The Saven Series
SAVEN DELIVERANCE
The Fourth Saven Novel
Siobhan Davis
www.siobhandavis.com
IMPORTANT NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
To avoid confusion, I would like to confirm this book is the last full-length novel in the Saven series. Initially, I was going to title this novel Saven Declaration, but I changed it to Saven Deliverance as I felt it was a more fitting title.
The Saven Series Reading Order is as follows:
Saven Deception
The Logan Collection
Saven Disclosure
Saven Denial
Saven Defiance
The Heir and the Human
Saven Deliverance
Table of Contents
Important Note
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
Epilogue
A Special Note from the Author
About the Author
Exclusive Sneak Peek!
Acknowledgments
Books by Siobhan Davis
Copyright
For Luca.
CHAPTER 1
Sadie
The transparent chamber is suspended in midair, floating on invisible legs. Cocooned inside the glass casing, Haydn looks so peaceful as he lies unconscious, completely oblivious to his surroundings. All trace of his devastating injuries is gone, and there’s no legitimate reason why he won’t wake up. He should be awake by now, but his mind is steadfastly refusing to emerge from its comatose state.
Even in unconsciousness, his stubbornness knows no bounds.
I might laugh if I wasn’t so worried about him.
“No way, Sadie. You are not doing it. I forbid it.” Logan folds his arms across his chest as he pins me with a determined look.
“You forbid it?!” I harrumph, incredulous that he’s taking that stance with me.
He should know better by now.
“You don’t get to make that call. It’s my decision.” I prod my finger into his solid chest. “All mine.”
His breath huffs out in audible exasperation. “I know why you want to do it, and I love you for that, but I can’t risk losing you too.” His features soften with his concern. “I can’t lose anyone else,” he adds, more quietly.
Leaning into him, I rise on tiptoe and snake my hands around his neck. His arms don’t hesitate to encircle my waist. “I know, babe. I know. But I’m the only one who can do this with any degree of certainty. I wouldn’t risk something so dangerous unless I was totally confident in my ability to pull it off. And I am. I can do this. I know I can.” I open our Eterno connection and let my feelings flood the line. Yes, he can detect the edge of anxiety, but determination and resolve are the overriding sentiments.
Haydn has protected me—and saved us—on so many occasions. Now it’s my turn to save him.
“You know I would gladly do it, My King,” Kesla says. “I am prepared to risk it for Haydn because if he doesn’t live, then I don’t wish to either.” Straightening her back, she fixes her steely gray eyes on Logan before returning her attention to the floating chamber. Haydn was initially treated at the state-of-the-art facility in the Central City before we moved him to the high-tech medical facility in his hometown of Talla so he could be closer to his loved ones. Placing one elegant hand on the glass, Kesla chokes on a sob as her eyes grow glassy.
My heart aches for her. I’m glad I’ve gotten to know her better these last few weeks. To discover that she’s not just some random girl Haydn had in his bed the last time we were in Talla—on a stopover during our mission to destroy the Server Control Center in the Mendalla Mountains—but someone of significance.
High Elder Jaxa steps forward. “Your Royal Highness, if I may be permitted to speak?”
“At ease, please.” Logan releases me from his embrace. “We don’t stand on ceremony anymore. Speak your mind freely.”
“I know the young lady is keen to help, but your bodyguard has been lost in unconsciousness for more than a month now, and his mind is deeply entrenched in that inner void. It will take a very strong will to draw him out of himself.” He pauses, his gaze shifting between us. “Everyone we tested was too weak, except for you two—you are the only ones who are strong enough to risk the mind walk.” Logan sighs as the High Elder articulates what we already know.
It has to be either Logan or me. There is no other choice.
Our Eterno bond has strengthened our minds beyond that of any other Saven. We are the first couple in two hundred years to have bonded at a soul-deep level, and we are, quite simply, unique in modern times.
“I’ll do it,” Logan states.
I scream inside as I smack him lightly across the chest. “Stop. Being. Ridiculous.” While there’s no doubt Logan has mellowed, and matured, there are still times when his overbearing Neanderthal man persona raises his stupid head.
Like now.
This is the epitome of stupidity, and he knows it full and well.
I glare at him. “We cannot risk you. You have only been officially inaugurated as Saven king, and your people need you. The galaxy needs you. You are a founding member and the main driving force behind the U.P.C. There is too much at stake for you to do it. I adore you for wanting to protect me, but you need to put your sensible hat on. I’m the only one who can do this, and you know I’m right.”
Worry lines crinkle his eyes as he runs a hand along the back of his neck. “Talk me through the process, please,” he requests the High Elder. We’ve already gone over this—numerous times—and he knows what’s involved, but I can’t fault him for his thoroughness. Not when I know it’s coming from a good place.
