Zia… Galiena’s Master Bedroom Suite

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Ajax pinned Jeremy into the corner behind a ramshackled cage that was once Zia’s prison. The other members of the Dragofin Clan worked to separate demons from their possessed hosts. Thankfully, the win today had been in the Dragofin Clan’s favor.

Bodies littered the floor of the sitting area. Other subdued humanoid alien beings with unusual wrist restraints cowered and squirmed on the floor of the makeshift holding area.

She took in Lucien, the Twins, and Nolan working to determine if the demons could be removed without causing death to the hosts.

That left Blaise, Matt, and her mate finishing up the last few fighting holdouts. But it was Galiena who had her attention. Zia crossed the distance to come before the other woman.

Galiena continued to perform her tired and mundane gestures of protection within a translucent bubble. Now that the veil of confusion dissolved from her eyes, clarity exposed the Sorceress’s spells and illusions. Zia used her sight beyond sight to inspect Galiena’s defenses. The potency of her vision was so precise that it could dissect down to the molecular level if she dared to look that far.

For the first time in this nightmare encounter, Zia saw the look of confusion with a dash of fear skirt across Galiena’s face.

She was done with struggling to catch-up. This time Zia was up to speed on the truth and facts of what went on. Thankful for the lessons from the great serpent, she embraced the new inputs of information flowing to her. It didn’t take long for her to organize the information into useful pieces.

By now, Galiena had stopped her gyrations to consider the woman she’d spent most of her life terrorizing. Zia had the necessary information to end this. She took another step to bring herself within inches of the protective covering the other woman had cast around herself.

Hesitation had taken a back seat to Zia’s intentions as she poked a hole into the barrier. She remained calm as Galiena’s eyes grew larger. Small tingles of abnormal power lashed out against her flesh, but Zia had the right of the Universe and powers of the Goddess-blessed calling to overcome them.

Galiena threw more force into her spell. The tendrils of energy tried to repair the small opening. Zia allowed herself to see how the illegal frequency of power attempted to create a patch.

“That’s the problem with bootleg magic, now isn’t it?” she asked the desperate woman. “It can’t create, only copy and mimic.”

“No, you can’t do this. You shouldn’t be here. I refuse to allow you to do this.”

Galiena looked over at Greg and attempted to summon more demons to attack him. The realization of what she tried to do was clear as a bell. Zia saw it laid out before her.

This bitch was vindictive as hell.

Nothing that was illegal could stay without conforming to the laws of this realm. With dominion granted by the God-realm for this plane of existence, Zia had power over the elements to bind and loose whatever worked contrary to the natural order.

“Uh-uh-uh,” Zia waved a finger in front of the Sorceress. “Get that weak ass spell out of here.”

Without another hint or warning, Zia punched another hole into Galiena’s shield. With a thought of intention for it to obey the laws of this realm, the translucent force field fell away. Galiena stood there unshielded and in disbelief as Zia grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

“You’re out of order with this realm,” she said to the startled and shocked woman. “Stop using profane power or perish.”

Galiena’s face hardened in defiance. “You had a lucky fluke. Get your hands off of me, or I’ll kill everyone around us.”

“No, you won’t.” Zia focused intention on dousing Galiena’s power pull.

She funneled the true order of the universe into the hands she used to clasp Galiena. The woman tried to snatch her arm away. Zia held firm and continued to override Galiena’s attempts to wreck more havoc.

“Let go of me. You have no right to touch me.”

Zia saw through her rouse to make her lose focus. It was almost comical to see how delusional Galiena had become as she continued to try in vain to enact more spells.

Confident the Sorceress could do no more harm, Zia looked around for her family. For the first time, Zia saw her parents and brother. They’d been freed of those chairs but were still huddled up and sitting against the wall next to the double doors.

To Zia’s surprise, her normal reactionary instinct didn’t rise. Instead, she surveyed the room to gain more insight into what the current situation would take to shut this down.

On a whim, she tried to send a neural link to Greg.

He answered. “Yes, I hear you.” He followed his words with a quick look around to see where she stood with Galiena in her grasp. “Not sure what happened, but I like what you’ve done with the place.”

