Undying Hope (21 page)

* * * *

Her laughter was a soothing balm. He loved to watch her move. The sway in her hips, the little feminine gestures she did without knowing. If anyone thought he was the one who held the power in the relationship, they were wrong. Haven could spellbind him with one look from those pale green eyes. She held all the strength and command he’d spent centuries acquiring, honing into the fine-bladed weapon of destruction in the palm of her delicate hand. If she only knew the power she wielded. For her, he’d tear apart the world, and for her, he’d find a way to mend it.

They had just gotten to the bottom step when the penthouse rattled. Wolf and Memphis’s presence filled his senses. Donovan redirected them into the kitchen as the portal room door opened.

“My lord,” Memphis said as he dragged Wolf out with him. “He wanted to come here first. I will get Riordan and stay with Nadia and the boy.” A small tornado twisted around the man, shaking the appliances, and he vanished from sight.

“Haven, get the first aid kit,” Donovan said as he stooped down to help Wolf to his feet.

The building rattled again just before Riordan stepped into the kitchen with his white wolf, Echo, in tow. Haven ran to get the kit.

“What happened?” Donovan asked as he eased Wolf into a chair in the kitchen.

Wolf’s clothes had been ripped opened from one end to the other. Scrapes and lacerations covered every part of his exposed skin. His voice was easy, almost light. “Your quarry has a den, brother.”

Donovan took out his buck knife and started to cut away at the threads of cloth still stuck to each other. “And you decided to check it out on your own?”

“You need to see to our Reannon,” he said, as if the explanation made all the sense in the world. “I took Brogan and Hunter with me.”

“What else did you find out?” At least Wolf was allowing the other Cadens to help him. Donovan kept his emotions and voice controlled as he continued his work while Riordan healed Wolf’s mangled leg. Wolf and Riordan meant more to him than he was able to put words to, and guilt sliced through him when one of them was hurt.

“He has been amassing your army. Kind of like the good old days. He’s going to send them after you. Many human lives will be lost.”

“My army?” Donovan demanded. “Cut the cryptic crap.”

“Black Rose. It appears Mason was not acting on his own.”

Donovan stilled and then cursed. Of course. Kyros wanted to win. He was attempting to recreate the Undying structure and alliances in a dark mirror reflection, with himself as Cadeyrn at the top. “How many follow him?”

“A thousand at my last count,” Wolf said. “I sent the Hunter to help ferret out information.”

Brody Hunter was perfect for the task. He could mask his power and appear human to all, including Kyros, as long as Kyros didn’t recognize him.

“We cannot kill that many humans. Human authorities would notice,” Donovan said, pulling at the stubble on his face.

“I wouldn’t worry over much,” Wolf drawled. “Kyros always uses his charisma to build the quickest, stupidest army.”

“Stupid doesn’t make an army any less dangerous, and it’s not the warriors that are the problem you need to worry about. It’s the general. Kyros was always a good general, one of the best.”

“Then you need to be very worried. He’s planning an attack, and I can guarantee you the woman is at the heart of his plans.”

Donovan went still. “Wolf.” His voice was a growled warning.

“He plans to try to convert her.” Wolf tried to stand up to get into his brother’s face, but Riordan pushed him back down to keep working on a nasty gouge in Wolf’s upper thigh. “If he gets his hands on her, you know the death she faces.”

Donovan swung his arm as he turned to pace, barely missing Riordan’s head with the blade still in his hand. He stopped short when he saw Haven standing in the door. The white box of medical supplies clutched in her hands fell to the ground and scattered across the floor. Donovan took a step toward her, but she coiled, ready to run. With two quick steps, he had her caged in his arms. “I won’t let him do that to you. You are safe. I promise.”

Her eyes closed, and she buried her face in his chest. “He can’t do it if you’ve already changed me, Quinn.”

“She speaks truth,”
the
treòir
said deep in his mind. They were both right, but he could not—would not—risk her that way. “I will stop him before it gets to that point.”

Her whole body trembled as she extracted herself from his arms and stooped to clean up the medical supplies. She righted herself, carried the box over to the table, set it down next to Wolf, and turned to look at Quinn. “We will talk about this later. Your brother needs attention.”

