Embrace the Mystery [03] Blood Rose Series (24 page)

“Very good, my Queen.”

She shifted to meet Quinlan’s gaze. “As for you and Batya, you are both commanded to leave within the hour. You must return to your worlds to continue your good work as you see fit, but I must warn you that trouble awaits you and that you must find a way to compromise and to work together if you are to survive.”

“You refer to Margetta?”

She glanced upward as though mentally reviewing earlier notes-to-self. Finally, she returned her gaze to Quinlan. “I’m not sure, but please take care to tend to one another diligently.”

Quinlan met Batya’s gaze. When she nodded to him, he spoke for them of both. “We will.”

Batya took a small step forward. “And what of Lorelei?”

“She will remain here and I will teach her how to withstand her mother’s various powers.”

“You can do that?”

Rosamunde lifted a brow. “I will ignore that you’ve questioned my abilities.”

“I’m sorry,” Batya added hastily. “But from the time that Margetta made an appearance, I became convinced that she was the most powerful woman in all nine realms.”

Rosamunde drew a deep breath. “I can see that you’re a good friend to Lorelei and though what I’ll teach her won’t be absolute, it will be more protection than she’s ever known. Then she will begin her own journey.” Her gaze skated in Seth’s direction for a brief moment, then back to Batya and Quinlan. “That is all I have to say.”

“I’ll want to speak to my brigade.” Quinlan wouldn’t leave without addressing his troops. “And my men will have their dead to remember.”

“Of course. And you will find Henry at the Troll’s Delight.” She smiled. “The shutters are a very pretty pink. You can’t miss it.”

* * * * * * * * *

Batya hugged Lorelei and wished her well. The fae-shifter-wraith, part vampire, had already spent time in Rosamunde’s company, knew of the queen’s commands, and remained quietly in her suite, also by the queen’s orders. Lorelei didn’t seem to be minding at all.

“I feel hopeful for the first times in decades.”

Batya tried to comprehend what Lorelei’s life had been like. Her own appeared so mild and uninteresting compared to a life lived on the run. Batya had been hounded by Margetta for three days and it was already wearing on her nerves. What had a lifetime of pursuit been like for Lorelei?

“Come visit the gallery when you can.”

“Of course I will, but what will you do if Margetta and those wraith-pairs come after you and Quinlan?”

“She won’t have a reason now.”

“My mother is vindictive. Remember, she wanted me dead rather than let me live my own life.”

Batya tried not to think about that, about what could happen now that Lorelei lived behind the safety of Ferrenden Peace’s veil of mist and she and Quinlan would soon return to their respective worlds.

“We’ll be all right. Don’t worry about us.”

Lorelei smiled. “I won’t. You guys are amazing. Just, be patient with him, Batya. I think he might be a keeper.”

“I’ll try. I just never expected all of this, or any of it really.” She didn’t explain about her blood rose status. She hardly knew what to do with the information herself, nonetheless try to explain it to someone else.

Lorelei hugged her good-bye and Batya returned to her room to change out of the gown and to remove her braids. She really wasn’t used to the formal look.

Just as she finished packing her satchel, Quinlan returned to the rooms smiling.

“What?”

He shook his head, hands planted on his hips. “Nothing.”

“Okay, now you have to tell me.”

“I just saw Henry and he had an arm around two women and more love-bites than I’d seen in maybe my whole life, right here.” He skated two fingers up his neck.

“Something tells me some of the women around here have been love-starved for a long time.”

A cheering sounded from the window. Batya crossed and glanced down. In the distance, she saw the troll brigade and what was probably Seth’s force celebrating. When drums started up, and lights went on all over the town, she was pretty sure this occasion would be celebrated in two realms and one kingdom for a long time to come.

Quinlan joined her by the window, sliding his arms around her from behind, holding her tight. “Wish we didn’t have to leave.” He nuzzled her neck. “I’d love a repeat performance of last night.”

