“I…you…I feel no different,” he said with a frown.
No “I love you, too”? My fears were accurate? Floundering now, Katie raced to the bathroom; his gaze bored into her back.
She locked the door and sneaked out the window.
Outside, rain pelted her. Thunder boomed. She got soaked as she raced to the center of the garden. Heather was there already, waiting quietly and just as soaked.
“This is it,” the redhead said.
Katie drew in a sharp breath. Dark clouds hovered over the rounded curves of a beautiful stone woman who wore an opulent robe. A large, circular locket hung at her neck. One of her arms was extended, as if to ward off the approach of a predator.
Katie’s heart raced faster as she wiped the rain from her eyes and studied the statue more closely. Heather had said the statue brought “torment” to mind, and Katie agreed. Fear, agony and anguish pulsed from the stone.
Was this another victim of Percen? Should Katie kiss this one?
Heather gasped, drawing Katie’s attention.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, only then spotting the man she’d never met. He stood a few feet away, and wore an old-fashioned, buttonless white shirt and fawn-colored pants that fit him like a second skin. Brown leather boots adorned his feet.
He had dark hair, cold blue eyes and a myriad of scars.
“Percen,” Heather said, conveying all sorts of emotion with that one name. The headliners were dread, happiness and fear.
Wait. This was Percen, Jorlan’s brother? The one who’d cursed Jorlan to an eternity of misery?
Percen ignored Heather; as the storm intensified around him, and his pale, unsmiling gaze swept over Katie.
Should she run screaming for Jorlan’s help, or stay and take Percen down?
Stay. Definitely. She would protect Jorlan, whatever the costs.
“Come to me,” Percen said, waving her over. “You want to come to me.”
“Whatever you’re planning…don’t.” Heather barked the order with a fierce determination she’d never before displayed. “You promised not to harm Katie.”
“Nay. Wrong. I vowed I would not kill her. I said nothing of hurting her. And after I make this concession for you, what do you do to me?” he ground out. “You come here to aid my enemies. Therefore, you will sway me no longer.” Once again, he beckoned Katie over. “Come.”
A strange fog rolled through her mind. Yes, yes. She would go to him.
She must go to him.
Yasss. Must. Go. To. Him.
Heedless of anything else, she closed the distance. Heather pulled on her arm, trying to stop her, but failed.
“Katie, listen to me,” Heather said now. “He plans to use you to destroy Jorlan. You must fight Percen’s magical influence.”
Magical influence. Yeah, that tracked. Only one problem: Katie couldn’t seem to make herself care.
“If you do this, you will lose me,” Heather cried to Percen. “You will lose me forever.”
For a heartbeat…heartbeat…heartbeat of time, he wavered, his mouth opening and closing. Then his features hardened with resolve. “As I never really had you, I accept your terms. Go get my brother,” he said, his voice cruel. “Katie and I have work to do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
A SCREAM ECHOED off the house’s walls.
Jorlan reacted immediately, reaching for a weapon and racing from the bedchamber, where he’d awaited Katie’s emergence from the bathroom.
Katie, the woman who loved him. He grinned, only to lose his good humor a second later. Had she gotten hurt again?
He knocked on the wooden entrance, shouting, “Katie.”
No response.
“Speak,” he commanded, “or I will destroy the door.”
Nothing.
Very well. He kicked the wood. Nothing kept him from his woman! Just like that, timber shards went flying. “Katie—” He stopped abruptly. The small room was empty, the window open. Rain misted the air.
A terrifying thought slammed into his mind. Someone had abducted Katie, and that was why she’d screamed.
“Jorlan?” Heather whizzed past the door, only to backtrack. Panting raggedly, she halted in the doorway. Water dripped from her clothing, and panic painted each of her features. “You have to help Katie. Come quick. Please! Percen has her, and he’s going to hurt her if we don’t do something.”
Jorlan’s panic graduated into fury. “Where is she?” Nothing else mattered. Other questions would have to wait, such as how Heather had known about Percen.
Tears streamed down her face as she lead the way. “I should have told you about Percen’s arrival sooner, but I was afraid you’d scare him away. Now I want him to go. He doesn’t deserve me. He doesn’t,” she rambled.
They exited into the backyard and flew into the garden, the rain drenching Jorlan in seconds. The icy cold infiltrated his bones, keeping him alert and ready for anything.
When they reached his spot in the garden, he froze midstride. His mother stood upon his pedestal. Lightning flashed, highlighting her shock and horror. The same emotions Jorlan currently entertained.
He dropped his weapon and sank to his knees. Centuries had passed since he’d last seen his mother. He’d missed her terribly, had yearned for a reunion but not like this. Never like this.
“What are you doing?” Heather tugged at his arm, frantic. “We have to hurry.”
How could his brother curse their mother to this life that was no life at all? Jorlan had to save her before he returned to this life that was no life at all.
“I know you are aware,” he told her. “You might be trapped in the stone, but you can still use your magic. Which you did, helping me save Katie.”
“Hurry, Jorlan.” Heather tugged with more force. “We have to find them, before it’s too late.”
He pushed to a stand. “I’m sorry, Mother. I must aid my life mate, Katie. You will love her. I will come back for you, and find a way to free you.”
“There is no need.” A smug, smiling Percen materialized a few feet away, an immobile and silent Katie just in front of him, a sleeping Francis splayed on the ground.
“Momma,” Heather gasped, rushing over.
Only two weeks ago, Jorlan would have given anything for a chance to confront his brother. Here, now, he cared only about Katie.
Her clothes were plastered to her body. The sorcerer had his hands on her shoulders, stroking her like a kitten. Her amber eyes were glazed and detached.
The bastard had entranced her with a spell. If Jorlan attempted to snatch her from his brother’s grasp, she would fight him, no doubt about it. Still, relief poured over him in great waves. She was alive. As long as she stayed that way, he could handle whatever Percen threw at him.
“Too shocked to comment?” Percen taunted.
“Release her from your snare.” He longed to rush his brother, to cut the bastard down, but he feared harming his life mate in the process. “Must you hide behind a woman?”
“Nay.” Percen pursed his lips. “I need not hide behind anyone. I thought I would enjoy watching you watch me as I destroy your only chance of obtaining freedom.”
“Your hatred for me is so great, you will slay an innocent just to punish me?”