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  Stone still cast a hard look at Kaden. “He’d better not.” Of course, Stone had no idea how he’d go about fulfilling a threat to an elf-lord. “Well, that’s settled then. Good. And now, I have a war to get back to.”

  But Vojalie caught his arm. “Don’t leave yet, Stone. Actually, I’m here for you.”

  “For me? Why?”

  She moved away from him and huffed a sigh. “I need you to consider doing something you won’t want to do.”

  Stone frowned once more. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I need you to align yourself with Queen Rosamunde. Actually, I need you to bond with her.”

  He couldn’t help it, he laughed outright. “You’re kidding. But you and every other realm person in our world knows how I feel about our reluctant queen.”

  “She needs you right now. Badly. All I’m asking is that you give her a chance.”

  “In what way does she need me and why the hell should I care? She’s the only realm-person I’ve known who has enough raw power to stand up to Margetta. Instead, she’s holed herself up in her castle, enjoying her safe life, while so many of our people have died.”

  The expression on Vojalie’s face bewildered Stone. For a long moment, she appeared as though she was staring straight through him. “There’s so much I want to say to you, but I can’t.”

  “About Rosamunde?”

  “Yes.”

  He snorted. “I’ll happily run missions with Aralynn who I know to be a friend to the queen, but Rosamunde is out of the question. Are we done here?”

  Vojalie’s lips parted as though she wanted to say something more. She closed them as quickly, then nodded.

  Stone bid all three farewell, then headed to the front door. He had to dip low since Joseph’s front entry catered more to his short-statured clientele.

  Joseph had followed him and as Stone moved up the path, the gremlin called out from the open doorway. “You’re wrong about the queen.”

  A wet, fat raspberry followed.

  Stone ignored the diminutive man as he set his feet toward Aralynn’s cottage, hoping he’d find her there. More than anything, he needed to talk over their difficult situation.

  ~ ~ ~

  After leaving Joseph’s, Rosamunde had walked in the woods for a few minutes then finally headed back to Aralynn’s cottage. Once there, instead of remaining in her Aralynn form, she transformed back to her fae body, with her dominant fae thoughts. Aralynn, as a lusty wolf, wasn’t giving her very much peace.

  And Rosamunde needed to think things through.

  She still wore her bloodied battle clothes and she was more distressed than she could remember being in a long time.

  Making love with Stone had been extraordinary and that alone had left her feeling as though her whole life had been turned upside down. But the other reality had sent her peace-of-mind to hell and beyond.

  For the past several minutes, she’d done little more than pace the small three-room dwelling and every once in a while touch her throat where Stone had so recently broken her skin.

  And taken her blood.

  And made her feel as though being connected to his body in every possible way was heaven, and nothing less.

  A blood rose.

  Nothing could have complicated her life more completely than learning she was the very thing Stone needed most in his painful mastyr’s existence.

  She’d meant it when she said it was a cruel joke because Stone despised her as the queen. Stone was a man of tremendous power and her fae instincts told her he had potential way beyond what he possessed right now. She thought it possible his opinion of her was based on his own self-knowledge rather than on an accurate assessment of her own essential power. She just didn’t know.

  Or maybe he’d long since sensed that she was a blood rose without knowing it. After all, the women who experienced this phenomenon often increased in power and ability. Would she? Was this what Stone had intuited about her without knowing the real source? And was it possible she now approached a place where she could actually do battle with Margetta?

  She took a moment to access her inner self-knowledge, but what returned was still a profound sense that the veil of mist surrounding Ferrenden Peace must still be her priority, that at all costs Margetta must be kept out.

  These thoughts and perceptions began returning some of her peace to her.

  As for the blood rose bond, Stone would never accept her as Rosamunde. Whatever affection and respect he felt for Aralynn would disappear the moment he learned the truth. Stone was a forthright man incapable of deceiving anyone. He’d never forgive her for playing the wolf when she was equally the Queen of Ferrenden Peace.

  She heard a rapping on the wooden door and whirled to face it, but remained silent.

  “Aralynn, are you there?” Stone had come to her cottage. “I can see the light on and I’d like to talk things over with you. Would you oblige me? Please?”

  Rosamunde was about to answer in the affirmative when she realized she was still in her fae form. She also wasn’t exactly ready to tell him the truth and until she was, she didn’t want to be with him right now. But she could hardly turn him away. They were battle partners and he might need her.

  Transforming back into Aralynn, she called out, “Hold on.” She still needed distance, though, and sought about in her mind for it. “I’m just hopping in the shower.” It wasn’t much, but at least for a few minutes, she wouldn’t have to be in the same room with him. “Give me a sec?”

  “Sure.”

  She quickly gathered up a fresh set of clothes and as she headed into the bathroom, she called out. “Come in. I won’t be long.”

  She closed the bathroom door and forced some air into her lungs. How much she wished he wasn’t here, but it couldn’t be helped.

  So many emotions whirled around inside her that she made quick work of her leathers, vest and boots and hopped into the shower.

  She turned on the water without thinking and yelped at its freezing temperature. She backed into a corner to avoid most of the spray as the water warmed up.

