Page 11

“Y ou’ll want to fasten your seat belt now, Ms. Noble. We’ve got thunderstorms all around Denver this afternoon, so it could get a little bumpy before we land.” The young woman who’d introduced herself as the copilot when they’d boarded this small plane in Nashville smiled at Destiny as she strode toward the cockpit. “Now all I have to do is kick Jesse out of my seat so we can get you guys safely on the ground.”

Destiny returned the woman’s smile and took one last moment to study her new identification card, a Colorado driver’s license showing her with an address on Adams Street in Denver.

Pretty neat trick considering she’d never even been to Colorado before, or anywhere west of the Mississippi for that matter.

She slipped the card into the purse Jesse had insisted on buying for her on their shopping trip, and then snapped her seat belt on before leaning her head back against the buttery soft leather of her seat.

What a crazy morning it had been. Thank goodness she’d actually slept last night with nothing more going through her head than regular people dreams. Because as exhausted as she felt at the moment, she was willing to bet she’d be out cold if she’d had to deal with the dream-visions all night long.

They’d arrived in Nashville late yesterday evening. Jesse and the people he worked with had thought it best to get away from Virginia and the people who were hunting for her.

People, she emphasized to herself, not some bizarre evil Faeries.

They’d gone straight to an information desk at the airport this morning and picked up an envelope waiting for Jesse. Inside had been the photo ID that allowed Destiny access to the boarding area and this private jet sent for them by Coryell Enterprises.

It had seemed an inopportune time to tell him she’d never flown before. Thankfully the pantry of the plane stocked Dramamine or she would have humiliated herself shortly after takeoff. Who knew she was prone to motion sickness?

They all did.

Now.

“You okay?”

Jesse dropped into the seat next to her and fastened his seat belt just as a loud thump sounded below her feet.

She grabbed his arm and he took her hand in his, his thumb massaging her palm. “Don’t worry, babe. That’s just the wheels extending for landing. It’s supposed to feel like that. It’ll feel a little like running over a cow when we touch down and then that’s it. You’ll be on the ground, safe and sound, in no time flat.”

Destiny tightened her grip on his hand and tried to relax. People did this flying stuff all the time. She could do it, too.

In short order, they were on the ground and in the concourse, making their way to an underground train that whisked them to the terminal.

“They all look the same, don’t they?” Destiny felt like something of an airport expert, having been inside three different terminals in the last three days. “Everybody rushing somewhere.”

“Pretty much,” Jesse agreed, leading her forward through the big glass doors and out into the bright sun, directly to the open door of a waiting car.

“I thought the copilot said it was storming here,” she commented as he assisted her into the backseat.

“Destiny, this is Peter Hale. Peter, Destiny Noble.” Jesse’s introduction of the vehicle’s driver was hurried as he folded his large frame in next to her. He scooted into the center of the seat, forcing her to move to the far window, then reached across her to grab her seat belt and latch it over her body before taking a file folder Peter handed him.

“The weather rolls in funny around here, Ms. Noble.” Peter caught her eye in the rearview mirror. “It can creep up on you awful fast. Have a look over there.”

She followed the direction of his head nod as the car gathered speed leaving the terminal.

In the distance, clouds hung heavy and dark over a small circle of skyscrapers. Occasional streaks of lightning threaded from sky to ground, their brilliant light standing out against the darker backdrop of the majestic Rockies.

The city looked so far away, she wanted to ask the distance, but both men were quietly discussing whatever paperwork Jesse had taken from the man named Peter. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, comforted by Jesse’s nearness.

Surely he’d move back over to his side of the car soon.

“She okay?” Peter asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, just tired. She popped a motion sickness pill when we got on the plane.”

Did they think it was okay to just talk about her like that? Like she couldn’t hear or something? Destiny had every intention of opening her eyes and speaking for herself, but Jesse put an arm around her, pulling her closer. Instead of complaining, she found herself snuggling into the solid warmth of his body, completely relaxed for the first time all day.

“Not a goddamned word out of you, Pete.”

Though Jesse’s words of warning were quiet, they rumbled under Destiny’s ear and she fought the sleep trying to overtake her long enough to open her eyes.

“Didn’t say a thing, boss man. Didn’t even think it.”

Peter Hale’s wide grin reflected in the rearview mirror was the last thing she saw before she gave in to the need to doze.

Booming thunder rattled the car, so close Destiny was sure it must be directly overhead, jerking her wide awake.

