by K. G. Reuss
And Amara? She was a bitch. I knew firsthand. She’d left me dying in a rainstorm weeks ago.
I whipped around Nev and let out a growl of frustration as his blade caught my arm. The ache from the steel made me hiss as I jumped back in shock.
He only winked at me before attacking again. The last thing I wanted was to have an open wound around him when he was near bloodlust. I dodged another attack before backflipping away. Sweat stung my eyes as he pushed me to my limits. My chest ached from the exhaustion.
He caught me around the ankle with his leg and tossed me to the ground, now swordless. We proceeded to roll around before he managed to pin me down, his hands on my wrists over my head. He straddled my midsection and stared down at me.
“Not bad, Torres. You lasted longer this time than the last ten times we’ve done this.”
“It’s either last or let you kill me, you maniac,” I shot back, not bothering to struggle beneath his grip.
He let out a laugh before his eyes darted to the cut on my arm. Blood dripped out and painted my skin with red streaks.
“That’s deep.” He frowned, loosening his grip. “I can fix it.”
I shook my head. Having Nev rub his vampire venom in my wound turned my stomach. While he’d assured me time and time again that doing that or using his blood to heal me wasn’t how vampires were made, I was still leery. That explained why I hadn’t taken my Dyre vows yet. He was the Dyre general. He had to drink from me in order for me to be inducted.
I flinched when he skimmed his finger along the edge of my wound, his dark eyes churning with storm clouds. He licked his finger, ecstasy adding to the darkness in his eyes. He leaned down, his fangs slipping out.
“Nev,” I choked out.
He crinkled his brows as he looked down at me.
“What the hell is going on?” a deep voice boomed out, causing me to jump beneath Nev.
He turned his head and let out a growl before shifting off me.
I staggered to my feet and saw Raiden, Eric, and a guy named Mason staring at us from the edge of the mats. Raiden’s face contorted in rage as he leveled his stare on Nev.
“Well, we were about to have dinner, General.” Nev smirked and licked the remnants of my blood from his fingers.
“Gen,” Eric warned as Raiden stormed over the mats at us.
I thought his fist would fly out and catch Nev in the face. Instead, he shoved Nev in the chest. The two of them faced off, glaring heatedly, until Eric intervened. Raiden moved past Nev and grasped my arm.
“What happened?” he demanded, his body shaking with barely controlled rage.
I tried tugging my arm out of his grip, but he tightened his hold.
“We’re training, General. Accidents happen,” Nev answered, rolling his eyes.
“Not to her they don’t,” Raiden hissed back.
A flood of warmth flowed through me as Raiden pushed his healing out to me. The wound knit back together, leaving behind the red smear. He continued to frown at it for a moment, a strange look on his face. His tongue darted out, licking his lips. He shook his head, looking dazed.
When he released my arm, I didn’t get a chance to react because he cradled my face in his hands.
“Are you OK?” His aquamarine eyes searched mine, the worry making his brows furrow.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, pushing him away amid the embarrassment.
Aside from Eric, no one in the room knew about our former relationship. Sadness raced over his features, but he quickly righted himself and gave me a curt nod.
“My apologies, Miss Torres.” He moved away from me.
Nev lifted a brow, confusion painting his features.
“How’s training going?” Eric asked, pulling Nev’s attention away.
Nev shook his head as if to clear his confusion before glancing over at Eric.
“Wonderful. I’ve taught her more in three weeks than you and your general have taught her all year.”
A muscle popped along Raiden’s jaw.
“Mason, right?” Nev addressed the large shifter who’d been in orientation with me weeks before.
“Yes.” Mason’s confused stare moved from me to Nev.
“You must be the next in line to have your life ruined. How does that feel?” Nev cocked his head at Mason.
“Knock it off, Blackburn,” Raiden snapped, the tried and true general coming out to play.
Nev rolled his eyes before nodding his head in the direction of the door. “Come on, Ever. Training is over. We can find better shit to do.”
“I’d like a word with you.” Raiden stepped back in front of me so I couldn’t leave.
I started to step around him, but he blocked me again.
“It’s not a request, Miss Torres.” His steely, aquamarine eyes glinted as they focused on me. “We didn’t stop in for theatrics. There is a purpose.”
“And what the hell is the purpose?” I demanded. “Don’t you need to be kissing Amara’s ass somewhere?”
“Ever—” Eric started as Nev volleyed his gaze between me and Raiden now that we were engaged in a fierce stare down.
“No. Don’t Ever me,” I snapped.
Eric quieted and took a step back.
“You and I have nothing left to say to one another, General. I have a new trainer. I’m adjusting to my new status quo now. So if you’d kindly go away and leave me alone like I requested weeks ago, things can go back to mediocrity.”
Raiden’s stare hardened. I let out a gasp as he drew his sword.
“What the hell!” I screeched as he lunged at me.
Nev stepped forward, but Eric held his arm out and shook his head, warning him off.
So this was how it was going to be.
I let out a growl of frustration and vaulted away from Raiden. I snagged the sword Nev tossed to me, catching the look of confusion still on Mason’s face.
