by Helen Scott
Hal began to stir, his breathing becoming deeper and his body restless. Robin knew he was in pain; she could see it in the lines of his face. She just didn’t know how to help.
“Now”—he put his hands on his hips, evaluating the room—“just that one?”
“Lord Poseidon, please, we need this one,” Nimue said with her head bowed.
“What possible reason do you have for needing this one?” The sneer on his face made it evident that whatever needs they had, they were far below the needs of a god, and therefore unimportant.
“He performed blood magic on this girl. We need his blood to remove it.” Nimue’s voice was sure and strong. She wasn’t intimidated by the god, but she was still being respectful.
The sea god had evidently not noticed earlier who she was. “I am not used to seeing Fae out in the mortal realm. Why do you help them?”
“Because I owe my life to them.”
He regarded her for a moment. The expression on his face made Robin uncomfortable. It was a mix of attraction and arrogance that reminded her all too much of Randall Fields. Looking down, she found Hal looking up at her. His stirring a moment earlier had evidently led to full wakefulness. Blues and greens swirled in his eyes as he watched her.
“Hal?” Her hand came up to his face, gently cupping his cheek. “Sweetie, are you okay?”
“What’s going on?” his voice croaked out, each syllable a study in pain.
“Don’t worry about that. Just rest.” She stroked the tangled wet hair away from his face, her gut clenching at seeing him in agony.
“Figure something else out.” Poseidon’s voice came out like a whip as he picked up Randall’s unconscious form from the floor, walked over, and placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder and jumped out. The brothers, Nimue, and Robin were the only ones left now, if she didn’t include the dead bodies, which she was trying not to think about.
Robin’s heart broke. In that moment, the one hope she had of this all working out in the end shattered. Randall was gone, and she was still stuck with the mark. Hal would be forever out of her reach, and she wouldn’t drag him into a relationship that could never grow and mature.
Nimue moved around her and began examining Hal’s hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m looking for any blood that Randall may have left behind. For instance, on Hal’s knuckles from when they were fighting.”
Robin looked around to where her old boss had been unceremoniously dumped after the water disappeared. His unconscious body may have left behind something useful. As she turned to examine the area, she found a small rivulet of blood tucked between some of the mosaic tiles.
“Can you tell if it belonged to Randall?” she asked, turning toward Nimue, carefully avoiding putting her hands anywhere that might disrupt the few drops of blood.
“Probably, but I can’t guarantee it.”
“There’s a little over here.”
The silvery-gold-covered head snapped up from where it was bent over Hal, who was going in and out of consciousness. Moving over to examine the patch of ground Robin was guarding, the other woman started nodding her head as she looked at it.
“How can you tell?” Robin’s curiosity got the better of her.
“His body is not meant to handle magic; it is not an innate ability for him. I can sense the dissonance between his blood and the magic that flowed through his body while he fought Hal.” She peered at the sample, her head practically on the floor. “Could one of you bring this sample with you?”
The brothers all looked at one another, confused expressions all around.
“We don’t have anything to put it in,” Alec said, voicing his brothers’ concerns, as well as his own.
“Can you not transport it in water?”
Thad shook his head. “Even with my talent being what it is, I wouldn’t be willing to bet on it surviving the trip home, especially since we can’t make it in one jump.”
When they had set out to rescue Hal, the brothers had jumped from the big house to Paris, and then from Paris to Athens, and finally to the speck of an island that the map had shown them. She could still smell the freshly baked bread from Paris and the salty air from Athens and the island they were now on.
“There has to be something somewhere that we can use to contain it.” The desperation in her own voice surprised her, as it did the brothers. “I can’t live my life tied to that man. I just . . .” She sighed, feeling defeated. “I can’t.”
“I understand.” Nimue’s voice was gentle as the woman rubbed circles on her back, right over the mark. Robin wondered if it was intentional. “Can’t one of you jump somewhere and get something?” she said, asking the question that had been swimming in Robin’s mind since this discussion started.
“I don’t know about these two”—Dem gestured to the brother on either side of him—“but I barely have enough energy to get myself home. If Hal isn’t able to jump himself and we have to get Robin home, then I just don’t have the energy to spare.”
Nods of agreement came from Thad and Alec.
“Jumping with two people is a serious energy drain, and so is putting up a wall of water. There has to be something around here,” Thad said as he began to search the space.
“What about in ice?” Alec posed the question to his brothers.
They paused, looking at each other.
“Could work. I’m still worried about it breaking, though.” Thad rubbed the pale blond stubble that was starting to appear on his jaw.
“So take the dirt with you. Freeze that.”
“If someone can transport me home, then I can try and remove the mark here.” Nimue’s voice was low. “But after I am done, I will need to go straight to the lake to recharge.”
A crackle of nervous energy erupted in Robin’s belly. Here and now was something she wasn’t mentally prepared for.
“I can take you home if you would allow me to rest there a while, and if Thad and Alec are okay with Robin and Hal,” Dem said, his eyelids drooping slightly with exhaustion already as he glanced over at his brothers, who nodded, and then at Nimue, who gracefully inclined her head.
