Chapter 16

Chapter 16
Shadow
Shadow watched the two men who were hovering outside of an apartment building, smoking and plotting their course of action to kidnap the two women inside of apartment 3B. She smirked to herself as she thought about how hard Merlot and his siblings were working to find the other kidnapped Diablo family teens. Now that she knew their names, it was only a matter of time before the goddess in her zeroed in on their locations.
When the men started inside the building, she crept along behind them. She would kill them inside the building and not out in the open, where people could possibly witness their deaths. She would then take them back to Slimmer where Merlot could decide how best to protect them. She licked her lips as she traipsed behind them, completely unseen. She grinned as they glanced behind themselves, but they looked straight through her. She was glad that invisibility was one of the three gifts she had asked her mother for before coming to Earth to save the world.
One of the men knocked on the door while the other stood off to the side, unseen by the peephole. The door was slowly opened to reveal an empty room, making Shadow’s grin bigger. These girls were smart, not placing themselves directly in harm's way. The men glanced at each other before slowly moving inside, with Shadow slipping in behind them, narrowly avoiding the door being shut in her face. The men looked around while Shadow immediately zeroed in on the girl’s location before snapping one man’s throat as the girls charged at the men from their places on the wall where they blended in. Shadow kicked his knee in before slicing his throat, stopping the girls in their tracks. She let the invisibility fall to smile at the girls.
“Well, hi, ladies. I’m here to save you,” she announced, making them both roll their eyes.
“We didn’t need you to save us. We had it handled,” the taller one snorted, making Shadow roll her eyes.
“Well, then, badasses, since you don’t need help… want to help me?”
The more dominant one crossed her arms over her chest. “You came to ‘rescue’ us, but are asking us for help? That makes total sense.”
Shadow chuckled. “You must be Gary.”
She shook her head. “I’m Easel. She’s Gary. I had her change her name. If people think she’s a man, they are less likely to fuck with her. How do you know our names? And better yet, tell me how in the hell you found us. Are you with the people we keep escaping from?”
Shadow smirked. “If I wanted to take you, you would be gone.” She picked up a snowglobe, shaking it to watch the “snow” inside float around. “I know you have avoided 6 attempts to take you. More than a dozen of your relatives have not been that lucky.”
Curiosity crossed her face. “Are you talking about Link and Minton?”
Shadow nodded. “Do you know them?”
“Yes. No. Well, kind of. They emailed us a few weeks ago, wanting to meet. They gave us a list of relatives. They were trying to get us all together.”
“Well, they were taken along with several of your other relatives.”
“Why?”
Shadow went to the kitchen, followed closely by the women, to look in the fridge. She pulled the bottle of wine out before pouring each of them a glass.
“Drink it. You’re going to need it.”
The women exchanged looks before picking up a glass. Shadow smiled at them as she quickly explained about the Diablo family, why they were being taken, and the dragon royal children who were trying to save them. When Shadow was done, Easel slowly ran her finger around the rim of her glass.
“Tell me more about Keith. You say he is a gamma?”
Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Out of everything I said, he’s what you’re curious about?”
“Look, you came to us. We didn’t come to you. Our grandmother already explained to us about the Diablo family and the dragon family, so no, none of that surprised or shocked us. And while you're telling me about Keith, you can explain what you need our help with.”
Shadow studied the girl. “I am a direct descendant of the Goddess. I am her biological daughter. I was sent here to save the rest of her family. Our family. My only problem is that I cannot locate you guys. I am very limited in my abilities. I need one of you,” she paused to study the two other women, “to agree to let yourself be taken. I need a way into one of the covens so I can find the rest of our family. As for Keith, he is a good guy. All he wants to do is find his mate, who I now assume is you. He is a fierce warrior. Other than that, I don’t know much about him.”
Easel sighed. “So, if I were to agree to be taken, how can you assure Gary’s safety?”
