Audrey dug her nails into the cushion under her legs and spoke through gritted teeth. “Who the hell are you?” How do you know my name? Where are my powers?
The lady blinked those startling purple eyes, and her smile turned feral. Audrey amended her earlier impression to evil fairy-tale queen. “You can keep no secrets here. Not from me.”
Audrey wondered how much time throwing the heavy crystal cup in the woman’s face would buy her. She scanned her periphery for anything else to use as a weapon. The fire poker looked promising.
“Mother, this is ridiculous. Look at her… she’s not fit. Just wipe her memory and let her go.”
“Well—”
Audrey sucked in a hard breath to prop her voice up and pressed her moonstone to the hollow at her throat. “No one’s taking another goddamn thing from me.”
The man frowned at her, tucking a strand of jet-black hair behind his studded ear. “Sounds like we’d be doing you a favor. You could have a fresh start.”
“Who the hell are you to say I need a fresh start? Fuck off. I don’t know you.”
His shoulders seemed to be slowly crawling up his neck as he regarded her, his eyes black chips of ice under the heavy ridge of his brow. When he spoke, it was in the same low, careful tone. “If you would cooperate, we could keep it that way.”
“Fuck you,” she spat.
“Yes, we’ve established the extent of your vocabulary. Do you do any other tricks?”
Audrey tried to stand but the giant guard held her totally immobile with one hand and stood there like he could—and probably would—do it all day. She angled her chin up, fixing her steadiest glare on Mr. Bossy Robes. “Yeah, I do. Call off Mountzilla and give me back my powers and I’ll knock you flat on your ass.”
The man’s eyes glittered for a breath of a moment, like a blade flashing silver under placid, dark water. She blinked, and it was gone. But one corner of his bow-shaped mouth twitched. “You already did that once today.”
Audrey stared at his face as scraps of her last nightmare ground into place like gritty gears. There had been a man in black robes… but the look in his eyes had burned her. This couldn’t be him.
“You can’t tell me you feel no sympathy, Corvin. Roderic told me how you fought the Hohlwen off of her. I may have a rogue immortal on my hands thanks to that little territorial display.” The lady paced back to her window, arms crossed over her chest.
The man, Corvin, pulled his gaze—empty of any spark of heat—away from Audrey’s. She took the opportunity to look at him more closely. He was the one who’d rescued her from the creepy shadow-thing wielding that wicked-ass staff? She quickly scanned the room and found Exhibit A propped beside the door. She frowned and looked back at her wayward hero.
He’d crossed his arms too, revealing leather armor up to his elbows as he faced off with his mother. Who was this guy? And why did Audrey have to get caught in the middle of their family drama?
He sighed, his brow furrowed. “You can’t make me do this.”
Queeny issued a velvety laugh and slid into the armchair behind her desk. “Yes, I most certainly can. I’ve given you other options and you’ve denied me. If you want the Synod to keep your post and fund your sanctuary, you will mentor one initiate per cycle from now on and assist with classes. You can start with her. Audrey, dear…”
Audrey flinched at her name, glaring at the woman, who looked so comfortable in her fancy office with all the chips on her side of the table. She had real balls to call her dear. Made Audrey want to spit on the nice Persian rug.
I need my powers. She started to shiver. She had never felt that place inside of her completely hollow. She’d always had an ace hidden up her sleeve. Now she was not only weak but completely vulnerable. All thanks to these people. She was going to figure this out, and then they were gonna pay for messing with her.
“You’ll be briefed in seminar tomorrow, but for now, let me explain the basic rules.”
Rules. Right. She was very concerned about those. She sighed and settled into the sofa. The guard eased out of her personal bubble. She studied Corvin, wondering whose side he was on, but his pensive gaze quickly flitted away. He couldn’t even look at her? Not that she could blame him. She felt like shit warmed over and probably looked worse. Obviously there’d been some sort of mistake—he hadn’t meant to actually help her. He didn’t want her there at all.
