Youngsters always made friends quickly and easily, and the children of Copper Ridge and Red Cliffs were no exception. Soon they were playing together, interrupting their games only to eat and to watch, fascinated, Livia’s Tel-Urughs. Once the battle was over, the fearsome creatures that had fought Seth’s guards so fiercely turned into quite a tame bunch. One of them went to his car and pulled a soccer ball from the trunk, and soon two groups of eleven members of mixed origins and ages were engaged in the first soccer match in recent Copper Ridge history.
Livia and several of Darius’s men cleaned the battlefield. Seth’s body and the corpses of his mercenaries were kept in the castle chapel. They would be burned later that afternoon. The captured soldiers were fed, tended and locked in the numerous prison cells in the castle, where they’d stay until the trial.
IN THE presence of Arnaldur, Robert and several members of the High Council, Darius, Jack and James opened Seth an underground vault where Seth had kept his treasure. Except for a few gold bars and some money, it was empty.
“And with this I’m supposed to rebuild the town?” Darius said and rubbed his eyes. “Make an inventory of what is left,” he ordered his men.
“Red Cliffs will give you a boost, Darius,” Jack said. “And Winston, too, I’m sure.”
“You’ve been helping us for years.”
“And we’ll continue. Look at the state of the town—no schools, no infrastructure, no jobs. You have to start from scratch.”
“Maggie found some interesting documents in Seth’s safe. It looks like Seth had some geologists here recently. They found a rich silver vein at the bottom of the Great Orme. It’s right under the surface, so it would be a clean and easy open-pit mining operation.”
“That’s great!” James said.
“Unless they faked the results to keep Seth happy. I’ll bring another expert here, a friend of mine, to do another evaluation. There’re also a few old copper and gold mines worth checking. In the meantime, we’ll see about the ski resort Seth wanted to build. That was actually one of his sane ideas. I suppose Red Cliffs will be interested in investing in it.”
“You bet,” Jack said. “We’d also like to invest in the hot springs you have on your side and we don’t. Winters are long here, but with those thermal springs, we can build year-round resorts, with spas, swimming pools and camp ground.”
“We’d need a better road between the towns,” Darius said.
“I know. We’ll talk about it,” Jack said.
SEVERAL DIFFERENT written testimonials regarding the death of Brian Canagan and Halifax Mohegan had been found in Seth’s safe. In the span of a few days, the same six men had signed three different confessions: that they acted upon direct orders of Rowena Withali, being rewarded with a significant sum of money from her; that they had planned the murder on their own, ambushing Brian and Hal in revenge for some old grudge, and finally that they had killed them on James’ orders. ‘For a long time, James Mohegan lusted for Brian’s wife, Elizabeth’, was stated in it. “He decided that the only way to get her was to kill her husband. He summoned us on the night of August 16th…”
The blood drained from James’ face and his hands were shaking when he read the ‘confession’. “Bastard! Bloody bastard! I wish he could come alive, so that I could kill him again! This time I’d take my time.”
Jack placed his hand on James’ shoulder. “Come on. We need to talk to Rowena. Let’s see if she’s awake. I’ll find Mom and Astrid.”
“You can see now that Seth used her for his own purposes,” Robert said.
“He didn’t want Rowena, he wanted a child with her. That’s why he took her,” James said bitterly. “He used her for his own sick plans and I was stupid enough not to see it before.”
“It’s over, James,” Robert said. “Let it go.”
James turned to Robert. “You never believed Rowena was responsible for Hal’s and Brian’s deaths. It took me a long time to figure it out. You either know far more than I, or you are wiser that I am, Canagan.”
Robert laughed aloud and slapped James’ shoulder. “How about both, my friend.”
Jack motioned toward the pile of ‘confessions’. “This is clear proof of her innocence, if you still need it, Dad.”
“I don’t,” James said. “My anger and pain didn’t let me see the truth. Until Astrid came. She made me look deep into my soul and find the truth there. But this!” He shook his hand still holding one of the testimonies. “To say that I wanted to kill my best friend to take his wife! That was what he wanted people to believe. Oh, God!”
