Forever (Book #3 in the Fateful Series) (31 page)

“What the hell is going on in here, Lucas?”

Taking the interruption as a perfect distraction, Danielle threw the pan at the window, shattering the glass. She started to climb up onto the counter to escape since both doorways were now blocked by men. Hands captured her hips and she was thrown to the floor, her head clipping the leg of one of the chairs. She grunted in pain, and rolled over with her fingers going to the developing goose egg on her head. That’s when she spotted the knife she’d had before. Danielle grasped the handle with her bound hands and rolled again. She didn’t really know what she planned to do next, except that she wanted to get out of there, and it was hard to do much of anything with her hands tied together. Pushing up with one elbow, she worked to gain her footing again.

One of the men shouted, “Lucas! No!” right before Lucas landed on top of her, again tackling her to the floor. She was utterly surprised, however, when the knife he held slipped from his fingers, slid against the sleeve of her hoodie and fell to the floor. Luckily the angle hadn’t been right for the seemingly dull point to puncture her. Directing bewildered eyes onto his, Danielle was even more surprised to see life fade from his eyes right before he collapsed on top of her. When warm liquid ran over her fingers, she scrambled out from under Lucas, staring at her bloody hands in horror. The knife she’d been holding had obviously plunged into his chest. Of course Danielle had seen blood before and it had never made her feel as woozy as it did right then. It might have something to do with her pregnancy, she thought as her gaze touched on Lucas’ motionless form. Had she actually killed him? It seemed like all of the air left the room and she wheezed in and out, trying to draw a decent breath as black closed in around her.

As though muffled under a pile of blankets, she heard one of the men say, “It must have stuck his heart.”

“You’re mine,” Ethan whispered into her ear as they danced to a slow and romantic melody, the world of white blurring as they twirled.

His warm breath wrenched a giggle from her lips and conjured goose bumps over her skin. “A little possessive of you, isn’t it?” Danielle asked, touching her gaze to his.

“Only slightly,” he admitted, with a becoming blend of love and devotion shining back at her from a pair of bewitching blue eyes. “But you know you like it.”

If she confessed as to how much she liked it, his head would swell to the size of a planetoid. “Maybe,” she said, giving him that much.

He reacted like she’d said yes instead of maybe as he converted the dancing embrace into a snug hug, his face nestling against the space joining her neck to her shoulder.

“Does that mean you’re mine too?” she asked, running her fingers through his soft hair, secretly keeping his head close because she liked how his mouth felt pressed against her skin. “Or does this possession only go one way?”

A murmur of regret left her when her question drew his face away so he could match his eyes with hers. “Forever, remember?”

“How could I forget when you express that promise on a daily basis?”

His eyes crinkled up with a smile that made her hungry to kiss him. “Just making sure you know how I feel.”

“How could I miss it?” she asked, dangling her feet because they weren’t touching the ground at the moment. “You barely let me leave your arms. What are you going to do when we are separated?”

The joy in his eyes dulled and the smile fled his mouth. “I don’t know how I’ll cope when that happens. All I know is that we’ll find each other again. Somehow, I swear it.”

Danielle woke up in that bedroom again. No! No! No! No! No! She kicked her legs in anger. She and Ethan had been separated by time, and while his words from the memory had proved true, and they had found each other again in life, now they were separated by distance. Frustration sapped the dismal strength she had left in her muscles, and crushed any resolve she might have clung to. She was so hungry she was nauseated. Her body ached in all of the places Lucas had hit her. Her poor wrists were so raw she was surprised she wasn’t bleeding. At the thought of blood, the image of a motionless Lucas returned to her mind. Lifting her hands, her
bound
hands, she noticed with a huge sense of relief that someone had cleaned the blood off, or she might have fainted again.

The sound of men arguing drew her gaze to the closed door. Danielle pushed up onto her elbows trying to hear better.

“What should we do with her now?” one of them asked. Even though the words were barely audible, she’d understood them clearly enough.

“The other coven of witches said they can’t do anything for us. They say that Lucas lied, that we need a sorcerer because we were created by a sorcerer and that we don’t need her.”

“Should we let her go then?”

“No, but we do need to get rid of her.”

Danielle dropped back onto the mattress. It bounced a little. Great, she mused with sarcasm. What now? Besides making the ropes too tight, the werewolves hadn’t really harmed her physically, but would that change now that they didn’t need her?

Chapter 17

Forever

The team following the fairies had found the werewolves’ dwelling. They’d discovered where Danielle and Nadia had been held, as well as a body buried beneath a pile of rocks nearby. Further investigation had revealed the deceased as Lucas. He’d been stabbed in the heart. Ethan was incredibly relieved to know Lucas was finally dead, but was worried about what had happened to Danielle before that. Was she all right?

