My face scrunched in confusion. “You actually want me to be repulsed by you?”
“Of course not. You and I will be spending the better part of our lives together. I just want you to be honest with me.”
I coughed out a scoff. “Like you’re so forthright. You can’t possibly expect me to trust you.”
He began walking again without saying another word, and I was tugged along for the ride. We reached the end of the hallway. An enormous steel door with galvanized rivets blocked my way to freedom. Roger glanced at me before he pushed it open.
I squinted at the bright glare of the afternoon sun and walked into the open air with him. A chain banged into the metal, sounding our arrival. We were in a small courtyard full of people. Everyone turned and stared. The women outnumbered the men at least four to one. I didn’t have to ask to know that the yard was bursting with Elementals. I could feel their energy radiating off them as if I were gazing into the roaring depths of a volcano. So much suppressed power in the small space overwhelmed my senses. Was this how the lords felt around me?
Something made me curious. I tried to access my power, hoping with all the activity in the area, it would be easier. The barrier was still there. I grunted in frustration.
Roger didn’t seem to even notice. He led me through the group. The only sound was our shoes clapping on the cement. I saw Lacey but she turned away before I could nod at her.
Roger glanced at her and his gaze stuck momentarily. Was that longing I saw in his eyes? When he noticed me watching him, he looked away. His jaw was tight as we continued through the crowd. Surprised we had been able to maneuver through the tension, we approached another door. This one was inset into the gigantic concrete walls that surrounded the compound.
Roger took a key from his pocket, smoothly stuck it into the hole then twisted the knob. He had to shove his shoulder into the door to get it to open.
Relief tried to settle into my lungs, but the jungle stood in front of us like an overwhelming presence, keeping me from taking full advantage of this new situation. All I could see was green.
“What was going on back there?” I asked as he led me through the thick foliage. “Who were those men?”
He didn’t bother to glance down at me. “You needn’t concern yourself with them. You are meant for a much higher purpose.”
Yeah right. “You use those Elementals for breeding stock, don’t you?”
He turned to face me. “Why do you have to be so glib about everything?”
“I’m just curious.” I caught his gaze and held it. “That’s what you have planned for me, isn’t it?”
His face went rigid. “Any one of those girls would gladly trade places with you.”
“Including Lacey?”
“Leave her out of this.”
“Why?”
He glared at me. I stiffened my shoulders and tried my best to make myself intimidating. I wasn’t going to let him bully me.
Contempt oozed off him, nearly smothering me. “Lacey is not your concern. The only thing you need to worry about is how you plan to please me on our wedding night.”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to make me angry or scared, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of falling for his bait. I also refused to acknowledge the blush I felt slide across my face. “If you don’t want to marry me, Roger, why are you?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Roger’s fist swung sideways and collided with a nearby branch. I jumped at the sound of it cracking then twisted out of the way as it crashed to the ground.
Something strange and volatile lay hidden in Roger Wayne. I had already learned that he had been enhanced, but I didn’t know the specifics. The only thing I really knew about him was that he gave me the heebie-jeebies down to my bones.
His face was inches from mine in less than a heartbeat. “You don’t know the first thing about me, Rayla. Don’t assume that you do. When you look at me, you see nothing more than a villain. I know you probably don’t care, but I do have feelings.”
At that, I laughed. His scowl deepened, cutting lines into his broad features. I shook my head. Things were always more complicated than they seemed. “So you’re telling me that you don’t want to marry me, but you have no choice?”
He cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms. “Give the girl a gold star.”
“But why?”
“Unlike you, I value my life. When I am told to do something, I do it—without question or regret. You can’t get too attached to any idea or person. Plans change.”
I narrowed my eyes, breathing in deep when realization hit me. “You were going to marry someone else before I ruined it.” He tried to hide his reaction but it was clear from the look on his face that I had pegged it. “I’m right, aren’t I?” I thought for a moment, recalling how he had looked at a particular Elemental just a few minutes ago. “It was Lacey, but I thought you and May—”
“Stop it!”
“You don’t have to—”
He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my flesh. “Yes, I do, and so do you. You are just as trapped as I am.”
I touched his arm and his grip loosened. To my surprise, he didn’t pull away. I spoke calmly. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”
He sighed loudly, letting go of me. “I wish you were right, but you’ll see soon enough that our world doesn’t work that way.” He stiffened his spine and motioned me forward. “We’re wasting time. We’ll be expected back in a few hours.”
“What for?”
When he didn’t answer me and just stared at me as if I were the stupidest person alive, I gasped. “Not today! I was supposed to have another month.”
“The Order does not wait in matters such as these. Who knows when the fae will attempt a rescue? We have limited time to make sure that you are…” He didn’t finish what he was saying. He just stood there looking at me. At first it was a light perusal. That didn’t last long. His features shifted with his thoughts, and the only thing I could see in him was hunger.
