Brina fought a trembling chin and watched her dreams crumble beneath Macha's onslaught of reality. She clamped her jaw and stiffened her resolve to find a way to make this work.
First, Tzader deserved to have a choice.
But now that Brina had said she was ready to have a child, Macha would not let that pass. There was no going back. Brina told the goddess, "I accept your proposal. I could never ask Tzader to make a life-altering decision without allowing him the opportunity to choose without limitations. I will set him free."
Macha's lips curled pleasantly and the fire around the grate settled down.
For the first time in three years, Brina smiled in earnest. When Tzader had first found out he couldn't pass the warding and she couldn't leave Treoir, he'd told her nothing would stop them from being together.
She believed in the depth of his love and in their ability to find a way to make this work, but right now Brina hoped she could depend upon Tzader to forgive her later on for the pain she would cause them both by accepting Macha's offer.
Macha moved faster than a thought, one minute atop the mantel and the next standing in front of Brina. Pearls sparkled across her breast and twittered in delight all the way down to where the gown swished around her bare feet. "As part of this agreement, you will end this relationship today."
"Why today?"
"Because he is on his way to see you."
Now? The goddess had dropped an impossible choice in her lap only moments ago and now expected her to be prepared to face Tzader this minute?
"Are you already reconsidering your agreement, Brina?"
Brina knew better than to break a deal with Macha. "Of course not."
"Good. In the interest of producing an heir within a year's time, you have two moon cycles to choose a suitable husband."
Huh? "Sixty days?"
"Dragging this out will make it more difficult for both of you."
Macha vanished before Brina could say another word. How could the goddess expect her to select a husband when she'd had no chance to mourn losing her soul mate?
If she lost Tzader.
Macha's voice ghosted through the room. "Once Tzader leaves today and believes you are no longer interested in him, he has the same time to convince me he will have no other than you even if it means remaining alone. If you give him any hint of our discussion, this deal is off, and if you fail to end this today, don't bring his name up to me again."
Brina glanced around, anticipating Tzader but not ready to face him yet. Her heart thudded, anxious at the possibility of winning him and frightened she'd never see him again.
Brina, I need to talk to you, Tzader said telepathically in her mind.
Her heart burst with a sudden rush of happiness at being alone with him for the first time in so long.
Not truly alone, since Macha had just made it clear she intended to observe the meeting.
Brina closed her eyes, searching for the strength to do this. Could she push Tzader away and risk losing him forever?
Brina? he persisted.
She believed in him. Believed in them.
Much as Brina hated to agree with the goddess, Macha had a point in that Tzader deserved a chance to make a decision that wasn't based on a teenage vow. If he still came back to her, then Macha had to uphold her end and consider a solution to their problem.
But Brina would not leave everything up to fate.
A warrior always had a plan.
Tzader couldn't enter Brina's realm without an invitation and had to leave if she rescinded it.
She answered, You are welcome to enter, Tzader Burke.
And there he was . . . in hologram form. Still, Tzader's presence overpowered the vast room, intimidating and protective all at the same time.
Black-brown eyes sharp with intelligence and a warrior's keen gaze peered from a face so rich a shade of brown that his skin rivaled varnished mahogany. She missed running her fingers over his smooth bald head. He wore his usual black jeans and a gray short-sleeved T-shirt over muscular arms that hung loose at his sides with barely contained power. His fingertips dangled near the sentient blades hooked in his belt, but none of that could touch her when he was hologram.
His worry touched her, though.
For any hope of succeeding at Macha's challenge, Brina couldn't let Tzader know how much she missed him. She sucked her emotions in deep where Tzader wouldn't discern them with those gorgeous eyes that took in everything.
Thankfully, neither he nor Macha could lift her thoughts.
She couldn't read his either. Not since he'd become immortal as well.
Brina turned her back on him, stepping over to warm her hands by the fire. "What brings you here today?"
His confusion whipped around her, brushing her skin. She managed not to flinch when he said, "Aren't you glad to see me?"
To empty her voice of any emotion, she drew on the frustration she felt each time Macha visited her. "Depends on if you're bringing me a new problem or not."
The hairs on her neck rippled at his silence.
Had she angered him? She kept her head turned away, afraid to see hurt in his eyes instead of anger.
When he spoke again, he asked, "What happened to Evalle?"
She allowed the flicker of jealousy over Evalle's bond with Tzader to aid her, even though she knew Tzader's interest in Evalle was no more intimate than Quinn's. Brina drew herself up and turned slowly, determined to rip the bandage quickly and get this done one time and limit the pain.
She met his eyes with a passive gaze born of years practicing in front of Macha. "I can't share any details of the Tribunal meeting with you, and Evalle is not your problem. I don't wish to hear her name brought up again unless it's to explain why Alterants are overrunning the human world."
Her heart broke as all happiness to see her fled his face.
TEN
Stunned speechless, Tzader searched for the meaning behind Brina's caustic attitude.
She acted as if this visit imposed upon her time. Why wasn't she thrilled to see him when they hadn't been alone like this in . . . months? He could only enter her castle in holographic form, but he was here, dammit, and had busted his back end to free up this much time.
