by Dianna Love
Isak must have taken her silence as an opening. He added, “I’m willing to offer all my resources with no strings attached.”
She chewed on it another few seconds.
“I only have one request, Adrianna.”
Her face shifted from one of concentration to suspicion. “Not that I’m accepting your offer, but what do you want?”
“For you to be my contact person.”
“Is that all?”
His face showed the first sign of hope. “That’s it. I don’t want anything else.”
“Too bad, because I don’t want anything to do with you, so the answer is no. We’ll accept any real intelligence, but one of the Beladors will be in touch with you.”
Power surged nearby and Daegan emerged from a shadow, striding toward her. “Is there a problem, Adrianna?”
Isak jerked toward the booming voice and what he would assume was a potential threat. Witnessing Daegan in both dragon and human forms was part of what had driven the big jerk over the edge into complete meltdown.
Adrianna said, “I’m certain you remember Daegan, dragon king of the Beladors, who helped save your mother.”
Daegan looked from Isak to Adrianna, clearly confused about Isak’s presence.
Adrianna explained, “Daegan, this is Isak Nyght. I don’t believe you’ve formally met, but you saw him in the battle with the Laochra Fola a few months back.”
“Yes.” Daegan nodded. “While in gryphon form, Evalle asked me not to kill you.”
Adrianna noted a moment of embarrassment in Isak’s face. He should be. Evalle had never discounted Isak for being a mere human and neither had Adrianna.
She told Daegan, “Isak has known about nonhumans for some time. In fact, his company develops weapons to use against our kind.” Daegan’s eyes narrowed. An uneasy tension crackled in the air, then one of his eyebrows twitched upward and his glare grew harder.
Slashing a hard look at Adrianna, Isak said, “That’s a bit unfair, wouldn’t you say? I’ve loaned weapons to Evalle for the Beladors in the past.”
She shrugged in reply, because he was right. But she’d never let emotions rule her decision-making, and clearly the emotions she still harbored for Isak interfered with her brain waves. That was unacceptable.
That was also the main reason she could not accept his offer.
She was honest enough with herself to admit she’d made a grave mistake by spending time around the nice Isak.
That made it difficult to keep remembering the jerk Isak.
Daegan wore a dark T-shirt and jeans like a native to this world, but his words still rang of ancient life. “ I owe you thanks for your aid in the battle against our enemies, but what business have you here, Nyght?”
“I’m offering help to find out what happened to Evalle.”
Before Adrianna could admit she’d refused to work directly with Isak, which would reflect badly on her for letting feelings get in the way of helping Evalle, Daegan handled it.
He said, “We want no aid from humans.”
“Why not?” Isak asked, clearly confused about being turned down twice. “I’m getting the feeling that Evalle was not just wrecked, but is missing. Doesn’t Evalle matter to any of you?”
Daegan’s power surged so fast and hard that Adrianna frowned and Isak rocked backward on his feet. The dragon king spoke in a voice that sent chills across Adrianna’s skin.
“Humans aided preternaturals in an attack on Evalle. Beladors have watched over humans for many years. I protected our humans thousands of years ago. Do not ever think to question me.”
Isak’s eyes widened at the remark about thousands of years.
Daegan seethed with anger. “Take heed, human. I will not tolerate any being, human or other, attacking one of mine. You would be wise to heed her words and leave.”
So Daegan had arrived in time to hear those words? Adrianna knew without asking that he’d returned to ensure her safety, but now it felt like a show of support, which felt nice considering her bruised heart.
The same stupid heart that had wanted to warm to Isak again.
Without taking his eyes off a clearly shell-shocked Isak, Daegan said, “Are you ready to leave, Adrianna?”
“Yes.”
All lights around them went out, tossing the three of them into darkness.
“Wait a minute,” Isak shouted. “I’m not through ... ”
Adrianna heard his words trail off as Daegan teleported her away.
She’d like to say it felt good to have had the upper hand in that meeting, but that would be a lie. Pain jabbed her heart almost as much as the night he’d walked away after she’d helped rescue his mother from dangerous preternaturals.
But after seeing Daegan’s unexpected reaction to Isak, she could not allow Isak to get involved now because she feared Isak’s life would be in danger as well.
CHAPTER 8
Storm and Evalle’s Building in Atlanta.
Storm stared at the pieces of Evalle’s GSX-R lying on the floor of the parking garage in their warehouse home. If sheer force of will could make the inanimate objects tell him what happened, those parts would be spilling their guts.
He still held the bloody emerald in his hand as if it would connect to her again.
The stone felt cold as a cadaver.
He should have had the bonding ceremony completed by now so he could at least feel if she still lived. Hell, he could probably track her with their connection alone.
It might take leaning hard on all of his skills plus a load of majik, but he could do it. He would at least be able to feel her presence still in this world.
His body was so attuned to her coming in after a night of doing her duty as a Belador, he could sense daylight coming soon.
He would ask his spirit guide, but Kai was not connected to Evalle. Now that he thought about it, would his guardian have a connection if he and Evalle bonded?
His mind rejected that outright. Not if, but when.
