by Kelly Gay
I changed quickly, wincing as I pulled the short, Greek-style gown over my head, and leaving on my bra and undies since the material would become transparent in the water.
Hank was already sitting on a mat by the pool’s edge, his back to me. I squared my shoulders, drew in a deep breath, and walked forward.
As I drew closer, I dropped my towel onto the nearest table, noticing Hank was cross-legged, posture straight, eyelids closed. I’d seen him half naked in a shenti before, at this same bath house, but it still did nothing to calm the girly spike of awareness at seeing his perfect form, all tanned and hard, and unavoidable, wearing only a linen loincloth.
12
I swallowed again, willing myself to think more like Elysians, entirely comfortable with their bodies, both in and out of clothes.
I was more worked up at seeing Hank than he’d ever be at seeing me. He went to the baths almost every day, frolicking naked with some of the most gorgeous creatures on the planet. So seeing me in my short gown was not going to set him on fire … not that I wanted to set him on fire anyway.
“Since when do you meditate?”
“Since when do you think you know everything about me?” he responded, eyes still closed and face not changing expression.
I made a face he couldn’t see.
“Have a seat, Charlie. I’ll show you how.”
“No thanks, I’m gonna soak for a few minutes and then be on my way.” I dipped my toe into the water. It was warm and the herby smell that erupted made me breathe in deeply.
“Scared?”
I pivoted. “Of meditating? No.”
“You need practice concentrating, using your focus. It’ll help you heal, too. Sit down and I’ll show you how to play with water. Unless you’re, you know, scared.”
I blew a strand of hair away from my face and sat down on the mat, facing him, mimicking his pose. “Happy? What now?”
“Close your eyes, grasshopper.” His mouth twitched.
I smiled despite myself. “You’re such a dork.”
“Ah, but a dork who can do this.”
I felt the energy gather before I saw it. It tingled my skin, set me on edge, and I straightened my spine. His aura ballooned, surrounding him in a wash of island blues—azure, topaz, turquoise. The beauty of it was mesmerizing. I lost track of my senses until the air grew cooler and damp. I turned to see waves in the pool, slapping gently at the sides.
Hank lifted his arms slowly. Droplets of water rose from the pool like rain in reverse, following his movement. He held his perfectly formed arms straight out, looking like some Michelangelo sculpture come to life and making it hard for me to choose what to look at, because both male and water were stunning.
Slowly Hank lowered his arms, wiggling his fingers and making the droplets fall like the gentlest rain.
I was smiling, my heart beating a little faster. This was, by far, the coolest thing I’d ever seen him do. Hank hardly showed any powers around me at all. At least not like this, for fun, and not under fire, chasing a criminal down the street.
I tore my gaze away from the pool, struck by the power and the raw, potent beauty of him. I’d gotten used to the way people stopped and stared at Hank, often amused by the fact that even as they looked, they gave him respect and space. Like an unspoken, unrecognized sense of acknowledgment, the same way wild animals give deference to an alpha or a predator among them.
He couldn’t have acted any more different, though. Always making dumb jokes, dressing down, and not giving his inborn nature a second thought.
He cracked one eye open. “Stop that.” His eyelid closed again.
“Stop what?”
“You’re not blocking your aura or your emotions.” He dropped his concentration, his hands falling on his bare thighs and his shoulders slumping a fraction as he gave me a frank look. “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll take you up on it.”
My mouth fell open and then immediately snapped closed. Blood rose hot to my cheeks. I put up a fast block, my pulse beating furiously. Great. When did I suddenly become one of those people?
The water in the pool quieted to a gentle, hypnotic wave. “So, the lesson,” I prompted, practically burning under his scrutiny.
“That was the lesson. Now it’s your turn.”
“Riiiight.”
“If you have Adonai in you, you should be able to do a lot more with water than the average Elysian. It’s an easy element to start with, and you’ve been focusing too much on the Char side of you.”
