Dead End

by Debbie Cassidy

  “That’s all any of us can do,” he said. “The only thing that can heal loss is time. One day at a time.”

  I’d lost my father and then my mother, and it had hurt for a long time, but this … This pain of losing my little sister was a different kind of ache, one that would be with me forever.

  I rubbed a hand over my face and sat forward. “Emory thinks he has the scuttler ready for action.”

  “How is he?” Micha asked.

  A jumble of images flitted through my mind: the golden flash of Gideon’s eyes as he pounded into me, the velvet sensation of his skin beneath my fingers, and Emory’s hard body hovering over mine as he kissed away my tears and held me close. My neck heated. The door in my mind had been shut. I’d kept it closed to shield Lyrian and Micha from my pain, but even then, it had seeped out to taint them. Had my sexual encounter with Gideon leaked to them too?

  I cleared my throat. “Yeah. He’s … good. We … connected.” I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. I had to tell them. “Gideon and I … I mean he … I had sex with him.” The final words tumbled out in a rush.

  Micha pursed his lips and studied me. “Did it help?”

  Huh? “What?”

  This time Lyrian asked. “Did it help?”

  Micha sighed. “Look, you’ve been physically distant with us for the past week, locking yourself away, locking us out. It was obvious you were trying to hold yourself together by holding back your grief. You haven’t cried since that day when …” He shook his head slightly. “We were worried because you need to let it out, Echo. Holding it in isn’t healthy. So, this thing with Gideon … It’s a good sign.”

  “Gideon is safe,” Lyrian said. “Just sex. Just venting. Just aggression, right?”

  “And then you came back, and you hugged Lyrian for the first time in a week,” Micha said. “That’s a good sign.”

  My eyes pricked. They knew. They understood even when I hadn’t. “I cried. With Emory. Afterward … I didn’t know I had that many tears left.”

  Micha slipped onto the floor and crouched in front of me. He took my hands in his and ran his thumb over my knuckles. “It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to cry and just feel shit as long as you pick yourself back up again and carry on. Just don’t shut us out, Echo. Please.” His voice was a gentle rumble that acted like a caress.

  I leaned forward to press my forehead to his, relief a tender whoosh of warm coursing through my veins. “I’m sorry. I thought … I thought if I let go, I’d break.”

  Micha squeezed my hands. “You won’t break. We won’t let you.”

  “I guess Gideon’s not a total wanker then,” Lyrian said. “First, he saves Emory’s life, and then he helps you unlock your grief.”

  There was an edge to his tone. He wasn’t taking my sleeping with Gideon as well as Micha was.

  “Lyrian, I—"

  “It’s fine.” Micha frowned and looked over his shoulder at Lyrian. “Gideon is a part of Emory, and Echo’s been clear about her feelings for Emory.”

  Lyrian exhaled through his nose. “I know, but it’s Gideon for God’s sake.”

  Micha cracked a smile, but it was more sadistic than genial. “Oh, don’t worry, bro, if he fucks around, I’ll have no problem burying my fist in his face.”

  “If he hurts her, you won’t get the chance, because I’ll bury him.”

  We were so off track right now. “I can handle Gideon, but if I need help, you’ll be the first to know.”

  It was Lyrian who brought us back onto topic. “So, the scuttler?”

  Right. Yes. “Emory wants to test it tomorrow. He says he has a location in mind but needs to speak to his dads and sort transport.”

  “I can fly you,” Lyrian said. A lock of his dark hair had fallen onto his forehead, and I resisted the urge to brush it back.

  There was a tightness to his jawline and a frost to his gaze, and if I cracked the door between us open, I’d probably get a blast of arctic disapproval. Being with more than one guy wasn’t going to be as smooth sailing as Micha had made out because jealousy was a real thing, and how could I expect them not to feel it from time to time? How would I feel if Lyrian had sex with another woman? The thought sent a stab of pain through me. Or Micha, for that matter. A sharp gasp fell from my lips.

  “Echo?” Micha looked up at me searchingly. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking that it would kill me if either of you had sex with anyone else.” The words were out, and they hung in the air like bitter fruit. “I can’t believe how selfish that sounds.” I tugged my hands from his grasp and covered my face.

