And now she was with us again.
No matter what happened, I would risk my life… I would risk anything to ensure she never had to go through this again.
She deserved happiness more than anyone else alive, as far as I was concerned.
“You did it,” Kiran whispered against my hair. “You saved her.”
I shook my head, letting my lips press against the pulse that beat at his throat. “She’s alive for some reason, Kiran. I saved her in this moment, but she’s been saving herself for months.”
I felt through our united Magic that he agreed with me.
“Let’s get her back to the Citadel,” he suggested a little louder.
I turned around, agreeing with my husband, but Talbott clutched Lilly closer, looking like a feral animal protecting his young. Kiran put a comforting hand on Talbott’s shoulder and just stood there for a few quiet moments.
“We have a room for you to rest in,” Kiran told him. “Sylvia wants to check on her. The Witch will look after her, as well. She should get out of these reminders of what she’s been through, my friend. You could give her a warm bath and clean her up. We could put her in fresh clothes and help her feel healthy. And when she wakes up, she’ll feel almost like herself again.”
Talbott didn’t speak, but he did nod his head indicating that he understood. Eventually, he stood to his feet and cradled Lilly in his huge arms. We walked down the stairs and split into pairs on the snowmobiles.
I wanted a moment with Olivia to check on her, see if she had anymore symptoms of Immortality. I’d glanced at her a few times in the plane and her eyes seemed purple instead of the bright blue color they were supposed to be. I knew this couldn’t be right.
And so I was really hoping for an opportunity to corner her, check out her eye color, get her opinion on Terletov and what had happened when they found Lilly. And also… I wanted to be nosy about Jericho.
But I would keep that to myself. And I didn’t think I would get the opportunity to talk to her just yet.
Back at the stone wall, we abandoned the snowmobiles and entered through the secret door that only a select amount of Immortals knew about. The entire wall was enchanted so that not even one of us could scale the high structure or enter by going over the wall. Kiran, Avalon, Amelia, Jericho, Talbott, Sebastian and I all were able to use our Magic to get in and out of this door, but every other single person on this planet would have to go through the main gates of the Citadel if they wanted in and we weren’t around to open this particular door.
The main gate was guarded at all times and lately we had Guards walking the wall to ensure Terletov or his goons couldn’t break in. This was the most secure place in the entire world for my people and if things didn’t improve soon, I would ask those that were willing to move into the town that stayed mainly unoccupied in the shadow of our towering Castle.
We would take refuge here until Terletov could be sorted out.
I wouldn’t be able to protect humanity, but my first priority was to my people. And I would honor my vows to keep them safe.
We took a side entrance into the Castle and split up as we sought out our different rooms. Amelia escorted Olivia to her sister. Avalon and Titus went off to the War Room in order to go over everything Titus had seen and been a part of. And Kiran and I walked Talbott and Lilly to the suite of rooms that we’d cleared for them.
I wanted Lilly to have whatever she needed in order to be comfortable and have the absolute best care I could provide for her.
We walked up to the east tower and I opened the door to their room, letting Talbott pass by silently. He took Lilly to the bed immediately and laid her down on the soft, fresh Egyptian cotton sheets. She looked paler than ever against the pastel yellow flowers that spread out beneath her in a pattern of swirling petals.
Talbott knelt down in front of her and slid his hand beneath her sallow cheek. He whispered gently in Romanian, words I didn’t understand… words that were meant only for her. I watched for longer than was appropriate. I knew I was interrupting an intimate moment between them, even if she was unconscious, but I couldn’t make myself leave. I wanted to watch her just to make sure she didn’t disappear. I wanted to stay close just in case she needed my Magic immediately. I wanted to protect her against every evil thing that meant her harm.
She was my best friend, a sister forged through the fires of trial and tribulation and I had failed her when I let Terletov take her. And I had failed Talbott when I didn’t find a way to bring her back sooner.
“Eden,” Kiran warned on a concerned growl. No doubt he could feel the remorse and guilt that was tainting my blood right along with my heart. “You did what you could. You might be Immortal, Love, but you have limitations like everyone else.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against his solid chest. He bent his head down to rest his chin on my shoulder and we watched Talbott worship his lost love for several, intruding minutes.
A knock at the door brought all our attention that way and we breathed a collective sigh of relief when Syl popped her head in.
“How’s my patient?” she asked with a frown.
We didn’t answer her. Nothing we had to say would be different than what she could see.
She walked over to Lilly carefully eyeing Talbott as if he would bite her. He didn’t.
Thank goodness.
When she needed him to, he stepped out of the way, but didn’t go far. He hovered near the headboard, ringing his large hands and making him look decidedly like a small child waiting for bad news.
“She was alive when she arrived?” Syl asked with a tender voice as she went about a brief physical exam on Lilly’s unconscious body.
“Yes,” I answered. “Weak, comatose… but alive. I used my smoke to seal the cut in her finger. And she opened her eyes for a moment, but she’s been out of it the whole time.”
Syl made a noncommittal noise and went back to poking and prodding Lilly.
