He smiled. “You, Noir, Gil, and Trevor, and once Azren and Valance are back ... we have our own knell. I’m merely trading one for another.”
I pressed my lips together, holding back the bird of hope that fluttered furiously in my throat. “Are you sure you want this? Me?”
He pulled me against him and pressed his lips to mine in a hard, determined kiss. It was brief but filled with promise, and when he broke it, my body was flushed with heat.
“Two days, Wila. Give me two days, and then I’ll come into the Everdark with you. Can you do that?”
I nodded up at him. “Yes.”
***
Azren’s screams echoed in my mind, mingling with my own as I shot up in bed.
Fuck nightmares.
Throwing off the duvet and shoving my feet into my slippers, I headed downstairs. The sky was a weak gray predawn color, the perfect time for a cup of tea. Maybe I’d get lucky and Gil would be about. Although he never slept, sometimes he went away. I’d asked him about it once and he’d said it felt like slipping into a waking dream where he could still feel the world around him but was unable to access it. The three of us had discussed it and come to the conclusion that maybe it was the ghost equivalent of sleep, some kind of recharge state maybe, but there was that tiny part of me that worried that it was something else, that maybe one day Gil just wouldn’t come back from it.
I padded into the kitchen on a yawn and then snapped my mouth closed at the sight of a bare-chested Noir holding a teapot. His blond hair was tousled, his baby blues dark with sleep, and the slightly crooked smile he was giving me flashed the lethal dimple and made my stomach do a backflip.
“Hey.” I pulled out a chair and sat down.
I was the queen of feigning nonchalance. Like, I’m so nonchalant about your abs and that tantalizing V leading down into your PJ bottoms. I’m so fucking nonchalant about the fact that you’re standing in my kitchen holding a pot of tea and making it look like an invitation to an orgy, and that dimple does absofuckinglutely nothing for my pulse.
Damn Tay and his putting stuff in my head about Noir.
Noir grabbed another cup from the cupboard, the lean muscles of his back rippling with the movement.
I canted my head. “You have a thing against T-shirts?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Why, is my bare flesh too tantalizing for you?” he asked teasingly.
I snorted. “Hardly.”
He arched a brow. “I’m wondering whether to be offended by that.”
I cracked a smile. “What do you want me to say? ‘Oh, Noir. You’re super-hot and the sight of your naked bod makes me all kinds of tingly.’” My tone was deliberately light and teasing to match his, but it was impossible to hide the breathless edge to it.
Noir’s eyes bled to navy, and his expression sobered. “I think I’d like that,” he said softly.
Oh, fuck. No. Do not go there. “Noir, I—”
“This is the moment when I quip something back, something light and teasing, but no. I think there’s something else I need to say. Just for my sanity’s sake.” He exhaled and leaned back against the counter. “I’ve never met a woman who could tie me up in knots in such a way that I’m not sure whether to laugh or kiss her. I feel a connection between us, more than just the usual sexual chemistry, more than just what my body wants. I feel respect and friendship and ... other stuff that I’m not free to feel.”
Blood rushed in my ears. “Noir, you don’t need to say—”
He held up a hand. “Yes, I do. I’m not the kind of man who plays games. If you were Arcana, or if I wasn’t, then I’d tell you that I was falling for you.” He paused and tucked in his chin. “If I wasn’t a Noir, we wouldn’t be standing in this kitchen on opposite ends of the room. I’d have you pinned to that fridge while I tasted your delectable mouth.”
My stomach flipped hard, and my ears buzzed.
He pushed off the counter and turned his back to me. “As things stand, I don’t believe in starting something I’m unable to finish. I made that mistake once, and I will not cause that kind of heartache again.”
My heart lurched in reaction to his declaration.
He set the pot on the table and then passed me a cup. “So, that said, tell me why you’re up so early?”
Words stuck in my throat, things I’d love to say to him, but what good would it do aside from making things harder? Instead, I forced my muscles to relax and answered his question. “Nightmare.”
