Gale Season

by Marie Harte

  “And once Lidra gets hold of you,” he said, surprising her at the speed with which he moved to grab her throat, “all this pretty glamour will be for naught.”

  Her dress shimmered and vanished, leaving her naked and vulnerable in ‘Sin Garu’s grip.

  “You are such a delectable treat,” he said softly, his teeth looking all too sharp the closer he brought his head.

  “You said you’re not a blood drinker?” she asked quickly, startling him out of his lust-inspired trance.

  “No, but I like to eat sweets,” he murmured and brushed his lips along her cheek, tightening his hand around her throat.

  She forced herself to remain still.

  “Such tender flesh,” he whispered directly into her ear, his cool breath shockingly arousing. She didn’t know what to do, confused by her body’s traitorous response. “So bright and full of vigour. I wonder how you taste when you come?” His hand moved disturbingly near her belly, and she couldn’t help an instinctive flinch.

  Immediately he stopped and moved away from her, his arousal clearly visible in the tight fabric of his trousers.

  “You’ve untapped power.” He stared at her, and suddenly she was again clad in a white dress from neck to mid-calf. “Be mindful of what you are,” he warned and stroked himself with a shuttered glance at her breasts. “And use your gifts wisely. They just might be your salvation.”

  He abruptly dropped his hand and turned to the door.

  “But what do you want from me?”

  He glanced over his shoulder, the menace back in his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious, Alandra? I want you at my side when I retake Tanselm. You will help me defeat B’alen, and when your Storm Lords come, you’ll help me defeat them, too. For your help, my shadow, I’ll let Sava live.”

  Fear robbed her of speech, of her very breath.

  “I know how attached the two of you are, my dear, and despite his rebellious nature, I like Sava. He and I will come to an understanding. I’m sure he’ll see the ‘light’ once he knows the role you’ll play in Tanselm’s future.”

  He licked his lips. “The xiantopes would have been fun to fuck, but not to keep. Destroying them would have destroyed their Storm Lords.” He sighed. “Alas, it was not meant to be. You, on the other hand, Alandra, are a worthy mate.” He paused, his gaze glowing with dark power. “But whether you want to or not, you know dealing with me will be your only means to escape my brother. Trust me, purie,” he mocked, “one taste of your blood and my horny brother won’t leave you alone until he has drunk you to death. Don’t believe me? Look at what’s left of Lidra.”

  He departed on those words, making her shiver at the truth in them.

  Pacing to conceal her agitation, she knew she needed to make a plan. Anything had to be better than B’alen. She’d seen a lot more in her dreams than she thought Aerolus knew. What B’alen had done to her aunt would kill her, if not physically, then emotionally. After the beauty of making love to Aerolus, she would never willingly lie with a monster like B’alen, not even to save her own life.

  How much better B’alen’s brother would be, she couldn’t tell. But, as they said in Seattle, and how true it was, better the devil you know.

  Chapter Twelve

  Arim took Cadmus’ face in his hands and with a burst of light healed him. Aerolus watched, pleased, as his brother’s watery gaze again appeared normal.

  “Are you sure you feel up to this?” Arim stared with concern.

  Cadmus nodded.

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me where you’ve been for the past forty-eight hours.”

  “Ah, actually, someone at work got sick, and I—”

  Arim held up a hand. “Forget it. I’ll worm it out of you when you’re asleep.” He chuckled at the look of horror in his nephew’s face.

  Cadmus turned to Aerolus. “He can’t do that if I maintain my safeguards, can he?”

  “Why ask him?” Arim drew a circle in the floor using a bowl of ash that suddenly appeared at his fingertips. “Where do you think he got his ability to read dreams? Not from your mother.”

  “From you?” Cadmus croaked, staring from Aerolus to Arim with bug eyes.

  “Ignore him.” Aerolus shot Arim a dark look. “We have more important things to do than worry about what floats and sinks in your shallow mind.” Cadmus looked affronted. “Alandra is sitting in Aelle somewhere, and pray the Light she’s well. Because if she’s not, my vengeance will be swift.” And deadly.

