Warrior Rising (Harlequin Nocturne) Read online

  Larsen put her hand on Jack’s arm. “We can’t all go. If we fail, there’s no one to carry on the fight.”

  Jack covered her hand with his. “Larsen’s right. We’ll stay here. Kade? You’re our prime Sitheen-finder, but if you need to go, I’ll understand.”

  Kade shook his head. “As a true human, Autumn’s far too vulnerable. I can’t take her with me and I won’t leave her behind. I’ll fight the war on this side.”

  “Good.” Jack grabbed his cell phone and pressed a couple of buttons. “How many horses do we need?”

  “None.” Findris shook his head, snowflakes falling from his hair. “The horses will do you no good. They’ll never be able to keep up with the creatures that have evolved in our world. The royal herd can travel for days without rest.”

  On the plane from Iceland Charlie had told him how, long ago, the Esri had stolen horses from the human realm. While humans were never able to reproduce in Esria, the horses had. More or less. But the resulting animals were hairless and fanged, like something out of a horror film. Apparently they were different in more than just looks.

  “How about a Range Rover?” Charlie asked. “A buddy of mine who lives less than three blocks from here drives one. If he’s home, we can have it in ten minutes.”

  Harrison thought his brother was joking until he saw the gleam in Charlie’s eyes. “You want to drive an SUV through the gate into Esria?”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  Harrison turned to Findris. “What do you think? Would it work?”

  Findris’s mouth opened, then closed. “I don’t know. Ilaria’s power is untested, but she might indeed be able to get a vehicle through.”

  If she woke up in time. Ilaria!

  Charlie grabbed his phone. “One Range Rover coming up.”

  Ilaria, I need you. King Rith has the stones, angel. We have to stop him.

  She wasn’t responding at all.

  Ilaria. Harrison stared at her, fighting to reach her again through his mind. Behind him, Jack, Charlie and Findris continued the discussion.

  “You’ll need a ramp to get over the lip of the fountain,” Jack said. “And gas. There won’t be gas stations in Esria.”

  “How many miles are we going to have to travel?” Charlie asked.

  “Close to a hundred,” Findris said. “Fewer than that to the base of the mountains.”

  “Good. We should be able to get there on one tank if the terrain isn’t too rough. With any luck, we’ll catch up with them long before that. But we should take a couple of extra gas cans for the return trip, if nothing else.”

  Charlie’s voice lowered and moved away as he spoke on the phone. Jack began issuing orders to his men to move the trucks and make room for the Range Rover.

  Harrison concentrated on reaching Ilaria. Despite the falling snow, he began to sweat. Everything rested on his ability to reach her. Over and over, he called her name and talked to her, telling her what happened, telling her their plans.

  Behind him, the trucks moved away. Beside him, a makeshift ramp was quickly assembled, ready to drop into place when the barrier fell. But still, he concentrated on Ilaria. Just Ilaria.

  The sound of a vehicle driving up beside him finally broke through his concentration and he turned to find Charlie climbing out of a shiny, black, late model SUV.

  “How long has it been?” he asked his brother.

  “Thirty-seven minutes.”

  Hell.

  “The gate is still open,” Findris said, anticipating his next question. “For the moment.”

  Charlie tossed extra flamethrowers into the vehicle. “I packed us a couple cases of water bottles and peanut butter crackers. It should be enough to tide us over if we don’t have time to ask the land to provide us food.”

  The situation was growing dire. If the gate closed, it would be weeks before it opened again and by then it would be far, far too late.

  Ilaria! Harrison closed his eyes. He had to reach her. Talking wasn’t enough. Digging deep down inside himself, he found the emotion he’d contained for so long and forced himself to set it free. The need for her. The love.

  Ilaria, I love you, angel. Come back to me. Please? Love welled up inside him, overflowing, reaching out to her.

  Harrison?

  Thank God. Ilaria, stay with me. If we don’t get through that gate quickly, all is lost. Rith will tear down the walls between our worlds. He’ll enslave your people.

  Can’t…wake.

