by Aliyah Burke
Lana ran to a place similar to the one she’d claimed for herself—it just wasn’t as big—and flew across the meadow grass before ducking back into the trees on the other side. There she spied a small hiding spot at the base of a tree, ran in its direction then crawled into it. Thick, ropy vines and moss hung down and nearly covered the opening, leaving her the smallest bit of light and the option to see out.
The roaring from Erlik grew louder and she knew he was closing in. She willed herself to calm down. Slow her breathing and heart rate. She’d hidden from them before and she knew this area better than he did. There was no reason for him to go up to the house. Fear speared her until she remembered that Lian was a warrior himself.
When the man appeared, she couldn’t help but shrink back farther. To her, he was evil personified. He didn’t even look winded for chasing her. He stood in the centre and turned a circle, hands on his hips.
“Come out, Lana. I know you’re here. I can feel you.”
She frowned. Feel her? She didn’t move.
He became increasingly irritated as he searched for her but came up empty. He went from cajoling to threatening. “Don’t make me burn down this entire forest to get you, Lana. You know I will do it.”
Thunder boomed and she glanced up in time to see black clouds rolling in with the swiftness of a strike.
Lian. One second he wasn’t there and the next he was. Today he wore all black and her heart jumped up into her throat as she watched him stride across the grass, wind whipping around his open shirt, the trees, and the blades beneath his feet.
Sheltered where and how she was, she didn’t feel any of it.
“Erlik,” he said, his voice a low thrum of fury. “You know you are not supposed to be on my property.”
Wait. He knew him?
“Lian,” Erlik spat. “I thought I smelt something foul.”
“Leave. This is your one warning.”
As the men circled one another, the air crackled and sparked with the energy and power jumping between them. Lana couldn’t let anything happen to Lian—she went to make her presence known but the moss and vines she’d concealed herself behind wouldn’t budge. At all. For all intents and purposes, she was trapped where she sat.
“Have you seen Lana? I’m sure you felt her when she arrived on your property. Give her to me and I’ll leave.”
“You’re after Lana?”
“She’s been my pet project while I figure out how to stop you and your ilk.”
Lian struck so fast she would have missed it had she blinked. As Erlik’s head rolled along the ground, her scream nearly bubbled over. It leaked slightly when she saw the new form Erlik took. Dark and shadowed with red eyes—a lot like Ala.
All she could do was sit there and watch as they fought. Erlik raged in fury as his body attacked. Lian didn’t seem all that concerned and waited for each strike. Her fear for him escaped and she yelled, “Lian!”
Neither man reacted. They couldn’t hear her. She didn’t know how it was possible for her to be so close yet neither of them hear her cries. It didn’t matter—she had to keep trying so she grabbed the vines and continued screaming until her voice gave out. The scene before her grew bloodier by the second.
Chapter Nine
Lian was furious. How dare Erlik set foot on his property? That wasn’t allowed. There were rules and, damn it, he followed them at his end. They needed to do the same. Not only that, but discovering he was the one who had subjected Lana to the hell she’d endured had catapulted Lian into acting recklessly. He had severed the head from the human form Erlik had adopted, and now he faced another form.
One of the shadowed beings—the They in his life—Erlik leaned towards the chaos end. Some of the They leaned more in the direction of order and light, but Erlik wasn’t one of those. Truly a sadistic being, it curdled Lian’s gut thinking this thing had dared to touch his Lana.
“You are going to pay for that.” Erlik retaliated, drawing blood himself.
Lian hissed with the sting of a tentacle that laced across his torso. He lashed out and slashed, drawing more blood. A flurry of attacks left them both cut, bruised, and bloodied.
“You can’t win, Lian. You’re already weakened. Keep it up and you will perish.”
“I die, you die.”
“True, but I have others who will come for Lana. We will get her back and stop the prophecy.”
