by Nikki McCoy
It was his second spirit. His falcon.
Dhani cried out in joy and, to his surprise, heard his laughter ring out in his ears. His eyes flew open to reveal his body, tangible and aching with fatigue. He was back! Somehow, his falcon had freed itself from Roh Se Kahn’s clutches and brought him back!
“Sweet Mother,” someone breathed. Dhani looked up to find Keenan staring down at him from the tight embrace of Rowan’s arms, eyes widened in shock. Keenan fell to the ground beside him and strangled him in a partial hug with his good arm. “Thank you,” Keenan said tightly. “Thank you, Goddess, thank you.”
“Choking…me,” Dhani wheezed past the suffocating crush of Keenan’s arms.
Keenan pulled back abruptly then hugged him again, more tears streaming down his face. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe you’re back. I don’t know what went wrong. The spell was only supposed to banish my father’s essence from you, not take you with it.”
“It’s okay,” Dhani said, putting as much assurance as he could into the words. But inside, he was still shaking from what might have been. How close he’d come to a fate worse than death. When Keenan finally drew back, he wavered from his blood loss and Rowan was there instantly. He tore into his wrist then put it to Keenan’s mouth.
When Dhani was sure his friend would pull through, he stood and looked out over the crowd of those he’d come to know as family. While their eyes reflected his own astonishment at being there, he could feel their joy as strong as that of his falcon. When his gaze traveled to his mate, his breath caught in his throat and blood surged with anticipation.
Although Tailor’s face gave no emotion, his energy hit Dhani like an overwhelming force. It permeated anger, incredulity and possession so savage, it was all Dhani could do to keep standing as Tailor stalked toward him.
There were no words, no hesitation or gentleness.
Tailor grabbed the nape of Dhani’s neck in one hand and fisted the back of his hair with the other, then jerked him forward to crush their mouths together. A throbbing pressure mounted in Dhani’s groin and his head swam with the intensity of Tailor’s tongue driving into him. The immovable cage of Tailor’s hard body encasing him made his nerves sing and his heart pound almost painfully. He wanted to strip down right there and take Tailor’s cock into him, uncaring of who was there to witness it.
Then a loud harrumph drew them back to their surroundings. Before letting go, Tailor pressed their foreheads together and inhaled deeply. “You are never going to leave my sight again. You hear me?”
The rough authority in Tailor’s voice made Dhani chuckle. He had no doubt his mate was completely serious and would follow through with his command, at least over the next few years.
“How…?” Rowan choked, meeting Dhani’s gaze, then cleared the obvious emotion catching in his throat. “How did you bring my mate back? I felt him dying after his spirit was driven out of him.”
“I used the residue of Roh Se Kahn’s power in me to force my leopard spirit into him. Then my falcon’s spirit found me to make me whole again.”
Everyone froze in shock at his statement.
“My baby,” Laya said, breaking the silence and almost shoving Tailor aside to get to Dhani. “I’m so glad you made it back. Xenessa and I were hoping…but we couldn’t be sure.”
Tailor narrowed his eyes. “Wait, what? You knew there was a chance Dhani could die and you didn’t tell me?”
Rowan picked Keenan up and kissed his temple. “We all knew there was a chance Dhani and Keenan could die.”
Xenessa spoke up cautiously, cradling Sevrick to her chest who seemed more dazed than scared now. “Things didn’t exactly turn out as we’d expected. We didn’t know Dhani would give his spirit to Keenan to save his life, or that he even could.”
“Dhani should’ve been pulled back into that alternate realm with Roh Se Kahn and Vane,” Tailor said angrily. “What secrets are you hiding from me?”
“Whatever they are, it can wait,” Rowan said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Right now, we need to clean up this mess.” He glanced at a handful of the surviving warriors Roh Se Kahn had manipulated, all staring in confusion at several of Rowan’s guards who held them at gunpoint. “These followers seem to have amnesia, but I don’t want to wait around for their memory to come back. We need to get them to the dungeon beneath my palace.”
