The Shifting Storm (Book 4)

by Jeff Hale

  “Move aside, woman,” he ordered.

  I looked at him closely. There weren’t any little sparks in his eyes, but his demeanor suggested Aerick wasn’t in control. It was then that I realized his voice held that hollow quality. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on in Aerick’s head, but I was pretty sure there were some personality issues, and I could only surmise that whatever the Purity Movement had done to him, they had broken him in more ways than just physically. It was something I’d already suspected, and probably should have told Lucien and Val, but I was pretty sure that if they knew he was that messed up, they would kill him, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. So, for now, I protected Aerick, and his broken mind, as best I could.

  He scowled at me when I didn’t move immediately, then he yanked me from the couch and gave me a little shove away. I rubbed at my stinging arm and watched as he opened my laptop and systematically checked every single email.

  “Just as I thought,” he said angrily several minutes later, standing so forcefully that the couch actually scooted back a couple inches. “You tell me so convincingly to my face, with innocence in your eyes, yet your actions damn you. How long have you been dishonoring me, lying to me? How long have you been sneaking off to this man’s bed?”

  “What?” I asked in disbelief. What the hell is he talking about? “I’m not lying to you, or cheating on you!”

  “Falsehoods!”

  This time it wasn’t a slap; it was a backhanded strike that hit the same side of my face as earlier, only it was hard enough to knock me to the floor. I brought my hands up over my face, my head, to ward off any other blows, my head swimming as I had a sudden sense of déjà vu.

  “Stop it! I’m not lying!”

  “Explain this, then.” He deposited the laptop none too gently next to me on the floor and pointed to the screen, at an open email from Alex. I read through it quickly:

  Katie,

  I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this a secret from Darien. He’s already starting to suspect that something is going on, and you know how angry he’ll be when he finds out what you’re doing with Aerick, both at you and at me for betraying his trust. Just be ready for the shitstorm.

  Love, Alex

  I knew exactly what Alex meant in that message, that he wouldn’t be able to keep Darien from finding out I was putting myself in danger by helping Aerick for much longer. I wasn’t sure why it was so upsetting to Aerick.

  “Alex is just worried Darien will find out I’m here and be—”

  “Angry? Furious? That you are betraying him with both me and Alex?” Aerick supplied, cutting me off.

  “I’m doing what?” I was confused. What exactly did Aerick think was going on? He obviously misunderstood the whole message.

  “That red hair of yours has made you even more wicked. Now, instead of just betraying me to lie with another man, you betray him to be with me, and then deceive us both with Alex!” he accused.

  “Oh, of all the stupid things you could come up with to misinterpret that—”

  “Then you’ve never lain with Alex?” He lifted a brow and dared me to refute it.

  I opened my mouth to deny it, but I knew it was a lie, and I knew he would know it was too. “Yes, I have,” I admitted softly.

  He clenched his jaw so tight I could see the tendons in his neck pop out, then he reached down and hauled me to my feet by one arm. “And does Darien know about it?”

  I shook my head.

  Aerick shook me hard and shoved me away from him again, making me stumble. “The demon was right. I can’t trust you. Still the whore you always were, treating my love for you like it was shit on your boot,” he sneered, taking a step towards me.

  I didn’t stick around. I turned and ran for the bathroom, locking the door behind me and putting my back to it. I heard something crash into the door and I was pretty sure it was my laptop. Then I heard hands slap against the door on the other side.

  “That’s right, run, you little bitch. There’s only one of them to protect you now,” Aerick whispered from the other side of the door.

  I didn’t answer, just let myself slide down the door until my butt hit the tile. Tears built up in my eyes and I let them have their way, let them soak my cheeks and drip onto my knees where I rested my chin. I stared around the bathroom through the tears, noting that all the damage Aerick had done had been fixed. He pounded on the door suddenly, eliciting a shriek of fear from me, and I scrambled away from the door to cower under the sink, just barely keeping a hold of my Aspect, and that’s when I realized something.

  Not all of the damage had been fixed.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  DARIEN

  “What do you mean, she’s staying at the Flame with Aerick?” I asked Alex, my voice raised in anger.

  A few days before, I had been in conversation with my father, having called him to ask about Nina’s mother. My father had told me that although he didn’t know of Nina’s mother personally, from my description she was like Grimm.

  Having brought Grimm up, he asked if I had seen the news, if I knew that Grimm had begun to expand his territory out of the Black Forest and into the rest of Germany. I hadn’t, but I had turned the television on to a world news channel to see what other developments had happened. It was at that point that I realized that Alex had disappeared, but he hadn’t left a note or said anything to me.

  So I found out while watching the news that Aerick had destroyed a Purity Movement office and killed several people there before finally being brought under control and taken into custody. I assumed he’d finally gone off the deep end and would be dealt with by his own kind. When Alex showed back up, much later, he just ignored me and disappeared into his own room for the rest of the night.

  I called Kat’s apartment several times over the next couple of days to find out how she was handling what Aerick had done, only to be told by Kris each time I called that Kat wasn’t in. After the fifth time of being put off by Kris, I finally asked Alex if he knew what was going on. That’s when he had told me that Kat was staying at the Flame with Aerick.

