“I can’t very well drag Maude back to Atlantis,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “after just moving her and Mathew here.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Olivia and Julia and Peg need her. And the town needs a birthing clinic.”
“I agree.”
“And I need Maude, so the only sensible solution is for me to stay here, too.”
Titus stopped walking and sat down on a knoll at the edge of the road, five of the wolves stopping when he did and Kit continuing to pad alongside Rana.
“You said yourself,” she continued, “that they know more about growing babies in this century, which very well could make the difference for me this—” Finally realizing he was no longer right behind her, she spun around and briskly strode back to him, her hands now balled into fists at her sides. “Though I realize you might be uncomfortable having a male attend me, you can’t deny that to have a highly trained physician like Dr. Bentley standing in the wing won’t be reassuring.”
“I agree.”
“He graduated with honors,” she went on. “And if you had heard how he grilled Maude to ascertain her skill level and how particular he’s being about the equipment, not only would you insist we stay in this century, you would also insist that Roger be right outside the birthing room if anything should go wrong.”
She began pacing back and forth in front of him, apparently too busy presenting her argument to realize she’d won, and Titus reclined against a mound of dried grass, cupped his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes on a smile. Rana could be quite persuasive when she felt strongly about something, which he’d learned in their first year of marriage when she had burst into his throne room during one of his weekly court sessions gripping the wrist of a horrified fourteen-year-old girl covered in bruises.
But instead of demanding that he imperially confiscate the young slave as their own, his wife—at the time barely two years older than the girl—had quietly remarked to everyone present how courageous a man must be to brutalize a defenseless young girl, and how impressed she’d been to see people scurrying past the one-sided altercation that was clearly none of their business. And then she’d turned to him and suggested he never allow the girl’s former master to own female slaves ever again.
The entire assembly had remained silent throughout her little lecture, and he’d known everyone had been waiting to see how much sway their king’s new bride carried. Despite the risk of openly wearing his heart on his sleeve, Titus had shown exactly how much power his wife wielded by not only imperially claiming the girl as Rana’s property—along with any other slaves the man owned—but also banishing the bastard from the kingdom.
And that was the day the lowly blacksmith’s daughter had truly become his queen. And not only did no one ever question her authority from that point forward, they also began wearing their hearts on their sleeves for her.
It had been that very night he had found himself explaining to his still-outraged wife that as a self-proclaimed theurgist, his role was to protect free will rather than force mankind to blindly follow his will. He could, however, he’d assured her, nudge folks in the right direction, especially now that he had a queen who not only shared his vision, but who obviously had the courage to let him begin implementing his plan.
Titus snapped open his eyes when he realized Rana had suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, then bolted upright barely in time to catch her when she pounced.
“You blackguard!” she cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged his face to her bosom. “You let me go right on talking, even though you had already decided we’re staying before I even asked.”
“There was nothing to decide, as I had given my word.” He lay back and settled her against his side, then held her head to his chest. “And now, wife,” he said quietly, “in return for granting your wish, I would have you explain exactly why you left me, when you should have been running to me at such a precious time.”
She became busy toying with the pocket flap on his jacket, and he could almost hear her brain working as she searched for an answer. He gave her a gentle squeeze to let her know he would settle for nothing less than the truth.
“Even after all these years,” she finally said, “I still can’t always predict how you’ll react to . . . unfavorable news.”
“And you felt our having a child was unfavorable news?”
“Well, no.” She tilted her head back to look at him. “But I remember what you were like after Carolina was born,” she whispered as she looked away and toyed with the pocket again. “Everyone on the island remembers, as many of them bore the brunt of your anger. But what I remember most is that it took you three months to finally hold your daughter in your arms.”
Titus brushed a thumb over her cheek. “I almost lost you,” he said roughly. “But that still doesn’t explain your leaving me now,” he added when she tried to speak.
He felt her hesitate and then take a deep breath. “When I realized I was with child, I panicked.” She moved her head inside his hand to look at him again. “Believe me, I would have been less shocked to find out you were pregnant.” She went back to staring at his chest. “I left you for two reasons: The first being that you know me too well and would have quickly realized my condition, and the second is that I needed time alone to figure out what to do.”
“There is nothing ‘to do’ if a child has decided to be born.”
She patted his jacket with a humorless laugh. “I needed to figure out what to do about you.” She slipped free and sat up, then arched an eyebrow at him. “You made a pact with your enemies to keep Carolina safe until her thirty-first birthday, and you wiped out Henry’s entire maternal family when they tried to kill Maximilian. I was afraid you’d make an even more outrageous deal with Providence itself,” she said, waving toward the sky, “to keep me safe. You were taken by surprise when I nearly died having Carolina, but this time you would have had months to plan and scheme.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” he drawled.
That raised her hackles. “Do you truly expect me to believe you wouldn’t go crazy when you found out?”
He held his arms away from his sides, his gaze locked on her glare. “Am I crazy now? Or did I go crazy yesterday when you shouted it at me in the middle of a battle? Or after, once you were safe?”
