“Think the others will fall into line like good little lemmings?”

Duncan snorted. He shouldn’t be amused, but he was. “Right off the cliff and into the Black.” He shifted closer to Jaden, hoping his future lover wouldn’t notice how their shoulders were almost touching. “Have you tried going to Queen Glorianna?” Jaden shot him a disbelieving look and he winced. “Sorry.” The only vampires that served the White Court Sidhe were members of the Gray, like Jaden. Those vampires were barely tolerated and stayed far, far away from Glorianna and her official Court. Suggesting Jaden talk to the White Queen was beyond stupid. He could only blame it on the scent of his bondmate and the desire that he finally allowed to course freely through his veins.

“I’m going to head out for a while.” Jaden grinned. “I’m hungry.”

Duncan was aware of what Jaden needed and, in the past, had shown himself willing to provide. Maybe it would be the first step in showing Jaden he was wanted by both Moira and himself. “You can eat here.”

Jaden laughed, the sound sending shivers of lust down Duncan’s spine. Damn, Duncan was definitely an idiot. “I’m not hungry for food.”

“Blood, then.” He turned to Jaden, unsure if he’d accept all Duncan was prepared to offer.

“Not blood, either.” He clapped Duncan on the arm. “Three’s a crowd, remember?”

Duncan smiled. Today had been a very long day, and he knew just how he wanted it to end. “I don’t think so.” Without batting an eye he dove into Jaden’s fantasies and began weaving a dream for the man he now realized he loved with all of his soul. If Jaden thought he was going to go off into the night and fuck some random stranger when his bondmates were right here then he had another think coming.

“Duncan?”

He smiled, feeling whole again. He’d known she’d come out. She had to. The fantasy wasn’t complete without her. “Moira. Help me get him inside, will you?”

She took one of Jaden’s arms, grinning like a loon. “What did you do to him?” Jaden’s eyes were glazed as he lived the fantasy Duncan had wrapped around him.

“I’ll need your help.” Getting them both inside was top priority. He was seeing both his internal vision and his real surroundings, and it was beginning to give him a headache. It had been a while since he’d been forced to weave a fantasy yet keep most of his own senses in the real world. He had to trust Moira to get them to the bedroom without breaking all their necks.

The biggest surprise was finding out what Jaden’s deepest fantasy was. The stench of that alleyway was not something he’d ever expected to visit ever again. Now he’d be forced to inflict it on Moira. He hoped she’d stay in character. If she gave even a hint that she didn’t belong Jaden might fight them, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Once they reached the bedroom he had every intention of pulling both his lovers into the fantasy so deeply they might not even realize it wasn’t real. He smiled, knowing that if any of his clan got a look at his face just then they’d run for the hills in fear. Nothing, nothing was going to stop him from finishing his Vows tonight.

Jaden stumbled and Duncan righted him, holding up his love, helping him the best way he could. Moira adjusted, carrying Jaden’s weight with a grunt and a small smile.

Just the way it should be.

They got Jaden naked before they put him in the bed. It would be easier that way on all of them. They were about to hit the point where Duncan interrupted Jaden from feeding on Jezebel, and he’d need Moira to back him up. He slipped out of his own clothes, trying desperately to hold to both Jaden’s strong mind and enough of reality to climb into bed before pulling Moira into the fantasy with them.

When she cuddled to Jaden’s front with a nod and a smile, he sighed and let go of reality, pulling her along with him.

Moira heard the sound off to her left, the stench from the alley causing her to wrinkle her nose. “Duncan?”

His gaze was glued to something in the dark. “He’s in there. Waiting.”

She sniffed, and then desperately wished she hadn’t. “This is his fantasy?”

“This is where I found him and set him free.”

“Oh.” She brushed her hand down the front of her pinstriped coat. The collar was so high and so starched the skin on her neck crawled. Her feet were encased in boots that had never been designed by Reebok, some kind of torture device was forcing her back straight and her tits out, and she had the kind of hat on her head that she’d vaguely heard referred to as a “vagina hat”, all curled up at the sides and so full of feathers at least three ostriches must have given their lives for it. Her skirts, plural mind you, brushed the tops of her so-called boots, and her hands were stuck inside a dead animal.

“It’s called a muff.”

She looked at him, brows raised.

Duncan coughed, his lips twitching. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Moira.”

She looked around. “I thought that’s exactly where it was supposed to be.”

He bit his lip. “Are you ready?”

If her back wasn’t already held straight by the wooden plank she was currently strapped to she would have stiffened her spine. As it was, she was afraid she’d snap something off if she did. “Whenever you are.”

He nodded and stepped into the mouth of the alleyway. She followed at a much more cautious distance, one eye on Duncan and the other on the slimy stuff that littered the ground. What the hell was wrong with these people? Hadn’t they ever heard of a trash can? She dodged a particularly noxious pile of…ew. Or a toilet?

“Here, kitty kitty.” Moira blinked as Duncan called to a small, battered cat at the end of the alley. “It’s all right, little one. I won’t hurt you.”

“Go away. Please go away.”

Her gloved hand went to her mouth. Jaden sounded scared, desperate. Desolate.

Young. Gods above, how old had he been when he’d been changed?

“Who is there?” Wariness had entered Duncan’s voice, but it was an act, part of the illusion Duncan wove for the vampire. It might have been real all those years ago, but now Duncan trusted Jaden with his life.

“Nightmares. Go away.”

“Come out where I can see you.”

“No.”

“I will not hurt you.”

At that Jaden laughed. “No. But I might hurt you, and I do not want to do that.”

“I doubt you could hurt me, little one.”

“I am not a little one.”

“No, I can see that.”

Jaden gasped, his head rapping against the brick wall. Duncan’s fingers had reached out and tipped up Jaden’s chin, but the vampire ripped his face away, hiding his fangs behind his arm. “Get away.”

“No.”

“Go!”

Duncan shook his head. “No. You need help.”

“I don’t need help.”

Moira was astonished. If this was the way it had originally happened, Jaden had fought every instinct he had to save Duncan’s life. Even she could see how much pain he was in, how hungry he was. Duncan had seen that inner strength, that shining nobility, and taken him in, given him a life that wasn’t about pain and degradation. No wonder Jaden loved him so.

Duncan reached out and cupped Jaden’s cheek. “Yes, you do.” He smiled, slow and sensual. “I know exactly what you need.”

Jaden frowned, looking confused before the hopeless defeat took over once more. “Go away.” His eyes closed, his head banging once more against the filthy bricks.

“No. Jaden, I won’t leave you.”

The confused frown returned at Duncan’s declaration. “What?”

Duncan smiled. “Moira?”

She stepped forward, avoiding a rather large, angry-looking rat. If she hadn’t known this was a Sidhe fantasy she would have been shrieking and climbing the nearest wall. “Hello, Jaden.”

He shivered. The rags he wore barely covered him. “Who are you?”

She smiled. “Deep down, you know who I am.” She reached his side and took his hand. “We belong to you, and you belong to us.” Her free hand reached for his cheek. Even through the glove she could feel how cold he was. “We’ve needed you.”