With a nod to Jace, he said, “Go ahead. Show her.”
Slowly, she dragged her feet to where the bags sat side by side.
Jace knelt over one of them and unzipped it.
“Oh God, no.” At the sight of her father’s pale lifeless face, her knees hit the metal deck. Her first thought was for her poor mom. She’d be devastated. Then her brothers and her younger sisters.
“I need to call my family. They need to hear it. From me.” No more long rides in the speedboat. No more happy Sunday meals with his awful puns. No more dad.
Jace zipped the bag closed, and the shell that had been her father disappeared within.
“The Council leader already called them while you were sleeping.”
“They had no right. You should’ve woke me.” She pinched herself, hoping it was just a terrible nightmare, that she would wake and this had never happened. “Where’s my family?”
“Safe House. Gregor is still at large.” Josh stood, watching her intently.
When he tried to help her up, she shook him off. He didn’t deserve to be near her. Not after what he’d said about their relationship.
“How? How did it happen?” Ignoring Josh, she spoke only to his brother.
Jace glanced at Josh, to perhaps save him from what she needed to hear.
“Tell me.”
“When you jumped overboard to save Josh, he…” Jace rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. “He was already spent from the fight. He used the last of his strength to help calm the waters for you. Most likely his heart gave out.”
A soft sob choked her.
“Maya,” Josh placed a hand on her arm and she flinched.
Coldness wrapped around her heart. Her father died saving her because she jumped overboard to save a man who just wanted to fuck her. How cruel was fate?
Ice as hard as steel settled into her chest, making her strong. She was a leader now and needed to act like it. She would weep later.
Gritting her teeth, she stood and asked, “Where’s the rest of the Clan Council?”
“They’re in session. Alex is testifying.”
“Take me to them.”
“No. You need to rest.” Josh started to touch her, but dropped his hand when she glared at him.
The ocean grew choppy, the boat swayed and she hissed, “Back off. I will do what I need to do and when I need to do it. Just tell me where they are!”
“Okay. I’ll take you.” Jace glanced at his brother, both looking miserable.
Tough on them.
She followed them below deck and into the long room, where empty seats were covered in black cloth. All eyes turned to her, and the testimony stopped as she carefully folded the fabric and took her father’s seat.
She’d known she’d sit here someday, but perhaps in thirty years if she was lucky. Her eyes stung and she swallowed hard over the lump in the back of her throat.
Steeling herself once again, she stared at Alexandra Williams, and said, “Please continue. As the next strongest in my clan, I will take my father’s vote unless anyone contests.”
She leaned forward and waited for each member around the table to nod their assent.
“Fine then. I would appreciate it if you could catch me up on the proceedings.”
Terra, Jace’s wife, stood and moved her laptop to the center of the table. Then she reached for her mate’s hand who squeezed it and gave her a reassuring look. The intimate gesture caused Maya’s eyes to water. Surely, she deserved as much. She vowed right then and there to settle for nothing less.
The blonde earth leader cleared her throat. “Here is the replay so far.”
Maya listened intently to the playback of Alexandria’s impassioned voice from the speaker. “Please. You must save my daughter. He took her. I had no choice.”
There was no question that Gregor Uragan had kidnapped Alex’s daughter and coerced her to cooperate. A weak woman, she hadn’t even attempted to get help. But because of her actions, many were dead, including her father. Alex’s daughter, however, was innocent of all and should not pay the heavy price of becoming Uragan’s whore. Knowing his reputation, he would never give her up.
The clan president, Lord Baltimore, pounded the gavel when the audio stopped and separate conversations took place. “Please. One at a time.”
His gray eyes pierced the assembly. With a build like a marine and matching crew cut, he appeared more like a general. “Let’s begin by creating a task force to get Alex’s daughter back to her studies. Volunteers?”
Jack Fialko stood. “I have a castle in Romania, less than a day’s drive to Rome. Uragan has broken my clan’s treaty, as well as the one with my wife’s family. There is no greater disrespect to this assembly. I will use all my resources to bring him to justice.”
Palms slapped loudly on the table, with the clan’s ancient gesture of approval.
A Danish earth talent stood, well known for being a pacifist and asked, “Can we trust you not to murder him?”
All of the Fialko clan stood at once shouting their protests, the gavel pounded repeatedly on the table until they all sat back down except for Jack.
His eyebrows raised and he took a moment before speaking calmly. “I will allow you this insult one last time, Geoffrey, then I will place a formal complaint. The man’s life is safe with me. However, during capture, should he put any member of my team in danger, I will not hesitate to kill him. Now. Who is with me?”
His two brothers with their wives stood. Four others that Maya didn’t recognize did as well. Maya pushed back her chair and rose slowly, glaring at Josh.
He leaned over and grumbled something under his breath to his brother Jack, who looked up at Baltimore and asked, “A short side conversation, if you will?”
Maya remained standing, but the strain of the last few days was taking its toll. She put her palms on the table and leaned forward to appear strong, but in actuality, to stop herself from falling over.
Jack’s family sat, then he looked in her direction, “We don’t believe she is strong enough.”
