Page 27 of The Eternal Choice
I nod. “It’s a bag I made invisible, weightless, freaking huge to hold anything I put in there, and can always reach for when I need it.”
“Like a canyon of a purse you carry out of sight,” he mutters. “But let me get this straight…you have it filled with weapons? No personal stuff?”
“Do you need tampons or something?” I huff, annoyed about his question. “Why don’t I hold it open so you can go check? Let me know if you find some clean panties while I grab one of the many knives in there I use to kill annoying persons with who have too many annoying questions.”
He leans forward, our noses almost touch when he murmurs, “Darlin’, threatening me with bodily harm is fruitless when I know you won’t ever hurt me.”
My breathing picks up due to his close proximity, and I want to rebel against the obvious effect my mate has on me. “I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.”
His lips brush against mine. “I might not be sure about my own blood having my back, but the woman standing before me I will trust blindly.”
Swoon. I lean in to press my mouth firmer against his and surrender in the moment to kiss this man and relish in the tingling feeling flowing through my veins. The sobering thought of his words on a loop inside my mind forces me to pull back.
“Nario,” I whisper and watch as sadness flashes over his face.
He gives me a slight nod when I hear my father say, “There you are. How are things at the mine?”
We pull away from one another and Ernestino jumps right back into the issues at hand. “We haven’t checked insideyet and I haven’t received word from Ivano.” He steps closer and holds out his hand. “Thanks for your help.”
My mother steps around the men and gives me a quick hug. “Thanks for the action, it’s been awhile since my last fight and it was just what I needed.”
I chuckle and whisper, “Don’t let Dad hear you.”
She rolls her eyes. “There was no real danger, and he knows it, otherwise I wouldn’t have been here. You know how crazy men can be, even if we can stand our own.”
I give her a smile while the reminder of the danger Ernestino was in flashes through my mind. “The fear of losing your mate isn’t worth taking any risk for.”
My mother’s smile is bright. “Living once for an eternity isn’t life granting, we all have to live to the fullest while keeping your eyes open at all times.”
“That’s for fuckin’ sure,” Lucian rumbles as he walks past us.
“Hey,” I quip. “Zipporah’s at home?” I ask, knowing the answer will be yes since his mate is pregnant.
Though, being pregnant won’t stop her from stepping onto a battlefield. The last time she joined a fight almost killed her. Lucian witnessing her head being sliced off and barely attached is something he never wants to experience again. Add the fact Zipporah is a unicorn and extremely rare, it’s only logical for her not to be here.
Immortality is only a word when mortality is realistic. Dammit. I never thought about death until now. I swallow hard. Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones messing with me. Yeah, that must be it.
“Safe and sound,” Lucian rumbles and lifts his chin at Ernestino. “Nice piece of land you have here, sorry to see stupid fucks trying to take it.”
Ernestino holds out his hand. “Thanks for the help.”
“Creed is overseeing the protection of the one we captured,” I explain, to let Lucian know where his vice president went.
“Boss,” Ivano rumbles and talks to Ernestino while we wait.
A few minutes pass when Ernestino wanders over to where we are waiting. “Ivano is going to restore the gate with a few of my men. Let’s head for the main building.”
“How many of your men are left who can fight?” my father questions.
Ernestino sighs. “Not as many as I would like. We have a few who always stand guard at the building where the unmated women live together. The mated couples have their own cottage on our land. There are close to forty men able to fight, not counting the elders who we respect too much to ask. This attack caught us by surprise and there were only half of our men on duty.”
“They must have known you were an easy target,” my father muses.
“My thoughts exactly,” Ernestino grunts.
Leandro is waiting in front of the main building and leans in close to Ernestino to whisper something. I can easily pick up the words, “I can’t find him.”
I stroll past them and lead my family into the building to give the two brothers some privacy.
