I took another breath, then opened my mouth to continue my pointless, nonsensical tirade. Before I could so much as blink, Devlin moved. Warm, strong hands slid past my cheeks and his fingers wound their way into my hair. My eyes flew wide open, and I gasped as his mouth met mine. And that’s right about when I decided to throw all thoughts out the door and follow Devlin’s lead. My hands found their way behind his neck and I pulled him in closer. The kiss was fierce and demanding, and I let all the desire that had been building up fly free, sharing with Devlin what I was afraid to admit aloud.
Devlin pulled back a fraction, the fire having burned out but the coals still smoldering as he leaned me back on the bed. I went down with him. Who was I to argue? Both of us were breathing hard and I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs. Devlin’s hands left my hair and trailed down my torso, coming to a stop at my waist. He nipped at my lower lip, his teeth grazing my skin. Chills shot up my spine, and I arched against him, wanting more. Unfortunately, the activities from earlier that evening reminded me that I wasn’t quite up to this type of activity yet. My foot slipped off the chair and swung against the bed frame, scattering half-melted ice all over the floor. I cried out in pain, forcing Devlin to pull away.
I gritted my teeth as he released a frustrated huff, pressing his forehead against my shoulder.
“I hurt you,” he said, his voice deep and rough. And that tone only made my desire burn brighter.
Devlin reached a hand up behind my head and pulled me in close to plant a kiss on my forehead, this one far tamer than the others. I cursed my stupid ankle as he pushed against the mattress, rising to his feet and leaving me lying in the echo of his warmth.
He bent down and picked up a jacket I hadn’t seen him wearing and headed for the door. Wait, he was going? After kissing me senseless and leaving me on the verge of bursting out of my own skin?
“Where are you going?” I asked, cringing when my tone came off as a little too desperate for my liking. Way to be cool, Robyn.
Devlin had his hand on the doorknob, his head bowed and his back to me. “You need rest and I need to focus on my job.”
Ah. That’s right. I was the mortal distracting him from his reason for being here. Totally my fault that he had started this whole thing by kissing me.
He must have realized the harshness of his words because his body lost a little of its tension and he turned to glance at me. “The less time I spend hunting them, the more chances they have to hurt you. Tonight’s incident being a prime example. I’ve already wasted far too much time, and whatever glamour might have been left behind may be fading.”
Devlin took his hand from the doorknob and rubbed the back of his neck, a sign of his frustration.
Disbelief mixed with a pinch of anger slapped the silliness right out of me.
“We were supposed to be working together, remember?” I snapped. “I agreed to this. I agreed to help you in any way I could to capture the Daramorr. And now you’re telling me that my involvement in all of this has been nothing but a waste of time?”
Harsh blue eyes met mine. “No end goal is worth your life, Robyn, not even capturing and doing away with the Daramorr.”
He sighed heavily, a release of breath that carried the weight of the world with it.
“I beg your forgiveness for my behavior tonight, but it is best if I remember my reason for being here.”
Without a backward glance, he pulled my door open and slipped out into the night. With my temper flaring and my emotions roiling, I picked up a pillow and threw it against my door. I was convinced Devlin planned on hunting Evan down tonight for his role in all of this. A part of me ached to contact my socially awkward classmate and warn him. A smaller part of me fought against that urge. Evan had tried to kill me, after all. Why was I worried about what might happen to him?
Because you know that it really isn’t his fault, my conscience informed me.
Yes, I was certain Mikael and Moira had somehow brainwashed him. There had been no awareness in his eyes when I recognized him earlier this evening. Perhaps one, or both, of them were using their glamour or the Morrigan’s dark magic to do so. But I had other things on my mind as well, Devlin’s sudden, intense affection being the most prominent.