At least we agree on something. She didn’t need his help.
And she’d had enough of other people deciding where and how she could live her life. She was going for that fire poker… in just a minute. She tensed to spring for it, and a sharp pinch zapped up her side and exploded behind her eyes, making the room go dim. She leaned her head back and took shallow breaths until the squeezing pain subsided.
“Audrey, please pay attention. I will only say this once.” Queeny seemed anxious to get rid of her too. She shuffled sheaves of paper and began opening and closing drawers in her puzzle box of a desk, not quite concealing her irritation. “You will remain here for the next three moons. During that time, you will train in the Zyne arts under the supervision of either your seminar instructors or your mentor.”
Corvin was doing a startlingly good impersonation of the grim guard. He stared at the floor between them, and it was clear from his posture that he’d grudgingly given up his side of the argument, which didn’t inspire much confidence in his usefulness. Unless she wanted directions off the nearest cliff.
Queeny finally found what she’d been searching for and fit a dainty cigarette into the corner of her mouth, slamming the last drawer closed. The flick of her lighter sounded loud in the thick silence of the room. She took a deep drag and exhaled slowly. Smoke twisted in a sinuous crown around her head. Her lavender gaze swirled with silvery white. “Any more incidents like the one today, and you will not be granted another pass. Corvin will fill you in on the rest.”
She waved her wrist dismissively. The mountain of muscle beside Audrey rumbled back to life. His hand felt like sun-warmed stone as it circled her arm and hoisted her to her feet. She swayed, pretty sure the pitiful amount of water she’d drunk was going to splash back out of her achingly empty stomach. Once she had the ground steady underneath her, she stared at the mystic queen on her smoky throne and once again hoped all of this was just a manifestation out of her demented mind. Even a drug-induced stint at Parkview would be better than losing all her powers or her memories.
Who do these people think they are?
A million insults and demands sprang to her tongue, but when she opened her mouth, what came out was, “Why?”
Another drag. “I thought we’d established this—he needs to contribute and he’s already claimed responsibility for you.”
Audrey blinked, fighting the fuzz encroaching from all corners of her brain, pain and exhaustion weaving heavy webs over reason and logic. “No. Why me? Why am I here? Why don’t you just let me go?” What else do you know about me?
“Patricia, she can barely stand. Can you not put her mind at ease?” the looming guard rumbled.
Corvin’s mother issued the guard a warning look as she dashed out her cigarette, then smiled at Audrey. “Because you are Zyne by birthright, my dear. If you pass our tests, you can keep your powers and become one of us. If you fail, we will return you to the mundane world, without your powers or any memory of them, and you can scratch out a living however you choose.”
Audrey sneered, and it made drool spill out where her bottom lip was too swollen to close properly. The words almost snarled out of her. “Sounds like I’m fucked either way.”
If it was possible to convey disdain without a single crinkle of skin, Patricia pulled it off. “We shall see.”
The guard yanked her forward. It took all of Audrey’s remaining focus to keep from collapsing or running into something as she was dragged from the room and into a marble-walled corridor so long it gave her vertigo. The floor twisted beneath her feet. She lifted her head to see Corv
in standing before her, staff in hand. He was looking over her shoulder.
“Deliver her to the healers. I’ll come to retrieve her later.”
Audrey shivered with the effort to stand on her crunched knee. The shivering just made her breath catch, which made her ribs cry bloody murder. Her eyes watered with unshed tears, but she gritted her teeth and kept quiet. She was in no shape for another fight now. If they had healers, she’d take them. She was stubborn, not stupid.
“She’s your charge,” came the guard’s low reply. “You take her. I have other duties to attend to.”
Corvin’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t say a word as he grabbed Audrey’s other elbow. The guard released her, and more of her weight sank onto her bad leg, which gave out. She swayed toward Corvin, too slow to balance, and started to tip over.
He caught her and lifted her into his arms as his staff clattered to the floor.
