Witchlock

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  When Tzader's father was killed in battle, the elder Burke's immortality had passed to Tzader. At the same time, a powerful defense ward placed around the castle prevented any immortal except Brina or Macha from entering, and that ward had stood between Tzader and Brina ever since.

  Four long years.

  The ward was gone now, and Tzader would not wait any longer.

  He should suck it up and drag out what was left of his patience since he had to go through Macha to reach Brina, but Macha was the reason he had no patience left. He reminded her, "I'm here to see Brina."

  "We're talking about the Tribunal!"

  No, you're trying to avoid discussing Brina, Tzader wanted to say. Macha's avoidance meant she was hiding something, and the longer she took, the more Tzader's chest tightened with worry. "Fine. Tell me what the problem is now with the damn Tribunal."

  Her eyebrows moved up slightly at the curse, but amazingly she let it go. "I have just been informed a new Tribunal is expecting our representative in forty-nine minutes."

  Now what? "Why?"

  "The Medb are complaining that Beladors are killing their witches and warlocks unprovoked."

  "That's insane. VIPER knows that every Belador warrior stands to face severe punishment, death even, for breaking our code of honor." He shook his head and scowled. "No Belador is going to take that risk knowing his or her entire family will face the same consequences."

  "VIPER may recognize that, but the deities who make up each Tribunal won't care one way or the other. They're annoyed at spending so much time dealing with the human world and now that the Medb have sent a proposal for peace, the Tribunal wants me to rubber stamp it."

  "What proposal?"

  "The Medb suggest the Tribunal assign a liaison between the Beladors and the Medb coven." She resumed floating inches above the floor as she air-paced.

  "And?" He had a sick feeling about where this was going.

  "They claim since Evalle is the leader of the gryphons and shares the blood of both pantheons that she should step into the role of liaison."

  "No." He braced himself for an argument.

  Macha came to a sudden stop. Her emerald-green gown swirled around her ankles, sparking with tiny bursts of light where other gowns with bling would merely twinkle. She lifted her chin and held his gaze with her steely one. "That is not your choice to make."

  Nothing ever was. "You would hand her over to the Medb after all she's done for us?"

  "I didn't say I intended to agree. However, you should remember who makes the final decision here."

  Like he needed a Post-it stuck on his forehead when he looked in the mirror? "I know who runs the show."

  "You're in an impertinent mood."

  "I'm in an impatient mood. I want to see Brina."

  "So you're not interested in my decision regarding Evalle?"

  If he had the time, he'd walk over and shove his fist through the closest stone wall. It would feel better than suffering this frustration. "Yes, Macha, I'd like to know."

  "I refused to agree to the Medb offer."

  The goddess hadn't rejected the offer out of any desire to protect Evalle. He waited to hear Macha's explanation.

  "The last thing I want to do is give the Medb access to any Belador resource. There's no telling how they might figure a way to use Evalle against us."

  And there it was.

  With Evalle somewhat safe and that out of the way, Tzader replayed his broken record. "About Brina."

  "What progress is being made with finding evidence of the Medb dumping demons in Atlanta? I'd like a detailed report before I have to teleport you to the Tribunal meeting. That is your duty, after all."

  "I know my duty," he said in a voice so deep the words came out in a growl. "Here's what I know. We have no solid evidence that the demons dumped in Atlanta a week ago were products of the Medb. Then it seemed they went away for five days. Now new demons have shown up, but the Medb are no longer popping on scene to kill these new ones the way they were a week ago to show the Tribunal the Medb coven could be an asset for VIPER."

  She muttered, "Smoke and mirrors game."

  "I agree, but we still lack evidence. VIPER isn't helping, but one of our warriors cornered a demon."

  "Oh?"

  "It was a Reisc Dubh that-"

  "Those?" she scowled. "Why call forth something with the mentality of a slug?"

  "I don't think they called it up. I think these things are being created."

  Macha pulled back at that. "Why would... I don't care why. Interrogate it."

  "We can't. It was necessary to terminate the demon."