He took the seat opposite me. “Azren?”
“Yeah.”
His gaze softened. “It’s going to be okay.”
The words he’d just said were still whizzing around in my head, making it difficult to focus on the current conversation, and my confusion must have bled into my expression.
He looked away, suddenly real interested in the fridge magnets. “I’m sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut.”
“No ... No, I’m glad you said ... stuff.” I reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. “I’m so blessed to have you in my life, Noir. I’ll take you any way I can.”
He scanned my face as if committing it to memory. “If only being free for me was as simple as leaving a knell.”
My stomach twisted. “I doubt it will be easy for Tay.”
He blew out a breath. “Yes, you’re probably right. But it will be worth it.” His smile was like the sun. “In the meantime, I suggest we go look for the breach, get the location for when we’re ready to go in.”
I blinked at the switch in topic, shifting my brain to action mode. “Good idea.”
Noir and Tay had volunteered to come with me into the unknown, and Lex had offered to give us a place to hide Valance, if need be. Elora might have spies on this side of the border, and we couldn’t risk them finding out we’d liberated Valance from exile, especially since we needed him to help us get Azren back.
But Lex’s sudden eagerness to help was still bugging me. “I don’t understand why Lex is being so accommodating all of a sudden.”
Noir sipped his tea. “He wants the same things as us. He wants the truth, and you gave him that by finding out about the Others. He wasn’t pleased that they were being used to power the Treaty, but he understands why you made the call you did.” His jaw flexed, and his eyes grew cold. “Although, I’ve made it clear we won’t be jumping through any more hoops. What he asked you to do was too dangerous and pretty impossible. If not for Loraine and Greta, you’d never have gotten into the facility in the first place. He had to have known what he was asking of you, and he may not give a damn about your safety, but I do.” He took a breath and another sip of his tea. “Lex understands that, right now, we need the power the Others can provide to protect Arcana from Elora, because she could strike at any moment. If getting Valance back brings us one step closer to uncovering Elora’s plan and stopping her, then so be it.”
“Lex thinks that Valance may know what the dragon bitch is planning?”
Noir sat forward. “Don’t you?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t. I don’t think she would confide in him.”
“Maybe not before she took him from us, but who knows what she told him before exiling him to a place she thought he would never leave?” Noir pursed his lips. “Trust me, secrets are hard to keep, and I doubt Elora would pass up a chance to gloat. Valance disappointed her. He saved your life, so if she can rub it in his face by telling him how it was for nothing, do you really think she’d pass up the opportunity?”
It was my turn to sit up a little taller. I’d been focusing on getting Valance back because I cared for him, because he didn’t deserve his fate, and because together we’d be able to save Azren, but Noir was right, saving Valance may give us the answers we needed to save Arcana City.
I lifted my cup. “Drink up. We should go scout that forest right now.”
Chapter 12
Noir and I were headed for the front door when Quinn sauntered down the stairs in his hip-hugging
jeans and no shirt. His dark hair was cropped too short to get tousled, and his brown eyes looked almost hazel in the morning sun.
What was it with guys and their aversion to torso coverage in the morning?
“Out already?” Quinn said, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked down at his feet. “Check me out using stairs.” He curled his toes and then bounced on the balls of his feet. “Beats cage time any day, and that bed was lumpy. I love it.” He grinned wide, showcasing his fangs and the even, white teeth in between.
Yeah, he was what I’d call devilishly handsome, and no doubt he’d grow cockier the more time he spent in the outside world. Which had me wondering how often they’d let him out of that cage. There was still so much we needed to find out about him, but now wasn’t the time for a sit down and chin wag.
I continued for the door. “We’ll be back in a couple of hours, Quinn. Make yourself at home. There’s a TV in the lounge, or if you want, Gil can get you set up on the computer. I have some pretty decent games.” I turned, hand on handle, and glared at him to emphasize my next point. “Whatever you do, do not leave this house.”
