I huffed. “Sounds great.”
His crooked smile caught me off guard. “It used to be…until my sister found it and put a curse on it. She couldn’t change the nature of the book and she couldn’t destroy it, but she did change the rules. It gives me memories I can’t use and doesn’t explain why.”
“Lovely sister you have.”
“Tell me about it.” He shook his head and took a swig of his drink. I stared hopefully, my dry mouth seeming even more parched. He tipped the cup toward me. “Want some?”
I sniffed. No odor. “What is it?”
“Water.”
I smiled and took it from him. The cool liquid slid down my throat, sending a shockwave of energy with it. I might as well have downed ten colas with how amped up I was. “Water, huh?”
“I never said it was from Earth.”
“I’ve had water here too, and it’s never done this to me.”
“That’s because it isn’t from the source.”
Talking to him was like conversing with a five year old. Could he ever stay on topic? I just nodded because I wanted to find out more about the guy he mentioned. “So, why do you think that memory is important? You have to have met plenty of doomsayers in your travels. Why him? Why that memory?”
“Just a hunch, I guess. It’s come back to me several times over the last few weeks. It has to mean something.”
“Couldn’t you just find out what the legend was…like look on the internet?”
“Oh, yeah, grand idea.” He gave me a mocking tilt to his head. “Why didn’t I think of that? A wealth of information to be had—once you slog through mires of muck.”
I bumped his shoulder. “It’s worth a shot.”
He twisted his hands around the book as if to hold it more securely. “I have better odds of finding what I need in here.”
A bed creaked, and I scanned the room.
Heath watched me.
I would have said us, but his eyes never roamed away from mine. He patted the mattress beside him and gave me a sly smile.
I shook my head and looked away. Man those walls were solid. And the cold floor sent an ache to my bare feet. Yep. Uncomfortable.
When I looked back at Heath his smile had turned to a grin that brought out his dimple. My pulse thudded in my ears. His words from the other night surrounded me. He said he ached for me, his almost bondmate—if this was almost, I shuddered at the thought of complete.
He patted the mattress again and gave me a lazy smile. I shook my head. With a pout of his lips, he flipped onto his back and placed his hands behind his head. His dark braid trailed over his bare chest and bicep. My fingers curled as if contouring to his tawny skin. I could almost feel the hard planes and chiseled valleys.
Making myself turn away from him was harder than it should have been. I gulped and took one last look. Zach frowned at me, but it wasn’t in a hateful way. It was more like regret.
“It appears much has changed since I left you with Finn.”
I picked at a high spot on the rough table. “I know, and I’m sorry.”
A gentle hand pulled my face toward him. “I knew the risk. I had hoped I would return to you in three days.” He laughed. “Not even Heath could have swayed you in that short of time.”
I giggled. “Yeah, it took him way longer than that.” The truth was I didn’t know when I had softened toward him. Attempting to change the subject, I asked, “So, did you guys even talk about who you will choose?”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t say discuss was the right word.” His bright eyes lit with laughter. “You surprised everyone with that one. Very clever, I might add.”
“How so?”
“I know what you’re doing, Rayla.”
“Really?” I joked, although I was now worried. “You been sneaking around in my mind?”
He rubbed my chin. “There was no need.” His lips curled in a tempting smirk. “I have a bit of an advantage over my brothers in that I was able to watch you for a while before we were introduced. I know more about you than you might think.”
“Oh, come on! What kind of answer is that? What’s wrong with, ‘No, Rayla, I’m not able to read your mind’, or something less…lame?”
The padding of footsteps broke through my rant. Luke scrubbed at his eyes and meandered toward us. When he was a few feet away, he leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Morning, beautiful.”
I blinked up at him, not sure what to say other than, “Hi.”
“So what’s going on between you two? You woke me up.”
I grimaced. “Sorry.
He shrugged then looked at Zach. “What is this about?”
Zach snapped the book shut and leaned on an elbow. “I’ve been searching for a memory. I couldn’t sleep, so I took advantage.” He stifled back a yawn. “When do we leave?”
Luke cocked a hip against the table. “Kalista is furious, especially considering this recent development; we’d better not make her wait much longer.” Sighing really loud, he turned toward me. “I hope you got enough time with your mother.”
Without even thinking about it, I stood and hugged him. “I did. Thanks for…everything.”
His grin lit the room. Pulling back from me, he touched my cheek. “You’re welcome. Now, if you are ready…”
I nodded. With all five lords around me, and a monster in my back pocket, the fear I’d harbored had been obliterated. Tabitha’s warning made no sense. My connection to the lords afforded me at least a general idea of their mood. Although trepidatious, none of them seemed to be hiding anything. In fact, I had never felt this connected to them as a whole. These were good men, yet one thought bothered me over and over. There had to be a reason she sent the letter.
We didn’t take much time in leaving since Mom was gone again. I had insisted on seeing Styx before we left, but as it turned out, we had to ride to Altasia. Drifting at the heights involved was supposedly dangerous. I’d take Luke’s word for it.
