Someone gently took her arm. She tried to shake them off, but they didn’t let go.
“I won’t allow you to lose your child,” Draecyn vowed.
“That’s not something you can guarantee.”
“I promise you, no matter what happens, we’ll get them back. Doesn’t matter what I have to do, I won’t see you suffer again.”
Turning to him, she laughed bitterly. “I don’t know how to trust you. How do you let a child feel unloved for so many years?”
“Foolishness. I thought I was protecting you. From what you are, from HARP ever laying a hand on you, from my own idiocy. You were taken because of what I’m a part of… the bigger picture.”
“Does Amalie know?”
He shook his head. “No. At the time, we couldn’t tell her. I knew why you were taken and couldn’t even tell her the truth.”
“I needed to know how she was going to deal with the situation before we could bring her in,” Ms. Murdock explained.
“You do realize that if anything happens to Tremaine or Robert, I’m going to go nuclear. Hell, something happens to Preston or Christian, and I’m still going to blow.”
“And you’ll bring them back. Your mother, well, she wound up dealing with your disappearance better than your father. I had expected the opposite to be honest,” Ms. Murdock explained.
“Why?”
“Mothers tend to be more volatile. If she knew the cause, I figured she might have turned every one of us in to get you back. Though after watching how she quietly kept searching and dealing with your loss in a healthier way, in hindsight, now I realize she would have made a good ally. Maybe we would have found you sooner with her help.”
“Sorry about what I said yesterday. I had defended both of you before we found you. Then I lost it.”
“You had every right to be hurt,” Draecyn answered, sadness obvious in his features. “I failed you, and everyone. I should have done more to protect you.”
“I can’t imagine what you went through, the burden you bore. You didn’t deserve my outburst.” Glancing around the room, she hesitated before finishing her promise. “And I’ll be so much worse if anything happens to any of them.”
“We won’t lose them. Ceri gave me glimpses into your boy’s future. A very happy one with all three of his parents.”
Ms. Murdock smiled. “You weren’t supposed to mention that.”
He sighed. “She needs something to hold on to.”
Liz pulled away from them. “Something is going to happen, isn’t it?”
“The path is rarely smooth, child. You know that,” Ms. Murdock murmured. “The visions I gave Draecyn are your future. The three of you will care for your son.”
“This baby, the one I carry now?” Liz pleaded.
“Yes, this child. You will not lose him. Relax, and come watch what transpires. You’ll be needed soon enough.”
“Then why the hell didn’t you send me with them?”
“To get Christian out, they needed Tremaine. To get Tremaine out, they’ll need you.”
She drew in a slow breath, filling her lungs as she tried to push away the fear. Liz followed them back to the table, and Old Lady Murdock conjured the scene before them.
* * * *
Tremaine’s head jerked up when his feet hit the ground. Robert covered his nose and mouth as he backed away. “They roasted people alive.”
“Too late to stop that,” Preston uttered softly. He closed his eyes, focusing.
Tremaine sensed Jules nearby.
He yanked Preston to Robert and whispered, “Go now!”
Robert didn’t hesitate. They wound up in a dank cavern. A heated conversation echoed off the rock walls.
“Why did we leave immediately?” Preston whispered.
“Jules was watching. This is a trap. It’s not their typical play.”
“What does that mean?” Robert asked, his tone harsh.
“We get Christian, and we do it now,” he said, then whispered a silencing spell before following the voices coming from further in.
Tremaine slowed at a tunnel leading farther underground. He reached a dazzling shield and sighed. “We’re crossing the rift.” Tremaine grabbed each of them and chanted under his breath before pulling the others into a pocket that would zip them across the world if they followed it to the other side.
Luckily, Theo and Raymond stood, bickering at the center of the tunnel.
“You weren’t supposed to knock him out, fuckface!” Theo snarled.
Raymond grunted. “Had to come back to get your dumb ass.”