“It’s okay.” Jesse momentarily tightened his arm around her in a gentle squeeze before withdrawing and allowing her to sit up on her own. “We’re only a couple blocks from home now.”

Destiny rubbed her hands over her face, willing the last dregs of sleep away. With a surge of embarrassment, she realized her cheek was damp where she’d lain against Jesse’s chest.

Life just kept getting better and better. She’d started the morning threatening to hurl on the guy and now she was finishing up by drooling on him. What other ways could she find to humiliate herself?

Hastily she pushed the thought away. No sense tempting fate. After all, fate seemed to have it in for her lately as it was.

Rain pelted the windows in torrents, making it almost impossible for her to read the street signs until the car slowed at a four-way stop.

A DAMS .

Wasn’t that the same street name as on her new driver’s license?

She didn’t have time to think about it as they pulled to a stop on the street in front of a two-story brick house with a huge black Hummer parked in the small driveway.

“Sorry about the walk. This is as close as I can get. Drive’s full.” Peter leaned away to rustle around in the glove box for a moment before handing back a small blue umbrella. “This might help a little.”

“Very little,” Jesse snorted as he exited the car, stepping out into the downpour.

In the short time it took him to get around to Destiny’s door, he was already drenched, but holding the umbrella up for her to walk under. He smiled down at her and held out his hand to help her out of the car.

At least he wouldn’t notice the small wet spot she’d left on his chest now. Maybe her luck was changing.

The front door, itself a rich emerald green, opened as they reached the covered stoop. The man holding it open was every bit as handsome as Jesse, but even bigger, with shoulder-length brown hair.

“About time you got here. Interesting trip you had, or so I hear.” He backed away, allowing them room to enter a tiled foyer.

Jesse nodded as he closed the dripping umbrella and propped it against the wall. “You could say that. Why the hell didn’t you move that beast of yours into the street if you knew we were coming?”

The man laughed, his eyes twinkling. “Yer neighbors are no too fond of my wee toy blocking a lane of traffic. The elderly gent across the street was quick to point that out the day after you left.”

Jesse wiped a hand across his face. “I’m sure he was. I need to grab a towel. Destiny, this is Robert. Don’t believe half of what this big Scot says before I get back in here. Robbie, this is Destiny Noble. Why don’t you show her into the living room. She needs to use the computer.”

Robert walked a few steps away, pausing at a large double-door archway. Destiny took one last look at Jesse as he hurried down the hallway and disappeared behind a door, more than a little sorry he was going to dry off.

There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that the only thing she’d ever see that looked better than Jesse in the T-shirts she’d seen him wear was Jesse in the wet T-shirt he had on right now. It seemed to cling in all the right places and clearly accentuated just how many right places the man had.

At the sound of Robert’s pointed throat clearing, she snapped her head around in his direction, a dull warmth flooding her face. It was just damned sloppy to have allowed herself to get caught staring like that.

Ducking her head to avoid the big Scot’s grin, she hurried past him into the large room and froze, a gasp on her lips.

Lit only by one small lamp, the room was cast in shadows, but even that couldn’t mask its already familiar furnishings.

This was the room from her vision, right down to the painting that hung on the wall over the computer desk.

Almost like being back in the dream, she felt herself drawn to the desk, her feet carrying her there as if they did so in spite of any effort she might make to stop. She pulled out the big office chair and sat, scooting forward to the computer and reaching for the power button.

She hesitated, moving her hand instead to the keyboard, her fingers hovering over the instrument.

This was it, her opportunity to push beyond the vision, but something stayed her hand.

She jumped as an arm brushed past her and her senses flooded with warmth and the clean scent of soap, heady and masculine.

“You can check your email here.”

Exactly as in the vision, Jesse pressed a button and the monitor was alive, its screen flickering with numbers and letters, only this time, in the real world, each of them was crisp and sharp.

“It’ll be okay. Trust me,” he said quietly, his serious eyes softened by a reassuring smile.

He was shirtless, as he had been in the dream-vision, carrying a thick green towel he’d apparently used in drying his tousled wet hair. He’d obviously been in a hurry to get back since a dry T-shirt was slung carelessly over one shoulder.

This close to him, she knew within seconds she’d been wrong earlier.

There was something better than Jesse in a wet T-shirt and it was standing right in front of her. She’d seen plenty of magazine photos of guys with rock-hard six-packs, but she’d be the first to admit, those photos were nothing compared to the real thing standing within touching distance.

