Darkness Undone

by Georgia Lyn Hunter

  Eve, being mortal, would never come out of it alive.

  One more reason why he could never keep her.

  “I’ll be back later.” His voice gruff with concern, Aerén walked out. And not a minute too soon, as Reynner let go of his rigid control.

  His wings snapped open, his power exploded out of him, reverberating off the walls like lightning, nailing him hard. He could do nothing to block it from shocking him. Brought to his knees and held in pain’s merciless grip, he burned from the inside out.

  Several feathers caught ablaze and floated down to the ground in front of him. The tangy taste of blood flooded his mouth. His mind hazed over, but he crawled to the wall and clicked his restraints in place.

  Better…this way…than giving in to Inanna…

  ***

  Eve rubbed her burning eyes after a sleepless night and tried to do some work the following afternoon. But her concentration was shredded to pieces. Reynner hadn’t come back.

  She had no right to question him about his personal life…or the spicy woman.

  But thoughts of the latter grew into a cancerous anger with no outlet. Eventually, she slammed down the sheet of metal, wanting to tear the thing apart with her bare hands. Tears crowded her eyes. Why couldn’t he want her? Even a little?

  “Are you okay?”

  The rare sound of North’s voice jerked her out of her self-pity. She nodded.

  Eve gave her attention to the sculpture she’d started, but her heart wasn’t in it as she melted and molded. All that took form was her rage and hurt in the wild twists and furious turns of pewter and steel.

  Warmth stole through her and built up like she had a temperature. The sheet of metal she’d abused in her fit of temper lay distorted on the floor. Running out of steam, desperately unhappy, she dropped to the floor on her knees and stared at her hands. The ugly scars crisscrossing her skin and melting into each other ached, while intense heat radiated through her body. One she didn’t understand.

  She clenched and unclenched her fingers. What was wrong with her? It felt as if she were on fire. Eve pushed to her feet and staggered to the sink. Holding her hands under the cold water, she struggled to calm down. Filling a glass, she drank some…the heat in her hands and her body slowly subsided.

  Movement and low voices distracted her. Lucan stood near the doorway. She hadn't been aware North had let him in. He glanced around the place, seeming intrigued by the tall shelves that held all types of metal. Both purchased and scrapyard finds.

  North and Lucan held a conversation in their language. The tensed air between them told her that wherever Lucan had been, things weren’t too rosy there. Had he gone to Empyrea?

  Thankful she didn’t have to talk to him, Eve headed back to her worktable and flipped through several sketches she’d done for her sculpture of Reynner. Selecting the drawing she liked, she began redefining the lines.

  “That’s good.”

  Her gaze shot up at the sound of Lucan’s voice. She looked around, only to find that North had disappeared, leaving this glacier in his place.

  Oh, joy. Alone with the iceberg. But his clipped praise shocked her.

  “We need to talk.”

  Now that wasn’t a surprise. “About what?”

  His eyes gleamed. Amusement? No, it had to be irritation at her snarly tone.

  “In a minute.” His gaze dropped to her hands. “How did you get those scars?”

  Her fingers tightened around her pencil, and she stifled the urge to hide her hands. Instead, she started another drawing. “What’s it to you?”

  “Enlighten me.” An order.

  He probably never uttered the word, please. Scowling, she told him. “Ten years ago, I was involved in a car accident. I tried to drag my dead parents from a burning wreck—hysterical kids tend to do that, with the illusion we can save them and no thoughts to safety.”

  He didn’t respond to her caustic account of the tragedy. His silent scrutiny hauled her out of her anger, making her uneasy. In a sugary-sweet tone full of bite, she asked, “Is that all?”

  “What caused the accident?”

  Apparently not.

  “At fifteen, I was more interested in texting my friends than how my dad drove. They said he swerved to avoid a jaywalker, maybe another car—the damn Easter bunny, I don’t remember.”

  She tore off a sheet, crumpled it in frustration, and tossed it with the pile on her table.

  “Where?”

