Gold

by Talia Vance

  Austin raises his eyebrows at me as if this is news to him.

  “It’s not like that.” It sounds half-hearted, even to me. I wanted Austin in his office. No matter how I try and justify it.

  “Isn’t it?” Blake reaches for my wrist, sending a shock of heat up my arm before I can break the contact. “So you’re on his side now?”

  Austin closes the distance between him and Blake. “You are such a bloody idiot.”

  “For trying to help someone who would jump into bed with the guy who orchestrated my death the first time we have a fight?”

  “For shitting on everything that Brianna has given you.”

  Blake lifts his chin. “I could take her back. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but our souls can’t leave each other alone.”

  “Speak for yourself.” We both know that yesterday I had been the one to walk away. “Go back to Portia. See if you can find out what side she’s planning to stand with at the Gathering.” I don’t tell him that I intend to do some digging on my own.

  “The Gathering?” Blake looks confused.

  “The god of the underworld has opened the gateway here,” I say. “He’ll call the Sons and the bandia to the gateway, bringing them all together in one place.”

  “How can you trust him?” Blake points at Austin. “There’s only one reason to bring all the Sons and Seventh Daughters in one place. He’s trying to start a war.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Austin says.

  “There’s a new god of the underworld.” I finger the horseshoe charm on my bracelet.

  “How?” Blake asks.

  “That’s none of your concern,” Austin says. “The better question is who.”

  “Who then?”

  “A twisted, untrustworthy prick who is not as patient as I was.”

  “His name is Liam,” I add. “He’s putting together an army to take out the Sons.”

  “An army of two?” Blake looks from me to Austin.

  I should be used to Blake’s distrust by now, but it still feels like a noose tightening around my throat. It’s hard to breathe.

  Blake has no idea how ineffectual our little army is, and I’m not about to explain how Austin’s powers are diminishing every day. Or in my case, just gone. I straighten my shoulders. “Joe’s going to arrange a meeting with Rush. We’ll tell you everything then. For now, it’s enough to know that Liam is recruiting, and we’re trying to stop him.”

  “You can’t tell Rush about Portia,” Blake says. “He’ll freak.”

  “What about Portia?” Austin repeats the question.

  “She’s a Seventh Daughter,” I say. It’s not only Blake’s secret to share.

  Blake glares at me with eyes that glow silver.

  “Someone has to tell Rush.” Austin’s voice is quiet. “He needs to be prepared for the possibility that he’ll have to fight his own daughter.”

  “Maybe not.” Blake looks past me now, at the wall. “I could convince her to fight with us.”

  My knees shake. This is too close to what Blake told Rush about me not so long ago.

  She’s in love with me.

  She’ll lead us to the others.

  I finally feel the anger I should have felt when I saw Portia and Blake together this morning. Only I’m not angry at Portia. I’m angry for her.

  I bite down on the inside of my cheek, fighting to keep a tirade from spilling out.

  Austin just nods. “Do what you have to. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

  He’s right about that. We need a bandia on our side. And I no longer qualify.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  After Blake leaves, I go down to the stable and ask Malcolm for a brush. I climb into Panda’s stall and groom her until she gleams.

  “Going for a ride?” Austin hangs over the stall. “I could join you.”

  “You ride?”

  “Autos are still a relatively new invention.” He reaches out to stroke Panda’s neck. “I’ve spent centuries in the saddle. After thousands of years of service, the horse is obsolete to many.”

  “Like you. A creature that has lost its purpose.”

  Austin studies my face. “Or found it.”

  I feel myself blush. I concentrate on combing a cowlick below Panda’s mane. “A ride would be nice.”

  Austin takes out a bay gelding named Samson. Panda has to lengthen her stride to keep up, but seems to enjoy the challenge. At the end of the field, Austin turns Samson up the trail through the trees on the opposite side from the ocean.

  “If we stay on the trail, we’ll find the ruin.”

