by Jami Gray
He tugged his hand free as she kept her face hidden, feeling the burn of a tear slip down her cheek. Then his hands were cupping her face, lifting it to his.
He leaned in until their foreheads touched, his gaze searching hers, his voice a low thread of sound between them. “Are you sure, Tala?”
She tilted her head up and lifted her hands to caress his jaw, dropping every guard she possessed. If it could save him, she would tie them together tighter than any weave ever created. “I love you, Cheveyo. Stay with me.”
Then she caught his lips with hers, pouring everything into her kiss.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Tala’s kiss poured into his broken soul, even as grief and rage heaved against his precarious control. His promise to her battled against his need for vengeance. His darker needs crawled with delight in the fissures between.
Then, in a shimmering wave of heat, her love curled into the cracks, holding the ragged edges together and drowning out the whispers of how he could make Hadley hurt and hurt. Tala’s gift became a delicate, unbreakable chain woven with an unconditional acceptance and tempered with a practical ruthlessness. He hid nothing from her, letting the links sink deep and take anchor. Her kiss changed with his surrender, becoming less of an offering of solace and more a vow.
“Hate to break up this Hallmark moment, but we need to get a move on, folks,” Raine’s voice cut in.
Cheveyo slowly lifted his head, his gaze holding Tala’s for a moment longer. He drew in a shuddering breath and shifted his attention to their surroundings. Behind Raine and Gavin, the approaching storm drew closer, its fury slowly dominating the surrounding scenery. “What’s next?” he asked, directing his question to Raine.
She studied him, her thoughts so well hidden even with the bond they shared, he couldn’t pick up a thing. Coming to some internal decision, she said, “This won’t be fun.”
And that fast the scene shifted.
The storm closed in, capturing them in its raging heart. He could feel the press of magic against his protective shells, trying to burrow in. Each attempt a cruel rake of agony. Lightning struck nearby, leaving strange aftermath images in its wake. Snapshots of Tala, Aponi, and even Raine. Despite Raine’s warning, the first tug against his soul left ice curling through his veins. Pure instinct drove him to strike out.
A hiss sounded nearby and he swung in its direction. Another burst of light illuminated Raine’s face, twisted with pain. The deafening roll of thunder almost, but not quite, drowned out her shouted words. “Don’t fight me, Cheveyo!”
Gritting his teeth, he didn’t fight the next tug, or the next. They bled together into a relentless tide of inescapable pain. Pieces of him were changing, reforming, and it was happening so fast he couldn’t keep up.
“Bił hinishnáanii, breathe.” Tala’s familiar whisper seeped under the pain. “I’m here.”
“Awéé.” It was the only word he could get out from behind clenched teeth, but it was enough.
Her familiar presence crept in, giving him an anchor. Bit by bit, she appeared out of the raging storm until she was pressed against him, her arms around his waist, her head against his heart.
He buried his face in her hair and held on, while Raine continued her torturous changes.
The storm continued to rage, the winds shrieking in protest, lightning and thunder adding their bellows of denial as Raine became an unstoppable force of nature in this strange world.
He sank into Tala and felt her do the same, shared memories and emotions laying their hearts bare until it was hard to tell where he stopped and she began.
“Brace yourselves.” Raine’s warning was a fleeting whisper, then the world went white.
“Nooooo!” The maddened scream brought Cheveyo back, and he managed to peel his eyes open. His body felt heavy and uncoordinated, but he was back in the hogan. Fire burned along his side, but not the agonizing level it once held.
“Enough.” Sharp and cutting, Tala’s command directed at Hadley had him lumbering to his feet.
He stepped up behind her as she faced Hadley writhing against the hogan’s wall, his chest sore but strangely full. There was an incandescent hum of power singing in his bones.
On some level, he recognized it didn’t belong to him, but it was so strong it bled over. Heeding some unknown instinct, he moved in until Tala was pressed against his front, his arm curling around her waist. In his other hand there was the weight of a blade. A glance down confirmed it was the same one Hadley had buried in his side. Distantly he realized Raine managed to heal the wound to some extent.
