Ancient Warrior, page 10
Axel couldn’t read that look and was honestly a little afraid of the energy sparking between the two of them, so he simply nodded politely at Arthur.
The dragon shifter bared his teeth at Axel, and yep, that was Axel’s cue to get the hell out of here.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Aodh stalked into the living room, freshly showered and wearing the same T-shirt he’d taken back from Harlow yesterday.
It smelled like her now so he wouldn’t be washing it anytime soon. Or ever.
As he entered the room his gaze was immediately drawn to her. Sitting on one of the chairs, she was looking at her cell phone with a look of…love. Adoration. The way she used to look at him.
From his position he could see she was looking at a picture of her and someone, but with the glare and angle he couldn’t make out the whole thing.
What. The. Hell.
The thought of her with someone else, even if he’d convinced himself that they had no future and he would move on, cut out his heart.
Because that look. Oh, he recognized that look so well. She was looking at a picture of her and a lover. Had to be.
When she realized he’d stepped into the room, she flipped her phone over so it was facedown and gave him a weird, strained look. Guilt, maybe.
Oh goddess, he felt sick. That had definitely been her with another male.
He looked away, taking in everyone else in the room—Brielle and Axel of course, Everleigh, Ace, and three people he did not recognize. Christian wasn’t there, but perhaps he’d decided to remain scarce while they did whatever the hell was about to happen.
“Aodh, this is Dallas and Rhys,” Ace said, motioning to a male and female who were clearly a mated couple. “She is a powerful witch and will be working with Everleigh and Thurman,” he added, motioning toward an older Black human male who was dressed as elegantly as Christian seemed to.
“I’m just here to make sure you don’t mess with my mate,” Rhys said in the brief lull.
The female Dallas nudged him gently in the ribs, but still gave him a look of exasperated adoration.
“Let’s do this,” Brielle said suddenly, standing. “Whatever we need to do, let’s get it done.”
Aodh nodded along with Axel and Harlow, even as he tried not to stare at her, to drink in her sharp profile. She was a long, lean, honed fighting machine. He loved her in both forms. When she was a tiger, stalking her prey, it was absolutely magnificent to watch her from the air.
And of course he loved her naked in human form too. Probably best. Definitely best. He wished she was naked right now.
Stop thinking about that, idiot, he ordered himself. Goddess. The others were looking at him. Had he said that aloud?
“Is that okay?” Axel asked, eyeing him questioningly.
“Yes?” What the hell had he just said yes to?
Dallas clapped her hands together once, her expression serene. The witch had dark hair, gray eyes and was as tall as Harlow. But she wasn’t as sharp, lean. No, she was softer, had a gentleness about her, even as power rolled off her in subtle waves. Everleigh was powerful too; he could sense it. But Dallas was the powerhouse witch in this room and probably the whole damn territory, if he had to guess. The power was spilling out of her, likely without her conscious effort.
His own power was like that. It was the same with many older dragons. Their power simply couldn’t be contained.
“If the four of you will simply stand here,” Dallas said, motioning for them to move into the middle of the huge living room filled with probably a thousand books lining the walls.
Right about now Aodh wished he’d been paying attention to what they’d asked him to agree to. But he fell in line with them, standing on the other side of Harlow—and ignoring the surprised look she gave him.
“Do you have a lover?” he asked quietly, though everyone in the room could clearly hear him. Because who was he kidding, he wasn’t moving on from her. Not without a fight. He wanted to know who he was up against. Then he’d decide how to kill her lover. Slowly. Painfully.
“Wait…what?” She stared at him now in pure shock.
“Never mind.” He didn’t want the answer, and shouldn’t have asked her in front of everyone. But sue him, he’d lost his social skills while trapped.
“Okay,” Dallas said quickly, taking over as she shooed Rhys and Ace back. “Everleigh and I are going to cast a memory spell. We could do separate ones but it’ll be stronger if we cast it over all of you together, especially since you have different versions of that day. Once we do, I need all of you to remain still.”
