A hand on the wall, she slowly made her way down. Stale air and the smell of mildew clogged her nose. Flickering lights below caught her attention. Eve carefully picked her way down the stuffy stairway to the firelight. She reached up and pulled the old-fashioned, broom-like torch off the wall. And continued down the stairs.
Deep inside the mountain, the air grew chilly. It seeped into her damp tank and capri jeans. She shivered, goosebumps scattering over her bare arms. But determination propelled her forward until she hit the last step.
A muffled sound carried to her.
Reynner?
Her heart drumming against her ribs, Eve tossed the torch to the floor. The flame died and pulled the gloom over her once more. A faint glow coming from the distance guided her. Hope, like a bright shiny light exploded in her heart and she sprinted toward the flickering light.
Aerén was right. He didn’t go to that malicious heifer—he’d come here. She’d wait with him while he rode this out, she would never leave him to suffer alone—and came to a grinding halt.
Oh, Christ, no! Her hand rushed to her mouth, holding back a pained sob.
Manacled to the wall, Reynner hung by his wrists. His head bowed, his hair swung in damp swathes, concealing his face. His body contorted, muscles bunching as he suffered in silence. His beautiful wings dragged on the ground. Power bounced off the rough granite walls like streaks of lightning. And there, in the center of the power storm, Inanna stood several feet from him like some evil entity in a long black gown, safe from harm. So engrossed in Reynner, she didn’t notice Eve.
Why didn’t she feel his pain?
Her chest hurt at the truth. He still shielded her despite his immense agony.
“Why do you persist in suffering, lover?” Inanna snapped in irritation. “You know it can be good between us again. Say yes and this will all be over.”
Eve remembered similar words. The demoness had said the same thing when she’d trapped him.
“I’ll even allow you your little human plaything,” Inanna coaxed.
A low, animal-like snarl left him.
“You only have yourself to blame!” She weaved her hand and the glow in him upped. The eight-point star blazed, his body glowed like a flame engulfing him from within, the muscles in his chest and arms bunched in suffering. Several feathers singed floated to the ground.
Nooo! Eve rushed into the dungeon—she would kill her for hurting him.
At the sound of her footsteps echoing on the stone floor, Reynner raised his head. She veered at last second and rushed over to him, instead, and touched his face, tears blurring her vision.
“Oh, Reynner,” she whispered. And there, in his agonized night-sky eyes, she saw it, a flicker of awareness. And then fear.
A feral hiss erupted behind her. Inanna grabbed a hunk of Eve's hair and hauled her away from him, flinging her aside. Eve hit the bars, pain flooding her scalp and spine.
Inanna’s smile widened with pure malevolence. “How quaint, your little pet came to rescue you. She’ll pay.”
“No!” A hoarse snarl left Reynner. His shields dropped, and he lost control.
Eve stumbled, a wave of unadulterated agony spreading through her as if her insides were on fire. She fell to her knees, unable to breathe, finally experiencing what he truly suffered.
But the desperation to save the man she loved, pushed her to her feet, gave her the strength she needed. Her outraged cry rang out through the dungeon. “Leave him alone!”
“He is not yours, filthy human—”
“Eve—no, don’t!” Reynner rasped, his voice guttural and thick with pain.
“He’s my mate!” Too angry to stop, Eve charged and rammed Inanna hard with both hands and sent her back several feet. Inanna lashed out, delivered a vicious blow to Eve's face. Pain exploded in her jaw, stars zipping across her vision as she landed on the ground.
Reynner lurched toward her. Only then did she realize that he wasn't chained, but holding onto the fetters.
Inanna waved her hand, her temper congealing the air. Whatever she did next, she had Reynner writhing on the floor. “I still own you, lover, never forget that. And for mating this tramp, you’ll pay dearly. It won’t be a year this time.”
Eve lost all rational cognizance at the threat to Reynner, the promise to trap him back in Hell where he’d been so cruelly tortured and violated. Adrenaline jetting into her veins, she pushed off the ground, lunged for Inanna and wrapped her hands around the goddess’s throat.
