Adric's Heart

by Rebecca Rivard

  Langdon could still recall the arrival of the first European humans. His grandfather had been prince then, with Langdon’s father the designated heir. The old prince had enforced their traditions with an iron hand. He’d arranged Langdon’s mating with a high-born French fae, a beautiful, submissive woman. Langdon had been happy enough with her.

  But she’d presented him with two sons and then died of a sudden, mysterious illness. Langdon had suspected poison, but he had no proof. The fae had ways of making poisons that left no trace.

  Langdon had still been a young man—a hundred-and-ten turns of the sun. Youthful enough to chafe at the restrictions put on him by his powerful family. He’d buried his French mate and then fought with his grandfather over some ridiculous thing.

  Looking back, he’d been grieving, but he’d only known he was furious with both his grandfather and his father, who’d taken the old prince’s side. So he’d left his sons with his parents and spent the next few decades traveling up and down the Americas disguised as a human folk healer. If he could heal the patient, he did—and if not, he fed on the family’s misery.

  It was in New Orleans that he’d encountered a dark-haired, golden-skinned human. Marie-Josana, a Creole singer who performed in the city’s opera houses and theaters. He’d fallen hard. Within days, he’d bought a house in the Garden District and settled down with his beautiful Josana.

  He hadn’t mate-claimed her. The heir to the night fae throne couldn’t have a human mate. But he’d loved Josana with all the passion in his dark heart.

  With her, he’d been the needy one.

  An uncomfortable sensation, one he’d taken care never to repeat.

  In the end, he and Josana must have mated on some basic, primal level, because he’d gotten her with child. Langdon had named the boy Quicksilver, since he had the Gift of wayfaring. Silver, for short.

  Then Langdon’s father had died suddenly, and he’d been ordered home by the old prince to take his place as the heir. His grandfather knew about Josana and Silver, of course. Very little escaped the old man.

  But he’d made it clear that no one else could know about Langdon’s half-blood son.

  To this day, very few people knew about Langdon’s third son, and even fewer knew Silver had had a daughter with an earth fada. Langdon had kept Merry hidden. To the pureblood fae, she was a mongrel, an embarrassment. His grandfather had sneered at Langdon for letting his seed be diluted.

  But Langdon had loved his youngest son, even if he was a half-blood. Silver had been educated at the best schools, and Langdon had set up a trust that made his son a rich man in the human world.

  He scowled into the rapidly falling night.

  Ironic, that of his three sons, the half-blood Silver had been the best. The oldest, Dorian, had been weak, and Tyrus a ruthless, power-hungry S.O.B.

  Langdon had cursed the tradition that didn’t allow him to claim a half-blood as his heir. And then it was too late. Silver was dead.

  But Silver’s mixed-blood daughter lived.

  The table had been cleared. His butler Olivier waited until his assistant left with the dishes, and then appeared at his elbow in his usual perfectly pressed black pants, pristine white shirt and natty bow tie.

  “Will you require anything else, my lord?”

  “No.” Langdon dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

  Crossing to an antique mahogany hutch, he removed a scrying mirror wrapped in soft cotton. He unwrapped the mirror and sat down again, the mirror cupped in his hands. The mirror was carved of pure obsidian, the edges beveled, a flowing white frame around the stone’s glossy black.

  He gazed into the dark center. The shiny surface threw back his own reflection, his mouth a line of concentration.

  He slowed his breath. The reflection blurred, transformed to dark-edged clouds that raced across the obsidian’s surface like a fast-approaching storm.

  Change is coming. The old traditions will be no more.

  Both Cleia and Dion had let Langdon believe his granddaughter was dead.

  And Adric had told Langdon a flat-out lie, which must have made him deathly ill.

  Langdon now knew differently. Merry was alive and still at Rock Run, as she’d been for the last seven turns of the sun. And soon, he’d bring her to Dark Moon to raise as his heir.

  Centuries of tradition were about to be shattered. His grandfather would roll over in his grave.

  Langdon’s mouth edged up.

  He tightened his fingers around the mirror, drew deeply on his Gift.

  “Show me Merry Jones.” He spoke her full name aloud to increase the power, his voice echoing in the small room.