  He could feel twin storms behind his eyes, winds and thunder begging to be let loose. Lightning burned in his belly, the need for justice like a hunger that gnawed for sustenance.

  A darker, deeper void than the one leading to Tanselm appeared on the floor.

  “Step through it,” Arim ordered, waiting for Cadmus.

  Cadmus took a step forward, then he swore and shook his head. “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can,” Arim said heatedly, his patience seeming at an end.

  “No, I honestly can’t. Something won’t let me leave.” He took another step forward and stopped, as if pulled back by a string. “Damn him!”

  “I thought it was damn her, as in Ellie Markham,” Arim said dryly.

  Cadmus stared at Arim in shock. “You know who she is?”

  “Yes, and I’m surprised she’s not here with you now.”

  Cadmus swallowed. Aerolus ached to find his affai, but concern for his brother reared. “What is it, Cadmus, that you’re not telling us? Quickly, brother. My future hangs in the balance here.” He stared at the floor.

  “As does mine. I can’t leave earth without, ah, protection.”

  “Protection? What the hell am I here for?” Arim’s voice rose.

  “Djinn protection,” Cadmus muttered, a scowl growing on his face. “Dammit, I pledged my oath I wouldn’t leave this plane without them. It was the only way I could get away to let Darius and Marcus know about the attacks.”

  “And when we leave, the Djinn will come for you?” Arim wanted to know.

  “I assume.”

  “Then let them show themselves now. I’m not leaving until I know you’re not alone.”

  Cadmus swore, in several languages. “You can’t do that! I’m not a child. I don’t need a keeper. Fuck! I want to go with you, but I’m bound by my oath. I can at least create a diversion here to distract ‘Sin Garu. I’ll—”

  “Be right here, with me.” A voice whispered from Cadmus’ back, and the three Light Bringers threw up shields as they watched Cadmus’ shadow lengthen and stand, turning from shade into a man.

  Jonas Chase blinked at them and shielded his eyes. “Nice to see you all again.”

  “Not you.” Cadmus groaned. “I thought I’d left you with the others.”

  “Glad to see you too, Earth Lord.” Jonas glared at Cadmus but held a hand out to Arim. “Go ahead, sorcerer, verify for yourself your nephew will come to no harm in my care.”

  Arim reached out and took Jonas’ hand. Time seemed to stand still as Aerolus’ uncle stared into Jonas’ gleaming amber gaze. Surprised and pleased to see Jonas, the Djinn who’d aided them weeks ago by thrusting ‘Sin Garu into the between, Aerolus knew his brother would be safe while they battled to free Alandra.

  “We must hurry.” Aerolus stared at the floor, ready to leave with or without Arim. His senses were telling him Alandra was in danger, more than at any other time since she’d been abducted. “Cadmus, remain strong. And try not to irritate the Djinn as much as you do the rest of us.”

  Cadmus scowled. “Sure thing, windboy. A word of advice,” he said, reaching out to stop Aerolus before he could step through the floor. “Keep clear of Lidra. The battle for Aelle must be waged between her and Alandra alone. Do not interfere, no matter what you see.”

  Aerolus paused and nodded slowly, not sure he could keep such a promise, but knowing his brother cautioned him for a reason. Cadmus squeezed his arm tight, then released him and stepped back from the shrinking gateway.

&
nbsp; “Good luck, Aerolus. Sava’s waiting for you in his tower, Arim. Find him, quickly.”

  Arim nodded and looked one final time at Jonas, who nodded, bowing respectfully.

  “May your battle be filled with Dark measures, and even darker victory.” Jonas wished them well and jerked Cadmus back from the void in the floor when he would have stepped into it.

  “Dammit, get your hands off me, you piece of—”

  “And good luck to you as well,” Arim said with a knowing glance at Cadmus. He nodded to Aerolus, and they stepped down together, both ready to fight for what might be the last time.

  * * * *

  “What do you think, Lexa, is she or is she not a suitable queen for the Dark King of Tanselm?” B’alen nodded to Lidra lying still beneath the dark canopy of leaves in her inner court. The dais and several tables still stood where they had only hours ago when the council had debated Alandra’s homecoming. He still found it intriguing that only weeks here had passed while an entire year flew by in the magicless plane where the Storm Lords had hidden.

