Chapter 24
F rigid water snapped at Celina’s fingers as she refilled the pile of waterskins. Six travelers took quite the upkeep. Though hopefully joyous, it was going to be a long journey shepherding the children back to Calderre once they pulled off this rescue.
Keeping one ear on the argument taking place nearby, she turned the other toward the stream. Focusing on the peaceful sound of the moving water, she let it wander through her mind, cooling and calming her against the tension in the air.
After riding a safe distance away from the fortress, they had finally stopped for a short break to eat, water the horses, and discuss the next step. They were generally in consensus that they needed to gather extra supplies from the nearby border town so that they were fully prepared to make a run to Calderre and hit the fortress as soon as possible. The timing was complicated by the extra men currently on-site with the commander, who would theoretically be departing soon. The debate had ensued about how, when, and who would accomplish those things.
Celina kept an internal eye on Rodric through their bond. His anxiety was high, and he resembled Zora champing at the bit and pawing the ground when she wanted to move. He must be practically vibrating apart inside with his need to free Brenna.
The soothing energy she tried to send him didn’t hit the mark. She frowned, wondering if he was blocking her instinctively because of the high emotions or if he was doing it purposely. His continued reticence to practice his magic made her anxious, but as he kept saying, they had more important things to worry about. True, yet her instincts jumped nervously at that conclusion, insisting that his acceptance of his magic was vital. Not only for their relationship, but for himself and for Brenna.
Icy water hit her face, making her sputter with laughter. Jed pounced at the water, splashing it all over the place at the stream’s bank. Balanced on his back legs, little red paws up in the air like he was going to surrender, he crashed down into the water, chortling in delight as he bounced in the circle of water raining around him.
A burst of lightheartedness buoyed her with soothing warmth. The little furball was surprisingly intuitive, and she was delighted Jed decided to continue traveling with them. He had stayed with her the entire time they were scouting the fortress, a silent shadow on their heels. As soon as they’d arrived at the meeting point, he had returned to his curious, playful self.
Standing, she stretched her arms and back, enjoying the tingling sensation of her nerves flexing. She was still stiff from spending so many hours crouched in awkward positions as they made their observations.
“What do you say, Jed, you coming back with me? Or staying to play?”
Looking back at the stream, Jed gave a last tag to the water with a quick swipe of his paw, then ran over to her, an extra hop in his stride. Chuckling, she gathered the refilled waterskins and headed to the group, the osa prancing about her feet as they walked.
Her mind settled into an increasingly tense state with each step she took away from the cool, quiet stream. Rodric’s tension seemed to be climbing with the sun, and she was at a loss as to how to help him. The healer in her wanted to soothe him, take away all his pain. The powerful leader appreciated his intensity and ability to take on any situation. The woman who loved him let him fight through the avalanche on his own, understanding his need. She was by his side, doing all she could to see his family whole again. It was right, even if it meant quieting parts of herself for the time being.
As she approached the clearing, Rodric and Connor’s strong backs greeted her. Opposite them was Cass, looking relaxed, with an eyebrow raised in the direction of the men. Celina looked to Rodric first, finding his shoulders carrying the weight of the world, stress lining his features. Beside him, Connor had a disturbed yet thoughtful look on his face.
Daya stood between Connor and Cass, her eyes studying Cass with respect as the warrior spoke. One of her hawks sat still and silent on a branch above her. Their combined intensity made Celina grateful the pair would be fighting alongside them. The longer they spent together, the more the huntress reminded her of Cass, though her strength was much quieter in nature.
Celina begrudgingly admitted that the woman’s fierce stoicism and strategic mind had been helpful to their planning. Not to mention her familiarity with the Hannelore Mountain range as she’d guided them to the fortress. Daya would be leading the return trip as well, taking them back to her secluded mountain home before they continued on their way.
Sev nodded to Celina when she returned to the group. The tilt of his head and quirked lips told her she could take over as moderator for a while. Receiving her acknowledgment, he slipped away into the trees, pausing to scratch Zora’s ears as he went. The sassy mare gave a vocal huff and flicked her tail at him, making Celina smirk. What she wouldn’t give for just a tiny bit of the bossy mare’s attitude.
“That’s all fine in a best-case scenario, but we need to talk worst,” Cass was saying. “None of you have done this before. Even Connor’s missions tend to be either reconnaissance or open battle. Rescue missions are different. If you don’t stop and listen, people are going to get hurt.” She looked at Connor. “Am I wrong?”
Connor sighed and looked away. “No. You’re not. But—”
“You feel guilty because your previous mission failed when you were injured. I get that. And Rodric feels guilty about his role in Brenna’s abduction. But I’m not letting any of you get killed because emotions clouded your judgment.”
