Darkness Undone

by Georgia Lyn Hunter

  She searched for her clothes and realized the tenderness between her legs was only a slight discomfort now. Finding her things a short distance away, she dressed.

  Eve walked out of the trees and scanned her surrounding, but couldn’t see Reynner anywhere. She sat on one of the several boulders lining the river and waited. Eyes closed, she raised her face to the sun, its warmth soothing her. The spray from the waterfalls drifted like mist over her. Licking the cool drops of the water from her lips, she tasted Reynner and relived the beautiful memories he’d given her.

  But he didn’t like her touching his wings. She rubbed her temple, a memory bled through her mind—his nightmares when she’d touched him the night he got hurt. That awful demoness who’d captured him…laughing, deliberately stroking his shoulders or so she’d thought. It had been too dark to see clearly. She hadn’t realized then that they were the inner arches of his wings.

  Dear God, no wonder he kept them concealed. He’d said they were sensitive, now she understood why. He became aroused.

  “Eve?”

  At the quiet sound of his voice, she opened her eyes and forced away the painful images of his nightmares. Water droplets sparkled like diamonds on his muscular chest, which she’d kissed and stroked moments ago. She prayed this wasn’t the end for them. But faced with his closed expression once again, a sharp ache settled in her heart.

  It was over.

  Reynner wasn’t interested in any kind of relationship. Apparently, he’d taken her word when she said all she wanted from him was a moment.

  Chapter 18

  Reynner took in Eve’s pale face and the fact that she wouldn’t look at him. The darkness that had eased after they’d made love surged again like a backdraft, clawing at his mind.

  You are not worthy of her. Not worthy.

  And judging by her tense expression, yeah, she’d finally realized the truth, too. He was all around bad news, and he’d spilled himself into her. If he could remove that shit, he’d do so.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Her gaze flickered to his then away. “Nothing.”

  At the blatant lie, his anger crawled to the surface. He yanked her off the rock and into his arms, ignoring the tiny gasp that drifted along his bare skin like a damn caress. In a furious rustle, his wings reappeared. He pushed off from the ground and flew them back to the aerie. The fragrance of peaches with a hint of musk from their lovemaking enclosed him.

  He drew in a deep breath and let the scent torment him. Even though she buried her face in his neck and locked her arms around him, her tense body made Reynner aware of the distance she’d put between them. He had to lock down his jaw so he wouldn’t yell the truth at her that she could never get rid of him, she was his mate. But in reality, he had no right, could never lay claim to her verbally. That was his truth.

  The moment he landed on the balcony, she let go of him and disappeared indoors. The dampness on his chest distracted him. He brushed his fingers over it and he smelled her tears. His chest constricted.

  Urias. He should never have touched her, but he couldn’t allow another near her, he just couldn’t. She belonged to him.

  No, she can’t, dumbass.

  Strangling back the urge to go after her, Reynner went in search of Lucan instead, and found the mage in the gym. “Why is the scroll affecting Eve in this manner?” he demanded.

  Lucan set down the free weights he indulged in whenever he visited. Sweat glistened on his face and over his abdomen. He glanced at Reynner as he reached for a towel and dried off. He didn’t pretend to not understand what Reynner meant.

  “It’s the magic in the parchment, it responds to her blood. She’ll be fine once the Stone is found and taken home.”

  “And in the meantime?” he spat.

  “I suggest you keep the affair short. Our kind was never meant to fornicate with mortals.”

  All the frustration and fury in him uncorking, Reynner punched him. Lucan flew across the room. A red haze blurred Reynner’s view. “Don’t fuck with me, Luc. We dragged her from her world to aid us. She didn’t have to do this. You may be a mage, but by Urias, show her some respect or next time it won’t be just a fist to your jaw.”

  Reynner stormed out of the gym. He had no idea what had changed Lucan from the easygoing male he once knew—to give it all up and become a mage—and he didn’t care, but he refused to let him think of Eve as some whore.

  A sharp pain flared across his pec, and the tattoo on his chest heated up, yanking at him to respond to the summons.

