Page 25 of Paradise Bound (Pride of the Caribbean Book 4)

“How is your brother, erasti?” Alexander startled Raoul with an embrace from behind, kissing his neck and making him shiver.

They stood on the private balcony of their suite aboard the Pride, the turquoise Caribbean Sea stretching out before them. The weather was warm, sunny and perfect. But nothing would ever be as perfect as his husband, his soul mate, holding him close.

“The same,” Raoul answered, melting back into Alexander’s with a sad sigh. “Linda reports that he has said a few things, thankyous, yesses and nos. But I have yet to hear his voice.”

“We don’t know what happened to him.”

“His power is changed. Broken, deformed.”

“Will he heal?”

“I don’t know. He needs his mate. It is his only cure.”

“That is the cure for many things.”

Raoul thought back to the time he’d been imprisoned in that damn circus run by shifters and a filthy warlock. Raoul had been displayed like a freak, humans paying a nickel to gawk at him. His magic had been bound, his life utterly hopeless. Until in walked the dream of a man holding him now. That very night, Alexander had saved him and they bound their blood without hesitation. He’d thought his mind was sharp before, his power strong, but their bonding had awakened a strength Raoul never could have imagined.

It had also awakened his heart.

He hadn’t been prepared to love Alexander so intensely, to devote every breath in his chest to the man beside him. Some days their mutual devotion still surprised him. But together they had accomplished great things. Dare he say, Raoul could have done nothing as grand as their life now without his soul mate at his side.

Raoul wanted Loren healed, but more importantly, he wanted that same happiness for his brother.

“The herd has settled on the island finally,” Alexander remarked after a while. “I asked Roxy and Adam to get them anything else they need. That little girl is adorable.”

“She has magic, you know?”

“I noticed that. Shifters with magic. Who knew?”

“Darrius,” Raoul said with a laugh.

“Naturally.”

“How is our other new guest?” Raoul asked, bristling a bit.

“I assume you don’t mean the rabbit shifter.”

It annoyed Raoul his husband still found it funny when that damned gargoyle had dropped a python shifter right into the swimming pool on the upper deck, with a, “Tell my master that I rescued one for him!” before the stone fucker flew away.

“You know damn well I meant the python. The nerve of that gargoyle.”

And the nerve of his mate, shaking with laughter.

Raoul was appeased only when Alexander began kissing his neck. “Do not worry. I had Dane summon Lowery and issue a few new commands. There will be no more surprises. Any para he rescues will be delivered to the island and vetted by Gregory before they are brought to the ship. Thankfully Drake is a kind, gentle soul. We didn’t even know the Amazon still had python shifters. When he hears back from his family, perhaps we will find new allies.”

“Perhaps. And I agree, Drake is quite acceptable. But dropping him in the pool was still obnoxious, and Lowery did it on purpose. Brian and Darrius were wiping passengers’ minds the rest of the week.” It was hard to be annoyed when a Greek demi-god was kissing one’s neck, but Raoul managed.

Alexander stopped with the kisses. “We will need allies for what I fear is to come.”

Raoul looked over his shoulder at his mate. “What is it? Do you sense something?”

“Something dark is coming.” He shivered and squeezed Raoul tighter. “An incubus, erasti? I thought all the full demons returned to Hell after the Treaty.”

“We knew an incubus almost killed Nathan. I spoke with Darrius about it and demons are like Fae, they do not share names. This Bartholomew is one in the same. He told Nathan years ago that few of their kind remained. Few is not none. But something else troubles you besides demons breaking the Treaty. What have you learned, my love?”

“Dane just reported that Lowery told him about the murder of a female panther shifter. Galen confirmed she was killed by humans who were very well-prepared. He promised to let me know if he learns anything else.” Galen ran a bar outside of Chicago that doubled as a halfway house for paras.

“This intel came from the gargoyle?” Raoul clarified. “Galen didn’t tell you first?”

“He says I was on his list to call, but you know how he is.”

Did he ever. Trolls were notoriously unreliable. He often sent people to the Pride which was the only reason Raoul tolerated him.

He would do almost anything to save paras.

Raoul would have to ask Nathan to keep an eye out for trouble up north, and maybe check in on Galen more often to see if he was hiding anything else.

“I sense something on the air,” Alexander said, sending a shiver through him. “Danger.”

“From what though?”

“I know not.”

“I hope it will not ruin our sanctuary.”

His husband sighed. “We have lost them before. But I cannot bear to lose this one.” Alexander reached around Raoul to caress the railing without releasing their embrace. “She is her own kind of magic. You saw how she enhanced Marcus’s gift. Not even the oracle of Delphi could do what he did so easily.”

“His Fae mate played a part too.”

Alexander chuckled at Raoul’s smug tone. “Yes, of course.”

Raoul savored the feel of his husband’s embrace. Stolen moments like these were growing rarer by the day as they worked hard to keep their people safe. If his long life had taught him anything, however, it was that he could do anything he set his mind to, as long as he had Alexander by his side.

Raoul took a deep breath, centering himself. “Whatever is coming, my love, we will face it together.”

“Always, erasti. Always.”