Bound to Blackwood

by Sharon Lipman

  A coy smile spread across her lips. "I have no idea what you mean."

  "Yeah, right. Come on, it's now or never."

  Never, Lena thought. Choose never.

  With her hand in Thorn's she watched him open the door and pull her into the room.

  Six pairs of eyes stared at them.

  They all belonged to various expressions, from Soraya's obvious joy, and Kaden's fury, to Ryver's relief and Mercury, Sky and Phoenix's what the actual fuck.

  Thorn could sense Lena retreating within herself and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Before he could figure out what he should say, Soraya flew across the room and jumped up to hug him. She gave him a peck on the cheek, before sliding back to the floor. "I am so happy for you, brother-mine."

  He just about managed to thank her, before his sister turned her attention to Lena. The instant his Amocinta was under scrutiny, Thorn could feel how desperately uncomfortable she was. His sister could be over exuberant sometimes, but her sentiment was genuine. The moment he thought it, Lena's iron-clad grip on his hand relaxed a little, and she shot him a grateful glance.

  Of course, all that reassurance went out the window when Soraya grabbed Lena in a bear hug. His tiny sister actually picked Lena up and spun her around. Thorn snorted as he failed to contain his laugh.

  "Congratulations, sister-mine," Soraya said as she put Lena down.

  Lena's blue eyes widened and Thorn felt her confusion. Soraya took Lena's hand. "We are family now. I have always wanted a sister," she shot Thorn an amused look. "Brothers can be such a bore."

  Lena gave a weak smile, overwhelmed as she was by Soraya's openness. "Guess Thorn better watch out then," she said in a whisper.

  Thorn rolled his eyes and pulled Lena back towards him. "Lena is enough trouble on her own, Soraya. She hardly needs your help."

  Kaden barked an exaggerated cough, and the mood changed instantly. Lena inhaled deeply and squeezed Thorn’s hand so hard, she threatened to break every bone in it.

  Thorn looked at the Keeper of the Watch, the guy’s ice-blue eyes glowing as he scowled back. His muscled arms crossed his chest and he held his head high. Flanked on both sides by his Guardians, Thorn’s best friend looked far from happy.

  Thorn ran a hand through his hair. This should be interesting! “So, I got a few things I need to fill you in on.”

  Kaden raised a white-blond eyebrow. “Really, My Lord?” Kaden replied, switching his gaze to Lena and then back again. “And what might that be?”

  Kaden swallowed down his anger as best he could. Unless Thorn had resorted to drugging Lena, he had to admit she looked perfectly well. The Steward of the Watch kept a tight hold on her emotions, but even a fool could see the joy in her as she held Thorn’s hand.

  Kaden switched his attention to Thorn. The King raked his huge hand through his dark curls whilst Kaden waited for the guy’s oh-so-brilliant explanation.

  “Why don’t we all sit down?” Thorn finally said.

  Kaden laughed, and moved away from his brethren. He swept his hand out to gesture at the rest of the room. The boys took helpful side-steps so the scene of destruction became clear beyond each of their massive frames. “And what would you suggest we sit on?” Kaden asked.

  The place was a complete mess. The huge leather sofa had apparently burst apart at the seams, leaving just a pile of tattered hide, stuffing, and wood in its place. The bar had crumbled, taking all the glass, crystal, and best vintage liquor with it. The pool table had buckled at one end, and the dart board lay embedded in the floor. The leather poufs by the splintered coffee table looked like they had fared better, but even from here, Kaden could see shards of what used to be a solid-oak coffee table jutting out from the soft, brown leather.

  Lena dropped Thorn’s hand as she stepped forward to look at the pool table more closely. Her head whipped around, blue eyes wide. “What in the name of Fae happened in here?”

  “How the fuck do we know?” Mercury jumped in. “One minute, we’re sittin' here, mindin' our own business, the next some sort of fucked-up earthquake rips through the place!”

  “An earthquake?” Lena asked, her brow knitted in confusion.

  Kaden crossed his arms. He knew damned well this wasn’t an earthquake, but he still waited for an explanation from Thorn. He wanted to know for sure. “Forget about that for a minute. Why don’t you tell us what’s really going on, Thorn.”

