I wish I knew the answer.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Nick
I pace back and forth, wearing down the carpet in the main room of the suite, because there’s nothing else to be done. All we can do now is wait.
Asher walks over to me, leaving Eden and Eli on the couch. The pair of them are worn out. She’s got her head on his shoulder and he’s barely managing to stay awake himself. It’s dark outside, close to midnight. Raven should have woken up before now. I’m starting to think she’s just dead. However impossible it might seem.
“Can we talk?” Asher asks quietly, letting me know he doesn’t want the others to hear.
“About what?” I ask, not really in the mood either way. I feel too wrought to listen to whatever he has to say. Too freaked about everything that’s happening right now.
He sighs softly. “About why this whole thing happened.”
I frown at him. “I didn’t mean to get kidnapped...”
“That’s not what I mean.” He heads toward the bathroom and nods back at me.
I hesitate before following him inside. Eden’s eyes are closed. She doesn’t see us disappear.
He closes the door behind me and leans back against the sink.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” he starts.
“She’s the emergency I had. She was in hospital,” I decide to tell him. “I didn’t want to have to explain. I just needed to make sure she was okay.”
He nods. “Raven knew you’d rush to her side. It’s why she made sure the girl overdosed.”
“I feel like an idiot,” I tell him, angry that Raven would use someone I cared about against Eden.
“Don’t, Nick. None of this was your fault.”
“I know. Raven’s just a fucking psychotic bitch.”
He nods again. “She is. Nick, she was trying to stop Logan from being accepted as Eden’s fourth...”
“Not you too,” I say, groaning. “Asher, the guy’s a possessive asshole.”
“I know Eli got you to say you’d accept him, but the words don’t mean anything without true acceptance behind them,” Asher goes on.
“You think that’s why it didn’t work.” I frown at him. He’s laying a guilt trip on me now.
“I know it’s why,” he tells me, his gaze hard. “Tell me what you have against him. I need to know.”
“Asher, he shot you. Twice. He wanted you dead...”
“Diana wanted me dead,” he cuts in. “He was following her orders. She manipulated his anger, his jealousy. She used him. Like her mother did to make him kill Blake and that other man.”
I take in his words but they only stir up deeper feelings of rage. “He isn’t good for Eden. He called her a slut for wanting to be with more than one guy. You don’t know how angry that made him, the fucked up thoughts he had when she tried to explain. I’ll never accept him, Asher.”
“I know. I’ve seen everything you have. More. Everything he went through changed him. He understands now. He accepts who Eden is and he still loves her.”
“If Eden really wanted him, she wouldn’t be looking for another potential.”
“Her other potentials are gone, Nick. She turned Arianna good. Those are her lovers now. I don’t think they were ever really potentials for Eden.”
I curse under my breath. “She has no other potentials?”
“Why do you really hate Logan?”
“You really want to know?”
“I need to know.”
“He warned me off Eden when she ditched Hunter. Told me she didn’t need another stupid sleaze in her life. Told me he’d make sure I never woke up if I laid a finger on her.”
Asher’s expression doesn’t change. “He threatened you. That’s it?”
“That isn’t enough?” I can’t believe him. “Asher, everything’s great the way it is. I don’t need that prick ruining things. I don’t care what he told you, he’s not okay with sharing, and he’ll only cause problems if we let him be with Eden.”
Asher sighs deeply. “Think about this, Nick. Eden wants him as her fourth. She was only considering other potentials because she cares about how we feel. She doesn’t want to bring someone in that we don’t accept. She wouldn’t. Not even if she knows he’s the right guy. She’ll keep looking for someone else. And as long as she does that, she’s at risk. She’s not at full power as long as she doesn’t have a fourth confirmed. She would do anything for any one of us. I know I’d do anything for her. Wouldn’t you?”
He walks past me, out of the bathroom. I stay where I am. His words play on my thoughts. I know I’m being selfish, but I can’t seem to help it. Logan’s trouble for all of us. Why can’t they see that?
Chapter Sixty-Six
Eden
I know I’m dreaming when I find myself walking through mist, the landscape strange. It feels like there’s nothing but empty space around me, until I take a few steps forward and find Logan standing in front of me. He smiles, but it’s a sad expression that makes me worry.
“Logan. Where are we?”
He glances around. “I don’t know, but I can’t find the way out.”
“You’re trapped,” I say, wondering if I am too now.
“Raven did something to me,” he tells me. “If this is goodbye, can I get one last kiss?”
I shake my head. “It’s not goodbye.”
“I don’t know, Eden. It feels like this is the end of the road.”
“I’ll get you out of here.”
He takes my hands. “Don’t risk your life for me, Eden. You were right to stick to your path before. I would have dragged you down, like Hunter did. I don’t want to be a burden to you.”
I move in close to kiss him, closing my eyes. When I open them, I’m sitting on the couch in my hotel suite, my head on Eli’s shoulder. Logan’s still out of it on the couch across from us. Raven’s still dead on the coffee table.
