His fingers clamped around my chin. “I’m done being the nice guy. I’m done with getting looked over because I don’t fight hard enough to keep what should be mine. I will not do that with you. I cannot.”
I settled my hands against his chest, hoping the contact would bring him back to me. My only chance was to get him to realize what was happening. “I wasn’t really going to let the lords choose. I just wanted more time to get to know who you really are, and I had hoped I would be able to see why you wanted my power. Each of you has an agenda. I’m not that dumb.”
Confusion creased his forehead. “You hadn’t discounted me?”
“Of course not, but the other day, in my room, I was scared. You scared me. I thought for sure you were tainted, and I’m even more convinced now.”
He clenched his jaw. “Don’t say that.”
“Luke—”
“No.” A cold mask settled over his face, breaking any hope I still had of escaping this. “We’ve done enough talking. The process is almost complete. I would be happier if you give yourself to me willingly, but I will not stop if you don’t.”
I gave a mournful nod. “So that’s how this is going to be?” I shrugged. “Maybe you’re doing me a favor? I don’t want to tie myself to someone I love anyway.”
He cringed, but that didn’t stop him from taking my hands to pull me up next to him. “I have to think about my people, Rayla. You’ve seen where we live. We might as well have been banished to the dark realms.”
Exaggeration aside, he had a point. “We can change that without resorting to this. Tell me you don’t really want this, Luke.”
His once warm eyes had iced over completely now. “I’ll take you any way I can get you, and if that means kicking and screaming then so be it.”
I wrenched away from him and scrambled to my feet. “All this time I’ve been worried about Jett, and I should have been focused on you!”
He stepped toward me, so I backed up. “Why do you want to make this difficult?”
“Why can’t you just wait until I decide?”
“You’ve had plenty of time. You said yourself you could love all of us.”
A sinister glint flashed in his eyes, giving me only a moment’s warning. He raced forward and caught me around the chest before I could even move. My breath whooshed out of me, but I tried to backhand him. He grabbed my wrist and clamped it behind my back.
Blue specs of light bit against my skin like swarming ants. I yanked on my arms. “No!”
He came at me stronger. My mind shriveled from the onslaught. “Don’t fight me. We needn’t join Ainessa. We can fight her together. You have no idea how strong we will become.”
“She’s already here, Luke! If you bond with me, she will get my power.”
“Stop saying that!”
The particles came at me faster. I focused on my skin, hoping to create a barrier like I had when I fought Ainessa on the island, but his power dug through my shield before it could fully form. Everywhere I looked on my arms, tiny wounds oozed blood. I watched nearly fascinated as the drops pooled together and dripped down my skin.
There had been no knocking on my mental barriers this time because he already had a connection to me. Despair settled into my lungs. I was supposed to be the most powerful Elemental in existence, and yet I couldn’t keep Luke from taking my power from me.
Streams of light flowed from my skin and into him, almost masking the blood. My voice caught in my throat. “If there is a creator out there somewhere, I ask you to take me now. I do not want him to claim my power. I would rather die.”
Luke blanched at my words before he clamped a hand over my mouth. I didn’t struggle. I couldn’t. My head hurt so bad I could barely stay conscious. Maybe I should give in? Maybe I would die?
“Let her go,” came a voice I didn’t quite recognize.
Luke whirled around with me in his arms. His body stiffened protectively around me. “You have no right to be here.”
I opened my eyes and searched for my rescuer. I expected Heath, or one of the other lords. A faint smile made an appearance on my mouth at what I saw standing in front of me.
Half man, half monster.
But all Creed.
His face was more human than before with pale grey skin, although the reptilian scales still covered his torso and legs. At least the oozing was mostly gone.
Creed gave Luke a glower that should have come with a laser beam then stepped toward us. His solid voice came again. “I said, let her go.”
Luke stiffened behind me. “I am a god to you. You must kneel before me, Creature.”
Creed’s face scrunched in disgust. “Not happening…ever again. I’ve been waiting millennia to teach you a lesson, boy.”
I only had a moment to wonder what had happened between these two. Luke raised a halting hand. “Creature! I command you to stop!”
“Ah,” said Creed. “I forgot to mention one thing.” He was eye to eye with Luke now. “I have my name back, and you had better leave before I sick the rest of my pack on you.”
Luke whirled around and glared at me. “You gave this monster a name?”
I bit my lip, refusing to answer him.
He shook his head. “This isn’t over, Rayla.”
I nodded. We’d been here before.
When Luke vanished, the floor collapsed into an unyielding abyss of darkness. Creed grabbed my hand and the tug of the elements surrounded me. By the time space stopped spinning my head might as well have been a fifty pound anchor attached to my neck. I fell to my knees and clutched my skull. “Make it stop,” I cried, rocking back and forth. “Make it stop!”
“I’m sorry, miss,” came Creed’s soft reply. “I had to bring you here.”
I peeked open an eye. Blackness surrounded us. “Where are we?”
His answer came swift and unyielding. “The dark realms.”
I’d joked about being in hell before, but now I literally was.
