The Esri

And anger.

For a moment, she thought she felt something more. A touch of energy. The shadow of a latent, untapped power she couldn’t identify, but could feel whispering through his aura.

Strange.

He pulled her forward, his grip on her arm unyielding, and she fought him no longer, knowing too well his strength far exceeded her own. If she didn’t give in, she’d find herself flung upside down over his shoulder and carried as Charlie had carried her through the gate. A princess could only take so much indignity.

Her own anger steeped and stewed even as his nearness made her blood warm and her skin dance with excitement. How was it possible he had this pull on her? If Harrison weren’t human, she might question whether he possessed a rare ability to enchant an Esri. Instead, she feared the weakness was hers alone.

No, not alone. She was quite sure he shared it. And that could, possibly, work to her advantage. She must convince him that her intent was to seal the gates as they wanted her to. Convince him to hand over the stones to her. And a smitten male was so much easier to manipulate.

Of course, this human was far from smitten. He might feel desire for her, but his hatred ran deep. A hatred, she suspected, for all her kind. She might talk of being allies but they weren’t and they both knew it. The humans had made it clear they didn’t trust her, nor were they giving her any choice in what she did with the stones. Yes, this could be fun. She needed a little excitement after three hundred years of incarceration. Her own special means of retribution for this human’s disrespectful treatment of her.

A small smile curved her mouth at the prospect of the sensual battle to come as he led her through the room and out the door into the hallway where the others waited.

A battle she didn’t intend to lose.

Chapter 4

“What are those?” Ilaria asked, nodding toward the headphones Tarrys had slipped over her ears in the private jet. “If you’d untie me and allow me to touch a human, a non-Sitheen, I would know these things.”

“Headphones. And you’re not touching anyone.” Harrison knew that a full-blooded Esri could absorb a human’s entire store of knowledge with a single touch. They might come into this world clueless, but they didn’t stay that way long. Harrison sighed. “I suppose you want to watch the movie, too?”

“Of course. What’s a movie?”

From the moment he’d steered the princess out of the hotel room, Harrison had become her keeper. And he was pretty certain she was enjoying driving him slowly insane. All he wanted to do was get as far from her as possible, to break this ungodly attraction that refused to die. Instead, he was stuck with her.

He grabbed another set of headphones and lifted them onto her delicate head, pushing aside the pale, curly hair covering her ears. The soft, springy feel caressed his hands and he was slammed with a longing to wrap one thick lock around his fingers and draw it to his nose to inhale its sweet scent. Ignoring her wasn’t even a possibility. As he adjusted the earphones over her dainty ears, she watched him, those green eyes reflecting every ounce of the heat that had been building inside him since the moment he first touched her.

He tore his gaze from hers, refusing to fall into that sensual pit again, but her mouth moved, catching his attention, and he watched her pink tongue dart out to lick ripe, gorgeous lips. Lust sent the blood pounding through his body. With a growl, he flicked on the headset.

As sound filled the headphones, Ilaria’s eyes widened, and her gaze flew to his for one startled moment before a look of pure delight crossed her face. The smile that bloomed in its wake took his breath away.

Ilaria turned away to face the small flatscreen television projecting out from the wall of the plane, breaking the spell. Harrison sat back in his seat beside her, his breathing erratic, his runaway pulse pounding in his ears. Looking up, he found his brother watching him with amusement and silent speculation.

“Go to hell,” Harrison muttered. He glanced at his watch.

“When was the last time you heard from Jack?” Charlie asked.

“Right before we picked you up. He or Kade should be calling with another report within the hour.”

The humor left Charlie’s eyes. They were dealing with a major invasion this time, and the greatest threat the world had ever known. If King Rith got those stones, it was all over.

“Anyway…” Charlie cleared his throat and resumed his story, giving Harrison the short version of his trip through Esria. “We reached the Forest of Nightmares not a moment too soon, but Jesus, Harrison. That place will steal your mind. The name couldn’t be more accurate. Whatever you’re most afraid of appears. It may not be real, but damn if you don’t think it is. I found myself surrounded by Esri who weren’t there, and nearly run down by an eighteen-wheeler. In the forest.”

