"I did, mi amara mi amara, and your soul is beautiful beyond the fantasies of the G.o.ds. You are courage and goodness made into light and formed especially for me. You must know that you are mine." He pulled her into a tight embrace, wishing he could hold her there forever, just like that, with no vampires or Fae or missions to ever come between them.
"What does that mean, that I am yours?" she asked, her voice m.u.f.fled against his chest.
He loosened his arms, but she didn"t pull away.
"Is that some kind of magic binding? Do you-what does it mean? Can it be broken?"
He fought against the terror biting into him with sharp metal teeth. He"d finally found her and she wanted to find a way to escape him. He wanted to shout and rage against the injustice, but that would frighten her, and he found that he cared more about her feelings than his own. He almost laughed.
Love, then, was a fool"s game.
"Yes, it can be broken. Or at least, it can be ignored," he said. "The most precious tenet of Atlantean life is free will. The soul-meld, though it comes but rarely and offers a gift beyond price to a relationship, can be turned down. Refused."
He inhaled a shuddering breath and said the hardest words he"d ever had to speak. "Tell me to go, and I will."
She put her hand up to his cheek and stared up at him, her blue eyes drowning with some emotion he couldn"t translate. "Christophe."
"Don"t," he said, throwing himself away from her and out of the bed. "Don"t try to be kind. Don"t try to let me down easily. Just tell me to get out, and I"ll go."
He stopped, realizing he still asked too much. "No. You don"t even need to say the words. I"ll leave now."
He reached for the sheaths with his daggers and knocked over a vase of flowers. Instead of righting it, he hurled it against the wall and howled out the anguish that bubbled out of his chest until he thought it would consume him in its scarlet flame.
"Christophe. Christophe, listen to me." Fiona knelt beside him, though he didn"t know how or when she"d gotten there. She shook his shoulders again. "Christophe! Don"t make me smack your bottom again."
Tears ran down her face, silvery tracks not marring her incredible beauty but merely changing it, transforming it to something bittersweet. "I don"t want you to go. I love you."
He raised his head and stared at her. He thought she"d said . . .
"What?"
"You can"t go. Don"t leave me. We can figure this out. I love you, you crazy Atlantean madman," she said, laughing and crying at the same time. "I"m not sure why you"d want a cat burglar, but you"re mine, too, so let"s make this work, okay? No more talk of leaving me. Not ever."
He couldn"t make a sound. He took her in his arms, swept her up off the floor and back into the bed, and made his clothes vanish with a thought. Before he could speak, or think, or even offer up a prayer of thankfulness to all the G.o.ds who might be listening, he was inside of her again.
"Mine," he said. "I love you, too. This is where I belong. For always, my princess, my ninja, mi amara mi amara."
She traced her fingertips down his spine and smiled. "What does that mean? Mi amara? Mi amara?"
"My beloved. It means my beloved, and you are."
Then he made love to her, gently and sweetly, for a very long time.
His. She was his. He would never let her go.
Fiona woke up gradually, swimming through sleep to consciousness in stages. First she realized her body was slightly sore, and she smiled at the memory of the lovemaking that had caused it. Then she remembered the rest of it, and her heart rate felt like it doubled as her eyes popped open.
Christophe came walking out of the bathroom, hair wet and a towel slung low on his hips, and strolled over to the window to look out. She took a few moments to enjoy the view before she let him know she was awake. His broad chest tapered down into sharply defined abdominal muscles, which veed down between his hips. He was a purely perfect specimen of masculine form, and he was hers.
"Good morning," she said, and enjoyed seeing that she"d surprised him.
"I thought you"d sleep for quite a while." He crossed to the bed and leaned down to kiss her.
She enjoyed the kiss, but decided to table any further discussion of soul-melding and forever until her emotions were on more solid ground, so she took refuge in practicality. "What"s on the agenda for today?"
"Change of plans. You"ve got a lot of friends who might be Fae, whether you realize it or not, and I think we can kill two barnacles with one sh.e.l.l."
She started to laugh. "It"s kill two birds with one stone."
He grimaced. "Why would I want to kill birds with stones? Anyway, the only ones slow enough for that trick would be the palace peac.o.c.ks, and even I think they"re too pretty to kill."
"I feel a little like I"ve fallen down the rabbit hole again," she moaned, still smiling at him so he knew she was teasing.
