Fated for Forever [Kindred of Arkadia 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (12 page)

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“You’re kidding me. That is not the name of a real drink.” Ashby giggled as Rhys told him about the

different drinks he made at Purgatory.

“I kid you not, it’s called Choking Hazard. Not as popular as the Blow Job or Screaming Orgasm, but I

have fun with it.” Rhys smiled down at the smaller man.

“What is the craziest thing you have heard working here?” Ashby asked, his elbows on the bar.

“Let’s see, the craziest thing would be the proposition I got from one of the visiting wolf Alphas. He

wanted to make a paranormal sandwich. Me and him and a pretty blonde witch between us.” Rhys lazily

stocked his bar with tall bottles.

“Whadja tell him?” Ashby asked in a whisper, his blue eyes wide. Rhys winked.

“I told him my shift ended at dawn.” Rhys laughed and tapped Ashby between the eyes with a finger.

“You should see the look on your face!” Rhys continued to laugh as Ashby blushed.

“Quit scandalizing the little guy,” Baptista said, though he too was smiling.

“I’m not scandalized,” Ashby protested.

“Sure thing, squirt. Where are your ladies in waiting?” Rhys asked, picking up a clipboard.

“David and Daniel said they had some work to do with a firewall router thingie, so I came down here,”

Ashby said, using straws to build a small house.

“Aren’t you bored kiddo? I’d be going out of my mind.” Rhys continued the bar’s inventory check.

“I am, a little. I love Gabriel and being with him, but my shop’s been closed for almost a week, I miss

my apartment and my things. I just don’t know how this is going to work,” Ashby sighed, sadly fiddling

with a straw.

“Don’t give up just yet Ashby, Gabriel is extremely resourceful. He’ll find a way for the two of you to

be together without you having to sacrifice everything, you’ll see,” Baptista said, ruffling Ashby’s hair.

“Thanks. I think I needed to hear that.” Ashby looked up at the two men smiling. He was coming to

care for every coven member, they were starting to feel like family, just like Arkadia.

“Ashby!” Gabriel’s voice rang through the club. Ashby jumped up so fast his foot caught in the rung of

the barstool and he nearly fell over, only Baptista’s quick movements kept him from slamming into the

ground.

“I’m down here!” Ashby said, regaining his balance next to Baptista. By the time he looked up Gabriel

was breathing hard from the doorway. Before he could blink he was wrapped in Gabriel’s arms.

“I’m fine, what is it? What’s wrong?” Ashby demanded, his face pressed against Gabriel’s chest.

“I received another letter today.” Ashby could feel Gabriel’s heart pounding against his cheek, beating

erratically. He could also feel the deep terror coming through his mate bond with Gabriel.

“What did this one say?” Ashby asked, pulling back slightly to look up at Gabriel. Gabriel shuddered.

The fox will die,
Gabriel recounted.

“This letter was delivered on vellum, I thought it was a function invitation.” Gabriel tightened his hold

on Ashby.

“They’re stepping up their game,” Roman said from the doorway, holding the letter.

“They’ll try to kill Ashby in an attempt to kill you, my prince,” Montana added. Most of the day coven

members had gathered in the bar.

“They will not take our little prince away from us!” Rhys yelled, slamming his hands down on the bar.

The coven members echoed his decree.

“Prince Gabriel, he will be with one of us constantly, I dare them to try and get to him,” Baptista said,

his eyes shining bright. Ashby looked around confused.

“They care for you, too, my angel. I told you, they would give their lives for you. Not just to keep me

safe, but I knew they would come to care for you as well. You’re just too sweet not to love,” Gabriel said

and Ashby could feel his heartbeats slow down to a more normal pace.

“I love them too. They are like family,” Ashby said, quietly underestimating vampire hearing.

“Oh my God, we love you, too!” Daniel exclaimed and ran up behind Ashby to latch himself on in a

hug.

“You are so damn cute!” David said squeezing his body into the hug. Gabriel looked down at the armful

of men he now held and sighed as they all squirmed around trying to get hugs and Ashby giggled.

