“I can help with that,” Adrian said. “I can divert anyone looking for them.”
“Today is Saturday,” Faith said. “Azotay said we have seventy-two hours. That gives us until Tuesday night.”
“Then let’s get planning,” Rafe said. “The clock is ticking.”
As the group broke up, Tessa stopped Faith. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.” Faith looked at Darius, who’d paused near the sliding door. “Be along in a minute.” Darius nodded and apparently said something romantic to Faith mind-to-mind, because her face softened. She turned back to Tessa as Darius left the house. “What’s up?”
Tessa turned away from where Adrian and Rafe were speaking in low voices near the table. “How long does it take to make a focus stone?”
“Not too long. The hardest part is matching a stone to a person. But once that’s done, the actual bonding only takes a few minutes. Why?”
“Would you be able to make me a new one before we do this thing tomorrow?”
“I suppose I could, provided I have a stone that will work. Is there something wrong with the one you have now?”
“Like my brother, I inherited it from someone else,” Tessa said. “I’ve seen how a focus stone created specifically for a person can enhance that person’s abilities. I think we need every advantage if we’re bringing the Stone of Ekhia to Santutegi.” She shrugged. “I’d like to be able to get visions when I need them, not just whenever the universe feels like throwing me one.”
“Certainly couldn’t hurt,” Faith said, “but you know it might not work the way you think it will.”
“Will I end up with less than I have now?”
“No, but it might not increase what you have, either.”
“That’s fine. I’d still like to do it.”
“Okay. Can you meet me at the workshop at eight tomorrow morning? I don’t imagine Rafe is going to be contacting the temple before then.”
“I’ll be there.”
* * *
Adrian entered his bedroom without even turning on the light. This whole night had turned into a fucking mess, and the more he tried to help, the deeper he became mired in it.
First the dinner with Tessa and her questions about his family. He’d told the truth and yet omitted some things—like the fact that Azotay was his brother. Once Azotay had taken Cara and the Montanas captive, he just hadn’t been able to find the words to tell everyone his relationship to the man who had kidnapped their family members.
Hopefully, if he could track Azotay and take him out of the picture, they’d never have to know.
He’d never thought himself a coward, but in this case, he could admit that he was one, at least when it came to Tessa and her family. The instant he’d met them, the instant he’d seen Tessa, felt that connection to her, he’d been drawn in. Having come from a rather cold, power-hungry family of his own, he’d instantly been lured by the Montanas’ easy acceptance of each other, their obvious love, even when disagreeing. He’d never realized it had been missing from his life.
And Tessa—Tessa was the key to it all. He’d had his share of women, but he’d never hungered to have one want and accept him the way he needed Tessa to want and accept him. To take him into her arms, battered soul and all, to soothe the wounds caused by the machinations and agendas of others, to hold him close and tell him he was worth something, just as he was. To love him.
He hadn’t had a lot of feminine love in his life. Certainly not his mother. He’d realized even as a child that her one true love was herself, followed by Gadeiros, who seemed to take after her in selfishness. The string of lovers that had populated his life until now had been pleasant, fleeting interludes. Sometimes those relationships developed into solid friendships, as with Larina. Other times, the women drifted away, like dried autumn leaves after a verdant summer, enjoyed and forgotten.
But Tessa. He couldn’t see her drifting away. Couldn’t see what they had fading and drying up. The bond was too strong, their connection too deep. He could visualize spending a lifetime with her, having children with her, little blue- or violet-eyed Seers or dark-eyed Warriors. He could see becoming a part of this big, vibrant family of strong personalities and unwavering loyalty. Was this love? He didn’t know. Had never experienced anything like it. But he knew he didn’t want to give it up. Would do anything to stay.
If that meant keeping his relationship to Azotay a secret, at least for now, then that was what he would do.
