There was still so much hidden in the recesses of her own mind. She hadn’t remembered nearly enough, but she had recalled enough to know that this was her quest as much as it was Finn’s. She knew that their only chance to complete their task was to do it together. To trust each other. To let the past lie dead and buried and to take from it only what they needed to build a future.
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I accept our past, too.”
The flames crawled along her arm now, moving across her skin in flashes of brilliance that dazzled the eye and burned in her heart with a matching intensity.
“And our future?” Finn’s next question came quickly.
The future, Deidre thought, staring into his eyes. Until Finn, her future had been nebulous. She hadn’t known what she would do. Who she would be. She had been simply an extension of her mother and that wasn’t nearly enough. Now, she was terrified, motivated, stronger than ever and wildly in lust with an immortal being who had convinced her that she could do anything.
It didn’t matter now, what the future held, failure or success. All that mattered was that Deidre was determined to meet it. To do all she could to not only survive, but to succeed.
“Yes, Finn. Our future, too.”
The fire spread farther and she felt the first tugs of what felt like threads wrapping around their joined hands. She couldn’t see anything, but those fragile, mystical strands wrapped tighter, holding them together, binding them at what felt like a cellular level.
“Do you take me as your Mate? To stand beside you? To do battle with you and to put right what once went wrong?”
At those words, magic swept through the air. Like nothing she had experienced before, it swarmed around her head, dove into her body and danced along her skin. Heat simmered inside her, bristling with newfound strength. The eternal flames erupted with a rush of sound and color and the air in the armory sang with the promise of things to come.
She felt alive, powerful, and instinctively knew that this question was the most important one of them all. She didn’t have to look into Finn’s eyes to know it. She felt it.
“Yes, I accept you as my Mate,” Deidre answered slowly, carefully, wanting him to know that with every word, she was making her vow to him. To destiny. “I accept the responsibility of my role in this. I accept your help in the battles to come and will count on you to help me undo the wrongs of the past.”
The flames dancing on their joined hands flashed so brightly, she was forced to turn her head against its brilliance. The flames died an instant later, winking out of existence as if they’d never been. And at the same time, Deidre felt a stinging burn in the center of her palm and she jolted in surprised pain.
The burn raced up her arm, down into her chest and centered behind her left breast, where it exploded again into a fiery sensation that stole her breath and made her sway in Finn’s grip.
“What was that?”
He let go of her hand and grabbed her hips. Lifting her high, he then set her down firmly, pushing his hard, thick erection deep inside her.
Deidre gasped at the invasion and arched into him, wriggling slightly to feel more of him, to take him deeper, higher within.
“It’s the Mating brand,” Finn said, lowering his head to take her left nipple into his mouth. His tongue and teeth and lips worked her sensitive skin until she writhed in his arms, squirming uncontrollably as she rode the crest of a desire-filled wave unlike anything she’d felt before.
“Brand?” She frowned, licked her lips and said, “The tattoo?”
“Yeah.” He raised his head, and urged, “Look at it.”
Deidre wrapped her arms around his neck and glanced down at her breast. There, just above the dusky pink areola, she saw a dark red mark. Looked sort of like a burn. “That’s it?”
“No,” Finn said, leaning forward, to lay her on the blankets. “It’s just the beginning. I’ll have its match on my body. It marks us as a Mated pair. A team.”
She looked at the top of his breast and saw the same mark she carried. Deidre touched it and he groaned. She smiled up at him. “I like it.”
He rocked his hips against hers and she shivered. “I like this too.”
“Damn straight,” he muttered and launched into a frantic pace, driving in and out of her body with a need that was desperate, all consuming.
Deidre lifted her legs and hooked them around his waist. Her bare heels dug into his butt, pulling him in tighter, deeper as she moved with him. Matching her body’s movements to his, she met him stroke for stroke, gasp for gasp.
Sex magic was nothing compared to this, she thought wildly as new bundles of nerves were lit up and exploded inside her. Tingles of expectation became a wave of orgasms that left her screaming his name and holding on to him as if he were the only stable point in the universe.
Again and again, she came, her body splintering, sealing itself and coming apart again. Brighter, faster, magic swirled and desire burned. Her body shook, quivered as she gasped for air and wept for more. He shouted and emptied himself into her over and over again. And still they weren’t finished. It was as if awakening their magical bond had released something primal in them. Something so rare and wild that it couldn’t be contained.
And as their bodies Mated, their souls were entwined and somewhere along the way, Deidre and her Mate became one.
Chapter 31
Not having to breathe was a big plus.
And still Rune hated being underwater.
Fully dressed, none of them had bothered with diving gear. They didn’t need it for survival and what would be the point? Once they got out of this Belen-forsaken ocean, they’d use their magic to dry off and change clothes.
But the longer they were down here, the less likely it seemed they’d ever finish this job and get out. He, Torin and Damyn had been searching the bottom of the Adriatic for hours. Splitting up to cover more territory, they were determined to not leave this place without Egan.
But finding a solitary cage with one Eternal trapped inside was turning out to be a hell of a lot harder than he had thought it would be. Which was saying something.
