But try as he did, lifting his massive arms overhead, battling and warring, Kelsey was completely caught up in Jared's power. No longer standing straight, she lifted upward on her back, her belly glowing bright. Before Thea could so much as blink, her queen had vanished completely, lost in Jared's golden, radiant energy.
If Thea didn't do something soon, they would all die—or at the very least, Kelsey's human body would be obliterated by the sheer force of nature unfolding all about them, as well as the child within her. Cursing everything and everyone, Thea lifted upward, allowing herself to be swept into the rushing force. She had a shot at Kelsey's legs; even though the g-forces pulled at her face, Thea grabbed Kelsey's calves, determined to pull her queen back to the ground. She'd be damned if she'd lose her best friend and cousin on the same day.
Right as she laid hold of the human's legs, an electrified field shocked her, catapulting her sharply backward until she slammed hard against the mitres's floor. Thea shook her head, disbelieving. Somehow, some way, Kelsey had created a force field, blocking the rest of them out. Or was it Jared who had created that perimeter? No, not Jared; every instinct told her that it was Kelsey herself who was shutting the rest of them out. Life or death, their queen was in this battle until the bitter end.
Chapter Twenty-six
Time drew to an awkward, jarring halt. Kelsey found herself face-to-face with her lifemate, knowing this was the very moment she'd spent years yearning for. At long last, she might actually touch him … and survive. The people below, whoever they were, didn't matter at all. Her impending death was nothing, an easy casualty when it came down to this—bonding with Jared in his natural state. Yet a thought teased at her awareness, something about the people below her, their identities. … Something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't be bothered with thinking why. The moment was only about Jared, about touching him. Nothing else mattered at all.
"I'm here, sweet love," she whispered into the golden wind roaring about her. "I won't hurt you."
A jolt of power yanked her higher into his flames, his massive force wrapping about her like the gentlest, wooing arms of a lover. Dimly, she was aware that she should be afraid, but this was Jared, and he couldn't hurt her. He'd never, not once, ever hurt her, no matter what form he took. Below her she could see only his fire, and a glance overhead revealed that the very mitres itself yawned like a great mouth to the beyond.
She might die here, and she was prepared to do so. There was no other purpose in her mind and spirit except reaching Jared. This was what everything, all the twining years between them, had come down to. This one moment. God, all she wanted was to caress him, the ache so palpable within her that she could barely keep her hands off the tunnel of golden light encircling her.
But it wasn't enough: He had to return to her. That was the real reason she was here, she reminded herself. Suddenly she remembered Thea, Jake, and Marco down below. They were all counting on her to reach Jared; this was his only, absolutely only, chance at ever coming back. As if in reaction to those thoughts, a rush of his flowing power shot down her spine, convulsing her and making baby Erica react in kind. The tiny child in her belly grew warmer and warmer, and Kelsey trembled, realizing that their baby was shifting into her own D'Aravnian form. In a panic, Kelsey clutched at her stomach, and that's when it hit her: She was surrounded—within and without—by pure, blazing energy.
It didn't seem possible that she'd ever survive.
But she would connect with Jared; she'd be damned if she didn't, and for the first time, she forced her eyes open, blinking against her lover's beautiful essence.
"Jareshk!" she cried over the roaring, blinding rush. "I know you're still here with me. I know you understand. You have to Change back! You have to find your physical body again."
In response, a lurching grip took hold of her, bright fingers of power trailing across her abdomen, her chest … her face. He was touching her, truly touching her, yet she wasn't destroyed.
"You know it's me," she shouted into the blaze. "You won't hurt me, not ever. Come back!"
Then, the first miracle: Within her spirit she heard him. For the first time since he'd become lost in his captivity, she heard Jared whisper across her soul.
Love … touch.
His words electrified her to the very core of her being. Whipping at the fury around her, she tried desperately to reach him, but he retracted. He'd beckoned her closer only to pull away.
Grappling at air and wind, she flailed her arms, dimly aware that she floated high above the mitres chamber floor. "I'm trying to touch you, Jareshk. Let me!"