And what had gotten under her skin about Evalle? Returning to his point, he argued, "Evalle is my problem. Where is she?"
When Brina spoke, her words tumbled out as flat and lifeless as the expression on her face. "As the North American Maistir, you have higher priorities than one Alterant, especially with close to a hundred more beasts having shifted, as of the last count I received."
Tzader started to snap back at her but stopped. Brina had a temper, too. He wouldn't find out what was going on with her by putting her on the defensive. "I have teams out investigating the humans that are shifting into beasts. I know my position and duties, neither of which is more stressful than yours. What's wrong? Talk to me, muirnin."
Her gorgeous green eyes quivered at his endearment. There was his girl, the woman he loved beyond all reason.
The brief emotion vanished from her gaze just before her face shuttered again. She pulled her shoulders back in the rigid stance she normally took to address her warriors. "Since you know your job, you shouldn't waste your time--or mine--unless you have something more important to discuss."
This couldn't be happening. Not one to dance around a target, he finally asked, "Have your feelings for me changed?"
Waiting for her answer took an eternity according to his heart, which slowed to a painful thump . . . thump . . . thump.
She looked through him and plainly stated, "You can't pass through this warding and I can't risk leaving. We have . . . no future."
What had crawled up her backside since the last time they'd talked? "We have nothing but future. We're immortals. We have forever to figure a way around the obstacles our parents accidentally put in our way. They wanted us together. I want us together." He stared at her, willing her to show him more than that dead g
aze. "Do you still want us together?"
The question hit a nerve, if the tiny muscle that jumped in her neck was any indication, but her words held no emotion for him. "You have time to wait, but I must produce an heir--"
"Not right this minute," he muttered.
"--to ensure the future of our tribe," she finished. "You want to know what the Tribunal said? That Evalle is not to contact you or anyone else. As for doing your duty, you should be working harder to find the traitor."
First she rags him about the Alterants shifting and now the traitor? She was just pissing him off. He didn't need anyone to remind him of his duties. "We are working to find the traitor."
"Doing what?"
"You know what, Brina. You want a rundown of everything we've been up to for the past three months?"
"I want to know the identity of the traitor."
"We all do." Tzader clamped his jaw tight enough to crack the bones. He and Quinn had gotten close several times in the past couple years, but they had come up empty. They'd spent any free minute searching for the individual who had more than once put Beladors in danger through information that only a Belador should have known. Brina had been kept abreast of all this. "I obviously don't have a name yet, but--"
"But you have time to devote to one Alterant? What about the rest of our tribe, Tzader? We cannot afford to overlook the safety of the entire tribe for one Alterant."
"Now wait a minute." He had never put Evalle's interest ahead of other Beladors.
"What about O'Meary?"
"Last I checked, Larsen is still dead," Tzader said more clipped than he'd like, but what was going on with her? Why was she asking about that traitor?
"He's not the only O'Meary."
It took Tzader a minute to follow her abrupt switch to talking about the current O'Meary generation. "What about Conlan O'Meary? He's shown us no reason to suspect him. What are you saying?"
"That when there are two Beladors in a family like that there's a strong connection between father and son."
"Larsen O'Meary abandoned Conlan when the kid was seventeen, or did you forget why we brought Conlan in early to train?" What the devil? Larsen had been the Belador traitor who'd lured Brina's father, her brothers and Tzader's father to their deaths at the hands of the Medb Coven. O'Meary's son Conlan had been born with Belador powers and a few unusual gifts.
Larsen had supposedly died in battle, but Tzader doubted a traitor would actually step into danger, so he speculated that the Medb had killed him once they'd been done with him.
Tzader put his personal issue with Brina's attitude aside and got down to business, since that seemed to be all she wanted from him today. "Conlan has proven himself to be trustworthy and an asset."
"Then he should be willing to have his mind probed for buried memories or a connection to his da. Macha wants results, and so do I."
"What do you expect to find from having a druid probe his mind when Conlan hardly even knew his father?"
Brina's gaze belonged to everything but him. She said, "I'm not talking of using a druid. Have Quinn do the probe. We know Quinn can tap anything Conlan's father might have sent telepathically to him . . . or might still be sending him."
"Still? You think Larsen is alive?"
"I would have expected you to consider that possibility, since we've never seen a body."
"But we did have a druid search for Larsen's spirit. The druid said the spirit was no longer functioning in a body in the human world."
"All the more reason to have Quinn probe Conlan for any repressed memories that may aid us in our search or information deep in his subconscious that might be shielded from the young man's consciousness. I don't like to do this either, Tzader, but we need to find out if Larsen is truly dead and, if so, Quinn can reach out from Conlan to tap Larsen's spirit."
"To go that deep would risk harming Conlan and Quinn if Quinn runs into something unexpected in Conlan's subconscious mind . . . like a trap."
Brina lifted her hands to her waist, heat searing her gaze. "First you defend Conlan as a loyal follower, then you suggest he could be a threat. Which will it be?"
He had no reason to suspect the young man. "I just disagree with putting Quinn or Conlan through this without being convinced it's necessary."
