Stolen By The Warrior

by C. J. Brookes

  “Not really sure why you or Theo can’t be the direct heirs. So tell me—who faces the biggest threat and in what order?” She needed to know, to know what to be prepared for.

  “Dahn Emily, as she could be carrying the highest heir right now. Jierra, as she is the established heir; your young cousin Jade, as she can also be carrying a high heir through Barlaam, though that’s highly unlikely as they aren’t fully mated yet. Maybe. Who knows what Barlaam and your cousin are doing right now? Then you as you could be carrying someone related to…to damn it! To all of the ten original Houses. I am not related to Theo’s House in any way. Nor to the Jareth. Except through my Rajni bond, in that your sister is with Theo and your cousin with Cormac. Your brother with Jierra. And your cousins Emily and Jade the House of Dardanos, itself.”

  “I’m sorry. What does that mean? For all of us?” Mallory had a devil of a time following what he was saying. It sounded far too complicated.

  “Simple.” It was Theo who said it and had Mallory’s attention turning in his direction. “You are the biggest threat to whoever is seeking the ascension because any child you birth will be closely related to all ten original Houses now, as we consider mated pairs members of both families—and cousins are as close as siblings in our culture. Even Mickey cannot say the same as there is no current blood connection between my line and the Black or Lycurgus lines. Yet. There may be eventually. Even Dahn Emily misses the mark through the Lycurgus line. But you…you’re the biggest threat of all.”

  Aodhan’s expression showed a mix of anger and determination. And worry. His hands tightened on her. “Especially if you become pregnant soon. Then that child will surpass even Jierra as heir.”

  “Then I guess you just keep it in your pants, bloodsucker, until we find the person threatening my sisters and cousins.” Rand practically growled the words and Mallory shivered. She fought the urge to drop a hand to cover her stomach.

  Aodhan’s hand was already there.

  She wasn’t pregnant, yet. But even if she was, no one would threaten her child. Ever.

  “Aodhan?” She looked at him.

  He turned her until they were chest to chest. “I will keep you safe. No matter what.”

  44

  Aodhan saw the fear in her eyes, and it made him doubly determined that the traitor would be found as quickly as possible. He would not have his female and their future children threatened in any way. But threats to her would be a way of life for them going forward. It was a part of being an Equa pair. “You know I will keep you safe, kitten, but to be honest, as a member of the royal Houses, you will always face threats. Were it something I could change for you, I would.”

  “I understand.” She tilted her head back, resolution in her tone and body. Mallory curled up closer to him. “So what are we going to do about this? Who else would benefit from something happening to me, or Emily, or Barlaam and Rydere, for that matter? Someone has to think they will gain something by doing this.”

  “And that is the question we need to answer. In the meantime, you will go nowhere alone.” Aodhan was firm on that. He could not, would not, risk her safety. “Because if this is about the ascendency, you are the next target.”

  She shivered and he soothed her with a hand drawn up and down her spine. “I can take care of myself, you know.”

  “No, Mal. Not in this world, you can’t. At the most, with what I’ve taught you, you may be lucky enough to delay long enough for Aodhan to get to you.” Her brother prowled Theo’s suite; Aodhan understood exactly what the other male felt. To know the females he loved faced very real threats was never an easy lesson for a male to learn. “Listen to Aodhan. He’ll keep you safe. And I’ll find who the threat in my Kind is, I can promise you that.”

  Aodhan expected his female to protest, but she didn’t. She said little more than her goodbyes to her brother and Theo when he told her it was time they went back to their own suite.

  She grabbed his hand when they were walking down the hall. “Do you think someone will be coming after me?”

  “It’s a possibility. But I can promise you: you will be safe.” No matter how many times he had to tell her that. He didn’t want her worrying about her safety. She didn’t deserve to feel so much fear.

  She always grabbed for his hand when she felt…vulnerable. Frightened.

  “I don’t need promises, Aodhan. I need you to understand that I can protect myself.”

  “A male’s job is to protect his female. And it is my job to protect the Dardanos people. How can the desire to protect you not be strong in me?” And protect her he would. She might chafe a bit at the restrictions, but as an Equa of his House she would have to get used to being guarded. It wasn’t something either of them had to like, but it was their life. And he would never put her in a position where he could lose her. Period.

  “Because if you valued me at all, you would have confidence in my abilities.”

  He stopped walking and turned to her, his hands wrapping around her arms. “I do have confidence in you. The first thought I ever had when I found you was how strong and capable you were for a human. You were fierce and beautiful. A warrior in your own right.”

  “Then why do you seem to think I need bundled up and hidden while you hunt down the bad guys? I can help, you know.”

  “You help me by staying safe! I cannot live if you don’t. If something were to happen to you, how long do you think I would last upon this earth? Not days, but how many hours, minutes? The Rajni bond is strong within me. If someone were to hurt you, to take you from me, it will be the end of me. I will simply fall down and die. Willingly. Do you understand me?” He pulled her off of her feet and covered her mouth with his. He kissed her, long and hard. Finally, when they were both out of breath, he pulled back. “Without you, I cannot even breathe.”

