Kiss of the Betrayer (A Bringer and the Bane Novel) (36 page)

“I hope you do.” The demon walked to the empty window. “So sad that they stole your body.” She ran her hand around the edge of the opening. “You were one of my favorites, you know.”

It took every ounce of Rell’s control not to launch herself at Sha-hera. Like a menagerie to be ogled, these Bringers were forever preserved for the benefit of the king, and she had been one of them.

When she didn’t reply, Sha-hera turned and scowled. “Doesn’t my praise please you?”

“Very much.” She forced a smile.

The demon seemed to relax. “As it should.”

Rell shivered and rubbed her arms. “I’m getting cold.”

“Ah yes.” Sha-hera nodded. “Your kind do.”

“My kind?”

The demon pivoted and headed toward the passage without answering her question. “Remember what I said, Rell. Know where the true power lies and align yourself.”

Sha-hera turned the corner and disappeared.

“You can bet on it, Bane.” Rell glanced around, making sure nobody heard her. The frozen Bringers were her only audience.

She shivered again. If Luc and Jade thought they were done with her, they were sadly mistaken.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY-
F
IVE

Somebody grabbed Jade and pushed her hair away from her face. A thousand frantic questions bombarded her. The person seemed familiar, the blond hair and green eyes that peered into hers. Hands gently cupped her face. “Jade?”

“Mama?” The fact that she was staring at a face she had thought long buried refused to be understood. She covered the woman’s hands. “Mama?”

Warm arms enveloped her, the scent of lavender dredging up her childhood memories. She clung to Willa, pressing her face into her neck and crying. Years of believing her mother to be dead bubbled to the surface. A lonely childhood spent in the caverns of the Shadow World. Her sister, caught between life and death. Like a torrent, all of it poured forth.

Loving words of comfort whispered from Willa, her arms gently rocking Jade as if she were a little girl again.

How long they stood there, she didn’t know, but finally the tears slowed. She stepped away from her mother in the twilight and looked at her.

The years had done little to diminish her beauty. Faint lines played at the corners of her eyes, but her skin was as smooth and flawless as Jade remembered. As a child her mother had always reminded her of a fairy. Now she was Jade’s angel.

“I can’t believe you’re alive.” Willa pushed a spray of tangled hair out of Jade’s eyes. “Saints forgive me, but I thought Siban was lying when he arrived and told me you lived.”

Jade smiled. “I can imagine.”

Her mother’s gaze roamed her face and she cupped Jade’s chin in her hands. “You are all grown up.” Sadness pinched her features and her voice cracked. “I missed it all.”

She covered her mother’s hands with hers. “Rell took care of me.”

“Rell?” Her features hardened slightly. “You mean Esmeralda?”

Jade nodded. “Did they tell you about her?”

“That she’s a Demon Bane? Yes.” She lowered her arms and took Jade’s hands in hers. “And that she knew I was not dead.”

“I was angry at first too, but we can’t blame her.” Jade gave her hands a squeeze. “She battles unimaginable darkness.” She took a deep breath. “I went to release her soul—to send her through the Veil.” She shook her head. “But I couldn’t do it. Does that make me a bad sister?”

“No.” They turned and slowly walked toward the manor. “Both actions make you the best kind of sister.”

“I feel like I failed her.”

“You brought back her body.” Willa looped her arm through Jade’s. “We’ll figure out what to do next together.”

It was the first time the burden of Rell was lifted from Jade’s shoulders. Her friends were wonderful, always willing to accept her and help, but her mother was the only one who felt the same pain and betrayal as she did. “Perhaps, after I rest. Terror and torture takes a lot out of a girl.”

Willa cursed under her breath and wrapped her arm around Jade’s shoulder. “You are a lot like your father and I can see you will put me in an early grave.”

Luc’s low voice reached her through her riot of emotions, calming her. He was all right, too. Though he’d briefly passed out when they landed, he seemed to be awake and functioning.

Jade pulled back and smiled at her mother. “We’ll talk later.”

Willa nodded.

Without warning, Rhys lifted Jade into his arms and strode across the grounds toward the house. Willa raced beside them, giving Rhys directions, chattering that everything was going to be fine now that they were together.

