Rise of the Phoenix (Return To Avalore #2) (18 page)

Brienne squeezed Evan’s hand, garnering his attention. It didn’t matter that this Erritrol was barrelling toward them ready to fight. They were safe. “I am. How are Miga and your cub?” She smiled at the beast, but didn’t step any closer to him.

“They are fine. That bastard won’t come near them again.” The beast wouldn’t be deterred. “Has he treated you kindly?” His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, and it was all Evan could do to keep from moving to stand before her.

Her blush rose on her cheeks again, but she squared her shoulders and released his hand. “He has. He is my mate, and as such, I expect that he will be treated with respect.” She turned to the others who had come to stand several feet from their leader. “I expect the same from each of you.”

As much as he appreciated her efforts, Evan knew the Alpha’s respect would not come easy. “Wesken.” He nodded at the other Alpha before turning to his brother. “Argram. I appreciate your concern, but as Brienne said, she is my mate, and I will do everything in my power to keep her safe. She’s in no danger from me.” Brienne’s safety and well-being were his responsibility and no one else’s. He would always be grateful to them for taking care of her when he couldn’t, but he was there now.

Argram and Wesken stood side by side, glaring at him and Drake, who’d come to stand on Brienne’s other side. The mounting tension was palpable, but Evan didn’t back down. They could accept him as her mate, or not. It made little difference. She was his and he wasn’t giving her up, not for them, not for Avalore, not for anything.

Brienne did her best to keep the tension bunching in her shoulders from showing. The two Erritrols would act based on her reactions to the situation. They took the protection of the females of the pack so seriously that any sign of distress from her would send the progress they had made working together spiraling back.

Part of her wanted to laugh. If the men examined the situation, for even a moment, they would realize their intent was the same, to protect her from the other, yet not a single one of them posed any kind of threat to her at all. In fact, surrounded by the two Avalorians and her pack, there was no safer place for her.

She sidestepped toward Evan so that their arms bumped, showing the two Alphas her comfort at being near her mate, then smiled at each of them. “We have much to talk about if we’re to retrieve the scymin.” She turned to Drake. “Please, tell us what you’ve seen.”

“As I’ve told you and Evan, the camp is heavily guarded. The structures are not permanent in nature but appear to be sturdy. They’ve gone to great lengths to camouflage it to avoid detection. It has to be where they’re keeping the scymin.” Using the heel of his boot, Drake dug into the ground to recreate the camp he had seen.

Evan stepped forward to look at the diagram Drake was etching into the ground. “How many men will we need to retrieve it?”

Drake glanced at the small pack milling about them. “More than we have.” He pointed to different spots around the drawn compound, pointing out where he had seen guards stationed, and where others patrolled the perimeter. “If we go in as we are, we’ll be severely outnumbered.”

“Do you have any other men who can join us?” Evan addressed Argram, who stood beside him studying the layout.

Argram shook his head. “I’ve sent them with Miga. By the time we reach them and get back, the camp will have moved.”

“Some of my men are close. They can assist,” Evan offered.

Coughs and grunts erupted from the pack. Brienne didn’t need to understand the Erritrol language to know they argued about letting the Avalorians bring in more help. “I know you aren’t comfortable with my people, but if we hope to regain peaceful co-existence, we’ll both need to stretch our trust.” Brienne directed her words to the pack, but both Evan and Drake needed to hear them too.

Argram looked at her, and said nothing for several heartbeats before turning his attention to Evan and nodding. “Call your men. We will honor the truce as long as your men do the same.” More guttural sounds exploded behind him the moment the words left his mouth.

Heart racing, Brienne closed her eyes.
“Whatever they do, don’t interfere.”
She sent the words to both Avalorians just in case they thought to interfere with pack business. Things weren’t always handled in a civil way in the Dark Lands. The last thing she wanted was for Evan or Drake to get hurt.

She hadn’t seen many fights within the pack, but those she had seen had been vicious.

Argram turned toward his men, his own brother included, shoulders raised and tense, jaw clenched. “I am leader of this pack. If you don’t like it, you can leave or challenge my authority now.” Fists clenched and unclenched as the tension rose, but one by one, each of the betas lowered his gaze to look at the ground. All but one.

“Wesken, you wish to challenge me?” Dark energy swarmed to the massive Alpha, electrifying the air around them all. The charged air sizzled and whined at the oppressive influx of energy.

Brienne shuddered and fought against gagging at the oiliness of it against her skin. She wanted to jump in and make them stop, but only a fool stood between two fighting beasts. Keeping his brother’s stare, Wesken shook his head. “I make no such challenge, brother. If you wish the aid of the Avalorians, you have my support.” His heavy footfalls as he approached the leader snapped twigs beneath his feet. When he was but a foot before his brother, he dropped his gaze before taking his place at his side.

In that moment, Brienne’s fondness for both beasts grew. She knew how much submitting to anyone, even his own brother, would kill the strong male, but he did so out of respect. Had he not, the Alpha would have had to show dominance in front of the others in a fight where neither would have come out a true victor.

Argram’s shoulders dropped a fraction, and he unclenched his huge fists before turning to Evan once more. “Call them in. My men will abide the truce.”

All around the enemy camp, tension, thick as honey vibrated between Brienne’s pack and the Coalition men. So much dark energy had swamped the clearing where they’d gathered that she had gagged and heaved. Had she had anything in her stomach, it would have emptied itself for all to see. It took a while, and a lot of work on both Evan and Argram’s parts, but the men on both sides would work together, if grudgingly.

Brienne grasped Argram’s arm. Cloaking the Erritrol took a lot of energy. It camouflaged his form, but it wouldn’t make him disappear entirely. He was much larger than Miga, and too many pulled at the white energy for her to have enough for a good cover. A few feet to her right, Evan cloaked Wesken, and to her left, Drake did the same for Khet.

