by Tigris Eden
“See what I mean?” he quipped.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Ignore me all you want. I’m gonna be right here, but if Newton touches you again, I’m going to kill him,” Enri growled in her head.
“You don’t get to decide who touches me.”
“Huh? I didn’t say anything about touching you.” NuNu said clearly confused.
Damn. She’d said that out loud.
“Sorry, not you. I was talking to—”
“Who? Who were you talking to Yewa?” Dietrich asked, now standing near where she and NuNu sat. “Is that fucker here, hiding? Show yourself, bitch.”
There was a shimmer of air, and then Enri stood against the wall in the corner.
“I don’t need to hide. I was just being polite. Omari,” Enri said calmly. His voice was too calm.
“You here because you want to actually man up and own your shit?”
“I own everything, including you.” Enri’s voice held no emotion. He spoke plainly as if everything he said were true.
“Yewa, come.”
Enri looked toward her and she almost moved—would have if not for her brother’s harsh response.
“What the fuck do you think she is? Your dog?”
“No, she’s my mate—and as such, needs to act appropriately.”
Dietrich made a move toward Enri who pushed off the wall he was leaning against and the two met in the middle. There were no spoken words. There wasn’t even a bolstering of strength. Each of them, packed with power, went right at it.
Dietrich threw the first punch and Enri absorbed it with no reaction whatsoever. Yewa thought for sure her brother would see he had no effect, but her brother was never one to quit. Dietrich threw out a punch and kick, and it barely moved Enri.
“Don’t pussy out on me Dietrich; show me how you really feel. Anything you got, I can take tenfold,” Enri taunted.
When Jacobi and NuNu moved in to assist, her brother held up his hands. “Stay the fuck out of this,” Dietrich roared.
“Yes, please stay the fuck out of this.” Enri’s voice was bored as he took another of Dietrich’s blows. This one to the face. The entire time she watched the scene, Yewa held her breath. She knew what Enri was capable of, the others didn’t.
“Omari, please. I know you think he’s bad for me, but I love him.”
“Shut the fuck up, Yewa. He’s nothing to you. Hear me? Nothing.”
Enri’s hand reached out, taking hold of Dietrich’s neck and lifting him off the ground. To an onlooker, both men looked of equal height and equal strength. But Enri was something more. Whether the others wanted to realize it or not, he was the beginning, the middle, and end of everything.
“Enri, stop!”
“Why should I?”
“Because, I asked you to,” Yewa pleaded.
His blue eyes held her in place as the corner of his lip lifted into a malicious grin.
“You think because I’ve tasted you, had my dick in you, that I owe you something?”
No, she didn’t think anything like that at all. That they were bound by the Blood Kiss obviously meant less to him than she’d originally thought.
“What I think should matter, Enri—but not for the reasons you just named—I told them you could be trusted. But I see now, I was wrong. You may not realize it, but you do need our help, even if it’s a collective effort. You need us. You disrespected me in your request, and Omari simply pointed out a fact. I’m not a dog. I’m not your dog. You want to bring me to heel, and it’s not going to work. I don’t belong to you, even though I am mated to you. I’m still my own person.”
Enri still held her brother in a death grip. And the look of defiance on her brother’s face said it all. He didn’t care if Enri ended his life—he wasn’t going to back down.
“Come with me, and I’ll let him go.”
“Go where?”
“Does it matter? You said if I needed you, you’d be there for me. I need you.”
She knew Enri didn’t need her, but if it were the only way to get him to leave, she’d go.
“Don’t fucking do it,” NuNu, said stepping in front of her.
It was the wrong thing to say. Enri tossed Dietrich into the television as he turned his body in a movement so fast, Yewa was unable to track him. When it was all said and done, the only thing left standing was a headless Newton. The warmth she felt splatter her arms and face was NuNu’s life’s blood. It was so sudden, so shocking, she had no words.
“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Jorunn screamed.
