aired…do you want to explain what happened with the fairy?”
“I don’t have any regrets to air,” said Tucker dully.
“What about grievances?”
Tucker raked his hands down his face.
Elias sat down on the other side of Tucker. “The plan was to kidnap her. Not to bring her to Hadrian. What happened? Jonas wouldn’t spill.”
“She stood to gain more with Hadrian.”
“That can’t be true,” Roksana scoffed.
He didn’t want to talk about his pain out loud. No, he wanted to wrap himself tightly around it and let the suffering destroy him, the way soldiers fell on a grenade. He was harboring pain so bitter, it shouldn’t be inflicted on anyone else. But if this was the last time he would see his best friends, he had to give them something. Especially since he would be taking away their right to have his back. If the situation was reversed, he would be eternally pissed. “Elias, if keeping Roksana meant she could never fight again, would you give her up?”
“No.”
“No.” Tucker glanced over at his stoic friend. “Just like that.”
Elias nodded, sending his mate a blistering look that would have made Tucker uncomfortable if he had the ability to feel anything but loss. “I would fight on her behalf,” said his friend firmly. “Whatever she needed.”
“But fighting is what she loves the most.”
“Elias is what I love most,” Roksana said, crossing her arms jerkily, apparently no more comfortable discussing emotions than when she was human. “I could adapt to any changes if Elias is there to strengthen me. And vice versa.”
“Hell if that isn’t right,” Elias growled. “I need her. She needs me.”
“You know, having a decent sulk is pretty fucking difficult when I’m sandwiched between you two horn dogs.”
Roksana breathed a shaky laugh. “I did not know to expect this increased…ardor…after being Silenced.”
“She was like this before,” Elias drawled, earning him a playful flash of Roksana’s fangs. “Anyway, the point is moot. We are mated. I couldn’t give her up without sentencing myself to a painful death.” Elias blinked, studied Tucker more closely. “We had a suspicion that Mary might be your mate. The way you reacted to each other at the club…”
Tucker remained silent, staring straight ahead.
Elias shoved to his feet. “Jesus Christ.” He paced away, whirled around and came back. “Have you drunk from her?” He shook his head. “No, it’s not possible. I can’t hear your heart beating.”
“It’s there.” He pushed open the sides of his leather jacket, the low sound of his pulse slothful in his ears. “It’s just quiet without her.”
Elias was visibly stricken. And when Roksana jerked back, Tucker knew she’d heard the organ laboring to perform. Already. After just forty-eight hours without his mate. “But I don’t understand. You can’t be without Mary now. Why would you bring her to Hadrian?”
Tucker rubbed at his gritty eyes. “My animal instinct might have been to keep her so I could live. But I didn’t want her life with me to be less than she deserved. I made the decision I would have made as a human.” He dropped his hand away and conjured up the best smile he could manage for both of them. “We all know I’ve always been more human than vampire. The human side won.”
“But we all lose,” Roksana breathed, her eyes awash with moisture.
“I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Tucker patted her on the crown of her head and stood. “You make sure to pour out a cold one for me every year, huh?”
He hated walking away from Elias and Roksana when they were visibly reeling, but he simply didn’t have enough strength in his body to do anything about it. He could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other and completing the mission he’d set out for himself.
Maybe this was the purpose he’d been waiting for as far back as he could remember.
The family, home, the porch and the sense of belonging was never in the cards. But giving Mary her happiness and helping good overcome evil was.
A man could be remembered for far worse.
He found Jonas outside the factory looking out over the surrounding barren field. When Tucker approached, the king didn’t even turn around, letting Tucker know he’d been expected.
“Did you find a way for me to get to Hadrian?”
Jonas turned to Tucker, conflict heavy in his expression. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Come on, man.” Tucker took a half-smoked cigar out of his coat pocket, lit it and took a long puff, letting a ring of