by Tami Lund
He could relate to the feeling.
“I am going to pull out the arrows,” Alexa said. “Your touch appears to sooth her, so I want you to hold tight and don’t let go.”
Tanner did as she said. She sent a burst of magic into each arrow, shrinking them so that they pulled cleanly from Olivia’s body. Tanner breathed a sigh of relief when Alexa tossed the second one to the ground.
“Okay, let me take it from here.” She glanced up, gave Tanner a sharp look. “I do not understand how you did it, but thank you. You most likely saved our princess’ life. Personally, I am doubly indebted to you, as she is also my friend. Now step away and let me finish what you started.”
Tanner reluctantly released his hold on Olivia. As he stood up, he said, “Save her.” It was a command, but he did not care at the moment.
“I will,” Alexa promised without looking up from her patient. “I will.”
Tanner believed her.
Chapter 17
“Are all shifters as hot as you?”
Tanner gave the woman a startled look and she grinned.
“Body temperature, I mean.” Alexa fanned herself and then waved at the French doors leading out to the balcony. They flung open and a cool breeze swirled into the room.
They were at the beach house, in Olivia’s private chamber. Once Alexa had healed Olivia enough that she felt safe moving her body, Tanner scooped her up and followed Alexa back to the house. When the guards made an attempt to stop him, Alexa’s sharp tongue informed them that it was her decision to have Tanner carry the princess back to the beach house. At that point, Jake had turned and glared at his fellow guards, all but daring them to challenge the healer.
“Much better,” Alexa said on a sigh as she turned into the cool breeze.
“Yes,” Tanner said, deciding to take her question at face value. “Our body temperature is naturally several degrees warmer than a typical human or Lightbearer.”
“Fascinating,” she murmured. She eyed him as if she wanted to perform surgical experiments on him. For all he knew, she probably did. Shifters didn’t have resident healers, so he had no idea what made them tick.
Olivia stirred and Tanner immediately turned away from the healer to focus on the woman lying in the bed.
“She’s fine,” Alexa said dismissively. “She just needs to rest, probably overnight.” Then she frowned. “Has she been healing people, despite the fact that she hasn’t been properly trained?”
“Why do you ask?”
Alexa waved at the sleeping Lightbearer. “There is poison in her system. I would guess it is a week old, maybe longer, but it’s poison, nonetheless.”
Tanner stared at her, as he tried to comprehend what she said. “My mother,” he blurted. “She healed my mother.”
“Was she poisoned?”
“Sort of. She was actually poisoning herself, to keep from whelping.”
“Whelping? You mean, getting pregnant?”
“Same thing, but we call it whelping.”
Alexa’s eyes widened. “She used an herbal mix.” She nodded, already determining the answer.
Tanner nodded as well.
“That is okay for an occasional, short-term fix, but that was a hell of a lot of poison in Olivia’s body, and like I said, it’s at least a week old, so most of it has dissipated. What was your mother thinking?”
“That her mate was a bastard with tainted blood, and she did not want to pass along his genes to any other offspring.”
“Oh.” Alexa looked abashed. “Well you seem to have turned out okay. I mean, you saved Olivia, when, according to the legends, you should want to kill her instead.”
“I am nothing like my father,” Tanner stated. Suddenly, it registered what Alexa was saying about the poison in Olivia’s body.
“Are you saying that she somehow soaked up the poison from my mother’s body, when she healed her?” He stared at the Lightbearer, not wanting to believe what he’d just uttered.
Alexa looked pleased by his assessment. “That is exactly what I am saying,” she confirmed. “That is how a healer works. We are born with a natural ability to heal others. When we do so, our bodies absorb the pain, sickness, injury, whatever, so the other person is fixed. Then our bodies eventually eat away at the sickness and pain until it disappears. She undoubtedly slept like the dead after healing your mother, and probably hasn’t been in top form since.”