“If this is too difficult, we can figure out another way of transporting the blood.” Robin’s voice was high and tinny in her own ears, revealing her fear to the others.
“It will be fine, Robin.” Nimue’s violet eyes met her own, filled with touching sincerity.
In that moment, she knew the pain was going to be just as bad, if not worse, as when the mark was applied. If Randall’s unconscious body were still there, she would have released her frustrations out on him. Poseidon had taken that opportunity away from her. He might have even taken away the ability for the mark to be removed if the few drops of blood she had found weren’t enough.
“I will need to meditate for a while to draw the necessary energies to the surface.” Nimue sat, almost guarding the blood, and began to close her eyes before they snapped open again. “Robin, I suggest you take this time to rest and ready yourself as well.”
Robin nodded and watched as Nimue settled into a meditative pose, her body relaxed, eyes closed, breathing gentle. She tried to mimic the position, but it didn’t work. Her body felt stiff and awkward in comparison to the other woman’s. Thoughts raced in her head about what was to come, and she watched as the brothers each took up positions throughout the cave.
They were spread out enough that if they were somehow attacked, the attackers would be forced to spread out as well, but they could reach each other, if need be. Closing her eyes once more, Robin went searching inside herself for the strength that had allowed her to stand up to Randall in the first place, the strength that had helped her remain at Eclipse when every second was like slowly suffocating. It was the strength she would need for what Nimue was about to do.
Hal jerked awake as a scream ripped through the air. What had happened? He remembered arriving here, the purple cloaks lining the wall, Poseidon and Sam showing up, an
d fighting Randall, but then nothing. His eyes were having trouble focusing on anything, and he felt like he’d been hit by a truck. Every muscle in his body was sore, even his toes. What the hell made his toes sore?
The scream tore through him again. Bolting upright, the vision in front of him was one that made his heart almost stop. Thad and Dem were holding Robin’s arms while Nimue stood behind them, performing some sort of magic on her back. Those slate-gray eyes that he’d come to care for so much locked with his own as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“What the hell?” His voice was a quiet rasp. Clearing his throat, he asked again.
“Brother, it is for her own good. They are removing the mark. It’s all good.” Alec was beside him then, and as he turned to look at his brother, his eyes took in what could only have come from a god’s vengeance. Three bodies lay strewn across the floor. Two of them had drowned where there was no water. He knew Poseidon’s handiwork when he saw it.
Finally locking eyes with his brother, he said, “She’s screaming in pain. How is that all good?” The words ground out of him, low and quiet, the calm before the storm of his anger.
“She did this voluntarily.” Alec’s forehead creased in concern as he took in Hal’s current mood.
“What the hell are you all doing here, anyway? Where is her family? Who’s watching out for Aster and Ellie?” The questions came rushing out of him just as another scream burst forth from Robin’s throat. He knew the screams were not the warning of oncoming death; they didn’t have the same reverberation as the one he had experienced when she had met Cin, but to him, these were worse.
Caring for Robin had changed something in him. It was no longer just fun; she was not just a distraction. She was important to him, perhaps more important than he ever expected her to be. True, he had been inexplicably drawn to her from the very beginning, and his desire to rescue her had almost driven him, and probably his brothers, mad. All that being said, though, he hadn’t expected to want to physically harm his brothers and rip Nimue away from her as though they were responsible for this fresh pain. He had known she wanted the mark off, and it was the mark causing the pain.
It was all Randall’s fault. He should have killed the bastard when he had the chance, but again, the thought of killing that innocent woman stopped his line of thinking in its tracks. Glancing back over at Poseidon’s vengeance, he saw that the woman hadn’t made it out alive, anyway.
“We came to rescue you, dumbass. Robin’s family is safe. They are on the island, as are Ellie and Aster. Ellie can take care of everyone. She’s my tough cookie.” Hal watched as Alec’s face softened as he talked about his soulmate.
He had thought, once upon a time, they would all die in battle one way or another, but it never came. Centuries passed, and he thought they would only ever have each other and the occasional romantic dalliance. Then Dem had found Isa, and everything had seemed as though it was balanced on a knife edge, until Zeus pushed them over and that knife edge cut Dem’s heart, leaving him emotionally scarred from what Isa had been through.
Hal shook his head. He was doing too much thinking while Robin was in pain. Pushing himself up, he moved over and crouched in front of her. “Hey, Rin. I hear you came to rescue me.”
“Somebody needed to save you.” She winced as she spoke.
Peeking over her shoulder, he could see that Nimue was hard at work trying to remove the mark. He hadn’t expected to see her fingers in Robin’s back, but they were knuckle deep as they moved around the shape of the mark.
“I appreciate it.” He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
“Don’t waste it.”
“Waste what?”
“Your second chance. They could have killed you.”
Whatever Nimue did then caused another yell, followed by sobbing.
“We are almost done, my little banshee.” Nimue’s voice was soft as she spoke, incongruous with the actions she had to perform to remove the mark.
“I just want to be free.” Robin’s voice scratched the words out between sobs, and he understood why she was doing this. The mark represented everything about her life she was trying to move past. If it remained, then part of Randall would always be with her.
