The Beansidhe looked straight at her and Aodhan’s sister. A keening wail echoed throughout the suite. His sister’s voice was fierce in Mallory’s ear. “Don’t look away from her. She’s staring at the two of us, and if we don’t listen, she will become angry.”
Mallory nodded slowly, staring unblinking at the creature.
Nothing had ever terrified her more than when the Beansidhe opened her mouth and began to speak.
“Cherish the children, cherish the child. Cherish the child! The poor, poor children! Cherish them all, or all shall be lost…”
16
Nalik knew what he was looking at the moment the creature flew by him. She’d shot out of his cousin’s suite like a raiment-draped bullet.
She looked at him out of dark eyes that saw right to a male’s soul. The grin she shot him told him she knew exactly how terrifying she was. To others.
Nalik hadn’t been terrified of anything in thirty years.
He merely stayed where he was in the center of the garden, enjoying the storm. He cocked his head at her, not saying a word.
She landed a few feet in front of him.
And stared.
He stared back.
Her skin was dark; her eyes were even darker. The dress was a light white or gray and thin. He almost swore he saw her body through the gossamer. It was perfection. Ageless perfection. He waited for her to speak.
Beansidhe liked to have their say, after all.
Instead, she just tilted her head at him.
In acknowledgement. Like acknowledging like.
Finally, she smirked at him. She was a beautiful female now, nothing about her the terrifying creature he knew her to be.
Then she was off the ground, staring down at him. “We shall meet again soon, Nalik of the Black. Very, very soon.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
And then she was gone.
He wanted to turn toward his cousin’s suite, check on that arrogant son-of-a-bitch himself. He would have. Thirty years ago. When his cousin had mattered to him.
Nothing mattered to him. Nothing and no one.
Nalik just lifted his head to the skies and soaked in the rain.
Tried to ignore the scent of Taniss blood on the air everywhere.
There were those of Taniss blood near.
He threw his head back and snarled as the betrayal sank in faster than the rain.
Taniss.
17
“So what do you think it meant?” Emily asked Mallory the next morning. Mallory had met her cousin in the private sitting room after Aodhan had disappeared to do whatever it was he did when he wasn’t tormenting her. Mallory hadn’t been back to sleep, and all she wanted was to curl up on the couch and think about what she’d seen.
Maybe sleep for a few hours, too.
Then maybe she’d be able to process what had happened. To somehow make sense of it.
“They don’t know. Only that there will be kids involved. Auri is a wreck—that’s Aodhan’s younger sister—trying to figure it out.”
“And how is the man who took you? What did he do?”
Mallory thought back to those awful moments just after the Beansidhe had disappeared, her wails echoing over the sound of the storm. The vampire had stared out into the night for several long minutes before turning back to where Mallory and his sister stood. The other woman still hadn’t let go of Mallory. Mallory honestly thought Aureliana had needed the support Mallory was providing.
Aodhan had crossed the room to them. Mallory’s breath had caught at his expression. Fear, grief, determination, love—all were mingled in his eyes. He’d surprised her, jerking her and his sister into his arms and hugging them. His arm had been so tight around her she’d almost been unable to breathe. His hand had moved up into her hair, just above the braid that was coming loose, and he’d pulled her even closer. He’d kissed her, strong and fierce, but not in a sexual way. It had rocked her. Then he’d pulled back and kissed his sister’s forehead.
She’d felt the shaking running through his big, strong body.
It had made him seem almost human.
It had been a long time before he let them go. The depth of his emotion had shattered her. Her arm had gone around his waist, and she’d held him back. If his sister hadn’t been there, she would have been even more in his arms. She’d held the vampire willingly.
After only a little more than thirty hours in his captivity.
“Mal? You with me?”
“Just tired. He said there was nothing they could do. They just had to play it out. But he looked sick.”
“I suppose he would. If what I’ve learned is correct, he’s the head of a branch of these people. There’s almost two thousand people per branch. And if he’s related to all of them somehow, there is no way they would be able to figure it out in time to do anything about it. That has to hurt, to weigh on someone. It would me.”
Mallory nodded. That’s what his sister had said. “That’s a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.”
Emily nodded. “Yes. It is. I can almost feel sorry for him.”
“If he hadn’t abducted me after intending to kill me? I can see that. Do you think it’s true? What they’ve said about Grandfather?” It didn’t change anything, but knowing the truth would…help. It would never justify what he had done, but at least she’d know.
This limbo sucked. It was just a matter of time before something happened. Again.
She feared that something would be her brother. Guns blazing, with his pal Rathan and her uncle Jason—Joselyn’s father—at his sides. The three of them traveled as a pack most days. The slaughter would be inevitable. Nothing could defeat Aodhan. Not even her brother.
But Rand could do some serious damage in the process.
“Yes. You know we saw the pictures. Rydere says there are videos, too.”
“Sick. Do you think our fathers know?”
Emily shook her head. “No. I don’t think they can, or they would have stopped him somehow.”
“That’s what I thought.” There was no way her father would have ever let their grandfather do the things Aodhan and his friends said had happened. Not her father.
