Bound to Blackwood

by Sharon Lipman

  “What about you and Ryver, or Kaden for that matter?” Lena interrupted, still not sure where this was going. “You three have powers beyond what the rest of us could even imagine.”

  Soraya waved her hand in dismissal. “I have royal blood and Ryver and Kaden are warriors, Lena. It stands to reason we should be among the strongest of the race, but we are anomalies, nothing more.”

  “But…”

  “But nothing! Please, listen to me, Lena,” Soraya implored.

  Lena nodded, surprised by Soraya's candour.

  Soraya took a deep breath. “The three of us notwithstanding, as a race, we are nowhere near as powerful as we once were. We were never meant to live for so long this side of the gateway.” The Princess sounded wistful.

  “I don't understand,” Lena said.

  Soraya took Lena's hand in hers. “You, and Ryver of course, are the youngest of us.”

  “Yes, I know, but…”

  “I don't mean the Order, Lena. I mean all of us.”

  “W-what?”

  “Ryver is the last of us.”

  “He can't be.”

  “I assure you, I've been keeping very accurate records. There have been no new matings in over five hundred years, no true pairs left. We are all of us orphans.” A sad smile touched Soraya's mouth. “All except you.”

  Lena felt her eyes widen as a sharp stab of icy sadness pierced her heart. She stifled her gasp with her hands. “Heath! I hadn't even thought about him!”

  Soraya squeezed her shoulder. “There is still time, Lena. Heath is not ready to leave us just yet.”

  Lena searched the other woman's face and saw nothing but sincerity. “You're sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Lena nodded, too stunned for anything else.

  “But before you go and meet your father properly, you need to understand why I did what I did.”

  Lena swallowed hard. Faerie only knew what else Soraya had up her sleeve.

  “The power of our race has always flowed from Faerie, through the King or Queen and so on to the rest of us. I've been waiting for you and Thorn to find each other for centuries. You two are the key to our future.”

  Lena's brow shot skyward. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Soraya gave a gentle sigh. “I'm not explaining myself very well, am I? What I mean is that without your mating, there would be no further matings…for any of us.”

  Lena's mouth fell open. “What the fuck?”

  Soraya blinked. “I had a premonition years ago, before you were even born. It has taken me centuries of research to decipher what it all means.”

  “What premonition?” Lena croaked.

  Soraya closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. When her lids fluttered open again, Lena noticed the pale, pink wash of tears threatening to overspill her lashes. “Born to rule, though not to inherit, he will find the light that owns his heart and soul, and in so doing so, find the key to Faerie.”

  Bloody hell, what was she supposed to say to that?

  “It gets better,” Soraya said.

  Lena didn't think it could get much worse.

  “As years passed, the insight grew. The words became more forceful, more ominous.”

  “Like how?”

  “There is only one light.”

  “Okay.”

  “If he does not find the light, there will be only darkness. Without the one light, you will all live in the shadows, alone.”

  Well shit. “How do you know that's what it means? Why does it mean that Thorn and I are some last, great hope? You could be wrong.” As soon as she said it, she knew it was a forlorn hope.

  Soraya was never wrong. Ever. The Princess was always very careful with her words when it came to things she knew about the future—and Lena was pretty sure the woman kept more secrets than Kaden—but she was never wrong.

  “Like I said, I've had centuries to research this.”

  Lena thought about the insights, mulling the words over in her mind. “Not born to inherit?”

  The tears in Soraya's in eyes welled and trickled down the alabaster white of her face. Deep, heartfelt sorrow permeated the air and Lena wondered what it was she had said that could have caused so much hurt. Then… “Oh, Holy Mother of Fae, Jett!”

  Soraya nodded as she wiped the tears from her face.

  “When did you first have this premonition?” Lena asked.

  “Over five hundred years ago,” Soraya whispered.

  “And when did you realise?”

  “About a century after that,” she said flatly.

  Holy fuck! Soraya knew her brother was going to die centuries before it actually happened. It was the worst kind of nightmare Lena could imagine. “Oh Gods, Soraya. I am so sorry.”

