Door in the Garden of Shadows

by April Canavan

  “Eamon, she didn’t tell us about the key. Why do you think that is? Or about the vampire. He loves her.” Sonya was hurt, he could tell. She wanted her daughter to trust her, but they weren’t children. “I told her the story, of the sun and the moon.”

  “I know you did, my love. Those two coming together, their emotions, it seems like it should be impossible, but they might surprise us, yet. She didn’t tell us because she doesn’t know us. Not anymore, and not the way a daughter should know her parents. She has grown into her power since our fading, and we have to trust her. We have to trust both of them.” He just hoped that they had given her enough to be successful.

  They both knew, though, that they would never see their daughter again.

  “I love you, Eamon.”

  “I love you, Sonya. More than the sun loves the moon.” They sat in silence while he held her in his arms until there were no more stars left in the sky.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Tyler stared at Mykah, unwilling to look away. Afraid that if he even blinked, she would disappear. When he held her in his arms, she felt lighter than before. Once they had her safely home, he saw that she had lost too much weight. She was wasting away, and he felt responsible. He should have fought harder, tried to find her more. Jessica was berating herself for her inability to act sooner, and together they held a vigil for Mykah. They were not alone, either.

  The royals had appeared one after another when word of the princess’s return had spread, and although they had offered to relieve him, he wouldn’t let anyone take his place by her side. For days, it stayed that way, Mykah oblivious to what was happening around her, comatose. Maddox, using some of his power, had summoned a way to get sustenance into her, and Tyler found himself praying for her safety and health. In the end, it was Jackson who was successful where they had all failed.

  He walked into the room, his wife by his side. Both of them wearing jeans and gray hoodies. Why he cared what they were wearing, he didn’t know. The smile on Jackson’s face made him want to punch the kid and send him home to his mother with a broken nose.

  “Don’t even think about it,” the man–child said. “I’ll sick my wife on you in a heartbeat. Then you’d miss out on all of the awesomeness in the princess’s head.” He chuckled.

  Jackson moved until he was right next to Tyler and then pushed him out of the way, “I need that spot, Tyler.” When Tyler reluctantly let go, Jackson laughed and pointed at Adam, the forsaken king. “Ha. I told you I could get him to move. You owe me a hundred bucks.”

  Before Tyler could hit him, he touched Mykah’s forehead and lowered his head to hers. Whispering in her ear so that no one in the room could hear, Jackson stood up after a moment and smiled again. “She’s in there, alright. She’s really pissed that I made her marshmallow move.” Turning to Maddox, he said “I think she’s stuck in her memories. The pain, it pushed her consciousness away to protect her. Should be easy enough to find her and walk her back.”

  Maddox moved forward, and Tyler moved to Jackson’s other side so that he could reach Mykah’s hand. “I’ll do it.” The warlock said and then started to cast his spell.

  Before he could finish, however, Mykah opened her eyes. “I don’t need you to wake me up. I was perfectly fine sleeping away the pain.” Her voice cracked from the lack of use, and she coughed through her sentence, but Tyler couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

  “Mykah.” She looked up at his words, and tears formed in her eyes as he drank in the sight of her desolate smile.

  “I forgot you, Tyler.” His heart stopped at her words and the despair that was seeping from every pore of her body.

  If he could look away from her eyes, he would see that the other people in the room had started to leave as quietly as possible. The silence surrounding them was evidence enough of the fact that they needed to be alone. This was their time alone, a moment between two lovers, but he couldn’t fight the feeling of anguish that filled him with her words.

  “I forgot everything. I’m ashamed because it felt so good.” She started sobbing, “I didn’t want to come back. It hurts so much to be here.” Her body shook with the weight of her tears, but Tyler couldn’t bring himself to hold her.

  “You forgot me?” He was bewildered. She forgot him. He had stayed in their court, living by their terms, for six miserable months. She had forgotten him.

  “We danced, and I forgot you.” She cried harder and reached for his hand. He didn’t meet her halfway. “I’m so sorry.”

  He still loved her, even as she was tearing his heart out. “I waited for you. Here.” He couldn’t look her in the eyes. “I stayed for you.”

  With every fiber of his being he wanted to bring her into his arms, he needed to heal every wound she had. Both physical and mental. He couldn’t do it. He had given up his life, just to wait for her. She had given up on him. She touched his hand, and he didn’t move it away. He let her touch him, needing to feel her even as he braced himself for her rejection.

  “There is a story my mother told me. About the moon and the sun.” She was whispering like she was telling him a secret. “A long time ago, the sun and the moon were lovers. The sun shone brighter just to make his lover smile. And she did, but no one could see her beauty. Every day as the sun shone, the moon faded until almost nothing remained. The sun tried everything he could think of to save her, but nothing worked.” She squeezed his fingers, and he found himself bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing it before setting it back down on the bed.

