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If he didn’t bind Samantha to him, one of the other mastyrs probably would. Ry, for instance, wouldn’t hesitate to take her by force, especially if he thought it would give him dominance over Ethan.
For the past fifty years, since Ethan had replaced Ry as the Mastyr of Bergisson, a painful rivalry had ensued. Ry had grown bold in his attacks on Ethan, whether publicly or privately.
He’d always resented that Ethan had usurped him in the governance of Bergisson Realm, even though Ethan hadn’t been the author of Ry’s removal. Nine Realms laws dictated that the most powerful vampire in the land would rule the society. Once he’d come into his mastyr-power, the governing Sidhe Council, a deeply respected and ancient joint-council of the Nine Realms, had tested both Ry and Ethan and had found that Ethan’s power surpassed Ry’s by a significant degree.
Of course there had been downsides, one of which meant that his power as a mastyr vampire constantly drained him of his resources, putting him in a perpetual state of blood-starvation despite how often his list of doneuses serviced him. The other most significant repercussion, of course, was Ry and his fairly constant bucking of Ethan’s authority.
Now, a blood rose had arrived, with the capacity to keep a mastyr vampire satisfied, and if he didn’t do something, Ethan knew in his gut that Ry would make a play for Samantha and he’d do it tonight.
Ethan had no intention of binding Samantha. But he sure as hell wouldn’t let Ry take her either. At the same time, the thought of any mastyr vampire getting near Samantha set off his battling frequency. So what was he supposed to do?
Sweet Goddess, the thought of binding Samantha, getting that close to her or any female, gave him the shakes. From the time that he’d buried his family, he’d promised himself that until he’d secured Bergisson in permanent peace, essentially eradicating the Invictus, he had no intention of building a long-term relationship with any woman. He fought the enemy every night of his life, striving to protect those in his care: a million realm-folk. He simply didn’t have time to be a boyfriend to any woman—human, fae, or otherwise.
And the hell if he’d let the sudden and unexpected arrival of a blood rose change his commitment to his realm.
He slid his iPhone from the pocket of his battle leathers and dialed up his second-in-command. “Hey, Finn. I’ve rethought the Samantha situation. I’m concerned that Ry might get to her and you know what he’s like, he won’t believe that she would have any other purpose but to take care of him.”
“Your woman needs protection.”
Ethan repressed a hostile growl. “She’s not my woman, Finn. Let’s get that clear right now. But she does need protection and not just from Ry, but from all the mastyrs. The pull is strong and it’s one hell of a seduction to think that a blood-rose could put an end to the kind of blood-starvation each of us endures.”
“Do you want me to send a detail to watch over her?”
“No, I’ve got this.”
“Once Ry gets wind of all that happened at the prave, he’ll be out for your head and he’ll want Samantha. He may come after you and with what I observed at the parking lot, you might want some back up.”
Ethan’s temper shot through his head that Finn would question his capacity to defend Samantha. But even as he opened his mouth to argue the point, his stomach balled up into a knot, and that same awful dizziness forced him to drop to earth, and plant his feet firm. He held his phone behind him, squeezed his eyes shut and burned up the forest with a long string of obscenities.
Of course once he opened his eyes, both access point Guards were smiling.
Turning his back to them, he brought his phone back up to his ear. He’d never really thought of Ry as much more than an annoying mosquito he had to swat now and then. “I’m not worried. Where are you now?”
“Patrolling near the training camp, but no Invictus sign. We’re going to swing by Sweet Gorge once more. We’ll give the area a thorough reconnaissance, and if nothing surfaces, I’ll bring the patrol back to the Guard House.”
“Good. Has the body been delivered to the Morgue?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Death by Invictus, as suspected. But what else is new? And as with the others killed out there, the physician found a lingering fae magic.”
“That’s not a surprise, not from a body found at Sweet Gorge.”
“I agree.”
“All right. I’m heading back to Shreveport.”
“Are you sure you don’t want a team out there?”
“Hell, no. I can handle Ry.”
A long pause told Ethan that Finn didn’t approve of the plan, but that wasn’t new either. Finn had been pressuring him a lot lately to give over some of his command to his top men. Ethan thought things worked just fine as they were.
“Fine, but if I get even a whisper that Ry’s abandoned his patrol in the north, I’m heading south.”
Though it irritated the hell out of Ethan, he knew Finn’s plan had merit. “Fine.” But he hung up.
When he pocketed his phone, he told the checkpoint Guardsmen to alert him if Mastyr Ry crossed into the human realm. After a moment’s hesitation, he added, “And let Finn know as well.”
“Yes, Mastyr.” Their voices blended together in response.
Ethan rose into the air once more, higher and higher, pivoted, then flew in a quick arc back in the direction of Shreveport, just a few miles beyond the checkpoint.
The space between realms became a blurred blend of land, water, and sky then the pine trees emerged so that he knew he’d reached the distant outskirts of the North American city. Even though the realm world had first opened its doors to earth thirty years ago, crossing between worlds always gave him an odd thrill, the way ancient explorers must have felt in ages gone by.
His first thought involved wondering how the hell he would find Samantha, then he mentally kicked himself for not following her home in the first place.
He was about to return to the prave to find out if anyone knew where she lived, when another idea, more realm-like in nature, struck.
He slowed to a stop midair, hovering among the treetops, and focused on Samantha, the shape of her face, the beauty of her light blue eyes, the shine of her black hair, and mostly the blood rose vibe she gave off.
What came back to him was like a tether far away that reached for him and drew closer and closer until it connected with his chest. He stalled out for a moment, sliding down among the branches, then caught himself.
