by JL Madore
Being relegated to the background while the males faced all the danger rankled her but for now, she had no idea how she might be of aid. Haven was situated on a large mountain, the school and sanctuary only a small portion of the landscape. There were miles of wild forest, miles of rocky terrain, and many settlements and villages which fell outside of the safe zone of Castian and Reign’s protection.
She had no idea where Samuel might be, and no means to find him.
“Well, this sucks,” Mika said beside her.
Lia found that Bruin’s mate had her arms crossed and was staring out at the darkness the same way she was. “Yes. It most certainly does.”
“Up you get, Fate.” Someone yanked on my arm and hiked me to my feet. The forest blurred and I swallowed against the bile burning my gorge. My legs trembled as I fought to regain my wits. Where was I? What was . . .
The fog of my blackout cleared, and it came back to me in a rush. I’d been cracked in the head. I pulled back on my arm, crying out as pain brought me to my knees.
Abaddon pulled me along in his wake, his long stride putting distance between my family and us. I twisted to search the brush for Castian. Was he all right? I didn’t see him. I tried to open a mental channel to his mind, but my head was one giant fog.
“Kobi! Bruin!” I screamed, as the two broke through the trees where Castian and I had been attacked. Aust joined them, looking panicked. “Aust, I’m here!”
“They can’t hear you,” Abaddon said, sounding bored. “Can’t see you either. I dropped a veil over us.”
“What do you want? Where are you taking me?”
“It’s family reunion time. I’m taking you to Daddy.”
Dane. Perfect. Just the asshole I wanted to see.
I glanced back at the chaos. A flood of raiders had engaged with Kobi and his group of Talon Enforcers.
My demon lover was in his glory. He lunged, spun, and cracked off insults, taunting his enemy while wielding fatal blows. Beyond the sarcasm, piercings, and Goth makeup, Kobi was passionate, fearless, and a massive pain in the ass.
But he was my pain in the ass.
And I loved him.
Aust was right about that, but he was wrong too. Because, when I saw him at one with the wolves and raptors of the forest, orchestrating a coordinated attack on the incoming forces, my heart filled with awe and wonder. I loved him too.
They were both amazing.
And as confusing as it was to love two men at the same time, it also made perfect sense. We worked well as a team of three.
Abaddon yanked me around a rock and I had to focus on my footing. I planted my feet each step as I regained my balance. My arm hurt. I didn’t remember the injury but could have banged it when I was knocked out.
“If you’re truly taking me to my father, you don’t need to be so rough. I’m not resisting. I want to see him.”
Abaddon’s laughter rang rich in baritone and raised the hair on my arms. Magic. It rattled my bones, the strength alarming. Abaddon stole souls for power, everyone knew that, but this was more. The man possessed a gods-given power. Charisma. The magic of persuasion strung in his very vocal cords.
“The dysfunction of this family is amazing,” he said.
“You have no idea.”
He laughed harder. “No. You have no idea.”
“You’re delusional.”
“And you’re judgmental. As qualities go, it’s unattractive. You’ll never land yourself a husband if you don’t learn to be more accepting.”
I frowned. “Like I’d take advice from the maniacal blight on the realm.”
“Ouch,” he said, pushing me toward a thick wall of trees. “If I had any feelings, I think that would have stung.”
Following a sheer, rock wall, Abaddon led me to a make-shift war camp set beneath a massive overhang. The stench of the Scourge hit about a hundred yards out, gaining in strength to the point of gagging as we grew close.
“I’ll never understand it,” I said. “Why do men of the realm give you their souls when they know what they’ll literally rot from the inside out.”
“Is this you not judging?” He paused; his dark eyes struck me with a familiar light I couldn’t place. “You might say that I’m persuasive. Besides, it’s not one-sided. For those years they decay, they experience every moment, rapt and wild. Every impulse of power and dominance they suppressed is unleashed. Without a soul to bog them down, they are raw strength and sensation, impassioned and fearless. It’s a rush.”
