Chapter Eight

Det couldn't believe what he was seeing at first. She looked a bit older and weather-worn, but the luxurious, long blonde hair, the lovely face, the sparkling blue eyes… It was Loralie. His former lover. The mother of his children. The most powerful sorceress he'd ever heard of in modern times.

A dangerous woman.

An alluring woman.

A woman who looked to be on the verge of tears.

It didn't make sense. Unless…

Unless everything little Penny had said was true. Or, at least, partly true. Penny was just a child, and she loved her mother. Det thought she'd probably put the best spin on whatever she'd known about Loralie, as children would do out of loyalty to a parent.

That's what Det had assumed all along about Penny's tales of Loralie's situation. But seeing the evidence before his eyes, he had to adjust his thinking… Maybe.

"I didn't expect to find you here," Det said, breaking the tense silence.

Loralie's chin came up with a spark of defiance. "And why not? If you've heard anything Penny had to say, you know my reasons for hunting Gebel down like the mangey dog he is."

"Gebel?" Det frowned. "He's the mage in the manor house below?"

Loralie nodded. "I've been tracking him since Penny escaped. I believe he plans to make that manor his stronghold to launch an attack on the Citadel Gate in your enclave's territory. He couldn't break through from the Draconian side, so he's going to try his luck here."

Det made a growling sound, and the pacas shifted nervously. Loralie went over to them, stroking their long necks and soothing her furry travel companions. She was uneasy, Det realized, but she was a natural with the animals. He'd seen pacas before in the wild, and they could be nervous beasts, but she settled them with soft words and gentle strokes.

He felt a pang. Once, he would have given anything to be the recipient of her stroking hands. But that time was long gone.

"He won't have any better luck on this side of the mountains," Det swore, meaning every word. "Our Gate is well guarded by a cadre of highly trained mages, a phalanx of warriors and their snow dragon heartmates."

"I know that, but he doesn't," she answered simply, moving away from the pacas and closer to the wall of the cave where a rather large stick was leaning.

If it made her feel better to have a decent weapon to hand, he wasn't going to stop her. Though…if that stick was really a mage's staff, he might not be so clever to allow her access to it. She hadn't had a mage's staff when they'd known each other before. At least, not that he'd ever seen. Of course, their liaison had been sadly brief, and he didn't really know all that much about her, except how good they were together in bed. Or out of it. Or anywhere, really, that the mood struck them.

They hadn't spent a lot of time talking when they'd been together. Mostly, they'd been slaves to an undeniable attraction that drove them to make love over and over in the short time they'd had together. There had always been a time limit on their relationship. Loralie had been stealing time away from her duties, as had Det. It had been foolish, really. But he'd been as powerless as she'd seemed to be. Fighting their attraction wasn't really a possibility. It was too strong. Too compelling. Too all-encompassing.

He'd even suspected that she'd somehow magicked him into her bed once or twice, but in saner moments, he'd dismissed that idea. She'd been every bit as drawn to him as he had been drawn to her. He was experienced enough to recognize the truth of it. And trying to blame her for everything wasn't really fair.

He knew that. Even though he sometimes wanted to believe she was the cause of every bad thing that had ever happened to him. He knew that was ridiculous and told himself to grow up and take his share of the responsibility for his own bad decisions.

But the decisions that had resulted in Petr and Penny could never be wrong. His children were the lights of his life now. He lived for them. He would die for them. To keep them safe. If he had to. Though he'd much rather live to see them grow into the fantastic adults he had no doubt they would become.

Still, if it really was Gebel down below in the manor house and he'd been the one imprisoning Penny all these years, Det had a vested interest in seeing the man went straight to hell, where he belonged. Det had to get to the bottom of this. And he had to make sure what Loralie was telling him was true. He had so many questions.

"It seems," his heartmate spoke privately into his mind, having monitored the situation from outside the cave, "that this is going to be a long night. I will guard the entrance to the cave and settle for a snowy bed this eve while you settle things with the North Witch. It's high time we all had some answers out of her."

Det was surprised by Gren's patient tone. For a long time, Gren had been just as against Loralie as Det was, but when the red dragon had shown up with Penny, all of the snow dragons had begun to change their tune about the North Witch. It had been subtle, but Det had noticed it. Perhaps because he was the one most involved in the situation with Loralie, he'd been more aware of the shifting of opinion among the dragons.

Whatever the reason, it didn't matter at the moment. He finally had Loralie where he wanted her. In person. Answering questions. He would get the truth from her tonight, no matter what.

Loralie noted Det's pause and figured he was probably talking to his dragon partner. He'd done that a few times when they'd been together. She'd known the dragon was never far from the warrior, but she'd had limited contact with the white beast. She'd always assumed that the dragon didn't involve itself in its heartmate's love affairs.

Loralie had to admit, if just to herself, that the dragon's lack of interest in her had always rankled a little bit. It had felt like the dragon knew she was only a temporary distraction and not worth befriending. Even if that was essentially true, it still hurt.

Det's pale blue eyes grew as stormy as the world outside when his focus turned back to her, and she braced herself. He looked just as he had when they'd been together, only less carefree and a bit more dour. His blond hair was cut short, his face clean shaven and angular in a way that had always made her knees go weak. In him, the high cheekbones and almost ethereal features of the fair folk were both masculine and the sexiest arrangement of facial features she had ever encountered. Just meeting his gaze lit a fire in her blood.