Eve gasped at the onslaught, thoughts flooding her mind. Inanna’s utter delight at knowing she’d win. Eve saw her own death and she didn't care. She struggled to hold on despite the darkness seeping into her consciousness. More images bled into her…Inanna leaning over Reynner, a dagger in her hand, blood seeping from the wound on his chest—into a blue stone…a dark figure in the cavern…echoes of an eerie chant, and the truth crashed through Eve.
The vicious black-hearted heifer!
Inanna laughed. “You puny little mortal, I’ll squash you like the bug you are!” She shoved Eve off her.
Eve’s hold slipped. Her fingers caught in the choker fastened around Inanna’s neck. The filigree design sunk into her palms and it took on life, each lattice piece cut through her soft flesh like being slashed with razors. She cried out in agony.
“Eve…”
At the rough whisper, her head whipped around. Reynner struggled to his feet. The star on his chest pulsed brightly as if he were seconds away from incinerating. Inanna growled, flung out a hand, holding him back while she tried to pry Eve off her with the other.
Blood seeped down Eve’s wrists, drenching her hands as strips of the filigree hit bone. Pain seared her brain and burned her palms. At the excruciating torture, she loosened her grip and Lila’s words flashed through her mind.
No matter how unbearable it is, you have to see it through, or that which you most fear will come to pass.
No! Inanna will never have him, even if it meant losing her own life.
Eve summoned all of her waning strength. Working only on adrenaline, she tugged on the necklace.
Inanna’s laugh grew wild. “No one touches my amulet and lives. Goodbye, mortal.”
Oh, Lord, pleaseeee!
Eve tugged hard at the evil necklet mangling her hands. And from deep within her soul, the warmth that helped shape her metals streamed out. No glow, just an incredible heat flowing out of her palms. The necklace melted, separated in two. The deep blue lapis lazuli stone cracked. Dark red liquid seeped out, thick and sticky, it ran over Eve’s hand. An obscure shadow filled with icy malevolence slithered over her.
“My amulet!” Inanna screeched. She scrambled to retrieve the broken lapis pieces. Failing. Her face twisted in fury. “You slut!” Power streamed out of her. With a wave of her hand, she picked Eve up like a rag doll and slammed her hard on the granite ground.
Unbelievable agony consumed Eve. She lay immobile on the cold floor, struggling to breathe through lungs that felt like a thousand daggers had punctured them.
She’d seen this moment…seen her death.
I’m broken.
A sudden shriek of anger bounced off the walls.
Through hazy eyes, she saw Inanna fly backward and be pinned by an invisible force to the craggy rock face. She screeched. A blast flared out from her hands in the direction where Eve lay.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Reynner snarled, his wings slashing the air. A flick of his hand and he trapped Inanna’s wrists to the wall. Her power diverted, it hit the granite surface, and rubble rained to the ground in a dust storm. Then it faded and died.
Unable to hold on, Eve closed her eyes and let oblivion claim her.
***
Released from the pain that held him in its grip for millennia, disoriented, Reynner shook his head, and tried to shake off the strange stillness stealing through him. No burn in his chest, just an unnatural quiet. Then those thoughts flew right out of his mind as he stumbled to where
Eve lay so still on the ground.
“Noooo,” Inanna screamed.
With a thought, he cut off her vocals.
“Eve, what did you do?” He dropped to his knees, his words raw, anguished. He pressed two fingers to her neck and found a heartbeat. Then he took her bloody, mangled hands in his, gently eased open her fingers, and saw pieces of metal and broken lapis embedded in her torn flesh.
“Oh, Eve.” His gaze misted. It was one thing for him to endure pain, but not her. He eased the pieces out of her palms that had suffered so brutally, first at trying to save her parents and now him. Her blood flowed faster, coating his fingers.
He did a psychic scan of her injuries and his stomach constricted. Three fractured ribs, one broken. Her right shoulder dislocated. The blow from Inanna’s fist had split her lip. Blood trailed down her chin.
At her injuries, he couldn’t breathe, felt like a huge vise tightening around his chest. No! He refused to lose her.
