She immediately thought of Archer, of never seeing him again, and the resulting pain was so swift it took her breath away. But she’d given her heart, taken the risk, and she didn’t regret it. “You’ll come back,” she whispered. “Promise me, Baleweg. You have to promise me.”
“All your questions will be answered in time. I must go now.” He pressed her hand to her heart. “Trust this. Do not forget.” He straightened and closed his eyes. The triangle opened behind him. There was a flash of something as he stepped through, but her eyes were swimming and she couldn’t make it out.
“Good-bye, Baleweg.”
He nodded to her as the triangle slowly shrank, swallowing him up on the other side. And then it blinked away. And she was alone. In her own bedroom, staring at her own ceiling.
“I’m back in Kansas, Auntie Em,” she whispered. Then she rolled into her pillow and sobbed.
Chapter 25
Archer felt Catriona’s hand go limp in his. “No, dammit! Stay with us. You’ve got a family to fight for now.” Sweat ran from his brow even as his heart pounded in a primal thump of joy at the sound of the new prince testing out his remarkable lungs. He’d never witnessed anything so miraculous in his life.
But he had little time for awe. Right now their focus was on the baby’s mother. He and Niall thought they’d lost her earlier when the contractions had moved so close together she seemed to be almost wrenched from her own body. And then there had been a sudden calm and she’d gained steady ground right up until the baby had pushed its way, squalling, into the world.
“And what a world it is, mate,” he murmured as he watched Niall do his best to clean the babe with his shirt. Archer had cut the cord with, of all things, Beatrice’s old fishing knife. He’d gotten used to carrying it concealed on his body and almost forgotten that he still had it on him. The sight of it had wrenched at his heart as he thought of Talia, but the knowledge that she was, hopefully, safe at home with Baleweg allowed him to focus on the more serious problem at hand. The babe appeared healthy enough, but Catriona’s pulse was thready and Archer feared she’d lost consciousness.
“Cat!” Niall cradled his son and tapped at her cheek, kissed her lips, then her hands. “There’s work left to do, Cat. I know you want to hold your son. Come on, love.”
Archer had never felt so helpless. The miracle of birth was quickly overshadowed by the specter of death. He pushed to a stand and once again searched their cramped prison cell for any means of escape. Although he feared it was too late now. Too late for Catriona, and her son if they found no way to feed him.
The Dark One had traveled them back in time, very far back, not forward as Niall had hoped. They were still in the castle, only it was hardly more than a tumble of stones, an unoccupied ruin. The lower dungeon held them fast with no chance of escape. He thought of Talia again, terrified at the thought that Emrys had left them here to seek her out.
He swore under his breath at the memory of Emrys’s delighted recitation of his grand game. Even now Chamberlain was implementing a worldwide manhunt for the queen and her kidnappers. However, he would be the one to return with her body, and now her son’s … as well of those of her killers, all of whom were slain in the rescue. The murderers being Niall, the father of her bastard child, and Archer, the man who’d do anything for a price. All he had to do was wait for them to die and Emrys to deliver their corpses to him. The Dark One found the whole charade vastly amusing.
What worried Archer was what Emrys’s motivation might be. He wasn’t in this for whatever measly royal powers Chamberlain could bestow on him after he took over the Dalwyn throne. No, he had something else in mind for himself. Some other twisted little amusement. And Archer was desperately afraid it involved Talia. What other target did he have left if his real goal was to get at Baleweg?
Then another thought occurred to him. If Catriona and her son died, that left only Talia with Dalwyn blood in her. Royal blood, and therefore a claim to the throne. Would she know that? And if so, would she try and stop Chamberlain? Archer doubted that Chamberlain would believe the connection, although he supposed the DNA tests that proved it to Catriona could be used to prove it to the kingdom.
Would she do something so foolish as to risk herself for a family she no longer had? “Dammit, I should never have left her behind.” Even as he said the words he realized that if she had come with him, she’d be stuck here, left to die, as well. He had never been one to pray, but he prayed now, prayed that Baleweg would have the sense to hide her somehow, anywhere where Emrys would leave her alone.