Brina crossed her arms and really looked at him this time, but not with love in her eyes. "You come here asking for information on the Alterant who has me spending more time at Tribunal meetings than taking care of Belador business, but you hesitate to pursue a danger to the Beladors . . . and me?"
How had she mangled his words to make him sound as though he was letting her down? "My first concern is always to protect you and our tribe."
"Then consider this. The Alterants are an unknown entity. Almost a hundred have shifted into beasts in just two days. Does this sudden change, or what is causing the change, not concern you?"
"Of course it does, and I expect a report by the time I return to VIPER headquarters, but it's unfair to point suspicion at Evalle when none of the beasts seen so far have green eyes. And we've even heard of one Alterant intervening to save a teenager's life. If Evalle was here she could help us."
Brina's gaze narrowed in doubt. "You're sure? How do you know whatever is causing this outbreak wouldn't affect her ability to control herself?"
"Because I know Evalle. She can control her beast."
"Are you allowing your relationship with her to blind you to a potential threat from Alterants as well?"
"Of course not." Was he? No. He didn't think so. He asked, "What does all this have to do with the traitor?"
She lifted a hand, counting off fingers with each point. "You believed Larsen O'Meary was involved with the first Alterant incident. You met Evalle when the traitor tricked you into a Medb trap. You got a tip on the traitor because of the Alterant who shifted in North Carolina nine weeks ago."
"I'll concede that you have a point, but why are you so angry with me? What do you want from me?"
She scowled. "What do I want? For you to carry out my orders for the mind probe and deliver me the head of that traitor. And for you to accept that I have a responsibility to the Beladors. It's best we stop pretending that our relationship will ever work out so that we may both move on with our lives."
He heard her message loud and clear this time, every word slashing what they'd shared in the past to pieces.
"You got it, Your Highness." He couldn't enter without her invitation, but he could sure as hell leave without her permission. He lifted his hands and withdrew his hologram from the castle in the brittle seconds before she could dismiss him.
ELEVEN
She should have let Tristan kill her.
Evalle sat on the fern-covered ground, knees propped up, facing the tangled jungle growth ten feet away that had been ripped to shreds and beaten to pieces by a beast. Tristan. The same Tristan-beast that stood glaring down at her with the promise of reprisal in his hollow black eyes.
The only thing preventing him from killing her was that invisible spellbound wall between them, which he'd failed to destroy in the past three hours.
Sunrise had to be coming soon, even though it was hard to tell with this dense cover of greenery and thick clouds constantly shedding rain and holding the dark close. At this point, she honestly didn't care if her skin fried.
Like fatback on a hot skillet, as her Nightstalker buddy Grady would say.
Evalle had no way back to Atlanta, no weapon and no ally here.
Tristan turned away and made two steps when the air around him distorted, the way heat warped away from an explosion. His body started changing, shrinking from the ten-foot-tall creature to a just-over-six-foot human, arms and legs returning to normal size.
Which meant his jeans no longer fit.
They fell down around his feet, then he stepped out of them and walked away as naked as the day he was born.
She stretched her neck, looking for him, then gave up.
Why would he come b
ack, when he couldn't get his hands on her? He'd left her dagger right where he'd kinetically stuck it in the ground--inside his protected area.
Probably using her dagger as bait to lure her back inside.
Evalle dropped her head onto her arms, which were crossed over her knees. Failure would be easier to accept if no one else paid the price but her. She didn't want to be locked away like Tristan, but at this point she'd accept that over leaving Brina to face down the Tribunal.
Not to mention disappointing the entire Belador race, including Tzader and Quinn, who had to be out fighting Alterants.
Now she was letting down all humans as well.
"Thought you wanted to talk."
Tristan? Evalle jerked her head up and there he was, still inside his area, but now he wore a pair of khaki shorts with pockets everywhere. His body was clean, his blond hair slicked back as if he'd taken a quick dip in water.
And his eyes were chameleon green again.
"Yes, I do want to talk." She pushed to her feet, dusting off her mud-crusted jeans. Something bit her neck. She slapped at the bug and brought back a bloody smudge on her palm.
Just great. Vampire bugs.
Tristan moved forward and she took a step back.
But this time he didn't ram his body against the invisible force keeping him walled in. He sat on the ground and leaned against a gigantic tree that appeared to be growing half in and half outside his prison. His left arm pushed against a flat surface she couldn't see, which must be the wall of the enclosure.
If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it inside his area. Maybe he wanted some company after all, but she wasn't stepping back inside with him to test that theory.
In a show of camaraderie, she eased over and slid down on the left side of Tristan against the same tree. But she kept a few inches of separation from him even if he couldn't touch her.
What do you say to a man you'd sent back to hell? "How you doing, Tristan?"
He ignored her, looking up into the canopy of tree cover. His lips moved with whispered words she couldn't hear. She waited for him to say something to her next, but he sat quietly for a few minutes, then a monkey high above them screeched.
Tristan couldn't leave his area, but any animal could.
She tensed and glanced up in time to see a yellow bomb falling at them.