Valeria just growled. When Rui glanced back, her eyes were a feral aqua-blue.
“Ric, think.” Marjani’s hands were fisted at her sides. “The laws of hospitality—if the queen finds out, she has the right to bind you.”
Uncertainty flickered across the earth alpha’s face. To be bound against your will was a fada’s nightmare; even a few days of being unable to move freely could drive your animal insane. Then he glanced at Jace. Something passed between the two of them and his expression hardened.
Rui braced himself. Time seemed to slow. Cold descended on him, familiar, instinctive. He hadn’t trained as a warrior in two years. He was out of shape and still recovering from whatever Cleia had done to him. But some things were bred in the bone.
And he’d fight to the death to keep Merry out of these bastards’ hands.
“Fuck their laws.” A blade appeared in Adric’s hand. “The girl is ours.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
As the four earth shifters closed in on them, Valeria looked frantically around for help. Even though they were deep in the cherry grove, twenty-five yards from the nearest path, it didn’t seem possible to be this close to a large crowd without anyone being aware of what was happening.
But the drumming had become louder. It sounded like several drummers now, pounding out a hard, syncopated rhythm that ricocheted back and forth across the meadow. The noise from the crowd had increased, too, as more and more people arrived for the midsummer festival.
Her heart sank as she realized that even if she called for help, not even a fada was likely to hear. They were on their own.
Rui glanced at her. For an instant, the mate bond flared to life. She felt his protectiveness, his determination to defend her and Merry no matter what. His need.
She sucked in a breath, shocked at all he’d been hiding from her.
Then he turned back to the earth shifters and the only thing radiating from him was a cold so intense she gave an involuntary shiver. The mate bond clamped shut as if he’d stomped on it. The cold was replaced by an emptiness that was even worse, a void in her chest where she’d been holding Rui for two years. Even when the bond had shriveled, there’d been something there.
Now there was nothing.
She shoved that aside to focus on the four earth shifters closing in on them. Rui dropped into a fighting crouch. A chill sweat broke out on her skin as she looked from him to them. Four against one were terrible odds. At full strength, Rui might have a chance, but…
Her animal squirmed beneath her skin, tense and agitated. Desperate to defend her mate.
But both parts of her understood that Merry was more important. Joining the fight would play into the earth shifters’ hands. All they’d have to do was snatch Merry and run—and Valeria would never see her again.
The wolf paced nearer, his shaggy body looming over Valeria like something out of a nightmare. Her claws sliced out of her fingertips. He was trying to intimidate her—and doing a good job of it—but she refused to go easy. He pressed too close, his amber eyes intent on Merry.
Valeria swiped out. He snarled and jumped back, four red lines marring his snout. Good.
Rui took advantage of the distraction to lunge at the wolf. Metal flashed. The big animal twisted, avoiding the worst of the blow, but the knife slashed his shoulder. The scent of fresh blood filled the clearing as the wolf snarled angrily, his left foreleg raised and dangling uselessly.
But the other three saw their chance. Adric and Marjani came at Rui from either side, while Jace darted forward and tried to grab his niece. Valeria swiped at his arm, but he would’ve had Merry if Rui hadn’t shaken the other two off, striking out viciously with his knife and catching Marjani on the upper arm.
As she backed away, Rui spun around and slammed a foot into Jace, knocking him away from Valeria and Merry.
Adric glanced at Marjani, who had a hand to her arm. Blood welled from beneath her fingers. “You’re hurt,” he said in a guttural voice.
“It’ll heal. Just get Merry. We’ve got to get out of here—now, before someone comes.”
Adric’s head snapped back around. He glared at Rui, his bronze eyes shimmering dangerously. “That’s my sister you cut.”
“I’m only defending what’s mine,” Rui replied in an equally hard voice.
“The woman’s yours, then? I’ve heard different. And the girl’s ours—not yours.”
“You heard wrong. Valeria’s mine. My woman. My mate.”
Valeria blinked. Now Rui was claiming her?
“And Merry’s her daughter now,” he continued. “Which makes them both mine. You’ll have to go through me to get them.”
