Andromeda's Reign

by K. S. Haigwood

  “No,” I said shortly, and she looked down at the potions in her hands.

  After a long sigh, she nodded. “Okay. Drink it.”

  The dread was creeping in, so before I could chicken out, I pulled the cork on the top and downed the contents of the whole vial. I didn’t feel any different, but I put one hand over my chest and the other over my crotch just to be sure. Thank God, I thought as a relieved sigh escaped my mouth. I could deal with anything else.

  “Guess it didn’t work on me,” I said.

  Rainey smiled as I stood, and then the room began to turn fuzzy. “Give it time.”

  I blinked rapidly, trying to bring Andra into focus as I turned my head to look at her. It seemed to be getting worse. I reached out to her, and a scream tore from her throat as I fell to the floor.

  Total blackness.

  “Oh, dear,” Rainey said. “That’s the worst one.”

  “What’s happening to him?” Andra cried as two pairs of hands pulled me to my feet, and then guided me back to the couch to sit down.

  My palms came up to press against my eyes, but nothing changed. I was still in the dark.

  “Tell me what you did to him!” Andra screamed.

  “I’m blind,” I whispered, and the room fell silent.

  Chapter 29

  Friday, February 6th 2015 1:41 a.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Andromeda

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Andra shouted as she shot to her feet and crossed the room, heading straight for Rainey.

  Clay moved in front of her to try and calm her down, but rage fueled her movements, and she easily knocked him on his ass.

  A blow came so blindingly hard from her left side that Andra didn’t know what had hit her until she rose up on her elbow from the floor, thirty feet across the room, to see that Katrista was poised and ready for a fight.

  “Andra,” Ace said in a quiet voice, and she looked over to see that he had his head in his hands. “Come sit down. Please. And apologize to them. I asked for this, remember?”

  “I’m happy you can admit it,” Embyr said, and then winked at Ace, not that he could see it.

  With a clenched jaw, Andra got to her feet, noticing that Katrista was helping Clay to his. She didn’t want to apologize to any of them. This was all a big joke to Clay’s sisters.

  “Andra,” Ace persisted.

  A short exhalation passed through Andra’s nostrils, and then she straightened her shirt and growled out two words as she made her way back to the couch to sit beside Ace. “I’m sorry.”

  Nobody responded to her apology, but it wasn’t expected anyway.

  Ace felt around for her hand once she sat, and she took it then laced their fingers together. She didn’t know if he needed her touch because of his condition or if he was trying to calm her. Regardless of the reason behind his action, the contact fixed both problems. They both relaxed instantly.

  “Did you bring an antidote with you?” Andra asked, hopeful.

  Rainey shook her head. “That would be defeating the purpose. Ace knew what could happen before he drank the potion, Andra. Besides,” she sighed, “there isn’t an antidote for this one. It has to wear off on its own.”

  “How, uh…” Ace began, and then ran his free hand through his hair in frustration. He huffed before continuing on. “How long will this last?”

  Rainey leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she shook her head. “Most of my booby-trap spells last a few weeks—”

  “A few weeks!” Clay said, aghast. “He’s going to be blind for a few weeks, Rain?”

  Rainey held up her hand to silence him, and then continued. “But there’s no way to know. Some have lasted shorter and some have lasted longer. I’ve never seen this one in action before.” She dropped her gaze to her joined hands. “I’m really sorry. I honestly didn’t expect it to be this one. I use most of them as pranks to make others laugh.”

  “Nobody is laughing about this one,” Andra said as her temper began to flare again.

  Rainey nodded. “I can see that,” she said quietly. “Again, I am very sorry. We’ll leave now.”

  Déus stood and offered Rainey his hand.

  “Wait!” Clay said. “You’re leaving? You just got here.” His eyes flicked to Katrista, and then he looked back at Rainey in a pleading way.

  “I think we’ve worn out our welcome, brother,” Rainey said.

