Outcast (Hunter: A Thieves Series Book 4) Read online

  Zoey grew still. “And the other?”

  “Lee Owens.”

  “Oh, god.” Tears pierced the queen’s eyes and her hands shook. “What did Gray say? Something about Heaven tricking someone? That was about Lee. My Lee. Heaven gave him a choice. He could rest on the Heaven plane or come back here as my child.”

  It all came back to Gray’s prophecy. “Gray said something about a he. ‘His fury will be a thunderstorm, punishing and never ending.’ Or something like that. Naturally he didn’t give us a name.”

  The queen was still shaking slightly. “Prophets never do.”

  “The ‘he’ Gray talked about was supposed to be angry if he ever found out how Heaven had tricked him,” I said. “Nemcox told me he could see Lee’s soul. He figured out my father now resides in Little Lee’s body. It might have had something to do with the fact that my dad was in control of the body at the time.” He’d been hit with a spell that caused him to come to the surface. “But Nemcox knew.”

  “You agreed to sign the contract to keep him silent. Did he talk to anyone?” the queen asked.

  I shook my head. “If he had told anyone, my contract wouldn’t have been binding. He wanted me on the Hell plane. He wasn’t about to give that contract up. I know neither Gray nor Lord Sloane knows. Your Highness…”

  “Zoey. Don’t ever call me that again. You were willing to sacrifice for my son. You get to call me by my first name, and ask anything you want of me, Kelsey. I mean anything.” The queen sat back. “Now how do we keep Myrddin and my son apart? I’m not risking it. I need some time to consult with Sarah about how to hide his soul.”

  “Can we trust her?”

  “Absolutely,” Zoey assured me. “Especially since we’re going to keep it all from the guys. But we’ll be expected to show up at breakfast tomorrow. Danny will want to know why I won’t let Lee in the same room as Myrddin. Of course, he does have a twin.”

  “How good is Sarah with glamours?” A glamour was a spell that changed a person’s appearance. It could be used to enhance a person’s physical appearance or to completely change it.

  “She’s excellent at them.”

  An idea rattled around in my head. “Mia is about the same height as Lee, and no one knows his mannerisms the way she does. I know it sounds crazy, but if we could convince the kids we’re playing a prank or covering up for Lee in a way that doesn’t scare them, it could work.”

  “Mia would do anything for Lee,” Zoey mused. “If we ask her to, she won’t talk. And I can keep her exposure to a minimum. For the most part Myrddin will want to spend time alone with Danny and Dev. He won’t care about the children unless we give him a reason to. That fixes one problem, but we have another. Unlike Mia, Lee isn’t a reasonable kid.”

  But I knew him. “I think I can handle Lee.”

  It was a terrible idea, but it was the only one I had. My team had just gotten bigger.

  Chapter Four

  Trent was waiting for me when I walked out of the queen’s office. Zoey was speaking with her tiny spies, the kaleidoscope having returned with reports only moments before. One of the pixies clung to my hair.

  Trent stared at the pixies, his lips curling up in amusement. “I’ve never seen them take to anyone except the royals, and even then they give Daniel a wide berth.”

  Even as he said the words, the amethyst-colored pixie took flight. I could hear the sweet butterfly chattering and could have sworn I heard him mutter something about wolves.

  Trent pointed the way the pixie had flown. “See?”

  I took a deep breath. The night had been disconcerting and I was feeling restless. Nothing about the day had gone as planned. “I guess they like me.”

  Trent moved in, his hands cupping the sides of my face. “It’s easy to like you. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  I was going to have to tell him that we now had the added problem of bringing an eleven-year-old along for the ride. He wasn’t going to like it, and the thought of fighting with him again did not ease my anxiety. “It’s okay. I got it handled. We should get back to the apartment.”

  I didn’t want to fight with him out here in the open.

  “Baby, you think I can’t feel how anxious you are? I can smell it coming off you.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Let me take care of you.” He kissed my nose. “It’s been a long, rough day, and it was totally worth it because I get to go to bed with you.”

