AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And all this time, Regan had been guilty of only one thing: Loving him to the point of madness, just as she’d said.
Slowly, Ian rose from the deck. Something profound shifted within him in that moment. Maybe he’d run from Regan all those years ago because of his guilt about what had happened at Raven’s Overlook, but he wouldn’t anymore. He realized now that if he’d stuck with Regan, instead of shunning her as the problem, Ben’s treachery would have long since risen to the surface.
He had no doubt Ben believed he’d won now that he had Regan in his clutches. But every bone in Ian’s body knew differently. He was going after Ben and nothing would stop him.
The only question that remained was how to find Ben.
He began to pace again, yet this time he refused to allow guilt to swamp him. Instead, new ideas began to flow.
His thoughts turned toward Regan and how she’d doggedly worked to find the counter-spell by understanding Margetta’s initial spell. She’d analyzed it and broken it down into several parts. She’d focused on only that, until she’d found the right formula.
He needed to do something similar. He turned his attention therefore to Ben. He was the key. Even if the Ancient Fae was involved, Ian
only needed to analyze Ben in order to discover where he would have taken Regan.
And he knew exactly where to start.
Rising swiftly into the night air, he flew east in the direction of his Communication Center.
CHAPTER TEN
Regan had a battle going on within her mind as Ben drank from her wrist. She wanted and needed him because she was a blood rose, but her heart lived elsewhere and beat now with a fire she knew as Ian.
She loved Ian. She always had and this time with him, as transient as it had felt at the beginning, had only deepened her love.
She felt foolish in a way she couldn’t explain, as though centuries of separation hadn’t mattered one whit in how she really felt, would always feel.
But the blood rose in her was fixated on Ben, only on Ben, on resolving forever his chronic blood starvation, on making him stronger as a vampire and a warrior, on taking him into her body.
Desire for him flowed in tempting waves until she could hardly breathe. Thank the Goddess Margetta had left, but the Ancient Fae had said something about regrouping and had vanished. She hadn’t levitated and left by the front door; she’d simply disappeared, as Davido and Vojalie could, another sign of the woman’s power.
And again, Regan had the sense Margetta wasn’t worried, as though she had plans in place that no one could defeat. The only thing she’d asked is that Ben get rid of Ian for good. Ben had made it clear he had no other intention.
But Regan had to do something or she knew how this time would end, especially since she could already feel Ben’s mating vibration probing to gain entrance within her chest. Once he did, once his energy touched hers, she felt pretty certain she wouldn’t be able to resist her overwhelming need to give herself to him completely.
As Ben groaned and suckled at her wrist, she dove deep, falling into the upper portion of her meditative state. She couldn’t go completely because she needed to stay in tune with Ben’s moment-to-moment intentions and to take action against him when necessary.
Goddess help her. She was in serious trouble.
And where was Ian? Could he ever find her?
~ ~ ~
A few minutes after leaving the Dauphaire Mountains, Ian arrived at the Communication Center in Somerstrong. The city was one of the largest in Camberlaune, built along both banks of the Peralin River. Lights glimmered from dozens of restaurants and shops fronting the broad stretch of water.
He made his descent, landing by the front door. Once inside the center, the staff turned toward him with warm greetings. He put on his most casual face, not wanting to give anything away. He needed information and he was pretty sure a series of direct questions wouldn’t yield the results he was hoping for. Ben had chosen the Communication Center workers personally and each man here was loyal to him. As much as he wanted to lay it all out and explain what Ben had been up to, it would take way too long.
He gave them some details about the battle at Margetta’s fortress and the subsequent evacuation of most of her army before the combined forces could engage. He added that he and Stone had a plan to bring all the mastyrs together to develop a major offensive against the Ancient Fae.
The staff, made up of three fae and a garrulous troll named Scott, gave shouts with fists raised.
When they’d settled down, he began his real inquiry with a ruse. “I’m working on a celebration feast for some of my staff with Ben as the guest of honor. He’s been an incredible asset to me over the years, as you all know, but I want to keep this on the down low. Can you promise to keep my visit here a secret as well as anything else we might discuss?”
An effusive rush of ‘yes, mastyr’ followed.
“Good.” All three waited in anticipation. “I’m thinking an event at the Hungry Troll. How does that sound? And free beer.”
Another shout, along with nods of agreement and a couple of ‘hell, yeahs’, followed.
