In Too Deep (32 page)

“
Got something for these?” Hayden raised his wrists holding the shackles out to Dacia. “They’re warded.”

“
Sure, if you promise not to take this blade away.” Dacia smirked. “The enchantment will cut through the wards and the metal.”

Hayden’s eyes narrowed but he nodded as he held his wrists out. She freed him quickly.

“We need to get moving,” Dacia said, “There’s not much time until dark, and there are a lot of vampires underground.”

“
She’s right,” Fallon added. “Sooner we’re out, the safer we are.” She looked toward Dacia. “You know the way?”

“
Yeah, let’s go.” Dacia nodded. She led them through the labyrinth of dark dank corridors.

As the adrenalin
e faded, Fallon felt her exhaustion setting in and specks of black winking through her vision. She couldn’t keep walking. “Brody, I need help.”

He scooped her up.
“I’ve got you.”

A few minutes later they started the ascent and the
smooth stone corridor gave way to rough rocky tunnel. Then they came to a trap door that Hayden and Dacia threw open.

Preston took the lead, weaving through the forest to the vehicles.

Being in Brody’s arms gave Fallon a dose of strength. Just in time, too. The hair at the back of her neck stood up. She could feel the hum of a powerful shield.

“
Stop.” Fallon hissed, maneuvering out of Brody’s hold. She held up her hands, closing her eyes as she pushed energy into a dozen tiny balls of light and then flung them toward the pulsing shield she could sense. The lights pinged against the shield, getting caught. This one was much stronger than the first and only big enough to keep them from the trucks.

“
Robert, Preston, it’s a trap. Their dark mages are probably on the way.” she whispered.

“
Yeah, on it,” Robert answered. They went to work on the shields around the cars. Dark mages were about the last things she wanted to deal with. They would keep Malachi’s games going if they could.

She couldn’t find a weakness in the shield, and the mages weren’t getting anywhere either.

Dacia warned. “They’re coming.”

“
No shit,” Fallon answered, she spun around with her eyes closed, feeling for what was coming. She threw a spell in the direction of the dark energy, catching and freezing them in place with their ridiculous black hoods.

Robert disappeared
and popped up right behind them. He touched their shoulders, and she knew he cast a sleeping spell. Both mages fell forward.

“
Either one of them cast the shield?” Fallon asked Preston.

“
Wrong signature. Several mages did this one. I only recognize the feel of one of them, but that doesn’t mean much.”

“
Please tell me we’re only dealing with dark mages.” She hoped like hell the liche Malachi worked with before was still out of the picture. Demarco was the one who first approached her twenty years ago, and he scared the fuck out of Fallon.

Last she heard he was somewhere in Romania communing with the dead, but that was eight years ago. He was a sicker fuck than Malachi, but he preferred to work behind the scenes.

“Only Dark Mages,” Preston frowned. “Who were you thinking?”

“
DeMarco.”

“
Not a chance.” Preston assured her. “He hasn’t been back to the states since you sent the Dales packing last time. We’ve been keeping tabs on his demented ass.”

There was a pop
but Robert wasn’t the one who translocated to her side.

Another mage, in
a black cloak and hood appeared before Dacia. He wrapped his hand around her throat as he picked her up and reached for her pocket. Before Fallon could move to aid her, Dacia kicked the mage in the nuts, and he dropped her as he crumbled to the ground. Dacia stabbed the mage through the heart.

Fallon heard the chanting of other mages, and threw up the strongest shield she could. She grabbed Brody’s arm before he could charge off in the direction of the
dark mages.

* * * *

This time when Fallon shielded, Brody saw a myriad of color flare around the group and he couldn’t see a damned thing beyond the brilliant dome. He couldn’t even feel the breeze through her shield. It was so much stronger than the ones before.

Dacia and Hayden jumped back in surprise.

Preston turned to gape at her. “I thought you were drained.”

“
Not anymore,” she answered confidently. “We may not be able to break through his but he can’t break through mine either.” Her eyes swept over the group of them. “Don’t touch my shield because the jolt will hurt like a bitch.”

Tomahawk just stared
at her with wide eyes. “You sure are full of surprises.”

Brody was too stunned for words. He watched as she turned to
Preston with urgency.

“
Do you know how many were out there? I was too busy shutting out their spells to pay attention.”

“
Only three,” Preston said. “They’re powerful, but we can take them.”