Jade leaned against him, resting her chin on his shoulder and glanced back. Delphina and Jacob were helping Luc to his feet, and Siban and Ravyn crouched beside Esmeralda’s body. The breath caught in Jade’s throat. Would they be able to save her sister?

“Rhys.” Her heartbeat quickened. “Rhys, please stop.”

He halted and turned to watch Ravyn and Siban. Willa’s hand gently caressed Jade’s arms as they watched Siban lift and cradle Esmeralda to him, his cheek resting lightly against her forehead. He looked up, their eyes meeting. Without breaking eye contact, he strode past them and into the house.

Rhys told her and Luc that they had been missing for more than a week. The time had seemed much longer when they were being held captive, but now safe within the manor, the experience faded to surreal memories that she wasn’t yet ready to examine. Even with Ravyn’s healing, exhaustion quickly claimed Jade and once her head hit the pillow, she slept hard. No dreams, no nightmares, just body-healing oblivion.

When she finally awoke, long shadows stretched across the floor of her chamber and the muted light of the afternoon sun filled her room.

“Thought you were going to sleep the whole day away.”

She turned her head. Luc lounged beside her bed, looking decidedly better than the last time she’d seen him. Fresh from a bath, damp tendrils of hair hung around his face. His feet were propped up on the mattress and crossed at the ankle in a relaxed pose.

She wondered how long he had been sitting there. “Have you been watching me sleep?”

He held up his index finger and thumb. “Only for a while.”

A dimple dotted his cheek and she was instantly struck with the desire to kiss it. “I hope I didn’t snore or drool.”

He held up his fingers again. “Just a little.”

She gave a little grunt, hoping he was teasing her. She burrowed deeper in the blankets in an attempt to hide the tinge of heat creeping across her cheeks. “Where is everybody?”

“Gathered in the great room. Dinner is in an hour if you’re hungry.”

She sighed and rolled to her side, propping her head on her hand. “What did you tell them?”

“Everything.” He leaned forward and tilted his head as if trying to gauge her well-being, as if more than a little concerned about her. “Well, everything I could remember.”

She held his gaze, the mood between them shifting. That was probably inevitable considering what they have been through. There was something intensely personal about facing death with someone. The deep connection that had formed erased everything she thought she knew about him. In its place now sat the man before her, someone who had risked his life to do the right thing.

He gave a strained smile. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” She picked at a thread on the duvet.

“What?”

“How things have worked out. A few weeks ago I tried to kill you. Now I…” She let the statement hang.

He cocked a brow. “Don’t hate me?”

That far understated what she felt for him. But how would he react if she told him that somewhere between the night at the chapel and now, she’d fallen in love with him? If he didn’t feel the same way, it wouldn’t be fair to burden him with yet another Kendal woman’s affection and the guilt of not returning it this time.

She attempted a nonchalant smile. “More than don’t hate you.”

He slid a little farther forward in the chair. “Would you go as far as saying you like me?”

The way he was looking at her made her mouth go dry. She rolled to her back, but continued to gaze at him. Her words came out more serious than she’d intended. “Very much.”

Her heart raced when he knelt beside the bed, coming eye to eye with her, and laid his arms on the mattress. He inched his hand toward her until his fingers touched her arm. With the lightest touch he caressed her wrist with a delicate swirling motion. “I’m glad to know you don’t hate me.” His finger trailed a path along her arm, over her bare shoulder and up her neck, laying a thin line of heat along its course. The blue of his iris darkened and his thumb strummed her cheek. “Very glad.”

This felt right, him touching her, looking at her with desire, not malice, and her wanting more. She turned her face and kissed his fingers. His eyes watched her every move. In a daring move she nipped at their tips, making sure to add the gentle brush of her tongue. The words she longed to say still wouldn’t come, but she needed him to know she was open to them as a couple. “Me as well.”

Her heart fluttered when he leaned in and lowered his mouth to hers. Their lips touched and her breath caught, her eyes closing against the onslaught of desire that washed over her. Only faintly did she register the bed bowing beneath her until Luc’s body blanketed hers. His weight was the most glorious thing she’d ever felt. Heavy, pressing, hot.

