Chapter 15

In the darkness of the recently fallen night, a figure of perfect stealth moved with imperceptible speed toward the guarded perimeter of the Demon King's home. He would pass the guards completely undetected, his skills so far beyond anything they could perceive that he would be able to do so with an almost laughable ease.

He could sense the occupants around and within the stronghold with just a sweep of his eyes, the body heat they all exuded flaring infrared within his remarkable sight. He knew the cooler, more pinkish blobs of heat indicated Demons, whose body temperatures ran colder than the others by a few degrees. There was a human signature in a distant room, and then about a dozen beings who bore the bright red heat of the Lycanthropes. It was the one he determined to be in a horizontal position that attracted his attention most. He stepped past the perimeter of guards with silent speed, springing up with silent ease from the ground to the second-floor balcony that led into the room.

The Vampire Prince hesitated before using the door, sensing that someone was in the room besides the Lycanthrope Queen. Whoever she was, and he could sense that she was indeed a female, she was alert to her duty. If her heart was anything to judge by, she had noted his intrusion. Her fierce heartbeat was unbelievably compelling, so strong and so fast that it was circulating her blood almost too fast for her to oxygenate her cells.

"Come."

It was a whisper, spoken on such a soft, feminine breath that at first Damien thought he had mistaken the challenge. Intrigued, the Prince actually smiled in anticipation as he drifted in through the sliding glass door that stood already open, hovering a moment before resting softly on the flooring.

The Vampire's eyesight was excellent in the darkness even when he didn't use his infrared capabilities. He made out the silhouette of a distinctly feminine figure. She was standing at a perfect placement near a window, no doubt on purpose, letting the moonlight backlight her so even with his keen vision he would only see shadows.

But it was not just the smooth curve of a cocked hip and strong bracing of well-shaped female legs that stood in relief against the incoming light. One arm hung straight down the length of her body, pushed out by that jutting hip, the gun in her hand winking its nickel-plated gleam as if she held a star instead.

"Bullets?" he queried, his deep voice rich and compelling even in his obvious humor. "An anomaly in a Demon household."

"I am not a Demon," she pointed out, her tone still soft, still quite sultry in its mysteriousness.

"True. But if you shoot me you will only be wasting bullets. Surely you realize this?"

"I know," she assured him.

That was when her other hand parted from the rest of the shadow that was her body, the swift, nimble twirl of a wooden instrument rotating like a propeller between her fingertips for a breathtaking second.

Damien laughed, noting the object had once been the fourth leg of a now three-legged chair that sat behind her shadowy figure.

"You know that is a myth, do you not?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Of course," she confirmed again. "However, a stake through the heart has a way of causing traumatic bleeding that will weaken you considerably and quickly." Damien saw her teeth flash as she smiled. "So perhaps you best tell me why you are here, Vampire."

"Your Queen requires healing or she will die."

"I do not need you to tell me that, Blood Drinker."

She took a step closer, finally coming into the light.

Damien had never seen her like in all of his long life. She was a Lycanthrope, no doubt about it, but her coloring and her fragile figure clearly hid surprises and mysteries he could not even begin to guess at.

Then he realized who it was that confronted him.

He had first heard stories about her little more than a century past, and then nothing until recent reports of brief glimpses of an unusual Lycanthrope female had been delivered by his ambassadors who had made the odd visit to Siena's court over this most recent decade.

"You would prefer she die, Princess, and make you Queen in her stead?"

Damien heard her breath catch and saw the infrared flush of heat as her anger exploded through her chemistry.

"How dare you suggest such a thing," she hissed.

"I dare," he interrupted her quickly, "because I know nothing about you except that you are the daughter of an accomplished, albeit insane, warlord who manage to plunge these people who now shelter you and your Queen into three hundred years of war."

"Self-righteousness from the Vampire Prince who warred with the Demons himself for a historic century of his own?" she bit back sharply.

"Touché," he agreed. "But like you, I was young and foolish then. That was well over a half a millennium ago, though, not a mere fourteen years."

"I am neither young nor foolish, except perhaps in your estimation. What concern is it of yours whether the Lycanthrope Queen lives or dies?"

"That I cannot tell you. Suffice it to say, it will serve all of our interests if she does live. Including yours, if your concern is legitimate."

"And I suppose you are going to offer this magical healing, Vampire? By taking her blood, no doubt, and letting the magical aftereffects of your bite cure her? I believe she would rather die than allow anyone, friend or foe, such a liberty."

