Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

said, his eyes wild. “I’d take off my hands before I let Emma suffer any longer.”
    Garreth studied his brother’s expression. Any Lykae would do the same for his mate. But Lachlain had made that statement as if he spoke… from experience.
What has happened to you out there, brother?
    “Trust me, Garreth, it is no’ so bad as this feeling—”
    When a whimper sounded from Emma’s room, Lachlain growled in answer, pounding at the bars. Then he deliberately raised his gaze to the ceiling. “I can dig through.”
    “Lachlain, I doona think that’s wise. This house is centuries old and gets battered as you would no’ believe.”
    “Doona care.”
    “You might care that all three stories are tongue-and-groove construction. One piece falls, it’ll be like a domino effect. War, hurricanes, and constant lightning have made it unsound. I doona think Val Hall can take a Lykae biting through the first floor.”
    “Support it while I’m gone.”
    “Hold the floor? If I canna, you could be hurting both our mates. This place could come crashing down.”
    Lachlain slapped him on the shoulder. “Be sure that you doona drop it.”

SIXTEEN

    Princess freaking Lucia.
    Her trip to the Lykae compound had been like a bucket of ice water tossed in her face. Because the denizens there had welcomed her—as Garreth’s “mate.” She’d heard the whispers, the truth out loud:
“That’s Princess Lucia, the Archer.”
    He lied! I
am
his mate.
He’d deceived her to get what he wanted.
Typical male.
    Now as she hastened out the door with the tape, she called Regin. “I’m walking out right now with the video—it’s all true. Get Annika to let Emma drink from Lachlain! Right now, Regin! Demestriu was the one who hurt Emma, and she did truly kill him.”
    “You’re a little late. Take your time.”
    Lucia froze, dread seeming to stop her heart. “Emma… ?”
    “Oh, no, she’s bingo! Just like you said, she drank from Lachlain and healed right up.”
    Lucia sagged with relief, sinking onto the front steps of the kennel.
Emma’s going to live!
Then Lucia frowned. “Annika allowed this?”
    “Hell no. The wolves escaped. And then Emma the Timid bitchslapped me when I went after Lachlain!” sheadded happily. “I mean really hard, and didn’t telegraph the move—
at all
. Finally, all those years training her paid off.”
    “What are you talking about? Where’s Garreth?”
    “Holding up, like, the entire floor of Val Hall while we get repairs done. Lachlain tore and
bit
through the ceiling over the cage to get to Emma, and now our whole house is sagging, about to fall down. Just goes to show you, Lykae are
outside pets
,” Regin said with a snort. “And Em loves Lachlain, and they’re getting married, I shite you not. Annika is freaking. I myself am torn. I mean, if Emma’s going to be their queen, her first decree could be that all Lykae are the Valkyrie’s bitches. She’s resistant to the idea, but I’ll wear her down.”
    Emma was safe—healthy. And in love. “How are the others reacting?”
    “They’re kind of feeling that if Emma wanted the wolf bad enough to go tag Demestriu, then felicitations to them both. And Lachlain did just save her life. Also, no Valkyrie were injured in the making of their recent escape. Still, doesn’t mean we want to hang out or anything.”
    Emma would wed Lachlain and be his queen. Now everything between the Valkyrie and Lykae would be different.
    Didn’t matter. Garreth was a liar—and she wanted nothing to do with him. Most of the time. Except when he was touching her.
    “So what’s the kennel like?” Regin asked.
    Lucia turned toward the building with narrowed eyes.
Before or after I get through with it?
    “Do they have food bowls and chew toys all around?”
    “The ‘compound’ looks like a Scottish hunting lodge.” The whole vibe was so… normal. It’d rattled her all the more because she
could
see herself hanging out there. Yes, there were some claw marks on the walls, but hell, Val Hall had its own “love stripes.”
    “And?” Regin asked.
    “What?”
    “What else happened?” Regin said. “I can hear something in your voice.”
    “I’m definitely… his mate.”
    Regin made a wincing sound. “Dude. Sorry.”
    “I’ve known, but I’ve been in denial.
He
even denied it.” Which proved that he was a cool customer, able to control himself instead of bellowing
mine
as he demanded her eternity. “But to hear the reality said out