Authors: Caris Roane
Opening it, he realized he hadn’t seen Ian in months. He’d missed the warrior. “Ian.”
The mastyr wore sunglasses most of the time, despite the complete lack of sunlight. He said they calmed him and if anyone needed calming, it was Ian. He had a battle fervor like nothing Zane had ever seen.
The brother took off his shades. The mastyrs with access points to the U.S East Coast had a wild reputation, a lot of it due to Ian who fought like a whirlwind when he faced the Invictus.
He had cause.
He’d lost more than one entire village to Invictus depredations over the centuries, which had hardened the warrior.
Ian narrowed his gaze and rubbed a hand over his chin. “You look … fit, Zane.”
He wasn’t given much to conversing.
Zane nodded. “And you look like hell.”
“That’s the plan. Might as well have the exterior match the shit inside.” He glanced at the house. “Regan doesn’t want to see me, does she?”
“No. Not even a little.”
Ian turned up the walk, moving away from the house a few feet. “Fine by me. We didn’t leave things on pleasant terms. And there are some things you never forget.” He looked off to the side, his lips compressed. “I wasn’t very kind to her.”
“As I recall, you’d gone through a bad stretch.”
“And you’ve just made one hell of an understatement. We’d lost Raven’s Overlook. But nothing about the situation could justify the way I behaved.” He huffed a sigh. “Well, fuck those memories and tell me what you need.”
He gave Ian a more thorough rundown of what had happened since Margetta had abducted him. He added details about the Dead Zone camp and of course, Olivia.
Ian listened intently, asking penetrating questions now and then. Zane hadn’t wanted to make a big deal about Olivia being a blood rose, but Ian let the questions fly until Zane was telling him just about everything, short of describing the sex.
Ian just shook his head. “Including you, I’m counting seven of the ruling mastyrs in all.”
“Looks like it.”
“Sweet Goddess. And there really is no more pain?”
Still in a state of disbelief himself, Zane took a moment to search his abdomen, wondering if a residual amount remained. But he couldn’t feel even the mildest twisting in his gut. “It’s gone. Centuries of pain, just gone.”
Ian grunted and scowled. “But in order to keep her, you’ll have to bond, which I understand is a permanent situation.”
“It is, which is why we haven’t bonded yet, or if we even will. But let me tell you, the drive toward a blood rose is beyond comprehension.” He told him about Ely at the Elf Lords Hideaway and how only Olivia’s intervention had prevented him from killing a fellow mastyr vampire.
“Then you’d best keep me away from your woman.”
“You’d better believe I will.”
Once Ian had run out of questions, Zane contacted Sawyer, letting him know Ian was now in Swanicott and the powerful mastyr would be heading to Helms Watch.
Zane gripped Ian’s shoulder and squeezed. “You ready for this?”
A slow smile overspread Ian’s lips. “Hell, yeah. Any chance to kill some Invictus.”
Zane grinned as well. “You got that right.”
When Zane released Ian’s shoulder, Ian nodded a couple of times, then put his sunglasses back on. A moment later, he took to the air.
Watching him fly, eased Zane. Part of him even started to relax a little, knowing another mastyr had his back.
When he reentered the house, he found Olivia in the hallway, leaning against the wall across from Emily’s paintings, her gaze fixed to the middle one.
He frowned, remembering how jarring the initial sight of the paintings had been. The one Olivia was looking at featured a familiar stretch of grassy highland, a hundred yards above the beach and leading to a forest wind-break, similar to the place he’d left his Valkyrie. Some of the vampire schools used the area for flight training youngsters. The wind off the ocean created a tough environment for practicing levitation skills and life-saving flying techniques.
Closing the door behind him, he moved into the hall. “Everything okay?”
His woman looked upset.
~
Olivia didn’t know what had prompted her to tell Zane
he was the one.
But at the moment, she’d known exactly where he was coming from. Ian, as a mastyr vampire, would want to stake his claim on Olivia just as Mastyr Ely had attempted at the Elf Lords Hideaway.
Her intention had been to reassure Zane she had no interest in other vampires. But when the words had left her mouth, somehow a second meaning had intruded, adding another layer to their already complicated relationship.
