Forbidden, Tempted Series (Book 1)

by Selene Charles

  It took days to heal what should have taken weeks, maybe even months. His bone had been like sand. But to look at him now, you’d never know it. There was still a slight ache, but nothing worse. Physically anyway.

  That woman... dressed in black, coming at him with death in her eyes. He’d not even been prepared. There’d been no ruse, she’d come at him with single-minded determination. A second before she’d touched him though, she’d called him a name that’d sent ice through his veins. Then she’d grabbed and snapped.

  He’d howled, screamed like a coward.

  His heart pounded as he remembered the bitter taste of fear and self-loathing that a woman had unmanned him like that.

  She’d moved like shadow. A dancing swirl of death, and he knew he’d been lucky.

  If she’d wanted to kill him, no one could have stopped it.

  Sweat peppered his brows, coated his chest and back.

  The eyes had been red. Like blood.

  Breathing increasing harder and sharper with each inhalation, he twisted on his bed. Fiery tingles worked up through his toes, his legs, across his torso, increasing in intensity and making him clench his molars as the pain overwhelmed him.

  Eyes snapping open, he sat up in bed, grabbing his skull as a vicious throbbing lanced through it. Arms and legs trembling, he fought the panic, the overwhelming fear clawing at his throat.

  There wasn’t another second to wonder what was happening; it was like someone had poured battery acid into his brain. With the next blink, he passed out cold.

  Chapter 29

  Lights blazed through the liquid blue night. A cool breeze sifted Flint’s hair as she exited the car with her dress draped over her arm, and anticipation rode her hard as she made her way through the busy circus. It still amazed her that a night circus did so well, especially during weekdays.

  But it did. And it seemed to be busier than ever—maybe because Halloween wasn’t so far off and the strange, almost creepy vibe of the place was suited to the time of year. But Flint didn’t think that was really it.

  It was the performers.

  The nonhuman ones anyway.

  They dripped some sort of animal magnetism that made humans weak in the knees and desperate for more.

  And now that she knew the truth, she finally understood why she’d always felt the place was off. Her dad was one of the rare humans performing.

  Laughing groups of people ran between tents. Some looked scared, others nervous but excited. Some even appeared angry and confused, ready to leave. Why?

  Crazy, but the whole time her dad had been working here, Flint really hadn’t gotten to know much of the circus. Apart from the big top, she was clueless about what happened in the smaller tents. She’d always just assumed it would be like any circus, maybe a small tent for the “freaks.” The bearded lady and snake man, et cetera...

  But what if that’s not what it was?

  And as she was thinking this, a heavily bedazzled pair of performers tossed aside the flap opposite her and stepped out, one a girl, the other a guy. They wore matching stage makeup. The pale blue and purple paint cascading from the corners of their eyes down their cheeks almost seemed to glow from the reflection of the blazing lights all around them.

  The guy ogled Flint with eyes the color of molten gold. The woman hissed, her glass-green eyes lighting up as she yanked his arm to her.

  Easily one of the best-looking males she’d seen, which... around here, they were pretty much a dime a dozen. Dusky-skinned, with long black lashes that fanned his cheeks when he blinked. Wiry and not incredibly muscular, there was still the sense about him that he was powerful.

  “She does not concern you, Icarus,” the girl said in a voice so rich and dulcet Flint felt herself strain forward to hear more.

  Icarus patted her hand, his eyes never leaving Flint’s. “Human.” His hypnotic voice drew her to him as if someone had attached a string to her waist and was slowly pulling her in. “Do you want to know your future?”

  Intense and frightening emotions swirled through her. Her fingers curled over the hanger in her hand, bending the soft metal in her grasp. She wanted to please him. Fall to her knees and beg him to tell her. To touch him. Hold him. Melt in the heat of his embrace. Take off her clothes. His.

  “Y—”

  “Icarus!” Janet slapped a hand over Flint’s eyes. “Back off!” she growled. “Not with this one.”

  The moment Janet broke the man’s eye contact, Flint could reason, and a sick, churning bile worked its way up her throat. What had she been thinking? Getting ready to do?

