Noah frowned, uncomfortable with the idea of Eden locked down there behind the heavy metal door that had been the reason for Cyrus renting the place. The basement had once been a cold store. “Why? Is that necessary?”
Cyrus nodded slowly. “I appear to have a calming effect on her but it… considering the circumstances it is not enough. She is determined to leave and will no longer listen to reason.”
“Drug her?” Alain asked softly.
Noah stiffened at the thought. There was a drug the Ankh and Neith used when interrogating soul eaters that helped abate the soul eaters hunger, so they were able to focus on what was being asked of them. Noah didn’t think drugging Eden was a way to incite her trust.
Cyrus apparently agreed. “No. I need her to trust me. It is irrelevant, as the hunger is not what is causing the pain. She is grieving.” He turned his dark, penetrating eyes on Noah and Noah saw the hint of accusation in them.
He bowed his head in respect but insisted, “I told you how she felt about her brother. I told you it would be wise to leave him out of this.”
“And in return I told you he wasn’t to be harmed.”
They all felt Romany stiffen guiltily but Noah refused to feel bad when he turned his eyes on her. “And I relayed those orders to everyone. Including Romany.”
Romany glared at him, a mixture of anger and hurt pooling together in her brown eyes. But Noah was too upset to care. Too furious with her impetuosity and bloodlust. “I’m being admonished for killing a soul eater. I don’t believe this.”
“You’re being admonished for disobeying a direct order and jeopardising the integrity of this assignment,” Noah responded coldly.
She scoffed, “Oh please. You would have happily killed him if he hadn’t been your precious Eden’s brother!”
Her apparent jealousy echoed around the room and they all shifted uncomfortably. Noah shook his head, feeling a twinge of sympathy as her cheeks blushed red. “Stop,” he said quietly.
Her eyes flared with pricked pride. “Stop? I’ll-”
“Enough,” Cyrus commanded softly and strode silently towards Romany. Her eyes widened at his approach. “You forget yourself, warrior.”
“I apologise, Princeps,” she whispered, lowering her gaze deferentially.
“Noah is correct. You disobeyed a direct order and while I would like to think it was because you were caught up in your duty, I am beginning to suspect it was something petty and childish that compelled your actions last night.” His face remained expressionless but Noah recognised the bristling in Cyrus’ body. He was angry. And Cyrus very rarely grew angry. Suddenly, Noah felt as if he should throw himself between the Princeps and Romany. “I would hate to think that my reconciliation with my daughter-”
Everyone gasped, cutting him off. “Your daughter?” Alain stepped forward, alarmed. “Cyrus…?”
Cyrus snapped around at him, his eyes flashing, his usual admirable control gone; Noah almost smirked, thinking Eden had a tendency to do that to a man. “Yes. My daughter. That is how I see her. Merrit made me promise to raise Eden as my own. I never had the chance to fulfil that promise, but if it is the last thing I do I will save Merrit’s daughter and care for her as if she were my own for the rest of my eternal life.”
At the grave oath of the Princeps, a little piece of Noah’s concern chipped away and he couldn’t help the small smile that formed on his lips, despite his father’s disapproving frown and Emma’s anxious expression.
Eden would finally be alright.
With a man as powerful as Cyrus protecting her and caring for her, she had the best chance in the world to turn her life around.
Cyrus had shut them up, and like a large panther satisfied at having made his domination known within his jungle, he turned back to Romany. “As I was saying, I would hate to think that my reconciliation with my daughter has been jeopardised by a Neith’s childish petty jealousy.”
Romany paled and threw Noah a beseeching look. When he didn’t come to her aid he saw the realisation dawn on her face. She was Neith. He was Ankh. And he would always put the Ankh before her, no matter their friendship or shared duty. It was the way he had been raised. Arrogant? Perhaps. Selfish? Perhaps. But it was a part of him that was obdurate.
