City of War (Chronicles of Arcana Book 4)

by Debbie Cassidy

  Jarold stood taller. “Taylem Stephenson, your ties to the knell are severed.”

  Tonya opened her mouth to speak, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, but Jarold cut off her words with a touch that folded them out of existence.

  Taylem looked down at me, a cloud of confusion hovering over his head. Around us, the color began to seep out of his home.

  “Wila, what is going on?”

  Time to wake up, Wila. Now. Get him to wake up. Seb’s tone was an urgent alarm nudging my pulse into overdrive. Around us, Taylem’s consciousness, his anchor to this place, was melting away.

  He needs to detach from the knell before it tears into his psyche.

  Taylem tried to pull away, his body a tense mountain of muscle beneath my grip. He was still disoriented, still waking up from whatever lie they’d planted in his head.

  “It’s okay, babe.” I held tight, even though blood was rushing in my ears, even though my legs wanted to quiver. “We just have to wake up, okay?” I pressed a hand to the side of his face and turned his head to face me. “How about we go back to my place and catch up over a nice cup of tea?”

  “Tea?” The haze retreated slightly. “Yes.” He caressed my cheek lightly with his index finger. “Missed you.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, inhaling his unique aroma. “I missed you too, babe. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  I drifted up into reality to be greeted with a kiss, just a brush across my lips, and the aroma of cinnamon.

  “Sebastian?” My eyes fluttered open.

  Someone groaned.

  Seb’s turquoise eyes were bright as they swept across my face. “You did great, Wila. I’m proud of you.” He climbed off the bed. “I’ll give you both a moment. I’m sure Mack will want to know what’s happened.” His shoulders tensed as he made to turn away.

  I snagged his sleeve. “Don’t go far.”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Even if I could ...” He melted into sprinkles of sunlight.

  Tay sat up against the headboard and rubbed his forehead. “I had the most fucked-up dream.” He froze. “Wait ... what are you doing here?”

  “Nah, not a dream, Dorothy. It actually happened, and that’s why I’m here.”

  His eyes flared as comprehension dawned. “Tonya was ... oh, fuck!”

  My heart flipped. Had something happened between them? Something physical. No. I didn’t want to know, it wasn’t his fault, and—

  “No.” Tay tugged me onto his lap so I was straddling him. “Nothing happened. She tried and ... I thought I loved her, but then I heard you, Wila. I heard your voice and I knew.”

  My eyes pricked. “You came back to me.” I pressed my forehead to his and breathed him in.

  His jaw flexed. “No thanks to the fucker Jarold. I should go back and kick his pure-blood ass. He drugged me with some ... I don’t even know what he used.” His grip on my hips tightened in agitation.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re free now.” I kissed the tip of his nose, each corner of his mouth, and then ran my tongue across the seam between his lips. It was meant to be a soothing action, but it morphed into something more carnal, something hungry and possessive, the need to claim him, to leave my mark.

  His moan turned to a growl as I deepened the kiss, grabbing the back of his neck and digging my nails into his scalp. Mine, he was mine.

  “Fuck, Wila. Tell me this is real.”

  I unbuckled his belt with my free hand. “Yeah, babe, it’s real. Now shut the hell up and fuck me.”

  His eyes bled to crimson and his lips curled in a primal snarl. The troll was awake.

  7

  Taylem/Troll

  Her scent. Her velvet skin. Her mouth on mine. Inside, need to be inside. No thinking, just rutting. Hard and fast, and—oh, fuck—so wet, so tight. She moans and I fuck harder. I go deeper. So hard I will explode. I will break her. Must not break her. Lay her down. Ease up.

  “Taylem. Babe, come back to me.”

  Taylem ... Yes, I am Taylem, and she is mine. Claim what is mine, take what is mine.

  “Oh, babe. Oh, fucking hell, don’t stop.”

  Her voice is a rein, tugging, tugging, holding me in place, stopping me from slipping. No stopping. Not until she comes, not until I feel her insides ripple as they milk my shaft. No stopping.