Trying not to let the memory of his kiss fog my brain, I leaned back on the bed and thought about my plan involving Moira’s brother. A plan I had neglected to tell Devlin. I gave a mental snort. Well, I had been a little distracted earlier, and I wasn’t about to tell him now, after what he’d said tonight. Besides, it was very possible that my plan was now ruined, what with Evan’s recent assault. Or maybe Mikael would have to meet with me after all because Evan had failed, that is if my unique mortal magic was still worth all the trouble. I had to assume that it was. The only question that remained was whether or not I still wanted to go through with all this. And no longer was it just for Devlin, but for myself as well. Yes. I would continue down this crazy path in order to help my friend and to free myself of all this madness.
Robyn, you must cast away all of your fears, I told myself, and put aside your anger at Devlin’s last words to you. There is a sinister Daramorr to catch, and his evil sister. Time to run them to ground.
I glanced down at my ankle and frowned. Well, at least as soon as you can walk again.
-Twenty-
Animosity
I hobbled into work the next day on crutches, doing my best to get in through the front door without calling the fire department for help. Margie appraised me with one look, and after feeding her my fabricated story of tripping off a curb the night before, she insisted I go home and not show my face again until after Christmas. I wanted to argue, because the last thing I needed was free time to do nothing but sit around my apartment and think about Devlin and the Daramorr and all of those entangled in this sticky web. In the end, I obeyed my boss, grumbling the entire way home. It was only a few days, after all. I would survive.
On December twenty-sixth, I showed up at the cafe more than ready to start my shift. My ankle was feeling a lot better, and I couldn’t wait for the distractions work would bring. The past three days had been split between daydreaming about Devlin, contemplating whether or not Evan was planning a second attack, and feeling sorry for myself on Christmas Day when I didn’t have a family to spend it with. It had been torture.
Now that I was back at work, however, I had the upcoming New Year’s Eve party to think about. I never received an official invite from Mikael himself, only a few casual mentions from Moira. And I still didn’t know how this was all going to play out after Evan’s fumbled attempt at kidnapping me, but as soon as the crowd thinned out about halfway through my work shift, I got my answer.
“My brother wanted me to pass on a message,” Moira said, giving me a sly grin as she pulled a small envelope out of the front pocket of her apron. “Forgot I had it.”
A little surprised, I took it from her and slipped it into my own pocket, my mind burning with curiosity and a little bit of trepidation. For the remainder of my shift that letter nearly burned a hole in the seat of my pants, but a healthy stream of customers kept me from reading it.
At nine o’clock we cleaned up and locked the store. To my great surprise, Jonathon showed up to escort Moira home. The look they exchanged told me everything I needed to know. Wonderful. Another conquest of Moira’s had arrived. Would she and her brother brainwash all of my friends? By the time I reached my apartment, my mood had darkened, so it was no shock that my heart turned with irritation instead of joy when I saw a familiar figure striding toward me.
Devlin, resplendent as usual in his simple Otherworldly garb, was the last person I wanted to see at the moment. I was still agitated about seeing Moira with Jonathon, so I wasn’t too eager to spend time with the young man who had recently kissed me senseless then accused me of being a distraction.
I strode past Devlin, who stood on the sidewalk with his arms crossed, and secured my bicycle for the night. I had failed to ackno
wledge his presence, so naturally he followed me. Once back out on the lawn he stepped in front of me, impeding my progress. Tilting my head back, I blinked up at him. Oh, yay! Looked like his mood was the same, if not worse, than mine.
“Excuse me,” I said drily, “you’re in my way. Oh, wait, I’m sorry. That’s your line.”
It was childish, throwing his own accusations at him, but I didn’t care.
When Devlin didn’t move, I sighed and made a show of stepping around him.
He surprised me by reaching out and grabbing my arm. It wasn’t a violent act, but his grip was strong and it hurt a little.
“What are you doing out so late?”
I gaped at him. Really? In the handful of days since I’d last seen him, had he forgotten I worked for a living?
“I have a job, remember? At the cafe? Sometimes my shifts last until we close.”
