Page 52 of Night Fall
A growl tumbled out of her chest, and he chuckled at her fierceness. The dragon’s nest had been disturbed, and his beautiful warrior was ready and willing to massacre anyone who trespassed on her land or threatened him. Erik had never found her to be more perfect than in that moment.
She opened her mouth to say something, but he grasped her chin, bent down to her height, and kissed her. When he finally pulled away as their adversaries grew closer, she grasped his shirt.
“You get five seconds. Five,” she warned. “And I’m only giving them to you because I feel like you need this. If they’re not dead by then, I will be out of this door with you.”
“And I will throw you over my shoulder and spank that beautiful ass of yours,” he said with a grin.
She batted her eyelashes at him and said, “Careful. I might like that.”
He trailed his fingers over her cheek and down her neck, where he grasped her throat, making her gasp. “You have to learn to stop teasing me, especially during a fight.” He held out his hand for a weapon and she gave him a dagger, handle side first.
“Not in this lifetime or the next, my love. Now go. Five.”
He rolled his eyes at her and chuckled again, then took a step out of the door. His eyes narrowed as he faced Constance’s army, and his annoyance grew. They had no right to be here on Mya’s property, to sully her soil with even a single one of their footprints. But there was another question that he had to ask: How had they found them? Her house was far enough away that they shouldn’t have been able to track them, unless there was something in him that had led them there.
He bared his teeth. The rogues moved, but they were not fast enough. Erik was an elder, and with his strength and powers restored, a small army would be nothing to him. He used the sun’s rays to superpower his fire ability, and those that were hit disintegrated immediately. Then he threw balls of burning fire at the cars, exploding those nearest to them. For the few that were still alive, he dashed toward them and stabbed them clean through their brains, killing them all before the first body had even dropped to the ground.
He walked back to Mya and wiped the blood from the dagger on his pants. She greeted him at the front door, dragging his face to hers. He picked her up and crushed his lips to hers. Kissing Mya was like coming home, like finding peace and sanctuary. It was passionate, wanton. It was right.
“You were cutting it close,” she whispered, her tone low and husky when they separated, and his heart beat a little faster at the sound.
“I’ll make sure to kill them faster next time, my queen.” He nuzzled her neck and put her down before they turned back to the scene. “Mya—”
“I know. I’m calling a cleaning crew and letting Greg know what happened. He has a lot of contacts. Maybe one of them can figure out how they found us.”
Walking through Greg’s house brought back a lot of memories for Erik. The vase displayed in the alcove was from a dig they’d joined in Spain, another trinket on a shelf was from an Indian man they’d saved in England, and there were several other pieces from the time they’d spent together over the centuries.
Erik didn’t know it at the time but saving Greg had opened the door to his happiest memories. It had given him the family he’d lost so many years ago, and he hoped he could reclaim a piece of that family again.
When he walked into Greg’s kitchen and found him cooking with his wife and mate, Daniella, Erik was struck by how much he had changed. The Gregori he knew had only ever been focused on taking care of others. He’d been the brains of their operation, a leader in his own right, far better at it than Erik. But he had never, ever seemed so relaxed, so carefree, so jovial. It made Erik immediately like Daniella and the effect she had on him, and he liked her even more when she gave Mya the tightest hug and he saw the smile that lit up her face. She meant something to Mya, and Erik was happy to see her friends, her family, people who she could share her heart with.
Then Daniella came over to him, and he could feel her assessing him in her mind before she threw open her arms to hug him. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Erik. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“You too,” he said as he hugged her back.
Greg lifted a tray of hors d’oeuvres out of the oven. As if it was a sign, Daniella grabbed Mya’s arm and began to pull her of the kitchen.
“W-What are you doing?” she asked, laughing as she stumbled along with her friend.
“Giving the boys their privacy. Come say goodbye to Ruby before Elaine takes her for the night, and catch me up on all the details,” Daniella said, winking at Greg before leaving them alone.
Erik waited patiently as Greg moved around the kitchen. He gave Erik a single look, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge him as he mixed a batch of items together and put another tray in the oven.
It wasn’t that Erik was afraid of Greg. It was a matter of respect. If the tables were turned and Greg had hurt someone Erik loved, especially a sibling, Erik wasn’t sure what he would feel if he saw him again. Greg was the reason Mya was still here today. He had stopped her from taking her life multiple times, and while Mya now knew Erik never left her, Greg did not.
“It’s been a long time, old friend,” Erik said finally.
Greg sighed and turned to him. “It has been. It’s good to see you.”
Erik’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Greg nodded. “I wasn’t sure how I’d feel seeing you standing in front of me. I thought I’d be angry.”
“You’d have every right to be.”
“Perhaps, but I never believed you had actually left Mya. Am I right about that?”
Erik’s jaw ticked at the thought and he nodded. “You are. I would never leave her. She’s my everything.”
