Dark Matter

by Christie Rich

  He cocked his head to the side as if he was about to give me a smart comment, but just as quickly his face went blank. “If I were you, I’d pick something warm.”

  I decided not to argue. For some reason my fear subsided without much effort from me, and I suddenly wondered if Neeko was using a compulsion on me. He was a strange man. One minute I was sure he hated me, the next I thought he was only giving me a show. Maybe he was one of Heath’s friends? Was it possible he was here to help me escape?

  I slid on some jeans that gave new meaning to the word skinny, a heavy sweater, and my fur coat. I pulled my boots on in a rush and stumbled out into my now empty room.

  Wow, I wished I was right about that. A low hiss erupted behind me. I whirled around and try as I might, I couldn’t keep my groan concealed. Heath was sprawled on my bed looking as smug as a person could get.

  I walked into my sitting room just to make sure, but we were alone. When I came back into the bedchamber I asked, “Where’s Neeko?”

  His features remained placid. “I told him to leave.” His tone was void of humor, and I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. I might as well have had the words Heath’s property—Keep Out! stamped on my forehead.

  “Why did you change?” he asked with unmasked frustration in his voice.

  “He told me to.” Since he was here, I wasn’t about to let him leave without making sure he knew how upset I was with him. I folded my arms across my chest. “There wasn’t really a good reason for me to wear that horrid dress, was there?”

  His lips twitched into a barely there smirk. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  This morning he’d made it sound as if it were imperative that I wear the thing, implying that it was for my safety. I couldn’t believe how gullible I was sometimes. “Well?” I prodded.

  He shrugged the shoulder he wasn’t leaning against. “I thought you would look amazing in it. I was right, by the way.”

  I wasn’t even going to justify that with a response, but I couldn’t keep myself from shifting uncomfortably knowing that he had chosen a dress specifically to see me in it. Thoroughly uncomfortable, I decided to change the subject. “What now?”

  He lifted himself onto his elbows, motioning his head toward the door. His voice came out throaty. “Run.”

  That was more like it. I waited for him to get up so we could get out of here, but his mouth tilted in a hungry smile that made my stomach tighten.

  He looked pointedly at the door then back to me. My eyes flew wide. He meant me, and I didn’t like the wicked sparkle lighting his eyes.

  I gasped in a quick breath before sprinting for the door. He didn’t give me much of a head start and was soon right behind me. I could barely hear anything over the native rhythm in my ears. I flew down the stairs, taking three of them at a time. Pushing through the people that lingered in the hallway, I barreled toward the front doors.

  The two guards didn’t bother to help out. They just stepped aside and let me fumble with the knob. I cringed as the crowd mocked me.

  They cheered when Heath came crashing into the room. His laugh sent chills slithering over my skin.

  I was out in the frozen wasteland faster than I ever thought possible. The scenery was a blur as I raced toward impossible freedom. Was he really serious or was this just his way of making it look as if I had escaped him? Like anyone would really buy such a thing. I needed to think this through, but I was going purely on instinct at this point.

  I bolted toward the dark forest. I had been warned to stay away from the trees, but I couldn’t see another option. I needed the cover, if I could only move faster. He was too close. I could hear him breathing behind me.

  No more time to think. My mind shifted into halted revelations.

  The crunch of snow giving way. Deep breath.

  Another crunch closer this time.

  Blood hot. Overwhelming anger. Lungs exploding. Muscles clenching.

  Faster. I had to go faster.

  Run.

  Run.

  Run.

  No.

  No more.

  That’s all I had done since I left the safety of home.

  I stopped cold in my tracks and waited for the impact to come. Let him do what he would.

  He bashed into me throwing us both heavily onto the frozen earth. It hurt worse than I thought it would.

  My face was buried in the snow, his body trapping me like a coffin. I was going to suffocate if he didn’t get up.