Dhani shook his head. “Those aren’t followers. They’re loyal Ba’Kal and Vam’kir. I… Roh Se Kahn killed all the followers he could find. He didn’t want to risk them betraying him for Vane during the incantation to free the rest of his essence. He kidnapped these warriors and forced them to fight for him. When Keenan said the spell to banish Roh Se Kahn, the God’s influence over them must’ve been expelled.”
Rowan’s face paled. “They’re innocents?”
Dhani nodded, feeling nausea cramp his stomach as he looked around at the multitude of bodies littering the barn floor. He was responsible for their deaths.
“This wasn’t your fault,” Keenan said to him, as if reading his thoughts. “Or yours,” he said to Rowan. “The blame is on my father.”
“Regardless,” Xenessa said, “we need to leave this place and erase all evidence of Vane and Roh Se Kahn’s presence. There can be nothing left behind to give those followers still out there any hope that they can bring Roh Se Kahn back.”
“Agreed,” Cy said grimly, pulling his mate close to his side. In the next moment, his lips quirked up in a smirk as he looked over at Keenan. “So, how does it feel to have Dhani’s spirit inside you?”
Keenan smiled. “A little weird, but good. He’s accepted me, and I can feel my best friend through him. It’s amazing! I can’t wait to see what I look like in leopard form during the upcoming full moon.”
Tailor furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure how I feel about you possessing a part of my mate,” he said in mock territorialism. “It’s kinda like you’re seeing him naked.”
Rowan snorted. “Would it make you feel better if you saw Keenan naked?”
“Hey!” Keenan smacked Rowan on the arm.
“Well…” Tailor canted his head as though thinking about it.
“Tailor!” Dhani punched his mate in the chest with the back of his fist.
Cy burst out laughing at all of them.
When Tailor tucked Dhani under his arm and began to lead him from the barn, Rowan gently lowered Keenan then reached out to grab Dhani’s arm. Rowan opened his mouth and hesitated for a few seconds. “All kidding aside, I owe you a debt of gratitude I will never be able to repay,” he said to Dhani. “You’ve saved my mate twice, with no thought for yourself, and gave one of your spirits to him so he could live.” He glanced at Keenan, then met Tailor’s gaze, though his next words were for Dhani. “This man is the luckiest bastard on earth to have you.”
Dhani swallowed heavily at the sincerity in Rowan’s eyes, then looked to Keenan. “Keenan’s saved my life more than a few times. I was just returning the favor.”
Keenan laughed and pulled him in for a quick embrace. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” Dhani said. He left the barn with Tailor at his side, feeling for the first time in his life that his future was finally his own.
* * * *
The next day, everyone gathered in the living room of Rowan’s palace. Buffet tables had been loaded with every breakfast food known to man by Rowan’s cook, and a separate table had been designated to hold about fifteen different kinds of liquor. Tailor joined Cy and Mara at the liquor table and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, bypassing glass completely. It was only nine o’clock in the morning, but nobody cared.
Well, almost no one.
Xenessa glared at her mate when Cy refilled his glass with several more fingers of vodka, to which he simply growled. “Back off, woman. Let me have my cheap thrills. We should both be celebrating Roh Se Kahn’s defeat.”
Xenessa sniffed indelicately, saying, “One more cheap thrill and that’ll be your last for the ne
xt week.”
Cy’s humor died quickly and he set his glass on the table.
Mara laughed and took a swig of her beer. “Three and a half centuries old, covered in bulging muscles, piercings and tattoos, and you’re pussy whipped in less than a week.” She clucked her tongue. “Sad. Just sad.”
“Oh, yeah? How ‘bout I call Cassie and see how whipped you are for her pussy?” Cy shot back.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
“People!” Dhani yelled from where he sat on the couch cradling Sevrick in his arms. His hair had returned to its original red and was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. “Virgin ears here. Don’t make me go over there.”
Tailor chuckled at the expressions of guilt on Cy and Mara’s faces. “Dick beats pussy every time.”
Quinn groaned from his position on the arm of the recliner where Manning sat. “You all give sex a bad name.”
“Maybe,” Tailor shrugged with a smirk, “but Manning was telling me earlier how much you called out that bad name last night in his bed.”
