Return to Me (Storm Lords)

by Nina Croft

  She clenched her eyes shut and repeated the mantra over and over in her mind, in time with the steady drone of the engine.

  Then it coughed.

  Beside her, Torr stiffened.

  The engine coughed again and then ceased. The silence was deafening. Bella stopped breathing, while she strained to hear it start up again. When nothing happened, she let out a little whimper.

  Torr got to his feet. She forced her eyes open and looked up at him. He held out a hand and she placed hers in his larger one. If she was going to die, she didn’t want to be alone, and she didn’t object when Torr pulled her to her feet and dragged her close against his side.

  A sense of calm washed over her.

  Yeah, she was going to die.

  Suddenly, it didn’t seem like such a big deal. She had a strange sensation that she had experienced this before. That she had stood poised on the edge of death many times. But this time she wasn’t alone. She glanced sideways at Torr. There was something she needed to do, something she had to tell him, something that teased at the back of her mind. If only she could remember, everything would be perfect.

  “Come,” Torr said, breaking the mood and she blinked away the thoughts.

  They crossed the room, Torr opened the door, and the whoosh of rushing air filled her ears.

  He pulled her tighter against him. “Don’t let go.”

  She squinted against the force. The door opened into another cabin, this one lined with chairs, and an open gap where a door should have been. Torr held her pressed against his side as he edged around the cabin toward the gaping hole, with the air tugging at her, trying to pull her from his grasp.

  He came to a halt by the opening, one hand gripping the edge, the other holding on to her.

  She could see out now, and she gasped. The sea beneath her crawled, so close, as though she could almost reach out and touch it, and up ahead she could make out the vague outline of the coast. At the sight of land, a deep longing welled up inside her.

  Was this the end?

  She looked up at Torr, and there was that thought again. Something she needed to tell him before they both crashed into the sea and disappeared forever. She opened her mouth, not knowing what she would say, only that something needed saying, just as he leaned down toward her, and his mouth slanted over hers, hard, his tongue pushing inside. This was better than words. He kissed her until she forgot she teetered on the edge of a great empty void. Then he pulled back and stared down into her eyes, his expression vaguely rueful.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “What—” And once again everything went black.

  Chapter 12

  Torr caught her as she fell.

  As he shifted her in his arms, he willed his wings into being, and launched himself from the open doorway of the plane. He soared up high into the sky, then circled and hovered. The plane hit the water hard. Once, twice, it bounced, before somersaulting, and snapping in half as it came down on its back. The pieces sank quickly, leaving floating debris in their wake.

  Bella lay unconscious in his arms. It was likely she would never forgive him this time. But at least they would have a chance.

  He studied the coastline, searching for a suitable place to take her while they waited for Cade to come find them. He considered flying straight to Mexico City, but he couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t wake up. While he might justify hitting her once, a second time would not be so understandable.

  Instead, he flew a few miles along the coast, wanting to put some distance between them and the crash site, in case anybody had seen the plane go down, and went to look for survivors. After locating an empty expanse of beach, he landed lightly on the wide stretch of golden sand. He carried Bella away from the water and laid her down beneath a palm tree.

  His wings vanished, and he sank down next to her. He settled himself with his back against the tree trunk, his legs stretched out, and pulled her head into his lap, so he could stroke her hair and watch her sleep.

  A red mark flawed the perfect skin of her jaw line where he had clipped her, and he smoothed it with his fingers as though he could wipe the flaw away. Despair swamped him. She was all he had ever wanted. For over a thousand years, he had wished for nothing more than this. Now the certainty of failure filled him with desolation.

  He rested his head back against the rough bark and stared out across the vast expanse of ocean. Then he closed his eyes, and for the first time in two thousand years, he prayed.

  ***

  This time, Bella came awake slowly, though for the second time that day she had no clue where she was. She lay quietly, listening to the soothing sound of waves lapping the shore, breathing in the salty scent of the sea.

  Her head lay on something hard, and gentle fingers caressed her hair.

  She was warm, and comfortable…and alive.

  At the thought, she had a flashback to hovering on the edge of nothing, with the certainty of death the only sure thing in the world.

  Could she be dead after all?

  “Bella?” Torr spoke her name quietly as though unsure whether she was awake. The hard thing she was lying on was obviously Torr, and his fingers were stroking her hair.

  She opened her eyes and pushed herself upward, coming onto her knees beside him. Torr didn’t try to hold her, and she gazed around in wonder. She must be dead. This place could certainly pass for paradise.

  The sun was sinking behind the vast expanse of sea, painting the sky crimson and orange, the colors reflected in the water. Smooth as glass; it was hard to tell where the water ended and the sky began. She knelt on silky, golden sand under a real, honest-to-god palm tree, with a half-naked man beside her who had the face of an angel and the body of a Greek god. She peeked at Torr. He was naked from the waist up, and she realized she was still wearing his black shirt. He’d given it to her just before the crash... And he wasn’t getting it back.

