by Dee, Bonnie
Claire ran a hand through her short, spiky hair. “Now that’s interesting. Maybe it’s a Protector and Warden thing, or maybe Destroyers can shield themselves. It’s nice to know you can sense them. It’ll be a help, if nothing else. And perhaps the Sorhineth and Brenna’s journal will give us insight we’ve lost over the last hundred years or so.”
Donovan grunted. “We can only hope. So what does the Sorhineth say?”
“I wish I could hang onto this forever, but I understand why our ancestors bespelled it as they did. It’s quite simply everything. Their use of a fading spell was ingenious, and tying it to the Warden bloodline even more so.”
“Explain.”
“Everything you ever wanted to know about the Terran race is in here. Our history, spells and incantations for all the Elementals, the Protectors, hell, even the schism that led to the Destroyer uprising. And I’ve barely scratched the surface. I could spend the rest of my life studying it and still never come close to figuring it out.” She met his eyes. “The reappearance of the Sorhineth is dangerous, Donovan. Maybe the most dangerous thing to hit us in centuries.”
Donovan steepled his fingers beneath his chin and considered his friend. “You’re the smartest Terran I’ve ever known, Claire, so I’ll take your word for it. I started this wanting to do something about our direction more than anything else, but with a Destroyer on the prowl, with Brenna and Jenalee in his sights, what do I do now?”
“Don’t say a damn word. KOTE would have a shit fit if they knew you were back. You’d already have been ‘detained’ if they knew. You’ve been assuming all along Jenalee got her information from KOTE, but what if it’s someone else entirely? Something else is going on here, but I’m not sure what. The Destroyer who broke into Brenna’s could have been a lone gunman, or maybe someone who’s partnered up, but if it was more than that, KOTE would have heard about it, and I don’t see them being meek about bringing the Sorhineth home. It’s too big, benefits the organization too much. We’re missing a major piece of the puzzle, and until Jenalee remembers who told her about Brenna, we’re going to keep missing it. Your getting here so fast gives us a bit of breathing room, so we’re safe for the time being. Or at least I think we are. Give me a few more hours and I’ll dig out a protection spell we haven’t used in ages, then we’ll figure it out from there.”
“And you’re sure KOTE doesn’t have anything to do with this?” He tried to disguise the concern in his voice, but knew he didn’t do a very good job. This was Claire after all, and she’d always been able to read him like a book.
“I’m sure. I would have heard something. They trust me, Donovan, but that doesn’t mean we don’t watch our backs. Especially since a Warden and a Destroyer came into the picture at the same time. I don’t like it. Even if there’s no connection to KOTE, I don’t like it at all.”
* * * *
Claire was as good as her word, and at three a.m. had more than a protection spell. She’d uncovered a wham-bam binding incantation which would stop any Terran, good or bad, in their tracks and a deflection spell that would toss whatever his opponent threw right back at him. Or at least so the Sorhineth claimed.
Donovan practiced them time and again, since protection-based magic was his forte, not the binding type.
“Are you sure you don’t want to move into my place for a while?” Donovan said, holding the book against his chest—the first time he’d really touched it—and tried to ignore the strange warmth surrounding him the moment he picked it up. It was a totally foreign sensation, and one he wasn’t entirely comfortable with.
“Not yet. You and Brenna need at least tonight to bond, as well as get some sleep.” She grinned a bit lasciviously. “You’ll be safe until morning, especially with the spells. I’ll swing by then, and you won’t be able to get rid of me. Now go wake up your mate, get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
* * * *
Brenna awoke groggy, out of place. Donovan’s handsome face hovered above hers, and her lips tingled from his kiss.
“C’mon sleepyhead, time to go home.”
She sat up slowly, curving into the crook of his arm. “How long was I out?”
“Only a few hours. Claire needs to get some sack time and her spare room isn’t exactly fit for a sleepover.”
“Mmmm, ‘kay,” she mumbled and allowed him to help her out of the house and into the truck. She must have dropped off, because when she awoke again they were parked in his driveway and she was cradled in his arms, head tucked against his shoulder.