The witch led Ethan and the others to the location of the auction. They could hear the auctioneer belting out prices as they neared. Little Red signaled for them to follow her. She was leading them to a circle of witches congregating on the outskirts of the clearing the auction was being held in. While Ethan was startled about coming face-to-face with some of the cutest redheads he’d ever seen, his attention was riveted to the auction already in session. He didn’t know who was being auctioned off at the moment, and he feared it was Danielle. Propping his barely useful glasses on the bridge of his nose, Ethan craned his neck and tried to see who the poor soul was. Standing in the midst of many towering men stood a short woman. Her hair was so fair it shimmered brightly, even in the shadow of several pine trees. Ethan knew she couldn’t possibly be human. Nevertheless, he felt bad for her just as he felt relief that she wasn’t Danielle.

“She’s a mermaid,” a slight redhead said.

Ethan looked back toward the auction, noting the fact that the woman stood on two legs.

“They all have legs like that when they’re dry,” said an even shorter and thinner redhead.

“What if—” Ethan had meant to ask what would happen if she started singing when the witches covered their ears suddenly. Just as he felt the hypnotic tug of her magic, he did the same, narrowly escaping being overcome like that again. He watched as the mermaid strolled away from her captors with an enchanting half smile, revealing a dimple in one cheek. Nearing a fallen tree, she gathered her green gown into her hands and skipped lightly over it. Tossing a triumphant giggle over her shoulder, the mermaid twirled away from the auction, sweeping satin-like ribbons of hair away from her face. Knowing what this innocent-looking creature was really capable of, Ethan couldn’t see how she’d been captured in the first place, especially when she escaped easily enough.

After several moments of simply looking at one another, waiting, the witches dropped their hands. Ethan and the guards did also.

“How—? I mean, they didn’t know what she was?” Ethan asked.

“Did you?” asked Little Red.

“Well, no.”

“The ones who captured her probably
did
know,” explained another redhead. “But they likely sold her to those who didn’t. Of course she played along, knowing she could escape anytime she liked, and the ones who originally took her wouldn’t care about that because they’d already made a profit.”

Having shaken loose of the bewitching mermaid’s song, the crowd began another auction. Again, Ethan checked to make sure it wasn’t his wife, but he couldn’t see well enough, so he stepped away from the witches, seeking a better angle.

A witch grabbed at his sleeve and pulled. “Careful, they might see you.”

“But—”

“It’s not Danielle.”

From the look on her heart-shaped face, Ethan could see she knew that to be the case. But his mind had snagged on her previous comment. “Why can’t I be seen if you said I needed funds? I thought that was why we’re here. I’m going in to buy her back, am I not?”

“I didn’t mean that
you
would be doing it. You’ll be recognized and you’ll lose her again.”

“Why would they care who I am if I have the money they want?” He did have cash with him, a large sum of it. Of course he never thought he would use it for this. Ethan had brought some with him when they’d first left to live with the fairies, then he’d collected more after he and Max had visited with Sir Roland when they picked up additional weapons. Avoiding credit cards, because cash couldn’t be traced, he’d originally brought it because he didn’t really know how long they would be with the fairies and if they’d been forced to leave, where they’d end up next. Ethan had the full intentions of taking her to a very nice hotel after all of this was over. But never imagining it would be used to pay a ransom to get her back, Ethan feared he still might not have enough.

“They know who you are, just as they know who she is. Would you like them to turn this into a double auction of the ones who discovered the cure?”

Ethan had no response for that as he felt his lips thin.

“Why can’t we just blast our way in, and rescue her that way?” asked Prince Richard. Anticipation spiced Richard’s words as he lovingly fingered the trigger on his weapon—like it was a cherished object. The Black Prince was always up for a bit of violence, and he’d retired his sword in favor of a shiny automatic. Ethan was with the prince in this regard. While he was doing his best to portray a cool exterior, his thoughts were eagerly turning to aggression. If he didn’t have enough money, then violence was the better option.

Little Red just stared up at Richard and blinked. “You do see the flaw in that logic, don’t you?”

“I really don’t,” responded Richard, frowning with a bit of a sneer curling his lip.

The witch cast her gaze around the prince at the clearing. “That area is enchanted. Your guns won’t work there.”

“Bloody hell,” snarled Richard in plain disappointment. Ethan kept his disheartened words inside.

“Did you know about these auctions?” Richard asked Seth.

“No.”

“How can you take part in this cruel and illegal practice?” Merrick asked Little Red.

The petite woman shrugged her shoulders. “Not all of these
victims
are as innocent as you perceive them to be. Plus, we’re helping you rescue someone, aren’t we?”

Ethan really wanted to point out that they’d helped the werewolves capture his
innocent
wife, but decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. All he cared about was getting Danielle back, and debating the dishonest nature of selling
any
living soul wouldn’t likely help him achieve that goal.

Seth scratched his scalp. “I just can’t believe I didn’t know about this ... market of sorts.”

“There are lots of things we don’t tell the all-powerful and self-righteous vampires,” said the witch, lifting her chin in a show of proud defiance.

“Like the fact that witches come in an adorable redhead variety?” Everyone knew Cedric was teasing Merrick with that softly murmured comment. “I thought you said all witches were hags.”

“The ones I’ve met
were
hags.”

