The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) (28 page)

Not yet. She couldn’t leave yet. She needed to show them all
what she’d become. Rhiannon. Rick. People who considered her a lesser
mortal.

And the Amazons. Oh, how Rebecca wanted to show her sisters!
They would understand. Surely they’d recognize the good she could do now that
she was a goddess. They wouldn’t want her to give up this type of power, not as
she’d already given up one of the things she’d always wanted in the world. To
have a child.

But the seductive call of the Ancients echoed through her mind.
“Come to us. Be with us. You are beyond this world
now.”

“No! I want to stay here. I want Artair. I
want my sisters.”

Thoughts of the Amazons pushed against her conscience. They
sacrificed all that made them women to be the saviors of the world, to be the
saviors of human beings who never appreciated them, who never even knew about
them. But now she had all the powers that rose from the Earth. Death. And
life.

“Come to us,
the voices hissed.
Come commune with those like you. Come to
us.”

“No!” Rebecca shook her head, trying to move aside the voices
from her mind. She had something important to do. She would restore the most
vital thing the selfish goddesses had taken away from the Amazons.

With a blink of her eyes, she popped into Gina’s suite. She
smiled when she saw her sisters.

Three sets of curious eyes turned her way.

“Rebs!” Megan called from where she rested on the big bed. “Did
Rhiannon pop you back here?” She sat up and smiled. Then her lips sank to a
frown. “Something’s wrong. What happened? Did you find Helen? Where’s
Sparks?”

“Sparks is gone. Helen got away. She’s wounded, but she got
away. Don’t worry. I can find her now. I’ll take care of her. I promise.”

She brushed aside the gloom over Sparks’s death. Grief made her
feel too mortal. Rebecca chose instead to collect more of the heady powers and
savor them like a good piece of expensive chocolate. “Things are going to be so
much better now.”

Megan stood on shaky legs. “Something’s wrong.”

Gina and Sarita rose from their chairs and followed Megan to
stand before Rebecca.

“Homage
.
My
sisters are paying me homage.”

“As they should,”
the whispers
added
. “All should respect you. All should fear
you.”

Damn, but it felt good to be the strongest member of the group
for once. Her abilities finally outweighed all of theirs. They owed her their
reverence—she would repay them with her benevolence. “I come with a gift for
you—for each of you.” Her laugh rang through the room like the toll of church
bells. “Oh, how pleased you’ll be.”

“Rebs?” Megan put a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong with
you?”

“Wrong?” Rebecca shrugged her away. “How could anything be
wrong?
” So full of life and energy, she
literally floated a few inches off the floor.

“You’re scaring me.” Megan glanced over her shoulder at Sarita
and Gina. “You’ve gone kinda
Exorcist
on us.”

“I feel so wonderful.” Why couldn’t Megan understand the
change? Why couldn’t she accept that Rebecca had ascended?

“Jealousy,”
the Ancients called.
“The Amazon is jealous.”

Just as Rebecca had been jealous of Megan, envious of her
strength, her beauty and her abilities.

“How are you doing that?” Megan stared at the floor beneath
Rebecca’s hovering feet and shook her head. “This isn’t right, Rebs.” She gave
Sarita and Gina a concerned frown.

Rebecca didn’t like her tone. “You’re being insolent.”

Megan’s head whipped back around to face her. “Insolent? You
think I’m
insolent?
You’re definitely not yourself.
Hell, you sound just like Rhiannon.”

“How dare you? How
dare
you compare
me to that second-rate excuse for an Ancient!”

A burst of wind knocked Megan back a few feet.

Rebecca reined in her temper, snuffing the wind with a quick
blink of her eyes. “I’ll be so much more than she ever was.”

The three Amazons watched her with accusing eyes.

She had to swallow to keep from displaying her temper,
reminding herself these were her sisters, that she was here to give them a gift.
Her calm helped harness her powers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I came here to
help you.”

