UnholyCravings (12 page)

“She’s fine.”

“Are you sure? I thought I heard her moan. Is she in pain?”

“She just needs some rest. Keep steering, I’m going to bring
her down below to one of the beds.”

“Good idea. I found a map of the area in the tool box. I
think I can take us somewhere reasonably safe for a while.”

“Good. I’ll call if I need anything.”

“Yes, master.”

Donar’s inner
deahman
purred at Soren’s easy
obedience. What would he do without his twin? Donar didn’t want to think about
it. He cradled Tara in his arms and brought her down below deck. She had been
through a lot in the past twenty-four hours. They all had. After a little rest,
she’d be as good as new. He hoped.

Tara shivered as Donar brought her downstairs. She was on a
boat, but that was impossible. She hated water. How did they manage to get her
over the edge of the dock? Just the thought of going near the water made her
sick with anxiety.

She caught a glimpse of the bay as Donar brought her
downstairs. Fear rose up inside of her and made her chest tighten. She
struggled in Donar’s arms. She had to get off the boat and onto land. Oh for
the love of goddess, she had to get out of there…

Donar stopped at the bottom of the stairs and pressed his
lips to her forehead. “Shhh… it’s over now. You’re safe.”

“No, it’s not over.” He didn’t understand. Tara buried her
head in his chest and tried to will the fear away. “It won’t ever be over.”
Images flashed through her mind—the explosion, the boat sinking, the screams of
her family as they all fell into the water…

No, nothing would be all right until she got off this boat.

“It’s over, at least the worst of it. You have nothing to
fear from Nergal or Urian now.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s…” How did she tell him of her
greatest weakness? Her biggest fear?

He set her down on the bed. “Relax. I’ll protect you.”

Donar eased back and she glanced around the room. The
stairway opened up into a small living space, complete with a sitting area, a
small kitchenette and a large, king-sized bed. The dark-blue carpet on the
floor covered most of the hardwood, and the furniture looked modern and
serviceable. Everything was clean and tidy, as if it hadn’t been used in a long
time, if ever.

Donar rose from the bed and went to the top of the stairs to
close the door. Tara hugged her middle and watched as he blocked the wind and
water from view. She felt slightly better not having to look at her
surroundings, but the gentle rocking and hum of the motor still gave her
anxiety. She tucked her chin in between her knees and began to rock with the boat,
hoping that this nightmare would end as quickly as possible.

When Donar came back down, his gaze focused on her. “Why are
you so afraid?”

“Afraid? I’m not afraid.” Tara sat up and fought the
uneasiness in her gut. She wasn’t one to get seasick, but the memories were
still too strong, her fear too great. What if the boat capsized? They could all
drown.

“You
are
afraid. I can feel it.” Donar closed the
distance between them and sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you afraid of Urian?”

“What? No.”

“Good.” Some of the tension left his face. “Is it Nergal?”

“No.” She shook her head. Dealing with a thousand
deahmans
was better than dealing with this.

“Then what scares you?”

Tara sensed his determination, his stubbornness. She sighed,
knowing that he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he got a truthful answer.
She wrapped her arms around her legs, as if hugging herself could keep the bad
memories at bay. “It happened a long time ago.”

Silence stretched as she wondered how best to proceed. It
was still so difficult to talk about, even decades after the fact.

“I’m listening,” Donar said.

She shivered and focused on a piece of thread that had come
undone on the large, nautical-themed comforter. “My family and I were coming
over here from Europe—Ireland, to be exact. We were to meet up with others
here, make a better life for ourselves.”

“You didn’t have a good life in Ireland?”

“Not really. We got by, but my parents wanted more for us
kids than to work the land for the rest of our lives. They decided to make a
fresh start in a new country.”

“I see.”

“We had booked passage across the Atlantic on one of those
passenger ships—this had happened before there were commercial flights.”

“Before commercial flights? How old are you?”

Tara hesitated before responding. “Ninety-six.”

