Burning Dawn

by Gena Showalter

Her hand fluttered over her heart, as if she sought to dampen a sudden pain. "How did you escape?"

  "I struggled so forcefully against my bonds, I broke both of the wrist and ankle cuffs. I also broke my wrists and ankles, and dislocated both my shoulders, but I somehow found the strength to unhook Bjorn from overhead and yank Xerxes from the wall. By the time the demons returned to us, we had healed. We were able to fight."

  "Oh, Thane. What you endured... I'm so sorry."

  He reached out, brushed away one of her tears. "No sadness or sorrow. Not for me. The experience broke me, yes. But the pieces were eventually welded back together, making me stronger than I would have been otherwise. And now I have Xerxes and Bjorn. Something beautiful from something dark."

  "Beauty from ashes," she said, the words she'd given him once before. She propelled into his chest, splashing water into his mouth as she enfolded him in her arms. "But, Thane?"

  Peering into her eyes caused the most exquisite ache. "Yes, Elin."

  "You also have me."

  *

  ELIN TOTALLY GOT Thane's need to hurt and be hurt now. His past had shaped him, and what he'd been denied had become what he desired most, somehow becoming entangled with the most passionate part of his life. Sex.

  All of her insecurities and reservations about that part of his life died in that moment.

  "If those urges ever return--" she said.

  "They won't."

  "You don't know that. So, as I was saying. If those urges ever return, come to me. Let's talk about it. Let me be the one to satisfy you. I'm not afraid anymore," she added when he opened his mouth to protest. "Not even a little."

  His features softened with adoration. "It isn't just about your fear. It's about my abhorrence of the idea of harming the one I'm meant to protect...of marring the woman I cherish most."

  She knew her smile was laced with every dream and secret fantasy she'd ever had. "I'm sure there are ways to do it that won't truly harm me."

  His eyelids went heavy. "Yes. I can punish you the way you punish me."

  Her nipples puckered as she rubbed against him. "I'm looking forward to it. But right now, I'm more interested in giving you a severe tongue-lashing...."

  *

  THANE CLUTCHED ELIN to his chest. She'd given him a tongue-lashing all right...and like the warrior he was, he'd somehow found the strength to endure.

  Wicked, wild woman. She pushed him to heights he'd never imagined possible.

  The "punishment" session had taken place in bed hours ago, and they had yet to leave.

  "I would like to discuss the future," she said now, straddling his waist.

  He nodded, encouraging her to continue.

  "I told you I want to stay with you, and I meant it. But I don't want to stay as your employee. I want to stay as your equal. And, yes, I know you're stronger. I'm not foolish. I know you have wealth, and I come with nothing. But I want to be your woman, and--"

  "I agree," he rushed out. She was giving him the words he craved more than life. He would have promised the moon and stars.

  She grinned. "You didn't even hear the rest of what I had to say."

  "I don't need to. I want you, now and always. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you."

  "Well, good, because it means exclusivity, open lines of communication, trust, girls' night at the bar every other Friday, and sleeping with me every night. And for the record, 'sleeping' does not mean lying awake and holding me."

  "Elin--"

  "No. You said you'd agree to anything, and this is what I'm asking. Let me help you with your nightmares. I've done a good job so far, right?"

  "At the cost of your own rest."

  "Rest, shmest. If you'll let me, I'll scare your bad dreams away. I mean, really. Have you seen my new biceps? They are sick."

  If by "sick" she meant "on life support," then yes. His woman was delicate, and there was nothing wrong with that--in fact, there was everything right with it. "Agreed." Whatever she wanted, he would give her. Even that. Because she was right--being with her was helping tamp down the nightmares. He had never imagined such a thing possible, but there were many things he would have denied...until Elin had made the impossible possible. "But I will need a concession from you."

  Triumphant, she leaned down and nibbled on his earlobe. He almost lost track of his thoughts. Almost.

  "I love you, Elin," he admitted, tangling his hands in her hair. "I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman."

  Gasping, she jolted upright. Her eyes were wide with shock. "What did you say?"

