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Emotions jumbled inside Ronan. His longing to know the two males, his fear for the young immortals’ lives, the necessity of making the Seven strong again. Finally, he settled his thoughts. “I am. They’re old enough, they’re seasoned, and they have the right to find their own callings.” Even if it resulted in their deaths.
“Odds are, only one of them will survive the bonding.”
Ronan exhaled. “I’m aware of that fact.” Yet he and his brother had survived; so had one of Logan’s ancestors. Perhaps their blood would help. If not, he’d regret this decision. Without question. “We don’t have much choice.”
“Agreed. Your strength isn’t going to fully recover until we’re Seven again. Same with the rest of us.”
Speaking of which. Ronan glanced toward the quiet hallway. “Where is everyone?”
“Benny is running around like crazy to get security measures in place, and Adare took the jeep into town just moments after we arrived. He said he’d bring a list of supplies back later today, including a sketch pad for your lady.” Ivar turned back to the woman’s face on the wall screen.
Ronan frowned. “He’s been gone for hours?”
“Yeah. I’m sure he wanted to find a bar and a couple of willing bodies before going shopping.” Ivar shrugged. “We all deal in different ways.” Then he coughed. “You’re not dealing at all.”
“I am,” Ronan muttered.
Ivar stretched his legs out beneath the table. “We should talk—”
“No.” Ronan stood, setting his chair back in place. “We’ll talk about Grace later. I have to think the situation through first.” His chest hurt and his temples pounded. A Key in a coma was useless to them. Now it was obvious why Grace hadn’t passed on after being hurt. The Key markings in her blood had kept her alive, but it wasn’t enough. There was no way to heal her. “We don’t have to make a decision right now.”
“Soon,” Ivar murmured. “For now, you should go make things right with your mate. If she’s been sleeping all day, perhaps she’ll be in a good mood and listen to your dumb ass.”
Ronan frowned. “You’re giving me female advice?”
“Good point.” Ivar’s lip twisted in a half-grin. “Forget I said anything.”
Ronan rolled his shoulders, trying to dispel some of the tightness. “Why haven’t you mated in all these years, Ivar?”
Ivar shook his head and exhaled. “When? I’ve been tracking the Kurjans and the Cyst. Also following Adare while attempting to bring him back in every few decades. Plus, trying to find the Keys, locate Enhanced women, and invest all of our holdings so we’ll have funds in the future.”
Ronan winced. “That does sound like a lot.” Ivar had been forced into the leadership position, it appeared.
Ivar snorted. “Not to mention there have been several wars we’ve assisted in ending, without letting anybody know we existed.” He ground a palm into his right eye. “And then there’s Benny. Benjamin Henry Reese.”
Ronan swallowed. “Right. So. He’s still crazier than hell?”
Ivar sighed and dropped his hand, turning to face Ronan. “I’ve never thought Ben was crazy. Just wild and dangerous. If there’s a good adventure in store, he’s there. But if anybody crosses him or his family…let’s just say I’ve done cleanup more than a few times through the centuries.”
Ronan needed to step up and add some stability to the Seven. It was his job. “And you’ve been searching for the dimension for the final ritual—or rather for the keeper of the ritual.”
“I found him ten years ago,” Ivar said. “I haven’t approached because I’ve been waiting for the Lock.”
“You’ve found her,” Ronan reminded him. “You’ve done your job.”
“Yeah. Imagine my delight when I discovered she was both a Kayrs and a Kyllwood.” Ivar winced. “Not to mention a prophet. Getting her into place in time is going to be nearly impossible.”
But it had to be done. “Having Logan and Garrett on the Seven should help.”
“Really?” Ivar asked mildly.
Ronan’s spine snapped to attention. “Yes. Why?”
Ivar shook his head. “Just looking at all the angles. Those two would be in the best position to prevent our using the Lock. She is their niece.”
“She’s my niece too.” Ronan tucked his thumbs in the waist of his cargo pants. “She’s the Lock, she’ll do her job, and we’ll protect her.”
