by Alice Wade
Cuilwen remained concealed in the shadows and the entire elven party including Talon, was shielded under a spell preventing Kaen from sensing them. When she approached, her voice was quiet and calm, but her anger was quite clearly audible, “Athradien is out there. Talon, he’s in chains!”
Talon almost let go of Lainey’s arm when he heard that. He almost dropped his guard leaving her unprotected. He growled in anger before he yanked her back inside so he could talk with Cuilwen.
“Where?”
“In the back, behind the first line of vampires. Two hold him restrained with something that looks like a chain around his neck and on his wrists.” Her voice cracked when she continued, “He looks beaten.”
“Damn it. Can you and your men get him?”
“Not without being seen. What is more important: keeping the element of surprise or playing or retrieving Athradien?” Talon could hear the conflict in her voice. He knew she wanted the latter. However, she respected Talon, and would follow his direction.
“We wait. I’m sorry. I can’t risk that now. Can Faelwen cast a tracking spell with air? Something so we can find him later?” Talon stood with Lainey pulling at his arm towards the door—the compulsion to rush to Kaen driving her.
“Aye. We’ve already cast that when we saw him.”
Talon saw the sadness in her eyes and softened his next words, “We’ll get him back.”
Her head jerked, “I know. It was just shocking to see him in such a condition. He is just as strong as us. Do you know he turned down the First title when your father offered it? He knew I craved it, and he selfishly gave it to me, said he preferred to lead. How could an elf of his caliber get caught by these vampires? I don’t understand.” Cuilwen looked confused. She was worried and that emotion showed through her typical arrogance.
“Kaen will be brought down. I hope now you see why we must wait, so we can see this to completion. I don’t want any of his rogue coven to remain alive, which means we have to time this just right.”
Again her head jerked with her desire to decimate the vampires outside the wards. She wanted nothing more than to raze them all to the ground and reclaim her friend. She followed her prince, though. She followed her friend. She touched her forehead and bowed, “We will follow your order, prince.”
Talon frowned at her use of his title. He assumed it was because she deferred to their hierarchy to get through this. Knowing who she was, Talon knew she did this when conflicted rather than trusting her own logic. She was smart enough to know she didn’t have all the answers, so followed those she felt knew better.
“Thank you First Maiden,” he replied with matching formality. “Just make sure those tracking spells are set tight. I don’t want them discovered so we can find him when this is all over. I want him rescued as much as you; please know that.”
“I’ll see to it.” Cuilwen was just about to go when she looked at Lainey for the first time, “What is wrong with her?”
“Kaen has control over her because he sired her. He is calling to her to come to him,” he said looking at Lainey tenderly. “Their connection should not be this strong, not after the time which has passed.”
Cuilwen looked through the crack in the door at the vampire who was pacing rabidly along the wards, “That one? He is causing all the trouble? But he’s bald.” She was incredulous that such a man could be this strong, especially since having a shaved head was the ultimate sign of weakness in her culture. When she reached out to measure his abilities, she found no natural magic but encountered a pool of stolen magic that carried Athradien’s signature and hissed, “Ack. He is carrying stolen magic.” Brushing her arms as if she encountered something dirty, she turned a disgusted look at Talon, “I’m confused as to why you haven’t taken this man out before. You’re stronger than this. You’ve gotten soft.”
The chuckle he replied with let her know he took no insult. When his laughter faded, he added, “I haven’t gone soft; he is craftier than you give him credit for. I was close until he kidnapped our friend out there, so show some respect…I have been outmaneuvered.”
Lainey pulled at his hand again, “Let me go now. I need to go.”
Both of them looked back to the pixy woman. She clawed at the hand holding her, obsessed with the man pacing outside. Her green eyes tracked him while she spoke and she began to whimper the longer she was restrained.
Dace bounded out from the stairwell at that time, for he’d been hiding there out of sight. He could not stand it any longer, “Enough of this. She can’t handle this; give her to me.”
Talon’s anger was released and Dace was pinned to the wall, “Stay back! I ordered you to remain with my mate upstairs! You’ve left her unattended!” he roared.
Dace paled but didn’t move. “She is not unattended. There are five of Cuilwen’s men with her. She is safe. My mate is not. Give…her…to…me…now!” His voice dropped low.
“No.” Talon sighed, “Dace, now is not the time to challenge me over this. I’ll not let Kaen have her. Back down.”
Just then Lainey screamed and thrashed wildly in Talon’s grasp. Her body writhed as she twisted and clawed at the hand that held her tight. She was so loud that her sobs were clearly heard from outside. Kaen stopped in his pacing to watch the partially closed door for any sign.
Dace tried to rush forward but whatever spell Talon had cast kept him pinned where he was. He again felt helpless. “Help her!” he ordered.
Talon clung to Lainey with a strength that was probably going to leave bruises, but refused to let go. He wasn’t sure what to do at the moment to help, and hadn’t expected her to be this connected to Kaen. It was rare when he had to admit this, but he wasn’t prepared to deal with this situation.
