ClosertoFire (16 page)

In his lap, Savara’s eyes narrowed as she focused on Lily’s
neck. Lily’s shirt covered the mark. Savara clapped her hands and yelped, “I
knew it! Kai, they’re mated!”

Kai clamped a hand over her mouth and turned to Bane,
looking shell-shocked. “Is this true?”

Savara tugged at Kai’s hand, trying to speak, but he shook
his head. A brief, silent struggle followed. Afterward, Kai shook his bitten
hand while Savara kissed his cheek apologetically.

“So,” Kai said, shooting Savara a murderous glance, “which
of you is paired with Lily?”

Darek guffawed. Lily thought her face might burst into
flames.

Kai frowned.

Savara was way ahead of him. “Oh my. What fun!”

Kai turned to her, his eyes narrowing. “Your idea of fun, my
dear, may not coincide with theirs. Or mine, for that matter.”

Savara leaned forward slightly to speak to Lily, her tone
conspiratorial. “Did you know that there hasn’t been a triad since Arthur and
Lancelot shared Guinevere?”

Lily shook her head, trying to clear it. “Arthur and
Lancelot were shifters?”

“Oh my, yes, and so was Guinevere. Really, they were such a
peaceful and lovely triad. It’s
such
a shame how Mallory butchered their
story, and all for the sake of propriety,” Savara replied, her eyes
melodramatically watery.

“Getting back to the matter at hand,” Darek broke in, “Bane
and I would like the
sovrán
’s sanction of Lily as our mate. Kai, your
presence, alive and well, would exonerate Savara. We’d have a much better
chance of persuading him that the idani are not all in league with our enemy.”

“I’ll have to think about—” Kai began.

“We’ll do it! Let’s go now!” Savara cried.

“Sav—”

Kai’s warning echoed dissipated into the air—along with the
rest of Lily’s reality. She had a split second to experience a horrifying sense
of formlessness that defied description. The next thing she knew, she was lying
on a cold stone floor with a worried Bane and an angry Darek hovering in her
expanding field of awareness. Above her was a high ceiling with heavy wooden
rafters. Darek turned, yelling something at someone behind him. Bane cupped her
face in his hands.

“Can you hear me, Lily?” His voice sounded far away.

“I can hear you,” she managed after a moment. “What
happened? Did I faint or something?”

His expression flooded with relief. “She’s okay,” he told
Darek, who was halfway to his feet, his hands balled into fists. Lily heard a
female voice—Savara’s?—behind Darek.

“So sorry, I didn’t realize her first time would be so
hard—”

Then Bane was lifting her into his arms. Lily looked around,
confused. The room had changed. The couches were supposed to be over there, she
thought dizzily, and somebody had moved the fireplace to the middle of the
room.

“How long have I been asleep?” she asked Bane.

His lips tightened in a flat line. “You’ve only been out a
couple of minutes, Lily. Savara sifted all of us to Anthony’s aerie.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. Her head hurt like
hell.

“You should recover within a few minutes. You’ve traveled
almost four thousand miles in about five seconds.”

“Four thousand miles?” Her stomach flipped. “Put me down.
Please.” Bane set her on a large couch in the corner of the room, away from the
fire.

Lily turned on her side, taking deep breaths. The leather
was cool against her cheek. “Tell me again where we are.”

“Anthony’s aerie,” Darek bit out, glaring at Savara.

Bane’s blue eyes were steady, in control. She clung to the
sight. “It’s in Norway,” he clarified.

“I’ve never been to Norway,” Lily said, hiccupping.

Bane smiled wryly. “Congratulations,” he offered.

The dizziness began to fade and Lily sat up cautiously. The
room they were in looked like a living room, complete with ordinary things like
a fireplace, couch, coffee table and chairs. Antique portraits lined the stone
walls bridged by exposed wooden rafters. Glass doors led onto a mosaic veranda
that jutted out into empty space. A floor-to-ceiling window to her right
afforded a view of the bluest lake she’d ever seen, contained within sheer
walls of jagged stone that thrust out of the water for hundreds of feet,
reaching for the open sky.

Bane’s voice sounded far away. “Darek, find Anthony.”

“I’m here,” said a deep voice. Its owner, a tall,
olive-skinned man in dark slacks and a white undershirt, stood in the doorway
across the room. His feet were bare and he held a towel in one hand.

