by Sarah Blair
Heat rushed through her body from her scalp to her toenails. She wondered if they could see her blush. She never blushed.
Mitch put his hand behind her back and helped her sit up. The room flip-flopped around her and her stomach roiled.
“We should get you home, and um, cleaned up.” Mitch tried to play it cool, but he couldn’t hide his disgust. Her hands and face had been wiped off, but she was still mostly covered in blood and that thick goo. It had dried like tar on her skin.
Normally, Sidney would have ignored the shaky feeling in her knees and tried to stand up. She would have made herself go downstairs on her own two feet if it killed her. Except this time she not only felt weak, she felt empty, like a part of her was missing somehow. She wasn’t sure she could find the strength to get out of here no matter how bad she wanted to.
Dimitrius stood and watched her carefully.
Mitch waited with his hand offered to help her.
“Why don’t you go get the car warmed up? I’ll be right behind you,” she said.
He hesitated for a second before he nodded. “I’ll pull around to the side door.”
Mitch left and she turned to Williams. “It’s late, you should get home. Megan will be worried.”
Her partner hesitated.
“I’ll assist Ms. Lake downstairs,” Dimitrius said.
Williams waited for approval from Sidney.
“I’m fine, really.”
As soon as he left, she melted back onto the couch. It had taken every ounce of her strength just to hold her head up.
“Your life force is water. It was how Sulis gained her energy. A soak in the tub will rejuvenate you.” Dimitrius watched her. His eyes were different, like there was a new light in them, a spark she hadn’t seen before.
Sidney rubbed her face, trying to scrub away the awfulness of the night. A bath sounded amazing. Trying to figure out what had happened in the stairwell was too much to deal with on top of everything else. All she wanted was to get cleaned up and sleep for a hundred years. Sidney glanced around. “Where are my boots?”
Dimitrius grabbed them from the other end of the couch. He bent to one knee and held the first one out. She slid her foot in, then he slid the zipper up, encasing her leg inside the well-worn leather. For a split-second she felt the sun warm on her head, smelled fresh hay. It was the most natural thing in the world. Then she blinked and it was gone.
Sidney scowled. “I’ll do the other one.”
She tugged the boot on and zipped, then stood without thinking. The room spun like she was on a carousel and Dimitrius slung his arm around her waist to steady her.
She pressed her palms flat against his chest, which was a mistake, because her hands molded around the contours of his bare skin where the shirt fell open, awakening that lick of fire from earlier. His earthy scent swept over her, filling the empty hole in the pit of her being. The room stilled, and everything felt right again.
“That was weird.”
Sidney lifted her eyes to his. His hand splayed wide on the small of her back. Their fingers twined together so that she couldn’t even tell which were her own.
“I’m sorry. It’s the bond. Our souls have come to recognize one another.”
Sidney shut her eyes and tried to make sense of what he’d said up in the bell tower. “Your soul was magically tied to Sulis. I come from her bloodline. That makes us—”
“Bound together. Inextricably.”
“Um. No.” Sidney unwound herself from him and ducked under his arm. “You couldn’t come up with something a little less like the plot of a bad soap opera or a trashy romance novel?”
Dimitrius glanced up. Sidney covered her face with her hands and shook her head.
“The goddess thing? That’s messed up enough, but this?” She waved her hand back and forth between them. “Not happening.”
“It’s a great deal to process.” Dimitrius sagged and the weight of all those centuries seemed to press down on his broad shoulders. “Please know that I do not wish to interfere in any current relationships you might have going on. I only told you so that you might be aware of what was happening.”
“Mitch is waiting.”
“Of course.” Dimitrius held her gaze for a second longer before he turned and went back to his desk. He pushed a button on his phone and Dag entered. “Please escort Ms. Lake out.”
Twenty-Four
Climbing into Mitch’s car was like climbing into a sauna. The heat was blasting on full and the seat warmers were set to high. It was wonderful. He always seemed to know exactly what she needed.
She had no idea what to say to Mitch. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. Which was the lesser of two evils, telling him she’d kissed Dimitrius or keeping it a secret? She hadn’t meant to do it. Hiding it would only make her feel guiltier. She thought about it as they drove the few blocks up to his condo. He pulled into his space in the garage and put the car in park.
“I kissed Dimitrius.” She blurted it out before she could stop herself.
Mitch froze where he was, door half-open, keys in hand. “Excuse me?”
“It was an accident.”
“Did he force himself on you?” There was a tone in his voice she’d never heard before.
“No! It wasn’t like that.” Sidney shut her eyes and shook her head, realizing that probably sounded even worse. “I mean, he said we’re bound together somehow. I don’t know. There’s magic involved. It seemed to make sense when he explained it, but now it sounds crazy. It doesn’t matter. I told him to take his mystical bond and shove it.”
Mitch turned to her then, eyebrow raised.
“Okay, I didn’t say it like that. But I made myself clear.”
“Did you tell him about us?”
“No, but I got the feeling he already knows.”
He tilted his chin, then continued moving out of the car. “Get out, you stink.”
