by Bonnie Vanak
“So you’re Maggie, the famous empath. I warned Damian they were coming for you, and this is the thanks I get.”
Maggie felt sorry for the grounded Jamie, who looked like an angry child.
“I don’t know why Damian did it. But I do know you’re special to Damian, and we’re charged to keep you safe.”
As they neared the split rail fence demarking the lodge’s property, a figure stole out of the woods and approached from the right. Their little group whirled about. Maggie caught the scent of decaying flesh. Her heart sank as the Morph leader held out a long, thin clawed finger.
“Jamie,” the low, silky tone chuckled. “It’s you I want now. Traitor. You’re dead.”
From a few feet away, Kane regarded them with a sickly grin.
Fear twisted Jamie’s delicate features as she stared at the Morph leader. Powerless, she was vulnerable. The Morph leader lunged toward her as she stumbled backward, hands in front of her face. Baylor charged forward. Nicolas leapt in front of Maggie and Jamie protectively. With his body, arms spread, he acted like a shield.
An unearthly howl split the air. Maggie watched in astonished shock as Damian charged through the woods and tackled Kane. Snarling, he wrestled with the more powerful creature, tangling with him. Nicolas hung back, wild frustration on his face.
Nicolas couldn’t attack his uncle. If he killed Kane, he would become Morph as well. The Morph leader didn’t fight back. Instead, he ran toward Jamie with a snarl. Damian started for Kane again, wrestling with the Morph and toppling him unconscious with a powerful blow. Baylor jumped on him as well, dagger drawn and ready.
“Kill him,” Damian snarled. He jumped off and ran toward Jamie, grabbing her arm and herding her toward the lodge.
But even as Baylor lifted his blade to stab Kane, the Morph leader came to life. He grabbed Baylor’s arm and twisted. A sickening crack of bone followed. Baylor howled and dropped the knife. Kane swiped the Draicon with a clawed hand, and Baylor lay still on the ground.
Kane rose, turning his attention to Maggie. Nicolas snarled and charged, but Kane sidestepped. A dagger suddenly materialized in his hand.
Her wolf howled. Instinct kicked in. Maggie withdrew the dart gun to defend herself when Kane shifted into a bee. He flew toward her, stung her arm. She cried out, dropping the weapon. Maggie twisted and turned, desperately swatting as the bees multiplied and started attacking her. Suddenly something sharp sank into her back over and over, burning like fire. She sank to the ground, moaning. White-hot pain laced her body.
She turned to find the Morph leader in his human form, grinning and holding a dagger wet with her blood. He snapped his fingers and the bee clones vanished.
She collapsed, hoping the Morph leader would think her dead. Darkness rushed up. She fought it, knowing she had to hang on for Nicolas’s sake.
———
His Maggie was dead.
Seemingly satisfied, Kane turned toward his nephew.
“Maggie!” Nicolas screamed and ran toward her. Kane intercepted him. Twin daggers appeared in Nicolas’s hands, his mind unconsciously summoning them by rote.
Kane giggled, the sound like fingernails against slate. “Kill me, Nicolas. It’s what you want. I’m the one who’s made your life a living hell. Kill me. Your mate is dead.”
His voice dropped to a mocking whisper. “Kill me and join us. You’ll have everything you want. Your own pack, a family more powerful than you could ever dream of. You’re a killer, Nicolas. You always were, you just turned your skills into fighting your own people. Violence is all you know. Join us now and return to us. You’ll never be anything more than an assassin.”
Nicolas clenched the daggers, struggling to control his fury.
“Maggie’s dead, Nicolas. I killed her. You have nothing now. You are nothing.”
Nicolas rushed forward with a snarl, lifting his weapons. Kane did not move.
No, Nicolas!
The soft entreaty in his head ground him to a halt. I’m alive. Please, Nicolas, you can fight this. Fight it. You don’t want to become like him.
Every cell in his body urged him to sink the daggers into Kane’s heart. End this now and end the threat to the Draicon. Anger propelled him on.
