Absolute Surrender

by Georgia Lyn Hunter

  “Where were you?”

  “Detained.” A nerve kicked up in his jaw.

  Her chest tightened when she realized the truth. He went to Ground because of what happened between them this morning.

  She pushed aside her troubled thoughts, took a deep breath, and continued. “This demon, he looks like the one from the subway, but he’s not the same. This one killed Tamsyn.”

  “You sure?”

  “It may have been five years ago but I can’t ever forget his stench. He smells like blood and ice-cream. The one from the subway smelled like honeysuckle and his eyes weren’t those of a demonii.”

  “Echo, you can’t go after him.”

  She already knew that, had it drilled into her in the worst possible way, and hated that she could never avenge her friend. Her gaze held his. “But you will, right? For Tamsyn?”

  “Yes.” No hesitation.

  She didn’t have to be the one to kill Lazaar. As long as the bastard died, that was all that mattered.

  ***

  Echo made her way to the kitchen the following afternoon, after a restless night.

  Now she was without a job or she soon would be. Tomorrow, she’d hand in her notice at the gym. She couldn’t put anyone else at risk and give that fiend, Lazaar, another way to use the people she cared about against her.

  She exhaled a rough breath when she thought about Aethan. He’d been out all night on patrol. He didn’t come to bed. Her heart dipped at the reason why. The crushing weight in her chest came back when she thought about yesterday morning.

  This was just so damn hard!

  Pushing open the door to the kitchen, she heard the sound of clattering dishes. Hedori had started on the evening meal. She wandered over to the island counter that separated the kitchen from the dining room and watched as the butler set aside lobsters in the prep area.

  “Can I help? I’m not good at cooking and stuff, but I can clean, peel, and stir,” she said, eyeing the shellfish, hoping he wouldn’t ask her to...well, she had no idea what to do with that.

  Hedori smiled. “No. I enjoy this. Not something I would have thought to do had I been in Empyrea. But I find human culinary arts to be quite relaxing.” He nodded his head to a small television where The Food Network was on.

  Okay, that was far beyond her skills, she decided, watching the chef on the screen. Chopping stuff up that fast, she was surprised the man didn’t dice up his fingers along with the vegetables.

  “My lady? I’ve been known to be a good listener to whatever troubles a soul.”

  Echo met his understanding look. “I’m all right, Hedori.”

  He nodded then set out the ingredients for a salad and began slicing up the carrots as fast as the chef did.

  Týr sauntered in, winked at her, and dropped his jacket on a chair. He nabbed a carrot stick from Hedori’s stash and popped it in his mouth. Then he opened the fridge and took out a can of Red Bull. He came over to lean on the opposite side of the island counter, his dark eyes grave. “You okay after yesterday?”

  She nodded. “I’m fine. I guess I just forgot a key factor: that there are demoniis who move about during the day when the weather’s gloomy.”

  “Yesterday wasn’t dull or overcast, Echo. The bastard flashed into the bar. We found his point of entry. He’s desperate to get you. You cannot leave the safety of the castle. But there’s not much a demonii can do if he gets you now,” he said, smiling. “You’re mated. Your soul’s bound to Aethan’s, so—”

  Echo’s mouth tightened.

  He stared at her. Shock then understanding filled his face. Echo dropped her gaze to the beautifully diced vegetables, unable to take his pity.

  “Damn, I’m sorry, Echo. I didn’t mean to—”

  “It’s okay,” she said, in no state to talk about the thing that pained her.

  Hedori moved over to the prep area to work on the lobsters, probably to give them privacy. Týr cracked open the Red Bull, bringing her gaze back to him.

  “Týr, can I ask you a question?”

  “Shoot,” he said, sucking from the can.

  “Do you have to Ground, too?” she asked, reorganizing the apples in a bowl on the counter.

  “No.” He shook his head. “We aren’t as dangerous as your Empyrean. We’re pussycats really, more docile than Bob.”

  That made her smile. “Yes, I’m sure you are.”