A rush? They were mindless murderers—
We rounded the rock face and crossed the threshold into the cave-like area beneath the overhang. My father straightened from the war table he bent over and smiled. “Look at you two. Fighting like spoiled siblings.”
Movement from the opposite corner of the room drew my attention and faltered. “Zinnia? What are you doing here?”
My sister strode close, a cruel smile rounding her cheeks. “Why wouldn’t I be here? Do you honestly think I’d choose Castian over our own father? The man is oblivious. He believes in those realm vermin. He’s weak and pathetic—”
I kicked her. She fell to the stone floor, and I fought the urge to stomp her like a brushfire. “Call him pathetic again, bitch!”
Abaddon laughed.
Dane grabbed me and pulled me back. With both my arms gripped tight, he shook me. “What’s gotten into you? Since when do you use brute force to express yourself?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“You even sound like them. Has living in the mortal realm done this? You forget that royal blood runs in your veins.”
I spat in his face and called every ounce of power I had. Nothing came. I flexed my fingers and willed my command of wind to come to me. The powers my Mother had given me.
Still nothing.
Abaddon laughed harder and held up his hands. “I put a binding collar on you. Daddy dearest thought he could use his charms to tame you, but I thought it best to cover our asses.”
I raised my hands to the smooth metal of the collar around my neck. Yeah, despite his incessant whoring, Dane didn’t have the slightest clue about women. “You kill my mother and think I’ll see you as anything beyond the disgusting waste of life you are?”
He glared at me, wiping his jaw with his handkerchief. “Stop the drama. Shalana is immortal. Even as a half-wit, that bitch is as tough as—”
I threw a punch, but Abaddon caught my wrist and stopped me from connecting. “She’s dead, asshole,” I repeated, waiting for that to sink in. “Your evil little lapdog here probably even watched her pyre celebration.”
Dane’s head pivoted, looking genuinely confused.
Abaddon shrugged. “Yeah, there was a pyre burning. Can’t say who played the part of the yule log.”
Dane stepped back and sat on the edge of the desk. “Not possible. Castian is trying to keep her from me. He thinks I’ll fall for his trick.” A moment later, he straightened, looking pleased with himself. “Very convincing, Zophia. I almost believed you, but if your mother were truly dead, you would be an emotional heap. You are too soft for your own good.”
“I don’t care what you believe. You will suffer for it just the same.” Him underestimating me worked in my favor. “Why am I here?”
“To draw back your mother, of course. Where you are, she will come. I will get what I want, and you will help me, whether you like it or not.”
I couldn’t believe his stupid arrogance. “Yeah, well, you’ll be waiting a good long while . . . because she’s dead.”
“We’ll see,” Dane said, his smile as cocky as ever. “We’ll just see about that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Aust jolted back to consciousness hearing Kobi’s voice nearby and Faolan’s whine close to his ear. As he blinked, his wolf ran her warm tongue across his face. When she shifted, her bony elbows dug into his chest and fur brushed his neck and face. “Off you get, girl.” He rolled to his side and touched the burn on h
is chest. “Fash not.”
Kobi was upon them a moment later. “Aust, my man, no time to dwell. You okay?”
“Well enough.”
“Good to hear,” he said, wrapping an arm around his back and hauling him to his feet. “You caught quite a blast.”
He had. His head was ringing, his equilibrium off kilter. “Whose magic hit me?”
“The bitch queen herself. Rheagan and Castian are throwing it down. You should be honored.”
Kobi guided them behind the trunk of an ancient sequoia and pressed his shoulders against the bark. “Catch your breath, Highborne. I need you alive, or Zo will kill me herself.”
Aust shook his head, but it did little to clear the ringing. Rheagan was a powerful sorcerous. “Castian needs Paladin.”
“Hell Hounds devour malevolent souls. Rheagan’s in the body of Jade’s mom and Castian’s wife. The pup can’t chow down on one of our own.”
Aust was about to explain when two raiders rounded the tree. Kobi spun, his dagger eviscerating one while the second raised his ax to strike. Aust grabbed the knife sheathed to his thigh and rammed it in the attacker’s throat. “I agree, but mayhap the threat of the hound destroying her physical form might be enough to have her vacate the body.”
