Rake My Lust (Dragons of Blood and Bone #3)

23. Trouble

23

TROUBLE

M ikkel Thorsen interjects his dragon-energy in a firm barrier between his sister and me, as L?rke Thorsen threatens to toss me out of their Copenhagen club. I understand her anger; as she stares me down with hot lavender-crimson eyes from across Mikkel’s barrier now, I know we’ve just kicked the hornet’s nest of her wrath.

Because she’s the protector of the twins; even as Mikkel’s dark eyes shine to get into far more trouble than he knows because his coked-up nature can’t resist a good mystery, L?rke goes cold to her bones. She’s the cool cucumber to Mikkel’s hotheaded eagerness.

The one that keeps them alive when they get into scraps—though Mikkel is the one to punish enemies later.

“Now, L?rke,” Mikkel says as he nods to dismiss our bouncer, just as he places an arm around his twin, hauling her back from me and my drakes. “Our guests just wish for us to look at these scrolls, nothing more. We would be only minimally involved in this endeavor. We’d not be rushing off to fight some ancient, marauding creature. Yes?”

As L?rke breathes hard, her nostrils flaring from her inner wrath, I see her put herself back together. As she reaches up, smoothing a hand down her long hair, she shivers, shaking off her former fury as she inhales.

When she looks at me again, then at Strom and Bjorn, her gaze has cooled from its burning viciousness. It’s mostly lavender again as she takes us in.

Then pins me, iron-cold.

“You hunt this thing, this Usurper of the ancients? Good. Then you’ll be dead and I won’t have to worry about you anymore. Mate-tasting my twin and ripping him away from everything we’ve built here.”

“L?rke. That’s not very nice.” Mikkel cocks his head at her, even as he grins slyly at me, giving me a wink. “But if we help them, they shall leave in peace. Yes?”

“Give us what you know about the Black Dragon from these scrolls, and we’ll get the fuck out of your hair. For good.” Bjorn snorts, as I see the glittering, all-gold gaze of his dragon come out to play now, his anger finally boiling all around us. “Enough games. Help us or don’t.”

“I want to help you, but we’re a package deal, I’m afraid.” Mikkel glances at his twin. “For security reasons, L?rke and I each only learned half the cypher, long ago, so if one of us were ever captured, our messages would still be safe. Both our knowledge is required to read and translate your documents.”

“L?rke? Are you in?” Strom is quiet now as his intense gaze digs into her. I see something move between them, then. For whatever reason, L?rke is fond of Strom, as she frowns. I see her thaw at his plea, though she shakes her head as if she knows what it’s going to cost her.

And Mikkel.

“Fine. We’ll read your scrolls,” she says, though it comes with a hard edge, like she’s pronouncing our doom. “Once we are done, you will take yourselves away and never come back. You’re trouble, Eriksson. You’ve always been trouble. You… and your two mates.”

I suddenly see another reason L?rke hates me, as she stares dejectedly at Strom now. A deep passion moves in her, which she squelches instantly—but I feel it, as I see it in her eyes.

She was in love with Strom once, though they couldn’t be together. I don’t know if it was just her righteous sensibilities at never being parted from her brother, or protecting their empire, or what. I see it, though, as Strom gives her a sad smile now.

As if at one time, he had hoped for the same.

“I’m still trouble,” Strom says as he watches her. “Hopefully, I’ll be in less trouble if you help.”

“I already said I’d help translate your little scrolls.” L?rke is testy now as she crosses her arms, eyeballing him. “What else do you need me for?”

“Strom said they’re not just here for one mystery, but two… isn’t that right?” Mikkel says now as he stares Strom down. “You told us about the first, but what’s the second?”

“The second is… a woman.” Strom frowns, as I feel him churn inside, not quite knowing how to say what he needs the twins’ help for next.

“I knew it.” L?rke throws up her hands, rolling her eyes. “It’s always some woman. Isn’t your Bloodmate quite enough?”

“Not a woman I want.” Strom gets testy with her now. “A woman from my past. I need to find her, and ask her some questions…”

“My kind of questions. Questions that bite.” Mikkel’s dark eyes shine with a bloodthirsty energy as I see the dragon in him come out to play now. “How did this woman wrong you, Strom Eriksson?”

“Probably refused his bed.” L?rke scoffs as her purple gaze pins Strom.

“She… stole my memories. I want them back. All of them,” Strom says succinctly.

But his statement suddenly makes both the twins blanch.

“Missing memories?” Mikkel fixes Strom with eyes like daggers. “Missing, how?”

