by Angel Lawson
Liam’s home sprawled, with long hallways and enticing closed doors. A wrong turn could end up in a second floor ballroom. Antiques and artwork filled every bare space. The house was spotless, but increasingly, I noticed a sense of clutter. It was possible that Liam, for all his simplicity in work wear and business function, could be a hoarder.
That hoard of knick-knacks was my problem. My attempt to exit quietly downstairs had been thwarted when I bumped into a large curio cabinet at the top landing. Figurines tumbled, crashing like dominos. The ruckus echoed down the hall.
I braced myself and the cabinet, hoping no one heard. I needed a better feel for the house. I didn’t plan on leaving yet, but soon. Grace and I had worked out part two of the plan, where she would pick me up outside the gates. As for getting out of the house unnoticed? Well, that part was up to me.
True to his semi-stalkerish form, Liam stepped into the hallway, brow furrowed. “Everything okay? Do you need something?”
A little space, I wanted to say, but as he came closer I felt that familiar tug connecting us beneath the surface. As much as my brain wanted me to tell him to back off, my body reacted traitorously.
“Just poking around. I don’t need to stay in my room, do I?”
“Of course not. You’re welcome to use the library or media room. There’s a gym downstairs as well—off the garage. You know where the kitchen is right? Mrs. Graves is probably down there planning lunch. She’d be happy to get you something.”
“Great.” I flashed a smile.
He bent over and studied my neck. “You healed quickly.”
I touched the smooth skin. “Yeah, faster than I thought.”
“Strange, since neither of us has fed in days.”
The statement was thick with unspoken intent but I didn’t owe him an explanation. Did I? On the way to his house from mine I’d asked him about his trip to Otherworld. He’d told me little in return, but when his hand brushed mine I caught a glimpse of something more. Worry, perhaps. I wasn’t the only one with secrets. Despite that, the look on his face left me confident that he definitely thought he was owed something. “You obviously have something you want to say. Go for it.”
“What happened last night?”
“Uh, I killed that soldier.”
“Before that?”
I stood across from him in the wide hallway, knowing exactly what he wanted. The problem was I wasn’t exactly sure myself. I didn’t want to admit that. “I was out with a friend.”
“A friend.”
“Yes. I do have some,” I lied.
“What did you and your friend do together?”
“It’s really none of your business.”
“Nadya,” he said, in a low, ultra-calm voice. “What did you do?”
I’d been focusing on his chest. Not his face. Not his eyes, but the tone of his voice made me glance up. It was clear he wasn’t angry. If anything he looked concerned—slightly panicked. “I was out with a friend,” I repeated. “Other than that it’s a little hazy.”
Liam ran his hands over his face. “Maybe I can fill in the blanks.”
I followed him to his office and he told me everything. The carnage at the club. The enchanted honey and glitter left at the scene. The same honey and glitter I wore on my body, that he tasted on my lips. With every word the picture cleared, until it was no longer a story he told me, but a solid memory.
“I didn’t know. You have to believe me,” I said, but the words felt like tiny lies.
“I believe you’ve been manipulated.”
“Manipulated? By who?” He replied by lifting an eyebrow. “What happens now?”
“Brayden and the others cleaned up the scene. No one is injured, but it was sloppy and dangerous. It’s the kind of behavior that could have gotten us all in trouble.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Nadya, you didn’t do this on your own. Someone gave you that lip gloss and lotion. Another fae. I need you to tell me who it is.”
Grace. My only friend outside of this mess. Or so I thought. I guess I knew there was something different about her. The way she always got her way. How she manipulated the waitress at the restaurant.
I chewed on my lip, a lame attempt at buying time, and watched as Liam leaned against his desk and pushed his hand through his hair. Purple smudges ringed his eyes and I spotted the tail of his rumpled shirt sticking out. For the first time since our relationship began, he looked tired. “Hey,” I said, moving closer to him. “Are you okay?”
“Stop avoiding the question.”
