She was in the tunnel again. It was cold, dank, and very dark, and she couldn’t stop shivering. Her wand grew warm in her hand, helping to ease some of the chill as she used her magic to light the wand and illuminate the way.
Her heart pounded in her ears as she crept along the narrow passageway she’d been down before. She stumbled over loose rocks and dirt and almost dropped her wand.
She eased up to the corner where the red light crept, holding her breath, knowing that the cavern waited for her. When she could breathe again, she slipped around the corner and nearly gasped aloud.
The cavern was just as beautiful this time. Her golden wand light glistened off the crystal formations hanging from the ceiling and jutting up from the floor of the cavern.
At the other side of the cavern was the bloody glow that squelched any admiration for the cavern. Something so evil shouldn’t be in such a place of beauty.
She nearly tumbled down a rough-hewn trail to the floor of the cavern, knowing she had no choice but to go to the red light
Her feet grew leaden as she walked across the cavern toward the great stone door. It was as if heavy weights had been tied to her legs. Her wand light dimmed so low that it was almost useless.
When she finally reached the door, she once again stood in the circle of runes, except this time there was no great eye. The crimson glow seeped around the door’s edges, creeping toward her like bony, bloody fingers.
Chills rolled over her at the evil emanating from behind that doorway and she stumbled backward. Whatever was behind that door was bad. Very bad.
Her heart thrummed.
Her throat closed off. She needed a spell to counteract the dark sorcery that both surrounded her and filled her with intense fear.
She tried to find the words. Only a rusty croak came out when she opened her mouth.
She tried again.
Nothing.
She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t be able to keep the door closed. But she had to. Goddess, why wouldn’t the words come?
This time she tried to move forward to face whatever was behind that door.
Shock jarred her as her feet sank into the stone, up to her ankles, like quicksand. The quicksand molded around her feet and they might as well have been encased in concrete.
The pounding of her heart grew faster and faster as she fought for freedom, fought to save her own life in order to save her family, her friends, her city, her world.
I can’t let that door open.
Using her wand, she tried to cast a spell that would free her, but her mind remained blank. Something blocked her, like a steel wall she couldn’t see through.
She went completely still.
And then it slammed into her with the force of a boulder careening down a mountaintop.
She was a sacrifice.
A sacrifice to the gods who had been waiting for millennia to be freed.
And to feed.
The cavern began shaking. Dirt and stones rained down on her. A rock struck her in the temple and she swayed from the force of it.
Red light brightened as the door scrubbed stone and began to open.
Silver screamed Copper’s name.
Copper’s eyes flew open to see only darkness. She tried to sit up, but a heavy weight pinned her down.
She fought against the weight, fought to free herself. She banged her fists on the mass trapping her—
She was shoved flat on her back, her arms pinned above her head, the great weight suddenly on top of her, between her thighs.
“Little fire,” a familiar voice said. “It was a dream. You are safe, with me.”
Tiernan. It’s Tiernan.
Relief rushed through her in one large sigh.
Copper breathed hard as her eyes came back into focus and her nightmare bled away. She was in Tiernan’s room and had slept with him, while he had simply held her all night.
They had removed their clothing before falling asleep almost immediately. What time was it? The blinds were drawn tight, so she had no idea.
She was still beneath him as he released her arms. She let out a shuddering sigh. “The dream—it was worse this time.”
Tiernan brushed his lips over hers in a whisper of a kiss as he eased beside her. “I am here, little fire. Whatever it is, we will face it together.”
She cuddled closer to Tiernan, needing his warmth, his comfort. Goddess, how she needed him in so many ways. Ways that she couldn’t even begin to fathom.
He stroked her head and she relaxed in his arms. “Everything will be all right,” he said as he caressed her. “I am here for you.”
Yes, he made her feel as if all would work out—that they could do anything together.
Something gripped Copper’s belly so tightly she almost couldn’t breathe.
No, it isn’t possible. No, no, no. Not possible.
Love.
She couldn’t have.
She had.
I’ve fallen in love with Tiernan.
Oh, goddess. A man who might soon be married, and she was in love with him.
Copper pushed herself from his arms and swung her legs over the side, letting the covers drop away from her. She took a deep gulp of air as the sensation in her belly became more intense.
“Copper?” He moved behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“I—I.” Copper swallowed. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be with you.”
She shoved his hand from her shoulder, stood, and moved away from the bed. He studied her with a puzzled expression and a look that tore her gut apart.
Hurt. He looked hurt.
Before she could embarrass herself by proclaiming her love, she grabbed her clothing from last night and dressed as quickly as she could. She avoided his gaze and turned her back on him.
