by Kimber White
But, for how long?
“We need help,” Edward said. “Lots of it.”
“Wolfguard?” I asked.
Edward nodded. He’d brought me back to the cabin. A chill went through Edward and he wrapped a blanket around me. It felt so good to have him beside me. He couldn’t know how close he’d come to dying for me just now. I felt Olen’s bloodlust. He’d gone mad from it. Things were much worse than I thought.
But, Edward. He had no reason to trust me. He didn’t even know who I was. Not really. He’d fought for me anyway. As my heart began to beat normally again, I realized just how much of a price he’d paid.
“Edward,” I said, letting the blanket fall from my shoulders. “You’re hurt.”
He had three deep gashes across his back. They bled freely. Some of the color had drained from him.
“It’s just a scratch,” he smiled.
“Like hell,” I said.
I rose on unsteady legs. Edward tried to protest, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I went across the hall and grabbed the towels out of the bathroom. I rejoined Edward on the bed and put pressure on his wounds.
“They’ll heal quickly,” he said. “One of the perks of being a shifter.”
“Hmm,” I said. I wasn’t so sure.
“You should see the other guy.”
“I did,” I said.
Edward smiled. “It’s a joke. But, I mean it. Your Olen was gravely wounded. I ripped his throat out. Literally.”
I sat back. “He bled.”
Edward cocked his head to the side. “Of course, he bled.”
“Did any of it get on you?” I asked. My heart raced with alarm. I tried to make sense of the wounds on Edward’s back. Was all of this his blood? Had any of it mixed with Olen’s? If so, he’d be better able to track Edward when he rallied and returned.
And he would.
I did the only thing I could. I got closer to Edward and tried to pick up Olen’s scent. It was faint. But it was there.
Edward caught my wrist. Just as he said, his wounds were already beginning to heal. But, I feared the damage had already been done.
“Zendra,” he said. “I’ve been patient. There are plenty of people who would say I’ve probably been foolish where you’re concerned. I made you a promise. I said I’d make sure no harm came to you. It’s time you told me everything. What’s got you so worried?”
“Olen’s blood is strong,” I said. “I know you have tremendous tracking abilities. But, Olen’s are even better.”
“Maybe,” Edward said. “But tracking doesn’t matter if you can’t overcome your prey once you find it. Olen’s zero for two.”
“He’ll get stronger every time,” I said. I touched a hand to Edward’s face.
“So will I,” he said, his voice taking on menacing depth. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to trust that Edward was strong enough to be the savior he promised. But, he was just one man, even if he was one of the most powerful I’d ever met.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I never should have come out of hiding when you came to the shop. I should have found another way.”
“Another way for what?” he asked.
“To take back what was stolen from me,” I said. Edward’s medallion glinted in the light. “I know you were trying to do what you thought was right. But, you have to release the spell on that thing. You have to give me that medallion. And you have to leave. Go back to Chicago. To Russia. Just, far away from me.”
He hadn’t let go of my wrist. “Not happening,” he said. “You’re not in this alone anymore.”
“Yes, I am!” I shouted. I jerked away from him. “There’s only me. There’s only ever been me. I was stupid to think that would be enough. I never should have come here. It’s too big a fight. And we’ve been losing for eons. My father just told pretty stories. He dreamed of things that could never be. And I fell for each and every one of them and look where it got us!”
“Zendra,” he said. “I’ll fight for you. I’ve proven that. And I’m out of my damn mind for it. I’m at the brink of turning against everything I know is right. I’m going on gut instinct. It’s all I have.”
Something snapped inside of him. Edward rose off the bed. Though his wolf was contained, the man before me turned savage and feral. His eyes flashed that brilliant blue. His voice dropped to almost a growl. Though the adrenaline of the fight had worn off, his passions ran high. So did mine.
