“She knows.”
“Make sure she finds another quartz—soon. She’s still growing. She needs the energy more than ever right now.”
Do Mar nodded. “She’s already looking for another one. We have a few small deposits within the base.”
“Good.” The Rock Run Base had been carved out of underground caverns near the mouth of the Susquehanna River, an area rich with quartz deposits.
“There’s more,” Adric added. “Our best guess is that Tyrus was trying to wipe out everyone connected to Merry. That’s why he targeted Jace.” He blew out a breath. “And when I met with the prince, he made a point of telling me that all three of his sons are dead.”
Adric didn’t have to connect the dots. Do Mar bit out something dark in Portuguese. “He wants Merry.”
“He didn’t say it straight out, but she’s his only living heir.”
“So he has changed his mind.” Do Mar rubbed a hand over his face. “Before, he didn’t want his people to know he had a half-blood son with a human. He was happy for us to keep Merry at Rock Run.”
“She may be only a quarter night fae, but she’s his blood. His only granddaughter.”
Their eyes met. Do Mar’s shark shone in his eyes, and Adric knew the other man could see cougar-blue streaking his.
“No fucking way,” Adric ground out, “am I going to let Merry be raised by the night fae. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, let alone a sweet kid like her.”
“Agreed. We will keep a close watch on her. We have one advantage—Dion’s mate, Queen Cleia. She loves Merry.”
“I’m counting on it.” Adric had never thought he’d be grateful the Rock Run alpha had mated with the sun fae queen; it gave Rock Run too much power in their little corner of Maryland. But now he thanked the gods that Merry had Cleia to protect her.
“She’s already volunteered one of her best spellcasters to cast a look-away spell for Merry’s new quartz,” do Mar said. “The prince may look for her, but he won’t find her.”
“Thank you.”
“I have no need of thanks,” the other man said as they rose to their feet. “You still don’t comprehend, do you? Merry is my daughter, here.” He touched a fist to his heart. “I would do anything to keep her safe and happy. And my mate—Valeria—feels the same.”
Adric nodded—and then stuck out his hand.
Do Mar’s hooded eyes flickered with surprise. In all the years they’d known each other, they’d never touched. Touch was reserved for clan members, or at least people you didn’t see as an enemy. But Adric could no longer see the shark fada as an enemy, even if he was the Rock Run second.
The other man gripped his hand firmly. “Peace to you and yours.”
Adric met his eyes. “And to you and yours.”
22
When Fane awoke that evening, his fever had broken and he felt much better, although weak as an infant.
Night had fallen. The cavern was dark except for a small fire with Marjani crouched beside it, grilling some kind of white fish on a small metal grate. She’d put her T-shirt back on, but her feet were bare. The pool shimmered beside her, the water black in the dim light.
He fingered the thin wool blanket covering him. Where had that come from? He pushed the blanket down to his waist and propped himself up on his forearms.
Marjani immediately crossed to him. “How do you feel?”
“Better, thanks.” His voice came out as a croak. He moistened his dry, cracked lips. “But thirsty.”
“Hang on and I’ll get you some water.” Picking up a ceramic cup, she filled it in the pool and brought it to him.
He drained the cup in a few gulps and then turned it in his hand. It was ceramic, the kind the locals kept for everyday use, with no handle and a speckled gray glaze. “Where in Hades did you get this—and the blanket?”
“I made a quick trip outside while you were sleeping. I found a stream to fish in and a little hut with bunk beds and some basic supplies.”
He nodded. “The locals rent them to hikers.”
“I wish I could’ve left them something in return, but my backpack is back at the court.”
He set the cup on the floor and sat cross-legged, the blanket on his legs. “You’re fucking amazing.”
“It was either that or go hungry,” she said with a shrug. “And I’ve been in worse situations.”
“Yeah, I imagine you have. You’re a soldier, aren’t you?”
“I was.” A shadow crossed her face. “I mean, I am.”
He’d upset her, the last thing he wanted to do. He pushed the blanket off his lap. “I need—”
“Of course.” She helped him to his feet and pointed to a small tunnel behind the pool, where he found the hole she’d dug for wastes. When he was done, he tossed some dirt into it and washed up in the pool.
She was crouched by the grill again. His stomach rumbled at the fish’s mouthwatering scent. As he lowered himself onto the cavern floor beside her, she divided the fish into two portions and handed him a plate.
His hands were shaking with hunger. He gripped the plate and gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“You have to eat with your fingers.”
“No problem.” The fish tasted as good as it smelled. He quickly downed the first couple of pieces, then forced himself to slow down. It wasn’t much, but it filled him. His stomach seemed to have shrunk.
He set down his plate. “How long was I out, anyway?”
“Two days. It’s around midnight right now.”
He gave a low whistle. “No one came looking for us?”
“I heard the goblins the first night, but I haven’t seen or heard anything since.”
He contemplated the glowing charcoal embers. “The king wants you, then. He wouldn’t have sent the goblins after me.”
“Why not?”
“He knows I can’t go far without his consent. It would break the geas.”
“Why did you? Accept the geas, I mean.”
