Apparently, the bitch couldn’t read all telepathic conversations, or maybe she just had to be tuned in.
Margetta smiled. “By the way, I enjoyed your little show in the peach orchard. Made me hungry for my dear Gustav. I almost called off the whole operation but chose to ignore my lusts. If you’d had enough self-control, Hannah, you wouldn’t be here right now. Stupid mistake leaving Jude’s side. But I figured, you, being human, would falter sooner than later.”
Hannah kept her gaze fixed anywhere but on the ancient fae. She remained stoic, although it didn’t help her nerves that she stood over a burned up, but-healing-swiftly mastyr vampire, who occasionally growled up at her. At least once she’d fried him, her blood rose drive toward his mastyr status had dropped to almost nothing.
Jude would arrive soon, but then what?
She dreaded the moment, yet couldn’t wait to see him again.
Word must have spread that the mist had arrived in the two villages. The whole area felt like a ghost town and Hannah suspected the occupants had slipped away into the surrounding woodlands, hidden in caves, or anywhere else they could hide.
At least the populous was relatively safe.
But it was an eerie scene with just Margetta, the toasted vampire still lying prone and moaning occasionally, and of course the hidden army. Very eerie.
Jude arrived flying in from the south. As he drew close he looked as magnificent as ever, his Guardsman coat flapping behind him, the silver medallions down each side of his thigh boots winking from the lamppost light all along the bridge.
“Ah, and here comes your lover.”
Margetta had said it exactly right.
Her lover. The man she loved. The one she belonged to.
Jude had tried to warn her to stick close when he held her in the air above the burning wreckage of her bar. But the sight of what she loved sinking to a massive pile of wet, unpleasant ashes had messed with her head, maybe just as Margetta knew it would.
She’d essentially lost her mind.
Now she was here.
While hovering in the air a few feet above the ground, Jude approached Margetta. When he was almost within touching distance, he said, “I’ll take her place. Just let her go. I know it’s me you want.”
But Margetta laughed at him, snapped her fingers, and several wraith-pairs descended on him, binding him with ropes. They dragged him onto the bridge and tied him to a lamppost.
Jude, what are we going to do?
Hannah, there’s something I need you to know.
She was too far away from him. She whipped toward Margetta. “Please let me say good-bye. Please.”
“How touching, and I’ll grant you this wish, because you’re going to die with your mastyr tonight.”
Another snap of her fingers and wraith-pairs flew low and grabbed Hannah beneath her arms. She felt the charred vampire reach for her foot but miss as she became airborne.
The next moment, she was next to Jude. She took his face in her hands and pressed herself up against him. I love you and I’m sorry. This is my fault.
He drew back slightly. Hey, no one’s to blame. This is war, and we can’t always predict what happens next. You’ve done beautifully in a horrendous situation. I’m so proud of you.
She nodded, but tears ran down her cheeks. She would have kissed him again, but the wraith-pair bound her as well, securing them together.
I love you, Hannah. I’ve loved you for years. I’ve just been lying to myself. All those times I came into your bar just to accompany my men for some R & R, but in reality I couldn’t wait for the moment I’d spend even a handful of minutes chatting with you. I watched you all the time.
You know I felt the same way.
Hannah, I’m so sorry for all of this. If I’d understood that my growing affection and desire for you would incite your blood-rose and fire-gifts, I would have stayed away from Port Townsend. I didn’t want this for you, and the Goddess knows the sight of your bar burning to the ground has made me question everything I’ve done, every decision I’ve made.
Hannah listened and her throat grew even tighter. Margetta had transformed into the wraith that she was, being both fae and wraith. She flew back-and-forth over the bridge in her red gauzy dress and began ranting at Jude, expounding on her great plans for the Nine Realms, how one day all would bow before her magnificence.
Hannah ignored her. Instead, she forced herself to face the truth about her feelings for Jude.
She loved him.
She loved him with all her heart.
