“I’ll come with you.” Citera stood and looked over at the couple continuing to glide around the fire. “I have a feeling K will be occupied for the rest of the evening.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Mikel remarked, smiling. Citera looped her arm inside her father’s and together they headed back up the hill.
Jaron and K continued to move slowly across the dirt dance floor in rhythm with the music. “I think I ran off your dance partner,” he said watching Mikel and Citera leave.
“You are my dance partner and have been for over a century,” she murmured. “You just need to be reminded sometimes.”
“I see. Still pulling my strings are we?”
“Nothing so devious.” She leaned her head against his body. “But I did want to apologize for my behavior last night. I fear I placed you in an uncomfortable situation.”
“I will admit it wasn’t easy, but you know I would never take advantage of you that way.” Jaron held her back slightly so he could gaze into her eyes.
K sighed. “I find I am strangely relieved, yet disappointed at the same time.”
Lucas finished his song and began another of his happier tunes. K ran her hand under Jaron’s arm and together they walked out of the Core and headed up the hill toward the housing area. They walked along in silence, passing several couples sneaking behind trees and bushes to kiss while giggling and laughing.
“Can I ask you a favor?” Jaron inquired quietly as they continued up the hill.
“Of course,” she answered, hugging his arm tightly.
“Please don’t ever do that to me again.”
K turned her head and looked up at him, appearing perplexed. “Do what?”
He focused on the path ahead, avoiding her gaze as he struggled to find the right words to make himself clear.
“K, you know better than anyone the affect you have on men. And though I try and pretend that the power you wield has no effect on me, it does.” He paused, awaiting some sort of reaction, but when none came he continued, “It took every last bit of my willpower to walk out of that tent last night.”
“I see.” K glanced to the road ahead without another word.
Jaron feared he might have gone too far in his request and offended her in the worst way. But it was something he felt he had to tell her, she had to know that if the situation ever arose again, he wasn’t sure he would be strong enough to resist her allure for a second time.
In the past he had always believed, or chose to believe, that she had no control over the responses she elicited from men. He had assumed that it was part of her curse, something she struggled with continually. But after last night—the way she moved, talked, and tempted him—he had been forced to accept the fact that she had way more control over it than he had given her credit for.
They continued up the hill in an uncomfortable silence. And while she still held on to him, there was a distance between them that hadn’t been there before.
It was beginning to feel as if they would never arrive at her tent, when he finally saw it coming into sight in the distance. He walked her to the front, pausing as she released his arm. Without a word she moved toward the door, hesitating right before entering. “I promise to never let it happen again,” she said quietly.
Jaron nodded his head and turned to leave. “But,” she added before he could walk away, “I only ask in return that you remember one thing. Even when I seem to be at my worst, I always know exactly what I am doing.” She paused, cocking her head to the side. “That being said, from this night forward you no longer need my permission … to do anything.” She looked up at him, her face serene and relaxed. “I trust you, Jaron, I always have, and I know that you will always do what your heart tells you is right.”
Puzzled, he stared at her, but her face remained flat as she turned and entered the tent, closing the flap behind her. For a long while he stood alone in the darkness replaying her words over and over again in his head. Then silently he turned and headed back down the path.
Chapter 5
Maya awoke to find herself lying in Jarod’s bed with no recollection of when or how she came to be there. She lay still for a few moments, trying her best to recall what had happened, but her mind was fuzzy and her neck throbbed painfully. Reaching up to rub the spot where her neck hurt the most, Maya jumped when her fingertips landed in something sticky and wet. Slowly she brought the trembling hand back around in front of her and gasped at the large amount of blood covering her pale fingers. Panic stricken, she sat straight up in the bed then instantly doubled over as an overwhelming wave of dizziness and nausea sent the room around her into a tailspin.
Cringing and unable to move any farther, Maya clutched her head in her hands and drew her knees to her chest. The position did little to help relieve her discomfort as a hundred questions churned inside her mind. How did she get back to this room? Why was her neck bleeding? Why did she feel so weak? And more importantly, where was Jarod?
