by Karen Kelley
“To the gods of fire, I pray you will warm his blood with life.” She then made a cut above her wrist and let her blood flow into the chalice. She also bound her wound tight, then took her place in the west.
Mischa, the youngest of the daughters, moved to take her place. She raised the chalice with hands that trembled, but her voice was strong and sure. “To the gods of wind, I ask that you breathe life back into my brother.” She, too, made a cut above her wrist and let her blood flow into the chalice. After she bound her wound tight, she carried the chalice to her mother, then took her place in the east.
Their mother raised the chalice high. “I give the goddess the blood of her children and call on the powers of light, wind, rain and fire to descend from the four corners of the universe and save Surlock, Prince of New Symtaria.”
Glittery light swirled around the stones like a snake, then lit the slab as though the sun had come out from behind the clouds. Next came fire. Flames licked at the stones. Fire engulfed the slab, but before it could burn, gentle rain quieted the heat and it became a warm glow. As wind joined them, it brought the fragrance of life and all things living.
“Thank you, goddess, for your power so that my son can be healed if it be your will.” She took the chalice, raised it high once more, then poured the blood down the center of Surlock’s chest. “With this blood we, the children of the goddess, the keepers of the magic, ask that you return Surlock to the realm of the living.”
Lightning streaked across the night sky, followed by thunder so loud it made the ground shake.
A voice filled the air. “You have always served me well, Jadar, and you have taught your daughters to do the same. I give your son back to you.”
“Surlock,” Darcy cried. “Don’t leave me.”
Something was drawing Surlock out of the cold gray darkness that swirled around him. He fought against the pull. He wanted to stay deep in the shadows that protected him from pain, but the force bringing him back was too strong.
He sat up, crying out with a roar that echoed through the woods. His head whipped to the side. Where was she? Where was Darcy? Who dared to rip her from his arms!
Torches lit the area. He lay on a stone slab. He saw his mother and three sisters, and he knew them. Memories returned in rapid succession. His life, and who he was, playing out as though watching one of Darcy’s movies. Anger and pain ripped through him as he realized how much he’d lost.
“Chinktah, I am back!” he told his animal guide. “And vengeance will be mine!”
His mother blew across her open palm. Silvery dust sprinkled over him.
“No!” Surlock knew what she had done as his body grew weak.
“You must sleep now. Let your mind and body heal. It is for the best.”
But it wasn’t for the best. He wanted to destroy those who had harmed Darcy.
Ah, no, not Darcy. Not his love, his life.
Darkness closed over him, but this time it was different because Darcy wasn’t there, and the pain was unbearable.
CHAPTER 26
Surlock slowly came awake. He was in his old room at his parents’ castle. For a moment, he lay there, looking at the canopy above him. He didn’t want to think, he didn’t want to feel.
His stomach growled, reminding him it had been a while since he’d taken nourishment. Hunger pangs gnawed at his insides—along with guilt. How could he think about eating when Darcy was gone?
He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there for a moment. Pain gripped him. By the gods, he couldn’t bear the pain. He finally stood, going to the closet. He grabbed the first thing he came to and dressed. A bathroom connected to his old room. He used the facility, then stared at his reflection above the sink, noting how haggard he looked. Then, for a brief moment, he saw the eyes of the wolf.
It is good that you have returned, Chinktah, his animal guide, told him. I had thought you would be lost forever.
You tried to reach me through the humming in my ears and my dreams. I see that now, Surlock said.
But as usual, you were too stubborn to listen.
Forgive me, Chinktah.
We are a part of each other. I can do no less.
Surlock left his room, going down the stairs, and with each step he took, anger forced his depression aside. He would make Nivla pay for what he’d done to Darcy.
Muted voices grew louder as he approached the main area. He walked inside the room, saw his family gathered, saw the worry etched on their faces. His brother Kristor’s lifemate, Rianna, looked at him, eyes filled with pity before her gaze skittered away. Callie ran her hand over her stomach, which was swollen with his brother Rogar’s child. Conversation stopped when the others saw him.