  On the mirror’s shiny black surface, clouds swirled and piled upon each other into a towering thunderhead—and then parted to reveal his granddaughter.

  13

  “Have a good trip?” asked Zuri.

  He and Adric exchanged a look. They were at the Full Moon Saloon again, standing near the long wooden bar. It was Monday evening and the tavern was nearly empty. No humans. No river fada, even—just a few of his own men and a couple of visiting earth fada. Claudio was serving as the only bartender, and instead of a band, the TVs on either side of the bar were tuned to the replay of a soccer game in Madrid.

  “I did.” Adric took a gulp of beer. “Anything happen that I should know about?”

  “Other than my alpha going A.W.O.L. for a night—and then nearly being captured by the night fae?”

  Adric’s fingers tightened on his bottle. “Everyone’s allowed a fucking night off, even me.”

  The lieutenant acknowledged that with a tight nod. “You are. But as your head of security, I should have been informed.”

  “Jani knew.”

  Another short nod. Then his friend sighed. “Did it work?”

  “Did what work?”

  “Did you get the woman out of your system?”

  Adric’s mind went to the sea-green swirl in the quartz tucked out of sight beneath his T-shirt.

  Hell, no. I only want her more and my cat’s insisting she’s the mate.

  And I can’t do a damn thing about it.

  He took another swig of beer. “None of your fucking business.”

  “Hey, I’m the one who told you that if you wanted her, take her. But now you need to put her behind you. This thing with the night fae following you to Lewes? That’s messed up.”

  “Yeah.” Adric rubbed a thumb over the beer’s glossy label.

  He’d told his lieutenants about being tracked by the night fae. What he hadn’t told them was that it had been Lady Blaer, and that Luc had been with her. Not even Marjani knew.

  He just couldn’t expose his old friend to the clan’s condemnation. They might ask why Luc wasn’t trying harder to fight Blaer’s orders.

  Adric wondered that himself. For instance, Luc could’ve taken his time tracking Adric so that by the time he and the fae arrived in Lewes, Adric and Rosana were gone. On the other hand, there was that moment in the parking lot when he could’ve given Adric away—and hadn’t.

  Zuri fingered his neat black soul patch. “Know what I think? Things are coming to a head. Something’s about to happen. I can practically taste it.”

  Adric stilled. Had the lieutenant guessed his plans?

  “And you think this, why?”

  “Hell if I know. Things are quiet, but that’s the problem. It’s too quiet. For months, we’ve been seeing night fae every time we turned around. And then suddenly—nothing. Something’s up. My wolf’s so antsy I can barely sleep.”

  Adric relaxed. Zuri hadn’t guessed.

  “It’s not just you. My cougar’s antsy, too. Every time I’m out at night, my skin itches. I’m sure those bastards are still around, just hiding in the shadows.”

  “If only we had someone on the inside. If we had even a clue as to what they’re planning, we could prepare a counterstrike.” Zuri’s lips peeled in a humorless smile. “A Seer, that’s what we need. Although the old Seer wa
sn’t much help. She didn’t see her own death coming, did she? Or prevent the Darktime.”

  Adric blinked. “No,” he said slowly. “She didn’t. But she tried, remember? Except Leron didn’t want to hear it.”

  A trickle of unease slid through his veins.

  You need me.

  What if Rosana was right?

  Seers were rare. His own clan’s Seer had met with an ‘accident’ during the Darktime when she’d refused to slant her prophecies to suit Leron’s orders. Since then, no one else had shown signs of the Gift.

  He reminded himself that no Seer was infallible. What Rosana had Seen was simply a strong possibility. She couldn’t know. Not for sure.

  The Darktime isn’t over. The prince will destroy your clan from the inside out.

  Adric’s fangs pricked out. The hell he would.

  “Step up patrols of the city,” he ordered.

  “Already did. But if a night fae doesn’t want to be seen, we can run all the patrols we want and it won’t do much good.” Zuri shook his head. “Wish I knew how the motherfuckers slip in and out of the shadows like that. They can even hide their scent, which is just not possible.”

  “Except they do it.”

