Jacob's Ladder (String of Fate)

by Bianca D'Arc

  She gasped again, realizing the enemy had to know how important Jake was to her. No other fighter on their side had been seized and brought here. Something was about to shift the balance of power here and Ria very much feared it wouldn’t be in her favor.

  And then the small group with Jake stopped in front of a short man with a gray beard. Bingo. That was the source of the energy that fought to wrest control of the portal from Ria’s hands. As the graybeard’s attention was snagged by the group and their captive, he gave a signal and the attack slacked off.

  Both the magical attack against the portal and the physical fighting within the tight confines of the stone circle slowed and then ceased altogether.

  “Look, Nyx,” the mage called out, facing her. “I’ve got your mate.” He spit the word as if it was a foul thing. “Would you like to see him die?” He paused to let that sink in. “Or will you cease your resistance and save his life?”

  “Don’t do it,” Jake grit out even as the soldiers around him forced him to his knees before the short mage.

  Ria was torn. She knew her duty, but she had only just found her mate. Jake was her life. Her everything.

  His head lifted and he finally met her gaze. She saw something in his eyes that gave her pause. He was up to something. She just had to have faith in him. She nodded slightly and prepared for what she had to do. What she had to say. Though it broke her heart, she had to trust in Jake and his abilities—and she had to do her duty.

  It was a hell of a thing.

  “What’s your name, mage?” she asked, stalling for time. She positioned herself squarely in the middle of the swirling portal, just in front of it. This was, after all, her domain. The portal was the Nyx’s to call and to protect.

  “Master Willard Fontanbleu, as if it matters. And you’re little Ria. Sold out by her uncle. Hunted all her life. Pathetic little Ria. I’ve searched for you for decades and now you’re mine at last.”

  Ria laughed, though the sound was forced. There really wasn’t much to laugh about at the moment, but she had to play the game. The soldiers were at a standstill, her Guard wary, but not engaged with the still forces of the mage.

  “I’m my own woman to the last, Willard. As you will learn.” The ancients were whispering to her, offering advice and she knew what she had to do.

  “No, you little slut. You’re the one who will learn. When my lady Elspeth returns she will drink your blood and use your power to summon demons and creatures from all sorts of places. Now, give up your charm and let’s end this. Or I’ll end him.” Willard turned again to Jake, but Jake was already on the move.

  And out of the dark sky, even darker shapes floated silently into the midst of the enemy forces. The dark shapes resolved into fully armed men and the scene erupted into chaos as fighting began anew.

  In a blur of motion, Jake jumped to his feet. His hands were free and there was a small push dagger in one that he sank into the mage’s side with a savage growl worthy of any predatory shifter.

  “Now, Ria!” Jake shouted above the din of combat. He somehow knew she had the words and she spoke them as they had been given to her. Terrible words in an ancient tongue aimed at the mage who was stunned for the brief moment it took to summon his spirit to the other side.

  Willard’s body collapsed to its knees as the three soldiers who had subdued Jake tried to fight the whirlwind of hands, feet and knives that Jake had suddenly become. One by one, the men fell beside their leader, one dead, one dying and the other unconscious.

  Meanwhile, Ria allowed the spell to work its magic, separating body from spirit and dissipating the short man’s magic into the place of power in which they stood. His vast stores of magical energy drained directly into the stones and from there went into the earth. His spirit was sucked into the spinning vortex of the portal, while his body fell to the ground, an empty husk.

  The battle raged as new forces entered the fray on the side of good. This had to be the mercenary group Jake had talked about. Jesse Moore’s guys. The cavalry come just in the nick of time.

  Ria fell to her knees beside the altar stone, a bit shocked at how easily this had all ended when the battle had been so fierce up to this point. Tears filled her eyes for the loss of life. Already many newly crossed were at the portal, speaking to her. They were speaking words of joy at the imminent victory over evil and some were talking to her, telling her not to be sad for them or feel guilt over their passing.

