by A. C. Arthur
Bleu waited a beat. “What were you thinking?”
This was the first time since last night that he’d seen Bleu. It had been an overcast evening, which worked out well for Theo because after his beast had seen Isla pulling Shola to safety, it had taken off, disappearing into the heavy clouds, and made its way back to the Office. There he’d returned to his human form and immediately went to his private cave. He’d already known that Bleu was on his way downtown because he’d sent the distress call through his communicator just before he’d shifted from the rooftop of the Tower. Bleu messaged Theo the moment he had Shola safely in the truck, and Theo saw that message when he arrived in the cave.
Today, Theo and Shola had been together until early afternoon. From that time, he’d remained in his bedroom until he’d finally needed to do something more than wear a hole in his carpet by pacing. So he’d come here. And now, the first confrontation was at hand.
“She was going to die,” he replied honestly. “I knew what Camden was. He left the building in a hurry, and immediately after, I sensed her presence.”
He’d more than just sensed that she was near. Her scent had floated up to him the moment she’d taken a breath and stood across the street from his building. He’d felt her presence sliding alongside man and beast in what he could only describe as the weirdest and most welcome sensation he’d ever experienced. After hundreds of years of living with a beast within the man, suddenly there was another in their space.
“We didn’t know she’d left the premises,” Bleu continued.
“Obviously. She swam the river. There are no security mechanisms monitoring under water.”
Bleu nodded. “We should look into that.”
“We should.”
“You may have been seen.”
“I know.”
Bleu watched him with eyes that saw and knew more than even Theo did at times. All those years ago, when Theo had decided it was time for him to leave the Far Realm, Bleu had been right by his side. Theo had insisted he needed to go alone, that there was no sense in Bleu incurring the emperor’s wrath too, but Bleu had simply asked, “Who’s gonna watch your back if I stay here?” Theo hadn’t needed anyone to watch his back, but he’d known that determined look in Bleu’s eyes all too well.
“What now?”
Theo shrugged and shook his head. He’d been thinking about that since the moment he’d left Shola at her room. She wasn’t going to leave again. After last night—especially their time in the cave—she was just as confused as he was about what was going on.
“You have to come up with something,” Bleu insisted. “We need to act now to protect all that we’ve built, all that we are. If Camden knows—”
“He does,” Theo interrupted. Warrick Camden had no doubt who and what Theo was at this moment and to be honest, Theo didn’t really care. He should have burned that sonofabitch to the ground when he’d stood in his office daring to make demands and threats.
Theo stood and walked a few steps before stopping. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
“I don’t know what happens next,” he confided. “This has never happened before, and I’m not sure how to proceed.”
“You’re never unsure,” Bleu said from behind him. “Since you were a child, you always knew what to do and how to do it. You were born to be a—”
“No!” He spun around so fast to face Bleu, the other Drakon’s eyes widened in shock. “I belong on this realm and in this place. I never counted on something like this happening, but it has and... I just have to take some time to figure it out, that’s all.”
That was all. It had to be.
Bleu continued to watch him. His arms had fallen to his sides, the diamonds on the gold ring he wore on his last finger twinkling.
“You never counted on someone like her,” Bleu said quietly.
Theo took a deep breath and sighed. “No. I didn’t.”
And that was only part of the problem. Not only had he never anticipated a demigoddess would come into his life and present a situation that required him to go back on a promise he’d made to himself and to others around him, but he’d never thought there would be a woman he cared enough for that making that decision would have come so quickly and so definitively.
There hadn’t been a second’s hesitation. The moment he sensed her, he’d left his office, running with all the speed his kind possessed up to the roof, where he’d shifted without a care. And he’d done so again last night when she was in his cave, his personal space and eventually in his bed.
No, this wasn’t a situation Theo had anticipated. But it was one he knew he had to deal with, one way or another.
Chapter Seventeen
It had happened two nights ago. And not again since then. Shola thought it was safe to say that sleeping with Theo was a one-time event, and she was fine with that. Actually, she was better than fine. Not having Theo around gave her the space and clarity to think more about what had gone wrong and how she could still fix the mess she’d made.
That was pretty much what she’d told her mother when she was on the phone with her earlier.
“It will be over soon,” she had said to Ejaita.
“That is not what I asked. I want to know how you like it there.”
She had held the small phone in her hand, glancing up at the ceiling and praying for forgiveness; lying to her mother was not something she did often. There were things she couldn’t tell her, but that wasn’t the same as blatantly lying to her.
“I am adjusting.” That was not a lie at all. She was adjusting to the fact that Warrick was a vampire, and Theo was a dragon who made her feel more passion than she could have ever imagined.
“You will be a wonderful wife,” Ejaita had insisted. “You are kind, loyal and beautiful. A man is counted lucky to have you at his side.”
