“Not everything. Enough to know what Keara can do. Enough to see my best reconnaissance specialists get their arses kicked into the grave. We’ve been discussing Keara since then and missed the rest. Where’s the rogue?”
“He got away.” Enar glared at the males.
“You lost him. No whelp of mine—” Viktor snarled, his face red.
As if it moved of its own volition, Enar’s lip pulled into a snarl.
Alviss pointed his cane at Viktor. “Quiet! I’m tired of your squabbles.” He turned back to Enar as Viktor continued to snarl. “How did the Draconi escape?”
Enar shrugged, lowering his lip. He held no quarrel with Alviss. “He ran, I chased. He disappeared. I looked around and nothing. Keara was injured so I returned. The titanium sword is hidden for your retrieval.”
“And do you know who the Draconi is?”
“No sir.”
“He apparently knew Aryana. Said I was the ‘bitch’s nephew’ and to give my aunt his regards,” Thoren said. “May I go now? I need to see Keara.”
Alviss shook his head. “We’ll bring Aryana to us. You will stay to hear this.”
Two blinks and a popping noise later and Aryana stood beside Thoren. Her face pale, her eyes snapped wide, she stared at Alviss. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled through her nose.
“Alviss. How nice of you to bring me here without warning.”
“Aryana. Thoren tells me the rogue Draconi who attacked him seemed to know you. Do you know who he is?”
Aryana cut a quick glance to Thoren before returning her glare to Alviss. “My nephew did not describe the male, only that he wore a hood. Not even I can definitely determine who someone is without a description.”
“Give us your best guess.”
“I have banished a couple of Draconi during my service to the Goddess. The most recent banishment occurred four months ago. My guess would be Fasolt.”
Alviss’s eyes narrowed. “You banished someone without my knowledge?”
“It is not required for me to inform you of those who are banished. In case you forgot, I am the High Priestess. Part of the duties involves banishing those that need it. And Fasolt needed it,” she snarled.
“Why did you banish him?”
Aryana’s fists clenched. “He assaulted one of my priestesses, claiming it was her fault he did not see the Goddess during his session with her. She almost died. His face was...damaged in the struggle to subdue him. He swore revenge upon me. It sounds like him, but again, I was not there to see.”
“Did either of you know Fasolt?” Alviss turned to Thoren and Enar.
As one, the two shook their heads.
“No, sir,” Thoren answered for the two of them.
“This presents further issues for us to discuss. You can go now,” Alviss waved his hand and Aryana disappeared. “You may go too, Thoren. No, Enar, you stay. We need to know how to recover that titanium sword.”
Enar nodded at Thoren. Thoren slapped a hand on Enar’s arm.
I’m sorry for overreacting.
It’s all right. Get back to your female. Wish I could see my woman now.
You will soon.
Yes, but not soon enough.
With a nod and a quick turn of his lips, Thoren disappeared, leaving him alone to face the Council.
Chapter 20
Several hours later, Enar trod down the hall to his room. To where Lily awaited him. He couldn’t stop the grin from turning his lips. Wait until she heard about his adventures tonight.
Who would have thought Alviss hid a wooden chest that blocked the effects of titanium on the Draconi? And that none of the Council members realized such a chest sat in a dark recess of the Council’s Chamber? A spell must have been placed on the chest to hide its location since as soon as he left the Chamber, he could no longer remember the location of the recess that housed the chest.
No matter. The important thing was the chest now contained the titanium sword, thanks to a little rescue mission by him and Balthor. What a shame Balthor couldn’t have been his father.
All in the past. Once he showed Lily to his father, things would improve. Hope reigns eternal.
He shoved the door open to his room and as he thought, Lily sprawled in their bed. Small streams of morning light filtered through the shutters over the window and he stifled a yawn. He had all day to sleep. For now, he needed the touch of his woman, the feel of her skin on his. Proof she wouldn’t loathe him when he returned her to his village.
