Chapter Thirteen
Still beneath the oak tree, Rez met Oregis’s gaze. The gremlin floated in the air three feet away.
Rez closed the distance. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Oregis nodded solemnly. For a sexed-up bastard, he could be wise.
“Think about the cavern. Did you notice anything unexpected about the geology, any striations we might have seen in the past, any unusual layers of different kinds of rock? Anything?”
Oregis looked away, his brow pinched. His eyes shifted back and forth rapidly as though reading line after line of material.
Rez knew what he was doing. He was sifting through every cave he’d ever been in. Oregis had a gift for finding precious gems of all kinds. He’d once located a deposit of sapphires in a cavern system Rez couldn’t have entered without blasting out several yards of rock. Being gremlin-sized had worked for Oregis.
Time pressed on Rez. Maybe it was having taken Holly’s blood, but right now every second mattered.
Oregis turned back to him. “During the miles we traveled, we climbed pretty high in that tunnel.”
“I would agree.”
“I keep thinking about the view from Holly’s house, up there on the mountain.”
“The snow-covered peaks. Holly and I saw something similar from Cruce’s bedroom. The same view could be seen from the Invictus camp.”
“Right.” Oregis ran his thumb and forefinger the length of his tall right ear. “I remember a similar range that ran across the northern part of the realm and had a view of snowcapped peaks. But the view was from the north as opposed to the south, like Holly’s view. It was a few years back. But what it had in abundance was crystal, all colors.”
“You mean like the kind in the auction cavern. The distance feels right, too. We need Stone. Now.” He opened his pathing frequency and tapped on Stone’s receptor.
“I’ve been waiting for your call. I’ve got a foot-dancing troll over here, very ancient.”
“I think I know where Cruce’s camp is and it’s in the mountains. Feel like doing some teleporting?”
Stone didn’t answer. Instead, he showed up ten feet away, hands raised in surrender.
“That was fast.” Oregis moved to perch on Rez’s shoulder once more.
Stone wore the Guardsman uniform, his eyes glittered and his chin was down. Rez recognized all the signs. The man was ready for war.
The ruling Mastyr of Tannisford drew close. “I need you to create a picture in your head, but put us high in the air where we won’t be seen.”
Rez focused on the opposing mountain range with the tall peaks. He recalled the most direct view and made that the destination. “We’re headed to a point across from the most central peak.”
“Let’s go.”
Teleporting with Stone took only a few seconds until they hovered in the air five hundred yards away from the nearest mountain.
He pivoted one-eighty to look at the opposing range, then directed Stone to follow him. He could recall the unusual shape of the opposite peak since it had a dip on the western face.
It didn’t take him long to find it.
Rez turned as did Stone to face the next part of the suspect range. In the distance were a dozen campfires lighting up the mountainside.
“Sweet Goddess,” Stone said. “That’s the Tannisford Overlook. But why didn’t my troops ever see this before? I have patrols out here all the time.”
Oregis elbowed the side of Rez’s head. “I’m not seeing anything, just mountain and forest. Where am I supposed to look?”
Rez craned to glance at Oregis then met Stone’s gaze. Each said, ‘Mist’ at the same moment.
Stone began moving forward. “I want to get a closer look without being seen, then it’s time to bring the Guard and the Brigades in, all three together. I want this rat’s nest purged.”
~ ~ ~
When Holly left Rez, she returned to her mountain home to stare out at the peaks that had given her so much pleasure over the years. She knew her life had changed completely and she was waiting now only for the clock to complete it’s one hour cycle. Soon, she would return to Cruce and Lanarae’s lair and rescue Isobel.
She had no idea how she would do what needed to be done. But she couldn’t ask Rez for help. She knew this was her mission to manage apart from him.
Still, she trembled where she stood. She held her arms crossed over her chest to try to still the heavy beating of her heart. She’d never been more frightened.
Yet, her fears didn’t matter, not even a little.