  “At Columbus Circle.”

  Lucan didn’t speak for a moment as if considering what she’d revealed. Then he said, “You do understand, Reynner cannot remain on this realm once we find the Stone.”

  “You’re telling me this why?”

  Glacial eyes hardened. And she’d always thought turquoise a calming color.

  “You know why.”

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to spell it out. I’m busy and don’t have time for puzzles.”

  A long stretch of silence followed. His gaze skated over her like winter’s kiss, and to think, she’d been sufficiently warm and sticky from the heat until he came.

  “When the time comes, will you leave?”

  “Where—why?” she asked, unable to fathom what he was getting at.

  “Empyrea. It’s where Reynner will go.”

  Her heart stopped. Her chest constricted painfully. Reynner had never asked her to go anywhere with him. She had to force out the words from a tightening throat. “Why would I do that?”

  “It’s good you feel this way. Our realm is ravaged by civil wars. And Darkreans, who fight for rule. You will be a distraction he can ill-afford.”

  Eve held back a biting retort. She’d sensed Lucan’s dislike, but to detest her to such an extent that he would warn her off Reynner? If only he knew the truth. The only thing Reynner thought about was finding the Stone and leaving. She only mattered because they needed her to search for the artifact. And he’d made love to her… Because I didn’t give him much choice, she realized with painful insight.

  She pushed him into doing so. The reality wasn’t any easier to swallow two days later.

  Even if he had gone off to Exilum last night, it was probably to spare her feelings. Why would he want her when he seemed to hate women, didn’t trust them? And who could blame him after what he’d endured in Hell?

  “He’s been gone too long from Empyrea,” Lucan continued, interrupting thoughts that left her raw. Hurting. “Ademéras needs him. When he’s gone, the bonding ties will ease—”

  Her head snapped up. “The what?”

  He stared at her for a short, silent moment. “He didn’t tell you? I guess I should have given him more credit, despite the temptation your kind presents to us. Mortals were never meant to be mates to our species.”

  Mate? Mate!

  “What the hell are you talking about? What mate?” Eve glared at Lucan. And found him studying her. Probably searching for whatever Reynner had seen in her that made him sleep with her.

  Then he shook his head. “Impossible to believe…you humans are far too weak. Frail. You would never last the course of being mated to one like us. It’s best you make this easy on yourself, tell him you don’t want him here.”

  The superior tone made Eve want to shove him out of her studio. Except the pain inside of her rendered her helpless. She’d spent far too much time with them to not understand what the word mate meant. North had lost his wife to the wars in their realm.

  Reynner had bonded with her and never said a word. But then he’d never lied about staying with her either. Swallowing her hurt, she pinned Lucan with an unforgiving look. “Relax. I have no plans to taint the purity of your bloodline. Reynner is a free agent. I won’t force him to stay, nor will I be your scapegoat. You want him to leave, you tell him so.”

  His piercing turquoise gaze swirled white with power, with knowledge. Tendrils of ice wrapped around her. “You won’t win.”

  “Then you should be glad with me out of the pic
ture. I want him to be happy—can you say the same?”

  When she received no answer, she turned away, growing weary of the conversation. “I thought not. Now, if you don’t mind, please leave. I have work to do.”

  After Lucan left, North sat on the over-turned crate near the door again, staring outside.

  Eve leaned her elbows on the work-surface, staring at her faceless sketch of Reynner for several long minutes. And wondered how she’d held herself together as she faced that heartless man.

  When he’s gone, the bonding ties will ease.

  Lucan’s words were like a razor peeling off layer after layer of her heart until it bled so profusely, she didn’t think she’d ever heal from the shock. The betrayal.

  Immortals finding their mates and bonding was cause for celebration. After all, it was the only way they could have children Aerén had said. And yet, Reynner wouldn’t acknowledge her.

  Tears clogged her throat. Her chest hurt until she could no longer breathe. She dropped her head in her hand, wishing the unbearable pain would ease.

