Into the Light (22 page)

Tanner considered telling him to go fuck himself. He wasn’t a lightbearer, hell he wasn’t even part of a pack anymore. He answered to no one.

Then his eyes slid to the petite sleeping form, curled up under the blankets on the giant four-poster bed where just a few days ago, he’d almost taken her to mate. If he truly intended to mate with the princess of the lightbearers, he probably ought to try to develop a friendly relationship with her father. He turned back to the lightbearer and steadily watched him for a few moments. When Jake did not flinch, Tanner finally nodded once and Jake turned and led him from the chamber.

The beach house was a massive, sprawling structure designed with a great many windows and a lot of polished wood. The entire second level was comprised of bedrooms, leading Tanner to suspect that prior to the current king, the lightbearers were likely more prolific with their procreating. Since they’d cut themselves off from all other magical beings and they had nothing to do with humans, there was certainly no reason for guest rooms.

The first level was divided into a variety of overlarge rooms, including a suite of rooms that were all part of the kitchen. Olivia told him it was managed by an entire staff of cooks and servants. The dining room opened onto the wooden deck that overlooked the cliff and the lake beyond and even without the outdoor seating, could easily seat twenty or thirty for dinner. There was an entertainment parlor, also with access to the outdoor deck, and a massive entry hall that could double as a cocktail reception area. There were numerous other, smaller rooms, including the library that was his and Jake’s final destination.

The library was stuffed to capacity with books, with the exception of one wall that was comprised of two floor-to-ceiling windows that afforded the room the sunlight the lightbearers required to sustain themselves. A handsome cherrywood desk was positioned in one corner, facing both the door and the windows. A man, presumably the king, sat in a chair behind the desk.

When Tanner entered, the man’s head was bowed over a leather-bound ledger, a pen poised in his hand. He looked up sharply and Tanner saw the resemblance between father and daughter. He paused just inside the door while the king swiftly closed the ledger and slid it to the side.

He invited Tanner to sit in one of the two wingback chairs facing the desk. Tanner walked into the room and folded himself into the chair. The king fidgeted with the pen.

He’s nervous
. Tanner wondered why. Was it simply his presence? He decided that could very well be it. Everyone to whom he’d spoken had assured him that shifters had never before stepped foot into the coterie. Nor, as far as he was aware, had the king of the lightbearers ever stepped foot outside of the coterie.

“I am Sander Bennett, king of the lightbearers.” The king finally spoke in an unnaturally loud voice that reverberated uncomfortably around the small room. He lifted his eyes and tried to maintain eye contact but swiftly dropped his gaze again.

Tanner was not, as of yet, terribly impressed by the king of the lightbearers.
His daughter has more backbone than he does
.

“Tanner Lyons,” he responded.

Sander nodded, his eyes looking everywhere but directly at Tanner, who sat patiently and waited for the man to finally get around to whatever he meant to say.

“I understand my daughter is going to be fine,” Sander said after much throat clearing.

“So the healer says,” Tanner responded.

“Alexa,” the king said with a nod. “She is the best healer we’ve seen in a century, probably more.” He paused and twirled the pen in his hand for so long that Tanner had the urge to reach across the desk and snatch it away, but he resisted.

“Even so, as I understand the story, Alexa would not have been able to save her, had you not interfered on my daughter’s behalf.”

Tanner sharpened his gaze. The king was finally getting around to the purpose of this meeting.

“I am told you healed her. That you have magic, like the lightbearers.”

Tanner wondered how much to tell the man. He had to tread carefully, if he intended to convince the man to let him take his daughter to mate.

“I was able to keep her alive until the healer arrived,” he said evenly.

Sander’s pallor turned white. Tanner wondered if the man would pass out.

“Yes, well…thank you.” Sander cleared his throat several more times. His eyes strayed to the ledger resting near his elbow.

“I, ah…It would seem I owe you a debt of gratitude,” Sander finally managed to get out. His gaze darted to the ledger and back to Tanner. He was sweating profusely.