  Then I’m going to have to go after him without you.

  No.

  You must move, Ilaria. Lift your hands and take off the draggon stone. He’s using it to bind you. Take it off and you’ll be free.

  I…can’t.

  Yes, you can, angel. You have to or I’m going without you.

  “That’s it, Harrison,” Charlie said, his voice laced with carefully controlled excitement. “She’s doing it.”

  Harrison opened his eyes to find Ilaria’s hands lifting with painful slowness.

  Good girl. Pull it off, angel.

  For a dozen heartbeats, her hands lingered on the chain, then slowly she gripped the silver and pulled the stone from around her neck.

  The air sighed.

  “We’re through!” Charlie leaped forward, Harrison following a second later as he ran for Ilaria.

  He fell on his knees beside her, helping her as she struggled to sit. “Are you okay?”

  Her lashes fluttered up, weighted by snowflakes. “I think so. I’m…groggy.”

  “You did it.” Harrison stood, sweeping her into his arms. “Grab the draggon stone, Charlie.”

  His brother picked up the jewel, then made a beeline for the vehicle as a couple of Sitheen dropped the ramp into place against the fountain. Findris and Tarrys were already seated inside the SUV as Harrison lifted Ilaria into the backseat next to Tarrys, then turned to Jack and Larsen, who’d followed them.

  He handed Jack his phone. “My ex-wife’s number is in there. Gwen’s. If I don’t return…”

  Larsen understood. “We’ll watch out for your kids, Harrison.”

  It was all he could ask for. With a nod, he turned and slid onto the seat beside Ilaria, closing the door behind him.

  Charlie started the engine. “Seat belts, boys and girls. I have the feeling we’re in for a wild ride. Either that or we’re about to smash the Dupont Circle fountain.”

  Harrison clicked Ilaria’s belt, then strapped himself in.

  Charlie reached back, the draggon stone in his hand. “Is it safe to give this back to you, Princess?”

  Ilaria looked up, her eyes already recovering their sharp brilliance as the magic lost its grip on her. “Yes, it’s safe. Rith tapped into the power of the draggon stone to set his trap, but that’s all. He can’t control me through it again.”

  Charlie dropped the stone into her palm. “Findris thinks you’ll need its full power to get us and the Range Rover through in one piece.”

  Her mouth lifted, her eyes widening as understanding caught up with her. “We’re driving one of your vehicles through the gate?”

  Charlie glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “If you have a better way to catch Rith and his horses, speak now. Or help us get this thing through.”

  The disbelief slid from her face, her jaw hardening. “Do it.”

  Jack rapped at the window, motioning Harrison to roll his down. “The damned voices in my head have a message for you. The hawk that wishes to reach the sun must first learn to ride the wind. Don’t ask me what it means because I haven’t a clue.” He stepped back out of the way and waved them on. “Good luck!”

  Larsen waved from behind him.

  As Harrison raised his window again, Charlie drove slowly up the makeshift ramp, then gunned it.

  Harrison held Ilaria tight against him and braced himself, half certain they were going to crash head-on into the marble fountain.

  Instead, they flew into chaos.

  * * *

 
Traveling through the gate was like flying through a kaleidoscope, the colors shifting and changing against a field of black. As if from a distance Harrison heard Charlie swear. Then suddenly his vision returned as the Range Rover landed with a hard bounce and a lurch, then came to a dirt-churning stop.

  “Everyone okay?” Charlie gave a low whoop. “Hot damn, it worked.”

  Something hit the vehicle just below Harrison’s window, drawing his attention to the two wide-eyed Marceils shooting useless arrows at them. But his gaze quickly moved beyond and his jaw dropped, goose bumps rising on his skin as he took in his first incredible sight of Esria.

  The ground was blue—bright blue—relieved only by the occasional clump of blood-red bushes or scraggly, purple trees. Scattered across the barren landscape lay fist-sized rocks of brilliant colors as if tossed by a playful hand. Above, the rust-colored sky looked low enough to reach out and touch with his hand.