“That’s because the Char side comes easier.” Which I really hated to admit. But Hank was right—I needed to practice using the Elysian in me. The more I did, the easier it would be to access when it really counted. And I had used some of it already to fight Llyran. “Okay.” I let my eyes close and gave my best meditative pose. “Now what, Sensei?”
I peeked to see his mouth quirk. He tried his damnedest to convey seriousness, but there was only humor gleaming in those gemstone blues. “Don’t sound so enthused,” he said. “Close your eyes, focus your thoughts, envision the water … feel it, the wetness, the cool temperature, the way it runs over your skin. You’re it and it’s you. You become one. You control its flow, its properties. Make it yours.”
The persuasive baritone sank deep into my being like languid-flowing honey, turning my breathing into a slow, rhythmic cadence. My focus, however, sharpened, and it didn’t take long for me to imagine all the visuals Hank had mentioned.
My skin became electrified, the tiny hairs standing. I raised my arms as he had raised his, ignoring the soreness, and instead thinking of the water he’d lifted and the way thousands of tiny droplets had separated from the mass below, the way they hovered and then fell like the softest rain. I could hear it, and the sound was like tranquil music.
A rich chuckle reached my ears, and I looked to see the water falling just as I’d imagined it. Instant joy erupted in me, a balm of feel-good sensations and energy that made me throw my arms up high in victory and shout. I lunged forward and threw my arms around Hank’s neck. “I did it!” The water fell back into the pool as my weight caught him off guard and sent him backward onto the mat. An “oomph!” shot from his lips as I raised my head, gripped by a great sense of wonder and accomplishment.
Pride glowed in his eyes; I could tell by the way they crinkled and lit up. “Not bad, kiddo. Not bad at all.”
This felt so much better than using anger and negativity to drive my power. And it had the added benefit of furthering the healing process. I barely hurt at all. I stared at Hank for the longest time, panting and grinning like a damn fool until I realized that my bare thigh rested between his bare thighs, both of my palms flat on his bare chest. Too close, we were too close and nearly naked, and he smelled insanely good.
I was in so much trouble.
I pushed myself up, rolling to the side and scooting away awkwardly, silently cursing my ungraceful exit, as Hank pushed to his elbows, leaning back on them and just staring at me with an odd, crooked grin.
The breath died in my throat. His irises had turned the color of blue diamonds. My lungs burned, forcing me to gasp for air. I scrambled up and turned away from him, trying to calm my racing pulse.
Hank’s eyes changed on emotions. Lately they’d held on to their hard, dark sapphire color as he dealt with the fallout caused by our fight with Mynogan. But slowly, every once in a while, they would lighten. When he’d forget all the bad things. When the old Hank would shine through, or I’d do something totally asinine. But, blue diamonds? That was a new one. And I had known Hank, had seen him nearly every day, for the past three years.
Confusion clouded my vision, and I fisted my hands together at my sides, just standing at the edge of the pool and wondering what the hell had changed. What the hell was wrong with me that I was noticing every tiny detail about my partner and my friend?
It had to be the darkness. Being constantly turned on by that kind of raw, primal power was like a drug. I needed
an out. Needed to release some of it. It was too much, too much inside of me. Made me start looking at my partner like he could give me the release I needed. At least that’s what I told myself.
A groan lodged in my throat. I needed a distraction and quick. “How about we try something a little more dramatic?” I shut my eyes and focused intently on water. Water everywhere. Water that matched my emotions.
“Charlie, I don’t think that’s such a good—” Hank’s voice drowned in the rush of power pounding through my ears like the torrents over Niagara Falls.
Yes, drown him out. Don’t listen to his potent voice, the decadent timbre that resonates through your body like a heavy drumbeat. Don’t listen, Charlie. Don’t. Listen.
Tears rose and closed my throat. I really just wanted someone to be close to, to make me feel secure and protected for once. How pathetic was that? How pathetic that I was so desperate I’d begun looking to my partner for it?
He called my name. I didn’t listen. Instead, I wiped at my eyes before he could see how weak and stupid I was.
