2. Blood Past (Warriors of Ankh #2)

by The Elephant House

  “Remember to be careful with that, Eden,” Noah suddenly said in a gruff, low voice.

  “With what?” She frowned.

  “The compulsion.”

  A guilty flush crept up the inside of her cheeks and although it wasn’t visible she was pretty sure Noah could tell. “I didn’t know what else to do. We couldn’t have her running off and you needed help.”

  He glowered at her. “For the record I never need help.”

  Arrogant little… “She stuck a knife in your hand, Noah.”

  He huffed. “Just try not to do it again, OK. I don’t want to have to kill Neith who are intent on killing you if they find out about it.”

  Hmm. Eden’s heart did a little triple beat as she gazed up at him. He refused to return her gaze. He was worried about her? Not the compulsion. Her. The warm fuzzies started up again. “Would you really kill Neith to protect me?”

  Noah shrugged. “I already have.”

  She thought about Darius’ wary interview of her. “What if the other Ankh tried to hurt me?”

  A distressed frown appeared between his eyebrows but he continued to keep walking. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what if they decided to turn on me for some reason and… they tried to kill me?”

  Now his jaw clenched so tight it looked close to shattering. He appeared to be trying very hard not to look at her. “Then they’ll have to go through me first.”

  At the determination on Noah’s face, Eden bit her lip feeling giddy. He meant that. He really, really meant that.

  A surge of emotion ripped through her in that moment and without another thought Eden grabbed the front of his shirt, tugging him down into a kiss. She felt his surprise under her lips but it lasted a mere millisecond before he was kissing her back, his arms wrapping around her waist and drawing her tightly against him. His familiar scent, heat, the feel of his heart pounding against hers, his skin heating up under her hands as she cupped his face between her palms, sent Eden into shivering combustibility. Opening her mouth to deepen the kiss, she felt the way her involuntary shudder affected Noah as their tongues flicked against one another’s. His muscles tightened under her and he squeezed her so tight she’d probably be bruised in the morning. But she didn’t care. Kissing Noah was everything she ever dreamed it would be, and as his hands slid across her back, snagging her top up so his fingers brushed her bare skin, Eden wished they were anywhere but in the middle of a street. They came up for air once, only to plunge back under for more, Noah’s groan against her mouth sending her into whimpering convulsions.

  Where are we again? She thought vaguely, desperate to collapse to the floor and drag Noah down with her.

  “Ahem.”

  They both froze, lips still locked together.

  “Don’t you need oxygen yet?”

  Val.

  Eff. Eff. Eff. Eff. Eden pulled away from Noah breathlessly and shared a somewhat stunned look with him before they turned to Val. The ancient warrior stood in the middle of the street, arms akimbo, eyes glittering with humour.

  “We killed the other soul eater in a mall parking lot off Princes Street. Did you get yours?”

  Eden groaned at the deliberate double entendre as Noah answered, not taking his arm from around her waist. “Eden did. Cyrus has a clean-up crew coming.”

  Val’s grin widened. “Congrats on the first kill, Eden.” Her eyes flickered over them mockingly.

  “That might help soften the blow when I tell Cyrus about this little development.” She gestured between them.

  Oh crap.

  Eden turned to Noah.

  He sighed. “Crap.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Forever is a Long Time

  Despite her threat, Val didn’t tell Cyrus about the kiss when they met him back at the Douglas’ home.

  The walk back to the house had been fraught with a tension that had Noah clenching and unclenching his fists. He’d known Val had enjoyed herself, these humorous little snorts had bubbled up from the back of her throat every ten minutes or so.

  Eden on the other hand… Noah hadn’t been able to get a read on.

  She hadn’t touched him since the kiss and had walked with a foot of space beside them so there had been no chance of touching. The fact that she had initiated the most surprising and hottest kiss of his entire seventy years (and he’d had a lot of kisses) didn’t mean a thing if she wouldn’t look at him.

