Serpent's Kiss (33 page)

She put her arms around his waist and leaned on him. “Agreed. We can even try giving me blood intravenously if I can’t stomach it.”

Some fifteen feet away, Grace said in a rusty-sounding voice, “I sure hope you got everything you needed from that session, because I’m cooked.”

They turned to find the human on her knees. Carling pulled out of his arms to go over to Grace. “Are you all right?”

“I think so.”

As Carling helped the human to her feet, Rune collected the flashlights and wrapped the gold mask in its protective cloth. He asked, “Do you remember what happened?”

“No. I feel like I’ve been hit over the head with a blunt object.” Grace squinted at them.

Carling said to her, “It was a very Powerful, very strange session, but hopefully we learned what we needed to.”

“Good, because I don’t think I can do that again in a hurry,” said Grace as she pulled away to stand on her own. She moved as if every muscle in her body hurt. “Let’s go.”

They climbed the tunnel, moving more slowly than they would have otherwise in deference to Grace’s halting stride. As they went, questions and doubts began to crowd out Rune’s relief.

Hasn’t she died yet?

His blood began to pound in his ears. What were they missing? What piece of the puzzle had not yet formed? Or had Python just had one of her little diagnostic moments? He managed to keep from growling but he wanted to lash out at something or someone. He wanted to do some damage in the name of something good.

They helped Grace tuck the things back in the Rubbermaid cabinets. Carling pushed open the door to the gray light of a warm, humid summer predawn. She stopped so abruptly Rune ran into her. Then he saw what had brought her to a standstill.

A great bronze dragon the size of a private jet dominated the meadow. His gigantic horned head lay on his paws with the appearance of relaxation, except that his Power was a smoldering volcano and his eyes burned with hot gold.

Dragos had found them.

Rune put his hands on Carling’s shoulders and tried to ease her back inside the tunnel. She dug in her heels and refused to budge, keeping her body between him and the Lord of the Wyr.

A whippet-slender woman with a long blonde, disheveled ponytail leaned back against the dragon’s snout. She wore cargo pants, high-end running shoes, and a cherry red tank top. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she had one foot kicked over the other. At their appearance, the woman met Rune’s gaze and shook her head.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, slick,” the blonde woman said. “You’ve really pissed him off this time.”

TWENTY

C
arling felt Rune’s energy spike with adrenaline and aggression. She felt his grip on her shoulders tighten, the fingers lengthening into claws. He picked her up bodily and shoved her back through the doorway. She didn’t have a chance to resist. She fell into Grace, who had been right behind them, and both women went sprawling. The human woman made a muffled sound filled with pain.

Carling sprang around as Rune grabbed hold of the door. She didn’t bother wasting time on trying to get upright. Instead she thrust out her foot. She managed to get a boot wedged in the opening before Rune could slam it shut.

“Goddamn you,” she said between her teeth, so furious she could hardly see straight. She twisted to grab hold of the edge of the door with both hands. Rune couldn’t shut it now without hurting her, and he couldn’t both guard her and at the same time waste energy on fighting with her to get her inside.

He realized it too and gave up. She leaped to her feet and pushed outside to find the golden monster standing between her and Dragos and the woman.

The dragon had lifted his head. Both he and the blonde woman with him were staring at Rune. The blonde woman’s wide gaze was stricken with dismay. “Oh God, you didn’t,” said the woman.

“I did,” Rune said. He was growling, a low menacing sound that warned them off.

The blonde woman said to the dragon, “You’re too much of a threat to him this way. You have to change.”

Dragos considered, thoughts shifting behind his huge, fierce gaze. Carling put a hand on Rune’s shoulder as she stepped to his side. She watched the dragon carefully as she brought her Power to the ready. She may not have studied which spells would work best against a gryphon, but she had studied spells to use in battle against a dragon, because she and Dragos had not always been allies. It appeared they were not allies now either.

“All the Elder Races agreed this was to be a sanctuary,” Grace said sharply from behind Carling and Rune. “Violence is forbidden here.”

“People can be taken from this place,” said Dragos. “And violence done to them elsewhere.”

Underneath the grip of her hand, she felt the golden monster take in a sharp breath. Then the dragon shimmered and changed into the figure of a six-foot-eight male with black hair, golden dragon’s eyes, and rough-hewn features. The dragon’s Power boiled in the air around him, just as Rune’s did. Dragos put his hands on his hips and stared at Rune, his expression tight.

The blonde woman looked at Carling. “I’m Pia, Dragos’s mate,” she said. “Are you Carling Severan?”

“Yes,” said Carling.

Pia said gently to Rune, “We understand better now. We don’t intend any harm to your mate.”

“But that won’t be true of those who are coming,” said Dragos.

“What do you mean?” Carling asked. “What’s happened now?”

