by Nicole Hall
The connection with Ljos shouldn’t demand a sacrifice. There had to be another way.
Dru trailed her fingers along the vines over Oren’s chest, feeling the different textures of the spells holding him in place. They were woven into the thick cords, stopping him from shifting as well as speaking. Dru noticed the tip of Fehr’s snout peeking out from the collar of Oren’s shirt. Clever on Hollis’ part to prepare for Oren, but she couldn’t possibly have guessed what she’d trapped in her throne room.
Oren pleaded with her through the bond, but even with all his strength, Dru wouldn’t risk him. The vessel only required a bond because of the enormous power of involved. Nothing said she needed another person in order to join with Ljos, only to survive. All the magic that flowed to the dryads could travel through her alone. With that kind of power, if she could endure on her own—even a small amount of time—she could stop Hollis for good. Oren and Bri would be safe, not to mention all the vessels who would come after her. She’d finally be able to smite her enemies.
All it would take was giving up everything.
Dru took a deep breath and accepted the cost. She’d never expected to live through this. Hollis wanted her to choose between the dryads and Oren? Fine, but she wasn’t going to like the choice. Dru slumped her shoulders and let her face crumple with tears. She stopped holding back the pain of losing Oren, and let it show clearly on her face as it sliced through her heart, using it to sell the surrender. Hollis wasn’t the only one who could manipulate the truth.
“You win, but I want to say goodbye. Let him speak.”
The vines loosened until they nearly hung off of him, allowing him to move but staying threateningly close. Oren dropped his forehead to hers, and she almost couldn’t hear his words. “Use me.”
Dru took his face in her hands as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. “No. I’ve already had to give up everything else in my life. I won’t let her destroy you too.”
“You don’t need a dryad, kalia. Use me.” He covered her hands with his, then lowered himself to his knees in front of her. “We’ve been here once before.”
She remembered the first night he’d come to talk to her, when she’d told him to beg on his knees and he’d dropped without hesitation. Dru had started falling then, and she hadn’t been able to catch herself. Oren had caught her instead. Supporting her, protecting her, always willing to sacrifice for her. So many sacrifices, from so many people.
Dru brushed her lips over his, lingering for a long second, then whispered, “I love you.”
His hand lifted to curl behind her neck and hold her close. “Then don’t leave me.”
She placed her palm over the mark on his chest. Their mark. His magic leapt at the touch, hers to control. Before he could stop her, she used their combined power to build a wall between them. The magic of the sacred tree wouldn’t touch him.
“No more sacrifices.” Hands still clasped in his, Dru reached out to Ljos.
A vast reservoir of power reached back. She opened herself to the sacred tree, the root of all magic, and let it pour into her. From far away, she heard Oren yell her name, but the rush nearly deafened her.
Dru’s head fell back, and if Oren’s arms hadn’t slid around her, she would have collapsed to the ground. Some part of her felt him there, felt their bond swell as the magic pushed against it, but she wouldn’t release her hold to allow it to siphon into him. No more sacrifices.
16
OREN
“Dru!” Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body went limp in Oren’s arms. He tightened his grip, unwilling to let her fall where the vines wouldn’t allow him to reach. “Kalia, wake up.”
Her chest rose and fell in a regular rhythm, but in every other way, she was unresponsive. Oren’s panic rose as the bond refused to let him reach her either. A trickle of magic leaked through her protections, as green as Dru’s but endlessly more powerful. Ljos. It had to be. She’d blocked him and completed the link.
Stubborn, complicated woman.
Fehr heated across his shoulder, demanding they shift and tear the room apart, but as long as Dru breathed, Oren refused to let her go. Hollis gasped, and Alex came halfway across the room before stopping, apparently stupid enough to think Oren didn’t pose a threat. The vines had relaxed, but he could still feel Hollis’ magic circling him, waiting to close in again.
“What have you done to her?” Hollis stood in front of her throne, imperious and angry.
Oren spared her a glance, then returned his focus to Dru. “Not me. Ljos.”
