Chapter Twenty-Five
It took three full days before Jurek regained complete awareness of where he was. When Liasare returned, everyone was running around trying to deal with the children. Naroo was the one who made the decision to send them to Praestan. She had decided that as soon as Liasare arrived with Jurek. They debated on whether to go there as well, but Liasare thought staying on Earth would be better.
“We still have the issue of Abaddon. He needs to be locked back in his realm. I failed on this last mission. But I won’t fail again.”
When Jurek woke up, the only thing he remembered was getting a call from Shandro.
“Well, you won’t be hearing from him any more,” Liasare said.
“Why? What happened?”
“He was the traitor.” And then she explained.
“Shandro? A Praestani? How did I miss that?”
“He claimed he buried it under his Vesturion side. Kept it hidden from everyone.”
“I don’t know how that’s possible, love.”
“Well, it was because right before I killed him, I extracted his power from him.”
“You did what?”
“I’m pretty sure you heard me.” She replayed the scenario for him.
He rubbed his face, the bristles of his whiskers making a scratching sound against his hands. “Though he betrayed us horribly, I’m glad I wasn’t awake to see that. It’s a most brutal way to die.”
“Yes, I know. I almost felt his pain. But I would do it again, because of what he did.”
“Come here, please.”
She got in the bed and lay down next to him. He lifted her hair up to his face and inhaled deeply. “I think this is what I needed the most.”
She smiled. He loved her hair as much as she loved his. “Jurek, how could we have missed so much? We thought we were being so damn meticulous with everything.”
“Tricks, smoke and mirrors, are the way for Abaddon. I’m impressed that you even brought me back here, alive. But now he is going to be in a rage.”
Their eyes connected and Jurek sighed. “I’m going to have a devil of a time letting you go fight him.”
“I’m not sure I’m up to it. When I got to his realm, wherever that was, I racked my stupid brain on what to do. It’s not possible to fool him. He sees right through me. I’m not devious enough and I can’t take him on alone.”
Jurek pinched his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger as he thought for a minute. “You’re not going to. I’m going with you the next time.”
She crawled on top of him and her hair streamed down in rippling waves. She went to push it out of the way but his hands stopped her.
“Don’t. I want to bind myself in everything that’s you.” His fingers sunk into the thick tresses and he said, “It’s like a babbling brook ... shining and glimmering in the way it catches the rays of sunlight when it dances around your face and shoulders. I pictured it when I was so weak, and I saw you holding Justus in your arms, with your beautiful hair framing the two of you and I thought that would be my last coherent thought before I left this life. It was odd because I didn’t mind it so much. The way I looked at it was I’d been gifted with such a thing of true grace and beauty ... a woman of unmatched strength and spirit. How many men could say that, I asked myself? And then the answer hit me. I knew that I had been blessed by the gods far beyond what I had ever deserved.” He smiled then, picked up a lock of her hair, and rubbed it back and forth between his thumb and fingers.
Liasare didn’t trust herself to speak right then, so she only held his face in her hands, touching her forehead to his. It was a time where words weren’t necessary.
But some time later, she began to think on what he said and asked, “But if you come with me to fight him, who will heal us if we need it?”
“There are always Tak, Naroo, Marik, Ludo and the others here.”
“Maybe our joined forces are the best things. Two of us with our powers are pretty damn intimidating.” She laughed.
“Liasare, don’t kid yourself. Nothing intimidates Abaddon.”
Her face lost all touches of humor. “I know. I was there. And he’s so vile. But at least together our power is even greater than when we are alone. So I say hell yeah!”
“Thank you. For coming to me.”
“I finally got to return the favor.” She drew in a shaky breath. “But Alaric, when I saw you I thought I’d die. It was the most awful thing to see you like that. I don’t ever want to experience that again. I don’t think my heart could take it.”
“I know the feeling.”
“So, there are a maybe dozen or more people that are annoying the hell out of me because they want to see you. Are you up to it?”
He didn’t answer her at first. “My love, the only thing I want to do, in the absence of our son, is to lay here with you, chat a little and then, make love to you. I want to feel you around me and I need to be inside of you. I need that Liasare. Can you help this poor Praestani out?” He flashed her a sheepish grin and she laughed.
“Always. You know you can count on me to help you out in times such as these. And all kidding aside, remember the time you told me that saying I love you couldn’t quite adequately express exactly how you felt about me? Let me assure you that I completely agree with you. The words—I love you—don’t come even close to what I feel in my heart. The problem is I want to tell you how I feel, but I find that there are no words. None that I can think of. So I want you to know that when I saw you enclosed within that cage, my heart didn’t beat again until I touched you. Dozens of things blasted my brain but the one thing that stood out above all others was you are a man of unmatched character and integrity. And I am the most fortunate of souls to have been selected to be your everlasting mate. I know, without any doubt, there is nothing that will stand in the way of my love for you and pity the one who tries to keep me from you.”
