Chapter Ten

 

 

 

Light seared the backs of Tailor’s eyelids. In one smooth move, he pulled his gun from the nightstand and aimed it at the door. “Rowan,” he grumbled, lowering his gun. “Sorry, guess I’m a little on edge.”

“You should be,” Rowan replied. “I take it you didn’t hear Dhani leave.”

He looked at the space where Dhani should’ve been at his side, then at the alarm clock. It was three in the morning. Dhani wouldn’t have wandered off without waking him. Then, he took in the sight of one of his knives on the nightstand, which caused his apprehension to spike. “Where is he?”

“I have my guards searching the palace and grounds now, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?”

Rowan hesitated, then said, “I received a call fifteen minutes ago from one of my men at Deirdra’s house. There’s been a break in. Two men fitting Vane and Dhani’s descriptions left with her and her baby.”

He stilled as the news sank in. It didn’t seem possible. When Rowan had returned from the battle at Roh Se Kahn’s castle, he had remanded Deirdra into forced seclusion on a remote island off the coast of France. Technically, since their marriage had been dissolved, she would’ve been free to live her own life if not for the fact that she had instigated Rowan’s attempted assassination and carried Vane’s child.

With Vane still alive, the risk that he might join with Deirdra again and raise their child to use the darkness in him for evil had been too great. The only choice had been for Rowan to surround her with his guards at a spot where transportation was limited.

The bay leading to the island was a six-hour drive, let alone the two-hour ferry ride to get there. Yet, Tailor had gone to sleep with Dhani in his arms just two hours ago. Despite all this, there was no doubt on Rowan’s face that the information from his call was true.

Tailor jumped out of bed and began arming himself.

“Tailor, what do you think you’re doing?”

“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?” he yelled, barely containing his anger. How could he have slept through Dhani leaving? His one job had been to watch over his mate and he’d failed, just as he had a year ago when Dhani had run away with Keenan to Roh Se Kahn’s castle. “I’m going to find him. Have you checked your garage for missing cars?” He pulled on his shoes, noticing that Dhani’s were still on the floor where Keenan had placed them.

“My guards are on it, but I don’t think that’s how he left. Tailor, wait. We need to think this through.” When Tailor tried to brush past him, Rowan grabbed his shirt and shoved him against the wall. “I said stop!”

Tailor fisted Rowan’s wrists and bared his teeth, emitting a feral growl. It was only their close friendship that kept him from decking the man. “Dhani is my mate! I can’t lose him again. Not to Roh Se Kahn. Now get out of my way!”

“I’m trying to help you!” Rowan yelled back.

“Tailor,” said a soft voice. Keenan entered the room, twisting his hands anxiously. There was so much stark fear in his eyes, reflecting Tailor’s own frenzied turmoil, that it forced Tailor to pause. “I think I know what happened. The best thing we can do right now is come up with a plan. I need you to focus, for Dhani’s sake.”

After a few seconds, he nodded curtly, seeking that inner place where he could divide his emotions from logic. Keenan was right. If they had any hope of finding Dhani, they had to do it rationally.

“I’ve woken up the others,” Keenan said. “Come with me.”

Downstairs in the kitchen, Manning sat on a barstool at the island in the middle of the room with Laya. Quinn was making coffee and Xenessa stood at the wall near the fridge. Beside her was Cy, who was talking on his cell phone. As Tailor sat on the other side of Manning, his attention was drawn to Xenessa’s hand firmly holding onto Cy’s. Her gaze constantly flitted up to Cy and each time their eyes met, they both gave a secretive grin.

The sight was so incongruous that it took Tailor’s mind off Dhani’s situation for a brief moment. Then he saw Xenessa stand on the balls of her feet to kiss Cy’s neck.

It couldn’t be. Cy was covered in tattoos and piercings. He was the quintessential rebel. A man who fit Tailor’s own image and didn’t give a damn about anyone or anything past what he thought was worthy of his respect. Xenessa, on the other hand, was more conservative than a nun at a human Sunday mass.