She scoffed, and Alex slinked closer. “Don’t lie to me. If she’d completed the connection, you’d be as unconscious as her. I can still see the mark you put on her.”
Oren shrugged and hoped Alex would take a few more steps. “Believe what you want, but Dru is unconscious now because of you.”
Hollis seemed to shake off her surprise because he felt the vines begin to curl up his legs. Before she could imprison him again, Oren pulled on his and Dru’s combined magic to surround them with a shield. He’d been practicing that particular spell, but the wall Dru had created stifled a large portion of his magic. Against the power Hollis wielded, he wasn’t sure how long he could hold it.
The vines stopped moving, and Hollis frowned. “How are you able to use the power of Ljos against me?”
He’d been right. The secondary green magic had been Ljos, and he’d tapped into it when he made the shield. Apparently, Hollis couldn’t push past it to entrap him. Oren had no intention of answering her, but Tamra spoke up from the corner.
“He’s using your daughter’s magic. I can get through his shield.”
During all the commotion, Tamra hadn’t moved. Oren had assumed she’d been restrained like everyone else. She’d been watching, the changing expressions on her face made that much clear, but unlike the Tamra he’d known, she’d stayed seated and out of the way.
Oren sat back on his heels, letting the brunt of Dru’s weight settle across his lap. His revenge on Alex would have to wait. “Tamra, what’s in this for you?”
She moved her gaze from Dru to Oren and shrugged. “I have my reasons.”
Her promise hadn’t been a bluff. While he could crush her with one hand physically, Tamra’s skill with shields and wards surpassed everyone he knew save for Seth.
Oren shook his head. “She’ll betray you.”
Tamra sneered. “I allow her to believe that, but you know better, don’t you?”
Hollis threw the goblet across the room with a loud clatter. “You will both be silent. This is my realm, and I won’t have shifter trash creating complications for my carefully laid plans.”
Her outburst had the desired effect. Vines grew out of the stone floor to bind Tamra to the chair, and Oren relaxed at the vicious glare Tamra sent Hollis. He didn’t believe for a moment that Tamra was actually shackled, but her interest didn’t seem to be in Dru. Hollis’ superior attitude had triggered one of Tamra’s pet peeves. She hated being treated like an underling. With Tamra effectively out of the conflict for now, Oren strengthened the shield and waited. Hollis didn’t disappoint.
He felt her magic push against the shield as she made him an offer. “Release Dru to her husband, and I will spare your life.”
Oren growled and gathered her against him. “Dru is mine. When she chooses to marry, it will be to me.”
She laughed. “A dryad princess marrying a useless shifter? You overstep your bounds. Alex, take her from him.”
Oren lowered his head to hide his smile and surreptitiously slid his hands out from under Dru. Alex hesitated, then moved forward slowly. He stopped just outside arm’s reach.
“Wouldn’t this be easier to accomplish with the guards?” He sounded wary, and Oren allowed the shield to waver.
Hollis’ voice sharpened. “No. They remain outside. He’s weakening. Take her now and remove his access to her magic. Prove yourself worthy of my blood, and I’ll let you have both my daughters.”
&nbs
p; Oren watched from the corner of his eye as Alex took a long look at Bri.
Alex’s magic flared, and he bolted toward Dru. The smaller man was inhumanly fast, like outside Bri’s house, but this time, Oren was ready for him. The moment Alex passed the boundaries of the shield, it came back up full force, cutting off the magic from Hollis. Without his power, Alex lurched to a stop, but too late. Oren yanked the other man down to the ground, then broke his neck with a quick twist, snapping it like a dry twig. Appropriate for a dryad.
Hollis stared in stunned silence for a few beats, and Oren took the opportunity to lift Dru into his arms again. Her scent called to him, so he carefully laid his head next to hers and allowed her proximity to slow his racing heart.
Fehr preened at the violence, but Oren normally preferred to find other solutions. He felt no remorse for the death though. The lust and greed in Alex’s eyes had marked him as a dead man, and now there was one less threat to Dru.
If only she’d wake up.
