Never More

by Dana Marie Bell

  The man stood. “Of course.” He waved his hand. “If I may show you around the premises?”

  Robin nodded again, and the group followed Mr. Cook as he gave them the grand tour of the outside of the building. “We have an old-growth oak here that would make a wonderful place to state your vows, weather permitting. We can place space heaters at intervals so your guests won’t be too cold.”

  “That would be lovely,” Michaela breathed. Her eyes were sparkling gold, and her hold on Robin was tight. She was practically bouncing next to him as they saw the orchard and the field where the grapes were grown. “Can we see the inside of the villa?”

  Joe led the way, and Amanda took in the details and the architecture. From a beauty standpoint, the villa was absolutely perfect for their needs. From a catering standpoint, the kitchen was a bit small, but the ballroom had ample room for the tables they’d need to accommodate all of the guests. She’d have to see about renting some out. She could have someone ship her the fairy lights she’d need rather than trying to scramble to assemble them here, and—

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  Amanda blinked and realized the others were far ahead of her and Raven. “Sorry. Thinking logistics.”

  “Like a general assessing his troops?”

  “More like how the fuck I’m going to get everything set up in time.” She squared her shoulders, determined not to allow either Robin or Michaela to see her as anything but positive she’d pull it off. “I can do this.”

  Raven nodded. “I have no doubts.” But his gaze was elsewhere, his shoulders tensed. He was staring out a window toward…the orchard?

  “What’s wrong?” Amanda’s gaze followed his, but she couldn’t see whatever it was he could. The only thing she could see was a flock of large black birds flittering over a single tree.

  “I have to go.” He pushed her toward Robin and Michaela. “Stay with them.”

  “But—”

  “Now.” The sunglasses came off, and she could see his eyes were filled with nothing but darkness. His inner raven was coming out. Whatever was out there, he was going into fight mode.

  “Got it.” She ran for Robin and Michaela. Raven needed to know she was safe so he could fight, and she needed to know she had a badass at her back in case it defeated Raven. “Robin!”

  He glanced toward her, behind her, and in the blink of an eye he was gone, following Raven out the door of the villa.

  So much for having a badass at her back.

  “What’s going on?” Joe looked terrified. He was shaking as he hid behind Michaela. “Why is the Raven Lord going into my orchard?”

  “I have no idea.” Duncan was also staring out a window toward the orchard, but instead of racing out to join Robin and Raven, he’d moved in front of Michaela and Amanda. Moira, too, stood just off to the side, a huge scowl on her face as she glanced around, protecting them.

  “Will they be all right?” Amanda winced. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but worry for Raven, and for Robin, was filling her to the brim.

  Duncan smiled, and it wasn’t pretty. “If anything can hurt Raven, let alone Robin, we won’t care anymore if they’re all right. We’ll be too busy running for our lives.”

  Gee, that made her feel so much better.

  Michaela took hold of her hand. “Can we go to the little girls’ room?”

  Mr. Cook blinked. “Ah. Yes. Right this way.”

  Duncan looked suspicious, but followed along. Moira was right behind him, but she seemed distracted by something.

  “She’s talking to Jaden,” Michaela whispered. “Some fae can do that, I’ve learned. Some can’t. It seems vampires are among the ones who can.”

  “Oh.” Amanda had no choice but to follow Michaela into the bathroom, as Michaela had yet to let go of her hand. “Can Robin?”

  Michaela shrugged. “He seems to be able to read my mind at times, but who can tell? It could just be bazillion years of experience with women.” She frowned for a second. “I should talk to him about that.”

  “I’m not sure you want to talk to the groom about other women so close to the wedding, Michaela.” Amanda had dealt with this issue more than once, and it never ended well, at least for the wedding planner. “You do want to marry him, right?”

  Michaela shut the door and turned, pressing her back against it before locking it. “Yup. Besides, he’s my truebond. He’s stuck with me for life.”

  “That’s…good to know.” Amanda sighed. “Just like I’m truebonded to Raven.”

  “Yup.”