Destroy!
She shivered, gripping her belly, Erica blazing hotter within her.
"Stop it, Jared!" she insisted. "Stop fighting me … stop fighting this. Come back, Jareshk. Come back to me! Come back to us!"
A desperate motion yanked her higher still, drawing her toward the gaping, roaring tunnel that led toward the heavens.
No … hurt… Kelsha!
After months of his pulling away, months of his warnings, something broke inside of her. A dam gave way, every emotion that she'd ever held back with him spilling outward, whipping wildly in the wind that tore at her very being. Too many times he'd retracted at the last moment, too many instances he'd been afraid of hurting her—and if she couldn't reach him now, everything inside her said that he'd be lost to them all forever.
With trembling hands, she fanned outward in a wide, tremulous arc that met nothing but stone-cold electricity. A shockwave of energy convulsed her entire body, but again she reached, this time touching what she could of Jared. Her fingers grew stiff as they met his power; electrified, her body jerked again in reaction.
"See?" she whispered into his storm. "I'm stroking you. You're not hurting me. I'm touching you … you're touching me." Then, it was as if he seeped into her very body, engulfing her. "You can't hurt me, Jareshk," she cried, free-falling into his core. In reaction, his otherworldly purring speared through her, sending a shiver down her spine. It coursed upward into her belly … and into Erica.
Shockwave after shockwave rent her, bone to skin, marrow to eternity. Her last conscious thought was of Jared's shimmering body beneath her fingertips, the way his unearthly skin yielded and shivered at her human touch.
Help … me! His distant voice reverberated through her being. Come back … you!
Marco shielded his eyes, trying desperately to track the unfolding action overhead. His queen had vanished in a blaze of glory, swept upward in a supernatural cacophony of motion and wind. If not for Thea's frantic reaching, he might have kept his distance, mesmerized by the mating between his king and queen. For surely that's what this had to be, the purest union between human and Refarian.
Jake tugged at his arm. "Go after her!" he shouted over the rushing noise that filled the mitres's center. "You're their Madjin!"
Marco gazed upward, feeling his whole body grow hot. "I can't invade that … intimacy." The thing was, watching their union was causing a terrible, burning itch inside his own body, that utter compulsion to Change. He felt entranced, unable to move.
Thea grabbed hold of his torso, beating him back against the mitres wall. "Marco. Marco!You have to Change."
"Baby, no!" He couldn't reveal the truth. Not here, not ever! The itch inside his marrow increased, became louder and louder. … He became more and more compelled to Change into his D'Aravnian state.
Thea slapped him hard across the face, jerking him against the smooth wall of the mitres. "Don't you see what's happening?" Her blue eyes blazed furiously, bringing him back to reality. "Kelsey is dying up there. You are the one person … the only person who can possibly stop him from killing her."
Marco's heartbeat grew slow, sped up, flailed wildly inside his chest. "Why me?"
"Because you're his brother, his Madjin. … I've already tried connecting with him, but it didn't work. With your empathy and your biological connection, you might be able to do it."
Dimly
, Marco was aware of Jake having a reaction, of his surprise and shock. Shaking his head, he sank harder against the wall. "I could destroy him," he uttered, pressing his eyes tightly shut. "I can't control my gift, not here."
"Damn it all, Marco!" Thea slapped him harder, knocking his jaw against the wall again. Some dim part of his soul understood that she was reaching past gravity itself, struggling to connect with him. "You are the one. Will you do it or not? This is everything you trained for. … Save him! Save them, please!"
Marco steeled himself. Vaguely aware of his mate's angry gaze—and even more so of Jake's incredulous one—he struck out into the center of the chamber. Dropping onto his haunches, he folded inward, aware of his own D'Aravnian power, aware of his own quaking need to Change … and turned.
In a fluid motion, he was nothing more than pure power, shooting upward into the vast overhead spiral. Rational thought left him; verbal capacity vanished. In a shuddering instant he was everything that his own brother was … pure, unquestionable energy.