“You will be, baby, you will. I promise.” At some point, he was going to hunt that bastard down and make him pay for his crimes.
Hal wiped the tears away from her cheeks, brushing the flame-colored hair away from her eyes. This strong woman was being brought to her knees by her wish for freedom, and that was something he understood more than she realized. He had often wished to be free of the gods, to not have to do their bidding anymore, to be in charge of his own destiny. The thing was, when he was with Robin, he felt that way. His life’s path was within his grasp, and the work for the gods was just a fraction of what his life could be.
She looked at him once more, the gray-blue of her eyes searing his soul. “I love you.” The words were quiet and he barely heard them, but his soul heard them loud and clear as his heart thumped its own response in his chest.
Before he could return the sentiment, her body went limp, her head hanging between her shoulders like a rag doll’s. He looked up at Nimue, panic-stricken that something like this would be what took her away from him.
“She’s fine. I’m done. Now her body needs to rest. As do I.” The woman swayed on her feet, and Dem instinctively let go of Robin to catch her. Thankfully, with Hal being right there, he was able to catch the now-unconscious Robin. Thad released his support of her, as well, and Hal scooped her up into his lap, brushing her hair away from her face once more as it rested on his shoulder.
“I’m taking her home,” Dem said. He looked exhausted, making Hal wonder what exactly had happened in the time that he couldn’t remember.
“We should all head home,” Thad said, wearing the same exhaustion on his face as Dem. “Hal, are you okay to jump yourself?”
He nodded. “I’ll take Robin too.”
“Thanks, Brother.” Alec clapped him on the shoulder, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Once he was home, he would have to do something about all these bruises and what he suspected was a broken nose.
“I’ll check in on Robin’s family, so you can just take her straight to the cabin,” Thad said, causing Hal to stiffen.
“How do you know about the cabin?”
“Seer, remember?” His brother chuckled. “I knew when you decided to build it, and I knew when you first brought Robin to the island that it would be your cabin that made her feel safe. I usually know more than I share with you, which is a good thing, because you shouldn’t know the future. It’s good to have surprises in your life.”
Thad looked at Dem at the last statement. His eldest brother jumped out, carrying Nimue, clearly not amused by whatever Thad was getting at. Hal waited until Thad had jumped, and just before Alec left, he asked, “What do I say to her when she wakes up?”
Confusion crossed his best friend’s face. “What do you mean?”
“She said she loved me. What do I say to that?” Hal’s heart felt torn in two. He cared for her deeply, but he wasn’t willing to sing for her; at least, not yet. If she wasn’t his soulmate, then she would become his thrall, and she had been under one man’s thumb long enough that it wasn’t even a possibility he was willing to entertain.
“Say it back, if you feel it. If not, well, then talk to her about it. The biggest mistake I made when I was courting Ellie was not explaining myself. I just dumped my emotions on her, and she rejected them outright, as she should have, but if I would have explained what I was feeling, what I wanted out of a relationship with her, who knows what would have happened differently.”
“If you had done anything differently, then you wouldn’t have ended up talking to Aphrodite, which has given us all a sense of freedom. I know Thad and Dem will probably never think to say this to you, but thank you for taking the risk, for pushing hard enough, and pushing me hard enough, that we know we can lead full lives now.”
>
Alec’s head dipped. He was uncomfortable with heavy conversations, always had been. “Let’s go home,” his brother said.
They both jumped out, leaving behind the broken god-summoning circle and failed attempt at a power grab.
Chapter 25
Frustration boiled in Aster’s blood. The brothers had left her. Again. She was not a child who needed a babysitter, and she certainly wasn’t going to live out her life trapped on this island instead of trapped in a cage by Randall Fields. A thought skittered across her mind.
There was someone in a cage she owed some payback to, though.
She hadn’t missed when they had told Robin that The Surgeon was on the island, contained somewhere, nor had she missed Robin’s reaction. The man was worse than scum. He was deranged and needed to be put down. If she could figure out where he was, then she could find out what the hell that man had done to her while she was in his tender care. They had talked about trying to breed her like some kind of dog, testing to see if her ability was genetic or not. She, of course, was supposed to be impregnated too, so that if none of the other children had the ability, then they could test against a child carried in her own womb. The whole idea made her sick to her stomach.
Pacing around the big house was no help, especially now that Robin’s family was there as well. Her father was the biggest waste of space she’d ever seen. The man was dying without getting his gambling fix. Even though he looked like he’d been beaten until he lost consciousness, the only thing he could think about was where he might be able to lay some money against some ponies.
The other daughter, Robin’s sister, looked like she’d been through hell. Poor thing was shell shocked. She wouldn’t look at either of her parents, even though her mother was begging her to let her explain. Their voices were digging under her own skin. She could only imagine how Caitlyn felt. Robin’s parents seemed so self-centered that it amazed Aster that the banshee had risked anything to get them out of that hellhole, let alone her life itself.
She pulled a pair of running shoes on and decided to go exploring, because if she stayed in the house with those people, then she was going to snap, and she liked Robin. She didn’t want to upset her. Not that she could really do anything. One self-defense class and one judo class did not a warrior make.