“You have connected with your animal guide?” his mother asked.
“Yes, and I have my memories back.” He saw the bandages on his mother and sisters’ arms and knew they had cast a healing circle. “Thank you for what you have given me.”
“I’m glad that you are back, brother,” Karinthia said.
His gaze fell on his older sister. “It’s good to know who I am and where I come from.”
“You are well, son?” Surlock’s father looked toward his wife, who nodded her head. He strode to Surlock and hugged him tight. “I worried about my youngest son. It would have grieved me greatly if you had not returned to us.”
An ache grew deep inside him. Surlock knew his pain would never heal. But he could understand why his family had not wanted to suffer the same. His father stepped back, clearing his throat.
“Thank you for saving my life,” Surlock told Kristor and Rogar.
“You would have done the same,” Rogar said.
Kristor nodded in agreement.
Surlock knew they were right. No risk would have been too great. “But now we have another problem. Zerod is free again. We must capture him or more impures will be killed. I won’t let that happen to another one.”
“Are you strong enough to travel?” Rogar asked.
“I am.”
Karinthia stepped forward. “I’m going this time.” She looked at her brothers. “I can use my magic if need be.”
Their mother nodded. “Yes, it’s your time. I have seen it coming. We must do more to protect our people, and the impures are our people, too.”
“Then are we ready?” Surlock asked.
“Yes,” his siblings answered as one.
Leaving took longer than Surlock expected. He wanted to wrap his hands around Nivla’s throat. Surlock knew he couldn’t kill him, but Nivla didn’t know Surlock wouldn’t break his father’s law. He would make Nivla suffer for the rest of his life, though.
By early morning, they were on their way back to Earth. His brothers and Karinthia talked and planned. Surlock listened. He knew what he had to do first.
“We’ll be landing near where your craft is,” Kristor said.
Surlock nodded. “Excoria pretended to be Darcy. That’s how they captured me. She may still be in the area. I will pick up her scent and see what I can find, but I have to take care of something first.”
“You will find Darcy’s essence there.” Kristor spoke solemnly.
Surlock was surprised to see the bleakness in his brother’s eyes.
“I could not live without my mate. I can only imagine the pain you’re going through, and it hurts me. It hurts us all. You must find peace within yourself.” He handed Surlock a small device. “When you need us, push the button, and we will find you.”
Surlock nodded, unable to speak. Kristor was a strong warrior, but since he’d found his lifemate, a softer side had come through.
They landed. When Surlock stepped from the craft, what he had lost hit him with full force, almost taking him to his knees. Karinthia grabbed his arm to steady him.
“I’ll be all right,” he told his sister. “I have to face this alone.”
She nodded and stepped away.
Surlock walked through the woods, making his way back to
the trail where Darcy had hit him over the head. He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes. He could almost smell her scent.
A hawk cried overhead.
Surlock looked up and saw that Kristor had shifted into his animal guide. He would find the warehouse Nivla had told him about. He doubted the female rogue would be there, but they would check it out just the same.
Surlock walked up the trail that led to the house. The last time he’d walked it, he and Darcy had mated in the meadow. He hadn’t lost the time afterward; Chinktah had been able to emerge for a short period.
As he approached the house, he wondered what Ms. Abernathy had thought when they hadn’t returned from the party. He didn’t want to tell everyone Darcy was dead. But how could he not tell them?
He took a deep breath and stepped to the back door, lightly knocking.
There was a clicking noise behind him.
Surlock turned and stared at the weapon Ralph held.
“Make one wrong move and I blow your brains out,” Ralph said, and from his expression, Surlock thought he might do just that.
“I offer you no harm,” Surlock told Ralph. “I came to speak about Darcy.”
“Yeah, and you’d better tell us where she is, too.”