She fought the urge to trace her finger across the ripples of his chest and would have lost the battle had he not spoken to her again.

“Go ahead, babe. Sign on and pull up your mail.”

“Right.” She dragged her eyes from his chest and let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as she pulled up her mail server. What a doofus. At this point, she only hoped Jesse either wouldn’t notice or would chalk up her bizarre behavior to nerves about her sister.

The list of incoming mail was short, but the one she knew would be waiting for her jumped out immediately.

If you want to see your sister alive…

“I’ll be damned,” Jesse whispered, his face so close to hers she could feel the heat of him on her cheek. “Go on. Let’s see what the bastards have to say.”

This is your only chance. Off Highway 89A in Sedona, Arizona, you’ll find the Farmers’ Market. Be there at 5:30 on Tuesday evening. Be prompt. We won’t wait .

“Oh my God. That’s tomorrow.” Destiny fought the tears she felt burning her eyes as she ran her finger over the words on the screen. “There’s no way we can get there in time. It’s impossible.”

“Impossible’s just a word,” Jesse reassured her as he straightened, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and punching buttons. “And one that we’re not going to waste any time worrying over. Peter? You’re at the office already? Good. I need you to trace in on my home computer. I have an email and I need the sender’s location.”

“You can do that? From an email?”

Jesse grinned. “You’d be amazed at the magic Peter can accomplish with his techie toys.” His expression went from smiles to serious in a heartbeat and he was back to business. “Hold on.”

He laid the phone down and leaned across her, slanting the keyboard toward him to type.

R EPLY .

A blank email form popped up with a prefilled address, and Jesse typed in a message.

I’ll be there .

He highlighted the SEND button and the message was gone, winging its way to the people who held Leah.

“It’s done,” he said after picking up the phone again. “We’ll need to be in Sedona early tomorrow afternoon. You’ll make the arrangements and have everything waiting?” A pause. “Great. No need to tell you I’d take it as a personal favor if you had some coordinates waiting for me when we land in Arizona. Later, man.”

As Jesse slid the phone back into his front jeans pocket, Destiny released a shuddering breath and looked up at him.

“Come on now, don’t cry.” He slid the pad of his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the tears she couldn’t stop. “We’ll be there in time. I promise. We’re going to get your sister back.”

Without thought, she was on her feet, her arms around him, her face buried in the edge of the crumpled T-shirt that hung from his shoulder. It felt so good not to be alone in this battle any longer, to have found someone at last who knew what to do and was willing to do it. Someone who believed her. Accepted her.

His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer, while he stroked her hair. “It’s okay, babe,” he murmured, his breath warm where it feathered against her temple. “It’s okay.”

A small turn of her head and the soft cloth bunched away. The clean, spicy scent of him enveloped her senses as her lips rested on the bare, heated skin of his chest, where the hard planes jumped and twitched in response to her touch.

The relief she’d felt only seconds before fled, washed away by a much stronger emotion, a need for the man who held her, a need so intense, she couldn’t imagine ignoring it.

Strong back muscles rippled under her hands as Jesse brought a finger to rest under her chin, lifting her face to meet his gaze.

His eyes, those beautifully shifting brown-green lenses, captured hers, and he lowered his head even as she felt herself reaching up to meet his full, sensual mouth, drawn to him as the proverbial moth to a flame.

Their lips touched and she was lost, sinking into him, wanting him.

His hands slid to her waist and up, pushing ahead of them the cover of the pink T-shirt, leaving a trail of tingling heat where he traced up her sides.

The kiss broke and he lowered his head to her neck, his tongue and lips working a magic all their own that within seconds of contact had her ready to rip her shirt off.

Destiny rose up on her toes, pressing into his body, closing her eyes to block out the world, all too aware of her racing heart and the accelerated sound of their breathing.

In this moment, she didn’t care. Didn’t want to think. Wanted only to feel. To feel him, his hands on her body, his mouth on her neck.

Down his back she explored, slipping her fingers just into the waistband of his jeans, sliding them forward and down. Down the rippling abs that disappeared beneath his beltline.

“Jesus, Des,” he groaned, his body tensing under her touch.

“I know,” she whispered in response, opening her eyes to look at his beautiful face. “I know. I can’t believe…”

She would have said more, but movement over his shoulder caught her attention.

There in the doorway, backlit by the bright hallway lights stood a lone figure. A man. Just as in her vision, he paused for only a moment before starting forward, the light reflecting off the long, shiny object he carried in his hands.

“Jesse! Look out!”