On instinct she opened her mouth. Luc’s tongue slowly swept along her lower lip, his teeth gently tugging before covering her mouth fully. He deepened the kiss, swirling his tongue against hers. Sandalwood and mint teased her nose and the faint hint of wine tingled along her tongue.

Her arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer. There were too many blankets. She needed to be closer. His hand followed the contours of her body and cupped her breast through the thin shift, drawing his thumb across her nipple. She gasped against his mouth and arched into his hand. Nothing had ever felt so amazing, so sinful, so right. The rigid line of his erection pressed between her legs and she struggled to open for him, needing to feel his skin against hers.

A knock at the door jolted her from her building desire. With a frantic shove, she pushed against his chest, using her legs for leverage. Still caught up in the passion, Luc rolled off her and tumbled over the side of the bed. A loud grunt erupted from the floor.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

The knock came again. He sat up with a scowl and climbed back into the chair. Trying to hide his erection, he folded his hands in his lap. She grabbed a square decorative pillow and tossed it to him, and then turned toward the door. “Come in.”

Willa opened the door a crack and peeked in. The sight of her mother’s smiling face filled Jade with happiness. So much had happened, some of the memories blurry. It soothed her to know that her mother had not been a hallucination her exhausted mind had played on her.

Seeing Luc, Willa opened the door wider and came in. “I just wanted to check on you.”

Jade stretched, putting on a convincing show of having just awakened. “I’m feeling much better.” She patted her stomach. “And hungry.”

“Good.” Her mother clapped her hands. “Let’s get you dressed. Dinner is almost ready.”

Luc stood and tossed the pillow on the bed, all traces of his previous affliction gone. “I will meet you ladies downstairs.” He walked to the door. “We have a lot to talk about.”

The door clicked shut and Jade looked at her mother. Before her courage left her she asked the question that had been burning inside her. “Where were you the night of the attack?” She swallowed the resentment that surfaced with surprising speed. “Why weren’t you at the house to help us?”

Willa sat on the edge of the bed but made no attempt to touch Jade. She took a deep breath. “That night, after you’d been put to bed, Timothy McCarty showed up at our house in a frightful panic. His wife was in labor and he’d left her to come fetch me.” She toyed with the hemmed edge of her tunic. “There was no reason for me not to go since your father was home. It was a difficult birth and Sarah McCarty didn’t deliver until late the next afternoon, but by that time…” Her voice fell to a whisper. “I searched frantically for you, but I know now your sister had already taken you away.”

Jade nodded, not mentioning the fact that Esmeralda had known all the time that Willa was alive. She reached out and covered her mother’s hand. “It’s all right. You couldn’t have known.”

“I think I went mad for a while.” She peered at Jade in a way that felt like sharing a secret. Perhaps her mother had never admitted this to even herself. “I clawed through the ashes until my hands blistered, and when I didn’t find you near the house I began searching farther away.” She shook her head. “I didn’t eat. Didn’t sleep. I didn’t know how close to the edge of insanity I’d come until Orvis found me.”

“Orvis?”

Her mother’s face transformed, softening with the glow of love. “Orvis Giles, my savior. I stumbled upon his inn, asking about you and your sister.” She smiled and squeezed Jade’s hand. “He’s a kind man, Jade. I’ll always love your father but Orvis breathed life back into me.”

The words hurt. It was difficult to understand how anybody could replace her father. He had been bigger than life. “And your children?”

“And the children.” She gave Jade’s hand a little shake. “Your brothers and sisters. Ten of them.”

Jade blinked several times. “All yours?”

“All mine now. Orvis was a widower and five oldest were from that marriage. The five youngest are your half brothers and sisters.” She paused. “How do you feel about that?”

Several seconds passed as Jade dissected her feelings. How did she feel about having an entirely new family to get to know? “I’m happy you had somebody to help you and I’m happy to finally have a family, even if it’s not with Father.”

Willa’s smile turned sad. “I know it’s a lot to take in, Jade, and I’d never force you to accept Orvis and the children, but I’m so happy you’re willing to try.” She took a deep breath. “Now the only unfinished business I need to deal with is your sister.”