The words flew out of him, knowing how much she hated being ordered, “Don’t you dare leave me, Eve. I won't let you go. You fought with me, for me. Now you bloody well make sure you're here to keep me in line—”
He maneuvered her shoulder. A pop sounded as it slipped back into its socket. Then he called on the healing powers he’d been born with, instead of the useless trickle he’d lived with for so long. Pushed harder. “Come on, damn you…”
Long forgotten warmth coursed through him. A powerful force of pale blue light gushed out from his hand and coalesced over her. Soon, his healing light cloaked her like a shroud.
Her fractured ribs healed, the broken one merged and mended, the bruising around her shoulder faded, along with the swelling on her lip. Finally, the few buried pieces of the lapis popped free from her palm and the skin knitted. He ran his fingers over her sealed flesh and scanned again, needing to reassure himself that she was truly healed.
“Reynner?”
At the faint whisper, his gaze flew to hers. And through his blurred vision he found those beautiful green eyes on him. Unable to speak past the lump in his throat, he pulled her into a fierce hold.
“Can’t breathe—can't breathe.” She squirmed in protest, forcing him to ease back.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” he said, sounding like he’d swallowed gravel. “I thought I’d lost you.”
She reached out and touched his jaw. “I couldn’t let her destroy you, and she was.”
Urias, he’d always thought her fragile, but his mate completely undid him. He turned his face and kissed her bloody palm. Licking the coppery wetness off his lips, he swept her into his arms and rose.
“Reynner, wait, put me down.”
“No.”
“Please, Reynner. I want to see that you’re okay.”
Unable to deny her anything, he let her slide down his body, reveling in the sensation of her living, breathing one. All he wanted was to spend the next few hours, hell the next few years alone with her, far away from any crap this world batted at them, but he had things to take care of first. One of which was still pinned to his dungeon wall, her face mottled red, her screeches stifled.
Eve braced her hands on his chest and eased back, her gaze darting all over him, as if searching for signs of injury. He left her to her investigation and stroked her cheeks, her jaw, then wiped away the blood there. She ran her fingers over his left pec. Confusion wrinkled her smooth brow.
“It’s gone.” Awe filled her voice. “Reynner, it’s gone.”
“What is?”
“That star on your chest.” She smoothed her hand over his left pectoral again.
He glanced down and froze. No cursed scar was branded there. The constant pain, the burn he’d lived with for centuries had disappeared. Just peace remained, and the gentle presence of Eve. She’d taken away his darkness and filled him with her love. She’d done this for him. She’d saved him, and had almost died in the process.
“I saw what she did,” Eve said, shooting Inanna a killing look. “She took your blood after she drugged you, added it to hers, and with the spell of a demon she bound you to her. She wore it in that amulet.” Eve nodded to the broken pieces scattered on the dusty floor, looking ready to tear into Inanna again.
Reynner didn’t even glance at Inanna. He hauled Eve into his arms, unable to get the words past his throat gone tight with emotion. All that came out was a hoarsely whispered, “I love you.”
A muffled screech came from the wall at his declaration.
Eve hugged him and rubbed her cheek against his chest. “I know. It gave me the strength to end this. You held on through the centuries against all odds, I could do no less.”
“I'm bigger, stronger, me’morae, it’s expected—but you humble me.” He leaned down and kissed her. Eve slid her arms up his torso to clasp around his neck as he deepened the kiss.
***
Happiness overwhelming her, Eve simply held him. It was over. She’d freed him.
Easing back, her gaze lit on his wings. She remembered the burning feathers. In awe, she reached up and stroked the healed ones, ran her fingers inside the arch. God, but she loved the silky feel of his wings. His erection jerked against her.
He growled, his eyes flaring with desire. With love.
She smiled, and when he didn't retract his wings, her heart soared.
“You.” He nipped her bottom lip. “Have no idea—” A lick and a firmer nibble, his hands slid up her arms to grasp her hands. “What you mean to me.”
She looked up, and that sexy, barely there smile distracted her as he walked her backward. “And that is why—” he diverted her with another mindless kiss. She squirmed when he raised her hand above her head “—I'm forced to do this.”
