Eversworn: Daughters of Askara, Book 3 (30 page)

I left the males to their silent stares and turned to Emma. “I thought you two were—”

“On Earth?” she supplied. “We were.”

“Then how—?” I glanced between them as Lindsay cleared her throat.

“I sent a message through the gateway between realms before following you to the colony.”

“How is that possible?” Even I didn’t know its location. I demanded, “Who are you?”

She shared a look with Emma. It didn’t comfort me.

“Lindsay is my name,” she finally said. Another look from Emma made her sit on the sofa.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be asking questions, Isabeau.” Emma’s foot tapped.

“You’re right.” I had no right to feel betrayed. “I—I have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Lindsay filled in the blanks on our way here.” Emma’s foot picked up speed. “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell me? I was…I
am
your friend, but this? You compromised the consulate’s work, you endangered the lives of our boarders, and you endangered Harper’s life.”

Pressure on my hand fortified me. I accepted Dillon’s reassurance and endeavored one day to deserve it. “I never told Roland anything he could use against you. I never said anything a courier might not overhear and relay to his mistress. I did steal from you. I did break your trust. I didn’t tell Roland anything he could use to harm you.” I glanced at Harper. “Or hurt your mate.”

Emma’s low growl made me sweat. Harper rubbed her shoulders, but she shrugged him off.

“Make no mistake,” she said. “If you had directly endangered Harper’s life, and I had proof of it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Harper grabbed her by the hip and pulled her against him. Her glare cut his way. “What? I’m not going to attack her. I’m stating the obvious.”

A distant rumble from Dillon ratcheted tension in the room.

“Stop it with the possessive-male crap. We get it. Don’t threaten your mate. You don’t have a leg to stand on.” Emma smirked at Dillon’s leg. “Or should I say you only have one—
Ouch
.”

Harper tapped her side where he’d pinched her. “Behave, Emma.”

“You always take his side,” she groused. “Did you not hear him growling at me?”

“I did.” Harper’s fingers dipped beneath the edge of her shirt. “Ignore him. We’re here to discuss Isabeau.” He offered me a tight smile. “Lindsay mentioned you’re mated. Is that right?”

“Yes.” Dillon answered for me. “We are. Is that a problem?”

Wrinkling her nose, Emma said, “No. It might actually play into our solution.”

“Which is?” he demanded.

“Let’s back up a step.” Emma pegged me with a sharp look. “Is this it? Or is there more you haven’t told us? Now is the time to come clean. This is the one and only chance I’ll give you.”

I cleared my throat. “How much do you know?”

“We pieced together that you’ve been stealing embolite core samples for the past year.” She shrugged. “I assume since Roland likes getting his hands dirty, he’s the one Lindsay saw meeting you in the market. She tried tailing him afterwards, but that vanishing trick made it impossible.”

“She didn’t follow him.” My brow crinkled. “We went straight home after…”

Lindsay broke her silence. “She doesn’t mean this time. I’ve followed you for months.” I stared at her as if I’d never seen her before now. “I eavesdropped on all your conversations too.”

I kept from gaping at her, but barely. How had she slipped past my notice? “And?”

“And, because of that, I was able to tell Emma how much he enjoyed knocking you around.” She cut Dillon a bored look. “It also got me curious about those envelopes he kept trading you.”

“You knew about my daughter.” I reached for my locket for the first time in days.

“We knew he was holding something—some
one
—over your head, but we didn’t know who until Aldrich filled in the blanks.” Lindsay was unrepentant. “I saw you two talking that night. It was an odd thing for anyone to do. Approaching a priest, I mean. So it made me curious. I heard him explain how Song tracked people.” She said, “The rest took more digging, but yeah. I did.”

“You suspected Isabeau and you never mentioned it to me?” Dillon asked Harper.

“Emma confided in me a few weeks ago, after we’d mated and realized her living in Feriana wasn’t going to work. By that time, you were recovering from major surgery and didn’t need the extra stress. So I handled it.” His glare dared Dillon to disagree. “Until we were ready to move, I saw no reason to involve you in a matter outside our jurisdiction. If I’d been here and saw you’d changed your mind about pursuing Isabeau, then I would have told you. You deserved to know.”

