Chapter Five
Libra stands their ground for what is right.
Three days later, the summons finally came from Teagan’s gran. In all that time, neither she nor Archer had been permitted to leave the room. When her appetite returned, she took a single bite of the food brought to them, declared it tasted funny, and Archer had dragged her into the bathroom, demanding she purge her stomach. He flushed the rest. They had been eating from the food Archer had stashed at the bottom of her bag ever since.
When he had demanded she pack a week’s worth of food for both of them, she had balked. Now, she was thankful. She assumed a sedative had been placed in her food. She asked for her files to work on but, like Archer’s request for books, it had been ignored. The only request to be filled had been clean clothes for each of them. After they’d changed to the clothes from the bag, their discarded garments had been taken away and cleaned then returned.
“Bring your bag,” Archer whispered into her ear.
“Okay.” Maybe this meeting with her gran would allow them to move to her suite of rooms.
As they entered the old hall, he intertwined his fingers with hers. The chamber resembled a throne room from the Middle Ages, lacking only rushes on the floor and wolf on the hearth. Although he appeared outwardly relaxed, she wasn’t fooled. His eyes scanned the room and the guards positioned in the doorways. She worried they had discovered Archer’s secret. But had they suspected the enemy within their walls, he would have been expelled from the cavern or thrown into the dungeons. The murmur of voices in the main chamber died away as they entered.
“If I tell you to shift, you do so.” He brooked no argument.
“What?”
“I need to know you will follow orders if things go south. I can’t fight and prevent injury to those you call family if I’m worried about you.”
She nodded and gripped his hand tighter.
“Teagan, you appear to be in better health than when you arrived.” The gravelly voice of her prime resonated through the hall.
Her gran sat on the large carved wooden throne in the far end of the room. The older woman seemed to have aged a hundred years since last fall. “Gran.”
She moved a few steps forward to be halted by two sentinels stepping into her path.
“You dare bring one not of our kind into our sanctuary.”
Her breath hitched as she searched the room, trying to find someone, anyone who had an ounce of compassion directed at her. No one would meet her gaze. “I was unconscious.”
“You have mated with that. You know it is forbidden.”
“We have not mated yet. I’m not even sure how we can.” Anger starting to form in her belly. The hatred toward the man who had done nothing but protect her weighed heavy on her soul.
“You shouldn’t even try. I forbid it.”
“How dare you deny what the fates have ordained?” Teagan had defended too many others to stand back and not defend herself. “The lions, bear, mermaids, and even the bulls have all mated with humans. The fates must have a reason for this change.”
“They are not us. They can never be us. I am the final say for our people or have you forgotten?” She had never in all her years seen her grandmother lose her cool, but the woman shrieked, coming to her feet unsteady.
Archer gripped Teagan’s hand and pulled her back against him. “Prime, you know who I am?”
“I do.”
“Then you know I will not hurt your people.”
“How many Libras have you slain slayer?” The air rushed from the room as every member of the family took in a breath. “That my granddaughter would bring Foniás into our midst is worthy of banishment.”
Mothers shrieked, putting their children behind them, as the room filled with angry mutterings of confusion and fear. She moved to say something, but Archer stopped her. “You knew.”
“I suspected.” He spoke to the prime again. “Six.”
“Six?”
“I have taken the lives of six Libras.”
“Liar,” someone yelled.
“Murderer,” from another.
“I only hunt those who hurt humans.” He took a step forward. “Two of whom you sent me to find. You couldn’t deal with them yourself.”
“I would never—”
“Don’t,” he dared her. “Do you think I wouldn’t keep evidence? I took down six of the worst your kind have ever unleashed on this world. One even you weren’t alive to know. Two you sent for me to deal with five hundred years ago, and the last three were some of the worst killers of modern times.”
“Out.”
“Haven’t you told your people that Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer, and the Monster of Udine were all Libra shifters?” He turned to Teagan, his eyes softening. “As I said, when Libras go bad, they go very bad.”
“Lies. Libras would never…”
“You keep these things from your family. For what purpose? To hold on to a delusion that Libra are better than the other shifters. Let me assure you, every shifter sign has their good and bad. Although Libras might not come into my radar much, when they do, they outweigh the ugliness of any others.” He turned so all in the room could hear and see. “I have spent years tracking your Libra serial killers. If you think they would have stopped with humans, think again.”