  He laughed.

  “Is that the only way?”

  “Well there’s bed-sport, a damn good way to get off, I’d say—ah hell.” Consternation darkened his eyes. “Echo, look, you’re all he wants. He nearly rearranged my face for hitting on you. That’s my fault, though. I just wanted to settle a score. Things will work out. Aethan Grounds at the Catskills when the need arises. The mountain does the job just as well. Now, before I put my size fourteen in my mouth, I’m gonna go.”

  He grabbed his biker jacket off the chair. His expression was pained as he strode from the kitchen.

  Echo stood frozen beside the counter. The one thing Aethan wouldn’t risk with her. Bed-sport: sex.

  Her heart went into an agonizing tailspin at what that meant.

  CHAPTER 25

  Aethan changed into his work clothes, his mind still on the close call that had occurred yesterday. The demonii’s desperation was growing. He’d risked coming out during the day when it could mean his death.

  Breaking free of his mountainous prison had left Aethan raw. Pain ate at his psyche with his powers roiling so close to the surface. But until he killed the bastard, he couldn’t take another chance with Echo being unprotected while he Grounded.

  Aethan picked up his cell and walked out of the dressing room, only to stop in the bedroom. He’d not shared it with her last night. He was too dangerous right now. Instead, he’d spent the time patrolling until dawn broke. He’d promised Echo they’d try. But how could he? When he was unable to Ground his cursed powers.

  “Aethan, man, hang on a sec,” Týr called out, running down the stairs behind him.

  Aethan turned his attention to the warrior. “Yeah? What’s up?”

  Týr stopped beside him and stuck his hands in the pockets of his leathers. “You’re not gonna like this. Elytani’s gone. She’s missing.”

  “What do you mean she’s missing?” he growled. “She’s supposed to stay at the castle ’til Michael gets here—dammit! You know what can happen. Let’s go—wait, I’m supposed to take Echo to her apartment.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Okay, give me a minute, then we’ll do this.”

  Aethan found Echo sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor, talking to her pet, who seemed more interested in inhaling his food than the hand stroking him. She lifted her head. When she saw him, she bit her lip and rose to her feet. “I’m sorry. I was feeding Bob and forgot the time. I won’t be long.”

  “That’s okay, no rush. I have to take care of something first.”

  “Oh...okay,” she murmured. Before he could kiss her, she sat back on the floor.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She glanced at him and shook her head. “No. I’ll see you later.”

  Frowning, Aethan left the kitchen, meeting with Týr who waited out on the portico.

  What the hell was going on? He felt like he’d hit a brick wall when he went to kiss her. If she thought to push him away just because they couldn’t—his teeth snapped together.

  “What did you tell Echo?” Týr asked him.

  “That I had to clean up your mess.” He ignored the male’s narrow-eyed stare. “Let’s do this fast.”

  “Fast? You know where she is?”

  The suspicious tone was starting to irritate the shit out of Aethan.

  Finding Elytani shouldn’t be difficult, he hoped. He recalled she liked spending her time in the open grasslands and forest back in Empyrea. “Let’s try CP first.”

  He and Týr dematerialized to Central Park.

  “She has a proclivity for these kinds of places,” Aethan said as t
hey took form again in a shadowy thicket of trees.

  “And you remember that?”

  Oh, he knew where Týr’s thoughts were heading. Aethan nailed the Norse with a cold look. “There was never anything between us. Her brother, Reynner, was one of my best friends. She would constantly get lost, forcing her sire to send out the guards to find her. But we were the ones who did, in parks or on the moors.”

  “Just checking,” Týr retorted. “You have an amazing female. Don’t hurt Echo.”

  Aethan clenched his jaw as they searched the park. He was already hurting her by not consummating their love. He was just too afraid of losing her.

  Scanning the park, he soon located Elytani. Late afternoon sunlight struck her pale hair as she sat on the grass near the lake, feeding the ducks. Children ran around her, and she laughed, seeming quite in her element.