The sound of running feet echoed into the room from one of
the adjacent hallways and in short order, two men burst into the room. One of
them was startlingly pale, with short, disarranged hair that was as white as
his irises were black. The other appeared older, with close-cropped
salt-and-pepper hair, rugged features and cold, silver eyes. Seeing Savara, the
older man reached in the pocket of his black duster and drew out a length of
shining, silken rope that Lily recognized at once. Her nose wrinkled with
disgust. The men waited, looking to their prince in silent question.

Anthony held up his hand. “Mason, Quinn, give them a chance
to explain.” He looked at Bane. “Why are there two idani in my aerie?” He spoke
the question in a deliberate, calm tone, his voice carrying the weight of his
position.

Bane stood and Darek stepped up beside him, the two of them
blocking Anthony’s view of Lily. Kai took a step closer to Savara.

“I apologize for the intrusion,
Sovrán
,” Bane said.
“We arrived earlier than expected.”

“No shit,” Darek murmured.

“Kai,” Anthony said, walking forward, “I’m happy to see that
reports of your demise have been overstated. I can’t say I’m happy to see you,
Savara.” He stopped in front of Kai and Lily saw Anthony’s eyes widen for a
fraction of a second. He leaned in closer to Kai, inclining his head.

Lily frowned.
What was he doing?

Bane answered her silently, his voice so clear in her mind
that she twitched, startled.

He can tell by Kai’s scent that they are paired. He is
deciding what to do.

“
Sovrán
,” Bane interjected, “I can vouch for Savara.”

“Oh?” Anthony’s voice registered surprise.

Bane nodded. “She came to me a year ago and asked that I
find a way to give her permanent contraception. I performed the surgery
myself.”

In the doorway, the man with white hair coughed.

Anthony rubbed his eyes, looking suddenly weary. “I see.” He
paused, seeming to consider, then addressed Kai. “You do not owe me allegiance,
Kai. All the same, given her history, I ask that your wyrmate remain bound
until I can be sure of Chloe’s safety.”

Fear spread through Lily, a cloying tension in her gut.

He means her no harm. His only concern is for his human
mate
,Bane reassured her.

Lily looked up at Bane.
What does he mean, Kai doesn’t
owe him allegiance?

Kai is not of this aerie
, Bane answered.
He is a
water dracambri. We are fire.
His back was to Lily but he turned his head
just enough to wink at her. A tiny frisson of desire made her skin tingle.

Oblivious to their silent exchange, Anthony and Kai faced
off. Kai’s jaw worked visibly in the taut silence. Finally, he turned to Savara.
“If she is to be bound, I will do it,” he replied.

Savara rolled her eyes, sighed dramatically and held out her
manicured hands. The man in the duster handed Kai the rope. Kai bound Savara’s
hands in front of her, leaving a length of rope that he held like a leash. She
stuck her tongue out at him.

Lily glared at the hateful silvery stuff, not sure why it
bothered her so much.

Bane’s chuckle echoed in her mind.
It was made especially
for idani
, he told her.
It restrains their physical form and nullifies
their abilities.

Lily grimaced.
It feels awful. Is he going to bind me
too?

A hot flare of possessive jealousy erupted in her mind.
He
will not touch you.
Beside Bane, Darek rumbled his agreement.

With Savara secured, Anthony turned his attention to Darek,
Bane and Lily. “I will not have idani running amok in my aerie,” he said, his
voice rising with irritation.

A female voice echoed down the hall. “Hey, golden boy,
where’d you go?”

Anthony’s eyes widened with alarm. “Chloe,
cara
, stay
where you—”

A small, slender woman appeared in the doorway. She was
dressed in a black bodysuit and her fiery red hair was bound back in a
ponytail. Her gaze rested first on Anthony and she smiled broadly. The cold
authority in his expression dissolved when he looked at her.

When she noticed Kai and Savara, she gasped. She crossed the
room on silent feet to stand before Kai, who looked down at her fondly. She had
to crane her neck to meet his gaze. “Well, I’ll be damned,” she murmured. “I
thought you were dead. It’s good to see you.”

He bowed his head. “Likewise, my lady.”

Behind him, Savara snorted.

