Shadow Revealed (The Enlightened Species Book Two) (22 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Enlil heard Brae’s sweet voice waft up the stairs to him. “I have five brothers?” Their escort grinned and pounded headlong down the stairs and through a hallway. He heard the assassin introduce himself as he entered the door to see Brae bestow Othos a beautiful smile. His breath caught in his throat, and then he counted the different shade of mists scattered through the room. If the assassins wanted them dead, they would be.

He looked to Jess; her line of sight told him there was someone behind him that must have been just inside the door. In his rush to see Brae with his own eyes, he’d let his guard down to that possibility. He saw another standing at the other side of the doorway. Hoping to place himself between Shane and at least one side of danger he stepped back and to the side. He felt the tip of a blade make contact with his back at the level of his kidney.

Jess ran at the doorway into Shane’s arms turning to place herself between her mate and the threat he was unable to see. Brae ruffled Othos hair then launched out of the chair into Enlil arms. Oh, sweet Fates, she felt perfect against him. Gathering her to his chest he felt the tip of the blade sink into his back an inch before the person holding the blade could react to Brae’s momentum. Enlil couldn’t care less—she was safe, unharmed. Her peppermint smell enfolded him. The mists dropped their shadows one by one, revealing male after male. Each looked at him with suspicion. If what he’d heard on his way into the room was true, he was hugging the baby sister of the most lethal males he’d ever encountered. With Brae in his arms, he cared little what they thought at the moment.

“You’re heart is pounding and your side is bleeding.” She lifted her face to look at him. “You need blood.” She raised her wrist to him. “Take mine.”

Enlil’s dentes slid into place, his mouth watering for a taste of her. Instead of sinking into her vein he kissed her, trying to keep his touch tender and feather-light against her lips. He saw her eyes widen, the stormy dove gray swirled, and she leaned into him with a sigh. He had to stop; this was not the time or the place. He lifted from her sweet taste reluctantly.

Placing his forehead to hers, he whispered, sure that most would be able to hear him. Still he couldn’t seem to care. “Do you really want to make a bond with me here? There’s a good chance I will fall into rapture.” His voice was thick with lust. He saw Shane and Jess look at each other out of the corner of his eye. That didn’t matter either. Only Brae mattered, no one else. He no longer wanted to go to ground. Umbrae had been in danger. She might have been hurt or … killed. She was the hope of the Volaticus species. His bloodmate anew. Coming this close to losing her had brought a stark clarity to his desire to claim her and the feeling he already had towards her. True bloodmating were emotionally fast and furious.

The stormy dove-gray of her eyes continued to swirl as a parade of expressions crossed her beautiful face. She opened her mouth to speak and then shut it again, shaking her head, no. The fact that she had offered to heal him knowing it would create a bond was a gift of such value, it was humbling.

Brae nervously glanced around, taking in the stunned faces of Jess and Shane, then the two brothers who were near them. She met Enlil’s eyes again, and whispered back to him, “Is rapture good or bad?” Enlil couldn’t help but laugh. Brae’s face flushed.

Enlil sobered quickly to reassure her. “Whether it’s good or bad will be a decision only you can make” She gave him a shaky smile. She’d picked up on his meaning, not that it was well disguised. Hell, everyone in the room knew what he meant. Enlil figured he’d better change the subject for now. “Tell me how you come to have brothers.”

“My ... father—” Brae turned to look at the male leaning casually in the corner, who nodded at her and smiled “—was just explaining that to me.” Ancient power rolled off the male. His energy rippled around him, a pure ocean blue.

The male stepped from the wall and extended his hand to Enlil. Retaining his hold on Brae, Enlil shook it. “Eros Sicarius, I know who you are. I knew your grandfather well. He and my brother were best friends.” Enlil had grown up with his grand father telling him stories of the ghost brothers. His grandfather had thought they were both dead. “He was a brave and honorable warrior. I was very sorry to hear of his passing.” Enlil’s grandfather had also been his mentor. He’d died in a rare battle against the Tellus during the species’ enlightening three thousand years ago. Enlil had been devastated by the loss. It had been meeting Etana that healed his heartbreak.

