Breath of Love

The change in Kol’s bearing was subtle yet evident to Hallie. Since she’d awakened him, he’d always had a slight air of uncertainty, as though worried about making wrong decisions. He was an excellent leader, but in spite of every effort he took to run his company well, to oversee his obligations to his race, she got the impression he believed he could do better.

When they stepped off the plane in Boston, after cleaning up and taking a brief nap, she was certain that last vestige of self-doubt had disappeared. The tiny crease between his eyebrows had smoothed for the first time. The look in his eyes had grown a little more calculating and confident. The set of his shoulders straighter. He was already an imposing man at his size, but now he fairly exuded the raw power and intellect she knew he possessed but had tried to hide to avoid overly intimidating people. This new version of him excited her, but there was an underlying sense of rage that she began to sense and wondered where it had originated.

They walked across the tarmac to the waiting car and he rested one hand possessively at her hip. It wasn’t an uncommon gesture for him, but her mark tingled in an unusual way, the heat of it a persistent reminder that she belonged to him and he to her. She shifted closer to him, an almost imperceptible force pulling her.

“You feel different,” she commented, once they were seated and the car began moving, its driver taking them out of the city to the Rosencrans estate.

“I do,” he agreed. “Why do you think that is?” He gave her a sly look accompanied by a knowing smirk.

Hallie laughed. “I think you learned how much you love bossing people around. It actually turns you on, but you felt guilty about it before. How close am I?”

The smirk only grew wider and he leaned in to kiss her. The kiss was as sensuous as always, but the soft bite he gave her lower lip at the end sent a jolt straight between her legs and answered her question unequivocally.

The drive was long and scenic, and Hallie let herself relax and enjoy the passing landscape out her window. Kol’s hand never left hers, holding gently and stroking the center of her palm with his thumb.

It had been an entirely impulsive action, suggesting they invite the flight attendant into their fun. It had only partly been about distracting Kol from his predicament. Absolving her own guilt over making him fly that way was the bigger motivation. She’d talked to Erika and Camille about their experiences since returning to the real world with their mates, and both her friends had extolled the pleasure of opening up their beds to other willing partners. The diversity of energy their mates absorbed had a more rejuvenating effect on all of them as a result. She had to admit she did feel rejuvenated. Even though they’d exhausted themselves during the flight, she still buzzed with the energy of the magic Kol had shared with her.

The change in Kol had been an unexpected yet pleasant surprise. The most surprising was that his attitude toward her hadn’t changed at all. But to the outside world, he was definitely more attuned and alert, less apprehensive. She wondered if it merely had to do with how he acclimated to the new world he’d awoken to, and what they’d done on the plane was the necessary push he had needed all along. His fresh demeanor was so subtle she doubted most would notice it, but she certainly had. In the process of seeking to please her, he seemed to have discovered an unexplored well of power.

The closer they got to their destination, the more intense he seemed, until Hallie began to worry that she might have created a monster during the last six hours. His expression grew tightly focused, his jaw clenching.

“Baby, what is it?” Hallie asked, alarmed by the shift in his mood.

Kol’s voice was dangerously low when he responded. “If Geva has compromised our chances at controlling the Verdanith…”

“You don’t even know that he’s done anything, Kol.”

“I’ve known him longer than you have. He always liked to manipulate the rest of the Court. Thinks of it as some grand game for his own amusement. I refuse to let him control this meeting. It’s crucial that he knows he has to answer to me.”

The determination in his eyes made it clear there was no arguing with him, and perhaps he was right. She’d spent enough time with the Red during and immediately after the ritual. Geva had a volatile personality when it came to interacting with any of the other dragons. It was almost as if he were inviting one of them to challenge him. If Kol believed he needed to be taken down a notch, she had to trust him.

The car pulled around the circular driveway of a massive, sprawling, Tudor-style mansion a little later and Kol jumped out before the driver could come around and open the door for him.

“Slow down!” she called after him, but he kept going, his long strides far out-pacing her until she had to run to catch up.

He didn’t knock before barreling through the front door of the house.

“Geva!” he bellowed.

Hallie stumbled through the door in time to see Erika walk in with Geva close on her heels.

“Well, just come right in, you two,” Erika said with a sardonic expression.

The massive Shadow loomed over Hallie’s friend, but Erika stood her ground. “You want to get out of my face, Magnus.”