  "A Reisc Dubh? What warrior couldn't contain a Reisc Dubh?" she said with so much fury the walls trembled.

  Evalle, but Tzader was not giving her up. He had only the details that Storm had texted him after the Skinwalker found Evalle on top of Stone Mountain. "A warrior who put survival ahead of intel. This particular Reisc Dubh turned aggressive and the top half changed into something that could kill a Belador."

  Macha harrumphed and the air vibrated.

  Tzader crossed his arms. "And it had no Medb scent. No scent period. When we got a call earlier this week about a gutted troll, I asked the Skinwalker Storm to track the killer. At first, I thought a demon had gutted the troll to fuel a spell to turn something else into a demon. But the scent leading from the corpse turned out to be another troll's. They found him way south of the city ... dead."

  "Why waste manpower to track down a troll killer?"

  "Because the troll deaths coincided with the new demons that have been sighted. I think those two things are connected. I've ordered our Beladors to not link unless they're positive about what they're fighting." Tzader would not risk losing an entire squad of Beladors. They gained power by linking with one another in battle, but all of them would die if one was killed while they were linked.

  "That's your first priority, to get to the bottom of this soon and deliver evidence to a Tribunal that the Medb are behind the demons," Macha mused out loud as she lifted another few inches off the floor and stared beyond him, lost in thought, then her gaze returned to his. "I'd hoped the Tribunal would come to their senses before now and boot the Medb out of the human world, but that clearly isn't going to happen. All I get from them are messages saying the Tribunal wants an end to the bickering between the Beladors and the Medb."

  "They think this is bickering?" Tzader asked, appalled. "Blood has flowed for centuries because of a war. What the hell do they want?"

  She sent him a sharp look as a reprimand for his language. "They want to have peace in the human world. Deities are not particularly happy to keep coming in to settle what they consider petty disagreements. I don't blame them since I would have destroyed something or someone by now if anyone wasted my time. Our most immediate fight is over the gryphons."

  That fight translated into a new way to screw Evalle yet again. Tzader asked, "What do you think will happen with the gryphons? Or, let me be more specific. With Evalle."

  "I refused to let the Medb have her or them, but I can't fight the entire coalition of deities if they decide otherwise. I sent back that I'm willing to discuss a peace treaty, but not their proposal."

  Good luck ending up with any peace treaty that had teeth, but he'd leave Macha to her negotiations for now.

  He glanced at his watch. Twenty-eight minutes.

  "Did you just check your watch while in my presence?"

  "You're the one concerned about my making the Tribunal meeting on time," he reminded her.

  Her glare slid down her haughty nose and hit him between the eyes. She warned, "You're immortal, Tzader, but only against a weaker adversary, which I will never be."

  His patience had clung by threads since the beginning of this discussion and he'd like to tell Macha she was welcome to his life, a miserable place without Brina.

  But Brina was the reason he'd shown humility to the goddess and would suck it up one more time. "I was not being disre
spectful, Macha. I'm simply tired from working around the clock, which has left me no chance to see Brina until now and you have yet to tell me where she is other than in the castle. If I sound short, it's unavoidable at the moment."

  Not an apology, because that was asking too much.

  "You should take note of the allowances I've made for those close to you."

  Where was she going with this? He asked, "Such as?"

  "Quinn. He should not be allowed to live after falling into bed with the enemy."

  Tzader had forgotten that this would come up again. "I told you after that last battle here that Quinn met Kizira when he was very young and he did not know she was Medb when he fell for her. Quinn has always been truthful with me and was even prepared to submit to death by your hand at one point."

  Her gaze flinched.

  Didn't expect that did you, Macha? Tzader continued, "Quinn is solid and has paid the highest price for that moment in his life."

  "You put him in as Maistir once," she said, allowing it to stand as an accusation.

  "And I would do it again." Tzader would hand that position to Quinn now if he thought his friend could handle it, but Tzader pushed that aside. "Thank you for allowing Quinn to take Kizira's body back."