“I need to end this. What should I do with Galiena?” There was no way Zia would make such a monumental decision without buy-in from her mate.

“Lucien and I have agreed that she needs to go before the Galactic Council. We need to take her back to the Lair where we have holding cells. From there, we’ll arrange transport to the Council for her to answer for herself.”

“Do we have to have her in our home? If you give me the coordinates, I can send her there now.”

Greg stopped in mid-punch, ducked to land a leg swipe. His opponent crashed to the ground where Matt quickly subdued him with some of those weird-looking restraints.

“What do you mean?” he asked turning and giving her his complete attention.

“I mean, I can open a portal to anywhere, if I know where it is and its foundational elements. From my connection to you, I know that the Council is built upon justice and protection for the innocent. All I need are the coordinates to create a direct pathway to their realm and location.”

Greg stood in awe for a moment. She picked up more neural activity from him. This time she could sense he spoke with… Lucien. Her focus landed on Lucien to confirm her assessment.

Their leader didn’t stop what he did with the now cleansed man in his grasp, but Zia knew he spoke with her mate. As if on cue, he turned to look at her with new respect and nodded.

Greg’s full voice filled her head again. “Yes, if you’re certain you can send her there without harm to yourself or anyone else, he’ll get permission from the Council for immediate extradition.” His gaze floated over to where Ajax still had Jeremy pinned. “What about him? I sense he’s under a spell, but there’s more at work than that.”

She followed to look at what Greg observed. Zia took another look at the man she’d once thought she loved. Above his head hovered an orb the size of a large dodgeball. It posted itself a half-foot above the crown of Jeremy’s head. Invisible to the earth-realm and those contained within it, the sphere throbbed with sentient life.

Zia knew what it was. Immediacy to neutralize the threat propelled her into action. She broke her audible silence to alert her Clan. “Greg, everyone, take cover. Jeremy’s under the control of the Group. They’re watching everything we do.”

Every one of her Dragofin Clan family members stopped and looked over to where she pointed.

“It’s hovering up there.”

“What’s the realm and frequency?” Lucien asked.

Before she could think to answer, the words poured forth. “Its a shadow realm attached to Earth. It uses the adjacent pocket of space Galiena made to gain access into the earth-realm.”

Jeremy’s eyes began to dart in erratic patterns. His strength increased enough to throw off Ajax. He rushed toward where Zia and Galiena stood but not before Ajax caught him from behind.

“Where is she?” he growled. His voice was different. “Where’s the Princess? She was with you before. Where is she? We know she’s near.” Jeremy’s eyes locked onto Galiena.

His abrupt change to aggression toward her visibly threw Galiena. “Jeremy? What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?”

The orb spoke instead. “You have failed your task. You were supposed to make a portal for us to use at will.”

“No, I haven’t failed. There’s still time. Please, first, let me speak to Jeremy. I need to speak to him.” It was pitiful hearing Galiena plead like this.

“Very well, but only for a moment. Then we conclude our business with you.”

Galiena took a moment to compose herself. She eyed Zia to release her. When that didn’t happen, she smoothed a piece of hair behind an ear. The fire engine red lipstick she’d started out with had smeared and bled by now.

Once she was as ready as she could be with only one hand to work with, Galiena looked up at the orb and said, “Fine. Now, allow Jeremy to speak with me.”

Lucidity returned to the man’s stare as he came back to himself. Galiena tried to step forward. Zia refused to give the Sorceress the slightest bit of an inch. There was no telling what she might try.

“What do you want, Galiena?” His voice was flat with a touch of annoyance.

“I want to know why? Why would you go behind my back and do this? With the Group of all beings? You must know how dangerous they are. They care about none of us.”

He launched the sneer that Zia had grown to expect from him. “You don’t get it, do you? Did you think I ever forgave you for killing our son? You were so power hungry and revenged addled that you sacrificed him for more power. How could a mother do that to her child?” His eyes blazed with anger. Even disheveled from scuffling with Ajax, Jeremy managed to keep a part of his refined manner about him. “Galiena, answer me. I demand to know why. That’s the least you owe me.”

“You said you did forgive me.”

“I lied.”