“
Are you sure,” Robert asked.

“
It’s that, or you can call the council.” Fallon sighed. “You think they’re going to like finding us behind my shield? I’m guessing no.” She turned to Preston. “Are they all in the same direction?”

“Yeah.”

“Can we do anything?” Brody asked.

She nodded.
“Keep an eye out for anything else. We’ll have to deal with the mages, but the vampires should be out soon. It’s almost dark, and some of them are probably stupid enough to try shit anyway.”

“
I hope you know what you’re doing,” Robert whispered harshly.

Fallon dropped the shields but they were instantly surrounded by a mist. There was a pop and Fallon wasn’t there, but neither were Robert
or Preston.

* * * *

As soon as Fallon dropped her shield Robert took her hand and she was zipped across the clearing, beyond the thick mist. There were three mages chanting the spell that manifested the thick fog. Robert silenced them with a few words and the mist immediately dissipated.

Fallon ran forward as the Dark Mages turned their way. Robert and Preston flanked her. She cast a blinding spell, and they all covered their faces like morons. Preston threw a stream of fire at them, and their robes lit up. Fallon tackled the middle one and pushed her energy into the mage, and she knew Robert and Preston would do something similar, but she didn’t have time to worry about them.

The man beneath her was wily. He was trying to buck her off, but she managed to get her hands around his throat, and focused the energy into lines of electricity that wound around him like a rope. The spell would bind him, and everything he cast would only tighten the threads of her spell around him and either squeeze him into unconsciousness or kill him. Robert would probably be able to take all three of the mages to the nearest Silver Council compound. Once the mage was away from her, the spell would dissipate, but he’d probably be unconscious before then.

Something hit her from behind, flattening her on top of the mage who couldn’t fight back. She felt fur and heard the roar of a lion but he was man-shaped. She knew it was Damon, but didn’t know how
because she watched Brody rip his throat out.

Then again
, he wasn’t this powerful the last time she saw him, which was around the time she got him away from the Dales. Had they had him this whole time? “Let me go, Damon. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“
I’ll kill you and then I won’t have to think about what they did to me because of you,” he snarled.

A bitter laugh escaped.
“Because of me? I’m the one who saved your sorry ass. Did you ever stop to think about what I went through to get you out of there? And you’re going to blame me?”

He sat up and pulled her with him. One massive hand closed over her throat.
“If I never met you, they would never have taken me in the first place.”

“
Is that what they told you?” She didn’t move, just sighed. “Why are you with them again?”

She felt his head on her shoulder, his grip loosened, but she didn’t dare move yet. Damon wasn’t right in the head. Malachi was still alive in the orb, and his hold would remain. Fallon didn’t know what she could do about that, but Damon would kill her if she tried anything.

“I don’t remember,” he whispered. “Why are you here?”

“
That’s a long story, but I didn’t know they had you.” Even if she did, she wouldn’t have gone back for him. Not after what he said to her that last time.

* * * *

Brody ran to the clearing, and saw the werelion holding Fallon’s back to his chest, his hand ready to crush her throat. He stopped dead in his tracks. “Let her go.”

Fallon locked gazes with Brody. The warning was clear in her eyes.

“This the wolf Isaac wants?” Damon asked snidely.

“
Isaac is dead. Malachi is imprisoned. The Silver Council will deal with him,” Fallon answered.

Why wasn’t she fighting? Why was she letting him threaten her? He knew that if he moved Damon would kill her. There was an insane gleam in his eyes.

“Magic won’t fix me. You know how I feel about magic,” he growled at her and she winced.

“
I can’t help that I was born with magic, just like you can’t help that you were attacked when you were so young.” Fallon’s voice was steady. “The way I see it, you can kill me and you’ll be dead before my body hits the ground. Or you can let me go and can run, or you can get help. You aren’t a bad guy Damon. Don’t start acting like one just because you couldn’t handle what I am. I never hurt you before today, and that was in self-defense.”

Brody wasn’t sure he could be so forgiving, but if the cat let her go, he’d have to be.

“And if I want to die?” Damon moaned.

A tear fell down
her face. “If that’s truly what you want, it can be arranged.”

Robert appeared behind Damon and placed a hand on his shoulder, then they were both gone, leaving Fallon kneeling over the mage who was unconscious.

