Undying Hope (12 page)

“I’ve got it,” Nadia said. “Just tell me what you like.”

“Tea is fine, thank you.”

Nadia went for two teacups in the cabinet. “He is an overbearing jackass, but I say that in the most loving way possible.” She set the cups on the counter and went to the tea tin in the shape of a blooming rose. “You have questions. I have answers.”

Haven’s palms started to itch with the guilt of someone else taking care of her needs. She forced herself back to the kitchen table to perch in the chair. She did not like being the only one in a room not doing something. It reminded her too much of her pampered princess days with the Black Rose. “I guess he’s afraid to let me talk with his
treòir
. Should I even press that issue?”

Nadia peered through the door leading from the kitchen into the living room. She sat down next her. “Yes, you should, but—”

“Got it,” Haven said before the woman could finish. “Don’t make him crazy with it. Baby steps.”

“Exactly. They are taught to be wary of their power and to always have complete control. In a bonding, things get a little erratic while the
treòir
learns to interact with someone other than its host.” Nadia wrapped a hand around hers. “Follow your instincts. There is a part of you that knows you belong with Dov. Listen to your intuition. It is guiding you in the right direction.”

“Thank you,” Haven said. Having someone she could talk to when everything got weird that wasn’t giant and male was wonderful. “Would I be rude if I just wanted to go back to the penthouse? I need to figure out how to make all of this work so it doesn’t drive me crazy.”

“Not at all,” Nadia said with a smile. “I totally understand how crazy bonding is.”
Nadia stopped Haven before she left the room. “Fall in love with him. It was the one piece of advice I wish my grandmother would have told me when bonding to Riordan. A bonding won’t work if you’re not in love.” Nadia gave her a tight hug. “Call me if you need anything. We’ll have forever to chat.”

* * * *

Wolf stood in the center of the conference room. He assembled the rest of Quinn’s Cadens for a war council. The lodge in the center of the Wolf compound was where he decided to have the meeting that all in attendance thought would never come. Cadeyrn had found his lifebond. The occasion should have the entire Undying Nation exploding in jubilation, but Wolf held off on the good cheer. They could celebrate after the danger passed. Protecting Quinn and Haven while they bonded was his responsibility, and he would not fail them.

Wolf stood at the head of the oak table. “The rumor is true. Quinn Donovan, our Cadeyrn, has his lifebond, and she has agreed to mate with him.”

The power vibe in the room kicked up as all of the men and their
treòirs
came to full attention.

Wolf waited a beat. “They will need a constant guard until Kyros is defeated. The woman is not Kyros’s target, but she is the most vulnerable out of any of us. Brogan, I want a constant air patrol over the penthouse, and a dragon following them if they decide to leave.”

Heath Brogan was the oldest and largest known dragon to survive the time-shift and the Dragon Caden. Brogan nodded once. “I will call in a few other older Cadens from other tribes. I don’t want to risk my younger dragons to Kyros.”

“Agreed,” Wolf said as his attention turned to Maverick. “You’re on the ground. The Earth can sometimes hear things before we do, and I want to know there is danger before it happens, if possible.”

Ean Maverick, the Earth Caden and the son of the Original Earth Warrior,leaned against the door. “Aye,” Maverick said. “The child with them is of Earth, yes?”

Wolf nodded. “If Haven decides, the boy will stay with Nadia until the bonding is completed. Then he will go to you for training.”

Wolf worked his shoulders and paced the length of the white-walled room. Standing still made him itch. “Brody.” He moved on to the Hunter. “I want you to keep your focus on finding the meirlocks who infiltrated the Black Rose. Haven’s mate is to become their next leader, and I want to know all connections between her and the meirlock clan.” He was working on a hunch that Kyros was working with the Black Rose. He wanted confirmation before he told Quinn that he suspected Kyros wanted to turn himself into the meirlock version of the Cadeyrn.

The man with no power signature around him was Brody Hunter, Caden of the Hunters. He could track wind over water. If Brody couldn’t find it, then it didn’t exist. Brody pulled on his chin and then leaned back on the chair. “I’ve been watching the Black Rose for a few decades. I’ve yet to feel a meirlock presence at their headquarters.”