“You came to me. Not the other way around. I never pretended to be anyone other than who I was. You said you’d do whatever I wanted to be together.”

“I pretended. Like you, I plotted and waited for the exact opportunity to make you pay.” He looked around the room and then back to her. “I’d say now looks like a great time.”

The horror of his words struck Galiena enough for her to stumble a bit. Those heels were still way too high.

“Was any of it real?” Her voice finally revealed a bit of her humanity. Zia almost felt sorry for her—almost.

“I’m human. Yes, I felt for you, but my need to see you pay for killing our child always won out. You’re evil, Galiena. You were always a bad seed. I don’t quite know why I fell for you. I did, and you burned me good. I don’t expect you to understand but know this. I will see you pay for what you did.”

His eyes glazed over again as the voices from above took control.

“Your time has expired. You have failed to deliver the contracted portal. You have failed on your end of the contract. We demand recompense. Per your signed agreement, we require you as a forfeit.”

Galiena had the look of a wild animal by now. “No, I’m not done. You can’t do this. Please, if you give me more time, I’ll finish this up.” Galiena’s words came rushed and fearful as she looked up to the spot where everyone else concentrated their gazes. “I was playing her to deliver her into your hands. If I had only known how close you were, I wouldn’t have wasted more time in producing her to you.”

“Lies. Cease talking. The only reason we allowed you to use her for your little games was because of her ability and proximity to the Oracle.”

“What Oracle? You didn’t say anything about an Oracle. I cannot be held to a part of the mission that wasn’t spelled out in our contract. Our business is voided. You didn’t divulge your intentions fully. That cost me valuable advantages in planning.”

Zia had to give it to her. Galiena was smart and quick on her feet. Something told her that this Group wasn’t having it, though.

The voice of many spoke again. “You are correct. We owe you nothing. You had a small role to play and have failed to produce. Therefore, your consequence for that failure is clearly spelled out.”

“No, you can’t. How was I supposed to know there was this Oracle person in the plan? That’s not fair!” the Sorceress wailed in frustration.

“We sensed the close presence of the Oracle to your target even now. She has a strong connection to this vessel. We wanted to use your little project as an attachment to this portal. Since your time to pay up is near and for the benefit of your audience, we’ll grant you an answer to your question. The Oracle is the Princess of Evaenal.”

“Who?” Galiena was clueless, but Zia knew exactly who they referenced.

Wren had been in danger the entire time. She had to make certain they didn’t find her. Before Zia could act on the new information, Matt lunged for Jeremy’s throat.

He almost connected with him until Greg managed to pull off a tackle of his brother to the ground. Matt grunted and squirmed under Greg’s vice grip as Ajax continued to restrain Jeremy.

The large golden giant so similar in appearance to her mate calmed down as she sensed her mate speaking with him through a neural link. Zia remained quiet. Assurance that by doing so, someone would speak and reveal the details of the Group’s meaning.

As if blind to the commotion, Matt had made, the sphere continued to speak to Galiena.

“You were right about one thing. We did have a backup plan to keep tabs on you. This vessel will see to your demise.”

With the strength of an untold number of men, Jeremy broke free of Ajax’s arms to plow toward Galiena. It all happened in slow motion as he snatched her out of Zia’s grasp. No one was quick enough to stop the man in the suit as he hurled her into the abused cage. Jeremy slammed the door and pushed the cage until it hit the back corner.

He wasn’t done. Zia saw the orb use his body like a puppet as he turned to look at the dispossessed demon spirits that hadn’t been banished back to their hovels.

“You can take your revenge now,” is all the man said as he held the door of the cage open once again.

Zia watched in disgust as the hoard of demon spirits rushed into the cage to torment their former enslaver.

Galiena’s eyes grew wide with rage and fear as she attempted to scream. Zia noticed that the sound barrier and magnetic field of the cage remained intact as the other woman struggled to get out and escape the onslaught of gnashing of teeth, clawing, and torment the demons visited on her person.

Greg ran toward Jeremy but didn’t make it in time. The man slammed the cage door shut and took off toward the balcony. He pressed through the open door Zia had left unattended. Horror gripped her ability to comprehend what happened as the first guy Zia had dated ran out and over the railing.