  For a minute, she admired the broad expanse of his chest, the pale skin, smooth over the swell of muscles, the dark hair that ran down the center of his lean, almost concave belly, remembered the feel of it beneath her fingers. Heat washed through her then as she remembered other things: his mouth on her breasts, his hand pushing inside her jeans, his long finger pushing inside her. She squirmed and knelt up straighter, then forced her gaze upward and found him watching her, his expression a little wary.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “I think so. I’m alive at least, and I never expected to be. What happened?”

  “What do you remember?”

  “I was standing on the edge looking out. Then you said you were sorry, and I thought you meant we were going to die. I wanted to tell you something but….” She frowned, trying to remember back. “Did I faint?” She reached up a hand and touched her face, the skin along her jaw felt tender. “Did something hit me?”

  His eyes shifted away. Bella thought he wasn’t going to answer, but he looked back, his expression apologetic. “I hit you.”

  “You hit me?”

  Rising to his feet, he paced a few feet away, then turned, his hands thrust in his pockets. He came back to stand over her and Bella scrambled to her feet.

  “You hit me…?” she prompted.

  He took a deep breath. “I had to jump. I didn’t have a choice. The plane was going down, and I didn’t want you panicking in the water.” He stared down at the sand as though avoiding her eyes. “I know I promised I’d never knock you out again, but I couldn’t think of another way.”

  There was something wrong with the story. If they’d jumped, why were her clothes dry, her hair…? She couldn’t have been unconscious for that long—the sun hadn’t yet gone down completely—certainly not long enough for everything to dry.

  But suddenly, a wave of realization washed over her. She was alive. For the second time in two days, she had come face-to- face with death, and each time Torr had saved her. Right now, she wouldn’t question the hows and the whys; she’d just accept that she was ali
ve.

  She’d lived a rough life, at least up until a few years ago, when she and Justin had gotten their act together and started earning enough to get off the streets. But most of her confrontations had been the mental kind. Oh, she’d received beatings before she had left home, from her mother when she’d been drunk enough, or from the men who had periodically shared their lives, but she had never been in what she would consider a life-threatening situation before. And it made her realize one thing so clearly. She didn’t want to die. It was a liberating thought. Life had always been something to be endured. Now she understood it could be so much more, and she would never, ever take it for granted again.

  “You saved my life. I don’t know how, and one day I’d like you to explain, but for now—thank you.”

  The tension drained from his taut limbs, his shoulder sagged briefly, and he smiled. “One day.”

  That would do her for now. She accepted there was more going on here than she understood. Torr had some interest in her she couldn’t yet comprehend. She didn’t know whether he was ultimately on her side, or whether he merely had a vested interest in keeping her alive, because he had some use for her that would become clear later on. She would worry about it then. In the meantime, she had to keep some sort of distance between them. For some reason, he had an effect on her she’d never experienced before. Maybe it was her early experience watching her mother, which had made her wary of the opposite sex, but Torr seemed to sneak past her built-in defenses. Until she understood what he wanted from her, she couldn’t allow herself to relax.

  “So what do we do now?” she asked.

  “We wait for Cade.”

  She’d forgotten all about Cade and Phoebe.

  “Did they get off the plane?”

  “They jumped before us.”

  “I hope Phoebe and the baby are okay.”

  “They’ll be fine.”

  He sounded so sure. And maybe he was. Another of those things she didn’t understand right now.

  “How will he find us?”

  “He’ll know where the plane went down. He’ll find us.”

  She walked away, heading toward the sea, and sensed Torr following at a distance. Reaching the water’s edge, she bent down, pulled off her socks, and rolled up her jeans, dipped a toe in the water. She’d only ever been in the sea at Southend. That had been icy cold with a faint odor of decay rising from the murky water. Nothing like this.

  This was what the sea should be like; clear, blue, warm, and silky soft against her skin. She paddled, digging her toes into the sand, letting her thoughts go blank, a sense of peace seeping into the empty spaces of her mind. Finally, she looked back and found Torr sitting on the sand at the water’s edge, watching her, a thoughtful expression on his face, and she curved her lips into a smile. Wading out of the water, she sank down beside him, close, but not touching. She stared out as the last of the sun’s rays disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving only a faint glow in the sky.

  “So this is Mexico?”

  He nodded.

  “I like it.”

  He turned to her. “I’ll take you to Acapulco when we’re done in Mexico City. You’ll love Acapulco.”

  “As long as we don’t have to fly. I don’t think my feet are ever going to leave the ground again.” She glanced at him, a frown forming between her eyes. “New York? Acapulco? Why?”

  “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

  Frustration jabbed at her mind, threatening the fragile peace she’d attained. “But why? You don’t even know me.”

  He twisted to face her, reached out, and cupped her cheek with his large hand. “I know you.”

  She stared into his eyes, more golden now than yellow. They glowed with some secret meaning her mind strained to understand, but couldn’t quite grasp.

  “I’ve known you for so long.” His voice was like dark honey, thick and sweet, caressing her ears as he leaned in closer. “I’ve waited for you for so long.”

  His breath whispered across her skin as his words wove a spell around her. Bella couldn’t look away. Something was shifting in her mind. She was so close, so very close. If she could reach out, she would know, would understand.