“Who are you?” he shouted. “The people I work for? No one can hide from them. No one. But you...you don’t exist. No last name. No history. You just appeared in Flavia Soltis’s shop two years ago. And you’re opening up portals all over the place. I can take a lot on faith. I have taken a lot. And it’s all because of what you do to me.”
“What I do to you?” I asked. I rose from the bed. Edward and I faced off. My heart thundered behind my breasts. Heat flooded me.
“I didn’t ask for your help,” I shouted. “You can walk away. Right now. I’ve begged you to. Just give me back what you stole, and you’ll never have to see me again. Because you're right, I don’t exist!”
He was on me. He took my wrists and jerked me toward him. Desire nearly blinded me. But so did my anger.
“No more lies!”
“I’ve never told you a single one!” I yelled.
“Are you working with the Ring?” he asked, his eyes frantically searching my face. “Is that it? Have you been playing me for a fool this whole time? It would be like them. To throw someone like you in my path. God. That’s it. You don’t exist because you’re a damn spell. Sent here to tempt me, make me do things I know are wrong.”
I couldn’t help it. I was on the verge of madness myself. I let out a laugh that had to have made him think I’d lost my mind.
He let go of me. I moved closer, sliding my hands up his chest.
“You’re wondering if I’m real?” I asked. “Touch me and see.”
Edward’s eyes flashed. “Be careful what you wish for.”
Rage bubbled up inside of me. I wanted to hurt him. Scratch his eyes out. Kiss him. I raised a hand, and Edward caught it. We staggered back together until he had me pressed up against the wall.
I wanted.
A powerful hunger swelled from my core, setting my nerve endings on fire. Heat settled between my legs, making me ache for him.
I could feel his own need building. He was rock hard against me, and I couldn’t stop the moan of desire that escaped my lips.
I wanted to dare him. I wanted to rip the rest of his damn clothes off and mine with them. I wanted to mount him and writhe like some wild thing. I wanted to...feel...to live.
“Zendra,” he whispered. Then, he was on me. He wasn’t gentle. Neither was I. His kiss was a demand. Submit. I sank into it, giving my answer.
Edward threw his head back and growled. I felt the vibration of it straight down to my sex. I threaded my fingers through his hair. I wanted to kick, bite, scratch, fuck.
I wrapped my legs around him. Gods, he was so hard. He felt like a steel rod against my sex. I arched my back, wanting desperately to open for him.
Then, he had me on the floor. Edward hovered over me, resting his weight on his elbows.
“Yes!” I hissed. I tried to reach down to wriggle out of my jeans. But, Edward stayed still. He stared at me through hooded eyes.
“The truth.” He spoke it in a ragged whisper.
When I tried to reach for his fly, he pinned my arms above my head. I writhed beneath him.
“Look at me,” he said.
“Please,” I begged him. I felt his tremor of desire. He was like a volcano, ready to erupt. Only, he was using every ounce of considerable strength he had to keep it all at bay.
“Not until I know it all,” he said.
“Let me go,” I said, though it was the last thing I wanted.
“I see you,” he said.
And he did. His eyes pierced through me. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t hide. The only way forward was t
hrough him.
“Zendra,” he said, loosening his grip so as not to hurt me. But neither would he let me go.
“All of it,” he said. “Or none of it.”
Then, he sat up. My breath left me in a whoosh. I scrambled backward until I was back against the wall. I hugged my knees to my chest.
Edward sat before me. “Tell me,” he said.
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“You don’t have any other choice.”
I didn’t. The reality of it washed over me like a tidal wave. I’d tried to push him away. I’d given him every reason to think I was insane, or his enemy. And yet, here he still was, charging headfirst into danger he couldn’t possibly understand.
When I closed my eyes, I could see them all. My father. My mother. My brothers. They would die without me. Worse, they would be lost without me. Though it terrified me, when I opened my eyes, I knew there was only one thing left to do.
Trust.
Slowly, I rose to my feet. Edward moved quicker and held out a hand to help me. We made our way back to the edge of the bed. I let him put his arm around me and leaned against his chest, drawing strength from his warmth and the slow, solid beat of his heart.
