I nod to Teegan’s team, and two of them move off. They can follow the stream if they want. In any direction they want. I’ve already done that.
“Show me where this water doesn’t start from,” Teegan coos, taking lithe steps away from the cluster of logs arranged for sitting on and onto the path.
Pebbles, just smooth enough for Kitten to walk – or stumble – across barefoot trace the edge of the stream. Teegan has grace. Each of her steps, in her shiny deer-hide boots, is almost soundless. And she has the kind of hips that perch atop long legs without any ability to hide the swish and sway of her walk. Legs that are bare. Smooth. Not a scratch or a mark.
“She was dead when you got here?” Teegan asks, pointing to the blood on the boulder as we amble around a garden bed and away from where Kitten and Pax are having a heated discussion out of sight, but not quite out of my senses. I can’t make out the words, just the heavy tones and the intensity in the air. Kitten’s desire is still heavy even at this distance.
And still fanning the fire inside me.
I try to settle my emotions before saying, “Yes, long dead.” Following Teegan further along the path.
Her back is bare. Aeons, the top she’s wearing barely covers her front, and her skirt is short to the point of barely covering anything at all. It’s not like she can help the seductive tones of her voice or the way she wets her lips before talking and chews her lip while listening. She was born this way. She is a SeductionSeed.
What she can help is using her power to force Kitten’s hand into making a move that was so close to ending everything. Ending our realm. Ending our future. Ending her life.
Ending me.
And maybe it worked out for the better, but Teegan couldn’t have known that.
“Oh, look,” Teegan says when the wall of nothing comes into view, still oblivious to the way I am stalking behind her. My hands are clasped behind my back, my gaze either on the path, or numbly on one of her features. “It does just end.”
I almost chuff. Of course, it bloody ends. Aeons, I said it ended.
The path just runs out. One minute there’s path and the little stream, the next it’s a sheer wall of stone. Black like night, and worn smooth by a million years of water flowing endlessly down from the giant sequoia on top. I’ve been here – done this a million times. Looked at the stone and the tree and the stream, and none of it is helping!
The up the slope bit is weird – but we worked out Eydis played a hand in that.
The water coming out from under a tree root bit is weird – but I’ve linked that to old magma tunnels.
The wall of stone worn smooth, also weird – but given the amount of time that has passed and the type of stone it is actually incredibly feasible.
Teegan is running her fingers through the cascading water, parting it like curtains as she delicately explores the surface through her touch… Eyelids lowered and her lashes, long and fluttering, and reflecting the afternoon sun… Her lips part just a little and each breath lifts her chest, drawing my eye down to the low v in her top…
All seduction, and my ready-to-break Allure snatches up the essence of what she’s offering and throws me into the mix with it.
My hands are under her shirt, flat against her stomach, spinning her to face me, before my mind is even aware of it. Fire explodes inside of me, raging heat that has to knock down the walls I’ve built to protect Kitten before it can connect.
And it does connect. Hard and vibrant with every color of desire. The rush of my power meeting hers leaves me gasping, and the minute the connection is there, I feel her strength rush into me. The way a Saber interaction should be – she draws in from me, and I draw in from her.
I feel my power rush into her.
The water cascading over her shoulders as I pin her. My arms tangled in her shirt.
To hold Teegan – I realize.
Teegan.
Not Kitten.
Her head tilts back, and an excited gasp escapes expectant lips. Her eyes are actually closed. She’s so sure my lips will find hers.
But my power has raced through her, felt around the edges of what she has to offer, decided it’s no longer good enough for us, and already begun to retreat.
I growl. The sound so alien from my own lips that even my eyes open wider with shock, and Teegan looks horrified.
No, if I’m going to lose control of my power, it has to be with Teegan. Teegan can handle it. Teegan will survive.
But instead my power reaches and stretches around me, seeking the true source of its desire. Seeking Kitten.
“What?” Teegan gasps, trying to straighten and having considerable trouble with my arms still wrapped up in her shirt.
And the frustrated crease to her lips is… amusing.
I smile down at her.
“What are you waiting for?” she asks, struggling to the tips of her toes and running her tongue over my lips.
I straighten, standing too tall for her to reach.
She’s right. We’d normally be all over each other. The smooth surface of the stone is enticing on its own. It’s not slippery, just wet, and the leverage from the pebbles underfoot would be more than enough for me to support Kitten’s weight.
The moss that has covered the space from the base of the wall down along the stones and the stream – that looks like it would be a fun surface too. A perfect balance between being able to bend and push and maneuver a person, and yet not hurt them.
Teegan settles one long finger over my lips. “Shh,” she says. “Whatever you’re thinking…”
Her power slips over me, then off me. Like I have my own bubble.
I didn’t want the pretty things at the inn in Rengurra, and I didn’t want the Seduction at Lackshir. None of them.
And Teegan, an Elite Seduction, her power should compete with mine – able to be the sun to a sunflower. Irresistible.
But all of that is gone.
Replaced by a feeling as smooth as glass and as permanent as stone.