  He stood back with his arms crossed over his chest as Cyrus proudly grilled her for a detailed description of her kill. He tried to shake himself, he really did. It had just been Eden’s first kill after all. But it had also been his and Eden’s first kiss.

  And oh gods, he hoped it wasn’t their last.

  “I’m really jealous,” Tobe said stepping towards Eden with a sly smile. “But I’m really proud too.”

  Eden grinned at her and let Tobe hug her, which only made Noah think about how it had felt to have Eden pressed up against him. He swallowed, shifting uncomfortably as he flushed red hot at the memory. That kiss wasn’t nothing. And it wasn’t their last. You didn’t kiss someone the way Eden had kissed him and not mean it.

  Right?

  He groaned. This was so payback. Kharma working her magic again.

  “Are you alright, Noah?” Cyrus asked, hearing his groan.

  “Oh, uh yeah, yeah. Just hungry,” he covered.

  Cyrus nodded. “I say we celebrate. Is there not a late night pub still open around here, Christopher?”

  “There is indeed.” Christopher grinned.

  Everyone was so happy for Eden.

  And so they should be. Before she’d effed him up with that kiss, he’d watched her take down that soul eater with finesse and power. They’d just armed themselves with another amazing warrior to help aid the cause.

  And me? Noah winced, watching everyone file out the house, watching Eden file out the house without so much as glancing back at him. His eyes narrowed in determination. I got something I’m not letting go of without a fight.

  ***

  Sitting across from Noah with all their warrior friends around them was excruciating for Eden.

  Inside she was a jumble of confusion. Noah was acting weird. Maybe I shouldn’t have kissed him.

  Maybe he totally regrets kissing me back. According to rumour, Noah wasn’t a settling down kind of guy and she wasn’t a casual kissing random people kind of girl so where did that leave them?

  Uh nowhere, Eden, she snapped irritably at herself.

  As Noah laughed at something Tobe said, Eden pushed back from the table and asked if anyone wanted anything from the bar. Only non-alcoholic drinks were shouted at her as she headed up. She had just ordered the drinks when heat flooded the space next to her and his yummy Noah smell enveloped her like a warm, sexy hug. Bracing herself, Eden looked up at him as he leaned casually near her.

  “We gonna talk about it?” he asked her softly and just the mention of it had her eyes falling to his mouth.

  She flushed and shifted her weight anxiously. “Not if it didn’t mean anything to you.”

  Her heart jumped at the touch of his hand against her lower back, drawing her closer to him, a move she allowed without even questioning it. “It meant everything to me,” his reply was low and rumbly and did all kinds of things to her insides.

  Relaxing, Eden couldn’t help smile as she moved nearer. “Good. Me too.”

  Those pale eyes of his darkened and fell to her lips and she had only a moment to catch her breath in surprise as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to them right there in front of everyone. It was a sweet kiss that promised so much more.

  Heart pounding at what this meant for them, it took Eden a moment to register the arm that slid past them as they drew apart. It thunked a glass down on the counter, and recognising the silver ring on the strong hand, Eden tensed.

  Cyrus stood before them, his face completely expressionless as he stared at her. “I suspect this means you forgive him, t
hen?”

  She bit her lip, not sure how Cyrus was going to react to the news: overprotective father figure which was bad news for Noah? Or a Princeps who was happy for two of his Ankh?

  When his eyes flashed Eden suddenly guessed that it was going to be a bit of both.

  Staring Noah down, Cyrus warned in a low voice, “Make one wrong move…”

  “Got it,” Noah quickly agreed, not stupid enough to piss Cyrus off. Eden liked that although he was wary and respectful of her guardian, he still hadn’t removed his hand from her waist.

  Eden was given a careful nod from her Princeps before he turned back to join Val and the Douglas’. She exhaled and slid Noah a questioning look. “So we’re really doing this?”

  The thought had her whole body humming with excitement but she also felt the weight of their decision upon her chest. She’d been hurt badly before by this guy. And if it was possible she thought maybe she cared about him even more than she did back then. What was that phrase? ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me’. Not to mention there was Romany in their past.

