Warrior of Fate Read online

  “My pleasure.” Tessa couldn’t help but smile. Cara was a warm, generous person who honestly loved her brother Rafe, and Tessa could read her like a book. They’d gotten along from Day One.

  “So what’s up?” Cara asked.

  “I’ve got some questions.” Tessa paused. Man, she hated talking about such personal stuff out loud. But it was the only way with Cara.

  “About what? The wedding? No, we haven’t set a date yet. But when we do, I hope you’ll be my maid-of-honor.”

  “No, not about the wedding.” Tessa grinned. “But thank you. I’d love to be your maid-of-honor.”

  “Awesome. You’re in.”

  “I want to talk to you about mates. Destined mates, to be specific.”

  Cara’s mouth fell open. “Did you find yours? Did your mom confirm?”

  “Yes, and yes.”

  “Well, who is he? Do your brothers know yet? I’ll do my best to keep Rafe from going all Hunter on the guy until he gets used to you having a fella.”

  “No one knows except me and him. And my mom, of course.” Tessa chuckled. “And I don’t think we need to worry about my brothers kicking his butt or anything.”

  “Wow, now I’m really curious. Who is he? There aren’t many guys who can deal with both Rafe and Darius, especially when they’re in protective mode. Well, maybe Adrian, but—” Tessa’s face must have given her away, because Cara squealed. “Wait, Adrian Gray?”

  Tessa nodded.

  “Shut the front door! That guy is so hot. Oh my God, I can’t believe it!”

  “You? I just found out.”

  “Okay, let me calm down here.” Cara took a deep breath and let it out. “Sorry to go all fangirl on you. It’s just … well, Adrian Gray.”

  “I know. How do you think I feel?”

  “I can imagine. I love your brother, Tess, but on a purely female level, I am so damned jealous. Adrian Gray. If you looked up ‘hottest male on the planet’ in the dictionary, his picture would be right there. Preferably naked.”

  “Cara!”

  “Sorry. Blame the wedding fever. If you just found out, you probably haven’t even seen him naked yet … omigod, you have!” Cara held up her hands. “Never mind, I don’t need to know, but you’d better find a way to control that blushing thing because it’s a dead giveaway. And you especially don’t want Darius getting wind of that stuff.”

  Tessa scrubbed her hands over her burning cheeks. “This morning my life was so much simpler. How can everything go so nuts, so fast?”

  “Oh, Tess.” Cara shook her head. “I’m an idiot. Of course you’re all confused about this.”

  “I just feel so out of control,” Tessa whispered. “I’ve never felt this way about any man. You know, compelled to be with him all the time—whether I want it or not.”

  “I remember. When you haven’t gotten together yet, the mating bond can be downright painful. Once you do finally make love that first time, something snaps into place, and it gets easier.”

  “What if I don’t want this?” Tessa asked. “Do you think there’s any way to fight it?”

  “Why would you want to? Adrian seems like a great guy.”

  “But I don’t know that for sure. How can I trust him? What if he’s lying to me?”

  “About what?”

  “About anything. Look, this morning we’d never heard of this Warrior temple, and now we find out he’s been working for them all this time. Doesn’t that make you nervous?”

  “Well, in my book, a man says a lot of things, but it’s his actions you have to pay attention to. Adrian has saved our bacon a few times now.”

  “But he lost the stone to Azotay. Do you think that was deliberate?” Tessa asked.

  “No, I don’t. He seemed pretty pissed about it, actually. But I wasn’t there.” She took Tessa’s hand and dragged her toward the cabana that Darius used as a workroom. “Let’s talk to someone who was.”

  Tessa dug in her heels. “No, Cara, I don’t want Darius to know. Not yet.”

  “Not Darius,” Cara said. “Faith. The way things are going with her and Darius, we might all be sisters someday. Time you two buried the hatchet. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  Dreading every step, Tessa allowed herself to be hauled closer to the cabana.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Well, they’re doing their best, I suppose,” Larina said, watching the Montana security guards stationed along the perimeter from the tallest point on the property. The hawklike eyesight of the Warriors made it possible to see long distances without using binoculars.

