The Golden Bell

by Autumn Dawn

  She smiled at that. “Who’s his father?”

  “My cousin, Keilor.” He snuggled up behind her on the wide wooden lawn chair. It was a tight fit, but not claustrophobic. With his hand low on her belly, she lost the desire complain.

  Clearing her throat, she said, “Oh. So they’re related to you…sort of.”

  “Second cousins. They’re related to you, too, through marriage. Nice of you to be kind to them.” His hand slid lower.

  “Wasn’t hard,” she said off-hand, distracted.

  “Still.” His finger began tracing little circles just inside her waistband.

  Losing track of the conversation was inevitable, but she made a valiant effort to concentrate. “Kids are okay, as long as they belong to someone else.”

  His lips feathered over the back of her neck and shoulder, making her melt. “Yes.” His hand slid lower, tangling in the curls between her thighs. “If we had kids here now, I couldn’t do this.” His finger started a slow circle that eased a wordless sigh from her lips. A moment later, he began to lower her pants.

  “We can’t! My knee.”

  He chuckled. “I see I need to work harder on your education. Can you think of a position that won’t put pressure on it?” To illustrate, he circled an arm around her waist and pulled her bare butt against his front.

  “Ah…” she croaked. He was fast taking care of any reluctance she might have felt.

  “Mm-hm. I’m afraid you’re still over dressed for such a warm day, though.” He reached up and popped the clasp on her harem style top. He played his hand around her breasts, inhaling like a man deeply satisfied with life. “Ah, yes. As sweet and tender as I remembered.” He squeezed a nipple, surprising a squeal out of her. She shifted under his hands and he admonished her. “Uh-huh. We have to be careful of that knee.”

  The last thing on her mind was her knee as he took his time playing with her silky breasts, gliding his hand over her stomach. She was whimpering by the time he sat up and pulled off his vest, then opened the front of his pants. He guided himself to her slick opening from behind. “Open up, sweetheart. The doctor wants in.”

  She still hadn’t gotten used to how big he was. Completely vulnerable, she panted as he eased inside, filling her with delicious hardness. No wonder she hadn’t missed the Bell’s seductive song, Fallon could make a sultana forget her harem.

  He was slow but thorough, the man must have been born with self-control. He took his time to tease her, driving her past what she could bear, then easing her down. Nearly insane with desire, she pleaded and begged until he gave in and finished her off. By that time she wouldn’t have known she had a knee, much less cared if it ached.

  CHAPTER 9

  It was sometime later, after dinner, dessert and more of Fallon, in fact, that she realized that Haunt weren’t so different, after all. It couldn’t have been more obvious that her lover was proud of his heritage, and look how wonderful he was. She wasn’t ready to see it, but she didn’t think she’d freak if she saw Fallon change now. She’d try not to at least, because she wasn’t a coward. The day would surely come when it would happen, and she figured she could work up to it. Maybe she’d even practice with Kial, watching him change and stuff until the thought of being close to a Haunt didn’t put her in a cold sweat. Even hanging with DJ had to help.

  What she had with Fallon was worth preserving.

  One matter was left undone, however. The man who’d started her terrors was still alive. As long as he was out there, she’d never feel safe. The man was like a sword dangling by a silk thread, poised over her head.

  Azion had to die.

  Rain sat in her suite late the next afternoon. Brooding, she lifted her newly constructed short-range Bell and considered it. This model looked like a large ball bearing, etched with a few engravings. It chimed, but she’d modified it to avoid the seductive song. She didn’t need to pass on that little trait.

  Losing her original wasn’t as bad as she’d dreaded. She didn’t miss her own Bell’s song, having realized that Fallon could give her so much more than it ever could. It had been a beautiful creation, though, and special, and she missed it a little because of that. This Bell was going to serve a higher or lower, purpose. Rykarr had called it the ultimate assassin’s toy. It hadn’t taken much thought to realize he’d been right.

