Betrayed (Raven Daughter Book 2)

by A. D. Trosper

  The subject needed to change. “Can we get out of here?”

  “The trees seem calm enough now; we should get back into the open before that changes.”

  It was then I realized I could hear their humming again and took my eyes off the ground for the first time since he explained his apology. “How can I feel the forest?”

  “It’s the Morrigan in you,” Caius said as he regarded the trees. “With your Morrigan blood so pure, it doesn’t surprise me you can feel the forest and it recognizes you. She was the original creator, after all.”

  My gaze raked over him. There were no visible injuries. “How did you heal so fast without replenisher?”

  A guarded look shadowed his face. “Did you want to leave the trees or not.”

  I eyed the glowing trees that still hummed with energy. It felt like they were watching me. It would be nice if I knew exactly what I’d done to tame the forest. I hated feeling like I was stumbling through the dark with everything. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything I could do about it right then. Might as well get out from under the trees before it wore off.

  ***

  “Damn the consequences.” ~Caius

  Chapter 8

  It took longer to get back to the path and the river that ran alongside it. Of course, we weren’t crashing through everything at a run either. The kitten was still nowhere to be seen and I could only hope she hadn’t somehow gotten caught up in everything. When we finally stepped from beneath the trees, I let out my breath in a sigh of relief. I was physically and mentally exhausted. It had been a crazy day filled with too much adrenaline.

  The glow from the trees lit the deepening dusk, casting light along the river bank. A flame bloomed in Caius’s palm. He started to set it then snuffed it out and turned to me. “Do you want to try setting the fire?”

  I gave him a weary look. “I’m too tired to get angry right now.”

  “You can use any emotion. Anger is just the easiest when reaching for demon power. There might come a time when you need it, but can’t summon anger to assist you. Like today.” He moved to stand behind me and took my hand, extending it out, the back of my hand resting in his palm. The heat from his body soaked into my back, sending a slight shiver through me. “Close your eyes.”

  Though his nearness was causing havoc with my ability to think straight, I did as he said. It only made me more aware of the warmth of his skin against mine, of the feel of his hand. I wasn’t even sure how we had gotten here, but somewhere along the way, we’d stepped over a line and neither of us seemed interested in stepping back. I thought Caius had tried those first couple of days in the Between, but not anymore. I licked my lips. “What if it goes crazy like it did in the mortal world?”

  “I can absorb any extra. If I had realized you were so close to exploding then, I could have taken in the extra. Once that amount was loose, I could only absorb so much, you still had to get it under control.” He slid his other arm around my waist. “I’ve got you; the fire isn’t going anywhere it isn’t supposed to.” At that moment, I begged to differ. He continued, his voice almost hypnotic, “Now, concentrate and tell me which emotion you are feeling most strongly.”

  I blushed again because with him standing so close behind me, the strongest thing I was feeling wasn’t something I was willing to say out loud.

  “Jo?” The sound of him saying my name sent warmth curling through me. “Did you fall asleep?”

  I felt him shift a little. Certain he was looking at me, more blood rushed to my face. “Nope, not asleep. Trying to figure out which emotion.”

  He chuckled. “That one will do nicely.”

  If my face heated anymore it was going to melt right off. I was tempted to claim exhaustion and beg off the lesson, but he would probably know better. And I refused to be a coward. Just because my suddenly awakened libido was determined to go crazy didn’t mean I shouldn’t learn these things. I was sure his mind hadn’t instantly gone there and I could focus as well as him, damn it.

  Caius’s low voice, soft in my ear didn’t help anything. “Take that feeling and bring it to your center. Imagine a tiny flame.”

  Since the feeling was already in my center, I didn’t have any trouble there. Imagining a small flame was easy and it gave me something to think about besides him. When I had the flame securely in my mind, I nodded to let him know I was following.

  “Now, take what you are feeling and start giving it to the fire. A little at a time, just like you would feed a real fire.”

