Rage to Adore (24 page)

Agony

It was the night before the big fight and her body was
floating. Spinning. Or maybe it was the room that was spinning, it was hard to
tell. Dreams. She had been dreaming again. It was the same dream that always
saw her wake up shaking and left her skin coated with sweat and her mind full
of fear.

Tani sat up slowly and tried to clear her head. Her thoughts
inevitably strayed to Jaro. It was barely midnight and tomorrow he was due to
fight as a barghesti during the celebrations for Sitri’s birthday. Sitri
herself had stopped by earlier all smiles and fake friendliness. She had
prepared a small feast to share with Tani and the other ladies-in-waiting.
Spicy Arushkan delicacies and honey wine.

Tanith wasn’t fooled by her sudden need to make amends. She
was sure Sitri was merely biding her time before digging the knife in. Tani’s
ability to read strong emotions left her in no doubt that Sitri felt nothing
but anger and jealousy toward her. Other than that, she could not forgive Sitri
for the way she had treated Jaro. Even so she had little choice but to feign
acquiescence to Sitri’s overtures of friendship while maintaining her guard.

Sitri had stayed awhile, gossiping with her ladies while
Tani remained silent until finally Sitri dismissed her entourage, stating that
she and Tani had some personal issues to discuss. Recalling her words now, Tani
found it hard to remember what she had actually said. Something about clearing
the air and that she accepted that Phenex had other mistresses and felt that
they should be friends. At least that’s what she thought she’d said. Tani
couldn’t be sure. It was as if there was a part of the discussion her brain
wouldn’t let her remember. And now she’d had that dream again. The one that
ended with her being choked to death.

Tani threw back the covers, her throat dry and her heart
pounding in remembrance of the recurring dream. All her fears regarding fate
and destiny washed over her and she desperately needed air. Walking to the
window that overlooked a small interior courtyard, Tani grabbed a glass of the
honey wine and swallowed it down, its sweetness wiping away the remaining bile
in her throat. The fresh air did nothing to stay her nerves or her
unsteadiness. Making her way back to the bed, Tani lay down, her vision
blurring as she fought to stay conscious. She was tired, so tired.

The sound of a key turning in the lock roused her to sleepy
awareness. Tani opened her eyes. The room was shrouded in the darkness of the
night and her eyes had trouble focusing on the shadowy form entering the room.
A hand touched her shoulder and she wanted to cry out.

“You are so beautiful, my love,” a voice murmured huskily,
lips peppering her throat with kisses. “You are all I’ve ever wanted.”

Tani’s heart beat violently, threatening to burst from her
chest. It was her recurring dream come to life. Fear rose but then faded as the
next words deviated from the usual script. “It’s me, Tani.”

“Jaro?” she queried sleepily.

“Yes, Tanith. Jaro.”

At the sound of his reply Tani knew what she had to do next.
“You’re here,” she said in wonderment. “At last.” He moved his hand from her
shoulder to her throat, applying more pressure. “Wait,” she said. “Before you
take what you want, share a drink with me, my love.”

“It would be my pleasure,” he said, his voice a rough growl
sounding slightly off key and not so familiar to her now. She tamped down a
sharp spike of fear and opened a fresh bottle, pouring her guest a glass of
wine. “Drink,” she said, knowing that if he drank the wine then everything
would be all right. “Then make love to me.” Jaro drank deeply, swallowing the
last dregs with a flourish. He kissed her and then the world turned black.

When Tani woke again her head hurt. Her body hurt. She hurt
all over. More than that, she was paralyzed by a heavy weight that held her
immobile. Unable to fully open her eyes, Tani tried to wriggle beneath the
oppressive weight but it barely moved. The pressure on her chest only increased
when she shifted, so Tani paused, giving up, too groggy to process what the
weight might be. Her eyelids finally found the strength to open. Light flooded
in, the weight revealed. A dark head lay across her breast, a leg thrown over
her thigh. Cold fear shot through her veins as hazy recollections of the previous
night flooded back. Jaro. Jaro had come to her. He was here! She tried
desperately to remember what had brought him to her, what he had said, what
they had done. She moved her hand to shake him awake and fear seized her chest.
His skin was frozen. No longer a glowing bronze tinged with sunshine, now a
pale, dull whitewash of flesh that had been sucked dry. Gray and empty.