“What do you mean, Copper?” he said softly as he came up behind her and pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck.
Copper bit her lower lip. She wouldn’t cry, dammit. She would not cry. This whole thing had been about sex from the start. She’d known it. She’d gone into it with her eyes wide open. She’d figured they’d have sex and go their merry ways.
She never considered the possibility she would fall in love with the man.
Copper ducked away from him and grabbed her socks and jogging shoes in one hand.
She cast one tortured glance back at Tiernan. “I can’t be with you. I can’t have sex with you. It’s over.”
And with that she let herself out the door and she hurried from the apartment.
Tiernan felt as though he’d been punched in the gut. His heart and soul had an ache he couldn’t define.
He sat where she left him for a long time. They had enjoyed pleasures together. He could not imagine a woman he wanted more. But it was a physical need. Nothing beyond that.
Then why did her reaction tear him apart?
Tiernan’s logical mind churned over possibility after possibility. He analyzed his feelings for Copper. A word struck him so fast and hard that his heart clenched and it rocked him to his core.
Love.
He was in love with Copper.
Being over two thousand years old, Tiernan had never really believed in love, at least not for himself. That was usually a fanciful notion that two people occasionally held for one another.
Lust was another thing. Sharing pleasures with others was common in Otherworld, and nothing more was expressed beyond satisfaction of slaked desires.
But he could not deny the pounding of his heart, the feelings welling up inside of him for Copper.
In the D’Danann hierarchy, none of the lords and ladies of the court joined for love. They wed to make their houses stronger, for prestige. His arranged joining with Airell was to make the Houses of Cathal and Torin two of the strongest among the D’Danann.
He had felt no emotion when he had agreed to join with her, he had simply acquiesced to his parents’ wishes. No emotion whatsoever had been involved.
Tiernan blew out a long breath. He had yet to come up with a solution that would satisfy all parties involved. His heart told him he could not marry Airell when she carried Urien’s babe. Yet how could he not without humiliating her? The consequences were too dire to consider.
And Copper. Gods, how could he let her go?
The thought of never being with Copper again tore him open like a sword through his belly.
Thoughts of never seeing her teasing smile again, or the fire in her eyes when she was angry, and how dark those eyes grew when they shared sexual pleasures tore at his soul. To never touch her again—it was as if that sword in his belly had been heated in a forge and it burned hot and heavy in his gut.
He felt dazed as he stared at the apartment’s front door, his thoughts consumed by Copper. How had this happened? But there could be no denying the thumping of his heart, the way his skin grew hot, then cold, the way blood thrummed in his ears.
Tiernan continued to stand frozen in one spot. A battle raged in his mind, but he could not negate the truth. He was in love with Copper.
He inhaled deeply and let out a long exhale. How could he resolve this situation to everyone’s satisfaction, including his own and Copper’s?
Possibilities churned through his mind as he fought to find a solution. He raked his fingers through his hair. If he went against his parents’ wishes, he could damage their relations with the House of Torin and he would humiliate the young woman once it was known she was pregnant. There was no suitable D’Danann with enough wealth to take her hand in marriage.
Tiernan’s thoughts turned to Urien. The warrior was as young as Airell but was from a D’Danann lesser court. Airell had proclaimed her love for Urien, and carried his babe. But Urien did not have the means to raise his station.
Tiernan stumbled into the shower, needing to feel the heat of the water pound on his body. As he cleansed himself, his head ached from the enormity of his thoughts, but it was nothing compared to the ache in his chest and the feeling of the fiery sword in his belly.
Gods.
He stepped out of the shower, dried himself, and strode back into the bedroom. It was empty, so empty without Copper.
He paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling with its yellowed paint and cobwebs in one corner. He felt as trapped as one of the insects tightly snared within the spider’s web.
Some way to rectify the situation must exist. His analytical mind continued to consider possible solutions as his heart ached and that sword twisted within his gut.
A thought came to him that he tried to reject, yet it was the only possibility he could think of. If he chose that path, he would be disowned from his own family, tossed from the court.
If he left, he would never again know the life he had lived for centuries. He would be throwing away the responsibilities that had been shouldered upon him.
Responsibility. Duty. Honor.
Yet there was no other answer that would come to mind. He could not bear those responsibilities and have Copper, too.
Head aching with the thought of what he must do, Tiernan left the apartment and walked into the early morning air. He went straight to Enchantments, past the witches working in the store, and into the kitchen.
The door swung shut behind him as he went up to Cassia. The only other person in the room was Hawk, who leaned against the table, his arms across his chest.
The Elvin witch gazed at Tiernan thoughtfully, but did not say a word.
