Chapter Chapter Ten: Cowboy Up

Writing appeared across the part of the base facing their group, and everyone cheered. Dustin pulled a grinning Shar into his arms and kissed her forehead.

“Nice thinking, little mama.” Tate said with a grin.

“I knew you were a genius.” Dustin said with a chuckle.

Shar smirked up at her mate, and he kissed her gently on the lips.

“What does it say?” Maddy asked.

“Carrie, you’re not the girl for me.” Sebastian read out loud.

“What the fuck?” Dustin questioned, confused.

“I remember that song.” Dylan said as he moved to read the words on the base of the statue.

“I do too.” Dustin said as he squinted at the words. “But aren’t the lyrics, Carry, you’re the girl for me?”

Sebastian nodded. “They were.”

“Let’s put them both together.” Shar said as she pulled out of Dustin’s arms and moved over to Sebastian. “Let me see the note.” She said as she held her hand out to him.

Sebastian reached into his pocket and pulled out the note, then handed it over to Shar.

Shar opened the note and held it against the base. “The nearest thing to heaven is my girl.” Shar read. Then looked at the base of the statue. “Carrie, you’re not the girl for me.”

“Wait.” Maddy said as she moved closer to the statue. “Read the part after, the nearest thing to heaven, is my girl.”

Shar nodded. “Every time she kisses me, I hear the church bell ring. Well, the nearest thing to heaven, she’s like a star.”

“Carrie, you’re not the girl for me.” Maddy read out loud.

“Does it make any sense to you?” Josie asked her twin.

Maddy looked between the two clues.

“This one isn’t telling us where they are.” Shar said as she held the first one up to the sun.

“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked.

“She’s right.” Maddy said with a nod.

“Fuck.” Sebastian grumbled. “You’re right.”

“What’s going on?” Daryl asked as he watched them.

“Shh, let them figure it out.” Saffron said as she pulled her mate back a few steps.

“The title of the song is Carrie (you’re an Angel).” Sebastian said.

“That’s it!” Maddy hollered. Everyone looked at her, and she grinned. “I used to do things like this on my blog.” She said then took the note from Shar. “She talks about her being Sebastian’s girl, and how she’s his nearest thing to heaven. Then she leaves us a lyric from another song, saying that Carrie isn’t for him.”

“Carrie’s not for him.” Shar says. “Carrie’s not an Angel!” Shar said as she pointed at Maddy.

Maddy nodded.

“Demons took them!” Sebastian shouted.

Everyone started cursing and hollering.

Kota grumbled. “That means Lucifer has them.”

“So, if Lucifer has Ember and Winter, who has Pearl and Linkin?” Dylan asked.

“He plans to swap them.” Kota said with a growl. “He couldn’t find Pearl and Linkin, but the Dark Wizards could. So, they will do a swap.”

“Fucking dickheads!” Sebastian yelled as he slapped his palm on the base of the statue.

The words disappear, and new words appeared in their place.

“Shit, another clue.” Shar said as she squatted down in front of the statue. “To me, Baby, you’re a drag.” She read out loud.

“What the fuck kind of bullshit is that?” Dylan asked with a growl.

Sebastian laughed. “That’s lyrics to another of their songs. The title was, You’re a Drag.”

“What could she mean by these lyrics?” Lyvia asked.

“Drag, boring.” Maddy said.

“What is the most boring place for someone like her?” Shar asked as she stood up straight.

“Country Club.” Sebastian said.

“Holy fuck.” Lyvia said as she looked at Sebastian. “There’s one about a hundred miles from here.”

“They must be heading towards Ember’s old coven.” Sharissa said as she backed away from the statue.

Sebastian lifted his hand from the base of the stature, and the writing disappeared.

“Shotgun!” Tate hollered as he took hold of his mate and vanished.

“He can’t call shotgun; he teleports everywhere.” Dustin grumbled as he walked his mate through the back door of the church.

~🎸~

“I wish Ember had told us where her coven is.” Sharissa said as she and the other Fated Mates walked into a Country Club.

Every person in the club turned to them at the same time.

“Uh, oh.” Josie whispered.

“Look at the way they’re looking at us.” Shar whispered.

“You’re kind, ain’t welcome here.” The bartender said as he pulled a bat out from behind the bar.

The women rolled their eyes.

“Some people.” Shar hissed.

“We’re looking for our sisters.” Lyvia said as she took a step forward.

The bartender moved out from behind the bar and walked towards them, several of the patrons moved to follow him.

The Alpha Fated Mates growled.

