Bones Of Contention: The McKinnon Legends - The American Men Book 3

by James, Ranay

  The door swung open even before she knocked, and the magic sweeping past her almost took her breath. It was not soft or subtle, but stifling as if it pushed out all the air making it almost impossible to breathe.

  “Back off!” It was her first reaction as she forced the magic back at the originators completely forgetting whose presence she was in for a moment.

  “Welcome,” they all three said in unison. “We are honored with your presence Princess Jamie of the Sidhe Fae.”

  Jamie took a deep breath, the pressure easing as she regained her composure. They were just creatures just like her. There was nothing to fear, she kept telling herself over and over for courage, and she wished Josh was there to run interference. The magic lessened. It was less threatening now.

  “I beg forgiveness for my brutish outburst.” She quickly reverted to her court protocol. “I am graced with the invitation. May I be so bold as to inquire what occasion this day marks with the meeting of a Fae and the fabled wizards of Atlantis?”

  “It is we who should beg forgiveness, for we forget you are only half Fae. The magic is much stronger against you than would be were you full Sidhe. But to your point, we have great respect for your father, Jamie. He has taken unto himself a creature that needed a firm hand. His helping to tame and corral the Fae was a brave undertaking, a deed to which we can respect and relate.”

  Their voices were a perfect pitch and vibrated through her almost like she was a tuning fork and their voices instruments.

  “Yes, I agree. He is a great leader and a good father. However, I’m sure you did not call me here to discuss your opinion of the king.”

  “No,” again they spoke in unison. It was a tactical move designed to gain and keep the upper hand. It was a very disconcerting experience for her. She tried to just focus on the wizard in the center and wished that she could see her face.

  “Alexander, the one everyone calls Josh, is ours. We wish you to leave him to us. We control your destiny, and it is not with him.”

  Jamie paused. These creatures were master manipulators. What she would do next would have far reaching ramifications. She had to move slowly and try to stay one step ahead.

  “I am of the Fae. Can we not agree?” she asked.

  “Yes, you are Fae as it is your father’s blood which defines you,” the oldest of the three spoke. Jamie sensed she was the spokesperson.

  “Then as such you do not control my destiny. I am neither human, nor a feather free-floating on the wind waiting for the whim of some creature that is just as different as the Fae.”

  “Oh, good one, Jamie. I, for one, did not see that coming,” the younger sister spoke. “However, Princess Jamie, you are also human and your mother has begged protection for you under the treaty.”

  “Protection we have provided,” the middle sister said.

  “All right, so we can agree I am both, and as a human, I beg continued protection and immunity from punishment under the treaty.”

  “Of course, how else have you managed to use the gift of divining the bones out in the open all these years and not have a Protector on your doorstep before now?” Their voices were not patronizing, more like tolerant.

  That gave her pause. It was something she had never given thought to before now. In essence she had been practicing magic in the light of day, something expressly prohibited by the treaty. No wonder Gage wanted to keep her and Josh apart. She was in direct violation. It was a death sentence for her.

  “We may not control your destiny, Princess, nonetheless, our Protector is quite human, and we do control his destiny,” the three spoke together as one.

  “He is distracted with you. Would you like to see the possible outcome of that distraction?” the middle sister spoke again.

  Jamie saw a horrific scene unfolding in her mind’s eye. It was a disaster on the field of battle. Dead bodies were everywhere. The screams of the dead and dying filled the air. The stench of blood and gore filling her nose made her gag from the vile smell just as if she were actually there. Goblin, zombie, human, Fae, and Maji’s blood all run and mixed together into a cocktail of massive proportions. Her father lay on the field of blood, his eyes glassed over lifeless in death, his heart pierced with the magic Singing Sword. Josh was standing over him, he, too, with fatal wounds. As Josh clutched his side, blood gushed from his gaping wound. He was holding his side, and his insides threatened to burst out. Jesse was covered in blood, and gore matted her once beautiful hair. She was standing beside her father screaming and begging him not to die.

  “ENOUGH!” Jaime yelled, her voice echoing down the stone walls. The images instantly stopped.

  “What will it be, Sidhe Princess? Do you give into your flesh, your heart’s desire, or do you act the part of the future queen of the Sidhe Fae and relinquish your hold on him? Do you give him over?”

  She thought a moment. What they were asking of her was a steep price which forced her to realize that leaving Josh was not at all what she wanted. Their demands would not come free for them either. If she were to pay the ultimate price, then she would hit them where it hurt.

  “As a Fae I now ask for my rights under that same treaty.”

  “Do you now?” the middle one questioned.

  “Yes.” She stood firmly against the magic they were pressing against her. “The Sidhe have no love for me. If I am to be queen, I need strong magic that the Fae will fear and respect.”

  “And exactly what are your thoughts, Princess?”

  She found some paper to carefully craft her demands.

  “Here is my list of desires.” She was careful not to say demands. She knew where that would get her.

  They looked it over before pushing their hoods back. They were quick, but not quick enough to cover their collective surprise.