Unhappy being left in the dark, Dillon settled his expression in familiar lines of annoyance.

“What made you…? Was it the missing samples?” Something must have alerted them.

“You’d gotten good at covering your tracks,” Emma answered. “At first, I was stumped. We had several long-term boarders, so I assumed one of them must be to blame. I mean, it had to be someone with access to the storeroom, but that still left me with several candidates. That’s when I brought in Lindsay. She usually does legion work in the outlands, but this job was a good fit for her skill set.” She winked at her mate. “Besides, Harper didn’t mind, and her unit didn’t miss her.”

“Uh, yeah, I did mind.” Harper glared at her. “You used the fact we weren’t speaking at the time to get what you wanted. Big difference. If you’d asked, I wouldn’t have said no. I would—”

“—have said hell no and we both know it.” She patted his cheek. “The point is that Lindsay adopted a sympathetic cover and came to work for me.” To me, she said, “You had us going for a while. I never considered you a suspect. Lindsay was more objective. Good thing too, because it wasn’t until after we escaped from Rihos that you finally tripped up.” Emma jerked her chin toward Dillon. “You were strung out after he got hurt.” Her gaze slid down his leg, then away. “You were in a hurry to get back to Dillon and you made a mistake. Lindsay saw you pocket the sample. Then she followed you to the market. There, she was a witness to your exchange with Roland, not that she knew it was him.” She waved her hand. “The rest snowballed from there.”

“What are we missing, Emma?” Dillon leaned against the doorframe. “You’re acting mighty calm about all this. It’s not like you to ask questions first and rip out spleens later. What gives?”

Harper coughed into his fist. It sounded a lot like laughter. “Dust. Sorry.”

“I’ll bet it was,” she grumbled. “I’ll level with you, Isabeau.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve been where you are. Trust me. My little sister…there’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to protect Maddie. She was my whole life. I know we’re talking about your daughter, but I raised Maddie. I know what it’s like to lie, cheat and steal to protect someone you love. Even now, looking back, I know I did terrible things, but I’d do them again in a heartbeat. I bet you’d do the same. So I’m not going to ask you to lie and repent when we both know you won’t mean a word of it. What I am going to ask you to do is come clean with me. Then, maybe I can help you out.”

Sounds of resignation drifted over my shoulder. “Tell her,” Dillon said. “Tell her all of it.”

And I did.

Hours
. Dillon ground his palm in his eye. Emma and Harper alternated questioning Isabeau while Aldrich huddled over Brielle. Packed like sardines with males capable of harming his mate had his protective instincts ramped up and his temper simmering. This had gone on long enough.

“Enough,” he snapped. “You’ve both asked her the same damn questions ten different ways. If she hasn’t changed her story yet, then she won’t.” He pointed at Lindsay. “Even your spy has verified everything she’s said.” Glamour rippled across his skin. He gritted his teeth and held tight to his illusion. “Give it to us straight.” He growled. “What resolution have you cooked up?”

“There’s a secondary reason we brought Aldrich along.” Emma met his stare coolly. “Part of our proposed solution means tying Isabeau’s hands so the grimoire issue won’t happen again. It’s her call to make. As I understand it, her powers can be unbound in the future. Significant damage might have been done to her spell-crafting ability by that time, but she’s proven herself unable to handle the level of power she has access to. So…she has a choice. Either she’s exiled as is in the outlands, which is the safest place to hide her and her daughter from Sereians retaliation. Or…”

“Or?” He ground between his teeth.

“Or Aldrich binds her powers and we give her a fresh start.” A small smile. “On Earth.”

Seconds passed while Dillon’s brain scrambled. Maybe it was already scrambled. “Earth?”

“Yeah, Earth.” Harper grinned. “The next realm over, remember?”

“I remember, I just…” His head swung toward Isabeau. “That’s your call, sweetheart.”

