A section of wall framed in gold trim cracked open, and the hinges groaned from limited use. Another office, a mirror of the one he’d left behind, sat shadowed beyond.
A frigid draft pushed the hair off his neck, a mere taste of the bitter cold that waited.
Serena drifted to his side.
“You’re wasting time, mate.” Maxis ambled to the hidden room and set the hearth’s kindling ablaze.
Serena hustled away and disappeared into the closet. Leave it to curiosity to set his baineann in motion.
Uther strode toward the main tunnel entrance on the opposite side. “I’ll ready the men.”
“Not yet. There’s something we need to discuss.” More like catch his strategos unaware. He’d have to be damned quick to glean Uther’s memories before he shut him out. He motioned for Uther to shut the door between his hidden room and the bedroom.
As soon as the latch snicked into place, Maxis struck, snatching Uther’s hand and darting for his memories. His energy slammed into an unforgiving barrier, and painful reverberations ricocheted down Maxis’ arms and legs. He staggered and dropped Uther’s hand.
An arrogant smirk spread across Uther’s face, his arms loose and unaffected at his sides. “If you want my memories, you’ll have to ask.”
Interesting little gift his strategos had. Not exactly a welcome development on the quality control scale, but interesting nonetheless. “I’m not inclined to ask for anything when it concerns my baineann.”
“Mighty protective for a woman you’ve only just met.”
“She wears my mark. You’ll keep your distance.”
“I have no interest in Serena, or any woman like her. Too high maintenance and standoffish for my taste.” Uther offered his hand. “Though you’re welcome to see for yourself if you’d like.”
Solid, steady. Not so much as a tremor.
Maxis motioned his offering away. “Keep your distance from Serena. Managing her is challenge enough without you fanning her ideas.”
Uther grinned. “Duly noted.”
“Now explain that handy gift I barreled into.”
Uther studied him. His chin shifted back and forth as though he rolled the taste of possibilities on his tongue. “It’s exactly what it felt like. A natural shield. No one gets in I don’t want in, either mentally or physically. That’s the only explanation you’ll get. For now.”
Arrogant bastard. He’d have to find something to bring his strategos down a notch, or at least some leverage to keep him in line.
“Maxis?” Serena’s muted query issued through the walls.
“Go.” He waved Uther toward the door and the tunnels beyond. “See that the men are ready.”
Uther ambled off, and Maxis triggered the latch holding the hidden door in place.
Serena stood, hands on hips. “I couldn’t reach you via link or sense you.”
“Of course you couldn’t.” Maxis ran his hand along the bared gap between the walls. “It’s lined with zeolite. Not enough to hinder our gifts on either side, but enough to block detection on line of sight.” He held out his hand.
She stepped forward, her fingers chilled against his palm. The simple cut of her blue gown left her arms bare, not at all appropriate for their pending tour.
“Stay here.” Returning to his closet, he pulled a fur coat from a section deep in the back, a white, ankle-length affair Evanora had favored. Back beside her, he thrust it at her. “Put this on. The blue does nothing for your skin when you’re cold and where we’re going it will only get worse.”
She studied the coat. Then him. One corner of her mouth lifted and her eyes sparked as she reached for the opulent fur. “Careful, Maxis. One might think you care.” Slipping the heavy coat in place, she freed her hair from the neck.
“Of course I care.” He plucked his own black fur from a peg beside the door and halted beyond the tunnel threshold. “First appearances are everything. I’ll not have my mate looking like a popsicle.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Coming?”
“Of course.” She pulled the lapels closer together so the soft edges framed her smug smile, and glided forward.
Black rock walls surrounded them, the tunnel two men tall and five men wide. The surface was crude, hewn solely by determination and his natural Earth gifts. Despite the obvious curiosity on Serena’s face, she held her tongue. “For a woman eager to learn my secrets, you’re awfully quiet.”
