If she didnt return to Salem, her father and brothers would spend a couple of months trying desperately to find her, more because it was the right thing to do than because they really missed her, though, and because they would need a logical explanation for her disappearance. And her friends and coworkers would go through the motions, believing deep down inside that she had changed her name and moved to an island somewhere, as she had occasionally threatened to do.
Six months, a year from now, she would be a memory, maybe a scholarship somewhere. And how much did that thought suck?
You think I havent asked myself that? she said softly. You think I dont know that I havent left a single indelible mark on the human realm?
His fingers tightened on hers. Im sorry. I didnt mean to make it worse. But if thats the case, why go back? His kiss was hard and possessive, and made her burn for him. Come with me, my sweet Reda.
She wanted to; oh, how she wanted to. But for a change, logic and practicality had it right. Say I dothen what? Please say you know, please say something that would make it make sense.
But his expression went bleak. I know its too much to ask, too damned dangerous. There are, what? A hundred ways for things to go to hell once I get home? A thousand? Which means Im an asshole for even askingI should want you to be safe above everything else, right? It should be enough that I see you go into that vortex he pointed at where the shimmers were beginning to rotate and can have faith that you made it home okay. It should be enough that Ive got the memories of the past few days to take with me, to remember when things turn to shit. Which they probably will.
Her throat locked, because he was saying all the things shed been telling herself, yet she still wanted to shout, Yes! Yes, Ill come with you. All she got out, though, was a fractured sigh of, Dayn.
Eyes firing, he took her other hand and lifted it, so both of her palms were pressed to his chest, folded in his hands. She could feel their heartbeats keeping time, feel the urges of the wolfsbene pounding in her veins as he said, Maybe I havent grown up as much as I thought, because every part of me wants to be selfish right now, and keep you with me. Please say youll come. I promise that Ill
Dont, she interrupted, pulling a hand free to touch his lips and silence him. You cant make promises to me. God, you shouldnt even be thinking about me.
I know. But I cant stop. He kissed her fingers. Come with me. I need you. I dont want to do this without you.
It was every childish fantasy come to lifethe handsome, powerful prince begging her to run away from her unsatisfying life to live the adventure with him, the dream.
But dreams always ended, didnt they?
Say everything goes according to plan, she said. Suppose you and your brothers and sister find one another, take out the sorcerer and reclaim Elden. What then? What happens to us?
We live happily ever after. His answer should have seemed glib; instead, it made her yearn.
Im not a princess, Dayn. Im just another guardsmans daughter.
She wanted him to look surprised, wanted to think he hadnt seen it. Instead, a spark entered his eyes. Its no coincidence that the book came to your mother. The stories she told you are straight out of kingdom folklore.
You think she was a guest in the human realm. She did, too. It was only logical.
Not only that, I think she had the kind of powers that travel in royal lines, or at least the nobility. Why else would my fathers spell have sent the book to her? How else would she have known how important it was, or that it was meant for you, not her? He lowered his voice and leaned in to whisper, Mindspeak, Reda. I think my father reached out to her the same way he did to me. And he could only do that if there was a bloodline connection, however faint.
Redas head spun, because she hadnt taken it that far. She might have sagged if he hadnt been there to lean on. Her eyes locked on the love bite at the side of his neck. You think Im a vampire. She wasnt sure if her sudden queasiness was nausea or excitement.
Half or less, and blood drinking doesnt run true. Butyeah, I think the heritage is there.
She shook her head, denying the logic more than the possibility. Youre reaching.
Maybe. Or maybe I have faith that our feelings mean something, that all of this means something. His gesture encompassed the realm, the vortex and the two of them. The book didnt come to you randomly. None of this is a coincidence, Reda. And were not over. I wont let us be.
Maybe. Or maybe I have faith that our feelings mean something, that all of this means something. His gesture encompassed the realm, the vortex and the two of them. The book didnt come to you randomly. None of this is a coincidence, Reda. And were not over. I wont let us be.
She saw the kiss coming and nearly moved away, knowing that she couldnt think clearly in his armsor rather, that the clarity she found there wasnt always based on reason. But the wolfsbene rooted her in place and her traitorous body had her reaching for him, sliding her fingers up into his thick hair and opening her mouth beneath his.
