Gavin had almost given the order to burn the bodies and collapse the tunnels, but when Tray was carried out, he insisted they call the authorities instead. And that was how Kara came to be standing in a pitch-black field in the middle of Jamul with three dozen Mercury warriors and half as many men in dark suits. Watching Sage being handcuffed then driven away in a dark, unmarked car, wasn’t as satisfying as killing her. But it was good enough.
Gavin and Aiden agreed to answer more questions if needed, but they refused to allow any of their people to be interrogated by the O.P.A. And interestingly enough, the suits didn’t look like they were going to push it.
Seeing Kara, Abbey ran to her and threw her arms around her, while Jaxon went to speak with Gavin. “So I guess Jaxon and I didn’t exactly get here in time, huh?”
Kara squeezed her back. “I was so worried about you.”
It was a good thing Abbey didn’t know that Tray had been in the ambulance that just tore out of the field with its sirens blaring. If she’d gotten there any sooner, it would have been uglier than any of them could handle tonight.
“Are you all right?” Abbey asked her. “Please tell me yes so I can beat the crap out of you. How could you send me away and not tell me that Claudius threatened you?”
Kara pulled back and glared at her best friend. “How could
you
not tell
me
that you were the future high priestess of the flippin’
northwestern hemisphere
?”
“Yeah…well…I never wanted to be.”
Kara shook her head and hugged Abbey again. “Well, you are. And I don’t mean you’re the future high priestess. I mean you
are
the high priestess.” She met Abbey’s eyes, unsure how she’d take the news. “Claudius is dead, Abbs.”
“Oh.” Abbey’s face went blank, and her shoulders slumped. “I guess that’s a good thing, right? I wanted to kill him myself when I learned what he’d done to my family.” She was quiet for a moment. “But no matter how much he deserved to die…he was family, too.”
“I’m so sorry.” Kara pressed her cheek to Abbey’s.
“Me, too.”
She hated to ask, but she had to. There was no knowing how far Claudius had been willing to go. “Did you hear from Grammy D? I was trying to get a hold of her all week, but I haven’t talked to her since Friday.”
Abbey laughed. “Yeah, I talked to her. Not everyone has a silver-wing taxi service to take advantage of, but she and her blue-hair crew should be burning rubber around the corner any minute now, ready to kick ass. I, uh…have a lot to tell you about later. Not the least of which is—” she lifted her shirt to reveal a smooth, blemish-free belly, “—ta-da!! I’m all better.”
“Wow.” Kara’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. All this to cure Abbey’s brand, and she came home good as new? “I can’t believe it, Abbs. That’s amazing.”
Jaxon approached Kara and picked her up off her feet, twirling her around once. “Thank the Maker you’re well, mistress.”
“Mistress?”
He kissed her forehead and set her on her feet. “Kara.”
When he stepped back and wrapped his arm around Abbey, Kara took in the changes since she’d last seen them—the way Jaxon seemed to stand taller with Abbey at his side and the way Abbey’s cheeks flushed as she glanced up at him. Kara raised her brows. “It looks like we do have quite a bit more to talk about.”
But telling Abbey about Tray was something that would have to wait until they were home alone. The news was going to rock her world right off its axis.
Jaxon smiled. “And Julian? I only gathered bits and pieces listening to the lords.”
Kara breathed a deep sigh of relief. “He made it to the Shadowland. Gavin just got back from taking him. The ritual Aiden performed earlier tonight helped Julian stick it out a little longer here, but they’re telling me he’s going to have to recuperate in the spirit realm and establish a place for himself there before he can travel.”
“Well, considering we all thought he was dead, that sounds like great news,” Abbey said.
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it. Hold on.” Kara turned her back, and her brow wrinkled in concentration. Slowly, red crystalline claws eased from her fingertips, but without fight or flight doing its thing, she could only get them to peek out halfway. She turned back to her roommates and held her hands palms down. “See. I’m maturing. I should be able to travel to the Shadowland to see him soon.”
“Oh…” Abbey smiled and nodded. “Those are…nice.”