Since Tanner hadn’t known Olivia before she healed his mother, he couldn’t really say whether she was in top form or not. “She definitely slept like the dead afterward. Both times.”
Alexa shook her head. “She is not properly trained. I wish the king would relent. It is possible to be a princess and a healer, you know.”
Tanner hoped it was possible to be all that and a shifter’s mate, too.
“Is she going to be okay?” he asked uncertainly.
“Of course,” Alexa replied, as if he’d insulted her. “I’ve absorbed most of what was left in her system. She may be sterile for a little while longer, but it will not be long and she will be good as new.”
“Sterile?”
Alexa waved her hand over Olivia’s sleeping form. “Those poisons. They are doing to her what your mother intended for them to do to her, at least until they dissipate entirely.”
For the first time since their relationship had deepened, Tanner realized the two of them had been sleeping together exceedingly often—without any form of protection against pregnancy. The thought of Olivia becoming pregnant with his pup hadn’t even occurred to him. He had been too damn eager to couple with her, consequences be damned.
Now that he was thinking about it, he absorbed Alexa’s words and felt oddly deflated. It was a strange feeling for a man who never intended to procreate in the first place. He should feel relieved they hadn’t accidentally created a pup together. Instead, he felt an odd sadness for the pup that never was.
There was a sharp knock on the outer door, and Alexa excused herself to answer it. When she returned to the bedchamber, the large blond Lightbearer named Jake trailed behind her. Tanner had been surprised that Jake allowed Alexa to be alone in the chamber with him, based solely on the way he constantly hovered protectively around her. But shortly after they’d arrived at the beach house, another guard appeared and informed Jake that the king wished to speak to him, and after a whispered conversation with Alexa, he’d left Alexa and Tanner alone with the sleeping princess.
Jake paused in the entry and took his time sizing up Tanner before stating, “The king demands an audience, shifter.”
Tanner considered telling him to go fuck himself. He wasn’t a Lightbearer. Hell, he wasn’t even part of a pack anymore. He answered to no one.
Then his gaze slid to the petite sleeping form, curled up under the blankets on the giant four-poster bed where a few days ago, he’d almost taken her to mate. If he truly intended to mate with the princess of the Lightbearers, he probably ought to try to develop a friendly relationship with her father. He turned back to the Lightbearer and steadily watched him for a few moments. When Jake did not flinch, Tanner finally nodded once and the bulky man led him from the chamber.
The beach house was a massive, sprawling structure designed with a great many windows and a lot of polished wood. The entire second level was comprised of bedrooms, leading Tanner to suspect that prior to the current king, the Lightbearers were more prolific with their procreating. Since they’d cut themselves off from all other magical beings and they had nothing to do with humans, there was certainly no reason for guest rooms.
The first level was divided into a variety of overlarge rooms, including a massive kitchen and Olivia told him was managed by an entire staff of cooks and servants. The dining room opened onto the wooden deck that overlooked the cliff and the lake beyond and even without the outdoor seating, could easily seat twenty or thirty for dinner. There was an entertainment parlor, also with access to the outdoor deck, and a massive entry hall that could double as a c
ocktail reception area. There were numerous other, smaller rooms, including the library that was his and Jake’s final destination.
The library was stuffed to capacity with books, with the exception of one wall that was instead floor-to-ceiling windows, providing the room the sunlight the Lightbearers required to sustain themselves. A handsome cherry wood desk was positioned in one corner, facing both the door and the windows. A man, presumably the king, sat in a chair behind the desk.
When Tanner entered, the man’s head was bowed over a leather-bound ledger, a pen poised in his hand. He looked up sharply and Tanner saw the resemblance between father and daughter. He paused inside the door while the king swiftly closed the ledger and slid it to the side.
He invited Tanner to sit in one of two wingback chairs facing the desk. Tanner walked into the room and folded himself into the chair. The king fidgeted with the pen.
