Chapter 18
Garrett wasn’t sure he could describe the level of relief rushing through him as he stared at Thora. It had been nearly a week since Odessa revealed his mate had entered the woods. He hadn’t waited to see what Kalia and the other breeds did to the witch; he'd gone to The Depository, and after recharging his atern, he transported to the edge of the woods.
Trepidation always filled him when he entered the woods, but there was never any hesitation, and that time was no different. The thought of Thora alone in the woods petrified him, and nothing would stop him from finding her.
He went in with a mission, and that alone should have made his journey to her short. What he hadn’t anticipated was that the woods wouldn’t let him find her until she found herself.
The ascending soul stars gave him his first glimmer of hope in days. Within minutes of seeing the first soul star, he found the fence. He'd remembered a hill from when he and Thora found their way to the village, but he faced flatlands and figured he must have been entering the village from a different point.
Once he was inside the fence, he waited for more soul stars to rise before moving closer, using them to guide him through the town.
He'd still been hidden among the trees when he spotted Thora kneeling before a body, her body shaking with the force of her sobs.
Instinct called on him to go and comfort her, but then he saw Darrian step up. It would have been easy to let jealousy propel him forward, especially when his friend rested his hand on her shoulder, but he tramped the feeling down.
As much as he wanted to be the one to help Thora shoulder her grief, he realized he couldn’t do that again. She needed to confront her sister and mother’s deaths on her own, in her own way. So, he stayed in the trees, waiting until the last soul star rose and they went in to the building next to where the bodies had been.
His plan had been to let them get settled and then go in, but as he mounted the steps, he heard Thora explaining why she'd run. He felt gut-punched as he heard her repeat his words of duty.
Garrett didn’t wait to hear any more. He opened the door.
Darrian noticed him first, but Garrett’s attention was on Thora. Her shock was obvious, and his chest tightened. She hadn’t expected him to come after her and, truthfully, he didn’t blame her.
Nervous and uncertain of what he should say, both such foreign emotions to him, all he could do was stand there, staring at her.
“I’ll give you two a chance to talk,” Darrian said, and made his way out the back of the building.
Garrett cleared his throat and stepped further in to the room. Thora responded by standing and moving around to the fireplace. The flames flickered behind her, creating a magical fiery glow around her.
“Why did you come, Garrett?”
“Where else would I be but with my mate?”
She gave a sad smile as if she'd expected that answer.
“As devoted to duty as ever.”
“No,” he said. “Duty has nothing to do with why I came.”
Disbelief lined her face, and any thought he had that convincing her might be easy disappeared.
“My word is my bond. I was raised by Marcella and my mother to believe that without my word, I am nothing. I was ten the first time I swore to Tatiana’s soul star that I would protect the innocent. Twelve when I swore to do everything possible to keep her dream for the breeds alive. When I was seventeen, I took The Hunter’s Oath and dedicated myself to rescuing those breeds who had been abused by society. And two years ago, I promised Sophie I would protect her until I made The Council pay for their crimes against the breeds.”
“I don’t doubt your word,” Thora said, her gaze focused on the floor between them.
He strode forward, stopping only inches from her and forcing her to look up at him. When her dark brown eyes finally met his, he saw her heartbreak reflected there.
“I broke my promise to Sophie. Not because I had to, but because I could do nothing else. I knew uniting with her wasn’t what I wanted and that we'd be miserable, but I didn’t see any other way.” He cupped her face in his hands. “But none of those promises mattered as much as being with you.”
“Lust is a powerful emotion. It dictates every part of our relationship.”
How could he convince her that what he felt was more than physical?
“Thora, lust is only a small piece of what I feel for you.”
“A small piece?” There was skepticism in her voice, but also something else—perhaps a longing to let herself believe him?
“You don’t believe me,” he said.
“It’s not a matter of belief.” She turned her face, breaking his hold on her, then took a step back. The space felt like they were separated by the entire forest again. “Your priority is keeping your word. I’m second to that.”
“That’s not true,” he denied.
“Garrett, you walked out of our room in the middle of the night to chase after Sophie. You didn’t even give me a second thought.”
“I did think about you. There wasn’t a moment I was gone that I didn’t think of you.” He reached out and grasped her hand, gently massaging her stiff fingers with his thumb. “I thought of you, safe at The Sanctuary, and how it could have ended so differently. How you could have ended up in the service den where I found Odessa.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and gave a shaky breath.
“I love you, Thora.”
Her eyes flew open, and he saw in them her struggle to accept the truth.
“I love spending time with you, watching as you learn to control your magic. I love our walks through the orchard and listening to you describe how production could be improved.”
She snorted, probably guessing her gardening skills were less interesting than their other orchard activities.
“I love how when you’re nervous and working up to ask a question you always start by telling a story about your sister. I love the strength and courage it took you to release those you loved despite the heartache it brought you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “But release from our unity bond is not what I want.”
