But the ancient fae magic clung to the space and at the same time her stench grew stronger.
The fae is here.
He nodded. Just ignore her. She can’t act apart from Ry, not in this form.
I can sense that as well.
She breathed deeply and smiled. He felt her strength return just as her blood-supply began renewing at light-speed.
Ethan looked at the cave-like opening from which the water had at one time emerged. “Samantha, did you see this in your vision?”
She shook her head, staring into the cave.
“But you can feel the crystals?”
“Yes, absolutely.” She stood straighter now, stronger.
Ethan turned her to face him. “What do you think would happen if you engaged these crystals right now, with me, with our joint power?”
Her lips parted. “Do you think we could break this apart? Remove the dam?”
“Maybe. Maybe that’s what we’re meant to do, but there’s something I need to say first.”
“What?” she looked startled.
“I love you. Just wanted to say it. But I love you, Samantha.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I love you, too.” She threw herself into his arms and he held her tight.
He wanted to prolong the moment, but they had a job to do first.
He nodded in three quick dips of his chin. “Good. We can talk later.”
She smiled, she even chuckled. Then she leaned her head against his chest, and he felt her open her faeness to the wealth of blue crystals inside the upper birth of the monolith that flattened to a long plain to the east, a place partially hidden all these years.
He felt the flow of her power begin and saw that the air surrounding her now filled with violet-silver light.
But nothing happened.
She looked up at him, a question in her eyes, then she drew back.
“We need to be bonded,” he said. “Is that what you’re sensing? In order for this to happen?”
“Yes.” Then she smiled. “I’m ready, but I’ll only do this if you are as well.”
Peace flowed through him like nothing he’d ever known before. “I want to bond with your more than I’ve wanted anything in my long-lived life. Will you have me, Samantha, as deeply flawed as I am, impulsive and stubborn, will you have me?”
“I will. But will you have me? I’ve not been the easiest person to be around over the last few days and I’m stubborn, too.”
He stared into light blue eyes and knew he’d never forget this moment, of love passing back and forth between them, the sweetest vibration he’d ever known. “Without question.”
“I love you, Ethan with all my heart.”
He nodded and pulled her into his arms. He let her feel his answering love as he opened his personal frequency to her. At the same time, her faeness became a vast world for him to explore as she held nothing back. His frequency passed inside and she embraced him fully.
I willingly bind myself to you, Mastyr Ethan of Bergisson.
And I with you, Samantha of Shreveport and now my realm.
The bond clicked in place, and sent a responding vibration back through his frequency and up and out. The same happened for Samantha as she drew back and arched her neck.
Their combined energy flowed around them expanding more and more.
Suddenly the ancient fae cried out a long, shrill, ‘no’ a plaintive cry that faded as did her smell.
At the same time, he heard rumblings from deep in the earth.
I have to path you into the air. Things are about to explode.
Do it!
Ethan whipped her off the ledge and up into the night air. He kept rising, which was a damn good thing because a wall of blue crystals suddenly shot out of the opening, a beautiful spray that would have cut both of them to ribbons. Following close behind the crystal, a rush of water plummeted down the steep stone face of the ridge, falling sixty feet to the bottom of the gorge below.
And Sweet Gorge Stream was reborn.
Ethan kept rising, however, holding Samantha close, turning in a slow half-circle. His forces along the south ridge had overcome the Invictus during that time, while Kyle and Finn, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder, forced Ry down the side of the gorge, half-levitating as each struck, half-stumbling on the earth.
Ry might have gained more power from Samantha’s blood, and as a mastyr he was more powerful generally, but Finn and Kyle were both powerful Guardsmen and together they were able to keep pushing him back until he finally took of flying west, as water began pouring down the stream.
Ethan needed to go after him, but not until Samantha was safe.
“I see Quinlan,” she called out. “There, flying above the east ridge, just like in the vision. He has his Guard with him.”