  “Amazing…”

  Charlie grunted as he hit the accelerator and started across the bright blue ground. “Not quite what we’re used to, is it?”

  “Is all of Esria like this? So…colorful?”

  “Yes.” Ilaria twined her fingers with his where his hand rested on her shoulder. “Our land is more colorful than yours, but I’ve always found the human realm more beautiful, especially in the summer, with splashes of color against the vibrant green and blue.”

  He brushed his cheek over her hair, pulling her tight against him as something in the sky caught his attention. Craning his neck, he watched the oddest bird he’d ever seen fly over the vehicle. With green and white stripes, black wings and a long, whiplike body, it didn’t look like a bird at all. It looked like…

  “A winged snake.” Ilaria leaned into him, peering out the window beside him. “They’re quite common.”

  The SUV hit a rut and Harrison held on as the vehicle rumbled across the uneven terrain. He was starting to feel a little off. A little nauseous yet…not. Probably just a side effect from the trip through the gate.

  He glanced at the rearview mirror, catching Charlie’s eye. “Any sign of Rith and his goons?”

  “No.” Charlie steered around another of the red bushes, his hands tight and sure on the wheel as if he’d traversed ground like this many times. With his special ops background, maybe he had. “No one leaves tracks in this place. The flowers sprout to cushion your footfalls…or tires…then disappear again as soon as you pass.”

  Harrison’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?”

  “Look behind us.”

  He turned, his brows dipping lower as he tried to make sense of the parallel lines of bright pink flowers the exact widths of the tires stretching out behind the car about six yards. A steady six yards even though the vehicle continued to move forward. The flowers were disappearing, just as Charlie said.

  Bizarre. “What else did you fail to mention?”

  “Too many things to go into now.”

  Ilaria glanced up at him, a smile playing at her lush mouth. A smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Our world is not like yours.”

  “I’m beginning to see that.”

  “I wish I could show you all my world has to offer,” she said softly.

  “Once we stop King Rith.” He leaned in and kissed her gently, but the touch of their lips sent his head and stomach spinning in tandem, and not in a good way. He pulled back quickly.

  Ilaria frowned. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. Just a little…motion sick, I guess.” But no one else seemed to be and his own weakness annoyed him. He glanced up. “Since we can’t follow Rith’s trail, I assume we’re heading to the Temple of the Ancients?”

  Findris turned to glance at him from the front passenger’s seat. “Actually, we are following Rith’s trail, just not the way you’re used to. I can follow the scent of the stones. But, yes, they’re leading us straight to the Dark Mountains and the Temple of the Ancients, as you surmised.”

  “How soon will we catch up with them?”

  “Rith’s horses are fast. They’re traveling at close to the same speed we are and they had a head start. It’s going to be close.”

  Charlie glanced up into the rearview mirror. “You’re looking a little green, Harrison. You want to move to the front?”

  “No.” It didn’t feel like motion sickness, now that he thought about it. It felt like…magic. “It’s the draggon stone.” He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did. Like a predator attempting to hypnotize its prey, the magic tugged at him, coaxing him to open up and let it in.

  “It’s calling to you, isn’t it?” Ilaria asked. “I can feel it.” She took the stone from around her neck and handed it to Findris. Almost at once that stomach-churning craving died down to a manageable twinge.

  Charlie frowned. “What do you mean it’s calling to him? How’s it affecting you, Harrison?”

  Hell. He’d never told anyone. He’d been rejecting whatever pull that stone had on him from the beginning, but he couldn’t remember why.

  “I’ve always felt something, whenever I touch any of the stones. The green stones repulse me but the draggon stone seduces. Don’t ask me what it means.”

  “Do you know, Princess?”

  “I have a theory.” Ilaria leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees. A look of distaste crossed her face as her hands brushed the poncho. She glanced at Harrison. “Help me out of this thing, will you? I don’t need it any longer.” When he’d pulled the poncho over her head and tossed it into the back, she continued. “I’ve felt a latent power in Harrison from the moment I met him. Then I realized the draggon stone was attracted to him.”