He brought her fingers to his lips, kissed them, and said, “My Queen. You humble me and leave me speechless.”
***
It wasn’t until the following day that Jurek consented to have visitors. He gave the excuse that he was still recovering, but the truth was he simply did not want to talk about what happened. It brought home to him how close he came to losing his life and leaving Liasare alone to raise Justus by herself. He questioned whether this task she was given was too much to bear and he hated the fact that she was forced into this.
Tak came first, followed by his closest Praestani men. Then the Guardians all came in at once. Jurek was especially interested in how January’s children fared.
“Rykerian is with them. Under the circumstances, we thought it best he go to Praestan,” Xarrid answered.
“Agreed. But how are the children?”
The room was bathed in silence.
“I can only take this as not good.”
Rayn said, “They seem to be stuck in a state of ... well, no one is sure. They won’t speak and it’s as if they can’t hear. They’re not responsive to any stimuli either.”
“Has Naroo seen them?”
“Yes, and she doesn’t know what to make of it either.”
“Hmm. What about Liasare?”
Xarrid looked at Jurek and said, “No, we didn’t want to disturb you two. You’ve had enough to worry about.”
“I see. I’ll speak to her.”
Ever since Liasare brought Jurek back, they hardly spent a second apart. Almost as soon as he spoke the words, she appeared by his side.
“Did you call for me?”
The Guardians all chuckled.
Xarrid commented, “It looks like you have a good nurse there.”
Jurek grinned. “Oh, I would say so, though she does tend to hover a bit.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, love. Have you seen January’s children yet?”
“No. Why?”
They explained what was happening.
“I need to see them.”
&nb
sp; Jurek added, “Have Naroo go with you. Maybe the two of you can work this out.”
“You’ll be okay?”
He looked at the Guardians. “Can you give us a moment alone?”
They left the room.
He sat on the side of the bed and patted the place next to him.
When she sat down, he said, “Those young ones need you.”
Liasare looked at his hair, which was long and tied back, with hints of blue in it. For a second, it reminded her of how his power could light up a room, but how dim it had been when she’d finally pulled him out of Abaddon’s clutches.
“I’ll go on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You come with me.”
He was pensive for a moment and then he agreed. He rose, held out his hand and they went to the main room to inform the others. Moments later, they were on Praestan.
Liasare closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then said, “Let’s go. I need to get this over with so I can see our son. I can smell him, Jurek. I feel him within me.”
“Yes, I smell him as well. And I can smell your response to him. I can’t imagine how your power is responding.”
“It was much the same as when I arrived in Abaddon’s realm. It was surging within me and it was difficult to control.”
Brinna appeared before them and said, “My Queen, my King, your visit is unexpected.”
“We’ve come to attend the Yarrister children. Where can we find them?”
“Ah, yes. They are with their parents, in their quarters.”
January met them at the door and hugged Liasare. Her report wasn’t great.
“We want to try combining our efforts and see if we can help them.”
“Anything would be appreciated. It seems they are suspended or stuck. I’ve never seen anything like this. As a healer, it’s killing me not to be able to help my own children.”
Jurek hugged her. “We’ll do everything we can.”
January took them to the children. Liasare thought they looked almost the same as they had when they were enclosed within the power mesh, except they weren’t screaming. Their eyes were wide open and staring blankly ahead as if they were in a trance.
She bent down and whispered something in Elysia’s ear, but gained no reaction. She tried the same with Marko, but again, got nothing.
“We’d best try our hands at this, Jurek.”
He joined her and they put their hands over Marko, but when their powers merged, Liasare gasped and broke their connection.
“What is it?” Jurek asked.
“He’s inside of their heads. He’s using their minds as his eyes to see what’s happening. He’s planted a piece of himself inside of them. That’s why they don’t respond. You didn’t feel him?” she asked.
“No! We need to get them off Praestan immediately.”
Liasare could hear his evil laugh ringing in her head.
“Agh! He’s in my head now!”
“Shield yourself,” Jurek reminded her.
Liasare succeeded in blocking Abaddon, but was ill with the knowledge of what he’d done to the young ones.
“What about Justus? I need to check on him before we leave. Only to satisfy myself that he’s safe.”
They went to their quarters and found their son to be in safe hands. Liasare wrapped him in her arms and nuzzled her lips against the soft spot where his neck and shoulders met. She kissed him and tickled him until he giggled with joy. Jurek watched the happy reunion between mother and son and his heart hammered wildly. He suddenly felt so much love for these two, it was staggering. What if something happened to Liasare? What if she didn’t make it?
