The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) (29 page)

Artair almost laughed before he stopped himself.

Rhiannon’s frown told him she’d caught his amusement.

“So, Arthur, you will give up your humanity for Rebecca
Massee?”

“Rebecca MacKay. And, aye. I will stay by her side for as long
as she lives.”

“You have no idea how true your words are.” She gave him an
amused chuckle. “Nay, you have no idea. I shall send the changelings to Johann
to take Frida back to Avalon and prepare her for burial. I will come for you on
the morrow.” She disappeared in her usual flare before explaining the little
riddle she’d tossed his way.

Artair was more focused on Bonnie than Rhiannon’s enigma. She’d
never assured him that Bonnie would be given over to his care permanently, but
he had too much to do to worry about it.

Laying the now sleeping bairn in her cradle, he hurried to
Rebecca’s side. Artair scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed.
Yanking aside the quilt, he gently set her down and smoothed her wild hair away
from her face. Watching her chest rise and fall, he took comfort in the easy
rhythm. After checking to be sure Bonnie was still asleep, he stripped off his
blood-stained shirt, discarded his deerhide boots and stretched out next to
Rebecca. He covered them both with the quilt and tugged her into his arms.

When faced with nothing but quiet, it dawned on him that he’d
been dead. He remembered watching his own lifeless body from a distance,
hovering over Rebecca as she’d used her powers—the powers his death had given
her—to breathe life back into him before his soul had strayed too far to call
back. Had the magicks she’d wielded changed her? Had he lost his Becca to the
alluring power?

She sighed his name softly and snuggled a little closer against
him.

He kissed her forehead.

As he allowed sleep to drug his mind, he realized there was
much to be resolved if there was to be a happily ever after for his new
family.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The fussy cries of a baby woke Rebecca from sleep that
felt as deep as death. The world slowly came into focus, her hazy vision of
little help. She had no idea where she was. And for a few chilling moments, she
had no idea
what
she was.

Then she realized the voices had mercifully stilled. Her mind
was again her own, but it remained in tangles. The baby’s continued cries forced
her to come to her senses.

The bed groaned as a weight beside her left the mattress. She
rolled to her side to see Artair, dressed only in his plaid, walk across the
wooden floor. The man could move as silently as a ghost.

“Ah, you’re awake, Bonnie mine,” he said in a hushed tone. “I
suppose you’ll be needing some cleaning up and some breakfast.”

The cries turned to coos and babbles that touched Rebecca’s
heart. She pushed herself up on an elbow, feeling more than a little bit
battered and bruised. Her muscles ached, and her joints were slow to bend. A
groan escaped her lips.

Artair turned. His gaze caught hers. He seemed to take a quick
inventory of her, then he smiled. “Ah, you’re awake as well. ’Twould seem both
my girls have finally chosen to greet the sun.”

“Both your girls?”

He nodded, turning back to smile down at the baby as he worked
to change her diaper. “How does this unfasten?”

As she heard him rip at the diaper’s tapes, she had to contain
a smile at how unsure of himself he was because she was afraid he would think
she was making fun of him. For once, the man wasn’t cocky and self-assured, and
his infinite care and concern for the child made her heart swell with love.

“I’ve decided to keep the bairn,” he announced as if he was
talking about something as boring as the price of bread. “Seems as if the lassie
needs a family. I appointed us for the job.”

“Us?” That didn’t make any sense. Rhiannon would want to take
the baby away and let another of her priestesses raise her. She didn’t dare
believe Artair meant what he said. “You said us. As in you and me?”

“Aye.” But he didn’t elaborate.

Although the voices were silent and her mind was again her own,
her thoughts still seemed disjointed and more than a bit surreal. Surely she was
dreaming. She tried to make sense of where they were.

A one-room cabin. And it was in shambles. Some of the furniture
was upended and pushed against the walls as if someone had tried to open up a
large space in the middle of the room. Pictures lay on the floor in crumpled
frames and piles of shattered glass. Curtains fluttered in the light breeze,
blowing through windows that held no panes. “What happened to this place? It
looks like a hurricane went through here.”

“Oh, aye.” He chuckled. “’Twas a wicked storm you made.”

“
I
made? What are you—?” But the
memory wouldn’t come. “I don’t understand.”

“You don’t remember?” He pulled the diaper from Bonnie, folded
it together and secured it with the attached tape. He clucked his tongue at her.
“’Tis a muckle lot of mess you made, lassie.” He wrinkled his nose. “I’ve no
idea how such a wee bairn could create such a big stink.” Dropping the diaper in
a small trash pail that was miraculously upright, Artair glanced around. “I need
a washing cloth.”

This
Rebecca understood. “There are
some in that blue container.”

His gaze settled on an upended box of wet wipes. “Thank ye
kindly.” Grabbing the box, he removed a few cloths and proceeded to clean
Bonnie. Once that task was complete, he looked around again.

