“Agreed.” He gave her a sidelong glance, and the fire was back in the dark blue eyes. “Kerr’s going to attack, so we attack first. Surprise him. Force the fight out of him early. Then we can get down to negotiations. Ramon has briefed him, but I need a public admission from the Druid before I’m ready to proceed. You see, he has no choice but to accept my terms.”
“Our terms.”
“Right. Our terms. He can’t risk his precious Eternity Covenant. His house is foul with conspiracy. He has to bring in the outcast to set things to right.” The air rippled around them. “So he’s trying to make us pay. You with the insults. Me, well, not sure with what since I don’t care what he says, but he’ll try something. He plans to ambush us, so we’re going to blow his line before he gets the chance to do some real damage. Ready?”
She nodded as a wave of vertigo assaulted her. Angering Kerr wasn’t a good plan as far as she was concerned, but things were spiraling out of control. Something that was the norm with Jack. She was just as mad for joining up with him. But he was her only choice. She told herself that one more time, and still it sounded crazy. “Ready.”
“Hold on, and whatever you do, don’t let go.” He faced the door and spoke more of his gibberish language. There was a long, heavy moment where Raine forgot to breathe, where time seemed to stop, and the world around her went absolutely silent and still. Then an ear-shattering roar rent the air, and fire raced through her veins. The silver doors blew into the chamber, wrenched from their hinges and went sailing through the air. The surrounding wood disintegrated into millions of splinters, sending up a blinding cloud of dust that acted as a barrier protecting them from the room’s three stunned occupants.
The world swam before her eyes, her vision blurred, and she leaned against Jack for support. Her fingers went slack and she released his hand. His arm snaked around her waist and held her fast while the air raced around them in a furious torrent. Heat and strength suffused her body, and when the dust and debris settled, she was able to manage standing on her own two feet. Breathing steady was another matter entirely.
“What the hell was that?”
“Magic.”
Magic. Her brain turned the word over, while the aftershock turned her innards around. “I’m supposed to be a mystical surrogate, that’s all. Not like you. They promised me. No magic.”
“Their promise. Not mine.” He laughed softly and took her hand in his once more. “Look lively, here comes trouble.”
Chapter Two
“How dare you!” The High Elder Warden barked the words like a rabid dog as the dust of wood settled around him and the remains of the once impenetrable doors. “Salazar, need you any other proof half-breeds are abominations and not to be trusted?”
“Nice to see you too, Kerr.” Jack strode across the threshold, braced for any residual magical protections of the doorway. When none came, he smiled. Raine’s energy had fueled his spell enough to remove any of the protections wrought. It was hard enough to extract from her, true, but when it came, what a rush. Kind of like the woman herself. “So, how have the past five decades treated you?”
Hugh got over his initial shock and stepped into a protective posture, guarding the Elder Warden from the rapidly approaching Jack. “Hold, Madden, or I’ll cut you down where you stand.”
Salazar coughed discreetly, doing his best to look unshaken and doing, as always, a damn fine job of just that. “Let’s remain civilized, shall we? This is a business negotiation, not a call to arms.”
Jack laughed. Raine’s already cool hand turned to ice in his own. It distracted him for a moment. She was afraid. Of what, or who, he wasn’t sure. Interesting.
He swallowed his first three inflammatory remarks, and let his building rage simmer on the back burner for the moment. “Right you are, Ramon. This is all about business. You want your artifacts found, as well as your conspirators. Preferably in that order. Which makes this easy. I haven’t changed my terms since our last conversation. You give me what I want, I do the same in exchange. Don’t forget, gang, you can’t do this without me.”
“Or me.” Raine’s musical voice startled him. “Hello, Uncle Hugh. You didn’t tell me you were part of this.”
Pleasure touched Jack’s blighted soul as Hugh Spencer’s lantern jaw dropped at his niece’s comment. He dearly wanted to run a few more lances through the sanctimonious ass, but again, he restrained himself. He’d had fifty years to nurse this grudge, no reason to chug the nectar of revenge. Better to linger over the sweet taste, savor it a little longer. Besides, he sensed a strange dynamic between Raine and her uncle, one that was as perplexing as it was unexpected. It raised his curiosity, always a dangerous thing. He gave a perfunctory nod to the other Elder Warden. “Ramon, good to see you as well.”
