“Okay, Emma. Now listen to me. The actual words of a spell don't matter. What matters is that you believe. That you can visualize the energy swirling and changing the actual matter of the catalyst. It's all science. Choose quantum physics. Or string theory. Or chaos theory. Whichever theory you believe inâapply it. Use your innate ability to alter energy to do so.”
Emma sucked in air, her mind spinning with what little she remembered about quantum physics. “Okay.”
“Good. Now hold the vial over the beaker and say the spell.” Moira's eyes darkened until green melded black. “I'll say the words in my head with you and send all the power I can your way.”
Emma nodded and placed the beaker next to Cara on the table, grabbing the vial in one hand and the spell in the other. She focused on Cara. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Cara's eyes filled with fear and hope in equal measure.
Emma took a deep breath and began to read.
With fire, herbs, and blood,
I seek to unbind an unnatural bond,
To use the candles as energy,
To set this affected virus free.
The candles flickered and an impossible breeze began to stir through the quiet lab. Emma shivered, the hair on her arms standing up. She pictured a bolt of energy ripping through the test tube, scattering atoms and molecules. Her hair curled and an electric current began to run just under her skin, while her heart settled into an ancient rhythm that felt like home. She dropped the paper and lifted her head, her eyes wide open as power slid through her bones. She felt the words to her very soul, and they came from her.
Reason, science, and chaos,
Separate the strings of the catalyst
Allow the virus to be free
As my will, so mote it be.
The air crackled and electrical flashes flew around the room. The liquid in the vial bubbled up, churning blue and green with white sparks. The candles swooshed out and the fire fell silent. Emma shifted wide eyes to Cara.
Cara sat up. “Give me the vial.”
A fog had settled around Emma's brain and she struggled to surface. She handed the vial to Cara, who quickly tipped back her head and drank the midnight colored liquid. A red flush started at her hairline and swept down her face and neck.
“Cara?” Emma's feet remained rooted to the floor.
“Yum.” Cara's eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the bed, out cold.
“She said, yum?” Moira asked, placing a shaky hand against her forehead.
“Yeah.” Emma glanced in concern at her sister. “With the candles and seeds and everything, it smells like ...” Panic swept through her blood to replace the power. “Oh God.”
“Emma?” Moira stepped closer to the camera. “What does the room smell like?”
Emma shifted her gaze to Moira. “Tulips.”
She sent Dage a shrieking call for help. With a soft cry, she leaped toward her unconscious sister.
Chapter 25
D
age studied the prophet across the aisle of the Black Hawk as the chopper blasted through the air. Jesus. The Kurjans had worked the man over and well. Deep purple and red bruises covered Guiles's face and his right arm sat in a sling with the vampire lacking the strength to repair the broken bone. For now. Unease whipped into Dage from his side and he glanced at Talen. “What?”
Talen shrugged, his golden eyes mutating to a pissed green. “The virus messes with my ability to reach Cara. I don't like it.”
Dage nodded, sympathy tightening his throat. He kept his shields up for now, the residue of the battle still echoing through his brain. He'd killed hard and fast. His mate didn't need to see the blood in her dreams. “These soldiers were more advanced, more prepared for us.” He nodded to where Conn concentrated to heal several knife wounds in his upper chest.
“Yes.” Talen peered outside as the military helicopter touched down on the cement near the airplane hangars followed by three other choppers. He ripped open the door and jumped out, turning to assist with the wounded.
Dage exited last, stretching his neck as the moon split the night. The calm before dawn. His favorite time. He began to jog alongside Talen across the tarmac, musing he hadn't made love to Emma during dawn yet. He'd have to rectify that situation in about an hour.
A piercing scream in his head stopped him cold, shifting his gaze to the lab perched in the distance. Fear, Emma's view from inside the lab, and the strong scent of tulips flashed through him. Then two missiles shot from the sky and the building exploded.
He froze. His heart thumped hard. Opening his senses, he felt nothing. A coldness slithered under his skin. All warmth gone.
Emma.
Fire billowed into the air.
Pain shrieked through his bones. The king slammed to his knees. Rage and an unfathomable agony ripped into him. He lifted his head, howling to the universe. From his power, the earth rumbled. Clouds shot across the sky to bind the moon. Lightning attacked and thunder rose to an unholy pitch that pierced eardrums.