His heart constricted as he was forced to face the harsh and painful reality that there might be no such place. His only real hope was that Emrys because bored with this game and moved on to some other demented pursuit, forgetting all about Talia Trahaern.
“I’m losing her!”
Before Archer could cross the room, a triangle began to open in front of him. He flung himself toward Niall, the baby, and Catriona, fearing that Emrys had come back to speed things up a bit.
But it was Baleweg, pale and exhausted, who stumbled through the triangle.
Archer swung around just in time to catch him as he teetered forward. The buzz he usually felt when he touched the old man was barely a hum as he cradled him in his arms. “Baleweg.”
“I made it, then?”
“Yes. Where is Talia?”
Baleweg looked at him. “In Connecticut. Resting. Healing.”
Archer swore loudly. “No! Emrys has left us here; I’m certain he’s off to find her.”
Baleweg, even as weak as he was, shook his head. “No. He will come to me. This time he will see it finished.”
“We must get Catriona and the baby out of here,” Niall demanded, his son setting up a squall again. “We must get her to the future. I’ve seen proof that there is a cure.”
Baleweg struggled to his feet. “The babe,” he whispered in awe. “Then he’s arrived.” A smile briefly touched his lips. “Talia did it, then. She’ll be so pleased.”
“Did what?” Archer stood even as Niall remained crouched by Catriona’s body. “What did she do?”
“She saved this young lad’s life. And hopefully left the queen enough strength to save her own, as well.” Baleweg turned his attention to Archer. “She also connected with you and through her connection I found you. Had it not been for her, all would have been lost.”
Archer tried to assimilate everything Baleweg was saying, but his head was humming. “Healing. You said she was healing? Is she hurt? Emrys—!”
“Will be coming, have no doubt. What Talia did took an enormous toll on her.” He looked Archer straight in the eye. “Taking on the queen’s pain almost killed her. Reaching out to you again after that all but finished the job.”
“How dare you allow her to—”
“You dove through time to save the queen and thwart Emrys with no thought to how giving your life might affect her. So don’t sit in judgment of her because she did the same for you.”
Niall was sobbing now. “We must do something! Oh, Cat, please hold on.” He turned to them. “Please help us.”
“I have traveled twice,” Baleweg said. “And it has taken far more out of me than I thought it would. Emrys must have thrown up barriers to me somehow. I’m—I’m not sure I can sustain another window.”
“Then why the hell did you come here!” Niall shrieked, no longer the stately future king, but a man wracked with terror over the very real possibility of seeing his family die in front of him.
A triangle opened then on the other side of the bars, and Emrys strode through, looking for all the world as if he’d been out strolling in the park. Archer’s mouth dropped open. Emrys, sans his earlier disguise, looked like a much younger version of Baleweg. Darker of hair and thicker of build, as Baleweg likely had been in earlier days, but the facial structure, combined with their eerie blue eyes were exactly the same.
“Yes, Old One,” he sneered, “why in hell did you make th
e trip? Surely you didn’t think to thwart my little game.” He laughed and it made Archer’s skin crawl. “But oh, I was hoping you’d try.”
Archer flung himself against the bars. “Where have you been!”
With barely more than a tiny flick of his finger he sent Archer flying back across the cell, almost landing on the dying body of the queen.
“I don’t answer to you.” He laughed loudly. “I don’t answer to anyone. Grand scheme life has handed me, hmm?”
Baleweg made no move toward him. “Life could have handed you a great deal more. And your contribution to it could have been limitless.”
Emrys’s smug grin slipped a bit. It was a tiny moment, but a telling one all the same.
“Ah, yes, you and your silly obsession with expanding one’s mind. What is the point in that, I ask you, if you can’t use it to entertain yourself? Whyever have this cursed talent if not for that?” His voice had risen and there was a distinct pulse ticking in his temple.
