Undying Hope (33 page)

“I agree,” he said. “I will have Riordan and Wolf assist you.”

“Thank you.” She extracted herself from him and then laced her fingers tight with his. After another moment, she was ready to face Grandfather again. He stood several paces away from Mason. Brody loomed over him as prison guard and protector. The old man appeared frail and aged when he’d never seemed that way before. Haven bit her lip. “Quinn is Cadeyrn. The Black Rose belongs to him. I am his mate. I’d have allowed this organization fall into ruin, but because of Quinn, I decided it should be saved for the good it can still do. Mason is evil. I don’t know where or how you lost your ability to see those things, but this organization is no longer your concern.” She took a step closer to him and, on a hunch, she gently laid her hand on his forearm. She got another shuttering flash of intent. Her hand went tighter around the pendent. Her grandfather wasn’t evil, just a bitter old misguided shell of the man he could have been. There were still some less twisted parts of him that did care about her, but he was too blinded by power lust to do anything good with it.

“Pass your judgment.”
Quinn’s voice was in her head. “
You need experience in doing this.”

Her back straightened and her chin lifted. If she stopped to think about what she was doing, she never would be able to subject another person to her will. She had to go with the knowledge that if she was wrong, Quinn would help her correct it, and she wouldn’t look like an idiot. “You are to retire and live out your life away from a lure of power you cannot handle.”

“The Reannon has passed the sentence,” Donovan’s voice boomed out. “Do you have anything to say?” His penetrating gaze bore into Marcus.

Killian bowed his head. “How can I trust your power isn’t what we fight against?”

“I allowed Haven to show you her mercy. Had I passed judgment on you, you would share Mason’s fate.”

“She is a woman.” Marcus sounded confused. “Why would you allow her any say?”

“Her life was the one most affected by you. If she can find it in her heart to show you the compassion you did not show her, I am inclined to follow her instincts.” He took a menacing step toward Marcus. “Of course, if you prefer for me to embarrass her and rescind her judgment, I’ll be overjoyed to pass my own.”

Marcus turned his head. “That won’t be necessary.”

“I figured as much.” His voice boomed out again. “The sentence stands. Marcus Killian is barred from any and all beings who possess or practice magic until his death.”

“Quinn,”
Haven said through her connection with him. “
Did I do it wrong?”

He touched his hand to the small of her back and bent so he was cheek to cheek with her. “
The punishment suited the crime. His intention was not your death. I will not put you in a position where you are responsible for ending another’s life.”
He brushed a kiss on the top of her head. “Go with my brothers to retrieve your belongings. I will finish up here, and then we shall end the threat that is Kyros.”

She squeezed his hand and gave a wane smile. “Thank you.”

Donovan tilted her face up to his and touched his lips to hers. “Go. I will find you when I am done here.” He stepped back from her. “Wolf. Riordan. Go with her.
And Wolf, hold Mason until Haven is at a safe distance.”

Wolf moved in next to Haven. “I know some of the pendant’s secrets, little sister,” he said. “May I assist?”

Haven looked to Donovan. He nodded once. She walked over to Wolf.

His gaze sharpened on the pendant near her throat. “It is beautiful on you, Reannon. Let me show you how to reverse the shield of the connection.”

Haven’s gaze fluttered to Mason and back to Wolf. “That is probably a good idea.” She wrung her hands together. “Is it difficult?”

“Not at all.” Wolf lightly touched Haven’s elbow. Then he was inside her head with her as he showed her how to use the power in the pendent to block her open connection to Quinn.

A few moments passed, and then Quinn’s voice boomed out. “Wolf!”

Wolf smirked over his shoulder. He guided Haven toward the main staircase.

She stumbled a step. Not being able to feel Quinn’s irritation with his brother had her internal alarms going off.

“You’re okay,”
Wolf said in her mind, and then he showed her how to fine tune the connection block to let a trickle of Quinn’s awareness seep in. “I had to test the shield. Remember to never sever the connection entirely. That could have catastrophic consequences.”

“Thank you.”

He inclined his head. “My pleasure, little sister.” He put his arm out and Haven took it, allowing him to lead her out of the foyer. Riordan was close behind them.

