The Eden Series: The Complete Collection

by Stalder, Janelle

“Interesting,” he said, almost to himself. He regarded her again in silence, seemingly dropping the line of conversation. “Come closer.” His voice now soft and inviting. The hairs on her arms rose. There was something definitely wrong with that tone of voice. It was like it was perfectly executed to sound as unthreatening as possible, which in turn made it all the more menacing. It was a trick, a lure. She was sure of it. And yet, despite the warning bells ringing in her mind, Rain found herself taking a hesitant step forward. She still stood just beyond an arm’s-length from him. He smiled at her, showing perfectly straight, white teeth. His canines looked sharper, pointier than normal people’s, and instantly caused a shiver to run down her spine. He noticed it and his smile widened.

  “Closer,” he said again. No way, Rain thought. Something wasn’t right about him and she knew better than to get in his reach. She stood still, looking at him with what she knew must be a mixture of fear and distrust. It was impossible to school her features in front of him. It felt like he took up the entire space, as if the whole room focused on him. Misguided and absurd thoughts filled her mind, telling her to just step closer, to reach up and trace the tattoo inked on his beautiful face. To wrap her arms around him, and run her hands down the soft, plush feathers of his wings. To do exactly what he said, no questions asked. It was the last thought that made her stop. She never did exactly what anyone said, that wasn’t who she was. She couldn’t tell where the thoughts were coming from or if they were even hers. It was terrifying.

  “Rain,” he called out, shattering her daze. Her name on his lips sounded almost like a prayer. Instantly her defences went up again. “Please come closer,” he continued. At the word please, something snapped, and suddenly she stood before him, only the bars separating them. She could feel the heat of his body against hers. It reminded her that she only wore a thin nightgown. She looked up into his eyes. Her head only reached his collarbone. Those mesmerising eyes of his were focused on her intently. “I could sense you the instant you arrived,” he said. Slowly, he reached out a hand, gliding his fingers gently down her cheek and neck. He rested it on her shoulder. “It drove me insane that he wouldn’t let me near you. I never imagined you would find your own way here.”

  Rain swallowed awkwardly. The heat around them seemed to notch up to a blistering degree. Her legs were shaking and her mind swirled with questions. Nothing he was saying made sense, and yet a small part of her was elated that he had wanted to see her. “Why?” she asked out loud, the question that most prominently swam through her mind. He smiled, letting his hand drop from her neck to her waist. He moved closer so that he could wrap his arm around her and effortlessly lifted her up against the metal. A rush of breath escaped her as she clung to the bars. Her eyes widened in confusion. They were face to face now. The instinct to reach out and touch him was too much and Rain found herself actually doing it. She rested a tentative hand on the side of his face, lightly tracing the intricate markings. He leaned into her touch.

  “Why?” she asked again, her voice coming out a whisper. The weight of her body didn’t seem to bother him at all. The arm that banded around her felt strong and firm. The heat of his skin burned through the thin fabric between them. “Why would you want to see me?”

  He lowered his head through the bars to her neck, hovering over her skin so that she could just feel his breath against her. He moved up towards her ear, still not touching her. He breathed her in, a low, pleased growl emanating from the back of his throat. His lips brushed her ear and she shivered. Then he spoke, “because, you smell so good.” His head whipped down to her neck again and she felt his mouth close around her pulse. Pain suddenly erupted, and her mind grasped that he was biting her. She could feel him drinking from her, and yet she couldn’t move. The pain quickly subsided, and suddenly her mind was fuzzy with pleasure.

  Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind her, anger seething through every word. “Elex, drop her!”

  * * *

  Aziz’s office was comfortably warm, a large fire glowing in the hearth. Rain sat in front of it, a cloth pressed to the tiny puncture wounds on her neck. Aziz was busy pouring her a special tea which was supposed to help her regain strength. She didn’t know how much blood she had lost, but her body would not stop shaking from the cold and the shock of what had just happened.

  As she was pinned against the bars of his cage, Elex’s mouth on her neck, Aziz had appeared behind them like a ghost. Neither had heard him enter the cave until he spoke. Elex, that was the winged creature’s name, had instantly dropped her, letting her crumble to the floor. His eyes met Aziz’s as he slowly wiped a drip of her blood from the corner of his mouth. She sat on the cold floor in silence, trying desperately to gather her wits again.

