B00XXAC6U6 EBOK (20 page)

Ian kept shaking his head. He’d been damn careful. How could she have known?

His forward Guardsmen continued to plow through tent after tent, heading toward the stone fortress. But the response was always the same. The Invictus were gone.

When he reached the wall of the fortress, the same place he’d caught Regan in his arms two nights earlier, he had a sick feeling something had happened that he couldn’t face, couldn’t believe.

At least Regan was safe on the far side of the gorge.

He reached for Stone, pathing,
What are you finding?

Nothing. There’s nothing here. Half my warriors encountered no Invictus at all. The rest battled a handful of wraith-pairs. That’s it.

Ian shook his head.
Meet me at the fortress entrance. I think it’s on the north side.

I’ll bring some of my men.

Ian ordered his Guardsmen to make a clean sweep of the adjacent forest all the way to the gorge to make certain the Invictus really were gone. He then pathed to his squad leaders, directing them and their troops to do the same, including those belonging to his Shifter Brigade.

He levitated slowly to have a look, doing a 360 spin at the same time. He visually hunted for any sign of the enemy, but he found nothing. He then flew higher into the air to get a birds-eye view of the encampment. What he saw stunned him. He did a cursory estimate and realized he was looking at over five thousand tents.

Margetta’s army was beyond anything the ruling mastyrs had ever imagined. No wonder Regan had said that the woman didn’t seem worried. But how had Margetta known to remove her army?

It appeared he’d been right after all, he had a spy in his Guard or maybe the Brigade. But his mind refused to speculate who this might be.

That sick, twisted feeling returned, something so heinous that bile crawled up his throat. Part of him knew he was witnessing a traitorous act of enormous magnitude, but another part couldn’t even look it.

He saw the tower where Regan had been imprisoned. At least he knew she was safe from Margetta. He’d left two guards with her.

He made his descent on the north lawn where he could see Stone standing in a knot of his warriors.

Stone pulled away from the group. “Ian, what the fuck happened here? It’s as though they knew we were coming and pulled out.”

“I think that’s exactly what happened.” Ian’s temples throbbed. “But I don’t know how. I was so damn careful. Were you?” Maybe Stone was at fault.

“Shit, yes. I told no one, as requested. Not even my seconds.”

“I didn’t either.” A sharp pain drilled through his head. “Except … ”

Stone took hold of his arm, gripping it hard. “Ian? Who did you tell?”

Ian couldn’t breathe and the pain in his head felt like someone had suddenly jammed a hot poker inside his skull. In that moment, his world flipped upside down and everything he knew to be true no longer was.

As he stared hard at nothing in particular, Ian’s perspective began to shift. Raven’s Overlook slipped into his mind, the horror, the carnage, the loss of those he loved.

“I don’t get it.
His
brother died there. His more
powerful
brother. Which would mean he’d planned his death.”

Stone shook Ian’s arm. “Whose brother? Talk to me.”

He met Stone’s gaze, but shook his head back and forth. “This can’t be possible. I have to be wrong. Otherwise what happened here tonight began five-hundred years ago. It can’t be true.”

Stone yanked his arm hard. “Fuck it, talk to me. You know who it is, don’t you?”

It could only be one person, but Ian couldn’t speak the name aloud.

He jerked his arm away and thrust his hands into his hair, dislodging the woven clasp. He’d chosen to believe Ben. That was what came to him. Ben had said Regan had enthralled him. Those had been Ben’s words all those centuries ago. And Ian had believed him.

Ravens Overlook.

All the dead.

His sister ripped to pieces, her babies with her.

He heard a loud wind, or sound, or something. But it was coming out of his throat.

He levitated then took off flying north. Maye he could escape the truth if he flew fast enough.

Stone ghosted his movements, tracking with him.

For the last several centuries, Ian had cast all the blame at Regan’s feet. But the whole time, a snake had slithered through Camberlaune, feeding Ian’s mind with poison.

But what else had Ben done on his watch? What other nightmares had he instigated?

Ian recalled the attack on Westbreak Village two-hundred years ago. Though it wasn’t as severe as Raven’s Overlook, some had called it a massacre because thirty Realm-folk had died, including two of his most powerful Guardsmen. One of them had been a mastyr equal to Ben.