“Story of my fucking life.” He sighed, saluted, and then sauntered into the kitchen and began opening and shutting cupboards.
“Well, at least he’s taking the making himself at home thing seriously,” Noir said.
I had to give it to him, he was adaptable. “Let’s go find this breach and get back. I’ll feel better once we have a little more information on our guest.”
Azren’s bike sat in the drive under a protective cover I’d asked Tay to purchase for it. I patted the chrome through the thick plastic. “Yeah, I miss him too, babe. I promise to get him home soon.”
Because this was Azren’s home. Here with us. Here with me. My chest ached with the need to see him, to bury my face in the crook of his neck and inhale his sweet fragrance, and to look into his fiery jade eyes and see myself reflected there.
Soon.
We took Mini, with Noir scrunched up in the passenger seat.
“We could have just shifted there,” Noir grumbled.
“You need to conserve your energy for when we go into the Everdark. I’m being selfish and making you hoard it.”
“One trip wouldn’t have made a difference.”
“It would have been two. There and back.”
“We need to get you a bigger car.”
“Hey, no speaking ill of Mini. My baby’s a dream, and it’s not all about the size.”
“Really? Have you seen the men in your life?”
“Point, but you guys have your own rides. I mean, technically, you don’t even need a ride.”
“I’m thinking a van, custom built to carry weapons, maybe some tech tracking gear and some stakeout kits.”
I couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up my throat. “A Bastion Investigations van?”
He shot me a sidelong glance. “Why not?”
I caught my bottom lip between my teeth. “I’m sure once we save the city you’ll have better things to do with your time.”
He leaned his head back against his seat. “I’ll always have things that need doing, but nothing better than hanging out with you.”
The playful note was gone, and we’d slipped into serious mode again. Eyes on the road, Bastion. Eyes on the road.
But the heat of his regard remained on the side of my face a beat longer before slipping away. My breath slowly eased out of my lungs, and my tight grip on the wheel relaxed. It was as if I was cursed. All this time I’d been craving something, and I’d finally found it with these men, and all of them—literally all of them—were inaccessible without a fight.
Talk about making you work for it. Jeez.
The rest of the journey passed in relative companionable silence, and then the Petting Zoo came into view with the Turnaround Forest as the green backdrop against an arid landscape. It was time to go hunting.
***
I stumbled out of the forest and stared at the warehouse in the distance. How many times was that now? Eight? Nine? Urgh.
“This is beginning to get ridiculous,” Noir said beside me.
I blew out a breath. “We just keep scouting.” I walked parallel to the forest and then stopped several meters down. “Okay, next section. Remember, don’t go too far in or we risk getting shoved back out again.”
We crunched back into the shade of the forest. Noir raked a hand through his hair, exasperation etched onto his lean face. Yeah, this was getting annoying, but it was the only lead we had, and we weren’t leaving until we’d scoured as much of this forest as we could. Up ahead, the ground was dappled by sunlight lancing through the foliage overhead. If not for the eerie silence, the walk would have been pleasant. But being in the forest was like having earmuffs on. Everything felt and sounded muted.
Noir slipped his hand into mine and squeezed once before letting go. “If it’s here, we’ll find it.”
We walked as far into the forest as we could before stopping and heading east to avoid getting expelled. Quinn had said there was a breach, a slit of sunlight, but if we were looking for the Everdark, we’d be looking for a slit of darkness.
“Wila, look.” Noir pointed at a tree up ahead. It was distorted, as if lightning had struck it and split it in two down the center of the bark. Wait, that wasn’t a split, that was inky darkness. That was the fucking breach. I headed toward it.
“Wila, wait!” Noir followed at a brisk pace to keep up. “Don’t get too close.”
I slowed my pace, approaching warily. The inky darkness shifted and churned. There was something there, something coming toward us.
The darkness burst outward, hitting me full force in the torso.
“Wila!”