Valeria caught her breath. Rui had claimed her before witnesses—and Merry, too—even though the witnesses were earth fada. Still, she knew—and Rui knew. It didn’t mean she was his—the woman had the option of rejecting the claim—but the ball was in her court now.
If the two of them lived through the next ten minutes.
Adric smiled. “If that’s the way you want it—” He lunged forward, his knife aimed at Rui’s belly.
Rui twisted to evade it, one foot coming up to kick Adric’s wrist. The knife spun out of the earth’s shifter’s grip, landing on the grass near Valeria. Keeping hold of Merry, she scrambled forward, snatching it up just as he dove for it and pitching it deep into the trees.
Adric came back to his feet in one smooth roll. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he said in a soft voice that made the hairs on Valeria’s nape stand on end.
“Adric,” said Marjani.
He jerked his head in acknowledgment and touched his crystal. Bronze glowed at the center. Valeria stared at it, mesmerized.
“Give Merry to me,” he commanded. “You know it’s for the best.”
Valeria found herself nodding. Then she caught her breath.
No, damn it. Merry belongs with me.
She tried to wrench her gaze from the crystal’s glowing bronze heart. But she couldn’t.
She growled lowly but she couldn’t look away. She couldn’t even shut her eyes. Her animal was entranced by the light like a silly, thrill-seeking deer.
Rui was fighting Jace now. The earth shifter didn’t have a knife, but he was getting in some good blows, darting in close to punch Rui in the face or the stomach, then dancing away from his blade. She could see the fight out of the corner of her eye, but she felt oddly detached, as if she were watching from behind a glass wall.
The bronze glow was so much more interesting, drawing her closer, closer…
“Valeria,” said Adric. “I’m going to take Merry now. Give her to me, love.”
Valeria felt her hands releasing Merry even as her mind screamed, No, no, no…
Rui roared and slammed into Adric. “Get away from her, you S.O.B.”
Adric lurched to one side, releasing the crystal. With a start, Valeria came back to herself. Letting out a sob, she dragged Merry back against her. “I’m sorry, baby,” she whispered, pressing her lips to the unconscious girl’s cheek. “So sorry.”
Meanwhile, Jace had circled to Rui’s left. While Rui’s attention was on Adric, he aimed a hard kick at Rui’s rib cage. There was the dull sound of bones breaking.
Valeria sucked in a breath, but Rui merely grunted and continued to fight. But he was beginning to tire. His shirt gaped open, and she was horrified to see a bloody gash low on his abdomen. She hadn’t realized Adric’s knife had found its mark.
Adric caught his balance and growled at Jace. “Let’s finish this.”
It was just the two of them now. The injured wolf sat nearby, panting rapidly. Marjani had ripped a strip off her tunic and bound it around his bleeding shoulder, then pressed another strip to her own wound. She crouched next to the wolf, watching the fight.
Adric and Jace closed in on Rui, their faces expressionless, hitting him slowly, methodically. He was bleeding from several places now—his forehead, his nose, the slice in his abdomen.
Fear s
naked through Valeria’s stomach. A knife wound like that could kill. She had to help. She struggled onto her knees, Merry still in her arms, and looked desperately around for a weapon.
Adric’s booted foot lashed into Rui’s thigh. Then Jace cut in with a hard right to his jaw. Rui grunted again and stumbled backward. As he came upright, Adric slammed his fist into his solar plexus. The breath left Rui’s lungs in a whoosh. His mouth opened soundlessly as he tried to bring the air back in but was unable to. He wavered a moment and then fell to his knees.
“Rui.” Valeria let out a sob, desperate to go to him but knowing the earth shifters would take Merry.
He shot her a despairing look. “Desculpe,” he whispered. “I—” His chest heaved and he shook his head, unable to speak.
She swallowed sickly. “It’s okay, querido. You did your best.”
Adric reached for Merry. “Give me the girl.”
“No.” She scuttled backward, Merry clutched to her chest.