DRU
The room vanished as the magic forged a new connection. Dru gasped and opened her eyes, but she wasn’t in the chamber of the sacred tree anymore. The enormous infusion of magic no longer filled all her senses. In fact, the infusion had stopped, but her access to the power remained.
The word guardian floated through her mind. Not a complete thought, but an impression of protection and honor. Dru squeezed her eyes shut then opened them again, but the scene didn’t change. She stood in a clearing in the woods, alone and barefoot. In front of her grew a silver tree wrapped in vines amidst the sea of green and brown. Was she dead?
Amusement touched her, and Dru narrowed her eyes at the tree. “Ljos?”
A gentle beckoning urged her forward. “I’m really unclear on what’s happening right now, so if you can talk, an explanation would be great.”
Figures coalesced in her mind, cascading one after the other. Dru started to feel nauseous from the movement, so she closed her eyes. Guardian. A litany of dryads kneeling next to the sacred waters morphing from one to the next until the images slowed and stopped on Hollis. She didn’t kneel, instead standing behind the dryad at the water.
At the beginning, the dryads had seemed strong and confident, but as they moved on past the first dryad with Hollis, each successive vessel—and that’s what they were—sank lower. Their faces spoke of misery, and Hollis grew stronger, never aging. The last dryad was Dru, as she’d been earlier in the cave. The first dryad in a long while to drink without Hollis’ watchful eye.
Her picture slowly grew faint then disappeared, leaving only darkness in her mind. Dru took a shaky breath and opened her eyes. Still in the silent woods with Ljos. Probably Ljos.
She approached the tree and laid a hand on the bark. “I’m sorry for what Hollis did, but I don’t understand why you brought me here.”
Guardian.
Dru blew out a breath. “Okay. I’m good at charades and word games. We can figure this out. The vessels were guardians until Hollis came around and screwed with the system. What were they guarding?”
The tree warmed under her palm, and Dru nodded.
“You. They were guarding the sacred tree. Because you’re the root of all magic?”
Hollis appeared in her mind again for a moment. “Ah, I get it. I think. They were guarding against misuse of your magic.” She patted the huge trunk and smiled. “I’ll bet you can take care of yourself without needing us to keep you safe.”
Warmth traveled up her arm and spread into her chest. The sensation reminded her of the mate bond and Oren. Her smile faded. Would she ever see him again? She’d erected a shield to protect him, but when—if?—she went back, she wasn’t sure she could keep it up forever. Maybe it would be best if she stayed here in the forest with Ljos. Her heart hurt at the loss, but she’d endure any pain to keep him safe.
Amusement prodded her again, stronger than last time.
She snatched her hand away, disappointed that Ljos would enjoy her misery. “You think that’s funny?”
Soothing calm replaced the amusement, accompanied by an image of Oren holding her unconscious body, curled around her. At least, she hoped it was unconscious. If she really had died, she didn’t want to watch Oren mourning her. The picture went away, and Dru immediately changed her mind. She wanted to run back to him, to wake up with him there next to her, but if all she had was a vision, she’d take mourning as long as she got to see him.
A breeze ruffled her hair, somehow exasperated.
Dru glared at the tree, sniffling back the tears that had started to form. “This would be a lot easier if you had vocal cords. What am I doing wrong now?”
Guardian.
She threw her hands in the air. “Yes. I’m the guardian now, but it doesn’t do much good if I’m dead…or about to die. What do you want from me?”
The breeze circled her again and firmly nudged the mark on her neck. Magic flared, both from the mate bond and from Ljos, and Dru gasped. Her eyebrows shot up as a new vignette flashed into her mind. Oren holding her from behind, and in her arms, a gurgling baby kicking little legs. Dru couldn’t look away from the child, clearly a blending of both of their features. And then she knew.
“You want my children. No, not that. You want me to have children. To pass along the magic necessary to become the next vessel.”
Guardian.
“Okay. Guardian, then. Does that mean your magic won’t kill me? Because I’m not going back there and producing offspring if I don’t get a fair shot at seeing them grow.”
