Page 36 of Forsaken Dream
Chapter Seventeen
Echo
Vaser did his best to keep my attention centered on him, but I was too aware that he was listening to the conversation going on in the back of my truck. The uneven country roads jostled my bones, swooshing my brain around in my skull, but I did see the incubus stiffening from the corner of my eye. Oh how I wished to be able to hear as well, although my kind did not have that particular skill, not unless we were in the woods. Not that our hearing sharpened there, but the trees whispered to us telling us everything we needed to hear.
My veins shriveled when Tyler snarled like a feral beast, his rage palpable even through the metal and glass separating him from me. My arms jerked to the side when I twisted around in hopes to see what was happening back there. Were we getting attacked? Were the two of them trying to kill each other?
What in the fate’s name was going on back there?
Yanking on the steering wheel with my heart desperately trying to punch a hole through my ribs, I wrestled the old truck back onto the road. Vaser’s head smacked the passenger window with a dull thump, and I winced from it, my shoulders jumping to my ears. Cursing up a storm and turning my face into a ripe tomato, the incubus grabbed the handhold above his head with one hand and pressed the other on the dashboard in front of him.
“Sorry.” Hysterical laughter tickled my throat. Every time something unsettled me, I wanted to laugh for some reason, no matter how inappropriate it was. Which told me I was an idiot. “I was startled.”
“It’s not your fault that dumb fuck can’t control his feral tendencies.” Teeth clenched, he waited until the ride smoothed out before leaning back in the seat. “He is as dumb as the rock he resembles.” Muttering, he gave me a side-eyed glance before resuming his flirtatious behavior. “Good thing you have me to balance him out. He is the brawn, and I’m the brains.” Vaser winked, waking up the butterflies that had been sleeping in my stomach.
“What about Angelo?” I couldn’t help myself from asking. “What is he?”
“The golden beauty, you mean?”
The giggle burst through my lips before I could stop it. Vaser was not wrong in his snark. All three of them could give any male a run for his money in the looks department, but the angel would cast a shadow even on other heavenly creatures with his face alone. When you took into account the way his body was built, I had no doubt his whole realm stood in silent awe when he passed. Goosebumps danced over my skin at that thought.
I shivered.
“He won’t hurt you.” Misunderstanding my reaction, Vaser placed a hand on my thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze that sent my hormones into overdrive. “You are his mate; he will die to protect you, just like we would.”
“I know.” With a tight smile, I guided the truck onto the road leading to the old mill.
I might’ve thought we had one mate that we rarely met in our lifetimes, but I’d read many things about the mate bond. Being as it was a nearly impossible thing to happen, my people spun many fantastic tales about it. Most of it was wishy washy to me, but I knew for a fact protecting one’s mate was taken very seriously. Struggling with the fact I had three, though not nearly as much as I should’ve since I had mouthwatering males to call my own—I might be an idiot, but stupid I was not—didn’t stop the giddiness I felt inside me. Isn’t this what I’d wanted?
Wasn’t the dream of love the reason that made me run from my old life?
The fates had heard my prayers, but instead of one, I ended up with three.
Four, if Angelo was right about my dream.
Where the hell was the last one then?
Slowing the truck, I stopped at the old mill and let my gaze roam. The sun was high in the sky, leaving barely any shadows across the flat land surrounding the debilitated building. It must’ve been beautiful at some point in time, but the holes on the roof where the tiles used to be and the ivy crawling up the side of the walls made it look like nature was trying to claim the place for her own. The river also resembled a new spring, the water barely trickling in the middle of the riverbed, which stretched a few feet wide, with the wooden wheel looming over it suspended in the air unmoving.
“This is the place,” Vaser chirped as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation of me seeing poor Josh and what they’ve done with him.
Shaking my head, I turned to open the door, but Angelo was already yanking it open. He scooped me out of a seat, eliciting a startled gasp that flew out of me as I clutched his shoulders for balance. The angel beamed at me, and I could’ve sworn the sun hid in shame from the happiness that was glaringly obvious on his face.
“I can walk on my own,” I grumbled, ducking my head so he didn’t see how his touch affected me. “I’m not an invalid.”
Ignoring my protests and my pathetic attempt at wiggling to be put down, he headed for the mill, the other two flanking him on either side a step behind each other. I grew up in a place where guards following each move I made was as common as breathing, and even after all the decades, I could still recognize the strategic placement. My body stiffened in the angel’s hold, and he tugged me closer to his chest, filling my lungs with his sweet scent. As calming and as reassuring as that was, I couldn’t shake the feeling that danger lurked nearby.
“What’s wrong?” Pitching my voice low, I twisted in his hold to better see around us. “Did you see something I missed?”
“No.” He smiled at me, but I kept my attention on the other two behind him. They were as alert as if an army was about to descend on us. “I just like the feel of you in my arms.”
“You are taking lessons from the incubus,” I groused, but a smile eventually tilted my lips up.
“If it’s to please you, I’ll take lessons from the devil himself.” Shockingly enough, I actually believed him despite the humor coloring his voice.
Thankful for the cover from the blaring sun when we reached the mill, I blinked away the bright spots flickering at the corners of my eyes. Faded blue paint was peeling off the door, which was propped open more then closed and holding itself up by one hinge still nailed to the frame. If they thought Josh was a big threat to me or anyone else, they hadn’t secured him well enough, it seemed.
Then again, no one would’ve known the human was there. I could glamour myself to not be seen if I ever needed it, but when I asked Vaser before we left the house if I needed to hide all of us while driving across town, the incubus informed me all of them could do it, too. Standing close to the old mill, my skin prickled from the energy field surrounding the barely standing building. One of them had warded the place as well.
