At Risk

by Gayle Parness

  Naberia and Isaiah were facing off, shouting at each other in the center of a large sandy clearing. The demon forces had stopped fighting, most of them wearing confused or panicked expressions. They tore off their armor and tugged at their torcs. I unlocked as many as I could as I made my way forward.

  Charles was directly in front of me, guarding the barrier with the rest of his team.

  When I reached the front, I handed the key to another demon who raced back to his group to free his men. I was as close to Charles as I dare get. Jay was there and Brina. Jacqueline and Garrett on his other side. Charles spoke to the crowd, but I did not focus on his words. He lived.

  He saw me in the crowd and I smiled at my son.

  His gaze moved on without any reaction, but he’d spoken with great passion, drawing approval from many. Pride swelled my heart, unreasonable, as I’d had little to do with raising him.

  Someone grasped my arm. “Brother.”

  “Don’t call me that.” I didn’t look at her. “Leave immediately.”

  “You don’t have to remain in this form any longer. Queen Aine has reversed Father’s spell.”

  “And why would I ever want to become that lord again? To be a target of so much hatred holds no appeal to me.”

  “But under Aine, you will have your magic again. Even more.”

  She tugged on my sleeve, but I yanked it away. “I don’t want it. Leave me.”

  “I will not. You are my brother, Kennet!” And of course at that moment the field had quieted.

  Charles turned his head in my direction.

  We stared at each other for several heartbeats, the world narrowing to that singular point in time unlike all others. The Now. Charles’ expression changed as the simple clerk he’d smiled and nodded to, dissolved in his mind into his birth father. His hated enemy.

  I hoped he might see truth in my gaze. Deep regret. Boundless pride. I would never ask for forgiveness, but perhaps one day he would listen. And I would listen to him.

  My son.

  His hand was on the hilt of his dagger as he took a step forward. A dragon’s cry rang out. A war shriek of that type only sounded when an attack was imminent. We glanced up at once.

  A steel gray dragon dove toward Charles, his mouth opening as he prepared to shoot flame. The singular Now inched on, another and another, as my focus turned to Charles and his vulnerable position, blocked by his family to each side with a barrier to his back and nowhere to go.

  I picked a fireproof shield off the ground where a warrior had tossed it and ran as I’d never run before.

  25

  Jackie

  Naberia struck out at Isaiah with an evil spell so intense it should have killed him on the spot. But he’d thrown up a block and the spell had broken into drops like rain on a window.

  The crowd gasped when a screech of fury turned all gazes skyward.

  A rider-free gray dragon dove toward the barrier. No, it dove toward Charlie!

  The shock lost me two seconds but I pulled in magic and pushed Garrett with all my strength into Sasha. Sasha’s eyes grew wide, but he knew enough to keep Garrett out of the line of fire. Vampires went up in flames like dry kindling.

  Jay leaped over me and onto Indigo, but I followed close behind, urging Kaera to take off, to fight the dragon in the air and draw him away from everyone else. She immediately responded, a warrior of the highest level, pulling her sword, her eyes glittering with the excitement of another battle. I carried my scale-piercing dagger; Jay was in bear form, his claws and fangs sharp; and Kaera was one of the best sword masters in the three realms.

  We could take down one dragon.

  “His name is Malek,” Jay sent mind to mind. “I never liked him.”

  “The archdemon promised him treasure. He is mad for riches. Older dragons get that way,” Indigo explained.

  “We’ve got this.” Jay tensed his muscles, ready to leap on Malek’s back. But Malek disappeared. We stared at the empty space, never expecting him to appear on Indigo’s back in human form, sword ready and lethal. He sliced through Kaera’s body from shoulder to belly, then spun, smiling as he slid the same sword into my chest.

  Jay clutched at Kaera who’d dropped her sword and was leaning over precariously. I managed to slice my dagger through Malek’s side as he hopped off Indigo and disappeared once more.