Wolf crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window at Riordan’s house. He wanted to bring Haven and Quinn here. He and his brother had this discussion a million times over the last fifty years. Quinn was more than the Chicago Pack or the Cadfael of the Undying tribe in America’s heartland. He understood Quinn didn’t want the other males to think he had preference for his home pack, but there was a reason the ruling packs had gated, compound-like communities. It was an argument for another day. For now, he needed to focus on keeping his brother alive. He turned back to the other men. “Keep watching the Black Rose,” he said to Brody. “We’re missing something, and I know it’s going to come bite me in the ass.”

Brody inclined his head.

Wolf moved on to the Storm Caden, Memphis. “We’ll need a supply of other realm fruit for after Haven is converted into an Undying.”

Memphis nodded. “Sheridan out of New York is already handling it. I want to be close to you if something goes wrong.”

“Good,” Wolf said. He’d worked closely with these men for the last fifteen hundred years of their lives, and in some cases longer. They knew what each other was thinking, but they still had meetings to make sure everyone knew what was expected of them. “I will keep myself available in case Quinn turns.” He clenched his jaw.

The bonds of brotherhood couldn’t matter. Before the time-shift, he hadn’t worried about who would take out his brother if Quinn turned, but the Originals were gone. The first Undying men were created by a power not of the Earth realm. The youngest of the first seven was over the age of five thousand. They could easily take out any of the men standing in this room should it become necessary, but they went missing when the Undying Nation was pulled through two thousand years of time.

Wolf refused to believe they were dead. If they were, it meant his sister, Fenris’s mate, was dead, and he wasn’t prepared to cope with the loss.

“Wolf,” Riordan, the Caden of Healers, said as he stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Quinn is strong enough to survive this. You’re doing everything right.”

“Aye, little brother.” Riordan hadn’t been little for two millennia, but Wolf would forever think of him as such. “I want you to direct all non-life-threatening injuries to Michael. Quinn is going to need you the most. There are things I don’t understand about bonding, but you do.”

“We’ve got this,” Riordan said. “Just have a little faith.”

That was the problem. The last time Wolf had faith, he’d woken up completely healed from injuries that should have killed him. To make the situation worse, he’d been in the middle of a busy highway, having no idea what the giant metal beast with white glowing eyes bearing down on him had been. Now he knew it was a semi-truck, but he wasn’t ready to trust the universe again this soon.

* * * *

Her quiet day at home turned into some good old-fashioned retail therapy—with a billion dollar shopping limit. All right, so Quinn hadn’t given her the green light to spend every penny he had, but she was starting to think his hummer wasn’t going to be large enough to hold everything she’d gotten for the kitchen and for her new wardrobe, not to mention what she’d bought for Bastian. She was with
thee
Quinn Donovan, and part of her couldn’t get out of the need-to-look-perfect-in-front-of-the-people attitude she’d grown up with in the Black Rose, even as sheltered as she’d been from its day-to-day operations. Grandfather had insisted she look nothing less than perfect.

“I should be staying with Ean,” Bastian said as they entered the food court of the mall.

Ean? Oh, right. That Earth Warrior everyone kept saying Bastian had to be introduced to. Quinn must have said something to him while she’d been in the shower after they got back to the penthouse. She understood if Kyros, or anyone from the Black Rose, found her, things could get dangerous, and it was the responsible, adult thing to do to give him to someone who wasn’t in the line of fire. But he was hers. She’d fed him, loved him, and kept him safe all on her own for the last three years. Damn it! And keeping him safe was knowing when to let him go.

She needed to talk to Quinn.

He was loading a fourth round of bags into his Hummer as she assessed which fast food establishment would give Bastian the best nutrition. “Ean has other things to worry about at the moment, I’m sure,” she said and tried to keep a smile plastered to her face. “Besides, I need someone who will help keep me sane while I do this Undying bonding thing.”

Bastian snorted and stopped in front of the fried chicken stand. “That’s why you have the wolves. I’ll just be in the way. It will only be like a week.”