Cuilwen surprised him when she suddenly stepped up to Lainey and gripped both sides of her face, stilling her thrashing immediately. All Cuilwen did was look deeply into the troubled green eyes and searched her mind, looking for the source of this connect. With a snort, she pulled back, fluidly spinning around to hide in the shadows once more. Her musical voice said calmly, “Let him see her. I have an idea that may help.”
“No!” Dace tried to rush forward to block Talon’s movement, but found he was still pinned effectively to the wall. Talon moved towards the door, letting Lainey practically drag him through the opening. Dace had never felt such overwhelming panic and screamed as he watched her go.
Cuilwen touched Dace from the side calming him instantly. “Let her go. Watch.”
Confused, Dace stood there helplessly watching his woman walk through the door with a crazed need to break free. Talon decided he could risk revealing he was back and opened the door before stormed out behind Lainey. He retained a firm hold on her arm. When he reached the top step, he pulled his ward back to his chest and wrapped both arms around her upper body. He held her securely while he addressed Kaen. “Release her now Kaen. You won’t win here, not today. She is part of my coven, so we have equal control.”
Kaen snarled and hissed, spraying spittle from his mouth in utter rage. “Talon!”
“Yes, I’m glad you remember my name.”
“She does not belong to you! You know our laws! I claimed her willingly! I sired her and she is mine!”
“I don’t think so. You stole her in the first place. She was not yours to claim.” Talon had no idea what Cuilwen planned, but felt her magic building. As he stood watching Kaen practically gnaw his own tongue off in frustration, Talon felt the first slapping touches of her magic beat at the connection in Lainey. His ward, however, screamed as each mental slap threatened to separate her from Kaen, and her instincts retaliated.
Talon followed the trail of power and located the source by riding on Cuilwen’s. It was a dark spot in Lainey’s mind, a section which remained dormant until Kaen showed up today, causing that spot to grow. Cuilwen broke it apart
so Lainey’s conscious mind could clear it away, freeing her from this connection.
Lainey screamed again when Cuilwen succeeded in breaking a large chunk of filth from her mind. To Cuilwen it felt like there was a shattering effect and the rest began to crack and fade away before her eyes.
When the last of the filth dissolved, Kaen bellowed violently when he felt Lainey slip away and his connection to his sired newborn broke apart. “No! She is mine!” He spat at the vampire holding the object of his obsession. He had no idea it wasn’t Talon doing this to him.
Kaen looked between Talon and Lainey, seething. She wasn’t pulling at his hold any longer and instead leaned all her weight into his strong grasp. Her eyes watched Kaen intently, but they no longer watched him with need, and what Kaen saw instead was pure hatred.
Kaen felt the last tether snap freeing Lainey at last from her bind to him. The last thing he saw before she collapsed unconscious, was the look of profound relief that shone in her bright green eyes. He rolled with pure hatred that Talon could take her again, this time for good.
“What have you done Talon! You bastard! You have no right to take her away from me!” Kaen shouted. He resumed his feral pacing, his eyes never leaving the black haired woman in his nemesis’s arms.
“I protect what is mine. You know this well. Lainey is part of my coven now, therefore under my protection. You don’t have a claim on her and never will.”
Talon felt elven magic building while the concealed elves infused the wards with their power. It caused them to explode in a wave of burning static that clung to each of the vampires, sending them scattering back in agony, Kaen included. Talon looked inside through the open door and met Rodwen’s wicked stare when he smirked at his achievement. It had obviously been his idea and Talon was glad for it.
Talon was completely caught off guard. Not only was he not prepared for Lainey’s reaction, he wasn’t prepared to engage the Dûr Falas this day. His elven friends obviously had other things in mind. “I suggest you run, Kaen. You can’t win today.” Talon collected the unconscious woman in his arms and cradled her to his chest. She would be in severe pain once she woke up and he wanted her inside, away from this chaos. When he looked out along the line of vampires, most were recovering and approaching the wards again. Kaen shook with rage as he stared down Talon from across the space.
“The first was a warning, Kaen. I won’t be so kind the second time. Leave now or die.”
“You cur. You bastard,” Kaen hollered.
“Well, it would be more accurate if you called me ‘banished’ or ‘exiled’ as I’m not technically a bastard,” Talon mocked calmly.
Lainey became heavy in his arms and he wanted to get her back upstairs before she recovered too much. He still wasn’t exactly sure what Cuilwen had just done, Talon wanted to search through Lainey’s mind once he had her settled to see if there was any other damage the purging had caused. He would be furious if after all they’d done to protect her mind, it were damaged now.
Kaen wasn’t moving. They needed to do something more to force a hand, and felt Cuilwen’s mind brush his with an idea. Grasping it, he merged with Cuilwen and a few other elves in order to enhance the charge, then released the power to each of the wards. All vampires remaining dropped to the ground dead. Kaen was not among them.
Talon searched the line of dead vampires, the Dûr Falas leader was nowhere to be seen. He must have used that stolen magic and transported away just as the wards were released. He felt a wave of anger at this and snarled in bitterness when he could not find the man anywhere among the fallen. Now that the danger of discover was past, Cuilwen approached through the door and touched his arm while he was looking for Kaen. It startled him out of his observation.
