Arand felt the steady thump of her heart and reined in his power. Her eyelids fluttered open and she glared up at him. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight in his life. He started to laugh, the joy coming from the bottom of his very soul.
She slowly lifted her hand, but it started to falter as though it were too heavy for her. Arand clasped her hand in his and drew it up until it touched his face. She gently patted his cheek, the concern in her eyes threatening to undo him.
“Are you okay?” She frowned and her brow creased. “I thought I heard you calling me.”
Her concern for him touched him deeply. There was nothing more important to him than Sabrina’s happiness and well-being. “I did call you, but I’m fine now. How do you feel?”
Sabrina yawned. “Tired.”
“Rest.” He rocked her lightly. “I’ll take care of you.”
“Okay,” she readily agreed and closed her eyes.
He took a moment to make certain she was only sleeping, and then he stood and faced his goddess. “Thank you.” The two words were totally inadequate to express what he was feeling, but absolutely sincere. This was the greatest gift he’d ever been given.
“It was you who did it,” the Lady told him. “She is worthy of you and you of her.”
Arand looked around at his friends and several women he did not recognize. “My thanks to all of you. There is so much I have to tell you, so much I want to know.” He stared down at Sabrina. “But I must take care of my lady first.”
He realized what he’d called Sabrina and looked to the Lady of the Beasts to see how she reacted. Her gentle smile was filled with understanding. “Go and look to her comfort. We will talk later. There is all the time in the world now.”
All the time in the world. He liked the sound of that.
Leaving the rest of them in the yard, Arand carried his precious cargo up the steps and into the house. He took her into the bedroom, laid her carefully on the mattress and stretched out beside her, pulling her into his embrace. “Sleep,” he whispered in her ear. He rubbed his hand over her hair, filled with the simple wonder of having her in his arms. “I will watch over you.” It was a promise he planned to keep for all time.
Chapter Sixteen
Sabrina peered around the living room of her granny’s house and shook her head in wonder. The small room was currently jammed with immortal shapeshifting warriors, their mates and her two friends. They were all waiting for the Lady—an actual goddess—to arrive.
The warriors were talking, catching up on what had happened to all of them. Well, all but Mordecai. He was standing in the corner of the room, his back to the wall while the other warriors pointedly ignored him. She understood why they didn’t trust him, but she still felt a twinge of sadness for Mordecai. She wasn’t quite sure why he hadn’t been sent back to Hell with Hades, why he was still here.
“How do you feel?” Arand had been asking her the same question every two minutes since she’d woke about an hour ago.
She gave him the same answer she’d given him each time. “I’m fine. Really.” Well, fine for a woman who’d apparently died, not just once, but twice. There was an echo of an ache in her chest, but even that was beginning to fade the longer she was awake.
She glanced at the clock as it struck midnight. The others stopped talking, all of them waiting until the last chime was struck. The curse was truly over. They were all free.
As if that was the signal she’d been waiting for, the front door opened and the Lady of the Beasts stepped into the room. Sabrina blinked at the lovely young woman standing before them. The Lady looked no older than she or Tilly or Jessica, but she was truly ancient. The proof was in her blue-eyed gaze. Her eyes reflected the mysteries and heartaches of the entire history of time.
She was wearing a dark-green dress that fell to her ankles. Her unbound hair skimmed the floor as she walked. There were colorful flowers twined in her locks that were every shade of brown from almost blonde to mahogany. The corners of her mouth were turned up slightly, not quite a smile, but almost.
But it was the light that radiated from her, the sheer energy surrounding her that let everyone around her know she was something special, a woman of great power, a goddess.
As one, all the men rose, thumped their right hands over their hearts and went down on their left knees before her. The Lady smiled, and Sabrina knew she’d never seen a more beautiful woman in her life.
“Rise, my loyal warriors.” They all stood and she walked toward them. One by one, she touched their faces and patted their arms, her actions almost motherly.
And she was their mother, wasn’t she? Their creator. Sabrina watched as Arand lowered his head so the Lady could touch him. The warriors all crowded around her, but Mordecai hung back.
The Lady paused and made some kind of sign with her hand. The warriors parted, leaving her a clear path to the serpent. “Won’t you come forward and greet me?”
Mordecai shook his head. “I am tainted.”
The Lady walked toward him and Sabrina tensed, wondering what the goddess would do to the betraying warrior.
“Why did you join Hades?”
The entire room seemed to hold its breath. It was the question all of them wanted answered.
“Why?” Mordecai squared his shoulders and glared at the other warriors. “Because I knew we needed someone on the inside if we were going to defeat Hades, and I knew none of the others would do it.”
The other warriors erupted, outrage pouring from them. “What did you do to help?” Roric roared. “You tried to kill Aimee.”
Aimee, a slender woman with short black hair, placed her arm on Roric’s arm to retrain him. Sabrina had been introduced to all of them earlier, but her head had still been spinning at the time. If Sabrina was remembering correctly, Aimee was an artist of some kind.
Mordecai sneered. “If I’d wanted to kill her I could have done so several times.”
“You stabbed Araminta.” Leander took a threatening step forward. “And you stabbed me.” Leander wrapped his arm protectively around a woman with long tawny-brown hair and steady gray eyes. Sabrina remembered being told that Araminta was a writer.
“She attacked me and I reacted automatically. I knew you wouldn’t die from your wounds. All you had to do was let the clock run out and you would have both been fine.”
Marko grunted and started to speak, but the Lady raised her hand and all the warriors fell silent. “What happened to you, Mordecai?”
He glared at his fellow warriors and raked a hand through his hair. It amazed Sabrina how good all the warriors looked. They were all dressed in leather leggings, boots and tunics, except for Mordecai, who looked more like a mercenary for hire in his jeans, a new black T-shirt and combat boots.
“Like all of you, I was set free by a woman. We disappeared, but I knew it was only a matter of time until Hades came after us.” He paused, his expression sad. “I was lucky. She was a very smart woman, and a woman of some skill. She took my soul.” He rubbed his chest as though it still pained him.
Took his soul. “How is that even possible?” Sabrina asked.
Mordecai looked at her and shrugged. “As I said, she was very clever and learned, and I was more than willing. She held my animal form, the very essence of my soul, keeping it safe from Hades.”
“But you killed her,” Marko stated.
“Did I?” Mordecai sighed, looking very tired, his shoulders slumping.
“No, he didn’t kill her.” Sabrina was shocked when Jessica stepped forward. Jessica glanced toward the Lady and received her nod of approval before continuing to speak. “That woman who set Mordecai free was my grandmother, and she wrote about the episode in her journal. She was a witch of great power and took Mordecai’s animal essence to protect it.”
“It was in the amulet you wore.” Mordecai went down on one knee before Jessica and lowered his head. “I