Aodh wasn’t sure what the human male was doing there, but didn’t ask. He didn’t dare open his mouth again because he was afraid he’d demand to see Harlow’s phone—then demand the name of her lover so he could hunt him down and kill him. Just rip out his intestines. Or maybe slice his head off. Both solid options.
Real healthy. Yep.
He watched as Dallas brought out her athame and just barely nicked her thumb, holding it over a clean white bowl. Everleigh did the same, with her own blade. Then the two females chanted quietly, and as they did, he could actually feel the air shift.
There was a sort of buzz in the air as everything around him seemed to shimmer.
Suddenly Dallas grabbed Thurman’s hand and the human’s eyes glowed before going all white—and there was only one way to describe what happened next.
The human basically acted as a projector, a 3-D image pouring out of him showing them a replay of when Aodh had lost everything.
The sun had recently risen, and they’d followed the scent trail of the witch to an abandoned cabin in Canada. She’d had an underlying smell of rot, one he’d never forget as long as he lived.
They were in the basement.
He’d gone down first, had wanted to take lead. Now he was at the bottom of the stairs. But then he watched in horror as “he” turned to attack Harlow on those stairs, his face angry, malicious as he spewed lies and raised a blade at her. But it wasn’t him at all. It was nothing but an aberration, an illusion. Not him at all. Then she stabbed “him” first, sending the fake him tumbling down the stairs.
But off to the side—literally happening at the same time—deeper in that basement, he was also being stabbed by a shadowy figure. A blade punctured his chest, poison spreading through him, paralyzing him.
From this projection he could see the faintest overlay over the scene, as if reality and the spell were competing to be seen, which had to be the spell at work. They hadn’t been lying—Harlow had thought he’d tried to kill her, all of them. That he’d been a traitor.
His heart was an erratic drumbeat in his chest, blood pounding in his ears. They’d spent all these years thinking he’d betrayed them. His family, the best friends he’d ever had.
And he thought they’d abandoned him.
Suddenly the vision stopped and it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room as Thurman stumbled, collapsed into one of the nearby chairs.
And Aodh found himself tackled by Axel. “Punch me if you want, I’m hugging you!”
Emotion clogged his throat as Axel wrapped him in a tight grip and he found himself hugging the male back. They’d been like brothers, and goddess, he’d missed all of them so much.
Had never thought he even needed family until the three of them had barreled into his life. They’d made him love them. And he’d thought…oh goddess. Emotions roiled inside him and he couldn’t get a grip on them.
“Later we’re going to talk about what the hell you guys just did,” Brielle said to the witches and Thurman as she jumped on both Aodh and Axel, wrapping her arms around them.
Harlow stood there, looking shaken and devastated as the other two stepped back. “I’m sorry, Aodh. I…” Her voice cracked, and in that moment, he didn’t care if she did have a lover.
Well, he cared, but he pulled her into his arms anyway, was glad when she hugged him back tight, burying her face against his chest.
He buried his own face against the top of her head and inhaled, knowing everyone could see him doing it and not caring. He’d missed holding her. Hell, missed her friendship as much as he’d missed her in his bed. Because she’d been his everything, and this was the first time he was getting to hold her in years. Even in that prison, he’d remembered what this felt like, had wanted to hug her, hold her again.
She hadn’t abandoned him. And she’d been just as devastated as he had been, thinking she’d killed him when she’d killed nothing at all.
They’d all been tricked, and that witch was going to pay if it was the last thing he did.
Aodh noticed Axel wiping away a surprising amount of wetness on his cheeks and was struck by how soft the male’s heart was. Always had been, no matter how tough of a fighter he was.
“So, it appears everything is as you both said,” Ace said quietly, breaking the silence.
Harlow stepped back, nodded, wiped at her own face. And he resisted the urge to cup her cheeks, wipe her tears away. “Does he have safe passage in our territory?” she asked Ace.