Musical laughter trilled beside Harrison. Ilaria’s laughter. The sound caressed his senses, stroking him inside and out. He struggled to ignore her and failed, unable to forget what Charlie had told him earlier, that she’d been incarcerated in a village no bigger than a football field. For three hundred years. No wonder she couldn’t quite contain her smiles or laughter. She must be ecstatic to be free.

Even though they were essentially holding her captive.

His gaze slid to her, lingering on the creamy pale flesh of her cheek and the long expanse of silken neck peeking out through the soft cascade of curls. He breathed in her scent, sweet gardenias, and felt things tighten low in his body as his gaze dipped lower, to the ripe swell of breasts beneath that amazing gown.

“So fill me in on what’s happened while we were gone,” Charlie said, drawing Harrison’s attention back to where it belonged—anywhere but Ilaria. A keen speculation lit Charlie’s eyes. Harrison pretended not to notice.

“We’re all but certain Esri came through some of the other gates last month. Reports of sexual assaults and abductions have skyrocketed in five very specific locations, all in northern Europe. London, Copenhagen and small towns in close proximity to three stone circles, one each in England, Scotland and France.”

“You think the circles were originally erected as an attempt to defend against the monthly Esri invasions?”

“Seems likely, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does. So, tell me about the Sitheen recruits.”

“Kade’s been traveling almost constantly, from one military base to another, and from police station to police station. Once we’ve exhausted the most likely places to find trained warriors, he’ll expand the search.”

“How many has he found?”

“Six. We lost one last night during the battle. One of the Marceils’ arrows went right through his eye.”

“Damn. So who do we have other than Brad and Tom? Handy that Tom’s a pilot, by the way.”

“It is.” Tom was flying the jet, Brad keeping him company. “Norm is a retired firefighter in his seventies. He and Myrtle hit it off as if they were made for one another.”

Charlie smiled. “A bit of romance?”

“No doubt about it. The other two are brother and sister. Paige is a detective with the Richmond police, mid-forties, and a crack shot. Frank is her brother, also a cop, though not as fit. Still, he knows what to do in a fight.”

“Who did we lose?”

“A young navy ensign. The most promising of the bunch.”

Charlie swore softly. “Myrtle couldn’t help him?”

“The arrow punctured his brain. He was killed instantly. Myrtle’s a gifted healer, but she can’t raise the dead.”

Harrison went on to fill his brother in on the full battle, struggling to forget the woman who sat beside him, which turned out to be an impossible task. Her presence filled the air.

He and Charlie were still talking an hour and a half later when the movie finally finished. Tarrys pulled off her headphones and stood up. “I need to move around.”

Charlie watched her, the look in his eyes all predatory male. “I’ll go with you.” He rose and looped his arm across Tarrys’s shoulder, the air crackling between them. “Maybe we can find something to eat.”

Harrison grunted. If it was food on Charlie’s mind, Harrison was a chimpanzee. More likely, his brother was planning to join the mile-high club. If he hadn’t already.

As the pair walked off together, Harrison turned to find Ilaria watching them with a speculative and knowing gaze of her own.

“Do you want the headphones off?” he asked her.

That gaze turned to him, heat swirling in the depths of her eyes. “For now.”

His pulse began to speed even before he reached for her. If only he could assign the task to someone else. Bracing himself, he lifted his hands and took hold of the headphones, that soft-as-silk hair of hers teasing and caressing his sensitive flesh as he pulled them away.

Her gaze never left his, her eyes hot as sin as her tongue slowly licked her lips. “They’ve gone to find a place to mate in privacy. It’s the first chance they’ve had since we came through the gate.”

“You don’t know that. They may be looking for food.”

One pale eyebrow rose, hot laughter dancing in her eyes. “Are you truly so naive?”

Harrison scowled. “No.” He sat back in his seat, his eyes still caught in hers. His gaze turned rueful. “I’m sure they’re doing it, too.”

Answering humor flickered in eyes that steamed even as they danced with mischief. “I’m attracted to you, human. More than I’ve been to any male in a long, long time. While your brother mates with the Marceil, let me take you inside my body.”

Her words all but blew away his rigid control, a glorious picture erupting in his head of him pulling her gown up to her waist, freeing himself, then pulling her down to straddle him as he pushed deep, deep inside her heat. Blood throbbed in his veins, beating a carnal pulse as he grew harder and harder and harder.

