Chapter 30

Juliet pushed the hair out of her eyes and checked the clock. The power was still out. She had no idea what time it was, and she didn’t care. Curled up against Rafe’s warmth, her head on his chest, a leg over his thighs, she hadn’t felt such peace in eight years.

“Are you alright?” he asked gruffly.

She raised her head. His eyes were closed, his chest moving up and down as if he were running away. “I am.”

“God, I’ve missed you. I just hope”—he swallowed—“I can make this better.”

She kissed his chest. “I thought it was great.”

He laughed. “I meant everything else. The past. The present. The future you want.”

“You shouldn’t have to carry that responsibility.”

“I do.” He opened his eyes and dragged her hair from her face. “I don’t want to fail.”

She yawned and laid her head on his shoulder again. “You always get what you want.”

“Not everything.”

“Then you’ll have to try harder.” She drifted away. Before her eyes closed, she noticed two things: his handgun on the nightstand and, leaning against the wall, her daddy’s rifle.

* * *

Capel land, eighteen years earlier

Juliet pulled up her knees and leaned against the door. Darkness swallowed them. “Calum?”

“I’m scared,” he said between sobs.

She blew on her scraped knees. “Follow my voice.” When she felt his hand, she pulled him close.

“We’re going to die.”

“Not if we’re smart.” But she knew the truth. They were alone, and no one was coming. “We have to break down the door.” She stood and pulled him up. “Help me.”

He sniffled. “We’ll die here, and our daddies will be so angry.”

“We’re going to save ourselves.”

She took his hand and led him to a corner where she knew an urn sat on a pedestal. She didn’t want to think about what was inside it. “We need to lift it and throw it at the door.”

“My arm hurts.”

“I’ll take most of the weight.” They carried it toward a strip of light from beneath the door. “We’ll throw and then back away so we don’t get hit with shards. One. Two. Three.”

The urn hit with a thud. It crashed to the floor, and the door remained locked.

“My daddy is going to be soooo mad,” Calum cried.

She sighed. Hers would be too, if he were home. “We have to scream.”

“The bad man might be out there.”

“Pretend you’re fighting with Carina.”

Calum sniffled again. “I can do that.”

“Help!” Juliet yelled as loud as she could with Calum screaming next to her. When she hit the doors, so did he. Ten minutes later, she slumped. Her throat hurt, and she was thirsty.

“Juliet, I have to go to the bathroom.”

“I do too.”

Calum sat next to her, his knees pressing against hers. “What now?”

She wouldn’t cry. “I don’t know.”

“Juliet?” Rafe’s voice came from outside the crypt. “Where are you?”

They hit the door with their fists. “We’re in here!”

“Hide behind the tomb. I’ll shoot off the lock.”

She pulled Calum around Anne’s tomb in the center. They knelt and covered their ears. “We’re set!”

A moment later, an explosion blew open the metal doors. Light filtered in, dust floated, and her ears rang. Everything else went silent, as if the world was holding its breath.

She helped Calum up as Rafe ran in with Pops’s shotgun. “What’re you doing here?”

She grabbed both boys’ hands and dragged them out. “We have to leave before he comes back.”

Once they were outside, Rafe made them stop. “What’s going on? What happened to Juliet’s shoes?”

“We have to run,” Calum said. “He has a gun!”

“I do too.”

“Rafe Montfort.” She stomped her shoeless foot, her school bag hitting her back. “You’re sixteen. This man is, like, thirty. He’s big and old and scary. We have to go now.”

Rafe swung the shotgun onto his back. “Follow me. I’ve got the truck.”

They ran until the scary man came out from behind a tree and grabbed her arm. “Isn’t this a surprise?”

She kicked him until he backhanded her. Her head spun, and she saw flashes of light. “Now, young man,” the man said to Rafe, “put down that gun.”

Rafe pointed it at the man. “No.”

The man swung her around. Her back was against his front, and he pressed a knife to her throat. “Are you willing to lose her?”

Rafe threw his gun, and the man tossed Juliet into Rafe’s arms.

“It’s never a good idea to choose a woman over your ideals,” the man said, picking up the shotgun.

Rafe held her close, and Calum grabbed Rafe’s arm. Rafe, being sixteen to her twelve and Calum’s eleven, was taller than they were. But he wasn’t as big as the bad man.

“What do you want?” she demanded. “This is my land.”

“Aren’t you the brave one?”

“You won’t hurt them,” Rafe said. “I won’t let you.”

