Waking Beauty [Windsong Keep] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Tasha Blackstone

  When Talia felt it was safe to be around Hunter again, she’d have to ask him what secrets Ian was keeping. His odd behavior had gotten worse and she was sure he was up to something. As her thoughts fell back to Hunter, she scanned the library for him. He wasn’t seated at his chosen table, face shoved into the pages of books, or anywhere above on one of the ladders digging through even more ancient text. Perhaps he was hiding up in the balcony, keeping a safe distance from her. Their tryst behind the shelves had stirred heavier passion than they had been prepared for and Hunter had been unwilling to be near her once the chaos had died down. She desired to talk to him, to tell him that she didn’t blame him and there was no need to feel shame, but he wouldn’t even make eye contact. Hopefully once the stress over the pending battle with the Shadow Witch was gone, they could have some time alone and sort through all of the things that were going on between them. Exhaustion teased at the back of her mind and Talia closed her eyes as she enjoyed the peace and quiet that she was sure was only temporary, allowing sleep to take her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Out in the hallway, Hunter stood leaning against the doors to the library. His arms were folded across his chest and his brow was pulled down into a wrinkled fret. He’d had to put some distance between him and the trio behind the door. Ian’s exuberance over his impending death made Hunter want to punch him, Hope’s melodramatic outlook on everything that was happening made the air in the library thick, and Talia’s presence was simply enough to make him crazy with desire.

  Once he had entered the corridor and had been able to silence, even if only a little, the onslaught of emotions from inside the library, he had been unexpectedly hit with a wave of anxiety from Faith. He had found her at the end of the long corridor, pacing, and when she saw him, she ran into his arms and buried her face into his chest.

  This side of Faith was hard to swallow. Though she was the mirror image of Hope, she had always been the opposite as far as personality. She was not the one to need an embrace or a shoulder to cry on. In fact she often ribbed Hope for being so weak that she needed to depend on others for comfort, so when she threw herself at him, begging for him to hold her while she wept, Hunter did so timidly. Trusting Faith was difficult. He could feel her honest, raw emotions and that she struggled with being so vulnerable, but hidden within her still lived the conniving bitch they had all grown to know. How long she could hold off that side of herself was a mystery, so Hunter did what he could to comfort her, but kept his guard up.

  As she silently wept in his arms, Hunter came to realize that the Seer had injured her heart. He could feel the ache that beat within her and with it came loneliness. She believed that Josef had used her and that his lack of desire for her was a form of rejection. Faith was not accustomed to the feeling. All of the men that resided in the Keep were more than happy to line up and patiently wait their turn to be with her. She was incredibly desirable and Hunter knew that they had a silent challenge among them, thinking that one of them would be able to tame her and keep her as their own. It was a joke really. Up until the shock of finding out she was carrying a child, Hunter would have never believed that a single person would ever have that type of control over Faith.

  As her tears slowed, he pulled her free from his embrace and held her at arm’s length.

  “Faith, I have no way of making you feel better. Seers are a rare breed in that they act on their visions and not their hearts. I’m sure he desires you, but no one can change his mind about how he wishes to proceed. He probably has seen that you are not—um, one for commitment—and so he chose to take the emotion out of the coupling so that he could still give you your daughter.”

  Faith’s eyes narrowed at him, and with pursed lips and a raised eyebrow of disapproval, her stare made him twitch in discomfort.

  “You need to work on your gift!” she reprimanded. “I’m not crying over some stupid ass of a man! I know he’s done his good deed of the century and has now moved on. I’m crying because I’m scared! I do not wish to lose my child because of your damn girlfriend issues.”

  He didn’t push the matter, but he knew she was lying and she knew he knew she was. There were other hidden problems that she had guarded, though, and although he could almost feel what they were, she had done an amazing job of protecting herself.

  “Hunter?”

  “What?” He could feel the overwhelming need to protect himself. Faith had suddenly switched gears and her emotions were laced with malice and ill intent.