She remembered being in the training hall and being very upset for some reason. Kai, he was the reason she had been upset. But what had he done? She also recalled Jade and that weird healer Patches showing up. Straining her already throbbing head, Maya desperately tried to remember what it was they had been trying to do. After what felt like hours, sitting in that position, and racking her brain for answers, she had still only managed to recall bits and pieces. Jarod was unconscious, Patches was saying something about a fatal injury. Furrowing her brow, Maya concentrated all her efforts on that part. Fatal injury? That didn’t make any sense, after all, if Jarod had a fatal injury all he would have to do is drink … Oh, no. Maya reached up and grabbed her throbbing neck as the memories came flooding back all at once. Kai was coming for her. She had given her blood to Jarod, hoping to awaken him and stop Kai. But try as she might, Maya couldn’t remember anything beyond that point.
Frustrated, Maya threw the covers off of her to attempt to get out of bed only to discover she was completely naked. Her blood ran cold despite her heart rate doubling within her chest. What happened last night? Why am I naked? By the stars don’t let this have anything to do with Kai, she thought, trying to fight down another wave of nausea. Frantic, she checked the rest of her body for any signs of bruising or any more bites, but was only slightly relieved when she came up with neither. Scared and alone, Maya curled into a ball on the mattress and let the tears run freely down her cheeks. There she remained, shivering in the cold air of the room, bawling hysterically until a knock on the door sent her scampering against the headboard.
“Maya, are you awake?” A female voice called to her from the other side.
Quickly she gathered one of the sheets off the bed and wrapped it around her body. “Yes, who, who is it?”
“It’s me, Jade.”
Never in her life would Maya have thought she would be so happy to hear Jade’s voice outside Jarod’s bedroom door. “Jade, come in, please.”
The door cracked and Jade stepped inside, peering at her from the doorway. “The Enforcer asked me to check on you while he was out.” She hesitated as she stepped farther into the room, noticing Maya’s bloodshot eyes and wet face. “Have you been crying?”
Jade walked casually across the room and took a seat beside her on the bed. Raising her head to meet her gaze, Maya got her first good look at Jade and the massive bruise spanning the entire left side of the woman’s face. The sight of it only fueled her concern more, and once again Maya burst into tears.
“I can’t remember what happened … and I woke up in this bed with no clothes on … and why do you have a bruise on your cheek?” Maya managed to blurt out between sobs.
“Oh, dear, it’s all right,” Jade said, taking her into her arms and holding her tightly. “Our plan worked and the Enforcer woke up.”
She lifted the sheet and used it to clean Maya’s face as she continued, “And oh was he mad at me and Patches for allowing you to heal him.”
“He didn’t do that, did he?” Maya
asked startled, “Oh, please tell me he didn’t.”
“The Enforcer? Stars no, girl,” Jade laughed rubbing her face. “That man would never lay his hands on a woman in anger. Kai did this.”
The longer this conversation continued the more confused Maya became. “Jade, what is going on?”
Jade smiled softly. Resting her hand against Maya’s jaw, she ran her thumb across her wet, splotchy cheek, then stood and made her way over to the dresser. “First things first, let’s get you out of this room.” Pulling out a robe and handing it to Maya, she continued, “Here put this on and let’s go sit on the couch by the window, I think the sunlight will do you some good.”
Maya happily donned the robe and with Jade’s assistance, shakily made it to her feet. Dizziness, combined with weakness from the blood loss, made walking a struggle. But it wasn’t until the two of them passed in front of a mirror that she became frighteningly aware of how close Jarod had come to actually killing her. Noticing her interest in the reflection, Jade paused in front of the oval frame, and the two of them stood quietly staring at the unrecognizable faces looking back at them.