They had made love only a few hours before, but heat leaped through her anew when his lips slanted across hers and their tongues touched and slid. And for the first time, something clicked inside her and a small voice whispered, Yes. This is it. Theres no way you can walk away from this.
It wasnt the first time she had thought achingly that Dayn could be the love of her life. But it was the first time that she had thought that maybe, possibly, they could make it work. Always before, even if she could believe they would make it through the retaking of Elden, she hadnt been able to picture herself as the consort of a prince. Now, though Her thoughts soared as he drew his lips from hers, then kissed her cheek, her forehead.
Then he took a step away from her, toward the trail leading up, and held out his hand in invitation. Come with me, my sweet Reda. Have faith. Be brave.
She flashed on the image of the woodsman asking Red to leave everything and everyone she knew and come away with him, without making any real changes in his own life. Before, she had thought it unfair. Now, she saw that sometimes it was the only answer. ILook out! she screamed, catching sudden sight of a gray-buff blur flying down the lowest section of the trail toward him, then leaping.
He spun instantly to meet the attack, but he had only just started to pull his sword when the huge wolfyn hit him and took him down with a terrible snarl.
She grabbed for her bow, but it wrenched in her grip, looped across her neck, and she found herself yanked back by the strings, which cut into her. No! Panic hammered through her as rough hands grabbed her and dragged her away from where the huge wolfynshe thought it was Kenarwas ripping at Dayn, tearing at him. She saw blood, heard him shoutand then, worse, go limp and silent. She surged toward him, screaming, Dayn!
There wasnt any answer.
HE HEARD HER AS IF FROM afar, as if in a dream that he didnt want to waken from, because his conscious self was in agony. Dying. Maybe already dead.
Fight, damn it. You cant leave her to the pack. The inner voice was his own, the sentiment a noble one, but it seemed too late. He was drifting, his consciousness split from his physical self. He was looking down on himself, watching as Kenar stood atop his deathly still body, lifted his bloodstained muzzle to the sky and howled the victory while the vortex started to pick up speed in the background, going from air to white vapors.
The rest of the pack stood ringing him in a mix of wolf and human forms, with Reda pushed off to the edge and watched by four guards, two of each form. She was white-faced and shaking, tears running down her face as she stared at the carnage. He looked for their sole ally, but Keely wasnt there. Where was she? Had Kenar figured out that she had aided in their escape?
Gods, Dayn thought. Please. Not yet. Give me just a little more time to put things right. He strained toward his body, trying to put himself back in the ragged flesh that had once been a man.
Sensing a glimmer of pain, he pushed all his energy in that direction, all the magic he could find within his incorporeal self. Agony lashed through him and the scene below dimmed as he was pulled back into the shell of his dying body.
He tried to call more magic, to complete the connection, but he needed something more. He strained and struggled as Kenar barked a command and the pack shifted, eddying as Redas guards brought her forward. Panic lashed through Dayn, and for a second he thought he felt a flutter of his too-still heart. Please, gods. Put me back in my body so I can save her and fulfill my oath.
For a second, nothing happened. Then an inner voice boomed, Will you sacrifice your future to do it? The voice wasnt his own, wasnt his fathers, wasnt anything he had ever heard before. It was deep, powerful and terrifying, and he thought it came from the realm of the gods, or perhaps the Abyss. It was that all-encompassing.
Yes, Dayn whispered, somehow forcing the word from between his corpses cold lips. Absolutely yes. This was his lesson, his warninghe had started to be the selfish man again in trying to take Reda with him. He wouldnt make the same mistake again. I swear it.
Power flared suddenly, wrapping around him, yanking him from his distant perch and thrusting him into his dying body. Only it wasnt dying anymore. Magic washed through him, bathing his body and kick-starting his heart, which flopped for a few moments within his chest, but then took on its native, life-giving rhythm.
Pain! It hit him like a new vortex, sucking him down and threatening to send him flying once more above the agony of it all. But he dug in and gutted it out, sending all the magic he could muster toward his birthright powers. His gums burned; his secondary canines sharpened and extended, piercing the tender flesh and descending to touch the inside of his lower lip. Warmth flowed through him, knitting bones, healing flesh and organs and beating back the pain. Faster, faster, he chanted inwardly. Hurry!