“He has information that could keep us safe from the other Foniás. He and a handful of others protect us and the humans. Can’t you see he isn’t going to hurt us?” Teagan pleaded, desperate to switch the tide of opinion.
“You’re letting your hormones rule your brain,” Gran’s beta, Hamish, barked at her.
Another beta, Aurnia, stepped forward and gripped her shoulder. “Has it been so long, my mate, that you have forgotten that mating is not a choice but an overwhelming need like breathing?”
“This is different,” Hamish replied, but a red hue tinged his cheeks.
“Stay out of this, Aurnia!” Melissasande shrieked.
“We are a people who live by the scales of justice. We weigh the good and the bad. The pros and the cons. If you are going to persecute our sister, then she deserves a defense. It is the way of our people.” Aurnia paused giving the room an open-armed sweep. “To deny her these things denies your ability to rule.”
The prime sat with the help of Hamish. “Perhaps she plans to challenge me for prime.”
“I have no desire to be prime. I state that for all to hear,” Teagan announced.
“What a shame. You would have made a wise prime,” Aurnia whispered to her.
“I would say the same for you.”
“I’m not ready, but our prime is past her time.” Aurnia looked her in the eyes. “Look around you. They follow out of tradition not respect. I’m not saying bringing a feckin’ slayer here was a wise decision, but what is done is done. And I believe he won’t hurt us.”
Hamish’s voice boomed across the hall. “What do you propose? He cannot stay here.”
“I propose we allow them to stay until it is safe for Teagan to travel, but that would require us …”
“Teagan, you are banished,” Melissasande declared.
The room swirled around her like the inside of the tornado.
“No,” Aurnia screamed, but other than that one word she could hear nothing over the howl of the wind. As her feet lifted from the floor, Archer’s grip on her wrist strengthened. He would hold on until his death, she somehow knew. Speaking the ancient language, she did her best to direct the spell to drop them near where they entered. If they stumbled on to the Hill of Tara, her banishment would be a death sentence.
They fell to the ground with a bone-shattering thump, and she cursed as pain shot through her.
“Are you okay?” Archer demanded, bringing her to her feet. His hands ran over her body, cursing when his hand came away bloody. “Where are you hurt?”
“It’s a scratch. I’ll be fine, but we have to get out of here.”
His head shot up, and he ran full speed. dragging her behind him across the Burren. “A slayer is close.”
They came to a crevasse they couldn’t cross. He lifted the pack from her back and threw it over his shoulder. “You need to prepare to shift.”
From across the rocky expanse, she heard, “Archer is that you?”
“Guglielmo?” he called back.
“Thank god I found you.” A larger man, a half foot taller than Archer, approached them. “You must be Teagan. If you are out here, that can mean only you’ve been banished. Come on. I’m here to help get you to safety.”
“Archer?”
“He is my brother in arms. He believes as I do.” They started maneuvering over the rocks. “How did you find me?”
“Which part? The car abandoned by the road? Or your bike left at your cabin? The bike told me beyond anything else something was going on. Upon closer inspection, I found markers of other Foniás but also a shifter.”
“You sensed Teagan?”
“Don’t worry, it was only inside. And only a fingerprint on the windowsill. I cleaned it up.”
“Had anyone else been in the cabin?”
“Nah, it was untouched.” Guglielmo reached up to help Teagan down from the stone ledge. “A few hours later, as I was bringing in a fugitive, a man arrived whose scent I recognized from the cabin. So I questioned him. It took a while before he would give me any information.”
“How did you…” She couldn’t believe he would tell anyone anything. “I told him I knew he was a Leo and I respected what he did for the humans he defended.”
“Jeffrey is a shifter?” Archer demanded.
“He is,” she confirmed.
“I came into contact with him years before. Leos tend to stay out longer than most shifters. Call it arrogance or adventurous, who knows?” Guglielmo paused as their car came into view. “I sense no one else around. What about you, Archer?”
“No one, but I’d feel better if I got a closer look. Teagan, stay here with him.”
She wanted to argue, but if he was okay leaving her in the hands of another man, then he trusted Guglielmo. His concern over the danger was enough to stop her in her tracks. She kept her gaze fixed on Archer as he prowled toward the vehicle, head turning left to right as he went. “Where are we heading?”