  “The ruin?” My breathing speeds up a little.

  Does he know I saw him in the past? With Gwyn? Austin nods. “It’s not as exciting as it sounds. A pile of rocks, really.”

  We ride for a half an hour before we crest the small hill. The stack of large squared stones looks smaller in sunlight, some crumbling, others still clinging to their shape. The stack is six feet all at the highest point, three feet at its lowest. It stretches for about fifteen feet before turning a corner and going about five feet further.

  “What was it?”

  Austin smiles. “A castle. Or at least one of the buildings surrounding it. This is all that’s left.”

  “You never saw the original?”

  “I’m not that old.”

  “How old are you?” I might not want to know.

  “Eighteen.”

  “I’m being serious.”

  “So am I. As a god, age was meaningless. Time means little when you have eternity. Now, I find it matters more.” Austin slides off of Samson and lets him wander to the clearing of grass. “Come on.”

  I dismount, but stay back. “I’ve been here before.”

  “Have you?” Austin smiles.

  “A few days ago. And when I first came to Lorcan.” “And?”

  I walk forward. “It’s really old, isn’t it?” I walk up to the wall, deliberately going to the opposite side from where the crude carvings are located. I run my hands along the smooth stones, trying to imagine the walls as part of something larger. “What was it like? To be a god on earth?”

  “I hardly know.”

  I turn to face him. “But the gods were here. Before the Milesians sent them away?”

  “I was the god of the underworld. I didn’t rule topside.”

  “So your life didn’t change when the gods were banished?”

  He grins. “It changed. I went from monitoring the passage of souls from one realm to another, which, to be honest, requires very little, to ruling all the gods, which requires a bit more.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. Austin ruled the underworld and controlled the gateway. The gods who were banished found themselves under Austin’s jurisdiction. “So your situation improved?”

  He laughs. “Hardly. The gods are a fickle bunch. And as the sole god who could pass through the gateway, I was under a fair bit of pressure to right things up here.”

  No wonder Austin wanted to free the gods. He wanted to free himself.

  “What was Liam’s role? Before?”

  “Pain in my arse.”

  I laugh. When I turn around, Austin is closer than I expect. I nearly bump into him.

  Austin’s face turns serious. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  I surprise myself with my answer. “I think I might be.”

  “Good. Have you tried your powers today?”

  “No.” But I had been able to see time stop with Portia. I wonder if that was her or me. Or both. “There was a flash of magic at the Pub. Like when Blake claimed me at your party, only with Portia.”

  “Portia claimed the right to kill you?”

  “I think so. She called me a witch.”

  Austin’s brow furrows in that way that makes him look so human. So something.

  Before I can think about what I’m doing, I reach for the lock of brown hair that always hangs over one eye and push it away. The gold flecks in Austin’s eyes reflect a beam of sunligh
t that stretches between the trees to grace him with its warmth.

  I don’t move my hand away. My thumb traces the lines above the bridge of his nose, smoothing them out.

  “What are you doing?” Austin’s voice is a whisper.

  “Thinking about asking you to kiss me.”

  Austin sucks in a breath. “By all means, don’t let me stop you.”

  I let my finger trail down his nose to his lips. I hold it there. “This is probably not a good idea.”

  “No second thoughts.” I feel the vibration of his words against my fingertip, the warm blast of air that passes through his lips. I inhale, as if I could breathe him in through the pad of my finger.

  He lowers his head until his lips are a breath away from mine. “Ask me,” he whispers. “Please.”

  “No,” I say.

  I close the tiny distance between us and kiss him myself.

  His lips are as soft as the kiss, sweet and searching. I feel more than hear him gasp, his mouth parting just enough for my tongue to sneak through and taste him. My fingers tangle in the mop of hair at the back of his neck. His hands are at my waist, moving in light circles along my side.

