Prince's Fire (16 page)

“I can share my knowledge with you.”

“I should kill you where you stand.” He wanted Gitana to administer her justice. He had already seen Van’s metamorphic personality change because of his imprisonment, and he would not watch the woman he loved go through the same private hell.

He loved her. The realization came to him fiercely, making him almost lose his hold on the gatekeeper. But Cal had appeared beside the older man and restrained him. “It seemed like you needed some assistance,” Cal said.

“Hardly. I can handle this by myself.”

“No, I’m afraid I can’t leave you alone with him. Your intent to allow Gitana to administer justice is the best for our people, but your warrior’s rage is near.”

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Val glared at his younger brother. “You are starting to sound more like Dar.”

“Oh, hell no. I take that as an insult.”

“Remove this man from my sight if you wish him to remain breathing.” He turned, determined to get his rage under control before he went back to Gitana. He could not handle a lecture from his sister right now. If Cal could sense his warrior’s rage, Fiona would as well.

“And where is your twin?”

Cal shrugged his shoulders. “He was a little occupied when I came over here.”

Val’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the younger sibling. “What are you keeping from me?”

“Nothing. You have merely not asked the right question.”

“Son of a bitch. I’m gonna rip your fucking throat out if you don’t tell me.”

A low whistle echoed from behind him. He turned to see Jax, the amusement evident on his face. “Such foul language, brother.”

Cal laughed. “Ease up, Val,” Cal said. “They are healing Gitana.”

“No. You are mistaken. She is far too weak for them to attempt that. It would require too much power.”

Jax laughed. “Those two fuckers took exception to the fact that unknown woman on Vuner managed to heal Van by herself. We tried to remind them we had no evidence, but they didn’t want to hear it. They are determined she will walk out and face our people tonight.”

“It’s the anniversary of the first attack, you know,” Cal said.

Val nodded his head. None of them could forget the night their father died. Twenty-five years had passed, but it still felt like yesterday.

Lucian came around the corner of the corridor. He looked angry. “I will deal with this betrayer until Gitana is able to render judgment. You all go where you are needed.”

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Val nodded and teleported himself to Gitana’s room. The room was bathed in a pale yellow light that emitted from Cam, Jad, and Fiona. He paused; he hadn’t known Fiona could heal as well.

Gitana’s skin already looked much better, no longer appearing wan. Van sat beside Fiona, who had her hand on his forearm, as if she was drawing in heat from his body and transfusing it into Gitana. Was such even possible?

The four of them focused on healing his mate. Pride swelled within him. His brothers had accepted her fully, and his family grew closer having her here. They had all learned many things over the years. Their father would be honored. Fiona broke the link between she and Van and drew them out of their trancelike state.

“How is she?” Val asked.

Fiona stood. Her hands trembled slightly, and she was pale and exhausted. “Sorry, I’m a bit wobbly.” She sat back down.

Cam and Jad stirred, their complexion mirroring Fiona’s. “She will be fully healed when Cal wakes her,” Cam said.

Cal waltzed into the room. “Don’t give me that look. I eased her stress so she could heal faster. She expended too much energy trying to warn you.”

Val sat beside Gitana and ran his hand across her cheek. Her skin was now warm to the touch. “Thank you all. I owe you much for what you did for my mate.”

“She is our family now,” Fiona said. “We will leave you and announce her presentation in two hours time.”

“Will she be ready by then?”

Cal nodded. “Yes. The sooner we get her in front of the people and show the solidarity and strength of the royal family, the better. Having a chosen one in our midst is the beginning of great change for our people.”

“You really are starting to sound like Dar.”

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“Asshole.” Cal teleported out of the room, Jax quick on his heels. Van was the last to leave, choosing to walk out rather than teleport out. Val suspected much of his heat had been given to Gitana to aid in her healing.

“I owe you most of all, brother. I know you gave her your strength just now.”

Van looked down at her lying on the bed, her head moving softly as she began to stir.