“I’m something you’ve never seen,” I said.
“I already know that,” he said.
“You asked for the truth,” I said. “I’m ready to give it. But, you have to promise to listen to it all.”
“I will.”
I drew away from him. Edward’s eyes held mine as I took a breath and betrayed everyone who’d ever loved me.
Chapter Thirteen
Edward
“You know,” I said. “The running theory at Wolfguard is that you’re an alien.”
I tried to keep my tone light. Zendra was shaking. We’d moved to the front room. She sat in one corner of the couch, her knees drawn up. She tried to make herself smaller and it tore at me.
She was all right. Physically anyway. Olen’s attack had left her bruised. She told me her ears rang, but there seemed to be no lasting damage. Emotionally, she was a wreck.
“Zendra,” I tried again. “Whatever you tell me. It won’t matter to me. I’m here to keep you safe.”
Her eyes flicked upward. Without so much as a word, she could challenge me. Was it just the Wolfguard oath I’d taken? Without it, would I walk away?
I sat opposite her on the clunky, wooden coffee table. I was just inches from her, but she felt worlds away.
“I’m not from another planet, Edward,” she said. “In fact, I’ve been here longer than you. Longer than any being that’s ever existed on Earth.”
“Zendra,” I said, trying to keep my voice from rising. “We are long past time for riddles.”
She rested her chin on her knee. Her voice dropped so low I almost couldn’t hear her. But I did. Two simple words that could change everything.
“I’m Fae,” she said.
Silence.
Had I heard her right? She lifted her violet eyes to meet mine. No. Not just violet. They swirled with blue and gold as well. Her hair was unlike any texture I’d ever felt. Fine, silken strands, but there was so much of it. So fair, it changed color with the light, going from shimmering platinum to copper in the sun.
“You’re what? A fairy?”
She dropped her knees and leaned forward. “Yes,” she said. “I’m of the Fae.”
I shook my head. I’d never heard of such a thing. It was a different thing than dragons. They had that same legendary mystique, but I’d always known they were real. They existed, even if they’d largely gone extinct.
But, she was talking about literal fairy tales.
“Fae,” I said. “What exactly...is a Fae? I mean, besides the bedtime stories.”
“We are magic,” she said. “The origin of it.”
“Are you immortal?”
She shook her head. “No. We die. We suffer. We can be killed.”
I resisted the urge to say good. Olen wasn’t far from my mind. No matter what else he was, he’d wanted to hurt her and he tried to kill me. As I sat there thinking it, Zendra’s face changed. Damn. She could sense where my thoughts were headed. I was sitting there, essentially asking her how to destroy her kind.
“So Fae,” I said. “Okay. Why are you the first one I’ve ever met?”
“I’m not an alien,” she said. “But Fae live in a different realm than you do. Where I come from...it’s here. We aren’t strictly Earthbound. Only...my home is dying. Dark magic has seeped into my home realm. It’s not safe there anymore.”
I stood up. This was a lot to process. “This,” I said, holding up my piece of the medallion. “It’s a key to your home realm.”
“Not exactly,” she said. “It’s more...well...for lack of a better way to describe it, it’s like a key to the subway. A conduit I can use to travel between realms. That is when it’s whole. We call it a Clavia.”
“Olen,” I said. “He’s Fae, like you?”
She stiffened. “He may be Fae, but he’s nothing like me.”
I ran a hand along my jaw. I had so many questions. “Your powers,” I said. “You can shapeshift. But not like I do.”
“No,” she said. “You are your wolf. I’m just me. Shapeshifting is an illusion for me. I don’t keep the essence of the animal. It’s just a projection.”
“A handy one,” I said. “What else?”
“You’ve seen what else,” she said.
“You can open portals and travel through realms. You can be killed how?”
She raised a brow. “The usual ways. But, we’re hard to catch.”
