Embrace the Passion (The Blood Rose Series) (20 page)

He was about to give Rosamunde directions to his and Jude’s position, when she was just suddenly there, standing next to him, peering between the trees as well.
It’s worse than I thought. How could Margetta have done this?

Jude hadn’t met the queen before, so he offered a telepathic introduction. She wore a fur muff and removed her hand from within to shake Jude’s. He seemed appropriately startled as he bowed slightly, and after releasing her hand, he took two steps backward.

Rosamunde didn’t seem to notice.
We’ll need a diversion.

Seth knew she’d spoken to both Jude and Seth at the same time and that she’d essentially set up a powerful conference call among them so that they could continue in a quiet telepathic exchange.

Rosamunde met each gaze.
I can only offer you a shield for a brief time. The moment Margetta realizes something’s afoot, I’ll need to disappear. She can’t know I’m involved or Ferrenden Peace will be at risk. Do you understand? For the sake of the outcome of Margetta’s war, Ferrenden Peace must be protected at all costs.

He nodded as did Jude.
Can you discern her location?

At that, Rosamunde smiled.
She’s in the tent with the flag, at the western edge of the camp.

He turned to look down at the encampment, and saw the tent she referred to. He smiled. He’d finally cut a break, but how the hell was he supposed to get Lorelei out of there, once he reached her?

Rosamunde withdrew her gloved hand from her muff and placed it on Seth’s shoulder.
You’ll know exactly what to do once you’ve seen her. Trust me in this.

Had she read his mind?
I do trust you. Implicitly.

She’s a good woman, Mastyr Seth. She deserves you, even more than you know.

His recent understanding of exactly how he felt about Lorelei swept through him once more and his throat tightened.
I love her.
The confession left his mind before he could stop it. Then he realized that at this point, his sole desire was to shout it into the heavens.

Rosamunde leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
You’ll be wonderful together.
Her gaze shifted to Jude.
As for you, Mastyr Jude, stay away from Lorelei. I suggest you set up a diversion at the east end of the camp, but don’t leave the ridge. And as soon as you see the army mobilizing in your direction, head back to Big Timber. Do you understand?

Yes, my queen.

Good.
When she shifted her gaze back to Seth, he felt her enthrallment power pouring over him in a tremendous flow of energy, so strong in fact that he almost fell backward.

He caught himself at the last moment.
Wow. Okay.
He thanked her again but she frowned.

Margetta’s on the move. Go get Lorelei now. Hurry. Jude, start firing in the next few seconds.
Having issued her final order, she simply disappeared the way Davido could.

Seth felt the layered shield that Rosamunde had created around him. Just as he heard Jude’s energy blasts start striking in the east, he launched full bore and crested the ridge, aiming himself directly at Lorelei’s tent.

Opening his mating frequency, he telepathically shouted Lorelei’s name.

By the time he reached the tent, dropping down in front of the netted door, she was there waiting for him, eyes wide.
Can you see me?
He asked.

She nodded.
But I can’t get out of here.

Seth felt the fae power of the tent, but he’d rip the damn thing to shreds with his bare hands if he needed to. He started to reach for the net, but she stopped him.
We’ll never be able to do this, Seth. The power my mother built into this tent is too great.

Seth knew she spoke accurately because he felt it as well. The tent could kill them both.

Yet he recalled what had happened when he’d made contact with Lorelei, even while in wolf form, back at Loperz Canyon.

We have power together.

She shook her head sadly.
Not enough. Not for this. You should leave, Seth. Save yourself.

Like hell I’m doing that. In fact, I can’t.

Why the hell not?

Because I love you, and I’m not leaving here without you.

* * * * * * * * *

Lorelei drew as close to the netted doorway as she dared and stared into his eyes, unable to believe what he’d just said to her.
You love me? How? When?

I think from the first moment you appeared outside my back door. Remember?

She nodded and tears flooded her eyes.
Of course I remember. You scowled at me.