  Eventually, after she had made note of several messages for loved ones that she promised to deliver, her mother came to speak with her. Everyone else retreated to give them a few moments alone.

  “The one who was Willard was the only one who knew the Nyx’s secret,” her mother told her in that strong, sure voice Ria remembered from childhood. “Willard’s isn’t the only formerly evil soul on this side, and we have ways to deal with his issues, so don’t worry. We’ll take care of him now,” her mother promised her. “I’ve already questioned him and you might be relieved to know that the rest of his order doesn’t really understand what he hoped to achieve by hunting the Nyx. They think him a fool. That much is clear. So it just might be that you’re a little bit safer than you have been in the past.”

  Ria felt a wave of relief. “Thank you,” she whispered, then tried again in a stronger voice. “Thank you for helping me tonight and for being with me. Even if I haven’t always taken the time to listen, I’ve been aware of your presence and your love. I hope you know how much you are loved in return. I miss you, mother.”

  “I will always miss you too, my sweetest angel,” her mother said, deep emotion in her voice. “Until we meet again, which won’t be for many years yet, I hope. You need time with that amazing mate of yours, and you need time to create the next generation. Ask him what he’s seen about the next Nyx. I think you’ll like his vision of the future.”

  Ria sensed the moon moving out of range. Soon the portal would close for another night. While she had one more night of this new moon tomorrow, she was never certain of who would come to speak with her. This might be the last chance she had to talk to her mother for some time. She wanted to say so much more but time was running out and she didn’t know where to begin.

  “Hold strong, Ria. We’ll find out what we can on this side and we’ll speak again tomorrow. With all that’s happening in your realm and a few of the others right now, the usual strictures have been relaxed. You need help and we’re finally allowed to give it in a truly meaningful way. Come back here tomorrow. Do the final ceremony of the month in the stone circle and we’ll help you and the priestess cleanse this place properly. For now, go be with your mate. He needs you as much as you need him, I think.”

  Her mother’s voice faded as the portal swished to a close, shrinking in size until it was completely gone. Only then did Ria turn around.

  Jake was right behind her and her Royal Guard was directing the mop up with the help of all those who had come to help. She stepped away from the altar and into Jake’s arms. They were both safe. They had made it through the battle, mostly unscathed.

  She moved back to look at him, though she couldn’t let him go just yet, and realized he was bleeding a bit.

  “You’re hurt,” she noted with some anxiety. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m fine, sweetheart,” he smiled and pulled her back into his arms, holding her tight and rocking back and forth for a sweet, sweet moment. “I love you so much, Ria. You are the very heart of me. I’ve never been prouder of a person or happier at a battle won. Thank the Goddess you’re safe and whole.”

  “I could say the same,” she added, her cheek against his chest, listening to the precious beat of his heart. “I love you, Jake. I was so frightened when I saw you had been captured. How did you get your hands free?”

  He moved one of her hands downward and into his back pocket. She felt a hard object which she grasped and removed from his pocket. It was a sheathed knife. A small one, in a triangular shape. The push dagger. In all pr
obability, the same one he’d used on the mage.

  “I saw my capture as one of the possibilities and I prepared for it. I usually don’t carry that, but I stuck it in my back pocket earlier today just in case someone came along and tied my hands behind my back.” He grinned. “Sometimes it’s very helpful to know what might be coming down the road.”

  She smiled with him, returning the little dagger to his back pocket with a little squeeze of what had to be the finest male ass she’d ever had the good fortune to see. And it was all hers, her inner cat purred. He was her mate.

  She’d yell at him later for not telling her about the possibility that he might be captured. He was going to have to learn to trust her a little more, but now…thank the Goddess…they had time.

