You think of your man, Hawk.
“I am. I think of him all the time. I can’t seem to help myself.” She stood up. “What happens after we die?”
What makes you think I would know an answer like that?
“Wishful thinking? All right, enough of this, whatever is about to happen, lets let it happen. No more playing around. I can’t hide from this.”
As you wish.
Hadley sat up in bed. Leon was shoved up against the wall; Hawk had a dagger against his neck. “If she dies, you die too. If she lives, you may die anyway.”
“Hawk.” Her voice sounded like a croak and she shivered uncontrollably. Evidently waking up did not constitute being out of trouble.
Hawk turned his head to the sound of her voice. He threw Leon into the chair next to the bed. “Don’t move. There is nowhere you can go that I won’t hunt you.”
In two strides, he reached her side and knelt down next to her. “Hadley, you have to stop this, it’s killing you. I don’t know what happens to you if you die here. Your body is still on Haven.”
She tried to smile. “I get the impression I’m a dead woman either way.”
Hawk roared and she shivered from the sound. She knew she loved him, but she’d been unclear as to his exact feelings. In that one noise, she knew everything he felt. Reaching up, she stroked his cheek.
“Don’t kill Leon. He’s king here, I can’t imagine that responsibility.”
“He’s nearly destroyed you for his own gain.”
Hadley raised an eyebrow and Hawk looked down at the floor. “I’m no better, am I?”
“For a while, it seemed everyone used me for what they wanted, but ultimately I made my own choices. I wanted to get off that boat, find a way to save Hailey and myself from death at the age of thirty, and I did that. Leon has tried seemingly forever to save his people from destruction. I couldn’t stand the thought of them dying out and I couldn’t allow any other women to be taken against their will. I wanted to help.” Hadley coughed violently and when the wracking finally eased up, she looked down at her hand to find it covered with blood. Her eyes met Hawk’s and she saw reflected in his what she already knew: that was not a good sign.
“Dragon.” Hawk’s voice was no more than a hiss. “Fix this.”
Hadley hadn’t even been aware Dragon was in the room. She blinked and she stood in front of her. She expected to see intrigue and intellectual interest shown in his eyes but instead she was horrified to see sadness and regret.
“This is beyond my powers, Hawk.”
“No.” Hawk pounded his fist on the bed. “She saved all those women, this entire planet. They have bodies back, they can go anywhere, regain their lives if they choose and you’re telling me there is nothing in your vast stream of knowledge that can save her from this?”
Hadley kept waiting for Hawk’s temper to explode. With this amount of distress, Hawk should be throwing chairs and yet he remained still. She squeezed his hand. “Hawk, I have to tell you that really I am the most fortunate woman to ever live because even though I’ve known you only a brief time, I’ve fallen absolutely in love with you. I don’t think most people, no matter what dimension they live in, ever get to experience that.”
Hawk’s eyes were huge. “Don’t say that Hadley. Don’t say it like that. That means you think you’re going to die and you need to tell me. I love you too but this isn’t the only time we’re going to say it. There are going to be lots of opportunities.”
She tried to shrug and groaned instead. “Well, just in case there aren’t.”
“Don’t say it.”
“I think I might be able to help.” Leon rose from the chair and Hawk jumped, putting himself between Hadley and Leon.
“Hear him out, brother.” Dragon took two steps away from the bed and turned his back on the scene, but Hadley had the impression he still listened very closely to what was going on.
“It’s an old power. No one has used it since the women died because it didn’t work back then, but it’s a spell designed to set things on the correct path. If your death is not what the universe wants, it will put you back where you belong.”
Hawk nodded. “Do it.”
Dragon cleared his throat. “Is there anything we can do to help you prepare for it?”
“No, I just need a moment.”
The heat inside Hadley’s body fumed again. How much more fixing could this damn dimension need? She closed her eyes. If there was any chance whatever Leon was about to do might work, then she needed to hold on, but it was getting harder and harder. Hawk placed his hand on her forehead.
“She is unbelievably hot.”
“By all that is and all that will be, set things onto the correct path. If this woman should live, let her live” Leon intoned.
Hadley couldn’t even open her eyes to see if any sort of movements accompanied what Leon said.
“Holy cow.” Dragon’s words of wonder filled the silent room. Seconds later, Hawk screamed and Hadley felt herself floating. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but at least she was finally cool. That was her final thought as she tumbled into oblivion.
Chapter Twenty
Hawk whirled on Leon. The tornado that had filled the room disappeared in a blink of an eye with Hadley inside of it.
“Where did she go?” In two seconds, Leon would be a dead man, king or no king.
“I have no idea. I thought she’d stay on the bed, either alive or dead, depending on what the universe willed.”
Hawk narrowed his eyes and grabbed Leon’s throat. “You thought there was a possibility she might die and you did it anyway?”
Dragon put his face right next to Hawk’s. “All he did was ask the universe to set things on the right path. You were here. He spoke a few words, the winds started, and Hadley vanished. We need to think. I know you’re crazed. I’ve never felt like you feel for Hadley but I can see what it is doing to you. Now, put the King down and let’s look at this logically.”
