by Lexi Blake
I didn’t care who said the words as long the Duke of Ain and his daughter met with justice. I nodded my head in agreement. “Will calling a hunt stop the war?”
The Hunter sat back in his chair and took a long swill from his canteen. “It’s important to stop the war before it begins, Zoey. Once the battle is on, I can’t call the hunt until the fighting stops. It’s too confusing. I won’t risk everyone there. We must press on and take this information to the king. Perhaps with you in my custody, he’ll at least take the time to listen.” He leaned the chair back and pointed to the pallet on the floor. “Take the bed. We’ll sleep for an hour or two and then press on to the palace.”
My eyes widened. “I can’t do that. Danny and my wolf are down there waiting for me. So are Arawn and Nim. I need to get back to them and let them know what we’re doing.”
“No. We can move faster on our own. The vampire will slow us down. Don’t worry. They cannot find us here. I left a special powder that will mask our scent. To the werewolf’s senses, your trail will stop cold where I picked you up.”
Maybe that would work on Neil, but it wouldn’t with my husband. “Daniel won’t give up that easily and we share blood. He can sense me without his nose.”
Sure enough, even as I said the words, a clawed hand gained a hold on the floor of the high hide. Daniel pulled himself up with one arm. He crawled into the small room, and I suddenly knew I was dealing with that part of Daniel that was pure vampire. His hair was unruly and his eyes wild as he took in the scene.
I started to get up and go to him when I noticed another person climbing in, following Daniel’s ascent. Arawn pulled himself up and then leaned back to lend Nim a hand.
“How did you find us?” The Hunter got out of his chair. He looked at the hungry vampire, and for the first time I saw he had survival instincts as well as predatory ones. “Now, vampire, I have not harmed your mate.” His hands went behind him to his weapons cache and he felt around for something.
“It’s true, Danny. I’m fine.” Staying calm and even was the way to deal with Daniel when he was in this state. This was when he typically started throwing large objects around.
“He took you from me,” Daniel said in that low growl that let me know he was close to losing control.
“He just wanted to talk.”
“He tried to hide you from me.” He started to slowly move toward his quarry. I moved quickly to place myself between them. “Move, companion. I mean to kill him and you cannot stop me. He took what belongs to me and I won’t abide it.”
“You promised Dev,” I said quickly, hoping to appeal to his friendship with Dev. They were partners. They tried to always keep their promises. “You told Dev you wouldn’t jump the Hunter without him.”
“They were going to jump me?” The Hunter actually took a step back.
“The whole ogre bait thing,” I threw over my shoulder. “You don’t want to disappoint Devinshea. He belongs to you, too. You owe him.”
It was the way it worked for Daniel. Deep in his primitive heart he truly believed we belonged to him. We were his precious blood. We fed him and gave him love and companionship, but it was a two-way street. He owed us. He protected us with everything he had. He was honest and faithful to us.
“He will forgive me,” Daniel decided and his fangs were full as he started to move me out of the way.
Arawn placed a hand on his shoulder and Daniel ceased his movement. He stood still in the death god’s grip. “Your companion may not be able to stop you, vampire, but I can. You’re not thinking properly.”
“Let him go.” I hated the blank look on Daniel’s face. “Don’t do this to him.”
“He was going to kill the Hunter. We need him,” Arawn explained. “The vampire isn’t rational because he chose not to feed. He must correct that mistake or I shall have to deal with him. His stubbornness is jeopardizing all of us.”
“I can get him to feed.” I looked back at the Hunter. “Give me a knife.” He passed me one even as he watched Daniel warily. I looked over as Neil finally made an appearance. “Nice of you to join us.”
“It’s a long way up. Is Daniel all right?” Neil asked, concern stark on his face as he looked at Daniel’s blank eyes.
I shook my head and glared at Arawn. “If you kill him, I won’t help you. I’ll let you burn. Let him go and I’ll get my husband to feed.”
