Something inside me nearly fainted with relief to see there didn’t appear to be dead bodies strewn all over the ground. There didn’t appear to be a huge maelstrom of fighting shapeshifters. Yet. It was too dark and we were too far away for me to tell what was going on, but the shadowy figures I could barely make out seemed to be upright. That was a good thing, right? I nervously bit my lower lip.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Maybe it was a good thing, Carter thought. In a split-second, he’d transformed back to himself and stood there, watching Nosizwe and Sean argue. Maybe it was a good thing the portal hadn’t worked this time. He’d never believed taking Nosizwe and Sean together into that other world was a good idea. Hell, he hadn’t wanted to go back himself. Why his blood hadn’t worked, he had no idea. But maybe it was a good thing.
His thoughts were interrupted by the rising voices of the two shifter leaders. They stood practically toe to toe. Nosizwe was accusing Sean of trickery, of failing to uphold his end of the bargain. Sean returned as good as he got, demanding to know why she was blaming him. Asking how he was at fault for this.
Around them, both sides were picking up on the anger, the fraying nerves, and edged closer to their respective leaders. Carter could read the undercurrents well. This was about to get out of hand. The war they’d come here to fight or prevent was going to erupt if someone didn’t put a stop to it. Problem was, he had no idea how. He’d done his part, right? Against his better judgment, he’d tried to use his blood to open the way between worlds. What was missing? He didn’t know. Ellie? But that didn’t make any sense. Ellie was human, so she couldn’t possibly be tied to this. Could she?
“I don’t believe a word he says.”
The voice was cold, familiar. It was Ciara, and she was speaking for the first time. It was enough to slice through the heated exchange of words, like ice water dousing a fire, smothering the flames. Both Sean and his rival turned from each other to her. Her face was hard as marble in the weak light, and her eyes pools of blackness as she glared at her husband.
“He had something up his sleeve all along,” she continued. “I know him. I know he wouldn’t have agreed to any of this if he didn’t have something else in mind. What was it, Sean? How were you going to con us this time?”
Sean’s jaw worked from side to side as he stared down at his wife. Carter couldn’t tell if he was trying to form an answer or restrain one. He also didn’t believe the man was as hardhearted towards her as he’d claimed. Would Sean kill her? Possibly. If it absolutely came to that. Did he want to, in spite of her betrayal? Carter stared at his mentor. His eyes were fastened onto his beautiful, younger wife. No, Sean didn’t want to kill her. He’d talked big, but the ugliest words usually came out of pain. Sean was hurting, but that didn’t mean he truly wanted her dead.
Finally, Carter’s boss spoke, and Carter could hear the strain in his voice.
“No trickery, Ciara. I wanted it to work too.”
“Did you?” Ciara’s voice rose with frustration. “I know you, Sean. If you had wanted it to work, it would have worked.”
Sean took a menacing step towards the woman in the wheelchair. “Really? Do I control the Stones? Do I control magic? Do I control the Talos’ blood?”
“In a sense.” Ciara matched him glare for glare. “You control Carter. You always have.”
Carter felt a sting. “That isn’t true.”
Both of the Costases turned to look at him. “I’m not controlled by him,” he said. “There’s a difference between working for someone and being controlled by them.”
“Is there?” Ciara challenged him. “Look at your life, Carter. Really look at it. Everything you’ve done up to this point, including offering your own blood—again—to try and open the Stones. You’ve done everything Sean wanted. You always have. He told you to protect Ellie; her being a total stranger. You did it, to the point of marrying her to keep her safe. Who does that? Who, in this day and age, does that?” Ciara threw her hands in the air to make a point. “You’ve risked yourself for her time and again. You have two weak spots, Carter, even as the Talos, and they’re Sean and that girl. And one is that girl because of Sean. Don’t stand there and tell me he doesn’t control you. He owns you, and we all know it.”
Now it was Carter’s turn to stand there staring at her, his jaw working clenching, trying to formulate an argument or a defense. So many words crowded his brain that it was impossible to set them straight.