The thought of all that they’d done together, especially the thrilling climax with his vibrations flooding her body, made her body grow weak as she leaned into him. He kissed her neck several times then sucked on the vein. She bloomed beneath his touch, his words, his lips.

“We have to go. The queen said we did. But when we get to Lebanon, you can share my bed.”

“We’d break that bed.”

She had to work to catch her breath. “We probably would.”

“We could go to my stronghold.”

She turned in his arms and he kissed her hard, his tongue pummeling her mouth in the best way.
We should do that, at least once more before you take me back to the States.

Okay.

She pushed him away and shook her head. “Really, we’d better stop. The queen said we needed to get going.”

“You’re right.”

* * * * * * * * *

With Batya held tight against him with one arm, and her satchel held in his free hand, Quinlan took off, rising high above the city. He didn’t want to delay their return by traveling through the town. No doubt Henry and his cohorts were already lost in song, dance, and the company of women so that nothing could be gained by saying a second good-bye.

Once at the entrance to the city, the Guards rolled back both the gate and the mist. He flew through and began the long ascent that would lead them to the snowfields and back to Grochaire Realm.

He’d made his apologies to Seth and had taken a few minutes to share his blood rose experience with him. Given the current trend making its way through the mastyrs of the Nine Realms, Seth would do well to be forewarned.

Seth had in turn expressed his own remorse for having taken advantage of Batya but was bemused that she’d come to him so readily.

Quinlan released a sigh. “We’re not bonded. Right now, she would feel driven to serve any mastyr vampire.” From what he understood, the bonding process had many avenues, sometimes occurring over a period of time, at others with a strong decision of the will, and even Gerrod had said that his bonding with Abigail had taken place during captivity and had involved a sharing of each other’s blood.

Seth had frowned. “Everything I’ve heard from you or from Ethan and Gerrod sounds nightmarish. I lost control with Batya. That’s unforgiveable.”

Quinlan tried to encourage him, but until Seth experienced a blood rose for himself, he wouldn’t really be able to relate.

He’d left him with the promise to call soon in order to discuss the future of the Nine Realms.

As Quinlan flew, he tried not to think about the hard truth that once he left Batya in Lebanon, she’d be fair game. He recalled what his own attraction to Samantha had been like just six months ago before Ethan had completed the bond with her. He and Ethan had done serious damage to the Guildhall when they’d fought over her. And now with Seth, he’d been on the receiving end of that hellish reality when he found his fellow mastyr ready to sink his fangs.

He shuddered.

What’s wrong?

Just thinking about walking into the throne room and finding you in Seth’s arms.
Sure enough, he shuddered again only this time rage erupted.
Why did you do it?

She stiffened in his arms.
Why did I do it? You mean why did I go to him?

By now, they flew over the snowfields, but he took little pleasure in the soft vibration of energy that worked through the land. Instead, he ground his teeth.
You heard me. Why the hell did you go to him? Did our time together mean so little to you that you couldn’t restrain yourself?

She fell silent, but not necessarily in a bad way. He was pretty sure she was thinking hard about the situation, a quality they shared in common.

I don’t know why,
she pathed at last.
One minute I was standing by the doorway, and the next I was crossing to him like he had me enthralled, which wasn’t possible. I’m sure it’s the whole blood rose thing, but Quin, I’m pissed as hell about this. I don’t want to be a Goddamn blood rose.

And I don’t want to be a mastyr vampire.

But you can’t help being a mastyr vampire. You were born that way. You must have known early on that you’d rise to mastyr status.

I did, but what’s the difference? Clearly, you were always meant to be a blood rose.

Well, I didn’t exactly know that I’d one day have this lovely job description of satisfying your blood needs. Sweet Goddess!

He huffed an impatient sigh.
So what if you’re a blood rose? Suck it up.

Well, fuck you very much. And exactly what do you think will happen if one of those wraith-pairs, you know the ones that Margetta created with mastyr vampires, decides to come after me in Lebanon? What am I supposed to do then?

Well, you can call me, of course.

But what good will that do? As I recall, it was my enthrallment shield that saved your ass.