He’s nervous. Why? Was it nothing more than his presence? That could very well be it. Everyone to whom he’d spoken had assured him that shifters had not stepped foot into the coterie in five hundred years. Nor, as far as he was aware, had the king of the Lightbearers ever stepped foot outside the coterie.
“I am Sander Bennett, king of the Lightbearers.” The king finally spoke in an unnaturally loud voice that reverberated uncomfortably around the small room. He lifted his gaze and tried to maintain eye contact but swiftly lowered his eyelids over bright blue eyes.
Tanner was not, as of yet, terribly impressed by the king of the Lightbearers. His daughter has more backbone than he does.
“Tanner Lyons,” he responded.
Sander nodded, his gaze darting everywhere but in Tanner’s direction. He sat patiently and waited for the man to finally get around to whatever he meant to say.
“I understand my daughter is going to be fine,” Sander said after much throat clearing.
“So the healer says,” Tanner responded.
“Alexa,” the king said with a nod. “She is the best healer we’ve seen in a century, probably more.” He paused and twirled the pen in his hand for so long that Tanner had the urge to reach across the desk and snatch it away, but he resisted.
“Even so, as I understand the story, Alexa would not have been able to save her, had you not interfered on my daughter’s behalf.”
Tanner sharpened his gaze. The king was finally getting around to the purpose of this meeting.
“I am told you healed her. That you have magic, like the Lightbearers.”
Tanner wondered how much to tell the man. He had to tread carefully, if he intended to convince the king to let him take his daughter to mate.
“I was able to keep her alive until the healer arrived,” he said evenly.
Sander’s pallor turned white. Tanner wondered if he was about to pass out.
“Yes, well ... thank you.” Sander cleared his throat several more times. His gaze strayed to the ledger resting near his elbow.
“I, ah... It would seem I owe you a debt of gratitude,” Sander finally managed to get out. His gaze again darted to the ledger and back to Tanner. He was sweating profusely.
Tanner’s gaze also moved to the ledger as he contemplated Sander’s words. He guessed that the king had been analyzing the kingdom’s finances.
Does he think I’m going to ask for money?
No wonder he was sweating. Tanner could name his price right now. He’d saved the king’s one and only daughter. The man’s only means to keeping control of the Lightbearer kingdom within his own family. Tanner could be set for life. All he had to do was ask.
Give me your daughter and the debt is forgiven.
It was on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to say it. He didn’t care about the money. He just wanted Olivia. He repeated the words in his head several times. He even opened his mouth, as if he meant to force the words out.
“Let the shifters stay. As guests, not as prisoners. Until I can find a new pack to take them in.”
It was hard to say which man was more surprised by Tanner’s words. Sander stared at him, bemused. Tanner stared back, confused.
It would appear that Tanner was a pack master after all.
Chapter 18
“Where’s Tanner?”
They were the first words out of Olivia’s mouth, when she finally woke, halfway through the next day.
Alexa and Cecilia were out on the balcony, and both turned when Olivia spoke. Cecilia bound into the bedchamber and leapt onto the bed. Olivia gritted her teeth and clung to the mattress to try to keep the rattling in her head to a minimum. While her physical wounds were undoubtedly healed, she had a wicked headache. Probably because she hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours.
“I’m hungry,” she whispered, as Cecilia prattled on excitedly about how worried everyone was and how happy she was that Olivia was finally awake and how she should probably rush right out into the hall and summon Uncle Sander and Aunt Genevieve.
“Good idea,” Olivia suggested.
“Oh. Of course,” Cecilia said, and she climbed off the bed and dashed from the room.
Alexa lifted a small, murky ball of glass and waited for it to clear. When it did, she spoke into the glass orb, ordering a light meal of soup and a sandwich.
“I feel like I could eat four sandwiches,” Olivia complained.
“Let’s start with one and go from there,” Alexa suggested as she placed the once-again murky globe on the bedside table. “How do you feel, other than hungry?”