“It was a gift—”
Emrys all but flung himself at them. “Gift!” he shrieked. “Gift?” He laughed maniacally. “A gift he calls it. Well, it was a gift I never asked for!” His face was so purple with rage that Archer instinctively flinched.
Baleweg, on the other hand, seemed to grow calmer, even stronger, the more Emrys lost his composure. It was as if he were feeding off it. Archer swung his gaze back to Emrys, wondering if he understood what Baleweg was about, or even knew of this particular talent.
“A gift isn’t to be asked for, but to be accepted gracefully,” Baleweg said calmly. “But then, grace was never one of your attributes.”
If Emrys had gone purple before, he all but went black in the face now as he choked on his own laughter.
“What would you know of attributes, dear genetic donator? You spew your supposed wisdom and life lessons and yet you had no compunction in selling your DNA to the highest bidder to create me! So let’s not sling arrows, shall we?”
Baleweg continued to prod him, his skin slowly regaining color. “No one chooses the manner of his own creation, but you did have a choice once created. You chose to squander rather than utilize.”
“By utilize I suppose you mean burying yourself in your work, all for the sake of … what? You found your amusements … I found mine.”
When Emrys paced away once again, Baleweg shot a quick look to Archer and mouthed, “Ready them!”
It took a moment for Archer to understand what he was asking. But as he continued to bait Emrys, Baleweg shifted himself so that he created a human shield to the trio behind him. And to the tiny triangle that was beginning to open just behind them.
Archer carefully kept his gaze away from the three of them and on Emrys, ready to do whatever necessary to keep Emrys’s attention on Baleweg or himself and off Niall, Catriona, and the baby. But just then the baby let out a particularly spectacular howl and brought Emrys’s focus swinging about at exactly the moment that Baleweg had opened the triangle wide enough for them to escape.
“Now, now, now!” Archer shouted, diving for them and shoving Niall through the triangle even as he tried to scoop the queen’s lifeless body into his arms.
“No.”
Archer turned just in time to see Emrys walk through the cell bars as easily as he had walked through the shield.
“Go!” Baleweg demanded.
Archer threw himself into the triangle even as it began to waver and fade. But surely if he left now, Baleweg didn’t stand a chance against Emrys. Torn, Archer stepped through the portal with the queen. Then Niall was there, along with a half-dozen uniformed personnel in what looked like a hospital room. The baby had been handed to one of the white coats and Niall was taking Catriona’s unconscious body from Archer’s arms.
“Go back,” he said. “Help him.” He grabbed Archer’s arm as he turned. “Thank you. For everything. You gave me my family back.”
Even as he let Archer go, the triangle had all but disappeared. Once again, Archer aimed, dove … and stayed in the cell where he’d been left to die. And would almost surely die now. But he didn’t intend to go alone.
Baleweg was already on his knees, his expression revealing the pain being inflicted on him, even though Emrys was standing several feet away. “How dare you interfere with my game!” he shrieked. “I had plans for them, lovely plans. I could have toppled a monarchy.”
Archer knew Emrys could easily have followed them with a triangle of his own, but he remained to face Baleweg. The Old One had been right all along. Ultimately, Emrys viewed this as a game between the two of them, and only them. Well, not if Archer had anything to say about it. “Leave him be,” he demanded.
Emrys barely flicked his hand, but this time when Archer hit the wall he knocked his head and nearly passed out. It took several moments just to clear his vision, but he could see well enough to see Emrys send Baleweg, who had been trying to stand, back to his knees.
Archer knew he was weak and would take little of this abuse before it did irreparable harm. He clawed his way back to his feet even as Baleweg once again raised his head.
“This is not the way to solve anything,” he rasped.
Emrys laughed and aimed at him again. Baleweg collapsed onto the floor and lay unmoving as Archer staggered to him. He didn’t care what Emrys did to him, he wasn’t going to let Baleweg take this abuse unshielded.
Even before he got there, Baleweg was stirring. “Don’t,” Archer commanded. He turned to Emrys.
