Claimed

Chapter 24

The buzz of a cell phone woke Emma from a dream in which she tried to figure out how to ride a broom across a cloudy sky. Great. A couple discussions with a witch and she wanted to be one. Idly, she wondered about other scientific theories humans hadn’t yet discovered. Did they use sound waves? Light waves? Some other type of waves humans hadn’t discovered as of yet? She giggled in the darkness and placed a soft kiss on Dage’s hard chest.

“What?” he barked into the phone, one broad hand sweeping down her body to cup her butt under the covers of the big bed. He stiffened. “Meet in the large conference room in ten minutes. Call Jordan and Caleb as well.” The phone snapped shut with a click, and he rolled her onto her back and covered her with his warm body.

She brushed back a lock of his hair that had fallen forward. “What’s going on?” Desire hummed to life when he settled his erection against her core. She licked her lips in anticipation.

His eyes flared at the action. “Talen found Prophet Guiles.” Dage dropped his head and ran gentle kisses along her jaw, stopping with a sigh and rolling from the bed.

Emma sat up. “Where?” They were going off to fight again. She breathed deep, reminding herself the king knew how to fight. She needed to learn to trust his abilities, much as he needed to learn to trust hers. Damn two-way street.

“Nevada.” Dage yanked on black cargo pants and a dark T-shirt. “The extraction team leaves in thirty minutes.”

Dread slithered down her spine. “Do you have to go?”

“Yes.” He tucked his earpiece into place and leaned over to plant a hard kiss on her lips, withdrawing to brush her hair off her face. He paused, his gaze searching hers. Finally he sighed. “You were right that I need action to give me focus and relief from my diplomatic duties. I don’t do it just to show my leadership.” Unease wandered across his hard face, and he rubbed his chin. With another deep breath, he exhaled. “I like it, and I need it.”

Vulnerability was obviously a new emotion for the king, and one he didn’t like. But he’d opened up to her. He’d admitted the truth, he’d trusted her.

Pleasure warmed her heart. She’d bet anything she was the only woman with whom Dage had ever let down his guard. “I appreciate you trusting me with the truth.” Everything inside her softened. Maybe they had a chance. The king was willing to bend.

He nodded. “I do trust you, love. More than you could know.”

“I trust you too.” She shifted and kissed his palm. He was worth the risk.

His eyes heated. “I’ll return safely and we’ll pick up where we just left off.”

“Promise?”

His smile warmed her skin. “I promise.” He strode out of the room, shutting the door with a soft snap.

Emma snuggled back down into the covers, letting the scent of sandalwood and power ease her fears. He’d be all right. He had training, power, and his brothers. The king would return. The marking began to tingle on her shoulder, a constant soothing reminder of her connection with Dage.

Yet she couldn’t sleep. Minutes passed. Then an hour. Maybe she should get up and do some work. Sighing, she threw back the covers and slid from the bed, tugging on faded jeans and a ROLL TIDE, BABY sweatshirt.

She’d just clipped her hair back when a soft sound came from the living room. Tilting her head to listen, she hurried through the bedroom and gasped. Cara sagged against the doorjamb in a huge T-shirt, her face pale and her eyes wide with pain. “Emma.” Her knuckles were white against the wood, her bare toes curled into the carpet.

Emma rushed forward and steadied her sister, holding her when Cara fumbled. “Car? What’s wrong?” Panic rushed through her and she fought to keep her mind clear.

Cara winced, her hand going to her stomach. “It hurts. So bad.” She sucked in air. “Fix this, Em.”

Emma flashed back to a four-year-old Cara saying the same thing when she was stung by a bee. She gave the same answer. “I’ll fix it, Cara.” She pulled her sister into the room to sit on the couch, where she knelt to meet a blue-eyed gaze full of agony. “Tell me what hurts.”

Tears filled Cara’s eyes. “Something’s wrong. The baby ...” She bit her lip and paled even further. “Cramps. And I can’t feel Talen. Something’s wrong.” A low moan escaped her.

Shit. Was it a progression of the virus or had Cara somehow been infected with the catalyst? “Where’s Janie?”

Cara gasped in pain. “She and Katie had a slumber party to watch the new pony movie.”

Good. Emma pulled Cara off the couch. “We need to go to the lab and call Kane.”

“Kane went on the raid—they all did.” Cara moaned.

Emma swung her sister around and cradled her strained face. Tears soaked her hands. “We’re strong and we’re smart. We’ll fix this.”

Cara nodded, bending at the waist and shifting toward the door.

Emma helped her down the hall and to the outside exit manned by an armed guard at least twice her size.