Tanner’s eyes also moved to the ledger as he contemplated Sander’s words. He guessed that the king had been analyzing the kingdom’s finances.

Does he think I plan to ask for money?

No wonder he was sweating. Tanner could name his price right now. He’d saved the king’s one and only daughter. The man’s only means to keeping control of the lightbearer kingdom within his own family. Tanner could be set for life. All he had to do was ask.

Give me your daughter and the debt is forgiven
.

It was on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to say it. He didn’t care about the money. He just wanted Olivia. He repeated the words in his head several times. He even opened his mouth, as if he meant to force the words out.

“Let the shifters stay. As guests, not as prisoners. Just until I can find a new pack to take them in.”

It was hard to say which man was more surprised by Tanner’s words. Sander stared at him, bemused. Tanner stared back, confused.

It would appear that Tanner was a pack master after all.

“Where’s Tanner?”

They were the first words out of Olivia’s mouth when, halfway through the next day, she finally woke.

Alexa and Cecilia were out on the balcony, and both turned when Olivia spoke. Cecilia bound into the bedchamber and leaped onto the bed. Olivia gritted her teeth and clung to the mattress to try to keep the rattling in her head to a minimum. While her physical wounds were undoubtedly healed, she had a wicked headache at the moment. Probably because she hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours.

“I’m hungry,” she whispered, as Cecilia prattled on excitedly about how worried everyone was and how happy she was that Olivia was finally awake and how she should probably rush right out into the hall and summon Uncle Sander and Aunt Genevieve.

“Good idea,” Olivia suggested.

“Oh. Of course,” Cecilia said, and she leaped from the bed and dashed from the room.

Alexa lifted a small, murky ball of glass and waited for it to clear. When it did, she spoke into the glass ball, ordering a light meal of soup and a sandwich.

“I feel like I could eat four sandwiches,” Olivia complained.

“Let’s start with one and go from there,” Alexa suggested as she placed the once-again murky glass ball on the bedside table. “How do you feel, other than hungry?”

“Fine.” Olivia frowned. “But different. What happened?”

“You were shot with an arrow. Two, actually. Nearly fatal wounds.”

Olivia’s eyes widened.

“Do you not remember?”

She struggled to do just that. She recalled her father discovering there were shifters in the coterie, taking Tanner and the others into custody. She and Cecilia had devised an escape plan. A simple plan, really: Cecilia was to magically unseal the door to the barn where the shifters were being held, and then she was to distract the guards, while Olivia slipped inside and freed the shifters. Everything had gone as planned until…until…

The woods. Someone had spotted them running toward the woods. Tanner had tried to tell Olivia to go back and she refused.
I’m staying with you
, she’d wanted to say.
I’m never leaving you
.

Ariana was hit.

“Ariana…”

“Tanner’s mother? She is fine, fully recovered and ensconced in one of the guest chambers, in the north wing. I pulled what remained of the poison out of her system as well.”

“She is here? In the beach house?” That seemed…odd.

Alexa nodded. “Do you recall anything else?”

Olivia returned her focus to that moment, when she realized Ariana was hit. How she had turned around, waved at the guards, called out to them to stop. The pain…

She lifted her eyes and blinked owlishly at Alexa. “They shot me,” she whispered, sounding utterly shocked by the notion.

Alexa nodded. “Not intentionally, of course. So they have sworn to the king at any rate. Each one has had to give a sworn statement to your father, and each swears he did not realize there was any lightbearer amongst the escaping shifters, let alone the princess.”

Olivia did not doubt it. The guards never would have aimed their magical arrows had they known Olivia was running away with the shifters. She was certain of it.

“Thank you for healing me.”

Alexa smirked. “Thank your shifter.
He
saved your life. I merely swept in and added the finishing touches.”

Olivia’s eyes widened. “Tanner?”

Alexa nodded her confirmation.

“But…how?”

“I was sort of hoping
you
could tell
me
, although in truth, I believe I can guess.”