“Thoughts like that are completely unnecessary.”
Jurek looked at his mate as she held their son and his belly clenched as though someone had their fist inside of him.
Liasare moved to be by his side. She handed Justus to him and said, “It’s going to be fine. I’ve seen it all so clearly in my visions.”
Jurek hugged and kissed his son, then tickled him until he squiggled so much he had to be set down. Justus was growing like a weed and wanted to know why they stayed away from him. Liasare’s eyes grew watery when he asked her, so Jurek had to answer. It was complicated to explain to one so young as he, but Jurek did the best he could. Minutes later, Justus discovered another toy and was happily running around, dragging the thing behind him. Liasare and Jurek left him, knowing he was in good hands.
“I should never have gone to see him. I should’ve let you handle it.” Her tears soaked his shirt as she sobbed on his shoulder.
“You would’ve regretted not seeing him. I saw the way you kissed him. To have that one brief moment was worth it for you. You can’t deny that.”
“No, but now I miss him so much.”
“Well, then, I suppose we must get our business taken care of so we can go home to our son for good.”
“The children! Elysia and Marko! I’ve forgotten about them. What are we going to do?”
“An exorcism?”
“That’s not funny.”
“My love, do you think I would joke about something like this?”
“No, I don’t suppose you would.”
“So, how does one go about exorcising a demon then?”
“That’s the part I’m unsure of. But we can find out. We’ll only have to research. Is there any way to call upon Lexus?”
“She’s only ever come to me in my dreams.”
After returning to their headquarters and conferring with everyone, the only thing they knew to do was to join efforts with their strongest members and force Abaddon out. They weren’t sure they could do it, but they knew they had to try. The worst part of it was when they did the healing, each of them had to take down their mind blocks, so they would be at risk for a mind invasion of their own.
Liasare asked Jurek, “Do you think Arastas would know how to help?”
“Good question. I’m not sure but it’s worth a try.”
They discussed this with the other members of the team and it was decided that Jurek and Liasare would return to Praestan the following morning to seek Arastas’ help.
Chapter Twenty-Six
They flashed to the bottom of the hilltop where Arastas lived. Liasare thought back to the last time they had made this trip together.
“Seems like ages ago, does it not?” Jurek asked, reading her mind.
“Yes, and we need to make this quick. I feel as though I’ve aged a hundred years since then.”
“Love, you certainly don’t look it. Come.” He reached for her hand and they set off on a fast pace.
Liasare was happy she was able to wear shoes this time. When they reached the top of the hill, she smiled. “I hope when this is all over with, we will have lots of kids. Poor Justus has been cheated out of his parents. He needs a family.”
“Yes, I agree.”
Arastas awaited them when they reached his cottage. He had tea ready for them.
“I am afraid I won’t be able to offer you as much help this time, my lady,” Arastas said. “What you seek is the key and I cannot tell you where it is.”
Both Liasare and Jurek were confused.
“But I am the key,” Liasare said.
“Quite right you are. But I’m not referring to that key, my lady. I’m talking about the skeleton key. The key that will bind Abaddon back into his realm. Only the Triumvirate can guide you to the location of the skeleton key.”
Liasare glanced at Jurek and saw he was barely controlling his temper.
“Alaric. Do not even think about it.”
“All this time! All this time we’ve been running about, risking our necks and everyone else’s and they didn’t have the damned courtesy to tell us we needed a bloody key?”
Arastas looked back and forth between them and said, “Mind you now, it’s not just any key.”
“I don’t give a damn what kind of key it is. Do you know what we’ve been through?”
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“My lord, I do. I am sorry for your pain, but Themis must have had her reasons.”
“Themis,” Jurek spat.
“Alaric. Calm down.”
Liasare saw the sparks and currents racing from his fingertips. She moved in front of him and held his face in her hands. “Alaric, as Arastas said, she must have had her reasons. Please. I need you. I need your focus.”
His hands covered hers and he nodded. His lids closed and he forced himself to think of their son. With his forehead against hers, he murmured, “I need you, too. Always.”
When she determined Jurek’s power was in check, she looked back at Arastas and asked, “So this skeleton key. Themis knows where it is?”
“I believe so.”
“And what do I do with it?”
“Why, you’ll lock Abaddon back in his realm. Then he can’t escape.”
“But Arastas, how did he get out in the first place?”
“Ah, someone or something must’ve broken the wards and set him free.”
“So how can we be sure he’ll stay inside this time?”
“My lady, this skeleton key of which I speak, has never been used before. It contains powers that cannot be altered or tampered with. Once they are activated, the only person who can open the wards will be you, or whomever you designate as keeper of the skeleton key.”
Death Waltz Page 25