Chapter Twenty-four

"I wish you hadn't come here."

Marcus turned his attention from the door Abaddon had just walked out of and peered at Divine at those words. She looked so incredibly sad. He just wanted to take her in his arms and hold her close, kiss and hug her and tell her everything would be okay. Unfortunately, he was chained to his seat and couldn't do any of that. At least not the hugging and kissing part.

"I told you, Divine. Your fate is mine. If you're dead and buried, I may as well be rotting in the ground right next to you." He grimaced even as he said that, and then added solemnly, "But if I can save your life with mine, I will."

"And leave me to go on without you," she said dryly and then shook her head. "Abaddon would love that, then I could add horrible guilt and loss over you to my suffering for the next millennium or however long I live."

"Then I guess we'd better get out of here," he said solemnly and began pulling at his chains.

"The chairs are metal and the chains are strong," Divine said, sounding weary. "We aren't going anywhere."

"Giving up?" he chided. "I didn't think you were the sort."

"I'm not usually," she said tiredly. "But right now . . ."

When Marcus remained silent, his attention on straining against the chains, Divine said, "I don't understand why Abaddon didn't just take control of my mind and make me accept the offer to be his lover that day. I mean if he thought that would have kept Leonius from touching me—"

"It wouldn't have," Marcus assured her. "Leonius probably would have killed him and taken you back. Besides, Abaddon didn't really want you, he wanted Leonius. And at that point, I suspect it was just a throwaway offer. He saw the way Leonius looked at you, was afraid, and made it. But he didn't know at that point that you were a possible life mate to Leonius. He was just jealous of the way he looked at you, so there was no real need to push the issue."

"Oh, yes," Divine murmured and then glanced to him with surprise when one of the vertical stiles holding the back of his chair to the seat suddenly snapped.

"I noticed it was rusty when he urged me to sit in it," Marcus said with a grin as the chains around him loosened. He tipped himself over and quickly shimmied out of the chained chair, then stood and came around to her. But he didn't immediately go to work on her chains. Instead, he knelt before her and cupped her shoulders with his hands. "Divine, I saw your expression when he accused you of enjoying Leonius's . . . attention."

Flushing, she lowered her head, but he caught her chin and raised it again. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. Even child abusers and mortal rapists can make their victims experience a moment's pleasure."

"But the things he did to me, Marcus. I didn't like any of those. I don't like pain. My brain was screaming with horror at what he did, but my body—"

"He was a possible life mate," Marcus said firmly. "I'm sure of it, and that being the case, what you experienced was his pleasure. Not your own." When she just shook her head, he asked, "Didn't you feel my pleasure when you kissed and caressed me last night and then took my cock into your—"

"Yes, of course I did," she interrupted, wishing she had a Kleenex. Her eyes were beginning to tear up and her nose clogging up. She really could have used a tissue.

"Well, it's the same thing, sweetheart," he said gently. "Sucking on a banana would have given about as much pleasure to you as what you actually experienced physically when you did what you did to me last night, more actually because it tastes yummy. But the point is, what you did pleasured me, and so because we're life mates, you shared in that pleasure, experiencing it with me. And that's what you experienced with Leonius. Your body might have been in agony, but his pleasure was sent to you at the same time." He paused and then said sadly, "It must have been terribly confusing for you at that age. Hell, it would have confused an adult too, I'm sure." 

"I felt so dirty," she admitted leaning her head against his chest and sniffling miserably. "I thought there was something wrong with me, that I was sick and twisted like him. Unlovable."

"No doubt that's why Abaddon found it so easy to keep you away from your family all these years," Marcus muttered, hugging her to his chest as much as he could.

Divine nodded against his T-shirt, leaving a wet trail.

Sighing, he pulled her face back and said firmly, "Well, you're not like Leonius, you're not sick and twisted, and I love you."

She blinked in surprise at that. "You do?"

He nodded.

