3013

by Kali Argent

  It hadn’t been as satisfying as he’d anticipated, but at least it was finally over. Elder Meadowlark took one last gurgling breath, released it on a wheeze, and didn’t move again. Wide and forever unseeing, his eyes reflected the light of the moon, his face twisted into a permanent look of surprise. His death wouldn’t bring solace to the families he’d wrought so much pain on, but at least he’d never hurt anyone again.

  The Adderstones dimmed to their natural glow, the wind calmed, and the females began to stir.

  Lowering himself to the ground, Sion groaned as the change overcame him, but once completed, he didn’t even take time to catch his breath. Shoving to his feet, he clamored toward his mate, pulling Rya up from the cold stone to envelope her in his arms.

  “Are you okay? Does it hurt?” Leaning away, he stroked her hair, her face, her arms. “Say something.”

  Rya smiled. “I love you.”

  Releasing the breath he’d been holding since she’d disappeared, Sion pulled her to him again, chuckling as he rested his chin on top of her head. “I love you, too, princess.” Carefully, gently, he slid his hand across her flat belly. “Is the baby okay?”

  Rya covered his hand with her own and shook her head. “I don’t know, but I think so.”

  “We’ll see Medic Brambles first thing when we get home.” Until then, Sion chose to believe he’d been fast enough, that there would be no lasting effects.

  Apparently, the seal had broken because their friends—bruised and bloody, but smiling—climbed the small hill and crossed the clearing toward them. Naturally, Kai went straight to Ivy, lifting her into his arms and kissing her passionately. Relieved to find his sister well, Garrik tried to pull Rya into a hug, but stopped and held his hands up when Sion growled at him.

  “I don’t like it,” he said, backing away, “but I get it. Rya, I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Just give me a minute.” Sion didn’t want to come between the siblings, especially when he trusted no one more to help him protect his mate. “It’ll pass, but for now, just keep your distance.”

  Garrik nodded and hurried away to help Tira and Lorcan with the other females. Elder Blue conjured blankets and robes for everyone, even Sion, and after a while, the entire night began to feel like a bad dream.

  “You killed all of them?” Sadness tinged her tone as Rya looked out over the fallen bodies of the sentries.

  “Well, princess, they were doing their level best to try to kill us.”

  “I know. I just wish it hadn’t come to this, that none of this would have happened.”

  “Vasera.” Lorcan appeared at their side and bowed. “Your brother would like a word.”

  Feeling more stable, Sion kissed her forehead and tucked the blanket securely around her shoulders. “Go on. I’ll talk to Elder Blue and figure out how we’re going to get all of these bodies back to the citadel.” He kissed her again. “Just...stay where I can see you, okay?”

  She understood, because she didn’t want to leave him, either. “Same to you. I’ll only be a moment.”

  “Are you well, Rya?”

  She’d known Lorcan for centuries, and never in all that time had she used her name instead of her title. “I’m okay. Thank you for coming for us.”

  “It was my honor. I’d never let anything happen to you.”

  Rya tensed, but didn’t comment on his peculiar behavior. “Where did you say Garrik wanted to meet?”

  “Not far. Just beyond that knoll.” His hand pressed into her back, urging her more insistently. “He’s looking to see if any of the sentries escaped.”

  Rya jerked to a stop. “I’m going back. Tell him to come find me when he’s finished.”

  “I’m sorry, but he insisted.”

  Her brother would never call her out from the safety of the group, not even if his life had been in danger. “I’m going back,” she repeated firmly. “Let go of me.”

  “I can’t do that.” In an instant, his expression changed from the loyal and obedient servant to that of a deranged madman. “I can’t let you go. He promised.”

  “Going already?” Elder Blue emerged in front of them, blocking Lorcan’s exit. “The party isn’t over yet.” He spoke calmly, almost flippantly, but he held his body tense, ready. “Vasera, I think your mate has endured enough stress tonight. Let’s not push him over the edge.” With a tight grin, he held his hand out to her. “Shall we?”