Much later, my head finally quit hurting. Creed explained the pressure here is like being under three hundred feet of water. Felt more like we were standing on the bottom of the ocean at first. I had been sure my brains would leak out my ears any second, but thankfully, they were still intact. Although, if given the opportunity, I was sure a few people would argue that point.
We were in a cavern the size of Rhode Island, but I would have never known until the lights came on. Yes. Seems the creatures of the dark use electricity. Who knew?
Wraiths had to be the scariest of the bunch, but those little whatchamacallits Gibbit had saved me from were right nasty up close. Only about the size of a cockroach, they had leathery black wings and skeletal faces.
I thought for sure they were going to eat me, but so far so good. In fact, it wasn’t that bad down here once I got used to it. The creatures hadn’t crowded me or demanded I do things for them. Instead, they cleaned up my bloody body, brought me food that wasn’t half bad, and gave me a drink. I knew the demands were coming, but it was nice to have a bit of time to breathe.
Creed sat by me on a rock and watched me eat. He seemed to be fascinated with his hands and kept offering to get me things.
When I patted his leg, he stiffened. “What?” I said, looking down at his skin. “It’s not catchy, right?”
He laughed. “No, my lady, I think you are safe.”
A smile crept along my lips. “Okay then. I just wanted to say thank you. I mean, man, that was close.”
He grumbled something I couldn’t make out. “You have no idea just how close he was to claiming you.”
I smirked at him. “Oh, I think I get it.”
Creed nodded and toed a pebble in front of him. “Rayla, when you feel up to it I need to talk to you.”
I knew it. They wanted something from me just like everyone else. I sighed and sat my cup down. “You might as well get it over with.”
His expression turned utterly confused. “What’s that?”
I stood up. “Your deman
ds. You have them, right?”
He rose and walked to my side. “I only wished to discuss strategy with you.”
I cocked a hip. “For what?”
“Well, for starters, how you want to handle the rescue, and what else we can do for you.”
“Rescue?”
He smiled and his razor sharp teeth startled me. Since when had he gotten those? “Your family is being held by the Order, are they not?”
My mouth fell open. “You’re offering to rescue my family?”
“We merely await your command, my lady.”
I chuckled. “I don’t suppose ‘go get them’ would do?”
He tilted his head and stared. “We may be the mightiest army on your planet, but we will need your help if we are to avoid…complications. As it is we will have to pay a price for what we have done.”
I pushed his shoulder. “I wouldn’t stay here anyway, but what do you mean? Why would you get in trouble for saving me from Luke?”
“Lord Luthais is sure to go to the council with this.”
“They couldn’t possibly blame you for what happened. He is working with her, even if he doesn’t know it.”
Creed tilted his head. “All that matters to the council is that the fae are able to stay on earth. If there is a way for them to stay here without the threat of eviction they will seize that opportunity no matter how they appear in public. She has followers, some of which you might be surprised.”
I bit my lip. “My mom?”
He winced. “How did you know?”
“Something felt off the last time I spoke with her.”
“It has only been a recent development. Your mother was cornered when she went to Lombarda. We believe she is being manipulated, but we cannot be sure.”
I rested my face in my hands. “How is this ever going to work out?”
His teeth made another appearance. Why did they have to look like box cutters all lined up in a perfect row?
“One battle at a time,” he said. Speaking of battles…we had best prepare.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tons of time later we had a plan. Well, sort of. I still wasn’t all that happy with it, but when it came to better options, I had nothing.
First, we had to locate my family, which shouldn’t be too hard considering they were supposed to be in a frigging swamp that spanned more miles than I wanted to think about trudging through. Ugh. Here I was surrounded by real life monsters, and all I could focus on was being devoured by a gator.
Unfortunately, some fears don’t ever give up.
Creed had taken it upon himself to be my body guard, of which I was thankful, and the rest of the group had been split into teams. The creatures capable of flying would go in first. Supposedly, they frequented the human realm, so they knew where they were going.
Next, the creepy crawlies, as I lovingly referred to them, would slither up and surround the compound, making sure no fae were present to cause problems.
Then came me. I was supposed to create a diversion so Creed and I could rescue my family while the others kept the perimeter in check. The only problem I could see with Creed helping me was that Uncle John just might have a heart attack before we got him out, and if I knew anything about her at all, Aunt Grace wasn’t about to go willingly, either.
I’d tried to explain this to Creed, but he said he had that part of this under control. He also assured me that the fae would not know what I was up to. He said they wouldn’t be able to track me thanks to my ring. I looked at my hand again. He’d found it in my room, and the only thing I could think was somehow I had been compelled to take it off. I’d gotten so used to wearing it that it had become like part of my hand. I told him that it didn’t work, but he was certain it did. He wouldn’t expound any further so I was left to wonder.
The first wave had already gone out, and here I sat with Creed by my side, my heart racing faster than it ever had. Considering what I had been through lately, that was saying a lot.
Creed touched my arm and I jumped to my feet. “Ready?” I asked, panting. “Are we ready?”
He patted my back. “Calm down, Rayla. This is going to work.”