Noir’s finger grazed my arm, and then electricity seared my skin, and I was being pulled away from him, jostled and bumped against foreign limbs, and then something hard made contact with my head and the darkness claimed me.
***
The scent of burning wood and the chilly damp seeping into my skin pulled me from sleep. No, not sleep, I’d been knocked out. Shit. I sat up fast, too fast, and my head gave an angry throb.
“Easy, nasty bump you have.” The voice was soft and male.
My eyes adjusted to the gloom, to the glare of the campfire. The figure that had spoken shifted on the other side of the flames. He was cloaked, his face cast in the shadow of a hood, but his eyes gleamed supernaturally from within.
“Who are you, and where am I?”
“Jinx is the name, and this be the Everdark. You come through tear. You swim against the tide. The tear take and the tear give.”
What was he talking about? “I don’t understand.”
“No. I don’t understand. Why you come here? Most leave but you come.” He canted his head. “Why you come?”
I was here, in the Everdark. I’d somehow been pulled into the breach and others had come out ... yes, the limbs that had battered against me. Oh, shit. “I have to go back.” I pulled myself up.
He chuckled. “There is no back. The tear gone.”
My blood froze. “What? What do you mean?”
“Gone means gone.” The eyes narrowed. “You not look stupid. Maybe bump on head knock sense out.”
I reached up to gingerly touch my temple and winced as pain lanced through my head. Yeah, there was definitely an egg growing off my forehead. Shit.
“I need to get back to Arcana City. It’s beyond the breach—the tear thing. Can you take me to it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He sat forward and spoke slowly, as if speaking to a moron. “No tear. Tear gone.”
Ookay. So I hadn’t heard wrong. “What do you mean gone? I can’t be stuck here.”
“Not stuck. Wait. We wait for next tear. It come. It come in forty cycles.”
Forty cycles? Like, what the heck did that mean? Oh, God. Please don’t let it mean what I think it means. “What is forty cycles?”
He
blinked slowly. “No day here. Only night. But each night has a cycle.”
I sank back to the ground as the realization sank in. “Forty nights? The breach comes in forty nights?”
He nodded. “And more come. More Others come. They fight to get through. They die to get through. Only the strongest get through.”
Reality set in, slow and painful.
I was stuck here with no backup. No Noir, no Tay, no nothing, and there was no getting out for forty nights. Panic bloomed in my chest, spreading rapidly until it tingled in my fingers, leaving them numb with terror.
The cloaked figure, Jinx, was watching me from beneath his hood, his eyes the only visible feature glowing intensely in the gloom. The fire popped and crackled, embers floating upward toward the cave ceiling.
I was trapped. I was fucking trapped. No. Breathe. Okay, this wasn’t the end of the world. There was a way out, just not yet. Forty days ... My eyes burned and pricked. Wait, how did I know this creature was telling the truth? He could be lying his arse off.
I lifted my chin. “Thanks for the save, but I think I’ll be on my way now.”
He blinked slowly. “You leave?”
I stood up. “That’s right.”
He shrugged. “Your choice.”
I backed out of the cave and into the night. The moon was high, the air was crisp and cold, and the landscape was an almost barren wasteland dotted with outcrops of rocks and dead, twisted trees. A shiver skittered over my skin.
Valance was somewhere here, and the breach was out there. This guy, Jinx, had to be lying, but which way to go? Asking Jinx was pointless. He could just set me off in the wrong direction. There was nothing to do but scout and hope for the best. Using the moon as a guide, I set off.
***
An hour later I sagged against a rock formation covered in black fungi and buried my head in my hands. I’d worked the perimeter to Jinx’s cave, searching for the sunlit breach, but found nothing but gray and black land highlighted by the silver rays of a reluctant moon. Could it be that Jinx had been telling the truth?
A howl ripped the air, stinging my senses and raising my hackles. K was in my hand in an instant, but I made no further move, waiting for the sound again, needing to pinpoint which direction it was coming from.
Chronicles of Arcana (The complete collection books 1-4) Page 47