And then she was walking away with the other two mermaids trailing behind her. Though not as tall as Nyx, they were just as graceful as they descended the stairs into the water. When they were waist deep in it, they dove forward, the clinging, scale-like fabric of the dresses morphing into long, powerful tails that propelled them through the crystal clear water toward the cove.
We followed their progress as we walked along the smooth stone path that ran alongside the channel of water. When we once again stepped onto the pink sand of the beach, Nyx rose out of the water. “The wisps will lead you from the forest.”
“Thank you, Nyx.” Caius bowed at the waist with a dramatic flair. She smiled then dove into the water with a flip of her black tail.
Together, we trudged across the sand toward the path we’d practically fallen down the day before. Evidence of the violent storm lay everywhere in the large pieces of new driftwood, the downed tree limbs, and one entire tree that had once clung to the steep slope above the beach but now lay sprawled across the sand in a tangle of branches and wilting leaves.
Using exposed tree roots as handholds, we scrambled back up the steep trail that led into the forest. It was easier going back up than coming down had been. I glanced back one last time when I reached the forest’s edge. Nyx relaxed on a cluster of rocks with the two other mermaids far out in the protected cove.
We linked hands when we again stood beneath the trees and Caius let the wisps lead us away. A couple of hours later, we exited the trees. Letting go of each other’s hands, we stepped onto an unfamiliar path. Surprised to be taken to someplace new, I turned to Caius. “Where are we supposed to go now?”
“There is another portal this way. It’s not much closer than the other, but there aren’t carnivorous trees or flowers on the route to it.” Malik answered.
More hiking, yay. At least I was in shape. The trail wound through a new kind of forest as we left the carnivorous trees behind. It was a relief even if those trees had come to my defense. This path also followed a stream that gurgled over rounded, bright blue rocks as it flowed opposite the direction we walked on its way to the sea. The ground began to slope up, gentle at first, but became steeper the farther we went. Amisi seemed delighted to be away from the confinement of Nyx’s palace and promptly slipped away among the trees.
Despite my theory that I was in shape, by late afternoon I was having trouble keeping up. So tired I could barely keep my eyes open; I trudged along, barely paying attention to the path ahead. I didn’t even register my foot catching on an exposed root until the ground came rushing up at my face.
I threw my hands out to catch myself before realizing Rowen had stopped my fall. His arms lowered me until I sat on the ground. Caius kneeled in front of me and snapped his fingers in front of my face. I blinked, unable to fully focus on him.
“She’s dead on her feet.” Rowen frowned at me.
I understood his confusion. No one other than Caius had any idea what my night had been like. I should have been well-fed and well-rested. Having only picked at breakfast, I was neither. “I’m fine.” I pushed to my feet and brushed off the back of my pants. “I think I just needed to sit for a second.”
My muscles felt weak and shaky, but I motioned toward the path. Caius took a wary step back. I blinked as his face faded from focus and the world seemed to undulate in lazy waves. He steadied me when I staggered.
“We can rest here for a while if you need it.” Caius offered.
“I…” The unstable scenery suddenly disappeared down a long dark tunnel.
“Jo?” Caius’ voice sounded like it came to me through a tin can as he reached for me. And then everything went black.
***
“She collapsed in my arms. I’d seen her exhausted to the point of falling asleep standing up before. This was different. She passed completely out. Perhaps I was pushing her too hard.” ~Caius
Chapter 21
Dawn was nothing more than a hinted at promise on the eastern horizon when I woke feeling refreshed with Amisi’s large, warm shape tucked against me. I hadn’t had a single dream, or at least not one I remembered. I was curled in a blanket I didn’t recognize. Caius must have created it, but he wasn’t in it with me. I stretched and twisted as I glanced around and found him sitting a few feet away, leaning against a tree. Guess it was his turn to keep watch.
“Hey.” My voice was still groggy with sleep.
Caius appraised me for a long moment. “Feeling better?”
I stretched again. “Much. I guess a night of practically no sleep caught up with me.”
“It would seem so.” A hint of worry lingered in his eyes and I wondered why. It wasn’t like I hadn’t ever been on the verge of falling asleep on my feet before. In fact, the past few weeks had run me more ragged than I’d ever been in my life.
Yawning, I sat up and propped my back against the nearest tree, glad that I could do so without having to worry about whether or not it would try to kill me. Amisi shifted so that her head rested on my leg. I trailed my fingers through her fur while her deep purr rumbled quietly. Caius and I sat like that as the sky slowly lightened, neither feeling the need to break the silence. I liked that we could sit comfortably and just enjoy being in each other’s company.
The others began to stir as the sun finally made an appearance over the hills we were climbing. Malik opened one of the satchels and handed a square of something to each of us, making sure to toss one to Amisi though the cat was likely hunting while she was off exploring and following us all day. I took the offered square and examined it. Small and extremely dense, it was only big enough to be three or four bites worth. I nibbled a corner.
Although rather bland, it wasn’t bad. I finished my square, surprised to feel full and satisfied. “What was that?”