“What say we return to Mesa to continue this conversation?” Brae offered. Her eyes kept glancing at the dead male against the far wall. They exited back into the yard. Irsu’s fallen warrior had regained consciousness. The medic they’d had stay on the opposite side of the lake was now onsite and dispensing blood to him. When he saw Enlil, he brought a pint over. Enlil sank his dentes through the plastic, not bothering with formalities. Brae’s gray eyes never left his face. He could see her concern for his injuries. He also noted the way all but Othos tensed when Irsu raced over to hug Umbrae and then moved on to hug Shane and Jess.

Jess stepped up to Enlil and stretched on her tiptoes to place a kiss to Enlil’s cheek. “Shane and I are going to Gil’s.” She addressed the group. “You’re welcome to our home.” Then she glanced to Brae before meeting Enlil’s gaze again. She bit her lip before continuing. “Feel free to take the master suite. We won’t need it.” Enlil looked over to see Brae blush. Nothing she’d been through in her life had come close to affecting her innocence. Etana had been a virgin too. With Brae he would have to be just as gentle. Jess quickly added. “I mean, if you want to. Or not … whatever.” Jess was fuddled—that was something he didn’t see very often.

Enlil figured he better let her off the hook. “Thank you, Jess.” She gave him a relieved look and then followed Irsu to her unit to be brought up to speed. A few minutes later the group ported.

Enlil almost laughed when Brae’s brother, who he now knew was Jacob, stood behind Brae, pointing to his knife and then holding a finger to his lips. The male didn’t want his sister to know he’d stabbed Enlil. This was going to be an interesting family dynamic.

He knew it was the comfort Brae displayed with him that kept her family from challenging him. If he weren’t around, he had no doubt they would have whisked her away to somewhere other than Mesa. They seemed fully amenable to letting Brae call the shots on where they went. Thankfully she wanted to be beside Enlil. He wrapped his arm around her, tucking her to his side. “Shall we?” They ported back to the bluff overlooking Shane and Jess’s house.

Irsu had arrived before reuniting her unit. The body of the Morsdente had been removed. With the Sicarius males ghosted, only Enlil saw Victor teetering on the rim of one of Hans’ holes. He discretely reached out and stabilized Brae’s brother without anyone noticing.

“Where’s Hans?” Brae asked.

Enlil turned and led the way down the incline toward the house with Brae’s father and six brothers behind them. All of them were shadowed; these were not males who trusted easily. On the way he told her what had happened. When they reached the front door, a female Tellus sat waiting on a decorative bench.

She rose when Brae approached. “I’m to tell you that Prince Hansi is healing. He says he will be, ‘good to go,’ in time to escort you to your ball.” The girl grinned.

“Can I see him?” Brae asked. Enlil had to admit, he didn’t much care for the idea of not knowing where her partner was any more than she did. He owed Hans a debt of gratitude.

The girl’s face fell. “No. I’m sorry. He is in a healing chamber deep in the earth. The pressure would be fatal to you. I can give him a message.” The girl’s face transformed to helpful. Tellus shifted moods almost as quickly as the Aquaties did.

Brae pursed her lips as if she didn’t like being told no; Enlil would keep that in mind. “You tell him that if he’s late, I’m going to streak his naked ass through every street in Scotland.” The Tellus’s dark skin paled. “Got it?” The female swallowed and nodded. “Repeat it to him word for word.” Again the female nodded, paling more. Enlil wished he could be a bug on the wall when that message went down. He heard one of her brothers chuckle, and the Tellus looked around in confusion at the sound. She looked back at Brae, lifted her hands, and dropped through the soil. It resettled to give no indication of the Tellus messenger’s path.

Enlil entered the house and glanced up the stairs that led to the master suit, wishing he were taking Brae up there now, yet grateful he wasn’t too. Could he make love to another? His body acted like it could. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t choke when and if the time came. I wouldn’t be fair to Brae to have Etana pop into his mind while he was with her. Besides … Brae might have her own hesitations when it came to Etana. Brae’s comfort in his presence came from her gifted memories of him. He was no longer the male Etana remembered. Her death had changed him permanently. Could she love him for whom he was today? Did she even want to? Enlil knew on some level Brae had already wormed her way into his shattered heart. Her very existence breathed new life into him.

