Three Kings for Sarah (11 page)

Xiu struggled a bit under Duncan’s weight, having to fight
his way through wizards and vampires, all while feeling Duncan’s pain as if it
was Xiu’s own each time he made a rough move. When Duncan fell unconscious, Xiu
was almost elated about it.

* * * * *

As soon as Xiu set Duncan carefully down on the floor, Sarah
and Deborah were at his side.

“He’s only unconscious,” stated Deborah, pulling up his
shirt to study the wound. “He’ll heal anyway, but it should be faster with
this.”

Deborah placed the stone a few inches over the gap and
closed her eyes, while Sarah caressed Duncan’s forehead, her expression showing
the depths of her fear.

Duncan began to blink, the door opened with a loud bang and
Sam came rushing into the room.

“You need to get out of here! There’s a trap! The entire
building is going to explode!” Sam shouted.

“Sam, help Duncan! Sarah, stay in the wizard’s body unless
something very bad happens. Deborah, remain at her side and keep an eye on
her,” Xiu commanded, taking Sarah’s real body into his arms. “Where’s Ged?”

Sam shifted uneasily. “He’s upstairs, trying to dismantle
the bomb or at least buy us enough time to leave the building.”

“Fuck!” Duncan muttered, accepting Sam’s help to stand up.

“Let’s go!” Xiu roared, his heart beating fast as he ran
with Sarah in his arms through the corridors.

Sarah’s body weighed nothing compared to the heaviness he
felt in his chest when he thought about the possibility he wouldn’t be able to
keep his loved ones alive.

He searched through his connection with Ged. It was closed
down. He tried it through his feelings instead of his thoughts—not an easy
task, as he’d never done it before. It was like breaking through thick, sturdy
doors, one after another, until he finally found what he was looking for. Ged’s
feelings! But they weren’t what he’d been expecting. There was no hatred, no urge
to slaughter. He could only sense a deep ache, resignation, the urge to protect
his mates, whatever the cost. Damn! What was happening?

As soon as they arrived on the first floor, Xiu turned to
Deborah and handed over Sarah’s body. “Take her to a safe place, as far away
from this house as possible. Run!”

“I’ll go with you to find Ged!” exclaimed Duncan, stepping
away from Sam.

“Me too!” announced Sarah with her wizard’s voice.

“No. I’ll be faster as a shadow,” Xiu answered aloud, adding
only for Duncan to hear, “
One of us has to stay at her side in case
something happens to Ged and me.”

Duncan clenched his jaw and nodded. “He’s right, Sarah,
let’s go!”

Xiu didn’t wait to hear Sarah’s protest. He shifted and went
for his vampire mate. He found him in the attic, fighting against three other
vampires and two wizards—hardly a fair fight. Ged was covered in blood and
cuts, but even as battered as he was, he fought with an agile grace Xiu had
only seen in the best warriors. One day, he would enjoy a good fight with him…
But first they had to make it out of there!

Xiu didn’t wait to be detected. He used his shadow form to
approach the nearest wizard, materialized just in front of him and broke his
neck with a clean twist. In only seconds, he repeated the same process with the
other human. Two—no, three—down, he counted, watching Ged slice a vampire’s
throat.

He hadn’t time to react before Ged too began to fall to the
floor with a sword sticking out of his stomach. Xiu began to see red. They had
hurt his mate! There wasn’t a chance left for the two remaining vampires—he
wanted them both dead.
Now!
Driven by his rage, he used Ged’s sword to
slice the vampires’ throats, quickly dispatching the last of their enemies.

When he finished, Xiu kneeled down at Ged’s side and extracted
the sword as fast as possible. Using his own shirt, Xiu plugged the deep wound.
Ged’s snow-white face showed his urgent need for blood to survive.

“Leave! I…couldn’t stop them…the building is about to
explode,” Ged whispered, his words barely audible.

“You’re coming with me.”

“No, you won’t…make it. You need…to shift…into shadow.”

Xiu ignored Ged’s order. Instead, Xiu offered the vampire
his wrist. “Here!”

“I told you to go!”

“And I already told you that I wouldn’t leave without you.
So take my blood.”

“I don’t want your blood!”

“Slave blood or not, you need it to heal. It’ll work the
same as any other,” Xiu spat out between clenched teeth.

Ged grabbed Xiu by the neck and hissed at him with only
inches separating their faces, “What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Talking. About?”

“We’re talking about you not wanting my blood!”

