“That’s enough,” Lauren interjected. She turned to me, determination in her dark eyes. “Mathias, this conversation isn’t over. I want your word that you won’t leave until the three of us have agreed on a plan. One that doesn’t involve you self-destructing in Chicago.”
“Lauren, I can’t stay.”
“You should,” Royal chimed in. “Before I cut communications, a handler was ordering a full sweep of every airport in Scotland and England. It should start,” he checked his pocket watch, “now.”
Part of me wanted to risk it but if I went now, it would lead the hunters to concentrate on Aberdeen. And, they would find Lauren. I frowned and gave a curt nod. “I’ll stay until the sweep is finished.”
“I’ll go put on some tea,” Royal said before he strode to the back of the house.
I glanced at Lauren. “Do you want to use the laundry or the shower first?”
“Laundry.” She started to move away then paused, swinging around on her crutches, and fixed me in place with a steady look. Her voice was soft as she said, “You never should have kept that a secret. You should have let me make my own decisions, not try to make them for me and then lie so I wouldn’t have a chance to argue for a better way.”
I couldn’t think of a response and the disappointment in her gaze cut through even the cold. Shame washed over me, and I looked away from her. “I made the decisions that I felt would offer you the best protection.”
“But I should have a hand in making those decisions too, Mathias. I’m not someone who can’t think for herself. I’ve made the hard decisions before, and I’m prepared to make them again. But I can’t make them, if you try to take away everything except the one you’ve decided best meets your agenda.” Lauren thumped across the room, grabbed her go bag, and then continued on, no doubt to find the laundry.
“Lauren.” She stopped and didn’t look back, which was fine. I didn’t know if I could look her in the eyes at this moment. “It wasn’t my intent to hurt you. I am only trying to keep you safe.”
“Have you considered that maybe someone thinks your life is worth saving too?”
The quiet words lingered in her wake as she left the front room. A heavy sigh escaped me as I grabbed my own go bag. For a moment, I looked at the front door before turning away. I had given my word, and I didn’t want to leave Lauren alone with Royal for days. Foolish as that impulse was given that I intended for him to take over as her guide . . . and her protector. Royal was the better choice, after all.
* * *
Lauren
After a fitful amount of sleep, I gave up on continuing to try. The safe house was decorated like a bachelor’s pad downstairs, but the upstairs bedroom I had been given was covered in lace and ribbons. Walls painted the palest of purples accompanied by faded white furniture with fluffy purple and white coverings. Even the canopied bed was done up in purple. After so many nights sleeping on the ground or on hard narrow beds with scant cushions, this bed was almost too soft.
I already knew that the soft mattress wasn’t the reason for my restlessness. I limped across the lush purple rug into the attached bathroom. The pipes groaned and creaked as I turned the shower on. Soon hot water spurted from the shower head and that was all that mattered. Other than the continued inconvenience of having to protect my wrap and brace with a plastic bag, I was more than grateful to stand in the claw foot tub and let the hot water soak into my muscles.
Thoughts of Mathias and his terrible problem solving skills still haunted me. It was difficult to enjoy the simple pleasure of being able to take a hot shower without fretting about stepping out of the room and into the waiting arms of hunters when my mind was buzzing with worries about Mathias. How he thought sacrificing himself was the best way to protect me I had no idea. I disagreed with him. And, I was going to find a way to stop him. First, I needed to talk to Royal.
Showered and dressed in freshly laundered black jeans and my burgundy sweater, I decided to leave my crutches upstairs. As a sign of peace when I approached the dragon shifter. And, so I wouldn’t smack Mathias with them.
Royal was sitting in the kitchen, a book in one hand and teacup in the other. I lingered in the doorway for a moment studying him. Our brief encounter in the Inverness rail station had been stressful and brief so I hadn’t really assessed him. He was at least as tall as Mathias. I thought back to last night and amended that observation. He was maybe a little taller, an inch perhaps, than Mathias. His long legs were clad in blue jeans while a cream-colored ribbed sweater stretched across his broad shoulders and chest providing a nice contrast to his dark brown complexion.