  When it finally did, she slid under the steaming flow and sighed with pleasure. Sometimes there was nothing better than a hot shower.

  She heard Stone’s voice nearer than she wanted. “Can I come in so we can talk?” He must have opened the door.

  Oh, well. So much for distance.

  “Of course.” She got her hair wet, then lathered up with her favorite herbal shampoo. Stone’s wound had created a spatter that had gone everywhere when she’d flown him back to Ferrenden Peace, including into her hair.

  “I want to complete the blood rose bond with you.”

  Her fingers froze and soapy water poured over her face and into her eyes. The burn was instantaneous.

  She flipped around to lift her face to the warm stream. “You can’t be serious.” She carefully wiped at her eyes to work the soap out.

  “I’d be a fool not to bond with you, which means I’m thinking mostly of myself here.”

  She knew him better than that. “You’re thinking about your people. I know you, Stone. And I understand your motivation. You’ll increase in strength and ability if we bond and those qualities alone could really help with the war. I get it.” She turned around once more and started rinsing the soap out of her hair.

  She heard him chuckle. “How well you know me.”

  “Your drive to see the war come to an end matches my own. So, yeah, I know you. We both want the same thing.” As soon as the soap was out, she worked crème rinse through to the ends. Without it, whether Aralynn or Rosamunde, her hair would be uncontrollable.

  “Then why not bond with me? I admire you, Aralynn, and I trust you with my life. And with what happened back there at Joseph’s, it’s clear to me we’re physically compatible.”

  She couldn’t argue with the last part and in other circumstances, she might have felt the same way, as in why not bond? But she held three secrets from Stone. How could she bond w
ith him when any one of them would be enough to destroy his willingness to even be near her?

  “It’s all so sudden, though.” She thought the argument reasonable enough. “There might be things about me that you would find intolerable once you got to know me better.” She stepped under the flow of the water once more and worked the rinse from her hair.

  He didn’t answer for a moment, then finally said, “And I could say the same thing. I’m pretty impatient. Even impulsive.”

  She chuckled. This much she knew to be very true. “Yes, you are.”

  She heard him laugh as well. “Hey, you didn’t have to agree so readily.”

  With the crème rinse out of her hair, she shut the water off then slid the green curtain back a little, just enough to see him. “Toss me a towel?”

  He pivoted, grabbed one off the rack and handed it to her. But he remained turned away from her, something she appreciated since they had a serious issue to resolve. She didn’t want the situation to become electrified with sex, which it so easily could.

  As she dried off safely behind the shower curtain, she addressed her biggest concern. “I believe the bond is permanent. We’d be tied to each other for life and I’m not sure that’s what I want. Are you really convinced you could live with that? I think we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well over the past seven weeks and you know I admire you tremendously, but a blood rose bond?”

  She heard a deep intake of air as though he would need every molecule of oxygen to make his next statement. “I’m willing to take the chance, to make the sacrifice. I feel I owe it to my people.”

  She wasn’t at all offended.

  Wrapping the towel around herself, she tucked it in tight, then stepped from the small shower. Of course, Stone was so big he pretty much filled the space with little left over for her. Everything in the cottage was undersized, since the original owner had been a troll. Improvements had been made later to expand the ceiling height. The roof had even been raised two feet. But the proportions were still on the small side.

  “Sorry. I need to dry my hair.”

  But he stared at her for a long moment as though caught. “You’re beautiful, Aralynn, though sometimes I swear your eyes turn violet then shift back.”

  She had to think fast. “I have fae blood and some of my people have violet eyes.”

  He nodded as though this made sense. She then gestured with quick flips of her hands for him to retreat.

  He got the message and backed toward the doorway. As tall as he was, he clunked his head on the upper frame.

  He chuckled as he ducked, then moved the rest of the way into her combination living room-bedroom.

  She pulled out her hair dryer and went to work. It was never an easy thing to deal with her mass of red hair. “I’ll be a while. There’s beer in the fridge.”

  “That sounds great. Thanks.”

  She was relieved he disappeared toward the front of the small cottage. She took the opportunity to close the door again. Her fingers shook. She felt as though she was dancing around a bonfire, getting closer and closer to the flames. At some point, she was going to get burned. Badly.

  Once her hair was dry, she pulled the upper half back and secured it with a woven Guardsman clasp. All the Guardsmen had long hair, usually very thick, so the clasps were made for them. Given the mass of her hair, the clasp fit perfectly.

  Dressed at last in a fresh set of battle leathers, including another sleeveless green vest, she left the bathroom. Stone wasn’t near the bed, thank goodness.

  She hadn’t exactly figured out what to do about his suggestion. They weren’t all that different in basic philosophies. Each believed in self-sacrifice and doing what they could to end Margetta’s assault on the Nine Realms.

  But did that mean they had to bond? And if they did form what she knew to be a powerful blood rose bond, would it really make a difference? Or would coming together in that way only complicate her situation even more?

  Before she could give Stone an answer, however, he had to know the truth. The moment had come and part of her was relieved that she would finally be telling him that the queen and Aralynn were one in the same. Even so, her heart sank about two feet into the earth.