Maggie’s quiet, soothing voice spoke in his head again. I love you, Nicolas. I believe in you. Kane is wrong. You weren’t destined to become Morph. You can control your own destiny just as I can. Just as you taught me to control my wolf. Please, stay with me. Let him live. You’re not the killer he says you are.
A calming peace settled over Nicolas. He had Maggie, his beautiful, wonderful, courageous draicara. She mattered most to him. His heart.
She was right. He didn’t belong to the Morphs anymore. This time, he chose not to kill.
Nicolas stepped back and symbolically opened his palms. The steel daggers fell to the ground.
“I won’t kill you, Kane. You won’t win. I’m not what you say I am.”
Kane’s features twisted in ugly anger. “Fool. You could have had it all. Now all you’ll have is a grave.”
Kane rushed forward, snarling, shifting into a wolf as his jaws opened wide.
Nicolas picked up Maggie’s abandoned dart gun and fired. Kane howled as the dart landed on his flank. Then Nicolas dropped to the ground, covering Maggie’s body with his own as he prepared to take the full brunt of his uncle’s fury.
He would die, but Maggie might have a chance.
“Nicolas can’t kill you. But I can.”
The familiar voice of his pack leader shifted into a snarl that echoed down the mountainside. Nicolas lifted his head and stared in shock as Damian rushed forward, shifting as he ran. His wolf struck the Morph leader, taking him down. The spitting, howling fury that was the Draicon pack leader attacked.
Weakened by the drug and unable to shift, Kane released an unearthly scream.
In a minute, it was over. Damian in his wolf form rose off the dead Morph leader. He shifted back and stared at his ancient enemy. Kane slowly disintegrated into gray ash.
Nicolas placed his palms on Maggie, feeling the healing energy flee him. She struggled beneath him and he rose off her. He reached out a hand and pulled her upright. Nicolas went over to Baylor, and laid his hands on the Draicon.
Emitting a deep groan, Baylor struggled to sit up. He stared uncertainly at Nicolas, then clasped his arm.
“Thank you,” he said brokenly, and Maggie knew the Draicon would always be in Nicolas’s debt.
“Go back to the lodge, go see after Katia,” Nicolas told him.
Gratitude shone in Baylor’s eyes. “If there’s anything I can ever do for you…”
“There is,” Damian cut in, shrugging back into his clothing. “I have to leave the pack for a while and need Nicolas to assume leadership, if he’s willing to do so. He’s going to need full cooperation from you, and the others. Will you give him your loyalty as you give it to me?”
The other male studied Nicolas with a look of newfound respect. “Absolutely. And if anyone dares to oppose him, I’ll show them their place.”
Nicolas nodded gruffly as Baylor clasped his arm again. As the male ran off toward the lodge, Nicholas raised a questioning brow at his leader. “You’re leaving?”
Damian sighed. “It will be fine, now that Kane is gone. The Morphs lack leadership, and will scatter. With you and Maggie, the pack will be fully protected.”
He seemed to struggle with his emotions as he rested a hand on Nicolas’s shoulder. “There’s no one I trust more than you. Will you do it?”
Part of him longed to take Maggie, run off and leave. He no longer craved the acceptance and closeness of the pack. But he knew Damian wouldn’t ask unless he truly needed him. And it was his friend’s strategy to make the pack embrace him, as they had already accepted Maggie.
“I will do it, with Maggie’s help.” He glanced at his mate, who nodded.
“I have a feeling you’re leaving to go after Jamie, right?” Nicolas asked aft
er Damian thanked them both.
A rueful look came over his pack leader. “She escaped as soon as I got her to the lodge. It’s all right. I have an idea of where she went. She’s safe from the Morphs now that she has no magick. I’ll find her.”
Maggie slid her palm into his, and he relished the warmth of her touch. “Why, Damian? Who is Jamie to you?”
Damian’s jaw tightened. “Jamie is my draicara.”
Slowly, the story came out. Damian had met Jamie in New Orleans and sensed something special about her. Yet he couldn’t merge with her thoughts fully, probably because she was mortal.
“I had to leave and sent Nicolas to find her, with instructions to do whatever it took to keep her in sight.”
“Including teaching her magick,” she said, realizing.