“Missing like, I get hit with a thousand fuck-ton megawatts of Bone Mage energy when I try to recall them.” Strom’s tone is bitter now as he sets his hands on his hips. “I’ve only been able to recall a few of them recently. Thanks to an item Rikyava has claimed, related to our Black Dragon quest.”

“An item?” Mikkel’s quick gaze pins me hard. “Show me.”

It’s only then I remember that my lavender mini-dress has a sexy black strap across the upper chest to make my cleavage super pop—which covers Aesa’s silver stone. I chose this dress tonight because I didn’t want questions about it, or for the club’s bouncers to debate throwing me out because of it.

As Mikkel’s gaze pins to my chest now like he can feel it, the little stone sends a hum all through me. That sensation ripples through my blood even as it chimes through my bones. Because the drakaina it belonged to was a Bloodwalker, and her Truthstone contains both sides of that energy.

Part of that energy Bone Magic—which Mikkel can feel, as he stares at me.

He moves forward then, reaching out a hand with fingers splayed as if he might touch that powerful object at my chest. With a quick hand, Bjorn halts him, griping his wrist. Seething gold is in Bjorn’s eyes, because Mikkel is not my Bloodmate and doesn’t have my permission to touch me.

Or the powerful magic embedded in my chest.

“What is that?” Mikkel asks with hooded eyes, as if in a trance now from what he’s feeling. “I thought I felt something flare before, when our powers resonated, but now, it’s like it’s… calling to me.”

“It’s something ancient. Powerfully ancient.” L?rke has come forward also, as she blinks. “Why did I not feel that on you before?”

“It’s a Bloodwalker’s talisman.” I pull down the black strap of my dress so they can both see it now. “I imagine it can hide its own energy pretty well, when it has a mind to.”

“And this talisman… this thing has returned your missing memories?” Mikkel is intent as he glances at Strom. Though his demeanor is often sharp, I’ve not seen him this sharp yet, as his look penetrates Strom hard. Bu t I know suddenly that Mikkel and L?rke have a secret they’re not telling us.

As Aesa’s Truthstone hums upon my chest—revealing it.

“You both have missing memories, too.” I know then, as the stone sings upon my chest, confirming my deep instinct that I know is so very right. “Like Strom, you have places in your memories you both can’t touch, because you get a flare of nasty Bone Magic curse-work searing through you which drains you, and prevents you from seeing through it, or trying again.”

“L?rke and I have tried for decades to thwart it,” Mikkel says with cold ferocity now as he stares me down. “In all our empire, we have found nothing to undo whatever was done to us. It is old Bone Magic, and powerful. We cannot recall who did this to us… only that certain days, weeks, even a few months are missing from both of us. It was done so thoroughly, we cannot even corroborate our memories with each other. They are simply… gone. We only have club records from those times to fill us in, but those are too mundane to tell us the truth of why our memories were erased. Or what we were involved in.”

“It was while I was here in Copenhagen, wasn’t it?” Strom says now as he watches the twins. “You remember me, you remember us meeting and all of us becoming friends… but you can’t recall other pieces of that time. At all.”

“How did you know?” L?rke’s blond eyelashes flicker, as I see something stricken in her.

“Because I’m the same.” Strom reaches out, taking her hand. She lets him, though she startles at his touch. “L?rke, we’re both fighting the same thing, don’t you see? You, me, and Mik. We’ve been tampered with, memories hidden from us by someone who didn’t want us ever knowing what was going on at the time. I know from nightmares that I was involved in some kind of thief ring, which looked for and stole high-magic artifacts. And I’ve retrieved a full memory recently, thanks to that silver stone in Rikyava’s chest of a thief woman with long, wild red hair and goddess-like features, here in Denmark. She was liaising with a drakaina who is our enemy—one of the renegade Bone Mages wielding the Black Dragon for reasons unknown. They’re the group causing all this trouble with the Black Dragon Knights. I know from my memory that I was deeply in love with her. Do you know her? Can you tell me her name?”

“Alfhild Fey…!” L?rke’s face gets stony as she pulls away from Strom’s touch. Fury boils all through her as she clenches both fists now, her dragon’s energy roaring.

For blood.

“That bitch ! I knew it!!” L?rke snarls as her eyes go all-crimson now, lost to the power of her dragon.

“Who is Alfhild Fey?” Strom frowns at L?rke’s sudden vehemence, even as Mikkel sets his hands on his sister’s shoulders, soothing her from going ballistic.

