by Liza James
But I push the thought aside when I logically realize that he’s right, I shouldn’t try this without someone else being near and able to communicate with me. I don’t know anything about what we just did, and I know I’ll need practice. Leon will be the most help to me in this.
“Yes,” I respond, but I keep the edge to my voice so that he knows I haven’t forgotten what just happened. I’m still angry, and us being back in our physical forms doesn’t immediately put me as his submissive.
Nathanial releases his hold and sits back before standing and turning towards Leon. “Get me one of those pendants,” he snaps, and then moves to walk out of the room without a response.
But Elijah calls after him immediately, clearly not willing to let him go without a word first. “How the Hell can you Astral Project? Isn’t that a trait of—”
“I don’t know. Mind your own fucking business, Elijah.”
My eyes widen at Nathanial’s harsh tone, and Elijah immediately launches forward after his brother, but Luna is quick to reach out and hold him in place. She whispers something in his ear, and his body visibly relaxes before he turns his attention back to us.
I look to Leon, who stands tensely, as he watches Nathanial leave the room. Luna’s arms quickly wrap around my shoulders once he’s gone and she pulls me against her in a tight embrace. Amelia quickly departs the room as well, without a word to anyone and heads up the stairs and assumedly back to her room, where she usually hides.
Elijah, however, stands watching both Luna and I with his hand scrubbing down the front of his face as he mutters something under his breath. I can make out a few curses, but for the most part, don’t know what he’s actually saying.
“Are you okay?” Luna asks quietly as she pulls back a bit and searches my eyes with her own.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I reply. My brows pinch with the start of a migraine at the base of my head. I can feel it coming on, every single emotion from today building and putting pressure in my skull as a painful reminder of what’s happened.
“Do you need to feed?” Leon asks, coming to stand before me as he rests his hand on my thigh. I look to him and can’t help but laugh at his suggestion. It’s a logical question but fuck, I haven’t felt this full in a long time. After feeding from both him and Nathanial before I projected, the last thing I want right now is absorb any more.
“I think you’ve fulfilled your duties in feeding me enough for today, big boy.” I pat his hand sarcastically and stand, giving both him and Luna an apologetic smile. “I honestly think I just want to take a nap for a bit.”
They both nod in quiet understanding, but I feel their watchful gazes as I make my way up the stairs before disappearing into my bedroom. For a brief moment, I overhear Elijah’s voice as it carries loudly up to the second floor. Leon’s voice is quickly sounding after him, both of them clearly heated in some discussion. I have an odd feeling I should go back down and listen to what they have to say, but truthfully, I’m too exhausted to stay awake any longer. I just need to close my eyes for a few minutes, get a bit of rest and then I’ll find out what’s happening when I wake.
I walk into my room, shutting the door behind me and lean my head back against it as my eyes drift closed. Tears threaten to break loose and I shove them back, refusing to give in to the urge to let go.
Taking a deep breath, I climb into bed and under my covers, burying myself in pillows and blankets until everything falls dark and I succumb to another realm of chaos and destruction.
“Sweet Stella, my Stella. I’m getting closer.” Danner’s voice rips through my body like metal claws, tearing at my skin and spilling my blood. It’s the quiet way his voice slips through my ears this time, without the construct of a nightmare surrounding me.
It’s only the darkness. The black abyss that houses his bitter tenor.
I don’t respond, I don’t give him the satisfaction of knowing I’m affected. I fed earlier and I’m strong enough to fight back tonight.
“Closer to finding you, my little Succubus. Closer to having your body underneath mine again, feeling you writhe and fight and then succumb to the darkness inside of you.”
My heart rate kicks up, a thin web of fear threads through my mind at his mention of finding me. How could he? No one knows where we live now.
“You didn’t think I’d ever give up on finding you, did you? You didn’t actually think you were safe? I warned you. Told you not to get too close to them. I’m coming for you, and I’ll kill all of them once I have you.”