Destiny’s scream of warning broke the spell that had so firmly held him captive only seconds before. He shoved her behind him as he twisted around to face whatever danger had invaded his home.

“Pol?”

The shock of recognition lasted only an instant, followed as quickly by confusion as to why the Hereditary High Prince of the Realm of Faerie—and his own Faerie ancestor—stood in his living room in Denver.

“You sound surprised to see me, lad. Or is my arrival simply at an inopportune moment?”

“Not at all.” Jesse avoided meeting the Fae’s discerning gaze as he moved to switch on the large lamps at either end of the sofa, flooding the room with a soft welcoming light.

“What’s that he’s holding?” Destiny’s trembling voice belied her uplifted chin.

“This?” Pol laughed as he lifted the long, thin metallic decanter. “This is naught but a gift from home. Dallyn told me you had developed quite an appreciation for our Nectar. This is a particularly fine vintage, if I do say so myself. From my own stock.”

“Oh.” The little noise escaped Destiny’s lips on a breath as she sank into the large leather recliner. “A gift. I don’t understand. I was so sure what I’d seen was…” Her words died off.

“This was what frightened you before? The other night in the car?”

She nodded before lowering her head into her hands, scrubbing at her face as if attempting to physically erase her confusion.

“This is Destiny Noble. She saw your arrival in a vision,” Jesse responded to the question evident in Pol’s uplifted brow. “And thought you were someone else. Someone carrying a weapon.”

“Ah.” The Prince entered the room, taking a seat on the sofa across from Destiny. “In that case, Ms. Noble, I’m pleased to disappoint you, my dear. But how delightful to find a kinswoman here, so far from home. Dallyn made no mention of this.”

Jesse swept the shirt from his shoulder and pulled it on over his head before dropping to perch on the arm of Destiny’s chair. The hand he placed on her shoulder meant nothing. Her evident upset tugged at some long-ignored emotion, but he refused to give in to it.

Just as he refused to let his thoughts dwell on what had just happened between them.

There were more important matters to deal with right now.

Like Pol.

“How did you get here? For that matter, why are you here?” Jesse couldn’t recall any mention of Pol ever having strayed so far from his Glen into the Mortal World.

“I took an a-ro-plane.” He pronounced the word as if it were as foreign to him as the object it represented. “It was actually rather pleasant, though burdensome in the time it required. I did not even suffer from the morning sickness Dallyn had cautioned against.”

“Morning sickness?” Destiny’s head snapped up with her question.

“He means motion sickness. Dallyn confuses words all the time.” Or he pretended to. Jesse hadn’t completely decided on that yet.

“And Dallyn would be…?” Destiny dragged out the words, letting the question linger between them.

“A friend.” Jesse held up his hand and turned away from her. He’d have to explain all of this sooner or later, but at the moment he was opting for later, hoping not to have that particular conversation with Pol present. “I’m glad you had a good flight. But you still haven’t explained why you’re here.”

“Ah…” The Prince sat back against the sofa, all pretense of a jovial visit wiped away. “When Dallyn brought word of your disturbing conversation with our Guardian, Ian McCullough, I had no choice but to come here in person.”

Jesse turned his full attention to his ancient guest. “You know something about what’s going on with the Nuadians?”

How bad must that explanation be if Pol came himself rather than sending his General?

“Are you sure you want to discuss it… now?” Pol cast a pointed gaze in Destiny’s direction.

“Yes sir. This concerns her, too. It’s her they’re after for some reason, and I suspect they already have her sister.”

“Unfortunate.” Pol tapped his steepled fingers together before sighing deeply. “Very well. As you say, it is best you both know what you are up against. May I?” He held up the decanter he’d brought with him.

“Oh, sorry.” Jesse snagged three glasses from the sideboard and returned, placing them on the coffee table in front of the Prince.

Pol completely filled two glasses, but poured only a splash into the third, which he offered to Destiny.

When she shook her head in refusal, he returned the glass to the table and leaned back once again, his eyes taking on a faraway look as if, for the moment, he was lost in his private memories.

“It began long before I was born, in a time when the royal family still ruled Wyddecol, what you know as the Realm of Faerie.”

Jesse leaned forward, returning his untouched glass to the table. “I knew the Nuadians were old, but I was under the impression they hadn’t been living in my world for that long.”

“The Bloodlust didn’t begin with the Nuadians. They were hardly the first of our people to be banished to the Mortal World to live out their lives bereft of their magic. In the Long Ago, it was a common punishment for the worst of our kind.”

