“I don’t trust anyone at the moment.”
“Good answer, darlin’, and you shouldn’t. But the man who held you seems to have changed your genetic makeup and now you’re like me and my friend over there. You’re going to need us to teach you what you need to know. How to live the rest of your life. Nothing will ever be the same for you, I’m afraid.” For any of them. The Aeterni race was male only, no exception ever. Until now.
Keegan had practiced medicine long before DNA was used for anything more than a theory here and there. Still, he did understand something about genes and how they worked. He knew there was an anomaly in Aeterni that made them different than mortals. It only made sense that someone had somehow given that anomaly to her. If whoever had done this could do it to her, who else could he change? How would the Circle of Ghadan ever be able to keep up with them? Stop them from destroying the entire Aeterni population by bringing them to the notice of the mortal world? Millennia of effort could be destroyed in nothing more than a heartbeat of time.
Hiding his concerns about what was happening, he placed his hand against her cheek, wanting to erase the look of confusion in her eyes. “Hopefully we can find out what happened to you using the resources we have at our disposal.”
He really didn’t know if they’d ever find out what happened to her, did he? She didn’t need to know that, however, she needed answers. He bloody well needed answers. There were so many bad repercussions that could come from this, they didn’t have a choice but to figure out what had happened to her.
She nodded and stepped back, looking at the two of them. They were both so much larger than her, she must have felt overwhelmed by them. “Do I have a choice?” she asked.
He felt another rare smile forming, she was brave for such a little thing. “No, I’m afraid you don’t, but I swear I’ll not hurt you.” Without good reason, he added silently. At the moment she didn’t need to know he was about to cut her.
Derian stood away from the wall. “I, too, swear by my cursed gods that I will not hurt you, you’re safe with us.”
“We’ll protect you from the man who took you, I won’t let him get you back.” Keegan had never meant anything more in his life, and he wondered just why he was making such a stupid promise he doubted he’d be able to keep.
Cassandra’s eyes widened and her soft, full lips formed an “O”. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Do you know how you got away, darlin’?” Keegan asked.
She shook her head her eyes dropping away from his to the floor. “No, I don’t remember anything.”
“Short-term memory loss caused by the trauma. Not to mention dying probably didn’t help,” Derian said.
Keegan pulled his knife from his pocket and opened it. “I know I said I wouldn’t hurt you, but this will only sting for a second, I promise.” He hoped she’d trust him this time, he didn’t want to force her, but he had to show her what she’d become.
She looked at his knife. “Well, if you’ve already killed me as you said, what more can you do to me?”
He smiled, liking her spunk. “Nothing, lass. I’ve done the worst to you I can.” At least physically. He’d have to keep his distance to prevent any emotional damage he’d be sure to inflict on her if he allowed her to get too close to him. He held out his hand, palm up, “Give me your hand, darlin’.”
She looked at him, hesitating only a moment before she gave it to him. Ignoring his reaction to her soft warmth, he turned her hand over, palm up, and made a small cut on the tip of her thumb. No deeper than a paper cut.
She hissed at the pain and jerked her hand from his. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “Holy bird turd, that’s the last time I trust you.”
His smile widened. She amused him, and he hadn’t been amused by a woman or anyone in more than a century. Not even his beautiful wife had affected him like this small slip of a woman, he realized to his amazement. He pulled his shirt out of his jeans and taking her hand back, gently wiped the blood away from her thumb. He bent down and kissed the pad. “I’m sorry I hurt you, darlin’.”
He lifted his head, looked in her eyes and felt like he’d been sucker-punched. Did he see an answering desire burning in the deep green depths? Glancing down before he did something stupid, like pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless, he turned her thumb toward her. “See, no cut. That’s what happened to your fingers.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at her thumb. “That’s just so not normal.” She ran her finger over the healed skin.
Derian took her hand and kissed her thumb where the cut had been. “It’s normal for us, my dear.”