  Findris made a sound of surprise. “The draggon stone only calls to royal blood.”

  Harrison frowned.

  Ilaria met his gaze, smiling softly. “Exactly. It’s said that Orisis, the last king of Esria, once impregnated a human. It was rumored that the blood of Esrian kings once flowed through human veins. I think it still does.”

  Harrison stared at her. “Orisis died, what…seven thousand years ago? Do you know how little of his blood would flow in any human descendant’s veins?”

  “Royal blood is strong.”

  He looked at his brother. “Charlie’s blood’s the same as mine. Why doesn’t he feel the stones?”

  “I’ve never touched the green ones,” Charlie said.

  Ilaria’s hand stroked Harrison’s knee. “Only one with royal blood would feel the pull of the draggon stone, but the blood alone isn’t enough. The draggon stone chooses the ones it wants.”

  “What are you trying to say? That it wants to make me king?”

  “No. You’re still human. And it’s already bestowed the power of leadership upon me. But it wants you, all the same.”

  “In what way?”

  Her expression turned thoughtful. “I’m not sure. What happens when you touch it?”

  “I feel like someone’s literally pulled the rug out from under me, like my head’s flipping end over end.”

  “I think it’s trying to share its power with you.”

  Harrison frowned. In some part of his mind, he knew she was right. Maybe in some way he’d known from the beginning. The stone had told him and he hadn’t wanted to listen. He’d hated all things Esri and had wanted nothing to do with them or their stones. But he’d lost that old antagonism somewhere between falling in love with Ilaria and flying through the gate into Esria itself.

  “Give me that thing,” he said to Findris, holding out his hand. Heaven knew they needed all the advantages they could get. Refusing additional power was nothing short of stubborn foolishness.

  But the moment the stone landed in his hand, his equilibrium disappeared, his mind and body flying into a maelstrom of violence and pain. Colors flashed behind eyes without sight. Whistling screams sounded in ears without sound. Blood heating until it boiled in his veins, he tumbled through an endless, deadly nothingness.

  “Harrison!”

  From a d
istance, Ilaria’s voice melded with Charlie’s, sharp bursts of worry and fear.

  The spinning stopped abruptly. And then there was nothing.

  Chapter 15

  “Harrison!” Ilaria grabbed him as he listed forward, pulling his head down on her lap. She wrenched the stone from his hand and threw it into the front of the vehicle, hearing it strike the windshield, the chain clattering to the dashboard. “Harrison!”

  “What happened?” Charlie demanded, his voice hard as granite. “Is he okay?”

  “I don’t know.” His heart beat too slowly in his chest, his brow had dampened with sweat. She’d felt his pain, and felt the moment he lost the struggle, falling unconscious. “He’s alive. The power leaped at him, but he’s mortal. It was too much.”

  She pressed her palm to his damp forehead, seeking the source of the damage, lending him her strength.

  “Help him, Ilaria.”

  “I’m trying, Charlie.” His heart rate was too slow. Irregular. He couldn’t die. Not now. Not like this.

  Pressing her other hand to his chest, she concentrated on his heart, on steadying it, strengthening it. But nothing happened. She needed the draggon stone. With its added power she could almost certainly help him, but she feared what would happen if she let the stone near him again. Even if it didn’t touch him, if it leaped for him through her, it might kill him.

  So she fought for his life through the gift she had, willing him to live.

  Finally, finally, she felt his heart give a single hard beat, then settle into a steady, strong rhythm once more.

  With a shuddering breath, she tipped her head back. “He’s going to be all right.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She met Charlie’s frantic gaze in the rearview mirror. “Yes.” Because she wouldn’t let him be any other way.

  * * *

  Slowly Harrison came back to consciousness to the feel of a soft hand stroking the hair back from his forehead, its mate on his cheek.

  “Harrison?”

  He opened his eyes to find Ilaria’s sweet face looking down at him. His body felt bruised and sore, and for a moment he wondered if Charlie had crashed the SUV. But a quick glance showed his brother firmly in the driver’s seat. No one seemed injured but him.