Damn! Dragon could be infuriating when he was right. Hawk let go of Leon, who sucked in a few breaths. Maybe he’d squeezed a little too tight. Hawk really didn’t care.
Dragon snapped his fingers. “Her body. She’s gone back to her body.”
Hawk nodded. “I bet you’re right.”
“So let’s return and see what’s happened. Can you return us all from different spaces or do we all need to be together again?”
Nodding, Dragon smiled. “I think I can manage to include all of the men regardless of their physical location.”
“I expect you to keep your word to Hadley. You will not go after any more women and the ones who want to leave can.”
“We’ll have to find some willing women, but if they want to stay, perhaps they can now give us female children.”
They’d better be getting their children. After what Hadley put herself through he’d be damned if it didn’t turn out the way she wanted. The blinding white light he’d seen the first time he travelled to Shadow Land filled his vision and he stood absolutely still, knowing Dragon had sent them back. His fists clenched at his sides, he willed Hadley to stay with him, to not leave him alone in the universe. He’d never survive without her.
With a bump, he hit the floor. Looking around, he quickly assessed he was back in the living room. A hand grabbed his arm. Hoping it was Hadley, he jerked his head up. His mother’s worried gaze met his.
“I’ve been pacing around here waiting for you to return.”
He pulled himself up. “Where is she?”
Leopard shook her head. “That’s just it. I have no idea. One second I was wiping her brow, the next, she vanished. Poof. Into thin air.”
“Damn it. Dragon?”
“Where could she have been sent if not here?” Dragon bit his fingernail and stared blankly into space. Hawk would have done anything to hear his brother’s thoughts right now. A loud commotion filled the room as not just his men but all of Hadley’s sisters hit the floor violently.
Stunned silence, thick as pea soup, took over the atmosphere. Seconds later, the loudest uproar he’d ever heard deafened his ears. Men were talking over each other, the women shrieked and cried, and his mother gasped and backed into the wall behind her.
“You brought them back with you?”
“Ah…” Dragon stuttered and Hawk internally groaned. It couldn’t be good that his brother seemed flustered. “I didn’t mean to.”
Stone stepped into his vision. “Hawk, I was right in the middle of a battle in those cursed mines. Send us back, we can beat them.”
“Forget the mines. I know it’s frustrating but we have pressing matters. The Lady Hadley has vanished. We thought she’d been sent back here.”
“Hawk,” a voice he hadn’t heard in longer than he cared to remember caught his attention. “Is it true what Annabelle says? Did Hadley make it possible for all of us to leave that place?”
“Deirdre,” He couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face, he was so glad to see her. In her brief life on earth, they’d been good friends. “She did. She may have sacrificed herself for it too. We have no idea what happened to her.”
“All of these women? They’re … Hadley’s sisters?” His mother looked as if she wanted to vomit. In all of his years, he couldn’t remember Leopard ever having this much female company around at the same time. Men were common, his father often hosted the Warriors here, but with the exception of his sister Rabbit, women were a rarity.
“That’s right. They are the missing daughters of Zamara, princesses of Haven. They’ll need to be brought to Astor. Can you arrange that, mother?”
She nodded and her eyes cleared. Leopard was task-oriented; he’d known she would do better if she were given an assignment.
Hawk turned his attention to the other sisters. Hadley would want him to make sure they were all right. He shook his head. No, he couldn’t allow himself to start to think of her in the past tense, as if that was a given. Amazing people surrounded him, someone would find her, and then he would go and get her.
Annabelle looked the same as she had when last he’d seen her in the Shadow Land, only less red. She sat by herself, off to the side, and a vacant look in her eyes told him she was thinking about something other than her current situation. Bethany seemed pissed off—but then she always had—and Clarice huddled close to her. Eloise and Felicia were both well dressed, as if someone had taken care of them, but it was Grace who held his gaze.
Stone approached her, offering her a rag, which she took, although she still didn’t look up from where she stared at the floor. The mines. If she knew Stone it meant she’d been in that cursed place. The lights in here must be killing her eyes.
“Stone, take Grace somewhere darker.”
His younger comrade looked confused for a moment but then realization dawned in his eyes. He hurried the woman out of the room. Hell, Pettigrew women surrounded him. A sudden thought struck him as funny and he chuckled. Hadley, and of course Hailey, although he’d never met her, had been the only Pettigrew girls he hadn’t seen right after their births. Even after he’d left, he’d come back secretly to see the others’ births.
But not Hadley, because he’d already decided he would have to take action to stop the cycle and he knew it might involve having to use one of the babies. He couldn’t let himself know the girls, even for a moment, if it meant they were going to be his means for getting back.
But Hadley had changed that. Hell, she had changed everything. He swung around to look at Dragon. His brother leaned against the wall, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“So if you didn’t get the women here, how did this come to be?”
Dragon shrugged. “I think it was Leon.”
“He sent out the power words, asking for things to be set correctly. They must have been meant to be here, which would mean that Hadley is where she is supposed to be, too.”
Hawk picked up a wooden chair and threw it against the wall. His men quickly dispersed. He suspected that after two hundred plus years together they knew better than to deal with him when he was like this. His brother, by contrast, didn’t budge.