He shook his head. “You’re to stay inside, Highness.”

“No.” Emma pushed open the door. “We have an emergency here. You can guard the lab, but we’re going.”

The man glanced in concern toward Cara and gave a short nod, tapping his earpiece. “I need the lab secured right now, full sweep and two guards at each entry.” He held out his arms. “May I?”

“Yes,” Cara moaned, doubling over again.

The guard lifted her gently. “We’re not going inside the lab until the sweep is completed.” He maneuvered out the door into the still dark night with Emma on his heels.

A full moon lit the path through the trees, crickets chirping in the distance and the scent of pine strong on the slight wind. They paused at the edge of the forest, and Emma made out the forms of several men scouting the perimeter of the building. Light cascaded out each window where more soldiers inspected each room.

Several minutes later the guard tapped his earpiece again. “Okay.” He began to stride forward. “The building is clear.” He nodded to the guards at the main entrance and one held the door open for them. “Which room?”

“The main clean lab.” Emma rushed inside, her sandals clicking on the industrial tiles. She rapidly disengaged the key locks and gave her code, all but running through the clean rooms and showers.

The guard paused in the ultraviolet room, his deep voice echoing off the walls. “Are you sure, Highness?”

Emma kept moving, punching her code into the wall. “Yes. There’s no need for further safety protocol.” Cara was already in danger. What else could happen? Finally, she shoved open the large door and pointed to an examination table. “Put her there.”

The guard lowered Cara to the bed and she immediately curled onto her side. He frowned. “Do you need me in here?”

“No.” Emma switched on the computer system. “Thank you.”

“Of course. I want to scout the outside again. Call me if you need me.” He turned on his heel and hustled from the room, the door vacuuming shut with a suction of sound.

Cara gave a low moan from the bed. “I can’t reach Talen. And this hurts.”

Emma grabbed a needle and hurried toward her sister to draw blood. “Give me just a second to see what’s going on.”

She took the vial to the Prism and started the test, her foot tapping impatiently for the thirty seconds needed to spit out the results. She grabbed the paper to read, and fear cut into her heart like a sword. Schooling her face, she turned around.

“What?” Cara struggled to sit up on the bed, her hand clutching her stomach.

“The protein unique to the catalyst is in your blood.”

“How?” Cara cried, pure panic rushing across her small features. “How did they get to me?”

Emma shrugged. “Not the time to deal with that. Right now we need to counter this progression.” Oh God. The baby.

Realization dawned across Cara’s face and she straightened, her lips turning white. “This will turn me human much faster.”

“Yes.”

“A human can’t hold a vampire baby.” Dead certainty colored each word.

“We don’t know that for sure.” Emma shifted toward the computer and tapped in keys with impatient fingers.

“You and Kane can counter the catalyst, right?” Tears flowed freely down Cara’s face and her hands trembled in her lap.

“Kind of. But we think some sort of spell is needed to make it work.” Relief filled Emma when Moira’s face came into focus on the big screen.

“Hello.” The witch stood in combat gear, a large sword at her side. “They called me in from the training field. Isn’t it night there?”

“Yes.” Emma straightened. “We need your help. Cara was infected with the catalyst, and we’re worried about the baby.”

Emerald green eyes flashed in concern. “Baby? Oh.”

That one word said it all. The baby wouldn’t be able to survive in a human body. “Have you figured out a spell?”

Moira shrugged out of her protective vest. “Kind of. It’s not ready though.” She whipped off a baseball cap and fiery curls rioted down. “You knowing this level of magic breaks several laws.”

“I don’t give a crap about laws.” Cara swung her feet over the edge of the bed. “The spell has to be ready. I can feel this baby slipping away. We need to do this now.”

“I’ll deal with the legalities later.” Moira’s eyes widened and she gulped. “Do you have the supplies I told Kane to buy?”

Emma glanced around frantically and spotted a large box under the desk. She yanked it out and ripped open the top. “Yes.”

Moira nodded. “Do you have the compound you and Kane have been working on for her to ingest?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Cara, lay back down. Emma, take out the three white candles and put one toward her head, the other two at her feet.” Moira rifled through a stack of papers. “You’ll have to do the spell since I’m not there.”

Did she even believe in magic? Emma grabbed the candles and rushed forward to place one on the shelf by Cara’s head and two on the table by her feet. A search in the drawers found matches, which she quickly used to light the candles. Soft vanilla wafted through the room.

“Do you have a bowl?” Moira squinted through the screen.

Emma grabbed a test beaker, steeling herself against Cara’s low moan of pain. “How about this?”

Moira shrugged. “Close enough. Now cut a piece of Cara’s hair to place in the bowl.”

