Noah (39 page)

“She should not have brought the baby,” Noah reprimanded Gideon.

“You saw me try to discourage her. You know your sister bears your trait for stubbornness,” was the calm retort.

“You clearly did not try hard enough.”

“I did not see her listening to you, either,” Gideon pointed out.

“You have allowed her to become far too willful,” Noah complained.

“I dare you to say that within her earshot,” Gideon said with as much evenness as ever, though this time his silver eyes flicked up to glance pointedly at his King. He looked down into Kestra’s eyes with a small smile. “Do not fear. This attitude of chauvinism is not his norm. Legna is the baby of the family and as such has been cursed with Noah’s overprotective brotherliness.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” she said, flashing an impish smile when she realized she could speak and breathe almost normally again. She took a deep breath just for the sake of being able to do so. “And he knows better than to treat me like that.”

“Hmm. I believe she has your number, Noah,” Gideon mused with far too much pleasure for Noah’s liking.

“I will thank you both kindly to shut the hell up,” he grumbled. But in spite of the temperamental remark, his grip on Kestra’s hand tightened and he brought the back of it to his lips. “Just make her well, Gideon.” He brushed pained glances at the wounds that striped her soft skin as if she’d been brutally flogged. She realized then that all of her pain had been his, that he had forced himself to function while absorbing her agony, and had reached out to soothe her and anchor her at the same time.

Emotion overcame her, too much all at once, and she inadvertently jerked her hand free of his to cover her face. She felt panic because she knew she couldn’t hide from him. He was everywhere. Everywhere. How could she sort through her own thoughts and feelings privately? Would she ever know total privacy again?

“You only need to ask.”

The remark was bitten off with more chill than the October air. She dropped her hands and looked at Noah with surprise. His expression had turned to stone, a mask of hurt and anger she felt welling up from him. Confused, she tried to understand what had effected this change. Noah wasn’t the unreasonable type. He would understand her thoughts about wanting privacy. So why this hostility so suddenly?

“Samhain.”

The word was whispered from above her, Gideon’s head bowed close in supposed concentration as he healed her. When he whispered the single word into her ear she suddenly remembered. Everything was magnified. For her. For him. For all of them. They’d all suffered attacks and stresses tonight that made her wonder how they could all seem so calm and so controlled. All save Noah, at the moment. His struggles went deeper somehow. Something unsettled him.

And she knew she was responsible.

Kestra looked around at the faces of those around her, felt the eyes that were surreptitiously being cast toward their monarch. But beyond that she understood there was a sense of complete serenity between the other two couples. It was the peace of mind that came with total confidence in the love they shared. She couldn’t offer Noah that measure of confidence and security, and she was sorry for it. This was the root of his outrage: her inability to commit herself completely into his trust. It conflicted with his desire to care for her, to comfort her. He couldn’t bear the gray area because he was afraid he would make unreasonable demands on her or would try to force her to feel for him, and where would be the security in that?

Kestra reached out to touch his arm, the hard muscle twitching beneath his skin. He turned eyes of emerald fire and dark smoke onto her and she heard a menacing rumble of sound escape him. She didn’t let it faze her.

“Please,” she said softly, making sure she drew his attention, “just be patient with me.”

The simple request seemed to take the wind right out of his sails. He expelled a pained breath, emotion shuddering out of him physically, his body hunching forward with exhaustion of both the mind and spirit. He’d spanned the world trying to help others tonight. He didn’t have the strength to help himself. Instinct reigned, emotion its partner, and the man of learning and logic was subverted by fatigue and the Hallowed moon.

Kestra was finally able to sit up. She felt strange, like a rag doll having been knitted together. She was also tired. She realized Gideon burned as much of her energy as he did his own in order to heal her.

“The rest of your body will heal by tomorrow evening. It is best to let you regenerate on your own power.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking another deep breath just to reassure herself. She placed a hand of warmth and comfort on Noah’s shoulder. He sat back on his heels, his hands fisted atop his thighs, his dark head down. “Noah, let’s go and rest now.” Then, more softly, hoping only he would hear as she leaned close. “I need you to hold me.”

