Primal Bonds

  Sean thought about what he’d explained to Andrea, that his father still struggled with the pain of his broken mate bond. Dylan hadn’t been able to keep his first mate safe, and recently he’d slipped in the hierarchy, so what made him think he could protect a second one? That must eat him up.

  “Kim told me Glory kicked Dad out,” Sean said.

  Liam nodded. “And he hasn’t come back here.”

  Sean started peeling the label from his beer bottle. “Dad can take care of himself. He’s damn good at it.”

  “That’s what I keep telling myself.”

  “Someday we’ll believe it?”

  Liam laughed. “He’ll expect us to take care of this Shifter problem without asking him for advice.”

  “That bites.” Sean savored the dark taste of another sip of beer. “Why do we get stuck doing the hard work?”

  “Because Dad raised us well, and now it’s up to us not to shame him.”

  “Sure, no pressure.” Sean took another drink, sank back into the swing. “Callum and his friends, they at least haven’t figured out how to override the Collars. How’s that going, then?”

  Liam glanced off into the dark, nostrils widening as he searched the wind for scent. “Slowly,” he said in a low voice. “I’m not letting anyone else be hurt because of it.”

  Sean leaned forward, and very quietly told Liam about Andrea’s Collar. A spark danced in Liam’s eyes, and he traced the lip of his beer bottle. “Does she know why?” Liam asked.

  “She says not. I believe her. But she pulled magic from my Fae sword to heal Ely, and she eased the pain of my Collar. Something about her healing touch, maybe, that makes her Collar not hurt her.”

  “I wonder if any other half-Fae Shifters have the same immunity.”

  Sean shrugged. “If they do, I’m not thinking they plan to tell anyone.”

  “I wouldn’t.” Liam gazed off into the night again, winter cold returning with bite. “Would she help us, do you think?”

  “She might. If we asked her nice.”

  Liam’s eyes crinkled in the corners. “Is that your other sword talking? Does she draw magic from that one too?”

  “You’re a funny man, Liam Morrissey. I think she will help us, in time. As long as you don’t piss her off. She’s kept the secret of her own Collar forever; I think she’d be amenable to keeping ours.”

  “Let me think on it, talk to Dad.”

  “In the meantime, what about Callum?” Sean asked. “His clan might be sitting on him, but who knows how many of them agree with him?”

  “Aye, I’ve got my eye on him and his friends.” He scowled. “The idiots. Their impatience will only bring human wrath down on Shifters, set us back another twenty years.”

  Sean couldn’t help looking at Glory’s house again, at Andrea’s bedroom window. “Dad could help. All he has to do is look at them, and they’ll be properly terrified.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  The brothers shared a grin. They both would have been dead long ago without Dylan, that was certain. Sean thought back to long winters on the lonely coast of Ireland, when food and fuel ran short, and they’d curl together in their cat forms to warm each other—three brothers with their father. Dylan would disappear and return with food; not kills or stolen potatoes, but fresh vegetables and pheasant and fish prepared for rich men’s tables. He wouldn’t say how he’d obtained them, and Liam, Sean, and Kenny had decided it was wiser not to ask.

  “I guess Dad’s decided it’s time to stop saving our asses,” Sean said.

  “It’s high time we started saving his.”

  “You have the right of it.” Sean rose and set his beer bottle on the table. “I’ll be off home, then.”

  Liam grinned. “You might want to try actually sleeping, tonight.”

  “It’s overrated, sleep. Far more fun things to do in bed.”

  The twinkle in Liam’s eyes told Sean that he agreed. Liam rose and the brothers shared a tight hug. Then Sean walked next door, his frenzy mounting with every step.

  Sleeping with Sean was supposed to keep away the nightmares. Andrea snuggled down against Sean’s warm body as they both drifted off that night, limbs heavy with afterglow, and found herself instantly tangled in the white threads of her dreams.

  This time, Andrea couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound. She was bound in a cocoon, breathless, dying.

  Fight it, Andrea.

  The voice of the Fae cut through her panic. She punched her fists into the white threads and started to break them. When she’d ripped enough away to see through the cocoon, she found herself not safe in bed with Sean, but in a gray misty place that was neither one world or the other.