And Cupid is kneeling over her body, shifting his sunglasses down to get a good look at her wound.
“About damn time,” I snap at him, waking Eli with a start.
Cupid looks up and I catch a glimpse of his eyes. They’re glittering orbs swirling with an infinite number of colors. They’re mesmerising. I gasp as he covers them quickly.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.” He shakes his head at me. “Anyway, you’re totally fucking screwed right here.” He points at the body as he straightens. “She isn’t coming back to this body. Raven Whiteclaw is dead and gone.”
“What do you mean, she isn’t coming back to her body?”
“I didn’t say she wasn’t coming back to her body. I said, she isn’t coming back to this one.”
Oh, shit. “She has multiple bodies?”
“No. She’s using the bodies of humans who’ve checked out. Mortals who are barely functioning. People who may as well be dead. She moves on whenever it suits her. Keeps her own body someplace safe so she can use it when she really wants to.”
“What the fuck?” Eli sounds aghast.
Asher’s listening from across the room, and I can tell he has a million questions lining up in that thoughtful head of his while Cupid looks like he’s getting ready to leave.
I grab Cupid’s arm, anchoring him here. “You need to wake Logan up.”
He shakes his head as he pulls away. “No can do. That’s not my job.”
“This bitch died while she was doing something to him. I need to know how to save him.”
His blank expression makes me want to scream. He’s going to tell me there’s no way to do that. That Logan’s lost forever now. That bitch got exactly what she wanted. My vision blurs, my throat closing up. This can’t be happening. I don’t even care if he’s ever mine again. I just want him to live.
“Help me fix this.” My words are catching in my throat as Cupid shakes his head slowly.
“I can’t help you.”
“There has to be something you can do.” Eli starts, putting his arm around me.
&nb
sp; “Actually, I think this is my job,” Nick says, coming out of the bathroom and moving towards Logan.
I stare at him, not understanding. “Nick, what...”
“Here goes nothing.” He gazes at me before he kneels down by the couch, placing a hand on Logan’s chest. The faint glow of my goddess light is on his finger-tips. “You’re kind of a prick, Logan, but Eden has always loved you and I trust her judgement.”
I glance at Cupid. He’s still here, and he’s watching Nick. Hope begins to light in my heart. I press my lips together to keep from asking questions. Tension fills the room.
“I accept you,” Nick says, blowing out a breath. “In case words aren’t enough in this fucked up situation, I’m about to do something I might never live down. So do me a favor and wake the hell up to make it worth it.”
He leans down and kisses Logan on the lips, one long, hard press that sparks with golden-white light. He meant it. All of it. When he moves back, the breath I was holding hisses out slowly. Logan is still. He hasn’t woken up.
Nick stands, running a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Really thought that would work.”
The tears filling my eyes begin to spill. I love Nick for trying, but my heart feels like it’s starting to break. Eli pulls me into a hug and I sob onto his shoulder.
I barely hear Nick’s gasp, but when he comes over and breaks our hug to pull me around I clasp my hands over my mouth and stare.
Logan’s waking up. He groans as he sits up, gaze flitting between us. “What the hell just happened?”
Cupid smiles as he fades away in front of us. He knew. That sneaky little shit!
My men all look to me for the answer. There’s only one I can give.“You just officially became my fourth.”
A smile lights his face as he gets to his feet. I rush around the coffee table and practically throw myself into his arms. He catches me easily, wipes at my tears as we hold each other close.
“You were my first love, Eden. I always knew you’d be my last.”
His lips claim mine and I sink into his kiss, feeling like I’m coming home. He’s changed so much in such a short time. He’s still the man I love, but he’s also more. I feel how much he’s changed and how much he’s stayed the same as we embrace. It all rushes into me, bringing understanding.
I know how he can accept this now. He still loves Diana, and part of him always will. He knows it’s possible to love more than one person now, he understands. I can see this is what had to happen to bring us together. It’s been a long, twisted road but we finally got to the end. Through all the pain and heartache, together and apart, we made it. That last broken part of my heart has been made whole. I have my fourth and I know it was always meant to be him.
Author’s Note
Bad Blood is the fifth step in Eden’s journey as a Goddess of Love. The sixth and final book is coming soon, which, spoiler alert, resolves a couple of things that happened in this book and also features Hunter. So if you loved this book and can’t wait for more, make sure you do at least one of the following:
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Copyright
All rights reserved. Thank you for buying an authorized edition and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning or distributing any part of this novel in any form without permission of the author.
Romy Lockhart is a pen name of S.S. Martin, who writes fantasy novels under her maiden name.
Copyright © S.S. Martin writing as Romy Lockhart 2018
This book is a work of fiction and includes the creation of fictional towns. Any resemblance to real persons or places is purely coincidental.
Cover art by Mayhem Cover Creations
http://mayhemcovercreations.com
Bad Blood (Rock Goddess Reverse Harem Book 5) Page 19