She knew he knew they were. She’d seen the complete dossiers he’d had on every member of her family. But if he wanted to play it off that he hadn’t kidnapped her, she’d let him. For now. “Of course.”
“I don’t understand what is going on, Mallory.” Her father’s words were stern, but the hold he had on her was firm. Mallory fought the urge to snuggle into his chest like she had as a child. “What did your brother mean when he said we weren’t safe at any of the properties anymore? And where are your sisters?”
“They are both upstairs. Becca was injured yesterday, Daddy. A car wreck,” Mallory lied to him with barely a second thought. “She’s a bit bruised. Mickey is taking care of her for now.”
“And you? What are you doing here in this town? And why did you just disappear for close to a month? Rand said it was business? What kind of business takes my daughters away in the middle of the night?”
Aodhan took Mallory’s hand before she could fabricate an answer. Mallory was grateful when he drew her father’s attention. “It had to be done that way, I’m afraid. My colleagues and I were in the midst of a project when we came across what we perceived to be a credible threat to your two older daughters and two of your nieces. We didn’t have much time to act so we brought them here. I’m sure you understand that we were only trying to protect them. We did not mean to frighten or worry the rest of your family, but we had to ensure that the threat could not follow Mallory and the others.”
“What kind of threat? And does it still exist?”
“Yes.” Mallory wouldn’t lie to her father any more than she needed to. “Someone has put out a hit on every member of our family, Daddy. One hundred thousand dollars for the guys, and a quarter of a million each for the women. And we still don’t know who. That’s why Aodhan and Rand had everyone brought here.”
“To a luxury resort? Kiddo, it’s starting to sound far-fetched.”
“We’ve removed all the guests from the hotel’s third floor. That leaves it free for your family and staff. It is the best we can do on short notice.” Aodhan handled her father’s questions well and Mallory appreciated him not running rough-shod over her father.
“I’m not happy with this, Mallory. Not at all.”
“I know. But once everyone is settled, we’ll have a family meeting and answer any questions.” Not something she was looking forward to at all.
Mallory took turns hugging most of her cousins and her aunt and uncles. And Claudette. Finally, they were on their way to their rooms, and Mallory was free to do exactly what she wanted step into Aodhan’s arms.
He held her for the longest time. “I’m sorry, kitten, that we’ve made this reunion so difficult.”
“I’ll get through it. Was that man responsible for the threat to my family?”
“We don’t know, yet. He’s in Ft. Collins, at a lab your grandfather built fifteen years ago.”
“There are no labs in Ft. Collins. Just the house that Grandfather built. It’s a third as big as the vacation home. I’ve only been there a few times. I don’t like it at all.”
“Well, Nalik is there. And somewhere in Ft. Collins, your grandfather. Your brother had him fetched yesterday while we were out at your family’s home.”
“I see.” What was she supposed to feel? “So it’s almost over, as far as Grandfather is concerned?”
“Yes. He’ll face charges in a House Tribunal. But as far as we—the Equan Houses are concerned he’s no longer a threat to us.”
“Now if we could just find out who is threatening my family...”
“I’ll find them; I promise you this I will.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Mallory spent the next day in the hotel gardens, with her sisters and female cousins. Ostensibly, they were supposed to be relaxing while Becca recuperated. Instead, they were in an intense discussion about who or what was threatening them. They had nothing but speculation. They did all agree on one thing they were not going to hide while their family was threatened.
Aodhan worked nearby, with a team of security from Taniss Industries. Mallory recognized the eight men for what they were now. Lupoiux, and part of Rand and Uncle Jason’s pack. She’d been there when one of the Lupoiux women Aodhan had rescued realized that one of the members of Rand’s security team was the mate she’d thought murdered three months earlier. It had been a beautiful reunion, considering the woman was about ready to give birth.
