by Liz Schulte
He held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, though his eyes sparked with something else. “I just want to talk.”
“Get out of here, Jaron.” Femi came around me. “Selene’s taking the night off.”
I hadn’t been able to get away from the castle long enough, or alone, to talk to Jaron—and I needed to hear what he had to say, whether I wanted to or not. I had to know what happened before I became a changeling, and obviously Cheney’s information was one sided. Jaron could fill in a lot of missing gaps.
I took a deep breath and stepped around Femi. “It’s okay.” I looked up at Jaron. He was so tall and broad, I felt tiny. “Let’s talk.”
Femi’s stare drilled into my back as I walked off the dance floor and to our table. The fact that Jaron made her nervous made me nervous. I sat in Olivia’s chair and nodded to the seat across from me. “How did you find me?”
“I followed you.”
“Where’s Michael?”
“Who’s Michael?” he asked, his heavy eyebrows pulling together. I glared, and his lips tilted up slightly. “Yet another lover, Selene? My, my, you have been busy.” His voice was cold and harsh.
The ever-so-brief memory I had the first time I met Jaron crept into my mind and made me look down. He was definitely my boyfriend at some point, but I didn’t know when or why we broke up. “What do you want from me?” Was I asking him or the part of myself that urged me to go with Jaron and forget about Michael and Cheney? Oh, multiple personalities, thy name is Selene.
He rubbed his rough jaw line. “At the moment? An explanation will do.”
An explanation? Didn’t we all want that? What the hell was elf Selene thinking? The club was too noisy to have a conversation like this. I wasn’t going to shout about what a lunatic I was or that I was possibly stringing along two men. “We can’t talk here.”
His jaw stiffened and his cloud-gray eyes iced over. He offered his hand. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
I shook my head. “I’ll arrange a time through Sy to meet with you. Don’t follow me again.”
Jaron’s shoulders straightened and those big hands gripped the side of the table. “You owe me an explanation.” His voice barely reached me.
I swallowed hard. I didn’t have any explanations to give. “Soon,” I squeaked and cleared my throat, banishing the weakness from my voice. “We’ll meet soon.”
“We better, Selene. Or I will come for you, the Erlking be damned.” The air between us changed and vibrated. The anger faded and was replaced with something far more carnal. He ran his thumb seductively along his lower lip; I wasn’t even sure if he was conscious of the motion. His deliberate gaze seared me from my forehead to my fingertips. I didn’t blush, but a tingling sensation spread through me as if his fingers followed his eyes. “Should I leave you with a memory?” he asked.
It took everything I had in me not to say please. When I didn’t answer, he leaned forward and traced that same thumb over my trembling mouth.
The sun soaked into my skin, melting away all of my concerns about what I was about to do. My toes dug into the soft, white sand. I looked over at Jaron lying next to me. He turned his head in sync with mine. He was always in sync with me and I liked it. I couldn’t see the eyes I loved beneath his dark sunglasses, but his permanent 5 o’clock shadow and bold nose made me smile. He reached out and took my hand, pressing a scratchy kiss to the back of my fingers.
“You’ll have to behave when you’re with the prince,” he said lightly, but I knew his feelings were heavy. Jaron didn’t like the plan.
“It’s the only way.”
He dropped my hand and looked forward again. “What if he doesn’t like you? Do you have a plan B?”
He hated that I’d be with another man if all went as designed, but it was the best way, the most efficient way, to get what we wanted. Emotions shouldn’t factor into it—they certainly wouldn’t for the elves. If we wanted to beat the cold, unfeeling fae at their own game, I had no choice but to play dirty. Elves were tricky. They wove lies and partial truths like spiders casting webs to get what they wanted. Jaron taught me that. I had to be ruthless if we were going to win.
“Everybody likes me,” I said with a self-assured smile that I didn’t feel. “He had to practically pick his jaw up from the ground.” I laughed, remembering Cheney’s reaction to my trap. Naked and communing with the goddess in the forest he just happened to be hunting in. Men were so easy. A small smile tilted Jaron’s mouth before it was smothered with a scowl.
