Two for Tamara (12 page)

“Fuck! I just want to get back to Tamara. We can’t leave until we know what’s going on, or until Garrick and Thantos get their asses here. I’m going to relay this to them. Maybe they can speed their shit up.”
Rafe cut the connection.

Vin stared at the closed door. He knocked twice and waited for her to give him permission to enter. They couldn’t go to the dojo to train, but she had a huge suite and he could offer to go over hand-to-hand combat with her. He had a feeling little Kira was an expert when it came to Asian fighting. Before entering, he transferred his suit and tie to workout gear, being sure the cameras didn’t see anything except what he wanted them to see.

“You know if you knocked three times and said Penny I’d be your friend for life.” Kira smiled.

Vin came to a stop in the middle of the room. He had no clue what the young woman was talking about.

Kira sighed. “Please tell me you aren’t completely clueless to the best show ever. You know
The Big Bang Theory
?”

He shook his head and studied her, debated whether she really wanted him to go back out and actually knock three times and call her a different name or not.

“I’d knock three times and call you many things, but Penny wouldn’t be one of them,” a deep, familiar, rumbling voice said from behind him.

Vin turned to see Garrick Theon leaning lazily against the doorjamb. His short, cropped, sandy-blond hair in its military-style cut made him look very businesslike. His partner, Thantos Odysseus, had black hair in the same military style, with eyes almost the exact same shade of blue. They both stood side by side, watching Kira with possessive eyes. She stared back with what Vin swore was a mutinous expression.

“I, for one, love that show. I have the first six seasons on DVD, but still have them recorded on DVR for when I’m too lazy to get up and get the disc out.” Thantos smiled.

“Kira, these are two of our best security experts. They are here to replace Rafe and me. We have…an emergency back home that needs our personal attention.” Vin reassured himself it was true. Only he and Rafe could make love to their Fated.

Thantos was the first to straighten from the door, walking with a purpose toward Kira, who stood as still as a statue. Garrick and Thantos weren’t as tall as Rafe and Vin, with Garrick being six foot six and Thantos being six foot seven.

He watched the interaction between Kira and Thantos and swore there were sparks shooting from the small female to Thantos. Turning to see what Garrick’s reaction would be, he was surprised to see the same sparks aiming for him.

“Vin, Tamara’s brother just called. He said he has something he wishes to speak to us about. He said it’s imperative we get home.”

“Did he say what it’s about?”

“No just that we needed to get to Tamara’s quickly.”

Vin cut the connection, his lie from only moments ago now the truth. The three in the room were having a silent staring contest.

“Kira and I were just about to go over some hand-to-hand combat training.” He met the green fire of his charge. “Kira, I can guarantee both Garrick and Thantos are just as good as Rafe and myself.” He ignored the grunt from both the men in the room.

“Why are you leaving? My father hired you.”

“Your father hired us,” Thantos grated.

Vin didn’t want to leave them fighting. With a little push he speared Kira with a look. “You are in very capable and safe hands with two of our top security experts. You will feel completely safe with Garrick and Thantos.”

He nodded. The last thing he needed was to worry about leaving when his focus needed to be on his woman. Tamara was his main reason for living. She didn’t need a mate who wasn’t one hundred percent hers. “Rafe and I are out of here. If you need something, don’t call us.” He smiled.

Garrick gave him the middle finger.

“Love you too, brother.” Thantos scratched the side of his head with his own middle finger.

Kira threw her hands in the air. “You’re leaving me with these two morons?”

* * * *

Vin escaped the suite, leaving the two dipshits to soothe the woman they’d riled up on purpose, while he made his way to find Rafe. He blew out a breath and tried to reach out to Tamara. It had been as easy as breathing only moments ago, only to come up blank now made him feel a sense of loss.

Forgetting about the need to keep up human pretenses, he flashed to the main control center on the other side of the estate where Rafe was going over the security measures. Vin found the same desolate look on his partner’s face. “I can’t feel her.”

Rafe fuzzed the cameras from the last five minutes so that the only thing to be seen was empty rooms. He flashed them to Tamara’s home, or what was left of the place.