Tailor’s mouth fell open and a small part of his faith in the grand scheme of things died.

“Scary, isn’t it?” Manning said.

“They can’t be,” Tailor murmured. “Mates?”

“Kinda makes you wish you were blind, right?”

Tailor shuddered and averted his eyes. “What the hell was the Mother thinking in pairing them together?” He’d always thought Xenessa was incapable of sexual interest. While he had to admit she was beautiful in spite of her strictness about proprieties, the first and only time he’d flirted with her, she had threatened to cut his balls off.

“About the same thing she was thinking when she paired you with Dhani.” Manning merely laughed at Tailor’s menacing glare. “Come on. You can’t tell me if it weren’t for the fact that you and Dhani are mates, you would have a chance in hell with him.”

Tailor had to shrug grudgingly. It was true. Dhani had always been out of his league. Handsome and good-hearted with the kind of innocent virtue that kept him wondering why Dhani had ever looked twice at him.

Cy ended his call then looked around the room. “That was the guards. They’ve found no trace of Dhani. No one passed through the gates since we arrived and none of the cars are missing.”

Quinn frowned as he began passing out mugs of coffee. “How did Dhani leave, then? Someone had to have seen him.”

“Not necessarily,” Keenan said, glancing at his mate. “You should tell them first.”

Rowan’s expression hardened. “The guard who called me from Deirdra’s house said he and two others encountered men fitting Vane and Dhani’s descriptions coming out of her bedroom with her. When they opened fire, the two men with the guard were hit by bolts of lightning and he was later knocked unconscious. Another group of my men responded to the sound of gunshots but by the time they got there, there was no sign of Vane, Dhani, or Deirdra and her son.”

Rowan inhaled deeply, meeting Tailor’s gaze. “The two guards that fell were charred beyond recognition. It would’ve taken great power to carry that out. More than we know Vane has.”

“We can’t know that,” Tailor argued, feeling a heavy weight bear down on the pit of his stomach. “Vane would have more reason to kill the guards than Dhani—Roh Se Kahn—would.”

“Maybe,” Keenan said quietly, “but Vane doesn’t have that kind of power. He can teleport and cause destruction in nature, rip apart the earth and destroy its elements like I can, but he can’t create bolts of lightning. Only my father can do that.”

Keenan clawed his fingers through his hair. “We have to accept the possibility that my father has full control over Dhani. With Roh Se Kahn’s power, he likely teleported out of here to find Vane. My brother is the only one who might know where the rest of Roh Se Kahn’s followers are hiding. The humans in service to him that we captured after the battle admitted there were a substantial number of followers who weren’t at the castle. From the number of men in league with my father that Cy told us you found, there are still a good portion of them left.

“I know the way my father thinks. He’ll want to perform another spell to release the rest of his soul and he’ll need the dormant light of his followers to make the rift between our realms large enough for him to pass through. With Vane at his side, he’ll succeed.”

Xenessa stirred. “We may yet be able to stop him, but how will we find him?”

A hush fell over the room, then Rowan turned to Keenan, his brow creased. “The guard that was knocked unconscious…he had a message for me.”

Keenan scoffed. “Yeah, Roh Se Kahn used Dhani to tell me he wants to kill me. It’s not as if he hasn’t tried a million times before. You don’t have to worry about me,” Keenan assured his mate. “He didn’t succeed then and he won’t now. We should be more worried about Dhani.”

“Not that message,” Rowan said, shaking his head. “The one after that. Dhani told the guard, ‘To bring about the end, one must return to the beginning’.”

“The beginning?” Manning asked.

Laya gasped suddenly. “The castle!”

Quinn frowned. “What?”

“The castle!” she repeated. “Roh Se Kahn’s old base of operation, where he put everything into motion. That has to be the beginning he was speaking of! He had to have taken my son there.”

“Damn,” Rowan muttered. He took out his cell phone and dialed a number, leaving the room for privacy.

