She walked in before him, moving slowly and letting the space speak to her. The music came first, a soft humming of the crystals. Ethan had already told her he didn’t hear anything, so she felt particularly blessed by the sound.
“I didn’t want to try this alone, in case I had a reaction similar to the one at the Guildhall.” She reached a hand back for Ethan.
He moved in and took it. “I’m here.”
She nodded as she moved toward the center, where the pavers had made a slow, swirling progress to another central disk, directly beneath the apex.
She looked back at him. “Ready?”
He nodded, but there was such tenderness in his eyes that for a moment, her breath caught. This was Ethan, Mastyr of Bergisson, a powerful vampire who could break her with a thought, but he smiled and watched her like she’d become precious to him.
She tried not to make too much of it, but he was so handsome and making love with him had become this incredible, miraculous journey of sensation. She had a fae frequency that he could tap and plunder and which he did willingly.
What are you thinking because I’m reading all sorts of things right now that have nothing to do with fae visions?
Her lips parted and she took a couple of steps backward, reaching the disk then drawing him to her with a pull of her hand. He didn’t mistake the invitation, but took her in his arms and kissed her, pressing his body the full length of hers, letting her feel all that he was in the strength of his thighs, his arms, and what grew very firm between them.
She sighed as he kissed her and like magic, her fae power blossomed flowing in a stream upward toward the apex of the crystal ceiling, lighting up, making her feel alive in ways she could never have imagined in her simple student-jewelry-making life in Shreveport. Was this really her new life, all this power, all this man, and the thundering of her heart that demanded she feed the one holding her in his arms?
He drew back and looked up. “The energy you create feels extraordinary.”
“And what amazes me is that I’m not struggling at all, with you holding me, here in your home. That must mean something.”
She didn’t want to say it, that she belonged here. But Ethan met her gaze and now his smoky gray-brown eyes looked troubled. “Part of me knows, in my gut, we should complete the bonding, to end any chance that Ry can get to you, but I just can’t.”
“Ethan, what would it involve exactly?”
“What has been explained to me is that when our frequencies are joined, a further act of will is required, a decision to bond by both parties.”
“But that’s good because then I could never be forced into a bond that I didn’t agree to.”
His expression grew grim. “You could be forced, you could be worn down, and Ry is just deviant enough to attempt it, one more reason that I need to keep him away from you.”
She nodded, the weight of the subject settling in. “But if we were bonded, what then?”
“No one else could get to you. It just wouldn’t be physically possible for you to be bonded to two vampires at once, which returns us to the original situation, that I wish I could offer you the protection of a bond right now, but I can’t.”
She put a hand on his chest. “Don’t go there. I couldn’t take you up on it even if you offered. I’m not ready and I’m not sure I ever will be.”
He nodded, but he looked weighed down again, that sense she had of him, that he’d carried the burden of his world for fifty years, since he’d become mastyr of Bergisson.
Hey, she pathed, giving him a small shake. Remember what Davido said.
He nodded, Understanding comes in its own time.
This has been like a crash-course in relationships, and I admit, I’ve never been very good at it.
Well, if you’re not very good, then I just plain suck.
She laughed and hugged him. He hugged her back and rocked her as the stream of fae energy flowed with them.
She drew back just enough to hold his forearms, returning to her original purpose in testing out the crystal apex in the first place.
She took a deep breath. “I want to focus on Ry. He’s been the problem here, and maybe a vision will come to give us some direction right now.”
“Sounds good. Go for it.”
Still facing him and holding his arms, she closed her eyes and focused on her faeness as the power continued to stream through her. A vision unfolded, quickly this time, and in a scattering of sudden images telling her all she needed to know.
When she opened her eyes, Ethan stared hard at her. “What have you seen?”
“Ry plans on attacking all the patrols tonight, all at about the same time, a coordinated effort.” At the same moment, her head began to hurt and she felt strange, like a different kind of wave had begun pulsing through her mind, something outside her that had nothing to do with her own power.
She looked around and felt as though she were being watched, spied on.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. But I think it might be the ancient fae, the same one at Sweet Gorge.”
“Okay.” He nodded several times. “Just hold onto me.”
“Right.” She dipped her chin in response as well. “What will you do?”
“Path Finn.”
“Ethan, wait. Before you do, I have this feeling I need to shield you while you do it, to protect your communication.”
“Okay.”
Chapter Eight
With Samantha’s fae power still streaming, Ethan drew her close to his side and nodded to her. He felt her surround him with what he could only describe as a kind of shield or blocking capacity. She was more powerful than he could have ever suspected and he had a strong impulse for that reason alone to keep her with him forever.
But he forced himself to focus instead on the moment, and not on his impulses. With a rogue fae active, even in his own house, even affecting Samantha, and with a disaffected Guardsman who was also a mastyr vampire in league with the Invictus, he knew he was in for it. That Samantha’s most recent vision had given him a portal to the future enabling him to warn his battling force, was a huge advantage.
He hugged her as he opened up his telepathy and reached for Finn.
When Ethan told him what was going on, he felt Finn’s exasperation. And that bastard knows our routines, all of them.
But we’ve been forewarned. Put everyone on alert, half-swords drawn, attack at will.
Where will you be?
He glanced at Samantha and asked, “Are you sure you saw me in the field? I hate the idea of leaving you right now.”