“More consultations and an agreement. You are under an order of execution. What you have been going through has some sort of effect on the environment around you, and you have refused to remain segregated from others. You have too much Power, Carling. You’ve been deemed too dangerous to live. Julian and several members of the Elder tribunal are on their way to imprison you until the sentence can be carried out.” Dragos looked at his former First. “You need to snap out of it. Start coming up with reasons why they shouldn’t carry out what they plan to do, and you need to start talking now.”

Dread and rage were a clenched fist in Rune’s stomach. He fought to even his breathing and after a few moments of struggle, he managed to come out of the partial shift. He needed reason and diplomacy now more than ever.

Carling said to Dragos, “We think we have figured out what has been happening to me, and we believe we have found a way to stop it. It would be premature for the Elder tribunal to execute a kill order until we know that for certain.”

“That still doesn’t tell me what has been happening,” growled Dragos. “And why it has my other gryphons so freaked out.”

Carling and Rune looked at each other. Rune said telepathically,
The other gryphons are between creatures too, and they have a right to hear what that might mean about their nature
.
But I’ll be damned if I paint a target on their backs for every desperate aging Vampyre. Whatever we tell them should remain confidential.

I think we should wait to say anything
, Carling said.
I’m not saying no. Let’s just think about the consequences of full disclosure first. Dragos is barely on our side right now, and we need him. We can’t risk alienating him by telling him you went back in time and changed the past. Even if we don’t think you changed things by much, the fact that you could do it at all is a huge threat to everything we know in the present.

Rune nodded in agreement.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s why we can’t say a thing to any of the others
, he said.
They would freak out just as much as Dragos would, and this is none of their goddamn business.

I agree.

Rune turned to Dragos, who had been watching them with an expressionless gaze. “It doesn’t matter what happened,” he said. “That was an accident and it’s not going to happen again. The important thing is if we can stop what Carling is going through, then the reason for the kill order goes away.”

It was clear Dragos didn’t like what he heard, but after a long moment, he said, “Agreed.”

Even as he spoke a whirlwind blew into the clearing. The whirlwind materialized into several figures that were well familiar to Carling and Rune.

Five were members of the Elder tribunal. The first was Soren, Demonkind Councillor and head of the tribunal, with his white hair and the piercing white eyes like stars. Soren had been the whirlwind that had transported all the others. The second was the tall, pale blonde figure of Olivia Dearling, the Light Fae Councillor. The third was the Elven Councillor, Sidhiel Raina. The fourth was the witches’ Councillor, Archer Harrow, his frail elderly body housing one of the strongest Powers in the witches demesne. The fifth was the Wyr Councillor, Jaggar Berg. Jaggar was a kraken of immense age and strength, who normally dwelled in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England, but he consented to walk the land in the form of a man for periods that were long enough for him to execute his duties as tribunal Councillor. The Dark Fae Councillor, Arandur Daeron, was absent, no doubt still in Adriyel attending the many governmental functions surrounding Niniane Lorelle’s coronation. Apparently no one had had time to appoint and approve of the next Nightkind Councillor.

The other three arrivals were Vampyres. They wore protective cloaks in preparation for the sunrise within the next half hour, but for the moment they wore their hoods back. Julian Regillus stood flanked by his second-in-command, Xavier del Torro, and Rhoswen.

Carling looked at Julian thoughtfully. His dark hair was kept customarily short, with sprinkles of white at the temples, and he returned her regard, his strong aquiline features inscrutable. Both his Power and his anger were palpable things. Xavier was much less easy to read. He had shoulder-length nutbrown hair pulled back from pleasant nondescript features. His pleasant demeanor was a deadly camouflage. Xavier del Torro was one of the keenest hunters in any of the Elder Races.

Carling was not surprised at the appearance of either male. Rhoswen, though. Rhoswen was a bit of a surprise. Carling looked at her last. The blonde Vampyre did not meet her gaze but instead stared directly ahead, her youthful face a perfect composed mask.

Wyr Councillor Jaggar said to Dragos, “You should not be here.”

“My First is involved,” Dragos said. “Of course I should be here.”

Light Fae Councillor Dearling said coldly, “The Wyr have been cropping up in conversation far too much of late.”

“Forget that I am Wyr,” Rune said. “That holds no place here. I am not here in any official kind of capacity. For this discussion, I am merely a man.”

“We agree on one thing,” Soren said. “Who and what you are is irrelevant.” The Djinn’s white starred eyes turned to Carling. “The tribunal has come to take you into custody.”

“Under what charges?” Carling said.

“Since the Wyr Lord managed to arrive before we did,” Soren replied, “I’m sure you know very well why we’re here and what we have come to put an end to.”