  The King shot a glance over to Lena, who nodded in reply to some silent question. Thorn pushed out an explosive sigh. “Right.”

  Kaden waited. He saw Mercury and Sky shooting questioning looks at each other from the corner of his eye, each shrugging their shoulders at the other.

  It seemed Thorn was attempting to communicate silently too. He struggled, his mouth opening, then closing whilst a deep frown pulled at his broad forehead. Kaden refused to cut him any slack and just stood there, waiting.

  Lena made her way back over to the King and slipped her hand in his. She patted his bicep with her free hand. “Why don’t we start at the beginning?” she whispered.

  Kaden watched on amazed as Thorn turned to her and his frown disappeared, a wide, goofy grin spreading across the guy’s face instead.

  Mercury crept up behind Kaden. “Holy Fuck! You see that, Boss?” he whispered.

  Kaden nodded his reply. Maybe Thorn had drugged her, because this was not the Lena he knew.

  Another rake of his hand through his hair and Thorn got down to business, Lena still petting him. “Lena and I went to see the Squire, Lucine.”

  Okaaay. This was not the “beginning” Kaden expected.

  “Please, God, she had somethin' to say, 'cause she wouldn’t tell us shit,” Mercury said.

  Thorn looked at Lena again before continuing, ignoring Mercury’s interruption. “Lucine had the answers we’ve all been looking for.”

  Keeper of the Watch hat sitting firmly on his head, Kaden ignored love’s young dream for the time being. “For the sake of our honour, I hope she led you to Eden.”

  “She did indeed,” Thorn replied.

  “Well, thank the Gods for small mercies,” Kaden said as he felt a small weight lift from his shoulders. “Where can we find her?”

  Kaden watched Thorn and Lena exchange some sort of secret look again and his internal fury resurfaced. “Look, this,” he gestured to the hand holding, “is all very nice and everything, but finding Eden is our number one priority. Now tell me. Where the fuck is she?”

  Lena stepped forward. Kaden couldn’t decipher the look on her face. She showed so many emotions at once that he had no idea what was going on. It took him a few seconds to realise that he didn’t want to throw up as she approached. His brow furrowed as she looked up at him.

  She swallowed hard before she said, “You’ve already found her, Kaden.”

  Yep. She was definitely on drugs. “What?” he riled. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Lena reached for his hand and gave him a small smile. “You rescued Eden nearly two-hundred years ago, Kaden. You’ve watched over her all her life”.

  Kaden growled, despite Lena’s tenderness with him. “This isn’t funny, Lena.” He pushed her hand away with a hefty shove.

  A different, altogether more menacing growl echoed around the room and Kaden saw Thorn start forward. The King brought himself up short when Lena held up her hand. “It’s alright, Thorn,” she said.

  Confusion reigned as Kaden stared at Lena. “Stop with all the fucking riddles, Lena. Where is Eden?”

  Her midnight-blue eyes shone as she looked up at him. “You’re looking at her.”

  Lena held her breath as Kaden stared at her. His cool, blue eyes searched her face and she knew he was looking for the truth, not just in her words, but in her mind, in her spirit. She knew she spoke the truth, but Kaden had to feel it for himself; he was never going to just take her word for it.

  She dropped her shields just long enough for the absolute truth in her soul to shine through. Her
shields snapped shut when Kaden’s eyes widened and he took a stumbling step backwards.

  “How can this be?” he whispered.

  Thorn stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t we all go and get a beer in the lounge, and we’ll fill you in?”

  Kaden nodded. “Drink sounds good,” he replied, his voice hoarse.

  Chapter 36

  Ryver trailed behind the rest of the group as they picked their way through the debris and left for the lounge. He’d watched the scene unfold as Thorn and Lena walked in, but it hadn’t felt like he was really there. He’d known the whole story before they even arrived.

  Fireworks of white-hot energy had fired the neurons in his brain and he was still reeling from it. His telepathic power had gone into over-drive and he desperately tried to get a handle on it as he stumbled after his brethren. He could hear everything. Literally everything.