"No. That is not my intention, Princess. I am surprised you do not know that it is forbidden for my kind to attempt to feed on other Nightwalkers. A category which your species unfortunately belongs to, or I would indeed offer those services. When I heard what had occurred—"

"I should like to know how you heard such speedy gossip," Syreena interrupted coldly.

"The Nightwalker world is not so thin in Europe as it is everywhere else. Like a small village, news of such things travels quickly."

"How remarkable," she said softly, clearly unimpressed.

Damien smiled in spite of himself, his even teeth flashing in the moonlight, no sign of retracted fangs to be seen in the charming grin.

"If I may continue?"

She gave him a dark smile of her own, her eerie harlequin eyes flickering in the moonlight.

"I was going to suggest another alternative you are probably unaware of." Damien turned slightly to look at the Queen in the darkness, the heat from her blistered skin glowing a violent red in his vision. He turned back to Syreena. "There is no cure for this degree of sun sickness. She will die unless you stray from your conventional methods of healing," he assured her.

"She will not die."

The suddenness of the low voice made both the Vampire and the Lycanthrope turn sharply. Elijah's eyes glowed pale green in the single beam of moonlight that struck his face as he coalesced into solid form. Syreena moved up suddenly, bringing herself around the Prince—directly to his side, in fact, so he was not blocking her line of sight.

The warrior was still as cool as ever, that drilling gaze pinioning the couple across from him with shrewd assessment. The circle of gold and moonstones around his arm gleamed tellingly in the moonlight, giving Damien a bit of information his gossiping sources had failed to acquire. Apparently Elijah had sensed the tension between himself and the Princess and had come to protect … to protect his bride, of all unexpected things.

"My …" Syreena cleared her throat. "My lord, Anya and I will guard the Queen with our lives, I assure you—"

She stopped when Elijah suddenly moved forward, the fire of his eyes flicking over the Vampire Prince sharply.

"Damien, I welcome your concern," he said, "but like Syreena, I do not see how you can help us."

"Elijah, your mistrust is misdirected. We have fought together at the Battle of Beltane, and for no reason other than my desire to assist your people. I promise you, assistance is all I am here to give tonight as well." He took a breath, even though breathing was unnecessary for him. "Do not push me away until you have heard me out, warrior, or you will be consigning your mate to death. A terrible death. It could take weeks of extraordinary pain before she finally—"

"She will not die!" Elijah barked out. "Damn it!" His tone turned to pure venom. "I would rather be dead myself than see Siena go through this because she panicked over my safety! I do not need you to stand there and give me a blow by blow of how she is going to suffer for that!"

The door to the room opened suddenly, admitting Anya, who had heard Elijah's raised voice. She surveyed the room with wide eyes for a moment, shook her red head helplessly, and then retreated back behind the closed door muttering softly under her breath. "And now Vampires …"

Syreena suddenly lifted her head, her gray eye sparkling in the half-light as she narrowed her gaze on the Vampire, trying to connect ghosting thoughts as the two men turned back to each other.

"I cannot heal her myself, but there are those who can," Damien said to Elijah softly.

"Foreigners."

Both men looked at the Princess piercingly, one with surprise, the other with confusion.

"Yes," Damien supported her thoughtfully. "I was about to suggest—"

"Goddess, what is her name?" Syreena muttered, interrupting the Vampire as she bit her lip and she searched her memory. "A Mistral," she clarified to them, though Elijah seemed to be the only one not following her. "Siena knows a Mistral. A few days ago she mentioned a Mistral who she thought could somehow help her on another matter."

Syreena skipped over the details of that, not wanting to reveal to Elijah how desperately Siena had tried to rid herself of his influence over her before she had finally come to peace with her fate. No sense opening old wounds or exposing secrets that were Siena's to discuss with the Demon Consort.

Damien lifted one black brow, clearly impressed with Syreena's reasoning, also curious about how the very breed of Nightwalkers he had been about to suggest had suddenly popped out of the Princess's mouth.

"Unlike most healers in the Nightwalker species, Mistrals can heal universally," Damien said thoughtfully, his steady, dark eyes skimming the small female before him with blatant interest. She did not blush or look away under his bold appraisal, impressing him even more as she stood her ground and glared right back at him.

"But at a price," Elijah said knowingly, interspecies abilities being his area of expertise. His duty, in fact. "The Mistral Siren sings to heal, to soothe, and to facilitate meditative states. The price is total vulnerability. If the Siren wishes to walk up to her subject and stab her through the heart in the middle of a singing, she can do so and her victim wouldn't be able to lift a finger to defend herself. Also, anyone in earshot will be drawn into the song, so it is not as though someone can stand guard. Siena would never stand for that Neither would I."

