Chapter Thirty-Seven
I was tingling and warm and felt something press into my lap. I looked down and thought I was dreaming.
“Jackie?” She was in my arms—asleep, bandaged and alive. I pulled her tightly against me and breathed in her delicious blend of cheetah and wildflowers. Could this be another dream? I looked at Liam and Aedus and instantly knew it wasn’t. They saw her too. “How did this happen?” I whispered to Liam, not wanting to wake her.
“She traveled the lines.” His expression couldn’t have been more surprised. “She traveled the lines in her sleep.” He looked at his brother who shrugged, apparently not having any clue either as to how it had happened. Jackie stirred, her forehead creasing as she looked up at me, unsure of where she was.
“Are you my dream Garrett? I could use some of you right now.” She clutched the front of my shirt and buried her face in my shoulder.
I grinned so broadly that my mouth hurt. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this is the flesh and blood version.” I stroked her hair gently, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she was already.
She lifted her hand and touched my face with her fingertips. “My dreams are pretty real, lately.”
I leaned down to kiss her and suddenly she was clutching at my arms When she looked up at me again she asked, “Am I—am I safe?”
Her words almost broke my heart, but I managed to smile, hopefully to reassure her. “You’re with us now. You’re safe, my love.” The feeling of relief was exquisite, but then I looked closely. Bandages covered her upper shoulders and I felt more under the thin fabric of her dress. “Use the lines to heal yourself. The magic will renew your strength.” Her body visibly relaxed as she pulled energy in to take away the pain of Kennet’s last attack.
Samson barked out his version of doggie joy and ran to her, licking her face and hands and wiggling his stubby tail. She started to cry when she first saw him, then leaned over to scratch him behind the ears and hug him around his massive neck.
“He found the clearing.”
“Good boy, Samson.”
Jackie insisted on standing when she noticed Liam and Aedus a few feet away. I was happy to see she was perfectly steady on her feet and looked much stronger than she had when she’d first arrived in my lap. She hugged Aedus enthusiastically but he responded in his usual reserved way by patting her back, probably afraid to hurt her. “I am very glad you are safe, Jacqueline. My father will be as well.” Aedus said.
Liam was another story. He lifted her up and spun her around, hugging her so tightly I was afraid her wounds would bother her. When he realized what he’d done he asked, “Do you need a doctor?”
“I feel almost like myself again. Thank you both for helping Garrett search for me.” The fae brothers nodded deeply, their hands pressed to their hearts.
She turned again toward me, each of us drinking the other in with deep breaths and intense gazes. Jackie broke the silence by throwing herself against my body, pulling my head down for a kiss, then locking her fingers in my hair making it impossible for me to move without losing several clumps. Liam and Aedus laughed at us, and it felt wonderful to hear that joyful sound.
When she finally broke away to breathe, I said, “Bridgett’s here too. She helped lead us to you.” Jackie searched the area, looking shocked when she saw the cheetah standing a good distance away.
“Why are you in cheetah form? Come closer.” The small cheetah moved hesitantly forward, not sure of her welcome. “You silly ass, get over here. This wasn’t your fault.” That did it. Bridgett moved like lightning, almost knocking Jackie down. She licked her face while Jackie scratched her behind the ears and giggled. “Thanks for helping them find me.” Bridgett’s cheetah chirred happily.
“I told her to shift for her safety. Kennet will be here as soon as he realizes you’re gone. Liam will take you and Bridgett to Faerie then come back. We’ll finish him here.”
“No, I’m staying with you.” She grabbed my arm, at first I thought in fear, but she was glowering in anger. “I want a piece of him.”
“Jackie…”
“I’m staying.” Picking up the bottom hem of her dress, she started ripping at it wildly, taking off at least eight inches and giving herself the appearance of some ancient Grecian warrior. She straightened, shook out her hair and grinned at the fae brothers. They smiled back, looking just a bit unsettled by her slightly manic behavior. Rage paced restlessly across the emerald of her eyes, her cheetah claws peeking out from beneath her broken fingernails. It was obvious she’d rebounded physically, thanks to the magic, but I was much more worried about her emotional health.
I was about to argue that she return to Faerie as the brothers and I had discussed, when the conversation became moot. With a sharp twinge of energy, Kennet appeared with another fae, both of them dressed in light armor. They were immediately followed by six very large werewolves, who spread out to surround us. Aedus, sword in hand and instantly adorned with his own light armor, moved immediately to face Kennet, as if this were a prearranged duel between just the two of them. Liam ran in his graceful way to block the other fae from attacking us, while Jackie and I faced the weres, three each. Not terrible odds, although I would have preferred that she was safely away from here and faced them all alone. I gestured for Bridgett to climb the tree near Kennet, and to my amazement, she scooted right up. Samson stood with Jackie, growling and snarling, and it gave me some relief to see it.
