He had to start back at the beginning. Delia had been pathing with him, rattling on about some blog that had interviewed three of the blood roses and how Willow, Malik’s mate, wanted another mastyr the moment she saw him as though her blood rose drive had no discernment.
Panic had set in. That he could remember.
He’d pathed with Rosamunde and learned she was intent on delivering her blood somewhere, anywhere. The moment his brain made sense of her intentions, he’d plowed air faster than ever before. His heart had beat so hard he’d wondered why it hadn’t exploded.
But all that was nothing to the sight of Rosamunde, in a do-me-now outfit, with a mastyr vampire at her throat.
The rest was a blur that involved beating Mastyr Rez senseless before he knew what hit him and then what felt like a monkey scrambling onto his back.
Rosamunde. Right.
Then it seemed like the whole room all but tackled him and he spun in circles until he couldn’t move anymore. It had taken six shifters to stop him.
Rosamunde’s voice had helped him come down from his rampage, but images of Rez at her throat had him flying her out of there and up into the Dauphaire Mountains. He needed to show the woman that she wouldn’t be feeding anyone else so long as he was alive. And as for her body taking another cock, well, fuck that.
She belonged to him.
When his breathing had finally settled down, his rational mind returned in full. He was pressed up against Rosamunde and had her secured with his body to a pine tree. Her legs were still wrapped around him, his cock buried deep.
Rosamunde?
Hmm? She sounded so strange, not like herself or Aralynn.
He drew back slowly and looked at her face. Her eyes were closed and because his vampire vision lit up the night, he could see that she really had gotten dressed up for the occasion. She’d caked on some dark violet or maybe brown eye-shadow, maybe both.
She looked different, not like the queen at all. She wore a couple of braids, but these were meant only to hold her hair back a little.
Are you hurt? He had to know. He’d acted like a tornado and maybe she’d gotten injured in the process.
No. Even in his head her pathing voice sounded odd, not all there. And her eyes were still closed. She sighed. I’m not hurt. I’m happy.
She looked content beyond words and so beautiful, maybe even prettier than her wolf counterpart, Aralynn. He’d just never allowed himself to think of Rosamunde as a woman before.
Yet here he was, still buried inside her and half stiff because her blood had him pumped. Sweet Goddess, he’d just fucked the Queen of Ferrenden Peace and given a little encouragement, he would do it again.
The queen who wasn’t supposed to be a queen. A woman who’d lived in isolation her entire life.
He still wasn’t convinced she couldn’t have battled Margetta. Davido might have a boatload of power, but he was fallible and Stone had always sensed that an infinite kind of capacity existed within Rosamunde. But what if that was the elf-lord power, and her painful connection to it, and not her own innate ability?
He had a lot to think about.
When he finally withdrew from her, he pulled up his leathers and tucked himself back inside.
Her eyes blinked open, a lethargic movement that told him volumes about how she was feeling. She even looked around then chuckled. “I saw stars. No, I mean, really. I was transported into another galaxy. I swear it.”
So, this was Rosamunde, with a sexed up, satiated look on her face, her blood flowing with feel-good hormones, a smile on her lips. She’d always looked fairly stern the few times he’d been in her presence. Now she was here, his blood rose.
His.
For the first time, since he’d learned the truth about who she was, he felt torn.
She met his gaze. “Oh. Right. You’re still mad at me.” She glanced at the forest floor. “You know what. I’ll be right back. I need to freshen up. But stay here.”
He didn’t want her to go.
When she reached for her clothes, he grabbed at her with both hands to keep her with him, but she’d already vanished.
Strange, how empty the space felt without her in it. Yet, with all that he had to think about, it helped to have some distance.
He walked in a slow circle, the pines towering above him. A light breeze blew and the forest made its soft shushing sound.
It took him a moment to gain his bearings. He’d made a smart move, taking her to the middle of the Dauphaire forest, miles away from the nearest village. She’d let loose with a series of cries that would have been heard otherwise. His own shouts, when he’d come, had split the night sky as well.
