Marisol eyed her skin and then ran a finger over it. “There’s nothing here.” She eyed Jag. “Nothing but a tattoo.” Her gaze slid between the two of them. “Are you sure you weren’t both dreaming again?”
“It wasn’t a dream,” Karen said, eyeing her shoulder, or trying to without success. “I don’t have a tattoo.”
“Sure you do,” Marisol insisted. “A star.”
“No,” Karen said, “I don’t.”
Jag appeared and eyed her shoulder before exchanging a look with Marisol, shaking his head as if in disbelief. “I don’t know what’s going on.” He ran a hand through his hair, confusion and concern etching his features as his hands went to his hips. “I bit her and I’m not talking a prick. I bit her.” His attention was on Marisol and Karen got the distinct impression he was ashamed to look at her. “I tasted blood. Lots of it.”
“It has to have been a dream,” Marisol said, rejecting his words.
“It wasn’t.” Karen and Jag spoke at the same time.
Their gazes caught and held, guilt flashing in his. “But it healed, Jag,” Karen said, trying to make him ease up on himself. “You didn’t hurt me.”
He inhaled and turned his focus back to Marisol. “Something strange is going on. That star on her shoulder. It wasn’t there before I bit her. Find out what I did to her before it has some permanent effect.”
Karen touched her skin, trying to find some proof of the star they claimed was there, but there was nothing there to feel. Not even a puncture mark. Jag was right. He’d bitten her deeply, but she could see why Marisol thought it had been a dream.
She wanted to see the star for herself. “I need a mirror.”
“I’ll go check my Book of Knowledge,” Marisol said, and flashed from the room.
Adrian stood beneath a tree, just outside of the ranch boundary lines, and smiled. He knew the minute Jag had mated with Karen, instead of destroying her. Salvador must have helped Karen pull Jag from the beast. He had to have.
Predictable.
He loved being right. The great Salvador had played right into his hands. And he’d underestimated Adrian if he thought this was over. Adrian had learned centuries before that the frontal attack never succeeded like the one that slid beneath the radar, unexpected.
After all this work, all the perfect planning to keep Jag on edge, hungry for the blood, lost between his dark and light side, he planned to have what he’d come for.
He planned to see Jag destroyed.
The second tier of his plan was already underway. It would have been convenient if Jag would have devoured Karen and accepted his beast. And certainly it could have happened. Adrian had made sure Jag questioned Karen enough to suspect she was evil.
But in the end, he hadn’t counted on it.
Now that Jag knew of his mate, of his past, he’d do anything to save Karen. To save her where he’d failed her before. And there lay his true plan. The one unfolding even as he stood here.
That thought excited him. He smiled, thinking of how devious and perfect it all was. Salvador and Jag would both think this was over. They’d have their guard down.
Segundo was still lurking the ranch grounds, as was a small force of his beasts, inside the range of the alarms. If Segundo wasn’t called back by a certain time, he’d kidnap Eva and Jag would come after her. After all, Jag wouldn’t want his poor darling wifey to be upset.
A low laugh escaped Adrian’s lips.
Success with entertainment value. He couldn’t wait to get the final confrontation in play.
Chapter 19
Several hours after the attacks, Des walked toward the main house, having just finished a quick check on the trainees. Thanks to Marisol, the men were healing well. He’d reset the alarms and secured the ranch, all without a word from Jag. Hopefully that meant he and his woman were on the way to a happy ending. Des would like to think that really happened in their world, but he was skeptical.
The aches in his body demanded attention over his thoughts. He hadn’t slept, hadn’t eaten, nor did he have time for either now. Right now, his destination was Eva’s room, where he planned to camp out and live up to his promise to Karen. Not that he thought she was in the kind of danger he could defend her from, but he’d do what he could.
A loud shout from the house drew his attention. Des responded instinctively, taking off in a run, scanning as he moved, hand on a weapon. Cursing under his breath, he spotted a figure on the roof. Some of the beasts must have hung back, inside the radar, waiting to attack again. Guilt and self-reprimand bit at him. This was his fault. He was in charge whenever Jag was down. He had let this happen.