“Should I be worried that you’re studying me, Miss Hope?”
“You may call me Lauren,” I offered as I limped into the kitchen proper. I looked around realizing that it seemed oddly empty without Mathias’ presence. My heart gave a jolt as a new thought occurred to me. Somehow I forced my tone to be calm and not nearly as panicked as I felt as I asked, “Did Mathias leave?”
“No.”
I closed my eyes and pressed my hand against my racing heart as I released a slow breath. Thank God for that. When I opened my eyes again, my cheeks grew warm as I met Royal’s sharp gaze. But he didn’t question me as I expected, instead he nodded to the stove. “Have some breakfast warming there. Figured at least one of you would be hungry after the water turned on.”
“Thank you.”
Only after I fixed a plate with bacon, sausage links, toast, and scrambled eggs, did I join Royal at the kitchen table. A full cup of tea sat waiting for me, and I added cream and sugar. After so much time with Mathias, I had given up my general distaste for tea. It was all the man ever seemed to drink after all. I ate in silence for several minutes before I eyed Royal. “How long have you known Mathias?”
“Going on seventeen years now.”
“How did you meet?”
Royal closed his book softly and set it aside, then he folded his arms on the table and leaned toward me. “Why do you want to know this?”
“Because I want to know why Mathias changed his mind about trusting you.”
My answer seemed to satisfy the dragon shifter. He gave a curt nod. “All right then. I met Mathias because I was hunting down an oath breaker. A criminal whose masters had attempted to overthrow the council of dragon elders by indulging in a war at a time when relations with the norms were already strained. When my clan found out that they were kidnapping the children of powerful paranormal species, we got involved. This one slipped away during the actual war. When he surfaced again, it was in France. It was easy to figure out he was hunting and not hiding so I followed him. I caught up in time to see a young man take out a half-shifted dragon with far more ease than anyone should demonstrate. There was only ever one species among the paranormal community who could do that to a dragon.”
“Myrmidons.”
Royal nodded, a wry smile curling his lips. “Truer words never spoken. Mathias hadn’t been able to save the girl, and I offered him a deal. He could come work with me for a while, and I would never breathe a word of his true heritage. I kept my promise.”
“So you are friends,” I said.
Royal chuckled. “Befriending an angry sphinx would be easier than befriending Mathias. He doesn’t trust. He’s never fully trusted anyone. The only reason I know what he is and how his kind reacts is because I have an aunt who oversees a PR company in the States. Whenever I stayed with her and my cousins there would be lectures on how the different species react and what to do about it.”
I studied him. “What PR company?”
“Carith and Krall.”
I almost dropped my teacup. Carith and Krall was the leading PR firm after Halliman’s for the paranormal community. They focused less on relocation and keeping non-ambassadorial species out of harm’s way and far more on working with the big names moving in both paranormal and norm communities. Names like Deirdre Ahearn. They were also located in Jackson, Mississippi . . . I had intended to apply to them for a job afte
r leaving Halliman’s.
I stared at him. “Are you a Carith or a Krall?”
“Carith. The cousins in America are mostly Kralls, though.”
I almost questioned him further, but that wasn’t why I had wanted to talk to Royal. Picking up my fork, I toyed with my eggs. “You said last night that Mathias had a choice to escape this coldness consuming him.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me it again.”
“He can take a mate. Mates provide . . . balance.”
“So they are like shifters to a degree,” I murmured.
“To a degree.” Royal was silent for a moment before he leaned back in his chair and picked up his teacup. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I took a bite of my eggs and chewed slowly. When I swallowed, I met Royal’s knowing gaze. A soft, breathless laugh escaped me. “I can’t let him die. I know he is trying to protect me, but he doesn’t deserve to die and especially not like this. If marrying him will save him, I’ll do it.”
“You love him.”