Tani’s heart began to pound, waves of nausea streaking through
her bones as her insides heaved. She dry retched into the pillow. The weight
that lay on her was a dead weight.

Dead! He was dead!

Jaro was dead!

Finally the fear that had overtaken her jerked her body into
action. She pulled out from underneath him, tears burning, breath ragged and choking
her throat.
This can’t be happening!
Panic flooded her veins and then
she froze, numbed by the devastating realization that Jaro was gone. She barely
had time to process this fact before a sharp voice called to her from outside
the bedchamber.

“Lady Tanith!” Tani could do nothing but wait as Sitri
glided into the room. She was followed by an entourage of ladies-in-waiting,
all holding gowns of rich silk and hard on their heels an escort of four armed
guards. “I thought we could find you something special to wear,” she said, then
stopped dead as she took in the very obvious scene on the bed. The ladies
behind her gasped in horror.

“Why are you with the slave?” Sitri asked, her head tilting
to one side, brow raised in query. “You know Lord Phenex doesn’t like to share.
Tut, tut, Tanith. What will he say?”

Tani scrambled backward on the bed, away from the body.
Sitri walked forward, wearing a dispassionate expression as she felt the body
for a pulse. Tani thought she caught a self-satisfied smile as Sitri announced,
“He’s dead. I wonder how he died.” She scanned the room, her gaze alighting on
the glass next to the bed. Sitri picked it up, eyes never leaving Tani’s
horrified face. She inhaled. “Balauri poison. It has a distinctive smell. I
thought you would know that, Tanith.” Her eyes narrowed, lips curling into a
grin. She shook her head. “What a naughty Eunomi you are.” The ladies behind
were now murmuring.

Tani could hardly breathe. Her brain was still foggy, she
guessed now from something she had drunk last night. She barely remembered Jaro
arriving. After that, nothing.

Sitri was still smiling, the venom in her expression
obvious. “Call for Phenex and the guards.”

All hell broke loose and the world collapsed around her.
Tani remembered little of what happened next. She was manhandled and cuffed,
forced to her knees by the escorting soldiers, head bent to the floor while
they awaited Phenex’s arrival. It seemed as though hours passed, during which
Tani’s mind splintered apart. Hysteria choked her throat. Panic clogged her
brain. She could remember nothing other than that Jaro was gone, and the
agonizing finality of that thought seared her consciousness, gutting her from
the inside out. She struggled to latch on to the connection that had been
broken and retied so many times it was a festering knot wrapping around her
heart. It hurt that she could still feel it. A lingering solitary thread. But
it was false hope. Merely an echo, a faint residue that was yet to fade away.
Her noble savage warrior was gone. And she was left broken.

* * * * *

Tyr Bellor was impatient. Cassi had promised that Antares
had the technology to set up a face-to-face call to Earth. He was itching to
check on Irina. He’d been away for a week now, the longest they’d been apart
since their bonding and it was killing him. He hated being away from her but
there was no way he was going to bring her to Ophiuchus with him. This planet
was far too dangerous. Who knew what the Discordants would do to a bonded Esseni
if they caught her?

So even though Irina had wanted to come, he’d vetoed it and
been grateful that her triplet cousins had called, asking her to visit Earth
with them for their birthday. There was some boy band they wanted to see and as
the concert was in New York, Tyr had suggested she could also take the time to
visit her best friend Luc Whitaker. It was a suggestion he was loath to make,
knowing that Luc had strong feelings for Irina, but he also trusted her
implicitly.

Two Eunomi warriors and Merak, Irina’s surrogate father, had
also been corralled into the party so Tyr was confident she would be safe
enough. Irina’s Esseni powers were growing. She had gained such confidence over
the last few months, her silver-tongued power of the voice gaining strength
every time she used it. She was certainly able to persuade and cajole him into
doing anything for her!

And now he couldn’t wait to see her beautiful face. It hurt so
much to be away from her. Since they had met he had made it his mission in life
to protect and shelter Irina from harm. She was the air that he breathed and
any thought that she might be hurt was enough to send him into high alert. He
just needed to see her face, to reassure himself that she was okay and that
would be enough to soothe his agitation.