  “I—” Andra started, and then stood, letting go of Ace so she could wring her hands together in front of her. “Of course I don’t blame you for this. I’m sorry to have been so rude. Please, stay as long as you like and visit with your brother and sister, Rainey.”

  “I would have reacted the very same if Déus had been in Ace’s shoes,” Rainey said. “I took no offense, I assure you.”

  “Andra,” Ace said. “Will you lead me up to my room? I think I’ve had about all the excitement I can handle for one day.”

  She nodded, and then reached down to take his hand when she realized he couldn’t see her. Andra turned to Rainey after Ace stood and put his hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for making the potions and bringing them all this way. It means a lot to us. It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Excuse us.”

  Andra carefully led Ace to the steps leading out of the living room then stopped. “Feel for the first step with your foot. There are three.”

  He slid his boot along the carpet until the toe of it bumped against the bottom step, and then he lifted his other foot up until it was atop the first step. She backed out of the way, placing her fingers around part of his big bicep, so that he could try and get a feel of his surroundings with his other senses, without her interference. He took another step up.

  “That’s good,” Andra said. “One more.”

  The tip of his boot caught on the edge of the top step, tripping him and knocking him off balance. In a panic, his arms flailed out, desperately trying to feel for the wall on the other side of him, but Andra was too close and the back of his hand caught her cheek.

  Her head rocked back and she grabbed at her face as she stumbled into the foyer wall. Stars danced in front of her vision as a searing pain shot through her eye. The curse was on the tip of her tongue, but she refused to open her mouth and let it out. It hadn’t been his fault, but he would undoubtedly think so if he thought he’d hurt her.

  “Andra!” Ace said, and she looked over to see that he was down on one knee and feeling the air around him for her, his eyes wide and frantic and full to the brim with regret for what he’d done.

  Déus and Clay were instantly by his side and helping him up, and Rainey, Embyr and Katrista were suddenly in front of her.

  “Are you okay?” Embyr said, and then sucked a breath in through her teeth.

  “That looks horrib—” Rainey started.

  “Shh…” Andra said. “I’m—”

  “Andra!” Ace shouted. “Oh, God, did I—”

  “I’m fine, Ace,” she said in a steady voice. She hoped it was steady anyway. With the way she was trembling, she couldn’t be sure.

  He went totally still in the guys’ arms and looked directly at her, even though he couldn’t see her. “You’re a terrible liar. Come here.”

  On shaky legs, Andra walked to him.

  When she was within reach of him, he jerked his arms away from Clay and Déus then gently placed his hands on her arms. Slowly, he felt his way up to her shoulders, her neck, her jaw, and then he froze when she tensed. Feather light, he ran the pad of his thumb over her swelling cheek bone, and then cursed softly as the air in his lungs expelled.

  Ace turned his head and barked to whoever was standing to his right. “Somebody get her some ice for this!”

  Andra thought it was Clay who ran to the kitchen for an ice pack, but she couldn’t be sure, because Ace’s grip on her face was vise-like. He wasn’t hurting her, but she couldn’t move even a centimeter.

  When his head turned back to her, he bent down so his nose could s
niff the affected area. “You’re bleeding and you have a fractured cheekbone, Andra,” he said in a tortured voice. “To me, that is not fine. When are you going to stop lying to me?”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she said. “I knew you would think—”

  He leaned in again and pressed the softest of kisses to the puffy part below her left eye. Heat bloomed between her legs, and when he pulled back a little, her eyes looked over at his mouth.

  “Kiss me, Ace,” she said, opening her mind to him.

  His breathing picked up in pace as he hovered close to her mouth and, after what felt like hours, he straightened to his full height and turned just in time to catch a frozen bag of peas that was flying through the air. If he hadn’t caught it, the bag would have hit him right in the back of the head.

  Andra gasped.

  “I still have my other senses, asshole,” Ace said to Clay as he approached.

  “Good, asshat,” Clay said. “Why don’t you try using them, instead of breaking your girl’s face?”

