He glanced at Charlie. “Do you feel that?”
His brother looked at him quizzically. “Feel what?”
Harrison shook his head. “Nothing.” Glancing from Jack to Larsen, he could tell neither of them knew what he was talking about, either.
Less than a minute later, Ilaria lifted her hand, her eyes somber. “It’s done.”
“Thank you, Princess.” Kade stood and backed away.
For a moment, no one moved, then Charlie stepped forward and knelt before her as Kade had. Harrison watched with a calmness he wouldn’t have believed possible even a few hours ago.
Ilaria placed her hand on Charlie’s head, her pale lashes sweeping down over flawless ivory cheeks. Once more, he felt the energy, and then it was gone. As Charlie rose and stepped back, Ilaria turned to Harrison, a smile lighting her eyes. Not a smile of mischief, but of thanks. For trusting her.
He nodded, feeling his own eyes crinkle. For so long all he’d wanted was the Esri gone and his world back to normal. Now…the thought of Ilaria disappearing from his life for good made his chest ache. He barely knew her, and had always known her. He’d been waiting for her all his life.
Longing fisted in his chest. His fingers itched to feel the springiness of her soft, ivory curls, to touch her cheek, her lips. To slide down her silken neck and brush the gown from her shoulders, baring her naked breasts to his seeking, desperate hands.
Hell, he was nearly out of control with this need for a woman he had no business wanting. If he were smart, he’d let one of the others guard her now that they were all about to be free of their death marks, then he’d put a healthy bit of distance between them. Maybe then he’d be able to clear his head and regain some much-needed perspective.
When Ilaria was finished forgiving Larsen’s and Jack’s death marks, the cop held out his hand, palm up. “Thank you, Princess. I’ll need the draggon stone back, now.”
Ilaria tensed, slowly turning to stone.
Harrison felt his hackles rise in a rush of fierce protectiveness. With bitter control, he slammed that protectiveness to the ground. Jack was only doing what he had to. It didn’t matter that Ilaria resented it. And she clearly disapproved.
She lifted her chin, her manner regal. Haughty. “The draggon stone is mine. It stays with me.”
Tension rippled through the group. Harrison took a step toward her as the stone’s power whispered through him, telling him with a certainty he didn’t doubt that the stone was hers. It should never be parted from her. Yet even as his instincts told him she needed to keep it, logic told him otherwise. Keeping the draggon stone would only make her a target. Rith might not be able to wield the full power of the draggon stone, but he was a stone scenter. All Callers were. And the draggon’s magical scent would lead him right to Ilaria.
“Princess.” Jack’s tone held a sharp note of warning, which only served to ignite her temper.
Ilaria slammed her fists onto her hips. “Enough of this foolishness! These stones are Esri, left here by me to keep them out of Rith’s hands. Now he’s found them and I’m taking them back until he can be stopped.” She scowled at the lot of them. “You clearly can’t keep them safe.”
Jack’s expression hardened, as did the others’. Harrison took another protective step toward her.
Ilaria glanced at him, her eyes sharp and determined, before turning back. “This time, I will protect them.”
“How?” Charlie asked, the word a question wrapped in steel.
Her chin lifted a fraction higher. “I am the rightful queen of Esria.”
Jack looked to Kade.
The big Esri shrugged. “It is said no one can take the draggon stone from the queen unless she wills it, but I’ve never heard that of the other stones.”
Jack turned back to Ilaria and lifted an eyebrow.
“The stones are mine, human. You lost three to Rith. None of us can afford for you to lose the rest of them.”
It was clear she didn’t have an answer that would satisfy them. It was equally clear, they were at a standoff if they couldn’t take the draggon stone from her by force.
“Every second that stone stays unprotected, King Rith draws closer,” Charlie said quietly.
Jack held out his hand, his eyes hard as flint. “Give me the draggon stone, Princess.”
“Do you have any idea what will happen if Rith gets all of the stones?” she asked, her voice as hard as it was stark.
