Sword of Mercy (7 page)

“That was a rhetorical question, Asia. I
know they aren’t fully human, but I don’t recall the twins moving
this fast. They were smart and developed faster than others… maybe
they did and I didn’t pay attention.
” Jasmine sighed and it
tugged at Asia’s heart. Her mistress had to adapt to so many new
things in their culture it had to be overwhelming at
times.

“The twins didn’t have La Patron as their
sire. That is a major difference. He’s older and the ruler of our
pack. It comes as no surprise his pups accelerate in
knowledge,”
Asia said in a pacifying tone.

“Humph, that’s no excuse for bad behavior.
I’m not having it, next time they’ll think twice before having a
hissy fit against me.”
It was the chuckle at the end of the
statement that made Asia ask.

“What did you do?”

Jasmine snorted. “
I’m making them clean the
entire room by themselves and threatened to spank them again if
they ever yell at me like I’m their playmate. None of my children
will ever talk to me that way. I’m not having it. Not from the
first two or from these four rascals.”

Asia covered her mouth at the rant. “
You
spanked them
?” She couldn’t imagine the sophisticated woman she
knew raising her hand to anyone. Jasmine could wiggle her fingers
and lift you from the floor, or rob your voice with a command.
Those things she understood, but spanking? Asia couldn’t see
it.

“I swatted each one of those butts
for spouting off to me. It’s one thing to be angry. Silas told them
they could go and then changed his mind. So I understand the
disappointment. But they made it personal and talked trash to me,
like I’m a servant or something. Oh no, that makes it a different
party. They will never make that mistake again.”

“Wow.”
Asia had nothing else to say.
Behind the anger and sorrow rolling through their link whatever the
pups said, it hurt Jasmine to discipline them. Better to bend the
branch now while it was flexible, than later.

“Yeah, now they have these long
faces, but they’re cleaning up that mess and I’m standing here
watching. Rone came in and fussed at them for disrespecting me. I
don’t think they expected that.”

“They apologized?”

“Oh yeah. Before Rone came in, I told them
why I popped them on their butt and they apologized and hugged my
neck. David then told them to get to work cleaning up their
mess.”
Jasmine chuckled. “
He is a bossy one. So much like
Silas, it’s scary.”

“He has a lot of you as well,
Mistress.”

“True, sometimes I wonder what will happen
with these four. Silas wants more kids, but these four keep me on
my toes, I’m not ready to have more. Maybe later, much later.”
She paused
. Oops, sorry I got sidetracked. The Goddess summoned
me, which was really cool by the way, and she told me I am her
representative for the mission you and Hawke are
on.”

“She mentioned me
?” Asia’s heart raced
in fear and excitement, she couldn’t believe the Goddess paid her
the least attention.

“Yes, and Hawke
,” Jasmine said in a
soft voice.
“I told you, Asia. You are special. There is
something going on and you and your Mate are the keys for the
success of turning the war.”

“Keys? War?”
Separately, she understood
a key and she had told La Patron they were in a war. But those two
words in a sentence together didn’t make much sense to
her.

“When she talks, it’s in riddles, let me
see if I can remember what she said exactly.”
Asia listened as
Jasmine repeated her conversation with the Goddess.

Closing her eyes, Asia went over in her mind
what Jasmine said. “
He’s loyal already, what more does he need
to do?”

“Who is his Alpha?”

Asia bit her lip before answering. “
He
doesn’t have one. We want to belong to the same pack, so we’re
waiting to come home and then he’ll pledge to La Patron.”
Since
they hadn’t actually discussed this she assumed this was her mate’s
mindset.

“Let me talk with Silas. That
needs to be done right away, maybe Angus can help but for her to
say it was important to happen immediately it must be.”

“Yes, Ma’am. As soon as La Patron
knows what he wants to do let us know. Now, as far as merging, I
thought we did that when we mated. Is there more? Something we
haven’t done?”

“I don’t know and I don’t know how to
contact her for answers
.”

Asia wasn’t surprised. The Goddess was big on
allowing her followers find their own path with a gentle push.
“
Okay, we’ll deal with that later. But this one… becoming a
Sword in truth, please tell me you know what she meant by
that?
” Based on everything Jasmine said, Sword in truth seemed
to crystallize the message.

“I assume that once the two of you
completely merge, you both will be La Patron’s sword. It makes more
sense when you back into it
,” Jasmine said.

“So Hawke needs to pledge his service to La
Patron, which should help us merge closer and La Patron will deem
us both as his Sword? Is that it?”
Asia tried to make sense of
what she’d been told.

“Sounds about right. I asked Silas
about the pledging thing and he’ll use Angus to do it. Is he
around?”

“No. We’re in Romania at an old
castle.”
Thoughts continued to roll through her mind over what
the Goddess expected of her. How could she and Hawke be responsible
for victory in the war? The Liege had decades of a head-start and
were committed to a cause grossly twisted over the
years.

“Asia? Asia?”

“Yes, Ma’am?”
She hadn’t been paying
attention.

“What are you doing in
Romania?”

“Another Alpha had information regarding
the Liege and needed Hawke to translate some books.”
She paused
and then gasped. “
I saw the birthmark or one very close to
David’s.”

“What? When? One second, let me
get Silas and you can tell us both the same time.”

Asia looked over at Hawke, who met her glance
with a frown.

“What’s going on
?”

She told him about the conversation with the
Goddess and watched his brow rise. “
Really? Swords? That’s
interesting. I’d like to listen.
”

Asia merged the links so they could all be in
the discussion.