“Rowena needs to hear this from you, Father. Let’s see if she’s awake.”
Forty-Nine
SHE WAS dreaming she was floating on water, blue and crystal clear. Warm. A single sunbeam brushed over her cheek and gently traveled alongside her jaw.
Suddenly, her eyes shot open, darkened with fear.
“My daughter! Where is my daughter?” her mind screamed, yet the words came out in a raspy whisper.
“Astrid’s fine. Relax, Rowena,” Ahmed said in a soft, soothing voice.
“I want to see my daughter!”
“She’s fine, not a scratch. You must stay in bed.”
“Darius?”
“He’s fine, too.”
Rowena closed her eyes. “Seth’s dead,” she said quietly. “I can feel it. There’s no fear inside me. I’m free.”
Ahmed stroked her face. “It’s over.”
A warm current of the bond ran throughout them, filling every cell, every muscle, every part of their body with powerful, healing love.
Ahmed closed his eyes, savoring it.
“It feels good,” Rowena murmured. “Too bad it comes with a man.”
“Excuse me?” Ahmed said with a smile, brushing her cheek.
She smiled weakly. “Nothing personal. What I feel, that’s the bond, right?
“Yes.”
“Then why aren’t you surprised to feel it? Don’t tell me you knew it was me?”
“I felt it when I touched you the first time, but you were unconscious.”
“Ah. So you had time to get used to the idea of being bonded?”
“A whole three hours. You will, too. The bond works quickly.”
“This is crazy. I don’t want another man in my life.”
Ahmed gently squeezed her hand. “I know. Don’t worry about that now. I have something else to tell you. About Darius... No, no, everything’s fine,” he added hastily when he saw Rowena’s face instantly turn paper-white.
He quickly told her about Darius’ real father. To his astonishment, Rowena wasn’t surprised. She was happy and relieved because she knew the nightmare her step-son had lived in all these years. “I always knew Darius was completely sane,” she explained. “I attributed it to his mother’s healthy genes. Does he know?”
“Astrid’s probably told him by now.”
“Where is she?”
“Jack’s ordered her to take a rest, so I bet she’s busy somewhere. Would you like me to send for her?”
“No, not now. Wherever she is, they need her there. Oh, my baby, my little girl!”
“Let me check you,” Ahmed said gently.
“Wait. My parents?”
“Your mother’s in the hospital, your father’s somewhere with Darius, I assume. Do you want me to call them?”
“In a bit. I need to see Arina first. When you finish with the checkup, can you find her and ask her to come here?”
There was urgency and tension in Rowena’s voice. Ahmed knew there was a reason behind her priorities and didn’t question them.
Blood rushed to Rowena’s face as Ahmed lifted the thick blanket Rowena was covered with.
“I had to take your clothes off,” Ahmed said quietly. “In case some poison ended up on them.”
“Well, you’re a doctor. You see people in various stages of undress all the time,” Rowena said with a tiny smile, but covered her breasts with her good arm nonetheless.
; “You bet. The bruises have almost disappeared,” Ahmed continued in his best doctor’s voice. “The knife wound’s healing fine. Liv completely extracted the poison ...” His long, warm fingers gently pressed around the abdomen area. “Any pain here? No?”
IT WAS Rowena, then, who was that mystical connection between him and Astrid, he thought, as his strong hands skillfully continued dressing her wound and checking her vitals. No wonder he’d been feeling so protective of Astrid since the beginning. In a way, she was his daughter. And Rowena—he’d been waiting for her for such a long time. He’d been dreaming about her centuries before she was even born. He’d finally found her, after centuries of loneliness and longing.
As if she could read his thoughts, Rowena placed her hand over Ahmed’s, drawing strength from the warm wave that was running inside her body.
“Ahmed, I need time,” she said softly. “We’re complete strangers. I lived through some difficult years. So often it was hard to see any good coming out of it, and any life beyond all that fear and madness. I’m not ready for any kind of intimacy.”
