by James, Ranay
He could not push her away without touching her, and really did not want to even if he could. She was right where he desired her to be, and she was here of her own free will. That was something he feared would never happen again even if it could happen. Neither prospect was he totally sure of until this fully played itself out.
“Jesus, Jamie. We cannot do this,” he said pulling the collar of her robe back together. “I’m still unsure of my own strength. I’m not sure I can do this and not touch you. The desire is almost overwhelming. I’m not sure I won’t kill you in the process.”
“Then bind yourself if you fear for me.”
He was sure there was part truth and part tease in that statement.
“Humph, only if hell is freezing over.”
They stood there with their eyes locked. She saw the raw hunger in his. He saw the passion and love in hers.
“Josh, I know who you are deep down. I’m willing to take my chances with you.” She finally broke the stalemate.
“Then I’ll take my chances with Gage.”
She saw what he was about to do and went on the offensive capturing his mouth before he could do so first. She had to keep him alive.
He came up long enough for the practicality of the situation to somewhat penetrate his brain. “We have no birth control.”
“I have a special kind of magic happening that keeps us from needing it.” She was not about to tell him that magic was his baby already growing inside her.
“You have got to love this Fairy shit,” he said before he let her soundly kiss him again careful never to touch her bare skin.
Josh could not believe he was making love to Jamie while Jesse’s life was hanging in the balance. However, he understood he would never have another chance with Jamie once she figured out she was his ransom to save his daughter.
He was willing to make that trade, and a trade he thought would be without a backward glance until this moment. Now, there would be a backward glance, and lifelong regret, but the trade would happen all the same.
She had said for him not to fight who he was. He was a father first and foremost, and he was a Protector. His desires as a man were no longer important.
Trey’s words came crashing down on him. “Let her go before it is too late. She can still recover at this juncture. Who you are will eventually override what you want.”
What kind of callous son-of-a-bitch was he that he would use her in bed just because she was convenient, and then offer her up as ransom?
“Get up,” he growled, angry at himself.
“What? What have I done?” She was confused.
“Get up and put your clothes on.” He tossed her jeans to her. “I’m not angry with you, Jamie. I’m angry at myself for letting it go this far. You cannot change who you are any more than I can fight what I have become.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She struggled with her jeans and boots then yanked her cable knit over her head.
“It means that you are Princess Jamie of the Fae, heir to the throne, and an extremely valuable commodity to me at this moment. There is one of your future subjects holding my child hostage and you are the ransom he demands. I fully intend to deliver you to him.” He was shocked at his own coldness. He had to make her see he was wrong for her. He would eventually kill her. Pushing her away was the only answer.
That shocked her. The callous way he presented it made her doubt he ever really did care.
“You coldblooded bastard. I cannot believe you have spent months keeping me safe just to offer me up. So what exactly do you want from me, and what exactly have you become, Josh?” Jamie was heartbroken again.
“I need your blood, and I need that necklace.” He reached over roughly yanking the ornament free. “And me, I have become someone you should despise and fear.”
“Josh, I could never despise you because you already have enough hate for whom you have become to measure for the both of us.”
Gage was pounding on the door demanding he be let in.
“Don’t worry, Josh. I’ll keep your sorry hide alive.”
“Thank you,” he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
“Oh, don’t thank me. I want the privilege of killing you myself when this all blows over.”
Jamie threw the door wide and sweetly strolled past Gage. “He has done you proud, Gage. He has a great deal of self-restraint, so don’t worry, your boy is safe. You will not have to kill him today. He was very clear in his desire not to touch me, a filthy Sidhe .” She turned and looked back at Josh who had joined them in the antechamber. “You know something, Protector?”
“What?” He was feeling very guilty and torn between his child and heart. He still loved her deeply and totally.
“If I had known Jesse was in danger, I would have freely offered myself up and trusted you to take care of me. You never would have had to take by force what does not belong to you. I would have freely given my necklace, and we would have found a way for the blood, but you did not trust me and never gave me the opportunity. Do what you have to do, and I’ll do what I must as well.”
Josh watched as she walked out for the second time, again, of his own doing.
“Stop her!” Josh barked the order. He could not let her out of his sight, not now for several reasons.
She turned on him not fully understanding his desires to have her stopped.
She put up her hand, and the energy forced from her fingers laid low her would-be captors and set up a shield between her and the rest. Josh, Gage, and all the others were surprised by her new powers.
“Josh, you have called me Sidhe, heir to the throne, with venom on your breath. I claim that title. And just so you know, I have immunity under the treaty granted by the wizards themselves. To touch me now is a violation of the Treaty of the Sidhe Fae. What I choose to do from this point forward, I do of my own free will. No Fae and certainly no human will ever command me. I am sentient. Your Beast Master has no say over me, so do not think to try mind control. I am human, so, Josh, you as a Protector cannot command or control me. Where I chose to go and what I choose to do, I do because I choose to do it. Any questions?” She waited as silence greeted her.
“That is what I thought. Now, we have a child to save. Move it!”
