by Tami Lund
Cecilia skimmed the text. “Both parties have to consent, and they have to ask their pack master’s consent as well.”
“What if the shifter isn’t part of a pack?”
“Doesn’t say. But I suppose if there’s no one’s permission to ask, that part is null and void. Oh, and it actually clarifies that you must have an orgasm—now I like that—but really, that’s all there is to it.”
“Do all shifters know about this? I mean, is this a practice that has been lost through the ages?”
Cecilia shrugged. “This book is pretty old, but it implies this is the way it has always been. I would imagine every shifter is aware, just as we are all aware of our need for sunlight.”
If that was true, then Tanner had meant to mate with her a few days ago. Excitement warred with despair in her system. How was she to get them out of this situation? And if she succeeded in freeing Tanner, how would she convince her father that she wanted to mate with him?
She wanted to mate with a shifter.
Cecilia lifted her gaze from the book and gave Olivia a calculated look. “It just occurred to me that when I walked in on you and Tanner the other day, you were— ”
Olivia waved away the rest of the sentence. “Yes, but I did not realize what it meant at the time.”
“And now that you do?”
Olivia looked into her cousin’s eyes and said, “I would consent.”
The book fluttered to the floor, as Cecilia lifted both hands to cover her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she stared back at Olivia. “Are you in love with him?” she whispered.
Olivia considered her question. Was she? She had never been in love before, so it was hard to tell if these feelings she felt were real, but if she was willing to mate with the man, despite the fact that they were two entirely different species...
“Yes, I believe I am.”
Cecilia suddenly grasped Olivia’s arms and pulled her to her feet. The dredges of the wine in the glass Olivia held splattered onto the rug. Neither woman noticed.
“Then we must go rescue them,” Cecilia declared.
Chapter 16
Sofia would not stop crying. Neither Lisa nor Ariana could comfort her. Tanner had even tried, as awkward as his attempt had been. The only one who had been remotely successful was Dane, who risked injury to himself by thrusting his iron manacle covered arms at the pup so that he could pat her head. But when Sofia realized she could not crawl into his lap, she wailed even louder.
Dane stopped straining against the manacles and fell back against the wall to which he was chained.
“Why don’t you heal yourself?” Tanner asked as he watched Dane inspect the burns on his arms.
Dane shook his head. “I cannot. Healers can only give their healing magic to others, not to ourselves.”
“That’s weird,” Tanner remarked.
Dane shrugged. “While we continue to try to decipher it, I do not think we will ever truly understand the magic. There is a portion of the king’s budget specifically dedicated to studying the nuances of magic. I have suggested to him that he eliminate that funding and spend the currency on healing instead. There is still a great deal about that art that we do not understand, and it is infinitely more important, I think, than understanding the why’s, how’s, and where’s of the magic itself.”
“The king discusses his budget with you?” Dane must be high up in the hierarchy, if that was the case.
“Yes,” Dane said shortly.
Tanner looked around at their surroundings. They were locked in what was essentially a barn, located behind the beach house. Everyone except Lisa’s newborn pup, who the guards had allowed to be cradled in her arms, was chained with iron manacles. They had even fitted little Sofia with a pair of manacles that were magically shrunk to fit her tiny wrists. When the guards realized iron did not have the same effect on shifters as it did on Lightbearers, they added special wards to the barn and doubled the contingency of guards around the perimeter.
Tanner did not note out loud that he seemed to have developed an aversion to iron. He suspected it was a side effect to sleeping with Olivia. He glowed on occasion and iron made him feel mildly ill. Good thing she was worth it.
As soon as the guards left them alone, Tanner had tried to shift, but was unsuccessful. Whatever magical wards they used, it somehow negated what little magic a shifter bore.
Tanner did not like feeling helpless. It went against every fiber of his being. Shifters were not helpless. Shifters were the top of the food chain. He was a Lyons, for the love of fate.