Fucking fish everywhere were creeping him out. These bottom-dwelling fish were damned ugly, too. Give him a demon or a witch hunter and Rune was ready to do battle. Fear never entered into the equation. But down here, in the persistent, murky darkness, things kept bumping into him, sliding along his skin and he didn’t like it.
A big damn fish swam too close to his face and Rune lifted one hand to bat it away. But because of the water, his movement was so slow, the fish gave him a look that said if it had a middle finger to show, it would be flipping it to Rune.
Damn, if Egan didn’t kill his Mate after all this, Rune might, for putting all of them through this.
The darkness and the pressure of the water were wrapped so tightly around him, it felt like he was moving through wet cement. His immortal eyesight plumbed the blackness with no problem, but it was damned cold at this depth. When Damyn joined him, Rune shook his head, silently letting the other Eternal know that he too had come up empty. A flicker of movement caught the corner of his eye and Rune turned his head to see which fish he’d have to avoid next.
Instead, he felt a hard jolt nearly knock him off his feet. He grabbed Damyn’s arm, then pointed.
Damyn’s eyes lit up. They headed for the cage, a darker spot among the shadows. Egan’s arms were waving from between the bars and Rune had the first good feeling he’d had since they had started this trek. If Egan were rational enough to know a rescue operation when he saw one, then maybe he wouldn’t be too far gone.
Rune’s steps were slow and plodding and Damyn, right beside him, moved the same. Irritating as all hell that they couldn’t flash underwater. But, the water kept their innate flames from taking hold, smothering the magic they
needed to maintain them. Which must have only added to Egan’s misery over however long he’d been trapped down here.
Damyn mimed about going to find Torin and Rune just nodded as the man moved off and was swallowed by the shadows. As he got closer to the cage, Rune could see his old friend’s gray eyes shining like beacons in the darkness. Rune wouldn’t be able to just wait for the other two Eternals to reach him.
He had to concentrate on getting Egan out. As he hurried forward, Rune pulled the hacksaw he had brought along with him from the belt on his jeans.
The first explosion at BOW headquarters lit up the night with sound and light. The old building at Thirty-second and G streets shook like a snow globe in the fist of an angry child.
Deidre and Finn were through the tunnel entrance beneath BOW before the last of the reverberations had faded away. They came up in a long-unused basement. Dust streaked the white tiled floor and cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling attested to its “forgotten room” status. Stacks of metal shelving went along three walls and a heavy steel door stood between them and the hallway.
Finn smiled grimly. Metal doors wouldn’t be a problem. Nor would locks. Deidre’s power was growing like nothing he’d ever seen before. Since they’d begun the Mating ritual that afternoon, even he had been stunned at the changes taking place in her. His brother Eternals had told him stories, of course, about how their Mates’ magic had increased. But they’d talked about almost incremental changes.
With Deidre, it was more of a powerful eruption. As if the magic inside her, once free of the bonds restraining it, had blossomed all at once. Now that power was going to help them reach Shauna.
Finn looked at her. Her blue eyes were sharp, focused. Her blond hair was scraped back from her face into a long braid that lay against her back. She had used her magic to create a black sweater, jeans and boots and she looked like a beautiful commando. Finn got hard just seeing her like this. She was, he told himself, a hell of a woman.
“Get it open,” he told her, looking behind him as Marco and two of the others crawled up the tunnel entrance behind them.
Deidre didn’t waste a minute. She turned to the heavy door and flung one hand toward it, stabbing her fingers. Instantly, the sound of locks sliding free grated in the air and the door swung wide in welcome.
“Hot damn,” Marco muttered and gave another man named Sam a high five.
“Yeah, Rich-witch comes through,” Corey said.
“Cut the chatter. Just move.” Finn looked at all of them, then carefully checked the hallway before waving them out after him. Not bothering to keep his voice low, since most of the BOW security would be out dealing with the explosion Joe and his team had set off. They’d placed the bombs as they always did where they could create maximum chaos with a minimum of human damage. He reminded them all, “We’ve got the specs on the building. We know where to go. We get Shauna and we get out. Mission over.”
Deidre was practically vibrating with energy beside him. Her magic was surging and her self-confidence shone in her eyes. She was amazing. Beautiful. Strong. And damned powerful already.
“Okay, let’s hit it.” Finn led the way, Deidre right behind him. Marco, Corey and Sam followed after.
Their footsteps pounded on the white tile floor and bounced off the acoustic tiles overhead. Fluorescent lighting flickered unsteadily and the hush in the place was damned eerie—especially in the wake of the first pipe bomb exploding. The home of the federal agency that tracked and captured witches felt cold and sterile.
They raced along the corridor, made a right and faced another steel door. Another explosion shook the building and this time alarms sounded, a whining siren that punched holes in Finn’s ears, but made him smile. He knew every able-bodied guard in the place would be concentrated on the “attack” at the front of the building.
Joe and his team were creating a hell of a diversion.
Dee walked past Finn to the door. She fired up her power and flung it at the steel door with confidence. In response, locks clattered free again and this door too opened at her command.