Now Aodhan worked with some of the men to beef up their skills when fighting Dardaptoans. These eight had been specially selected to form the base of the security that would surround Mallory and Mickey while they were not with their Rajnis. Aodhan’s reasoning behind the Lupoiux guards was that each man had given Rand a blood vow, meaning that they could do nothing Rand would consider treasonous and because Aodhan was convinced the main threat to Mallory’s safety was Dardaptoan in nature.
He no longer trusted his own Kind.
Mallory hurt for him for that. Still, she had no intention of letting anyone collect on the quarter million dollar price tag on her head.
She watched him as he demonstrated an ancient fighting technique. He had the form all wrong. It was one Rand had taught her, and she’d found she favored it. She would have to show him how to do it properly. It would be fun to spar with him like she used to with Rand. They would both enjoy it. She sat watching him for a while, ignoring the discussion flying around her. Family discussions always got a bit heated when they really mattered.
A disturbance in the center of the garden had her attention sharpening. A blur that was almost imperceptible started to grow, darken. Everyone stopped, their focus on the growing cloud. Finally, the center of the cloud opened to reveal a light. Aodhan approached the light, with Cormac and Rydere at his side.
A woman was thrust through the cloud, her arms wrapped tightly around a small, dark-haired child. Kindara. She sat the child down. She was followed quickly by a man bigger than Aodhan, who held Aodhan’s sister in his arms. The cloud closed behind him as Kindara fought to reach the cloud again.
Mallory heard her family’s surprised questions, but she ignored them, heading toward Aodhan.
****
“I heard the Beansidhe,” Aureliana told Aodhan as Mallory helped her remove her robe and replace it with a clean vestis and pardus. “She was wanting me, but couldn’t get in through the realm barrier. The coldest, most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“Yet you managed to escape her.”
“Yes. For now. I don’t know, Aod. She may come back. She was not happy to not get my soul.”
Mallory shivered. “And she won’t quit?”
“We don’t know. No one has ever escaped a Beansidhe before.” Aodhan hugged his sister after she was redressed. He straightened the blankets over Aureliana’s bed. “I’m not sure how you did.”
“I heard her and knew she was coming. Until she reached some type of barrier. I think it was because of the realm difference. She was angry; a lot like when she can’t get to someone to deliver her message.”
“And she wasn’t just trying to deliver a message to you? The first Beansidhe did say something about a child. Could she have referred to that demon’s daughter?” Aodhan was worried for his sister, but his words were steady. Mallory wondered how he did it.
“I don’t know. And I don’t want her to return for me to find out.”
“Of course not.” Mallory took the hand Aodhan held out to her and let him pull her to her feet. Aureliana definitely needed to rest. “We’ll go. Let you sleep. Do you need anything else?”
“No. I’m just glad to be back in my world. The demon’s world was not what I expected.”
“I just wish Kindara had had time to finish the search she started,” Aodhan said. Mallory knew what he meant. Kindara had traveled to Rathan’s home world to find medicines for the Dardaptoan people. But she hadn’t been gone long enough to accomplish much of anything. “That information she found could have been invaluable.”
<
br /> “Rathan swore he’d come back for her,” Aureliana said around a yawn. “I believed him. He really loves her.”
“Does she care about him?” Aodhan asked. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“She’d better care about him. They’ve made a babe. Or a spawn, as he calls it.”
Mallory’s eyes widened. She hadn’t heard that. Rathan was going to be a daddy? With Kindara? “Does Cormac know?”
“Yes. That idiot warrior demon who carried me back here told him.” Auri closed her eyes and winced when she shifted. Mallory nodded toward the door. It was time they left. Aodhan nodded once in agreement.
“Rest, Auri. Your brother and I will be back later to check on you.”
Aodhan kissed his sister’s forehead. “And I’m posting a guard outside your door. No more Beansidhe visits for you.”
“A futile attempt, brother. But one that is appreciated. Now, go. I’m sure you have more to do than babysit me.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
“Do you think the Beansidhe will come back?” Mallory asked as she and Aodhan walked through the gardens later that evening. “For her?”