  “Aerick’s had some problems recently and she’s trying to help him work through them,” Alex said. He was being vague and I could tell.

  “No shit!” I exclaimed. “I saw the newscasts, saw what he did! Why isn’t he in a magic proof cell somewhere rotting away? I will admit, I was beginning to respect the man, but there was no call for what he did! And now Kat’s risking her life to be around him?”

  Alex sank onto the couch and gave me a weary look. “That’s because you don’t know the whole story. It’s not like Aerick just woke up and decided, ‘hey, today seems like a bloody good day to try and set the world on fire’.”

  “So fill me in then, tell me why I shouldn’t feel like this is somehow my fault because I didn’t just execute him when I had the chance!” I said vehemently.

  “I explained to you about the whole Celeste-Serena thing, that she’s actually Aerick’s girlfriend, somehow back from the dead?”

  I nodded tightly.

  “Well, the two of them hooked back up after the trial.”

  “Yeah, I know. Kat wasn’t too happy, but I was hoping maybe she’d start to get over him.” My advice to Aerick to be with Serena while he could had been heartfelt, but I had also been more than happy to have him out of Kat’s life.

  “Travis got hold of Serena and raped her. Tortured and mutilated her too from what I understand.”

  My entire being went cold, then was suffused with a murderous rage. “I knew I should have killed that bastard.” I headed toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” Alex asked.

  “To kill that bastard, where else?”

  “Too late.”

  That stopped me. “What do you mean, too late? Aerick get him already?” I would be fine with that, as long as Travis died.

  “Lucien has him prisoner, not sure what exactly they’re gonna do with him.”

  “Prisoner? T
hat’s it?” I asked, incredulous.

  “If it makes you feel any better, Katie broke his dick.” He chuckled evilly.

  I winced. “She did what? Never mind, I heard you the first time.” I hadn’t realized that Kat could be that sadistically vindictive. I would keep it in mind. “That doesn’t explain why Aerick did what he did though. I can understand being killing angry but—”

  “They made him watch, Darien, while Travis did what he did to Serena. They had him caged and they made him watch. What would you have done?”

  What would I have done, if I had been forced to watch someone hurt Kat like that? I’d only had a little taste of it when Henry had tried to kill her and it had driven me into such a state that I could only imagine what Aerick must have felt.

  “So, we’ll add a new doorknob to the shopping list,” Alex said.

  I looked down, realized that I had mangled the doorknob. I let go.

  “But you get my point, Darien. That thing that burned that building and killed those guards? I saw it, I felt it, it wasn’t Aerick. More like a vessel for rage. He’s snapped.”

  “Is Serena…?”

  “She’s alive, Lucien healed her. I don’t know how she is mentally, though. I was going to give her a few days or so before I went to visit.”

  “Well, get your ass up, we’re going now,” I told him.

  We made it to the Flame in record time. I needed to assure myself that Kat was all right, although when we got there I asked to see Lucien first, to see if he could tell me more.

  The Cyclopes were otherwise busy, so we were led to Lucien’s office by a bulky stone-skinned ogre-gnome not much taller than me. He was dressed in stereotypical biker attire, dark hair buzzed almost bald, and sported various Nazi style tattoos. We waited for a good half hour before Lucien would see us.

  His office was the same as the last time I was in here: ancient Aztecan or Mayan desk plated with gold and old writings, tropical birds flying everywhere, walls made out of living trees. It was very hot and humid. Lucien was wearing his usual suit, deep orange, with a black shirt and yellow tie.

  “Sit down, sit down,” he said, motioning to the chairs on the opposite side of his desk. “I’m actually surprised you two didn’t show up sooner.” He gave me a shrewd look, then looked at Alex. “I see. I know why you stayed away, you were being mindful of Serena… but you didn’t tell him, did you, Alex?”

  Alex shook his head. “Figured I’d give Katie a chance to get Aerick under control a bit before having to deal with Darien too.”

  Lucien nodded. “Probably a good idea. You do intend to behave, don’t you?” The question was directed at me.

  “You ask me if I’m going to behave when you’ve got Aerick stashed away here somewhere? After what the news claims he did?” I asked him, snorting.

  “The situation surrounding Aerick’s actions has been dealt with. I am only interested in the well-being of my guests at this point, and that includes you. If Aerick sees you I’m not sure what he will, or won’t, do. I have no wish to have harm come to you.”

  That was news to me. While I had never gotten the idea that Lucien disliked me, I didn’t think he cared what happened either.

  Lucien was standing. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll show you to Katelyn’s room. Alex, if you would just wait outside my office, I’ll come back and we can see if Serena is up to visiting with you.”

  I followed Lucien out of his office, through the small waiting area outside of it and out into the empty club. There was a small alcove hall on either side that had stairs on one side that led up, and stairs on the other that led down. Lucien made for the stairs going up and I went with him. We passed a few doors, which he informed me were occupied and unoccupied guest rooms, before finally stopping at one. Lucien knocked, and after a few moments the door opened and Kat was standing there.