  “Do you love her?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Would you do anything to be with her?”

  Hunter stepped back away from Faith, her dark intent blazing in her eyes as she stared at him.

  “Faith, I–I don’t really think that…”

  Pain. That was all he could feel and think about, the sudden blast of pain that shot through his skull and then nothing.

  * * * *

  “When he wakes up and finds out what you have done, you probably do not want to be in the same room. Or anywhere near where he could get to you.” Josef dropped Hunter’s motionless body onto the bed in one of the abandoned rooms at the top of the Keep. Faith had promised that the Guardians did not come up here anymore. She’d told him that years ago, a charge had discovered a spell that would enable her to take her own life, but when she’d cast the spell, the entire top floor burst into flames, compromising its livability. The charge and the rest of the residents on the floor had survived the backfire, but had had to undergo intensive healing treatments. Once the mess had been cleaned, the floor was barricaded and all of the charges were moved down to one of the main corridors so that they could be kept watch over. No one had ever bothered to repair the damage and eventually the top floor became abandoned.

  “Yeah, I know, but he’ll thank me, eventually.”

  Her blind faith in Hunter’s ability to forgive was something that Josef admired. Faith had a strange way about her, expecting that everything she wanted would turn out exactly how she had planned, and there was no convincing her otherwise. It was one of the things about her that he had grown to find pleasure in.

  “Well, still,” he warned, “I would give him time before you go running back into his arms.”

  Josef pulled off the sack that he’d had hoisted onto his back and dropped it to the floor.

  “Here.” He threw her a strand of rope from the sack. “Tie down his feet and I’ll get hands. Make sure he can’t pull out of it, so double knot it to the bedframe. I’ll spell it before he has a chance to wake up, but the pain from the split is intense. He’ll gain frightening strength as he attempts to run and even a spelled knot may not keep him down.”

  As Josef watched Faith diligently go about tying Hunter’s feet, he wondered what it would be like to love her. She had no need for companionship, or at least did not appear to, and her casual behavior toward sex was alarming. When she had come to him, there was no false pretense. He’d opened the door to his room and she had stood there, lust in her eyes, her dress neatly folded in her arm. He had eyed the thin lines of her body. Her curves were subtle but pleasant and her breasts were the perfect size to fill his hands. He’d salivated with lust for her and she had wasted no time as she walked in, dropped her dress to floor and kicked the door shut behind her.

  Their tryst was done and over with before Josef had any time to think about it, other than to know that when he filled her with his seed, they would create a life. She’d pushed him down onto his bed, pulled his pants free and stroked his dick until his erection was ready for her. He’d tried to reach up and kiss her, but she had pulled away and swiftly climbed atop him, sinking his dick into her pussy. The pleasure consumed him, and as she rode him hard, he gripped her breasts, holding tight as she brought him to climax. She never cried out, never flinched as his fingers dug into the flesh of her breasts, and as he came, she did not stop pumping her hips until she had milked him dry of every drop of his seed. It was exhilarating, but as quickly as she
had appeared, she was equally quick at leaving. As he lay there, trying to catch his breath, she dismounted, picked up a piece of clothing he had hanging on the chair and wiped her pussy before she threw on her dress and walked out.

  They’d had no interaction until today. Josef had tried to corner her, to get her to speak to him, but she always found a way to disappear before he could. When she’d come to him today, he had seen it in a vision prior but had secretly hoped that there would be more to the story. When there wasn’t, he was filled with frustration. He had been watching Faith for nearly a moon cycle and the more he tried to convince himself that it was for the best that she had basically rejected him, the more he desired her. She was the most emotionless woman that walked the corridors. She was not needy, not obsessed, and appeared to be completely content with her chosen way of life.

