The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  And Ryker.

  After the stone’s touch had worn off, I was able to put it out of my head. The temptation not strong enough to lure me to hold it again. But curled in bed next to the lover of a man you were falling for did something to a girl.

  So many of our problems could be solved if I simply agreed to the stone. It might suck the life from me, but that was happening anyway. Really, what did I have to lose?

  Lost in my thoughts I didn’t notice Ryker’s hand had slipped back to his side, his chest moving up and down in metered repetition. I lifted my head, slowly looking over the room. Everyone was fast asleep. I could even hear Sprig’s heavy breathing from inside the dresser.

  The bed squeaked as I sat up. Everything in the room was old, and no matter how slow you moved it protested. Inch by inch I lifted myself off the bed, careful not to step on Ryker’s limbs. Playing a solo game of Twister, I stretched my way over to the bureau, snatched Ryker’s boots up, and shuffled to the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind me.

  I flicked on the light and settled on the rim of the tub, dropping the lighter boot on the floor. The other I cupped in my lap, my fingers tugging at the sole of the boot. Glee filled me at seeing the gray smooth stone at the bottom of the heel. He hadn’t moved it. He really did trust me.

  Shame spread over me and caused by cheeks to flush. It’s not like I’m destroying the world, I reasoned with myself. Wouldn’t he want this too? We would be happy. Neither of us would have to live in pain or fear anymore.

  I reached down, my fingers sliding around the rock. The instant my skin touched it, energy blasted through my body. The bathroom disappeared, sucking me away from the present.

  “I knew you would come back, Zoey.” The stone’s comforting voice spoke in my head. “You are different from the rest. Special.” A warmness swirled in my chest, creating a sense of love and safety. “You and I will help many, Zoey. The lives you will change and save. The happiness and fulfillment you will have in your life. Every bad memory will disappear.”

  It all sounded wonderful.

  “I can bring your sister back to life, healthy and happy. You can have the parents you always fantasized about, but we can do even more than you even dreamed. We can lead the world in stopping diseases and preventing children from being born with disabilities. And this is only the beginning. Don’t you want to stop children from hurting? To provide better homes for children in foster care? To be the one who has the power to save lives? How about all those who suffer at fae’s hands? You could protect the human race.”

  This all sounded amazing. How could helping to stop cancer or children from being abused be a bad thing? Humans no longer the unknowing or unwilling victims of fae. I could do it all. The girl from the wrong tracks saving the world. The stone was right. I had been thinking too small.

  “Yes, Zoey. There is not a limit to what we could do together. The people who thought you were nothing, who didn’t want you, treated you horribly... they will be sorry. All you have to do is say yes to me, Zoey. Take me in willingly. And everything you’ve ever wanted will be yours. Don’t you think you deserve happiness?”

  I did. I really did.

  “Zoey!” A sting slashed across my face. Ryker’s voice broke into my mind.

  “Ignore him. He doesn’t see how much happier he will be as we do. He’ll be so grateful. He wants his own pain to end as well. He doesn’t think he is capable of love. But he is. And you will show him.”

  “Dammit, Zoey. Let go!” A growl echoed in my eardrum.

  “Don’t you want him to be happy, Zoey?” the stone questioned. “Do this for him too.”

  There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.

  “Ye—”

  A pain so intense clogged my throat. My word turning into a scream. I burst from the space, my eyes jerking open, my hand releasing the stone, which then crashed onto the tile floor and slid away from my grasp. Ryker squatted next to me, a lit match between his fingers. He huffed out the tiny fire. His mouth clenched in a firm line.

  I seized my hand, turning the sensitive part to me. It was red, and a small welt bubbled around the burned skin. “You burned me?”

  He glared at me, his head lifted in a challenge.

  “What? You couldn’t actually pry my tiny little hands open?”

  He snarled and grabbed my arms, sitting me up, pushing me against the tub. When did I get on the floor?