He’d said as much already, but this was my family we were talking about. What if I did something stupid? What if Luke or Ainessa showed up and ruined the whole thing? What if the other lords came? They had to be looking for me, and once in the human realm, there was no guarantee my ring or Creed could shield me. He’d said he would do his best if something bad happened, but that wasn’t exactly comforting.
When the call finally came, I was exhausted. I still managed to jump to my feet instantly and follow Creed to the middle of the room.
He gazed down at me, his brown eyes nearly glowing in the dark. “Trust us, Rayla. We will not fail you.”
I gave him a smile and tugged his hand toward my heart. “I do. Let’s just get this over with, okay?”
He didn’t say anything as he transported us out of the dark realms. If I thought going in was bad, coming out was ten times worse. I was going to get brain damage from the trauma. Maybe that was what was wrong with me?
Creed gave me a pat on the arm and stepped to the edge of the little island we were on. About a hundred yards away lay a larger land mass. Through the thick vegetation, I glimpsed the roofline of what looked to be a massive structure.
Something splashed in the water by my right foot, and I scurried away. Thankfully, Creed caught my hand before I could plunge into the water behind me.
“Steady,” he said.
“Easy for you to say.” I frowned at him. “If a gator bites you, you can rip it in half.”
He frowned back at me. “I have a spec of the power you possess, my lady, yet you seem to forget that at every turn.”
I sighed. He was right.
Mother of all headaches aside, it was time to stop being a world class wimp and get to it. “Are you ready?” I asked.
He smiled.
I grabbed his hand and drifted us into the compound.
Unfortunately, I landed us in a closet that wasn’t big enough for one person, let alone me and a monster.
Man, I needed to stop thinking of Creed like that. He was more human than most people I knew. I inched the door open and noises flashed around me so quickly, I had a hard time distinguishing what was happening. Guards rushed girls through the hall and out into the courtyard.
Holy heck they were evacuating. We needed to hurry.
I concentrated on the far wall, making sure no one was near it, and seconds later it exploded. The blast propelled me backward, but Creed caught me. Plaster littered the hallway, and a few girls had cuts on their faces. I didn’t have time to worry about hurting them. A siren blared into the already present cacophony of sound taking all thought from me.
“Nice job.” He pushed my shoulders. “Now let’s move. I can’t feel my legs anymore.”
I nodded, inching into the hallway and was swallowed up in a sea of people. No one seemed to notice us, yet I found myself struggling against the crowd to get deeper into the fortress. Creed moved ahead of me which thankfully diverted most of the flow.
I still couldn’t figure out why these girls weren’t screaming their heads off when they saw him. Then it hit me: he had to be using a glamour. Smart man, but why couldn’t I see it? I mentally shrugged. I didn’t have time to worry about it right now. Somehow we managed to trudge up the stairs to the top floor. It was nice to avoid the basement for once.
Voices crashed into us moments before we reached the first door. The siren still blared, but I managed to catch the conversation. “Where is your sister!” screamed Aunt Grace.
“Someone took her,” cried Jenny. Her shoulders were slumped and her arms circled her stomach. “I tried to hold on, but they were too strong.”
I plunged into the conversation without a backward glance. “Where was the last place you saw her?”
If I’d had a camera, I would be rich—or at least get to gloat about this for a fe
w years. Both Aunt Grace and Jenny gaped at me as if I were a ghost.
I nudged Aunt Grace’s arm, but she didn’t even blink. “No time for explanations. Where’s Sarah?”
Jenny snapped out of it first. “I think they have her in the hanger. One helicopter already took off. She has to be so scared.”
I turned toward Creed.
“I’m on it,” he said before I could get out a word.
Grace threw her arms around me and yanked me to her. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“No such luck,” I said before I hugged her back.
Just when I thought we were in the clear a man—no boy—
No.
Alex Wayne burst into the room. “We’ve got comp—”
His ruddy cheeks went pale as mashed potatoes. “Rayla?” He shook his head, his eyes locking onto me then he was after me. I raced to the corner of the room because I didn’t know what else to do about him before he caught up with me. No greetings came. He just clamped his hand around my wrist and pulled me behind his back.
Alex Wayne was protecting me?
Frick’s gargantuan body crashed through the door, his neck bulging, his veins looking like they were about to pop. I would recognize him anywhere. Every moment of agony I sufferend on that island could be traced back to him pushing me around. Urges to do really bad things to him bombarded me, but I managed to contain my rage.
“Wayne!” he yelled. “No more of this…” He caught me in his stare, and a sound so vile it hurt my ears came out of him. He clapped his hands together in one loud bang then reached for something behind his back. “Mistress is gonna love me.” He held out a gun and pointed it at Aunt Grace’s head before he gave me a look.
I sidestepped Alex before he could stop me, or Frick could get out another word. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
All along I had been looking for the elements outside of me, but now that my family was in danger without even thinking about it I reached inward. They waited for me, an unending supply of power bouncing in anticipation.
I stretched my hand forward and with one flick of my wrist, the pistol flew across the room. Sooner than he could get away I moved my hand as if clamping around Frick’s beefy bicep. He grunted but couldn’t break my invisible grip.
Genesis Page 22