"Why?" she asked with bewilderment. "I mean I know we have the whole life mate thing, Marcus, but—"

"Sweetheart, from what I've seen you're just like me," he said with amusement. "I've spent my whole life taking care of others, and so have you. At least, I know you've tried to help all the people you did readings for at the carnival, as well as the carnies themselves. I'm guessing you've done that your whole life. Aside from that you're brave, strong, smart, and sexy as hell."

Divine laughed at the last one. She didn't feel very brave, strong, or sexy at the moment weeping all over his chest. But God she loved this man. Any man who could make you laugh in a situation like this was a keeper, she thought.

"I hope you come to love me too," Marcus added, kissing her forehead.

Divine bit her lip, but then sighed and admitted, "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm pretty sure you sealed the deal on my loving you when you walked in here of your own free will, offering up your life for mine."

Marcus grinned and squeezed her briefly, but then eased his hold and frowned as he asked, "Why do you hate to admit it?"

"Because you're better off without me. If we get out of here and stay together, you're going to spend the rest of your life on the run," she pointed out sadly.

"I've been thinking about that," Marcus said, releasing her to move around and look over her chains and the chair she sat on. "That might not necessarily be true."

"Um, yes it is," she assured him dryly. "I rescued Leonius from Lucian. He's hardly going to just forget that."

"Yeah. But I'm thinking that Damian," he said the name firmly, "is your Jean Claude."

Divine glanced around, to peer at him with surprise. "Uncle Lucian's twin?"

"Yeah, I don't know if you know this, I mean, you haven't been in touch with the family for a while, but as it turns out, Jean Claude was a rogue. He was breaking immortal laws. As in the plural," he added dryly. "Anyway, Lucian knew he was behaving badly, but like you, not that he was actually breaking laws, and, like you, he helped him out when it would have been better if he hadn't," Marcus explained, tugging at her chair. "Of course, once he found out, he killed Jean Claude, but only because Jean Claude asked him to."

Divine heard a snap and her chair back suddenly shifted behind her, the chains loosening.

"I'm thinking if we remind Lucian of that, he might go easier on you," Marcus finished, coming around to help her get untangled from the chains. Once he had her free, he cupped her face and smiled. "We might yet get to have a family and home and all those other things you've never had that others take for granted."

Divine closed her eyes briefly, afraid to allow the hope taking seed in her heart to grow. Opening her eyes, she asked, "But what if he doesn't?"

"Then I guess we'll be traveling a lot," Marcus said wryly. "Could be fun."

Divine gave a short laugh and shook her head. "Are you always this upbeat?"

Marcus shrugged. "In my youth, yes. Haven't been for centuries though. But I find you make me feel that way." Slipping his arms around her he said, "I feel like I could conquer the world with you at my side."

"Not if you're going to waste your time standing there in the middle of enemy territory, kissing and cuddling."

Divine and Marcus both stiffened at those words and turned to peer at the man who stood in the doorway. He was leaning against the door frame, ankles and arms crossed, and eyeing them with an expression that was hard to read.

"Lucian," Marcus breathed, releasing Divine and stepping protectively in front of her. "We need to talk."

"Do we?" Lucian asked dryly.

Divine frowned, and slipped in front of Marcus, hands on hips as she confronted the uncle who had been a bogeyman to her for so many years. "No. We need to talk," she said firmly, and then added grimly, "Marcus has done nothing wrong. You can arrest or kill me, but you have to let him go."

"Divine," Marcus snapped, grabbing her arm to pull her behind him. "Let me handle this. I—"

"I suggest you both shut up and let me do the talking before you piss me off," Lucian said dryly.

Marcus stopped pulling on Divine, and instead slipped his hand down to catch and squeeze hers encouragingly. Or perhaps to suggest she take the man's advice and stay quiet. Divine wasn't sure which it was, but she held her tongue and leaned back against him, accepting the support he offered.

Lucian nodded, apparently satisfied with their obedience, and then his gaze slipped to Marcus.

