Undying Hope (29 page)

“No, Nikon, please, you can’t die on me.” Haven curled herself around her friend and glowed with a healing ability she didn’t know how to control, keeping the animal away from death’s door.

“Don’t let her do this. It will kill her.”

“Goddamn it, I can’t let him die on her. Riordan!”
He broadcasted his trouble to the entire Heartland tribe.

The
treòir
faded back as his brother’s voice sounded in his mind.
“What’s going on?”

“Kyros is here in my building, and Nikon is dying. Haven’s holding on to him. Get your ass here now!”

There was a long moment of silence. “
Let
him
help you, brother. Memphis has portals opened all over the city. We’re coming in.”

The
treòir
hissed. “
I cannot let either of you do this. The animal’s life is not worth hers.”

“But she thinks it is. Understand, please!”

There was turmoil in his head, but his body was moving under the
treòir
’s direction. His hand spread over the wolf’s fur. “
Like you did with Haven. Just enough. We need to have power enough to protect them should Kyros come back.”

Donovan did as he was told, and then his body was moving again, extracting Haven from the wolf. When he spoke, his voice was a strange mix of his voice and the
treòir
’s. “Do not touch him again. He will live, but you must be safe. Kyros is here.”

“I won’t leave him.”

Donovan snarled, taking over. “Damn it. Get your ass into my office now.” He lifted Nikon, carried him into the office, and set him onto the couch. Medea whined in that heartrending way wolves had as she put her head near her mate’s.

“Thank you, dark one.”

Nikon whimpered softly.
“She hurt herself again. Help her, not me, you fool.”

Donovan was in the hall with Haven a second later. She was weak since she’d used too much energy, but he’d have to deal with that later. He scooped her up and set her down on the floor next to Medea where she’d be able to see and touch Nikon. “Stay.” Then he left the room before he closed and locked the door. He slipped the key under the door so only Haven could control who went in.

“We cannot fight him here,”
the
treòir
said. “
This is your home, and I will not have any more harmful memories for our lifebond. Draw him out and let your brothers chase him off. Once the animal and our mate are safe, then we will go hunting.”

Donovan didn’t question the
treòir
. He’d have come up with the same thing on his own. He allowed himself to connect further with the
treòir
within. He always did when there was danger.

Haven curled around Nikon and reached out to put a hand on Medea. She couldn’t imagine how terrified Medea would have been to have Nikon brought down like that. She prayed Quinn would come back to her. She had no idea why he thought this room was safe, but he seemed to believe it, so here is where she would stay with her wolves. She felt weak, like she’d just run a decathlon and then climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Breathing was an effort, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to slip into sleep while Nikon was hanging between life and death. She knew she couldn’t help Quinn, but she could help her wolf and comfort his mate. It was an eternity before she heard a knock at the door. She slid off the couch and scooted across the floor, unable to stand up. “Who’s there?”

“Wolf. Quinn sent me to get you.”

She closed her eyes, trying to think. The man sounded and felt like Wolf, but she wasn’t really sure she should trust anything at the moment. “How do I know it’s you?”

“Because I told you to kill yourself, little sister.”

She puffed out a breath and looked to Medea.

“It is Wolf,”
Medea said as she went over to the key and used her nose to slip it under the door.

A second later the door burst open and Wolf stood there, filling up the frame. His eyes blazed a golden umber. “What did you do to yourself?”

She growled at him from the floor. “I tried to save my wolf. You should put magic lessons in that book of yours.”

Echo and Apollo moved past Wolf to Nikon, who lay still on the couch. Their noses touched, and the three of them began to glow in a soft purple light. When the light faded, Nikon hopped down and stretched and then shook his massive body. Nikon turned and licked where the wound had been. He nuzzled his mate before going to Haven and sitting down next to her. He dropped his head onto her shoulder.
“Get lessons on magic control before trying it again. A total loss of energy is a loss of life.”

