The Mortal Falls

by Anna Durand

  "See." I sat back, arms folded over my breasts. "I was right."

  His smile was shaky, as if he couldn't quite believe I'd been correct on this. Or maybe he couldn't quite believe for a century he'd languished in the self-delusion, instigated by Skeiron, that he'd been cursed.

  "By the stars," he said in a hushed voice, gaining strength with each word. "I've been such a bloody fool, all these years."

  "Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. Skeiron is one wickedly scary son of a bitch." I laid a hand over my heart. "If he told me he'd cursed my heart, I'd probably buy into it."

  "Still, I might never have realized the truth without you."

  "I don't know about that. Some other chickie would've come along eventually and — "

  "No." The force of his declaration resonated within the room.

  "Take it easy." I lowered my hands to my bare thighs. "It doesn't matter either way. You were never cursed."

  "It does matter." In one stride, he bridged the gap between us and dropped to his knees before me, settling his hands over mine. "You matter."

  I squirmed, searching for the courage to ask the question that plagued me. "Will you tell me the thing you wouldn't say last night?"

  "Perhaps you are receptive."

  "Let me decide that." I slanted toward him, my breasts waving above his face. "I'm receptive."

  He stared at my breasts, the tip of his tongue slipping out between his lips. My nipples went taut under his intent gaze and he swallowed visibly. I leaned back, which seemed to break the spell.

  Nevan clasped my hands to his heart, right over his scar. "You saved my heart and my life. I would've died, but you risked your safety to restore me."

  His voice had gone husky — this time, with deep emotion rather than lust.

  I couldn't speak or tear my gaze away from his.

  "My heart may not have been cursed, but I'd been unable to care for anything or anyone, trapped in a hell of my own making." He let his head fall forward onto my lap. But then an uncertain laugh rumbled out of him and he tilted his head to gaze up at me. "You saved my soul, Lindsey. I owe you a debt I can never repay, though I'll spend the rest of my existence trying to."

  A tether snapped taut between us, pulsing with fervent energy. I'd felt a similar, but far less intense, binding when I promised Tris anything if he'd save Nevan. This time, the energy burned with more than the power of a debt. It shimmered with the unquenchable fire of passion and devotion.

  Nevan mashed my hands into his flesh. "Thank you."

  The tether pulsated, hot and hard, driving his commitment into me with such force I lost my breath. No, my debt to Tris couldn't compare with this. Nevan owed me his heart, his life… his soul.

  A one-sided commitment meant nothing. I owed him everything. "You've saved me too, Nevan. I owe — "

  He silenced me with two fingers on my lips. "Don't. Let the debt stand, love, please. You may need it."

  "I don't understand. Why can't I express you-know-what like you did?"

  "Because when two parties each owe the other in equal proportion, it cancels out both debts. I do not believe your gratitude to me is equal to mine, but I won't risk it. You may soon have need of the bond."

  "You've said that twice. Why would I need you to owe me?"

  "It's a life debt. The most potent sort." He rose and took a step backward. "A life debt supersedes all other obligations and bargains. In fact, there is little else capable of overriding the debt levied by saving a life — except accomplishing the same feat in return."

  "You would have to save my life the way I saved yours."

  "Precisely. A life for a life."

  "And you're sure," I said, "nothing else can override it."

  His forehead crimped into deeply etched lines. "Once, I would have said no without hesitation. But I'm beginning to wonder if there is another force more powerful than any debt."

  "Like what?"

  He gazed at me with what I could only describe as longing. "I'll let you know when I figure that out."

  Realizing he would say no more, I heaved my body off the bed and rubbed my temples. My brain was starting to hurt. "What kind of influence does the person holding the debt have over the person who owes them?"

  "You will have nearly unlimited sway over me." He moved closer, his hands coming up to grasp my hips. "I am at your command, a virtual slave to your desires."

  A languid, molten heat unfurled through my body, pooling low in my belly. Oh God, how did he infuse every syllable of that statement with simmering sensuality?

