by J. D. Tyler
“There was once a man who believed he could take over the world by annihilating all of those who didn’t measure up to his standards,” Kalen sneered. “He believed in his sick mind that he would create a pure race, and he murdered millions while millions more bought his twisted lies. His name was Hitler, and his story didn’t end so well. Neither will yours.”
“You’re my son, and we’ll rule together! Sariel and those filthy wolves must die! And pendant or not, I’ll find a way to slaughter your woman as well, like the cow she is, and take that child for my own before I’ll allow you to defy me! You are mine!”
At that threat, the blackness within Kalen surged and he welcomed it—but this time to turn it on its creator.
His brothers were losing the fight. He gathered his power and saved it all for the threat to his mate and his family. May the gods give him strength.
“No!” he shouted back, summoning his Sorcerer’s staff. “I’ll see you in hell first, you motherfucker!”
“I’m your father. You won’t kill me.” He looked so damned smug.
“Oh, I will. I learned the meaning of ruthless from you, after all.”
* * *
Nick, bloodied and damned near broken, crouched in the mud in the downpour and watched his vision come to pass. High on the pinnacle, the Sorcerer stood with his staff held high. And screamed his rage to the boiling heavens.
“God help us,” he whispered.
But there was only the Sorcerer to save them. And that was far from a sure thing.
When the lightning struck the Sorcerer’s staff, Nick witnessed a sight he’d never forget—should he live to recall it. Kalen harnessed the fury of the storm, took it into himself, and released it in an explosion that lit the sky as though it were a brilliant summer day.
All around him bodies were blown to bits. Nick scrabbled for purchase and fell.
Fell, thinking he’d never know how the story ended.
And then there was nothing.
* * *
Mac heard a powerful scream of rage and peeked out the window again. Kalen stood on the peak facing down Malik. Lightning struck his staff and he channeled the storm into a tool.
The combatants froze in awe—
And then the world was blown away.
* * *
Opening his body as a conduit for the storm, Kalen raised the staff high and screamed his rage. “Help me! Fucking help me!”
But he was alone in this. Just him and the elements. He welcomed the lightning and it didn’t disappoint him, streaking from the sky as he’d summoned and striking the end of his staff with such force he was nearly blasted from his perch.
But he held firm, harnessing the white light. Because he’d heard somewhere that only light could drive out the darkness. From Sariel? Or someone else?
He used that now, his sole weapon against Malik and the masses of Sluagh below. The Unseelie was the first to realize that his doom was near and made a lunge for Kalen. He didn’t make it.
The lightning shot from Kalen’s body to Malik’s and lit it up so that the Sorcerer could see every bone and organ inside. And then the Unseelie screeched, long and loud—the awful noise ending as he exploded into a million tiny particles to be washed away in the downpour.
A fitting end to the bastard’s terrible reign.
No time to celebrate that victory. The Sluagh were next. The Sorcerer channeled the storm at the ugly minions, his own insides burning. His guts, lungs, heart. He could literally feel them starting to boil, the raw, brutal fury of the lightning taking a toll on him as well. But he kept going, long past what any normal human would have been able to withstand. Because he wasn’t human.
He was Fae. A Sorcerer. A brother. A mate.
A father.
For the first time in his life, he embraced what and who he’d become. For all of his loved ones, he could do this. They were worth any price. He would die, and it would be okay. The Sluagh froze in confusion, perhaps barely gleaning the loss of their leader when they, too, began to sizzle like bacon. And they exploded, hundreds of them, with such force that his brothers and the remaining soldiers were hurled to the ground. Stunned, many injured, but all right.
It was over.
Kalen Black had finally done something truly good. He’d fought the evil and won, had severed the bond of darkness between himself and Malik. He’d protected his own, and that’s all he wanted. His mate and baby were safe. Now he could let go.
His heart stuttered in his chest, the agony tearing him apart. He couldn’t breathe. His knees buckled and he collapsed, falling through space, as the darkness took him.