Tala’s hand covered his at her stomach and the hum of power hit a resonating level. She turned her head, and, when he met her opaque gaze, he realized the power he felt belonged to the Ancestors. “Stalking Wolf.”
“Ancestors.” His voice was rough.
Tala’s blind gaze moved over him, peering beyond skin and bone. There was a pause, then an illuminating smile broke over her face. “Ahhh, the Weaver’s creation is remarkably stunning but strong. Good.”
That the Ancestors approved of Raine’s reweaving of the spell eased his worry. Granted, he could feel the bond tying him to Tala, but the spell required payment. A life for a life. So whose life was now tethered to Hadley’s?
A whisper of a name brushed across his mind. He opened his mouth to ask, but some instinct warned him to stay silent. For once, he heeded it. Some things were best left unspoken.
A strangled sound drew the Ancestors’ attention back to Hadley. “The blade’s magic was not yours. Who gave it to you?”
Understanding bred fierce satisfaction. Looked like he woke up in time for Hadley’s interrogation. Hadley’s eyes were wild as she struggled against the invisible bonds. Her mouth worked, though nothing came out but strangling gasps, as if fingers were tightening on her throat.
A niggling memory rose, and before he could say anything, Tala’s hand on his flexed and the Ancestors’ changed tactic. “Calm, child.”
Hadley’s jerky movements stilled and her gaze filled with fear.
“You’re right, Stalking Wolf, the name of the one she schemes with is buried deep. It will kill her before we can unearth it.”
Frustration rose, but he set it aside for logic. They needed the name of her partner. Something they wouldn’t get if the same safeguard being used matched the spell that killed Mulcahy and almost killed Natasha. Tala’s hand tightened on his, and he realized that, while not ideal, it wouldn’t just be his and Tala’s word to the Council, but the Ancestors. A witness the Council would have a difficult time denying.
He stepped away from the Ancestors. “Ancestors, I request a witness.”
“We witness.” Their affirmation reverberated through the hogan.
He moved to stand in front Hadley. When her attention came to him, he held her gaze, letting her see his resolve. “There’s no escaping this time, Hadley.” This close, he didn’t miss the panic seeping around the edges of her fear. “Leo lied to you.”
A flicker of acknowledgment was enough to add weight to his suspicions, and he continued, “Even had you succeeded and sat in Tala’s place, you wouldn’t have lasted long. Your jealousy makes you blind, makes you weak.” He leaned in until he could whisper in her ear. “Leo never meant for you to survive, you were only a tool.”
He pulled back enough to see her face, to watch hope bleed away and acceptance of what was coming drain the last of her resistance.
Her lips twisted into something bitter. “Leo will burn the world before he lets you have it.”
Hearing the name, he buried his dark joy. “I know.” He didn’t look away as he sank the blade deep into her chest.
“Nooo!” Her hands covered his on the blade’s hilt as shock replaced her perverted triumph. “You can’t.”
But he could, because Raine had somehow managed to find a loophole for the spell, finding the one thing he and Tala had always shared. With a twist of wrist, he sliced through her heart. “You called a life for a life?” Th
e light slowly dimmed as he murmured, “We’ll take yours for Aponi’s.”
“So mote it be,” the Ancestors’ multi tonal voice echoed softly.
Hadley’s lifeless body slid to the floor.
The last flicker of flames sputtered and died. Cheveyo and Tala watched from the edges of a warding circle. Ashes from the hogan’s remains danced along the wind and drifted away. Behind them, the horses’ chuffs broke the soft chorus of night sounds. Cheveyo laid a calming hand on the paint’s neck, trying not to look at the bundle draped over its back.
After Hadley’s death, Cheveyo had turned to tend to Danny, only to realize Danny had not survived Hadley’s brutal treatment. Guilt at not moving faster or doing more threatened to throw Cheveyo back into the turbulent storm, until the Ancestors shared that Danny was gone before Cheveyo ever stepped into the hogan.