  Fuck! Not now! He didn’t have time for this shit. But ignoring Inanna wouldn’t make her go away, nor could he go chain himself in the dungeon, not with Eve here. The star on his chest blazed like hell.

  Anger surging, Reynner changed into jeans and a shirt then walked out onto the balcony. He opened a portal into the Sumerian pantheon and stepped through the misty veils. Only, he didn’t go straight to Inanna’s chambers. After he’d almost succumbed the last time when she burned that hallucinogenic crap—no, never again. She wanted to see him, then she’d meet him where he chose.

  He headed toward the gardens and didn’t bother to hide his presence. In this place, even invisible, they would sense him. Inanna’s servants, in their flowing white gowns approached in a sedate line, dipping their heads when they passed him. But several eyed him boldly beneath their slanted, kohl-rimmed eyes. Obviously, he presented too much of a temptation to worry about their jealous goddess.

  The burn on his chest made him want to tear his skin off, but he refrained from doing anything, refused to show an iota of weakness. He dropped down to the low stone wall and waited.

  Eve. Thoughts of her swamped him. Her golden limbs tangled with his, her satin-smooth body sliding beneath him. His groin hardened.

  He scrubbed his face. Gods, he’d hurt her with his claiming. But the trust he’d seen in her eyes filled him with longing. Their kind never put much stock into virginity. Hell, virgins were a myth in his world. But he was fiercely glad no other had touched Eve in that elemental way but him.

  The scent of myrrh and exotic spice reached him first, reminding him of his curse. It hauled his mind out of thoughts too dangerous to have in a place like this.

  “Reynner?” The sexual overtones made his lips tighten. Inanna smiled and slithered closer, about as innocent as an asp. She wore a wine-colored gown, a bunch of plump red grapes in her hand. She stopped a foot away. A glitter warmed her yellowy brown eyes. Her musky perfume overwhelmed him.

  He tried to remember Eve’s scent. Needed her with a desperation that twisted his gut. She gave him peace, eased him.

  Reynner?

  He froze. Eve?

  Another tentative touch, almost like a whisper, it swirled through his mind. Reynner?

  She heard him? Urias! Shock drenched his mind.

  Unable to sit still, he shot to his feet. He rubbed his chest at her warm presence in there and paced to the edge of the trees that lined the temple gardens.

  Eve couldn’t see his thoughts when she touched him because he’d bolted his psychic shields. But this? To be inside his mind? And, like a punch in his gut, the truth hit him.

  He’d not only claimed her and sealed his fate when the mystical light had entered him—their bonding had opened their telepathic connection, too. For a heart-stopping, joyous moment, he reveled in her gentle presence inside him.

  Then he turned and stared into the gleaming topaz eyes of his reality.

  He shut down his mind-link to Eve. Grateful then, he’d taken the swim in the ice-cold lake after making love to her. It had been more to cool his ardor because his desire had barely been satiated, but if Inanna ever found out that he’d bonded and had a mate, she’d go after Eve. She would think nothing of hurting her. Or worse, killing her.

  Over my dead body, he vowed. And not even then.

  He would never ruin Eve’s life. Once he left, the threat to her would be removed because Inanna would follow him. But he’d make damn sure
not Inanna or anyone else would ever touch a hair on Eve’s head.

  The cool skin of a fat grape caressed his mouth, brought him out of his mind-shattering revelations.

  Jaw tightening, he stepped back.

  “I’m eating it, why would I drug myself?” She pouted, trailing a hand down his chest. He narrowed his eyes. She tossed aside the fruit, not deterred by his warning look. “Come, lover, give over and stop fighting me. I will continue to bring you here until you give me a day of your time, or that,” she tapped the star on his chest, “will just get worse.”

  “This game grows tedious. I will never become one of your puppets. You knew that from the start. Release me.”

  She arched a brow. With a cat-like smile, she slowly circled him and whispered from behind, close to his ear. “Never.”

  ***

  Eve descended the stairs to the gym later that afternoon, listlessness making her edgy.

  God, she hoped Reynner didn’t know she’d cried in his arms when he brought them back. The urge to go look for him grew so strong, she stumbled to a halt and inhaled a harsh breath.