  “I’ve been helping them improve their defenses,” Adrian said. “It’s gotten harder to break in. John may not be Atlantean, but he’s a clever man with some truly great ideas for devices to keep people out.”

  “What he’s got right now will slow down some Warriors,” Larina said, “but if they have some high-level Channeler with them, like a Flame Walker or a Lightning Thrower, then they’re toast. Literally. It’s so dry here that everything will go up in flames with the slightest spark.”

  “Don’t forget about Sedona’s vortexes,” Adrian said. “I’m told their energy wreaks havoc with Channeler abilities, though it seems to enhance Seer abilities. Criten had some trouble when he came here.”

  “Too bad the bastard didn’t fry,” Larina muttered. “So the vortexes provide some defense against Channelers. Good to know.”

  “Correction, most Channelers. Faith said elemental Channelers aren’t affected as much.”

  “Elementals like Flame Walkers?” Larina asked, eyebrows raised.

  “I see your point,” Adrian said. “We’ll have to account for them.”

  “Mm-hmm. So Faith, she’s the Stone Singer?”

  “Yes. She connects with the vortexes regularly. Since she’s basically an earth elemental, she’s able to handle the energy.”

  “We should talk to her, have her tell us what else she knows.” Larina looked up at him. “She’s the one who connected to the Stones of Ekhia, right?”

  “Yes. The stone the Montanas have has been handled by so many people over the centuries that it’s taking her a long time to get it cleared, tuned, and charged for use. Apparently the third one, the one they found in the cave in Belize, was pristine. No one had touched it in centuries.”

  “The one Azotay stole.” She raised a brow. “You ever going to tell me what went down with him, A?”

  “I filed a report.”

  “I read that report. There were big holes, my friend, but only someone who knows you well would notice.”

  “I covered everything of importance. You doubting me now, Larina?”

  “Me? Nah. I know you’re on the up-and-up. But something went on there, A, and eventually it’s going to come out. Not to mention, you look a little off your feed.”

  “Took a hit from Azotay. I’m good now.”

  “But not a hundred percent yet.”

  “Getting there. Probably by tomorrow.”

  “Okay then.” She glanced at her watch. “I think we’ve got a good feel for their setup here. We can make some suggestions. Think Montana would allow us to add some Warriors to his detail?”

  “I can talk to him,” Adrian said. “Though I’m not sure how much he’ll agree to. You haven’t exactly won his confidence.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Rub my face in it, why don’t you.” They turned as one to head back toward the house. “So the Stone Singer. Any chance you can sweet-talk her into telling us what those stones had to say?”

  “Nope. We’re out of luck there. She’s the destined mate of Darius. I could never turn her head.”

  Larina stopped short in the path. “Destined mate? No way. I thought that was a Seer myth.”

  “Not from what I’ve seen. Cara and Rafe, Darius and Faith, John and Maria.”

  “You kidding me? All of them?”

  “Yup.” Adrian focused on descending the steep path. “You may think destined mates are a myth, but there’s power there. I saw
Criten take out Rafe’s focus stone and drain his power. Only his mate link with Cara gave him a channel that he could tap. One Criten couldn’t see. That’s how they beat him and sent him out of here in an ambulance. Through the mating bond.”

  Larina just stared at him. “You’re serious.”

  “I was there.” Adrian started down the path again.

  “Then why didn’t you stop him?” Larina asked, scrambling after him.

  “I’d been knocked on my ass by an Agrippa Boundary. Maria Montana had set it up to protect the vault where they keep Atlantean relics. Which reminds me, we have to get Maria to tune it to your energy.” He glanced back at her over his shoulder. “The Montanas have some defenses you haven’t seen yet.”

  “Apparently. It gives me hope that there’s some meat to this operation.”

  “There’s meat. As the man says, ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet.’”

  * * *

  “Maybe she’s not in there,” Tessa said as they approached the cabana.

  “She is. She escaped the football game by claiming she had work to do. Smart girl.” She knocked on the door to the cabana. “Faith?”

  Now that they were right outside the door, Tessa’s skin began to tingle. Her senses sharpened even as the world around her blurred like a watercolor. “Damn it,” she muttered, and swayed.