“What do you want from me, Jaron? This is what we planned.”
He took off his sunglasses and tossed them into the sand, his intense gray eyes swirling with emotion. “Just make sure you want what you’re chasing, Selene. Once it’s done, you can’t take it back.”
I studied him for a moment. Jaron was always threatening to leave me, but he hadn’t managed yet. I amended my earlier inner statement: Men were easy, except for Jaron. I abandoned my beach chair and moved over to him, straddling his muscular legs. “That’s what you always say.”
A small part of me worried he meant it this time, that I might actually go too far, but Jaron had to see that getting my hooks in the king’s son was the only way to bring real change. I wasn’t doing this for myself. I was doing it for him, for everyone.
He gripped the flare of my hips and pulled me closer. “You’ll fall in love with him.”
I leaned in, brushing my lips against his. “That’s absurd.”
He didn’t reply. He took possession of my mouth and splayed his hand across my back, pushing me against himself as if he could absorb me. I ran my fingers into his soft waves.
“It will all work out. You’ll see,” I said when I could speak again.
Jaron had been my anchor for so long, I was afraid of straying too far. He had to know it.
A hand squeezed my shoulder, pulling me out of the memory. “I didn’t know he would be here,” Femi said.
I blinked and searched the room for Jaron. Had he given me that memory? I shook my head. Not possible. I couldn’t jump to conclusions. I wanted to talk about what I remembered, but he was gone. It occurred to me that this was the first memory I had that didn’t make me feel physically sick. It was more like a normal memory. It felt like it was part of me and didn’t leave me reeling with new, confusing feelings like all others did.
“Where’s Jaron?” My voice broke as I spoke.
“That guy? He left. Who is he?” Olivia asked, sitting down with a concerned look.
“It’s hard to say,” I mumbled, my eyes trailing to the dents his hands left in the side of the table. I looked over at Femi. “Can you call Sy?”
She scrunched her nose. “You can’t go home already. This wasn’t a girls’ night. We didn’t do anything fun. We didn’t even start a fight.”
A man moved near our table, and a sensation similar to the one that had hit me on the dance floor overcame me. If Femi wanted a fight, I could help her with that. I got up and grabbed the man the sensation was coming from and kissed him full on the mouth. Some girl said, “Hey!” but white noise filled my ears and I felt dizzy. The man pulled away and looked at me, then smiled and kissed me back. The feelings flooding into me were incredible. Someone pulled me back, though I fought against them, and Femi stepped in front of me.
“Not for you, jinni.”
“She’s a big girl. Maybe we should ask her what she wants, Sekhmet?”
Femi made a face at me though I was still feeling swoony. “You want her. You have to go through me.”
Olivia squeezed her hand around my wrist, and I immediately began to feel better. “That was impetuous and stupid. Never throw yourself in the line of jinn, unless you can defend yourself against them—and you can’t.”
“Femi wanted a fight. Now she has a fight.”
Olivia grumbled to herself. I watched Femi and the jinni have their standoff. Moments later, after a swift kick to the knee and a lightning fast jab to the throat,
the jinni was on the ground and we were headed outside, Femi grinning ear to ear.
“Damn it, Femi,” Olivia said when we cleared the building.
“Totally Selene’s fault.” She winked at me.
Olivia and I squeezed into Femi’s car and she took us back to Sy’s. I considered calling Cheney so I could go home, but I needed time to think about what happened with Jaron. When we walked into the Office—a bar that doubled as an unofficial meeting place for anyone with business involving the Abyss—Sy was leaned over the counter talking intimately to a petite girl with black curly hair cascading down her back, big violet eyes, and enviable pouty lips. He glanced up at us and rolled his eyes. “We don’t do bachelorette parties,” he said dryly.
Femi plopped down on a stool next to the girl and leaned back against the bar, resting her elbows on the ledge. “Who are you?”
“Femi,” Sy said with an edge of warning.
