Evans, Gabrielle - Shades of Black [Fatefully Yours 5] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (12 page)

“For a few different reasons, the main one being because he’s not liable to help us if he doesn’t come of his own free will.”

“So, what do we do?” Vapre looked over his shoulder toward the back door as he spoke. “The only thing he says he’s willing to accept is for us to take him back. That’s not going to fucking happen. I’m liking Fiero’s plan better and better.”

“I’ll get the rope.” Myst actually started to turn, but Hex caught him around the elbow and jerked him back.

“We’re not tying anyone up…yet. We’ll save it as a last resort.”

“Well, as long as there’s the possibility that I might get to rough him up a little, I guess I can be patient.” Myst wrinkled his nose and stuck his bottom lip out. How the man could look sexy with the childish pout on his face boggled Hex’s mind.

“So, tell me what’s going on back home. Did you find anything before you left?”

“No.” Vapre sighed and shook his head.

“What about Echo? How’s he holding up?” Guilt tore at his heart as he remembered his mate’s cries for him as he’d driven away into the night.

“He’s better,” Fiero replied. “He’s not exactly in harmony with nature, but he’s being a trooper. Took him a couple of days to get over you leaving, but when he woke us up and told us to get our asses in gear, he seemed pretty fired up. I’m hoping that’s a good thing and he has a plan.”

“Let’s hope so,” Hex agreed. “Okay, so what do we do about Craze? Does anyone have any ideas?” Gods, it felt so good to have help. He knew he could always count on his men to put their heads together and come up with an idea.

“Well, I’m not willing to even let him
think
we’re taking his sorry ass back,” Vapre said adamantly. “That’s done and over, and I would never betray Echo like that—even as trickery.”

Hex inclined his head in respect. “I agree. So, what
can
we use to get him to Montana?” A tingle raced up Hex’s spine, and he noticed his men shiver as well, but it was too warm for the tremor to be caused by the temperature.

“Something’s wrong,” Vapre whispered at the same time Myst said, “Echo’s in trouble.”

* * * *

“Everyone out!” Syx yelled as he grabbed Echo’s hand and dragged him toward the cave’s exit.

The rumble inside the cavern was deafening as rocks slid and fell, tumbling over each other as they catapulted toward the ground. It had taken them nearly an hour to maneuver their way around the tree to find the opening. Now, ten minutes inside the cave, and things were going to hell in a hurry.

Pax and Jet refused to enter the cave, so Syx knew they were safe. Gage stopped just as he reached the outside and spun around with a stricken look on his face. Syx could read in the man’s thoughts that Gage had assumed Mac was right behind him. Now, he was panicked.

Not nearly as terrified as Syx, though. The rocks were falling faster, tumbling down over the entrance and blocking out the sunlight. Mac sprinted as fast as he could, but Syx knew he would never make it. None of them would.

He had one last view of Gage roaring as he jumped out of the way from a particularly large boulder, then everything went dark and quiet. Stumbling to a stop, Syx kept a firm hold on Echo’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Honestly, he wasn’t sure which one of them he was trying to comfort, though.

“Gage!” Mac screamed from somewhere in front of them.

“Mac!” Gage’s voice sounded muffled and distant, but at least they could hear him. Hopefully, that meant the stone barrier blocking them from the outside wasn’t too thick. “I’m going to get you out!”

“Please hurry,” Mac sobbed.

A few minutes later, Syx’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and he saw pin-thin rays of light peeking through the jumble of rocks. He could also pick out Mac’s small frame standing just a few feet in front of them. It was too dark to pick out any definitive details, but Syx swore the man was trembling.

Echo held a death grip on Syx’s hand as he pressed closer to his side. Echo was
definitely
shaking, so hard, in fact, it sent faint tremors through Syx. “Shh, baby. Gage will get us out of here. I need you to be brave, okay?”

“I don’t like the dark,” Echo answered in a quiet, quavering voice. “I really don’t like the dark.”

“I know, sweetheart. We’ll be out of here before you know it. Just hold on to my hand and take deep breaths.”

“The rocks won’t budge!” Gage screamed in frustration. “I’m going to get the truck. It’s at least a day’s hike. Mac, I need you to stay calm, baby. I’m going to get you out, but I have to leave you for a little while.”

“No! Don’t leave!” Mac began to sob all over again.

“He’s leaving?” Echo whispered.

Syx curled his arm around Echo’s shoulder and held him tightly. “It’s a good plan, baby. He’ll be back before you know it.”

“Mac, I’m just going to get the truck. Syx is going to take care of you, okay? Jet and Pax won’t leave this spot.”

“We’ll stay right here,” Jet confirmed, and Syx wondered when he’d shifted back.

“Syx?” Gage called.

“I’ll take care of him,” Syx answered, his voice reverberating off the rock walls.

“Mac, do what Syx says. I’ll be back for you.”

“Gage?”

“Yes, Mac?”

“The full moon is tomorrow night.”

Chapter Ten

Gage didn’t come back.