He pivoted and sure enough, Quinlan flew, his dark eyes on fire, his fangs half-emerged, a sure sign he’d been in battle. He held his short-sword aloft and let out a battle cry.
When he reached Ethan, he levitated next to him, a breeze whipping his long black hair in strands over his face. “We’ve got them, all of them. There were two-hundred pairs but we subdued them and saved as many as we could.” He glanced at Samantha. “I’m hoping you’ll be able to rescue more of our enslaved realm-folk.”
“Of course.”
Ethan felt different, changed. He’d crossed a final bridge and he wouldn’t go back. He’d bonded with Samantha and maybe for that reason alone he was able to address Quinlan, another mastyr vampire, as he said, “Would you look after her? I can’t let Ry get away this time.”
“Absolutely.”
While in midair, he passed her over, and though a quiver of possessiveness swept through him at the sight of Samantha’s arm around Quinlan’s neck, he ignored the sensation and whipped around to fly, as he had never flown before, west, after Ry. He couldn’t let Ry reconnect with the ancient fae again.
But because of the new bond with Samantha, he had speed now, greater than before. He flew faster and faster and soon found Ry flying over La Fourche Lake.
A few seconds more, he grabbed for Ry, catching his shoulder strap and giving a sharp tug, which sent him into a downward spin toward the water.
But Ry caught himself and when he flew upward toward Ethan, he had his short-sword in his left hand and in his right he gathered power.
Ethan felt the power he’d gained by joining with Samantha at the waterfall monolith and it was a killing power. But he didn’t hesitate. Instead, he let it fly as he flew in Ry’s direction.
Because Ry had released his energy as well, sparks flew, but much closer to Ry, which parted his lips and put a scowl on his face. He might even have cursed.
He turned and headed down, toward the water, though leveling out at the surface, but the nearby hamlet of La Fourche was too close. Ry could get lost in the narrow stone streets, hide out, take hostages.
Ethan couldn’t let that happen.
He geared up for another energy stream, flicked his wrist and caught Ry in his back, sending him headfirst into the water, skipping like a stone three times because of his speed.
Ethan flew slower as he neared Ry, now face down. With that much speed he could have broken his neck.
He got close enough to reach for Ry’s arm, then he saw the air bubbles, and withdrew just in time. Ry whipped around, his short-sword moving in a swift arc. He would have taken off Ethan’s arm.
At the same time, Ethan used his sword and caught Ry under his collar bone and up through his neck.
He looked surprised as Ethan withdrew the blade. Blood flowed as he slid back into the water.
Ethan reached in and grabbed the back of the coat, hauling him in a quick levitated flight to shore, dropping him on the grass. Blood flowed and bubbled as he gasped his last breaths. Ethan knew he was trying to self-heal, but he’d delivered a mortal wound.
“All this time,” Ethan said, dropping to sit on the grass a few feet away. “All this time, you served in the Guard yet you were
planning these attacks.”
Ry could barely speak, but he said between gasps for air. “I hated you. I always did. Fucking usurper.” His body went lax and his eyes dilated fully.
Ry was dead.
Ethan stared out at the lake, now settling down from the waves Ry’s body had created. Ducks swam in and out of reeds at the far side. Realm-folk had begun to gather at the village end.
He breathed deeply, grateful that it was over.
He pathed to Finn, asking for an update.
All the Invictus pairs are subdued. We’re rounding them up on the east plain. It’s lined with barracks. Ry must have used it as a training camp. How did we not know?
Dark fae enthrallment and shielding. He probably had a lot of help. This isn’t a simple thing that’s going on.
No. It isn’t.
Ethan then called for Guardsmen to take care of Ry’s body.
As soon as they arrived, he returned to Samantha.
Fortunately, Quinlan had deposited her on the south ridge and had returned to his Guard. He was gearing up to get his men back to Grochaire Realm.