He wasn’t sure, though, what to do with Rosamunde right now. It was clear he had to keep her close, but he didn’t relish the idea. She’d deceived him for weeks now, knowing exactly who she was and how he felt about her.
As Aralynn, early on she’d asked him not to disparage the queen too much. Now he knew why.
He heard sounds high in the air. He looked up, and saw a red wind. Holy fuck, Invictus, this far out, in the forest.
He thought about his battle partner and made a quick decision. Maybe he had to keep Rosamunde close for now, but it would help if he saw her in her other form, the one more wolf than fae.
Rosamunde. I need Aralynn. If you’re game, I’ve got what looks like four Invictus pair and they’re ready to fight. I’m moving into a larger clearing. The wraith-pairs are circling in the air.
Aralynn’s voice came back strong. On my way.
~ ~ ~
Rosamunde heard the tone of Stone’s voice and knew exactly what needed to be done. She could almost see the wraith-pairs.
She’d returned to the cottage to get cleaned up and had been debating whether she should put on a fresh pair of jeans, or something else.
Something else it was as she drew a new set of battle leathers from her closet: Green vest, black boots, matching pants. The latter had silver medallions down the sides to the knees, which the boots then picked up.
All set, she teleported to Stone’s side, dagger in hand.
But he frowned at her. “You’re not Aralynn. I think we need her here right now.”
She glanced up at him. His stern, disapproving expression had returned. She lifted her chin. “I am Aralynn. If I need to transform, I will. And you need to get used to who and what am I. Now.”
“Fine. This clearing that we’re in won’t leave much room for maneuvering. So, I want your back against mine.”
As she moved to take up the position, however, she kept thinking about whether or not any of the wraith-pairs could be saved. Mastyr Ethan and Samantha had the ability to break the wraith-pair bond and a lot of realm-folk, bound unwillingly to Invictus wraiths, were now in recovery.
Yet, thinking this way didn’t feel right to her. She realized that if she remained in her Rosamunde form, she would have difficulty doing battle the way her wolf could. “I’ve changed my mind. You were right. I need to be Aralynn to do this, otherwise I’ll jeopardize both our lives.”
He glanced at her, his eyes narrowing. She knew he wanted to watch. Without giving it too much thought, she transformed. At least her vest wasn’t so snug when she was in Aralynn’s skin.
He dipped his chin. “Good call.”
“Just made sense. Aralynn has stronger battling instincts. She’s more like my shifter father than my fae mother.”
The wraith-pairs moved in suddenly and the wraiths shrieked until even the trees swayed as if in pain.
“Sweet Goddess that hurts my ears.” Rosamunde side-stepped in a stealthy circle, matching Stone’s stride and movements.
He pathed. That wraith low, take out her heel with your wolf teeth and I’ve got her vampire mate.
Rosamunde didn’t hesitate. She shifted swiftly into her wolf form, leaping at the same time. She caught the wraith’s bare foot in her maw, pulled her through the air and struck her against a tree. She hadn’t killed her, but she fe
ll to the forest floor unconscious.
She heard the sound of Stone’s battle energy, then the smell of burning flesh. One pair down. Three to go.
Rosamunde pivoted and saw that the vampire had taken a hit to his chest. He was dead. His wraith-mate would soon follow as often happened with wraith-pairs. The bond made it almost impossible for the mate to survive.
She waited in the shadows for Stone’s next orders. The wraiths had set up a terrible racket, flying in circles with their mates, well above the clearing. It was like listening to the frightened screech of monkeys, only dozens of them instead of just what was now three wraiths.
Still in her wolf form, Rosamunde remained very still. As was true of all predators, motion caught the eye. Wraith-pairs, being already in a more animal-like state, were particularly tuned-in to the smallest movement.
Stone whipped to his left, which was the western edge of the clearing. She understood why. He’d pegged the troll and his mate as the weakest link.