“We don’t want your kind here.” The bartender said as he pointed his bat at Dustin and his brothers.

“Please, we just want some information, and then we’ll leave.” Shar said as she watched the men.

A cowboy tipped his hat forward, then spit on the ground at their feet.

“That is so disgusting.” Lyvia hissed.

“I think it is time for you to go.” A man standing beside the bartender said, giving the Shifters a dirty look.

“Look here…” Sebastian said as he took a step forward.

“Don’t.” Shar said as she placed her hand on his chest. “Let us take care of it, okay.”

He shook his head. “You won’t understand the lyrics.”

“I hate having to do this.” Shar said as she turned back to the men glaring at them. “Tate.”

Tate moved to stand next to her with a lopsided grin. “You called, little mama?” He knows what she would ask of him. But he wanted her to say it.

Shar grumbled because she knew what Tate wanted. “Tate, we need you.”

“Oh?” He asked as he looked down at her.

She avoided looking up at her Vampire. And she knows, even though they’re not together romantically, he’s hers. And she’s his. Their connection wasn’t as secure as a Fated Mate’s, but it was there.

“We can’t do this if they won’t allow us to stay here.” She said as she glared at the cowboys before her.

“Say it, Sharissa.” Tate hissed.

Shar swore up a stream and back again. “Tate, hypnotize them.”

Tate’s head tilted back, and he laughed. Then his head came back up, and he stared at the men in front of him. “You will allow our group to stay here, and none of you or your goons will bother us.”

“Of course.” The men said at the same time.

Tate nodded, then looked at his brothers. “We should get the whole bar up to speed.”

The Vampires nodded, then went to work.

“Let’s sit over here.” Shar said as she dragged her mate to a table.

Their sizeable group took up six tables.

“Where would she have put the next clue?” Shar asked as she looked at Sebastian.

Sebastian looked around, and something caught his eye. He got to his feet and moved over to a table where a couple of cowboys were sitting.

“Excuse me, but could I please look at something on your table?”

The two men looked at him, then go to their feet and moved out of his way.

Shar and the others watched him from their seats as he pulled the first note from his pocket and placed it over something on the table. He looked up at the two men standing beside the table and smiled.

“Do either of you gents have a pencil on you?”

The two cowboys shook their heads.

“The bar should have one.” Maddy said as she stood and moved over to the bar.

Rolando got to his feet and followed her.

Maddy jumped up on the bar and swirled around so she could lean over to the other side. Rolando came up behind her and blocked her from anyone else’s view. She may have pants on, but jeans always shape to her sexy as sin ass, and he doesn’t want these men to get an eye full of it. Only he can ogle his mate.

“Got one.” Maddy said as she sat up and smiled at her mate as she placed her hands on his shoulders. “Protective much?”

He snorted. “No one can look at your fine ass, but me.”

She grinned as she jumped off the counter and walked over to Sebastian.

Sebastian took the pencil and rubbed it over the paper. Words appeared on the paper that weren’t there before, and he grinned, then stood and nodded to the two cowboys.

“Thanks.” He said, then headed back to the table he shared with, Sharissa, Dustin, Raj, and Lyvia.

“What does it say?” Shar asked as soon as he sat in the booth.

“Put another nickel in; she’ll make out somehow, you know, even though you love her so.” Sebastian read out loud.

“Put another nickel in.” Maddy said as she leaned against the table across from their booth.

“The jukebox?” Shar asked as she looked across the room.

“They don’t cost a nickel anymore.” Maddy said as she followed Shar’s gaze.

“No, but I bet it would play what we want if we put a nickel into it.” Shar said as she got to her feet.

Everyone stood and moved with her over to the jukebox. Dustin handed Shar a nickel, and she looked at it, then looked at Sebastian.

“I think you need to be the one.” Shar said as she backed away.

Sebastian nodded as he took the nickel from her, then turned to the jukebox and looked at the coin in his fingers. He took a deep breath, then placed the nickel into the jukebox.

A loud noise had them taking a step back from the machine. A disc appeared inside the jukebox and turned several times before it laid down and started playing.

‘Come on, little baby; I need you today.’ The original Runarounds’ song, Let me talk / are you looking for a sweetheart, started playing at that point in the song, and Sebastian looked at his family.

“She’s telling us that time is running out for us to rescue them.” He said.

Shar nodded. “I think so too. Let’s get to them before something bad happens.”

“You mean like this?” A loud voice said from across the bar.

The group turned around and found the entire bar standing on the other side, grinning at them, all kinds of weapons in their hands. The record skipped, and another song started playing.

