Buried Alive

by Evi Asher

  “Yes, we are sitting in the dark.” Laz grinned.

  That was strange. It might be dark in the room, but to Athera, it wasn’t dark at all. She could see as clearly as she could in bright sunlight. Did it have something to do with—

  It all came back to her in a rush. Cutting her hand, pushing it into Grave’s wound so their blood could mingle. Why had she done that? What was going on with her? Was she losing her mind?

  Laz pointed his chin in Grave’s direction. “Obsessed much?”

  “It’s not like that,” Athera denied, but she turned her back on the males and smoothed the hair off of Grave’s forehead.

  “You pulled some kind of epic faith healer trick to save his life... so do you want to do some more denying?” Heath asked.

  The door was opened. “Oh gosh. I nearly walked into a wall there. Why do you have the lights off?” Josy asked as she switched on the overhead lights.

  Pain shot through Athera’s optic nerves and danced in her brain as a wave of nausea hit, but she powered through it and didn’t let on that the light had caused her pain.

  “What happened earlier, Josy?” Athera asked.

  Josy walked in and went to sit on the bed Athera had vacated. “It was an oh wow moment for sure.”

  “What did I do?” Athera looked at all three of them in turn. “And when I get some answers to that question, can someone tell me what you guys are doing here?”

  “Sure, Ath.” Laz grinned and Heath gave her a small enigmatic smile.

  Athera pinned Josy with a stare. “What did I do?”

  “Don’t you remember any of it?” Josy asked.

  Athera shook her head. She remembered parts but she wanted to hear it all from someone else’s perspective.

  Josy explained the first part of it, exactly like Athera remembered it, but then she said something that Athera didn’t remember doing. “As you put your bleeding palm against his open wound, you were muttering the same phrase over and over again.”

  “What was it?” Athera turned on the bed so her lower back was touching Grave, but she was facing Josy.

  “At first, we couldn’t make it out, but then you said it louder.” Josy paused for long enough that Laz started grumbling.

  “Spit it out, would you?” Heath said. and he leaned forward in his chair, putting his elbows on his knees.

  “You kept saying. Benviousis,” Josy announced, as if that would mean something to Athera.

  “Well, are you going to tell us what it means?” Josy looked expectantly at Athera.

  “I—” Athera closed her mouth and opened it again. She was completely confused. “I have no idea what it means.”

  Josy let out a hiss of frustration. “Do either of you know what it means?” She asked the males.

  Athera looked at them both, hoping they would, but he hopes were dashed when they both shook their heads in confusion.

  “It means.” A new voice came from the door and Athera’s eyes shot in that direction to see William leaning against the door jam. His arms were crossed over his chest and his feet were crossed at the ankles. He looked like he’d been standing there a while. Why hadn’t they noticed him?

  “What does it mean?” Athera asked.

  “It means, my blood is your blood, your blood is my blood.”

  Everyone fired questions at William all at once.

  “How do you know that?” Heath.

  “How did that help me save Grave?” Athera.

  “What language is that?” Laz.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Josy.

  William held up a hand to silence them, a rueful smile on his lips. “One at a time. Let me answer one at a time.”

  Everyone went quiet waiting for William to answer. He stepped into the room and sat next to Josy on Athera’s mussed bed.

  “When I heard Athera use those words, and saw the result—” he nodded at Grave— “I knew the words had to have meaning, but since Athera was as comatose as Grave and I could not gain answers from neither of them, and Josy and Drusilla obviously had no idea what the words meant, I knew I’d have to make a few calls to some contacts.”

  Athera bit her tongue so she wouldn’t demand an instant answer. It was obvious that William needed to tell the whole story sequentially, so she advised patience to herself and was determined not to interrupt him. Not everyone had the same idea.

  “Contacts?” Heath asked, and Athera wanted to go over and kick him. She wanted answers, not William’s life story and that of all the people he knew.

  William raised an eyebrow but answered Heath anyway. “I know many people, and my contact list on my phone is vast.” There was a note of sarcasm in his voice. “I called a linguist who could possibly help.”

  Athera found herself interrupting despite her determination not to. “What did you find out?”

  “The word is not so much a word and more of an idea.”

  “Huh?”

  Josy gave William a blank stare, and in the short timeAthera had known Josy, she’d learned that that stare was anything but air-headed. The witch’s wily brain was working overtime.

  “I’m getting ahead of myself,” William said. “The language is ancient and not spoken anymore.”

  “A dead language like Latin?” Heath supplied.

  Both Josy and Laz complained loudly at the falseness of that statement.

  “Latin is alive and well and used every time I use a spell,” Josy said.

  “Dude, don’t diss Latin. That’s my native tongue you are burying,” Laz grumbled.

  Heath threw up his hands. “Okay, okay, you don’t have to bite. Gees.”

  Grave groaned and turned his head.

  “Shut up all of you before you wake Grave. He needs to heal, so he needs sleep.” Athera glared at them all in turn. “Carry on, William. An ancient tongue?”

  William was looking between the three of them with a strange expression. If Athera didn’t know better, she’d think it was a mix of envy and sadness.

  “William?” Athera was about to ask him what he was thinking when he spoke again.