  Ria walked out of the stone circle a short while later with Jake at her side. He directed them a little south of the circle, her Guard surrounding them as they went. He had talked with the mercenary leader for quite a while, discussing what was to be done with any surviving enemy soldiers and then he’d left the cleanup of that part of the night’s events in the hands of the newly-arrived soldiers and a group of the surviving fox scouts who knew the mountain ridge better than anyone.

  “Just have to make a little stop,” Jake claimed when he paused near a large tree that had a thicket of bushes on one side.

  So much had happened in such a short amount of time. She found it hard to keep track of all the moving parts of the day. Had it been only a few hours ago that she and Jake had had one of the most intensely sexual experiences of her entire life in the middle of that stone circle? The greenery all around was stained in places now with blood and the fog of recently-ended violence filled the air.

  Jake pulled a small pouch out of one of his pockets and untied the drawstring. Ria stepped closer, wanting to see what he was up to. She felt a tingle of magic in the area, but it didn’t feel malevolent. If anything, it felt protective.

  “What’s that?” she asked as he took a pinch of what looked like small pink crystals between his thumb and forefinger. They were sort of a salmony pink and looked natural, not man-made. Each was a slightly different size and shape than the other.

  “Himalayan salt, consecrated by the priestess in the snowcat stronghold. A useful thing to help friends out of a small pickle,” he answered cryptically as he moved to the western side of the small circle of bushes and flicked the salt into the air.

  A sparkle of magical energy showed in a dome just inside the bushes, surprising Ria and the others around them, if the little gasps of surprise were any indication.

  “It’s safe now,” Jake said in a firm voice directed toward the dome. “You can come out. I’ve weakened the barrier. The rest is up to you.”

  Much to Ria’s continued surprise, a tiger’s paw struck the inside of the dome and then broke through, letting the beast land on the other side of the bushes, his tail swishing in the air. He looked back over his furry shoulder and Ria strained on her tiptoes to see over the bushes.

  “Medic!” Jake shouted, stepping past the tiger with no fear, moving into the circle of bushes. He came out a moment later with an unconscious Beau Champlain in his arms.

  Beau was bleeding from a very grisly-looking leg wound and Tom was in pretty bad shape from a series of cuts and gashes. Jake put Beau down while two of Ria’s Guard dropped down—one on either side, already tending to his wounds. Jake went back for Tom and brought him out as well.

  The tiger slunk back into the bushes and a moment later, Geir Falkes rose from inside the leafy circle, Jacki Kinkaid in his arms. She was also unconscious, but didn’t look injured.

  “She wore herself out casting the dome of protection,” Geir said as he faced them. “Thank you for helping to break the spell. I tried to do it from within, but it was too strong.”

  “No problem,” Jake replied modestly. “Thanks for watching over them.”

  “I’m taking her to the cabin. We can set up a hospital there for those who are injured. Milday,” he addressed Ria directly. “Please forgive me for not being at your side. I was trapped within the dome of protection. It was wrong and I accept whatever consequences may come.”

  “Let’s take care of the wounded first, Master Geir,” Ria said wisely. “As far as I’m concerned, everything happened as it was supposed to tonight.”

  Geir didn’t reply. He simply nodded, his lips a tight line as he turned and headed down the mountain.

  He also didn’t display any self-consciousness about the fact that he was nude, but then why should he? Ria watched him walk away, carrying Jacki before him, his muscular ass making a very pretty picture of male perfection as he stalked over the uneven ground.

  Master Geir was as graceful on two feet as he was on four and he didn’t let the rocks, sharp pine needles, and broken twigs of the forest floor slow him down. He looked like a man on a mission and nobody stood in his way as he strode silently down from the ridge in the direction of the fox stronghold.

  She didn’t like leaving the wounded to others’ care, but she knew they were in the very best of hands. Her people would take care of them and then get them to the relative safety of the cabin as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the commandos who had parachuted in at the last minute like avenging angels were busy rounding up the last of the enemy forces and processing them.

