Deceptive Lord (Lords of Bondage) (32 page)

He didn’t think that Eden
had
wanted to escape him.
She had
gone through a lot of trouble to get back to him, and when he had failed to remember her, she had
been
extremely upset
with him
.
He couldn’t believe that Boadacea would
betray him to such an extent.
She
had
faked Eden’s death and
had
left him to grieve, thinking she was dead.
“You’re not allowed to free another person’s captive.
That is theft.”

“I know.
I will pay the honor price.”

“Forget the honor price.
Tell me the name of the druid who took my memories.”

“Drest, leave the memories in the past.”

“Tell me his name.”

“Brennus had to look outside of Ravenwood.
The druid’s name is Trentius McRaven.”

That would explain why Ninian had known nothing about the situation.
He was surprised that
Brennus had asked aid of an enemy clan.
“That is the tribe that used to rule Ravenwood before the Donovans took the kingship.
I thought they were wiped out years ago.”

“Not wiped out.
They fled to the mountains of Parma.
They serve the
King
of the Dalmatians.
There is a druid fortress in Dalmatia called Dalmar.
You can find Trentius there.”

“You have much to make up for,
Princess
.”

“I sacrificed a great deal to find you this druid.
As you know, the McRavens are not our friends, and neither are the Dalmatians.
Trentius will not assist you for free.”

“I see a visit is in order.
You cannot talk me out of it.”
After the
dance was over, he bit her on the neck, knowing there was no danger of marking her.
She would feel the sting of the failed marking, which was a small price to pay for her treachery.

He danced with the remaining ladies on the list.
Thankfully, none made his fangs swell.
He didn’t want the awkwardness of evading a female who saw him as a potential mate.
When he was done, he returned to the area where Eden had been sitting.
She was surrounded by males, including Belenos, Bran, Brett, and Brendan.
He didn’t know how they had time to pester her, as surely they had not been through all the names on their dance cards.
He glared at the other males.

“
Do not fret.
We did not lay a hand on your property,” Belenos said.

“You didn’t have anything better to do with yourselves?” Drest turned to Brett and Brendan.
“Why are you two sniffing around?”

“We’re good friends with Eden here,” Brett said.
“We were surprised to see her.
I heard you lost your precious pelt in some kind of accident.
I told you before, pelts need to be entranced.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is the woman you had marked, right?
Yet you downgraded her status to that of slave.
That was pretty low down of you.
Although, I would never have bitten the lady.
I would have kept her a slave under
entrancement the entire time.
I suppose you learned the hard way, didn’t you?
Like her better as a slave, right?
The only problem you have now is that she is not entranced
,
”
Brendan said.

Brett and Brendan had known of her the entire time?
“Why didn’t you say you knew her?
”

“We heard you had possession of a prisoner from Flourda, but we didn’t know it was the same woman who had been your mate
,” Brett said.
“
You didn’t talk about her, even when she was living with you before.
You kept her from us.
You kept her from the
King
.
We knew about her because we were there the day you brought her back from Avenal.
We kept your
secret.
We were glad to see you having a bit of fun for a change.
There was no need to guard her so closely.
As lovely as she is, we have our own supply of pelts.
There is no need to take yours.”

Drest feared the innuendos hinted at something illicit and corrupt, but he knew it would be
difficult
to uncover
any specific details just yet
.
If he asked too many questions or pushed too hard, they would become suspicious and more secretive.
“How did you come by such a supply?”

“That info is for club members only.
You’re not a member of the club, at least not yet.”

Drest held out his hand.
“Eden, it is time to go.”
He transported them to
the lodge.
“Did they mess with you at all?”

“Belenos said that he was going to take me from you,” Eden said.
“He
was acting rather creepy and he
made me
feel
uncomfortable.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The next day, Boadacea arrived
.
She told them that Kambria Kavanaugh had been cast out of the home of her lover, Connal Ward.
Connal had apparently bitten
one of the visiting females at the ball.
It was the only success of the night and the
King
had
performed the mating ceremony immediately.
Connal’s new mate had demanded that Kambria leave Connal’s home that very night.
Kambria had been disowned by her family when she had chosen to live with Connal as his mistress, so now that she had been evicted, she had nowhere to go.
She had spent the night at the stronghold, but the
King
had demanded that she leave by morning.