  8

  Taylem was on top of me, still inside me, throbbing with the tail end of his orgasm. My heart was a hammer, thighs quivering, pulse a rushing rapid, senses on overload. The troll had come out, and I’d fucking loved it.

  Was this what it would be like with us? This hungry, violent coupling as if we couldn’t get enough, as if there was no close enough. He wasn’t my kindred, he wasn’t my scalemate, and although he wasn’t in my head like the others, he was under my skin, in my blood. He was a heady, earthy malt that intoxicated me.

  “Great, you’re done. Let’s go,” Sebastian said from the foot of the bed.

  A new kind of heat overrode the afterglow of my violent orgasm—embarrassment at having Seb see me this way, pinned under Tay, legs wrapped around his waist, my body still recovering from his attentions. But Seb wasn’t looking away. In fact, his focus was intense and unwavering as it slid over us. What was that heat in his eyes? Simmering rage or desire? Was that hunger on the tip of his tongue as he swept it across his bottom lip? Did he want to touch me like Taylem had ... Oh, God, had he been inside my mind all along?

  “Stop it.” Seb’s voice was a hoarse reprimand.

  Tay growled, low and menacing, and lifted his head, his eyes still pinpricked with crimson. Oh, shit. The troll was still here.

  I grabbed at his muscled shoulders. “Tay, come on. Come back.”

  But Taylem’s gaze was on Seb, his crimson eyes fixed on my ether-kindred with lethal intent.

  “Seb, it’s not Tay, he’s not—“

  “I know,” Seb said evenly. He walked around the bed and reached out and cupped Tay’s face. “Wake up.” His tone brooked no argument. “Now.”

  Tay blinked, once, twice, and then he slid out of me, leaving me bereft and exposed. “Wila, what the fuck?” He looked at Seb openly. “Who are you?” He was staring up at Seb in a mixture of awe and confusion. He blinked slowly. “You’re a part of Wila.”

  I pulled up my pants, because yeah, this was suddenly getting awkward, and my bits were getting cold.

  Sebastian smiled wryly. “You’d think trolls would be stupid, wouldn’t you, but in fact, they’re some of the most intuitive creatures to ever walk this earth.” Sebastian walked to the door. “Get your shit together and let’s go. Time is wasting.”

  Shame bloomed in my cheeks because he was speaking my words back at me. Thoughts I’d neglected in favor of a quick tumble with Tay. Fuck, I needed to keep my libido under control.

  Tay tucked himself away, and then turned to me. “I get the feeling I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

  Taylem stared into his huge mug of tea. The mug Gil kept especially for Tay. It was in the shape of a cute troll, like the ones from the cartoons, with its arm hooked to make the handle of the mug. It was Tay’s mug now, reserved for when he came over. It could probably hold a pint of tea. Maybe I needed to upgrade to a larger tea drinking vessel? My cute antique cup glared back at me in admonishment. Nah, tea wouldn’t taste as good in anything else.

  Tay took a shuddering breath. “I can’t believe you went through all that while I was—”

  Seb cut him off. “Dwelling is pointless. You were doing what you needed to. We need to move forward.”

  I’d filled Tay in on the Everdark, on how Valance had found me after I’d been poisoned by the denizen meat, how we’d survived for weeks to then almost get killed trying to reach the breach, and how Hound had saved us. I’d filled him in on my heritage—that I was part Shedim and part Draconi and that Ivan had been my father and the Shedim queen, Liana, was my mother. I’d detailed her twisted plan, and I’d formally introduced him to my ether-kindred who sat b
eside me, his arm slung across the back of my seat, perfectly at ease.

  To others it may look like a possessive stance, but for us it was merely about the proximity. We’d been apart for so long it was as if my aura was hungry for his. I could feel his energy brushing against mine, his aura testing mine, mingling and teasing. It was distracting as fuck, but it was necessary, because the contact also filled my limbs with a new kind of energy and my mind with a crystal clarity I’d never experienced before.

  Liana had sealed him in the basement to allow us some proximity, to prevent us from withering away and dying, and it had worked. But this, this actual closeness, was like devouring several energy-boosting tonics. With him, literally by my side, it was as if my senses were taken up ten notches.