Ian could recall a couple more incidences where powerful mastyrs had died in the midst of an Invictus blitz attack. He had to conclude these hadn’t been random after all. Ben was just getting rid of his competition.

Holy fuck. Never had a vampire been so ambitious, so ruthless as Ben. And Ian hadn’t seen it.

When the storm of awareness finally passed, Ian was left with an ice cold sensation throughout his body that made his fingers ache.

Slowly, he came back to himself and levitated midair to gain his bearings. He’d been moving steadily north and was somewhere over the Dauphaire Mountains.

The air was freezing cold, matching the frost in his veins.

Stone said nothing, just stuck close as Ian turned to head back the way he’d come, back to the fortress.

But something else nagged at him, something he’d forgotten.

What was the last thing Ben had said to him?

A new kind of dread filled him as he recalled everything he’d told Ben.

Come with me,
he pathed to Stone.

I’m with you, brother.

Ian picked up speed, his blood tattoos throbbing hot now.

He’d covered over fifty miles from the time his mind had connected the dots.

When he reached the granite outcrop, he zeroed in on the opposite side of the gorge where he knew Regan and his two Guardsmen had flown.

He crossed, landing at the edge of the trees, then moved inside.

He could smell death before he reached the bodies.

Two good men lay with chests and internals fried, the skin blackened around the edges from a powerful battle blast.

“Damn all the elf lords to hell,” Stone said. “What happened here?”

In a monotone, Ian told him everything he’d just figured out.

Stone listened. “But if Margetta could get to Ben … ”

“She didn’t. I’m convinced Ben went to her and offered himself up. In fact, I’m sure of it. He’s been aligned with her since before Raven’s Overlook.”

“You believe he was responsible for the massacre.”

“Yes. He needed to make sure his brother died.”

Stone scowled. “I don’t get it. Why would he do that?”

“His brother had more essential power. If something happened to me, Ben’s brother would have ruled.”

“The devil is in this.”

Ian blinked, a slow painful dip of his lids. “He separated me from Regan. She was too powerful as well. She was a threat to his plans, especially being fae. She’d picked up on something earlier tonight at the midnight meal. Ben had been there and she’d said something was off. I paid no attention. It was a fae thing, which I can’t relate to, so I discounted it. But this … ”

He glanced around as though looking for something, but didn’t know what.

“Ian.” Stone’s voice sounded a mile distant.

“What?”

“Where’s Regan?”

The full reality hit Ian like a heavy blow to his chest. Once more he roared into the night air, rising swiftly and shouting his rage.

Ben had Regan and there was no doubt in his mind he had one intention, to force the blood rose bond.

Worse, he didn’t even know where to begin the hunt.

~ ~ ~

Regan woke up with her arms on fire.

Pain.

So much pain.

“There you are.” She recognized Margetta’s voice, the lovely melodic sound that hid the woman’s venom. “I guess this must hurt.”

Regan opened her eyes and tried to lift her right arm. But she was bound to the side of the bed. Margetta had both her hands over the blood tattoos, working to remove them.

“Are you using your battle energy?” Regan could hardly breathe the pain was so bad.

“Yes. I tried a spell, but I couldn’t easily break through this strange blood-bond you created with Mastyr Ian. So I’m frying your skin. It’s working very well and will have the same effect as a counter-spell, but in a tenth of the time.”

Regan sank into the pain, letting it roll over her. She drifted once more into unconsciousness.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before a scent like eucalyptus brought her around. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Margetta held a sachet beneath her nose.

“Good. You’re back.”

The pain had diminished to a dull throb, something she could bear. At the same time, she sent healing into her arms. “Where am I?”

“What does it matter? You’re mine now and very soon, you’ll serve me.”

She glanced around. “Not the fortress, I see.”

“No. Unfortunately, your boyfriend overran it with his force and some of Stone’s army as well. So, this will have to do. This is one of Ben’s homes. But don’t think you’ll be rescued. No one knows about this dwelling and I’ve set up a spell to guard it.”

Regan stared at the scourge of the Nine Realms. She recalled the beauty of the woman’s spells. “What happened to you?”

