Blind Hearts and Silenced Passion (12 page)

Remy's voice was trembling slightly, but Baqir didn't know
how to reassure him. "I have no idea," he admitted, the words bitter
on his tongue. "I don't understand any of this."

They clung to one another even after Baqir's knot receded and
his dick slid out of Remy. It helped, although it still didn't clarify Baqir's
confusion.

In hindsight, he should have known he wouldn't even be given
the chance to find the truth behind this peculiar development. After all, this
cave had not been able to protect Baqir's family before. Why would now be any
different?

Still, when the woman appeared, Baqir was taken aback. For
one, he had not felt her approach, which was alarming in itself since very few
people could sneak up on a silencer with his experience.

Even if that hadn't been the case, Baqir would have still
known something was fundamentally amiss about her. She was beautiful, and she
seemed strangely familiar to him, but at the same time, incredibly alien. Was
it his impression or did she have no real scent? Or did that odd sharp
brimstone smell emanate off her?

Baqir found it prudent to get ready for what seemed to be an
imminent confrontation. He got up and eyed the woman from head to toe,
wondering if he should attempt any sort of conversation with her.

She stopped him before he could even try."Well, it seems
I underestimated my sister." The strange woman laughed. "Or perhaps I
overestimated her. I did wonder what she would do since she knows she can't
beat me, but I did not expect this amount of cowardice from her part."

Baqir had no idea what she was talking about, but he could
clearly tell this stranger didn't have any good intentions. His senses were
blaring, alerting him of the danger, and he put himself between his mate and
the woman.

"Look, just leave us alone. We don't want any
trouble."

The woman chuckled, a light and airy sound that somehow still
grated on Baqir like nails on a chalkboard. "Too late now. Your little
mate took something of mine and got in my way. I believed that he could be of
use to me, but apparently not. It is time to end this."

That didn't bode well for Baqir and Remy's well-being. Baqir
wasn't arrogant enough to underestimate the stranger just because she was a
woman, or worse, because she was alone. An enemy whose abilities he didn't know
was three times more dangerous. Not to mention that the power the woman exuded
was unlike anything he'd felt before.

Still, he would have faced her in battle nonetheless, even if
he didn't know what chances of success he truly had. He'd have at least bought
Remy some time to make a break for it, although his mate would have likely had
some trouble in the dark depths of the cave.

Even this tentative plan was shattered when a group of men
appeared at the mouth of the cavern, sliding past the unknown woman. Silencers,
Baqir knew at once. He recognized the way they moved, the blank expressions,
the postures reminiscent of every other soldier force in the world. It was
almost ironic, that this was happening again, that he risked losing his family
for a second time, in the exact place it had occurred during his youth.

But no, he would not allow it. He refused to let the story
repeat itself. There was too much at stake, and Baqir had a promise to keep.

His mate and their child would not perish like his mother
had.

With a wild roar, Baqir attacked, shifting even as he lunged
toward his opponents. The wolf came easily to him, already hovering at the back
of his consciousness, impossibly closer than ever before.

The silencers didn't panic, not that Baqir expected them to.
They were trained for this, for facing opponents both human and shifter. They
had learned the same lessons Baqir had, and had likely lived through similar
experiences.

One thing they seemed to lack, however, was the same
apprehension that had kept Baqir from underestimating the woman. That was not
something just anyone could do, he supposed, even if they were experienced
silencers. For one, he was insanely outnumbered, so he couldn't fault them for
their arrogance.

Several of them had started to smirk slightly as they
retrieved their weapons. Doubtlessly, they'd been informed about his identity,
and they'd take special enjoyment in supposedly teaching him a lesson, just
because he'd once been Malik, the leader of his own guild.

What they did not realize was that in some things, willpower
and determination made all the difference in the world. Emotion had more
strength than most people realized, and there was very little—no, nothing—Baqir
would not do, give up or sacrifice as long as it meant keeping his mate and
child safe.

Something inside Baqir shut down, and his world turned into
blood and death. He moved faster than the other silencers could have ever
expected. They hit him, of course they did, and their silver blades and bullets
burned his flesh. Baqir ignored it. He ignored the pain and the weakness that
naturally came with silver poisoning, shutting down the part of him that could
feel any debilitating sensation to focus on taking out the threat.