  Rain keyed the Bell and opened a portal to Azion’s private rooms. She’d found a way to tune it so she didn’t have be exactly where she wanted to open a portal and had walked by his place yesterday. Happily, he was alone at his desk, his back to her.

  Allowing him a fighting chance, she said coolly, “You look a lot different when you’re not covered in fuzz, Graybeard.”

  He spun around so fast, he nearly fell out of his seat. “Rain! What the…” he trailed off, apparently realizing he was better off with his mouth shut.

  She smirked. “Hello, Azion. I thought I’d show you what you wanted so badly. What do you think?” She rolled the Bell between her palms, walked it through her fingers like a Chinese exercise ball. “Nifty little toy, isn’t it?”

  Azion stood up and moved closer to the portal. “How are you doing this?” he looked around her room before his gaze settled on her hands. “Is that the device that makes this projection?”

  “No projection, old man. See for yourself.”

  He hesitated. “Why are you doing this?”

  She raised a brow, playing it cool. Inside, she burned. “Let’s not waste our breath. You killed my father. You were the gray Haunt.”

  He considered her for a long moment. “It was necessary, you know.”

  Her answering smile was cold. She played the Bell through her fingers.

  The lure of the Bell must have been too much. Azion gave her room one more penetrating look, then reached out to touch the portal.

  Rain closed her eyes against the flash. When she opened them, all that remained of him was a pile of rust colored dust. Her hand clenched on the Bell, closing the connection.

  Her room was neat and empty. There was no way to trace Azion’s death to her.

  She felt a little sick. She’d let the man reach out to his own destiny, but knowing he was dead wasn’t the sweet relief she’d hoped for. Abruptly, she got up and left the room.

  Fallon was in Jayems’s study, examining a printout of Azion’s rooms. He’d been there most of the morning with Jayems and Keilor, trying to find a workable capture plan. “The man has more safeguards in place than the whole palace put together,” he finally muttered, straightening. “You’d think he was king.”

  “Or planned to be,” Keilor said, with a glance at Jayems.

  Jayems wasn’t saying much. Though physically in the room, his mind was on his little girl and only heir, who was slowly recovering from a nasty bout of poisoning. It had been a close call. If her mother hadn’t figured it out, if they hadn’t given her charcoal and pumped her stomach as fast as they had…if the medics hadn’t been the best…

  Fallon’s fist curled. He wanted Azion dead. Knowing the man would like to return the favor, especially to Fallon’s wife, made his blood burn.

  “Your eyes are glowing again, Fallon. Calm down. Cool heads will solve this better,” Keilor cautioned. A battle veteran who was far older than he looked, the man knew what he was talking about.

  “It’s easier when it’s not family,” Fallon said grimly.

  “I hear you. You should be grateful your woman turned her problems over to you and Jayems. I have nightmares thinking of the trouble Jasmine might get into in the same situation. You’re a lucky man.”

  “Believe me, I get down on my knees and give my share of thanks,” Fallon said fervently, relieved again that Rain wasn’t involving herself. That had to be hard, and he was so thankful. He couldn’t stand the idea of her in danger.

  Keilor’s com unit vibrated, and he answered it. For long moments he said nothing, just listened. “Okay, I’ll be there in a moment. Standby.” He looked at his closed com for a long m
oment, then looked at Fallon with wide-eyed sympathy. “You and Jayems had better come, too.”

  Dread pooled in Fallon’s stomach as he followed Keilor, but he kept his mouth shut. Whatever was going on, he knew Keilor would show him soon enough.

  To his surprise, Keilor led the way to Azion’s rooms. The door was shut and the guards before it looked agitated. Azion’s large, heavyset aide fidgeted at the door. When he saw them, his face lit with an odd mix of chagrin, relief and caution. “My lords! I didn’t know what to think. The guards didn’t see or hear anything, and there is no scent of anyone strange in the room. The elder had been in there alone all morning. No one but us has been in since we discovered…it.” He trailed off, strained.

  Fallon exchanged looks with Jayems.

  Keilor asked calmly, “Who else have you notified?”