“You said you’d show me. I trust you.” Nothing else. Just sweet acquiescence.
He stopped.
She stopped as well. “That is what you asked me to do, isn’t it?” The sneaky bitch batted her eyes.
Praise The Great One, the woman was a manipulative landmine waiting to happen. He continued his trek. On the bright side he wouldn’t be bored.
“Have the tunnels always been here?”
Finally. A face-value topic. “No. Evanora built the training grounds and slave farm you’ll soon see, but she didn’t live long enough to put her plans in place. I’ve spent the last seventy years mining the tunnels and updating the infrastructure my father let fall in disrepair.”
“Why the tunnels?”
“Trackers.”
Serena surveyed the dark walls. “Trackers?”
“If we traveled the distance between the estate and the warrior camp above ground we’d be too easy to find. Trackers can’t scan us below ground, not with this much rock between us. That, and I like knowing I have an escape few others know about.”
He stopped at a dead end. “You and I both know our efforts may turn ugly before they turn in our favor.”
She gripped her lapels more tightly and burrowed into the coat’s warmth, wary, but thoughtful.
“Second thoughts?”
She tilted her head. “Merely studying the angles. As you point out, it pays to be prepared.”
Maxis harrumphed. Whether or not she was telling the truth was hard to tell with his new baineann. She could just as easily be plotting his demise. He pushed the rock slab aside to show another hallway.
“This is the main corridor.” He waited until she cleared the opening and pushed the rock back in place. “The warriors can enter from four locations, each spread a good mile from the main camp. They’re being trained to mask their presence prior to approaching, all efforts geared toward protecting our location as long as possible.”
Voices rumbled and the scent of freshly cut wood filled the tunnel. The steady draft was a good twenty degrees colder here than the one they’d left behind.
Serena burrowed deeper into the coat’s high neckline.
“We’re in Brasia now.” Maxis steered her down one offshoot tunnel. “The temperatures range from ten to thirty below outside, another deterrent to keep Shantos and his men away. Not exactly a hospitable environment, unless you know what Evanora uncovered.”
They rounded the last bend.
Serena gasped and halted.
It was a rather magnificent surprise. He’d been honing it for decades and it still jumpstarted his pride.
“It’s not possible.”
“It’s entirely possible.” Maxis drew her forward and leaned into the stone railing, a balcony of sorts jutting over a cavernous opening, skylight tubes shining muted gold above. “There’s a mountain range that marks Brasia’s border.”
“The one beyond the estate,” she whispered, eyes wide with wonder.
“Exactly.” Below him, men hustled back and forth between large stone and wood buildings. The warriors looked even more impressive with their thick coats adding to their physical bulk. “We’re in the belly of the biggest, Evanora’s Peak. Measuring it has proved difficult, but my best estimations are somewhere in the space of a square mile.”
He pointed at the balconied decks jutting out along either side. “The senior warriors and their families will be appointed living space in the top tier. Seasoned men have apartments situated at the corner quadrants, and new recruit
s stay to the barracks along the back.”
Serena faced him. “No one man could do this.”
“No.” Maxis shrugged. “But a man can take advantage of what nature and his grandmother’s vision started.”
He slipped an arm around her waist and took to the air, sweeping them both toward a squat structure centered along the furthest stretch. “Evanora’s husband found it. His gifts aligned with the Earth as do mine. My grandmother made the most of it, though she started late in life. I merely finished it.”
They landed outside the main entrance, and Maxis urged her through the wide double doors. “And this is where we’ll store our resources.”
Lanterns hung in regular intervals down the long hallways, the partitioned cell doors open in preparation for use.
“When you said slave farm I’d thought it an elaboration.” Serena peered inside one cell, the ten by ten space barren but for a bucket, and a cot. “How many will it hold?”
“Two hundred. Though we’re nowhere near ready to handle so many at present.”
“You’ll never get that many. Not without gaining notice from the human realm.”
