One thought rose above all else, that Batya couldn’t die. He couldn’t let her perish in this super-charged net. She had to live.
Loving her had become the biggest surprise of his life, but now that he’d acknowledged this tremendous truth, he couldn’t just lie here waiting for the sun to claim him and he definitely couldn’t let either of those bastards use her body.
But the more familiar ways of battling wouldn’t work. He needed new thoughts in this situation, a new approach.
“Quinlan, what is it?”
“I’m trying to think outside the box, get outside my head. There has to be something we can do.”
“I don’t want you to die, Quin. You need to live, for the sake of the Nine Realms.”
A profound sensation of love swept through him once more and he knew what he wanted to do, what needed to be done.
“Bond with me, Batya, right now. There’s a reason, as strange and bizarre as this whole journey has been, why we’ve come together. Bond with me. Now.”
She smiled. “I want to more than anything, but how do we do this? I thought it required time.”
“The last time I spoke with Vojalie, she did say time would create the bond, but a decision between us could do it as well. And even Gerrod and Abigail bonded by sharing blood. Our land is in a constant state of flux, including the magical elements. And right now, I’m thinking well outside my usual grid of action and I believe we can do it.” He put a hand to his chest. “That’s what I feel here, right now.”
Her eyes searched his. “You think we have a chance, don’t you?”
He smiled. “If we work together, just as Rosamunde said.”
She nodded. “I’m in.”
He opened up to her, letting every one of his frequencies reach for her, his mating frequency, his battling vibrations, and that place where he kept what he treasured most, the soft waves of his devotion to Grochaire and now his love for Batya. All flowed.
She arched, taking it in. In response, he found a waiting nest inside her of all that she was in her faeness and power.
Her vibrations returned to him, throbbing waves of desire, and of her love for the ex-pat community in Lebanon, of her artistry, and even her newly discovered battling frequency. All swirled inside him.
Look at me.
She opened her eyes. You’re so beautiful inside me, Quin.
He nodded. And you’re like a banquet I could feast on for centuries.
I join myself to you, Quinlan, now and forever. He felt her decision as though she’d just opened a door and walked through.
He followed after her. And I bind myself to you, Batya of Lebanon, the woman I love with all my heart, who I give myself to without reservation. All that I am, now belongs to you.
Staring into her eyes, he felt a great miracle happen.
“Do you feel that? Our vibrations are swirling around each other, over and over.”
“Growing closer and tighter.”
She nodded. “ I can feel the bond forming.”
“Like ropes braiding together to become even stronger.”
“Yes, exactly like that.”
The moment the bond solidified, a flash of light exploded outward, a surge of power that felt like a bomb going off.
Batya reached out her hand. “Would you look at what we’ve done? We blew the net apart.”
Quinlan glanced in the direction of the roaring fire. “But they can’t see it because of the enthrallment shield.”
“Exactly.”
“Why do you think they haven’t noticed we’ve disappeared?”
“Arrogance. They have no fear we can escape, so they’re not paying attention.” He shifted his gaze back to her. “How about we join forces and take these ass**les down.”
“Hell, yeah.”
Quinlan loved the look in his woman’s eye. No fear, just a determination to do what needed to be done.
Chapter Eleven
As Batya rose to her feet, she couldn’t believe she and Quinlan had accomplished the impossible, that they’d broken free of Margetta’s super-charged net.
They could also just fly out of the meadow, over the forest, and down the mountainside to civilization. But that would leave two super-powered wraith-pairs free to exact whatever vengeance they wanted on the first realm-folk they encountered.
Quinlan rose as well.
Batya couldn’t believe how different she felt in her own skin, as though everything had changed. The bond between them felt like a steel cable.
He drew close and pulled her into his arms. She’d never been happier or felt more fulfilled, as though life boiled down to this moment, to a deep connection, and everything else took second place.
“You can fly,” he said.
Batya pulled back. “What do you mean?”
“You can fly now. I sense it in you, in the same way that I’m moving along your battle frequency and I can feel the level of your power and what you can bring to an engagement. Batya, you can fly.”
She saw the hard warrior’s light in his eye, something she’d always seen in him. She glanced down at her feet, as though expecting them to rise on their own.
He took her arm in a gentle clasp. Glancing back up at him, she saw that he smiled. “Go ahead. Give it a try. I’ll steady you.”
But in that moment, she felt it as well, an innate ability that had always been there. She thought the thought and slowly began to rise, very controlled, levitating as though she’d been flying since childhood. I must have gained something of your knowledge in the bonding because this feels very natural to me.
You look like a natural.
He rose beside her and they were both now five feet off the ground and her enthrallment shield held. She twirled in a circle midair and felt completely competent. Unbelievable.
She turned to face him. So how do you want this to play?
He glanced over at the campsite where all four captors sat with plates on knees eating goat and beans.
I want you to stay focused on your battle frequency. Let it run wide open and just go with your instincts. When they come for us, take the wraiths and I’ll engage the vampires. How does that sound?
Fantastic.
Ready?
The question surprised Batya in its simplicity. The answer was simpler yet. “Yes.”
“Then go ahead and release your enthrallment shield. After that, I thought we’d fly straight up.”
Batya let the shield melt away. “Now what?”
Her words, however, brought their captors turning to look at them. “What the f**k?” the nearest mastyr called out, rising to his feet, his plate sliding off his knees to the ground.