“Alfhild was the Danish Blood Dragon drakaina you were life-mated to, back when you were here in Copenhagen. You two were lovers, but you were waiting to tell your great-grandfather the Jarl about her, because your clan had not approved her. Do you not remember her, Strom?” Shock is in Mikkel’s face as he watches Strom.

Who seethes with passion nearly as wrathful as L?rke now, as Bjorn and I set hands to his shoulders to calm him.

“You’d think I would remember a woman who was life-mated to me,” Strom says with the coldest tone I’ve ever heard from him, as brimstone crowds his eyes from the fury of his drake. “Except I don’t. I think she’s the one who ripped all these memories out of my head, and made me relive them on my coldest, most terrible sweat-filled nights as nightmares. From the memory I retrieved, thanks to Rikyava and that silver stone on her chest, plus a taunt that woman left me in the form of a jewelry box, I’m pretty sure she’s the one I seek. And if she cursed my memories, then I’m almost certain she cursed both of yours, as well. For all of us to forget her… or at least, the parts of her she wanted us to forget. ”

“We have plenty of memories of her,” Mikkel says, as he and L?rke glance at each other now.

“Only casual ones, though. Like us all partying here at the club,” L?rke finishes as a dark energy snarls inside her. She looks back at Strom. “Even back then, I knew something was off about her. You were so wild and wanton when we all first met here in Copenhagen. But then… you just became so besotted with her. You were still a cad, but you just… came whenever she called. Like a dog.”

“Thanks. What a wonderful image to have of myself,” Strom says, wry, though I see the bitter truth in his eyes as he seethes at what this unknown woman did to him. “Have either of you seen this Alfhild lately? The warehouse we found where the thieves used to run a few operations was cleared out. Except for a little fuck you note for me, personally.”

“We haven’t seen Alfhild in decades.” Mikkel glances at his twin as she nods. He looks back at Strom, his gaze serious in that sudden, deeply frank darkness he does. “When you left Copenhagen so suddenly, she stopped coming around. We assumed something had gone bad in your courtship and so we simply never pried into it—we were always better friends with you than with her. When L?rke and I secured The Vault up in the Old Palace’s city, it was only natural for us to resume our relationship with you.”

“For business or for personal reasons, knowing Strom would eventually become Jarl of his clan?” I ask, curious if it’s only business that motivates the twins’ relationships.

“Both. It’s good business to be close friends with powerful people. Especially when they control your leases. Our businesses mean everything to Mikkel and me.” L?rke is frank as she regards me, though with less hostility than before. It’s like she’s actually curious about me now, since I’ve been so quiet about this whole revelation with Strom.

“I knew you couldn’t let all your businesses close, not for long, even with the Knights on your tail,” Strom says now as he glances at Mikkel. “You two would never let your empire fail. It means everything to you both, no matter any pressure you’re under from the Knights or anyone else.”

“You know us well.” Mikkel’s gaze is keen, though a smile haunts his lips as he regards Strom. He claps his hands now, as I feel his indomitable energy sear back. Copper blazes in his dark eyes as his dragon rushes to the surface with all its unfathomable energy.

For the good business of a mystery.

“We have many things to solve, my friends, and there is no time like the now,” Mikkel says with his go-go-go nature again as he grins, glancing around. “Strom’s emerging memories have given us the first real clue in decades about who erased our own memories, and why. If this is all somehow connected to your enemy Bone Mages and that Black Dragon you hunt, and why the Knights’ Council is on all our asses, we need to solve it. I say we divide and conquer. You: Big Muscles?—”

“Bjorn. Bjorn Magnussen. I have a name,” Bjorn says as he growls at what Mikkel’s just called him.

“Magnussen? Really?” Mikkel blinks, and I understand he knows that surname. “Fascinating. In any case, you’re big: you fly back to the place you’re storing your scrolls and get them here, pronto. We’ll stay here and go over Strom’s memories, see what we can piece together about Alfhild’s more nefarious dealings, and what she was really up to.”

“The scrolls and artifacts are back at the Gilded Cage, under Emil’s protection,” Strom says as he looks at Mikkel. “I have them secured in a magical lockbox of my design. If anyone should head back there to get them, it should be me.”

“I’ll go with Strom,” L?rke says, glancing at him. “You need more magical protection than any of you can provide right now, with the Black Dragon Knights after us. Your protection from Emil has worn off by now. I’ll lend you some of my own, so your items can make it here safely.”