Tremaine stepped fully into the tunnel.
Theo turned with a smirk. “Wondered if you’d show your face after going back to the Silver Council. Always said you killed my sister on purpose.”
Tremaine smirked. “I could have killed her at any point. Why wait months?”
“You wanted it to look like an accident so Jules and Anthony wouldn’t blame you.”
“Stupid, and jealous because you couldn’t do more than track my ass all over the map. How’s that working out for you lately?” Tremaine’s brow cocked.
He hissed, shifting into a lion—not even half-man form—and pounced at him.
Tremaine lifted his arms. A wall of earth rose before him, and he sidestepped the wall to whip his arms back. Water surged from the creek flowing a few feet away. A sheet of ice formed, slicing into Theo’s side as he twisted away. It didn’t stop him. He kept coming.
Hearing a pop and knowing Robert was likely dealing with the other asshole, Tremaine danced back as a massive paw swiped out at him. “Shift back, pussycat. Fight like a man!”
Theo roared and leapt at him. He wasn’t fast enough to move out of the way but got his arm up as he went down. His claws and fangs cut into his arm, but Tremaine started chanting as he rolled to his side, opening a rift to the middle of the earth.
Tremaine shoved, pushing Theo’s head back until it entered the glowing green light, then he killed the spell.
The lion went limp, his body shifting back to human. Tremaine shoved him off and climbed to his feet to take care of the mage.
* * * *
HARP’s mage started to cast under his breath when the werelion went after Tremaine.
Robert translocated behind him and shoved his face into the stone wall. “One on one is plenty, don’t you think?”
“New Magister wants to play?” the mage grunted, popping out. Robert did the same, reappearing next to Christian, ready to see what the next move was. He threw his hand out and produced a shield over Christian. His nephew was breathing and seemed fine in the dark cavern, but he wouldn’t know for sure until they got him out of there.
“Where the fuck did he go?” Preston asked, jogging to Robert.
“Not sure, but this doesn’t bode well.
Hearing a pop, Robert translocated two feet behind where he’d been standing to whisk the other guy around, slamming him face first into the ground. “Don’t try that with me. You aren’t going to be happy with the results.”
And he tried anyway, only Robert dove into his head, and steered him wrong. He was out before he vanished and reappeared a foot lower. Blood welled up out of the stone as he stood and stepped back.
Robert turned to find Preston standing next to Christian.
Preston shook his head. “We need to get him to Emily. The bastards stuck two daggers in him. He’ll bleed out if we don’t get him there. He’s got twenty minutes, tops.”
The sound of cloth tearing whipped his head up. Green light bled through a rift. Tremaine pushed the top half of a lion’s head into the ghastly light.
The dead cat shifted back to human as the rift closed. Tremaine threw the man aside as a swirl of shadow appeared behind him, showing another world beyond. Tremaine was pulled from this realm, the spell slamming shut as soon as he was clear.
Robert rushed forward. “Track him.”
Preston shouted. “Robert, that’s not going to be so easy. I don
’t know where the fuck we are, but it isn’t Earth, and I’m pretty sure this place only exists for a handful of people. That world, or whatever, isn’t here. Whatever you said Tremaine and Liz are, we need to get her so she can figure it out. Okay? Right after we take Christian to your sister.”
Robert heaved a breath, guilt slamming into him. He nodded, knowing that no matter who had come, they would be in the same predicament.
He dropped the shield surrounding Christian and touched his arm as Preston grabbed Robert’s shoulder. They were instantly in the clinic, standing in front of Emily’s exam room.
Emily jumped, then frowned at her son. “What happened?”
Robert felt like an ass for not calling her earlier to at least warn her what was going on. “HARP took him. We got him back, but he’s in bad shape. I need to leave and find Tremaine.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I expect you to fill me in the moment you get him back. Go!” She shoved him back toward the door.
Robert touched Preston’s shoulder, and they were back at Draecyn’s catacombs.
