“It feels like a summoning. The power here is being fed from afar and poured into someone,” she paused, “or lots of someone’s. That would explain why the reverberation is so vast.” She made a frustrated noise. “Why isn’t clear. Why are the witches looking down here now? It’s like they’re looking for something.”
“Or someone,” Tomas murmured.
Despite their seeming dislike of each other they shared an alarmed look. Then all eyes turned to me.
“They know,” Ana whispered. “Somehow the witches know about you, and where you are. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” She turned to Tomas accusingly. “What have you done?”
“Nothing,” he hissed back.
I held up both my palms. “Well, this isn’t my fault. The only witch I’ve been near is you Ana, and why blame Tomas for this? He’s been down here the whole time.”
Ana lifted her chin. “Do not presume to know everything about him, Rae.”
“Don’t push me, witch,” Tomas snarled.
Ro took a bracing breath then held out his hand to Lex who grabbed onto it and pressed it to her face. He grimaced, but did not pull away. “Listen, we need to move. We be exposed here and they will search the wall perimeter and the prisons. The Clerics we killed will be found in a few minutes at best.” He looked at me pointedly. “You know how it works, Rae.”
I kind of yelped an agreement at him, my emotions suddenly clutching my airways in a vice like grip. My head snapped round in the direction of the siren call, and I gasped, trembled.
“Rae?” Ana called over the klaxon sounding worried.
I breathed out and flushed. My skin felt too small for my body, tight. I ran a hand over my lower stomach, letting my fingers slowly brush the soft fabric. My breaths increased until I panted. I pushed my hair back and remembered the feeling of Breandan running his hands through my hair.
Amelia’s nose lifted and she sniffed the air a few times. Her eyes roamed before they settled on me and she purred.
Nimah stuck her nose up and sniffed too then she watched me strangely. “I thought only my kind had mating cycles … but she smells like she’s in heat.”
Hearing this, my hands dropped to my sides and my mouth swung open, but my attention was diverted yet again. My heart pounded and my knees shook. My wings uncoiled. My tail wound round my legs, sliding up and down. I whimpered and my eyelids drooped as I focused on the tingly buzz that drew closer.
“Rae,” Ana said slowly, her eyes unfocused. “Is Breandan coming? Can you feel him through the bond?”
I nodded weakly, sighing at his name. “He’s coming.” The irresistible tug had my whole body swinging to the direction he was coming from.
“What’s wrong with her?” Nimah asked. “She’s more twitchy than usual.”
“Her lack of awareness is a side effect of the bond,” Ana explained. “She and Breandan are two halves of a whole. As they draw closer the urge to touch each other will increase until they, well, crash together and blow up. He’s coming for her and she can sense him. That level of emotion must be distracting.”
I swear, just thinking of Breandan’s body beneath my hands had heat pooling low in my belly. Had I been in my normal frame of mind I would have been shamed by my body’s reaction. I felt sensitive, like the air merely brushing my skin would cause me to– I swallowed loudly.
“Is this normal?” I shook my hands, trying to physically shake the feeling off my fingertips. “It feels like I’ll combust unless he’s…. I want him, right now. Here on the ground and I’ll–” Cutting off I blushed furiously.
“Please go on,” Nimah said dryly, clearly enjoying the spectacle I was making of myself.
Ro snickered, Lex looked perplexed, and Ana’s cheeks were pink – she could not meet my eye.
Tomas, stood silently taking this all in, looked supremely pissed off.
“I told you,” Ana said shaking her head. “I told you what it would be like.”
I spun round and jabbed a finger at her. “You never said it would be like this. You never said I would want him to … to just … Unguh. I want him.”
“You need to calm down,” she ordered. “You’re no good to us like this.”
Running my hands down my body I shuddered, thinking of Breandan’s lips on mine, his hand on my waist, lower back. His hips grinding…. My eyes landed on the Temple wall then drifted up….
Ana followed my gaze then cried, “Wait!”
Too late, I jumped and beat my wings clearing it in one bound and landed silently the other side. Not that my impressively quiet landing mattered.