“I found her all right.” Nicolas rested his cheek against Maggie’s soft hair. “I taught her magick, and she escaped and joined the Morphs.”
“After she left and joined the Morphs, she totally blocked me out and I couldn’t do anything to keep her safe. I must find her,” Damian said.
“Go, Damian. Once you’ve found your mate, you’ll do anything to get her back into your arms, and once you do, if you’re smarter than I am, you’ll immediately realize there isn’t a thing in the world you want to change about her,” Nicolas said softly.
“It goes both ways,” she murmured. “His strengths become your strengths and you find in yourself the power to become who you’re meant to be.”
Damian looked a little sad. “I wish it could be so for us as well.” Then he gave a philosophical shrug and loped off back toward the lodge.
“Do you think he’ll be all right?” she asked.
“Damian will. He’ll find her.” Nicolas caressed her cheek, his face growing soft with love. “Right now all I care about is you, Maggie. My Maggie. My love.”
“You did it, Nicolas. You thought you couldn’t resist killing Kane. You faced your greatest fear and won.”
He caressed her face tenderly. “I did it because of you, Maggie. Your strength gave me strength, because you saw me for something other than what others did. You saw all of me.”
Maggie looked at him with shining eyes. “We did it, Nicolas. You and I. The legend said I was the one who would destroy the Morphs, but it was us. You helped me realize who I am, and reconcile to my wolf. You gave me your strength and courage and they helped me overcome my deepest fears.”
Enfolding her in a warm embrace, he rested his cheek against her silky hair. “When Damian returns, I want to go back to my ranch, Maggie. Make a real home for both of us, and start a family of our own.”
Warmth filled her as she slid her arms around his waist. “I’ve always wanted a real family, Nicolas. I’ve been so alone since my parents died. Until I met you, I felt like I’d always be lonely and never find anyone to love.”
“Never again. I’m yours, Maggie. You’re all I want. If you’ll have me, for good. I’m yours, forever.”
Epilogue
She sat by the crackling fire, working on a crossword puzzle. Across from her, Nicolas lay on the carpet. Rapt fascination stole over his face as he watched baby Angelica play with the colorful mobile over her head. Her chubby legs kicked as she squealed in happy delight.
Six months since Angelica’s birth, they had made Nicolas’s ranch into their private retreat. As soon as Damian returned, their contact with the pack had been limited, at Nicolas’s insistence. They set about making their own family, long, lazy afternoons of making love on every part of the ranch, finally conceiving Angelica.
Maggie had contacted her business partner and sold him her share of the practice. The money and Nicolas’s accumulation of wealth afforded them a comfortable lifestyle, but Maggie went back to the work she loved. The locals were delighted to have a veterinarian and she had focused on large animal practice. Nicolas hired help to work the ranch and devoted his time to watching Angelica and administrative paperwork. The hardened warrior who once only knew violence now spent his days in peaceful contentment bouncing his daughter on his lap as he pored over the books.
He picked the baby up, cooing to her. Angelica nestled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Maggie’s heart turned over at the way he gently cradled the baby, the serenity in his once troubled dark eyes. Beside her chair, Misha dozed peacefully.
“Baylor and some of the others are coming over tomorrow to work on the fence in the north pasture,” Nicolas said, juggling Angelica.
Amazing how the pack had accepted him. The long standing rivalry between himself and Baylor had vanished, with the other male helping Nicolas while Damian was gone. Baylor offered his friendship and proved a big help now, repairing the neglected parts of the ranch.
Her gaze dropped to the crossword. “It’s your turn. I need a six-letter word for family.”
Shifting Angelica in his arms, Nicolas walked over to Maggie and peered over her shoulder at the puzzle. “Easy enough. M-A-R-G-A-R-E-T.”
“That’s eight letters,” she protested.
“Doesn’t matter. That’s family to me,” he said, kissing her.
He had his own little family now. Nicolas found the peace he’d thought possible only in dreams. Maggie had spent her life running away from her true home. Nicolas had spent his life desperately trying to find his.
They were both finally home. And here they would stay.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-1006-0
THE EMPATH
Copyright © 2007 by Bonnie Vanak
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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