* * *
Mac sat up, ears ringing, trying to clear her head. What had happened? The explosion!
She gazed out the SUV’s window and spied the Pack guys and some soldiers struggling to sit up. Malik and the Sluagh were dead. She started to smile.
Then she saw Kalen’s knees fold. Dropping the Sorcerer’s staff, he collapsed, his duster fluttering around him as he tumbled from the summit.
Flinging open the door, she practically fell from it and ran. “Kalen!”
Slipping in the mud, she ran on, screaming his name again and again. She hit a slick spot and couldn’t catch herself, went sprawling. Before she could get up, Nick and Sariel were there, helping her to sit up. She tried to pull away, but they held her fast.
“Wait!” Sariel ordered. “I need to check and see if you are all right.”
“No! Kalen needs me!”
“The baby needs you too. Hold still.”
That got her to cooperate long enough for Sariel to pronounce her and the baby safe. “Okay, help me find him! I saw him fall over there somewhere.”
“We’ll look together,” Nick said. He shared a grim look with the prince.
Mac’s pulse jumped, and her lungs seized. She had to find him. They picked their way through the debris-strewn field, the men holding her on each side. Others were up on their feet now, ignoring their own injuries to help in the search. Calling for Kalen.
She spotted him and cried out, jerking from their grasp, and ran. Her mate was lying on his back, unmoving. The rain had trailed off to a soft patter, and steam was rising from his battered and scorched leather duster, from his limbs and black hair. His eyes were closed, his face still and white.
Terrified, she dropped to her knees by his side and searched for a pulse. The beat was erratic, thready. Getting weaker by the second. “Kalen? It’s me. Please, hang on,” she begged. “It’s over and we’re all here. We’re going to get you back to the compound and it’s going to be all right.”
But under her palm, his heartbeat slowed. And stopped.
Her world shattered. “No! Kalen!”
Sobbing, she started CPR while Nick tilted his head back, gave him breaths. One minute. Two. Agonizing minutes ticked by with no response. His lips were turning blue. She was losing him. She couldn’t lose him!
“Mac, move over.”
She found herself shoved aside by Zan. She barely registered that his ears were bleeding and his voice sounded odd. Her entire focus was on her mate lying there not breathing. “Help him, please.”
She wasn’t sure whether the Healer heard. He didn’t answer, but seemed to talk to himself as he placed both palms on Kalen’s chest.
“Burned himself out,” Zan slurred, his voice odd and garbled. “Don’t know if this will be enough.”
A green glow began around Zan’s palms and spread to encompass Kalen’s whole body. For too long, the Healer’s efforts didn’t seem to be working. When at last her mate sucked in a breath, there was a collective cheer from the men. But their relief was short-lived.
“Lots of damage,” Zan managed, swaying. “Maybe too much.”
Then he slumped to the side, unconscious. The Pack jumped into action. Jax and Ryon grabbed Zander while Aric and Nick took Kalen. It wasn’t until they started for one of the SUVs with her mate that she remembered her dad. She looked around frantically, calling for him, and he sq
ueezed her hand.
“I’m right here, baby girl. Come on. Let’s see to that man of yours.”
She rode in the back of one of the SUVs with Kalen, and they had to pry her loose when Melina and Noah rushed out to take over. She tried to follow them into the ER, but Nick blocked her path.
“Let Melina and Noah do their jobs. You need to see to Zan.”
“But—”
“That man just saved Kalen’s life and now he needs your attention.” His voice softened. “Go. Seeing to him will take your mind off your mate for a while.”
He was right. All through Zan’s examination, she worried for the Healer as well as her mate. By the time she concluded her tests and got him settled in a room, her heart was heavy with the knowledge of the personal mountain Zan now had to climb.
He was going to be all right—but it was going to take a long, long time to get him there.
Once Kalen was settled into a room, no one could pry her from his side. He looked dead, so still and pale, his chest barely rising and falling. He’d given everything to save them all, and there was a possibility he’d never open his eyes.