Tamara’s brothers were standing outside with a news crew and several local authorities. “Remi, what the hell happened here?” Rafe strode through the crowd, ignoring the protests that they couldn’t go inside.

Vin swatted away hands that tried to prevent him from following close on Rafe’s heels.

“Fuck, man. All I know is some kind of sink hole opened up in the middle of her living room. They haven’t cleared it for anyone to go inside to see if she’s in there or if…” Remi stopped and swallowed audibly.

Vin didn’t need to hear anymore. Had Tamara not been of this Earth then he and Rafe would know, their bond would’ve told them. He blurred his body and headed inside the home of his woman, needing answers with Rafe right beside him.

They’d heard of sinkholes happening all over, even some right there in Texas, but the lingering scent of sulfur let them know it wasn’t a natural disaster.

A bellow that shook the foundation escaped Rafe’s throat, one that Vin silently echoed. Usually Rafe was the one who kept his head on straight, not him. He wasn’t sure it was a good thing to turn that job over to him. He stared down at the gaping hole that all but swallowed up a twenty-by-twenty-foot space of Tamara’s living and dining room.

The feel of static in the air had both he and Rafe turning to see Grayson and Coltrain with a gorgeous redhead standing between them. Vin recognized her from the battle with Cronus. She had been one of his followers that called themselves Cronites. He stepped forward, a growl bubbling up. If she knew where the bastard had taken their Tamara, he’d get it out of her.

“Back off, Vin, she’s here to help.” Coltrain stepped in front of the redhead.

“If she knows where he’s taken our Fated then she better damn well tell us. We won’t bargain.” He’d take his friend’s head for Tamara.

Grayson nodded. “This is Jaklyn. She was the one who
helped
Selena escape. She’s here because she has a connection with Cronus.” Gray held up a hand. “Don’t piss us off with your dirty mind. She pretended to be part of his
congregation
to save someone close to her. While she was there, she was able to
see
into his soul. Don’t ask. Anyway, she thinks she can connect with Tamara if she’s close to him. Again, don’t ask, it is how we knew to bring her here.”

Vin heard the stress Gray used on certain words. The mysterious woman obviously had proven herself to the two Ravens. The battle that had nearly killed them all was one that Vin remembered very well. But only the parts that included him. He knew the King brothers said there was a redheaded woman who had helped free Selena. If they trusted her then he would trust her.

He opened a link to Max and Malcolm and shared the latest development, not surprised when all three of the Kings appeared in the ruined space of Tamara’s home.

“Where is she?” Tears rolled down Selena’s cheeks.

“Damn it, I told you we shouldn’t have come.” Malcolm wrapped his arms around their Fated.

“I felt something. I just ignored it. I thought maybe your friends were being asshats and didn’t want to intrude. I’m so damn stupid.” She hiccupped.

Malcolm looked like he was ready to destroy the world. Max wasn’t looking any better.

With six Ravens standing in the middle of what appeared to be a warzone, along with a goddess and a human, Vin thought they should be able to come up with something. He was ready to get a shovel and start digging his way to Hell.

“I can ask my dad to help,” Selena calmed enough to say.

Jaklyn shook her head. “That won’t help. Your father isn’t allowed in the Hell realm, which is where your Tamara is. Have any of you ever been there?”

Vin noticed for the first time that her eyes were the same startling green as Kira’s. He shook his head.

“I can see through your woman’s eyes. For now she’s relatively safe. She was taken before the sinkhole. This”—she indicated the huge mess—“was a smokescreen. Cronus hopes to draw Selena to him.”

“Over my dead body,” Max said.

“Mine too,” Malcolm agreed.

Selena tried to pull out of her two men’s arms.

“Goddess, I didn’t save you just so you could calmly hand yourself over to that monster. He wants your power for himself. If he gets it he will destroy Earth, sucking up as much energy as he can, and then he will return to Olympus. You know what will happen then.” Jaklyn stated the facts without raising her voice.

“I will not stand by calmly while he does whatever he plans with my best friend.” Selena shuddered.

“And I don’t expect to have any of us stand by. Which is why we are here.” She indicated the two men with her.

“So, what’s the plan?” Rafe asked, coming to stand in front of the red-haired woman.