  He’d seen her in a rare moment of weakness, though, and it was then that he had truly been drawn to her. In the Main Hall, while Hunter had been in hiding, Faith and Hope had exchanged words. Josef hadn’t heard what all had been said, but when Hope had spoken her piece and stormed off, leaving Faith alone, he watched a twinge of sadness and regret flash across her face. She’d taken a step toward her sister, a mere moment away from running after her, but instead hugged her arms around her body and went the other direction. Hope obviously meant more to Faith than she cared to let on and her rejection had stung, leaving her hurt and alone.

  Seeing her now, willingly sacrificing herself for the happiness of others who would surely reject her made Josef want to be the one she ran to.

  When Faith finished the knot at Hunter’s feet, she stood and Josef caught her scent as it wafted through the air. She smelled like fruit, like a berry—possibly a Whisperberry. It was sweet and cleansing and laced with honey. Ironically, the taste was a little bitter and hard to swallow but the power it wielded in spells was intense. It was fitting for her.

  “Done. Now what?”

  Josef finished tying down Hunter’s hands and when they were securely in place, he reached out and laced the posts of the bed with a restriction spell. He hoped it would be enough, but Hunter was strong and Josef had seen plenty of weaker men nearly break free.

  “Well,” he began. “Now, you need to go back to the library. Weave some tale for your friends so that they are not alarmed about either me or Hunter and just go about your business. I won’t be finished until sunrise, and when I am done, he will not be in any physical state to roam about. You can come back in the morning if you wish, once the split is completed. If he survives, he’ll most likely sleep for a day or two as he recovers.

  “Oh, well, honestly I was hoping to watch.”

  The wicked intent that had crossed her face sent a shiver through Josef’s body. The evil that lay dormant in her was so enticing that he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, but he kept himself in check and simply shook his head.

  “It’s too dangerous. The pain of the split will break his mind and his behavior will be erratic at best. If he breaks free—I’d rather not put you or our daughter in harm’s way.”

  Faith broke into a pout, arms folded across her chest, but Josef stood his ground and ushered her out. It was true that the split would cause Hunter a great deal of pain and suffering, but it was the dark side of Josef that it brought free that he’d rather not show her, yet.

  As the door latched and he heard Faith’s footsteps fade down the corridor, Josef turned and stepped over to the bed and stared down at Hunter. He would wake soon enough—the strike to his head had only been hard enough to stun him. Josef needed to begin before Hunter became lucid enough to put up a real fight. He reached into the sack that had held the rope and pulled out various items that would assist in the split, each one more menacing than the previous. When they were all laid out on the table, Josef could feel the tingle of excitement shoot through his body. He hadn’t performed a split in eons and had always enjoyed the power that coursed through him when they were performed.

  “I could get into a lot of trouble for doing this, you know.” He spoke to Hunter, knowing that he could not hear him. “But I admit, the temptation was too much to turn away from. That, and I don’t know about you, but that Faith—she has such a way about her that I’m certain I would have a hard time telling her no.”

  He picked up one of the wooden-handled tools and twirled it around in his fingers. His hands were steady and he reached out and made a small slit in the crease of Hunter’s elbow, just deep enough to draw blood. From one of the vials, he dropped a purple liquid across the cut and watched as Hunter’s body absorbed it. The potion enabled Josef to connect with Hunter’s mind, but knowing that he was an Empath and that his mind would be a maze of emotions and events that were not his own, Josef had upped the strength and held his breath as he felt the connection build. As a dark haze filled his mind, he could see Hunter’s silhouette form in the distance. The split was about to begin.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I’m worried.” Talia paced around the library, twisting her hands together. It had been hours since any of them had seen or heard from Hunter and the time was nearing when they were to go hunt down the Shadow Witch. Talia knew that he would not have left them unprotected against her and so she believed that something horrible had happened to him. Ian and Hope had both tried to calm her nerves, assuring her that Hunter was known for fits of brooding and was often off hidden away, sorting through the chaos that lived in his mind. When he was ready, he would emerge and it would become clear that his absence was of his own doing.