Jacobi and Dietrich rushed Enri. It took both of them to ram him into the wall. But all that did was piss him off even more. Enri lifted Jacobi with one arm while holding Dietrich with the other. He pulled Jacobi to his face, whispering something only he and perhaps her brother could hear, then Jacobi fell, lifeless, to the floor. Enri looked at Yewa and she gasped. The universe was staring back at her. This was Chaos in his element. He’d take them all out if she didn’t do as he asked. His fangs had lengthened, and although his wings were massive, he still managed to expose them to the others.
“Last chance. I haven’t done damage to your brother yet, but if you don’t leave with me, I can’t promise you I’ll spare his life.”
“Fucking leave with him!” Jorunn screamed, racing toward Dietrich.
“Fuck him, Yewa, you stay put. Jo, baby, get the fuck out of his path.” Her brother had both hands wrapped around Enri’s wrist, as if the act were relieving some pressure on his throat.
“I’ll go with you,” Yewa said.
“Good answer.”
Her brother fell to his knees, and Enri pulled her into his embrace. His breath was hot, and his voice fierce against her ear. “If I tell you to come, you come.”
Chapter 22
Tahl watched.
He was good at watching.
Enri, once again, was making a mess of things and it was high time he stepped in to do something.
“I know you like him, but you can’t go around fixing all of his problems,” Ekho commented, taking a bite out of a golden pear.
Tahl turned toward the voice, who was now in its temporary body.
“This is the form you chose?” Tahl asked with a lift of his brow.
“It feels good on me.”
“Pervert,” Tahl murmured.
Ekho was dressed in a black chiton made of silk instead of linen. The dress held in place by silver fibula on one shoulder and a leather belt. She was barefoot, with silver-tipped toes, lounging on his sofa without a care in the world.
“You didn’t seem to mind,” was Ekho’s reply. “It’s been a while since either of us partook of the flesh.”
It hadn’t been a while for Tahl. He partook of flesh frequently. What was fucked up though, was fucking a woman who sounded like a man. Ekho chose a female form when in the past he’d been prone to a male’s physique. It was a moment of weakness. And it had been. Ekho hadn’t spoken, and Sound was the only one who could hide himself from Tahl’s presence. When the woman dressed like a Greek goddess with midnight ringlets and a body made to be defiled, appeared, Tahl had done what any man would do. He got down to the business of putting his very large, pointy end into the very small opening. Then Ekho opened his mouth. Talk about soft. Tahl prided himself on his manhood. It was a tool he used a lot. But one word from Ekho had been all it took to ruin him.
“Why are you here?” Tahl groaned. He was growing impatient.
“Because Erebos is done waiting. He wishes to strike now. I’ve done all I can to contain him.”
“Try harder.”
The sound of the pear crunching beneath Ekho’s lips annoyed him.
“If you were to make yourself known, it would put a stop to all this madness.”
It wasn’t madness. Everything had its place. Everyone served their purpose. Chaos might have been the creator of the vastness of life, but only in the sense of watering a seed and watching it grow. When he grew tired of his pro
jects, he started another one. It was his way. He liked to play with his creations, move them around. Even before his memory returned, Chaos played.
“Let it all play out,” Tahl informed.
The pear thrown at his feet, Ekho stood, her long black hair trailing behind as the body she inhabited glided over to where Tahl stood.
“You are the Primordial. You can put an end to all of this.”
He could.
But that would accomplish nothing.
“Ekho, I grow tired of your voice and your body. Leave me. Enri and his mate will be here soon.”
“I’d like to stay.”
“You will remain quiet if you do so.”
She looked around at the empty club. “Shall I take a more acceptable form?”
It wouldn’t matter; they’d be able to tell right away who she was. It was hard for Sound not to be anything but Sound. When he talked, he produced an auditory sensation. Everything from movement to a gesture. It would not go unnoticed.
“No, stay as you are—but you will not speak.”