Liz shot to her feet, tears streaming down her face. She shoved his chest. “I told you something would happen!”
“Calm down, Liz. We’ll get him back.”
Ms. Murdock stepped between them. “Liz, stay calm and think things through. Tremaine taught you everything you need to know. The three of you must work together to find him.”
“How?” Liz asked, working to calm her tone.
“You’ll have to share your thoughts. Robert can open the channel by touching each of you and concentrating. Preston will track, Liz will open the rift, and Robert will take you there. You can’t simply walk through with the wards in place.”
She nodded. “Promise me what you told me is the truth.”
“I have never lied to you, Elizandra. Keep a rational head. You’ll be fine.”
Liz turned to Robert with fierce determination in her eyes. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 24
Tremaine was yanked through a portal and slammed to the ground. When he checked his surroundings, he found Jules standing over him. His long blond hair whipped around with the sweeping kick.
Catching his ankle, Tremaine threw his legs up and over, pinning Jules to the ground and slammed his fist into his junk.
Jules cried out in pain but grabbed a handful of Tremaine’s hair as he channeled energy at him.
Tremaine shielded, sending the sparks and embers flying around them as he sat up. Then he pinned the bastard with a knee to the chest.
“Should have made sure you were dead the first time around,” Tremaine snarled, punching Jules in the face, slamming his head into the stone below.
Still unsure of his location, Tremaine glanced up at the sky and found himself on a mountain in another realm with purple skies. Didn’t surprise him that the portal hopping prick would drag him somewhere no one was likely to ever find him. Looked an awful lot like the Storm Coasts of Faery.
“You can try,” Jules snarled. “I trusted you, and you nearly destroyed what I share with Anthony. You will not succeed in ripping apart our foundation.”
Tremaine backed off him and into a fighting stance. “Got news for you, Jules. Anthony came to me. He wanted what I had in a big way. I watched him kill another man for denying him.”
Jules circled him, his breath steaming in the cooling air. “You were different to him. He truly loves you, even now. It’s why you need to die!”
“Love? Bullshit. I was a toy in the bedroom and a tool in the field. He didn’t give a damn about what I wanted or felt. He loved the idea of a man who gave him exactly what he wanted.” He shook his head, fury racing through him. Anthony was always ready to punish him anytime he didn’t please the bastard. “You both wanted to pit me against the other in some sick, twisted game.”
“Did you honestly feel nothing for Anthony?”
“Oh, I had plenty of emotions. Hatred. Bitterness. Disgust. He wanted to be rid of you in the worst possible way, but couldn’t walk away because you two are bound together.” Tremaine slammed his hands forward and ice formed between them in a wall that pushed back, knocking Jules off balance.
Jules landed on his back when the ice curled over him in hooks that penetrated his chest. Then fire erupted around him, melting the ice. Jules floated off the ground, pulling at the ambient energy, a trick Tremaine had forgotten he possessed.
Tremaine drew back, focusing on the power surrounding Jules, pulling it into himself. Jules crashed into the ground in a violent heap. His eyes glowed an eerie gold as he shot off the ground, charging Tremaine who whipped to the side, his hand flinging out spikes of ice. The process forced the barbs out of the ground toward Jules, who dispersed in a rush of fire. Tremaine’s shields held against the onslaught, but a blade slid between his ribs.
He opened a rift and rushed through, slamming it shut behind him as he fell to the grass and pulled the dagger from his chest. Sucking in a breath, he stared up at the rain clouds rolling in. “Fucking great,” he muttered. Sorry Liz, Robert.
With the last of his energy, he sealed the wound, knowing if there was too much internal damage he was fucked, but Jules wasn’t going to find him. Hell, he didn’t even know where he’d landed.
* * * *
Seventy-two years ago…
Tremaine paced the office, waiting for Draecyn. He was going crazy. Much longer without a real case and he might decide to disappear for good.