The man tilted his head. “I’ve no reason to hurt them unless they get in my way.”

“You locked us in Anne’s crypt,” she said.

“I didn’t need children seeing what I was doing. Unless you can help me find Anne’s Lament, I’ll have to do something else with you three.”

“You can let us go,” Rafe said. “We won’t tell.”

“We don’t even know what that is,” Calum said between hiccups.

“No?” The man frowned. “I don’t believe you.”

“I swear it,” Rafe said. “On my honor.”

“Do you know what that means? What kind of vow you’d be taking?”

Rafe’s arm tightened around her shoulder. “What do I have to do?”

“Come here.” The man swung the rifle strap over his shoulder so it slung low on his back. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Don’t go,” Juliet pleaded. “He’s bad.”

“It’s okay.” Rafe kissed her head and stepped forward.

“Kneel and speak your name.”

Rafe kneeled. “My name is Rafe Montfort.”

“I’m Sebastian. Do you swear loyalty to me?”

Rafe nodded.

“No, young man. You must speak the words.”

Calum clung to her hand. “This is weird.”

“Shush.”

“I, Rafe Montfort, swear loyalty to Sebastian.”

The man tapped Rafe’s shoulder with his knife. “Arise, Rafe Montfort, brother of Sebastian. From now until death you owe your loyalty to me. You’ll never speak of this or of seeing me. If you do, I’ll find the lovely Juliet and kill her.”

Rafe came back to them. His walk was wobbly, and when she reached for him, he shook so hard she thought he might fall.

“How do you know my name?” she asked Sebastian.

“I know many things, Juliet of the lily. Now. Rafe Montfort, sworn brother of Sebastian, you’ll not say a word of what you saw today. And if either of your companions speak—”

“We won’t!” Calum’s hand covered his heart. “We swear.”

When Sebastian’s gaze landed on her, she said, “I swear.”

Sebastian put his hand against his heart and bowed his head. “Then it’s time to run.”

Juliet flung off the blankets. She was shaking and covered with sweat. She’d had the dream many times, but tonight’s appeared in 3-D. Maybe it was the stress of the explosion or the emotions tied up with what she and Rafe had done. Either way, she needed fresh air.

Rafe slept on his stomach, so she covered him with a sheet and took a throw blanket to wrap herself in. She padded into the family room, sat on the window seat, and pushed the window open. The entire city was dark, and the candles had burned down.

Searching the sky, she found the almost-full moon and made out the constellations. How many times had she and Rafe laid blankets in her back meadow and mapped out Pegasus? Hundreds? Maybe more? Although it’d been eight years since he’d left, it’d taken less than two days for her to fall into his bed. And she hadn’t been coerced. She’d craved his touch, needed his body moving over hers more than she’d needed anything else in her life.

“I was worried.” Rafe wrapped his arms around her. His erection pressed through the blanket. Kisses landed on her shoulder where he pulled away the fleece.

He was naked.

She shivered. “I had a nightmare and didn’t want to wake you.”

“Anne’s crypt?”

“And Sebastian.” Juliet melted against his hard body. “I was so scared.”

“We were kids.” His whispers in her ear sent chills down her back. “He was a poacher.”

“Who knew my name?” She shook her head. “Our fathers didn’t think so. They also knew we were lying about you losing the shotgun.”

“Sebastian disappeared before we told anyone. There was no point in worrying them.”

She shifted to look at Rafe. “We lied and Pops beat you.”

Rafe held her against his bare chest and rested his chin on her head. She sighed and snuggled closer. Had he always been this warm?

“Lying was our only choice.”

“I didn’t have to camp out in Calum’s plantation on the Isle of Hope.”

“Pops had called CPS. Telling him you were staying with Calum stopped the county from putting you in foster care. I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

“Carina caught me. Calum was sent to boarding school. You couldn’t sit for a week.”

He sat on the window seat and arranged her on his lap, her back to his front. He kept the blanket around her shoulders but left her breasts bare so he could hold them. “Meeting Sebastian is why I joined the army. I never wanted to feel that helpless again.”

“That’s how I felt the night I got your letter. Helpless.”

“And powerless?”

She twisted to see him. Despite his warm hands fondling her breasts, his eyes had turned into black opals, his gazed fixed firmly on hers. There, in the dark depths, she saw sadness…and pity. Oh God. “You know.”

He brushed her hair off her face. “Yes.”

