Sleeper (Rise of the Fianna Book 1)
Page 30
“In your dreams.” She sniffed. “You’re not as smooth as you think.”
“I’ll show you smooth.” He leaned forward, growling at her.
She growled right back.
Their argument had gone off the rails. They were both afraid to talk about the pachyderm stomping around the room. And about a dozen other issues they needed to hash out. As they stared each other down, anger radiating from them, she seriously considered throwing his bossy ass right out the plate glass behind them.
It’d make a satisfying crashing sound.
The goddess within thought that was a fantastic idea.
She smirked right back at him. “I could find smoother drunks on Bourbon Street.”
His eyes narrowed. “Now you’re asking for it.”
A throat cleared, and Bowen spoke up. “Could we get back to the matter at hand?” He tapped his fingers on the table.
Trystan snorted. “Or take it to your room. Maybe she’s actually some good in there because she sure as shit has no clue when it comes to battle.”
Makenna turned her glare on Trystan. She could always throw him through the window. Yeah, that was an even better idea.
Talon let out a feral growl.
Rhys swiveled slowly to Trystan, his jaw hard and eyes black slits. His voice like churning gravel. “One more comment like that about my mate, and I’ll rip your throat out and feed it to you.”
Trystan stiffened, shock registering on his face. Then he growled and stood.
Talon rushed to insinuate himself between them. “Trystan, shut your fucking mouth.” He turned to Rhys. “Why don’t we do as Bowen suggested and get back on topic?” He made a face. “No offense, but I’d rather not hear about whatever bedroom games you play with my sister.” His voice lowered with a hint of warning. He leaned toward Rhys. “And you sure as hell better never hurt her, or it won’t be Trystan you have to worry about.”
They stared each other down, her brother making his point, and Rhys deciding if he was going to throttle him or not.
Makenna took a deep breath. The testosterone in the room was choking her. She’d never had someone defend her like the two of them were. Never had anyone care enough. The thought sobered her and brought her back on point.
She laid a hand on Talon’s chest. “Thank you. I think. You can sit down now.” When he moved, she grabbed Rhys’ arm. “You made your point. Let’s just calm down and figure this out.”
She cast a glance at Trystan. He glared at her before taking his seat. Amanda leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Some of the tension left him. She nodded at Makenna.
Rhys took his seat at the head of the table, his eyes shooting daggers at Trystan. Makenna followed suit.
Bowen spoke up. She was learning he could be counted on to be the voice of reason. “At the risk of setting things off again, I think Makenna is right. She’s our best shot.”
Rhys’ head snapped up. “You think it’s smart to send her in alone, with no battle experience and not even knowing how to fully control her magic yet?”
Makenna swallowed her rage at his statement. She couldn’t focus on the fact it sounded like he didn’t trust her. She’d deal with that later. She had to get him to see her plan would work. That it was the only thing that had a chance at success.
She forced calm into her voice. “Kylian has no idea the trigger has been broken. He’s expecting me back. I’m the only one who can get in and get close enough without raising an alarm.”
See, she could be calm and mature and all that shit.
She was the freaking Morrigan, a warrior goddess for crying out loud! She might be new to her power, but she sure as shit could use it. She was made for leading her people to battle. Wasn’t it part of the reason he came after her in the first place? Now he was trying to control her, to keep her from doing what she was there to do.
Rhys eyed her. He was about to rip her plan to shreds. “So you go back in several days after you were supposed to return. How are you going to explain that? What about explaining where the rest of the team is?” He shook his head. “You can’t. Not with any story he’s going to believe.”
Calm. She would stay calm. “I’ll tell him the spell my aunt and uncle cast to contain my powers wore off. I freaked out and hid for a while. I’ll tell him I know who I am, and I’ve chosen my side. His. He’s just cocky enough, power hungry enough, to buy it.”
Rhys snorted. “And what about when he asks for our heads? You show up empty-handed and he’ll have yours on a spike.”
Bowen leaned forward. “I can help with that. I can take the heads of our last four prisoners and cast a glamour that will make it appear as if they are you. It would hold until I erase it.”
Makenna latched on to the idea, thankful for the assistance. “See? And you and the pack can be waiting right outside the perimeter. When I give you the signal through our bond that they’re dead, you can move in.” Rhys shook his head, looking more determined to bench her than ever. She grunted. “You’ll be right there. He’ll take the bait, Rhys. I know he will.”
Amanda nodded. “She’s right. She said Kylian already offered her a place of authority in his army. Said he’d tell her who she really was if she was successful on the mission.”
Talon grunted his agreement. “He wants as many of us under his thumb as he can get. He already has Brianna, and he had Makenna under his control,” he shot her a sympathetic look. “If she comes back saying she willingly chooses him, he’ll take her in. He wants her power too badly not to.”
Rhys glared at Talon. “I can’t believe you’re on board with this.” His hard gaze fell on Amanda. “You too. You just got your sister back. She’d be in there alone, just hoping our little ruse works. They could kill her before we even got close. You’re willing to take the chance on losing her again? This time for good?”