“Greece, I believe. I’ve never known Archer to be so protective. He is more of a tracker of evil than a protector of good.”
What a strange thing to say. “How many shifters do you come across every month?”
He never stopped scanning, as watchful as Archer, as he answered. “Depends on the month. Libra, it’s actually rare. You might be the first.”
“In all your years.”
“Libras are smart. Once they saw what was happening to the other shifters, it took them no time to hide. I come across more Leos, Aries, and Scorpio. You know, the arrogant signs.” He chuckled. “Unlike most Foniás, I retain my memories of the shifters I have come across even out of their month.”
“So, most forget us once the month changes?”
“Yep. Crouch down. He is almost at the car.”
“What about Archer does he forget?” Would he no longer remember her in a couple of weeks?
“No. He doesn’t forget the person, but he can’t sense that they are shifters out of their month. Except those who are truly evil. He always said their evil deeds left a stain on their soul. Which allows him to track them out of their month.” He got quiet for a minute then continued. “I might be able to sense shifters all year long, but I can’t track them for shit.”
She rubbed her face. “I don’t understand.”
“Like people and shifters, each of us is a little different from the others.” He chuckled again. “So I might know there is a shifter in the area, but it’s like knowing your keys are in the house because you unlocked the door but you have no idea where they are. I know there is a shifter close by but can’t always tell who they are in a crowd.”
“Where Archer can.”
“With pinpoint accuracy, but only during their Zodiac month.”
“Unless their soul is stained.”
“You are a fast learner.” He waved over their boulder hiding place. “Come along. We are being summoned.”
“Can you sense other Foniás?”
“Yes we all have that ability. Or at least we once did. I think some have lost it. I have snuck up on a few over the last century. Obviously, so did Archer, or you wouldn’t be here.” He offered her a hand over the rough rocks. “The ability originated so we wouldn’t all hunt the same person. The gods wanted us to spread out. Cover more ground.”
“Annihilate as many of us as possible.”
“Exactly, but Dike did all she could to help some of us—like Archer and I—protect your kind. But she isn’t powerful enough to countermand the gods’ order or a titan’s creation.”
She tried to process all the information she received. If a slayer was her mate, she needed to understand him.
When they reached the car, Archer opened her door before climbing into the driver’s side. Guglielmo sat in the back seat with his head half out the window like a dog wanting to feel the air on its face. “Turn onto the next road we come to.”
Archer made a sharp left and sped up. “I sensed them a second after you said it. Let me know if you sense them again.”
“They were definitely moving in our direction.”
“They?” she asked.
“Two.”
“Someone must have tipped them off that we were heading to Shannon. There was no one when we came through a few days ago.”
“It’s been almost a week,” Guglielmo added. “The question is, where would they think she is the least likely to go?”
“Dublin,” Archer said without hesitation.
“No, you said it was too dangerous, that everyone would be there.”
“They are coming to Shannon airport. Which means someone let the cat out of the bag that this was where you came in.”
“Stupid really, as they also are giving away safety nets. Who inside would have done this because for slayers to be already here, they had to know it was coming hours ago, if not days.”
“Gran is the only one who could have known the outcome.”
“She was my first thought. She has called on us to take out others before, despite her denials.”
“How does she reach out to you?” She looked over her shoulder.
“No one is behind us at the moment.” He placed a reassuring hand on her knee. “Before the Internet, a raven was sent with an orange ribbon tied to its claw. I am not even sure how she originally set it up to be our code. Your prime is very smart. As technology came along, she first picked up on the radio frequency we used to chat, now she posts an orange photo to social media. I rarely check to be honest. If she faces a serious threat, someone will track me down.”
“Did she post one this time?”
“My phone died shortly after I arrived,” Guglielmo admitted rolling up his window.
She gaped at him. “Your phone died?”
“You’ve never had a battery die on you? There wasn’t exactly a coffee shop out on the Burren to plug in.”
“But you’re immortal.”
“That doesn’t mean I charge batteries with my electric personality.” He reached between the two front seats and grabbed the charger. “Why didn’t Archer check?”
“There’s no service in the caves.”
Archer dug his phone out of his back pocket and tossed it to her. “Check the photogram app first.”
She clicked the app open and searched for an orange picture. “Nothing today or yesterday.” In fact, there wasn’t much of anything. Archer followed some bounty hunters, followed a few travel sites and a couple rock bands.