  “Get back!” Lorcan yelled, jerking Rya away from the elder while unsheathing the dagger from his hip. With trembling hands, he placed the blade to her throat, pressing the tip to her flesh until blood trickled from the shallow cut. “She’s mine. She belongs with me, not that filthy animal. He promised.”

  Elder Meadowlark had said he hadn’t sent anyone to try to abduct her after the summit, and at the time, she hadn’t believed him. “You sent that male, the one who looked like Sion. You sent him to take me.”

  “Yes.” Lorcan took another step back, angling away from Elder Blue. “I did everything he asked. I took care of that idiot Wyn Nightstar after he failed to kill Ivy. I gave the guards the guns from the hall of weapons. I took care of Gelnda River’s sister and that wide-eyed sentry when they got too close to the truth. I did everything!” His chest heaved as his breathing turned ragged. “I’ve loved you for a thousand years, Rya, and after all of that, he was going to take you away from me.”

  Stars above, he was crazier than Elder Meadowlark.

  A thousand years. Since her parents had died. “Did you kill my parents?”

  Lorcan shook his head hard enough for her to feel, the movement digging the blade deeper into her skin. “Your father was special. Elder Meadowlark couldn’t control him like he could the other rulers. So, he needed to be eliminated. Your grief would make you more pliable.”

  He may not have planned the murder, but he’d known about it, and that was just as bad. For a thousand years, he’d pretended to be her friend. She’d let him comfort her, and all the while, he’d been manipulating her.

  Elder Blue didn’t offer placating words or try to bargain. He stood silently, still blocking any escape, but his eyes darted to different points on Lorcan’s body. “You’re going to want to let her go,” he said at last. “If you don’t, I think you’re going to be very sorry.”

  Behind them, a twig snapped, and Lorcan spun them around so quickly Rya stumbled, nearly impaling herself on his blade. “Stay back!”

  Sion growled, his cat-like eyes narrowed on the blood that ran down Rya’s throat. “I’m going to peel your skin off until there’s no—”

  A blast of blue light caught Sion in the chest, flipping him through the air so that he landed several feet away. He didn’t get up. He didn’t move at all.

  “Sion!” Silently, Rya scanned their mental link and found nothing. “Sion, get up!”

  He remained unmoving.

  Everyone had gathered now, forming a lose circle around them, trapping Lorcan. He had no way out, nowhere to run.

  Garrik knelt at Sion’s side and touched two fingers to the shifter’s throat. When he looked up, Rya could see the answer she sought written all over his face, even before Garrik shook his head.

  Grabbing Lorcan’s hand that held the blade, she released all of her anger, fear, grief, anguish, and despair, sending it into the attendant so that he could feel even a fraction of what she felt. All the darkness she’d endured, the cruelty and unjustness inflicted by others. Every ounce of gut-wrenching pain from watching the people she loved die. The guilt she’d held on to for so long, that she’d locked away in the deepest recess of her heart. It all poured out, flowing between her and Lorcan, spilling into him, consuming him.

  Then, he screamed.

  Releasing her, Lorcan tripped backwards, wiping furiously as his eyes. “I can’t see!” Dark red blood seeped from his eyes, his ears, his nose, running in rivers down his chest. “Please, stop! Stop this!”

  Rya didn’t even know how she’d done it, and she had no idea how to s
top it. She wasn’t overly convinced she would even if she had the power.

  “Help me. Someone he—” Lorcan fell to his knees, expelling a torrent of blood from his mouth.

  He choked wetly, vomited again, then collapsed, no longer breathing.

  “That was way better than my plan.” Elder Blue looked down at the body with revulsion. “He got blood on my boots.”

  Rya cared about none of that. Spinning around, she intended to go to her mate, but bounced backward when she hit a wall of solid muscle. Strong arms came around her, keeping her upright, and Sion’s grinning face stared down at her.

  “Hey, princess.”

  Tears streamed from her eyes, but she couldn’t pinpoint which emotion had caused them. “You’re okay.” She threw her arms around his neck, holding him with all of her strength. “You’re really okay.”

  “I’m really okay.”

