by Cynthia Eden
Mora swallowed. “You know all this trouble only happened to me after you came to my bar. I was perfectly fine, leading a perfectly normal life, until you appeared.”
That news grated. He paced toward her, stopping when barely a breath separated their bodies. “You weren’t meant for normal. You’re a goddess, for shit’s sake.”
“Says who? The people who tried to burn me alive in ancient Greece?” Her laughter was mocking. “I’m just a woman who can see things…the worst things that tend to be out there.”
She was so much more than that, and they both knew the truth.
“You live in a one bedroom house, on the edge of town, in the middle of nowhere.” Anger growled in his voice. “You should be in a palace, surrounded by every luxury imaginable, with guards at your service to—”
“Been there, done that. And again—the ending wasn’t so pretty.” She gave him a brittle smile. “I’m one woman, living alone, so why would I need more than a one bedroom house? I love this house. I painted all the walls. I picked out all the furniture. I watch the sunrise from my bed—” She gestured to the bed. “And I stare at the moonlight as I fall asleep. This place is perfect. It’s my home.” Her lips tightened. “As far as the guards are concerned, I didn’t need them, not until you swooped back into my life.” She clutched the mirror to her chest and skirted around him as she headed for the bedroom door. “Don’t think I won’t be paying Sabrina back for this particular favor.”
He followed her, slowly, casting one last glance around the bedroom. He could easily imagine Mora spread out in that bed, her hair on the pillow, as she slept beneath the moonlight.
When he slept, he often dreamed of her. Some of the dreams were sensual, visions of her body twined with his. In those dreams, he could see pleasure on her face and hear it in her voice as she called out to him.
Some of the dreams were dark. Visions of her crying, begging him to help her. Visions of her in pain. Lost.
“Are you coming?”
His head snapped toward the door. She stood in that doorway, her hands curled around what appeared to be nothing more than a pane of glass—absolutely black glass.
“Or did you change your mind?” Mora’s head tipped to the side as she studied him. “Afraid to find out what I’ll see?”
He rolled back his shoulders and strode toward her. Mora didn’t retreat at his approach. That was one of the things he’d always enjoyed about her. “You know I don’t fear much.”
Her gaze searched his, then she gave a slow nod. Without another word, she turned and headed to her small kitchen. Mora carefully sat the glass down on her tidy dining table.
Leo reached for a knife in her knife block. He lifted it up, and the sharp blade glinted in the light. Yes, that should do the trick.
He sliced the blade right across his hand.
“Leo!” Her voice was startled, her eyes wide.
He walked toward her and only stopped when he was at the edge of the table. He opened his palm and let the blood drops fall onto the glass. “I remember how this works.”
“You didn’t have to make such a big cut.” Her gaze was on his hand.
“Worried, love?” The endearment slipped from him. “And here I thought you’d stopped caring.”
Her gaze flew to his. “You should have made the cut bigger.”
His lips twitched. He put the knife down on the table and then offered his uncut hand to her.
Mora’s fingers closed around his. “Fine. Let’s see what waits. The good, the bad, and everything in between.”
His fingers tightened on hers. This was the moment. This was what he’d risked so much to learn. Leo stared down at the mirror. He just saw blood and darkness.
Mora pulled in a shuddering breath. His gaze jerked to her. Mora’s beautiful eyes changed in the next second. The color receded, becoming as black as the mirror. Power crackled in the air around him, and her fingers seemed to burn against his.
He ignored the burn, and he just held her tighter.
The way he should have held her long ago.
“What do you see for my future?”
***
“What do you see for my future?”
They were standing on a beach. Her hand was in Leo’s. The sun was setting and waves were tickling her feet. Fate looked down, shocked to find herself in this place again.
She’d been scrying for Leo, but her intent had been to see his future.
Not his past.
But I’m in the past. It’s all around me.
“You scried for me today.” His hand lifted, and his fingers brushed her hair behind her ear. His touch was so gentle, but his eyes were hard. She’d never noticed—not back then—how hard and cold his gaze could be. “Why won’t you tell me what you saw?”
Fate swallowed. “Because what I saw scares me.”
“Scares you?” His fingers slid across her cheek and curled under her chin. “You know I wouldn’t hurt you.”
He was a tender lover. Always so concerned with her pleasure. Always holding his power in check. And she felt safe with him.
“Besides…” He nodded toward her. “We can change what you see, can’t we?”
“S-sometimes…”
“Then tell me, and let’s change what waits.”
She drew in a shuddering breath. She needed this future to change. “I saw your twin, standing over your dead body. The final battle comes, but you don’t win. Luke does.”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “You saw the wrong fucking thing.”
***
Mora gave a quick gasp as the past vanished. Her breath heaved in and out as her heart thundered in her chest.
“Mora?” His grip tightened on her wrist. “What did you see?”
Her gaze jerked around the room—her home. Her kitchen table. Her chairs. Her slightly wilting flowers that she’d picked up from the market two days before. She wasn’t on a beach. Wasn’t dressed in some gauzy white dress. The past was over.
“What’s going to happen?” Leo demanded.