Kara bit her lip and regarded her stumpy claws. “You don’t think they look sort of gross?”
Abbey shook her head emphatically. “No! I love ’em. You can’t even pay to get nails that cool.”
Kara smiled, relief coursing through her, and Jaxon bent to kiss her hand. “They’re stunning.”
Over Jaxon’s shoulder, Kara saw a messenger touch down, his wings extended. He said something quietly to Aiden and Gavin. Aiden smiled and gestured with his arms for the group’s attention. “I have an announcement! The Mercury Clan celebrates the arrival of our first child. Olivia has had her baby boy!”
Cheers went up all around, but Gavin met Kara’s eyes. She saw pain reflected there, maybe even regret. She held his gaze, silently saying goodbye. It hurt more than she could imagine, but he’d made his choice when he’d left her, and she could finally let him go. Julian was her life now.
“Oh, Olivia. He’s precious.” Kara held the squirmy little bundle awkwardly in her arms. She’d never been a big fan of babies, but this one could definitely grow on her.
As she watched, his softly rounded cheeks puffed up, and he turned beet red. Then he sucked in a mini lungful of air and let loose with a cry that almost pierced Kara’s eardrums. She smiled and held him out to his mother. “Here you go. I think he wants you.”
Olivia put him to her breast and glanced behind Kara. “You don’t need to watch from the door, Aiden. If you want to hold him, all you need to do is ask.”
Kara cringed when she turned and saw Aiden standing there, as if he’d had ringside seats to her maternal crash and burn. “Actually,” he said, his smile apologetic, “I’m here to pick up Kara.”
Was it time already? Had she been fawning over baby Bernard for over an hour? “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry, Olivia. I didn’t mean to stay that long.”
Olivia patted her hand. “I enjoyed it. I wish you would come to the island more often. Maybe next week…or tomorrow? If you like to hold him so much, I might be able to sneak away for an hour or two and give my men some much-needed attention.”
Kara laughed uncomfortably. “Can you imagine if I were to monopolize all his sweet little time?” she crooned, realizing she was making faces at the back of a baby’s head that was securely attached to his mother’s breast. “The ladies of the clan would probably kill me.”
Aiden said quietly, “You are a lady of the clan now, Kara. You formally agreed to be one of us, so you have as much right to be here as anyone. And it would be nice for the others to see a little more of Teras’s daughter on the island.”
“Thanks, Aiden. I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied. But the truth was, guilt over the clan coming to her rescue may have prompted her to sign on the dotted line, but since Julian wasn’t going to be around much, she really couldn’t see the point in hanging out here either.
“Wonderful!” Olivia exclaimed. “So tomorrow, then?”
Kara blinked. Either Olivia was listening to a conversation Kara wasn’t a part of, or she was really, truly desperate. With the way Ryen walked around as if he owned the island now, Kara had almost forgotten he wasn’t the only man in Olivia’s harem.
“Oh… I’m not sure. Honestly, I’m not that great with babies.”
“You can’t break him, Kara.” Olivia pulled baby Bernard from her breast, held him up and gave his bottom a hefty pat. “These demibreeds are made of sturdy stock.”
“Okay, thanks.” Crap, how was she going to get out of it now? She smiled and rose from the chair. “Maybe if I can convince Jaxon to give me a ride.”
Aiden regarded her with an air of helpfulness, but Kara could see the humor in his eyes. “All you have to do is summon me whenever you’d like to visit the clan, Kara. You know it’s no burden to flash over and pick you up.” He looked to Olivia. “What time did you have in mind?”
She pursed her lips in thought. “Maybe…four? And I wouldn’t be gone long. Perhaps six, or eight…thirty?”
Kara stifled a groan. “That sounds…super.”
“It’s nice to have a child in the clan, Olivia,” Aiden told her. “I haven’t seen the general morale this high in years.”
Her face lit up. “And now Gavin’s expecting one of his own. The clan is truly fortunate.”
Aiden’s smile turned to a dangerous scowl. “Who told you that?”