His strong voice hit her mind as he pathed, Get the female wraith-mate.
I’m on it.
Rosamunde shifted from wolf to her Aralynn form and with dagger in hand flew like a shot through the pine trees, singling out the wraith flying erratically around the canopy above her troll-mate. The troll levitated with a battle axe and now flew in a fast descent toward Stone. The other pairs remained in the air, but Rosamunde sensed they were winding up their battle power.
She darted behind the wraith and sliced at the backs of her legs, then slipped back among the pine trees, shifted into her wolf and held herself motionless once more.
The wraith screamed then fell into the tree-tops and became tangled up in the branches of the upper canopy. Her pained shrieks continued.
When she saw that the other pairs were focused on Stone, she transformed back into Aralynn. She moved closer to the clearing and could see the red Invictus flashes of battle power striking into the pine needles. Stone moved in quick darts to avoid getting hit while at the same time maneuvering closer to the troll.
He was short, but with the Invictus power, kept rising swiftly into the air, then finally threw his axe. Stone almost got nicked, though he kept firing his hand-based energy at his adversary. The troll was very fast and as the pairs above shot battle energy at Stone, he flew into the clearing to retrieve his weapon.
Again, Rosamunde remained very still and with her wolf coloring blended into the pines. From even a short distance, she doubted she looked like little more than a shrub. She waited for Stone’s orders.
In a sudden blur of motion, while sidestepping twice to avoid battle energy strikes, Stone levitated and kicked the troll in the chest. He flew against a pine tree and fell hard to the ground.
Stone slid into the forest to avoid a final barrage of red battle strikes.
The shrieking of the wraiths had dimmed considerably, then stopped.
Stone’s voice hit Rosamunde’s mind. We’ve only got four Invictus left, but they’ve descended into the forest. Both male vampires are coming for me. Take the southernmost one out at the back of the thigh.
They’d worked out the best system since ‘Aralynn’ had never seen battle before the past few weeks. Stone always made sure she was in the least vulnerable attack position.
Rosamunde began to move, weaving among the trees once more and heading southeast. She could smell the vampires in the forest. She also had a sense of movement above her, which meant she had to pick up speed since one of the wraiths was tracking her.
She felt a brush of something against her tail. Crap, the wraith was right on her.
But she wasn’t without a lot of power and added a burst of speed. She saw her target in front of her, who was almost on an already battling Stone. She leaped, bit hard into the vampire’s fleshy thigh then melted back into the forest, heading away from where she’d felt the wraith’s touch. The bite into her mate would also help keep the wraith somewhat incapacitated. The uninjured mate always suffered when the other was wounded.
The wraith made the mistake of shrieking her agony. Rosamunde shifted from her wolf back into Aralynn then flew at her from below. Using her knife, she cut her hamstrings, then flipped back into the forest, shifted to wolf, and once more remained still. She loved that shifting allowed her to keep her weapons and clothes.
She was breathing hard and felt exhilarated as she always did during battle. She was fighting the enemy, those who had kept the Nine Realms in a state of ongoing terror for centuries.
She knew better than to distract Stone by pathing. They were a team and he called out the orders. She had no trouble obeying a man who had fought the Invictus since he’d become a Guardsman over three-hundred-years ago.
Through the trees, she watched him battle hand-to-hand against the vampire. In a sudden, quick maneuver, he levitated, caught the vampire around the neck and snapped. The vampire dropped as did his wraith-mate.
The two that Rosamunde injured, rose together into the air and disappeared.
The last pair, however, had also taken to the air, circling the forest canopy slower and slower. After a full minute, they also took off. Rosamunde could sense they’d left for good.
Stone pathed. That’s it. They’re gone. I’ll make sure these four that we brought down are either dead or unable to do harm. Make a broad circuit of the battle area, both on the ground then in the air.
Will do.