Kobi grabbed him around the shoulders, and they tumbled as one in the scrub as a bolt of orange magic whizzed overhead. “I doubt a hound will bluff one of the Original Three. Keep thinking.”
Kobi rolled off his chest and pulled him to his feet for the second time in five minutes. “So, just how bonded are you to Zo, now that you share Shalana’s powers?”
Aust ducked as a blue bolt of magical energy zinged past his head. “Regardless of tangled emotions, I respect your love for her. You must know that.”
Kobi frowned. “No, blondie. I’m asking if you can sense her? Are you connected? Can you track our girl?”
He assessed the carnage of the forest all around them and tried to grow calm. He closed his eyes and allowed the pull of Shalana’s powers to ascend. The energy fought being fractured and wanted to reunite with its other half. “I can feel her, yes.”
“Perfect. Then get a lock on her and let’s go find our girl.”
Tham found Gemma pacing along the glass wall at the Were guesthouse. The place still smelled of freshly-cut wood and new leather, and each chrome and granite surface gleamed, polished and new. Outside, the grounds bore the brunt of a very different reality. The ancient ruin site was once again a disaster zone, the bodies of the fallen strewn amongst pyre ashes and heaving ground. “It is a true war zone out there.”
Gemma turned, and he was rewarded with a glowing smile and her running over to jump into his arms. He caught her and smiled as she linked her ankles behind his hips. Her lips claimed his with an urgency that implied they had been apart for weeks instead of two days.
A moment later, breathless and far more aroused than was polite given the state of events in their world, he eased back. “Are you well, love? Are our loved ones safe?”
She kissed him again quickly and let her feet drop back to the floor. “No idea. Galan and Jade headed home before the attack, so I assume they’re good. Everyone else is out there in that mess.”
“Tham,” Lia said, joining them. “Welcome back. Did you have any luck?”
He winked and pulled Gemma to his side, unwilling to break the connection with her just yet. “Who needs luck, sister mine. I was born with mad skills.”
“Yeah, you were,” Gemma said, holding up her fist for a bump. “I missed those skills too.”
Lia rolled her eyes at Gemma and flipped her silver braid behind her shoulder. “Tell me what I wish to hear.”
He nodded. “You have your ghost army. Cameron has them gathered at the forest’s edge dispersing the weapons Samuel enchanted for them.”
“Wonderful,” she said, heading toward the door. “Not a moment too soon.”
“Lia, honey,” Julian said, jogging out of the kitchen to meet her at the side door. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out to command my army.”
“You can’t. You’re supposed to stay inside where it’s safe.”
Tham gave his little sister credit. Lia had truly grown into a confident and powerful female. She slapped her palm with the silver crop the oracles had given her and met Julian’s gaze. “When last I checked, I was Queen of the Realm and tasked with leading the ghost army to defeat Rheagan. I cannot fulfill that destiny tucked inside a fortress, no matter who wants me to remain here.”
Tham chuckled, took Gemma’s hand, and jogged through the closed door. When Lia joined him outside, he gestured toward the trees. “Your army awaits, my Queen.”
Lia ran a hand down her suede pantsuit and waved her crop toward the forest. “After you, brother mine.”
Galan was losing his mind. Before they had even gotten back to the manse, Jade went limp in Chiron’s arms. Rowan’s face had blanked out, and as quickly as they had gotten her to the clinic, and the Fae doctor to work, Galan feared it not fast enough. Pregnancy was dangerous for Highborne females under the best circumstances. These were not those.
The medical lights were brilliant over the exam table, the illumination harsh and white. Beneath the glare, Jade’s warm, copper skin seemed ghostly pale. He had done this to her.
When she went into heat last August, part of him had wanted her to conceive—even knowing the risks.
What did that say about him?
Jade’s body jerked, and then his beloved screamed. More than a scream, it was a blood-curdling shriek that clawed at his eardrums.