Before Ekho could get another word out, Tahl took the very thing from him that made him who he was. Now he couldn’t talk at all. Just in time, too. Enri and Yewa had returned.
“Tahl?” Enri called.
“Up here, I’m just sitting with an acquaintance of mine.”
It was time he had a talk with the boy. Enri might have a concept of time spanning the millennia; what he lacked was a concept of how much time there was. When twisted and bent, no matter which way it turned, time would remain infinite.
Enri walked with a very angry Yewa. She refused to touch him. She’d all but made that clear by her distance. Another thing she wasn’t doing was talking.
“You can give me the silent treatment all day long,” he whispered harshly into her ear as he walked beside her. “But before you close your eyes for sleep, I’ll be buried balls—deep in that pussy, and it’s gonna be because you asked me to.” To prove his point, Enri pulled her to a stop and cupped her. Enri caught the hitch in her breath, and the way her lips parted as her eyes glazed over. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her—if not more.
His remark was greeted with silence.
Fine.
“Enri, stop harassing your mate with your crass language.” Tahl stood at the top of the stairs overlooking his club and smiled down at them.
Enri’s language was tame compared to Tahl’s. He watched as Yewa looked up at one of his longest acquaintances. He didn’t have friends, but with Tahl, there was an agreeable atmosphere and both were able to tolerate the other.
Yewa walked ahead of him to the top of the stairs where she stood in front of Tahl. “I know you,” she whispered.
Tahl, completely ignoring her remark, smiled down at her. He lifted both her hands in his and brought them to his lips for a kiss that lingered longer than it should have. Enri’s gaze went to where Tahl’s lips rested casually against Yewa’s skin. The male’s black eyes, always assessing, as he lifted his head and looked his fill of the woman who stood in front of him.
“You have a sharp memory.”
“You were the man on the side of the road. When I was being pulled behind the horses with the others. You gave me an apple.”
“You look like you needed it.”
“What’s this about an apple?” Enri asked, coming to stand behind her. His hands went to the sides of her hips and he pulled her into his embrace.
“Yewa was on her way to the house she’d been sold to. I just gave her an apple, is all. Nothing major.”
“It was everything. I was so hungry that day. My insides felt as if they were on fire, and my mouth was dry, so dry.”
Enri didn’t know why, but knowing Tahl had done that pissed him right the fuck off.
“You shouldn’t have brought her here, Enri.”
“I’m starting to see that, Tahl.”
Yewa pulled in a sharp breath, and it was because Enri gripped the sides of her waist harder than he’d planned.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered against the side of her head. “Tahl tends to bring out the beast in me.”
“You do that all on your own, boy. But you’re wrong. I don’t want your mate.” Tahl quickly looked to Yewa to explain. “Not that you’re unappealing my dear, because you are. You’re exquisite. A delicate bouquet of freshness. But I’m not the type of person to poach another’s man’s woman.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Let me rephrase myself, then. I’m not the type of man who would take from Lord Chaos.”
“I brought her here to get her away from the Unit. I was tired of them picking on her.”
To that, Tahl laughed. “Right. You were enjoying the show. In fact, you loved how she stuck up for you. What brought your claws out was another male had taken an interest.”
Who cared if that was the reason or not? Newton had no right to lay a finger on her.
“Because of your actions, another Walker has been killed. Make that two.”
“You keeping score?” Enri shot back.
“All the damn time.”
Enri noticed the woman on the sofa. She was lounging, watching them in fascination, a slight frown on her lips.
“Who’s the girl?”
“None of your concern; she is no one.”
That had the female frowning more. She stood, walking over to Tahl, and raised her hand between herself and Enri. She wanted Tahl to introduce them. Was she a mute?
“She can’t talk?”
“He can, but I don’t wish that to be.”
“He?”
“We should talk. There is a lot we need to cover, and we don’t have a lot of time. But I’ll say this—when this talk is over, you can take your girl, love her, and then return her. She has no place here. Everything is to be in its proper place Enri. That includes the woman you’re completely enamored with. Follow me.”
