Chapter Fifteen
Rykaur paced the kitchen, waiting on Mary to finish her meal. She’d butted heads with him on his plan to move in on Jefferies on the third day. But she was thinking with her heart and not her head.
Mary looked up from her plate of red snapper on a bed of rice. “Would you please sit down? You’re making me dizzy.”
“I am sorry.” Rykaur sat across from her, noticing she hadn’t eaten most of her food. “Is the meal not to your liking?”
She took a small bite. “It’s delicious. I’m just not that hungry. I can’t get Hank’s scared eyes out of my mind. He tried to appear strong and brave, but it was a front. It was always a front.”
Rykaur shifted in his seat. “Do you speak of the boy…or yourself?”
Mary glanced down at her plate. “I’m talking about Hank, of course. He’s only thirteen years old. That’s far too young to have such an enormous responsibility.”
Rykaur wanted to point out that Mary had been far younger than that when she’d began enduring the beatings and abuse from her foster parents. But he refrained. She would only see it as pity and withdraw from him.
“Are you sure this plan will work, Rykaur? What if he anticipates this move?”
“That is a chance we have to take,” he returned, reaching across the table to tuck a finger beneath her chin.
He gently lifted. “I cannot guarantee the safety of the children, Mary. No one can. But I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to prevent them from being hurt. Everything.”
Her gaze softened. “I’m so sorry about involving you in all this. I’m sorry for what I’ve done, what I might have done had you not discovered that vial.”
And he believed her. “I do not hold you responsible for Jefferies’s actions. And I also do not think you would have followed through with his plan.”
Tears sparkled in her eyes, but didn’t spill over. “I would do anything to save those kids, Rykaur. Even if it meant trading another life for theirs.”
Respect blossomed inside him and something else he didn’t want to acknowledge. “The fact that you would kill for them speaks greatly of your love for them. A love such as that is very rare, Mary. They are fortunate to have you.”
“The longer we stay down here, the less likely they will ever see me again. It’s killing me to sit here doing nothing while they are in Jefferies’s clutches.”
Rykaur pushed to his feet. “I need you to trust me in this. I know what I am doing.”
Mary stood as well. “Even if a decoy could be sent out in two days, Jefferies is smart enough to have spies at the entrance to see if you emerge. They have phones and radios.”
“We will not leave by way of land, Mary. We will emerge from the water.”
He saw the moment understanding dawned. “I didn’t think of that. But he will also expect that, won’t he? I’m sure he’ll have armed guards around him. Maybe even explosives rigged around the area he’s in.”
“Perhaps,” Rykaur conceded, “but we have something that no number of human weapons can compete with.”
Mary blinked. “What’s that?”
“Zaureth.”
“The healer?” Mary returned, a look of disbelief on her beautiful face.
Rykaur stepped around the table and took hold of her hand. “Zaureth is much more than a healer. He possesses certain gifts that even I cannot comprehend.”
Taking hold of her other hand, Rykaur led her to the doorway. “Come. We must go to the great hall for my celebration of life.”
Mary peered up at him in confusion, trailing alongside him to the hallway. “Celebration of life? Isn’t that something one does when a loved one passes away?”
It was Rykaur’s turn to blink. “The humans have very strange customs. I am thirty years old as of today. The Bracadytes celebrate their birth every ten years. I do not understand why one would celebrate a death.”
Mary shrugged. “Since you put it that way, I suppose it does sound kind of strange. We celebrate the life the deceased person lived instead of holding a funeral and grieving their loss.”
“Yet you still mourn,” Rykaur pointed out. “It sounds to me like an act. The land walkers have strange notions about life and death. They also drain the corpse of its life force and refrigerate it until it is ready to be buried. I do not know about you, Mary, but that threatens my appetite.”
A laugh burst from her that startled him. He glanced down into her smiling face, and his heart stuttered. He’d thought Mary beautiful from the first time she’d sashayed into his camp, but a smiling Mary was breathtaking.
He found himself grinning as well. “What do you find so amusing?”
“You.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “The way you speak, the practical way you have of looking at life. As big and ferocious as you are, you have a certain innocence about you that is cute.”
Rykaur’s steps faltered. She thought him cute?
He wanted to stop, back her against the wall, and cover her sexy mouth with his own.
“It’s about time you got here,” Fiona called out from her position next to the ATV’s. “I was just about to come looking for you.” Her gaze sliced to Mary. “Do you think it was wise to bring her? Klause won’t like it.”
Anger quickly surfaced. Rykaur stopped in front of Gryke’s mate. “Our king does not know that Mary is here. He certainly does not know of the circumstances for her visit.”
“He does now,” Fiona shot back.
Rykaur’s muscles grew taut with fury. “Gryke—”
“Did not go to the king,” Fiona interrupted. “Maulkryth did. I’ll admit that Gryke was angry about the prisoner being free, but after thinking it over, he realizes that she’s not at fault here. Maulkryth, on the other hand, is obviously not on board with your decision to set her free.”
Rykaur relaxed his stance. Barely. “The female’s name is Mary. And she is no longer a prisoner. Her actions were not her own, and she cannot be to blame for them. Jefferies holds hostage the children Mary seeks to protect. You of all people should understand her motives, Fiona.”
Fiona flinched, her softening gaze shifting back to Mary. She extended her hand. “I apologize for my rude behavior, Mary. I need to learn a little humility, it seems. Rykaur’s right. If anyone understands what you’re going through right now, it’s me. Jefferies blackmailed me at one time, holding my son and my brother as insurance. If not for Gryke and the other Bracadytes, my little boy and brother wouldn’t be alive today.”
Mary accepted Fiona’s outstretched palm. “No need to apologize. You did nothing wrong. Do you think I should go back and wait in Rykaur’s apartment? I don’t want to cause a disruption during the celebration.”
“No,” Rykaur growled, pulling Mary closer to his body. “You are with me. If there is a problem with that, we will both leave.”
Rykaur could feel Mary’s insecurity, her fear. “There is nothing to be afraid of, Mary. Do not leave my side, and all will be well.”
Coaxing a reluctant Mary to enter the great hall was no easy feat. Not only would she have to see Maulkryth, but she’d have to face an angry king as well. “You will not be alone, Mary. I will not allow any harm to come to you.”
Gryke suddenly appeared at the entrance, his stance relaxed and his expression contrite. He reached up and gripped Rykaur’s forearm. “Forgive me for my earlier actions.”
Rykaur returned the other Bracadyte’s gesture, grasping Gryke’s arm in return. “Thank you, my friend.”
“I spoke with the king regarding Mary’s presence in Aukrabah. He is not happy with you for allowing the threat to enter our halls, but he does not blame the female.”
Relieved, Rykaur released his hold on Gryke’s arm and nodded his thanks. “We have much to discuss after the festivities.”
“I will be ready.”