Tempting the Dryad

by Rebecca Rivard

  Cleia winced on Valeria’s behalf. The two of them weren’t exactly friends—Valeria had never forgotten the year Rui spent at the sun fae compound ensnared by Cleia’s glamour—but Cleia knew how much the fada woman hated being cooped up in the base. However, it was clear Rui wasn’t going to let either her or the children poke a toe outside the caverns until they’d caught Jorge.

  “I’ll start with the creek,” Rui said, “then I’ll make sweeps of the Susquehanna.”

  “Double up the sentries and take a couple of warriors with you,” Dion told him. “And Rui? Don’t forget he may have the two sea fada with him.”

  His second’s smile was savage. “I haven’t.” And with a curt dip of his head to Cleia, he was gone.

  Now Cleia watched as Dion smacked a fist into his palm. “Damn it, anyway. I should’ve executed those bastards when I had a chance. Adric’s right. I was weak and look what happened.”

  “Stop it.” She rose to her feet. “You loved Jorge like he was family. We both thought he’d been turned by Petros Okeanos, that he’d never have gotten involved in something like that on his own. And Benny was a member of your clan, someone you’d known almost as long as Jorge.”

  He passed a hand over his face. “I keep asking myself one thing. How many other women have they hurt?”

  “Oh, sweetheart.” She crossed the space between them and took hold of his shoulders. “Don’t do this to yourself. Don’t forget, they weren’t on the loose all this time—they were in the Sudan. I know how you feel—that poor young woman. But the important thing is she’s safe now. You just have to find Jorge and make sure it never happens again.”

  “I don’t blame Adric for being so pissed off. If it had been Rosana—”

  “Stop it.” She gave him a little shake. “You’re not the only one with regrets—I was there that day, too, you know. I agreed that sending them to the Sudan was a suitable punishment.”

  He cradled her face in his big hands. “It was my territory, my business. It wasn’t your decision to make.”

  She bit her lower lip. He was right. They had an agreement to never interfere in each other’s clan affairs. They might talk things over, offer advice, even combine resources for joint projects, but they maintained a bright, clear line between his responsibilities as Rock Run alpha and hers with Rising Sun and the other six sun fae clans she ruled as queen. Their mating would never have worked otherwise.

  She moved away from him. “What I’d like to know is how in Hades did they escape—and why wasn’t I contacted?” She found her tablet—powered by fae electronics—and sent a curt message to Lord Okot of the Sudanese sun fae clan asking just that.

  Okot was a tall, regal man with short dark hair and skin touched with gold. He replied almost immediately. “We don’t know how they escaped, my lady,” he admitted, his handsome face chagrinned, “but it appears they had some help from the outside. I was just about to contact you. I assure you I have my best people out looking for them.”

  Cleia’s scowl made Okot flinch. “That’s not good enough. This involves my mate’s clan. You should’ve informed me immediately.”

  “Forgive me, my lady. I’ll leave immediately for Baltimore—”

  “Don’t bother. One of the men is already dead, and there are two clans of shifters looking for the other three. If they can’t find them, no one can.”

  Okot inclined his head. “As you say.”

  “However, I expect a report on exactly how they escaped.”

  “Of course, Cleia. They must have had help—our wards were smashed to bits. Unfortunately, both guards are dead so it’s difficult to determine exactly what happened. But I promise I’ll look into it personally and get back to you as soon as I know more.”

  “You do that. And Okot”— Cleia glanced at Dion’s forbidding expression—“they won’t be back.”

  “Very well, my lady.”

  “Peace to you and yours,” she said and ended the call.

  A knock sounded on the partly open door and Isa, Dion’s former nurse, bustled in carrying a large tray of food. As Dion rushed to take it from her, she frowned at Cleia.

  “I’ve brought you lunch,” she said in a voice heavy with disapproval. She was officially retired, but she’d helped raise all five do Rios and considered them her family. “It’s past time you ate.”

