In the Beginning... (20 page)

Jierra wrapped her fingers around Josey’s
arm, stopping her from walking away. Josey looked down at her; the
woman’s face was carefully blank—something no one with a hearing
impairment liked. Facial expressions were such a big part of their
communication. Josey stared down, but did not pull her arm
back.

Jierra was the first to
sign. “
I am sorry. But you must understand;
I was born in a laboratory ran by a man named L-e-o T-a-n-i-s-s. He
nearly killed me, and he did order the killing of my birth
parents.”

Josey did not know what to
say for the longest time. “
He is my
grandfather.”

The other woman flinched and
stood. This time it was Josey who stopped her. “
Please, do not go. I have many questions. And you are the
first person I have spoken with who understands me!”

Cormac entered the suite and looked for her,
as he did every afternoon. This time she wasn’t there. His heart
stopped beating for several long seconds, then his eyes landed on
the open veranda door.

He forced himself to take several deep
breaths while he attempted to regain control of himself. She was
perfectly safe in his home, in the resort that functioned as the
Dardaptoan city hall. She was in his family wing, protected by
members of his family. And none would dare hurt her, regardless of
her ancestry.

Long strides brought him out of his suite and
into the gardens. She drew his eyes immediately; the sun caught in
her hair, making it brighter. She sat beside someone, gesturing
gracefully. As she shifted, the familiar gold-red hair of his only
niece shined just as bright.

They were the same age, same
build, though Jierra was a few inches taller. Dressed in the same
white and green. They were
his!
And he would protect them with every breath he
had.

He’d forgotten his niece
knew sign; guilt flooded him. He should have introduced the two
days ago. His female was probably lonely, in the suite for most of
the day. He suspected she spent most of the time researching his
people and plotting against him when she wasn’t with her cousins.
But her time with her family had been limited— their
Rajnis
occupied them for
most of the days.

He would change his schedule, arrange more
time to be with her, to show her the world he lived in. It was a
beautiful place, his city. He would take her around it so that she
could see for herself.

He crossed the garden,
determination in every step. He would start showing her his world
now.
Female.

He watched her shoulders
stiffen as she realized he was near. Her whole body tensed and lost
the animation that was present.
Vampire.
What do you want now?

His pace slowed only
slightly. Would her tone ever turn loving with him? Or would it
always be the acerbic, smart-ass snark she directed at him?
Why are you out here?

Because I
want
to be? Can’t spend
all my time inside looking pretty, you know? I’m used to
working.
Used to
doing
things with my time.
Productive things.
She looked at him, her
eyes shaded by sadness.
I cannot stay here,
locked in your suite for you to play with when you want!

Neither noticed when Jierra slipped away to
the steps that led to the second story, where her own suite was
located.

I do not play with you. I cherish you.

Please. Cherish me by taking
me from my home and my family, my life? Does not sound like the
definition of
cherish
to me.
She walked away from him,
rounding the small fish pond.

Jocelyn, wait…

She spun around, glaring up
at him.
What? What do you want now? You
have taken
everything
from me!

Her words speared through
him.
No. I would
give
you everything.

Everything to me is my family. Let
me—us—go.

Her eyes were angry,
confused, and hurt as she stared up at him. The green of her eyes
the exact shade of his House color. Had the goddess done that
deliberately? To link her to him in that small of a way?
I cannot do that.

Then you can give me nothing.

Josey wiped the tears from her eyes with one
hand, and opened the door to the suite with the other. She wasn’t
the type of woman who spent much time crying in her bed, but it was
to the great silk-covered mattress that dominated the room that she
headed. She stretched out across the foot and faced the far
wall.

Free jumped up beside her, the little dog
kissing Josey’s salty cheeks. Josey cuddled her close as the tears
continued to fall. Had she cried even once since he had kidnapped
her? She didn’t think so. Now she made up for the past several
days, until the silk of the comforter under her head was
dampened.

She didn’t feel him come up
behind her until his large hands slid around her waist and he
pulled her up. He turned her to face him so effortlessly, his
strength ten times that of an ordinary man. A
human
man. Josey refused to look up.
She wouldn’t even give him that respect.

Jocelyn. Look at me.
His hands were insistent, one raising her chin
toward him, the other pulling her lower body into his.

His face was serious.
I wish…

Wish what? That it was different? That you
had not done to me what you had? What?

His thumb brushed at a tear.
She refused to acknowledge how the touch of his skin against hers
sent warmth through her. It was chemistry; that’s all it was. A
physiological reaction caused by something in his blood and
hers.
I wish I could make you happy. The
goddess chose you for me, as sure as she chose me for
you.

What goddess? Do you think I care? I just
want to go home! Back to my life!

The strength of her wish knocked him back a
step, though he moved not at all. The depth of her unhappiness was
written on her mind so clearly he could not miss the truth of
it.

Unhappiness he had caused.

Then go, then. Go back to your life. I will
see that you are safe. And I will never bother you again.

Surprised green eyes met
his. A small feminine hand covered her mouth.
You mean it? You will let me go? When?

When I can guarantee you
will be safe. A day, two at the most. You are different now. You
will never be the same as your family and friends again. You must
be taught to co-exist with them. Or you could hurt them.
Had pain ever cut so deeply? A life, thousands of
years, without his
Rajni
. Now he truly understood how his younger sister had felt.
Probably still felt. Her mate Iavius had died so horribly…and right
in front of Kindara.