  Leopold’s chest rumbled. He’d regressed to Hound form and was lying by my feet, his head on his paws. Had to say, I preferred him this way. The skin-tight outfit was super distracting.

  “So, what now?” Quinn asked from his position leaning up against the fridge. “What’s our next move, boss?”

  Seb was silent, waiting for me to respond. Nice of him not to undermine my authority. “We wait for Noir to get back with news. Hopefully, he’d have managed to wrangle us a meeting with the Institute. And then I go pick up Valance.”

  Tay pressed a fist to his chest and exhaled sharply, tucking his chin in.

  Seb’s body tensed.

  “You okay, mate?” Quinn asked.

  Taylem raised his tawny gaze to meet mine, and my breath caught in my throat. His whites had bled to crimson. His nostrils flared with every breath.

  Sebastian slowly and deliberately withdrew his arm from the back of my seat. His eyes locked with Tay’s, and he leaned across the table. “You’re still here, Taylem. I know you can hear me. You’re still in control.”

  What was happening?

  Taylem growled low and menacing. His gaze flicked from Seb to me, and then back again, as if he couldn’t decide who to focus on.

  I reached for him. “Taylem, babe.”

  “No.” Seb grabbed my wrist, his grip bordering on painful. “Don’t touch him.”

  Anger whiplashed in my chest, echoed by Taylem’s growl. His fingers curled against the tabletop, body vibrating with the threat of action. The fact that he hadn’t pounced yet told me Seb was right. Taylem still had a grip on the reins.

  “You touch him and Taylem goes under,” Seb hissed. “The troll will be in complete control, and we all know what he wants from you. Do you want him to fuck you right here on the table?”

  My heart lurched. “I wouldn’t let him.”

  He arched a brow. “You wouldn’t want to stop him.”

  “But you could.”

  “I don’t know if I’d want to.” He swallowed hard. “We don’t have time for rutting.” He focused on the troll blood. “Taylem, look at me. Focus on me.”

  Taylem tore his gaze from my face and snapped it back to Seb.

  “That’s right.” Seb’s voice had dropped to a hypnotic purr that sent a shiver up and down my spine. “You got this. Now, wake the fuck up.” The last words were an authoritative command.

  Taylem’s lips curled in a snarl and then he slammed back in his seat, blinking rapidly. The crimson bled out of his whites, and he shook his head as if to dispel the final vestiges of the troll.

  “Oh, fuck.” He gripped the table. “That was ...” He buried his head in his huge hands. “Without the knell, I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “No, you can’t.” Seb’s drawl was matter-of-fact. “But that’s okay, because you have us to bring you back.”

  I glanced across at Sebastian’s harsh profile, at his silver tresses swept back off his forehead and the thick lashes that cast shadows on his high cheekbones. He was beautiful and powerful, and he was giving me credit where none was due. “Not us, you. You brought him back.”

  Seb’s brow furrowed. “Us, Wila. Your emotional connection to him acts as a tether. I just yanked on the cord hard enough to put him back in the driver’s seat.”

  Taylem drained his mug. “This is going to keep happening now, and you can’t be with me all the time.”

  Seb smiled thinly. “That’s where you’re wrong. Once Wila has taken her mates, you will never be alone. You’ll be a part of something larger. You’ll have your own knell.”

  Taylem looked at me in shock. “What?”

  Yeah, we hadn’t gotten to that part yet. “You know how I’m part dragon and part Shedim?”

  He studied me warily. “Yes.”

  “Well ...” I explained the dragon female mating thing and the whole Triumph Games plan. “So, I was hoping you’d be one of my mates?” My tone was light, but there was no disguising the slight quiver to it. What if he said no? I mean, I’d assumed that he’d want to be mine, but ...

  He expelled a sharp breath. “Do you even have to ask?”

  Oh, thank fuck.

  His tawny eyes were now the color of dark honey, the color they morphed to when we made love. It told me exactly what he wanted to do to me right this minute. The air crackled with sexual tension, and beside me Seb groaned low in his throat.