Marco whistled.
Finn led them down another hallway just like the first. Empty white walls, scarred white floors, flickering light. According to the specs and the information from Joe’s buddy, there were still two more doors and about a mile of corridor between them and Fender’s makeshift lab in the basement.
The next two doors, Deidre opened as they approached and Finn held up a hand to silence his group. If a few of the guards had stayed behind, no point in warning them that Finn’s group was coming. He waved them to slow down.
Sure, adrenaline was a rush, but humans had to be on their toes when dealing with the feds or it would be their last rush.
“It’s there,” Deidre looked up at him, then pointed down the narrow hallway. “Last door down the third hall, just like Joe said.”
Finn nodded. “Marco, Corey and Sam, you guys be ready. We’re going in to get Shauna—and shoot anyone who gets in the way.”
The men smiled grimly and Finn knew he could count on them. Not one of them was a traitor. They’d all lost family to the witch hunts and Marco’s wife and daughter were still hiding behind the shield of Sanctuary. Their loyalty was unswerving and at that moment, he loved them like brothers.
Deidre lifted one hand to send a wave of power at the last door. Finn caught her hand and closed his fingers over hers. “Open it and step aside, Dee.”
“I can help.”
“You already have.”
She wanted to argue. He saw it in her eyes and in the way she clenched her jaw as if she was physically fighting back the words trying to get out. But thankfully her concern for Shauna overrode her natural tendency to buck authority. Especially his.
“Fine.” She looked over her shoulder at the others. “Here we go.”
“Get it done, witch,” Corey murmured.
Finn held his sword in one hand and a gun in the other. He preferred the sword, but he was a man of his times—willing to use whatever he had to get the job done.
The door opened, Deidre moved aside and Finn went in first, dipping to the right. Sam came in behind him, heading left and Marco went in last, keeping low.
A single gunshot sounded and Sam went down. Finn swung his sword in the next instant, catching the guard across the midsection and the man dropped, dead before he hit the floor. Marco went to Sam, putting pressure on the shoulder wound while the other man grunted and tried to get up.
Finn was aware the moment Deidre stepped into the room but he didn’t stop as he crossed the narrow room in three long strides, avoiding the white gold table and the icy feel emanating from it. A medical tray had been upset and instruments were strewn across the floor, lying in puddles of fresh blood that splashed across the white tiles and one of the walls. Finn hissed in a breath of raw fury.
Shauna’s nude body, crumpled near a cabinet, lay in a pool of her own blood that was so fresh, it was still running in rivulets across the gleaming tiles. Her arms and legs bore witness to the torture she’d undergone before dying—long slices where dried blood had congealed. Two of her fingers were broken and her lip was split as well.
“Gods damn it!” Finn noted her hands still cuffed together in front of her and wanted to rip the building apart with his bare hands. Tear it stone from stone until nothing but crumbs of mortar remained.
“Shauna?” Deidre’s voice cut to the heart of him. He didn’t want her to see—
“You’re far too late to save the witch.” A deep voice spoke up from the far corner.
“Who the hell are you?” Marco demanded, standing up, putting himself between the injured Sam and the stranger.
A gray-haired man with kind blue eyes and round glasses never even glanced at Marco, instead his gaze went straight to Finn and stayed there as he answered, “I’m D
r. Henry Fender.”
Fury washed through Finn. Here was the notorious torturer. Here was the man who had heard the dying screams of thousands of women—witch and human alike. This was the bogeyman of young witches’ nightmares. The thing that went bump in the night.
Fender walked out of what looked like an observation room and took up a position behind a narrow white gold examination table on the far side of the room. Every cell in Finn’s body went on red alert. The old man had a reputation for terror and pain that stretched around the globe. Just went to prove that danger didn’t always look dangerous.
Deidre barely glanced at the old man. Instead she walked up to Finn, looked past him and gasped as she stared down at Shauna’s body. He felt her pain like a white-hot stab to his gut. He wanted to comfort her, but now wasn’t the time. “Dee—”
She whipped her head around and her blue eyes were alight with a murderous rage as she glared at the doctor. “You killed her.”
“I most certainly did not,” Dr. Fender disagreed, smoothing the lapels of his tweed jacket before leaning both hands on the table in front of him. “I had great hopes for her and she deprived me of my work.” He frowned in disapproval at the dead woman, crumpled on the floor. “Silly bitch grabbed a gun from one of the guards. We had released her from her bonds in preparation for taking her to my base lab for further testing. But”—he shrugged—“she shot herself to avoid talking.” He peered at them through round glasses. “Talking about you I would imagine.”
Deidre made a move toward him. Finn grabbed her and pulled her back. “Stay away from that table.”
Even from across the room, Finn was aware of the cloying sensation of the white gold. He didn’t want Deidre any closer to it than she was right now.
“Ah, yes.” Doc Fender looked from Finn to the others in the room before shifting his gaze back to Deidre. “Don’t want a witch so new to her power to be drained. You are a witch, aren’t you, my dear?”
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