She was Isobel’s only hope for survival.
She only had a few minutes left to wait.
She opened her fae frequency, the element in her life that connected her to the entire Tannisford fae community. At first, it was chaos, but gradually as she focused on Isobel, one fae came forward, a fellow time-pather she’d come to know through Vojalie’s training sessions. Emily. Now a blood rose recently bonded to Mastyr Devyn.
Instinctively, she knew she would need both Emily and Devyn to complete her mission. She took her cell from her pants pocket and tapped Emily’s contact number.
To her surprise, Emily answered immediately. “Holly I’m so glad you’ve reached out to me. I’ve been pacing the floor, waiting for your call.”
“Why? Did Vojalie tell you what was going on?”
“Yes, but only because I contacted her about a half hour ago. My fae instincts have been lit up for hours. Are you okay?” Emily, more than anyone, would understand what she’d been going through.
The question of concern made Holly’s eyes sting once more. She took a deep breath as she chose to stay focused on Isobel. “I’m fine, but later, when the current crisis is resolved, I could use some girlfriend time.”
“You’ve got it. Now, how can I help?”
Holly finely released her stranglehold on her chest and let her arms dangle at her sides. She would need to be relaxed and open for what was about to come. But hearing someone ask how they could help eased her more than anything else could have in this situation.
She explained about the captives and about Rez’s daughter. She mentioned a few of her experiences, but kept her descriptions to a minimum. “My fae instincts tell me I’ll need both you and Devyn to help me rescue Isobel.”
“And Rez?”
“It’s imperative that he not see his daughter in her current state. She’s been starved and tortured.”
“You’re protecting him.”
“Not just that. If he lost it, and I’m sure he would, he’d jeopardize the rescue. I need detached teammates.”
“Devyn’s with me now. We’re ready. Just tell us where you want us to be.”
“Come to my mountain home.”
“On our way.”
The couple arrived a few seconds later. Devyn had his arm around Emily’s waist.
Holly gasped. She hadn’t seen Emily for a few weeks but the woman glowed with happiness and something more. It was her blood rose bond with Devyn. The couple radiated power.
For a split second, a dart of envy pierced Holly’s chest. Emily had what Holly longed for with Rez but was unlikely to have.
Emily was Holly’s height, not quite six-foot, with brown hair and large green eyes. Devyn had Guardsman-length blond hair, warm brown eyes and was built along Rez’s lines.
Emily immediately stepped forward and embraced her. Holly hugged her back, grateful for the sisterly contact.
“Thank you both for coming.” She sketched out the details of what she and Rez had first seen of Lanarae and Cruce’s haunt. “I’m just not sure what we’ll find when I time-path to Isobel’s location. I don’t know where she’ll be or who will be holding her captive. All I know is that I can’t do it alone. My faeness will not rest on that point.”
“We’re here for you,” Devyn said. “I’ve known Isobel for years. Rez is a friend of mine and a good neighbor in Boylbury.”
There it was again, Rez’s fine reputation among those who knew him best.
“You don’t have to do this.” She needed to make the offer. “Because who knows what we’ll find.”
Devyn took hold of her arm and dipped his chin. “Let’s do this thing.”
He reminded her so much of Rez in this moment, her throat tightened. “Good.”
She felt in her faeness the hour had come. “If you’re ready, I’ll take us to Isobel.”
When two heads bobbed, she forced herself to grow very calm. She focused on Isobel, the lovely young woman who’d been through hell for two years at the hands of Lanarae.
She moved all three of them seamlessly into the time-path. She went back a few minutes in time and a split second later, a blurred stone cell came into view. Isobel was on a dirty mattress on the floor. She wore a thin woven shift that couldn’t have offered much protection against the cold.
“This looks like an ancient place of torture, doesn’t it?” Emily held two fingers to her lips. “And she’s so thin. Holly, I can feel she’s near death.”
“Yes, she is.”
