Covet Me (Immortal Vices and Virtues: Her Monstrous Mates, #1)

by Kel Carpenter

“I remember the feeling,” she said, answering my unspoken question with a half-smile. “It’s like someone injected adrenaline into you. The high is like a drug. So is the obsession.”

Spinning on my heel, I gave in to the urge to follow that divine scent. Niall’s back profile became center point the closer I got. I paused when he turned, revealing the beautiful petite woman in front of him. Electricity struck me. My blood fizzled and burned. It was her.

My mate. The mysterious girl from the subway. The woman that ruined the deal with the shifter syndicate—was none other than Nikki Ward. Fuck me.

“She doesn’t recognize me.” His words conflicted with my thoughts. “What?” “Nikki doesn’t recognize me. At least she claims not to.” My mouth opened, then closed.

Niall was a stone-cold bastard that operated on logic. Except when it came to Nikki. She was his kryptonite, and she just became mine.

“The alternative is she forgot me.” It had been four years since he’d walked into my life by accident. In all that time, he’d only once used that cold, angry, wrathful voice; when he told me about the fire. “She can’t just forget you. Her biology—” “Is either as broken as mine, or she lied. There’s no other possibility. Phaon said her trauma was too much. . .” I could sense the dark thoughts circulating through his mind. “We’ll figure it out,”

He didn’t know. The situation was delicate enough as it was without my instincts running rampant, whispering that he was competition. That I should eliminate him. Fucking mate bond hormones were going to be a big fucking problem if I didn’t handle this right.

“She knows about the deal,” he said quietly. “I’m getting the impression she hates me already.” The deal. It was bad enough when I made it for him. That I was now just as complicit, and it turned out she was actually my mate too . . . Part of me was tempted to turn and walk out. To forfeit and try to get her on my own terms. As much as the idea appealed to me, I knew Niall would never go for it—and mate or not—he and I were together through thick and thin. I just hoped he saw it that way when he learned the truth.

“Nik,” Gavriel whispered. “Mmm?” “It’s going to be okay.” I jerked my head in his direction. “You knew about this?” He shook his head. “I just found out a little bit ago. Mom told me.” “Lovely,” I muttered. She knew, and yet she’d never said anything to me. Why would she do that? I wanted to ask my mother why she never told me, but not until we were in private. I wanted her truth.

“I ate a toothpick earlier,” I blurted out. “You . . . what?” Alex asked, cocking an eyebrow and trying to suppress a laugh. Ty remained unchanged, and my dad looked at me incredulously. “I mean, not on purpose, obviously. Who would do that?” I cleared my throat. “But yeah, I just can’t get the taste out of my mouth. Gav was just telling me to get through the rest of the night and then I can go brush my teeth.”

Until a familiar face stood up and my world turned upside down. It was Subway-Mate. I tried to inconspicuously slide down in my seat, attempting to make myself smaller so that no one would see me. So that he wouldn’t see me. How could it be my luck that he would be a candidate in this shitshow election? Then it dawned on me. He just got up from the fae syndicate table. He was . . . In a panic, I looked over at Sam and she stared at my subway-mate with eyes wide. Her lips parted slightly in shock.

My mate was Adrian Rose. Adrian Rose who’d made a deal with my father. Adrian Rose was the mystery man meeting with my brother. Fate was a backstabbing bitch. If I ever met her, I'd punch her in the face.

I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t live her life. My chair shot backwards, and my legs snapped straight, thrusting me into a standing position. Each member of my family whipped their heads in my direction, eyes wide. “Nikki Ward for the Wards,” I blurted. Okay, maybe it was more of a light shout. Or just a shout-shout. Moving quickly, I practically ran up the stairs. I could see the look of shock on my brothers’ faces out of the corner of my eye, but they weren’t my concern. The man—the monster—I called my father was fuming.

Malachi, Niall, and Adrian stared in my direction with varying degrees of surprise. A small smirk appeared on Malachi’s face. Niall just looked infuriated. And Adrian seemed conflicted. Me too, Subway-Mate. Me too.

For some reason, the magic more than just accepted me. It called to me. That was definitely unexpected. But so was my throwing my name into a proverbial (not)goblet of fire. Too late now.

The fire wrapped around her nimble fingers, blue and purple along with some fascinating color in between. It touched her skin but didn't burn.