“Damn.” Josh was impressed, smirking proudly. He nudged Gage. “And that is my woman.” He just had to figure out how not to kill her and make this work.
Chapter 46
The last twelve hours were difficult to bear. Knowing his baby girl was kidnapped again was made bearable only because Jamie was there and the hours were full of planning. The time was drawing short for the final showdown.
He was ready.
Gage, Jacob, and the others were more than ready as well. There would be blood before the sun rose very high in the morning sky.
They were standing in the predawn light.
Jamie was arguing the benefits of allowing Josh to touch her, fully catching her scent more deeply. “Gage, he is going to have to be able to track me should things go wrong. Even though I’m sure my power signature is easy to follow, we are just going to have to give him that extra edge, just in case.”
Josh agreed. “If I am close, I can follow the power signature, but once she is out of range, I won’t be able to feel that. It is very short lived, I am finding. Scent lingers much longer.”
“You understand what you are doing, right?” Gage looked to Jamie to know her own boundaries.
“Of course,” she responded without hesitation. She understood that she was giving Josh the ability to track her to the ends of the earth if it came down to it.
They were standing in the field just about to make the switch. Jamie bravely volunteered; no one had coerced her. He was so proud of her knowing she did not have to do this, but was willing to for Jesse’s sake.
Josh hated what he was doing. It was a choice no man should ever have to make, but ultimately Jamie made up his mind for him when she handed him back her necklace a
nd a vile of her blood and told him to go see her father for reinforcements.
Josh was remembering that first meeting with her father.
“Who in the name of the universe are you?” Kronos’s voice vibrated through Josh almost disrupting his heartbeat. So, this was what a true Titan looked and felt like.
Josh shrugged. “I’m your best friend or worst nightmare depending on how this conversation goes.”
Holding his ground, Josh felt the power of the wizards begin to fully course through his veins. A deep calm passed over him as he was beginning to sense his full potential on the field of battle.
King Kronos burst out laughing. He found this young mortal amusing, brave, maybe foolish, but still amusing.
“Now, by what right do you think to invade my kingdom? What would be so important that you would fracture the treaty?”
“Jamie’s life and the life of my daughter. I would think this would be enough. And if not, then I have the invitation of your queen.”
The King sat up fully. “You have seen Brianna? What of Jamie? Are they coming home?”
“Not for me to say,” Josh answered honestly.
“Then you are welcome only if my wife returns. Now, do you stay and continue this farce, or do you tell me your true reason for entering the enemy camp?” Kronos pushed for an answer silently signaling his guards to come forward.
Josh was quicker. The Singing Sword was instantly at the king’s chest poised to pierce his heart.
“Jamie is right. You are an intelligent and clever being. She told me you would see right through that one. All right, I am here to defend the very treaty which you have not just fractured, but currently are in serious violation.”
The king was taken back by the accusations. “I have been true to the terms from the beginning. To do otherwise is foolish and counterproductive.”
“You have not kept a tight enough leash on one of your own. Does VanDarious ring any bells with you? As king you are ultimately responsible for the actions of your peoples.”
“Oh, that little nuisance.” He waved his hand around. “I should have not taken pity on that worm when he spoke against my choice of mate. Then he was outspoken when Jamie was born and I named her my heir. I confess it was an oversight and has been a thorn in my side for quite some time.” Kronos sighed almost dramatically.
Josh was livid at the flippant nature in which this being was treating the very creature set on killing the love of his life and the one currently in possession of his daughter.
The king continued his confession. “Brianna was right. I should have listened to her counsel, smart woman, and killed him as an example.”
Instead, the king had hoped for his subjects to learn a lesson from his actions and to learn to show some compassion. However, that is something they were completely incapable of doing, he feared. “Not in the nature or genes.”
“We cannot and should not fight what or who we are.” Josh felt the statement was never truer than at that very moment. He had always felt different. He had always fought for the underdog. He was always the first to step into harms way to shield and protect the innocent and weaker individuals and to fight for truth and justice. Sounded corny, but true all the same. Now, he understood why. It was in the very molecular makeup of his being. “The wizards understood this of the Fae’s nature, and that, my friend, is the only reason I even exist.”
“You’re a Protector.” Kronos nodded as if finally, fully understanding. He looked inquisitively at Josh and saw flashes of something else there. “Yes, you are one of the wizards' minions. However, I dare say not the only reason you exist. Nonetheless, I will not belabor the finer points with you. But who would have thought my wife and child would have fled feeling the Protectors more capable of keeping them safe than their very own husband and father?”
“Brianna is human, Kronos. As such she had faith in the wizards’ promise to keep her child alive. They held good to their word; she is still alive, and I plan on keeping her that way. It is purely a mother’s instinct to protect her child at all costs, even to the death of her own heart and happiness.”
Josh felt it was also in a father to do the same. He was living proof.
“Women. I will live to be ten million and will never come to understand them.” He laughed ironically at the thought of a mere mortal female being the one thing in the universe to completely baffle him. God only knew how much he missed his two girls, he inwardly confessed and not for the first time. They had been gone now several months.