He winced inwardly at the flash of disgust in Romany’s eyes as she finally understood that fact. She huffed and straightened her shoulders to face the Princeps like a warrior. “I apologise, Princeps, for my error in killing Eden’s brother. But I can assure you that it was purely done in the heat of the moment. There is nothing between Noah Valois and I anymore. Nothing that would constitute a deliberate breach of your command.”
Noah wasn’t surprised with her publicly breaking up with him. If she hadn’t done it, he would have. He had defended her to Eden to try and calm Eden down, but the truth was he was furious at Romany for killing Stellan. The wail that had erupted out of Eden as she’d watched her brother’s death would haunt him for a long time.
Cyrus nodded stiffly. “Fine. I will be reporting your error to your Councilman and he will deal out an appropriate punishment. You are dismissed.”
Romany responded with a brittle bow to Cyrus and then she strode from the room and the house without looking back.
As always when one of his ‘relationships’ ended, Noah felt the freedom of relief.
Alain exhaled. “So what now?”
Cyrus shook his head, his dark eyes full of more emotion than Noah had seen since Merrit’s death. He knew it had been a shock when Cyrus saw Eden in the dining room. He hadn’t known how to tell him that Eden was the spitting image of Merrit — except for the colour of her eyes. It must be hard to be faced with such a reminder of his lost love. “We wait. I do not want to keep her in the basement for long. Just enough to calm her. I am thankful Romany is no longer here.” He cursed. “I was close. Before the Romany incident, I was close.”
“Don’t worry,” Noah reassured him. “Cyrus, you’ll get through to her. I know it.” His father turned on him, and he could see the displeasure in Alain’s eyes. His father knew him. Knew what he was feeling and did not like it one bit. Tough shit. He shrugged. “She said no.”
His mother’s eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean, darling?”
Noah smiled at Cyrus. “I mean at the Awakening Ceremony… she said no. She told them she wouldn’t kill me.”
Although the Princeps didn’t smile, Noah recognised the lightening of his eyes as pleasure. “She did?”
“Yeah. She was really brave.”
“That may not mean anything,” Alain sighed. “Cyrus, I am concerned. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
Cyrus strode towards Noah’s father and placed a gentling hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate your concern, Alain, but you know I can save her.”
“She isn’t Valeria, Cyrus,” Alain disagreed.
“Dad, she’s strong,” Noah insisted. “She can do this.”
“She threatened to kill you,” his father snapped. “How can you defend that?”
He felt his patience thinning. “Because when she had the chance she didn’t.”
“That was before we killed her brother.”
“Look.” Noah shook his head. “You’re right. She might never forgive me. But I believe she’ll forgive and trust Cyrus.”
Emma reached for her husband’s hand and squeezed it. They shared one of those looks that Noah had always envied; the kind of look in which a whole conversation passed between them. Finally his father gave a small nod. “OK. I’ll reserve judgement and pray that you are both correct.”
Cyrus nodded gratefully and watched his friend and fellow warrior quietly leave the room with his wife, an air of anxiety pulsing all around him. The Princeps heaved a sigh and turned to Noah. “Your father is a good friend and a great warrior, but sometimes his pragmatism gets in the way of his faith. You don’t share that quality, Noah. In some ways you are much like him. Arrogant and elitist,” he teased. “But in other ways you
are very open-minded.”
“You mean with Eden?”
“Yes.”
“I spent a lot of time with her. I know her. I believe in her.”
“And yet you believe she will never forgive you?”
“She might not, no.”
“And that matters?”
Noah snorted and raked a shaky hand through his hair, not quite able to meet the Princeps eyes. “More than I ever thought it would.”
“Then I want you to stay.”
“What?” He frowned, glancing up sharply at Cyrus.
Cyrus’ face had hardened again, as it did when he was relaying an order. “Eden may be angry with you, but you are also the one thing that has pushed her to hold tight to humanity. I believe in that more than I believe in her anger. You’ll stay-”
“But, Princeps-”
“No buts. We’re in this together, Noah Valois.” And finally Cyrus let himself smile a little. It was a smile of hope and Noah felt a twinge in his chest at the expression. He prayed that Eden didn’t let this noble warrior down. “Me, you, Eden and Valeria.”
