Guardian's Challenge (16 page)

Chapter Seven

Neeve and Asher dressed without uttering a sound. The silence stretched between them, growing and breathing like a living thing. Swallowing her impending sense of doom, she tried to finger comb her hair before turning around. She still had to face the overlord. Both he and Asher were waiting for information on how she’d managed to free them from the Pryderi.

Taking a deep breath and schooling her features to what she hoped was a pleasant, if bland expression, she turned to face Asher. Fully clothed now, he leaned against the doorframe and watched her. She wondered if he had any idea how hard it was to not launch herself into his arms and confess her feelings.

“One year.”

“Beg your pardon?” she asked.

“You owe me a year. I still intend to collect.”

He’d obviously been lying when he’d agreed that their relationship would last no longer than their time in Pryderi. His lie shouldn’t have the power to hurt her, but it did. He likely didn’t mean half of what he’d said. Including his admission of love. Her heart lurched in her chest, but she pushed past the hurt. She opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it. Obviously, it would never come to pass, and right now, on the eve of her escape, it wasn’t worth arguing about. “We shouldn’t keep the overlord waiting any longer.”

Asher studied her, suspicion plain in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he opened the door and ushered her out into the torch-lit hallway. They walked to the overlord’s chambers in silence. The door swung open before they even stopped, and Neeve assumed Asher and Micah had been communicating telepathically and Micah knew they were on their way.

The overlord guided them into a small antechamber and motioned them both into ornately carved wooden chairs. Neeve gratefully sank onto the padded cushion and waited for Micah to speak.

“Firstly, on behalf of the entire kingdom, I want to thank you for your service. You saved the future heirs. And despite the circumstances of your escape, your kindness will not be forgotten and will help maintain peace with the Pryderi.”

She inclined her head. “Thank you, but it was what anyone would have done in my place.”

“I’ve heard the story from Joseph. You deserve the praise.”

She glanced at Asher from the corner of her eye. He nodded his agreement.

“You deserve more than praise,” Micah continued. “I’d like to appoint you to the position of keep healer. I’d like you to train those with potential in the healing arts. We’ve been crippled without these skills. You would, of course, be compensated.”

Neeve’s heart leapt at the offer then promptly fell. As much as she would love to do that, she couldn’t. She didn’t belong here. Not with Asher.

“I’d like some time to think about it,” she murmured.

“Of course.” Micah settled into the chair opposite her. “In the meanwhile, I’d to talk to you about your method of escape.”

Her hands clenched on the arms of the chair, but she forced herself to relax.

“From what Joseph described, you were able to transport through the solid rock wall of their keep, across the water and through the walls of our keep.”

She nodded. She couldn’t very well deny it.

“How?” Asher interrupted. “I’ve never heard of anyone having those powers. How do you do it?”

She met her former lover’s gaze. “I can’t tell you. It isn’t mine to share.” She briefly glanced at Micah to include him in her answer. “The Hafan people took me in, healed me and allowed me to live there with them. I promised to never betray them. The only reason I used the spell in Pryderi was because I feared for Asher and Joseph’s lives.”

Both men exchanged a glance. She wondered what they were saying now.

“Tyr was willing to do just about anything to coerce me to stay on as healer.”

She watched both men intently, wondering if they’d be willing to attempt similar coercion to keep her here.

“At least, tell us how it works,” Asher demanded.

She shook her head. “If I were free to, I would.” It was a simple enough process. As long as she’d been to the place she was shifting to and that place had large rocks, she could make her way there.

Micah’s lips quirked into a small smile. “I’m disappointed, of course. But I understand.”

Asher nodded, almost as if he didn’t quite believe her.

She looked away from him and focused on the overlord. “Thank you.”

After getting more details on the Pryderi, Micah walked them out into the hallway. With a sinking spirit, she knew that she’d likely have no better chance for escape tonight. While the men were discussing sending a message to Tyr about their return to Maelgwn, Neeve almost silently whispered the incantation.

Relief and regret mixed sourly in the pit of her stomach. Asher’s lie had sealed her decision. It didn’t matter how much she loved him if she couldn’t trust him. She stepped through the translucent spot in the wall and turned in time to catch sight of Asher sprinting toward her, his expression full of anguish.

“I love you,” she said. “I’m sorry.” She had no idea if he’d heard her, but with the stone wall thickening and closing in front of her face, she doubted it.

Asher threw himself at the wall only to find it as solid and unforgiving as ever. Neeve’s words echoed in his ears as her image faded as if it had never been there. He wondered if she’d been aware of the tears coursing down her face.

He pressed his head to the stone. She did love him. He hadn’t imagined it. He could feel it as surely as he could feel her shifting through layers of rock. Granite. Sandstone. Shale. He had no idea how it was possible, but he felt her moving further away from him by the moment. Until finally the movement stopped, and he could feel nothing but pain and loss.