Tailor’s thoughts whirled at the implications of Dhani’s message as the others continued to speculate. It had to have come from Dhani himself, not Roh Se Kahn. The dark God was too smart to give them such an obvious clue. Yet, what Keenan had revealed earlier was just as invaluable. Roh Se Kahn needed a shifter to complete the spell to bring him back. Who better to fit that role than his Ba’Kal son who had led to his demise?

When Rowan reentered the kitchen with a stricken expression, Tailor already knew what he was going to say. “Your guards at the castle are dead.”

Rowan dipped his head absently. “I called three of them, including one of yours,” he said, nodding to Manning. “None of them answered their phones.”

“Dhani’s already killed them,” Tailor said in a deadpan voice. “He’s preparing for the incantation. If it were Vane making his move, he’d have done so months ago.” His fury at the way the dark God was using his mate beat at the wavering control he had over his emotions, though he refused to give in to it. This was the crux of all he’d feared since meeting Dhani. That he wouldn’t have the strength to protect another mate, but with his fear came pure determination.

He wouldn’t let Dhani down. Not this time.

Keenan’s face flamed in outrage. “How can you believe Dhani would do that?” Pain and betrayal came through strong in his energy and moisture glistened in his eyes.

“I don’t,” Tailor replied. His tone was cold and vicious, though none of his animosity was meant for Keenan. “The man that killed those guards wasn’t Dhani. It was all Roh Se Kahn.” He looked to Rowan, ignoring every protective instinct that pounded at his conscience. Even the yearning of his spirit begged him to deny what had to be done. “We have to find a way to send Roh Se Kahn back before Dhani releases him.”

Rowan tilted his head in acknowledgment. “Give Manning and me time to gather our forces. We can be in Ireland at Roh Se Kahn’s castle by the next nightfall.” Then, with an edge to his tone, he asked, “If there’s no way to release Dhani…if we can’t find a way to separate his soul from Roh Se Kahn’s, what will you do?”

Tailor swallowed heavily. Rowan was testing him. The love and fear everyone held for Dhani was like a thick miasma smothering the oxygen in the room, yet no one could contest the validity of Rowan’s question. If Dhani went through with the spell to release Roh Se Kahn, millions of innocent lives would be put in jeopardy again. Their very existence could be wiped out.

He looked to Keenan and said, “You’ll find a way to stop this and save Dhani. I know you will.”

Tears gathered in Keenan’s eyes, spilling down his cheeks.

“And if you don’t, I’ll take care of Dhani myself, and I’ll die with him. No one, no one, will touch my mate other than me,” he commanded past the tightening of his throat.

Silence reigned until Keenan nodded perfunctorily. “I’ll find a way. When I do, I’m going with you.” He stared at Rowan as if challenging him to object, though it was Tailor who denied him his wish.

“You can’t go. Roh Se Kahn will want to use you to open the portal to this realm. His pride and revenge won’t let him take anyone else. You’re more important than Dhani right now. As long as you’re here, Roh Se Kahn isn’t. Not all of him. You want to help? Find a way to free Dhani. That’s what you can do.”

He stood and left the room, feeling the icy stares of everyone in the room at his back. He knew what they were thinking. That he was a stone cold bastard unworthy of his mate, but he didn’t care. While Keenan may believe he knew his father, he was too vulnerable to emotions. Tailor knew the mindset of a sociopathic killer better than he did. He’d been raised by a monster and taught to think like one.

The only way to defeat evil was to beat it at its own game, which meant he had to become as ruthless as Roh Se Kahn. Dhani’s death may be inevitable, he knew that now, but it wouldn’t be at the hand of their enemy. If that time came, he alone would be the one to take his mate’s life, and end his own in the process.

There would be no continuing after Dhani. He was done—with life and love. Dhani was his second chance at forever, and he refused to live it without him.

On the cultivated grass in the backyard of Rowan’s palace, Tailor fell to his knees. He threw his head back and let loose his fury in a defiant roar. All of his despair, his hopes and fears, crested in a fierce cry that escaped his control. He pressed his head to the ground and wept, craving the one person who could bring him peace. The only person who made his life worth living.