  The gleam in Michaela’s eye wasn’t nearly as startling as her sudden change. She went from brown-haired girl with glittering golden eyes to a pale, ethereal woman with silver hair and glitter-dusted skin. “I have a plan,” she whispered. She flushed the toilet and began running some water in the sink. “Are you ready?”

  “For what?” Amanda took the hand Michaela held out to her again. There was something in Michaela’s gaze that excited her, something that made her want to follow wherever Michaela led. The woman was insane, but she was the fun kind of insane, the one you wanted to pal around with on nights where you wake up the next day screaming woo-hoo!

  “Watch and learn.” Michaela winked, and the world swirled around them in a dizzying spiral of sparkles and cherry cabinetry.

  When the nausea almost caused her to hurl, the world stopped. They stood just inside the door of the villa. The cry of the ravens nearly drowned out the sounds of the fight. Flashes of light and dark filtered through the doorway to them, a blast of freezing air causing Michaela to push Amanda out of the way.

  Amanda landed on her side and gaped at what stood in front of Michaela. Some sort of shadow stood before her, trying to wrap itself around the fragile-looking fae. Michaela’s hands were held out, a golden glow surrounding them, keeping the shadow at bay.

  Amanda stood, picking up a branch that she’d landed on. She ignored the flare of pain in her hip and the bruise she was certain was forming to focus on that shadowy thing. She held the stick in front of her in two hands, making sure her feet were firmly planted. That thing wasn’t getting another shot at them, not if she could help it. She might not know exactly what she was doing, but Michaela had brought her out here for a reason and damn if Amanda would let her down. “Get off her now.”

  When the shadow creature turned toward her, Amanda firmed her grip on the branch and swung.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Raven flew through the orchard, homing in on the distress calls of the ravens. Something had disturbed the birds, and they were working together to drive it away. Raven had a feeling he knew exactly what had them in an uproar.

  Sayyid was here.

  How he’d known to follow them, Raven didn’t know, but there was no doubt in his mind that the djinn was in the orchard doing something to either ensnare Michaela or harm Robin, something Raven wouldn’t allow. The djinn’s magic could lie dormant for decades before getting tripped. Raven needed to put an end to it now before Sayyid finished laying his trap circle.

  When he materialized in front of his brother, Sayyid was waiting for him. It wasn’t a trap circle he’d cast, but a shadow one, a circle that would allow him to create multiple shadows, multiple enemies for Raven to fight. No wonder the ravens had gone nuts. The threat not only to Raven himself but to all of the people on this vineyard was huge. The shadows would devour any who came close to them, hungering for flesh and bone they would never themselves achieve. It was a cruel spell, a vicious spell, one intended to inflict as much damage as possible not only on the victims but on the attackers as well. The shadows would suffer almost as much as their victims did, yearning for a reality they’d never be able to have.

  It was a spell right up Sayyid’s alley.

  Raven didn’t bother with hello. He simply attacked, swiping at Sayyid with his claws, but the
djinn dodged him easily. “Now, now, little brother. I’m not here for you, although you’d be a hell of a bonus.”

  Raven scowled and cried out, shrieking a warning to his father. He dodged one of the shadows, flinging feathery darts at his opponent.

  The shadow dissipated with a subsonic cry that nearly sent Raven to his knees.

  Sayyid took advantage of his momentary weakness and scattered the shadows, sending them out in search of food.

  “Damn it.” Raven got his feet back under him and glared at Sayyid. “Now you’ve pissed me off.” He flicked his hand at Sayyid.

  Sayyid cried out as the feathers bit into his skin, drawing blood. “You’ll pay for that, brother.”

  “I very much doubt it, my son.”

  Raven grinned as the Hob appeared right behind Sayyid. “Hi, Dad.”

  Robin smirked. “You always try to have fun without me, boy.”

  “What can I say? I forgot to send you your invitation.” Raven circled Sayyid slowly, watching as Robin did the same.

  “Can this one be saved?”

  Raven hated breaking his father’s heart. “No. His magic is vile.”