  He meant it, every crazy word. It was written all over his face. Mallory slipped her hands up to his shoulders and squeezed. “I’m not stupid, Aodhan. I know when to fight and when not to. Had Mickey not been in the house that night, I never would have fought you. I would have run as fast as I could have. I only fought so she’d have time to get away. I didn’t know about Theo until it was too late.”

  “I would have still caught you. Nothing would have stopped me. Especially you.” His hands dropped from her upper arms and slipped around her waist. “You were mine, and once I tasted you, I knew it. You were so beautiful, strong, determined. Even if you hadn’t been my Rajni, I don’t think I could have hurt you. Frightened you, yes. But not truly hurt you.”

  A spark of humor hit her. “Thanks, I think. But you’re lying. You were going to kill me.”

  “But I would have done it gently. I didn’t want to hurt you at all. Especially once I got my first look at you.”

  He dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “Aodhan…’’

  “Please, Mallory. Just give me this. I need to know you’re safe.”

  She stilled against him.

  “Aodhan?”

  “Do you know what would have happened to Cormac if your cousin had not survived? Or Barlaam if young Jade had drowned? It would have killed them. They would have just fallen and died. That is a male Rajni’s way when his female is lost.”

  “You mean, they would have just…died?”

  “Fallen down and died where they were. The pain to a male of our Kind is that excruciating. It is the only method of death our people do not ever mention. Their hearts just bleed into their bodies until they are gone.”

  “And the females?”

  “The female may live on. For a while. If children are not of age. She normally doesn’t last much past that point. A week or two. We kept Kindara in seclusion after her mate died, to ensure she survived. Healers are different—their gifts fight to heal themselves and prevent dying easily. Maybe not the lesser healers, but those as gifted as Kindara? It is not an easy thing. Perhaps, even for Barlaam. Kindara would have suffered horribly had we not kept watch on her daily. The most excrucia
ting torture of all.”

  “That’s horrible!”

  “That’s one reason we are losing so many of our people. We can’t live without our Rajnis once we find them.”

  “So you’re saying that if we had children and something happened to me, you would just leave them alone? Without either of us? I grew up without my mother. I don’t want that to happen to our children.” The idea of her children, their children, suffering like that horrified her.

  She hadn’t seriously thought about having children in years. It was like she had put that idea on hold after what had happened to her. But the idea that the possibility existed for her with Aodhan had just settled in hard. It could already be happening. And now it was threatened. Mallory shook her head. “No. Our children have both of us. No matter what. We won’t leave them.”

  “That’s our reality. Our souls are joined, kitten. I hurt when you hurt. I die when you die. So you must keep yourself safe at all times. Promise me!”

  He needed the words, and Mallory needed to say them. “I won’t do anything dangerous. I promise.”

  “And you’ll allow my guards to watch over you when I can’t be with you?”

  That one rubbed, but she’d had a guard on her for years now. Since the attack. They all had. Except for the night Aodhan had abducted her. Jade had told her how those guards had been found knocked out clear across the property. “Yes. But I need something from you, too.”

  “Anything.”

  “If something ever does happen to me, you don’t just sit down and die.”

  “I don’t think that is something I can ever promise. I need you just too much.”

  Mallory threw her arms around him and clung.

  45

  She’d said very little to him in the hours since she’d learned of the strength of their bond, and Aodhan didn’t push words upon her. He couldn’t.

  He’d been frightened the first time he realized just how deeply he loved her. He’d never forget the fear when the Beansidhe had been at his window. He would have died trying to stop the creature from taking his female if the Beansidhe had been there for Mallory. Would have fought with every breath he had left. Even though it would have been an inevitable loss for him. No one had ever beaten a Beansidhe bent on gathering a soul for the heavens. Not even an Adrastos warrior.

  But he would have tried.

  Now, she sat watching the Colorado scenery as he drove through the mountains toward the home he’d taken her from. It felt like they’d come full circle.

  She wore human street clothes, the sweatshirt in turquoise had the hawk emblem of his family and a soccer ball emblazoned on the front. He’d purchased it for her the night he’d taken her to the children’s theater production. The jeans made her legs look long and firm and her ass perfect.

  His female’s body was made to please him.

  “How many of your things do you wish to get today?”

  “I don’t know. As much as possible. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. I might need them. And I want my photo albums. They have pictures of my mother.” She looked at him, her face sad and apprehensive. “Is it strange that I feel nervous going home?”

  “No. I don’t think so. Your life has changed. Why wouldn’t that make you feel a bit off?”

  “I want to see my dad. He’s not well; he has a heart condition that can be dangerous. Our disappearance could have killed him.”

  “I’m sorry. We never should have involved you. But I can’t help but think that was the goddess ensuring we found you.” Aodhan brushed a hand over her thigh and cupped her knee. “And I am glad I found you. You will see your father, and anyone else you wish to see, today.”

  “My sister, Becca, too. She should be with Dad now. I forgot to ask Rand.”

  “They can come visit us whenever they like. We can set them up with their own suite in our House, if you wish.”