  As she stood near the fireplace, trying to warm her chilled body, the door to the library clicked open and she was filled with hope that she would turn and see him. Her hope however was quickly replaced with disappointment as Faith walked in and slowly shut the door behind her. Talia watched as she approached her with heavy shoulders and a somber expression.

  “He’s not coming.”

  Agony filled her heart and Talia could feel tears build in her eyes as Ian stormed over and grabbed Faith by the arm, jerking her around so that she was facing him instead.

  “Did you see him?” he demanded.

  “Yes. I was coming down the corridor and saw him pacing, mumbling inaudible words to himself. When he caught sight of me, he rushed up to me and started rambling about how he could no longer be locked up with her.” Faith turned her eyes toward Talia and the wicked twitch in her eyes sent a shiver across Talia’s skin. “He said your need for him was overwhelming and that he could no longer trust himself, trust that his decisions were true…He said that your presence tainted his clarity and he needed to be as far away from you as possible.”

  Faith’s words were like a knife that sliced through her heart. Talia had not been able to talk to him after their incident, to assure him that she had been the weak one, not him. To tell him that she had been the one that had allowed things to go as far as they had, but he never gave her the chance. And now he was gone.

  “You lying bitch!” Hope’s scream echoed within the library and before Talia could look for her, she appeared in front of her and struck her fist against her sister’s face.

  As Faith stood, barely fazed by the strike, blood gushing from the large split in her lip, Hope continued her verbal onslaught.

  “What have you done? We all know that he is not weak and would never tuck tail and run simply because of a woman. When he left here, he was committed to this fight regardless of the tension between himself and Talia. I know that you know where he is and you are going to tell me!”

  Talia watched in horror as Faith spat in Hope’s face, the diluted blood mixed with saliva sliding down her cheek. Hope lunged for her, but Ian, still gripping Faith’s arm, pulled her back and stepped in between the sisters. He held Faith behind him as he squared off against Hope, the look in his eyes filled with warning. “Do not sink to her level, love. We’ll find him, with or without her help.”

  Faith peeked from behind Ian’s protection, her violet eyes dark and
cold. “I wouldn’t tell you where he was even if I did know.”

  “Who are you?” Hope narrowed her eyes at her twin and folded her arms across her chest. “I am often shocked that we came as a pair. You are so heartless and uncaring and it hurts to see the dark side of myself walking free. I had hoped that the child you carry would bring out the good in you, but perhaps there is none left—for your daughter’s sake, I pray that she is nothing like you for if she is, believe me when I say that I will not allow her to live long enough to ruin others’ lives as you have.”

  “Ah sisterly love—it does my heart good.”

  The cold, smooth voice that drifted to them from the balcony above sent a spark of fear through Talia and she looked up to see her mother. The Shadow Witch stood, regal as always donned in her black flowing gown and ornate headdress, the staff that held the large Blood Diamond gripped tightly in her hand. She pointed it down toward her and Talia felt her movement become restricted. It was a simple trick, child’s play really, and though Talia could easily step out of it she chose to allow her mother to believe that she was in control, for now.

  The Shadow Witch appeared to glide rather than walk as she descended the twisted staircase that was the only entrance to the balcony, and Talia and her friends all stood in wait for her. She wished she had even an ounce of Hunter’s gift, that way she could feel what her friends were thinking and what their intentions were once the Shadow Witch reached them. Now would be as good a time as any for Ian to attempt the theft of the Diamond, but Talia feared he would act too hastily and ruin his chance. With or without Hunter’s help, they needed to act quickly. The fact that her mother had come to them, making her presence known, was beyond luck. She feared her mother suspected their plans, but in reality, Talia did not see how it would be possible. They’d been held up here in the library, all prying eyes kept away, as they had planned their attack. The only element now was that Hunter was missing. Maybe she’d taken him, tortured him to tell her their plans? Worry flooded her as she tried desperately to figure out where he could be, all while keeping her eyes locked on her mother as she got closer.