  I envisioned taking tiny pieces of the heat coiled in my belly and putting them in the fire. It didn’t lessen the feeling, but it did feed the flame. As it grew in my mind, I fed it bigger pieces.

  “Good. Now take the fire and send it to your hand so you can hold it.”

  This didn’t go so smoothly. No matter how I tried to send it to my hand, it wouldn’t go. Frustration started to well up, diminishing the feelings caused by Caius and making my imaginary flame sputter.

  Caius’s lips brushed my neck just below my ear, his breath warm against my skin as he said, “Don’t get frustrated, we have all night.”

  The inflection he put on those last four words sent a delicious shiver through me and reignited everything. The fire burned strong in my mind again. I tried to block out the whisper of his lips against the spot where my shoulder met my neck. If he kept that up, he was going to have a different kind of blaze to deal with.

  I tried to move the flame to my hand again and failed. A small tendril of the frustration resurfaced. My voice came out shaky when I said, “I can’t get it to send to my hand.”

  He brought his mouth back to my ear, his teeth lightly grazing my skin. My knees got weak and it was an effort to stand. I had to admit, he was adept at keeping me focused on a single feeling. “Then imagine your hand taking the fire from where it is now.”

  My body reacted to the husky tone. Thankfully, the part of me that really wanted to learn this managed to keep on task. I did as he suggested. It was ridiculously easy to move the fire that way.

  “Open your eyes, Jo.”

  Caius’s lips were still driving me crazy, but I opened my eyes. A small fire danced happily in my palm. Under normal circumstances, I might have gotten so excited over the accomplishment that I lost my concentration. Not an issue this time. Not with Caius’s mouth working its way from my ear to my shoulder.

  “Now, turn your palm over and let it fall to the ground.” His hand turned with mine, the fire I had built fell from my palm and hovered near the ground. “Imagine a rope attached to it. Tie it off to the ground like you would a balloon.”

  I did as he said, visualizing the rope and tying it to a clump of grass.

  “Now what?” I asked, breathless as my fire balloon stayed right where I put it.

  “You are done. You created fire with something other than anger.” He circled me until he stood in front of me, blocking the view of my accomplishment.

  So heated through I wasn’t sure what to do with myself, I stared up at him. His golden eyes shined in the dark. “You do all of that every time?”

  “No. That only needs to be done in the beginning to connect you with your powers. Later, you won’t have to do all of it to access what you need. I haven’t needed to in a long time. But then, I’ve been setting fires for a long time.” He leaned close, his lips a hairsbreadth away from mine. “No teeth, no advances. I’m already walking a thin line and I am no saint.”

  I nodded. He gently, slowly kissed me. If I was braver, I might have tossed caution to the wind and attacked him. But I wasn’t, not yet. So I returned the kiss, but carefully, aware of the battle he was fighting within himself to give me time to decide.

  He broke away, ending the kiss with a few last gentle brushes of his lips against mine. “I think we had better stop right here.”

  I cleared my throat. “Um… yeah. Probably best.”

  Honestly, I could have spent the entire night kissing him, but it seemed he had reached the limi
ts of his control. I wasn’t ready to cross that line so he was right, we both needed to cool down.

  I gazed at the fire as he moved away from me. Though I ached inside and felt an odd sort of edginess, reality finally intruded and the exhaustion from the rollercoaster ride of a day seeped back in. After creating new clothes and deconstructing the old, I slowly changed while Caius kept his back turned. I paused as I pulled on the clean shirt. Right at the point where my collar bone met my shoulder, a thin curl of black marred the skin.

  Rubbing at it didn’t smudge it or make it go away. It reminded me of Caius’s tattoos, except this was only a single curl and it was daintier and more feminine than his. Maybe using so much of his power was marking my skin. When I wasn’t so tired, I would have to ask. For now, I just pulled the shirt on.

  With a yawn, I told Caius I was done and sat down. Past heavy lids, I watched him watch me. Another yawn cracked my jaw. A blanket appeared in Caius’s hand and he gave it to me.

