Authors: Charlotte Boyett-Compo
“Briton,” Aingeal said with a slow shake of her head. “Then Chastain, Dayton, Ennus, Finian, Galvyn…”
“No. No Ennus,” Cynyr said emphatically. “Too close to penis. Poor kid would have to fight every day of his life. Evan would be better.” He gave her a stern look.
“You be good and stop trying to antagonize the High Lord.”
“He’d best stop trying to antagonize me,” Aingeal replied as her husband nipped at her lips twice before claiming them in a heady kiss that made her toes curl in her boots.
“We don’t have all day, Cree!” Arawn called out but there was no anger in his voice for his lady had suddenly come out to the portico carrying a small wicker picnic basket. Cynyr glanced at the Prime Reaper. “Have you noticed how all of a sudden that man has started to smile?”
“It’s his lady,” Aingeal reminded him. “You smile a lot now too.”
“I do?” Cynyr shrugged. “I guess I do.”
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Danielle came to her husband and extended the basket toward him. “Something for your journey,
mo shearc
,” she said. “Pray do not open it until the train is on its way.”
“What’s in it?” Arawn asked, whistling for Glyn to come take the basket on board the coach.
“Just something to tide you over,” she said. When Glyn took the basket from her, she put her arms around her husband’s waist and pressed against him. “I will miss you.”
“As I will miss you,” Arawn said, feeling his heart aching already. He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face up so he could kiss her goodbye. It was a chaste, sweet kiss he bestowed for he was cognizant of others watching them. “Take care,
a stóirín
.”
One last gentle, loving kiss. One last long look into the other’s eyes. One last squeeze of her fingers and the Prime Reaper ventured out in the pouring rain—walking and not running as his men had. He climbed up into the coach, sat down as the door shut behind him and turned to keep his lady in sight for as long as he could. The Prime Reaper looked past their womenfolk and Bevyn to see the Shadowlords standing in the doorway of the Citadel. He nodded to them then directed his words to his second-in-command. “
Is maith an scáthán súil chara
,” he said.
“What does that mean?” Danielle asked.
“A friend’s eye is a good mirror,” Bevyn replied. “He’s bidding me watch over you.”
Danielle lifted her hand and blew her husband a kiss and everyone there was surprised when the Prime Reaper put up a hand and pretended to catch the kiss, placing it over his heart.
“Giddyup!” the driver called out, and the coach rocked back on its hinges before lurching forward.
“
Go raibh an choir Ghaoithe I gcónai leat
,” Bevyn shouted to his fellow warriors as Arawn and Phelan unhooked the rolled window covers and lowered them to keep out the rain.
“May the Wind be always at your back,” Aingeal translated for Danielle. “It is the Reaper’s Creed.”
Danielle watched until the coach was nothing more than a blur in the driving rain. She could feel the coolness of the water peppering her face but she refused to move until all sight of her husband had been taken from her. After taking a deep breath, she turned to Bevyn and put a hand on his arm.
“Will you take me to the infirmary, Lord Bevyn?” she asked. Aingeal and Lea exchanged a look. “What’s wrong?” Aingeal questioned. Danielle’s blue eyes touched the three of them for only a second or two before she glanced past them to where Lord Kheelan was making his way toward her, his face mirroring his concern. “Do not speak of it,” she said. “Do not think of it.”
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“What?” Bevyn asked but Danielle was already falling.
“Catch her, Coure!” the High Lord bellowed.
* * * * *
Arawn felt a strange sensation pass over him and he shifted his broad shoulders beneath its weight. He frowned.
“Did you forget something?” Cynyr asked him.
The Prime Reaper shook his head. “Not that I know of,” he muttered.
“You took blood from your lady, didn’t you?” Cynyr inquired. A confused look came over Arawn’s face as he pondered the question and then he nodded. “I believe so.”
Cynyr snorted. “Either you did or you didn’t.”
“I did,” Arawn said, nodding emphatically. “I remember doing so.”
Jaborn sat across from Arawn Gehdrin. He was an outsider despite the black uniform he wore and of which he was immensely proud. The others didn’t even look his way nor, as they spoke amongst themselves, include him in the conversation. His curiosity however, got the best of him. “Why would you need to take blood from your woman?” he asked.
The other Reapers looked at him but said nothing, leaving the answer to come from the one to whom the question had been directed.
