Any Price Page 5

  “Damn it, Lore. We can’t take this. Give us a break.” Kenna tugged at her hand again. “Okay, perhaps you can but I can’t take it much longer,” she clarified in the hopes that he’d let her hand go if she used that tact.

  “Then I’ll take care of it,” Lore stated.

  On the field, two finalists were about to settle the day’s champion. The boisterous crowd cheered their favorites. Huge steeds pawed the ground at either end of the long space. Lore was suddenly permeating her mind with a soothing warmth that caused her to gasp.

  Neither of them moved physically, but the vision he gave her was a spring meadow beside a lake. A blanket picnic lay between them as they lazed in the sun. He was not touching her in the mental vision. Safety and contentment wafted in the air around the charming scene. And then he did something she couldn’t understand, it was as if he were actually in her mind, cutting her off from their sexual tension.

  Kenna turned a shocked face to him.

  “Rest, baby,” he commanded softly, his eyes never leaving the list field as the chargers took off. The two knights met in a thundering clash and the crowd roared.

  It was perfect, it wasn’t real. Even as they rose to applaud the champion, Lore was somehow supplying the strength and calm need to endure. Her exhaustion melted like mist on his lake. The vision faded but the man remained in firm control, supplying his strength.

  Dimly she realized what he felt. Physical pain as he absorbed her exhaustion.

  “What are you doing?” Kenna’s voice was low.

  “I took care of it, baby. No more pain,” Lore assured her as the crowd continued stomping the wooden stands as they shrieked while the victorious knight and charger pranced the length of the field in a parade high step.

  Abruptly the connection between them was gone.

  Kenna took a step away from him and turned to face the field, clapping with the crowd. Her back slowly straightened and her neck seemed to lengthen as her body stiffened to its full height, her head held high.

  “What…?” He reached for her.

  “Do not touch me.” Kenna leaned away from him, pretending to keep her eyes on the prancing champion, avoiding his hand.

  “Kenna?” Lore tried again.

  Kenna carefully moved to her chair but didn’t sit as the configuration of the field in front of the royal box was being altered by scurrying pages.

  An increase in power allowed her to change the dynamic between them. Before she’d removed herself from his grasp, the connection had been forcibly blocked. By her. She didn’t care where the ability came from. The deep, overwhelming need to do it apparently meant she could.

  “Kenna. What did you do?” Lore questioned tightly.

  Taking a deep breath to calm herself she asked, “What’s next?”

  Lore eyed her with a frown. “We present the prizes,” he answered. “Tell me why you removed our connection.”

  A page opened the gate in front of the royal platform with a bow, indicating everything was ready for them to step onto the presenting stage.

  She quickly took a step away from Lore as if to give him room to perform his royal duties. They were closely attended as prizes were placed on a table and pages made sure the king had the correct name and rank of each winner.

  The joust might not have been exactly as it once was, what with modern sanitary arrangements, but the colorful event held all the splendor and pageantry of the bygone age. The last contest had been between fully armored knights and enormous steeds thundering across the afternoon with thrilling intensity. The last prize presented was the tournament champion who’d just won the joust.

  A large man stepped forward and removed his helmet. Kenna recognized Thomas. The knight nodded at Lore and stepped in front of Kenna to sink down on one knee.

  “Thomas is Kersonovian,” Lore explained quietly. “He wants you to hand him his prize. Say exactly what I tell you as loudly as you can without yelling. Okay?”

  Kenna nodded.

  Lore handed her a small pillow with the trophy statue resting on it. Then murmured the Hungarian phrases she needed to say. Kenna repeated them faithfully.

  Thomas accepted his trophy solemnly. His intelligent face was serious as he looked into her eyes, but the words he spoke were Hungarian so she smiled and nodded, which seemed to be the right thing to do. The crowd erupted again and it took a bit longer to get out of there.

  The walk back to the limo was silent. In the car, Kenna scooted to the far side, giving Lore plenty of room. After Lore, Yuri, commander of the royal guard, took the seat across from them.

  Lore gave him a questioning glance, Yuri nodded. “Your friends are collecting the trash and searching for more.”

  As the vehicle door closed, Kenna knew she couldn’t handle the personal issues crashing around her. She needed to focus on something that didn’t involve the man beside her and the unfolding power they both were wielding. She assumed the military speak meant the U.S. team had done their job.

  “The bombs are gone?” she asked just to be sure.

  “The two we know of have been safely disposed of,” Lore confirmed. “I suspect the threat of another is a bluff.”

  Kenna turned her face to the window and closed her eyes. They were going to play chicken with the crazy people who loved killing. It was the only plan that made any sense and it was insane. Time to think of something else.

  “What did Thomas say to me? Why did the crowd go crazy like that?” Turning from the window, she directed the question to Yuri.

  Lore exhaled deeply and glanced at Yuri.

  Yuri spoke up at Lore’s look, his stern face relaxed in an obvious attempt at a pleasant expression. “Thomas is my younger brother, my lady. He pledged himself to you and your protection. It is the oath of allegiance given to a Kersonovian monarch by a knight. It hasn’t been spoken since we had our own queen before we became a protectorate of Covia, seven hundred years ago.”