Several military helicopters dropped Kurjan soldiers to the ground.
Dage leapt to his feet, a feral growl erupting from his chest.
They'd all die.
He reached the enemy first and ripped off its head with one hand. His brothers flanked him but he was beyond caring. He roared his mate's name and set forth to destroy.
More Kurjans dropped and dark blurs of motion leaped out of the forest. A blaring alarm pierced the night. They were under attack.
Jordan and his enforcers ran full bore toward the tree line, shifting into cougars once far enough away not to impact the vampires. Shrill howls rent the air when the deadly cats met the werewolves.
Dage yanked his knife out of his vest and slashed into the nearest Kurjan, snarling when the bastard stabbed him in the knee. He welcomed the pain. “More.” He sliced through the soldier's throat, running full out for his next target.
“Jesus, Dage, watch behind you,” Jase shouted.
Dage ignored his brother, fighting like the minions of hell lived in his skin. Nothing mattered but getting to the lab. He vaguely heard Talen issue an order through the comm line for the secondary team to evacuate the women and prophets to the mountainous headquarters.
He reached the crackling pile of rubble, tossing glowing cement blocks out of the way, scalding his hands. Jase and Conn covered his back, grunting with the effort to fight back soldier after soldier who wanted the king dead.
If he didn't find her, they could have him.
She had to be there. Somewhere safe in the rubble.
A thick hand banded around his arm and jerked him around. He struggled in Jase's grasp.
“No. There's no life here, Dage.” Jase's copper eyes swirled with a deep maroon Dage had never seen in them. “I can sense life. There's none here.”
“No!” Dage roared, shoving his brother back three steps. He opened his mind, his heart again to find her.
He remained empty.
Emma was dead.
So was he.
But for now, he'd kill.
He glanced at the tarmac. Bodies were scattered across the cement, some moving to the side to repair themselves. Vampire guards. His men.
A knife slashed across his cheekbone and he pivoted, hissing at the Kurjan. “This is going to hurt.”
The enemy's purple eyes widened and he lifted his arm again only to have Dage cut if off with a quick slice of his wrist. The soldier howled in pain. Dage waited until he closed cracked lips over those yellow fangs before stabbing him in the throat and twisting. The Kurjan's head beat the body to the ground, blood seeping into the cement.
The king in Dage was gone. The soldier in him craved more death. Slashing and gouging through enemy after enemy appeased his pain for a moment.
His fangs flashed, needing blood. Even his own. The sharp points pierced his lips and the taste of his blood, scented now with spiced peaches, threw him into a maelstrom of fire he'd never escape.
This one last taste of her was his undoing.
He growled low. Time stopped. Sound disappeared. An empty hole remained where his heart had beat; a gaping darkness swam where his soul had been. He regressed past human, past animal.
To death.
Maybe beyond.
The destruction he wreaked would be whispered about in fearful voices for centuries. He didn't care. Her image filled his head. An agonizing picture of her gentleness with Janie. A kindness his own sons would never know.
He slashed and diced and killed, spewing anger in an ancient tongueâin pure notes of pain. More than one Kurjan lost his head with a twist of the king's wrist. Desperate vengeance. Raw death. Undeniable power.
Until he came face to face with a werewolf.
Fangs glittered with blood as eyes the yellow of hell focused on him, the stench of death billowing out on its breath. The beast rose to at least a foot taller than Dage, coarse gray hair standing up and sharp claws extending.
The king settled into a fighting stance, more animalistic than the creature about to die, an image of Emma, eyes darkened, faced flushed with pleasure ripping through his thoughts. A sight he'd never see again.
The werewolf stretched and bunched thick back legs, leaping forward and taking Dage to the ground. He smashed into the cement, bones protesting as he flipped the animal over his head and rolled to his feet. Blood dripped down the back of his neck. Spiced peaches.
He grunted and took the putrid beast down with a tackle. They rolled end over end until he could lever his knife into its neck. It howled, trying to escape. Dage leaned on top of the hairy abomination and twisted the blade. The words he spewed while killing were even too ancient for him to recognize. The hellish eyes slowly closed. The warmth from Emma's last kiss against Dage's cheek faded away in unison.
A voice in his earpiece gave Dage pause. “Janie was loaded into the first helicopter. But the Kayrs women aren't here.”