  “Yeah.” Zuri took another slug of beer.

  “Contact the alphas in each den, warn them that things are heating up. No one is to go outside without at least one other person. If they’re younger than fifteen, they should have at least three people, including an adult. I’ll make sure Jani knows to take extra care. It’s her the prince really wants.”

  They shared a grim look. Langdon had somehow discovered it had been Marjani who’d killed his son, even though Adric had let everyone assume he’d been the one who knifed the prick.

  His sister was a marked woman…unless someone took out Langdon first.

  “I’m on it,” Zuri assured him.

  “Thanks, bro.” Adric squeezed the other man’s shoulder. “But watch your own back, okay? The prince knows you’re one of my top men. If he can’t get to me or Jani, he’ll go after my closest people instead—and you and Jace will be at the top of the list.”

  Zuri’s grin was all wolf. “He can try.”

  A commotion at the saloon’s entrance made them both swing around. Dion do Rio stalked inside followed by his tenente Davi, both in black leather and jeans, their faces set in menacing lines.

  The Full Moon went dead silent. Benny was on the door again. He moved to intercept them, but Dion snarled and the bouncer checked, his animal instinctively recognizing a dominant.

  Dion’s gaze swung to where Adric stood at the bar. His nostrils flared. He strode toward him, his eyes the pure silver of his animal.

  “Uh-oh,” muttered Zuri.

  Benny recovered and stomped after Dion, but Adric shook his head. “Let them in.” He set down his bottle, gave the Rock Run alpha a mocking little nod. “Peace.”

  “I’ll give you fucking peace.” Dion halted a foot away, Davi at his heels.

  Zuri moved to block the tenente. The three other Baltimore fada present sprang up to form a semi-circle around them.

  Dion didn’t even bother to look at the other men.

  Claudio moved out from behind the bar. Lean and charming, he had salt-and-pepper hair and the features of a Latin American aristocrat.

  “Senhores,” he said in his melodic Brazilian accent. “This is neutral territory. I must ask you gentlemen to take your dispute—”

  Dion and Adric turned as one to bare their teeth at him, and he inclined his head and glided back behind the bar. “My apologies, senhores.”

  Dion’s scent was hot with anger. His dark brows formed a furious slash across his forehead, and the look he trained on Adric was pure murder.

  “I’ve tolerated your mining in my mate’s territory. I’ve let your people mix with my clan in Grace Harbor. And I was happy to allow your lieutenant, Jones, onto our land to visit his niece. But—” His lips peeled in a snarl.

  Adric tensed. Here it comes.

  “Deus if I’ll let your people come and go on Rock Run territory as they please.”

  “What?” It took Adric a full three seconds to realize the other alpha wasn’t here to beat the crap out of him over Rosana. “One of my people was on Rock Run territory?”

  “A wolf.”

  Adric’s stomach bottomed out. He straightened from the bar, conscious of their audience. If it was Luc, he didn’t want the whole damn world to know.

  “Let’s take this to the back room.”

  He led the way down the hall without waiting to see if Dion agreed. A poker game was in progress, but at a nod from him, the four men tossed their cards on the table and vacated the room.

  Adric entered and faced off with Dion. Davi stood at his alpha’s shoulder, while Zuri shut the door and leaned against it, arms folded over his broad chest.

  “What color was this wolf?”

  “Dark brown.” The other alpha’s lip curled. “Are you saying you didn’t know?”

  Hellfire. It sounded like Luc, all right.

  He willed his heart and breathing to remain steady. “Yes. No one in the clan has my permission to enter your territory without your say-so.”

  Dion inhaled, testing Adric’s statement for truth. He leaned forward, his mouth a hard line.

  “Then get control over your own damn people. Because that wolf was in my woods. If we see him again, he’s fair game.”

  Adric went rigid. In the six years since he’d become alpha, he’d thrown his heart and soul into healing his fractured clan. However, as Dion knew, he still had trouble from time to time.

  Davi smirked at him over Dion’s shoulder. The tenente was Adric’s height, with the dark eyes and Mediterranean features of his Portuguese ancestors. On Davi, those looks were poster-boy gorgeous.