"When you didn't answer phone calls, we had Mortimer track the GPS for Tiny and Mirabeau's SUV and flew up here to find out what the hell was happening. We found and took out three of Leonius's sons guarding the building as we came in, are there any more?"

When Marcus hesitated, Divine glanced to him to see that he was peering down at her in question. Turning back to her uncle she said, "I only know about four of them. That guy—" She nodded to the unfortunate Danny who lay in two pieces on the floor. "Then there was his partner, and two other men who came in behind Marcus."

"They followed me from the hotel," Marcus inserted and then asked, "You didn't see Abaddon out there anywhere?"

"What is an Abaddon?" Lucian asked dryly. "It sounds like something that belongs in an outhouse."

The comment surprised a laugh out of Divine. Biting her lip, she quickly bowed her head to hide her amusement, afraid her uncle would be angry if he thought she wasn't taking this seriously.

"It's good to hear your laugh again, Basha," Lucian said quietly.

Divine glanced up with surprise at the words, but said automatically, "I'm Divine now."

For some reason that made Lucian's expression close up like a vault. His eyes also narrowed on her with concentration. He was reading her, she knew, and stayed still, not trying to close him out. After a moment, he blinked and released a long weary sigh as he rubbed his eyes with the thumb and fingers of one hand. When that hand finally dropped away, Lucian speared Marcus with a look and said, "Out."

Divine felt Marcus stiffen and glanced to him with alarm, half afraid he'd tell her uncle to go to hell and half afraid he'd obey and leave. He had come here as Lucian's spy, after all. Did that mean he had to obey?

Marcus squeezed her hand reassuringly, but didn't glance down. He looked her uncle in the eye and said, "She's my life mate, Lucian, so with all due respect . . . screw you."

Eyes wide, Divine shot her gaze back to her uncle to see his reaction. Much to her surprise, after staring at Marcus for several tense moments, he nodded, his mouth almost forming a smile before he said, "You'll do."

Divine was still blinking in confusion, unsure what he meant by that when Lucian turned his attention back to her.

"Your name is Basha Argeneau," he said firmly. "You are not Divine, Nuri, or Naduah. You are Basha Argeneau and always will be."

"Until it's Basha Notte," Marcus said grimly from behind her.

Lucian ignored him, not even acknowledging him with a glance as he continued, "You are Basha, the daughter of my brother Felix. The girl who as a child looked like the eldest daughter I lost in Atlantis. You are the Basha who was my first favorite niece, and who I have grieved and felt guilty for not keeping safe for two and a half millennia." He moved forward to grasp her shoulders firmly. "You are Basha Argeneau. Got it?"

When she nodded reluctantly, he squeezed her shoulders and said, "Your father named you Basha. Don't refuse to use it because of something done to you as a child. You will always carry that child with you, but you aren't that child anymore. You're a survivor, strong and brave. You had the courage to survive when immortal women centuries older than you broke and took their own lives."

That made her blink as she wondered just how much he'd read of her memories from her mind in those few moments he'd searched it. But then she shifted her attention back to her uncle as he continued.

"You were a victim of Leonius. There is no shame in what happened that belongs to you." He frowned briefly, and then added, "And while I am sorry you have suffered greatly over the years because of the confused feelings you experienced every time he attacked you, I will tell you right now that I am grateful that you were a possible life mate to him. If you hadn't been, your remains would have been among the ashes of the immortal and no-fanger women we found when we got there. I suspect your being his life mate was the only reason he let you live and I am able to talk to you now."

Divine's head went back slightly at that. It was a consideration that hadn't occurred to her and one she would definitely consider more later, if she had the opportunity.

"You're still thinking of yourself as Divine in your head," Lucian growled. "Cut it out."

"Yes, Uncle," Basha murmured, and then, unable to stand the worry for her future any longer, she blurted, "I am the woman who whisked away Leonius II when you had him at the hotel in Toronto."

