by Tenaya Jayne
“Yes. Recently.”
Sympathy filled her deep emerald eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.” His voice was quiet.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He shook his head. “No. But I appreciate the offer.”
“The offer stands, if you change your mind.”
They looked at each other for a second. He picked up his toast and bit into it.
“Would you like some eggs to go with that?”
He nodded emphatically. “Please.”
She smiled and pulled a skillet from the cupboard. When he finished eating, the voices that woke him sounded again. He looked for their source.
“In the garden,” Forest said, refilling his coffee.
He hooked his finger through the mug’s handle and walked to the front room window. X blinked in the sunlight. “Wow,” he said under his breath.
He leaned against the window frame, took a sip of coffee, and watched.
Tesla had her new glass short swords, and Syrus was coaching her on her fighting stance. X’s eyes devoured the details as his heart pulled. He took his time, memorizing the way the sunlight caught in Tesla’s loosely braided hair. The excited glint in her grey eyes as she began to spar with her father. The pulsing red designs on her hands. She didn’t move gracefully like Syrus did. She fought with fast, vicious, whipping movements. She could strike out and coil back so fast, it was like the attack of a snake.
He sighed, losing himself in his feelings. How odd. This beautiful creature had captured him in a way he had never been captured before. Whatever love he’d felt for Isolde…no, it wasn’t like comparing two of the same emotions to see which was stronger. What he felt for Tesla was not a stronger version, it was a completely different emotion. He tried to dissect it. He never questioned with Isolde. She was his, always. He was confident in that. And he’d been dead wrong.
A ragged pain clung to his feelings for Tesla. He couldn’t allow himself to feel what he felt. A dark agony laced tendrils like black smoke through his heart. She needed him to help save her world. He took away her physical pain and opened up her voice. She might think she felt something for him, but she was using him. She needed him. He didn’t want her to need him. He wanted her to love him. Him. Not just what he could do for her.
X pushed the pain down where he could ignore it. He compartmentalized as only males can. His eyes remained glued to her. She jumped back from Syrus’ attempt to disarm her and laughed. Her lips turned up in the sweetest smile. His mind roved slowly over every kiss they’d shared as he stared at her mouth. He glanced at the mark on the back of his hand for a second before looking back out at her. He scolded himself for doubting her. He should trust her. She was pure.
Forest came up beside him and looked out the window, too. “She’s learning very quickly.”
X didn’t say anything.
“I have a gift for you.”
He turned his head to look at her. “Why?”
She smirked. “Why not?”
He watched her leave the room. In a minute she was back, holding the strangest looking bow and quiver he’d ever seen. She held it out to him. He took it, running his fingers along the smooth black surface, unsure what it was made of. The arrows, likewise, were alien to him. Not made of wood and rough arrowheads. They, too, were black, smooth, and tipped with bright metal spiked on the sides of the arrowheads.
“I can’t accept this,” he said.
“Don’t you like it?”
“It’s amazing. It’s just too much.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “I don’t have a use for it. Like I told you yesterday, there aren’t many archers around here. I want you to have it.”
“Thank you… Why are you so nice to me?” he asked.
She looked back out the window, her face contemplative. “I like you, and I think…maybe… you might become a permanent fixture in my family.”
His smile was bittersweet. “I’m trying to not let my hope run away with me…and I have trust issues.”
Forest sighed. “You and she are caught in a strange and dangerous situation. It can be hard to trust in others and yourself in times like that. The closeness of death heightens emotions beyond what they might have been in a peaceful setting. Even when I knew Syrus was my destined life mate, I still hung on to my fear and distrust.”
“Why?”
She gave a little half laugh. “I had…what did you call it? Trust issues? I almost ruined my whole life with one bad decision.”
“But Tesla isn’t my destined life mate.”
She patted him on the shoulder. “Hang in there. I’m running out of time. I have to get to work. Why don’t you join them outside and try out that bow?”
“Thanks, Forest. For everything.”
She smiled warmly at him. “Thank you for everything.”
X finished his coffee next to the window, and Forest left for work. He put his boots on and strode outside with his new bow, hoping he might be able to show off his skill a bit. He wanted to impress Tesla, but more importantly, he hoped he might gain a little more respect from Syrus. But Syrus was gone.
“Where’s your dad?” he asked her.
“He left a moment ago, with my mom.” She gave him a devious smile. “Well, you kept your word. You left me alone all night.”
He returned her devious smile with one of his own. “Are you implying something?”
“I missed you… And I lost sleep, waiting to see what you would do, if anything.”
“I did something.”
“Yeah. You proved your word is worth something when you give it. I guess that qualifies as something.”
“Oh, thanks,” he said sarcastically.
She walked up to him and reached for his free hand. Their power entwined ecstatically, and the marks on their hands glowed purple.
He closed his eyes. “That feels so good,” he said under his breath.
She leaned her forehead against his collarbone. “Seriously, I did miss you last night, even though you were just feet away.”