Audrey wanted to shove him away, to walk on her own with her head held high, to make it clear she may be a prisoner but she was not helpless. Not pitiful. But then she felt his body pressed to hers. He was not the cold marble of the shadow creature or the super-heated rock of the giant guard. He was warm. Soft in the right places. Human. Breath. Heartbeat.
For the first time in months, for a few infinite seconds, she was okay. Alive. She wrapped her hands around his neck as a rush of exhilaration pulsed through her, chasing back the pain.
Corvin turned to face the guard and spoke in his even, careful way. “If you would be so kind, see that my staff is waiting for me at the kitchen entrance.”
The guard cracked a hint of a smile. “My pleasure. Perhaps the boys will be up for a game of fetch first.”
“A piece of your hide for every nick,” Corvin grumbled, and then he swept Audrey down the endless hall with long, gliding strides. Marble patterns and gas flames streaked her vision, making her dizzy. She closed her eyes and rested her head in the crook of Corvin’s neck. He held her tight in his strong arms, but with…tenderness. Every adjustment he made for her comfort spoke to reassure her—he would not drop her, would not let her go, would not give her up without a fight. She felt safe, and the irony of that did not escape her notice. It had to be that he was the first non-aggressive human body she’d been in contact with in months. The idea that she could be that desperate for such simple kindness was disturbing all on its own.
Still, she tightened her hold. All she could do was hope that when they got wherever they were going, she would have the strength to let go.
Chapter Four
If they had mentioned the spa package when she’d first gotten here, Audrey might not have made such a big deal. After eating a decadent meal and downing two goblets of wine and a few vial-shots the healers had given her, she’d sat on a stool as they scrubbed her under endless steam and hot water. She’d napped while the healers, with their warm, silken hands and their steaming balms and compresses, had somehow pieced her back into a whole person. The swelling in her face and knee was practically gone. She could breathe without pain. Her bruises looked days old.
Now she soaked in a neck-deep honey and rose oil bath with hot rocks at the bottom. A fountain trickled in the corner as sweet, clingy incense lulled her into a level of serenity that shouldn’t have been achievable when being held against your will. A sigh floated out of her chest, and she sloshed her feet about, burying them under the warm rocks. She wasn’t above enjoying the perks of this predicament. Sooner or later she was going to have to face reality, but for now…
I could get used to this.
The outer door of the bath chamber creaked open, and a tall figure stalked through the low lamplight on the other side of the sheer curtains. Apparently, reality chose sooner.
Corvin flung the curtains aside testily, staring at her for a long moment of stillness before curbing his gaze away. His fists pumped at his sides. “It has been over three hours since I left you with the healers. How long do you intend to make me wait to go home?”
Audrey stiffened under the water but made no move to cover herself. No use trying to hide what he’d already seen in all their bobbing glory. She leaned her head back against the tub. “I didn’t know you were waiting for me.”
His jaw ticked and he sighed as faint scarlet crept up his neck. “Well, I am.”
“Fine,” she answered, echoing his annoyed tone. She rose from the water and balanced one hand on the hip-high ledge of the copper tub as she tossed a leg over one side and climbed out. Water sluiced off her onto the flagstone floor and steamed away in billowing clouds. Shivering, she held out a hand to Corvin, who was either transfixed by the sight of her naked body or shocked by her boldness. Hopefully both. It was best to keep him off guard. She cocked one eyebrow. “Pass me a towel?”
His stare lingered over her breasts as she tied the proffered cotton around her chest, but lost none of its potency as it traveled from her pendant, along the silver chain, up her throat. He paused at her lips, compelling her to wet them with her tongue. He watched that movement too, and something in his posture tensed.
Her skin prickled with an uncanny awareness of his presence, and she let out an unsteady breath, her bravado fading. “I hope it’s okay if I go like this. I don’t have any clothes. I told them to burn my old ones.”
Corvin finally met her eyes. Buried in the recesses of his dark gaze was a spark that ignited every nerve in her body for a flicker of a second. He turned away, clearing his throat, then walked back to the other side of the curtains. “There are clothes laid out for you here. I will be in the hall.”