Keegan had an inexplicable desire to ram his fist in the old Greek’s face and knock the knowing smile off his face. He bloody well knew what affect his kissing Cassandra’s hand had on Keegan. He was baiting him. The Greek had always been an arsehole.
“Why didn’t it heal before?” Cassandra asked, breaking the stare-down between the two men.
Derian looked at her. “Now that’s a good question. Are you saying you’ve never healed, ever?”
“No, until I woke here, my fingers have all been cut and bleeding. Fortunately, it’s never deep and they start to heal naturally, but the cuts never disappeared until now.”
“You were wearing your glasses when I hit you. Didn’t your vision improve while you were with the man?”
Looking as confused as Keegan felt, she shook her head. “No.”
“So, why would it work now?” Keegan asked Derian.
“My guess? Her death.”
Keegan nodded. “Yes, I noticed that healing was enhanced after my heart stopped the first time. I always healed, but beatings would take up to two days. It was only after that, getting beaten went away within hours.”
“And since your final stage was brought on before you reached full maturity, you were luckier than most of us, my friend.”
Keegan never felt lucky. “Absolutely. Someone trying to kill me when I was fifteen is something to rejoice in.”
“You don’t look fifteen.” Cassandra’s comment stopped whatever cutting remark he was sure the Greek was about to make.
Her eyes raked over him, and Keegan felt like he’d been set on fire. Good thing Derian was there, because, damn, after a look like that there was no telling what he would have done with her. Although he had a pretty good idea. And it would have been the stupidest thing he’d ever done in his life. That was saying a lot. In his early years, doing stupid shite had been one of his favorite pastimes.
Derian chuckled. “No. Lucky for him he got to keep growing.”
“Yes, he did.” Her eyes stopped at his crotch, an enticing blush spreading across her cheeks.
Bloody hell, she was making it worse. If this kept up much longer, he was going to have to go hide in his gym and beat the crap out of the bag. It was the only thing that was going to remove the images floating around in his head.
Derian laughed full out and Keegan wanted to bury his blade in him again. To make matters worse, Cassandra’s blush was followed by a smile of appreciation that was beginning to unleash a desire in him that hadn’t been unleashed in centuries. He could feel the need in him growing by leaps and bounds.
CHAPTER THREE
Keegan turned away and walked toward his dresser. He needed to put distance between them, but he could still feel her. How far would he have to go to put enough space between them?
Derian was right, she needed a bath and a change of clothes. Both of which he was sure she’d be happy to get. While she was doing that, he’d get them something to eat. It’d been hours since his last meal and he was hungry. He had no idea how long she’d been without food, but he doubted she’d been so thin before being kidnapped. Her clothes were hanging too loose.
He picked up the conversation, ignoring Derian’s snide amused snort. “We age until we’re thirty, then we stop, no matter when the final stage is brought on. How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.” Her voice ha
d just a trace of huskiness to it.
“Then you’ll look the same as you do now for the rest of eternity.”
He glanced over his shoulder, she was looking straight at his back but any signs of her earlier desire had been replaced by something else. Anger perhaps, but anger at what? His walking away from her or what he’d said about staying young forever? Most women would jump at the chance for eternal youth, but then, he’d already figured out that Cassandra wasn’t most women. He stopped and turned, studying her expression. What was she feeling?
“Unless someone takes your head,” Derian said quietly, breaking the silence.
She glared at the Greek. “What?”
“As long as your head remains on your shoulders and you avoid getting your body blown to bits, you’ll live forever,” Derian explained.
“I don’t want to live forever.”
Yes, that’s what Keegan thought she was going to say. “I’m sorry to hear that, lass, because that’s who you are now.” If it would remove the pain in her eyes, he’d tell her different, would tell her that it could be taken back. Well, maybe it could. If her DNA had been changed once, perhaps it could be done again. He didn’t offer her that hope, he couldn’t. It was something to consider, however, while trying to find answers.