Rez’s wife and his mother, together, tended the teenage female vampire. They hovered over Isobel, petting the air above her, offering what reassurance a spirit could give. “Do you see them?”
“What do you mean?” Emily asked. “I only see Isobel.”
“There are two ghosts with her.”
Emily was quiet for a moment. “I don’t see them but I can sense them. Rez’s mother and wife?”
“Yes.”
Devyn addressed the more critical issue. “Those shackles have a spell on them, don’t they?”
He glanced at Holly who in turn nodded. Devyn then continued, “Emily and I can tackle that part of the process. Ready to go in?” For a warrior of his size and caliber to ask rather than issue an order, indicated he lived with a powerful fae woman.
“Wait just for minute. Something else needs to happen first.”
As if on cue, Lanarae opened the cell door and levitated inside. She was as beautiful as before, but her lips were set in a grim line. “Your friend should be here by now, Isobel. Maybe she needs a little motivation.”
Holly understood. Lanarae knew Holly was coming. Great.
The ghosts huddled in the corner and it seemed to Holly they were praying.
Lanarae approached the thin mattress on the floor and held out her hand. Red Invictus energy pulsed from her fingers and landed on its object.
Isobel’s body arched then lifted three feet into the air. She uttered an anguished cry. “Stop.” The word was little more than a whisper.
“As you wish.” Lanarae ended the battle blast and Isobel’s body landed in a thump on the mattress. She moaned, but didn’t move a muscle. Holly knew she couldn’t.
Lanarae glanced around then left the cell.
Holly had to force herself to count to twenty very slowly. She heard Devyn growling. But she didn’t act until she could hear Lanarae’s footsteps disappear.
Okay, we’re ready. When we go in, use telepathy.
Got it. Devyn’s voice, like Rez’s, was deep and masculine within her mind.
I’ll work on healing her. Emily and Devyn, do what you can to break the power of the shackles. Then we’ll get her home.
She moved the time-path forward to the present and released her frequency. All three of them moved quickly to take care of Isobel.
The thought that she’d be bringing Rez’s daughter home, made Holly tear up once more. She placed her hands above Isobel’s head and ignited her healing frequency. She let the warmth flow and heard Isobel moan in response.
“We’re here,” she whispered. “We’re going to take you home, Isobel.”
She heard Isobel mumble something, but she couldn’t make out the words. One of them might have been ‘trap’, but she wasn’t sure.
She sensed Emily and Devyn ramp up their shared power and it felt like waves of heat pouring off them. She kept speaking softly to Isobel and hoped the efforts to break the spell weren’t hurting her.
A sudden jolt of power and the shackles around her ankles flew apart. Emily and Devyn moved to the shackles on her wrists and began the same process. Instinctively, Holly shielded Isobel’s face. The same series of waves ensued.
Holly could hear movement and shouting outside the cell. “Hurry.”
The power increased and another jolt freed Isobel. Devyn picked her up in his arms just as the cell door banged open. “Get her out of here,” Holly shouted.
Devyn and Emily disappeared.
Holly started to ignite her own time-pathing frequency but it faded away. She couldn’t make it work.
She turned around and Lanarae offered a vicious smile. “You’re not going anywhere, Holly McCrae. My plan worked perfectly and now you’re here. Welcome to hell.”
~ ~ ~
After Rez explained the layout of the camp and the cavern, he remained in the air opposite Cruce’s army.
Stone had already contacted his Vampire Guard, and Shifter and Troll Brigades. Each was prepared for battle.
Now that Stone had provided the coordinates, his forces were in the air. The portion of the Troll Brigade that didn’t fly was headed to the Overlook in military grade vehicles.
“The first of my forces will be here in five. They’ll gather out of visual range three miles to the west. Will you be joining the battle?”
Rez shifted to stare at Stone. Of course, he was, but why did Stone ask? “You have some other purpose for your question? Because you already know my answer.”
Stone’s jaw worked. “Where’s Holly? Why isn’t she with you?”