"Look, forget birds. We"re going Fae hunting. I think the Fae may be pulling a double-cross, here, urging both shifters and vamps to believe it"s the other who stole the sword and the Siren. Also, we can ask about Denal. Are you with me, partner?"
She jumped out of bed. "I know just the place to start. One of my contacts, the first to give me the tip about the man who wanted Vanquish, actually. He owns a pub, and he"s Maeve"s cousin."
"Which means he"s Fairsby"s cousin, too," Christophe said. "I knew that d.a.m.ned Unseelie Fae was involved in this somehow."
She headed for the bathroom. "Give me twenty minutes to shower."
His eyes flared hot, and he followed her and tossed his towel on the rack. "We"re not in that big of a hurry. I think you need me to wash your back."
It took far longer than twenty minutes.
The Prancing Pony pub It had taken a while to get Hopkins and Declan caught up, and even Sean had eaten breakfast with them. Hopkins had already called Fiona"s a.s.sistant, Madeleine, and given her the week off and done the same for the rest of the staff, so there would be no interruptions or distractions. By the time she and Christophe managed to escape, it was nearly lunchtime. Sean had dropped them off, darkly muttering something about errands, and promised to be back in two hours unless Fiona needed him sooner.
She had never spent so much time in pubs in her life. A lady didn"t frequent pubs, of course. She defiantly took another sip of her ale, sending a mental p.i.s.s off p.i.s.s off to her grandfather. to her grandfather.
"I"ve never liked ale before, but it"s really quite perfect with the fish and chips, isn"t it?" She chose another chip and blissfully poured vinegar on it and doused it with more salt. "I could quite get used to this pub food."
Christophe grinned and shook his head. "I"m corrupting you. Today ale and pub food, tomorrow who knows? Reality TV?"
"You know about reality TV? In Atlantis?"
"Riley told us about it. Another sign of the decline of humanity, if you ask me." He nodded toward the bar. "There he is."
She turned. It was him. "How could you know which one is Maeve"s cousin?"
He was right, though. "Yes, that"s Paul."
"Not exactly a brilliant deduction. He"s the only Fae who walked behind the bar like he owned it." He leaned forward. "You"ve got a little salt right there."
Instead of wiping the corner of her mouth, he kissed it, and then he kissed her some more, and soon she was necking in a pub like a proper ninny.
"Stop," she said, pulling away. "I have a reputation to uphold."
"I look at it more like I have a reputation to destroy. Namely, yours." A slow, wicked smile spread across his face. "s.e.x on a balcony in broad daylight, kissing in a pub-what"s next? The fall of the British aristocracy, I bet."
"Shh!" She looked around, but n.o.body was paying them any attention, except for Paul, and he was too far away to have heard. "You"re too bad."
"Nope. I"m just bad enough, and you love me."
She sighed. "Yes, and you"re going to hold that against me, aren"t you?"
"Every chance I get." He tilted his head toward the bar. "Why don"t you go find out what Paul knows, soften him up before I come over? I"ll stay here and rescue any of my chips you didn"t manage to steal."
"I am am a cat burglar," she whispered. a cat burglar," she whispered.
She stole another chip and waved it just out of his reach before she slid out of the booth and headed for the bar.
"h.e.l.lo, Lady Fiona," Paul said, wiping down the already spotless bar. "Surprised to see you here."
"Yes, I"m sorry I haven"t made it over more often. Dead-lines and such. You know how it is." She smiled, inviting him to agree.
He didn"t.
He didn"t smile, either.
"I know you know about us now, Fiona," he said, his formerly warm voice gone cold and hard. "What do you want?"
She allowed a little of his wintry coldness to seep into her own voice. "I want to talk to Maeve, Paul. She took a friend of mine when she poofed out of my house, and I want to be sure he"s all right."
He turned to aim his stare at Christophe. "Your friend from Atlantis is fine. You can tell him him that, and get out of my pub. Both of you. I"m in danger just from your presence." that, and get out of my pub. Both of you. I"m in danger just from your presence."
She glanced back at Christophe, and quicker than thought, he was standing next to her. She"d wanted him and he was there. Warmth spread through her veins, as though he superheated her blood simply with his presence. The soul-meld? Perhaps. A topic to be tabled until later, certainly.
"Where is she?"