Fear grips my mind and tears me apart. I’m putting my family in danger by being here. If he finds me—when he finds me—he’ll destroy them just to hurt me. My skin trembles with the idea that I could be the cause of my sister’s death. That she would lose her life, lose her love with Elijah because of me. Tears slip from my eyes as I part my lips to answer Danner, to fight back, or gain more knowledge, or offer myself in exchange for them. Something. Anything to save my sister.
But I’m suddenly silenced by a heavy hand as it slides over my mouth and tightly pulls my head back against a hard, strong body. I can’t tell if this is in my head, if I’m still asleep and in the wavering construct that Danner had communicated his voice through, or if this is real, and someone has climbed into my bed in the mansion where we all live.
Instantly, a terrifying fear that maybe this is Danner, and that he’s already found me whips through my body and causes me to jolt awake. I snap my eyes open but am still met with darkness, still with that heavy hand covering my mouth when I arch my back and fight to pull away from him.
“Shh. Shh.”
Nathanial. I don’t know how I missed it, that dark smoky scent mixed with the fresh blend of clean linens and a beachy breeze. Or the tie that silently resounds between us. I think it was the fear of Danner, it infected my mind and invaded every other sense I had that could help me discern that it’s Nathanial who’s climbed in my bed behind me. I can’t see him, I’m facing away, but his hard, large body is wrapped tightly around my smaller one. One of his hands slides under my waist as he drags me against him, nestling me tightly into the delicious space that charges between us. His other hand slips from my mouth, his fingers trailing slowly down my neck and across my collar bone.
Fear continues to linger in my bones, dancing across my flesh while we lay in the darkness. His steady touch strangely doesn’t comfort me. It adds to the adrenaline that already started coursing through me in my dream. After everything that happened earlier, I don’t find Nathanial relieving me of my nightmares. Instead, he elicits an entirely different fear, one that’s all consuming and intoxicating as his body envelopes mine.
Because while Danner has the ability to destroy everything around me, Nathanial would be the true cause of my own demise. Both men hold every bit of control over devastating me, for two very different reasons.
Nathanial’s touch settles over my chest, his palm resting flat against the space where my heart is hammering uncontrollably. I force even breaths to filter through my mouth as I let my eyes fall shut again. I’m not sure if Nathanial could hear what Danner was saying, if he had access to my nightmare in some way. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if he did, but I don’t want to know the answer right now. I don’t want to face another lie that he’s been telling me, another reason I need to push him away.
The darkness shelters our secrets and keeps them hidden. He can sneak in here, a concealed and easily ignored figment of my imagination.
So, I rest back into his touch, letting my body process and refine the mixed fears that work through my mind. I give in to sleep once again, and I know that when I wake in the morning, this will all be a foggy memory that holds no substance.
“There have been recent sightings,” Elijah begins. His shoulders are strained with tension, his eyes dropping briefly before rising to meet mine and Amelia’s again. “Of Sunan. She’s been on the outskirts of the city, sometimes venturing closer to the Capital.”
Sunan. F
ucking shit.
My eyes immediately fly to Amelia, looking for her natural response. It’s strange, the three of us having a private meeting in the kitchen. Luna is still asleep, and I left Stella early this morning before she woke as well. It’s an odd sense of déjà vu, throwing me back to a time when the three of us were more than enemies. My brother and I have always been close, but Amelia was our best friend at one point.
Before we knew what was happening to her.
We still don’t know the extent of it, truthfully. Amelia has always kept her secrets very closely guarded. She’s also always been the master of disguises. She’s impeccable at building a fake persona to keep everyone else away from her. Which is what happened to Elijah when they were bonded.
He spent years thinking he was with someone who loved him, someone who was on his side, when in actuality, she had been plotting and scheming to sever their bond and take over the race herself the whole time. But even when they were united, Elijah could never get a shred of information about what had happened to her in Arcadia, or what happened when she was trapped on earth briefly.
