Absolution (Delroi Prophecy Book 4) (13 page)

“You took too long.”

Then she grinned, stepped forward, and
kissed his cheek. Behind him he heard Goran’s low snarl.

“Xiri.”

Xan wondered how he managed to keep
his tone so calm. If it had been Anna Leigh greeting another male in such a way
he doubted he’d be able to retain control. Thankfully, Xiri didn’t push it. She
pulled Goran forward.

“My mate. Goran,” she said,
introducing the two.

Stone looked him over, an assessing
not quite complimentary light in his eyes. Again, Goran’s calm surprised him.
He felt the young warrior’s amusement brush against his mind.

“You
taught me well, my Lord.”

“So
it appears.”

“Well,” Stone finally spoke. “Let’s
see what you’re made of, warrior.”

That
got a reaction out of Goran. His eyes narrowed, his stance loosened, and he
pushed Xiri behind his back.

“What did you have in mind?”

Stone shrugged, grinned, glanced
around at his warriors and received a few nods. He’d issued a challenge. Honor
demanded he answer it. He unbuckled his weapons belt and handed it to his
sister.

“Hand to hand. No weapons. First one
pinned to the ground wins.”

Goran took his belt off but Xan
stopped him before he could go for the knives secreted around his body.

“He
said pinned to the ground. He didn’t say how. Varangians
appreciate…inventiveness.”

Goran met his gaze.
“That doesn’t seem honorable.”

“They
mean exactly what they say. If you can find a way around that? The field is
open. And you keep your honor.”

Goran nodded, a hard glint in his
eyes. He turned to Stone and the fight was on. Xan paid little attention to it
because Xiri sidled close. She pressed her fingers to trembling lips.

“He won’t kill him will he? This isn’t
an execution in disguise?” she whispered, gaze trained on the two men circling
each other.

“No. It’s simply a test.”

Xan looked at them just in time to see
Stone throw the first punch. Goran grunted but keep on his feet and swung his
fist. The fight turned fast and brutal. Goran was one of his best warriors, but
he wouldn’t be able to hold Stone off for long. The Varangian fought more like
a street brawler than a warrior. Goran didn’t know how to counter it yet. Xan
had no doubt he would by the year’s end though. Xiri gasped when Stone landed a
vicious kick to the kidneys that sent Goran sprawling. He rolled away from a
follow up kick and got to his feet. The mood of the watching Varangians turned
from dark and alert to good natured ribbing as they cheered for Goran.

Xiri looked at him with surprise, but
a smile curved Anna Leigh’s lips. She squeezed Xiri’s hand. “He’ll be fine. He
can’t possibly win, but he won’t give up. They respect that,” she said softly
to his cousin.

It was only minutes later that Stone
pinned Goran to the ground and the warrior conceded. Grinning, the Varangians
hauled him to his feet, each welcoming him as a brother as they did so. Xan
repressed a pang of loss. He was losing part of his family and to a Delroi
warrior family was everything. But Xiri would be safe with them. That’s all
that mattered. Once all the backslapping was done Gypsy stepped forward.

“There is someone you want my
assistance with?”

He nodded. “If you can provide it. I
would prefer to explain after you meet him.”

That strange light entered her eyes
that made so many warriors uneasy. Zola and Anna Leigh both made a subtle shift
as if preparing for attack. He was certain Gypsy noticed though she didn’t show
it. He invited the visitors inside. Most of the warriors, along with Xiri and
Goran, went into the dining room where food and drink waited. Gypsy and Stone
accompanied him to the room where Zane was held. Jarek, Zola and Anna Leigh
entered the one next to it to watch by vid feed.

“You’re
sure about this?”
Anna Leigh asked.

Nervous. His warrior woman was nervous
and frightened. His chest tightened.
“It’ll
be fine, sweetheart. I promise.”

He didn’t know how but he couldn’t
stand the idea of disappointing her.

“Are
you ready?”
he asked, opening Zane’s door.

“Yes.”

Gypsy entered first. Xan motioned for
the warriors on guard to step away but remain in the room. Zane was awake, had
showered and was in clean clothes. He ignored everyone but Xiri, watching her
with a mesmerized expression.
 
She approached
him and he slowly rose to his feet. He stretched his arm towards her, froze
when all the weapons in the room trained on him.

“Hold,” Gypsy said, a soft command the
warriors obeyed when he nodded.

Zane reached out to brush his fingers
over the side of her face.

“What are you?”
        

She didn’t take offense at the
question many would have considered insulting. Instead she smiled.

“Your people call me a mystic.”

“Are you?”

“I am many things. That is one of
them.”

“Why are you here?”

“For you, Zane Gray.”

Xan stared at her. He hadn’t told the
Varangians who Zane was, had ordered his warriors to keep it to themselves.

Zane shook his head. “I am…not right.”

“I know and it will take time, but I
can help you come back.”

“Why would you do that?”

She smiled, radiant and expectant. “We
have been waiting for you.”

She met her brother’s gaze then. “He
is the one in my visions.”

Stone looked him over. “He doesn’t
look like a great warrior-king.”

“He will be,” Gypsy promised, turning
back to Zane.

Anna Leigh, who’d been a quiet
presence in his mind to that point, gasped. He shared her shock. To his
knowledge the Varangians hadn’t had a king in centuries. Stone was their
leader, but he’d never styled himself king. He watched Zane more carefully now.

“What
is she talking about?”
his mate asked.

