Let the Rain Come Down [The Moonlight Breed 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans (read a book TXT) 📗

finished speaking, the dark blue slowly began to lighten and change, until Oscar’s eyes were once again a dazzling green. “Better?”

Yes, but that wasn’t what he’d meant at all. “Is it better for you?”

Oscar nodded firmly. “The way I came to Haven is how I look without any modifications. I really just want to be me, Demitrius.”

“Then be you. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

That sweet, innocent smile returned, and Oscar craned his neck to whisper their lips together. “Oh, I’m very happy right where I am.”

“Music to my ears,” he teased, twirling one of Oscar’s curls around his finger and tugging gently. “So, tell me something. This place you came from sounds like friggin’ Alcatraz in terms of security. How the hell did you escape, let alone get your friends out with you?”

“Those tranquilizers you told me about? I think you called them Inhibitors? Well, they gave us something like that to keep us from shifting at will.”

Demitrius kept his expression neutral, but he didn’t like what he was hearing. As far as he knew, members from the International Council for Preternatural Justice had been the ones to develop Inhibitors—as well as Inducers—as a way to control prisoners within the system. Hearing that The Hive had the same type of pharmaceuticals could be just a coincidence, but it certainly raised suspicion.

“A couple of months ago, I found out that a Master had not only purchased my contract, but Cicero, Zuriel, and Zavion were coming with me.” Oscar squeezed his eyes closed and growled under his breath. “I couldn’t let that happen to them. The day we were supposed to meet this guy, they didn’t give us the Inhibitors because he wanted to see us shift into our animals.”

“That’s how you got away,” Demitrius surmised. “You shifted and ran.”

Oscar bobbed his head in agreement. “No one is allowed inside The Hive, so we were taken to the ground level—the ‘staging area’ is what they called it. I convinced one of the Trainers that it would be more impressive if we appeared as animals first and then transformed to our human skins. When the front door opened, we ran like hell.”

“Loyal, sexy, brave, and intelligent,” Demitrius said as he beamed with pride. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

“I think you’re a little biased.” Snuggling back into his arms, Oscar pressed his lips to the skin just over Demitrius’s heart. “I can live with that.”

A perfunctory rap sounded at the door before it opened and the vampire Enforcer, Raven, stepped into the room. “Hey, Oz, have you seen Demi—oh.” Stopping in his tracks, he took in the scene before him and a slow, devilish smile spread over his face. “The meeting starts in ten minutes. You might want to get dressed, man.”

Oscar’s cheeks flushed such a deep red that his skin was almost purple. “Hi, Raven.”

“If you were looking for action, you should have said something. I’d have been more than happy to warm your bed, and then you wouldn’t have had to settle for this mangy asshole.”

Before he realized the intent to do so, Demitrius was out of bed and had his hand around Raven’s throat, pinning him to the door. “Watch your mouth, bloodsucker.” Growling viciously, he pulled the vampire toward him and then slammed him violently against the door again. “Talk to my mate like that again, and you’ll be getting up close and personal with the sun. Are we clear?”

To his irritation, Raven continued to smile, and his eyes lit up with merriment. “Relax, Dee. I was just fuckin’ around. I have no designs on your mate. Congrats, man.”

Closing his eyes briefly, Demitrius groaned as he released the Enforcer and stepped away. “I really hate you sometimes.”

Raven laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “C’mon, I have to give you a hard time.”

“I suggest you find a different topic in the future.” While Demitrius had a certain fondness for the smart-ass, no one disrespected his mate and got away with it.

“Wow, I thought sex was supposed to make people mellow.” Raven looked over Demitrius’s shoulder to Oscar and arched one dark eyebrow. “Maybe you’re doing it wrong.”

“Damn it, Raven!”

“I’m just sayin’ that you’re kind of growly. With those eyes and teeth, I can’t tell if you’re going to fuck him or eat him.”

Demitrius was two seconds away from ripping Raven’s balls out through his navel when the cutest giggle he’d ever heard reached his ears. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Oscar with both hands pressed to his mouth as he tried to contain his laughter.

“See,” Raven interjected. “He likes me.” Pulling the door open, he paused inside the doorway and winked roguishly. “By the way, no one here cares what you look like. Stop hiding behind the sunglasses, dude. They make you look like an idiot.”

“Told you so,” Oscar called in a singsongy voice, and he even went as far as to stick his tongue out. “You’re freakin’ hot, love. Stop trying to hide it.”

Everything had happened so quickly that Demitrius hadn’t even thought to shield his appearance before attacking Raven. It was too much to ask that everyone in the coven would be as accepting of his condition, but with Oscar at his side, he finally felt like he was home.

Chapter Seven

 

“I’m bored. Why can’t we shift and go play down by the pond?” Zavion flopped down on the sofa in the common room of their new dorm and pouted.

Everyone had come together and worked hard to construct the two five-bedroom cabins for the resident Moonlighters. It was only supposed to be temporary until they could finish building the private cabins, but since Oscar and his friends had never been on their own, they weren’t in any hurry to be separated.

“Because it’s freezing-nuts cold out there, dumb ass.” Keeton smacked Zavion in the back of the head as he dropped down on the cushion beside him.

“Plus there’s a freakin’ foot of snow on the ground,” Braxton added, curling his nose at the white fluff as