  “The moon knew that the only way she would get better would be to leave the sun. She had to walk away to be able to shine on her own. But the sun didn’t want her to go. He fought with everything he had to show her the error of her ways. He shone so brightly that he burnt part of the earth, creating the desert. She cried, her tears seemingly never–ending from her decision, there were so many that the seas will flow forever, but in the end, the sun knew what he would have to do.” Mykah pushed herself so that she was sitting up, and although she had been through hell and dragged back, Tyler still thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

  “Every night, the sun lets himself fade until nothing remains, just so that the moon has a chance to shine. She still loves him, even though they are destined to spend an eternity apart. When the days are long and the nights are short, the moon can’t help but stay in the sky for as long as possible. Even though it hurts her to do so, she hungers for his caress with every fiber of her being, and those stolen moments are all that they will ever have.”

  Tyler didn’t know what to say to her. The story of the sun and the moon was older than any of them. Every culture had their own telling of it. Some human civilizations believed that the sun chased the moon through the sky and others who thought that they were brothers fighting for control. Her story was beautiful, but it was just that. A story.

  Before he could get a word in, she kept going. “I meant what I said when I let you go. I told you that I could have loved you one day. I meant it, Tyler. I can’t be strong enough to let go again. You have to be the one to do it.”

  “Well tough shit, princess. You’re not getting away from me this time. We’re going to fight. You’re a princess, you’re used to getting what you want on every level. Even if you’ve been in the human world. I’m a warrior. I always have been, and I always will be. We’ll fight, you’ll get angry, and I’ll get pissed. You’re not going to get rid of me. It’s been six months. Six months, Mykah. I’ve been here for six months with your sister. Waiting for you. So you can take that story, and you can throw it in a fire for all I care.” He took a breath and tried to calm down, but it was bullshit.

  Instead of letting her say anything, he did the only logical thing he could think of and kissed her. With every pent–up emotio he had kept in check while she was gone. He kissed her to show how he felt about her, how the world was dimmer when she wasn’t in it. He forced her to part her lips, and he slid his tongue into her mouth, caressin
g her as he did so.

  Moving so that he was covering her body with his own, he deepened their kiss and pulled her arms so that they were above her head. Pulling back slightly, he looked into her eyes. “Tell me you want this Mykah. I won’t do this if you’re not ready.”

  “Shut up, Tyler.” She took control of the kiss, pressing her lips to his and running her tongue along his bottom lip before sucking it into her mouth and biting down gently.

  Groaning, he pushed his growing erection against her body, and it turned him on more when she pressed herself against him, moving so that her core was pressed against him. He could feel her wetness through the pants she had been put in.

  “Mykah,” he pulled back to murmur.

  “No more talking, Tyler.”

  She made him roll over so that she was straddling him, and she could feel his cock pressed against her center. Smiling as she pushed against him, she leaned back and enjoyed how it felt. She pulled her top off and laughed when Tyler uttered an obscenity.

  “Are you going to take your pants off?” She asked, and wasn’t surprised when he tipped her off his lap so that he could tear his clothes off.

  In a flash he was on her, pulling her underwear off and pressing his mouth to her clit before she could react. Sucking and nibbling on it until she was screaming for more, only then did he release her. His tongue slid over her folds expertly, mixing with the wetness that was starting to run from inside her body.

  Throwing her head back, Mykah let the pleasure roll through her body as she pushed her hands into Tyler’s hair and pulled, trying to bring him impossibly closer. Gyrating her hips with every flick of his tongue, she wanted more. She needed him to bring her to completion before she combusted right there on the bed.

  “More,” she whispered. “Tyler, give me more.”

  “As you command, princess.” He smiled and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand before he covered her body with his.

  “Tyler. Now. I can’t wait. I need you now.” She reached down between their bodies and stroked his length, grabbing it in her hand and squeezing lightly.

  Knowing that she had more power over him than he would ever admit turned her on. Even as she used her hand to pump his cock, she could feel the tension in his body as he tried to stop himself from finishing in her hand. When he tried to pull back, she leaned up to meet him and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

  “We did it your way last time, marshmallow. This time, it’s my turn.” She purred at him, and then let go of his erection to push on his chest so that he laid flat on his back.

  Once he was there, she straddled him once more and smiled down at him, letting her auburn hair fall down around her shoulders and cover her breasts. With her hair touching her stomach, it didn’t matter that she wasn’t as waif–like as other fae. The look of pure desire in Tyler’s eyes made her feel more beautiful than any other being.

  But she couldn’t wait. She didn’t want to wait. As slowly as she was able to, she lowered herself onto him, feeling the pressure build up inside her as she did so. Pleasure receptors all over her body started firing off, and once she was fully seated, she heard his sudden inhalation and smiled to herself. Instead of letting him control her, she slowly rotated her hips so that with every movement his position inside her changed. In a matter of moments, she was reaching her peak. It was then that Tyler moved his hands from her thighs and caressed every inch of skin he could find.

  He waited until he knew that she was starting to come down from her bliss, but then he pulled himself up to a sitting position while still being firmly planted inside her. Once she was looking into his eyes once more he smiled at her, his fangs having sprouted from his gums. Instead of biting her, however, he kissed her soundly on the lips and then put both of his hands around her hips and proceeded to hold her there while he fucked her as hard as he possibly could.

