Tempest, page 38
Mom returned and got Summer ready to transport to the plane. She put Summer to sleep for the trip before Uncle Peter carefully moved her to a gurney and strapped her down. My chest hurt seeing her like that.
“Why is there a woman in a cage?” Grandfather asked as we wheeled Summer past Aubrey, who was surprisingly quiet.
“She’s practicing for prison,” I said without further explanation.
We ran into Aunt Jordan near the entrance. “It’s just as well Hamid and I are here,” she said, walking with us to one of the planes. “The Council has asked us to stay here until they can send a team to oversee cleanup. Do you know the place is infested with imps?”
“Don’t hurt them,” I told her. “I owe them. They helped me escape from my cell.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “What is it with you and your mother and imps? Next, you’ll be bringing them home with you.”
I laughed for the first time since Ronan and I were alone in the woods that morning. Had that only been a few hours ago?
Exhaustion stole over me, and I remembered I hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. I couldn’t wait to shower and sleep in a real bed.
Ronan stood at my back with his arms around me as Summer was loaded onto the plane her parents had arrived in. We’ll be out of here soon.
It won’t be soon enough for me. I looked over at the helicopter-shaped lump of ice. Part of me wanted to see Julian’s face when he learned what his fate would be. A bigger part of me was happy to never lay eyes on him again.
Finally, Ronan and I boarded the plane with Mom, Uncle Peter, and Aunt Shannon. The others would take the second plane.
Ronan and I sat in the last row, and I let out a huge sigh when the plane took off. I gazed down at the vast Yukon wilderness. It was breathtakingly beautiful, even if it had tried its damnedest to kill us. It had also brought me back to Ronan, and for that, it would always have a special place in my heart.
Do you think we’ll ever come back? I asked him.
He reached for my hand and entwined our fingers. If you want to.
I think I will, someday. I laid my head against his shoulder. There are a lot of other places I want to see, too.
Where do you want to go first? he asked.
I smiled to myself. I heard about this cozy little one-room cabin in the Montana mountains with a stone fireplace and a big bed.
He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. Just say when.
* * *
“Isn’t this homey,” Eldeorin said from the open door of the guest cabin. “I’m surprised you can fit a bed in here.”
I looked up from the bag I was unpacking. “Hello to you, too.”
He entered the small cabin and looked around. “It’s been two months since your liannan. It is time to begin your new training.”
“Not today. I have plans.”
“Nothing is more important than this,” he said, taking a step toward me.
I put up a hand. “Dad told me Mom has been planning this dinner for two weeks. You do not want to mess with her today.”
That gave him pause. Eldeorin might be ancient and powerful, but he did not like to get on Mom’s bad side. He’d never admit it, but he had a soft spot for her.
“Tomorrow then,” he conceded.
“What happens tomorrow?” Ronan asked as he came through the door. He walked over and slid an arm around my waist.
I leaned into him. “Now that I’ve survived liannan, Eldeorin wants to see what my new magic can do.”
“I know what it can do. I want to see what you can do with it. I will return tomorrow,” Eldeorin said and vanished.
Ronan stared after him. “Is he always like that?”
“Pretty much.” I turned in his arms. “I should warn you. Eldeorin likes to pop in unexpectedly. He drives my father nuts.”
“Duly noted.” Ronan lowered his head and kissed me breathless. He did that a lot. Aunt Jordan told me mated males could barely keep their hands off their mates for the first year or two. No one would hear me complain.
I smiled up at him. “Are you ready for your first family gathering? I have to warn you it will be noisy and crowded.”
His eyes lit with amusement. “For you, I will endure it.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I pressed a light kiss to his jaw and backed out of his arms. “We’d better go. I told Mom we’d be there at five.”
We left our cabin and strolled across the sunny grounds hand in hand. We were always touching or holding hands when we left home. The months of pain and separation had left us with emotional scars, and we didn’t like to be apart. At night, wrapped safely in each other’s arms, we talked about it. Every day, the scars healed a little more.
I thought about Summer, who was also healing from her ordeal. She had come out of her catatonic state a week after we brought her home, and I’d stayed there for another week. She was quiet and withdrawn, but every now and then, I caught glimpses of the old Summer. She was coming back to us – all she needed was time.
My phone vibrated, and I smiled at the name on the screen. I clicked on the text message and showed it to Ronan. It was a photo of a smiling sandy-haired Felix and blonde Lena showing off her engagement ring. Above it were the words SHE SAID YES!
Ronan and I visited the werecougars last month, and the four of us had become instant friends. Werecougars and werewolves typically despised each other, but we’d formed a bond during our harrowing escape. Their pride threw a party to show us their gratitude, and even Felicity had smiled at us.
The wedding’s in the fall, Felix texted. We hope you guys can come.
Wouldn’t miss it, I texted back. Something else I learned from our new friendship was werecougar males didn’t imprint like werewolf males did. Couples chose their mates.
Dimitri caught up to us on the road to the lake. “About time you two got back. How was Montana?”
“Wonderful.” I thought about the past month at Ronan’s – our – cabin in the mountains. Four glorious weeks of exploring the mountains during the day and exploring each other at night. My body grew warm thinking about it.