He had a strong desire suddenly to drop Batya and her satchel down on the snowfield and suggest she find her own ride back to Tennessee. Breathing hard through his nostrils, he pathed,
Then I guess you’d better get really good at creating those special shields of yours.

Fine.

Fine.

He didn’t like that she’d raised some solid points, especially since he didn’t have the answers, so her silence worked for him. It also gave him time to think.

Two questions rose to the surface. Exactly what was she supposed to do as a blood rose? And how was he, or any of his Grochaire Guardsmen, supposed to battle these uber-wraith-pairs?

Wanting an answer to that, he had Batya hold her satchel for a moment while he phoned Rafe. His second-in-command assured him that Grochaire was fairly quiet and no reports of the kinds of wraith-pairs Quinlan described to him had made an appearance.

Reassured, he told Rafe he’d be back in Grochaire in a couple of hours and would talk to him then.

Taking the satchel back, he headed west, using a different route back in order to avoid the Dead Forest. He thought it possible Margetta might have left scouts on the back trail waiting to strike.

An hour later, of covering mile after mile, Batya pathed,
Sorry, Quin. I’m a bit edgy and I didn’t need to speak to you that way.

I’m sorry, too. We definitely need to talk about what happened and about the future, and hammer out some details.

I just want you to know that I’d be happy, at the very least, to become your
doneuse.
I know it’s made a difference for you.

I appreciate that.
Oh, damn, his chest swelled up again with all that strange, bizarre sensation, like he had a cloud in his rib cage that kept expanding.

He carefully kissed the top of her head as he flew west, hoping to hell that he wouldn’t encounter the wicked witch before getting Batya to safety.

* * * * * * * * *

The trip across the snowfields had given Batya plenty of time to think. She recalled what Rosamunde had said, and that she and Quinlan needed to work together. Quarreling had only served to reveal the problems they faced, but nothing more.

And what was she supposed to do with her blood rose status?

Quinlan had asked an important question: Had their time together meant so little to her?

Of course not. If anything, the nature of their relationship overwhelmed her with its depth and the sheer excitement of being with him was like nothing she’d ever known before.

Her thoughts turned to Lebanon and the life she’d built for herself there. She loved the ex-pat community. She could never give up her healing work there. The local realm-folk depended on her and her service made her happy.

She shared this quality with Quinlan. His devotion to Grochaire, which had been his life’s work as well as his life’s sacrifice, matched her own love of her community. Her efforts might have been on a much smaller scale, but the desire to serve equaled Quinlan’s, so at least in that way, she understood him, she got him.

But exactly how they were supposed to make all of this work escaped her.

We’re not far from the border between the snowfields and Grochaire. I can feel the vibrations thinning.

She could as well, but the thought of reentering their old lives caused her heart to lurch. Yes, she loved her life, but she didn’t exactly want to leave Quinlan behind and she definitely didn’t want another mastyr vampire chasing after her.

Yep, they had a lot of issues to resolve.

An odd vibration went through her as the snow disappeared and grasslands arrived. A forest of fir trees came next. They were still high in the eastern mountain range. At least now that Margetta wasn’t around, they could take a direct route up and over.

But almost as soon as that thought went through her head, two things happened at once. She sensed that Margetta was near and something flashed near the edge of the forest, not a bright light, something duller.

She started to ask Quinlan if he’d seen the flash as well, but something struck her and threw her out of Quinlan’s arms and into the air. She tumbled, bouncing against Quinlan then away, then back.

She didn’t understand what was happening until she started falling to earth and nothing Quinlan did could stop their descent. At the last second, he pulled her on top of him as he landed with a thud on the hard, grass-covered ground.

“Shit. Oh, shit.”

She pushed off of him but got only so far as rolling on her back. When she looked up, she saw the dark night sky through a jute web, something laced with fierce preternatural power and the trap had a familiar scent of rotting garbage.

“She caught us.”

“She did.” His deep voice rumbled and she heard his despair.