  At the same moment, we open our mouths and take the kiss deeper, now on more equal footing. He tastes like warm cinnamon with a hint of smoke, dangerous and comforting at the same time.

  I pull back from the kiss before I’m tempted to take things further. I keep my hands around his neck and rest my forehead on his shoulder.

  Austin presses his lips to the top of my head.

  I turn my head to see the horses have wandered to a patch of grass a ways away. “We should go get them before they go back to the barn without us.”

  Austin brings his hands to my shoulders and rubs them lightly. “You are far too sensible for someone who has just been kissed.”

  I smile into his shirt. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “What?”

  “Technically, you’re the one who has just been kissed.”

  He laughs into my hair. “Well that explains why my thoughts are anything but sensible.”

  I laugh with him. It’s the lightest I’ve felt in forever.

  Looking back at the ruin, I can almost imagine that it is another time. I wish I could freeze this moment, so that nothing came before and nothing will come after. So that we could live inside of one perfect kiss.

  For the first time in a long while, my own emotions feel like enough.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Austin offers to go with me into town to find Braden Finley. Insists. I don’t argue. At least he can still access his power, however difficult. I could use the back up. If Braden is what Austin says, then I need to be cautious.

  I try to reconcile Austin’s description of the fuath with the Braden I knew at R.D. High. Haley and I saw him every day just before lunch. He never failed to flirt with Haley, but that wasn’t anything unusual. Lots of guys did. I never saw him do anything mean or strange or magic.

  I even liked him a little when he asked me to lunch on the day I showed up to school without my bracelet on.

  Crap.

  Could Braden have seen what I was? Does he know I’m a bandia? I was stupid to think that the Sons were the only ones I needed to hide from. Even now, I know so little about my history. Of what any of this really means.

  Austin hesitates at the entrance to the pub I visited with Joe last night. “A fuath will stir up trouble just to watch people twist on the wind. They feed on emotions. He’ll start by trying to open old wounds because it takes the least effort. If that fails, he won’t hesitate to inflict new ones.”

  “Charming.” I have plenty of fresh wounds, so I doubt that Braden will have to work too hard.

  Then I remember. The day Braden saw me at school, he had deliberately ignored Haley after a whole year of flirting with her alone, to pay attention to me. Haley had been furious. It had led to our worst fight ever. Did Braden do that on purpose?

  I spot Braden right away. He sits at the same table, with the same group of boys. Greenpeace II sits up in his chair when he sees Austin walk in behind me. He leans forward and whispers something in Braden’s ear.

  Braden smiles at me through clenched teeth. “You should’ve called.”

  Interesting. He doesn’t sound happy to see me. Or is he trying to make me feel like I’m intruding so I’ll be irritated?

  Strike one for Braden. I could care less. I know I’m intruding, and it’s quite deliberate. “You know Austin, right?”

  Braden crinkles his nose, before he turns to Austin. “Hello.”

  Austin flashes his trademark crooked smile. “Hello, fuath.”

  Braden’s eyebrows shoot up and his jaw drops. “Excuse me?” But it’s too late. His face has given him away. “Listen. I’m meeting some people here. Maybe we can hang out some other time?”

  Austin gestures for Braden to follow us. “Join us. We have much to discuss.”

  Braden stands, but looks toward the door. “This really isn’t a good time.”

  “Nonsense.” Austin’s eyes darken.

  Braden stares at Austin’s eyes, and follows us to an empty table.

  “You’re no one now,” he says under his breath. “Liam will enslave you and I will enjoy watching you suffer.” “Have the fuath sunk so low that they’re reduced to sniffing around pain inflicted by others?” Austin shakes his head. “Sad.”

  Braden seethes in his chair, grinding his teeth and cursing under his breath. He glances at me and his face changes as he flashes me that easy smile. “It’s so crazy to run in to you like this. Twice now. I think fate is trying to tell us something.” He leans close enough that I catch a whiff of musky cologne that settles in my throat and threatens to gag me.