  “Clay,” Embyr warned.

  Andra bristled. “It wasn’t his fault, Clay.”

  “Yeah, it was so his fault,” Clay said. “And he’s damn lucky I don’t take a crowbar to his big ass for letting that happen. He’s a fucking shifter. His strength and other senses are ten times that of a human. There are thousands of blind people in the world. If they can do it, so can he.”

  “Why are you being such an ass, Clay?” Rainey said.

  “Why? You want to know why? Because if somebody doesn’t say it, he will mope around here for weeks, feeling sorry for himself. He’ll get pissed off after he trips a few times, and then he’ll shut everyone out. I know him. He’s the most stubborn, bull-headed person I know. I’m just trying to save a couple of broken hearts, because I doubt Andra will stay here to put up with it.” Clay jerked the frozen peas out of Ace’s hand and gently applied the bag to Andra’s cheek. He then took her hand and placed it over the bag. “That better?” he said softly. When she nodded, he glanced around at the others. “I need some air,” he said, then walked to the front door, opened it and slammed it on his way out.

  Chapter 30

  Friday, February 6th 2015 2:02 a.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Ace

  I took in several deep breaths, not to calm myself down—I wasn’t angry with Clay—but I did need to think. I had lived in this house for almost thirteen years, so I knew exactly where everything was. I just had to concentrate.

  Someone touched my arm, but I took a step back, out of their reach. “Just give me a moment.”

  Clay had come from the hall that led to the kitchen when he’d thrown the peas at me, so it was behind me, which meant the living room was now to my right. Holding my hand out in front of me, I turned in that direction and shuffled my feet until my fingers grazed the jamb around the living room entrance. I did a one-eighty turn, and then another forty-five degree turn to my left. There was nothing between me and the grand stair case. I thought back. I had made these steps at least twice a day. How many steps had it taken to get from the staircase to the living room? One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… Seven.

  At a natural, but much slower, stride, I started walking. One… two… three… four… five… six… I extended my left arm to feel for the banister and felt it beneath my fingers as I took my seventh step. I smiled when someone clapped from behind me.

  How many steps did it take to get to the top? One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… ten… eleven… twelve… thirteen… fourteen… fifteen… sixteen… seventeen… eighteen. There were eighteen steps.

  “Goodnight, everyone,” I said, and then slowly started climbing the steps, one at a time.

  I heard Andra tell Rainey, Déus and Katrista to have a safe flight home, and thank them again for bringing the potions. She even hugged each of them and Embyr before they went outside to find Clay. He wouldn’t have gone far. Truth be known, the asshole probably had his ear to the door and had listened to everything that happened after he made his grand exit. What a dick. I chuckled to myself, knowing that dick was right about everything he’d said.

  The smallest of vibration jarred the stairs under my feet right after I put my foot down, and I knew Andra was following me, taking each step as painfully slowly as I was. She didn’t say anything. I didn’t, either. I didn’t know what to say to her. Nothing said out loud could possibly make up for what I did to her.

  Once I got to the second landing, I stopped.

  “Want me to guide you to the bedroom?” Andra said.

  I shook my head. “No, I need to do this.”

  “Ace—”

  “Andra, don’t tell me again that it wasn’t my fault that I hit you.” I swallowed back bile at hearing those words come out of my mouth. I hated myself for doing that. “I may not have done it intentionally, but it was definitely my fault.” Listening to the sound of her racing heartbeat, I took a step forward and lifted my hand to her neck. “That will never happen again. I can’t take it back, and it’s killing me that I can’t. I should have used my brain, Andra. I knew better than to use you as a crutch—”

  “Ace, please, I know you didn’t do it on purpose. It’s okay—”

  A growl vibrated up my throat at her words. “Never say that it’s okay for anyone to hit you. It’s never just an accident. Accidents can be prevented, and if I’d been thinking, it never would have happened. Do you hear me? You can forgive me if you like—not that I deserve it—but never say that it is okay that it happened.”