“Excuse me?” Celina was startled that Cass would state something like that so harshly to Rodric, who was already incredibly torn up about the situation.
“Ask him. We’re out of time for you two to slow dance. If he’d accepted his magic at any point in the past twenty years, he would have learned enough to help protect Brenna, if they were still in Eldridge at all. But there’s no place for those feelings here if you want to save her.”
Rodric froze beside her, an icy feeling emanating from his side of the bond. Breathing slowly, Celina let the truth settle. How had she not seen that before? It made so much sense. A hunter on the surface, he was a protector at his core. His personal failure was affecting Brenna’s present. No wonder he felt like an icy mountain to her magic, his emotions ready to tumble into a destructive avalanche at any moment.
“Overtake them on the road, full attack on the fortress, or slow stealth. There is only one entrance down to that dungeon. They could kill all the children before we have a chance to make it inside, same goes for taking them on the road, since it sounds like each child will be under the control of an assigned handler. We’re sticking with the safest plan for getting everyone out alive, whether you all like it or not, which means avoiding a bloodbath. We need complete trust for this to work. If we can manage that, we actually have the makings of a decent team with the diverse skills among all of us.”
“Alright.” Connor nodded decisively. “Your lead.”
“Agreed.” Rodric’s voice was a rough murmur.
“I know waiting is difficult, but dusk will provide the best opportunity.” Daya gestured to Cass and Connor as she continued. “You two will be able to use your magic effectively, and there will be enough light for the hawks to be our eyes in the air. It’s a good plan.”
Cass nodded gratefully to Daya. “It will work. Now, everyone needs to vent some steam. Celina, you’ll head to town with Rodric, Sev, and me as soon as that contingent leaving the fortress starts moving. We’re going to need a lot of supplies to make a run for it with the kids. Stopping anywhere, especially on the first half of the return trip, jeopardizes their safety. Connor and Daya will watch the fortress while we’re gone since we can’t risk anyone recognizing either of them.” Cass dismissed the pair with a flick of her head.
Daya leaned in and said something quietly to Connor that had him nodding and squeezing her arm in return. Turning, they walked into the woods, her hawk taking off from its perch to shadow them.
Stopping in front of Rodric, Cass put a hand on his shoulder, gripping his neck tightly, and waited for him to look her in the eyes. “Are we alright? I didn’t mean to be so harsh.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked before visibly relaxing. “We’re good. I do trust your judgment, Cass. I just…”
“I know. It’s hard to keep a clear head when it's personal. We’ve all been there, Rodric. That’s why I’m calling the shots and ordering you with us to town. You’ll be too tempted to get to Brenna if you stand guard. Desperation increases the danger to everyone, especially Brenna. We’ll get her out. You have my word.” Cass winked at him. “And my many blades.”
“Thank you for that.” Rodric gave her a tired smile.
“Anytime.” Cass’s glance slid to Celina, her not-so-hidden message of support clear, before nodding to Rodric. Turning, she headed off in the direction Sev had gone earlier.
Releasing a huge breath, Celina looked to Rodric. For the first time, she was unsure what she wanted to say. What she needed to ask. He looked completely overcome and utterly exhausted, the true impact of the day showing vividly on his features now that they were alone. Her swirling thoughts came to a slow halt, tumbling into a large pile for her to sort out later. The deep strain on his face reminded her of the night she’d woken him out of a nightmare.
Without speaking or waiting for his agreement, she took his hand and pulled him with her back toward the stream. Jed, so silent during the debate she’d forgotten about him, walked on Rodric’s other side, brushing against his leg every so often in a companionable gesture. Scoping out a large boulder a dozen feet from the water, she tugged him down to sit with her on the thankfully dry ground.
Thumping with much less grace than usual, he leaned his head back against the rock and closed his eyes. Jed curled up with them, head on Rodric’s leg. He settled his hand on the osa, petting him with gentle strokes. At some point in the past week, he’d come to accept Jed’s presence. The sight calmed her jangled nerves.
“Do you believe in fate? Destiny?” Rodric’s words startled her, in no way what she had expected him to ask.
“As in an inevitable sequence of events? No. I don’t. But people drawn together, at the right time and place to make significant impact? Yes.”
He sighed, turning his head against the rock without lifting it so he could look at her. “I feel as if I’ve been heading toward this moment since Avery died. I ran. Rode away from it, but here I am. And I’m afraid Brenna is going to pay the price.”