  I grabbed at my open chest, warm, wet flesh beneath my fingers. Blood pumped out in death toll rhythm. I couldn’t breathe. I wouldn’t live. I called to my healer, but she was silent.

  26

  Charlie

  We couldn’t see what had happened to Mom, Jay and Kaera as both dragons had flown into the fog. Instead I turned to my father.

  “Damn stubborn reckless female!”

  He was furious and worried as shit, just like me. But we were helpless. I watched as Isaiah drove his mother to her knees, whispering something in her ear as he sliced through her neck. Naberia’s head rolled a few feet away, but my heart kept telling me to watch the skies. The main event wasn’t what was happening in the ring.

  A moment later Indigo dove for the medical tents. Blood dripped from her sides only I had a horrible feeling it wasn’t Indigo’s blood.

  “Dad. Go. Tell Vantor to help her.” He disappeared. Seconds later a breeze picked up. The sound of enormous flapping wings and the stench of a dragon too close for comfort made me look up. Malek was twenty yards away, his mouth open, his eyes holographic mirrors of my death. I pressed back, but there wasn’t time to break down a barrier Naberia had created. I tried to dive into the fae lines to teleport away, but the war in Faerie had weakened them.

  “Get down, son!” Winter pushed me into a crouch and held a shield against my body as dragon fire scorched him from head to toe. He didn’t scream. He simply stared at me, mouthing my name and the word son over and over.

  Kennet made strange wheezing noises as he hit the ground. As Aine teleported and made quick work of Malek, Fionna ran to her brother, sliding away the shield he still clutched. “He should die in true form. Hold his hand. You owe him that at least.”

  This was Kennet. I… How could I…

  Fionna said a few words, and Kennet lay where Winter once did. Bones and flesh scorched and melting, his internal organs beyond repair. My healer magic forced me to the ground where I crouched and squeezed his blackened hand. “Thank you. F… Father,” I huffed the word out at the last minute.

  I felt the tiniest squeeze of my hand in return before life left Lord Kennet. My birth father. A male I’d hated most of my life.

  He’d stolen that certainty. The box I’d placed him in for so many years did not hold the male lying at my feet.

  Fionna glared at me as if I should have done more. I took the lines to Mom.

  “Charlie, Kaera needs blood. Where is Vantor?” Brina’s pleas almost bent me in half, but I had to find Mom.

  I located Kaera on a gurney thirty yards from us. Brina was with her.

  I stared down at the body of my mother, blood dribbling from the deep wound in her chest. “Vantor!” He appeared immediately. “M…om. Save Mom.”

  “Charlie. Get Vantor over here now! She’s…she’s dying. My sister. Oh gods, my sister.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Over and over I spoke the words into my mate’s mind as Vantor bit into his wrist and forced his blood into Mom’s split open chest and trembling mouth. Flynn appeared with blood and an intravenous set, but I sent him to Kaera. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as Brina thought.

  “Vantor!” she screamed. I’d never heard Brina scream. I wanted to rip out my ears and never hear it again. I thought about giving Kaera my blood, but instead put my hands on Mom’s arm and sent her every ounce of healing magic I had energy to transmit.

  “Can you try, Vantor? Give Kaera a little bit?”

  “It will not heal her.”

  Dad cried and held Mom’s hand to his heart. “Breathe, mon ange. Breathe. You must come back.”

  François
appeared and added his powerful blood to the mixture, but she was already beginning to heal. A moment later she gasped in a breath. A second later, her heart began to beat.

  I clutched at François’ sleeve. “Go to Kaera. Please. She needs your blood.” He nodded and took the lines. Liam had been with Kaera from the start, using his amazing healing energy the same way I did mine.

  Brina screamed again, this time her agony and horror wrenched at the hearts of everyone who knew her. The teams had come to be near Mom and Kaera. François looked back to me, his expression grim. He placed his hand on his heart and sent, “Je suis desole, my child.”

  “Merci.”

  Dad pulled me in for a long hug, long enough to channel through tears of my own. I pushed away. “I have to go to Brina.”