I splay my hand out against the wall, my chest heaving through this strange new part of my heart that I didn’t know existed. Teegan has one leg hitched over my hip. One hand had already worked the clip loose on my pants, and damn if I wasn’t close to getting that tumble my brothers wanted – without even realizing it.
I couldn’t now, even if for some reason, I did want to.
I couldn’t, and I don’t want to.
I trail my hand through the flow of water over stone, marveling at the clean sensation. Not that I felt dirty before – but that my fingers are alive with every slice of liquid-over-skin in a way that makes me wonder if I’ve ever really felt this in control before. This clear-headed. This alive with my own choices. Calm and pure and… everything.
If this is what it should feel like to be alive, have I really felt anything before?
Anything.
Ever – or at least since I was a young child and my power revolved around obtaining sweets and not cleaning my room.
Teegan pushes and wriggles just enough to free herself from between me and the cliff. Then she begins to pace behind me.
“You’re right,” she huffs. “Nothing.”
She stops and crosses her arms over her chest, waiting. Finally, I pull my hand from the water and re-fasten my pants. I don’t turn my body, just my head, settling my calm gaze on her.
My far too calm gaze – which falters slightly as the weight of Kitten’s role in my life begins to descend. Telling her my power wants her is way down on my to-do list. Keeping her safe is way up on the top of that list.
“You played a part in Rose’s actions,” I begin, power seeping out with my words, “and even if you didn’t, I need you to know that it will be your death too, if any harm comes to that mortal.”
She smiles. Long. Slow. Seductive… but not.
“That’s exactly what I expected you to say. I could taste it on you. In all this time, all the other partners you’ve had since me, you have always tasted t
he same. Available. Desirable. Now you taste like sweet honey. You taste like her.” As she talks, she runs her tongue over her lips, a quizzical squint in her eyes. “I can’t explain it or understand it, but I will respect it.”
I don’t believe it. Not that I don’t believe her, just what she thinks she can promise. I seem to have new limits, and I flex my power out in all directions to test them, but I’m quite certain she does not.
Five Paces
Killian puts me down on the edge of the big cleared rectangle of land, where the beginnings of green grass are shooting up through the dead crops. This is where he dumped me in the mud and reset my arm – for the millionth time.
Without thought, I flex and curl my fingers. My arm feels good, barely even an ache.
Seth catches up to us carrying a sword and spear. Then he moves about our training space, throwing stray sticks and the odd rock into the trees. The sword gets strapped to his belt, then he spins and twists the spear in wide warmup arcs while Killian sits on the ground and begins to stretch.
I turn my back to them and instead seek out Jada. Pax had said they would talk – which is probably what they’re doing now. I can’t see them. I bet they can see me, though, trying to hide the tremor in my muscles as I stand here not having a clue where to start – while the people around me know exactly what they’re doing and move smoothly into the activity.
I bet Jada would know what to do right now – how to train with Sabers.
“Stable your jealousy. She’s good people,” Killian says, making me jump a little. “If she hurts you, I’ll kill her, but jealousy is pointless.”
Big guys shouldn’t be able to soundlessly move from stretching on the ground to being way too close without making any noise. Shouldn’t, but Killian can.
“I don’t get jealous,” I mutter as Jada and Pax finally amble into sight. “And who’s good people?”
They’re still talking, walking next to each other like equals. It’s pretty damn clear he values her. And it’s pretty damn clear that stirs up emotions in me.
“That bond you’ve got with him is strong,” Killian says. “She can’t touch it.”
And that, right there, is pretty damn sweet – like honey.
But I can’t tell him that. So I just grunt. A low grr-uh sound that he follows with a hhhhrrrr-ing noise.
Pax turns sharply to look up where the stream merges with the forest, a little more predatory than normal. This whole business of commanding has him on edge – and since he’s a born commander, it’s obvious that the factor making everything harder for him is me.
Rynn and Amber, the redheaded Fire-Something-Seeds, enter first. Their horses are loaded high with supplies from the village – mostly flour, by the looks of it. Sabers like to eat, and bread seems to be high on their diet at the moment. They’re followed by three new women, Sabers with sweat-streaked horses who scan the domain, hands to hilts, before they spot Pax and relax a little. All five of them walk over to greet him.
Greet by dismounting and kneeling, evidence of gossip at its best. At least I impressed someone. Either that or my kissing looked so bad they’re desperate to keep away from me.
“I thought they needed Roarke to get in?” I mutter.
“He adjusted the wards,” Killian says.
“So anyone can walk in here?” That sounds stupid. Why would he weaken the protections?
“No, Rynn has a key,” he says.
“Key?” I press.
“Magic.”
I nod, okay, fair call. A magical door-of-sorts can be made to require a magical key. That makes sense.
“Can we trust Rynn?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Just not with frogs. If you’re a frog, you’ll be tortured.”
“Why?”
“Everyone has a guilty pleasure.”
“But frogs?”
He just shrugs again. That’s all I’m going to get. Rynn has frog murdering tendencies, but I like frogs.
I might say something else, but Roarke and Teegan emerge from the back of the little path and steal my ability to think.