Before Arawn could take his hand off of him, I made a shallow cut across my chest, pulling the shirt open so Daniel wouldn’t be able to miss the sight.
When Danny came out of his stupor, he started moving toward the Hunter as though he’d never stopped. Then he caught my scent. His head snapped around and suddenly he was hunting me. I heard Nim’s gasp as she watched the scene with great curiosity. There wasn’t a lot of space to begin with and now there were a couple too many people with us. I moved toward the small pallet and sat myself down, watching as Daniel moved close to me. He looked ready to pounce, but I ran my finger along the cut and offered it to him, taking away his need to force me.
The vampire went down on his knees and sucked my finger into his mouth, his tongue whirling gratefully around the blood. He leaned over when he was done and ran his tongue along the cut, murmuring his appreciation. “Mine.”
“Yes, Daniel.” I did everything I could to soothe him, to reassure him. “I’m yours.”
I let him pull me and push me until I was in his lap. My arms and legs wrapped around him, my throat pressed to his adoring mouth as he pulled me in. I didn’t care about the others who were watching. I only cared that I could feed him. I only knew that I could nourish and protect him. I was his and it was heavenly.
I floated back to myself as Daniel held me close, licking long strokes along my neck and telling me how much he loved me.
“Impressive, companion.” The death lord pulled me from that warm cocoon Daniel had wrapped me in. “He was far gone. It should have been a brutal experience, but you turned his violent impulses to gentleness.”
“It isn’t hard when you know what to do.” I ran my hands through Daniel’s hair.
“He loves her,” Neil explained. “If he is given any kind of a choice, he’ll always choose her pleasure over his base instincts.”
Nim looked down at us with a tiny smile on her pixie face. “I want a vampire to bite me, Arawn. It looks like fun.”
Arawn’s smile was indulgent. “I’m sure if we survive the next few hours that Zoey would be happy to find a vampire to bite you, dear. You’ll more than likely find the experience pleasurable, and I would like to watch you.”
Daniel pulled away from me slightly. “Thank you, Z.”
“Do you feel better?” I asked, searching his face.
He leaned over and kissed me. “I’ll feel better when we’re away from this place. I feel stronger though. The death lord won’t need to kill me. I do want you to change your clothes as soon as possible. I don’t like you smelling like another man.”
“Then we should get moving,” Nim said cheerfully. “Chima will have lots of clothes for Zoey to wear. She’s close to your build. She’s probably at the palace with her father, but she always leaves some stuff at her country home as well.”
“Chima is King Angus’s daughter?” I asked as Daniel helped me get up.
The Hunter nodded. “She’s his only child and a great friend of ours.” He looked at Arawn. “I still think it would be better if I took Her Grace and pressed on to the palace.”
Daniel growled and shoved me behind him. Neil came to his side in a show of force.
“I don’t think the vampire will allow it, Hunter. He seems to have had enough emotional activity for the night,” the death god said. “Chima will have a way to contact her father at her country house. We’ll have to settle for that. This should all be over tomorrow afternoon. Now let’s move.”
Neil looked back at me. “I just climbed all the way up here and now I have to go back down?”
I looked at him with sympath
y because I hadn’t been forced to climb and I would ride back down on Danny’s back. “Sorry, buddy.”
He shook his head as we began to descend. “When I get home, I’m going to hole up in the penthouse and eat ice cream and watch TV for a month. I won’t get off the couch. I’ll just sleep there, too.”
“I’ll be right there with you,” I promised as Daniel did his best impersonation of Tarzan.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I woke up and stretched, feeling every pull in my muscles. The night before weighed heavily on me. I hadn’t slept well. Dreams of being separated from Dev had plagued me. We’d been gone for several days and I wondered if he was waiting for us to come back or if war plans consumed his every moment.
