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  Before she could see them fall, or call out in fear to Drago once again, a blinding pain filled her head, and a darkness of despair and unconsciousness flowed over her. Her last desperate thought was of Drago and Lasan, and her foolish denials. Denials that may well result in her death.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Drago was admitted entrance into Queens Amoria’s receiving room the instant he stepped to the wide doors. He entered with a fierce frown, his gaze going to Lasan, who he knew shared his concerns.

  “We were just discussing Brianna’s fears, Drago,” Lasan informed him. “It would seem such rumors have abounded for longer than any memories here can place.”

  Drago looked to the Queen, feeling his fury swell within him.

  “Our woman is nearly hysterical with fear at the coming Joining,” he bit out. “Why were we not informed of this?”

  Queen Amoria took a deep breath. Drago could see her hesitation and concern.

  “It was for this reason, King Veraga, that we did not force Brianna into this alliance you have pressured us for. Had it not been for Lasan’s continued vows that Brianna would never be physically harmed, then I would not have allowed you anywhere near my youngest child.”

  The Queen’s voice was soft, lyrical, but with an edge of steel running through it.

  “The Covenani desperately need your power and your forces to halt the Seculars in their continued attack against us. But I would not sacrifice the love of my baby for any of you. I would have wished that we could have continued to allow this to be Brianna’s decision.”

  “As I stated before,” Lasan spoke up. “She disregarded the rules—”

  “As though it would be upheld after the offense you dealt her,” Princess Serena, her voice much like her mother’s, broke in. “I have watched over my sister this whole night, and may I say now you have not dealt kindly with her. She is not a Couldaran Wizard’s harlot to be treated so shabbily.”

  The Princess’s pretty face was carved into lines of fury as she stared down at the Twins from her throne beside her mother.

  “We have agreed to go along with this asinine plan of yours and Lasan’s, only for the safety of my daughter and my country.” Queen Amoria came slowly to her feet. “After Lasan’s explanation of the Joining, then I will allow the forced alliance. But should my daughter ever, and I say ever,” her voice broke, her fury surging forth, “seek asylum from the two of you, then I shall place her where neither of you will ever see, speak, or touch my child again.”

  Why were we not warned by the Wizard Sentinel of these females’ extreme emotions? Drago asked his brother wearily. Such displays were becoming tiring.

  Perhaps he feared frightening us off. Lasan was more amused, more tolerant of the displays.

  “We agree to your terms, Your Highness.” Lasan bowed low in respect and indeed, he greatly admired the woman’s gentle love for all her children. It was extremely rare among royalty.

  “Very well.” Queen Amoria drew in a deep, fortifying breath and began to speak again. Her words were halted when two guards burst furiously through the doors.

  “Your Highness, Princess Brianna has been taken,” the youngest cried out in fear, blood oozing from a gash at his forehead.

  “Taken? How?” Queen Amoria rushed from the throne towards him.

  “Through the hidden passages, Highness. I fear she was taken by the Seculars. They were led by Princess Brianna’s nurse, Elspeth. We could not stop them.” Distressed and wounded, the soldier went to his knees.

  “Darren,” Drago called out to his master guard, indicating his need to know where Brianna had been taken.

  Lasan immediately telepathed his need to the other Wizard Twins in attendance within the castle. His lips quirked into a savage snarl of satisfaction as tendrils of magick began to race along the huge fortress, invading every corridor, every hall and hidden passageway it contained.

  “We found them.” Lasan frowned. “A dozen males and an older female heading along the lower tunnels.” He immediately ordered sorcerer warriors along the outside walls to set up an ambush.

  “Let’s go,” Drago ordered those soldiers still in the receiving rooms with them.

  They rushed from the room, giving little heed to the women who had drawn close together, using their own powers to detect and protect their own. This, Drago knew, was the reason why the Covenani so needed the Wizards back in their bloodline. Their numbers were dwindling, as was their strength. As for the Wizards, they were much fewer in number as well, and were finding their world bleak and lonely without females who understood the tremendous responsibility their powers held.