“I have never thought of being a wife.” The words had slipped from her lips, but the comfort of her mother’s tone had set off a bout of homesickness Shola had never experienced. “Of all the thoughts of my future, being a partner to someone was never a consideration.”
And that was still true, or at least it should be, because there was never going to be a marriage. Her purpose in this life was not to be a partner or even a friend, it was to be a savior.
“You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down,” Ejaita had continued, her voice a familiar whisper that reminded Shola of nights she would awaken from a bad dream and her mother would come running into her room. Always with an old proverb or story that would make Shola laugh and sometimes a glass of warm cider to soothe her soul and chase away the darkness, Ejaita had been the best mother a girl could have wanted. And Shola was proud to have been given to this strong and compassionate woman.
“I will do what I came to do,” Shola had said at the end of the conversation.
Ejaita thought her daughter had come to be married. All the time that Shola had spent training with Oya, her parents had thought she was studying, swimming at the river or, with a spurt of pride, training to become part of the guard. After the backlash from telling those she thought were her friends, it was Oya’s advice not to tell her parents. They would know all when it was time, is what the goddess had told her. Shola knew that no nuptials were ever going to take place.
None of them could imagine the weight Shola had carried on her shoulders most of her life. So they couldn’t possibly understand the battle she’d fought these last couple of days with her failure. But today was a different day. She wasn’t going to sit in this room thinking about what she’d done wrong another second. After dressing, she paused at the mirror, staring at herself for seconds that stretched on in silence.
Knowing her destiny and walking the path to fulfill it had been two totally different things. She hadn’t thought it would change her, but the person staring back at her through the mirror with sheer de
termination and a refusal to wallow in what was done, was not the same person who’d boarded that plane a week ago. With a nod to herself and a tiny smile, Shola decided that was just fine.
* * *
She’d been running for a while, going down to the clearing that would lead to the river and then turning to circle back toward the western end of the mountain. Shola inhaled the fresh air and enjoyed the overcast day. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so, and when she’d become a little winded, she’d stopped on a brilliantly green patch of grass and began stretching.
With her legs spread apart, she leaned forward, touching her palms to the soft blades of grass and holding that position for a few seconds. She came up and leaned to one side and then the other. Repeating the set, she went down again, waited while wiggling her fingers over the grass and then came up. But instead of leaning to the side this time, she gasped when she met Theo’s intent gaze.
He stood a couple feet from her, his legs spread slightly, hands pushed into the front pockets of gray sweatpants. She immediately thought back to two nights ago, when he wore black sweatpants and nothing else. Today he had on tennis shoes and a matching gray T-shirt. But his eyes were the same—that elusive blue that she now knew could turn a brilliant sapphire hue.
“Hi,” she said because the silence seemed as loud as the pounding of her heart.
“Hi,” he replied. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Today?” It wasn’t her intention to sound sarcastic. “I mean, I have been here, on the property.” She hadn’t run away again is what she wanted to say, but decided she’d actually said enough.
“So have I,” he replied.
She wondered if he were implying that she should have sought him out in the past couple of days. The thought had crossed her mind a time or two but being alone worked out better. It had given her time to reconcile things with herself and to find her balance once again. Besides, he was the one being paid to guard her, not the other way around.
“Why were you looking for me?”
“I thought we should talk. And before you say why or about what, let’s walk. You need to keep stretching your muscles after such a long run.”
He knew how long she’d been running?
Shola nodded and let him lead the way. She fell into step beside him, moving toward the eastern side of the mountain and not down to the river. It seemed they were both avoiding that location for the time being.
They walked a couple minutes before he spoke again. “Do you work out regularly back home?”
She nodded. “I have been training twice a day since I was eleven years old. It began in the early morning before I went to school and in the evening just before dinner. Once I was older and finished with my studies, my regimen and schedule changed.”
Why did it seem so easy to answer this question with him? Perhaps because it was the first time she could actually talk about it freely. Whenever someone in Mobo had asked why she was always down by the river or in the fitness facility in town, she’d attributed it to spiritual and physical wellness, not being trained for a mission to kill.
“You trained to condition your body for what? Battle?”
“I trained my body to host my power. If I do not possess the physical strength to harness enough power to do what I have been called for, that would be disastrous.”
“How did you plan to kill him?”
She couldn’t answer that, because she really didn’t know. There was no doubt she had power, and she knew how to use it. She could harness it, control and deflect. Her mind, body and soul were one with her mission. But it had always been explained to her that when the time came, she would know what needed to be said and done to complete the task. So far, that hadn’t been the case.
“Were the rocks required to help?”
“I thought so, but now I have no idea.” She could admit that now, after taking the time to examine everything that happened.
“But you’re determined to get him anyway.”
“I cannot ignore my destiny any more than you could ignore yours.”
