by Candace Sams
Afton gasped "Listen to yourself, Rhiannon You're not even making sense Even if you had been born within the Order, there's no guarantee you'd have ever been Sorceress If Shayla hadn't deposed your Aunt Freyja, someone else surely would have It's obvious that your whole family is crazy, including you "
Rhiannon tilted her head and simply stared at her. "That's not true. It's not true not true."
Blain shook his head in disbelief Confronted with reality, Rhiannon just stood there in front of them with her head at an odd angle, mumbling As Afton said, there was no logic in her argument She was insane by anyone's standards Rhiannon seemed to be interpreting things the way she wanted them to be Whatever was the most comfortable reality for her to deal with.
"You'd have eventually killed Hannah, your own mother, to be Sorceress, wouldn't you?" he asked, watching her slowly come back to reality. He saw her shake her head and the glazed look left her eyes.
"I've wasted enough time explaining myself to fools who won't ever understand. Get up and come with me." She beckoned to Blain and Afton with her staff.
Against his will, Blain dropped the battle axe and felt himself being pulled forward. His mind didn't seem to control his body any longer. Glancing at Afton, he saw that she seemed equally impaired. The two of them were forced to walk behind Rhiannon and Myers.
"Where are you taking us?" Afton asked, struggling against the force propelling her forward.
"Mother told me...ah, yes. An entrance to the crystal caves is just ahead. Her description of this woods was very accurate. Shayla will have to follow me into the mines to get you. That means there won't be room for her to bring all her warriors. I'll send Myers to her with an ultimatum. She comes alone, or you both die."
"The Order won't accept someone who takes control this way, Rhiannon. They'll hunt you down for sure," Blain warned.
"And you're suddenly an expert on what they'd do?" She paused as they approached the cave entrance. "Just keep your mouths closed, and I promise you both a quick death. Keep talking and you'll linger in the most horrible way I can imagine."
Blain and Afton were forced through the cave's entrance while still fighting against the power which controlled them. The ground began to slope gradually downward, and the passageway became more narrow. They walked for what seemed like ages. Torches lit the walls where the workers had left them. Afton knew the miners had probably dropped what they were doing as soon as they'd found out about the attack on poor little Pluck. When someone entered the forest and got past the perimeter guard, every man, woman and child old enough to know how were assigned positions of defense, even if that position was to hide those too young or old to fight.
That meant she and Blain would be on their own against a woman using black magic.
But Afton knew that kind of magic would eventually eat the user alive. Though it was horribly powerful, its practitioners always suffered the most excruciating diseases or deformities toward the end of their lives. It was why no sane soul in the Order ever wielded that type of magic. Even now, its influence was taking away every vestige of human emotion Rhiannon may have ever felt, along with her sanity. All that was left of her was a cold, evil monster with a rock where her heart should be.
If Rhiannon's plan succeeded, the Sorceress of the Ancients would die. The Order would be left in the hands of a black witch who would destroy thousands of years of culture. Afton couldn't let that happen. She glanced at Blain and could see in his eyes that he was thinking much the same thing. If they got a chance to destroy Rhiannon, they'd have to take it.
After walking for some time, Rhiannon stopped in the middle of one of the main chambers. Clear quartz crystals coated the walls and ceiling. They shimmered brilliantly in the torchlight and reflected rainbows of color everywhere.
"A beautiful place to die, isn't it?" She smiled. "Both of you, against the far wall." At her beckoning, Afton and Blain stumbled backward into the wall and sank to the ground, unable to move. "It's pure hell being in such an impotent position, isn't it? Doesn't it just make you want to scream?" Rhiannon laughed sarcastically. Then, she walked a few yards away to recite an incantation to the catatonic Myers.
"Afton," Blain whispered, "how can she control us so easily?"
"Black magic is very powerful, but it exacts a high toll. It may be that Rhiannon is using a great deal of energy to bind us to her this way."
"What can we do?"