He stripped off his clothes and slipped into bed, folding his arms behind his head. He’d tamped down so many emotions over the past week, and lying awake in the dark like this only allowed them to surface. His grief and guilt over Ben’s death. His frustration and humiliation over not defeating his brother in battle in Belize—both times. His failure to earn his father’s approval and the sting of Ezares’s displeasure over Belize. The bitterness of knowing his failures in Belize had resulted in Azotay kidnapping the Montanas. And beneath it all, his pathetic need for Tessa to love him anyway.
The soft click of the door opening had him sitting up in bed, even as her scent reached him.
“Adrian?” she whispered.
“I’m awake.” He reached out a hand as Tessa approached. She clasped it, climbing into bed and slipping beneath the covers to curl against him. She laid her head in the hollow of his shoulder, and he stroked her hair. “Everything okay?”
“You know it’s not.” She snuggled closer. “But being here with you makes me feel it’s going to be.”
“We’ll get them back,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “I’ll do everything in my power to help.”
“I know you will. It’s the kind of man you are.”
His chest tightened at her simple declaration of faith. Would she still feel the same if she knew the truth?
“I want to tell you about Luke,” she said.
“It can wait.” He picked up the hand laying on his chest and twined his fingers with hers. “You should sleep.”
“No, I want to tell you. I’ve been avoiding it, I admit, but now I want to tell you. I need to.”
“It doesn’t matter right now. You’re exhausted, princess, and you’re going to need your energy for what’s coming next.”
“All the more reason to get this off my mind. Please, Adrian.”
“Fine. Tell me.”
“All right. You already know Luke was my first real love. I never had a lot of boyfriends, not with my dad and two older brothers standing guard all the time.”
“I can’t blame them for that,” he said. “I’d have done the same thing.”
“And you know now—I know now—that Luke was Mendukati. Which actually makes a lot of sense to me now, considering what he did.”
Adrian sensed her instinctive flinch away from the memory. “What did he do?”
“He made me fall in love with him. He convinced me not to tell my brothers, and I have to admit, I didn’t mind that part. It was very freeing not to have them hovering over me.” She paused again.
“Tell me the rest,” he murmured.
She let out a long sigh. “You’re not going to like it.”
“I already don’t like the fact that you loved a man who wasn’t me, but that’s a guy thing, not a logical thing. So go on. Tell me all of it so we can deal with it and move on.”
“Right. Well, Luke was my first lover.”
“Your first? At twenty-one?”
“Darius and Rafe, remember? They never let guys within a foot of me. I’m lucky I had a date for the prom.”
“Right. Sorry for the interruption. Go on.”
“Luke convinced me to go away with him overnight. He wanted the weekend, but there was no way I could dodge my parents for that long.”
“I take it things didn’t go well.”
“No. He brought me to another man, then accepted a suitcase full of cash for delivering me. That man called my parents with a ransom demand.”
“Son of a bitch!” He
instinctively tightened his arms around her, relaxing his grip only when she squealed. “He handed you over to a kidnapper? What happened?”
“Dad and the Team got me back. The kidnapper went to jail. We never saw Luke again.”
“If he was Mendukati, you’re lucky he didn’t just kill you outright for being a Seer.”
“I know. Though now I’m not sure if he was Mendukati then, so much as an opportunist. “It’s been five years. He might have joined later.”
“Maybe.” He nuzzled her hair. “You were very lucky.”
“I know. But this situation with my parents and Cara has brought it all back. I was terrified. And Daddy isn’t here to rally the Team and get them back.”
“No, your father isn’t here. But we are. You’ve got me and your brothers and a Stone Singer fighting this time. We’ll get them back.”
She traced a finger through the hair on his chest. “I want to believe that. I have to believe that.”
“Believe it.”
“Do you think Azotay is as ruthless as they say? Do you think he would kill them even if he does get the stone?”
“I think we have to assume he will and plan accordingly.”
“I’m scared, Adrian. Terrified that this horrible man is going to murder my parents and Cara and maybe us, too, if he gets his hands on us in Santutegi.”