He looked up sharply, searching her gaze roughly, her thoughts as well, checking to see that she was sincere and not just tossing him bread crumbs. She remembered not to be offended, allowing herself to simply feel peace within her own mind and let him deal with it as he would. They couldn’t afford for them both to be hotheaded tonight. She was done with warfare for the evening. Now she wanted peace, and quiet, and tenderness. Kestra met his gaze, her mind full of images of them snuggled warmly together, of comfort and companionship and her terrible need that she honestly felt only he could fill.

The change that came over him was miraculous. His sullenness and hostility vanished, his features lighting up with the gift she had meant to remind him of.

There was hope.

If only he would be patient, help her enjoy her life slowly, day by day, then there was hope he would find in her what he needed as well. She needed faith, and he needed hope. They could give it to each other if only they had patience.

Kestra and Noah both took deep breaths of the crisp night air, exhaling twin clouds. Then Noah looked to his companions. He stood up, helping Kestra, and walked over to his sister and the Enforcers who still sat on the forest floor. Gideon also crossed over, taking his son from Jacob and checking him for sufficient body heat.

“How are you faring, Bella?” Noah asked.

“Better.” She gave an involuntary shudder and Noah caught a meaningful glance from Legna. “I still feel like he’s crawling around in my body. The corruption…But so much power, Noah,” she breathed, her eyes brightening. “You can’t imagine what it was like. It was a Nightwalker cocktail, poisonous but a force to be reckoned with. I’m the only one…the only one who will be able to stop these Vampires if they take the time to learn and master what they steal.” Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she muttered softly under her breath for a moment, making Jacob look to Legna with concern.

“She is overloaded,” the empath said in dulcet tones. “It’s like an overdose, of both power and of evil. She has purged most of the power, but the stain of blackness fights to gain foothold within her. She will win eventually because her psyche is so purely good, but I think it best if I go home with you and help guide her. She will be herself more quickly this way and can find peace.”

“Agreed,” Jacob said, reaching to scoop up his wife as she drifted out of lucidity.

The group gathered close to Legna, but she hesitated briefly to speak to her brother. “Be at peace tonight, Noah.”

They all disappeared with a sinus-popping jolt.

Kestra sighed, feeling suddenly alone in the looming woods, in spite of her powerful companion.

“Actually, I need to leave you for a minute for a little unfinished business.” He gave her a smile and kissed the corner of her lips.

She watched him stride off, and as soon as he was gone she shivered madly. She hadn’t realized he had been using his body heat to keep her warm. Or his power. Either way, she now stood in a ridiculously tattered dress, making her wonder what she had been thinking when she had gone shopping. She folded her arms to her body and watched until he disappeared out of sight.

After a minute, there was a roiling explosion, like a focused bomb had just gone off. Kestra suddenly realized that the Vampire had been dealt with, whatever was left of him, with Noah’s form of finality. She felt no pity, remorse, or even horror. In fact, she admired his efficiency. She would love to have that kind of firepower at her fingertips. Without using black-market C-4, that is.

You have a very interesting mind. I never know what you will think of next. You always keep me guessing, and you always keep me fascinated.

Unless I try to keep my thoughts to myself. You don’t like that.

She felt his hesitation even as she heard him approaching through the woods. She gave him time to think.

I do not mean to be intrusive.

Oh, honey, it’s not intrusive. It’s new to me. I’m used to privacy. I’m used to hiding my feelings and double-checking what I say before saying it. I would like some privacy sometimes just to mull things over, but I don’t mean to shut you out by doing so.

He had marched right up to her as she thought this to him, and now he seized her by the arms and pulled her to his very warm body. The temperature change gave her a wicked chill and she shook like a leaf. He stiffened and looked down at her sternly.

“You need to buy some real clothes,” he grumbled, enveloping her in extra warmth as he drew her to his side and led her in the direction of his home.