Her hair? Seriously? Emma located scissors and clipped off a curl. She brushed a kiss on Cara’s forehead. “It’ll be okay, Car. I promise.” She put the hair in the glass beaker. “What now?”

“Find the lavender incense and crumple pieces into the pot and then add the golden rod seeds.” Moira yanked her curls up into a band and out of her now pale face.

Emma read several labels on plastic bags until finding long rows of incense. She crumpled them up and ripped open the bag of seeds to toss in the beaker. “Okay.”

“Now add the myrrh and dried boneset to the mixture.”

The dried herbs joined the rest and Emma mixed the concoction with a spoon. “What now?”

Moira stepped to the side and the sound of keys tapping came across the line. “I just e-mailed you the spell. You’ll have to say the words when everything is ready.”

Emma’s computer beeped and she opened the e-mail and pushed print. She said a quick prayer Moira knew what she was doing.

Moira sighed. “Okay. Do you have the dosage of your compound ready?”

“Just a minute.” Emma shoved her way past the tables and desk to a small refrigerator, doubt filling her. They hadn’t tested this on anyone yet. She grabbed a small vial and shut the door, turning back toward Cara.

Cara gave a shaky smile. “I want to do this, Em.”

“But we haven’t tested this. We don’t know—”

“It doesn’t matter.” Cara placed her hand over the baby. “He’ll die if we don’t do something.”

Emma nodded and trudged to the screen. “I have it.” God. This had to work.

Moira glanced at the vial and then back to Emma’s face. “Light the contents of the beaker on fire, then prick Cara’s finger with a needle. You’ll have to put three drops of her blood into the mixture.”

Blood? What in the hell was she doing? “So this spell only works one at a time with specific blood?”

Moira shook her head. “I’m not sure it works at all, Emma.”

“I’m sure it does.” If she believed in spells, that is. Emma slid a match along the match cover and the fire flared to life. She lowered the flame to the mixture which began to smolder. Emma grabbed a pin and pricked Cara’s finger to hold over the smoking beaker. One, two, three drops of blood joined the flame. Smoke billowed an odd purple color into the room.

“Okay, Emma. Now listen to me. The actual words of a spell don’t matter. What matters is that you believe. That you can visualize the energy swirling and changing the actual matter of the catalyst. It’s all science. Choose quantum physics. Or string theory. Or chaos theory. Whichever theory you believe in—apply it. Use your innate ability to alter energy to do so.”

Emma sucked in air, her mind spinning with what little she remembered about quantum physics. “Okay.”

“Good. Now hold the vial over the beaker and say the spell.” Moira’s eyes darkened until green melded black. “I’ll say the words in my head with you and send all the power I can your way.”

Emma nodded and placed the beaker next to Cara on the table, grabbing the vial in one hand and the spell in the other. She focused on Cara. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Cara’s eyes filled with fear and hope in equal measure.

Emma took a deep breath and began to read.

With fire, herbs, and blood,

I seek to unbind an unnatural bond,

To use the candles as energy,

To set this affected virus free.

The candles flickered and an impossible breeze began to stir through the quiet lab. Emma shivered, the hair on her arms standing up. She pictured a bolt of energy ripping through the test tube, scattering atoms and molecules. Her hair curled and an electric current began to run just under her skin, while her heart settled into an ancient rhythm that felt like home. She dropped the paper and lifted her head, her eyes wide open as power slid through her bones. She felt the words to her very soul, and they came from her.

Reason, science, and chaos,

Separate the strings of the catalyst

Allow the virus to be free

As my will, so mote it be.

The air crackled and electrical flashes flew around the room. The liquid in the vial bubbled up, churning blue and green with white sparks. The candles swooshed out and the fire fell silent. Emma shifted wide eyes to Cara.

Cara sat up. “Give me the vial.”

A fog had settled around Emma’s brain and she struggled to surface. She handed the vial to Cara, who quickly tipped back her head and drank the midnight colored liquid. A red flush started at her hairline and swept down her face and neck.

“Cara?” Emma’s feet remained rooted to the floor.

“Yum.” Cara’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the bed, out cold.

“She said, yum?” Moira asked, placing a shaky hand against her forehead.

“Yeah.” Emma glanced in concern at her sister. “With the candles and seeds and everything, it smells like ...” Panic swept through her blood to replace the power. “Oh God.”

“Emma?” Moira stepped closer to the camera. “What does the room smell like?”

Emma shifted her gaze to Moira. “Tulips.”

She sent Dage a shrieking call for help. With a soft cry, she leaped toward her unconscious sister.