"Not from a stranger, perhaps, but I believe she knows this particular Mistral very well," Syreena explained.

"It does not sound like her," Elijah said, turning to look down at his bride's blistered face, his brow furrowing in sympathetic pain to see her beautiful skin marred so agonizingly.

"It was a specific Mistral. She asked for her by name. If only I could remember her name …"

"Windsong," Damien said suddenly, his dark eyes lighting with understanding. "Was her name Windsong?"

"Yes!" Syreena exclaimed. "From a village in France called—"

"Brise Lumineuse," Damien supplied.

"How do you know this?" Syreena demanded, looking fairly put out that the Vampire had bailed out her lacking memory.

"How do you think you survived the illness that made you what you are, Syreena?"

Syreena gasped when Siena's hoarse voice ground roughly out of her damaged throat. Heedless of the men watching her, she raised the back of her hand to her mouth and hurried to fall to her knees beside her sister's bed. She finally dropped her weaponry, reaching to take the Queen's hand. Then she seemed to think better of it when she laid eyes on the damaged skin of the distorted fingers. Instead, it was her relieved tears that touched the skin.

"Siena," she whispered, "do not talk. You must conserve your strength," she said gently.

Siena gave a brief nod and then turned to look at her husband. Just seeing his face upset her like nothing else could. She felt relief, joy, and a dozen other overwhelming emotions that bludgeoned Elijah's thoughts with crystal clarity of the heart. He reached for her, weaving his fingers into her crisp hair, the dull tendrils wrapping around his wrist immediately, grasping him weakly in the only way she could hold him.

"I'm so sorry," she said, her voice high pitched and rasping all the more.

"Shh," he soothed her, reaching to rub her faded hair against his lips. "Don't strain yourself. Listen to Syreena, kitten."

She shook her head.

Elijah …

Her voice was weak, but more like her own, filtering softly through Elijah's thoughts as it grew in strength.

Relax, kitten. Do as your sister says.

No. Tell her to get Windsong. Then send them both away. I need to speak with you.

"She says to get Windsong for her. Syreena, can you do this?"

"Yes. France is but a few thermals away, love," Syreena said eagerly to her sister. "Rest and I will return as soon as possible."

All eyes turned to follow the Lycanthrope that leapt with dangerous heedlessness out of the window, transforming from human to falcon halfway over the sill.

"Amazing," Damien marveled, turning to look at the Queen. "So the stories are true. It was Windsong who saved the life of your sister. I had always thought it was a myth until I started to hear reports that you were recently addressing an unusual Lycanthrope female as your sister. Now that I have seen her …" Damien shook his head, looking back to the window with bemusement. "She is remarkable."

"Damien, Noah is in the Great Hall. He would wish to see you."

"I had intended on it, after making my suggestions to you." The Vampire looked from one to the other with intense, dark eyes, his aristocratic features in an expression of puzzlement for a moment. "I had never thought to see such an Imprinting. This is a new era indeed. May it serve you both well. Be well, both of you."

The Vampire then used the boring convention of the door and left the couple alone. Elijah immediately turned back to his wife. Seeing and feeling her pain, his heart literally began to hurt, and it had nothing to do with his wounds.

You must let me tell you how sorry I am, she rasped into his mind quickly.

There will be time for that. Later, he insisted.

I have wasted too much time already, Elijah.

She reached for him, wincing when her injured skin pulled, splitting in tender places that had lost their elasticity as the poisonous boils had spread. Elijah reached to stop her, his palm against hers. The contact felt so relieving, so precious and good, that he could not force himself to move away again. Clearly, she felt the same, her fingers lacing with his, heedless of how it hurt her.

I have hurt you so selfishly, she sobbed, tears falling from her eyes as her emotion trebled through him.

No, he insisted, his mental voice equally choked with feeling to see her hurting in any way. Do not worry about me, kitten. You have caused me no pain.

D o not lie to the one who knows your heart, however stubbornly she has refused to acknowledge it.

She drew hard for breath, and he slid even closer to her, leaning over her until they were looking deeply into each other's damp eyes.

"Don't do this," he begged roughly. "Do not tell me this because you think you are going to die. I will not let you leave me. You have tried every way to escape me and I will not let you go now that you have finally acquiesced."