“Hey.” He lifted her chin with one finger and kissed her. “We’ll get them back.”
“I want to believe that. I’m choosing to believe that.” She gripped his hand. “I just want you to know I’m not trying to lay guilt here when I say I really wish you had kicked his ass in Belize.”
“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and pulled her close. “You and me both.”
They lay in silence for long moments.
“Adrian?”
“Yeah?”
“We’re in your bed again.”
“We are.”
She slid her hand down his body beneath the sheets and closed her fingers around his semierect penis. “We still need to christen my bed the way we have yours.”
“We do.” Her delicate fingers were driving him crazy.
“But not right now.” She pressed a kiss to his neck. “Right now I want you inside me.”
He rolled her beneath him. “Your wish is my command, princess.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Larina dropped Rigo off at home the next day as promised. He walked into the house using a cane, his complexion pale and his eyes fierce. “I want answers,” he said.
“Let’s all sit down and discuss this,” Darius said, indicating the leather sofas in the living room.
Rigo sat, as did Rafe, Darius, Faith, Adrian, and Tessa. “What the hell is going on with your family?” Rigo demanded. “I’ve been here for ten years, and never once did I ask questions. But I’m asking now. A good man is dead because of what’s happening.”
“It’s complicated,” Adrian said.
“Uncomplicate it.”
Adrian glanced at the Montanas, who nodded. Adrian proceeded to explain all of it—starting with the Atlanteans and who the Montanas really were, through what happened in Belize, and concluding with the recent events around the kidnapping. After he finished the story, Rigo’s mouth hung open. “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope,” Rafe said. “It’s the truth.”
“I’m sure most of this will take a while to process, but for what it’s worth, I’m in,” Rigo said. “I owe those bastards for stabbing me with a harpoon, and now for Carter.”
“Rigo, you’re fresh out of the hospital,” Tessa said.
“I’ll run ops. No running around, just bossing everyone around over the mic,” Rigo said. “If you’re going to an island, you may want a seaplane, and I can pilot one. I can run the mission from there, watch your backs. And a seaplane is small enough to stay off the radar.”
“It’s better than depending on the locals,” Adrian said.
“I’m still the leader of the Team,” Rigo said. “We can be your backup.”
“All right,” Darius said. “You can run the Team during the rescue. But definitely no combat, understand?”
Mendez nodded. “Whatever I can do to avenge Carter.”
“In that case,” Adrian said, “let me fill you in on a plan for tomorrow.”
* * *
Everyone in position? Rafe sent the mental whisper to all of them as he, Adrian, and Faith entered the Temple of Mneseus. Adrian had called ahead, and his presence got them past the guards unchallenged.
We’re set, Darius responded. We’re about a mile away, on the access road leading from the highway to the temple. Mendez and the Team are waiting for the go-ahead onboard the plane.
If all goes well, Rafe continued, they’ll give us the stone and we’ll meet you at the airport.
What if it doesn’t go well? Darius asked.
Then we’ll still meet you at the airport, but probably with legions of pissed-off Warriors on our tail.
Understood. We’re standing by to back you up if it all goes south, Darius said.
Gee, thanks, bro. Your confidence in us brings me to tears.
Just don’t cry in front of the Warriors. They’ll think you’re a pansy.
Adrian halted in front of the Hall of Judgment. This room is intimidating, he told Rafe and Faith. Don’t let them see you sweat. It’s just a power play. A show.
Got it, Faith sent back.
Let’s do this, Rafe sent.
Adrian nodded to the guards outside the chamber. “Rafe Montana of the Seers and Faith Karaluros, the Stone Singer,” he said in Atlantean. “We are expected.”
“Enter,” one responded in the same language. The two moved in tandem to open the double doors.
The hall stretched long and dark before them. The Twelve lined the corridor on each side, unmoving yet menacing. Adrian walked past them without so much as a glance, Rafe on one side and Faith on the other. They both copied his attitude and body language.