  Because he was Nevan, that's how. And I loved everything he did to me. No more denials.

  I wound my arms around his waist, my body flush against his. "My slave, huh? Think I'm going to like this life debt stuff."

  "A debt has never been so pleasurable." He rubbed his hands up my back and down again to the upper curve of my buttocks. "But beware. Even if another saves your life, you must never admit to the obligation or you will be at the whim of the debt-holder forever, unless they incur an equal debt to you."

  "Yes, sir. Any other orders?"

  "Several come to mind, but we haven't the time. "

  Memories of last night — of our bodies entwined, of the rapture he'd given me — replayed in my mind, too vivid to allow coherent thought. With a great feat of willpower, I ignored the fresh desire smoldering within me. "How does it work? This debt thing, I mean. If you're a slave to my whims, do I just holler your name and, whoosh, you appear to do my bidding?"

  "Whoosh?" The laughter in his voice matched the affectionate amusement on his face.

  "Yeah. Whoosh." I rolled my hips into him and he winced, though I recognized it had nothing to do with pain and everything to do with his swelling erection. "Is that how it works?"

  "Essentially, your colorful description is accurate." He palmed both my buttocks, kneading my flesh. "The owed party must consciously invoke the debt and speak the words in the form of a command. Then and only then will the full magical power of the debt be invoked."

  "Hmm. These magical rules are damn confusing." I freed one arm, reaching up to comb my hand through his hair. "If I can't use the G word or the T phrase, then I'll have to be more creative. I was a terrified, pent-up mess. You should've walked away, but you didn't. You freed me from a burden I've carried for way too long, and oh yeah, you rescued me — repeatedly. You're my hero."

  He groaned, scrunching up his face.

  I tickled his scalp.

  His lips ticked up at the corners, but he pulled away, turning his back to me. "We should be talking about your future."

  "What about it?"

  "Your future is uncertain as long as you stay in my world, or within the portal boundaries in your world."

  "Why bring me here if it's so dangerous?"

  I couldn't see his face anymore — confronted with his uninformative, though mouth-watering, backside — but I spotted the slight hunching of his shoulders and the way his head lowered a smidgen. He spoke in a quiet voice I had to strain to hear. "I tried to let you go, Lindsey, but I cannot do it. Skeiron has attempted to kill you twice and yet I cannot push you away. My sanity has left me, but I don't care, so long as I have you."

  I padded up behind him to drape my arms around his waist, my cheek on the rippling muscles of his upper back. His chest inflated on a deep breath, then deflated as the air hissed out of him.

  Rubbing my cheek on his skin, I said, "Can't let you go either. When you were dying, I wanted to die too. I did some stupid things, I almost killed us both by losing control of the car, but I had to make it to another waterfall. It was the only chance." I hugged him tighter, needing the intimacy more than ever. "So you see, we're both a little crazy."

  He spun around, grasping my shoulders. His eyes darted back and forth, hunting for something in my expression or my ey
es. His mouth had set in a stern line.

  I tried to smooth away the lines on his forehead, but they were too entrenched.

  "Tell me," he said, "exactly what happened after Skeiron defeated me."

  A storm cloud had invaded his eyes. They darkened, the colors washed out by a cold, gray fear. He squeezed me until I flinched, then loosened his grip just enough to let me breathe again.

  I touched his cheek. "What's wrong?"

  "You mentioned another waterfall. When I woke, I assumed we were in the same woods as before."

  I thought back to last night, after Tris left us. Nevan and I had been in the throes of passion, clamoring to get inside each other, and he had whisked me away to the waterfall. Our waterfall. Not the one I'd penetrated to get to the Unseen realm and beg Tris for help. Nevan took me to the falls behind the rock shop, because he hadn't realized we were in a different place.

  Guess sylphs didn't have GPS.

  Nevan pulled me close, his gaze boring into me. "There is no other waterfall within one mile of the falls I guard."