Ace paused. “Have you not talked to Aurora?”
“I didn’t want to put her in a weird spot by asking her directly. I mean, she knows about him, about our history. I definitely told her about that.” She sounded offended that Ace even asked. “But I didn’t specifically ask about how long he could stay here if…” She cleared her throat as she trailed off.
Ace simply shook his head. “King wants to meet him—so does Aurora, for that matter. Call your girl. The dragon is fine as long as he doesn’t cause trouble, but neither King or Aurora will say no to you. They’re not going to kick him out unless he screws up.” Ace shot Aodh a hard look. “You hear that? You can stay in the territory as long as you don’t cause trouble. But my Alpha will want to meet you personally in the next couple days.”
Aodh would meet the Alpha. He’d do anything if it meant he got to stay near Harlow and the others. But mainly Harlow.
As Ace spoke, Harlow’s phone buzzed. She winced and looked at both of them. “Tonight, actually. Aurora says we’ll be hosting dinner and inviting them over.”
Aodh simply nodded. He’d be wherever Harlow was. But if she invited another male, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t do something stupid.
Like remove his head from his body. Now that he knew for certain the female he loved hadn’t betrayed him, hadn’t left him to rot, he was going to fight for her. Whoever her lover was, he wouldn’t be a problem for long.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Harlow stood awkwardly as Aodh stepped out into their backyard area hours later. They’d set up a few rectangular tables that basically lived out here since they all preferred to eat outdoors.
Axel and Brielle did the same, and for the first time that she could remember, her palms were damp.
After the spell Dallas and Everleigh had worked that morning, the four of them had talked a bit. But Aodh had left, wanting to go flying. It’d been clear he’d needed space, to process everything.
Not that anyone blamed him, considering he hadn’t been able to take to the skies for over a decade while imprisoned. But she could still acknowledge her hurt, that he hadn’t wanted to stay and talk to her.
Especially after that hug when she wanted to crawl all over him, consume him.
But…that clearly wasn’t happening.
Too much time had passed. Too much had happened. They’d both been broken, in different ways. But she’d still gotten to live her life while he’d been a prisoner. He’d said he forgave her, but he hadn’t given any indication he still wanted her, wanted to pick up where they’d left off. And she couldn’t expect that of him.
Aodh shoved his hands in his pockets as he approached them, looking almost nervous.
“Hey.” She stepped forward, feeling nervous too. “We’ve got food.” She internally winced. Could she sound any dumber? She wanted to cover her face.
“Ah, good. I could eat.” He looked at the table, the trees in the yard, the chicken coop, anywhere but her.
Ugh.
“So…” Brielle cleared her throat and Harlow wanted to hug her twin. Yes, someone else please talk. “I say we all just get it out in the open and talk about hunting down that sociopathic serial killer who imprisoned you.”
Harlow nodded, watching Aodh’s reaction.
Aodh looked between all of them. “You guys really want to team up and hunt her down?”
Axel slapped him on the shoulder. “Hell yeah.”
Harlow just nodded again like a damn mime when Aodh looked at her. Because apparently she could only either say stupid things or not talk at all. Harlow was going to make sure that witch paid for what she’d taken from all of them, so many years lost. For imprisoning the male she still loved. Oh, Harlow was going to rip her apart with no mercy.
“Let’s eat and talk, then,” Brielle said. “I’m starving!”
Aodh looked behind him at the three-story mansion, then back at the table with the pretty string lights over it. Maybe he was second-guessing himself, but he nodded and sat down.
“I say we go back to that cabin in Canada and see if there’s something we missed,” Brielle said as she sat next to Harlow.
They’d all sat at the end of the table with Axel and Aodh on one side, and her and her twin on the other.
“It’s been a long time,” Aodh said. “Not sure that it’d do any good.”
Brielle shrugged. “So? I doubt anyone lives there.”
Harlow nodded her agreement.