“She would have done the same thing for me.”

“Gitana? Can you hear me?” Val asked softly. He needed to see her eyes open and hear her voice just to make sure she was okay.

Her eyes fluttered. Never had something looked as beautiful to him as the smile that appeared on her face. “Hey there.”

“Hey there,” Val said, amused as she curved toward him. He lay beside her and pulled her close. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better. It’s amazing what a nap does for you.”

Val smiled. “Cam, Jad, Fiona, and Van healed you while you were napping.”

Her eyes widened. “They did? Van can heal?”

* * * * *

It amazed her that Van would help but, then again, he would know all too well how it felt to be depleted of powers. A shudder ran through her remembering the place she had been in and how close she came to dying. She hugged Val closer and allowed the tears to flow down her eyes, trying hard not to express the fear she had felt.

“Who was the woman that helped me?” she asked.

Val pulled her closer, his hands running down her back. “It’s okay. No one will ever take you from me again, v’amarita. And in a few hours, we will celebrate your homecoming with our people.”

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“Why so quickly?”

Val smiled. “It is important for us to show your strength immediately upon your return, so that any D’kalhiks -- or betrayer we do not know about -- see that we will not be taken down easily.”

She found immense pride in her people and their resilience. And pride in being mated to someone with such strength. “I am ready.”

“I want to hold you first and keep you to myself for just a moment. You have no idea the terror that overtook me when we discovered you were missing.”

“I was a bit terrified too. When I realized I couldn’t call to you or leave, and I thought that I was going to… I wished I had told you that I love you.”

She moaned as Val kissed her hungrily. Savoring the contact with his mouth, she ran her hands across his chest and down his back, drawing him closer to her. “Make love to me, Val.”

“I’d love nothing more, but we will not do that until I am told you are sufficiently healed.”

Sighing, she pressed herself against him. She accepted the truth behind his words, but having him here holding her meant more than anything. She wasn’t alone.

“I am glad you finally confessed your love for me.”

“I told you earlier, on the ship when we were telepathically linked. You warmed me with your body heat and…” Gitana stilled. Oh. My. God. “Please. Tell me it was you.”

“Van was the only one that could keep you warm enough until we got home. Do not worry. He will never speak of it to anyone.”

She couldn’t believe it. Van. All of her anger and outrage had dissipated while she was in captivity, knowing he had experienced something similar. He had heard the things she had said about him. Her garbled thoughts tried to remember exactly what had happened 126

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during the exchange. Her heart constricted realizing she had seen the Van that Val must remember, the compassionate and caring twin. Sympathy and concern flooded her.

“Where is he? How is he? It must have taken a lot of strength to heal me this quickly.

How are all of your siblings?”

Val laughed. “Easy, v’amarita. Everyone is doing fine. They are a bit weak, but that is to be expected. Van will need some time to resolve his internal demons, so it would be best if you do not approach him for now.”

She had added to his problems by expressing pity for him when she thought he was Val. Knowing very little about him, she suspected he did not care for empathy in any form.

Val lifted her chin. “We need to trust each other fully. Tell me what happened that day in the field.”

“He told me never to speak of it again,” Gitana said softly, tracing her fingers across the area on his chest that had gaped open with the wounds administered by the D’kalhiks.

“Who?”

“Taro.”

Val face became grim. “Taro was there?”

She nodded, shuddering when she recalled the scene. “He killed the D’kalhiks that attacked you and said he called your brothers using your voice. He told me never to speak of it to anyone because the future of entire worlds was riding on my silence.”

“I never should have been caught off guard like that, so it is all my fault.”

Gitana shook her head. “No, it wasn’t. Those freaks are next to impossible to kill.

Believe me, I tried.”

Val laughed and hugged her close. “Oh my little v’amarita is a bloodthirsty warrioress.”

“Are you ever going to tell me what v’amarita means?”

“My beloved.”