You and me both, buddy.
Raiden’s sword connected with mine with a clang so fierce it shook my arm, but I held steady, landing a kick to his stomach which shoved him back.
We circled one another, his eyes narrowed at me and my guard up.
He struck again, this time his leg sweeping out to kick me. I spun away from him before launching my own attack. The metal clashed in the room, echoing around us as sweat poured from our faces.
Raiden disarmed me by catching my arm and elbowing me in the face. With a hard kick, he took my legs out from beneath me, planting me face down on the ground, my arms pinned painfully behind my back and my sword out of reach.
“You’ve gotten better,” he growled in my ear, ratcheting my arm up and causing me to squeak in pain.
“And you’re still an asshole,” I choked out.
He loosened his grip on me for a moment. “It’s important that you train harder. You’re still nowhere near where you need to be,” he continued, his knee still in the center of my back, my arms in his firm grasp.
“Get off me,” I snarled, bucking beneath him.
“That’s not how this works.” He tightened his hold on my arms, making me wince. “Make me release you. Begging your enemies for their pity as you struggle beneath them isn’t how you win.”
“You made me the enemy,” I gasped, the fight leaving me. Truth of the matter was a war constantly waged inside of me in regard to Raiden. I loved him. Finding out everything about him had been a lie and that he was engaged to Amara crushed me. So I’d vowed to walk away and not look back. I’d succeeded for the most part until now. After all, he was my enemy at this point.
“Let me go! You’re hurting me.” A whimper slipped out. While the physical discomfort was there, it was the emotional pain which tore me apart. Knowing he’d held me in his arms only weeks ago shattered my heart all over again.
“Raiden, she’s had enough,” Eric called out.
“The enemy won’t go easy on her—”
“The way I see it, you’re the enemy here,” Nev snarled. “She gave up. Let her go or you’l
l have me to deal with, Hawthorne.”
Raiden released me. I crawled away, humiliation burning my cheeks.
“Come on, Ever,” Nev coaxed, opening his arms to me.
I stepped into them, taking the comfort he offered, and cast a look at Raiden whose face was set in that emotionless mask he wore so well.
“I’m only trying to help you—”
“You can help me by going to hell.”
Nev dragged me from the room before I could yell everything at Raiden that had been tormenting me for the past few weeks. How he’d broken my heart. How I’d really felt something for him. How I missed him so much it hurt.
“At some point in all of this, you’re going to have to tell me what the hell happened between you two,” Nev grumbled as we walked to my dorm.
“Take a wild guess,” I muttered as we stopped at my door. I turned to face Nev and saw the frown on his lips.
“You and Hawthorne?”
I nodded morosely. “I thought he liked me too. But he lied. He’s been engaged to Amara the whole time.”
“Hell, Ever.” Nev let out a sigh and shook his head. “Come here.” He wrapped his arms around me. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“What’s the point?” I sniffled, pulling away from him.
“The point is you didn’t have to go through a nasty breakup alone. Do Harper and Abby know?”
I opened my door and stepped inside before turning to face Nev.
“No. I-I never told anyone. Conexus knows.”
“That’s why Amara left you to die.” His eyes darkened. “She’ll pay for that, Ever. I promise you.”
“I don’t even care anymore. I just want to forget the whole thing. I have more important things to be worried about.”
Nev nodded. “Well, just so you know, if I get the chance, she’ll learn not to mess with you, Ever. No one messes with my favorite.”
“Is that what I am?” I chuckled softly.
“Absolutely. Which reminds me, we need to get you inducted. How does tomorrow night sound?”
I chewed my bottom lip for a moment, images of Raiden flashing through my mind followed by my grandmother. I’d agreed to this. I just had to finish it. People like Amara needed to be taught a lesson. From what I’d gathered, the entire Order was comprised of monsters just like her with the Sigil being the biggest of them all.
“Yeah. Tomorrow.”
A grin spilled onto Nev’s face as he backed away. “No training tomorrow then. We induct at midnight. I’ll send for you. You can finally meet my crew. We’ll get your mind off all this other bullshit.”
With those words, he turned on his heel and left me standing in my living room, my heart racing.
I lay in bed that night, staring at my ceiling, my heart aching. I hadn’t spent much time thinking about anything. I’d concentrated on school and training, wanting everything else to just go away. Learning I was some supernatural being who could make or break the world had my guts churning. Add my crumbling love life to it and it was a recipe for disaster. At least Marcus had formulated something that helped me immensely with sleeping. He’d managed to strengthen his spell, resulting in me only blipping through the gray world for a few moments at a time before being tugged back out.
A creak in my doorway made me go up on my elbows, peering through the dark.
In my doorway was a black mass with red eyes. I hadn’t seen Shadow in so long I nearly shrieked as he took a step toward me.
Wordlessly, I stared up at him as he stood over my bedside, his red eyes trained on me. Guilt washed over me. I loved Shadow. And I’d let him go to be with Raiden. Every time I saw Shadow, I always thought it was the last time.
“I thought you weren’t coming back,” I whispered.
He didn’t answer. I shifted in bed until I was sitting up, my feet touching the floor.
