by Ciana Stone
“No. The Daemon blood in you is diluted. However, were you to mate with someone who possessed Fairy or Daemon blood, your child would possess the ability to open the doorway.”
Sabine looked at Logan. “But I thought he was a Shifter?”
“He is. On his father’s maternal line. On the paternal side of his father’s family is Daemon blood.” He looked at Logan and smiled. “He has Fairy, or Fae, if you prefer, blood on both sides of his family. Earth men do have something of a problem with that word.”
Sabine tried not to, but lost the battle and laughed. Logan looked at her in surprise which made it harder not to laugh. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just all so…impossible, unreal.”
“This coming from an Angel?” he asked.
She sobered. “I know and I don’t mean to make light of it. Honestly, it’s going to take a while for me to wrap my head around all of this. I mean, I don’t know how to do anything other than what I’ve done here today. I don’t know what a Daemon can do or how to access that ability.”
“You can learn,” Severin said. “And I will be happy to help. What you can learn could be of great benefit to Fae or Numina if you prefer, as well as to humans.”
“Thank you, and I will happily take you up on that offer. But not now.” She looked at Logan. “Now I think we all just need to recover.”
“I completely understand and agree.” Augustus was the first to offer his hand to Logan. “I’m honored to have met you, Logan James, and look forward to knowing you better. We will take our leave of you now.”
“But you came with me.”
“We must deliver Clarissa to her home and make sure Wayne and Ravyn are tended to. As well as Marcus Bannon. While he might not be a man to inspire trust, he was a victim of the Umbra as well.”
“What will you do with him?”
“Alter his memories and deliver him home.”
“Thank you,” Sabine said and offered her hand as well. “We are in your debt.”
Augustus kissed her hand and smiled. “Until we have need of you, please enjoy every moment of peace afforded to you and hope that our future will not bring strife and conflict.”
“I will pray for peace.”
“As will I.”
She and Logan watched them load everyone into the limo. When it pulled away, she turned to look at him. “Now what?”
“Now we go home.”
“Which home?”
He frowned. “That’s a good question. How do you feel about camping?”
“On your property near Elijah?”
“Yep.”
“I think that would be perfect.” Sabine hugged him tightly, giving thanks that no one had been hurt and that she would have the chance to tell him her news. She had only just recently realized it and she hoped he would be as excited as she. If not, then her dreams of happily ever after might come to a quick end.
Chapter Seventeen
Sabine looked back at the enormous RV parked in a grove of trees near the lakeshore and chuckled. “Really? That’s your idea of camping?”
Logan smiled and took a drink from the long-necked beer in his hand. “Elijah insisted—well, Nora, to be correct. And you must admit, it beats the heck out of sleeping on the ground.”
“I can’t argue with that. Oh, while you and your cousins were out running, I spoke with Ravyn.”
“She’s okay?”
She saw the concern spring onto his face and hurriedly answered to alleviate any worry. “She is. Augustus arranged for them to stay at his spread. Apparently, he has a huge place and there are hundreds of Numina—I mean Fae, who live there.
“Why aren’t you calling them Numina anymore?”
“I guess because they call themselves Fae so I figure I should honor that. After all, they’re a lot older than me and know a hell of a lot more about our people.”
“Our people.” Logan shook his head and leaned forward in his chair to pick up a long stick and poke at the campfire. “I don’t mind telling you that sounds weird as hell.”
“Yes, it will take some getting used to, I guess.”
“So, Ravyn and Wayne are staying with Augustus? How long?”
“She wasn’t sure. Severin and someone named Darius is trying to help Wayne tap into genetic memories and discover if what we were told is true and someone in his family at some point hid a spell that would open the portal.”
“They can do that?”
She shrugged. “I guess. This is all new to me as well.”
“Yeah, I think we all have a lot—” Logan suddenly stood and looked around, his body tensing.
Sabine was on her feet at almost the same instant. “There.” She pointed in the direction of the old logging road.
They watched the SUV stop. Two men got out of the front. One walked to stand in front of the vehicle and the other opened the rear door. Logan’s mother stepped out.
“This can’t be good,” Sabine whispered.
“Don’t worry.” He stepped closer to her and together they waited for his mother.
She walked over to them and stopped three feet away. Sabine mentally cursed as it slammed into her. Geneviève was not alone.
Damn, how had she not sensed them? Men appeared, stepping out of the forest and closing in around them.
“Mother.” Logan never once took his eyes off Genevieve.
“You’ve chosen the wrong side, son, but there’s still time to make the right decision.”
“And what would that be?”
“You know. Kill that aberration and return to the family.”
“I never left my family.”
“But you did the moment you took that harlot into your bed.”
“You’ll not speak of the woman I love like that.”
“You love?” Genevieve asked and then laughed mockingly. “A man who has been divorced as many times as you and has had twice that many lovers? Logan, you don’t know what love is. For you, love is nothing more than a wet orifice and soft breasts.”
