by K. G. Reuss
I opted to tell her about home instead.
“Do you still want to go see your mom for Christmas?”
“Yes. Do you think it’s safe? I still get nervous. The ghosts still freak me out, and now I know there’s more than just them out there.”
“I’ll go with you. I’d like to meet your mom.”
She chuckled softly. “You mean you never met her when you were skulking around my house for seventeen years?”
I smiled at her sass. “To be fair, I was only there from when we were four to when we were twelve and then only a few months of this past year. I guess I didn’t have time to pop out of her closet and introduce myself.”
She let out a soft, breathy laugh and twined her fingers through mine. “I’d love it if you came with me. I’ll just have to make sure my mom is OK with it.”
“She will be.”
“Are my psychic abilities rubbing off on you?” she teased.
“You don’t know the half of it,” I replied softly.
Thirty-Nine
Everly
The days after that passed without much issue as Raiden and I settled into a routine. We’d decided to keep our relationship a secret for the time being. I figured it was the best way to avoid unnecessary drama with Amara. With our abilities, it was surprisingly easy for Raiden and me to be together without alerting the rest of Conexus. Secret, telepathic conversations kept our flirting hidden. Our shadow melding abilities easily allowed us to sneak in and out of each other’s rooms without being detected. It was nice to have something just for me for a change. And Raiden was mine.
He’d been quiet lately. His visit with Brighton almost a week ago had made him extra pensive. I’d asked him about it several times. But whenever I did, he’d offer me a gentle smile, and then the look in his eyes would shift to hunger. Like he couldn’t get enough of me. And I had to admit, I really liked that look on him.
Order business had called him away three times the past week. Eric and Damien went with him. And each time Raiden returned even quieter than before. Attending to F.I.R.E. business was starting to take a toll on him. Every time he was gone, I sent up a silent prayer of hope that Dyre members were safe. So far, according to Eric, no one had died. Yet.
I was relieved.
I tried to focus on Nev, hoping to dream of him. But it never worked. He was probably bullshitting me. It was something he would totally do.
I didn’t have time to dwell on Nev. I missed Raiden. So I went in search of him.
“Where’s Raiden?” I asked Sloane as I stepped into the Conexus kitchen later that afternoon.
“He’s out on some top-secret mission,” she grumbled. “Eric and Damien are with him.”
“So is Amara,” Chloe piped up, coming into the room.
I ground my teeth at that information. I really hated that chick.
“We have patrols tonight, Torres,” Mason called out as he came into the room. “Raiden said he has to cancel your training because he’ll be out late.”
I frowned, wondering why Raiden wouldn’t just tell me himself. “OK. I guess meet me at the fountain at midnight,” I told Mason.
“You got it.” He grabbed a sandwich off the plate Sloane had stacked high and winked at her.
She grinned back as he left, his backpack on.
“He’s always so cheerful,” I grunted, taking a sandwich myself.
“He’s completely gorgeous,” Sloane said with a laugh.
“Aren’t you and Damien—” Chloe started.
“No.” Sloane frowned and let out a sigh. “He thinks he’s a perma-bachelor, and I think he’s an idiot. It makes dating hard.”
I noted the sadness in her voice.
“Girl, he’ll come around.” Chloe patted Sloane’s hand and offered her a reassuring smile.
“Maybe. If not, it’s whatever. Maybe I’ll ask Mason out.”
“Really?” I asked. “You like Mason?”
Sloane shrugged. “I like the way his ass looks in his leather gear.”
Chloe giggled as Sloane grinned sheepishly.
“What about you? You ever going to put Raiden out of his misery?” Chloe asked, biting into her sandwich and raising her brows at me.
“He’s been gone a lot lately,” Sloane added. “It has to be hard on him.”
“Yeah, about that—” I began, but I was cut short by the basement door banging open and Eric and Damien trudging into the room.
“What are you guys doing back?” Sloane asked. “I thought you’d be out there doing some F.I.R.E. thing.”
“We were. We did.” Damien grabbed two sandwiches off the plate.
Eric snagged one and gave me a smile. “The Sigil wasn’t pleased when Raiden wouldn’t kill a captured vamp. Personally, I’m with Raiden. I think the guy was innocent.”
“Raiden thought a vampire was innocent?” Chloe gave Damien and Eric bewildered looks.
Damien shrugged. “Confused the shit out of me too. I’m glad he stood his ground and refused because it pissed off his dad and uncle and got me and Eric out of there.”
“But Raiden got stuck behind. With Amara. That’s the worst part.” Eric glanced at me.
Out of everyone in Conexus, Eric was probably the only one who knew Raiden and I were closer than before. He’d seen Raiden in his room with me, after all. I tried to remain calm about the situation. I trusted Raiden. It was Amara I didn’t trust. Added to it he was stuck in a place I didn’t trust with nasty people I didn’t trust, and well, it just made my worries climb.
“What’s going to happen to him for disobeying?” I demanded. “And why did Amara have to stay behind?"
Damien swallowed his bite of sandwich and glanced at Eric. “He’ll probably receive punishment in the Xanan dungeons for it. As for Amara, who the hell knows. Her dad was slinking around, so maybe she went to talk to him. The Sigil made her leave the room too. She just chose to not come back with us.”