Megan narrowed her eyes. “If that’s an example of your help,
then I have to say, ‘No, thanks.’ Where in the hell did you get those
powers?”

It was hard not to retaliate against Megan’s impertinence, but
Rebecca wasn’t like the other goddesses. She wasn’t like so many of the
Ancients. She was compassionate. She wouldn’t take her displeasure out on
creatures less fortunate. “I’ve come to restore what was stolen from you. Sparks
never told you, but being an Amazon means you can’t be a mother. But now that
I’ve become what I am, I give you back the power to bear life.”

Taking a deep breath, she reached out with her mind, extended
her hands palm-out and touched each of their wombs with her new powers. Orange
light flashed from her palms, seeking out her sisters. No longer would these
women be denied the one thing Rebecca had always wanted from life. No longer
would an Amazon be damned to never know the joy of holding a child of her own in
her arms. No longer would these brave warriors have to sacrifice such an
essential part of being a woman.

All three Amazons gasped as the healing energy sizzled through
them.

Rebecca smiled. “See? See what I’ve given back to you?” Tears
blurred her vision but she blinked them away. They made her feel too human.
“When you find your soul mate, you can bear his child. I’ve given you what I
can’t have, what I can never have.”

Did goddesses cry? They had to. How could anyone contain this
type of energy, this swell of emotion? She wanted to cry, wanted to scream,
wanted the world to know all that she felt. Thunder rumbled close enough to
rattle the windows of the suite.

A gentle hand touched her arm. “Are you all right,
Rebecca?”

Her gaze caught Sarita’s as the small woman stood bravely at
her side. “I’m…fine.”

But that was a lie. She was overflowing with the cries of
humanity and the whispers of the Ancients. She couldn’t control them, and she
couldn’t tune them out. A streak of lightning flashed just outside the motel.
“I’m…fine.”

Suddenly, Gina and Megan were also at her side.

“What happened, Rebs?” Megan asked, her voice softer than
usual.

How could she answer them? How could she explain all that had
happened? How could she make them understand her new life?

“They are nothing more than human. They do
not matter. They cannot matter. You are a goddess.”

The revelation hit her in a rush of guilt and grief. She had
become what she despised. “I’m no better than Helen.”

No! I’m not like her! I’m not!

Yet there she stood, lording her powers over the Amazons and
plotting and planning what she could do, would do, to exercise her
dominance.

“I don’t want this!” She brushed aside her sisters and strode
to the door. “Not this!”

Artair will help me.

Rebecca needed his strength and his wisdom. “I need—I need to
go.” With a blink, she flashed out of the Stay Inn.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Artair carried Sparks’s body out of the cave. Day had
come, and the sun shone bright. The warmth didn’t reach him.

Johann was waiting with the van as he’d promised. The Amazons
were gone, and so he’d probably taken them to wait with Megan at the Stay Inn.
His normal cockiness seemed subdued.

“Helen killed her?” he asked in a reverent whisper.

“Aye. Rebecca hunts Helen now.”

What else could Artair tell Johann about what had happened?
That Rebecca was now a goddess, perhaps a rogue goddess they might have to one
day face in battle? He took a deep breath and tried not to think that way. His
Becca would never become what Helen had become. He laid Sparks in the van and
covered her body with a blanket.

“What do you want me to do?” Johann pulled the back door shut,
effectively sealing Sparks in her temporary tomb.

“Watch after the lasses. I must find the child.”
Then I must find Becca.

“Child? What child?”

“A long story. Helen kidnapped the next Earth and murdered
Rhiannon’s priestess who fostered her. I shall find the bairn and care for her
until Becca returns.” Artair pointed to the van. “Go. Watch over the Amazons.
Rhiannon will send the changelings to take care of Sparks.”

Johann nodded, slipped into the driver’s seat and drove
away.

Artair found himself alone with his thoughts.