“Do not speak one more ill word of him, Genevieve.” Sabine could take being called names, but she wasn’t about to stand there and let Genevieve denigrate Logan James.
“Or what?” Genevieve taunted her. “You think because you bested my mother you can do the same to me? What a fool you are. She’s been my puppet for years.”
“You’re Umbra.”
Logan cut a look at Sabine. “No.”
“Yes,” Genevieve said.
“But how?” Logan asked.
“How? I’ve always been Umbra, you foolish child.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It is, Logan.” Sabine put her hand on his arm. “She’s not possessed by what we call the Umbra. She’s Dark Fae.”
“No.” Logan looked at his mother.
“Yes. Like my parents and their parents before them. You think you are a product of Light, Logan James? That may be true in part, thanks to your father and his interminable stubbornness not to be converted. But my blood runs in your veins as well and as your mother I know that you have only to allow yourself one taste of the power of Darkness to understand its beauty. Let me show you the power that can be yours.”
She took a step toward him and he took a step back. “No. What kind of mother—no what kind of person are you that you would ask someone to choose evil?”
“You are so much like your father, so righteous and secure in your high-handed morality. You are a fool, Logan. I offer you the chance for riches and power beyond your dreams. How do you think your father achieved so much? Because of his unwavering goodness?”
Genevieve laughed, the sound cutting into Logan like the slice of a blade. Who was this woman that stood before him? How could he not have seen her for who she really was? Did love blind a person that much?
“Dad worked hard for everything he has, and he was elected to office because people respect him.”
“You really are a fool, as much as he.”
“My father isn�
�t a fool.”
“Oh but he is, sadly. I prayed you children, none of you would follow in his footsteps, but look at you, ready to sacrifice a life of power for a man who thinks honesty is a shield of honor and a woman who is no better than any common slut.”
“You’re wrong and I won’t stand here and listen to you talk that way about my father or the woman I love.”
“Then sadly, you will die with your whore.”
“I don’t think so.”
It was Elijah’s voice. His words must have been the signal because out of the shadow of the trees, the Fae emerged. Shifters and Vampires, Daemons and Wizards. And in the lead, was John and Elijah.
The Dark Fae under Genevieve’s command felt into motion, using all the dark magic in their arsenal. Logan made a move as if to head in his father’s direction but Sabine took hold of his hand.
“That’s what she wants, Logan James.”
“Pardon?”
“For you to go to them. Then she will strike.”
“Strike who?”
“Me.”
Logan’s eyes were narrowed and his expression one of fury when his gaze landed on his mother. “Why do you hate her so much?”
“She is a thorn that was thrust into my side years ago.”
“One you couldn’t break,” Sabine said. “No matter how many times you beat me, made me go without food or drink. Despite the nights you left me naked, tied to a tree in the cold or rain—despite the lies you told of how Logan James hated me, you could not break me or my love for him. It’s what made me strong and what kept you from gaining control of him.”
Sabine tried not to be distracted by the war that raged around them, the shrieks and screams, the howls and curses. Blasts of energy exploded around them. She did her best to shut it out and focus on the enemy before her, for Genevieve was, by far, the most dangerous.
“You would have seen your own son die a horrible death, ripped to pieces by that monster you created thirty years ago. You are who gave the order to have all those children killed.”
“They were of no use to me.”
“No use? How can you possibly stand there and say that? They were innocent children. What possible good could their deaths serve?”
“They were simply collateral damage. Had Logan James died with them, he would have merely been another life lost in a horrible animal attack. But you—you had to interfere. You had to save him. You and your foolish crush on him. It has colored your every move.”
“And you hate me because I love him. You hate me because he cared for me, loved me.” Sabine hurled the truth at her. “Even when he didn’t want to, he did and you did everything you could to make him deny that, forget it. But in the end, love was stronger and you hate me for that.”
“Yes, I hate you. You, the Angel girl who inspires love and devotion, the one who does nothing to deserve such adoration. Well, your time is over, Angel.”
Genevieve drew back her hand and spread her fingers. Dark light burst in front of her palm, red and murky.
Sabine held her breath. She could not lift a hand against Logan’s mother, no matter what Genevieve had done to her in the past or might do in the next few moments. If she did, it would cause a rift between her and Logan that might never heal.
All she could do was allow her light to emerge and hope it was enough to protect her against the imminent attack.
“Mother, don’t.” Logan held out his hand beseechingly.
“Mother, don’t,” she mocked him and prepared to hurl the dark energy.
Sabine did the only thing she knew to do. She turned to face Logan, spread her wings and wrapped her arms and wings around him.
The scream that came from Genevieve did not even sound human. Sabine tensed, waiting the blow. But the scream cut off abruptly and a split second later, silence fell. Sabine released Logan and looked around.
Elijah’s wife, Nora, stood between Sabine and Genevieve. Her hand was wrapped around Genevieve’s throat. Genevieve clawed feebly, gasping for air, but her strength obviously was no match for Nora’s.