“Gentlemen, if you’re finished?” he said, raising a dark eyebrow with his mouth twitching slightly. All

three looked up at him with identical innocent expressions. He couldn’t help it—he smiled. David’s and

Daniel’s eyes widened and he could hear the coven’s whispers of surprise.

“I am trusting all of you to watch over him in my absence.” He looked up and saw that most of the

coven members were nodding, misty eyed. In less than a week his mate had managed to steal the hearts of

his coven members.

“I have a meeting with the regional coven leaders upstairs. If you need me for anything don’t hesitate to

interrupt,” Gabriel said as David and Daniel stood back, leaving just Ashby in his arms. Daniel snorted.

“That’s because you know that asshole Dorian is one of the leaders coming today.”

“You should not speak disrespectfully of a coven leader, Daniel. But…you’re right. He is an asshole,”

Gabriel agreed.

“I’ll be fine, see? Everyone here will keep me safe,” Ashby said, pointing to the coven members.

“OK my love, but we will need lots of snuggle time to get me out of my bad mood after the meeting is

over,” Gabriel whispered in Ashby’s ear. Ashby blushed.

“Deal!” Reluctantly Gabriel let go and walked across the room toward the door.

“Come on Roman, it is your job to keep me from killing these sycophants,” Gabriel said, striding out

the door. Roman rolled his eyes.

“Lucky me,” he said in his deadpan manner and followed his prince up the stairs.

Ashby looked at David and Daniel.

“So. Want to order pizza?” he asked, smiling.

Chapter 11

Ashby was on his second slice of pizza when he felt it. At first it felt like a tugging, a slight pull. But

then the pull became twists in his soul and he started to feel bruised. He was rubbing his chest when David

spoke.

“Ashby? What’s wrong? Oh God were you poisoned again!” David demanded, staring aghast at the half

eaten pizza in front of them.

“What’s wrong?” Baptista asked, stepping forward from the doorway to put a hand on Ashby’s

forehead.

“I feel strange, but not like before. It’s like someone is pulling on my insides,” Ashby explained.

“Oh right, because that sounds so much better,” Daniel quipped.

“It’s not a sharp pain, more like a terrible sense of wrongness. I don’t know how to explain it.” Ashby

frowned. Above them a dreadful roar reverberated throughout the entire club. Ashby looked at the twins

and Baptista.

“I thought the VIP rooms were soundproof?” Daniel asked, sounding scared.

“They are,” Baptista confirmed. Ashby rubbed his chest.

“There he is! Thank God he’s OK!” Roman yelled from the doorway. He was holding his left arm which

dangled at a wrong angle and his chest was covered in deep bloody furrows.

“Ashby, Gabriel needs you upstairs now!” Roman yelled. Ashby stood and took off down the hallway

and up the stairs to the VIP level. He saw coven members standing outside the conference-room door

visibly shaken. Ashby approached the doorway and stopped when Montana was thrown through the air

from the conference room to slam into the wall in the hallway. He fell to the floor covered in plaster and

dust and didn’t move. Another roar was heard, and Ashby clapped his hands over his ears.

“Is this him? Is this his mate?” a shrill voice demanded.

“Yes, this is our Prince Ashby,” Baptista said from behind Ashby, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Good, send him in there. He can calm him down,” the stranger said.

“I am not sending Ashby in there with some unknown assailant, where is Prince Gabriel?” Baptista

demanded. A low guttural snarl was heard.

“That is Coven Leader Dorian to you, roughneck. That creature you hear
is
your Prince Gabriel. We

were in the middle of our meeting when he started snarling and growling before he lost his mind. If this

man is his mate, he may be the only one who can approach the prince in this state,” he explained.

“Let me go! I have to get to him, he sounds like he’s in pain!” Ashby twisted out from under Baptista’s

steadying hand and ran into the conference room only to stop dead in his tracks. The room was trashed. A

man he had never met before lay on the floor unconscious as Lauri, Rhys and two other men stood in a

semicircle around a creature.

“Easy Ashby, Prince Gabriel has shifted to his most primal state, he may not recognize even you,”

Baptista said as he eased into the conference room and stood behind Ashby.