  “The female’s been here all this time while I’ve been searching every freakin’ hotel in the city,” Týr muttered in annoyance.

  She looked up and a smile lit her face when she saw Týr. But the moment her gaze fell on Aethan, the glow faded and wariness settled over her. She pushed to her feet and brushed the grass from her gown.

  “You cannot leave the castle unchaperoned. It’s far too dangerous,” Aethan told her.

  She sighed. “It’s so beautiful here. I like it, in all its entirety.” She tossed more crumbs into the lake, her smile wistful as the ducks dove for the food.

  “How did you get the food for the ducks?” Týr asked her.

  “Oh, that man.” She looked toward a bench along the edge of the lake. “There was a man right there. He gave me some when I asked.”

  Elytani had the same angelic allure he did, so Aethan wasn’t surprised that the man had given her what she wanted.

  “I see,” Týr murmured. “You’ve been gone a few days, where did you stay?”

  “At that castle.” She pointed a finger across the lake where parts of a building showed. “And the other night, I saw a fight—people fight without powers here, did you know?”

  Týr glanced at the ducks, hiding his grin.

  Aethan sighed and shook his head. She still was as amusing as he remembered. “Come on, we have to leave,” he said, leading the way to a secluded grove of trees so they could dematerialize. And he was damn grateful no one had accosted her, which would have been devastating for the human.

  ***

  Aethan stood by Echo’s bedroom window later that afternoon, his gaze on several youths playing basketball on the eroded court below her apartment building. The yells and curses reached him since he’d open the window. While he followed the game, his senses were attuned to his mate.

  During the drive to the city, she’d remained silent, staring out of the side window. He’d never seen her this quiet.

  He turned to her. Leaning against the sill, he crossed his arms over his chest and watched as she tossed some clothes onto the bed. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

  She picked up a sweater and looked at it, her brow furrowing.

  Either the sweater confused the hell out of her or his question did. He knew damn well which one it was.

  “Why would you ask that? Nothing’s going on.”

  “Something upset you. I want to know what.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “Is it because of yesterday morning?”

  “No.” She stopped folding the sweater and finally met his gaze, but her eyes swam with despair.

  Fear took hold of him. “Echo, what is it?”

  She shook her head. “Týr told me what helps you to fully Ground.”

  All his anger drained out of him only to come rushing like a backdraft when he realized what she was referring to. “You think I’ll betray you because we haven’t consummated our relationship?”

  “No...”

  Her hesitant answer made him curse. “Echo, before I met you, I hadn’t been with a female for a while. Grounding in the mountains was far preferable to the emptiness inside me after one of those encounters. Being with you is all that holds me together. It’s when you’re not here or keeping me at arm’s length, like now, that messes me up.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m trying to make this easy on us. I feel as if—” She swallowed. “—as if I’m going to lose you.”

  “That will never happen.” He reached out and tugged her into his arms. “Gods, Echo, talk to me. Don’t build walls between us. It just hurts us both then.”

  She held him tightly. His heart settled as the barriers between them vanished. He sat on the windowsill, pulled her between his thighs, and captured her mouth in a tender kiss.

  “Echo, are you home?”

  Aethan’s head jerked up at the intrusive sound of a male in her apartment and every possessive molecule fired up.

  Her face flushed, her mouth swollen from his kisses, she blinked and inhaled unevenly.

  “I’ll be there in a moment,” she called out, her gaze on him. “It’s Damon. He’s been away on business. He must have just gotten back.”

  “And he came straight to you?”

  She frowned, brushing at her wispy bangs. “Yes. Most times he does. Aethan, I haven’t told him about us yet—he’s a bit protective so, please?”

  She wanted him to what? Tone down his...aggression? Did she think he’d hurt her guardian?

  Her hand stroked his chest. “Please?”

  He nodded.

  Yeah, he was grateful the male kept her safe, but he hated his guts. Hated him for being all the things he could never be. Why the hell didn’t Fate let him find Echo all those years ago?