Chapter Twenty

Gil sat waiting for Innanna in the High chambers for what seemed like forever. When she’d made her choice known, the room had fallen back into chaos. Innanna had impressed the hell out of him. Truthfully, he hadn’t really understood why everyone had been gung ho to have her lead. Not that he doubted her. He’d seen her visions first hand. The things she could do, the decisions she made because of her calling, were amazing. That didn’t read as leadership qualities to him. He’d led thousands of warriors, mentored dozens, and headed one of the first (and in his humble opinion best) integration campuses in the world. He understood leadership. You had to be tough, hard, and even cruel at times to make shit happen. He’d never seen Innanna display any of those qualities. She’d always been kind. She treated people with a gentle hand, empathic to the point of self-tormented by the things she knew.

That opinion had changed with a rush of pride. When the room had gone to hell in a hand basket, she’d just sighed, placing a kiss to his cheek and whispered, “Wait here.” Extended her wings, she flew over the crowd to stand on the dais behind the empty High-speaker chair. For a minute he thought she was changing her decision and was going to take the speaker’s chair after all. Instead she mimicked what he’d seen her aunt do earlier.

Fingers to her luscious lips, she let out a loud stadium whistle. The room quieted and all heads turned to her. The disapproval on her face when she looked over the group made a few fidget in shame. Her parents standing beside him beamed. When she spoke, it was bad-ass.

“If you’re going to act like fifty year olds, I’m going to treat you like fifty year olds,” she began, her eyes uncompromising. She placed her hands on the back of the speaker chair. “You can continue to
beat
your heads together if you want,
outside.
Or you can accept the fact that this chair needs a new speaker, period. Your assignment, class, is to
put
your heads together and come up with a few candidates for consideration. Bear in mind, the individuals you select must be amenable to the position and acceptable to the Fates.” There were murmurs of agreement and people apologizing to each other.

Durian spoke out. “What do you suggest we do for leadership in the meantime?” That was a valid question, and Gil couldn’t wait to hear what Innanna would say. She was captivating, and not just because she made him pound-nails hard.

Her eyes met her father’s with a smirk, and Adonai cursed under his breath. Innanna had a calculated glint in her eye. “Let’s put that to a vote. All those in favor of refusing Adonai’s resignation until his replacement is determined, say aye.” Gil added to the chorus that rang out in agreement, even though his vote held no power. Innanna just continued to stare at her father along with the rest of the room.

Adonai quirked his lip and shook his head. “Aye,” he finally said, bestowing upon Innanna a proud, annoyed parent look. “Any opposed?” His acceptance had transferred the responsibility of the vote to him. Innanna had effectively recused herself from leading a meeting that by all rights belonged to the High Ones panel. No nays echoed out, which Adonai met with silence. He turned to Leanna, who was smiling broadly at her mate. “Shanghaied again, my love. I always said you females would be the death of me.” The room laughed. Adonai had a sense of humor … who knew?.

Adonai stepped to the dais, and Innanna held his chair for him. She placed a kiss to her father’s cheek and they whispered together a few minutes. Gil couldn’t wait to hear the body of
that
conversation. Innanna stepped down, smiling at Gil. His dentes erupted, his erection throbbed, and he remembered where her apartment was. They would have far more privacy there than his party-land central. His mind had started making plans on how many ways he was going to bring her pleasure. How many positions he wanted her in. He wanted to love her to exhaustion and hold her while she slept and then start over again.

Two Oracles stopped her midway to him, speaking quietly to her. He nearly growled. Her beautiful smile slowly fell as her brows furrowed and her lips pursed. She gave a nod and continued toward him with heavy steps. His heart fell. Innanna addressed her mother first. “Mother, you’re needed in chambers.”

Gil’s hopes rose. Maybe her mother would handle whatever the Oracles wanted, and then he could handle Innanna. Sweet. “Yer mother gonna lead one last meetin’ so’s I canna ravish ya?” Innanna chuckled and shook her head. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Mom’s still an Oracle, whether she presides or not, so she has to be there. I have to go in. I’m not sure how long it’ll be.” Her hand was on his chest, and heat bloomed through him from her touch.

He’d promised to support her. It was time to put his money where his mouth was. “All right, I’ll juss wait fer ya. Sure as shit donna wanna be at my place dealing with the party prep posse anyways.”