Darkside Sun (Entangled Embrace)

by Adams, Jocelyn

  Asher came to me, picked me out of the chair and hugged me, his breath warming my ear. Sophia made a little sound behind him. Clearly she was as stunned as I was. “Shhh, it’s all right. I won’t steal him from you forever, but I need to take him and the memories of your mother from you until this is over. You know that, don’t you? If you don’t know your father, and he doesn’t know you, then hurting him will gain the traitor nothing.”

  “You … you can do that? Make us forget each other just for a while?” I fisted my hands into his shirt, trying not to cry.

  “Yes, and I think we need to go to him now, right this minute. We need to take your dad away as a potential hostage before the traitor figures out how to get to you. I won’t let anyone get you, I promise.”

  “What if we’re too late?” I started hyperventilating again, pushing away so I could read his eyes. “What if he’s already got Dad? Oh, God, we have to go!”

  “I’ll keep going through the pages feeling for thick ones,” Sophia said softly, staring as if she needed a hug, too, but was afraid to ask. “Please be safe.”

  I nodded, thinking of others the traitor could use against me. “Don’t go anywhere. If someone comes, even if it’s someone you trust, run, hide, okay?”

  “She’ll be all right here,” Asher said as he called the Shift and jettisoned us through the layers. “Nobody knows about this place but me.”

  Just to be sure, I thought, Izan, don’t let anything happen to her or to Dad. Please. I held on to Asher, burying my face against his throat. To keep my mind away from what we had to do, I considered everything that had happened over the last few weeks as we emerged between realities, one Shift above the real one. His warm glances, however brief. My clothes, the poster, my blanket and plaid comforter. The texts. The kiss. What did it all mean? Maybe nothing but a fabrication of my desperate need for a connection with him, and his reactions were those of a man starved for touch.

  He released me, his hands sliding down my arms, and finally lingering on my fingers before letting me go. The instant our contact broke, I felt all wrong again.

  We seemed to hover above a room, not part of it. The furniture fuzzed around the edges. The cabin. Now that I was here, I remembered every detail of my life as if I’d never forgotten it. Dad sat in his easy chair, reading the Toronto Star. It was thick enough it had to be Sunday, his favorite day of the week. A few of his least favorite sections scattered the hardwood around him, along with a few photo albums open to my baby pictures. Sunlight streamed over his thin form and graying hair. Tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them away.

  “I used to watch you and him making boats out of those papers and spending hours in the creek behind this place, racing them down the current,” Asher said. “It was such a simple pleasure I didn’t understand it, how you could laugh so much over something so … I thought meaningless at first, but it was everything. The simple moments are what made you amazing. I didn’t know that kind of easy pleasure happened in families before I found yours. You grew up uncorrupted by hatred and prejudice. I think that’s why Izan chose you, so you could teach the rest of us what it means to be a family.”

  My eyes misted even more, but I didn’t get a word out before he went on. “Every time it rained, you’d spend endless hours using a twig to create channels in the dirt, connecting all of the puddles so the water would flow down the driveway.” He turned to me then, raw emotion and questions in his eyes. “Why did you do that? Your face was always so peaceful yet intense, like you were solving some monumental dilemma that would change the world.”

  I shrugged, fighting to hold those eyes. “It just seemed so wrong to leave the water trapped that way. There was something soothing, Zen-like, and therapeutic about opening those paths and letting the water free to go where it wanted to. Along with the pattering sounds of the rain and the cool drops on my skin … I don’t know, it was one of my favorite things to do.”

  He focused back on Dad, as if looking for the secrets of the universe in the fine wrinkles of his face. “That’s what I was supposed to do for you. Open the way for your induction into the Machine, set you free to change us the way you were supposed to.” Expelling a breath, he turned away. “And I failed miserably trying to control my selfish desires.”