  Robin nodded once, but it was enough. Judgment was rendered based on Raven’s words. Sayyid would not leave this orchard alive.

  “It’s too late. One of my shadows has found a target.” Sayyid ducked under one of the trees, probably trying to keep Robin and Raven from getting him between them.

  Raven was proven wrong in his theory when Sayyid flashed away, slashing at him with a sword made of pure darkness. He barely managed to get out of the way of the lethal blade coated in Sayyid’s dark blood, the legacy of all the children of the Hob and Sayyid’s unique signature. He’d had the blade crafted for him by the greatest metal smiths of the Black Court, infusing it weekly with his poison so it stayed the most deadly weapon of his personal arsenal.

  Robin dissipated, reappearing behind Sayyid and burying his claws into the man’s back. “Naughty boy.” Sayyid’s eyes went wide, his expression agonized, as Robin did something Raven couldn’t see. “No trying to kill your brother.”

  Sayyid disappeared, reappearing in one of the shadows of the trees surrounding them. He was bent, his back bleeding, the dark blood dripping onto the roots of the trees.

  Damn it. They had to get him out of here or he’d poison the orchard. Raven called his feathers, swirling them around him in a dark cloak before unleashing them on Sayyid.

  The barrage almost blinded him, but it was one of Raven’s strongest attacks. The dark feathers battered Sayyid, cutting into skin, baring bone before the djinn took advantage of their shadows to disappear again.

  This time, when he reappeared, he was angry. Flaming, dark-filled anger. His Seeming had dropped. The handsome man with the same blue eyes as Robin had become a shadow outlined in flame, the true form of a djinn. Only his eyes remained blue, but instead of the crystal clarity of human eyes his were now blue flames, dancing in an amorphous skull. “This ends now, Raven.”

  “Bring it on, pilot light.” Raven’s feathers would burn to a crisp in the flames of the djinn.

  Fuck. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to do this, but it looked like he had no choice. There was a reason Raven was feared, even among his siblings, as the most badass assassin the Dark Queen had ever held sway over, for like his father, Raven held more than one Seeming.

  And if he chose to drop his fae Seeming, Robin would know the truth of just how much Raven was his father’s son.

  Sayyid must have seen the expression on his face and made the correct assumption, because the fire dimmed. He stood before them in his human Seeming, his skin still smoking from the fires, totally healed. “I’m not facing you two alone.” He grinned, and a cold chill skittered down Raven’s spine. “Besides, I’ve got what I came for.”

  At that moment, one of Raven’s birds dive-bombed an area on the edge of the orchard, cawing in distress.

  “Exactly.” Sayyid sidestepped Raven’s swipe and disappeared, this time for good.

  Damn it. What the hell was going on?

  “Michaela.” Robin was gone in a flash, and Raven knew exactly what had happened. The new fae had followed them somehow, slipping away from the protections of Duncan and Moira to see how the fight was going.

  Damn it. Now they had to save her from one of Sayyid’s shadows, which was no easy task. If it had taken hold of her, there was very little they could do to save her.

  Raven’s feathers swirled, and a moment later he was standing beside his father, watching as his truebond and Michaela battled the shadow Sayyid had sent after them.

  The woman was going to give him a heart attack. Sayyid wouldn’t have to kill him. Amanda would do all the work for him.

  “Your mate is astonishing,” Robin muttered as Amanda took a swing at her assailant.

  The shadow reacted as the branch went through it, shrieking in pain.

  “Come at me, motherfucker!” She swung again, the move controlled rather than panicked, the branch flying through the shadow’s arm. “See if you can take me!”

  Raven cried out as the shadow almost touched his bondmate. His cry shivered through the air, a shockwave of sound that sent Amanda and Michaela flying. The two landed with a bone-rattling thump, Michaela inside the villa, Amanda landing against the side, her head hitting the stucco wall.

  More importantly, the shadow was shaken apart, destroyed by Raven’s voice.

  Robin patted him on the back. “Well done.”