Haven rested her head on his. “I couldn’t let you die.”

Wolf crouched down in front of her. “You can talk to the wolf later. My job is to get you out of here right now.” He didn’t wait for her to respond. He just lifted her and took her to the bedroom. He deposited her on the bed and rummaged through the drawers, tossing pants and socks at her. “Get dressed.”

Haven just stared at him.

“Do you need me to help you?”

She groaned and with great effort summoned the energy to dress herself. Having Quinn help her was one thing, but Wolf was an altogether different matter. He still scared her for one, and for the other, he still had some kind of
treòir
trapped inside of him that didn’t find her amusing. “Where is Quinn?”

“He is alive. Don’t worry. He won’t let himself be killed.”

“I know that, but sometimes things just happen. I wasn’t expecting an earthquake in the middle of Chicago. This isn’t a seismically active area and hasn’t ever been.” She scooted off the bed and took tiny, slow steps over to the closet to get a pair of shoes. She sat down on the floor to conserve energy once she was there.

“He’s over two thousand years old. I think he can take care of himself.”

She snorted. “Right, and you’re all confused about the
treòir
.”

His eyes sharpened on her. “What are you talking about?”

She grinned at him. “I’ve talked to Quinn’s. He likes me quite a bit, and they have a tentative truce.”

“We’ll talk about this once I get you safe.” He stooped down and lifted her off the floor.

Haven couldn’t relax against him. She wasn’t comfortable being this close to Wolf, though she was starting to wonder if she’d spend half of eternity with her feet never touching the ground. He carried her down the steps and to the portal room where one of Memphis’s portals spun open.

“Don’t forget my book and the note pad. I’m working on something.”

He growled low, sounding just like Nikon, but did grab what she’d asked for before he threw her coat at her and swung back around to the portal. She managed to put it on without asking for help, and a second later, he had her in his arms again, carrying her into the room, wolves at his heels.

“The wolves are very close to all of you,” she said once they were on the other side.

“They are bonded to us. We are of the Wolf Clan.”

“I read a little bit about it. You are a good storyteller.”

His face twitched. “They aren’t stories.”

“No, but the way you tell history is like curling up with a good horror novel.”

“Horror?”

“It’s all very interesting and absorbing, but a lot of it is scary with the perspective that it all happened.”

“Aye, little sister, every story was real.” He wrapped his body around her like a shield as he stepped out of the portal room to where they’d gone. “I live in the Clan lodge. It’s small, but it serves me well enough.”

So this was the exterior of the compound. She’d never seen it, since she’d always traveled to and from Nadia’s house via a portal. It was a long street with several modern houses on either side. A large building rested at the end of a cul-de-sac. Woodlands surrounded the lot, and a large iron gate sat between two stone walls. The walls disappeared behind the trees.

She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to find somewhere to sleep for the next week. Worry for Quinn kept her from finding oblivion. She reached out for him with her mind, needing to know what was happening to him.

“I am fine. Stay with Wolf. I will come to you when I know Kyros is back in his lair for the night.”

“I worry about you
.”

“I know. Be safe. We have much to talk about once you have rested.”

She winced. “
You could have warned me before I used magic.”

“Yes, but I seem to remember discussing something just as important.”

The tension in her shoulders eased.
“I love you.”

“I love you, too, my Haven. Rest. I will be with you soon.”

* * * *

Donovan broke contact with her. He was keenly aware that his fight against the
treòir
over the centuries might have been a senseless one.

“Do not think that, my brother. Power and control are addictive things.”

Donovan nodded his agreement as he crouched low to the ground. As soon as he’d known Haven was clear of the building, he’d had it evacuated of every resident. He stalked the halls. Dragons soared the skies. He looked out a window at the end of a corridor and wondered what it would be like to be human and unable to see through the illusions dragons built around themselves to keep from being seen. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to cope in a world where he didn’t see at least one dragon circling in the distance. He knew exactly what had caused the quake.