Her heart hammered, and that jittery sensation came back. The one that followed every memory of those days with Nate. She struggled to get out of the blanket, off his lap. “How?”

Rafe spun her around and covered her with the throw. He held her so tightly between his legs, she couldn’t move. “Balthasar told me. Nate confirmed.”

“Yet Nate is still alive.”

“For now.” Rafe’s sigh sounded like he’d been bench-pressing a semi. “I was on my way to give him the Deke treatment when I realized he’s the only chance my former teammates have. Without Nate, they’ll rot in jail for something they didn’t do, and the person who set up my A-team will go unpunished.”

Since her arms were held prisoner, she wiped her damp cheeks on the blanket. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“I swear I will avenge you. Walker and Torridan will answer for what they did.”

She nodded despite the fact that it felt like she was breathing air laced with crushed diamonds.

“And then you’ll tell me what happened.”

“No.” She struggled until his hand brushed her nipples. Desire contracted her lower stomach.

“Yes.” His hand slipped lower, until he found the part of her that was still swollen and tender from their lovemaking. “I don’t want what happened in the past to hold back your future. Interrogating you like an enemy combatant was wrong. But you can’t allow the past to have power over you. We’ll discuss it, I’ll destroy Torridan, and you can move on.”

She bit her lip so she wouldn’t moan. His fingers caressed, and she flung her head back. She wasn’t sure about his plan, but she trusted the conviction in his voice. Although she wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened, a spiral of relief wound through her heart. She no longer had to carry this burden alone.

The blanket slipped off her shoulders. “It was the worst February fourteenth I hope I’ll ever have.”

His fingers stopped moving, and her hips bucked involuntarily. “You received the letter on Valentine’s Day?”

“Yes.” She stretched her neck to see his face. His voice seemed…off. “Was that the day you joined the Fianna?”

“No.” He removed his hand, tucked the blanket around her, and surrounded her with his arms. Then he stared out the window. “I tithed on St. Brigid’s Day. February second.” His voice had changed, sounding more businesslike. More efficient.

She shifted to sit on her hip, half-facing him, still within his embrace. “You left in September, less than a week after your momma’s funeral. I last spoke to you on Halloween. According to Nate, you disappeared November first.”

“All Saints Day.”

She tried to remember the details of that fall and winter. “Your letter said you weren’t unfaithful until you left me.”

The hitch in his breath could’ve been heard on the Isle.

“Rafe.” She fought to keep the bitchiness out of her voice. “What happened between November first and February fourteenth?”

His eyelids shuttered. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Considering we just made love, twice, it damn well does matter.”

He lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “I left my unit to look for Colin and met a Fianna warrior named Arragon. He took me back to the camp, where I started training.”

She moved off his lap to stand, adjusting the blanket so it was more strapless dress than shawl. She remembered what Garza had said about the training. The brutality was almost pagan. She couldn’t imagine there’d be a lot of time for dating—or random hookups. For the first time in eight years, something else occurred to her. When she was twelve, Rafe had lied and taken a beating to protect her.

Was it possible he’d done the same thing when he’d joined the Fianna?

He watched her like a hunter follows his prey. And for the first time since his return, she studied his tattooed arm. Visible by moonlight, she saw names inked in elegant cursive, from wrist to shoulder. At least sixty. Maybe more. All female. Yet, from their symmetry, it looked like they’d been tattooed at the same time. They were even alphabetical.

They weren’t notches on a bedpost. They were a preordered list.

“Oh God.” She met his tortured gaze. “Your tithe was to break both of our hearts.”

He moved quickly and tore off her blanket. One hand grabbed her bottom, pressing her against his erection. The other held her neck so his lips could take hers. She wasn’t sure how, but they ended up in bed, with her on her back, his kisses working their way down her stomach. Heat rushed through her. Will I ever get enough of him?

When he pushed apart her thighs and buried his head between her legs, she held him in place. His tongue swirled and sucked while his hands kept her hips still. He knew what he wanted, and he was taking it. When he demanded a climax, she obliged. And when he slammed into her for the third time that night, driving into her core until she screamed his name, he made sure she knew the answer to her unasked question.

No. She’d never get enough of him. Without him, she’d never again feel whole.

* * *

At four a.m., Rafe checked the power and apartment’s security. Naked and holding a gun, he checked every window and door. The candles had gone out, and adrenaline made his hands tingly. Something was wrong.