  “You were not to drink from anyone but me,” Aziz had said, his voice deepening with rage. Neither man seemed to pay any attention to her. Elex stood taller, facing the sorcerer with arrogance.

  “I was hungry. You were not around,” he shrugged casually, as if it were obvious why he strayed elsewhere.

  Aziz’s eyes narrowed and he finally approached the cage. Elex stood his ground. He was much taller than Aziz, and his shoulders were broader, making him look stronger. But Rain knew Aziz was the stronger one simply because of his magic. “Was that all?” Aziz asked, clearly unconvinced. “I suggest you make sure it never happens again, do we understand each other?” Elex nodded his head once, taking a step back. Finally his eyes lowered to look at her again. For a moment he seemed to be checking if she was okay, but Rain highly doubted it. He was a monster, she decided, and that was when the shaking began.

  “My poor dear,” Aziz clucked, crouching beside her. He gently cupped her face, lifting it so she looked away from the man in the cage, and stared instead into his coppery eyes. “Let’s get you out of here.” He lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. Normally she would have protested, but the shaking increased, so she snuggled in closer to his warmth.

  They didn’t speak until he placed her in the chair and offered her tea. Now she waited for him. Would he be angry with her? Probably, she thought despairingly. Her hands still shook, but she knew it was more from the fear of not knowing her punishment than from the cold. Aziz came to stand beside her and handed her a steaming cup.

  “Drink this. You’ll feel much better,” he said gently. Taking the cup, she thanked him quietly, and took a small sip. The liquid burned the top of her mouth, but it was instantly soothing regardless. Aziz sat in the chair beside her, staring at the fire as he sipped from his own cup.

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted out. He looked at her with both eyebrows raised. “I-I don’t know why I went there,” she started blabbering on, her words coming out in a rush. “I just heard a commotion and went to see what it was, and then I saw him and I don’t know what happened!” It was almost the truth. She didn’t need to tell him that she had meant to go back, but she really didn’t know what happened after that. Something had come over her when Elex told her to approach him, and now that she was away from him, she couldn’t understand why she would have put herself in that position.

  Suddenly Aziz started to laugh lowly. “Do not fret, my dear. I am not angry with you. Tell me, did he compel you?”

  “Compel?” Rain thought about it. Did he? She didn’t know. “I’m not sure,” she answered honestly.

  “I’m going to assume he did, since I know you’re too smart to put yourself in such a compromising position. You wouldn’t approach something like him willingly would you?” Rain thought she heard a note of jealousy in his voice. He looked at her with focused interest.

  “Of course not,” she assured him. “I’m not an idiot.” He laughed again, taking another sip of his tea.

  “That you’re not.” He grew silent again, looking into the fire before he began to speak. “Tell me, what did you think of my son?”

  “Your son?”

  “One of my greatest creations yet,” he said proudly. “His name means man’s defender,
or warrior. He is stronger than any of the other creatures here and will be our biggest advantage. No one knows of him, save for those who work for me. I’ve created the perfect weapon.” He turned to look at her. “He needs blood to survive. He is to only ever have mine, Rain. Be sure to remember that in the future.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” she replied instantly. He smiled. “So Brutus and Callum never knew about him? Or did you just recently create him?”

  “Oh no, I created him long before I created anything else. Him and one other. They were the first and last of their kind. It took too much out of me. Even more so than all of the others combined. Elex has always been kept in secret, ever since he was a small child.”

  “And the other?” she pried.

  “Gone,” he answered, frowning into the fire.

  His expression told her there would be no more questions or answers on the subject. “So you’re not mad at me?” she asked, after a brief silence.

  “Not at all,” he answered, reaching out to take her hand. He rubbed gentle circles with his thumb on the beating pulse in her wrist. “I like a woman who is curious and clever. Now that you know about Elex, I can stop keeping him in that damn cage. He’s been acting strange lately. I don’t know why but hopefully it will stop and he can start to fly again.” She she tried to picture what he would look like flying through the sky, his large wings spread out.

