Pride Before the Fall Read online

  Kai stepped back and patted her chest, then she reached out and patted mine, repeating the gesture for good measure. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling my face turn red as my sister studied me with way too much interest. Kaimana nudged me and patted her chest again.

  I sighed. "She wants me to tell you she's...."

  "Yours too," Gabbi said, suppressed laughter trembling at the corners of her lips. "Gods, Gesa. Mom must have flipped her lid."

  The grin that was unconsciously clawing its way onto my face fell at once. "Fuck her."

  Gabbi pressed her lips together but wisely didn't say anything.

  The desk lady brought me a clipboard and a pen, her scowl so strong it almost knocked me over. "The doctor says to let you sign Miss Lionheart out." She handed Oisin a damned drink carrier full of Styrofoam cups, the scent of coffee and chocolate wafting from beneath the lids.

  I scrawled my signature on the form. Then, taking a deep breath and swallowing bile, I added the initials "C.H." Clan head. I wasn't just a family member coming to get her sister out. I was a clan leader coming to take back the clan member they had imprisoned. I pretty much just declared war on the council.

  Not that I gave a flying fuck.

  "Come on," I said, flinging the pen back at Gertrude. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

  Chapter 9

  We all climbed into the SUV and I peeled out like we were being chased. I didn't know how long we had before Oisin's mind-fuck fully faded and the doctor called whatever council member paid his bribe to report Gabbi's escape. Oisin, who was sitting up front with me, slipped his fingers into my tight back pocket.

  "Seriously, you walking cock. Not now."

  He laughed. "Lift your hips. I need your phone."

  I let him pull it out of my pocket, since I was driving like a bat out of hell down a dirt road. He tapped at my screen then tossed the phone on the dash. "I sent the picture of the paperwork to my email and Con's. Just in case you lose your phone, since this is you we're talking about."

  Gabbi laughed from the backseat. "I think I like your pride, Sis."

  Hisashi shook her hand. "I'm Hisashi, by the way."

  She grinned and touched the blue tattoo on the shaved side of his head. "What's this mean?"

  He winked. "It's a secret."

  I frowned, recalling my mother's jabs about Hisashi's family. I really knew nothing about his past and what led him to us. I re-focused my eyes on the road. "Hisashi is a nine-tailed fox. Kaimana is an octopus—"

  "What?" Oisin asked.

  "An octopus?" Con's voice was full of that nerdy professor tone he got sometimes, and I knew he was going to learn everything he could about octopuses as soon as we got back home. Hell, he'd probably spend the rest of tonight Googling it.

  I flicked a glance at the guys. "Oh, right. Sorry. Um. Not a mermaid like we thought."

  Kaimana shrugged, like we were all idiots.

  Gabbi smirked. "I have a penis, if we're sharing secrets."

  I groaned.

  "So do I," Oisin said happily. "So does Con. I assume Hisashi does as well, but I haven't seen it yet."

  Hisashi waggled his eyebrows. "Anytime, fae."

  I pretended to bash my forehead on the steering wheel. "Not with my little sister in the car, assholes."

  Gabbi laughed so hard she was crying. Kaimana tapped her on the shoulder and when Gabbi looked at her, the octopus pointed at her own crotch and made a negative gesture with her hands. Gabbi laughed even harder. "Got it. No penis."

  I sighed. "Glad we got that off our chests. Gabbi, no one here is going to judge you. But please, for the thousandth fucking time. I don't want to discuss my sister's dick."

  That set them all off. I ignored the fuckers and tried to get us back to the manor faster so I could escape. It was going great, until I saw a glint of something on the road.

  It was too late to swerve. The SUV roared over the spikes in the road, the tires burst, and I didn't even have time to swear as I spun the wheel back and forth with all my strength, trying to keep from fishtailing into the deep ditch thanks to the loose gravel.

  I vaguely registered Oisin unbuckling his fucking seatbelt before I lost control of the car. The steering wheel was wrenched from my hands as we hit a bump, the SUV slid sideways and hit the ditch going way too fast, side on. Oisin launched himself into the back seat. We flipped, rolling over and over, the world coming unhinged, until we landed back on the tires, hitting a big tree with metallic crunch that brought everything to an abrupt halt.