She looked over her shoulder at Donovan just as they reached the door leading into the mansion. “
I’ll be waiting for you.”

* * * *

“I will come for you.”
He could see the worry in her eyes.

Donovan turned to face the man who abused his Haven. He stalked to where Mason stood. He felt the moment when Wolf’s ability to hold a man frozen released.

Mason staggered back a step with a whimper and sank to his knees. “My lord, I was compelled,” he begged. “Kyros made me!”

Donovan already knew the truth. He had to systematically sift through the memories of a man to find truth or compulsion. Haven would have felt the compulsion with her new gifts. She was to assist and help guide him in the decisions he had to make. He worked on hard logic. At times, it took longer for him to come to a decision than what Haven would be able to feel with an intention. Mason intended to kill a lifebond. Still, he couldn’t ignore the accusation. Even if it was only to stay in accordance with the laws. “You understand this means I get free access to your mind?”

“Please, a man can be compelled by more than a compulsion,” Mason begged. “He threatened what was left of my clan! He promised to kill them and turn Bastian. You have to believe me!”

“Then I read you,” Donovan said without sympathy. “If you continue to refuse, I will carry out your sentence.”

Mason licked his lips and moved back. He formed a fist. “Show mercy.” Then he slammed his fist into the marble floor.

The marble cracked and bulged up as it rolled toward Donovan.
Treòir
reared up as Donovan unleashed the power. The shockwave stopped the ground ripple even as the mansion rocked on its foundation, effectively blocking the ancient Earth Warrior’s attack. It shoved Mason backward, slamming him into the wall. Donovan advanced on him, making a tisking sound. “I suppose Kyros compelled you to try to kill just now, too.” He crouched down and wrapped his hand around Mason’s neck to haul him up to his feet. “For my own peace of mind, I will get the knowledge I want.”

He wasn’t gentle when his mind connected with Mason. The sweep was swift, brutal, and seeking only one thing. The compulsion. When there wasn’t one, Donovan let Mason go. “The sentence stands.”

Donovan tossed away the sword. There were several ways to kill an Undying. One was the removal of his head. It was the swiftest and most painless way to go. Another was the complete loss of blood or energy. Those could be relatively painless, depending on the circumstance. The last was heart removal.

Donovan’s gaze locked on Mason’s. He curled a lip. The power flowing through him caused the room to rumble. “She is my lifebond!”

Mason was screaming before Donovan shoved his hand up into the meirlock’s chest cavity. He glided his arm through tissue and blood to find the organ he wanted. He wrapped his hand around Mason’s heart. He twisted and yanked it out. Mason stared down at his heart in Donovan’s hand before he collapsed on the ground, his blood pooling onto the white marble. Donovan dropped the heart onto the body.

“Brogan,” he ordered. “Clean this up.” He shook off the excess blood on his arm. He pointed at Marcus. “Get him out of here.” He found Nathan, the marrok, among those brave enough to still be in the foyer. Donovan walked over to him. “Kyros is not going to give up this place or Haven easily. Even as we speak, he and his men are working to tear down our defenses. I will keep the battle contained to this place. If there are any within these walls worth saving, I suggest you evacuate them.”

Nathan’s eyes went huge before he took off running down the hall, bellowing for everyone to get out of the building.

Wolf was on edge. He did not like Riordan here with the other Cadens. They were risking too much having their healer here. If the unthinkable happened and Quinn was injured, they’d need Riordan to save him. He stood rigid by the door of Haven’s old bedchamber. Power warred in the air itself. All the safeguards they had surrounding Haven had kept her safe. They only kept the power of a meirlock clan at bay for a short time. This place his queen once called home would be no more by sunrise. Power contracted around him, and he gritted his teeth together as he fought to keep the air from opening up with a portal powered by Memphis’s dark twin. Donovan was almost here. Then they could allow the darkness that was Kyros to enter, and they would defeat him and his minions for all time.

Haven stilled in the center of the room. She turned to Wolf. “I…” She let out a soft breath. “Maybe it would be best if we just left. I don’t—”

The building shook.

Pain seared across Wolf’s chest as he dropped to his knees. He ground his teeth together as he staggered up to his feet and lunged for her. His hand wrapped around her wrist just as a portal cracked open under her feet. He yanked her backward, pulling her away from Kyros as he entered into the room. In one motion, he shoved her behind him and drew his broad sword.