“Traveling food,” Lilly said then popped the last bite of hers into her mouth. She chewed quickly and swallowed. “It’s difficult to get, but Nyx has always been a friend to Caius. Even with that, I can’t believe she gave us so much without asking anything in return. This kind of thing rarely comes without a price attached to it.”
“What price did you pay, brother?” Malik asked. Lilly glanced at me as if she were wondering if Caius had taken Nyx up on her invitation.
“I paid no price.” Caius stood and offered me his hand, helping me to my feet. “Nyx is just a good friend.”
I realized that where Nyx had offered me her one-time assistance if I ever needed it as a payment for the debt she felt she owed due to what happened, the food was her payment to Caius. And the way he said that he hadn’t paid a price, let me know I was the one who had.
Amisi rubbed against my leg, nearly knocking me over before disappearing into the forest in one graceful leap. Caius watched her go then started down the path again. When Malik started a conversation with him, I let them go on ahead of me. After just a few moments, Bethany left James to continue chatting with Lilly and dropped in beside me. “You doing okay?”
“Of course. Why?” I kept my attention on the path. The last thing I needed was to trip over anything again. Not to mention it was easier to pretend I was fine when I wasn’t looking at her face.
I saw her look at me with disbelief in my peripheral vision. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because of yesterday. Seeing the look on Caius’s face when you passed out in his arms…I’ve never seen him worry like that. It scared me. And since we left Nyx’s, you’ve been quieter than usual. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve never been a Miss Chatty like me, but it seems more than that.”
“I was just really tired yesterday. And as far as the other, I guess I’m just kind of missing my normal life.” That sounded good. And then I snorted at how silly it sounded. “I mean my new normal. I feel like I finally got settled into my life in Midtween only to have the rug yanked out from under me again.”
What started out as a false explanation had turned into a deeper truth than I’d expected. As glad as I was to have Caius, I couldn’t help missing the little a
partment I shared with Bethany. The nights othersiding with Rowen’s group. The times piled on the coffee shop couches with them in Midtween. Even the collecting and delivering of souls. Except for the little ones. There was nothing that would ever make me miss that part.
Bethany sighed and something in her expression said my admission hit home for her too. “Yeah. I never saw this coming. I thought I would have a quiet life in Midtween, eventually, fall in love with another Child, or not. Either way, I was cool with it. Then everything kind of upended and here I am traipsing through Between, a place I never thought I would go, and falling for a demonborn which I didn’t think was even possible.”
I laughed softly. “Tell me about it. My life goals keep changing. First, it was just make it through high school and maybe go to college. Then it was just make it through my mom’s…well you know. Then it was become a good reaper. And now… I don’t even know what my life goals are.” I let out a sigh. “I guess they are limited to surviving the next deadly encounter.”
“Yeah, kind of hard to make plans now,” Bethany said.
I nodded in agreement.
As the next few days progressed, we fell into the rhythm of traveling again as if our stopover at Nyx’s hadn’t happened. I wished it hadn’t. Although I managed to keep up the outside appearance that I was fine, I wasn’t. And it showed in my nightly lessons with Lilly and then Malik that resumed each evening. Thanks to Bryson’s intrusion, my emotions were all over the place and so were my powers.
After the fifth time Malik’s soul energy knocked me into the dirt after another long day of hiking, he folded his arms and glared. “What the hell, Jo? You haven’t let as many attacks through in almost two weeks as you have the past few nights.”
I slowly got to my feet, rolling my shoulder and spitting out the blood that pooled in my mouth from where I’d bit my lip. I didn’t have to look at Caius who was working with James several yards away to know he shared my injury. “I don’t know. I’m tired and having trouble focusing.”
Lilly raised an eyebrow. “You think an enemy is going to care about that crap?”
“I know they won’t.” I snapped and set myself for the next attack. I needed to connect with my angel or Morrigan powers for this exercise. Unfortunately, everything was all scrambled up inside. Malik’s shadows jumped at me again. Unable to sort out a single emotion, I snatched at all of them.
Glowing white and streaked with green and golden-red, my shield exploded from me in all directions, knocking Malik and Lilly back. The ground beneath my feet thrummed with energy, drowning out the voices outside my bubble. Thin vines sprouted where the bubble touched the ground and began to rapidly climb the shield, snaking up the sides and twisting around each other, obscuring everything beyond it.
In the privacy of my shield, tears tracked down my face as I threw everything I had at it, letting the emotions swamp me. Even with Bryson’s attack breaking down all of my walls, a lifetime keeping a tight rein on my feelings should have given me more control. Maybe they were more out of whack than I wanted to admit.
My skin felt tight, but not uncomfortably so. The practice sessions before reaching Nyx’s had expanded the amount I could hold and now I fortified the walls of my shield, shutting everyone and everything out. I couldn’t shut myself out though. No matter how thick I made the bubble, or how tight I wove the vines, there was no escaping the inside of my own head.
Memories laid bare a few nights ago filled me. I let them come. Rather than attempt to hide as I’d once done, I bathed in them. They were a part of me and for whatever reason, they needed to be taken out and examined again. Not by force this time, but because I wanted, needed, to do this. I would never get a handle on my emotions if I kept avoiding them. And so, I felt them, letting the mix of powers balance the pain as I wept.