  “Tessa!” Cara caught her. “Are you having a vision?”

  “Feels like it,” Tessa whispered, “and not.”

  The door opened. “What’s going on?” Faith’s voice.

  Tessa focused on the slender woman with the short dark hair and impossibly green eyes. Maybe that’s why she didn’t like Faith originally, she thought. Her eyes looked too much like Luke’s.

  “We need to talk to you,” Cara was saying, “but when we got close to here, she almost passed out.”

  “Look at her eyes,” Faith said. “They’ve gone all white. No pupil at all.”

  “Were you doing anything that might cause this?” Cara asked.

  “Just working with that annoying stone again. Let’s get her in here.” The two woman helped Tessa into the cabana.

  As soon as Tessa stepped into the room, the energy hit like a blast of heat, buzzing like a swarm of bees. Her head swam with images, people and places she didn’t know. She swayed.

  “What’s happening to her?” Cara demanded, easing her into a chair.

  “No idea. Let’s see if this helps.” Faith crouched in front of her and slid a ring on her finger.

  The world returned with thump, bright colors and clear sounds. And silence in her head. For the first time in forever, she didn’t hear the white noise of human minds droning in the background. She glanced down at the ring on her finger. It was silver, crafted with a definite Native American flair, with a smooth purple-and-green stone.

  “What did you do?” Tessa asked, studying the subtle blending of green into purple.

  “Ben made this ring for me.” Faith gently traced the gem in the ring. “This is fluorite. It helps to block psychic powers. Ben designed the band, and I sang the fluorite into full strength. I used it for a little while when the Atlantean stone was unstable. It kept the thing from sucking me in.”

  “It’s working for me,” Tessa said, “though I’m not sure what that was all about.”

  “I think it’s that troublemaker,” Faith said, glancing at the table.

  Tessa followed her gaze and saw a clear crystal pyramid with swirls of red dancing through it—the remaining Stone of Ekhia. “I’ve never been this close to it before.”

  “Maybe the stone knows that you’re a Seer,” Cara said.

  Faith shook her head. “No, Darius has been around it plenty, and I never saw it act like that. Usually it negates the powers of any Atlantean around it, but just now it seemed like it was trying to connect to you.”

  “Maybe because she’s not just any Seer?” Cara ventured. “Isn’t Tessa supposed to be different than the others? A True Seer? More powerful or something?”

  “Huh. Could be.” Faith’s brow furrowed as she considered the idea. That’s probably why the connection was so extreme. The thing has no finesse. The sucker used to slide into my dreams and pull me into its emotional wasteland. Only Darius could get me out.”

  “That’s just creepy,” Cara said.

  “It is kind of dysfunctional. Once I finish clearing out all the psychic residue from the past few centuries, it should start behaving itself again. I’ll do some research in the Montana vault, think on it. So.” She slapped her thighs and stood. “What’s going on? You trying to hide from the football game, Cara? You’re welcome to hang here with me.”

  “No, I already ditched Rafe. Tessa needs to talk to you about what happened in Belize.”

  “Oh?” Faith folded her arms and raised her brows, her posture challenging.

  Tessa sighed. She’d brought this on herself with her rudeness toward Faith when she’d first come to them. “Look, I’m sorry about how I treated you when you first got here. I was rude and obnoxious.”

  “Yes, you were,” Faith agreed.

  “There’s a bunch of psychological mumbo jumbo that probably explains it, but the gist is, I didn’t trust you with Darius.”

  “I got that impression.”

  “I can’t read you, so I had to go with what I knew.”

  “That I was with the Mendukati once upon a time.”

  “Yes. And the way Dar was falling for you—I was trying to protect him. I didn’t want to see him hurt again like he was when his fiancée left him.”

  “I get that,” Faith said. “I do. But you were still a bitch on wheels.”

  “I know.” Tessa paused. “Have you ever been so scared that you acted totally out of character?”

  “Are you trying to convince me the bitch attitude was completely an act? Not buying it, Tessa.”

  Tessa sighed. “I don’t blame you for not believing me. Let’s say it was partly an act and leave it at that.”

