“Carl isn’t dead?”
“Remember Zack? That was Carl.”
“But he was here, not back down there.” Amethyst backed away. He looked similar, but the coloring was all wrong. He did sound a lot like Carl. Oh boy. Her blood went cold. “I don’t understand. Mom is down there and he’s up here.”
Fallon shook her head. “She came to protect you.”
“From Carl? Did he hurt her?” Tears filled her eyes. That sense of dread made more sense now.
“She fought. She shot Carl, and Clint tore him apart. Carl’s dead, but whatever was riding him is still out there. Gabriel called me because he didn’t want to tell you over the phone, honey. I am so sorry, Ame. She’s stable right now. She’s going to pull through.”
Tears flooded her eyes. “Does Paavo know?” Of course he did. Amethyst stepped back and fell into one of the chairs. “Does he?” She demanded.
“Yeah, they are coming up here. They’re on their way. They heard, and Paavo thought it would be best to tell you in person. What can I do?” Fallon knelt in front of her. “I know you two are close. Just tell me what you need.”
“I… I don’t know.” She wiped at her eyes as she heard the bells ring.
She looked up to see Hayden walk in. As soon as he saw her, he rushed to her, picking her up. Her arms and legs wrapped around him.
“What happened, little nymph? What made you cry?” He murmured against her ear, and it was so right in his arms that she felt a little better, but her chest still ached.
“My Mom. Carl attacked her. I don’t know what happened. I’ve had this feeling all day. I just knew something bad was coming. I just didn’t think it would be her.” She barely held back her sobs.
Hayden sat down on the table, holding her tight as he ran his hand down her back in big soothing strokes.
“What can I do? Just tell me how to help.” He was already helping though, soothing the ache, making her feel safe for the first time since running out on him that morning.
“Don’t let me go.” She shuddered and shook her head. “My brother is coming up already, with Mathis. He probably wanted to tell me in person. Gabriel called Fallon.” She sighed. “Guess no one wanted to tell me on the phone. That just makes me feel like a little kid. You probably think I am too.”
“You’re not, you’re all woman, Amethyst, my little nymph. And you are only little because you’re so much smaller than me,” he purred into her hair.
A giggle escaped her lips. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he whispered, nudging her face up to dry her tears with light kisses.
“For making me smile when I didn’t think I could.”
“We’ll figure this out. We need to talk though. I’ve got more bad news.”
After watching Preston walk away, her stomach clenched and she swallowed hard. “Who?” she whispered.
“We’ll talk. Let’s get you out of here.”
“Tell me Preston is okay. Please.”
He nodded, but a flash of jealousy swept through his dark eyes. “He’s working with me on this. Dinner plans have changed. We’re meeting back at my place. Mathis and Paavo, too. Gabriel is staying with Opal.”
“I’m going to want to see my mom, but I probably need to know what’s going on.”
“Brody and I will be there,” Fallon told Hayden and started for the door. She turned back and called out to Adam who was in his office. “Hey Adam, we’re taking off.”
“Later,” he answered.
Hayden set her down and she looked up at him. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
“Of course. I was hoping you would, but after this morning, I wasn’t sure.”
“I didn’t handle what you said very well, and I knew you didn’t mean it like that. I just needed a little time to think. You were unexpected and I wasn’t prepared.”
“Neither was I,” he murmured. “I’ll go slow if that’s what you need, Amethyst.”
A weak smile took hold. “I don’t need slow, but if I ask for time to think, let me. I won’t shut you out, but sometimes I need time.”
“I’ll do my best to remember that.” He pulled her toward the door. “Now, let’s go.” Finally feeling a little better, she followed.
* * * *
Izackarus walked slowly through the halls. No one seemed to notice him. He had to stop and lean against a wall as he put his feelers out, looking for someone already in pain.
He felt it, an argument just getting started, both parties were suffering. He moved down the hall in Darla’s body, and quietly slipped into the room.
A young man stood with his shoulders hunched, near a bed with a frail older woman. “I could take the pain at the very least, Mother.”
“No, Lincoln.” Her voice was strained and Izackarus felt Darla’s eyes tearing up against his will. “It’s my time.” She coughed, and then pushed on. “You are a good boy, but you need to move on without me. I’ve had my life and it was a good one, especially after I had you.”
Darla knew that the woman was Lincoln’s mother, and that she was battling stage four lung cancer. What she didn’t know was how Lincoln planned to heal his mother.
“Mom,” he wiped at his eyes and tilted his head. “I don’t want to watch you suffer. At least let me take the pain.”
“No, son. Please. I never asked you to watch over me. It’s nearly my time.”
Izackarus was half tempted to take the failing body, but in his weakened state, he wasn’t sure that was wise. He could smell her death lingering in the air.
However, he could take the body for a short time, and tear more pain from the man before him. He settled in to wait, knowing that the woman’s time was near.
He started to imagine pouring into her body to get up and scream some terrifying message at Lincoln. Or maybe filling her body with his essence to tear the IV from her arm and carve into her flesh with the needles.
Tears streamed down Lincoln’s face, and again, Darla’s will was strong enough to send tears leaking out of her eyes.
