by Rye Brewer
14
Jonah
I had allowed my sister to become an elemental witch, all because I was too stupid and careless to empty the refrigerator. What kind of big brother was I? What sort of protector?
“Excuse me.” Branwen stuck her head in before Anissa had the chance to comfort me, not that it wouldn’t have been a waste of breath on her part. “I think there’s something you should see.”
“What is it?” Anissa asked.
Just then, as if on cue, we heard the shattering of a lightbulb.
“That, for one,” Branwen replied with a nervous chuckle. “And the fact that she appears to have grown again.”
“Grown? Again?” I hadn’t gotten a good look at Elena before Anissa had stopped me from approaching the bed. We followed Branwen back to the bedroom, which was considerably darker than it had been minutes earlier.
I didn’t need bright light to see the difference in my sister.
“I’m not very familiar with babies, I have to admit.” I walked across the room, half-expecting to hear sizzles from Elena on my approach. “But it does seem she’s aged. Considerably. In the last several hours since I saw her.” She was older, to put it simply. Bigger. Fairly bursting out of the fleece pajamas which had swum around her tiny body before then.
I looked around at the others. “Is this normal?”
They looked at me as if I had two heads. “There is no normal in this situation,” Sirene explained, looking harried and exhausted. “Elena is most definitely one-of-a-kind.”
I wanted to fall to my knees and beg her forgiveness for allowing this to happen. What would Fane say when he found out about my carelessness? He would certainly regret ever thinking I was capable of keeping his family safe.
“We cannot stay here,” Branwen announced, speaking to Sirene. “Not when Elena’s powers are so unpredictable. It would be safer in Hallowthorn Landing.”
“What? No, you can’t do that.” I looked to Sirene, too. “Fane wanted you to stay here. You would be safer here. He believed this, and so do I.”
She rose from the bed, the baby resting in a nest of blankets. “That was before this occurred. I agree with Branwen. We must leave.”
I threw Anissa a desperate look. She was just as lost as I was.
“I wish Fane were here. Of all the times for him to go off somewhere.” Sirene caught my eye. “Yes. I know he’s bound to be on one mission or another. I knew it as soon as he said he had to meet with Stark. I assumed when he did not return quickly that something had come of their meeting. I only wish I didn’t have to be now.”
“We’ll have to go soon,” Branwen urged her.
Sirene left the room to get her things together.
I turned to Branwen, halfway to anger at the way she’d stepped in and started making decisions. “I made a promise to Fane that I would watch over Sirene and Elena. How can I make good on that promise if you go to Hallowthorn Landing? It’s impossible. I won’t hear of it. This is the safest place for both of them now.”
“With all due respect,” Branwen replied, “this is the worst possible place for them to hide at the moment. What happens if Elena decides to throw a tantrum? She’s aging rapidly. If she continues at this rate, she’ll be a toddler before we know it. With a toddler’s temper. She could easily knock out the power to the entire building. How would you explain something like that to your clan? Or when she begins shooting lightning bolts out the windows and the authorities come pounding on the door. What then?”
My resolve weakened with every word she said. She was right; any number of terrible things might occur if Elena’s powers strengthened as she did.
“I promised him.” It was all I could say.
Sirene spoke over my shoulder, standing in the doorway. “I know this, and I know your intentions are good, Jonah. But I will not stay here with my child in a nest full of vipers. No offense intended.” She was every inch the protective mother.
I would have to go with them, then. I couldn’t break my word.
Just when I was on the verge of working out a new plan for the League. And it would appear suspicious if I disappeared around the same time as Genevieve’s supposed escape. I would need to be here to settle things down in the wake of her escape. I would need to be here when the heads of the other clans reconvened.
I motioned for Anissa to meet me outside while Branwen and Sirene discussed their plans. I dropped to the couch, my head in my hands. “How could I have let this happen?”
“You had no way of knowing. You would never hurt Elena. We all know it.”
“But I let it slip through my fingers. I forgot all about the blood, how we had to rid ourselves of the old supply.”
She knelt in front of me, hands on my knees. “Jonah. You can’t take everything on your shoulders at once. The real fault is with those who tainted the supply, not with you.”
Yes, and I had only just allowed Genevieve to break out of the dungeon. Another kick to my already bruised self-esteem.
I looked at Anissa, into her concerned eyes. “I want to go with them, but there are so many things happening here. So many loose threads, especially in the League.”
“What was the result of the meeting?”
“No result as of yet. We’re reconvening in forty-eight hours.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what you presented to them? Or is it a secret?”
She was teasing, I knew, but there was truth to her question. She was dying of curiosity.
“I suggested we no longer operate under a single ruler, but instead as a triumvirate. Three voting members at a time.”
She nodded. “That doesn’t seem like a difficult decision, unless one of them has a lust for power. Like Lucian did. Like Marcus does.”
“Right, but that isn’t all I suggested. The real proposal was to bring in two non-voting members of different groups. Consultants, if you will. A witch and a fae. Someone to add context to the decisions up for a vote.”
