by Dianna Love
Pain seared deep into her chest from where it pressed against the threads wrapping the hologram. Evalle shook off the battle to keep from passing out, but her body begged for relief. If that happened, she’d lose her grip on Storm’s hands and the black majik locked in his blood would destroy him.
She knew it with a certainty that had to come from being his mate.
If the black majik didn’t kill Storm, Macha would finish off whatever the Noirre left of him.
Please don’t take Storm from me.
Evalle was staying with him all the way, even if he died, but her grip was slipping. The agony of being burned all over kept dragging her away, pulling her towards relief and darkness. She shook her head and fought to stay conscious.
“Let. Go.” Storm ground out the words.
“You can do this, Storm, please,” she pleaded in a hollow voice. How could she help him reach deep enough? What would make him try?
Only for his mate will he come back, whispered through Evalle’s mind.
Her body trembled, going into shock from being branded. She whispered, “I hurt so bad, Storm. I can’t heal. I need you to do this. I need you ...”
His body shook so hard it shook the entire hologram and he growled.
Evalle chanced a look at Brina’s hologram ... just as the last piece of the warrior queen’s face vanished.
Storm’s fingers flipped around, latching onto Evalle’s in a death grip. She gasped at him squeezing her index finger that was still raw to the bone.
The blasted threads glowed white hot.
Sweat ran into her eyes and down her cheeks. She fought to keep her face away from the threads, but her lips cracked and bled from the scorching heat.
“Stay with me, Storm,” she kept repeating. They faced all or none. He couldn’t quit now.
Somewhere far away, Tzader shouted and the room rocked back and forth. This was it. The castle was going to explode.
Then all at once, she heard Storm’s voice.
Her Storm.
He was chanting and the air filled with words that sounded familiar. She recognized some of the words from his Navajo chants.
The Noirre majik began to lose intensity. She took a labored breath and her body still hurt as if someone had shoved a hot branding iron all the way through her chest, but the threads lost their glow, turned back to green and stopped sizzling.
She could see Storm through the other side of where the translucent hologram had been. His lips continued moving and his eyes were closed.
His hands held hers.
She wiggled her index finger. It didn’t hurt.
He used one of his fingers to tuck it back in place inside his gentle grasp. Words spoken in his beautiful voice wrapped around her, soothing her burned skin.
Now cooled completely, the threads shattered, floating away from the form to suspend in the air. They poofed into dust and rained down on the stone floor.
Evalle smiled at Storm, but his face began to fog and blur until she couldn’t see him.
What was happening? “Storm? Storm?”
“I’m here.”
“I can’t see you.”
He chuckled. “That’s because Brina and Lanna are in your way.”
She pulled back a few inches to see Lanna’s blond curls tipped in black, then Brina’s face above Lanna’s head. Brina’s eyes were closed. Was she asleep?
Storm released Evalle’s right hand and carefully drew her away by pulling on her other hand. He said, “Their bodies are back, but I’m not sure about where Brina or Lanna’s minds are, or whether their spirits are present.”
Tzader appeared next to Evalle and Macha next to Storm.
Relief and panic flowed from Tzader in a frenzied mess.
Macha was uncharacteristically quiet, which might not last for long. Evalle whispered, “What should we do? How do we wake them?”
Storm murmured, “We will all do more for the people we love than anyone else.”
Evalle asked, “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know,” Storm said with honesty. “That came to me out of nowhere, but it felt like Navajo, so I’m thinking it means that it may take them wanting to come back for someone they care about.”
Like dragging you back from Mitnal and being with you even when you were a demon, Evalle wanted to say but kept her thoughts to herself.
Evalle had an idea, but she decided to test it on Lanna first. “Lanna? Quinn is worried about you.”
When that did nothing, Evalle added, “Quinn is not doing well, Lanna. He needs you.”