  “Why would he do that? Was it drama for the crowd?”

  Yuri’s eyes flicked briefly to Lore and then took to studying his large hands loosely clasped between his knees. The commander seemed uncomfortable, but as he met her gaze again, he smiled and shook his head. “My lady, once spoken, the oath cannot be recalled. It’s a blood oath. However, it was a nice touch, the people loved it. Wouldn’t you agree?” His weak attempt to distract her didn’t work.

  “What do you mean, can’t be recalled? Yuri, tell me what this means.” Oh, this was so not good. Kenna forced herself to remain outwardly still as she processed the implications. This was heading down a very dangerous path.

  Yuri tapped the button to raise the window between front and back. When it was up and they were assured of privacy, he continued, turning to Lore.

  “Your highness, please understand that this does not affect my loyalty to you in any way. My brother spoke the oath to my lady because he knew I could not do so and fulfill my responsibilities on your behalf.”

  Yuri shifted his gaze to Kenna. “The bomb threat and your connection to his highness have rightfully consumed your attention, my lady. You have not been able to absorb a lesser recognition that lies beneath it. I believe my sister Julianna mentioned my siblings and I are descended from the queen’s maid. She was not a maid. She was a…not exactly priestess, but something close to that in a society much older than recorded time.

  “I’m sure you know the historical facts this festival is commemorating. The Kersonovian queen was abducted during her wedding ceremony. The death of Alexander the First in his attempt at her rescue is the last public record, but it is not the last private record of her life. Our queen escaped the Mongolians and returned. Her lover was dead, his brother on the throne of both kingdoms, and she was pregnant. It was her own family who had made a deal with the Mongolians to have her and Alexander killed. Survival meant she must flee the reach of the current king and her own family.

  “My ancestor did not flee to the west with her because then everyone would know our quee
n lived. The bond between them was never broken though the connection in the way of our people could not be maintained. My ancestor and each succeeding generation have known your family survives. We did not know where or when we might find you, but we have always known you exist.

  “If you become very still and shut out other distractions, you will find you can feel the three of us.” Calm in the face of the shock from both Kenna and Lore, Yuri continued. “It’s not as if we can listen to what passes between the two of you. It’s totally separate from your communication. Yet if she wants, her highness can send her emotions or needs to any one of us.”

  Stunned silence followed Yuri’s explanation.

  After a moment Lore turned to Kenna. “Well? Can you feel them?” he questioned.

  “How should I know?” Kenna snapped, shocked he was focusing on the connection part of all that. “The very-still-and-quiet business hasn’t happened.”

  She was certain Lore’s agile mind would get to the really bad part of her being a “descendant” fast. Now was the time to get information from Yuri. He probably wouldn’t be answering her questions when she was in a cell. “What do you know of my family?”

  Yuri shrugged. “Nothing yet, my lady. You will tell us what you wish when you wish it. Our knowledge is limited, though perhaps we have a bit more comfort in this event than you and my lord. The connection grows? We are happy but surprised at how you affect us.”

  “Are you some secret society?” Lore demanded, choosing not to discuss what exactly was growing about the connection. His natural caution would not let him expose any part of this that might endanger Kenna.

  “Sir, we do not speak of it. If you were not the match to my lady, you might never have known of us. We are not a secret society as you are thinking. There is no agenda.”

  Lore stiffened. “Explain. I expect details.”

  “Sir, I will be happy to provide all the information I have. However, this ride does not afford us the time required. What I can tell you is my lady Kenna is the descendent of the last queen of Kersonov. There is no question of this.”

  Kenna glanced at Lore worriedly. “Yuri? Why are you convinced I am some relation to your lost queen?”

  “I am sorry to add to your burden. I know this because you affect everyone of your kind. Only a direct descendent of our lost queen could accomplish this.”

  “So, the link between Lore and me has something to do with the priestess?” Kenna pressed.

  “Your connection with my lord has nothing to do with a priestess. I used the priestess word only to try and explain the importance and unusualness of our kind’s abilities.”

  Lore took up the questions. “And your family is connected to Kenna how?”

  “Sir, my family has served her ladyship’s family since before recorded time.”

  Kenna paled visibly and shrank into the door of the car. “You don’t know me. You’ve never met me before.”

  “Please, my lady. I don’t wish to alarm you. You are tired and understandably concerned. This is not bad. Those of us who know you, who you really are, wish only to protect you. We are pleased that you have chosen to return.”

  “Are you listening to us somehow?” Kenna wanted to know.

  “No. We do not listen. We feel the result of your connection to the king. It is difficult to explain. Like a power plant switching on.”

  The limo pulled to a stop beside a large tented pavilion. A red carpet was immediately rolled up to the door and the guards riding in the front jumped out. Yuri excused himself and left the vehicle to direct security.

  Alone for a brief moment in the limo, Lore turned to Kenna. “Apparently what happens between us is more involved than just the two of us.”

  This development affected him at the core of his possessive drive. Oh hell no, he was not allowing anyone else intimately close to Kenna. His back teeth ached as he snapped a chain on the caveman inside him who was fucking pissed.