  She sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I forgive you then. Can we not talk about it anymore?”

  That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to think about it constantly, but, yeah, I could keep it to myself. I kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, I’ll shut up now.”

  She laughed as she pulled away, but looped her arm through mine. I wasn’t going to win with her. I could already tell. “You don’t have to shut up. I love hearing you talk.” She grew quiet as we began walking toward my room. I reached out with my left hand and touched the wall, letting my fingers slide along the smooth surface. She could pretend all she wanted that she was helping me, but I knew I needed to do this completely alone or I’d never be able to protect her. The idea that I wouldn’t be able to terrified me like nothing else ever had before in my life. If that vampire got here Sunday night and threatened to take her away from me, I would lose my shit. I was positive it would happen. “I love hearing you sing, too,” she said softly.

  I stopped walking and turned my head toward her. “I didn’t mean for you to find out about Salacious Limerick like that. And I’m sorry about what I said to you before I left to go play out back. I was angry with you and you just wouldn’t shut the hell up and let it go until I had time to cool off.” I found the wall and started walking again. “I’m still mad at you a little. I would probably be mad at you a lot, but it’s not every day your girl tries to fight a vampire for you.” I laughed. “That was awesome, by the way.” I sighed. “I guess I’m more upset that you didn’t just come right out and tell me you wanted me when you got in the shower. This night could have gone so much better if you had.”

  “Would you have taken me to the concert if I’d told you that this morning?” she said, and I smiled when she stopped walking. “This is you.”

  I leaned against my bedroom door and crossed my arms over my chest. After a few seconds, I shook my head. “No, probably not.” I laughed when she whacked me.

  After a few seconds, our laugher died and awkwardness set in. It was out there now. She wanted me, but I had drawn a line and set the bar high: she had to get to know me first. And she wasn’t staying in my room anymore.

  I couldn’t see her face, but the meditation had worn off a long time ago, so I could tell by her emotions that she wanted me to invite her in. I really wanted to. Oh, God, how I wanted to ask her to stay with me tonight, but I couldn’t, not until she looked
at my memories.

  “Ace?” Andra said, and then noise issued from below.

  Shit! The pride had finished helping load up the band’s equipment and they were all coming back inside. Was that an omen or what?

  I let out a heavy breath as my eyebrows drew in. “Goodnight, Andra.”

  Silence. Christ! Just tell me goodnight and go to your room so I don’t break my fucking rules!

  “Oh,” she whispered. “I was hoping you could finish the story.”

  Damn it all to hell! This woman was just as stubborn as I was. “Maybe another night. I’m kinda tired.”

  I heard her lips slide over her teeth. “Liar.”

  “Well, you are a few up on me, you know.”

  “Hey, lovebirds!” Sinna said, and I groaned. “Heard you belonged to the See No Evil clan now, Ace. That true?”

  I nodded. “Blind as a bat.”

  Sinna groaned. “Dang, that sucks teeny-weenie bat balls. Guess we won’t be having training in the mornings until you get your sight back.”

  With my arms still crossed over my chest, the corner of my mouth lifted in a smirk. “Guess again.”

  “Seriously?” she whined. “How the hell are you going to run the obstacle course if you can’t see?”

  “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

  Sinna stomped to her room without responding.

  “You’re welcome for the shirt!” I shouted after her.

  “You should be thanking me for not telling you that Andra wanted to screw your brains out!” she shouted back.

  I pursed my lips as Andra’s embarrassment flooded through me.

  “How did she know?” Andra whispered.

  I pointed, without seeing, at Sinna’s door. “Her door was open when you were on the phone with Phoenix. Don’t worry, she wouldn’t tell me anything except that she overheard you talking to him. I think she likes you a little more than she does me.”

  Andra blew out a breath. “That’s good to know, I guess.”

  “Not really. Now I’ll be worried about her making passes at you.”