Taking one of his hands in hers, she stroked his skin as the tears fell. “Listen to me, please. You can’t leave us,” she whispered. “The baby and I need you. Please stay.”
Laying her head next to him, she wept. And began the long wait.
* * *
Kalen was at the bottom of a deep, dark ocean.
No matter how he tried, he couldn’t swim to the surface. Couldn’t breathe. So he let go and floated, rested a while and tried again.
Sometimes he heard quiet conversation. He wasn’t sure why or where he was. It scared him a little, not knowing. The longer he floated, the more aware he became that he needed to get to the surface soon, or he never would. Something dear to him waited for him up there, and he had to fight.
So he did, and the voice began to solidify into one that he recognized. Mackenzie. His mate, his love. She told him stories all the time, begged him to wake up, and he wanted so badly to respond. To tell her that he loved her and wasn’t giving up.
Then one day he broke the surface. He heard a machine beeping nearby. The rustle of someone in a chair, flipping pages, reading something. Stuff made sense and he knew he was back. But how? It didn’t matter. He just had to get his lids to cooperate.
Finally he blinked them open to find that everything was fuzzy. But he could make out his mate’s figure sitting close to him, bent over something. A magazine? Yeah. She was reading, and he liked waking up to find her there.
“Baby?” he croaked.
The magazine plopped to the floor and her blue eyes widened. “Oh my God! You’re awake!”
Happy kisses peppered his face and he smiled, or thought he did. “I think so. Unless I’m dead and you’re an angel.”
Sitting back, she stroked his face, touching him everywhere she could reach. When his eyes focused more, he saw that there were tears glistening in hers. He wanted to brush them away but didn’t have the strength to raise his arm.
“Hey, none of that. I’m okay, right?”
“You are now.” She sniffled.
“You and the baby?” he asked in sudden alarm.
“Relax before you strain something,” she said softly. “The baby is fine and so am I. Do you remember what happened?”
He stared at her, thinking. Which was hard since it seemed he was dosed on good drugs. “I forgot.”
“The battle. You killed Malik and all his Sluagh,” she said gently. “You saved everyone in the Pack.”
The storm. The fight. His friends had been losing badly.
Then he’d used the lightning against the enemy.
“I used the light to drive out the darkness.” He smiled at his mate. “Sariel told me to.”
She smiled back, though it was tired at the edges. “That you did. Do you feel any different? I mean, is there any darkness left?”
Though he was exhausted, he searched deep inside himself. Looked for that awful black thread that Malik had fostered and had wanted to grow into something horrid. “It’s gone,” he breathed. “For good, I think.” He hoped and prayed.
“That’s the best news I’ve had all day. Other than the man I love waking up, that is.” Leaning over, she kissed him on the lips.
Something still worried him, though. “I didn’t leave here on the best of terms. Last time I saw Nick, he was trying to kill me.”
“Well, that changed when you almost killed yourself in the process of saving the world,” she told him, love shining in her blue eyes. “The whole Pack has been in and out of here for over two weeks, willing you to get better. Your brother, too. They think you’re pretty awesome, and so does my dad. And I happen to think you’re fantastic, too.”
Damn. His eyes burned.
“You’re lucky to have a dad like him.”
“He’s yours now, too. You’ll give him a chance to prove it, won’t you?”
That choked him up, and he worked not to show it. “You bet, baby. Say, how are his soldiers?”
She looked sad. “They lost a few, but not as many as they should have, considering how outnumbered they were. There’s something else, though.” She hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Zan was hurt. Remember how I said he couldn’t take another trauma to his head without risk?” Kalen nodded in dread. “He suffered another blow to the skull during the battle, and he was bleeding badly from his ears when we brought him in. When everything was over, he was deaf.”
Kalen stared at her. “He can’t hear? Is it permanent?”
“We don’t know for sure. He’s not human, so there’s a chance that he’ll hear again one day. But for now, nothing.”
“Tell me it wasn’t my fault,” he pleaded. If he’d caused Zan to go deaf with the explosion, he’d never forgive himself.