Rock came out of the house, just as Des arrived, his lip tinged with blood, blades in his hands. “They took Eva,” he said, already moving down the porch stairs to stand in front of Des.
The news came like a blow, but Des didn’t show it. There wasn’t time to do anything but act. He’d promised Karen he’d protect Eva and he couldn’t fail. If Marisol was right, if Karen was Jag’s wife, then this was going to have a huge impact on him. On them as a group. The beasts must know that. They must be planning to use Eva against Jag with Karen in some way.
Rinehart shoved through the front door to stand on the porch, his trademark cowboy hat missing, lost somewhere in the war zone. “Where’s your damn radio,” he shouted at Des.
“I gave it to one of the men. I figured you two could handle things for the three minutes I was out of contact. Apparently I was wrong.”
“Don’t start with me, man,” Rinehart grounded out through clenched teeth. “I’m really not in the mood.”
“Yeah, well, that makes two of us. They can’t be far ahead. Let’s move out and get the girl back before they get off the property.”
“What if it’s a trap?” Rock asked, shoving his weapons back into their holsters. “For all we know there’s another hundred beasts waiting for us.”
“Pendejo,” Des said, calling him a dumbass in Spanish. “Must you always argue? There is more going on here than you know about. Trap or not, we have to get Eva back.”
“No trap,” Rinehart said, motioning behind Des with his chin. “We have a dead-on confrontation. Maybe you better fill us in and fast.”
Des turned to see ten beasts standing in a line, no more than twelve feet away. The beast in the center held Eva in front of him. Des cursed as he took in the sight, turning back to his fellow Knights, giving them a quick rundown of Marisol’s suspicions about Karen.
“Clearly they plan to break Jag through his woman,” Rinehart commented.
Des nodded. “Whatever they’re here for, you can bet its not going to be good.”
“No kidding,” Rock said, making a disgusted sound.
Des’s lips thinned. “Let’s find out what they want before Jag does.”
They all shared a look and silent agreement. The Knights had to be there for Jag this time, like he’d always been there for them. Des, Rinehart and Rock lined up and began walking.
If the beasts wanted to play a game with their leader, they’d have to go through his men first.
Standing in the bathroom, Karen shrugged the shirt off her shoulder and inspected it for a tattoo. And there it was. A five-pointed star. She touched it, amazed by its presence. What could it mean?
Hopefully Marisol would find the answer. Karen was eager for her to get back from checking her journal, whatever that meant. She gathered it was some sort of answer book. There was still so much she didn’t understand. All she knew for certain was Jag, and this place, held her destiny.
“I’m sorry,” Jag said, appearing in the doorway, his broad shoulders consuming the entrance. He’d gotten dressed, even strapped on weapons as if he expected some new battle beyond the one they were fighting emotionally. “I don’t even know what to say. One minute I was…I mean, we were—”
He never finished the sentence. Karen made sure of it. She turned to him, forgetting the etched mark on her skin, hand going to his chest a
s she pressed to her toes and kissed him. “You have nothing to apologize for. You want to know a secret?”
His brows dipped so she wrapped her arms around his waist, pleased when he returned the hug. “I kind of liked it,” she admitted.
“What?” His tone was filled with disbelief.
She nodded and smiled. “It was kind of sexy.”
“I could have killed you, Karen.”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “It was just like in the dreams. I felt like you were supposed to do it. It felt right somehow.”
“What can be right about a man biting the woman he loves?”
“You love me?” she asked, her heart swelling with the words. He hadn’t said it until now, even when she had, and a tiny bit of concern had started to form. Could he love and accept her as she had decided she could him? She had the advantage of feeling the closure of a destiny she’d felt she’d searched for all her life. Somehow, things seemed more complicated for him. He’d been through so much. “Do you think you can love me as you did Caron?”
“I already do,” he said, his expression softening instantly. “You know that.”
“No. I guess I don’t. Not yet. I really need to know you love me. As in the person I’ve become now.”