  Wake yourself, but quietly, and come to me. I need to speak with you, daughter.

  The white threads started to tangle her again. Oh, right, how was she supposed to fight them quietly?

  She heard whispering music, familiar now, like dozens of voices calling to her. The Sword of the Guardian, which she knew gleamed like flame where Sean had left it on the dresser. Andrea envisioned using it to slice through the white threads, and instantly, the cocoon cringed away and vanished.

  Ah, wise choice.

  Andrea opened her eyes to silence. Sean was sound asleep beside her, his head pillowed on one muscular arm. Her heart caught as she looked down at him, a damn sexy man curled up in bed with her. Even with his blue eyes closed, his face relaxed in sleep, he was strong, and the memory of his weight on top of her body made Andrea warm. He was awakening deep emotions inside her, emotions that threatened to tear her apart.

  Andrea slid silently out of bed, her movements so fluid that Sean never stirred. She retrieved her clothing and carried it downstairs to dress in the living room. The house was pitch-black, but Andrea had never had trouble seeing in the dark.

  The Fae waited for her in the clearing, in the precise spot he’d stood two nights ago. He was tall, his face thinner and longer than a human’s or Shifter’s, and his white braid fell down his back, thick like silk rope. The silver mail he wore shimmered in light that didn’t come from this world. The moon over Austin was hidden by a thick layer of clouds. In Faerie, the moon shone brilliant and white.

  “Daughter.” The Fae looked at her empty hands and frowned. “You did not bring it.”

  “No, I didn’t bring it,” Andrea said. “If you’re going to insist on invading my dreams, let’s start with a few questions, all right?” She counted off on her fingers. “Who are you? What’s your name? Why do you insist on calling yourself my father? And why do you want the sword? I want your answers, in that order. You can start right now.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The man could do a good sneer; Andrea gave him that. The curl to his lip told Andrea he wasn’t used to being questioned, especially not by what he considered lesser beings. Well, too damn bad.

  “If you do not bring me the sword,” the Fae said, “the Shifter you’ve claimed as your lover could die.”

  “So you say.” Interesting choice of words, the Shifter you’ve claimed as your lover. Andrea claiming Sean, not the other way around. “Why should I believe you? You’re Fae. Fae created Shifters, Shifters freed themselves from Fae, and now Fae hate Shifters. Tell me, why on earth should I believe that giving you the Sword of the Guardian would be a smart thing to do?”

  His gray eyes went fierce. “Because I am Fionn Cillian, and what kind of honor would I have to lie to my own daughter? My own men would flay me alive, and I would deserve it.”

  The words came with such force that Andrea almost believed him. She folded her arms. “Sorry, never heard of you.”

  “This place has made you ignorant, including ignorant of what you are.”

  “You’re not answering the questions. All right, we have your name; now, let’s continue. Why do you keep saying you are my father, and why do you really want the sword?”

  “I say I am your father because I am. Your mother was Dina Stewart, a wolf Shifter I met one n
ight, in the wild, when the moon was full. The way between Faerie and this world had weakened, and I saw her in a clearing in dark woods. She had just shifted from her wolf, rising tall and naked in the moonlight. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever beheld.” His voice softened as he spoke, his gaze going remote.

  Andrea swallowed. “I barely remember my mother.”

  “You look like her, Andrea. She had the same dark hair, the same gray eyes, the same stubborn tilt of the chin.” Fionn’s arrogance left him as he looked directly at Andrea. “When you stand there defying me, you sound just like her too.”

  She wanted to believe him. Andrea wanted to be with someone who’d known her mother, who could share memories of her, as she did with her stepfather. She needed that so much that she wondered whether this Fae had sensed her need and was playing on her emotions.

  “Why are you here?” Andrea asked in a hard voice.

  “I am Fionn Cillian, head of the Cillian clan, warriors of Faerie.”

  “You said that already.”

  His look turned sharp. “You demand explanations, and now I am explaining. My clan is the chosen of the emperor. We are his guards, his fighters, his military advisors. It is said that whoever protects the emperor controls the realm of Faerie.”