  “Yes, a very ancient language that hasn’t been spoken in millennia.”

  “Hold on. If it’s such a dead language, how did Athera know any of it?” Laz asked.

  “That’s a good question.” Josy turned on Athera’s bed a little so she was facing William better.

  “Genetic memory?” William tilted his head and looked at Athera as if she was a specimen being used in some sort of scientific study.

  “Will... Can I call you Will?” Heath asked, then carried on talking as if William had answered him. “Will, I hate to tell you this, man, but you aren’t making any sense.”

  William looked over at Heath with a frown. “Athera is a phoenix, am I correct?”

  There was a beat of silence in the room before Athera answered. “Yes, I’m phoenix, but what does that have to do with anything?”

  “The tongue you spoke was ancient. That much I’ve covered, but what I didn’t say was that it was spoken only by one race of eternals, and that was the phoenix.”

  The silence in the room thickened as everyone absorbed what William had said.

  “Now, I get the genetic memory thing, and you are right. That is the only way she could have known the words. Unless—Athera, did you speak any other languages over in the phoenix realm?” Laz asked.

  “Wait—There is a realm filled with phoenix?” William looked shocked.

  Heath groaned. “Oh gods, Laz. Need to know, dude. Need to know.”

  Athera cringed. Heath was reminding Laz that it wasn’t common knowledge that there was a realm full of phoenix out there somewhere. If that became known to everyone, the phoenix would find they were fighting for their lives again.

  Because phoenix carried in their veins the power of life, a lot of eternal creatures would kill—literally—to have a phoenix in their control.

  The best plan to deal with this slip was to pretend it hadn’t happened. “He doe
sn’t know what he’s talking about, so can we get back to the words I said and what they mean, or didn’t you find out a meaning?” The taunt Athera tossed out was deliberate. It was a stab at male ego to get William back on track again and off the subject of phoenix realms.

  It seemed to work when William focused on her, a look of anger on his face. “Of course, I found out what it means.”

  “Well?” Heath asked.

  William sighed and shook his head. “The word Benviousis roughly translates into my blood is your blood, your blood is my blood.”

  “Okay, you told us that already,” Josy said. “But what does that mean, exactly?”

  “My contact wasn’t positive, but it’s part of an ancient ritual. That much he could tell me. It’s what saved Grave’s life. Somehow Athera sucked some of the venom into herself and her abilities as a phoenix helped her process the poison better. That’s my theory at least. I can’t say that it what happened for sure.”

  “Sounds about right.” Heath agreed.

  “Yes, but...” Laz sat forward his brows furrowed as he spoke. “... we need to know what kind of ritual the words were actually used for. I have a feeling it’s important.”

  Josy snorted. “You would think the ritual is important. Ritual is part of everything you do.”

  Laz looked over at her. “It’s part of everything you have to do, too. You are a witch. Or did you forget that?”

  Their bickering reminded Athera that Laz and Heath weren’t supposed to be here to bicker with anyone. “Laz?” She interrupted them before Josy could pop the lid on the anger that Athera could see brewing under the witches’ skin.

  “Yes?” He looked over at Athera and she had to stifle a yawn before she could speak. “What exactly are you doing here?”

  Laz had the grace to look guilty. “I was worried my shielding spell was wearing off. I decided to come after you and stick close till this mess is sorted out.”

  “I wasn’t going to let him go adventuring without me,” Heath pointed out with an irreverent grin.

  “How did you know—”

  “That you were in the fae realm? Wyatt got hold of Zane. We knew what was going down and what had already happened. After we heard all that, I started tracking the protection spell I put on you.” He looked guilty. “Sorry, Ath, we should have been with you from the start.”

  This time,Athera couldn’t stifle the yawn. She put her hand in front of her mouth to keep from giving everyone an exciting view of her tonsils. “We did okay.”

  “Yeah, I saved their asses,” Josy gloated, and Athera didn’t mind. Josy had saved them.

  “Everyone out,” Josy ordered and stood from her spot on Athera’s bed. “Get back in bed, Ath, and get more sleep. Your body has obviously not finished processing all that venom yet.”

  Athera nodded, but it was halfhearted. She watched them all file out of the room and Josy pull the door closed behind them. The room was quiet, with only the soft sounds of Grave’s breathing as Athera tried to find the strength to get up and walk the few steps to her bed.

  Nope, it wasn’t going to happen. She turned her head and looked at Grave’s sleeping form.

  There was just enough space between him and the wall that she could snuggle in there and be warm and comfortable and she wouldn’t have to walk the miles to her bed.

  Yes... that was what she was going to do.

  Athera climbed over Grave carefully and slid her body into the space between him and the wall. She pulled the cover up over both of them and tucked her head into his shoulder.

  He murmured something in a sleepy voice and pulled her closer.

  Athera smiled at that. Even in his sleep, the reaper couldn’t resist her.

  She drew in a lungful of his warm masculine smell and felt the sleep settle over her. If only she could fall asleep like this every night. Yes, that would be her version of heaven.

