“Let her up.” Aiden growled as he and Triaten moved in from the terrace.
“Do as he says, Genevieve.” Triaten reasoned. “We can still come to an agreement. One where you don’t die.”
“Still clinging to decency, are you?” With an audible scoff Genevieve looked back down at Skye, still struggling desperately against her grip. Genevieve smiled, wicked, while she talked to Aiden and Triaten. “I know you much prefer to hide behind your shroud of virtue. Death is fine by me. My only regret is that I won’t get to see how your decency protects you when there’s a new world order.”
“There’s no new world order, Genevieve. And there’s not going to be. Now. Let. Skye. Up.” Triaten demanded.
Genevieve laughed. “You don’t even know what you’ve just started, do you?” And with a heave, she brought the dagger down at Skye’s heart.
The sword that pillared through Genevieve’s body knocked the dagger off its target, and then stopped, the bloody tip of the steel frozen an inch from Skye’s chin.
Genevieve’s torso slumped. Aiden lifted her impaled body up off Skye, and then kicked the Malefic off his blade, sending her over the cliff’s edge.
He looked down at Skye, his voice flat. “That could have gone better.”
~~~
Skye stood outside on the balcony in the early evening heat. The sun was shining its last glimmers of the day across the swath of turquoise water. A gentle breeze ruffled the white folds of her tropical skirt. Aiden watched his wife from inside the villa, rented on the opposite side of the island from the earlier melee.
He leaned against the bar next to the kitchen, taking a long swallow of his beer. Triaten showed up, showered, and went behind the bar, pulling out a short glass and a bottle of brandy.
“She still wants to be alone?” Triaten asked, motioning to Skye with a forefinger as he poured the amber liquid into the glass.
Aiden nodded. “She’s barely said a word.”
“And how many have you said?”
Aiden glared at his friend. Triaten ignored it and walked around to the front of the bar, and lounged on a tall bar stool next to Aiden, elbow propped casually on the gleaming wood top as he looked at Skye.
“They’re alike, Skye and her sister, in that way.” Triaten pondered.
“They are?”
“They both like to be alone to process things.”
Aiden took the opportunity out of Skye’s range of hearing. “So you and Shiv. Sleeping with her is one thing. But did that really go where Skye is worried about?”
Triaten shrugged.
“How deep in are you?”
“Deep enough. Deeper than I intended.” Triaten’s finger played on his glass. “Deeper than she intended, quite frankly.”
“I’m not sure about her,” Aiden fished.
“You wouldn’t be sure about anyone who dared make Skye frown.”
Aiden tilted his head in acquiescence. “I give you that.”
“Shiv is okay. She’s surprisingly normal and down-to-earth for how they grew up,” Triaten said. “And whatever is going on between the two of them, I’m guessing it’s just something they have to work through. They don’t work like us, you know. You hit me. I hit you. All is well. The females — no, they’re going to have to talk it out, and it may be a while before Shiv trusts Skye enough to reconcile.”
Aiden looked out at Skye, forehead creased. He didn’t really care for Triaten’s assessment. He’d much rather have Skye’s mind on training, than on a sister who may or may not eventually come around to forgiving Skye.
Triaten followed Aiden’s eyes back out to Skye. She hadn’t moved an inch.
“She really kind of sucked today, didn’t she?” Triaten spoke what both were thinking.
Aiden sent him a sharp look. A sharp look that didn’t lose its edge, even when his eyes went back out to Skye.
Triaten and Aiden had both made it through the battle unscathed. A mere minor annoyance to them. Skye, on the other hand, was shaken. She had been stubbornly silent as they made their way by motorcycle across the island to the rented villa.
Skye had showered for a ridiculous amount of time, and then Aiden had cleaned and dressed the deep cut in Skye’s thigh — no handy Charlotte around meant it would just have to heal on its own, and hurt a bit along the way.
After getting dressed and going out to the west-facing balcony, Skye had barely twitched a toe.