She gave a slow shake of her head. “I saw the past. Not the future.”
He swore.
“We were on the beach. It was the first time I scried for you.” He’d been using her back then, and he was using her now. The only difference? This time, Mora knew she was being used. She wasn’t a blind fool in love, not anymore. “And I told you that your brother Luke would kill you.”
His gaze immediately became hooded. “It’s not the past I’m interested in.”
“It’s not like I wanted a walk down memory lane, either,” she muttered. But actually, for her to go into the past…My words were a lie. That was exactly what I wanted. Her emotions sometimes got in the way of her visions. She’d intended to look forward, but some part of her—some part was still tied to the past.
“Liar,” he called her bluff.
Mora felt heat stain her cheeks.
“You want to see the past, don’t you? To see just how I betrayed you? You want to know every dark moment?” His hand pulled from hers. “We don’t have time for that. We have to go forward.”
We have time for whatever I want. The angry retort burned through her mind. “I don’t want to know about the betrayal.” And this was her shame. “I think I wanted to see if any of it was real.”
He flinched.
Bitterness coiled within her. He had no idea—none—about how brutal her life had been because of him. Maybe it was time for him to take a walk down memory lane. Maybe it was time for him to see that there was a price paid for everything.
And everyone.
She grabbed for the knife. Just as he’d done, she took that knife and sliced the blade across her palm.
“Mora!” Leo snatched the blade from her and threw it across the room.
She just gave a bitter laugh. “Don’t worry, Leo. I heal. It may be a slow healing, but I can still recover. From just about anything.” She watched her blood spatter onto the mirror. “You’re in for a trea
t. I don’t normally share my visions with anyone. But this time, I think you’re due.” Payback.
Then her bloody hand grabbed his. She held him tight. “Let’s give you a nice, up-close view of the past.” Her gaze shot to the mirror as she channeled her power. It pulsed through her, rising up, up, and then it surged straight into Leo.
I hope you choke on the past.
Chapter Six
Mora was on the bed.
She was naked, her bare back turned toward him, and her long, black hair slid over her shoulders.
Leo blinked. “What in the hell is happening here?” He’d been standing in Mora’s kitchen just a moment ago. She’d grabbed his hand. Then a dark shadow had seemed to sweep over him.
Now I’m here? Why the hell am I here? The scene wasn’t in Mora’s house. The walls weren’t made of wood. They were carved from stone. Silks hung everywhere.
Wait. I know this place and this time. A time that had been very, very long ago.
The door beside him creaked open. A man slipped inside—a man who had a long hood covering his face. The guy was heading toward the bed. Toward Mora.
Leo jumped in front of him. “Who are—”
The guy just walked right through him.
Leo’s breath shuddered out. I’m in Mora’s vision. Shit, shit. She’d cut herself with that knife. Her blood had been dripping onto the mirror and then she’d grabbed him. She was showing him the past.
But he didn’t want to see it.
“Stop it, Mora!” Leo snarled. “I asked for the future, not the past. That was the deal!” And no one broke a deal with the Lord of the Light. No one. Not even her. Not even…
The bastard in the hood was near the bed. Mora was still sleeping. She was alone.
I know this scene. I know this room. I know that bed. I made love with Mora in that bed.
But he wasn’t in that bed with her right then. Because…I’d left the night before. I slipped away without telling her.
The man in the hood lifted his hands, and Leo saw the silver chains the bastard held in his grasp. Immediately, Leo lurched forward. “No! No! Get those away from her!” He grabbed for the bastard, but his hands just slipped right through the air.
Because that guy isn’t really here. Nothing is here. This is all just a memory. No, not a memory. A vision.
The past.
The bastard locked the chains around Mora’s wrists, and she woke, screaming.
Only…until that moment, Leo hadn’t realized…
She woke screaming my name.
“Leo!” Terror flashed on Mora’s face. “What’s happening? Leo?”
“She’s contained!” The man in the hood shouted. “Come in, now!”
And others stormed inside. To Leo, they were indistinct, shadowy.
Mora grabbed for the bed covers, yanking them up to cover herself.
“We know your weakness, Fate,” the man in the hood spat. Something about his voice was oddly familiar to Leo.
I’ve heard his voice before…
“Your lover told us, right before he gave orders that he was done with you.” Laughter came from the man in the hood. Silence from the others who’d joined him.
Mora huddled on the bed. Beautiful, terrified. She’d wrapped the covers around her nakedness, and now she was fighting desperately to get the chains off her wrists.
“Magic,” the hooded man said, sounding far too satisfied. “Leo made sure those wouldn’t open easily once they were wrapped around your wrists.”
No, no, shit, this was wrong. “Mora, I—I wasn’t going to use those on you!” Leo yelled.
But, fuck me, I did have them made to chain her. Only I didn’t give them to that bastard!
He’d made them, yet that had been before…before he’d known her. Before he’d tasted her lips. Before he’d—
“Get away from me!” Mora screamed.
Leo flinched and took a step back. No, she’s not talking to me. She’s talking to the men surrounding her.
