by L. M. French
Bay’s eyes cruised over the towel where holes were burned straight through. I pressed my knees together and held the remainder across my chest. I suddenly felt very naked.
“You were going up when we got here. Phin seemed to think he could stop it and jumped into the flames so to speak.” Pike lifted the basin in his hand. “We figured better safe than sorry.”
No one moved. Everyone just sorta maintained their hovering positions. I could see Ozias over Phin’s shoulder at the end of the bed. His expression was thoughtful.
I cleared my throat and addressed the elephant in the room. “Can I have a robe? Or another towel even?”
“No.” Bay crossed his arms. “We’re all going to stay right where we are while you tell us why you just spontaneously combusted.”
Phin still straddled my lower half, and I couldn’t kick him off without giving everyone a show. “Can you move.”
“No. He stays, you talk.”
Furious I went to move. Fuck them all they could kiss my ass.
“You move he won’t be the one pinning you to the bed.”
Pike hid his smirk behind a fist and Phin settled in. Bay braced his fist on the mattress and leaned over me. “Why were you on fire?”
I did a quick calculation on how mad he would be when he found out I fibbed a little during our heart to heart the last time he had me pinned somewhere. Not good. Deflect. “I thought you went to look for Sai. You know, our missing king.”
“Found the old woman. Didn’t find Sai. Dead end. Your turn.”
I swallowed. “I might’ve left something out of our last conversation.”
Phin groaned. Bay’s face was thunderous. “Something?”
“Someone.” My voice wavered and I took a deep breath. I was not going cower like a child. “A woman. She was in the vision I had of Sai.”
Ozias moved to the side of the bed with Pike and touched the scorched sheets. “She was in your dream?”
I kept my eyes on the biggest predator in the room, but I answered. “She was, yes.”
Bay’s anger filled the room. I tensed and felt Phin’s hand wrap around my thigh like he was trying to soothe me.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Furious, Bay gripped the bedding.
Annnnd that was my tipping point. I exploded. “Why do you care? Aside from using me to find Sai. Why. Do. You. Care?” I slapped the bed with my fists and kicked my feet, far past the point of caring who saw what. “You have literally offered to kill me. Offered! Not threatened or tried. No! Offered, like it was a public service.” The mattress shook as I threw my head back against the mattress. “So why the sudden concern for my well-being? One would think you’d appreciate the irony. I’m getting myself killed. You’re off the hook!”
A throat cleared from the doorway before Emerick and Jericho filed in. Great. The more the merrier. Bay straightened away from the bed. “Jericho brought clothes from your place. Get dressed.” He barked as he stalked from the room.
Pike dropped his basin on the bedside table and shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on, Seal-bearer, but you need to get your head straight. We’re not your enemies.” He tapped the bed with his fingers before he turned away.
Tears clogged my throat, so I fixed my gaze on the ceiling and left it there. I heard two soft thumps and Jericho muttered, “Clothes,” before he and Emerick followed Pike out.
Phin leaned over me interrupting my view of the overhead fan. “I know why you believe he’d let you die. But you should know I wouldn’t. We’ve never been particularly close, Veda. To me you were Sai’s pet sentinel.”
I tried to turn away as tears burned my eyes, but he cupped my face. “I don’t know what happened in Ena’s cottage, but things have changed. We’re connected now, dhara. You’re magic and mine, you soul and mine. At some point you’re going to have to trust someone.” He slid a thumb across my cheek. “Why can’t that someone be me?”
I closed my eyes against his words. He sighed and rolled off me.
I was surprised to see Ozias still there when I opened my eyes. His ruby eyes were curiously devoid of emotion. Slowly he squatted until he was eye level with the bed and my eyes as I turned my head to watch him. “Sai is important to us all. He is our king, but we love him like a brother, some like a father. But I’m thinking what’s happening to you is something he already knew was coming.” He scraped his thumb against his jaw. “Now the way I see it is, either he knew you could handle it on your own and not get dead or,” he tilted his head, “he knew you’d have people who’d keep you alive long enough to get to the other side.”