And now her own willfulness had landed him here, bound to her, and soon to be executed.
With Margetta clearly enjoying the sound of her own voice, and appealing to her army of wraith-pairs at the same time, Hannah pathed, I love you, too, Jude. I think it’s been forever for me as well, much longer than just the past few months that followed the awakening in the supply closet.
He held her gaze. You could have been scrubbing the floor behind the bar when that happened, and I would still consider it one of the best moments of my life.
Jude. Her telepathic voice was little more than a whisper. I’ve been a fool through this process. I kept holding onto my freedom because of a difficult past experience. But you always kept my freedom at the top of your list. Now, I have no freedom at all.
She felt him reaching toward her with his hand and she struggled in the bindings to meet him halfway. When her fingers touched his, it was magic all over again.
A vibration she could only call ‘love’ swept through her, cleansing her of past suffering and freeing her to open her heart fully to Jude.
Mist began drifting stronger out of Margetta as she flew.
It wouldn’t be long now. Jude would soon be unconscious and Margetta would kill them both.
Jude’s voice pierced her head. Hannah, bond with me. No matter what happens, I don’t want anything else but to feel close to you right now.
She leaned her head against his. All her doubts were gone. I want to more than anything in the world.
~ ~ ~
As Margetta waxed on about her magnificence, Jude was right there with no hesitation. He sent his mating frequency barreling through her chest and pushing inside hers. She moaned, her head falling back. Jude, that feels extraordinary.
He found her own mating vibration pulsing in soft receptive waves. He surrounded her deep inside her body-and-spirit combined, wrapping her up in his love and letting her feel with every ounce of strength how much he loved her.
Why did I hesitate? he said. This is incredibly beautiful.
As the frequencies began to pulse in rhythm together, Jude gave himself completely and felt Hannah do the same in return.
The bond suddenly locked in place. Hannah cried out, though Jude noted her shout didn’t stop Margetta. Instead, the army Hannah had seen now became perfectly clear to Jude. He felt Hannah’s power become his, which was something he hadn’t expected.
Hannah, your fire-gift is in me now, and I can see through Margetta’s shield. I can see her army.
I can feel it as well and that we’re one. It’s amazing. And I can feel what you’re feeling, and how the ropes are digging into your wrists. But, Jude, what are you thinking?
That I might be able to withstand Margetta’s mist and make use of your fire-gift. I can feel the heat down both my arms and my palms are tingling.
I know that feeling well.
He added, I can also feel that she is blocking your gift but she has no such protection against me.
So we have a shot.
I think we do, but let me contact Malik first, and give him a heads-up.
I’ll wait for your orders.
Jude almost smiled, but he didn’t want to alert the witch still flying back and forth, who was all worked up into a frenzy as she went on and on about her plans for ruling the Nine Realms.
Malik? Jude pathed.
I’m right here. I have both villages surrounded, but at a considerable distance. Ar
e you sure Margetta’s army is in place?
Jude lifted his gaze, scanning the night sky and the army now visible to him. He strove to send the images to Malik, which was something he wasn’t sure he could do. But he tried anyway. Does any of that come through?
Hell, yeah, it does! But, how are you doing this?
It’s because of Hannah. We’ve bonded, and in about thirty seconds we’re going to break out of these ropes, and I’m going to attack the ancient fae. She’ll probably release the rest of her mist, but I can feel within myself that I’m sharing Hannah’s abilities and one of them is her very human resistance to the killing mist. At the same time, both her forces and ours won’t be immune, so it will be an even playing field. Just be ready.
Got it.
Alert the troops, and when you see me go after Margetta, she should lose power and the shield should drop and her army become visible, then it’s all up to you. Take out as many wraith-pairs as you can.
With fucking pleasure.
He returned his attention to Hannah. You ready to break out?
Absolutely.
Then let’s do it.