The door behind him opened, but he dared not take his eyes off Ralph.
“Is this the man who kidnapped Darcy?” a man behind Surlock asked.
“That’s him all right,” Ralph said.
“I didn’t kidnap Darcy,” Surlock told them. Now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to tell them she was dead, either. He only hoped Ralph didn’t suddenly develop a nervous twitch.
The man stepped from behind Surlock. He had dark hair threaded with streaks of gray. His face was aged and lined with worry.
“Just tell me where my daughter is and we’ll pay the ransom.”
“Ransom?”
“The note that came yesterday said you wanted two million dollars. We’re gathering it now. All we care about is our daughter, and if you’ve harmed her, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”
The world stopped moving as the blood rushed to Surlock’s head. “Darcy is alive?” Hope sprang inside him. Hope and joy and a burst of love. The emotions hit him full force, almost toppling him. “She’s alive?” he asked again.
Ah, no, if this was a lie, then he would surely be doomed. He couldn’t bear the pain of losing her twice.
CHAPTER 27
Darcy glared at Excoria’s back. First chance she got, she was knocking this chick’s lights out. Not that she would get that chance any time soon. The bitch had tied the ropes pretty damned tight.
And if Excoria shot her with that tranquilizer gun one more time, she’d do more than knock her lights out. She’d cram the gun down her throat—then knock her lights out.
Even in her dazed state, Darcy recognized the estate next door to her parents’ place. The Bishops were still in France. She was so close to her parents, to her home and everything she loved, yet so far away.
No, that wasn’t quite true. She wasn’t close to Surlock. She had no idea where he was. From what she could gather from El Stupido, he was being used to trade for some high-up official who was imprisoned in Surlock’s country.
When Excoria suddenly turned around, Darcy quickly lowered her gaze and became the docile captive again.
“I’m going to call them.” Excoria reached for her cell phone.
“It’s too soon,” Darcy told her. “It will take time for my parents to gather that much money without raising suspicion.” She only hoped she could stall Excoria long enough for her parents to contact the FBI and get them involved. Excoria had been a little smarter than Darcy had given her credit for and warned her parents she would kill Darcy if law enforcement of any kind was brought in.
“No, I think I should call them.” Excoria paced back and forth, plucking at her clothes as if they scratched her. She stopped to glance nervously out the window. “This was a bad idea,” she mumbled. “Nivla will be really mad if he discovers I didn’t kill you.”
Darcy had to distract the other woman so she would stop worrying about what would happen if the others found out she hadn’t carried out their orders. Excoria was clearly off her rocker. Darcy would never understand why a bunch of terrorists would even enlist this woman’s help. She kept talking about impures.
Apparently, everyone thought Darcy was an impure. They were all lunatics. Maybe they were against people who weren’t virgins and still unmarried. A weird religious cult. Wow, they were going to have their work cut out for them if they planned to destroy all the unmarried non-virgins.
Right now, fear and indecision were written all over the woman’s face. Darcy certainly didn’t want Excoria to regret not killing her.
“You know, there are a bunch of places to hide,” Darcy said. “You could go anywhere you want with the money my parents are going to give you for returning me safe and unharmed.”
Excoria was thoughtful. “Yes, I can, can’t I?”
“You won’t have to take orders from anyone.”
Excoria sighed, then plopped down on the sofa. She’d removed most of the sheets that covered the furniture. Ms. Bishop was going to be really pissed that Excoria was staining her expensive white sofa with her dirty boots. Not that Darcy would mention that to her.
“You could easily afford a house like this,” Darcy said.
Of course, by the time Excoria paid all the taxes, and bought furniture, and paid any HOA fees, there wouldn’t be much left. Besides the fact the IRS would want to know how she’d acquired so much money in the first place. No, she’d let all that be a surprise. That is, if Excoria even had a chance to spend any of the money.
Excoria looked around with a dreamy expression. “I could have all the jewels I wanted, too.”