  “No one! I didn’t want to say anything until someone else had confirmed what we thought. Come in and see for yourselves.” Dorron ushered them in and led them through a room of severely plain furnishings made of the most expensive materials. Behind the massive desk, he stopped and stared at a small heap of orange dust. It looked like someone had dumped a bucket of dirt out on the carpet.

  Keilor knelt and studied the dust.

  Dorron swallowed. “I’m afraid…I think this might be Azion’s remains.”

  Fallon’s brows shot up as he stared at the dust. “How?”

  “I’m not sure, but you can see Azion is not here, and this is.”

  The men exchanged looks. It couldn’t be this easy. “I know of nothing that can do this to a body. We don’t have any weapons capable of this.” Even as he said it, Fallon’s brows drew together. He remembered Rain’s ingenuity, her inventions. If anyone had motive…

  Keilor stood up and looked around, studied the room. After a moment, he changed and wandered around. Baffled, he changed back. “Could he have wanted to disappear for a while? Could this be an effort to do that?”

  “Impossible,” Dorron said coldly. “He had plans. He wouldn’t just leave, especially not right now.”

  “Really?” Keilor drawled, looking the man over.

  Jayems spoke for the first time. “I want tests run on that dust, and I want this room ripped apart. I want to know the truth, Keilor.” His voice was strained, but a thread of relief crept through. “Do whatever you have to, but get answers.”

  Keilor nodded and ordered a forensic team over his com unit.

  It was half an hour until they were able to return to Jayems’s room. The forensic team had confirmed that the dust contained the base minerals that were in every human’s body, but it would be some time before they broke down exact proportions. It was plausible that Azion really had been turned to dust, however.

  Fallon was ready to explode with frustration, desperate to find Rain and shake the story from her. After that he’d just shake her. What was she doing? She could’ve been killed!

  Keilor practically dragged him into the study. “Wait! Your Haunt are with her and apprised of the situation. Azion’s supporters are still too baffled to act, and they don’t know what we know.”

  “If she did this, I’ll give her the moons,” Jayems said fervently. He was pacing, in a fever of anticipation. His personal nightmare was closing.

  Fallon’s was just beginning. “What if she’d got hurt? He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill her.” Pacing on the opposite side of the rug from Jayems, he was shouting and didn’t care.

  Jayems shot him a look. “Mind the child,” he snapped. “She needs her rest.”

  “Sorry.” Fallon clamped his mouth shut. He felt like a hawk in a cage, desperate to beat his way out with his wings. He wanted his wife! Wanted to punish her, shout at her and make sure she was okay.

  Keilor got in his way and clamped his hands on his shoulders. “Breathe and stop thinking like a husband for a moment. This is larger than that. If she’d been a trained soldier, you’d be offering her the moons.”

  “She’s not!”

  “Fine, but she did us a service just the same. Don’t punish her for it. Have you considered that she might be hurting? Killing is never easy. For all you know, she’s afraid of what we’ll do if we find out.”

  “We won’t do anything! Well, I might spank her blue, but…”

  Keilor actually shook him, smoothly dodging Fallon’s thank-you punch. “Fine, now that you’ve got your aggression out, you’d better plan what you’re really going to say to her,” he snapped, and then his face softened. “I’m trying to help you, cuz.”

  Fallon dragged in a shuddering breath. Somebody had better help him, because it was going to kill him to do what he had to do.

  DJ and Malix found her brooding by a fishpond. Among other things, her knee ached.

  She couldn’t stand to be alone, but wanted to avoid conversation, so she’d chosen to sit by the deserted pond on the edge of the park. For once she’d been glad of the silent company of her guards. As a plus, they even scared off the casual passersby; or maybe it was her expression that did that.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised to see the kids, since they seemed to get around. What did surprise her was DJ. “Hey, kid. Where’s your fuzz?”

  DJ blinked his dark eyes at her. Black haired with long, thick lashes, he was destined to break hearts one day. “I didn’t want to scare you.”