"Yeah. That's a problem," Lucian said, releasing her shoulders with a grimace.

"You—" Marcus began, but Lucian cut him off.

"Do not spout your bit about my brother Jean Claude. I heard it the first time," he said sharply, and then admitted, "I was standing in the door quite a while longer than you realize, which proves that we're all useless when we find our life mates. Hell, if I'd been this A-bidet character—"

"Abaddon," Basha corrected, but couldn't help grinning at his mispronunciation.

"Whatever," Lucian muttered. "If I'd been him you'd both be dead right now."

Neither of them argued the point. He was right.

Lucian rubbed his forehead grimly, and then straightened his shoulders. "You didn't know the boy you raised as your son was a killer when you helped him. You didn't even know he was rogue."

"No," Basha assured him even though he wasn't asking.

"You also didn't know feeding off the hoof wasn't allowed anymore," he added, and she blinked, startled by just how much he did know. But he was continuing, "While that doesn't excuse your actions, it does mitigate them."

Basha stilled as he considered her briefly.

"We can forgive the feeding off the hoof so long as you stick to bagged blood in future."

"I will," she promised.

"As for the other . . ." He paused, expression unhappy, and then said solemnly, "I know this will be hard since you've thought of him as your son all these years, but you'll need to help us recapture Leonius to make up for it."

Basha was silent for a moment, her emotions in chaos. She had thought of him as her son for so long, and as such her instinct was to protect, but after all she'd learned about him . . .

Marcus squeezed her shoulders, and Basha sighed and nodded in response.

"And you'll also have to help catch this Abaddon character who has apparently scurried back to whatever hole the two of them are hiding in," he added.

There was no hesitation this time, Basha nodded firmly. She'd be happy to put an end to that bastard.

"Good," Lucian said quietly. "Then come on. I made the others wait outside until I knew what was what. I'm sure they're peeing their pants worrying over whether you're both okay or not."

Basha sagged back against Marcus's chest with relief when her uncle turned away. It was a relief she knew Marcus shared. She felt the tension slide out of his hard body as his arms slid around her.

"We're going to be okay," he assured her.

"Yes," Basha agreed, and found a smile to offer him as he turned her into his arms.

"No more running," he said with a smile. "We can make a home. We'll have family, both yours and mine, and we can have children . . . if I'm still capable," he added wryly.

"Why wouldn't you be capable?" Basha asked with concern.

"Well, after what you did to me with the mop . . ." Marcus paused and caught her wrists on a laugh as she realized he was teasing her and tried to smack his chest. Using his hold on her wrists, he tugged her against his chest and kissed her quickly before saying, "I love you, Basha Argeneau."

For once, she didn't flinch at the name, and supposed it was knowing that her father had given it to her that made the difference. She'd tried so long to deny the past and what had happened to her as a child. Denying the name had been the only way she'd known how to separate that poor abused child from the woman she wanted to be. Now though, she realized that by denying the name, she denied her father too, and everything else that connected her to the family she so dearly wanted to be a part of. Besides, little Basha had done all right. She had survived, and grown stronger. She had nothing to be ashamed of. 

"I love you too, Marcus Notte," she murmured and leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Come on you two, you're busting my balls here. Get a move on."

Divine turned sharply toward the door, just in time to see her uncle turn and walk away. "He didn't—?"

"He did," Marcus said dryly.

"But he doesn't know—"

"He knows," Marcus assured her. "He read our minds."

"Oh, damn," Basha groaned. "I'm so going to get teased about that for eternity."

"Yeah," he agreed with a grimace as he slipped his arm around her waist to steer her to the door. "We both are. I can hear it now, uniball, one-nut, half man . . ."

"No," Basha said at once. "They'll know it healed. You still have two balls."

"That won't matter," he assured her with a crooked smile.

"I guess we'll have to suffer it together," she said apologetically.

"Together we can handle anything," Marcus assured her, and risked her uncle's wrath to sto