Damon leaned over. “What is it?”
“It’s a key,” Levi answered, opening his hand.
The first thing Alex noticed was the glint of bronze. Then, she made out the familiar curves and swirls on the bow of the antique key, before noticing the leather cord it dangled from.
The familiar choker was now bloodied.
Alex instinctively reached for her neck, even though she knew her lucky charm wasn’t there. It’s in Levi’s hand. What the hell is he doing with it?
Damon grabbed a hold of the leather cord and lifted it, until the key dangled between his fingers. “Where exactly did you find this?” His brow furrowed with concentration, as if he were trying to read it like he’d done with Laurie.
“It was lying on top of the discarded clothes.”
She knew what he’d say next-what Levi had obviously already noticed. It explained why he was acting a little stranger than usual around her. Damon would see the inscription on the back of the bow. The words her father had carved into the back: For you, Alex.
Sure enough, only a few seconds later, Damon turned to look at her. His gaze wasn’t accusatory. He just seemed to want an explanation, anything to clarify why a key bearing her name was found beside mutilated bodies.
She released a heavy breath, but it made her lungs feel tight. It felt as if an invisible pressure was pressing against her chest. Every inhale felt like a struggle as she tried frantically to think about how to explain her way out of this, and how she could voice it.
How could she tell Damon that none of this was possible, because the last time she’d worn the choker was on Anteris, seconds before stripping her clothes off and heading for the shower? That the only time she ever took the necklace off was when she showered with her lover, Ulric, and that she’d forgotten the choker he now held on Ulric’s bedside table.
Such an answer would only reveal personal details about her life she wasn’t ready to share. It would only confuse herfurther, because how could her lucky charm wind up at the scene of a crime on this planet if she hadn’t been wearing it when she’d left the space station? Unless…
“Do you recognize this, Alex?” Damon finally asked. His voice sounded a little tinny, too far away.
She nodded, hoping this was the only question he wanted to ask her right now. Alex felt a sense of claustrophobia engulf her-something that only struck her when she felt emotionally smothered.
Someone who spent so much time inside a ship, space stations, and spaceports, didn’t physically feel constricted by enclosed areas. Yet, emotion could affect her this way.
“Yeah, it’s mine…I lost it…” Her lips were dry, so she licked them. It wasn’t enough. She needed a drink, maybe some of that water making Damon delusional enough to think he could use magic.
She pressed the back of her head against the wall, realizing she was losing her grip. Her legs weakened, and she slid to the floor, landing on her butt. Everything about her felt heavy, lethargic.
Alex squeezed her eyes shut for a second, hoping she’d imagined all of this.
When she reopened them, Damon was still holding the familiar leather cord with the original key to Promiseswinging from it.
Damon crouched in front of her. “Alex, are you okay? What’s wrong with you?”
She felt as if she were suffocating but managed a nod. “I need some air.”
“Okay. Come on.” He helped her to her feet.
For once, she appreciated having someone else to lean on, someone to support her when nothing in her world made any sense.
Although, she wasn’t sure how Damon would react when he found out the truth. As well as how he’d feel about the possibility of her being responsible for indirectly bringing a beast capable of killing without mercy into his peaceful home.
The coincidence is too big to ignore.
What have I done? More importantly, how did Ulric fit into any of this?
Chapter Fourteen
Damon paused in the open doorway. He half-turned to look at Alex one last time before leaving her alone. She’d fallen asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. He’d stood by the side of the bed and watched her for a while.
Now, she lay on her stomach in the middle of the large bed, the white sheet pulled up to mid-back. Her bare shoulders glowed from the light of dawn, already spilling through the open window adjacent to her. The defined muscles of her shoulders, back, and arms flexed every now and then, as if she were exerting herself even during slumber.
He couldn’t help but wonder about her life before she reached Eden. Why had she crashed her ship here when no one else ever had? Why did she have liquid from Lake Eros onboard her ship? These questions made him realize that although he felt an instant rapport and a good dose of attraction toward Alex, he really didn’t know a thing about her.
That’s not going to stop me from protecting her or from getting to know her.
The connection he felt went deeper than whatever separate lives they’d been living before meeting. He knew she’d literally fallen on him for only one reason. Fate.
So much had happened tonight, and now morning would be upon them very soon. Maybe, he should think about getting some sleep as well.
She’s so beautiful. He couldn’t take his eyes off her curly hair and the way the sheet curved around her ass. It reminded him of how she’d reacted when he’d put a little bit of magic into his palm and pleasured her without really touching her. He hadn’t lied when he’d admitted she was the only person who reacted to his touch. A lot of magnetism flowed between them. No matter how annoyed and frustrated she got every time he mentioned their mutual magic.
He had to let her rest, now. So, he closed the door behind him and squeezed his hand around the bronze key and leather string, trying not to visualize the way her name was scrawled into the metal.
Alex hadn’t said too much about it. She’d looked so freaked out that he hadn’t bothered to push her. Instead, he led her out into the gardens, so she could breathe again. When she insisted she was too tired to face anymore, he accompanied her back to her room.