“Oh. I see.” She sat back on her heels. “Who were you thinking of?”
“My father and your father.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. She saw how important this would be. “That settles it, then. You need to stay to see this through. I’ll go to Hallowthorn Landing to watch over Elena and Sirene.”
“Not so fast.” I took her hands. “Not until I make you my wife.”
Her tears spilled over. “There isn’t time for that sort of thing, even if we scale it down there will still be planning involved, we’ll need time to gather the people we wish to be there with us—”
“All we need for now is us and an officiant.” I stood, bringing her with me. “We can do something more later, if you wish. Besides, nobody’s even nearby right now. I have no idea where Philippa or Scott ran off to, Gage is in Europe, your sister is on Shadowsbane. Allonic is in ShadesRealm. I wouldn’t know how to invite half of them to a wedding just now.”
“That’s so,” she sighed.
I wrapped my arms around her. “What matters to me more than anything is that I have you as my wife. We’ve waited long enough. I won’t be separated from you again without knowing at least one part of my life is settled.”
She nodded before leaning against my chest. “You’re right. And it will mean a lot to Gregor. And I do want to marry you.”
“Oh, I’m honored.”
She smiled as she looked up at me. “You know what I mean.”
“I do.” I kissed her forehead. “That sounds pretty good, you know. I do.”
“We’ll be saying it soon enough.”
15
Genevieve
I couldn’t believe Jonah Bourke was forcing me to debase myself in such a manner.
I barely stifled a groan as I stretched my arm as far as I could, telling myself to ignore the pain in my shoulder, the strain in my muscles. He wouldn’t make it easy for me to reach the key, would he?
I wouldn’t have, either, come to think of it. If I were in his out-of-fashion sh
oes.
“Come on,” I whispered, my knees stinging thanks to the unforgiving stone floor beneath them. I gripped one of the bars with one hand and pulled while stretching the other arm, my fingers splayed wide, hoping upon hope to make contact.
Thank heavens for long fingernails. One thing about me which hadn’t changed since captivity, even though I no longer had them manicured.
I let out a sigh of relief as I dragged the key toward me, the sound of it echoing down the corridor.
“What are you doing?” Marcus called out.
I knew he would eventually clue in to my being up to something.
“Quiet!” I hissed. There was no telling if one or more guards were listening. If he ruined this for me…
I got to my feet, the key concealed in my closed fist in case a guard happened to appear. It was a long, slow count to one hundred before I could breathe freely again, reasonably confident that the threat had passed.
“You still haven’t learned to keep your mouth shut,” I whispered as I slid my arm through the bars once again, this time holding the key. I focused all of my concentration on making contact with the lock, then sliding the key through. If I dropped it…
No. Not a possibility. There was no room for error.
I had to get back to Anton.
Just the thought of his name caused my chest to ache, as it had throughout every long day and longer night of my imprisonment. My Anton, my love, the one with whom I was meant to be. Now and always.
When Jonah had made mention of the shifters, I was nearly certain that he knew of Anton and of Anton’s bloodline. Of the fact that he, too, was a shifter.
I’d assumed he was playing a game with me. Drawing me out, testing me to see if I would admit to a love affair with a shifter. A forbidden one, against our laws. Consorting with one outside our species.
As though I cared for their rules. As though either of us did.
Even so, he might have used my admission against me. I might have known he was too dimwitted to have any knowledge of my Anton.
I closed my eyes, envisioning the key sliding home as metal touched metal. I didn’t dare breathe as I guided it inside.
My eyes opened, and a smile of satisfaction spread over my face. One turn, and the lock released.
One pull, and the door swung open.
“What’s happening?” Marcus hissed.
I rolled my eyes. He was dimwitted, too. Far too much so. I’d always believed it while the two of us were involved in business matters; he was the type who regarded himself as the smartest, the cleverest, the most capable man in any room but who really ought to have been serving drinks. Only the good fortune of being born to the right vampire had placed him in a position of power. He never could have reached clan leadership on his own merit.
But he’d been easy to use to suit my purposes, so I’d kept him around longer than I would have anyone else.
I ignored his question, peering out into the corridor, looking both ways. As ever, it seemed the guards were taking a break. Perhaps Jonah had advised them to do so in hopes of allowing me to escape unnoticed. I hoped so, but did not count on it. He would only have given me so many advantages, after all. Anything more would make it appear as though he wanted me to escape.
“I’m getting out of here,” I whispered, darting down the corridor to where he waited in his cell.
“What about me?” he demanded, sotto voice.
“What about you? I’m sure I don’t know.” I stood in front of the bars, staring into eyes only inches from mine.
“What do you mean, you don’t know? After all we’ve done together, everything we’ve been to each other?”
He thought we were more than we were; I’d always known he’d carried this mistaken idea, though I hadn’t been foolish enough to discourage him since he did, after all, make a reasonable ally.
For a time. Which was over.
He hadn’t yet caught on.
I dropped my voice to a purr. “My connection to you is what put me in this dungeon,” I teased, lightly running my fingers up and down the bars. “What will you do for me if I unlock this door for you?”