“I think that the Beansidhe would have taken her if the Beansidhe wanted to. There have never been reports of someone escaping the Beansidhe. And our people keep very detailed reports. No. I think the Beansidhe was after Auri to deliver a message.” He leaned over a flower bed and picked a night-blooming blossom. It was of a plant she’d never seen before. He handed it to her casually.
“To her? Or to your family in general?” Mallory’s fingers wrapped around the blossom carefully. It was the first he’d ever given her, and she treasured it for its simplicity.
“We’ll find out. Beansidhe are the most determined beings in this world. They will not stop until their mission is complete.”
“So it will come.”
“Yes. Eventually. Anywhere from tonight to sometime next month. Beansidhe know no time but their own.”
“So we have to wait. And wonder.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“How can you be so accepting of all these things? Beansidhe, demon babies, your sister being stabbed with a longsword! These kinds of things aren’t supposed to happen in the real world.”
“Ah, but who said these things are not part of the real world? They have been a part of my world far longer than the humans have.”
“I suppose. We should go inside. Try to work out who it is threatening my family.” Mallory didn’t want to go inside, to end the moment. A calm had settled over the resort that she didn’t want to shake. Her family was within its walls, safe and enjoying themselves though most knew the reprieve from the harsh realities of the things her grandfather had done was only temporary. She, Rand, and Emily had told their fathers and uncles and adult cousins exactly what it was Grandfather had done. They’d even brought out the photographs that had been found. And Josey had repeated the information she’d found.
Their grandfather had experimented horribly on Josey, causing Josey’s hearing loss. No one in the family would ever forgive him for that, even if it had been the worst of his offenses.
Mallory didn’t care. As far as she was concerned the old man was gone from her life in every way that mattered. But it was left to her and the rest of the family to endure his legacy, to try to make right the things that they could. And restitution for the things that they couldn’t right.
The Taniss Industries lab dedicated entirely to finding medical cures for the Dardaptoan people would hopefully be a good start.
Mallory didn’t fool herself into thinking things would be easy. How could they? Her grandfather was the worst human the Dardaptoans had ever encountered. Many of the hotel’s occupants were openly hostile to her and her family, still others were reserved and coldly polite. She’d made friends among the residents, as had her cousins, but it wasn’t by any means a safe or welcoming place. And she knew it wouldn’t be with these threats hanging over the family’s heads.
But she had Aodhan and that helped. And she’d take every opportunity to steal moments with him that she could get. “Kiss me. Right here.”
“Any particular reason why?” He stepped closer, pulling her chest-to-chest. Her arms slipped around his neck and she stretched up to get closer.
“Because...the moon is shining, the garden is blooming out of season our families are safe, we’re not trying to kill one another, or escape one another, and most of all...we’re together. So kiss me.”
“Happy to.”
He did. For several long, beautiful, perfect moments. Mallory didn’t know who pulled away first, but they stepped apart almost as if of one mind. Had anyone ever been so attuned to her?
Not that she could remember.
“I think we should check with Barlaam and Josey. See if that girl is awake yet. I have a feeling she’ll have some information we need.”
“And tomorrow I will interview Nalik. A Dardaptoan is causing all of this who else would know our unique vulnerabilities? Would know how to get to the Equa of the Houses, but someone high in the royal Houses?”
“We’ll find the threat,” Mallory said as she slipped her fingers back in his. “And we’ll do what we have to in order to keep our families safe. I know you will. I trust you.”
At her words, he yanked her back into his arms. Mallory let a squeal escape. It was quickly muffled against his mouth when he kissed her until her body burned for him to do more. And she let him, in the middle of the night-blooming garden less than fifteen feet from the balcony steps that led into their suite. He lowered her to the ground and parted her vestis with hands that trembled. Mallory covered his fingers with her own. He pulled away slightly. “Kitten?”