  “I think you should get some sleep now,” Aziz said, breaking into her thoughts of white wings with blue tips.

  “Yes, I’m exhausted,” she agreed, setting down the empty cup. She didn’t remember finishing the tea. Practically dragging her feet the entire way, Rain walked back to her room alone and fell into bed. Pulling the covers up under her chin, her eyes inched closed. She would ponder over the night’s events in the morning, she told herself. For now she would sleep. And sleep she did.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The morning was grey and cold again. The King’s Army slept out in the open. This allowed them to leave camp quicker, rather than wasting time on dismantling tents. It seemed like a smart idea at first, but as Aiden gingerly stretched out his stiff legs, he rethought that opinion. His clothes and blankets were damp from the morning dew. He was chilled to the bone and every muscle in his body was aching and stiff from sleeping on the hard ground. Some things, he thought to himself, he didn’t missed about Eden. It would have been better had Lily slept beside him, but she had disappeared early in the evening. Something about finding out ‘who was around.’ She ran off into the forest on the western side and hadn’t seen her since.

  He found Logan close by starting a small fire. Aiden breathed a sigh of relief, and started to move towards the warm flames. He needed to thaw his bones. Logan looked over with a quick grin.

  “Morning stud,” he said, sarcastically. “I forgot how wonderful it was to wake up and see your face first thing in the morning.” His smiled widened at his joke.

  “That’s what she said,” Aiden answered back, reaching his hands out towards the fire.

  “Who said?” his friend asked, his face a mask of confusion. Aiden bit back a laugh, and waved him off.

  “Nevermind.”

  “Ah, it must be another one of your sayings from back home,” he concluded. “What’s it like where you’re from?” Aiden looked up as Logan sat down across from him. His face eager and curious. It was the first time, Aiden realized, that anyone had actually asked him about his life back in his world. The question actually took him off guard. He sat silently for a minute before responding.

  “Well, it’s nothing like this,” he answered lamely. Logan remained intent. “There is electricity, and cars, and indoor plumbing, and life is all around much easier.”

  Logan’s face lit up like a child’s, although Aiden knew he had no idea what Aiden was talking about. “What are electricity and cars and plumbing?” he rushed out excitedly. Aiden sighed. The last thing he wanted to do that morning was try and explain crap he didn’t even understand. He had never been good in science, and had no idea how to explain electricity to someone who’s never seen it for themselves. He tried his best, and explained technology as best he could. Logan seemed elated, and listened eagerly.

  “Wow,” he exhaled, when Aiden finally finished. “I want to go to your world.”

  “No you don’t,” Aiden said lightly. “I know it sounds great, and some of it definitely is, but everything there is also so hectic. Your world embraces nature and enjoys life. My world ruins everything we touch. We rush through life. There’s a sense of peace here that you can’t find where I’m from.” He looked around at the green grass and forests beyond, and breathed in the fresh, crisp air. It was true what he said, things were slower here, and Aiden liked that.

  “Interesting,” Logan muttered. “Well, I think I’d still like to see it.”

  Aiden laughed. “Maybe one day.” Logan smiled happily.

  “I need food,” Moose announced as he flopped down on the ground beside Aiden. “My whole body hurts, and my stomach is louder than my brother’s complaining.”

  “Says the guy who is currently complaining himself,” said Wolf dryly, as he appeared on the other side of Aiden.

  “We only have time for a quick meal,” Logan answered, pulling out a pot from a satchel lying near his feet. “Unfortunately when I say quick meal, I’m referring to Tiny’s famous porridge.” Everyone sighed, except Moose, who, in Aiden’s opinion, was blissfully ignorant of what was to come. Nothing stuck in your mouth and gut like Tiny’s porridge. Logan put it over the small fire to warm up. When it was ready, they all ate their fair share, despite the taste. It would likely be the only meal they had for a while, and none of the boys were willing to pass it up.

  “I don’t think it’s that bad,” Moose said after a while.