Kerr stepped out from behind his paladin. He raised his arm and pointed a gnarled finger at Jack and Raine, but he spoke to Ramon. “Get them out of my sight. I told you I did not agree to your plan. I will not be party to such an unholy union.”
Beside him, Raine stiffened and her chin lifted just a notch higher. Her hand began to thaw and then warm in his own. Good. She was made of strong stuff. She’d have to be to fight the prejudice of the Covenant and rise to the heights she’d already attained. He knew that struggle all too well. Knew how it toughened your soul, just as he knew what that toughness cost.
Her hand in his began to tingle and he began to sense her actual emotions. They were a cool shadow of his own, and he instantly withdrew from the invasion. The sudden awareness of her inner mood shocked him. She sensed something as well because she shot him a furtive, worried glance. That they should form such a close connection in what amounted to minutes was promising. Very promising. And confirmed his choice all the more.
“Well, Ramon, you heard the man. Sounds like you won’t be needing my services after all. I’ll catch you around.”
Ramon flashed a death’s head grin at Jack, then directed the full of his power upon his opponent, the former Druid, Kerr.
“Kerr, we’ve been over this ground.” The measured challenge came with just the right dose of subtle threat. “You need to put your feelings aside and think of the larger picture. The Covenant is in grave danger. The Council of Wardens has suffered compromise. Bringing in Jack is our only choice. Would you risk eternity because of some petty hatred of yours?”
Kerr’s left eye began to tick. A thick vein in his wrinkled forehead pulsed wildly. “This is no petty hatred, I’m—”
Ramon held up a hand, cutting off his counterpart. “I’ve had enough of the lecture for one day. I suggest we all take a seat and get down to business.”
Jack shook his head. Ramon, the man with the plan. Salazar had some serious stones trying to palm this hare-brained scheme off as a legitimate option. Jack kind of admired him for that, and it took some of the edge off his hatred for the Council of Wardens. Besides, if it wasn’t for Ramon Salazar and his last ditch plans to find the missing artifacts and save the timeline, Jack’s sorry exiled half-breed ass wouldn’t be here right now, and he wouldn’t have such a clear shot at getting his vengeance either. “I’ll stand, thanks. Wouldn’t want to get a splinter.”
Beside him, Raine shuddered as she suppressed a laugh. So, the stoic crusader did have a sense of humor. Another interesting tidbit to worry over later.
Kerr leaned over the modern stainless-steel tabletop, his lined face set in a fixed snarl. His white robes swirled with motion as his body shook with ill-concealed rage. To Jack he looked out of place in the state of the art facility, an anachronism, a throwback to the dark ages of time, when his kind would spill the blood of virgins, bay at the moon, and dance the hokey pokey inside rings of standing stones. How Kerr had risen to lead the Council of Wardens was a mystery to him, but he suspected there was still a good deal of savagery and sorcery left in the former Druid. Enough at least, to hold the twenty-first century at bay, and any enemies or other voices of opposition.
“Elves are impulsive.
Self-indulgent.” Kerr’s voice rang out, filling the room with more malice. “It’s in the blood. They can’t be trusted.”
“I concur,” Jack said mildly. “We are impulsive and self indulgent. Even us mere half-breeds. And you’re damn right, I can’t be trusted. Not one bit. But you don’t have a choice, old man. Someone stole your toys, right under your very nose. You want them back, you need the best. That’s me. Remember?”
Kerr’s lips twisted into a mockery of a smile. “We fixed you, boy. Remember?”
Jack let the comment pass. Raine squeezed his hand lightly in a show of solidarity. It was an odd gesture, one completely alien to him.
“Apparently, you didn’t do the job all the way. The important parts still work just fine.” He glanced down at Raine, and let his most lascivious grin drift across his lips. “Now that I have the right motivation, of course.”