Speeding past Kelsey, only slightly aware of her human body, he undulated into the sphere of energy. Forsaking all pretense, disregarding all his lies, he came face-to-face with his king … and brother.
Connection was shockingly easy; he felt Jared more than communicated, bridging the gulf that should have separated them. His own sheer force imploded against his brother's, striving, battling … communicating. Without any real purpose, his empathy engaged—power to power. Golden energy to golden energy.
Come down, Marco urged wordlessly. Change! Unlike Jared, he'd spent only moments in his natural form, so communication remained almost effortless. Jared, on the other hand, had become utterly irrational after so many hours in Form.
Kelsey vibrated between them, her vulnerable human body still levitating within the mass of his brother's humming power. She jerked at his intrusion, spinning a strange, hypnotic circle, but Marco pushed right past her.
Jared! Must … return!
A startling wave of pain nearly sent Marco plummeting back to the floor, but he persevered, battling ahead. My lord, transform! Release … queen!
Jared's utter confusion assaulted him. His king didn't understand how he, his Madjin, had Changed.
Brother, follow me, Marco continued. Release her. … Come with me. Return with us!
He had nothing to offer, nothing spectacular or more convincing than Kelsey did … except one thing. His empathy. The link he forged with Jared began to quiver, came alive as if it were a vibrant power line. Jared was confused but responding for no other reason than Marco's simple ability to link with him—his empathy was as basic as Jared's form, honest and undeniable.
Brother! Marco murmured again, a shimmy across the thin emotional bond that linked them. Return to us. … Release … queen.
Gently, Kelsey began to lower back to the floor, spinning slowly downward—Marco sensed her descent more than saw it. Yet Jared remained swirling in the center, not Changing at all.
How?
Marco flinched at the question, retracted a bit; not that Jared was angry, just … confused.
It was now or never, now or never. … Jareshk, Change!
With an audible snap, the roaring being before him vanished, a hard thud sounding even above the din within the chamber. Only Marco remained, still in his natural state.
Jared collapsed face-first on the floor, his naked body heaving and shivering. Kelsey rushed forward, wrapping herself atop him.
"Get a jacket around him, hurry!" Thea pushed at Kelsey, trying to pry her off of Jared. "He needs to be wrapped in this, right now. His body temperature is dropping fast."
Kelsey shoved Thea aside, yanking her shirt overhead. "No, he needs the warmth of my body. It's hypothermia, that's what you're telling me, and that means he needs my own body's heat."
Kelsey unsnapped her pants, yanked them low about her body, not worrying about Jake or anyone else in the chamber seeing her naked. Jared moaned low, practically convulsing with tremors, and Kelsey draped her whole body atop his, the pregnant mound of her belly pushing into his back.
"It's okay," she cooed gently in his ear, holding tight to him. Inside her stomach, Erica still burned intensely, and Kelsey hoped that maybe some of their baby's warmth was getting to him.
"I—I …" Jared's voice trailed off.
"Shh, it's okay. It's all right. You're here with us," she soothed, stroking his hair with one hand, holding tight to his waist with her other. "You're safe now. So safe, dear Jareshk."
Overhead a rushing wind pulled at her hair, her body, and then there was only stillness. A loud thud resounded beside them, the whole chamber growing quiet afterward. Kelsey opened her eyes and saw Marco collapse right beside Jared, shivering and naked, too.
Thea covered Marco with her jacket, murmuring something in his ear, and Kelsey returned her full focus to Jared. For long, long moments he lay on the floor, trembling beneath her, saying nothing. Just shaking, and it was only after a few moments that she realized he was crying.
She rested her cheek against his shoulder. "You're all right; you know you are. You're back where you belong."
He reached a hand behind him, feeling for her, and rose. Only then did she see the harsh, brutal welts all across his back, and she shuddered.
"I'm so sorry. Gods, Jared, I'm sorry for what we had to do." Tears squeezed out of her eyes, and she reached a tender hand to touch one of his worst wounds. Even though he flinched, she pressed her lips to the mark, kissing him as gently as she could. "I just couldn't lose you. None of us could."