“Get them out! My powers are breaking free.”
Elora handed Rowan a syringe and he plunged it into her arm before exchanging it for a scalpel. “Let the meds take hold, Jade. Just give it a sec—”
“No. Now!” She pinched her eyes closed, a groan ripping from deep in her throat. She twisted on the bed. Energy crackled through the air and sparks ignited from her fingertips. “I can’t control it. I’ll electrocute them.”
Rowan cursed. His hand came down on her stomach, and a vivid red line appeared where he pierced her skin. The stream of blood trickled down the shuddering bulge of her belly and dripped onto the floor.
Jade jerked again, and her eyes lost focus.
Galan could hear her heart thumping unevenly, and his panic rose. Stay with me, Blossom, he said into her mind. You promised me forever, Jade, and I expect you to keep your word.
“Galan, I need you!” Rowan shouted. “Like we practiced, Highborne. Into the incubator and give me an APGAR score. Elora, get ready for the next one.”
Galan accepted the first of his young—his son—and carried him quickly to the incubator. He stroked his fingers over the boy’s dark auburn hair and gently pointed ears. He was perfect.
“Galan, APGAR. Ogle him later.”
Yes. They had practiced this. Appearance. Pulse. Grimace. Activity. Respiration. “He is not crying and is slightly blue.”
“Suction him and make sure his airway is clear.”
Galan worked as quickly and carefully as he could. When the child sputtered and cried out, his heart beat once again.
“Good job. Now again.”
Elora placed his daughter into the second incubator, and he raced to her. Her eyes were open and alert and she sneezed as he examined her. “Bless you, sweeting. You have the look of your naneth. Yes, you do. Stunning and strong.”
Rowan hissed behind him, and Galan turned. Jade had hold of his wrist, her powers out of control. “Jade, no!”
But it was too late. Rowan hit the floor, his body convulsing.
***
In all the centuries I’d known Castian as a god, leader, and uncle, I’d only heard of his lethal skills as a fighter. No legends spoken had prepared me for seeing him cut his way through a sea of Scourge. Captive in my father’s military camp, I watched the fight in progress. Zinnia had brought her seeing bowl. She and Dane were glued to the images like sports fans
during the last minutes of the playoff game.
Castian didn’t waste time or energy on Abaddon’s half-dead minions. He left the raiders to Maximus and his enforcers and battled one-on-one with Rheagan.
And while he’d given Abbey immortality after her attack all those years ago, I knew it was killing him to strike out against his wife. Even if she was his evil sister at the moment.
What an unbelievable mess.
Despite my father’s smug belief that he had me under his thumb and my mother would come and surrender her powers in trade, I had the upper hand. Abaddon’s collar might have held enough juice to subdue a Fate, but I was more than that.
I was my mother’s daughter.
The nearer Aust drew to me, the stronger the force of her powers grew. And he wouldn’t be alone. Kobi was with him. I knew that as keenly as if I were the Fate of Lives Present.
“Why do you look so pleased with yourself?” Dane asked. “You’re betting on the losing team, Zophia.”
“Am I?” I tapped my finger to Abaddon’s binding collar, and the noose around my neck popped off and fell to the rocky ground. “I disagree.”
Dane’s gaze narrowed. “How’d you do that?”
I raised my arms and drew the power of nature into my cells, my command of wind now extending to every rock and plant and tree around me. The wind picked up my hair and lifted me from the ground. I tipped my head back and absorbed the electrical current from every atom and every molecule.
“I told you, Dane.” My voice boomed in a thunderous rush. “You killed my mother. Shalana’s power is mine now. Mine to wield. Mine to protect. And mine to exact revenge.”
A surge of energy signaled his call to dematerialize.
I blocked his power and laughed as his eyes grew wide with realization. “You don’t get to run away this time. Not when you haven’t answered for my mother’s injuries. First, there was the mental assault. You took her choice away and forced her to be somewhere she didn’t want to be. How do you like feeling trapped and powerless?”
He tried again to leave, his scowl deepening when he got nowhere.