There was a croaking sound as the woman’s chest stopped mid-rise, then a gurgle and finally silence. After a long moment her body went limp. Lincoln slumped into the chair behind him as a sob tore free.
Izackarus flowed out of Darla, heading for the corpse.
Darla cried out, “Lincoln, protect her.”
Lincoln shot to his feet, as Izackarus’ shadowy mist descended toward the body.
A stream of brilliant light filled the room, and Izackarus had no choice but to rush back into Darla’s body to hide, but he didn’t have control yet.
Darla ran into the hall, and for an empty storeroom where she collapsed as Izackarus wrested control from her.
* * * *
Space, Amethyst might want space. He wasn’t sure how to deal with that when he knew he wanted none. After he told her the rest of the story, he worried she would run.
The ride to her apartment was quiet. He knew she was hurting, and he didn’t know what to say. Words were never a gift of his. He was more inclined to fix problems than talk through them.
Amethyst was a whole new experience. One he never wanted to let go. He understood why she wanted to be sure, but it tore him up that she might doubt him.
He pulled up and parked. She looked over at him with a sad smile. “You coming?” She climbed out of the SUV before he could open his door. Amethyst was already on her way into her apartment.
The urge to tell her to wait swarmed him, but he fought it back. If the Shadow were here, she would probably feel him. She had all along. Shit, maybe trying to protect her from all of it was the wrong decision. Fallon had already told him to tell Amethyst everything. He had waited and that obviously hurt her.
Shaking his head, he stepped into her apartment. She had put her own touches on the place. It was inviting, and he liked seeing her pictures on the wall. He assumed they were her friends. There were some of Jamie, Fallon, and even Preston. He was almost afraid to ask what she felt for the m
age.
It was too quiet. He stepped into her doorframe and found her staring at a picture of her family. A tear trailed down her cheek.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?”
She turned to meet his gaze. Her shoulders rose and fell as she twisted her fingers through the ends of her hair. “I know it’s stupid, but I feel like this is my fault.”
“Why is that?” He asked softly, waiting for some sign that she wanted him to close the distance and pull her into his arms.
With a sigh, she sank onto the bed and dropped her eyes to the floor. “Maybe if I had just slept with Carl sooner he wouldn’t have done whatever he did to invite whatever it was into him. I sent him away. It was the only way unless I wanted someone to kill him. There were plenty of volunteers, and unfortunately, any one of them would have done it. I just didn’t want his death on my hands, and yet, it is.”
She wiped at her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. “I thought I finally did the right thing. Mom was practically begging me to just get it over with, and it took him sending me to the Council before I went through with it. I just wanted him out of my life, and now he seems to be tearing it apart.”
Hayden moved to her and knelt in front of her. He nudged her chin up and peered into her eyes. “I’m not sure exactly what happened with Carl, but I guarantee this isn’t your fault.”
She let out a bitter laugh. “I wish that were true. You didn’t see the look of devastation and horror on his face the last time we had sex. He ran out of there faster than I could catch my breath. I fell apart, and next thing I know, Preston was calling me to tell me that Carl killed himself. He planted a dagger in his own chest because I sent him away.”
“Oh, Amethyst, you can’t look at it like that. Do you know what his last name meant?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Umbra is shadow. He had some fae in him. Shadow Fae, to be exact. Not much, but it’s probably where he got some of his magic. I did a background check on him. He was a warlock, one who appeared weak, but he had ties in darker magic that he couldn’t flaunt.”
She shook her head. “He wasn’t powerful. He gave off almost no magical energy.”
“Because it wasn’t directly magic, it was more to do with shadows. He called a Shadow Fae from another realm. Izackarus was imprisoned, but somehow Carl found the incantation to bring him into our realm.”
Her eyes rounded as she looked up at him. Her whole body trembled. “Izackarus? I know that name.” She whispered. “He killed my grandmother as she imprisoned him.” Her hands covered her mouth.
“Look at me,” he told her, and she did. “We’ll find a way to stop him. I swear to you that we will.”
“It is my fault.”
“No. I bet Carl had the scroll for a long time. I bet Izackarus was sending him dreams. I bet it would have happened no matter what. He would have come after you as soon as he found his way into this realm.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better, Hayden.”
“It should. It means you aren’t to blame.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “He attacked my mother, he shot my friend. What did he do to Darla?”
Hayden swallowed hard. “That’s a little more complicated. I believe he possessed her.”
Amethyst shot to her feet and moved away.
“Please, don’t shut me out,” he pleaded.
“I’m not, so don’t do that. You can’t just make things go away.” She turned her back. “Remember, I need to think sometimes.”
“Shit,” he muttered. “Look, I want to make this better. Not make it worse.”
“Start talking, but don’t tell me Darla is gone for good. I think… I think I know a way to save her.”
“I don’t have any good news about Darla, Ame. You can’t blame yourself if there is no way to bring her back.
She sighed in frustration and narrowed her eyes at him. “Leave her for now. What did he do to my mother?”
“Opal seems fine, but she’s unconscious.”