Margetta leaned back slightly. “You mean, to make me the way I am?”

“Yes. Your spells are beautiful. Melodic and poetic.”

Margetta laughed. “Your compliments will not save you.”

“But I’d like to know.”

Margetta shrugged. “You want to know if daddy tortured and raped me. Well, he didn’t. I had a lovely upbringing. I just got bored of life, especially as my powers grew. One day, I decided that no matter how long it took, I would rule the Nine Realms.” Her lips curved. “And I will.”

She then snapped her fingers. “Come, Ben. We’re almost ready here.”

Regan shifted and saw Ben push away from a wood-paneled wall. So, she’d been right about him. “You killed two of your Guardsmen to get to me.”

“Two of Ian’s. They were never mine.”

“They didn’t know that. They served you as though you were the mastyr.”

He lifted his chin, his eyes colder than she’d ever seen them. “But I wasn’t, was I?”

Her mind rolled back to the massacre. “You planned and executed what happened at Raven’s Overlook.”

“Of course.”

“Including feeding Ian’s beliefs I was to blame, and that I’d enthralled him.”

“Ian’s guilt ruled him. It wasn’t hard to make you the scapegoat and it was the best way to get rid of your influence. You were too powerful, even back then. I knew if you stayed with Ian, one day you’d see me for what I am. I couldn’t take the risk. I thought about killing you outright, but that would have alerted Ian that something else was going on.”

She sank back onto the pillows. Somehow she’d ended up abducted by Margetta twice in little over a month. Now she was strapped to a bed with Ben ready to make use of her blood rose powers by bonding with her.

How had this happened?

She dropped swiftly into her meditative state, then attempted to path Ian.
Are you there?

“Not gonna happen.” Margetta put her hand on Regan’s head.

Pain sliced through her so fast that Regan cried out and sudden tears poured from her eyes. A blocking spell formed at the same time.

“You gonna do that again?”

Regan shook her head. “No, I guess not.”

Though the agony had passed, Regan’s head throbbed. She accessed her healing vibration and let it flow. In doing so, however, she could tell that the spell Margetta had installed would deliver pain whenever she attempted to path anyone.

How would Ian ever find her if she couldn’t communicate with him? Besides, she still didn’t even know where she was. Ben’s home could be anywhere in Camberlaune.

Margetta released the bindings on Regan’s arm. She could move now and pulled both arms over her chests protectively.

Ben drew close, settling his hand on her shoulder. She could hear him draw in a deep breath. “What am I smelling? A very rich fragrance, very floral.” He released his breath, closing his eyes at the same time. “So this is what it’s like. To be near a blood rose.”

Regan had two thoughts at once. First was a realization the blood tattoos were completely gone and no longer protected her. Second, she thought Ben the most beautiful vampire she’d ever seen.

She could also tell he needed to feed.

As one in a trance, she sat up and extended her arm to him. “Take from my vein.”

~ ~ ~

Ian flew back over the Dauphaire Mountains, hunting for Regan, crisscrossing the land faster than he ever had before. He kept calling out to her telepathically, but nothing returned to him. He’d left Stone in charge of combing the fortress and the deserted camp for anything that could help him locate Margetta or Regan.

But searching in this way made little sense. Ben had her, which meant she was back under Margetta’s thumb. It wouldn’t do much good to use a scattergun approach in trying to find her.

Reaching the northeastern section of the mountains, he headed to his cabin. A few minutes later, he landed on the deck and paced the length in quick hard strides, shoving his hair away from his face since the clasp was long gone.

A sickness had taken hold of him, a guilt so profound he could hardly breathe. He’d misjudged Regan for five long centuries. He’d convinced himself she’d enthralled him, that she alone was responsible for Raven’s Overlook.

Instead – Goddess help him – the horrendous killing had been orchestrated by Ben. Ian couldn’t fathom how he’d completely misjudged the man. How could a warrior he’d trusted with his life, for such a long time, have done these terrible things?

He continued to march. He had to think this through, had to figure out how to find Regan.

He paused in his marching and lifted his arms up. He’d been so caught up in his distress he hadn’t realized the blood tattoos had now disappeared. Margetta had severed his connection to Regan, leaving her vulnerable to another mastyr, to Ben.