After a time, a hand settled on his shoulder and he sat up to find Laya kneeling at his side. They looked at each other, sharing the depth of their despair, then stared out into the night.

It wasn’t until the light of dawn emerged over the horizon hours later that Tailor was able to come to terms with his conviction. He was going to save his mate, or he would die trying.

 

* * * *

 

Fading rays of sunlight filtered in through the long windows spanning one side of the great hall in the castle. They painted the statues and murals of war lining the walls in muted colors of pink and blue-grey. Many of them had been destroyed during the battle. What had remained intact was now decaying from exposure to the elements. Large chunks of the outer walls had been blasted apart and rubble littered the floor where no one had bothered to clean it.

Dhani sat down on the seat of Roh Se Kahn’s inlaid marble and cast-iron throne as the God stared out through his eyes on the ruins of his once majestic great hall. The God’s anger had been seething inside him since they’d arrived and Roh Se Kahn had seen for himself the evidence of his downfall.

All because of his firstborn son.

The doors at the far end of the hall opened to emit a shifter of average build with short blond hair and a leering smile. Behind him, several humans came in carrying a long hardwood table which they placed in front of the dais. They nodded to the shifter then left.

“My Lord,” the shifter said in greeting, “it’s good to see you again, even if it is in a…different form. It’s an honor to help you cross over from your prison realm as I helped you the first time.”

Dhani narrowed his gaze. “I don’t recall you. What is your name?”

“Achilles.” He bowed low then moved to the steps of the dais. “I was the one who led the team to kidnap the shifter used in the spell when we first released you. I’ve been in command of your human forces and,” he paused and licked his lips, “I’m the father of the boy you’re using now.”

Within, Dhani recoiled in horror. My father, he thought. The traitor who had held him and his mother captive, giving her no choice except to abandon him after their escape. The man responsible for the death of Tailor’s first mate.

All the animosity and pain of betrayal Dhani had held for his mother paled in comparison to the hatred that rose in him now. There was no regret or even the slightest trace of concern for his son on Achilles’ face. In fact, he appeared to be glowing with pride.

I’ve been hating the wrong person, he realized. At least Laya had loved him—wanted him in spite of her mistakes. The man in front of him held no kindness in his piercing blue eyes. Only a look of avaricious satisfaction.

“It was always my hope that he could be of use to you,” Achilles went on.

“Yet, you obviously couldn’t hold onto him,” Dhani said, peeling his lips back in the God’s disgust. “If you had, my firstborn wouldn’t be alive right now to defy me. This pathetic boy is why Keenan still lives.”

Achilles’ pride faltered. “Th-that’s not my fault,” he stammered. “Dhani’s mother stole him from me before I could teach him to serve you.”

“I remember you now. You kept your mate and son locked within my walls for six years, then you lost them. Did you know your son had two spirits?”

“No. Well, I suspected, but—”

“Enough!” Dhani snapped. Roh Se Kahn’s patience was wearing thin. “Where is Vane? Why is he taking so long to teleport Keenan here? We need to perform the spell tonight.”

Inside, Dhani’s anger was stifled by a wave of apprehension. He couldn’t let Roh Se Kahn go through with his plan to activate the spell by ripping Keenan’s spirit from him and taking the ultimate revenge. Keenan’s life for the release of the rest of his father’s essence.

It had been Roh Se Kahn’s intention all along, and the reason Dhani had been reluctant to visit his friend from the start. He’d foolishly thought he could delay the God’s plan by staying away. A part of him hadn’t wanted to give up the time he’d spent with Tailor and the other part had hoped he would’ve found the strength to kill himself before Roh Se Kahn took control of his body.

He’d underestimated the God’s power, and it was going to cost Keenan his life.

Achilles glanced at the doors then back again. “Vane wanted me to tell you it’ll take a few more hours to gather the rest of the Ba’Kal needed and to decide which human’s body you will inhabit. He doesn’t want to take Keenan and alert the Magnique to our plan until everything is in order. Meanwhile, I thought we might go over how you intend to take over Miel Se Luuda’s creations, or destroy them, if that is your wish.”