  He knew Lena and Thorn had mated the moment their frenzied passion ricocheted through his mind. The surge in power left him rooted to the spot as their psychic voices were joined by his brethren and Soraya. Seven voices screamed in his mind and it took Ryver a long time to block them out. Even now, he could hear all of them, but he had managed to turn it down to a dull roar so that the noise sat on the edge of his consciousness rather than slap-bang in the middle of it.

  He could still hear them all chuntering away though. Well, everyone except Kaden, who, sharp as ever, had just redoubled his mental arithmetic efforts. Essentially, everyone was thinking their own version of “what the fuck.” Apart, of course, from Soraya, who would probably rather die than actually swear out loud, but it sounded like she didn’t need to.

  Soraya knew exactly what was going on and she couldn’t be happier about it. Ever calming, Ryver tried to isolate her voice in the cacophony, but everyone was so damned loud, He could only catch glimpses of the Princess’s thoughts.

  Ryver got that Lena and Thorn had to get their acts together, for all their sakes, but he never could work out how it was possible. Even if Lena wasn’t such an unyielding cow, there was the law. Kaden riled against Thorn’s refusal to even think about changing it, but Ryver understood Thorn’s reasoning, even if Kaden couldn’t see it. It would be dishonourable to change laws just to suit one’s own ends, and even Kaden would eventually realise that that was unacceptable.

  When Lena walked in with Thorn, Ryver heard the change in her immediately. Her voice sounded different somehow, but with Thorn occupying so many of her thoughts, Ryver hadn’t been able to find the cause of the change.

  Now he understood. As he picked out her voice amongst the others, he could hear her true voice. She may be Lena now, but he could hear the child she’d once been.

  Kaden grabbed a beer from the tray Phoenix had fetched from the kitchen. He couldn’t wait for the guys to pass around the bottle opener. He cracked his bottle open on the antique, marble mantle above the unlit fireplace instead. He caught the rush of bubbles with his lips and proceeded to down the lot.

  He maintained his position by the fireplace as everyone else looked awkwardly at their feet and drank their beers in silence. Kaden did his best to keep his emotions in check, though he clenched his jaw so tight anyone close enough would no doubt hear his teeth screaming in protest. He knew Lena spoke the truth…or at least she believed she spoke the truth. Yet, Kaden didn’t understand how it could possibly be true.

  How could the youngling he collected from House Meadows and Eden of House Greenshire be the same girl? Damn it all to hell.

  Soraya sidled up to him. “Why do you look so troubled, Keeper?”

  He shot her a sideways glance. “Why do you think?”

  She just smiled that sweet smile of hers and some of Kaden’s anger waned.

  “Did you know?” he asked.

  Still smiling, she said, “No, but then I do not expect to know everything.”

  Ouch! “Point taken."

  “Lena and Thorn are the key to everything, Kaden. It doesn’t matter how they got here; just be happy that they’ve arrived.”

  Kaden pushed his blonde hair out of his eyes and caught sight of Thorn making his way over. “Great.”

  Soraya’s smile widened at the sight of her brother. She laid a gentle hand on Kaden’s arm. “Let me take that for you,” she said as she took the empty bottle from his hand and walked away. Probably just as well, since Kaden’s sense of calm left with her and that bottle would have made a useful weapon.

  Thorn sensed the change in Kaden as soon as Soraya moved away. The guy's brilliant blue eyes narrowed as Thorn made his way over. “Look,” Thorn said as he reached his friend, “I didn't plan any of this.”

  Kaden remained unmoved, fury swirling in the iciness of his eyes. Thorn grimaced, anger of his own slowly bubbling away in the pit of his stomach. “I mean it, Kaden.”

  “Right.”

  “When Lucine told us who Lena really was, I thought it was a joke.”

  Kaden crossed his arms over his wide chest. “How convenient for you that Lena seems to believe it.”

  Thorn moved closer. “You listen to me, Keeper of the Watch. You will not ruin this for me,” he hissed, “or Lena.”

  Kaden flashed a machete smile back at him. “I have no intention of ruining anything, My Lord,” he replied, making the perfectly innocent sentiment sound like an insult and a threat, all at the same time. The guy dipped his head to whisper in Thorn's ear. “I am not Keeper of the Watch for nothing.”