“I crave your blood, you jackass! The only reason I don’t
want to take it is because I know you hate vampires feeding from you,” Ged
explained, his voice getting weaker and weaker. He fell back onto the floor.

Xiu studied the vampire. Gedeon was too pale. Even his lips
were white and his fatigue was written all over his face. “I’ve offered my
blood freely to you.”

“Time is running out, Xiu, and I don’t want you to die.”

Taking a deep breath, Xiu nodded. “As you wish, vampire.” He
took a large trunk and threw it out the window. Not waiting for the shards of
glass to reach the floor, he took Ged into his arms. “If you don’t want me to
die, then bite. Unless we’re connected, I won’t be able to change us both into
shadow and I won’t shift alone. The ball is in your court, vampire,” he said,
jumping out the window without even looking down the four floors separating
them from the ground.

“Wake up sleepyhead, the three kings already came by to
bring your gifts.”

Sarah smiled, stretching with a low purr. Opening her eyes,
she got lost in Ged’s shining blue ones. “Good morning, handsome. Did they
bring you too? I wouldn’t mind unwrapping you right here, in my bed, and…”

Ged chuckled, giving her a quick peck while catching her
exploring hands to hold her still. “Your uncle, Marta, Deborah and Nana are
downstairs, and I want to enjoy our first Epiphany together before sunrise
calls me to sleep.”

Well, that’s a good reason to stop.
She sighed.

Behind her, Duncan stirred, adjusting his robust body to
hers, making her feel soft and feminine. Ged watched with cocked brows as their
mate tightened his grip on her waist, buried his nose in her hair and inhaled
with a low moan. Only seconds later, Duncan was snoring again. Sarah turned and
elbowed him without mercy.

“Get up! We have visitors!”

Duncan groaned, opening one eye. “At five in the morning?”

“The kings came for our girl,” Ged said, his voice laced
with amusement.

“I’m not acquainted with any kings and I don’t want them
near her,” growled Duncan, staring at her, suddenly awake and tense.

She grinned at Ged when he shook his head with a heavy sigh.

“It’s Epiphany, jackass!”

Duncan directed them a confused stare. “Epi… Oh, shit!”

He groaned as soon as his sleepy mind seemed to become aware
of what that meant. He jumped out of bed and leaped to the door, only to return
and give her a long, possessive kiss that made her toes curl.

“Good morning, babe.” Looking at Ged, Duncan murmured, “Five
minutes!” He darted across the room toward the hall.

“I don’t suppose you want Nana and your mother seeing your
cute butt like that,” Ged warned him, watching his bare ass with a crooked
smile.

Duncan stopped cold, muttering one curse after another as he
scooped up his sweatpants and disappeared behind the door.

Sarah giggled. “He’s adorable, isn’t he?” she asked.

“Yeah, he is.” Ged chuckled as he lifted her into his arms
“But don’t let him know. He’ll only think we’re attacking his masculinity.”

Sarah laughed loudly. “As if I didn’t figure out by now that
you like him best when he’s demonstrating to you how masculine he is.” She
leaned against him, her limbs still weak from their lack of use in the real
world.

“Well. Don’t let him know that either,” he replied,
undisturbed, giving her a little wink. “We don’t want him going lazy in his
demonstrations, right?”

Sarah could hear excited whispers and giggles as Ged
descended to the living room with her in his arms.

“There seem to be a lot of people here.” She gulped, feeling
an increasing anxiety.

Ged gave her a reassuring squeeze. “It’s family,” he said
calmly.

“Where’s Xiu? Is he in the living room too?”

“Yeah, our big warrior is scared to death of Marta and
Deborah. His mind is already checking all escape routes.” Ged chuckled.

She’d liked Deborah from the beginning, and regarding Marta,
Duncan’s mother, there was nothing to not like about her. She’d welcomed Sarah
with open arms the day they’d arrived at Ged’s mansion. Marta was warm, caring
and motherly.

“Why would Xiu fear them?”

“Too much love and tenderness for our imposing warrior.” Ged
grinned.

“Ged!”

“What, little one?”

“We don’t have any presents for Duncan’s family!”

“Of course we have.”

“We have?” She looked at him, her eyes wide.

“I’ve lived the last five years with Marta. It was more than
predictable that she wouldn’t lose the opportunity to share our new Christmas
tradition. She’d be elated just being here with us, to have the opportunity to
enjoy this experience with her family. Anyway, Duncan and I bought gifts for
everybody yesterday.”

“Oh!”

“You’ll love her, although I have to warn you about next
year. We’ll have to celebrate both Christmas Eve and Epiphany. Marta’s not one
to lose the opportunity to celebrate happy events.”