“Keep in mind the colony and the consulate are off limits,” Emma warned. “Preserving that mine and the safety of our people must come first. Exile sounds harsh, but it’s your only option if you stay in this realm.” She shrugged. “You could leave Askara, but with a young girl in tow…”

“It would be too dangerous.” Harper frowned. “At least if you remain in Askara we can get supplies to you. There’s not much between here and the Gray Sea, but you could make it home.”

“What about Earth?” Isabeau’s voice was a bare whisper. “What would I find there?”

“Earth is…” Dillon struggled for the right words but settled on one. “Home.”

Surprised at the longing in his voice, Dillon fell silent. Sure, part of him had known he was hanging on to his good memories by telling the Feriana colony’s children stories of animals they would never see except through his words and carvings, but he hadn’t realized until this moment how much he longed to see overgrown yards and dusty roads, rusted cars and porch swings. He’d left part of his heart one realm over, and bringing Isabeau and Brielle there with him felt…right.

Squaring her shoulders, she asked, “What about Lindsay?”

“I’m a legionnaire. Besides,” she said, smiling, “I’m already stationed in the outlands.”

Releasing Dillon’s hand with a final swipe across his knuckles, Isabeau faced him.

“You have a life here.” If she kept picking at her nails, she wouldn’t have any left soon. “So I understand if…” She tore a nail to the quick and stuck her thumb in her mouth. He noticed how it bought her a minute to gather her nerves. “Harper needs you. I’m sure he could find a way—”

“You heard Emma, the colony is out.” He measured her response. “I guess the outlands are a choice for me. Sounds like there’s more than enough work there to keep me occupied. Unless…”

“Unless…what?” She lowered her hands, hope creeping into her tone.

“Earth can be confusing for new arrivals.” He cupped her cheek. “If someone asked nicely, I might be willing to play tour guide.” He ignored the drumming of his heart while she made him wait. “I do have a house there.” He couldn’t help but add, “And I’d be able to support you both.”

Dillon’s head snapped up as Harper stifled Emma’s low sound of disgust.

As if those two weren’t worse than teenagers, necking every chance they got.

Using a finger to turn his head, Isabeau said, “I thought we had an understanding.” Her first step into him made him groan. “You’re mine. I know it’s selfish, but it’s been a long time since I took what I wanted, and you’re it.” When Emma tried to interrupt, Harper slapped his hand over her mouth. Dillon broke into a grin, and Harper returned the favor. Isabeau cleared her throat, and Dillon stared at her. “Dillon Preston, before these witnesses, I claim you as my male, as is my right.”

His eyes widened, and his jaw might have come unhinged.

“Dillon?” The uncertainty in her voice sliced his heart to ribbons.

Of all the ways he imagined being claimed, this topped every one. As Isabeau stepped back, her face pale and eyes liquid, he wanted nothing more than to tie his heartstrings to hers forever.

Backing her into a corner, which took all of two steps, he said to hell with his fear. “Is that a fact?” he teased. That stubborn chin of hers kicked up, and right then, he knew he loved her more than words could say. Instead, he showed her. Glamour slid from his skin as his wings enfolded his mate and gave them the illusion of privacy. Behind their cover, his lips pressed against hers.

Emma’s bark of laughter made him lift his head with a growl. “Is that a tail?” she asked.

He tucked it behind him. “Why do females always—?”

Isabeau trapped his face between her palms and dragged his head lower and his mouth closer to hers. Laughing as she sighed into his kisses, she confided, “I told you it was a very nice tail.”

His rumble of appreciation was cut short by a series of soft cries. Isabeau froze, then shoved him aside as she raced for the bedroom. He followed on her heels, arriving as Aldrich recoiled at the sound of the wailing child. Even Dillon winced. The girl had a healthy set of lungs for sure.

Grateful for the reprieve, Aldrich skulked from the room, eyeing Dillon warily as he passed.

Once Isabeau tugged Brielle’s hands from her eyes, the girl’s sobs turned to shrieks of joy. Brielle leapt into her mother’s arms without hesitation, never doubting Isabeau would catch her.