I ignored him again and ran the pad of my thumb under his eye. Energy pulsed and the skin cleared a little—but not completely. “When was the last time you fed?”
He shrugged. “When was the last time we were together?”
“I thought you had feeders or something?” He shook his head.
“You stopped using them?”
Wow. I’d listened to him describe the process from before we met. The volunteers who sold themselves to feed the Guard. It sounded weird and a little disturbing, but something they all did, unless they had a mate to feed with. Had he really cut that out for me? His eyes held mine, exhausted and hungry.
Linking my fingers with his, I pulled him close enough that our bodies touched. I knew he wouldn’t ask. Not with so much unanswered between us, but he needed to feed and I had a boatload of extra energy to spare. “You’re always there for me. Let me return the favor.” I kissed him. He didn’t react, which was surprising, but I placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart racing. I kissed him again, slipping my tongue in his mouth. His hands moved to my waist and he gripped tight. A spark of blue flared between us. He may not want to react physically, but like my own primal reactions, he seemed to have little choice.
“You’re bad for me,” he said, deepening the kiss. Hazy blue light enveloped us. “Like, incredibly dangerous.” With a swift move, he picked me up and set me down on the desk. He pushed my legs apart and stood between my thighs. He combined with the light and the space between us ceased to exist.
I tasted him, overcome by individual flavors. Hot and spicy defined his anger. Bitterness revealed his fear. Lust and desire tasted sweet and I couldn’t get enough. Each flavor was unique. His hands blazed hot down my arms and I realized that even though I’d binged the night before, what Liam gave me wasn’t the same. It was different. He was different.
This was the addiction, I thought, kissing his chin and neck. The drug I couldn’t get enough of. Every human I’d consumed last night had been an attempt to find the kind of energy Liam and I shared. One kiss from him was like ten from a human. My hands explored his solid arms and hard stomach. Energy, clean and bright, flowed between us. He was made perfectly for me.
“Oh my god,” I said, pulling away. He leaned forward, bending me back over the desk. One more second and he’d be on top of me. Two more and he’d be in me. I wouldn’t care in the least.
“What?”
“I get it now.”
“Get what?” He frowned but already the bags under his eyes had disappeared and pink color had returned to his cheeks. His arms felt stronger, his muscles harder. We buzzed with light, with pure energy, and I found myself threading my fingers through his hair as his lips left a hot trail across my collarbone toward my chest.
I closed my eyes, sinking into his touch, feeling this weight and the way his body moved to get closer. In this moment I realized he didn’t have the upper hand—not at all. We completed one another, like a circle. The energy from my feeding the night before poured into him. A lock of hair fell into his eyes and I pushed it back, brushing the back of my hand across his forehead. The vision swept over me like a wave.
A flash, the memory of him walking into the bar and seeing all the bodies. Anger burned in his eyes. The image shifted. In a uniquely different room, I saw the face of a woman with brilliant blonde hair. A crown sat atop her head. She had red lips, turned up in a wicked smile. Her nose brushed against t
he strong bridge of Liam’s.
This woman. She wasn’t the same from my visions with Grace, but there were similarities. Fiona. Eleanor. They kept circling around and I couldn’t catch the truth.
I stumbled back, gasping for air.
“What?” he asked, hands still firmly planted on my sides.
“I just—“ I wanted to twist away, push him back, but I stopped. A strange feeling itched under my skin. Instinct, that was what it would be called. In an instant I knew what I had to do, how to protect myself against my biggest foe.
“Liam,” I grunted, gripping the collar of his shirt. Fast—faster than I’d ever moved before, I swapped our positions. He fell backward into the chair and I leaned forward, using both hands to remove his shirt. The fabric ripped and buttons flew across the room, bouncing off the hardwoods with tiny, echoing pings. His eyes widened, but a curious smile lingered on his lips. The grin grew bigger, wolfish, when my hands moved to the top of his pants.
“Gods,” he whispered, eyes glued to my hands. I struggled with one leg after the other and pushed his pants to his ankles and admired the tight black shorts that clung to his muscular thighs. It was impossible not to notice the hard lines beneath the cotton, how pleased he was with my change of course.