  I flash him what I hope passes for a flirtatious smile. “I know, right?”

  Braden flashes Austin a smug sneer.

  I lean into Braden’s chest. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I broke up with my boyfriend recently.”

  Braden’s sneer gets wider. “And I am momentarily single.”

  “Perfect timing.” I giggle into his shoulder.

  Austin raises both eyebrows. I think I hear him stifle a laugh.

  I bat my eyelashes up at Braden. “Are you really going to fight him for me?”

  Austin raises his hand to his mouth. He’s definitely laughing.

  Braden pulls his arm from around me. “Fight who?”

  “My ex. I thought that’s why you were here.”

  His gaze drifts to my wrist, watching the charms that dangle from my bracelet. “I’m not here to fight your boyfriend for you. I barely know you.”

  I wonder if Braden can feed off of his own dark emotions, because he seems to have a lot of them.

  “Not just him. All the Sons.” I punch him lightly in the arm.

  Braden looks at me with new consideration. “Why don’t you just do it yourself, bandia?”

  “It’s kind of complicated. I mean, he was my first love, so a part of me will always love him.” I wonder if it’s true. I hope not. It would be so much easier to hate him.

  Austin isn’t laughing now.

  “Besides, we’re outnumbered. Hasn’t Liam told you anything?” I bat my eyelashes again. I am a one trick pony when it comes to playing dumb.

  Braden sighs. “I don’t know what our role will be yet. Liam hasn’t told us anything other than the date of the Gathering.”

  I try to contain my excitement, but a small gasp escapes my lips before I can stop it. Liam has set a date. How do I pry this out of Braden?

  “So you know we don’t have much time,” I say.

  “Six weeks is plenty of time for what I have in mind.” Braden picks up a curl of my hair and wraps it around his finger.

  I bite my lower lip. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Braden pulls on the strand of hair. Hard.

  “Ow!”

  Austin lunges across the table. He clamps a hand around Braden’s th
roat. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you right now, fuath.”

  Braden coughs, gasping for air.

  Greenpeace II lays a hand on Austin’s shoulder. “I’ve got this.”

  Austin lets go of Braden’s neck abruptly. “So you do.”

  Braden gulps in oxygen. He glares at Austin and me. “We are on the same side of this,” he rasps.

  Austin shakes his head. “Make no mistake about it. I am on one side and one side alone.” He takes my hand in his. “Hers.”

  We’re nearly out of the pub when I see the woman from the train. Corporate Tink, dressed up in a red velvet blazer and black pants. She sits at the end of the bar, sipping a drink the color of blood. Her eyes follow us as we walk into the street.

  I shiver as we step into the cold.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Austin smiles when we get back in his car. “Do that eyelash thing again.”

  “This?” I blink my eyes.

  He laughs. “You’re a terrible flirt. Truly awful.”

  “Thanks.”

  “It’s a compliment. No one who knows you would ever think of you that way. You are a brilliant warrior. Smart, strong and sexy as hell.”

  I want to laugh. “Tell me more.”

  “Do you really want to hear how I fell in love the moment you spun that quarter into my lap?”

  “Right.” Austin wanted to use me as much as anyone else. “All you cared about was that I was a bandia. You only wanted me for your army.”

  Austin raises his eyebrows. “Which explains why I took you directly to my bedroom.”

  “You also told me we would end badly. Not exactly romantic.”

  Austin stops smiling. “We will.”

  “We already did.” I try to keep things light, but Austin’s face is dark. “I banished you for a thousand years, remember?”

  “I remember well enough.” Austin frowns and starts the car. He drives in silence until we’re almost to the gate of his home. He concentrates on the narrow lane that winds down to his house. He doesn’t turn to look at me until the car is parked in front of his house. “I didn’t know how it would end. I only knew it would. I assumed it would end in death. That’s why I pushed you so hard to kill Blake before he killed you.”