“Fine.” Olivia frowned. “But different. What happened?”
“You were shot with an arrow. Two, actually. Nearly fatal wounds.”
Olivia’s eyes widened.
“Do you not remember?”
She struggled to do just that. She recalled her father discovering there were shifters in the coterie, taking Tanner and the others into custody. She and Cecilia had devised an escape plan. A simple plan, really: Cecilia was to magically unseal the door to the barn where the shifters were being held, and then she was to distract the guards, while Olivia slipped inside and freed the shifters. Everything had gone as planned until ... until...
The woods. Someone spotted them running toward the woods. Tanner had tried to tell Olivia to go back and she refused. I’m staying with you, she’d wanted to say. I’m never leaving you.
Ariana was hit.
“Ariana…”
“Tanner’s mother? She is fine, fully recovered and ensconced in one of the guest chambers, in the north wing. I pulled what remained of the poison out of her system as well.”
“She is here? In the beach house?” That was … odd.
Alexa nodded. “Do you recall anything else?”
Olivia returned her focus to that moment, when she realized Ariana was hit. How she turned around, waved at the guards, called out to them to stop. The pain...
She lifted her eyes and blinked owlishly at Alexa. “They shot me,” she whispered.
Alexa nodded. “Not intentionally, of course. So they have sworn to the king at any rate. Each one has had to give a sworn statement to your father, and each swears he did not realize there was any Lightbearer amongst the escaping shifters, let alone the princess.”
Olivia did not doubt it. The guards never would have aimed their magical arrows had they known Olivia was running away with the shifters. She was certain of it.
“Thank you for healing me.”
Alexa smirked. “Thank your shifter. He saved your life. I merely swept in and added the finishing touches.”
Olivia’s eyes widened. “Tanner?”
Alexa nodded.
“But ... how?”
“I was sort of hoping you could tell me, although in truth, I believe I can guess.”
Olivia shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“He used your magic to heal you. Your wounds were mortal. You would have died before I could have even reached you, if he had not begun the healing process when he did. It’s fascinating, really. First, that he has somehow inherited some of
your magic, and second that he was able to use it to heal you, when Lightbearers as a rule do not have the ability to heal themselves. So because your magic is in his body, he was able to turn it back on you and save your life. Like I said: fascinating.”
It was nearly too much to absorb, although it certainly explained why Tanner’s body glowed every time they ... Olivia blushed, even though Alexa could not read her thoughts.
“I figured as much,” Alexa guessed. “You are having an affair with the shifter.”
Olivia dropped her gaze and fidgeted with the blanket. “Please do not tell anyone. I have not yet figured out how to tell my parents.”
“I do not envy you that task. Nor do I blame you for being attracted to Tanner. He is quite handsome. And that excess body heat will certainly come in handy during the cold winter months.” Her eyes twinkled, and Olivia felt a reluctant smile tug at her lips.
“Where is he, anyway?”
“Oh, he left the coterie.”
“He what?” Olivia sat bolt upright.
“Calm down. He will be back. He went to visit a shifter pack he says resides in the Detroit area. Your father has consented to allow the shifters to stay here as guests temporarily, but Tanner has agreed to try to find them a permanent residence. I suspect he wants it to be close enough that he can pay occasional calls,” Alexa added slyly.
Olivia thought the idea of Tanner paying occasional calls was a lousy one. She didn’t want him occasionally. She wanted him all the damn time.
Her parents arrived then, her mother rushing into the bedchamber and with great melodrama throwing herself onto the bed and pulling her into a hug that Olivia feared might break a rib or two. Her father stood a short distance behind her mother, a disapproving look warring with relief in his eyes. She knew he was happy his only daughter was alive and well, and exceedingly unhappy with the circumstances around which she was injured in the first place. Olivia suspected his issue was more the fact that she’d been in the company of shifters than that his own guards had shot her with their arrows.