I glanced up, the daylight that filtered through the heavy curtains making everything seem a little gauzy and unreal. Daniel lay to my right, his handsome face relaxed in sleep though he made none of the little sounds or movements normal people made when they slept. Daniel didn’t move. He didn’t give off heat. I loved Danny, but I loved to sleep with Devinshea. He held me, moving beside me all night, keeping me warm and letting me know he was there. Daniel couldn’t hold me. If he tucked a hand around my waist, I wouldn’t be able to break free until he was awake. It was just another way we needed Dev to complete us.
I wasn’t sure what time it was but guessed it had to be afternoon. We’d managed to make it to Chima’s country house just before dawn. Country house was a misnomer. The place was huge and befitting the daughter of royalty. The staff had been asleep, but the steward had admitted us and given us rooms. They were apparently used to ascended gods joining the king’s daughter in the middle of the night. We’d been told that Her Royal Highness was in residence but had gone to bed and would receive us in the morning. They tried to separate Danny and me from Neil, but we had set them straight. Neil was asleep on my left side, his senses ever ready to take care of anything that came our way.
“Go back to sleep, Z,” he commanded when I sat up in bed. “It’s too early to get up.”
“Can’t.” I crawled out from between Neil and Daniel. I covered Danny back up with a comfy quilt. He didn’t need it, but it made me feel like he was more comfortable. My stomach rumbled the whole time. “I’m too hungry. Danny got to eat and I saw you chase down that little furry thing while we were in the forest. I need food. You can stay here, sweetie. I’ll just pop down to the kitchens and be right back.”
Neil huffed and got up. “Not a chance in hell. Maybe if we were home I would let you run around on your own, but here you just get into trouble.” Neil yawned widely and stretched his magnificent body. “Pass me my clothes. Yours are on the end of the bed. Apparently this Chima person is about your size.”
Chima’s style made me think Xena: Warrior Princess. I dressed in soft animal skin trousers, a linen shirt, and a matching vest. The clothes were functional, and they fit like they were made for me even in the chest. She’d even given me a pair of comfy boots. I was going to kiss Chima when I saw her. Neil and I were dressed in quick order and made our way down to the dining room.
This house was much more elegant than Arawn/Roarke and Nim’s cabin. The wood floors gleamed with care and at places were covered with finely woven rugs. There were paintings on the walls that told me Chima had spent her share of time on the Earth plane. She’d collected a couple of Picassos I suspected some museums would kill for. I was looking forward to meeting her. Nim was nice but spent too much time looking at my boobs to be counted as a girlfriend. If I managed to get along with King Angus’s daughter, that could only help Seelie/Unseelie relations.
Neil let his nose lead us. We entered the well-decorated dining room with high hopes for a decent meal.
“Hello.” A strong feminine voice greeted us. She looked me up and down, and after a moment, she began to speak. “You’re not Nim so I assume you must be Zoey Quinn.”
“I am. You must be Chima.” My hopes for good political relations vanished in an instant because I was pretty sure this was our hostess and she was not fucking happy to see me.
She sat at the head of the table and there was no questioning her regal manner. “I am, indeed. You have to forgive me, Your Highness. I’ve been in the country for the last several months and had not heard of your marriage until my steward mentioned it this morning. I wish you felicitations.”
No, she didn’t. She wished bad shit on me. I knew a jealous woman when I saw one. I was betting this one hadn’t had a boyfriend to keep Devinshea out of her bed.
“God, Z,” Neil commented in a quiet tone as he looked our hostess over. “She looks a lot like you.”
She did. Though her facial features were not like mine, we certainly had the same body type. She had curves and nicely placed breasts that Dev would have loved. I wondered how often he’d spent time in her bed to make her so jealous of me. I tried to tell myself that I was the one he married and I should be magnanimous. I knew his time in the Unseelie sithein had been hard on him, so anything that brought him joy here should be celebrated, but it was difficult.
I put on a sincere smile and hoped charm worked on her. “Thank you. I have to admit, it doesn’t seem quite real. It’s hard to think I married a faery prince. Thank you for the use of the clothes, by the way. I found myself in desperate need of them.”