Adric eyed them. Considering. He was playing with his quartz again, but this time she knew better than to look at it.
Jace took a step closer. Valeria’s claws sliced out and she knew when she looked up her eyes were glowing with her animal’s feral green-blue.
No. She wrenched her animal back under her control.
There was no way she could fight off two fada males. Her only chance was to reason with them.
“Wait.” Still holding Merry, she came to her feet and took a deep breath. “Look,” she told Jace, “I’m sorry about your sister—truly, I am. But do you think she’d want you to take Merry away from the woman who’s raised her the last two years? Merry’s mine now. She thinks of me as her mama. I love her—and she loves me. And Rui’s the closest thing she has to a father. How—how can you do this to her?” Her voice broke and Merry whimpered.
Jace just stared at her, breathing hard. On the grass at her feet, Rui inhaled slowly, raggedly. With an obvious effort, he pushed himself back to standing, placing himself between her and the earth shifters.
Adric’s lip curled. “Get her,” he told Jace.
And then, at last Valeria heard the sound of men’s voices nearby. Rock Run men, calling to each other in Portuguese.
“Socorro!” she screamed. “Help us! Over here!”
“Get her,” Adric snapped again.
Jace tried to shove past Rui, but Rui’s hand whipped out, grabbing his arm. “No.”
He hung on long enough for Valeria to dart around the tree and run toward the voices. Footsteps pounded after her. She put on a burst of speed.
Two men were running toward her. Luis and Rodolfo. “Here,” she called with her last bit of breath. “This way.” She stumbled to a stop, lungs heaving, and fell to her knees, body curved protectively around Merry.
Hot breath touched her neck. “This isn’t over,” growled Adric. And then he was gone, heading back to the clearing.
Luis and Rodolfo reached her. “What’s going on?” Luis demanded.
She looked up at them and dragged in a breath. “Help…Rui.” She pointed toward the clearing. “That way. Careful. Four of them.”
The men nodded and took off.
She rose to her feet and followed more slowly. Merry’s eyes fluttered open. “Mama? What happened?”
At the querulous tone, tears pricked Valeria’s eyes. “Nothing, baby.” She pressed shaky lips to her daughter’s soft cheek. “Don’t worry. Everything’s all right now.”
* * *
Rui had never taken a direct hit to the solar plexus before, but he’d heard they hurt like a sonofabitch.
That was a lie. They hurt even worse.
Don’t give up, his brain screamed. But as the pain spread through his abdomen, he couldn’t breathe, or even move.
Dark spots danced before his eyes. He dropped to his knees and doubled over. Behind him Valeria moaned. Despair filled him as he realized she’d never be able to fight off the two earth shifters.
After that everything was a blur. Somehow Valeria managed to get away with Merry. He was able to get back onto his feet long enough to stop Jace from following them, but Adric raced off after them and his heart sank. When Adric returned a few minutes later. Rui braced himself to die, but the earth alpha ignored him to sling the hurt wolf over his shoulders in a fireman’s lift and lope off, the other two at his heels.
The next thing he knew Luis and Rodolfo were standing before him. Rui licked his lips. “Valeria? And Merry?”
“They’re fine,” his cousin replied. “The earth shifters took off when they heard us coming.”
Rui closed his eyes.
“What the hell happened? Damn it, Rui, don’t you know better than to get in a fight at a fae celebration?” Luis’s voice echoed oddly in his brain, as if he were calling down a long tunnel.
“Wasn’t…my choice.”
“I hope that’s true, because if the sun fae find out—” Luis broke off and cursed as he saw the blood welling around the hand Rui had pressed to his stomach. “Rui? Hell, did one of those bastards knife you?”
The dark spots multiplied, joined into one giant inky blot. Rui sank to his knees and slid into unconsciousness.
When he came to, Valeria had his head in her lap and was stroking the hair back from his temple. He was content to lie quietly even as the part of him that had been a warrior for more than eight decades took inventory. Besides the soreness in the region of his solar plexus, his lower abdomen was throbbing from the knife wound and his head was pounding. Add in various assorted aches and pains and it meant he hurt like hell—but he’d live.