“Well, isn’t that just great,” Jesse muttered. That the Fae had used the world of man as a penal dumping ground for their worst offenders shouldn’t surprise him. “What’s this bloodlust thing you mentioned?”

“A black scourge on the souls of the Fae. In the Long Ago, the Exiled Ones discovered a way to regain their stripped powers through the consumption of Mortal blood.”

A strangled sound came from Destiny. “You’re saying that those people drank human blood?”

The palpable disgust in her voice reflected Jesse’s own feelings.

“Yes. The Exiled Ones drank blood.” Pol shrugged and looked away, as if trying to distance himself from the memory. “It was, in fact, the horror of those dark times that led men to create legends of an undefeatable race of monsters who preyed on the blood of the innocent.”

“Vampires? Are you talking about vampires?” Destiny shook her head, disbelief in her eyes. “But they’re not real. They’re just make-believe. Nothing more than fairy tales.”

“Exactly,” Pol agreed. “Tales of the Faerie. The darkest side of the Fae. Though the practice rejuvenated their bodies, restored and enhanced their strength, it ate away at their souls. The putrid traces of what they had been was no longer fit for the Fountain of Souls. The disruption they left behind was rivaled only by the destruction caused during the Great War with the Nuadians. It was that horrific destruction that led the Earth Mother to remove Faerie magic from the Mortal World.”

“If they were undefeatable, does that mean they’re still around? Did the Nuadians hook up with those guys? Is that how they can do what they’re doing?” Jesse didn’t have time for a history lesson. He wanted to understand what he was dealing with in the now.

“I have no idea how the Nuadians discovered the ancient evil. I was but a lad when the Exiled Ones were finally defeated, though I do remember whispers in the palace about the means of their defeat being as dangerous as the evil had ever been.”

Destiny’s shoulder stiffened under Jesse’s hand and she pulled away, rising from her chair.

“This is crazy. You guys are talking about some old legend like it’s real. There are no vampires. There are no faeries. None of that stuff exists.”

“You must be aware of one other thing, Guardian,” Pol continued, as if Destiny had not spoken. “The Whole has entered a new phase. It is as if the strings of fate are being gathered up, leading us all to the place we need to be. The magic forbidden in the Mortal World is returning with an unknown strength. Only this time it is not in the hands of the Fae, but instead resides with the new race.”

A tension zinged through Jesse’s veins at Pol’s use of his title and the markings on his arm felt as if they had come alive. “New race?”

“Yes. The race created when Fae mated with Mortal. Neither Fae nor man, but a combination of the two. For better or worse, these beings now hold the power of the magic in this world.”

“You mean like me?” Though Jesse used himself as the example, it was the face of his little niece that danced through his thoughts.

“Yes. Like you.”

“This isn’t funny, okay? Why are you two carrying on like this? There. Are. No. Faeries. Period.” Destiny had backed away from them as she punctuated her words, her arms crossed defiantly, protectively in front of her.

The look Pol cast in her direction as he gestured toward her could only be seen as sympathetic. “Like her.”

“Stop it! Stop it right now!” Destiny’s voice shook with her emotion. “You can’t frighten me with these fantasies. It’s not real. None of it.”

“It is real, Destiny. Denying it won’t make it go away.” Jesse stood and headed across the room toward her, but Pol stopped him with a gentle hand to his arm.

“Show her.” Pol straightened, his arms at his sides.

“Show her?”

“Can you not feel the fear inhabiting the rips in her soul where trust has been torn away? She will not believe without proof. She cannot.” Pol lifted his chin and held his arms out to his sides. “Hit me.”

“What? What do you think you’re doing?” Destiny looked as if she were ready to jump between the two of them.

As if Pol needed her help!

Jesse shrugged. He would have preferred to do this differently, but maybe Pol was right. They didn’t have time to ease her into what she needed to accept.

“Whatever.” He pulled back his arm and threw himself into a wicked uppercut.

With one slight miscalculation.

Destiny screamed as his arm flew through the unsubstantial mist Pol’s body became. With nothing solid to stop his forward momentum, Jesse’s body pitched through the Fae and his shoulder hit the floor with a thud that rattled his bones.

“Oh my God.” Destiny’s words died off, sounding as if they’d been dragged from the depths of her soul, and she repeated them over and over in a breathless whisper until she turned her sticken gaze toward Pol. “What are you?”

“I am Fae,” he answered simply.