Instead of immediately denying it, she twined her fingers with his, measuring her words. “Maybe you were drawn here. If you had discovered your magic earlier, would you have stayed in Eldridge? Or would you have come to Calderre, looking for a different set of answers? Maybe you would have continued warrior training instead of becoming a hunter and would have been here all along, just in a different capacity.”
“At that age, an opportunity to join a program with a mission like this? To avenge Avery’s death in some way, and Damien’s? Maybe.”
“But then you wouldn’t have Sev or Brenna.” She couldn’t help the soft smile that graced her lips. “Or me.”
“Mmm. What am I going to do with you? My enchantress. Do you think we were destined too?”
Placing her free hand over his heart, she flooded their bond with magic, pushing her very essence toward him. Overwhelmed by something so intimate, the barrier shimmered in her mind, letting her through to his soul while maintaining its guarding presence. “This tells me yes. Does that bother you?”
Shaking his head where it still lay against the boulder, he matched her smile. “I feel like it should, but… no.” Leaning down, he kissed her gently.
Relief and joy soared through her. “Soul-bonds are rare, Rodric.”
“So are enchanting dancers who are also healers, matriarchs, and councilors.”
Laughing, she glanced at him, cheeks heating. “I’m just Celina. Those other things are parts of who I am; they don’t encompass me. And I haven’t decided about joining the council yet.”
“I suppose we can leave that one off for now then.”
Pursing her lips, Celina fought worrisome thoughts. He didn’t seem to have a problem with the individual authority she held, and had been quite supportive as he listened to her work through her thoughts and emotions about the new council and her possible future with it. Still, he’d made it clear on other occasions that he didn’t hold leadership in any realm in high regard.
“Rodric, I know you have strong feelings about government. How will you feel if I decide to take that path?”
“I think the more important question is how will you feel? Will it hurt you, to be involved that way?”
His sincere questions warmed her, and she took a moment to consider. She’d set out to find her brother, but the mission had become so much more. The boy they’d found and turned over to the Wolflumen. Brenna and the other children’s impending rescue. The constraints of how the Lightning Teams actually operated in the field coming into clear focus. Through it all, she’d found herself cataloging all the possibilities, the need for change and improvement. They weren’t the fear-based thoughts she’d had before about leading the program.
“I’m beginning to feel differently. But I’m not sure if it’s enough to not be afraid of it. I need to be certain. They deserve that much.” She swallowed hard and admitted her major remaining fear. “What if I’m not strong enough to follow my mother’s lead?”
“I think you are. But I’ll respect your choice either way. There’s no need to focus on it yet, just let it be for now.”
“Alright.” Her next words died on her lips at the remaining strain on his face. He didn’t need the added stress of discussing Calderre’s government. The mission, and wrestling with his magic, was enough.
Kneeling, she turned to face Rodric, putting her hands on his shoulders. Jed gave a disgruntled squeak and hopped off his lap, scampering into the nearby trees. Rodric gave her a questioning look as he lifted his hands to her waist to support her.
Leaning down, she kissed one cheek, then the other, keeping her movements soft and slow. “We’re not following orders.”
“Oh?”
“Cass ordered you to vent some steam. I think we can find a creative way to do that with the time we have left.”
“Celina.” An indecisive look at odds with the sparkling heat rising from their bond crossed his face.
Dropping her lips to his, she stroked him, tangling her tongue with his in sudden quick movements. His hands tightened on her waist, pulling her down sideways into his lap and holding her tight. Continuing, she urged the passion higher before abruptly pulling her head back out of his reach.
“That’s not exactly what I meant.”
A startled laugh escaped him, lessening the strain around his eyes. “Oh, really?”
Smiling mischievously, she shook her head. Arching her back, she circled her hips in his lap, making those forest-green eyes flash with molten fire. His fingers slid lower, gripping her hip bones in a tight caress that awakened her need with a rush, half convincing her to give up her plan and straddle him, to meet her ache with his own. Not yet, though. He needed more than sex to get rid of the stress pummeling him, to ensure he was at his best for the mission. Time to give the hunter what he truly needed, and in doing so, show him she wanted not just the man and the healer he refused to admit he was, but the core of him. The man he had chosen to become the day Avery died.
Pressing deeply into him, she flexed her hips again, giving them both just a hint of intimate contact. When she grazed his ear with her teeth, his entire body shuddered. With a final lick, she breathed her challenge to him. “You can keep me… if you can catch me, Preddari.”
With that, she took off into the forest. Monitoring him through their bond, she felt his stunned response, giving her a head start before whipping heat engulfed him and he leapt from the ground, taking off after her. The heat took her by surprise, and she stumbled slightly, paying more attention to him than her feet. If she wanted the chase to last more than a minute, she needed to focus.