Evalle could be anywhere, but she was not in this human realm. She might not have the chakra stone, but she was his mate. Even early on, long before they’d mated, he’d been able to find her anywhere in the human dimension.
If she were still in this world, he’d know.
His demon blood surged forward, pushing him to strike out and kill everything until he found Evalle. Storm fisted his hands, took a deep breath and forced the darkness back down. His body shuddered with the effort to control his demonic influence.
That side of his genetics had been dormant since Evalle put her life at risk to enter the underworld of a demon king and drag Storm’s sorry ass back after a witch doctor had led him into a trap.
Evalle had refused to quit on saving him when he’d already lost the ability to shift back to human form from his black jaguar.
He had a soul again because of her.
His father’s Navajo blood now ran stronger through him, too.
Storm slowly opened his fingers. The sharp edges of the emerald had gashed his hand from gripping it so hard, but the wound healed as he watched.
He would not disappoint the woman who had stood by him in his darkest hour and given him her love, a gift beyond words.
Energy pulsed through the garage.
Daegan and Adrianna appeared. The witch normally shielded her emotions behind a placid expression, but not now. Her face held a rawness Storm could appreciate.
He had his demon blood under control and would hold that control with an iron fist ... for as long as hope lived in his heart.
Walking forward quickly in spite of her legs being much shorter than Daegan’s, Adrianna asked Storm, “Have you found anything? A scent maybe?”
“Nothing useful on the van or around her bike parts beyond smelling the two human scents, but I’ll be able to identify those scents forever.” He took in both gazes. “Now to figure out what kind of being masked his or her personal scent at the crash site.”
Daegan spoke up. “I know this i
s hard for you, Storm, but Evalle isn’t dead.”
Storm said nothing. The words piled up in his throat.
Not pausing, Daegan said, “You have to believe the person behind this had the opportunity to kill her on the spot. If that had been the motive, then they’d have left her body as a message instead of that emerald. This is a kidnapping.”
“I know what you’re saying and I’ve thought about that.” Storm opened the hand with the emerald now crusted with dried blood. “But keep in mind that it took considerable power to rip this from her chest. Evalle would now have to access her beast to heal. Anyone who planned this elaborate kidnapping feared my ability to track her. They may also fear Evalle’s power. If so, that makes me think they would hesitate to allow her to heal completely. She could bleed out of the hole this rock left or be slowly dying in the most painful way.”
Adrianna said, “Evalle will fight to survive. We’ll find her. I’m not stopping until we bring her home.”
Unable to say much more, Storm nodded and murmured, “I know. I’m not giving up, just stating what is running through my mind.”
Daegan walked over to the van, gave it a final look and turned back. “I don’t know where this hunt will lead us, but if she is no longer in this realm we will find where she is and go there. We are not coming back empty-handed. We need to form a team of our best, but not everyone who volunteers can go.”
Storm frowned at the dragon king. “What are you saying?”
“If we end up traveling to another realm, we’ll all be at risk. This feels like either a trap to capture me or to rupture the Beladors.” Daegan paused, then added, “None of us may make it back.”
“I don’t care about any life here without her.” Storm figured they both knew where he stood, but he was making it clear that this would only end one of two ways.
Either he brought her home or he would unleash an apocalypse on those responsible.
The rules went out the window the second they touched his mate.
Giving Storm a nod of unity, Adrianna said, “I agree with Daegan. We need a strong team, but we keep the number small to move most efficiently.”
“I can’t allow Tzader to leave Treoir Island while my life will be at risk,” Daegan added.
“Good luck with that,” Storm said.
Daegan sounded tired just talking about that battle. “I know he’ll put up a fierce argument, but he understands duty. At this moment, he is of more use to us by protecting Brina and their unborn babe.”
“Quinn will want to join us, too,” Adrianna pointed out.
“That will be his decision,” Daegan said. “For now, we need to set up a central location to plan our strategy.”
“I have everything we need right here,” Storm said, leaving no question about where he wanted all information funneled. “We’ll use the boardroom on this level.”
Adrianna twisted her blond hair into some kind of knot that stayed put. Was that a female skill or a witch skill?
She asked, “How many beings do we know who can teleport and would risk a war with the Beladors to grab Evalle?”
“Macha or Maeve,” Storm stated bluntly.
“I agree and disagree,” Daegan said.
“Why?”
“Macha might be a difficult goddess, but she has never been insane enough to invite the risk of having her pantheon directly attacked. I can enter that pantheon. I might be struck down in two seconds, but that would be only if I went alone.”
Storm caught Daegan’s reference to his mother, a powerful being whom Daegan had refused to identify. That lack of knowledge kept gods and goddesses from attacking Daegan in his first Tribunal meeting, when they could have joined forces to kill him in their realm.
Continuing to share his thoughts, Daegan said, “As for Queen Maeve, she has clearly shown signs of control issues, which makes me think her reincarnation may have had drawbacks. She wouldn’t hesitate to start a war, especially with me, but there’s Cathbad the Druid to consider. Cathbad has been the queen’s partner in evil for a long time. The druid made it clear he was not happy about Maeve’s warlocks going after Belador human children. Why would Cathbad hand over Phoedra when he could have kept Quinn’s daughter?”