He drew in an unsteady breath, trying to empower a shattering voice. He brought his hair-tangled hand to her face, cradling it as his thumb brushed her dry lips. "You will survive this day and hunt the ones responsible for this with me, by my side where you belong, now and every moment in the future. You will survive this injury and will be in my arms once again, feeling my touch and my kiss on your precious skin, the softness of which will never cease to drive me mad." Siena's tears dropped into her hair, just as Elijah's touched her parched lips. "You will survive this to tell me you love me the way that I have come to love you. In a strong voice, with light shining in your beautiful eyes and your body wrapped around me the way your soul is wrapped around my heart."

Unable to do anything else, Siena simply nodded. Once again he reached to catch her tears on his gentle fingertips.

"Don't cry, kitten. You know it kills me when you do."

Then stop making me cry these tears, Elijah. I never have done such a thing, until you joined my life.

"Then I am certainly to blame, love. Just as you are to blame for mine." He smiled against her fingers as he kissed them gently in their place woven between his. "You have reduced me to an emotional woman," he sighed.

Siena laughed, coughing harshly immediately afterward, driving the humor out of his eyes.

"Shh," he soothed insistently.

She nodded, searching his face for a long minute, as if committing it to memory. She extended her fingers, touching his mouth tenderly. Her eyes, her emotions, her thoughts were full and bursting with her feelings for him, and it made his heart pound to feel it. But as promised, she said nothing, and would say nothing, until the moment she could meet his criteria. For the moment, she exhaled, closed her eyes, and drifted into sleep, her last thoughts urgently praying to the Goddess for her sister's swift return.

The sooner she could hold him again, the better.

Gideon rose about twenty minutes after Damien had left Noah, who had returned to his sister's bedside in order to maintain her status. The medic was as yet barely well enough to walk, but like Elijah, could not be kept from the mate who needed him as soon as possible.

Noah looked up with surprise when Gideon entered the room. The medic was powerful, but Noah had never suspected he could come back from the brink of death so quickly.

"It is no miracle," Gideon said roughly as he staggered over to his wife's side, sitting down beside her still body on the mattress. He swiftly took her face between his hands as he tried to look into her physiology. "Merely my usual ability to heal."

Gideon raised a hand to silence the King's further questions or remarks, his eyes closing as he tried to concentrate on undoing his own complex work. Noah watched carefully as Gideon broke into a sweat, feeling the Ancient's energy fading quickly while Legna remained as motionless as ever.

As unobtrusively as he could, Noah reached mentally for his brother-in-law, slowly trickling energy into him. The flow expanded exponentially over the next few minutes until the grayish tone disappeared from Gideon's complexion completely. Soon he was flush with his normal tanned skin tone, energy flaring through him in abundance.

Noah stopped pushing energy onto the Ancient when he began to get feedback in the connection he had formed between them. He exhaled as he drew back, tilting his head to stretch out the muscles that had bunched around the back of his neck. He then watched with amazement as wounds across Gideon's hands, chest, and face began to heal with impressive speed even as Legna drew her first breath in hours.

Noah made a low sound of relief when he saw her skin pinking up. She stirred, yawned widely, as if all she had been doing was sleeping. Her silver eyes opened and looked up into those mirrored in her mate. She smiled at him and reached for his mouth with hers. She kissed him with tenderness and affection, just as she did every morning when she woke. It wasn't until he broke from her mouth and dragged her into his arms almost desperately that she realized something was wrong. He was terrified, or just being released from terror, his thoughts and his heart pounding in a turmoil of fear and relief.

Slowly she realized she was in her childhood bedroom and that her brother was drawing in harsh breaths of equal relief, pushing out of his chair and moving to look out the window in an attempt at hiding the emotion coursing through him. But he could not hide it from her keen empathy, no matter where or how far he distanced himself from her.

Between the two of them, Legna was overwhelmed.

"What happened?" she asked, her throat tight with their unshed feelings.

"All is well, Nelissuna," Gideon hushed her gently, burying his face in her silken hair. "You are well, the baby is well, and we are all safe now."

Noah clearly could not bear to listen a moment longer. Without a word, he turned and left the room. Magdelegna felt his pain twist in her chest like a knife, and because she felt it, Gideon did.

She pulled away to inspect her husband more carefully, momentarily discarding her worry over her brother, seeing the splotchy patterns of newly healed skin all over Gideon's face, arms, and chest.

"Gideon! What happened!" she demanded with a gasp, her eyes misting over as everything she was feeling finally came to a head. "Why is Noah so frightened? Why are you injured?"

Gideon took in one long breath, and then began to tell her.