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“He was taken from your home in the middle of the night. He vanished into thin air along with his hoard. Your brother witnessed the entire incident.”
Fire simmered just under my skin, but it didn’t escalate. I didn’t know how I felt. I couldn’t say I was sad to hear of Alasdair’s disappearance because that would be a lie. But I knew his absence would leave the clan in turmoil. Because Erik had no power to call his own, the role of Archos would fall to me until someone challenged me for the position since I was Alasdair’s only other child. Things were about to get bad.
“Fine,” I said, as if there were only business between us. “I will order my clan to follow you in my father’s stead.” Getting them to obey me would be the tricky part. “How are you going to find The Destroyer?”
“With all of the clans gathered, we should be able to find the one responsible if he’s among us. He would not be able to hide his power from Esmerelda. She is impervious to Drakán magic even though her own Drakán power is quite impressive. Between now and the gathering, I will teach you as much as possible about your abilities. You will need to know how to fight by using more than just your mental abilities.”
I finally moved away from him and walked to the metal door that led out of the cavern and back up into the chateau—ready to escape from the bowels of the city.
“I need to make some phone calls,” I said. “Where are we going to unite the clans?”
“I own most of Switzerland. It’ll give us the privacy we need to train.”
“That’s handy. You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“If I wasn’t smart enough to plan ahead I’d be dead many times over by now.”
I pushed my hand through the metal of the door and moved to follow with my body, but I thought of one more thing—an important thing.
“I want you to stay away from me once the clans are united. I need time to think. And I need time to observe how you deal with my clan. You’re very good at clouding my judgment.”
“Staying away from you will make what I have in mind quite…challenging.”
“That’s the point,” I said as bitterness and anger clouded my voice. He’d used me and taken advantage of the human nature I’d wanted to embrace. I guess in hindsight he’d taught me an important lesson. I wasn’t human. I was Drakán. I could learn to harden my heart as well as anyone.
“Rena,” he said softly, taking a step toward me. Something that looked like pity lined his face, and I took a step back out of his grasp.
“Just stay away, Julian. I wouldn’t want your grand plans to be ruined because you were distracted by the opposite sex. It’s been more than one great leader’s downfall.”
“That’s very true,” he said. “But of course there’s always our dreams.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
Iavoided Julian for three days—mind and body—before I finally had no choice but to listen to his instructions about the gathering clans. He’d been on conference calls and short trips for the last seventy-two hours to line things up for his takeover, so it hadn’t been that hard to stay out of his way.
He cornered me late one night as I made use of the gym I’d found on the second floor of the chateau. Olaf had offered to spar with me, and I’d been more than happy to take my recent frustrations out on him. Olaf had had no idea what he’d gotten himself into.
My fury was great, and it was the first time I’d gotten to see what I was really capable of since Julian and I had mated. I was a lot stronger. I dodged Olaf’s blows with time to spare, and my speed kept him off center and confused. The power behind my punches was debilitating, and Olaf was bloody and sweating by the end of it. When my foot hit him with a roundhouse kick to the ribs, mirroring the move I’d used on him the day I’d broken out of the chateau, it didn’t feel like I was hitting cement. The sound of breaking ribs was like music to my ears, and Olaf toppled like a redwood in the forest.
“Impressive,” Julian’s voice called out from the other side of the room.
I’d been so focused on my fight that I hadn’t even noticed when he’d entered the room. He was careful not to touch me as he came closer, and his shields were locked tight, just as mine were.
“That will be all, Olaf. Go and let your body heal.”
Olaf bowed low to Julian and shot me a look that promised retribution. I was looking forward to it.
I moved across the room to put space between us and wiped my face with a towel.
“The increase in your power calls to me, Rena. We are not meant to be apart,” Julian said once Olaf was gone.
I turned backed to him. “Get on with it, Julian. You’ve made your bed. I’m not in the mood to be messed with. Those days are over.”
A growl rumbled low in his throat and his eyes rimmed red with fire. “You don’t want to challenge me, lifemate. Your power is not great enough to defeat me. I could take you easily and make you want me. Don’t underestimate my control.”
“I know you’re the alpha in this relationship. You don’t have to prove it. But I won’t submit to you. Yes, you can make me want you, but if you take me against my will there will be no end to the depths of my hatred for you. You’ve gotten what you wanted from me. Be happy with that and move on.”
He growled again and I could see the fine tremors that ran through his body where his beast wanted to break free. It was a testament to his power that he was able to hold back. I’d never known a Drakán who could control himself once his beast started to break free.