Slow as a morning flower unfolding, Lanna’s eyelids fluttered open and she looked around. She saw Evalle first and lunged into her arms. Evalle hugged the girl close, thankful that she could bring someone back to Quinn.
“Brina?” Tzader called softly, his heart exposed and hurting. He took a step closer and said, “Brina, come back to us.”
When nothing happened, Tzader turned around, demanding, “What about Brina?”
Lanna pushed away from Evalle and took in the group, then she said, “The majik has not been good to Brina. I tried to keep her calm, but she struggled with problems the whole time we were gone. When my body start pulling, I thought maybe I was coming back. But Brina was not moving. I grabbed her to bring back with me.”
That didn’t sound encouraging.
Evalle reached for Storm’s hand, surprised when he folded his around hers. He said he couldn’t read minds, but when he spoke it sounded as if he’d just read hers.
Storm turned his attention to Tzader. “If I’m not mistaken, this woman means a great deal to you.”
“She means more than my life,” Tzader said without hesitation. “Why don’t you tell her that?”
Tzader turned around and lifted a trembling hand to Brina’s face, but stopped as if he feared the wrong move would lose her again. Pain lashed through his expression. “Brina of Treoir, the woman I have loved since the first time I set eyes on you, come back to me or take me with you, because I can’t live without you.”
At one time, Evalle would have been upset with Tzader for such a statement, but she now knew what those words meant. The only place they could come from was the very core of the heart, because a mind can’t fathom the depth of that kind of love.
Brina stayed motionless as a statue for what seemed like an eternity, though it had only been thirty seconds when her eyes twitched and her lips parted a tiny amount.
Evalle was breathing for Tzader, who hadn’t moved a muscle.
Suddenly, Brina gasped, drew a deep lung full of air and clutched her throat, stepping back. Eyes wild, she looked at her hands and arms then her gaze swept around the room.
Macha uttered, “Thank the gods.”
Someone shouted then it sounded as if the entire castle was cheering. Power flashed through Evalle, which meant all the warriors had just received a burst of energy that told them Brina was back and alive.
Evalle wheeled around and hugged Storm, enjoying the sound of happiness all around her. The next thing she knew, he was kissing her.
Not the Demon Storm, but her Storm. She knew this man. He was worth whatever it took to keep him.
When he broke the kiss, she was staring up into reddish brown eyes that simmered with heat.
“Your eyes aren’t glowing Storm.”
He sighed heavily. “But they’re still red, aren’t they?”
She couldn’t lie, not to the human lie detector. “A little.”
“A little is the same as yes.” He hadn’t snapped at her, just letting her know that he was still a demon even if she wanted to believe otherwise.
Macha called the room to order. “This is truly a day to celebrate.”
Garwyli grinned and ran his fingers down his white beard.
Storm tucked Evalle into his side.
She didn’t know where they went from here, but she was determined that it was together. Lanna stood close to Evalle, but watched Brina with confusion on her face. Evall
e noticed Allyn, the guard, had entered the room and was also staring at Brina, but as if she were his long lost love.
That was weird.
Tzader shot a glare at Allyn, then he took a step toward Brina, who backed away.
Tzader stopped and his eyebrows lifted in bewilderment. “Brina?”
“Yes?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing as long as you’re not oversteppin’ your boundaries.”
“What?”
“I’m barely back from wherever I went and you’re comin’ all up in my face. I am still the Belador warrior queen, correct?”
“Yes, and I’m still the Maistir of the North American Beladors. Now that we have our titles out of the way, aren’t you glad to see me?”
Brina gave him a long look then her gaze slid sideways to Allyn before coming back to Tzader. “I’m a bit foggy on everything at the moment, but I distinctly recall that I’m engaged to him.” She pointed at Allyn, who brightened like a Christmas bulb.
“You are not engaged to him,” Tzader snarled.
“Why not?”
“Because you love me, dammit.”
Brina stared at him for a long assessment then shook her head and told Tzader, “No. I also recall that you and I had some sort of history.”