She blinked at him for several heartbeats, clearly nonplussed, then pounced. “No!” she yelped, ignoring his grunt when she hit dangerously close to his groin and started planting kisses all over his face. “You’ve . . . been . . . very . . . civilized.” But then she just as suddenly reared away, her gasp drowning out his second grunt. “Because you don’t believe I’m pregnant!”
“Poseidon’s teeth,” he growled, plastering her against his side before she finally unmanned him. “I will remain civilized either way. Now settle down. I need a nap.”
She held herself stiff in his arms, obviously trying to decide if she believed him or not, then finally relaxed against him with a heavy sigh. “It’s going to take us a month to get home at this speed,” she whispered, apparently also happy to drop the subject.
“Are you in much of a hurry?”
She shrugged. “I don’t mind missing Carolina’s wedding if you don’t.”
Titus blew out a sigh of his own. “I offered Alec a bottomless satchel of money a couple of weeks ago if he would persuade Carolina to elope.”
She looked at him. “That’s why you rode your motorcycle to Pine Creek?”
He pressed her head back down. “The idiot thanked me for the kind offer, but said he likes being a poor ski bum because he claims it makes Jane feel superior.”
Rana snorted into his chest. “You men do love creating that illusion for us.”
“Ah, wife,” he said as he gave her a squeeze, “we create the illusion hoping you women won’t realize you have us on our knees.”
She let out a noisy yawn and patted his chest. “How devious you men are.”<
br />
Titus stared up at the puffy clouds marching northward from the Gulf of Maine, bringing with them the promise of an even warmer day tomorrow, and listened to his wife’s breathing slowly even out in sleep. Though he would have preferred a less drastic means, he was glad the storm had stranded them out here in the wilderness, as it was obvious they needed this time together. And since they were on the subject of trying to anticipate each other’s reaction to her . . . what had she called it? Unfavorable news. Well, this was probably a good time for them to discuss his news. Although now that he knew her secret, Titus didn’t think his would affect her too unfavorably.
Only sentimentally.
It would, however, affect everyone on Atlantis. He doubted Maximilian would be very thrilled, and Carolina would probably throw a royal fit on the scale of one of Ella’s. As for Nicholas . . . actually, the warrior might in fact prove to be an ally.
Not that it mattered, since last he knew he wasn’t running a democracy.
No, the only person whose opinion he valued when making his final decision was Rana. He would tell her as soon as they began the day’s hike tomorrow, so they’d have plenty of time to discuss the consequences of what he was about to do before they shared their doubly exciting news with the rest of their magical world.
Chapter Sixteen
Mac stood on the very same rock he knew his father had stood on not eighteen hours ago, and dried his chest with his shirt before slipping it on and buttoning it up as he watched Niall MacKeage pull what remained of the modern catamaran deeper into the forest. He turned to see Duncan and Nicholas emerge from the woods, Duncan carrying the mainsail of the catamaran and Nicholas carrying the oiled canvas bag Mac knew his mother always kept on her sloop, which was now resting in four hundred feet of water on the floor of Bottomless.
“They appear to have set out for home on foot,” Nicholas said with a grin, tossing the bag into the bow of Duncan’s speedboat. “Accompanied by six wolves.”
“Why would they do that?” Niall asked, his gaze darting between Nicholas and Mac. “They had to know you’d come looking for them.”
Mac slipped on his jacket. “If I were to hazard a guess, I would say Dad is taking advantage of some quality time alone with his wife while she can’t run away.”
“But that’s at least a four-day walk and it drops below freezing at night,” Niall apparently felt compelled to point out. He gestured at the sail Duncan had just tossed in the boat. “And they have no shelter or supplies.” The highlander hesitated in apparent thought, then grinned. “Unless Titus should happen to find a backpack full of food leaning against a tree, along with a tent.”
Nicholas was already shaking his head. “He won’t use the magic around Rana unless it’s an emergency.”
“Mother is a mortal,” Mac explained at Niall’s obvious confusion. “And the magic upsets her stomach.” He looked at Nicholas. “You said Dante had no warning the new god would try manifesting again yesterday?”
“No one knew, not even their leader, Sebastian. And last night Dante told me they still don’t know. Everyone saw the storm from the settlement, but it was too far away on the opposite shore for them to think it was anything more than an ordinary squall. Dante said they’re actually planning another ceremony later this week.”
“According to Leviathan, we now have demons to contend with as well,” Mac said. “Dad set the great whites on them and quickly ended the fight, but I wasn’t able to find out if the entity survived.” Only just now realizing what Nicholas had said, Mac stiffened. “If the storm was along the eastern shore and the new god did survive, it could be here on the same side as Mom and Dad. And that means they could end up in the middle of another battle.”
Nicholas shook his head again. “The demons are no match for Titus. And don’t forget he has the orcas, which is probably why he took them.” Nicholas hopped into the boat. “Leave them be, Mac. Your father has been protecting Rana since before you were born, and from enemies far more dangerous than a fledgling god and a few cowardly demons.”
“When he was in his prime,” Mac snapped, also vaulting into the boat.
“You might want to refrain from saying that to his face,” Nicholas said with a chuckle. “As I believe he can still whip your magical ass.”