  Dead silence reigned for a few seconds. I could hear harsh breathing, the car's hot engine ticking. Small showers of glass from the shattered windows. Coffee was everywhere. Blood trickled from my head and into my eyes and I lifted a hand to wipe it away, noting absently that the hand was shattered.

  I shifted to eagle talons, gritting my teeth as the broken bones reorganized. Then I sliced through my seatbelt, freeing myself to turn and look into the backseat.

  What I saw made my breath catch in my chest. Oisin had fresh blood on his chin from a rapidly healing split lip. One side of his face was a massive bruise that was starting to yellow even now, his fae healing abilities kicking in. He and Hisashi had clasped hands, the circle of their arms forming a supe barrier around Con—the one human in the car.

  I gasped as that sudden realization swamped me with fear. Fuck. Con. He was so fragile. My head had stopped bleeding already as I clambered between the seats. Kaimana had an arm around Gabbi and they both looked shaken, but uninjured. I pushed my way onto the floor by my pile of men. "Fuck. Con?"

  Oisin's bright green eyes flashed to mine, wild and feral. Con groaned and I pushed Hisashi and Oisin back, realizing only as I connected with them that they had erected some sort of...shield.

  Con peered up at me with dazed honey-brown eyes. "Gesa? The fuck happened?"

  I let out a breath. "We crashed," I said helpfully. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

  He chuckled. "I... I don't know. Guys, honestly. I don't care if you are into each other, but I'm not going to be the meat in your sandwich." He pushed weakly at Oisin and Hisashi.

  I shook my head at him. "Okay, get off him. I think he needs oxygen."

  Hisashi sat up and braced Con with an arm around his back. "You okay, dude?"

  Con rolled his shoulders and moved his neck tentatively. "I think just sore. If you guys hadn't—" His voice cracked, and he swallowed. "Thanks."

  “Anytime, darling.” Oisin brushed a hand over Con's cheek, but his gaze was focused over his shoulder, out the window. "We need to get out of the car."

  I followed his gaze to see a group of black-clad people approaching. With weapons in their hands.

  "Motherfucker."

  "Yes," Oisin agreed. "They probably enjoy it nightly."

  I shoved him. "Not now."

  He glanced at the others. "Con, you have your gun still? Good. Fishy and Gryphon number two—protect the human. Maybe out the other side of the car and hide behind it but watch the woods at your backs for any others."

  I started unbuttoning my jeans as the half-dozen guys with guns drew closer. Gabbi moaned. "Sure, I don't get to make dick jokes, but I have to see your naked ass. Gross Gesa."

  I ignored her. "Get out. Now. You let anything happen to my human and I swear to the Gods, I'll burn all your Vera Wang."

  As the others slipped out the other side of the car, I slid back into the front seat. Oisin and I flung the doors on our side of the vehicle open at the same time. I launched myself off the seat naked, shifting mid-air and pumping my wings, hoping to startle the assholes on the ground long enough for Oisin and Hisashi to do something.

  They didn't disappoint. Shots sounded and bullets whizzed past me, one of them leaving a shallow furrow on my right front leg. I angled my body, circling back around to dive-bomb them from behind. Silver flashed as Oisin danced about the field, his twin fae blades spinning, sending blood spraying like a fountain.

  Hisashi had his sais out
, and I marveled at the way he moved. He was a bit slower than Oisin, due to his size, but he was just as graceful and deadly. They took out four of the armed men before anyone could even pull their trigger. Hisashi killed like it was second nature, his lips drawn back over pointed vulpine teeth, eyes flashing sliver. I really needed to talk to my fox about his past.

  I landed on attacker number five with the satisfying crunch and snap of bones breaking under a thousand pounds of lion. Springing off my victim, I paced toward the last guy, letting out a terrible eagle screech.

  Hisashi looked strange from this close. He was...misty. I watched in awe as he seemed to vanish under a haze of fog, only to reappear behind the man who was aiming his gun at me. The sai sank into the guy's kidneys and he dropped like a rock.

  Oisin appeared at Hisashi's side and the fox stopped looking ghostly. "Next time leave one alive," the fae complained. "Now we can't bleed him for information."

  Hisashi looked down at the corpse at his feet. "Uh...sorry?" he said sheepishly. "He was aiming at Gesa, I didn't think."