"I don't know unless..." Afton stopped to think and began to chew on her lower lip.
"What?" Blain urged her to continue.
Afton looked straight into his eyes. "Shayla will try to get to us if she can."
"I was hoping she wouldn't." Blain nodded toward the roof of the cave. "There are a lot of people up there who depend on her. If I were her, I'd consider us expendable."
Afton smiled. "But you're not her. Ours lives aren't expendable to the Sorceress."
"If that's the case, she'll die right along with us."
"If that happens, the Order might not survive. I'm glad I'm with you, Blain."
"I'm sure as hell not. I want you a few thousand miles from here. Right back on the farm leading animals all over the place."
Afton shook her head. "I belong with you."
"I love you, Afton."
"Shut up!" Rhiannon called out. She turned back to Myers and lifted her hand. The motion caused him to stumble back the way they'd come. Rhiannon walked behind him for a short distance, making sure he followed her commands. The crystal ball in her staff began to glow as she conjured.
Blain watched Rhiannon and remembered what Afton said about needing a lot of power to hold them so helpless. It gave him an idea.
"Afton, honey, whatever I do or say, stay out of it." Before she could question his intent, Blain called to Rhiannon. "Hey, Rhi!"
Rhiannon made one last gesture toward Myer's retreating figure, then she angrily turned around and stalked to where Blain sat. "I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut!" She leaned over and slapped him hard.
Blain shook his hair back and grinned up at her. "I just had to ask one question."
She straightened, put one hand on her hip and arched an eyebrow. "Not that it matters, but go ahead."
"What was all the sex really for? I mean, you came to Harvest to kill me. You didn't have to screw my brains out just to weaken me. All those hexes were doing a pretty good job. Or was Myers' right on the money?
Rhiannon's lips twisted. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the real reason you had sex with me. Couldn't a used woman like you find a man in New York, or did you have to come all the way out to the sticks to jerk-off some country boy?"
Rhiannon's expression went from insipid boredom to pure fury. She raised her staff and pushed it toward the wall. Blain's body was instantly jerked from his seated position and slammed into the side of the cave.
"Oh, come on, Rhi," Blain gasped as soon as his breath returned. "You have to know the real reason I dumped you." He watched her eyes turn black with rage. "Word all over town was, you'd been sleeping with every man you could find. Hell, sweetheart, even a country boy like me has to have his standards."
Rhiannon's scream of anger echoed off the chamber walls. She dropped her staff and threw herself at Blain, her nails extended like talons. She sank them deep into his chest. Blain was able to move again. Getting her angry enough to drop the staff and physically attack him had worked.
He pulled her hands away from his body and tried to pm them behind her, but she twisted away and quickly backed up. Before he could rush her again, Rhiannon grabbed her staff
"I told you I'd have your wings mounted over a fireplace. Well I can't think of a better time to pull them off! You’re going to die very, very slowly."
Blain charged, but Rhiannon aimed the staff at him. The same kind of white light that had incapacitated Afton hit him in the left shoulder He cried out, but kept trying to move forward.
Afton gasped as her body was finally rel
eased from Rhiannon's hold. She raced to help Blain. He was doing this for her.
"No, Afton! Get out'"
He threw himself at Rhiannon once more. She was more physically powerful than he could imagine. It had to be the magic she used. As he struggled with her, its dark source physically sickened him.
Afton watched in horror as blinding light shot off the crystal walls. Rhiannon's staff directed bolt after bolt of power at Blain. But he was moving too fast, grappling with her to take away the staff which was acting like an amplifier. Shadows appeared against the walls as they struggled. Afton tried to get closer without being struck by the staff's powerful light. One of the shadows didn't move with the fighting couple. It seemed to leap toward them. Then another did the same. Afton backed away as the dark figures seemed to come to life and move toward Rhiannon. This was an unholy magic Afton had never known existed.