"She"s in the Summer Lands, fool. You know that and you have no recourse." Paul picked up a wickedly sharp knife and started slicing through limes like they were b.u.t.ter. "I like cutting things, Atlantean. How well can you bleed?"
"Are you threatening me?" Christophe"s voice was calm. A little bored, even. She could actually feel feel that he didn"t consider Paul to be the slightest small threat. that he didn"t consider Paul to be the slightest small threat.
Christophe answered her unspoken question out loud. "Fae vary as dramatically in power as humans do in physical or mental ability. This one isn"t much of a power. Barely even much of a Fae."
Paul"s hand tightened on the knife until his knuckles turned white, but he didn"t challenge Christophe. Instead, he sighed.
"Just leave. I can"t force you to do it, but if you don"t, I"m going to suffer for it. If you ever liked me at all, Fiona, please just leave."
She stared at him, looking for any hint that this was yet another deception, like the bit with the knife, but all she saw was weariness and a hint of fear.
"Who is frightening you like this, Paul? Tell us and we can help you."
He laughed, and it held genuine amus.e.m.e.nt and utter despair. "You can"t help me, Fiona. You can"t even help yourself. Get out of London while you can. Run. Run all the way to Atlantis. Swim, if you have to. He"s after you next. He"s going after the Siren and then he wants you, and I don"t even know why."
Christophe reached over the bar and grabbed Paul by the collar and lifted him up and halfway over the polished wooden surface. "Who wants her? Tell me or die now, Fae."
Paul looked down at the fruit staining the front of his shirt and then raised his head, and a corpse"s smile spread across his face. "Maeve"s brother, of course. Fairsby is Gideon na Feransel, Prince of the Unseelie Court, and he has decided to take a human bride. He"s after you, Fiona. You need to run."
Christophe released him, and Paul slid back down his side of the bar until he was standing there, grinning at them, his eyes twin holes blazing in his pale face. "He has old business with you, too, Atlantean, or so he claims. You should both run."
He started laughing, clutching his middle, insanity rising in the shrieking tones of his voice. "Run, run, run. Run, little human, but there"s no place to hide. The Siren is back, the wolves will fall, Atlantis will be destroyed. Run, run, run."
Fiona grabbed Christophe"s hand and pulled him toward the door. She managed, only just barely, to keep from covering her ears with her hands to block out the horrible laughter. The mad refrain of "run, run, run" followed them out the door and at least fifty feet down the street.
That"s when the pub exploded behind them.
Chapter 34
The wave of heat and power almost preceded the noise, or at least smashed into them simultaneously, so that Fiona was flying through the air as if knocked aside by a giant"s hand before she realized what had happened. Through some miracle of balance or Atlantean magic, Christophe performed an amazing twisting somersault in midair and caught her before she crashed down on the concrete, headfirst.
Together, they sat up and stared at what was left of the Prancing Pony. Fire, smoke, and death.
"They"re going to think it was terrorism," she said. "We need to leave. Slowly and inconspicuously."
"I think it"s too late for that," Christophe said, pointing.
A crowd was boiling up the street toward them. No, too big to be a crowd. More like a mob. But no ordinary mob. This one was utterly, completely, silent.
"They"re all shifters," Christophe said, pulling Fiona back into the doorway of a shop. "Every single one. They"re shifters, and they"ve been enthralled."
"So many? At once? That"s not possible," she protested. Then realization dawned in spite of her brain still feeling dazed from the blast. "He"s got the Siren. This is a demonstration or a taunt, or something. Fairsby has the Siren and he"s already using it."
Christophe"s face was grim. "Either that or Telios does. One of them must be behind the explosion in the pub, too. Whichever it is, he"s making some kind of point, and he"s making it here. We"re caught in the middle of it."
Behind them, the shop owner locked the door. The old woman"s worried face appeared in the gla.s.s for an instant, and then she ran away, into the back of her shop, or possibly out a rear exit.
"We have to get out of here," Fiona said. "You can"t fight that many shifters."
"I won"t have to," he said as the first ranks marched right past them. Every single shifter stared straight ahead, eyes blank and glazed over. "They"re not here for us."
Fiona scanned the street. "Everybody is running and hiding, but they"re ignoring the people for now. What is this about?"
A flash of bright blue caught her eye and she cried out. "Christophe, that"s a child. He"s caught right in their path. If they don"t stop, they"ll trample him."