“I’m glad to see they fit, Your Highness.” She had wide sky blue eyes and they narrowed as she considered me. “I was surprised to hear you were human. The Seelie don’t tend to take well to anyone who isn’t exactly like them.”
I shrugged and felt uncomfortable. I could smell the food and hoped she couldn’t hear how much I wanted it because she might be bitter enough to deny me. “They don’t like me all that much. Most of them seem to think I’m not worthy to have married a royal. The only person I made friends with over there was a troll.”
She shook her head and silky curls escaped her updo. “Well, that’s not surprising. What is surprising is that Miria allowed the marriage. I would have thought anyone not fully sidhe would be unacceptable.”
I stood up to my full, if somewhat not imposing, height. I wasn’t about to take that crap from anyone, even if they were my host. “My husband made it clear to his mother that she could accept me or we could go back to the Earth plane. He loves me. He doesn’t care that I’m human.”
“Lucky you, Your Highness.” She pushed back her chair and stood up. “Please feel free to keep the clothes. I’ll have more sent to you since they fit so well. We have a lot in common, as you will discover. Please sit and break your fast. I’ll see you later, after the Hunter and Arawn have awakened so we can decide how to get you back to your loving husband with all due haste.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say to that obvious sarcasm except, “Thank you, Your Highness. I would love to see my husband as soon as possible. We’re not used to being separated.”
Chima bowed her dark head to me and exited with as much grace as she could manage.
Neil whistled as he looked over the buffet. “Bitter, party of one. Damn, what did Dev do to cause that?”
I watched the door she had exited out of warily. “I don’t know, but he did it well. I have Gilliana on one side and now Chima on this one. It doesn’t seem like there’s anywhere I don’t run into Dev’s ex-girlfriends.”
Neil inhaled and sighed in happy anticipation. “At least she didn’t skimp on the food. It smells wonderful.”
“I’m wondering if I should eat it.” I looked over the enormous buffet with wild regret. I’d been living off of soldier’s rations for days. Soldier’s rations sucked.
Neil was already filling a plate. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“Hello, I’m ‘just drank poison’ girl,” I pointed out.
Neil frowned at me. “You have to get over that. It was a curse, not poison. I already checked your clothes for hex bags. I don’t smell anything but deliciousness, and the vampire blood in your system should take care of anything anyone tries to get you with. You and
Daniel did that last night, right?”
I nodded. While Neil had been readying himself for bed, Daniel had insisted I take an extra helping. He was worried about the red caps despite the Unseelies’ belief that they would leave Angus’s daughter alone.
“So eat up, sweetie,” Neil said.
“Chima would never attempt to harm you in that way.” Arawn entered, dressed richly in court clothes. He looked at me and I didn’t like the sympathy in his eyes. “She might not appreciate your marriage, but she won’t harm you over it.”
“So she had an affair with Dev?” I wished I could be more cavalier about it, but I would never get used to being around women who had loved my husband, and there was no doubt Chima had. She wouldn’t be so bitter if it had been a simple fling.
“It is none of my business, Your Grace,” Arawn stated as he picked up a plate. “I’ve never discussed it with her, but I certainly think all of the evidence points to it. Devinshea is what he is. The miracle is that he married at all.” Arawn laughed as he reminisced. “He always told me that when he found his perfect woman, he would settle down and enjoy being faithful. I thought he was joking. I never imagined he would do it. Chima has sacrificed much over the last several years. I ask you to be kind to her, as the woman who won the prize.”
“He wasn’t a prize to be won.” I grabbed a plate because if we were walking more today, I would need a little strength. I glanced at a large grandfather clock that told me I still had several hours before Danny was awake and we could get a move on. It didn’t look like I would be having any girl time with our hostess, so I decided to eat as quickly as possible and then avoid her for the rest of our time here. “Has anyone been able to contact the king yet?”