He doesn’t know Lana is the one tied to me in the prophecy. That bit of knowledge gave him the strength to rein himself a bit more under control. Why tip his hand?
“Leave, Erlik. Don’t make the mistake of showing your face here again. Hara isn’t going to be pleased with your actions.”
If there was any being created who had the ability to scare Erlik, it was either Hara or Uma.
Erlik sneered. “You’re weakening, old man. The day is coming when we will be able to kill you and survive.” He stepped closer. “Wherever Lana is, I’ll be back for her.” His breath reeked of sulphur. Rotten eggs. And death. It didn’t create a winning combination.
He grinned, showing off his pointed, needle-like teeth before he vanished into thin air. Lian fell to his hands and knees, coughing and struggling not to collapse fully. What is wrong with me? Facing Erlik as he had shouldn’t have caused any issues.
“Lian? Oh my God, Lian!”
He turned his head to see Lana bolting across the grass towards him.
“Where did you come from?” he demanded as she sank to the ground beside him.
Her hands were everywhere on him, searching all over his body. “I’m so sorry about this. It’s all my fault,” she muttered between kisses on his lips.
“Lana… Lana… Lana!”
She drew back and he could see the fear lingering in her eyes. “What?”
“This wasn’t your fault.”
“It was. I tried to lead him away from the house so you and Mark would be safe but then you showed up and there was all this blood…” She gazed around then back to him. “I tried calling out to you and Erlik but you didn’t hear me.”
He slapped a hand over her mouth. “You know him as Erlik?”
“That’s all I know him as. That’s all anyone ever called him. How do you know him and what the hell is he? I mean I’m going to assume he’s not human because he didn’t really die when you cut off his head and—”
Lian kissed her quiet. Hauling her in close, he breathed in deeply of her scent. She smelt of pine and crisp fresh air. He closed his eyes and said a thankful prayer she wasn’t hurt.
“Don’t you ever do something like that again,” he commanded. “Ever.”
“How do you know him?” she asked, holding him as tightly as he did her, one more thing he loved about her. How tight she gripped him, as if she couldn’t get close enough. As if she wanted nothing more than him.
“I guess you could say he is one of my fathers.”
She stiffened and drew back as far as he’d let her, which, to be fair, wasn’t that far. “One of your fathers?”
“Yes.”
He felt it before she bolted. She did as she usually did—grew still as stone. Then with a deft manoeuvre, she ripped free of his touch and dashed away. He let her get three steps then he tackled her to the ground, taking the majority of the brunt on his healing body. Lian rolled them so she was beneath him and pinned her there.
“Don’t do that,” he said.
Her eyes were wide and wild.
Lian captured her face in his hands and stared at her. “Listen to me, Lana. He is one from which I was born. The blood and the rage.”
“I never knew,” she muttered. “All this time and I never knew.”
“Never knew what?”
“He was always arrogant and nasty but I didn’t know he was one in the prophecy I’d heard.”
“I think it’s time we have another talk, Lana.”
“Whatever you think best.”
She’d withdrawn and he frowned. Rising up, he held out his han
d for her but she climbed to her feet without his assistance. In fact, she didn’t even look in his direction, just began walking off. He went after her and soon found they had entered another small clearing, similar to the one she’d been in before. This time, however, he could see her tension slipping away.
Lana walked to the base of a thick trunk and lowered herself to the ground. “Talk.”
He gazed around the area, feeling almost as though someone was watching them, but his power couldn’t sort it out for sure. When he stepped towards her, he not only saw but felt her drawing back from him. It tore his heart out.
“There were many that I came from. Erlik, Hara and Uma are only three.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, unsure about how to continue. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could proceed.
She pulled her legs up, scrunching her toes as she laced her fingers over her shins.
“Remember when I showed you my past?”
“Uh-huh.” There was such despondence in her tone nearly killed him.
“One of those creatures was Erlik.”
“So he’s as old as you?”