“Some sort of?” Tzader sounded as if he were strangling.
Brina ignored that and continued, “But we ended that arrangement. You and I were in agreement, as I recall. Is that not true?”
Tzader turned to Macha. “Are you going to straighten this out?”
Brina said, “You expect the goddess to deal with trivial issues such as who I choose to be marryin’?”
Lanna’s mouth gaped open. Evalle was no better off.
“Macha?” Tzader boomed.
“Tzader Burke!” Brina snapped then thought a minute. “It is Burke, right? That sounds correct.”
Macha’s face had never carried the confusion it was toting right now. “Perhaps we should let Brina settle in a bit and rest, Tzader.”
He stood there as indecision warred in his face, then he smoothed out the anger lines creasing his forehead before turning to Brina. “You’ve had a difficult time. Why don’t you and I take a walk and talk about it?”
Brina huffed. “What kind of honor do you have to be suggestin’ anythin’ of the sort in front of my fiancé?”
Allyn broke out a full body smile and started toward Brina who turned to him and asked, “What is your name?”
“Allyn McDonahue, your p-personal guard, your highness.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Uh, yes, I am.”
Brina glared at Macha. “What has been going on about this place? Why would I agree to marry my guard? When did that happen?”
For the first time since Evalle had met Macha, the goddess was at a loss.
Brina stretched her neck and yawned. “I’ve had enough of this. None of you are makin’ sense. I’m going to my chambers and I don’t want to be disturbed.” She waved an arm and disappeared.
Lanna said, “She must teach me that.”
Nobody moved for a moment until Tzader shoved a fierce glare at Macha who gave him a what-do-you-want-me-to-do lift of her shoulders.
Tzader growled something acidic then walked over to Allyn and warned, “I’m going back to do my duty as Maistir, but I’ll return and I had better not find out that you’ve laid so much as a finger on her. Dis-missed.”
Allyn had enough sense to walk away.
Macha finally spoke. “This is going to take some time to sort through.”
“You think?” Tzader grumbled.
Evalle went over to Tzader and whispered, “Brina is clearly confused. That might be a residual of the Noirre majik. Just give her a little time to rest. Maybe that’s all she needs to bring her memory back entirely.”
“I guess.” That was the weary sound of a man whose heart had taken one blow too many. Tzader called over to Lanna. “Come with me and I’ll take you back to Atlanta. Quinn deserves some good news.”
In the next instant, Macha teleported Tzader and Lanna away, then she turned to Evalle and Storm.
Storm had the sunglasses perched on top of his head. Yes, his eyes were apple red, but nothing like the Demon Storm glow.
Evalle ventured, “Storm did bring Brina back.”
Macha nodded as she moved toward them, stopping just ten feet away.
“And,” Evalle added, “he isn’t really a demon. You can tell that, right?”
Macha asked Storm, “Are you a demon?”
“Yes.”
Evalle groaned. “That’s not the exact truth. He was born with mixed blood, part of which came from a witch doctor who wanted a demon child and part of it was from his father who was a Navajo shaman. Storm can control his blood.”
“But he’s still a demon,” Macha pointed out. “You should be asking me to allow him to leave here alive.”
After all this, the goddess was going to hold him to that rule of measurement?
“But don’t you feel it’s only fair to reward someone for returning Brina?”
Garwyli interjected, “That’s a reasonable request.”
Storm reached for Evalle’s hand, specifically the index finger that had been burned by sunlight and warned, “Evalle, any reward you ask for had better be for you.”
She smiled at him rather than say anything that would start an argument and watched his face relax, because he’d taken that as her agreement. She turned to Macha. “Please return Storm and his father’s souls.”
Storm shouted, “No, give Evalle back the ability to be in the sun.”
“Who has their souls?” Macha asked.
Evalle quickly supplied, “The witch doctor called Nadina stole them first then made a deal with Hanhau of Mitnal.”
“Just stop, Evalle,” Storm ordered.
