by C. R. Jane
"Because this is my job to protect her. She's my responsibility. I'm the one who broke my promise to her. I have to save her," she says in a tear ridden voice, jabbing herself harshly in the chest before bursting into tears.
We all look at her incredulously. Mason walks over and awkwardly pats her on her shoulder. Damon and I just settle back into our seats. Mason crouches down next to where she's sobbing on her knees.
"You don't have to do it alone anymore," he says in a weary voice. "We would all give our lives for her. Just let us help."
The hard knot of jealousy in my chest loosens just a little bit. If nothing else, the other two men sitting in this circle would do anything for Eva, and I can't help but feel grateful that they are here with me on this journey. If I'm being honest with myself, I'm not sure that I could rescue her alone. With them by my side though, along with Lexi I grudgingly admit, I'm confident that it will happen.
Lexi's cries lesson and she finally nods her head and promises to include us from now on. We finally all turn in for the night, resolute to resume our mission at first light once again.
Chapter 10
Eva
"You have to concentrate," Aiden tells me the next week, as if I've been day dreaming the whole time we have been working on my powers over the last few weeks. We've been in the glen since after breakfast once again. Aiden has regaled me with stories about how my line of queens has the strongest affinity for the earth. I'm starting to feel like that isn't true.
I turn away from him and wipe sweat from my brow. All of a sudden, I'm hit from behind with what feels like fire. I give a small shriek and turn around, trying to bat away the imaginary flames that seem to be coursing over my body. The burning sensation all of a sudden stops, and I see Aiden standing there with a smirk on his face, small black flames dancing around his hands.
"What's wrong, My Princess? Feeling a little hot?" he asks in a condescending tone. For some reason his use of the term "princess" enrages me, and I can feel a swell of power rising inside of me. Without thinking I hold out my hand and thick vines shoot out of the ground and start to wrap around Aiden's body, so fast that he's completely ensnared before he can take a step. They start to squeeze him tighter and tighter until there's actually a hint of panic in his eyes. I want to see him suffer. I want to…
"Eva," he calls out urgently, and I snap back to the present where I'm horrified to see that Aiden is turning a slight shade of blue as the vines clinch him tighter and tighter. Relying on instinct I wave my hand again and the vines immediately disintegrate. Aiden falls to his knees gasping for breath and I rush over to him to make sure he's okay. What in the world got into me?
My alarm lessons however when I see that in between gasps he's laughing. He looks up at me.
"I knew you could do it!" he says, so proudly you would think that I had just solved world hunger instead of almost strangling him to death. He slowly stands up and shakes himself off. "Again," he says, and black flames appear again in his hands.
For some reason, my powers come easier after that, but only ones that are destructive. We play around with different things and I amuse myself a few times with calling on storm clouds to douse Aiden with water to extinguish his ever-present flames. Through it all he gets more and more excited. I feel empowered, something that I haven't ever felt in my life.
We finally stop because of a meeting that Aiden needs to attend. He takes my hand as we walk and surprising myself, I let him. Becoming comfortable with him hasn't been that difficult. I've always felt alone in the world and have often kept myself separated from others. It's nice to feel like I belong somewhere, to understand that there's a reason why I felt like an outcast among others. Aiden stops to point out a small, furry creature that has crept out of the tree line. Its large eyes and brilliant purple colored fur remind me of the Furby toy that kids were obsessed with for a time. It hops over to us. I tentatively hold out my hand after Aiden assures me that the krimga as he calls it, is perfectly harmless. It sniffs my hand suspiciously and then hops right onto it. I laugh delightedly as it makes a high-pitched whistling sound and then nestles into my neck. I stroke its soft, downy- like fur while Aiden tells me about thekrimgas he owned as a child.
I set it down and watch as it hops back into the woods, looking back at us once before disappearing from view. I turn and see that Aiden is looking down at me with an unreadable, intense look in his eye. He takes a step closer to me and leans in. I can feel the soft heat of his breath on my face. His eyes close and I know that he's about to kiss me. I close my eyes as well, surprised at how comfortable I feel at the moment with the thought of him kissing me.
"Eva, wake up," shouts a familiar voice inside my head. My eyes fly open and my surroundings seem to flicker. For a moment I see a dark, moss covered stone room with what looks like shackles attached to the walls. I can smell the stench of stale air and human suffering. Before I can fully grasp my surroundings I'm back with Aiden's lips hovering right over mine. I take a step back, shaken. Aiden looks disappointed but recovers quickly. He reaches out to touch my face.
"My apologies, I was being presumptuous," he says humbly.
"Just a bit too fast for me," I tell him, attempting to cover for the fact that I am clearly going crazy. The clearing that Aiden brought me to couldn't be farther from a prison. That gorgeous lavender colored sky is perfectly clear, there's not a hint of a cloud. There's a soft breeze blowing through my hair, keeping me cool despite the warm day. Everywhere I look it's green and beautiful. As I study my surroundings a flicker of unease passes through me, it's so perfect...almost too perfect. I shake it off when I look up and see Aiden's proud, smiling face. I take his outstretched hand once again as we walk back to the castle.