It was the last thing Rez expected Stone to say, but then he’d been in Rez’s boots.
Stone turned to face him and planted a hand on his shoulder. Rez compensated for the in-air jolt and maintained his levitating balance. “This is not the time to be separated from your blood-rose, not at this stage. Even I can feel something isn’t right.”
“Listen to him,” Oregis said, giving Rez another head thump.
Rez was concerned as well. He explained the situation. “I’ve tried pathing with her several times, but she’s not responding. She seemed adamant she had something she needed to do on her own.”
With his gaze fixed in the direction of the Overlook, Stone said, “All I can say is be open and make sure she’s safe.”
“I will.” He meant what he said, yet now he felt uneasy. He recalled what she’d been like before she left, how deeply resolved she was, but to do what?
He tried pathing with her, but again, she’d shut down her communication with him.
The next moment, a male voice pushed into his head. Devyn here. We’ve got your daughter, Isobel. She’s safe. Holly set it up. But now the dark fae has her, the one called Lanarae.
Isobel is with Vojalie right now. She’s being looked after but you’d better go after Holly. Now. Looks like she was the object all along.
I hear you. I’m on it.
If you need me, Rez. Nothing more needed to be said.
Dev, thanks. I’ve got this.
Go get her.
The telepathic conversation ended with the same jolt it had begun. He relayed the details to Stone.
Stone’s jaw worked, but he said nothing. He’d called it and now Holly was trapped.
For a moment, time froze.
The worst had happened just as Stone had predicted.
What hit Rez the hardest was his first thought. I don’t want to lose her.
It was everything. He loved the woman. She’d stumbled into his life as a healer and a blood rose and he’d fallen in love with her in the space of two short nights.
Isobel was safe because Holly had gone to rescue her. She’d saved his daughter. She’d gone the distance and then some.
Now Holly was in danger.
She’d been right about one thing. He couldn’t have handled seeing his daughter in a captive situation. His rage would have eclipsed his rational mind.
He grew very still. In the distance, he heard Oregis say, “He’s doing his vampire statue thing again, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” Stone responded. “Be quiet, gremlin.”
Life was a mystery never to be fully understood. Rez had loved once and lost not just his woman but his sons. He’d vowed never to love again.
Yet Holly had come anyway and here was his truth: He loved her. It seemed impossible that he’d found love again, but he had.
He took all that love and forged it into a telepathic message. Holly, please hear me. Holly. I love you.
Only static returned, a very specific kind manufactured by an evil fae. Why had she wanted Holly, though? Why set a trap using Isobel?
Then he recalled the way Cruce had looked at Holly at the start of the auction. Cruce. A mastyr vampire.
Cruce had tremendous power in his own right, nearly as much as Stone. But a bond with a blood rose, no doubt envisioned by Lanarae, would increase his natural power exponentially.
Even if he hadn’t just discovered how important Holly was to him, Rez couldn’t allow Cruce to forge the bond. The entire realm would be put into jeopardy.
As he settled into this reality, he forced himself to remain calm. He couldn’t use his telepathy to reach Holly, but there was something else he could do, something he’d heard about through the grapevine.
He opened his mating vibration and let it run at full bore. He focused on Holly and it was as though time and space gave way completely to love and bonding.
He found her quickly. But a horror awaited him. Cruce was pounding his own mating vibration hard against hers. He sensed she’d been drugged, as well, which only made sense. Lanarae and Cruce had planned this moment for a long time. Holly would never have agreed to a bond without being forced.
But her mating vibration didn’t operate under the same rules as her physical body. It was as though the moment her frequency sensed his, she opened for him. He rushed in, surrounded her, caressed her and spoke his love without having to be present physically.
She responded with a rush of answering affection and desire. Their frequencies became one, a perfect merging, blending and acceptance.
In the blink of an eye, he’d started the bonding sequence with his blood rose.