At the mention of the Ankh, Noah raised an eyebrow. “Valeria has finished her assignment then? She’s returning?”
Cyrus nodded. “She’s already on the plane. Alain and I are driving to meet her at the airport. We will be gone a few hours, so I leave you and Emma in charge. Valeria’s presence here should help greatly.”
Noah sighed. God, I hope so.
Chapter Nineteen.Me, Myself & I
Eden, we have to get out of here. Can’t you hear the heartbeats all around, the heartbeats of such delicious pure souls? Oh Eden, Eden, get us out of here. We need to feed, Eden. Let’s take them, Eden. They deserve it, Eden. For Stellan. They took him from us, Paradise. They cut him apart and snuffed out his life without caring. Why should we care if we do the same to one of them? Get the blonde, the one who killed Stellan.
The hunger shredded her insides with its vicious claws.
Hmm, yes. The blonde. Smell the souls, Eden. We want them. Need them. Need. Need. Take. Take. Stellan. No. Souls. Souls. Pure. Stellan. Need. Want. Give in. Forget. Stellan. Hungry, Eden. Hungry. Take. Take.
Eden screamed, pulling at her hair, yanking strands of it from her scalp in her desperation. Her chest was burning with agony from the hunger, her heart weeping in pain from the grief and her mind wrestling with the sanity to deal with both together. Her nerves felt fried, as if there was too much blood and muscle and veins for her skin to contain. Her entire being bubbled beneath the surface, desperate to break apart, free.
She began to hyperventilate.
Sometime later, Eden awoke, her body aching from having passed out on the lumpy mattress in the basement Cyrus had put her in. He hadn’t wanted to. Or so he had said. And despite Eden wanting to trust him — no, needing to trust him — she couldn’t. She couldn’t trust anyone anymore. As the blurriness of unconsciousness faded, Eden struggled to sit up. She felt mildly better, although she could sense the hunger beginning to awake along with the rest of her body. She’d really thought she was going crazy before she collapsed. Maybe she already was crazy.
I wonder how long he’ll keep me here.
Eden gazed around at her dismal setting. At least Cyrus hadn’t chained her up.
And that will be his first and last mistake. As soon as someone came into the basement, Eden was getting out of there. Even if she died trying.
Unfortunately she had to wait a while, and the longer she waited the hungrier and angrier she grew. Her grief for Stellan remained despite her reasoning that he probably had known the truth about who she was. It didn’t matter. She had known he had loved her. Would have died for her. And he had. He was gone because of her. Because of Romany. The grief was easier to handle when she contemplated revenge. So that’s what she did: she thought on the revenge she would one day exact. She didn’t care how long it took her, she would hunt Romany down and kill her exactly the same way the Neith had murdered Stellan.
Anticipation zinged in Eden’s blood giving her an energy she lacked from being hungry both for a soul and for actual food. When the lock on the basement door clicked and an unfamiliar warrior walked in with a plate of food and a glass of water, Eden was ready. She clocked the dagger in the pouch strapped around the hips of the female Neith/Ankh? Eden didn’t care which. She just took the opportunity. She didn’t know if they’d been watching, or what. Had they been expecting her to be so tired they didn’t worry about the chances of her getting past a warrior?
It was disgustingly easy.
She flew at the warrior, a blur of movement across the basement, her hand ripping the dagger from the warrior, whose reflexes were good enough to whip out of Eden’s path, but not good enough to retain the dagger. Eden slashed at the air in front of the warrior, who jumped back, the tray of food clattering to the ground, the glass smashing into pieces.
“I don’t want to fight, Eden.” The woman held her hands up in the air defensively. She looked vaguely familiar with her auburn hair and cobalt eyes. “I’m Noah’s mother, Emma. We don’t want to hurt you.”
At the mention of Noah’s name, Eden’s eyes narrowed, not even bothering to be surprised that, like Alain, Emma looked barely ten years older than her son. How would Noah feel if she killed his mother, huh? Would he understand then? The unbearable guilt and emptiness. Would he get it then?!
