Page 18 of Sunshine

But he knew he had to give them a chance to grow. To be better. To meet people like him and understand there was no need to buy into that kind of shit.

He felt like an asshole for defending them though, especially to Jeremiah, who got hate from all sides of every community. But gods, everything Jeremiah said or did seemed to antagonize him, and he couldn’t shake the need to keep poking at him every chance he got.

He seriously needed to get drunk. Or… maybe get laid. Properly laid and finally cross that item off his to-do list.

“Look,” he started, but before he could say anything else, Jeremiah began to growl. Like an honest-to-gods growl that came from deep inside his chest. Remi started to panic, and even the twins were on their feet, running toward him.

Maybe he’d finally snapped.

Maybe Remi had gone too far, and now he was going to prove everyone right by eating the entire line of royal heirs.

“Don’t—” he began to say, ready to beg for the twins’ lives, but Jeremiah was in front of him in a single second, half crouched as a light dusting of black fur erupted over his skin. If Remi thought the sun was hot that day, that was nothing compared to the heat rolling off Jeremiah in massive waves.

Hellfire.

Jeremiah’s attention was on the hill, and Remi realized why a second later. His panic ratcheted up when he saw two figures rushing through the wispy waves of sea oats. The one in front—a tall, light-haired man with broad shoulders—was holding something between his hands. The man was clearly human, but whatever he had was filled with some kind of power.

Not magic. No. Something else.

“Stay down,” Jeremiah growled, his voice a strange, ethereal rumble. “Keep the children back.”

“Where the fuck are the guards?” Remi all but shouted.

The two figures began to run just as Jeremiah’s entire body erupted into flames. At the same time, whatever the human was holding went flying, and it was in that split second Remi knew whatever it was, was meant to kill his guard.

The worst fear—the worst panic—rushed through him. The idea of Jeremiah dying sent terror like no other rushing through his veins, and he threw himself at the Hellhound, letting the liquid explode against his body.

For a moment, all he could hear was a loud hum, and then time seemed to stop. He was in the middle of burning hellfire, but all he could feel was a gentle warmth. Jeremiah wrapped his arms around him, and their gazes met.

And then suddenly, the flames were extinguished, and they both collapsed to the ground. Remi’s ears were ringing, but as they started to clear, he could hear the twins screaming and crying and Jeremiah’s ragged breaths. There was a scorched path all the way to the dunes and two bodies lying there, most definitely dead.

Remi’s heart was pounding as he climbed onto his hands and knees, and somewhere behind him, he could hear shouting. He felt the presence of the guards—at least one of them half shifted into his Dragon form and towering over him—but he ignored them as he bent over Jeremiah’s body.

He was unconscious, and his arms were covered in welts, but his chest was rising and falling. The black fur was gone, and the heat was down to a low simmer. And most importantly, he was very much alive.

Remi could feel the glow of the man’s soul still firmly situated in his body.

He let out a small sob as his arms were suddenly filled with shaking children, and he kissed the sides of their heads. “You’re okay. We’re all okay,” he said.

There was a flurry of activity moments later. Carlos took the twins, and Thorne—who Remi hadn’t even realized was there, so distracted by the water and his annoying Hellhound bodyguard—helped Remi to his feet.

“Can you walk?”

Remi nodded, rolling his shoulders back and testing his balance. He was fine. He felt drained, the same way he felt whenever he shifted, but he was okay.

“I need to carry him to the car,” Thorne said. “Tell me you can walk.”

“I can walk,” Remi said, his voice slightly shaky. “Is he… Will he be okay?”

“I think so,” Thorne answered as he lifted Jeremiah with a single sweep of his arm and plopped him on his shoulder. He was still half shifted, so he was massive with claws and patches of blue scales scattered over his dark skin and glinting in the sun. “But that was holy water.”

Remi’s body shuddered. Hard. “Are you fucking serious? How did they know? He’s been here less than a fucking week!”

“That’s what we need to find out. Carlos will call the palace and let them know what happened and then get ahold of Jeremiah’s team. They’ll meet us back there. We’ll get to the bottom of this, Your Highness.”

They started forward, and Remi willed his legs not to give out on him as they made their way back to the cars. The twins had stopped crying and were playing with tablets now, settled in one of the cars with Carlos behind the wheel, but when Thorne gestured for him to follow, Remi shook his head.

“I’m going to ride with Jeremiah.”

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