Olivia shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“He used
your
magic to heal you. Your wounds were mortal. You would have died before I could have even reached you, if he had not begun the healing process when he did. It’s fascinating, really. First, that he has somehow inherited some of your magic, and second that he was able to use it to heal you when lightbearers as a rule do not have the ability to heal themselves. So somehow, because your magic is in his body, he was able to turn it back on you and save your life. Like I said: fascinating.”

It was nearly too much to absorb, although it certainly explained why Tanner’s body glowed every time they…Olivia blushed, even though Alexa could not read her thoughts.

“I figured as much,” Alexa guessed. “You are having an affair with the shifter.”

Olivia dropped her eyes and fidgeted with the blanket. “Please do not tell anyone. I have not yet figured out how to tell my parents.”

“I do not envy you that task. Nor do I blame you for being attracted to Tanner. He is quite handsome. And that excess body heat will certainly come in handy during the cold winter months.” Her eyes twinkled, and Olivia felt a reluctant smile tug at her lips.

“Where is he, anyway?”

“Oh, he left the coterie.”

“He
what
?” Olivia sat bolt upright. She was only peripherally aware that she felt no pain whatsoever.

“Calm down. He will be back. He went to visit a shifter pack he says resides in the Detroit area. Your father has consented to allow the shifters to stay here as guests temporarily, but Tanner has agreed to try to find them a permanent residence. I suspect he wants it to be close enough that he can pay occasional calls,” Alexa added slyly.

Olivia thought the idea of Tanner paying occasional calls was a lousy idea. She didn’t want him occasionally. She wanted him all the damn time.

Her parents arrived just then, her mother rushing into the bedchamber and with great melodrama throwing herself at Olivia and pulling her into a hug that Olivia feared might break a rib or two. Her father stood a short distance behind her mother, a disapproving look warring with relief in his eyes. She knew he was undoubtedly happy his only daughter was alive and well, and exceedingly
unhappy
with the circumstances around which she was injured in the first place. Olivia suspected it was more the fact that she’d been in the company of shifters than that his own guards shot her with their arrows.

Cecilia bounced in behind them and breezed across the room to stand near Alexa.

“We must immediately plan a party to celebrate your good health,” Genevieve announced.

Sander looked pained. “Really, Genevieve, that isn’t necessary—”

For once, Olivia agreed with her father. “I do not think I am quite up to a party right now, Mother.”

“Not right this second of course,” Genevieve said airily. “Perhaps in three days’ time? I am sure Carley can pull something together by then.”

Carley was the head chef in the beach-house kitchen, and no doubt could pull something together that quickly. As much as Alexa was a miracle worker with injuries, so Carley was a miracle worker with food.

“I do not want a party, Mother,” Olivia insisted, but she was not at all surprised when her opinion fell upon deaf ears. Planning parties was therapy for Genevieve, and she’d experienced a great deal of anxiety recently, with the discovery of shifters within the coterie and then her one and only child being shot through with deadly, magical arrows.

“Cici,” she said wearily, when her mother launched into planning her next party anyway, despite both Olivia and Sander’s protests.

“On it,” Cecilia murmured, and she approached the bed and swept Genevieve away, the woman chattering on about guest lists, the menu, and the color of flowers for the centerpieces. Alexa assured the king that Olivia was fine and would suffer no ill effects from her injuries, and then she excused herself and slipped from the chamber. Olivia was left alone with her father.

They both fidgeted uncomfortably. Olivia threw back the covers and pulled on a billowing silken wrap over her nightgown. She made a quick trip to the bath chamber. Her father was still waiting when she returned. She wandered over to stand near the French doors that were open to the balcony.

Sander finally spoke. “The guards state that you helped the shifters escape. That is why they shot you.”

Olivia turned and glanced over her shoulder. He still stood next to the bed, but his eyes were steadily watching her from across the room.

“They spoke the truth,” Olivia admitted.

“Why?”

She turned back to the balcony. The breeze off the lake was steady and cool. She could hear the waves crashing onto the shore at the bottom of the cliff.

“They are not the enemy, Father. They are my friends.”
One of them is my lover
. That thought, she kept to herself.