“I miss you right now.”
“How can you miss me, when I’m right here?” she asked. “You’re touching me.”
“I’m greedy. I don’t think I’ll ever have enough of you.”
She looked up into his eyes. They stared at each other. After a moment, pain creased her features, and tears filled her eyes. “How can you look at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m not a sick freak?”
He dropped the bow and pulled her against him. “Because you’re not.”
“I am a freak,” she insisted.
“You’re exotic,” he countered.
“Gosh, X…I never thought anyone would ever look at me the way you do. Everyone tells me I’m beautiful, but then I see the pity they have for me, and the fear…it’s in the background, but I see it.”
“Can you blame those who care about you to feel sorry for you? They know you’re in pain. They wish you weren’t.”
“But the fear. Even my parents fear me. You’re the only one who doesn’t.”
He chuckled. “You’re wrong about that. I’m terrified of you.”
“Why?”
“I…” He hesitated, wishing he hadn’t just said that. “You’re twisting me all up inside, and I fear when I’m too far gone, you’ll just walk away from me… You’ll find the man you’re really supposed to be with, your destined life mate.”
She sighed and pulled back from him. “Why is it like this? Why do we do this to each other? There is no time for us.”
He smiled, catching her off guard.
“What?” she asked.
“You want to be an us?”
“Umm…I thought we already were. But it’s true, you didn’t ask me.”
“How do I ask? Is there some special way I’m supposed to say it here in Regia?”
She laughed and shrugged. “I have no idea. How would you do it in your world?”
“There really isn’t a way to be casually connected in my world. But if we were there, I’d ask your father for his terms to allow me to marry you. If he didn’t turn me away, and I met his terms, we’d be engaged. Exclusive to each other, able to have a few liberties of affection before the wedding.”
“And after?” she asked.
“After the wedding you’d be mine completely, and I’d be yours. For life.”
“That’s nice…if you were Regian, I’d put a lover’s mark on you. Only vampires can do that. The mark I put on you would strengthen our feelings and lend to a stronger aspiration for monogamy.”
“So what if I’m not Regian? I’m open to experimenting. You could try to mark me.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Very brave. But I have a sneaky suspicion my father would object to me doing that. It would indicate an intimate relationship.”
“If you marked me, would that negate the claim your destined life mate would have?”
She shook her head sadly. “No. Nothing but my rejection of them could negate it.”
“That’s all? You could just reject them?” His face brightened.
“I wouldn’t. Rejecting one’s life mate comes with terrible agony. And I see my parents…how they are with each other. Who wouldn’t want that kind of love and security?”
“What if I killed him?”
“X!”
“What? It’s just a question.”
“I’m done with this conversation. I don’t need to define our relationship, but if you do, call it whatever you want. I have no life mate, at least not yet. I might never have. So you can grouse about it or you can accept you have my feelings and come here and kiss me.”
He pulled her close again. “Murderess,” he murmured against her lips before kissing her in earnest.
They were getting better at it, familiar now with the shape and taste of one another. She melted against him, but he knew this had to be short. They were alone, and he already wanted to take her back inside. He wanted to pretend she was his wife. He couldn’t, so it couldn’t go any further. He held her gently and rested his cheek on the top of her head, sighing. I love you. He thought. His thought jerked him up short and sent a chill through his blood. Did he? Had his heart jumped over that cliff already? Surely not.
“We have work to do,” he said. “Right?”
“Yeah. You have Guardians to gather… This will be interesting, to say the least.”
He leaned down and picked up the bow from the ground. “I was going to show off for you, but I guess that will have to wait. I wanted to impress you.”
She smiled into his eyes. “I’m impressed already.”
“Stop being so sweet. You’re breaking my heart.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Should I be mean to you instead?”
“It might make things easier on me.”
Her smile turned wicked, and she walked her fingers up his chest and caressed the grey line on his neck. “I’m your woman. It feels only natural to me to want to torture you.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t say things like that to me. You find yourself in danger of making me lose control. No, stop that saucy look. I mean it. Stop playing with me. I want you so much. You have no idea.”
She pulled her hand back, her eyes round. “I’m sorry…That was teasing, right?”
“Yes.”
She looked down. “Sorry.” She said again. “I’ll try to be better, it’s just…I want you, too.”
He closed his eyes and groaned. “We have to get out of here. Do something else.”
“Okay. You’re right. Get your stuff. We’ll get to work.”
He pulled an arrow out and strung it. “Just one. Give me a mark.”
She looked at the far end of the garden. “The knot the on the last tree.”
It was a great distance and a very small target. He exhaled and loosed the arrow. X turned and walked to the front door, not even waiting to see if he’d hit the mark. She raised one eyebrow as the arrow sank directly into the knot. Yeah, she was impressed. That was gangster.