Jag stroked her hair, tenderness shining in his eyes. “If there is anything the past few days has proven, it’s my love for you. You are my soul mate, Karen. Nothing will change that. Not in this lifetime or any other one. But, Karen, I…” He looked down and drew a breath before looking at her again. Pain had replaced the tenderness. And torment. “It’s because I love you that I’m afraid to be near you. What if I hurt you?”
She dismissed that concern without hesitation. “You won’t. You didn’t. Think about it, Jag. You already faced temptation and turned away. You could have killed me, but you didn’t.” Her lips firmed. “And you won’t.”
He rejected her response, but she saw a flicker of hope in his eyes. “You don’t know that.”
“I do. I know. Deep down, so do you. If you really believe we’re soul mates, then trust in what we share. This thing between us is supposed to happen. We just don’t understand why yet.”
“She’s right.” It was Marisol who spoke from behind, in the bedroom.
Karen and Jag followed her voice, to find her sitting on the end of the bed, her journal in hand. “The star is a mating mark.”
She flipped a page and began to read.
The man must control the beast, to prove he is the stronger of the two. His reward will be his mate. She will be blessed with the image of a star on her shoulder, a five-pointed pentacle. With this star she will enslave the demon so that it can no longer steal the man, the woman eternally bound to the Knight of White. Darkness will be replaced with light and with this light, great powers will be bestowed upon the Knight.
“Oh, my God,” Karen said, turning to Jag, tears gathering in her eyes. She knew what this meant for him. What it meant for them. She understood the whispers in her dreams and the reason he had to bite her.
“Now it all makes sense,” she whispered. “You’re free.”
Jag looked stunned but it didn’t keep him from gathering Karen into his arms. His eyes were filled with emotion as they met hers. “Do I dare believe it’s true?”
“Believe it,” Marisol said. “My Book of Knowledge speaks nothing but truth.”
But Jag’s attention was on Karen, his hands framed her face. “You believed in me when I didn’t,” he said, his voice low and intense. “I don’t know how or why. You’d only just learned of the past.”
She understood completely. Smiling, her hands settled on his waist. “I’ve missed you all this lifetime, Jag. I traveled around the world, searching for something that I found when we came together again. The emptiness I felt inside is gone.”
An alarm sounded, a shrill warning destroying the soft moment of happiness.
Marisol slammed the book shut and pushed to her feet. She opened her mouth to speak but Karen’s instincts told her exactly what was going on, issuing a warning. “Eva!” Karen shouted. She grabbed Jag’s arm. “I have to check on Eva.”
“I’ll do it,” he told her. “You stay here so I know you’re safe.”
She wanted to argue but she wanted him to go save Eva more. “I will. Okay. Just don’t let anything happen to her, Jag. Please.”
Jag rushed into Eva’s room to find her missing. His heart sunk to his stomach as he turned back to the hallway. How the hell was he going to tell Karen her sister was gone? He’d failed her once before. He couldn’t do it again.
His hand went to the radio on his waistband as he headed for the stairs. “Des. Where the hell are you?”
Nothing. “Des!”
The lack of response told him all he needed to know. His men were head-on with trouble. Jag drew two blades as he reached the front door. He made it to the porch and stopped dead in his tracks. Rock, Rinehart and Des stood several feet away in a face-off with a group of Darklands. How the hell the beasts had gotten back on the property without the alarms going off he didn’t know. Unless, they never left. Damn it, he should have checked on things himself. This needed to end, and it needed to end now.
Jag started forward, preparing to join his men. As he moved something inside him twisted and turned. It was as if evil crawled beneath his skin and taunted him with its presence.
This is where the shit hit the fan and he knew it. Whatever was going down was about Karen, about him. And in that moment, he knew why. He knew with all of his soul that the Darklands were using Karen against him. Using her as a weakness. He was being tested. A test meant to destroy him and probably Karen along with him.
The Knights parted to allow Jag entry into their lineup, instinctively moving as if they sensed his approach. Instincts born of their unique existence, not quite human. The same instincts even now shouting warnings in Jag’s head.