They’re wet, both of them. Not completely been swimming wet, but just parts of their body wet. Her shirt and his sleeves. Matching body parts – because there’s no way she just went and laid down in a puddle while he walked over somewhere else and happened to put his arms in a different puddle up to his elbows.
Stuff like that just doesn’t happen.
Killian steps sharply in front of me, leaning down and inhaling deeply. “Green.”
“What? Killian, you’re in my way.”
“You smell green.”
“How can a person smell green? A person can smell like shit, but they can’t look like shit.”
He makes a ‘you do’ noise, and I pull my gaze away from Teegan marching towards Pax as Roarke ambles towards me.
That’s when I realize what I just said, and that it made no sense, and instead of hitting him, I run my hands over my sleep-messed hair. Damn Roarke for not giving me that band back.
“They don’t care,” Killian says.
Teegan probably does. Teegan looks perfect.
But I don’t care about Teegan. I care about Roarke – too much.
My AllureSeed hops the stream, chin slightly lowered, moving with a deadly, calculating stride into my bubble. His dark eyes lift to meet mine in that second and damn near set my soul on fire. My AllureSeed.
Hot as chuckin’ bralls. Like maybe, me plus him and dying right now would be such a blissful alternative to saving the world.
Heat prickles over my skin, and suddenly, it’s terribly easy to picture Roarke naked. Full butt naked. I’m already naked, who cares if we end up on the ground, in the mud.
Yes, please. My insides coil, ready to pounce on him. Wanting him.
Needing him.
He covers the distance toward us with those delicious eyes still holding mine and a little seductive smile hanging on the corner of his lips.
I swallow hard and grip Killian’s arm for support. Killian’s response is a sharp rumble as he turns his back to Roarke, taking me with him. Seth looks across at us, slowing the practice arcs he was rolling his spear through and looking curiously from one brother to the next.
My eyes go wide, trying to convey ‘help’ or even ‘save me.’ Or really anything that will let me face Roarke again. I dig my heels in, twist at the hips, and try to push away. But my back is pinned to Killian’s front, with the big guy’s arm cutting straight across my chest, almost carrying me across to Seth, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“Rein it in, Allure,” Killian growls.
Instantly, the heat pulls back. I know I should be feeling relieved. Maybe even normal. But what I feel is cold and empty.
I was enjoying that – so much!
It takes me a few breaths to get brain cells back together and analyze what just happened. I guess that’s the point of Roarke’s power. People want it, they respond to it. Being around him makes people want him.
That’s just not normally me, though, and not normally this hard.
Killian nods, just once, and relaxes his arm.
“She’s never latched on that hard before,” Roarke says, stepping into my view.
I swallow to wet my throat and tilt my head back against Killian’s chest. He doesn’t move or push me away, just stands and takes my weight as common sense sneaks back in.
He smiles down at me, then suddenly steps to the left. I slip and land with a hard thump on the soft ground as fresh mud seeps into the ass of my pants.
Seth chuckin’ cackles with laughter.
Killian huff-laughs, crouching down beside me. “Was his idea,” he says, stabbing his finger towards Seth.
Seth, who was supposed to be saving me and instead teamed up with Killian.
I pin my glare on Seth. “I thought you were on my team?”
“We’re all on the same team,” Killian grunts.
“And I thought we didn’t listen to him.” This
time I glare at Killian and point towards Seth.
Point with my left hand and sift the fingers of my right through the mud.
Not thick-puddle consistency, just soft-soil consistency, which makes it easy for me to get a nice handful. Killian’s gaze clips the corner of my playful smile in the same second that I lunge.
Which gives him just enough time to look angry, but not enough to make me reconsider my crappy choice.
Because leaping to my feet, grabbing the waistband of the Seed of Darkness’ pants, and dumping a handful of mud into his braies is not a good idea.
Ever.
I turn to run – and smack into Roarke. Who wraps me up in his arms.
“Let me go. He’s going to kill me.”
“No, he’s not,” Roarke says.
Killian grabs a handful of mud and tosses it at Seth, not chasing me, not even paying any attention to me, as he grabs another and takes aim again.
“Vexy,” Seth calls, ducking and dodging. “What did you do that for!”
Seth rolls, springs to his feet, and tackles Killian in return.
Roarke hooks a finger against my chin and turns my face. “What happened back there?”
I stop trying to watch the other two, following the distressed tones of Roarke’s voice.
“Back where?”
“With Rose.”
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “I didn’t mean to, you know. I just wanted to take care of it, but you guys –”
“Don’t worry about us. I’m worried about you.”
“Me? I’m fine.” Getting four exact same versions of the interrogate-Shade song, played back to back, is pushing my patience.
I’m pretty sure we covered everything in the trees, except Roarke wasn’t in the trees.
“Rose is Elite,” he says.
I nod.
“She kissed you.”
“No, I kissed her. Barely. I leaned forward, and she toppled back – that’s almost exactly how it happened.”
“Her eyes turned red, and she kissed you back.”
“What are you talking about?” I demand.
“Rose is a BloodSeed. Technically, I guess, her eyes could turn red just from brushing against strong power, but you have the equivalent power to a mortal – so my guess is her eyes turned red from desire.”
Shadows and Shade Box Set Page 97