Ivar turned and stood, facing him. “Take a minute, Ro. Seriously. We don’t know that she’ll survive the ritual. She’s the fucking Lock. We know the ritual, and we understand how to make it happen, but we don’t have one damn clue what happens next. Sacrifice might be necessary. You know that. We’ve done that. Remember why we’re a secret?”
Yeah. The idea still made him nauseous. Ronan held up a hand. “Then we research more. We figure out what happens at the ritual. We need to find the dimension still. Or world. Or bubble. Whatever it is, we don’t know how to find it and don’t have a Keeper.”
“We’ll approach Sam Kyllwood about that once we get Logan in place. Either as one of the Seven, or…”
Or dead, if Logan didn’t survive the bonding. Ronan pivoted. “I’m done with this conversation. We have more to figure out before getting to work.” He strode for the hallway, his chest heavy. There were too many uncertainties, and time wasn’t on his side. Not at all. The shield had broken centuries before it should have. Perhaps millennia before. That couldn’t be good.
His footsteps were heavy as he moved through the rough tunnels, slowly making his way back to Grace’s room.
Faith sat on the bed, her eyes closed, her hand over Grace’s head.
He paused in the doorway. “Have you slept?”
“Yes. I awoke around noon, according to the old-fashioned alarm clock I found in the dresser next to my bed.” Faith opened her eyes. “I’ve been here for a couple of hours. I can’t reach her.”
Ronan nodded. “I know.” The hurt in his mate’s eyes was like a punch to the gut. “I could give her blood, and you might be able to reach her briefly, but then she’ll pass on.” Grace wasn’t his mate. If she was, then maybe there’d be some way to save her, since he had a marking on his hand. But he could bring her back briefly before his blood killed her.
Faith’s eyes filled. “I won’t accept that. There has to be a way to save her. She’s a Key.”
Which meant even if she came out of the coma, her life would still be at risk. Ronan couldn’t find a word to say.
Faith pushed herself up from the bed and stood next to it, looking small and vulnerable. “There are so many things I never got to tell her. Moments we haven’t shared yet.” She swallowed, her eyes fathomless in the dim light. “I’ve been thinking about this since you left me to sleep. I don’t want regrets with you.”
His heart started beating faster.
She cleared her throat. “There’s something between us, and it’s big. I feel things I’ve never felt, and I trust you somehow in a way I’ve never trusted anybody.” She shuffled her bare feet on the stone. “I can promise I’ll try with you, and I think I can help during the bonding ritual and in the battles coming up. I’m a good doctor.”
Was she saying what he thought she was saying? His body tensed to rock. Hope flared in his chest, hot and bright.
“And I would like to live for a thousand years or maybe more,” she whispered. “With you, Ronan.”
* * * *
In front of Faith’s eyes, Ronan changed. His eyes darkened and his chest widened. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice a raw rumble.
She swallowed. “Yes.” Not once in her life had she wavered from a path once she’d chosen it. “I don’t know what will happen with us, and I’m not giving up on finding a cure for Grace, but this I want.” She went to him, over the bare stone floor, her feet chilling. “I trust you.”
/> He reached for her, drawing her near. This close, his eyes were pure aqua—a perfect mixture of green and blue. “I want you, Faith. I vow I’ll keep you safe in this life and the next.” He lifted her easily against his chest and began moving farther down the hallway.
It struck her then. His vow of protection. In his mind, that was the most valuable thing he had to give. To promise. She placed her hand over his chest, right above his heart. What about love? Did she love him? It was the closest she’d ever come with anybody, but it sure wasn’t peaceful and easy like she’d imagined it would be. Could he love her? Forever would give her plenty of time to find out. Maybe finally they could have sex. She almost laughed at the hysteria that bubbled up in her.
He dropped his head and kissed her, his mouth going deep, and his arms tightening around her. Cool air brushed her as they entered another room, and he kicked the door shut behind him.