  Soraya grabbed Lena's hand. “You can't tell anyone, Lena. Not even Thorn.”

  “Whoa. Hang on, Soraya!”

  “I mean it. He cannot know.”

  “Jett was ill, Soraya, for a long time. It isn't your fault he died before his time.”

  The poor woman stifled a sob. “They all still hoped, Lena. My parents tried everything to find a cure. Thorn brought in any expert he could find. If he knew…”

  “He loves you, Soraya. He wouldn't blame you.”

  “I betrayed them.”

  Lena gave a violent shake of her head. “No! I will not have it.”

  “Please, Lena.”

  The desperation in Soraya's pale, gold eyes, near broke Lena's heart. She huffed. “Fine. I won't tell him.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But I won't lie to him if he ever asks.”

  “I understand.”

  “There is one thing I still don't get.”

  “What is it?”

  “Why'd you spike my drink?”

  “Do you know the literal translation of Amocinta? It means to light up the soul. And although Lena isn't your given name, it's an old Seelie word for light of Faerie. It had to be you. But the pair of you are so stubborn!

  “Yes, I knew that the only true relief for your mating heat lay within Thorn's blood. I knew you'd feel more connected with him afterwards, even though I diluted it as much as I dared. I hoped to give you a nudge in the right direction.”

  Lena looked across the room at Thorn, desperate to ground herself. She reached for their new-found connection and Thorn frowned as he turned to face her. He cocked an eyebrow and she tugged at their bond. He seemed to know exactly what she needed as she felt his soul wrap around her, enveloping her in his power. She felt warmth and love and it allowed her to relax her body and clear her mind.

  Soraya took a deep breath. “That is going to take some getting used to.”

  “What is?”

  “You smell like Thorn.”

  Lena snapped her gaze back to the other woman. “I do?”

  “Yes.”

  Despite herself Lena smiled.

  Kaden took a deep breath. “She truly believes she is Eden?”

  Thorn nodded. “You should have seen her, Kaden. When Lucine finally stopped rambling and told her, Lena had some sort of fit.”

  “What?” Kaden demanded, his heart thundering in his chest.

  Thorn rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand at Kaden. “Not in a physical way. She just sort of went blank and collapsed in her seat.”

  “Because that's much better,” Kaden snapped.

  “Trust me, it felt like an eternity, but it was really only minutes, and when she came round she was fine. Tired, and freaked out, but fine.”

  “I don't know about this, Thorn. It all still sounds bloody convenient.”

  Thorn rubbed the back of his neck. “I know how it must seem.”

  “Really.”

  “Believe me. Law or no, I couldn't stay away from her any longer, Kaden. I need her.”

  “You need her?” Kaden reiterated, his voice still full of scepticism.

  “I need her because she holds my heart and soul.”

  Kaden narrowed his ey
es at his friend, still wholly unconvinced. Thorn must have sensed his misgivings because Kaden found he had to brace himself on the marble mantle as a torrent of deep emotion assaulted him. For the first time in their very long friendship, Thorn dropped every last one of his shields and the raw power contained within his royal life-force hit Kaden square on. The air rushed from Kaden's lungs as if he'd been punched in the gut and he struggled to stay upright. Gasping for air, he stared at Thorn, the guy's golden eyes blazing as he let Kaden feel everything.

  And there she was.

  Carefully wrapped in Thorn's soul, surrounded by his love and strength, Kaden felt Lena.

  As soon as he found her, the assault on his senses stopped, Thorn's shields slamming back into place, the depth of feeling evaporating into thin air. For a moment Kaden felt bereft and listless, but, as he finally managed to suck down a deep breath of air, he pushed the feelings away. “Jesus Christ, Thorn; give a guy some warning next time!”

  “There won't be a next time,” Thorn replied in a whisper as he turned to leave.

  Kaden just nodded and watched him walk away.