He accessed the fire-gift and felt sudden heat jump from his skin and start to work on the ropes. Ten seconds later, he was free. Without waiting, he launched at Margetta, catching her in the air and dragging her into the canal below.
She became a wild, fighting thing, but he held onto her as long as he could, releasing the fire even below the surface, at the places where he held her.
She screamed, then dragged in a lung-full of water.
The next moment, she simply disappeared. Gone.
Jude surfaced fast, rising into the air as he breached the canal, heading back to Hannah. She had flames shooting from her palms, spreading them in an arc to hold back five wraith-pairs determined to get to her.
Jude came at them from behind, adding his own fire and scorched them, one after the other, until they were screaming and throwing themselves into the canal.
He took his place next to Hannah, holding her close, because right now his Guardsman and Shifter Brigade as well as Malik’s forces converged and began battling wraith-pairs.
The night sky had never been full of so many blue and red flashes.
“Jude, look, off to the northeast.”
He glanced in the direction of her raised arm and watched as one by one wraith-pairs started vanishing mid-fight.
“She’s saving as many as she can. Should we go after her?”
He shook his head. “The level of her power is still unknown, which means I have no intention of putting you in harm’s way. Right now, you’re my priority.”
~ ~ ~
Hannah’s heart beat so hard in her chest that she had a difficult time catching her breath. She’d gone from just enjoying her day-to-day, and all her friends and customers who came to her bar, to watching two armies battling on the ground and in the sky.
More than one wraith-pair tried to reach Jude, but shifters and vampires alike headed them off.
A lot of death followed, but that couldn’t be helped.
This was war.
And to the degree that she was a blood rose and now bonded to a powerful Mastyr Vampire, this was her war as well. Yet somehow it fit, as though all her experience at the Gold Rush, growing up there and having a father who embraced the Nine Realms, had prepared her for exactly this day, or rather night.
She no longer saw the worlds as separate, but moving fluidly back and forth, something that would increase as the decades moved along. They were different species yet shared enough DNA to build lives together and to create families.
As the last of the distant wraith-pairs vanished because of Margetta’s continued, though hidden presence, and one of Malik’s Guardsmen defeated the sole remaining wraith-pair on the bridge, Hannah could finally breathe.
Jude had already called in for medical teams. The policy in the Nine Realms had changed since Samantha had become bonded to Mastyr Ethan of Bergisson Realm. She had the power to dissolve the hated bond between wraith and realm-mate. Any surviving wraith-pairs would be turned over to Ethan for long-term rehabilitation.
When Malik dropped down to join them, Hannah tensed up immediately, concerned that she would have the same overpowering desire toward him that she’d experienced before.
But nothing happened. Only a sudden vibration deep within that spoke of the bond she shared with Jude, now inviolable, permanent, and powerful.
And the question she’d been asking for months, as in how many babies Jude wanted, didn’t seem so absurd anymore. It made sense, and a new kind of desire rose within her filled with purpose and love. She wanted to have a family with Jude. That’s how far around the globe she’d traveled in two brief nights.
Jude, maybe sensing the direction of her thoughts, hugged her tighter about the waist. I’m feeling something beautiful from you right now, and it’s making me want to take you to bed.
She leaned up and kissed him, then stared into dark gray eyes. And that’s exactly where I want to be with you.
He turned to Malik. “I want to get Hannah home. Will you see to our troops?”
Malik clasped Jude on the shoulder. Hannah thought he looked incredibly sad as he smiled. “Of course I will.”
She watched as for a long moment, the two realm leaders stayed in that position, staring at each other until Jude nodded slowly. She wasn’t sure if Jude had communicated telepathically with Malik or not, but she doubted the moment needed words. They were brothers-in-arms, who’d been fighting the same battle for a very long time.
Malik turned to her. “Good-night, Hannah. I’ll be seeing you soon, I’m sure.”