  “You’re kidding me, right?” His sister sounded amused. At least she’d lost that rosy glow of innocence that had been so vexing when they’d first found her.

  B’alen sighed. “She is pathetic, isn’t she?” He and Lexa studied Lidra, aware an Aellein blood drinker, while rare, was not entirely a new creation.

  “What did you do to her?” Lexa stared at Lidra dispassionately, no fan of the Aellei in the first place.

  “A bit of this, a bite of that,” he mocked, grinning at the sight of Lidra’s glowing form bathed in darkness. He’d fed too long, had ingested too much of the Aellein queen’s magic. But she’d been so very tempting. Even in her downward spiral towards madness, she retained her beauty, her need for youth and grandeur her last handhold to sanity.

  “Next time finish her off so I don’t have to witness such waste.” Lexa looked peeved, her pale eyes blinking like stars in the shadows. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing the Light Bringers soon.”

  “But of course, sister mine,” B’alen said with a buoyancy he was far from feeling. Much as he longed to finally kill Arim and his hated kin, he couldn’t quite extinguish his fear of the notorious sorcerer. “I look forward to dealing with them all, especially with you by my side.” He laughed as her face darkened, and watched her walk away without another word.

  He knew Lexa well enough not to trust her. Oh, she’d told him what ‘Sin Garu had been doing, but not until the last possible moment, when it seemed his brother had lost his way.

  Her allegiance shifted with the wind, floating one way then another. The key to Lexa was knowing what made her tick. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Once he’d commanded her obedience to the letter. But now, now he didn’t know where she went when she left their stronghold on Malern. He would have asked his brother, but he hesitated to give ‘Sin the impression he wasn’t as in control as he ought to be.

  He still held sway over the queen, however. He toyed with her, sending her a command she readily obeyed. Both appalled and aroused, he glared at Lidra’s sultry face as she played with herself for any passerby to see. He saw Lexa shaking her head from the queen to him before she disappeared into the woods. Disapproved, did she?

  One thing he did know about his uptight sister, she had a history with Arim, one that he intended to use to his advantage should the damned sorcerer finally show his face.

  B’alen watched Lidra bring herself to orgasm and nodded to several of his wraiths standing in the shadows. They dragged a hapless Aellei with them, an immature Der still sparkling with the bloom of youth. The young warrior stared with helpless fascination at the writhing queen, forced to lie prostrate beneath her as she wormed atop him.

  Watching with amusement as she fucked the pretty, younger man, B’alen waited for his favourite part of the act to unfold. The young man cried out and spent himself inside the queen, and as he caught his breath, he closed his eyes. Not seeing the sharp treat Lidra held within her gums, he shot up and flailed when she took the first bite out of his neck.

  A sloppy blood drinker, Lidra ate as much flesh as she drew blood, a disgusting combination that drew delighted laughter from the wraiths as she ate her lover to death.

  B’alen sighed and shrugged, this enjoyment growing tedious while he waited for Alandra to be brought to him. Tired of Lidra, he wandered away towards the Aellei’s dungeon, an ostentatious display of how prettied up a dungeon could be.

  Just as he approached the entrance, the doors opened to reveal Alandra le Aelle guarded by half a dozen Der warriors led by Zartic.

  Zartic’s eyes widened when they met his, and the captain bowed his head, causing his men to do the same.

  Pleased, B’alen bowed back. “Captain, were you perchance escorting the princess to see me?”

  Zartic nodded immediately. “Yes, my lord.”

  “Then it seems I’ve saved you a trip. Take a few of your men and clean up the queen and her new plaything. The council should be gathering in a few hours, and we want Queen Lidra to look her best.”

  Zartic’s lips pressed tight, but he said nothing, acquiescing to B’alen’s demeaning task. Well, wouldn’t the Der captain be in for a surprise. B’alen smiled wickedly. Normally her majesty’s ladies took care of the queen, but in Lidra’s current state of mind, she’d see the help as no more than dessert. At least Zartic knew to keep his mouth shut, and he’d treat his former lover with care enough to preserve her illusive dignity.