“Humans go missing all the time.” He strolled beside her, her dumbfounded expression firing a pleasant buzz beneath his skin. “They’ll just continue to do so.”
“How do you plan to take them? Won’t it take time?”
Maxis grinned and led her out into the hive of activity. “That’s what our men are for, Serena. They capture, they guard, they fight. Simple as that.”
She frowned, and stared into the distance. “What if you use humans to do it?”
“Pardon?”
Head tilted in a detached study of the senior quarters above, she worried her lower lip. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to have human middlemen to do the job? We wouldn’t be exposed, and even if Eryx does get suspicious, his investigations and the disappearances wouldn’t point back at us.” She grinned, her attention now solely on him. “At least not until we’re ready.”
She was out of her mind. Humans wouldn’t traffic—
Well, histus. They did traffic their own kind. At least some of them did. But finding that particular resource might prove problematic. Although, there was the malress’ friend. A retired officer, still safe and sound in his Asshur hideaway. No one knew better where to locate mercenary types than their jailers.
In the center of the square, men lined up, Uther moving with long arrogant strides to ensure their placement.
Serena watched. The lick of greed and excitement he’d sensed in her from day one burned bright across her cheeks.
“It seems my choice of mate has been most fortuitous.” He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and guided her toward their waiting troops. “What say we introduce you to the men so we can get on with our plans?”
Chapter 12
Reese shifted against the crisp, cool sheets. Too cool. Empty.
He opened his eyes to dawn’s soft gray kiss and swept his hand along the space beside him. Galena’s floral scent billowed from the pillowcase.
So, he hadn’t dreamt it.
He rolled to his back, shoved his wild hair from his face, and fisted it at the top of his head. He couldn’t blame her for leaving. She’d risked a lot in coming here with zero to gain in the long run. He was a dead man and everyone knew it.
Memories of the things they’d done through the night flashed bold and vivid in his mind, and the husky way she’d groaned when he’d pushed inside her the first time rang in his ears. Even the taste of her lingered on his tongue.
Fuck. He gripped his hardening shaft and gritted his teeth. So, she’d left, but she’d also left him with the most profound experience of his life. He had no right to complain, not after what they’d shared.
He tossed the sheets aside and snatched his jeans on the way to the bathroom. Now wasn’t the time for memories. If he wanted to make it through the next few hours, he’d need to pull his head out of his ass and focus. Not whine about Galena skipping out on a morning cuddle. She’d shown her courage last night. Now it was time for him to suck it up and show his own.
With a mental push, the shower sprang to life. He tugged a towel from the cabinet and tossed it near the open ledge. Praise the Great One, he was crazy entertaining thoughts he might live through this. Not impossible. Improbable, but not impossible. If he did, would he even have a chance with Galena?
Now there was the impossibility. Ramsay would cut his nuts off if he knew the things he’d done with Galena last night. Worse if Reese instigated something more tangible.
Damned if she wasn’t worth it, though. If nothing else, he’d grip that notion tight when he faced Maxis and pray he made it to the other side. He’d move a whole damned mountain range if it meant so much as another second with Galena.
Water raced down his body, an erotic touch, so much like Galena’s. He braced against the shower wall and hung his head, muscles loose, but eager in a way he hadn’t felt in years, if ever.
All he had to do was lead Eryx’s men to Maxis, tell his brother he hadn’t really been abandoned, and try to sway his plans for vengeance.
He lifted his head and caught his reflection in the mirror. Who in histus was he kidding? He was a dead man.
* * * *
Stubborn, good-for-nothing humans. Maxis stormed the length of crude rock cell and gripped his kneeling prisoner by the neck. “Names. All I need are names and this is all over. No more pain.”
Ian Smith grunted and spit near Maxis’ boots. Only one slow burning torch smoldered near the door, but it was more than enough to spotlight the bruises and angry welts that covered his legs and torso. The flesh around his neck was charred and blistered, a byproduct of his bullheaded silence. No wonder he and the malress had been such fast friends. The two were entirely too much alike.