“I’m not going to lie—we don’t know how much the blow to his head factored in, versus the explosion. He’s not saying much about it.”
“Will he see me?”
“Soon. He needs time to heal and rest, same as you.”
There was no arguing that, so his visit with Zan would have to wait. He needed to get well. He had a mate to care for and a baby to buy lots of cute baby things for, too.
“The baby,” he rasped. “He’s really okay?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, especially about that.” She smiled at his use of “he” for their child. Taking his free hand, she scooted forward and let his palm rest on her tummy. “The baby’s fine. See?”
Reaching out with a tendril of magic, he searched. And found the tiny life warm and safe in his nest. Tears pricked his eyes. “I don’t know how to be a father. It’s not like I’ve had a great example to follow.”
“Oh, honey.” She stroked his hair. “You’re going be a great daddy, because you’ll want to give him all the love and support you never had from your folks. If anything, I’ll have to worry about you going overboard, doting too much and spoiling him rotten!” Now she’d said “he,” too. Kalen’s enthusiasm was rubbing off.
Grinning tiredly, he nodded. “I’m gonna buy him all kinds of boy stuff. Footballs, toy trucks, trains—”
“What if it’s a girl?” she teased.
“Hmm. Then she’ll be a tomboy. All us guys around here will make sure of that.”
She laughed. “No doubt.”
“I love you, Mac.” He yawned.
“That’s the second time you’ve called me that. Or is it the third?”
“Don’t know, but it’s growing on me. Doesn’t make me think of a trucker anymore.”
She laughed. “Well, that’s flattering. Sleep, Sorcerer.”
He drifted off, thinking he was a lucky man. A guy who’d never had a real family except his grandma, whom he’d lost way too soon, now had a compound full of brothers.
And several real brothers, including his and Sariel’s half siblings, whom he couldn’t wait to get to know better. Though
it still wasn’t fair that he had to wait a few thousand years to get his wings.
He guessed you couldn’t have it all. But you could damned sure try.
* * *
Three days after Kalen woke up in the infirmary, the Pack threw him a party in the rec room. Everyone was there, including Sariel and Jarrod Grant. That really got to him. Because in all his life, nobody had ever done that. Just celebrated him being alive and loved. It was every missed, lonely birthday rolled into one.
All of them had trooped through his hospital room constantly, jabbering about this and that. But they’d all avoided any conversation that might be deemed mushy in any way. So now, in true guy form, they let him know how sorry they were and how much they cared.
Nick was the first one to speak to him, beer bottle in hand, loud enough that the whole group could hear him. Well, except for Zander. “These damned visions of mine don’t always show the whole picture. Wish they did, but they don’t. So I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time. And, oh yeah—sorry I shot you.”
Kalen smiled. “Forgiven. Though A.J.’s rifle packs a helluva punch. Just sayin’, so you’ll feel worse.”
“Thanks a bunch.”
Aric took a turn next. “And I’m sorry I was such an asshole to you in the beginning. Mostly.” A few of the guys snickered, and the redhead frowned. “What?”
“So where’s our apology?” Jax goaded. “You’re always an asshole to us.”
“Hey, that’s my mate, fur face,” Rowan said, punching Jax in the arm.
“Ow.”
That pretty much set the tone for the party, light-hearted and everyone poking fun at one another. Pointing out their own faults for Kalen’s benefit, laughing at themselves. They needn’t have bothered, but it was nice. He felt included, and that was a great feeling.
He endured careful hugs, but he didn’t mind much. Especially the gesture from Sariel. His brother. He could hardly believe it as they stood regarding each other, the warmth filling his chest. Kalen cleared his throat. “I’m not used to having family that’s worth a damn, and it’s going to take some getting used to. But I’m glad you’re my brother.”
“So am I, Kalen.” The prince’s golden eyes were suspiciously moist. “One day I’ll get to introduce you to the rest of our brothers, and you’ll love them too.”