by Tricia Barr
She imagined what he was describing, and instantly a shiny black device popped into her head. Yes, she remembered this. A cellular phone. She was intimately acquainted with this technology. If she held one now, she knew that she would be able to navigate it without difficulty.
How long have we been in the modern world?
And yet, this seemed to be new to Joran. Was it possible that they had not been trapped for the same amount of time? The way that Joran had talked about their burial, she had gleaned that they had not been buried together, but if that were not the case, it was possible that she had somehow been freed before him. Long enough, at least, to learn about the current technology.
Joran spun her out with one hand and then pulled her back in, and her body knew exactly how to move, taking his lead perfectly and gracefully. When she completed her twirl back into his arms, their eyes met, and her heart skipped a beat.
“You’re a fantastic dancer,” he said. “What did I tell you.” He smiled so handsomely.
The song ended and everyone stopped their own dancing to applaud the royal couple. Ayanna blushed under all the attention, while Joran truly shined in it.
Strangely, Joran’s posture stiffened, and he turned to look toward the tall open entrance at the other end of the room. Ayanna automatically followed his eyes, trying to find what he was looking for.
“Ah, our guests of honor have arrived,” he said, his lips spreading in a smile she had not seen on him before. It was somewhat menacing. Disturbing.
“Guests of honor?” she asked.
“Do you remember I told you that we have enemies?”
Ayanna nodded, wondering where he was going with this.
“These special guests are our biggest enemies,” Joran said. “They are the only ones who threaten our existence. Their powers are great and volatile. Trust nothing that they tell you.”
“If they are our biggest enemies, why did we invite them?” Ayanna asked. “And why as guests of honor?”
“Because we want to turn them into allies. After all, they were once our closest friends. I believe they can be again, with a little persuasion. With them on our side, we will be indestructible.”
“I see,” Ayanna said.
Joran led her through the mob of waltzing guests, and she scanned over all the heads in search of these enemies he spoke of. She expected burly, aggressive barbarians, or dark and cloaked wizards surrounded by shadow.
So she was completely caught off guard when Joran stopped in front of four teenagers whose only distinguishing factor from the rest of the guests was their young age.
“I’m so glad that you decided to come,” Joran said in a friendly tone not meant for enemies. “You all look exceptional.”
Ayanna studied these four. Two girls and two guys. Both guys were in suits, the blond with glasses looking very reserved, and the dark-haired one glaring at Joran with contempt. The brunette girl with the sweet face was in a modest green dress that exposed little of her form, while the sporty redhead flaunted her sexy physique in a red cocktail dress, and both girls were staring at Ayanna with an emotion she could not name.
All four of them looked familiar, but seeing the redhead was jarring, and Ayanna’s head instantly started splitting in pain as she tried to recall who the girl was.
“You are welcome to dance and feast and drink to your heart’s content,” Joran said to them. “As I said earlier, this is a temporary cease-fire. Now, if you’ll excuse us, the queen and I have other guests to greet.”
Joran tilted Ayanna’s chin up toward him and kissed her mouth. While she reveled in every chance to kiss him, this kiss lacked the warmth she enjoyed most. This one felt like a display of territory. He was claiming her.
“Are you up for another dance?” he asked her when their lips parted.
She nodded and allowed him to lead her away from the four young people and back into the swirling crowd.
Phoenyx stared after Ayanna as she and their enemy disappeared into the crowd. She wasn’t sure what she had expected to see, but Ayanna looking perfectly content in a gorgeous gown on Joran’s arm was definitely not it.
Before the others could stop her, she ran after the couple and grabbed Ayanna’s arm. Ayanna stopped and turned around, cocking her head at Phoenyx with a look of caution and curiosity.
“Ayanna,” Phoenyx said, almost begging Ayanna to acknowledge her.
“Yes?” Ayanna asked, her tone sounding offended.
That reaction was like a slap in the face, and Phoenyx struggled not to show it.