“Give her to me. Let me take her inside.”
His dark head shook. “No, I’ll carry her. She is my responsibility.” When he met Cuilwen’s eyes, he paused. “Athradien?”
“The coward Kaen transported that dark-skinned vampire, Athradien, and himself just before we released the blast. For now, he is alive. Faelwen attached the tracking link, and now we wait.” Her hand gripped his elbow, gently tugging him towards the door. “Bring her, she needs to be cared for or this pain will consume her. I can help there, too.”
The mention of Lainey had his cold eyes looking at her slack face. She was relaxed at the moment but he knew it wouldn’t last. Her coloring suggested she’d fed recently, so at least she’d have the strength to fight this. Talon felt a moment of pride looking down at her, for she was learning fast and he was impressed with her foresight to stay strong.
“What did you do?” he whispered to Cuilwen.
“Something new I learned from your father. Something that only the First’s know how to use.”
“What exactly does that mean?” He turned towards the building now.
“It means this is none of your business. Just be glad I could help her. She is free of that coward and no longer subject to his suggestions.”
They crossed the threshold and Talon stopped to meet Dace where he remained pinned in the entryway. Dace stared back with murderous intent, but Talon watched him pause when he saw Lainey unconscious in his arms. Talon sighed. “I hope you can forgive me, but this was necessary in order to free her from Kaen.”
“Right now, I’m not in the forgiving mood. Release me!” Dace did his best to remain calm. He was enraged that he still remained pinned to the wall and watched with frustration as Talon walked past towards the stairs without releasing him. “Talon!”
He could see how tortured Dace was and felt a moment of regret for his next action. He knew walking away with Lainey in his arms pushed the man beyond his limit, but Lainey was his primary concern. Not Dace’s wounded feelings. Right now she needed him, so he did he must. He slowed, turning his face to speak over his shoulder.
“She needs our magic to recover, so let get her comfortable. She doesn’t need you worrying over her right now. She’s fine, but in about ten minutes she is going to be in incredible pain. We need to get her settled so Cuilwen can check her in order to determine what healing will be needed.” Continuing again he turned at the base of the stairs, “I just hope you find forgiveness, as I have no quarrel with you.”
With that, Talon took the stairs two at a time with Lainey clutched to his chest. He’d already alerted Kailani to be ready and knew his mate waited for them. Only when he was at the top of the landing did he release Dace and heard him stomp after them, knowing he had little time before an enraged Dace appeared.
He needed to ensure that Lainey was fine first. He’d deal with Dace and his hurt feelings later. Afterwards, he could check in with Faelwen and if she was able to track their friend at all. He couldn’t worry about Athradien’s location though. Lainey was his priority.
As he laid her down, he thought about how needed to end soon. One way or another it would be over and he only hoped it would be in their favor. Not to mention, he and Kailani could live in peace. That was his goal and he wished he had foresight to know if he was wrong in believing he could win.
Chapter Seventeen
The room dimmed as the last of the day’s light faded. Talon sighed turning from the window with one last regretful glance towards the people below—he was hungry and there was no way he could chance leaving to hunt.
Kailani watched him through lowered eyelids, trying not to be obvious about it, but wanting to measure his discomfort. Hearing that sigh spoke volumes. She let out her own sound and stood. Swallowing her jealousy, Kailani straightened her back and said with her chin held high, “Please go find Cuilwen and get your strength back.” Saying these words burned but she knew it was the right thing to do.
At first he didn’t acknowledge what she’d said. Confused, Kailani tried again before she tried mentally to get his attention, “Talon?”
“I heard you,” he r
eplied quietly, finally turning to look at her, pinning her with his cold stare. “Where did this come from? It’s not like you to be generous when it came to sharing, love.”
“You used your strength with Kaen. I need you to be strong for the inevitable battle ahead, and I need you to survive. Go find Cuilwen.” This time her words were spoken with confidence.
One of his angular eyebrows rose in question. He didn’t believe her. She was jealous, protective and very, very territorial. This offer of openness was very out of character. Oh, she’d surprised him with her open welcome and embracing the physical proximity of Cuilwen, but suggesting he feed from the woman wasn’t what he would have expected—again Kai caught him off guard, but in a good way.
She read his distrust and did her best to smile, “I’m fine, really. I trust you and I trust her. It is more vital to me that you survive, so my jealously is not important.”
There was a pounding in his chest as his heart thumped hard for a few beats before he smiled at her in resignation. He knew how hard those words were for her to say. Slowly, he walked forward and gathered her tense body in his arms, not saying a word, using his body instead to communicate what this meant to him. His hand wrapped around the base of her neck holding her head close to his chest so she could hear his heart beating and just held her tight. Every so often he planted small kisses along her forehead and temple, purring quietly as she relaxed into his embrace until she was completely soft.
After what felt like eternity in her embrace, he whispered, “I appreciate this. I know how hard that was for you to offer.” There was a pause, “But what about you, love? I also have need of your survival, so who I might ask are you going get your strength from?”
Her snort blew warm air across his neck, causing him to smile. “I’ll ask Omar again. He helped me while you were gone, so I’ll ask if he will help me again.”