Now that her most immediate needs—namely food and rest—had been met, Audrey could recognize that the connection she’d felt to him earlier had simply been a symptom of severe duress. When you’re dangling from the bottom rung, you’ll take any hand that’s offered, any warm body to cushion the fall. She’d been dangling for quite a while at the ragged edge of nowhere. It was only natural.
And I’m totally over it.
She yanked on a pair of black yoga pants and a thin white T-shirt. They’d even left a pair of tennis shoes in her size. Audrey held her breath, turning them over in her hands. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a pair of shoes new out of the box. Not secondhand, or stolen, or dug out of a Dumpster. Brand. Spanking. New.
She worried at her lower lip, despising herself for being bought so cheaply, but she still wiggled her toes in glee as she pulled them on. She stood up with a new spring in her step, a new lease on life. Now all she needed was to get her powers back and bust this joint. That suddenly didn’t sound so tough—such is the power of new shoes. She slipped into a grey velour hoodie and bundled the toothbrush, hairbrush, and extra clothes into a towel tucked under her arm.
Corvin was leaning against the opposite wall when she exited the bathroom. A giant black crow was perched on his shoulder. They both blinked at her. She only spared them a brief glance before she turned to her right. She went about three steps before Corvin’s voice stopped her. “My tower is this way.”
He started off in the other direction without checking to see if she followed.
This would be the perfect opportunity to make a break for it.
Except for that damn binding. She needed her powers. They were the only thing that made life remotely fair. The thought of being kicked to the curb without her powers or her memory sent a shudder through her entire body. The world would chew her up and spit her out, use her until there was nothing left. Until Parkview looked like a vacation resort. Jack would say take the money and run. She still had her memories. If she left now, she could get by with her smarts until she figured something else out.
But as she stared at Corvin’s rapidly retreating silhouette, she figured he would only be so unconcerned about her escaping if he knew something she didn’t. There had to be alarms, and guards, and whatever else. She’d have to figure out a plan to bust out before she attempted it, hopefully with her powers and memories intact.
Recon it is.
Two guards closed in on them silently from either side of the door, appearing from thin air, as if they’d been a part of the stonework. Audrey shuffled closer to Corvin, pressing their backs together. He took her hand and turned a few degrees to face off with the towering shadows. She almost pulled away from him, but then she remembered she had no powers to defend herself with, and Corvin had already protected her from one of these shadowy life-suckers. This time, they backed off with only a mild threat in their hesitation. Corvin guided her behind him toward the forest as the creeps slunk back into the shadows.
When they entered the woods, the skin on Audrey’s back wanted to crawl away into the bushes. Her heartbeat sped up, and her mind fuzzed as she tried to think of something else, to overpower the unwanted caress of the cold, soulless eyes biting at her from what felt like every direction.
Her gaze fastened on Corvin’s back. She contemplated their intertwined fingers and came up completely blank. What did it mean? Was he aware of how easily and openly he touched her? Looked at her? Her cheeks burned as she remembered the flash of desire on his face when he'd seen her in the bath. She shook her head to clear it. Jack would be rolling in her grave. Maybe Audrey had gotten her lights knocked out one too many times today. Or the spa treatment was making her loopy. Was she drunk from those potions? Audrey did not go gooey over men. Especially overbearing assholes who would throw her out on the street without even her wits.
Certainly not for a man who gawked at her nude and didn’t even pretend to be sorry. As if it were the most natural thing. With a primal, unspoken promise. It was there in the strong, steady heartbeat pressed into her palm, in the tension of his body, his bowstring awareness. In the way he kept her from falling when she tripped over roots as they forged through what seemed like miles of toilsome, foggy underbrush. As if she were already his for the taking. Or maybe he just thought she was easy.
To Tame A Wild Heart: A Zyne Witch Urban Fantasy Romance (Zyne Legacy Romance Book 1) Page 4