  She must be going out of her mind. Since their return from the forest, she felt like he was with her, inside her mind, her heart. She even thought she heard him call her name.

  Stop, Eve. He’s given you what you asked for—a moment of his time. It’s over.

  She scrubbed a shaky hand over her face. She had to put all this behind her or she’d go crazy.

  The sounds of thumping drew her. She found Aerén in the gym, pounding at a sand bag strung from the ceiling. She didn’t understand his obsessive need to train so often. After the incident between him and Reynner this morning, she didn’t know what to say, and Aerén didn’t appear to be in a mood to talk.

  Eve sat on a bench and waited. She didn’t have much choice, not like she could go outside for a stroll when she was trapped in this mountain fortress.

  “So, you’re a prince?”

  “By a misfortune of birth.” He punched harder with bare fists as if to work through whatever nightmare held him in its grip. The muscles in his arms and chest bulged at the power of his strikes. She dreaded to think what those hands could do to a human.

  “Are you all right?” Concern filled her at the brutality of his punches. Sweat dripped down his face and ripped torso.

  Cool, silver eyes flickered to her. “I’m fine.”

  A brush-off. But it didn’t deter her. She regarded him as a friend, or maybe Kataya was finally rubbing off on her when it came to poking her nose into another’s business. “You don’t like being royalty?”

  “All it’s done is remind me of what I’ve lost. My sister. My brother. My parents. Now my middle brother, my only surviving family, sends me here to keep me safe because I took on our enemies. Can’t have my royal ass hurt.” Another punishing blow to the bag. Eve felt her own knuckles hurt.

  She remembered Aethan and wanted to reassure Aerén that his eldest brother lived, but it wasn’t her business. Lord knew what can of immortal worms she’d open then.

  “I’m sorry,” she gave voice to trite words. Glancing around, she searched for something else to talk about. “Aerén? Thank you for earlier…I’m sorry Reynner hit you.”

  Though she hadn’t encouraged Aerén, she still felt a little guilty letting him kiss her.

  Now a sly smile crept over his features. “Most fun I’ve ever had. You change your mind about him, you know where to find me.”

  She laughed, pleased to see the familiar, flirtatious spark in his eyes. “You’re a prince, you can get anyone you want.”

  He grabbed the swaying bag, his expression sobering. “Perhaps. Pity you’re into Reynner, but I guess it’s to be expected. All the females back home were, too. As high lord of Ademéras, he was never short of female company—” He broke off and winced, remorse crossing his face. “Hell, Eve, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Why? It’s the truth. I have no hold over him.” She turned away and fixed her attention on the waterfall. Once the Stone was found, he’d leave. But the thought of never seeing him again intensified the pain, like someone had clamped a vise around her heart. She rose and crossed to the window, wrapping her arms around her body, needing to hold herself together.

  A high lord, Aerén had said. That was like nobility. She’d wondered about Reynner’s life, his world. But he was about as vocal as a mute when it came to personal stuff.

  “Ademéras?” she asked Aerén, who came to stand beside her.

  “Yes, it’s er…” He searched for a way to explain it. “It’s like a country with its own ruler.”

  “And you?”

  “I’m prince over all the dominions,” he said with a slight smile. He stared at his split knuckles, a furrow marring his brow. “Eve, what I said about Reynner? That was a long time ago. He hasn’t been back home in over two thousand years. After he left Empyrea, something happened, and that demoness trapped him in Hell. It changed him in a drastic way, made him hard, unapproachable…”

  “I know,” she whispered. She doubted she’d ever forget the horror of the images she’d seen. “I saw when I touched him that night. Why would anyone do that to another being?”

  Aerén shrugged. “To own him. It’s punishment because he refused to cower.”

  Own him?

  Reynner had growled out that furious question at her when he’d found out she’d touched him in his sleep. She didn’t want to own him…she’d never do that.

  Eve went still when she recalled something else.

  That was why he’d ordered her to wash her hands when she’d first tended to him. Did he think his blood would taint her? And why he didn’t want to release himself into her. He thought he’d what? Infect her with evil because that demoness had force-fed him her blood?