“Why does no one live there?” Aodh asked.
“Because Donovan had someone buy it through a shell corporation. I don’t know what he did with it. Bulldozed it, maybe.” Captain John Donovan had been their commander at the time, though he’d gone on to work in black ops later, then eventually he’d gone private. Harlow had tried to look for him after The Fall but hadn’t been able to locate him. She hoped he’d made it.
“Why?”
“Because something about the place was off. The witch’s magic there was…strong.” Harlow shivered as she remembered the darkness of that place, the way it had felt as if something was scraping over her skin. Now, knowing what they did—that Aodh had been transported directly from it—made sense. If there was a sort of portal there, or if the witch had created one with dark magic, that would have created the bad energy. “Before heading back there, we should try researching any potential killings,” Harlow murmured, not wanting to go down this path again. After everything had happened the killings had stopped, according to Donovan. And Harlow could admit that she hadn’t dug any deeper into it once they’d left the Corps.
She’d wanted to completely erase that part of her life. To bury her sorrow.
“There weren’t any more killings,” Brielle said.
Axel just lifted a shoulder. “Or she got better at hiding them, or maybe she changed her killing grounds.”
“We always thought there was a political bent to it,” Aodh said.
She drank in his delicious voice, tried not to think about all the dirty things he’d whispered in her ears once upon a time. Tried not to want him so much, but it was useless. So she latched onto the rage inside her, determined to hunt that witch down no matter what.
“That she was a killer for hire,” he continued.
“A sick killer,” Harlow murmured. Because it took a specific kind of monster to kill kids. Especially in the supernatural world; it simply wasn’t done. And that witch had killed entire families. Harlow glanced at the others. “It stands to reason that if she was for hire once, she’s still for hire—oh shit.” Harlow looked at Aodh as a thought slammed into her, kicking herself for not thinking of it before. But come on, she’d barely been thinking straight at all. “Why didn’t she kill you? Why did she just imprison you?”
“I don’t know, but I have a theory.” He rolled his shoulders once in agitation. “She fed off my energy, kept me weak. When I was in that prison it was…”
He paused for a moment and she wanted to pull him into a hug, touch him, comfort him.
“Almost like I was in Hibernation. I didn’t have to worry about food or anything else. I was in a semi-hibernated state but sometimes I was aware of more than I wanted to be. It took a bit of time, but I eventually realized I was under a castle, and that I was in a fae realm. And they had no clue I was there. Or at least the king at the time didn’t.”
“I scented you,” Harlow murmured before she could rein in her mouth.
He blinked. “What?”
“When we rescued Rhodes…the dragon staying at Christian’s. When we were hauling him out of the dungeon, I swore I could scent you, but I thought I was losing my mind,” she whispered. And the guilt of that just kept chipping away at her insides. She’d scented him and then left him there. Hadn’t even put two and two together when she’d heard the story about the dragon escaping—and she wanted to wallow in her stupidity. Goddess, why hadn’t she realized?
“It’s not your fault,” he said as if he read her mind, but she wasn’t sure she believed him. “There would be times where I was mostly lucid, then I’d fall into almost fuguelike states where time would pass but I wouldn’t remember it. I became so exhausted that I would sleep deeply, but it wasn’t a natural sleep. It was as if someone or something was siphoning my energy. Her, obviously.”
“Could this witch have been part fae?” Axel asked. “Or maybe living in the Domincary realm? Because she’d have to be at least somewhat near you to take your energy.”
“It could explain why the killings stopped.” Brielle lifted a shoulder. “But so could a lot of other things.”
There was simply too much they didn’t know, and the thought of hunting her down seemed almost impossible.
“Look, I don’t expect you three to help me find her,” Aodh said. “You all have lives now. Good ones. So—”
“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Axel cut in before Harlow could. “We’re doing this. I can’t even imagine what you went through or the kind of pain you experienced thinking we’d all abandoned you. But it didn’t happen, as you now know.”