“I’m not having sex with you.” His words were little more than a growl, his voice choked with desire.

Her eyes dimmed. Not enough that anyone else would probably have noticed, but he did.

“Because I’m Esri.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

She looked away, stealing the heat of her gaze. “That’s too bad, human. You would have found pleasure with me. We both would have.”

Begging his body to settle down, he sat back in his seat. “The name is Harrison. Not ‘human.’”

She watched him. “You’re not like the others, Harrison. You have a power they lack. A power unnatural to humans.”

His heart gave an awkward thud. “What do you mean?”

In her expression he saw absolute seriousness for once. When she spoke, the seductive tone was missing. “I don’t know. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt. Familiar, yet not, and deep within you. Nothing that’s ever risen to the surface. Perhaps nothing you’ll ever be able to reach.”

As badly as he wanted to tune out her words, he couldn’t. Because he already knew.

Most of the Sitheen had discovered strange gifts that had apparently been passed down to them from their Esri ancestors. Larsen’s premonitions of death, Jack’s ability to talk to his ancestors, Myrtle’s healing ability. Neither he nor Charlie had appeared to have any Esri gifts. Until he’d touched the draggon stone and felt a strange thrill of recognition, as if the power in the stone had welcomed him. He’d only touched it once, as he had the other six stones. The latter had sent an unpleasant crawling sensation climbing into his head from the base of his skull.

Both times, he’d asked Charlie if he felt anything. Both times Charlie had denied it. Harrison preferred to think whatever he’d felt was just his imagination, but he’d never really believed it. And he’d never stopped wondering what it meant.

The princess’s assertion that there was something strange going on inside him just confirmed his own suspicion. And he couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or bad. While he wanted nothing to do with Esria, he’d be a fool to ignore anything that might help them win this war.

The question was could he trust a word the princess said? He just didn’t know.

Her gaze dropped to his lap, to the erection that still strained painfully against his zipper. “Let me touch you, Harrison,” she said, her voice low and husky. “Let me feel your power.”

“Yeah, right.” He grabbed the headphones and pushed them back over her ears with minimal care. “Watch another movie,” he said gruffly, punching the play button. He rose and moved to the other side of the plane and sat down where he could keep an eye on her, but not close enough to be tempted.

His hands curled around the seat arms, clenching until his knuckles turned white at the thought of her touching him. At the thought of her straddling him…

He groaned from the pulsing ache of need and forced his gaze out the window to the sea of sunlit clouds. Anywhere but on her.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there, trying to catch his breath and still the racing beat of his heart, when the onboard phone rang.

Harrison shoved himself from his seat and grabbed it.

“We’ve got trouble,” Jack said a moment later.

“Hold on, Jack. Charlie!”

As he returned to his seat beside Ilaria, she met his gaze, her eyes sharp and serious. “Take off my headphones. I would hear this.”

After a moment’s indecision, he did as she asked, then sat beside her as Charlie and Tarrys joined them, both flushed with that insufferable glow. He jammed a button and held the phone on his knee.

“You’re on speaker, Jack. Charlie and Tarrys are here, too.”

“Glad to have you back, Charlie. Have you acquired a death mark?”

“I have.”

“Then you’re with us. Larsen and I were attacked by half a dozen Esri thugs a couple of hours ago. They had a singer.” A singer was the term they used for an Esri who could enchant surrounding humans with a song, turning them into his own personal weapons. “We nearly didn’t make it out of there. Kade’s joined us and we’re on the run. We’re trying to come up with a way to turn the tables on them.”

“So they’re not going for the stones?”

“Best we can tell, they’re neither organized nor heading in any particular direction. Except ours. But we don’t know where King Rith is. Kade hasn’t seen him since midnight, and the rest of us don’t know what he looks like.”

Beside him, Ilaria tensed. “King Rith is here?”

Harrison nodded. “He came through last night with a large number of guards and Marceils.”

“Where are my stones?” she demanded.

“Forgive me, Princess,” Jack said. “But that’s not information we can share at this point. I assume Charlie told you why he rescued you?”

“You wish me to seal the gates again.”

“Yes, we do. When the time comes, we’ll allow you access to the stones.”

She scoffed. “Sealing the gates will do neither of us any good as long as Rith and his men remain on this side. You must give me the stones so that I can protect them.”