She turned away from Derian and stared at Keegan. Her pain and fear almost tangible. “I don’t understand. Why would someone do this to me? Why wouldn’t they pick someone who wanted to be immortal?” Her shaking voice was barely audible.
“Aeterni,” Keegan corrected.
She frowned. “What’s that?”
“It’s what we’re called. Yes, we’re immortal, but our race is called Aeterni. You’re Aeterni now.”
Her fear tore at Keegan right alongside the fury he felt towards whoever the bastard was that had done this to her. He felt powerless knowing there was nothing he could do to give her back what she’d lost. Someone had taken her old life from her, and she was going to have to figure out how to live with her new one. Most Aeterni knew their entire lives what they were. They lived with it and accepted it. There were a few, like himself, who learned the hard way, but they always knew they were different, just didn’t know how. She, on the other hand, had never been different, until now.
“Take a bath, lass. Get cleaned up and I’ll make us something to eat. Once you’re clean and fed, we’ll get started on finding answers.” He went to the dresser in the corner and pulled out a sweatshirt and sweatpants and laid them on the bed. “These will swallow you, but I don’t have anything that’ll fit one such as yourself.”
She crossed the room, picked up the clothes and walked to the bathroom. “Thank you.”
Keegan watched as she closed the door. He’d been unerringly correct when he’d found her in the middle of the road. Nothing was ever going to be the same again.
***
After filling the tub with hot water, Cass stared at the clothes in her hands. They were torn and caked with mud and dried blood despite having been soaked in rainwater. There was no denying they looked like she’d been hit by a car. She studied her naked body and saw nothing that looked like so much as a scratch.
Once she was satisfied she wasn’t hurt, she turned toward the mirror over the sink. Mistake. Yikes! Did she really look like that? And Keegan had gotten aroused when he held her? The man was desperate. How long had he been living on this mountain? Another thought came to her out of the blue. Did he have a girlfriend, a wife? Maybe he wasn’t desperate, maybe he was just a man-whore. Just her luck, he was probably thoroughly attached to someone even if she hadn’t seen a ring.
Get your thoughts away from the dangerous man. You’ve never been attracted to dangerous men before. You will not follow in your mother’s footsteps.
She frowned at her sorry looking reflection. She had more important things to worry about than a man who may or may not be married. One who most certainly was not her type under any circumstances. Married or not.
Dirt smudged her left cheek as well as her chin. She looked like someone had just pulled her out of the gutter where she’d been living for months. There was dried blood on her temple just below the hairline, and her hair was a dirty, ratted bird’s nest complete with bits of sticks and dried leaves. How was she ever supposed to get all the tangles out? She’d probably have to cut it, which she should have done before now anyway. Really, she spent more time fighting with the frizzy, curly stuff than it was worth. Maybe this was what she needed to finally force her to do something about it. In the meantime, however, she was still going to have to figure out something to do with it tonight, hopefully washing it would help.
She turned away from the mirror. There was too much she didn’t understand, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that she could see perfectly well, and not only had all of her captor’s cuts healed, so had Keegan’s slit on her thumb. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t ignore the blood in her hair and on her clothing. Obviously whatever her captor had done to her, he’d enhanced her body’s ability to heal. She just wasn’t sure she could believe she would live forever. Be an Aeterni. What did one do with forever? How could you not get bored, or go crazy? What happened when you had one of those weeks that seemed to last a month?
She stepped into the gloriously hot water. Too bad there wasn’t a lock on the door, but what good would it have done her anyway? She’d spent days without any privacy at all, and she was pretty sure these men wouldn’t be kept out by something as insignificant as a lock.
As she sank into the oversized tub, the water rising to her neck, she decided she didn’t care about a lock one way or the other. This was the first true warmth she’d felt in days. There’d been water where she’d been held. She’d been allowed to use the bathroom and get cleaned up, in fact her captor had insisted on it, but the water had always been cold. She suspected there was no gas or electricity because everything was lit by candles. Day and night.