“She shut him out, and shut herself down. I can fix that.” Amethyst turned back to him with a slight smile. “I need to talk to Paavo and Mathis. They should know if what I want to do will work.”
Hayden stood and moved toward her. He stopped just out of reach and looked down at her. “We’ll talk to them, but if they decide it’s too dangerous, we have to find a better plan.”
“That’s why I want to talk to them.” She glared up at him. “You don’t get a vote. You’re already going to say no, no matter what.”
A little smile pulled at his lips. “Baby, I don’t want to tell you no if I can help it. I don’t want to risk you when you aren’t to blame.”
“That’s not your call. Whether or not you think it’s my fault, it is, at least partially. I need to do what I can, but if it opens me up to attack from Izackarus, I won’t. I’m not reckless.”
“I need to remember that.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’ll try not to step in your way, but I won’t lose you, I can’t make that promise.”
A smile graced her lips as he opened his eyes. “Thank you.” She grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up over her head. Her breasts jiggled free. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him.
“I think I know a way you can take some of the worry away.”
He licked his suddenly dry lips as he heard the pop of her button and slide of her zipper coming down. Her hands hooked in her waist band and she paused.
“How’s that?” he murmured.
She pushed her jeans down her hips, bending over to reveal her already glistening core.
“Make love to me, Hayden.”
Hayden dropped to his knees behind her, and her hands landed on the wall with soft thuds as he trailed his nose against her slick heat. She whimpered as his tongue snaked out to take a long lick of her.
Her needy groan made his cock jump as he explored her sweet folds. “Please, oh please,” she moaned.
He sucked her little pink pearl into his mouth before delving into her with his tongue. She pushed back, grinding herself over his face as he thrust his tongue into her slick heat.
She came hard and he lapped up every drop of her pleasure before he stood. She leaned heavily against the wall and he scooped her up to carry her back to the bed.
“Have I told you that you taste like paradise, little nymph?” He murmured as she fell back against the mattress and stared up at him with heavy lidded eyes.
She shook her head and smiled. “No, but you need to be inside me. Like now.”
He reached down to pull his shirt off, but she sat up and pulled him on top of her before she got his pants opened and yanked down his briefs, springing his cock free.
“Forget the clothes, I need you now.” She gripped him tight and positioned him at her entrance. “Now.”
He couldn’t help grinning at her command. No woman had ever demanded what she wanted from him like Amethyst. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, and if it was pleasure she wanted, he would be happy to give it to her.
Hayden pushed into her with one powerful stroke. Her back arched as he pulled out only to pound back into her. “You feel so damned good,” he groaned.
* * * *
“Ditto, now move,” Amethyst pleaded.
Hayden didn’t disappoint. His emotion washed over her with each thrust, pouring into her as he burrowed himself deep inside both physically and metaphysically. This time she felt it all, passion, desire, love and all in equal measures. She let him flood out the doubt and fear.
“Hayden, yes, oh yes,” she cried, her body writhing as she toppled over the edge, his climax following.
Her name left his lips as a desperate plea. That one word wrapped around her, binding them as he rolled onto his side, enveloping her in his arms. So warm, so safe, so hers.
Scared, terrified really, but loved. She knew, deep down it was love he felt. She felt it too, but it was so soon.
&n
bsp; An overwhelming urge to tell him nearly overtook her. She clamped her mouth shut and buried her head against his chest as he stroked her back in tender sweeps.
There was a knock on her door and she sat up, suddenly embarrassed. “Okay, I better get that.” Especially because she just realized they hadn’t used a condom, and the pill didn’t work for nymphs according to her mother. Oh boy, best not to think about that, she didn’t want to do the math. She was on a totally different cycle than human women. Nymphs could only get pregnant every three years and she was pretty sure the timing was wrong but she was still on the verge of panic.
Amethyst hopped up and hurried into her clothes. “Hold on,” she called as she rushed to the door. She was thankful to have a distraction from the flood of emotions. She didn’t know what to say to Hayden at that point.
She opened the door and found Brody there. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she smiled weakly. “Hey, Brody. What’s up?”
“Good, you’re all right.” The big werewolf blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Heard you screaming, and thought maybe something… bad happened.” Brody shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “Sorry.” He half laughed and glanced at Hayden. “Right, the thing that attacked Clint, tried to get to him again, about an hour ago. He couldn’t touch either of us for more than a moment.”
“Whoa, slow down.” All embarrassment flew out the window, concern taking its place as she stared at Brody. “What’s going on?”
* * * *
Hayden stood there, stunned. “Couldn’t touch you?”
“Are you and Clint okay?” Amethyst asked.
Brody looked down at her with a slight smile and nodded. “We are. It was the damnedest thing. A shadowy form came through the door. It looked like he held a gun up and we both went to tackle him.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It was like… like his limbs split into octopus legs and tried to wrap around us. It screamed and then vanished.”
“Fallon’s wards,” Hayden whispered. “We need to know who she’s tattooed. I think that’s what’s stopping Izackarus from causing even more trouble. Everyone with her ink should be safe from the possession.”
Shadows of the Past Page 18