“Can you seal the gates other than at the full moon?” Jack asked.

“Unfortunately, no. The draggon stone, the source of my power, hasn’t the ability to open the gates early. But if Rith gets his hands on the other six, the stones of Orisis, he’ll be able to use their dark power to do so.”

“If he gets the stones, won’t he just tear down the walls between the worlds?” Charlie asked.

She shook her head. “Such powerful magic can only be called upon at the Temple of the Ancients deep in the Dark Mountains of Esria. He’ll open the gates and flee, which is why you must give me the stones, and quickly. I’ll not only protect them until the full moon, but I’ll forgive your death marks.”

“You can do that?” Jack asked, clearly surprised. “Hold on.”

Harrison could hear Jack talking to someone in the background. A moment later, he was back.

“Kade confirms she should have that ability once she has the draggon stone in her possession.”

“Who is Kade to know such things?” Ilaria asked, once more the imperious royal.

If only her demands made her less attractive. They didn’t.

“You know him as Kaderil the Dark,” Jack said.

Harrison saw her eyes flare and watched her mouth open with disbelief. “He’s Esri.”

“He’s half Esri and he’s one of us now.”

Her shocked gaze met Harrison’s.

Charlie leaned forward. “If King Rith has the ability to sense the stones, then the moment we bring the draggon stone out of hiding, he’ll be on it. We need to leave it hidden. Besides, I’m not sure what good removing the death marks will do when we’re still hunting Esri. We’ll just get them back again.”

“I agree,” Jack said. “Our plan is to capture King Rith and the rest of his guards before the full moon.”

Ilaria’s graceful hands fisted in her lap. “You must kill him, not capture him. He’s far too dangerous. No Caller can be allowed to live.”

Jack’s voice was wry. “I was trying to spare your sensibilities, Princess, but we’d come to that conclusion, as well. King Rith has to die. We’ll capture whatever Esri we can, but before those gates are sealed, they’ll all be back in Esria. Or dead. Leaving any on this side with the stones will defeat the purpose of sealing the gates.”

“Killing is not our way, human. But under the circumstances, I agree. You did not start this war. I do not blame you for doing what you must to protect yourselves.”

Harrison watched her, trying to decide if she was telling the truth or simply telling them what they wanted to hear. His gut said the former. Then again, he wasn’t sure why he should be surprised. King Rith and his goons had killed her mother and imprisoned Ilaria for three hundred years. She deserved a little revenge.

Jack continued. “Kade believes King Rith will go after Princess Ilaria if he realizes she’s here. He’ll try to eliminate the competition for the throne. Harrison, since you’re the only one without a bull’s-eye on your forehead, you’ll need to get her out of harm’s way until we catch him.”

As he’d expected. He glanced at Ilaria as a knowing little light flickered to life in her eyes and a seductive shadow of a smile slowly lifted the corners of her mouth. Once more, the thought of her straddling him intimately roared through his head, sending his blood pressure soaring. Any hope of getting his libido back under control crashed to the ground.

From the moment he’d met her, he’d anticipated a battle. What he hadn’t expected was for the battle to be sensual, or that his own body would become his worst enemy.

Chapter 5

“Would you cease with that?” Ilaria snapped, hating the quaver in her voice, but unable to control it. Beside her, as he ushered her and Tarrys through the busy Reagan National Airport, Harrison flicked the small lighter at his side on and off, on and off. A constant reminder—a threat—of what he’d do to her if she so much as breathed on the Marceil.

“I said I’ll not touch her, and I won’t.” She tore her gaze from him and that awful lighter, trying to focus instead on her incredible surroundings. Above, the soaring, gilded ceiling of the airport curved sharply downward like a beautiful flower too heavy for its stem.

At least Harrison had untied her, though she was well aware that he’d done it not as a concession to her, and certainly not because he trusted her, but to avoid the attention they’d otherwise draw in this very public place.

Even such a tiny fire had raven wings fluttering in her chest as she struggled against full panic.

The moment the plane had landed, Charlie had left, afraid his death mark would draw King Rith to them. The other two Sitheen who’d accompanied Harrison to Iceland remained, and now followed close behind.

She was frustratingly tired of being treated as a prisoner. But until she got those stones, she wouldn’t escape. Even if she could.