He tightened his hold and unleashed another torrent of electricity.
Ian jerked and spasmed, blue sparks zinging all around him. His choked gurgles filled the tiny space as his face reddened and swelled with pressure.
Maxis released him, and Ian slumped to the rock floor, unconscious.
“Fuck.” Maxis crouched beside him. The whites of his eyes were streaked with red and his pupils dilated, his pulse thready and barely detectable. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Maxis surged upright and paced the tiny cell. His heart hammered and his torso was slick with sweat. Damn it all, Ian knew all kinds of potential middlemen. The images were there, but Maxis needed details. Learning and logic didn’t transfer with the audio and video play-by-play, and he’d never get what he needed from a borderline corpse. Maybe he should get a healer. Human or not, Ian was leverage. The one thing preventing Eryx from killing Maxis on sight. If Maxis died, Ian’s location went with him.
“That’s not your only problem.”
Maxis spun toward the voice behind him.
Falon. The spiritu blended with the shadows. There, but not there.
“What do you want?” He didn’t have time for games. Not if he wanted to keep his prisoner breathing.
A growl emanated through the cell, though Falon’s face didn’t move. “Reese is alive.”
Seconds stomped past, each heartbeat ricocheting in his head. The room spun and adrenaline rushed his bloodstream. “Care to repeat that?”
“You heard what I said. Your damned brother is alive and well.”
“I thought you said—”
“I know what I said.” Falon crept forward, shadows falling away to make him a solid substance. “The Light hid him from me. A camouflage I wasn’t aware they could manage. They did it when he was injured in the battle at your estate. Fortunately for us, he indulged in a little fun between the sheets last night. A lot, actually. Burned a big enough hole in their cover I was able to find him.”
Ian’s breath hitched, followed by a wet cough.
Reese was alive. He had a mate and a brother. Family.
“Don’t kid yours
elf.” Falon prowled closer, and a dark, cloying scent seeped in with him. “Your mother abandoned you. Filled Reese’s head with lies about you and your grandmother. The only reason he linked with you was because you threatened to share his lineage with anyone who’d listen.”
No. Not true. He’d seen a flicker of himself in Reese. A promise of what they could accomplish together. “He needed a cause to fight for. In time he’d have willingly participated.”
Falon leaned in, inches from Maxis’ face. “He betrayed you. Saved a simpering female and screwed your plans in the process. Three days ago you were ready to kill him for his treachery. Now is no different.”
It was different. The need for vengeance no longer existed. Maybe taking a mate made Reese unnecessary. Or Uther’s eager participation replaced Reese’s hesitant presence. “I’ve got bigger issues to contend with. Plans to put in action. I’ll not be swayed from my course.”
Falon straightened and ambled a half-circuit around the wheezing prisoner. He nudged Ian’s leg. “Your plans will fail without me. My plans will fail without you. Deal with Reese or both our schemes are doomed.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The dark passions.” He tilted his head, eyes squinted. “Do you really think the Myren race will actively adopt the implementation of slavery without freedom from their conscience? Their darker desires will never run free if my men fail, and my men need your dark deeds to feed the way. So, I’m telling you to do it. Make your brother pay for his treachery.”
“It’s a needless killing. You want someone dead, give me someone deserving.”
“You suddenly find your brother to be worth redemption? Reach out, Maxis.” A wicked smile crept across Falon’s face and he crossed his arms. “I doubt you’d grant your precious brother a pass if you checked his location at this very moment.”
The hairs along his nape lifted and his belly cramped. He reached for his link to Reese and his brother’s presence pinged against his internal map. On the ridge, just beyond this cave, no more than two hundred feet as the crow flies.
“He’s not alone,” Falon said. “He’s brought some company. People who’ve been most interested in tracking you and your human captive.”
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