  “And speaking of queens,” he murmured as he stared at Alandra, who was studying him as intently. By Dark’s own breast, she was stunning, a paler version of Lidra, but one more lively, absolutely vibrant with a winsome grace and deep-rooted sensuality.

  “B’alen Van Nostren, I presume?” she asked softly.

  Staring at her mouth, he wondered how soft her lips would feel around his cock, if she would milk him as hard and as often as her aunt had before he drank her blood.

  “In the flesh.” He walked around her, taking in the power that fairly thrummed with each breath she took. Excitement flared within him as he realised how very close he was to finishing with this mess and recapturing Tanselm.

  She was a small thing for such a powerful creature, but she had a woman’s body. Full breasts and a round backside made him ache to take her now, to fulfil the destiny to which he’d been born.

  He reached out and would have grabbed her to him when she danced out of reach. Grinning, he bared sharp teeth accentuated with eight sharp fangs, four on top and four on his lower jaw. The trepidation he expected from the frail girl didn’t appear, making her that much more interesting.

  “So, you’re familiar with my kind?”

  “With what? A blood drinker? A Dark Lord? Or a morbid, pathetic sorcerer so afraid of his own brother he tried to have him killed?”

  B’alen blinked, astonished at her lack of respect. “I think there’s been some mistake,” he growled, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her to her knees. “I am B’alen Van Nostren, your future king and ruler of Tanselm. Beg for mercy, that I allow you to show me the respect I am due.”

  She looked bored, stoking his anger. “Respect you’re due? How can I possibly respect a male who cannot stand up for himself? You used your brother’s small setback as the bottom rung in your ascension to power. And what strength is there in a man who cannot beat a simple Storm Lord?”

  Her words kindled his fury. “You should be asking ‘Sin Garu that very question. He had his opportunity twice, first with the Prince of Fire, and again with the River Prince. But both times he failed to do what I have done with one simple mind leech.”

  “Who, Queen Lidra?” she asked with humour, as if the pull on her neck didn’t pain her, when by rights he knew it did. “She’s been in thrall to her sex for a millenium. Nothing you’ve done thus far is impressive in the least.” She shimmered and an image of Lidra took her place.

  “So, you would turn me into a blood drinker?” sh
e said, and if he hadn’t known better, he would think he held the queen. “I can fuck for days without end. What more is a bit of bloodletting? It’s only a matter of time before my true heirs succeed me.”

  “That’s enough, Alandra,” he said, jerking her to meet him eye to eye.

  She shimmered back into herself, her violet gaze filled with disdain. “As if your strength wasn’t already in question, there’s also the fact you’re not nearly as attractive as your brother.”

  He gritted his teeth, determined to make this little bitch pay for what she said. Lidra had mentioned how disagreeable Alandra was, and now that he’d witnessed her offensive nature, he had less interest in bedding her for pleasure than to show her who was in control.

  Freeing himself from his trousers, he felt his body freeze when she began laughing.

  “Please tell me there’s more than that to play with.” She glanced at his turgid length with amusement. “At least the Storm Lord had a cock to make me whimper.” She glanced up at him with smoky eyes.

  B’alen had heard enough. He no longer knew why he’d sought out Alandra. All he could think of were ways to make her pay, and dearly.

  “The council won’t start for a few hours yet,” he said quietly, his anger palpable. Her lack of reaction completely baffled and frustrated him. “We’ve gotten off on the wrong foot, Alandra. I think it’s time I showed you just what you don’t understand about me. I’m not as nice as you’d think.”

  * * * *

  Alandra kept her cool when inside, her heart threatened to burst from her chest. This had to be the most outrageous bluff she’d ever pulled in her life, and though the danger brought it to a new level, she couldn’t help feeling a tad amused at the Dark Lord’s obvious vanity. And they said the Aellei were too proud. Ha.

  She glanced subtly at the weapon between his legs, dismayed to find it so hard, and so near her. Sweat trickled down her back, and she prayed she could continue her glamour. That B’alen hadn’t yet realised she was without clothes was something in her favour, at least. But she had no idea how much longer she could maintain a carefree face, not when she could feel his anger leeching into her being like venom.