Finally, she addressed Talbott, “There are no broken bones. She’s not swollen in any way that I wouldn’t expect and her pulse is strong. I want to give her an hour to see if Eden’s smoke continues to heal places that we cannot see. I’m not surprised she’s unconscious after everything she went through; but I don’t expect this to be permanent. I think she’ll be fine, Talbott. She just needs some time.” Syl laid a dainty hand on Talbott’s bulking shoulder. “She just needs to feel safe again.”
He nodded, too overcome with relief and emotion to speak- which in turn made me distraught with my own hope. More grateful tears fell down my cheeks and I turned into Kiran again as my emotion grew stronger with each moment that passed.
Syl rubbed my back, reminding me so much of my childhood that I wanted to crawl up on the bed and let myself believe I was back in our happy house in Omaha and none of these terrible things had happened to the Kingdom, to people I loved and respected or to my best friend. After another minute of comforting me, Syl excused herself to check on Ophelia again.
Kiran and I stayed with Talbott. I helped him wash her in the en suite bathroom, making sure we scrubbed every ounce of dirt, grime and reminder of what she’d been through off her body. Her hair had been dulled and lifeless when she arrived, but after we washed it and spent time with some conditioner, it dried as brilliant and shiny red as it had ever been.
When she was dressed again and back on the bed, Talbott curled up with her and I spent time cleaning and grooming her nails. Finally, satisfied with a pristine-but-still-unconscious Lilly, I returned to Kiran’s side and pressed myself against him.
“You guys could open a shop,” Kiran teased us. “Lilly looks brand new.”
Talbott still didn’t say anything, but pulled her tighter against his body and buried his face in the hair at her nape. More tears pricked at my eyes but I decided to be stubborn this time and not let them fall. I was happy that Lilly was home and I knew that she was going to be fine, that she was going to make it… but with all the tears and
sobbing, it felt like I was treating this like she’d died and I was preparing for her funeral.
I needed to pull it together or she would never feel safe .
Kiran had just whispered into my ear that we should give Talbott some privacy when I realized that Lilly would never feel safe- not ever again, as long as Terletov was allowed to live.
It was those thoughts that renewed my purpose and drive to eradicate him from this Kingdom and this world. He would not hurt another one of my friends.
I swore that to myself and let the promise fill me with an expanding strength that would see this vow through.
Not a moment after the promise was made, Kiran suddenly threw me to the ground, his body acting as a shield. A terrifying explosion rocked the Castle at its core; the ground shook and rumbled beneath our prostrate bodies and the entire structure threatened to crumble around us. This room didn’t have any windows, but I could hear the sound of shattering glass all down the corridor outside.
When the foundation settled, Kiran pulled me to my feet and shared a meaningful look with Talbott- the head of the Titan Guard. Talbott’s first responsibility, by blood oath, was to the Crown and the Monarchy. However, never in a hundred million years would I ask him to leave his just-returned fiancée. And I knew my husband well enough to discern he felt the same way.
“Stay here, Talbott,” Kiran told him. “We’ll check it out and come back for you.”
“You’ll come back,” Talbott confirmed.
“We’re not going to engage.” Kiran looked down at me with a steely, determined expression hardening his beautiful features. “If this is an attack, we won’t engage. We’ll go take a looksee and come right back.”
Talbott nodded once and sat up, pulling Lilly onto his lap again. He unsheathed his battle sword from where he’d left it on the nightstand and laid it across his lap as well. He wouldn’t let Lilly be taken from him again. I could see that as plain as day on his face.
And I trusted him to do whatever it took to keep her safe. Nothing would be strong enough to come between them again. Nothing except death and that was an infinitely more acceptable solution to either of them than being separated from each other.
I would have felt the exact same way if it were Kiran and me.
“A looksee?” I nudged Kiran with my elbow when we were out in the hallway.
He grinned down at me. “Well, I don’t know how to speak all that military talk. Talbott’s the head of the Guard. I’m just a lowly, King, in eternal service to his Kingdom.”
“Alright, your royal, Humbleness,” I told him. “Let’s go find out who’s trying to blow up our home.”
All seriousness now, he said, “Stay close, Love. I have a very bad feeling about this.”
“Me, too,” I whispered. Because I did. I had a horrible feeling about why the Citadel felt like it had exploded and why there were now gun shots heard around every corner.
The war had followed us home.
No matter how purposefully we tried to stay off the battlefield, we wouldn’t be able to. We were being forced to enter the gauntlet.
Forced to defend our Kingdom with our own hands and strength.
I tried to be disappointed about this.
I really tried.
For like a second.
But really, I had been born for this one particular task. This Kingdom was mine and I would not give it up easily. If they wanted a fight…
I would give them a fight.
Chapter Four
Where are you? I demanded of my brother through our telepathic connection. It was dangerous these days to open up the field of unified telepathy we could share so easily.
We were both married now.
There were parts of our individual lives that we wanted to stay miles and miles away from. I loved my brother dearly, and I loved his wife even more. But I didn’t want to see them loving each other.
Not ever.
And they felt the same way about Kiran and me.
So we kept to ourselves these days.