  They’d needed a plan, one that didn’t involve getting Rya killed, and Sion had been volunteered to be the distraction. Getting blasted with magic hadn’t been in the agreement, and it had stunned him, rendering him temporarily unconscious. He’d been awake by the time Garrik had knelt beside him, and he’d been the only one to hear the captain whisper for him to stay down.

  The idea had been to distract Lorcan so that the elder could render him immobile just long enough for Garrik to grab Rya out of his reach. Rya, however, had clearly had a plan of her own.

  “How did you do that?” His gaze traveled to Lorcan and the pool of blood surrounding him. “That was some impressive stuff, princess.”

  “Don’t say that.” Burying her face against the side of his neck, she wept. “I killed him. I didn’t mean to kill him.”

  “Shh, easy, easy. It’s okay, princess. It’s over. No one can hurt you now.” He’d make sure of it. “Hey, look at me.” When she finally released him, Sion blinked a few times. “What’s happening to your hair?”

  Several streaks of silver now ran through her ebony locks, and even as he watched, more appeared. Lifting one of the lightened strands, he held it up to the moonlight, fascinated.

  “What’s happening?” Rya pulled on the end of the tresses, staring at them with an incomprehensible expression. “Why is this happening?”

  “You used dark magic,” Elder Blue answered with a shrug.

  “Wait, what?” Kai stepped forward, his eyebrows drawn together. “Dark magic? That’s what causes the silver hair?”

  Elder Blue snorted. “You actually thought the elders were chosen by...what? The ancestors? Fate?” He turned to Rya, his gaze soft and empathetic. “We do what we’re forced to when it comes to protecting those we love. It doesn’t make you evil, Rya. Remember that.”

  Kai was still apparently grappling with the knowledge that the Court of Elders had once again manipulated him. “So, by that logic, that would mean you’ve used the darkness.”

  “That’s none of your fucking business.” With a short nod, the elder turned and walked off into the night, leaving them all gaping after him.

  Looking over Rya’s shoulder to the body on the ground, Sion scowled. “If that’s true, why doesn’t that asshole have white hair? He admitted to killing Wyn Nightstar.”

  Rya touched his cheek to gain his attention. “Magic doesn’t have to be dark to kill, my darling. I’ll explain later.”

  She seemed a little dazed, and Sion knew from experience that if she let it, the guilt would destroy her, but he’d be there every day to see her through it. He’d be there to remind her she was kind and beautiful, with a big heart and a giving soul. As many times as she needed to hear it, he’d remind her she wasn’t evil or cursed, that things weren’t always so black and white.

  “Everything is going to change now.” She looked up at him as if he somehow had all the answers. “Isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is.” He’d promised to always tell her the truth, but right then, he wished he could tell her anything else, any lie that would take the lost look from her eyes. “People are going to be confused and scared. They’ll need you.”

  “I don’t know if I can do it.” She pulled at her hair again. “What do I even tell them?”

  “You tell them the truth.” Cupping her face in both hands, he slanted their mouths together in a kiss he hoped conveyed all the things he didn’t have time to say. “I believe in you, and I’m going to be right here the whole way. We’ll do it together.”

  Looking up at him through her long lashes, Rya offered a tiny, wobbly smile. “Together.”

  “Now until forever,” he whispered, “I am yours.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Ahh! Damn! Fuck!” A series of other curses flew from Rya’s mouth as she gripped the handrails of the bed in a white-knuckled grip.

  She rarely cursed, and Sion hadn’t realized she even knew half of the words spilling from her lips. “I think I’m a bad influence on you, princess.”

  “I hate you!” she screamed.

  “She doesn’t really mean that.” Tucked between Rya’s raised legs, Medic Brambles laughed when she turned her murderous expression on him. “You’re doing well, Vasera. Just a couple more big pushes.”

  Sion stood beside his mate’s bed in the medical wing, holding her tiny hand while he waited for his child to enter the world. With each contraction, Rya squeezed his fingers hard enough to bend the bones. Sweat drenched her lovely face from the exertion and dampened her newly silver hair.