Yewa had been privy to death. Too much death, and she’d grown more than weary of it. Newton’s life gone, but because he’d showed interest, Enri killed him. Then he’d gone and taken life from Jacobi. She wasn’t going to speak to him, not yet. There were words floating around in her mind she knew better than to use on him. For whatever reason, he trusted her. Somewhat. Even if he did let her down, she wasn’t going to let him down.
She questioned her relationship with Enri. It wasn’t normal, by any means. It exceeded in ways that weren’t healthy, but it also appealed to her in ways that fed something inside she hadn’t realized she’d been hungry for. Stupid girl. Her mind chided. Maybe she was stupid. Maybe she wasn’t. What she wasn’t, though, was wrong. Enri was changing, and for him to drink from the cup, he needed to undergo the transformation. He wouldn’t be what others considered good, but he would be changed. She’d seen that firsthand.
Even if the others couldn’t see it. She could. The male named Tahl led them into another room with a fire going and a large sofa with a couple of sitting chairs.
“You two can take the sofa,” Tahl offered.
“You’re being awfully polite,” Enri said between thinned lips.
“And you could learn some fucking manners. Now, sit,” Tahl roared, and the flames in the fireplace dimmed to ash.
It was like the male’s words carried a gust of wind, or the flames, themselves, were afraid of him. Who was he? She’d remembered him from long ago. Like her, he, too, was long lived.
Enri’s gripped her elbow. She didn’t try to pull away; it was useless. He maneuvered her to sit close enough she could have climbed into his lap. But she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. When Yewa sat, Enri placed his hand on her thigh possessively, causing her to pull in a deep breath. She wasn’t comfortable with the intimate touch in front of others. She, herself, was just getting used to it.
“You’re making her uncomfortable,” Tahl commented, nodding in the direction of where Enri placed his hand.
Enri looked over at her, and his eyes softened. “Are you uncomfort
able?”
“Yes.”
That was the only word she was going to say. She didn’t think he’d accept a head nod. He wanted to hear her voice, and she saw it in his eyes when she finally uttered the words. Enri’s gaze warmed further.
“Make yourself comfortable. I don’t want you to feel out of place. That’s not my intention.”
She wanted to ask him what his intentions were, but she could tell by the tick in Tahl’s jaw, his patience was wearing thin. She wanted to move away, but decided against it. Whatever was said, she knew nothing good was going to come of it.
Tahl began pacing the floor. “You make things very difficult. I give you the gift to create life, and all you do is destroy it. From the time you were an idea, you’ve been nothing but trouble.”
Enri made a move to talk and Tahl silenced him with a look.
“Don’t speak, Enri. Don’t you fucking say a word.”
Tahl gave him the gift to create?
Enri stood, shedding his human form. It happened so quick, Yewa didn’t have time to blink. He suffocated the entire room with his wingspan alone, and the only reason she wasn’t in the way is because somehow, he’d managed to get her under his arm. A massive arm. She was quite childlike in his presence. The room they were in expanded, adjusting to his size. The walls gave way to space, and more space as he grew. They were in some type of black void. How is this all happening?
“I am Chaos,” Enri roared, his wings sweeping forward in an arc, as if to strike a killing blow toward Tahl.
The room expanded outward and the walls dropped away, along with the floor. The air chilled significantly. Yewa realized they were no longer in the room Tahl had brought them to, but up, way up. Over the Earth and far enough out to where there were other planets dangling like ornaments on an invisible screen. Yewa clung to Enri’s waist. There was no ground beneath her feet she could see. When she looked down, there was darkness, but there was also light. Stars, planets, and off in the distance other galaxies. Things she couldn’t explain were below her, above her. Everywhere.
Had Enri done this? Or Tahl? They were in the middle of nowhere, yet she could see everything. The Earth from this vantage point looked so small. So, insignificant. It was too much for her to process all at once what she was seeing.