Then he remembered and his lungs seized. “Merry?” He tried to push himself up to sitting.
“She’s fine, thanks to you.” Valeria pressed his shoulders to keep him down. “Just lie still. Rodolfo is getting a healer.”
He turned his head, unable to relax until he saw the little girl, sitting a couple of feet away and sleepily rubbing her eyes.
“Mama?”
“It’s all right, querida,” Valeria murmured. “I’m right here.”
“You’re not going to give me back to Uncle Jace, are you?”
“Oh, no, baby.” Valeria held out hand to her. Merry crept forward and catlike, butted her head against Valeria’s side, marking her with her scent and taking her scent on herself in return.
Valeria bent forward to rub noses with her. “Nobody’s going to take you. You’re my daughter now. Okay?”
Merry nodded solemnly. “Sim, Mama.”
“And my princess,” Rui added.
Merry rewarded him with a big grin followed by a soft, careful kiss on his cheek.
“Ah…you must have some magic in you. I feel all better now.”
Merry giggled and curled up next to him, her head nestled against his neck, a warm, trusting weight. His chest constricted. Deus, he loved this little girl.
Luis crouched down and asked Valeria what had happened. “Was that Lord Adric I saw?”
“Sim.” She explained about Jace being Merry’s uncle, and that he and Adric wanted Merry back.
“They have a right to her,” Luis said grimly. “Rui never should’ve been there in the first place. He—” He glanced at Merry. “You know.”
“I know,” Valeria replied.
Rui waited for Valeria to make her disgust clear. He’d long since decided he should never have killed the half-blood. Even if it meant Tyrus would come after him, too. Even if he knew Tyrus would just hire someone else to do his dirty work.
He’d known there was something funny about the job. And when he’d found Merry there, he should have left immediately.
Some things a man just didn’t do. Not and remain with a whole soul. He’d done something unforgivable in depriving Merry of her father. Valeria had been right to reject him.
But she was defending him. He blinked. Had he misunderstood?
But no, she was saying, “If it hadn’t been Rui, it would’ve been someone else. And another man might have left Mer
ry in the house, especially when he found out the night fae were after her. If Rui hadn’t gotten her away from them—” A fine tremor moved over her body.
He turned his head into her hand. She stroked his face, and for the first time in a long while he felt a touch of hope, warming him from the inside out.
“Here comes the healer,” Luis said, rising to his feet. “I’ll explain to Dion what happened. There’s no reason for Cleia to know.”
Rui’s lips edged up. “What the fae don’t know,” he rasped, “won’t hurt them.” It was practically a mantra for the fada.
Luis grinned down at him. “Exactly.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Filipa, the healer summoned by Rodolfo, removed her hands from Rui and rose to her feet, her dark eyes sober. “You can take him back to the base now,” she told Valeria and Luis. “But have Branco see him as soon as possible.” Branco was the base’s oldest and most experienced healer.
“We will,” Valeria promised.
“And don’t let him convince you he doesn’t need a healer,” Filipa added with a stern look at her patient, who was already struggling to sit up. “What I did was the equivalent of applying a bandage. That knife nicked his intestines. Without further healing, he risks infection or internal bleeding.”
“You got it,” Luis said. He helped Rui to his feet, ignoring his muttered assertion that he didn’t need any help, damn it.
Luis and Rodolfo decided between them that Luis would fill Dion in on what had happened and then remain at the festival with Marina and Xavier.
That left Rodolfo to drive Rui, Valeria and Merry back to Rock Run. As the four of them entered the base, the two men on duty took one look at Rui’s battered face and volunteered to get Branco.
“Send him to my place,” Valeria told them. The guards glanced between her and Rui, obviously curious, but just nodded.
Valeria took Merry’s hand, sliding her other arm around Rui’s waist. Meanwhile, Rodolfo stepped forward and tried to put an arm around his shoulder, but Rui shrugged them both off.
“I’m fine,” he snapped. “Hell, I’ve felt worse after a day of training.”
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