“Under the crib. The big box.”

Artair nodded. Then he took a new diaper from the battered
carton.

She stifled a chuckle watching him open the diaper then turn it
this way and that, having trouble figuring out which end was which. With a huff,
he chose a tack and went about diapering the baby.

“Where’d you learn to do that?” She slowly worked her way to
her feet. The room had a nasty habit of shifting from moment to moment, and her
muscles ached as if she’d overexerted training. She hadn’t hurt this bad since
her first week in Avalon, and she hadn’t been this dizzy since the day after her
bachelorette party where she’d drank far too many jumbo-sized strawberry
margaritas.

That seemed a million years ago.

“I’ve nae learned it. I’m just…improvising.” Artair picked up
the baby. She giggled as he rubbed his lightly whiskered face against her cheek.
Then he held her to his shoulder. “Seems that all of her important parts are
covered. ’Tis all that matters.”

Rebecca smiled and nodded. “You called her Bonnie. Is that her
name?”

“I don’t really know, but ’tis the name I’ve given her for
now.” He patted the baby’s diapered bottom. “Seemed to fit such a bonny
lassie.”

Forcing herself to take inventory of the damage she’d
sustained, she gaped at her clothing, at least what was left of it. Her workout
pants were practically shredded, as was her shirt. She looked like some castaway
from a shipwreck.

Bits and pieces of the ordeal came back to her, and she took a
deep, shuddering breath. What had she almost become? And how did she return to
being herself? The memories were too vague, too cloudy, too hard to grasp.

She remembered the voices of the Ancients, how they swam in her
head, drowning out her own intentions. And she remembered Sparks.

She hadn’t been able to save her friend. How could she live
with the guilt? “Where did you take Sparks?”

Artair sighed. “The changelings took her as we slept. They’re
preparing her body for burial.” He frowned. “’Tis nae your fault, sweeting.”

“I couldn’t save her. I didn’t have enough time. Not after I
saved you—” The words froze her clear through to her bones. She’d lost him—even
if only for a moment, she’d lost him. “Oh, my God. You were dead. I saw it with
my own eyes. How did I—how did I bring you back?”

He came to Rebecca and pulled her to sit with him on the side
of the bed. “’Tis an ancient power granted to some goddesses, especially to
those born of Gaia.”

“Gaia? My mother? I don’t understand.”

“Well, most of it’s still a mystery to me as well. I didn’t
have time to question Rhiannon last night.” He stroked Bonnie’s back. “I had my
lasses to tend to.”

“Rhiannon. I think I remember her being here. She helped me?
She really helped me?”

“Aye, she helped you. She brought you back to your humanity.”
His eyes scanned the room. “You’re responsible for this.”

Rebecca let her gaze follow his. With the exceptions of
Bonnie’s crib, the changing table and the bed they sat on, everything else in
the place was destroyed. “I did all of this? How?”

“I’m nae sure. As Rhiannon pulled the powers from you, this was
the result.”

She leaned her weary head against his shoulder and rubbed her
fingertips across the brooch she kept pinned over her heart. “Do we go back to
Avalon now? Do we go back home and plan how to find Helen?”

He kissed the top of her head. “Aye. The goddesses have
restored our home, but I’m nae sure what we will do about Helen. ’Twill nae be
an easy thing to resolve. Her magicks are strong, and she’s a goddess now.”

“Like I was a goddess. Oh, Artair, I hated it. And I—I loved
it.” The power had been all-consuming, and for a moment she regretted the loss
of something that commanding. But the disappointment was quickly gone, replaced
by gratitude to no longer have the Ancients controlling her. Being an Amazon was
all she wanted. Being with Artair was all she needed. “When can we go home? I
want to go back to Avalon.”

Rhiannon popped in so fast Rebecca jumped in surprise.

Artair set Bonnie in Rebecca’s arms and stood to salute the
goddess. “M’lady, as always, your timing is impeccable.”

Rhiannon glared at him then turned her gaze to Rebecca.

Rebecca had a million questions for the goddess, but at that
moment, she could only stare down at the big blue eyes that held her transfixed.
“Hi, Bonnie. I’m Rebecca.”

Bonnie smiled and gurgled an answer. A small bubble formed
between her lips.

Rebecca’s heart was forever lost to the little girl. She hugged
Bonnie and sighed in happiness. “I’ll take care of you. I’ll love you.”

“Bonnie?” Rhiannon arched an eyebrow at Artair.

“Aye. You failed to tell me her name.”

“’Twould seem that mattered little since you chose a new one
for her,” Rhiannon scolded before her face softened. “Nay, she has a new life.
She should have a new name. She may stay with you and my Earth.”

Rhiannon snapped her fingers, and Beagan and Dolan appeared in
the cabin. Each held a bundle of clean clothing. Their gazes settled on Rebecca
and Bonnie.

