At any other time I would have snarked out a comment, but right now, I couldn’t. “Never,” I said, placing my hand above where his heart beat a steady rhythm. I could never get enough of touching him, either.
Warm fingers traced a line along my side. He gave me one of his tiger grins, and I shivered. “In that case…” He pulled me closer, scrambling my brains again, and I succumbed to my desire for him. A desire so bright, I was sure it would never fade.
*****
Heath was true to his promise to give me some time to settle down. He kept us holed up for more than a week, not that I was complaining or anything. No one disturbed us, and I could have stayed like that forever, if my conscience hadn’t been gnawing a hole in my gut.
As much as I loved him, which was more than I’d ever thought possible, I had other people I had to worry about. I also had to figure out how I was going to break the binding spell the Royal Guard placed on me, so I could actually do something useful. Jerks bound me to the realms, which pretty much made my vow to destroy the Order a vain threat.
Waiting had never been one of my strong suits. I’d asked Heath to bring Tabitha to our room so we could clear the proverbial air.
His hand coiled around mine moments before she walked through our doorway. The instant I saw her, my insides stiffened. I’d let her rule me because of my fears. I’d let her manipulate me into bonding with Zach, when it should have been Heath all along. Nothing she did made any sense.
I’d been warned about the treacherous fae council. I’d been warned about trusting anyone within the realms, and the moment I put my trust in her, she betrayed me.
She flashed her teeth at me; however, the gesture had no chance of resembling a smile. Her voice came out low when she spoke. “Good to see you among the land of the living.”
What was she being grumpy about? I’d been the one that had to face the consequences of her decisions. Besides, if she was so worried about how I’d handled things, she could just rewind time, unless that had been an empty promise as well.
“Come now, child,” she said. “Complaining will not aid you in getting what you desire.”
I scoffed at her. “Seems neither will you.” So much for diplomacy.
Her face twisted into something akin to regret, if that was even possible for her. “Rayla,” she said, her wispy tone full of so many unspoken emotions.
She wasn’t about to disarm me that fast. I glared at her. “What?”
To my surprise Tabitha’s expression softened. “I’m sorry for deceiving you.” She splayed her hands sideways. “There was…no other way.”
I shook my head. “Ainessa could have taken control of me at any time. How could you put me in that kind of danger knowing what she has planned?”
She didn’t even flinch when I said Ainessa’s name even though I had been berated for using it in times past. It was stupid to say her name out loud, but sometimes it just came out of me. Besides, it reminded me of who I was up against.
She sighed and said, “There are things you do not understand; things I need to explain. You were being guarded. There was no way she could have captured your mind. Give me some credit.”
A disgusted huff raced up my throat. “After what you pulled, you’ll be lucky if I ever speak to you again.” I walked closer to her, but my mind traveled to the last time I’d seen Zach, crumpled, broken. My temper died on a gust of remorse. He hadn’t even moved after I blasted him. “What if I hurt him?” I said to no one in particular. I let the real question fizzle before it fully formed in my mind—what if he wouldn’t forgive me?
Tabitha’s expression held the sad sympathy of a parent gazing at an injured child. “Ammon is fine. In fact, as we speak, he is organizing your rescue.”
A jolt of fear shot through me. Had I misheard her? “My what?”
She shook her head as her pale gray eyes settled on mine. “He is your bondmate.”
“But…Heath…”
“Is aware.” She finished for me.
My hand flew to my mouth. “What are we going to do?”
She chuckled. “It’s good to see you asking for a change.”
Why did she have to do things like that? Was she trying to make me angry?
She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Shove your temper in your pocket, girl. We don’t have time for it.”
I laughed, looking down at my t-shirt and sweats. “I don’t have any pockets.”
Her smile crinkled the corners of her eyes, lending her an unusual softness. “I know you secretly hoped that you and Heath could stay here forever, but such a thing is not possible. This is only a temporary fix for a problem I’m afraid has no answer.”
What did she mean she didn’t have an answer? “This whole thing is your fault!” My voice kept rising with my words. “What did you think would happen when you had me bond with Zach? That his sister wouldn’t try to compel me? That he wouldn’t care that I want Heath instead of him?” I grunted in frustration. “I’ve hurt him in every way possible. How could he possibly want me back?”
She cleared her throat, clasping her hands in front of her. “Are you quite finished?”
My eyes narrowed until she was the only thing I could see. “I haven’t even begun, you crazy old woman!”
“That’ll be enough of that,” said Heath from behind me.
I whirled around, hurt eating up my face. “You’re taking her side?”
His expression softened. “This isn’t about sides, Rayla. You’re still focusing on the wrong things.”
My hand found my hip. “Oh, really, and what exactly should I be focused on?”
In a heartbeat, he slid his tongue along his upper lip and smiled, making me aware of my own parched mouth. So not fair of him. I gritted my teeth together. Neither he nor his darned mouth was going to distract me again.
I’d somehow managed to get Tabitha to come here, and I wasn’t about to let her leave before I knew exactly what I was up against. Every time I had mentioned talking to her before now, Heath had set about diverting my attention to more pleasurable things. Well, it wasn’t going to work this time around.