Around them, the two different crowds whispered nervously. For once, Sean and Nosizwe were doing the same thing—glancing back and forth between Ciara and Carter. Neither of them seemed to know how to respond.
Ciara rolled her wheelchair a few feet further towards Carter.
“I understand,” she said quietly, looking up at him. “My parents told me to marry Sean for the sake of the Stones. Marry him, merge the power of our Stones, keep all of our people safe. I questioned, but I obeyed. I knew leaving my home by the sea for a life in Texas was not a good idea. I knew what would happen—that my soul would eventually wither and shrivel and die, like the wildflowers blasted by the damn heat in this place.”
Her voice, already strained, cracked on a sob. She turned away to regain control of herself. When she looked back, her skin was as pale as before, but her eyes and jaw were hard.
“I tried to be happy. I tried so hard. For a time, when my son was born, I was happy, but that high quickly faded in the face of postpartum depression. Then everything grew worse. I knew there was something in me, in you, Carter, in all of us…” She swept her hand out in a circle, encompassing all of them, “that cried out to the innermost me, the real me. In the end, I couldn’t deny it. Just as you can’t deny yourself.”
Carter swallowed hard. “Where are you going with this, Ciara?” he asked gruffly.
She stared him dead in the eye. “I’m saying you couldn’t open the Stones a minute ago because you didn’t want to. You are the Talos. You have to want to in your innermost heart, your innermost being. The first time it worked since you were sacrificing yourself for Ellie. That was what you truly wanted. Both you and the Talos. Sean controls you in a sense, yes, like he’s controlled me all these years, but the real you can’t be controlled by him any more than the real me could. What I’m saying to you right now is you—the real you, your alter, the Talos—has to make the choice what he wants. What you really want. Then, and only then, can you reopen the Stones.”
Taken aback by the explanation, Carter stared down at his former employer, speechless.
Slow claps broke the silence. Carter looked up to see Sean standing there, clapping his hands together, his manner sardonic.
“Well done, my love. Well done. Never let it be said a Merrow lacks tremendous power. When you talk like that, you could convince any man to do whatever you wanted. Poor Carter never stood a chance.”
Carter blinked several times, feeling fury wash over him at the realization of what had happened. Ciara was a Merrow with a siren’s voice. Although her powers weren’t as strong when she wasn’t in the water, shifted into her Merrow form, she still retained some of that magic, even in this state. She’d nearly had him convinced to throw away life and limb, reopen the vein, and dash back into danger, enthusiastically pulling himself, Sean, and Nosizwe into the other world. He should have known better. Carter shook himself angrily.
“You’re very good,” he said to his boss’s wife.
The corners of her mouth turned up in a smirk. “We all have to do our part.”
“So, where are we then, now that this failed?” Sean gibed. “Carter’s blood didn’t open the way. Do we all stand here staring at each other, trading verbal blows? Do we use our powers on each other? Do we fight? Do we brawl? Do we give up and go home? Do we call another meaningless truce? Tell me, Nosizwe, what do you want to do here?”
The other shifter leader’s eyes were hard, her glare sharp as pinpricks. “What do you want to do?” she taunted back. “Do we throw away an
y chance of peace? Do you want to battle it out, you against me? Maybe that’s what we should’ve done years ago. You against me. Minotaur against Impundulu. Spare our people. Winner takes all.”
Sean’s gaze was every bit as deadly as hers. “I’m game. We could put an end to this forever.”
Nosizwe didn’t look the least bit afraid. “If you’re willing to do it, so am I,” she hissed.
Immediately, one of her lieutenants was there, plucking at her sleeve, whispering in her ear. A couple of Sean’s folks moved in as well, speaking rapidly, quietly. Not even a day or two ago, Carter would have been one of them, trying to persuade his boss not to risk his life. Now, he stood there still as stone, feeling as hardened as his bronze flesh when he assumed the Talos form. It was like scales had been ripped from his eyes. All this time Sean had been willing to risk him, to risk any of them, in this fight. Risk them for the greater good. Maybe this was how it should have played out years ago. Instead of dozens, hundreds of shifters on both sides losing their lives, leaving their families to mourn, maybe the two leaders should have fought it out. That might be the best way to end this, once and for all.