  I writhed under him, trying to wriggle my way free. For a second I thought he was going to kill me. That was all the time I had before he flipped me over so fast my vision blurred. I found myself looking into his turbulent eyes wondering what the heck just happened and at the same time working with all my might to get enough freezing air into my lungs to keep myself from passing out.

  “Get off me,” I warned when I gained a bit of composure. I had never heard my voice sound so demanding.

  His eyes fell to my lips, only briefly, but the hungry look he gave me made my breath hitch in my throat. He tenderly brushed snow and hair from my face. He wasn’t wearing gloves and his skin felt amazing against mine. “Haven’t you tired of using that line with me yet?”

  “I wouldn’t have to repeat myself if you would keep your freaking hands to yourself,” I spat.

  No. I was not doing this again. Nobody else was going to take a piece of my heart, especially this smug-arrogant-jerk that thought he could bully me into wanting him. I bucked frantically to fling him off me.

  He didn’t even seem to notice. His eyes focused deeper on mine as if he was trying to see my soul.

  I looked away from him when I couldn’t take it any longer, but he didn’t let me claim any distance. He held my chin steady. I clamped my eyes shut. He didn’t move a muscle, but I could feel his gaze on me. I hated how it made my whole body pause as if waiting for a command.

  I hated my body for responding to his. I hated my heart for being so weak.

  After a while of just laying there like that I sighed and opened my eyes. He was still staring at me, but there was something new in his gaze that made me gasp.

  It seemed as though he was waging a strange inner battle. I felt his muscles constrict. His body went completely rigid. Even through all my layers I could feel his every move.

  He was more powerful than he had been before and his scent overwhelmed me, intoxicating me. Heightened by the crisp air around us, it was a mixture of musk and dark spices I couldn’t identify. Being this close to him was a slow torture.

  I had to find the will to fight him. I made myself focus on Zach. I shut my eyes again to conjure his image, but I couldn’t find it in the recesses of my mind. All I could see was Heath. His lips. His eyes. His body pressed tightly against mine.

  What the heck was wrong with me? I loved Zach, didn’t I? He had been everything to me just a few days ago, and now I couldn’t even recall his face?

  I pleaded silently for help that I knew would never come. What if I couldn’t resist Heath? He seemed infinitely more powerful than Luke. How had I forgotten about him? Sweet, vulnerable Luke. Maybe he had been telling the truth, and he hadn’t actually tried to bond with me?

  I wanted to think I had some power in this situation. I wanted to think I would be able to choose who I bonded with, but I wasn’t so sure anymore.

  “Look at me,” he demanded. My eyes shot open without my permission. A self satisfied expression settled on his face. “Good,” he purred.

  So there it was. My suspicions were confirmed. He didn’t need to use my name to compel me.

  He softened into me. Whatever battle he had been waging was now decided. He ran his hand slowly up my side then cupped the back of my neck. I trembled under his touch, partly out of fear and partly out of sheer lust. I had never really felt this way about a man, and I didn’t want to. My feelings were dark, uncomfortable.

  My resistance to him trickled out of me taking my panic with it. The only thing keeping me tethe
red to the here and now was the snow melting into my hair, and the blessed cold seeping into my back and legs. I welcomed it, trying to focus on that sensation instead of the man that was so close to shattering every barrier I had.

  His lips settled onto mine in a soft pressure. I felt a sigh escape me. He pulled my bottom lip into his mouth and sucked gently. A burst of heat spread through my veins, and I found myself responding to his kiss. Soft and timid at first, but soon it morphed into something resembling violence. Our teeth collided and his tongue battled mine for dominance. He moaned, pulling me closer. I melted into him needing more.

  What was I doing? I didn’t want this. I didn’t want him, so why was I acting this way?

  I found the will to speak, but my voice came out in a sultry whisper instead of the demand I had intended. “Heath.” I was only able to force out one more word. “Stop.”