Power always came with the bond and he could sense something formidable on the way.
He waited, his heart pounding in his chest.
He drew a deep breath. Then another.
The shock wave hit him, causing his back to arch. He felt Oregis fly off his shoulder. Power, like nothing he’d ever known before, flowed through him.
He righted himself in the air and extended his hands. It was as though an electrical current kept flowing from one hand up his arm, across his shoulders and down his other arm. His muscles flexed and unflexed. His vision became sharper and clearer.
He could sense what was happening to Holly. He turned to face Stone.
“I need a lift. Won’t take but a few seconds.”
Stone smiled and nodded. “Your mating frequencies have bonded and you know where she is.”
“I do. I’ll be keeping Cruce busy for the next few minutes. Might be the right time to take out his army.”
Stone planted his hand on Rez’s shoulder. “Just make a picture in your head and we’re there.”
Before Rez could confirm whether Stone had seen the location, they arrived.
Lanarae was flying around the room shrieking like a wraith. A fury was on her.
Holly was on the floor at the foot of Cruce’s bed. He in turn stared down at Holly, horrified. He had blood trailing over his chin. He’d been at her vein when the bond must have shoved him off her.
Stone wished him Goddess-speed then took off.
It was seeing the puncture wounds and bruising on Holly’s throat, however, that lit Rez’s battle energy on fire. Now was the time to go full-bore.
Cruce would be experiencing a power surge of his own because he’d fed from Holly. But what Rez experienced felt nuclear as he lifted his hands and arms. He aimed one in Cruce’s direction and met his Invictus based red stream of power. At the same time, he aimed his other hand at the dark fae now flying straight at him.
Lanarae had a hypodermic in her hand. When his energy stream struck, it hit her high in the chest, knocked her head up and back, then smashed her against the far wall. Her chest was smoking. She wouldn’t rise again. Ever. Holly was safe from her.
He turned his full attention toward Cruce. With only one stream aimed at him, he’d barely held his own and Cruce pressed him hard. But when Rez brought both hands together, the two fields collided above Holly’s body and showered sparks down on her.
Rez couldn’t have that. He gave a shout and sent a deep wave of battle energy at Cruce. It pushed him to the right of his bed.
Rez then shifted and aimed his battle stream at the nearby windows. He shattered every last one of them. Cool mountain air flowed into the space.
As Cruce rose to his feet, Rez sent another blast in a sweeping motion, down and up. It lifted Cruce into the air then rolled him out the now empty space. Cruce levitated and took off into the night.
Rez followed him like a rocket. From his periphery, he saw the battle below where Cruce’s army was encamped. He heard fighting but had only one object right now.
Cruce flew fast. Rez summoned the blood rose bond and more power flowed. He could even feel Holly stirring now. He could tell she was sitting up. Holly, you okay?
I’m good. Finish the monster.
Her voice in his head along with her awareness of what he was doing, heightened his sense of purpose. Like a rocket boost, he shot forward and caught Cruce around the back of his neck and jerked hard, throwing him into a lateral spin.
The vampire cried out as he lost control in the air. Rez followed him and added a pulse of energy. He hit the left side of Cruce’s body, which increased the spin. As soon as started to regain his balance, Rez hit the other side.
He kept up the pressure as Cruce plummeted toward the earth. Cruce hit a pine tree and kept falling. Rez stayed after him.
Cruce landed on the earth hard. The branches of the tree had torn up his skin and ripped his clothes. He was covered in blood.
He lay on his back breathing in rough pants. Rez levelled both hands at him then realized Cruce been impaled on part of sharp branch. Blood poured out of his right side. His eyes rolled around unable to settle.
Cruce was dying.
He finally focused on Rez. “I almost had her. She would have been a beautiful piece of ass.”
Though Rez knew Cruce taunted him, he decided he needed to be done with him. He wanted to get back to Holly.
He aimed a strong pulse straight at Cruce’s head and let loose. The battle stream pierced his skull. Cruce’s body jerked once then fell still.