The words had a meaning he failed to grasp. Reason had fled. He fell off the dead werewolf to settle on his knees, blood soaking his clothes, pain ripping his skin. Conn and Jase stood above him, flanking their brother. Their king. If he'd had any energy left, he'd tell them it was too late.
Talen barked something through the line and someone answered that Cara had been with Emma. In the lab.
Her name was a needle sharp sword in his gut. Dage lifted his head as shock slammed across Talen's hard features. “No.”
Leaping over smoldering wood, Talen landed in the middle of the fire and began tossing cement and debris out of his way. Kane stood guard, a desperate anger on his strong face. He and Jase shared a look the king couldn't decipher.
Jase raised his hands to the sky, muttered something under his breath and the skies opened to pour rain over the battlefield. The fire sputtered out. Black smoke billowed into the air.
Dage lowered his chin to his chest, unable to watch Talen dig. Nobody lived below the debris. His body hurt. Power and energy no longer pumped through his veins. Emma.
The clouds began to part and pinks and golds scattered across the sky to torture him with a new day. The remaining Kurjan soldiers ran for their helicopters, which quickly rose into the sky.
“Now,” Conn ordered through the earpieces.
Missiles fired from the earth and blew all five Kurjan helicopters into sharp fiery pieces that pummeled to land with loud crashes against the ground. Metal rained down almost in slow motion, as if even time had given up.
Dage turned his head to survey the battlefield. Blood ran thick into the greedy earth; dead bodies littered the cement.
Vampire, Kurjan, and animal.
They'd all lost.
Chapter 26
E
mma slowly opened one eye, pain radiating out of her ears. What the hell? Moist earth tickled her nose, and she rolled to her back on the wet ground to survey a clear blue sky. Trees surrounded her and birds chirped a happy tune. Where in the world was she?
Clarity came with a snap and she sat up, dizziness instantly swimming through her head. Oh yeah. She scrambled toward where Cara lay half in a prickle bush.
Emma pulled Cara away from the sharp points and propped her against the trunk of a pine tree. “Cara? Cara. Wake up.” She gave her sister a little shake.
Cara groaned and slowly opened her eyes. She shook her head. “Emma?”
“Yeah.” Emma glanced around the forest. It seemed familiar somehow.
“Um.” Cara blinked several times, her gaze on her bare feet. She frowned. “What the hell happened?”
Emma fought a hysterical giggle. “I transported. I mean, we transported.” Wow. She had Dage's powers now.
“Why?” Cara brushed pine needles off her legs.
“Why? Because the lab blew up.” How in the heck would they get home?
“There was a bomb?”
Emma froze. “Um, er no. No bomb.” This wasn't going to go well.
Blue eyes sparked with intelligence as Cara sat silent for moments. “No bomb? Then how did the lab blow up?” Her lips set in a white line.
“Um. Well. There probably was a bomb. But I didn't actually see it.”
“Emma?”
Damn, she hated that tone of voice. Emma blinked twice. “Fine. I've had visions of the lab blowing up with me inside.”
“What?” Cara gasped.
“Yes. But I didn't know you were there. Besides, the scent of tulips always filled the air, so I figured I was safe until next spring.” The explanation sounded lame even to Emma's ears.
Cara shook her head, a frown bearing down between her eyes. She just stared.
“So I was wrong. I should've told you and Dage.” Emma fought the urge to squirm. “Stop lecturing me.”
“You think this is bad? Wait till Dage finds you.” Cara eyed the forest around them. “Where the hell are we?”
“Dunno.” Her feet slipped on moist pine needles when Emma tried to stand. She studied her sister's flushed face. “How are you feeling?”
Surprise widened Cara's eyes. “Oh. Yeah.” She closed her eyes and her shoulders visibly relaxed. Her smile rivaled the sun's light. “Good. I feel good. I can sense the baby is all right.” She stood to her feet and enveloped Emma in a hug. “You did it. You saved him.”
Thank God. Emma bit her lip. “For now. We stopped the catalyst.” The virus would meander slowly on its own damn path, and Cara's quick pregnancy was still unheard of. Would the virus stay at bay for nine months?
Cara sighed. “Good enough for today, Em. We'll worry about the virus tomorrow.”