“No!” Her scream was so forceful, it tore at the insides of her throat.

Zia joined Greg as they ran out to reach Jeremy before he could plunge to his death. They were too late. Below, sixty-plus stories down, the beginnings of a speck of a crowd formed. She turned into her mate’s chest and buried her head as the sight burned an imprint on her memories.

He held her as she took a moment to have human empathy and consideration for these two people.

“You two, come back. The Group has disappeared, and we need to get a move on.” Lucien’s voice stormed through the room to reach them on the balcony. “Zia’s parents need Miss Connie’s medical attention immediately.”

Zia broke away to come back into the room first. “No need to wait any longer. I can help them now.”

She cleared the span of the room to where her brother leaned over almost laying on the floor. The others finished securing the last of the fighters and huddled behind her.

“One of you,” she motioned to the Twins, “please help me get him to a sitting position again?”

They did as she asked. Zia put her palms to her older brother’s ears and stilled herself. At first, nothing happened. Her emotions were in the way of connecting with higher source energy. Instead of listening or feeling around for confirmation, she willed herself to return to the one great all benevolent creative frequency.

If her brother was to return to his senses intact, she had to BE her calling and not try to DO her calling. As the beginnings of power collected and concentrated in her palms, Zia set her intention for full restoration to the highest expression of her brother’s true self.

Able to go with the flow of this segment of healing arts, she looked over at Greg and sent an image projection of what she planned to do.

Her mate nodded and went back over to the area by the cage. She returned her attention to her brother and continued to entrain herself with the frequency of healing needed. Greg made sounds in the background as he rummaged around to carry out her request.

When he returned, he passed her a towel he must have found in the attached master bath. It was smeared with the dust powder she’d broadcast for him to collect. His approach to carry out her request had been clever and safe.

“Be careful and grab it from this side,” was all he said as she took the cloth. To all his brothers he said, “Move her parents to over there and get back.” He pointed to the other side of the double doors.

He came to rest beside her. Zia looked at him with another image projecting her demand for his safety. Greg shook his head no, but she persisted. Finally, he relented and stepped over to where the others had migrated.

Greg’s voice filled the space once again. “That includes you too, Kylan. Over here with the rest of us.”

The twin had stayed to help keep her brother supported in the upright position. It wasn’t until she acknowledged Greg’s command with a nod that Kylan rose and walked over to where they all stood.

With the towel in one hand and her hand connected to her brother’s ear, Zia began to speak. The voice of the Siren emerged from its slumber deep within her essence.

In a voice full of beauty, authority, and harmonic resonance, the dual notes began to form and take flight to land on her brother’s beat down soul and spirit.

“Robert Elias Carter, Junior, also known as Bobby to your family and friends, embrace these vibrational sounds of healing. You’re free from the confines of this spell. Come back to your self in the highest expression of your being. For reparation of the ashes of your recent days, be restored to perfect health, youth, and vitality.” Zia took the towel and blew a puff of the dust into his face. “As was your essence subdued, so shall it be restored. This dust is commanded to conform to the righteous alignment of life. You’re released from death. Be restored to greater glory.”

Bobby remained still and unfocused. Zia turned her attention to where her parents were held by some of the Clan.

“Please, bring them both here to me?” She didn’t look back over to Bobby, fully convinced that he would be restored.

Once they were sat down in front of her, Zia repeated the process of the poison reversal. When she blew the dust in each of her parent’s faces, eyes of daggers stared at her from behind. She ceased use of her Siren’s Call and looked at her mother who already responded to the reversal.

Satisfied with her work on her family, Zia turned around to look at a sullen and bedraggled Galiena. Demons continued to poke and agitate her inside the cage, but the woman managed to focus on what Zia did long enough to know that her vengeance had been nullified.

Justice whispered in Zia’s ear as Galiena stared back into the room from the trap of her creation.

“Lucien?” Zia had to know if her idea would work.

“Yes?”

“Would you be willing to help my family downstairs? I would like for Miss Connie to give them a checkup to make sure they’re on the road to a full recovery.”