Riordan pointed to the door. Donovan clenched his jaw. Wolf’s health came before arguments. A savage growl rumbled from him as he stalked from the room. He walked into the main hall, his eyes going over his battle regalia from an ancient era long past. His hand lifted to touch the hilt of his sword. Countless had died under that blade when he was in a battle rage. He carefully pulled it off its mount on the wall and tested the weight in his hand. Perfectly balanced, the ultimate killing weapon. He stepped into the living room to swing the sword a few times. He closed his eyes. He could see the battlefields all shifting and merging into one. The chilling ring of metal against metal as men fought in deadly combat for their very lives to defeat an enemy.

The feud with Kyros had to end. He carefully put the weapon back on the wall mounting. He caressed the soft leather of the garb, and then he turned to see Riordan and his Haven working together to patch Wolf up enough to get him into bed. She needed to be safe. He wouldn’t allow Kyros to kill her. All of his power meant nothing without her. What was the point if he couldn’t protect the one thing that mattered in all his long, lonely centuries? His mind was made up. He knew what he had to do. He walked back into the kitchen. He pulled Haven into him and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He bent down and claimed her mouth with his.

“I love you,” he whispered and then left her standing there as he walked out to go hunting.

* * * *

Haven started to follow him, but Wolf whipped his hand out and caught her wrist. “He’ll be okay, Reannon. He just has to see for himself.”

“See what?” She watched some of the less extensive wounds heal and then fade as if nothing had happened, the same way the scar on Quinn’s chest hadn’t lasted a day. “Look at you! Is he going to come back to me like this?”

Wolf laughed quietly and then let out a sharp hiss when Riordan nudged his arm. Riordan stood up and regarded Haven with the same predator eyes his brother had. “Kyros has been trying to kill him for a thousand years. He won’t get himself killed this night.”

She closed her eyes and sank into one of the empty chairs. She stayed there for a moment before she abruptly stood, went to the refrigerator, and pulled out four chunks of meat. “I know Echo, but I don’t know the gray one.”

“He is Apollo,” Wolf said as he cocked his head to watch her with his ever-glowing eyes. “You do not have to feed them.”

“Yes, I do. Donovan gave Bastian to Nadia and has left me with nothing to care for, since Nikon takes care of Medea and himself. I don’t know what to do with myself.”

A light hand rested on her shoulder. The presence of Riordan was nothing like Quinn’s or Wolf’s. He was calming, soothing in everything that he did, from the way that he spoke to how he moved. “Your worry for him is to be expected, but Quinn has not survived as long as he has by being reckless. It can take him years, sometimes centuries, to make up his mind about something, but once he does, he is immovable.”

“Or seconds,” she whispered. She went to turn the oven on low. “I know you don’t like overly cooked meat, but I didn’t know we were going to have company. It’s not all completely thawed. I’ll make the meat as rare as I can.” She took the freezer wrapping off, put the steak into a pan, and placed it in the oven.

“Um, I can make up Bastian’s room for Wolf to stay tonight. He can heal himself like Quinn can?”

“Yes,” Riordan said, his eyes fading into a brilliant blue.

“All right, I will be right back, and I’ll find something of Quinn’s for Wolf to wear. Should we clean him up more?”

Wolf growled. “I can bathe myself, woman. Stop worrying.”

Haven shot him a look full of daggers. “I will stop worrying when you stop trying to get yourself mangled while helping me.” She stormed off down the hall, muttering to herself about male stupidity. Nikon was close to her heels.

“Medea is with him in mind,”
Nikon said.
“The dark one is not going to battle.”

“It sure seemed like he was. He said he loves me, and then he just left, just like that.” Her bottom lip started to quiver, and she willed back the tears that wanted to come as she went into Bastian’s room, stripped the bed, and then put the new sheets on. Nikon was silent for a time.

“He has only been in this civilized world fifty years, young heart. He doesn’t always respond the way you might think he would.”

She tucked the pillows into place, gathered the bedding off the floor, and took it into the laundry room. “He’s actually more civilized than I’d expect him to be. I’ve shared his deepest thoughts. I have no misconceptions about what he is.”

“Yet you still want to be with him.”