Rez took off, shooting straight up into the air, flying faster than ever before. He returned to the blown-out window and shot through.
Holly stood where she’d by lying unconscious earlier, near Cruce’s bed. “You’re okay.” Her first words to him, the caring woman that she was.
He smiled and launched at her. He caught her up in his arms and spun her midair about a dozen times. He heard her laugh. When he set her on her feet, she had tears rolling down her cheeks.
He held her tight again. How about you take us somewhere. I have things I want to say to you, but not here.
He barely felt the shift into the continuum, then saw only a slight blur as she moved them to the old oak tree in his back pasture. Here was where their relationship had taken its first step.
As she brought them into the present and the blur disappeared, he thumbed the tears off her cheeks. “We bonded, Holly. You and me. I sure as hell hope you’re okay with that.”
She chuckled, then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her voice was suddenly in his head, But what about you, Rez? I thought you wanted me out of your life for good.
He needed to look at her as he said what he wanted to say. “The moment I realized what was happening, that Cruce intended to force a bond, it was as though my mind righted itself. I finally saw everything clearly, including how much, even in such a short period of time, I’d come to love you and to need you.
“I was kidding myself when I thought it would be a simple thing to part ways.” He smiled. “I was already in deep. I’m here now, though. The bond was and is exactly right for me. I just need to be sure it’s what you want. I mean, it was forged under horrifying circumstances. It’s possible Vojalie could do something. Maybe break it –”
He got no further. She kissed him again and at the same time pathed, You are more than I ever hoped to have. I love you, Rez.
His chest filled with emotion. Love had found them both.
And I love you, Holly. With all my heart, I just never thought this could happen for me again, not in this lifetime.
He held her for a long time. He professed his love more than once. A dozen kisses followed.
He drew back. “I want to take you to bed, but –”
She nodded several times. “You have to go see your daughter. Let me contact Vojalie. See how things are going.”
He realized she was protecting both him and Isobel. His heart grew warm with affection all over again.
As he watched her path with Vojalie, he slid his hand beneath the waterfall of her curly black hair and cupped her neck. He stroked her face.
When she returned to him, her smile was soft on her lips. She caught his hand and pressed it against her cheek. “We’re good. She’s at Stone’s house. Both Rosamunde and Vojalie are taking care of her. They have her in the guest suite. They’ve been healing her and now she’s eating. But they say this would be a good time.
“There’s a warning, too. Rez, she’s very thin. Neither of our fae leaders want you to react if you possibly can. She needs tenderness and love. You’ve already dealt with the monsters who did this. But Isobel will need time. It’s important you understand all these things before I can take you over.”
He didn’t think he could love Holly more than at this moment. He forced himself to calm down. He’d done battle against the evil that had destroyed his family. Now his daughter needed him, but not in a warrior state.
He thought back to all the years he’d had with her when she was an infant and toddler, to the sassy, argumentative schoolkid that had made him laugh so often, and finally to the older sister who had loved her younger brothers more than anything. They’d both lost so much and she’d been traumatized for two years.
Now she was back. “It would be foolish to think she won’t need years of therapy.”
“She will. But her recovery has already begun and she’s in the best possible hands, as you know. Vojalie will do right by her. Davido might even step in if he’s needed. You have nothing to worry about.”
“But you’re worried about me.”
“I am. Mostly, I need you to see this from her perspective. You must set aside your own feelings right now, your rage, even your sorrow. Be there for her and her alone. That will go a long way toward her healing, especially this first encounter. Be what she needs.”
And here was another reason to be grateful for the miracle of a second love. He would never have thought of these things if Holly hadn’t brought them to his attention.
“Tell you what. I want to get cleaned up before we go over.”
At these words, Holly visibly relaxed. “We’ll both do that. I’ll head home to shower this time, but I won’t be gone more than fifteen minutes.”
He kissed her. “Counting on it.”