  There was a long beat of silence, and then the sofa beside me depressed and Lyrian’s scent tickled my senses.

  “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. I’m still learning how to cope with our connection. I would never ask you to be anything but yourself, and your Draconi genes predispose you to several mates. It’s what you need, maybe not to siphon power like the full-blood Draconi do, but maybe for a different kind of balance, an emotional equilibrium.”

  “We all bring something different to the table,” Micha said. “I bring the looks and the wit.”

  I looked up, and he dropped me a cheeky wink.

  Lyrian snorted. “And the snoring.”

  “Hey.” Micha looked mock-horrified. “Echo loves my snoring, don’t you?”

  I couldn’t help but crack a smile. “I adore it.” I nudged Lyrian with my shoulder. “And I adore you.”

  His bicep flexed at the contact, and the air between us heated. “Okay, so let’s focus on our plan.”

  I hadn’t realized until this moment how much I’d missed touching them and them touching me. Even though my instinct was to surround myself in their scent and wrap myself up in their heat, the past week, I’d refrained from asking either of them to sleep with me. I’d wanted to be there for my little brother when he had a nightmare and crawled into my bed. But aside from the first two nights, Bry had insisted on sleeping in his own bed. Maybe tonight I could ask them both to lie with me.

  But right now, I needed to focus. “The plan is to transport us and the equipment to a location that Emory has yet to disclose.”

  Micha sat back so that he was leaning against the coffee table. “We need a way to bring equipment as well as you and Emory?”

  I nodded. “Emory is speaking to his dads, and then he’ll get back to us.”

  Lyrian pressed his hands to his thighs. “Let’s get some food in you, and then I’ll find Emory and get the full plan.”

  Micha hauled me to my feet. “To the kitchen with you.”

  Verona emerged from Bry’s room and gave me a nod to let me know he was fine before grabbing her book and reclaiming her seat.

  “Verona, you hungry?” Micha asked.

  Verona shrugged. “I could eat.”

  Micha nodded. “Omelets for everyone then.” He released me. “I tell you what, you chill out, and Lyrian and I will bring dinner to you.”

  They’d done this twice this week already. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I know,” Lyrian said. “We want to.”

  “Why don’t you shower and change, and we’ll be back in a bit,” Micha added.

  They left, and I closed my eyes, suddenly weary. The meeting earlier, followed by the sexual marathon with Gideon and then the release of grief with Emory, had left me drained.

  Verona smoothed a hand over my head. “You’re doing great, and you have some fantastic support. Lyrian and Micha are good for you, Echo.”

  I hadn’t told her about the bond I shared with the guys, but she was a perceptive one. “You picked up on that, huh?”

  “It’s hard not to.” Her gaze was probing. “And Deacon … I see the way he looks at you.”

  I ducked my head. “You must think I’m awful.”

  “No. I think you’re a lucky woman to have so much love surrounding you.”

  She didn’t know the half of it. She didn’t know about Emory or the fact
I was kinda married to the king of the sea dwellers, and right now wasn’t the time to regale her with all the details.

  I stood with a smile. “I’m going to grab a shower before they get back.”

  I left her to her book and peeked in on Bry. He was curled up on his side under the covers, his breathing even and relaxed in sleep. Closing the door softly, I headed for the washroom.

  Five minutes later, rejuvenated by the hot water, I stepped out of the cubicle and made a grab for my towel. My fingers had barely grazed the material when a breeze wafted over my naked skin, pebbling it in a wave of gooseflesh. The presence was unmistakable.

  Hunter?

  “Echo?”

  My fingers were fumbling fools as they wrapped the towel around my body. “Hunter, where the fuck have you been?”

  “The gray. I was in the gray.” His voice trembled with what sounded suspiciously like fear.

  “Are you okay? Dammit, I wish I could see you.”

  “I’m fine.” He sounded stronger now. “I just. The gray can be unsettling.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s … nothingness. It’s an in-between place. I’m not sure what it is. But it’s lonely. The whole experience is more visceral than mental.”