The screen crackled to life and there she was, her bright
amber eyes shining with excitement and love. Chaos, how he adored this woman!
And chaos it seemed was all around her. One look at her surroundings was enough
to make him smile. Irina was sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by
fabric, glue and lots of glittery things. He couldn’t hide the laughter in his
voice. “What are you doing, little dove?” He had to ask.

“That’s my hello?” She grinned back. “I haven’t seen you for
eight days and you’re more interested in what I’m doing than how I am?” She
crinkled her nose, looking all kinds of cute, the sprinkling of freckles he
loved to kiss giving him an instant hard-on. Damn! He couldn’t wait to be home.
In an effort to ignore his body’s automatic response to the woman he craved,
Tyr focused on the devastation that surrounded her.

“I can see you’re fine,” he laughed, “but what’s with the
craft attack?” Her eyes lit up. “The triplets’ birthday presents. I’m
bedazzling backpacks for them. You know how they like shiny things.”

Tyr did. He hadn’t known her cousins for long but one thing
he did know was that they liked their sparkle. Jeze, Lili and Cate were such an
adorable trio it was hard to deny them anything. They had tried to give him a
sparkly makeover when he’d nodded off one afternoon during one of their visits
to his and Irina’s house on Lyra and he’d awoken to find his nails painted and
silver glitter in his dark hair. He shuddered in remembrance. “When do they
arrive?”

“Tonight. I can’t wait. Luc’s got us tickets to see Gayle
Force, that band the girls rave over. Apparently the lead singer, Ronen Gayle,
is from Ophiuchus! And Luc’s going to show us the sights of Manhattan.”

Tyr frowned. “Just be careful, Irina.”

Her empathetic smile smoothed away some of his fears. She
knew he was worried. “Don’t worry, baby. Merak will be with us. And don’t
forget the triplets have wiccani magic, plus Luc has all sorts of ninja moves.”

Tyr grunted at that. “I don’t forget and he’d better take
good care of you.” Her eyes twinkled. “You know you have nothing to be jealous
of and anyway guess what?” She carried on before he could speculate. “Luc has a
houseguest—a girl!”

Now that was interesting. “A girl? Is she…” Tyr didn’t have
to finish the question. Irina knew what he meant.

“I don’t know but even if she’s not
the one
, Luc
should have some fun. The chances of his meeting his Esseni partner are so
small, Tyr. She’s probably not even from Earth. How we ever met was a miracle.”

“And for that I thank Gaia every day,” said Tyr.

“Not as much as I thank Chaos,” Irina laughed. “I miss you.
When will you be back?”

Tyr didn’t want to alarm her with the probability of an
impending battle. Tani’s situation at the palace was precarious and the Eunomi
were gearing up for a rescue. “Soon,” he said. “There are some issues here to
be resolved.”

Irina knew what he was hiding. “Be careful,” she said. “And
Tani, has she made contact with her partner?”

“It’s complicated.”

“It always is.”

“Little dove, it breaks my heart but I have to go.” His eyes
captured hers and everything he felt for her passed swiftly between them through
threads that connected their souls. Even though they were light-years apart,
the eternal bond was so strong it was a tangible thing.

Irina blew him a kiss. “As always,” she said, “I love you.”

Tyr grinned back. “I know you do, little dove.”

Cassi walked in with Antares just as Tyr switched off the
screen. “Any news of Ziad?” he asked, “Did you find Morana?”

Cassi shook her head. “We went to the Vita Cruor but they
denied all knowledge of his or her whereabouts. We know they’re lying. One of
our informants saw her taken there but the whole place was in an uproar.”

“It was very odd,” said Antares. “The Vita Cruor are not
easily spooked but they seemed to be bothered by some rumors going around. All
the sanguini are on edge. Something has made them uneasy and some of it is
definitely linked to this Morana. Just mentioning her name had them running
scared.”

Cassi cut in. “More importantly we have heard other talk that
warriors in the service of another overlord have been seen skirting the city.
Everyone is jumpy.”

Tyr didn’t like the sound of that. “Phenex has many enemies,”
he said thoughtfully. “Send someone to keep an eye on the situation just in
case it’s not a friendly visit. Phenex is rather preoccupied at the moment so
we need to make sure the city is defended from predators. There are too many
innocents here.”