  Desperate for nothing to come between this momentous development between them, Eden threw the memory of the Neith back into the farthest corners of her brain. Hopefully Romany would never be a problem again. She just had to hope she never crossed paths with the murderous witch because she could see that being a potential setback in her and Noah’s… relationship?

  “Stop,” Noah said, cupping her cheek with his rough palm. Eden hated that he could read her so well. What was that?! “We’re really doing this. And there will be no doubts, no backing out of it, and no worrying that it will fall apart.”

  “You sound awfully sure for a guy who’s never done this before.”

  He grinned. “I have faith.”

  Eden grimaced. “We’re Ankh, Noah. A relationship between us… isn’t that kind of major?”

  He laughed, a deep happy laugh that took her by surprise. Drawing her closer, Noah kissed her, still smiling, and she couldn’t help but smile between each soft, lush kiss. Eventually he pulled back just enough to whisper across her lips, “I can do forever if you can.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Dude… do you love me?

  “So, you seem happy…” Val commented softly as Eden poured them both a cup of coffee. For once, they were alone in the house. The Douglas’ were at work, Tobe at school, Mhairi had gone to an over-6os swimming club, and Noah and Cyrus were at the training centre, pretending to train as they tried to root out info on their suspected traitors. Eden had assumed once they’d killed the remaining soul eaters that Cyrus would announce they were leaving (a thought that made Eden incredibly sad) but he was determined to find out just who the traitor was. He didn’t want someone telling Arcos and her people that they were travelling back to the States. And with Christopher giving Cyrus a lead on who it might be, Eden was frustrated to be left out of the loop. She was pretty sure it was McLeish since he still treated her like crap, but Cyrus wouldn’t say anything. He just told her not to worry, that he had everything under control.

  Eden slid Val her coffee thinking about her non-question. The truth was, despite how much was going on right now, she was happier than she’d ever been before. Other than some nightmares every now and then, her transition from Unforeseen to Ankh had gone amazingly, almost seamlessly. She loved the training, the fighting; her first kill had been this unbelievable moment of terror and awesomeness. Once she’d come down off the high and the whole Noah thing, Eden couldn’t believe how amazing it felt to have saved that girl’s life. And that’s what she got to do now. Six months ago she had been so scared of the future, of what the future meant for her – the fear that she would one day give into her hunger and hurt someone, or worse. That was not only over but she was facing a lifetime of the opposite. She had this mega-cool purpose, like one of the characters from her favourite manga. It was utterly cheesy… but she was like… a superhero.

  “What? What is that ridiculous grin for?” Val asked smiling.

  Eden shrugged. “I’m happy.” And with the happy came the guilt.

  Stellan.

  She pushed him away.

  “Despite McLeish and the traitor?”

  Yeah, despite McLeish and a lot of other things. The last week she’d suddenly realised that her time in Scotland was coming to an end, so she’d ambushed Tobe and Cameron whenever she could.

  And they had fun. Like always. But Tobe was right. Cameron was still acting weird and he was a typical guy who didn’t want to talk about his feelings or whatever. Tobe was worried. Eden was worried. She really didn’t want to leave Edinburgh without knowing Tobe and Cameron were going to be alright. They were really great people and they had welcomed her, no questions asked. They had come to mean a lot to her.

  Eden sighed. They had come to mean a lot to her.

  OK. There was no way she was leaving Scotland without fixing things between those two. Eden snorted into her coffee. She was learning something new about herself every day. Apparently she really was a meddler. Immediately Eden thought about Mhairi; she was beginning to the see the resemblance between herself and Tobe’s Nana more and more every day.

  “Things between you and Noah seem to be going well.”

  Eden glanced up at Val and shot her a look for the mischievous twinkle in the Ankh’s eye. “Yes, they are.”

  “That’s all? Come on. As Tobe would say… dish.”