  They packed up soon after eating, rolling their blankets tightly and securing them to their saddles. Aiden had been reunited with his horse, Ty, the day before, and the horse was still excited to have his rider back. His large tale swished happily as Aiden climbed onto his back. He gave Ty’s neck an affectionate pat to let him know he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

  “There you are!” Aiden turned to see Lily running up. “I was looking for you,” she smiled. It still struck him how odd their relationship was. In a good way, of course. Despite the fact that they were not even the same species, never mind the fact that they lived in completely different worlds, there was a strong bond between them. He had never felt as natural and comfortable with another person, especially one of the opposite sex, as he did with Lily. Sure, in the beginning he had been wary of her, and maybe even a little scared, but that was only because Moose had filled his head with all that nonsense about the forest people. Aiden knew she meant him no harm. They had spent more time together and he felt he could trust her.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked, breaking into his private thoughts. She titled her head to the side, watching him just as closely as he had been watching her. She smiled knowingly at him, which in turn made him grin a little bit sheepishly.

  “None of your business,” he teased. He scooted back on the saddle to make room for her. Without assistance, she jumped up and snuggled back into his chest. She was short enough that Aiden was able to rest his chin on the top of her head when they sat like this.

  “Lucky for me then,” she said, continuing their conversation, “that your thoughts are easily readable on your face.” Aiden snorted, giving her side a quick squeeze, causing her to yelp in surprise. A few men glanced at them curiously, but hastily looked away again. He caught a lot of the men giving Lily odd looks. They kept a subtle distance from her at all times. The forest people, as he understood it, were practically just legend in central Eden. Out west they were well known. This far into Eden was different. They rarely saw the preternatural people. To him, Lily was just Lily. She wasn’t any different than he was.

  Aiden gave Ty a nudge and the horse trotted towards where Logan and Mo
ose stood leaning against a large tree. Both were watching something unobtrusively. Aiden gave them a questioning look, and then turned to see where they were discreetly looking. Wolf was walking toward Elisa, who stood beside her horse. Aiden pulled Ty up beside them and waited.

  * * *

  Wolf watched Elisa intently as he casually walked up. It wasn’t until he stood beside her that she finally noticed him. She jumped a little in surprise. A strand of golden hair blew into her face. Wolf fought the impulse to reach out and tuck it behind her ear. She looked so pretty when she wasn’t angry at him, he thought with an inward chuckle. It was a rare time when she wasn’t upset by something he said or did. Her hair was longer now, reaching just below the middle of her back, and was sun bleached from her time in the south. Her skin looked lovely and tanned, and as always, she wore tight, fitted pants like the men, showing off every curve of her body. It was hard, after denying it to himself for so long, to admit how beautiful she was. Everything about her excited him; made him want to lose himself in her. Instead, he ran to other women, trying his best to deny the feelings he had for a girl who wanted nothing to do with him. But it was never enough. It never took the edge of the need he felt every time he looked at her.

  He cleared his throat awkwardly, it finally dawning on him that he had been standing there looking at her for quite some time. A slight blush coloured her cheeks. “How did you sleep?” he asked. How did you sleep? Gods he was pathetic. Wolf cursed inwardly.

  Elisa raised both eyebrows in surprise but kept her voice neutral. “Fine, thank you,” she answered, somewhat wearily. Wolf could feel a small line of sweat build on the nape of his neck. He had never felt so awkward around a girl before, especially not Elisa.

  “It’s pretty cold out,” he said, holding out the cloak he was holding in his hand. “I thought you might want this.” She looked down at the offered gift, but made no move to take it from him. He stood up straighter, bracing himself for her rejection. She didn’t trust him, he knew that. Not only that, but she was still clearly angry with him. Despite her outward calm, he could see it simmering in her eyes. His peace offering didn’t seem to be working the way he hoped it would. For a moment they stood still, staring into each other’s eyes. How had he let things end up this way? He thought for the millionth time since he turned her away the night she had come to see him. She had come to him. Elisa, who didn’t show weakness, and constantly fought him and their betrothal, had come to him when Markus had asked for her hand in marriage. And what had he done? Turned cold and told her he didn’t care what she did, effectively pushing her straight into the other man’s arms. It hadn’t taken him long to see his mistake, but it was long enough. Long enough for her to accept the proposal and completely give up on what might have been between them.