I was feeling way too much even back then. I just didn’t trust you or any woman. I haven’t for a long time.

She reached for him, almost touching the net, but pulled back just in time.
I know. Seth, what are we going to do?
Her gaze shifted past him. The entire camp was alive with movement, heading toward the east end.
What’s going on?

He explained about Jude and Rosamunde’s help.

Lorelei felt wild with panic.
I just wish I had a solution for us, but I don’t know what to do.

Seth searched her eyes.
I think I might.
His next words rushed at her.
Lorelei, will you bond with me? Right now, I mean.

She gasped, stunned that he would suggest the very thing he’d refused to do not even an hour ago.
Is this what you want? I mean, of course I will, I want to belong to you more than anything, but are you sure? Is this right for you?

He moved as close to the tent as he could get so that they were only inches away from each other.
I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life.

Lorelei felt as though a door opened deep within her soul and a wind swept through making everything new. Love flowed and lit up her mating vibration. She didn’t try to hold back.

Seth drew in a sudden sharp breath as her vibration reached him.
You’re beautiful in every possible way, including your frequency. I love you, Lorelei.

She wanted the moment to last, but the tougher question had to be answered.
Seth, I’m trapped in here. How do I get out?

I have an idea. I’ve been told the bond is an act of the will so maybe we don’t even need to touch. If we can engage, like we did at Loperz, I think it might be powerful enough to bust you out of here. Are you willing to try?

Absolutely.

Seth smiled.
I’ve felt your frequency, now I’m going to send you mine, so be prepared, because I’m not holding anything back.

Her turn to smile.
Do it. I’m ready.

He opened up his mating frequency full-bore, so that it hit her in the chest and took her breath away. Her eyelids fluttered and the pleasure she felt went beyond anything she’d known. Her love for him came alive once more, bursting around her like fireworks as her own mating frequency ignited yet again and flew over his, swirling and savoring.

I love you
, came from his mind once more.

And I love you, more than I can say.
She wanted this so much and she could feel that something in him had changed, that he had no more reservations about completing the blood rose bond with her.

But she felt another presence as well. From behind his shoulder, she saw that Margetta had transformed into her wraith form and was flying from the south directly toward them. She must have sensed Seth’s presence.

Margetta!

Forget about her. Focus instead on me, Lorelei. Bond with me. We have to do this now.

Lorelei shifted her gaze to Seth. His hair had come loose from the clasp and now flew in a wild way around his head. Waves of power flowed and she opened her arms to receive all that Seth was.

Power flared and exploded between them, similar but greater than at the Loperz place. The netting disintegrated.

Seth stepped through, caught her up in his arms and suddenly she was in flight heading upward. She couldn’t think or act, but held her arms wide, absorbing Seth’s combined battle and mating frequencies.

And suddenly the bond was just there, tight and sure, fixed forever between them and still he flew her up, heading into the snowy sky above.

Seth’s voice entered her mind.
Look down. You have to see this.

Some of her ability to think returned to her. She slid her arms around his neck and shifted position so that she could see down to the earth below.

Her hearing resumed so that she heard Margetta’s shrieks before she saw the woman herself.

The ancient fae, in her wraith form, flew in a circle above the smoking ruins of the prison tent.

She and Seth had done the impossible by escaping Margetta, but they’d done it together.

She’ll want revenge and if she can, she’ll take it out on the four gorges. That’s what I felt in the original vision, the one in your house with the alphas present, that she was furious. We need to get back there.

Seth nodded, but she felt something in him, things he wanted to say.

She kissed him.
Later. Tell me later. Right now, we have your realm to protect.

The expression of tenderness that entered his eyes, nearly undid her, tearing into her heart and making mush of what was already given to him.
Thank you, Lorelei. Thank you.

He turned them in a southeasterly direction and sped in the direction of Big Timber.

She understood him. She’d honored his greatest love, his people and his realm, and he valued that more than words could express.

And she was back in his arms.