I rode with Zach, hoping to get to talk to Styx along the way. Luke hadn’t even complained when I told him. Bastion flew ahead of us. Every so often Styx would nicker and she’d immediately respond with a slight change in course or some kind of movement.
I lowered my walls, hoping it was just for him. “Are you there?”
His reply was immediate. “Yes, Elemental. What is it you wish to discuss?”
I smiled. “This seems to have worked out pretty well for you.”
A chuckle. “I suppose so. Thank you for allowing me time with her. It has been too long since we were left alone.”
“No big deal.” I fidgeted, trying to formulate my thoughts into something coherent. “I have something I want to ask you.”
“I am aware.”
When I shifted again, Zach put a hand on my thigh. Electricity shot through my leg and zoomed to my heart. I couldn’t afford to get distracted. Who knew how much time we had?
Straight shooting then. “What do you think of the borderland creatures?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Same thing I think about any creatures. Some are good and some are not.”
“How do you know the difference?”
“Have you dealings with anything in particular?”
I bit my lip, attempting to keep Creed’s image out of my head. “Are you going to go blabbing this to Zach?”
He huffed and purple smoke choked me. “I never blab. You may trust me.”
“Okay!” No need to get touchy. “You probably know about Gibbit.”
Another chuckle. Good to know he found me so funny. “Technically, he doesn’t belong to the borderlands.”
Poor troll didn’t belong anywhere. I was starting to feel really bad about the way I’d left things with him. “Well,” I hedged. “I met a hellhound through him. I kind of fixed him. I mean, it was unintentional, but he went from being the puniest thing you’d ever see to the biggest monster there.”
Silence.
“So I ended up leaving, but a wraith showed up a coupl
e of days ago, claiming that he was trying to protect me.”
“You haven’t given me a question to answer, Rayla. Besides, I hardly see the connection to these events.”
“I was getting to that. It seems Cerb asked Creed to come check on me.” Weird. Two C names in a row. Why did my mind conjure those particular names?
He groaned. “Tell me you didn’t name these creatures.”
“Why?”
I could feel him shaking his head at me. “Foolish doesn’t begin to explain what you have done.”
“Are they bad? I didn’t know what to do, and it seemed weird that they didn’t have a name. I mean, you have a name.”
His muscles stiffened beneath me. “I am not a borderland creature. They have been stripped of identity for a reason.”
“Which is?”
“They are dangerous.”
Crap. “So I shouldn’t have done it then?”
“I didn’t say that. You will not know the answer to that question for quite some time, I’m afraid. As it stands, do not tell anyone else about this.”
“At all?”
“No. Before you ask, not even the lords. As good intentioned as all of them are, they do have agendas to fulfill.”
“Speaking of…I tried to talk to Bastion—”
“She told me.”
“Why wouldn’t she talk to me?”
“Out of kindness. She does not want to interfere with your decisions.”
“You talk to me.”
“I am not Bastion.”
This was getting me nowhere. Should I tell him about what was really bothering me? I closed my eyes and let the thought flow. “Tabitha warned me about the lords.”
Styx huffed. “Tabitha should learn to keep her thoughts to herself.”
I tightened my grip on Zach, but he didn’t seem to notice. Even with all we had been through being near him calmed me. “Why?”
“She is going against her own dictates. She is influencing you.”
As if that was a real answer. Why did everyone here seem to like to talk in riddles? “There’s no way I’m going to find out everything I need to know is there?”
Styx hesitated. “Sometimes you have to go on faith, Rayla. It is the driving force of your universe.”
Nice in theory, but how do you start using something as intangible as faith without anything to go on? “How will I know what’s right?”
“Trust those who love you; trust yourself; trust your creator.”
I grunted inwardly. “I’ve kind of made a mess of things by being too trusting.”
“Is that what you think?”
“I don’t know what to think. That’s the problem.”
“Your real problem is you are waiting for someone else to validate your course. Only you can know what is right for you. When the time comes to decide, you will make the right choice.”
“How can you know that?”
“I don’t, but I believe you will which is the first step to true knowledge.”
I sighed. This was so complicated. First I can’t trust the lords, now I should, even though all of them had compelled me at some point…even though Tabitha had told me not to.
Styx banked left, and I wasn’t ready for it. Zach grabbed my leg, righting me before I fell.
“Thanks,” I said, giving him a quick squeeze.
“Well now.” He chuckled. “If I had known you would cling to me like this, I would have made sure our journey had a bit more turbulence.”
I laughed. “Go ahead, but I hope you like screaming.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me, a grin spreading along his luscious lips. “Oh, I can think of worse things.”
I blushed. The smirk on his mouth faded to a serious line. His eyes burned with unmasked desire that ignited a slow burn in my belly. Zach, I thought. What a mess we’ve made of this.
Styx interrupted my inner turmoil. “We are nearly there, Rayla. I have one thing to share with you about compulsion.” I waited for the best advice of my life, so I was surprised by what he told me. “The line goes both ways.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve told you all I can say.”