“What?” she asked without looking at him, continuing to inspect the woman. “She’s not a hunter, and this is a hunter bar. My curiosity is natural.”
Sy came around the bar and took the woman’s hand. “My apologies, Ligeia. Another night,” Sy said smoothly, leading her outside.
Femi chewed on the side of her lip and stared at the door. I glanced at Olivia. She watched Femi, smiling, then took the seat next to her. “You know how to prevent things like that, right?”
Femi blinked and looked at her blankly. “Things like what?”
Olivia groaned. “You’re hopeless.”
Sy came back and resumed his usual position behind the bar. “That was the fastest girls’ night possibly ever. What happened? And what was all that with Ligeia?” He poured us each a drink, then he waited for us to explain.
Femi inspected her sharpened fingernails. “I have no idea what you mean. Am I not allowed to talk to people?”
He frowned. “No, by all means, talk away. Why are you back? You better not be getting my cousin into trouble.”
Femi looked up. “You aren’t my father, my brother, or even my boyfriend—
“Whose fault is that?” he tossed out half-heartedly, but he didn’t get a smile from her.
“Regardless, I don’t have to explain myself to you or anyone.”
“We all answer to someone.” The intensity built between us until he looked over at Olivia and me. “Right, ladies?”
Olivia’s expressive eyes filled with laughter, but she kept her face serious. “The only person I explain myself to is Holden, and I don’t even do that very often.”
Sy gave them a bemused look. “Selene?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. I actually did want to talk to Sy about what had happened tonight. “I saw Jaron at the club,” I said quietly.
He pressed his lips together. “Everybody out,” he yelled to the stragglers lurking in the dark corners of the grimy bar. Slowly they trickled out, pulling slips of paper off the wall that looked like wanted posters as they went, and Sy locked the door behind them.
“Holden’s on his way,” Olivia said.
“I’m here.” A deep rumbling voice came from behind us, giving me chills. Holden, as unsettling as always, gave me a cold once-over. “What the fuck is she doing here? I thought you were going out with Femi.” Saying he didn’t sound pleased was an understatement, but his face softened as he searched Olivia’s expression. “Liv?”
Olivia quirked an eyebrow. “Selene’s my friend, Sy’s cousin, and Femi’s friend. Why wouldn’t she be here?”
“We’re not getting involved in fae politics. Neither of us needs the headache.” When Olivia ignored him, Holden rolled his eyes and pulled out his cell phone.
“While everyone’s here, you should tell them what happened tonight,” Sy said, and I knew he wasn’t just talking about my seeing Jaron at the club. He wanted me to tell Olivia and Holden about my studio.
“You can call Cheney if you want,” Sy said when I hesitated. Everyone’s eyes except for Holden’s turned to me.
My center knotted and squeezed at the sound of Cheney’s name. “Um, no. No, I don’t think so.” I took a healthy swig of my drink to numb the pain. From the looks on their faces, I needed to give more of an explanation. “He has a lot going on. I think I can handle this without him.” I wanted to talk to Sy about what was going on, not a whole room of people who were practically strangers. I excused myself and walked to the restroom. I washed my hands and took a few deep breaths. I wished I was home, not at the castle, but at my cute little house with my cat where I could call my friends to come over and talk. I dried my hands and shook off the desire. That wasn’t my life anymore.
When I returned, Femi, Olivia, and Sy were chatting while Holden stood on the outskirts observing. My hands twisted nervously, and I looked longingly toward the door.
“So, are you going to tell us what’s happening or not?” Holden finally asked. Olivia elbowed him and smiled at me.
“If Selene wants our help, she’ll ask for it,” Olivia said to him. “Let her figure out her own mind.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know why you’re all here. I should go.” I couldn’t ask these people for help. Just knowing me could prove dangerous.
Femi caught my arm as I moved to leave. “You need their help. It isn’t that we won’t do what we can, but Sy hardly leaves the bar, and I still have bounties to track. Olivia and Holden have different talents and,” her gaze went to Holden, “time on their hands.”