  “The stone gives whomever is holding it unbelievable power and strength. It doesn’t want you to let it go. I couldn’t have pried your hand open with a crowbar and the strength of four more men. You had to do it yourself.”

  “You had to burn me?” I mumbled to myself, holding my blistering hand to my lips.

  “Don’t even fuckin’ start with me.” Fury smoldered in his irises; every word he spoke was clipped and forced.

  The shame I pushed away earlier came flooding back, scalding my cheeks. What could I say for my actions? I wanted to do it. My attention landed on the stone, innocently lying on the floor under the sink. I wanted to crawl after it. It was still under my skin, the voice calling to me to pick it up again. To let it and myself have all we ever desired.

  Ryker stood, with a hand towel he grabbed the stone and shoved it back in his boot. I fought the desire to go after it.

  “Zoey.” Ryker snapped his fingers in my face, drawing me back to his crouched frame in front of me. When he had my focus, he tilted his head as if to say, What do you have to say for yourself?

  I pulled my knees to my chest, covering my face with my hands.

  “Do you know how dangerous and stupid touching it was?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then what in the hell were you thinking?” He stood, rubbing at his head, his voice a hoarse whisper. “Tell me!”

  I bolted up, not liking him towering over me. I already felt like a child around him. “I’m sorry,” I spat at him.

  “No. This was far too reckless for an I’m sorry.” He folded his arms, his face red with anger. “Not even considering the fact Amara and Croygen are in the other room. What if Croygen was the one to find you? Game over. He would have the stone halfway to the Orient by now.” He struggled to keep his voice at a low volume.

  “Why haven’t you told Amara the truth?”

  “Oh no. We’re not talking about me,” he growled, taking a step closer to me. “What the hell were you thinking?” he repeated.

  Embarrassment fueled my own anger, and I challenged his step with one of my own. “I wanted for one second to have my happy ending. To have the life I always dreamed about. The ones I’ve seen on TV. To have more than the sucky life I was given. Because it seems the moment I might get something good,” I took another step, my toes flushing up to his, “it’s taken from me.”

  My meaning was not lost on him. His eyes softened before he squeezed them shut, then opened them to stare at the floor. “I understand the impulse. Don’t think I haven’t wanted to do it myself a time or two, but you need to be stronger than the stone. There is a reason what it offers is too good to be true... because it is. The legends of this stone and the consequences—the devastation, greed, and death it has caused—no matter how innocent people first start out thinking their wishes are, it’s not worth it. You think bringing back people from the dead is natural? There are always costs. Huge ones.”

  The hope of my dreams coming true popped. I gritted my teeth, forcing back emotion. Ryker drew me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me. “I am sorry, Zoey. I know how much you want Lexie and Daniel back. To have a different life. To be away from all this.”

  I raised my chin up, my gaze meeting his. “Not from you.”

  He stared at me for a couple of moments. His hands slid up my neck, cupping my face. He leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Promise me you will never handle it again. We’ve been through far too much shit for me to lose you to a rock.”

  I nodded my head against his shirt. “I promise.” There were several other things h
e’d lose me to first. His arms constricted around me and his lips pressed against my forehead again. I let myself drown in his smell, his huge arms, and warm body. This was all I needed. Where my true peace and happiness lay.

  My determination to stay away from the stone was ardent, but I also knew how quickly the resolve could change. It knew my cards and would play them against me. There was no question I had my weaknesses, and the stone would find ways of breaking me. I only hoped I wouldn’t shatter when we collided again.

  Ryker escorted me back to bed, making sure I stayed there. He laid on the floor next to me, his eyes glued on mine. After a while I could no longer handle his guarding gaze and rolled over to my other side.

  Brown eyes glowered into mine, flaming with wrath. Amara shifted, sliding her face closer to mine. “If I see you go off with him again or are alone with him in any way,” she whispered, “nothing will stop me from butchering you into tiny chunks and feeding you to your monkey. Stay away from him, human. You do not belong in our world, and I will take you out of it if you persist.” Without letting me respond, she whipped around to face the other way, her hair slapping me in the face.