  “Obrigada.” Cleia helped herself to a strawberry as Dion placed the tray on the table. Her own mother had passed to the other side nearly fifty years ago; if Isa wanted to coddle her, she was happy to oblige. “I am hungry.”

  Appeased, Isa pointed to the various dishes. “We have cod cakes, just how you like them, and those are some of the first strawberries from the new greenhouse. I know how you like your fresh fruit. And some salad and bread, of course.”

  “You’re a treasure.” Cleia bent to kiss her. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

  To her delight, a flush touched Isa’s round cheeks. “Eat,” she said sternly. “The child needs it—and so do you.” She crossed her arms and waited until Cleia sat down and picked up her fork, then with a satisfied nod, wished them both a good day and bustled back out the door.

  “Me desculpe, minha querida.” Dion’s expression was remorseful as he took a seat catty-corner to Cleia. “I should’ve remembered you hadn’t eaten.” He smoothed a hand over her womb.

  She nudged the other plate at him. “I had a big breakfast. And I was absorbing energy from the sun the whole time we were at the meeting. That went well, don’t you think?”

  Dion nodded and picked up his fork. She kept the discussion light, moving from the meeting to her plans for decorating the baby’s nursery. Dion nodded and agreed, but she could tell his mind was elsewhere.

  He finished his lunch and sat back. He’d cleaned the plate, but she’d have bet a handful of her favorite jewels that he had no idea what he’d eaten. She touched his hand. “Tiago will be fine, Dion.”

  He shot her a bleak look. “What am I going to do with him?”

  “I’m not sure you have to do anything with him, love.”

  He shook his head. “My own brother has the Gift of compulsion and I didn’t even know.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. Tiago is what he is. And he would’ve told you sooner or later.”

  “You don’t understand. If the clan finds out, he’ll be shunned. When they find out. Because they will.”

  “But why would he be shunned?”

  “We’re fada,” was the grim reply. “We’re already controlling S.O.B.s, especially the men. Imagine a fada male who can control you with a word, a look. Look what it did to Okeanos. Would you want that man anywhere within a mile of you? No one will trust Tiago not to take advantage.”

  “But Tiago’s different. Everyone knows he’s basically a good man. He’s struggling now, but he’s strong. He’ll figure out how to control it—I’d stake my life on it. Actually, from what he said, he’s been controlling it—for three years.”

  “I just hope you’re right.” He rose to his feet and put the dishes in the sink to soak before resuming his restless pacing. “Damn it, I’m his brother. I should be able to help somehow.”

  “Dion.” She stood up as well. “He’s not a boy anymore. This is his Gift, his burden. He has to deal with it himself.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” He scraped a hand through his hair. “I’m going to lose him, Cleia. Just like Nic and Joaquim.”

  “No.” She crossed to him and took his hands. After the do Rio parents had been lost at sea, it had fallen to Dion to raise Tiago and Rosana. He considered them more his children than siblings. “That won’t happen. You won’t let it.”

  “How am I going to stop it?”

  “Love him,” she said. “Show him he has your support. He’s terrified his Gift is going to take over. I know how he feels—the first time I channeled the sun’s energy for my clan, I was so scared my knees felt like jelly. I knew if I wasn’t strong enough, I’d go up
in flames.”

  He shot her a wry look. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “The point is I was strong enough, and so is he. But he could use training. There has to be someone who can work with him, teach him the control he needs.”

  “But who? His Gift hasn’t appeared in our clan for seventy-five years. I remember the man—we grew up together. He couldn’t have been much older than Tiago is now when he challenged my father for alpha. But he couldn’t resist trying to control him, and that voided the challenge. It took my father and two other men to kill him.”

  “Perhaps someone in New England?” A large Portuguese river fada clan had settled the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts along with the human Portuguese immigrants. “Or in Portugal or one of the other European clans?”

  “It’s worth a try.” He enfolded her in his arms. “I’ll get someone on it. Thank you, querida.”