He needed to convince her she belonged to him. That she could never leave him. That no matter what happened in his village, he cared for her.
And what about the word that crossed his mind before he died? The “L” word that slapped him like a conviction? He dropped his weapons on the floor by his side of the bed, keeping them close in case they became needed. Clothes followed, soft drops against the wooden floor. He slid between the covers, running a finger up Lily’s arm, feeling the smoothness of her skin.
Watchers were warriors who lived in the moment, who fought to their last breath. They didn’t have such trivialities as the Draconi male’s sappy emotions. His brain clearly hadn’t spit out the “L” word as a real scenario. It had been dying. As a Watcher he didn’t need that word. He only needed the woman lying beside him.
“Lily, love. I’m back.”
****
Lily woke to the feel of Enar’s fingers stroking her arm. A dream. It had to be a dream. A memory. He died. Her visions never lied. But this felt so real. Like he lay in bed with her. Her eyes fluttered open.
He was in bed with her. She closed her eyes. Had to be a dream. Opened her eyes. Enar still lay in front of her, his fingers touching her skin. He felt real. He looked real.
“Enar?”
“Who else would it be?” His lips followed the trail of his fingers over the skin of her arm. Definitely felt real.
“I thought you died.”
He froze. “Why do you say that?”
“I saw you. After you left. You died from an energy blast. My visions never lie.”
“You have visions?”
“Sometimes. I don’t like them.” She refused to mention Aryana’s offer for her to live at the Temple and become the Temple Seer. No use in mentioning things that would never occur.
“You saw me die?”
“Yes. You need to be careful! I thought it happened last night, but it will happen soon.”
Enar rolled onto his back, one muscular arm thrown over his eyes. “It already happened.”
“What?” How could he say he died when he was beside her?
“Did you know Keara had certain abilities?”
Like making the blind see and healing the sick? “Like what?”
“Promise you won’t mention it? She doesn’t want others to know.”
“Promise.” Keara was her best friend. Didn’t she know everything about her?
“Keara has the ability to raise the dead.” All right, clearly she didn’t know everything about her best friend. “Thoren and I were killed on our mission to capture Simon and the rogue Draconi. You knew they kidnapped Keara in River’s Run and tonight they entered Draconi territory.”
Lily listened to Enar recount how they had been killed, how Keara raised them, how she now lay in a coma in the healing ward, all about Lord Simon’s death and the rogue Draconi escaping, and how the titanium sword was hidden in a wooden chest, which rendered its power over Draconi magic null. Her heart tripped an uneven rhythm.
“Will Keara be all right?”
“Aryana and Annaliese say she will.”
“And you? Are you all right?”
“Of course. It takes a lot to keep me down.”
Lily tried out a small smile and found it did nothing to calm the beat of her pulse. She almost lost him in the night. If not for Keara she would have. And now Keara lay in a coma.
“I’m glad you’re alive.”
Enar turned to face her. “Are you?”
“Of course. How can you think otherwise? I was so panicked when I saw you die that Annaliese had to spell me into sleep.”
His eyes widened. “You...enjoy my company?”
“Didn’t I just say that?”
His face broke into a smile, happiness slipping out to surround him like a cloak. “Woman, you make me happy.”
Her pulse still beat its erratic rhythm, but now for a whole different reason.
He reached for her, drawing her against him. She felt the hard planes of his chest, the steel bands he called arms, the erection pressed against her stomach. All warm and living, not the cold of death as her vision showed, as she had feared when the necklace slipped off her neck. Good thing she managed to repair the clasp on the beads. Enar would never know his death broke the clasp. And since the necklace stayed around her neck all night and Enar remained alive, perhaps it meant the magic holding the necklace on had returned.
What did it matter? He was with her now, warm and living. What difference did it make if the necklace broke earlier? As long as Enar didn’t find out about it, who cared?