Dhani stared at him warily. “I will go through with my original arrangement. Since Vane is the only one of my worthy sons still alive, he will take control of the Ba’Kal and Vam’kir once we crush their forces. I see no reason to deny what I promised him years ago.”

The lie was so thick in Roh Se Kahn’s energy, Dhani wanted to yell at his father to see the truth. Vane was nothing more than an instrument to bring about Miel Se Luuda’s demise, along with that of all her children. During the time he’d been trapped in the alternate realm, his soul assaulted and tortured by the God, he’d come to know Roh Se Kahn intimately. It had never been the God’s intent to allow Vane to rule. His only desire was for the death and destruction of everything Miel Se Luuda stood for.

In the end, not even those who served Roh Se Kahn would be given his mercy. So long as they had the power of light in them, however renounced, they would perish.

Dhani listened, helpless, as Roh Se Kahn spent the next few hours going over his false strategy, all the while reveling in his deceit. The shattered windows were sealed with plastic sheeting and a fire was lit in the hearth for warmth. Several lanterns were placed in sconces along the walls to give light as the sun set over the horizon.

Eventually, Vane entered the great hall followed by a group of three dozen men and women comprised of humans, Ba’Kal and Vam’kir. One of them was carrying a second, folding table which he hurried to set up beside the wooden table several feet from the dais.

Deirdra walked in at Vane’s side. She was dressed in a form-fitting gown with diamonds dripping from her ears, neck and waist. Her stance was regal and her expression serene as triumph glinted in her chestnut-colored eyes.

Dhani shuddered within, appalled at her blindness. She truly thought she was going to rule at Vane’s side as she’d wanted to all along. However, his dismay wasn’t for her. It was for the innocent child she carried wrapped in a blanket in her arms. Her son, who was a victim of circumstance just as much as Keenan was.

“Father,” Vane began in a voice filled with anticipation, “the moment is here. I will give us our victory and make you proud. After I bring you back, I’ll reign over Miel Se Luuda’s children in your name.”

Suspicion flickered in Roh Se Kahn’s energy. Vane’s words were a little too couched in ambiguity. “Where is Keenan?”

“He’ll be here, when the time comes. I swear to you, his death will be brutal. I’ll make him pay for daring to think he’s anything more than the slave you made him.” He gestured for the followers to fan out in a wide circle around the tables. Two of them flanked Deirdra while a third unrolled an aged parchment then nodded to Vane.

Vane strode to Deirdra and gently took his son from her. When she protested, he merely smiled. “Don’t worry, my dear. I promise you, I have only Sevrick’s best interests at heart.” He laid his sleeping baby on the surface of the folding table.

Roh Se Kahn’s alarm heightened, mirrored by Dhani’s. Vane was changing the game. There could be only one reason why he was putting his son on the table.

“What is the meaning of this?” Dhani demanded imperiously, gaining his feet.

At the same time, Deirdra surged forward but was restrained by the two men at her sides. “What are you doing? You told me that table was meant for the human your father would use as his new vessel.” Her voice trembled as she struggled against the men at her sides. Whatever Vane was intending, he apparently hadn’t deigned to inform her of it.

“Vane!” Dhani bellowed. “I gave you an order to find a human for me to possess. It has to be willing. Your bastard son has no part in this.”

“Oh, but he does.” Vane tipped his head in the direction of Achilles, who was at Dhani’s side.

Dhani turned just in time to see the flash of steel in the man’s hand before a knife was plunged into his gut. Searing pain drove him to his knees, and it was all he could do to stay erect when the blade was wrenched out. He stared in shock as his wrists were bound in cuffs behind his back and a strip of leather was tied around his mouth to gag him. Achilles turned him then yanked on his hair, forcing him to meet Vane’s malicious gaze.

Roh Se Kahn’s fury swamped Dhani in torrents that refused to let Dhani’s body give in to the rending pain.