I was sick of men looking at me like that. I felt my fingers tighten into a fist. Before I could stop myself, I punched him square in the jaw. My hand exploded with pain, but he just stood there as if nothing had happened. “Ah!” I screeched. I hadn’t even budged him. I might as well have hit a brick wall.
He lifted my hand gingerly. “That was a stupid thing to do.”
I winced. The ache morphed into a stabbing throb. It had to be broken. He lifted me into his arms and headed back the way we had come. He wasn’t even breathing hard.
I composed myself enough to ask the one thing I had to know. “What are you?”
He glanced sidelong at me. “Human.”
“Bull crap.” Even hybrid didn’t seem to fit anymore.
He smiled. “Okay. I may have had a few modifications.”
“Is that what you call that? Did you even feel me hitting you?”
“Yes.”
“Did it hurt?”
“No.”
The satisfaction I had been feeling fizzled to annoyance. I had lost track of where we were. A building I had never seen before stood in front of us. It looked more like an office than the others that surrounded it. It had plenty of large windows and a shingled roof where the other buildings only had slats for windows and metal roofs.
He opened the door and carried me down the hallway into a sterile looking room. I was unceremoniously plunked onto one of those cold squishy tables. I’d already spent too much time on one of these, but there were no chairs to be seen.
Roger began searching cabinets and drawers. His hand stalled in one particular area and he bent toward the cupboard flinging things out of his way. He finally stood up with a brace in his hand.
I pulled my fist protectively against my chest. “Aren’t you going to see if it’s broken?” I was pretty darn sure I needed a cast.
He didn’t react to my dramatics. “It isn’t,” he said levelly.
“How coul
d you possibly know that?”
“I just know, okay?”
“No. Not okay. You will explain this to me.”
For the first time, I saw light bouncing in his gaze as if he were amused by my demands. “So you think you call the shots now, huh?”
“Roger! Just tell me.”
He shrugged. “If I tell you, will you promise to hold still and let me put this on you?”
I nodded. My hand was still throbbing in time to my heartbeat, and I wished Neeko were here to heal me. I’d even settle for Heath at the moment. Regret tickled my throat, so I closed my thoughts down. I didn’t want to think about him.
Roger paced the room for a few minutes before he turned with his hands tucked behind his back. “How old do you think I am?”
That was an odd question considering he was supposed to be giving me answers, but I played along. “Twenty-five, tops.”
He nodded, smiling smugly. “That’s what you’re supposed to think.”
“Okay, you got me. How old are you?”
“I was born in Nineteen Sixty-five.”
I did the math and frowned. “Stop trying to get me to believe something so ridiculous.”
“Is it? A hundred years ago, the average life expectancy was about forty-nine, give or take a few years. Someone born today can expect to live to the ripe old age of seventy eight. Haven’t you noticed that most Americans appear younger than they actually are?”
“Yeah, but what you are saying isn’t possible. Science hasn’t gotten that far yet.”
His slanted brows rose while he looked at me pointedly. “But you admit it is possible?”
I bit my lip. “I guess, if we found out more about how the body works and what exactly makes us age.”
His face went all conspiratorial. “What if I told you that we already have that knowledge?”
He was freaking me out. He was boldly telling me that cutting edge science was actually antiquated. “Why keep such significant advancements a secret?”
All emotion faded from his features. “We need people to die.”
I gaped at him. “But not you. Just how long will you live then?”
“That hasn’t actually been determined yet. I am a prototype.” He walked toward me, and I stiffened.
“And your brother?” I asked.
He stopped before he reached me, a strange expression settled on his face. “Alex?”
I shifted uncomfortably on the table. “How many brothers do you have?”
Roger shook his head. “He isn’t really my brother. I thought you were astute enough to figure that out.”
I glared at him. It did make total sense. They were nothing alike, and I felt foolish for not getting it the first time. “Forgive me for not seeing the obvious, but you didn’t answer my question. Is that why he looks so young?”
He nodded. “We have both been augmented.”
I nearly laughed at his choice of words, but I didn’t want to get distracted. “What else have they done to you?”
“You just witnessed one thing. My bones are literally harder than steel.”
I thought about that, wishing I had been blessed with that particular advantage. “How is that possible?”
“It’s complicated.”
I could imagine. “Do the fae know about you?”
“Some do.”
“Like Ainessa?”
He nearly growled at me, “Don’t say her name.”
“Why not?”
“She’ll know we’re talking about her. I don’t want to call her attention at the moment.”
I crossed my legs and tried to get more comfortable. “Why would you ever want to call her attention?”
He smirked at me. “I see you get my point. You need to be more cautious. You never know who is listening.”
He pried my hand from my chest without much resistance from me and inspected it, poking my tender flesh. I wouldn’t look in his eyes. He was being so gentle with me.
Roger was clearly a complex person that I would rather not get to know any better, but what other option did I have at the moment? He nestled my hand in the brace, careful not to fasten the straps too tightly. The pressure released immediately.
