Chapter 16
So, that’s where my little painter went.
Nikolai drove into Silvertail Ridge where an old acquaintance was bent on revenge. Every plan to mete out her punishment had been foiled. She turned to him and mentioned Savon Roantree was back in her hometown, cozying up to Jay Walker, who was supposed to be under her thumb but wasn’t falling in line. Savon was also flirting with the Blood Fang’s son.
An interesting combination. However, Savon was his. He’d claim her or kill her. There was no other option. She realized her place was at his side, or her life ended.
He understood why she attacked him. As long as she admitted her error, he could forgive her.
And Canagan was willing to pay any price to find Killian and destroy him. She suggested using Nate, which meant using his first love. And considering the meddlesome Dreamwalker kept Savon from ever truly loving him, he had no problem destroying Canagan’s problem. Then maybe they could reconcile, and he could sway her to the right side of an ancient war.
She didn’t know about the Branches of Emrys, though she spent years working with their ringleader. Nikolai had plans to recruit Savon, but Ceridwen Murdock seemed to keep his little painter under her wing.
With Ceridwen missing, he finally had a chance to convince Savon to join him. Nikolai was desperate for her to join his cause. He fucking loved her. And she tried to kill him.
He pulled up to a large house near the top of the ridge. The property felt darker than most. It might have been the bent, twisted trees that blocked most of the house from view. Or the way the branches cast eerie shadows against the home. It reminded him of the forests in the Carpathian Mountains two hundred years ago.
Nikolai parked the Land Rover and walked to the door. Canagan greeted him with a cold, calculating smile. “Welcome. Come in. We have much to discuss.”
* * * *
Savon stepped back to take one last look at the painting. Nate was right. Nothing had changed between them. She needed to stop pushing him away. He could help mend her shattered heart.
She washed her face, pinned her hair up, and changed into jeans and a tank. After a sandwich, she went for a walk through the forest. She’d missed spending her days wandering through the woods and around the lake.
Only thing missing—Nate.
Later, they could walk together. In the meantime, she wanted to reacquaint herself with the town. After awakening her other half, plants and wildlife took on new shades. She could feel the essence in everything around her, communicate with the creatures.
Silvertail Ridge seemed like a new place with a different ambiance than what she remembered growing up. She always heard the voices of spirits, but they were dampened when she was a kid, some silenced by the wards her father had wound around her. There were so many entities she hadn’t heard before.
She’d been walking for thirty minutes when the spirit from childhood screamed, “Run!”
Savon didn’t question it. She bolted as fast as she could, erecting shields as she turned off the beaten path and leapt over fallen logs, brush, and ruts. She slid to a stop and climbed into a hollowed trunk, reaching out with her senses.
Her heart slammed in her chest. Nikolai was alive. There for revenge, no doubt. Closing her eyes, she breathed slow and easy, forcing her heart rate down and banishing fear.
What she’d learned about Nikolai tore apart the beginnings of love.
She’d been on her way to one of her favorite shops for paints, but heard her lover’s voice. She crept to the corner as he hissed, “Where is the artifact, Chyna?” His normally sexy accent took on a sinister tone.
The beautiful woman laughed, a smirk twisting her lips. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you do. You helped steal the Wolfssengen Pendant.”
“That? Interesting story. There was no inscription. It was a fake. I left it where it lay.”
Savon crept closer.
Nikolai took a step toward Chyna. “You can tell me what I want to know, or I can waltz into your head, find the answers myself, and scramble your memory so badly you can’t do shit.”
“What’s the pendant to you?”
“It’s the key to finding all the mystics left in this world. The Branches of Emrys need to be demolished so our way of life can evolve into something better.”
She sneered, “What do mystics have to do with evolution?”
Savon wanted the answer too.
“They’re preventing the Burning Dawn from cleansing the waste from this world.”
Chyna flinched, then spat, “You’re insane.”
He produced a blade, chanting as he thrust it into her gut.
Her startled cry made Savon gasp. She backed away as he thrust his hand into Chyna’s hair, touching his forehead to hers, stripping her memories as he twisted the blade.
Savon slipped away, rushing home to think.
When she got there, Bran called once again, begging her to come back. This time she took him up on moving home. First, she needed to stop Nikolai from finding the pendant.
Did she call Ms. Murdock?
She was the purest mystic she knew. The second purest hadn’t figured it out yet.
She had decided to sit on the news and started packing.
He disappeared for a week. His absence gave her time to pack and have everything ready for the movers.
Then she went to his home and found ties to all the organizations she fought against with Ms. Murdock and several others. His fabricated world started to crumble, the lies falling away.
She rigged the house with magic. Both Sylvan Fae and that of her sorceress background. As she set the last spell, Nikolai walked in.
Closing her eyes, she pulled the dress over her head and walked down the stairs, hoping to distract him. She could make love to him one last time, then leave before he learned what she’d done.
“There’s my pretty little painter.” He stalked to her, desire burning bright as his black eyes raked over every inch.
“Missed you, Nic.”
“Not nearly as much as I’ve missed you.”
He grabbed her waist and hauled her closer as he bent to take her mouth in a heated kiss. His hands caressed over her flesh, leaving goosebumps in their wake, for a whole other reason than usual.
Fear trailed through her with the voice, “He suspects. He’ll dive into your head.”