Deirdra began to scream and curse Vane in righteous fury until Vane slapped her harshly. “Keep her quiet,” he ordered the men. He turned back to Dhani and slowly began to approach. “Did you really think I would fall for your lies again? That I would play your puppet while you took away every promise you made to me? I knew, when you took Keenan’s blood a year ago to complete your army of minions, that you would betray me. Your hatred for Miel Se Luuda is so blinding that you can’t even see the greater picture. Why destroy this world when you can rule it?”

Vane clenched Dhani’s jaw to the point of bruising, yet Roh Se Kahn refused to act. Dhani could feel the God’s rage smoldering, waiting to find out what Vane’s true intentions were.

Vane struck him hard across the cheek. “It was never Keenan you should’ve worried about. It is I who will surpass you. Ever since your failed attempt to take power, I’ve been here, turning your followers against you. Their allegiance belongs to me now.”

On the other side of the hall, the doors flew open again and two men came in dragging an unconscious Ba’Kal male. They took him to the hardwood table and tied him down using thick rope.

“I knew you would find a way out of your prison,” Vane continued as he strolled to stand between the two tables. “I’ve been preparing for it. The only hope I had was that you would come back before my son grew too old. You see, I don’t need you to carry out the promises you made to me, and I don’t need Keenan. I’m going to perform the incantation on this Ba’Kal and send your essence into my son’s body. Being too young to resist you, he’s the perfect, willing, vessel. Once you’re inside him, I’m going to trap your powers with the same collar you made for Keenan.”

He brought up his hands to dangle a thin, metal collar from one and a key from the other.

Dhani recognized the collar dangling from Vane’s fingers as the same one that had been locked around Keenan’s neck when Roh Se Kahn had spilled Keenan’s blood to complete his army of minions. The same collar the God had fashioned to trap Keenan’s powers when he was nine years old. The metal was enchanted to inhibit the forces of light and dark in the person who wore it, and only responded to those with darkness in them.

With that collar around Sevrick’s neck once Roh Se Kahn’s essence was transferred to the baby, Vane would have complete control over him.

“After Keenan defeated you, he took all of your texts on the dark arts, but not before I got what I needed from your own chambers. I knew you kept the strongest of your spells there, and I found one that can separate your powers from your essence. Most of them, at least. The relocation spell will take your powers and give them to me. As soon as I have them, you will become obsolete, father, and I’ll send your essence back to your prison where you’ll spend the rest of eternity regretting your betrayal of me.”

Deirdra kicked one of the men holding her in the groin, making him stagger back long enough for her shout out, “You’ll kill our son! He can’t survive that.” Two more men wrestled her under control.

Vane merely smiled. “I’m counting on it. I won’t make the same mistake as my father by trusting in my son. I don’t need an heir when I can rule forever as a God.”

Roh Se Kahn’s rage peaked and he drew on every ounce of darkness he’d forced into Dhani. It exploded in a blast at Vane’s feet, shattering the floor and upending both tables. One of the followers caught the baby before it could hit the ground while Vane flew back and skidded several yards away. The collar and key were knocked from his hands and skittered across the floor.

Vane was on his feet seconds later, shouting out orders. “Start the spell!” To Achilles, he yelled, “Take him down but keep him alive. The boy can’t die until all of my father’s essence is in Sevrick.” He pointed at the followers closest to the waking Ba’Kal still tied to the hardwood table and said, “Hold the shifter down. I need to get the collar on the baby once the incantation is done.”

The darkness in Dhani swelled in another overwhelming crest. It disintegrated the cuffs at his wrists and the leather strip in his mouth, then flowed outward to attack Achilles. The knife Achilles brought down in an arc turned to ash with rapid decay that spread from the hilt to his hand in a single heartbeat. He let out an earsplitting screech and scrambled away, clutching the blackened stump where his hand used to be, tightly to his chest.

Dhani lurched up and stumbled down the dais steps. His strength was fading fast. He was teetering on the edge of death, could feel it in every fiber of his being.

Although the blade had missed his vital organs, the blood loss was becoming too much. Within, he prayed for the finality Roh Se Kahn had denied him through suicide, yet the God kept him going.