The first five men fell under his assault before any of them
could truly realize what was going on. After that, the opposition increased.
When Baqir tried to dance out of their reach, he was met with yet another rain
of bullets and realized with no small measure of despair that there were more
men waiting outside.

And then, he heard a put-out sigh somewhere to his right, and
the purest, most intense agony he'd ever experienced exploded over him.

He had no hope of pushing this back, no hope of burying it
until later, when he could perhaps try to retreat and lick his wounds in
private—or more realistically, when he made sure Remy was safe. This was too
much. He felt like he'd burst into flame, like he was frozen solid, like he was
lost, weak and incapable of moving a muscle. He was twitching and writhing and
shifting between shapes—and everything was a paradox, until at last, he felt
like he was dying. The only thing that kept him alive was the strong bond
between him and Remy, supported by something else, the same alien power that
they'd seen protecting their child. Remy anchored him, kept him from losing
himself into the pain, and so Baqir fought, fought with everything he had, and
more than that.

It ended as abruptly as it started. One moment, he was
struggling with willing his heart to keep beating, and the next, the pain was
gone.

Baqir looked up—at one point, it seemed, he must have
collapsed on the ground—only to be met with the sight of blood, ash and death.

****

From the moment he'd woken up in this place, it had been
very, very clear to Remy that something was not right. It wasn't even strictly
connected to the fact that, at the time, he'd been lost in a darkness that
rivaled his previous blindness. Indeed, even there, he had been less terrified
than expected.

He'd also known something he shouldn't have been aware of—he
was no mage and his abilities didn't extend to detecting pregnancies, even his
own. He had managed to briefly forget about his apprehension within the fire of
the passion he shared with his mate, but then, everything had gone even crazier,
more wrong.

Remy had once thought he could be a silencer too, if that was
what it took to make Baqir accept their connection. But as he watched his mate
take out the attacking men one by one, he became aware of just how weak and
helpless he was compared to Baqir. He wanted to come to Baqir's aid, but his
lover was moving so fast that Remy feared his interference would just hinder
Baqir. Not to mention that he had their child to worry about and he couldn't
just jump into battle without thinking about the consequences.

But there was a bigger threat here, one Baqir had not been
able to handle. To his left, Remy heard an amused sigh, and then the strange
woman who had first spoken moved in.

After that, everything happened impossibly fast. Baqir was
suddenly writhing on the ground, experiencing such an excruciating pain it
almost paralyzed Remy too. The woman was laughing, clearly enjoying Baqir's
agony. Her men surrounded Baqir's prone from, ready to deliver the final blow
once she dictated it.

And Remy at last understood what he had to do.

She knew him, knew who he was and that he was no warrior. She
didn't feel threatened by him, and had in fact, turned her back on him to focus
on Baqir. It was not a good idea.

No werewolf was harmless. In fact, no person who had
something to protect could be discounted as irrelevant. For whatever reason,
she did not realize this, and that was her downfall.

A few steps forward had him right behind her. He extended his
hand—or rather, punched, straight forward, with all of his might, with all the
strength born out of this knowledge.

His fist went straight through her spine and her sternum,
crushing her heart along the way. He half-expected her to release some sort of
cry, but maybe he'd watched too many Hollywood movies, because it was nothing
so dramatic.

Everything just stopped, like Remy hadn't just shoved his
hand through a person's body, but rather, pressed a button. The men froze, and
Baqir's pain ceased. And the woman... Mere instants after Remy's attack, she
was shattering, her body decomposing into nothing but ash.

In that moment, Remy finally remembered what had happened. He
remembered V and Maeven, and the plan the two had come up with.

"I'm afraid, young ones, that it is your turn to make a
sacrifice. If you are to have a future, you must sacrifice all hope for
it," Maeven had said.

It had sounded so ominous, and Baqir had at first been
reluctant to even hear anything further. Once Maeven had actually revealed what
her idea would imply, he'd been furious and had refused to consider it.