  “I’d like that. I’m not used to being apart from my family.”

  “Nor am I.”

  “If you have so many brothers, why have I not met any? Where are they? Are they older or younger?”

  “Western Europe and Eastern Africa. I believe Clarion is in Australia. About five hundred or so years ago, our original tribe split. Not political, really, just scarce resources for all—and our father and grandfather are real asses. And our original family tribe found itself inundated with males. We needed our Rajnis, and some of us were told through visions—Theo was young but had a strong gift even then—that we needed to move to other parts of the world. Half of my brothers went toward what is now Argentina. I think they’ve spread out since then, though. I am not certain. They move around. I see them occasionally. Maybe once every one hundred years.”

  “And your parents?”

  “They are somewhere in South America. Last I heard, the Andes. They are part of a very old band of Dardaptoans who had found their Rajnis many centuries ago, and as such did not see the need for world exploration. Their complacency grates upon many of us. They do not seem to understand that our people are dying out and that the old ways do not help any of us. Hiding does not help us.”

  “When did you come here?”

  “I was eighty. I’m five hundred ninety-eight.”

  “And when did you last see them?”

  “When they brought me a half-wild girl child to finish raising. Aureliana was sixteen. They felt she was at a disadvantage where they were living at the time. They showed up, and there she was. They’d never had a girl, and the wilds they lived in were just too dangerous for a fragile Dardaptoan female half child. She’d already been targeted by all sorts of other Kinds, some bent on horrible deeds with her. I believe she was almost stolen by a type of vampires known as the Ashamatia. Fire cats. Scary bloodsuckers who also shift—into burning cats. I never want to fight one of those again. My father was wounded retrieving her, and my mother grew angry that the need existed. They brought her here.”

  “So they just left her.”

  He nodded. It still angered him at how easy it had been for them to leave her. And they hadn’t contacted them again. For all he knew, he had more siblings down there. He probably did. His father had seemed to count his masculinity based on how many warrior sons he had in the world.

  “I don’t understand that. I couldn’t leave my child. Or any child I was even remotely related to. I have teenage cousins. They’re as annoying as every other teenage boy out there, but they are my cousins. And I’d never just abandon them.”

  “My parents are not the most affectionate of people, kitten. They embrace the creed of all warriors but leave no room for the softer or tenderer emotions of family. I can accept it, but it was not for me. When Rydere asked for volunteers to move to this new country, I was one of the first.”

  “Your life has been so different than mine.”

  “But the future does not have to be. I’ve waited for you for a long time, dreamed of the time I would have you with me. Dreamed of the children we would have someday. Though not too soon; I think we need time together first.” His hands tightened on the wheel. All of this talk of heirs and babes…he could see her swollen with his babe. And she would want that someday. “I want half to be redheads, if you please.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  He just did not know if he could handle the fear. Knowing he would face losing her…it was…Aodhan just didn’t know if he’d ever be ready for that.

  Mallory listened to his words with only half of her attention. She tried to imagine what his life had been like.

  She knew nothing of his world, not really, yet she was forging a new way straight through it. Two weeks ago, she would have seized the idea of running home toward the familiar. Instead, she was mostly thinking of how to explain him to her father and sister.

  Her decision was pretty well made. And she knew it. Mostly.

  It had been the moment she’d taken her clothes off with him—willingly. She wouldn’t have done that if she hadn’t cared for him deeply. Hadn’t
trusted him.

  She looked at him, studied the strong hand that gripped the steering wheel, studied his equally strong body. He’d dropped one hand to her knee. She traced a finger over his knuckles, still bruised from his fight with her brother. He immediately turned his hand, palm up. She laced her fingers through his. Instinctively, immediately, without thought. It was right, touching him.

  She liked touching him. Knowing she could whenever she wanted.

  Because…it was right. Because she wanted to be with him.

  He was hers. She didn’t see that ever changing. This vampire was hers.

  But she still didn’t know what that meant for her future.

  46

  She was quiet as she led him up the porch steps and into the small bungalow she’d shared with her sisters before he and Theo had taken them. The house had been straightened, evidence of their first initial scuffle removed. The house even smelled like his female, and Aodhan breathed it in. It had signs of her everywhere. “Where do you want to start?”

  “Bedroom. The master suite is mine. Becca and Mickey share the upstairs, but I’m on the main floor. Benefit of being the eldest. I want to get my clothes and photo albums. The rest of it can wait. I can hire movers if I want. If our suite will be big enough.” Her tone was different, but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly how. “At this point, I’m ok with just grabbing clothes and putting them in a plastic tote. We have some somewhere. We can put them away back home.”

  Aodhan forced himself to breathe out then in again. She’d called it home. “Does your sister need anything?”

  “She and Theo are coming to get her things this weekend. Mickey likes to paint and is extremely picky about how her supplies are handled. She wants a few of her clothes, but I have a list of those.”

  They worked together for a while, bagging up her clothing. She fetched boxes from the attic and carefully placed the photos she wanted inside. Aodhan loaded them in the van and secured them. “Anything else you want right away?”