Talon reached across the table for Makenna’s hand. “No. We don’t want to lose her.” He eyed Rhys. “But we believe in her.”
Makenna’s heart lurched. Warmth hugged her from within.
Trystan settled back in his seat, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “I say if she wants to play hero, let her.” Makenna could only wonder why he was backing her plan. She found out quickly. “Either she takes down Kylian and Brianna or she joins them. We’ll know right away if she’s gonna betray us or not.”
Several things happened at once.
Amanda sucked in a breath. Talon growled and lunged across Amanda to Trystan. Rhys let out a roar and dove across the table, getting to Trystan before Talon could.
Rhys picked his Beta up by the throat and threw him into the wall, sending a painting crashing to the ground and a sonic boom echoing through the house. “You fucking son of a bitch!” He stood tall, hands to his side as Trystan pulled himself up from the floor. Rhys’ claws shot out from his fingertips. “I warned you.”
A low rumble came from Trystan’s twisted lips. His own claws slid out.
Makenna stepped in front of Rhys. She knew she was taking a chance giving her back to Trystan. At the moment, she didn’t care. Let him come.
She couldn’t let the two best friends destroy everything they had. That’s exactly what would happen. It would tear the pack down the middle. Because Rhys wasn’t just out for blood. There was death in his black eyes.
She wouldn’t be the cause of that. As much as she wanted blood, she didn’t want the life of yet another pack mate on her hands.
“Stop!”
Her roar rattled the windows. Everyone froze as red light erupted from her skin and filled the room. Makenna placed her hands on Rhys’ chest, fighting to hold back the power that wanted out. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.
Rhys stiffened at her touch, but she could feel it wasn’t because of anger toward her or fear of what she might do to him. He wanted Trystan’s head, and she was in his way.
“Kenna, move out of my way.”
“I can’t do that.” She braced herself as the urge to m
ove her raced through him.
She held her ground, shaking with the force of the power rising hard and fast.
Tension tightened the atmosphere as no one moved. They seemed to barely breathe. It was as if they were all poised on the edge of a blade. One move and they would be flayed open.
Rhys dropped his eyes to hers. “He can’t be allowed to speak about you that way.” He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw. He eyed Trystan. “We can’t have a Beta who doesn’t respect his Alpha. Who doesn’t stand behind both of us.”
Makenna nodded. “I understand that and trust me, I’m pissed as all hell over what he said. But you don’t have to do this.”
“It’s our way. He disrespected you. That warrants punishment.”
She lowered her voice for his ears only. “You’re not doing this as a punishment or because of the ways of the pack. This is personal.”
His black gaze fell on her again. “Of course it is. He hurt you. Multiple times in multiple ways. I can’t let that go.”
Makenna glanced at Trystan. She could sense along with a healthy dose of anger, he was hurting. Not just because of Ciarra’s death, but because of what was happening between him and Rhys. She turned back to Rhys.
“He’s right, though.” Rhys’ head jerked back at her words. “I need to prove myself to him and to the pack. They’ll never fully respect me until I do, and you know it.” Her spine straightened as wisdom she didn’t know she had poured from her mouth. “There’s been enough pain in the past few days to last a lifetime. The pack is tired and hurting and scared. Just like Trystan. I can feel it.” She ignored Trystan’s snort. “You don’t want to add to that by killing their Beta, your best friend, do you? It’d rip the pack apart at a time when we need to be stronger than ever.”
Rhys dropped his head. The tension drained from his muscles. The room breathed a collective sigh of relief. Everyone sagged as the fight seeped out of Rhys.
He lifted pained eyes to hers. “No. I don’t. But I can’t just let this go.” He looked up at his friend and a spark reignited in his stare.
“We can deal with it when this is over. For now, we need to present a united front, you, me, and Trystan, if we have any chance of leading the pack against Kylian and winning. I may not know much about how these things work, but I know that.”
Rhys nodded. Then he gave her a small smile. “That’s the first time you’ve referred to the pack as yours.”
She returned the smile as relief settled in and the power surge faded. “Yeah.” She kissed his cheek. Then she turned to Trystan. “Can you table this until we deal with Kylian?”
Oh, she didn’t like Trystan one bit. She especially didn’t like that the asshole seemed to be extremely close to her sister. But she’d swallow it for the good of the pack.
For now.
Trystan didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “You do this, you prove that you’re with us, and I’ll leave it alone.”
Rhys tensed, and Makenna slid her hand up and down his back.
She nodded once. “That’s fair.” She looked up at Rhys, his face contorted with indecision. “Can you agree to that? Will you let me do this?”
She held her breath waiting for his response.
His features settled into a hard mask, but his eyes were soft on her. “You don’t have to be a hero, Kenna.”
“We pull this off and we’ll all be heroes.” She moved her hands to his shoulders. “I can do this, Rhys. I have to do it.”
He looked out the window at the lights of the cabins across the yard. At his people. Finally, he sighed and she felt him give in. Just a little. “I’ll consider it.”
“That’s all I’m asking.”
Bowen stood. “I think that’s enough excitement for me. It’s been a long day.” He nodded to Rhys. “If you decide against it, we’ll find another way. But it’s the best plan we have.”