  Oisin huffed and stepped over the dead guy, his magic blades vanishing into thin air. "Children."

  We circled the SUV just as a surge of magic bubbled up. Oisin's magic flared up to meet it, and he growled like an animal. I slid to a halt as I saw what he was seeing.

  A fucking mage.

  The guy stood between us and where Gabbi, Kaimana, and Con huddled. Con had his gun pointed at the guy's chest. Gabbi had partially shifted and held her talons ready to rend. But the Mage held a glowing ball of lightning in each of his hands, poised to launch them at the group.

  We all stared at each other for a moment. Then Con squeezed the trigger.

  "Fuck!" Hisashi lurched forward, past Oisin and whatever magic he was casting, tendrils of smoke emanating from the taller man as he shifted.

  A glowing ball of blue energy encompassed the nine-tailed fox as he landed right next to the mage. Con's bullet hit the mage in the chest, but the mage had lofted his lightning ball. It struck that blue barrier around Hisashi and bounced back, frying its caster.

  The man's howling, gurgling scream and the smell of cooking flesh was fucking awful.

  Once the twitching stopped, Hisashi dropped his barrier. Oisin was at his side in a flash, his slender hand sinking into the fox's soft, flowing white fur. He yanked, shaking the massive fox like a disobedient kitten. "You stupid kit! I had it handled. Are you trying to die?"

  He let go of the fox and whirled to stalk toward Con. "And you! What part of 'protect the human' do you not understand? Why are you out here shooting at things, when you should be in the woods hiding?"

  Con pressed his lips together and glared at Oisin. "I'm not a piece of glass. I'm part of this pride too. Even if I'm not an invincible supe."

  Oisin stalked closer to him. "I know that, you imbecile." He grabbed the front of Con's shirt. "You're the center of us, you moron. Do you think losing you wouldn't wound us all?"

  Con gaped down at him, opening and closing his mouth.

  Oisin shook him again, and I saw the cracks in my fae’s armor. “What will you do when I’m not here to supervise you like children?”

  Then the fae stepped back and snapped his calm, snarky mask on with a speed that made my head spin. Son of a bitch. What did he mean ‘when I’m not here?’

  I shifted back to human and crossed my arms. "Assholes. All of you."

  They all stared at me. "There is absolutely no shame in letting the stronger ones of us protect the less physically strong. You idiots are all important to me. And to each other." I stalked to the car and fished around to get my clothes, then turned back to them as I yanked on my t-shirt and pants. "Is everyone okay? Anyone else want to do something dumb because they think they aren't as important as the rest of us? No? Okay."

  I spun and went back to the car to fish around for my phone. It was covered in glass shards and coffee. But thankfully it still worked. I called the police and explained the heir of Lionheart had been attacked by assassins. The police force here was a little more in the know about the supe community than back in New Paradise, mostly because the gryphon clan had been around so long. Gryphons built this place before humans even appeared on the scene. Gabby took the phone from me and explained some complicated political bullshit I had zero patience for.

  My pride circled me, each of them taking some chance to touch me. A touch of a hand here, a brush of a shoulder there. Kaimana trying to squeeze the living fuck out of me.

  I sat down in the dirt and waited for the cops to come. This was such bullshit. I just wanted to go home.

  Oisin sank down next to me, hardly a hair out of place on his perfect head. "Alright, beautiful beast?"

  I nodded. "Sure." Except for the fucking mage.

  Oisin picked up my hand, which was now healed, and pressed his pillowy lips to the back of it.

  We waited for about ten minutes before a limo pulled up and my mother herself stepped out, just as the police arrived.

  "I will not tolerate this disrespect toward my family," she said in a ringing voice. "The council has gone too far in its games this time." The detective she had trapped in her clutches nodded and looked grim.

  I stepped past my mother as she really got herself wound up in her political speech. I'm sure someone was recording it. Gesturing for my pride to follow me, I slunk behind her and into her abandoned car. Gabbi shook her head but followed. The look on my mother's face when her own car drove off without her was priceless.

  Chapter 10

  The first order of business when we got back to Lionheart manor, according to my gryphon, was to make sure my pride was okay. All the supes had healed up, but I still wasn't content until I ran my hands over them, looked in their eyes, and felt their auras against mine, strong and bright.