He moved a shoulder. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. My mom had just died, and I didn’t fit into the human world anymore. I was a fisherman in Newfoundland—had my own boat with a crew of two. But people were starting to notice how I never seemed to age. Then I found out I had a fae Gift. My dad’s an envoy, too. You’d like him—everyone does. Give the man a bottle of wine and a box of crackers and he can make a party. He wasn’t home much, but when he was, life was so damn fun.”
Marjani rested her chin on her knees, the light from the fire burnishing her profile a rich gold. “Sounds a lot like you.”
“I’m afraid so.”
Arne had flitted in and out of Fane’s life just as Fane had Evie’s. Try and talk about anything deep, and Arne shrugged it off with a laugh. His motto was, “Life’s too short and time goes by.”
Fane blew out a breath. “Anyway, I’d always looked up to my dad…would’ve done anything to be like him. I was late to come into my Gift, but as soon as Dad found out I was a wayfarer, he brought me to Iceland and talked the king into giving me a chance. Turned out I was good at it. Hell, how many people would turn down an offer to be part of a fae court?”
She shrugged.
He shot her a look. Because Marjani had turned Sindre down—multiple times.
“The king did his damnedest to tempt you, didn’t he? And you just kept telling him no. You know how much I admire you for that?”
“Don’t.” She made a sharp movement with her hand. “I’m—I’ve made some bad choices myself.”
“Yeah? Well, this was the mother of all bad choices.” He gave a humorless laugh. “Hell, I was like a fucking kid with my nose pressed to the window of a candy store. The fae are—the fae. Rich, glamorous, sexy as hell—and they wanted me. Fane Morningstar, a fisherman from Canada. The women, well… ” He swallowed against the bitter taste in his mouth. “But to them, I was just a shiny new plaything. No pureblood would mate with a mixed-blood like me.”
She touched
his leg. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it’s not all bad. It’s a good job—interesting, and the pay is fucking awesome.” His mouth twisted. “Most of the time I don’t even have to hurt someone else to do it. And when I do, I tell myself that if I don’t do it, someone else will. The king has a half-dozen other envoys.”
She took her hand from his leg and straightened up. “That’s an excuse. Your actions shouldn’t depend on anyone else.”
“It’s not so black and white.”
“For me, it is.”
“Well, that’s the difference between you and me, isn’t it?” He picked up a piece of gravel and tossed it into the pool. It landed with a plunk and sank below the dark, steaming surface. “I can tell you one thing, all the excuses in the world didn’t make me feel better about spying on you. A woman I’d come to like. A lot.”
She took his empty plate and set it on top of hers. “But you did it anyway.”
“Yeah.” He briefly closed his eyes. “I owe you an apology for that.”
“Would you do it again?” A quiet question in the shadowy cavern.
He took a deep, pained breath. “Probably. Under the terms of the geas, I can’t disobey a direct order from the king.”
“Then don’t bother saying you’re sorry. Because then I have to respond that it’s all right. And it’s not. You tricked me, Fane.”
He nodded, accepting that. “I’m sor—” He halted and then tried again. “At least let me thank you for taking care of me these past two days. No one would’ve blamed you if you’d left me outside for the goblins.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” she returned. “I did it for Evie. She’s clan now, and you’re her dad.”
“Ah.” He fingered another piece of gravel. “Well, thanks anyway.”
“Okay,” she added grudgingly, as if he’d argued with her. “Maybe I did do it a little bit for you. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think about leaving you—because you’re right, no one would’ve blamed me. But you were so sick, and I knew it was because of me.”
“You should have left. You need to get the hell out of Iceland. The king is all powerful here. Even the humans obey him.”
“How? They’re probably watching the airport, and I don’t have enough money to hire a boat.”
He shook his head. “And you won’t leave until you find out what happened to your friend Luc, will you? No, don’t answer that. That way if the king asks, I can honestly say I don’t know. But the goblins are nocturnal. They hunt at night.”
“So you’re saying I should wait until morning before I leave.”
“Yeah.”
She nodded—and then slanted him a look that made him instantly hard.
He swallowed. “Jani?”
“I shouldn’t want you,” she said, almost to herself. “I was so fucking angry at you when I found out you’d been playing me all this time.”
“I’m sorry. So bloody sorry.”
“But these past couple of days, I had a lot of time to think.” She stared into the fire. “You did try to warn me. Told me I should leave Iceland, more than once. And you wouldn’t have been so sick if you hadn’t tried to interfere between me and the king.”
His fingers tightened around the gravel. “I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. And your friend Luc agreed. He wanted you out of there.”
That earned him a growl. “If Luc had his way, I’d be safe in his den, having his cubs.”
“You?” He made small, disbelieving sound. “He doesn’t know you very well, does he?”
“No. I mean, he does know me. But he can’t help himself. He’s a fada male—he wants to protect his mate—even if it drives me insane.”
“All men want to protect their mate. Just like women want to protect theirs.”
She looked at him, arrested. “See, that’s what Luc doesn’t get. That it goes both ways—for me, anyway.”
“So what now?”
“I don’t know.” She looked down at her hands, loose in her lap. “I came to Iceland to kill Corban. After that…” She shrugged and trailed off.