“Of course. I see you’re considering doing something with the Sorceress as well?”

“I am. Is it possible to still send her to the Galactic Council? If I’m right, the demons won’t be able to travel with her and will return to their domain. Is that correct?”

Lucien took a moment to answer. She got the feeling he contacted the Council with the request.

While she waited, Zia carefully folded the dust-covered towel and stood. She didn’t speak. No longer driven by the incessant need to voice every thought and idea any longer, she took her time and found a clear spot.

No one said anything as she went to the area next to where her family had been. She bent down and placed the towel on the dust covered floor. Zia took what looked like a short leather whip with lots of strings from the wall behind and brushed more of the scattered dust toward the towel. Once she’d made a circle around the towel to direct dust toward it, she stepped back and tossed the leather whip on top of the towel.

“Be gone and do no more harm. Every minuscule particle of poison and death be changed into the benign dust of the earth.”

Zia contorted her fingers into the shape of singularity followed by that of harmony with all. A sickly green spark the color of the dust flickered into being. The room remained quiet as the spark grew into a controlled flame.

The leather whip and towel transformed into ashes as the dust glowed and burned under the heat of the fire. The poison surrendered to entropy and changed its molecular structure to simple dust, Zia snapped her finger to stop the flame.

She waved her hands to the four winds and then horizontally and vertically to prevent any missed dust from finding a way to regain its bond with death.

Lucien spoke up. “Zia, the Council replied. They permit you to send Galiena to this location.”

As he rattled off the numbers, Zia saw Galiena throw what amounted to a hate dance inside the dented cage. Once she knew the location and confirmed the elements of the Council’s foundations, she drew the necessary shapes and symbols to transport the cage to the new location.

To her astonishment, opening portals for others were far easier. Or, it could have been that with her experience, she’d gained experiential and practical knowledge of what to do for successful transport.

Greg and the others made a move toward her. Zia stopped them. If anything went wrong, she didn’t want to have their welfare on her conscious. They stopped in their tracks but didn’t retreat.

Greg poured a continual stream of supporting love and strength into her as Zia set about opening a rip in space.

When the large oval portal opened, Zia saw a man tall like her mate but slightly less muscular. He looked to be human and was extremely handsome with the clearest Amber colored eyes she’d ever seen. Those eyes cut through the portal with their unique beauty as they sparkled like brown topaz and extreme intelligence. His hair was black with the start of graying temples. He smiled at her and gave what had to be a universal sign of good-to-go when he gave the thumbs up.

Zia warned everyone to stand back. The last thing she wanted on her conscious was sending a Guardian Warrior to a future date in a galaxy called Olodia. They agreed with noted reluctance,

She pushed the cage toward the opening. Galiena’s arms flailed about as the only act of protest she could launch. It seemed the gravitational lock worked on her the way it had on Zia.

Her focus was on delivering the hateful wench to justice. Zia pushed with more concentrated force. It took her two tries to break the wall of rest on the cage before it moved. Once she had it close enough to cover the entrance, quantum mechanics did the rest. Inertia propelled the sphere in a continued momentum. The opening of the portal sucked the sphere the rest of the way into its opening.

As soon as the pod disappeared into the hole, Zia looked back into the hole to see the same man stood next to the cage with a stunned Galiena inside.

Again, he gave her the thumbs up. This time he bowed and waved goodbye. Zia waved back and then the portal began to shrink. For good measure, she took care to dismantle the shapes and symbols that sat suspended in the air by doing an intentional erasure of their existence.

If anyone had told her a few weeks ago that she would be able to bind time and space like Dr. Strange, she would have thought they were drunk or crazy.

“Once again, you did it, my love.” Greg beamed with pride as he walked toward her. “I would have never imagined your gift and calling to be so diverse.” He looked over to Lucien and nodded.

Lucien announced, “The time is late. Earth authorities are on their way up here to investigate and we need to get out of here.”

Greg scanned the room and asked to the group, “What do we do with Galiena’s trunk of sorcery paraphernalia?”

Lucien looked over to the corner where the cage had been. “Hold on a sec, let me check that out.” He didn’t take long before speaking again. “Quinn and Wren say to leave it for the authorities to find. It has evidence and proof for a lot of their unsolved crimes of recent. Plus, they say we don’t have the proper way to transport it to a safe location.”