“No,” Kol said, casting daggered looks between both Erika and Geva. “What you want is to explain how this slipped under your radar. In your own damned collection the entire time, and how did you not know about it? I want to see it. ~Now.~”

Geva stepped forward fists clenched, a dangerous expression on his face. “Back up, Brother,” he said.

Kol shoved a pointed finger at him. “Her family’s been the keeper of the fragment the entire time. I hold you responsible, too.”

“Jesus Christ,” Erika said, shaking her head. “It’s safe, I promise. But I’m not taking you to it until you calm the fuck down.” She turned to Hallie, her expression immediately shifting to warm welcome. “Glad you guys could make it, sweetie. It’s so, so good to see you.”

Hallie gave her friend an apologetic expression and stepped in to accept Erika’s embrace. “Sorry about him,” she whispered. “He’s not quite himself today.”

“I’ll say,” Erika murmured back before they parted. In a louder voice, she beckoned them to a large, comfortable living room with a massive stone fireplace. Kol stalked in and began pacing. Geva leaned against the mantle with his arms crossed, scowling at Kol.

“I know I owe you all an explanation,” Erika began, rubbing her palms together. “Until Dimitri called with the results of Thea’s search, I honestly had no clue the thing had been under the care of my family this entire time. You see… my dad had secrets.” She gave Kol and Hallie an apologetic look. “I knew he kept things from me, but I was sure I’d discovered them all when I found his research notes on… well, on you guys. So, that’s all I cared about. Finding you.” She gave Geva a loving smile that made the large Red relax just a touch, but his tense posture went even more rigid when Kol stopped pacing to stand in front of Erika again.

“Who else knows you have it? You know the Twins can’t be trusted to keep the information to themselves. We need to do damage control before it gets back to the Council.”

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Geva interjected, finally getting involved. “Why the fuck do you care if it gets back to the Council? I thought that was the general idea!”

Kol stared hard at Geva, his jaw muscles clenching in a way Hallie had never seen. She’d never seen him even remotely angry before, his darker moods never close to as violent as he had seemed since just before exiting the car.

“It’s more complicated than that, Brother. If you cared one whit about the rest of the race, you might have an inkling what we’re trying to do.”

Geva stalked to Kol. He stuck his nose in the Shadow’s face. Even at well over six feet, Geva had to tilt his head up to look into Kol’s eyes. Through clenched teeth, Geva said, “Why don’t you tell me how lacking I am, Shadow. Which one of us broke the bigger law, eh?”

“You’re a fucking fool if you think all this boils down to is who broke which law. There are laws that should not even exist now. We can’t even ~fuck~ without worrying about breaking a law. Having that fragment in our control gives us the upper hand, but if the Council knows about it, we lose that advantage.”

“And what the fuck do you think the answer to all our fertility issues is going to do to make them change that?” Geva asked. He shot a sidelong look to Erika and Hallie’s hackles went up at the tiny shake of her friend’s head.

“You know it’s more powerful than that. Don’t you think the Council knows that, too? They’re only appeasing us so they can regain control of it in its entirety. Once that happens, our cause might as well be lost. We can’t let them have the last fragment until they agree to our terms.”

Geva laughed harshly. “And how do you propose to convince them? They control our entire lives. If we don’t kowtow to their laws, they exile us, enslave us, lock us away for centuries. We’ve been at their fucking mercy for thousands of years and you think now you have the solution to it all? Please, ~please~ tell me why you think ~you’re~ so special that you can convince them. Don’t you think our parents tried? I know my mother did, and failed.”

“I can’t convince them,” Kol said, his voice low and resolute, “but I have a free purebred—an Unbound—who can. Her very existence proves the laws are useless. We also have allies among the shackled Unbound at the Monastery, who will help.”

Geva’s reaction was so quick and fierce, Hallie almost didn’t see him move. She and Erika both cried out in alarm when he surged forward, slamming Kol against the fireplace. Geva’s horns glowed blood red on his head, his eyes flashing.

“Where is she! If you know where she is I demand you tell me, now!”

The women moved as a unit, Hallie reaching them first. “Just tell him, Kol. We should have already.”

“No,” Kol gritted out. “Her safety is too important. I couldn’t risk anyone else knowing she exists. Why the fuck this imbecile cares so much, I have no idea.” He gripped Geva’s hands and forcefully pried them off him. The large red wasn’t strong enough to resist.

“Tell me where she is!” Geva yelled as he was pushed back, the force of Kol’s breath as strong as his grip on Geva’s arms.