“Actually, I don’t,” said Carling. She forced herself to remain sounding calm and logical. Rune felt like a powder keg of violence beside her, needing only a random spark to make him blow. He stared at Rhoswen with a cold expression that promised violence. He needed her calm, and she knew from experience that logic would be the only thing that could persuade such a diverse group. “I’ve only heard supposition about why you might be coming, and gossip about decisions that might or might not have been made in my absence. I have not received any official declaration from the Elder tribunal itself.”

Restlessness stirred in the group, and both Sidhiel and Archer looked uncomfortable. Good, Carling thought. This should be difficult for you to do.

It was Julian who spoke next. “Carling, I’ve petitioned to have you removed as Nightkind Councillor, and my petition has been granted.”

When Julian spoke, Rune’s rage spiked. He bared his teeth as he stared with naked hate at the Nightkind King. As Carling nodded, she pressed hard on Rune’s shoulder.
Hold on
, she whispered gently in his head.
We must make them justify what they’ve decided, and put them on the defensive.
She said aloud, “That’s all very well and good, Julian. That certainly is the Nightkind King’s prerogative”—although it wouldn’t have been if she’d had five minutes alone with him—“but what does that have to do with the tribunal wanting to take me into custody?”

She sounded reasonable, intelligent, even tolerant. Julian watched her closely. Was that a flicker of confusion in his hard face?

“We have heard a detailed testimony of your condition,” the human witch Archer said, not unkindly.

Don’t I know who that was, Carling thought, as she stared at Rhoswen.

Archer was continuing. “We know that it is due to your advanced age. You are suffering from periodic episodes of increasing severity that are causing your Power to fluctuate and affect the world around you, yet you refuse to remain isolated to protect others. You are too Powerful and the results of that are too dangerous and not well understood. This can’t be allowed to continue, Carling.”

“I agree,” Carling said.

“And so do I,” said Rune. He projected all of his faith, all his passionate hope into his next words. “Which is why it is a very good thing we have discovered how to make it stop.”

The stirring that passed through the group was even greater, as the tribunal members looked at each other. All of them were looking increasingly uncomfortable.

Rhoswen’s perfect, composed facade cracked. Her eyes flashed up to meet Carling’s. Carling met her gaze coldly. Julian moved, a sudden betrayal of astonishment, his expression arrested.

Off to one side, Dragos and his mate stood side by side, watching the proceedings intently, Dragos with his arms crossed.

Soren asked, “You are sure you have stopped them?”

Rune shrugged. He appeared far more casual than he was. “She hasn’t had an episode since California, and we don’t expect her to have any more.”

That was stretching the truth all out of proportion, but he still made it sound completely sincere. Carling pushed the advantage and turned her next words into a delicate whip. “But this issue is far too serious to take any one person’s word for it.” She paused to let that sink in. Julian’s gaze flickered to his left, toward Rhoswen. Ah, that was all the confirmation she needed. She said, “Time will tell this tale. It would be an easy enough matter to set up a household where we can watch and wait.”

“You are willing to stay quarantined for an undetermined amount of time?” Soren said.

“Of course,” said Carling. She focused on Julian. “I didn’t leave the island just to be willful. I left with a clearly defined purpose.”

Rune interjected. “We’re willing only if we’re together. Carling is my mate, and I am not leaving her.”

And there drops the other shoe, Carling thought, as a fresh argument erupted. She almost found it in her to be amused.

Julian no longer wanted Carling in the Nightkind demesne. Carling gave him a heavy-lidded smile. She said gently, “That is perfectly fine with me.”

Her smile said to him, I know what you have done and tried to do. Exile me and turn your land into a prison. I may no longer come to the Nightkind demesne, but take one step out of your jurisdiction, and you are still my progeny, my child, and I may still command you. And now you have no idea how long I might live, or where I might be. You tried to take me down, and you would have killed me, and maybe you did all of that sincerely for the good of your people, but you also did it because you thought you would finally get out from underneath my authority. And while I understand all of that, I will not forgive you, because I know how to hold a grudge with all of my heart, and one day I will remind you of that. One day.

Then Dragos stirred and said, “This is a stupid conversation. Rune, of course you can come home to New York and bring your mate with you.” He gave Carling a machete smile. “We’d love to welcome you into the fold.”

“I’ll just bet you would,” she said to the dragon, with a blade in her smile every bit as keen and bright as his.

The argument that erupted at that was more vociferous and impassioned than ever. It turned out nobody was in favor of that option.

The morning was brightening. Streaks of yellow and pale rose lightened the dark purple sky. The sun would crest the horizon soon. Rune took Carling by the shoulders and turned her to face him. He stroked the short choppy hair off her face. He looked as tired as she felt.
I’m not sure anybody could really stop us if we did live in New York
, he said.
Although there is a great deal of pressure on Dragos right now.

No matter how strongly they had spoken to the tribunal, they still did not know if they had found a solution. She did not say it. She preferred, as he did, to look ahead with hope. Instead she asked,
Do you want to go back to New York?