The silver tree glimmered in the light, and the vines tightened sinuously. Dru narrowed her eyes and reached out to touch a dark green leaf. The magic coating it felt slimy and had the distinctive tinge of her mother.
“The vines are Hollis’ tight rein on the magic. She claimed it was the vessel’s job to act as a go between for your magic and the dryads, but that’s not what the guardians were meant to do, were they? We’re not gatekeepers for the magic. It was Hollis’ control that was killing the dryads.”
Satisfaction swirled around her with the wind and settled against her skin, coalescing into a layer of power, silky smooth.
Dru grinned. “See? I knew I’d figure it out. One more time, just to make sure I understood correctly. Drop a leaf on me or something if I get it wrong. Hollis took advantage of the guardians a long time ago by stealing their control of your magic. She forced the magic from them, which eventually killed them. I’m guessing the more magic she pulled, the faster they died. We must have been right about the bond being where she hid the spell because I’m not under her control. Thanks to Oren.”
Excitement traveled through her as she finally came to the realization that she hadn’t lost everything. Her sacrifice actually had saved generations of dryads, and Ljos clearly approved of Oren as her mate. She’d gotten a glimpse of her future—one she hadn’t let herself wish for—and she didn’t plan to miss her chance. A life with Oren? Sign her up.
She laid her hand and her forehead against the smooth bark, then closed her eyes. “Thank you. I’ll make sure the dryads become protectors of your magic once again.” Dru opened herself fully to the power, and the final link with Ljos clicked into place.
Guardian. Warm approval danced over her skin, carried by the wind. As she watched, the vines weakened and fell away, crumbling into dust. The influx of magic she’d felt before changed into a gateway to Ljos. Dru could access the vast reservoir of magic, but it wasn’t pushing through her anymore.
Abruptly, everything stopped and went dark. Dru had a moment of disorientation. Her eyelids felt heavy, but heat surrounded her. She shifted closer to the source and tucked her hand under a shirt to find familiar warm muscles. A sudden inhale of breath against her neck shot pleasure straight to her core.
“Kalia?”
Dru opened her eyes with a groan, then smiled at the fierce joy on Oren’s face. “What did I miss?”
Crushing her against him, he spoke softly. “Drop the wall, kalia. It�
��s killing me to be separated from you.”
She tore down the magic that divided them and felt him stiffen at the influx of new power. “Don’t worry. Ljos and I came to an agreement. We’re besties now.”
A crash interrupted the moment, and they both turned to see Hollis hunched over near her throne staring at her hands in horror. She’d knocked over an empty metal tray that had slid to a stop next to Dru’s dead fiancé.
Dru felt a pop as magic she hadn’t noticed surrounding them vanished. What in the hell had happened while she’d been chatting with a tree? The magic from Ljos simmered inside her alongside the magic she shared with Oren, twining together into a formidable force waiting to be used.
“What have you done?” Hollis whispered, looking up at Dru.
Oren helped Dru stand, but when he took a step forward to approach Hollis, Dru laid a hand on his chest. “I can handle her.”
He lifted her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles then stepped back and crossed his arms. She could feel his need to punish Hollis for what she’d forced on Dru, but for her, he stood aside. Love for this incredible man flooded her, coursing through the bond to Oren and returning stronger than before.
Dru faced her mother with her mate at her back, and for the first time in her life, she felt pity for Hollis. “You’re no longer connected to Ljos, and I’m deposing you. I don’t want to hurt you—” She paused and winced. “Okay, I kind of want to hurt you, but I won’t unless you force my hand. We can do a peaceful transfer of power or I can kick your ass, but either way, effective immediately, I’m the new queen.”
Hollis didn’t seem to hear her, which was really too bad. Dru had been dreaming of that speech for almost ten years. The lines on Hollis’ face and hands deepened into wrinkles, and her skin sagged. She touched her face gingerly and shrieked.
Dru felt her try to draw from Ljos, but the sacred tree shut her down hard. The pull snapped back, and Hollis stumbled. “You’ve stolen my magic, you wretched girl.”