Amelia’s body tenses, but her face remains perfectly impassive. Her eyes don’t even flinch at the mention of her mother’s name. Elijah and I keep our gazes trained on her, awaiting her response.
“Okay?” she asks, seeming bored with the revelation. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Wait, did you already know?” I ask her directly, wondering if her casual demeanor is due to the fact that she’s been in contact with her already.
Her eyes fly to me as rage flares within their icy depths. “No, I didn’t fucking know.”
I stalk toward her, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her back against the wall. I lock her in place, crowding her as my lips curl back over my teeth in anger. “Is it so easy for you to forget that you’re alive because of us? Because despite everything you’ve fucking done, despite trying to kill Luna, or hurting Stella and plotting against your own race, we have chosen to allow you life.”
Her eyes search mine, darting back and forth as her breaths picks up speed. I practically feel her anger radiating off of her in perceptible waves. Her eyes shine with a quick flash of regret, which surprises me. But is quickly replaced by that same stain of misery she usually dons.
She steadies herself, and her gaze settles on mine. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m alive because of me. Always me, Nathanial. Since day one, I’ve only ever had myself and I’m not a fool to believe otherwise. You’re the one who is lucky I haven’t slit all of your goddamn throats in your fucking sleep.”
“Alone? You had us! You sure as hell had Elijah—”
“Stop. Let it go Nathanial, she isn’t worth it,” Elijah insists behind me. I hear him release a frustrated sigh but I’m still reeling with surprise and aggravation over Amelia’s remark.
“You wouldn’t kill us now anyway,” I say, a smirk drawing at my lips while she tries to pull out of my grasp. “Because if there is one thing that binds you, Amelia, it’s your ability to feel indebted to someone. Luna saved you. She kept you alive when we could have—would have—killed you. So, even though you hate all of us. You’re chained in servitude to someone you loathe.” I step back, giving her the space she so desperately wants. I can see it in her eyes, in the way her body is trembling with an unconstrained rage.
“Don’t fucking tempt me. Don’t pretend you fucking know me. Because why? We were supposed friends for a few years? You know nothing. Nothing of what I faced before, nothing of what I endure now. So, fuck off, and the same can go for my godforsaken mother.”
“Mother?” Stella’s stunned voice breaks through the heavy tension as she and Luna walk into the kitchen. They both halt their steps, clearly recognizing the heated conversation we’re having and look to Elijah for an explanation.
“Shit,” he responds, scrubbing his hand down his face before reaching forward to Luna. She goes to him, wrapping her arms around his waist while he leans forward and quickly kisses her on the head. Stella stays by the door, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the frame. She’s wearing a long black t-shirt that falls mid-thigh, and while at first I don’t give it a second thought, I suddenly glance back and realize that it’s my shirt.
Fuck, did I leave it there when I snuck into her room last night? It didn’t even cross my mind when I left this morning.
She glances toward me, a controlled smirk playing on her face, when my eyes narrow on hers.
“Yes, Amelia’s mother. She disappeared a few years back. Went completely off the grid after it was discovered that she was kidnapping and potentially torturing Demons and mixed breeds.” Elijah gives them the quick rundown, but truthfully, that’s about all the detail we really know. I don’t even think Amelia understands exactly what her mother was doing, or if she does, she doesn’t talk about it.
“You’re joking, right?” Luna says, her wide eyes darting back to Elijah over her shoulder.
“No. He’s not joking. That’s what my mother does, she eliminates those that taint our race.” Amelia’s speaks in a cold and detached voice as our gazes all swing to her. I can’t tell if she truly believes what she’s saying, or if she’s speaking robotically. It’s probably the former though, seeing as she was the one kidnapping and killing mixed breeds not long ago.
Her eyes drop and her head twitches for just a second. She pinches her eyes shut as if she’s in pain and one of her hands lifts to rub at her temple.
What the hell?
“All right,” Stella says slowly, trying to direct the conversation down a different path. “What does that mean for all of us?”