Sarah smiled. It wouldn’t be a hardship for her to celebrate
both Christmas traditions.

When they entered the living room, they were received with
warm smiles. Everyone seemed thrilled and eager to initiate the new tradition.
Ged took her to the couch, adjusting her on his lap. Duncan sat down on the
floor and rubbed his hands together.

“Okay, let’s begin.” He stretched and reached under the tree
to take the box with the biggest ribbon. “Sarah,” he read aloud with an immense
grin.

“No!”

Everybody looked at her.

“It’s the first time…” She gulped, trying to hold back her
tears. “I can’t explain it… I just want to see your faces first…”

Ged pulled her closer to him and Marta patted her hand in
understanding. Xiu stared at her with longing; however, he didn’t move from the
fireplace. It was something she would have to work out with him. She wanted all
her mates at her side, no matter who else was with them.

“Well…” started Duncan, searching under the tree until he
found what he was looking for. He took three similar packages and handed them
out to Nana, Marta and Deborah. “We thought that as we’re having a new
tradition from now on, you’d enjoy having this to decorate your homes for next
year. Ged was sure you didn’t have one yet,” Duncan explained to his mother and
sister.

Deborah’s squeal and Marta’s, “Oh my, it’s beautiful,” made
Sarah sit up straight and crane her neck to get a glimpse at the boxes in their
hands. Delighted, Deborah took out her colorful ceramic figures until she’d
assembled the whole nativity scene on the floor, with kings, camels and all.
Marta took out each of her carved wooden figures. Admiring them one by one, she
then placed them carefully back into the box. Nana, with tears slowly rolling
down her cheek, only took out the three kings. Curiously, they were dressed in
the same fashion as Sarah’s mates had been dressed when they’d arrived in her
world.

The next gift belonged to Samgar. It didn’t take him long to
tear the elegant wrapping with one of his sharp fingernails. He inspected the
weird-looking, carved silver cube from each angle. “It’s a puzzle!”

Ged nodded. “We found it in the trunk Xiu threw out the
window. I can feel the magic inside but I wasn’t able to unlock it. We supposed
that you’d love to discover its secrets.”

Sarah chuckled. Her uncle wasn’t paying any attention to
Ged’s words. Samgar’s mind was already working on the cube’s mystery. She could
almost see how his hands itched to move the different pieces into place.

“
Tío?
”

“Hmm?”

“Look at me.”

“Hmm.”

“
Tito!
”

“Yeah?” He scowled at her, his eyes glittering with
impatience.

“Be careful. We don’t know if it contains a trap.”

“Oh, of course it does.” He inspected the weird object in
his hands. “At least three…” he murmured absently.

“Don’t worry about him. Nana already told you he’d be the
one to solve it.”
Ged kissed her forehead.

Sarah nodded. Giving the cube to Samgar had been Nana’s
idea, and Nana always knew when something had to be done.

“Now it’s my turn!” exclaimed Deborah, throwing a plain
package in Sarah’s direction.

Ged caught the present just before it smashed into Sarah’s
face.

“Ooops! Sorry! It’s for all of you. I hadn’t much time but I
hope you’ll like it anyway,” she told them, giggling.

Ged handed the package over to Sarah. “Open it, baby.”

She nodded, searching for the adhesive tape, trying not to
tear the beautiful envelope, while all eyes stayed glued on her, and Deborah
made restless noises.

Duncan groaned. “Tell me you didn’t…”

“Of course I did!” answered Deborah with a snort.

“If you… I’m going to kill you!”

Behind Sarah, Ged chuckled.

“What’s this all about?”

“Deborah loves to take pictures and to paint…ever since
she was a child. Duncan was a cute pup, but he had a tendency to want to play
alpha. That implied he would spend a part of his childhood…marking his
imaginary territory. That and trying to dominate her, so she…
”

“Oh God! She took pictures of him peeing?”

“Yup!”

Ged’s laugh resounded in her mind. Sarah finished opening
the present and stared at it in awe.

“She did it, right?” Duncan spun toward his sister. “This time,
I’m going to kill you!”

“No!” Sarah cried. “It’s really wonderful!”

She admired the watercolor painting in her hands, captivated
by the image of Duncan’s amazing wolf gazing proudly at her. She could feel
that Ged was as deeply moved as she was.

When she noticed Duncan’s confused expression, Sarah hid her
smirk.
“Tell me he doesn’t think I’m admiring his raised hind leg.”

“Do you really want an answer?”
Ged chuckled.