I dropped down right in front of two Clerics.
They kind of jumped, glanced at each other, baffled, then drew their weapons and took up warrior stances. An immediate hail went up and the edges of the courtyard filled with Clerics.
“…so we need to catch her.” I heard Ana’s agitated voice from the other side of the wall as I paused, trying to decide what was best here. I did not want to hurt them, but the way they paced forward made it clear they had every intention of hurting me.
Lex landed on one Clerics back, digging her thumbs into his eyes. Tomas appeared behind the other and snapped his neck. The shout to tell them not to kill died on my lips. I was way too late. Amelia and Nimah landed at my sides; both human, and took hold of my arms.
“Real clever, fairy,” Nimah sighed shaking her head.
I itched to smack the smirk of her pretty face, but punching her would be like smacking Amelia, who I was fond of.
Ro scrambled over the wall, unlaced boots kicking wildly, Runt hanging on his back still. He jumped onto a nearby tree, grabbing hold of the branch to shimmy down. Runt fell off him as he hit the floor but was back up on his feet in a flash.
Ana followed her face red from the exertion of climbing. Both feet back on solid ground, she calmly walked up beside me and put her hands on her hips, frowned at the dead Clerics. Rather she frowned at Tomas who was latched onto a neck, slurping. We all watched him for a moment or so then got freaked out, and looked away.
Vampires were quite terrifying. I would hate to have to deal with more than one at a time; I don’t think my heart would survive it.
“Rae, when you and Breandan touch none of us must be in the immediate area,” Ana said.
I tore my eyes from the horizon, from the direction I knew Breandan was coming from. Each step he took heightened my awareness of him. It was moving closer to a bonfire, and with each step toward it the temperature increased. Right now the heat was a balm across my skin, getting warmer, and soon it would burn me up. I needed to touch him, to hold him, to lick–
Fingers snapped in front of my face. “Rae, focus.” I blinked repeatedly and looked at Ana. Her face was right up in mine and I took half a step back before she grabbed my shoulder to shake me. Gods, the way she behaved reminded me of myself sometimes. “You must wait before you touch. You’ll want to rip his clothes off, but you have to wait.”
At these words, I bared my teeth, anger bubbling forth. “Why? We’ve been apart too long. He’s mine.” My voice was a growl.
She sighed. “Would you listen to yourself? Does anything you are doing right now seem logical and sane? You have to give us time to get away before you touch. Don’t let the bond control you. You control it and you must….”
Not really listening anymore, I nodded ardently, my eyes roving across the courtyard, over the gathering Clerics heads. “Can’t you feel it?” I groaned and reached out. “It’s all hot and fidgety growing stronger inside me.”
Ana stomped a large circle muttering curses.
Tomas dropped the body of the Cleric he had been drinking to the ground then snatched up the wrist of the other and bit down. Lex watched him hungrily, but Ro had a tight grip on her, expression stony.
“What’s the big deal,” Nimah asked eying me. “She and lover boy bump uglies and she’ll mellow out. All the females go nutty once a season on the Pride; soon as they are mated they’re fine.”
“How long have she and Breandan been apart for?”
“At least,” Amelia looked up and to the left, “ten hours.”
Ana frowned, worried. “The buildup of power starts from the moment they stop touching. It’s not so bad if they separate and keep the physical distance relatively small. Say, if they’re five minutes from each other for half a day, you may see a spark when they touch, nothing to be alarmed about. Across such a distance we’re looking at a blast radius of about a mile.”
“Blast radius?” Amelia echoed, startled.
“And the bond reacts to their emotional state. If they were happy and only separated under pleasant circumstances the effect wouldn’t be so powerful. But with Rae’s mind under such strain, and you can bet Breandan is almost chewing his fingers off for lack of touching her….” She let the sentence drop. “Based on what I saw mere days ago they can’t control their bond yet. A nexus will open and since they’ll probably be focused on slacking their need for each other their entire focus will be absorbed in sensation, not on the magic exploding around them. With practice they will be able to manipulate the connection to achieve wondrous works. But that takes self-control. When the pressure is on Rae’s not big on self control.” She pointed to me and her voice was shrill. “Does she look in control? Right now all they’ll manage is an explosion of raw energy that we’ll all be caught in.”