He did not realize the true passage of time. Brianna and Jamie had been gone for over three thousand years.
“That is the universe’s irony, Kronos. We are not supposed to ever understand them. Just love and protect them.” Josh felt that to be an elemental truth. He realized he did not have to understand this new Jamie who was full of power and forces beyond his wildest imagination. He was only to love her, honor her, and protect her. The universe would take care of the rest. “So, friend or foe, what say you?”
Kronos drilled his gaze into Josh, and he instantly felt the barriers of protection Josh erected. Kronos had no power over this man, and he intuitively knew Josh would not be an easy man to kill. Yet, they were still not on even footing. Josh was inside and behind enemy lines and by all accounts prepared to die for the cause. Again, it was not an emotion unknown to him. His respect for this human increased exponentially.
“Entirely your call.” Josh held the Singing Sword point first to the heart of this Titan. Mortality was only a sword prick away for the immortal king.
Death for Josh would also be swift, but only if he was lucky. If not, then the Fae would use him for entertainment, and his death could take centuries if what Jamie said were true.
She had no way of knowing the information she shared would be used against her father. She had begrudgingly shared thinking he was going after VanDarious. He was, just not at the moment.
“I sense no fear in you. A man without fear is no man to be taken lightly,” Kronos puzzled. “The wizards have chosen their champion well, but I am not the enemy, Protector. Let us combine our forces to eliminate a common irritant. I want my child safe as much as you. I have no quarrel with the humans or any other for that matter.”
“I have your word, or the sacrifice will be the life of your wife should you forsake me.” Josh had no idea where that threat came from. Brianna was human. He could no more harm her than he could sacrifice his own child, something Kronos did not have to know.
“Ahh, a man who knows where to strike the deepest. I give you Brianna’s life should I break faith. However, you did not need her life to have me compliant. However, since we are haggling over the price for dishonor, there is a price for you as well, Protector.” Kronos slightly leaned into the sword point. It only served the purposed of showing Josh just how grave his words were. “You, too, have shown your hand. Should you break my faith, you will never see my child ever again. Jamie will be forever lost to you.”
“She is a grown woman and human. She can do as she pleases and you can go to hell,” Josh balked.
“SILENCE! She is Fae by blood and mine to command. Never forget that, Protector.” Kronos drilled coal black eyes into Josh who never batted an eye. “You so much as sidestep, and Jamie will be married off to the man I had chosen for her years ago. She will give him fine Fae children and live two hundred thousand of your lifetimes. I will see her freewill stripped, and she will be happy and compliant. All the while I will have you stand by and watch in your own specially made cage.”
Josh was on him in a flash, barely restraining his desire to kill him. “Touch her freewill to live her own life and there will never, ever be enough magic, space, or time to bring you peace from me, Titan.”
Kronos slowly grinned. “I like you, Protector. I think we have a deal.”
Josh brought himself back to the present.
“I’m sorry I did not trust you,” Josh whispered, standing close enough to her now that he could feel
the warm waves of heat emanating from her body. He kissed the top of her head.
“I’m sorry, too, Josh, for many things, but for not what we had together and certainly not this. Don’t worry about me, I am Sidhe Fae and we are a slippery lot. Just get Jesse back safe and sound. That is all I ask. The rest will take care of itself.”
“You ready then?” He looked into her face for any sign of hesitation. He saw none.
She nodded not trusting her voice.
“Then this is for Alexander, the warrior, protector, defender of men.” He took his face and buried it into her neck, deeply inhaling, lightly trailing his tongue to get a taste of her from the tip of her collarbone to the lobe of her ear where he whispered. “And this is for Josh, just the man, who loves you fiercely.” Then he kissed her and took her deeply into his soul. He felt her heartbeat and then there were two, one like a hummingbird’s wings and one steady and strong.
She realized he had heard and remembered after all as she returned that one final kiss. True to her word to the wizards, she would be gone once the trade was completed. Because, like it or not, blood would be shed, the battle between right and wrong, good and evil was set. She just would not be there to see it.
As the wizards said, she would be one less distraction for Josh and his fighting men and women.
She would retreat into the fourth dimension, and live in agony for a very long time, and would dread every day that passed until the wizards showed up to claim the final tie to Josh ultimately taking her baby away. She had bargained for the life of her father and for the life of her Protector.
Josh finally let her go after the throat clearing of impatient warriors worked into his consciousness.
“When this is over, I’m going to marry you,” he promised.
“When this is over, we shall see. First you have to figure out a way not to kill me.”
“Just a technicality,” he teased. “Just remember to follow the plan. I’ll come for you as soon as I can.”
She nodded. This was it.
The plan was set. The exchange was to take place in the middle of the field. Both sides had fighting forces standing at ready. Jamie was to grab Jesse, run, and if possible, get her into the woods for cover. What VanDarious did not know was she had opened the passageway just hours past allowing King Kronos’ and his forces to emerge on the backside of VanDarious and his troops. In essence, VanDarious was surrounded by all sides. However, he was not holding to his end of the bargain. He was walking out with Jesse, knife at her throat.