  Truth was, he would have walked right past her. As long as he kept the streets safe, he never interfered or took an interest in the homeless, the street-kids. And that stung more.

  “Echo, I need to talk to you,” the male called out again.

  “Hang on a sec. I’m coming.”

  “Echo.” Aethan caught her hand when she would have walked away. “We will tell him about us. No need for details, just keep it simple.”

  Sighing, she nodded before she left the room.

  He heard the murmur of voices and dragged in a rough breath. He’d let her have a minute before he interrupted the reunion. Then he heard the male laugh and say something about being glad she’d gotten rid of her contacts.

  Dammit, the human was her guardian, like a father. Aethan hauled in his possessive shit. Unable to claim his mate was screwing with his perception.

  Jealousy? Gods, it was a bitch of an emotion!

  He walked out into the lounge. What happened next became a blur. He saw the human, who looked far too young to be anyone’s guardian, touching his mate. Then he got a good look at the male and his stomach lurched as he realized the enormity of what faced him. This fucker was responsible for Echo’s safety? The one who’d stood by and watched a Guardian die?

  A’Damiel.

  Centuries of animosity broke free. Aethan’s dagger was drawn and pressed into the male’s throat.

  ***

  “Aethan, no!” Echo cried. Fear for her guardian tearing through her, she shoved at Aethan. Unable to move him, she grabbed the blade and tried to pull it away from Damon’s throat. A burning sensation slid across her palm.

  Aethan pulled back his dagger and smashed his fist into her guardian’s face instead.

  Damon staggered and hit the couch. Eyes narrowing, he wiped at the blood trickling from his mouth. He straightened. She rushed over and slapped a hand on Damon’s chest, keeping him back.

  “Stop it, both of you, and tell me what the hell’s going on!”

  At her yell, they looked at her. Then Damon crossed to the kitchen. Her eyes snapped to Aethan. He didn’t respond. He sheathed his dagger and reached for her. But Damon was there, wrapping the dishtowel around her palm. Only then did she realize it was bleeding and Damon’s white shirt was stained with her blood.

  His expression stony, Aethan headed for the door.

  She broke free of Damon’s hold and hurried after him. “Wait–
wait. Where are you going?”

  “I think it’s best if I wait in the car for you. Call me when you’re ready to leave.”

  The look he shot Damon, before he left the apartment, made Echo feel as if he’d completed the job of slitting her guardian’s throat.

  She wheeled around to Damon. “What’s going on? Do you know Aethan?”

  He didn’t answer, but his violet eyes narrowed. “What did he mean, ‘call him when you’re ready to leave’?”

  The pain in her palm stung like acid had crawled in it. She curled her fingers around the cloth, trying to ease the ache. “Answer me first.”

  “Yes, I know him.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “So explain, Echo, what did he mean?”

  Damon knew Aethan? How?

  Aethan was an Empyrean and Damon was just...well, Damon. Questions pounded in her, but when she saw the concern on his face, she caved. No matter her anger, Damon was still her family.

  “I would have told you about him but everything happened so fast. I’m sorry. I didn’t—” She took a shuddering breath. “Damon, I love him.”

  He stared at her in disbelief. “Echo, you barely know him.”

  “Don’t tell me how I feel!”

  “It’s just infatuation,” he insisted.

  “How can you say that?” she snapped, riled at his attempt to dismiss her feelings so lightly. “You–you don’t even know what love is. In all the time I’ve lived with you, I’ve yet to see you in a relationship.”

  “This is not about me,” Damon shot back. “It’s about you and him. And that’s asking for trouble. How do you think it will turn out? Their foremost priority is to protect this realm. Where do you fit in all this? I’m surprised he’s with a human, when they’ve always kept their distance before. What’s changed?”

  His tone, his expression had a stillness that finally pierced through her chaotic emotions.

  Echo searched his face, found nothing there to tell her what was wrong. But her stomach dipped with unease as she answered. “I’m living with him. I moved in about a week ago.”