The predator within me stirred. Zendra rose to her feet. She’d grown easier with me, more animated. I watched her, my head ping-ponging as if I were watching a tennis match as she paced.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Time doesn’t pass the same in my realm as it does here,” she said. “One day there could be a hundred here. It’s not a linear path between worlds.”
“How old?” I asked again.
“I don’t honestly know,” she said. “I guess I’m about twenty-three years old in your time. I could be twenty-three hundred years old in mine. It doesn’t matter.”
“No, I suppose it doesn’t. But, you’ve been here for two years. That’s why there’s no record of you anywhere. You literally just popped through a portal. Who else knows about what you are?”
She bit her lip. “Only other Fae. Edward, you need to understand. As far as I know, you may be one of the only living souls who knows what I am.”
I rose. Her fear came off of her in waves. “I know what it is for you to trust me with this. You have to also know I’m not going to hurt you. But, I can’t promise you we won’t need more help than I can provide. Because we will.”
I put a hand on her shoulder then slid it around until it rested at the small of her back.
Fae. A fairy.
Though it seemed impossible to believe if I just said the words. And yet, as I stared into Zendra’s kaleidoscope eyes, her truth melted into me, became a part of me. It was as if I’d known all along. It was also the least important thing about her. Another truth beat through me.
It didn’t matter what she was. It only mattered that she could be mine.
Zendra took a step back, alarm in her eyes.
“Can you read my mind?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Shapeshifting,” I said. “Back at the Oracle. When I first saw you. You appeared to me as an old lady. That was another...projection?”
She nodded. “Part of the dog and pony show, as Flavia calls it.”
“She doesn’t know what you are?”
“No,” Zendra answered. “Like you, she assumed I was some type of witch at first. Travelers like her don’t concern themselves with the source of someone’s magic. They stay mostly neutral.”
“I’m aware,” I said. “Wolfguard relies on many members of Flavia’s extended family for inf
ormation.”
“She’s been good to me. She deserves better than me just disappearing on her.”
“It’s too dangerous for you to go back there,” I said. “You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
The urge to touch her burned through me. Zendra was a marvel. I’d known it since the moment I met her. Only now I understood more fully why.
“What does Olen want with you?” I asked.
She turned from me and started pacing again. “Control,” she said. “I told you, things aren’t good in my home realm. We’re in the midst of a civil war. Olen’s family and mine are on opposing sides. When I left, his was winning. My family has been hunted.”
“I know something about that,” I said. “I told you what happened to the Kalenkovs when I was a teenager.”
Zendra stopped pacing. She furrowed her brow and fought back a tear. “Yes,” she said. “It’s very much like that. It was my father who gave me that medallion. He wanted to send me somewhere safe. Only there is no safe place. Nowhere Olen’s family can’t follow. I know that now. I didn’t at first. The day I left, I found out Olen sent assassins to kill my parents and my brothers. It was a setup and he tried to use me as bait. So, I did the only thing I could. I opened a portal and sent my parents through it. Then, I closed it by breaking the medallion and came here. He can’t get to them. Not unless I lead him to them.”
“God,” I said. She was alone. I could only imagine the strength and courage it had taken for her to rip herself away from her family.
“It’s me Olen wants,” she said. “For revenge. For control. I don’t know. If he gets his hands on all pieces of the Clavia, he’ll be able to find my family. He’ll kill them. You see, there are many other Fae who don’t agree with the way Olen’s family does things.”
“Is he...a king?” I asked.
She nodded. “His father is. Olen is next in line. Long ago, my great-great-grandfather was until Olen’s overthrew him. Many view Olen’s family as usurpers. This latest unrest has just been the reason Olen’s family needed to wipe mine out for good.”
A roar escaped from my lips. I went to her. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. He doesn’t touch you. Do you understand? This Olen will have to get through Wolfguard and me if he tries. If you’re willing to trust me all the way.”