We part ways once we get inside, him to hurry off to his meeting, and me to get cleaned up after my training. The hot water feels good on my muscles. I can't remember ever working so hard. Using magic takes not just a physical toll on you, but an emotional toll as well. Aiden explained that the most powerful magic comes from deep inside of you, from where your intentions actually lie. Maybe that's what's wrong with me. I can't stir up that warm feeling that created all of the roses because I'm using the wrong emotions. I'm just not sure what emotions exactly that I'm looking for.
The solitude of my shower brings my mind back to the image I saw earlier, and the voice I heard. When I think about the voice my head starts to radiate with pain, like I'm developing a migraine. I dry off and head to bed without eating and without taking the sleeping tonic once again.
I've been locked in my room with a spelled padlock. I'm sure I could escape if I needed to but I'm enjoying the fact that I'm by myself and able to practice my powers without prying eyes. I'm working on controlling the movement and direction of vines that I have summoned when I hear the scratching on my open window that signals someone is trying to climb in. I give a small cry and the vines I've been working with shoot out from me, immediately encircling the intruder until it appears that there's a person sized cocoon laying on my floor, faint muffling sounds emanating from inside of it.
I carefully inch over to the vine covered creature and pull down one of the vines so I can see the face of whoever I've captured. I give a small gasp when piercing blue eyes the color of a starry night sky appear. They twinkle at me with amusement despite their predicament, and I quickly start tearing at the vines to free the incubus who has somehow made his way into my room, completely forgetting the magic that I could use to free him much faster.
"Hello, Your Majesty," he says in a mocking tone after most of him is freed. He nonchalantly starts to pull the remaining vines from around his legs as if this is an everyday occurrence and I haven't just almost smothered him to death.
The sound of his voice stirs my soul, just as it did last night. He's stunning in the light streaming in from my window,
even with the lashes marking his body from the vines. He's wearing a shirt this morning, but my stomach still feels like it's doing somersaults from how gorgeous he is. My people are known for their beauty but he and Beckham surpass anything I have ever seen. My heart gives an involuntary lurch thinking of Beckham. I wonder if he's moved on from me. The selfish, dark part inside of me hopes that he will never stop loving me as I will never stop loving him. I turn from the incubus, my soul suddenly aching at the reminder that I'm doomed to always be separated from those I love the most.
"My Queen," he says again, right behind me. I can feel the overwhelming heat from his body and I shiver involuntarily.
"What's your name incubus?" I ask callously, determined to not give into the feelings between us. I feel him flinch at my words but he still doesn't step away from me.
"You haven't yet earned that," he whispers, his hot breath on my neck.
My curiosity at his statement burns inside me. I remember that no one called him by anything but "incubus" or "the creature" the other night.
"And how does one do that?" I ask, despite my best efforts to keep the words from coming.
He chuckles behind me and my body clenches involuntarily from the feeling of his chest brushing against me.
"When I know that it's more," he tells me elusively.
I finally take a step away and feel like I can breathe again.
"What are you doing in my room? I should call the guards." I tell him stiffly, trying to portray my best rendition of an ice queen. I've always been a crap actress and I can see I haven't improved when his earlier chuckle turns into a full out belly laugh that immediately makes me feel warm inside.
"I think that little display of yours earlier tells me that you could kick me out yourself if you really wanted to. That or just kill me," he says wryly. "What I want to know is why the 'forbidden queen' is hiding who she really is and letting that leech walk all over her."
I grimace at how accurate that moniker is of me. He has made me into that.
"I've always loved forbidden things," he whispers into my ear, again so close that my mind begins to imagine all sorts of "forbidden" things we could do.
"What are you doing here?" I ask again, the earlier fight in my voice washed away in the lust I'm currently experiencing.
"I've been left unchained," he tells me in a voice that sounds wholly confused as he continues. "No one was even paying attention to me yesterday morning. I could have walked out the front gates and no one would have even stopped me. I got as far as the front courtyard before I stopped. Inexplicably I couldn't leave. I could feel you calling to me, like a siren luring me to my death." His voice grew angry. "What have you done to me?"
I flinch at his hateful tone, and the truth to his words. I feel like a siren, luring beautiful men with my call, promising them the world and then selfishly dashing them on the rocks. I step away from him and walk to the window, looking out into the distance where I can see a thin line of brown where the plague is slowly making its way into His lands. This land isn't as unaffected as I first thought.
"I've done nothing," I tell him, but it comes out unconvincing. I have no control of my powers, so it very well could have been me unwittingly calling for him.
He grabs my shoulder roughly. Despite his roughness I strangely don't feel like he's capable of ever actually hurting me.
"I have been trapped here for a century. You would not even comprehend the horrors that I've been subjected to. Free me," he begs me, his voice hitching at the end with emotion.
It pulls at my heart, just as Beckham's tears at our last real meeting did, wrenching my heart into more pieces than I thought I still possessed.
"You are free. I've taken your place as the imprisoned creature of the palace," I tell him, turning away from the window and walking away from him, again needing as much space as I can get from him. He takes a deep breath, whether in relief or not I can't tell, and hitches himself on top of the window sill to leave. I immediately feel bereft at the thought of the loss of his presence. He disappears from my view and I idly wonder how he made it into my window in the first place.
