All the poking, prodding, and wishful thinking converged at once, physical and verbal assaults queuing up for launch faster than he could process them.
“Enough.” Eryx’s low but lethal command sliced across the table. He held Ludan’s stare until Ludan unclenched his hand from the back of Brenna’s chair, then shifted his focus to Ramsay. He didn’t speak, at least not where everyone else could hear, but the intensity behind his eyes said Ramsay was getting plenty between his ears. About five heartbeats later, he reclined in his chair and rested his arm on Lexi’s chair back, his attention on Ludan. “Tell me what you heard on the news.”
“High-level info at best.” Finally comfortable with a line of conversation he could stomach, Ludan leaned against the wall behind Brenna’s seat and crossed his arms. “Something about a big-name reporter, a new tour of Eden, and promising humans the same powers as Myrens. Brenna’s picture came up with the renegade caption under it, so I fried the electronics and got everyone out.”
Eryx nodded and glanced at Graylin next to Lexi and Abby. “Well, about ten minutes after Ludan contacted me, Ian and Jilly came back to Eden with the finer details. All this time we’ve assumed the person bringing people here was Serena. Now we know it is. She and a man who wasn’t identified nabbed a reporter and a police sketch artist and took them to Eden. The reporter’s name is Tilly Rhinehart, and she’s covered some of the biggest stories in recent world history. Her reputation is spotless. So much so, there’s not a single person who hears her story who won’t give it credence.”
“And the story Serena gave them was that Brenna is the person keeping the wall from coming down,” Ramsay added.
Black burned the edges of Ludan’s eyesight, and the muscles in his arms bunched with the need to squeeze Serena’s neck until it snapped. “I want her dead. As long as she’s alive, Brenna’s not safe.”
“We’re looking,” Eryx said, “but we’ve got almost nothing to go on.”
Lexi laid her hand on Eryx’s thigh. “Ian went back to dig through the reporter’s story for details. Maybe see if there are any clues on where Serena might be staying.”
“I’ve sent a crew to Orlando near the spa you guys went to,” Ramsay said. “That news has to have traveled fast. If Serena’s goal is to flush Brenna out, she’ll show hoping to reel her in.”
Ludan zeroed in on Trinity. “Anything else from the Spiritu?”
“Nothing. The Black King won’t see me again.”
“Well, someone has to be helping her.” Lexi scanned the room and shared a sour scowl. “No way that dimwit translated the journal faster than us.”
Her sassy bite cut the room’s tension in half and painted a grin on Eryx’s face. He squeezed her shoulder. “Easy, hellcat.”
It was just a simple squeeze, nothing remarkable at all, but Ludan couldn’t look away from Eryx’s hand on Lexi. A tight, burning sensation noosed around his neck, barbed and jagged thorns stabbing so deep he couldn’t breathe. Eryx had Lexi. Ramsay had Trinity. Histus, even his father had Orla now. Every damned one of them moved so easily with each other. Comfortable and familiar. He could never let himself get to that point with Brenna, not without coming out broken on the other end. Seeing her with someone else would slaughter him.
His gaze drifted to her arm, the yellow sundress she’d worn that morning for her day with Abby leaving the pale stretch of skin bare for everyone to see. Even if she wanted him long term, he’d never be able to mark her. To truly bond with her the way Myren mates did.
As if sensing his stare, she faced him. “What if we set up a trap?”
Everyone’s attention lasered onto Brenna.
“Come again?” Eryx said.
She swiveled back to the rest of the table. “I’m what Serena wants. Why not use me to lure her out?”
Ludan pushed away from the wall and dropped his arms. “No.”
“Why not?” Clearly knowing better than to try to sway him, she honed in on Eryx. “If rumors of me in Evad are enough to draw her notice, wouldn’t rumors of me returning to Eden do the same?”
Ludan gripped the back of her chair and leaned in close. “No.”
“Actually, that’s a good idea.”
Ludan snapped upright and glared at Ramsay. “If you want to die tonight, you’ve found a pretty damned good ticket to get there.”
Trinity backhanded Ramsay in the chest. “Are you out of your mind?”