“Everything’s fine here,” she said, gesturing with a sweep of her arm to encompass Regan’s home. “But I think we should talk.” She explained about the slip, then added, “I just don’t want you to feel pressured because I didn’t exactly mean it the way it came out.”
He chuckled as he drew close. “As I recall, those words worked me up in the nicest way so I’m not going to regret you said them.”
He slid his arm around her shoulders and she looked up at him, wondering all over again how this was going to end. She settled her hand on his chest, sighing deeply.
He appeared serious for a moment, his brow furrowed. “Try not to worry about this right now. We have plenty of time to figure things out, what we should do or not do. And please don’t think twice about what you said; I knew where you were coming from. The truth is, if Ian had gotten within ten feet of you, I’d probably have killed him.”
At that, she chuckled. “This is so bizarre.”
“It is.”
He glanced at the painting of the grassy slope. “We train vampire and fae children out there, teaching flight skills.”
Olivia shifted her gaze to the landscape. “Your wife has a beautiful style. I swear I can feel the wind.” She turned toward him slightly, grabbing the hand that dangled from her shoulder, and asked, “Do you think we should complete the bond?”
He shook his head. “Hell if I know. It’s an enormous commitment, one of the reasons this situation chaps my hide. We’re being forced into something for which neither of us is the least prepared.”
She drew back just enough to meet his gaze. “You couldn’t be more right. I think it’s very annoying.”
He smiled and chuckled. “Yes, aggravating beyond words.”
He looked so young, his crystal blue eyes sparkling. He slid his free hand over her neck and leaned in.
She closed her eyes, receiving the kiss with a swell of her heart. She liked this man so much, more than she should given his history as a player.
She hated to admit it, but he was just the sort of man she would choose in any other situation. He was strong, powerful in a multitude of realm vibrations, spoke his mind, and was very physical. The shifter in her loved the feel of his fleshy hand stroking her throat, teasing her vein, reminding her of all the things he could do to her with various parts of his body.
When she parted her lips and he drove his tongue inside, she slung her arm around his neck.
The next moment, he turned her swiftly and she was plastered up against the wall, across from the paintings. She felt the strength of his muscled body pressing against her thighs, her abdomen, her breasts. And especially of course, she felt his stalk rubbing her sex.
As had happened many times before, he worked her up so quickly she was already panting.
But he drew back, thumbing her cheek. “Didn’t we just do this? Make love I mean?”
“Well, that was
hours
ago. Well, maybe only a couple. But ages, really, if you consider my new blood rose condition.”
His smile became a grin and she knew she eased him and which made her happy.
While he once more took some time to recover, she used her thumb and forefinger to stroke the diamond stud on his left earlobe. She shivered, wanting the gem in her mouth.
“Cold?” He drew his brows together in concern.
She shook her head. “No, I just really like being with you, being this close.”
“Me, too.” He nibbled on her neck.
But as her gaze shifted slightly, she caught sight of Emily’s painting. “Zane, there’s something I need to tell you. And it’s important.”
He pulled away. “Hold on, sweetheart. I’ve got a call.”
Olivia drew in a sharp breath.
Sweetheart.
The expression was so tender that for a moment she couldn’t even take a breath. She finally admitted to herself, blood rose or not, she had it bad.
She heard him talking to the Communication Center, and his eyes narrowed.
When he hung up, she felt him vibrating with excitement. “They’ve already got the wraiths heading to Helms Watch in the south. It’s time for us to start setting out the bait.” He frowned suddenly. “But you wanted to tell me something?”
“It can wait.”
Oh, God, could it wait. She couldn’t imagine what Zane would feel or do once he learned Emily was still alive.
After saying good-bye to Regan, Olivia went outside with Zane and hopped up on his booted foot. Just for fun, she reached down and rubbed the nearest medallion.
“For luck,” she said.
He smiled again, then took to the skies, heading toward Angler’s Cliff and Margetta’s Camp.
She fell silent as she watched the landscape roll by. They were high in the air, the star-laden dark night sky above and the woodlands below. She wished she could see what her shifter would see in her wolf form since the fall trees were aflame with color.