Brody rushed to her and scooped her up, careful to avoid the mage. “Did he hurt you?” he whispered.

“
No. I just couldn’t hurt him. He wasn’t thinking on his own.” Her voice cracked.

He took her face in his hands and gave her a soft kiss.

Robert came back and took away the other mage in a blink of an eye. He was tempted to ask Robert to take them home, but he needed to make sure Slater knew first.

When the mage showed back up, he squeezed Fallon’s shoulder.
“My sister thinks she can break Malachi’s hold. If not, I can take his memories about you and the Dales, but that’s a large chunk of his life.”

S
he nodded. “Probably best if you do. He still hates me.” Fallon took Brody’s hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Can we go home now?”

“
Yes. I can take you if you want.”

She shook her head.
“Don’t think Brody liked the ride last time. Thanks though.” She started for the trucks.

Brody pulled her to a stop.
“Let’s take the short ride. Just let me talk to Slater.”

He took a step away, and as soon as he let her hand go, she fell forward. Panicked, he caught her, tipping her face back. Her eyes were closed, she was limp in his arms, but she was breathing deep and even.

Slater rushed over. “What happened?”

Robert gave Slater a curious smile.
“The drug caught back up with her. She’ll sleep the rest of it off. I still don’t know how you managed to wake her up in the first place. Or how the hell she did all of that.”

Slater nodded.
“Some mated couples have that power over each other. Now that they’re out of danger, her body will process the drug normally.” Slater gave Brody a long look. “Let Robert take you both home. I’ll have Jess call to check on her later.”

Brody nodded. He didn’t have words. He didn’t give a
rat’s ass about the rest of the wolves at the moment. He just wanted to take care of Fallon.

Fallon woke screaming, sweaty and terrified. Brody was right there, brushing her hair out of her face.

He murmured,
“You’re alright. We’re home. I’m with you.”

“
It’s over?” she whispered, and rolled into his embrace.

He held her so tight.
“Yeah. They took Damon to get help. I guess they were able to break Malachi’s hold on Damon, but he jumped at the chance to forget everything about you. Talk about an asshole.” Brody muttered the last.

She sat up and slid her hand up his arm.
“Damon just had problems with magic. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with him in the first place.” Fallon shook her head. “After seeing my mistakes, can you see how I doubted your ability to accept me for me?”

“
Fallon, those were Damon’s issues. Not yours. Isaac, I don’t even have words to describe what kind of monster he was. Crazy or not, he wasn’t enthralled. There was no excuse for what he was willing to do. So no, I don’t understand how you blame yourself. But as long as you realize you won’t be my ruin, then I don’t care about them.”

She threw a leg over his waist and straddled him with a smile.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m never letting you go. I love you. Thank you.” She smiled wider than she probably ever had before.

“
Oh, sugar, you’re stuck with me. I won’t let you let me go.” He rolled her over and rose up on his elbows to look down at her. “You’re everything Fallon. I don’t know what I would have done if Damon took you from me. I know I would have taken every last Dale and their fighters if Isaac or Malachi had taken you from me.”

“
They didn’t. I’m right here. I don’t want to think about them ever again.” Her stomach growled, and he frowned. “What?”

“
You’ve been asleep since last night. It’s almost noon. Let’s get you fed.” He gave her lips a quick kiss and sat up.

“
I’d rather just make love to you,” she pouted.

“
Yes. Well, you’ll need your energy for all the love making I want to do. Now get up so you can eat. Then we’ll get to the good stuff.”

* * * *

Thanks to a huge favor from Jess, breakfast was ready and he had a surprise for Fallon. Now Brody just needed to get his nerves under control. When Robert came back to fill him in on what happened to everyone, Brody talked the mage into making sure she’d sleep until late morning at the very least.

After everything they’d been through, he wanted to make it official, and he hoped like hell he wasn’t pushing too hard too fast, but mating was as permanent as a relationship could get. Jess assured him that Fallon would be happy. That was enough for him to take the risk and jump ahead.

As soon as Fallon sat down, he pulled breakfast out of the oven and brought it to the table. She dug into her food the second he set her plate in front of her.

“
Hungry?” He chuckled.

“
Starved. This was a good idea.” She licked her lips when she looked back at him, and then went right back to eating with gusto. He loved that.

Man, his hands were shaking, he was so nervous, but he wanted to do this right. He ate his breakfast without really tasting anything. Once she finished her plate, she stood and took both to the sink.