I pulled my arm away from him and kept moving toward my door. “Besides,” I shouted over my shoulder, my anger growing into something fierce, “what I do with my time and my life is none of your business.”
The sound of his footsteps behind me announced that Devlin wasn’t quite done with our conversation.
“I thought we agreed you were going to avoid going out at night as much as possible,” he growled.
I laughed as I began searching for my keys, a high, breathy sound that anyone with half a brain would have recognized as sarcasm. My door was still a good distance away, but I didn’t want to be trapped against it with Devlin breathing down my neck while I looked for my keys. I’d have them ready this time.
“Unfortunately, here in the real world, we females can’t afford to sit around and wait for a knight in shining armor to come rescue us from dangerous things,” I spat. “If I want to keep my apartment, feed myself, and pay for my education, I have to earn a wage, and sometimes that means doing so at inconvenient hours. I don’t expect some Otherworldly forest dweller to understand that.”
My words were cruel and cutting, but Devlin was really pissing me off right now. He was acting like one of those idiots in high school who was only interested in girls who had no brains and no desire to aspire to anything grander than becoming a homecoming queen or a trophy wife. Oh, no. I was not some simpering damsel in distress, and although Devlin had helped me with the monsters that had harassed me, it didn’t mean I was completely helpless.
He must have realized my thoughts because he let out a sigh and said, “Robyn, I’m not saying you are incapable of caring for yourself. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
And that’s what did it. Those words threw me over the edge and yanked the reins on my temper right out of my hands.
Devlin reached for me and I spun on him.
“Get away from me!” I shouted.
In the next fleeting second, I felt those last few strands of sanity unfurl. The nuclear reactor that resided within my soul, the same one that had received one hairline fracture for every traumatizing event I’d experienced so far this year, finally reached its limit. It had begun with the Noctyrnum and their kitten-sacrificing party, but every strange and terrible occurrence that had followed since only added to the eventual downfall of my mental stability. The worst had been that letter from my dad, the final proof that my parents didn’t love me spelled out in plain English. I had always considered myself mentally, if not physically, strong. Nothing had ever fazed me throughout high school. Always, I found a way to resist any threat that dared to annoy me. Until now. And if I were being a hundred percent honest with myself, I would have had no problem admitting that it all had to do with fear. Mikael and Moira were a prime example, despite my tough-girl attitude toward them. I no longer had any doubt what they were capable of, and that frightened the hell out of me. But what scared me most was the knowledge that, one way or another, all of this was finally coming to an end and it meant Devlin would be gone out of my life forever. So yes, my anger was directed toward him at the moment but it was mostly aimed at myself, for being stupid enough to let my guard down around him. I had let Devlin burrow his way so deeply into my heart that there was no way for me to remove him without doing some major damage.
So, naturally, since I was in such a stable state at the moment, I continued my tirade.
“I had everything figured out before you showed up,” I shouted. “I’ve got a decent job, an apartment I can afford, a career I’m working toward. Then you waltz in with your Otherworldly charm and I somehow get entangled in this huge mess. Yes, it was overwhelming and wonderful at first, being a part of something I’ve only ever dreamed about, but that isn’t reality, Devlin! This can only end in two ways and both don’t look good for me. Either you’ll fail and Mikael and his sister will be free to continue with their plans, whatever those may be, or you’ll succeed and traipse back off into the Otherworld where you belong. In both situations I get screwed. I become their next victim or I get left hanging in the real world, going back to the boring routine us mortals must slog through in order to survive. So, I’m done. I’m so done with all of this. I no longer care if the Morrigan’s evil minions are after me. Bring it on, because at least a death by sacrifice will be far less painful than watching you walk away after all of this is over!”
When I was finally done, my heart was pounding in my ears and my head was spinning. As I drew in deep breaths of cold winter air I tried hard to remember half of what I had said. Crap. What had I just admitted to him?
Devlin stood away from me and remained absolutely still. He didn’t say a word, didn’t twitch or shift his weight. Which was both infuriating and a relief. As the effects of the raging storm of my emotions wore off, I felt drained and utterly depressed.