Guglielmo said, “Check further back.”
“There are tits.”
Guglielmo leaned over her shoulder and snorted when she flipped to the next image. She was about to stop on the day they arrived, when an orange picture glowed bright on the screen. With the location tag of Sharron Airport. “Oh my gods.”
“What is the time stamp?” Archer asked, taking his eyes off the road for a second before returning to driving.
“About an hour after we landed.”
“She didn’t expect us so soon. If she even expected me?”
“She knew I was injured.” Teagan tried not to let this next level of betrayal show.
“So, because you were hurt, she was taking you out?”
Guglielmo tapped the glass as if thinking. “Has anyone ever come in injured?”
She thought back. “No and no one that I can remember has ever been late.”
Both men fell silent, exchanging some sort of communication with their eyes through the rearview mirror.
“I need you to look further back?” Archer said.
“What do you mean?”
Guglielmo reached over and grabbed the phone. She turned in her seat and would have barked at him if the lines in his forehead didn’t tell how concerned he was. “How far back?”
“Start with sundown on September twenty-third.”
“Found it.” He handed over the phone. “I’m sorry, Teagan.”
The orange photo stared at her, but the location stamp destroyed the last visages of hope. “This is tagged at the courthouse where I work. How can I go back to work there?”
“You can’t, and Leonidas is going to lose his shit that she inadvertently placed a member of his pride in danger.” Archer made a sharp turn onto another side road. “At least that explains the large number of slayers in the area.”
“No offense, Teagan, but your prime is batshit crazy.” Guglielmo clicked his tongue against his teeth.
She looked out the window to hide the tears. Being banished by her prime would be hard enough for anyone. But the prime was also her grandmother, adding salt to the open wound. Her own grandmother had alerted the Foniás to her location. The betrayal became a clamp on her chest, closing tighter with every breath. Archer stopped the car and pulled her into a protective embrace.
“This is not on you. It’s on a crazy old woman, who has lived far past what is normal.”
“Not sure that helps, mate,” the other man mumbled.
She nodded into his chest, not sure if she was agreeing with Archer or Guglielmo. “We should keep going, shouldn’t we?”
“I sense not a single slayer around us. They must not have known when the banishment was happening. I think your friend Aurnia pushed it up unwittingly by defending you, but in the end, it might have saved your life.”
“Fantastic. I’ll have to send her a thank-you card,” she bit out then the immediate guilt washed over her. “That was bitchy.”
“You have been through so much today, hell, this week, I think a little bitchy is well-earned.” He placed a kiss on the top of her head before releasing her and driving on.
“So it’s like that, is it?” Guglielmo asked. “Makes sense now that she is more than a simple protectee.”
“Apparently, the fates have deemed me her mate.”
“What, what?” Guglielmo asked, sitting forward to look between the two of them.
“That was my reaction.”
“Mine as well,” Teagan slotted in. “I mean, who the hell makes a Foniás a shifter’s mate.”
“Someone up there took a detour in Colorado and picked up some cannabis edibles. Seriously, you are mated? I didn’t even know we could mate.”
“He is my mate. We haven’t quite figured out how it might happen.” She had done nothing but try over the last few days. Well, between bouts of lovemaking on their part.
“How do you usually mate?” Archer asked.
“We freefall together until our souls merge then we soar.”
“Yeah that isn’t likely to happen.” Guglielmo balked.
“I might be immortal, but I can still die,” Archer agreed.
“How do other shifters mate?” she asked.
Guglielmo sat back. “How the hell would we know? But if you nearly die in a freefall, I’m betting the rams give each other concussions when they get together.”
“Probably,” Archer chuckled.
The rest of the trip to Dublin was in relative silence except for the occasional directions given by Guglielmo from the back seat. As they pulled into the departures drop-off area, Guglielmo got out and helped with the bags. “I think I’ll hang around the city for a bit. Let me know if you can get a flight.”
She thanked him and couldn’t get into the terminal fast enough. A chill ran down her spine. “Archer?”
“I know. I see him, too.”
A tall blond, handsome man approached with a smile and outstretched hand. “Teagan, we’ve been waiting for you.”
“You have?” she demanded. A week ago, she would have trusted on blind faith. Today, she doubted she would ever trust again.
“I’m a friend of Jeffrey’s. My name is Silas. My brother is about to deal with the Foniás over there. Here are your tickets. Do you need to check your bags?”
