Undying Hope (5 page)

“Thank you, sir.” Bastian awkwardly bowed his head. “Which room may I use?”

“The room at the end of the hall.”

Bastian bowed his head again. He lifted his backpack over his shoulder and leaned down to kiss Haven’s cheek. “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.” Then he sauntered off down the hall.

Haven stood there and watched him walk away. She had to remind herself he was getting to be an age where he didn’t want someone to tuck him in at night. She waited until the door of the guestroom closed before she turned to face Quinn. “I don’t understand. Why is he so accepting of you? He doesn’t like men near me.”

“His
treòir
has enough of an education to keep an altercation from happening before either of you are ready.” Quinn crouched down next to Nikon and gave him a good ear rub with one hand while patting Medea softly with the other. “Bastian has hope. He is still good and recognizes the good in me.”

She turned away and cleared her throat. “If you’ll just tell me where to go…”

Quinn gave an extra pat before he stood up and snagged her bag out of her hands. “I’ll show you.”

Haven could only nod. She had no idea what she was doing or how she was supposed to be reacting to anything. He was taking her to his room. Did that mean he was expecting sex?

“No
.” Nikon said softly only to her. “
He knows you’re not handling any of this well
.” The wolf padded over to her to offer her support as she followed Quinn through his home.

She stared down at Nikon. He managed to look guilty. “
I can hear what is important for me to hear. Every other thought you have is your own unless you choose to share.”

She wasn’t exactly sure how that was supposed to work. Mason had been able to pick up on her thoughts, too, but she had only gotten hums and whispers before meeting the wolves. Her gaze snapped to Quinn’s back as he bent down to grab her other bag. She slapped her hand over her eyes. But damn the man had a nice ass, and he could probably hear her thoughts!

The sound of Nikon laughing resonated in her head. “
He is honorable. Even if he was listening to you, he wouldn’t mention it.”

Haven stroked her hand down Nikon’s back before they started the assent of the stairs. She kept her eyes on her feet so she wouldn’t trip up the steps. Which also kept her from checking out Quinn’s butt on the way upstairs.

“I am sure he is
,” was Haven’s reply, but it also disappointed her. If the world could be different… She let the thought fall away. Nothing was different. She had Bastian to worry about, and she needed to figure out how she was going to manage to keep herself from getting too wrapped up in the man that was Quinn Donovan.

He opened the door at the top of the stairs and flicked on a light. He stepped back and allowed her to enter the room first. His size made the space in the hall scant, and their bodies brushed against each other. She shivered from the intense heat and quickly darted into the room.

Quinn followed Haven and set the bag down by the bed. He pointed to another door along one wall. “Bathroom is in there, and I’ll be downstairs in my office if you need anything. The first door before Bastian’s room.”

The room was just as dark and cavernous as the rest of his home. Deep blues and warm, dark woods shrouded the room. A California king-sized bed sat in the center of the far wall between two long horizontal windows looking out at Lake Michigan. One tall dresser sat to the right of a wall of closet space. A fluffy dog-style bed big enough for two wolves rested under the left window. Haven did her best to ignore being in his bedroom and turned around to face him. “I haven’t thanked you, yet. For helping us.”

He smiled. “It wasn’t any trouble.”

But saving her had been trouble. Kyros had emanated a power vibe that nearly matched Quinn’s own. They both had more than Mason. She managed a wobbly smile back. “Thank you, anyway.”

“You’ve been through a lot,” Quinn said. There was a flash of a golden glow in his eyes. “You’re safe here. I will leave Nikon with you.”

“What about Medea?” she whispered. Nikon wound his body around her before he sat at her side. Her hand went to the top of his head.

* * * *

In that moment, Donovan believed she could be his. He swallowed hard, trying to get the lump out of his throat. “She’ll stay with me.”