It was Erika’s turn to press the issue. She calmly rested a hand on Kol’s shoulder. “Kol, if you know something about this Unbound, please tell us. We have information that might be relevant, too, but not until you share.”

Without looking away from Geva’s enraged expression, Kol answered slowly and carefully. “Rafe found her a few months ago in San Diego. A Red named Rowan. But she ran. He and Roka have been tracking her ever since. They’re close to finding her, and once they do, we will have all the ammunition we need to force a change.”

Geva’s eyes blazed, the light in them casting Kol’s fair features in an orange glow. He roared incoherently at Kol, struggling against the Shadow’s grasp. Invisible hands seemed to hold the large Red in the places Kol’s hands weren’t holding, in spite of his struggling. The sight startled Hallie, and made her realize exactly how powerful her mate really was if he could hold a molten ball of anger in place so solidly with only his breath.

“Oh, Jesus,” Erika gasped. “Kol. That Unbound dragon… Are you sure that’s her name?”

“Positive. Rafe is in love with her. He will find her or die trying.”

“Kol…” Erika said cautiously. “Rowan is Geva’s sister. We planned to use the Verdanith to find her.”

Kol’s eyes blazed with fury aimed at Geva. “You have a sister? Is she Unbound, too? You fucking fool! Your duty is to come to me with this information! I can’t do my fucking job when idiots like you keep secrets!”

The two males degenerated into yelling then, mostly Geva spitting epithets in a not entirely recognizable language and Kol responding with cool ferocity. Hallie felt a nudge at her elbow and turned to Erika.

“Let’s get out of here, let these two burn out their rage. Hopefully in a few hours they’ll have figured things out.”

Hallie took a deep breath and nodded, grateful for an excuse to avoid the argument. She glanced over her shoulder once before they walked out the door, but Kol was too involved in defending his argument and spitting back accusations at Geva for not telling him the truth about his sister.

They took Erika’s Jeep back toward the City and Hallie relaxed, enjoying the wind blowing around her and the beautiful scenery sliding past yet again.

“So, a sister, huh?” she ventured, hoping Erika would be more level headed and trust her enough to share the details.

Erika let out an exaggerated sigh. “Yes. I considered trying to convince him to tell at least Kol, but you know Geva…believes everyone hates him except for Issa and he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her considering who she’s mated to. We were hoping once the artifact is put together we could find some way to secretly use it to find out where she was. I had no idea there was so much controversy surrounding the damn thing.”

“Did he have any idea where she was? Rafe’s been chasing her down for months now. You should have seen him after he fell for her and she left. He was beside himself.”

“Not a clue, but Geva didn’t think she was in danger, considering his mother and Rowan’s father gave their lives to hide her.”

“Oh, God. No, I guess I might have trusted the magic, too. He couldn’t have known.”

“Well, now he knows,” Erika said. “Hopefully Kol can talk him down. I’ve always liked Kol, by the way.” She glanced in Hallie’s direction with a smile. “You seem happy.”

“Very.” Hallie grinned.

“Good. You’ll have to tell me everything. I’m kind of over talking about dragon politics for a little while.”

“Where are we going?” Hallie asked.

“You’ll see,” Erika said, smiling.

A few minutes later they turned down a busy Cambridge Street and Erika pulled into a spot at the curb outside a cafe. Hallie laughed out loud when she recognized the place where she’d convinced Erika to hire her for the expedition the year before.

“Wow, this brings back memories. I was so full of shit when I met you, you know that, right?”

“I knew it then, but it took both balls and skill to pull it off the way you did. I tend to go with my gut when it comes to the people I work with. I’ve never been steered wrong so far. Plus, I had the feeling you needed the job a lot more than any of the other applicants did. I admit, I kind of hoped you and Corey would hit it off. You both seemed like you needed each other.”

Hallie smiled at the memory. “I thought we might, too, but I wasn’t the woman for him, as it turned out. Figures it would take two women to satisfy the guy in the end, huh?”

Erika laughed. “Not surprising at all.”

They found a small table on the open-air patio. Hallie breathed in the familiar air of the place, enjoying the sunlight that dappled the sidewalk through trees lining the street.

Hallie hesitated to gossip about their friends, but Erika had no such compunctions. After their drink orders were taken by an attractive young college student, Erika leaned in. “He told me Jill is pregnant.”

Hallie blinked. “That was fast. It’s only been a few weeks hasn’t it? How does Racha feel about it?”