Who knew what would have occurred if the gamechanger hadn’t arrived in the form of an approaching vehicle? One of Nosizwe’s people, a Rakshasa with excellent hearing, was the first to draw their attention to it.
“Somebody’s coming,” he said loudly, the announcement cutting through the tension, the murmuring, the quiet arguing on both sides. “A car.”
Everyone fell silent. Nosizwe turned to look at her subordinate. “How far away?”
“Not very,” he answered. “We’ll see their headlights…”
The soft glow of a vehicle’s parking lights cut through the gloom.
“…Right about now,” the Rakshasa replied.
“Do you think it’s the gamekeepers or a warden?” somebody asked.
“Should we scatter?” put in someone else, nervousness in her voice.
Nosizwe laughed. “I know who owns this place. Why do you think we’re meeting here?”
“What if it’s the cops?”
“Let them come,” Sean scoffed. “It’s one car. How many officers could be inside? What are they going to do against all of us?”
A few still seemed concerned, but everyone waited as the vehicle approached. If it was the police, this wasn’t a standard cop car. It appeared to be a regular, four-door sedan that slowed its already turtle pace until it finally stopped fifteen to twenty feet outside the circle of gathered shifters. The lights blinked off. Everyone stood their ground as the two front doors and one back door opened. Moonlight caught on a head of blonde hair, catching Carter’s attention. His breath hitched in his throat.
Ellie?
His stomach, already twisted, tied up in knots a professional sailor would have been proud of.
“Dammit, girl, what are you doing here?” he whispered.
There was no mistaking the slight figure of his wife, nor the glint of moonlight on her glasses, nor her familiar olive-green jacket. His gaze skipped across her to her companions. Carter wasn’t surprised to see the two police detectives who’d been involved in this drama for the past several months. Detectives Ewing and Tozzi closed their doors simultaneously, the two sounds merging into one that echoed across the open expanse. Ellie closed hers a half-second later, the sound a soft echo of theirs.
The light wasn’t good, but there was enough for Carter to see the tense set of her shoulders, and that she was clasping something in both hands. What it was, he couldn’t make out.
She followed the two homicide detectives who approached slowly, cautiously. Detective Tozzi’s hand hovered near his gun—either an unspoken threat or a self-defense mechanism. Detective Ewing wasn’t reaching for her weapon, but her face was sober and showed strain. Ellie followed them into the circle of headlights. Carter could see the wrinkles of worry on her forehead. His gaze fell to her clasped hands, but this time he couldn’t make anything out. Her hands were empty and hung at her sides. Whatever it was, she’d hidden it away before she got closer.
Now, sliding into the gathering of shapeshifters, Detective Ewing stood her ground and studied the group, pinning each of them with a solemn gaze.
“Look,” she said, with enough authority to capture and hold attention. “I don’t have the jurisdiction to tell you all not to be out here. Since this isn’t my property, I don’t have the authority to tell you to break it up and go home. However, as a sworn officer of the law, I do have the duty to remind you that if you’re here to start trouble—to start fighting or killing each other—I’m going to have to intervene.” She stopped. Everyone was staring at her. “Don’t make me do that,” she finished boldly.
There was a brief silence. Nobody knew how to respond. Should they be cowed by the cop’s warning, or was it laughable that two human police officers would walk into two angry packs of shapeshifters and start making threats? Either way, nobody could argue the cop had guts, which was probably why they kept still for a moment. It was Sean who ultimately spoke, his tone reasonable and calm, explaining that they weren’t doing anything illegal and there was nothing for her to be concerned about.
Truthfully, Carter lost out on what his boss was saying because Ellie took advantage of everyone’s attention being diverted to sidle up to him. One moment she wasn’t there, and the next she was, right by his side.
“Carter,” she murmured, “I’ve got to show you something.”
Part of him melted at the mere sight of her; would’ve gone with her anywhere. However, he still remembered the sting of her words and her promise to leave him and his people to fight it out and die. That part, his injured pride, responded, “Really? Thought you were done with me, kid.”