  Apparently the foxes had a cave nearby that was deep enough to house more than a few prisoners, and relatively easy to secure. Ria wanted to see the prisoners at some point. She wanted to see the kind of man who would align himself with evil. But that could wait. Tomorrow would be soon enough. For now, she wanted to go someplace safe and just be with her mate.

  Escorted all the way down the ridge to the cabin, Ria was glad to see the little building hadn’t been damaged in the action. She walked in, taking note of each injury and spending a few minutes with each of those who were conscious and okay to talk. She thanked them for their work there that night and delivered the messages she had been tasked to pass on from the other side.

  She was glad to leave a few of the injured with lighter hearts after hearing from their loved ones. This was what the Nyx was meant to do. Offer comfort and knowledge from those who had passed on. Maybe now that the Venifucus had been defanged a bit, Ria could finally get back to her true calling.

  She didn’t know for certain that was the way it would go, but she had hope. Only a thorough interrogation of the prisoners would tell her if it was safe to think she might be out of the crosshairs for the time being. But that was for tomorrow. For the rest of tonight, now that her duties were almost completely discharged, she wanted quiet time with Jake.

  The fox Alpha himself escorted her and Jake from the cabin, along with a contingent of her Royal Guard, toward the cave system. Ria stopped a few times after entering the cave system to speak with specific fox scouts who were inside, being looked after by their people—or looking after their comrades. She had a few messages for them too.

  She straightened from talking to a fox woman with a gunshot graze on her shoulder and stepped under Jake’s arm, settling in as they followed behind their very patient escort. The fox Alpha had left them in the capable hands of his second while he went off to coordinate care for his injured.

  “Is that the last one?” Jake asked quietly as they walked deeper into the cave system.

  “For now,” she replied. “We’ll do the final ceremony of the month tomorrow night up at the stone circle and I have a feeling they’re lining up on the other side, now that they know we made it through this evening more or less intact.”

  “It’s late. Let’s find the bed the Alpha promised us and put this night behind us.” For the first time that night, Jake sounded tired. Heaven knew, he had a right to be. So did she. In fact, if she thought about it at all, Ria knew she had pushed way beyond her normal reserves of strength. It was time for some restorative sleep. Past time.

  The foxes had given Ria and Jake a secure chamber toward the back of the cave complex. Her Royal Guar
d had gone over the preparations, making sure everything was as secure as they could make it and then they withdrew. They would guard from beyond the door while she and her mate sought comfort in each other, and in the fluffy bed that seemed to be calling her name.

  Ria cleaned up—sharing a quick shower with Jake that neither of them had the energy to turn into anything more than an experience in hygiene. They dried off then tumbled into the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  And that was the last thing she knew until morning.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jake woke Ria with a kiss the next morning, feeling as if the world had started spinning anew. It was like everything had been on hold until the battle and now that the conflict was resolved, things could move again.

  He was truly happy for the first time in a long time. He had a woman he loved, who loved him in return and they had won a major victory in the ongoing war against evil last night. Life was good for the moment and he intended to savor it.

  “Good morning,” Ria murmured when he pulled back to look down into her sleepy eyes. “What time is it?”

  Jake looked over at the clock on the nightstand. “Early. Probably too early to wake you up after the night we had, but I couldn’t resist.” He placed nibbling kisses on her collar bone as he spoke, working his way downward as he moved the blanket aside.

  Ria halted his progress, pulling on his shoulders until he lifted up to gaze into her eyes. “There’s somebody at the—” a loud knock sounded on the wooden door set into the stone of the cave, “—door.”

  “Damn,” Jake groaned. “That shifter hearing of yours comes in handy,” he quipped, kissing her nose with quick motions before he levered himself up to a sitting position on the side of the mattress. He looked back at her, his expression rueful as the knock sounded again. “Do we really have to answer that?”

  She felt a giggle rise up in her chest. It was a joyful feeling that felt so darn good. Only recently had she felt free enough to wallow in these happy emotions. Only since meeting Jake.