  We have seven warriors converging on the exit they’re heading for, a Sashtain Wizard Twin announced as they raced through the Palace, heading for a servant’s exit in the kitchen. They will come out just below the Palace walls, beneath a small rise. It’s level with the beach.

  Drago and Lasan ran faster as they exited the kitchens, following the directions being received from Sentinel Guard to Wizard Twin. Fury surged through them both, speeding through the psychic lines that connected the brothers. Their passion and possessiveness for Brianna was all consuming. They would kill those who dared to take her from them.

  They met the first warriors as they skated down the incline to the river’s beach. Power surged between them and Drago knew when the sorcerers jumped back from them that their eyes glowed and sparkled with the imminent release of the violence surging through them. They could feel the power building, rising along nerve endings, surging through their veins. As one they moved into place along with several other Wizard pairs as they connected with the tendrils of power that now wrapped about Brianna. Covenani and Cauldaran power protected her, though the Seculars were as yet unaware of it.

  “We should take steps to weaken her power now,” they heard a male voice growl just inside the entrance. “Take her before she awakens. With her innocence gone, her power will drain and her ability to draw from the Wizards will be destroyed.”

  Fury surged through Drago and Lasan in cascading waves of power. The act of rape against a virgin Sorceress didn’t destroy her powers. It effectively ensured that when her powers peaked, that she trusted no male enough, especially Twins, to allow the sexual bonding needed to open the female soul. Only in such a manner could the Sorceress attain her full powers.

  “Aye, and get our dicks cut off in the process should we be caught,” another bit out furiously. “We must get her across the river first. Then we will show the bitch who controls her.”

  Drago scanned the bank carefully. There, hidden within the shelter of a thick growth of reeds, a flatboat awaited the kidnappers. Lasan called to the water and the waves rocked the small boat, loosening it from its mooring and sending it drifting into the dangerous currents. None of the creatures would escape their wrath.

  They waited, a line of six Wizards and a dozen Warrior Sorcerers, as the kidnappers exited the tunnel. Before the humans could turn back, a shield of magick was placed behind them, leaving them but one way to go.

  They came to a shuddering stop. Drago and Lasan watched carefully as the leader drew his dagger and placed it on Brianna’s throat as she lay unconscious in the arms of another.

  “It is the demon Twins who would use her to destroy us,” an aging female voice spoke with raspy hatred.

  Drago turned his gaze on the woman, feeling the insanity, the mad blood lust that gripped her. This woman had cared for Brianna as a child and would now see her harmed. He would have no mercy on her now.

  “Kill the bitch before he can use her. Take her power,” the woman demanded of the one who held the blade to Brianna’s pale throat.

  Lasan watched the blade. His eyes centered on it, his power shifting to become the steel that would slice tender skin and the vulnerable artery. The kidnapper fought to press it closer, to do as he was bid, but the blade would not touch the tender skin. The villain’s hand shook as he fought to knick her, to assure the Wizards of the threat he r
epresented, but no matter the strength he placed behind the blade, it would not budge.

  Assured that no harm would come to Brianna, Drago turned his attention to the woman, the nurse who had raised her, should have loved her. Power sizzled in the air around the old woman, wrapping around her as she screamed out in terror. Bright tendrils of magick fed through her mouth, her nose, the openings of her ears. They burrowed through her body, traveled to her heart. She began to shake with seizures, gurgled whimpers escaping her throat. Within seconds, Drago’s hand reached out. His fist unclenched, directing the powerful order to the energy that possessed her.

  The power of the internal explosion ripped through bone and muscle, opening the woman’s chest as blood sprayed in an arc around her. It splattered on the males staring at her in disbelief, the stark, crimson stain of her sins branding them with sizzling power.