"Kelse …" Jared struggled to his knees. She knelt beside him, stroking his long hair, his face. A swollen gash ran from his forehead straight down his nose, a brutal ridge; his eyes were red with tears, but he was with her. Her king had returned.
For several long moments he worked his jaws, struggling to speak. "I—I was … so … lost," he finally managed to stammer. And then he reached for her, pulling her tight within his arms. "You … saved me, sweet love. Your love … found me."
"I'm right here, right here." She buried her face against his neck, drinking in his scent. Wrapping her arms tightly about his torso, she felt the sticky dampness of his fresh blood and cringed. What they'd been forced to do to save him made her shudder; the price had been almost too much to bear. But not when she imagined having lost him forever.
Jared reached a shaky hand to her hair, stroking, then pulled back suddenly. "Erica?" He gaped down at her glowing belly. "Our baby is safe?"
Kelsey couldn't help laughing, a tinkling, joyous sound that welled up from deep inside her soul. "She missed her daddy, that's all. She's perfectly fine."
Jared dropped his head, bending low … and planted a sweet kiss against her belly. She held his head against her bare stomach, stroking his thick, gleaming hair, and prayed silently, thanking the gods for his return.
"Where's Marco?" Jared jerked upright, his black gaze sweeping the room. For the first time in many moments Kelsey remembered their observers.
She glanced around and discovered that Marco was propped against the far wall, his face flushed and covered in a sheen of perspiration. Thea squatted beside him, pressing a bottle of water to his lips. Jake stood on the far side of the room, eyes shut, looking utterly exhausted.
Jared lifted his hand, gesturing toward Marco. "Come closer." His voice was thick and hoarse. "Come to me, Madjin, if you're able."
Marco had been in the whirlwind with them, Kelsey remembered suddenly. He had helped Jared. And he had been pure D'Aravni himself.
"My lord," was all the man whispered, slumping against the wall, a look of utter shame on his face.
Jared coughed, a whole spasm racking his brutalized body. "My brother," he said at last, "we must talk."
Marco glanced uncertainly at Thea, who stood, helping him to his feet. "Go on," she prompted, her voice gentle and filled with love. "It's time, Marco. Way past time that you told him the truth."
"I already know the truth.
" Jared wrapped both arms about his torso protectively, leveling Marco with his stare. "But I need to hear it from you, brother."
Marco gazed up at Thea, thousands of words seeming to pass between them, and then at last took her offered hand. He stumbled to his feet unsteadily, then crossed the small distance to Jared's side, dropping into a crouch. He kept Thea's uniform jacket around his waist, covering himself, and dipped into a low, reverent bow right against the floor.
Marco said nothing, waited. Kelsey watched the two men, the struggle evident on Jared's face. As confused as she was, she had no doubt that this moment would be etched within her mind for the rest of her life.
At last Jared reached a shaking hand, cupping the back of Marco's head with a tender gesture. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Marco's hands flattened against the floor of the chamber, his bow becoming more pronounced—but he said nothing.
"How long have you known?" Jared whispered, never moving his hand from atop Marco's bowed head.
"My lord, I beg of you …" Marco's voice broke.
"Tell me, Madjin. Are you truly my brother?"
Marco sighed. "Yes."
"Yet you kept this fact from me?"
Marco pressed his forehead against the floor, hesitating, then, "Yes."
Jared removed his hand from Marco's head, his voice assuming an angry timbre. "Why, in All's name, would you not have told me the truth?"
Marco didn't answer, and Kelsey sought out Thea across the room. Her friend's eyes were so deeply troubled, so melancholy, that she knew she had to intervene. "Jared, give him time. Okay? Just give him time. This has been a very big day for all of us."
"I don't want to give my brother time!" he roared, rearing back on his haunches. "My Madjin is a D'Aravni. … He just saved my life. I felt his love and respect for me, yet he chose to keep the truth from me? He chose not to tell me that he's my own brother?" Jared began to tremble. "You will answer me, Madjin. Why did you not tell me?"
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