He shook his head as they continued to walk, a gentle breeze blowing around them.
“How could so much be put on one person’s shoulders? Magnum said you have warriors in Mobo. Why weren’t they dispatched? Why is this your job?”
There was an urgency in his tone, an edge that revealed his irritation with the situation. She couldn’t blame him; this wasn’t a normal situation, nor were they normal people for that matter.
“I told you why. And there is no changing what is. But I can handle it. I just need to figure out what the next step is.”
He stopped and turned, taking her by the shoulders. “That’s just it. I don’t want you to have to handle this. I don’t want you to ever know what it feels like to take a life, whether it be preternatural or human. That’s something you carry with you every day you’re allowed to continue breathing.” He gave her shoulders a little shake before sighing heavily.
“I want to just drive up to Camden’s apartment and kill him, ending this for everyone.”
His eyes flickered while he talked, going from man to dragon and back to man in the course of him blinking. In addition to the eye change there was a shift in the air when he was speaking, a definite rise in humidity, as if his dragon was reacting to Theo’s anger.
“He has people or family or whatever you call those things that were on the street coming after me. If you kill him, they will think it a sign of war.”
He shook his head. “A war they’ll never win.”
“Perhaps not, but consider how many might die or be hurt in this city during the battle. No, as I said, this is my destiny. Nobody here knows me, so they will not look for me when I am gone and it will all be over.”
Dropping his hands from her shoulders, he lowered his head to stare down at the ground.
“I know you.” His words were so quiet she almost didn’t hear him.
But then he raised his head, dragon eyes staring into hers. “I will look for you when you’re gone.”
Her chest tightened, warmth spreading through her body at record speed. She didn’t know what to say, or how she was supposed to feel. Finding him was not part of her destiny.
Seconds later, when she still hadn’t found the words to say, he moved to her side and started walking once more. She fell into step beside him because that was easier than confronting her emotions.
“How about you? Do you train to help control the dragon inside of you? How does that work anyway, being more than one person or being?”
He kept staring ahead, his silhouette as imposing and attractive as a full frontal view.
“No training required. I was born this way and therefore grew up knowing how to be what I am.”
“Your parents had to teach you something. And how did you learn to be a businessman? Did you go to college?”
“I’m three hundred years old,” he said. “But in all that time I’ve managed to skip college.”
Shola stopped walking. “You are how old?”
He was a step or two ahead of her, but he stopped and glanced back, an amused look on his face. “Three hundred.”
She blinked and struggled to digest that number. “I’m only twenty-eight.”
“Why do you say it like that’s an issue?”
“Because I am thinking I might be a little too young for you.”
He chuckled. “You’re a demigoddess, and I’m a dragon shifter. I think we’ve successfully bucked the conventional rules already.”
He had a point.
While they walked this time, his hand found hers, fingers twining together in a way she recalled seeing in movies. The tightness that had filled her chest before bloomed until there was a fullness in the area of her heart, a feeling she was still afraid to analyze, but too smart to ignore.
“What are we doing?” she asked after they’d walked awhile longer.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
But he didn’t release her hand as they continued to walk.
* * *
“This isn’t good,” Bleu said as he smoothed down the hair of his beard. “In fact, it’s worse than anything we could’ve imagined.”
The Drakon were assembled in the main conference room, sitting around the table staring at a wall where a complete picture of the universe was on a clear screen. The background was dark and littered with stars, seven orbs and thirteen moons taking their rightful places. Bleu was the only one standing, using a pointer while he continued to explain.
“These are the four realms,” he said, pointing at each orb on the screen. “The Far, Human, Spirit and Fae Realms. And these are the veils that separate each realm.”
Wavy yellow ribbons spiraled around each orb, filling the space between them like a sort of glue. The remaining three orbs were outside the ribbons and, to their knowledge, were uninhabited.
“Is this a history lesson?” Reece asked.
Ziva shook her head and Aiken chuckled.
Theo looked over to where Shola sat to his right. She was quiet, but staring at the screen as if she were, in fact, in school. He wanted to touch her again.
“They appear brighter than usual,” Steele said.
Bleu nodded. “Yes. Glad you recognized that. Centuries ago, the Watchers of the Far Realm took note of this change. It occurs every five hundred years and lasts for one hundred nights.”
“And what does this have to do with our present issue?” Steele asked. “We’ve had some exposure that we probably need to clean up. Enforcers are watching the Tower and lighting up our phones with requests to interview Theo and all of his agents with reference to what happened two nights ago. We have other clients that we need to be working with, but we’ve been stuck here, twiddling our thumbs.”
“The exposure was contained,” Theo answered. “There are no reports on the local or national news, which leads me to believe the only ones who saw me were the vampires who were there, and who are now all dead.”