“No,” they said in unison.
“Good. Then let’s get through the security check.”
“How did you know we would come here?” Archer asked.
“We didn’t, but Jeffrey thought you might be on your way.” The blond man pushed through the crowd as if he were a king. “If there was the slightest chance you would be here we took it.”
An exact replica of Silas tripped and spilt his coffee all over the man who had been watching them. “You have preclearance. Stay in the public areas. They know you are here. Safe travels.”
Silas moved in to distract the slayer more. Archer pulled her along with him. “Don’t watch; it will draw attention to you. In the crowd, they can’t tell who you are. They just know you’re here.”
They had two hours before their flight. Two hours she spent on the edge of her seat. When they finally called for the flight to Greece, she was a wreck. He settled her by the window and took her aisle seat himself then covered her with a fluffy, first-class cabin blanket. Whoever made the reservations certainly paid for the best accommodations.
“Is everything all right?” the flight attendant, whose name tag said Janice, asked.
Archer gave a glowing smile. “My wife is newly pregnant and is feeling a bit queasy.”
“Oh, poor thing. I had all-day sickness with both of mine. Let me get her some ginger ale and crackers. Just lie back and relax.”
He leaned close to her. “You are so wound up, someone is going to think you are a terrorist. I need you to calm down.”
He was right, and she did feel sick. He made a great show of placing his hand on her abdomen and a kiss on her lips. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I’m too selfish to lose you now that I have found you.”
The intimate moment did the trick as Janice offered them a kind smile, placing the soda in the cupholder next to Teagan. “Just ring if you need more.”
“Thank you.” She gave a weak smile as Janice moved on to settle her other passengers. “Where are we going?”
“Leonidas has a place he swears will be safe but not really comfortable.”
“At this point, all I care about is safe. We can worry about comfort on October twenty-fourth.”
Perhaps she had spoken too soon. As the boat pulled up to the dock, she couldn’t imagine how anyone spent more than a few hours on the island, let alone a couple of weeks. A few huts dotted the hillside, barely more than shacks.
A beautiful curvy blonde came down to the beach to join them. “You made it. Leonidas, they are here,” she yelled over her shoulder before reaching out to grab the rope thrown at her by their boat pilot, and tie it to the small dock. “Welcome.”
“Thank you for allowing us here,” Teagan said. She might not be impressed, but she wouldn’t look down upon the hospitality. She understood why Archer couldn’t go to the big island. And she wasn’t willing to leave him.
“Where is Leo? Oh, where is my brain? I’m Kalista. I know the place doesn’t look like much, but we have made some improvements for your stay.” Kalista smiled and offered Teagan a hand off the boat.
Improvements?
An imposing, regal man stalked down the path to them. “Kalos irthate.”
“Thank you for having us.” Archer approached with an extended hand.
“I only wish we could offer better accommodations.” Leonidas shook his and then kissed Teagan on both cheeks. “I am deeply saddened by what you have been forced to endure.”
“Thank you, Prime.”
“Please call me Leonidas.” He turned to his mate, love evident in his gaze. “I need to catch up with Archer. Kalista, can you take Teagan up to the cabin?”
“We have been dismissed,” she teased. “Leave the bags, the men can carry them.”
As they took the steps up to the cabin, she was surprised to find a large canopy with lounge furniture, including a daybed overlooking the bay below. “We had some comforts brought over.”
“Thank you, it’s lovely.” And it was. Her own family had kicked her out, and this stranger who had no reason to offer her anything, had gone out of her way to make it homey.
“Leo brought over a generator and a small fridge. So there is some electricity and fans to help you cool off. Be thankful it’s not August.”
“What is this place?”
“The pride calls it the Isle of Proávlio tis Koláseos or Island of Limbo. It’s where the banished Leos come to wait out the month until it’s safe to leave again.”
“Well, the perfect place for me to be, then.”
“No. You don’t deserve what you got. Those who we put here deserve banishment but never to be hunted.” Kalista led them inside. A large bed lay in the far end of the cozy room. “I stocked the fridge, and there is food in the cabinets. A freshwater spring runs through the center of the island, not far away, so you have plenty of water. But I brought some wine in case. Unfortunately, there is no way to communicate with us from here. But I’ll come back in a week and bring more supplies. Of course, if you really need us, I suppose you can fly over.”