Maverick came in close to him. His eyes were a glow of swirling mercury. “The building is secured. I saw the vortex from the ground, but I did not feel them. There is rumor an aged Hunter joined their ranks.”

“Aye,” Donovan said. “I still want you to check the building’s structural stability before you allow anyone in. Kyros is trying to recreate us, I think. Be on the lookout for an Earth Warrior on par with you.”

“Of course, my lord.” Maverick pressed the button to the elevator that would take him down into the basement.

Only after making contact with all the men he had in the area did he go to seek out Riordan.

They met in the front lobby of the building.

The two brothers stood off to the side where the crowd of residents had gathered for warmth. Donovan’s tone was light, belying the turmoil he was still in. “Is there anything you would like to tell me?”

Riordan shrugged. “I am sure you are getting the information you need.”

“But how much of that information can be shared without an adverse effect?”

“Do not tempt nature. There are reasons for the way things are.”

Donovan wasn’t so sure. “How much is natural law and how much is superstition?”

“You cannot understand what you speak of yet. Your process is not complete.”

“No, but I have more control and more hope than I have had in two thousand years. You were just a child the first time I allowed the power of the
treòir
out, and he likes Haven.”

Riordan gave a knowing smile. “It is a bit disconcerting to discover that. I thought I was going to go mad when I found out mine wanted Nadia for himself, but it is exactly what makes Haven your lifebond. Keeping us ignorant of some things is more for the protection of clans than it is for the benefit of the men. Only a small percentage of us live to be ancients. The rest…”

Donovan bowed his head. The rest were either killed in battle or killed for becoming a meirlock. “Aye. So this is the contents of the Undying book that was revealed to all bonding males? Because the threat of them turning—”

“Is no longer there, provided she is his true lifebond.”

Donovan understood. They lost a great many men in battle, and bondings were just as fragile. The chances of surviving went up with age, but too many Undying found their bond to life while still in their warrior years. “Haven seems to think I must make friends and work with him.”

“Yes,” Riordan said. “You need to become one with him. There is no other way, and a bond between you and Haven will not take until the merge has happened.”

“He said I need to discover how to make that work on my own,” Donovan said. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Haven, but he was leery of accepting everything the
treòir
said at face value. His power didn’t understand the workings of the world and tried to do things in ways that weren’t always according to Undying law.

“Yes,” Riordan said. “That is the part about bonding the males cannot know about. We need to keep the men leery of their
treòir
until they can be trusted to handle the power of a merge.” He looked at Donovan. “We cannot risk more Undying like the one that destroyed our parents. They cannot merge until there is something to keep them grounded in life.”

“I understand.” The dragon went insane when his mate had been killed while he’d been away dispatching a warlock. Joseph hadn’t allowed himself to live long enough to turn into that kind of monster after Rowan fell. “We will discuss this at length once I have completed the process.”

“That would be a good idea and maybe have Wolf create a book, like the one of old, for the males once he has completed the process.”

Donovan’s heart suffered. He still didn’t know what had happened to Wolf to make him so odd, but the man was still his brother, and Fenris, the Original Undying Wolf Cadfael, had drilled it into his head that as long as Wolf followed the laws, his lifebond could still save him. He had hope they could still find her. “Aye, I will talk to him about it.”

“Your Cadens work well together,” Riordan reminded him. “You’re supposed to be on vacation.”

Donovan sighed. “I know.” His jaw started to work. He needed to get back to Haven. He knew Wolf would take care of her, but he didn’t like her being afraid or worried about him, but these people putting their lives on the line were still his.

Riordan sensed his unease. “Go. I will take care of things here.”

He didn’t ask if he was sure. He turned and started the walk to the back alley that would take him to where Memphis would be able to open a portal for him. Only then did the
treòir
completely disconnect from his awareness, satisfied their lifebond had not been forgotten.

* * * *