  My blood boiled with the need to fight her—to take my pillow and shove it over her face. The day she and I will come to blows, one of us might not be walking away.

  SEVENTEEN

  Hostility rose along with the sun, clogging the room with a suffocating presence. We couldn’t help but knock into each other as we got ready, but it made us recoil and back away. Everyone moved around each other like bumper cars. Amara and Croygen circled me like I had cooties. Human cooties. The feeling was more than mutual.

  Setting a bag of honey mango chips in front of Sprig, I got dressed. It would only tide him over for a while, but he sat quietly on the windowsill, eating his pre-breakfast.

  “Can’t we glamour the guy downstairs and get another room? Or how about we go to a nice hotel?” Amara grabbed the thick long-sleeved top she wore yesterday, holding it with a frown. “It’s so hot here.” It actually was a lot cooler today, but compared to the snowy mountains of Mongolia, it was blistering.

  All morning she pranced around in her bra, repeatedly turning down my offers to borrow one of my shirts. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me. It was no different from a bathing suit, but besides her clear insult to me, her confidence in being so minimally dressed drove me crazy. She knew she was perfection, causing people to stare, and she enjoyed it immensely. She banged into Ryker whenever she could.

  Croygen, dressed in his leather pants and black shirt, nodded in agreement. “I’m used to heat, but I’m usually on a ship with the cool wind blowing.”

  “Ship?” I smiled. “You really are a pirate, huh?”

  “Tradesman.”

  Ryker snorted, earning a glare from Croygen.

  “If we are going to stay here another day, I need new clothes.” Amara threw the top on the bed, brushing back her hair off her face. It fell back over her arms, cascading in dark violet waves.

  A scream built in my chest. I needed to get away from this room and the people in it.

  “We’re staying here.” Ryker sat down, giving me a sharp look, before he turned away, pulling on his boots. “I’m not dealing with Vadik without a solid plan. We have one chance. We can’t blow it.”

  “We can make a plan, but why don’t we get the stone first? Make sure it is protected.” Amara rolled her hair back into a messy bun. “I don’t understand your delay in getting it. We are only risking it being taken.”

  “We are doing this my way.” Ryker stood.

  Amara groaned and rolled her eyes, mumbling something under her breath. All I could make out was “stubborn” and “just like him.”

  “If you don’t like my decisions, there’s the door.” Ryker’s arm was rigid with tension as he pointed.

  Amara sucked in a breath, her lids lowering. Friction zipped across the room, settling on each other’s locked gazes.

  In the last day, I’d seen Ryker lose his temper a lot. It was strange, but Amara brought out the worst in Ryker. It also clarified their relationship to me. They probably fought constantly, but they made up with the same intensity. My lungs clenched inside the walls of my chest as an image of their tangled bodies, wrapped in heated passion, occupied my thoughts. My shoulders shook, trying to brush off the vivid illustration. My hands balled into fists, my nerves twitching under my skin. I knew my temper. If I didn’t get out now, it would not be pretty.

  Ryker’s gaze drifted to me, his eyebrows lowering as I shoved on my boots.

  “You guys do what you need to; I’m going out.” I grabbed my bag.

  Sprig squeaked and moved toward me.

  “Sprig.” I held up my hand. “I need to be alone for a bit. Stay here.”

  He stopped, dropping his arms at his sides, staring at me.

  “Where are you going?” Ryker strode across the room, following me.

  “Bh-ean?”

  Ignoring Ryker, I addressed Sprig. “I’m sorry, buddy. I know sprites don’t understand being alone, but I need an hour or two. Okay? I’ll take you to Izel’s tonight.”

  He nodded. “It’s enchilada night.” He stuffed another chip into his mouth.

  Ryker’s hand grabbed my elbow, stopping me from reaching the door. “Where the hell are you going?”

  I yanked free of his grasp. “I don’t know. Anywhere. I simply need to get out of this room.”

