawk, who had lifted Cosmo into his arms. “Come on, love,” Hawk said. “Let’s find you some chocolate.” Hawk nodded at them. “I’ll be right back. I need to help him lie down.”

“Of course.” He stared at Cullen, who watched him with a worried gaze. Not petulant or angry. Just worried. It broke his heart.

“Cullen, you know Orion is right. He can cloak himself with an illusion, and I can wear a hoodie and some makeup. It’s not like we expect to hang out.”

“But you’ve never gone on a mission without me!” Cullen cut his hand through the air. “And I promised to protect him.” Now Cullen flung that hand at Orion.

“Yes, well now that you carry the universe’s first faedragicorn, you need to be more careful.” Orion tried to lighten the mood.

It didn’t work. Cullen heaved a sigh. “I love you. Both of you.”

“We love you too, bro, but your mate has a point. And he can’t leave without one of us, so I got elected.”

“What about Hawk?” Cullen asked.

“I doubt it.” Hawk returned, striding into the room. “It has always been one of you who is needed.”

“Dammit.” Cullen slapped a hand on the couch. “I don’t like it.”

“I know, baby, but we have to do this.” They couldn’t leave someone out there with a vampire nest. They had to go get him. It was part of their deal as guardians. “Okay, Hawk. Give us the rest of the deets.”

There was really no time to waste. They needed to get a move on.