“I’m sure she thinks she failed you. You’ve been training for months and that was the result? You didn’t exactly hide your disappointment from her after you killed Genevieve.”
“So I should have been celebrating she was almost killed?” Aiden asked dryly.
“You should have been celebrating she wasn’t.” Triaten lifted his glass to his lips, and then paused. “Maybe she’s just not a warrior. Maybe shifting time is her power, and that’s it. We’re not all built to kill like you and I.”
Aiden stared at the wall behind the bar, a stacked stone wall with an artful water trickle flowing over the rock. “No, she is built like us. She has the skill. I’ve seen it. I don’t know what happened to it today.”
“Well, you better find out. Do you think it has anything to do with being half Malefic?”
The words were out of Triaten’s mouth before he could stop them. They both knew Aiden bristled at any mention of Skye’s Malefic lineage.
Aiden shook his head, a scowl deepening the crinkle in his brow. “It’s because of the Malefic in her that I know she’s good at fighting. It’s natural in her body — her limbs, her muscles — they want to move like a warrior’s.”
“Then it’s her mind?”
Aiden shrugged.
Triaten stood up and clasped his hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “Regardless, my friend, you could do no better than to glower at her? She’s trying, but she’s not good yet. Adequate, maybe. But she’s only a mosquito against a Malefic like Genevieve who’s been a destructive force for eons.”
“Your point?”
“You figure it out.”
Triaten walked past Aiden, sliding the glass door open that led to the balcony.
Elbows leaning against the curved stone railing, Skye looked over her shoulder at Triaten as he joined her.
“Is it time to leave?” Skye asked. The frown that had been etched on her face since Genevieve’s villa still resonated.
Triaten leaned forward next to Skye, his forearms resting on the railing, both hands curved around the drink he had brought out with him. The orb of the sun had disappeared behind the waters, but the wispy clouds in the sky held the light, reflecting the orange to pinks, and streaking them against the sky.
“It’s time for me to leave. You love, have some talking to do with Aiden. So you and Aiden are staying here, at least for the night. Come back tomorrow, or the next day.”
“Does he know that?”
“He will when I go back in and let him know.”
Skye slid her hand in-between Triaten’s and grabbed the drink from his hands. With a quick tilt of her head, she threw back half the glass, her face contorting at the singeing trail down her throat.
A couple quick tongue smacks, and she handed the glass back to Triaten. “Blah. I don’t know how you drink that.”
“A little fire never hurt anyone.”
Skye’s eyes went out to the water. “What about Shiv? I want to get back to her.” Her hands gripped the rail and she leaned away, looking down at her bare toes. “That’s a lie. I don’t. I don’t know what to say to her, Triaten.”
After a moment of contemplation, she looked at him. “I don’t think I can take another round of her hatred for me. Not quite yet.”
“I think she’ll be fine. She probably needs just as much pondering time as you. And I’ll check in on her.”
“And I’m just to let you loose on her again?” Skye hedged, eyes on the horizon. “Fine. But you’re there as a friend — my friend, not hers, if you get my very explicit drift. And I can be more
explicit if you need me to be.”
“I told you I would stay away. I’ll just make sure she’s okay. If not, I’ll call, and you and Aiden can come back right away.”
Skye took the glass back from Triaten and took the last gulp of the brandy. It went down easier this time. She shook her head. “Man, I’m a mess. I don’t want to deal with Shiv. I don’t want to deal with Aiden. I’m failing everyone.”
The side of her mouth suddenly rose in question at Triaten. “Was I really as bad as I thought I was today?” The smallest glimmer of hope flickered in the question, even though she knew the answer.
Triaten put a hand softly on her shoulder. “No one expects you to fight like you were born with a sword in your hand, Skye.”
“Aiden expects it.”
“Yes, well, Aiden was born with a sword in his hand.”
“He’s just so disappointed in me. His face after he killed Genevieve. God...” She tilted her chin up to the darkening sky, eyes closed, slowly shaking her head. “The way he looked at me. And he had every right. I was a complete failure and I’m disgusted with myself.”