  He didn’t so much as pull away from me, but something changed in his expression. It wasn’t a lot, but I had the sudden impression that he had been under the same sort of spell I had, as if someone else was orchestrating this scene.

  Was that a laugh I heard? It sounded like…

  Oh, no. Not her. It couldn’t be her.

  Chapter Nine

  That was quite impressive,” chimed Ainessa in her bell-like voice. “I should have brought a camera. Ammon is sure to be interested to find out that you will fall for anyone if the circumstances are right, Rayla.” Her presence in my mind was undeniable.

  Heath rolled off me and tugged me to my feet. I glared at Ainessa. How had she done that? I hadn’t felt her penetrate my barriers at all. She was dangerous; I had to get away from her.

  Heath trudged over to her like a rusty robot and placed a stilted kiss on her cheek. I couldn’t see his expression, but his body was stiff as if he was fighting against a current. She glanced at him sidelong, not seeming overly pleased to see him.

  She gave him a somber expression. “It is done then, Heath?” She put a sharp twist on the end of his name.

  He only nodded slightly, but it looked painful for him to do it. What was she talking about?

  She lowered her voice. I couldn’t hear everything she was saying, but it had something to do with Finn.

  This had been a disaster. I should have never come here. Why had Zach trusted Finn? Why had I trusted Zach?

  I should have fought harder to go with him. I should have done something else. Anything would have been better than this.

  Ainessa and Heath were still talking, he looked at ease now, and I was beginning to wonder if they had planned this whole thing. Why would Heath want to help Ainessa? He didn’t seem the sort of guy that would allow a woman to rule him.

  He nodded at her then stalked toward me. I planted my feet, refusing to run anymore. I wasn’t really that great at calling the elements, but I understood the general concept. I just wished I could figure out why it worked sometimes but not others.

  I imagined a brick wall, solid and strong with impenetrable mortar. The vision became clear in my mind and suddenly it appeared in front of me, cutting Heath off. I couldn’t see the top. The length disappeared into the forest while the other end abutted the castle wall. I turned toward the trees, planning to find a place to hide until I could figure out what I was going to do, but Ainessa blocked my path.

  How had I forgotten? She was from the house of void. She could command space, but so could I. I just never had the opportunity to learn how to use it. “How did you just do that, Rayla?”

  I fought her compulsion as realization hit me. That was what Styx had meant when he said I would have figured out how to save myself when I had jumped off the terrace of the Crystal Castle to avoid being bound to Jett.

  It was space I had to manipulate. But how could I do that? Was it as simple as thinking? It seemed like it should be more complicated, but I tried anyway. I thought about my room in the castle, imagining the enormous bed, the closet, my bathtub that was more like a swimming pool.

  “What are you doing?” Ainessa hissed. She race toward me, screaming at the top of her lungs for me to stop, but she was too late.

  I was in my room. Relief flooded through me until I heard footsteps behind me.

  I whirled around. I had escaped Ainessa, but I hadn’t managed to evade Heath. Dark emotions were clear in his eyes, but it didn’t terrify me like it would have before. For some reason I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. That didn’t mean I wanted to stay with him.

  He closed the distance between us faster than I could think my way out of there, as if I even could. I hadn’t forgotten the castle was warded, but I had to try. To my surprise, he pulled me into a smothering hug.

  His voice came out strained. I could feel him trembling. “I thought I’d lost you.” He held me away from him. “I’m…sorry.”

  His eyes were pleading for me to release him from the pain that clearly held him bound. How could I say the words he wanted to hear when he had betrayed me? I just stared, but something in his expression brought out a compassion within me that refused to be buried. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on finding a different place to be. Now that I knew how to drift, I no longer needed my feet to escape him. His fingers slid between mine. “Please,” he said. His voice was laced with heartache that made my soul constrict.

  I opened one eye, peeking at him. He was kneeling in front of me, gazing up at me with those pleading dark eyes.

  I didn’t dare believe this was anything more than just a strategic maneuver he’d concocted to win our ongoing battle for control. Soften me up so he could take my mind over again.

