What can I do to ease your pain?
She caressed his mind. Be my dragon. Share your strength.
Drake sent healing strength along the thread that joined them, giving her what she needed. Once she was strong enough to begin the healing process, he observed her efforts with fascination. Silver filaments wove themselves into faint pulsations of power. She set the tiny nodes into motion, directing them toward her wound. A quick glance at her face revealed the strain healing took on her. He was about to aid her when a pale silver light flickered near her stomach before entering Amina’s veins. The light traveled quickly and smoothly to her chest. Her body relaxed and her breathing became even.
Even with her twin’s help, he realized Amina was not strong enough. He poured more of himself into her, satisfied each time she absorbed his power into her own. Tiny silver and green sparks flared and died as she repaired severed nerves and muscles. She was methodical and precise, a true healer.
Drake continued to watch over her as he examined her bond with her twin. Amina’s fierce protection of her twin sister was so strong and tightly woven inside her he wasn’t surprised he hadn’t seen traces of Asiya in Amina’s thoughts. His brief intrusion into Asiya’s memories when he seized her mind had revealed as much.
He was also caught off-guard by glimpses of a loving mother and an idolized father. Memories that didn’t explain snippets of Amina’s rage at her father. Asiya’s thoughts about her father reflected forgiveness and compassion, neither of which came easy to her twin.
My sister is healed, Englishman.
Drake glanced at Asiya before his gaze went to his life mate. Her body was relaxed, the rise and fall of her chest steady. A quick search of her mind and body told him Asiya didn’t lie.
He rose and stretched stiff muscles before grabbing his breeches and pulling them on. Walking over to an ornate cabinet, he took out a goblet and filled it with wine. The liquid flowed smoothly down his throat as he drank.
“Show yourself, Raphael.”
Irritation rolled across his mind, followed by laughter. He recognized the archangel Michael’s mirth. The irritable angel had to be Raphael. Drake recalled the angelic stories he had been told as a child and wondered if they were true.
All true, and some tales that have not yet been told.
The sound of unfurling wings brought a grin to Drake’s lips. He took another sip of wine and said, “Unless your span is greater than Michael’s, I’m not easily impressed. Show yourself.”
Raphael chuckled as he shimmered into existence. His presence made the cramped quarters appear even smaller, since it was not built to accommodate an angel determined to intimidate. Drake watched the archangel snap his wings tight against his muscled back, temper his brilliance, and adjust his body so he could move freely about the cabin. Drake wondered if he’d ever become accustomed to seeing archangels in the flesh.
The angel strode over to the bed and stared at Amina before turning clear gray eyes to Asiya, who blanched under his scrutiny and tried to avoid his gaze. Raphael waited patiently until she lifted her head and looked at him. A tremulous smile formed on her mouth and she flung herself into his open arms. His wings enclosed her and the only sound in the cabin were her muffled sobs. The angel cradled her and placed her on the bed next to her sister, his fingers brushing Asiya’s temple. In a gesture that surprised Drake, Raphael tugged a woolen blanket over the now sleeping twins.
He crossed over to the center of the cabin and leveled a piercing look at Drake. “My wing span is greater than Michael’s, but nowhere near the size of Gabriel’s or Lucifer’s.”
Your span exceeds mine by less than an inch.
“Size is always important, Michael.”
Drake choked on his laughter and tried to bury it in his wine goblet.
Michael sent an incisive reprimand to his namesake. You do recall I am your guardian, and an archangel.
Drake shrugged, watching Raphael move to the cabin’s window and peer out. The archangel stood motionless, a monument to unearthly serenity. When he turned to face Drake, the lethal beauty of the archangel shook his usual calm. Unlike Michael, Raphael was all warrior, and, he suspected, capable of extraordinary ruthlessness.
Amina’s fearlessness began to make sense.
“My brother guards us so we may speak freely,” the archangel said. “I have laid a heavy sleep over Asiya and Amina. What passes between us, Michael, is private unless you choose to share what you learn with your life mate. You have questions?”
“Who are they, Amina and her sister?”
