To Seduce A Siren (23 page)

“Minions
dying on me is kind of annoying, but I’d hardly classify it as abandonment.”

Charisse
struggled for air, bucking futilely to dislodge Destiny from her lap.  It
took a few seconds for Destiny to notice and let up on the pressure. 

“I
was talking about your family… kicking you out. I think you have some
unresolved issues with your parents.”

Destiny
barked out a grating laugh.  “You’re so funny.”  She glanced Nate’s
way.  “She really is the whole package isn’t she?   Girlfriend,
I killed my par…”  Destiny shrieked in pain an outrage as Charisse plunged
the knife Nate had insisted she carry, formerly concealed down the back of her
shorts, deeply into Destiny’s right eye, leaving a chunk of her hair behind in
Destiny’s fist as she rolled away from those razor sharp flashing claws.

“Now!” 
Nate bellowed, even as he leapt forward, dragged Cyd up from the ground and
threw her bodily across the room. 

Goddess,
Charisse panicked in mid-air, in the dark she couldn’t see where she was going
to land… this was going to hurt.  Except she didn’t splatter hard against
the living room wall, instead she found her face buried in pillowy softness…
suffocating, pillowy softness.  Argh, she fought for breath, there was
only one person she knew with cleavage this killer. 

Jerking
her head back, she looked up dazed.  “Hadleigh?”

Her
warrior cousin grinned down at her.  “I’ve got you.” 

Shattering
glass and the sound of splintering wood sounded behind them.  Destiny was
in a killing frenzy as she hurled furniture around the room. Hadleigh pushed
Charisse’s head back down as she bought up one of her arms, a shiny wicked
looking samurai sword suddenly in her hand.

“Argh…
ugh.”  Once more Charisse found herself struggling to survive as she was
all but smothered in Hadleigh’s cleavage.  Coming up for air she panted
hard.  “Trying to breathe here, Hadleigh.”

Hadleigh
laughed softly, her sword arm thrusting forward as she blocked a dark shape
flying in their direction.  “Trying to keep you alive here, Char.”

Charisse
glanced down at the armchair Hadleigh had just cut into two almost perfectly
equal halves.  Damn, she’d loved that old thing. 

“What’s…” 
She attempted to turn in Hadleigh’s grip, she wanted to make sure that Nate was
okay but Hadleigh all too easily scooped her up by the waist and yanked her out
of the living room into the hallway. 

Outside
the house it sounded like a storm was suddenly raging, and was it getting
really dark in here?

“Stop
struggling.”  Hadleigh commanded in the hallway in a firm tone as she
ducked a piece of flying artwork, dragging Charisse down with her, imprisoning
her in place with a tight grip on her arm.

Charisse
stopped struggling, grrr… there was no way she could fend off Hadleigh’s
superior enforcer strength and six foot six height advantage, but it didn’t
stop her from giving Hadleigh’s shoulder a thump with her fist. “We can’t leave
Nate.” 

“If
you stay, you’re only a distraction… worse, bitch Queen uses you as
leverage.”  At Hadleigh’s words all the fight left Charisse, although it
didn’t stop her from making a token squawk of protest as Hadleigh abruptly
lifted her up into the air… oof, she hated hanging upside down but loathed even
more the idea of being hauled out of her own home over Hadleigh’s shoulder like
a sack of flour.

Damn
her cousin was right.  Charisse bit her lip and tried to hang on to what
little dignity she had left as Hadleigh hit the front door and passed beyond it
outside to the yard. 

“I’ve
got her.  Go!  Go!”  Hadleigh’s voice rang out loud over the
sounds of mayhem and fighting going on inside the house.

Chapter
Twenty-One

Charisse
sighed in exasperation.  “Hadleigh, can you please put me down?  I’m
getting a little bit tired of staring at your butt.”

“Those
words will never pass my lips.”  Vaughn assured his meld wife as he sidled
up to them, his almost white blonde hair gleaming in the moonlight as he
captured Hadleigh’s hand in his.

Blowing
out a half sigh, a half breathless laugh, Hadleigh lowered Charisse to her feet
on the grassy front lawn before turning her attention to her hand captured in
Vaughn’s grip.  “I’m going to start charging you rent for that hand
Viking.”

Absently
Vaughn bought it up to kiss the inside of her palm.  “We’re married now,
remember, what’s mine is yours, and in turn, all your luscious parts are mine.”