HARP hadn’t been heard from since he killed Jules. They’d fallen apart, or so it seemed. And he was still sitting in an office, going through cold cases.
Draecyn entered the room, dark circles under his eyes. His hair was in disarray. “Perfect timing.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “I have a real assignment for you.”
“As long as you aren’t sending me to hunt down HARP’s core, I’m your man.”
“They’re still in hiding. Whatever has become of them, no one yet knows. Though I’m sure we will see them again.”
“So, what’s the job?”
“You’re to investigate Sinclair McCallister. We suspect he’s gone dark. Rumors indicate he has more than a hundred mage-born slaves. I believe he’s been draining them for decades.”
Tremaine nodded slowly. “And why send me?”
“We need to acquire goods only he can get his hands on. Objects that aren’t illegal, but difficult to obtain. Gives you the perfect in. Perhaps you can ask about something a bit more dangerous, and illegal, while you’re there. He’d fall for the bait. In the meantime, while he’s trying to acquire the goods, you can find the truth.”
“I’m ready.”
* * * *
Robert took them to a cavern of glittering black rock. Blood coated a boulder and the ground. A man lay in a crimson puddle, half his skull gone. Nearby, another corpse was partially lodged in the rock.
“Where did the third come from?” Liz asked. She looked around, searching for some sign. She only saw where a portal had opened, and could sense where it led. She frowned, her head tipping to the side. “Oh, shit. I have an idea.”
Preston stopped them. “Someone opened a portal right here. One that leads out of this world.”
Liz nodded. “It’s a fae gateway. Can you track the bastard?”
He shook his head. “Though, you can open it, Liz. I’m not sure exactly how, only that a Rift Bender can do it.”
“Makes sense to use the rifts like portals. Tremaine hadn’t covered that in our early training.” She whispered the spell to find the spot Tremaine was pulled off his feet.
A glow swirled in front of her. Arcane energy pulsed but was fading fast.
Tremaine had taught her only the basics, but she hoped like hell that was all she’d need. Focusing on the tiny vortex, she chanted the words. The light grew, swirling faster until the portal blew open. She rushed forward, Robert and Preston close on her heels.
A blond man with glowing gold eyes stared up from his bloody hands, smirking. “Come fo
r Tremaine?”
Liz lost it. She stormed toward him, fire and electricity dancing around her as she closed in on the smug bastard. “Where is he?”
“Not a damned clue.” Fire danced up his arms as he laughed. “You’ll never find him in time.”
“Fuck that,” she snarled, throwing her hands out. Her magic twisted and churned, fire and lightning flowing from her as she closed the distance.
The man screamed. “You can kill me, but I’ll always come back.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Fire can’t touch me. Much like your friend over there.”
Her magic danced around Jules, and she caught his wrists as he reached for another weapon. She channeled pure energy into him, dropping the temperature as he called on fire. The flames were doused as he screamed. She kicked him in the balls and shoved him onto the ground, climbing over him as she pressed her hands over his mouth, imagining water flowing like she’d seen Tremaine do dozens of time.
Jules started choking, and his body spasmed as she pushed her energy into him. Her eyes glinted with joy as she watched him dancing as if a live electric line had been shoved up his ass. His eyes bulged and his skin smoked, leaving a putrid odor in its wake.
“There’s always ice.” She focused on chilling the water, turning it to solid ice as she poured more energy into him.
Once his body had turned solid blue, Robert jerked her back and slammed his foot into Jules’ chest. What was left of the corpse shattered into pieces. Preston sent a shock of fire at the mess, evaporating and burning the remnants.
Robert spun her around, catching her face. “How do we find him?” The desperation in his eyes warmed her heart and chilled her blood at the same time.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the turquoise worry stone Tremaine had given her before he left her at Wilhelm’s. “He can hear me through this. Feel what I feel. I rub it, you follow in your mind, we’ll know where we’re going. I can open the rift.”
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