Page 52 of Death God

“I’m not afraid of him,” he whispered.

We weren’t talking about the Alpha King. We were referring to Marlowe. Warmth swam in my chest. My dear friend had accepted the Vampire King as my mate.

“Can we find a quiet place?” I whispered.

I desperately needed to get him somewhere alone. I needed to hear news, any news, from outside this damned castle. I hoped the prince brought some good tidings from Marlowe, though it was wishful thinking. The vampires and shifters were like oil and water; they didn’t mix. I doubted that he’d visited Marlowe before he came to the horseman’s castle. And I had to inform him that the Alpha King was no longer his brother.

“I missed you too.” He smiled at me. “Despite you always being a pain in the butt.”

My family filed toward us instead of waiting for me. They hadn’t seen me for over twenty years ever since I’d been taken. Now they wanted to know everything about me, including who my friends were.

The guards followed my family eagerly, pretending to protect them although they just wanted to eavesdrop. Shifters were all nosy.

“Canary,” I said. “Meet my family.” I gestured at each member of my family. “Sam, my little sister. Dylan, my baby brother. His honey, Phoebe. And Jacob, my precious nephew.” To my family, I said, “This is Prince Canary. He might be pretty, but he doesn’t sing that well.”

Sam smiled at him. “Prince Canary, I like your name. It suits you.”

Shade glared at me before turning to grin at my family. “Call me Shade, please. It’s great to meet you all, though Catnip never mentioned she had such a lovely family.”

Going-gray stalked toward us, his hands on his hips.

“What’s going on? Weren’t you on a date, Pip girl?” he barked, then gave the dark mages and witches a sharp scan. “Why the hell are you on the castle grounds, roaming around like you own the land?”

“Excellent question, Commander Going-gray.” I then asked him, “Do you know that the Alpha King put great effort into hunting down my long-lost family and brought them here as a gift to me?”

Going-gray swallowed. He got my meaning—his boss was now using my family as hostages.

Shade’s eyes widened slightly, his face turning grim. If he hoped to get me out, he’d have to bring my family along as well.

He would risk everything for me. I hadn’t let him do that when he came to warn me in Walla Walla, and I wouldn’t risk him this time either. But there was something he could do for me. He could escape and take my family with him. As long as I remained behind, I’d draw all the attention.

“You are more than meets the eye, Pip girl,” Going-gray snorted. “I admit that I underestimated you again. I didn’t know you even had a family, considering how you acted inside that bush when we flushed you out. I’m a soldier, not a spy. Now that your family is here, you’d better get rid of your reckless trait and take care of them.”

He was warning me to watch my step and also telling me that he had no part in bringing my family here.

“Yeah, I’m taking care of them,” I said. “Commander, could you be a sweetheart and vacate the suite next to mine and put my family there? I’ve never asked you for a favor before. If you do this for me, I’ll not only forgive you for shooting me on the wall, tossing me into the dungeon, and starving me for a week, but I’ll owe you a favor instead.”

My family glared at him with disgust and anger.

“You did all that to my sister?” Sam demanded.

“Pip girl here has always been a troublemaker—the worst kind,” Going-gray said harshly. He wasn’t used to anyone else, save me, questioning him or challenging his authority. “And I don’t answer to you civilian bunch. If it weren’t for Prince Shade’s sake, I would toss you all into jail for offending the Commander of the Shifters and Mages Alliance.”

The army had a new fancy name now.

“Don’t you threaten my family,” I said, power and menace rolling off me. Everyone flinched, including Going-gray.

“Hey, chill,” said Shade, stepping between us.

He knew I never backed down. I’d punch Going-gray, despite his old age, if he berated my family again. They’d suffered enough. We were orphans now.

“Just give her what she wants,” Shade said. “For your little cousin’s sake?”

“I’ll have my aides set aside a room for her family,” Going-gray said, his jaw clenched. “Two guards will be assigned to that bunch.”

“I want Prince Shade’s guards on their security detail,” I said, glancing at Shade’s elite guards in military fatigues standing by the third jeep that had come through the portal, waiting for orders from their prince while surveying their environment.

Going-gray narrowed his eyes. He was in a bad mood. But before he could yell at me, since he loved doing that, Shade laid a hand on his stocky shoulder. “Let me handle her. She’s too much trouble even for my brother.”

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