He gave a heavy sigh. “I need your aid to cross to Otherworld.”
“As do I,” Hawk said, coming up beside Tiernan. “I must enlist the aid of more of the D’Danann in finding Silver.”
Tiernan nodded. “You will have my assistance, brother, when we return. It should not take us long to deal with what business we have.”
When Cassia said, “Come,” Tiernan simply nodded and he and Hawk followed her through the store and out into the foggy day.
They walked silently along the streets until they reached a great wooded area that he had gone to with Cassia before, the massive Golden Gate Park.
Hosts of people strolled the sidewalks and the streets, some on bicycles, others on a series of spinning wheels beneath their shoes that he had been told were inline skates.
The air carried to him the scents of water, pine, and grass—but Copper’s apples-and-cinnamon scent, too. Tiernan frowned.
Could she have come this way?
When they reached the small footbridge that ran over the stream, he paused and looked at Cassia. His long black coat flapped around his boots that sank into mud at the base of the bridge.
“I’ll need to take you across one at a time.” Cassia avoided the mud and moved onto the bridge. Her full skirts swished as she passed by him. She was a third of the way over the bridge when she turned and looked over her shoulder. “Stop wasting time.”
Tiernan followed her, mud sloughing off his boots in clumps as he walked up to stand by her side.
“You wait,” Cassia said to Hawk, and the warrior gave a swift nod. “Remember to concentrate on your home so that you will arrive in the correct location,” she said to Tiernan.
Again Tiernan gasped and tried to breathe when they reached the top of the bridge. He could not see and his chest was afire.
Then he was in his world where he took deep gulps of air. Cassia was gone, only the mound of earth behind him.
Hawk and Cassia appeared out of the earthen mound. Hawk seemed to have fared no better than Tiernan when he crossed, and the large man shook his head as if to shake away the strange feelings of the transport.
Cassia focused on Hawk. “When you have concluded your business, go to the Great Guardian and ask her to use the transference point to return you to where you belong.”
With that, the Elvin witch turned her back, walked straight into the mound, and vanished.
Tiernan heard the Dryads tending to their trees and the Pixies playing among the star flowers.
Pixies. He’d never think of them the same way again.
Silently Hawk accompanied Tiernan, obviously lost in his own thoughts. When they reached the village, other D’Danann warriors greeted them with smiles and slaps on the back. Hawk gave them orders to meet him in the training yards, and the men and women warriors simply nodded their understanding.
Tiernan parted from Hawk, who left for the D’Danann training yards. Tiernan strode to the gates behind the Chieftains’ chamber and through the black gates. His thoughts were clear as he neared his home. Surely this was the right thing to do—for himself and for Airell. Gods, he hoped so.
His insides burned even hotter at the thought of what he must do.
After he entered the manor, he waited for one of the servants to summon his mother. Lady Cian hurried from the parlor, a flurry of pale blue silk and a smile of delight on her pretty features. “You have returned early!”
Tiernan forced a smile and kissed his mother’s knuckles. The sight of his mother brought warmth to his chest. As well as guilt, along with the desire to not disappoint his parents. But he had no other options.
“Where is Father?” Tiernan asked, his voice gruffer than he intended.
Cian’s hand fluttered in the direction of his father’s study. “In there, as always.”
Tiernan glanced at his mother as he took her by the arm and escorted her to the study. His chest tightened and his gut burned. How could he disappoint the people he loved? How could he turn his back on his responsibilities, on honor and duty?
How could he not be with Copper?
Tiernan’s father appeared delighted to see him, his smile wide and his handshake firm. Tiernan wished he could return the smile.
Artan stepped back and frowned. “What troubles you, son?”
Tiernan drew his sword from his sheath, knelt, and laid it at his father’s feet. With his head bowed he said, “I have come with much to discuss, Father.”
The symbolism of Tiernan’s laying down his sword could not have been lost on Artan.
“Rise.” His father’s gruff voice held concern.
Tiernan stood and met his father’s gaze head-on. Tiernan was taller, but not by much. His father wore a brown shirt with bloused sleeves and brown breeches.
The ache magnified in Tiernan’s chest over what he must now do. He was negating all of his duties as his father’s son. He was disregarding the responsibilities that had rested so heavily on him. That still did, even though he must now renounce them.
He was forsaking his honor.
Tiernan cleared his throat. “I cannot wed Airell.”
The silence following his statement made his ears ring.
“How could you even say such a thing?” Cian stared at him with horrified eyes. “This marriage has been planned since Airell was a babe.”
Artan’s face turned a ruddy red that nearly matched his tufted hair. “You will join with Airell. There is no further discussion.”