  She hugged him back. She wasn’t sure even Dion knew how much he loved Tiago. Losing him would be worse than losing his other two brothers, hard as that had been. For Dion, it would be like losing a son.

  “Meanwhile,” she said, “you have to be prepared for the clan to find out.”

  He lifted his head to look at her. “Sim?”

  “The clan will take their lead from you. If you make it clear Tiago has your trust, that you’re not afraid he’ll use his Gift against you, they’ll come to accept it.”

  “That just might work. Tell me”—his fingers toyed with her braid—“how did you get so wise?”

  “It’s simple common sense.” But she smiled up at him.

  “Hm. Is that a gray hair I see?” He pretended to examine her braid. “Because I think that extra hundred years you have on me has someth—”

  She elbowed him in the ribs and he grinned and gathered her closer. She slid her hand under his T-shirt and caressed his abdomen.

  He gave a low, contented growl. “Amo-te.”

  “Love you too.” She pressed a kiss into the warm hollow beneath his ear.

  Dion drew her to the couch and pulled her onto his lap, her head against his shoulder. They were silent for a time. Cleia didn’t know what Dion was thinking about, but she was hoping she was right about Tiago. Because if she was wrong, he could use his Gift to tear the clan apart. Even she might not be able to stop him.

  He might even turn it on her.

  Not that she thought he would, but she wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Once or twice, she’d caught Tiago considering her in a way that was decidedly unbrotherly.…

  She was strong, but so was he. And if he caught her by surprise, who knew what would happen? His Gift apparently worked on the fae, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to kill that night fae.

  Dion’s low voice rumbled in her ear. “I’ll have to tell Rui and Luis. As my second and third, they need to know. We’ll have to make a decision about Tiago. I can’t let him go out with his squad until he has this thing under control.”

  She bit her lip and decided to go with her instincts. Yes, Tiago had a dark side, but as she’d said to Dion, he’d clearly been controlling it for years.

  “That would be the worst thing you could do. He’ll think you don’t trust him, and that will only make it worse. You have to show him he has your complete trust, that you know he can do this. Because he has to take control—or it will destroy him.”

  “I don’t know, love.” He shook his head and she sensed his denial through their bond.

  But he had to understand what was at stake. “He’s on a knife’s edge, Dion. Push too hard and he’s going to break. And there’s a good chance it won’t be you he attacks. He loves you too much.”

  “Who then?”

  She moved a shoulder.

  His whole body went stiff. “You think he’d kill himself?”

  “If it was for the good of the clan. You’d do the same yourself.” What Dion didn’t seem to understand was how similar he and his brother were.

  “Hell.” His head dropped back against the couch. “I’ll have to think about this. I just don’t want to lose him—but better that than a challenge from my own brother. Maybe I should just send him to Nic or Joaquim. At least then he doesn’t have to deal with being the alpha’s youngest brother on top of everything else.”

  “Oh, Dion.” She could hardly bear the sadness emanating from him through the mate bond. She gave him a hard hug. “It will work out. You’ll make the right decision. I know you will.”

  He shook his head, and then giving her a last, lingering kiss, lifted her off his lap and set her on the couch. “You rest now,” he said as he rose to his feet. “I’m going to the operations room to see if there’s any news about Jorge or the sea fada.”

  “I can rest later.” She stood up as well. “I should go back to Rising Sun and tell Olivia how the meeting went.”

  He snagged her braid and tilted her head back. “And if I say you rest first?”

  She slid her fingers around his nape and slanted him a look up from under her lids. “I’d say yes, my love.”

  “And do whatever you damn well please.” He gave her a hard kiss and released her hair. “I’ll save my breath. But promise me you’ll come straight back—or you will have a fight on your hands.”

  She smiled into his eyes. He was learning to bend; she could too. “It’s a date.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Alesia crossed her arms over her stomach.

  Tiago was hurting. She’d felt it last night, waves of pain and fury that left her curled into a ball on the hammock, her tree rustling in distress. Terrified her mother would sense her agitation and return, she’d forced herself to remain calm, keep her breathing even.