“Perhaps it was a glamour to mask their exotic and magnificent beauty.”

“Witches never use glamour.”

“The ones I met were gargantuan in size with hairy warts and—”

“I highly doubt they could hide that behind a glamour, even if they did use them.”

“Stop this ridiculous banter,” ordered Little Red. “They’re bringing her out.”

Ethan felt every inch of his body snap to attention as he brought his ruined glasses to his eyes. He hadn’t found her just yet, but swallowed when Seth pointed out, “They have her well bound.”

“She must have been fighting. Bless her,” commented Merrick with a hint of pride in his voice.

Ethan swore in three different languages. Danielle
would
have fought, would have defended herself and Nadia. Certainly he was proud of her too, but the thought of them punishing his pregnant wife for it, for the studied impulse within her, made his heart twist inside his chest. He struggled to pull enough oxygen into his lungs as he shifted around the guards to see. When he managed to spot her, Ethan gasped, his soul screaming out in outrage. Yes, she’d been beaten. Her eye had been blackened, her jaw bruised. With slumped shoulders, she swayed on unsteady feet that were bound just as her wrists were. The large, blond male had to keep a fistful of her hoodie in his grasp or she would likely crumple beneath her own weight. Pure, unsaturated rage poured into his veins and coursed though his system. The intense emotion drove his foot forward.

“Now,” ordered the witch.

Just as Ethan wondered what she meant by that, hands grasped his arms and a palm covered his mouth. His eyes rounded in surprise. A sense of betrayal brought more curses to his lips that were easily muffled by Merrick’s wide hand.

“Who’s going in?” asked Seth. It was obvious to Ethan that while he hadn’t had a plan, the others had. His eyes narrowed.

“The warlocks,” said one of the witches.

“Can we trust them?” asked Richard.

He’s asking this
now
? Ethan thought as he tried to get free of Merrick and Cedric who held him captive between them. “Stop struggling, my friend,” warned Merrick, “or I’ll be the one to lay you low next.”

Another wave of betrayal washed over him. So, Max had told them about the scuffle.... Ethan closed his eyes, dragging breath in and out of his nose as he reconsidered the situation and forced himself to calm down. Though he felt deceived, he also understood. He wasn’t a complete idiot. Apparently they knew him better than he’d thought, and apparently they knew him better than he even knew himself. Concern for his wife had completely overridden logic. That and his possessive need to protect her had nearly sent him charging out there, without thinking and without a plan. Even consumed with near-crippling emotion, Ethan knew how much he needed help right now. Mentally grasping onto the trust he had for his friends, he released the tension in his muscles. Noticing that, Merrick and Cedric loosened their hold, even though they didn’t let him go just yet.

Little Red caught his eye. “I must prepare you,” she began, her tone soft and apologetic. “They’ll be rough with her.” Movement just beyond the small witch drew his attention. The warlocks were collecting the money from his pack. Both men were much larger than the female witches and could do a great deal of damage to Danielle if they were rough with her.

“Why?” he asked beneath Merrick’s palm as the tension surged back and every muscle in his body snapped tight again. He wasn’t sure Danielle could take much more and not lose the baby, if she hadn’t already. Just the thought that it might already be too late tore at his soul. His gaze landed on her weakened form and the worries whirling in his mind burned the back of his eyes. Ethan blinked, but couldn’t stop the sob that escaped his chest.

“I fear I should have clarified,” said the witch, correctly interpreting his distress, and seeming to feel sorry about it. “They’ll make it
look
like they’re hurting her, but they won’t. Not really. They have to make it convincing that they don’t care about her safety but want her because of the cure.”

Ethan shook his head trying to get Merrick to let him talk. With caution and a warning in his keen eyes, the Highland knight finally lowered his hand. Ethan turned to Richard as the one he trusted the most. “What if these warlocks
do
want her, and they—?”

“They don’t,” answered Little Red. The red-headed warlocks were already moving in and raising their hands to bid on Danielle. He couldn’t hear how high the price had gone but it seemed it was shooting up fast, along with his blood pressure.

“How can you know?” Ethan’s eyes again sliced to his wife, fear for her safety fogging his brain. What if he didn’t have enough money? What if these harmless-looking witches turned out to be more treacherous than they’d expected? So many things could go wrong with this.

“They’re part of our coven.” Certainly the red hair should have told him that, but it didn’t soothe his concerns.

A scoffing sound slipped past his lips. Like he trusted any of them, Ethan thought with sarcasm. They were bloody witches! They were to blame for this situation, for the danger Danielle was now in. For hurting her. How could he be expected to trust more strangers with the care of his wife? Ethan’s frown deepened as her head lolled to the side and he realized she wasn’t even standing on her own at the moment. The werewolf holding her had noticed and was smacking at her cheek trying to rouse her. Ethan’s blood boiled and he tried again to get free. When that didn’t work, his eyes shot to Richard. “Help me.” Having Richard march in there with guns blazing seemed like a much more preferable way of dealing with this. The prince was a dangerous and skilled warrior....