Outraged at their audacity to question her, she had to take a moment before speaking. Her face heated, heart raced, and her ears burned.
“My father and my clan leader died. It is my right and my responsibility to join you. You will not prevent it.”
Baltimore chimed in, “She’s correct. You will either bring her tomorrow, or wait until she is well enough. Are we all in agreement then?” He looked around the room at the nodding heads. “Very well. I will expect a plan in my inbox in the morning. Chang? Angel? Do you agree to review?”
A middle-aged woman with a small mole on her chin nodded, as did an Asian man sitting across the table.
Maya sat back in her chair, feeling Jack’s heated gaze on her, but she refused to look back.
Baltimore took gravel to the table once again. “I will email everyone a secure sight where I will keep you all updated. I suggest we adjourn. In favor?”
The room responded in agreement and Maya’s aye joined the others.
Baltimore sighed and scratched at what had to be two days’ growth on his face.
For the first time, Maya noticed how weary the whole Council appeared. Dark circles lined most of the eyes, and some were nodding off.
She waited until all had left, including waving away Josh, before dialing her mom’s number. Then, she wept with her whole family on a conference call, head and elbows on the table.
Chapter 21
Ingrid Svensen stood on a makeshift podium, her blond hair blowing in the wind. One of their own acting as minister, her words had been short, yet poignant.
Josh openly wept for the lost members of the clans. Some he knew well had been invited to his family’s beach house on the shore. Others, like Maya’s dad, he he’d just gotten to know. All had paid the ultimate sacrifice. Not only their way of life, but for the planet at large.
If it hadn’t been for Maya, he would’ve been among the lost.
Wearing dark suits,
his brothers stood on either side of him. They wore the Clan Council’s red sash with a black one over the other shoulder for mourning. Their wives wore the similar colored attire. Tears laced their cheeks, black with mascara, but they stood straight and strong.
Maya held a spot at the front, with those who had lost a family member. Josh had waited for an invite to her side, but she’d not spoken more than a few words to him since she’d overheard his brutal confession in the infirmary.
He bowed his head at the pastor’s final blessing. Not much of a religious sort, he prayed to a spirit greater than his, hoping there was one. He prayed that Dan’s gentle nature would live on somewhere in peace, and that Maya would meet him there in another plane of existence. Perhaps it was a fairytale. But at times like this, he needed to believe.
People lined up to give their condolences.
His sister-in-law, Zoe, sent healing into Maya and the rest of the grieving witches. Then, he walked forward and greeted each by name and expressed his sympathies. He offered each his personal assistance and handed them his business card.
When he reached beautiful Maya, his mind went blank. All the things he wanted to say disappeared as his brain cells misfired. He tried to take her hand, but she escaped and busied her fingers by taking a wet tissue to her eyes.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” His words sounded foreign and stilted.
“Thank you.” She looked so sad, he wanted to hold her in his arms forever, but he’d ruined that. He ruined everything he touched.
“I know this isn’t the time, but perhaps later we could talk?”
She shook her head, no, turned to the next person in line, and his heart all but broke in two.
Chapter 22
Sprinkles of rain fell as Josh’s brothers kissed their wives and sent them off on the last helicopter. After much arguing, the men had finally convinced their wives that the children needed to be attended to.
Josh sighed. Families. Life. All the things he had missed out on by being a master screw-up. Whenever a slim chance for happiness appeared in his life he’d shit on it. It was a pattern with him, he noted, and not for the first time. His two brothers were the successful ones. He was the fuck up. And damned if he wasn’t good at it.
When the dot faded out of view, Jack looked at him and said, “Ready?”
Josh nodded, “Let me get Maya. I’ll meet you and Josh in the council room.”
He climbed down the steps, through the long halls, past now empty living quarters and wondered what he could say to make it right between them. One part of him argued that he had only said the truth, the other part called him out.
What the hell? He couldn’t even think clearly any more.
He knocked on her door. “Maya. It’s time.”
“You go ahead. I’ll be along shortly.”
For the love of God. “We’re going to be together for some time. Best we figure out how to manage this before we get to the council room.”
She opened the door and his heart stopped. Even with puffy eyelids, she was beautiful. She regarded him warily.
“I really don’t want to talk to you.”
He was starting to get pissed off. Sure what he said was crass, but neither of them had agreed to more than just sex.
They walked in silence, then the infirmary door loomed to their right.
Shit. Turning abruptly, he said, “Listen, I’m really sorry you overheard what I said.”
Her face turned crimson. “But not that you said it.”
“You don’t understand. I was just trying to get Jack to back off. My family can be…” He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “It’s hard to explain. They just get way too into the personal stuff. When my brother found Zoe, hell, my sister actually sat her down and taught her how to mate.”
“Well, we don’t have to worry about that now, do we?” Her green eyes narrowed over pursed lips.
“Damn it, Maya. I want to start over.” He tried to hold her hand.
She shot it behind her back. “That boat has sailed. Best you get used to it.”
Jack poked his head out of the council room, two doors down, and glowered. “In here. Both of you.”