“A child!” Beagan squealed. He hurried to the bed and dropped
the clothes on the quilt. “We will have a child to care for.”

Dolan followed Beagan to the bed and dropped off his bundle as
well. “Oh, mistress. A child. We always wanted a child to tend.”

Rebecca smiled at the changelings. “I know the feeling.”

Beagan reached out to stroke Bonnie’s curly hair. “A child,” he
said again.

Dolan had tears in his eyes. “We have come to take her to
Avalon. We have prepared your new home.” He looked up at Artair. “Rhiannon had
us prepare a home for you and your new family.”

“Family?” Rebecca asked in a breathless whisper. “Our
family?”

The smile Artair gave her warmed her through and through. “Aye,
Becca mine.
Our
family.”

Rhiannon cleared her throat.

“Rhiannon,” Rebecca said with a grateful nod, “I can’t thank
you enough for all your help.”

“Yes, well…you are my Amazon after all. How is the child?”

“She is well,” Artair replied. “Probably a bit hungry,
though.”

Rhiannon turned her attention back to Rebecca. “I came to
discuss your mother. Gaia.”

“Aye,” Artair drawled. “’Tis time we solve this mystery.”

Rhiannon waved in dismissal, an action Rebecca had grown
accustomed to. “There is no mystery, MacKay. Gaia has been in hiding amongst
humanity for millennia, and she does not wish to be found. After eons of being
tortured by her sons and her husbands, she wanted some peace. Unfortunately, she
has a hard time controlling her sexual appetites. She is, after all, Mother
Earth and is sensual and loving. She asked for my help when she discovered I was
searching for powerful warriors. She wanted her daughters to be free of their
connection to her, free from the danger that tie would mean to them. Her
daughters now become my Amazons.”

“And her sons?” Artair asked.

Rhiannon dismissed the question with another wave of her hand.
“’Tis a story for another time.”

“But then, wouldn’t I be a goddess? If I’m the daughter of a
goddess, wouldn’t I be one too? I don’t want to be—”

Rhiannon interrupted with a shake of her head. “Nay, you are a
mere human. Born of Gaia and whatever human lover she had taken at the time. She
does not consort with the Ancients, choosing to dwell among the humans,
constantly changing her incarnation to remain young. Gaia’s blood makes you
sufficiently strong to be an Amazon, but it alone is not enough to make you a
goddess. You needed a sacrifice to ensure your ascension.” She turned to Artair.
“A sacrifice of one who loves you very much.”

Rebecca shuddered at the memory of Artair’s death, trying brush
it aside, yet knowing that it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Have you told her, Sentinel?” Rhiannon asked with a delicately
arched eyebrow. “Have you told her of her new status?”

“Nay,” Artair replied with a note of anxiety in his voice. “I
was waiting for a moment of privacy, m’lady.”

Rebecca had no idea what they were talking about, and she was
sick and tired of feeling ignorant. “Artair? What does she mean? What new
status?”

His eyes held so much tenderness, the breath caught in her
throat. “Patience, Becca mine. We shall talk. Soon.”

“Promise?”

“Aye.”

Beagan and Dolan still fussed over Bonnie, wanting to hold her.
Rebecca reluctantly handed the baby to Dolan, who cradled Bonnie as if she was
the most delicate of crystal. The changeling was crying with happiness. Beagan
stood at his side, no less overjoyed. Bonnie would have two very devoted
nannies.

Suddenly, she was exhausted, feeling her strength disappear.
She lay back on the bed, letting her head fall on the pillow that still bore
Artair’s wonderful scent.

Beagan knit his brows. “Are you unwell, mistress?”

“I’m fine. Just really tired. Since Bonnie has you and Dolan to
take care of her, I figured I could rest for a little bit.”

Artair pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. “Are you
ill, lass? Have you a fever?”

“I’m fine, Artair. Really. I just need some more sleep.”
Rebecca gave him a weak smile.

He didn’t appear convinced. “Perhaps the changelings should
take Bonnie back to Avalon. You can get your rest and we can talk. Then we’ll
join them.”

Reluctant to let Bonnie go, she hesitated.

Artair made the decision for her. “Go on, lads. Take the bairn
and get her settled in. We will join you later.”

Needing no further encouragement, they scampered out the
door.

“I shall leave you now to your discussion.” Rhiannon extended
her palm and blinked. A cell phone appeared. Handing it to Artair, she said,
“Call Johann when you are ready to return to Avalon. He will come fetch
you.”

The goddess left as abruptly as she had arrived.

Artair put the phone on the changing table then sat next to
Rebecca.

“She’ll be fine with them,” Rebecca said, not knowing if she
was reassuring herself or Artair.

“Aye. Bonnie will have the best of care. And you, Becca mine,
need some rest.” He sat down on the side of the bed and reached out to stroke
her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Are you truly well?”