This drew a vile oath from Hugh, but no comment from Kerr. Raine, however, blushed a delicate shade of rose, softening her marble profile, making Jack want to touch her skin until she burned for him. She had a classic kind of beauty, but no obvious Elven features, except perhaps the sloe eyes and high cheekbones. Her ears were tucked neatly back against her skull and shell shaped, nary a point in site. She could easily pass for human, appeared eminently trustworthy, and about as self-indulgent and impulsive as a Marine drill instructor in a military review. Definitely more human than elf. Pity, that. “In fact, I think with Ms. Spencer as my surrogate, it will be just like the old days. They were fun, boys, weren’t they?”
Salazar muttered a curse in Spanish. “Enough, Jack. You’ve proved your point. You have us at your mercy.”
“Mmm. That sounds nice.” The color faded from Raine’s skin, and Jack refocused. He wasn’t sure how she kept so collected under the pressure. Kerr’s obnoxious tirade was getting under his skin. “Ramon knows my price. I take it you’re in agreement, Kerr? You won’t stand in the way?”
The Druid spoke, his words laced with venom, and issued in the twisted tongue of his ancestors. The curse he leveled at Jack didn’t really translate well into modern usage. Something about a cur’s spawn, and other such nonsense. “Play nice, old man. Even my patience is limited. I’ll ask you one last time, do you consent?”
Kerr crossed his arms and nodded once. “I do so under duress.”
Jack was satisfied for the moment, but there was the loose end of the uncle. Did he care enough about Raine to watch what Jack was up to with his niece? Or was he as stone-cold uncaring as he appeared? “What about your man Hugh? Do you agree to my terms, Paladin?”
The thickly muscled man gave the same curt nod of assent. “We must preserve the Covenant at all costs.”
Even if that cost is your niece. He looked again at Raine, gauging her reaction. She showed little emotion, perhaps a hint of thaw in the eyes, a slight downturn of her lush coral-colored lips. She had to know her uncle and the Covenant were offering her up to him as the sacrificial lamb. She had to know and yet she didn’t show any concern. Her hand was once again frigid, no hint of any inner feelings or mood, or life for that matter.
A thought struck him. Raine was tougher than he’d anticipated. Tough enough that it might interfere with his real plans. Slow him down perhaps. Then again, Jack knew women. He was certain he could break through her defenses and blow away any natural walls she’d built. In fact, he looked forward to the challenge. Raine, while not possessed of the arresting, ethereal beauty that was stock in trade for Elven females, was still an attractive woman. Lithe, with sable hair and velvet soft skin, she promised him a pleasurable seduction into the magical arts, and perhaps the carnal as well if he played the game right.
Of course, he’d have picked her if she looked like Medusa herself, snakes and all, because she fit the bill so well: newly awakened mystic, rich with a rare strain of Elven sorcery, low on experience and magical understanding, and full of a righteous need to help the council any way they ordered. Jack was glad she was such a raw, vital beauty. It was a nice side bonus that made this odious task that much more enjoyable. What would it take to thaw her out?
As if she heard him speaking his indecent thoughts, she stirred, and turned to gaze at him. “Jack’s not the only one with a price.”
Kerr drew in a deep breath. Hugh looked suddenly alarmed. Jack grew more curious. What secret agenda did his little surrogate with the mysterious grey eyes hide that had everyone so on edge? He hoped it was suitably scandalous.
“That’s right, gentleman,” he said smoothly. “The lady has a price and it will be met. We are, after all, partners.”
Ramon appeared truly interested in this new turn of events. “You didn’t tell me this when I first approached you, Raine.”
She licked her pretty lips, a motion that made Jack’s blood run thick.
“I needed time to consider what it was I most wanted.” Raine’s voice was clear and strong. As she spoke, power and passion welled inside of her. He wanted to break the physical contact, but he couldn’t resist the lure of her. She called to him in a way he’d not heard in a very long time, and suddenly he wondered if he’d not gotten himself in too deep.
“I want the chance at knighthood.” She continued with her demands, her voice echoing into the quiet room, sounding distinctly like a glove being slapped across an enemy’s face in challenge. “If I’m to do this for the Covenant, they must make an exception to the rules. They must accept me to squire and give me the chance to prove my worth, earn my spurs and don the chains of fealty.”