“Well, we would take her to Slimmer, and Merlot would keep her safe. He is mated to Margo and is now the Alpha of Slimmer. His sister, Joyce, is mated to Margo’s sister, Jenna, and is Merlot’s beta. Now, their other brother, Nomad, is mated to the last sister, Nalani. I’m not sure what his role is, but he seems like a good guy. He is very attentive. Their other sister, Mayra, is mated to Minton and is the Alpha of Obsidian. Lola is mated to Link and is Mayra’s beta. Keith and the rest of the siblings haven’t found their mates yet.”
Easel’s eyes widened. “How many siblings are there in total?”
“14.”
“So, if what you’re saying is true, then each of us is mated to one of them? There’s 17 of us and only 14 of them. How does that work?”
Gary sighed. “I guess that means we’re sharing a few of them.”
Easel turned her head to look at Gary. “What? There’s no way! I’m not sharing.”
“I was interested in Keith, too. None of the other names struck my fancy.”
Easel sighed. “I guess it makes sense, considering.”
Shadow raised her eyebrow. “Considering what?”
“Nothing. We should get Gary to Slimmer and set ourselves up to be kidnapped.”
Shadow groaned. “You would have to let me take her by myself. If I show up with you, they won’t want to let you leave, especially if we have to explain why you’re leaving.”
“Fine! But if anything happens to her, I will hurt you.”
Shadow tilted her head as she studied them. “Actually, I think I should take her to Obsidian.”
“Why?”
“Because Keith is there, and if she is his mate, too, he would protect her with his life.” She pinned Gary with a hard glare. “But you can’t mention Easel. He will hunt her down, and then we will lose any chance of finding the others. Do you understand?” She nodded before Shadow clapped her hands. “Okay, good. Let’s go.”
Gary turned to Easel, who wrapped her up in her arms, kissing her softly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Stay safe. I love you.”
Gary closed her eyes for a second before stepping away. “I won’t say it back, Easel. You have to come home to me if you want to hear it.”
Easel smiled softly. “I promise you, I’ll be back.”
Gary gave her a sharp nod as Shadow opened a portal to Obsidian. She walked through by Shadow’s side, not giving Easel a backward glance. Shadow led her up the stairs to knock on the door. The little bit of noise inside immediately ceased, and Shadow stepped in front of Gary as the door was yanked open. Keith shoved Mayra out of the way as he sniffed the air.
“Where is she?” he growled.
“Don’t scare her.” Shadow gently pulled Gary forward. “Gary, this is Keith. Keith, this is Gary.”
He pulled Gary into his arms, burying his face in her neck.
“Goddess, I thought…” He took a deep breath. “I thought you would have been taken,” he whispered.
She wrapped her arms around his waist as she leaned against his chest. Keith met Shadow’s eyes.
“How did you find her?”
Shadow shrugged. “I followed a bad guy. He led me to her. Now, I’m off to find more guys. Keep her safe.”
He swung Gary up into his arms. “Without a doubt.”
Shadow didn’t respond as she walked away to step back through the portal to go back to Easel, who was pacing. When Shadow shut the portal, Easel spun toward her.
“Is she okay?”
“Yes. He accepted her immediately.”
Easel wrung her hands. “Is he really going to protect her?”
“Yes.”
“She’s all I have.”
Shadow hugged her. “I promise you, she will be safe.”
“What now?”
“Now, I take her appearance, and we wait here for them to come.”
Easel bit her lip. “Uhmmm… we only have one bed.”
Shadow’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“Me and Gary… we’re intimate.”
Shadow groaned. “You sleep with your sister?”
“We are not sisters. It’s just safer that people think that. My grandmother found her on an adoption website and knew she was family, so she adopted her. We have a distant relative, and I mean distant. Like several centuries ago distant.”
Shadow shrugged. “Alright, but don’t expect me to be intimate with you.”
Easel nodded. “Understood.”
Shadow rolled her shoulders back as she placed Gary’s image over her own. “Lead the way.”