“To the human world, they are Tamahaq,” Raphael said. “To you and your cousin, they are your life mates. The four of you serve as guardians and vessels for the human seed who will become our Sire’s Consort. Your gifts are weapons to protect that seed.”
Raphael’s gaze swept the bed. “Amina and Asiya have formidable powers. Amina possesses the ability to enter and create illusions in another’s mind. She is also a healer. Asiya is a shape changer. She can assume any living form except angelic or angelic-sired.”
The archangel grinned at Drake’s stunned face. “It is why you were unaware Asiya was on board your vessel until it was too late. Your gifts are matched to Amina. She is a warrior, but as a healer she is also compassionate. You both can read others’ thoughts, while you can move from one place to another and do the same with objects. Know this Michael, Amina has trouble reconciling the twin haves of who she is, warrior and healer. Of late, her warrior’s heart has ruled.”
“Why haven’t you stopped her war on demons? She is reckless in her pursuit,” Drake demanded.
The archangel’s sardonic gaze rested on his face. “Your anger is understandable, Michael. Angels can only guide and, at times, protect. Amina’s will is her own.”
A flicker of worry touched Raphael’s brow before disappearing. “Satan’s power and influence over human kind continues to grow. His abominations walk freely on earth and are invisible among your kind. One of the fallen angels, Mephistopheles, believes Amina’s destiny is to be his queen.”
“On what grounds?”
“Satan’s twisting of angelic prophecy,” Raphael replied. “Or I should say, one of several twists of angelic prophecy he’s engaged in. Fate appears to decree otherwise, since Amina has chosen you as her life mate. Because of her choice, Asiya’s mate is your kinsman Willoughby. Both bonds now are inscribed and not even your deaths can end it.”
Drake watched Raphael cross over to the bed. The archangel moved his hand across each of the sister’s foreheads.
“My Sire’s brother is not going to be happy with this outcome.”
The archangel’s gaze settled on Drake once more. “Return home with good speed and deliver Asiya to her life mate. Protect them well, Michael, and allow Amina to be the warrior she is. She has spent her young life protecting her sister and she will not change. Until Asiya is mated to your cousin, she and Amina are in grave danger. Hurry home, Michael.”
Drake sighed deeply after the archangel’s departure. His path clearly had deviated from what he expected. He turned and studied the sisters asleep in his bed. Asiya’s spirit was quiet, contemplative, and gentle, while Amina was wildness itself. She would bow to no man, probably not even an archangel. At times headstrong and reckless, she nonetheless was a warrior to have at one’s side.
Amina stirred. Dragon?
I’m here, hawk. Are you in pain? Do you need me to ease it?
She lifted her head and peered at him, Her mouth curved into a mischievous grin. There is an ache of a different sort you may ease.
“Witch.” Drake chuckled. “When you are fully healed I shall see to your needs.”
Her amusement sent a pleasant sensation flowing through his veins and he realized how quickly she had become part of him, enmeshed in his very being, which made it easy to sense the subtle change in her mood. Her uncertainty rode the surface of her awareness.
I see my twin remains among the living. Will she cont
inue to do so?
He instilled the image of an unrepentant dragon in her mind. You are mine and I protect what is mine. Had you told me about your twin—
I couldn’t, dragon. Our lives are always in danger and the fewer people who know about Siya means we live another day. Will you give me your word you will do her no harm? She only meant to protect me.
He walked over to the window and stared out at a calm sea. If the winds continued, the Phoenix would soon round the Horn of Africa, and another three weeks would see them in London.
Raphael was here. Drake sensed the tension leaving Amina’s body at his words. It appears our destinies are threaded. Yours, mine, your sister’s, and my cousin’s. There was a long pause before his voice pushed the unspoken into the room.
“I have a wife.”
Amina spared a look at her sister before she slipped out of bed. She didn’t bother to cover her nakedness. The warm breeze flowing through the window felt delicious against her skin.