  Adric narrowed his eyes. He’d seen Davi hovering around Rosana. If the other man wasn’t careful, he was going to find his pretty face rearranged.

  From the door, Zuri growled lowly, his wolf pissed at his alpha being challenged.

  Adric made himself give Dion a tight nod. “I’ll make sure my people know.”

  “You do that,” was the grim reply.

  Zuri opened the door, but Dion stayed where he was after ordering Davi to wait in the hall. To Adric he said, “Tell your man to leave.”

  Adric nodded at Zuri. “Okay,” he said when the door closed behind him. “Talk.”

  “The room is soundproof?”

  “Yeah.” He folded his arms over his chest, ignoring the sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

  Dion took a step closer. “Stay the fuck away from my sister. She’s not for you.”

  It was what Adric had told himself for years, but he bristled. “That’s up to her, isn’t it?”

  A muscle jumped in Dion’s jaw. He drew a breath through his teeth. When he spoke, his tone was irritatingly reasonable.

  “She’s young. I know you’re not that much older than her, but you grew up in a whole different world than she did. She’s sheltered.” The corner of his mouth tipped up wryly. “A little spoiled. I did my best, but when my parents disappeared, she was only six. For months, she woke up crying for her mama. Begging me to let her help search for them. I…it broke something in me.”

  Adric pictured a small Rosana crying for her mama and swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know you wouldn’t mean to hurt her. I’ve been watching you. You’ve done a good job with your clan, and Deus knows, that wasn’t easy. Tiago tells me that quartz factory you’re trying to get off the ground just might be genius.”

  Adric’s mouth fell open. Praise from the Rock Run alpha? The world must be ending. For some damn reason, he got a lump in his throat.

  “Get to the point,” he said gruffly.

  “Even if you could make a safe home for her here in Baltimore, it wouldn’t work. River fada have to live near fresh water—a river, a lake. She needs to be able to shift, to swim as her dolphin. Yeah, you have the Inner
Harbor, but that’s a cesspool of human shit and trash. She couldn’t stay in it long.”

  A dull ringing filled Adric’s ears. He uncrossed his arms. “Got it. Stay away from Rosana.”

  “Thank you. And I mean it. I know there’s…something between you. But this is for the best. You’ll see.”

  Adric jerked his chin.

  Dion gazed at him for another heartbeat, and then inclined his head. “Peace to you and yours.”

  “Yeah. Peace. But Dion?”

  “Sim?”

  “For the record, I was planning on staying away anyway.”

  The other alpha turned to leave, and then hesitated. “I’m sorry. But you know I’m right.”

  For answer, Adric reached past him to open the door.

  Zuri was waiting to escort the men off the premises. Not causing trouble, just sending a message that they were in Baltimore fada territory.

  Adric sank down on one of the metal chairs vacated by the poker players and waited for Zuri to return. The dull ringing was joined by a suffocating sensation in his chest. Like his heart was being wrung out. Crushed.

  She’s mine.

  He dropped his head into his hands. No. She’s not yours, and she never will be.

  Rosana couldn’t live with him, and there was no way in hell the Baltimore alpha could move to Rock Run. The very idea made his lips peel in a humorless smile.

  Zuri returned, closing the door behind him. He set his hands on the table. “The wolf was Luc, wasn’t it?”

  Adric grimaced. Right. Luc was the problem here, not Rosana. And since Luc was being controlled by Blaer, things had just gone from bad to worse.

  Somehow he pushed a response past the obstruction in his chest. “That’s my guess.”

  Zuri’s dark gaze narrowed. “And you’re not surprised.”

  “No.”

  “Care to explain? Or is this something else your head of security doesn’t need to know?”

  Adric heaved a breath. “I’ll explain. But tomorrow. We’ll meet at the Factory. Jani and Jace need to hear this, too.”

  14

  With the base on alert, Dion had ordered the sentries to double up, some to patrol the forests and vineyards, some to patrol the water. Rosana reported to the marina for duty early Tuesday morning to find she’d been paired with Chico Nobrega, her brother Tiago’s best friend, and assigned to the section of the Susquehanna River north of Rock Run Creek.