  “I’ll be there very soon. I cannot leave her yet.”

  “Of course.” Samson had stationed his body under Mom’s gurney, whining softly. Mom had protection, and Brina needed me.

  I took the lines and walked toward the female I’d chosen to spend my life with, holding out my hands to take her into my arms and offer the little bit of comfort I could.

  She moved into her father’s arms instead, weeping on his shoulder.

  Lady Tereza took me aside. “She is in shock. She will see you had no choice. Kaera was injured so badly the dragon’s blood may not have made a difference.”

  “Thank you, lady.” I nodded deeply. “You have every right to be furious with me. To hate me as she does.”

  “She does not.”

  “She will. When the shock turns to pain and mourning begins. If you could tell her… I’ll wait forever.”

  She patted my hand. “Argon is in pain also. And Kaera’s mother does not yet know.”

  Aine appeared beside Kaera’s body. Tereza, Argon and Brina bowed deeply.

  “A brave female unlike any other. She will be greatly missed in Faerie.” Her gaze rose to meet Brina’s. “Come home with your parents, Brina. Faerie needs you.”

  “Yes, your majesty. I will come and I will stay.”

  “Good.”

  Flynn took me aside. “Jay is hurt badly. Gabriel too. We’re airlifting them to Stanford Hospital. Somehow Jay managed to hold onto the two females, despite his own injury, until they made it back to land. He’s going to lose his left hand.”

  “Fuck.” Could this week get worse? At least Isaiah took out Naberia.

  “He’ll survive and Sinc told me of a way he may be able to grow it back. She couldn’t go into too much detail.”

  “Right. I forgot. It’s a long process, but if it works, it’s worth it.”

  “I’d like to hear more about it,” Flynn said.

  “We’ll work out a time. What happened to Gabe?” I asked glancing toward the med tent.

  “Head injury. Doesn’t look good.” Flynn shook his head.

  “Sinc flying out with them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Thank you, Flynn. You and your staff must be exhausted.”

  “We’ll clean up the med area and head back. We have a boat waiting.”

  We shook hands and I went to check up on Isaiah. He’d assigned his soldiers the horrible job of laying out the dead, taking any personal possessions their families might want back, then asking one of the dragons to burn the bodies along with every single torc we could locate.

  The fae had taken all of their dead back via the lines. Brina and her family had left with them. Lady Jorrenn and Lord Alanae were going to be staying with Liam and Kellaine, who were not planning to return to Faerie. Neither was Farrell.

  Isaiah gave me a hug, then sighed and rubbed his face. “Sorry about what happened, but glad your mom will recover.”

  I couldn’t think about Kaera now. “Jay and Gabe are injured. They’ll be at Stanford for a while. What are you up to?”

  We’re going back to the DR tonight to rest and begin the long process of rebuilding.”

  “Guess you’re the archdemon now, huh?” My gaze kept lowering to the ground. The dried puddles of blood. The discarded weapons and scraps of bloody clothing. The dust. The bits of flesh. I looked up when Isaiah spoke again.

  “I’m not the official archdemon until I take the wretched Blood Oath of Transition, Obligation, and Trust. It sounds as much fun as sleeping in a bed full of wasps. And you’re coming to the ceremony along with your family and Khent and Brina and—”

  “Brina won’t be there. She’s gone back to Faerie.”

  “Charlie.”

  He put a hand on my shoulder but I stepped away. “I can’t. Sorry.”

  I had to live with the choice I’d made. The only choice I could have made.

  And what had happened with Kennet. No, I wouldn’t. Couldn’t talk of that either.

  Isaiah had already started talking again. “…was so focused on my task, I didn’t see a thing. We’ll have to talk more about everything when I see you next time. Right now…” Isaiah scanned the carnage and sighed.

  I shook my head. It was all the energy I had. “I never pictured this.”

  Dad found me staring at the field long after Isaiah had left, my arms wrapped around my stomach, my body trembling even though the morning was warm. He placed a hand on my nape. “Mom’s recovering quickly. You did the only thing you could.”