Rhys continued to stare out the window. “I said I’ll consider it and I will. You can all go.”
Everyone scattered to their rooms. Makenna stood by Rhys, following his gaze outside.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “This is the best way.”
“If it works.”
“It will. I know it.”
He turned to her, cradling the side of her face. “I can’t lose you, love. I just found you.”
She leaned into his touch. “You won’t. I promise.”
He didn’t respond as they stood holding each other, watching their pack settle into their new homes.
She’d promised him he wouldn’t lose her, and she’d do her damndest to keep that promise.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
End of the Dream
“Look out!”
Makenna winced when Bowen yelled at the members of the pack under the old tree. They dove every which way as shards of wood flew in all directions. The trunk smoldered, a huge whole in the center.
Bowen huffed. “That was not your intended target.”
She gave Bowen her best apologetic smile. “I know. Sorry.”
Talon slapped her on the back. “Don’t worry. You’ll get it. You’re getting better already.”
“Uh huh.”
Makenna eyed the smoking tree, the shed that no longer had a roof, and the stretch of scorched grass leading from where they stood to within ten feet of the main house.
She may be able to use her power, but she sucked ass at controlling it.
Amanda made a face at Talon, then turned to Makenna. “Hey, you’re doing a good job. You just got a shit ton of magic dumped on you at once, and you’ve only had three accidents so far. I’d call that progress.”
“Especially if we need kindling.” Talon laughed and Amanda whacked him upside the head.
Makenna rolled her eyes. Amanda was right, though. She’d done a decent job.
Bowen had pounded on she and Rhys’ door way too early to get her up for their training session. She’d never been one for getting up before the crack of dawn, but she’d jumped out of bed in record time. She was only too happy to leave the grumpy, growling ass she shared it with.
After the disaster of a meeting, they’d silently marched up the stairs and gotten ready for bed. When they’d crawled in the plush linens, Makenna hadn’t been able to enjoy the softness. Rhys had given her a quick kiss, then rolled over with his back toward her. All without saying a word.
She’d lain in the darkness, debating on whether she should try to smooth things over or not. In truth, she’d been confused. He was angry because he didn’t want to lose her, but then he acted like she wasn’t there. She’d thought they’d have some wicked makeup sex, seeing as how he’d seemed like he’d given in.
That hadn’t been the case.
He hadn’t followed them downstairs and hadn’t shown up for breakfast. When she asked Talon later if he’d seen him, he’d told her Rhys had taken off into the woods saying something about checking the perimeter wards.
Maybe it was best. The closer physically they were to each other, the better they could read one another’s thoughts and emotions. She was learning to erect a barrier against it, but she wasn’t very good it. And she actually felt kind of bad about doing it. But he’d blocked her too, so apparently all was fair in love and war.
They were supposed to be learning about each other and how to live together. That was hard to do when she didn’t totally trust him and suspected he didn’t fully trust her either. Rhys had good reason. Not only had she killed members of his pack, she’d found out Ciarra was his cousin. She couldn’t blame him for being wary of her, despite their bond.
She still wasn’t happy about it.
She shook the thoughts from her head. If he wanted to brood, so be it. She had work to do and not a lot of time to do it. Her wolf whined, missing her mate. She ignored her.
Bowen motioned her over, looking none too happy. “Amanda, Talon, show her how you work your magic. Since you’re siblings, your power is more alike than anyone else’s. Especially you, Amanda.”
“So you get that red light around you too?” Makenna tilted her head.
“Yeah. But yours burns hotter than anyone else’s, so it’s much darker. The more you’re using or the more emotional you are, the darker it will be. It’s because of the combination of power and emotion. You have to be careful with that.” She looked at Bowen, then bit her lip. “If you’re not paying attention or if you get too emotional, you can overload.”
Makenna’s eyes widened. “What happens then?”
Bowen fidgeted, which was unusual for him. “I’m not absolutely sure, but it could be bad. If you’re in a highly emotional state, or call up too much at once,” he ran a hand through his long hair and avoided her eyes. “You could burn up.”
Her pulse quickened. “Like literally burst into flames?”
He nodded. “Yes. Some who overload simply pass out, then find they can’t use their magic for several days, maybe weeks. But we have no frame of reference for you. It’s never happened to an incarnated Morrigan. They’ve always been raised in the pack. Their power came in increments, and they grew up learning their magic, learning control.” He gave her a sympathetic smile.
Makenna swallowed hard and held her hands out in front of her, half expecting them to erupt at any moment. She had one day to learn to control a power that could burn her alive. She stamped down on the fear trying to rise. It wouldn’t do her any good. It was her magic, and she’d learn how to use it.
Or turn into charcoal.
Amanda took Makenna’s hand. “You’re strong, and you’re smart. You can do this.”
Makenna returned her smile. Amanda believed in her. Talon did too. She felt it through the pack link they’d explained to her earlier. She’d never had anyone believe in her or trust her completely like they did. Her heart warmed, and tears pricked her eyes. So that was what it was like to have a real family.