High Elder Jaxa bows before he starts speaking. “With our advanced medical technology, there is little need for mind walking anymore, but there was a time in our past where it was more commonplace. The essence of who we are—in our natural form—and the epicenter of our telepathic abilities rest within our mind. When presented with significant threat, our minds curl inwards—it’s an inbuilt protective mechanism. The instinct is only supposed to last in the short term while the body and mind works to repair itself. Mind walkers were Saven who were skilled at entering the minds of others, supporting them through the repair process and guiding them out of that innermost chamber of their mind. Alma Sadie and I have been working these past few weeks to strengthen her mind against foreign attack using similar techniques.”
I flinch at the mere thought of Griselda impacting my mind, and a sour taste fills my mouth.
“The principles Alma Sadie has learned are the same,” Jaxa continues. “In order to protect herself, she has to retreat deep into her mind to seal it from attack. Alma Sadie will follow the same path to her inner chamber and from there project herself into Officer Rox’s mind. I’ve already explained the technique, so she knows what to do.” He clasps his hands in front of him and looks evenly at Logan.
Logan nods as he worries his lip between his teeth. “Can you highlight the risks again?”
He clears his throat. “Alma Sadie cannot stay too long inside Officer Rox’s mind before her ability to return is diminished. There is also a risk that he co
uld secure her mind to his, thereby locking her in the abyss too. If she can’t break free in time, then she’ll be trapped along with him.”
An anguished layer coats Logan’s face as he contemplates the worst-case scenario.
“If it’s of any consolation, My King, I believe Alma Sadie can withstand the risks. She has grown stronger with each training session. I have faith she can do this.” High Elder Jaxa speaks in a confident, reassuring voice, and I can’t help wondering if his poise is rock solid because he already knows this will work. The elders have the gift of foresight although no one outside their circle understands how it works. They don’t share much other than tidbits, for fear of adversely influencing the future.
What a shame that bitch, Griselda, had no such morals.
Pressing his forehead to mine, Logan reels me in close. “I’m thinking the same thing, but I’m still scared.”
“I’m scared too, but I have to try. You heard what Jaxa said before—Haydn is running out of time. The longer he stays in a dormant state, the less chance we have of bringing him back to us. I need to infiltrate his mind sooner rather than later, or he’ll never survive the coma. Please let me do this. I know I can do it. Trust me.”
Kesla and Jaxa are patiently watching our silent conversation, waiting for us to conclude our inner debate. Kesla smooths her long, glossy, dark hair back off her forehead as she chews on the corner of her mouth. I don’t need a hotline to her mind to know what she’s feeling and thinking.
She doesn’t want to lose Haydn when she’s only found him again.
As my eyes skim over her raven-colored hair and her full, rich lips, I can’t help thinking of Snow White and wishing it were as simple as a kiss from her to draw Haydn back to the land of the living.
If only all this was a fairy tale with a known happy ending.
A reality where Neve, Alex, and their unborn baby are still alive. Where my beloved sister wasn’t tortured until death. An alternate realm where Ax hasn’t betrayed me in the worst possible manner.
Axton. His name is a whisper in my mind, a ghost in my memory, an aching pain in my heart.
Splintering pain knifes me through the chest as the usual rage battles with grief and concern inside me.
It’s been one month since that awful day in the tunnel.
One month since Dante and his allies attacked the High Commission, capturing our friends and callously killing Neve’s boyfriend, Alex, in the ship en route to his mother’s family cabin in the Saven old district. Dante had taken us underground, planning to use the old tunnel infrastructure to reclaim Saven for himself when the Tor showed up, and fighting inevitably broke out. Consumed with grief over the loss of Alex, Neve had chased after Dante as he fled, losing her life and her unborn child’s life in the process.
I still can’t accept that she’s gone or that her cousin was the one to end her life. I’ve always known Dante was tormented and misguided, but now I know he’s pure evil incarnate.
My mind tortures me by replaying those scenes over and over again, and I hate reliving the moment when Haydn took a bullet protecting Logan and me. Or the incident when we were above ground where Ax put a gun to my temple and tried to force me to leave with him.
It’s only been one month since the day that changed everything, but in many ways, it feels like a lifetime.
The lack of communication from Ax has been soul destroying. I don’t even know if he’s still alive, but I can’t risk contacting him because I still don’t know if he was in cahoots with his wicked mother the whole time. Or maybe he wasn’t and he returned to Torc out of desperation. Perhaps she’s already killed him for failing her. Every time I panic over what’s become of him, I’m also reminded of how often he deceived me, and my mind is a jumbled mess of warring emotion.
Concealing the key to the cuff bands which caged my incendio gift is the worst affront of all. If I’d had access to my gift in the tunnels, I could have saved Neve from her fate, removed Dante as a threat, and spared us all a lot of horrific pain.
But there’s no going back, no matter how much I’ve thought of it. Griselda needs to be stopped before the new Tempo she’s building is fully functional. While there’s no denying access to the time travel technology would solve so many problems, it isn’t something that we should ever contemplate. Messing with the future creates more dilemmas than solutions. Griselda’s actions have already proven that.