  Her body trembled, every muscle spasming as the reality of what she’d almost said, done... began to dawn on her.

  When he’d spoken, she’d forgotten all about Cain. It’d been Icarus and it’d been all consuming.

  A hot chuckle greeted her ears and made her shiver. Then Janet removed her hand and worried eyes peered at her.

  “You okay?”

  Rhiannon was patting Flint’s back. “Freaking Pride, they’re always doing crap like that. You good, babe?”

  Blinking, Flint looked for him. “Where’d he go?”

  “Away,” they said at the same time.

  “What was that? What did he do to me?”

  Rolling her eyes, Janet huffed. “He’s a Pride demon.”

  “A what?”

  Rhi popped a lollipop in her mouth. “Pride demon, those bastards. Dated one a couple hundred years ago. They’re like ubertoxic, even to my kind. They feed on your desire for them. The more they know you want them, the stronger their glamour becomes.”

  “He made me...” Flint squeezed her eyes shut, unable to put into words what looking at him had done to her. She was a virgin, but for a wild second, she’d been ready to throw it all away for him. It made her sick.

  “They do that to all of us. Don’t worry.” Janet patted her arm.

  “Look, I’m gonna go put the dresses away.” Rhiannon slipped Flint’s dress from her hands, staring at the twisted hanger with a half-amused smirk. “Why don’t you go to Abel’s? We’ll be there in a sec.” She pointed to his silver-bullet trailer in the distance.

  “Shouldn’t I go with you?”

  Rhi laughed. “No one’s gonna hurt you. Just keep your eyes on the ground. We gotta go tell Adam we’re back and see if he’s got anything for us to do before we can properly veg.”

  Not wanting to appear any more tragic than she already did, Flint turned on her heel, casting her eyes straight at the ground, ignoring the delicious scent of sizzling meat and fried breads, and winding her way toward Abel’s trailer.

  “Princess.” The deep voice she loved listening to rumbled in her ear. Then his scent wrapped her in a fierce hug seconds before she was enveloped in Cain’s arms.

  Still feeling raw, she clung to his waist and squeezed her eyes shut. A sense of right eased the strain from her muscles.

  “Flint?” He kissed the top of her head. His eyes were worried. “What’s wrong?”

  Rubbing her fingers along his lightly stubbled jaw, she shook her head. “Nothing, I just... I missed you.”

  His smile was huge and she couldn’t help but return it.

  “You’re done hunting?”

  He nodded. “For now. Queen’s smart, she knows we’re looking. They’ve gone deep underground, at this point I’m thinking we’ll just have to wait for her to make the first move.”

  It was really hard to concentrate when he kept strumming his fingers along the tiny sliver of exposed skin between her jeans and sweater. It made her feel hot and cold all at the same time.

  “My dad,” she whispered, dreading stepping out of Cain’s arms but knowing she couldn’t afford to be caught with him like this. Not to mention the fact that the Order, whoever they were, forbade this sort of thing.

  “Is busy,” he finished.

  “But the Order? Janet told me we have to be careful.”

  His look was thoughtful. “The Order won’t be a problem.” But he
didn’t elaborate further. She shivered at the intensity of his heated stare. “Where you headed?” he finally asked.

  Tongue swollen, it was hard to corral her thoughts. “I was umm”—she scratched the back of her head—“going to Abel’s trailer.”

  “Come with me.” He knuckled her cheek softly.

  “Where?”

  “The hole.”

  She laughed. “I’m not swimming, it’s freezing.”

  “Hmm. That’s too bad. Was hoping to see that sexy green bra again.” He plucked at her top and she smacked his hand.

  He laughed, stepping back. She hated being out of his arms, but when he wasn’t touching her she didn’t feel quite so light-headed.

  “No, really.” He held up his hands and then stuffed them into his pockets. “No funny business. I just want to hang out away from all this.” He gestured at the thick crowd.