  "I love you." She owned his heart. His soul. And he couldn't regret their loss. They were safer than they'd ever been. "You had me from the start, when you bravely aided my escape from a common enemy. You became my brightest light. My sweetest hope. And now that you've addicted me to all that you are, I can't give you up. I won't give you up. We're in this together from now on."

  Tears welled in her eyes.

  He rolled her over, pinning her with his weight, and kissed the salty droplets away. "And now, the concession," he continued. "When I find a way to make you fully immortal, and I will, you will do what's necessary. Whatever it is."

  "But--"

  "No buts." He cupped her face, gave her a little shake. This was too important. "You will. I would rather die than lose you." Over the past few days, his sense of doom had only grown. Now, when things were finally right between him and the woman holding his heart, it was making him desperate. "And, Elin? That's exactly what will happen. If ever you leave me, whatever the reason, I won't be able to move on. I don't care what I've told you about overcoming your loss of Bay."

  "But I'll want you to--"

  "No," he said again. "Without you, I have nothing. Without you, I want nothing."

  Overcome by the need to possess her, here, now, and always, he spread his burning hands over every inch of her. Staking his claim. Leaving his mark. "You are mine," he said. "I won't lose you."

  "I'm yours. And you're mine. I won't lose you, either," she gasped, urging his head down for a kiss. "Not to anything."

  "Not ever," he agreed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  SHE HADN'T TOLD THANE she loved him, Elin realized.

  She wanted to tell him. She really did. Because she knew deep down that the man owned her heart every bit as much as she owned his. But guilt kept the words trapped inside her.

  She was already giving him everything Bay had lost. How could she give him those precious words, too? Especially when, in Thane's arms, she was happier than she'd ever been.

  "You ready, kulta?" He came up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her waist, flattening his pleasure-giving hands on her belly, and kissing the hollow of her neck.

  The time to leave the island and meet up with the others had arrived. Thane's injury was completely healed. Elin's sense of despondency had lifted. They had a demon prince to hunt, and a Phoenix king to spank. Not necessarily in that order.

  "Ready." She turned in his embrace to anchor her arms around his neck, careful not to pull at the feathers in his majestic wings.

  A rare few Phoenix had wings, though the appendages formed from smoke and were the color of the darkest night. She'd never craved a pair of her own. Until now. To keep pace with Thane...to be his equal in something. Oh, she knew she'd told him she wanted to be treated as his equal, but she also knew it would be an act, nothing more.

  Gently, he chucked her on the chin. "What's this?"

  Always he guessed her mood correctly and sensed the slightest change. Am I that predictable--or is he just that aware of me?

  She told him her thoughts, leaving nothing out. She'd demanded his trust, and she would give her own. He was her man. He would never use her vulnerabilities against her.

  "Elin, of the two of us, you hold more power. Never doubt that."

  She blinked in astonishment. Of all the things he could have said, that hadn't been on the list of possibilities. Because he couldn't lie! So...t
hose earth-shattering words were true to him.

  "Sorry, baby, but I'm doubting," she admitted. "I don't understand."

  "I told you. You own me. I'm yours. All that I have been. All that I am. All that I will ever be. Your happiness is mine. Your fury is mine. And your needs will be met before mine. I love you, and to me, that means placing you first and giving to you what I will never give to another. Power over me."

  Trembling, she pressed her forehead against his chest. "Thank you."

  Tell him. Tell him right now.

  Just...can't.

  She fisted his robe. "The things you say to me..."

  "Come straight from the heart you revived."

  "See! Like that!" She straightened and met his earnest gaze. "They're beautiful. Like poetry. And what do I give you in return?" Nothing but trouble!

  His expression was infinitely tender. "You give me what I've never had before. Peace."

  "How? I'm just...me."

  "A puzzle without its final piece is never complete. I am a puzzle, and you are my piece." His eyes sparked with mischief as he added, "I am a rose, and you are my thorn."

  She snorted. "Thorns aren't just annoying. They are there to protect the rose, you know."

  "I know."

  "So...stoic Thane just admitted his ladybird is one badass chick?"

  "He did."

  "Well, that's gonna get him laid so hard later."