“You are not eating all that grease,” she snapped. “A week? Bonding only takes a week?” Yeah, she kind of got that the speedy way things happened with Mason wasn’t how it was supposed to go, but Nadia left her with the impression she would fall in love with her lifebond before the actual bonding happened.

“Give or take, according to Riordan.” Bastian made that pleading puppy-dog face he was so good at as he stared at the chicken forlornly. “It’s not going to kill me, and I haven’t had anything fried in years.”

True. A vat of fried chicken for one meal probably wouldn’t do anything to harm his astonishing growth. Guilt was a cruel mistress. Did she give into the guilt of handing Bastian’s care over to someone else, or him being a
couple
of pounds underweight? She let out a slow huff of breath. “No, but you’re going to grow to be roughly the size of a small giant. Good food will help with that.”

“Come on, Haven, please.” He extended the last word. “How am I ever going to be more than a pole if I can’t eat some junk food?”

Another moment of guilt hit her hard, but before she could say anything, Bastian did a cute version of an Undying growl. “Don’t go there,” he said. “I got the chance to live to find people just like me. You’re awesome, and I’d never have gotten here if it wasn’t for you.”

She wrapped her arm around him. “Oh, my Bastian.”

“We’re gonna be okay.” He wiggled out of her hold, and his expression went embarrassed, his eyes darting around the food court as if he was checking to be sure other kids weren’t looking. “You got us to where we needed to be.”

“Get the chicken,” she said. That boy always seemed to know how to twist up her brain until she had no idea which way was up, and he never meant to do it.

A smile brightened his young face. “Thank you!”

She smiled back at him, despite feeling as if she was still several steps behind where she needed to be for all of this to work.

“Have we decided what we’re getting for lunch?” Quinn asked when he was suddenly standing behind her.

“Fried chicken,” Haven said while making a face.

Quinn laughed softly as his hand curled over her shoulder. “There are plenty of places to choose from. Why don’t I give him some money to get what he wants, and we’ll find something more acceptable for your tastes?”

“Mall food isn’t exactly in line with—” She snapped her mouth shut. The man had already spent a fortune on her and Bastian today, and even if he was loaded, that didn’t mean he needed to take her to some fancy restaurant for lunch. Thinking about the cost was making her lightheaded, but it seemed
her
spending
his
money made Quinn calmer. “How about a burger?”

Quinn’s dark brow winged up, but he only nodded. He got out his wallet and handed Bastian an absurd amount of money. “There’s an arcade right over there if you’re interested,” he said to Bastian.

Haven bit her lip. She had to keep telling herself everything would be fine. Quinn would know of trouble before anything happened. Bastian was safe. She was safe. It had to be true, or she wasn’t going to survive five seconds without being able to see the kid. Some of her building tension eased when his young face lit into a smile. “Fried chicken and video games? I will behave, and I promise to call the second I feel trouble.” He was in line to get his food the next second, leaving Haven and Quinn standing alone in the middle of the food court.

She had no idea how she was supposed to be acting around him yet. He seemed accepting of anything she felt like doing, but Mason started out that way, too. Mason had been overwhelming with how fast he pushed her, but at the moment, she wasn’t getting that vibe of dread. She also needed to start listening to her intuition. It had been right about Mason, even if she hadn’t been able to act to protect herself. Instinct was probably right about Quinn. “You’re good with a burger?” she asked. “There isn’t something else you’d prefer?”

His mouth curved in a sexy little half-grin that told her exactly what he’d prefer for lunch—dessert—and she was on the menu. “Burgers are fine. I just need to eat.”

She scanned the other establishments and picked out the one that looked like it would have something healthy for her. She wasn’t vain about her figure, but she did need to watch what she ate or she would pack on the pounds. She hadn’t needed to worry about her weight while they were on the run, but now that she didn’t have to skip meals to feed Bastian, it could sneak up on her.

It might provide the excuse she needed to get back into Middle Eastern dancing. She’d owned her own studio and taught classes before Mason. The one thing Grandfather had allowed her to have all for herself. Maybe she’d be able to get Quinn to let her teach again. Dancing was the one joy she’d had while living under the shadow of the Black Rose.

She went for a place that served burgers and tried not to pay attention to how they were being prepared. “This one works. What do you feed the wolves?”