Her followers took flight, dragging their wounded. Within seconds, all that was left were those who had fought for them.
Elijah and John came up behind Genevieve, flanking her. “What do you want me to do with her?” Nora asked.
“Can you render her powers inert?” John asked.
“Not alone, but I can render her unconscious until others arrive to assist.”
“And then?”
“Then we can strip her of her power.”
“But not kill,” John stated.
“No,” Nora assured him. “We do not kill unless that is the only way to survive.”
“Let me speak with her first.”
Nora nodded, but did not release Genevieve. John stepped up beside Nora and faced his wife. “It’s important that you know that the only reason I’ve stayed married to you all these years is to protect my children. I know you would have hurt them to control me and I couldn’t let that happen. But now they’re grown and I’m sick to death of you and your family’s dishonesty and malevolence. I’m going to let them strip you of your power and then I’m going to lock you away, like you locked Sabine away. I won’t have you whipped or raped, left naked in the cold to freeze or staked out on hot sand to burn in the heat of the day. I won’t have done to you the many tortures you inflicted upon a child we were charged to protect. But I will stop you from ever seeing any of our children again. You’ll be taken care of but you will never be free again and you will be dead to us from this day on.”
“You can try.” She gasped out the words. “But you’ll never defeat me. You’re weak, John. You’re need to protect and please, to provide and nurture—it robs you of the mettle necessary to lead. So, give it your best shot—you and your feeble followers—but you’ll never win.”
“Goodbye, Genevieve.” John turned his back on her to look at Logan James. “I’m sorry, son, but I don’t know any other way.”
Sabine held her breath. What a horrible moment for Logan James. Obviously, his father had known Genevieve’s true nature for a long time, but Logan James had not. Now he had to witness his mother being stripped of power and banished.
Logan James walked to meet his father and put his hand on John’s shoulder. “You’ve been nothing but good and honest my entire life. You taught us how to be honorable and kind, how to realize that the needs of others was every bit as important as our own. I love you, Dad, and I trust you and I’m sorry that you lived so long with this horrible secret to protect us. Do what you must do. I’m with you.”
Sabine saw the tears that ran from John’s eyes as he pulled his son into a tight hug. When John released Logan James, he looked at Sabine and she nodded. John turned and spoke to Nora.
“Do it.”
Nora uttered words that sounded familiar to Sabine yet made no sense and a second later, Genevieve collapsed. Men hurried to pick her up and disappeared into the forest with her. Nora turned and Sabine hurried to throw her arms, and wings around her.
“I am in your debt,” she whispered. “Whatever you ask of me I will do.”
“Be part of our family,” Nora whispered in return. “You and the child inside you.”
“That’s my greatest wish.” Sabine released her and Nora held out her hand for Elijah, who gave Sabine a smile and a wink.
“Come to the house for breakfast,” Nora said before turning away. “There is news.”
“Good or bad?” Sabine asked.
“Potentially good.”
“Can you not tell us now?”
Nora cut a look at Elijah. He shrugged. “It’s up to you.”
“The spell the Umbra claimed the Garen family hid. They didn’t hide it. They merely held it for a time then returned it to its rightful owner.”
“Who?”
“The King of the Fae. Before his death, he masked much with his magic, including the spell and the location of the doorway.”
“So, you�
�ll never be able to let the original Fae return home?”
“There may be a way. The King had two children. One, his son, is trapped on the other side. But his daughter is here.”
“Then she can open the door?”
Nora smiled. “Maybe. Once she learns she is Fae.”
“Are you kidding?” Sabine asked.
Nora chuckled. “There’s always a twist, isn’t there?”
“Tell me about it. Okay, well, we definitely want to hear more so…” She looked at Logan James. “We’ll be there?
Logan James looked at his dad. “Will you be there?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll see you all in the morning.”
“Thank you,” Sabine added.
“Family helps family,” Nora said and then turned away.
It didn’t take long for them to be alone. Sabine waited, watching Logan James. He finally turned to look at her. “She hurt you so much. My mother.”
“I survived.”
“But to have been put through all that just because you love me.”
“I would walk through fire for you, Logan James.”
“I believe you would.” He took her hands and lifted them to his lips, kissing one and then the other. “And I would for you, Sabine. I hope you know that. I’d do anything for you.”
She did believe him, but she was also scared that might change. She couldn’t put it off any longer. He had to know.
“There’s something I have to tell you.”
“What?”
“We’re going to have a child.”
“I know.”
Nothing could have surprised her more.
“You do? But how?”
“Joe.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
“I feel like… Sabine, I know I have a terrible track record at marriage but I vow to you that if you’ll marry me, I’ll love you and our child and protect you both with my life until my last breath. So, will you marry me?”
Never in her life had she ever dared to dream she would hear him speak those words to her. “With great happiness, Logan James.”
“Why does it sound so right for you to call me that?”
“Because they’re the first words I ever spoke with love.”
He smiled and kissed her softly. “We’re going to be a family.”