“You dare to come into my chambers?” Her chin lifted. “Don’t you know who I am?” Her lips trembled. “What I am?”
“You’re a false prophet,” the hooded man told her, and again, something about his voice nagged at Leo. Something about the figure…He’s trying so hard to hide himself. “You lie about your visions. About what you see.”
“Get out of here!” Her breath heaved even as her gaze flew around the room. “Leo?”
She’s still calling for me. Leo put a hand to his chest. It fucking hurt.
“He’s done with you,” the hooded man announced.
Mora shook her head.
“He left you in the night, and he told us to finish you off.”
Once more, Leo surged forward. “The hell I did!” But…
He had left. He’d slipped away from her, having gotten the glimpse into his future that he’d been so desperate to have. He’d left her, knowing that he wouldn’t return.
“Leo loves me.” Her soft voice was desperate.
“You’re a false prophet,” the hooded man said again. Those around him…they were lighting torches.
Oh, the fuck, no. “Mora!” Her name boomed from Leo. “Mora, get the hell out of here!”
She crawled from the bed, edging toward the window that looked out over the countryside below.
The hooded man followed her.
Behind him, the others touched their torches to the bedding, to the clothes on the floor, and to the furniture.
Leo shook his head. Please, no. I need this vision to stop.
“You lied about the future you saw for Leo. He told us that you deceived him.”
No! I didn’t tell this asshole anything.
Her lips were trembling. The growing fire was reflected in her eyes. “I wanted to see something different. Luke wins. The dark wins.”
The other men had filed out. The flames were raging everywhere. Crackling and growing.
“If you jump, they’ll be waiting for you.” The man laughed. The leader. “My men are rushing downstairs. They’ll be there when your broken body hits the ground, and then we’ll still make sure the fire gets you.”
She climbed onto the window ledge. “I’ll take my chances.” Then she glanced into the night. “Leo!”
More laughter erupted. “You think he’s going to help you? He left you.”
Fuck me, I did.
“You were a means to an end for him. He’s done. All those pretty promises he made you? They’re worthless.”
“H-he never made me pretty promises.” Her hands pressed to the stone surrounding the window. “Leo!” She shouted again into the night.
The hooded man lunged for her, but Mora jumped.
And then a few seconds later, Leo heard the thudding impact when she hit the earth.
“Mora!” Leo roared her name.
***
“Of course, the fall didn’t kill me.”
Leo blinked. He was back in Mora’s home, his hand clenched tightly around hers. Sweat covered his body. And he was pretty sure his heart had been cut out of his chest.
“I think I broke most of my bones, but I didn’t die. Though that asshole in the robe kept his promise, his men were there waiting for me.”
Leo slowly turned his head to look at her. His breath sawed in and out of his lungs. Fury filled him. Pain twisted in his gut.
“His men were there,” she said again, giving a slow nod. “And they had their torches ready. I screamed for you a lot that night, but you were gone.” She let his hand go. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted you to see that particular scene.” Her smile was cold. Cruel. “For so long, I’ve wanted to give you just a taste of my pain.” She released his hand.
Immediately, his hand shoved against his chest. The pain was so strong—not just a taste. His whole world was erupting. He started clawing at his chest, wanting that pain to stop. “I didn’t…send them.” Each word was guttural. Brutal. “They weren’t my men.”
“You lef
t me unprotected. You spread the word that my visions were fake. I learned that…after. I was broken and burned, barely surviving. I needed help, but all the humans there had turned on me.”
She stared at him with such fury. Justified. So fucking justified. No wonder she’d run from him. No wonder she’d hidden.
Her gaze held his—showing him all of her pain and her fury.
“You left me, and you told everyone you encountered that my visions were fake.”
His teeth ground together. “Mora…”
“You kissed me. You made love to me. Then you left me to be tortured—”
He grabbed her arms and yanked her closer. “I swear, I didn’t send those men.” But he would find them. He would hunt them down. “I will find them. I will break their bones. I will burn them, I will—”
“That’s not the way the Lord of the Light should talk.”
His hold tightened on her. His claws were out, his teeth sharpening as his beast pushed to the surface, and Leo could feel his wings bursting from his back. He needed to pull back, to get his control.
But…
She called for me when she was afraid. “I was never as good as you thought.”
Mora was pale. Too pale. And her eyes had gone nearly golden with her power. “Who said I ever thought you were good?”
His breath sawed from his lungs. “I left you because I had to do it. But I’d put my claim on you. I’d taken you. Everyone there knew you were mine. No one should have touched you. When I found out that you’d been hurt, I came back. I came back!”
“Big fucking deal.”
He blinked.
She smiled and that smile hurt him as much as the vision had. “Did you think I wanted you then? When I needed you most, you weren’t there. So I decided that I wouldn’t be there, either. I wouldn’t be there to scry for you.” Her gaze shot to the table and the mirror that waited. She gave a rough laugh. “But here we are. Maybe I was just lying to myself. Maybe all along, I wanted to scry so you would have to see just what you’d done to me.”
But she hadn’t shown him everything. She hadn’t shown him the fall or the fire. She… “You tricked me.”