“Er… Are you all right?” she managed to ask.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Ayanna said, slowly pulling her arm out of Phoenyx’s grasp and hugging it against herself.
Phoenyx didn’t know what to say. Why was Ayanna acting this way? She was treating Phoenyx like she was an unwanted intruder. What did Joran do to her?
“Well, if that’s all, enjoy your evening,” Joran said smoothly to Phoenyx with a taunting wink, taking Ayanna away.
This time, as Ayanna turned her back to Phoenyx, Phoenyx saw several scarring slashes that the deeply swooping back line of Ayanna’s dress revealed on her delicate skin.
Oh god! He’s been beating her!
Phoenyx turned away, unable to look anymore. Joran had whipped Ayanna, and god knows what else. That must be it. Ayanna was playing along with him to avoid further punishment. They had to get her out of there!
The other three caught up and gathered around Phoenyx.
“I don’t understand,” Lily said, pretty brunette brows furrowing in confusion. “Ayanna looks like she’s with Joran. Did her guilt over burying him make her crack?”
Phoenyx was not yet prepared to tell them what she just saw. The ache in her chest would not allow her to voice the suffering Ayanna must have endured.
“She looked at us like we were strangers,” Sebastian said, putting his arm protectively around Phoenyx’s shoulders.
“That’s because we are now,” Skylar said, his jaw tightening in the first display of anger she had seen in him for longer than she could recall.
“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked, and then, as if realizing at the end of his question, his shoulders slumped defeatedly.
“He can tap into the powers of anyone close to him,” Phoenyx said as she pieced the puzzle together. “Not just us, but her too.”
Skylar nodded. “He used her own memory powers on her. He wiped her mind completely clean. Everything before yesterday afternoon is gone.”
Lily gasped and covered her mouth. “No!”
“That bastard!” Sebastian growled.
“She doesn’t know who we are,” Phoenyx said, her already aching heart splitting in two.
Tears welled up as she realized that the sister and best friend she’d held on to for thousands of years was, for all intents and purposes, dead. Joran may not have taken Ayanna’s soul, but by erasing her memories he’s stolen who she is.
“Ayanna is gone,” Phoenyx croaked through a dry throat and involuntarily pouting lips.
“Not necessarily,” Skylar said. “We’ve witnessed for ourselves that Ayanna can use her powers to restore her own memories.”
“So if we can get Ayanna to use her powers on herself, she can still come back to us!” Lily said, ever the hopeful one.
“Yes, but there’s a problem with that plan,” Skylar interjected. “Ayanna doesn’t know about her powers, and I’m sure that Joran will do whatever he can to keep her from finding out.”
“And that’s the other problem,” Sebastian pointed out. “Joran obviously has Ayanna convinced that she is his loyal wife. She hangs on him like he’s her source of oxygen. How are we going to get to her without Joran interfering?”
“I don’t know,” Skylar sighed. “He told her that we are their enemies. She’s not going to trust any of us.”
So that’s why she was looking at me like that. She thinks I want to hurt her. Nothing could be farther from the truth…
&nbs
p; “We’ll have to stick around,” Sebastian said, voicing what they were all thinking.
“Which means our practicing is over,” Lily said.
“I’ll do what I can to keep my distance,” Skylar said. “The less he has access to my powers, the less we have to worry about him digging around in anyone’s mind. As long as we all keep our minds relatively clear when we’re around him, he should have no reason to be suspicious.”
“So I assume by the way you’re talking that we are not in his radius,” Sebastian said. “How wide a range does his power have? Were you able to feel it?”
Skylar nodded and said, “I saw it in his mind at exactly which point he heard our thoughts as he was approaching us. He was curious about the same thing, so it was easy to read when he found what he was waiting for. His radius is about ten yards.”
They all nodded as they processed this vital information, and Phoenyx’s insides churned painfully with self-doubt.