  He barked out a laugh. With a single flap of his wings, he shot in the air, and Elin tightened her hold on him. The higher they glided, the cooler the air became, but pressed against Thane she never grew cold. When he leveled out, pressure kept her body flat against him, practically bonding them. Wind whipped at her hair, and the strands slapped at her cheeks.

  Hours passed before they reached their destination. A castle Bjorn kept in the third level of the heavens, about twenty miles from the Downfall. She gaped at the grand stone stairway outside, with flowers blooming on both sides, leading to something straight out of a fairy tale. Outer walls slightly darker than the clouds surrounded them, with sapphire steeples and stained-glass windows.

  "You like?" Thane asked after setting her down and taking her hand.

  "The word like makes a mockery of the enormity of my feelings. I want to marry it."

  He smiled. "There is a similar castle for sale on the other side of the world. No one has bought it, because it's become overrun by trolls. But with only a phone call, it can be ours."

  Ours? Ours! As in, living together for real? Her brows winged up. "Question. Why aren't you making that call right now?"

  He chuckled, and it was such a beautiful sound. Rusty, but beautiful.

  "What?" she said with mock fury and a stomp of her foot. "Forget what I said that day of the demon attack. Every girl dreams of being a princess at some point or another."

  "You'll have to settle for queen of my heart."

  Sappy male.

  My male.

  "Deal."

  At the massive double doors, Thane didn't bother to knock. He pushed his way in. The foyer had a domed ceiling, gilded walls with carved swirling designs, and a marble floor.

  Footsteps echoed beyond the hallway, getting closer by the second.

  Then Bellorie was racing around a corner and barreling toward her. Elin let go of Thane to meet her in the middle. They hugged and they cried, and all the while she felt her man's gaze on her back, watching over her.

  He's got it bad for me.

  Thank the Most High, because I've got it bad for him.

  She had to nut up and tell him how she felt about him--that was all there was to it. I love you, Thane. With every ounce of my being. Boom. Done. Just like that. The feeling was all-consuming, disconcerting. And yet, somehow empowering. Being with him didn't take away from her relationship with Bay. Being with him reminded her that happy endings were possible. That she never again had to be alone, or an outcast. Thane accepted her for all that she was. He adored her. And he needed her.

  Bay, sweet boy that he'd been, had never needed her. They had been two wholes coexisting alongside each other rather than two halves that made up a whole, each necessary for the other's survival.

  Thane...she couldn't breathe without.

  "You're the last to arrive, Bonka Donk," Bellorie said with a sniffle. "We were worried about you when we clearly shouldn't have been, because, girl, you are glowing like a night-light with Mr. Taken One's essentia. Far brighter than before...which makes me wonder what the two of you have been doing."

  She blushed. Not because she was embarrassed for being Thane's woman--she was beyond proud--but because everyone would know what they'd been doing together. Like they didn't already know. FYI, your satisfied smile is a dead giveaway, too.

  "So, anyway, we're holding a ladies-only memorial outside." Bellorie peeked over Elin's shoulder. "Thane, every henhouse could use a cock. Want to be ours?"

  Don't laugh. Elin glanced back at him. He gave her a soft smile and waved her on. "Go without me. I need to confer with the other--men."

  Elin blew him a kiss.

  He caught it in the air and said, "I'll miss you."

  The fact that he could utter those words in front of an audience, and not care, melted her. "I'll miss you, too." So freaking bad.

  "Gag," Bellorie said, pulling Elin along. "Be mushy on your own time."

  As quickly as the girl dragged her, Elin had no chance to admire the castle and its interior--every piece of furniture had to have been built by unicorns while living inside a rainbow, because, wow. Talk about magical!

  The backyard had a large garden teeming with sweet-smelling flowers and lush green vines, everything shrouded by a thin, glittering veil of mist--and were those fairies buzzing about?

  Not full-grown Fae, like Chanel, but small, about the size of her index finger, and--

  Chanel.

  Threads of remorse wove a tapestry inside her. A tapestry of memories. Chanel's bright smile. Her adorable giggle. Her killer instinct on the field of boulder battle.