“We will discuss this, Father.” Tiernan’s voice held a note of finality. “I am in love with a witch of human and Elvin blood, and if she will have me, it is her I will wed.”
Artan slammed his fist on his desk, upsetting a bottle of red ink so that it toppled and began to bleed across pages on his desk. “You will wed Airell or you will be disowned, never to be taken back into our family.”
“No!” Cian gave a little cry. “You must join with Airell. Her family would be devastated by the loss. Airell will be humiliated. There is no other man of stature that she may marry. And our house? What of the House of Cathal?”
Tiernan swallowed and raised his head. “Airell is in love with Urien.”
“She what?” Cian said, disbelief in her voice.
Artan’s expression darkened. “Urien does not have the gold to raise his stature within the court. He must equal you in wealth for him to join with Airell.”
“I realize this.” Tiernan raised his hand indicating that his father hear him out. Artan sputtered but let Tiernan continue. “I will go to the sum-keeper and transfer all my gold to Urien. That will provide him with more than enough to buy his way higher in the court and to provide for Airell, and make the House of Brend one to contend with.”
Artan straightened, his face impossibly redder. “You will not.”
Cian gasped. “We will not stand for it.” She clenched her hands in her skirts. “Neither will Edana and Faolan.”
“I understand Airell’s parents will not be pleased, but Urien is a good man.” Tiernan looked from his mother to his father. “The gold is mine to give. I do not care that it shall make me a pauper.”
He sighed as his gaze returned to his mother. “I know you have expected much of me, and it is with a heavy heart that I must disappoint you. But what matters now is the woman I love.”
Artan bellowed, “What you propose now is unacceptable. These responsibilities have been given to you for centuries. You have been trained to accept them from the time you were born.”
“You are usually levelheaded,” Cian said, panic in her voice. “Has someone made you ill, or perhaps used magic against you?”
Tiernan sighed again. He felt tired, as if the weight of worlds rested on his shoulders. “No, Mother. I am in my right mind. I know what it is I must do.”
Artan gritted his teeth then said, “I warn you, you will be disinherited. You will get nothing from your mother or me.”
“I am sorry to disappoint you, Father.” Tiernan gave a low bow. “I have sought only to please you and Mother all my years. But I have no choice. I cannot leave behind the woman I love.”
Tiernan knelt and retrieved his sword, then sheathed it as he looked at his parents. “I love you both as well, and it is to my sorrow that I have hurt you so.”
He paused, looking from one horrified face to the other. “This maid is far more important to me than anything in Otherworld. If she will have me, then my life is hers. If she will not, then I will continue serving as a D’Danann warrior and live with my comrades in the village.”
“Out!” Artan pointed to the door, his entire body shaking. Tears rolled freely down Cian’s face. “Do not return.”
“As you wish, Father.” Tiernan bowed again to Artan and nodded to his mother before he walked out of the only home he had ever known.
His insides twisted and his head ached. A strange sensation pricked the backs of his eyes. What he had proposed was the only solution, but the responsibilities he had forsaken weighed heavily on him.
Honor. Duty. Responsibility.
Was it not honorable to make Copper his life mate? Was it not his duty to provide and care for her? Was it not his responsibility to share his heart with the one he truly loved?
Tiernan went to the sum-keeper’s house next. Crevan, a bald, jovial man, seemed delighted to see him and escorted Tiernan into the study where he did his sum-keeping. “Lord Tiernan. What may I do for you?” the man asked.
Tiernan did not sit. “Transfer all my gold, every last coin of it, to Urien’s account.”
Crevan’s jaw dropped. “P-pardon?”
“Urien is to receive all my wealth.” Tiernan gestured to a stack of blank parchment. “Please draw up the papers now.”
“But—”
Tiernan braced his hands on the sum-keeper’s desk and met his watery-blue eyes. “Draw up the papers,” he repeated slowly, with enough authority in his voice to make the sum-keeper blink rapidly.
Obviously flustered, Crevan brought out sheets of parchment and began to scratch words feverishly across the pages.
Tiernan drew away from Crevan’s desk. “May I send your servant to bring Lord Urien and Lady Airell to your quarters?”
The sum-keeper did not look up from his work and waved one hand toward the doorway. “Yes, yes.”
Tiernan spoke to the servant, a beautiful blonde woman dressed in a simple gray frock. She nodded her understanding and curtsied as she said, “Yes, my lord,” and scurried from the manor.
By the time the sum-keeper had finished making three copies of the document—one for Tiernan, one for Urien, and one for his own records—both Airell and Urien had arrived.
They appeared confused, and Airell seemed somewhat flustered to be in the same room as Tiernan and Urien at once. Her gaze darted from one to the other, and then she looked at her hands that were clenched before her.