“Lemme down, I can walk,” she protested, but actually felt fine where she was.
“Hush, I’ve got you.” And then they were inside and he was padding down the long hallway into his bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and took off her shoes, his fingers kneading her arches.
She lay there in dreamy lassitude until he straightened and stood beside her.
“Get comfortable, lhiannan and I’ll see you in the morning.” He leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips, then left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
Brenna lay there in stunned silence, wondering what the hell had just happened. Was she imagining it, or had he just blown her off? It didn’t matter she hadn’t been in the mood for a sexual encounter, she was pissed that Donovan hadn’t adhered to what she’d considered a sexual bond. Had she misunderstood their unspoken pact of enjoying their time together? Or had her standoffishness earlier caused him to back off? And why, after watching him with Claire tonight, did she see him more as a man and less as a Terran?
She didn’t question what drove her, but acceded to the magic they had created last night and rose from his bed, walking in bare feet into the living room.
Donovan sat on the couch, clad only in jeans, head in his hands.
She faltered a step as waves of emotion flowed off him, battering her. Love. Worry. Frustration.
She held up a hand as if to stave the turbulent sensation off. What had happened while she slept? This was a Donovan Callahan she hadn’t seen before, brooding, damaged, but hiding it well. How many more facets were there to the man?
“Donovan?” As soon as she uttered the word she realized it was the first time she’d called him by his given name, even though she’d been thinking of him that way since long before last night. When had she let him slip past her defenses?
He started and lifted his head. His hair was corkscrewed from where he’d run his hands through it.
“What’s wrong?” his voice was rough with something…
“Nothing … I…” She stopped, not sure what to say. Maybe he didn’t want her anymore, now he was home. Maybe Jenalee was more his style, his protestations notwithstanding. Her fleeting thought was banished as quickly as it came, because she could feel him trying to shut his emotions away from her. And in that moment, she wanted to feel everything he did, know what was inside his head as he sat there looking grouchily vulnerable.
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Shield yourself. What happened tonight?”
“Nothing. Go to bed, Brenna. We’ll talk in the morning.” His voice sounded distant, almost vacant.
Oh no. He was not brushing her off. She propped a hand on her hip. “We’ll talk now.” She’d been feeling all kinds of weird shit since last night, and she’d be damned if he blew them off now.
He sighed and pushed up from the sofa, the muscles in his arms and chest rolling fluidly. The sight made her mouth go dry.
Focus, she reminded herself as he looked her over critically, obviously deciding how to play it. Then he nodded, his decision made.
“Fine. Do you want a drink? ‘Cause I could sure use one.”
“Whatever you’re having.” Brenna pushed aside a candle, a framed picture of two Terrans who were obviously his parents and a photo album and sat down on the coffee table.
“Here.” A drink was pressed into her hand, and then Donovan was pacing behind the couch.
Brenna l
ifted the glass to her lips, not so surprised to find Scotch, and downed it with one swallow, watching as Donovan did the same.
“Spill, Terran.”
“It’s complicated.”
She snorted. “Yeah, like my life has been simple the past few days. Try again.”
“The Sorhineth is dangerous.”
“Duh. I figured that one out on my own, thank you very much. Having my house trashed kinda gave me a clue.” No way she’d let him go so easily. Something was bothering him, something other than the Sorhineth.
He whirled and strode to her, grasping her shoulders in a firm yet gentle grip. “More dangerous than that.”
“What could possibly be scarier than a Destroyer?”
“KOTE, or whoever is on our asses.”
“Riiiiight.” If he wasn’t so earnest in his warning, she would have laughed.
“I mean it, Brenna. The Sorhineth has more power than we ever conceived. And I can guarantee if KOTE knew about it, they would do whatever it took to either retrieve it or make it go away forever.”