“Charlie!”
Wet strands of my hair slapped me in the face, stinging me back to reality.
My jaw dropped. Oh shit.
I couldn’t move, just stood there in awe, staring at the tornado of water swirling in the center of the pool directly in front of me, writhing and spinning and shooting water everywhere. And my partner going along for the ride.
I was drowning him. Quickly, I closed my eyes again to summon my power, but I was too stunned and panicked to focus.
Come on. Come on, Charlie! Do something!
I tried again. The sound of water was deafening. Plants toppled over. The fires went out. Sconces flew off the wall. How the hell could anyone concentrate in this? I glanced around frantically. My control over what I’d manifested was lost. It should’ve collapsed the churning spiral, yet I’d somehow given it a life of its own. Hank yelled again. Before I could think better of it, I dove into the spiral.
It sucked me into a wide arc, dragging me in circles around the pool. Fighting against it was useless, so I streamlined my body and flowed with it, moving into the turns as it swept me along.
The panic ebbed. Being inside of my creation was so much easier than standing on the sidelines and watching helplessly. My confidence rose and I became one with the water, not fighting it, not fearing it. Soon I was guiding it, controlling it. Slowing it when I slowed. And up I went, using the water to take me higher, almost to the very top of the dome ceiling, where I swept past Hank and grabbed hold of his outstretched hand. We pulled together and wrapped our arms around each other.
And then I let it all go, releasing my command over the water.
We dropped, along with a few thousand gallons of water, into the pool below.
The water cushioned some of our fall, but we still hit the bottom of the pool pretty hard. Hank’s arms tightened around me, and he angled his body toward the concrete just as we hit. Then he was pushing us up, through the water and back to the surface.
We broke through with gasps and coughs.
My legs and arms were wrapped tightly around him, my forehead pressed into the crook of his neck, and I didn’t let go, too afraid I’d sink straight to the bottom of the pool if I did. I was weak, totally spent, in shock at the thought of what had come out of me.
“Why didn’t you fight it?” I asked. “Use your power?”
“Because I knew you could fix it, Charlie.”
Hank’s heart pounded hard and strong against my chest, mingling with the frantic beat of mine. I eased my hold a little, realizing I was reluctant to do so. He felt safe and warm. I, on the other hand, was a shivering, teeth-chattering mess. Reluctantly I lifted my forehead off the side of his neck and looked eye level at him.
I don’t think either one of us wanted to be the first to speak, so instead I pushed a wet strand of his hair from his forehead, unsure of what I was doing or why.
Whatever the reason—adrenaline, shock—my blood pressure rose. I licked the wetness on my lips, captured by the blue diamond irises staring back at me, mesmerized, and unable to look away. I felt a tug, a pulse of awareness between my legs. That part of me, I realized, was pressed intimately against his groin, and another bloom of desire rocketed through me.
His Adam’s apple slid up and down. His gaze dropped to my lips. His entire body stilled as I held my breath. Then his gaze was back, fixed on me like a burning blue flame.
I couldn’t help it. It had been so long since I’d felt like this. My hand curled around the back of his neck as we moved in closer. My chest and stomach became like an explosion of feathers, so light and airy and breathless. Almost there …
And he wanted it, too. I could feel it against me, see it in the way his gaze had locked back on to my lips. The pressure of his hold increased. One of his hands slid up my back and cupped the back of my head. Our noses brushed. His fingers curled into my hair, tugging at the roots as my head angled.
The first bang on the door sent me jerking back with a gasp.
It took several seconds of banging and Zara’s voice calling from the other side before I regained my senses and realized exactly where I was and what I’d been about to do. Hank’s arms released me the same moment I pushed back. I slid under the surface of the water, turned, and swam to the edge of the pool as Zara entered with three attendants at her back. I hadn’t felt this humiliated since high school.