“It means we stay alert, we pay even closer attention to not only potential Cambion attacks, but whatever the Hell Sunan is planning as well.”
I trail my gaze back to Amelia, but she still seems to have been drawn inside her own mind. She's fidgeting, her eyes shooting back and forth in confusion before she levels her breaths and forces her eyes shut again.
"Amelia," Stella's quiet voices breaches the tense air and Amelia’s eyes fly to her as her teeth visibly grind in her mouth.
"What?" she snaps, immediately stepping forward toward the French doors that open wide into the heavily forested back yard. We sit on fifteen acres out here, conveniently away from other neighbors or any potential strangers.
No one responds, confused by her demeanor and odd reaction to all of this. She sighs in frustration and steps out of the house, walking further into the yard as she disappears.
"What is going on with her?" Luna asks, as she steps out of Elijah's arms and begins mussing around the kitchen, fixing eggs for breakfast.
"We don't exactly know, only that she'd been through a lot growing up. The details of her relationship with her mother are unknown, so we all pay attention to her, all right? Unless she's in her room, we don't leave her alone," I say, laying out the terms going forward. I turn around and move behind Luna, reaching up into the top cupboard and pulling out four coffee mugs.
"You know the conversation we need to have though. Who we need to go talk to—" Elijah starts slowly, turning his shoulders to square up and directly face me. I pause mid movement, my entire body freezing as a hesitant burn starts rolling through chest.
"No," I say immediately. No fucking way.
Stella perks up all of a sudden, never wasting an opportunity to disagree with me. "What conversation? What's the problem?"
"Nathanial, think about this logically. We have to go see him, it's been too long since Sunan was last seen. We need to know if she's been in contact with him," Elijah continues, blatantly ignoring Stella's question and returning to the conversation with me.
"Don't push us out of this. Clearly it means something, so go ahead—explain," Luna demands this time. She stops making breakfast and turns to face us while Stella steps closer to me, coming to stand at my side.
Elijah groans and I can't help the low growl that begins humming in my chest. "No one needs to know
because it's not fucking happening. Not unless you're volunteering, Elijah?" I press him, narrowing my eyes in challenge.
He shouldn't have brought this up. It's a big fat fuck no.
"You know it's not going to be me or Luna. We can't put ourselves that close to the Cambions," Elijah possessively pulls Luna back against his side as he states the obvious. Of course not, because they're the only Fated pairing amongst the race right now.
"Can ya'll shut the Hell up for one second and tell us what you're talking about?" Stella interrupts, her voice trailing higher as anger vibrates through her tone. I want to ignore her, refuse her the information she’s seeking, but my eyes drift to the wash of red that snakes up her neck and paints her cheeks. I love it, the addictive natural color that coats her when she’s angry—and when she’s aroused.
"The Underworld. Someone has to go talk to Lucifer. He may have information on Sunan, possibly know what she's been involved in over the last several years," my brother throws it out there, quickly so that I can't cut him off and I cross my arms heavily over my chest.
"Lucifer. As in—" Luna questions slowly, raising her eyebrows tentatively.
"Yes. The Lucifer. The Fallen Angel," I supply, dropping my gaze and forcing the words out of my mouth. My heart is racing, because I know exactly what's about to fucking happen. I know exactly what Stella's about to sa—
"No problem. I'll go." Her voice grates against my skin, sending tiny pinpricks of irritation covering my flesh. I turn to face her, to start another goddamn argument when Elijah speaks up.
"I was thinking the same thing. Leon can take you. Think of him as Switzerland. He fights on our side, but he holds immunity. He'll be a safe bet, and if either of you need to feed, you'll have each other." My brother’s explanation sounds fool proof. It sounds fucking perfect.
And I hate it. No way is my fucking Fated going to the Underworld with any fucking other person besides me—but I can't go. I can't risk revealing my connections to Lucifer, or the deal I made all those years ago.