From experience, she knew he wanted her to hunt through the forest to make sure the enemy really was gone. Still in her wolf state, she began to run. I’m heading south. I’ll pace at a distance of fifty yards and lope the circumference around you.
Good. I’m contacting Harris next to see where we’re at and to arrange for clean-up. He’ll get the process started.
She slowed her speed for a moment. She knew the tone of Stone’s voice well. Something was troubling him. What is it?
I keep forgetting how well you know me. On this last vampire, I found a chain around his neck with all kinds of souvenirs. I’ve found a ring that belonged to one of my troll aunties. She was killed during the original attack at Charborne.
Stone, I’m so sorry.
Hey, at least I avenged her death. How does the forest feel to you?
Very quiet.
She made the fifty-yard circuit in good time, but the forest had a stillness that said the enemy had left. Heading out to do a hundred-yards then I’ll hit the skies.
Let me know when we’re clear so I can give the order for the trolls to come in.
Will do.
Her wolf loved this final part of Stone’s procedure. She loped another fifty yards south to begin her second much wider circuit. As she weaved swiftly through the trees and her wolf senses kept her moving in a near-perfect one-hundred-yard orbit around Stone, she neither saw nor smelled anything that would indicate the Invictus were nearby.
She was just returning to her starting point, when the earth rumbled.
The elf-lord power!
She stopped where she was, her heart pounding, then transformed back to Aralynn. A vision so close on the heels of a battle was rare.
Stone. A vision.
I’m feeling the rumble. Should I come to you?
No. Stay where you are. Let me see what the vision means.
But you’ll be in pain.
Nothing I haven’t endured for a long time. Please, stay put til I know what’s going on.
She could feel a terrible prescience coming toward her, though not from Margetta. For that piece of grace, she was grateful.
She took the power in and accepted the painful cramping of her legs for what it was: A warning. The vision followed and it was bad. Within seconds, Margetta would be on Stone in the forest. Apparently, the team of Invictus had relayed their location and Mastyr Stone was their target.
Though still cramped and hurting, she teleported swiftly to Stone but at the same time transformed to Rosamunde’s form in order to create her powerful violet wind. She grabbed his arm and wi
th the elf-lord power on her, she carried him high into the sky. She saw Margetta’s gold light explode over the forest below and the wave of power it carried tumbled her and Stone though the air, but Rosamunde held steady and kept moving.
Stone fought her at first, probably unaware why she’d done what she’d done.
Margetta, was all she could think to path.
As soon as the word hit his mind, he stopped struggling against her power and settled down. He even added his levitation which forged with her own and smoothed the flight out. Together, they went faster than ever.
He drew closer to her and slid an arm around her waist. Where are we going?
I have no idea. Somewhere my aunt isn’t.
Sweet Goddess. She was almost on me, wasn’t she?
Yes. She would have been, but I could feel the vision moving hard. In it, I saw her coming for you.
Sorry I battled you, he said. But I didn’t know what was happening.
There wasn’t time to even speak the words.
I know. But are you okay? I mean, are you still hurting?
Rosamunde love that he remembered how much pain the power caused her. She even smiled. I’ll survive. Do you want to head back to the city? To your Com Center? I can return to Ferrenden Peace if you like.
I’m not sure what the hell I want to do at this point, or what I should do. But every instinct tells me Margetta is after me and won’t give up. We’d better stick together, at least for now.
Chapter Nine
Stone wasn’t sure what he wanted to do or where he wanted to take Rosamunde. The night had already become as volatile as the night before when he’d first slaked his thirst at Aralynn’s vein and learned she was a blood rose.
Only tonight, he’d discovered Rosamunde was Aralynn and that he’d made love to a woman he’d despised for months. Then of course, he’d lost his mind at the Wild Boar and practically killed another vampire because of his bone-deep belief that Rosamunde, as a blood rose, belonged only to him.
The sex.
Sweet Goddess, his mind still spun and she’d been so into him, so much unlike the woman he’d always thought Rosamunde to be.