Greg spoke up. “They don’t know that we have a portal creator with us. Zia could send it to wherever needed.”

“No, leaving it is better. It’s discovery will help the natives get some much-needed answers and closure on atrocities that female visited upon them.”

“Thank goodness.” Zia breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she’d wanted to do was clean up after Galiena. With way more cheer than she’d had since this order began she rallied the group to leave. “We came, we fought, we conquered. No more reporting from the gutter.” With a final glance around she said, “Let’s be D&G.”

“D&G?” Greg’s light laugh was a balm of healing.

“You know, done and gone.”

“Oh. Well just so you know, we’ll be taking the vehicles back. The other mates are down stairs in the back. Hildy’s been holding a charm over the area to keep others away. It’s time we give her a break.”

“Yeah, she’s earned it.” Zia came close to her mate as the other men walked ahead of them to the maintenance elevator they’d used coming up. She turned back to see the torn up room. “What about all these people?”

“They’ll have to answer to the authorities for why they were in a residential apartment of a missing woman.”

“Do you want me to do a Siren’s Call to wipe their memories of us being here?”

“No need. The ones who were stripped of their demons don’t remember anything. The ones who are alien have already been bond by the restraints of confusion to keep their knowledge to themselves. If they try to tell anyone about us, their words will turn into gibberish.”

“I see y’all thought of everything.”

“We couldn’t have done it without your help. Galiena was a strong Sorceress.”

“Nah, she wasn’t all that.” Zia couldn’t help but brag a little at how much more superior her skills already were over the other woman. Galiena had practiced her craft most of her adult life. Zia felt good knowing that her starting point was so much higher. She’d work to grow her ability and master her calling.

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” she asked.

“Slipping off into your thoughts.” He draped an arm around her neck and asked, “How do you feel?”

She noted the concern in his tone. “To be honest I feel like Moses coming down from the mountain top.” She enjoyed the great sense of agency at her disposal.

“Oh yes? What’s the biggest lesson?” Greg’s demeanor had lost the rigid, sentry stance to allow his graceful movements to take over.

She paused to consider the questions. “Ooh, I know. To take risks. If I win, I’ll be happy. If I lose, I’ll be wiser. And this one is my favorite… excellence is found in calculated risks.”

He stopped to look down at her. “Why, Zia, you’ve tapped into the fountain of wisdom.”

“Oh yeah? I have you to thank for this gem that I’ve learned too. ‘The smarter you get the less you speak.’ I apologize for not listening to you or appreciating your ability to keep words at a minimum. You, Gryphon, are my gift. I love you.”

They turned to exit the condo when a cell phone on the kitchen counter lit up. Zia stopped. Recognition compelled her to go over to the phone. Greg didn’t interfere as he trailed behind. The phone held its active screen long enough for Zia to see the picture staring back at her.

Greg snatched the phone up to look closer. Staring back at them was a picture of Zia taken in front of her former bakery with a huge smile. The phone plastered big letters above her head. A tiny smile ceased her face as Zia read the name, “My Beautiful Baby,” that her mother had used for the notification contact name.

“This is your mother’s phone. Galiena knew no limits to her hatred and revenge-quest.” He handed it to her. “Do you want to give it back to your mother?”

“Nah, she has a new one. There’s probably bad ju-ju all through it by now.”

He pocketed the phone. “I’ll get rid of it once we leave this place. I don’t want to make it that easy on the local authorities to identify your parents and brother.”

“Then we need to do a sweep of the place for any of their DNA.” Zia didn’t want to tarry much longer, but also didn’t want her family mixed up in Galiena’s mess either.

“I’ve asked Lucien to make sure they don’t get caught up in anything having to do with this.”

Zia trusted her mate but wasn’t sure how that could happen. “How so?”

“Remember, we have allies in all the law enforcement organizations around the globe. It’s handled.”

“Good,” that was all Zia needed to hear from her mate.