Remy had been terrified as well, not so much for himself, but
for his child and his mate. It had only grown worse when V had said that, in
order to make the plan work, they would have to suppress Baqir and Remy's
memories of what had occurred shortly after their arrival in Paris.

"It's necessary," she had explained. "D will
be able to catch glimpses of your surface thoughts and emotions, and she would
otherwise realize we have a plan."

"Never mind that," Baqir had protested. "How
can you even know this is going to work?"

"Remy is the only one who can do this," Maeven had
replied. "I will cast an enchantment to protect your child and try to
shield you to some extent, but beyond that, he is the only person who can
destroy D. His connection to her makes her more... flesh than she would
otherwise be, perhaps more so than she realizes."

"I will also plant a suggestion in Remy's mind so that
he'll know what to do when the time comes," V had added. "It will
work."

In the end, after a lot of planning—and reassurances that
Maeven's forces would be as close as possible—Remy and Baqir had agreed. They
truly hadn't seen any other way, and they couldn't live in fear forever.
Following V and Maeven's plan, the confrontation would at least be on their own
terms.

Against all odds, it had worked.

Remy crumpled to his knees when the weight of what had just
happened finally settled in. Baqir soon joined him, holding him close and
kissing him lightly. His pain was all gone, it seemed, something which wasn't
wholly surprising given what V had revealed about the nature of a succubus's
powers. The injuries Baqir had sustained from the battle with his other
opponents were already closing, the silver no match for Maeven's magic.

The silencers did not seem inclined to press their luck.
Instead of trying to enact revenge for their fallen mistress, they left their
dead and rushed out of the cave, practically stumbling over one another in an
attempt to make their escape.

"Should we let them do that?" Remy asked, feeling exhausted
and not really up to following them.

"It'll be fine," Baqir replied. "Maeven and V
will be watching. The stragglers won't get far."

He had clearly remembered the truth as well, something which
relieved Remy a great deal. "Good," he said against Baqir's chest.
"I think I'm ready to ignore the rest of the world and take a long holiday
with you."

Baqir laughed and kissed him, this time on the mouth.
"Best idea I've ever heard."

Epilogue

"So... Where does that leave you? What will you
do?"

Baqir met his brother's eyes, wondering what Erdi was truly
thinking. When he had contacted his brother, he had not expected to have Erdi
agree to meet with him. Erdi had come alone, presumably because his mate was in
the late stages of his pregnancy and couldn't make the drive. Still, he was
here, and had been willing to listen to Baqir's long tale.

It was disconcerting, and Baqir was almost hesitant to trust
it. But he was not a silencer anymore. He could afford to trust, to hope, to
open his heart. And to be fair, he suspected Maeven must have had something to
do with Erdi's agreement to see him, since Maeven's beloved grandson belonged
to Erdi's pack.

That was a moot point. The important thing was that they were
both here, now. Throwing all caution to the wind, Baqir smiled at his younger
sibling. "We're not sure. Remy and I... We want some time to
ourselves."

"We'll probably stay on my brother's pack lands
eventually, since it will be safer for a growing pup," Remy offered.
"Even if we took out the head of the conspiracy, there are still a lot of
silencers and human assassins out there, and we can't expect them to be
harmless."

"So you'll want to go after them eventually?" Erdi
asked.

"Everything is up to the Alpha Gathering in that regard.
I'm done being a leader. Right now, my priority is Remy."

At that Erdi smiled back, and the expression softened the
sharpness of his face, made harsher still by the scar Baqir himself had put
there. It had been necessary at the time, but Baqir still wished he could have
protected Erdi from it. "I can understand that," Erdi said. "I
feel the same about Jensen."

Silence fell for a few moments. It was peaceful, especially
given the fact that there was no one other them around, for miles and miles.
They'd deliberately met in remote location, a forest that had once held one of
the many hideouts of Baqir's now-shattered guild. It might have seemed
counterproductive since he was making a point that he'd changed his life, but
it was not actually so. He and Erdi had lived through too much to just forget.
They had to remember the past and rebuild from its ashes.

Erdi seemed to feel the same, because he finally broke the
silence to ask, "And the rest of the guild?"