His long legs made short work of the distance between us. With a crooked tilt to his lips, he smirked. “Care to say that to me out loud?”
My eyes shifted to his collarbone. As tempting as it was for me to let them wander down the valleys of his bronzed torso, I kept my focus. “Do you always walk around half dressed?”
The smile in his voice was hard to miss. “Not sure yet. It is rather hot down here…” He leaned in closer then pulled in a long breath, tickling my senses. “…especially when I’m near you.”
“Oh, you’re bad,” I said, smiling. Movement across the room caught my attention. Tabitha was trying to escape…again. I glared at Heath, who shrugged, and raced after the reluctant mage. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She whirled around and groaned. “All right, child, I will talk to you, but not here. It is not secure enough.” She glanced at Heath and said, “Bring her.”
*****
We followed Tabitha into the tunnels that from what I could see made up the hub of the dark realms. They went every which way, seeming to have no order at all. A body could get lost here in a second. Being the wimp that I was in the dark, I grabbed Heath’s hand.
The farther we travelled, the more my stomach hurt. Pretty soon, I swayed on my feet from disorientation and nausea. Without warning Heath picked me up. Telling me to hold on, he took off at hyper-speed, sending my head on a trip to never-never land. I buried my face in the hollow of his neck, concentrating on breathing.
When he finally placed my feet on the ground, I twisted away from him, hurling the contents of my stomach onto the musty dirt. My head still hadn’t stopped spinning, and I started to believe it never would.
Heath’s hand rested on my shoulder, while the other hand pulled my hair out of the way as I retched repeatedly. An unexpected sound came from him, something like humming, before his fingers massa
ged my back.
I went to thank him for being so kind, but my whole body convulsed from another bout of nausea. Heath knelt by me and held up my shoulders. “I’m sorry I had to put you through that,” he said, “but there’s a possibility the Guard could sense you while you are in the tunnels. We are only strong enough to fortify a few rooms as it is. Tabitha’s room is the most secure.”
My mind refused to think about why she was more important to protect than me. I was so tired of running, so tired of hiding. That’s all I’d done since Mom left me with Aunt Grace.
Remembering my former home, I let my lips curl in a small smile. For once in my life, I was grateful for the bit of normal I’d had with my makeshift family. Right now, I would have traded all my power for a chance at an uncomplicated life.
Heath grunted and stood up, pulling me up with him. “You were bored out of your mind in that hick town. Stop making things worse than they already are.”
Wishing I had a toothbrush or at the very least some gum, I wiped every bit of spittle off my cheek, gazing up at him. “How is any of this my fault?”
His hand shot out to caress my face. “It’s not.” He shook his head, his eyes softening. “I wanted to have you longer than this. I can’t stand the thought of you going back to him.”
I blanched, my heart stalling at his words. Then panic set in. “I’m not! What the heck is going on, Heath?”
He wouldn’t look at me, but Tabitha spoke up. “We had hoped the bond would shift to Heath once you two…” As her words faltered, her cheeks pinked up, and I suddenly got her meaning. I gasped, my eyes going huge. “I’m afraid,” she continued, cutting off my reply, “we will have to deal with this in another way.”
I gritted my teeth until my jaw hurt. I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. Was she actually saying all this time they’d given me to be with Heath was because she allowed it, because she wanted me to have sex with him? When I gave her a look, she glanced away. I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear that one anyway, so I focused on diverting the issue back to where it needed to be. “I’m not going back! You can’t make me.”
Tabitha waved a dismissive hand. “I wouldn’t dream of it, child, but the longer you are away from your bondmate, the worse your symptoms will become. It would be better if you return while you still have the ability to think for yourself.”
I’d seriously figured it was just a matter of time before I gathered my army so we could swoop in on the council and bring some much needed butt-kicking to the uppity dictators. They weren’t giving me time to do anything. “This can’t be happening,” I said, a deep sadness washing through me.
Heath’s arm came around my shoulders as he pulled me tight against him. “Trust me,” he whispered into my ear. “I don’t like this any better than you do.”
My eyes found his. “What are we going to do? We have to fight this.”
He laughed. “I’ve done everything I know how to do, Rayla, and a few things I shouldn’t have tried.”
I swallowed, remembering some of those things. Tabitha cleared her throat, that pink tinge back in her cheeks.
A smirk took hold of my face. If she didn’t want to know what I was thinking she should stay out of my mind.
I hadn’t even noticed the small table in the corner that Heath led me to. The chair creaked under my weight, so I readjusted my lower half when the legs wobbled. Seemed somebody needed new furniture.
No one talked for a really long time, and my mind whirred with horrible thoughts about returning to Zach. How could I leave Heath, especially after what we’d shared together? Was I just supposed to go back to Eirie and pretend nothing happened? Pretend I hadn’t given my soul to the man I loved?
Heath sat up straighter and smiled at me; a wicked sparkle reflected in his eyes. “We’ll figure it out. Don’t give up on us just yet.”
I tried to smile back, but it didn’t feel right. “I wouldn’t have to even think about this if Tabitha wasn’t being so stubborn.” I faced her. “Why won’t you help us? You could take us back to before I bonded with Zach. We could have a redo.”
