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She just felt so confused.
Yet she had to do something, she just couldn’t remember what? She loved that she was feeding a starved mastyr. But this was Ry, not Ethan.
Ethan. She sent the call out to him as hard as she could, but the communication failed. She felt that the dark fae force had blocked it.
So good to give her blood. More images, though, of the Guildhall battle.
Once more she forced them away.
She had to focus, but on what?
Ethan.
Yet she couldn’t reach him.
She relaxed and stopped struggling. Ry’s arms tightened around her. At the very least, she wished she was feeding Quinlan instead of Ry.
Quinlan.
Yes, maybe she could reach Quinlan.
Using what was left of her strength as well as what little clarity of mind she had left, she pathed to the Mastyr of Grochaire Realm and found him. Quinlan, are you there?
Samantha?
I need help. Ry is here. Can’t reach Ethan.
Then her mind once more filled with the horrific visions of the battle at the Guildhall, forced into her mind by the ancient fae.
Ry’s voice intruded. “I can stop all these images if you’ll just bond with me. Say ‘yes’, Samantha. Just say ‘yes’.”
She wanted to. With all her heart, Samantha wanted the terrible images to stop and Ry sounded so sweet. He was a mastyr and he needed her.
But what about Ethan?
She held on to thoughts of Ethan, then the images looped again, of shrieking and body parts being severed, of enslaved realm-folk dying on the ground.
*** *** ***
Ethan, get over to Samantha now. She’s in trouble and she can’t reach you.
Quinlan? What the hell’s going on? Ethan was in the middle of the battle, sending energy flying in every direction.
Just go! She said something about Ry being there.
Got it! He contacted his Guardsmen, and because they were a well-trained team, the men closed ranks, releasing him from the field.
He felt it now, the same awful presence that he felt at Sweet Gorge, but stronger now, almost thick with energy. And she was in his home.
Sweet Goddess.
He flew straight for his house, going as fast as he could, which meant it only took seconds to reach the front door.
Throwing the door wide, he could sense Samantha now and how close she was to giving herself to Ry. The fae power was intense and where the hell was the Guard he’d left to watch the house?
He found him sunk in stupor just outside the archway to the conservatory, probably enthralled by the ancient fae.
When he moved quickly inside, he saw red all over again. Ry had Samantha in his arms, feeding brutally from her neck, his body hunched over hers.
“Get off my woman!” His voice bellowed through the space, shaking some of the crystal panes but having the good effect of forcing Ry to release Samantha. She was pasty white as she slid to the floor, weak at best, unconscious at worst.
He gathered power into his palms, energy radiating down both arms.
But Ry had just fed on a blood rose, so he turned up his own juice, and with bloodied fangs launched strikes from both palms then threw himself at Ethan.
Power roiled around Ethan, through him, punching at him. But he returned the favor and heard Ry grunt.
A pair of fangs ripped into his left shoulder. He gathered his energy once more and aimed at Ry’s back. As soon as he released, Ry shouted his pain, but sent an answering shot at the base of Ethan’s spine. He arched away from Ry, rolling in agony, but his enemy had just fed, more powerful than ever before.
Damn, he needed help here.
He was on his hands and knees, glaring at Ry who walked around him sneering, gloating. “Feeling weak, mastyr?” He laughed long and low.
And that’s when he felt it, the dark fae energy, muddling his mind.
Ethan, Samantha was in his head. Come to me. Together. We can do this.
She sounded so weak.
He understood. From his peripheral, he watched her crawling toward the central disk.
He had to get to her so that she could launch her fae power.
He gathered one last bolt of energy and flung it at Ry. At the exact same moment, he levitated in his half-kneeling state, caught Samantha up and slid her the rest of the way. He could feel the moment she let her fae energy flow and it was like a healing salve through his wrecked body.
He took in a long deep breath.
He heard Ry cursing as a faint female voice called out, We must go. You fool! You failed to complete the bonding!
He saw Ry fly through the arched doorway and knew when both he and the fae entity had left his house.
He lifted Samantha to her feet, her energy, supported by the crystal apex, still flowing.
He looked down at her and cupped her chin, kissing her on the lips, a soft expression of his gratitude for what had just happened. You just saved my life.
She kissed him back. And you saved mine, again. He almost had me, Ethan. He was drinking from me, and because the blood rose part of me doesn’t differentiate, I was so happy to meet that terrible starvation that all of you suffer from.
But he played into that, and tried to bond with me. All the while, I forced myself to focus on you, but the dark fae being, or whatever it is, started confusing my mind. She kept showing me battle images from the Guildhall fairgrounds, tormenting me.
He drew her into his arms. It’s over and you’ve been through hell, again. Guilt swamped him. He should have been here. He should have gone with his gut. When was he going to learn? And yet, she’d been so certain about the vision, not hesitating at all when she told him where she’d seen him.
Can you move us out of this stream, Samantha? I need to contact my men.
She nodded and eased away from the disk. He sidestepped with her and as before, the energy slid away, no stress or strain. He felt completely restored. Even the wound that Ry had inflicted at the base of his spine no longer hurt.
She planted her hand on his chest. “Call your men.”
He nodded and pathed to Finn who gave him an update. The Invictus had attacked every patrol and many were still battling. But Finn said the numbers of wraith-pairs captured was high, all being held in prison for later trials.
Ethan kept Samantha close, but the pull to go back out in the field almost overwhelmed him. Because together Ry and the fae entity had been able to enter his house despite the presence of his Guard, he wasn’t willing to jeopardize Samantha again tonight. I need you on this, Finn.
He outlined what had happened and Finn responded, I’ve got this. I’m in touch with Quinlan. He replaced you at the battle near your house, where the Invictus hit the hardest. I’ll let him know what’s going on.