Donar’s eyes widened. “Of course,
Iatros
have
extended lifespan.”

“Yes, as do our mates.”

He nodded. “Continue.”

Tara tried to gather her thoughts. “The first day went well,
even the second. My sister and I played on the ship’s deck in the sun while my mother
read and my father networked with the other businessmen on the ship.”

“But?” Donar asked after a moment.

“But…but then something happened—I don’t know what. The ship’s
navigator made a mistake, the maps were incorrect, who knows? We hit rocks and
hit them hard. Dawn was breaking and there was a chill in the air. I can
remember hearing the water rushing…” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “The
ship sank.”

“Weren’t there life boats?”

“Yes, there were, but before the crash, earlier that day, my
sister and I were fighting. We always fought. I got a little carried away and
showed my wings in public.”

“So?”

“So don’t you see? Humans aren’t used to seeing people grow
wings, let alone using magic.” She shrugged. “I broke one of the cardinal rules
of being an
Iatros
—never let the humans know who you are.”

“What happened?”

“The humans were scared of us and we became outsiders. There
was nothing that my father could do to change their minds, not by himself. When
the ship went down, everyone was too scared to have us in the lifeboats with
them. My parents knew that if we went in a boat, hundreds of people would die
because no one wanted to go with us. They thought that we would be able to fly
to find land.”

“Did you?”

She hesitated as the words stuck in her throat. “No,” she
whispered. “We flew for hours and hours. We could see the land in the distance,
but it looked much closer than it really was. My sister was the first to tire,
then me. My parents did their best to carry us, but their magic could only hold
out for so long.”

“What happened?”

“We decided to rest in the water and hope that someone would
come for us. It was so cold.” Tara shivered as she remembered that fateful day.
“We were all freezing. My sister, she was so small. She didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“By the time help arrived, my parents and I were all
freezing and half dead.”

“So the water killed your parents then?”

“No. We were brought onto a rescue boat, but the people didn’t
understand or accept our magic. When they found out we weren’t human, they
killed my parents and then kept me in a cage. They thought to sell me as some
freak to a circus or something. Luckily, the local
Iatros
in Boston had
heard of the plight and rescued me. They didn’t make it in time to save my
parents, however.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Ever since that time, I’ve had this…fear of water, the open
ocean in particular.”

Donar reached out and she let him gather her to him. She
liked how strong his arms felt around her, how his heat and scent pushed the
bad memories from her mind.

“I had no idea,” he said.

“No one does, except the
Iatros
elders. I’ve lived
with them ever since.”

“Did you ever find your extended family?”

“No. I didn’t know how to contact them and had no way of
finding out. The
Iatros
clan here is my family now.”

Silence stretched, and after a few moments, Tara felt the
need to fill the silence. “Every time I go out on the water, I think of that
hard time and my family’s death.”

“Well, we’ll just have to keep you distracted while we are
out here, then.”

How was he going to do that? All Tara could think about was
how much water surrounded her. If anything should happen to the boat…

“Tell me more about this binding ritual.”

“The binding ritual?”

“The ritual that forms a bond between yourself and your
spirit-mate.”

She shrugged. “There isn’t much to tell. An
Iatros’
magic will know their spirit-mate upon sight. It’s instant attraction. When
they have sex the first time, they can read each other’s emotions.”

“One in body.”

“Yes. A tattoo begins to form, signifying the first step in
the process.”

“The heart.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“You bear two hearts, one at the base of your neck, the
other on your upper arm.” He smiled. “I noticed them as I moved you downstairs.
I thought it odd that I hadn’t noticed them before.”

“You didn’t notice them before because they weren’t there.”

He nodded. “And the next step of this ritual?”

“The second time is the blending of minds, the third, of
souls. Once the process begins, it can’t be undone.”

“So what we have shared cannot be torn apart?”

“No. We will always be able to feel each other’s emotions,
but only over short distances.”

“There’s more, isn’t there?”