  “Thanks.” He shivered as he raced toward Amanda. Was she injured? Had he killed her? His only thought had been to take down the creature she was fighting, keep her safe, and now he was the one responsible for harming her.

  Would she forgive him for that?

  He knelt in the dirt by her side, checking her over for injury. “Amanda?”

  She groaned. “Owie.”

  “Shit.” He picked her up, relaxing slightly when she curled into him. “You’re all right?”

  “I think if God meant me to fly he’d have given me a built-in barf bag.”

  Raven couldn’t stop the burst of laughter despite his terror. “Anything hurting?”

  “Not yet.” Her eyes were closed, her breath even as she clung to him.

  “What the hell were you doing out here?” Now that she was safe in his arms, some of the fear was morphing into anger. “Didn’t I tell you to stay inside?”

  “I didn’t do it! I was magically poofed out of the bathroom!” She glared up at him, then sank back against him with a sigh. “I held it off, didn’t I?”

  He shuddered. “That thing could have easily killed you.”

  “I know.” Her tone was low, but there was a determination there he wasn’t used to hearing. “I couldn’t let it hurt Michaela.”

  “It went after her first?” Raven took to the air, eager to get his mate back to the villa and safety. There were other shadows to hunt, but Raven would go after them only after his truebond was once again in Duncan’s care.

  “Yeah.” Amanda yawned. “My head hurts.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Raven picked up his pace. “You were very brave.”

  “Mm-hm.” She yawned again, this time passing out in his arms.

  Shit. She had to be hurt worse than she thought. He hoped Michaela was up to taking a look at her, or Raven would have to find a way to get his truebond to a siren for healing.

  Raven carried her in, calling out for Robin.

  “Here.” Robin had Michaela in his arms, but the Tuatha Dé woman looked unharmed except for a small scratch on the side of her face, a scratch Robin scowled over as he set his truebond on her feet. “Sayyid dies for this,” he whispered menacingly.

  Raven nodded. He knew how his father felt. Michaela might be healing right before their eyes, but she’d been harmed, as had Amanda. “I need your h
elp.”

  Robin struggled to take his gaze off of Michaela. “You have it.”

  Raven settled Amanda down on the floor. She scared the hell out of him when she didn’t wake. “I’ll get the other shadows, but I need you to heal Amanda.”

  “I can do it.” Michaela settled on the floor and held her hands over Amanda’s body. She began to glow with a soft white light.

  “Guard her for me.” He waited long enough for Robin to nod before taking off, ready to expend his rage on Sayyid’s pet shadows.

  Amanda’s eyelids felt like they were made of seventy-pound weights, the ones sweaty, overly muscled men used to warm up with at the Steroid Gym and Fitness center. Her mouth tasted worse, like she’d accidentally licked those same weights and then tried them again with habanero sauce.

  Yuck.

  “You’ll be all right,” a sweet, feminine voice crooned in her ear. “You had a concussion from the fall, and your wrist was sprained from trying to play Casey at the bat, but other than that you’re fine.”

  Yay. Now if only someone would get the disgusting weights off her eyes she’d feel so much better.

  “Robin, could you get her a glass of water please?” That sweet voice was still there, a chilly hand rubbing Amanda’s forehead.

  “Not in this lifetime.” That voice was masculine, the tone almost cheerful except for the quiet rage Amanda sensed beneath. “I will not leave your side for the rest of the day, my dear.”

  “Hey.” She managed to open her eyes, blinking blearily to clear them of the gunk that seemed to have accumulated in the corners. “No fighting, you two. Think happy wedding-y thoughts.”

  “My thoughts would be quite happy if my bondmate would obey me more often and stay out of danger,” Robin replied.

  “I helped.” Amanda frowned. “I mean, I fought, right? So I helped.”

  “You did.” Robin helped her sit up, holding her when dizziness threatened to send her right back down again. “You were quite the fierce little warrior.”

  She glared at him. “Little?”

  Michaela giggled. “That’s what you get mad about?” She swallowed her laughter when Robin shot her a look, but stuck her tongue out at his back. “I thought you rocked.”