“What assurance do we have from you that our artifacts will be safe here?” Bjorn crosses his arms, making his nice tux bulge as he eyeballs the twins. “For all we know, you’ll kill Strom, or leave him for the Knights and take our artifacts for yourselves. Figure this entire thing out on your own to save your asses.”

“Firstly…” L?rke says, not intimidated by Bjorn as she gets right up in his face and sticks a finger in his chest, though she’s half a head shorter. “I would never abandon Strom to the wolves; you have no idea what you’re talking about where he and I are concerned. Secondly, any ally against the Knights is a friend to us—and you three are stronger than most, so Mikkel and I would do better to keep you as friends, now that we know all our aims are aligned. And last, we want our missing memories back. And she —” L?rke points at me, “is the only person who can help us with that, if she already helped Strom. So back off, big Magnussen drake. Or you’ll find yourself in a world of hurt.”

“I’m not scared of you.” Bjorn snorts, his eyes searing all-gold with the furious power of his drake.

I see L?rke’s eyes flash then, like a snake. I know she’s about to get Bjorn in her impressive Bone Magic vise-grip.

So I step in, getting between them.

“Bjorn, stand down.” I place a hand on his chest. Next, I turn to L?rke. “If you want our help to get your missing memories back, don’t be a bitch. If we can play nice, asking for your help, you can too, asking for ours. What we’re proposing here helps us all; there’s no need for threats. And Strom’s life-mated to both me and Bjorn… what you do to one of us hurts us all. Think about that.”

L?rke blanches now as she takes a step back. I see her cool-as-cucumbers personality return, now that I’ve given her something to think about. Her eyes flick to Strom, and I see that old longing in them again.

Clearly, she still cares about him, regardless of her ire. I’m learning that L?rke’s icy cool is just as much a front as Mikkel’s devil-may-care rush; she’s a tempest of passion, deep inside.

And Mikkel is a devil in truth—dark and cold in ways I can’t even begin to fathom.

His black eyes regard me now as I stop Bjorn and L?rke’s fight. I see deep calm and icy precision in him, as he watches me with those eyes, somehow darker than any snake. It makes me shiver and does incredible, hot things to my insides as I watch him watch me. He says nothing, doesn’t even nod, but I feel his dragon curling all around me now.

Like it just might reach out and get the tastiest lick.

I don’t give him that opportunity, as I flare my magic now, forcing my power to become a Bloodshield all around me. Mikkel doesn’t flinch, though Strom, Bjorn, and L?rke do, at what I’ve just raised in this tight space.

But Mikkel just keeps watching me, like the dragon in him wants to eat me alive. His eyes pin to Aesa’s stone on my chest, even as it begins to hum and simmer with an incredible energy.

Knowing the truth we’re both trying to resist—that he should be mine.

No matter the cost.

“Bjorn, Strom, and L?rke, you will go back to the Gilded Cage and retrieve the cypher items we need to translate,” Mikkel says softly now as he watches me from the other side of my Bloodshield. “Rikyava and I will stay here. She and I have a few things we need to hash out before any of this can continue.”

“Absolutely not.” Bjorn steps in front of me to protect me from Mikkel, though I still have my shield up. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to leave her with you?—”

“Bjorn, go with Strom and L?rke,” I tell him now, though I don’t turn around because some part of me knows I can’t take my eyes off Mikkel right now, even for a moment. Like he just might strike if I lower my guard. “Mikkel and I need to talk. Privately. Just for a little bit. I’ll be fine. I’m a big drakaina and can hold my own while you’re gone.”

Even as Bjorn growls, Mikkel sets a palm to his chest. “Rikyava shall not be harmed while you’re gone, I promise it. If you know anything about me, you know I take my promises to the grave.”

“Mikkel’s right.” Strom sets a hand on Bjorn’s arm, holding him back. “ His promises mean everything to him, Bjorn. He won’t harm Rikyava, or let any harm come to her while we’re away.”

“The two of them throwing down in a life-bonding fuck right now wouldn’t harm her physically,” Bjorn snarls protectively. “But it would fuck up everything for us. And you know it, Strom.”

“It would fuck up everything for us, too, L?rke and me,” Mikkel says quietly now as his dark eyes continue to pin me, as if he’s afraid of glancing away from me, either. “Life-bonding your mate isn’t in the cards for me, I’m afraid. She and I need to talk, however, if we are all to work together. We must come to some accord with our dragons… before any of this can continue.”

I know he’s right, as my united Bloodwalker magic roars all through me now for the power it wants to take from Mikkel.

And his snarls right back.

For the power it wants to fuck out of me.