While what he and Ty could shift into wasn’t exactly hidden, the others were less obvious. But very few shifters could withstand fire, let alone have it wrap around them intimately.

Nikki was the rarest form of shifter; more of a myth than anything. While the other members of her family didn’t keep their shifted forms as much of a secret, my mate seemed to have hers on a tight leash. Much like me with my own. I suspected what we went through had changed her.

If looks could kill, his son would be dead. Maybe Typhaon wasn't supposed to be running. If the glare he shot Nikki afterward was anything to go off of, neither of them were meant to be on stage. Which made me wonder, was my mate not quite as obedient as Phaon made her out to be? Or did she simply despise the possibility of marrying me that much? Was she willing to risk her life to avoid it?

I knew he was glaring at me from his periphery. I could feel his rage as easily as I could feel my father’s. They seriously need a spa day or something so they could relax. If shifters weren’t so good at healing, their anger issues and stress levels would give them a heart condition.

“Jackie Storm.” Ty took a step back. Of course he would choose her. Twat. Silence. Oh shit. It was my turn. This was what I missed. The announcer had been saying we were going to go in reverse order, so I had zero time.

“Samantha Lowe of the Wards.” My best friend stood against the wall, still at her guard post. The glare of the lights didn't block me from seeing her, nor did it block the look on her face. The color had drained from her skin, and her lips were parted as though I had stolen her breath. Which, to be fair, I probably had. Had I really just done that? Yes, but I had no one else I could trust.

So really it wasn't panic that made me say her name. It was a logical decision. Yeah, we're gonna go with logic. Sam was going to kill me.

Niall stepped forward, and said the same damn thing that Adrian had. No second. Shocked whispers filtered through the crowd. The audience could be surprised all they wanted. I just thought they were idiots.

Only a few others chose to go without, and I just mentally included their name in the pool of morons.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked in a harsh and hushed tone. “Taking control of my life,” I whispered. “By trying to get yourself killed?” “No, by not letting my father marry me off. You remember that movie I made you watch? About the Scottish princess? I’ll be shooting for my own hand, you know?” With a grin on my face, I nodded in hopes she understood the reference. Instead, she stared at me blankly. “This isn't archery. This isn’t a movie. We had a plan, Nik. We were going to get you out. You weren't going to marry anyone.”

“Adrian is the Subway-Mate, Sam. Niall thinks he knows me. And Malachi ripped my heart out once and I’m terrified to give him a part of it back. I was about to have an anxiety attack at the thought of being handed over to any one of them.”

“You’re right about one thing. All eyes will be on us. They’re going to be watching our every move.” “But?” “But they have no idea what’s coming. I have an entire arsenal of movies, books, and cartoons in my armory, and I can guarantee that not one of these assholes is half as crazy as me.”

“Are you seriously planning to escape these trials using an Acme rocket?” “If I did, they wouldn’t see it coming, would they?” I grinned. “Oh my god, we’re gonna die.” “C’mon, Sam. Have a little faith. Show a little enthusiasm.” She gave a saccharine smile and with a peppy voice repeated, “Oh my god, we’re gonna die!” “That’s the spirit.” I held my hand up for a high five.

“Please tell me that plan doesn’t include tunneling underneath the city like a rabbit?” “Don’t be ridiculous,” I chided. “That’s not even practical.” “Good—” “Maybe a slingshot, though,” I muttered, ignoring the way Sam pinched the bridge of her nose.

“What's there to talk about? Tomorrow we’ll be at some undisclosed location. My mate will be there, and she doesn't even know who I am. I'm not sure she even recognizes that we're mates. She certainly didn’t act like it.”

he wasn’t happy that Nikki didn’t seem all that ready herself. I’d never say it to him, but who could blame her? We’d all made a deal with her father and didn’t give her any say. It was archaic and as backwoods as it got.

“She'll be there and we'll be there and I'll win her back. I'm pissed, but we'll get past it. I'll make sure of it.” Well, that really wasn't the best approach to the situation. Before I learned she was my mate, I probably would have let him just go at it this way. He was like a bull. When he decided to charge, nothing would stop him. Including me. The only difference this time was the red flag waving in his face was my mate—and his approach would alienate her. I’d be collateral damage, and that wasn’t acceptable. So while the bull was going to charge, I needed to make sure that he missed, or perhaps tripped, if necessary.