Sarah turned the picture toward the room so everybody could
appreciate it. Duncan gaped at painting before he whirled around to his sister
and trapped her in a bear hug. She squealed and squirmed but didn’t really try
to escape. Xiu finally left his “safe place” to take a closer look at the wolf.
There weren’t any words required—his expression filled with wonder.

Marta clapped her hands excitedly. “My turn! Xiu, this one
is yours.” Ignoring Xiu’s abruptly hot-red face, the woman embraced him and
gave him a leather-covered package.

Xiu looked at the present as if it might attack him.

“It was in my family for generations. My husband adored it,”
Marta told him proudly.

Xiu finally began to open his gift.

“The tradition says that it has to be passed down to the
first mated son or daughter in the family, who has to offer it to his mate. As
there are three of you in this case, Duncan decided you should be the keeper,”
Marta explained.

Xiu glanced in bewilderment from the artistically carved
silver dagger to Marta and then back again. “I can’t accept it,” he said,
staring at the dagger like a five-year-old-boy looking at his first brand-new
bicycle. “You should preserve it in your family.”

Duncan growled. “You are family, jackass! Or what exactly do
you think it means that I’m mated to you? And don’t even begin with the whole
slave-shit again! The only place I’ll accept talk about slaves is—”

“Duncan! Your mother and Nana are here!”

“Ah…shit, yeah… I forgot. Sorry, babe!”

Straight faced, Xiu dipped his head in Marta’s direction.
“It will be an honor to keep and protect this wonderful present for my family.”

“You didn’t finish what you were saying, brother heart.”
Deborah showed her brother a wide grin while she leaned her head against the
couch and crossed her ankles.

“Hm, yeah, er…here’s our gift for Xiu.” Duncan reached for
the box, evading an answer.

“But—” Deborah insisted.

“Hush. This is the most important present for us,” Ged
chided, giving her a wink.

Xiu regarded Ged uneasily but curiosity obviously won out.
Xiu quickly opened the box to find only a small, empty metal box with a key. He
seemed to hesitate, as if he wasn’t sure if he was expected to see something
special in the box or not. “It’s very…nice. Thank you!”

“Very nice?” Duncan asked.

He and Ged exchanged baffled looks.

“Oops! Sorry!” It was Sarah’s turn to get embarrassed. “This
was supposed to be inside the box, but I couldn’t sleep leaving it without
protection.” She reached behind her neck and took off the pendant her uncle had
given her some days ago.

As if he was paralyzed, Xiu stared at her outstretched hand.

“Are you aware of what it is?” he asked.

“Yes, of course I am.” She smiled at him.

“As long as you own it I’m your slave. I’m bound to do
whatever you want from me.”

Sarah drew her brows together. “Well, that sucks. If you
make everything about a spell, how will I ever be sure you love me as much as I
love you?”

Xiu swallowed. “
You love me?”

“Of course I do. Would I say it aloud if I didn’t mean
it? I love all three of you.”

Ged and Duncan shifted slightly but kept quiet. Xiu crouched
down in front of her and looked at the pendant in her palm, before he took her
hand in his and closed her fingers around the pendant. “I’m yours, now and
forever.”

“But Xiu—”

Xiu shook his head. “Keep it—it’s safer with you.”

Behind them, Samgar coughed slightly. “Kids… I suppose you
should know that from now on, the pendant has only a symbolic meaning.”

“What?” Sarah gasped.

“Each powerful spell includes a finish line. In this case,
the pendant’s power ended when someone gifted Xiu with love and freedom, in
which case, he’d be free forever. My congratulations, Xiucatl, you’re a free
man.”

“You knew it even before you brought it to me!” Sarah
exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

“You’re familiar with the advantages of having Nana at our
side, right,
mi niña
? This is our present,” he said, pointing with his
chin to Nana.

“Not exactly, Samgar,” Nana said with a secret smile. “This
one here is mine.” She stood up from her armchair and brought Sarah a small
package, kissing her on her forehead.

Sarah opened the wrapping with care. You had to be careful with
Nana’s gifts. She never gave you something just because. As soon as Sarah saw
the hand-stitched work, she took it out to get a better look at it. Ged
stiffened under her and Xiu went pale.

“It’s lovely. It is hand-stitched, isn’t it? It looks like a
blanket but it’s a bit tiny for that. What is it?” Duncan asked.

Sarah gulped down the big basketball blocking her throat.

“It’s a hand-stitched baby blanket, you dimwit!” Deborah
exclaimed, clapping him on the head.