Her hand relaxed just a touch, curling around his.
“Keeping my word, following through on my duty despite my own desires, is who I am. I can’t change that, but you are more important to me than duty. If I had thought for a moment you were in danger, I would have stayed without a single hesitation, but you were safe, and I couldn’t just ignore the fact that Sophie was in danger because of my choices.” He tugged her in to his arms and waited until she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I don’t think I can change that part of me.”
“I don’t want you to change, Garrett.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want to know that you’re my mate not because you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for my safety, but because you want to be with me.”
“Our union wasn’t what I expected, but it is what I wanted.” He gazed in to her eyes, wanting her to see the truth in his words. “Never doubt that this is exactly the life I would have chosen for myself.”
He kissed her, letting the sweet raspberry taste of her fill his senses. It hadn’t even been two weeks since he last kissed her, but it seemed like he'd been waiting an eternity. His fingers burrowed in to her hair, and he tilted his head to deepen the kiss.
The sound of Thora’s moans ripped through him, but as he moved to pull her closer, she broke the kiss and leaned back.
“What about The Summit?” she asked, dousing him with the cold reality of their lives.
He let go of her and rubbed a hand over his mouth, trying to read her expression. Did she expect him to not go back? Did she understand what she'd be asking him to give up on?
“Thora, I…”
“You’ll need to go back,” she said, and any worries building in him vanished.
“You’re okay with me going?”
“I’ve never doubted your dedication to helping
the breeds. Only your reasons for leaving me alone.” The corner of her lip turned up. “But I am going with you.”
“You’ll be safer here.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Have you seen the trees?”
“I have, but you’re no longer lost.”
“That may be, but I want to be with you.”
It was hard to conceive him of willingly placing her in danger, but neither did he want to leave her again. Finally, he nodded.
“Let me grab Darrian, and we can go over what will happen once we get to The Sanctuary.”
Garrett went to the door Darrian had disappeared through and opened it to find his friend clearing the overgrowth from the hall grounds. When he looked up, Garrett motioned for him to come in.
“We need to talk.”
The three of them sat at the end of the table, and Garrett swiped a hand over the surface to clear it of the dust and dirt that had accumulated the last few months.
“Thora’s coming back with us for The Summit,” he said, and waited for Darrian to make some sort of protest, but he only received a nod in response. “We have three days.”
“Three days?” Thora exclaimed. “I didn’t realize it took so long to get here. We’ll never make it back in time.”
Darrian smiled. “As long as we all remain focused on returning, the journey back will be much shorter.”
“We’ll make it,” Garrett reaffirmed. “But we need to prepare. The situation has changed. I’ve lost the confidence of The Council, and the both of you leaving without approval will mean Amadeus will be out to hold you accountable. They won’t prevent any of us from entering The Sanctuary, but once we’re inside, our movements will be limited.”
He waved his hand over the hard surface and generated a glowing map of The Sanctuary. Because of the security risks involved if someone were able to force the map from him, it wasn’t as detailed as the map of Oozara, but it would help with their plan.
“The broadcast of The Summit is done in the ballrooms.” He zoomed in on the second floor and began gesturing to certain areas. “The Council will be up front, along with the Witches’ Coven. Marcella and I will be seated to the left of Madhavi. As head of the Zannis family, Marcella is expected to give the traditional invocation at dinner the first night.”
“Except she will pass it to Garrett,” Darrian added. “That’s when he’ll reveal the deception they’ve been hiding.”
“Won’t Madhavi just end the transmission?” Thora asked.
“That’s where Darrian comes in,” Garrett said. “He’ll be using a hypoths spell on the team of Fae, who will be broadcasting, to place them in a trance like state where they simply operate on automatic.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if he just broadcast it himself?”
“Easier, yes, if our goal was to kill him.” Garrett laughed. “An individual doesn’t possess the amount of atern needed to sustain such a far-reaching spell for longer than a few seconds.”
“What can I do?”
The words stay in your room were on the tip of his tongue, but he held them in. It would be the safest place for Thora, but he knew she wouldn’t want to stay in place when she had a chance to help make a difference. He also knew she was capable of helping them.
“Garrett, the evidence you accumulated is pretty damning, but it might not be enough,” Darrian said. “What we need are testimonials. What if Thora brought some of the service staff from the east wing? If The Council is faced with their victims, maybe they’ll be more inclined to cooperate.”
Both Thora and Darrian stared at him, waiting for his acceptance of the plan, but it wasn’t up to him.
“I agree that it would help to have them there, but Thora would be the one taking the chance of a guard catching her, so it’s her decision.”
Thora smiled. “Of course I’ll help.”
“You can use the loúra charm to get in, but getting out will be much harder,” Garrett said. “Especially since they are bound to place us all under restricted access as soon as we pass through the gate.”
Thora reached in to her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. “Maybe this will help.”