Trying to ignore Harrison and the flame that threatened to strip her composure one flicker at a time, she studied the humans passing by. Most glanced at her, then away, as if by noticing her they might offend. In the old days, before she’d sealed the gates, humans often gaped at her, their faces either filling with terror, or awe and wonder.

She much preferred the latter, though it appeared that receiving homage from the humans was a thing of the past. Indeed, from what she’d been able to glean, the humans as a race did not remember the Esri.

A situation that was certain to change if Rith had his way.

As Harrison led them through the wide glass doors to the outside, he took hold of her upper arm, a firm grip she’d find impossible to escape, she was certain. Once more, the feel of his fingers sank through the fabric of her sleeve and into her skin, sending tendrils of warmth burrowing into her blood. Not a sweet warmth, for there was nothing kind about his touch that sought only to ensure Tarrys’s safety. No, despite her frustration and wariness with the man, this heat lifted her pulse in a way that was all too pleasant. All too carnal.

Without a doubt, she desired him. As he did her. Sooner or later, she’d enjoy acting on that desire, if she could ever get him to unbend that far. A very big if. He wasn’t a man given to impulsive action, not unless that action was in defense of his brother. Interesting that she should be so sure about that, given that she’d known him only a matter of hours. But she didn’t doubt her own assessment. In a way she couldn’t quite explain, she felt as if she’d known him far longer than just the day.

Keeping firm hold of her, Harrison led the small group across the paved street to where numerous vehicles sat. A parking garage. She knew the words, for she acquired language instantly, though it was taking her far longer to make sense of it all than it would if he’d simply let her touch a human and learn what they knew. The man was so irritatingly distrustful.

On the second level, they came to a stop behind a small, bright blue car. A series of beeps sounded, the lights flashing. As the Marceil started around the left side of the conveyance, Harrison tugged her right, pulling something from his pocket.

Ilaria glanced down, afraid he was going for the lighter again. Instead, he’d removed something metal. Her eyes widened, then narrowed with anger as she identified the manacles that now hung from his fingers.

Her eyes snapped upward as she speared him with a sharp, stinging gaze. “You risk my ill will, human. A dangerous thing to do considering what you need of me.”

“Sorry, Princess.” But his tone held not the slightest edge of remorse. Instead, he pulled on her arm, snapping one loop of metal around her wrist before she could stop him.

Ilaria tried to jerk her other hand out of his reach, but he merely turned her, pushing her against the car, face-first, and snapped the second manacle around her other wrist. Only one other time in her entire life had she been treated so poorly—the morning she was hauled from her bed, accused of treachery and transported to the Forest of Nightmares.

If only she had magic that would work against a Sitheen!

She kicked back at him, but her gown hampered her movement and her heel collided with his shin with little more than a dull thud. He moved closer, pinning her against the car, pressing a hard ridge into her lower back. She stilled, taking a harsh breath, feeling his desire. Inside her, an answering need flared.

“Release me.”

“Not on your life.” His voice sounded close to her right ear.

Then mate with me, she wanted to say, but held her tongue, knowing she’d only anger him further.

Sliding one arm around her waist, he pulled her back against his muscular chest, the hard length of his erection nestled firmly against her. He opened the door, then slid to the right, his hand once more only around her arm.

“Get in.”

She glared at him over her shoulder. “Not until you start treating me with respect.”

Gripping her shoulders, he wrenched her around to face him, reminding her how much bigger he was than her. Overpowering her with his sheer maleness.

“Cooperate, Princess, and we’ll get along fine.” He speared her with hot, hard eyes. “Don’t, and we may find you more trouble than you’re worth.”

A cool trickle of fear slid down her spine, but she met him glare for glare. “You won’t end me. You need me.”

“Do you really want to test that theory?” He let the question, heavy and disquieting, hang between them. “Get in the car, Ilaria, or I’ll pull out the lighter again.”

“You’re a barbarian.”

“No. But neither am I a fool. I’ll show you the respect due your rank when and if I decide to trust you. Until then, you’re the enemy.”

She stared him down, refusing to bend. “You risk everything you want, human.”

He didn’t reply. Instead, his hand went to his pocket and that hated lighter.