Mac grinned. “He’d have to catch me first.” But he quickly sobered as he looked up at the mountains forming a solid wall along the eastern side of the inland sea, then glanced out over the water before eyeing Nicholas again.
The warrior straightened with a scowl. “No. Leave them alone.”
Mac merely grinned again.
“What?” Niall asked, stepping into the boat and sitting down at the stern as he glanced at Mac. “What are ye thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I see no reason why the orcas have to be their only protection.”
“No,” Nicholas repeated.
Mac merely folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the gunwale.
“Would you please tell me why you’ve been treating Titus like a doddering old man lately?” Nicholas asked.
Mac stared at his childhood friend, then leaned forward and scrubbed his face in his hands. “Because,” he said, dropping his arms to his knees, “he’s up to something. I don’t know what,” he rushed on when the warrior tried to speak. “But ever since Mom left him, Dad’s been withdrawn and more secretive than usual. Why wouldn’t he tell us why he went to Atlantis last week?”
“Exactly how would you be acting if Olivia suddenly left you after only four years of marriage,” Nicholas asked, “much less after forty?”
Mac dropped his gaze to stare down at his clasped hands. “Point taken.” He looked up. “But I still say he’s up to something. Mother leaving him might be a big part of it, but I can feel in my bones that he’s planning something . . . epic. And if you’re honest, you have to admit you’ve also felt it.”
Duncan gave the boat a push, then hopped onto the bow as it glided away from the shoreline. “Has anyone learned why Rana left him?”
“No,” Mac said with a shrug. “She’d confided in no one, not even Carolina.”
“Nor Mom,” Nicholas added. “Although I saw hints last fall that Rana was unhappy.”
“But she and Dad were acting like newlyweds all winter after you got back from your mission,” Mac pointed out.
“So what’s the plan, gentlemen?” Duncan asked, sitting down behind the wheel but not starting the engine. “Do we send out a search party for them?”
“No. Instead, I think we should look for signs that the new god managed to reach shore.”
Duncan’s jaw went slack as he glanced up the inland sea. “You’re talking about searching over fifty miles of shoreline on just this side alone.”
“Which should take less than a day for a small army of gulls,” Mac drawled.
He then stood up and spread his arms—stifling a grin when he saw Niall stiffen—and braced himself against the surge he knew was coming. Feeling his body slowly begin to expand as he called forth the energy surrounding Bottomless, Mac silently summoned his feathered allies until the sky above the boat was filled with noisy gulls. He instructed them to search every nook and cranny of shoreline, beginning on the eastern side of the sea, looking for even the smallest sign that something had dragged itself ashore. The darting and diving birds circled in raucous chaos before suddenly dispersing in three directions: one group going north, the other south, and the third racing out to the nearest islands.
“Jesus, Joseph, and Mary,” Niall whispered, dropping his gaze from the sky and his eyes widening even more as Mac slowly returned to his normal height.
Mac lowered his arms and grinned. “Have you not seen de Gairn ever work the magic, MacKeage?”
“Matt . . .” Niall cleared his throat and shook his head. “Nay, not directly.”
“You’ve felt the brunt of it a time or two, though,” Duncan said with a chuckle.
Mac looked at where his parents had co
me ashore yesterday, then sat down again to disguise his shudder as he recalled Leviathan’s account of his father’s struggle to save his mother. Why hadn’t Titus used the magic to whisk her to safety instead of swimming more than a mile through frigid water in the middle of a vicious battle? He could have had her on top of Whisper Mountain with no more than a blink of his eye, far away from storms and demons and freezing temperatures. If nearly drowning didn’t constitute an emergency, then what in the name of Hades did?
“So now what?” Duncan asked as he started the motor and slowly idled north.
“Now we wait,” Mac said, “to see if the world has a new god.”
“And if it does?” Niall asked.
“Then we wait to see if we’ve gained an ally or an enemy.”
“And your parents?” Duncan asked.
Mac rested against the gunwale and looked toward the mountains. “We wait to see if they walk out of the wilderness holding hands or throwing rocks at each other.”
The latter, he was afraid, being a real possibility if the secret Titus was keeping had made him desperate enough to kidnap his wife.
• • •
Slowly working the tangles out of her hair while strolling down the old tote road, Rana smiled as she remembered feasting like royalty on spit-roasted partridge last night, thanks to the hunting prowess of their four-legged warrior—Kitalanta apparently assuming that anything with feathers was edible. Then again, maybe the orca had learned a little something about the human palate during the time he spent on land with Alec and Carolina each summer.
She was just thankful he hadn’t brought them seagull.
“No,” her husband said gruffly, taking the comb from her and slipping it in his pocket before clasping her hand in his. “I like seeing you beautifully disheveled.”
Rana continued smiling at the road ahead, wondering how he’d liked her falling asleep on him last night after only a kiss. And how beautiful he thought she had been this morning when she’d bolted for the woods just as he was reaching for her, or how he’d enjoyed listening to her throwing up spit-roasted partridge and figs and what she suspected was leftover seawater from her near drowning.
Spellbound Falls [5] For the Love of Magic Page 18