  “And your clan protects him?” Andrea’s brows rose. “And you’re the head of the clan? Are you saying that you control the realm of Faerie?”

  “I do.” It was a quiet statement, flat and without boasting.

  “No wonder you’re so full of yourself,” Andrea said. “But if you’re this bad-ass warrior-protector for the emperor, when did you have time to meet and have an affair with my mother?”

  “It happened when we were at war. Battles raged all across Faerie, clans fighting clans for control of the empire. I found myself cut off and alone in a wild place but discovered a way to the human world. The gate opened, and I startled a she-wolf who’d come to the woods for solitude. She wasn’t exactly glad to see me, but I stood before her, transfixed. I fell in love with her on the spot.”

  “Except that Fae despise Shifters. We were bred to be your fighters, and you consider us no better than animals.”

  Fionn gave her a derisive look. “Shifters were bred well before my time, and the Shifter-Fae war happened before I was born. I’m not that old. I’d never seen a Shifter before. She was my first.”

  “So you saw each other, and it was instant love?” Andrea couldn’t keep the skepticism from her voice.

  “Not on her part. I had to beg her to pull me through the gate to save my life. She did that—pitying the wreck that was me, I suppose—then I had to follow her about for a long time before she’d even let me near her. And then ...” Fionn swept his hand in front of him, palm up. “What we had was beautiful. And now, at last, I can see what came of our love.”

  Andrea cocked her head to study him, but her heart was hammering. “I believe that you were probably good at persistence, plus you’re not bad looking, for a past-it Fae. But I’m not a complete idiot. Any Fae could pop out here on this ley line and pull a Darth Vader on me.”

  “Pull a what?”

  “Andrea, I am your father. It’s not as though your name is on my birth certificate or we can do a paternity test.” Andrea paused. “Although, to be fair, he really was Luke’s father.”

  Fionn looked puzzled—as puzzled as an impossibly tall warrior in chain mail could look. “I do not understand these words. Your world is confusing to me.”

  “As yours is to me. How do you even speak English?”

  “I knew a little from academic studies on Earth languages, which are required curriculum. Your mother taught me much more. I studied on my own after that, so that when I saw you again, I could communicate well with you.”

  “When you saw me? Not if?”

  “I always planned to find you when I could. I have been watching you, waiting until it was safe.”

  Andrea’s anger boiled out of her. “Watching me? What the hell? If you really were my father, and really were watching me, why didn’t you burst in and stop all the bad things that happened to me? Where were you when the pack leaders wanted my stepfather to strangle me at birth? How about when my mother died? Or when I was shunned for most of my life? How about when Jared tried to force a mate-claim, with the entire Shiftertown to back him up? And when Jared went on to stalk me and terrorize me? Tell me, Daddy Dearest, where the hell were you then?”

  “Hiding you. Keeping you from my enemies.”

  Andrea’s words faltered. “What?”

  “Daughter, when the Fae wage war, it’s brutal and ruthless. I am the head of my clan. If the leader of my rivals knew I’d fallen in love with a Shifter, that I’d sired a child on her, your life and hers wouldn’t have been worth a breath. The other leader wanted to win at any price, and you would have been part of that price. He slaughtered half my men, almost all of my Fae family. Dina died here in this harsh world from illness when she tried to have a Shifter child, and I didn’t dare go to her for fear my rival would find you. You were all I had left. When I say I watched you in secret, I mean I kept it secret from everyone. Which means it had to be a secret even from you.”

  Andrea listened in growing shock. “And this guy, this rival. Where is he now?”

  “Dead.” The word held triumph, simple and raw. “I myself ran my sword through his black heart. And so now I am free to reveal myself to you, my beautiful daughter, and to bring you home to me at last.”

  Andrea stepped back, putting herself well out of the man’s reach. “When you say home, you mean in Faerie, with you?”

  “It is where you belong, Andrea Gray. You are the only child of a warrior lord, the warrior who essentially rules the land of Faerie. You belong at my side, a highborn lady in your own right.”