“Get her out of here!” he bellowed at Riordan as the head of a red dragon shoved his head through the portal hole. Wolf threw every ounce of power he had into keeping it closed. His muscles flexed. This was no young dragonling easily held at bay by his will. The dragon’s mouth opened as all the oxygen was drawn out of the room. This son of a bitch wasn’t going to take away his brother’s lifebond while there was still breath left in him. Apollo growled and crouched, ready to attack the ancient meirlock dragon. Wolf aimed his sword and charged.

* * * *

Haven screamed when white-hot flames billowed out the bedroom door. Riordan snatched her away from it and shoved her toward the stairs. “We need to move.”

“Wolf,” she said.

A horrible agony-filled wail rose up over the flame.

“He’ll need you!” Haven shouted above the roar of fire.

“Aye,” Riordan agreed as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her toward the stairs. “Quinn needs you more.”

“He’s your brother!” Haven said, even as she staggered along the wall leading to the spiral staircase to the foyer.

“This is not the first dragon he’s faced.” Riordan’s voice was clipped and worried. “Once you are with Quinn, I will go back for Wolf.”

The entire building rumbled again. Shouts and screams echoed around the mansion as the lights went out. Riordan moved in close to her. “Shh. Stay still. Lazarus…”

Black and red streaks of lightning split open the air just before the stairs.

“Oh, fuck,” Riordan muttered under his breath as he pulled out an impressive set of machete knives. “Run!”

“But—”

“Fucking run!”

She ran. Riordan was not prone to using expletives or yelling. The dragon roared as she ran past the bedroom toward the back staircase that would take her to the lower level. The building shook. She couldn’t see anything. The hall grew longer and longer until she wasn’t able to find her own way. When there was suddenly no floor under her, a scream strangled in her throat before she fell into black nothingness.

A hand of steel wrapped around her wrist before she hit anything solid. Pain tore through her shoulder as the sudden jerking stop. Light illuminated around Kyros as he snarled violently at her before he hurled her across the floor. She bounced and skidded into the wall. She lay against the cold stone, oblivious to the shiver of fear as she tried to shake the ringing out of her head.

“He’s already changed you!”

When she didn’t respond, he stalked toward her, crouched next to her, and slapped her in the face. “I am talking to you!”

She pressed a hand to her forehead and then glared up at him. Her ears still rang. “Of course. He’s my lifebond.” His eyes glowed red, but before he could say anything, she continued, “You are disgusting and a monster.”

He grabbed a fist full of hair and yanked her to her feet. He tore the front of her shirt in half. “If I can’t torture him one way, I’ll find another way.”

She kicked him in his shin. He grunted as he brought up his hand. She braced for the blow and rolled over the ground as it sent her sprawling across the floor. She was up and running in the next instant, but the door that had been there suddenly vanished.

“It’s really there,” she spat out and closed her eyes as she ran directly at what appeared to be a stone wall. She put her hands up just before she would hit rock and stumbled a little when she went through the illusion. Hope rushed through her. She didn’t know where she was going, but she would keep running from him until the end of time if necessary. The maze of moving walls and vanishing light made this deadly game of keep-away more difficult. She’d managed to redirect his attention from everything else to chase her around the mansion. It would have been funny, because she felt like she was trapped in some B-rated horror flick, but she knew that she could end up dead—or worse, with Kyros for an eternity.

* * * *

Wolf staggered out of the charred remains of the bedroom. Kyros had Haven. He could feel it in his bones. There was no other reason for the dragon to fall back and allow him to live. The ends of his hair still smoked, and his boots were warmer than was comfortable, but once again, he had Apollo to thank for not becoming a meirlock dragon’s barbecue snack.

“Riordan!” he bellowed. “Rior—”

He stilled in the hall when he saw Quinn crouched down next to their youngest brother.

Quinn’s head snapped up. “Where is Haven?”

Wolf closed his eyes before he squared his shoulders and walked over to where Riordan lay. The clans would need their great healer no matter what happened here tonight. “
Memphis, open the portal for all Cadfaels. We are going to need all the power we can get.”