There was too much at stake. Ayanna was completely at Joran’s mercy. He could do whatever he wanted to her and then make her forget it. Ayanna would trust Joran no matter what despicable thing he did to her.
Phoenyx was a volcano of tumultuous emotions, ready to erupt at any minute. How could she possibly focus enough to keep her mind clear?
Suddenly, all the heartache and fear for Ayanna was too much.
“I need some air,” she breathed, and then rushed out of the giant ballroom as fast as she could.
The chilly autumn air was like a splash of water in the face as she came out into the courtyard. Night was falling and string lights illuminated the castle like fireflies, creating a scene from an enchanted fairytale. It was all so pretty. And it was a lie. There were no fairytales here, no happily-ever-afters.
Phoenyx went to the nearest stone bench and took a seat. She needed to think, to calm herself.
Skylar had taught each of them the basics of meditating, but that didn’t really click with Phoenyx. Fire wasn’t so easily controlled. Fire could not be put out by Air’s soft-spoken tricks. If you want to control Fire, give it a path through which to burn.
If she couldn’t squelch her emotions, she needed to redirect them. She needed to find a new objective and put her energy into it.
Ayanna was not yet lost. There had to be a way to bring her back to herself. To do that, they would need to get in good with Joran, at least on a temporary basis. Joran wanted Phoenyx, he had made that clear.
Suddenly, she knew what she had to do. She didn’t need to gain Ayanna’s trust. Attempting such a thing would be too dangerous for all of them. She just needed to sever Ayanna’s trust in Joran, and she needed to do it in a way that wasn’t obvious to Joran. Being the ego-maniac that he was, seducing him would be the perfect way to gain his trust, and to show Ayanna who Joran truly was.
With this new path clearly marked out, all of her fear and anger morphed into something else—cool determination. And once that happened, her mind became a fortress.
Phoenyx stood up off the bench and sauntered back into the castle. Whatever had changed in her mind was clearly radiating from her, because all eyes were on her as she cat-walked through the crowd. At this moment, she was sex in high heels, and she could feel the lusty stares of every man in this room like a balm on her skin.
Joran and Ayanna were in a circle of well-dressed people, laughing at something an older man had said. Joran saw Phoenyx approaching before she got close, and he must have liked what he saw, because his lips curled into a smile. His were the kind of smiles that were so dripping with darkness that they were devoid of joy. They didn’t make him look happy, they just made him look dangerous.
Becoming the passionate side of her element, Phoenyx winked at him as she came closer. She slinked her way into the circle, keeping his eye contact.
“Would the king grace me with a dance?” she asked demurely. She looked at Ayanna, and though it stung at her heart to do it, she narrowed her eyes in a taunting smile and said, “You don’t mind if I borrow him, do you?”
Ayanna visibly steamed, but before she could say anything against it, Phoenyx took hold of Joran’s arm and led him onto the dance floor.
Phoenyx had lifetimes of experience convincing men of her interest in them, and with Skylar across the room, she should have no problem manipulating the ego-maniac that Joran had become.
Once in the center of the dancing crowd, Phoenyx draped her arms playfully over Joran’s shoulders, and he happily put his hands on her hips to lead her in a dance.
“This is quite the surprise,” Joran said. “Surely by now Air has informed you of Ayanna’s condition, and yet you’re purposefully instigating her by openly flirting with me.”
Phoenyx shrugged. “She already distrusts me, thanks to your little mind wipe. Besides, we have business to discuss, and how else was I to get you all to myself?”
Joran looked over her shoulder, and Phoenyx could guess who he was looking at. “And what about your little boyfriend? I’m surprised he let you come over here. If looks could kill, I’d most certainly be dead.” He laughed.
She peeked over her shoulder at Sebastian, who was standing against the farthest wall with Lily and Skylar, glaring at Joran. Sebastian wasn’t usually a territorial person. Their adventures had often led to her having to schmooze with other men in exchange for something they needed. But Joran brought out this deeply hidden side of her soulmate. Phoenyx hoped that he had the faith in her to trust what she was doing.