I dropped my gaze back to my plate. I wasn’t ready to say the words. Not yet and not to a man who was a stranger to me. When I said them, it would be to Mathias. I took another bite of the sausage and then asked, “Can we find someone to perform the ceremony here or do we need to wait until we get to the continent?”
“It doesn’t work that way for Myrmidons.”
I looked up sharply as Mathias entered the room. He seemed to move with greater ease this morning, more like a cheetah or . . . a sphinx. His long lean frame was encased in a pale sweater that changed his blue-green eyes to an icy shade of blue and dark wash jeans. His light brown hair stuck up a little almost as though he had been running his hands through it. Or as if he had forgotten to brush it. But, his expression was wide awake as he frowned at me. “We cannot just go find a willing member of the paranormal community to perform a wedding for us.”
“Why not?”
“Because you aren’t a Myrmidon,” Royal interjected helpfully.
Mathias glared at him. “Thank you. You’ve told her quite enough.”
“Mathias,” I caught his gaze and held it, “what do we have to do?”
He sighed, running a hand over his face, before he crossed his arms over his chest. “If we were to marry, you would have to participate in a series of trials, but I’m not going to allow it.”
“Why would you say that? Is marrying me really such a horrible idea that you would prefer dying in such a terrible way?”
I tried not to let my hurt show yet the looks I received from both men, as though they were afraid I was about to burst into tears, told me I hadn’t fully succeeded. Mathias shook his head. “No. That’s not why?”
“Then, what is it?”
He frowned obviously not wanting to tell me. But when Royal shifted his weight, Mathias shot him a dark look and turned back to me. “Because the trials are designed to prove your worthiness as a Myrmidon bride, and there is a reason that interspecies marriages never happened among my people. Some unapproved alliances, sure, but those tended to end badly for both mates. I won’t do it to you.”
“If you’re worried about my ankle, I’ll be able to walk on it fine in a couple of weeks.”
Mathias shook his head. “Lauren, even if you were completely healed, I would never let you participate in the trials. You will never be strong enough to survive the Trials of Achilles.”
* * *
Chapter Fifteen
Mathias
“You will never be strong enough to survive the Trials of Achilles.”
The stubborn woman didn’t even blink when I spoke the words. She only pursed her lips as she drummed her fingers on the table. “Your faith in me is a little disappointing, Mathias.” She turned to Royal and demanded, “Is he actually telling me everything this time? Or do you know more?”
“All I know is he needs a mate.” Royal glanced at me, nostrils flaring, as he added, “But I sense only truth. Fortunately, I value it enough to consider it treasure or I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you that much. Mathias tries very hard to be unreadable.”
“If you weren’t needed to get Lauren out of the country, dragon, I would be rid of you now,” I informed him coldly.
Royal only shrugged in response.
I turned my attention back to the stubborn Spotter. “I am telling you the truth, including the fact that you won’t survive these trials. It’s why my plan is better.”
“Your plan is a suicide mission, that alone makes it a terrible one,” she objected. “If the Myrmidon women complete the trials, my being a Spotter isn’t a good reason to think I won’t be able to succeed.”
“Myrmidon women were never required to complete the trials. The Trials of Achilles are designed to protect our heritage by preventing the dilution of Myrmidon blood with unworthy mates. You aren’t strong enough for this, Lauren. You aren’t a warrior.” I paused for breath and then added in a low voice, “I am not strong enough to stand by and watch as you try and fail. There is a price for failure, Lauren, and it is too high.”
Lauren shook her head. “This is my choice, Mathias. And I will tell you right now that if you attempt to go to Chicago on your own, I will follow you. I will make sure I’m at Weard when you get there.”
Determination glowed in her dark eyes, and I knew she meant every word. Lauren’s stubbornness was enough that she would likely find a way to follow me. Then, she would be caught by the cold and fall victim to it. That thought shook me.