  Grateful, I wrapped myself in it and rested my head on my arm. Sleep came for me the moment I closed my eyes. As I sank into its depths, I felt a warm, fuzzy body curl up next to me. Knowing the kitten was okay, and still following, eased a tension I hadn’t acknowledged. I roused just enough to give her a brief scratch behind the ears and then sank into sleep’s depths with my fingers in her soft fur.

  ***

  “Sometimes it’s worth it to stand in the flames and burn.” ~Caius

  Chapter 9

  As we followed the path the next day, the forest continued to the left, the stream and the open plains to the right. With the scenery unchanging, my mind turned inward. There was something I needed to ask, but with the demon battle, the kiss and the fire lesson, I couldn’t remember what it was. Since mulling over the time spent entirely too close to Caius would just make me turn red as a beet, I spent the time walking to sift through everything else that had happened, trying to remember what had sparked the question.

  It was something Hades said. And then I remembered. He’d mentioned Caius hiding my heritage. Eisheth had said something similar. “How is it that you knew about my mix of bloods when almost nobody else did?”

  He frowned. “Rowen didn’t tell you?”

  “Obviously not or I wouldn’t be asking.” The trail cut close to the trees and I watched them warily, though during the day they seemed like any other trees.

  “Right after Rowen first saw you, he came to me and asked that I research where you had come from.”

  “Why you?”

  “Despite the fact Rowen and I stand on opposite sides of the river in Midtween, I’m the only one he could trust to keep my findings secret.” Caius glanced at me. “Just like there are few I trust.”

  “Rowen is one of those?” I’m not sure why, but it bothered me that I didn’t feel counted among the few. Granted, he had known Rowen for hundreds of years.

  “He is. Malik and Lilly are the only other two I trust implicitly. My siblings that joined us in the mortal world are also on the short list, but not even all of them know everything about me.”

  I snorted. “Lilly seems a bit unruly to trust with much.”

  “She is young, especially for a demonborn. But if she gives her word on something, she will keep it.”

  I sighed, knowing he was right. Though I still held a bit of a grudge over the night othersiding, she had kept her word and not only saved my life twice, but also Hannah’s. It was so strange to have everything I thought about the demonborn turned on its head.

  “If Rowen trusted you so much, why were you always trying to kill me with eaters?”

  “Kill you?” He stopped short and turned to me, his eyebrows pulled together.

  “Yeah, kill me.” I halted. “Every time I got low on energy, the eaters always seemed to pile up and there you were, lurking on my route. Why draw them to me if you didn’t want me dead?”

  He raised one eyebrow at my accusation then started walking again. “The eaters are naturally attracted to reapers who are low on energy, the high mix of heritage made your soul all the more appealing. I didn’t draw them to you. If I had wanted you dead, you would be.”

  “Then why were you always there on my route?” I kept pace with him.

  “To make sure you didn’t die. With your concentration of angel and Morrigan, you attracted more eaters than anyone else. No one has ever had to face as many as you during shift.” He shrugged as if his lurking meant nothing.

  I wasn’t buying it. “Why though? Why did it matter if I died?”

  “Rowen asked me to keep an eye on you.”

  “Yeah because the second among the demonborn has nothing better to do.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. Or rather he allowed me to since I didn’t have the physical strength to make him. “You once told me you would never lie to me.”

  “And I’m not. Rowen asked, I agreed.” Turmoil swirled in his eyes.

  “But why agree? Why not pass it off on Malik or something?” I’m not sure why it was so important for me to know this, but I sensed there was something hidden underneath his explanation. It was confirmed by the low growl at the suggestion of Malik.

  He crossed his arms and glared down at me, indecision in his expression. I let the question hang in the silence between us, waiting to see if he would answer. Finally, he sighed and said, “Because you caught my interest the moment you met me glare for glare in the cemetery. Most would have looked away, maybe try to find a way to hide, you didn’t. Then when I met you the first day you reaped souls, you stood toe to toe with me, refusing to back down even with the scent of your fear thick in the air. I liked what I saw. So when you started reaping on your own and Rowen asked me to keep an eye on you, I agreed.”