“Manipulating time comes at a great cost.” Her expression grew grim. “It is an absolute last resort. There’s so much you don’t understand—can’t understand. We are not able to share some knowledge with you.”
More rules to keep me in the dark. I couldn’t see how this was ever going to work out. “What was the point in bringing me here if you’re just going to send me back?”
Tabitha sighed. “I didn’t say I was going to send you anywhere. You assumed that. It can only be your choice, but to be fair to you, you need to know the risks associated with staying here. The bond is not easy to withstand, even for someone with your unusual…abilities; however, I will aid you in every way I know how.”
I gave her a halfhearted smile, crossing my legs in an attempt to get more comfortable. “So what’s your plan? You do have a plan, right?”
She laughed. “More or less.”
I ran my tongue along my teeth, trying to find the right thing to say to her. There had to be something that would get her to help me. Even though it might not be a big deal to her, the thought of losing Heath after I’d just gotten him was devastating, not that it would ever be easy for me to leave him.
No wonder Mom had her memory wiped after she left me with Aunt Grace if it meant pain like this. She’d been going back to Theran, a horrible man and a bondmate she didn’t love. If he was who I had to face for a few centuries, I’d want my memory gone, too.
Tabitha gave me a look. How was it I couldn’t seem to remember this woman could read my mind? I laughed when she smirked at me.
“We thought Ainessa would give you more time to adjust before she made her move,” she said. “We never anticipated she would attempt to control Ammon so close to your bonding, or we would have taken precautions.”
Some kind of prophetess she was. I took a deep breath. “I don’t think Zach thought she would attempt it, either. Guess she’s pretty desperate.” I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, uncomfortable with my thoughts. It wasn’t as if I could simply shut off my caring for Zach just because I’d chosen Heath. Even though I no longer wanted the lord of space in that way, I still wanted him to be okay, to be happy. There was one thing I needed to clear up before I found out anything else. “Why does she hate her brother so badly?”
Heath clasped my hand. “You needn’t feel guilty for caring about him, Rayla. We are all concerned about him. He and I may not be close, but I will do all in my power to remove her from his mind.” He rubbed my knuckles, his brown eyes connecting with mine. “We’ll figure out a way to defeat her without hurting him. I promise.”
My fingers slid along his until they intertwined. He was taking this much better than I thought he would. I gave him a shy glance, still not sure how to handle my emotions. “Thanks for being so great to me.”
His smile stretched into a full-out grin—a mischievous one at that. “I’m just getting started.”
Someone cleared his throat, so I pulled my gaze away from Heath. Creed stood in front of me, a grim line pulling at his mouth.
When I stood up, the chair clattered to the floor behind me. “What’s wrong?” My heart hammered in anticipation of what could only be bad news, if the look on his face was any indication.
His gaze settled at my feet. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out what was different. His face had changed, again, becoming more angular, almost handsome. He still had scales on a patch of skin near his nose, but he was definitely changing at a rapid pace. When he finally spoke up, his voice came out nearly normal, only an occasional hiss. It was a nice sound. “I’m deeply sorry to have to tell you this, Rayla, but I have been unable to locate your cousin.”
A lump formed in my throat I could barely swallow past. “Have you mentioned this to Aunt Grace?”
He shook his head. Heath snagged my hand and squeezed then turned to Creed. “I’ll need to know where you’ve searched,” he
said, “and whom you’ve spoken with. He’s not in the realms so he has to be in the mortal world.”
My brows furrowed. “How do you know he’s not in Faeresia?”
Heath smirked at me. “I’ve got ways.”
Ordinarily I would have given him a big smile and bantered for a while about his ways, but I couldn’t do that right now. I had other people to think about. Uncle John had to be going out of his mind worrying about Travis, and Aunt Grace was probably already digging a tunnel out of here.
I caught Heath’s eye. “Mind sharing some of your secrets?”
He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and chewed. I really wished he wouldn’t do that—made my mouth jealous.
Taking one last glimpse of his lips, I forced myself to turn away from him. “Thanks for the update, Creed. Please work with Heath to locate him. Oh, and could you also look for Natalie and Sam. The last I heard, the Order had them.”
Even though I only met Natalie in college, she had become important to me, and I kind of felt responsible for what happened to her. She may not have even shown up on Roger Wayne’s radar if it hadn’t been for his interest in me. I’d probably never know for sure if she still would have been captured, but given how the Order treated, usually killed, those who did not go along with their plans or posed a threat in some way, I was worried about my friends.
After I sent Creed a mental image of the two, he gave me a sharp nod. Wasting no time, he pulled Heath into the tunnels.
A soft touch settled on my upper arm. Tabitha’s voice came out in a whisper. “It will be okay, Rayla.”
I placed my hand over hers. “I sure hope you’re right.”
She nodded solemnly then motioned me over to the table again. It was a good thing Heath left because I’d managed to break the chair I’d been balancing on. Without even thinking about it, I imagined the chair whole.
The air changed, growing thick with power before suddenly all the scattered pieces rose into the air and hovered for a moment. With a sharp snap the pieces joined together, splinters and all. I covered my gasp with my hand.
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