  "Duh. You whisked us to my car and we got you inside, remember? You passed out, I think. I improvised."

  "Crossing the boundary should've destroyed me."

  "It didn't and I had no choice, what with Brennus on our tails. You were bleeding to death and I drove super-fast. Maybe we outran the boundary thingy." Idiotic, but all I could think of to explain it. Except for the option I still could not accept.

  Nevan had the grace to ignore the obvious conclusion, for the moment.

  His eyes narrowed. "What else did you do to save me?"

  Uh-oh. "What do you mean?"

  "You mentioned doing stupid things, plural." He angled his head until our lips grazed each other. "What else did you do?"

  His proximity overpowered my brain, my body, everything. He knew the effect he had on me and exploited it to his advantage whenever necessary. I had to admire his tenacity, but in this moment I could've slugged him for it. If I'd retained control of my limbs. Which I hadn't.

  Without meaning to, I melted against him, my chin braced on his chest, slanting my face up to bring our mouths into full contact.

  He rasped his tongue across the seam of my lips. "Tell me."

  "I… made a deal with Tris."

  His head jerked up, eyes flaming. "You what?"

  I studied the scar on his chest and nibbled my lip. "You were dying. I couldn't stand by and let that happen. I couldn't lose you. But the only way I knew to save you was a healing vortex and I ouldn't go back to the one by the shop because Skeiron might've been there, or Brennus, so I took you to another waterfall in hopes it also had a vortex and a doorway." I inhaled, breathless from my long-winded explanation. "Somehow, the portal opened for me, even without you there to do it, and I went through."

  No need to mention the almost-drowning portion of my evening, I decided.

  Frowning, Nevan held perfectly still.

  "And then I found Tris," I said. Screamed his name until the blasted leprechaun paid attention. "I begged him to heal you. I said I'd be, um, grateful."

  Nevan shut his eyes, his mouth twisting into a grimace. "How grateful?"

  "I may have promised him anything if he healed you."

  "Anything?" He gaped at me as if I'd vowed to have kinky sex with the leprechaun and bear his arrogant little spawn. "Were those your literal words? You would give him anything?"

  "I said, and I quote, if you heal him I will give you anything you want."

  I watched Nevan's jaw grind. His nostrils flared.

  "You have no right to be mad," I said. "You'd be dead if I hadn't bargained with Tris."

  His shoulders flagged, a breath rushing out of him, and he let his head fall onto my shoulder. "I am not mad. I'm afraid for you."

  "I won't apologize. Given the same choice, I'd do it all again."

  "You've indebted yourself to a powerful elemental. Tris may call in the debt anytime he likes, in whatever manner he likes."

  "I really don't think he'll do anything bad."

  "You've known him for less time than you've known me. How can you be certain?"

  "Intuition." And yeah, I believed in that crap now. "I was right to trust you, and I'm right about Tris. He's not as bad as he wants everyone to think. In fact, he seemed genuinely upset at the idea of you dying."

  Nevan barked a derisive laugh.

  "You used to be friends," I said. "Why is it so hard to believe he still cares if you live or die?"

  "Perhaps he does. Satisfied?"

  "Yes."

  Nevan stared past my head, his gaze distant. "Did you say the portal opened for you?"

  "Yep."

  "Are you certain Tris didn't open it? I imagine you were screaming his name this time."

  "Jealous?" I teased. "But no, I didn't yell for him until after I went through."

  His gaze swiveled back to me and he pushed me away, only a matter of inches, but enough to get my attention. He kept his hands on my upper arms. "Are you certain? The portal admitted you without any magical being to assist you?"

  I flung my arms out, forcing his hands away. "Yes, dammit, I'm certain. What's wrong with you?"

  He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally speaking. "I know of but one way it could be possible. Even mortals with a touch of the Unseen in them can't command a portal to open."

  "Okay. How'd I do it?"

  "Lindsey… you are the Janusite."