Obviously, she’d been living in a cave and hadn’t heard the economy was in the crapper.
“Oh, well, yeah.” Darcy nodded her head. “You could drape your body in jewels. Diamonds and rubies. Emeralds as big as your thumb.” Mostly paste, of course. Two mil just didn’t go as far as it used to.
Excoria sighed. “I’ve heard that on Nerak they have jewels just lying around. Can you imagine that?”
Nerak? Darcy had never heard of the place. “Is that somewhere in Australia?”
Excoria snorted. “You still don’t have a clue, do you?”
No, and Darcy doubted she ever would. But, just to play along, she shook her head. “I don’t guess I do.”
“Nerak isn’t another country,” Excoria smugly stated. “It’s another planet.”
Great, the woman was crazier than she’d thought. What? Had they all escaped from a loony bin? Had they taken Surlock because they wanted to break out this Zerod guy? He was probably crazier than all of them put together. Maybe Surlock was a doctor who worked there or something.
A cold chill swept over her. What if Surlock was one of the crazies?
Surlock was not crazy! Just because he had humming in his ears didn’t make him crazy. She had humming in her ears that was steadily getting worse, but that didn’t mean she was crazy. …
Lord, she hoped it didn’t mean she was crazy.
She had to think, and keep Excoria talking. The woman was clearly off her rocker. But if Excoria was busy talking, maybe she wouldn’t be thinking about killing Darcy.
“So, does that mean you’re an alien?” Darcy asked as nonchalantly as she could.
Excoria chuckled, leaning forward. “I’m an alien. You’re an alien.”
“I’m an alien,” Darcy repeated. The situation was worse than she’d thought.
“Part alien, which makes you an impure.” Excoria crossed her legs at the ankles. A clump of dirt fell off one boot and landed on the sofa.
“Oh, I thought it meant I wasn’t a virgin,” Darcy mumbled.
Well, at least now they wouldn’t be going around killing off the non-virgins who weren’t married. That would save a lot of lives.
“And my parents wer
e aliens?” Darcy asked. Uh-huh, sure.
“Only one of them. I know that much about your ancestry. They were disposed of by rogues.”
Disposed of. Hmm, she supposed that meant they were dead. “How sad. Did you kill them?” It was best to play along with the lunatic.
Excoria frowned. “No, of course not. I didn’t become a rogue until a couple of years ago.”
“Up until then you were just your run-of-the-mill alien.”
Excoria cocked an eyebrow. “A Symtarian isn’t an average alien, and New Symtaria is far more advanced than Earth. And we’re not aliens where I come from. You would be the alien.”
“And New Symtaria is a planet.” Wow, now this was getting strange. How could this chick know that she and Surlock had been searching for New Symtaria?
“Of course it’s another planet.”
“And Surlock is a prince.”
“Exactly.” Excoria smiled as if she was a teacher and her dumbest student had just figured out how to add one plus one.
Time to make her worry just a little. “Then since Surlock and I care deeply for each other, if you harm me in any way, he will probably hunt you down and squash you like a bug.”
Excoria’s mouth opened and closed, then her brow wrinkled in thought. Suddenly, she brightened. “I’ll have a lot of money, and I’ll make sure he never finds me.” She stood up. “I’m going to get some air and check the perimeter. You’d better not try to escape or I’ll squash you like a little bug.” She sashayed into the other room.
A few minutes later, Darcy heard a door open, then close. She might have ten minutes or so to make her escape. Thank goodness, Excoria had left her hands and feet tied in front.
As she tried to wiggle loose, Darcy realized Excoria was pretty good at tying knots. All she had accomplished so far was rubbing her wrists raw.
She began to gnaw at the ropes with her teeth, cringing at what her mother would think if she could see her, especially since she’d forced Darcy to wear ugly braces until she was fifteen. It had not been fun when the kids tagged her with the nickname “Metal Mouth.”