“Of course. You’re always welcome at the Gold Rush.” Reality descended abruptly, but what had been so devastating a few hours ago, now seemed softened by her commitment to Jude. “Although, you might want to wait until it’s rebuilt.”
“Which it will be right away,” Jude added, meeting Hannah’s gaze. “I’ll get my best troll and elven contractors on it.”
Hannah often used realm workers and contractors for her bar and her home. They did a wonderful job every time.
When Jude moved his hand from around her waist, she understood the signal and positioned herself on his booted foot. She slid her arm around his neck, and he pulled her tight against his side. After bidding Malik farewell, Jude took off, lifting her into the air.
And Hannah smiled.
~ ~ ~
Jude could feel the shift in Hannah as though it was written in every breath she breathed. The bond allowed him to feel what she was feeling, and for the last few minutes on the bridge, he’d felt her mating vibration begin to hum on a different frequency than before. And it felt full of life and intent.
As he flew toward Castle Island, he felt as though he held all of life in his arms, something rich and bountiful, a kind of necessary excess meant to feed the soul.
He drew in deep breaths. He was all men in this moment, both real and a representation of what it meant to be male, to have a woman in his arms, and to feel her need to give the universe rebirth.
When he arrived, Nathan greeted them both with anxious grips of hands and thanksgiving that Margetta had seen a defeat at Kelltah Bridge.
“How do you already know?”
“It’s all over Realm-You-Tube. Some troll kid, who will probably be flayed by his parents later, used his cellphone to film the battle. But it’s a good thing, trust me. I’ve been on the phone for the past forty-five minutes with Council Leaders. There are celebrations all over the Realm tonight, and tomorrow you and Hannah will both be hailed as heroes. So where are you going to celebrate?”
Jude just looked at him, and since he still had his arm tight around her waist, Nathan nodded. Then he grinned. “I have a surprise waiting for you in the bedroom. In the meantime, I hear that all the bars in Kelltah will be open the rest of the night and even into the day for some of us sunlight-friendly realm-folk.” He shrugged into a black leather jacket
and smoothed the sides of his hair back. “My ride’s here.”
He winked and turned in the direction of the front door.
“Elena?” Jude asked.
“Yep. Abigail gave her a few days off.”
“I guess we won’t be seeing much of you.”
Nathan, halfway to the front door, called back, “And something tells me that’s the way you’d want it right now. Plenty of provisions in the fridge. See ya in three days.”
Jude laughed.
“So what do you think Nathan left for us, in the bedroom, I mean?” Hannah asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure it will taste incredible.”
Turned out, he left a platter of fruit, whipped cream, and champagne. Maybe a little cliché, but it worked.
Hannah insisted on removing his boots, touching each silver medallion as she did so. He wasn’t sure why she liked them, so he asked.
She sighed. “Don’t ask me why, but they’re sexy as hell. Or maybe it’s the leather, or maybe you. Actually, I think it’s the whole package.”
A kiss almost led to rolling around on the floor then and there, but Jude wanted more. This would be their first time as a bonded couple, and he wanted to do it right.
Besides – and this was no small thing – he needed a shower.
He left Hannah to enjoy his numerous shower heads while he traipsed off to one of the guest room showers. He felt almost dizzy as he entered the first bedroom, which was the one that had been Joy’s room. And something that felt very fae came over him. He saw three children on the floor, two boys with dark, curly hair and the third a girl with straight brown hair and violet eyes. They were playing a U.S. board game called Monopoly.
They all turned and looked at him.
“Hi, Dad,” the girl called out.
He drifted sideways and fell against the doorjamb.
The vision lasted only a few seconds more, but in that time, the world flipped on its axis and tears started to well in his eyes. He blinked hard, then closed them firmly because he was still dizzy.
But when he opened his eyes, another vision came of Naomi and Joy, standing where the children had been playing. We wish you well, Jude. Our loving best while you finish your years with Hannah and your new family. They both blew kisses, which was something they’d always done when he’d head out to work for the night.