They halted before the dais where the three elders sat.
“Who comes before this Council?” Ezares intoned, his deep voice echoing through the hall. A deliberate tactic, and a favorite of his father’s. Adrian resisted the impulse to roll his eyes.
“Rafe Montana of the Seers and the Stone Singer Faith Karaluros seek an audience,” Adrian replied.
“I am Jasan,” one elder said. “These are my colleagues, Evenor and Ezares. You are welcome, Seer, Stone Singer.”
“Thank you for seeing us,” Rafe said. “We come on a matter of great urgency.”
“Indeed?” Gray-bearded Evenor peered down on them from his position on the dais.
“Azotay has kidnapped my parents and my fiancée,” Rafe said.
“Azotay.” Ezares’s face grew stony. “Criten’s attack dog.”
“This is most unfortunate,” Jasan said. “Why do you come to us?”
“We need the stone back,” Rafe replied. “That’s Azotay’s ransom demand.”
“Impossible,” Ezares said, with a slash of his hand.
“We cannot allow you to give the last Stone of Ekhia to Azotay,” Evenor said. “The risk is too great.”
“We have no intention of giving it to him,” Faith said, “but we do need it to fool him into releasing the Montanas.”
“Azotay is no fool,” Ezares said, “and neither is Criten. Clearly, we moved the stone here just in time. If he succeeded in capturing your parents, he could have easily taken the stone as well, had it still been in your possession.”
“Luckily, it is safe here,” Jasan said. “Catastrophe has been averted.”
“No, catastrophe has not been averted!” Rafe glared from one elder to the other. “He has my parents. He has my mate, Cara. He will kill all of them unless we produce the stone.”
“We understand your position,” Evenor said. “I wish we could help. Unfortunately, the repercussions of Azotay obtaining the stone for Criten are too dire to contemplate.”
“Every war has
casualties,” Ezares said. “We deeply regret that in this case, those casualties may include your family. Please accept our condolences.”
“So that’s it?” Rafe snapped. “I thought the Stones of Ekhia belonged to the Seers.”
“They belong to the Atlantean people,” Evenor said. “The Seers are only the ones who can use them.”
“We must keep the stone from the Mendukati,” Ezares said. “I regret we cannot grant your request at this time.”
“Grant my request? I’m asking for my property back!”
“We’re very sorry,” Evenor said. “If circumstances were different…”
“If circumstances were different, I wouldn’t be asking this,” Rafe said. “Are you certain you will not reconsider?”
“We cannot,” Jasan said. “The safety of many must take precedence over the fate of a few. We are very sorry.”
“But—” Rafe closed his mouth when Adrian clamped a hand on his arm.
“We thank you for your time and your wisdom,” Adrian said.
“We appreciate you bringing this matter before us,” Ezares said with a grand gesture of his hand. “We wish you well in finding another way to rescue your family.”
Adrian turned and pulled Rafe along with him, Faith trailing behind.
Your father’s an ass, Rafe sent.
No kidding. Time for plan B, Adrian sent to all four of them.
We’re ready, Darius replied.
We have to move fast, Rafe said, before they increase the guards around the treasury room.
Be careful, Tessa sent.
Get your Hunter going, Adrian said. There are three Warriors following us. I think the Council wants to make sure we leave peacefully.
They’ll be disappointed, Rafe sent back.
Adrian glanced at him. Rafe’s eyes had darkened to nearly black, a strange, alien stare. His features had somehow become harder, stonier. Less amiable Rafe and more don’t-screw-with-me. The Hunter, I presume?
Yeah, but still me, Rafe answered. Thanks to the new stone Faith made me. I have complete access to the Hunter but also stay me. No more blackouts.
They started to pass the corridor that led to the treasury room. Let’s do it, Adrian said.
As one, he and Rafe turned and engaged the Warriors.
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