Holden gave her a stony look, but she didn’t flinch. The idea that Femi hadn’t just planned a girls’ night—that she’d arranged the get-together specifically to put me into contact with Olivia sans Holden—crossed my mind. Was she making sure they got involved? Tricky, tricky.
“Why don’t we give Selene and Sy a little space?” Olivia said.
I smiled at her gratefully, but a knock on the door kept them from leaving. Sy frowned and Holden looked up.
“Baker,” he said.
Femi smiled. “Wow, Chuckles, you really rallied the troops.”
Holden gave her a level look. “I don’t know anything about elves. Baker shoves his nose into everyone else’s business. Just like you.”
Femi laughed, and a reluctant smile touched Holden’s mouth as Sy unlocked the door and let the tough boxer-like redhead in. A trickle of jealousy went through me at the obvious friendship and comfort level among all of them. It made me miss my friends. And it confused me even more. Why would any of them rally anything for me? They didn’t know me. Their help made no sense.
Olivia ushered everyone away to a worn out dartboard at the back of the room. Sy sat down next to me and bumped his shoulder against mine. “What’s going on up there, coz?” He tapped on his temple. “I thought we were team Cheney.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you 12? I’m not on team anything.”
“But I take it from what he said earlier, you haven’t told him about Jaron.”
I curled the end of the napkin under my drink. “I don’t want to bring Jaron up until I can explain everything.”
He nodded. “But you can’t remember.”
I shook my head, fighting tears. “It isn’t like I haven’t tried. I’ve done everything. The coven’s cast so many spells on me I think I’m getting a brain tumor.” Sy laughed and I hit him. “Not funny.”
“Maybe you’re trying too hard. Maybe if you stop straining, it will come to you.”
“I had a memory tonight.” I bit my lip, not sure I could bring myself to share this particular memory with Sy. “Normally the memories hurt, but this one didn’t.”
“What do you mean hurt?”
“They give me headaches, make me dizzy, things like that.”
“But tonight’s didn’t? Why? What was different?”
I sighed. “I remembered talking to Jaron. I think it was right after I met Cheney for the first time. But I don’t believe it was the memory that was different. I think it was the manner in which it came to me.”
He raised his eyebrow
s.
“Jaron asked if I wanted a memory, then he touched me and immediately it started playing.”
Sy stood up, poured himself a drink, and sat back down. “You and Jaron were together before you met Cheney? That lends some credibility to his claim that you started the rebellion.”
I nodded miserably. “But if I was with him, why don’t you know about it?”
He shook his head. “You didn’t come around a lot, and when you did, you always came alone. Hell, I heard more about your life from rumors than I ever did from you. How do you feel about Jaron now?”
Conflicted. Attracted. In over my head. “I don’t know. It feels like I’m being torn in two. I need Cheney like air, but there’s something about Jaron.” I let out a ragged breath. “He could have taken Michael for all I know.”
“You really think he has something to do with Michael’s disappearance? It does seem a little convenient that he found you that easily the one night you’re away from Cheney.”
I nodded.
“Okay,” Sy said slowly. “Talk to Jaron about what happened before you left. You’ve heard Cheney’s side of things, and I admit it’s compelling when it stands alone—but maybe there’s a whole lot he left out. See what Jaron knows. Then figure out what you want. It doesn’t matter what you wanted then—only what you want now. You’re the one living the rest of your life.”
I nodded.
“I’ve said it before, but I think you should move in here until you figure out what’s going on. The longer you stay with Cheney, the harder it will be to leave if you decide you want to.”
“I can’t. I told him I wouldn’t run away from him again, and I’m not going to. Besides, we’re bonded. I don’t know if I can leave him for an extended period of time.”
“Then bite the bullet and tell him what’s happening. See how the dice fall.” He patted my leg. “You should tell them everything.” He nodded toward Femi and her friends. “Right now you don’t know who to trust in the fae world, but none of them are connected to any of this. You can trust them.”
