CHAPTER 4 #2
“I suspect, given time, that you will change your mind. But know this, I will never allow someone to force you. When the time is right, you will accept a mate because you want to, not because you are being forced into the union. If you choose to live alone, then we will honor this too.” He could sense the violent shake of her head, the determination to never let another male touch her sexually.
“We can discuss the possibility of a future mate another time. What I need to know now is whether you are willing to fight for your life? To take back control. Aaliyah and I can stop a Raiden warrior from claiming you. What we can’t do is make you want to live.
You must fight for the right to choose your own path in life. ”
Lena sighed inside his mind, closing her eyes to the loving couple before her. “I’m lost, Gauge. I don’t think I’ll ever find my way back. I don’t know how.”
“Then let us try to help you. Tell Rafa to take you to the mountains where the Catalan serpents live. Samantha and Seraphym will take you in. I’ll come to you as soon as I can make arrangements.”
“How long will it take you?”
“I’m going to speak with my council now. It should only take a day or so.”
He sensed her nod, though the weight of depression still held her in its grip. Knowing he’d done as much as he could for now, Gauge broke the connection and opened his eyes to find a worried Teo.
“Is Lena all right?” his tracker asked. “Is she in danger?”
“She is safe for now, but I need to get to Raiden as quickly as possible.”
“I’m going with you.”
“You don’t have to, Teo. I plan to go even if the council denies my request.” Which they could. After a Djinn had made her presence known on Earth, the council sent most of their Hunters to help guard humans and shifters there from further attack.
“Then I guess we’ll both be in trouble.”
Gauge offered his tracker one sharp nod, inwardly relieved Teo wished to accompany him.
Not because Gauge feared he couldn’t handle whatever he would face on Raiden alone, but because Teo would stay his hand if things grew out of control.
Lena wasn’t the only one living on the edge.
The edge of what, Gauge wasn’t sure, but it wouldn’t be good for anyone if he ever fell off it.
*
“You must give us a reasonable explanation for wanting to return to Raiden, Gauge,” Chairman Falkner said.
“At this point, we are inclined to say no. It is not a good time for us to lose one of our ancient Hunters, not when Djinn are causing problems on Earth. Vaughn and Carla recently defeated one with the help of a shadowborn, but we know there are more. Your presence may be needed.”
Gauge fought not to react at the mention of a shadowborn.
He had not realized there were any of the soulless ones left alive.
Things must be dire on Earth if Falkner called in a shadowborn to assist them.
He glanced over at the other twenty-three members of the Laizahlian council before returning his attention to the chairman.
Falkner was one of the ancients, perhaps the oldest of their kind, his hair almost completely silver.
Nobody knew the full extent of his power because nobody was foolish enough to try to test it, including Gauge.
The chairman could not be easily fooled.
He would know there was more going on here than him wanting to help a wounded serpent female.
“You already know my history with Abby, Nicolai Nekbet’s human mate. You also know Abby asked me to help her break a bond between a young Leviathan female and her abusive Raiden mate.”
“Yes, and it is our understanding that you were successful in doing so. This could prove useful if Raiden warriors continue to try to claim human females against their will.”
“I was only partially successful, Chairman. After stripping the female’s blood of her mate’s essence, I placed a memory block in her mind of the abuse she suffered, but as expected, the block eventually failed. Abby has asked me to return to try to set another one.”
Falkner frowned. “A second memory block will be even less likely to hold. You already know this, Gauge. It would be better if the female learned to live with what happened to her.”
“Tell them, Gauge,” Teo sent telepathically. “Tell them or the council will deny your request.”
Gauge swallowed down his annoyance with Teo as the chairman shifted his attention to his tracker.
“Perhaps you should tell me yourself, Teo,” Falkner said, his tone implying he didn’t really have a choice.
“Gauge did more than block Lena’s memories and strip her of Ngozi’s shaprata, his essence.
In order to break Ngozi’s hold on the female, Gauge had to strip the prince of the female’s abaci, which he was forced to keep inside himself.
To place the altered abaci back inside Lena would have risked opening her again to Ngozi’s claim. ”
“Is her abaci causing you problems that we were not made aware of, Gauge?” Falkner asked, frowning.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Gauge replied, his tone emotionless.
“Teo, is this also your opinion?”
Teo refused to look toward Gauge when he said, “A Hunter has never tried to break the bond between a Raiden warrior and their claimed female before. When Gauge took the female’s abaci into his body, it created a tight connection between him and her, one far greater than an average blood bond.
” He hesitated. “I would go so far as to say it is equal with the bond a Laizahlian carries with an eillelé, a fated mate.”
Falkner’s eyes widened just a fraction, his only reaction to the impossible suggestion. He returned his attention to Gauge. “How long have you known?”
“Almost from the beginning, Chairman. I carry her abaci pattern on my body.”
“Perhaps you can still return the female’s abaci to her, releasing you from this bond.”
“I don’t believe this would be wise, Chairman. It would open her to another claim by Ngozi. The Nekbet prince is quite insane. But this is not the only reason why I would be wary of this action.”
“Explain.”
“The altered abaci I took from the prince has become a part of me. My cells have joined with theirs. If I try to place this back inside Lena and the prince figures out a way to reclaim her, he might also hold power over me.”