“Enough
with the flirting you two.”  Charisse found herself frowning at her
house.  It no longer resembled a pretty little white weatherboard
beachside cottage, now it looked like some horror film nightmare.  “Why
have you boarded up my house?  Nate and that she-vamp bitch are still
inside.”  She glared at Vaughn and then at all the other Maat warriors
standing nearby, swords in one hand, hammers in the other.  “And why are
you all just standing there?  Shouldn’t you be inside helping Nate?”

Charisse
jumped in surprise as another Maat warrior appeared before her, seemingly from out
of nowhere.  Looking up she noted he’d apparently been up on her roof,
covering the chimney.  What the hell was going on?  Why were they all
out here whilst Nate was in there alone, facing off against Vamperella?
 
She was scared, angry and had no idea why they were
all just standing around.  “Don’t just stand there!  You all need to
get in there and help Nate.”  She used her sternest ‘do it or die’ Siren
voice.

All
the warriors, Hadleigh included, turned and started towards the house.

Charisse
could have wept with relief… finally, they were going to help Nate.

“Hey,
what’s going on here?  Party?”  Declan’s sudden appearance or
something in his voice broke the power of her instructions. 

All
the warriors stopped moving and turned to stare at Charisse.

“Wicked
cool.”  The twins, Dash and Flynn, appraised her with grins.

“Interesting.” 
Marcus eyed her with electric blue eyes that seemed to weigh and measure all
the possibilities and advantages of having a power such as hers on tap.

“Unsettling.” 
Drum eyed her warily before shifting his attention to Declan.  “What the
hell are you doing here?”  His black eyes boring into the newcomer.

Wearing
blue jeans, boots and a fitted blue t-shirt, Declan smiled easily at the
assembled group before moving to place his arm around Charisse’s shoulder in
comfort.  With his wheat blonde shoulder length locks, stunning violet
eyes, perfect skin, audacious dimpled smile and mouth-watering long lean
physique, the man looked like he’d just come from a cover shoot. 

“Enforcer,
remember?”  Declan shook his head in wonder, before looking down at
Charisse.  “Honestly, I’m beginning to worry about that one.  Every
time we meet up, I have to remind him that I’m an enforcer.  I’m beginning
to think he’s not as bright as Nell keeps on insisting he is.”

Drum
growled a deep rumbling sound in the back of his throat, continuing to glare at
Declan.

Vaughn
reached over, patting his second on the shoulder, trying to calm him down, even
though he too was glaring Declan’s way.  “We didn’t call for any back
up.” 

Declan’s
photo ready smile never wavered as he met the glares of the two over-sized
warriors, both of whom were melded and mated to his cousins, but for some
reason persisted on seeing him as some sort of threat.  “Mrs McCabe put a
call in, said she saw Hadleigh and several hulking men lurking in the vicinity
up to no good.”

Hadleigh
shook her head ruefully.  “She’s never liked me.  Goddess,
accidentally step on that mincing little yappy dog of hers one time and she
never forgives you.  And it’s not like I even hurt it.  I was the one
that needed five stitches when it took a chunk out of my ankle.”  Hadleigh
walked back over to Charisse’s side.  “Don’t do that again okay?”

“But
Nate’s in there alone.”  Even as Charisse said the words, a loud crash
sounded from inside the house.

“That’s
the way he wanted it.”  Hadleigh shared.

Vaughn
slipped up next to his wife, placing a casual but possessive arm around her
waist.  “I know he probably doesn’t act like it, but Nate knows what he’s
doing.”

“Yes.” 
Drum acknowledged in a deep rumble, the scowl lifting from his face as he
turned his attention away from Declan. “He talks a lot… but he’s a good
warrior.”

“Phew.” 
Flynn slapped Drum on the back.  “High praise indeed, coming from you big
guy.  How come you never say anything nice about my skills?”

Drum
shrugged his massive shoulders.  “Do you consider
barely adequate
, praise?”

“From
you?”  Flynn grinned.  “I’ll take it.”

Charisse
couldn’t help thinking it was strange, as long as she could remember Declan had
always been around… but not.  He’d been a standoffish beautiful but
isolated child who’d developed into a cheerful, devastatingly handsome,
good-natured teenager and man.  But she couldn’t recall ever physically
interacting with him prior to this evening.  For all his smiles, laughter
and teasing ways she didn’t think he’d ever hugged her before this moment and
it was a surprisingly comforting hug. 