  Frightened screams filled the area as feet that once obeyed the human’s commands refused to run. The one who held Brianna was screaming the loudest as blue and green strands of electric energy raced around him, surrounded Brianna, then lifted her from his arms. He grasped for her, but his arms were suddenly too heavy to lift. Like weights, they dragged him to the sandy ground.

  All around, brilliant arcs of energy began to build as Drago watched Brianna float to Lasan’s arms. He choreographed each tendril, drew them together for maximum power and then gave the final order to punish those who would harm their Consort. They wrapped about the necks of the humans, constricting, tightening and finally cutting off the passage of air to the desperately struggling bodies. All but one fell to the ground, their deaths coming amid harsh, gurgled growls.

  The single survivor watched in horror. He wasn’t as old as the others and Drago had detected his confusion, his fear when he learned that Brianna would be harmed. The lad had thought the defiance of his elders would gain them the release of the shield that kept them from harvesting illegally in the forests and plains of the Covenani.

  “Do you see these deaths?” Drago questioned him coldly as silence prevailed.

  The youth nodded, tears washing over his face, as he was held immobile by the force of magick wrapped around him.

  “The Covenani no longer stand alone. Through the joining of Wizard Twins to the royal house of Sellane, power is once again restored. You will tell your people and those who rise against us, that they no longer fight women. They will now deal with the Couldaran.”

  Drago’s voice echoed with menacing, raw power. The youth quaked, frightened whimpers of fear issuing from his throat as he repeatedly nodded his head. The scent of terror wrapped around the young man, much as Drago knew it would have wrapped around Brianna when she was first taken.

  “I should kill you as well for not informing the Couldaran of this attack,” he bit out, still holding the male within bonds of magick. “You could have warned the Covenani and this would have been avoided.”

  “I did not know,” he finally cried out. “I swear to you, Wizard, I did not know until we entered the castle. We were supposed to be here to steal food alone. Our families starve, my mother and sisters are ill. I wanted only the food.”

  Drago frowned.

  “There are no rumors of starvation among the humans of your land. Indeed your farms are prosperous.”

  “And our prosperity is stolen as taxes by the Covenani,” the boy sneered. “We have nothing.”

  “And this is an untruth.” Princess Serena stepped from behind the soldiers who had sheltered her since her arrival at the beach.

  Dressed in a most un-Princess-like ensemble of leather breeches and a flowing white shirt, her long, thick auburn hair falling to her hips in riotous curls.

  “This is not an untruth,” the youth sobbed, tears falling from his eyes, his body shaking with fear and fury. “My own family lost all they had stored for the months that winter’s cold prevents growth. We will starve because of the Covenani’s greed.”

  Serena turned to Drago. “We do not tax those of a country that is not ours to govern, and never would we take more than any one family could provide. Many of our own holdings are not even required to pay, for they have not the resources,” she told him, anger ringing in her soft voice. “I will know who would take the food of these people and blame the Covenani for the crime.”

  Determination wrapped around her. She would indeed find out, Drago knew.

  Gesturing to several warrior sorcerers, he indicated the conquered would-be villain.

  “You will escort this one to his farm along with a wagonload of provisions to see his family through the winter. You will ensure you are not seen by the humans.”

  And learn what demon steals from the mouths of innocents, he finished the order telepathically.

  Drago nodded with a tight movement as the warriors gripped the arm of the youth. The magick trapping him was released and he collapsed against the hold of the larger men.

  “Let us go. Brianna will be frightened should she awaken amid the death in this place.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  When Brianna awoke she was lying in her own bed, Lasan on one side holding her hand gently, Drago on the other, rubbing her arm in an uncomfortable attempt to soothe her as she opened her eyes. For just a moment, the variances between the two men hit her. Lasan, with his careful tolerance, patience and tenderness hid the dominant, forceful side of his nature behind the easy smiles and smooth charm.