Zigzagging through the trees as fast as she could to gain some distance, she darted through the dense forest, heart picking up speed with every step. Seeing a low-hanging branch up ahead, she sent up a hope that her muscles remembered how to do this. Jumping, she grabbed the branch and hauled herself up. Barely, but it was enough. Laughing silently at how exhausting that move was, she climbed carefully across the trees at a right angle, changing direction and making her tracks disappear. After a handful of trees, her muscles began to protest, so she dropped to the ground.
Turning right again, she headed in the direction of the stream, not wanting to stray too far from the clearing. Moving at a quick trot so that she didn’t tire, she scanned her surroundings. Rodric would be on her heels in no time. She shivered, imagining how silent and powerful he must look stalking through the woods. Her certainty was fueled by the prowling intensity of emotion radiating through the bond. She’d succeeded in awakening not just the top-of-the-chain hunter but the Preddari.
A glimmer of purple caught her eye, and she stopped short. Is that… Leopard’s Bane! Darting over to the monstrous plant, she lifted the huge heart-shaped leaves tinged with purple edges that hung to the ground in a draping arc. Being friends with an earth mage was about to pay off. It was a Zamyran plant she’d seen a dozen times in Sam’s drawings, and his mother’s favorite. Althea had planted it at the estate for Sam when he was young, and they’d often found him hiding there when he was upset.
Grinning, she slipped underneath the plant into the cavernous space created by the arc. She’d be practically invisible from outside as she hid in the sheltered alcove. Thank you, Sam.
Deep growling filled her mind, making her freeze with alarm. Was that… Rodric? The sound simmered to a steady rumble. Had he felt her thoughts specifically enough to identify that she had been thinking about Sam? The growl intensified briefly with menace, stunning Celina. Rodric didn’t have the type of magic to communicate that way, but… there were legends about soul-bonds deepening to that level of intimacy over time.
Rodric was in a hunting mindset, and his magic was obviously translating that primal emotion to her in the form of a leopard hunting his mate. Working on instinct, she brought his image to the forefront of her mind and purred, feeling a little silly—until he froze. His attention literally shifting direction as he turned toward her. The growl stuttered to a rumble and then transformed into a focused, heavy purr.
Celina startled, a sharp zing racing through her when the branch in front of her lifted.
Green eyes glowing brighter than she’d ever seen them sparked with gold, as if the magic inside him was lighting up his eyes from the inside. The stunning sight made her breath catch and her heart stutter. Stars, he was a beautiful, powerful, man. And he was hers.
The colors in his eyes deepened, the purr in her mind on the verge of becoming truly vocal. Latching on to her arms, he pulled her out from under the brush and lifted her off the ground, swinging her up in a fluid motion so that she wrapped her legs around his waist and clutched at his shoulders to keep her balance.
One arm underneath her, supporting her weight, he held her to his chest and growled in her ear, “Mine. My mate. Not his.” Biting her neck with a gentleness that made her tremble, he squeezed her tightly. Their bond overflowed with possessive, protective intensity, flooding her senses with the true essence of the hunter. He would track her, fight for her, love her, until his dying breath. The bite turned to hot open kisses, covering her neck and jaw in blistering heat.
Overwhelmed, her breath died in her throat, and she fought to get her promise past dry lips. “Yes. Yours, Rodric. Only yours.”
Finally taking her mouth, he kissed her fiercely, amping the intensity to a level they’d not had before. Drowning in the taste of him, she pulled herself closer, meeting him kiss for ravaging kiss.
Too distracted to send certain thoughts to him, she opened her soul and let her essence flow around his, twining their bond into an even tighter braid. Always yours. The hunter’s satisfied rumble entered her mind again, wrapping her in the unique sound of his soul.
Within seconds, he’d shed enough clothing to bring them skin to skin. Laying her on a boulder, he joined them together with an intensity that both thrilled and terrified her. There was little gentleness in the hunter, and she truly loved this part of him. Challenging him to be his true self had given her a gift as well—she got to be not the healer nor the leader, but the leopardess. His powerful, beloved mate. It was special, and theirs alone, bound by magic. Freeing both their souls from the constraints of the world for a primal, blissful joining.
By law of the wilds, you’re mine. I caught you. I’m keeping you. Promise me, Celina.
I will be your mate. I will love you, for eternity, Rodric.
Their souls twined in an intimate dance, weaving them together on a spiritual plane as Rodric made love to her in the physical one. Trembling with exhaustion from his passionate embrace, she stroked his skin, loving the way he shuddered.
Smiling, she pressed a final kiss on his chest, basking in the powerful beat of his heart. He’d used his magic to find her.