She waited for him, thinking about where she should take them first. He came out a few minutes later, stones and gloves on, with his axe on his back and a set expression on his face. She smiled unconsciously. X was cool. As she gazed at him she realized nothing had changed in her since the first time she’d laid eyes on him. She’d never seen anyone else she liked looking at as much as him. And he wanted her. The butterflies came back and partied in her chest at that thought. For the first time in her life, there was something she really wanted and she could have it. So they had to save the world… That didn’t mean she couldn’t fall in love with him in the process.
Tesla thought about her history lessons with Zeren before deciding where they should go first. Battles fought in or around forests where she knew the body count was high was the goal. She tore open the air and took them to the wilds near Halussis.
As soon as they landed, X’s eyes widened, and he seemed to freeze. His gaze darted around, and he reached for Tesla, pulling her protectively behind him before taking his gloves off. His hands lit up through the stones. She wanted to ask him what he saw, but the tension in his stance stopped her.
“I can see you,” he said aggressively, raising his hand up. “Come here!”
Tesla gasped as a Guardian appeared out of nowhere in front of them. The monstrous deformed entity growled. It was a sickly green hybrid mess of two enemies who’d fought and died in the same battle, damned to live as one. Their bodies grossly entwined. It looked down at them, at least four feet taller than X. He didn’t even flinch. He lifted his chin and looked up at the thing with authority.
“Are you the leader?” X asked nonchalantly.
“Yes!” It hissed. “Of all in this forest.”
“You serve me now,” X said.
It laughed loudly, a wet, snarling sound. “Why would I, or any of us serve you? The dead don’t fear anything.”
X relaxed a bit. “I could enslave you, but I won’t. You will serve me not out of fear, but hope. A war is coming, and you will fight. All of you. If you protect the living from the enemy and help deliver victory, I will separate you.”
Its many eyes looked at X’s hands for a second. “Prove you can! Separate me now, and we will fight for you.”
X stepped closer to it and reached for its gnarled hand. He grabbed ahold and pulled one arm free of the other wrapped around it, then he let go and stepped back. The Guardian whimpered like a child.
“No! Finish it! Separate us!”
“You are treacherous. I can feel your lies. Now you know I have the power to free you. You serve me.”
It roared in rage and frustration. Tesla cringed away from the sound, but X gazed at it placidly, unmoved by its anger. More guardians appeared until a hoard crowded around the first, touching and examining the arm X separated.
“All right!” the leader bellowed, looking at the other guardians who all nodded and murmured their agreement. “We’ll fight, Necromancer. But not just because you offer us freedom, because, though we are long since dead, Regia is still our world.”
“Line up,” X ordered. “You are all diseased. Your souls stained with the hate you died in. I am going to take that from you.”
Tesla hung back, watching amazed as the guardians formed a line. X walked down the row, his hand passing through each one, blackness pulled from them and ran into the stone. When he reached the end, he turned and came back. His other hand now passed through each of them, trapping a small part of them in the other stone, chaining them to him.
He held his hand up to all of them when he’d finished. “When the enemy breaks through, I will send you where you are needed. You will protect Regians and kill the wizards. You need have no fear of them. Their power cannot harm you. Stay here. You will know when I have summoned you.”
X turned to Tesla and gave her a meaningful look. She straightened and opened a portal, taking them back to her
house. They landed in the garden. X blew his breath out and leaned against the rock wall.
“You were incredible! How did you just know what to do?” she asked.
He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t. That was insane!” He looked at the stone now holding the first platoon of guardians. “The Heart strengthened my power. It was just instinct that led me.”
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and stood up straight again. “All right, let’s keep going. We need to gather them all.”
Tesla opened a new portal, taking them to another forest and then another. Each place they met the same kind of resistance. And each time, they caved to X quickly. She stopped being nervous, now she knew the guardians couldn’t hurt X. They jumped all day, gathering the unusual army. She’d counted loosely as they went. The stone now held a part of more than two thousand guardians.
Her mind began working on something new. She imagined the battle, seeing X’s place in it, but where was her place? What could she do when the moment came? Could her lightning cause damage to a wizard at all? Could she become a storm when she needed to? She thought about when she’d sped up time to escape the destruction she was creating and unable to stop. If she could storm at the right time, would it cost her life to just let it run its course? Could X pull her back from the edge at the last moment?
She looked over at him. She wanted to live. He made her want to live.
“I’m starving,” he said as they landed back in the house after eight runs, gathering guardians.
The sun was going to set soon. Her parents would be home. She wasn’t ready to have her dad separate them.
“I can fix something for us to eat. There’s leftovers from the party. I want to shower and change my clothes before we go see my grandfather for a few minutes, then we can do something fun.”
“Whatever you say, just feed me!”
He took off his stones and washed his hands in the sink, messing with the faucet a few times. “This thing is handy.”
“I take things like that for granted,” she confessed, pulling food from the fridge. “I shouldn’t.”
“What can I do to help?” he asked.
“Nothing really. I’ll show you how to work the microwave.”