  She was taken aback at their appearance. She recognized them as the three beautiful runners she had seen, admired for their physical conditioning, and then silently cursed in spite of her hangover that day at the beach. So, they had been following and watching for a while.

  “A very tall order, Princess Jamie. Do you fully understand what you are asking?” the older one asked.

  “Probably not, but there you have it anyway.” Jamie was in uncharted waters and felt she had everything to lose and nothing to gain without going for broke.

  The pause was lengthy as the silence stretched on for what seemed hours. There was no sound. They did not talk, yet she felt them communicating. It was a buzzing inside her head like the sound of an old florescent light fixture.

  “Very well. We have conferred and this is our answer. In exchange for our request for you to relinquish your place at our Protector’s side and thereby leaving before the sun rises two days hence, we will grant the following with the exception of item two, four, and nine. Item two - you being able to fly, although amusing, it will not happen. It is too open and blatant. Item four being your request for your life expectancy to match Josh’s and to only exceed him by one lunar cycle - we deny this request. You are the rightful, future queen of the Fae. You need this long life to lead properly. We have already agreed to the terms of the treaty, and within that treaty is the granting of long life. We stand firm. You will just have to find some way to deal with the fact you will eventually live to see him die.”

  “Bitch,” Jamie did not bother to hide her anger.

  “No, Jamie it is just a fact. You have come from a very different world than our Protector. Regardless of the fact these two worlds are tied together, they are not the same.”

  “And Item Nine?” Jamie wiped the tears that managed to spring from nowhere.

  “We cannot allow you to keep the child you carry. You shall carry him to term and then we will come for him.”

  “No!” Jamie was reliving Melitta’s anguish of having these same three come for her child in the dead of night. “You do not have that right. Josh already has a first-born.”

  That made her wonder about Jesse’s fate now that Josh was a full-blown Wiz
ards' Warrior and Protector. The wizards were here. They knew of Jesse. What was Jesse’s future to hold? What was her child’s future to hold? He was her first-born.

  “We know he does, Jamie, but you do not have a first born.” The younger one softened to her. “However, this child has nothing to do with the Brotherhood or our warriors. Have you learned nothing in your time at court? Do you wish your child to live the life you did in your father’s court? He will be even less Fae than you. Besides, I think we can all agree it is the blood of the father that defines the child. By terms of the treaty, the child is human and as such cannot dwell within the land of the Fae. It is forbidden.”

  “No! No! No! You would leave me with nothing?” Jamie covered her ears not wishing to hear anymore. They were technically correct. She had only one final bargaining tool.

  “We leave you with what we can,” their unified voices pierced painfully into her heart.

  “All right, so you want me gone. I get it. You can have him all to yourselves, free of my presence and distraction. I see where that will take us, and it is a future even I cannot justify by staying. However, I agree only if you agree to let Josh raise my son unencumbered by your interference or the Brotherhood’s influence. Josh is a good and he is decent man. This child could have no better example or training than with his father. Those are my terms. Take them or leave them. Otherwise, we have no deal. I’ll stay and figure something out, so that I never see the blood of innocents spilled because of me.” She was thinking she would not be able to sacrifice herself because that would also sacrifice her child. She would figure something out.

  “We agree. Your requests have been granted. You must leave and take your rightful place in the land of the Fae. You will be queen one day, Jamie, and with the gifts and magic we grant to you, at your request, you are now free to leave.”

  Jamie was thinking how Josh was really going to be surprised. She had asked for the ancient Minoan wealth be bestowed upon him, which was rightfully his by birth and given by the treaty. It would eventually go to her son, so she was secure in the knowledge he would be taken care of financially.

  The three huddled together whispering as she pulled the door closed behind her, but not before her new found acute sense of hearing picked up “unexpected,” “highly irregular,” “changes things.”

  Chapter 45

  Less than six hours later, Jamie let herself into Josh’s quarters. It was easy. She had asked for the ability to bend space around herself to make herself invisible.

  When she was penning her requests, she asked for all the superhero powers from the comic books. She could ask only once, so why not ask for the moon?

  She figured if she was going to have to rule the Sidhe Fae, she needed to be able to strike awe and fear into their minds.

  She also asked for powers equal to the Protector’s powers. She wasn’t quite sure what that entailed. She guessed she would figure it out as she went. All she knew was the newfound mark on her arm was a painful reminder: She had asked and she had received.

  She sat in the chair over in the far corner hidden in the shadows. Her wait was short. Hearing Josh open the chamber door, she felt his hesitation.

  Okay.. so, there was a new power, she thought.

  She felt her own excitement rise. She knew that he knew that he was not alone, and he knew it was her.

  It was as if they were aware of each other’s awareness.

  There was another new one, she noted.

  She also knew that he could not touch her. Gage’s laws were still in effect. She was banking on his will power and self-control that according to her sources was now totally under his command.

  She was almost sorry they were.

  She was Fae, but she was also a Protector. She was one of them. He could not kill her without killing his own. Sometimes, she even outsmarted herself. She just wondered which part of her was now dominant.

  Seeing him for the first time since he had completed the transformation took her by surprise. He was glorious, a true weapon, a fire of hot and biblical magnitude which if brought to bear on the Fae it would be devastating.

