Page 10 of Gemini Christmas
The house burrows into the woods, barely visible from the road. From my vantage in this ditch, standing hip-deep in snow, I cannot even see a driveway.
Clearly, my Zara was right.
This house is too small to be Senator Mercury’s celebrity retreat. It is more a huntsman’s cottage than a house.
Ash’s voice drifts through the open car door behind me. “Kid’s only half conscious. We gotta get him inside, wake him up, keep him warm. Beautiful, grab my med kit from the back, will ya?”
He is speaking to Vasili and not to me, but no matter. I know what I must do.
An electric current of resolve and purpose crackles through me.
I twist and duck to peer into the car. Ash is hovering over Neo, peering into his eyes and asking Neo gently to count Ash’s upraised fingers, while Neo mumbles something I cannot decipher. Zephyr’s slim form hovers at Ash’s shoulder. He too is Neo’s lover, and anxious for the boy, as we all are. Ronin squeezes in alongside, slinging an arm around Zephyr to share body heat.
In the dim glow of the overhead light, Zara’s worried face turns toward me.
“Do not worry. This is Mercury property,” I say gruffly. “We are inside the senator’s wards. Whoever lives in this house will be someone he knows. I will go there now and see.”
“Okay, Max. Try to hurry.” Her teal brows draw together in a furrow. “But be careful, okay? The last thing we need is you getting hurt too.”
“I will be quick but careful, my sovereign.” I lean in to press a kiss to her anxious brow.
Her hand rises to clutch my shoulder. Her worry for our sweet Neo flows through her grip and floods our mating bond.
“Do not be afraid, my Zara. I will bring help.” Ablaze with determination to protect Neo and all our mates, I turn away and scramble from the ditch.
Without warning, Vasili slithers through the open rear door. Tall and slim and lethal, he floats over the ditch with his levitation witchcraft, lands on the bank, and rears over me like a king cobra. Framed in the upturned collar of his dark woolen coat, his sharp pale face looks cold and vicious.
Yet he bends to grip my hand and lift me the final meter to stand at his side.
“I’m coming too,” he hisses, “to find whoever lives in that house. If for any reason they don’t care to help, I don’t intend to offer them a choice.”
God knows, Vasili and I do not always agree. But when it comes to protecting our mates, we are in full accord.
Chapter Three
Zara
Max and V don’t come back.
Not right away.
And with Neo hurting, our wheels undrivable, and our warmth leaching away minute by minute while snow blankets the hood and windows, I’m in zero mood to wait.
My guys wanna protect me, same as always, so of course they urge me to be patient. But Neo needs help, like now.
So I’m totally determined to act.
In the end, Lucius lifts my pregnant self carefully from the car, carries me over the ditch, and offers to carry me all the way to the cottage. But I’m notthatpregnant.
I mean, I can still walk. Even in snow.
Still, I’m not too stubborn to grip Lucius’ arm for balance. Together, we all flounder through the drifts beside the road into the forest’s dark hush.
As I clump along in my snow boots and parka, Lucius wields the emergency flashlight from the gear box under the seat to light my way. But Ronin leads the whole procession with the flaming ball of golden psi fire that floats above his palm. With witchcraft like his, that warlock’s a human torch.
Right now, I’m extra grateful.
Even under the silent sentinels of the towering trees, with bristly boughs of evergreen pressing close to block the wind, the snow is falling so thickly—flakes big and soft as cotton ballsfloating past—that golden orb of psi fire is the only way we can even see Ronin.