He went to the window seat and opened the pane. The moon was almost full, and the garden seemed quiet. No sound from the parking lot behind her store or the fountain. The only thing he couldn’t confirm was the alley leading from her store to the courtyard and Dessie’s dress shop below the apartment.

Had something moved?

A whippoorwill sang. Not the bird of the swamps. The call a warrior made when he sounded a threat. Balthasar.

Rafe shut the window and went back to bed. He wouldn’t fight Balthasar now. When they met again, it’d be at a time and on a field of Rafe’s choosing. Anything else would put Juliet’s life in danger. And that’s something he’d never allow.

* * *

Balthasar waited for Romeo.

“Pray tell, Balthasar.” Arragon’s voice sounded soft, absorbed by the moss-covered bricks. “What are you doing?”

Balthasar wasn’t surprised to see Arragon. As the Ghost, Arragon was the most experienced warrior in their brotherhood. He worked alone and performed the most covert of the Prince’s orders. “What I’ve always done. The Prince’s bidding.”

“The Prince ordered you to return with the vial, not kill innocents.”

“You understand not.” Balthasar stood with his legs apart, ready to grab a weapon. “I sought knowledge from the fiend Escalus worked for. But to do so required a test.”

Arragon gripped Balthasar’s shoulder. “You’ve broken the Prince’s trust and must return.”

Balthasar shrugged him off. “I seek to prove my innocence.”

“Yet a fair lady has met with death. Surely you didn’t want to hurt those who’ve no say in this fray?”

“Her death was a message of strength.”

“To whom? Escalus’s fiend?” Arragon tilted his head. “Or Romeo?”

“This test was forced upon me.”

“Thou are not a victim this night.” Arragon’s bald head shone in the moonlight. The fine, swirling tattoos looked like they’d been drawn on instead of inked. “The Prince gave Romeo a chance to redeem himself, as he gave you a chance to prove your innocence in Escalus’s treachery.”

“Which. I’m. Doing.”

“Not when you cause such suffering.” Arragon touched Balthasar’s shoulder again. “Art thou so full of wretchedness that thou would desecrate a church?”

Balthasar flinched. “How could the Prince not want to know why Escalus betrayed us? Or with whom?”

“Because the Prince already knows.”

Balthasar paced the small alley. “Then why does the fiend still live? You accuse me of hurting innocents, yet the Prince knew Escalus was poisoning this city for a villain?”

“The Prince has his reasons.”

“The Prince has his favorites.”

Arragon nodded toward Romeo’s window. “Jealousy will destroy you, Brother.”

“Why do you protect Romeo? He’s fought every rule, every judgment, every commander he’s ever had. Including you.” The hypocrisy left Balthasar breathless. “There were two explosions tonight.” Balthasar pointed at Arragon, in his combat pants, hoodie, and biker jacket. His arms were crossed, his attitude nonchalant, as if he’d not been handling plastic explosives earlier as well. “Pray, my brother. Who set off the second?”

“I had my orders.”

Arragon had taken down the power grid moments after Balthasar’s explosion. That meant Arragon had been following him. “How many were hurt?”

“I fulfilled my orders without pain. You disobeyed yours, and a woman died.” Arragon held out both hands. “You were to seek the vial. Nothing more.”

“If I return, will I be forgiven?”

“Once thou art shrived, after a time of penance and punishment.”

The Gauntlet.

A text buzzed, and Balthasar checked his phone. It was from Eddie’s cousin.

I have much to offer. You can become a prince of your own making. I just need things in return, including Juliet Montfort. If interested, meet me in an hour at the train station. RLM

Balthasar gripped the phone. RLM was supposed dead. Yet RLM was offering opportunities that didn’t include being bound to the Fianna. Opportunities of freedom and unlimited power.

Then the shock wave hit. The Prince knew RLM was alive and that Escalus had been working for him and hadn’t said a word. The Prince had lied.

“My brother?” Arragon touched him for a third time, but Balthasar threw him off. “Will you return before this madness spreads and we lose you forever?”

Balthasar bared his teeth. “I’ll never bow to Romeo.”

Arragon sighed. “What shall I tell the Prince?”

Balthasar wanted to tell the Prince to go fuck himself, but that would only land Balthasar on a slab next to Escalus. “I’ll consider his offer.”

“The Prince will demand an answer before the next moon rises. In the meantime, no more brawls in these fair streets.”

After Arragon slipped away, Balthasar studied Romeo’s window and hoped, for the errant warrior’s sake, that he was making good use of his last night alive.