Ramsay held up his hands, eyes mostly on Ludan. “No wait, you’re missing Brenna’s point. She doesn’t have to stay wherever it is we’ve set up. We just make a big deal of her being somewhere, make it look like she’s going to be around awhile, but we mask her right out the back door.”
“You really think Serena would fall for that?” Lexi crossed her legs and frowned. “I wouldn’t.”
“But Serena’s greedy,” Eryx said. “If she figured out the prophecy, then she knows what’s at stake. Histus, she was ballsy enough to steal right out from under our noses.”
They were idiots. Every damned one of them. “I don’t like it.”
Graylin, who’d been taking in the commentary with quiet observation, lifted a hand to halt the conversation. “Take no action yet. Wait and see if Ramsay’s men are able to catch her in Florida. If not, reconsider. In the interim, you have time to plan and work through flaws.” He ended the guidance with his eyes on Ludan. He might have staved off the idea for now, but the resignation and regret etched across his worried brow said he didn’t think the respite would last long.
Which meant Ludan would have to amp up his game. “What about the Rebellion men who came forward?”
Eryx frowned. “Nothing of substance we didn’t already know. The only common thread they offered was Maxis’s strategos, Uther Rontal. Not one of them knows how to find him.”
“No records of him at the capital? No relatives?”
“Not a thing.” Eryx pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a tired sigh before he lifted his head. “I know you don’t want to hear this, Ludan, but Serena’s covered her tracks pretty damned well. I think you should consider Brenna’s idea.”
Like histus he’d go there. Not yet. Not unless they ran out of other options, and there was still one he hadn’t played. He planted his hands on the back of Brenna’s chair. “I want to scan them.”
Brenna twisted so fast she’d have toppled her seat had he not been holding on. “No.”
Ludan kept his eyes on Eryx. “I get more detail in my scans than anyone. Even yours or Ramsay’s. One of those men has to know something.”
“No.” Brenna shot to her feet, her dark eyes flashing with enough anger to fight a whole squadron solo.
His muscles slackened and his heartbeat leveled, the same eerie calm he’d felt when he’d broken his vow as Eryx’s somo settling deep in his core. “You’re willing to use yourself as bait. I’m willing to use my gifts. There’s no difference.”
“There’s a huge difference. You didn’t see the condition you were in, Ludan. You were barely breathing. Your mind was covered in gray ash, and you looked like you’d been flayed alive.”
“I had been. Right along with Angus.” He cupped the back of her neck. The room grew quiet and freakishly still, the weight of everyone’s stares uncomfortable in such a private moment. Uncomfortable, but nowhere near the pain he’d experience if he got what he wanted. He kissed her forehead and pulled in her sweet, innocent scent. “I’d do it again if it gave me the answers I need to keep you safe.”
Her lower lip trembled, and her eyes welled with tears.
Squeezing her shoulders, he lifted his head and zeroed in on Eryx. “Do you have the contacts I need or not?”
Eryx’s gaze slid to Brenna, then back to Ludan, and nodded.
“Then set it up.” Prying his hands free, he stepped away and stalked toward the kitchen’s main exit before anyone could take another pass at changing his mind. “First thing tomorrow we start working through them.”
Chapter 26
&n
bsp; A door from somewhere beyond the kitchen slammed shut, and the crippling panic that had seized Brenna’s lungs squeezed a little tighter. “He can’t do this.” She spun toward Eryx. “You can’t let him.”
Eryx sighed and scanned the other people at the table. “Give us a minute.”
Slowly, everyone stood, only Lexi making eye contact as she squeezed Eryx’s arm and smiled at Brenna.
Orla paused beside Abby. “Why don’t you let me show you your room? Ludan’s is belowground, but we have a pretty room made up for you near the sunroom upstairs.”
Abby hesitated, seeking guidance from Brenna with just a look.
“I’ll be okay, Mom. Let Orla show you around.”
Ramsay trailed behind Trinity and slapped Eryx on the back as he passed. “We’ll wait for Galena and Reese out front.”