  She snorted in amusement and tossed another mangled piece of grass on the ground. “Wouldn’t worry about it, buddy. I’m at least as scary as anything running around these woods today.”

  The boys sat on either side of her. “You’re sad?” Malix asked, looking at her face.

  She sighed. “Just having one of those moments all mad scientists have.”

  “You’re not mad,” a deep voice said, surprising her into looking around. A dark haired man about twenty years DJ’s senior stood right behind her shoulder. Handsome in a rugged way, he was looking at her with penetrating sable eyes.

  “You must be the father,” she said dryly. “DJ couldn’t look more like you if he tried.”

  He shrugged. “Malix takes after his mother. She likes to gloat about it, but DJ and I don’t mind. I’m Keilor, your cousin-by-marriage.”

  “Ah. Nice to meet you.” She couldn’t summon much enthusiasm.

  Keilor looked at the boys. “Now that you’ve said hello, run over there and play with Kial and Brack. I think I see a tree you haven’t climbed yet.”

  Rain raised her brows as he sent her bodyguards off to play nanny. Obviously he had the authority. By the looks of him he was more than capable of defending her…or cutting off her head.

  Keilor studied her for a moment. “Has Fallon mentioned what I do? My title is Master of the Hunt. I’m in charge of the Citadel’s military and head of security. Jayems sent me to speak with you.”

  She let the shields slam down over her eyes, knowing that he’d pick up on it. “Oh?”

  His eyes never left hers. “An interesting thing happened to Elder Azion today.”

  She let her interest show, knowing it was expected.

  “What we assume are his remains were found in his rooms. We’re still running tests.”

  Somewhat strained, she asked, “Why do you assume it’s his remains? Can’t you sniff it out?”

  His smile was sardonic. “It’s difficult to do much with a pile of dust. I’m wondering if DNA testing will find anything.”

  “Wow. Well, if you expect me to cry at his funeral, you’ll be disappointed.” She looked away, unable to add any color to her voice.

  Keilor seemed to chew on that. “Technically, he was murdered. Under the circumstances, there’ll be a lot of pressure to find out who did it. Officially, I have no body, no witnesses. I doubt we’ll ever solve the case.” His smile was slow, admiring. “Someone did a very good job of removing an evolving threat, not only to yourself, but to Jayems and his family.” At her surprise, he added casually, “Jayems’s daughter wasn’t ill, she was poisoned. While we had no proof that Azion ordered it, we ha
d our suspicions. There are a great many people who want what he‘s got.” While she digested that, he stood up. He offered her a slight bow. “Welcome to the family, Rain.”

  The world was a little rosier after that. Apparently the Haunt here held a different view of justice than the government back home. For once, she was actually glad to be in the Dark Lands. Head held high, she headed back to her home, almost in charity with the two Haunt at her side.

  Fallon met her at the door. By the expression in his eyes, he knew. “You’ve had an interesting day.”

  She just stood there once he’d closed the door, waiting to see what he’d do.

  He studied her a moment, then smiled and handed her a glass of liqueur. “Have a drink. There’s more than one toast being made to you today.”

  By reflex, she took a sip, then had to ask, “You’re not mad?”

  He looked surprised, then reached behind her head and held her steady for a confirming kiss. “Do I look mad? You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to assassinate a man like Azion.” He looked into her eyes. “He’s a murderer and a child killer, Rain. Not all justice is done in the public eye, nor is it taken lightly. Someone else would have taken him down if we hadn’t been beaten to it.”

  She took a deep breath, then swallowed more liqueur. “Death is an ugly business, Fallon.”

  He nodded. “Which is why you’re a scientist and I’m a politician. With luck, we’ll be able to keep bloodshed out of our life from now on.” For just a moment, he let her see the depths of worry, and yes, anger, simmering below the surface. He was giving her slack this time, but she could see there would be consequences next time. Somehow, that made her feel better. He wasn’t a man who let those he loved walk lightly into danger.

  She nodded, hoping he was right and trying not to think about the rest of it. When he put his arm around her, she was more than happy to let him lead her to the garden to unwind.