Finn had summoned the fae healers, who were at work, moving among the injured. Even Vojalie had arrived and now stood next to Samantha an arm around her shoulders. Other workers carted off the dead to the morgue.
Ethan flew slowly over Sweet Gorge. The dry wasteland would soon be renewed. Maybe the time had come to build a memorial for those who had perished in the massacre.
He’d see to it himself.
But something vibrated within his chest, and instinctively he glanced toward Samantha. He felt her, in a new way now that they were bonded, and he could tell that she needed him.
*** *** ***
Samantha watched Ethan turn and head in her direction. He’d been looking down at Sweet Gorge and she’d felt a variety of sensations move through him from terrible sadness, to hope, then reverence.
He looked magnificent, even though he was blood-spattered and sweaty, his long gorgeous hair in tangles, but he glowed with the look of a man who’d triumphed and who now knew some peace.
She didn’t need to ask if Ry was gone; she could feel it in Ethan as clearly as she knew he felt overwhelmed by all that had happened, the same way she felt.
Even with Vojalie next to her, she needed Ethan right now. She’d begun to tremble from the exertion and stress. He slid his arm around her and she leaned against him closing her eyes and holding him hard.
Quinlan flew close but didn’t land. “I have to get my men back to Grochaire. Looks like I’ve got Invictus sign in three different sectors.”
“Need help?”
“Not right now.” His deep voice rolled around the gorge. “But I may be calling you soon.”
“Any time.” Ethan lifted a hand as Quinlan turned and flew straight up, his Guard falling in behind him. Ethan’s forces shouted after them, cheering them on.
Samantha turned and looked at them, waving their fists, glorying in a victory over an impossible enemy. Tears sprang to her eyes.
Once they’d disappeared over the east ridge, Ethan gave orders that all the surviving wraith-pairs were to be locked up until the following night. He didn’t give a reason, but it was clear to everyone that Samantha needed rest before she’d be able to help dissolve the pairs.
He glanced at Vojalie. “I’m going to take Samantha back to the house. She needs a good meal and rest.”
“And a hot bath.”
Ethan smiled tenderly down at her. “Yes, a nice hot bath.” He even kissed her forehead. “But before we do, Vojalie, I want you to tell her the truth, tell her who you are. I don’t want her learning from anyone else, but I think it’s time.”
“Tell me what?”
Vojalie turned her warm brown eyes on Samantha and caught her chin with her hand. “I didn’t know how to tell you and though my husband can irritate the hell out of me at times, he is right about one thing: timing is important.
“When you first came here, you didn’t know me, or anything really about our world. And to be honest, I was completely taken aback that Andrea had never even spoken of me. She was my daughter, you see, one I had before Davido and I became a couple. You and I are related.”
Samantha’s throat grew incredibly tight and tears fell from her eyes even though she didn’t want to cry or make a fuss, but the thought that she wasn’t alone in the world anymore brought the tears falling.
“Forgive me for not telling you sooner.”
Samantha drew in a shaky breath. “It’s okay. I understand a lot more now, after these past three days than I would have earlier. So many things make sense and no, she couldn’t have told me about you, because she didn’t tell me she was fae. I just thought she had really striking features.” She laughed, thinking how she’d lied to herself as well.
“I want to get to know you and I hope we’ll at least be able to be friends.”
Samantha saw the doubt, even the fear, in her eyes, that she’d be rejected. So, despite her trembling fatigue, she reached out and took Vojalie’s hand. She told her briefly what she now believed had happened to Andrea during the last year she was in Bergisson, and about the way the dark fae presence had recently interfered with Samantha’s mind, giving her old visions of the massacre, confusing her.
“So, you see, Andrea just didn’t know that she was being systematically injured, you might even say enthralled. I think by the time she did have a vision of what would happen here at Sweet Gorge, the night that Ethan lost his family, she couldn’t take it anymore. She wrote as much in her last journal and if you’d like to read them, you’re more than welcome.”
