Fantasyland 04 Broken Dove (68 page)

When they bounced off my skin and hair, I stumbled but did not fall. I kept running doubled over, my hands in front of me to break me should I fall as I desperately tried to keep standing and most of all,
moving.

I didn’t fall because I got control but I also didn’t fall because a strong arm wrapped around my stomach and hauled me up. It held me to a big body as that body kept running before, still running, he put me back in the snow, forcing me to run with him running close to my back.

And over my head, he grunted nonsensically, “
Veeyoo maya.
” Then he said, “Go,” and finished on a roar, “
Fast!
”

I went and fast and I did it feeling slightly better (slightly) because I had a feeling, seeing as I was still running and not thrown to the snow or being carried away, that these were the good guys.

Guys from my side.

He kept at my back and I had no clue how we both ran so close together but we did.

The one at my back had my back, literally.

The other one I knew was fighting those birds. I heard his grunts of efforts. I saw the flashes of blue sparks.

But there were tons of those birds. The sinister sound of their webby wings flapping filled the air all around. I could hear the shrieks as each arc of the guy’s sword took out not one, not two, but what sounded like dozens.

And my body was electrified with terror.

We kept running and the man at my back twice put a hand to me to shove me in a different direction.

He knew the way home.

Thank God, he knew the way home.

On this thought, again he put a hand to me to shove me a different way and I went that way, head up, watching where I was going so I wouldn’t run into a tree or something.

And that was when I saw him.

And when I saw him, I nearly quit running.

Yes, my life was on the line but at first sight of that man, I nearly quit running.

Because he was just…

That…

Magnificent.

Bigger than the men with me, strikingly beautiful, sitting atop a massive steed in much the same clothing as the other two (but the fur inside his jacket was thicker and longer), his hair not tied back, I knew the man who raced toward us on his magnificent beast was Dax Lahn.

The mightiest warrior in this world.

Before it even seemed possible, the men disappeared at my back because Lahn and his horse were there.

Bent to the side, he swept me up and deposited me in front of him with a grace and fluidity that had my breath leaving me.

He wheeled the horse around and leaned in, pressing me almost to the horse’s neck, covering me with his enormous torso to shield me from the birds. The horse then burst forward through the snow with such speed, my hair flew straight back and the icy air bit deep into the skin of my face.

The birds followed, I could hear them, but we didn’t slow. He also didn’t take the sword from the scabbard on his back.

We just flew.

Mere moments later, peeking in front of me through his horse’s ears, I saw her.

The Golden Warrior Queen.

Circe.

She was on her own steed wearing her own hide coat, hers long, and a billow of richly colored material shot with threads of gold waved around her legs and boots.

Her hair was freaking amazing.

Her eyes were on us.

Lahn tore straight toward her and she didn’t move her horse an inch as we shot past her.

The instant the tail of Lahn’s horse cleared the nose of Circe’s, an almighty shriek filled the air, the snow all around flared blue, then everything went silent except the horse’s hooves turning us around in the snow.

Well, there you go.

Apparently, we’d reached the edge of the enchantments Apollo’s witches had cast.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Lahn straightened us on the horse.

Once turned, I saw the air cleared of birds, the snowy forest beyond tranquil, and Lahn trotted us back to his wife and stopped.

I looked to her to see she was already looking at me.

“Hey,” I said and she smiled.

Wow.

She was really something.

“Hey,” she said back.

I smiled a shaky smile at her and looked up at Lahn to see him eyeing his wife. He felt my gaze and looked down at me.

Okay.

Seriously.

Charging toward me on a horse?

Magnificent.

Right there an inch away?

Spec-freaking-
tacular.

“Hey,” I breathed.

His mouth curved up in a blinding white, unbelievably gorgeous smile.

I fought against fainting.

Circe burst into laughter.

* * * * *

We waited just long enough for the other two guys to show (unscathed, thankfully), collect their horses that were milling about a bit away from Circe, Lahn and me, and for Circe to introduce them as Zahnin and Bain before we were on our way, cantering toward Karsvall.

Zahnin, by the way, was the one with the top of his hair pulled back. Bain was the one with his hair in a plait. I knew this because they grunted unintelligibly in turn when their names were said by their queen.

And eyeing them, it was insane, I had an awesome hot guy (as in
seriously
awesome and seriously
hot
), but I kind of wished I’d been transported to wherever they came from.

We started our journey with me feeling relieved I was alive and not pecked to death by a flock of magical birds.

This relief quickly melted to trepidation.

Because first, I had no clue what was happening with Christophe.

Had he been led away and then attacked by birds too?

And if so, had someone found him and saved him?

And second, if they had found Christophe (and I hoped to God they had), when we returned to Karsvall and Apollo learned what I’d done, he was going to lose his mind.

Christophe being led away was one thing. He was a kid.

Me?

Stupid.

And the worst part about all of it was that when Apollo lost it with me, it would be justifiable seeing as I’d been an idiot.

My feelings of trepidation ran so deep they forced words out of my mouth.

And these words were a muttered, “Apollo is going to lose his mind.”