  Chapter 37

  Ryver watched Thorn stride across the room, the King's face drawn tight. That was, of course, until the guy's gaze fell on Lena. All the hardness vanished as Lena smiled up at him, her conversation with Soraya coming to an abrupt end. Thorn held out his hand and Lena rose from her seat. Then the two of them seemed to just float out of the room, their movements so in sync with each other.

  “Is that what he made you swear an honour oath for?” Mercury asked.

  Ryver took another swig of his beer. “Yeah. Well, some of it at least.”

  “Some of it?”

  “The mating.”

  Mercury nodded. “And that shit about Eden Greenshire?”

  Ryver held up his hands. “I swear to all the Gods, I found out just before you did.”

  “Voodoo, huh?”

  Ryver barked a laugh. “Yeah, voodoo.”

  “Is it true?” Mercury asked.

  Ryver shrugged. “She believes it is.”

  “Fuckin' hell.”

  “Yup. Pretty much.”

  “To think, she was 'ere the whole time.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  They sat there for a while. Since the recent injection of power, it hardly mattered that Mercury was doing his best to shield his thoughts; Ryver could hear them loud and clear. The Guardian's thoughts mirrored those of his brethren. If he ignored the different curses of choice, Ryver could be listening to the same person, in stereo. Phoenix, Sky and Mercury were all full of varying amounts of wonderment and disbelief, followed quickly by curiosity.

  Ryver couldn't blame them. Whilst mating was still a pretty strange concept to him, he had, at least, had a good month or so to process it. They'd all had parents at some point and they knew full-well that no one got left under a gooseberry bush or delivered by stork, so they all knew about mating. In theory.

  Ryver puffed out a sigh. That was just it. It was all just a theory.

  There'd been women. In fact, in Mercury's case, there had been a lot of women. Not one of them had ever thought about mating. Ryver doubted the idea even entered their heads. Why would it? No one mated anymore.

  Ha. Trust Lena to go against the trend!

  “You gonna fill us in now, Boss?” Mercury called out to Kaden, who still hadn't moved from the fireplace.

  Ryver glanced over to the Keeper of the Watch and had to work hard at not wincing. The guy looked like he wanted to throw up. Whilst Kaden still recited his times-tables, his aura was alive in a rainbow of colour as he stared at the door. Kaden blinked as if snapping himself back to the here and now and the plethora of emotions whipping around him just disappeared.

  Get a grip, Kaden, he told himself as he strode over to the sofas. He stared at Sky until the Guardian shifted awkwardly and then gave up his seat. Kaden sat down.

  “Well?” Mercury said.

  “Well, what?” Kaden replied.

  Mercury crossed his arms across his wide chest, a dark eyebrow cocked over his good eye. “You keep too many secrets, Kaden.”

  Kaden barked a laugh. Ain't that the truth!

  Mercury continued, “You should 'ave told us.”

  Kaden shook his head. “Not all the secrets I keep are mine to tell, Mercury. You should know that.”

  The slight widening of Mercury's eyes told Kaden the guy had caught his meaning just fine. Kaden never broke his honour, never told a secret that wasn't his to tell. A wry grin pulled at the corner of his mouth; Mercury didn't need to know that. Kaden was quite happy to let the glimmer of doubt in the guy's eyes burn.

  “So, Thorn and Lena are really mated then?” Sky asked.

  “Yeah,” Kaden replied.

  The Guardian ran his hand through his hair. “You think that was why she always avoided him?”

  Kaden swivelled round to face Skylar. “What?”

  Skylar looked at Kaden and then to the rest of his brethren. “You guys must have noticed it!”

  “What are you talking about?” Ryver asked.

  Skylar stood there, open-mouthed. “You mean, you didn't notice?”

  “You're testing my patience, Skylar,” Kaden growled.

  “Well, fuck me sideways and call me Alice!” Sky said with a smile. “You guys really never noticed?”

  “Noticed what?” they all asked in unison as they crowded in on their brother.