He’d felt a lot more on the object than a simple inscription. There was some deep, protective magic woven into this strange, bronze key. Not only could he read residue from Alex on it, but also another source. Someone with a much stronger ability had affected the object. He couldn’t help but wonder who’d given her the key in the first place. He might not have pushed her before, because of the obvious shock she’d suffered after seeing it, but he’d need to get some answers from her soon enough.
If she kept too many secrets from him, how was he going to protect her properly when others started to ask probing questions? He might know that a token of hers being left at the scene of the crime didn’t necessarily mean she’d done it, but others might use it to their advantage. The fact that Alex had been with him almost every moment since she’d crash landed, and when he was absent, she’d been accompanied by Aleena and her entourage, wouldn’t make any difference to Elroy.
“Will she be okay?” Levi asked, approaching from the other side of the darkened corridor, interrupting his thoughts.
Damon shrugged as he turned around. “I’m not sure.”
“What happened to her?”
“She didn’t go into specifics.” Damon tucked the key into his pocket and stared at the young man who still looked frazzled. “I’m sorry that we didn’t get a chance to go check out the area, but I will soon.”
“It’s okay, I understand. Though, I don’t think Elroy will be as forgiving. He wants to see you. The Priestess would like to know what you read off the girl, if anything.”
“I realize that, but I’m not leaving Alex alone in this room. Not when-”
“I thought as much,” a familiar voice called, a second before Elroy stepped out of the shadows of the corridor. “So, I decided to come and see you myself.”
“What do you want now, Elroy?” Damon ran a hand over his face. He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with
any of Elroy’s accusations at the moment. He knew what was at stake, was well aware that two more of their people had been mauled and eaten, and he hadn’t gone over to check it out, because Alex had taken precedence over everything. He had agreed to watch her, and that included taking care of her when she didn’t feel well.
Besides, he had no idea of how to tackle the strong and very violent images he’d read from Laurie’s mind. He intended to speak to Aleena about it and seek counsel from her. Not only was the animal out of place, but he wasn’t sure if Laurie would make it out of this unscathed. The young girl hadn’t responded to his healing via the arcane, and he was definitely worried about the consequences.
Elroy glanced at the closed door and scowled. “I need to talk to the space traveler.”
“Her name is Alex. Can’t you call her by her name?”
He stepped past Levi, until he stood directly across from Damon and the door. “Unlike you, I don’t wish to get close and personal with her, so referring to her as a ‘space traveler’ suits me justfine. I’ve already told you to watch yourself around her.” Elroy paused, narrowing his eyes. “You should stop acting like a lost idiot around her and see just how much she threatens our way of life.”
“Did Aleena get close and personal with you?”
At the question, Elroy winced.
Damon suspected Elroy had probably been whipped, literally. Elroy was the only person who ever pushed Aleena far enough to receive such a punishment. Although, rumor had it that whips and chains were a usual part of their bedroom activities.
“Don’t ask what doesn’t concern you.” He peered at him with narrowed eyes. “Unless you’re jealous. Is that it? You wish the Priestess would take notice of you?”
Damon almost gagged. He’d only ever seen Aleena as a mother figure, not as a possible sexual partner. Sure, she’d offered herself up many times, but how could he take a woman to bed who symbolized what a mother was supposed to be? He was an orphan, but she’d become his surrogate parent. Sleeping with her was out of the question, even if she desperately wanted to have his offspring.
Aleena was obsessed with his magical ability and wanted him to procreate, so there could be more like him within their society, since he was the only one. She didn’t even care if it was with other females, as long as he produced babies with them. He always refused, though. Having sex wasn’t the problem. He enjoyed that part, and it was enough for now. He just hadn’t felt the need to produce a child with any of the women in Eden, Aleena included.
“That’s really sick. You knowhow I see our Priestess,” Damon finally said. “Now, just tell me whatever the hell you’ve come here to say.”
“What I’d like to do is arrest the intruder.”
“On what grounds?”
Elroy snorted. “Isn’t it enough that a token of hers was found near the dead couple Milo showed me?”
“Do you have it with you?”
“No. Idon’t, but I’m sure youknow exactly where it is.” Elroy looked at Levi for a second, before returning his cold stare to Damon. He held out his palm. “Give it to me.”
Damon crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t make this hard on yourself, Damon,” he spat.
“Even if I did know where this mysterious token was, I sure as hell wouldn’t hand it over to you, so you can use it to pin false accusations on Alex.”
Elroy closed the distance between them. He might be a skinny runt compared to Damon, but they stood at the same height. So, when he overstepped his personal boundaries, Damon didn’t move an inch. Instead, he looked him in the eye and couldn’t help but smirk and feel smug, because the key was burning a hole in his pocket.
“Listen to me, Damon,” he hissed, some spittle hitting him in the shoulder. “I know you’re prepared to do whatever it takes to protect her, but I will get my hands on the bloody necklace. I’ll prove this traveler cannot be trusted, and I’ll make sure everyone knows about it. Do you hear me?”