His chest constricted. He’d guessed right; this was a suicide mission.
“I care.” He tossed the gravel aside and dared to reach out. When she didn’t pull away, he traced a finger over the fine bones of her jaw.
She stilled. “You—what?”
“I care what happens to you. Very much.”
She drew a slow breath. “It would just be for tonight. After that, we have to split up—go our separate ways. The geas means I can’t trust you.”
“Okay. Sure.” He would’ve agreed to anything about then. Hell, if she’d asked him for the moon, he’d have grabbed a ladder and started climbing.
“There’s something you should know.” Her throat worked. “It’s…been a while.”
He held his breath, afraid to say anything. This woman wouldn’t be pressured. She’d have to come to it her own way—or not.
She rose to her feet, cat-supple, and washed the plates before setting them aside to dry. When she turned back, her irises were slivered with turquoise.
And then she flashed him a smile, the first true smile he’d seen from her.
His heart kicked. Her smile was broad and warm and even more beautiful than he’d pictured.
“The water is a perfect temperature,” she murmured.
He opened his mouth to reply. But the words died unsaid as she raised her arms, pulled off the T-shirt and black bra, and let them drop to the ground.
23
Marjani drew a deep breath, naked from the waist up except for the fake quartz around her neck. Nervous, but wanting this, her skin buzzing and her heart racing.
Fane stared up at her, a sexy dark scruff covering his cheeks and jaw. Even after being sick for two days and to be honest, kind of smelly, the man was fucking hot.
She’d had two days to think things over. She hadn’t exactly forgiven him for spying on her, but she no longer blamed him. Within the limits of the geas, he’d done what he could. In fact, he’d tried to get her to leave—more than once—but she’d been laser-focused on getting to Corban.
She could even admit he’d been right to drag her out of the tower. If he hadn’t, she’d probably be in a cage right now.
So yeah, she didn’t blame Fane, but that didn’t mean she trusted him. When she left the cavern, she was going alone.
But for the first time in a long time, she wanted a man—and she’d decided to go for it.
Maybe it was a bad idea. There was no way this thing between them could go anywhere. When she chose a mate, she wanted another earth fada, not a human-fae mix. Someone strong, steady—not this sexy, smooth-talking charmer.
So yeah, this would be a one-time thing—but maybe that was exactly why she should go for it. For once, she was completely free, unhampered with all the expectations that went with being Adric’s second. No one but her and Fane would know what happened in this cavern—not her clan, not her friends, and certainly not her brother.
Fane rose to his feet and cupped her face. Clear topaz eyes searched hers. “You sure?”
Desire curled through her belly. “Yes.”
His breath sucked in. “Gods, I want you.” His mouth ghosted across hers.
A fada craved touch, more than other species. Her cat stretched and gave a happy little yowl. She curled her fingers against her thighs, wanting to touch him back, and yet cemented in place, need warring with fear.
His lips outlined the curve of her cheek. He nibbled her earlobe, tugged at the gold hoop with his teeth. Pleasure trilled up and down her spine, vibrated in her core.
His clever mouth continued moving, pressing kisses behind her ear and up her skull to the coarse black stubble.
“I should shave,” she muttered. “It’s too rough.” Usually she ran a razor over it every few days, but she’d been running as her cougar for over a week.
“I like it.” He brushed a palm over the back of her head. “Makes you look like a
badass. Goes with those knives you love so much.”
She pursed her lips, trying not to laugh—and that was the most wonderful, amazing thing. That she even wanted to laugh right now.
“And that’s good?” she managed to ask.
“Oh, yeah.” He turned her head to the side—and nipped her nape.
Her breath sped up. It was a dominant, very masculine move. She might be a soldier, but she was also a fada female. She liked a man who wasn’t afraid to bite.
He nipped again, harder. “It makes me want to do bad things to you.”
A moan escaped her lips. He kissed the small pain away and trailed a finger down the sensitive slope of her neck and across one shoulder.
Her throat worked.
He smiled. “You like that.”
“Yes,” she rasped.
He traced the arc of her collarbones before continuing to her breasts. He rubbed his thumbs over her aching nipples. “So beautiful,” he breathed, his gaze on the dusky buds.
She was flat-chested and she knew it. But Fane’s heated look made her feel like the sexiest woman alive.
“Mm.” He bent and gave each nipple a hard suck before stepping back and dragging off his sweater. “Why don’t we get into the pool? I could use a bath, frankly.”
She blinked up at him, dazed with desire. Then her face split in a grin. “I sponged you down yesterday. But yeah, you could.”
He stilled in the act of removing his T-shirt. “You should smile more often.”
“Yeah?” She rubbed her stubbled head a little shyly.
“Yeah. You look good as a badass, but when you smile, you’re beautiful.”
He dropped the T-shirt on top of his sweater and reached for the button of his black jeans. He was all hard muscles and tanned skin, his chest sprinkled with dark blond hairs.
Her mouth literally watered. She swallowed noisily, following the trail of those wiry, gold-tipped hairs down to where they disappeared into his waistband.
Charming Marjani Page 15