  It sounded horrible. “You’ve been gone for two weeks.”

  He was silent for a long time. “The longest it’s had me. It gets longer each time, and each time I wonder … I wonder if I’ll ever come back.”

  He sounded as if he was drifting, being pulled away from me. If I could see him, I’d have hugged him, just to ground him. Instead, I settled for adding a snap to my tone.

  “Hunter—”

  “I’m fine. Tell me what you’ve been up to? What have I missed?”

  I looked down at my towel. “How about you wait for me in my room, and I’ll find you in a minute?”

  “Or I could stay and watch you dress?”

  He sounded more curious than anything else. Still, it didn’t stop my neck growing warm with a blush. “Won’t you find that gag worthy?”

  He was silent for a long beat. “You’re right. Best not risk it.”

  His presence retreated.

  He was back. He was safe and almost himself again. It was time to set him free.

  Chapter 4

  Hunter’s presence was strong in my room. I closed the door, padded over to the bed, and perched on the edge of the mattress.

  “Well?” His habitual bored tone was back. “Aren’t you going to thank me for saving your life?”

  He had no idea. But if he was going to play, then I’d play back. “Aren’t you obligated to do that?”

  Silence greeted me. “I suppose I am.”

  Reading between the lines wasn’t hard. It was strange how attuned I’d become to the nuances of his voice when there was no facial expression to read. He was supposed to save me, he knew that, but he’d acted on instinct. He’d saved me because he’d wanted to.

  “What did I miss?” Hunter asked again.

  A shiver ran over my collarbone and across the back of my neck as if phantom fingers were caressing me.

  I tensed. “Hunter, are you touching me?”

  “Maybe.”

  Okay, so he was touching me. I should ask him to stop. His fingers trailed across my collarbones and lingered at my nape, sending pleasant shivers across my skin. Maybe in a minute.

  “Do we have all day?” His breath was warm on the side of my face.

  He was close. Too close, but this was Hunter. He liked to push and goad, so why did it feel so different this time?

  Ignoring the tremors racing across my skin, I filled him in on the events of the last two weeks. I told him about the trip to the sea realm and my marriage to the king, the feral Sanguinata attack and our ultimate victory, but when it came to Gem, my tongue faltered.

  “Echo? What is it? What aren’t you telling me?” There was concern in his voice.

  “Gem’s dead.” I fisted my hands. “She was one of the victims, but I don’t want to talk about that, okay.”

  Once again, Hunter fell into silence. When he spoke, his tone was saturated with guilt. “I knew,” he said. “I knew about the Sanguinata locked underground. And after my little stint of spying on Finn for you, I found out about Carmach’s plan, but I was bound not to talk about the Sanguinata, and I couldn’t tell you what was happening without mentioning them. However, now that you know …”

  But he had tried to warn me. He’d warned me that something was afoot and begged me to have someone with me at night. I’d thought he must have been talking about Lira, Deacon’s crazy blood bag, but it had been much bigger than that.

  A wave of anger surged up inside me, but it wasn’t aimed at Hunter, it was aimed at Marika. She’d tied his tongue. If he’d been free to warn us, we could have acted, we could have saved lives.

  No. Breathe. Just breathe. I couldn’t change what happened, but I could make sure it never happened again.

  I scanned the room. “Where are you?”

  “Right in front of you.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I think it’s time you told me all your secrets.”

  “You know I can’t do that.” There was sorrow in his voice.

  “Not yet, you can’t.” I reached into my drawer and pulled out a penknife.

  It had been a gift from my father years ago. My blood was meant to set Hunter free; whether that was meant to be accompanied by a ritual or not, I wasn’t sure. But fuck it. We’d try it this way and see how it went. My intention was clear as I sliced my thumb open. A bead of blood welled up on my skin.

  “Hunter.” I looked to the spot where he was standing. “I set you free from my ancestor’s binding. I fucking set you free.”

  I splashed the blood in front of me, hoping that it was hitting Hunter.

  The spot flashed bright green, and then the air began to shimmer.