I wiggled my fingers and smiled at him. “It doesn’t hurt as much now.”
“Good to hear.” He looked at the clock on the wall that revealed it was three-o-clock. “That’s great. So much for going very far.” He ran a hand over my hair.
His touch was gentle today, but I knew that with how volatile he was, it could turn hard in a flash. I had let my emotions rule me earlier. I needed to control them better.
He helped me off the table then led me to the door. Just before he opened it, he said, “I was hoping to take you to the waterfall, but I guess you’ll have to be satisfied with spending some time at the beach. We have to be back by five, so no more antics. Okay?”
“Sure,” I said a little deflated. I had wanted to get the layout of the island down.
I didn’t dare say a word as he loaded me into a little red dune-buggy that was parked amidst an array of vehicles at the back of the building. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why they would they need a tank here.
He clicked what looked like a garage door opener that was inside a locked glove compartment and a huge set of double doors swung open. We emerged onto a gravel road then turned down a small path that had been cut into the jungle.
I sat back, enjoying the feel of the sun beating down on my abnormally pale skin. I hadn’t been able to go outside in a really long time. At least it seemed that way the more I thought about it. I had a horrible sensation of dread, as if I had been in Ignis longer than I realized. I decided to ask.
“Roger?” He seemed lost in thought, and I hated to mess with the comfortable silence we had going on, but I needed to know how long I had been in the fae realm. “What month is it?”
He glanced at me, not answering right away, but when he did, his voice was firm. “July.”
I nearly leaped out of my seat. “What!”
“Sit back down!” He was staring at me, a hard look in his eyes. “You were the one that asked.”
“Don’t remind me.” I plopped onto the seat and shook my head. “I lost nearly an entire year in a few weeks!”
“So you finally begin to see. The fae take. They never give. The sooner you learn that, the easier your life will be.”
My life had gotten so blasted complicated that I hated to even think about the questions that continued to swirl in my mind. I decided to leave those for another time when I wasn’t this freaked out.
I turned my attention to the landscape, trying to ignore Roger as he scanned my face. The trees gave way to tall swaying grasses and white sand. We climbed over a small rise and my jaw went slack. The sun was a blazing orb melting into the horizon that gilded the glimmering waves. I breathed in a lungful of salt and fish, not sure how much I really liked the smell, but the view was amazing. After I clumsily shed my shoes, I raced to the edge of the water.
The ocean seemed as eager to touch me as I was to feel the rush of water around my ankles again. A small wave crested then crashed at my feet. It withdrew as if it was on a time constraint. I stumbled to maintain balance and Roger caught my elbow.
“Careful,” he said. “I don’t want you broken on our wedding day.”
Just like that, the magic of the moment vanished. I felt myself being pulled away from the ocean’s hypnotic call. Reality wanted me more.
What was I going to do to get out of this? I had asked myself that same question several times today, yet I still didn’t seem to have an answer. Instead of arguing with him like I wanted to, I decided to just say a simple, “Thank you for this.”
His brows furrowed in a puzzled expression. “I never really expected to hear you say those words to me and mean them. I know it isn’t much, but I wanted to give you some peace before tonight.”
I faced him on wobbly legs. “I don’t understand you at all.”
I sidestepped his implied question. “What if you didn’t have to marry me? What would you do?”
His fingers dug into mine. “Stop it! You need to come to grips with what is happening here. There is no escape—”
“But there could be. We could leave the island.”
His grip relaxed but his expression didn’t. “Then what? Why can’t you see that they would chase us to the edge of the universe? There is no safe place for us. You and I are too important to let go.”
I knew deep down he was right even though I didn’t want to admit it. Everyone else seemed to know what I was capable of except me. So far I had only glimpsed the potential of my power.
I let go of his hand and sunk to my knees taking in the amazing sunset to distract myself. Despair flooded over me. How much more pain would I have to experience before my life would settle down. I lowered onto my stomach, propping myself up on one elbow. The water nearly touched me, but I was just out of reach.
Roger sat beside me. He didn’t prod me when I didn’t respond.
I wished I could stay here forever in the tranquil evening. Why did time have to go so quickly? I felt as though I was hours away from my funeral instead of my wedding.
Seriously? My wedding. Never mind that I didn’t feel old enough to get married; I didn’t even have a gown. I gazed down at my left hand, specifically my naked ring finger. I would be perfectly happy to keep it that way for many years to come. The ruby ring that Gibbit had returned to me glinted in the sun. It was as worthless as any mortal ring would be. The only thing that kept me from flinging it into the sea was the state of my other hand.
I started really processing what was about to happen to me. Tears trickled down my cheeks, but I didn’t make a sound.
After a while, Roger said, “We should get going. I’m sure you would like to freshen up before the ceremony.”
I thought about staying just the way I was, dirt encrusted and all, but I didn’t want to lose my virginity like…oh heavens, I couldn’t even think about that.
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