“Can I fly safely on the island?”
“You can.” Leo’s deep voice boomed from the doorway. “Come on, my mate. Let’s leave them to rest and get comfortable.”
“See you in a week, then.” Kalista lingered in the doorway. “Unless you need anything else?”
“No, thank you. We’ll be fine,” she assured.
“They can make a list of anything they need, Kali. I will send someone over tomorrow for it. Would that put your mind at ease?” Leo placed a hand around his mate’s waist and they strolled out. Teagan watched from the top of the hill as they left on a second boat. Always touching and in contact.
“I think there is enough food in here to last us for months.”
“I guess she was judging on the amounts a lion would need and not a bird.” She looked up to the sky.
“If you wish to fly, do so. Leonidas said as long as you stay around within the island’s perimeter, you will be safe.”
She stripped her clothes off without hesitation, loving the feel of the sun on her skin. Spreading her arms, she willed her feathers to cover her and imagined her bird. A second later she looked at the islands through black eyes. The world came into focus, and colors her human eyes were unable to see were beautifully visible. Wings ill-used and shaky took some time to lift her off the ground. Twice she fell, only to be caught in Archer’s gentle hands.
“Take your time.”
With his assistance and a small push, she found the air beneath her wings and left the ground far below. All Libras were drawn by the wind, and it gave her strength. As she made a dive, she froze for a second, a mere second but a connection formed. She could hear his thoughts, feel his needs, and she knew he saw through her eyes.
She struggled as the winds picked up. The sky clouded over, and lightning lit the horizon. Instead of fearing the storm, it energized them both. Swooping down to the earth, she shifted before her feet could touch the ground and stood gloriously naked in front of him as the rain pelted them. “Mate with me?”
“Yes.” His voice was husky and warm against her shoulder as he laid a kiss upon it.
“You understand what this means?”
“It means I am yours until the day you die.”
“Will that be enough for you? I cannot stand knowing I’ll leave you heartbroken.”
“I’ll have centuries with you. I will make it enough.”
“Most mates’ life forces intertwine. It’s possible yours will with mine. What if it made you give up your immortality?”
“I give it up freely.”
Overcome with love and unable to speak, she nodded. “You are everything I could hope for in a mate. Honorable, strong, protective.”
“You only need my protection because you were shot. Otherwise, you are more than strong enough to take care of yourself.” He cupped her face; his beautiful brown eyes speckled with gold glowed. “I didn’t want this, never wanted to love again, but you are impossible not to love. I have watched your inner strength. Hell, I loved you before I knew you. You were this amazing defender of the innocent. And those that weren’t, you made sure their sentences were fair. Even if I only had the human lifespan with you, every second would be worth it to me.”
She started to shake; the wind surrounded them in a fury, as if they were at the center of a vortex, and perhaps they were. The air lifted her hair above her head. Archer stripped off his clothing and raised her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Strong hands gripped her ass. “Tell me what you need. How do we mate?”
“Do you feel the heat? Does it burn?”
“Yes.”
“Then, ease the heat for us both,” she whispered in her ear. She didn’t know how they would fly to allow for mating, but the fates weren’t so cruel as to give her a mate she couldn’t bond with. Would they?
He eased his cock deep inside her. Every inch stoked the tornado around them. Faster and faster the wind churned as he pumped into her, until the desire to climax became so elusive, yet so close, they were lifted into the sky. Only a few feet, but enough for them to fly.
“Now.” She threw her head back. Their bodies turned with the current, becoming one with the atmosphere. She inhaled, filling her lungs before laying her lips on his and blowing the essence of her being into him. As their air mingled, their souls connected. He repeated the exercise until their orgasm crested and they came back to earth. Her feet only touched the ground long enough for him to lift her again, carrying her into the cabin.
He laid her on the bed before climbing in next to her. The storm raged outside, rain pinged on the metal roof, and the lightning lit up the now-dark skies. Everything around her for once came together perfectly.
He brushed the hair away from her neck to kiss the hollow spot below her ear. “I have a theory.”
“About?” She couldn’t think, let along come up with any theories.
“Your banishment.”
She turned in his arms. “What is that?”
“I don’t think your banishment and the orange shout-out was personal.”
Not personal? “It was bloody personal to me.”