Excited barks came from the woods, and I braced myself as Hugo and Woolf bounded toward us. Woolf pushed between Ronan and me, and Hugo pressed against my other side before they proceeded to slobber all over me.
I shooed them away. “I missed you, too.”
Wiping my face with my sleeve, I realized this was the longest I’d ever been away from them. It was also the longest Dimitri and I had been apart since we were born. It sank in that we were adults now, and our lives were taking us in different directions. We’d have holidays and family get-togethers, but it would never be the same.
Why are you sad? Ronan asked over our bond.
I took his hand again. I’m not. I’m thinking how different it will be not to have Dimitri around all the time.
“I hope you guys are hungry,” Dimitri said. “Mom went a bit overboard with the food. She had the kitchen cook enough turkey and ham to feed a small army and about a dozen sides and desserts. Dad had to borrow some tables from the manor to hold it all.”
“I’m starving,” I said, laughing.
What had started out as a dinner to celebrate Dimitri and me becoming warriors had grown into a huge family Thanksgiving feast to make up for the one we missed in November. It had saddened me when Ronan confided he had never been to a Thanksgiving dinner, and I wanted to fill his life with all the things he had missed out on.
“Do you know where you’re going?” I asked Dimitri.
“New York. Uncle Chris and Aunt Beth will be there until the end of the year,” he said. “I wish you were coming with me, but I guess you’re planning to stay here.”
“We haven’t talked about it much.” The question reminded me Ronan and I needed to have that conversation. I wanted to see more of the country, but I didn’t think I’d be happy living at a command center in a city. I knew he wouldn’t. He needed to hunt at least once a month, and he loved to run. I would be happy living here and traveling for jobs, but I didn’t want to make him feel obligated to stay here for me.
“I thought…” Dimitri paused. “Never mind.”
Voices and laugher reached us before the lake came into view. The first person we saw was Jace, my twelve-year-old cousin, who tackled me like a little linebacker.
“You’re here,” he yelled in a high voice on the verge of changing.
I ruffled his chestnut hair, which was the same shade as my mother’s. “If you get any bigger, you’ll bowl me over.”
“Hi, Dani,” called his fourteen-year-old brother, Daniel, who looked so much like my mother he could have been her little brother.
“Am I invisible?” Dimitri asked in mock indignance. He looked at me. “You can see me, right?”
Jace snickered. “We saw you this morning.”
“Let the girl breathe, Jace.” Uncle Nate walked toward us, smiling. He was Mom’s uncle, which made him our great uncle. He, Aunt Andrea, and the boys lived in Ashville, North Carolina. At fifty-nine, his hair was more gray than brown, but he had the fit and youthful appearance of a man with an active lifestyle.
I hugged him tightly. “I’m so happy you were able to come. I know how crazy your schedule is with the new movie.”
“Nothing could keep us away,” he said.
Uncle Nate was a famous author of military suspense novels, and one of his series had been made into a wildly successful film franchise. They were currently working on the fifth movie, and he was one of the producers.
“Uncle Nate, this is Ronan,” I said when we ended our hug. “Ronan, this is my Uncle Nate.”
They shook hands, and Ronan said, “Dani gave me some of your books. I’m enjoying them.”
Uncle Nate grinned at me. “I like him already.”
We walked less than ten feet before a dark-haired couple swooped in to smother me in hugs. I introduced Ronan to Grandmother Irina and Grandfather Mikhail, and we walked together to the lake.
We entered the house where Ronan and I were besieged by my parents, Uncle Chris, Aunt Beth, Aunt Jordan, Uncle Hamid, Grace, and Grandfather Tristan. I worried Ronan might be uncomfortable surrounded by so many people, but he looked at ease with my family.
Mom ushered us out to the deck for our meal because the dining room couldn’t seat so many. Dimitri had not been kidding about the feast. A long table had been set for twenty people, and side tables held food warmers and large serving bowls.
Dinner was noisy and fun. Everyone gave thanks, which took a while because we had a lot to be thankful for this year. There were toasts to Dimitri and me for becoming warriors and more toasts to Ronan and me.
When everyone had eaten all they could, Mom and Aunt Jordan went inside and came out carrying a huge birthday cake with nineteen candles on it. They laid it in front of Dimitri and me as everyone sang “Happy Birthday.”
I gave Mom a puzzled look, and she said, “We didn’t celebrate your nineteenth birthday in November. What better time than when we are all together?”
After Dimitri and I blew out the candles, Dad stood and went into the house. He came back carrying a long wooden box, which could only contain one thing. Dimitri shifted on his chair in barely concealed excitement.
“Dimitri, ever since you could hold a sword you’ve been begging me for a pair of swords exactly like mine,” Dad said.
“I wouldn’t say I begged,” Dimitri cut in, and everyone laughed.
Dad walked over to him. “I have been waiting for the day I could give you this. You are going to be a fine warrior, and your mom and I are so proud of you.”
He handed the box to Dimitri, who stared at it until I elbowed him. He lifted the lid, and his jaw dropped when he saw the pair of gleaming swords nestled on a bed of black silk. His eyes were wide with disbelief when he raised them to Dad.