How quickly could the goddesses restore Avalon so Sparks could
have the hero’s burial she deserved? Losing Sparks led him to do something he’d
never done for one of his warriors. He wept until he had no more tears to
shed.

Would he even be valuable as a Sentinel any longer? Would the
changes, this softening in him, make him less able to train Amazons? Would he be
able to make them tough if he’d lost his own edge?

No.
What Rebecca had given him
wasn’t causing him to become weak—her love made him strong. He’d promised to
stay at her side, and it was a vow he would keep. With his knowledge of
hand-to-hand and ancient weapons and Johann’s knowledge of technology and modern
weapons, the two would complement each other. Perhaps the two Sentinels would
make the Amazons even stronger.

Artair’s mind was full of Rebecca, full of concern that twisted
his gut. She had become to him all he had ever desired. A friend. A lover. A
wife.

But would she return to the kind, caring woman he’d fallen in
love with, or would she only be a shell of what she’d once been? Or worse, would
she change into another selfish goddess like Rhiannon?

His heart clenched.

Come back to me, Becca. Please come back
to me.

* * *

Standing in the abandoned cabin, Artair held the baby
girl in his arms. He felt awkward and feared he would be too rough with her.
He’d never handled an infant before. As much as he desired a child of his own,
he’d never learned what being a father entailed.

Was she fragile? Bairns were supposed to be fragile. Weak
necks. Soft heads. Delicate bones. Would he hurt her by cradling her against his
chest?

His hands were too big, too clumsy. Surely the child wouldn’t
want the attentions of a battle-hardened warrior. She needed a mother to comfort
her, not a man who had absolutely no idea what to do. But the beautiful little
blonde smiled at him, and she made him smile in return. She felt good in his
arms. She felt right.

He kissed her forehead and breathed in the girl’s sweet smell.
It was so different than anything he’d ever known. A mixture of milk and talcum.
So soothing. His heart swelled with the need to protect her, wanting to keep her
safe and warm. He couldn’t help but appoint himself her champion. She didn’t cry
when he hugged her a little tighter. The only sound coming from her was a
contented babble.

His mind reeled from the startling twists and turns his world
had taken. It was almost too much to process, so he had simply gone about the
tasks needing to be done to help keep his hands occupied and his mind focused.
Now that he had nothing to do but care for the baby and wait, his thoughts
haunted him like ghosts prowling ancient tombs.

Rebecca was gone, and he had no idea for how long. The sun had
already set. Where was she? With her sisters? By all the Ancients, he hoped so.
Perhaps they could help her find herself again.

A daughter of Gaia. Artair could hardly acknowledge the
implications. Gaia was mother to gods dating to the dawn of time. She was mother
to the Titans. If he could trust Helen, which he wasn’t sure was wise, Rebecca
and the child he cradled in his arms had the potential to become powerful
beings, perhaps the most powerful the world had ever known.

“I love her. I can’t lose her,” he whispered to the bairn.

Her reply was another smile that he couldn’t even enjoy.

What would happen to his Rebecca? Power corrupted. Power
ruined. Power consumed. Her human heart would be crushed beneath the weight.

The bairn cooed, and the sound calmed him. He set a pinkie into
the palm of her tiny outstretched hand. He chuckled when her fingers closed
around it, squeezing it tight.

“You’ve the grip of a warrior, lassie. What’s your name? What
should I call you?”

Then she cooed, so warm and so bonny she stole his heart
forever. A perfect name popped into his head. “Bonnie. Your name shall be
Bonnie.”

The flash of light took him by surprise. He held the infant
hard against him, sheltering her from any danger.

Rebecca materialized in the middle of the cabin, but she wasn’t
herself. Winds whipped around her, blowing blond hair in a frenzy and giving her
a ghostly look.

Then the winds suddenly stilled. She stared at the infant.

“You found her,” she said in a breathless gasp, nodding at
Bonnie. She slowly crossed to Artair’s side. “Thank you for protecting her. I
need to make sure she’s safe.”