“We’ve some idea.” Jack lifted the flamethrower to rest against his shoulder, pointed at the sky.
Harrison saw the shudder go through Ilaria and knew she understood the implied threat. But she didn’t back down. His admiration for her grew even as his concern propelled him forward.
“Ilaria.” He moved between her and Jack, facing her. Cupping her shoulders, electricity arced between them, though whether echoes of her power or pure desire, he didn’t know. Heaven help him, he felt the desire like a rush of heat.
Struggling against the pull of her, he concentrated on what he had to say, what he had to know. “Does the draggon stone give you strength you didn’t have, the power to protect yourself from Rith and his minions?”
Her jaw tightened, but she shook her head. “I don’t think so, no. The queen’s power has always been more of a nourishing nature than militaristic. Through the draggon stone, the land is renewed and flourishes. As do the people.”
Harrison’s hands tightened on her shoulders. “Then listen to me. That pair, Luciar and Sanderis, would have captured you earlier. If I hadn’t been there, it would be King Rith you’d be facing right now, not us. If you insist on keeping the draggon stone, there will be nowhere you can hide. He’ll find you, you know that.”
“Then I’ll help act as the bait.”
His grip on her tightened. “No. I won’t let you risk your life like that. You’re too important.” To me.
The thought shook him and he shoved it away. It wasn’t like she’d ever stay here. She had a world to rule, and it wasn’t his.
“Work with us, Ilaria.” His hands softened, caressing her tense shoulders. “We’ll catch him, but we have to keep you safe. The only way to do that is to separate you from the stones until we stop him.”
He read clearly in her eyes the battle waging inside her. At least she hadn’t responded with another unequivocal no.
Larsen’s clear voice filled the pregnant silence. “If we’re having this much trouble getting the draggon stone away from her now, why do we think she’ll seal the gates and leave it behind?”
No one answered. No one had an answer.
Ilaria’s gaze tore loose of his and dropped. For long seconds, she was silent, staring at the ground, her body as tense as steel cable. Beneath his hands he felt her shoulders rise on a bitter sigh, then fall with the draining of the tension. Finally, her pale lashes swept up again, her eyes filled with a desperate determination that tore at his soul.
She glanced beyond him and he released her, turning to stand beside her as she faced Larsen and the others.
“What I want doesn’t matter.” Her voice rang clear and true. “All that matters is that Rith, or any Caller who comes after him, never gets his hands on all seven stones.” She lifted her fingers to her eyes, pressing them against her closed lids. When she dropped her hands, her eyes were dark with frustration and bitter resignation.
Slowly, she turned to him. “Take the draggon stone, Harrison. I don’t think I can make myself give it to you.”
He remembered the rightness he’d felt as she first touched that stone and suspected his innate reluctance to part them again was only a shadow of her own.
Watching her, he reached for the silver chain where it kissed her collarbone. As he slid his fingers beneath the cool metal, electricity jumped in a tingling rush, up his arms, spreading through his body. His jaw tightened and he lifted the chain over her head, careful not to touch the stone, then handed it to Jack.
“Thank you, Princess.” Jack pocketed the ancient,
mystic necklace.
Harrison turned and stood beside her. When she shuddered and crossed her arms over her chest, he couldn’t stand it another minute. He curved his arm across her shoulders and pulled her against him.
She stiffened. Belatedly, he realized he’d probably offended her. He might have sensed her need for comfort, but that didn’t mean she’d welcome the reminder…or the public display. But as he started to release her again, she leaned into him, just a little.
“Don’t go,” she said softly.
Both Larsen and Jack watched him, clearly surprised. Charlie’s eyes gleamed, but he remained silent. Kade revealed no emotion at all, but he rarely did.
Ilaria lifted her chin and met the others’ gazes, regal even within the curve of his arm. “Rith will follow the scent of the stone. He’ll find it wherever you hide it, now.”
Jack nodded. “We have a way to keep him from finding it.”