He caught himself, when he realized what he was doing. He wasn’t a Lyons, not in that way. He was just Tanner, a lone shifter who had somehow adopted a motley pack of shifters and Lightbearers. A lone shifter who had somehow managed to hook up with the daughter of a king.
He had not yet met the king. Nor had Olivia come calling, although he suspected she was forbidden from doing so. Once she’d admitted to him that she was indeed a princess, they had talked freely about her life as such, and she admitted that being the Lightbearer princess was not as glamorous as it sounded.
“He doesn’t listen to my opinion,” she’d complained. “And he forbade me from training to be a healer. That is the worst aspect, because I truly have a talent for healing. It is a loss for the entire coterie, not just me.”
Tanner didn’t like to see her unhappy. He wished he could talk to the king, man to man. Try to reason with him. Why would a father deny his daughter the one thing she wanted most? Especially when that one thing was actually a boon for the entire species.
He thought about their relationship and wondered if she cared enough to plead for his freedom. If she did, would her father deny her that, too?
He was back to feeling helpless again.
“This is a strange prison,” he remarked to Dane, an attempt to distract himself from Sofia’s relentless crying.
Dane shrugged and then winced when the iron brushed against his already burned skin. “There is not much in the way of crime within the coterie.”
Tanner wondered if, when this was all over, the king would decide to build a sturdier prison. Just in case.
“Tell me about your king,” he suggested. Maybe if he had a little insight, he would come up with a way to get out of this situation.
“He is a good man,” Dane stated. “He cares for his subjects. He wants everyone to be happy.”
“What about Olivia? Doesn’t he care about her happiness?”
“Of course he does,” Dane said indignantly. “She is his daughter, after all. His only child.”
“Then what’s with the refusal to let her be a healer?”
Dane became uneasy, edgy. Tanner wondered what he was hiding.
“She has certain obligations,” Dane said haltingly. “As the only child to the king and queen.”
“I get that,” Tanner said impatiently. “But she can still be a princess and a healer.”
“That is not how it works in our world. Once she is mated, her entire focus must be on producing an heir. A babe. A male babe, so the king has someone to pass the crown to.”
Tanner lifted his brows in surprise. “She is the only child, but she cannot be queen?”
“She can be queen, but she cannot rule. Only the king rules.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Dane shrugged. “It is the way of our world.”
“It’s still bullshit.”
“As it happens, I agree with you. But we are not the ones in charge.”
“Too bad,” Tanner grumbled. If he were in charge, he sure as hell wouldn’t be in his current predicament.
A short time later, a guard entered the barn. He threw Tanner and the small pack of shifters a nervous look and then strode over to where Dane sat on the cold, stone floor.
“I’m to take you to the king,” he announced to Dane. The guard pulled thick leather gloves over his hands before clumsily freeing Dane from the iron manacles. As he led Dane away, Tanner gave the Lig
htbearer’s back a solid glare because Dane did not even try to escape.
“We have to get the hell out of here,” Lisa complained. She’d bitched and moaned for the first hour or so of their captivity, but then she’d turned her focus to trying to comfort her pups and hadn’t spoken since.
“Where do you suppose they’re taking Dane?” Ariana wanted to know.
Tanner shook his head. “No idea.”
There wasn’t much else to say, so they fell silent, save for Sofia’s steady crying. Tanner stiffened and mentally prepared for battle when, a long time later, the doorknob twisted again. He wondered if they would take each prisoner one by one to their destiny. If that was the case, he would ask them to take him first, so he could plead for the release of the others. His life for theirs. It was a fair enough trade, right?
A lone figure slipped into the room, smaller than any of the guards and wearing a dress to boot.
“Olivia?”
Relief flooded her eyes when she lifted her gaze to meet Tanner’s. She hurried across the room, clutching her skirt in a peculiar way. When she was close enough, he saw that she held an iron key within the folds of her skirt, so that it would not touch her person. Clumsily, she unlocked the manacles around Tanner’s wrists.