The entire left side of Jade’s face was covered in the massive purple and blue bruise, and her lip split and swollen. Not that she looked any better. Maya’s own face appeared sunken and hollow. And her normally olive skin was as white as the sheets on the bed. The only color on her face at all was in the skin underneath her eyes, which was nearly as dark in color as the bruise spanning Jade’s cheek.
“Well don’t we make a fine pair?” Jade said after a few moments. Although she tried to disguise the comment with humor, Maya could hear the hopeless edge in Jade’s voice. But Maya said nothing; instead she silently moved her hand over her face, feeling the edges of the bones protruding from under the pale skin.
“Come on, let’s go have a seat and I’ll fill you in.”
Jade led her slowly out of the bedroom and to the couch in the living area. Picking up a throw from one of the nearby chairs she handed it to Maya, who gladly took the cover and wrapped herself inside its thick warmth. She had never felt so cold before, but figured it was just another side effect of the extreme blood loss. Meanwhile, Jade proceeded around the room opening the drapes and letting the sunlight flood into the room.
“Now, about what happened.” Jade started as she returned to the couch and sat down across from Maya. “After you blacked out, the Enforcer was furious.” Jade stretched her eyes and shook her head as she emphasized the word furious. “And when I say furious, I mean it. I truly did think he was going to kill me and Patches for a moment. But somehow, between the two of us, we managed to calm him enough to explain what had happened and what we believed Kai had planned.” Jade leaned back into the couch. Pulling her legs up underneath her, she picked up a pillow and hugged it tightly to her chest. “However, all that succeeded in doing was redirecting his anger and he headed for the door to hunt down Kai.”
Jade paused, shaking her head once again. “I had never understood before where his reputation of having a temper stemmed from, until last night. I don’t think we would have been able to convince him to leave Kai alone if Patches hadn’t brought up the fact that if he was killed there would be no one here to protect you. Anyhow, once we finally settled him down, again, the three of us worked together to come up with a plan.”
Jade went into detail describing how the Enforcer carried her back up to his room using the back halls and stairs to avoid the prying eyes of the guards. Once back inside the safety of the room, Jarod laid her in the bed and Jade pulled off the multiple layers of Maya’s sparring gear. Then she and Jarod disrobed as well, and waited.
Just as suspected, Kai arrived, knocking on the door a few hours later. When no one opened the door to let him in, Kai used his key to enter inside the apartment and headed straight for the bedroom.
Jade suddenly burst into fit of laughter, surprising Maya who wasn’t finding any part of this story the least bit funny. “When he walked in and found the three of us in the bed together,” Jade could hardly finish talking from laughing so hard as she rubbed the bruise on her cheek, “the look on his face …”
“But that still doesn’t explain how you got the bruise,” Maya said quietly. “It looks awful.”
Jade settled herself down. Wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes, she went on, “Oh, well after Kai walked in on us, I suggested the two of us go back to his room to have some fun and leave the pair of you alone to continue what you were doing.” She paused, her voice becoming slightly more serious. “He was so mad at having his plans disrupted … Well, let’s just say I have had easier nights with him.”
“Oh, Jade, I am so sorry to have dragged you into this.” Maya leaned forward to run her hand over Jade’s face.
“Don’t worry about it.” Jade said, smiling weakly. “It was worth it just to see that expression on his face. Besides, I don’t think he will be trying that trick again anytime soon.”
Maya found herself relieved that nothing too serious had happened, although, there was still one thing that was bugging her. “Jade,” she asked quietly, “did me and the Enforcer, you know?”
Jade roared into laughter once again. Maya huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Don’t worry, princess, your virtue is still intact,” she said, nearing hysterics. “Like I said, believe it or not, as far as women go the Enforcer is probably the closest thing to a gentleman you will find in the Tower.”