Some of what she said filtered through to me. “Are you trying to say that if Breandan touched me,” in spite of everything I trembled in anticipation of such a touch, “when you guys are near that–”
“We could die? Yeah, pretty much. I’m seeing a few paths were you collide without warning and I can tell you it’s not pretty … for anybody other than you. All I see is blackness and roughly translated that means I’m dead.”
“Leave then,” I muttered.
Amelia and Nimah simultaneously took a step back, eyes wide. They looked at each other and I saw the instinct to get the hell away from me warring with their instinct to stand by the one who had rescued them.
At least a forty Cleric’s were scattered across the opposite side of the courtyard now, watching us suspiciously.
Amelia spun to me, gripped my arm in a death grip. “Why did you come back for us?”
I managed to tear my eyes away from the sea of crimson, and frowned at her. “I made an oath.” I shrugged. “I had to keep it.”
“Father says fairies are bound by magic to keep their word,” Nimah told her sister, but even she did not sound convinced.
Amelia was struggling. She let go of my arm and looked at the Clerics whose numbers still increased. “The chances of you surviving this.... Why did you come back?” She was truly astounded. “You could have run to your mate.”
Runt blinked up at me too.
I swallowed hard. I heard the lies ringing in my ears, proclamations this somehow benefited me, but in truth, nothing about this situation had ever been good for me. Yes, I had made a bargain, but I could have left them there and gone back to the Pride. You see, I knew in my heart that the Sect would have moved them, and then how would we have found them again? I could not have left knowing what horrible things they would endure … possibly worse since Tu would be enraged by my escape.
“It was my responsibility. I feel....” I sighed. “I feel responsible for you.”
She watched my blank face carefully. Her own smoothed out as if she had just found the answer to a complex question. “So you’re the Priestess the fairies have been looking for.” She rubbed her own forehead. “Is that what the gold on your head means? I’ve never seen that before.”
I hesitated. “Why would you think that?”
“We shifters try to stay out of the mess that demonkind created for itself, but you are legend. Every learned demon knows about you. That and Conall the fairy has been searching for you for a long time.
“You know my brother,” I whispered.
She smiled. “My great grandmother was my age the first time he came to our Pride searching for word of you.”
There was no time to dwell on what I had just learned. My past was key to my future, but every time I drummed up the strength and courage to look back, I found nothing but death, horror, and pain.
My head lolled as I breathed in the scent of the fire drums. It was familiar and comforting – the smell of ash and damp concrete. Spots of fire with flames that looked purple broke the solid night. The stars did not twinkle overhead there was too much cloud cover.
“I’m sorry we have to fight,” I said, “but please try not to kill anybody, especially the Disciples. They just don’t understand.”
The shifters reached a decision and nodded to each other once. Amelia said. “We’re with you, Rae. By coming back to save us you have earned our loyalty. Our Alpha would approve of this alliance.”
Nimah did not blink an eyelid at Amelia’s swift decision. She acknowledged and respected her sister’s words without question, which was interesting since Nimah did not seem one to follow others without causing trouble.
“I’m going cat.” Amelia finished firmly and crouched down, her face already contorting into a grimace.
“Crazy fairy going to get us all killed,” Nimah muttered and watched her sister initiate her Change. Her gaze drifted to me. “If she wasn’t Alpha female this would have gone down differently. I want you know that.”
I shrugged, my attention already focused elsewhere. Hell, I was barely ware of the scorching heat that emanated from Amelia’s quivering body. Her shrill cry as her bones popped and muscles tore did not puncture my lust induced haze.
A frozen hand landed on my shoulder, and I jumped. Lex smiled the runes on her cheek crinkling. She had snuck up on me again. Her zombie movement was so creepy. I could not feel, hear, or smell her at all. She was a void. If ever she turned on me, she would be a force to be reckoned with.