Quinn’s cheeks flamed and he smacked his mate on the head.
Manning grunted, then glared at Tailor. “Remind me to thank you when we get back home.”
Before Tailor could respond, Rowan walked into the room and cleared his throat. “The council has been notified of the recent happenings. Xenessa, it’s agreed that you’ll be accompanied by the remainder of my personal guards to interrogate every warrior in our clans to find out if any hold allegiance to Vane or Roh Se Kahn. Cy, I give you permission to go with her.” To Manning, he asked, “Have you contacted Cher yet?”
As historian of the Ba’Kal, Cher’s powers came directly from Miel Se Luuda and gave her the same ability to discern the truth as Xenessa had. Manning dipped his head. “I’ve already appointed a group of warriors to go with her to every Ba’Kal community. If there are any traitors left among my kind, she’ll find them.”
Rowan nodded. “I’ll meet with you later to discuss the arrangements for the families of those dead warriors who were used by Roh Se Kahn against their will. Meanwhile,” he said, meeting Tailor’s gaze, “I think it’s time we were given an explanation. Xenessa?”
Xenessa stiffened, glancing at her mate. “When I communed with the Mother, she provided me with a variation of the spell used to banish Roh Se Kahn, as I told you before. Only it wasn’t so much of a variation as an…addition. It expanded the original spell made only for Roh Se Kahn to include everyone in the vicinity who contained darkness. It was the only way to make sure Vane was thrown into the alternate realm as well.”
Dhani stirred in his seat. “That’s not what happened, though. Roh Se Kahn’s essence was in Sevrick, but Sevrick wasn’t pulled into the alternate realm like I was. Keenan has darkness in him, too, but he wasn’t pulled in, either.”
“Due to circumstance, no. The spell Miel Se Luuda gave me wasn’t simply one of expansion. It contained protection, as well. The plan was for Laya and me to channel the dark powers in Sevrick. While she recited the original spell, I would recite the addition to it. I could only extend the protection in the spell to one other person, which was why Sevrick wasn’t pulled into the void. The spell drew on his powers, yet kept him safe.”
“So you were willing to sacrifice my mate and Dhani?” Rowan asked angrily.
“If I had known Keenan would live at that point, I would’ve had you take him as far away as you could get him before I said the spell. I had no idea Dhani would give him his spirit, let alone that he’d retained enough of Roh Se Kahn’s power to do so. The moment I saw Keenan regain consciousness, I told him to say the original spell. Because the spell had been activated by Keenan’s darkness, it kept him safe as well.”
She took a deep breath. “But yes, if he had remained unconscious or died, I still would’ve gone through with my first plan. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. As soon as Keenan started the spell, I began mine to keep Sevrick in this realm and to send Vane into the other.”
“And what about Dhani?” Tailor said through clenched teeth, not bothering to hide his rage. “He’d spent an entire year in that hell realm and you were willing to send him back without even considering another course of action. If you had told us what you’d planned, we could’ve come up with another way.”
“Tailor—” Dhani said quietly.
“No,” he ground out with a chopping gesture. “I may sound like a callous bastard right now, but I want to know why she didn’t even consider using the variation of the spell to save you instead of Sevrick. And you,” he rounded on Laya. “You were ready to condemn your own son to the same torture he barely survived before? Why did you even bother coming back into his life?”
“Tailor!” Dhani said again, loudly.
Tailor forced himself to meet the calm acceptance in his mate’s eyes.
Dhani looked from Xenessa to Laya, then down at the sleeping baby in his arms. “They were right to do what they did. If the choice had been mine, I would’ve saved Sevrick, as well.”
“As would I,” Keenan agreed solemnly.
“Roh Se Kahn set everything into motion before all of you got there. I chose to give Keenan my spirit, knowing I would die. If Xenessa hadn’t told him to say the original spell, my sacrifice would’ve been in vain. And if she hadn’t said the second spell, I wouldn’t have been reunited with my falcon spirit. I’m here with you, right now, because of her.”