“You think to thwart me?” Emrys shrieked. “I think not!” He drove Archer to his knees right where he stood, and held him trapped there, unable to move, unable to do anything to escape. His muscles felt as if they were turning to stone.
“I don’t care what you do to me,” Archer ground out. “Just leave him alone.”
Emrys smirked. “How touching. Yet I have a hard time believing you’ve developed any real feelings for this one. Hard to care for one so remote.”
He abruptly released Archer from his invisible bonds, but his body merely collapsed, unable to bear its own weight. “At least he has the one thing you don’t,” he rasped.
“And what might that be? A conscience?”
Archer tried to stand, but with the simple raising of Emrys’s finger he felt a pressure that prevented him from moving. To look at Emrys you wouldn’t know he was exerting such power. But the more time he spent torturing Archer, the more time Baleweg was given to recover. Could Archer be cunning enough to last long enough to allow Baleweg to save them? And how could he do it? Emrys was no doubt the stronger of the two by far. Archer had no illusions that they’d get away with opening a triangle right in front of Emrys again. And he’d only follow them anyway.
At the very least, the longer they kept him here, the less he could interfere with Catriona’s possible medical intervention … and Talia’s recovery in Connecticut.
Archer still didn’t understand what had happened between Talia and her connection to both Catriona and himself. But he’d witnessed that time during childbirth when the queen seemed to have no pain and had delivered her child. Had Talia been instrumental in that? And if she’d taken on the queen’s pain … dear God.
Emrys released him once again and turned to Baleweg. Archer felt as if he’d been crushed under a pile of stone, his body weak and sore. Physical force wasn’t going to make things happen here and he wasn’t going to hold out much longer.
So perhaps a different kind of battle had to be waged. “No,” Archer said, drawing his attention once again and bracing himself for another round. “I wasn’t referring to your conscience. What you lack is a heart.”
Emrys’s wrath faded as his eyes widened in amusement. “So sayeth the mercenary? The royal bounty hunter? What do you know of the heart, Devin Archer?” Emrys circled him as he lay on the floor. “Let me guess. Rutting about with that useless brat of the healer has made you think you understand love? How pathetic.”
Archer used what was left of his energy to lunge
at him, but it was a weak effort that Emrys stopped easily. It took all of his will to grunt, as his body collapsed again, rather than moan.
“Big heart,” Emrys said, making a playful tsking sound. “Small brain. Now you see why I value the size of the latter over the former.” He swung around to Baleweg. “Now what to do about your ever so untimely little trick?”
Archer slowly moved toward the wall and used it to bear his weight as he clawed to his feet.
“You can choose to do nothing,” Baleweg said, sounding only marginally stronger. “Move on to other pursuits.”
“When I’m having so much fun with this one?” Emrys laughed gaily, all signs of his earlier rage gone. “I don’t think so.” He paced through the bars, then back again. “I’m not very pleased with your meddling, Old One.”
“I could say the same of you.”
Emrys ignored him, tapping at his lips. “I just have to decide which I’d rather do. Move forward and thwart the hopes and dreams of an entire kingdom by making sure that wretched little screamer and his dear mummy don’t survive …” He swung his malevolent gaze to Archer. “Or trot off to the quaint Connecticut countryside and deal a little blow to that weak organ you’re so fond of touting.” He strode off again. “No heart,” he muttered. “As if I had a use for one.”
Archer knew better than to charge him again, though it took considerable control not to say anything. Instead he looked over to Baleweg. “Are you okay?” He stumbled over to him.
Emrys did nothing to stop him. Archer didn’t much care what Emrys thought at this point. Baleweg nodded, but up close Archer could see that his skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot. “Let me take him on, so you can feed off his rage again.”
Baleweg looked to him then and Archer helped him to stand. “Is that what you thought I was doing?”
“What else?”
Baleweg shook his head, but said nothing.
Archer leaned close as Emrys strode through the bars again. “Tell me.”
“Yes,” Emrys said. “Tell us both, why don’t you?”
The Royal Hunter Page 29