Graylin was the last to depart. He’d nearly crossed the arched opening that led to a cozy sitting room beyond, but he paused and offered her a sad smile. “You probably won’t understand this, but as dangerous as what he’s willing to do might seem, I’m grateful he has someone in his life he wants to fight for.”
The weight of his remark slammed against her so hard she nearly staggered backward. By the time she’d caught her bearings, Graylin was gone.
Eryx motioned to the chair closest to him with a nod. “Sit.”
Even with him sitting down and out of arm’s reach, a shadow of her old self wanted to run. To double the distance between them. The new her, the one who’d found freedom and confidence through her gentle giant, lifted her chin and took her seat.
Through the huge picture window, silver swirls danced across a fast-deepening blue sky. Simmering coals from the still-warm oven crackled behind her. Otherwise, no sounds but her shaky breath registered.
Eryx studied her, reclined against his chair back in a relaxed pose. “I can’t stop him.”
“But you saw—”
Eryx held up a hand. “Even if I tried, he’d go around me.” He frowned, then leaned into the table, crossing his arms in front of him. “I told you there are bigger things at play here. Things even Ludan doesn’t comprehend yet.”
“What’s to comprehend? It’s a suicide mission. You saw what happened.”
“I did. But I also know that if anyone—human, Myren, or Spiritu—tried to get between me and protecting my mate, I’d annihilate them.”
Rest and hold your mate.
Her breath caught, and if Eryx hadn’t stayed rock solid in her field of vision, she’d have sworn the world spun wildly around her. “I’m not his mate. I’m a human.”
“Lexi’s half human. Trinity has the blood of all three races.”
“But I’m just human.”
“Are you?” One corner of Eryx’s mouth curved into an ornery grin. “How many humans do you know who are capable of healing a Myren?”
Flutters winged behind her sternum, and she clenched her fist above her heart to try to still its rapid thump. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t give me that kind of hope.” Even as she said it a bright, tingling sensation radiated through her chest, warming parts of her she’d long thought dead.
Eryx cocked his head, the grin replaced with profound solemnity. “Maybe hope is what you need. What you both need.”
A future with Ludan. A bond beyond just the physical. So many years she’d tucked away the idea of a lasting relationship. Ignored the wish for fear no one would find her desirable. But Ludan wanted her. “He hasn’t said anything. How can you even think he’d be interested in me?”
A low, self-satisfied chuckle rumbled from his chest. “I told you. He doesn’t even see it himself yet. Or more to the point, won’t let himself.”
“Then how can you be so sure?”
“I can’t. No one can.” He narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. “You could have curled up in a ball and refused to fight the whole time you were with Maxis, but you didn’t. Why is that?”
“Because I wanted out. I wanted to survive long enough to find something better.”
Eryx smiled, the glint behind his silver eyes that of a man who’d just proven his point. “You survived, Brenna. You survived, and now your something better is here. You’ll just have to fight a little more to get it.”
Ludan tossed a stone into the lake and watched the stars’ reflections wobble in the slowly growing ripples across the once smooth surface. A larken sang in the distance, too damned chipper and singsongy for his nasty mood. An hour now he’d sat on the cooling earth beside the lake and tried to calm the escalating voices in his head, but nothing worked. The only constant, the only image he could easily conjure, was Brenna’s face, her tears as bright as the moon.
He pulled his knees up and rested his arms on top. Dropping his head against the tree trunk behind him, he scowled at the sky. At this point his only options were fighting with Eryx or drinking himself into a stupor.
You could go to Brenna.
He shoved the thought aside and rolled his neck from side to side. Being with Brenna was the last thing he needed. If he saw her, touched her, he’d cave. Her safety meant more than his comfort, and the only way to do that without letting her put herself at risk was finding Serena. That meant sucking it up long enough to do what needed doing. Getting his head firmly reacquainted to the noise between his ears well in advance probably wouldn’t be a bad byproduct either.
Footsteps sounded near the winding sand path. A heavy, slower tread, not the least bit camouflaged. Definitely his dad because Ramsay and Eryx seldom went anywhere slowly unless there was stalking or an attack involved.