A mental clang echoed in the stuffy air of the gloomy dungeon.
“Reynner?” Her brow puckered in puzzlement. Tugging her right hand, she found herself chained to the wall with one of the dull metal cuffs he’d been hanging onto earlier fastened on her wrist.
Her gaze snapped to him. “Reynner?”
He stood in front of her, arms crossed over his chest. “Here’s what is. You are my life, Eve, and when you put yourself in danger, I won't tolerate it. Now that I know you’ll be safe, I will deal with Inanna. Then I’ll be back.”
Her mouth dropped open. She pulled at her cuffed wrist, rattling the chain. “You’re leaving me here? Chained?”
“Not for long, a few minutes.” A wave of his hand and all the torches in the gloomy, dusty place came alight. “Don’t bruise your lovely skin, Eve, or I’ll be very angry.”
“Dammit, Reynner, let me go. Or I swear I’ll–I’ll never speak to you again.”
He didn’t react to her threats but caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. In a shimmer, his retracted wings vanished. He turned as his houseman somehow materialized out of the shadows.
“Izzeri, stay with my mate until I get back.” With that curt order, he strode across to the red-faced, muffled-cursing witch. A touch of his hand on Inanna's arm and they both disappeared.
“Mistress, please don’t tug the chain, you’ll hurt yourself,” Izzeri pleaded.
Eve narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t tell me Reynner was here.”
“My apologies, mistress.” He dipped his head in regret. “I acted on the sire’s instruction in case you turned up.”
Yes, Reynner knew she’d try to find him. And threatening Izzeri wouldn’t work. She attempted a sweet smile. “Please, Izzeri, release me.”
“I cannot, mistress. Only the sire can.”
Oh, the black-hearted fiend!
She grew more frustrated when her heating ability that aided her so often in her work didn't help. Not even a flicker of warmth. Furious, she yanked at the chain again and again.
Izzeri winced. After yelling at the several ways she intended to get even with Reynner, Eve slumped against the wall and was surprised when the chain loosened, enabling her to sit down on the dusty floor.
A bunc
hed-up bundle of black fabric lay nearby in the dirt. Reaching for it, she discovered it was his shirt and pressed it to her face, inhaling his clean male scent with a hint of leather. Her chest cramped, a pang hit her at how close she’d come to losing him.
Then she scowled. He’d chained her in this dreadful place. Crushing the shirt in a ball, she sat on it and wrapped her arm around her knees. And waited.
***
The furious roar of the waterfalls at his back, Reynner leaned against the balustrades, his attention on Inanna restrained to the walls of his aerie. Her once attractive face blotchy with rage, topaz eyes burning with fury.
And he felt nothing.
Not even anger at her for throwing him into Hell for a century, or for being at her mercy for millennia.
Straightening, he strolled over and stopped in front of her. With his last oath to Inanna null and void since Eve had broken the binding, Reynner made a new one. “Listen to me well, you foolish female. I will say this only once. You ever come near my mate or me again, I will end you, and that is a promise.”
Her eyes widened when he finally let her see the truth of exactly whom she was dealing with. Not the bound male she’d tormented, but a powerful Empyrean, one who could crush not only her, but her pantheon, too.
A muffled sound was her answer.
“Good. We understand each other well.”
A tremor in the air distracted him. Reynner frowned at the male who came around the bend of the balcony. Aerén followed behind.
So, his prince was responsible for this latest guest and for bringing Eve here.
Not that he needed any help. Inanna wouldn’t try her shit now that he was released from her.
Aerén grinned, gave him the thumbs-up sign, and vanished.
Reynner studied the male approaching. Swarthy skinned, dark-haired, the male’s narrow face was set in rigid lines. Dumuzi, the God of Fertility and the Underworld was not a happy man.
With a terse nod at Reynner, he stopped in front of his wayward consort. Inanna’s restrained movements became frantic. Of all her liaisons, her consort was the only one whom she had a thread of fear for, it seemed.
“What’s going on?” Dumuzi asked him.
Darkness Undone Page 32