He got up and followed her. She turned around, and he dropped to one knee as he pulled out a little box. “I don’t ever want to lose you. I want to spend the rest of our lives proving to you just how much you mean to me. Please, Fallon, Marry me.”

Fallon didn’t even look at the box. She just dropped to her knees and threw her arms around his neck.
“Really?”

“Yes
. I mean every word.”

Her mouth was on his, her hands in his hair. She broke the kiss only long enough to whisper,
“Yes.”

He wound his arms around her, and delved back into the kiss. She was everything to him, and he wanted to be her everything.

Fallon pulled back. “I should warn you, I’m not one of those women who have grand dreams about gigantic weddings. As long as I have you, I don’t care about the rest.”

“
Ditto. So we can figure that all out when you’re ready, but I do have this.” He pressed the opened box into her hand and she looked down.

As soon as he saw the ring, he knew it was hers
. It was a thick platinum band with diamonds, sapphires and emeralds embedded around the outside. The surface was smooth and wouldn’t catch on anything.

“
I love it,” she whispered, and looked into his eyes. “You didn’t need to do this. The ring is perfect, but….”

He stopped her argument with a kiss.
“I would have taken you to pick your own, but I saw this ring and knew you it was yours.” He took the ring and slid it on her finger before he stood and pulled her to her feet.

“
I’m so glad you crashed into my life, Brody”

“Me too.”

* * * *

Fallon’s phone started ringing.

Frowning, Brody stepped back. “You’ll want to get that. Amethyst has called you a couple times since yesterday. I got the impression that something was bothering her.”

She went to the counter and answered.
“Hi Amethyst.”

“
Fallon. Are you okay?” She sounded anxious. Fallon could just see her twisting the ends of her purple hair around her fingers in a nervous gesture.

“
I’m fine. What about you? What’s wrong?”

“
I hear you found yourself a good man.” She sighed. “He sounds like a total sweetie.”

Fallon grinned because he was.
“Yeah. He is and I’ll tell you all about him later. But first, you’re going to tell me what’s wrong. I know that tone sweetheart. What is it?”

Brody gave her a funny look but didn’t say anything.

“Well, Carl won’t leave me alone.” That wasn’t surprising. The jackass boyfriend had been a problem for a while. She dumped him just the week before Fallon moved up. “He’s stalking me. He shows up everywhere, begging me to come back. He hasn’t done anything but say some really stupid stuff. I just… I don’t know what to do.”

Fallon had a couple ideas of how Amethyst could solve that problem, but also knew she wasn’t likely to take that route.
“So, don’t take this the wrong way. You have an option, and I know you know what I’m referring to. Just keep the option open and use it before you can’t stand to be near him.”

Her voice broke.
“I really don’t want to go there.”

“
I know, but you can make him want to avoid you without hurting him.”

Brody tilted his head, obviously confused.

“Mom’s been trying to get me to do that for months,” she groaned. “The idea of doing that just makes me sick.”

“
Sorry. If I knew Opal was on you about it, I wouldn’t have gone there.” Fallon felt a bit guilty. Amethyst and her mother didn’t exactly see eye to eye on things.

“
That’s okay. I had another idea anyway,” she said hopefully.

“
Shoot.”

“
I was wondering if your new shop has an opening for a piercer. Between my mother and my ex, I think a move might be a good thing.”

“
We do. We don’t have a piercer at all. Adam and Tomahawk turn green anytime someone walks in and asks for a piercing. The big babies.” Fallon winked at Brody who shook his head. “So just let me know when you think you’re ready, and I’ll set it up.”

“
Just like that?” Amethyst asked suspiciously.

“
Remember, Jess is up here, which means she probably already lined the job up for you. And if not, I’m in tight with the owner’s brother, so don’t worry about that.” She grinned and Brody caught his bottom lip between his teeth. Fallon asked, “Are you doing okay? Really?”

“
Yeah, thanks for talking. I should let you go. Brody says you need your rest, though you sound good.”

“
I am good. But if you need to talk, you have my number.”

“
I do. Talk to you soon, Fallon.”

“
Bye Ame.” Fallon hung up and stalked over to Brody, winding her arms around his neck. “Now, where were we?”

“
I was about to make love to you, and never stop.” He took her mouth in a heated kiss.