  The people of the island still believed Rya had been chosen to be an elder, and thus far, she hadn’t corrected them. The time would come when the rest of the planet would need to hear the truth, to know what they’d learned from Elder Blue, which admittedly, hadn’t been much. But that was a problem for another day.

  Rya screamed again as her body seized, and she jerked his hand so violently he nearly fell on top of her.

  “You’re doing so good. Almost there,” he coached. “Just breathe.”

  “Stop talking!”

  Stars, he hated to see her hurting. “Can’t you give her something to ease the pain?”

  “I offered.” The medic looked up at him with a modicum of sympathy. “She refused.” He reached into the pocket of his white tunic and passed a small, rubber ball to Sion. “Give her this. Maybe it will help.”

  Sion took the ball, more out of reaction than anything, and held it up at eye-level to inspect it. “Is it magic?”

  The medic laughed. “No, nothing like that.”

  “So, it’s just a ball.” His mate was in pain and the medic had given him a toy. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?”

  Out of his mind with worry for both Rya and their baby, he could barely contain his growl as he threw the ball right back at the medic’s face.

  Rya clenched her eyes closed, tossed her head back, and cried out again.

  “That’s it,” Medic Brambles said excitedly, clearly unaffected by being hit in the face with a rubber toy. “The head is crowning.” Then he glanced up and frowned. “Open your eyes, Vasera. Everything is worse in the dark.”

  If looks could kill, the medic would have been dead on the spot.

  “Can I kick him?” Rya asked through panted breaths. “I want to kick him.”

  “Anything you want, princess.” Seriously, he’d punch the medic in the face right there if it made her feel better.

  “Big push!” On a squat stool between her splayed thighs, the medic watched intently, his hands at the ready. “That’s it.”

  Wanting to have the first glimpse of his child, Sion moved toward the medic and leaned sideways to peer under the sheet. What he saw had him swaying on his feet.

  “Don’t you dare pass out!” Rya growled.

  “I’m good.” Holy nova, he didn’t know how females did it.

  When the screams rose in volume, and tears leaked from the corners of Rya’s eyes, Sion couldn’t take it anymore. “No more. We’re done.” He loved her more than anything, and he couldn’t bear to see her in so much pain. “Just stop. We’re leavi
ng.”

  The medic laughed at him. “That’s not how this works, Vasere. This youngling is coming whether you’re ready or not.”

  “I can’t do this.” He was going to be someone’s father. In just a few minutes, he’d be responsible for another person, a fragile, helpless person. “Oh, shit.” He needed to sit down.

  Rya squeezed his hand again as she bent forward with a battle cry worthy of a warrior. A gush of fluid spilled onto the floor, and Sion thought he really would pass out that time. His vision blurred, his throat tightened, and he went momentarily deaf. Then everything came rushing back at once, and in the midst of his breakdown, he heard the sweetest sound in all the universe.

  “You did it,” he whispered when he could speak again.

  Brushing the sweat-dampened hair from Rya’s forehead, he leaned down to kiss her, while medics, with their swift, practiced movements, cleaned and swaddled the wailing infant.

  “Vasere Clearwater?” Medic Brambles held out a small, squirming bundle. “Meet your daughter.”

  Tears beaded along Sion’s lower lashes as he cradled his daughter in the crook of his arm and stared into her wide, innocent eyes—eyes the same color as her mother’s. Her mouth fell open with an adorable yawn, and instantly, he was in love.

  Releasing the bed’s handrail, he slid down on the mattress beside his mate, gently lowering their baby girl into Rya’s waiting arms. “Look what we created, princess. She’s perfect.”

  Rya closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek over the top of the baby’s head. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”

  Watching them together, the two most important people in his life, Sion couldn’t stop smiling. “She’s as beautiful as her mother.”

  A commotion in the corridor outside their room drew everyone’s attention, and Rya began to giggle. “I think we have guests.”

  “Let us in.” Ivy’s voice rang the loudest. “I’m never going to pop out my own baby,” she grumbled. “At least let me be an aunt while I’m waiting. Maybe I’ll learn something.”