  Octavia and Savy each held a bottle of clear liquid. It had to be the most potent alcohol of all time, judging by the smell of it. Bellorie grabbed the two bottles waiting at their feet and handed one to Elin.

  "To effing Chanel!"

  Everyone raised a bottle before taking a swig.

  Elin coughed and choked the burning flames down. "What is this crap? Moonshine?"

  "Better," Octavia said. "Moonshine from Tartarus. You know, the prison for immortals. I've got a friend on the inside. Well, the part still standing, that is."

  So. She was drinking alcohol that had been mixed in some immortal's toilet. Awesome.

  "I keep expecting Chanel to pop out and say 'gotcha, I'm still alive, suckas,'" Savy admitted.

  "Wouldn't that be just like the little hooker? Make us mourn and cry and talk about her, just for grins and giggles." Smiling, Bellorie scanned the yard. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

  They waited.

  When Chanel failed to appear, Bellorie's smile faded. "The world won't be the same without her."

  "No. It won't." This was nice. Elin had never had this before. Camaraderie after a loss. After the deaths of her husband and father, she had been a slave, and emotional outbursts had not been tolerated. Sobbing into her thin blanket at night had been her only solace. With her mother and newborn brother, same deal. "I'll never forget her smart mouth. I like to think she gave some of that sass to me."

  "Hear, hear," Bellorie said, and again raised her bottle. She drained half the contents. "I know she wouldn't want a sober person at her memorial. She was sweet like that."

  "For you, Alcoballic." Elin drank. Thankfully, the more she drank, the smoother the liquid went down.

  Within the hour, everyone was laughing and sharing their favorite stories about the girl. Elin almost peed her pants when Savy told hers, talking casually about Chanel tripping and landing face-first in some random immortal's lap. He'd just smiled, patted her on top of her h
ead, and told her that his balls needed a moment to recover before she attempted another blow job.

  They spent the next half hour guessing his identity, and Elin was just certain she was right. Alex Pettyfer. He had to be some type of immortal, right?

  Speaking of eye candy, she wondered where Thane was, what he was doing.

  Probably still with his boys, she decided, planning his--their--war. I'm in this with him. All the way. Though she had no idea what to do about the prince, she had an idea about Ardeo.

  If you want a man's attention, her mother once said, find out what he loves most...and take it away. Guaranteed, he'll dog your every step from that moment on.

  Ardeo wanted Malta. It would be cruel to pretend the woman had somehow regenerated and was now in their clutches, but he'd written the rules of this war when he stabbed Thane, and those rules were quite simple: anything goes.

  One mention of Malta's name, and he would come running...straight into a trap.

  "--even listening?" Bellorie asked, and she blinked into focus. "She's got it bad, ya'll. Love has done gone and fried her brain."

  It had. It really had. "What'd I miss?"

  "The best story ever about how I'm going to march into the realm of the Fae and decapitate everyone I come across! Chanel would have wanted her entire race slaughtered for kicking her out. I just know it."

  Savy shook her head and made a cutting motion over her throat.

  "Why did they kick her out, anyway?" Elin asked.

  Savy groaned.

  "For being too wonderful," Bellorie said, ignoring her. "But back to my war plans. I'll wear black spandex, of course, like a true ninja, and--"

  Octavia waved her fists in the air and shouted, "Why me?"

  Elin covered a giggle with the back of her hand, then sat back and listened to Bellorie wax on and on about the clothes she would wear, the weapons she would use, and the history books that would need to be written about her exploits.

  Never would Elin have guessed that she'd find herself in such a situation. Sorrowful but comforting. Sad but sweet. This wasn't the life she'd once envisioned for herself, but dang if it wasn't better.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  THANE EXITED THE BATHROOM with a towel wrapped around his waist. He and the boys had decided on a plan of action, to be carried out later today. Find Ardeo. Track him. Follow him to the prince. Perhaps the two would set up a meeting so the prince could reward Ardeo for stabbing Thane. If not, Ardeo would find a way to reach the prince. The Phoenix king believed the fallen angel could bring Malta back to life; he wouldn't rest until he was proved wrong.