  “Let her go, Ryker.” Amara waved at the door. “She needs some time to herself.”

  Some might think she was being supportive and nice, but I knew better. Everything she said was designed to get me as far away from Ryker as she could... then she could move back in.

  Ryker noticed my mood and stepped between Amara and me. My body convulsed with the need to end our feud now, along with the necessity to let out all my pent-up anger and sadness.

  “Zoey,” Ryker said my name softly. When it didn’t break my attention on Amara, he grabbed my chin, turning my face to his. His navy-blue rimmed white irises stared down on me. My shoulders drooped, my breath exiting from its tight hold.

  “Why don’t you guys go and get what you need? Get the lay of the town. We’re going to go out for a little while.” Ryker kept his gaze on me as he spoke. “We can reconvene tonight and start planning.”

  “But—” Grabbing Amara’s arm and shaking his head, Croygen stopped her mid-sentence.

  “Sprig, there is food in the fridge. Honey on the counter. You will have to survive till we get back.” Ryker left no room for a debate. Amara’s going to love this. He turned me around, opened the door, and walked us through it. The instant the door clicked behind us more tension drizzled from my muscles. His hand stayed on my lower back as he walked me downstairs.

  Now it was my turn to ask, “Where are we going?”

  The side of his mouth hooked up. “It’s a surprise.”

  A light breeze wafted gently through my hair, pushing it back off my face. The afternoon sun sparkled off the ruins and turned the shaded areas purple and blue. Crumbled stone structures, which once stood tall and strong, now appeared as ghosts of what they once were. Vibrant green grass lay in a striking contradiction to the rugged, dark mountain peaks. Clouds circled the crests like hula hoops.

  For more than a month we’d been only miles away but never made it to Machu Picchu. Many other things had taken priority, so it got pushed back.

  “I knew how much you wanted to see this place. Sorry it took this long for us to come here,” he said when we arrived. Ryker couldn’t have chosen a more perfect spot to take me. My bad mood vanished, and I became a kid: exploring, touching, reveling in the place I dreamed about visiting for such a long time. People stayed clear of the large daunting Viking with an axe strapped to his back, letting us have more freedom to explore the inundated tourist spot. I spent the day reading every bit of information I could, eavesdropping on the tour guides’ speeches, and discovering firsthand the beauty of the place. Death, fae, DMG,
stones, and all other negative things were forgotten.

  Machu Picchu was magical. And not merely hypothetically. I could feel power pulse from the ground and the stone ruins and throb into my feet and body. The energy coming from the earth was so intense, I didn’t doubt most humans could feel there was something special here.

  “Were the Incas fae?” I asked, feeling Ryker come up behind me.

  “You can feel the magic here, huh?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and stopped next to me.

  “It’s actually making me jittery.” I rubbed at my arms. My goose bumps were not from the slight chill in the air or from being this high; it was from fae magic. “So were they?”

  Ryker put his hand to his forehead, blocking the lowering sun from his eyes. “No, they weren’t fae, but they held magic. They were the South American equivalent of Druids.”

  “Druids?” My eyebrows arched in curiosity. I had heard of Druids, and my reading while at DMG taught me a little more about them. All I knew was before fae went into hiding, a group of humans learned fae magic. They worked and served many of the fae rulers. They grew in favor with the Celtic god and goddesses, and they became more powerful than the fae. Then, like the civilization here, they disappeared. The entire Druid race vanished.

  “The history says the Incas disappeared after the Spanish Conquest, most probably from smallpox or other diseases foreigners brought in. That did happen, but it is not the reason this Inca civilization vanished.”

  “So what was the reason?” I peered over at his profile. I sometimes forgot how long he had been alive and how much history, the real history, he knew and experienced.

  “The Seelie Queen.” He licked his lips, and I forced my head to turn away.

  “The Seelie Queen? What do you mean? Did she kill them or something?” I laughed at the thought. I heard rumors she hated humans and was a bitch, but this was genocide we were discussing.