He
might be her cousin and Hadleigh’s enforcer apprentice, but Declan had always
been a little bit of a mystery to her… and for that matter to the rest of the
female side of the family.  Of course, you’d have to be blind not to
notice the man was drop dead gorgeous.  And no one had ever been able to
adequately explain why there always seemed to be a mysterious breeze around him
that tousled his hair ever so invitingly.  Or for that matter, why the
light always clung to his skin making it appear so very touchable and lit his
eyes so they turned into twin pools of dark purple fire.  But still, despite
his infectious smile and charming ways he’d always kept himself a little…
apart, from the family.
 

Now
that she came to think of it, the only female of the clan he ever interacted
with physically was Hadleigh… no wait, she’d seem him give Nell a big warm
congratulatory hug on her wedding day.  And here he was now, providing her
with strength and support.  Something tickled at the back of her mind… but
then she lost track of her thoughts as the sound of splintering wood and
breaking glass rent the air.  Goddess, how much longer would this
take?  Heavens, please let Nate be alright.

She
jumped as another loud crash reverberated from the house, as something heavy
slammed against one of the interior walls and her little house groaned in
protest.  Declan squeezed her slightly tighter in reassurance. 

“Twenty
bucks says that was Nate.”  Rafe eyed the house.

“I’ll
take that bet.”  Dash signalled, waving a hand in acknowledgment.

“A
hundred says it’s all over in five minutes.”  Flynn glanced at his watch.

“Make
it ten minutes and you’re on.”  Marcus’s full attention was on the tablet
computer in his hand.  “Nate thinks she knows more about Sek and Mot’s
location than she’s let drop so far, he’ll need at least ten to get the info
out of her.”

Charisse
wanted to scream.  How could they be so casual?  Make jokes? 
Bet, with Nate’s life on the line?

“He’s
going to be fine.”  Declan whispered in her ear.

“You
don’t know that.”  She whispered back, too scared to voice her doubts any
louder in case they affected the warriors and froze them with the same dread
that was all but choking her.  Okay, Nate was a Maat warrior, had been for
over a hundred years now.  She had to have faith, had to trust in him,
just like his fellow warriors were doing.  But Destiny was such a tricky
psychotic lunatic, unpredictable and in pain thanks to the knife she’d managed
to slam into her eye.  What if Destiny realised she had nothing to
lose?  Wouldn’t she do everything in her power to take Nate out with
her? 

It
was as if Declan sensed her thoughts, flexing the arm he had around her,
looking down at her with sympathetic eyes, then he blinked, his focus switching
to something on top of her head, he frowned, though it was still a gorgeous
frown.

“What?” 
Charisse asked, suddenly petrified with fear.

Declan
shrugged it off.  “It’s nothing… you just have a little something.”

“Oh
Goddess.”  She reached up immediately to pat her hair, her hand coming
away tacky and wet.

Declan
was still frowning at the crown of her head.  “If it wasn’t black, I’d
swear it was blood.”

“It
is… vampire blood.  It must have happened when I stabbed Destiny in the
eye.”  Charisse bit back the urge to dissolve into hysterical laughter as
she stared at the blood now smeared across her hand.  “It was bound to
happen sooner or later.”

Declan
shrugged.  “I can only assume by that comment that sometime recently you
did a favour for Darcy.”

Charisse
tamped down hard on the full-fledged bout of uncontrollable overwrought laughter
that threatened to engulf her, it seemed like Declan knew Darcy’s tricks well.

Hadleigh
let out a small exasperated chuckle.  “The only thing you can take comfort
in when it comes to Darcy’s shenanigans is that at least it’s never your own
blood.”

“That’s
the truth.”  Charisse and Declan said the words at the same time, sharing
a commiserating smile.   Thank Goddess for her family was Charisse’s
follow up thought.

“Looks
like I called it.”  Marcus’s voice interrupted the family bonding
moment.  “Ten minutes and all is silent.”

Charisse
stared at the boarded over front doorway with apprehension; yes suddenly it was
all too quiet.  Goddess, was Nate lying in there hurt?  Dead? 
She bit her lip to keep from yelling at the warriors to hurry and pull off the
planks so they could find out.  Oh Goddess, please let Nate be
alright. 

Dash
and Flynn held up their hammers, looking towards Vaughn for approval, however,
before he could give it, there sounded a loud thud against the planks boarding
up the front door.
 
Then another thud, as
one plank creaked and split, more thuds, more boards breaking up. 

Every
warrior suddenly had a sword in their hand, ready, even Declan had drawn his
from the scabbard he had on his back.  Oh Goddess, please let it be
Nate.  Let him be alright.
 
Charisse
had never prayed so hard in her life.