As soon as he was free, he swept her into his arms and, completely disregarding their audience, kissed her, fully and possessively. She melted into him.
“Oh Tanner.” She sighed. “I have so much to say to you.”
“Later,” he promised. He pulled the key from her hand and then cursed and let it clatter to the floor. He shook his smoking hand and hissed in pain.
Olivia grabbed his hand and looked at the red and blistered palm. “I did not think shifters had an aversion to iron as we do.”
“They don’t,” Lisa supplied. She lifted her manacled wrists. “Think you can free the rest of us now? My daughter is going to be traumatized for life.”
“Yes, of course,” Olivia said. “I cannot heal you until we are out of this room,” she explained to Tanner. “It is warded against magic.” She bent and used her skirt as a barrier to pick up the iron key. Within moments, the entire entourage was free.
“How did you get in here?” Tanner demanded. Considering the way her gaze kept darting to the closed door, he had a feeling this was more of an escape than a declaration by the Lightbearers that the shifters were to go free.
Olivia waved at the door. “Cecilia has a gift for not only getting into locked rooms, but also for distracting those of the male gender, when it serves her purposes. Come, we need to get out of this room.” They followed her to the door.
She opened the door a crack and peeked outside. Whatever she saw was to her satisfaction, because she opened it wider and motioned for them to follow. Tanner picked up Sofia, who had finally stopped crying, and led his mother and Lisa and her pup out of the warded room. He felt the telltale shimmer of magic as they left the protection of the magical ward, and he had to resist the urge to shift just because he could.
“This way,” Olivia said, and they followed her around the corner of the building. There was an open area of lawn, approximately a dozen yards in length, and then a dense wall of trees. The beach house, the cliff, and the lake beyond were on the other side of the barn.
“Into the trees,” Olivia called, and she lifted her skirt and ran. Tanner muttered under his breath and then herded Lisa and his mother in front of him. He took up the rear, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds to ensure they were not being followed. The rest were under the cover of the trees, and he was just about to slip out of the open area when he heard the cry.
“They’ve escaped! The shifters have escaped!”
He glanced over his shoulder and saw a bevy of Lightbearers running toward them, and then he turned forward and put on a burst of speed. He reached Olivia and grabbed her arm.
“Go back,” he commanded. “You don’t need to be involved in this. We can take care of ourselves.”
She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and gave him her signature stubborn look. “Do not be an idiot,” she snapped. “I have lived here my entire life. I know these woods. You need me to get you out of here. Now come on.” She began to run again.
Tanner lamented the fact that his small pack was comprised of two young pups and therefore they could not shift into animals to escape. It was just as he feared, when he refused to take Freddy and Lisa with him when he’d rescued Olivia from his father. Except this time, it was Lightbearers after them, not shifters.
He heard the whoosh of air as an arrow breezed past his head, and then he heard the cry of distress as the arrow hit a mark.
“Mother,” he shouted as he shifted Sofia into the other arm so he could catch his mother as she collapsed. An arrow, shimmering with Lightbearer magic, had gone clean through her left shoulder. She gritted her teeth in pain as Tanner eased her onto the ground. He heard the sounds of more arrows being released and barked at everyone to take cover, as he crouched low to the ground with Sofia hidden beneath his far larger body.
There was a cry of pain that felt as if his very soul was being ripped from his body. He turned and watched—as if it were playing in slow motion—as Olivia stood and waved her arms, trying to pull the attention of their pursuers. He heard her call out in greeting. He saw the shocked look on her face as the first arrow pierced her body. Shock turned to a grimace of pain as a second arrow reached its mark.
There were shouts— “Princess?” “Olivia?” “Cease fire!”
Someone roared, and Tanner vaguely comprehended that it was him. Lisa appeared at his side, clutching her pup to her chest. She crouched next to him and did a quick review of Olivia’s injuries. Tanner knelt on the ground, Olivia’s battered body in his arms. He was not even aware of changing his position.