  Having him close eased something deep inside me. He put his mouth on mine, his hands sinking into my hair and releasing it from the loose bun I’d had it up in. I knew I shouldn’t let him continue. “We should talk.”

  “You should let me do what I’m here to do,” he whispered against my lips. “Take care of you. She’s down there, right? My gorgeous, sexy she-wolf is twitching deep in your soul. She needs me.”

  I had to make him understand. “I need you. I am her and she is me.”

  His lips curled up. “Even better. Then let me take care of you both.”

  He picked me up, still kissing me gently as he moved down the hall that led toward the front of the residence. I was surprised when he stopped in front of a closed door and opened it, hauling me inside.

  I found myself in a room with a waterfall. Let me tell you, no one does luxury like Fae royalty. This was the relaxation room where the royals had their massages and lounged in the hot tub that looked more like a natural hot springs. Trent carried me to the massage table, setting me down as he moved between my legs.

  “Did I bother to mention how gorgeous you were tonight, or did I take how sexy you are for granted?” Trent asked.

  That was one smooth-talking wolf. “You told me several times.”

  Sometimes I believed him. It was hard not to when he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off me. They ran over my shoulders, drawing the straps down. His palms explored my neck and ran up to the back of my head, his fingers tangling and gently dragging me back so he could take my mouth again.

  The man knew how to kiss. He could kiss me for hours. When I went to stay with him in the cabin, he would wake me up with kisses that seemed to go on for days.

  “Do you have any idea what I do all day out there?” Trent asked between slow slides of his tongue against mine.

  I was starting to not be able to think at all. I could smell him. I could breathe him in and Trent smelled like pine and warmth and home. He’d taught me so much about my wolf side and I let all those instincts lead me. “I think you play video games since Gray installed that Internet thing.”

  “It’s a satellite connection.” Those big palms found the hem of my skirt and eased it up. “And yes, Zack sent me a bunch of new games, but that’s not what I do most of the time.”

  His fingers teased at the edges of my undies. Though we were both still fully dressed, I knew his cock would be thick and hard. I was getting soft and ready, the anxiety I’d felt before floating away. It had no place here. “What do you do, babe?”

  I knew what I wanted him to do, what I’d needed him to do all day.

  He looked straight into my eyes, his darkening as though he was attempting to imprint his will on me. Damn alpha wolf. “I think about you. I miss you. I long for you. And when I sleep at night I dream about you.”

  I fought back tears. Fucking feelings.

  He shook his head. “Don’t. You don’t pull away from me.” His voice was a low growl that my wolf responded to. Her alpha male mate was working his mojo on us. “You give me everything you have. I’m safe, Kelsey. I’m the one you can take it all out on. I want every emotion you have. Baby, I take the angry ones. Give me the soft ones, too.”

  The world went a bit blurry. I didn’t want to deal with these emotions. It was easier to focus on the sexual pleasure he could give me, but Trent wouldn’t let up. He would be on my ass until I gave him what he wanted. “I’m scared this can’t work. I don’t understand Gray. He makes your life comfortable and then he fights you at every opportunity.”

  He dra
gged me in close and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He held me so tight. “He’s finding his way. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to make sure it’s all okay.”

  He would be with me. He wouldn’t let me down.

  He kissed me again. He’d been the only reason I let the emotion out and he soaked it in, allowing me to safely feel.

  “I need to be with you.” His fingers found their way past the lame defense of my undies. My whole body felt lit from within when he started to stroke me. “I don’t care what I have to do, I’ll find a way to be with you again. I love our stolen time, but I want to be your mate. I want to be here with you every day. I want to wake up with you and eat dinner with you and put up with your shit.”

  That made me giggle and then he stroked my clitoris and I couldn’t help but gasp. He would put up with my shit. It didn’t seem to faze the man at all that I sometimes went psychotic and tried to kill everyone around me or that I could get morose and self-destructive. He took care of me when I got to those dark places and he was waiting for me when I came out of them.