“I spoke with him.” It wasn’t wise to argue with the Ancestors, but he knew what he saw, and Danny had been alive.
The feminine hand on his shoulder burned. “An illusion, Stalking Wolf, one meant to entrap.” True grief softened the Ancestors’ voice, something he’d never heard before. “His spirit is safe among the stars.”
Cheveyo bowed his head and let the loss of an old friend wash over him. The Ancestors left, and Tala sank down next to him. She leaned against him as they knelt by Danny, her face awash in tears. Together they wrapped Danny’s body to return home. His death and Hadley’s twisted magic left the hogan desecrated, and so they used the fire to purify the remains. To ensure the flames wouldn’t spread, they circled the clearing with a containment ward.
Laying the warding magic was a revelation. Their power was so interwoven, they couldn’t separate the two. It was a profoundly intimate connection, but neither one complained. Instead, it felt natural and right.
After ensuring no embers remained, he waited while Tala sent another breeze through the clearing, taking the scent of burning wood away. Without a word, he helped her mount then sat behind her, the paint’s reins tethered to them as they headed back down the canyon. Going down the trail at night might not be the smartest move, but neither one wanted to stay. The first hour passed in quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.
When his cell vibrated from his back pocket, he startled, and Tala turned to look at him. He managed to get it out and answer it. “Hello?”
“Cheveyo, where are you?” Raine’s voice came through the line.
He held Tala’s gaze, confused. “On the way back down the canyon.”
Raine’s sigh of relief echoed through the line. “Oh, thank gods.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“In case you didn’t notice, our personal calling plan’s been revoked.”
Shock rocketed through him, and when he reached out to Raine on the psychic plane, he found only Tala. “What happened?”
“Well…” A strange hesitation entered Raine’s voice. “Reweaving the magic had an unexpected side effect. When the last thread was set into place, something changed. It severed the connection between us. Almost has if you had to make a choice.”
Her answer sent a disconcerting sorrow through him, but it was quickly replaced by relief because he knew what choice he made. He held Tala’s questioning gaze with his. “A choice?”
“Um, yeah,” Raine sounded as if she wasn’t sure if he was going to be thrilled or pissed. “I think you and Tala are bonded now. Should I apologize?”
Bonded. It made sense.
Tied at the soul level, a level deeper than the mated bond of Shifters. It was a rare connection in the Kyn world, but one he wouldn’t question because the woman in front him was necessary to him at every level. The connection he forged with Raine couldn’t be divided between two anchors, something he should have realized when Tala suggested tying their lives together.
Tala, intertwined with him as she was, picked up what was happening through their connection. When she bit her lip, he realized she knew it was a possibility and had chosen to tie herself to him regardless.
Her eyes widened, and apprehension darkened her gaze. “Cheveyo?”
He smiled, easing Tala’s worries. “No, Raine. No apologies needed.”
“Okay, good.” Raine’s voice went back to normal. “Then keep an eye out for Chay, he’s heading your way.” With that, she hung up.
His smile grew as he pocketed his cell, never taking his gaze from Tala’s. As soon as his hands were free, he cupped the back of her head and took her lips, kissing her with all the love and need surging through his soul. When he finally let her up for air, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright.
“I love you, Tala Whiteriver, and I am honored to travel beside you through this life and the next.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Two Days Later
Cheveyo and Tala sat in a condo in Flagstaff with Rio Castle, the Southwest Amanusa leader, sprawled in a well-worn recliner, while Toby paced behind a couch.
On a laptop screen on the coffee table the blonde, icy beauty of Natasha Bertoi, the head of the Northwest Kyn, stared back. “We can’t afford to confront Leo without more support on the Council and an alliance in place with the rest of the American Kyn.”
“Which I’m sure you’re working on,” Rio drawled as he cleaned his glasses on his shirt. “You planning on making your point at the next Council meeting, Natasha?”
