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“Yes. So, I hope that relieves your mind a little. I wasn’t there by chance. I found myself in a difficult situation. I’d only been a blood rose for a short while and,” here she glanced up at Stone, “my man and I weren’t on the same page yet. So, I remembered you were a mastyr and I’d always liked your looks.”
Stone cleared his throat and slid his arm around her waist. “I’m right here, Sweetheart. I can hear what you’re saying and I’m not sure I like it.”
Rosamunde’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at her bonded mate. “I’m not sparing your feelings right now, Darling, because Rez should have as much comprehension of Holly as he can right now. He’ll need to protect her.”
Stone frowned slightly. “I’m remembering.” He shifted to look at Rez. “I turned Rosamunde away when she needed me. Don’t make that mistake. It’ll backfire like you wouldn’t believe.” For a moment, Stone looked solemn. “Nothing dimmed my rational brain so thoroughly as Rosamunde offering her throat to another man.” He appeared to work to calm himself.
“Hey,” Rosamunde called softly to Stone. He turned to her with a quick intake of breath. He nodded several times. Maybe she was pathing with him as well, offering a few soothing thoughts.
Rez felt the need to give them some space and stepped several feet away to take in the backyard. Stone’s house was surrounded by trees. It was fully landscaped with big boulders and an extensive lawn, a large back patio and a lit-up pool.
He’d heard Rosamunde was pregnant, a sort of good-luck omen for fae women when they married. Stone had a wife now.
A blood rose and a wife.
He tightened his grip on his glass as he stared out at the pool. He took another sip of whisky. A nice line of profanity ran through his head.
Without warning, the memories returned like a knife straight to his heart. He was in the home he’d built for his wife on their acreage not far from the smithy house in Boylbury. It was a perfect place for a small family with a good-sized vegetable garden, fruit trees and a pasture for sheep, goats and horses. It was a great place to raise his children.
He could smell the pies baking. His wife had loved to bake. He could hear the laughter of his children.
He’d served in the Guard at the time. He’d loved serving. He’d loved his family. He’d had security measures in place since they’d lived in a relatively remote area. But his electronic security had failed that night because of storms coming out of the north.
He tried hard not to think about what followed. But he couldn’t help himself. The memories rained down on him, forcing him to look, to feel, to watch as they died.
The Invictus had killed all the animals on the farm as well.
He’d built the pyres himself.
His grief had been … still was … profound, beyond bearing.
Something had happened to his mind that night. He’d gone to a very dark place. He’d drunk too much and awakened sweating and shaking from nightmares.
Making his way back to a functioning state had been a slow process and had involved hunting Invictus, on his own, at night. He wanted information about his daughter and he wanted revenge.
The only thing that kept him moderately sane was knowing that his daughter hadn’t died. He’d lived with the hope he could find her.
He’d refused to return to the Guard. Where had they been when his family needed saving? Too far away as they were from all the remote villages of the realm. Calls had been made to the Communication Center, at least six sightings from Boylbury alone. But the nearest patrol had gotten to his home twenty minutes after the attack.
Twenty minutes too late.
All of which drew him back to the present and to Holly. He had to continue hunting for his daughter no matter what. He also knew he could never return to family life, which left him in a serious quandary where Holly was concerned.
He hated the idea of another mastyr going after her. But they would. She would reciprocate as well. Just as Rosamunde had said, if she built an extra supply of blood, she would need to donate.
Only one solution came to mind that seemed even halfway tolerable to him. He would need to find an appropriate mastyr vampire for Holly himself.
Rosamunde called to him. “Need a refill, yet?”
He turned back to her and saw that Stone didn’t look quite so distressed. Rez shook his head. “I’m good.”
Rosamunde moved in his direction. Stone tagged along. “Stone tells me that you and Holly defeated ten Invictus, five pairs, out at Boylbury. He also said that Holly engaged time-pathing. Stone and I know a little because of a few things Mastyr Devyn shared with him a couple of weeks ago.”
Rez explained about Holly having been apprenticed to Vojalie for the past two years.
“I’ve heard rumors a few times over the years about the continuum, but I never thought it was possible.” She chuckled and shook her head. “You know, in the same way the blood rose phenomenon wasn’t real.”
Stone looked as grave as ever. Rez decided he wanted two of the most powerful people in the Nine Realms to know what the experience had been like and how he and Holly together had approached the difficult situation.