“Anything,” he snarled, a mad light in his eyes.
I’d always suspected he was partly mad, really. His time in the dungeon had merely awoken that which was already in him.
“Oh? Anything? That does sound tempting,” I smiled, licking my lips for show. I really shouldn’t waste time this way, but it was almost fun to toy with him. And I hadn’t had fun in so long.
“You know I can deliver, Genevieve,” he whispered, his words pouring out like water. “I’ll do anything you wish, anything you want. We’ll put ourselves back on top and grind Jonah Bourke and the rest of his clan under our heels. They will pay dearly for what they’ve done to us.”
“Hmm… I have to say, I like the way you think.” I pulled out the key, which from the looks of it was a skeleton key capable of fitting every lock. Very old-fashioned. One would think the League would have updated its technology a bit—or at least adapted something a bit more reliable.
“Hurry, hurry,” he begged, looking down the corridor as I slid the key into the lock. He was panting for air, sweating with excitement. The promise of freedom.
I opened the door, holding a finger to my lips. “I think I heard something.”
He froze, eyes darting this way and that, still standing inside the cell. “What?” he finally breathed after we were greeted by nothing but silence.
I smiled. “Nothing.” In an instant, my claws were out, slashing across his throat, tearing it to pieces.
He gasped, eyes bulging from his head, hands gripping his throat as though that would help. Blood simply poured through his fingers, drenching the front of his already stained shirt, pooling on the floor. I shoved my hand into his chest cavity and pulled his heart out. I thought of all the evil he’d done.
“Hard to believe you actually have a heart.”
Pure shock and betrayal burned on his face as I closed the door and locked it as it had just been.
“I would never align myself with a walking liability such as you,” I whispered, watching as he fell to his knees. “And I would never leave you behind to speak of my escape. You fool.”
I slipped away, down the corridor and up the stairs leading to the main level as Marcus’s body hit the floor. Poor devil. Considering the pain and torture he’d caused throughout his long life, he’d gotten off easy.
The hall was dark, empty, and I dashed to the door on quick, light feet, with Anton’s face before me all the while. My beautiful, dark, powerful Anton. Not as powerful or well-known as his half-brother, Dietrich, but far more desirable. And smart enough not to allow his recreational activities to fall under Jonah Bourke’s watchful eye.
It would take days to reach him in Europe, but I was a patient person. I had already been away from Anton for months. I could wait several days more.
And so I coursed away from headquarters the moment the fresh, cool night air hit my skin. On my way to my love—and freedom from the League, from all of it.
16
Felicity
I paced my chambers, waiting for Allonic to return. He’d gone to Anissa, said she needed him. But the longer he was away, the more worried I became. He wouldn’t return to ShadesRealm without telling me first. Would he?
Ever since he’d disappeared on me for days on end, I would likely question even the most innocent absences. There was no telling if something might happen to take him away from me again.
When a portal appeared in the corner and he stepped through, I let out a heavy sigh of relief and nearly threw myself into his arms without warning.
“I thought you would never come back,” I murmured, burying my face in his shoulder.
“I couldn’t have been away for more than half an hour,” he chuckled.
It was a thin chuckle, half-hearted, and I sensed his troubled spirit before I was even out of his arms.
“What happened?
” I placed my hands on my hips. “Be honest with me, please.”
His golden eyes were darker than normal. Without their usual glow. “Who’s to say anything happened?”
“You’re avoiding the subject, answering questions with questions. Come, now.” I took him by the arm and led him to a sofa by the fire. “Please. What is it? Is Anissa in trouble?”
“No, for once,” he replied as we sat. “She wanted to give me something. A tool to help me with what I need to do.”
“What you need to do?” I didn’t like the sound of that.
He nodded. “I have to make things right. You know I do. Of all people, you know what it would mean to me to right the wrong I set into motion.”
Rather than arguing the point and telling him once again that he was not at fault for Tabitha’s murder, I merely nodded. “Yes. I know what it would mean to you.”
His face took on a pained expression. “Because of that, I must change my original plan.”
“What plan is that?” And why did my heart catch at the sound of his words? Because he delivered them with such clear dismay?
He took one of my hands. “I asked you to be mine, Felicity. When I did so, it was with an open heart. With the best of intentions and in all seriousness. I still wish this could be so, but it can no longer be, not if I am to put things to right.”
I withdrew my hand from his grasp, and he let me go with nothing more than a soft groan.
“You can’t mean this. Did I not already tell you how I love you? How nothing you’ve done changes that? Why would you push me away now?”
He shook his head. “No, no, you misunderstand me. It isn’t that I don’t trust your love or believe you mean it when you pledge it to me. It isn’t that I no longer love you. It’s that if I am to do what must be done, you can be no part of it.”
While it appeared as though he was trying to comfort me, his words provided little.
“What does one have to do with the other?”
He sighed as he reached into the inner pocket of his robes. “I wish you had not asked. I had hoped to avoid telling you too much.”