“We don’t have to rush, Aodhan. We pretty much have eternity...”
“Together. It has a nice feel to it, doesn’t it? Almost as nice as this soft, soft skin right here...”
His hand burned a trail of fire across her chest. Mallory shivered. He laughed. She shivered again. “Cold, kitten? I can always stop?”
“No. Don’t you dare!”
He obliged, despite them being visible from every balcony on the north side of the hotel, if anyone cared enough to look. Or if anyone happened to stroll by. Yes, he’d pulled her to the ground behind a large plant, with leaves nearly as long as Mallory’s arm, affording them a bit of privacy. But none of that mattered to her. Not anymore. What mattered was that she’d found someone who loved her and whom she trusted. And found someone she could love like she’d feared she never would. What did it matter if someone saw them kissing in the moonlight?
It didn’t matter at all.
Epilogue
Their loving was hurried, but all the more powerful because of the new trust between them. When they had finally regained their breath, Mallory hastily fastened her vestis and straightened her pardus. Aodhan’s laugh was smug and arrogant and echoed through the garden. She wiped the taste of him off of her lips delicately. She had not been able to resist tasting his blood once again.
He pulled her to her feet and lifted her, tossing her over his shoulder like he had that night when they’d first met. Mallory laughed. “Put me down!”
“Never. You’re mine now.”
“Never thought I’d live to see you sneaking around a garden with the enemy of our people, Adrastos.”
Mallory suppressed a scream at the harsh male voice that came out of the darkened garden. She hadn’t felt his presence at all. A large man nearly as large as Aodhan stepped out of the foliage and onto the path near them. Mallory slipped off Aodhan’s shoulder and immediately tensed into a defensive position.
Aodhan had tensed, as well, but she felt him force his body to relax. “She is not the enemy. She is my Rajni. Nalik, I had wondered where you were.”
“Is that why you sent men to fetch me like I was an errant lad?”
“I thought it best to have you brought here where we could discuss things safely.” Aodhan didn’t pull her behind him, but his h
and did wrap around her arm. Mallory knew it was to keep her silent while he spoke with the other male. “No one knew where you were. Why was that?”
“Why? I need a nurse, still? I have been coming and going in this world a hundred years longer than you, fifty longer than Rydere. Remember you not?” Cold derision was the only way Mallory could even hope to describe the man named Nalik’s tone. “Are you finished frolicking with your female, now? I’m sure we have much we need to discuss. Like the fact that I’ve been confined to my family’s House or these damned gardens.”
“Not on my doing. But what else were supposed to think? Someone has set a bounty upon our Rajnis’ heads. That cannot be ignored.”
“And your minds immediately jumped in my direction? I’m...flattered.”
“Not immediately. But you do have the means, knowledge, and...the motivation. What would you have done in my place?”
“I would have simply asked, cousin.”
“All right, then. Are you the one who has put the hit out on the Taniss family? And should I be worried for my Rajni’s safety?”
Mallory held her breath, knowing that the man’s answer would set the stage for what Aodhan and she—would do next.
“No. I am not. As for her safety, no threat to her comes from me.”
Aodhan was silent for the longest time, and Mallory knew he was considering whether to believe his cousin or not. She didn’t know if she did, or not, so how could he? They’d been friends, once, he and this Nalik. How hard was it for Aodhan to consider his friend and apparently cousin may be the traitor? That kind of betrayal would seriously cut deep. “Thank you, for that. I’ve spoken with your mother. Have you?”
“Mmm. Not the highlight of my visit, but duty has been met by her.” The man stepped into the light slipping from the main garden entryway.
He was beautiful. By far one of the most beautiful men Mallory had ever seen. His hair was dark black, and she had no difficulty seeing that in the low light. Fitting, since his name was Black. But what held her attention was the evil looking scar. It started just beneath his mouth and ran up his cheek, past his eye, and disappeared into his hairline.
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