  Her chest hurt for him. How could he hold himself in such low regard?

  She’d only experienced absolute bliss in his arms. She didn’t feel any differently, except for that moment when they’d made love and a warm light had flowed through her. There was nothing dark or sinister about it, just undeniable warmth, and a tantalizing masculine essence that was all him.

  But talking about Reynner when he’d disappeared so soon after they made love lowered her spirits again. She changed the subject. “Where do we go to locate the Stone?”

  He glanced at her. His jaw dropped. Then he grinned. “Eve, your eyes—dammit, they’re beautiful.”

  Eve snorted. He wasn’t distracting her that easily. Sleeping with an angel would probably do that. Thankfully, the glowing blue specks had dulled somewhat. “Where, Aerén?”

  “New York,” he said, crossing to pick up his tee from the bench. “There’s nothing for you to fear. We’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll keep you safe from any type of danger.”

  Eve chewed her lip and thought back to when those demoniis had confronted her and Reynner in the alley. She’d been more a liability than a help. Her pepper spray wasn’t going to work on immortals.

  “Can you teach me to fight? A few techniques that will keep me alive.”

  His head emerged from the tee. Aerén looked horrified as if she’d asked him for his royal inheritance. “You don’t need to learn to defend yourself. We will do that.”

  She gave him a level look. “I don’t know what the women in your world are like, but where I come from? We prefer to rely on ourselves. However, if you don’t want to, fine. I’ll go ask Izzeri. He looks quite capable.”

  A smile tugged at his mouth. “He’s an old fae. All he’d want to do is hie off with you. Faes tend to like mortals—keep them as prizes.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “No way. As in faeries?”

  He nodded.

  Well, that shot another illusion to dust of faeries being tiny, Tinker Bell-like people. It also explained why he’d stared at her when he’d first seen her. “Jeez, I’m not very safe in this place, am I? That makes it all the more imperative for me to learn.”

  �
�Convincing argument,” Aerén said, smiling. He ran his gaze over her with an appreciative male look. And nodded his approval at the black sweats and fitted white tee she’d pulled on after her shower. “All right. Come on, then. Let’s go teach you to fight, but Reynner’s not going to be happy—”

  “He’s not human,” she retorted as they left the gym, then hastily stepped aside as an avalanche headed toward them.

  “Hey priest,” Aerén called out.

  Eve didn’t respond. Lucan looked like he’d bathed in a vat of ice. His gaze flickered to her, and he stopped. His narrow-eyed regard made her want to squirm and tell him she hadn’t done anything wrong.

  Then he nodded and continued down.

  God, the man was strange. Eve hurried to catch up with Aerén.

  ***

  Reynner stepped through the portal and onto the balcony of his home as daylight gave way to dusk.

  He stood there, breathing hard through his nose. The pain, instead of easing like it usually did after one of these visits, only hurt more, because he refused to give Inanna the day she demanded. All she wanted was to keep him with her and find ways to change his mind. Get him to submit.

  In two thousand years he never had. Why the hell would she think he’d do so now? He pinched the bridge of his nose, like that would help ease him, and scanned for Eve.

  Nothing.

  Dammit, where was she? The possessive mating streak was already winding him up in knots.

  Unable to locate her, he went in search of Izzeri and found him in the kitchen, hands-deep in some white substance. “Have you seen—” Reynner’s gaze dropped to the mixing bowl again. “What is that?”

  Izzeri’s eyes twinkled. “Croissants. The mistress has a fondness for them.”

  Reynner stared at his manservant. Then shook his head. He’d succumbed to Eve’s spell so he couldn’t blame Izzeri for doing likewise. “Have you seen Eve?”

  “The mistress left with the young sire a while ago. They’re in the forest.”

  Possessiveness yanking him hard, Reynner dematerialized. If Aerén touched her, he wouldn’t just threaten this time, he’d kill him. But if Eve so much as allowed Aerén within an inch of her, he’d lock her up in his aerie and the prince could damn well find another place to live.