The Betrayer (Crossing Realms Series Book 3)

by Rebecca E. Neely

  “It’s logical, but still a huge risk for me,” Jordan snapped. “And even if it does work, what makes you think your clan won’t kill me on sight?”

  “First of all,” Curtis said evenly, “I’m also taking a huge risk by returning to full power. I might as well paint a target on my back. Who knows what’s going on out there.” He stabbed a finger in the direction of one of the windows.

  Jordan thought of the impressions that’d rocked her and even now lingered in her mind. “The Second Rebellion,” she said soberly. “It’s what Abel has wanted all along. Wouldn’t we sense a massive amount of dark energy from that?”

  “I don’t know. We’ve been, for lack of a better word, insulated here. Maybe it’s how the Watchers intended it. With me not at full power. And you . . .” His voice trailed off.

  “Yeah, and me. The wild card.”

  “Look, as far as my clan is concerned, they’re not going to hurt you, I promise. Once I explain everything to them, they’ll understand. Fact is, we don’t have a choice. I need your help. And you need mine.”

  It was true, as much as she hated to admit it. Though she knew no matter what explanations he offered his clan, no matter what she was, or wasn’t, she would always be seen as the enemy. She swiped a hand through her dreadlocks. “I don’t put a lot of stock in promises.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” He paused, his eyes searching hers. “I’m scared too,” he said simply.

  Somehow, his admission went further toward bolstering her confidence than some lofty, empty speech. “Fear keeps you sharp.” Her mouth quirked in a half grin. “We’ve got that going for us.”

  He smiled fully, one conspirator to another, and against her better judgement, her heart softened a few degrees.

  “If my Vitality energy starts to harm you in any way as I’m increasing it, I’ll stop. But I have every reason to think it won’t.”

  Wanting badly to believe him, in the promises she’d just renounced, she clamped down on her resolve. “And if it does?”

  “Then we find another way. No matter what, we can’t stay here. I need to get back to my clan. We need answers.”

  “We do.” They had to make a move, each of them for their own reasons. Him, to return to his clan and help them fight. Her, to understand what was happening and to find out if she could survive as she was—and eventually escape. She’d surely be killed if she sought out her brood. If she were to base her actions on logic alone, and completely subtract emotion, it seemed her only choice was going with him.

  “No matter what, it’s smarter to leave at night,” he said.

  “Yes.” No argument there. Darkness and shadows had always been a staple of her existence.

  “Before I start to dial up my energy, let’s cover what we know.” He thought a moment. “Based on what I’ve seen, and if I were to chart the rate of your recovery, I’d say it’s more exponential versus linear in nature.”

  She arched a brow. It sounded like something Magpie would say. “Exponential, huh?”

  He flushed. “All I’m saying, your recovery-slash-transformation is progressing by leaps and bounds.” He rushed on. “I don’t have a sophisticated way to measure it. At first, it must have been pretty slow. It was almost three days until you were conscious, moving around, talking. Now, it seems to be gaining momentum. I can only credit the Vitality energy. And mysterious ways.”

  “It makes sense.” Mysterious ways. Since she’d been a child, the stories she’d been told had awed and frightened her. And interestingly, his thought process matched hers, which she filed away for later consideration.

  “Obviously, both of us have every reason not to trust the other. Betrayers. Keepers.” Curtis raised a hand in a helpless gesture, as if he still couldn’t believe they were here, together. “And yet, this is going to require a great deal of trust on both our parts.”

  She sighed. Knowing, yet hating it was true, how could she trust him? She barely trusted herself. “Agreed.”

  “Since we’ve been here, I’ve told you the truth,” Curtis stressed.

  She hesitated. “And I you.”

  He studied her long enough to make her squirm, and suspect he already knew she hadn’t been completely forthcoming. Abruptly, she looked away.

  “So, Jordan. What do you say?”

  She jerked her head up to meet his eyes. In them she saw unflagging determination, and an unexpected warmth. “That’s the first time you’ve called me by name.” She should be incensed, indignant at the fact. Except hearing him say ‘Jordan’ in his quiet, rolling timbre slipped past her defenses, stirring something tender in her akin to hope.

  Damn him.

  He gave the slightest of nods, acknowledging it. That he didn’t try to deny it went further to his credit.

  Trust. She fixed an image in her mind of Magpie. Of her father, too. She’d do this for them. She gathered her courage, her heart pounding. Thirty-three. Sixteen. Confiding in someone, sharing thoughts, speaking freely—all of it forced her to reject her first animal instinct to run, to hide in the shadows where she’d be forgotten. And survive another day, the story of her life. Now, it appeared survival depended on her doing the exact opposite. She cleared her throat. “I have a theory. About what I think is happening to me.”

  “Okay.” He leaned against the mini-fridge and folded his arms across his chest. “Let’s hear it.”