  With the morning, the pain had eased. She’d gone about her day, weeding the early spring vegetables like peas and lettuce. But she couldn’t help wishing she had some way to contact him.

  She stabbed her trowel into the soil, cursing her isolation. It was a dryad’s way, to live alone and close to nature without the technology other fae relied on, but her mate needed her and she had no idea where he was.

  He wasn’t in physical distress anymore—at least, not much—but his mood was so bleak it scared her. If the man was hurt, why didn’t he come to her?

  But she knew the reason.

  It was up to her to go to him. She was still hurt and angry about yesterday, but the mate bond wouldn’t let her rest until she knew what was the matter. She’d always had a special radar where he was concerned, but now she could home in on him from anywhere, following that tenuous bond to his current location.

  She grabbed a waterskin and a sack of walnuts, climbed to the top of her oak and concentrated.

  East. He was east and a little south, somewhere in the middle of the bay but closer to the other side.

  She closed her eyes, visualizing where she wanted to go. In an instant, she’d ’ported several miles down the river to another oak. Then another, this one taking her across the top of the bay where it was only a few miles wide. Then another and another, skipping down the Chesapeake’s eastern edge until she landed in a massive white oak a little south of the Sassafras River.

  She exited the tree and looked around her. She was at the edge of a thick stand of trees. The area appeared to be deserted, a wildlife sanctuary, perhaps. Before her was a narrow beach, a tumble of sand and round black stones.

  She walked to the water’s edge. A brisk wind blew off the bay, whipping her hair around her face. She caught it with one hand, glad of the thick wool sweater she was wearing over her jeans, and squinted toward the horizon. Tiago was out there, somewhere in the vast, sun-silvered expanse of water.

  He wouldn’t be in his human form, not if he was injured. The fada healed more quickly as their animals. Most likely he’d be a river dolphin.

  But how to contact him?

  She paced up and down the beach. Noon came and went and she left the beach to forage for food. The pickings were slim this early in the year, but she made a meal of her
walnuts and some wild watercress she found along a nearby spring.

  When she returned, she remained on her feet, staring out at the water. The tie between her and Tiago had grown stronger. She could almost see where it stretched toward the horizon, not quite visible and yet hooked firmly into her heart.

  She brought her hand to her chest, considering. Why not? She gave a tentative mental tug on the bond, pulling until she felt resistance. She held her breath and tugged harder.

  She felt the instant Tiago became aware of the tug. As she’d guessed, he’d taken the form of a dolphin. She sensed the streamlined shape of his body; the fast, easy glide as he moved through the waves.

  The bond tickled. His muscles twitched. He frowned and then flicked his head, snapping the bond in half.

  She sighed and sent it out again. This time she cupped her hands around her mouth and called to him as well. “Tiago? It’s me, Alesia.”

  Even if he wasn’t close enough to hear her voice, perhaps the bond would carry the sense of who was trying to contact him.

  The bond touched him again, tugged. She held her breath, but this time the connection remained steady. A minute passed, then another. She rose to her toes, eyes narrowed against the sun. He was getting closer, she was sure of it.

  Then a dolphin appeared, flashing in and out of the water in graceful arcs. It was large, with a river dolphin’s elongated snout and dark gray body. The dolphin glided to a halt a few yards from shore and studied her with Tiago’s silver-blue eyes.

  He didn’t appear happy.

  She swallowed. “Hello.”

  Power rippled over the dolphin’s smooth gray skin. The color changed from a dark charcoal to warm olive. The head rounded and shaped itself into Tiago’s hard, sensual features, his jaw shadowed by a night beard. Fins elongated into limbs, and a broad back and shoulders emerged. The last thing to appear was the black tattoo encircling his upper arm.

  He rose from the water, unashamedly naked, hair falling to his shoulders in dark, wet whorls. “Alesia. What in Deus’s name are you doing here?”

  She ignored him to gape at his bruises. “Good grief, Tiago. What happened to you?”