  Con was another matter. He had been protected from serious injury by Oisin's quick thinking and a combo of fae and fox magic. But the human had still been bounced around inside that magical barrier. He had a bruise by his hairline, and when I insisted on taking his shirt off, he couldn't lift his left arm by himself. Irritated, I tore the t-shirt open in the front and peeled him out of it. He had a dark purple bruise forming from his left shoulder down across his chest to his hip where the seatbelt had dug into his soft human flesh. I thought the shoulder was just sore from the bruising, but it still made me want to growl and pace.

  Oisin and Kaimana hovered as I poked and prodded at my human, their eyes full of concern. Con tried to brush me off, but I wasn't having it. He could have been killed by a simple car accident, for fuck's sake. How did humans live like this?

  "Seriously, Gesa, I'm fine. Just muscle aches and bruises. This is what happens when humans get jostled too hard. It will heal," Con insisted, catching my hands in his and giving them a squeeze. He smiled shyly. "I would love to soak in a warm bath though. And I might need help getting my pants off because I'm so stiff I can barely move."

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you sure you don't need to go to the human hospital?"

  He heaved a sigh and looked past me for help. "Oisin? Please make her stop." Why the fuck did everyone think Oisin was my second in command?

  The fae ran his hand over the bruise on Con's chest, and I could feel the magic trailing over the human's skin from where I stood. "Are you sure, Con? This looks serious." He trapped his lower lip between his sharp white teeth. "This bruise seems to be getting worse, not better. You are sure nothing internal is injured?"

  Con rolled his eyes skyward as if praying for patience. "Not you too. That is how it works with humans. We don't heal bruises in seconds. It'll look even worse tomorrow. But that's what's supposed to happen."

  Kaimana took Con's face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. She gave him a stern, pointed look.

  He clenched his teeth together. "I'm human. Not paper mache. I'm fine."

  Hisashi, who was lounging on my bed with a damned sake jug, chuckled. When we all turned to glare at him, he held up his hand
s in defense. "What? You guys are adorable. But I’ve been around humans a lot. He’ll be fine." He winked at Con. "You're lucky. They love you. Let 'em fuss."

  Con flushed a dusky color under his dark skin. "You guys, please. I need a good hot soak and a nap. I promise not to die."

  I sighed and turned toward the door. "Come on. I'll help you with your pants."

  Oisin's voice followed us as Con shuffled out the door like a tired old man. "I could help with your pants, Con."

  Con's "fuck off" was half-hearted. He really was hurting.

  I wrapped an arm around his waist, careful not to press too hard. "Sorry for being so annoying," I said, voice still growly from concern.

  Con huffed a laugh. "Now I know how you feel when we all worry about you. It's horrible. And wonderful." He shot me a sidelong glance, quiet wonder in his voice. "I've never had so many people give a crap about me. There was father Paul at the church, and a couple of foster parents who probably don't remember me anymore. But then you came along and... sometimes I still can't believe it."

  I smiled at him. "You deserve all the love you can get, Con." I knew he didn't believe that, but I was working on fixing that little flaw.

  We reached the bathroom and I steered him inside and made him sit while I got his bath ready. I really did have to help him with his pants and underwear. And there was no innuendo involved. He was clearly tired and hurting. His poor body was not up to any hijinks. He eased under the water with a groan and rested his head back against the edge of the tub. "Thanks, Gesa. Really."

  I ruffled his soft curls and leaned down to kiss him. I kept the touch light, but he curled a damp hand around the back of my head and kept me there when I would have pulled away, his lips on mine like a promise he would be okay, a physical demonstration that he was still alive. And boy did it ever work. My Con might seem soft and gentle, but he was intense.

  When I did pull back, his golden-brown eyes stared up at me, lusty but tired. "I meant what I said back there after the accident," he said softly. "I am happy to be part of your pride, Gesa. And I know that sometimes that means I'll be in danger. I might even die for real one day. But...somehow you managed to not only give me yourself, but a whole damned family along with it." He shook his head. "Oisin...did you see how fast he moved? To protect me. And I hardly know Hisashi and he threw himself at a fucking mage for me. I don't...I just...why?"