She strolled over to Drake’s desk. The surface was neat, very neat. Unlike de Zarate’s massive desk, this one reflected a confident, self-possessed, and orderly man. Maps were carefully rolled and stacked to protect them from moisture, an inkwell and a quill the only other objects to break the empty plane.
Like its owner, the desk exuded a quiet sense of self-control and power—unbridled and absolute power. There would be many clashes between her and Drake when she returned to fighting demons, so she thought it best he understood and accepted her for who she is.
“My sister and I are descendants of the first Saria, reviled in your world as the goddess Lilith, Adam’s first wife. Lilith was angel-born and Consort to Lucifer, although her heart belonged to his twin Satan. According to angelic prophecy, her destiny was to become the Tamahaq Saria, and begin the line that would give Lucifer his true Consort. She paid for her allegiance to Lucifer and the prophecy with her life, murdered by Satan.”
Amina went to Drake and laid her hand on his back. “Tamahaq give and protect life. It is our duty, our destiny. My mother, Saria, was given to Mali’s king as a peace offering. Instead, he dishonored her and slaughtered our tribe when she chose to return to her people. At a djinn’s command, the king murdered our mother and abandoned Asiya and me, leaving us to die in the Sahara.”
“We live because our mother’s kinswoman also survived. She cared for us under the watchful eye of Raphael. He told us our purpose and taught us to use our gifts. I am a warrior.”
Amina’s eyes went to her sleeping sister. “I protect my twin. I avenge the murder of my people. The demon who controlled our father died on my sword. It was easy to take Daoud’s life, and I served him the same death he gave the Tamahaq, my mother.”
Her arms folded across her breasts, Amina frowned. “Only once have I left my sister’s side. I ignored her warning and foolishly allowed another loyalty to sway me. I was betrayed and given to de Zarate. I will never be separated from my sister again, and I will continue to hunt djinns.”
“I have no plans to separate you and your sister. As to hunting demons, we shall see.”
This was a battle she knew they would fight repeatedly. “You are my life mate and you will father the line of warriors who will protect Asiya’s descendants. The Tamahaq doesn’t need to be your wife to bear your children.”
“You will be called my whore, and your children bastards.”
She blinked and tilted her head to peer at him. “To be the dragon’s whore is no dishonor to the Tamahaq. You are my life mate.” A smile touched her lips. “No Tamahaq’s child is a bastard, since the father provides only the seed, not the name or the child’s race. The child’s lineage comes from the Tamahaq, his mother.”
“That is all well and good but what about your heart, hawk? Who does it belong to now that I claim you? I do not share what is mine.”
Amina closed the gap between them. Her hand rested against the hollow space of his exposed throat before moving slowly to palm his chest. She felt the steady beating of his heart against her skin.
“My mother gave her heart to Mali’s king and he destroyed her. I will give no man my heart, Michael Drake. I am pledged to Lucifer’s cause.”
9
The faint odor of sandalwood and spice seeped across Amina’s nostrils before it gradually faded. To her sleep-drugged mind the scent evoked memories of her passion and Drake’s lovemaking. Her hand reach out to stroke him into wakefulness then hesitated. She wasn’t certain why until a second scent slithered in behind the first. Instinctively shielding her mind, she carefully examined the force connected the odor into her awareness. Her mind sluggish, it took her a moment to recognize the impulse and to see the temporal shift connected to a demonic attack.
A gleeful chuckle skipped past her lips. Unable to contain her excitement, she sent her twin a warning. They’ve come.
Amina’s fingers gently brushed Drake’s naked shoulder. He awakened alert, reaching for the sword he had placed on the floor beside the bed. “What is it?”
She pressed a finger to his lips, smiling when he kissed the tip. Demons. You need to see to your men, dragon. We don’t want to fight them as well as Mephistopheles’ creatures.
He stared at her before he rose and quickly dressed. Amina watched him until a faint pecking on the window drew their attention. A smile lit her face when a drab brown puffin pushed against the glass and Drake went to open the window.
The bird chirped happily before it flew into the cabin, landed, and shifted into human form. Brown and gray feathers transformed, becoming a pair of loose-fitting trousers and a linen shirt. Asiya inclined her head toward Drake.