My guts twisted, ignoring the part about Amara. “You mean they’re torturing him?”
Eric gave me a helpless look. “We don’t know for sure. We didn’t see him get led there. We were dismissed from the room before it happened.”
“If it helps, his healing is insanely fast now. So as long as he isn’t cuffed in vorbex, he should heal almost instantly.”
I ground my teeth and backed away. “That’s bullshit. It’s sick. He gets beaten because he refuses to murder someone?”
“Easy, Torres. Raiden knows what he’s doing—”
Chloe cut Damien off, “Raiden’s been acting weird lately. I’m worried about him. Haven’t you guys noticed how quiet he’s been? I mean, he’s usually quiet, but this is like he’s lost or worried or something.”
Eric cast a quick look at me. “He’s got a lot on his mind.”
“Do you know what it is?” I asked.
Eric’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “It’s you. Always you, Everly.”
“Me?” I squeaked. “He doesn’t need to worry about me. We’ve been over this.”
“When he gets here, walk up and kiss him like he’s Sleeping Beauty,” Sloane stated with a nod of her head. “Snap him out of his funk. I mean, maybe just a quick lay—”
Damien burst out laughing. “You want Ever to screw Raiden? You’re the weirdest chick—"
“I know where you’re going with that. I’d advise you to shut your mouth before you decide to start complaining about the fact I wouldn’t go back to your room with you the other night. Raiden and Ever are made for one another. You’re just a perma-dipshit.”
Damien stopped laughing and gave Sloane a gentle smile. “You like me for me though, right?”
“No.” She grabbed a sandwich and flounced out of the room, leaving Damien shaking his head at her.
“That girl,” he sighed.
“Maybe you need to get your shit sorted,” I said to him. “She likes you, and you’re making her suffer.”
“A fellow torturer recognizing herself in others?
” Damien raised a dark brow at me.
“I’m not torturing Raiden.”
“I think we both know you are, Torres. The guy lives and breathes for you. But you just blow him off instead of blow him—”
I reached out and smacked the sandwich out of his hand and glared at him. “You don’t know shit, Wick.”
“Easy, sassy pants. I was only messing with you.” Damien looked down at his sandwich on the floor with a frown.
I didn’t say anything to him, opting to walk out instead. I strode upstairs and lay in bed. It was a Friday, and we didn’t have classes since it was some sort of teacher in-service day. They had some big meeting to go to so they could learn how to enrich our lives more.
I had so much shit I needed to do. But I closed my eyes and tried to focus on Nev, hoping to fall asleep and figure that shit out. After a few minutes, I sighed. I just couldn’t get it to work. It didn’t help that I had no clue what his cryptic ass meant either.
Exhaling deeply, I rolled over and called out to Raiden with my mind, not even sure if our connection would work that far since I knew Xanan had to be traveled to through the portal in the basement.
“Raiden?” I waited a moment. “Shadow, can you hear me?”
I tried five more times, not getting anything. I punched my pillow and rolled over. Thirty minutes later, I was no closer to napping than before. If anything, I was more awake.
Grumbling, I got up, changed into my training gear, and went downstairs. Eric was sitting on the couch, a book in his hand.
“Where you off to?” he asked.
“Gym.”
“Mind if I come with? We could train like old times?”
I smiled and nodded. “Sure.”
He grinned and hopped over the back of the couch, landing at my side. When I’d talked with him a few days ago, Eric told me he felt fine. Stronger. More attuned to his abilities, but fine. He seemed like himself, so that was a relief. I was worried he’d turn into a zombie.
“What’s eating you?” he asked as we strolled to the gym.
I shrugged. “Just worried, I guess.”
“He’s going to be fine. He’s tough.”
I nodded glumly.
“You two are back together, huh?”
“Yeah,” I said softly. “But it’s scary and confusing. I had this vision.”
“The one where if you have sex with him it’ll be the nail in your coffin and push forward all the destiny stuff? The Rule of Five?”
I blinked at him in surprise. “How did you…”
“You’re going to think I’m nuts, but ever since you brought me back, my psychic senses are off the charts. I only knew about your vision because you thought it.”
“What?” I grimaced. “I thought you said you wouldn’t read my mind—”
“I didn’t. It’s like… I don’t know… like I’m connected to you. It’s weird.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I wasn’t really sure.” He shrugged.
We entered the gym and began our warmups.
“And now you are?”
“More than I was.”
God, I hoped he couldn’t just randomly read my mind. “Do you know what I’m thinking right now?” I put the vision of a large, deep dish pizza with the works on it in my mind.
Eric wrinkled his forehead, concentrating. “No. I think it’s just related to your visions since that’s the ability part. I see what you see. Or at least will know what you see. I think.”
“Great. That’s not weird at all.” Thank God, he wouldn’t know when I was thinking about Raiden’s muscles or kissing him or worse.
“It might be helpful if you ever have one when you’re alone. I’ll be able to know.”
“I guess,” I muttered, getting to my feet and stretching out my neck.