Definitely not her. All she cared about this moment was the touch of his skin against hers, the press of his lips as they trailed from her ear to her breast.
Her hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, holding him to her as his tongue circled her nipple. Her vision narrowed, focusing on him, her world. Goddess, if Keara hadn’t raised him...
Settling his hips between her legs, Enar met her gaze and held it as he thrust himself into her. Lily gasped at the pleasant invasion, amazed how much she wanted him, needed him. One hand reached to stroke his cheek, the only way she knew how to tell him what he meant to her.
“Goddess, woman.” A slow slide out. “I missed you.” He slammed back into her, starting the whole process over.
“And I missed you. Oh, that feels good.”
His teeth flashed white. “Hmm. You like this—” he stroked into her, angling his hips to rub against the sensitive spot inside “—huh?”
“Oh, Goddess, yes!”
“Mmm. Good.” Lips nuzzled against her neck, causing chillbumps to run down her arm. She was almost there. If he would just stroke...one...more...time...yes!
She felt her body shatter, drowning in waves of pleasure crashing over her. One minute she floated alone in her bliss and the next Enar joined her, calling out her name with his release.
Tightening her hold on his shoulders, she pulled him closer to her, not minding that his powerful body threatened to suffocate her as it pressed her deeper into the mattress. Death by Enar. Not a bad way to go.
He rolled to the side, her body grasping his as he slipped out, his arms wrapping her against him. Security. Strength. Love.
She loved him.
The thought both scared and invigorated her. Invigorated, because that was what love did. Scared, because he would never return her feelings. And what would happen if she spent the rest of her life loving someone who did not return the feeling? She’d become like her mother, bitter, bickering, the way she swore she’d never be. So much for erecting a wall around her heart. Enar managed to shatter that barrier, chipping away at it brick by brick until he rescued her heart from its confinement. Now she would live with loving him and not having him return the emotion.
Sadness tainted her joy at his return.
What would happen when she went to his village?
Her heart skipped a beat. Not much time left until she’d meet his family. Did he have a family living? She tried to remember and came up with nothing. Either way, family or not, the whole thought of going to his village gave her chills. Odd that. She didn’t normally get chills thinking of a place. Maybe it was because she was nervous and he wouldn’t answer her questions.
Yes, that had to be it. Nothing else made sense.
“Enar. About going to your village.”
He stiffened, his entire body going ridgid. “Woman. I don’t want to talk about it. There’re better things to do with my lips than speak words. Let me show you.”
He did and she forgot the question.
Chapter 21
Lily stared at the squat white building set in the middle of the town and swallowed. Unlike the pristine temple of the Draconi, crumbling corners in desperate need of repair bled into the street. The white rock gleamed in the sun like teeth on a wolf. She tried to swallow, but it stuck in her throat.
Last night they attended Keara and Thoren’s wedding. Keara looked beautiful, no trace remaining of her brush with death. Her friend was happy with her mate, happy and glowing. Lily glowed too, but her gleam had more to do with the sun and less to do with Enar, who had been acting strange all morning.
Not once since they left the Temple grounds did he speak to her. Not to answer her questions. Not to reassure her. Where her caring lover went, she didn’t know.
But she really wanted him back.
Enar strode forward as if he couldn’t wait to drop her off at this squat house.
“What is that house?”
“That is the Claims’ House.” Not the best conversation, but at least he spoke. It beat the rest of the morning.
“All the claims live here?” What kind of place was this?
“Yes. You’ll meet my mother.”
“Your mother lives here?”
He nodded. Lily scampered to keep up with his long strides.
“Please don’t leave me here. I can stay with you.”
“No, you can’t. Claims stay here.”
“But—”
“No buts, woman. This is how it is.”
Lily’s jaw ached. If she clenched her teeth any tighter her face muscles might spasm and freeze in place. She wanted to speak back and she probably would have if they hadn’t turned down a street filled with blond male Watchers. All of whom were staring at her white hair and skin.