For twenty-four hours, Echo hoped and prayed the man would make it before the full moon rose, but his pleas had been in vain. He hated the dank darkness of the cave during the day, but nighttime was worse. Though a few straggling rays of moonlight peeked in through the rocks, it wasn’t enough to dispel the suffocating blackness.

His heart hammered inside his chest and his palms would get damp and clammy. Shudders would wrack his body until he felt he’d completely fall apart into a million little pieces.

Syx did his best to comfort him, but all Echo could think about was the isolation capsule he’d been forced to endure in the lab. At least here he could hear noises, could see faint shadows and silhouettes. Still, he hated it.

“He didn’t come back,” Mac whispered from Syx’s other side. It was the first thing he’d said since Gage had left for the pickup.

“It’s the full moon,” Syx tried to reason, but his voice sounded strained. “He’ll be himself tomorrow, and I’m sure he’ll be here by midday.”

Echo shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position so that the rocks from the cave wall didn’t press into his spine. Finally giving up, he stretched out on the dirt floor and rested his head in Syx’s lap. Syx stroked his hair, humming a soft tune, and Echo felt so exhausted he actually began to drift off to sleep.

Then Mac began to sob. The sounds made Echo’s heart hurt, but he had no idea how to comfort his friend. He knew he’d be just as much of a blubbering mess if he didn’t have Syx with him.

It took only minutes for the broken cries to turn to full-blown screams. The more hysterical his wails became, the more Echo retreated into himself. It made him feel like a complete heel, but he had to maintain his sanity somehow.

Syx gently eased Echo into a sitting position and turned to face Mac. “Mac, I’m really sorry about this, but maybe you’ll thank me later.” The cries cut off instantly, and Echo saw Mac’s outline slump against Syx’s chest. Syx stood and picked Mac up, carrying him over to the blocked entrance, and gently placed him on the ground.

“He’ll be more comfortable if he wakes up and can see even a little light,” Syx explained as he eased back down beside Echo. “How you holding up, baby?”

“I don’t like it here, but I guess I’m doing better than Mac.”

“Does talking help?”

“A little,” Echo admitted. It was a distraction at least.

“Then what would you like to talk about?”

Echo thought it over for a minute then took a deep breath to steady his courage. “Can you tell me about Craze now?”

Syx didn’t answer for a minute, and Echo thought he’d refuse. Instead, Syx gathered Echo into his lap and wrapped his arms around him, holding him securely against his chest. His long fingers combed through Echo’s hair, and he peppered little kisses over the top of his head.

Echo snuggled closer, nuzzling his face into the warmth of Syx’s neck. “Will you please tell me?”

“We’d finally set up residence in a little village just outside of Cairo,” Syx began.

“As in Egypt?” Echo asked softly.

“The same one. Now, do you want to hear this story or not?”

Echo nodded. “Sorry. No more interruptions.”

“I guess we’d been out of Tartarus for five or six years, still looking over our shoulders and waiting for Hades or one of his minions to show up and drag us back. We stayed to ourselves mostly, and people were afraid of us. Men weren’t big in general back then, so you can imagine how we must have looked to the people of the village.”

Nodding again, Echo bit his lip to keep from commenting.

“We met Craze in the market one day. Well, we saved his ass to be more to the point. At least we thought we had at the time. He’d been caught stealing, and two of the guards were beating him into the ground. We didn’t know what he was then, so of course we jumped in to help.”

“If he’s as powerful as you say, why didn’t he fight back?”

“I’ve wondered about that a lot. I thought at first that he didn’t want to show himself for what he was. Over the years, I’ve begun to think that he planned the entire thing. He’s a conniving little asshole, and I wouldn’t put it past him. He confessed a few years later that he’d been watching us from a distance.”

“So, you think he staged the whole thing so that you’d rescue him and take him home with you?”

“Yes, I think so.” Syx sighed and rubbed his cheek against the top of Echo’s head. “We didn’t become lovers right away, but the longer he stayed, well, one thing led to another, and there you have it.”

“When did you realize he was just using you?”

“Craze didn’t start bringing other men and women home until probably around a century later. The only excuse he gave was that it was only sex. I can’t speak for everyone, but I knew I loved my men. I couldn’t tell them how I felt, but it was there. We were in a committed, monogamous relationship as far as I was concerned.”

“Then why did you let it go on for so long?”

“By that time, we’d stopped inviting him to our beds. He was nothing more than a houseguest and whom he chose to bring home didn’t concern us. Craze left a few times, even. Sometimes for no more than a week, sometimes for as long as a decade, but he’d always come back.”

“Why did you keep letting him come back?”

“It was easier than arguing with him. Besides, we were all different, outcasts. It seemed wrong to shun him when everyone else already did.”

Echo could understand that. Plus, his men had such big hearts, whether they wanted to admit it or not. “What happened to make you finally kick him out for good?”

“The last time he returned, he’d been back for maybe a week when it started all over again. Strange men and women were parading naked through the house, eating our food, and basically overrunning the place.” Syx sighed, his chest moving beneath Echo’s body. “Craze and two of the men that he’d brought home one night tried to force Myst into a foursome.”

Echo gasped and his eyes actually filled with tears. “What happened?” he asked thickly.