  I’m not sure what I expected his answer to be, but it wasn’t that he had been interested in me for over a year. That he followed me for three months to protect me. I swallowed and looked away, unsure of what to do with this new information. “If you were interested in me, why were you such an ass when we met my first time reaping? Or when we first started this journey together?”

  “That first time on your route, I was testing your mettle. When you met my glare in the cemetery, you didn’t know who or what I was. No more than you did at your house. I wanted to see if you really had that spark, or if you would become a shrinking violet once you realized the danger.” A hint of a smile tugged at his lips. “You had more mettle than was healthy for you.”

  “And after we started on this stupid journey?” I pressed.

  “What I felt was completely forbidden. It was better to push you away. Unfortunately, it was harder than I thought it would be and here we are.”

  “Is that why you agreed to the partial bond?”

  “When Sinmar asked me to suggest someone for it, I volunteered.”

  I met his gaze. “Because you needed to keep an eye on me for Rowen? Or because I interested you? I thought you said you had no choice.”

  “I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t let it be anyone else. Even if you continued to hate me as you seemed to then.”

  “Not even Malik? You said he is one you trust.”

  Caius’s jaw tightened and I saw a flash of possessiveness in his eyes. “Not even Malik.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. “And what if I decided I wanted someone else?”

  “That would be your decision. I don’t force myself on people. I’ve already turned one woman loose so she could choose.”

  “And look how that turned out.” I vividly remembered how cold he’d been to Nadia, even physically violent. “You pretty much hate Nadia.”

  Caius snorted in disgust. “She didn’t leave me for another. I walked away from her. My issue with Nadia has everything to do with a decision she made. One I can’t forgive.”

  That roused my curiosity. Nadia had alluded to something she had done that she regretted to this day, but she hadn’t told me what. “If not leaving you for someone else, then what did she do?”

  Hi
s jaw flexed again, his eyes hardened with a dangerous glint and I could tell just thinking of it pissed him off. Whatever it was, it must have affected him deeply. What could she have done to anger someone like Caius who was half-demon and had killed more times than I could count?

  “It was a long time ago.” He started walking again, his body language clearly saying the subject was closed.

  It appeared I wasn’t going to find out the answer to that question any time soon. With a sigh, I followed him. It really didn’t matter and wasn’t any of my business, except that I cared for Caius. Cared more than I wanted to really admit at that moment and it seemed he might actually care for me. I didn’t want to make whatever mistake Nadia had.

  By the time the sun had set behind the mountains along the horizon, leaving the darkening sky streaked with color overhead, I was ready to fall over. We hadn’t eaten since the day before and that had been a day full of energy use. Where this day had been quiet, we had covered miles on foot, only resting briefly around midday. When Caius said he was headed off to hunt, I only nodded. I should be helping with that, but I was too tired to care if we ate.

  The stream burbled quietly over rounded rocks a few feet from where I sat. Although the entire forest was once again glowing, the path had swung far enough away the light wouldn’t reach where I rested once full night fell. A fire, I should at least start that. Not that we needed one to see, it just offered a feeling of safety.

  I held out my hand and closed my eyes, searching for an emotion. Was exhaustion an emotion? Because I had that in spades. I thought of Caius and warmth spread through me. Not lust, not passion, something deeper, more permanent. I imagined the flame and fed a tiny piece of the emotion into it. To my surprise, the flame jumped into a full fire with just that little bit.

  A little nervous that it might get away from me due to the way it had grown so fast, I contemplated putting out my imaginary flame. No, I could do this. Carefully, I imagined my hand pulling the flame away. I opened my eyes and there it sat in my palm. I let it fall and then tied it off so it would stay put, feeling pretty proud of myself.