He was a kind man who loved…math. And his four children. Cats, he’d always had a fondness for cats. He had adored their mother. He would never hurt others.
“Oh, Em. What are we going to do?” Mallory buried her face in her hands.
“Whatever we have to in order to get through this.” Emily leaned against Mallory’s shoulder. Emily—her rock. Mallory was so used to fulfilling that role for the younger ones, but Emily—she and Emily had each other’s backs. “And we will, you know. We’ve gotten through some pretty bad things.”
“Worse than getting turned into vampires and kept captive…to be their brides?”
“Ok. You got me there. Definitely the strangest thing that’s ever happened to us.” Emily shot her a mischievous smile. “Now, if it had happened to Jade, it would have been far more ironic.”
“No kidding.”
18
Aodhan watched her on the security camera in front of him three days after the visit from the Beansidhe, taking in the dejected slump of her shoulders and the wistful expression on her beautiful face. The expression on her face was one he’d seen too many times over the last few days.
His Rajni wasn’t happy. What was he supposed to do about that? Conversation flowed around him, the discussion whether to send the females back to the family that they loved so much.
He didn’t want to think about what Cormac was saying.
A sudden cry had him jerking around.
Cormac fell to his knees. Aodhan froze, staring at the darker male. Never had he seen his friend so hurting, terrified. So damned pitiful looking. “Cormac?”
“Joselyn!” Cormac rose and ran from the room, and Aodhan was on his heels. Rydere, too. Aodhan knew Theo would be sounding all the alarms and summoning the healers to wherever the help was needed.
“Corm
ac, where?” Rydere yelled.
“The gardens! Hurry!”
Screams echoed from the hallway just outside the sitting rooms reserved for the female Heads of Houses. From the hallway that separated those rooms from the doors leading to the gardens.
Aodhan saw Rydere fly through the closest door, Cormac close on his heels. Aodhan followed. It was then he saw the half-dozen Lupoiux wolves tearing at a defenseless female in white. And green.
Mallory’s cousin. The deaf one. Cormac’s female.
The queen of their people was there, too. Aodhan’s curse echoed over the screams.
Aodhan dove at the closest of the wolves, only vaguely aware of Rydere’s Rajni stumbling to her feet. After the first wolf died beneath his hands, Aodhan grabbed the Dahn and shoved her toward the open doors. She had to be protected at all costs. If she was lost, Rydere was lost. And his heir was nowhere near ready to lead.
The future of their entire tribe depended on this small female cousin of Mallory’s.
Theo took the queen, pulling her into the building, just as several guards rushed out.
Aodhan turned back to the wolves. One lunged for him, ripping into his flesh with his claws.
The battle raged on, but it lasted only moments.
The attack made no sense at all.
Aodhan pulled Rydere to his feet and helped his old friend to the doors. The little queen waited inside, fear for her male on her pretty face. Theo took Rydere’s other arm and they led him inside the rest of the way. They carried Rydere quickly to his suite.
The Dahn was beyond frantic.
It was several long minutes later that Kindara pronounced Rydere would most likely live, provided that blood infection didn’t set in.
Word came that Cormac’s Rajni still held on to life.
Rydere’s little Rajni barely took her eyes off him, though Aodhan had no difficulty sensing that she was conflicted. “Go to your cousins, Dahn Emily. They have need of you.”
“But he—”
“We will care for him.” Aodhan smiled at her softly. Her eyes were very much like Mallory’s. How was he to resist feeling a small bit of tenderness for this, his new cousin, when she was so frightened? “And when he is settled, we will come to you. He needs much blood, and we know our feeding is still uncomfortable to you. Go.”
His hands were insistent as he nudged her toward the door. Theo was letting Rydere feed; the girl would do no one any good until she reassured herself her cousin would live as well.
After Aodhan managed to get a good amount of blood into his Dhar, he went in search of his own Rajni. He knew where to find her, and it took him little time to reach Cormac’s suite, taking the hidden corridors that only members of the top security teams knew about.
She stood at the foot of Cormac’s bed, staring at her cousin as Kindara and Barlaam tended to the female’s injuries.
He wanted nothing more than to scoop his female into his arms and never let her go. It could have been her out there in the gardens when the wolves attacked. He knew she and Aureliana liked to spar together beneath the canopy of small trees the gardeners prized now. He doubted she would welcome his touch.
Rydere’s Rajni stood next to his. Her eyes were full of questions when she looked at him. Aodhan knew what she wanted without her having to voice the words. “He’s…better. He’s sleeping, now. But he asked me to check on you one more time.”
She said something in response, but Aodhan’s attention was on Mallory. On the paleness of her skin. He pulled her into his arms. She went willingly. Her arms slipped around his waist, and she clung to him. She trembled in his arms. It was then he knew what he must do.
19
Nalik heard of what had happened within moments of it happening. The resort was a small world, after all. He battled back the fury at the mere thought of Tanisses being near.