Drest was floored by this new event.
It was a disaster for both Kambria and Connal.
He knew they had been a happy couple and he had not imagined they would ever separate.
He wondered why Connal had given his full participation at the ball; he could have avoided biting the female if he had tried.
He knew Kambria would be devastated and he was not sure how she would get over the loss of Connal.
“She is my cousin.
She may stay here for as long as she likes
.
”

“Thank you.
It is not right, what they have done to Kambria.
I’ll send her here.”
Boadacea left and several
minutes later, Kambria arrived with some luggage.

Kambria left her luggage on the floor and sat on the sofa.
“Thank you
for letting me
stay
here.
I had no other place to go.”

He noticed her eyes were red from crying and her face was pale.
“You can stay here as long as you need.
I’ll put your things in your new room.”
He picked up the luggage and carried it to a guest room.
When he returned, he saw that Kambria was talking to Eden.

Kambria turned to Eden.
“I am Kambria.”

“I’m Eden.”

Kambria looked pointedly at Eden’s slave collar.
“Drest is keeping slaves now?”

He knew she wouldn’t understand why he was now keeping a slave, especially since he had always been vocal regarding his dislike of the practice
.
“
Technically, s
he’s a
house slave
.
She was a captive.
She’s not being mistreated, Kambria.”

“It’s not like you, Drest.”

He didn’t feel like explaining the matter to her, especially since the story was confusing and complicated.
He didn’t know how to define the relationship he had with Eden, but he did know the female was important to him.
“
Do you have a problem with it,
Kambria?
She lives here and you’ll have to deal with it.
Surely the two of you can get along.”

“I don’t have a problem with her, Drest.
I was just surprised to see her here
.
I’m not adjusting well to surprises right now
.”

He felt a surge of sympathy for her.
Losing one’s mate was known to be a traumatic experience for hybrids.
Even though she was not Connal’s biological mate, she had been his emotionally.
“How are you holding up?
I know this must be hard for you.
You’d been with Connal for decades; he was your mate in everything but name.”

“Yeah, and it all ended with just one bite.
He bit that other female, one
who he had never seen before in his life.
You had already left the ball, so you didn’t see what happened.
They started making out, right there on the dance floor.
I was standing a few feet away.
I didn’t think he’d do it.
I asked him to stop, using my mind.
He indicated that the mating bond was too powerful.
He said that he was sorry, but we were over.
The
King
performed the ceremony and they consummated the union right there at the ball.
I was right there and Connal didn’t care.
I waited until they were done, and then I asked to speak with Connal.
He saw me for a few minutes, long enough to tell me I had to leave our home because his new mate wouldn’t allow me to stay.
He said that he was sorry, but he had to make
her happy, because she would be the mother to his children.
He told me that I would never have his children and we shouldn’t have stayed together as long as we did.
He told me that what I had been doing was wrong, that I should not have agreed to live as a mistress.
He had no problem with it, all those years before.
What a hypocrite.”

He wondered again why the male had
marked the other female; it could have been avoided.
“
I cannot believe he did that to you
.
”

“My family will not take me back.
I have nowhere to go.
I’m too old to do anything different with my life.
I will be a burden to you.
Maybe Connal was right.
I should not have
lived with him.
I should have tried harder to find a real mate.”

“It’s not your fault that things didn’t work out.
You are not too old.
Perhaps you can still find a mate.”

“The chances of that are less than fifteen percent.
I’ve actually done the math.”

“It may not be as bad as that.”

“I do not want a mate.
I’ll find some way to pay for my upkeep.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.
I’m not going to charge you rent, Kambria.
But, perhaps you can help me with something.
Keep an eye on Eden.
Belenos and Bran have been threatening her.
I do not want any of the Donovans admitted when I am not
here, not even Boadacea.
They cannot be trusted.”

“What do you think they’ll do?”

“They may try to take her.
I have guards posted, but I’d feel more comfortable if you help keep her safe.”

“Sure.
What else should I do?”

“Just
keep her company
doing whatever things females do.
That’s all.”

“I am to be a companion to your slave?
That’s really odd
.
Exactly what is she to you?
”

“It is complicated.”

Kambria rested in the guest room for a while.
When she emerged from the room, she expressed much curiosity in Eden.
Eden shared her
story with Kambria
and they talked for some time.
When Eden went to bed, Kambria stayed up to talk to Drest.
“She’s not really your slave.
She’s your mistress.
You don’t treat her like a slave.”

He sighed.
His cousin was much too astute.
“What’s your point, Kambria?”

“You don’t have to get so defensive.
I think it is nice, seeing you happy.
She told me that she was your mate, that you had marked her once.
Is this true?”

All the evidence pointed to that conclusion.
He just wished he could remember it.
“It appears to be true.
I lost my memory of it.”