Although she hadn’t known the difference between day and night since the window in the room where she’d been kept was boarded over on the outside. Not a crack of light had penetrated. She would have broken the window and attacked her captor, but the glass had been removed. She’d tried once to burn him with a candle, but he’d wrenched it from her before she could touch him. He was stronger than she’d thought. After that, she only had light when he’d brought it.
That’s when she’d learned that fighting her captor took away any comfort she had.
Fear returned now that she didn’t have the men to distract her. Before terror could engulf her, she pushed it away and slid down, soaking her head. When she emerged, the water was turning pink, leaves and twigs floating on the surface. She felt better, but not much. Would she ever forget the man’s voice, his footsteps, his smell?
Why couldn’t she remember anything from the past few hours? The last thing she did remember was the door to the small room opening, and the man coming in. After that, nothing. She must have found some way to escape. Somehow found her way to a road. But what road? Where was she exactly? She’d have to remember to ask them at dinner.
She needed a distraction, she had to think of something else. She might be safer, but she wasn’t safe. She’d never feel safe until she had all the answers and was back home, back working in her bookstore.
She looked around and found Keegan’s shampoo and soap setting on the edge of the tub. It was a tub/shower combo, and she couldn’t help wondering how often he took a bath. This, of course, led her sorry, tired mind into thoughts she’d be much better off ignoring. Thinking of running her hands over that hard body was beyond wrong. She was being held somewhere she had no idea where, by two men she knew absolutely nothing about. Technically, she’d just traded one captor for another.
Yet, when she closed her eyes, she could almost smell the hint of spice that surrounded him, feel the hard edges of his body, his arousal pressing into her back. Her pulse quickened and darn if she wasn’t making herself aroused. Ready for him to walk through the
door and scrub her hair clean of the dirt she had no idea how she’d gotten into.
She opened her eyes, shaking her head. Keegan said he’d run over her and she’d died, yet, here she was, alive and well, never having felt better in her life. She was tired, sure, but that was nothing new. She was scared, but that was understandable. Only an idiot wouldn’t be scared, even now. Outside of the remaining headache that was only a dull thud, she felt good, really good.
Cass poured a generous amount of mildly herb-scented shampoo in her hand and rubbed her palms together, spreading out the liquid. What had happened to her? What had she become? She couldn’t believe she was immortal, that didn’t make sense to her in any way. There was no such thing as the ability to live forever, there couldn’t be. She ran her hands through her hair, gathering all the loose strands up and working vigorously at the tangles.
Still, there was no denying what she’d seen herself. She’d seen the knife go into Derian’s back, she’d seen the look on his face when he fell. There was no way he hadn’t died, but he hadn’t stayed dead. Unless she refused to believe her eyes, there was nothing else she could do but believe they were telling the truth. If that was true, then there was no reason to not believe everything else they’d said.
She looked at her hand, the suds from the shampoo coating her palm. Her long nails caught her attention. Curious, she raked her thumbnail down the tender skin on the inside of her left arm. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d cut herself with her nails, they were long and strong and she often did it inadvertently. Now she watched, fear and confusion filling her as the broken skin healed and disappeared as though the scratch had never been there. She couldn’t deny this. Unless she was sound asleep, or drugged, both of which she was sure she wasn’t, then she had indeed just watched her skin return to normal. Normal, whatever that was anymore.
She didn’t want to live forever, not in this world. She’d always looked forward to meeting the right man, falling in love, having children, grandchildren and growing into a comfortable old age with him. She wanted to become what her own grandmother had been. A loving protector. Now she’d never get to that comfortable old age. She couldn’t even find a man to love and grow old with because he’d grow old without her. Why had someone felt the need to take her dreams away from her?
Forever Love (Circle of Ghadan Book 1) Page 3