I noted marks on his chest and the one low on the defined muscle on his abdomen. They were different than before. The altered tattoos, or runes, implied a sort of magic I hadn’t fully grasped. I did understand myself better now and licked each one. Tasting the power they gave him. Heat surged through my body, and I knew the functions they served. One for protection. One for strength. Another for cloaking. Faint reminders of these mingled with the magic that coursed through my body, one that coated the room in ever growing purple tinted pheromones. Lust was my superpower, which would explain the dazed look on Liam’s face, and the fact he hadn’t stopped me.
Crawling in his lap, I stroked his skin, kissed his mouth, and pressed myself against him. The temptation to linger overwhelmed me, like a spider caught in her own sticky web. The shade of blue that engulfed us normally disappeared completely, leaving a lustful mist of dark purple. “This,” he said, searching for words. “I knew, I knew but not like this. This is...”
“Perfect,” I cooed, the lie tumbling easy off my tongue. I moved my hands lower and felt a surge of power when he gasped. “Let me take care of you, the way you’ve taken care of me.”
He nodded, completely pliable in my hands. I took a deep breath. “Kiss me,” I demanded, lifting his chin up. Our lips and tongues touched, falling into the steady rhythm of one another. I was lost in his senses, his taste and touch. Heat scorched my flesh. Desire boiled in my stomach. The exchange of power warred between us. In the past one of us had given to the other. Tonight I was stronger than him. Infinitely. I opened my eyes and the purple light vanished. I sat up, and frowned. Had I lost him? Where did the energy go? Liam shifted beneath me, eyes closed, his body seeking mine. I laid a hand over his heart and whispered. “Liam?”
The response was a blast of blinding light—flashing bright and red. A different kind of instinct took over and I placed my mouth over his and inhaled. Red light traveled between us and with one last look in his pretty, dark blue eyes, I took it all. I took everything.
“I thought you were going to call?” Grace asked from the doorway. She peered behind me and frowned. “Where did that come from?”
I glanced backward at the shiny sports car. Red, because even Liam couldn’t be a douche when it came to Italian cars. “I borrowed it.”
“With permission?”
“Sort of.” I wanted to say that the owner was currently indisposed and that I could still taste him on my lips, feel him in my veins, but the less Grace knew the better. It wasn’t like she’d been truthful to me this whole time. “Can I come in?”
She opened the door wider and I entered the house. Not the quaint, adorable place I’d been the day before, but a hovel. The inside matched the outside. Grace had used a spell to trick me into thinking it was more. With Liam’s pure essence inside of me I absorbed all his abilities, including the one to look past the tricky glamours.
Grace eyed me with suspicion. “You’re acting weird. Is everything okay?”
I wasn’t in the mood to play games, so I just dove right in. “What do you want with me? Or rather, what does she want with me?”
“She?”
“Really? You’re going to play dumb?”
“What?” she asked. “I’m not playing anything.”
I moved quickly, taking her hand in mine. Liam’s powers bubbled beneath the surface and my reactions were more his than my own. I felt his cold, aloofness. His confidence. I liked it. “What does she want?”
“I c-c-can’t—“ she stammered. Her fear was palpable. Interesting. “She’ll kill me.”
“What makes you think I won’t?” With two hands I pulled her closer and did the only thing I knew how. I pressed my lips to hers and inhaled. She weakened quickly and I pushed my way into her mind.
Black crown. Black hair. Purple flowing robes. Grace stood on one side and whispered in her ear. Her hand rested on the head of a black dog on alert near her feet. A ring on her finger sparkled. A soldier with sharp claws stood at the edge of the throne. Their eyes were transfixed on something just outside the frame.
The same image, just each time a little bit more. One piece of a larger puzzle that I had no idea what it meant. I released Grace, shoving her away.
Fury tinted her eyes and she wiped the back of her mouth with her hand. “Find what you wanted?”