  “Darien,” she said, a look of surprise and something else that I couldn’t quite pinpoint going through her eyes. “What are you doing here?” She looked at Lucien. “Are you sure this is okay?”

  “It will be fine, dear. Just make sure you escort him back out, please. For his safety.”

  “I will.” She gave me a long look as Lucien walked away, then finally inclined her head and said, “Come on in.”

  She closed the door behind me and led me down a set of steps that ended in a bedroom with a four poster bed, two overstuffed chairs, a nightstand and a dresser and a door that led somewhere. That stuffed lynx was on the foot of the bed.

  The walls of her room almost seemed to be moving, depicting rolling turquoise waves with the sun shining off of them, looking so real you would swear you would get wet if you got too close. I had thought the carpeting was just a sun kissed tan, but when I stepped onto it, I realized that it moved comfortably under your feet like warm sand. I’d never been into one of Lucien’s guest rooms before, didn’t realize the magic that went into them.

  She didn’t stop in that room, instead taking me through an archway into a living room beyond. It was designed much the same way, only one wall had a cliff overlooking the ocean, a cliff with an open cave, large felines sunning themselves on the lip. She sat down in a chair and waited for me to sit down on the couch. She fiddled with her hands, not looking at me.

  “Is everything all right?” I asked her, concerned. She looked okay, but she wasn’t acting okay and I immediately jumped to the first conclusion I could have. She had slept with Aerick.

  “Fine,” she said softly, still looking anywhere but at me.

  I sighed. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen coming, I had just hoped that it wouldn’t.

  “You know, you could have told me, Kat, instead of just disappearing, instead of having Kris lie to me about where you were.”

  “I know, I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you to worry, didn’t want you to… yell… at me.” She peeked at me briefly under the curtain of her hair, looked away again and chewed on her lip.

  “So are you and Aerick… together?” I had to ask, even if I didn’t really want to know the answer.

  She surprised me when she shook her head. “No.”

  “But you slept with him?”

  She pulled her feet up into the chair so her knees were against her chest, rested her cheek against her knees. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head, “but it’s…” She didn’t finish the sentence.

  “Then why are you here, Kat?” I was trying to be understanding, I really was. I was quite pleased that I was staying so calm.

  “He needs me, Darien.”

  “I need you too,” I countered. “Do you even still care about me, at all?”

  She exhaled, blew hair out of her face. “You know I do,” she said softly.

  “Do I?”

  “Yes.”

  “Kat?” It was Aerick’s voice, and I turned to see him standing in the open doorway of that door I had seen in her bedroom earlier.

  “Does that door go straight to his room?” I asked in shocked disbelief.

  She nodded. I didn’t say anything else because Aerick was actually coming towards us, his eyes on me as though he weren’t sure what I was going to do. He seemed wary of me.

  Aerick stopped behind Kat’s chair and she almost seemed to shrink into it, as though she might be afraid of what he would do. He looked at me, looked back at Kat, looked at me again.

  “Darien,” he said by way of greeting.

  I gave him a nod.

  “Everything okay in here?” Aerick asked Kat.

  “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

  My eyes met Aerick’s over the top of her head. There was something in his eyes, something hollow and sad and dead, something that wanted forgiveness and couldn’t seem to ask for it.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked me suddenly.

  “I guess,” I said, unsure what he wanted. He seemed calm, but I could almost see the fury inside of him that he had barely contained.

  “Alone?”

  I nodded, foll
owed him back through that door and into his room. It was sparse compared to Kat’s, normal. It also looked like someone had ransacked it recently.

  “Sorry about the mess. I’ve been having… issues… lately,” he said, sighing heavily.

  “So I have been told.”

  His head came up, cocked to one side as he stared at me. “You know what happened?”

  “Yes, some of it.”

  He leaned against one side of the arch that led into what looked like it might be a workout or training room when it wasn’t filled with debris. He was looking at the floor now, shoulders slumped.

  “I don’t know how long they had us, I lost track of time. It all just blended with the pain,” he whispered dully. “They… they…” He took a deep breath, blew it out through his nose. “They cut her and beat her until she was unrecognizable, then they would heal her up and start all over again. That… bastard used her at the same time, got off on making her scream…” He winced, a hiss escaping him.

  “They used iron to take me out first, then when that didn’t work, they had some sort of device that nullified all my powers. There was a monitor in my cell, so they could show me what they did to her. I didn’t want to watch, I didn’t… but I couldn’t look away either.”

  I glanced at the door, marked my exit. That rage he was holding onto was trying to surface again, prodded by his recount to me of what had happened. If he decided to let it loose, I was making a run for it and taking Kat with me.

  But he didn’t lose control. I could tell at this point that his hold on it was so tenuous that the smallest thing would sever it. I wanted to get out of there while I had the chance, but he had shared something with me, something painful, had made himself vulnerable to me. And in the world of Alpha males, that deserved reciprocation.

  I tugged my shirt over my head and turned my back to him. It wasn’t the same, didn’t come close to what I didn’t even want to imagine he’d gone through, but it was all I had to offer at the time.

  “Damn, man, who the fuck did you piss off?” he asked me on a low whistle when he saw the scars.