  A bubble of hysteria worked its way upward and burst out as a laugh. “You mean I really am a Faerie princess?”

  “Essentially, yes. The equivalent rank of one, though you wouldn’t be of the royal house.”

  Fionn’s deadpan explanation made Andrea laugh harder. He scowled as she wiped her eyes. “Sorry,” she said. “This is a lot to take in. And to believe.”

  “You must believe me, child. Take my hand, come to me, and I will show you. I will give you visions of how I met your mother if you want. If that will convince you.”

  “Oh, right.” Andrea took another step back. “Why don’t you just come out here and get me yourself?”

  “You know that I cannot. I need your touch to come to you. But why should I? Yours is a dirty world, full of cold iron. You come into Faerie and be with me.”

  “And then what happens? You laugh maniacally, say ‘I’ve got you now, my pretty’? Maybe you are my father’s enemy trying to fool me in order to get to him.”

  Now, he grew annoyed. “God and Goddess, what will it take to convince you?”

  “Let me think about it for a while. What you say could be true, but I’m not gullible enough to drop to my knees, throw my arms around your waist, and scream Daddy.”

  He gave her an impatient look. “I was right when I said you were just like your mother. She drove me insane before she’d even let me touch her.”

  “Good for her. If you really are my father, you’ll be kind enough to give me time to accept what you say.”

  Fionn frowned again, obviously not used to people who didn’t simply obey his every command. He was a bit like Dylan in that respect.

  “Time is a mutable thing,” he said. “Don’t take too much of it. And while you are thinking, daughter, let me have the Sword of the Guardian.”

  Andrea laughed again. “You are amazing. If I steal the sword—and worse, hand it to a Fae—the Shifters will kill me. Why would you want that to happen?”

  “If you don’t bring it to me, Shifters will die for it. The stirrings among the Shifters are dangerous, and disaster could come of it. You need to give me the sword.”

  His words, especially after what had happened with Ca
llum at the bar, made her nervous, but she kept her voice steady. “I’ll need to think about that one too. Good night, Father.” Andrea turned around and walked away, pretending nonchalance.

  Fionn called after her. “You will regret so much if you do not listen to me.”

  Andrea gave him a cheery wave and kept walking. Something flashed behind her, and she knew that if she turned around, Fionn would have vanished, the way to Faerie closed again.

  She didn’t turn, though. She also wasn’t surprised to find Sean on the back porch of Glory’s house, scanning the darkness for her, ready to start after her. He growled as she came out of the trees, his eyes Feline slits.

  “Don’t even ask me where I’ve been,” Andrea said, walking past him and into the house. “Right now, I’m very tired of males expecting me to do everything they say.”

  Andrea went into the house and slammed the door behind her, not waiting to see whether Sean would follow her in or not. He did, but he didn’t ask questions. He simply made love to her in fierce silence until they fell asleep, curled together in blissful exhaustion.

  Bloody females made him bloody furious. Sean’s legs were cramped from sitting in the booth at the bar, but damned if he was going to leave until Andrea was done working her shift. She was closing tonight, so that meant he had to stay here at least until two.

  She hadn’t spoken to him much today, not to tell him why she’d been running around outside near dawn or whether she’d seen the Fae again, although Sean knew damn well she had. He’d smelled the stink of Faerie wafting in from the clearing when she’d come in, like acrid smoke laced with mint.

  Sean had spent the day following up on the Callum problem, visiting his clansman Ben to let him know he was taking a personal interest in the situation. The humans were long gone, Spike had told Sean, and Ben had confirmed, headed back east somewhere. Callum’s clan leader wouldn’t let Sean see him but assured Sean that they were taking care of the problem internally. By Shifter law, Sean had to leave it at that, but he and Liam would watch.

  Sean had returned home in time to see Andrea getting ready to go to work. He’d objected, and she’d pointed out that the human shooters were gone. Arguments that who knew whether the humans’ friends or one of Callum’s zealous followers would try to take revenge on Sean and Andrea were ignored. Andrea clearly wasn’t going to stay safely at home unless Sean chained her to her bed. He almost did that, except that Kim and Connor intervened when they came over to see what the noise was about.