I didn’t want to let Lauren participate in the Trials of Achilles. When my uncle told me of them, it had been as a warning against becoming involved with non-Myrmidon females. Amber had been a flirtation . . . and not a Myrmidon. She had been killed before the Trials even became a question to be considered, and she had been one of the stronger Unseelie Fae.
But the memory of Amber’s death paled in comparison to the thought of losing Lauren. My heart twisted at the thought of losing her. Worse was the thought of being the one who cut her down, something that would likely happen if she followed me to Chicago. I stared down into Lauren’s eyes. It seemed there was no other choice now.
* * *
Lauren
Emotions flickered through Mathias’ eyes faster than I could identify them, but he finally bowed his head. “All right.”
“We’ll seek out the Trials?” I asked, not quite believing he was giving in. When he nodded, it was everything I could do not to clap my hands in pure joy and relief. I didn’t care how intimidating or difficult the Trials might be if it meant I could save Mathias. “Where do we go?”
“Probably Greece,” Royal offered. He looked up at Mathias, still leaning on the table. “Isn’t that your people’s homeland?”
I hid a grimace. Greece. The homeland of so many paranormals and monsters. I did not like the idea of going to Greece, but I would to help Mathias.
Mathias ignored Royal’s question entirely, which wasn’t surprising. Instead, he frowned at his friend. “What are you going to do since you’re no longer escorting Lauren?”
“I’ll lay a false trail from here. I know a girl whose coloring and lack of height is about the same as Lauren’s. If Lauren will lend us one of her shawls, we’ll get an ankle brace and go on a little tour of Western Europe, maybe Africa. Then, we’ll go to ground.” Royal got to his feet and rolled his shoulders. “I suppose I’ll need to make some calls to the family since I’m officially retiring from Weard. Maybe I’ll let my aunt send me on some jobs.”
I couldn’t help looking at him a little skeptically. “You know PR?”
Royal chuckled. “It’s not just PR. She has a connection to a security firm. Maybe I’ll get into the business of being a bodyguard.”
* * *
Lauren
Six days passed before Royal and his decoy slipped out of Aberdeen taking an airship to Edinburgh. The next evening, I sat in the front room of the safe house carefully lacing a hike
r on my left foot. I had stuffed the brace in my bag if I needed it, but I didn’t want to draw any more attention than necessary. For the same reason, I had already decided to abandon the crutches.
Mathias came down the stairs, his go bag already hanging from his shoulder. He set a woolen flat cap on his head and tugged the brim down. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
I nodded without looking up. “I prefer this plan to yours.”
Rising to my feet, I took a few cautious steps and attempted to minimize my limp. “Too noticeable?”
“Not in a crowd.”
“Good enough for me.” I picked up my go bag trying to hide my nerves. As determined as I was, by the time I finished these Trials I would be married to a man who was a 10. It was still a little . . . overwhelming. When I caught Mathias giving me a questioning look, I offered him a faint smile. This was the right thing to do. It was the only way to save him.
By the time we made it to the airport and boarded our plane to Heathrow, my ankle was protesting with a dull ache. I ignored it. Although I did hope I wouldn’t need to run across the terminal when we arrived. Once we were in the air, I leaned over to whisper, “Where in Greece are we landing?”
“Nowhere,” came the equally quiet response. “We’re going to board a plane to Geneva.”
I stared at him in surprise. “We’re going to Switzerland? I don’t remember an association with Achilles.”
The corner of Mathias’ mouth twitched into a half smile. “The Trials don’t start in Greece. That’s where they end.”
“So where do they start?”
“Thrace.”
Thrace. The country that no longer existed . . . I didn’t know why I was surprised by that news. All I could remember of Thrace was that it was north of Greece. Along the Black Sea perhaps? “Why Thrace?”
Mathias looked at me and leaned in close, his breath tickling my skin as he whispered in my ear, “Because the Trials of Achilles follow the trail of the Myrmidons’ shame . . . and the road to regain our honor. Are you still certain you want to do this?”
Rogue Spotter Collection Page 32