Her asking questions was a good thing, right? “Older, actually.” Lian wanted to gather her close and feel the curvature of her body against his. “One of my…charges.”
“And was he supposed to be down here?” Her question was so soft he almost didn’t catch it.
He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head with the shame of his embarrassment. “No.”
“I see.”
And he knew she did. He was responsible for the one who had ripped her ruthlessly from the cradle of childhood and thrust her into a loveless and painful existence. Because of his ineptitude, she’d had to witness the cruel death of her family. The amount of shame and guilt assaulting him was monumental.
He’d always known what he had been expected to do. Keep the order. That was his job. His sole purpose. And he’d done so. Until lately, They had grown stronger while he, weaker. Yes, it was part of the prophecy—he needed his other half, Lana, to make him strong enough to put it all back to rights. But his disgust at his personal ineptitude—he had failed to keep her family safe and alive—wasn’t anything he would be forgetting.
All he’d had to do was keep them up in the cosmos. He’d failed at that. Had grown complacent. Had allowed her pain to happen. He’d never been so disgusted with himself as he was with the revelation of this realisation.
“Lana,” he said.
Her smile was forced and more than a little sad. “Nothing else needs to be said.” She began to get to her feet only to stop. “Are you done talking?” There wasn’t impatience in her tone, just curiosity. He knew if he said he wasn’t finished, she would stay right where she was.
His answer was to rise and approach her. The fact she wouldn’t hold his gaze was a dagger to his heart.
“Stand up.”
She obeyed but kept her head down.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Lana.” Because I have already done so and don’t know how I could possibly hurt you worse.
No response. He didn’t get any vibes of fear from her. What he did get was sadness. Deep, soul-wrenching, makes-breathing-painful sorrow, the intensity of which nearly took him to his knees.
He reached out with one hand and gently encouraged her to meet his gaze. Her large eyes shimmered with unshed tears. If she had spat on him or slapped his face, she couldn’t have possibly hurt him more.
“Tell me how to fix this.”
A slight shake of her head before she averted her gaze. “Nothing. I would like to go lay down now, if you don’t mind.”
He minded but didn’t stop her, well aware if he pushed it right now, he could lose her forever, no matter how closely they were tied to one another. Watching her walk away, dejected, had him wanting to run after her, to drop to his knees before her and bury his face into her stomach.
Lian trailed her back to the house where she went to her room. He went to the nursery where Mark lay in his newly purchased crib. He was on his back, the autumn afternoon sunlight bathing him in a golden glow, and stared up at the animal mobile over him. As he rested there, he made small noises.
“I’m the reason she lost her family, Mark.”
Hearing his voice, the baby smiled and waved his arms. Lian picked him up, holding him close as he tried to figure out how to fix things between him and Lana.
“I don’t know how to make it right.” He pressed a soft kiss to his head.
Mark just gurgled. Lian spent some time up there until Maxwell came to get him. He took the time to change into a suit. With Mark in his arms, he descended the stairs, showing no signs of his earlier injury. At the last moment, he gave the baby over to Maxwell and entered the office alone. He had to deal with this, then he would turn his attention to Lana and how to fix them.
* * * *
A month. An entire month had gone by since her discovery and the truth of Erlik and who, or what, he truly was had come to light. Lana shifted in the chair and gazed down to the floor where Mark lay napping on a thick quilt in the sun. Today they’d come to the library to play and once he’d fallen asleep, she’d grabbed a book to read. Unfortunately, her mind was not fully concentrating on the task at hand. Lian was prevalent in her thoughts. She’d closed herself off to Lian, she knew that.
Their interactions were strained. She missed their evenings when she worked on her reading pressed against him. No longer did she share the couch with him, instead opting to sit in a different chair and read.
Lian had worked it so he was the foster dad for Mark. She hadn’t asked how he’d pulled it off and she didn’t care. All she knew was this little baby was amazing and for a few of the initial days he’d been with them, he had been her sole reason to get up and out of bed. She was protective of him and hearing his happy laugh when he saw her or heard her voice made her feel…special.