‘You said you would never leave me, you lied.’ The song went on, and Sebastian grunted.

“A warning that this is a trap.” Sebastian said with a shake of his head.

“Why hadn’t they played that one first?” Dustin asked as he moved to stand next to his friend.

“Because they switched the songs around.” Maddy said as she pointed to two men standing by the exit, grinning.

“Winter!” Sebastian hollered when he saw his mate with the two Demons.

“Sebastian!” Winter hollered as she reached out for her mate.

“You’re too late.” The Demon holding Winter said with a wicked grin. Then he and his friend dragged their prisoners from the bar, leaving the Fated Mates to their fate.

“I need to save her!” Sebastian hollered as he tried to head for the exit where the Demons had disappeared with his mate.

“Not now.” Dustin said as he took hold of his friend’s arm.

“What if it was Shar?!” Sebastian demanded as he turned on his friend.

Shar placed her hand on Sebastian’s arm. “Then I would hope he didn’t get himself killed because he came after me willy-nilly.”

“Willy-nilly?” Sebastian asked as he stared at Shar.

Shar chuckled. “First thing that came to mind.”

“Guys, I hate to break up this chatter, but they have guns, and I bet they’re loaded with silver bullets.” Mara said, getting their attention.

Everyone paused as they looked at the men on the other side; their guns pointed at each of them.

“Protect the women.” Dustin said as he pulled Shar behind him.

Shar scoffed. “We’re not dainty.”

“No, but we’ll need you to pull our bodies out of here when this is over.” Dustin said with a grin as he looked down at his mate.

Shar snorted.

“There’s Thirty-eight of them, and twenty-six of us.” Dylan said as he watched the men across from them.

“Don’t forget that three of us are Vampires, and silver doesn’t affect us.” Tate reminded them.

“It doesn’t affect Dragons either.” Zephyrus said.

“Or humans.” Josie said.

“You’re easier to kill.” Dominic said as he pulled his mate behind his back.

“Don’t sell us short, Dominic.” Maddy said as she cracked her knuckles.

“Yeah.” Tamara said as she gave her brother a shove.

Dominic chuckled. “All right, ladies, let’s do this.”

Just as they were about to holler attack, which yes, they know how stupid that sounds, but fuck, they’re about to fight a bunch of idiots. The door opened, and two beautiful women stepped inside.

“We heard you might need more backup!” Marry-Beth hollered as she waved to her friends.

The Fated Mates laughed as they waved to their friend.

The door opened again, and Akan stepped in, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Where’s the enemy? I need some action.”

“You’re looking at them, you idiot!” Marry-Beth said as she pointed to the crowd of humans in front of them.

“Humans?” Akan scoffed.

“With silver bullets!” Shar shouted.

“Hello, Sharissa!” Akan hollered out to her with a wave.

Shar waved back and giggled when Dustin lowered her hand and pulled her against his chest.

“Let’s get ready to rumble!” Akan shouted as he jumped over his sister and attacked the human closest to them.

Okay, so that was even dumber than what our Fated Mates were about to say. But hey, it got the job done. Just as the Fated Mates joined Akan, an enormous man stepped through the door.

“Bear shifter.” Dustin whispered as he watched the man survey the room.

“Is this what we came here for, Mafilia?” The Bear asked as he looked down at the two women still standing by the exit.

“They’re the Fated Mates.” Allora said as she watched the Shifters fighting the humans.

“Humans with silver weapons.” The enormous man said with a shake of his head.

“This is just the start of the wars to come.” Marry-Beth said.

The man nodded, then punched a human who came too close to Marry-Beth and Allora, in the nose.

“Do we shift?” The man asked.

Marry-Beth shrugged her shoulders. “Doesn’t look like anyone else is.”

“Ah, I see a fellow Bear.” The man said as he pointed to the man who was defending a human female.

“That’s Rolando. The woman he’s protecting is his mate, Maddy.” Marry-Beth pointed out.

“Excellent.” The man said with a nod. “Shall we join them?”

Marry-Beth grinned. “Lets.”

The man lifted both women into the air and tossed them at a couple of humans who were trying to attack one of the Alpha Fated Mates from behind.

With a grin, the man joined in the chaos.

~*~

This book may be over but their story is not.

THIS SERIES IS A LONG INTERTWINING STORY THAT IS OVER 250,000 WORDS. I DIVIDED IT INTO 13 BOOKS, SO THAT EACH FATED MATE COUPLE HAD THEIR OWN BOOK. SO THE BOOKS ARE SHORT (BUT SWEET). ENJOY!