I feel listless, and crawl into my bed angry at myself for feeling this way about someone I don't even know. I'm cursing my wayward heart when I feel something getting into bed behind me. I jerk and look at the intruder and find my eyes unwillingly filling with tears at the site of the gorgeous incubus. He looks torn and surprised at the fact that he's sitting on my bed.
"What are you doing here?" I ask. He glares at me. I watch as his eyes slide down my face, stopping on my lips.
"I'm here because you're obviously an evil she-devil who has cast a spell on me, forcing me to be your prisoner," he states sarcastically, his eyes still focused intently on my lips.
"I wonder…"
"What do you wonder?" I ask him, my voice betraying me as lust fills the air.
"I wonder if you taste as good as you look," he whispers, leaning closer and closer to me.
I feel like I'm burning up. I'm slightly shaking with the anticipation of his lips touching mine. All thoughts leave my head at the first brush of his lips against mine. I feel like I'm a live wire that will combust if we go further.
He's looking at me as if I could be both his salvation and his ruin, and at the moment I'm not sure which one I am. I deepen the kiss, latching on to the feeling he's giving me. That I'm actually alive. That I haven't died just because I've lost everything.
We both lose ourselves in each other, hands tearing at our clothes, both trying to touch as much of the other person as possible. It's a game of domination. We're both reluctant to admit how deep our feelings already run. For me, it feels like a betrayal of Beckham. For him, I'm preventing him from his freedom. Still we go on, our tongues and bodies battling for submission.
He catches me off guard when he pulls back, a look of wonder on his face. I notice that his skin looks like it's almost glowing. Like he's had some sort of energy boost that's manifesting itself outwardly.
He strokes my face tenderly. "Do you feel okay?" he asks worriedly.
At that moment I remember that I've been consorting with someone who actually is a dangerous creature. Someone who can literally suck out an immortal being's life force if he so chose.
I appraise how I'm feeling. Surprisingly, I feel energized. I'm hot all over, and my body wants nothing more than to finish what we've started.
"I feel fine," I say.
He seems to glow even more. "I didn't mean to feed, but somehow unconsciously I was," he explains excitedly. "And it didn't even affect you. You are as powerful as they say." He gives me another fervent kiss, practically vibrating with energy.
I smile at his happiness, but a small part of me wonders if he will only be attracted to me now because he can feed off me without hurting me. He seems completely different from the bitter man from just moments ago.
Just then, I hear footsteps coming from down the hall. They're clipped and moving briskly towards my room. It's Him.
"Go," I mouth to him, motioning towards the window. He hears the footsteps as well and hurries away. He stands up on the windowsill and turns back to me. "Will you be alright?" he mouths silently, worry written all over his face.
"Just go," I answer, giving him what I hope looks like a reassuring glance. He disappears over my window ledge and his parting words carry over the breeze. "Goodbye My Forbidden Queen."
I just manage to rip my eyes away from where he has disappeared, and finish smoothing out the bed, when the padlock is undone, the door is thrown open, and He appears.
"The guards say that they heard a male voice in your chambers. Where is he?" He roars, scanning the room and beginni
ng to look behind things.
"Where is who?" I respond calmly. "As you can see the room is empty," I tell Him, motioning to the room around me.
He continues to search and finally gives up when He sees that the room is really and truly empty. He walks over to me and glares down at me, grabbing my chin.
"Your only option is me and I suggest you remember that or there will be consequences," He says in a silkily evil voice, full of possession and anger.
I say nothing but continue to stare back at Him resolutely. He lets go of my chin roughly and strides out of the room, slamming the door behind Him and locking it once again. I can hear Him screaming at the guards as He walks back down the hallway. I sink to my knees, shaking with adrenaline. What have I done?
Chapter 11
There's a knock on my door the next morning, rousing me from the deep sleep I was in, notwithstanding the dreams I keep having. I blurrily call out for the intruder to come in and Aiden walks through the door, practically bouncing on his toes with excitement.
"Get up, My Queen," I have a surprise for you. I sit up in bed, the covers sliding down my body. I'm still tired, but I'm also excited at the prospect of a surprise. As I get out of bed I hear Aiden give a small groan. I look at him questioningly and see that his face looks pained, but his eyes, his eyes are burning with lust and desire. I follow his gaze as they drift down my body and realize that I'm wearing a basically see through negligee. There's almost nothing that's not incredibly sexy in the wardrobe that I've been provided here, and my head hurt so badly after practicing yesterday that I grabbed the first thing I felt in the drawer without looking at it. Obviously, I need to change before I allow people to walk into my room.
He takes a step towards me and I freeze, wondering what he is going to do. He continues to walk until he is standing a hair's breadth away from me. He places his hands lightly on my hips and seems to sniff my hair. I can feel how hard he is, and I take a deep breath, wondering what is going to happen next. After all, he claims that he was my husband once. Surely, we've had many a scene like this. His left hand starts to trail up my side. Not for the first time I notice how handsome Aiden is. I could have chosen much poorer in the husband department. He's leaning in, our lips an inch apart…