“Yeah, I did . . . and I recognized her.” I sounded like a damn idiot. “I knew I'd seen her face before. I just didn't realize how or when, or where …” I slowly trailed off. “I’m glad,” he said, his tone not matching his words. I chuckled. Eyebrows lifted, he turned his head away from the dark water to look at me. Now or never, I told myself. I really hoped we’d make it through this. “It’s Nikki.” “What?” he said, not understanding. At least I was pretty sure he didn’t since he didn’t seem to be upset. Or more upset, rather.

“It's Nikki,” I said again, repeating it slower this time. “Nikki Ward is my mate.” Niall blinked slowly, as if he were in a trance of some sort, and coming out of it. Then the spark of anger came. His hands tightened to fists and literal fire shone in his eyes, making him look more like a demon than a shifter.

I gave it sixty/forty odds that my admission would be my famous last words and they’d be on my gravestone. Forty percent leaned toward Niall drowning me in the river and I didn’t have a gravestone at all.

“You can't be serious. She's mine. My mate. I've known she was mine for four years, and I never rejected her. Even if she rejected me and never told me, I would have to accept it ...

“I’m not saying she's not your mate. All I'm telling you is the girl in the subway was Nikki. I saw her face. I knew I’d seen her somewhere, but I couldn't remember where it was. Once I saw her again, without the glamour, it clicked. The pictures of her that you've gotten from Alexander over the years. I saw her in them. And I saw her again tonight. I felt it, Niall. The bond is there and she feels it too.”

I would take the punch, but I wasn’t walking away from Nikki. For years, I'd wanted to find my mate. Decades, even. A great many fae had laughed at my expense because I was young for one of my race. I didn’t have a problem finding pretty women for sex. They couldn’t understand why I would want to settle down when so many of my kind waited at least a hundred years before looking for their one and only.

“All I’ve wanted is to find my mate. I didn’t think I would, certainly not in the same woman as you—but I won’t turn my back on her. This may be unconventional, but if she’ll have us both, I’m willing to make it work.”

I wasn’t backing down. He had to realize that. If we weren’t together in this, we were against each other—and it would make Nikki’s life much harder. And truth be told, I didn’t want to be against my best friend.

I bit back the urge to tell him he had to have her first for anyone to take her. Smartass comments, while second nature, would end in my spleen being outside my body. I wasn’t about that, and I wouldn’t shit all over his feelings.

“Nah, I’m just fucking with you,” I said dryly. “I planned on stabbing you in your sleep the first chance I got.” “You shithead.” He punched my shoulder lightly. He laughed a little and everything in me breathed easier.

“Yeah, asshole. I’m with you. Now we just need to get Nikki on board.” One down. One to go. While I was mildly worried about telling Niall and having him kill me, something told me that my spitfire mate was going to be the harder one to convince of the two. I’d always enjoyed a good challenge.

This was good since it gave me time to talk to Gavriel. This was not good because it gave my family time to talk to me. At home. Did I mention I was with my family? Things weren’t going well, as one would imagine.

“What the hell were you thinking?” my father yelled. “I was thinking Nikki is going to get herself killed and I did exactly what I was supposed to do as her brother. Protect her.”

Why did you do it? he asked. It’s complicated. Try. I don’t want to marry any of them. That’s not complicated. I want out. I saw a window. So I jumped. The trials are dangerous. I’ll be okay. Trust me. But you have to do something for me. What? Use Operation Sunnyside to get Lindsey and the kids out.

“You have no idea what you've done. The deals I made are now at risk. If I could make you take it back I would, but there’s no way around the binding magic of the fire.” I was entirely aware of that fact and how it worked in my favor, thank you very much.

Those families think I am reneging on the deal we made. I’ve already been accused of sabotaging them by letting two of my children enter the trials, especially the daughter who’s hand they are supposed to win. You’re a woman. I thought you understood the role you play for this family.” “There are other women in the trials,” I grumbled, and my mom shook her head at me as a warning to not fight back. “If Alex won, he didn't have to marry anyone in the syndicates. My competing is no different. If I win, you still have the power of Earth and Emerald but I wouldn’t need to marry anyone then. I don’t see the problem, Dad.”

“Do you actually think you are capable of winning?” “The thought had crossed my mind, yeah.” Alex shot me a look. It was one I knew well, and it was telling me to shut the hell up. Don’t dig the hole deeper. Ty pinched the bridge of his nose.