But she felt her mother’s fury and knew that Margetta would hold nothing back from the forthcoming battle.

Would the Shifter Brigade be enough to turn back Margetta’s Invictus army? Would the alphas work well enough together to be a cohesive unit?

Chapter Ten

Seth flew faster than he ever had before. That was the first thing he noticed since having bonded with Lorelei.

And he felt whole, as though his previous solitary life had reflected only a portion of his realm potential.

And he had Lorelei in his arms, the biggest surprise of his long-lived life.

But as he veered south, he felt a powerful, dangerous wind at his back.

Lorelei’s voice entered his pathway.
Do you feel that?

Yep.

Mother’s mad.

I’m sure she is.

Where are we headed?

Seth shifted her slightly in his arms.
Bephotine Gorge. Ephyx is in charge there.

He’s the right alpha to use to set the stage and you’re flying faster.
She hugged him.

Seth smiled.
It’s because of you.

Because of us.

Yes, you’re right. Because of us.

As soon as he reached the top of the gorge, he pathed to Ephyx.
I have Lorelei with me and we’re now bonded. But I have one furious ancient fae on my ass and she has her army with her. Get your men ready.

We are. Just waiting for your orders.

There were moments in Seth’s life when the loyalty of his men astonished him. He’d been the ruler of Walvashorr Realm for a very long time, and yes he’d established himself as a warrior and as a tolerant ruler, but that his Shifter Brigade was ready and ‘just waiting’ for his orders, filled his heart with gratitude.

The Nine Realms savored independence probably more than anything else. Yet, these men waited on him, and conceded to his decisions.

But tonight, his orders were simple.
Fire at will.

Yes, mastyr.

Seth contacted the rest of the alphas and delivered the same order.

Lorelei pathed,
We need to be at Big Timber.

Are you sensing that because of your fae vibration?

Yes.

He didn’t wait for further explanation, but shifted course again. He no longer felt Margetta’s wind. No doubt she’d lost track of them.

But how was he supposed to know what was going on in any of the gorges if he was at Big Timber?

* * * * * * * * *

Lorelei felt the weight of her faeness like a heavy cloak around her shoulders. Images kept spinning through her mind, of the alphas, of each of their packs, and of the gorges, one after the other.

Binding herself to Seth through her mating vibration had resulted in her ability to tap into all that he was. Right now, she experienced his connection to his realm and to his alphas, both of which ignited the shifter part of her that craved a sense of communal belonging.

As he touched down in the center of the snow-covered outdoor gathering area, where four fire pits still burned, Lorelei had never felt so alert, so ready for anything that might come, including Margetta’s power.

Once on the solid, snow-covered platform, Seth didn’t let her go, but kept an arm tight around her waist. She felt it, too, the need to stay connected physically while events unfolded.

She had no idea what would happen next but from the direction of the northwest, she sensed the full expression of her mother’s rage at having lost control of Lorelei again. By now, because of what had happened to the tent, Margetta must know that Seth had bonded with her and had created a new level of power between them.

Maybe this union was what Margetta had feared, that her wraith-daughter had formed a bond with a vampire that had Invictus potential. Of course, Lorelei also knew from conversations with Rosamunde that having blood rose capacity made it impossible to forge a true Invictus bond, the kind of connection that removed the conscience from both wraith and his or her bonded realm-person.

But the power…

Yes, the power was there, between them, flowing back and forth, a heavy realm vibration full of all kinds of potential, some of it lethal because of their joined battle frequencies.

Yet, Lorelei felt in her bones that their power wouldn’t be about slaying the Invictus wraith-pairs, but what exactly they could accomplish together, she didn’t know.

Her heart thrummed with excitement.

Seth turned her toward him, searching her eyes. “Tell me what you’re feeling right now.”

She planted her hands on his arms. His biceps flexed beneath her touch. “As though all the passion you feel for Walvashorr and for the Nine Realms is moving like a whirlwind around us, through us, between us.”