Tailor scraped a hand through his hair, biting back every ‘what if’ that crowded into his thoughts. So many things could’ve gone wrong, and when they had gone wrong, it had somehow worked out for the best. Yet, he couldn’t erase the fear that was still riding him.
In the midst of the battle, he’d felt Dhani’s impending death. When Dhani had severed the light of his bond with his leopard to give it to Keenan, it had felt like a knife had been driven into Tailor’s chest. Only the warrior in him had kept him from abandoning his promise to distract Vane. In those precious minutes when he’d relied on his decades of training to fight a demigod, he’d never felt more powerful and more helpless at the same time.
As he stared at the love in Dhani’s gaze, he realized a part of him would always be helpless. They were such complete opposites. His mate was gorgeous and timid with an open heart. All the qualities that had made him a target for abuse by almost everyone in his life. Despite all that, however, he was still stronger than anyone Tailor had ever met. Dhani was his own man, and Tailor couldn’t stop him from fighting his own battles.
Grudgingly, Tailor swallowed his fear and nodded. “You’re right. I apologize,” he said to Xenessa.
“I hope you can forgive me, too. Both of you,” Laya said earnestly, focusing on her son. “Xenessa told me there was a chance you might find your other spirit if you were pulled into the alternate realm, and use it to get back. I never meant to consign you to that hell. I’d prayed—”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Dhani interrupted. “You did the right thing.”
“Mom,” Laya repeated with tears in her eyes. “I could get used to that.”
Manning cleared his throat to draw everyone’s attention. “There’s still the matter of what to do with your mate, Achilles.”
Laya wiped the moisture briskly from her eyes, then looked to Manning. “Yes. I’m aware the penalty for his betrayal is death under our laws. I’ve known for years it would eventually come to that and I’m prepared to meet my fate with him.”
Tailor glanced at Manning sharply. He’d forgotten Laya and Achilles were bonded. They’d taken Achilles alive from the barn and incarcerated him in Rowan’s dungeon, but his death would mean Laya’s as well. As mad as he still was at Laya, he didn’t want to see her die. Especially not after Dhani had finally accepted her into his life.
Quinn snorted. “Like that’s going to happen. We’ll make an exception for you.”
“Quinn,” Manning growled.
“What? Like you weren’t going to make the same
choice.”
“I was, but I’m still the Jaes’din. The final decision has to come from me.”
Quinn flipped his hand in an exaggerated display of obeisance. “Yes, almighty one. Please, give us your wise and honored decision.”
Manning scowled at his mate, then looked to Laya. “I—”
“We’re not going to kill Achilles,” Quinn cut in. “Manning will find a place to lock him up.”
With a disgusted grunt, Manning shook his head. “Why do I even bother? You’re safe, Laya, and my community is always open to you.”
More tears spilled down Laya’s cheeks, and this time, she didn’t wipe them away.
When Dhani sent Tailor a meaningful stare, Tailor sighed and reluctantly said, “You’re welcome to stay with Dhani and me until you find a place of your own in our community.”
Cy moved to slap him on the back. “One big, happy family. Brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it?”
Tailor sneered at him. “Fuck you.” He took a swig from the bottle in his hand then looked down at it. “I’m going to need more liquor.”
“That’ll have to wait,” Manning told him. “I wish I could give you and Dhani time to spend together, but we need to meet with all the Alphas and Betas to inform them of what happened. We have to double our efforts in finding the last of Roh Se Kahn and Vane’s followers. If we’re going to have any chance at peace, we’ll need to make sure those two can never be brought back again.”
Everyone nodded in unison, then began filing out of the room. Tailor went with his mate to their guest bedroom where Keenan joined them. It took all of his willpower to leave Dhani there, but he was given little choice. Dhani pushed him out of the room, threatening to withhold sex if he kept hovering like an overbearing parent.
Finally, Tailor gave in and left to find Manning. They called every Alpha and arranged a meeting to take place in a week. They also went over several addendums to the treaty between their kind and the Vam’kir with Rowan. Afterwards, Manning booked a flight back to the United States for everyone in two days, giving him more time to heal and allowing them the freedom to run the wilds during the coming full moons.