Brenna looked up into his eyes, and they were so damned earnest it shook her a little. Maybe a lot. “Okay, say I’m buying this, and I’m not … totally. Why does it have to be KOTE? Last time I looked, they were more interested in self-preservation. I haven’t seen a Terran—besides you and Claire—willing to lift a finger as long as I can remember, let alone fly someone out to Boston to rough me up. Yeah, the Sorhineth is powerful as shit, but all they had to do was ask.”
His fingers caressed her shoulders. “Claire seems to think it’s a Terran faction of some kind, not the whole organization.”
“See, so maybe I’m right. ‘Cause if I’m not, an organization as big and well-connected as KOTE can pretty much do what they want with any of us.”
Donovan nodded. “That’s why I’m so worried. With Mark, Jenalee is fine. But us, with the Sorhineth… If Claire hadn’t given me a damn near impenetrable shielding spell, we wouldn’t be here right now. We’d be on the road, heading to Mexico.”
Brenna shuddered, then made the mental effort to reach up and run her hands along his forearms. “I don’t much fancy running and hiding, Donovan, and I don’t think you do either.” The statement took more from her than she’d ever imagined, yet empowered her in a strange way. Set her free. She was accepting this responsibility, even if it killed her.
He sank down onto the couch, leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. “You’re right, but there’s so much at stake now. I started something by contacting you that won’t easily be stopped.”
The brutal honesty of his response disarmed her. What could she possibly say to contradict or soothe him? Nothing. “What else did Claire say?”
“She’s scared, and I don’t blame her. It’s going to take years, maybe decades of study before we begin to understand the Sorhineth again. I don’t think we’ve got that kind of time.”
“Why? Has something else happened with the Destroyer?”
He lifted his hands and cradled her face, thumbs brushing over her cheekbones. “No, but it’s like I can hear a clock ticking, feel it winding down.”
Brenna covered his hands with hers. “Will anything happen for the rest of the night?”
“Not that I can tell, but…”
“Then I suggest we make the most of it and get some sleep.”
He smiled. The effect on her was devastating. How could he have come to matter this much after a few short days?
“Isn’t that what I was trying to get you to do before?” His voice was low, rumbling through her.
“Yeah, but after what you just said, I want you next to me.”
“Huh. I didn’t think you were interested anymore.”
Now that was the response of a wounded male, and one she could deal with.
She laughed. “Oh, I’m interested. Just not easy. Well, not most of the time,” she qualified.
Donovan feathered a kiss over her eyebrow. “Easy is never a word I’d ascribe to you, Brenna Kennedy. Now let’s go to bed.”
* * * *
What they did when they hit the sheets was the very last thing Brenna expected. Donovan spooned her from behind, draped an arm over her waist, and fell asleep with his breath tickling her ear.
What in the hell?
She was thinking the same thing when she awoke the next morning to a full-scale shouting match coming from the living room.
Chapter Seven
“How in the hell did she get past you, Mark?”
A human stood in front of Donovan, belligerent and defensive. Handsome, in a laid-back California surfer way, he was still a match for Donovan or her brothers, big, muscular and lithe as a cat.
“You know how she is, when she wants to go, she goes. She said not to worry about her, she’d see you soon.”
“Hopefully it’s not in a fucking body bag,” Donovan snarled, the lines in his body tautening with rage. His hands fisted, then unclenched. For the first time Brenna saw the very real possibility of cruelty and outright fury she’d only guessed at before. It scared her a little, even as she moved into the living room for a better look.
“Jenalee said you’d be like this.”
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“She said the Sorhineth would change you, and she’s right. You were never this mad about her bailing before.”
“Because we never had a fucking Destroyer on our asses before, you idiot.”
“Am I interrupting something?” Brenna’s purposefully amused, trying-to-calm-the-waters voice sliced the thick air between the two men.
Mark turned slowly, as if reluctant to put a face to the Warden title. When he finally saw her, he blanched and took an involuntary step back. He lowered his head, mumbling “Warden,” in a humbled tone.
Donovan shot Brenna a surprised look and she could almost read his mind. Mark would go toe-to-toe with him and then play submissive for her?
