Harlequin Nocturne May 2016 Box Set (27 page)

Some of the humans moved forward to gather around him. They waited, their eyes anxious and stubborn.

“Tell us,” Hugh said, working his way forward through the bodies surrounding Daniel. “There's no Council now to make the decision. You've earned the right.”

Meeting Isis's eyes over the heads of the humans, Daniel nodded slowly. “Very well,” he said. “The lawbreakers and supporters of Anu and Ba'al will be exiled. Soldiers will escort them to the east onto the prairie with day coats and the means of hunting for themselves. What they make of their lives after that will depend on their own resources...without the help of humans or other Opiri. If they make it to another Citadel, they'll have to fight their way back to a position of rank. And they may not find that so easy to do outside the walls of this city.”

Hugh looked around at the other humans. “It is a fair punishment,” he said.

The humans murmured and nodded and drifted back to their fellows in the crowd, sharing the news. When Hugh announced Daniel's decision to the Opiri, none objected.

Then there was no one between Daniel and Isis, no sound except the thudding of his pulse and the harshness of his breathing. Isis walked toward him slowly and mounted the stairs behind him, each step dragging as if her robes were hemmed with weights.

When he saw her eyes, he knew that she had surrendered her own convictions in favor of his. In the end, she'd chosen to trust him.

“People of Tanis,” she said, turning to the crowd. “I gladly testify that you may safely trust Daniel with your life. He is a great man. He has lived as a serf, a free human and a half-blood. He knows what it is to serve, and to rule. He has led Opiri in colonies such as those he has offered to you and put his own life at risk many times to save those he has sworn to protect.” She paused, her voice catching. “I have no doubt that he and his allies can deliver what they have promised—a place where the dream we dreamed can be fulfilled. If you go, do so without fear or doubt.”

Daniel listened with his head down and his hands clasped behind his back, confounded by her testimony. He wanted to sing her praises, as she had sung his; stand by her side and declare that Tanis was not a lost cause, after all.

But he believed with all his heart that Tanis's foundation had rotted under the feet of its people, and it would never be sound again, no matter how much Isis wished it so.

He turned to thank her for the words she had spoken on his behalf, but she had already climbed the rest of the stairs and was striding alongside the hall, headed toward the center of her ward. Athena, who had been standing quietly at the top of the steps, followed her.

A flood of people from the audience demanded Daniel's attention, and he had no choice but to let Isis go. He spoke to Ares and reassured dozens of humans, and more Opiri approached him with questions and concerns. He became again what he had been in Delos, far in the Northwest: calm, confident and unmoved by distracting emotion. It was almost noon when he answered the last question and assured the crowd that the more practical aspects of the journey would be discussed at length over the coming days.

As the Opiri adjusted the hoods of their day coats and the humans drifted back to their homes, only a few remained. Hugh was among them.

“They'll follow you to Hell and back,” Hugh said, admiration in his voice. “Anyone would.”

“You give me too much credit,” Daniel said stiffly.

“And you give yourself too little.” He nodded to his people, and they headed toward Bes's ward, openly and without fear.

“Well done,” Ares said, resting his hand on Daniel's shoulder. “The army will help make the preparations. We'll need all the livestock, and wagons to carry the supplies—”

Ares continued to speak, but Daniel barely heard him. “Please excuse me,” he said. “I have something to do.”

Climbing the stairs to join his wife, Ares let him go. Daniel jogged toward Isis's apartment building, no longer thinking of grand, dangerous journeys but of a single woman who meant more to him than life itself. A woman he worshipped—not as a serf or inferior, but because she was the one he loved.

He found her in her apartment, stepping out of her gown in the darkness. She turned as soon as he entered, making a futile grab for her clothing as if she were ashamed to let him see her.

“Isis,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“Why have you come?” she asked, her voice small and soft.

“To thank you,” he said, his courage momentarily deserting him. “For supporting me, when you could so easily have done otherwise.”

She smiled. “But you were right, Daniel. I clung to a dream because I did not wish to admit failure. I did not wish to believe that everything the Nine had done was a lie.”

“Your part was never a lie,” he said, moving closer to her. “Without you to temper their ambition, Anu or Ba'al would have acted long ago.”

“Would they?” She stared at the rich carpet under her feet. “How could I have been so blind?”

“I was the one who was blind,” Daniel said, taking another step.

“You saw the futility of my hopes,” she said, looking away. “And you were right.”

“No, Isis.” He moved so close to her that he could see the pulse throbbing at the base of her throat, feel her warmth, smell her natural perfume. “What you wanted was right. Was, and still is. If you'll give the seed a chance to grow in a new field...”

“You have the seed, Daniel,” she said. “It is yours.”

“But it's nothing without someone to nurture it. That is your skill, not mine.”

“Now you are the one who is blind.” She met his gaze. “You are everything I said you were. I admire you more than I can say.”

Admiration.
His blood turned to ice. “That's not what I want, Isis,” he said.

“What more can I do?” she cried. “You need nothing, no one. They tried to destroy you twice, and both times you emerged stronger than before.”

“And you think I did it alone?” He touched the tears on her cheek. “I could never have survived the first time without Ares. Or
this
time without you.”

“I cannot give you—”

“You already have. Unless your feelings have changed.” He searched her eyes. “Have they, Isis?”

She backed away. “No. If you ever trusted me, you know they could not.”

“Neither have mine. Isis...” For a moment, in the presence of this stunning, warm and loving woman, he almost lost his courage. She would always be a goddess to him and to everyone who had the good fortune to know her. And he had been indelibly marked by the past, no matter how highly she thought of his courage.

“I want you to come with us,” he said at last. “You carry the heart of this city inside you. Without that heart, it will be an empty journey.”

“There will be enough who believe,” she said. “You will help them. I am not necessary.”

“I didn't say the journey would be empty for
them
.” He moved in close again, cupping her chin in his hand. “I loved you from the moment I saw you. But trust came hard to me, Isis. The memories kept their grip because I couldn't accept my own feelings. But you gave me a new life with your love. I want that life with you, for as long as we live. I never want to take another step without you.”

Her eyes glistened. “Say it, Daniel.”

“I love you.”

Their lips met, and the new journey began.

* * * * *

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ISBN-13: 9781488004643

Dark Journey

Copyright © 2016 by Susan Krinard

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Claiming her felt like his destiny...but could prove to be his ultimate undoing.

Desperate to flee a horrific arranged marriage, Princess Tanzi turned to the only man who could help. Lorcan Malone, infamous necromancer, had vowed to come to her aid whenever she needed him. And even as they traveled from the mortal world into the fantastical Otherworld, Tanzi knew her true need ran deeper than just a rescue.

She was his enemy's daughter. A renegade like Lorcan had no business craving a Fae princess, one intended for a greater calling. Yet he was powerless to resist the pull to do more than protect Tanzi...

“You and your feelings.” Tanzi gave him a teasing glance.

“You and your lack of feelings.” He returned the look.
Careful, Malone.
This was starting to feel a lot like flirtation.

“I've been discovering lately that I might be able to feel more than I believed I could.” Her sidelong glance was a combination of invitation and confusion.

To hell with caution,
Lorcan thought as he pulled Tanzi into his arms. He'd never know which of them was the most surprised. All he knew was that the action was long overdue.