  “Echo, what did you do?” Hunter’s voice trembled.

  There was a sharp crack like the snap of a large twig, and then the shimmering air parted like a veil, and a figure materialized.

  Tall, lithe, and corded with muscle, Hunter was obsidian beauty. My eyes were level with his torso, which was a plane of muscle; I counted an eight-pack. My gaze dropped to his Adonis belt, which disappeared under the material of loose black pants that seemed to mist and blur when I stared too long. I trailed up over his pectorals to his face, which was a marvel carved from stone. Firm, wide lips, high cheekbones, and eyes like twin stars. His head was bald, but it suited him, giving him a dangerous edge.

  “Hunter?” I stood shakily. “You’re here. I can see you.”

  He held out his hands and flexed his fingers. “You freed me?”

  “I did. I’m sorry, I would have done it sooner, but you disappeared and—”

  But I didn’t get to finish my sentence before I was hauled to my feet and crushed against his chest. His body was unyielding, so it was like hugging a rock, but his skin was like silk beneath my fingers.

  “What did you do?” he asked again.

  I pulled back. “I released you.”

  He shook his head in wonder and stepped back. “Look at me. I’m solid.”

  Okay, I was so confused. “I don’t get it. Are you meant to not be solid?”

  “I’m a shade, Echo. We don’t have bodies of our own. We’re made of mist and shadow.” He turned his arm over as if marveling at it. “We have to take hosts to be truly solid, but this …” He looked up at me again. “What did you do?”

  But even as he was speaking his body was losing its solid form and becoming ethereal like the shadow he was meant to be.

  “Hunter?”

  He sighed. “Ah, a temporary perk, I see.” His solidity ebbed until he was nothing but a shadow with form. “But I’m free. You freed me.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Hunter looked at it, startled.

  “No!” I reached for him. “Don’t go.”

  He froze. “I have to hid
e.”

  “I promise. No one will hurt you.” I locked gazes with him. “I won’t let them.”

  His eyes smiled, and was that the curve of a mouth? “We’ll see.”

  The knock came again. “Echo?”

  It was Deacon.

  “Come in.”

  “Your food’s read—” He broke off at the sight of Hunter, and then his nostrils flared. “You did it. You set him free. You promised you’d come to me first.”

  His tone rankled, and mine sharpened to match his. “I’m sorry. But he needed to be free.”

  Deacon studied Hunter. “You saved her life when you could have hesitated and let her die. I want to trust you, so I’m going to go out on a limb and give you the benefit of the doubt, but if you do anything that could bring harm to Echo or any of us, then I will eject you from the Hive and leave you to the mercy of Genesis.”

  “Well, thank you so very much.” Hunter’s words dripped with sarcasm.

  Deacon’s jaw tensed, and he opened his mouth to retaliate.

  I held up a hand. “Enough, let’s just listen to what Hunter has to say, shall we? Now that he can speak freely.”

  Deacon exhaled through his nose and opened the door. “Well, I guess we should introduce you to the others, and you can tell us how you came to be trapped here.”

  His gaze was hooded as he stepped aside. “After you,” he said to me.

  I stepped through the door into the lounge to find Micha, Lyrian, and Verona sitting around the coffee table. The smell of omelets filled the room, and my stomach rumbled, but food would have to wait.

  Verona looked up with a smile as I entered the room. Her gaze skipped over my shoulder, and she let out a shriek.

  Micha and Lyrian were on their feet in an instant.

  “Whoa!” I stepped in front of Hunter. “This is Hunter, and he’s with me.”

  “Echo set him free,” Deacon drawled. “She felt it was the right thing to do.”

  “And you don’t agree?” Micha asked.

  “I would have waited.”

  God, his attitude sucked today. “Waiting is what led to all the deaths.” There was a sharp edge to my tone. “Hunter knew about the Sanguinata locked beneath us, and he knew that Orville and Carmach were planning to set them free, but he couldn’t tell me because Marika had bound him not to talk about the Sanguinata prisoners. If I’d freed him sooner …” I abandoned my sentence because it was obvious from Deacon’s expression that he’d picked up on my meaning.