Harrison knew what they had planned, because they’d done it before. They’d tuck it in a lead-lined box, tie the box to the bottom of a boat, then move the boat. The scent might lead King Rith to the water, but with any luck, he lose track of it there.
“We have two missions, now,” Jack said, addressing the small group. “One is to set up a trap for King Rith at…the other location. We’ll be waiting when he comes to get his stones.” He looked at Kade. “If we sing the death chant for him while he’s holding the stones, what will happen to them?”
“Nothing. Unless I’m mistaken, none of the seven can be destroyed by the death chant.” He looked to Ilaria for confirmation.
“You’re not mistaken. They’ll remain where the holder last stood.”
Jack nodded. “That’s what I was counting on. Capture Esri wherever possible and avoid death marks at all costs…until we take down King Rith. Every time we retrieve the draggon stone to remove them, we risk King Rith’s finding it.” His gaze met Harrison’s, a question in his eyes. “The second mission is to protect the princess. You want to keep that one?”
His logical side told him to say no. To place her in someone else’s hands. She was too tempting, and affected him in ways that were too disturbing. But his need to keep her close had nothing to do with logic. It was primitive. Protective.
“She stays with me.”
Ilaria melted against him, just a little, telling him without words of her approval.
Jack stepped forward and shook his hand. “Good luck. We’ll contact you as soon as we have something to report.” Pulling away, he turned to the others. “Okay, let’s move.”
Harrison released Ilaria’s shoulders and once more took her hand. As Jack, Larsen and Kade started walking, Charlie came over to them, tossing Harrison a small set of keys. His mouth kicked up on one side, a knowing look on his face. “In case you want to try to get to my apartment.”
Harrison snorted, but didn’t deny Charlie’s assumption that he couldn’t wait to get Ilaria somewhere private. Preferably with a bed. “Thanks.”
Charlie nodded toward the direction the others were walking. “There’s more than one boat down there.” Bolling Air Force Base, the location of the other three green stones, was just down the river from Ft. McNair. The others would be heading there by boat. “You might want to do the same. Or ask for a car at the gate. The commanding officer is under orders to give us anything we need.”
Harrison shook hands with his brother. “Watch your back, Charlie.”
“You, too, bro.” Charlie smiled the cocky smile Harrison knew so well, but his eyes said what they never put into words. I love you, brother. Harrison nodded, knowing his own eyes replied in kind.
As Charlie walked off, Harrison turned to Ilaria. To tell her… To ask her… He couldn’t remember. She met his gaze and all thoughts flew from his head. Everything but the need to touch her, to pull her into his arms.
He released her hand to brush the hair back from her face.
“Ilaria.”
“Kiss me, Harrison.”
It was neither the time nor the place, but he couldn’t stand being separate from her another moment. With a stunning loss of control, he hauled her against him, covering her mouth with his in a kiss of such blazing hunger he half expected to burst into flames. One hand dove into her hair, the other curved around her waist, hauling her hips against that part of his anatomy that desperately sought release within her.
She moaned low in her throat, looping her arms around his neck as she pressed herself hard against him and opened her mouth, her tongue sweeping out to welcome his.
She tasted of goodness and tears and warm, willing woman. Beneath his hand, her back curved, strong and sure, and her small head nestled perfectly in his palm.
Her scent, gardenias and lush, passion-filled nights, intoxicated him.
He kissed her desperately and she kissed him back with equal fierceness. Need and aggression, desire and sweetness. He drank of her lips, plundering her mouth, holding her tight against him. If only he could keep her like this, in his arms, forever.
The kiss blazed red-hot for only moments, before he remembered where they were and wrenched back control. With Herculean effort, he pulled back, though his arms refused to listen when he ordered them to let her go.
“I want you,” he said against her temple. “I can’t deny it. But this isn’t the time.” Looking up, he saw no fewer than six soldiers watching. “And it’s definitely not the place.”
Just hours ago those soldiers had lost friends and brothers-in-arms to the Esri bastards. Dozens dead. Watching him kiss an Esri must make them feel like pounding the life out of him. Out of both of them.