  But, no matter how much she hurt, she did want Reynner to be happy, and she’d never force him to stay. Not after what she’d seen—what he’d lived through in Hell.

  Chapter 20

  Reynner stood outside Eve’s studio, feeling like he’d been torn apart and put together again. He watched North head up the darkened alley, not before telling him that Lucan had been by.

  Raking a shaky hand through his hair, he retied it. His gait too slow and his body too lax, his strength was that of a babe. Hell, he probably looked as wrung out as he felt. After the period in his dungeon, Aerén had insisted he rest. He didn’t agree. With his mind on Eve, desperation clawed at him to return. A night and day had passed since he’d left her.

  Reynner scanned the studio and found Eve alone. She had to be busy with her work.

  He stepped inside. Amidst the acrid odor of melting metal, the briny scent of tears hit him hard. His stomach in knots, he flashed to her side. “Eve, what’s wrong?”

  She stiffened at the sound of his voice and dashed at her face with the back of her hand, the movement too fast. His gaze fell on her drawing book, and he saw the soggy patch on her sketch sheet.

  “Nothing.” She closed the pad, pushed off her chair, and started to clear her table. Frowning, Reynner ran his gaze over the tidy surface. The sketches were placed in their folders, pens in their stands, and even her jellybean jar had received her attention. No longer within her reach, but against the wall. Everything lined up like soldiers.

  The place was too damn neat. This wasn’t her. One thing he’d learned, Eve liked the chaos on her worktable. He stepped in front of her, blocking her attempts to avoid him. “I know Lucan was here. What the hell did he say?”

  She finally looked at him, her eyes filled with pain and betrayal, and red-rimmed from the tears she’d shed. “Only what you didn’t.”

  Like a light had been switched on, his gut tightened, and he knew. The bastard had opened his fucking mouth and spilled. He wanted to kill the mage for interfering in something that was none of his damn business.

  “What exactly am I to you?” she asked. Her fingers closed around her pencil, tightening as if she needed the thing to anchor her.

  He didn’t want to get into this now, not when his head felt like someone had jabbed an ice pick through his skull and mushed his brains. He just wanted to hold her, forget the last tormenting twenty-four hours until Inanna had finally gotten bored and the pain had eased.

  “Tell me.” A choked demand.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose then found her gaze, his mind fuzzy as he answered. “You are who destiny chose for me.”

  ***

  Eve stared at him for a long, silent moment. “But not who you would have chosen.”

  At his baffled look, anger warred with her bitterness. She clamped a lid over it. “Is that why I can sense you—your presence in my mind?”

  He nodded. A flare of yearning so powerful crossed his face. It made her insides tremble. But she refused to let hope spring, imagining what she wanted. The fact that he’d kept something this important from her showed her the stark truth.

  “Yes, when we were together, we bonded.”

  When we were together—not when we made love. Even his words screamed the truth at her. He wouldn’t have touched her had he known. She got that loud and clear.

  “I understand.” She struggled to raise her protective shields around her emotions. She dropped her pencil on the table and went back to her work in progress. How she managed the simple feat of walking, when it felt like she’d been shattered, every inch of her broken, she had no idea.

  “That’s it?” he bit out, following her. “No questions about why I didn’t tell you?”

  She turned dull eyes to him. Why was he so angry? He wasn’t the one having to deal with the unbearable pain of being unwanted. “What do you want me to say? You obviously don’t want a mate, because if you did, you would have said something. And we both know you only slept with me because I wanted you.”

  She stuck her earphones on and cranked up her iPod, trying to lose herself in her music and her work. But she had no prayer in hell of that happening when she was aware of him like a tangible force of power behind her. Even his scent taunted her.

  He hauled her around, startling her. Her earphones were ripped off and pocketed, along with her iPod. The metal strip in her hand hit the ground with a thin twang.

  He yanked her close, his fingers biting into her upper arms. “We have a problem, you talk to me. Don’t shut me out, Eve, or you won’t like what I’ll do.”