“What in the hell is wrong with you?” Donovan’s voice was rough. Mark kept his head down, and Donovan reached out and shook him. “Look at me.”
When Mark met his eyes, even Brenna could see he was scared, bone deep. “What?” Donovan questioned quietly, shooing Brenna a few feet further away.
“How can you look at her?”
“What are you talking about?” Donovan locked eyes with Brenna, and he looked just as confused as she felt.
“She’s brilliant.”
Brenna laughed, attempting to defuse the situation again. “Hey, I like being as smart as the next gal, but brilliant?”
“Not that kind of bright,” Mark replied, his gaze now fixed on the living room window. “You glow so much it hurts me, physically, to look at you.”
“Huh? She was just fine last night with…”
“You, I was just fine with you,” she broke in. Something was wrong with Mark, and she didn’t even know the man yet. Something was fundamentally broken.
She pulled in a deep breath and detected the putrid scent buried deep beyond his innate masculinity. He was tainted by the Destroyer. But how tainted? And how to play this?
Really, there was only one way.
“You reek of Destroyer. Have you come here to kill us and take the Sorhineth?”
Both men turned shocked eyes to her, Mark immediately lowering his gaze with a grimace.
Brenna’s heart thundered in her chest as she waited for his answer … and Donovan’s response.
“What’s she talking about, Mark?”
“I have no idea.” Now his friend sounded pissed.
“Brenna?”
“I’m telling you, he’s got Destroyer all over him.”
Mark turned toward her, but kept his head lowered. “Truly, Warden, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Could it be a residual from Jenalee’s apartment?” Donovan asked.
“Hell, I don’t know. Remember? I’m just as lost in this as you are. All I know is what I sense.” Brenna tried to
keep the frustration out of her voice, really she did, but she ended up sounding pissy and defensive. Not a combination she cared for.
“Don’t doubt her, Donovan.” They all swung toward the new voice coming from the doorway.
“Where have you been?” Mark’s tone was accusatory, and in that instant Brenna knew he was speaking as a wounded lover, not a pissed bodyguard. In the same instant she tasted the evil coming off Jenalee. It coated the back of her throat like oil, making her gag.
Even Donovan took a step back as the force of Jenalee’s malevolence pulsed into the room like a hurricane.
“Hand it over.”
Brenna stared at the gorgeous woman framed by the morning light. She looked innocent, young, vibrant. Like every picture Brenna’d ever seen. Voluminous robes swirled around her, failing to hide an ultra-feminine body. And beneath it all she oozed malice.
“What are you talking about?” Donovan stalled and sidled in front of Brenna, protecting her with his body, leaving Mark to stand alone.
“Don’t think you can shield your Warden. I have more power than you can ever fathom. Mark, come here.”
Mark looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “I don’t understand.”
“She’s the Destroyer.” Donovan spoke quietly, his voice stoic.
Brenna knew he had to be hurting, but she’d deal with his pain after they vanquished the bitch. She pushed past Donovan to stand next to him.
Jenalee’s voice was terrifyingly matter-of-fact. “No, I’m Terran, but better, stronger than you because I’ve embraced what I truly am. Now give me the damn book.”
“I don’t think so,” Donovan replied coldly.
Donovan stiffened next to her, readying himself for battle. Brenna frantically searched her mind for something, anything to prevent the impending bloodshed.
Jenalee sighed, real sorrow in her tone. “Why can’t you make things easy, just once? We could have been something together, Donovan, if you’d given up these foolish dreams of ‘fixing things.’ If I’d known of your nature from the beginning… It should have been me you gave your heart to. For that, your woman will suffer.” She stepped forward over the threshold, her attention shifting to Brenna with a hate-filled glance before her gaze swung back to Donovan. “You just had to go off to war and become a Protector, rather than the Earth Elemental you were fated to be. And I had to ally myself with someone who is second-best. We could have been something,” she repeated, then began to chant, the words flowing off her tongue in the lilting voice which had made her famous.