  Drago, on the other hand, allowed his dominant nature to be seen by the world. Forceful and commanding on the outside, he was not nearly as comfortable with the softer emotions he kept carefully hidden.

  His hand reached out to smooth her hair back from her brow. There was a tenderness, a comforting warmth she had not thought him capable of before. His blue eyes weren’t glittering with passion or hunger. They were dark with concern, and a shadow of fear.

  In that instant she remembered. She jerked, her eyes widening as she struggled to sit up. Her mother and Serena, as well as her other sister, Marina, approached the bed quickly.

  “Elspeth,” Brianna gasped out, her gaze flying to the hidden passageway door.

  “It’s all right, Brianna,” Drago spoke with a remnant of anger. “She is here no longer. You are safe.”

  The memory of Elspeth’s face, twisted in fury, her hazel eyes alive with hatred, was seared into her memory. It was her beloved nurse, Elspeth, who had knocked her out after declaring her a demon. A whore for Wizard Twins. Tears filled her eyes as she stared up at Drago.

  “You killed her,” she whispered, knowing it was true.

  For a second, pain flashed in his gaze. It was then wiped away with the cold, shuttered look she was more used to.

  “Elspeth was mad, Brianna,” Serena spoke in defense of Drago. “She would have had you murdered rather than see you rescued.”

  “I know that,” Brianna bit out, flashing her sister an irritated look. “I was not blaming him for her death. But I can regret it.”

  What had happened? Brianna wanted to scream out to the gods. She had loved Elspeth, had depended on her care as a child, her advice as an adult. What could have driven her beloved Ellie mad?

  She pushed her fingers through her hair as she fought her tears. Nothing had been the same since Drago and Lasan’s arrival. They had changed her life, taken over, made a mockery of her need for independence and free choice.

  “Brianna?” Marina stepped forward, her step hesitant, her dark gray eyes brooding and somber. “Elspeth has not been the same for some time now. You just did not wish to see this.”

  Marina had always been so quiet. To have her step forward, especially in the presence of men, was a surprise.

  “Different,” Brianna amended. “Not mad. She was never mad.”

  “It is obvious she was,” Brianna’s mother said wearily. “Come, Serena. Marina. We will let Bri rest. It has been an eventful day for her.”

  Brianna watched as her sisters rose to leave.

  “And what about these two?” she bit out, i
ndicating the men who flanked her. “Will you not see to their departure as well?”

  Anger surged through her. She had no desire to have Drago and Lasan present for whatever emotions would consume her as she fought to accept Elspeth’s death and her part in the kidnapping.

  Queen Amoria’s slight smile was gentle and resigned.

  “Those two are yours now, Brianna. I have approved the alliance. Come tomorrow eve the Joining ceremony will be observed and you will be Consort to the Veraga Twins. I believe should you wish them to leave, then you will have to order them to do so yourself.”

  Brianna knew she shouldn’t be shocked. She had known that her mother would approve the alliance rather than see her punished for striking Lasan. But she couldn’t stop the hurt from surging inside her. No choice.

  She pushed down the softening feelings she knew she held for them, and allowed her anger to reign. They thought to secure their means by forcing her, by taking her pride and her dignity. By the hand of the Matriarch Sorceress, she promised they would have no peace in it.

  She watched her mother silently. She would not disgrace herself or her Queen by arguing with her now that the decision had been made. But she would be damned if she would let Drago and Lasan by so easily.

  “I did not do this lightly, daughter,” her mother assured her, her voice soft, sad.

  “Never fear, Mother,” Brianna whispered. “I know who I have to thank for this decision. I will resolve this matter myself.”

  It irked Brianna to no small amount to know that had she been given time to consider her own feelings and desires, than she would have agreed to the Joining. She was no child, and was well aware that had they been the monsters they were portrayed, they would have never shown the restraint they had in the past days. They tempted her. She desired them, and was honest enough to admit to herself that she was coming to care for them. But they had no right to force her. No right to run roughshod over her independence.