  "I trust that you will insure the witch's body is dealt with appropriately."

  Macha meant that Kizira's body should be burned and the ashes scattered, but she failed to say that so Tzader answered, "Yes."

  Whatever Quinn did would be appropriate and kept away from the world.

  Tzader asked, "Can we get to Brina now?"

  He must have finally gotten through to Macha because she let out a long sigh and said, "She's in the library. She goes into a rage with objects flying around when she can't recall things. One minute she almost has a grasp of a memory then it slips away, leaving her without an anchor to any point in time. The battle to regain her memories is wearing her down physically and emotionally. She sleeps often, waking in terror."

  That sucker punched the air out of him. "She'll remember. I'll help her." He stepped toward the door.

  "I'll allow you to see her as long as she doesn't become any worse."

  She'll allow me? Tzader swung back around. "You will allow me to see her as often and for as long as I want when I am not on duty. You owe that to me and to her. I have never asked for anything from you for myself, except that Brina and I could be together. Not once since my father and her father died together as Belador warriors have either of us given less than our best to you and the Belador tribe."

  Macha's hair fanned straight out like the spokes of a wheel. Her body glowed with energy flooding her. Walls shook and the floor rumbled as if it would explode from the pressure.

  As he waited for her to strike at him, he added, "The sooner you help me bring Brina back to us, the sooner we'll marry and start a family. You want babies to rebuild the Treoir dynasty and secure the Belador power here forever. I want the woman I love in my life and to father her children. We have the same goal for different reasons. I intend to get started on that goal right now. Please teleport me to the entrance of VIPER headquarters in twenty-five minutes."

  That calmed Macha when nothing else would. She nodded. "We need Brina back and soon. Her mental state seems to grow worse each day she goes without remembering. I'll trust you to take care with her."

  "That's a given." He strode quickly through the halls, passing two of the royal guards along the way. He gave them an abrupt nod when he'd normally have stopped to chat. He'd expected to find Brina alone, which she technically was, but Allyn McDonahue stood outside the open door to the library.

  Macha had sucked Tzader dry of any patience.

  This guard deserved none. Not after trying to poach Brina.

  Tzader knew the minute Allyn realized who approached because the guard tensed and straightened his shoulders.

  When Tzader reached the entrance to the massive library, he paused to take everything in. Brina sat on the far side of the room in a cushioned window seat with a leaded glass backdrop.

  That was new. There hadn't been a window in this room for years.

  Tzader kept his voice down. He had no problem taking this guy to task, but he didn't want to cause a disturbance so near to Brina. He told Allyn, "I warned you about being around her."

  "I am not around her, but guarding her. There is a difference, Maistir." Allyn had said that in a tone of tolerance more than respect.

  "Find someone else to guard. In fact, spend your time outside training your men, overseeing the gryphons, picking up rocks, I don't give a damn what you do. Just stay away from her. Understood?"

  Allyn had gone rigid as a post. "Understood."

  Tzader stepped back, giving him room to leave. Once the guard was out of sight, Tzader stepped into the library and walked with loud enough steps to alert her that someone had entered.

  Brina's head lifted. Flame red hair fell to her waist in soft curls, looking as if the locks were threads spun of fire and copper. Her heart-shaped lips parted with surprise and green eyes as bright as a lush valley in spring studied him.

  In that moment, he saw her go from hope to disappointment when she couldn't gather her memories of him.

  A traitor within the Beladors had used Noirre majik supplied by the Medb to trap Brina within majik threads while the Medb attacked Treoir Island and Castle. Tzader had killed the traitor, but not before Brina, along with Quinn's teenage cousin Lanna, had tried to escape by teleporting. They'd ended up lost in another realm.

  Evalle had brought Storm to Treoir as a last ditch effort to bring the two women back, which had ended successfully. But Brina's memories had deteriorated.

  Were still deteriorating.

  Tzader kept walking and forced his lips into a smile.

  He had little time to make headway with her, but it could be too much time if she became agitated. She'd been through a lot and he would not press her for more than she could handle.