With a huff of anger, Ilaria forced down her pride and slid into the low-slung automobile as he’d demanded.

Harrison followed her, leaning across her to pull yet another restraint across her chest. Desperately, she tried to ignore him, struggling against the physical appeal of the man, but his nearness filled her senses all over again. His scent was a heady mix of the strange facets of the human’s modern realm—the air in the airplane, the lingering scent of some intriguing aftershave. But also of wool and wind and warm, masculine male. And she wanted.

“Why are you tying me down? Are you afraid I’ll attack you with my teeth?”

He glanced at her, his strong face only inches away, so close she could see flecks of gold in his eyes. Heat swirled in those gray-green depths as they caught hold of hers, holding her fast. In his cheek, a muscle leaped. Between his eyebrows, a frown slowly appeared, a pair of tiny lines like the arc of bird wings.

“Believe it or not,” he said softly, his voice no longer filled with anger, “the seat belts are to keep us safe in case we get into an accident.”

“No accident could harm me.” Her own voice was soft with breathlessness.

“Nevertheless, it’s the law.” Tearing his gaze away, he glanced down, fastening the belt with a metallic click. Pulling away, he straightened and closed her door, then went around the car to get in the other side. The other two Sitheen had apparently left, for only the Marceil sat in the backseat—directly behind Harrison, where Ilaria couldn’t possibly touch her.

Harrison steered the vehicle into the heavy traffic, silent for a time before he glanced into the mirror, a pensive expression on his face. “Charlie tells me you’re a priestess, Tarrys.”

Ilaria glanced at the Marceil, watching a soft confidence fill the slave’s expression. “I am, though it matters little anymore.”

“You and Charlie are really getting married?”

A smile bloomed on the other woman’s face with a depth of joy Ilaria had rarely seen. “He asked me to be his wife, Harrison, and there’s nothing I want more.”

Harrison frowned. “Why would you tie yourself to him? You’re immortal. He’s only got fifty or sixty years at most.”

The Marceil’s smile dimmed. “I’m aware of that, but I love him and will stay by his side for as long as Charlie and your God allow.”

Ilaria couldn’t imagine feeling that deeply for someone. For anyone. She’d had friends and companions aplenty through the years, though most she’d not seen in centuries. The men incarcerated with her within the forest for three hundred years had become closer to her than family, almost extensions of herself. Once she returned to Esria, she’d find a way to free them. But though she loved them like brothers, not a man among them had ever broken through the walls of her heart. Not a one had ever made her feel, even for a moment, a shadow of the joy she saw in the Marceil’s face.

What would it be like to love another so deeply? So completely? What would it be like to be loved like that in return? Men aplenty had professed love for her over the years. Yet not a one had ever looked at her with the devotion she saw in Charlie’s eyes every single time he gazed at Tarrys. In her experience, few Esri ever loved like that.

As they drove in silence, Ilaria watched out the window, fascinated and not a little awed by the sheer magnitude of the humans’ dominance over their world. As in Reykjavik, buildings rose high above her head, flowing in every direction, as far as her eyes could see. There were subtle differences between the two cities—Reykjavik’s buildings appeared more colorful to her untrained eye, Washington’s more artistically decorative. But both were so far beyond anything she’d ever seen, as to be nearly indistinguishable.

Beside the buildings, the few people that walked were bundled beneath so many layers of hats and coats that she could barely see them. Most traveled in conveyances such as the one they rode in now. Her hand caressed the soft leather seat. A place of surprising warmth and comfort.

As Harrison stopped at an intersection, Ilaria glanced out her window to find the male in the vehicle next to them staring at her. As she met his curious gaze, he turned away.

“Do you ever use glamour?” Harrison asked.

She turned to meet his own curious gaze. “No.”

“Most of your kind do.”

“I’m the princess.”

“What difference does that make? You’re used to people staring?”

She glanced forward as the car started moving again. “In the old days, the only Esri who used glamour on the humans were those who meant them harm.”

“And you didn’t.”

“No.”

Harrison was quiet for a couple of minutes as he drove. When he once more came to a stop at a light, he glanced at her. “At one time, I assumed the Esri always meant humans harm, but I guess I know better than that. Kade’s parents apparently lived in a village where Esri and humans lived together. Mostly mated pairs and families, from what we’ve gathered.”