Pushing off the wall, he whirled to face Micah.

“Go,” the other man told him, naked sympathy in his eyes. “Find her.”

Neeve had to have returned to Hafan, her adoptive home. Micah’s grandmother had taken her in when she’d first escaped Maelgwn, and it made sense for her to go there now. If only he knew where that was.

* * * *

It had been days since she’d left him. Again. He’d searched the length and breadth of Maelgwn and had come up empty. Every once in a while, he’d see a flash of what she was looking at, but none of it was familiar. She wasn’t anywhere he’d ever been. He wasn’t even sure
why
he was seeing what she was seeing. Then it hit him. The last time they’d been together, the words from the joining ceremony had been tumbling around in his head. Had he unintentionally mated them? It was the only thing he could think of that would explain his sudden ability to see through her mind.

Closing his eyes, he reached out, sending his thoughts to her. Though she’d never been able to hear him before, perhaps she could now. He knew Micah and Elizabeth had experienced something similar after they were joined.

Neeve, where are you?

The landscape he could see in his mind’s eye rotated rapidly as if someone spun in a circle, searching for something. Or someone. She
could
hear him. She moved more slowly, and he watched through her eyes as a circle of tall standing stones came into view. Hope leapt in his chest. Finally, a landmark he recognized. A small island barely visible off Maelgwn’s western shore. Too far to swim, the only way there was by boat, but with the rough coastal water very few people ever attempted it. Magic was the most reliable way onto the island. He couldn’t use rock as a passage, but he had another way.

Turning his focus inward, he transformed, his bones and muscles compressing and reshaping themselves. Down and feathers sprouted from his skin as talons burst from his toes. Flapping his wings, he lifted himself into the air and flew off into the direction of the setting sun. The flight into the headwind was exhausting, but as full dark settled on the island beneath him, he landed at the top of one of the stones opposite of where Neeve sat with her back against another one.

He cocked his avian head to the side and watched her. She stared off into the distance, occasionally brushing the backs of her hands across her cheeks. This close to her, it was impossible not to feel the loneliness and grief that emanated from her. He glided to the ground to land at her feet. She jerked, startled by the hawk’s sudden appearance. Her eyes widened as he shifted back into his rightful form.

Lips parted, she scrambled to the side, stumbling to a standing position. “How…what…how did you find me?” she finally managed.

He stood and stepped toward her, brushing the tears from her face with his thumbs. “We’re joined, Neeve. We belong together.”

“You don’t mean that. As soon as the year is up—” Her voice broke, but she pushed on. “As soon as the year is up, if not before, you’ll grow bored, and I’ll be cast aside for the next woman who intrigues you.”

He shook his head and opened his mouth. “I—”

“It nearly killed me to leave you. I couldn’t handle it if you cast me aside.
When
you cast me aside.”

He could feel her anguish just as clearly as he felt his own. She truly believed she was nothing more than a contract to be fulfilled. He heard his words in his head.
You owe me a year.
Guilt twisted his gut.

She lifted her hand and cupped his cheek, her eyes glistening with tears. “I know you mean well, but it won’t work between us.”

“You love me.” It sounded like an accusation. “I heard you.”

She took a step back, and her arm dropped to her side. “It doesn’t mean we belong together.”

He shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong.” He moved closer, pinning her to the stone with his body. “I don’t want you as a consort. I want you as my mate. I want you body, soul and mind. And I offer you the same in return. I belong to you.” He smiled sadly. “Whether you welcome it or not, I’m yours.”

Before she could speak, he slipped an arm around her waist and lifted her chin with his free hand. Her still wary eyes held his gaze. Instead of trying to convince her further, he lowered his mouth to hers, capturing her trembling lips in a breathless, aching kiss.

“I love you.” He pressed another kiss to her forehead. As much as he might want to, he couldn’t force her to return with him. Pressuring her to come with him was no better than lying to her. If they were going to have any kind of chance together, she’d need to come to him of her own free will. No contracts. No lies. Nothing but her love and trust. Even if it killed him. “You know where to find me if you decide I’m what you want.”

Stepping away from her, he transformed, lifting himself into the air and away from the woman he wanted more than anything.

* * * *

The sun was setting again, and still Neeve sat in the sacred stone circle, staring out over the sea. The waning light cast elongated shadows that crept along the ground in front of her. Another shadow joined those of the stones. Tamara. Her friend and the sister to the overlord.

She sat down next to Neeve, resting her back against the same rock. “How long are you going to sit here and make him suffer? How long are you going to make yourself suffer?”

Neeve looked at the other woman. “What?”

“You love him.”

“That’s not what matters here.”

The woman raised her eyebrow. “Really. And what does matter here?”

Neeve turned her face away from Tamara unwilling to let the other woman see her gathering tears. But that didn’t stop Tamara from continuing to talk.