As soon as they were upstairs, Mitch went straight into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Apparently she was too disgusting for a bath.
It was becoming a routine. She pulled off her clothes. He gathered them to wash. She wasn’t quite sure if they could be saved, but she knew he would try. The same as he always tried to save her from whatever mess she’d managed to get herself into. Goddess or not, maybe she did need him, more than she knew.
“Do you love me?” she asked Mitch.
He went completely still. For a moment the only sound and movement was the rush of water from the shower. It swirled around Sidney’s feet and disappeared down the drain.
“Do you love me?” he asked.
Sidney didn’t know how to put voice to it, how to quantify what she felt within the depths of her very soul. Trying to name it with words made it feel tawdry and insignificant, because it was so much greater than both of them.
He must have understood her silence because he put his hand flat across her chest and pushed her against the wall of the shower. Her head hit with a thud and his clothes were soaked through in an instant.
There was no spark of lightning or swirl of colors when his skin touched hers, but it didn’t matter. The kiss with Dimitrius had happened so fast, had been so intense, it felt like a dream. Whatever was between her and Mitch was real, and it was good all on its own. They didn’t need magic to make it happen.
All thoughts of Dimitrius were chased away as she opened her mouth to Mitch and he kissed her harder than he’d ever kissed her before. She was drowning in the spray of water. Drowning in him.
She gasped.
His shirt came off and hit the tiles with a wet slap.
Sidney concentrated hard, blinking water out of her eyes, as she tried to undo his belt. The wet leather was hard to deal with, but she managed to get to the part that mattered.
She wiped her face and put her arms around his neck. He lifted her under her hips, using the wall of the shower for leverage.
And then he was inside her. Just like that. He filled her full. Made her ache for more.
“Oh my, God.” She wasn’t sure if she whispered it or screamed it.
He drove into her hard, over and over. It hurt so good she could barely hang on. He sucked the drops of water off her hardened nipples with gathering intensity, until she really did scream. The sound was cut short as he covered her mouth with his own, his tongue invaded her, matched the rhythm of what he was doing below.
There was nothing left but the sound of water and the slap of their bodies as they met each other full on. Without warning he threw his head back and cried out between gritted teeth. His heat flooded into her. He pinned her against the wall, and dragged her over the cliff with him.
When they came to their senses enough to move again, Sidney lowered her feet to the floor. Mitch held onto her, making sure she was stable before he let go.
He pressed a long kiss to her forehead. “You okay?”
“That was amazing.” She traced a drop of water down his jaw line.
“Good.” He kissed her again, then turned to pick up his shirt.
“Shit. Are you okay?” Ten long lines marked his back where she’d dug in her fingernails. Blood mixed with the water running down his skin, painting the waistband of his jeans. She didn’t know she’d grabbed on so hard.
“Yeah. Why?”
“You’re bleeding.” Sidney felt sick, and the dream she’d had came back to her.
“It was worth it.” He gave her a half smile, as he worked off his wet jeans.
She shut off the shower and stood there dripping.
Mitch kissed her cheek and wrapped a towel around her shoulders. “It’s just a few scratches. No big deal.”
He was the man she’d spent the past six years idolizing. She’d looked up to him as the one who was invincible. Now, things were all upside down and backwards. She was the invincible one and he was the one standing there with deep crinkles at the edges of his eyes. What little hair he had left in the back was white and gray. Despite the fact that he was in good shape for his age, he still had thirty years on her. Sidney wasn’t sure if she could stand to watch him age and wither away.
He wiped her cheek with the edge of his towel. “What is this?”
She sniffled and shook her head. “It’s been a long ass week.”
“You’re telling me.” He pulled her in for a hug, and took a moment to comb through her hair with his fingers. “Did you hear? I’m dating a goddess.”
Sidney rolled her eyes and made a face.
Mitch kissed the tip of her nose. “Better than dating a werewolf.”
She ran her finger next to the marks on his back. “Might be the same thing.”
“Not even close.”
“You think being the descendant of a goddess means I get a tiara or something?”
He arranged the towel over her shoulder and hid a smile. “How about a toga?”
She grinned and shoved him. He picked her up and tossed her on the bed, then climbed in after her, and showed her exactly how he thought a goddess should be loved.
Twenty-Five
The only sound was the rhythmic splash of her arms pulling through the water. No car horns. No businessmen talking to their brokers on cell phones. No whoosh of the subway through an iron grate. Only the sound of her heart and the occasional breath for air. The solitude of the pool helped her concentrate. It was nothing but her, the water, the rhythm of her body, and her thoughts.
Sidney kept waiting to feel the burn in her lungs that always came by the time she hit the half-hour mark. She expected to feel the ache in her legs as she flipped and pushed off the wall and started in on the next lap.
It never came.
This time she felt like she could swim forever without tiring, so she pushed harder, kicked faster.
It shouldn’t be that easy to swim so hard for so long. She went another fifty laps in a full out sprint, then grabbed the edge of the pool, gasping for air and ripped off her goggles.