And he couldn’t blame them. Look at all Stephie had suffered at the hands of the invaders.
No, at the hands of one invader. Baleris.
Not Ilaria. Never Ilaria.
He looked down at her, at her pink, kiss-swollen lips, at the heat and shadows in her eyes. Even as he watched, her expression hardened with determination.
“We need to go,” she said, pulling away from him.
“I agree. We’ll take a boat and get out of D.C. for a while.”
“No. I’m not leaving the city.”
“Ilaria… King Rith is hunting you now. I can’t keep you safe here.”
“I’m not asking you to keep me safe. When I came into my queenship, every Esri felt it. In return, I felt their emotions, individual entities. Most, from a distance, back in Esria. A handful, those here, I felt sharply. Most of the latter were surprised and dismayed. Kade felt relief. One, Rith I presume, was furious. And one, just one, felt true joy.”
His head turned slightly, his gaze never leaving her face. “Who?”
“I don’t know. Those among the royal guard who’d been openly loyal to me were all trapped in the Forest of Nightmares with me.”
“But you think there’s another, one of the guards here, who’s glad you’ve claimed the draggon stone.”
“Yes. I felt relief and devotion twined with that joy. I don’t know who he is, but I must find him.”
Harrison’s jaw tightened as he realized what she was saying. “We’re not hunting an Esri.”
“I can’t just hide. My world is in as much danger from Rith’s power as yours.”
Tension wove through the muscles of his neck and shoulders as he remembered all too well their last encounter with King Rith’s men. What if they’d succeeded in getting him pounded to a pulp? What if they caught her? Rith would never let her return to Esria alive.
“Ilaria, think about this. Whoever your man is, he’s almost certainly with King Rith, chasing those stones. It’s too dangerous to go anywhere near them, any of them.”
“If I can find him, if I can catch his attention without the others knowing, I might be able to convince him to help me. To help us both.”
“How will you be able to tell which one is loyal?”
“The same way I was able to feel Kaderil’s…Kade’s…satisfaction when I touched the stone. He was close enough that I could tell
his emotion distinctly. I believe that will happen with all the Esri, now. Though I can’t be certain.” She shrugged. “I’ve never been queen before.”
“Clearly your mother didn’t possess the same talent or she’d have known she had traitors in her midst.”
“Yes, I was thinking the same. Every Esri’s gifts are different.”
“I still don’t like the idea of you getting near them. You’ve said yourself that only one is likely to be truly loyal. The odds of finding him without being caught by one of the others are poor, Ilaria. You must know that. If they catch you…”
Emerald eyes flashed from beneath pale lashes, a small, determined smile tugging at one corner of her mouth. “You’ll help make sure they don’t.”
He wanted to deny her. Yesterday he would have—he’d have cuffed her and dragged her where he wanted her to go. But things had changed. He’d changed. The hatred that had ridden him from the moment Baleris touched Stephie still burned like a live coal in his gut. But that hatred no longer had anything to do with Ilaria. And if she could turn one of King Rith’s men to their side it might just give them the advantage they needed to win.
Within those green eyes bright with resolve he saw a need he understood all too well, the need to do something, to wrench back control in some way. She was a natural leader. He sensed that. She was used to taking control, as was he, used to acting as she saw fit.
It must have been hell on her to have been imprisoned for three hundred years while her mother was killed and her kingdom stolen by an evil man. And now that she was free and finally able to fight this villain, she was forced to suffer the indignity of mortals tying her up, trying to control her every move.
He’d thought her a goddess as she’d come into her power. What he saw now was a warrior queen. Tying her up again, forcing her to submit to his protection, would be cruel. As much as his own nature craved control, it was time they worked together.
With a sigh, he looked at her critically. Her hair no longer flew above her head, her eyes no longer glowed, but there was little normal about this woman. She shone like a rare diamond among the mundane. If their pursuers were human, glamour would have done the trick, but they weren’t.
Warrior Rising (Harlequin Nocturne) Page 11