  Leaning against the counter in the kitchen, hugging the coffee mug to her chest, Eden tried desperately not to get all dreamy-eyed and gooey like those girls who swooned at their boyfriend’s feet back home. She hated those girls. She was so not turning into one of those girls. Yet… Noah made it pretty hard to resist the gooey, dreamy-eyed swooning. It hadn’t mattered where they were, over the last week if Noah could sneak in a kiss or two (or a full on makeout session) he would, pulling her into broom closets, taking advantage of an empty training room and slamming her to a mat (she still couldn’t get the better of him at hand to hand combat and he was definitely using that to his advantage) and kissing her breathless. It was exciting with Noah, and new, and something she never thought she would ever have in her life. It was her first big romance, and for once she actually felt like a normal – no, not normal - ‘human’ girl.

  “It’s nice.” She smiled softly at Val.

  Val frowned. “Nice? How… bland.”

  “Hey, nice is HUGE considering where my life was six weeks ago, OK.”

  Val laughed. “I stand corrected then. I’m glad it’s nice. It has been nice here. I’ll be sad to go.”

  “Me too. I’m going to miss the Douglas’ and Cameron. I became a brand new person here.

  Someone I actually like. The kind of person I always wanted to be.” Eden worried her lip, suddenly anxious if things would change once they returned to the States.

  “Eden.” Val reached for her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, her exotic eyes full of more understanding than anyone else would ever be able to give her. “Leaving here won’t change who you’ve become. Look at me… it’s thousands of years later and I like to think I’m still a decent person.”

  That warmth she got in her chest when Cyrus made some fatherly comment lit up inside her as Val tried to comfort her. “Val, you’re a great person. I could never have gotten through this without you.”

  “Yes you could have. But I’m glad I could help.”

  Although it was true Eden was more content than she’d ever been, and true that she had gotten good at pushing her grief over Stellan into the background (although she could never escape him in her dreams), Eden was still holding onto him. She felt guilty for feeling happy with Noah and guilty for still feeling Stellan’s loss even though he had been a soul eater. Sometimes she felt like Val would be the only one who understood that… so she took a chance. “I miss him, Val.”

  Hearing the quiet heartbreak in Eden’s voice, Val froze. “Your brother?”

  “I keep
trying to tell myself that I shouldn’t. That he was hurting people. But all I can remember is that he never hurt me; that he loved me.”

  Val nodded. “You don’t have to hate him, Eden. Grieve for him. That’s nobody’s business but yours.”

  “You don’t think it’s wrong?”

  “From all that you’ve told me, I think Stellan was a rare soul eater. He loved you even more than the hunger; he loved you enough to try to be something better. And he did protect you.”

  A huge sigh rushed through her body and Eden relaxed back against the counter, taking another comforting sip of her coffee. It was incredible how much better she felt knowing that Val knew she was still grieving for Stellan. As if admitting it out loud somehow let him know that she hadn’t forgotten. God… she didn’t know what she’d do without Val in her life.

  A horrible thought struck her. She’d never questioned where Val lived or what would happen to her when they got back to the States. “You’re coming back with us right? To Weston?”

  The Ankh’s eyes lit up before she could bank the spark and conceal her feelings. “I could do that if you wanted me to.” She shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.

  Eden’s heart thudded unhappily. “Why… where do you normally live?”

  “Maui. But I’ve been taking a lot of assignments recently… so all over really.”

  Eden looked at her feet. Weston couldn’t really compete with Maui. “I wouldn’t want to… you know… make you feel… obligated.”

  Val huffed, “Eden, I’d be happy to come live in Weston. Cyrus’ house is certainly big enough for one more Ankh.”

  The choking lump she’d felt rising in her throat began to dislodge. “So you don’t think Cyrus would mind another Ankh in the house? It wouldn’t make us targets or anything?”

  Val snorted. “It would take one of the gods to find a way past Cyrus’ security, Eden. Don’t worry about the Princeps. If you want me in Weston, in Weston I shall be.”