She smoothed the paper out, and he saw a map of the faction. She maneuvered the image in a similar fashion to how he used his own map. She focused in on The Sanctuary, and the level of detail amazed him.
“Is this the map Anton gave you?” he asked.
“How did you know?”
“I spoke to him in Oozara.” He left it at that, refusing to waste time recounting Sophie and Anton’s deception.
Thora pointed to a spot along the wall at the end of the garden. “There’s a secret entrance here.”
“Are you certain?” Darrian swiveled the map around. “I’ve been in that area a number of times over the last few years and have never seen anything.”
“It’s there. I used it when I left,” she said.
They had a way in. He just wished they also had a way out.
Chapter 19
Thora rolled over and gazed at Garrett. Sleep had brought a peace to his face she hadn’t seen since the last time they were in the woods. Until now, she hadn’t realized how tense he'd been at The Sanctuary.
She lifted a hand and placed it against his jaw, gently rubbing his morning stubble.
“It’s too early to get up,” Garrett moaned, and she chuckled.
“What happened to the Garrett who was always up with the first rays of dawn?”
He groaned and opened his eyes just a sliver before closing them briefly again.
“That was when I was technically still on duty.”
“And yesterday?”
He slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her against him before rolling her atop him.
“I was still on duty.”
“Oh, really? Because it didn’t seem like you were working.”
He grinned and nudged his legs between her thighs, so she straddled him.
“It was our first morning together. I had a duty to show you the pleasures of waking a mated woman.”
“Ah. Well, you are a man of honor and take your responsibilities very seriously.”
She placed her hands on either side of his head and leveraged herself up. The position left her breasts dangling between them, and she shimmied her shoulders, letting her nipples brush through the scattering of hair on his chest.
His hands cupped her ass and urged her into a rocking motion that rubbed her dampening flesh against his erection.
She sat up on her knees and reached between them to grasp his hard flesh. She stroked him until a drop of pre-cum formed on the head, then positioned him at her entrance and sank down.
The frantic pace that dominated their love making the past two days had calmed, and the set a steady rhythm that carried them in to bliss.
As they trembled in the afterglow, she lay against his chest, listening as their shuddering breaths filled the small room.
“Is it wrong that I don’t want this to end?” she whispered.
“It’s not ending, Thora.”
“It is,” she insisted. “Tonight we’ll be back at The Sanctuary.”
“Only for a little while.”
“And after? Where will we go?”
“What do you mean?”
She pulled her arm from around him and slipped it under her chin, using it to prop her head up so she could gaze down at him.
“When I left here the first time, I never thought it would be forever. I just knew there was more out there than the life I'd had here. Then the Bascadors attacked, and it changed everything. I couldn’t stay here, and I thought The Sanctuary would be home.” She sighed and shrugged one of her shoulders. “Knowing how it’s been used… I’m not sure I can stay there.”
“We won’t then. I have a house in the city.”
She nodded and turned her head to the side. It should have been comforting to hear him say that, but it still left a restlessness in her soul. She wanted to see the city, lea
rn about the faction outside of what little she'd seen so far, but the thought of being anywhere other than there, in the village didn’t give her the peaceful feeling of home.
Yet, what else had she expected? Even if Garrett was no longer needed as a hunter, he had his position at The Depository. He had a life in the city with friends and family. That was more than she had.
“Tell me about Oozara,” she said, determined not to fall in to a pit of self-pity.
As she listened to Garrett talk about the history of the city and all the conveniences, Thora let herself enjoy the timbre of his voice and imagined seeing it all for the first time. Excitement grew gradually, but still, it was tempered with the realization that of everything he described, it was the fact he'd be with her that made it so tempting.
Eventually, they rose for the day and spent their last few hours going over the plans for The Summit, while helping Darrian begin restoration on the fence.
She wasn’t sure why he bothered as when they left the trees would only push them down again, but he was determined, and the work helped the time pass swiftly.
* * *
Hours later, as night swept across the faction, Thora decided she was going in circles. How else could she explain how, yet again, she found herself standing at the edge of the woods staring at the wall surrounding The Sanctuary?
The only difference was that, unlike her journey to find the village, once they decided it was time to leave, it had only taken a few minutes to reach the wall.
As soon as they had left the shadow of the trees, Garrett had left them. Because he was expected to attend The Summit with Marcella, he needed to go through the front entrance. He'd arrive just in time to take his place beside his sister, and forcing Amadeus to forgo any questioning else they delay the start of The Summit.
“It will work,” Darrian said.
She glanced over her shoulder at her friend, and wondered how he could have such faith. She didn’t doubt Garrett would be able to present his evidence, or that Darrian would be able to sustain the broadcast, or even that she would be able to bring forth some of the service staff to share their stories. Her doubts centered on The Council and Amadeus.
Hunter: Faction 10: The Isa Fae Collection Page 21