She shook with indecision as Emma turned her kind eyes on her. They befuddled her. “Just hand me back the weapon and we’ll wait for Cyrus, and we can talk. Let’s just… all talk. I won’t hurt you, sweetheart.”
A pang of bitterness swelled in Eden’s chest at the endearment. No one had ever called her sweetheart before.
No.
She wouldn’t kill Emma. This wasn’t her fault.
Eden nodded, as if she were agreeing, and lowered the dagger. Emma’s shoulders seemed to sag a little in relief. Eden kicked out her leg, thinking the warrior duped. Two seconds later she was shocked to find herself flat on her back on the floor of the basement, Emma straddling her, holding her down with an amazing strength that belied her small stature. Wow, she’d underestimated the power of the Ankh.
Despite Eden’s attack, Emma’s eyes remained kind. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
The pressure on her wrists and body clamping her to the ground was immovable. There was no way she was getting out of here. Crap. What now?
Unless…
Eden’s eyes narrowed in thought. Did the compulsion work against the Ankh? She didn’t know. But it was worth a try right? She locked eyes with Emma. “No, you’re not going to hurt me.”
Emma’s face slackened but her eyes widened. She trembled as if she were fighting with herself. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she replied in the flat voice of one under compulsion.
“Let me go, Emma.”
It took a minute, and Emma’s eyes seemed to shine with tears of disbelief, but she let go and stood up robotically. Eden jumped to her feet, still clasping the dagger in her hand. She gazed quizzically at the Ankh. If she didn’t know any better she’d say the compulsion worked but Emma was aware of it happening to her. “You’re going to let me go and not follow me.”
“I’m going to let you go and not follow you.”
Not taking any chances, Eden patted Emma’s pockets and pulled out the key to the basement door. She felt a wallet and stepped around the warrior to stare down into her eyes. “You’re going to give me any money you have on you.”
Emma blinked and reached into her back pocket, pulling out a girly pink leather wallet that seemed at odds with the warrior. She rifled through it and pulled out a wad of cash. Eden took it, her eyes widening as she counted it. There was at least two hundred bucks there.
“Thanks,” she replied and handed the empty wallet back. As she did, her eyes touched on the cool dagger pouch around Emma’s hips. She untied it, still amazed that the warrior didn’t even move, and strapped it around her own hips, sliding the dagger back
into the pouch. Just in case. Eden took a step towards the door and then glanced down at her feet. Damn. She sighed and walked back around to stare into Emma’s eyes. “Take off your shoes.”
The half-boots were a little too small but Eden shoved her feet into them anyway.
She slammed the door shut behind her and locked Noah’s mother inside.
One down.
Stealth after that wasn’t really her top priority. She just wanted out of there. Eden raced up the basement stairs and out into a narrow hallway, the front door visible at the other end. She strode along it quietly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Hey!”
Eden whirled around to face a warrior she hadn’t met. She kicked out at him with her right leg and he wrapped his hands around her foot, twisting her towards him. Her body responded fluidly, her torso pushing up so her left leg flew at his head, her foot cracking against his skull. Her body turned through the air and she landed on the ground with the grace of a cat. She’d dazed the warrior but not enough. She never saw his fist move but she felt the impact of it connecting with her gut, the breath whooshing out of her as if she’d fallen from three storeys onto her back. The hunger roared at Eden to take him but she shook it off. She didn’t have time. She doubled over, as if she were in agony, and felt the warrior step closer. Her right hand flew up without even looking at him and her knuckles stung as they connected with his jaw. He stumbled and Eden straightened and delivered an uppercut with her left fist. The warrior’s grunt was followed by his knee slamming into her gut as he regained his balance.
She barely felt the impact of the blow this time, realising this man wasn’t nearly as powerful as Emma.
He was Neith.
For some reason that knowledge gave her confidence and strength.
She threw him a feral grin and lunged at him, using his own knee as a platform to spring up on, to deliver a deafening crack to his face with her left knee cap.
Eden jumped off of him just as he collapsed on the ground with a thud.
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