  I didn’t think so. I sliced my head to the left, but halted when I saw moisture gathering in his eyes.

  He stood, swiping at his face and walked away from me. “Do what you must.”

  I stared after him. He had just assaulted me. I should be happy to be rid of him. But had it really been him doing it?

  I had lost control of myself for a time out there. Was it so difficult to believe that the same had happened to him?

  The thought of him walking out the door tightened my lungs. “Wait,” I heard myself say. I had to think this through. “I need to ask you some questions.”

  He stood there, his hand poised near the knob. His breath came fast and shallow.

  I had to know before I could truly make any decision. “How long did she have control over you?”

  For him to even admit it would be devastating to his mountain-sized pride. He didn’t turn around. “It’s too difficult to tell.”

  That wasn’t much of an answer, but I understood what he meant. Ainessa had slid into my mind sometime after his lips touched mine. “What would you have done differently if you had been completely in control of yourself?”

  His head turned toward me slowly. His face was emotionless. “Not much.”

  He was evading. I swallowed. “I need to know.”

  Our gazes locked. “For one thing, I never would have pushed you that far.”

  “Meaning?”

  His eyes were pleading with me to drop it, but I couldn’t. He shook his head and his fists tightened at his sides. “Forget it. Leave if you will. I’ll be in my room if you want me to come.”

  “What about Ainessa?”

  He was nearly to the doorway, but he turned back again. “You needn’t worry about her right now. She failed. Even if she was stupid enough to stay around, she does not have the power to transport you out of Ignis herself.”

  The instant he finished speaking he whirled around and was down the hall faster than I could get anything else out. Was that why Ainessa needed Heath? To transport me out of Ignis?

  I released the breath I had been holding, letting my cheeks puff out. I shook my head in relief. With my mind whirring with new possibilities where Heath was concerned, I closed the door softly.

  I waited a few minutes before I opened my door again to steal a look down the hallway. Heath hadn’t returned. Somehow I had envisioned him waiting there for me to come to my senses.
His absence caused a hollow feeling to melt through my chest, but I shrugged it off as best I could then set out to find Lysanne.

  Besides Cassie, she was the closest thing I had to a friend in this castle. I had to find out what had happened to Finn and Cassie. Had Finn been arrested after the tournament like he said he’d be? Was Cassie curled up in a corner somewhere crying her eyes out because of me? I needed to see that she was okay.

  I realized one thing when I had been out there with Ainessa and Heath. There was no way I could risk going to the island alone. If I was going to do any good, if I ever actually made it there, I was going to have to take some help. Going solo wasn’t an option anymore, not with that sadistic woman lurking in the shadows. I didn’t know enough about my powers to really control them, and I couldn’t risk running into bigger problems than I already had.

  I found Lysanne in the east-wing garden. She was tending to a bunch of plants that looked like squash.

  I cleared my throat. She immediately looked up at me, startled.

  “Rayla!...uh, I mean, my lady. I thought you would be occupied elsewhere tonight.” A slow blush suffused her cheeks.

  When I realized what she had just implied I felt my own face fill with heat. I supposed the whole castle thought Heath and I were bonding right about now. “I need to talk to you.” A strange look crossed her eyes and I realized I had spit out my request as an order. “That is, if you have some time to spare,” I added hastily.

  “Of course,” she said, rising to her feet.

  We walked in silence to the edge of the garden. A dome of glass was the only thing separating us from the raging blizzard blasting against the barrier. Just looking at it made me shiver. Grateful I hadn’t been trapped out there with Heath, I sighed.

  We sat beside each other, and I was having a hard time finding the words to ask her about Cassie. I finally settled for an honest approach thinking she would most likely see through any attempt I made to conceal how worried I was. “What has happened to Cassie and Finn?” I bit a nail waiting for her response.

  She turned toward me, confused. “Happened?”