  She spoke slowly, the mistrust of a lifetime shackling her with iron fists. “When you found me, I’d been drained of dark energy. To create the Similitude. I was dying. It’s like you . . .” Her voice faltered. “I think your Vitality is sustaining me. It’s like you gave me an energy transfusion,” she mused, giving voice to her idea, days in the making.

  “Of my Vitality.” He tapped a finger to his chin, clearly analyzing her idea fully. “I’ve been going over and over it in my mind. Trying to figure it out. You were almost like a . . . a blank slate. And you were able to assimilate it because of your mixed background. Betrayers were once Keepers,” he pointed out. “There are still a lot of unknowns, but it makes sense.”

  Jordan found herself oddly touched he believed her, even as she eschewed the notion of needing anyone’s validation.

  Much less a Keeper’s.

  “What does that make you? A born-again Keeper? A Keeper in a Betrayer’s body? Is it permanent or temporary?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know how to deal with it, or where to go from here.”

  “Are there more like you? Or were like you? Who have mixed backgrounds?”

  “There are several in my brood. And other broods. It’s not discussed. We’re considered lower class citizens.” Hunching her shoulders, the familiar shame filled her. Just as quickly, anger reared up to take its place. According to all the physical evidence, she was no longer a mongrel. But the stigma she’d lived with for years remained as much a part of her as her own flesh and bone. Who knew how long it would be until she actually believed it? Owned it?

  Years? Or never? “That’s another reason why I’m telling you I don’t have any inside information.”

  “Uh huh,” he said, his tone short, dismissive. “Here’s a thought. If my energy is actually sustaining you, I think my dialing up fully isn’t going to hurt you. What does concern me, however, is how dark energy will affect you from now on. Is it possible, even though I believe there’s no dark energy in your system, you’ll still crave it? Be able to withstand it? Will it harm you, the way it does us? Will you still be driven to thieve it from humans? Prey on them?”

  Like lint, he’d flicked away her insistence she didn’t have any information. And without missing a beat, proceeded with his questions and concerns, all legitimate. So why did they cut her? Debase her?

  With all the dignity she could muster, she steeled her chin.
“I’m not proud of some of the things I’ve done. But it’s the only life I’ve ever known. What I did, I did to survive.” Envy, swift and powerful, inundated her. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever had to do anything to survive. Or gone hungry. Or been treated like trash because of what you are.”

  Seizing one of his hands, she turned it palm side up. Though the contact rocked her system, she sneered. “Soft hands,” she muttered. “I bet you’ve never done a day’s work away from your computer in your life.”

  He snatched his hand from hers.

  Instantly, she missed his touch.

  He didn’t move away but crowded her until she was forced to look at him. Only then did he speak. “Don’t you concern yourself with what kind of work I’ve done.” His tone held an edge. “I have a good family. And a good life. I won’t apologize for it. But things aren’t perfect in my world either.”

  Instinct told her Curtis was the type of man who was slow to anger, but once he got there, his temper exploded. Though pleased on some level she’d been able to stir him to even a fraction of that, she spread her hands, as much to express her concerns as to call a truce. “When it comes to the dark energy, I’m not sure what to expect. One thing I do know, you can’t have it both ways. If I’m thriving on the Vitality energy, then the dark energy is going to harm me.” She sniffed. “It’s simple logic.”

  Good. Stick to something he’ll understand.

  Her chest tightened as an idea occurred to her. What if, when she found Magpie—and she would find her—she hurt her with the Vitality? What if she couldn’t be near her?

  “Hard to argue there.” He jammed his hands in his pockets. “Betrayers have a keen sense of smell. Are you able to scent the different energies?”

  “I don’t seem to have inherited that particular ability.” She wasn’t lying. She just wasn’t telling him the whole story.

  Curtis scrutinized her, as if he already knew what she’d omitted.

  Squirming, Jordan turned away. “We should get started. The sooner you dial up your energy, the sooner we’ll know for sure about leaving.”

  And she did want to leave. During the last three days, her will to live had been renewed. The gods knew why. It certainly had nothing to do with Curtis Geary. Even as she denied it, desire for him cracked through her body like a whip, powerful as any energy she’d known. Unexpected, instantaneous, it left her shaken. Wanting. And painfully aware of her sexuality, something she’d nearly forgotten in the last several years.

  Abel had robbed her of so much, using her as a tool to allegedly serve the brood. Until she’d served her purpose. Or died. She’d be damned if she’d ever be exploited again.

  “I’m ready whenever you are,” Curtis said quietly.

  She whirled around to face him. “If it does work,” she began, as another idea occurred to her, “will you give me my own stone?”

  “I don’t have one to give you. Even if I did, you might not be ready. You need to learn to command its power. Which has to be gradual. Plus I’m unsure of the consequences.”

  Fearful, determined, her decision made, her gaze dipped to the stones around his neck. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  If she could survive this, she could survive on her own.

  But not without first relieving him of both his Vitality and Flint.

  For she had no intention of returning to the network with him.

  Chapter 11

  Standing in a doorway of the reno, Curtis raised his arms over his head and brushed his fingertips against the unfinished drywall. For the fifth time in seven hours, he watched Jordan ready herself for the next round of his energy dial up.