Vojalie shaded her face. “If only I’d known.”
“None of us knew,” Ethan said. “We barely understood why the stream dried up. This ancient fae is very powerful. She has extensive enthrallment skills that she could have prevented all of us from seeing the eastern plain for the past several years, a place that Ry had used as a training camp. That’s a lot of power, to have kept us all confused.”
“It is,” Vojalie agreed. “But apparently still not enough to help Ry and his Invictus force take over your Realm.”
Ethan squeezed Samantha’s waist. “I think we owe a lot of that to Samantha’s courage.” He smiled. “Even her cunning at times.”
Vojalie looked from one to the other. “You’ve completed the bonding process.”
“We did.”
Samantha recalled the recurring daydream she’d been having since she was a child about the house by the lake, made of river-stone, and surrounded by land, and something occurred to her about how persistent that image had remained. “Vojalie, does any of your family own a house by a lake? The one I described to you not long ago?”
Vojalie’s eyes filled with tears. “Your mother’s home, one that belonged in my family for centuries. She lived there with Patrick.”
In this moment, Samantha felt the past and the future rush together, two waves colliding and passing through each other. She stared at Vojalie, her mother’s mother, her unknown grandmother.
“I’ve been connected all these years to Bergisson and never knew it.” She held Vojalie’s gaze and when her grandmother opened her arms, Samantha fell into them and held Vojalie tight.
Vojalie held her for a long time and Samantha let her.
A fae vibration sang between them. The past was made whole in this moment, life coming full circle in a beautiful, surprising way. For a long moment, Samantha felt as though her mother was right here with them.
When at last she drew back, Vojalie’s brown eyes were damp. “I never thought to have a connection with my daughter again. Thank you for this, Samantha. Thank you from the depths of my heart.”
Samantha nodded. She didn’t want the moment to end but fatigue now worked in her. Ry’s feeding had taken a toll, as well as the terrible stress of the entire situation.
“Take her home,” Vojalie said.
Ethan nodded and held his arm out for Samantha. She stepped
up on his foot and slid her arm around his neck. As he took her into the air, she looked back at Vojalie growing smaller and smaller as Ethan took her high into the starry night sky.
*** *** ***
Ethan had showered and wore only his navy silk robe as he tended to Samantha.
His housekeeper had prepared a light supper of potato soup, fresh sour dough bread lathered with butter, and a salad made up from greens from the kitchen garden. She’d included a bottle of imported German wine, a taste Ethan had quickly acquired once his realm had started importing from Shreveport. A lot of the mastyrs like German wine.
He kept supplying Samantha with whatever she needed, whether another slice of bread or a refill on her wine glass, or another helping of soup. She was famished for many reasons, one of them being that Ry had taken a lot of her blood, something he tried not to think about.
“Is there any salad left?”
“Yes, of course. Plenty.”
“Then I’d like more, especially any extra radicchio you find in there.”
“Coming right up.” He smiled. He couldn’t stop smiling because he couldn’t believe his good fortune. He had a woman lounging in his white, claw-foot ceramic tub, arms draped over the sides, bubbles floating over and around her, and she belonged to him.
The bond between them felt as normal now as breathing and he couldn’t remember what his life had been like just a few nights ago, when he’d stormed into the prave and arrested the vampire, Tom, for illegal blood-taking at a human event.
Now he was here, picking out pieces of radicchio, because that’s what his woman wanted in her salad.
Yes, his woman.
When he brought the salad back to her, he sat on the stool next to the tub and carefully fed her one bite at a time. Each time, she sucked the dressing off his fingers, which of course kept him in an aroused state he had difficulty disguising, especially when she’d arch her back and her tight nipples would appear from beneath sliding islands of bubbles.
He could look, but he couldn’t touch. She’d set the rules, because, as she said, her body was still rebuilding her supply and she wouldn’t be ready to feed him for at least another half hour.