His
treòir
stirred at the image presented to them, evoking primal emotions from deep within. His wolf had bonded to a woman. Somehow, he’d missed, or more likely ignored, Haven’s connection to him before, but now he could clearly see the link. Nikon would kill any being stupid enough to try to hurt Haven. The thought scared him. He didn’t know which way Haven’s decision would fall, nor did it matter. His power didn’t have much longer to live in the world.

“I will not leave my lifebond so easily,”
the
treòir
promised in a deadly tone.

Giving up his power wasn’t an easy task, but he would do what he had to do. She was human. The only way to make her Undying was a long and painful process that could end up killing her in the end anyway. He wasn’t about to put any one through that kind of hell, least of all a woman he was supposed to love with the entirety of his whole self.

“She is mine,”
the
treòir
snarled at him.

“There is time.”
Donovan spoke the truth. Giving up his
treòir
was a fatal decision. He’d eventually grow old and die without his power. As much as he knew giving up his
treòir
was best, he also knew his people needed him. Haven would have need of his
treòir
while Kyros still lived.

“You will not give me up!”

He winced with the pain the
treòir
caused. Many centuries had passed since he and the power inside of him struggled for dominance. He put a hand to his temple as he went through the mechanics of keeping the power contained inside. Then Haven was standing next to him. The power faded back but remained closer to the surface than he liked.

“I’ve done something to aggravate your power thing?”

He opened his eyes, and his body trembled at her closeness. He took a defensive step away from her. “No. I can irritate my
treòir
all on my own.”

Her eyes searched his face before she nodded. Her breath faltered before she spoke again. “You don’t have to hide anything from me. I might not completely understand, but if there is anything I can do to help you, let me know.”

Donovan reached up and touched the tip of a finger to her lips. “I am not your worry. You need rest. I should go.” He turned to walk out of the room. He would have escaped, but the
treòir
would not let him.

“She is broken!”
the power said with rage bubbling at its core. “
She leaks. Fix her or I will find a way.”

Going back in was a mistake. It was better to flee the room and spend his night fighting with the
treòir
than to look at her, because he knew what he was going to see. The
treòir
snagged control of his body for a brief moment, just long enough to swing his head back around.

Haven stood in the center of his bedroom with tears slipping down her cheeks. Nikon pressed up against her side in an effort to offer comfort. Her delicate body trembled as she turned away from him. Her voice wobbled on the first note, “Good night, Quinn.”

“Haven.” Her name rolled out with a gritty edge.

She went perfectly still. “Y-yes?”

He moved up behind her. “You’re crying.”

“I’m fine.”

“Look at me.”

She hesitated for a moment before she turned around and tilted her head back.

He tried to look impassive, but his arms opened. “Come here.”

She hesitated again. Those beautiful eyes peered into his, assessing him and his intent before she walked into him. Donovan’s arms closed around her as her body curled in against him. The cotton of his shirt became immediately damp with tears. Her slight body kept trembling, but her crying was soft.

“She’s leaking more!”
The
treòir’s
alarm sent pounding through his head.

“She needs this.”
Donovan kept the response measured. He wasn’t about to pretend to understand why women cried after they were safe. He just knew they did. The
treòir
wasn’t exactly sure it believed him, but the throbbing headache subsided. He stroked a hand down her silky hair. “Shh. You’re all right. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

After a few moments, she finally relaxed against him. Using his power to put her to sleep would have been easier, but Donovan found he couldn’t make himself cheat her of his time. She needed to cry first, and he’d be damned if she used any shoulder but his for the rest of her life when she needed one. She was his lifebond. That was the only answer he had for the
treòir’s
behavior and the course of emotion hammering through his system.

When the tears stopped, Haven pulled back. Her eyes were rimmed red. “I, um, well, I think I need a shower.”

“All right.” He tried to get himself to leave, but his body refused to move, and this time the
treòir
wasn’t preventing him.

“I will stay with her,”
Nikon whispered to him. The large black wolf moved to stand guard next to her and nodded toward the door.