Her hand slipped from my shoulder and she glided forward to go stand beside Ro. Runt ambled around the floor by his ankles as he snapped his neck left to right. Jumping up and down on the spot, Ro punched his fits in a way that showed he knew how to use them, and tipped his chin defiantly toward the line of Clerics that advanced.
I offered my hand to Runt and placed his cool palm on mine. He was so small and skinny, yet he clutched at me with a strength that defied his fragile appearance.
I looked deep into his eyes and in a serious voice said, “If I die you run, understand?” His huge eyes blinked up at me then he nodded. Satisfied, I let him go. I was not worried; he knew how to protect himself. I just hoped that he would be able to escape unscathed if this went sour.
Amelia had finished shifting, and slinked back and forth before our odd defensive line. She was a tad stockier than her twin as human, and in cat form, this revealed itself in greater muscle definition. Nimah remained human, her wiry arms crossed over her chest and eyes slitted as she took in the advancing line of red. Briefly, I wondered what she would look like in cat form, and why out of the two Amelia always shifted.
Tomas simply inclined his head at me then disappeared into the shadows at the edge of the courtyard.
The Clerics drew their weapons; the first few paced forward, boots stomping across the concrete. Disturbingly, Disciples now watched from the shadows, faces ashen and wild with anticipation of the fight. If they decided to take up arms and fight there would be too many. Magic or no magic, there were too many, and I had not the stomach to wield magic with the intention to kill them.
“He won’t make it in time,” I said quietly, tears pricking my eyes.
Ana patted my arm and I shrugged her off. Gods, these people, and the touching.
“Have faith, Rae,” she said. “He’ll get here soon. He’ll find you.”
Taking a deep, bracing breath I set my two feet apart. I drew strength from Ana’s unwavering confidence my mate would make it here in time to save me so I could save him. Hmm. This was not one of my more intelligent moves. Then why did it feel like I needed to b
e here, right now?
I sensed him draw nearer, moving impossibly fast across the earth to reach my side. I could feel the determination, his single-minded goal to reach me.
My tail cracked like a whip and my wings, fully healed, spread, reflecting a brilliant gold light onto the ground before us. I took hold of the Source, bared my teeth, and hissed menacingly.
Like a punch to the gut I felt a panicked command slam into my mind.
Be still.
Chapter Six
Eyes wide I spun looking for the source of the noise. I knew his voice, his presence, but had never felt him so strongly in my mind before.
A screaming Cleric fell from the sky, and hit the floor in the centre of the courtyard with a loud thump, arms and legs sprawled. This in itself would have caused a stunned reaction, but since Conall was crouched on his chest as he’d rode the Cleric to the dirt like a sled created some uproar.
Broad chest bare his dark hair flowed across his shoulders. His brawny legs were covered with dark leather plates engraved with leaves, and a think strap of leather latched his sword to his back.
A Cleric half mad with rage bounded toward him and a small ball of fire appeared in Conall’s hand. He sent it at the man with a wide throwing motion and it collided with his face in a shower of sparks and blood. Conall calmly unsheathed his sword and sounded an ululating wail to the sky. Then he set his legs apart and braced himself.
The wall of Clerics roared in fury and surged forward.
A swirl of fiery hair and green limbs dropped down to stand behind my brother. Maeve, with a bow in hand, dressed in amour sleeker and darker than Conall’s, hissed at the line of Clerics. She notched her bow and sent and arrow flying in one smooth fluent move, ducking as a tazer probe went flying overhead from a Clerics gun even as her arrow impaled him.
A panther with long white whiskers leapt down beside her, and brushed his boxy head and ebony flank across the back of her calves.
A massive male cougar, his entire body rippling with muscle under mottled yellow-gold fur, followed him. The were-cat – missing one eye – had fluffy tufts sticking out of his pointed ears, and his mouth opened wide to release a loud string of enraged growls.
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