He rose back to his feet and looked down at me. “You got a choice to make, sweetheart.”
The door clicked shut behind him leaving me in silence with my thoughts and their words.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Phin
Bay sat sprawled at the head of the dining room table while the others hovered awkwardly in the kitchen. The silence echoed around them as I entered the room. I grunted softly and sighed. My turn to poke the bear.
I dragged a chair back and dropped into and waited. It didn’t take long, Bay’s energy pulsed around him fueled by his anger and, though he’d never admit it, fear. Veda’s body alight as we entered the bedroom was burned into my memory.
I chuckled softly. Everything was on fire.
Bay’s eyes snapped to mine and I suppressed a groan. I’d provided his anger a target.
“Which part of her almost getting herself killed do you find amusing?”
“Veda is-”
“Reckless? Fucking irresponsible?” His voice rose. “She lied and almost died as a direct result. Tell me which part of that scenario is fucking funny cause I could use the levity.”
“Maybe the part where you expect her to trust you when you clearly don’t trust her?” Pike’s voice cut through the room from where he leaned on against the sink.
Bay’s head swiveled around. “Is that right, Pike? Cause I took her at her goddamn word and she lied.”
Pike scoffed. “Fuck yeah. I forgot. After a decade of fucking abuse you’ve decided she’s actually worth keeping alive. Inspiring, Commander.”
Bay was on his feet so fast his chair rocked back hitting the wall.
Cursing I jumped between the two as Pike pushed away from the sink responding to Bay’s aggression. Fucking wolves.
“Enough. Yeah, she fucked up and yeah, we own some of the blame. Beating the shit out of each other isn’t going to fix the problem.”
Shoving Pike back I pushed into Bay’s face. I lowered my voice. “Veda is not just Sai’s pet, not anymore. And there’s a decade of bad blood there, brother. Maybe you want to take a closer look at why that is-”
Bay flashed his teeth. “And why is that Phineas? Because you’re bound to her now? You think I didn’t notice? We don’t even know how she did it or if she can-” He stopped abruptly cursing. Or if she could do it again.
I watched him as he dragged both hands through his hair.
“What do you think she’s gonna do with her newfound powers Bay?” Yeah, the whole mystical connection was new, and while unexpected it didn’t chafe. The druid in me sensed something deeper at work.
“That’s the problem, asshole I don’t have the first clue. She’s going up in flames and binding my wolves. None of this is typical magic for a sentinel. Even a pure blood.”
Emerick hopped up onto the counter and leaned over to whisper to Jericho. “Whose gonna tell him?”
“Fucks sake, Em.” Jericho muttered as he stared a hole in his boots.
“Tell me what?” Bay sounded more tired than angry, but he wouldn’t appreciate Emerick’s brand of humor.
“He means if it doesn’t look like a sentinel, swim like a sentinel, or quack like a sentinel- then is it really a sentinel?” Pike’s smirk was less than friendly.
What a lovely time for bonding.
“You think you’re telling me something I don’t already know? Veda is o
ther, she may have gifts like a sentinel, but she is most definitely something else. And until we know what that else is she needs to stay under lock and key.” Bay’s voice was absolute.
Ozias, who’d been sitting quietly at the end of the table spoke. “What if what is happening to Sai is less about him and more about her? We’ve been trying to figure out why we can’t find him, and the witch said he didn’t want to be found.”
“Yeah, yeah Sai’s out playing human for a serotonin hit. I don’t buy it.” Jericho’s head shook. “He wouldn’t put the territories at risk like that.”
“So maybe he’s hiding because he has to not because he wants to.” Ozias sat forward. “Veda told you about a woman in her dream. Now we know there was another woman there. Tracking Sai.”
I nodded slowly. “And the same woman attacked Veda in her sleep.” My eyes met Bay’s. “That is not a coincidence.”