Waiting for her cue, she kept her eyes trained on Evan. The tick in his jaw jumped as his gaze met hers. Yeah, he was upset. He and Drake had both objected—more than once—to her taking part in the mission. Had it not been for her quick thinking and agreement to have them both so close when all other groupings spread further apart, their tentative truce would have been lost.

The surrounding trees swayed in the howling wind. Dry leaves rustled around her feet. If it weren’t for Argram’s radiant body heat, her teeth would be rattling. The clouds in the sky didn’t allow even the moon’s pale light to help her see.

A small movement caught Brienne’s attention, drawing her gaze from Evan’s sullen face. When she tried to look at the area beyond him more closely, she couldn’t see anything, yet something had been there, she was certain of it.

Evan was so still she couldn’t tell if he had caught sight of it or not.
“Can your phoenix see in the darkness?”
Something wasn’t right. Gooseflesh raced up her arms. She tried to swallow, but her dry mouth wouldn’t allow it.

“Why, what are you seeing?”
He didn’t fully turn his head toward her, but she had the distinct impression he was looking at her.

“Fifty feet to your left. Something caught my attention, but now it’s gone. I can’t see any heat patterns, but I think something is out there.”
This time she sent the message to Drake as well. Being a dragon had advantages, but being a dragon with combat experience was invaluable.

Drake’s gaze immediately focused on the area she had pointed out, but Evan didn’t even twitch.

“I don’t see anything.”
Without whispering a word aloud, Evan took a step closer to Brienne. Wesken moved silently with him.

She rolled her shoulders, releasing the tense muscles. Being tight and knotted wouldn’t help her in battle if it came down to that. She rolled first one shoulder, then the other before stretching her neck a few times. Why was she so nervous? She had been on many missions with her pack before, and she had the added protection of her mate and her people. If anything, she should have been more at ease.

Her heart thudded in her chest. That was it. She wasn’t afraid for her safety, but her mate would be in harm’s way. The sane part of her mind knew he was capable and strong, the emotional part wanted him far from all danger. Her gaze whipped back to Evan.

“Are you okay? It’s not too late for you to go back and wait somewhere safe.”
His tone was teasing, but he would jump on it in a heartbeat if she agreed to go.

“I’m okay, but if you want, we can both leave and let these guys figure it out.”
He would never leave his mission partway through, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Even in the darkness, she could see the corners of his lips lifting.
“You think to protect
me
by taking me away from the fight?”

“Maybe, but I also know you won’t leave your men to battle while we go hide some—”

“What is it, what’s wrong?”
Energy swarmed to him in thick waves.

The fine hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. The sour taste invading her senses left her reeling. Not Erritrol, but not friendly. How could they not sense the danger?

“Something is stalking us, and it’s close.”
Again, she sent the message to both men. At times like these, she wished she could speak to her pack the way she could with her people. Argram’s gaze caught hers. She should have known he would catch on by her body language. They had seen battle many times together. He knew how she worked. The tightening of her hand on his bulging arm would have alerted him right away.

Without speaking a word, he started to move, taking small, silent steps until he had positioned himself between her and Evan.

Heart racing, she forced herself to remain behind him and let him do what he had to do. Emotion had no place on the battlefield, yet for the first time, her instinct was to ensure her mate’s safety rather than completing the mission. Difficult as it was, she had to keep her focus. Losing it was a sure way to get someone killed, and she would never forgive herself if a lapse of discipline brought a single one of them down.

She couldn’t see past the massive expanse of Argram’s back, but she knew the moment he caught sight of whatever was out there. The coarse hair at the back of his neck bristled, a sure sign of aggression. Whatever he had spotted, he wasn’t happy to see it. A deep rumbling growl, too low to alert the sleeping beasts in the nearby tents, vibrated through him.

Nervous energy clamored inside, but she refused to give it power. If anyone could take care of himself, it was Evan. No one, not even Drake, rivaled his abilities and that was saying a lot.

Gooseflesh erupted over her skin again, and her stomach rolled. Then without warning, searing, stabbing pain shot through her head, making her knees buckle and a moan escape her lips. Had they not been so close to the enemy camp, she might have screamed. But she couldn’t do that—she wouldn’t put the men at risk.

Evan’s presence in her mind pounded at her, but she couldn’t hear a word he said. Her vision blurred, and she fought to maintain physical contact with Argram, though she wasn’t sure her cloak would hold even if she managed it. Her stomach heaved as she fought against the encroaching darkness threatening to take her away.

“Lady of Avalore, hear me now.”
A soft male voice lisped into her mind.

Her heart pounded as she pushed against the intrusion. Brienne tried to take a breath, but pain tore through her again.
“Get the hell out of my head. Now.”
The forced mind link stabbed at her like a fiery dagger.

“Cease your struggle. You cannot win. We wish you no harm.”
The serpentine voice slithered in her mind.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”
Unable to hold on, Brienne dropped to her knees, clasping her hands to her head to try to ease the pain. Cold sweat dotted her skin, making her shiver.

“I must speak to your leader.”
After a short pause, he continued,
“I am Rishiki of the Radrens, and I am in need of his assistance.”

The moment the words slid into her mind, his hold on her lessened and the pain dissipated so she could breathe. To her amazement, when Brienne’s eyes opened, Evan was crouched next to her. Drake and her pack surrounded them, all pretense of cloaking gone.

“What the hell is going on?”
The moment the intruder released her, Evan’s voice boomed in her mind.

“A man is requesting your aid. He calls himself Rishiki. He forced his way into my head.”
She swallowed hard and dropped his gaze.