Triaten’s hand moved from her shoulder, to cover her fingers on the railing. “Can I offer some perspective?”
Skye opened her eyes and looked at him expectantly. “Please.”
“Today was a minor event. Don’t flog yourself over it, and don’t make the mistake of letting one moment define who you are, or who you will be in the future.”
“Mind sharing that with Aiden? I feel like I just crushed any hope he had in me.”
“Aiden already knows it.” Triaten stood straight and threw an arm around Skye’s shoulder, squeezing her as he pecked her cheek. “Don’t worry about your sister tonight, I’ve got it covered. You stay and get you and Aiden back to good.”
She gave him a quick hug around his waist. “Thanks.”
Triaten left the balcony, and after a quick conversation with Aiden, disappeared out the door. It still took a few minutes before Aiden made his way out to join Skye. Her heart plummeting, she agonized as every second slipped by — was he so disgusted he couldn’t even talk to her yet?
Half bent over, forearms resting on the railing, Skye watched as the bright streaks of color across the sky faded to deep purples, and then the blackness quickly overtook them.
“How is your thigh?”
Skye jumped. She hadn’t heard him walk up behind her. She looked over her shoulder. Aiden leaned on the frame of the sliding glass door, his large form filling the opening. She wondered how long he had been standing there.
Her head turned back to the cove in front of them. “It’s fine. Healing already.”
Aiden didn’t move to join her. “What happened today, Skye? I know you’re better than what you did this afternoon.”
Even though she knew it was what he was going to ask, the words still stung. She couldn’t stop her head from burying into her forearms. And she couldn’t answer him. She didn’t have an answer.
The large hands on her shoulders surprised her. Maybe Aiden wasn’t as disgusted with her as she thought. His touch slipped along her back, always gentle, always strong.
“Let me try that again,” his voice moved softer as he talked to the back of her head. “You are the most important thing in the world to me, Skye. And I will not lose you due to my own stupidity or yours. Coming down here was my stupidity — and I’m furious at myself. What happened today...we never would have come if I had even an inkling that it would have turned out like it did. I thought you were ready, and I was wrong. Really wrong.”
With a shuddered breath of the salty sea air, Skye managed to pull her head out of her arms. She craned her neck to look at him over her shoulder. “Really? That was your try-again?”
“I can’t afford to sugar-coat it, Skye. We don’t have time to fool ourselves about your abilities. I can’t make mistakes about what situations you are in.” His hands went to her arms and he lifted them off the railing, forcibly pulling her into his body. Skye’s arms were stiff at her sides as Aiden engulfed her.
His chin sat on top of her head, his voice low into her auburn hair. “Hell, Skye. You don’t know what it does to me to see you with a dagger over your heart. Crushing. Unbearable.”
At that, Skye broke, her body becoming limp in Aiden’s arms. She let him carry her weight.
“Was I really that bad?” she asked, her voice muffled against his chest.
His grip tightened around her. “You weren’t good. Granted, Genevieve had clearly been around swords for ages, but the mistakes you made, the positions you put your body into — they were basic mistakes. Things you mastered months ago.”
He pulled back from her body, looking down at her. When she didn’t look up at him, he put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up. “What was going on in your mind, Skye?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She pushed away from him and went back to the edge of the balcony to stand in silence.
After a minute, she turned back to Aiden. “Don’t you think it’s scary for me? I didn’t know what I was doing or where my mind was. I couldn’t think, and it was like I didn’t even know what I was doing there. Why I was there. Malefics — Panthenites — I don’t care. I never have. This is your world, Aiden, not mine. I care about staying alive, sure, but I still know nothing of this Panthenite world.”
Aiden nodded at her, arms crossed against his chest. “Fair enough. But your skill. The fight in you. It doesn’t just turn off and on like that, Skye. So I have to ask, were you holding back? Holding back because you’re afraid of the anger? Afraid of the Malefic in you?”