  I wasn’t sure what he meant by that and was afraid to ask. I focused back on Dad and noticed his cell phone sitting on the arm of the chair as if he was waiting for another of my—Asher’s—texts. Dad must have been so lonely, so worried about me. Except … no, Asher had taken care of his worry, hadn’t he? He stared down at Dad with thoughtful eyes. Sad eyes. He liked my Dad; it was there in the slight curve of his lips, in the soft expression.

  “Why did you send text messages to him from my phone?” I asked.

  Head snapping around, Asher’s face shut down. “What are you talking about?” As if he didn’t know bloody well what I meant.

  “Listen, don’t get all bent about it, I just wanted to say thanks. I found my phone in your nightstand, so don’t play dumb with me.” Thinking about everything else he’d done and lied about it, I added, “And why did you keep all of my stuff? Why do you live in a country house when you talk crap about where and how I grew up?” It wasn’t the time to air my questions, but I couldn’t face what we were about to do, so they made great distractions. “I think maybe you care about me more than you let on. Was that moment in the chamber and in the alley real?”

  Silence stretched on for minutes. When he finally spoke, he sounded nervous, all tied up in knots. “I sent the texts to your Dad because he’s a good man, one of the few I’ve ever known. I wish I was like him. Maybe then I could have been what you need. What you deserve.”

  He’d avoided most of my questions, but I didn’t push him since he was squirming so hard. “You are a good man, but you try awfully hard to make everyone think you’re a jerk.”

  He laughed, but it held little in the way of humor. “You only say that because you don’t really know me.”

  “Then stop fighting, and let me know you.”

  Shaking his head, he scrubbed a hand over his shadow beard before digging for his pockets. “I don’t … I’m not sure if I can do that. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t. The whole no-touch law thing was a lie.”

  He nodded, staring at me with fear as if I might spontaneously combust. “I believe you, but that’s not what I meant. If I give in to this … I shouldn’t …” A growl tore up his throat.

  “I don’t want to fight with you right now. I’m about to give up everything I know, and there’s no time to do it gently. I’m scared, and even if you have to pretend, would you just …? I need you to help me through this.” When he just stared at me, I added, “Please, Asher. I need you.”

  “I’d return you to your life if I could,” he said quietly as he came to stand in front of me.

  My heart swelled, and tears fell as I threw my arms around his neck and clung to him. His arms looped around me, held me to his body as his breath warmed the top of my head. “I don’t want to be alone,” I said. “Without Dad, I have no one.”

  He slid his hands up in to my hair and tilted my face in line with his. Those jade-star eyes were bright and intense as he said, “I promise I’ll never leave you again,” and then kissed me with those soft, coconut-flavored lips. This one didn’t start soft, but deep and wet and delicious. He clutched at me while I did the same to him. Our power spilled over and through one another until I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began. Heat poured into my body as our energies mingled, not an explosion this time, but a tidal shift of push and pull between us, warm and nice, like he was the moon and I was the ocean.

  I leaned into him, unable to hold up my own weight. His mouth claimed mine, tongue sliding against my lips, my tongue. I explored every inch of him I could reach with my fingers, delighting in the hungry, helpless sounds he made for me.

  Something began to change within me as his resistance came down. I could feel hi
s heartbeat in my throat, and mine sped up in time with his. My storm, instead of a chaotic riot of swirling energy like a hurricane, became a focused funnel of controlled power as it mixed with Asher’s.

  He jerked away, panting, his eyes shining with shock. “What was that?”

  I forced my knees to lock so I wouldn’t fold down to the floor. “You felt that, too? Something started to happen when you finally let me in, something amazing.”

  “I’m sure it was just your emotions taking over. We’ll figure it out later,” he said, rubbing his own arms as if he was cold. “It’s time. Are you ready?”

  Drawing in a shuddering breath, I shook my head, swallowing the argument I wanted to have. It wasn’t the time. “No, I’m not freakin’ ready. How could I ever be ready to say good-bye to him? What if it’s never safe for me to see him again? I won’t hurt him like Mom did. This could be forever, and I don’t even get to talk to him, do I?”