  The shrill buzz of my mobile cut through the thick atmosphere and defused the tension.

  Quinn cleared his throat. “Saved by the bell.” He padded toward the door. “I’m off to take a cold shower.”

  Matron’s name flashed on the caller ID.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh, God. Wila. Honey. Thank God you answered. I need your help. It’s Amber.” A scream in the background. “Please, hurry.” The call ended with a click.

  I was already out of my seat, dustkicker in hand. “Taylem, tell Noir to meet me at The Gables.”

  Seb made to follow, but I pressed a hand to his chest. “I don’t have the time to explain you to Matron.”

  Seb’s eyes flashed. “Then don’t.” He grabbed me around the waist. “Close your eyes, hold on, and visualize the destination. We’ll ride the ether.”

  There was barely time to summon a thought before sunlight exploded behind my eyelids.

  Matron flung open the door as we barreled up onto the porch. Her face was shockingly pale.

  “What’s happened?” I stepped into the foyer.

  The silence was thick and ominous.

  Matron wrung her hands. “Amber got upset, and then this blue electricity shot out of her hands and into another child.”

  Oh, shit.

  But Matron was staring up at Seb, her eyes wide with comprehension. She stepped around me, her face tilted up to his as if bathing in the sun.

  “Oh, my dear.” A sob caught in her throat and then she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. “You’re the missing beat to my Wila’s heart.”

  Seb’s face was granite as she held him, his arms stiff at his sides, but slowly, fraction by fraction, his expression relaxed and his arms came up to return the embrace. He tucked in his chin and closed his eyes.

  After several long seconds Matron pulled back and looked up into his face. “I wondered for years. I thought maybe I was reading too much into it, maybe my intuitive gift was wrong, but here you are—the missing piece.” She turned to me and took my hand giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’ll need to tell me everything, of course, but first you must help with Amber.”

  “Where is she?”

  “I had to lock her in her room.”

  “And the other children?” Seb asked politely.

  “They’re in the parlor now drinking some herbal tea. They’ll be fine. But Amber ... The tea never worked on Amber.” She handed me a brass key.

  “Tea?” Seb frowned.

  Matron’s smile was distracted. “It’s a calming concoction, good at removing traumatic memories when the need calls for it, and this situation ... Well, you understand that Amber’s very life could be at stake if who she is gets out.”

  Seb glanced at me in confusion. Had I ever told him that Noir had a child? Was this information that had skipped being filtered i
nto his consciousness while he’d been locked in the basement?

  “Amber is Noir’s illegitimate child. There are rules forbidding her existence. Her mother died in childbirth, and Noir had no choice but to put her in Matron’s care.”

  “And now she is exhibiting Arcana power,” Seb sighed. “Give me the key.” He held out his hand.

  “Seb?”

  His jaw hardened. “Now.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Set her free, that’s what. I refuse to allow you to lock up a child just because she has power. Just because she’s an inconvenience.”

  Shit, we’d hit a nerve. “Seb, she hurt another child. She probably can’t control her power.”

  “And that’s her fault how? Her father abandoned her. The mentor she should have had turned his back on her.”

  “He saved her fucking life by walking away.”

  We stared each other down.

  “Please,” Matron pleaded. “You both have valid points, and if you can help her, then she has a place here for as long as she wants it, but otherwise you’ll have to take her with you. If there is a chance she could hurt one of the others again, reveal her ability and put herself in danger, then she can’t stay here.”

  My heart sank. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I called Noir several times, but it went to voicemail.”

  Seb held out his hand again. “The key, Wila. Now.”

  I locked gazes with him and took a dive into the tumultuous emotions brimming in his eyes. The darkness hovered, held at bay probably only by his concern for a child that brought back memories of his incarceration.

  I dropped the key into the palm of his hand. “If you can help her ...”

  He brushed past me and up the stairs.

  Matron pressed her lips together. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  I headed up the stairs after Seb, my stomach rolling, because what could we do? How could we hide Arcana ability? How could we teach a child to control it?