"See the powers I have at my beck and call, Blain? See them do as I bid?" Rhiannon gasped.
Blain might have won the battle, even though her strength had been augmented by the powers of the staff and its crystal, but he couldn't fight off the shadow figures that pulled him against the wall and held him fast. They were very much like the same red demons Hannah had summoned. Realizing Afton was finally free gave Blain some hope.
"Run!" he yelled.
Afton shook her head in refusal, and Rhiannon slowly turned in her direction.
"Afton, if you love me, go!"
"I won't leave you."
"You couldn't hide from me anyway," Rhiannon snarled. "No matter where you went, I'd hunt you down like an animal." Rhiannon summoned more power and sent a beam of it straight toward Afton's chest.
Blain watched in terror as her slender figure folded to the ground.
Rhiannon stood over Afton, laughing. "There goes your little English girl. Too bad. Now I'll just have you to use as a lure."
Blain roared out in anger. Afton's still form enervated him in a way he'd never known possible. From the depths of the earth he drew powers. Something in his intuition told him these were the powers of his father. Powers of a Druid. He focused on strengthening himself and felt the very forces of nature entering into muscle and sinew. He pulled free of the shadowy demons, charged Rhiannon and struck her to the ground. The woman was so stunned she didn't have time to react. Blain put his hands around her neck. He only had a second to squeeze before people were pulling him off her choking form.
"Lay off, lad!" Lore ordered. "This woman's punishment is left to the Sorceress."
Blain struggled as Lore and several other large men held him fast. "If Afton's dead, so is Rhiannon," he gasped and tried to pull free.
"Calm down, Blain!" Shayla commanded as she hurried into the chamber, knelt beside Afton's body and checked her pulse. "Afton isn't dead. She's just badly injured. It's lucky for the both of you that Rhiannon didn't know there are other entrances into this chamber Quickly, bind Rhiannon and take her to the castle," Shayla ordered some of the men. "Lock her away from Myers. Someone help me with Afton "
"Let me have her," Blain tried to reach out for Afton's body which was lying in Shayla's arms, but Lore and the other men held him back
"Only if you calm down. Getting her to safety is our main concern right now. We'll deal with Rhiannon Stone and that man of hers later"
Blain nodded and extended his arms. Lore ordered his men to let him loose, and one of them picked Afton up off the cave floor and handed her to Blain.
"I'm here, baby. It's all right," he whispered as he took her body in his arms and quickly followed the others out of the cave.
Twelve
Blain watched as Shayla, Hugh, and Afton's parents fussed over Afton. She was so pale it frightened him. "She'll be okay, won't she?"
"She's absorbed quite a dose of evil energy. We'll have to wait and see what happens," Shayla responded. "If she makes it through the night, then I believe everything will be all right."
Blain watched Afton's mother cry. Her father tried to console his wife and not give way to his own emotions. In the hallway, six large men waited to hear what would happen to their little sister, and Blain felt the entire situation was his responsibility. He had brought this horror to these good people. To the woman he loved. And he was in agony over it. He should have known when he saw Rhiannon's twisted reflection in and said something, but it was too late to look back now. His only consoling thought was that none of the more powerful creatures around him had been able to hone in on Rhiannon as the source of their problems, but that really didn't make him feel less responsible.
After the struggle with the crazed woman, Blain discovered that the amethyst fairy stone Afton had given him was one of the reasons he'd survived. It glowed after having absorbed some of the powers Rhiannon had tried to use against him. As an element from the earth, it gave him strength. The same as it would have done his father or any other Druid. By giving it to him, Afton had probably saved his life, and he vowed to never again take it off.
He'd been told that little Pluck was fighting for his life. One other perimeter guard had been found injured, and two more were dead. That was why it had taken Shayla so long to get to him and Afton. They'd been tending the other wounded guards, trying to save their lives. Rhiannon had used her magic to conceal Myers' and her presence until they got close enough to attack. Blain cursed himself for ever having anything to do with her.