Her smile was more a bearing of teeth, revealing the beast that rested under her pretty skin. “In more ways than one, Rio, yes. However—” Her attention shifted to Cheveyo and Tala. “I can’t be the one visiting the other American houses, or Leo will know exactly what we’re up to. I’m not giving that bastard a chance to slither out of our reach again.”
Tala sat on the couch, her legs curled under her, while Cheveyo perched on the sofa’s arm. He sighed. “No, it won’t be you, Natasha. I’m sending Chay back to Oregon, between him and Cassandra, my house should be stable. If not, sic Raine and Gavin on them.”
Natasha’s blood red nails drummed against her desk. “Those two have a few other things I need them working on.”
He didn’t bother asking, she’d share when she was ready.
Natasha’s attention went to the pacing alpha. “Toby, are you certain the mess with the land deal is now put to bed?”
Toby stilled, his hands curling against the couch’s back. “Yes, we found the paperwork Hadley had in her office. Leticia is already working with our lawyers to negate the contract based upon false representation. The humans’ bid for Kyn land is legally done. I’ll be meeting with the rest of the alphas in the next two weeks.”
Natasha nodded. “Warrick asked me to offer his help, should you need it.”
Toby’s lips curled. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. However, I will be sure to touch base with him soon.”
“As for the Magi,” Tala cut in. “Cheveyo and I have meetings of our own to attend to. We need to see how far Leo’s reach extends into the U.S., and it’s best we do so on our own. If you have need of the Southwest Magi, please let Wyatt or Teagan know. They’ll get word to me.”
Natasha’s unusual lilac eyes narrowed, her lips thinning with dismay. “I’m not certain I’m comfortable sending you both out.”
“Not your choice, Natasha,” Cheveyo countered. “The Magi don’t trust you. As it is, our presence together will raise enough eyebrows. However, if we want to unite the American Kyn, we have no choice but to lessen the secrets among our people. Otherwise, Leo wins by default.”
“It’s not just Leo we have to worry about. The humans are getting suspicious. We can’t afford to have our attention split between two fronts.” Natasha’s words weren’t just for him and Tala, but for Rio and Toby as well—a warning of what they were ultimately facing by agreeing to this unusual alliance.
“Don’t be greedy, girl,” Rio advised, his eyes bright behind his glasses. “Remember, one threat at a time, Natasha.”
She glared at him but dipped her head. “Agreed.”
Taking
in the somber faces, Cheveyo looked at Tala. She held his gaze with hers, her determination mirroring his. Their lives and their people were worth the fight.
“Then let the games begin.”
END OF BOOK FIVE
Thank you for reading Shadow’s Dream. Don’t fear, the Kyn will return, but if you’re looking for another great read, check out Jami Gray’s exciting Paranormal Romantic Suspense series, PSY-IV Teams with HUNTED BY THE PAST and her Romantic Suspense series set against a post-apocalyptic stage, LYING IN RUINS.
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Hunted by the Past
A PSY-IV Team Novel
To escape a killer from their past, can a reluctant psychic trust the man who walked away?
Phoenix in July. People called it Mother Nature’s rendition of hell on earth.
They were wrong. Hell existed on the other side of the world, in a much more treacherous desert. If it let you go, you ran, long and hard and as fast as you could.
You couldn’t hide, but you could try. I’d been running for six long months, jumping from one remote place to another, chasing wildlife with a camera for a paycheck. A safer endeavor than chasing two footed monsters.
Unfortunately, there was one thing I couldn’t outrun, family. Or the closest thing to it in my case, Kelsey. Sister by circumstances, not blood, and the only human on this planet I’d come back to civilization for, she should’ve been on her own plane with a group of fellow lawyers for some boring-ass conference. Her words, not mine. Instead, she’d managed to get a message to me, even out into the wilds of America’s last frontier. Someone had been asking questions about me, and watching her.