  Thorn sighed. His friend was uptight at the best of times, but this was in a whole different class of tense. “Can't you just be happy for us?” Thorn asked.

  Kaden just looked at him. “Tell me what happened.”

  Thorn leant against the mantel that ran across the unlit fire-place. “It's probably the most surreal thing I've ever witnessed.”

  Lena's heart clenched as she watched Thorn talking to Kaden. The Keeper of the Watch did not look amused. But then, Kaden didn't look amused too often these days.

  Soraya sat next to her and handed her a beer. They kept silent for a while, nursing their drinks. In fact, apart from Kaden and Thorn talking in hushed tones by the fireplace, no one else was speaking either.

  Phoenix, Sky, and Mercury seemed to be trying to have some sort of conversation using their eyebrows alone. Their foreheads lifted and creased as they conveyed their thoughts to each other. Ryver just stared into space.

  “Everything is as it should be,” Soraya said quietly.

  “You sure about that?”

  “Of course.”

  Lena nodded, deep in thought. Visions of Thorn's face as she suckled at his wrist danced in front of her eyes. Whether she lived another thousand years or perished tomorrow, she would cherish that memory forever, keep it close to her heart. She could still taste his delicious blood and a yearning spread through her.

  She glanced over at Thorn. Clearly sensing her, he turned from his friend to meet her gaze. A small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth as he simply nodded at her and turned his attention back to the Keeper of the Watch.

  It was enough. For now.

  In her mind, she went back to the moment she'd pierced Thorn's wrist and tasted his blood for the first time. Jesus, the power that coursed through his veins. Just thought of it made her shudder. Taking that delicious claret had set a fire in her, yet the burning wasn't the same as it had been before, because Thorn was with her, sharing the heat. Gods, she had been burning for so long, she was surprised she hadn't disintegrated into a pile of ash.

  She smiled, remembering the taste. That beautiful, sensual taste that was all Thorn. It had been such a relief.

  A thought tugged at the back of her mind. It unsettled her, but she couldn't quite get a hold of it.

  “Would you like another drink?” Soraya asked.

  A drink? Something triggered in Lena's brain. She stared at the Princess.

  Soraya shifted in her seat. “Is everything alright?”

  “You knew,�
�� Lena whispered.

  Soraya's pale gold eyes widened. “Knew what?”

  Lena's mouth felt dry. “The drugs just weren't cutting it any more. You knew I needed blood.” She swallowed hard. “You knew I needed Thorn's blood.”

  Soraya wouldn't meet Lena's incredulous stare. Instead, the Princess shot worried glances over to Thorn and Kaden.

  “Soraya,” Lena said in warning.

  Soraya looked stricken. “Oh Gods, don't hate me,” she whispered.

  Lena puffed out an explosive sigh. “Last night wasn't the first time I've tasted Thorn's blood, was it?”

  Soraya shook her head.

  “The drink you gave me. The one with the special additives?”

  Soraya shot her a hopeful smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

  “Why?” Lena demanded.

  The smile fell from the other woman's face, her glittering eyes full of worry. Lena watched her wring her hands and Soraya glanced over at her brother once again before she turned back to Lena. “Nobody could be more pleased than I that my brother found you, Lena.”

  “Okaaay.” Lena frowned. “I hear a 'but' coming.”

  Soraya gave a small smile. “But, whether you like it or not, this isn't just about the two of you. It's far bigger than that.”

  “What do you mean?” Lena asked, her brow furrowing further.

  Soraya looked across the room again, staring intently at her brother and the Keeper of the Watch. The two were still talking. Kaden still didn't look happy.

  Lena watched the Princess closely. The petite woman may look harmless, but the royal blood that flowed through Soraya's veins packed a punch like no other, and that power gave the other woman the ability to mask her emotions better than anyone Lena had ever met. Usually it was impressive. Now, it just made Lena uneasy.

  “Soraya, please,” Lena prompted, unable to stand it any longer.

  Soraya seemed to come to some sort of decision and her body language changed immediately. “There are none of us left who remember the old days, before the gates to Faerie were sealed. With each generation, our magic grows weaker.”