And his warrior's body was as honed and perfect, as he'd always been. Det was a man who trained hard for the responsibilities he carried on those broad shoulders. He was strong in both body and mind, and she'd enjoyed their conversations. The few they'd had when they weren't otherwise occupied in making love.

Loralie had known in the back of her mind that, someday, they might have this confrontation, and she'd both dreaded it and looked forward to it. Maybe it would be good to have the truth out there between them, instead of all the misconceptions on both sides.

"So, what Penny said is true?" Detlif asked, his voice ragged. "You were doing all those things against your will to protect her?"

Loralie just looked at him for a long, sad moment. He had never trusted her. Never believed in her. That was the only conclusion she could draw.

"You should have trusted me with the truth," he went on, his voice hoarse with realization.

"You should have believed in me more," she replied, despondent. So much had happened since those idyllic days when they'd been together. So much water under the bridge that could never be recalled.

"I tried," he surprised her by saying. "In my heart of hearts, I tried so hard to believe you were not the woman accused of doing so many terrible things. I wanted to believe in the woman I had loved," he told her, ripping what was left of her heart to shreds with every word. "Then, you appeared out of nowhere and left Petr on my doorstep without a word of explanation."

"It was the only way to keep him safe," she argued, knowing it was pointless. She'd been in a no-win situation that Det would probably never fully comprehend.

"What about Penny?" he roared. "Why not leave her with me too? I could have protected them both."

"No, you couldn't have," Loralie countered. "Gebel knew I'd had a child. He didn't know I'd had twins. I could only hide one of them with you. The other… Well, you know what happened with Penny." Loralie felt a tear trickle down her cheek.

"I could have helped you. I could have fought at your side," he countered, shocking her with his vehemence.

She shook her head. "If you'd tried, you would have died. I have enough foresight to have foreseen that. This was the only way the three of you had a chance of surviving."

"What about you?" Det looked stricken, which surprised her.

"My fate doesn't matter," Loralie shrugged. "I have to fulfill my destiny and safeguard the Citadel."

"The Citadel?" Det's eyes sharpened, and she realized she hadn't ever revealed who she truly was to him. She guessed it was about time.

"I am the hereditary Guardian," she said softly. "As my mother was before me. As Penny will be after I'm gone. I'm not just the North Witch or some random mage. I'm the Guardian. Which is why what Gebel managed to make me do is so very bad."

"He hasn't been able to make you weaken the protections around the Citadel, has he?" Det looked truly alarmed, and with good reason.

"No. Nobody can make me do anything to harm the Citadel. It's encoded in my blood, for lack of a better explanation. I can do things in the outer world, but my entire reason for being and the base of my power is rooted in the protection of the Citadel. Gebel has been subverting my abilities to do things in the outer world. Against my will, but as you now know, he had me over a barrel."

Det was silent a long time, so she went on. Now that she could finally speak the truth to him, she wanted him to know it all.

"I've been able to teach Penny enough so that when I'm gone, she can maintain the Citadel to keep the lands safe for the next generation. If my plan succeeds, the threat of Gebel and Skir will be ended forever, and Penny can handle the rest. She's strong. Stronger than I was at her age." Loralie looked away.

"Skir?" Det asked, shock on his face. He apparently recognized the name of the ancient wizard who had created the horrid skiths, who were the enemies of all dragons. "So, that's why our mages can't get a read on the new man. But how in the world is he getting help from Skir? Isn't the wizard still imprisoned in ice? If he weren't, I think he'd be out here wreaking havoc in the lands, and I would know about it."

"Yes, he's still on ice, but he's semi-conscious, and he's been able to teach things to Gebel in his dream state. Things Gebel should never have been able to do with his low level of mage power, but Skir is showing him workarounds. Which is why he managed to force me to do things I never would have done. I couldn't get Penny free from Gebel's influence." She sighed. "Until Leasharra."

"Then, it really was you who put the red dragon up to it?" Det demanded, his eyes flashing with upset.

"I did not," Loralie replied with some heat. "That part of the plan was all Leasharra's initiative. When she told me what she intended to do, I wasn't sure it would work. But when it did, I was finally free to seek my vengeance."

"Which is why you're here?" Det shook his head. "You really expect me to believe that?"

His lack of faith in her hurt, despite the fact that she knew it was warranted after the things she'd done. Still, he knew at least some of the truth now. How could he still be suspicious of her?

"I don't really care what you believe," she enunciated clearly, though every word was a lie. She did care. She cared way too much. "The fact is that Gebel will die by my hand for what he did to my children and what he's been doing to the lands. I'm studying his new setup in an attempt to discover his weak point. Then, once I know his ways and can devise a plan, I'm going to act. And nobody will stop me. Not you. Not Grennulf. Not anyone. Gebel needs to die. And Skir needs to be put back into deep freeze. I hope to accomplish both things, but even if I just get Gebel, that will end the immediate threat."

Det took a step back. He was looking at her with surprise on his handsome face. He still was the most beautiful man she'd ever known. Inside and out. Though he'd grown a thicker skin since the last time she'd seen him.

She'd caused that. She'd made him abrasive and untrusting. She'd hurt him as deeply as a man could be hurt by a woman. She didn't blame him for hating her, but it still rubbed the raw spots in her soul like sand and felt like salt in an open wound.