“I understand, Rowena. Until recently, I wasn’t much better. I’ve been waiting for almost four hundred years. I can wait a little bit longer.”
“Oh, that long. Thank you, Ahmed,” she said and smiled at him. “Can you please find me some clothes? If I stay in bed a minute longer, I’ll go nuts.”
“You should stay in bed.”
“No way am I going to celebrate our victory from a sickbed. And please find Arina. I need to talk to her, in private, if you don’t mind.”
“Stubborn woman, like your daughter,” Ahmed said, smiling. “But you’re right, it’s your victory as much as Jack’s and Darius’. Just take it easy, all right? I’m going to look for Arina.”
FIVE MINUTES later, Arina rushed in. The two women hugged each other.
“It’s over,” Rowena whispered.
“It is over. This time for good.”
“Did you hear about Darius?”
“Oh, I did! I knew all along he was healthy!”
“Are Khalid and Tibor safe? Did they go back?” Rowena asked as she started to put on the clothes Arina had brought with her.
Arina made a movement toward the door to an adjacent room. “They’re hiding here.”
“Holy crap!! Somebody will smell them!”
“Did you smell them? Or Dr. Demmir? Don’t worry, Ariel took care of that. They don’t leave any scent at all. They refuse to leave before they see with their own eyes you’re fine. You know them, two stubborn mules.”
Rowena smiled, shaking her head. “They need to leave Copper Ridge as soon as possible. It’s too risky for them to stay here any longer.”
“Ariel came here with Azem, Harriet and Jason. She and Azem will stay for a while and Harriet and Jason will take them back later today.”
Arina stood up and walked to the door.
“Is the room soundproofed?” Rowena said.
Her friend confirmed it with a quick nod and opened the door, letting two blaidds in.
One had silvery-greyish fur that lightened to snow-white on his chest and legs, and dark-blue eyes. His companion was slightly bigger. His eyes were stunning with their rare, luminous shade of blue-green with dark rims around the irises. His fur, thick and shiny and deep dark brown on his back, lightened up to a golden hue around his head and tail.
His left shoulder was sloped, his back right leg was strangely angled and he walked with a noticeable limp. A half inch thick scar ran diagonally across his face and ended on his shoulder blade.
“So, we did it!” Inside their heads, the women heard the cheery voice of the grey, blue-eyed wolf. He sat beside Arina and placed his head in her lap.
She gently stroked his fur. The green-eyed werewolf staggered across the room and stopped by the foot of the bed where Rowena was sitting.
“Yes, we did it,” Rowena said. “We helped to bring Seth down, and all those horrible things that could have happened won’t happen now.”
“You three are the bravest people I’ve ever known,” Arina said in a quiet voice,
“We didn’t have a choice. We had to stop the evil before it destroyed many lives, including the lives of those who we love the most,” the brown wolf said in his calm, deep voice.
“That was a risky move today, to show up in the town square, Tibbor,” Arina said to the gray, blue-eyed wolf. “Morgaine spotted you immediately.”
“Of course she did. Our present image is her creation, after all. Nobody else could recognize us, though, and she won’t tell. Not until it’s time. We couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Seth held that freaking knife to Astrid’s chest and he almost got Rowena.”
“I’m sure Jack would’ve gotten to him in time. We just helped a bit,” the other wolf said.
“Robert and Anwen are here. Did you see them?” Rowena said.
“Briefly. They are coming to Winston in a week or so. I’ll see them there again.”
Tibor looked up at Arina. “I caught just a glimpse of Amilla. She is okay, isn’t she?”
“She’s fine. Darius kept her out of battle. She stayed at the hospital to help with the wounded.”
“I hoped to see more of her today.”
Arina closed her arms around the wolf’s neck. “You’ll see both your daughters soon, Tibor.”
“Where’s Astrid?” he asked. “Did anybody make that girl take a rest? She’s pregnant, for Pete’s sake, and in the last few hours she was kidnapped and held at knifepoint by a crazy sonovabitch. She saw her mother after twenty-something years and then she saw her fall, stabbed with the same knife. Isn’t that a bit too much for her present condition?”