How
had
his sister survived it all? Cormac
felt a renewed awe for his sister’s strength. He cupped the back of
his
Rajni
’s blonde
head and brushed the smallest of kisses across her brow.
I will trouble you no longer.

Josey watched him walk away with the
strangest pain in her heart. Just like that? He ripped her from her
home under some guise of destined mates, told her he would kill her
if she didn’t cooperate, then he just decides to let her go? It
made no sense to her at all.

She sank back down on the mattress behind
her, absently petting the fuzzy black and white head that was
placed in her lap. Free licked her hand gently. Josey dropped her
chin to rest on the dog’s head and hugged the warm body to her
chest. She felt rather than heard Free whine.

If he truly let her
go,
would
she be a
danger to her family? Her father, or even worse…her little sister?
Maybe she should just go away somewhere, until she got a handle on
this…new life. But what about Emily, Mickey, and Mallory? Could she
leave here without them?

That question was still upfront in her mind
more than a day and a half later as she tossed a rope toy for Free
to retrieve. A movement across the courtyard and up caught her
attention. A woman dressed in the same clothing as she was chasing
a small golden puppy on the balcony two floors up from Cormac’s.
Jierra.

She’d spent most of the
previous day with the other woman. Cormac had asked his niece to
explain to Josey what being
this
would entail. It hadn’t been an easy day; Jierra
was still very nervous of Josey and her cousins. But Jierra was the
only one of these people who could communicate with Josey easily.
And Cormac had insisted.

Should she get Jierra’s attention? Ask her
the rest of the questions flooding her mind?

Another movement caught her gaze, this time
near the doors leading to the suite Emily shared with the king.
Josey turned toward her cousin and stepped toward her.

Emily saw her and started in Josey’s
direction. Josey suppressed a sigh. She wasn’t sure she wanted to
talk to her cousins right now.

Emily walked toward Josey, then stopped
abruptly. Josey had no difficulty reading the horror and fear on
her cousin’s face. She turned to see what Emily was looking at.

The meeting with
Dahr
Rydere was drawn out
and dismal. Cormac wasn’t the only one considering sending
his
Rajni
home.
Cormac slammed his hands down on the table in front of him. “We
should just get it over with, then. I will take them back tomorrow
morning! Get it done, so that we can return to the way our lives
were before we made the idiotic decision to take them.”

“Cauterize the wounds, then?” Aodhan
continued to stare out the window that overlooked the front of the
hotel. “We will need to watch them from afar. Keep them safe until
they adjust.”

Cormac stood and prowled the room. Just let
her go. Send her back to her family, her sister and father. Make
her happy.

What did it matter if he
spent the rest of his life alone? He’d made it six hundred plus
years so far without her. But damn the goddess, nothing had ever
hurt as much as the thought of sending his
Rajni
away forever. Not even the
bleeding deaths of his parents two hundred years ago had hurt quite
so badly.

Fire shot through his stomach, sending him to
his knees.

At first he didn’t put it
together. Then it shot into his head that it was not
his
pain.

Hers.

The other men stared at
him.
Dahr
Rydere
stood. “Cormac?”

“She’s hurt!” Cormac said nothing else as he
bolted out of the conference room and to the gardens.

Her silent screams echoed in his head. Her
pleas. Her fear. Sweat burned his eyes as he ran, shoving anyone
and everyone in the way out of his path.

Her screams stopped abruptly. The cessation
terrified him. Was he already too late? Would he not know if her
spirit was already gone?

He tore into the gardens and found her lying
next to her dog. Both were bleeding, but his Josey had three
Lupoiux wolf bastards clawing at her. Ripping at her
ruthlessly.

Cormac roared, the sound one he was barely
aware of making. He grabbed the first wolf. With only a twist, he
crushed the wolf’s spine beneath his hands. He was only vaguely
aware of Rydere and Aodhan attacking the rest of the wolf pack.

The next two wolves were
harder to dispatch, but he did it. He flung the last body away from
his
Rajni
and
dropped to his knees beside her.
Jocelyn.

She remained silent, still. But he could feel
her heart still beating, despite the amount of blood she had so
obviously lost. He scooped her into his arms and ran for the doors.
The healer Barlaam, Rydere’s younger brother, waiting just
inside.

“Take her to your suite, it is close! I will
have Bronwyn and Melando meet us there! Go!”

Cormac cradled close, not wanting to let her
go. She still remained so quiet.

Her skin was pale, the white
of her
vestis
and
pardus
ripped, muddied, and bloodied. Had they bitten her? He ripped
the
vestis
from her
body as efficiently and as quickly as he could. Her bra was next,
the garment ruined beyond hope. The gash in her stomach, the worst
of the five wounds, still bled. It crossed from right under her
left breast and curled over her right hip. Two shallower wounds ran
parallel on each side of the deeper gash. All five marks still
bled. She had lost so much blood. He had seen Dardaptoans die from
far less blood loss.

Barlaam was there, tugging her from his arms.
Cormac fought.

“Cormac! I must help her! You have to let go,
or I will have you banned from the room!” Barlaam was just as
strong as Cormac and just as determined when it came to his
patients. Cormac had long known that about the second healer. Only
Cormac’s sister Kindara was a more talented healer than this
man.

Jocelyn whimpered; the sound
strong enough for both men to hear. Cormac tightened his hold
around her then lowered her to the bed they had yet to share. The
black and green silk made the white of her skin, of her garments,
so much more shocking.
Jocelyn. I am here.
You are not alone. You are safe. I am here! Please open your eyes
and look at me.