“Yes,” Lahn stated immediately, the rumble of his deep voice sounding not only over my head but beating into my back.

I bit my lip and looked to Circe.

She was again looking at me.

“You’re safe,” she noted. “He’ll be upset, but once it sinks in that you’re safe, it’ll all be fine.”

She was being reassuring and I’d already decided I liked her, what with her kickass skirt and awesome hair and kind eyes and quick smiles and ability to land a serious hot guy, but at that, I decided I really liked her.

Then I saw her gaze shift up to her husband and whatever look he gave her made her look back to me and roll her eyes.

She was trying to reassure me.

Her husband was thinking thoughts of how he’d feel if Circe stupidly wandered off when malevolence was afoot, she knew it, and followed a stranger into danger anyway.

In other words, his look was stating clearly he too would lose his mind.

In a big way.

Just like Apollo was going to do.

Crap.

“Cora’s twin showed,” I told Circe.

She nodded. “We know. Lahn saw her.”

“I thought she was the real Cora,” I shared something she probably had guessed. “Christophe, Apollo’s son, has gone missing and she said she and Tor had found him and he’d only budge if he saw me. I was worried about Chris.” I took in a deep breath to attempt to calm my fears. It didn’t work, so I finished quietly. “I still am and I didn’t think.”

“It is the not thinking that will make your warrior lose his mind,” Lahn rumbled informatively, but scarily, from behind me.

I gave wide eyes to Circe.

She took them in before she turned her head and grinned down at her horse.

To take my mind off my rapidly growing apprehension, I cast a glance from side-to-side, then back, that being from Zahnin to Bain and back to Lahn, and said, “Uh…thanks for saving me from Cora, the Nasty and the magical birds.”

After I spoke, Lahn spoke but he said a bunch of stuff I had no clue what he was saying.

After he was done, Circe spoke and I looked back to her.

“Zahnin and Bain know some English, since they’ve been around me for a while, and been in Hawkvale for another while, but they don’t know much. Lahn was interpreting.”

“Ah,” I mumbled.

Zahnin said something in their language and I watched Circe grin then quickly beat it back.

“What did he say?” I asked.

She again looked to me. “You don’t want to know.”

Zahnin also thought I’d been stupid.

I couldn’t get uppity because he was
so
right.

I decided to remain silent.

Everyone else did too.

This did nothing for my trepidation.

Trepidation that turned into out and out panic when I noted Frey’s men Ruben and Oleg ahead of us on horses. They were galloping through the snow what looked determinedly.

The second they saw us, they reined in, took us in, gave Lahn chin lifts then wheeled around and galloped away.

They had not been looking for Chris.

They’d been looking for me.

I hoped this meant someone had found Chris.

Though, I had a feeling it also meant they were heading straight back to share that Lahn and his crew had found me.

This didn’t make me feel better.

I felt even worse when five minutes later the forest opened up and Karsvall came into view.

A Karsvall that had a shitload of men standing in front of it, one of them Apollo, as well as Chris looking healthy and fit (thank God), Finnie, Frey, some old guy I’d never seen before who had a weathered face and a shock of white hair that was such a shock that it kind of freaked me out (more than I was already, that was), and finally, the redheaded witch, Valentine.

I couldn’t think on the guy with white hair or Valentine being there after months of not seeing her.

No, heads turned our way, but after quickly assessing our audience, I only had eyes for Apollo.

He was holding himself very still and even from far away, I saw his face was granite.

Yep.

He was going to lose his mind.

Circe spurred her horse to go faster, Lahn followed suit and Zahnin and Bain did the same.

But Circe arrived first.

Without greeting, she launched right in and when she did, even though it was not in question, I
totally
knew I liked her.

“She was led away by the twin of Cora,” she stated.

Apollo didn’t tear his eyes from me when he ordered Lahn, also without greeting, “Put her down.”

Crap.

“Now,” he finished when Lahn didn’t move quickly enough.

However, Lahn had moved and so I had feet to the snow way before I was ready.

“She couldn’t know she was her twin, Apollo,” Circe went on. “The other Cora hasn’t been seen or heard from in months. We weren’t even sure she was still alive. And she explained your son was missing and she was concerned. The other Cora told her that they’d found him and he’d only talk to her.”

She was doing a bang up job explaining but I had a feeling so much blood was rushing to Apollo’s head, he couldn’t hear her because his reply was to me.

And it was another order.

“Come here.”

I held his eyes and said softly, “I’m sorry. I screwed up.”

“Come here,” he repeated.

“I know it was a big screw up, honey,” I told him.

“I do not know what this term means. I also do not give a bloody damn.” He came unstuck to lean slightly toward me. “Now, come…
here.
”

I took in a deep breath.

Then, keeping my gaze to his, I went there.

The instant I was in reach, he crushed me to him just like he’d done after Frey and his dragons saved Meeta, Loretta and I.

“I’m sorry,” I wheezed against his chest.

He gave me a powerful squeeze that I thought might break a few ribs before he abruptly let me go.

He took a step back and at the look on his face, which was not the relief I felt in his hug, I braced.