Vin admired her poise. Not once did she cower or blink.

“I know you can transport people to a destination in the blink of an eye.”

Neither Vin, nor any of the others, confirmed or denied the accusation.

Jaklyn rolled her eyes. “Hello, did you miss the fact these two buffoons blinked me here?”

“It’s not blinking.” Colt placed himself beside Jaklyn.

Both Vin and Rafe didn’t miss the protective stance of Coltrain and Grayson.

Jaklyn clapped her hands. “Attention, boys, quit with the alpha BS. I’ve dealt with that all my life. Whether you call it blinking or whatever. It is what it is. My point is still the same.”

Selena pushed between the men. “How can you help get Tamara back?”

“First, you need to go back to Olympus where your parents can protect you and the twins.”

“We don’t need protecting,” Malcolm grumbled. “Ouch.” He rubbed the back of his head.

Vin laughed, knowing his brother had hit him with an invisible hand, again.

“Goddess, once you are safely out of Cronus’s reach, then we can try to save Tamara. I think we all know this is a ploy to draw you out.”

The human had just gone up on his list of favorite people. She not only stood up to him and his fellow Ravens, but to a real-life goddess without batting an eye. She either had a death wish, or she’d been through hell and back. For Grayson and Coltrain, he hoped like hell they could save her from both.

* * * *

Rafe listened with half an ear. He agreed that sending Selena back to Olympus was the best option. Even if she was their closest connection to finding Tamara, he wasn’t willing to risk her and the two babes in her belly.

The bright glow they hadn’t seen since the wedding flashed. Zeus, in all his glory, towered over them. A worried frown marred his face. “Selena, what’s this all about? Your mother is worried.”

Rafe wanted to snort, knowing Zeus was the one who truly was the worrier. Zeus and his eerie silver gaze shot to him. Rafe raised his palms, and the god’s lips lifted on one side.

“Dad, my husbands think I should come for a visit. It seems your
father
has taken my best friend and they think it’s his way of trying to get to me.” Selena’s eyes were suspiciously wet.

Zeus’s gaze shifted to the hole in the middle of the room, and static raised the hair on Rafe’s whole body. If he’d had any hair on his head, he was sure it would’ve been standing on end too.

“You’re correct. I can sense he has her, but I can’t go there to retrieve her, which he also knows. He is also aware that you could go, since you are connected to the Earth, unlike me.” Zeus tugged his long hair behind his head.

Max and Malcolm stood behind their Fated, their solidarity clear. Grayson and Coltrain stood beside Jaklyn, their intent to protect her also stamped on their faces.

Selena yawned, her hand going to her flat stomach. She was already showing signs of exhaustion, dressed in a pair of yoga pants, a white tank top, and with bare feet. She was so much shorter than her two men, and even more so than her father, but the strength was evident in the eyes very much like Zeus’s. “Fine. I’ll go with Daddy. But you kick that motherfucker’s ass and get my girl back. Or so help me, I’m gonna kick y’all in the nuts.”

Malcolm groaned.

Max’s eyes went wide. “Goddess, I love my bloodthirsty woman.” He tugged Selena to him for a deep kiss.

“Stop mauling my daughter.” Zeus turned to Rafe and Vin like they should stop them.

The large room with the vaulted ceilings and skylights that had given the room a feeling of being grand had shrunk, not only from the huge hole but from the presence of the god.

“I will see what we can do to help aid you in the Hell realm. We may not be able to go there as gods and goddesses, but we can extend help.” Zeus’s body glowed with his anger. “Tamara is not my blood daughter, but I owe her for being my daughter’s best friend.”

* * * *

Once Zeus and Selena had left for Olympus, Rafe and the others went to Tamara’s great room on the other end of the house to discuss the best way to get to Hell.

Rafe snorted out a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Jaklyn stared at him like he was crazy.

“There’s absolutely nothing funny. I was just thinking we are all trying to break into the one place everyone else tries desperately to stay out of.”

Vin paced around the room, picking up pieces of art that Tamara had obviously bought in her travels from around the world. “Explain what you meant back there, Jaklyn. Please.” Vin tacked the last bit on when both Colt and Gray sat up a little straighter.