Emma nodded. “Good point. Um, do you have any sense of where we are?”
Cara peered around. “Oh.”
“Oh what?” Unease whispered through Emma.
“Well ...” Cara stepped onto the path. “I think we're in our forest. You know, back in Tennessee.”
What? Oh crap. “You're right. I was so scared and only had a few seconds, so I must have teleported us somewhere we'd always fled for safety.” Away from the bastard who'd raised them, the forest had always been a safe place to hide from their father during one of his drunken rages.
“So we're across the country from where we need to be.” Cara lifted her hands and stretched her back. She closed her eyes and inhaled. Flashing blue eyes opened. “Nope. I still can't reach Talen. Damn it.”
Emma took a deep breath. “Okay, let me try to find Dage. My brain is still kind of fuzzy.” She opened her mind and a ball of rage slammed into her, dropping her to the ground.
“Emma!” Cara darted forward and dropped to her haunches. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. Wow. Dage is pissed.” Emma pushed herself to a seated position and wiped slimy pine needles off her hands. “They must still be on the raid to rescue the prophet. I'll wait a couple minutes and try again.” She let Cara tug her up.
Cara eyed the trail. “Come on. Let's check it out.”
“Oh, ah, well ...” Emma raised an eyebrow, glancing at the narrow path.
“Come on.” Cara started forward, picking her way around prickle bushes and blackberry patches carefully with her bare feet. “I've always wanted to burn down the damn house. It's probably fallen to the ground by now anyway.”
“Okay.” Emma so did not need this trip down memory lane. She'd left Tennessee behind emotionally as well as physically years ago. But she couldn't let Cara go alone. When she reached the edge of the forest, she couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
Cara smiled. “Look at that.”
Their crappy old house had been painted a soft white and stood surrounded by carefully tended beds of geraniums and pansies. A small swing set and a myriad of softballs, footballs, and Frisbees dotted a lush green lawn.
A rumble of a truck sounded down the dirt road and Emma jumped, tugging Cara behind a tree. Clean but battered, the Chevy rolled to a stop and a man hopped out. He stood over six feet in dirty overalls, a thick thatch of sandy blond hair tucked partly under a St. Louis Cardinal cap.
Anxiety crept down Emma's spine. The guy was big.
The screen door tore open and a sandy-haired boy around six years old rushed out of the house, running full bore to leap at the man, who caught him and swung him in a wide arc.
“Mom burned dinner,” the boy said with a shake of his head.
“What?” The man's shoulders shook with laughter and he eyed the doorway. “Are you sure?”
“Oh yeah.” Solemn nod from the child. “Smoke, stinky stuff and”âhe glanced behind him before refocusing on the manâ“she said ... damn.”
“No,” the man said, choking on a chuckle. “Really?”
The door opened quietly and a petite woman with brown curly hair firing in every direction put her hands on her hips. “I burned the heck out of the lasagna.”
“I heard.” The man upended the boy and began striding toward the house while holding his giggling bundle.
A girl about eight or nine peered around the woman. “Bobby Malone tried to kiss me again today.”
The man stopped and clearly fought back another grin. “What did you do?”
The girl shrugged. “I said we should play kickball instead.”
“Good choice. Let's celebrate such a wise decision.” He threw the boy in the air and then landed him safely on his feet. “I'll shower and we can go to town for dinner.”
The woman smiled. “I already found a coupon for Montey's Restaurant.”
The door shut behind the man as he ushered his family inside.
Cara sighed next to her. “Wow. I guess the house has moved on.”
Emma nodded, her shoulders slowly relaxing. “The house is happy.”
Cara shut her eyes and inhaled. “So are the people in it.”
“Good.” Emma still didn't wish to have Cara's empathic abilities. “This isn't our life anymore, Car. Let's go home.” She led her sister back down the quiet path, steeled herself, and opened her mind again, wincing when fury and raw pain sliced through her like a blade.
Dage, damn it. Knock it off.
Quiet reigned for a moment.
Emma?
Such pain, hope, and fear in the one tiny word.
Yes. I'm with Cara. Umm, in Tennessee. We're all right.
The king materialized at her side, whisking her into his arms to drop his head to her neck. Birds scattered out of the trees, squawking in protest. His large body trembled around her and she fought to center her own breathing. “I'm okay,” she whispered softly against his hair.