As Jag stepped to the center of his men, one of their enemies met him nearly toe-to-toe. A man in appearance, no beastly side exposed. Ah, but he was beast, and a powerful one for sure. Jag bet he was the one who’d been controlling Eva, as well. His very presence reeked of darkness, of evil. Of power. His long blond hair a contrast to the blackness his presence oozed.
“So good to finally meet the great leader of the Knights of White,” the man said. “Never understood that name. ‘Knights of White.’ Speaks of purity and good.” He leaned forward a bit as if sharing a secret. “But we both know you are far from pure, now, don’t we, Jag?”
“Who are you?” Jag asked, hand itching to put to use one of his weapons.
“I am Adrian,” he said. “Surely you’ve heard of me. Oh, wait. Salvador likes to keep you in the dark. Maybe you haven’t heard of me.”
But Salvador had, indeed, warned Jag about Adrian, the beast who served directly under Cain, the fallen one. Not that Jag planned to tell Adrian what he knew. Jag let Adrian continue his self-serving dictation. “Let me bring you up to speed. I rule the demon world, and Salvador pretends he can stop me. It was a fun little diversion for a while, but I’ve grown tired of it. I’ve decided it has to end.”
“Jag!”
Karen’s voice ripped through the air, the fear it evoked in Jag as real as the steal knife that had sliced his flesh. He forced himself to stay steady, not to move, knowing his men would do the same until he indicated they do otherwise. If any of them acted rashly, as outnumbered as they were, it could well be a death sentence.
As much as Jag wanted to take Adrian’s head right now, he needed to know what he was dealing with. The beast had a plan yet to be revealed. Jag was going to press to find that plan and to do it now.
“You can’t fight one-on-one, I see,” Jag said instead. “You have to hide behind the women.”
“Women make life so much more interesting,” Adrian said, snapping his fingers. “Segundo.”
The beast Segundo moved forward, Eva wrapped in his arms. She was awake now, clinging to the beast, pawing him a
s if he was some precious jewel. Smiling as if she’d been brought to life with him as a gift.
“She wants to give herself to me,” Segundo said. “Shall I take her?”
“No!”
It was Karen who screamed the word. She was being dragged closer to Jag, and he knew her presence was meant to torment him. Marisol was beside her, a beast holding her, as well, but unlike Karen, she didn’t fight. The Knights all knew Marisol could flash herself out of captivity, but she wouldn’t. Not without Karen. It was up to the Knights to help her get free long enough to get them both out of there.
Jag didn’t dare make eye contact with Karen, fearful of losing his concentration. He focused on Adrian. “Let the women go. Fight like a man.”
“But I’m not a man, Jag. I’m a demon and I fight like one. But don’t worry. I won’t be hurting your darling wife, Caron, today.” He walked over to Eva and stroked her bare arm. “Eva here is another story.”
“You bastard,” Karen shouted. “Leave her alone!”
Adrian laughed and kissed Eva. Karen’s sobs drew Jag’s attention. And though he knew it was a mistake, he looked at her then, tears streaking her cheeks, her pain wrapping around him like a vise, choking the life from him. He couldn’t take it. He couldn’t stand her pain. Adrian would pay for all he and his kind had done to Karen. Jag raised his weapons and started to charge.
Des and Rinehart reached out and grabbed his arms, though neither took their eyes from the beasts. “Easy, boss,” Rinehart whispered.
“Yes,” Adrian said, walking to stand directly in front of Jag. “Take it easy, my dear Jag. Someone might get hurt if you aren’t careful.”
His gaze locked with Jag’s, a dare burning in them. Jag ground his teeth together. “What do you want?” he spat at the beast.
“I want you, Jag.” He let the words lace the air, lethal in the implications of what was to come. “I’ll give you Eva, but I want your soul in exchange.”
Sickness rushed over Jag. And so here it was. He could hear Karen crying, hear his men whisper their disapproval, their rejection of this proposition.