Her eyes widened. “I heard it from—” she paused, as if rethinking what she wanted to say, “—I don’t remember. What, is it not true?”
Kara’s pulse was like a thunderstorm pounding through her ears. She watched Aiden’s lips, waiting for him to deny it. But instead he said, “You can’t protect them, Olivia. If there are people listening in on private conversations and spreading gossip, I must know.”
She covered Bernard with a blanket and looked around the room, as if she was hoping something spectacular would happen outside the windows and draw Aiden’s penetrating gaze away from her. Finally, she sighed and said, “Riana. She was looking for you and overheard it. Don’t be cross, Aiden. It’s not like she can turn those ears of hers off. But maybe she was simply confused.”
“Maybe.”
Kara knew if anyone was looking at her, she’d be white as a ghost. She’d almost lost circulation in her hands and feet. So that’s what Gavin had been doing in the Shadowland—visiting his mistress. And Kara had been a total fool.
Her lips formed the words automatically, as if she were on autopilot, spiraling toward the earth. “Well, Aiden, I guess we’d better get going.”
Olivia grinned. “Yes, I heard. Aiden is taking you on your first trip to the Shadowland today. Good luck! May it be all you imagined it would be.”
Kara forced a smile and waved goodbye, then followed Aiden down the path from Olivia’s house. Like the other homes of the females who lived on the island, it was set into the lush mountains and had plenty of room for warriors and lovers.
She pushed a large banana leaf out of her way and met Aiden’s eyes. “Is it true?”
“Kara, it’s not my place to discuss this with you.”
“Don’t you dare play that game with me. Did Gavin sire a child during his time in the Shadowland?”
Aiden faced her. “He hasn’t wronged you.”
Kara placed her hands on her hips. “Really? Did you know that after we put Julian in the ground to regenerate, Gavin said he wanted a place by my side even after Julian woke? He said he was going to change the law, Aiden! I was gullible back then, and I thought he really meant it, so forgive me for being shocked when he bailed on me, and I hear ten weeks later that he’s going to be a father.”
“He doesn’t deserve your anger.”
She poked his chest. “You think this is anger? You haven’t seen anything yet. Watch me kick his ass and ensure he can never father another child again.”
His eyes were cold when he brought them level with hers. “Listen carefully. He doesn’t want you to know this, but I think you deserve it. Gavin was in the Shadowland those two long months working off a debt.
Your
debt—for killing Gable.”
“What?” What in the hell was he talking about?
“His choice was to get one of Brakken’s females pregnant and hand the child over to Brakken, or allow Brakken to rape you until you finally conceived. And you may have claws and fangs now, Kara, but it could be years until you are fertile.
Years.
”
Kara just blinked. She replayed the words over and over in her mind until they finally formed sentences she could understand. And then her legs promptly fell out from under her.
“Oh my God.” She looked up at Aiden from her spot on the jungle floor and whispered, “Take me to him.”
Gavin sat at his desk, signing documents given to him by the O.P.A.—more fallout from the Great Black-wing Blood Battle, as the men were calling it.
Truth be told, for all the training they did, the men rarely saw much action, and Gavin imagined they would probably live on the memories and stories of that day for years to come. Already, the number of witches defeated had gone from somewhere around twenty to closer to one hundred and twenty. And instead of just one powerful witch drinking Julian’s blood, the entire coven had been blood-drunk monsters, virtually undefeatable.
A soft fist rapped against his door. Gavin frowned and cast his consciousness out to see who it was. “Kara?” he said softly and quickly pushed from his chair to make his way to the door.
When he opened the door to her, his heart dropped to his feet. Her cheeks were spilling over with tears. His hands fisted helplessly at his sides. “Oh, princess. I’m so sorry. I knew it was too early for you to attempt travel to the Shadowland. But you are maturing now. You can try again.”
She looked momentarily confused, but then she set her jaw. “Are you going to be a father?”
Gavin stepped back and swallowed. “Yes.”
“Did you get that female pregnant because of me? And are you…giving the child to Brakken?”