  She sat cross-legged on the floor and stretched, the muscles in her slender, sinewy limbs flexing. She inhaled, and the peaks of her breasts grazed her pathetic excuse for a T-shirt. And the memory of her unexpected softness, her taste, flooded him.

  Right or wrong, he wanted more. Soon.

  With difficulty, he too prepared to focus. As he’d predicted, his gradual return to the full power of his Vitality hadn’t harmed her. At least not that he was aware. Closing his eyes, he breathed in. Out.

  Jordan was hiding something.

  She’d provided him selective answers and lied by omission, telling him only what she absolutely had to. No doubt she regarded it as a trade, one for her life. He couldn’t blame her, and yet . . .

  As he’d told her, he still had a helluva lot of questions, and he’d get them answered, one way or another. As evasive as she might be, that’s how dogged and determined he was. Soon this sexy Betrayer turned Keeper would know who she was dealing with.

  To his Keeper core, Curtis knew she wasn’t being totally honest, had known it since she’d awakened, demanding answers about why she was still alive. Despite her mixed background, she’d lived as a Betrayer, and still thought and behaved as one. Could he blame her? Even when confronted with the unarguable fact Compulsions never lied, she’d never wavered from her story—she didn’t know anything that could help the clan.

  He could’ve accused her, demanded information. But patience, along with logic, was something else he possessed in spades. Oh, she’d riled him earlier, even impressed him with her capacity to get under his skin. But backing her into a corner would do more harm than good, so he’d wait her out. Pick his moment. Much as, he guessed, she would pick hers.

  He’d expected her to lie, to evade, to mistrust. What he hadn’t counted on was his raging lust for her, intensifying with every moment he spent in her company. Even after she’d accused him of having ‘soft hands.’ He smirked. Maybe he did, but he’d seen his share of action lately. More satisfying than losing his temper over her well-aimed barb, would be rendering her mad with desire when he used his ‘soft hands’ to stroke every part of her.

  Dammit! Evicting all sexual thoughts, he palmed the Vitality stone around his neck, sensing, rather than seeing its glow, and prepared to fully focus.

  Jordan opened one eye. “You ready?”

  “Getting there,” Curtis muttered, and joined her on the plywood floor. Though he understood she was going through this gradual ‘dial up’ process because it was self-serving, it hurt, unreasonably so, to think she trusted him only enough to get by, and to do what needed done. That made him angry at her and himself.

  Well, what could he expect? She’d commit to whatever would make her independent again, and nothing more. When he returned to his normal level of Vitality energy, he fully expected her to try bolting. He didn’t need to pass into her Vista to know that. Did she think he was an idiot? He hadn’t missed the way she’d eyed his stones. The way a starving wolf did a fresh kill. After spending days with her, he’d become more adept than he’d have liked at reading her expressions, her mannerisms. He’d be primed to thwart her, on guard for whatever she threw at him.

  If Abel knew she was alive, he’d come after her full force, if what she’d told him was to be believed. Coming to the network was her best and only choice.

  For after he’d kissed her—and maybe even before—he’d realized he couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving. Therefore, he wouldn’t give her the opportunity.

  The woman had already become a part of him.

  Thunder rumbled, shaking the reno to its foundation. His eyes flew open. Jordan remained curled on the floor, her palms resting on her thighs, unaffected by the sights and sounds of weather. A slight frown fixed her lips, and three lines creased her forehead. Save for that, it was the most relaxed he’d seen her.

  He very nearly smiled. Each time he’d dialed up, he’d been aware of the light in her eyes, though she’d tried hard to hide it. The Vitality energy was changing her, empowering her.

  Lightning flashed, and he glanced at his watch. Closing his eyes once more, the image of this utterly serene Jordan in his mind, he focused wholly on the Vitality
and concentrated on escalating its level a fraction. They had three hours till dark.

  ~ ~ ~

  The reverberations resounded in Jordan’s mind, as they had each time Curtis increased his level of energy. And each time, they not only felt more natural, she remained unscathed by the Vitality. She marveled at that as she tried to conceive the possibilities and consequences.

  The sensations weren’t an onslaught, as when she’d first regained consciousness, and they were certainly nothing like what she’d endured when she’d been forced to re-purpose the Similitude.

  However, though the reverberations continued to grow clearer and sharper, she seemed somehow insulated from them, unable to identify their source or location. Control of them—tuning them in and out at will—remained slippery, just beyond her grasp. Would that come? It must if she were to survive. No matter what, the Vitality energy was strengthening her.

  She was without a stone of her own. Not for long. Nervously, she licked her lips. She’d worked with Similitude but never Vitality. Would she be able to learn how to control it by herself?

  Swallowing, she ignored the knots tying up her stomach. Curtis had saved her life. And she might end his by stealing his Vitality and Flint. Blindly, she grasped at assurances. She’d make sure he was okay. She’d get him help. She’d . . .