“So I will be able to touch her with my mind,” Arawn explained. “Should the need arise, I would be able to find her no matter where she went.” He rubbed a fleck of lint from his pants. “It is a safety measure and it also allows those of us with mates to know how they are doing.”
“I see,” Jaborn said. “Did you give her yours?”
Arawn frowned. “No,” he answered, and settled back in the seat, pulling his hat down over his eye, effectively ending the conversation.
Cynyr’s attention was riveted on the Akhkharulian. “Why would you ask that?” he demanded.
Jaborn shrugged. “It seems to me it would be warranted if he took her blood that he would make an exchange with her. Could he not speak with her in her mind then?
Would not that link them together as it does with us?”
Cynyr pursed his lips at the reminder that each of them had been ordered to down a portion of the Akhkharulian’s blood just as Jaborn had been ordered to partake of theirs.
Arawn—sensing Cynyr wasn’t going to answer—tipped his hat back and eyed the man across from him. “Aye, that would be the best thing to do, Jaborn, but if your lady has a great fear of your hellion, it is best not to make an exchange.”
“Ah, I see,” Jaborn said. “Thank you, milord, for explaining.”
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“
Fàilte oirbh
,” Arawn mumbled, lowering his hat again. The Akhkharulian’s brows drew together.
“He said you’re welcome,” Cynyr provided.
Jaborn nodded politely. Their eyes met for a moment then both men looked away.
* * * * *
Lord Kheelan began another circuit of the infirmary visitors’ room. It was unlike him to show such nervousness in the presence of others and his fellow Shadowlords were keeping quiet, more loath than was normal to intrude on the High Lord’s preferred solitude.
When Healer Dresden came from the exam room wiping his hands on a towel, he went straight to Lord Kheelan. “Do you wish privacy for our talk, Your Grace?” he asked.
The High Lord glanced around at Lords Naois and Dunham, at Bevyn, Aingeal and Lea then shook his head. “Just tell us what’s wrong with her.”
“Did she tell any of you she was ill?” Dresden asked.
“No,” Lord Kheelan snapped, “and don’t make me have to ask you again what ails her, healer!”
“She is dying,” Dresden said.
“What?” Bevyn yelped, coming to his feet in a bound. “How can that be?”
Aingeal and Lea took hold of each other’s hands as tears filled their eyes.
“I am very sorry to report the Lady Danielle has ovarian cancer,” Dresden told them.
Aingeal’s lips were quivering. “Did she know she was so sick?”
“If she did, she didn’t tell Arawn,” Bevyn said.
“She knew something was wrong,” Dresden said, “but she didn’t think it was anything serious. If she had come to me even a month earlier…” He lifted his hands.
“How was it possible for her to keep this from her husband?” Lea asked. “Reapers are so attuned to one another, to their mates.”
Lord Kheelan slumped against the wall. “She hid it from him as she hid it from us,”
he said, flinging a hand toward the other Shadowlords.
“But how could she do that?” Bevyn demanded. “Don’t you know everything?”
The High Lord rubbed his hand over his face. “One of the reasons we did not balk at Lord Arawn taking her as his mate is because we knew her to have certain abilities that we thought would be of help.”
“Help to who?” Aingeal sneered.
“To whom,” Lord Naois corrected her, and for his trouble received a flashing glower from Aingeal. He tugged at the collar of his robe, his cheeks red. 60
Prime Reaper
“She is a mindshielder with the ability to misdirect or confuse thought,” Lord Kheelan went on. “To deflect anyone delving into her own thoughts.”
“We don’t have that power,” Lord Dunham said.
“And you wanted it,” Aingeal said, grinding her teeth.
“It would be useful to your husband, Lady Aingeal,” Lord Kheelan said. “To all Reapers.”
“To do what?” Aingeal asked. “To damage and hinder enemies? To interfere with normal thought?”
“Precisely,” Lord Dunham said. “The benefits would be—”
“To hell with your benefits!” Aingeal interrupted him. “You wanted to use Danielle so you allowed Arawn to have her.” Her upper lip arched. “How magnanimous of you!”
Lord Kheelan looked at her, his face filled with hurt. “That is not the only reason, Aingeal. They were in love and desired to be together. We are not the heartless bastards you believe us to be.”
Aingeal gave him an arched look but remained silent, her facial expression leaving doubt in no one’s mind what she thought of Lord Kheelan’s statement.