Her nerves pulsed and her body hummed. His tongue swept inside her mouth, claiming her, more insistent than before.
Slowly, he set her on her feet. The cold stone chilled her, but his heated body warmed her.
He tilted her chin, his gaze heated. “I knew you’d be mine from the second I awoke and saw your face in this world. In the real world.”
His touch inflamed her, but a warning sounded in her head as if from a far distance.
He reached down and gently pulled his T-shirt off her, baring her. “God, you’re beautiful.”
She’d never felt so beautiful before. “Your chest is beyond amazing.” Her fingers tangled in his shirt, and she rose up on her toes to tug it over his head. She flattened her hands across his muscled pecs and her breath quickened.
His fingers tangled in her hair, and he drew her head back. His fangs slid down, lethal and graceful.
She caught her breath. Leaning in, he scraped them along her neck in an erotic tease that shot right to her clit. He licked her jugular and his free hand fell to the back of her waist, bending her into his hard erection.
Her head fell back as she let him hold her up. Then she turned, revealing her neck. Her lungs stuttered and she held her breath.
“Very nice,” he murmured, his lips moving against her skin.
She felt so out of control, but there was nothing to do. Except wait.
He placed a very gentle kiss on her neck, nipping her collarbone. She jumped. He chuckled, sweeping his hand over the thin material covering her butt. “I’m not going to bite you until I’m inside you.”
Her abdomen contracted, and her thighs dampened. “Ronan—”
A sharp rap on the door had her jerking against him, her eyelids opening. Oh, this could not be happening. Not right now. It just couldn’t be.
“What?” Ronan growled, his hand still flattened across her ass.
“We’ve had movement,” Ivar said through the door, his voice weary. “Omar raided a village up in Alaska and got at least two Enhanced. I’m trying to trace him now via satellite. I need your help.” His boot steps echoed away and then went silent.
Faith gave a nervous giggle. Then she winced. “I do not giggle. Ever.”
Ronan released her and bent to retrieve the shirt he’d put on her in the last hideaway. His grin was pained. “I just heard you giggle.” Gently, his hands sure, he drew the material over her head. “I’m sorry about this. I’m starting to believe we will never have sex. It isn’t going to happen.” Frustration laced his tone.
Her body ached and yearned, and her head was fuzzy. “I give up. We have to stop putting our bodies in this position.” She looked around at the room, noting the purple bedspread and perfectly matching chair. There was an antique bed table that looked like a twin to the one in her former room. Apparently Ivar hadn’t had time to get rugs yet. “Can I help?”
Ronan cupped her chin and leaned in for a quick kiss. “No. Try to get a little more sleep before dinnertime.” His eyes darkened. “We’re mating tonight. So you’re going to need it.”
With that warning, he turned and exited the room.
She touched her still tingling mouth. Was she crazy? Had the last few days of new revelations and danger thrown her decision-making process out of whack? Her body ached as if she’d fallen down a rocky mountain. Yeah, she wanted him. He was smart and sexy and immortal. But the way things were going, they’d never mate.
His tone when he’d said mine had held a possessiveness in it that had made her pause. Just a little.
Maybe she should think this through.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ronan ignored his raging cock and tried to calm his body down as he entered the computer room. Benny and Ivar sat at different consoles, each typing furiously with shot glasses next to them.
Ronan made a beeline for the vodka bottle next to Benny, lifted it, and drank rapidly. The hard liquor hit his stomach and spread out with a nice chill, yet did nothing to quell the fiery desire still pummeling his veins. He finished and wiped off his mouth. “Where’s Adare?”
“He’d better return before dark,” Ivar said, leaning back from the computer and holding out a hand. When Ronan handed over the bottle, he poured a shot and downed it. Then he kicked the same chair as earlier toward Ronan. “I have satellite feeds coming up in about ten minutes. Benny is sending out notices to known Enhanced that they’re in danger. Omar is making a move right now.”
Fuck. Ronan wiped a hand over his eyes. “How well-known were the Enhanced he took?”
