Chapter 39 – Irishen
The moment Sinister pulled Wave and Jarred through the portal, Irishen was out the door and racing down to meet them. To his surprise, Sinister gave him a curt nod before opening another portal and stepping through.
“Are you all right, mate?”
“I’m fine,” she rushed to reassure him.
Not that it helped much. He needed to inspect every part of her himself. His gaze focused on Wave’s side and he motioned to the singed shirt. “What’s that then?”
“Elena got a jump on me and burned my shirt, but it’s already almost fully healed.”
“Let’s get inside.” Jarred ushered them, his eyes scanning the street. Irishen barely resisted the urge to sweep Wave into his arms and carry her.
“I…” Wave looked around nervously, too. “Your apartment is warded, right?”
“It is, morsel,” he said.
“I hate this.” She sighed but followed Jarred inside. “If Grandfather hears, he will sic bodyguards on me.”
“Would that be so bad?” Jarred asked. “You were just attacked.”
Wave groaned. “Yes! They would follow his orders and report back to him everything I do and say. He can’t know about me! Dad hated his guards with a vehemence.” She paled and stopped in her tracks. “Fuck. That’s it. How didn’t I put things together before?”
Irishen unlocked his door and practically pushed her inside. “What, mate?”
“His assassination.”
“What?” Irishen spun on his heels, stunned, but Wave kept talking, eyes looking into something he couldn’t see.
“He was supposed to have guards with him. How did he end up dead, if he had bodyguards with him?”
“Hold on, mate. Time-out.” Irishen had a hard time keeping up.
The stormbringer clan hadn’t declared a death of their heir apparent, but an assassination?
“Your father was killed? Are you sure?” He felt like an idiot asking the question.
He knew well how dangerous politics could get, but how come no one had even whispered about a high-profile assassination?
“It wasn’t an accident,” Wave snapped, before rubbing her temples. “I know the reports all say it was a freak accident. A lightning surge. But it wasn’t. Dad knew how to shield against lightning. He was the stormbringer heir apparent, for fuck’s sake.”
“I’m so sorry, love,” Jarred said and folded Wave into a tight hug.
Irishen moved to hug her from behind, hesitated, met Jarred’s eyes, and with his slight nod, folded both of them into his arms. His. His to keep. His to protect. His mate and her pet. He would do whatever was necessary to keep them safe.
Together, they moved into the living room and Wave sat down on the couch. Her hands trembled slightly and Irishen kneeled in front of her. “Talk to me—us.”
She took a deep breath and then another. “It’s all such a mess. Did you know Mrs. Riverson had an affair with my dad? I didn’t. But they did, long before I was born.”
What?
“Precious,” Jarred began and then fell silent, clearly as lost for words as Irishen.
“Yeah. I didn’t see that one coming. That’s why I wanted to walk home alone. I needed a moment to think. Anyway, now that seems almost inconsequential. My dad had an affair with my boss. Who cares?”
There was a little wild look in Wave’s eyes that worried Irishen, but he didn’t interrupt her rant. Jarred moved to sit on the couch next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, offering his silent support.
“Mother will kill her if she ever finds out. I can never tell her. No one can,” she whispered and shook herself. “Focus, Wave.”
“It’s all right, mate. Take your time,” Irishen said and rubbed her calves, letting the coolness seep out of him and into her.
“Okay, okay. So, I was thinking about all that and heading for the Deep Realm portal. The sound of water there is always so soothing. But the closer I got, the more agitated the air felt and then the fireball slammed into my side.” She tugged at the singed shirt.
“Ginny and Chrissy do great work, but I keep getting my clothes burned off.”
Irishen gently pushed her arm out of the way and inspected her side, running his palm over the pink skin. Healed, just tender. In an hour, there wouldn’t be a mark left. Still, he wanted to roar and find Elena so he could freeze her for life.
When he got his hands on her—
“I’m going to bite her head off,” Jarred growled. “Can’t cast fire headless.”
That actually made Wave snort. “You are so sweet. I could have taken her and was holding my walls just fine until Dr. Kelsey appeared.”
“Going to bite his head off, too,” Jarred muttered under his breath.
“Not if I get to freeze his ass off first,” Irishen muttered.