Daegan made valid points. It did little to ease Storm’s homicidal frame of mind.
“You trust Cathbad?” Adrianna asked with no small amount of surprise.
Daegan gave her a quelling look. “Of course not. I’m only saying Cathbad would not support this knowing I would teleport enough warriors into TÅμr Medb to decimate it.”
Storm admitted, “I’m all for that.”
Daegan turned a dark expression to Storm. “I will not hesitate to lead my people into an unavoidable war, but attacking the Medb realm would cost a significant number of Belador lives. Through no fault of her own, Evalle would always carry the burden of that loss if she is not in TÅμr Medb and we attack under the premise of saving her.”
“True.” Storm wanted answers, not more questions. “I can’t think of a possible third player beyond Macha and Maeve. As for Cathbad, maybe he’s not happy with Maeve now that she seems to have a control problem. What if he’s trying to get her kicked out of the picture by grabbing Evalle, then making it look like Maeve was at fault?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Adrianna admitted. “But it could happen.”
Even Daegan appeared to study on the possibility. He said, “If that was the case, Cathbad would come to us to negotiate our help in dealing with Maeve.”
Nodding, Storm said, “This might have more to do with a power play going on inside TÅμr Medb.”
Adrianna tapped her index finger on her lip. When she pulled it away, she said, “How can you go into TÅμr Medb or any other realm and survive, Daegan? Even if this isn’t to trap you, they won’t hesitate to take a shot at getting you out of the picture.”
“I will go where I am needed. My life, while important to the safety of Brina, her family and Treoir Island, will never be more important than that of any one person who follows me.”
Daegan had earned Storm’s respect when he supported Evalle time and again, but knowing this dragon shifter would enter a realm where he could be subject to more powerful beings looking to kill him earned Storm’s loyalty eternally if they all survived.
Daegan said, “Besides the three of us, I have to give Quinn the choice of going and I think Tristan would be an asset.”
Thinking on all the skills at their fingertips, Storm said, “We need someone who can help us search for Evalle through supernatural means other than our own.”
Adrianna snapped her fingers. “Reese!”
Daegan asked, “The woman Quinn brought back with him after Veronika escaped VIPER lockdown? She has those gifts?”
“Yes, Evalle told me that Reese was the reason Quinn could track his daughter from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to New Orleans and beyond.”
Hope grew inside Storm and flooded his chest. “Adrianna’s right. I’d forgotten about what Reese could do.”
“Very well, time for action,” Daegan said, sounding like he’d issued an order. “Adrianna, you should go take care of your injuries and put whatever you need in place before we leave.”
“I’m good.”
“No, you’re not,” Storm argued. “I can feel the pain coming off you. We need you healthy.”
“Or I can heal you,” Daegan offered.
She waved him off. “Thanks, but no. I have no idea how anyone’s power will react with Witchlock. I can handle my body. I’ll deal with it.”
Accepting that, Storm moved on. “How long will it take you to do what you need and get back?”
Giving them both a disgruntled look, she replied, “Daegan can teleport me home. I won’t need that to come back, so I will probably return by the time Daegan does or sooner.”
Daegan said to Adrianna, “Once I deliver you home, can you locate Quinn and inform him of what has happened, plus ask that he bring Reese in to meet with us?”
“That will give me time to visit Treoir to explain it all to Tzader and Brina. They’ll need to know how to move forward if I don’t return. I’ll bring Tristan back with me.” Turning to Storm, Daegan said, “It may be an hour plus or minus. I will move as quickly as I can.”
“I understand.” Storm would rush out to track Evalle this minute if he had any hope of locating her. But hunting a kidnapper who could teleport meant Storm needed the dragon with his ability to teleport, plain and simple.
Adrianna said, “Tristan may not be in Treoir. Evalle believed he was in Atlanta visiting his girlfriend.”
Without hesitation, Daegan said, “He will come when I call.”
“Okay, this is weighing on my conscience so I have to bring it up,” Adrianna piped up.
“What?” Storm hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but if it involved finding Evalle no one had better hold back.
“Daegan knows I spoke with Isak and he offered his resources.”
Storm and Daegan shouted, “No!” at the same time.
“Got it!” she snapped back at both of them. “I’m just letting you know and saying if I have to go to Isak to gain more information, I will.”
“Sorry, Adrianna.” Storm had to get a grip or he would run everyone off who could help. “It’s just that there were humans involved and I don’t want anyone muddying the waters the way Isak has done in the past with his men. Thank you for offering after how he treated you.”
“He doesn’t matter to me anymore,” she said too quickly.
As a walking lie detector, Storm caught the lie as it rolled off her lips, but would not call her on it.
She deserved to protect her pride.
“Exactly,” Daegan agreed. “Humans will interfere. If I thought they could help us, I would make them.” He paused and suggested gently to Storm, “You should also make arrangements if this doesn’t go well and you don’t return.”
That was sobering. “I’ll handle it. Let’s meet back here by ten o’clock at the latest.”
Daegan lifted a hand. He and Adrianna vanished.
Storm started a mental list of things to do, which was a strain when he wanted to take action.