  The only problem was I needed Gray, too. But I let that go for the moment. I let Trent do what he did best. He took me somewhere outside of myself, gave me respite.

  He teased my clitoris until I came, shaking in his arms. But he wasn’t done. Nope. My wolf was never satisfied with just one orgasm. He shoved his slacks down and rolled a condom over that big cock of his.

  I didn’t like that condom.

  He stroked himself, shoving my panties to the side as he lined us up. “Don’t look at me like that. You know he has less time than I have. If we’re starting a family, Gray’s got to go first. We have decades to have our child, Kelsey. He’s only got a few years.”

  I loved this man so much. I simply kissed him and wrapped myself around him, wishing we’d had the chance to get naked. There’s nothing I love more than being skin to skin with my men. But I would take this, too.

  He pushed his cock inside and kissed me while he started to move. It wasn’t long before I was sinking my nails into the strong muscles of his back while he growled into my ear, and we both went flying.

  His big body shuddered in my arms and we were both loose and languid, our connection doing exactly what I’d needed it to do—calm me, let me know everything was going to be okay.

  “Hey, babe. Lee’s coming with us.”

  His head came up and he looked neither loose nor languid.

  It looked like I’d spoken too soon.

  “What do you mean Lee is coming with us?” Twenty minutes later, Trent had on nothing but his slacks, his cut chest on full display. He really did get out of that shirt as quickly as he could. I sometimes think Trent would be happiest in a nudist colony. He was leaner than Gray, but no less defined. I found everything about the man sexy as hell, and I was sad that we were likely going to spend the rest of the evening fighting instead of fucking again, because the look on his face was not a happy one. He’d wanted to fight it out then and there, but I’d explained that there were way too many super-ears in the royal apartments. Then my uncle had pounded on the door because apparently there’s even a security camera in the relaxation room, and he can’t bleach his eyes again.

  So here we were back in my apartment, about to throw down, and not in the hot way. “He’s coming to Wyoming with us.”

  “Tell me this is some new Lee who knows a lot about hunting down a stray wolf. Or maybe he’s a security expert. Tell me you’re talking about anyone but an eleven-year-old kid with authority issues.”

  “He’s very mature for his age.” He wasn’t. He was pretty much what you would expect, though he was super smart and kind of an evil genius. “And he’s an excellent thief.”

  I wasn’t sure I would need his skills at pickpocketing or lock picking out in the middle of the woods, but I was going to point out all the pros of this particular choice.

  Trent stared at me like I’d gone fuck-all insane. “We’re dealing with a potentially rabid wolf. Do you have any idea how dangerous that could end up being? We don’t know anything about this wolf except he’s hungry and doesn’t mind breaking into homes. And we’ve got the added problem of Lupus Solum being in the area. I thought what happened tonight was all about protecting Lee, not offering him up like a sacrifice to a bunch of crazed cult members and a wolf who will likely see him as an appetizer.”

  I turned around, offering him my back. The crappy thing about cocktail dresses is I can’t even get myself out of one. The good thing about cocktail dresses? I can’t get myself out of one so I need my wolf to unzip me. He hadn’t gotten me out of my clothes earlier. I had no doubt he hadn’t planned on letting that little snack that had been caught on camera be our only sexual encounter of the evening. “The queen thinks this could be a learning experience for Lee. He’s never been to Wyoming before and as he’s the king’s firstborn son, he needs to learn about all of the supernatural world.”

  Not that the king would know. That was part of the ruse. After the brunch tomorrow afternoon, the kids were heading out camping with Sarah and Felix Day due to the school holiday. I’d talked to the kiddos and explained I needed Lee’s help with this project of mine and it would be a surprise to Donovan and Quinn later on. I hated lying to them, but the queen had been there beside me.