“Point is,” Wave cut in, “that neither one of them alone or even together is a problem. Kelsey is pretty weak for a demon. Elena’s fire is hotter than his hellfire. It was him talking about capturing me that freaked me out. I had no way of knowing if they had others around.”
“You did good running, Claimed.” Jarred squeezed her closer.
“I have no idea why they wanted to capture me. I mean… who’s behind it? What political faction? What the fuck is going on in Hell? Uncle Essi was worried.”
“You are the heir apparent,” Irishen said.
Wave nodded. “Yeah. But who in Hell benefits from my capture if they don’t know about the siren? And we have to keep this attempt from becoming public knowledge,” she added, frowning. “If my grandparents find out…”
“About that—”
“No.” Wave shook her head sharply. “We are not going there. My whole life, Father tried to shield me from them the best he could. We had this whole charade where I had to act out just enough to be considered a loose cannon and a danger to stormbringer reputation, but not so much that they would completely write me off.”
Tears welled in Wave’s eyes. Both Jarred and Irishen pressed closer, murmuring softly.
“I miss him so much,” she sobbed. “If he had guards, how did he die but none of them did? Or was that also covered up? I can’t find any evidence and all the files are so heavily redacted, it’s like reading a black paper.” She shuddered once and wiped the tears away. “It wasn’t an accident.”
“I believe you, Claimed,” Jarred purred softly. “We’ll figure it out together.” He hugged her close and Irishen moved to sit on her other side. Wave trembled slightly between them, but while her hurt echoed in the bond, it wasn’t pulling her down into a spiral.
“What do you need, mate?”
“You.” Her reply took Irishen by surprise.
“Me?”
She nodded against Jarred’s chest. “Yeah. I can’t dwell like this. The bonds. They help…”
“You’ll have me, mate. You have me,” Irishen said, still trying to figure out what exactly he felt in the bond between them and what she meant. What emotions came through were confusing him.
Jarred chuckled softly. “I think she wants you to take her to bed, Prince Sleethill. Your mate wants you to fuck her senseless.” He ran his fingers through Wave’s hair. “Not like we have attackers on the loose, or anything else important to deal with right now.” He sounded soft, if a tad resigned.
“There are always attackers on the loose.” Wave looked up at him, then breathed in deep, and reined in her temper. “I’m always in danger, Jarred. I’m half-siren. This is my life. This time the threat might be my stormbringer heritage, but it doesn’t change the fact that I need to feel alive.”
She looked at both of them in turn. “I never thought I’d have a Claimed, let alone a mate. I…” She trailed off, then tried again. “I—” She swallowed. “I need you. I need the bonds. I want to live, not just survive.”
“I…” This time, it was Irishen’s turn to trail off. Before he had to come up with a reply, Jarred spun Wave around and leaned to kiss the mark on her neck. Wave sighed, some of the tension melting from her.
“Anything you need, Claimed,” Jarred murmured before a teasing tone entered into his voice. “Now, go fuck your mate. All in the name of strengthening the bond. Am I right, love?”
Instead of leaping at Irishen, insecurity flashed in Wave’s eyes, and she hesitated before speaking. “Yeah, I… the shields. The stronger the bond is, the more I feel it through the shield.”
Now both Irishen and Jarred leaned back and gaped at Wave. She cringed and hunched her shoulders. Jarred was the one to clear his throat and speak first. Irishen marveled at his even and calm tone.
“Love… The claiming bond, the mate bond… are you shielding even from them?”
Hesitantly, she nodded. “My inner shield is always in place. It contains… the siren. The bonds are wrapped around that layer. The second shield is a barrier for the stormbringer. The third shield is so new I can’t keep it up consistently.” She looked frustrated at that.
“You—” Irishen stopped to take a deep breath. “You keep up two shields at all times?”
“Yes,” Wave replied.
“Fuck, mate.” Irishen gulped. “How can you tolerate the strain? The pressure? How are you functioning like that?”
Now a small smile flittered over her lips. “Uncle Essi taught me.”
“What?!”
Jarred growled.
Wave blinked at them. “What?”
“Esserieh knows?”
“Yes,” Wave replied carefully. “He has known since I was three and we first met. I tried to order him to give me ice cream.”
“But…” Irishen had no words.
“Okay, story time, love,” Jarred said and moved Wave to sit on his lap. “Now, catch us up.”