“These…these are your swords,” he uttered.
“Now they are yours,” Dad said. “May they serve you as well as they served me.”
Dimitri shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s a first,” Grace muttered dryly, setting off another round of laughter.
Mom stood. “Dani, your gift is a little different. It’s from Dad and me, but everyone here helped. We consulted with Ronan on it, and he assured us you’ll love it.”
I whipped my head toward Ronan, who wore a secretive smile. He and I had been gone for over a month. When had she consulted with him? And on what?
Mom held out her hand to me. “Come.”
She and I walked down to the bottom deck, and my curiosity grew with every step we took. We stopped, and I looked back at my family, who crowded the steps behind us looking as excited as I was.
“Eldeorin has been teaching me this one, so I hope I get it right.” She raised her arm and made a sweeping motion with her hand.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. The air started to shimmer like heat radiating off pavement, and the trees at the other end of the small lake rippled and changed. I squinted as something began to take shape, and I put a hand over my mouth when I saw what it was.
“A house?” I stared at the A-frame log cabin on the other end of the lake. The front of the cabin was mostly windows with a balcony on the second floor and a deck extending out over the water.
I felt Ronan behind me, and I spun to face him. “You want to live here?”
“I want to live wherever you are.” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “We can travel and do jobs, and when we come home, it will be to our own house here at the lake.”
“But your cabin in Montana?”
“It will make a nice vacation spot, but it was never a real home,” he said in a quiet voice. “Here, we’ll be near your family, and I can hunt and run whenever I want.”
“We’re your family, too,” Mom told him.
Dimitri called, “You’re stuck with us now.”
“Are you sure?” I searched Ronan’s eyes. I needed to know he wanted this and wasn’t doing it only to make me happy.
“Yes.” He turned me to face the lake and wrapped his arms around me. “Do you like it?”
“I love it.” I was already imagining us waking up in our loft bedroom with a view the lake bathed in morning sunlight.
Ronan moved to my side. “Then let’s go see our new home.”
I turned with him and saw my parents standing together. I ran and hugged them at the same time. “Thank you.”
Mom, Dad, Ronan, and I walked over to the cabin, using a new gravel road that branched off the main road and ran beside the lake. Mom had hidden it with a glamour to prevent me from seeing it before the big reveal. I couldn’t believe how sneaky they all were.
Up close, the cabin was bigger than I thought. It had an open floorplan except for a huge stone fireplace and chimney in the center, and at the back of the house was a guest room and bathroom. In the loft, I was delighted to find a smaller fireplace in the master en suite and a view of the entire lake. The house was fully furnished, which meant tonight Ronan and I would sleep in our new home.
“We were gone for five weeks. How did you do all this?” I asked my parents when we returned to the first floor.
My father smiled. “We had two crews working around the clock.”
“And while they were building it, I ordered all the furnishings,” my mother said. “I had help from Beth and Jordan.”
I looked around in awe. “This is perfect.”
A flicker of movement on the couch caught my eye, and I turned my head to stare at the two tiny faces peering over the top of a throw pillow. A third one appeared at the side of the pillow, followed by a fourth. I walked over and lifted the pillow to reveal the four imps hiding there.
Mom laughed. “Those are from Jordan. They stowed away in her duffle bag at the lab, so she brought them here as a housewarming gift.”
“You’re the ones who brought me the key fob,” I said, and they chattered eagerly.
I turned to Ronan, who sighed. “You want to keep them, don’t you?”
“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have escaped.” I looked back at the four hopeful faces. “And they have nowhere else to go.”
Ronan pointed at the imps. “No stealing, and upstairs is off-limits.”
They nodded with less enthusiasm. I decided not to tell him the quickest way to get an imp to do something was to order them not to do it.
Mom gave me a conspiratorial smile and looped her arm through Dad’s. “We’ll let you two settle in a bit. Come over later because we still need to cut the cake.”
As soon as they left, I flung my arms around Ronan’s neck. “I can’t believe we have our own house. I want to see it all again.”
He laughed, and we walked through the whole house a second time. It even had a fully stocked kitchen. All we had to do was get our stuff from the cabin and from my old bedroom.
Ronan showed me a large mudroom at the back of the house. “Your mother had them make it big enough for me to undress and shift.”
I stepped outside and inhaled the fresh, earthy smell of the woods, the fragrant wildflowers, and the new foliage. It was good to be home.
“You know what I want to do first?” I asked.
“I can think of a few things,” he said from behind me in a voice that had dropped an octave.
“So can I.” I looked at him over my shoulder. “Race you to the pool.”
His eyes turned to gold. “What do I get if I win?”
“Me.”
Ronan flashed me a predatory smile that made my pulse quicken. I bolted for the woods, my laughter trailing behind me.
It wasn’t long before I heard him coming, and I picked up speed but not so much he couldn’t gain on me. He didn’t know I had been getting faster since my liannan, and I could easily keep pace with him now. I planned to tell him, but not yet because he loved the chase.
And I loved it when he caught me.
~ The End ~
Author Note
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