“Me as well,” he assured, “But I think, and this is just supposition, that this was a way for your prime to keep your family in line.”
“In line?” she parroted because quite frankly she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Yes, you said something that didn’t make sense. You said no Libra came to the caves late. Ever. That no one ever arrived hurt.”
“Right. Everyone comes early.”
“Not everyone. Libra has always been a slow hunting month. For most of my kind, it’s a great relief and break. But I’ve come across Libras over the years.”
“How is that possible? It’s not safe.”
“It’s a risk, true. Had your gran not sent out the alert of your location, the chance of you being hunted would have been slim. Getting to the cave would have been difficult, but you would’ve made it. Hell, you could’ve stayed in your home, continued to work at the courthouse, and been fine.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.” She hmphed and fell back against the pillow.
“Perhaps you’ll believe one of the lions when they come next week to drop off supplies. Lions are notorious for not giving a shit about Foniás. They come and go off the main island all month long. I’ve known it for years.”
She turned her head to see his face. “But why?”
“Some have jobs they can’t leave for a month. Surgeons, scientists, professors. Either way, they realize the risks are low. There aren’t quite five hundred of my kind. There are one hundred and ninety-six countries in the world. If we were to spread out, that would mean less than three slayers per country.”
“I thought there were more.” She’d been told there were thousands.
“There were more of us in the beginning but some died. Without a head, we, too, will perish.” He chuckled but sobered when she hit his shoulder. “Some decided to take their own lives. The killing became too much. There are a bit more than sixty who, like me, will not kill those who are innocent.”
“So what you are saying...” she encouraged.
“Five hundred is like .000007 percent of the population.”
“So there is one slayer per every seven hundred thousand people.”
“Even if every one of us were in the state of Maine together, we couldn’t cover all the cities and towns. So what is the chance we would come across all the shifters, or any for that matter.” He lifted his head and rested it on his hand.
“And with so many going to one spot, it makes it even less likely.” With every question he answered, more popped into her head. “How many Virgos did you come across this year?”
“One, and it took me all mouth to track him down and bring him in. You met him.”
“And how many Foniás did you come across?”
“Last month or this year?”
“Both.”
“Until this week, not a one.” He lay on his back, pulling her into his embrace. “I ran into three during Sagittarius last year, but that was a fluke, really, as three fugitives converged in Vegas for some fantasy convention. Apparently, shifters find it funny to dress as shifters.”
“Really?” She couldn’t imagine.
“My point is I think your gran…”
“Don’t call her that.”
“Fair enough. I think Melissasande is grasping at her power. She is losing control, and she doesn’t like it. Libras think.” He tapped her forehead. “They think through things over and over. Turning it around in their heads until every angle has been analyzed. They are experts at instilling enough fear into a person that it overrides all common sense sometimes.”
“I still don’t see how this isn’t personal.”
“You were a pawn, the perfect example. Not only did you break the rules, you are her blood. Who would question her if you were killed? And, had you been killed, the family would have been thrown back into the old ways and would never question her desire for safety.”
“So had it been anyone else, she would have done the same thing?”
“She would have posted the orange picture.” He laid a kiss on her forehead. “She only needed someone to make an example of.”
“It still stings.”
“It was savage. I suggest you get a message out to the other ravens when we are off the island and safely into Scorpio. You need to let them know what is going on.”
“Do you feel we need to stay here so long?”
“There is a price on your head. It’s one thing for a person to try and slip through undetected, but you are being actively hunted now. So, no, we stay here then we figure out if and where you want to relocate. Together, we make our home there.”
“What about you?”
“I can work from anywhere. You understand I have to remove those shifters who pose a threat to mankind. Mating with you hasn’t changed that. I have to travel, but my bases will be with you.”
“And during Libra?”
“I’ll stand as your protector.”
Love swelled within her. “And will we come here every year?”
“Maybe, if we’re invited. It’s not so bad once you get used to it. It’s kind of homey, really.”
“Our own Greek honeymoon.” She cuddled into his side closer.
“I don’t know. Perhaps you’ll be welcomed back to your family.”
“But you won’t. No. this is a good place to come if the lions will allow it.” She ran her fingers over his chest. “I know you say it’s safe out there, but…”
“I’ll talk with Leonidas next week to verify we can return.”
Feeling safe and secure, more importantly, healed for the first time in weeks, she fell into a restful sleep.