“Some, but not enough. What does Eleanor want from me? Or the other woman, Fiona?” I asked. “One of them sent you here for me. Is it Eleanor? She sent soldiers for me and Liam is trying his hardest to hide me from her. Why?”
Grace’s face hardened. “She just wants to meet you. Liam’s been blocking her as well as Fiona.”
“If Eleanor only wanted to meet me, why send an army of soldiers to stalk me through the streets? I would think she has plenty to do other than harass one fumbling, clueless half-Sidhe girl in Illinois.”
She laughed. Giggle-snorted even and shook her head. “You have no idea, do you? He never told you?”
“Told me what?”
“Liam’s handsome but he’s a total prick. I’m sure you’ve figured that out now, even with that whole bond-thing you have going on.”
“You know about that? Why does everyone know everything but me?”
“Nadya,” she said. Her eyes actually conveyed a bit of kindness. “Eleanor isn’t like Liam. She’s not full of secrets and lies. She doesn’t want to keep your powers away from you. If anything she wants you to rise to your fullest possibility. You’ve got all that energy coursing through you—so much power. It’s ancient and deadly and you have no freaking clue what to do with it. Come with me and I’ll show you.”
“Come with you where?”
“Otherword, of course. Our future may very well depend on you.”
I held my ground and pretended I wasn’t terrified. “You tricked me into being your friend. How do I know you’re not manipulating me like that waitress or the people in the bar? You act like you’re better than Liam, but I don’t believe it.” Why did everyone around me feel the need to lie? What was everyone hiding? Until this very moment I’d believed most of what Liam told me. But now? I had no idea.
“Illusions are our currency,” she said, waving her hand over the air. The walls blurred, shifting back to the glamour from yesterday. The satin-lined walls and comfortable furniture. I blinked and it wavered. She smiled. “It’s all about opening your eyes to the truth. What’s real and what isn’t. You have the power to know the difference. You always have, deep down. It’s the gift your mother passed on to you.”
“You knew my mother?”
“Of her.” Her eyebrow lifted slightly. “Eleanor knew her well.”
“Of course she did.” I sighed. All roads lead back to the Queen. “Tell me about the
other one—Fiona?”
Her eyebrow inched, just a little, but I saw it. “Fiona is not to be trusted. Liam is in her servitude. He is most loyal to her.” Grace must have seen how that statement rattled me. “Oh, you thought he was loyal to you? And the rest of the Guard? That is Fiona’s guard. Don’t think she won’t use them against you if she doesn’t get what she wants. Liam can only hold out against her for so long—unless he’s successful first.”
“Successful with what?”
She gave me a confused look. “Power, of course. Liam needs your power to overthrow Fiona and Eleanor. He wants to control Otherworld. The only way to make that happen is to take yours.”
Hours ago I would have thought this a lie, but after absorbing most of Liam’s powers for myself, and the gluttony of the night before, I wasn’t sure what to believe. “Why hasn’t he done this already?”
“Oh, Nadya. Use your head. Your abilities aren’t fully realized yet. If he took them now it would be a drop in the bucket compared to what he and everyone else speculate that you will be capable of. His entire focus has been on keeping you safe so you can train and cultivate your skills.” Her eyes sparkled as she explained his motivation. “He’s not the only one that realizes this and it’s why Eleanor has been trying to remove you to the safety of her kingdom. She may be the only one not attempting to exploit you.”
The information hit me like a ton of bricks. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “She sent an army through the portal and attacked me and my family. She sent soldiers to my home. My mother is dead, because of her.”
“She sent soldiers through the portal to rescue you! And the ones that tried to kill you? That’s a testament to the fear they have over your manifesting abilities. You don’t know everything that happened and why,” she said. “Don’t you want to find out?”
What I wanted to do was go back to my life before I’d pursued Liam and discovered the truth about my family. I’d give anything to run away and pretend this had never happened. Royalty fighting over my power? I couldn’t even face the fact that a man I’d come to trust and was unequivocally connected to, physically as well as emotionally, was only using me for his own ambition.