He retreated from my mind and no amount of shouting from me got him to come back. I checked my barriers again, just to make sure. They were fine.
Styx had implied that for compulsion to be used, the one doing the compelling had to pay a price too. What else could he have meant?
Whatever. There was no way I was going to squander what little time I had left with Zach, so I wrapped my hands tighter around his waist. He didn’t complain. Not that I would have cared if he did. I missed him. He’d compelled me into trusting him initially, but now I didn’t even have to think about it. He shifted back and turned his face toward me, grinning at me like a schoolboy.
I gave him a peck on the cheek and settled my head against his back. “I’m glad you found me first, Zach.”
He stiffened and his voice came out throaty. “I only wish I had done things differently.”
“I don’t,” I said. “I understand why you did what you did. You were only trying to protect me.”
He grunted. “There was a little bit more to it than that!”
I shook my head at him. “I know, but for now, I want to think about the good things you did.”
“You’ll not hear anymore about it from me, lass. Thank you for forgiving me.”
That was just it. There wasn’t much to forgive. I smiled at him and he turned around. Zach was as good as his sister was evil. I needed to remember that.
When the city came into view, I stared, unable to do much more. It hovered in the clouds high above the earth. Opaque spires jutted straight to heaven while light spiked through the clouds and onto the sprawling structure that seemed to go on forever. It glowed like the crystal castle, but it had an underlying blue hue. The closer we came, the more I longed to see it from the inside.
We landed on a cloud, literally. I mean, what the heck? Clouds are gas for heaven’s sake.
Styx hadn’t plummeted through the questionable ground, so why couldn’t I bring myself to take Zach’s outstretched hands. When he moved closer, I screeched. Any second now I knew he was going to fall through a pothole.
As much as I’d come to love discovering the limits of my powers, I’d freaked myself out when I jumped into thin air to escape Tabitha at the crystal castle. I’d been more stories up than I wanted to admit. If it wasn’t for Styx, I could have died.
Zach inched closer, once again, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his feet. “It’s safe, love. Don’t worry so much.”
“But it’s a cloud.”
He shook his head. “It merely looks like one. Jump down; you’ll see.”
I said a quick prayer. It couldn’t hurt. When my feet hit the cloud, it crunched like crusted sand. Weird. I bent down and gathered a handful.
The tiny particles melted at my touch like snow, yet it wasn’t cold. This was the coolest thing I had ever seen, all the winter fun without the threat to toes and fingers. Even with this revelation I stepped lightly wishing we had landed closer to the castle. The stuff stretched a good football field ahead of us. Luke must have been eager to get inside because he took my hand and led me toward the queen. Several servants hovered around her, preening her windblown hair into an up-doo. Interesting. She either liked the hands-on approach, or maybe what she liked was making these people earn their keep?
She smiled at me and stepped away from her entourage. “Welcome to Altasia, Rayla. You will find that unlike other provinces, we are not spread out.” Her exuberant laugh trilled through the air. “It would be too cumbersome to maintain this type of environment elsewhere.
Why was she apologizing to me? “It’s lovely, your majesty. I can’t wait to see the inside.”
Her resultant smile seemed genuine. “Let’s not tarry then.”
She whirled around, her blue silk skirts flowing after her. The sheen reflected the vibrant c
olor of the sky.
Luke offered an arm, and I accepted. He caressed my fingers with his other hand. “I’ve been dying to show you my kingdom. Now that you are here, we have so much to do yet so little time.”
“About that.” Man, how was I going to bring this up? “I’ve heard rumors about some raiders—”
He gave a sharp squeeze to my wrist. “Some things are better discussed in private.”
He did have a point. As soon as the word came out, everyone around us fell silent. “All right, what would you like to talk about?”
He chuckled. “Let’s get you settled first.”
His casual tone mocked the hard set of his shoulders. Something was terribly wrong. Maybe I should have insisted on going to Lombarda, or maybe I should have just stayed in Eldrea. Despite the connection with the borderlands, I liked it there. I felt safe.
Not so here. Every time someone glanced my way, I worried about their motives. Who ever said rumors didn’t do their job? I sped up. The sooner I had Luke alone, the faster I might actually get some answers.
Chapter Thirteen
It was a good thing fae food couldn’t make me fat, although it did feel like cheating on a major test. I’d eaten more scrumptious delights in the last few weeks than I knew existed.
As it was, a nice Brownie with bright golden hair leaned toward me offering one more helping of dessert.
I gave a halfhearted smile and shook my head. My stomach was only so big. When she frowned at me I said, “Maybe tomorrow.” She beamed and carried the tray toward the exit.
I’d never seen such a big dining hall and this was supposedly the small one. Hoping to avoid direct conversation with the queen, I scanned what I could see of the room distractedly. Since the moment I walked through her doors, she had bombarded me with questions about who I was leaning toward bonding with. She smiled at me as if her questions were no more than casual, but something dark lingered in her eyes when she thought I wasn’t watching her.
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