  She screamed as she convulsed with the orgasm that stole over her body. The benefit of being a thousand years old was that Tyler had plenty of practice in keeping his own orgasm at bay. Instead, he smiled to himself and continued to change positions and bring her to peak after peak until she was begging for him to finish.

  Mykah couldn’t take any more. She was weak, seeing stars, and all she wanted was to feel Tyler come to his own completion. She scratched his back with her nails and bit his neck as hard as she could, but still, he didn’t finish.

  She pulled away from him and put her hands on either side of his face to make sure she understood how serious she was. “Please, Tyler. I need to feel it.”

  “Tell me, Mykah. Tell me where you want me to cum.” Her face, which she didn’t think could get any redder, flushed at his comment. “Oh, come on princess. You’ve got me buried inside you. Tell me where you want it.” And he pushed himself until there was nowhere else to go, causing yet another orgasm to start moving through her body.

  She couldn’t have said anything if she wanted to, this one being larger than all of the rest. Instead, a garbled moan escaped her lips as bliss stole through her joints.

  “Damn. Fuck. There. Yes.” Broken and panting, Tyler jerked, and she felt him inside her, growing impossibly more massive. Then his warmth hit her walls causing her even more pleasure.

  That was the moment he plunged his fangs into her neck, drawing some of her life force into his mouth and swallowing. Purring like a content kitten, he continued that way, until they both came down from the clouds. Only then did he extract himself both from her neck and her center to place a kiss gently on her lips. Without the energy to move, let alone clean herself up, Mykah rolled over and closed her eyes.

  “Tell me something about yourself, marshmallow.” She whispered once he had pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against her neck.

  “You’re the only person in the world who has ever gotten away with calling me something like that. Is that something?”

  “No.” Mykah smiled even though he couldn’t see it. She knew what she wanted to ask. “How do you know that you’re in love with me?”

  After a few minutes of silence, Tyler finally said, “I don’t.”

  Even if she was confused, she couldn’t backtrack now. Especially when she had literally just tried to push him away, and he didn't have any of it. “But, you said. I mean. I thought you told me you loved me.”

  “I do love you. More than I’ve ever known how to feel. I just don’t know how I know.” He held her tighter as she tried to pull away from him. “It’s a part of who I am, ingrained in me just as much as my memories. I can’t fight it, nor do I want to. You’re here, in my head.” He tapped his forehead against the back of her head, “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t want it any other way. From the moment I picked you up that night, a part of my being has walked around with you.” He moved then so that they were face to face. “You, princess. You are the love of my eternity.”

  “Tyler, one day I’ll fade. You can’t follow me there. You have an eternity, but I don’t. I’m going to age, and one day I’ll be old. You won’t love me the same when I’m not the same as I am now.” Tears filled her eyes because she knew that they had no future. There was nothing she could do to change it. “Just hold me. Don’t say anything.” She could feel him getting ready to fight about it, and she was exhausted. “I just want to sleep. Please. Not now.”

  As she fell into a peaceful slumber, she knew that she was doing the right thing. She had tried to say goodbye. It hurt her, yes, but she knew that she had to do it. The problem hadn’t gone away, even if she was in love. She still had to resurrect the elder grove, and not die in the process.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Tyler couldn’t help but exclaim when he woke up.

  Yeah, she was gone. It’s not like he had exposed himself and been vulnerable for the first time with a woman since he had been turned into a vampire. No, why would she run away as soon as he let himself slip out of consciousness? One of these days he would learn not
to sleep around her, but there was just something so endearing and perfect about the way she fit in her arms. Shaking his head, he got up from her bed and started rooting around her room to find his clothes.

  He had just found his pants and slipped into them when her door opened.

  “Come on, seriously? Can’t I–” Tyler stopped talking when Mykah sailed back into the room with a plate of food and a drink in her hands. “Oh. You didn’t leave.” He shook his head at his own stupidity and felt a smile take over his face.

  “Um, why would I leave? This is my room.” Taking a bite of toast after putting her glass down on the side table,” she said. “You should go, though. I have some stuff I need to do.” She looked at the bathroom, and his smile got bigger.

  “I could take a shower with you if you want.” He would love to spend some time in the shower with her, although he wasn’t sure they’d emerge any cleaner.

  “Well if I had to shower, that would be one thing. So go. I need private time.” She looked away, and figuring that she had to use the bathroom, he kissed her on the forehead and left her in peace.

  “Princess,” he said from the doorway, “I meant everything I said last night. All of it.” With a wink, he closed the door behind him before she could argue with him.

  Whistling as he walked down the halls, he couldn’t help but feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Six months he had spent in this place without her, and now they were together.

  She had tried to feed him a bullshit story about how they couldn’t be together. Not once but twice. He let her think that she had the upper hand. It would make it that much easier to break down her defenses and show her that they needed each other. There was only one of her concerns that held any merit to him, and he would figure out a solution.