We sparred hand-to-hand for a long time, me dipping and dodging Eric’s attacks. He’d definitely gotten faster and stronger. But so had I. He still had more experience than me, so he managed to knock me down twice, but I got him once, so I did feel good about that.
“Try the sword. I know you hate it, but what if it’s your only weapon?” Eric handed me a sword.
I eyed it with apprehension. I really didn’t like the sword. “Then I’d use magic?”
He chuckled. “Just try the damn thing. If you ever get vorbexed, you’ll wish you knew how to use the sword.”
I grumbled, taking the heavy steel in my hands and proceeded to get my ass handed to me by him.
By the end of practice, he’d disarmed me three times and knocked me on my ass two more times.
“Great practice. You’ve come so far.” Eric clapped me on the back as we walked out of the gym. Night had fallen by then which meant it was time for my patrols.
I tried to reach out to Raiden again but got silence.
“He’s not answering me,” I muttered.
“Don’t worry, OK? He gets sent out a lot, so this may be nothing. I’ll reach out and see if I hear from him. Maybe I’ll drop back into Xanan after a shower under the guise of wanting to get cookies from the Cookie House.”
“There’s a cookie place in Xanan?”
He laughed. “Of course. It’s a massive city. There are all sorts of things there. Pizza, coney dogs, fries, sodas. There’s also stuff you can’t get in the Nattie world too like sugar spun dots—”
“What’s a sugar spun dot?”
“Ah.” He rubbed his stomach. “It’s like a little drop of heaven. Chocolate. Cinnamon. Sugar. They fill each of them with something different. You can get fruit filling or a dessert filling like custard. Or you can just opt in for a chocolate or vanilla filling.”
“They sound amazing.”
“They are. I’ll grab you some next time I’m there.” He grinned as he held the door open to the house for me.
Damien greeted us at the door. “Torres, patrols with Mason.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” I grunted, pushing past him.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Wick. I don’t have the time to stay mad at you.”
“I love you, Torres!” he called out to my back as I went upstairs.
Once I was in my room, I grabbed clean clothes and took a quick shower which did nothing for my screaming muscles.
I may have pushed a little too hard in training. I considered asking Brandon for some healing but thought better of it, not wanting to bother him for something so menial.
Mason wasn’t downstairs when I got there, so I assumed he was already waiting for me. The guy studied endlessly. He probably spent his entire afternoon holed up in the campus library.
When I reached the fountain, he was there, sitting on the edge.
“Hey,” he greeted me with a grin.
“Hey, where have you been?”
“Ah, studying. I was trying to learn more about your Mancer/Reever situation.”
We fell in step together and headed toward the outer edge of the campus to make sure the limits were good. I knew Amanda and Jared were out here too somewhere, probably coming in from the opposite direction. I could’ve asked them, but honestly, I didn’t really care.
“So, did you find out anything new?”
“Nothing, really. It’s all just what we already know.”
“Nothing on me bringing people back from the dead?”
He shook his head. “The problem is, a mancer and a reever have never connected, so there’s no documentation on it. Just rumors.”
“Are the rumors at least good?”
“Not really. A full connection between the Mancer and Reever will completely seal everything. I mean, you guys are already halfway there since you’re bound through Conexus and all that. I’m not sure what the complete seal is. But as long as it’s done before May fifth at 5:55 in the morning, I’d say we’re good.”
“Sex,” I murmured to myself.
“Sex?”
I nodded, embarrassed he’d heard me. “If we com
bine, join bodies, it seals us in.”
Mason snorted. “It’s always about sex, isn’t it? Everything I’ve ever read in regard to prophecies—any of them, even the bullshit made up ones—revolves around sex. So does he know?”
I nodded again.
“And?”
“And, what?” I glanced at him.
His cheeks blushed crimson. “Are you guys going to? I mean, it could save the world.”
“Or doom it.”
He grimaced in the moonlight. “I guess there’s that too, but just so you know, I don’t believe for one second that’s what will happen. I have a theory.”
“Oh yeah? I’ll bite.”
He tossed me a quick smile. “I think you’re both too smart to fall victim to a bunch of bullshit. I don’t think either of you will lose yourselves. I think once you’re completely in this, with Raiden, you’ll both make this world a better place. I just don’t see two people with good hearts tearing the world down. I just don’t.” He shrugged. “I think once you’ve… consummated your weird relationship—” He shot me a grin. “—you’ll be too powerful to take down. You’ll be too powerful for anyone to control, bad guys included. But you’ll still be you. So I think that’s a good thing.”
“Are you telling me to have sex with Raiden?” I laughed.
“I guess in a way, I am. Besides, sex is great.”
“You’ve done it?”
He scoffed. “Of course. I did have a girlfriend before I joined Conexus.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Every damn day, but I’m here for her. I’m here to make sure she gets a good life by being protected by the best. I sacrificed it all because I love her. I just hope she knows and understands that.” He grew thoughtful as we rounded a corner.
“I bet she does,” I said gently.
He gave me a sad smile. We walked in silence for a long time, making sure the grounds were clear and safe. And made sure all the students were inside after curfew. Luckily, most students at Dementon were either too good to be caught or they obeyed rules, which meant I didn’t have to deal with them.