“She’s fine, Tibor,” Arina said. “She’s strong. And she’s a doctor. She knows how much she can do.”
“Doctors are often the worst for neglecting their own health.”
“She would never endanger the baby,” Rowena said.
“How much longer will you need to hide?” Arina asked both of them. “Did Morgaine say anything?”
“Not very long,” Tibor said. “She says we’ll start showing up in dreams first, to prepare them, sort of. Now that everything’s over, we soon should be able to shift back to human form.”
“I’m not sure I’m looking forward to it,” his friend said. “Without sight in one eye, with one leg shorter, one arm useless, and the scars crisscrossing my back, I think I’m happier in my present form.”
“Come on, Khalid,” Tibor laughed. “It’s like Beauty and the Beast. We have to find our beauties to liberate us.”
“Everything’s okay with my beast, Tibor. The man inside could be hard to love. Besides, you found your Beauty. Arina’s your bond-mate, she loves you. Look at me. God knows how I look in my human form, but I’m afraid I might not be easy on the eyes.”
The grey wolf laughed again. “Khalid, you still have one good eye, and you can walk and run.” He made an attempt to wink. “Our vital parts are luckily intact, thank God, that’s the most important. You only need to work on your charming personality. Besides, we have no idea how we actually look. It might not be that bad. Once we’re back, maybe Astrid or Tristan can fix us. I also have scars. Keep in mind that women often find them masculine.”
“I’m still married, Tibor, don’t forget that.”
“Only your wife has a husband, who is not you.”
Rowena turned to the dark wolf. “Let me tell you something, Khalid Nouri,” she said in a stern voice. “You didn’t go through this ordeal so that you can give up now and become a loner. Twenty five years is a long time to be a man in a wolf’s shape. It’s over. We can’t change our past, but we need to learn how to live with it. After all, lots of good has come out of it.”
“Listen to Rowena, Khalid,” Arina said. “She paid the highest price, yet never gave up. She lived through beating, humiliation and abandonment. She let people believe that she’d left her child and had her husband killed. She risked her life day after day w
orking against Seth.”
“And then, when I thought it was finally over, I woke up to find myself bonded to a man I’ve never seen before—”
“What?!” the two werewolves said in unison.
“To whom?!” Arina asked, shocked.
“To Ahmed Demmir,” Rowena said calmly. “Bonded for life. Nobody asked me if I wanted it or not. So God help me, Khalid Nouri, but I won’t let you chicken out now, no matter—
“So are you going to marry him?” Tibor said, crooking his head.
Rowena shrugged. “Ah, always a bride, never a bridesmaid… We can have a double wedding ceremony, if you like, you and Arina, and Ahmed and I, but there are some legal obstacles to the marriage, as you know, for all of us.” She sighed. “It might be necessary to tell Ahmed about you two.”
Turning back to the wolf beside her, Rowena cupped his head and looked straight into his eyes. “One battle is over, but now it’s time to face our inner challenges, Khalid. Reconciling with those we love, finding new love, peace, and happiness, healing our wounds. You’ll find your other half, and you’ll be whole again. Mark my words. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid, like going to Wales, or wherever. The sorrow you carry inside you will soon disappear.”
“Yeah, a magic kiss and it’ll be gone.”
“It will take more than a kiss,” Rowena said. “Including some effort from your side. But yes, that’s the idea. Promise me.”
“I promise,” he said, looking at Rowena’s eyes. “I owe you that much.”
Rowena held his gaze for a long moment. “Astrid and Jack are going to have a baby girl.”
“A girl!” both blaidds exclaimed.
Rowena nodded, smiling. “She told me herself.”
Khalid’s lips stretched into a wide grin, and his green-blue eyes sparkling with golden light, as illuminated from within. “My God, a baby girl.”
His friend echoed in a dreamy voice. “Astrid is gonna have a daughter!”
Rowena let out a deep, satisfied sigh. “Now you have something else to look forward to.”
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