“Haven’t you figured out by now that he’s not the one in charge?” she responded coyly.
His smile deepened and his hands squeezed her hips longingly. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“Those are the only ones I play.”
“Perhaps tonight, you and I can play a dangerous game together,” he almost growled, biting his lower lip.
“Not so fast,” she said, taking the lead in the dance and controlling where they moved—a subtle way of taking control of the conversation. “We haven’t discussed our terms.”
Joran shrugged. “Fair enough. Discuss.”
She let her fingers wander behind his neck, tickling the dark locks at the base of his hair.
“What do you want from us?” she asked, keeping her tone cool with an ever-present sensual note. “I’ve seen your wife’s back. You whipped her before you wiped her memories. So you obviously want revenge. Will you punish us the same way if we join you?”
Joran tilted his head thoughtfully, as if they were discussing matters of politics rather than his demented intentions.
“Ayanna’s betrayal was far deeper than any of yours,” he said. “She was my wife, and yet she buried me alive, knowing that I would have to suffer the act of dying for eternity without being able to complete it.”
“We all did it,” Phoenyx said, unafraid to accept her due blame.
“Perhaps. But you were only my friends, and you were only mortals. Ayanna was the one person I loved and trusted most in the world, and she knew what immortality truly meant. She needed to be punished for what she did. She deserved far worse than what I dealt her. I gave her a new chance at life, a fresh start, and look how happy she is now.”
Phoenyx did look, and, aside from the hatred with which she was eyeing Phoenyx right now, Ayanna did look happy. The despair-riddled mess that Ayanna had been when Joran was first released was a state that Phoenyx didn’t believe Ayanna could come back from. Could it be possible that Joran was offering her a mercy?
“Will you do the same to us?” Phoenyx asked. “Give us all a clean slate too and make us your unknowing slaves?”
“Hmm, I have to admit, having you as my slave would be wildly enjoyable,” he said, his eyes lingering on her exposed cleavage. “But, no. All I have ever wanted is your loyalty. I want the four of you to join me here, live with me again as we once did, this time as my loyal lieutenants. Your minds have been wiped clean by death far too many times. I would rather you keep what little of your true selves that you have le
ft.”
She nodded, finding this acceptable. “And what of punishment?” She drew nearer and whispered into his ear, “Are you going to whip me?”
He glanced over at Ayanna, and smiled at her with a completely fake kind smile. Then he returned his gaze to Phoenyx, his pupils dilating and the darkness consuming his eyes. “If it weren’t for the watchful eyes of my queen, I’d rip off that dress and whip you right here, right now.”
And through his grip on her hips, hot desire flooded her system, and a soft moan escaped her lips before she could bite it back. Suddenly, Joran was the sexiest man in the world, and the two inches of space between them was too much distance.
Her body wanted him, and so did most of her mind, but a small part of her still had control. A small part was able to fight back.
She gripped the back of his neck and pushed her own will into him. “Two can play at the game.”
He closed his eyes, savoring the feeling, and growled deeply in his throat.
“You never answered my question,” she said, feeling more powerful and confident now that she knew she could resist the effects of her own power. “Will you harm any of us?”
Joran opened his eyes, looking quite content. “No. I think that the knowledge that your best and oldest friend is gone forever is punishment enough. Although you don’t seem to be too sorry about that.”
Phoenyx shrugged and winked at him, even though she was seething inside at his comment.
“As long as the four of you behave yourselves, I will welcome you all into my new reign with open arms,” he said.
The tempo picked up and he spun her around so that his back blocked her from Ayanna’s view. Then he clamped his hand around her neck, not enough to constrict her airway, but enough to be threatening.
“But if any of you attempt to betray me again, I will not hesitate to kill you on the spot. And if any of you try to turn Ayanna against me, I will use whatever force necessary to discipline you.”
Through all this, Phoenyx didn’t flinch. She remained completely calm and composed.