“Silas is here with me. Now what’s
this about the birthmark? We’ve had Maheegan, the pack historian,
searching everywhere to find information about it and she hasn’t
had any luck.”

“Mistress, Hawke, my mate is on
the link as well. He has been translating old texts from the Lords
Roundtable.”

“Roundtable?”
Jasmine asked.

“That was the name of the original Liege
Lords
,” Asia said and went on to explain what Radoff told
them.

“This Hungarian fellow set up the Liege to
help the full-bloods
?” Jasmine asked in a doubtful
tone.

“Yes
,” Hawke said. “
He was emphatic,
almost evangelistic over the cause. He set aside his entire
considerable fortune to ensure shifters never died out. It’s
impressive actually, he had little use for humans other than to use
them to help carry out his agenda.”

“Was he a shifter?”
Jasmine
asked.

Asia sensed Hawke’s surprise. She hadn’t
thought of that. But it was possible.

“I don’t know, but something happened
between him and Alpha Nikolas. Perhaps there is some truth to the
rumors of shifters making other shifters through the bite,”
Hawke said and then explained the Liege’s initial interest in the
bite.

“That is one theory,”
La Patron said
without saying more. Asia wanted to push, but years of conditioning
stopped her. As her Alpha he would decide how much to tell
her.

“What would be another theory
?’ Hawke
asked.

“That he was under Alpha Nikolas’
control, fed off his life force and was linked to him in some
way.”

“Like a minion?
” Jasmine
asked.

“That might be a word for it
,” La
Patron said.

“Is that possible
?” Hawke
asked.

“Under a certain set of
circumstances, it could be. I was born in the 1700’s, this happened
in the 1800’s. To my knowledge Angus, my litter mate, has abilities
no other person has. Some would say the things he does with items
from nature is magic. During that time the Goddess gave gifts to
men to perform certain tasks, that’s why I say it is possible
Nikolas turned the Hungarian into a shifter through the bite or
turned him into a minion, extending his life force through the
bite. It would also explain why the Hungarian died not long after
the Alpha. The Alpha sustained his prolonged life
force.”

“Okay, if Konstantin was part wolf why are
his initials in this mark?”
Asia asked to get the conversation
back on track. Radoff had given them both a disappointed sigh when
Hawke told him they were on what amounted to a conference call with
La Patron. “
Why not Alpha Nikolas initials?”

“Or Black Clan?
” Jasmine
asked.

“You say there is a semblance of a snout
and paw?”
Silas asked.

“They seem to have been drawn by a
few different people over the years, there are some variations.
Sometimes the initials are clear, other times they aren’t.
Different body parts as well. Sometimes a paw, others a snout,
ears, one had teeth.”

“I don’t know the answers to those
questions, but I will have someone do some additional research. Any
chance of sending a book here for review?”

“I can ask Alpha Radoff but he’s holding
them close, won’t even allow us to leave out the room with
one
,” Asia said.

“Will he allow my pack historian to come
there to complete her research? She knows the birthmark and could
shed some light on the issue,”
Silas said.

“This may not be the best time
,” Asia
said, looking at Hawke, who was speaking to Alpha
Radoff.

“Perhaps, but all of this is connected and
I want answers
,” Silas said in a hard voice.

“No, he won’t allow the books to leave and
yes, she may come to see them here. He’s pleased you think they may
be of some value. Most of the journals are meeting notes and deal
with member infractions,”
Hawke said stifling a yawn. “
We
will leave shortly to find a hotel and return in the
morning.”

“I will contact her and get her flight
plans to you and Angus. If anyone can make sense of those notes,
Maheegan can. It’s her gift.”
La Patron sounded confident which
eased Asia’s concerns of having one more person to watch
over.

“When should we expect her
?” Asia
asked, thinking Chacal would have another visitor.

“She is en-route to my compound. I
will change her plans so that she will arrive within a day or two.
It depends on what she needs to leave the country.”

“The Goddess wants Hawke’s loyalty to you
locked down
,” Jasmine said breaking the silence.

“So I heard
,” La Patron said and Asia
assumed he didn’t appreciate his mate bringing it up at the
moment.

“How do you suggest we do that
?” Hawke
asked, surprising her. She thought they’d have more time to discuss
it, but it didn’t seem that way.

“Normally, there’d be a blood
exchange, but that’s not going to happen right now. Are you and
Angus linked?”

“No.”

“Why not
?” Silas asked.

“He’s not linked to my mate and I
met him through her.”

“I see. I’m not linked to your
mate either, my mate is linked to her.”

“I’m aware of that. But the Goddess has
vouched for you when she made a decree that my loyalty to you be
secured. I trust her and my mate. Both agree that you are a worthy
Alpha
,” Hawke said without pretense.

“Good to know
.”

One moment Hawke sat in the chair the next he
fell sideways and just barely stopped himself from hitting the
cobblestone floor. His chest rose and fell as he breathed in deep
gulps of air. He pulled the fabric over his head so the air would
ease the fire rolling through his veins.

Asia touched his face. “Are you
alright?”

“What happened?” Radoff asked.

A burning sensation raced through his body and
slammed into his chest. A sharp pain scraped his right side,
burning from the inside as if someone took a pencil and drew lines.
Gritting his teeth, he tensed as the sensation continued to run
through his body on a loop, and then slumped forward when it
stopped.

“What happened to Hawke
?” Asia asked
Jasmine. Hawke wanted to ask the same question, but couldn’t
talk.

“Silas marked him. Took a lot of energy
from both of us, I’m going to go rest and will contact you when
Maheegan’s on her way
.” She sounded winded as if she needed to
catch her breath.