  “Don’t threaten me—” she snapped, pushing away. “You want to talk? Fine. After the Stone’s found, what do you plan to do?”

  “It matters little what happens after. For now, this is where I’ll be. With you.”

  His decision broke her heart. He would stay with her for now, but the end result remained the same. He would leave.

  Eve shook her head. Her despairing mind finally registering the lines of pain bracketing his mouth, the paleness of his skin. But she couldn’t worry about that—couldn’t do this any longer.

  “I know it’s what I asked for, a moment with you, but this…this bonding changes everything. It’s not enough anymore.”

  His expression became stony.

  Eve knew what he thought. You can’t trust a woman. Because here she is, changing the stakes again. But this was her life she was fighting for. “I stay with you a day longer, it will make it that much harder when you leave. I can’t live like that—”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I want a life—a family.” I need them…to forget you…to breathe again. “I want it all.”

  “And who’s going to give that to you, Eve? You can't touch anyone—”

  “You bastard.” Pain ripped through her. Eve backed away, felt as if her very foundation had fractured. He’d taken her heart, her feelings, and crushed them into shards with his callousness. Used the very thing that caused her so much hurt against her.

  “Fuck!” He squeezed his eyes tight. “Eve, I’m—”

  “No—” she cut him off. In a voice gone brittle with determination, she said, “I will accept David if he still wants me. Like you pointed out, my choices are limited.”

  His rigid composure cracked. His eyes snapped open, blazing with savage fire. “That will never happen!”

  “God, you're selfish! You don’t want me, and no one else can?”

  “Don’t want you? You have no idea—” His mouth clamped shut. The vein on his neck pulsed so violently she half expected him to shake her. Instead, he stalked off, his fists crashing on the table, making her jump.

  Inhaling an agonized breath, Eve turned away, pressed her hand to her chest as if it would ease her shattered heart. She only understood one thing; she had to find a way to move on. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t survive, not loving him the way she did

  ***

&
nbsp; Chained to the wall for hours, his wrists were rubbed raw and blood dripped down his biceps. His body in a haze of pain from the barbed cat ’o nine tails whip she’d used this time.

  Kalinin took pleasure in physical torture, relished in it.

  His head hung low, his matted hair fell in dark hunks to block his view of the bitch watching him. She strolled closer. Fingers ran down his chest, digging into the grooves of torn flesh. “Say the words and all this will end—admit I’m your mistress.”

  Reynner gritted his teeth, so the words wouldn’t tumble out. The whip cracked through the air and slashed him again, tearing through flesh. Unmitigated pain surged through him.

  A silent scream trapped in his throat.

  By all that was merciful, was there no way out of this endless pain?

  Urias, end me…let me leave this hellhole.

  Oblivion hovered. Elysium, their final resting place was just a heartbeat away.

  “Oh, no, my dear Empyrean,” she cooed. “I won’t let you seek death. You are mine.”

  She undid his chains, and he fell into the filth, his legs too weak to support him. She scored her wrist with her teeth and pushed the gushing wound to his lips. His stomach gnawed itself in hunger, but he turned his head away. The sludge from the floor coated his face. She grabbed him by his hair and forced the blood into his mouth, ignoring his sputtering.

  The coppery taste slid down his parched throat, he gagged, but she held his head down. After a minute, she yanked his head up. “You want water? Say the words.”

  He didn't speak. He no longer did. Blood dripping down his chin, he pulled his head free from her vicious grip, leaving behind a hunk of his hair. She ran the dull strands against her face, her expression filling with victory.

  Despair constricted his chest. He couldn’t hold out much longer…she’d win.

  No. Can’t let her—can’t let her—

  “Hush, Reynner, I’m here.”

  The faint fragrance of peaches teased his nose, chasing away the sulfur and coppery stink. He clung to the wispy tendrils like a lifeline and followed it. There. He found her. In his soul. A light that burned for him alone. So bright, it led him out of the darkness and into her warmth.