Her mother frowned. "What are you doing?"
"I have a surprise for you."
Her mother dragged her feet. "I don't know if I can take any more surprises today."
Desideria smiled. "Trust me, you're going to like this one." She looked past her mother to Kara. "I trust you can take care of Leran and Karissa's body?"
"Don't insult me with such an insipid question."
Desideria would have answered with an insult of her own, but it wasn't worth it and she didn't want to waste another moment when she could be with Caillen.
She took her mother out of the hangar and hailed a transport while she called Caillen's family and let them know what was happening.
It didn't take long to reach the hospital. But with the explosion her aunt had caused, it was total chaos. Fain and Hauk were in the bustling waiting room. At least they didn't appear to be wounded.
The moment they saw her, they got up and allowed her and her mother to have their seats. She skimmed the bloody areas of their clothes, but none of it seemed to be theirs. "Were you hurt?"
Hauk shook his head. "No, we're fine."
"So how did you know about Caillen?" She hadn't had a chance to call them.
They exchanged a confused frown. "What about Caillen?" Fain asked.
"He was seriously wounded. Aren't you here for him?"
Hacursed. "No. We're here for Darling. He was wounded protecting her." He gestured angrily at her mother. "Because she couldn't listen to anyone."
Her mother glared at him. "How dare you take that tone with me."
"Lady, if either of my friends die because of you I'm going to take a lot more to you than my tone. That you can bank on."
Desideria stepped between them. "Let's not kill each other right now."
With a regal lift to her chin, her mother took a seat while she continued to give both Hauks a snarled lip that said she didn't think much of them.
Before she could say anything else, Chayden came into their area with a drink carrier. Her heart pounded as she feared what reaction he might have.
You should have thought of that before now.
Yeah, she should have.
"They were out of dairy, so you guys'll have to man-up and drink it..." His voice trailed off as he saw her. A slow smile curled his lips. "Hey, sis. Where's Dagan?"
Her vocal cords froze as her mind debated what to do. How to tell him.
With no real idea and no better thought, she stepped aside so that he could see their mother. As she did so, Fain took the drink carrier from Chayden's hands so that he wouldn't spill the hot drinks on them or himself.
Silence rang out as her mother rose slowly to her feet.
The expression on Chayden's face said he was torn between wanting to hug her and kill her. Her mother's face was completely stoic. Desideria had no idea what she was thinking or how she would react.
Until her mother crossed the small distance and drew him into a tight hug.
Chayden stood there with his arms out, still not touching her. His confused gaze went to the Hauks and then to her.
Still their mother held him and rocked slowly back and forth. "You look so much like your father. For a minute, I thought I was seeing him again."
That was the wrong thing to say. Chayden all but shoved her away from him. "Don't even come at me with that shit." He turned his angry glare at Desideria. "You had no right bringing her here without clearing it through me first."
"I thought you'd be excited."
"Like having my fingernails peeled back... which I had done a couple of times when I was on Qilla."
The color drained from her mother's face. "What?"
"Oh don't give me that. You didn't think I left because it was warm and toasty. Surely you're not that stupid." He took another step back. "I'm out of here. Hauk, call me later with a report on Darl." He turned around and headed for the door.
Her mother ran after him.
Desideria started to follow, but Fain caught her by the arm.
"Let them settle this on their own."
"Yeah, but--"
"No buts, Princess. Take it from someone who was disowned by his family, Chayden has to come to terms with this. It's hard to let someone back in your life after they've kicked you in the teeth."
Since she had no experience with what Chayden was going through, she deferred to Fain. But after her mother was gone for more than twenty minutes, she began to get worried again. "You don't think he's killed her, do you?"
Hauk tossed his cup into the wastebasket. "I was beginning to have that same thought. C'mon. Let's go check on them."
He led her across the room and back out the electronic doors. At first she didn't see them. But as one of the transports moved, she saw them standing together by the side of the building. Her mother appeared to be doing all the talking while Chayden listened with an unreadable expression. The only clue to his mood was the tic in his jaw.
Her mother turned and looked at her, then said something more to Chayden.
He nodded before he walked away.
Crossing her arms over her chest, her mother headed back to them.
"Is everything all right?" Desideria asked when she rejoined them.
"All right would be a stretch. But he is willing to talk to me in a few days, so maybe it's not all bad. How did you find him?"
She shrugged. "He's a friend of Caillen's."
Her mother shook her head. "So I owe him for keeping my daughter alive, saving my throne and now for giving me a second chance with my son... What other miracles is he capable of?"
Hauk rumbled a deep laugh. "Trust me, Dagan's no saint."
That was most certainly true. "No, but he is a war hero. He saved two thrones..."
Fain came running up to them. "Dagan's out of surgery and he's asking for you."
Desideria wasted no time heading back inside and finding a nurse to take her to Caillen's room. Sterile and cold, the room wasn't any bigger than her small bedroom. Caillen lay on the bed, hooked to more monitors than she'd ever seen before. A white blanket covered him.
"Don't get him excited," the nurse warned. "We need to keep his blood pressure down."
She inclined her head to the nurse before she crossed the room.
Even though his face was covered with a clear mask, he smiled at her. "Hey, sunshine."
Relieved that he was alive and alert, she took his hand into hers. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got one leg shredded, sliced in the ass and then shot in the chest." He frowned as he saw the ring on her hand. "You get married while I was out of it?"
"It's my father's. My mother gave it to me."
"Really?"
She nodded. "I think she's coming around to things."
"Ah God, I'm dead, aren't I?"
She let out an irritated breath. "Stop being so melodramatic, you big baby."
"I'll stop if you promise you won't."
"Won't what?"