Benny pivoted in his chair, his entire face frowning. “We knew they were potential descendants, but as far as these notes show, they had no clue they were Enhanced. Probably had special little gifts like your mate, but didn’t know how or why.”
Ronan dropped into the chair. “We need Adare here to plan.”
“Let him roam,” Benny countered. “We’ll bring him in when it’s time to fight. He’s too restless to help with this right now.”
After losing his potential mate, who wouldn’t be? Ronan’s entire body ached. “Did you ever meet his mate?”
“Potential mate,” Benny retorted, pouring another shot for Ronan. He lifted a broad shoulder, his gaze concerned. “And yeah, I met her. She was a feline shifter. Tough as hell. The only type of woman he’s ever pursued.”
Ronan tipped back the drink and let it warm a path down his throat to his gut. “You didn’t like her?”
Benny shrugged. “Didn’t see it. Didn’t seem them.” He downed a shot. “But what do I know about mates?”
What did any of them know? Ronan thought he’d been earning Faith’s trust, but she hadn’t told him about her sister being a Key.
Ivar poured three more shots. “We have a few minutes while the searches run.” He glanced at the two of them. “I guess we should talk about it.”
“No,” Ronan said shortly.
“Grace is a Key, Ronan.” Benny lifted his glass and waited for the other two to do the same. “At least one Key isn’t in Omar’s hands.”
They drank.
Ronan set down his glass, spinning it in his fingers. “Whatever you’re going to say, don’t.” It wasn’t like he had a problem connecting the dots. He wanted to mate Faith before he had to think about her sister. “I mean it.”
Ivar leaned back. “We have a duty as the Seven.”
“To do what?” Ronan burst out. “Kill an innocent woman? Are you fucking serious?”
Benny eyed Ivar. “She wouldn’t be alive if she wasn’t a Key. But we need her standing for the ritual—she has to be conscious to take part in the entire thing. We require much more than just her blood. You know that.”
“Says who?” Ronan asked, his gut churning as if he’d eaten the poisonous wilder berries that had grown outside his childhood home. “Maybe her blood will be enough. Take a little, do the ritual, there you go.” The idea even sounded lame to his ears.
Benny rubbed his hand across
his eyes. “That won’t work and you know it. Your centuries of realigning rocks to control magnetic fields is proof enough. If that hadn’t been necessary, we could’ve just made a prison world and left Ulric in it. Blood, bone, and action. The ritual must be performed by the Keys and the Lock—consciously.” He dropped his head to his chest, obviously thinking hard. “I don’t see how anybody could mate her. Even if they did, she might not awaken.”
Ronan grimaced. “Nobody is mating an unconscious woman. Even if somebody could force the brand on their hand, there’s no way.”
“You have a brand,” Ivar said quietly, his blue gaze intense.
Ronan’s shoulders went back. Heat slashed through him. “Are you jesting?”
Ivar swallowed. “I hate suggesting it, I really do. But would your mate prefer for her sister to die or be mated to you?”
Ronan coughed out a strangled laugh. “I don’t think there’s much question on that score. She’d want me to save her sister. Somehow without sex, of course.” The idea was sickening. How could he mate anyone other than Faith? And how could he mate a woman in a coma? It was impossible.
Ivar grimaced. “Sounds like a mess.”
Ronan nodded. “The marking appeared because of Faith. I didn’t force it.” That meant it would never pass to anybody else. There were stories of brands appearing and then disappearing, only to appear centuries later with another potential mate. But this was Faith. She was his only and he knew it. “Even if I tried, this marking won’t transfer to anybody but Faith.” He knew it as sure as he knew his own name.
“Then Grace has to pass on so another Key will be born,” Ivar said, his voice hoarser than usual. “I hate myself for even saying that.”
Ronan’s brain hurt, but no worse than his heart. Not even close.
Something rustled by the doorway. He paused, turning. The scent of his mate was close. Then the sound of her moving away. “Well, fuck.”
Ivar winced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear her.”