“That was probably a three thousand year old chair designed and made by our grandmother.”
Hawk looked at the mess he made. “I’m surprised it ever survived Father. He broke more things than I ever could.” He kicked at a piece of splintered wood. “Now I guess its firewood.”
“Why did you break our heirloom?”
He stormed to the window. “Because I’m sick to death of fate. My fate is to be with Hadley. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, even some superior universal consciousness that you and Leon are content to trust. I have to find her.”
Dragon nodded. “All right, this is going to become my quest too, and I know who we need to call.”
“Who?”
“Rabbit. Follow me.”
Dragon marched himself into their parents’ room as if he owned it and picked up the water pitcher. He stared at it for a moment with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Move.” Hawk shoved Dragon out of the way. “Not like the fancier one in Astor, I suppose.”
Hawk poured the water into the pitcher and concentrated on his sister. He imagined she had changed a great deal since he’d last seen her but it didn’t seem to matter, her face appeared on the screen.
For a second, all Hawk could do was stare at Rabbit. She was a younger, more serene looking version of his mother, except she had the Seer violet eyes. By the time it had been discovered that she was ‘different’ it hadn’t been as much of a shock as it had been when Dragon was born. He suspected his baby sister never knew the stings his older brother had.
“I’ve been expecting your call for over an hour.”
Damn the Seers and their extra-worldly senses that let them anticipate the future. You never could surprise them. At least this time, he didn’t need to; if Rabbit knew why they called perhaps she had prepared the information they needed.
“Where is she?” Not caring who heard him, he let some of the desperation he felt show in his voice.
“Earth.”
Hawk pounded the table, nearly tipping over the pitcher. “I would travel to the pits of hell for her but I must tell you I despise that place. There will not be a minute there I will not be dying to get back home.”
“Hawk, I’m afraid this all my fault.”
Rabbit’s declaration started Hawk and he and Dragon both stared at the screen. “How could that possibly be?”
“I was just a badly trained child when you left. I hadn’t learned to keep my visions to myself unless there was dire need. I was just grateful to get one. So when I had my first vision of Zamara’s future, I didn’t think to not tell her.”
“You told her she was going to be imprisoned and forced to mate and she still went? You told Zamara and you didn’t tell me?”
Up until that moment, Hawk would have said he could no longer be surprised. He’d obviously been wrong.
“I told Zamara what I saw at the time, which was that she would have to suffer but that ultimately the man she was destined to be with would rescue her. I didn’t tell you, brother, because it wasn’t your business.”
“You sent us in blind. It might have been nice to know I was simply escorting Zamara to a planned disaster and that it wouldn’t be my fault, just destiny once again playing havoc with our lives through the mouth of my baby sister.”
“Hawk, stop ranting.” Dragon rolled his eyes. “She’s just given you good news. Her future husband will rescue her.”
“Well…” Rabbit looked down at her hands.
“Well, what?” Now even Dragon looked annoyed.
“He’s wavering. He is at a crossroads in his life, if he goes in one direction, he will save her, if he doesn’t, then he won’t.”
Hawk waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Enough. There will be time enough to discuss Zamara’s future husband at a later date. How will I rescue Hadley?”
Rabbit sighed. “I don’t see you doing that.”
“What?” Hawk and Dragon both scoffed at her.
“I didn’t say you wouldn’t do it, just that I didn’t see it. There is much I don’t see.” The emotion in that last statement made Hawk feel low. His sister, like all of them, put too much pressure on herself for perfection.
“The Gift of Sight has never been exact.” Dragon spoke using his authoritative, expert tone. It grated on Hawk’s nerves, but seemed to make Rabbit feel better.
“Thank you Rabbit. For her location alone you have done us a great service.” Hawk disconnected the communication and stared at Dragon. “Still want to go with me even now that my ability to do this is in doubt even with our great Seers?”
“Normally, I would say no. I have no desire to get caught up in the disasters you seem to bring upon yourself. But, I must say, I am intrigued by this attachment you have with the woman. Love is not really something we talk much about. Plus, there will be the added benefit of returning her to the King. I’m sure to garner favor that way.”
Hawk grinned. “You know, for just a moment, you were actually really likable, and then you had to keep talking.”
“That’s usually how I feel every time you open up your mouth.”
Rolling his eyes, Hawk patted his brother’s back. “Do I need a member of the royal family or can you open the portal?”
“Don’t insult me. I could open a portal to Earth in my sleep.”
“Then shut up and do it.”
Hadley was on earth and he knew exactly who had her. This time he’d find a way to end the son-of-a-bitch once and for all. Zacharias Pettigrew—or whatever his name was—had his hours numbered, and the best part was he didn’t even know it yet.
Chapter Twenty-One
“There, she’s coming around, see?” A strange voice Hadley didn’t recognize drove into her pleasant cool unconsciousness and forced her to open her eyes.
Three faces loomed down at her. The first one, presumably the woman who’d spoken, Hadley had never seen before in her life, but she’d been in enough hospitals with various injuries to recognize a nurse’s uniform.
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