  He sighed, slipped his hand around my nape, and pulled my head in to rest against his shoulder. It was just what I needed at exactly the right time, and I leaned into him. “We’ve already stalled too long,” he said. “The sooner we do this, the safer he is, and the safer you are.”

  “What about my pictures and stuff, and the other people who know me?”

  “I’ll take care of all of it, and I’ll explain later. You’ll be disoriented when I’m finished, but I’ll be with you.”

  My chest seized up. Good-bye, Dad. “Okay, I’m ready now.”

  Asher’s presence entered me in a burst of color and light, his sorrow and regret mingling with my own. I opened myself, watching with my mind’s eye as my memories of Mom and Dad slipped away into a white fog while tears slid down my cheeks. It probably took seconds, but inside my head it seemed to take an eternity.

  Dizziness sent me spiraling into myself for a while, until his warmth left my inner sanctuary, and I was alone in my body again.

  “Open your eyes, Addison,” Asher said, his lips against my temple. “Are you all right?”

  I blinked at him, confused, as he stepped away. “Where are we?” I asked, a strange sense of loss chilling my chest as I took in the unfamiliar woods surrounding us. “What just happened? We were at your place looking at some old books, and then you kissed me again, but we were somewhere else, weren’t we? How did we get here?”

  A flash of light blinded me, and I stumbled backward, rubbing my eyes. The sound of a fist connecting with a skull filled my ears, followed by a pop and a roar from Asher.

  Oh, God! “Asher!”

  Chapter 34

  When the light faded, Asher knelt on the ground about ten feet away through the trees, staring at me with wide eyes as he rubbed the side of his neck. Blood dribbled out of his nose. Marcus stood behind him, smiling. “Hello, little rabbit.”

  What the freaking hell was going on? My mind raced to catch up with what I was seeing. “It was you?” I asked. How could Marcus be the Misgiver? Nobody could be that good of an actor. He seemed genuinely surprised every time I did something I shouldn’t have been able to, and he voted against me at the ceremony. And why wasn’t Asher fighting? “Get up,” I said, wrestling back my fear that rose like a black cloud.

  “Run,” Asher said, his body listing to one side. “Just leave me and go!”

  “What’s wrong with you, get up!” I took a step toward him.

  “Ah, ah, that’s quite close enough.” Marcus fisted his fingers into Asher’s hair, jerking his head back before jabbing the barrel of a gun into the side of his throat. “His limbs will be going numb about now.” Marcus shrugged. “I just injected him with something that will temporarily weaken him this time. I want him to be awake to see your next trick.”

  What was that supposed to mean? Only concentration kept me from hyperventilating. “You poisoned him at the club. Why do you want him dead? He didn’t know you were the traitor.”

  Marcus laughed, loud and psychotic. “You really are simple, aren’t you? I didn’t bribe that bartender because I wanted Asher dead, you idiot. I was trying to motivate him.”

  “For what?” Asher slurred, his arms limp at his sides. Maybe he’d have been face down in the dirt if Marcus hadn’t been still gripping his hair.

  When Marcus pressed his mouth against Asher’s ear, I took advantage of the distraction and edged nearer. Could I slip through the Shift and grab Asher before Marcus could blow a hole in him? Where was Izan? I thought hard at him, but I couldn’t sense his presence, and the Shift didn’t answer. Had Marcus done something to lock us in like he did to the original guardians? If I couldn’t zap us away, that meant my only option was to fight or outsmart him.

  “I needed to have a full taste of her energy, so I could confirm she was Izan’s new Architect. Which I did, but it wasn’t enough.”

  “What wasn’t enough?” I asked.

  “Your power wasn’t at full strength yet. You needed him.” He tugged harder on Asher’s hair, sneering down at him. “I knew hurting you was the best way to force you two together, hoping you might bond. I’ve been waiting hours for you to crack her open for me, so I could access the full payload of the Darkside Sun. You broke away before it completed, though, but she’ll have to do.”

  Bonding? Was that what started to happen when we kissed? What did he mean about cracking me open?