Airell wore apparel befitting ladies of the court. Her blue gown was snug down to her tiny waist that would soon blossom with child. The gown had voluminous sleeves and the skirt that reached her toes was so wide and full that it was a wonder she had been able to pass through Crevan’s front doors.
Urien, as one of the younger D’Danann, wore the black garb of the warriors.
Tiernan ignored them for a moment as he took a quill from the sum-keeper, dipped it in ink, and scratched his signature across one of the documents. He proceeded to do the same with the other two.
When he finished, Tiernan cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Airell, I cannot wed you. We both are well aware of the circumstances.”
At that the blonde, blue-eyed beauty’s cheeks flamed, but Urien went pale.
“Let me continue,” Tiernan said, raising his voice. He took two of the documents from Crevan and handed one to Urien.
“I am turning over my entire fortune to you, Urien.” Tiernan watched the man’s eyes widen. “This will be more than enough to increase your stature and the House of Brend within our courts so that you may wed Airell.”
The pair of them stared at him, shock and confusion on their features.
Tiernan smiled, feeling as though at least one burden had been lifted from his chest. “I have fallen in love with an Earth witch. I do not know if Copper will have me, but I know I cannot wed another.”
Both Urien and Airell looked stupefied. Then Airell came alive. She flung her arms around Tiernan’s neck and hugged him, enveloping him in her powdery scent. “Thank you.”
She released Tiernan to wrap her arms around Urien. “This means we can truly be together!”
Urien seemed hesitant, but then hugged Airell back. They held on to one another as they drew away enough for Airell to look up into Urien’s gaze. Airell had tears in her eyes, and Urien appeared to be choked up.
“This gift—” Urien stared at the document that gave him instant wealth. “It is too much... I cannot—”
Tiernan interrupted him. “You can and you will.”
Urien shook his head, more in disbelief than in argument. “Why would you do such a thing?”
Tiernan smiled. “As I said, I love another.” He looked to Airell. “I could not leave you with nothing and I would never dishonor you.”
The front door to Crevan’s home opened with a slam against the wall, causing Airell and Urien to spring apart from their embrace.
Airell’s mother, Edana, and her father, Faolan, stood in the entryway as the servant shut the door behind them. Edana’s head was high, her pinched features taut with anger. Faolan’s mouth was a furious slash across his face, his hands curled into fists at his sides.
Both of Airell’s parents looked accusingly at Urien and Airell, who each had a high blush on their cheeks. Then Edana’s and Faolan’s gazes riveted on Tiernan.
“How dare you attempt to break your vow to our daughter?” Edana clenched her hands together and her hands were completely white from gripping them together so hard. “You cannot break your betrothal.”
“I have given my wealth to Urien,” Tiernan said calmly, looking from Edana to Faolan. “It is done. The sum will give the House of Brend the stature in the court that he may wed Airell.”
Faolan shook his finger at Tiernan and bellowed, “No! It is your house that is to be joined with ours.” His burning gaze turned on Urien. “Not someone bred of a lesser court.”
The power of Faolan’s prejudice sparked Tiernan’s anger and he gritted his teeth. “Urien is a good man. He and Airell love one another and will make a perfect joining.”
Spittle flew from Faolan’s mouth as he turned on his daughter. “You will not wed the likes of this—this lesser man.”
Airell straightened, her shoulders thrown back and her chin high. “I choose Urien.” A blush tinged her cheeks as she glanced at Tiernan.
Edana’s mouth opened in surprise and Faolan looked taken aback.
“What—you—how dare—” Faolan sputtered.
Urien put his arm around Airell’s shoulders, holding her tightly to him, and stood tall before her parents. “We love one another and have since we were children. It is a blessing that Tiernan has given us.”
Edana and Faolan looked too shocked to speak.
Airell turned to Tiernan and gave a deep curtsy, spreading her sapphire skirts before standing straight again. “I owe you much, Tiernan.” Her gaze turned to Urien’s. “We owe you much.”
Urien reached out and grasped Tiernan’s hand. “Thank you, brother. If there is any way I can repay you, I will do so gladly.”
“Your happiness will be my reward,” Tiernan said with a small bow to Urien and Airell.
To Faolan and Edana, Tiernan gave another bow. When he straightened he said, “Urien will make a good match and a good son-in-law. They will bear many children and carry forth the name of both your houses.”
Tiernan folded his copy of the document and then slid it into his black trench coat. He gave the stunned sum-keeper, Urien, Airell, and her parents each one last nod and strode out the door.
Now that he had forsaken all that he had ever known, he would return to Copper and tell her of his love.