Quale rose and the rest of us followed. “The last time it was the twins,” he said, and then he was moving. “They must have returned with the next lot of marked … I have to find the mystics.”
We were totally not missing this. I snatched up my pastry and let my feet hit the pavement.
Braxton grinned at me. “Couldn’t leave your dessert.”
My mouth was too full for speaking, so I just gave him a return smile, one which explained exactly how delicious this chocolate-filled, flaky, buttery … oh, God…
His grin broadened. “Damn, I should have grabbed mine.”
I hesitated just before I was about to shove the last of the morsel into my mouth. Instead I extended it toward him.
His blue eyes heated until they were a melted pool of liquid. Holy eff me. How the hell did he do that and what’s happening to my insides? I was, like, burning up or something.
“Thank you, Jess, but I would never take the food intended for your enjoyment.” He was growly … his tone layered with a heat that completely matched those eyes.
I had to wrench my gaze away. He’d just pulled some more mate shit on me. Male shifters don’t take food intended for their mates, not when they knew she still wanted it. Some sort of macho provide-for-all-their-female’s-needs thing.
It was odd, Braxton had definitely stolen off my plate through the years, but if I thought back, really thought about it, well … he had never taken food until I was done with it. And he always let me have any of his food … pretty much. How had I missed that he’d been acting mate-like for freaking years?
Jacob’s laughter broke through my thoughts and I was relieved to have something else to focus on. “Did Jessa just offer up her dessert? You okay, babe?” The fey reached out and gripped my chin, turning my face toward him. “Did you hit your head or something?”
I whacked his hand away, shaking my head at his stupid antics.
Our pace slowed as we neared the gathered supes. They had congregated at the edge of the town. Clearly not every marked supernatural had dashed over, but there were about two or three hundred hovering around.
Before us was the red sands of the desert, bordered on the right by the endless greenery of the forest, and on the left the blues and greens of the ocean area. The salty air was distinct and actually quite pleasant. I’d never change out my favorite forest scents, but damn, the ocean had it olfactory appeal.
Even though we stood at the back of the group, we still managed to gather a crap-ton of stares. Somehow they all knew we were there.
“What’s with all the gawking?” I asked a nearby female vampire, blunt as always.
She had long, midnight-black curls and eyes the color of rich, newly-turned soil. She was stunning, and not much taller than I was. Her fangs were hidden, I knew, because she snarled at me.
“We do not trust strangers, and not all of you are marked. The mystics told us that you were the protectors of the marked twins, but you’re quads. Quads are hunters.”
I understood their fear, they didn’t know and love the Compasses the way I did. And the Four were scary effers. But how had they even known my boys were quads? Clearly the mystics had big friggin’ mouths.
Maximus took a little step closer. “If you pose no threat to our pack, we mean you no harm. But spread the word that if any of you come at us with hostile intentions, we will respond in kind.”
Seeing the vampires face to face, I was reminded that Maximus needed to feed, and soon.
Braxton closed in on his brother, broad shoulders side by side. “What Max is so eloquently saying … we will kill anyone who touches our girls. End of story.”
The pale skin around the female vamp’s eyes tightened. But there was also something more in her expression, respect and acceptance. “Message received loud and clear. You will find no trouble from me or my nest mates.”
Speaking of, I could see quite a few hefty males moving in our direction. Definitely vamps, and they had that look in their eyes. It was a look I was more than familiar with.
“I’m Cardia. Feel free to find me if you need the rundown on the workings of the sanctuary.”
There was less sneer and more smile on her face as she turned. It was then I noticed the small mark on the back of her neck, visible above her strapless top. It was a miniature version of my dragon mark, about a hundred times smaller.
Shit. Did they all have marks that tiny? No wonder Gerard had freaked when he saw mine.
Cardia didn’t look back as she used vamp speed to intercept her worried nest mates. The four of them leaned in closer and I knew she was spreading our message. It would be in the ear of every supernatural by nightfall. Some would see it as a challenge and come at us accordingly, others would respect the sentiment and deal with it by leaving us the hell alone. I couldn’t wait to see which was which. I had plenty of aggression and sexual frustration to work off. Beating the shit out a few morons might just be the ticket I needed.