When he pushed his fingers into her hair and started the spell, she slipped her hand between them and pushed pure energy at him. He stumbled back as the beautiful exotic flowers in the vase behind him grew, vines whipping out to wrap around him, lifting him off his feet.
A sad laugh escaped Savon. “Don’t trust me, do you?” The question came out far calmer than she was.
“You were there. You’ve been snooping, setting off my wards. You have two choices. Join the Dark Templar with me, or die. I’m hoping you join me. I’ve grown to love you enough to find a way to keep you.”
“You want to tear the world apart,” she accused. “The Burning Dawn will destroy anything and everything that stands in their way. And you want to help their cause?”
“I am their cause, Savon. I’ve been part of the Dark Templar since long before you were born.”
Savon turned to grab her dress. A flash of heat licked at her before fading. She yanked the garment over her head but was spun around and thrown down on the couch, his hand around her throat as he crushed his erection against her.
“I love you, Savon. Don’t make me kill you.” His voice rasped, the accent back to dark and sexy. His aura fluctuated between desire and determination.
He slid his hand between her thighs, dipping his fingers into her core. “Let me have you, forever,” he pleaded, attempting to work her body up like he always did.
“Stop!” she shouted.
He pressed deeper, pushing magic at her, attempting to force desire through her.
She couldn’t—wouldn’t. She planted her foot at the back of the couch and rolled. He landed on his back with her on his chest. She covered his face, screaming the words to put him under, then grabbed his lighter, flicking it and throwing it at the couch.
Scrambling away, she pushed her will through the air, vibrating molecules until the carpet and table beside the couch ignited. She ran out the door and made it to her car.
Savon pulled away from the curb with tears in her eyes.
“Savon, my little painter, forget your first love and join me,” Nikolai called out, pulling her back to the present.
Tears leaked down her face. She hadn’t killed him. He was dangerous, a hired mercenary. But she had a hard time resisting the bad boys. Maybe because she knew she would never expect too much from them, and never truly give her heart to them.
“I’ll find you, Savon. Don’t make me hurt you.” There was pain in his voice. She saw reds flaring beyond the tree. All desire, passion, anger.
Bad fucking idea, Savon. Now where you gonna go?
“You don’t understand the war that’s brewing. We win. Your Ms. Murdock will lose. It’s only a matter of time. Join us, where you belong.”
He stopped at the opening, and Savon pressed to the side, hoping he wouldn’t crouch down.
“I feel you, Savon. Fear. Where’s the love? I know you loved me. What happened? Is it because I killed the bitch who double-crossed me?”
More than that. Though that was part of it. He killed her for something she didn’t find. Something he wanted to give to his superiors. What all was he involved in? And why hadn’t Ms. Murdock warned her? She knew the woman was part of something bigger, but never exactly what. And now, Savon was in the middle of it.
Nikolai crouched down, grabbed her ankle, and pulled her free of the tree.
She cried out as he wrapped his hand around her throat and lifted her, pinning her against a solid tree.
“Nothing to say to me?”
She clawed at his hand, calling to the animals. She found a sleeping bear nearby and beckoned him.
Nikolai pulled her away from the tree and slammed her back before crushing his body against hers, releasing her throat.
“You’re mine, Savon,” he growled at her, pushing his hand down her pants. “Your Dreamwalker still hasn’t claimed you. Why is that? Part of you still love me?” Leaning back, he delved into her eyes. Insanity stared back.
He gripped her pants and underwear, disintegrating the barrier with a spell as a thousand wails of anger rose up around her. His tip pressed against her opening and she bit where neck meets shoulder until she tasted blood.
His groan was pure desire as he thrust into her. “Want hard? I’ll give you hard.”
She let go of control and screamed as she ripped her face away, tearing a chunk of skin from him. He was flung into the air, landing against a fallen log. She hit the ground hard, the wind knocked from her lungs. She struggled to breathe while the spirits tossed him around like a rag doll in a tornado. He tried to shield himself as he was thrown against one tree, then another.
The bear charged into the clearing, changing directions to bat Nikolai to the ground. The bastard cried out in pain.
Savon scrambled over, pressing her thumbs into his eyes until they burst and blood ran down his face.
“You’re mine!” he screamed, grabbing her wrists. Fire danced over his hands, burning her skin, as the bear clamped his jaws over Nikolai’s wrist. “I die, you die with me, and I’ll love you in hell.”
Tearing her hands away with a cry of agony, she pushed to her feet and ran for the first safe place she could think of. She’d warded the willow tree with her mother’s magic long ago. No one would find it, except those she wanted to find her. If she could make it there, she could catch her breath.
A snarl rent the air as she stumbled into Nate’s property. Almost there, a little farther.
A wolf stopped in front of her and she lifted her hands, calling magic as he shifted to a man.
Jay.
Rage burned in his eyes as he glared behind her.
She fell on her ass, scooting back.
He held up his hands, his voice cracking. “What happened? What can I do?”
“No, oh no. Fuck you!” She scrambled to her feet and ran, throwing a spell his way, knocking him back. The spirits’ voices rose up, and he howled, apparently shifting back. She didn’t hear him come closer as she sprinted for the lake.
She dropped to her knees under the willow, her hands hitting the ground, then fell to her side as pain washed everything out.