His father came into view. “You’ve been out here a while.”
Ludan jerked his chin up in acknowledgment but otherwise kept his gaze on the lake.
“Orla got Brenna and Abby situated.” He eased into the old rocker he kept beside the mammoth feelan tree. For years as he’d built the cottage and recovered from the loss of his mate, Graylin had gravitated to this quiet spot. He gazed up at the canopy of feathery leaves, the branches spanning almost as wide as the house. “She was a bit worried she’d overstepped by putting Brenna in your room, but I told her that’s where you’d want her.”
The muscles in his torso tightened, the thought of Brenna warm and pliant in his bed shoving him closer to giving in.
“Was she wrong?” Graylin asked.
“No.” Ludan snatched another loose pebble and chunked it toward the lake. “She’s where she needs to be.”
Graylin rocked back an inch, and the teakwood rocker groaned. “The last thing I want to do is cross an unwelcome boundary, but I’m also your father. Part of being a father is teaching you what I can, and I suspect you’re lacking in this particular area, so I’d like to offer some guidance.”
Ludan picked up a twig and rolled it between his fingers. “Lacking in what area?”
“Relationships.”
Boy, he wasn’t wrong there. Ludan had thought he had a handle on things. Had accepted his place as short-term comfort, but just being away from her for a few hours had frayed his nerves.
“Perhaps if Brenna is in your room,” Graylin said, “the place for you to be is beside her.”
“I can’t. If I do, I’ll cave.”
“To what?”
The twig snapped in half. “The scans.”
Silence dropped hard enough to quiet even the wind and insects buzzing in the night.
“You’re afraid you won’t do them? Of what will happen if you do?”
Terrified was more accurate. Not that he’d ever admit it out loud. Histus, he could barely admit it to himself. “She needs me.”
“There are other ways to help her, Ludan.”
“Her acting as bait can’t be one of them.”
Graylin sighed. “No, I suppose that wouldn’t be an option for me were I in your shoes either.” He rocked back and forth, the motion lazy and soothing within their quiet space. “Why would you cave if you went to her?”
The rocking slowed and then stopped. “He did.”
“Then imagine how hard walking away from that would be, knowing you’re about to willingly add more to what’s already there.” Ludan hung his head. “I don’t want to give myself that chance to balk. Not if I can make her safe.”
“The same way you wished you’d made your mother safe.”
Ludan froze. For a second, even his heart forgot to beat, then lurched forward at a limping sprint.
“I’m not naive, son. I knew you confirmed my brother’s guilt through your gift and cast judgment, and I’m proud you avenged her. My only wish is that it could have been me who broke his neck instead of you.”
Ludan forced himself to breathe, to wrap his conscious mind around the peaceful sounds around him and ignore the percolating screams in his head.
“I know you hold yourself responsible,” Graylin said. “I’ve seen the guilt in every merciless chain of self-discipline you’ve bound yourself with. But if you blame yourself, then I’m guilty as well. I was serving our malran instead of protecting my mate. I could have made other choices. Eryx’s father never would have begrudged me looking after Rista. If I’d put you both first, she’d be alive, and you wouldn’t be tortured with her cries in your head. That’s what you hear, am I right? Everything my brother inflicted, you relive?”
Ludan jerked a rough nod and fisted his hands at his sides. “I was with Eryx and Ramsay.” The knot in his throat mushroomed to a razor-lined boulder. “You told me to be on time, but I didn’t listen. I was late. You told me how important it was, and I failed you. I failed her.”
“Son, you could never fail either of us. The only person you could ever fail is yourself. And my guess is, your mother would be far more disappointed in you not grasping love when it’s offered. Seizing love and treasuring it is the greatest gift we’ll ever be given. Predicting the future is impossible.”
Praise the Great One, his mother had been beautiful. Dark, glossy hair and a willowy, elegant frame. He’d never met anyone with a smile as bright as hers. Everything about her was light and pure. As powerful as the first spring day after a cold and brutal winter. And she would have adored Brenna.
Eden's Deliverance (The Eden Series Book 4) Page 22