He lifted a hand and cast out a blazing stream of fire to his left, bathing five of the followers in coruscating columns of flame. Their shrieks echoed throughout the hall in an agonizing chorus.

Vane tripped over his own feet in his rush to get away. “Finish the Gods-damned spell!” he shouted over the chaotic noise, sending out his own bolt of power toward the ceiling above Dhani.

Dhani raised a forearm to block the debris that rained down on him with an invisible shield. He clapped his hands together then drew them apart, creating a spitting ball of electricity between them so immense, it scorched his palms. He lifted his hands over his head and prepared to cast it toward Vane when a piercing jolt hit his shoulder. The electric ball dissipated as he spun on his heels and fell onto his side. More pain radiated through his muscles and he glanced down to find a weeping bullet wound an inch below his right clavicle.

Further weakened, Dhani couldn’t summon the strength to stand, no matter how much Roh Se Kahn demanded it of him. Instead, he set his sights on the mass of newcomers who swarmed into the great hall. Hope surged up within Dhani when he saw Tailor run in at the head of a group of warriors. His mate had a gun aimed at him and was shouting words that were drowned out in the commotion. At his sides were Manning, Cain, Rowan and Keenan.

Dhani wanted to warn them all to get back but Roh Se Kahn was still in full control. He compelled Dhani to wave his hand and use the darkness in him to fracture the ceiling above the warriors. Huge chunks of mortar and brick tumbled down and surrounded Tailor and the others in a cloud of dust.

Dhani cried out inwardly against the God even as he was forced to send a second blast of destruction in Vane’s direction. Vane was thrown into the air, then came down hard on the floor. In the next heartbeat, Dhani looked to the follower who was still reading from the parchment and sent out a violent peal of lightning that ensconced the man in white light. Close to him, the two followers holding Deirdra cowered away, allowing her to lunge for the man still holding her baby.

With the last of his strength, Dhani pushed himself up to a sitting position and searched for Vane. The demigod was defending himself against two warriors with his powers, but blood coated the side of his face and he staggered to one knee. Dhani lifted his good arm and prepared to cast another bolt of lightning, only to reel from a vicious punch across his jaw. His head hit the floor, dazing him, and he looked up.

Tailor stood over him with a gun aimed at Dhani’s forehead. Dust covered his hair and his eyes blazed a bright golden hue, face frozen in an unyielding expression. “Don’t think for a second I won’t kill my mate to send you back to hell,” he said through clenched teeth.

Within, Dhani silently cried out in joy. Tailor was still alive, and he was aware of Roh Se Kahn’s presence. At that moment, Dhani’s fear of death was replaced by a sense of gratefulness. He knew he was going to die regardless of what happened, and was glad—so glad—that his mate was there with him. He didn’t want to die alone.

Somewhere in the distance, Keenan shouted above the commotion. “Tailor!”

Dhani and Tailor looked to their left where Keenan was running toward them with the collar and key in his hands. Behind him, one of the followers was giving chase and pulled out a gun. In one fluid motion, Tailor unsheathed a dagger at his belt and flung it at the woman. She went down instantly, the blade buried deep in her throat.

Dhani used the distraction to raise his hand for a second blast of power toward Tailor, but he was impeded again, this time by Keenan. Relief swept through Dhani as his friend sent a burst of funneled wind so strong, it felt as if Dhani’s hand had been knocked aside by a bat.

“Hold him!” Keenan yelled.

Tailor tackled Dhani and pinned his wrists to the floor just as Keenan arrived. Keenan’s eyes were wild with fright, yet at the same time, stark with fierce determination. He closed the collar around Dhani’s neck and locked it with the key.

Dhani peeled his lips back in a feral growl. “This isn’t over.”

“No,” Keenan replied vehemently. “It’s not. Sleep.”

The metal warmed around Dhani’s neck and molded to his skin. The feel of Roh Se Kahn’s insidious darkness was extinguished, trapped beyond Dhani’s senses by the collar, along with the light of his spirit. His eyes closed and mind shut down. The last thing he heard was his name whispered in the ragged voice of his mate.