  And Lee didn’t even care that he wasn’t seeing the wizard again. He’d gone to bed with visions of adventure in his head.

  “That does not sound like the king I know,” Trent grumbled as he dragged the zipper down my dress. He pushed aside the material and I felt him lean in, running his nose along the nape of my neck. He breathed me in and the warmth sent a nice shiver of desire through my body.

  “Can you trust me? And not talk to the king about this. Queen Zoey knows. She helped me with the plan.”

  He turned me around and it looked like his desire was gone, replaced by a ferocious frown. “That makes me even more nervous. Do you know the kind of trouble Zoey can get into? I was her guard for years. Years. All the gray hairs I have come straight from trying to protect that woman from her own crazy schemes. What is this about?”

  I had been hoping Trent wouldn’t give me too much hell about the “not telling Donovan” part of this mission. The trouble was, according to Zoey, my uncle was a bit under the wizard’s spell as well, likely because he was so closely tied to Donovan. He was blood oathed to protect the king and the royal family. That blood of the king’s was some strong shit, and Trent had made that vow, too. “I told you.”

  I dropped the dress and tossed it aside, hoping nudity would help me. Look, I know it’s not like empowered and stuff to use my boobs to further a plot of mine. I get it. But the truth is I went a whole lot of years thinking my boobs wouldn’t get me anything, and I overuse them now.

  Trent stared for a minute and then shook his head again as though forcing himself back to the task ahead of him. “No. Kelsey, I love you. I’m insanely crazy about you, but I can’t do this. That kid has been my responsibility for a long time. I can’t take Lee with us. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Who the hell decided we should take Lee? We’re talking about the kid, right? Not some security expert who happens to be named Lee.” Gray stood in the doorway dressed the same way he’d been during our therapy session. Boots and jeans and a crisp white shirt, though the shirt wasn’t crisp now. He was staring at me with his deep blue eyes. “Or maybe an experienced hunter? We could use one of those.”

  Dear god, how could they be so freaking alike? It was obvious I shopped at the same store for both of them. Still, they were different in some ways. Gray could often be sidetracked with a smile, and again with the boobs. I put my sunniest expression on my face and let him get a good look at the girls. “The queen asked me to take Lee along. It’s like a field trip.”

  Gray’s eyes went to my chest and he moved over to me, his hands going to my hips. He kissed me, his lips brushing mine. “The fact that the queen asked makes me very suspicious, Kelsey mine.”


  Damn men.

  “I said the same thing.” Trent had his arms crossed over his chest. “If the queen is involved, there could be significant trouble on the horizon.”

  “What are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be back at the cabin?” Gray took his Stetson off and crossed to the closet we shared.

  “Your father told me I could stay the night since we’re leaving in the morning,” Trent explained, his eyes watching Gray warily.

  No one seemed to notice my boobs now.

  “And you decided to stay here?” Gray walked into the closet.

  Trent stared at the space Gray had disappeared into. “Yeah, I’m staying here in my girlfriend’s condo. You want to kick me out, I’d like to see you try. And you better believe I’m sleeping with her when we get to Wyoming.”

  Not how I wanted the evening to go. But then nothing had gone right all damn day. The glow from my session with Trent was fading, and quickly. “If you two want to fight, go somewhere else to do it.”

  I found the T-shirt Trent had tossed aside and pulled it on because it didn’t look like I would be using my feminine wiles on either of my men.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I live here.” Gray returned and he’d taken his shirt off. He stood in front of Trent.

  “And where the hell do you think I would be if I hadn’t gotten kicked out for saving our woman from a long trip to the Hell plane?” Trent asked.

  That seemed to stump Gray. “You had a perfectly good apartment here. I guess I thought you would stay there.”

  Trent shook his head. “Think again. And yes, she’s trying to bring Lee, the eleven-year-old super criminal to our wolf hunt, and she’s lying about why. You want to deal with that or should I? Or we can stand here and argue like toddlers over a toy.”