“Savara,” Chloe said icily. “Glad to see he caught up with
you.” Pivoting on one toe, she put her back to the couple and went to her mate.
She stood on tiptoe, wrapping her arms around his neck. He leaned down to kiss
her. Bands of golden light snaked around his arms, disappearing under the
sleeves of his t-shirt.

Chloe broke the kiss and twisted out of his embrace,
approaching Bane, Darek and Lily. Anthony followed her, his tall form dwarfing
hers. She moved with confident grace and though her mate stood behind her,
there was no mistaking the warning in his hazel eyes.

“So,” she began, looking them over. “This doesn’t look like
the beginning of an Inquiry.” She tilted her head as if listening to a distant
voice. Her features registered shock, then annoyance in rapid succession. She
laid her head back on her mate’s chest, meeting his gaze upside down. “If you
want to know,” she chided, “why don’t you ask them?”

Anthony cleared his throat. “Your scent tells me you’re
mated,” he said, addressing Bane and Darek. “Are you about to ask me to approve
a mating to an idana?”

“We have,” Bane said. “Though you should know that Lily’s
father was human. She is a half blood. And she is our wyrmate.”

Bane and Darek stood shoulder to shoulder, obscuring her
view of all but Anthony’s left hand. Chloe, whose view was unobstructed,
studied her with interest. Lily watched the men’s backs, wishing feverishly
that she could see Anthony’s face.

Anthony cleared his throat. “
Our
wyrmate?”

“Yes,
Sovrán
,” Darek said.

“I see.”

Chloe smiled at Lily, knitting her brow sympathetically.
“Anthony, she’s very afraid you’ll hurt Bane and Darek.”

“She bears your mark?” Anthony asked.

“She does,” Bane hedged.

“May I meet her?”

“Respectfully,
Sovrán
, we must have your assurance
that she is in no danger due to her heritage,” Bane answered.

“So long as she does no harm, no harm will come to her.”

Bane and Darek stepped apart, affording Lily a view of their
sovrán
. Tall, handsome, self-possessed and impeccably dressed, he looked
as if he’d stepped straight out of an ad for an expensive liqueur. If it hadn’t
been for his strange eyes, which were no longer hazel but the color of
burnished gold, she’d have thought him a perfectly ordinary man.

Lily stood, feeling awkward. Not knowing what else to do,
she extended her hand. “Sir,” she said, striving for grace, “Lily Sinclair.”

His lips curved in a smile as understated as his voice. He
took her hand and shook it.

“Miss Sinclair,” he said, “you’ve been presented to me as a
wyrmate by not one but two of my warriors. The last woman to be in such a
position was Guinevere of Camelot, who was brought before my father by her
mates. I imagine you’ve heard of them.”

“I have,” Lily said. Her knees felt weak.

“And your mother was, by birth, an idana—creatures who have
brought anguish upon my people,” he said quietly with a hard look at Savara.
“You know this?”

“I do, sir.”

His tone grew gentle. “Your soul is very old and kind. But
you are not dracambri, so I must ask—do you understand what it means to be
mated?”

Lily unbuttoned her collar, revealing the mark at the base
of her throat. “Yes, I do.”

“How do you feel about being wyrmate to Bane and Darek? What
do you think the future will bring?”

The straightforward question disarmed Lily. How did she
feel
?
“I don’t know what the future will bring. I hope that it will bring an end to
your war and your people’s pain. If I can, I would like to aid that cause.”
Anthony’s features registered surprise. Beside him, Chloe smiled.

Lily continued, feeling raw inside. “As for my future, I
cannot see one without them. I love each for who he is, and I love both for
what they are together. Hopelessly, helplessly and with everything that I am, I
love them both.” She couldn’t stop the tears that came forward, but Lily
squared her shoulders and did not blanch from Anthony’s penetrating gaze.

At last, he nodded. “Then I sanction this union, Lily
Sinclair, and I bring you under the protection of my people as wyrmate to Bane
O’Brien and Darek Stanton.”

Bane and Darek visibly relaxed and Lily felt the tension and
fear leave her body. Tearful, she thanked Anthony. Darek drew her close and
Bane stepped up behind her, ensconcing her in a dual embrace.

“Thank you,
Sovrán
,” Bane said.

“Of course. It gives me hope that you have found your
wyrmate.” Anthony turned to face Kai and Savara. “Let us leave these three to
their celebration and discuss your situation. I’d like to understand better
what
happened
on that night so long ago.”