The bedroom door opened and every ear in the kitchen caught it as we all swiveled around to watch her journey into the kitchen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Veda
I stared at the ceiling with Pike’s words bouncing around through my mind like a bad melody before Oz’s words joined his on the remix. The disappointment from Pike stung making me angry but it was the look in Ozias’ eyes that kept it from eclipsing me.
Trust them. That’s what he was asking for, because he thought that’s what Sai would want, and he knew I trusted Sai above all else. Maybe that was true but how do I put my faith in Bay? Emerick and Jericho had handled me much the same as Phin, deference to my worth to Sai but dismissive of my actual value as a living breathing entity. Sure, Phin and I were linked that much I could feel when I wasn’t busy pretending that I was still nothing more than a sentinel for the four territories.
But how much and what did it actually mean?
It wasn’t like mating, I was sure of that, even if he was one of the most breathtaking wolves I’d ever seen. Built for strength and speed his body was corded with muscle but lean. He was no less massive than Bay but his eyes, the color of sage, burned with warmth that was more inviting than I’d like to admit. The scar that cut across his right eye and nose was so much a part of his face I forgot it was there although I’m sure some found it fearsome. He was... Phin. Beautiful, deadly when crossed, and second in command of the Daenali wolves despite not being wolf-borne. And he stirred something in me that I had so far avoided looking at too closely. I was not comfortable with lust or desire and this felt akin but different and it was not going away.
For the first time I tried to focus on it instead of looking away. Closing my eyes, I felt him like a burning behind my eyes as my hands warmed against my chest. For a second my heartbeat thumped louder, stronger and I knew the rhythm was not mine but his. The warmth spread from my hands until my whole body glowed. His energy hummed around mine almost like static but softer. I enjoyed the warmth for a moment before pulling back. While it enticed me with warmth and safety, it provided me no answers.
Sighing I let go of the feeling and rolled from the spot I’d been inhabiting. The sheets squished as I moved from the bed, and I cringed as water slid down my legs. I dried quickly in the bathroom and dressed in the clothes Jericho and Emerick had retrieved. Thankfully, the high waisted shorts came with my favorite slouchy sweater in an innocuous gray color. High fashion I was not. But I was warm, dry, and dressed which was an improvement.
The rumble of angry voices reached me from the kitchen, and I shivered as Bay’s tenor quelled the rest. I knew he’d be angry cause, come on, it was Bay. I rarely did anything that didn’t anger him in some way. I breathed and he seethed. It was just our dynamic.
Not lately, a voice in my head teased.
I scowled at the unwanted observation from my psyche. The idea of being attracted to Bay even on a purely physical level distressed me. How messed up was that? To want someone you didn’t even like and liked you even less. But there was no denying he provoked feelings in my body that weren’t strictly homicidal. He’d cradled me as if my safety and comfort were important to him.
Yeah, and dropped you like a hot rock when he got what he wanted, my defense mechanism kicked back.
My eyes rolled at my inner monologue. My personalities couldn’t even agree on where we stood with the situation. How was I supposed to decide what to do?
Choose wisely.
This time it was Sai’s two cents. Is this what he meant? Trust them, don’t trust them? Was this moment that decided my fate and his?
Bracing my hands on the bathroom sink I stared into my reflection’s eyes. Deep breath, Veda.
What did I know to be true?
Sai trusted these men with not only his life but that of everyone in the four territories. They’d protected me, even when I hadn’t wanted or needed it. Bay was next level aggressive but even when I’d sliced him in my apartment, he hadn’t hurt me.
He humiliated you, my defense mechanism chided.
Yes, he did. I sighed, but he didn’t hurt me. He’d hurt my pride many times, but he’d never actually hurt me.
Ozias hovered around me like a puzzle he’d yet to solve but he treated me like a person not an object where the others had given me their dismissal early in my time in Sai’s court. He saw me and I didn’t know whether that was better or worse. He saw too much.