“Are you well, Becca mine?” Artair’s gaze scanned her from head
to foot. She appeared to be healthy, but her face was flushed and he could see
the fast pulse in her neck. Her clothing showed the strain of flying with the
wind. Bare feet peeked out from her tattered workout pants. Torn and hanging
loose over her shoulders, the shirt still bore his brooch where she’d pinned it
over her heart.

He reached out to cup his wife’s face.

She shook her head, forcing his hand away. “I need your help. I
can’t be a goddess. I don’t want to be a goddess.” She covered her ears and
groaned. “Make them stop. Please make them stop.” Her brown eyes squeezed shut.
“Make them leave me alone. Go away! Stop talking to me!”

Artair set Bonnie in her crib. Her trusting blue eyes stared up
at him. “I’ll be back, lassie.”

He enfolded Rebecca in his embrace. She kept trembling palms
pushed tightly against her ears and pressed her face hard into his blood-stained
shirt. Things had gone too far, she was almost lost to the realm of the
Ancients.

Only one being could help her now, and it wasn’t him.
“Rhiannon!” he called. “Please, m’lady! We need you!”

The goddess appeared behind Rebecca. She frowned for a moment
and then reached out a hand. “Give her to me, Arthur.”

He wouldn’t let Rebecca go that easily. “You’ll help her rid
herself of the pull of the Ancients? You’ll restore her to what she was?”
Rhiannon would be angry at his asking such impertinent questions, but Rebecca
was unable to protect herself. “You’ll really help her?”

Rhiannon shot him a scowl. “Of course. Give her to me, Arthur.
I shall restore her humanity and re-create her as my Amazon.”

Reluctantly, he turned a distressed Rebecca in his arms and
gave her a small, gentle push. “Go to her, Becca mine. Let the goddess heal
you.”

Hands still pressed to her ears, she took a few reluctant
steps. “Please make them stop,” she begged in a voice ragged and raspy, eyes
large with fear. “I don’t want this. I never wanted this. Make them stop. Make
the voices stop.”

Rhiannon put a palm against Rebecca’s chest, over her heart,
and began to chant words Artair didn’t comprehend. The goddess’s hand glowed a
vivid red.

A violent wind whipped inside the cabin, knocking pictures from
the walls and causing Bonnie to wail.

Artair picked the bairn up, held her firm against his chest and
retreated to what he hoped was a safe distance. “Shh, dearling. ’Twill be
fine.”

But he wasn’t so sure.

Lightning stuck so close it fairly crackled the air around
them, followed quickly by a clap of thunder that shook the walls. Rebecca’s eyes
were closed, her face distorted in pain. She gripped Rhiannon’s free hand as if
it was the last life preserver on a sinking ship.

He wanted to stop this. Rhiannon must have lied. She was
selfish enough to use this opportunity to hurt Rebecca. Artair swallowed the
lump in his throat. He needed Rebecca. He needed his wife at his side. If the
goddess hurt her, he would never forgive himself.

Still glowing brightly, Rhiannon’s palm left Rebecca’s chest
and dropped to her belly. The red flared to orange as the goddess’s chanting
grew louder.

Suddenly, a scream ripped from Rebecca’s throat and she
crumpled to her knees.

Rhiannon’s hand pressed firmly against Rebecca’s chest again,
the cadence of the sing-song mantra growing faster as the winds increased.
Furniture slid across the shaking wooden floor. The walls groaned as they bowed
and trembled. Then the windows shattered from the force of the gale.

The bairn’s cries were barely heard above the din. Artair had
no idea what to do. Two females needed him. His wife and the child. Whom did he
choose to help?

Before the decision had to be made, everything stilled and
Rebecca collapsed.

Artair hurried to her side and dropped to his knees beside her.
Balancing Bonnie on his shoulder with one hand, he reached out to brush
Rebecca’s tousled hair away from her face. Was she breathing? Surely Rhiannon
hadn’t killed her.