Aedus spoke to Kennet in the Fae language. “You will return with us, Lord Kennet, to be judged before the Council of Elders for the imprisonment and torture of six fae, the abduction and torture of Jacqueline Crawford Cuvier—a protected ally—and for the use of blood magic, which is prohibited according to our laws.” Aedus stood proudly, showing Kennet no fear, his long dark hair floating around his face and his amethyst eyes glowing with gold. He looked like the warrior prince that he was. Lord Caelen would’ve been very proud.
Kennet laughed as the wolves around us yipped and howled. The single fae guard remained at attention, frowning at Liam and stoically waiting for his orders. He and Kennet had a crest engraved on their breastplates that I wasn’t familiar with, while Aedus and Liam’s bore the one representing Caelen’s lineage.
“The laws set down by the Queen of Faerie preclude the laws of your puny Cascade Sidhe.” Kennet answered Aedus with a look of disgust. He made a show of taking in a deep breath, then smiling as he looked around the tree line. “This mortal world is so alive, I’ve become quite enamored of it, and I find the energy of its creatures very satisfying.” His gaze flicked toward Jackie, his expression turning angry. “You will give the tasty little shifter back to me, young fae, and we will leave the rest of you in peace. I have much more planned for her.”
I hissed at him and he twisted to me, smirking. “I had her, vampire, and I’ll take her many times again before I kill her.”
“You’re dead today, Kennet,” I snarled.
“We’ll see.” He drew his sword with a ringing tone that filled the clearing, facing Aedus who’d already drawn his. They started to glow, their personal magical energy surrounding them in thick cords of almost limitless power. It crackled with sharp bursts of lightning and pulsed with a heartbeat that I recognized from my immersion in the lines. The sound of their enchanted swords crashing together rang in my ears like bells, echoing off the distant mountains.
Liam and his fae opponent were circling each other, blades in hand, when the wolves moved in to attack Jackie and me. I took out the first one with a chokehold, then a twist to break his neck. I heard a crash as a wolf went flying past to slam headfirst into a tree. Jackie was in fine form, it appeared. Samson snarled beside me. He’d jumped and bitten into the neck of a third wolf. As soon as he’d dragged the attacker to the ground, Samson ripped out his throat, then raced to help Jackie with the wolf who’d tackled her. She quickly ended that one’s unhappy life with a fist in the throat, crushing his windpipe. I had my hands full with the two still left. One of them had bitten my leg and the other was snapping at my neck with his huge jaws.
I smiled as I opened myself to the lines and felt my fangs pop and my eyes go silver. I reached for the wolf with the big teeth and broke his jaw with one quick pull, throwing him to the side for Samson to finish off. The other one had backed off when he’d noticed he was the only wolf left alive. He took off, so I switched to vamp speed and grabbed him. I broke his leg and he howled and shifted back to human. “What pack are you from?” I demanded. He shook his head. “Not smart.” I broke his arm and he screamed this time. He croaked out the name of the pack and I thanked him, then broke his other leg so he couldn’t get away. In the supernatural world, there is no Geneva Convention. Prisoners are tortured for information to save innocent lives. It was gruesome, but it worked. I would provide Aaron with the information and he would collect the prisoner and investigate this man’s pack. Then the Western Pack Council would decide what needed to be done.
Jackie and Samson had finished off their three wolves, so I turned my attention to the main two battles, racing back to help where I could. Liam and his Fae opponent both had serious wounds, but the much taller guard was weakening and was no longer steady on his feet. Liam finished him with a well-aimed swipe of his blade and the guard’s head rolled, coming to rest against a tree trunk.
Relieved, we turned to watch the battle in the center of the clearing. Although Aedus was fighting with amazing skill and strength, Kennet was winning. He was magically stronger and more experienced, having fought against thousands of formidable opponents. Aedus stumbled. When Jackie took a step toward the fight, Liam stopped her.
“You cannot interfere. This is a personal duel between them.”
Jackie struggled in his grasp. “Screw that, Liam, I’m helping him.” She turned, meaning to run toward them, when suddenly Kennet sank his sword into Aedus’ chest and pulled it out, his blade covered in blood. Aedus managed to stop the worst of the bleeding with his magic, but the effort caused him to collapse onto his knees. A moment later, he began to scream. Kennet laughed as he played his mental games with Aedus’ mind.
Unexpectedly, a cheetah dropped onto Kennet’s back, claws out, ripping at his throat with her teeth. Kennet tore Bridgett away and threw her against a tree where she crumpled to the ground. A huge Rottweiler took her place, biting viciously into his arm. Kennet yanked him away angrily as I dove in to tackle him and force him to the ground. Jackie punched him in the face while he was down as Liam dragged Aedus away from the fight and then drew his blade to join us. Kennet pushed us all away with an incredibly powerful rush of energy and stood up, snarling. His eyes locked on Jackie and he reached for her, but she backed away in a blur, managing to stay out of reach. Kennet disappeared.