matter how much I wanted to. My features shifted back, almost reluctantly, as I shed some of the emotion gnawing at me. There was nothing I could do, except move forward the best way I knew how. There was no time to bemoan my life. I had a mate to free and a goddess to kill.
I stood and brushed dust off my legs. “Naomi,” I said, meeting her gaze fully, “I accept your pledge, but I honestly have no idea what to do with it. I will offer you my protection, as freely as you’ve given me your loyalty. When your Queen finds out you’ve defected willingly, and eventually she will, it’s going to be like dropping an atomic bomb on your court. We will need to put our heads together and play this as smart as we can. Once we get back, I’m hopeful we can come up with something plausible—something that doesn’t include any mention of my blood. I owe your Queen a debt, which I am required to pay in a very short period of time, and if she finds out while I’m at court my blood is even more powerful than she realizes, she’ll do everything in her power to kill me—or siphon me dry. Either scenario is unacceptable.”
A slow smile spread across Naomi’s lips. “The Queen will not win.” Her features shifted down ever so slowly.
“If the Vamp Queen learns this information ahead of my scheduled arrival it will put us in even greater peril. Your brother is going to be a problem.” I glanced up in the sky. He’d left, but I was certain he was close enough to hear us. He wanted the information; he just didn’t want to accept what was happening. “How do we force him to cooperate?” Thinking of ways to convince Eamon not to expose us made my head ache. “He will not come on his own. I can guarantee that. He reviles me.”
“I will deal with my brother,” she said, her voice brisk. “He will not be so quick to turn against me. Our kin-bond has held for all these years; it will prevail. He knows he will sign my death warrant if he dares breathe a word of our secret.”
“And if he does it anyway?”
Naomi’s face became grim, hard as ivory. “Then I will sign his.”
My eyebrows shot my forehead. “You could kill your brother so easily?”
“Non,” Naomi said. “But I know ways to incapacitate a vampire. He would not be able to move until I set him free.” She paused. “And that would be long after our side wins.”
16
We made it to the bottom of the canyon unscathed by any more of Selene’s traps. A large stream cut through the gorge at the base. Selene’s fortress was on the other side and up the steep mountain face, according to the vamps. My eyes shot to the water as something bubbled in the center. “There’s something in the water,” I yelled. “Everyone step back!”
Naomi took flight as I turned to my brother. “Let’s try to find a place to cross before whatever it is breaks the surface.”
He shook his head. “No. We have to see what it is so we know what we’re up against. It might be a fucking siren or a serpent with ten arms. We can’t risk it without knowing.”
“No way. Once that thing emerges it will be much harder to defeat. Let’s cross while we can. Most likely it’s something Selene has to conjure, so it might take some time to arrive. My guess is it was triggered once our feet hit the bottom of the basin.” I grabbed on to his arm. “It’s still not here yet; we have time. Come on. Let’s go!”
“I’m with you,” Danny called over his shoulder, trotting downstream. “Once that thing rears its ugly head we’re likely in for it. Best to get to the other side while we still can, and once we’re there we can fight it or just bloody run.”
“Ray, stay close to me,” I called as I started to jog. “If you can’t keep up, Naomi can fly you over.”
“Like hell she can,” Ray said, charging after me. “I’m not going into the sky again while there’s still breath left in my body. I’ll take my chance in the water.”
I snorted while I ran. “Yeah, like that will work.”
We jogged down the stream away from the bubbles. Danny called from ahead, “This part here looks shallow enough to cross and there are some