  24

  Nevan insisted we eat before discussing his outrageous claim any further and my stomach had chosen that moment to growl, so I deferred to him this once. He took me into his kitchen, where I observed from atop a high stool while he moved this way and that, preparing a meal even more enticing than the one he'd brought me that first night.

  I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten, or what I'd eaten. The meal he whipped up for me this morning roused my taste buds with decadent flavors and sumptuous textures, laced with hints of the exotic, every bite of it designed to make me moan with pleasure. Lord, the man could cook.

  Throughout the meal, he picked at his food, pretending to partake — for my benefit, no doubt. He kept frowning, only for a second each time, and rubbing the back of his neck. The tension mounting in him was subtle yet definite, but I was too starved to pause for an interrogation. Once I'd wolfed down the last of my meal, I wiped my mouth with the silky napkin he'd provided, realigning my butt on the stool to face him.

  "Something's bothering you," I said, setting the napkin on the counter. Yeah, I was avoiding the Janusite discussion, but for a good reason. "What happened while you were gone earlier? Where did you go?"

  He turned away, leaned against the counter behind him, and clamped his fingers over its edge.

  I watched him stand there like a statue for several minutes, his profile offering no clues to his agitation, until I could take the silence no longer. "You need to practice your sharing skills."

  He grunted.

  Jumping off the stool, I marched in front of him. "Explain."

  I phrased it as a command rather than a request, to sidestep the danger of saying please and all that craziness. Besides, I was getting damn tired of begging him to be honest with me.

  Nevan let his head fall back, his eyes directed at the ceiling but his gaze retreating somewhere much further away.

  I roped my arms around his neck, my hands at his nape, and pressed my entire body to his. God, the feel of his skin on mine never failed to crackle desire through me.

  His breath hitched.

  I lavished an open-mouth kiss on his throat, determined to lure him back from his thoughts, rewarded by his eyes homing in on mine. "Come on, you know I won't back down until you tell me."

  After a pause, he said, "I went out to assess the danger, to determine if Skeiron has healed ye
t. I came upon a battalion of his soldiers."

  When he fell silent again, I prodded, "And?"

  "I overheard them discussing the king's swift recovery and their orders to hunt down both of us. I was about to leave when — " He squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing. "One of them spotted me. I'd cloaked myself, becoming invisible, but the glamour must've slipped. Or I slipped." He opened his eyes and shook his head. "I failed you yet again."

  "You have never failed me."

  His hands fell to his sides, his entire body slumped. "They nearly caught me. I escaped, as your kind would say, by the skin of my teeth."

  "But you did escape. That's the important thing."

  Though he nodded, my gut told me he didn't truly believe it.

  He stomped out of the kitchen.

  Totally confused, I stared after him for a moment before I took off at a trot to catch up. He'd gone into the living area, halting at its center. My gaze wandered to the bed, rumpled from our passion the previous night.

  Nevan stood tall and stiff, hands fisted at his sides, his jaw tight enough to grind diamonds to powder. "Skeiron is hunting for us as we speak."

  I approached him from the side, reaching out a tentative hand to touch his arm. "We'll face him together."

  "You will stay here." He rolled his shoulders back, lifting his chin to stared down at me. "I will destroy him. Alone."

  "You tried that already. He came way too close to killing you." Realization raised all the hairs on my arms. "Quit trying to get rid of me. I won't hide. And you can't seriously expect me to stay here, in this underground lair, while you go fight the bad guys."

  "I do. And you will."

  "Like hell I will." I tipped my own chin up. "I am going with you."

  "No. I will not permit it."

  I drew back, feeling as if he'd struck me. "You will not permit it? I'm not your sex slave, who you can lock up in this dungeon until the next time you get horny."

  "Lindsey — "

  "Quit saying my name like that." I jabbed a finger in the air near his chest. A different kind of fire raged inside me, one borne of fury. "I'm not a child. And I make up my own mind about what risks to take."