With a weary sigh, I pulled my heavy, wet, shaken self from the water. Zara stopped in front of me, her wide eyes assessing the soaked walls and upended furniture. “Sorry about the mess,” I mumbled, grabbing a wet towel and wrapping it around me. “Just bill me if I broke anything.”
A splash sounded behind me, but I didn’t turn to see Hank hiking himself out of the pool. Instead, I grabbed my clothes and fled.
“Damn it, Charlie,” Hank said. “Wait!”
I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
Yeah, it was cowardly of me, but I had to get away. Away from him. Away from Zara. Just … out of there. I found my way to the large women’s locker room, near the main bath, tore off the wet gown, and pulled on my damp clothes, wondering who the hell was controlling my body because it sure as hell wasn’t the normal Charlie.
I strapped on my weapons and cell phone and then hurried out of The Bath House, making a beeline down Helios Alley. I didn’t need to look at the time on my cell to know that the dinner rush hadn’t started. Otherwise Helios Alley would be teeming with lines to the best restaurants and people would already be milling about, shopping, drinking, eating, and enjoying the nightlife in Underground.
My irritation with myself turned to anger with each step I took. Off-worlders just weren’t my cup of tea, and I had never thought about Hank in that serious of a way before. What was I doing?
For most of our partnership, I’d been happily married to Will. But now that I was divorced and single, free from any chance of ever getting back together with my ex—since, technically, he didn’t exist in this realm anymore—I had the freedom to explore other attractions. And apparently, my body had decided to start the explorations whether my mind was ready or not.
God, I felt like an idiot. I never should’ve almost kissed him. And worse, that kind of thing probably happened to him all the time, and now I was just one among many.
Once I reached Topside, I stopped on the sidewalk to catch my breath and refocus my thoughts.
The darkness hung above the skyscrapers, the lights from the buildings illuminating the heavy, swirling mass. Far off in the distance, a green flash snaked through the gray.
Incredibly, I’d been inside of that mass.
How the hell was he doing it? How the hell was Llyran taking control of the darkness? I shuddered softly as my gaze went to Helios Tower; the massive glass dome at its top glowed like a beacon in the dark sky. I needed to figure out the Adonai’s interest in me, and how he thought I played into his cause.
I was so lost in thought that I di
dn’t hear the footsteps behind me.
“Charlie Madigan?”
I spun and looked down to see an imp male standing behind me. Three and a half feet tall, wild orange hair, and cocoa skin in a cheap suit and dull dress shoes.
“Who wants to know?”
“I’m with L.D. Collections.” He held out a large yellow envelope. Cautiously, I took it. “This is for your ex-husband. He has thirty days.” He gave a sharp nod, turned on his heel, and strolled off into the dark shadows.
“Thirty days for what?” I muttered, wondering how long the guy had been following me around as I tore open the envelope and scanned the cover letter. “Twenty-one thousand dollars?!” I yelled toward the direction the imp had taken, but he was already gone.
Will had been served collection papers.
Apparently, as I read beneath the streetlamp, he was responsible for back mortgage payments on his condo and penalties for defaulting on contracts for the houses he’d been in the process of building. This couldn’t be right. And damned if I’d be paying my ex’s bills. We were legally divorced.
How the hell had this happ—
Rex.
Following my stay in the hospital after bringing darkness to the city, and during my week at home to recuperate, Rex and I had gone over Will’s finances. It was clear from the beginning that Rex lacked the know-how to run Will’s fledgling architecture and construction business, so we’d canceled his contracts, found new builders for the projects he’d been working on, and made sure there was insurance to cover crap like this. Rex was supposed to have filed the claims. And the condo was supposed to have been rented. Trust me, Charlie, he’d said. I’ve been around for thousands of years. I know how to take care of business.
My gaze focused on nothing and then down at the envelope, eyes widening on the return address label. “Lion’s Den Collections!”
L.D. Collections. Sonofabitch! A frustrated groan burst from my throat. “I can’t believe this.” Just great. My ex’s debt had been picked up by the biggest organized crime boss in Underground. Grigori Tennin.