  Closing her eyes, she saw the wall she had erected so carefully. As she watched, a shudder ran through the upper layer. One of the huge red boulders shook loose, as though in the center of some violent cataclysm, and crashed to the ground, the roar filling her ears.

  As the dust settled in her mind, Bella gazed at the gaping hole in her defenses.

  Fear poured through her, a whimper of denial rising up in her throat.

  She wasn’t ready. What if he rejected her? What if she looked into his mind and found he hated her, despised her.

  Monster. Freak.

  Her eyes flew open. Torr’s hand tightened on her but she pulled away, skittering backwards in the sand, needing some distances between them while she frantically tried to rally her defenses.

  Torr moved toward her, but stopped a foot away. “What is it, Bella?”

  She looked around wildly. She needed to get away, far away. If only she could be on her own, she could fix this.

  “Bella, listen to me. Was it the wall?”

  At his question, she forced her gaze back to him and nodded.

  Something flared in his eyes. “You have to finish it.”

  Bella gritted her teeth. “I can’t. You don’t understand. I’m not ready.”

  “You have to be ready. We’re running out of time.”

  The peace she’d felt only minutes ago, was shattered as frustration clawed at her insides. “You keep going on about time and I don’t understand. Time for what?”

  “You will understand. I promise.” He inched closer as though she might take off at the least sign of danger, and her muscles tensed with the need to flee.

  “You’re strong, Bella. You can do this. Until you do this, you will always be alone.”

  She’d been staring at the sand and now her eyes flew to his face.

  “Trust me,” he said.

  She forced her breathing to slow down, counted off the beats of her heart until they returned to something almost normal. Torr held out his hands to her, and she slowly placed her small palms in his. He wrapped his fingers around them, and strength flowed from him, filling her.

  “Let me in, Bella.”

  She bit her lip, battled down the fear, and gave a slight nod of her head. “I’ll try, but I don’t know how.”

  “Stop fighting and it will happen. Look at me and relax your mind.”

  He was so beautiful, fierce and glorious, even the scar, which ran down his cheek, couldn’t detract from his almost inhuman beauty. She lost herself in looking at him, felt her mind float.

  Torr’s fingers tightened almost painfully on hers, dragging her back. He swore softly.

  “What is it?” she asked, shaking her head, trying to return from that distant place.

  Torr was staring at something over her shoulder, and she pulled free and twisted around. Night had descended fully now, but the moon had not yet risen. Out here in the open, the stars cast a little light, but inland, under the canopy of the tall palm trees, the darkness was impenetrable. As she stared into the dense blackness, something shifted in the shadows, dark on dark. The night had gone silent and she strained to hear something. Anything.

  All around her, the air crackled with energy and lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the tree line.

  The whole thing was creeping forward, edging toward them.

  A shiver ran across her skin. Her flesh crawled, and she instinctively inched closer to Torr.

  She flicked him a glance. He was staring at the tree line. Another flash of crimson lit up the sky and he swore again.

  She touched his arm “What is it, Torr?”

  “Don’t worry, just stay behind me.” He nudged her gently so she stood with his broad body between her and whatever was coming out of the darkness.

  Bella ground
her teeth. How the hell was she not supposed to worry? He must have sensed her incredulity.

  “Do as I tell you. I can keep you safe,” he said.

  “From what? What’s happening?”

  She forced herself to look back. The very shadows seemed to be detaching themselves from the darkness. But as they drew closer, they became more distinct until she could make out individual figures, almost human, but stretched unnaturally thin, and here and there in the midst, crimson eyes gleamed. Her mind flashed back to the things that had killed Justin, and a whimper crawled up her throat.

  She swallowed it down. This wasn’t real. Those things weren’t real.

  “Bella, stay calm. As long as you’re with me, they can’t touch you.” Torr gripped her arms as though he was afraid she might bolt. Every cell in her body wanted to run.

  They were spreading out now, stretching, circling, soon she and Torr would be surrounded. She could sense them reaching out to her, calling her. They wanted to smother her with their putrid flesh, devour her. A scream rose inside her, filling her mind.

  White light flashed in the sky, and the darkness shrank back. Her fear loosened its hold as they receded into the darkness of the trees where they’d come from, and Bella could breathe again. Beside her, Torr stared up at the sky as the white light swung over them again. Some sort of searchlight?

  “What happened?”

  “At a guess, Cade.”

  For a few seconds, the words didn’t make sense. She shook her head, trying to dispel the last of her fear, and turned to follow his gaze. Off to the north, the drone of an approaching helicopter was getting louder. She couldn’t make it out, just a sweeping white light, which honed in on them and held them in its beam.

  Swamped in the bright light, she found the courage to turn back to the trees. She could see clearly now; there was nothing there. She hadn’t imagined the whole thing. But they were gone now.

  “What was that?” she asked Torr and she could hear the tremor in her voice.

  “Just shadows.”

  She let it go for now, not wanting to talk about them so soon afterward. As though speaking of them out loud would draw them back to her, make them a reality. Besides, the memory of them was fading like a dream.