  “Oh, shit,” Asher rasped, his gaze lifting to meet mine, and I could have sworn he was trying to tell me something. “You’re not trying to kill her. You’re going to use her to open the doorway. Why?”

  Marcus laughed. “Very soon, you won’t have to worry about it.”

  “You need her alive.” Asher roared with frustration as he tried to lift his arm, but only managed to curl his fingers up. “If you hurt her, I will end you.” Seeing him helpless like that dredged up a healthy dose of anger from my deep places. I gnashed my teeth, then forced them apart so that traitorous prick wouldn’t notice my reaction.

  “Yes, I need her alive. You, on the other hand, are useful for only one thing.” Marcus grinned at me, and my stomach dropped a few stories.

  Oh hell, oh damn, oh shit. He was going to torture Asher until I did what he wanted. How could I have been so stupid to think taking out the traitor was going to be easy? Just because Izan believed I could do it? Think, think, think! I needed to keep Marcus talking while I thought us out of this mess. Izan, a little help here!

  “What are you talking about, cracking me open?” I asked. “My power came online in the training room after I fought Asher, so why did you have to wait for anything?” Putting on a serious face, I added, “Also, Asher hates me, and I think he’s a dick, so if you’re thinking of threatening him to get me to do what you want, then you might as well forget it.” All of that would have convinced exactly no one that I told the truth. Even if I hadn’t seen Asher’s softer side or enjoyed his toe-curling kiss, I wouldn’t stand by and let him, or anyone for that matter, get hurt for me, and Marcus had to know that. We were so screwed.

  His bright bark of laughter confirmed it. “Has Izan truly told you nothing of where a guardian’s power comes from?” A shove of his hands sent Asher sprawling in the ferns and cursing up a storm. Although Marcus had lowered the gun, his wary gaze suggested he hadn’t let his guard down even slightly. He shrugged. “I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. He’s quite fond of forcing his worker bees to discover things on their own to make them stronger.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, trying to keep Marcus’s attention off of Asher, who used his weakened but apparently still functional arms to inch closer to me.

  “Emotion is the strongest power in the universe, in every reality. Izan has discovered a way to harness that power, but it requires absolute trust between the matched pair. Unfortunately, we humans aren’t good at trusting anyone, so the Machine has never worked the way it was supposed to. That, I think, is why he created you the way he did, with the capacity to love even someone as damaged as my boy, Asher. But Asher knew you weren’t stro
ng enough to tame his level of rage, which is why he tried to keep you from finding out the truth.”

  “Don’t,” Asher ground out, avoiding my gaze.

  “What’s he talking about?” I asked, terrified to know the answer that whispered from a dark corner of my mind.

  Marcus chuckled, crouching down before my sensei. “She really doesn’t know, at least not for sure. I’m impressed, Ash, that you haven’t completely given in to this one. The moment you reacted after the vote, I knew you were helplessly in love with her.”

  What? “Shut up,” I said. “You don’t know shit.” I believed Asher cared about me, but loved me? No way. Then why did he keep all your stuff? Why does he kiss you like he’s dying and you’re the cure?

  “Oh, but I do, little rabbit. He follows you everywhere even when you don’t see him, and if you could see how he looks at you when your back is turned, you’d know he’s got it bad for you. It’s tragic, really. What would have been even more tragic is if he hadn’t broken your connection just now, because once that bond is formed, it’s eternal, unbreakable, and you’d have been stuck with him forever. His anger would eventually have infected you, too. But you know that, don’t you, Ash?”

  Marcus sighed and stood, staring down at the other sentinel. “I hold your baseline, Green, so I know you better than anyone. You never would have evolved into the worthwhile man Izan hoped you would. How long do you suppose it would have taken before you lost your temper, turned into your father, and ripped out that bleeding heart of hers before she could heal the Machine of its ills? If you had a shred of decency in you, you’d have walked away from her and begged Izan to find her another conduit. Maybe then she’d have had a distant hope of succeeding.”