  No words came to me. Work was all that kept me sane.

  After I made sure all the vampires were safely underground for the day and that volunteer donors had arrived, we helped with the cleanup of our group, the males and females who’d come to support the Mortal Realm. Not quite as flashy as some of the others, but every inch as important. Better in a lot of ways, because here, vampires, shifters, wolves, witches, sorcerers and more could make it work even with all our different customs and habits.

  If only humans could get it together.

  The dragons left for the DR. They had some cave cleaning up to take care of. Indigo and the other Faerie dragons went with them.

  By dusk, two days later, we’d made sure everyone was at least on their way home and Mom, Dad, Sash, Samson and I took the lines to our home in Crescent City.

  My vision of a shower, a meal and two solid days and nights of sleep turned to ash the moment we arrived.

  27

  Jackie

  Rick met us at the outside of our fireplace, the only piece of our home that remained intact.

  “It was the lightning. Kept hitting the yard and the house until the fire got going. Didn’t set the woods on fire, but the garden is a mess.”

  “Oh boy.” I leaned against Garrett and breathed in his comforting scent, which wasn’t that great right now. We all needed to shower and change. I rubbed my eyes. “Even dead, Naberia can be a pain in the ass.”

  “She’s dead?”

  “Isaiah took her out. We’ll tell him about Kaera later.” I sent to Garrett, Sash and Charlie. They nodded.

  “The demi-fey and I managed to get a few things out, but not much. I’m so sorry.” Rick scratched his beard. He was looking pretty wiped out.

  “You ran into a burning building? And Sinlae too? I would never have allowed that!” I said, then shrugged. “Forget what I said. I would have done the same thing.”

  “We were careful.”

  “Nothing is that important. Are the puppies okay?” Garrett asked, drawing me closer and resting his head on top of mine in a very protective way. Exactly what I needed.

  “They’re great. None of the demi-fey were injured either. They stayed with us in the villa. We called in Elizabeth and she put up a smoke barrier. The fire department did a great job, but it was too far gone.”

  We stared at the burned lot, doing a mental inventory of all the sentimental things we would have grabbed if we’d been home.

  “Cars are okay. They’re in our garage,” Rick said. “And I got the paintings. The one Sash did of Jackie and the one of your family, Garrett. The house wasn’t burning when I went in for those. I think Sinlae, Aymis, and a couple others got some jewelry and keys
and shit. I grabbed everyone’s laptops too, but not the cords.”

  “You got mine?” Charlie asked. It was the first time he seemed to perk up a little.

  “Yeah.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Your safe survived and I pulled out a couple of guitars.” Garrett and Charlie loved to play together. I glanced at my son. Music wasn’t what was on his mind today.

  “We’ll rebuild, right? In this same spot?” Charlie asked, a note of pleading in his tone. “I need to stick around here. Can’t move away.”

  “Absolutely. Meanwhile, it looks like the Vamp Villa is gonna be Hotel Rogues for a while,” Garrett said.

  “With Isaiah back in the DR and him taking all his people back with him, we can spend time at the Carmel Villa,” Charlie suggested. “That might be okay while they’re rebuilding.”

  “Great idea,” Garrett said, mussing his hair. Garrett grimaced and pulled his hand away. “Do I want to know what got in your hair?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Showers and pizza are in order,” Garrett said as we made our way through our ruined garden. We stopped to say thank you to Sinlae and whichever members of her enormous family were in the vicinity. We were so pleased to hear the trees they used as homes had survived, as had the tunnel that connected their homes with our two homes.

  Rick ran up the stairs and opened the door to the vamp villa for us. Sash walked in first, giving Elle an enormous hug and a passionate kiss. Garrett and I made it through the door hand in hand, neither of us wanting to let go.

  Last in line, Charlie passed Rick, who pulled him close and pounded on his back. “Welcome home, boss.”

  I started to laugh, until I saw Charlie’s expression. His smile was a ghost of the original. “No more soldiering for me. I’m done.”