  “Come on, Faith,” Cara urged. “Bury the hatchet. We need your help.”

  “You said that.” Faith picked up the crystal pyramid and stored it in a wooden box sitting on the table. “So what do you want to know about Belize?”

  “We want to know what happened with Adrian and Azotay,” Tessa said. “How the stone got stolen.”

  Faith barked a laugh. “Your guess is as good as mine. Adrian is a clam when he wants to be.”

  “So you don’t know?” Cara asked.

  “Not really,” Faith said. “I know he went to meet Azotay on the other side of the island. Something about a challenge. Then when he came back, he looked like he’d been through a war, bruised and bloody.”

  “He looks okay now,” Cara said.

  Tessa thought of his newly healing wound but kept her mouth shut.

  “That’s a Warrior thing,” Faith was saying. “I knew a lot of Warriors who were really fast healers.”

  “I still can’t believe Adrian lost a battle with Azotay,” Cara said. “I didn’t think that was possible. You’ve seen him fight.”

  “Actually I haven’t,” Faith said. “But Dar says Adrian is amazing.”

  “He is,” Tessa said.

  “Well, I’ve seen him in action,” Cara said. “And trust me, the word ‘amazing’ doesn’t even touch the tip of it.”

  “That’s scary,” Faith said, frowning at the now-closed wooden box. “That there could be someone out there who could beat Adrian Gray.”

  “He’s a Warrior, not immortal,” Tessa said. “Someone better always comes along.”

  “Let’s just hope it’s not this Azotay guy,” Cara said with a shudder.

  “Yeah, definitely want to stay away from him,” Faith said. “From what I heard, he’s seriously bad news. Criten’s hit man.” She made a face. “Anyway, sorry I can’t tell you more about what went down in Belize. I was busy trying to escape a cave-in and all that, so I wasn’t paying too much attention to what Adrian was doing.”

 
; “A cave-in that you caused,” Tessa said. “I heard. You used your powers to pull the cave down around you to take out the Mendukati agents who were there and to give Rigo a chance to get away with the stone.”

  “Fat lot of good that did,” Faith said, scrunching her nose. “It made Darius leave Rigo alone, wounded, which is when Azotay snuck onto our boat and stole the stone. If Darius hadn’t come after me—”

  Cara stroked a hand down Faith’s arm. “It’s okay, Faith. If you hadn’t caused that rockslide, then the Mendukati would have gotten the stone for sure, and you with it.”

  “Yeah,” Tessa agreed. “Bad enough they got the stone. We don’t want them getting their hands on the last living Stone Singer, too.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Faith said. “Lump me in with a bunch of rocks.”

  “Sorry. Look, we had another reason for coming here,” Cara said, slanting a glance at Tessa. “Adrian is Tessa’s destined mate.”

  “Cara!” Tessa groaned.

  “What!’ Faith exclaimed. “Is there something in the water around here?”

  “Tell me about it,” Tessa muttered.

  “She’s having trouble dealing with the compulsions that hit in the beginning,” Cara said.

  “So you two haven’t slept together yet?” Faith asked.

  Tessa shook her head, that annoying blush heating her cheeks again. As much as she hated jeopardizing her own privacy, she had to talk to someone, had to figure this out. “There’s been this attraction ever since we met, but I don’t want anyone in my life right now. I’ve been trying to ignore it.”

  Faith folded her arms and leaned back against the table. “What does your mom say?”

  “She confirmed it,” Tessa said. “Normally I’m a very private person. I don’t run around chatting about my love life with the girls. But my mom wouldn’t tell me much, and I certainly can’t go to my brothers.”

  “No, that would not be a good idea.” Faith frowned.

  “I’m surprised Darius hasn’t picked up on this,” Cara said. “He knew about me and Rafe right away.”

  “Maybe he’s distracted with his own bond with me. And he’s unhappy about what happened in Belize.” Faith looked at Tessa. “Listen, I didn’t want this mating thing either. I had plans when I came here, big plans for the future. Then boom, I’m linked to Darius, and I probably couldn’t leave if I wanted to. I’ve heard it’s painful for a bonded pair to be separated.”