  She was Fae. That was something she must remember.

  Tread carefully. She heard the wizards' voices inside her head warning her that if ever there was a time to step cautiously now would be that time. "Get out of my head.” She pushed them aside.

  “You’re taking a great chance being here, Jamie,” Josh said flatly as he tossed the top of his training uniform onto the back of the chair at his desk leaving him bare from the waist up, “although this does make my job much easier.” This would save him a trip to London and hours off the necessary exchange.

  She inhaled deeply pulling him into her lungs.

  Eat your heart out Zeus, she laughed inwardly. This was a fine specimen of human male masculinity, and right about now, she was sure the old gods of Olympus were probably seething and wallowing in jealousy. However, there was not a thing they could do to him. Coated in his own mantle of protective power and magic, he was protected by the wizards.

  He was untouchable.

  Except by me, she thought.

  She slowly stood taking very careful steps toward him. She did not wish to be the reason Gage killed him. It would be a terrible shame to see that beautiful body and mind go to waste, and she had no doubt that Gage would follow through and make good on his threat. Josh was very dangerous.

  “You need to leave now while you still can.”

  “I find sometimes living on the edge is the only option. I am willing to take that chance at this moment, and if you behave and are a good boy, Josh, you may live through it,” she purred, running a fingernail down his back. She circled to stand in front of him. “What did Gage say about me coming to you?”

  “We never made it that far. You are supposed to be in London, and I’m betting Trey and your guards are not happy at the moment.” Josh started wondering what she was doing here and how she had managed to slip past six guards and Trey. With what he was feeling emanating from her, he bet he really did not want to know how she did it. He expected a call from Trey at any moment confessing he had lost her. If that call did not come soon, he would kill Trey for his inadequacies. He might kill Trey anyway.

  “I’m not on this earth to keep Trey happy,” she snapped back, trailing that same fingernail from his collarbone to navel and back again. “Umm, I like a man with self-control,” she offered completely off the subject.

  “You’re pushing my outer limits, babe. But you know that don’t you?” He hardened himself against her tender assault.

  “Of course. I feel you. You want me. You also want to kill me. I can honestly say it is a very heady combination of sex and danger.”

  Josh’s hands itched to touch her, his mouth watered to taste her, and it had absolutely nothing to do with hunting. She looked good, and she smelled good, showered and clean. She was a beautiful and desirable woman, and as a man, he still was deeply in love with her. However, she was right in that he also had the urge to kill her. She was Fae, and she was now a very, very powerful Fae. Her magic rippled off her, touching his skin and penetrating his brain. He was almost ready to snap.

  She circled her arms around his neck. “You cannot touch me. That is the rule.” She pulled the bathrobe open and pushed her body into his and took his warmth into her.

  “I’m painfully aware,” that was all he could manage to grind out as he masterfully kept his arms to his sides.

  “Then don’t touch me.” She took his hand to lead him to the bed. This was the last and final time they would be together. It was too bad he would not be able to participate.

  He did not move.

  “Do you not trust me, Josh?” Jamie asked seriously, all teasing aside.

  “Jamie, what you’re asking is a complicated question requiring more than a simple yes or no. I sense more magic in you than a hundred Fae combined. Something has happened to you.”

  “Yes, Josh, something has happened to me!” she a
nswered passionately. “You happened to me, Jesse happened to me, and my life happened to me. Nothing has been the same since you walked into my lab.” She placed her hand over her stomach in a gesture of protection. “All this is your fault!”

  “What the hell do you want from me?” Josh felt his body battling his mind.

  “I want all of you. You know this is what you truly want. I feel that, too.” What she was doing was risky, but she had to feel him one more time.

  “I’m not sure this is a good idea even if it is what I truly desire. I am programmed to seek out this kind of magic and destroy its source. You are really making me fight what and who I am, Jamie. I do want to kill you. Do you realize how crazy this is making me?”

  Josh felt his insides twist. Maybe, he wasn’t as in as much control as he hoped. It could be very dangerous for her if he lost his grip on that control at this point, not to mention Gage would follow through and make good on his threat. They would both be dead before the evening was much older.

  “Let go of the emotion, Josh. Then don’t fight it. Let your head not your emotions tell you whether I’m friend or enemy.”

  She saw him hesitate. He was trying.

  “You can trust me, Josh. I swear to you I have a very good reason for having all this new power. And more, I trust you not to kill me.” She kissed his chest, running small circles with her tongue around on his flesh, tasting his skin. She felt him growl deep in his chest. She felt the goose flesh her kiss was raising. She felt his breathing become more labored. He would kill her if he understood what she was really doing. She was getting a sense of him. In case he ever came after her, she would know he was coming.

  He would come.

  It was just a matter of timing. She was now a very dangerous thing in his mind as a Protector. As a man, she could not say what she was to him in his heart. Making love was just the consolation prize for leaving.

  She continued. “I swear I would never hurt you, but I need this. Let me do the touching. Let me make love to you. Gage cannot kill you if you do not violate his dictate.”