His heart constricted. Once again, he was struck by the image of his wolf protecting a woman with more beauty than he could recall to memory. He ran his hand over Nikon’s head and then fled the room.

“You ran away from her!”
the
treòir
yelled at him.

Donovan ground his teeth together.
“Hell yes! She doesn’t need me mauling her while she sleeps.”

Treòir
considered his human’s words and conceded. “
The sooner we bond to her, the better off we’ll be.”

Donovan wasn’t sure he agreed. Bonding could be the single most dangerous thing an Undying could face.

Donovan stalked through the penthouse. He wasn’t about to avoid his responsibility to his lifebond. Everything else was the problem. Giving up his
treòir
was shirking on his responsibility as the Cadeyrn of the Undying people. They needed their leader, and they wouldn’t be able to survive if he turned into another Kyros. He would also turn into a meirlock if his lifebond died. Only this time, there wouldn’t be anyone strong enough to take him out. The Originals hadn’t survived the time-shift.

Not one single freaking bonding in the last fifty years since the Undying had arrived in this time. When they needed hope the most, he had to be the one to connect with his lifebond. It had taken him those precious years to settle his people after the cataclysm. A portion of the Undying had survived, the rest were dead or missing. Kyros had touched the Book of Avalon because Donovan had failed. Now, when his people should have the most hope for the future, they were going to lose him.

His choices were to either give up his
treòir
or leave his people to a monster no one would be able to defeat. Neither of which he liked. Giving up his power assured Haven would die at some point of natural causes, regardless if she converted into an Undying or not. Lifebonds did not survive long past the expiration of their mate. Turning into a meirlock was too horrible a fate to even think about.

He made his way into the kitchen to snag a beer out of the refrigerator. He’d have to put grocery shopping on the list of things to do tomorrow—that was if Nikon allowed Haven to cook on the modern contraptions. His ability with the damn things always ended in a spectacular explosion of food and fire with a large mess to clean up. The catastrophes had led to the black wolf banning food that needed to be prepared in any way in the penthouse.

He closed his eyes and leaned against the counter top. Haven changed everything. She should be his hope. His salvation. Damn it, she was. He just had to figure out how to get there. The first step in getting there was talking to his brother. His mind brushed up against his youngest brother’s.
“Riordan. You busy?”

“No. What’s up?”
The response was groggy, as if he’d just woken the man up.

Donovan paused for a moment to let himself feel what he was about to say. “
I found her. I—I have my lifebond, brother.”

“Your lifebond? You found your lifebond?”
The excitement in Riordan’s tone couldn’t be missed.

Donovan had to smile a little. “
Yes. Get your ass over here because I need a hell of a lot of information I was too young to receive until just a little bit ago.”

Riordan laughed quietly. The joke was customary amongst the males of his kind. There was information they could not obtain until they had their lifebond, no matter what age they achieved. “
Yeah. It’s amazing how quickly we come of age. Anything else I need to know before I get there?”

Donovan waited a beat as he thought. “
Yeah, don’t tell anyone else just yet, and I’ve got a fourteen-year-old Earth Warrior here, too.”

“Got it. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He finished his beer and tossed the bottle into the recycling bin before getting out a package of meat to thaw for the wolves.

Haven’s scream from the second floor rattled his teeth. His
treòir’s
power spiked, causing the building to shake as he tore off to get upstairs. Nikon was digging at the space under the bathroom door. Before he managed to break the door down, Donovan discovered it was unlocked. He burst into the bathroom to see Haven’s willowy frame huddled in the corner of the tub. He carefully pulled open the transparent curtain. “Haven?”

“B-b-blood!” she wailed.

He cocked his head to find where the blood was coming from, and it was then he saw the streak of ungodly pink trailing from her hair down to the drain.

He set his jaw and nodded once. He could do this. He just had to pretend she wasn’t naked or wet, and he could do this without turning into a pig. He kicked off his shoes and got in with her, fully clothed. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes, and he reached down and pulled her up.