  Of course, she strongly suspected this would end any interest he had in the bond.

  But so be it.

  “Stone?” She could feel a draught of cool air coming from the direction of the front door.

  “I’m over here.” He had the front door open and was standing in the doorway. “I was just looking at the moon through the beech trees. I like your cottage.”

  “I do, too.”

  She drew up behind him and rose up on tip-toes to peer over his shoulder. The front doorway was a few inches over seven feet, though fairly narrow so he pretty much filled the space. He leaned his shoulder against the side frame and lifted his bottle of beer to his lips.

  He took a deep swig, then said, “I checked in with Harris. The Invictus dead at Charborne have been taken care of and the villagers are returning to their homes and farms. I’ve put the mayor in for a commendation. Even Elias’s friend has been found. He’d been hiding out with one of the local farmers.”

  “That’s amazing, on every front. And the Com Center? Is Tannisford quiet?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hey, you don’t sound pleased.”

  He turned toward her and the moment his gaze touched hers, desire flowed like a fast-moving river. She had it bad for the Mastyr of Tannisford.

  The left side of his lips curved. “You like me, don’t you?”

  “More than I should, given that we have a war on.”

  He caught her arm suddenly with his free hand, his eyes glittering. “Bond with me. I know it’s the right thing to do.”

  The moment, however, that his fingers wrapped around her bare arm, the earth began to rumble beneath her feet once more.

  She glanced down. “Do you feel that?”

  He nodded. “Kaden says this is elf-lord power.”

  She blinked, lifting her gaze to stare at him. “You talked to him, then?”

  “He admitted he was a reformed elf-lord. Did you know that’s what he was?”

  “I did.”

  The rumbling grew stronger. “He said you use the same power to sustain the mist.”

  “That’s true and it also provides the visions, the ones we’ve used on our missions. And a vision is definitely coming right now, but you’ve never been with me before when I channel the elf-lord power. Stone, it always hurts, so be prepared. In fact, maybe you should let go of me.”

  He released her arm, but he didn’t move away from her. His eyes were wide as she braced herself for the power to hit.

  When it struck, her back arched and the muscles of her legs seized as though there was just too much power for her to handle. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. She levitated a couple of inches off the floor to keep from falling.

  “Aralynn, this is too much. I can feel your agony.”

  She bit the words out, her eyes still closed. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

  “No, I don’t see.” Suddenly, his hand was on her arm once more and at the exact moment he made contact, skin-to-skin, the elf-lord power left her body and flowed straight into Stone.

  And just like that, there was no more pain. She levitated in a descent until her booted feet touched the floor.

  She gasped as she opened her eyes. “What did you do?”

  But Stone merely stared at her, an expression on his face she couldn’t read. Was he in shock? Was the elf-lord power hurting him?

  She didn’t know.

  When the earth quieted down, he released her arm. “I sense a vision coming, about the three mastyrs.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Earlier this evening, Harris mentioned no one could raise Gerrod, Ethan or Quinlan on their coms, but I know now that each was taken by Margetta against his will. That’s what the vision will be about when it
comes. Aralynn, how do I know this? I’m not fae.”

  “I don’t know.” She was thoroughly confused about what was happening. “It must be the elf-lord power.”

  “When I spoke to Harris just a few minutes ago while waiting for you, he said he was going to try to track the mastyrs down. Now he won’t have to.”

  He turned and set his half-empty bottle of beer on the nearby kitchen counter then met her gaze once more. His whole body was vibrating with the power that flowed through him. “I don’t know how this is happening. Vampires don’t have visions. And this power. Sweet Goddess, it’s as though I’ve been born to it.”

  “Did it hurt you?” she asked. “I mean when you first channeled it?”

  He shook his head. “Not even a little.”

  Rosamunde didn’t understand what was going on.

  His lips parted. “The vision is almost on me. Sweet Goddess!”

  Chapter Five

  Stone felt the elf-lord power vibrating through every part of his body. It was different than any frequency he’d ever experienced, as though it enhanced each ability he possessed while at the same time elevating his power levels.

  The vision played at the edges of his mind. He felt the need to do something, but he didn’t know what. This was fae territory, not vampire.

  He focused inward and worked at opening his thoughts and inviting the vision forward. He already had a sense of it, that he’d soon learn where to find the three, now missing mastyrs.

  His heart pounded, sending a sluicing noise through his ears. He was as devoted to the other eight ruling mastyrs as he was to all of Tannisford. They were a brotherhood now, fully united through the Federation against Margetta.

  He closed his eyes and embraced the elf-lord power. He could feel its seductiveness like a warm call to every ambition he’d ever had. He could rescue the three mastyrs and be a hero. He wanted that more than anything.

  When the elf-lord frequency had engulfed him completely, the vision began to flow. He knew that what he was seeing would take place within the next few minutes.

  Gerrod, Ethan and Quinlan were chained to the damp wall of a dark cave. Nearby, a portable fire pit, glowing with bright red coals, held several branding irons. The skin of each warrior was pitted with deep burns.