“I
have no idea.”

“We need to be on our way,” Gypsy
said. “We have far to travel and it will take the entire trip to undo what was
done.”

Zane didn’t protest though a look of
confusion filled his eyes. “There is a task I must complete first.”

Xan felt his mind searching for Anna
Leigh and Zola, but before he could do more than locate them Gypsy brushed her
fingers over his temples.

“No,” she ordered. “You know why you
cannot follow those orders.”

Understanding flared bright in his
eyes, then abhorrence followed by relief.

“I didn’t kill her.”

He finally focused on Xan. “My
sister?”

“Safe. She’ll stay that way.”

“And my mother?”

“The same. I’ll make sure they’re
protected.”

“Xan is an honorable warrior,” Gypsy
said. “You can trust his word.”

After a moment Zane nodded. “Perhaps,
but I can’t be trusted. Not now. Tell them I’ll come back when I can. When it’s
safe.”

“No,”
Anna Leigh yelled in his mind.

He sighed, seeing her intent clearly
in his mind. “I can’t keep her away,” he warned the telepath. Saw by his
expression that Zane was falling back into the thrall of the programming, the
moment of lucidity fleeing fast though he struggled against it. His mate and
daughter ignored his order and entered the room. Zane gritted his teeth.

“Knock me out again before do
something we’ll all regret.”

Xan didn’t hesitate. He’d come
prepared for this, his weapon still set to incapacitate not kill. Stone caught
him before he slumped to the floor.

“I’ll get him on the shuttle,” he told
his sister before leaving with the unconscious man slung over his shoulder.

“He will be fine,” Gypsy promised.
“Though he will never be the same.”

“What was all that about a
warrior-king?” Zola asked.

“We--the mystics--have been having
visions of a warrior-king joining us in battle for several years now.”

“Battle with who?” Xan asked.

They would never attack Delroi but he
couldn’t be so certain about Earth. Gypsy shrugged.

“That we have not seen.” Her face took
on a far away expression. “War is coming, Xan Bana. It will spread across our
colonies if the Varangians do not stop it.”

“And you think Zane will help you do
that?” Zola asked, uncertainly.

“Yes.”

“Why are you so certain?” Zola pushed.

“The goddess has returned to Delroi.
In all of our visions, it was not until the return of the goddess that the warrior-king
would be found.” Gypsy met her gaze. “It was you and your companions that
signaled the beginning.”

Delroi prophecy and Varangian visions.
Xan couldn’t deny he was unsettled. The Overchief and Barak Trace needed to be
warned.

“Will you require our assistance?” he
asked Gypsy, determined to get as much information from her as possible.

“That is unclear.” She gave him an
amused smile. “You’re running out of time for questions, Xan.”

“How long do we have to prepare?”

She shrugged again. “A year. Perhaps.”

“Will Delroi be attacked directly?”

“Yes, but I cannot say when.”

“Can’t
or won’t?”
Anna Leigh asked.

“With
a mystic, you never know.”

“I will keep you updated on his
recovery. We will return when it is safe.”

She hurried out before she could be
delayed by more questions. She probably would have just stonewalled anyway.

“We’re just going to let them take
Zane?” Zola asked.

Anna Leigh sighed. “Do you see another
option? We can’t be around him. No one else here seems to have a solution.”

Zola conceded her mother’s point. “Maybe,
but I still don’t like it.”

“Me either.”

Her regret and sorrow was heavy in his
mind.

“Now what?” Zola asked.

“I make a report. Then we enjoy the
peace while we can,” Xan said.

“This is so fucked up,” Zola said, her
hands covering her belly protectively. “The rebellion here is all but over. Tel
won’t come after us again. I got my brother back just to lose him again and now
we have another war to look forward to?”

He knew the four of them all thought
of the same thing. Protecting Zola’s unborn child. Jarek wrapped his arm around
her waist.

“We’re strong. We’ll deal with it. For
now you need a meal and rest.”

Jarek inclined his head at him and
Anna Leigh, before taking his mate’s hand and leading her from the room. Xan
knew they wouldn’t go far. Not today at least. So he turned to his own mate. He
felt her renewed sorrow over losing her son.

“He’s alive,” he said. “He’s getting
the help he needs and you’ll see him again.”

“You really believe that?”

“Yes.” He refused to believe anything
else.

She nodded and moved into his arms. “I
just wanted my kids safe. Wanted to find a way for all of us to live in peace.
But it seems the fighting never ends.”

He held her close, wishing he could
reassure her. Wishing he could change the future. There was one thing he could
do, though. He could prepare. He could make sure she knew how much she was
loved. He could make sure their daughter and grandchild were protected. He felt
her smile in his mind. In his heart and soul.

“Just can’t help that protective,
possessive streak can you?” she teased.

“Would you have me any other way?”

She smiled, looping her arms around
his neck and standing on her toes so her breath feathered against his. “No way.
I love you just the way you are.”

He crushed his lips against hers. Took
everything she offered and felt her melt into him.

“Forever,
mate,”
he promised and felt her agreement.

And he knew whatever the future
brought they would face it together.

Meet the Author

Loribelle is a former Army MP who
traded in her combat boots for motherhood, flip flops, and all the Diet Coke
she can drink. (She almost misses the combat boots.) She’s the author of more
than 20 books, herder of three energetic children, and occasional sun
worshipper.

Loribelle can be found on the web at
www.loribellehunt.com

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