He lifted his head, tears swimming in those dangerous eyes. “I thoughtâ”
“I'm fine. I teleported.” She wrinkled her nose. “You smell like wet dog.” Worse actually.
His deep chuckle echoed around the forest.
Raw cuts and bite marks marred every exposed surface of his skin. She frowned. “What happened?”
He lost his smile. “We were attacked.” His gaze took in Cara standing quietly to the side. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Yes. Now I am. Emma and Moira saved my baby.”
“Ah.” Dage's face smoothed in understanding, and he held out his hand. “Come here, sweetheart. Your mate needs to touch you.” He pulled Cara into his embrace, his entire body vibrating. “Everyone hold on.”
Emma shut her eyes and nothingness filtered around her again. Then they stood on a battlefield, bodies everywhere, the smell of burned flesh choking the air. Her eyes widened on the sight of Talen throwing huge chunks of concrete and wood into the air, digging into the demolished lab.
“Talen?” Cara called, pushing away from Dage and taking a step toward the smoldering mess.
Talen pivoted in slow motion, blood on his face, eyes a dangerous green. He leaped for her, grabbing her close and dropping to one knee. His roar filled the morning.
Tears choked Emma's vision and she turned her face into Dage's chest. “I was so scared.”
Without a word, Dage lifted her in his arms and strode for the forest. Blood covered his clothing, transferring deep red to hers. Emma gasped, eyes widening on the deadly battlefield the soldiers were hurriedly cleaning up. No one met her gaze. Within seconds, darkness surrounded them, coolness in a heated day.
“Whatâ” Emma started, then gasped as Dage's mouth devoured hers. The smoothness, the diplomacy that was so much a part of him ... was gone.
He took.
Hunger slashed through her. She craved. Now.
Shifting, he pressed her against a tree, his hands tearing the jeans and panties from her legs, ripping open his fly. He impaled her in one sharp movement.
Without pausing, he began to pound, his fangs dropping into her jugular.
Shock held her immobile for a moment. Then a warmth began to hum inside her. A tingle started in her womb and exploded through her entire body, tightening every muscle as she came. She bit into his neck, and blood shot into her month, filling her with power. Raw energy. Need.
Waves pummeled through her. More than an orgasm. An affirmation of life.
He swelled inside her and then came in great, heated gusts, filling her beyond possible. Panting, he licked the wound on her jugular and dropped his head to be cradled between her neck and shoulder.
A low sob escaped him.
She stilled, and pure instinct had her clasping his head to her skin. His giant body trembled against her. Soft murmurings without meaning welled up and she whispered them into his dripping wet hair.
He lifted his head and she gasped. His eyes were the darkest of midnight. No color. Not even a hint of light.
His fangs retracted. “I thought I'd lost you.” His jaw hardened. “I won't go through that again.”
As she watched, a shard of silver swam to the surface in those deadly eyes. Then another. “I know. I had to go to the lab, Dage. Cara was losing the baby.”
He released her, reaching down to yank her jeans up. She bit back a wince.
“I've covered you with blood. I'm sorry.”
She glanced at the red marring her white sweatshirt. “At least it's not our blood.” It needed to go in the garbage. Now.
He grabbed her hand. “We need to relocate. Somehow they found us. We'll figure out how later.” Purposeful strides had them toward the edge of the forest way too soon.
Embarrassment caught in her throat and she tugged back. Everyone would know what had just happened.
Dage pivoted and lifted her without a word, tucking her head into his neck. Sandalwood filled her nostrils, and she relaxed. She kept her face hidden as he loped across the field until they were at the helicopter next to where Talen stood with Cara in his arms.
“Only family and our people to headquarters. Send the rest to the coastal facility,” Dage ordered.
Talen nodded. “Already done. Caleb and Jordan are included as our people, right?”
Dage paused. “Jordan yes. Caleb? Perhaps. But have him come to Colorado anyway.” He jumped inside and took a seat while Talen did the same, Cara still in his arms.
Emma looked around, trying to focus on anything but the dangerous mood that still gripped the king. Her mate. “Where's Janie?”
The door shut, and Talen nodded at the pilot. “I sent her with Max, Lily, and a full contingent of soldiers the second we were attacked.” The chopper rose into the air. “They've already arrived at headquarters.”