And why were they staring? Maybe it had to do with Enar insisting she leave her hood back, allowing all to see her unusual coloring. She felt their eyes on her like a brand, searing her to her soul and she shivered.
“Come, woman,” Enar gestured her forward until she stood beside him in front of the solid oak door barring entrance to the crumbling building.
The door was locked from the outside.
The outside.
Chills shook her body despite the heat of the sun. A glance at Enar showed a tense jaw, the muscles bunching under his skin. If she wasn’t so nervous, she’d make him think twice about leaving her to his mother’s whims.
Enar pushed the bolt back on the door, the metal bar sliding along the wood with a groan. She heard him draw a deep breath before shoving the door open. Scurrying, as if from a hoard of rats, sounded as flashes of white darted into the shadows, out of the way of the light streaming in. Rats? No, not rats, women. Lily blinked in the dimness and looked around, hoping the action would still the pounding of her heart.
No such luck.
Couches crowded the small antechamber they stood in, basking in the dim light filtering through high windows. That were barred. Her heart flopped like a beached fish.
“Ayla!” Enar bellowed as he shut the door behind him.
The entire house grew silent before the scurrying noises started. Even over the noise, Lily heard a distinct set of footsteps drawing closer. The scurrying stopped as the steps grew nearer.
A tall, thin woman with strawberry blonde hair shot liberally with gray stepped into the room. An aura of power surrounded her, similar to what Lily felt with the priestesses in the Temple. Similar to Keara’s. But much weaker. Still, the woman’s aura crept across her skin, its path raising chills.
But the woman’s power was not what made Lily gasp and take a step closer to Enar. It was her face.
Small beads had been placed in geometric designs across her cheeks, beautiful, and yet frightening. What did the designs mean? Why would someone decorate their face that way? If she had to venture a guess, she would think the designs a warning, some sort of beacon broadcasting
this woman’s power. The designs met at the bridge of her nose, a nose that had been broken judging by the lump on it. Lines bracketed her eyes. Laugh lines or lines of pain?
Maybe pain seeing how her arm hung at an odd angle as if it had been broken and not healed properly. A twin to Lily’s necklace hung about her neck and she was clothed in a white sleeveless dress.
The woman took one look at Enar and let loose with an exhale that drifted into the shadows of the room.
“Mother, I’d like you to meet my claim, Lily.” One hand gestured to Lily, his voice flat. “Lily, this is my mother, Ayla.”
Mother? Lily looked from Enar to the woman, forcing her mouth to close. Wonderful. His mother was more frightening than she thought. Would the woman kick her out?
His mother took another step into the room, cocking her head to the side as she peered at Lily.
“So you became like your father after all.” The word “father” was spat out like “dung heap” despite her voice sounding like bird song.
Clearly no love lost between the two of them.
Enar stiffened at her words, gritting his teeth as he spoke. “I am nothing like him.”
“And yet,” her hand waved toward Lily, “here is your claim. Did you take pleasure in her injuries? Did you give her a choice?” She advanced closer as she spoke. “Of course not. She is here, is she not? Depart from my presence. You have done what you came here to do. Go reap your reward.”
One hand grasped Lily’s upper arm, tugging her away from Enar and behind the woman before Lily could move or voice her displeasure. Clearly tall and thin did not equal weak.
Lily turned to stare at Enar, hoping he understood her silent plea not to leave her here with his mother, his powerful, obviously a little off, mother. But he either didn’t understand or didn’t care. Anger and hurt flashed in his eyes before he schooled his face into a blank mask. Not her lover, no longer the man she knew, he nodded once to his mother and turned to the door.
No! He couldn’t mean to leave her here. Surely not!
“Enar—”
He turned and faced her, cold blue eyes staring like ice, slicing her heart into shreds. Where was the Enar she knew and thought she loved? Where had he gone?
Warrior Lover (Draconia Tales) Page 20