“How long does Lady Danielle have?” Lord Kheelan asked, looking away from Aingeal.
“It’s hard to say, Your Grace,” Dresden replied. “She was in a great deal of pain so I gave her a rather strong dose of tenerse.” He sighed. “Her pain will only get worse from here on in unless we intervene.”
“Intervene how?” Lea asked, glancing up at her mate.
“The cancer must be excised, of course,” Lord Dunham said. “Go ahead and set up for that, Dresden.”
“That is not a cure, Your Grace,” Dresden told him. “It is only a stopgap measure, and at this point would only cause her more pain and quite possibly shorten her life.”
“I thought the goddess removed all disease from Terra,” Lea said. “How did She miss this?”
“Why don’t you ask Her the next time you see Her,” Aingeal snorted.
“Arawn is going to be crippled by this,” Bevyn predicted.
“You speak of her as though Danni is already dead!” Aingeal said. She stood up.
“The solution lies right in front of you. Why aren’t you snatching it?”
“Aingeal, no!” Lea gasped. She too came to her feet. “Don’t even suggest such a thing!”
“There is no need for Danni to suffer, Lea,” Aingeal said. “No reason for Arawn to lose her.”
“She doesn’t want to be like you,” Lea threw at her. “You know that!”
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“And so we just let her die because she fears what she doesn’t even know?” Aingeal demanded. Before Lea could answer that, she held up her hand. “Just because you are so gods-be-damned terrified of having one of Bevyn’s fledglings Transferred to you, don’t believe for one moment he wouldn’t override your fears if it were your life in danger.”
Lea turned to her Reaper. “Is that true? Would you go against my wishes even after you promised you would never do that to me?”
Bevyn held his lady’s angry gaze. “I once told the others I would not but now I know I would.”
Disbelief and shock pinched Lea’s pretty face. “Even knowing I would hate you for it?”
The Reaper flinched. “I would rather you be alive to hate me than to be forced to go to your grave to mourn you when I could have prevented your death,” he answered. Lea lifted her hand and struck her mate hard enough to stagger him. The slap was loud and left a fiery imprint on Bevyn’s cheek. Before he could reach out to stop her, Lea turned and ran down the hall, ignoring his call to come back. When he would have followed her, Lord Kheelan put out a staying hand.
“Leave her, Lord Bevyn. Her sensibilities are of little import at this moment. A decision must be made about Lord Arawn’s lady,” the High Lord stated.
“I don’t see there being any decision to make,” Aingeal threw at him. “Give her one of Arawn’s hellions and—”
“That would destroy her ability to hide her feelings from him and right now—
considering where he is and what he is about to undertake—it could be disastrous,”
Lord Naois said.
“You can’t keep this from him!” Aingeal shouted. “He has a right to know!”
“I agree and we will tell him,” Lord Kheelan said. “After the fact.”
“He’ll know as soon as the hellion is Transferred,” Bevyn said.
“Not unless one of us contacts him and I highly suggest you don’t,” the High Lord asserted.
“How can you keep it from him?” the Reaper asked. “The moment you put one of his hellions inside Danni—”
“We will use one of Lady Aingeal’s fledglings,” Lord Kheelan said.
“Works for me,” Aingeal said. “Let’s do it then.”
“As soon as the fledgling enters her body, it will attack the cancer,” Lord Kheelan said. “It will rid her of it and save her life. That is the most important thing to remember here. Her life will be saved and she will no longer have the pain she must have been experiencing for quite some time.”
“I’m all for sparing her any more pain,” Aingeal said, trying not to think of her own pain she’d soon be experiencing with the removal of a hellion from her body. 62
Prime Reaper
Chapter Seven
“Ashton Rhys-Norbert,” the thin, lanky man introduced himself with a graceful bow. “I will be your steward, milords.”
Cynyr breathed a sigh of relief. “I was praying it wasn’t going to be Harry,” he said with a snort.
Aston’s lips twitched. “I am acquainted with the gentleman, Lord Cynyr. I believe you will find me a different kettle of fish.”
“Anything would be an improvement over Harry,” Cynyr mumbled.
“What do you prefer to be called?” Owen asked.
“My friends call me Ash,” the tall man said.
“Ash it is then,” Owen said. “I hope you can cook.”
“Like a veritable demon, milord,” Ash agreed. He put his index finger to the flesh beneath his right eye and pulled at the eyelid. “And I brought copious amounts of sugar with me.”