He’d seen the Taniss Four, as they were apparently being called. Dardaptoans were now torn between fearing them because of their antecedents or because they were likened to mythological beings.
Destined ones, chosen ones. No doubt that damned fortune cookie Theo was responsible for putting that thought out there.
It was bullshit.
The goddess playing with ordinary males’ lives was what it was. Probably for some sort of sick amusement.
He snorted at that.
The females were just human girls who’d had the misfortune to run afoul of the Fates or the damned goddess he so despised. He’d come close to the one his cousin had claimed yesterday. The red hair had drawn his attention first.
It had been so like her grandfather’s. As had the green eyes. Although on her they had been soft and vulnerable. Feminine. Frightened and wary.
They’d drawn him; he’d admitted it to himself.
She was a physically perfect creature, much like a common succuba. No wonder his idiot cousin was so obsessed with her.
He’d come face-to-face with her in a hallway. The girl had been snooping, trying to find a way to escape. Had she searched a bit longer she would have found the hidden exit. Smart creature, she was.
He’d almost offered to fly her home, express mail. Right to her grandfather’s door. All she had to do was tell him where the old bastard was. He’d take things from there and drop her off on the way.
Had he been the type of male to use a female in such a way, he would have.
A small touch of family loyalty had had him hesitating. The female was his first cousin’s Rajni, after all. In the laws of his people, she was his cousin now, too. His responsibility.
Fuck that.
He’d just stared at her. At the pain and fear in the green eyes.
He’d dreamed of pain and fear in eyes that green before. Eyes shaped just like that, but in an older, masculine face.
Eyes that had dulled as he’d killed the bearer.
He felt the girl’s pain, though. Scars. She had scars on her soul.
And fear. Fear was ingrained into her very blood and bone.
Much like the legends said of the damned goddess he would never believe in again. Those emotional scars had almost had him inquiring if the girl was well, if she needed him to fetch her mate.
Fetch her mate, like he was her damned lackey.
Instead, he’d deliberately snarled at her. Then watched as she scurried away. Terrified. Aodhan’s female was as terrified of Dardaptoans as many of the Dardaptoans were of her. He smiled. His cousin deserved such a difficult mate as that one. Aodhan had gotten exactly what he’d deserved.
His smile faded when it sank in that his cousin would no doubt be wildly happy with the female once she settled. Blessed. Aodhan was blessed, regardless of the Taniss blood.
Damn them all.
“Which Taniss female was harmed?” He forced himself not to snarl as he said the name. A part of him hoped it was not his cousin’s redheaded female. He understood scars, after all.
And what passed as family loyalty.
He had seen all four of the girls. Studied them. He knew their names, and not just because of the files he’d had a young second cousin—a healer—fetch for him. Jannen had done her job well. Had obeyed him. He knew everything there was to know about the Taniss Four.
He looked at Jannen now. Was she even old enough to be of age? She had been born five years after his sister had died at Taniss hands.
And then her own parents had disappeared. No doubt more victims.
Nalik’s cousin Essa had helped raise this girl to adulthood, along with her brother. So many babes were raised by siblings now. Because of the goddess’s failings. He would never forget that. Or forgive.
“The Jareth Equan. She is rather kind, Nalik. I have seen it so myself. They…she could not hear them as they attacked. She did not have time to escape.” Jannen had tears in her big gold eyes. “She was trapped and facing monsters.”
At one time, he would have cared.
Now…now he did not care for anything. Except how this would hinder his plans.
20
Mallory wasn’t certain how she got through the next several hours. Or even how long those hours were. Aodhan had come for her. He’d barged into the rooms Joselyn had unwillingly shared with Cormac and just spirited her away.
Like a big wuss, Mallory had let him. She didn’t say a word until they made it back to his suite and he’d wrapped her in his arms.
He’d carried her to the huge rocking chair that had appeared in the room over the last week, then snuggled her on his lap. Mallory had just let him.
It had taken her a while to accept that. She had just let her abductor offer her what comfort he could. Aodhan had felt real beneath her hands. Strong.
Safe.
That was what terrified her most.
Mallory kept her head on his shoulder for what must have been hours, just listening to the beat of his heart and trying not to think of what could have happened tonight.
Had he not come when he did, him and the others, Joselyn would have been killed, probably Emily as well.
“I’m sending you back to your father first thing tomorrow.”
Mallory froze against him. “What?”
“It’s not safe for you here. Not any longer.”
She leaned back, until she could look into the vampire’s face. “And it is there?”
His hands tightened around her waist.
Mallory didn’t miss the way they trembled.
He didn’t want her to go.
“Is this a trick?”
A flash of hurt went across his gold eyes. “No. You need to go. You will be happier with your family…than with me.”
She stared at him for a long time, until she was convinced he meant it. Yet why did it not feel right? “Aodhan…”
He looked up, eyes bleak. “Yes?”
“Thank you. I mean that.” Weak and not at all what she’d wanted to say. Or do.
What she wanted to do was throw herself against his chest and tell him that she wasn’t going anywhere. That she just wasn’t ready to go yet.
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