Lisa stood and rushed toward the nearest Lightbearer guard. They were advancing now, slowly, unsure of how to proceed, what to do. Lisa reached out and grabbed a fistful of the guy’s shirt.
“Get a healer,” she growled.
The man looked confused.
“Now!” Lisa shouted, and she flung the guy away from her. He stumbled away, bumping into one of his fellow guards. They had a quick, hushed conversation. The other guard’s head shot up, his face horrified as he watched Tanner cradle Olivia in his arms. Then they both turned and dashed away.
The remaining Lightbearers continued to advance slowly, but Tanner wasn’t really paying attention. He was solely focused on Olivia, on her belabored breathing, the blood seeping from her limp body, the gray pallor of her skin. One arrow had pierced her chest, another her side, just below her rib cage. She was dying, and there was nothing he could do about it.
She gurgled and foamy spittle bubbled out of her mouth. Tanner cupped her face with both hands and stared at her. “Do not die, Olivia,” he commanded, as if he could will her to live. “Don’t you dare die on me.”
The strangest thing happened. Tanner and Olivia both began to glow steadily, the brightness increasing with each passing second. He could feel the Lightbearer magic, hot and potent and most of all, healing.
“He’s glowing,” someone said, the voice full of awe. “Are you sure he is a shifter?”
“That’s Lightbearer magic,” someone else added.
Lisa crouched next to him again. He did not release his concentration. He was not precisely certain what was happening, but Olivia’s face was not nearly as gray, and her breathing was less labored. He was afraid to let go, afraid to stop whatever he was doing.
“Tanner, you’re healing her. You have magic.” Lisa sounded perplexed.
Tanner shook his head and still clung to Olivia. “Not me,” he gasped, aware that his own body ached as if he’d been shot with magical arrows. “Her magic.”
“Dane said Lightbearers cannot heal themselves, remember? You’re doing this, Tanner.”
He didn’t care, so long as someone, something, somehow, Olivia was saved.
You’re going to be my
mate, Tanner thought fiercely, and the magic encompassing he and Olivia glowed a little brighter. The idea did not make him nervous or frighten him in any way.
This is what I want. He continued to hold her face, continued to will her to live. I want Olivia, I want to be her mate. I want to spend the rest of my days making this woman happy.
A female with the typical blonde hair and blue eyes that marked the Lightbearers came sprinting through the undergrowth, a guard jogging by her side. Her gaze was sharp as she assessed the situation. The guard was much larger than most Lightbearers, as large as the average shifter, and as much as the female surveyed the scene, he kept his gaze firmly on her.
The woman dropped to her knees next to Tanner, staring at him rather than at Olivia, who was lying limply in his arms, barely hanging on. Without losing his focus, he asked, “Are you the healer?”
She did not answer him directly. “How are you doing that?” she asked instead. “You are a shifter. Yet—yet—you are using Lightbearer magic. Healing magic.” She sounded utterly fascinated.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said through gritted teeth, hating to admit it, but willing to do or say anything to save Olivia. “Help me.”
“Of course,” the woman said, suddenly all business. She scooted closer. Tanner noticed the hulk who had jogged up with her tensed.
“I won’t hurt her,” Tanner said to the hulk.
“I know,” the man said, and Tanner understood what he did not say: If you do, I’ll hurt you. Whatever their relationship, these two were intimate in some way, at least in the hulk’s mind.
“I am Alexa Cymbeline,” the woman said distractedly as she inspected the two arrows still protruding from Olivia’s body. “That is Jake Azenor. He is a guard, but he has natural healing abilities, like Olivia. Do not be alarmed if he steps in to help at some point. He is very good at detecting when I am at my limit.”
Tanner didn’t doubt it. Jake’s eyes were possessive as he watched Alexa do her work. Tanner had the distinct impression Jake would like nothing more than to whisk Alexa away to a desert island somewhere and keep her all to himself.