With a sweep of his arm, he indicated they should enter the long room with over fifty now empty chairs. A projector sat in the middle of the table, cables coiled.
Jack paced in front of a four-foot white screen held by cables from the ceiling. His hand raked through his hair and across his exhausted features. “I can’t have you at odds. We need to be unified.”
What Josh said next sounded a bit churlish, even to his ears, “It’s not me.”
“We’re fine.” Maya plopped down next to him and scowled.
His brother exhaled. He loomed over them with palms flat at the head of the table.
“I expect to see some pleasantries exchanged before we take off, or you”–Jack pointed at Maya–“are not going.”
With eyebrows raised, she actually screeched, “Me? You can’t deny me? I’m head of–”
Shit. They were in for it.
His normally patient brother shouted, “I don’t get care. This is my show. If you two can’t get along, then you put the entire operation at risk.” He gave both of them a disgusted look. “I’m giving you an hour. Here. Alone. I better see a miraculous change when I get back. Put a lid on your emotions until we get the girl or I’ll find others to take on the task. Understood?”
They both nodded.
Jack swiveled on his heel and slammed the door behind him.
Studying the antique nautical prints on the wall, Josh stood and paced. “Listen, I want to explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain. I’m an adult. I get it. And now you need to understand. It’s over. I’m clan leader now. I have an obligation to my family and to my clan to mate with someone of equal power.”
She’d meant to insult him but she had no idea. If they mated during solstice, her water power would unite with his. He might not be as powerful as Jace and Jack, but he was damned close.
The thought of someone else lying with her made his blood boil. He needed a second chance, and for once in his life, wasn’t going to blow it.
He tried a softer tact. “Maya. I could be that for you and more if you’d just give me a chance.”
Why couldn’t she just forget what he’d said and move on?
He knew the answer.
Pride.
He’d hurt her.
And he’d also told her numerous times that he wasn’t interested in a mate. What a fucking fool he’d been.
He cleared his throat. “I know I screwed up. I didn’t mean for you to overhear what I said to my brother.”
She snorted. “If this is an apology, you really suck at it.”
God almighty. The woman was merciless.
“I know I do. But I don’t know how to do it any better, except to ask you to forgive me. Can we start over? As friends? My brothers will know if we don’t mean it. I really do like you, Maya. You’re strong, beautiful, capable, and…” He almost said fuckable, but replaced it quickly with, “Finished.”
“Finished?” Her brows drew down and her frown deepened.
Damn, he was messing this up even more.
“Unlike me, you’ve got it all together. I admire that. Hell, I’m jealous of it, I suppose. I’ve fucked up so many times in my life. Too many to count. What I said to Jack…” He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “I’m just so, so damn sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know.” She stood up, touched his arm, and said, “I also know without you I never could’ve done what I did on the deck. You were the one that gave me the strength when I needed it most.”
He shivered at her touch and kissed her on the forehead. This time he would go slowly. Treat her right. Make her come to care for him. The way it should be.
When Jack returned with Jace an hour later, Josh exchanged a quick nod with his brothers to let them know everything was all right. He knew he still had a lot
to make up for, but at least they were headed in the right direction.
Jack plugged in his laptop and a Google-map popped up on the projector.
“This is my home in Romania.” He moused-over a tiny village, then zoomed out. “And this is where we think Gregor has taken the girl.”
Jace shook his head. “That’s not going to work. We need more than a close approximation.”
“Agreed. I have all my resources on it.”
Josh’s eyebrow raised and he squeezed Maya’s hand. That meant millions of dollars.
His brother nodded. “We need to put Uragan out of business, for good. Once we know for certain where he took the girl, we’ll use a small strike force. I know him. Egomaniac. He’ll be expecting a clan army to come for him. He’ll set up a perimeter, thinking we won’t be able to get close.”
The three of them nodded when he searched their faces.
“We lack the element of surprise. Wherever he is, he’s expecting us. Overnight, I’ve checked with the best psychoanalysts and strategists that money can buy. Our best success lies with how low key we can appear. I’ll have makeup artists standing by in Romania. As soon as we have his location, we’ll move by car over the border. Our Italian allies will facilitate passports. Any questions?”
Maya bit her lower lip, but said nothing.
Josh was pretty sure she had a plan of her own in mind.
Chapter 23
Gregor Uragan paced the basement of what used to be an ancient church. A gold-haloed Madonna stared down sadly from a faded mural. A Christ child, with the face of an old man, lay in her arms. Twenty chipped and broken statues of the alleged savior lay stacked in the corner of the room. All remnants of a lost religion.
God did not exist. There was no heaven and no hell, he consoled himself. He spit on the worn linoleum, made an ancient curse with his fingers, and paced between the wooden pews.
The Council was coming for him, and when they did, he’d be ready. It was time true power was restored to his clan. The treaty with Fialko had turned them all into slabakov. Wimps.
Atop the hill in the heart of the medieval village, bells sounded, indicating the end of mass. Soon the women and old men would walk down the cobblestones and gather in the piazza in front of the butcher, closed on Sunday. All the locals would sit in benches and share their drab lives.
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