Erika began shaking her head before Hallie finished speaking, her eyes twinkling with an obvious secret. “It’s not his. Jill was mated to Racha’s dad. That’s what all that drama was a few months back when we started the search for this damn fragment.”

The events of the last few months were still clear in Hallie’s mind, ever since the call late that night that Kol had received from Rafe that resulted in her mate leaving their bed for several hours, then returning in a foul mood for the first time since they’d moved to Los Angeles. Rafe’s dilemma had had only one resolution in Rafe’s mind: Find Rowan. But Kol was more pragmatic and sent his friend and Second on a detour first. “He’s taking care of some business for the Queen first. It’ll make this whole thing a lot easier.”

“Was Racha in on the Rafe thing? Does she know?”

Erika shook her head and expelled a breath. “You’d have to ask your tall, dark, and yummy man. But she is the Queen and he’s loyal to her. I bet she knows. In fact, I’d bet my life on it, especially if that baby Jill’s carrying matters to her. God, you should see Corey now. He’s in hog heaven with those women.” She let out a snort. “You and I together could’ve snagged him, if we’d tried. Can you imagine how fun that would have been? I watched you with Kris and Kol during the ritual. Damn.”

“I have no regrets,” Hallie said, sipping her wine.

Erika’s gaze grew soft as she stared into her glass. “No. Neither do I.”

“I watched, you, too,” Hallie said, unable to avoid the images that invaded her mind of the night of the ritual. “I think you and I probably know more about each other than most women do about their friends.” In a lower voice, she said, “It’s too bad Geva and Kol hate each other.”

Their meals arrived, distracting them from conversation, but she caught the raised eyebrow Erika gave her and the more appraising look.

In spite of how invigorated Hallie had felt all afternoon, she was ravenous and dug into her food without thinking more about the topic. It might have been a side effect of how intimately she knew her friends, but she felt more comfortable with them and their mates than with anyone she’d ever known, even her own family.

She was polishing off her hamburger when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She took a quick sip of her drink and turned to look behind her, but saw nothing odd.

“Dude was checking you out a second ago,” Erika said. Hallie turned back and raised her eyebrows. “Oh? I missed it.”

“He was just leaning on the rail over there, talking on his cell phone, but his eyes were all over you. He was hot, too, but he wasn’t your type. I mean, if you were looking for a third wheel…” Erika’s smile grew suggestive and she lifted her gaze from her lunch to meet Hallie’s eyes.

“Oh? And what do you think my type is?”

“Not him. He looked…” Erika wrinkled her nose. “For lack of a better term, he looked like he belonged in the mafia, all slick and slinky. Our boys are more diverse, at least. I mean, Kol looks like a teddy bear in spite of being a fucking monolith on legs. And Geva’s filled with Viking blood. He’s too red. And don’t even get me started on the others…”

Erika prattled on about the dragons and the other men in their tight-knit group, but Hallie’s skin had grown ice-cold. She’d never told anyone but Kol any significant details about David. She’d only mentioned an abusive ex from New York to Erika once they’d established a habit of honesty after the ritual. She knew there was a possibility he was still in Boston, and she hoped like crazy that she was only imagining things, but she’d only ever gotten that feeling when he’d been around.

“Can we get the check?” she asked the waiter when he came back.

Hallie blessed Erika for not asking questions or making comments after that. They paid their bill and left. It wasn’t until they were on the road again that her friend said anything.

“You want to tell me what that was about? You don’t strike me as the kind of girl who gets nervous when a hot guy checks her out.”

“I had a bad experience in Boston before I met you.”

“The baby, yeah, you told me that.”

Hallie shook her head, leaning hard against her seat and staring up into the cloudy sky beyond the Jeep’s roll bars. “No, that wasn’t the only thing. The father of the baby was mafia. He followed me from New York to Boston. Turns out his family has ties here, too. He might still be here.”

“It probably wasn’t even him,” Erika said. “You didn’t see the guy, right? Let it go, sweetie. You’ve got nothing to worry about, I promise you.” She paused for a second, then added, “Well, depending on what we have to look forward to when we get back, you might have nothing to worry about. Now I’m second guessing leaving those two alone together in the state they were in.”

“They won’t hurt each other,” Hallie said, grateful for the distraction. “Kol said dragons are more likely to fuck than fight if they’re upset.”

“Yeah…” Erika drew the word out. “That’s what I’m worried about walking in on.”