I felt him the moment the vines parted enough to let him pass. His energy rippled through my shield. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know where he was. He didn’t try to embrace me or say anything. Instead, he took my hand and added his energy to mine, growing and expanding the shield, gifting me with a larger rush of power. It brought everything together in a painfully sweet mix. The joy and hurt twined with each other into something I might be able to control. Maybe not completely, definitely not immediately, but I could see where the intensity of the past would eventually fade and one day allow me to fully embrace the present.
I don’t know how long I held onto the power, only that the vines had completely covered the shield twice over, leaving me with only the glow of the bubble to light the inside. As the storm within me began to fade, I let the bubble go, plunging us into sudden blackness.
Caius stepped closer. I rose onto my toes as I tangled my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck and pulled his face to mine. His kiss instantly lit my body on fire. In the aftermath, I needed the physical to balance the emotional. His fingers dug into my hair as my nails raked the back of his neck. The kiss was hard and crushing as if he knew exactly what I wanted and needed. There was no slow removal of clothing. I practically ripped his armor and shirt off. He matched my intensity when he removed mine.
He released me long enough for us to shed the rest our clothes, before roughly pulling me back into his arms. I strained against him, needing to be closer. He ran his hands down my back, cupped my rear, and lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his hips, my head falling back as he thrust into me. The hard nip of his teeth on my shoulder followed by sensual kisses up my neck had me gasping in pleasure. I clung to him, sweat breaking over my skin. When his mouth came back to mine, I relished the ferocity of the kiss and the aggressive movement of his hips while the pressure built inside me. His fingers dug into my skin as my body clenched around him and he met me in the climax.
When it was over, he rested his forehead against mine as our breathing slowly calmed. After several long moments, he lowered me to my feet and created a blanket for us to lay on. Which suited me just fine. If I had my way, we wouldn’t leave the dome of vines before morning. Caius’s slower, gentler, more deliberate exploration of my body let me know he was content to let me have my way.
***
“Her emotions were all over the board and far more out of control than I expected, even with Bryson’s intrusion. Something more had her off balance, though I didn’t know what it was. The only thing that fit wasn’t possible.” ~Caius
Chapter 22
No one said anything about my crazy shield the next day, or the fact Caius and I had spent the night cocooned away in it. Maybe they were afraid of provoking another one. And I didn’t say anything about the new curl of black and the second leaf by my collarbone. I did get a few cautious looks from my friends and even Caius’s family. Only Rowen seemed upset, though he didn’t push me to explain why I suddenly seemed so out of control.
As the next two weeks passed with day after day of traveling, I found it easier to handle my power and my feelings. I wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but better. At least now that I wasn’t repressing my emotions, I could achieve more consistent results. There were times—even though I was absolutely exhausted by the time we stopped each evening—that I didn’t even have to use an emotion to bring forth my powers. I was even getting better at sparring with Lilly.
On the fifteenth day out from Nyx’s, Bethany and James walked on either side of me while the others walked a ways ahead. Bethany kept glancing at James until finally he huffed a sigh and looked at me. “What is going on with you, Jo?”
“What?” I wasn’t sure what they were referring to. With the exception of the night where my shield went wild, I’d had almost normal control over myself.
James glanced up the path at Caius, then back to me. “You seem so tired lately and I saw you crying that night before the vines hid you. It’s like you’ve been completely knocked off balance or something.”
“It was just an intense amount of power, nothing more.” I shrugged. “And I’m tired because we have been walking from early
morning to late evening every day for two weeks and at the end of each I have lessons in power use and physical combat.”
The second part of my answer was true at least. I’d slept like a cat every night after finally sitting down to eat. Caius, Malik, and Lilly were driving me hard to learn. Even Rowen was helping. Strangely enough, an almost friendly alliance had developed between Lilly and me. Maybe it was because I refused to quit even when she repeatedly trounced me. Or maybe it was because I was a fast learner and where I couldn’t beat her yet, it took her longer to knock me in the dirt. Either way, it was nice to feel she didn’t completely hate me.
“If you’re sure that is all it is,” James said slowly.
“What else would it be?” I raised a curious eyebrow at him.
Bethany sent a furtive look toward Caius. “It just seems like Caius is pushing you extra hard.”
I blinked at her for a moment before snorting. “Caius isn’t going to let his feelings for me disrupt my training. Or maybe it’s because of how he feels. Our luck can only hold out so long and he wants me able to defend myself when the time comes whether it’s with my powers, staff, or nothing more than my own body.”
We broke through the trees into a small meadow and stopped short. Caius stood braced ahead of us with Lilly, Malik, and Rowen at his side. Between the four of them, the tension was thick enough to cut. Uh-oh, what now? I peered around them and saw three tall men and two equally tall women standing across the meadow. Another, larger group, whose tattoos marked them as demonborn, stood off to the side numbering something more than ten.
The one who appeared to be the leader of the first group took a step forward. His golden hair flowed to his shoulders and his crystal blue eyes looked so familiar I felt I should know him. His entire face looked familiar. And then understanding hit me.
Betrayed (Raven Daughter Book 2) Page 16