Page 1 of Hers to Keep

Chapter 1

MarianaReyesstaredupinto the endless black eyes of the most terrifyingly powerful creature she had ever encountered and saw fear.The Old One.Those were the words Dohal had said that had conjured the icy terror that chilled the room.

No one in the pool house had moved since he had said the name what felt like an age ago.It was eerily quiet, even without any glass in the windows.

Cisco, her stalwart gargoyle, glared from her side, his matte gray wings drawn up as if ready for a fight.Rio, the puma shifter who dealt in quiet words and wicked claws, looked on, his golden eyes narrowed.And sweet, sweet Dante, the unicorn with hair like the spun gold of his heart, looked like he was going to be sick.

Mari inhaled a breath and forced herself to speak.“Who is that?”She couldn’t make herself repeat the name.

“The Old One is who your father and the incubi feared.The genesis of every paranormal that now walks this world.”Dohal’s voice, far from his usual booming bass, was barely a whisper.

Mari clutched Dohal’s coal black arms in a death grip.“He’s the one who killed Argento?”

Dohal nodded.“He’s the one I was chained to keep out.You healed what was broken in me, but those scars were what kept you and this city safe from him.”

Oh no.What had she done?

He must have seen her stricken look, because he reached to touch her face, his claws achingly gentle on her skin.“Make no mistake, I am grateful.It is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

She swallowed roughly.That kindness might have doomed them all.She’d been so, so reckless in her need to save him that she hadn’t even considered there might be a greater danger lurking beyond.“Do we know for sure he’s on his way?”

“He will come.The most powerful nexus on Earth is here, miles under our feet.”

Mari tried to reach for the wards, but her magic was gone.There wasn’t a scrap left, and there wasn’t anything to pull from the men around her either.She couldn’t even feel whether the wards were still in place.

Dohal picked up on her discomfort at once.“I have nothing left to give you, bavi.You took every drop.”He kissed her softly, his breath feathering her lips.“You need rest to recharge.There’s nothing to be done until the morning.We will find a solution.”

She couldn’t tell whether the certainty in his tone was because they were totally and completely fucked, or if he really thought they could somehow fix this.She suddenly felt every single one of the long hours she’d been awake.Her eyelids weresoheavy.

He lifted her like she weighed nothing at all and moved her up the bed, tucking her between Dante and Rio, who moved to wrap her in their arms.She hadn’t even realized how cold she had gotten until they both felt so blissfully warm around her.

Cisco pulled the blankets up around the three of them and then rose from the bed.He said something in a low voice to Dohal which prompted a response.She was too tired to piece together what they were discussing and drifted off in a haze of exhaustion.

Mari woke from the deepest sleep of her life, sore and aching all over.Someone traced a design she didn’t quite understand over her back with one gentle finger.Before she summoned the strength to open her eyes, she felt for the magical signatures around her.Three of her men surrounded her, and that eased her roiling anxiety somewhat.But where was the fourth?

She then reached for the wards above her, stretching thin the tiny sliver of magic she still had.They felt intact, though she couldn’t tell if they were functioning the way they should, because her own magic was so weak.She decided that problem could wait for when and if her magic rebounded.She definitely didn’t want to confront the fact that her power still wasn’t back after the discharge the night before and instead looked around.

Rio lay curled on his side facing her, snoring adorably.Behind him lay Cisco, staring over the puma shifter’s shoulder at her.

He watched her silently for a moment before he asked, “How are you feeling?”

She took a few beats to assess.“Empty.Tired.Sore.”She tried to stretch but regretted it immediately.“Saints, so sore.”

He smiled a little, showing his fangs.“Your magic has been unusually quiet.It had me worried.”

She didn’t like the concern in his voice, so she reassured him as best she could.“It still hasn’t recharged all the way.”She left out that she had no idea if it would.The magic she had used last night was far more than she’d ever thought she could wield, and the fact that it hadn’t returned was troubling.Still, she tucked that worry away.

A hand that she immediately recognized as Dante’s smoothed over her hip and came to rest over her pelvis.His skin warmed as he sent healing magic into her.

She sighed with relief as some of the tension left her.“Thanks.”She leaned back into him, reveling in the heat of his body.

“Always.”He kissed her shoulder and then her neck.“Where did Dohal go?”

“I’m not sure.He’s not far.”She widened her awareness, and there was the faintest tugging towardsomethingthat she thought must be him.“Maybe at the main house?”

“I woke up about three hours ago, and he wasn’t here,” Cisco said.

Dante ran his finger over her back again.“These look like his wings.”

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