I sigh, and Logan pulls me into his warm embrace, kissing me deeply, uncaring that we have an audience. “Don’t do this again, Angel. You are not to blame. There is nothing you could’ve done to alter the situation. This isn’t on you.” He eases back a little, penetrating me with his stunning blue eyes.
“I can’t help feeling guilty. There are so many different ways it could’ve played out. If I hadn’t hurt Ax so much, maybe he wouldn’t have acted as he did.” I rub a hand over my sore chest, in the spot right over my aching heart.
“You are not responsible for his actions. Someday he’ll have to face the consequences of his choices.”
The usual internal conflict erupts inside him, and I feel everything he’s feeling. Compassion for the shitty upbringing Ax had contrasts strongly with Logan’s anger toward him.
Ax lied to Logan for years. He knew I was meant for him, but he kept me squirreled away. Kept my identity secret. When Logan told me he always had a sixth sense that Ax had something of his, I was completely blown away by the knowledge that some inherent part of Logan was already aware of my existence, even if he couldn’t decipher it. Understandably, he’s still harboring a lot of frustration toward Ax, yet the knowledge that they are half-brothers has confused the situation, and there’s a part of him that feels compelled to form a connection with his newly discovered sibling.
My emotions are a bloody, shredded mess. Torn between my love and loyalty for Logan and my equal parts disgust and fear for Ax, I don’t know what to think anymore.
I’m furious with Ax, but there is still so much love in my heart for him too. When I think of everything he has gone through, I want to rage at the world for inflicting him with such torment.
Discovering the identity of his father was a massive shock. Inheriting a longed-for brother who turns out to be someone you can’t tolerate is an even worse one.
Ax already harbored less than pleasant thoughts toward Logan because I chose him. Finding out his father rejected him outright and gave Logan the life Ax should also have rightfully lived has surely turned his world upside down. Without me there to support him, who does he have to talk to? Who is helping him sort out the turmoil in his head?
I catch a tiny sliver of compassion surfacing in Logan’s mind before it’s quickly replaced by a tsunami of frustration and fury.
It’s a complex situation, and we don’t know how to deal with it. On more than one occasion, we’ve come to loggerheads over our differing views. I’m also finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I fell in love with two brothers, at two vastly different periods in my life.
Fate sure knows how to level a powerful gut punch.
Air whooshes out of my mouth in frustration. However, I can’t allow the past to suck me back in because the here and now is demanding my attention. Our attention. I thrust that thought down the line. Haydn needs me now, and I won’t let him down. I want to do this for him. For Logan too—because he needs his best friend, now more than ever.
I feed my resolve through our connection, and Logan’s acquiescence trickles through the line. He isn’t happy about this, but he isn’t going to stop me either. “Thank you.”
Stepping out of Logan’s embrace altogether, I turn and face High Elder Jaxa. “Logan is on board now. When can we do this?”
“I need some time to set things up. Come back later tonight.”
I bow my head, smiling to myself as I do. I’ve given Haydn hell for all his ludicrous bowing in the past, and now I find myself doing it on instinct. Having spent so much time with High Elder Jaxa these last
few weeks, I’ve grown to respect the man so much. It seems only right to show him appreciation in the way he is accustomed to. Steeped in the older Saven cultures and traditions, Jaxa is like a walking encyclopedia of Saven history and legend. Initially, it was agreed that he would work with me on controlling my incendio gift and controlling my mind, but he’s taught me so much more than that.
Logan grimaces as he accepts a telepathic comm from Rylan. I cease our connection, offering him privacy. He leans against the wall as he silently converses with his newly elected personal advisor.
I walk over beside Kesla. Her eyes are closed as she rests her head on the outer edge of the chamber. Linking my hand in hers, I squeeze her fingers in a show of support.
I’m glad I chose to base myself in Haydn’s home village for a variety of reasons but especially for all I have gleaned about him and his life before I knew him. When I drag his comatose ass out of that chamber, I’m going to have some choice words for him. In all our conversations, he never once mentioned the girl who’s been in love with him since he was a little boy. And she’s such a sweetheart, so I can’t fathom why he wanted to keep her hidden.
“Angel,” Logan says, approaching from behind me. “I’ve got to leave.”
I spin on my heel, picking up on the stress in his tone. “What is it?”
“The Military Reserve thinks they have a lock on the whereabouts of the renegade faction.”
When Dante solicited six supposedly neutral planets into allying with his cause, I’m sure he didn’t think it would start a process unifying all races against him. But that’s exactly what’s happened. All but a handful of heirs survived the attack on the High Commission. United in grief and a thirst for revenge, all the other alien nations have banded together and committed to cease hostilities and work toward peace. Logan and King Coryn were pivotal in establishing the new Unified Planetary Commission or U.P.C. as I’ve taken to calling it.
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