She turned and they left the condo without remorse or a backward glance. Zia walked toward the others to enter the elevator with a new calm. On this side of her awakening, life slowed down to allow her time to reflect, consider, and decide the best possible course of action.

Their elevator closed as cops ran into the door of Galiena’s condo. In the elevator it was Rylan who spoke.

“Zia don’t worry about being detected. We jammed the local authority’s ability to see us or the elevator moving. We’re cloaked. Once we get to our cars and drive off, Hildy will release her cloaking charm.”

She felt how protective all the men were toward her. “Thank you for that. Makes me feel better.” For added measure, she looked over to the Twin and said, “My dear brother.” Then to them all, she added, “We’re family and I thank each of you for your sacrifice to save my parents and brother, Bobby. I love each of you—all my dear brothers.”

Smiles cracked the handsome faces of the giants who crowded around her in the confines of the elevator. Even Nolan and the quiet Blaise smiled. They had charge of her parents while her biological brother stood by and nodded his agreement. The large group rode the rest of the way in jovial spirits.

Once her parents and brother agreed to ride with Lucien’s group in the van back to Miss Connie’s, Zia allowed tension to release from her body. She hadn’t realized until then that stress still managed to invade deep down like it resided in her bones.

Her mate turned her to look up at him. “After we get back and make sure your family is all right, I want you to promise me, you’ll allow me to give you a massage.”

“Got it on my appointment calendar,” she joked and pointed to her head.

Zia started to walk toward the stairs at the end of the building. Greg stopped her and grabbed her hands. Like the gentle giant he was, her mate jumped down to the ground level and helped her down from the loading dock.

She saw that the vehicle was parked closer to the building than before. When her feet landed on the ground, Zia turned to go back to their waiting SUV. In the dark she could still make out Wren. Her friend sat in the back seat with a huge smile and eyes only for her mate. Matt saw her and took off in a run to close the distance.

Greg held her back for a moment and looked at her once more. “Zia, although I don’t sense anything amiss, I want to make sure you’re fine before we go another step.”

“My Gryphon, you have done more than I can comprehend with how valiantly you fought for me all day. Because of you, I’ve stepped into my calling and got a chance to right a great wrong. I couldn’t ask for more. I’m so full of love and joy that I could cry. Instead, I ask for a kiss.”

He lifted her up and Zia looped her legs around his waist as their lips met in passionate need.

After an inappropriately long kiss, Matt yelled from the SUV. “You two, my mate has to feed my son. Can we get a move on it?”

Zia broke the kiss and looked over to the vehicle where Wren sat in the backseat waving and doing a slight pee-pee dance.

The contagion was real. Zia ran toward the SUV and tossed back at Greg. “Get a move on. I don’t know which I need to do more—eat or make it to a bathroom. My stomach still isn’t happy about our day.”

They wasted no time taking off toward the Lair.

Greg spoke up. “Lucien says your parents and brother made it to Miss Connie’s where they proceeded to crash when she got them into the beds for observation. She says to get some rest. From what she can tell so far, they’re all fine.” She felt him look over at her in the dark of the cab of the vehicle. “I agree with her. You need some rest.”

“I need some food and a long visit with the bathroom.”

“I am so with that,” Wren chimed in.”

“Fine, Matt and I will make sure you two have food. Zia, I won’t continue to speak for Matt, but I’m asking you to go down to our nest and decompress. It’s been a long day and I worry about you and the baby.”

“Hear-hear, I concur,” Matt chimed in. “Same goes for you, little momma,” he said to his mate.

“Fine with me. I get food brought to me and an order to rest. I can do that with absolutely not a problem at all.” Her giggle made Zia smile. Wren was so kind and sweet. She would do what she could to make sure her friend stayed safe. Once back on a main street closer to home, Wren said, “I heard about Jeremy. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“No need to offer sympathy. We found out he was on a secret mission to deliver you to the Group.”

“What? That Bum Fucker!”

Everyone in the car was shocked to silence as the clean-mouthed Wren let another curse loose. As if knowing what they thought, she quickly added, “I blame the baby. He’s got a potty mouth.”

“Uh-uh,” was all Zia said as Greg pulled into the yard in front of the Lair.

They were going to sleep hard and long tonight.