After a display like that, I thought it most prudent for me to go inside. Turning my back on Devlin, I crossed the final distance between him and my apartment door. Numbly, I turned my key in the lock and let myself into the dark, familiar cavern of my basement home, with Devlin remaining where I’d left him the entire time.
With the lights still off, I let the darkness overwhelm me as I leaned back into my front door, my head resting against the worn-out wood. I closed my eyes and took one long breath, wondering if Devlin still stood on my lawn. More than anything, I wanted him to just turn and leave, to go back to the Otherworld where he belonged. But even more than that I wanted him to knock on my door until I had no choice but to let him in.
* * *
I couldn’t cry that night, though I desperately needed to. Instead, I took a long, hot shower and did my best to clear my head of thoughts revolving around Devlin, an almost impossible task considering what had just gone down outside.
When I had successfully steamed myself into a prune, I shut the water off, gathered up my old clothes, and proceeded out into the living room. As I stuffed my shirt and jeans into the hamper, something lodged in the back pocket caught my attention. I pulled it out and felt my stomach drop. It was the letter Moira had given me, the one from Mikael. The last thing I wanted to do at the moment was read anything Mikael had written to me, but putting it off wasn’t going to do me any good either. I had set myself up for this and besides, if Devlin was to complete his task, the sooner it was done the better. That whole rip the bandage off instead of removing it slowly procedure might be just the thing to get me out of this funk.
Sitting down on my bed with my towel still wrapped around my body, I carefully peeled open the letter, trying not to let my wet hair drip all over it. A bold, masculine script dominated the thick paper, and I began to read:
Robyn,
My sister informs me that you might be interested in joining me for my New Year’s Eve party at Noctaine this coming weekend. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to have you as my special guest. I will send a car to pick you up.
He jotted down the time I should be ready and then signed it with a flourish. In the postscript below, he indicated how pleased he was that I had changed my mind about him.
Feeling slightly sick to my stomach, I let
the paper drop to the floor. So, perhaps Evan had been acting on his own those several nights ago. Either that or they were setting me up. I narrowed my eyes and stood up from the bed, careful not to lose my towel. I marched back into the bathroom, rubbed away the fog on the mirror and gave myself a long, hard look. Pale eyes in an equally pale face framed by wet strands of black hair gazed back at me.
“Robyn Dunbarre,” I said in a firm, authoritative voice, “you are nothing if not resilient. Devlin is your friend, even if he is being a total ass right now. You will meet with Mikael, and you will not cower in front of him. You will do your best to help Devlin because he has helped you all this time.”
Gritting my teeth and feeling my heart burn with a new determination, I continued, “You will do this for Devlin, and Evan and Jonathon. You will not let Mikael and his bitch of a sister ruin any more lives.” I took several deep breaths, then added, “And you will do this for yourself, too. You are strong, and you will not back down.”
Feeling somewhat empowered by my little pep talk, I dried off, slipped into my comfortable pajamas, and slinked into bed. Of course, I didn’t fall asleep right away. I was too fired up. But when I finally did manage to drift off, my dreams were black and empty.
-Twenty-One-
Entrapment
For the next several days I passed through my routine in a stupor. Despite my eagerness to take on the world, I found myself sleeping in late and simply going through the motions at work. Kelly hadn’t returned from her vacation yet and Jonathon had fallen into one of his unsocial moods, so most of the time I was left to my own thoughts, which proved to be a bit dangerous.
Now that I’d had time to cool off, I was reviewing all the recent events from a whole new perspective. I didn’t like that the last few encounters with Devlin had ended with me yelling at him. Wasn’t I supposed to be helping him track down the Daramorr, and shouldn’t I be making good use of what little time I had left to spend with him? Instead, I kept pushing him away. Of course, that’s how I’d always dealt with my sorrow. Attack it with a fierce attitude and maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much in the end.
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