“Hanhau?” Macha gasped. “Nobody deals with that slimy entity.”
Storm was making growling sounds.
Evalle said, “He is a really nasty guy.”
Garwyli pointed out, “That was technically two requests.”
Evalle played innocent. “I don’t think so. If you use the word and in the correct placement in a sentence, it’s really only one request,” she bluffed.
Storm shouted, “I don’t care if it was six requests, you’re not doing this.”
Garwyli’s wrinkled eyes widened, but he said nothing.
Macha and Evalle turned to him, but Macha’s words scorched the air first. “Do you think to tell me what I can’t do?”
Now might be a good time to take Macha up on that request to leave here alive. Evalle held in her next breath, hoping Storm did not make this any worse.
Storm calmed down and said, “I wouldn’t dream of daring to tell you what to do. I’m only saying that any reward should be for Evalle, not me.”
Evalle caught his chin the way he did when he wanted her attention. “This is for me. I can spend my life in the dark, but I can’t live without you in the light.”
The red receded a little more from his eyes and he touched her cheek. “Don’t sacrifice any more for me, sweetheart.”
Tears stung the corners of her eyes. Evalle didn’t want to humiliate herself in front of Macha, but Storm had said sweetheart. Her Storm.
She’d thought she’d never hear that again.
“Please, no more nauseating speeches,” Macha ordered. “In one respect, Evalle is correct in that she should choose.”
Storm opened his mouth to protest again, but Macha cut off any further discussion by declaring, “Upon my commitment to the coalition, I am required to order all demons killed upon sight. You did bring back Brina, so to show my deep appreciation I will spare your life and send you back to your world.” Macha flicked a finger at Storm who disappeared, then she swept her ire in Evalle’s direction. “You brought a demon into this castle!”
Evalle was still trying to catch her breath over Storm being teleported away. “W
hat did you do with him?”
“Do I need to use smaller words? I said I was sparing his life and sending him away from Treoir.”
“But did you send him to Atlanta? They’re hunting demons there.”
“I thought you just said he wasn’t a demon.”
You’re such a–
Both of Macha’s eyebrows lifted. “A what?”
She heard my thought? Or did I project that out for anyone to hear?
Evalle rubbed her head, still running hard on adrenaline from moments ago. Blowing out a breath, she knew better than to try talking her way around almost calling Macha a name that she’d regret. Instead, she focused on what some might consider an impossible task–to guilt Macha into using her goddess connections.
Clearing her throat, Evalle softened her tone. “Bringing Brina and Lanna back was huge for the Beladors and for Quinn. Storm managed to do what your druid couldn’t.” Evalle turned to Garwyli and apologized. “That wasn’t meant to sound like a dig at you.”
“No insult taken.” He smiled in a contented way. “Carry on.”
She nodded and returned to Macha whose lips twisted as if she sucked on a lemon. Evalle had never considered herself a smooth negotiator and found the blunt truth much simpler, so she said, “All I’m saying is that establishing the last Treoir descendant in the castle again has to be worth a boon, right?”
Cocking her head to study Evalle, Macha tapped a finger on her crossed arms. “So now you want to benefit from the attack on Brina?”
“Of course not, but I did find Storm and he did do what we asked even at the risk of the Noirre attacking him. Isn’t that worth something?”
“Modest are we?” Macha said in a dour tone.
Garwyli spoke up. “The girl has a point, Goddess. We’d have offered a fortune for Brina’s return, if money had been all we needed to accomplish that, but we had no one to call. She speaks the truth. I failed to retrieve her and we ran out of time.”
The girl? Evalle let that pass.
Sounding more put upon than accepting, Macha said, “Very well. What do you want?”
“Storm has a grip on his humanity, but I’m asking for his soul to be returned.”
Macha’s eyes filled with compassion that gave Evalle hope until the goddess replied, “I don’t have any way of giving him his soul back. That takes someone with different gifts.”