Jack’s soul warmed over. Raine was playing brilliantly. He was hard-pressed not to jump up and clap. Her demand was far more outrageous than his own, one if met that would throw the Council of Wardens deep into the darkest, foulest scandal yet. Imagine that, a half-breed knight. He wanted to laugh out loud, to dance around the table, to kiss her for her audacity. He wanted to kiss her to satisfy his own longings, to know if she tasted as unpredictably wonderful as her spirit hinted.
Kerr began to shake violently, so much so, Hugh had to steady him. “No one will sponsor this vermin as squire,” Kerr bellowed. “We are the Wardens. We must protect the Eternity Covenant. We must be pure. Clean. Beyond reproach. The half-breed soul is stained with the taint. She’s nothing but a savage.”
Jack, never known in the first place for his self control, lost what little of it he’d managed to muster for today’s performance. “You’re calling us savage? You were born on the dirt floor of some mud-walled hovel and spent the first part of your mortal life killing villagers to ensure fertility in the fields. Now that is some seriously backwards, savage stuff. If anyone has a stained soul, I think it’s you, Druid.”
Kerr actually lunged for Jack, but Hugh held him fast by the shoulder. “I’ll see you damned for that,” raged the Elder Warden. “When this is all over, I’ll make you pay.”
Ramon seemed unmoved by it all. He smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle on his expensive suit, then cleared his throat again, silencing his counterpart. “I’d be happy to sponsor you, Raine. My paladin, Uller, will take you as squire.”
An uneasy silence fell over the room. Raine removed her hand from Jack’s. She nodded stiffly. “I accept your offer, Ramon Salazar. I assure you that you’ll not regret this.”
Kerr continued to sputter and rant. Jack sensed a dangerous change in the climate of the room. The demand was crazy enough, but Ramon’s rapid agreement was sheer insanity. A line in the sand had just been drawn, marking a war amongst the ranks of the High Wardens. Naturally, Ramon had been the one to etch it, but to do so easily spoke of other issues at work. Raine appeared untouched by it all, but her uncle held in check a barely suppressed rage, and Jack noted he could not meet his niece’s eyes.
“So we’re in agreement. Should we get down to the fine points, then?”
Salazar looked to Jack, then to Kerr, and a strange light came into his cold black eyes. “Jack, Raine, we’ll meet up later at my brownstone this afternoon to work out our particulars. If you�
��ll give us some privacy, Kerr and I have other matters to discuss.”
This confirmed Jack’s suspicion. Something was going on, something wild and juicy. Ramon looked up to no good right now. Jack itched to be back in the thick of it, something he’d never imagined possible. “Time’s wasting, Ramon. Let’s ink the deal.”
“Later, Jack. Plenty of time this afternoon.” There was a finality in the dismissal that didn’t allow for argument.
Jack shrugged. One door shut for now, but he’d find another. “Fine. So glad we could have this little reunion.”
Raine appeared equally as startled by the turn of events, but did manage to say a civil goodbye to her uncle and his crazy boss. She followed Jack into the antechamber.
With the last of his energy, he used the residual magic from the first spell to blow open the doors to the hall, and they walked by a stunned Wiggans and his security team. There was a good deal of ranting from Wiggans, resulting in an armed escort as they waited for, and then boarded the elevator. Raine stayed silent and stoic. Jack made some cracks to the security force, but they didn’t respond to his half-hearted attempts.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that prize ass,” he said to Raine when they stepped outside the Warden’s building. The words came out stilted and sounded idiotic, but he felt he had to say something. He was trying to figure all the angles, including hers. “You were right to ask for the moon. You’re risking your life for them. They owe you.”
“I’m not doing it for them. I’m doing it for me.” She broke free of his hold and stepped clear of him as if he carried the plague. “Just like you, Jack. I’m in it for me.”
He’d read her file, she’d proved herself a devoted defender of the Covenant a thousand times over. She wasn’t the selfish type. Not like him. He had half a mind to tell her, but he kept his mouth shut. The determined set of her jaw, the rigid way she held her body told him she was looking for a fight. Pretty soon, she’d be buzzing from the magic he’d run through her. He was tired, spent from the magic, and not up for sparring. Not even with someone as delectable as Raine. He decided to switch gears. “Would you care for some brunch? We can head back to my place, just across Central Park. Havers turns out a fabulous spread.”
ImmortalIllusions: The Eternity Covenant Book2 Page 2