  “I don’t know.” Not that she didn’t want to. Because she did, but being alone with Cain wasn’t a smart idea. It was getting harder and harder to remember why she was even a virgin anymore, not to mention that more than half the time Cain still pissed her off and she wasn’t sure she was ready to get in such a messy relationship. Sex only seemed to make things worse, not better. Her mom had told her a million times only do it with the right one and for the right reasons.

  Was Cain the right one?

  “Hey.” He cocked his head, tipping her chin up to stare deep into her eyes. “We don’t have to go. I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do. If you’re not comfortable, then we can stay.”

  Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say yes, when Janet’s loud shrill broke the mood.

  “Cain. Flint. Hurry up, come quick!” Janet waved her hand.

  Frowning, Cain turned and Flint looked up. Frantically waving, Janet stood inside Abel’s trailer.

  Cain was turning and running, Flint not a second behind him. They reached the trailer in no time.

  “He’s passed out and pale.” Ja’s voice quivered as she ushered them inside the cramped trailer. “I was going to look for Adam, but I saw you. Help him.”

  Cain knelt beside his brother, cradling his upper body in his arms.

  Abel was breathing very shallowly. Flint’s heart clenched as she sank to her knees beside them. His skin was clammy, his muscles like limp noodles as his head flopped against Cain’s chest.

  Hefting his brother in his arms, Cain stood and then gingerly placed Abel in the center of the bed.

  “Is he going to be all right?” Janet swallowed hard. “What’s happening to him?”

  Deep grooves marred Cain’s forehead as he peered at his brother. He was holding on to Abel’s wrist and standing completely still as he seemed to listen to something Flint couldn’t hear.

  “He’s going to be okay.” He sighed with relief.

  A sob broke from Janet’s chest and she covered her mouth with her hands.

  Cain turned and nodded. “He’ll be fine, Ja. It’s part of the process.”

  Flint studied the pale face of her good friend. He didn’t look good. His skin was more than just pale... it had bluish tint to it. His mouth was lax and hanging partly open. The dimple that she loved so much was nowhere in sight. He barely looked like the same guy.

  She sat on a corner of the bed, crossing her legs and holding one of his hands.

  Janet bit her lip. “The Russian twins came down with a bad cold and Adam told Rhi and me we gotta cover that show. I stopped by just to say hi. Are you sure he’s going to be okay?”

  “Yeah.” Cain nodded with a slight smile for her benefit. “He’s a rager. Takes a lot more than this to kill us. Go do your show—I’ll stay with him until you get back.”

  “Me too.” Flint nodded.

  Scrubbing a hand down her face, Janet walked over to Abel’s side, planted a quick kiss on his forehead, then turned and left with a hiccupped sob.

  The second Flint knew she was out of earshot, she held Abel’s hand and said, “So this is how you guys transition?”

  Cain’s look was hard. “No.”

  “But, I thought you said...”

  “She’s a kanlungan—when they bond it’s for life. Janet’s already showing the signs. I wasn’t going to tell her the truth. She’d have lost it.”

  Fear slithered like a cold snake down her spine. “Is he dying?”

  He shook his head, but worry marred the lines around his mouth. “I don’t know what this is.”

  “Should I go get Adam? Or your mom?”

  He grabbed her hand, running his thumb along the webbing of her fingers. “Adam’s working the ring. Better to just leave him alone. Mom’s in costume setting up the next act. I’ll get her soon as he wakes up.”

  Flint looked back at Abel. His skin didn’t look so wet anymore, or so blue. “How long will that take?”

  “I can already hear his pulse beating stronger.”

  “You can hear that?”

  His answer was a clipped nod.

  Flint brushed her fingers across Abel’s face, gently repeating his name, hoping her voice might help him wake up.

  “It was them,” Cain said after a while.

  “Hive?” She whispered, glancing quickly at Abel. “How do you know?”

  “I just do. We don’t get sick.”

  “Ever?”

  “Never.”

  “You think he saw one of them?”

  Cain shrugged a shoulder, a helpless look on his face as he gazed at his brother, who appeared to be sleeping.

  “How much longer until he learns the truth?”

