Blood Before Sunrise

Right here. Sleeping. Leave me alone.

“Darian, it’s Raif. Show yourself.”

Damn. I wasn’t in my bed, was I? And my memories couldn’t be attributed to a restless sleep riddled with nightmares. Wonderful.

“Darian!”

Raif’s voice penetrated the sleepy haze pulling me back toward endless oblivion. I rolled, my body becoming corporeal as I came to my knees and then to my feet. The sun had set long ago, and night had descended over the sacred ring of stones. I listed to the right, then stumbled toward the dark outline of Raif’s body, shaking off the dregs of sleep. “I’m here,” I said, my voice weak and hoarse. “Raif, I’m here!”

He spun around, and I couldn’t help the cry of relief that burst from my lips. He raced across the dark landscape of the parking lot, closing the distance between us in six quick strides. I would have barreled right into him if he hadn’t reached out and wrapped his hands around my shoulders. Holding me at arms’ length, he looked me over from head to toe, then spun me around, inspecting me for damage.

“Darian, where have you been?” The fear, mixed with relief, in his voice caused my heart to slam against my rib cage. “Are you hurt?”

“How long have I been gone?” I was afraid to hear it; my ears cringed away from an answer, but I had to know. “How long, Raif?”

“A little over three months,” he said.

No. I shook my head and clenched my fists. Fuck! I’d feared it had been years. I’d hoped like hell it had only been days. But over three months? It was still too goddamned long. “How is he?”

Raif let go of my shoulders, then ran his fingers through his tawny hair, which had been, until lately, neat and pulled back. In fact, he’d trimmed it short since I’d seen him last. It looked good on him. He opened his mouth, paused, and looked away as if trying to decide how much to say.

“Tell me the truth,” I said.

“He’s mad with worry,” Raif said with obvious concern. “I haven’t seen him for a while. He had to be forcibly removed from Xander’s house when he accused me and then my brother of playing a part in your disappearance.”

My heart stopped its erratic beating and took a nosedive straight into my stomach. I’d done a number on Tyler. I’d been so stupid! Like a note on his pillow would have been enough reassurance to convince him I was coming back to him. My stomach turned with nausea, or was that regret making me feel as though I could throw my guts up? “I had no idea,” I said, helpless. “Raif, when I left, I had no idea I’d be gone so long.”

“Darian”-Raif stepped toe-to-toe with me so he could stare right into my eyes-“where have you been?”

“O Anel.”

“The Ring?” Raif translated the words, confused. “What is that? Where’s the Oracle? Fallon? What’s happened to you these many months?”

God, where to begin. He knew part of it, but the way everything intertwined made my head spin. And I knew it all forward and backward. “Fallon,” I said, still weary from lack of sleep. “Or rather, Faolan…” I thought of Brakae, her grief. “Raif, I was afraid he’d killed you.”

“You should know better than that,” he said. “It will take a better man than him to send me to the shadows for eternity. But you disappeared. You were there and then-gone.”

“About that-”

“You’re wanted, Darian.” He blurted it out as if he’d had to force the words out. “Adare has ordered that if you are found, you’re to be turned over to the PNT for questioning. Despite my testimony of what I saw, that you were in fact a prisoner and not an accomplice. He wants answers.”

Shit. I’d forgotten about that. Just one more thing to pile on my plate. “Adare will get his answers,” I said. “Later.”

“And what about me?”

“Raif,” I said, “you’re going to get your answers right now.”

I reached inside my pocket and pulled out the emerald pendulum. It glowed bright green in my hand, pulsing with warmth and power. It knew what I was going to do, and apparently it didn’t object too much.

“What is that?”

“The Key,” I said, for the first time not hating the weight of the damned thing as I looped it around my neck. The sound of time’s passage left me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you ready, Raif?”

“For what?” he asked, bemused.

“To see your daughter.”

His jaw dropped. I smiled. I couldn’t help it; I’d never seen him thrown like that before, and I was happy it had been me to do it to him. I stepped in, laid my cheek on my friend’s shoulder, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around me. It didn’t matter that we weren’t blood related. Raif was as much my brother as if we’d been born of the same parents.

I held the emerald before me, concentrated on where I needed to be, and lost myself in its depths. Next up: one family reunion.

The darkened landscape melted away, and we appeared right where I’d left Brakae in the center of the ring of stones. Raif let go of me, turning a circle as he took in his surroundings. “I know. What a mindfuck, right?”

“Amazing,” Raif said. “But, Darian, what does this have to do with-”

“Father?” Her voice was younger than when I’d left, that of an adolescent girl, not that of the grown woman.

His eyes widened in disbelief, glistening with tears. I swallowed the baseball-sized lump that had grown in my throat and squeezed his hand before taking a step back. This was his reunion, not mine. And they both deserved this moment of happiness.

Chapter 33

One advantage to keeping royal company was the perk of a private jet. Xander happened to own a Gulfstream, and for once I didn’t feel like wringing his neck for flaunting his extravagant possessions. It was damned comfortable too. I’d added another three and a half weeks to my MIA status by returning to O Anel with Raif, and we still had a thirteen-hour flight before we’d be back in Seattle. But if I had to endure the agony of more time away from Tyler, at least I endured it in style.

Knowing he could see Brakae whenever he wanted put Raif at ease. He hadn’t felt as if they were parting forever when he’d left O Anel-just for a while.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Raif said, interrupting my thoughts. He regarded me with his fierce blue eyes, and it reminded me of the first time we met at Xander’s warehouse. Nothing got past him.

“I left him.”

“Yes.”

“He might not forgive me.”

“He’s not worthy of you if he doesn’t.”

Always pragmatic, Raif didn’t know how to mince words.

“I’m afraid to face him.”

“Nonsense.” Raif sat up straight in his chair and leaned forward. “You’re not afraid of anything.”

I didn’t answer him because I didn’t want him to know the truth. I was scared shitless to face Tyler.

Raif leaned back in his chair, and his expression softened. “Sleep, Darian. By gods, you’ve earned it. I’ll wake you when we get home.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I was asleep before my chair fully reclined.

“I missed you, Darian.”

Oh God, I loved the way he said my name-like a prayer or something sacred. The sound of his voice touched every minute part of me, right down to my hair follicles, like sparks of electricity. For the first time in a long, lonely while I felt alive. We were two parts of a whole. Unlike the broken hourglass, my world