She blinked behind her glasses, caught off guard by the bite to his tone. What, had she expected to show up here after that goodbye, after everything she’d said, and all would be magically okay? Why was she even here? Carter couldn’t believe she’d had the guts to walk back into this situation in the first place. He really wished she hadn’t. If there had been any bright spots, it was that she was safe, no matter the wrinkle of bitterness he felt.
“I understand you’re angry and probably hurt,” she replied, a little stiffly. “But this is important.”
“So was all that crap you said to me a few hours ago. Didn’t take that resolve long to weaken, did it? You couldn’t keep away from me. Had to have more of me. I don’t blame you.”
This time, his attempt at humor fell flat. She stared at him a few seconds, before replying quietly, “I love you, Carter. I do. That’s why I’m here. I have something I genuinely think you need. Can I show it to you?”
He almost responded, “You can show me anything, especially the personal stuff,” but stopped short. She wasn’t in the mood. Neither was he, truth be told. He followed her a few paces from the main crowd, where Nosizwe and Sean still spoke with the detectives. Ellie turned around and pressed her back up against his torso, innocently lighting a fire that was hard to ignore, despite the gravity of the situation. Until he switched his focus from the feel of her body to the lump in her back.
Carter reached under her jacket. She let him.
“What is this?”
As soon as his fingertips touched it, he knew.
The sword.
Irritations and hurt feelings vanished. She’d brought him the sword. The one the angel-shifter in the other world claimed he would need to repair the breach and resolve this mess.
Ellie turned around. “I thought you might want that,” she said softly, even as his hand fitted itself around the hilt.
Carter was silent as he considered the ramifications of what she’d said and done. Of what she’d brought. Her actions, juxtaposed against her earlier arguments, showed that she did truly care what happened to him and maybe even his people. The only problem was, was the sword supposed to be the key to saving or destroying them all?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Carter was quiet. Very quiet. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. In the background, I could hear the two police officers still speaking with the two shifter leaders. I was guessing they were trying to talk them out of a fight and into going home, but I couldn’t pay attention to that when my focus was on the man I’d married. He grasped the sword, which he’d pulled out from beneath my jacket. His body and mine were turned so that nobody else could see what he held. In the dim light, I could see his hand clenching and unclenching on the sword handle.
I waited.
Finally, he said, “I don’t know what to say, Ellie. I appreciate you bringing this. Don’t know how you talked those two into coming with you—” He nodded in the general direction of the two cops. “—But I appreciate the efforts. It’s just…I don’t know how this works or what it’s supposed to do. That shifter didn’t give you any insight, did he?”
“No.” I shook my head.
I guess the idea that I would show up and Carter wouldn’t know what to do hadn’t necessarily occurred to me. Didn’t the hero always know? Carter always knew. I couldn’t think of a single situation we’d been in—and we’d been through some weird ones—where he hadn’t known what to do. I guess I’d foolishly assumed this wouldn’t be any different.
“Guess I could start swinging,” he chuckled ruefully. “Like that would do me any good. I’m not some master swordsman. Never even touched one of the damn things before.”
“Never? You mean you were never into any Dungeons and Dragons type stuff?” I teased.
His lip curled in a sardonic smile. “No, that would be you, the geeky homeschooled kid.”
“I’m not a geek,” I protested. “Not all homeschoolers are geeks.”
He bent, brushing the hair off my forehead so he could press a kiss there, making me shiver.
“I love you, Ellie,” he murmured against my skin. “Thank you, but I want you to go now.”
I felt half-insulted. I snapped my jaws shut before a rejoinder jumped out like, “I’ve been through worse with you before. I’m not going anywhere.” Even though it was true, mere hours ago I’d told him I was done with him and his feuds. I had already broken that resolve by coming here, bringing him the sword, but I’d been hoping it would either help prevent a war or cut one short. This wasn’t the time to get all huffy. It probably wasn’t the time to go all stand by your man, either, since I’d already told him I wasn’t going to stand by my man.
Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) Page 18