  Then there was the unresolved issue of her complete refusal to touch him after he’d taken care of her. That was inexplicable to him. Piled on all that was the disturbing knowledge others were aware of the difference in Kenna.

  “That’s what he’s saying,” Kenna sighed tiredly.

  Looking down at the beautiful, brave, exhausted woman putting as much space between them as she could, there was only one issue he had to deal with right now.

  “What is it? Why the anger at the joust?” he questioned forcefully, using his command voice that demanded a response.

  A person put a hand on the car door and both of them were aware of it. “You can’t imagine why I’m upset about having my free will manipulated? That I might object to fantasy replacing reality in my mind by someone else? And beyond that, I’d be okay with it causing the other person to experience my pain but also their own in doing it? Think about it. It’ll come to you.”

  “No. That wasn’t what happened,” Lore objected as he studied her face. There was nothing to read.

  The door to the limo swung open.

  “We need a moment,” Lore stated calmly, and pulled the door shut.

  Turning to Kenna, he held out his hand. “Our perceptions are opposite on this issue. You know you can show me exactly what you mean and see what I thought occurred.”

  Kenna regarded him. “I don’t wish to attend this reception. Just go ahead and lock me in your dungeon or something. Get it over with.”

  The words buzzed in his ears, but he found the lack of connection beneath them made them insufficient. What the hell was happening? The empty space between them expanded and had nothing to do with the physical surrounds of the car. The urge to lunge across the ravine opening between them was compelling. If he could get his hands on her, she couldn’t hide from him. He was sure of it.

  “Kenna, why are you working so hard at putting distance between us? What has changed?”

  “You still have no idea what I’m talking about?” Kenna raised a brow.

  “Honey, if I infringed on your free will, it was only to relieve the stress this situation generated. There is nothing wrong with what we shared.”

  Kenna’s mouth opened then closed. She blinked several times and finally managed to ask, “You have no idea why I’d feel violated? Afraid because you can control me by injecting whatever reality you want into my head?” She shrank farther into the door on her side as if looking at a monster.

  Her words were arrows. They sank into him like nothing he’d experienced. The silence of the connection made them ricochet through his mind.

  “No. It was nothing like that.” Lore couldn’t make sense of her interpretation. Its ugly view of events was a shock. “We have a tool to be brutally honest with each other. Let me show you I didn’t have any intention of controlling you. My only concern was relieving some of your stress. When we touch, flesh to flesh, we can read each other. We can work this out.

  “It is your choice, Kenna.” He placed his hand, palm down, on the seat between them. “Use our gifts to understand each other. Hurting you was never my intention.”

  Kenna dragged in a deep breath. What would be the price of choosing to share with him again? Could she not? Things had just changed dramatically again, if she could call it that. Neither of them had mentioned it, but the other elephant in the car was her heritage. Knowing what he felt about that was a huge issue for her.

  Very deliberately Kenna grasped his wrist. The immediate connection hit them with an emotional rush. The exchange demanded complete honesty. It didn’t matter what words they used, the existence of profound reaction could not be denied, reasoned away or discounted.

  In that moment of touching, Lore felt the frightening loss of control Kenna experienced when he’d only been trying to take care of her. The depth of her rejection of his actions was bitterly direct. Pain arrowed through him and Lore’s big frame shuddered at the fear she’d felt. Instead of binding them, his actions had made her feel desperately alone, destroying her trust in him.

  At the sa
me time, his deep need to provide for her shot through Kenna. He’d been giving her the comfort he could in a situation that was causing her pain. Removing her pain was almost an obsession.

  The connection left them no misconceptions to hide behind.

  Lore faced her. “I will never intentionally hurt you, baby. I frightened you instead of comforting you. I’m sorry.”

  Her head averted, eyes closed, Kenna felt his response. Everything in him reached for her and yet he held himself rigidly in check. He wanted to overwhelm but he chose to wait for her acceptance. It seemed he’d learned something.

  “You removed my choice. We didn’t work through the problem. Even with the advantage of a connection that gives us this amazing understanding, if you choose to simply fix things instead of talking to me, I will always be a victim.”

  She was arguing with what he hadn’t said. That connection he wanted so badly told her he didn’t feel what he’d done was wrong so much as he felt how he did it was unforgivable. That he had hurt her, even unintentionally, was excruciating to him.

  “Stop it,” she commanded softly. “We can’t take this. Both of us are wounded and we experience each other’s pain. You behaved as your nature dictated by taking charge. That’s not going to work with us. It will always destroy me.”

  “Kenna, look in me,” Lore growled. “I will never remove your free will in matters that do not involve life and safety. If ever the need arises to do so, you will know I share any pain you bear. Please understand that I cannot surrender the drive to protect. Look at my soul. Our connection shows me a priceless woman I would pursue had we been normal people. I’m guilty of forgetting that possessing you is a privilege, not a right that is naturally mine.”

  Kenna struggled with his view. The man was something she’d never encountered before, his reactions completely differed from her scope of normal. He did not behave in a way she recognized. But that was her problem as much as his.