His smile broadened. “I hope that wasn’t a threat, because you know what I can do to you with my ability.”
“Your witchcraft doesn’t scare or impress me. Do you understand?”
“I don’t care what does. I just need you to get the hell out of here and go do your job. Put extra security in the gardens, and ensure no one else sneaks past the barriers we placed. Isn’t that what you should’ve done in the first place to ensure it didn’t happen, again?” Damon paused for a second. “If anyone should be blamed for what happened, it should be you. Your preoccupation with Alex is clouding your common sense.”
Elroy snickered. “That’s rich. Don’t you try to spin this in a way that makes her look like an innocent bystander. Have you asked yourself why something belonging to her was there in the first place? Are you really willing to risk more of your own people because of some strange woman? What could the whore offer you that the many women we have here can’t?”
He didn’t even think about it before striking Elroy with his fist. This time, he didn’t put any magical force behind it, just delivered a hard whack to his jaw.
Elroy wiped the side of his mouth before blood dribbled from it. “Don’t you think it’s a little odd that some sort of wild animal is suddenly within our walls? We’ve never had such a problem before, not until she got here.”
“Don’t you get it? She’s been accompanied by someone every single moment she’s been here. She didn’t do it.”
“Maybe not directly, but who knows where she comes from, or who else travelled with her? Have you never heard of people who shift from human to animal?”
As ridiculous as the notion sounded, Damon had to give the suggestion a little credibility. Even if he hadn’t considered Alex would be travelling with someone. She’d seemed to be alone and hadn’t mentioned any crew or passengers.
“Did you search her ship?”
Damon shook his head.
“You’re going to be sorry you hit me, again.” Elroy turned around but looked over his shoulder to add, “Don’t think for a moment that this is over. When I’m done with her, you’re both going to wish she’d died when her ship crashed.”
Damon made another move toward him, but Levi stepped up and grabbed a hold of his forearm.
“Just let him go.”
Elroy grinned and continued on his way, once again laying out his plan and intentions without waiting or needing a response.
“Don’t let him wind you up,” Levi said, releasing his flimsy grip. “There’s no way a human could be responsible for such barbaric acts.”
Damon nodded, recalling the shaggy animal he’d seen in Laurie’s memories.
“ Have you never heard of people who shift from human to animal?” Elroy had said, but what had prompted him to suggest something so strange? Was it the condition of the corpses, or did he know more than he led on?
If Damon went to the library, he might be able to find something. He doubted Elroy would return to hound Alex again, so if he left now, he’d be able to borrow a book or two and bring them back to read while he watched Alex’s door.
I hate that he’s made me look at this from a different angle, but I’m determined to find out the truth. He still refused to believe Alex was somehow involved, but Elroy’s shifter suggestion could have some credence.
“You’re absolutely right, Levi,” Damon said. “Listen, I need to pop into the library for a while. Can you stay to watch her door?”
“Sure.”
“I need you to stay right here the wholetime. Don’t doze or wander off, in case Elroy decides to return.”
Levi nodded. “I’ll stay until you get back. You can count on me.”
“Good, I know I can.” He sighed. “I won’t be long. Levi, how does Elroy know about the necklace?”
He lowered his head. “Milo probably told him. He ispart of security and answers directly to Elroy. There’s no way he could lie to him about what we found. Not like I could.”
“Okay, I’ll be back soon.”
Damon headed toward the staircase and took the stairs two at a time. He knew a shortcut to just about everywhere. Getting to the library would take minutes.
He hoped researching the beast now lurking in the shadows of their planet would somehow clear Alex of any blame.
He dug his hand into his pocket, rubbing his fingertips along the back of the key, over the inscription of her name.
It doesn’t look like I’ll be getting any rest just yet.
Chapter Fifteen
Warm hands shook her shoulders. “Alex, honey. Wake up.”
Alex rolled over onto her other side, sitting up in the process. Disoriented, she tried to remember when she’d fallen asleep. Being so worried about the next day, she hadn’t realized she’d actually dozed off. “Wha-what happened?”
She hoped it wasn’t time yet. At age fifteen, Alex wasn’t ready to face the horrible future her mother had secured for her.
“I’m so sorry to wake you, but I really need to speak to you. We don’t have much time.”
Alex rubbed her eyes. Her heart sped up as the haze of sleep slid from her mind. “Daddy, is that you?”
He lifted a finger to his lips. “Yes, honey. It’s me,” he whispered. “Not so loud. We don’t want anyone else to hear.”
She threw her arms around his neck, holding him tightly and biting down on her bottom lip to keep from crying. Was it really him? “I’ve missed you so much. Where have you been?” Maybe she was dreaming.
Louis Wales pulled back, gently holding onto her arms as he encouraged her out of the hug. “Listen, honey. That’s not important at the moment. Like I said, I don’t have long. She’s probably got guards outside your door.” He looked over his shoulder.
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