  But his warrior queen was strong.

  Somewhere inside that body still lived the woman who had waited within the walls of this warded castle for four long years, seeing him only in hologram form, just to do her duty as a Treoir.

  His woman had been raised a fighter.

  She sat cross-legged on the cushions. In her lap lay an enormous album that had leather binding softened by a century of wear. The large pages made her hands appear as small as a child's holding a normal-sized book.

  He tried not to think about how fragile Brina looked. She'd never been fragile, but everything she'd been through recently showed in her sad face.

  She closed the album and held up her hand in a silent order, forcing him to stop three strides short of her.

  He obeyed her silent request, but it took all of his control to hold back from bundling her into his arms and drawing her close to bring peace back into her face. "I'd like to visit with you."

  She blinked, closed her eyes, then opened them, frowning. "I know you ... but I'm not bringin' you clear to mind."

  Her Irish lilt curled around his heart and hugged him. "You do know me and, if you'll let me, I'll help you remember a lot of things."

  Standing this close and not touching her reminded him of the years he'd suffered without her in his arms and his life, sating his loneliness for short periods only when one of them visited in holographic form.

  His father had bequeathed his immortality to his only child without Tzader's knowledge.

  Tzader had come to terms with the unfairness in life, and now cared only about today and tomorrow.

  Brina studied him. "Tell me somethin' that I should be rememberin'."

  A thousand memories rushed forward, all clamoring to be the one that brought her back. "There is a huge tree not far from here where we once swam as teenagers. It was our spot."

  He'd made love to her there the first time, and again in his dreams just over a week ago, but his dreams didn't count. She had to remember what happened for real.

  Her e
yebrows dropped low as she thought hard on something. Sending him a wary look, she asked, "Were we at the tree ... recently?"

  "What do you call recently?" he said, curious to see where this was going.

  She shrugged. "In but two weeks past."

  "No." Not unless he could show her his dream.

  "Oh." She sounded disappointed.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I recall bein' in a place such as that only a wee time back with a man and we were ... " Her voice trailed off and she couldn't meet his gaze. "It matters not since it was not you."

  Who the hell had she been to their spot with, and what had they done? "What did you do at that tree?"

  Her cheeks blushed and jealousy stormed his body, because he knew exactly what she'd been doing with a man. He demanded, "Who was this man?"

  She put aside the album she was holding and stood. "Do not dare to raise your voice to me."

  He heard her, but he had been put off by Macha and would not leave her without finding who had dared to take her to their tree. "I want a name, Brina. Now."

  If she said Allyn, that guard would regret his audacity for the rest of his short life.

  She pointed to the doorway. "Get out!"

  That order had rung with the power of Brina the Belador warrior queen everyone missed, and would have made Tzader happy to see one part of her return, if not for what she'd said.

  Raising his voice had been the wrong move.

  He took a step closer and hoped Macha didn't show up to interfere. Brina's eyes widened with the shock of anyone defying her.

  Keeping his tone gentle, Tzader spoke as he eased closer to her. "You might be confusing the time, because that's one of our memories. That tree was our favorite place, our secret place to meet. But the last time was four years ago."

  She shook her head, now distracted by his words. "Why would we have gone there then and not recently?"

  He held her gaze as a bridge between them, moving another step closer as he spoke. "Because your father helped Macha ward this castle against immortals before he went to battle the Medb four years ago, and without knowledge of that, my father asked for Macha's promise to pass his immortality to me. I couldn't touch you until I broke the ward."

  The soothing sound in his deep tone had to be working because she appeared mesmerized and murmured, "How did you ... break the ward?

  "I rushed through it to protect you when the Medb attacked Treoir." He lifted a hand and ran it over her hair, surprised to see his hand tremble, but this was their first real touch in four years. "I died when I crossed the ward, but through a miracle I was revived. Just not fast enough to reach you before you were attacked with Noirre majik." He paused to lean closer. "I killed the traitor and I would kill a thousand more if they tried to harm you."