“Becca? Answer me, love.” Her only response was a groan. At
least she was still alive. He sighed in relief.

Rhiannon came to stand beside them. “She will be fine. I cannot
imagine how hard it must have been to have powers such as she held wrenched from
her.”

“But she will be herself again?”

Rhiannon’s hair was in tangles, her demeanor subdued. It was
the first time he’d seen any vulnerability in her. She answered his question
with a curt nod. Closing her eyes, she waved her hand in a small circle. The
goddess’s appearance returned to the cold, serene state he’d always known. Her
clothing was immaculate, her hair perfection and her selfishness firmly back in
place.

“Aye, she’ll be fine,” the goddess said. “Now give me the
child.”

Artair narrowed his eyes. Bonnie had calmed in his arms, and he
was reluctant to let her go. “Why? She’s nae your daughter.”

“Ah, but she
is.
She is Earth. I
will give her to one of my priestesses. Helen slayed the child’s mother. It is
my responsibility to find her a new one.”

“Nay. Let her stay with me.” Then the perfect solution struck
him, making his heart skip a beat. Why hadn’t he seen it sooner? Bonnie and
Rebecca needed each other, and he needed them both. Rebecca had been desperate
to ensure the baby’s safety. Even as she battled Helen, risking her own life,
she still worried about Bonnie. “Let her stay with Becca. The lass wants a child
of her own.”

Rhiannon shook her stubborn head. “Amazons cannot be
mothers.”

Assured Rebecca was only exhausted not hurt, he rose to
challenge the goddess. “I know your rule, but I don’t agree with it. It hasn’t
been a problem with these women before. They haven’t complained. But it
is
a problem now.” He looked to Rebecca. “’Tis a
heartache for her. Let her mother this child.” He patted Bonnie’s back. “Who
best to teach her? Who best to foster the bairn’s powers as she grows? Becca and
I will parent her. We’ll teach her and turn her into a powerful Amazon.” He
played to the goddess’s vanity. “She’ll do you proud, m’lady. She’ll outshine
the others of her generation. Perhaps those of any generation.”

“So you say.” The goddess glanced down at Rebecca. “And you
think she will make a good mother? This
wife
of
yours.”

He should have known Rhiannon would find out his secret. “Seems
you know about the handfast. Aye?”

“Silly man. I am the Lady of the Lake. I am the Goddess of the
Isle. I am the keeper of Excalibur. I am Rhiannon. I know all.” She narrowed her
eyes. “I should part you. I should send her away. I should give that child to a
loyal priestess, not to two of those who serve me yet dishonor me, those who
marry without my permission.”

“Don’t blame Becca. She knows nothing of the handfast.”

“Ah, but she said the words. She pledged herself to you with
her own mouth, with her own words. Did she not?”

Artair drew his lips into a grim line. “Aye.” He didn’t wish to
resort to begging, but if that was what Rhiannon required to give Rebecca this
child, this beautiful daughter who should belong to them, he would pay the
price.

Rhiannon’s angry features returned to her more customary serene
mask. “Perhaps you have need of letting her know you have taken her to wife. The
news might cheer her and help her through her difficult transition. You may keep
the child for now, but I expect great things of her, Arthur.”

His heart leaped. “I shall remain a Sentinel?”

Rhiannon arched a delicate eyebrow. “And what do we tell
Johann? That we no longer require his assistance?”

“Nay. The lad brings much to your service. Can there nae be two
of us? Can he be my brother as the lasses are sisters?”

“A brother?” She tilted her head, considering him closely.
“Aye. A brother to replace the one whose life you saved but were forced to leave
behind. A sad story, that.” A smile slowly crossed Rhiannon’s lips. “Two
Sentinels. ’Twill be amusing. Two alphas battling for leadership. And Johann is
such a handsome rogue.”