He sat down beside Afton, took her hand and waited. No one would ever persuade him to leave her side. All through the night he whispered to her and held her hand. Cleansing incense was burned near her bed, while herbs were scattered beside her body. Her brothers were allowed in to see her in the early morning hours when it looked as though she wouldn't rally Gawain placed a hand on Blain's shoulder, and Blain finally took his gaze off Afton long enough to see the big man's eyes filled with tears. His heart was breaking, and Blain truly understood how loved Afton was.
Blain leaned closer to her. "Don't you leave me, dammit! If you do, I'll come after you. Do you understand, little Flower?"
Afton's eyelids fluttered open, and she moved her lips. Everyone stood absolutely still and held their breath. Blain leaned closer to her and gently pushed her hair back. "What did you say, honey?"
"Wh-what did you call me?" she croaked out in a very soft voice.
In his excitement, Blain couldn't talk. He just gazed into her eyes and placed a soft kiss on her lips
"He called you Flower." Gawain looked down at her with a tearful smile.
Afton's tired gaze focused on her eldest brother. "Gawain, you didn't tell him that silly nickname?"
Everyone laughed as she wearily smiled and squeezed Blain's hand. It was her way of letting him know she was going to be all right.
***
"Here, drink this," Blain said as he placed a cup of herbal tea into her hands. "It'll make you feel better."
Afton shook her head in frustration. "I'm fine. It's been three days, and I want to get up."
He adamantly shook his head. "No."
"Couldn't I just. "
"No, you can't."
"If I could just sit by the window and see outside.. " Afton's voice trailed away as she looked, beseechingly, at him.
Blain sighed, considered the window seat, then carefully picked her up and carried her to it. "There. Now you can see outside."
He tucked a warm blanket around her, walked across the room and placed some cookies the English referred to as biscuits on a small plate. "Eat these. You need to get your strength back."
Afton watched him place the small offering on a table and move it close enough so she could reach the food. "How long are you going to keep coddling me?"
He smiled, knelt in front of her and kissed the backs of her hands. "Forever."
She lost herself in his green gaze and finally smiled. "Blain, haven't you slept? You need a shave. Please don't make yourself sick over me."
"I got a little sleep when you did." He ruefully passed a hand across his face an
d felt the stubble. But going to his room meant leaving her even for a few minutes, and he just couldn't bring himself to do so. Still, the way she was wrinkling her nose made him think he might need a shower as well as a shave.
"Okay, sweetness, I'll go clean up. But I won't leave until I can find one of those brothers of yours to stay with you while I'm gone."
"For goodness sake, Blain, I'm perfectly capable of..."
"You're perfect." He kissed her and made his way toward the door.
As he suspected, Gawain and the rest of his brothers were in the hallway. They'd long since given up trying to stay more than a few minutes with their sister. Blain had chased them all out as soon as Afton's father had taken her very tired and distressed mother back to their cottage. Since the castle had been closer to the caves, and immediate medical attention was available there, that was where Afton, Pluck and the injured guard had been taken. Afton's family had haunted the place until they were absolutely sure she was out of danger. Still, those brothers of hers weren't going far from their baby sister. Blain understood it wasn't a question of his being in her room that fostered their constant vigil. They just loved her.
"I've got to get cleaned up or I'm afraid Afton won't let me near her. Who wants to go in and..."
Blain grinned. Before he could finish the sentence, all six hulking men pushed past him and into the room, smiling like idiots. Gawain was last and nodded at him in appreciation. In the past few days, a bond had formed between himself and the brothers. It was a bit like having brothers of his own.
As he walked toward his room, he found he was grinning, too. Since Afton's family had taken him in, he now felt as though he belonged with them. In the long hours as she'd slept, they'd talked and come to know each other better. That was how he'd found out about her silly nickname. He suspected that when Afton was able to put up a good fight, Gawain was going to catch hell over that indiscretion.