She stared at him again, a soft smile curling up her lips. His hair was growing in thicker now, black as a raven’s wing. His blue eyes still had the ability to stop her heart with the way they watched her with such trust and love. Currently, he lay there with a tiny fist wrapped around the tip of one arm belonging to the large, soft pink bear. The stuffed animal was as big as, if not slightly bigger than, Mark.
If only she knew how to fix things with Lian. She lowered her gaze back to the book and worked on reading it aloud, knowing that if she made a mistake or had a hard time, there would be no judgement coming.
As she lost herself in her reading, she felt a familiar prickle run up her spine. She put a sheet of torn paper in as a bookmark and glanced up. Lian stood there across the room, leaning against one of his numerous bookshelves and watching her, arms crossed.
When their eyes met, he pushed away and strode to her, steely determination on his face. He didn’t slow when he got to her, just bent down, curved his hand around the nape of her neck and drew her near. His lips covered hers and she sighed as her eyes drifted shut. How she’d missed this.
Need and longing thrummed through her system and she pressed tighter to him. This was acceptable,—she didn’t have to face him, just close her eyes and follow the passion. Great plan, in theory. He didn’t allow that to happen. Ending the drugging kiss, he stared down at her.
“I can’t go on like this anymore, Lana. What do I have to do for us to move past this?”
The raw agony she heard in his voice ripped at her like jagged talons. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Lian.”
“Anything. Something. Whatever, just talk to me.”
“I needed some time to process what I learned. And after a while, it just became easier to ignore it rather than face it.” She shrugged free of his grasp and looked everywhere but into his mirror-like, pitch black eyes.
“I know you blame me and I”—he raked a hand through his hair—“wish I could make it so that didn’t happen.”
She readjusted so she sat cross-legged in the seat and ran her hands over her pant legs. “I did blame you
, I won’t lie about that. And for a while, I wished I’d never met you.” She didn’t see the pain in his expression but she could feel it. She pressed on before she lost her nerve. “Then I got to thinking that this wasn’t anything you asked for either.”
“Look at me. Please.”
She lifted her head to discover Lian kneeling before her. With one hand she reached out and touched the side of his face, smooth beneath her fingertips.
“You shared your past with me, Lian. I have seen all the pain and loss you’ve gone through. More than I have, but the one thing we had in common was that neither of us had a choice.”
“I never dreamed that when you said what you’d gone through it was because of one I was supposed to have watched closer.”
She shook her head and placed her hand over his mouth. “No. You take on so much, you’ve sacrificed too much. You do all this, for people who will never know what you’ve done. You opened your home to not only me but also to Mark. I know you didn’t want to keep him, yet you did. You’re not a person who would have allowed my pain if you knew what was happening. You’ve loved and lost. As have I. We have to move on.”
He slanted his gaze sideways to where Mark lay before he refocused back on her. Her gut tensed at the heat in his stare. Shaking her head, she held up her book.
“I’m reading.”
His grin was pure decadence. “So read to me. Come lay with me by Mark and read.” He flicked his eyes to the title and shook his head. “I think I need to get you something erotic to read to me.”
Heat surged through her and her clit throbbed. Pushing him back, she got up and made her way to where Mark still slept. Lian stretched out and Lana positioned herself comfortably against him. Then she opened the book and began to read.
* * * *
At seven that night, she stood in the kitchen with Lian at the stove, stirring the butterscotch pudding. He was making a nuisance of himself, nibbling on her neck and doing his best to distract her. It wasn’t going to work.
“Go get the bowls,” she ordered as she removed the pot from the heat and added the butter and vanilla.
After he left, she began stirring it again, waiting for the butter to melt. He returned with two bowls and she grinned. It made four servings but he knew she loved it and so he just gave her a larger bowl so she could have more.