"Stop loving me." The tone of his voice brought tears to her eyes. She heard the deep vulnerability and fear.
"Don't worry, Cai. There's no way I could live without you."
He pulled his mask off and kissed her hand. "I'm going to hold you to that."
"Is that the only thing you're going to hold me to?"
He laughed evilly. "No. I still have boo-boos to be kissed."
"Well in that case... I better start with your lips."
Caillen's head spun the moment she kissed him. In all the misadventures of his life, he'd never expected to find someone like her. Never expected to feel this alive while he lay one step from death. But as he tasted her, for the first time in his life he looked forward to the future.
He now had a goal. To keep her with him to the day Death separated them. No one would ever come between them again. "Marry me, Desideria."
She nuzzled her cheek against him before she whispered in his ear. "Absolutely."
EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
&nbs
p; Bogimir danced around Caillen's desk in silent aggravation as he screwed up the paperwork he was supposed to be filling out. "Boggi, I swear to the gods if you don't stop doing that, I will shoot you where you prance."
Huffing and puffing in indignation, Bogimir made a hasty retreat to the safety of Evzen's office. Whatever. Caillen had actually learned to enjoy his father's lectures. Better to be yelled out than to stand over the man's grave.
Sometimes you just had to suffer for your family.
Like right now. He wanted to burn all the crap on his desk. He felt like he was drowning in it.
Or worse, going snow blind.
Yes, he still had a small itch to climb into his ship and return to his old life. But all he had to do was think of Desideria in harm's way and it quelled his desire immediately. Nothing was worth risking even a hair on her head.
Kasen still wasn't happy with the arrangement. However, Desideria's sister Gwen was more than grateful that Desideria had decided to live on Exeter as his wife.
He glanced to the wedding band on his hand and smiled. It still felt weird to have it there, but it served as a reminder of all she'd brought into his world. Every day they had together was better than the one before it.
A knock sounded on his door.
No doubt it was his father to bitch at him. "Come in."
To his delight, it was Desideria. Dressed in a cream gown that highlighted her dark complexion, she had a lovely blush on her cheeks that made him instantly hard.
Yesterday when she'd disturbed him, they'd had a hot interlude on his desk that had sent papers flying everywhere. It'd taken him hours to resort them, but he was more than ready for it again.
"What's up?"
She frowned. "I have a strange question."
"No, I'm not the one who ate your candy. It was Darling. I swear."
Laughing, she rolled her eyes at him. "It was both of you. I saw it on playback from the security monitors."
"Damn. I should have erased that." He pulled her down to sit in his lap so that he could feel her warmth.
"But that wasn't my question." She looked at the door and scowled. "Are you sure Darling's gay?"
"Yeah, why?"
She bit her lip before she answered. "I swear I just caught him ogling Maris's new female secretary."
Caillen scoffed at the mere thought. "You must have been mistaken. He's my best bud in the universe. I'd know if he wasn't."
"If you say so, but I know what I saw. Maybe he's bisexual."
"Again, I'd know."
She held her hands up in surrender as she straddled his waist. Oh yeah, this was what he needed.
"Fine. That wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about anyway."
His blood heating at the thought of tasting her, he slid his hand under the hem of her dress and skimmed it over he soft skin so that he could cup her bare bottom. "No?"
She slid closer to him until she pressed against his hard cock in a way that drove him insane. "No. Do you know what was six weeks ago?"
He searched his memory, but couldn't place it. "Baby, I barely remember what I had for dinner last night. Was it important?"
She leaned down to whisper words in his ear that hit him like ice water. "My birthday."
Caillen cursed at his stupidity. He'd wanted to remember it so that he could make it extra special for her.
How could he have forgotten?
I'm such an asshole.
"I am so sorry, Desideria. I can't believe I forgot. I swear I'll make it up to you. Tell me what you want and I'll get it. Anything."
She placed her soft hand over his lips to stop him from speaking. "It's all right. I promise I won't hold it against you. Besides you did give me the best present of all time."
Again, he tried to think of what he'd done six weeks ago. "What?"
She reached out and took his hand into hers, then led it to her stomach. "A baby."
His breath caught in his throat as those two words hung in the air between them.
A baby.
"Are you serious?"
Biting her lip, she nodded.
Caillen pulled her against him and held her close. Sheer ecstasy pounded through him. He was going to be a father. And the de Orczys would have a new heir.
Desideria smiled at the happiness she saw mirrored in his eyes. Strange, she'd always known she'd be queen one day. She just hadn't thought it would be on a world not her own. Caillen had given her everything she'd ever wanted.
But never the way she'd envisioned it.
That was his gift. He was unpredictable and wonderful... at least most of the time.
Still that was all right by her. As her father had so often said... Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live. So long as she had Caillen and their baby, she knew she'd be laughing constantly.
And loving, and, most importantly, being loved forever.
Contents
Front Cover Image
Welcome
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
About the Author
The League Series
Copyright
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In just two years New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon has claimed the #1 spot fourteen times. This extraordinary author continues to soar to the top of every genre she writes, including manga and graphic novels. With more than twenty-three million copies of her books in print in over thirty countries, her series include The League, Dark-Hunter, Lords of Avalon, and Chronicles of Nick.
Since 2004, she has placed over fifty novels on the New York Times bestseller list and her manga is an international bestseller.
Proclaimed the preeminent voice in paranormal fiction by critics, Kenyon continues to blaze new trails thaur traditional genre lines.
THE LEAGUE SERIES:
BORN OF NIGHT
BORN OF FIRE
BORN OF ICE
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright (c) 2011 by Sherrilyn Kenyon All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
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New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com
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First eBook Edition: April 2011
Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-446-57324-5
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