Skye cringed as she looked out at the darkness above. The moon had crawled up into the blackness, half full, and bright. She shrugged. “Maybe...” She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I thought I knew something yesterday — this morning. But now. Now, I don’t think I know anything.”
Aiden moved alongside her, his arm going about her waist, looking down at her as she looked at the moon. “Well, I have one thing that I know you know, and that is that you are my soul, Skye. That, you never need to question.”
Her eyes shifted to him, the green in them glimmering through the maelstrom of uncertainty on her face. “I don’t, Aiden. I don’t question it. I know I have you to hold onto, if nothing else.”
{ Chapter 11 }
Triaten looked at the clock in the jeep, 2:37 a.m. The jet had made good time, and after stopping by Hotel Auric to report to the elders on the Genevieve mission, he parked at the ranch, only to see light emanating from the front window of the library.
He already knew that about Shiv. She was most alive at night. Triaten just wondered what kind of state she was in. Before he had left with Aiden and Skye, he had looked for her at the ranch, since that’s where his jeep ended up after Shiv took it. But he couldn’t find her, and best he could tell, she was out on a trail, as she and Rafe were nowhere. So he had resorted to leaving her a note. Triaten hadn’t been sure about the wisdom of it, but time had left him little choice.
He walked in the front door. The library door was closed, but light spilled into the hall under the bottom crack. All he heard was silence.
Triaten slid open the library door. Rafe was sleeping in the corner on a sweatshirt that looked like Shiv’s, shirking his guard dog duties. He didn’t even twitch an ear when Triaten stepped into the room.
Shiv stood high, back to Triaten, balanced on the arms of the chair he had meant to remove from the room. She stared at the floor, tilting her head back and forth in rhythm, probably to whatever tune was piping through the ear buds from the music strapped to her arm.
Triaten looked at the floor. She had gone all-out on the mosaic during the day he was gone. The two main figures were mostly complete, only feet missing on both. The color of the tiles littering the area meant she was working on how the feet would meet the ground. He wondered if she had slept at all. Probably not.
Admiring the scene on the floor, he stepped up next to
Shiv on the chair, only to scare the bejeezus out of her. She jumped away from him, and both of her bare feet slipped out from under her.
Falling away from him, Triaten’s hand shot out and grabbed her flailing wrist, yanking her toward him. He caught her easily, but wasn’t ready for the whack on his chest Shiv delivered, once her mind caught up with instinct, and she realized who had her.
She thrashed until Triaten set her feet on the ground.
“Holy shit, Triaten.” She yelled at him and gave him another thwack as she pulled the ear buds out of her ears. “What the hell are you trying to do to me? Break my neck?”
Triaten could only smile at her disgust. He pointed at the ladder, still leaning on the wall in the same spot he had left it.
She followed his finger, and then rolled her eyes at him, the adrenalized anger not yet subsided. “That still doesn’t give you the right to creep me out like that.” She hit his chest one last time, shaking her head.
“It’s looking beautiful.” Triaten said, head nodding at the floor as he turned from her to look at it.
Shiv crossed her arms, eyeing her creation. “You like it?” Her voice begged for approval.
“I honestly do. I had no idea the sketch would turn out like this.”
“I know. It was a bit of a leap of faith, wasn’t it?”
He looked back at her. Her finger tips were grey with dried cement. Smudges of the mortar dotted her bare arms and the front of her crimson tank. Black yoga pants covered her legs, rolled up at the bottom away from her bare toes. Her dark hair was in a high ponytail, and her eyes, though tired, twinkled at him. And then there it was. The drug smile. Aimed right at him.
Triaten looked away from her. Promises to Skye, he muttered to himself. Shiv was off-limits.
He eyed the mosaic. “It was. I’m glad I took it.”
Shiv moved forward and stood next Triaten, her eyes echoing his at the floor. “I have to ask, what was with the note? That’s how you leave?”
So the note not the best choice, Triaten surmised. He looked down at the top of her head. “We had to leave right away. I looked for you and couldn’t find you. It was the best I could do.”
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