Kestra happily tucked herself beneath his arm, her arm sliding around his waist as they walked. She realized she was terribly sore still. Her skin was no longer broken, but the bruising was still there, including a tightness around her chest and her newly healed ribs. It was nothing she couldn’t ignore, however, and she concentrated solely on using the slow walk to shelter as a way of winding down.

“So you saved the Princess?”

“We think so. We had to come to you, so we do not know how the healer fared. Their skills are not what Gideon’s are, these Lycanthrope healers.”

“I don’t think anyone’s could be what Gideon’s are.”

“True,” he relented with a smile. His smile faded as they hit the lawns. Noah stopped suddenly and turned to look at her, his hands grasping the moonlight tendrils of her hair with a sense of desperation. “I thought I was going to lose you tonight,” he whispered, his voice so low and hoarse she almost missed the statement. “When I realized I had been tricked, that my guards had failed you, I was paralyzed with fear.”

“Noah,” she soothed softly, moving to rest her body against his, instinctively knowing he would find great comfort in it. “I’m fine. I took care of myself.” Then she relented with a crooked smile. “For the most part.”

“You were magnificent,” he breathed, drawing her forehead to the fervent press of his lips. “I do not mean for my emotions to indicate you were incapable of…” His eyes slid closed and he could not speak for several beats as those emotions threatened to strangle him.

“Noah,” she chided with a soft laugh, “it’s okay! I was terrified, too! And you were right, I was a poor match for a creature of that power.” She slid her hands up his back, drinking in his vitality with her fingertips. It was good to be alive. It was even better to be with a man who made her feel that life right to the core of her soul. “I’m glad you had more sense than I did about that. Actually,” she said with a touch of wonder, “I’m glad that we were able to make sense of it together.”

She suddenly withdrew from him, stepping back and looking at him with a strange expression of surprise and confusion. Noah felt cold from her abrupt departure, the sensation almost making him laugh in his shock that she was able to do that.

“Kes?”

She shook her head mutely, staying his outreaching hand, and wrapped her arms around herself. He saw a shiver shudder through her.

“Kestra,” he said, adding a touch of sternness to his tone, “you are worrying me.”

“I…I don’t mean to,” she told him softly, the pain lacing her tone sending an invisible dagger through his heart.

He wanted to leap into her mind, plow through what was disturbing her, and kill it quickly with whatever reassurances she needed, but he was beginning to realize that she would need a great deal more time than he had needed to adjust to the connection between them and what she considered a fully invasive disruption of her privacy. Over the span of centuries, he had grown used to telepaths and empaths and their easy way with traveling through the psyche. He had also been raised in a culture of bluntness and honesty in words, meanings, and emotions. Kestra was human, and humans had a great many idiosyncrasies when it came to expressing themselves. Privacy seemed to be a key one. One he was willing to respect if it would make her happier.

“Come.” He beckoned her with a twitch of his hand. “We are both tired now and in need of rest. There will be time enough for worrying.”

Kestra easily stepped forward and took his offered hand. She didn’t hesitate to thread her fingers through his, and she felt his relief and contentment at the intimacy. She felt bad for disturbing him, but she hadn’t known how to handle her sudden revelation. She’d been skirting the issue since she’d first laid eyes on him, but she’d suddenly understood with clarity a fact she couldn’t deny: This wasn’t just about sex, or a quirky attraction, or even a mere twist of her fate she’d have to adjust to before moving on. This was a full-blown, balls-out relationship. More so, it was becoming a damn good one. Fast. Too fast.

Kestra closed her eyes, letting him lead her as she struggled with her thoughts. The thing that had thrown her into the comprehension so abruptly had been the understanding that they had argued, yet managed to communicate, and then compromise. Each in their own fashion, each to their own satisfaction and better understanding. Wasn’t that what couples did? Good couples? Her heart began to thump in a rapid tattoo of anxiety and she struggled to quell it. How was it she could face a crazed Vampire, but she couldn’t remain levelheaded about Noah?

Because she knew how to beat down a Vampire, just as she could beat down any physical challenge. Noah was a challenge of the heart, and a dangerous one at that. An ultimate one.