Tara hesitated before responding. “If we continue and become
full spirit-mates, then your life span will lengthen to match mine. You will also
take on some of my magic. I think that’s why Darien is able to control his
deahman
.”

“I see.” Donar thought for a moment before continuing. “Even
though we aren’t fully bonded, I could still feel your power trying to break
through Nergal’s hold. I don’t think he liked it.” He smiled at her. “I think
you scare both him and Urian.”

Tara shuddered. “I don’t know why. They are much more
powerful than me.” They knew that her wings were the source of her power. If
her wings ever got clipped, it would be the equivalent to losing an arm or leg.
She didn’t know if she’d be able to survive it.

“They may be more powerful, but you hold the key to breaking
their hold over us.”

“Yes, but becoming spirit-mates has consequences.”

Donar frowned. “Like what?”

“If something happens to one of us, the other will feel it.
If one of us dies, the other will also die in a matter of days.”

“Even if they are not hurt or sick?”

“Yes.”

He thought for a moment. “I would like to test out this
bond. If just blending our emotions could give us enough strength to break
Nergal’s hold, then imagine what the blending of minds could do.”

Tara couldn’t help the sliver of sadness that speared her
chest. Ever since she was a little girl, she had dreamed of finding her one
true spirit-mate, the one she would share her life with. Never had she imagined
that her joining would be done to save a guy from destroying her home and
family. It seemed so cold, so superficial.

“Once we are bound, it cannot be undone. We will be bound
forever,” she reminded him.

“Yes.” He leaned back and offered her a soft smile. “I like
the sound of that.”

“But—”

“No buts my dear.” Crimson flashed through his gaze. “We
will blend our minds and weaken the hold Nergal has on me. If it works, you
will do the same for Soren.”

He didn’t understand. There was an excellent chance that she
wasn’t strong enough to bond with both of them completely. If she finished the
ritual with Donar, then Soren would forever be damned.

Tara crawled out of his lap, desperate to put some distance
between them. She stepped a short distance away into the kitchenette, then
leaned against the counter.

Donar wanted to do this for all of the wrong reasons. It was
so cold and clinical. And yet, there was no denying her lust for this man. Even
now, with him sitting there and his eyes turning more crimson by the minute, he
looked sexy as hell.
Iatros
didn’t feel attraction unless it was with
their destined mate.

They were meant to be together, that was for sure. So what
if their original joining was cold and clinical? They’d be bonded for a
lifetime. There’d be plenty of time later for him to learn to love her, to feel
genuine affection toward her.

And if he never felt that affection, Tara would survive. She
always did. Donar was right, this would help weaken Nergal’s hold on him and
that was a good thing. It seemed like Donar was cursed with the stronger
deahman
.
She remembered his dominant commands. The presence was used to being obeyed,
which meant at one point it probably had more slaves than just Soren’s
deahman
.
If she could offer Donar some peace, he and his strong
deahman
could
become a powerful ally for her clan. With him, they could stand a chance
against Urian and the others. Since Donar had such a firm control over Soren’s
deahman
,
he could help Soren learn to live with the presence inside of him.

It
could
work. Joining with Donar could benefit all
three of them. And yet, she had hoped for something more…romantic, she
supposed. Tara wanted to be swept away like the heroines in the romance novels
she read. She wanted love and laughter and…

Donar rose from the bed and approached her. “You’re unsure
of this.”

His eyes were fully crimson now, and his voice sounded raw,
as if he had a sore throat. She could feel his rising lust and possessiveness.

He stopped in front of her and hooked a finger under her
chin. “Do you not want to bind to me?”

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

He lifted her head until he met her gaze. “You’re unsure.”

“Yes.” She sighed, relief seeping out of her. He understood.

“Well then, I suppose that I shall have to convince you.” He
pressed his firm lips against hers. The kiss was commanding and possessive.
Tara’s thoughts scattered and the world around her faded away and desire took
control.