Found(128)

“Wait, my ssson. I didn’t call you here sssimply to ssspeak of your little female. I have sssomething here I think you’ll want to sssee.”

“Whatever you have, I don’t want to see it,” Xairn said, but he couldn’t help turning his head.

“Perhapsss I misspoke. I ssshould have sssaid I have sssomeone you might wish to sssee.” The AllFather leaned forward and patted the cloth-covered cage, his eyes glowing with evil glee. “Sssomeone you have been wishing to sssee for a very long time. Your entire life, in fact.”

Xairn’s heart was suddenly in his throat. He turned back toward the cage, his hands curled into fists at his sides. “What have you done? Who do you have in there?”

“Who do you think?” With a sudden move, the AllFather rose and yanked the black cloth from the cruel metal cage, revealing the occupant shivering within.

Xairn’s legs gave way and he stumbled, coming down on his hands and knees before the cage. “No,” he whispered as the familiar green eyes looked into his own. “No. Oh, no…”

“Oh yesss!” The AllFather began to laugh—a high, evil cackle that filled Xairn’s head like the tolling of a bell. He tried to get away from the sound, from the sight that met his eyes, but he couldn’t. He was trapped…trapped…





* * * * *


Lauren was jolted out of a deep, contented sleep by a shout of pure horror. “Oh my God, what? What is it?” she gasped, looking around wildly. Beside her, Xairn was thrashing wildly, so much so that Little One had retreated to the corner of the couch and was staring at him reproachfully with her big brown eyes.

“No!” he was gasping—moaning really. “No, no, no. Not her. Not her.”

“Not who?” Lauren demanded, grabbing him by the arm. “Xairn, wake up. You’re having a bad dream. Wake up, baby. Wake up!”

At last he sat bolt upright in bed, his eyes wide open. His entire body was tense and he was panting as though he’d just run a marathon. “Gods…” He shook his head and Lauren was both astonished and worried to see that he was crying—something she’d never seen him do before.

“Xairn? Baby?” Tentatively she touched his arm and he grabbed her hand and held on like a drowning man reached for a life preserver.

“I saw her.” He shook his head, the tears still pouring down his cheeks. “I thought she was dead but he has her. I saw her.”

“Saw who, baby? Who?” Lauren rubbed his back, trying to calm him down. Despite everything they’d been through together, she’d never seen Xairn this upset before—he was absolutely distraught.

“He has her locked in a cage.” Xairn covered his face with his other hand, his broad shoulders hunched in misery. “In a fucking cage. The Gods alone know what he’s done to her. What he’s doing right now.”

“Honey, please, you have to work with me here.” Lauren stroked his trembling shoulders and then pulled him close, pillowing his head on her breasts. “Tell me who you’re talking about. Who did you see?”

“My mother.” Xairn pulled away from her, his eyes wild and desolate. “All these years he let me think she was dead. He taunted me with visions of her—showed me how he’d taken me from her when I was still a baby. He showed me the tears in her eyes, the way she reached for me, begged to hold me just one more time. I…” He took a deep, hitching breath and shook his head. “I thought, ‘Well, at least she’s gone and he can’t hurt her anymore. At least she’s beyond his reach.’” He looked at Lauren. “But she’s not. She’s still alive and he is still tormenting her. All these years, I never knew…”

“Oh honey, that’s terrible.” Lauren stroked his hair. “What a terrible dream! I’m so sorry.”

Xairn shook his head grimly. “It was no dream. He has her and if I don’t hurry it will be too late to save her.”

“What?” Lauren had a cold, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “You can’t be serious—you’re going to go back up there? To the Fathership?”

Xairn nodded. “I have no choice.”

“It’s a trap,” she told him. “You know it is, Xairn. A trap to draw us out.”

“Which is why you’re not coming with me.” He was already out of bed and dressing. Lauren couldn’t help noticing that he was ignoring all the human clothes her mother had bought him and pulling on his old black leather flight pants instead.

“But—”

“He wants you, Lauren.” Xairn pointed a finger at her. “He thinks I’ll come back to his side and reveal your location if he uses my…her for bait. Maybe he even hopes I’ll bring you back with me. But that is not going to happen. You’re staying here, safe with Little One while I go take care of this matter.”