  He touched her cheek, and for the first time Flint sensed vulnerability in him. It even felt to her as if his hand shook a little.

  “We all transition differently. Mine took years. His seems to be progressing faster.”

  Brushing an errant lock of hair out of Abel’s eyes, Flint pressed her lips tight.

  “Something is wrong,” Cain said.

  “What? Here? Now?” She looked around tensed and ready for anything. An attack maybe? She didn’t know.

  “No.” He shook his head. “But this whole situation is strange. That day she attacked.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I didn’t give it much thought.” He rubbed his jaw. “But she went at Abel first.”

  There’d been a scream, an ungodly, unholy sound full of pain. She’d not had much time to think about that because then the drone had been on her.

  “At first I thought Abel had just gotten in the way and her objective was to reach you, for God only knows what.”

  “So you think they’re not really after me then?”

  “Oh no.” His blue eyes burned. “They’re definitely after you. I still haven’t forgotten what that bug did at school today. They want you. But...”

  “What if they’re after Abel? Why? It doesn’t make sense. He’s not one of you guys yet, and me... I’m nothing.”

  He rubbed his thumb along the inside of her wrist, as if to say she was definitely not nothing.

  Abel took that moment to moan. Loudly. His fingers clenched in hers.

  “Feel like crap.” He groaned and grabbed his head with his free hand. Working his mouth from side to side, he made as if to sit up. “Dizzy.”

  Flint gently pushed back on his shoulder. “Think you should lie down for a while. Let the vertigo pass.”

  Narrowing an eye, he glanced at Cain. “What happened, dude?”

  He shrugged. “You tell me. Janet walked in on you passed out on the floor.”

  “Really?” He rubbed his head. “What time is it?”

  Flint smoothed his hair back. “Little past eight.”

  Swallowing hard, he nodded. “Last thing I remember is lying down and then I started to daydream...” Here he paused and looked at Flint significantly.

  Cain cleared his throat.

  Shrugging, Abel finished. “Got a bad headache and then I don’t remember anything after that.”

  “What was
your body doing?”

  “Huh?” Abel looked confused at Cain’s question.

  “Rapid heartbeat? Sweating? Chills?”

  Again he acted like he was going to sit up, and Flint pressed her palm on his chest. “Stay still, Abel. You didn’t look good.”

  “Well, I must not have looked that bad or you would have called an ambulance. I’m fine. Just have a bad headache. Need an aspirin.”

  Cain stood and zipped up his black hoodie. “I’ll get Mom—she’s the one with all the meds.” Lifting a brow, he looked toward Flint.

  “I’ll stay with Abel.” She rubbed the back of his hand.

  Nodding, he left.

  “Abel, you scared me.”

  Holding her hand tighter, he pressed it hard to the spot above his heart. “Scared myself. Kind of freaky to wake up and not remember anything.” Warm brown eyes searched hers. “But I do remember one thing. I didn’t want to say it in front of Cain.”

  She could have heard a pin drop, it was so quiet.

  “Yeah?”

  “I was dreaming about you.”

  She swallowed hard.

  “And then I dreamt about her.”

  Ice spread through her veins. “Who?”

  Oh man, had he somehow heard her and Cain? She mentally scrolled through what they’d said, trying to remember if they’d said too much.

  “Flint, that woman called me a name before she attacked me.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Rager.”

  Chapter 30

  “I think he knows.” Flint grabbed Cain’s hand after they dropped Abel off at Layla’s.

  Layla had crooned over her son, smothering him in kisses, and then walked over to her massive medicine cabinet. Cain hadn’t been joking when he’d said she had all the meds. A large gray metal cabinet standing in the corner of her bedroom was full to bursting with labeled glass jars. Some of them were obvious. Like pills. But a lot of it was looked herbal.

  Leaves, twigs, some yellowish-looking pustule thingies that burped a kind of dingy-brown fog when the canister was disturbed.

  Abel had seemed resigned to his fate, staring hard at Flint as she turned to leave. As if he’d wanted to say more but didn’t dare do it in front of anyone.