It was not a question Baqir found easy to answer. Even those
silencers who had been loyal to Baqir had never quite gotten along with Erdi,
perhaps sensing the fact that he was their leader's one weakness. In the end,
he chose a vague response, hoping it would be enough.

"Many died in France, while we were investigating the
conspiracy—some belonging to our guild, others not. Out of the ones who are
left, I believe most have joined packs or gone to the Gathering for
guidance." Baqir had done his best to coordinate with Sasha Maximoff when
it came to that, but sometimes, he did ask himself if he should have gotten
more involved. Then he looked at Remy, and that feeling faded away. His heart
and his emotions were no longer silenced. He didn't belong to that world
anymore. Perhaps he never had.

Erdi must have realized that too, because his smile widened.
"You should drop by the Lone Wolf Pack," he offered. "Everyone's
heard all about what you and Remy did and they're very eager to meet you,
properly."

Baqir had met many members of the Lone Wolf Pack before, but
those had been very different circumstances. Still, he didn't want to
inconvenience Erdi and his pack.

"Perhaps later, when things settle down a bit."

Erdi gave him a knowing look. "After Jensen gives birth.
I'll talk to my Alpha, and we'll make arrangements."

That sounded promising, especially since part of the reason
for Baqir's refusal was his reluctance to meet with his brother's mate. Jensen
undoubtedly and understandably still resented Baqir for what had happened, and
the last thing Baqir wanted was to upset the human at such a delicate time.

Further, he still needed to talk to Maeven about what exactly
she had told Mathias. The news had spread of the death of the leader of the
conspiracy, but Baqir was uncertain whether Maeven's grandson actually realized
D had been the culprit behind his parents' murder.

Even with all those problems pending, the meeting with Erdi
left Baqir in an optimistic mood. Despite everything that had happened between
him and his sibling, they were mending their relationship. As they went their
separate ways—with Erdi rushing back to his concerned human mate—Baqir found
his previous apprehension fading.

There was just one thing that still weighed heavily on his
heart, a deep dissatisfaction which had returned to the forefront of his mind
after seeing his brother. It obviously showed, because as soon as Erdi
disappeared into the distance, Remy pulled him aside, back into the shade of
the trees.

"What is it, Qiri? You look upset."

"Not upset," Baqir replied, trying to reassure his
mate. When Remy gave him a look that somehow managed to be both skeptical and
chastising, he resigned himself to the unavoidable. "I just wish... Even
now, I'm not truly a.... complete person. I don't even have a last name, and as
long as that's the case..."

He trailed off, unable to finish the phrase. He suspected a
part of him would always have trouble believing he deserved Remy, but he didn't
want to say it out loud, not again.

For a few seconds, Remy stared at him, and then proceeded to
punch him in the shoulder—hard. "Don't be an idiot. The fact that you
don't have a last name doesn't make you any less of a person." His scowl
melted into a soft, gentle smile. "Besides, I hear there's a nice human
ceremony during which one person acquires the family name of their partner."

It was Baqir's turn to stare. "Are you asking me to
marry you?"

Remy's face went red in a charming blush. "Maybe? I
didn't exactly want to say it this way—I had another plan—but it sort of
just... came out."

He was pouting prettily, as if put out that Baqir had somehow
coaxed the proposal out of him. He was more beautiful than ever before, and
Baqir couldn't help but lean in and kiss him. He suspected that if he hadn't
recovered from his magical mishap, his now non-existent tail would have been
wagging like crazy.

"Well," he whispered against Remy's lips, "I'm
honored to say yes."

Remy beamed at him and melted into his embrace. In the
process, he pressed his belly against Baqir, and Baqir felt the gentle swell,
barely there and only perceptible because Baqir knew to look for it.

In that moment, Baqir's heart truly felt at ease and
complete. Yes, they still had enemies out there, and it was too soon to tell
what would happen and what the Alpha Gathering would next decide for their
world. But Baqir was happy enough to take everything that happened one step at
a time. He had a mate, a family, and hope—and beyond that... Well, who could
say what the future had in store for them?

THE END

http://anyabyrneromance.wordpress.com/