Haven stuffed everything into the washer, started the laundry, and then went up to the bedroom. “I love him, Nikon. God help me, I do. It makes no sense in my head, and I know so much better than to let anything happen this fast, but he’s Quinn. I’ve never met anyone like him.”

“And you will never meet another. He is part warrior and part savior. He keeps the very gates of hell closed.”

Haven went back to the kitchen and checked on the meat for something to do with her hands. It was still cold in some places, so she put the pan back in and then took a seat at the table. “Then how can I convince him? He’s terrified the same thing will happen to us that happened to Kyros and Helena.”

Wolf shifted his golden gaze to Riordan. “After Echo has been fed, I think you’re wife needs you.”

Riordan studied Wolf, and he slowly nodded. “Very well, as long as you haven’t hidden any wounds from me, I will go home, but you cannot rest until Quinn has returned.”

Wolf’s eyes glowed. “I know.”

* * * *

Haven didn’t like being alone with Wolf. Apollo was friendly enough, but Wolf made her shiver. There was something cold and animalistic about him. While Quinn had compassion, Wolf seemed to have none, which frightened her. He was in the living room in one of Quinn’s over-sized recliners. His eyes were closed, and Haven let out a breath. She grabbed a blanket, figuring Quinn could make him move later if necessary, and went to place the afghan over him. His glowing eyes snapped open. He caught her by the wrist, pulled her on top of him, and clamped her in place with an arm banded around her. They were face to face. “You want my brother to live?”

“Yes.” Her voice quivered.

“Would you die for him?”

“Yes.”

The smile of a predator spread across his face. He pulled her hand closer to him and then placed the necklace the pixie had given Quinn into her hand. “It will give you the ability to disconnect from him…along with enhancing your natural talents. Always wear it.”

“Why would I want to do that?” she asked in a shaking voice.

“It’s difficult to be a properly mysterious woman when he can read all of your thoughts.”

She jerked to get off him, but he wasn’t ready to let her go. He placed a small, unadorned knife into her other hand. “Make sure he is near when you do it. He will not let you die.”

Then he let her up. “Practice using the necklace. Nikon can instruct you.” His eyes closed, and his arm dropped over the arm of the recliner to scratch at Apollo’s ears as he settled his large frame.

Haven stared at the knife in her hand and then slowly went to the bedroom on the second floor.

* * * *

The woman was dead. Body parts sprawled over a snow-covered rooftop. Donovan had been too late to save another one. A burning rage simmered in his gut. There would be yet another body for the city to clean up, and they would get another anonymous donation to cover the expenses. This game with Kyros had to end. Too many innocents were losing their lives. Their battle had always been about them, but he couldn’t allow Kyros’s evil to touch Haven. Kyros knew the real value of a lifebond. They bound to their mate for life. Not to the humdrum of every day existence, but to the essence of living. To happiness. To contentment. To the things that make waking up each day worth the fight. Donovan would make a promise with the devil to assure Haven’s survival as a human.

The air moved around him. He stood up and braced himself for the impact. A swirling vortex cracked opened with the orb of black and red lightning around it. Kyros came out in a rush and knocked Donovan forward, his head bouncing off the side of the building. Donovan wiped the blood from his face and then willed the flow to stop as he turned around to face his enemy.

Kyros chuckled. His arms crossed over his chest, and his legs spread in a power stance. “You always cared too much, Cadeyrn.”

“And you too little,” Donovan said while being careful of the emotion in his voice. “This ends now.”

Kyros made a tisking sound. “It ends when I say it does.”

“You don’t have the power to—”

“Don’t I?” Kyros taunted. “Then why haven’t you bothered to kill me yet?”

Donovan fisted his hand. “What do you want from me?”

“To win. I thought you’d have figured that out by now.”

Donovan studied the man he had once called a friend. They circled around each other in a steady, predatory stalk. If Haven had been converted, giving up his power wouldn’t be an option, but since she wasn’t Undying, there was one thing he could do to keep Kyros from forcing her to drink his blood. “I will not convert Haven. I must give up my power.”

Kyros froze. “You would never—”

“But I will,” Donovan cut him off. “You of all people should know what a real lifebond means. You’ve already won. All you have to do is outlive me.”