  “Lena avoided being alone with Thorn, like all the time. If we paired up, she made sure she was working with one of us, anyone, except Thorn. She never sat next to him at meals. Hell she never even stood next to him for very long. Until you got injured, Boss. I was sure she was going to have a coronary when she had to go out on a mission with him. I mean, she's always in a foul mood anyway, but that was pretty bad, even for Lena.”

  “Holy fuck!” Mercury said.

  “Jesus H Christ,” Kaden said, astounded that he'd missed it.

  “You really never noticed?” Sky asked again.

  Kaden shook his head as he sank back down to the sofa. “I just thought she was being insubordinate.”

  “Let's be honest; she probably was. But I always thought it was weird. She didn't act like that with anyone else.”

  “She knew,” Kaden whispered.

  Chapter 38

  Lena couldn't breathe. Binds, stronger than osmium, wrapped themselves around her chest. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might actually burst out of her chest. Either that, or she was in danger of flat-lining altogether.

  Thorn stood beside her, squeezing her hand and she was pretty sure that if it wasn't for his borrowed strength, she would have turned heel and ran before they ever dematerialised from HQ.

  Yet, here she was, staring at the solid, oak door to House Greenshire, wishing she could be somewhere else. “I don't even know what to say to him,” she said.

  As the door swung open, Thorn whispered, “You'll think of something.”

  “Your Majesty, My Lady, welcome.” The butler, Drake, nodded his head as he held the door open for them.

  Lena followed Thorn as he strode into the entrance hall. She ignored the quizzical look that flickered across the butler's face before he scuttled after them. By the time he'd scooted past them and got himself in front, his face was perfectly composed. “Please, follow me,” he said.

  Thorn pulled Lena along and she walked, or rather, stumbled behind him in a daze. Drake opened a heavy door and a rush of hot air hit Lena square in the face. She trembled as she remembered the last time she'd seen Heath Greenshire sitting by an open fire.

  This was it. She was going to speak to her father.

  “Would you like some refreshments?” Drake asked as he ushered them into the boiling-hot sitting room.

  “Refreshment sounds great, thank you,” Thorn replied. He squeezed her hand as they approached the wing-backed chair. “You can do this, Lena.”

  She nodded as he released her hand and stepped
around the chair to face Heath. Her heart stuttered for a moment as she watched him sink to his knees and he disappeared from view. Needing to see him, as well as feel him, she moved to his side of the chair.

  This time, she failed to contain her gasp as she finally laid eyes on the old man. If it was possible, he looked even older. His skin looked so thin it was almost translucent, stretched as it was, over his gaunt, skeletal face. Despite his chair being almost in the fire, Heath huddled underneath a pile of blankets and furs that only served to make him look even smaller and more fragile.

  A deep sadness took hold in her heart; her father was barely clinging to life. The sorrow took the strength from her and she sank to her knees beside Thorn. Lena stared at Heath's chest, desperate to make sure he was still breathing. The Shield Bearer's eyes remained closed, even as Drake reappeared with a tray of piping hot tea and a towering cake stand filled to overflowing with sickly-sweet delights.

  Drake placed his silver tray on the coffee table and glanced at his master, and then at Thorn. “I'm afraid he's nodded off again, Your Majesty. Shall I wake him?”

  “No, no, that's fine. Thank you, Drake.” Thorn dismissed the butler with a small smile. They sat in silence as Drake disappeared through the doorway.

  “What now?” Lena asked in a shaky whisper.

  Thorn turned to her, his golden eyes shining. “Now, we speak to your father.”

  “Right,” she replied with a gulp.

  Thorn took a deep breath, determined to calm himself. Their new bond meant he felt all of Lena's sorrow, worry and fear as if it were his own, and right now, he was in as much danger of drowning as she was. For the love of Faerie, get a grip, Thorn!

  He reached out a tentative hand and gave the man as hard a shake as he dared. Heath really did look as if he could disintegrate at any moment, but he didn't stir. Damn it.

  He tried again. “My Lord?” he said as he gave the guy's shoulder another shake. He may be the old man's King, but Thorn had too much respect for Heath to call him anything other than by his well-deserved title.