However, this was an extenuating circumstance and I needed to know that he was safe.
I’m on my way to Amelia. He told me. She’s back in our room. Have you seen anything?
I pressed myself against the cold, stone wall and looked down at the battle being waged on my front steps. Terletov’s men attacked in hand-to-hand combat with the Titan Guard tasked with protecting the Citadel.
With the element of surprise, Terletov had a severe advantage and seemed to be easily subduing my trained-from-birth Guard. Although, Terletov’s men had some kind of gas they were spraying in the face of my men. My men fought valiantly, but our weapons could not compete with the advanced warfare Terletov seemed to have developed.
It’s Terletov and his men. They’re taking the Castle.
Avalon sighed outwardly, but I felt it in the echoes of our mind. I can see that. They’re everywhere. How come we didn’t know he had this kind of army?
Avalon, what do we really know about him? Hardly anything. I felt irritable and I was taking it out on my brother. Even though this wasn’t his fault, I couldn’t help myself. I needed to snap at someone. And at least he could feel just how misdirected my anger was.
Kiran could sense my internal conversation with Avalon, even though our connection through marriage didn’t give him direct access to our mental connection. This annoyed Kiran to no end. As much influence as Amelia and I had in our Kingdom, we left the military stuff up to the guys. And with Terletov’s constant pressure lately, Kiran wanted to be able to talk to Avalon the way he and I could. Instead, Kiran was forced to use me as an intermediary- which is where the irritation came in.
“Tell him that we’ll have to abandon the Citadel. We’ll regroup and come back.”
No. Avalon replied adamantly, already hearing Kiran’s words through my consciousness. I won’t do that. If we let him have the Castle, we might as well leave our crowns behind. If he has this stronghold, the Kingdom’s his. The people will not follow exiled Kings and Queens.
When I told Kiran that, he cursed and looked back down at our losing battle. “They will,” he insisted. “And what choice do we have? The human is just awake. Lilly and Talbott? I won’t risk Eden and the babies. You have Amelia to think about.”
Amelia can fight for herself. Avalon shot back but he had softened.
Angelica. I whispered in to his mind.
With a string of curses that put Kiran’s mild swear word to shame, Avalon finally relented. Fine. But we get the women and children to safety and then we get our asses back here. I won’t let him have this place for long. I will not lose this Citadel. I worked too goddamn hard to get her.
I agree. And I did agree. I relayed Avalon’s concession to Kiran who nodded grimly.
I’ll get Amelia, find Angelica and we’ll meet at the tunnels.
Titus? I asked after a mental calculation of everyone still at the Castle that had to be evacuated immediately. There were hundreds of Guard here, but they should know how to fight for themselves. And we needed them inside anyway for the return attack.
He went to secure Alexi. Avalon explained. Reading my next thought, he said, He has a phone and we have worked out a contingency plan. Don’t worry, E, he’s ready for this.
Ok, we’ll see you in the tunnels. And then we separated mentally so we could go about our tasks of getting there.
“He’s meeting us in the tunnels with Angelica and Amelia,” I told Kiran.
“Good,” Kiran stared down at the still ensuing battle. “We’ll get Lilly and Talbott, Sylvia and the humans. The Witch will be on his own. And the Guard should be able to handle themselves.”
“It’s a good thing we sent so many with Jericho,” I dropped my voice to a whisper when it sounded like Terletov’s men had made it inside the castle.
Kiran pulled me into a darkened room and shut the door behind us. Booted footsteps could be heard outside our door, running up and down the hallway with purpose.
> I stilled my breathing and felt the Magic that connected Kiran to me hum to life in the most vibrant way.
When Kiran and I were younger, and still forbidden, many people tried to persuade me that Kiran was only after our combined Magic. Although our Magic began to unite during our… whatever that was… two years of playing hard to get, it wasn’t fully combined until after we were married and had consummated our love.
Talk about first-time fireworks- literally.
The colors, electricity and eternal force that bonded us together exploded that night into an entity so strong and powerful it scared both of us at first.
It took a while to get used to, to understand and control, but the energy between us grew into potentially the most deadly weapon on Earth.
This was a fact that was often speculated about, but we kept the details of our shared electricity to ourselves. It was something we hoped we would never have to use.
We had been wrong.
But now it was our greatest asset.
I could feel Kiran’s hesitation and reluctance to test our strength with the babies so fragile and new inside my body. But what I was well aware of- as their mother- was that they were already Immortal. They already possessed the eternal life Kiran had to marry into. Instinctively, I knew that Avalon and I had been the same way. They were resilient little creatures, both of them.
They would be fine and well protected today.
But that didn’t mean I would make the man that caused all this stress and turmoil pay any less for his crimes against humanity or my Kingdom or my home.
Oh, no, Terletov would burn in hell for his sins against my people and my family.
Even if today wasn’t the day, in the end he would be forced to face the consequences of his horrific actions.
I would make sure of it.
We waited for the boots to quiet outside the door, and then we slipped quietly back into the hallway. Everything was quiet until we rounded a corner and came face to face with one of Terletov’s evil henchman.