“Lauri, report,” Baptista called out.

“Mid-meeting Gabriel started to growl. First his eyes shifted to red, then his hands grew claws. He stood

and his body lengthened and his fangs dropped further than I have seen any vampire’s fangs go before.

Then he gave that ungodly roar and started trashing the place going after everyone,” Lauri said as the four

men maintained a loose circle around Gabriel.

“Gabriel?” Ashby asked softly. The creature’s head swung around to stare at Ashby. Its head dropped

back and he began to sniff the air. It bobbed on its feet staring down the four men.

“Gabriel it’s me, Ashby,” he said. Stepping forward, the creature started a low purr sound.

“OK that’s encouraging. Go slow, Ashby.” Baptista took small steps behind Ashby.

“We need to keep him busy for a few moments longer. Roman, David and Daniel headed to the

infirmary to get the tranq gun we keep on hand for shifter crowd control,” Baptista explained.

“Keep talking to him.”

“Gabriel, remember me? It’s your mate, Ashby.” Ashby felt the tears drip down his cheeks.

At the word mate, Gabriel stood his full height and roared in anger, going wild and taking swipes at the

men in front of him.

“We’re here,” Daniel said.

“Clear the way, get us a clear shot,” David yelled.

Ashby turned to see both twins down on one knee taking aim with what looked like elephant guns.

“No! You’ll hurt him! No!” Ashby kicked and fought as Baptista wrapped an arm around his waist and

swung him out of the way covering his body. That was when Gabriel went crazy. Ashby could hear the

roars and the men’s screams followed by the sound of four shots being fired. Then there was silence.

“Let me up! Let me up!” Ashby demanded, pushing against Baptista’s heavy frame. When they both

stood Roman was ordering Lauri and Kurt to secure a set of chains around Gabriel’s hands and feet.

“Why are you doing this? He is your prince!” Ashby demanded, getting in Roman’s face. He stepped

back when Roman looked at him with tears coming down his face.

“I know he is my prince. I know,” he said brokenly. All around him Ashby could see the devastated

expressions of the coven members.

“What happened? Why is he like this?” Ashby asked as Lauri and Kurt started to carry Gabriel out of

the room.

“Where are they taking him!” Ashby tried to follow but Baptista and Roman blocked the door. David

and Daniel ushered the visiting coven leaders out of the conference room and gave orders to Rhys to make

sure they were seen to in the VIP lounge before shutting the door and turning to face Ashby.

“What is happening?” Ashby asked, his voice breaking.

“We all believed they would attempt to kill you to get to him, but this is an attack directly at the prince,”

Baptista said, wrapping an arm around Ashby’s shoulders.

“With the prince incapacitated, the coven leaders will try to take advantage of the situation. I bet they are

downstairs now scheming while the prince is indisposed.” Roman snarled at the thought.

“It’s why we sent Rhys with them, he has the best hearing,” David said, staring at the conference table

that was broken in half and winced.

“Ashby we can’t keep you safe here anymore, we have to get you home to Arkadia. If the prince

recovers we can send for you,” Baptista started.

“No! No way! I am not leaving my mate. He needs me.” Ashby stuck out his chin defiantly.

“We can’t protect you here,” Baptista said sadly.

“I’m not leaving,” Ashby insisted.

“Ashby…” Daniel began.

“No. Either I am your prince or I’m not. Either I’m your prince’s mate or I’m not. You choose.” Ashby

stared down the four men. He watched as they looked questioningly at each other. Finally Roman sighed.

“What would you have us do, Prince Ashby?” Roman asked, bowing to the small shifter. The other

three men bowed as well.

“I need a moment to myself. Can you make sure that the coven leaders aren’t causing trouble?” Ashby

said, straightening his back.

“Yes, Prince Ashby.” Roman smiled, laying a hand on Ashby’s shoulder for a moment before turning

and dragging the twins away.

“We’ll be online looking for causes,” Daniel yelled as they were pulled out of the room.

“I’ll be just outside the door, come out when you’re ready,” Baptista said sympathetically. Ashby