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It would have been impossible to imagine so many people living on the planet. Yet there were people as far as the eye could see.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked out into the crowd, wondering if her uncle was among them. Would he be found? Would he care that she was here? She hugged Val and looked over at the other princes. Cam, Jad, and Van looked especially pale. They had drained their powers healing her. That alone showed their acceptance of her as part of the family.

Shana and Lucian embraced at the side of the congregation of brothers, a smile lit her sister’s face. She and Shana were both happy.

The queen. The long flowing white robe contrasted against her skin. It still amazed her that the woman had raised eight sons and a daughter when she looked to be just slightly older than her children. Quiet and graceful, her appearance silenced everyone. She walked onto the platform with the regal appearance you would expect of royalty, a smile across her face when she walked toward Gitana. “My child, I am relieved to see you back home with us.

The next time you decide to go on a walk, please tell one of us.”

Gitana felt the heat staining her cheeks and nodded her head. “I hope to get to know you better soon, my queen.”

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“Chantelle, my dear, call me Chantelle. I’m afraid I owe you a most sincere apology. I have not been myself the past couple of days, and I hope that you can forgive me for my rudeness. It is not like me to be uncommunicative.”

Val snorted as he hugged his mother. “You could never be rude even if you tried, Mother.”

She smiled. “That is kind of you to say, my son, but I know when I have been rude. I see everyone has arrived to welcome you home, Gitana. These are all the people that have been awaiting your return to us. These are the people you are destined to lead with my son.”

The tears in Gitana’s eyes rolled slowly down her cheeks. Joy filled her heart as she stared at those gathered. The princes stood in a semicircle surrounding her and Val, as if protecting them were second nature. “What exactly does this ceremony entail?”

“My mother will address the people as their queen and then you and I will have the chance to speak to them.”

She swallowed. What could she say that would be worth hearing?

“It will be okay, my child,” the queen said, her smile helping to quell Gitana’s growing nerves. “They have yet to toss rotten bitterroot at me, and I am quite dull.” Chantelle turned and raised her hands. Silence fell over the bustling crowd.

“My people, it is with great joy that we address you today. Twenty-five years ago we fell victim to the most heinous crime of all -- one against our innocent children. The D’kalhiks have plagued our people since then, but we have battled and persevered with one hope. One single-minded determination that made us the strongest force the D’kalhiks have had to reckon with.”

The queen paused, her confident steps taking her to the other end of the platform. “My children have fought beside you all, keeping this planet safe and intact for us. Yet, the other seven planets of our world continue to live in the chaos we knew ourselves.”

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Gitana saw many people nod, their gazes focused on the queen as she looked over at the monument on the far hillside. Her husband’s memorial. “It was with great sadness that night twenty-five years ago I said goodbye to my beloved mate, your king. But he died defending those we had sworn to protect before their birth. Those whose existence ensured our lineage would continue. The chosen ones.”

The people shouted and raised their hands in salute to the monument. “It was after those attacks that the oracles proclaimed all the chosen ones had survived. One day they would return to us and assume their position as future queens of our eight worlds.”

“It was with great honor that my sons welcomed Shana, now the mate of our mightiest warrior Lucian. She was the sign of the prophecy. The one whose presence would ensure the return of the first chosen one.”

Val held her hand, his thumb massaging her palm in a soothing, circling motion. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears as the queen continued to speak.

“And it is with great joy that my family welcomes the first of the chosen ones home.

Gitana.”

The people erupted in cheers and loud chants. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw all of them fall to their knees. Val moved closer, pressing her forward with a slight push on her lower back. “It is okay, Gitana.”

“I hate that they kneel.”

Val laughed softly. “It isn’t exactly something my brothers or I appreciate either. But you know something that makes my twin look like that can’t be half bad.”

Gitana saw Van squirm, the urge to leave evident on his face. She couldn’t help but laugh as she saw how uncomfortable even Cal and Jax had become.