Amina giggled at his dark frown before she scurried out of bed. She grabbed a pair of trousers borrowed from Xavier and a linen shirt she had taken from Drake’s wardrobe. For a few seconds, she stood immobile, her eyes shut as she basked in the addictive scent of her life mate.
“Mina, this isn’t the time to moon over your Englishman.”
Amina ignored both her sister and Drake’s stifled laughter. Once she was clothed, she shoved her feet into a pair of leather boots. “Do you recognize the demons, Siya?”
“Asael and Tadiel.”
Hearing the names, Amina muttered an exasperated curse. “I don’t know why Mephistopheles bothers to send Asael. How many times must I humiliate him before he refuses to engage me?”
Asiya laughed and went to her sister. “The demon king hopes to rid himself of the fool.”
In one hand Asiya held a worn and oddly folded belt. The fingers of her other hand clenched a sword. She offered both to her sister. “Is your heart ready, Tamahaq?”
Amina shrieked with joy and hugged her sister before she took the belt and slipped her arms through twin openings. She fastened the buckle across her chest and the leather straps formed a tight band that crisscrossed her breasts.
Her fingers closed around the sword’s hilt and she tested it for a few seconds before saying, “I have missed you, my friend.”
“You and Asiya will remain in the cabin,” Drake ordered. “I will see to the demons.”
Amina stared at him, amazement curling into defiance. She shoved the sword into a loop on the belt before crossing the room and stabbing his chest with her finger. “That will not happen, Michael Drake. We are djinn hunters. How many have we destroyed, Siya?”
“Ten.”
“You need us,” Amina stated. “Mephistopheles sends djinns we’ve fought before, and they will have monsters to do their bidding. Besides, they come for me, and I will not sit by like a terrified Englishwoman while you fight my battles.”
She is a warrior, Michael. Do not attempt to make her something she cannot be.
The archangel Michael’s voice in his head silenced the retort on Drake’s lips. Instead, he tried another tactic. “I cannot protect you and your twin, Amina.”
She glowered at him. “I don’t need you to see to my back. I have Siya.”
As soon as she spoke, she felt his emotions
. Her words had twisted in his gut like a dull knife. Anger flashed in his eyes. “As you wish,” he snapped and strode out of the cabin.
Amina jumped when the door slammed loudly. What right did he have to be angry? She and her sister had always seen to each other’s backs. They were Tamahaq. Warriors who needed no man to fight their battles. Did he think her a coward? Cowed because he’d bedded her?
She snorted derisively. He would learn that the Tamahaq defended herself and those she loved. She didn’t need Michael Drake.
Asiya heard Amina’s angry thoughts and shook her head. Ever the diplomat, Asiya concealed her amusement and said, “He is a man unaccustomed to defiance, Mina. You are also his life mate.”
Amina’s eyes focused on her sister. “I won’t bend to him or to any man, Siya. Drake is my destiny, not my master, and he will never be. Never.”
Asiya shrugged, ignoring her twin’s petulance, and shifted.
Amina waited until her sister left the cabin before making her way to the deck. The ship was ghostly quiet, as if all life had mysteriously vanished. Drake and his first mate were the only ones moving about, securing the deck against the impending attack. She felt Drake’s awareness on her the moment she set foot on the deck, yet he purposely ignored her. A brief surge of hurt coursed through her before she forced it aside.
Her gaze locked on her life mate’s back. His aggravation poured from him like faint ripples across the ocean. She stood near the hatch and waited.
Where is your sister?
Hiding somewhere I assume. It is better if the demons don’t discover who or what she is. Is your ship guarded?
Drake gripped the ship’s wheel, the bite of pain the only thing standing between him and a desire to lock his obstinate life mate in his cabin’s wardrobe. Amina made no attempt to mask her anticipation. She thrilled at the coming encounter with Mephistopheles’ demons. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t fully grasp the unseen dangers each time she engaged a demon.
Fate's Match Page 9