The mountains gave way to a western plain. The winds blew heavily on both sides of the Arundels, so that the land had long since been broken up with wind-breaks in the forms of miles of trees. Many had been planted centuries ago to help create decent farmland out of the rocky, windswept realm. Without these wind-breaks, Swanicott would be a desolate place.
As Zane’s flying ate up the miles, she kept her gaze fixed to the horizon. He wouldn’t be able to see the camp at all or the spell, which kept it invisible.
Any sign of the camp?
Zane pathed.
My vampire honing knows exactly where it is and we’re only two miles out now. Just give me a heads up when you see anything.
I will.
A few seconds later she saw a golden glow and breathed a sigh of relief. She knew the glow meant Margetta was in the camp.
Put on the brakes,
she pathed.
I can see the Ancient Fae’s glow as well as the red flowing lines of the spell. We’ve got maybe three-hundred yards to go. I’m going to cloak us now.
Perfect.
She let her cloaking vibration hit the airwaves, and she could feel it ease over them both, creating the invisibility they’d need to scout the camp.
Zane began to slow.
Okay, guide me in.
Don’t worry.
We’re high enough that you won’t hit the spell.
And you’re sure you can see the wall because all I see is a rocky grassland stretching out for miles
.
Yes. We’ll cross it in three … two … one.
Holy shit!
Zane spoke a little too loud within her head, but she could only imagine what it was like to see a bare grassland one moment then suddenly a massive camp, housing at least three hundred wraiths and their bonded mates.
Wow. It really is hidden. And there’s Margetta, in her lovely golden glow of light, forging yet another bonded pair.
Olivia cringed at the sight of an innocent Realm-person, this time a tall fae woman, being enthralled by a wraith. The woman held a cup to her lips, no doubt drinking their combined bloods in order to create the bond. Both the wraith and the Realm-person would then be transformed into a vicious killing unit. Cheering and shouting went up all around the couple.
What a horrible sight to witness,
she pathed
.
And we’re here to put an end to this.
He paused in flight and she watched him take a good look around.
It’s just like your memories.
He then glanced at her with a crooked smile.
How about we have some fun?
Something inside Olivia’s chest lit on fire.
What are you thinking?
I want you to bite the bitch again.
With pleasure.
When he flew her to the opposite side of the camp and landed on the ground, she stepped off his foot, shifting to wolf at the same time.
I’ll walk beside you, Olivia. Just lead the way.
Zane loved Olivia’s adventurous spirit and he didn’t know why it had never occurred to him to seriously date a wolf woman before. Of course, Olivia was half-human, which he knew meant that her shifter nature was modified. On the other hand, most of the shifter women he knew didn’t date much outside their packs.
Olivia got to him well beyond the fact that she was a blood rose. He felt her determination, for one thing. She’d zeroed in on Margetta and nothing would deter her.
He wisely followed Olivia’s lead as she circled around any number of out-of-control wraith-pairs. The camp had a feeling of chaos about it. And why would the community of Invictus be anything else? Wraith-bonding of this type, created by Margetta herself, brought out the worst in the wraiths and those Realm-folk with whom they’d bonded.
He had to duck more than once when something flew through the air.
When they were within fifteen feet of Margetta, he pathed,
take one nip and the moment she jumps, turn south. I’ll levitate with you, tracking right above you. How far away is the southern wall?
About thirty yards.
That’s not very far. We’ll be cutting it close.
But we can do this,
she pathed
. Do you trust me?
Hell, yeah.
And he meant it.
On my signal, I’ll leap into your arms.
Just be ready to catch me.
Can you shift at the same time or will I be catching wolf?
She chuckled.
I can shift. After you’ve got me, though, be sure to levitate straight up and take us over the spell wall. I’ll guide us.
She paused for a moment, then added,
Maybe I should just take her down and rip out her jugular.
Don’t even think it, Olivia. She’d probably fry you with her battle frequency and you’d be dead before you closed your maw around her throat. And even if you did sever her jugular, the woman has tremendous self-healing abilities; she’d survive.