Maya breathed a sigh of relief; it wasn’t that she didn’t want to be with Jarod, but she had hoped she would at least be able to remember it when she did. With all her concerns addressed, Maya relaxed back against the couch. The sun’s rays beaming in through the window were doing a surprising level of good in relieving the chill and dizziness the lack of blood was creating. Quietly she reached up and touched her neck and was happy to find the wound had ceased its bleeding, “Why didn’t you give me the red formula, or for that matter why haven’t you had any to heal that bruise?”
Jade once again became very serious. “Oh, well that was part of our punishment for …” She paused, furrowing her brow. “How was it they worded it? Oh, yeah ‘unsanctioned activities’.” Jade rolled her eyes dramatically. “The three of us can have no more red formula until they say otherwise.”
“But wasn’t Patches supposed to give it to me before we came back to the room.”
Jade shrugged. “We did give it to you, but for some reason the wound wouldn’t heal.”
Silence fell between them as Maya turned her attention from Jade to the empty fire place across from them, taking a moment to absorb the mass of information. Jade gave her the space and time she needed, turning her own attention to the windows and the rays of light streaming through them. After a while, Jade once again broke the silence.
“Maya, I need to ask you a favor, before the Enforcer gets back.”
“Anything, you saved us both, whatever you need just ask.”
“Hit me.”
“Ummm.” Surely she had misunderstood. “Did you just ask me to hit you?”
“Yes, but not lightly, it has to be hard enough to leave a mark.”
“Absolutely not!” Maya exclaimed. “Why would you ask me to do a thing like that?”
Jade continued to stare out the window behind her, avoiding Maya’s questioning gaze. “Do you want me to keep coming in here, kicking you out of your own room, and taking the Enforcer to bed?”
Maya was silenced as Jade continued, “Because if you don’t do this, that is exactly what is going to keep happening.” Jade turned to face Maya. “That’s why they send me here you know, to test you. To see whether or not you have it in you to fight back.” Jade sighed and looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “All those nights I came I wanted so badly for you to scream and yell at me. To tell me to get the hell out of your room and leave your man be, but time after time, I was disappointed when you said nothing. Instead you just walked away, knowing what we were going to do, an
d left us alone.”
Test? Maya stared back at Jade not sure if she wanted to feel sorry for her or hate her. All this time she had been coming to the room, coming to Jarod, not because she wanted to, but because the Shadows had told her to? “I always thought you came because you had feelings for him and that he had them for you. That he sent for you because he despised me for making him vulnerable to the Shadows.”
“Dear girl, can you be any more naïve?” Jade sighed. “Nothing happens here that the Shadows don’t control, nothing, hence our current punishment.” She scooted down the couch to sit closer to Maya, looking her straight in the eye. “Do you care for him?”
She nodded.
“Then you have to do this, not only for you but for us as well.” Jade’s eyes pleaded with her as she spoke, “He cares for you, too. You know that, right? The only reason he takes me to bed is because he knows that if I come back and haven’t performed the task they sent me to do …” as she spoke she reached up and touched her cheek, “this will look like a friendly tap in comparison to the beating they will give me.”
Maya studied her carefully, feeling bad for all those hours wasted in the hallway, cursing the air Jade breathed and despising her for what she did. She had been foolish. Why hadn’t she been smart enough to see what was really happening? Why hadn’t one of them told her sooner? She would have understood. Even now she found herself considering the option of letting them continue to do whatever they needed to in order to make life easier on themselves, even if that did mean letting Jarod continue to sleep with Jade.
“What do you want me to do?” Maya asked after a few moments of thought.
Jade smiled. “I will be sent back here tomorrow. When I show up and he asks you to leave, stand up for yourself. Make a lot of noise, throw things, have a fit, and draw in a crowd. Once there are enough witnesses in place, demand I leave. I will refuse, and that is when you hit me as hard as you can in the face. Then I will report back to the Shadows that you prevented me from doing my duty, and with all the witnesses backing me up, I think that should be enough to hopefully pass their demented test and put an end to my visits here.”
Linked (The Shadow Chronicles Book 2) Page 11