“You never leave me, do you?” I leaned forward and rested my head against his abdomen.
A moment later, his warm fingers raked through my hair, calming me.
“I’m sorry, Shadow. I only wanted to feel something for someone and have them love me back. And you said you weren’t coming back. I had to try to move on. But it was a disaster.” I sniffled against him as his fingers stilled in my hair. It felt wrong not to tell him that I’d tried to move on. Maybe he already knew it, but just the same, it needed to be said.
A moment later, he knelt in front of me. “I don’t like to see you sad,” he whispered in his distorted voice. “Everly.”
He moved his fingers beneath my chin and lifted my head up so I could look at him again. “It will get better. I promise.”
“How could you promise that?”
“Because I know it. I’ll ensure it.”
My heart tap danced in my chest at his words. If there was one thing I’d learned about the enigmatic Shadow, it was to heed his words. He hadn’t failed to protect me yet, and I knew he’d do whatever it took to make his words a reality.
“I know what we are, Shadow,” I whispered.
He nodded tightly as his warm fingers trailed gently up my jaw.
“What are we going to do?”
He ran his thumb along my trembling bottom lip, his eyes locked on the motion. I parted my lips.
“All I’ve ever wanted was you, Everly. I’ll do what I must to make that a new reality.”
My heart danced faster in my chest at his words. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d wished to know who he really was. Or for him to wrap me in his strong arms and tell me I belonged to him. It was more than some weirdo crush. It was. . .destiny. I felt it to my very soul with him.
It was almost the same feeling I’d had with Raiden. If I would’ve let Shadow go, I knew I’d have tumbled forever with Raiden. But Shadow was my anchor.
I reached for him. He leaned into my touch as I cradled his warm cheek, the stubble on his cheek rough on my hand.
“How? We… I-I’m not in a good spot in my life right now, Shadow. I-I can’t—we can’t—”
“Shh.” He brushed his finger against my mouth. “Tell me what you want, Everly. What you really want.”
“I-I want you.” My words were soft and barely above a whisper. “I always have, but I screwed up. I-I fell in love when I shouldn’t have—”
“You were in love?” His deep, distorted growl had me trembling as I stared into his shimmering, red pools.
“Yes, or at least I thought I was. I-I made mistakes, Shadow—”
His lips brushed against mine, silencing me. I froze beneath the action. It was the last thing I expected from him in that moment.
“Love is never a mistake.” His lips swept against mine again.
This time, I snapped out of my stupor and kissed him back, relishing in the way he growled his approval as he ran his fingers through my hair. Feelings I’d been holding in so long rushed through me. I wanted to let go.
Not knowing who Shadow was sent this delicious thrill through me as we continued our kiss. It didn’t wash away my desperation to know his identity, but the way his fingers twining through my hair felt, it really dulled the need. Although, nothing would ever fully remove my desire to know the real him.
I want him. Shadow always protects me. He’s mine. I’m not doing anything wrong. To hell with the rest of the shit in my life.
Deciding to try my luck, I reached out and ran my hands along his chest, our lips still molded together. My fingers met rough fabric. Buttons. The Dementon shield patch on his chest. Another brush a fraction of an inch lower would get me to the emblem of which faction he was.
But he’s definitely Dementon. That means I have to know him!
Shadow removed his fingers from my hair and grasped my hands before he pushed me onto my back, pinning my arms over my head and moving to loom over me. His lips found mine again as he leveled his body over mine, his weight gently atop me.
I’d gone stupid beneath his mouth, wanting more.
I let out a soft sigh as his lips trailed across my
jaw to my neck, where he buried his face and kissed my pulse point, his body moving ever so slightly against mine. Teasing me. Tempting me to throw caution to the wind.
If he kept going, I wouldn’t tell him no. I was tired of the mess I was in. I wanted this. I needed it.
He released one of my hands and trailed his touch to my waist then to my bare thigh. I’d gone to bed wearing only my tank top and panties. His fingers threatened the edge of my panties, making me rake in short gasps of air as he continued to kiss the sensitive skin of my neck.
And then he stopped. He stilled over me, his breathing heavy.
“Shadow?” I called out softly.
He shifted slightly and peered down at me, his eyes dark pools of molten lava.
“I’m taking you,” he choked out.
“What?” I crinkled my brows as I stared up at him. My heart slammed against my chest.
He cradled my face and let out a breath. “I’m taking what I want for a change. That’s you. You may hate me for it, but you’re mine, and I’m yours. I wanted you to know. That’s what I came here to tell you.”
“Shadow?” My heart thundered in my chest, my voice shaking. “W-what are you saying?”
“I’ve been running from my destiny for far too long. You belong to me. No one will ever bring you harm again. Forgive me for what I have to do. Please. I need to know you’ll forgive me.”
“You’re scaring me. What are you going to do?”
“Tell me you’ll forgive me, Everly.” His warm breath blew across my face as he tilted my chin up. “Promise me.”
“I-I don’t even know what’s happening—”
“I’m accepting what we are.”
“W-what?”
“You’ll always be mine because I will protect you forever. I’ll only ever love you.”