  Chapter Eight

  Grave woke up with Athera’s scent in his nose and something warm and feminine curled up against his side. He felt his lips curve as his slight movement caused her to snuggle closer to him and mutter something in her sleep. He’d let her sleep a few moments longer as he took stock of his body and made sure he was still in one piece, but she wasn’t going to escape this bed unscathed. No, she’d chosen to climb in with him and she was going to pay a toll before she left.

  Grave used his free hand—Athera was lying on his other arm—to check that his abdomen was still there. He almost laughed at his mental exaggeration but then remembered the feeling of being impaled on the... he chose to forget about it.

  Gently, he pushed on his own stomach and felt tenderness, like a bruise, but other than that, he seemed to be healed. Whoever Josy and Athera had brought him to knew what they were doing. He didn’t have many memories from after he’d been hurt—only a few snippets.

  Athera moved again and Grave sensed she was starting to wake. He smiled and rolled to face her.

  She mumbled something in her sleep and Grave dipped his head forward and kissed the soft curve of her bottom lip. He kissed the sides of her mouth, then captured her bottom lip in his teeth and bit down gently. Grave took his free hand and slid it up the curve of her waist. Keeping his hand in neutral territory, he rubbed up and down her side, a little higher each time, until he was so close to her full breasts it was all he could do not to move that last millimeter and cup their fullness in his palm.

  He couldn’t let it go that far because once he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop, and this sweet torture was all about stopping before the dangerous part. He had to have something of Athera, or he was going to lose his mind.

  He’d felt her whole body tense up when he’d started running his hand along her waist, so he knew that Athera was awake.

  He returned to her mouth for a soft kiss against her lips. Athera sighed and opened for him. Grave didn’t have to be asked twice. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, tasting all of her. Sweet didn’t cover it, and when she started to return his kiss his body tensed with need.

  Who was he kidding? He’d been hard since he decided he was going to steal a few kisses.

  Athera reached up and cupped his cheek with her palm. She was warmer than normal, and it spiked his heart rate to feel the heat coming off her skin.

  He used the hand on her waist to pull her against him, mashing her breasts against his chest, and wished that there were no clothes in the way. He wanted to feel the scalding heat of her skin against his. He wanted to feel her nipples tighten against his chest.

  He broke the kiss and she uttered a sound of complaint, but he wanted to taste her pulse, so he shifted down and started kissing along her jaw and neck.

  Athera’s breath was coming fast and he knew his own breathing was in sync with hers.

  She wove her hands into his hair, pulling at strands that were still stuck in his braid, and the small pain amped up his pleasure.

  “Grave...”

  She seemed to be begging him for more. More he knew he couldn’t give her.

  “Hush,” he murmured between kisses on her throat. Then he found the pulse point he’d been after and he bit down lightly. He could feel her heart pounding against his lips and his cock became concrete when she dug her nails into his scalp.

  He had to get back to her mouth or he was going to go lower. He wanted to taste her nipples in his mouth, and she wanted it, too. He knew because she was arching her back offering her breasts to him, even if she wasn’t aware of it, and he was about to give in and give her what she wanted. If he did that, there would be no stopping. He’d have to have it all.

  Grave pushed himself up on his arms, putting space between himself and Athera. His head was the last thing to lift as he took one or two more lingering tastes of her mouth.

  He pulled his lips away from hers and pushed himself up and off the bed to stand in front of it, his shirt all askew, his pants feeling too tight, and his hair irritating his face.

  “Wait.”

  Athera reac
hed for him, but he stepped back away from the bed. Gods, it was hard seeing her on the bed, half sitting, half lying, all sleep-mussed and sexy with lips cherry red from being kissed and her hair all finger-mussed.

  His curse had never felt more like a... well... curse.

  “Why do you do that?” Athera got off the bed and Grave could see the anger in every line of her body. It was an instant switch from the soft pliable sexiness that had been there only a moment before, but even angry, she was making him feel hot and wanting.

  “Do what?” Playing dumb might work, or it might not.

  “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Athera spat out.

  Apparently, it hadn’t worked.

  “Athera,” he started, and she looked up at him with such expectation, a glint of strong feelings in her eyes, and he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t disappoint her and tell her that he was cursed. He couldn’t leave her wanting what she couldn’t have. So he changed tack.

  “What? I’m a hot-blooded male and I woke up with a female curled up to me and a hard-on.” As the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He wished he could snatch them out the air and shove them back in his stupid pride where they had come from. Each word made Athera cringe and fold in a little more. He was breaking her, and he hadn’t wanted to do that. All he’d wanted to do was scare her off. Where was her fire? Why wasn’t she telling him to go for a long walk off something short and dangerous?

  “So any female would do,” Atherastated, and Grave felt his heart shrivel.

  There was no way he could fix what he’d broken in this room, and he wasn’t sure he should try to fix it.

  Maybe now he wouldn’t wake up with her in his arms again. Maybe she’d stop giving him those hot looks that made him want to pin her against the nearest solid object.

  Athera walked to the door and opened it. She didn’t say anything more as she pulled it shut behind her.

  Grave wasn’t sure how bad he’d damaged her, but he had to pray that she was strong enough to take what he’d dished out at her. He’d made her feel like she wasn’t someone special, like any female would illicit that response from him.