It only proved that she was different. Something within her had changed, and it wasn’t the spark of romance between her and Mitch. Despite what Dimitrius said about being a goddess, she couldn’t manage to get her partner’s words out of her head; You may not be you anymore.
Maybe she didn’t have to be so afraid of howling at the moon or tearing people to shreds, but the fight against the demon proved she was more powerful than before she was bitten.
And kissing Dimitrius, well, that was a whole other thing entirely.
It had gone better with Mitch than she deserved. He might not have said much about it, but the way he’d fucked her in the shower made it clear how he felt. The hardest part was that she knew he and Dimitrius were friends. They trusted each other deeply, and she didn’t want to ruin that.
It would be great if she never had to lay eyes on Dimitrius again. At the same time, she wanted to lay her eyes, hands, mouth, and everything else all over him.
Repeatedly. On all surfaces. In every location.
But, she loved Mitch. She was in love with him. No red-blooded female could deny Dimitrius was good looking, sexy, steamy as hell, but she didn’t know him at all. He was a virtual stranger. At one point in her life, she wouldn’t have had any problem going to a night club to play tonsil-hockey with some random dude. But that wasn’t who she was anymore.
Usually swimming helped her sort things out, but now she was at her usual stopping point with more questions and energy than when she’d started.
She showered off, changed, and headed for Williams’ house. They were partners. Sorting through information was what they did best together. Maybe she just needed an objective point of view.
Her partner opened the door with a flourish. “To what do I owe this early morning visit?”
“I need your researching skills.” She pushed past him and went inside.
“Banks and I were enjoying some fresh donuts.” He said, at the same time she spotted the shaggy blond hair. “Care to join?”
She’d completely forgotten about Banks. Even though she wasn’t one for make-up and primping every morning, she had her standards. Stopping in on Williams after a swim was typical, and it didn’t matter what he thought about her appearance. But Banks was still new, and she wasn’t ready for him to see her post-workout worst.
“Morning, Lake. I was just about to head out,” Banks said.
It made it worse that he was showered and shaved. He cleaned up nicely, despite the nasty bruise on the side of his face. Megan was right to want to fix them up together. On paper, they made a perfect pair. It was too bad life was way more complicated than that.
“Don’t let me chase you off,” Sidney said.
“No worries.” He flashed those dimples at her. “Wills, thanks for the donuts, man. I’m gonna hold you to that Knicks game.”
They did that awkward high-five, bro-hug thing so many of Sidney’s boarding school pals did after a rugby match. Williams walked him to the door and let him out. When he shut it and turned around, he was grinning like a little kid.
“Wills?” Sidney raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“I was starting to wonder when you’d develop a bromance.”
He laughed. “Dude. No.”
“Hey, I’m not judging. Is Megan taking the girls to school?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
Sidney sank down into a chair at the kitchen table. “What the hell happened last night? What was that?”
“No idea.” Williams grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet.
“When I swam today, it was different. I was sprinting and couldn’t even feel it. Whatever happened when I was in the hospital changed me.” Sidney threw up her hands and let them fall back on the table. “I don’t know. Maybe you were right. Maybe I’m not me anymore.”
Williams poured coffee and brought the mugs over to the table. He sat across from Sidney, then bit into a donut and chewed for a few moments before he set it down and took a sip of coffee.
He set his mug down and leveled his gaze on her
. “Maybe when you get to Hogwarts you could ask Dumbledore about it?”
Sidney threw a piece of donut at his face. “This is serious. I need to know if this goddess Sulis Minerva was a real person. Can you wave your magic research wand and dig something up?”
Williams scooted his chair back. “Step into my office.”
Sidney followed him into the small room under the stairs where her partner had a desk, a computer and an old recliner he picked up off the curb down near NYU right after spring semester let out.
Williams sat in the desk chair while Sidney took the recliner.
“Okay, how do you spell it?”
Sidney spelled the name and sipped her coffee while his fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop.
“Hmm, it doesn’t look like there’s any evidence to suggest that she was an actual person. She was based on a Celtic goddess named Sul that was around like ten-thousand years before the Romans even showed up.” Williams kept his eyes on the screen as he spoke. “People used to drop coins and pieces of metal in the water with wishes written on them.”
“Check this out.” He waved her over. Sidney peered over his shoulder at the screen.
“These were excavated from the baths. They’re from all different time periods, but the majority of them came from around A.D. 100, when the Roman Empire was in its heyday in that area.”
Williams enlarged a photo of one of the coins. It was worn and hard to read, but Sidney could make out the image of a head and some Latin letters. “Look familiar?”
Sidney stared at the coin. It matched the pendant Dimitrius wore around his neck. “Shit.”
“The letters are a name,” Williams pointed to a line under the photo. “Dimitrius Arturus Valerian. This says he was a Roman General in the area around that time.”
“Wow. He really wasn’t joking,” Sidney said.
“If he was the guy in charge, it would make sense his picture would be on the money.”
Williams scrolled through more pictures.
“Hang on, go back.” She shooed his hand from the keyboard and scrolled back up, then stopped on a photo of a sword.