The question was, would they believe me or think I was becoming unstable, breaking down like many halflings before me. There was no way the Commander of the Daenali would allow an unstable half-breed near his king or in the territories.
Was I unstable? The question terrified me, but I dismissed it quickly. Halflings lost control of their powers, lost touch with reality. They didn’t pull energy from the moon and the stars or manifest fire.
Well, that was a relief. On to bigger problems.
Without thinking too hard on it, I opened the bedroom door and made my way to the kitchen and the decision I could no longer avoid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Bay
Her hair was still damp and hung limply at her shoulders, far shorter than it had been before. Ivory’s doing and my hands flexed at my side with the desire to choke the Reaver slowly.
She seemed to brace herself. Smart, I was likely to tan her ass for the danger she brought on herself. If we’d known she was being followed she’d never have been left alone. Sai would have our heads if something happened to her.
Yeah, that’s the reason.
Not because when I smelled her my beast rose, and it hadn’t done that in hundreds of years. I was the Commander of the Daenali for a lot of reasons. Having superior control was one of them. But the truth was that my wolf was simply uninterested in female companionship beyond fucking. Once its baser needs were assuaged it had no interest in females beyond the good of the pack. For some reason, Veda stirred my wolf and it aggravated both beast and man.
I sat back in the chair I’d vacated when Pike started running his mouth. Unfortunately, as an advisor to the king he was not under my command. We were more like lateral branches of the same power structure. I stretched back in my seat and used my booted foot to shove Phin’s chair towards Veda.
“Sit.”
Mutiny flashed across her face at my command. I almost grinned, she was too easy to trigger with orders. Sometimes she would even forget she was scared of me and square up. Occasions I probably enjoyed more than I should.
Stomping in bare feet was hard but she made it work. Grasping the chair, she yanked it back another two feet before dropping into it.
Phin’s arms crossed and he hid a grin behind his fist, and I could see Pike’s shoulders were shaking from the corner of my eye. Veda in a snit was amusing and it appeared she was lacking her usual timidity.
She crossed her arms and glared. When I continued to stare without speaking she arched an eyebrow. I let my wolf show in my eyes and I watched as her pulse skittered. Oh, little sentinel.
Phin moved to the stove where he placed a tea kettle over a fla
me. “Tea, Veda?”
She jolted at the sound of his voice and studied the kettle. “Please,” she murmured.
He nodded and pulled down mugs from the cabinets. She didn’t seem to be inclined to look at me anytime soon so I rapped m knuckles on the table.
Her head whipped back and she huffed but didn’t speak.
“You said when Ivory kidnapped you, he brought a snake-eater with him.” Curses split the air. “I know it bit you but not how you’re alive.” I leaned forward eating up the distance she’d put between us. “It’s time for answers, sentinel.”
Veda
EMERICK’S WHISTLE CUT through the angry voices. “Maybe we let her tell us what happened?”
Phin handed me a teacup and I wrapped both hands around it to hide my shaking hands. Bay had just thrown it out there, but I was probably more surprised he hadn’t already revealed what he knew. I felt his eyes on my face and tried to take a deep breathe without looking like I was taking a deep breath. Phin’s hands settled on my shoulders and squeezed gently prompting me to lift my gaze.
Bay was staring fiercely, his eyes narrowed slightly on Phin’s hands. I squirmed in my seat uncomfortable with his scrutiny, but Phin’s hands remained, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles below my neck.
Now or never. Do or die-
Maybe not that. I put a pin in that cerebral grenade and tried to think of the best way to start.
“Ivory kidnapped me. You know that part,” when it looked like Bay was going to interrupt, I glared and rushed ahead, “the rest is more complicated.”
“You mean the snake-eater?” Jericho asked.
I nodded looking over. “I was chained to an alter by my hands when I woke up. Moth was already there.”
I settled into Jericho’s burnished gaze and found the story slipping freely from my lips. Moth and Ivory. Frank and the race to find a door. Tru and the trip through the door. And..well, Vaughn.
